Just outside of Seattle
4:37 pm


He made it there first, of course, driving like a maniac up the 
tree-lined road into the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. 
The lake was close to six kilometres off the road and he 
valiantly resisted the urge to just run for it before the 
others even showed up - they had to go in together or else they 
might never meet up in the dense forest. Luckily, the others 
had been nearly as eager as he had been to get there and were 
at his side in a matter of minutes. 

"Okay - follow me," he said quietly as he made his first steps 
into the woods, moving briskly towards the lake. 

A few minutes later he could resist no longer and had begun to 
run towards the target at a demanding pace, knowing that the 
others would now be able to follow his path of destruction 
through the bush. A half hour later he was standing at the edge 
of a pristine wilderness lake, looking out at a largish island 
perched a few kilometres from the shore. A small motorboat was 
anchored at a small dock and a military-style building stood in 
sharp contrast to the beautiful natural surroundings. 

He was so close he could almost taste it. Where the hell were 
the rest of them?

He was almost in the water when the rest of the agents arrived 
at the scene to witness him rolling up his pants and stripping 
down to a t-shirt. 

"Agent Mulder - the boats are coming. You can't seriously think 
you're going to swim out there! It's freezing!" one of the 
agents said in disbelief. 

"The boats won't make it through those woods - at least not for 
a few hours at least. Scully doesn't have a few hours - I'm 
going NOW." And with that he was in the water, leaving the 
other six agents standing on shore, mouths gaping. It was 
March - the water in the mountain lakes around Seattle could be 
unbearable, even in the summer - and he was wearing pants and a 
t-shirt. But he certainly was making good time….

He was right - the water was fucking cold but Mulder's 
adrenaline kept pumping and pushing him through the icy fluid, 
one stroke at a time. He could see the island getting closer 
and closer and that was more than enough to propel him forward 
and in no time at all - or so it seemed to his overly juiced 
system - he was there, climbing out of the chilly water and 
onto the island. 

			******

"Sir, we have a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"There's an intruder on the island."

"What?!"

"Yes, sir."

"Fuck. They're here. The fucking fibbies are here. How did this 
happen?"

"I don't know sir. What should we do?"

"What should we do?! What should we do?! We're fucked. We 
evacuate. Destroy all the evidence that we can't take with us."

"Can't we just eliminate the problem sir?"

"If he's here then they all know and more will come or are 
already here - across the water. We have to evacuated. Sound 
the alarm and get everyone moving on destroying the evidence."

"What about the woman?"

He considered it for a second. 

"Leave her where she is - there isn't time to do anything about 
her and we can't take her with us. She doesn't know any more 
than she ever did. Now, get moving."

"Yes sir"

			******
Paramilitary Facility
Outside of Seattle, Washington
5:22 pm

The doors were all coded and impossible to unlock. Mulder 
glared at them in frustration, as if willing them to open by 
thought alone. 

And then his prayers were answered as activity suddenly poured 
through open doors - men running in and out carrying papers and 
equipment. 

'Shit - they know I'm here,' though Mulder as he hid, waiting 
for his chance to get it. 

And there it was - no one coming in or out, just an open door 
for him to slip through. 

The interior of the building was as bleak as the video made it 
out to be with concrete room upon concrete room extending 
throughout. He heard footsteps starting down the hall and 
barely made it into a room to hide from the goon making his way 
down the hall with a box of files in his hands. Heart racing, 
gun at the ready, Mulder made sure it was clear and continued 
down the hall, thanking the powers that be for the relatively 
insecure interior doors -apparently they didn't think anyone 
was going to get into the base. Frantically he ran down the 
hall, checking each room quickly until finally he came to the 
sight that would stay in his head forever. 

There she lay, naked, tightly curled up on the rough concrete 
floor, oblivious to the action happening in the building. 
Quickly, with trembling hands, he picked the lock and then he 
was there, by her side, touching her hair, her face, staring in 
terror, in pain at her bruises, burns, afraid to touch much of 
her broken body. 

