"Call Waiting." 
by Caroline O'Connell 



Classification: PG (Language and violence)
Story: S, A, H.
Set: After Killswitch.
Spoilers: Killswitch
Summary: A wrong number gives Mulder a weekend he might not live to regret.
Distribution: Everywhere! (ie Gossamer, ATXC, Any fanfic pages.)I have no
shame! I just want the credit.
Disclaimer: Yadda Yadda Yadda. Not mine. Blah Blah Blah. Chris
Carter. No money. Etc etc etc. 

******************************************************************

"Call Waiting." 
by Caroline O'Connell 

“And the horse you came in on!" Mulder sighed switching off his phone. 

“Was that for Terry or Bob?" Scully asked as Mulder ran his fingers through his 
hair, trying to control his frustration. "Maybe you should ask for another 
phone." 

“And what colourful excuse can I use this time?" He smiled. "It got hit by a 
car?... Oh, used it. Fell off a speeding train?... Darn, used that one too! How 
about it got melted by somebody who could conduct electricity?..." 

“Point taken." Scully said. "Although, my personal favourite is it got blown up 
by a satellite guided laser." 

“You are enjoying this way too much, Scully." He threw a rolled up ball of paper 
at her. 

“So just tell them that your number has been given to half of the population of 
DC by somebody who thinks it's theirs. 

Before Mulder could offer a well chosen reply, his phone rang again. “Hello?" He 
sighed. 

“Hi, who's this? Where's Terry?" The voice asked. 

“Terry's in the shower." Mulder said. Scully looked wide eyed at him. He had 
never been so blatant with the unwanted callers. 

“What? Who the hell are you?" The voice was irate. 

“Who are you?" Mulder asked, enjoying his little bit of trouble making. 

“Her boyfriend." 

“Oh." Mulder suddenly felt very guilty. "Look,you have a wrong number. Terry's 
not here. I don't know who she is." 

“Yeah, right!" and Terry's boyfriend hung up. 

Mulder scrunched his face up. "My bad." 

“Who was that?" Scully asked. 

“Terry's boyfriend. Which, I guess makes him Bob."Mulder sighed. “Although, I 
think after our conversation he'll be her ex-boyfriend." 

It had been going on for almost two weeks. Following their case involving a 
homicidal computer with a perverse sense of humour, Mulder's phone along with his 
identification, his weapon and the jacket of a new suit,were destroyed in an 
explosion that killed Esther Nairn. 

His replacement phone had a voicemail facility that Mulder had yet to decipher. 
As the automated message remained unchanged, callers didn't know they were 
through to Mulder's number, and not Terry's... Whoever the hell Terry was! Scully 
reckoned there was a difference of one digit between them. Calls to the phone 
company did nothing and Mulder had no surname to check for any records to find 
out who she was which meant he had no way of contacting her to stop giving people 
his number. 

“So, Mulder. Any plans for the weekend?" Scully asked switching off her computer 
and packing away her work. 

“Yes. I plan to do absolutely nothing." Mulder stretched his arms behind his 
head. "And love every second of it. How about you?"

“Visiting Bill, Tara and the baby." She replied. 

“That's a long haul for a weekend. All the way to Miramar?" Mulder shook his head 
at the prospect. 

“ Actually, they're staying with my Mom. I'm going there." Scully sighed, clearly 
not looking forward to it. "So, if anything should crop up, feel free to come and 
get me." It sounded more like an order than a request. Scully was going out of 
courtesy to her Mother more than anything. 

“And have your brother kick my ass? No thank you!"Mulder said. “Besides, I don't 
care what happens this weekend. A flying saucer could land in the White House and 
I wouldn't care. I am just going to veg out. I need to recharge my batteries." 

They left the building together, got in their respective cars and went their 
separate ways home. 

It was after seven by the time Mulder had negotiated his way through traffic to 
get to his apartment. Barely in the door, Mulder whipped off his tie and began 
unbuttoning his shirt. Flexing his neck, he went to the kitchen and opened the 
fridge. This time there was a quart of fresh orange juice which he drank 
readily from. He practically gave himself botulism a few weeks back when he drank 
from a bottle that was way past its sell-by date. Taking a long gulp, he 
immediately felt better. The search for something edible wasn't nearly as 
successful. Some old take away food that seemed to have fostered a new life form 
and a block of cheese that had been there since the Bush administration. Take out 
again, then. 

