Disclaimers and notes in part 1


Wednesday, June 3, 1999
2:08 am
Crescent City, North California
Crime Site #1

"Is everything all right, team one?" Detective Rourke's voice crackled
over the earphone sets the agents had on.

Mulder replied. "Everything is fine, though you might want to keep your
voices down a little. Agent Scully is asleep."

Scully stirred in her sleep, then answered back drowsily, "I am not
asleep, I just closed my eyes for a few minutes. That's all."

"Just closed your eyes for a few minutes? I suppose to sleepers half an
hour seems like a few minutes," Mulder replied in answer to her protests.

Natalie's voice came through the earphones once again. "I suppose I'll be
checking in on the other teams and leave you to your arguments. Ta-ta,"
the voice said and faded out.

Mulder and Scully sat in the car which was parked in the street, thinking
their own thoughts for a while, when all of a sudden they saw a figure
running across the street, dressed entirely in black.

"Mulder! Look!" Scully shouted.

They both opened the car doors and started running towards the running
figure, who, they now saw, had a knife. The figure ran down the street,
and even Mulder himself had to admit, ran even faster than Mulder could.

Man, that person must have running in her genes, or something. Perhaps
she's an alien hybrid, or something, he thought as the two agents ran in
pursuit of the figure in black.

They continued to run, down this way, and up that alley, when the figure
suddenly turned a sharp left. Mulder reached the place where he saw the
pursuee turn, took out his gun, and turned quickly, Scully quickly
following suite.

They were now in an abandoned warehouse of some sort, and they split up in
search of the suspect. Mulder went to the right side of the warehouse, and
Scully went to the left. They were in the middle of the warehouse when
there was suddenly a bright flash of light.

Wednesday, June 3, 1999
2:47 am
Crescent City, North California
Abandoned Warehouse

"And now I think that the time for twenty questions is over. My dear
Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, it is time for you to die."

Scully started struggling against her captor, but the effort was futile.
This killer, this teen, was stronger than she was, and she also had two up
on her. Scully was weaponless, and Annika had both the antique knife that
was pressed up against Scully's throat and Scully's gun.

"Now, now. Stop struggling. I promise to make it as painful as possible,"
Annika said.

Mulder was standing there, gun raised, with a weird expression on his
face. Scully had no idea what the hell he was thinking, but she figured he
was already blaming himself for this situation.

She was quite wrong. Mulder was actually trying to communicate with her
telepathically.

C'mon, Scully, he thought. Get her to turn a little to the side, so that
her left hand side is not facing me. Can you do that Scully? Try, try!

Scully stopped struggling and blinked. Wow, that was weird. Did Mulder
just yell for me to turn? she thought, and looked at him, stared into his
eyes, and realized that was exactly what he wanted her to do.

So she did. Scully quickly made a sharp turn to the left, bringing her
right side to face Mulder. And of course, Annika had to swing around as
well to place her back in the former position.

Annika realized what Scully was up to, and so increased her speed in
trying to right them. She was getting no cooperation from Scully, and got
so frustrated that she cut Scully a bit with a knife. The cut wasn't so
deep that it would make Scully bleed to death, but it was deep enough to
hurt badly.

Scully felt the burning on the side of her neck before she felt the blood
gush out. She tried to get her hands up to stop the bleeding, but they
were being held by Annika. So she bore with it, but soon felt dizzy, and
had to stop the struggle she was putting up.

Annika managed to get them back in their former position, in only a matter
of a few seconds. But those few seconds were enough for Mulder to take his
shot.

The round raced towards its target and ripped through her right arm. The
next few seconds happened so fast, Mulder didn't know what had happened
until it was over.

Annika was thrown to the ground by the bullet's impact in her arm. Scully
was also thrown down with her, and managed to land on the knife.

Mulder quickly saw the situation and went to Scully, and saw how badly her
side was ripped apart by the knife.

"Oh, my god, Scully," he said quietly as Scully ripped the gag out of her
mouth and tried to get up.

"OW! Help me get up, Mulder. I want to check and see how bad it is. You
can see it, Mulder, so tell me, how bad is it?"

Mulder helped her sit up, and evaluated all the blood. Then he said to
her, "Scully, I won't lie to you. I'm no doctor." At that she laughed,
then stopped because of the pain it caused her, and he continued. "But I
can tell a not- so-good-wound from a really bad wound, and in my opinion,
this is a really bad wound."

She winced. "How bad, would you say?"

"I would say, that you are losing a lot of blood, and your side is torn up
pretty badly. Not to mention the kind of deep cut on the side of your neck."

"The cut doesn't feel so serious, but the torn up side has me worried.
Mulder, I need to get to a hospital, and soon. If I pass out, the chance
is slight that I would wake up again, too, so don't let me fall asleep."

"All right, Scully. Let me go call for an ambulance and the police."

At that moment, Annika stirred. "Oh," she moaned, holding her right arm in
her left, and peering at it.