"Scully!" he whispered loudly into her ear. "Scully!"

There was no response and he began to worry about getting her 
out of there without running into the paramilitary types. It 
was going to be hard if he had to carry her. 

"Scully!" he tried again, this time gently gripping her 
shoulders and shaking her carefully. "Scully, you gotta wake up 
for me. We've got to get out of here."
					
			******

The easyness, the simplicity of the darkness, was interrupted 
by a new sensation - warmth mixed with a dull ache on her 
shoulders. Slowly coming to, her first reaction of intense 
fear - they were back to get her, to bring her back to the 
room, the balaclava-clad man, the torture - but then her 
instinct to recoil, to lash out, was curiously abated. Somehow 
she knew this touch - not consciously - but it brought a little 
comfort and allowed her to approach consciousness without fear. 

She opened her eyes and was simultaneously shocked and not at 
all surprised to see her partner's hazel eyes, heavy with 
concern, boring into her icy blues. 

"Scully!" he gasped with relief. "We've got to get out of 
here - can you stand?"

He helped her slip out of the bindings that held her legs and 
arms and gently pulled her to her feet, wincing at the gasp of 
pain she emitted as she just managed to stand.

"Are you okay, Scully?" he asked stupidly. 'of course she's not 
okay stupid - you saw the tapes - you see her injuries'

But she only nodded and even managed a very weak "I'm fine," as 
he helped her to the door, each painful step tearing at her 
tortured body, his tortured soul. They were halfway to the exit 
when she began to shake violently and became even more unsteady 
on her feet. 

"Mulder - I'm so cold," she whispered with very little 
strength. 

He looked at her in dismay. She was trembling uncontrollable 
and was wet from being held up against his wet clothes. 

"I know, Scully," he said in a panicky voice. "I'm sorry, I 
know this is hard but I'm all wet - my clothes wouldn't make 
you any warmer. We're almost there - I know you can make it." 

Through the shaking she managed a slight nod. "Okay," she 
gasped, letting him pull her further down the hall. 

To Mulder, the length of the hall seemed to have multiplied 
infinitely as he dragged his semi-conscious partner towards the 
exit. 'C'mon Scully, you're going to make it. You're going to 
be fine.' this was his silent mantra as they struggled towards 
the door. 'C'mon Scully…'

And finally they were there, hadn't encountered any 
paramilitary types, were both still breathing as they stepped 
out into the damp day and faced their next obstacle with a 
double of straight dread chased with a small dose of panic. 
They rested for the shortest of instants on the shore, 
regarding the water warily as they caught their breath. 

"Okay Scully - all you gotta do is keep breathing okay? Just 
keep breathing and I'll do the rest. You think you can make 
it?" Mulder asked, feeling another dose of pure adrenaline 
beginning to course through his body with the anticipation of 
pulling his partner across the water. 

"No problem," she gasped, hoping she sounded more confident 
than she felt. 

The water was beyond cold, was torture against her already 
clammy skin, against her open wounds and it didn't help that 
Mulder had to hold onto her ribs in order to pull her, rescue-
swimmer style, towards the other side. 

"Breathe, Scully!" he gasped between breaths as he continued to 
pull her through the water but he couldn't tell if she was 
following his orders. 

His body now running on adrenaline alone, Mulder finally made 
it to the shore and let strong awaiting arms help him carry 
Scully onto land. 

"Breathe Scully!" he yelled, checking if she was. "Breathe!" 

"Everyone's jackets, shirts, anything. NOW!" he yelled even as 
he had his head down near her mouth and chest, checking for 
breathing. 

She wasn't breathing. 

She isn't breathing, she isn't breathing, tilt her head back, 
open airway, ohfucksheisn'tbreathing. two breaths in check they 
go in check pulse two breaths… and then she was coughing, 
spitting up lake water, groaning at the intense agony of 
coughing with broken ribs. The look in his eyes expressed the 
limits of human relief but there was no time to stop and talk, 
it was time to start moving. 