Mulder showered and changed into faded blue jeans and the nearest black t-shirt. 
An early night, even if it was a Friday,would do him good. A veg out night 
watching bad tv, eating bad take out... and later watching a bad video. 

Throwing aside his discarded jacket in search of the remote control, he noticed 
his cell phone display indicating there was a message. He really wanted to ignore 
it. The odds were very high that it wasn't for him, but for Terry and/or Bob, but 
on the off chance that it was an important message for him, he switched on 
the phone to hear the message. 

Surprise, surprise. It was for Terry! "Terry, it's Phil.You have to come back to 
Bradley Wilson. All hell is breaking loose here! I'm also going to ring your home 
number and hope you get one of these messages. Sorry to mess up your big night 
out. Seeya." 

Bradley Wilson? Sounds like a firm of lawyers or something.Mulder began looking 
through the phone book and quickly found their phone number. On ringing, there 
was no reply. 7.30 on a Friday. Who would be working? Well, according to the 
message, Terry would.Time to get this sorted for once and for all. Mulder threw 
on his Timberlands and leather jacket, got in his car and made his way back into 
the city to tell this damn Terry woman to learn her phone number for once and for 
all. 

Mulder walked through a swinging door, for a receptionist. The front desk was 
empty. He looked around hoping to run into a security guard to let somebody know 
he was in the building. When nobody materialised, he saw the listing for the 
building on the wall near the elevators. Bradley Wilson was located on the 5th 
floor. 

The elevator opened and Mulder stepped out. The floor looked like it was 
undergoing renovation. Varnish tins, drop cloths and wood work tools sat near some 
freshly varnished wall panels. The corridor smelt of fresh wood and paint. It too 
was uninhabited. 

“Hello." Mulder said, raising his voice. "I'm looking for Terry." 

Caught unaware, he felt a gun press into his neck. "Don't move." Mulder did as he 
was told. Natural reaction took over and he raised his arms to show he wasn't 
armed. "What do you want?" The gun was prodded further into his neck, causing 
Mulder's head to jerk forward. 

There was nobody at reception." Mulder explained calmly,figuring it was an over 
zealous security guard. "I'm looking for Terry. She works here." 

The gun was kept at Mulder's neck as he was marched down through the open plan 
area to an inner office at the far end of the floor. He was roughly pushed in. "I 
found this wandering outside. Say she's looking for Terry." 

There was a young woman, in a long, lilac evening dress sitting at the computer 
looking absolutely terrified. A man stood behind her,looking over her shoulder. 

“ I think there's been a misunderstanding." Mulder said, trying to explain his 
being there. 

“Shut up." The guy with the gun said. 

“Who is this, Terry?" The other guy asked. 

“I... I don't know." She said quietly. "I've never seen him before." 

Mulder frowned. She wasn't frightened by the intrusion,something else was 
scaring her. 

“Is this him, Terry?" The guy with the gun asked."Is this the guy you were 
seeing?" 

“No!" Mulder and Terry said together. 

“Please, if you would just let me explain..." 

“Now Terry, " The other guy ignored Mulder."Finish the transaction, or we kill 
your boyfriend here." 

“I told you, I don't know who he is!" She said forcefully. 

“We should kill him anyway." The guy with the gun said. 

“Wait, what is going on, here?" Mulder stepped towards her. 

Before anyone gave him an answer, Mark struck him across the back of the head. 
Mulder dropped, dazed, to the ground. 

“Get rid of lover boy here." The first guy said."Terry, he's safe as long as you 
co-operate, okay? Back to work." 

Mulder had no idea how long he had been unconscious for. He would have sold his 
soul for an ice pack to ease the throbbing in his head. He slowly came around, 
becoming more aware of his surroundings when he was forced to open his eyes and 
see why he couldn't put his hands to his head. They went so far and then stopped, 
which didn't make sense to Mulder, even in his present condition. The 
handcuffs rattled against the metal pole as he saw them glint through the blur of 
his vision. He sighed loudly. “Great!! he muttered to himself as his surroundings 
became painfully clear. 