"What the hell did you do to me? My arm's all bloody!" she cried.

"It's called a gunshot wound, in case you never got told about it," Mulder
said, taking out his cell phone with his left hand, but still not letting
go of his gun in his right.

"You shot me? YOU shot ME? How the hell did you do that?" she asked.

Mulder was talking on his cell phone to the police by this time, telling
them their location. He covered up the mouthpiece, then said to Annika,
"I'll tell you about it in jail."

Her eyes grew big, and she picked up the knife. "Oh no, you won't. I'm not
going to jail. But you two will be going to hell," she growled.

Annika lunged at the two with the knife, heading towards Mulder and his
exposed throat. With her bad arm she tore the cell phone out of his hand,
with the other hand, the one holding the knife, she cut his hand, forcing
him to drop the gun. Then she lunged once again, this time for Mulder's
gun. The two both went for it, and Annika got it, and threw it into the
darkness, where the lights didn't shine. Mulder got up to run for it,
realizing that if he could get it, the odds would be a bit more even than
they were, but before he could get very far, Annika plunged the knife deep
within the muscle of his leg, and he fell.

Annika laughed. "You two are such good FBI agents. Letting a girl like me
take you down." She shook her head. "I suppose your superiors would be
happy to have you gone, if you're like this on all your cases. Well, good
riddance," she added, then prepared to plunge the knife down into his
heart, or slash his throat.

But before she could finish the job, a voice rang out, clear as day. "Hold
it!"

Both Annika and Mulder looked toward the place where the voice rang out,
and saw Scully, standing wobbly on her feet. She had Mulder's gun and it
was aimed at Annika.

"Drop the knife, and this will all be over," she said. When Annika didn't
comply, she yelled forcefully, "Drop the damn knife!"

Annika dropped the knife safely away from Mulder at the same time she
whipped Scully's gun out and pointed it at Scully.

"Now, Agent Scully, just you and me. No Mulder, he's incapacitated. And
even if he were able to reach the knife," she kicked it farther away from
him and continued, "even if he could reach it, he wouldn't be able to use
it on me. I think I dug the knife in far enough to his leg to make sure
that doesn't happen.

"So now, Agent Scully, it's just the two of us. Who will triumph? That's
like asking someone, 'Which came first, the chicken, or the omelet?'"

"Annika, don't you think that we can resolve this without violence?"
Scully asked, getting a little closer to the girl.

"Resolve this without violence? Ha, that's a laugh. No, resolving it
without violence would mean I go to jail, and you two don't die. No, it
has to be done with more violence. And I know the perfect way to finish
this."

"How, Annika? How do you plan to end this?" Scully asked wearily, holding
one hand to her side in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

"First, I have to do something about you," she said, and shot the gun out
of Scully's hand. "There, that's better. Now don't go near it, or I'll
have to shoot you through the arm, or the leg."

Scully obeyed, not making any move to go to the gun. Instead she was
thinking. Come on, Dana, think. Mulder needs you now. Think, Dana, think.
You need to get out of here, for your sake, for Mulder's sake, and for
your family's sake. Think, Dana, think.

Meanwhile Annika had continued talking. "...strategically placed gasoline
all over this warehouse. And this warehouse houses explosives. Everything
will be over soon, Agent Scully, real soon. You'll go out with a bang,
with your partner."

Scully stood, wobbling, in shock. She hadn't expected the killer to lead
them to a place that she would blow up. How the hell are we going to
survive this one? she asked herself.

Mulder groaned, his arm pressed up against the wound in his leg. Scully
almost went to him, but remembered that she was being held up at gunpoint.
She looked over towards Annika, who smiled and said, "Go to him. I know
you're a doctor, but I don't think you could do much for him here, without
the proper equipment."

Scully nodded, then ran over as fast as she could, limping because of her
side.

"Mulder," she gasped. "Are you all right?"

"Feels like she shoved a knife into my leg," he replied, with a wry smile,
which then turned into a grimace because of the pain.

"Very funny, Mulder. You need to get to a hospital, and soon, or you might
never walk again."

"We both might never walk again. I heard what she was telling you, and I
don't think that the Fates are with us this time. Dana, now might not be
the perfect time to tell you this, but I think it's going to be the last
chance. You know how the old poem goes, don't you?
'This is it,
My last dance,
Never to find another chance
Or sweet mem'ry of romance,
Powerful pain, joined together
All is one that is for never.'"

Scully had a feeling that she knew what he was going to say, and she
didn't want to hear it. It wasn't that the feeling wasn't reciprocated; it
was. It was just that she thought that there was a chance they might get
out, and she didn't want to hear it when she was all bloody, and he was in

Mulder continued, oblivious to her slight discomfort. "Dana, what I'm
trying to say, is that...well, I love you."

Scully's calm exterior broke and she started to sob uncontrollably. She
leaned on him and started to cry.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She sat up and shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm fine,
Mulder. I've just been waiting so long to hear that >from you. I love you
too."