Quickly he dried Scully off with someone's shirt and helped her 
struggle into a t-shirt and jacket. Then, using more jackets, 
he wrapped her legs up warmly. "Better, Scully? Warmer?" he 
asked, eyes full of concern and empathy. 

She managed a weak nod. 

She looked so small and vulnerable, so broken and hurt. There 
was no time but he couldn't help himself - he had to hold her - 
if even just for a second. She was shaking with shock, 
exhaustion, and cold as he slipped his arms around her and 
pulled himself closer to her, eyes locked. He wanted to hold 
her forever but settled for a few seconds before gently kissing 
her on the forehead and letting go. Turning to face his 
slightly embarrassed colleagues, all trying not to watch the 
little scene in various states of undress, Mulder nodded 
towards the woods and they were off with Mulder and another 
agent gently carrying Scully. 

The distance to the road seemed to have increased substantially 
in the previous few hours and Mulder was almost convinced that 
they had turned in the wrong direction somehow when they 
finally made it back to their vehicles. Carefully, they helped 
Scully into the back seat of Mulder's car and they were off - 
back to Seattle, in search of a hospital. 

			******
En Route to University of Washington Medical Centre
Seattle, Washington
6:06 pm


He had one eye on the road and one on his partner. Similarly, 
he had one hand on the wheel and one holding Scully's less-
injured hand. 

"You okay back there?" he asked, hoping it didn't sound as 
stupid as he thought. 

Scully gave him a very weak and tired smile. "I'm fine, 
Mulder," she whispered. 

He had to grin. He couldn't imagine a less fine situation to be 
in. The shit she had been through those last two days… but 
somehow he knew that she was right - she was fine - nobody 
could ever permanently keep her down. Damn - he loved her so 
much. Everything about her was amazing. And she was his to 
love. He had to kill that bastard. Someday - no matter how long 
it took, he would personally make the fucker pay dearly for the 
pain he had put her through. The mere thought of the tapes, 
never mind the flashbacks of video, was enough to give him the 
chills and demobilize all coherent though for a moment. 

"Hey Scully, we're here. You're going to be okay," he said, 
pulling into the emergency entrance of the University of 
Washington Medical Centre with a squealing stop. 

Previously alerted hospital staff were waiting for them with a 
stretcher and she was quickly transferred onto it from the back 
seat. And then they were running with her down the hall and a 
nurse physically stopped him from following into the restricted 
area and suggested that he park his car and fill out her forms 
while he waited. And it certainly wasn't the first time he had 
been prevented from following his hurting partner into the 
restricted areas of various hospitals but the effect never lost 
its impact on his heart. Again and again it felt like being 
crushed and his face showed the dismay he felt at being 
restrained. However, being left without much of a choice, he 
did as was demanded and dutifully parked and filled out the 
much-too-familiar forms. 

Then the torturous wait began. 

Simultaneously, the cycle of relentless pacing followed by 
short spells of sitting looking very depressed began and that 
was the state the other agents found him in when they arrived 
behind him. 

They had all come, feeling a sense of duty towards a fellow 
agent even though they didn't really even know her. After all 
she had been through - they wanted to at least show a bit of 
support, do something other than go home to a normal nighttime 
routine. But it turned out to be difficult and wearing just to 
be there with Mulder and his intense pain - they felt as if 
they weren't deserving of being there, that they were somehow 
embarrassing both him and themselves at the same time. Maybe it 
was because there was nothing to say to him - even more so than 
usual - but whatever it was, it certainly created an 
uncomfortable situation. And when it because obvious that they 
would be in for a long haul - after Mulder in exhaustively 
questioned any medical personnel to walk through the doors 
through which they had taken her and only got wary, weary, 
looks and imprecise comments such as "she's in surgery right 
now and its difficult to tell how long it'll be" - the others 
slowly faded away with quiet goodbyes and good wishes. 