He glanced around the small room. It was no more than 8 x 8.The pole his hands 
were secured around had brackets for shelf supports that were still under 
construction. Boxes of photocopy paper were piled high to his left and a cupboard 
to his right, and absolutely nothing that might help him out of the cuffs. He 
was stuck there. "Great!" he repeated. and leant back against the wall. The brick 
work was cold and soothed his head...but at that moment in time, a headache was 
the least of Mulder's troubles. What were they doing out there? What were they 
forcing Terry to do and was she still okay- Mulder looked at his left wrist to 
see the time,but all he saw was the bracelet of the handcuff. He cursed himself 
when he remembered his watch was sitting right where he had left it on the coffee 
table in his apartment. Mulder hated not having his watch. He had worn one since 
his seventh birthday and hated being without it. At least if he knew the time, 
he could figure out if he had been abandoned in the building, or if they were 
still out there. 

That question was answered moments later with the door opening. Mulder closed his 
eyes and decided to play possum. 

“Boyfriend's still out cold." It was the first guy from before. 

“What part of 'he's not my boyfriend' did you fail to understand, Mark?" Terry 
snapped. "I don't know the guy. Just let him go, or something." 

“Or something!" Mark replied smugly. "Take a seat." He manhandled Terry to the 
ground beside Mulder who felt his left wrist being released from the handcuffs. 
He let it slump to his side, continuing the charade. 

“Give me your hand, Terry." Mark said, squatting down beside her. 

“Look, you got what you want. " She sounded scared,despite the anger in her 
voice. "Don't do this Mark, please. If I ever meant anything to you, you'll let 
us go." 

Mark grabbed at her arm and she started to struggle with him.It was the chance 
Mulder was waiting for. He kicked Mark's legs out, sending him tumbling back to 
the floor. Mulder pounced and got in a good punch. She made it as far as the 
doorway when she was bundled back in by the second guy, who aimed his gun 
straight at Mulder. "You're a real trouble maker!" 

Terry stepped into his line of sight. "You said if I co-operated, you wouldn't 
hurt him. I co-operated, so you keep your end of the deal." 

Mulder stepped away from Mark, hoping to diffuse the potentially lethal 
situation. "Nice try, asshole!" Mark spat landing a stunning blow to Mulder's 
stomach. He dropped to the ground,gasping for breath and didn't see the punch 
coming that once again returned him to the darkness. 



*********************************************************************



Mark dragged Mulder's unconscious figure back to the wall.Terry was forced down 
beside him . The cuffs were pulled through 2 shelf brackets about a foot apart 
and Mulder and Terry were shackled together. 

"We'll check on you two later." Mark said smugly,closing the door. 

"Bastard!" Terry muttered. She reached out with her right hand to open the nearby 
press. Stretching, she was just a few inches shy of the handle.Terry turned back 
to Mulder who was still out cold. "Hey... hey, wake up."She nudged him gently, 
but got no reply. "Okay, I'll have to do this myself." She yanked at the cuffs, 
jerking Mulder's arm through the brackets. It gave her the leeway she needed. 
Grabbing a box of paper clips, she repositioned herself on the floor and set about 
freeing them. 

By the time the fourth paperclip had broken in her attempts to pick the lock, 
Terry was a little frustrated. "Jesus H Christ, goddamned son of a bitch!". She 
yelled, throwing the remains of the clip at the door. 

I don't think that will open it either." Mulder muttered beside her. She jumped 
at the unexpected interruption. 

"Are you okay?" She asked. He nodded. "I'm so sorry about all of this. I don't 
know how you got dragged in to it. You shouldn't be here" 

"Tell me about it!" he groaned, shifting position. 

"Seeing as we're stuck with each other for the time being... Hi." Terry extended 
her free hand. "Terry Dillon." 

"Fox Mulder." 

"So, why are you here?" She asked. 

"Your friends keep leaving messages for you on my mobile phone, which, I might 
add is for work purposes." He touched his cheek where Mark had punched him. "Ow." 


"Well, if you keep poking at it, of course it's going to hurt!" Terry chided. Why 
are you getting my messages?" 

"Because you keep giving people my number." 

"No I don't!" She said adamantly. 

Oh yes, you do." Mulder replied. 

"I do not." 

