SEASON 1

SEASON 2

SEASON 3

SEASON 4

SEASON 5

FIGHT THE FUTURE

SEASON 6

SEASON 7

SEASON 8

SEASON 9

< PREVIOUS

Mulder is following along now, and says that the hallucinogen would be a way for it to lure its prey into the cave. Scully agrees – this would be a way to keep the prey complacent while being digested.

At this point, Mulder's piercing headache comes back, and we flash to him underground, covered in tendrils and goo again, eyes open wide. Scully starts getting more and more frightened as she continues, "What if we're still underground, Mulder? What if we're moving deeper into the cave? Or being moved? Mulder, what if we're being digested? Right now." Then she dissolves into yellow goo again in front of Mulder, who is wearing his panic face.

(I'm just going to take a moment and say, what other couple would be hallucinating the same hallucination? Awwww. Even the giant mushroom has figured out that Mulder and Scully love each other enough that they would both need to be in the same hallucination.)

Okay, back to the story. We're back in North Carolina, and Mulder is Westleying himself out of the muddy ground of the field. He knocks aside a mushroom as he pulls himself out, then reaches back in and pulls Scully out. They lie next to each other, and Scully coughs, like Buttercup when she came out of the lightning sand. Hee. And awww. They are both utterly exhausted.

Back in Skinner's office, he reads their report and asks for details about the organism. Mulder and Scully report that the exact size can't be determined, since it's mostly subterranean, but that they've contacted all the necessary government offices and specialists, so their bases are covered. The spores that have been analyzed have a chemical structure similar to LSD, and also contain a narcotic. Skinner remarks on the rareness of both of them signing off on the same report, which seems to make Mulder pause.

Skinner asks him what's bothering him. "I'm not exactly clear on how we escaped," he admits, and turns to Scully. "Once you recognized that we were under a chemical influence then it simply kind of... broke its spell?"

Scully looks thoughtful, but nods. Mulder remarks that he doesn't know of any drug that loses its effect once the user realizes it's in his system, but both Scully and Skinner don't seem to find this as confusing. I wonder when Hallucination!Scully ends and Real!Scully begins in this scene. Then Mulder points out that furthermore, after being underground and covered in acid for at least half a day, they should both have chemical burns all over their bodies – but they don't.

Scully looks at her hands as Skinner asks where Mulder is going with this. Ignoring him, Mulder tells Scully that they never escaped – they're still trapped underground. Scully smiles condescendingly and tells Mulder he must be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, but Mulder just shakes his head, smiles, and says, "This is not real." He turns back to Skinner. "You – you're not real."

Skinner scoffs, but Mulder gets his trademark Crazy Face, pulls his gun, and fires at Skinner over Scully's alarmed protest. Skinner doesn't react at all to being shot, except to narrow his eyes and start leaking yellow goo from the three bullet holes. Scully and Mulder's eyes widen. Then Scully looks at Mulder as he dissolves into goo, and Skinner's office behind him.