So he was alone again, still pacing, still depressed, still 
very much agitated. He nearly jumped a mile when his phone 
suddenly rang. 

"Mulder," he said, automatically answering. 

"Agent Mulder - I just heard what happened," Skinner's voice, 
grave with concern, replied. "Why didn't you notify me about Agent
Scully's situation?"

Why? He hadn't even thought of calling his boss. She went 
missing so many times on routine cases - this hadn't seemed so 
different until… the videos. 

"Um…sorry sir, I guess I was preoccupied," he managed. 

"How is she, Agent Mulder?" Skinner asked. 

"I don't know sir, she's in surgery and no one will tell me 
anything."

"I see."

…. a pause - uncomfortable and unsure. 

"Uh… is that all sir?"

"No, Agent Mulder, that is not all… Mulder - how are you 
holding up?"

Silence. 

On the other side, Skinner internally sighed. He had to voice 
his concern but he already knew the answer to his own very 
stupid question. In his head he could easily picture the 
scene - an extremely distressed Mulder pacing uncontrollably, 
threatening and harassing hospital staff, always apparently on 
the verge of tears. He had seen it before - too many times for 
his liking considering his particular infatuation with the 
enigmatic Agent Scully - and it was not a pleasant sight. 

"Mulder, she's going to be fine," he finally said, falling back 
on conventional pleasantries. "Keep me informed on her 
condition." 

"Yes, sir."

"And Mulder?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Take care of yourself."

"Thank you, sir."

They hung up and Skinner breathed somewhat heavily. It was so 
emotionally draining to talk to that man - his needs, his pain, 
transferred so easily when so plainly shown. He tried to 
imagine Mulder behaving in an ever-so-Mulderlike fashion - 
mentally berating himself while taking it out on innocent 
doctors, nurses. Shaking his head wearily, Skinner wondered if 
he should go down to Seattle, to do a little Mulder-sitting but 
decided that it would be too trying on his mental health - and 
he couldn't even begin to face Scully… what could he say to 
her - he had only heard reports on the situation but what he 
had heard was horrifying. No, better let his agents be alone to 
work on building back their strength before being harassed by 
their boss. 'Walt - you're a wimp.' he thought to himself upon 
making his decision. 

			******
University of Washington Medical Centre
Seattle, Washington
10:54 pm


He was standing tiredly, leaning against a wall, trying to 
resist the urge to bang his head against it. It had been hours 
but nobody had any real information. He was mentally and 
physically exhausted - too tired to properly pace but still too 
agitated to sit. So there he stood, eyes close, visions of her 
scarred body…

"Agent Mulder?"

He snapped to attention. "Yes?"

A young doctor, her hair short and messy, her eyes beyond 
tired, stood regarding him warily - apparently she had already 
heard accounts of his incessant harassing of the nurses. But 
she spoke with a hint of understanding in voice. "I'm Doctor 
Redden. Agent Scully is out of surgery. She's in recovery right 
now and we'll move her up to the ICU soon."

She paused as Mulder's eyes showed panic at the mention of the 
ICU but then continued. "She's not in any serious danger but 
there's a risk of infection and significant internal damage due 
to the number of broken ribs and violent blows to the abdomen. 
Combined with severe shock, slight hypothermia, dehydration, 
malnutrition, and other quite serious burns and wounds, we are 
being precautious - it's not everyday we see someone in this 
kind of state…" 

Mulder took it all in but could only turn it into one coherent 
question. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked, tears in his 
voice. 

"Physically, she should be able to fully recover in a few 
months time - if everything goes well. There will have to be 
some physiotherapy of course and the first weeks will be quite 
painful… but I think the real question is how she will handle 
this all mentally. I mean…. what happened to her?" Dr. Redden, 
young eyes full of horror, asked, almost dropping her voice to 
a whisper. 

And all he could do was look away and shake his head, trying to 
ignore the images, unable to reply. Finally he managed to face 
the doctor and said "I don't think you want to know." No glib 
Mulder line. Just the truth.