"How many messages have you gotten lately?" Mulder said, knowing for once he was 
in the right. "What's your phone number?" 

"It's 555 9355." 

"No, that's My number." 

"Oh." She said, defeated. "Oh, and by the way,thank you so much for telling my 
now ex-boyfriend that I was in your shower... Although after tonight, I think I 
would have re-evaluated our relationship." She sighed, badly disguising the fact 
that she was on the verge of tears. "We're not going to get out of here, are we?" 


"Don't think that way." Mulder said quietly, taking her hand. 

"I know, I know." She wiped away a tear. "Where there's life there's hope.It 
ain't over til it's over." She listed off the cliches. 

"Or something." Mulder smiled. He was as scared as she was, but his 
professionalism took over. The last thing Terry needed was to see him panic. He 
had to keep her calm, which in turn would keep him calm. He noticed she was 
making no effort to let go of his hand. He didn't mind. The contact was 
reassuring. 

They were both silent for a while. What the hell do you talk about when you're 
being held hostage with a stranger in a long formal dress and no shoes?He 
focused on her toes. There were painted a deep shade of burgundy 
which complimented the lilac in her dress. She noticed him staring and wiggled 
her toes.

"Static shocks." Terry said. 

"Sorry?" Mulder asked. 

"You were looking at my feet and wondering where my shoes were, right?" She 
smiled. "I was getting static shocks from everything, the door handles, the 
elevator buttons. I reckoned it was the ridiculously high strappy things I was 
wearing creating static, so I took them off." 

"Terry, what do they want?" Mulder asked. "Why did they do this to you?" 

"I'm office manager, here. We're a pensions trust group.It's mainly small 
investors." She explained. "But all the investments together add up. We make 
quarterly payments and lodged funds to one account to draw cheques for 
our clients. Mr Wilson and I are the only 2 people who know both the 
account number and the password." her voice trembled with emotion. "And I 
have just moved $4.5 million out of our account and our investors will get 
nothing...Bastards." Terry's mood changed to anger. "I thought they were my 
friends. I spent 2years working with them... Christ! I even slept with Mark. And 
all they wanted was the money." 

"If they have the money now, why are you still here?" Mulder asked, hoping that 
keeping her talking would stop her from getting more upset. 

"They have to wait until after midnight to verify that the accounts have gone 
through." A slow smile emerged through her tears. "I don't think they trust me." 

"So we have until then to figure a way out of here."Mulder said, looking around 
the room. 

"Not gonna happen." Terry sighed. "This is an inner room. The only way in or out 
is through that door. There's not even an air conditioning duct." Humour me." He 
looked her in the eye. She laughed. 

"You don't give up, do you? Picking fights, playing dead.You've been looking for 
a way out since you woke up." She shook her head. "Who are you?" 

"I'm an FBI agent." 

"Get outta here !" 

"Special Agent Fox Mulder at your service, ma'am." 

"So can you get us out of these?" She rattled the cuffs, noticing she was still 
holding his hand. Terry let go, feeling a little embarrassed. "Do you have your 
gun?" 

"I don't even have my phone." Mulder sighed. "I got a message for you to call the 
office, that all hell was breaking loose. So when I finally had away of 
contacting you, I just came straight in. I didn't expect to have to bring 
my gun." 

"Phil said the workmen had crashed the computer system,so I came in to check it 
out. He and Mark were waiting for me." 

"So who's Bob?" Mulder asked. "The messages were for Terry and Bob. Is Bob not 
the ex-boyfriend?" 

She started laughing again. "I'm Bob. Terry Dillon... Bob Dylan. It's a nickname 
I've had since high school." 

"That explains it." Mulder shrugged. "What time is it?" 

Terry looked at her watch. "9.30. Two and a half hours to go." 

Mulder looked at the pole. He gripped both hands around it and tried to shake it. 
"Will this budge?" 

"I don't think so. This was part of the open plan before its conversion. It's 
been cemented into the floor." She explained. 

Mulder turned his attentions to the brackets for the shelves that kept them 
confined. 

"Unless you have a screwdriver..." Terry started. 

"What?" Mulder brightened. He put his hand in his jacket pockets, yanking her arm 
through the gap. 

"Ow!" Terry yelled. "Easy, please." 