"Aw, how sweet. And ironic," Annika mocked from where she was standing.
"The two partners, destined to meet, destined to die, both love each
other, but don't have the courage to tell the other until the very end.
And what an end this will be! You'll see, it'll be a great way to die, if
there is such a thing."

"Who the hell do you think you are to determine when a person or people
will die? How they die? Who are you?" Scully asked furiously as she walked
up to Annika with one hand behind her back.

Annika smiled as she worked on setting a trial of gasoline on fire. "Me?
I'm just a teenager with a childlike exuberance and an urge to kill." She
got it to light and watched it slowly smother and then leap up into a
brilliant magnificence. "Who are you to say that I'm wrong to determine
the if's and when's of people's deaths?"

Scully narrowed her eyes and yelled, "An FBI agent!" at the same time she
brought her hidden hand into view. Before Annika could raise the gun
again, Scully had the knife plunged with a deadly accuracy into Annika's
stone heart.

Annika looked surprised, as though she thought it could never happen to
her, then let out a low moan as she fell to the ground, flames licking up
her clothing and covering her in seconds.

Scully turned her attention away from the dead killer and brought it to
Mulder. He was lying on the ground watching the whole thing in surprise,
and he was starting to go into shock. She quickly went over to him and
helped him get up.

"Come on, Mulder. The flames are getting higher, and if we don't get out
of here before the flames reach the explosives, we'll have no chance at
survival."

"Scully?" Mulder asked as he tried to get up with her

"Yes?" she asked back as she held him on her good side and tried to walk
with him using her as a crutch.

"Where'd you learn to use a knife like that with such deadly accuracy?"

"I'll tell you one we get out of here. Do you remember where the door was?"

"I think it's that way," Mulder replied, pointing to the right.

By now the flames had almost reached the ceiling, and Scully was looking
very worried as she wobbled towards the direction that Mulder pointed to,
with Mulder leaning on her. She managed to get to the door before she
collapsed with exhaustion and coughing because of the smoke.

"Scully!" Mulder yelled as they both went down. "Scully, come on, get up.
I know you can make it if you set your mind to it. I know you can do it.
Come on, get up. I can't carry the both of us."

Scully looked up at him, her face full of love and concern. "Okay, Mulder.
I'll try. No promises, though."

Scully got up slowly, then cautiously walked foward. Mulder was trying to
put as much weight as possible on his good leg so that she wouldn't have
to do all the work, but it was almost impossible. They somehow managed to
get to the door like this, and out the limped, hurt and bloody.

Outside was a scene of action. Police had started pulling up, along with
an ambulance and many firetrucks. The firetrucks started to prepare for
going inside and looking for the suspect, when the building exploded,
knocking everyone that was standing down to the ground.

Mulder and Scully, who hadn't gotten more than a few feet away from the
building, were actually lifted up off the ground and flew a couple of feet
until they were set down, none too gently, by the blast.

After the building exploded, Mulder lifted his head up off the ground and
nudged Scully.

"You okay?" he asked.

She groaned. "I think so. Let's see. I have a cut on the side of my neck,
a torn up left side, a few burns and scratches, and most likely a
concussion. How are you doing?"

"Well, my leg hurts, and I think I lost a lot of blood, and I think I have
a bruise on my head the size of Florida, but other than that and a bunch of
scratches, I think I'm okay."

"Good, nothing too serious. Look, here comes Rourke," Scully said.

"Are you too okay? You look like hell. And you're all bloody. What
happened?" Natalie asked.

"Can we explain this later? I think we need some paramedics over here,"
Scully replied.

Rourke looked them over. "I'd say so." She waved to two of the paramedics,
then yelled, "Hey, you two! Over here, we've got a big job for you!"

"No, no. Wave them away. We can get repaired later, there's something I
want to do now," Mulder said.

"Mulder! You can't be serious! You have to get fixed up, right now."

"Scully, don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do. Geez, you tell a man you love him and he starts
questioning your trust."

"Well, then trust me on this. Now come here."

Scully obeyed, and he wrapped his arms around her, then asked, "Can you
try to stand?"

Scully looked at him, then got up, slowly and shakily. He got up as well,
and wrapped his arms around her even tighter in a bear hug.

"Can you give us a few moments, Detective, to get our thoughts together?"
Mulder asked Rourke.

"Sure," Natalie said, and left.

"Finally, I've got you all to myself, Scully," Mulder said with a grin.

A police car had a radio on, tuned to WCCR, and it was belting out the
chorus to Sarah McLachlan's "Angel".

And so the two agents, friends, partners, and soon to be lovers, stood
together, hugging each other, comforting each other after their ordeal as
the strains of "Angel" played through the air.

"In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
>From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness you feel
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reveries
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here."

And the night turned to day.

End part 2
Finis
Comments?  Mail me D_Quell@the-pentagon.com

Most Sincerely,
Dana Quell
Archiver & writer

Have a nice day!;)