From the look in his eyes she agree that she didn't want to 
know. 

"Can I see her?"

Dr. Redden shook her head sympathetically. "Not until she's out 
of recovery…" 

"Come on - I know how long that can take… I need to see her," 
Mulder said, no longer belligerent, now just hurting, needy. 

"Well…."

He knew he had her. "I really need to see her."

"Well, there's no one else around right now and I don't really 
mind. I mean it's against procedure but I can't see how it 
would hurt…"

Mulder's eyes gleamed with gratitude. 

"Through those doors, sixth room to the left - tell the nurses 
I approved it. Oh and be nice."

Mulder nodded, already halfway through the doors before a 
sobering question came to mind. Turning, he grabbed the 
doctor's arm. "Did you do a rape kit?" he asked quietly. 

She nodded. "It seemed to be prudent considering the nature of 
her injuries - it's not often that…torture…isn't accompanied by 
rape. It came back positive."

Mulder only nodded. "There were tapes."

Dr. Redden raised her eyebrows at this and watched as Mulder 
raced through the doors and down the hall. 

			******

She was so pale and small beneath all the bandages, wires, 
machines. Obviously he had seen her in that state before and - 
though he fervently wished it not to be so - would see her like 
that in the future. But repetition did not dull the pain in any 
way and he could hardly bear sitting there, her hand lightly 
held in his - her left hand, the one with 'only' a deep 
cigarette burn on it. How long before he could hold her right 
hand? How long before she could use it? Would she be okay?

She had been raped. 

It was so hard to keep the images out of his head as he watched 
her breathe. At some point he began to speak to her, to 
himself, chanting his mantra repetitively. 'You're going to be 
okay. You're going to be okay.'

			******

The nurses came in a few hours later to take the two of them to 
ICU - curious to see the one in a million that managed to 
squeeze their way into the elusive recovery room. And when they 
say him, still awake, still perched by her bed, looking 
absolutely terrible but content in staring at her - they knew 
why he had gotten in. 

Then they were in the ICU - a familiar environment - he thought 
wryly to himself. 

She looked the same - covered in tubes and wrapping - 
surrounded by beeping monitors - and her hand felt the same - 
warm but unmoving. 

The nurse had mentioned that she might not wake up for quite 
awhile - a mixture of previous shock and exhaustion mixed with 
anaesthetic and surgery - but he sat, her hand in his, trying 
to will her to wake up, to look at him, talk to him, before he 
succumbed to his own exhaustion. 

He lost. He had basically been awake since she had been taken 
over 48 hours ago - going on less than two hours sleep 
altogether. He hadn't eaten anything in days. He had run miles 
and swam more. Her hand felt so warm and she looked so 
beautiful even then. Slowly, he drifted off, head leaning down 
next to her arm on the bed. 

			******

A twitch of her fingers woke him up with a start. 

"Hey, Scully, wake up," he said quietly near her ear. 

"Mmmm? I'm up Mulder…." she said groggily. 

His face lit up at her sleepy voice and watched as she opened 
her eyes. 

"Morning, Scully," he said, leaning in to kiss her forehead 
lightly. "How are you feeling?"

"Hmmm? I think I've been better…" she replied, eyes slipping 
shut again. 

"Hey Scully - stay awake just for a sec 'kay?"

Why was it so hard for her to resist his pleading?

" 'kay Mulder….what for?" sleepy eyes opened to her partner's 
gaze. 

She had him there - he didn't have a good reason at all - it 
had been said on impulse, based on his need to talk to her, 
look into her eyes. So he remained silent but leaned closer and 
gently ran his thumb down her face, tracing her jaw line - all 
the while still lost in her icy blue eyes. And then a single 
tear almost simultaneously escaped both of their attempts to 
stay as unemotional as possible, as necessary. 