"Sorry." He replied, taking out his Swiss Army Knife. 

"If this works, I forgive you!" She replied as he started to work on loosening 
the screws. The attachment on the knife was larger than the screw which slowed 
him considerably. He worked calmly and patiently through three of the four 
screws. Terry watched, holding her left arm up to enable him to have as much 
freedom as possible with his right arm that was handcuffed to hers. Mulder could 
see the nervous anticipation in her face. She was a lot more frightened than she 
let on, her gaze darting between the door and the brackets. 

"What's with the dress?" he asked, breaking the silence. 

"Huh?" What the hell time was this to ask her about her dress? Terry shook her 
head and smiled. Trying to keep her calm. Her boy scout rescuing the damsel in a 
dress. "I was going to the opera. It sold out fairly quickly, but I was high on 
the cancellation list. When one ticket came up, I took it. Cost me a small 
fortune! But, seeing as I was just over the break up with Mark, I decided 
to treat myself to a night of culture and get completely made over for it." She 
sighed,glancing at her watch. "The interval is probably just over." 

"Which opera?" 

"'Manon Lescault' by Puccini. Not as well known as 'Mme Butterfly', but in my 
humble opinion, a better opera." 

"So I'm chained to an opera buff?" Mulder smiled. 

"Not really. More of a music buff. I'll listen to anything. Next week I'm trying 
to organise tickets for whoever's Lollapalloozing this year."She stopped. "Next 
week... at this point I'll settle for next day." 

"Hang in there, Terry. We're almost there." He finally got the last screw to 
budge. "Yess!" 

They heard noise outside. "No!" Terry said and they quickly slumped back in to 
their seated positions. 

Phil and Mark came back in carrying their guns. "Well,Terry, its been real." 
Mark grinned. "But we're out of here." 

" But you have to wait until midnight. It's only10:00." She replied, panic 
stricken. 

"Yeah, well we got bored." He cocked the gun at her.

"Wait. No!" Terry said. Mulder could see her tremble. "It's Friday. Nobody will 
be here until Monday. You could be on another continent by then. You don't have 
to kill us." 

The two men looked at each other. "What the hell. I'm feeling generous." Mark 
pointed the gun away from them. 

Mulder was trying to remain calm for Terry's sake, but he almost passed out with 
relief when they put the guns down. After all he'd been through, to go like this 
would be such a waste. 

"Now that you're leaving us here." Terry stammered"Could I at least have my 
jacket?" 

"Don't worry babe, things will hot up soon enough."Mark said closing the door 
behind him. 

"Don't call me babe, you jerk!" She muttered. 

"Thank you." Mulder said after a moment. "I think you just saved both our lives." 


"I don't know." She shrugged. "I just can't help feeling..." 

"You're just cold, that's all." 

"No, I'm not. I wanted my jacket because my phone is in the pocket." Terry 
sighed. "I'm shaking because I'm scared! I think I'm going to have a coronary. If 
my heart beats any faster, it will explode." 

"Take deep breaths." Mulder said matter of factly."It'll pass." 

"So, FBI Agent Mulder, you're used to this kind of thing,people threatening you 
with guns?" 

"It's happened before, but I won't say I get used to it." Mulder started to work 
on the final screw. You deal with it and move on." His hand shook as he tried to 
work. "See. Happens to the best of us." He tried to laugh it off, but his head 
was starting to pound. 

"Are you okay?" 

"It's nothing... just a headache." 

"You probably have a concussion, or something. Mark hit you hard back in the 
office." She took the knife from him. "Let me work on this. You take a breather." 


For once, Mulder wasn't going to argue. The tense situation caused a rush of 
blood and he was really starting to feel the effects of his injuries.Mulder had 
kept talking and working to stave off the feeling, but it now had the upper hand. 
He leant back to the wall and used his free hand to cradle his head. He closed 
his eyes and felt himself slip away. "Just for a moment." he thought."I'll be 
okay in a moment." 

Terry maneuvered herself around to Mulder's side of the pole to continue work on 
the final screw. 

"How are you doing, there?" She asked as it dropped into her hand. "See, we're 
done. We can get out now." Her smile dropped when she got no response. "Hey... 
Hey Fox." She shook him gently but still, no reply. "Okay. Okay, okay." She said 
quietly. "Don't panic, Bob. You can do this."She clambered through the gap with 
a little difficulty, careful not to land on Mulder, but she made it, none the 
less. "Now, Sleeping Beauty, it's time to wake up." She shook him as gently as 
before, trying to coax him awake. Terry wasn't sure if he was just sleeping or he 
had passed out. 

She interrupted her efforts for a moment and sniffed the air."Smoke? Oh God!" 
That's what Mark meant about things hotting up. Shaking Mulder harder than 
before, she raised her voice. "Fox, you have to wake up! The place is on fire!" 



*********************************************************************

Terry looked Mulder who remained unresponsive . "Hey,Fox!" she yelled shaking 
him vigorously. "You have to wake up." Her voice betraying her fears. She was on 
the verge of slapping him when he woke with a start."It's me, Terry." He looked 
at her, confused. "We have to leave here now. The place is on fire." 

"What?" That seemed to snap him back to his senses. 

"Fire. Here. Now." She helped him to his feet. It was only then she realised how 
tall he was. "Are you going to be okay?" Terry asked as he leant in to her to 
keep his balance. 

"I think so." he said, standing unaided. His head was still pounding, but he had 
more important things to worry about, like getting the hell out.The door to the 
small supplies room where they had been held was unlocked. Stepping out into the 
smoke filled corridor, Mulder began to feel uneasy. 

"We need to get t to the fire exit. That will lead us to the basement car park." 
Terry said, leading Mulder straight through the main office. 

"Is there no other way?" Mulder asked, reluctant to go towards the inner office 
where flames were shooting out the door. He looked up. "Why aren't the sprinklers 
working?" 

"The workmen were supposed to switch them back on by close of business." Terry 
stopped at one of the desks and began searching through the drawers. The smoke 
was starting to thicken causing both to cough. "If we get up on the table, I can 
try kick start the sprinklers." 

They climbed on to the desk together, co-ordinating their movements to minimise 
the problems of the handcuffs. Holding up a small lighter, Terry placed the flame 
directly under the sprinkler's sensor. "Here's hoping."

Within seconds they were drenched by water gushing from the sprinklers. "Will the 
fire department come now?" Mulder asked, as they ran through the deluge from the 
sprinklers towards the fire exit, like they were running from the rain. 

"Only if some one outside sees the flames. We haven't been connected yet. Our 
best bet is to go to the lower floors and try call from there." 

"You are very calm." Mulder noted. "And practical." 

"Wait until later. " She smiled as they maid their way down the stairwell. "I'll 
be the one in the corner having a nervous breakdown." Terry brushed her short 
hair back with her fingers. Mulder noticed she was still shaking.She was a lot 
more scared than she let on. 

They stopped on the third floor and started checking doors to find a phone. "I'm 
pretty certain that the 5th and 6th floors are the only open plan offices. The 
rest are pretty much self-contained. We're new to the building, that's why the 
renovations are going on." Terry explained. 

They stopped in their tracks on hearing a loud bang overhead. 

"Oh God, the paints and primers!" Mulder said."They must have caught fire. 
Forget the phone! We get out now." 

They made their way back to the stairwell, unnerved by the roar of flames 
overhead. There was another loud crash that startled Terry into losing her 
footing. Still chained together, she didn't fall too far, but when she stood up, 
Mulder saw she had gashed her left ankle. From the look on her face, he knew she 
was hurting, but insisted on carrying on herself. Her calm facade was being 
eroded with every step they took. The curls of smoke that followed them down had 
Mulder feeling uneasy. 

"So, tell me about your opera." Mulder asked. They both managed to be calmer when 
they talked. 

"Oh the usual plot." Terry said, realising what he was doing and glad for it. 
"Boy meets girl, loses girl to other guy. Girl gets mistaken for a prostitute and 
thrown in prison." She choked back tears of pain and fear with every step. "Boy 
pleads to see girl. Both get sent to the New World. Girl dies in ten minute aria 
at the end. Real crowd pleaser!" 

"Sounds like an episode of Melrose Place!" Mulder said. Terry laughed loudly, 
despite the seriousness of the situation. 