"Scully…." he started but couldn't think of what to say - was 
it too soon to address the many - so many - issues that she was 
bound to have? She did just wake up from surgery and wasn't 
known to be inclined to share her feelings at the best of 
times. But they had to talk about it sometime….

"It's okay, Mulder," she whispered. "It's going to be okay."
She found herself saying the words automatically - to appease 
his pain, his need for comfort, security. But she didn't even 
know if she was lying or not. How okay was she going to get? 
Even now she could tell something was missing, something had 
been taken by the ordeal, the torture. 

"No, Scully - it's not okay. What happened is not okay. You are 
not okay. I am definitely not okay." The tears were running 
freely now. "Jesus Scully, I can't believe you're alive - that 
you survived…" 

She shook her head slowly. "Not now, Mulder." And now it was 
her arm reaching to his fact and wiping off his tears. "I'm too 
tired to do this now." 

He nodded - of course she wasn't ready to talk about it - he 
was such an asshole! Pushing her to make himself feel better, 
to mollify his need to talk. "You're right Scully - I'm sorry," 
he said, emphatically drying his eyes. "You should get some 
more rest - we can talk about it later."

Scully nodded gratefully and closed her eyes, enjoying the 
comfort of his hand warm in hers. And then she knew she hadn't 
been lying - she was going to be fine. She had to be - for 
Mulder and for herself. She wouldn't let those bastards control 
her life. 

"But Mulder - it's really going to be okay," she said as she 
drifted off to sleep. 

			******

She awoke before he did and had a second to smile at his lanky 
body sleeping in an impossibly uncomfortable-looking sitting 
position before an intense wave of pain struck throughout her 
body and caused her muscles to seize. Feeling the effect of 
Scully's pain in the hand he was still holding in sleep, Mulder 
jolted awake. 

"Scully!" he cried out as he searched for the nurse alert 
button. "Scully, what's wrong? What's happening?"

"….it hurts…Mulder….hurts so…" through gritted teeth and 
tightly shut eyes. 

"'kay Scully, I'm on it - the nurse should be here any sec-"

"What happened?" asked the nurse as she came into the room. 

"I don't know - she just woke up in so much pain. You've got to 
give her something…" 

One look at the agony-stricken features on Scully's fact was 
enough to convince the nurse to inject a syringe of painkillers 
into the IV. And then almost instantly her muscles relaxed a 
little and she opened her eyes. 

Mulder began to breathe again. 

"Well, the painkillers are apparently not lasting as long as 
they should. A doctor will be down soon and we can get the 
dosage increased - or have you put on self-regulated 
painkillers, okay?" the nurse said on his way out. 

Scully nodded in response to the young nurse and relaxed into 
the bed once again, feeling the calming effect of Mulder's 
fingers softly brushing through loose strands of her hair. 

"Better?" he asked. 

She nodded. 

"Do you want me to call your mom?"

Thinking for a second, Scully then shook her head. "No - I 
don't think I could deal with that right now. I don't think I 
can talk to her about what happened."

He nodded in relief. He definitely didn't think he could deal 
with telling Maggie Scully about what had happened. 

An awkward silence. Eyes lost in eyes. 

Then "…how bad is it?"

She shook her head. She had known he would ask - he had to 
know, just as she always had to know when the situation was 
reversed. But just as he never fully divulged the truth, she 
would, in keeping with her personality, their relationship, 
never quite reveal everything either. Especially not right then 
when she hadn't even had time to catalogue her feelings, her 
needs, her fears. 

"Mulder, it's going to be okay. I'm going to be fine. You're 
going to be fine. But I can't…. right now. But I know that 
we're going to make it through this. Like we always do." 

"This isn't the same Scully - this time it's different" 

She knew what he meant but still wasn't biting. 

"No, Mulder - it's not. Just believe me. It's going to be 
okay." 