Mulder helped Terry limp to the basement parking lot. When they entered, there 
were 2 cars remaining. "Oh God, that's Mark's car." Terry whispered "They're 
still here." The echo carried around the concrete surrounds. The next noise was a 
gunshot ringing out. Mulder bundled Terry back into the stairwell. Without 
realising it, they were holding on tightly to each other."Can you make a run for 
it?" He asked making no attempt to loosen the embrace. They were both still wet 
from the sprinkler system. 

"I don't know." She stammered. "They'll shoot at us again." 

He could feel her frenetic heartbeat next to his. Mulder was trained for this 
type of situation. Terry was not. "Terry, we've made it this far." He said 
quietly. "A few more steps and we're free and clear." 

"Okay." she said. "Let's go." 

"Are you sure?" 

"No. But what's the alternative?" She was losing the hard fought battle against 
crying. We'll use the roof supports as cover in case they try to fire again, but 
I reckon the fire will convince them to leave as fast as possible." 

They burst through the door and started running, slowed by Terry's ankle and the 
fact that she was barefoot on rough ground. But if it hurt, she never said. 

Further gunshots ricocheted around them. "What did you do to the computer, 
Terry?" Phil's voice boomed. 

"You set the building on fire, you jerk!" She yelled back. "If you don't get out 
now, we'll all die." 

"How did you bounce the funds, Terry?" 

"They weren't yours to begin with." A bullet chipped cement from the roof support 
inches from her head. 

Mulder grabbed her and they slid down into a crouched position. "Terry, what did 
you do?" he asked as they hid side by side behind the column. 

"It's always been set up that to remove more than$250,000 in one go would 
require verbal consent within 90 minutes of the transaction." Terry explained. 
"They didn't know that and now their 90 minutes are up." 

"So the transaction is void." He noticed her satisfied grin. "They were right not 
to trust you." 

Further shots rang out and Mulder knew that Phil and Mark would close in on them. 
He took out his small knife, hoping it might come in handy,should a 
confrontation occur. 

The smoke alarms rang out from the floors above them."We're running out of 
time." Terry said as smoke began to filter through the emergency exit. 

"You're not going to get your money, guys!" Mulder yelled out. "Do yourselves a 
favour and get out." 

"I don't think so." Mark said appearing behind Terry. Instinctively, Mulder 
struck out with the knife. It landed between 2 of Mark's ribs, piercing 
his heart. His eyes wide, Mark slumped to the ground, dead. Terry looked 
open-mouthed dumbstruck. 

Mulder knelt down checking in vain for a pulse. "I didn't mean for that to 
happen. I was just trying to stop him... Damn." He shook his head and took the 
gun from Mark's hand. Mulder checked the chamber of the revolver.There were 4 
bullets left. Phil must be doing most of the shooting. He stood back up. "Time to 
go." 

Terry's car was still several metres from them. Mulder aimed the gun and shot out 
one of the windows. Her car alarm shrieked around the parking lot as they made a 
run for it. 

" I'm driving!" Mulder yelled as they reached the door. Terry scrambled across 
the seats and practically pulled Mulder in after her. She handed him the spare 
set from the glove compartment. 

As he put the key in the ignition, the rear window was shattered by a further 
gunshot followed by the front window. Terry screamed out as she was flung forward 
against the dashboard and then stopped moving. 

"Terry... Terry?" Mulder asked frantically trying to rouse her. Her hair began to 
turn red from a cut over her ear where the bullet had hit. He felt for a pulse. 
She was still alive. "Hang in there, Bob, we're almost home." He put the car in 
reverse and the tyres screamed as he sped out of the parking spot. Seconds 
later, he had spun into a forward direction. Mulder raced up the ramp to the 
security barrier. The car passed the magic eye too quickly and ploughed through 
as it began to rise. Crude, but effective. They were out.Mulder brought the car 
to a halt as the car was quickly surrounded by police officers, and then the 
paramedics. Mulder tried to explain what was going on, telling them who he was 
and where he had left his identification. The officer with them was dubious of 
Mulder's claims, but seeing as he was handcuffed to an unconscious woman, he 
wouldn't be going anywhere fast. 

The paramedics examined Terry, gently leaning her back from the dashboard. One of 
them examined the tender area around the gunshot wound.She snapped awake, 
completely bewildered. "Ow! What are you doing?"

"Terry, we made it. We're out." Mulder said taking her hand in both of his. 

"What happened?" She touched the head wound herself.

"You got shot." One of the paramedics said."You're lucky it just grazed you. 

One of the fire officers came over with a large bolt cutter."if you two would 
raise your arms, please." He smiled through the front window. They did as they 
were told and he cut the chain, releasing them.Both sighed loudly with relief. 

"It's been fun, Special Agent Fox Mulder, but I never want to do that again!" 
Terry smiled, relieved that it was all over. She was helped from the car by one 
of the paramedics. Dismissing any offers of stretchers and wheelchairs,she 
limped to the ambulance. 

His credentials confirmed, Mulder began to talk to the police officers surveying 
the scene Terry watched from the ambulance. She couldn't hear him,but she knew 
he was telling them what hand happened. He noticed her looking over at him and 
came over. 

"How's the ankle?" Mulder asked, sitting in the open doorway. 

"Killing me." She replied, smiling. 

"The police will need a statement, but that can wait until we get you to 
hospital." 

"I'm fine." Terry said. Mulder looked at her for a moment. "What?" 

"You just remind me of somebody." He smiled,referring to Scully. "She'd tell me 
she was fine when the opposite was true... Terry, you're going to hospital. You 
might not think so now, but believe me, you'll need that quiet corner you 
mentioned earlier." He stood up and closed over the door. "I'll see you there." 

As the ambulance drove, the firefighters were controlling the blaze that raged on 
the 5th and 6th floors. Even looking at the fire from that safe distance gave him 
the jitters. Thinking how close they were to being killed that night. 

The glow of the flames lit up the night sky as Mulder looked at his wrist. No 
watch! He had lost track of time completely. For all he knew, it was4am. But it 
was probably closer to midnight. 

"Agent Mulder." It was one of the police officers."You can go to your car now. 
It's undamaged." 

"Did you find the second man?" Mulder asked. 

" We're in the process of bringing out a second body. It looks like he shot 
himself in the head." 

"Damn." Mulder shook his head. Figuring there was nothing more he could do, he 
got in his car and drove off. 

Monday morning: 

Scully was already in the office when Mulder arrived."Good morning." she said 
looking up from her file. "How was your weekend?" Mulder asked, settling 
himself.

"Great." Scully was still surprised at how much fun she had. "A lot better than I 
thought. We all had a great time. I sorted out a lot of stuff with Bill. Cleared 
the air, you know." Mulder nodded. "And Matthew is wonderful. He can crawl at the 
speed of light and if it wasn't nailed down he had it and was trying to eat it." 

"Some of us never out grew that stage!" Mulder joked. She smiled broadly. 

"And how was your weekend, the big veg-out... And what happened your eye?" Scully 
noticed that Mulder's left eye had a small bruise under it. 

"Oh, not much." He sighed. "I spent Friday night trapped in a burning building, 
handcuffed to a woman in an evening dress." 

"Oh, I've seen that one." Scully said. "Diehard with a Versace!" 

"You don't believe me!" Mulder whined. "I'm offended." 

"I'm getting coffee. Do you want some?" 

"Please." Mulder relaxed back into his chair. Today was going to be one of those 
good days. 

As Scully returned, she was followed by one of the clerical staff. "Agent Mulder, 
this was delivered by courier this morning." He handed Mulder the package and 
left them. 

"Who's sending you stuff now?" Scully asked handing over the mug. 

Mulder shrugged. It was a local delivery, but if it was the Lone Gunmen they 
would have warned him in advance. It was a CD. A recording of"Manon Lescault". 
He laughed loudly as he read the note. Very uncharacteristic of him. 

"What's so funny?" Scully asked, her interest piqued. He passed on the note. 
"Thanks for an interesting night. Maybe we can do it sometime without the 
handcuffs. Bob." Scully frowned, giving him 'that look'."I'm not even going to 
ask!" 

"I told you so!" 

"Mulder, drink your coffee." 

*********************************************************************
Fade out.
Feedback to:
Caroline O'Connell
ginger@cyberia.ie
Thanks for reading. 

Visit The Daily Scandal Online
http://homepage.tinet.ie/~impromptu/mag/scandal.html