He looked at her determined expression and though about how 
ridiculous it was for Scully to be comforting him. She was so 
beautiful, lying there, eyes sneaking looks at him when she 
thought he was looking away. Of course she was going to be 
okay - she was Scully - strong, determined, amazing - she 
wouldn't give up now. And somewhere - maybe only in his 
subconscious - he knew she would be fine because he needed her 
to be fine and she would overcome anything to give him what he 
so desperately needed. 

"You're right, Scully. We're going to be fine." he whispered 
into her ear just as she fell asleep again, the buzz of the 
painkillers carrying her off. 

			******
University of Washington Medical Centre
Seattle, Washington
2:41 pm

"Well, Dana - it seems sadistic to say this - but you were 
lucky. Physically you could recover fully in less than two 
months - even your hand should be fine with some physio. How 
are you feeling?" Dr. Redden had arrived and found Scully awake 
for her morning rounds, looking tired but strong. Mulder, on 
the other hand, had been asleep in a ridiculous position and, 
when awakened, looked unsteady. 

"I feel much better," Scully said truthfully. Maybe it was the 
painkillers talking but she felt alright for the first time in 
a while. Sure it still hurt to move or breathe but not nearly 
as much as before. 

"Good. We're gradually reducing your meds and you can go home 
in a day or two though you'll need to have somebody change the 
bandages and help you get around for a while as your hand and 
ribs heal."

Scully nodded, internally wincing - it was going to be hard to 
get rid of Mulder after he heard that - and it was getting a 
bit uncomfortable with him around all the time. There was so 
much to talk about but she couldn't even imagine where, how, to 
start. 

"As for you, Agent Mulder - you look like shit. Get some 
sleep - in a horizontal position - and some food - NOT from the 
cafeteria," Redden did her best to glare at the weary agent but 
failed to even come close to the effect of a Scully-glare. 

Mulder nodded his "I'm ignoring you" nod and was almost home 
free when he felt Scully's ice cold blue eyes glaring at him. 

Damn.

He turned and smiled sheepishly - a 'I had to try' kind of 
grin - and she smiled too - trying to hold it back but hard to 
do when he just wanted to stay with her. Like the too many 
times she had wanted to stay with him. 

"Get some sleep Mulder - I'm fine. And…"

"And?"

"I think I have to call my mom." She did not sound 
enthusiastic. 

He nodded soberly. "What are you going to tell her?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'll think of something plausible."

Again he nodded. He wasn't sure what to think. He certainly 
couldn't face telling Maggie Scully what had happened to her 
daughter and wasn't surprised that Scully didn't' want to 
either. But she had to tell someone what happened. And it 
didn't look like she was going to tell him. 

"Scully - you know you have to talk to someone about it…" 

"Not yet Mulder," she snapped almost before he finished his 
sentences. 

He nodded in defeat. Who was he to tell her what to do - she 
was the one who survived, who had to deal with what happened. 
He was just being the inconsiderate psychologist. But she 
couldn't ignore it…

"Mulder - I swear I will. Just not right now. Not yet." 

He looked into her eyes and nodded. 

"And she was right, Mulder - you look like shit. Go to the 
hotel . Sleep. Shower. Eat. I will be here when you get back in 
three hours. I'll even be here if you take ten hours. But go. 
And I'll see you in three hours." 

No arguments. 

He nodded and stood, stretching. He sure felt like shit. Maybe 
Scully was onto something with the sleeping thing….

"Okay. You win. I'll see you soon." he said, still holding her 
hand by the fingertips. 

She squeezed his fingers. "Goodnight Mulder."

He nodded and let go. 

			******
University of Washington Medical Centre
Seattle, Washington
9:22 am

"You ready to go, Dana?"

Scully nodded as she let Dr. Redden help her into the 
wheelchair for the ride to the car. 

"How do you feel?"

"I'm fine."
Redden wasn't surprised. 

Mulder was waiting at the entrance, impatient, still a bit 
edgy, it had been a long time since he had felt calm in any 
way. Finally they showed up, Scully impatient with being 
wheeled around. 

"Hey - ready to go?" he asked. 

She nodded and pointfully got up and slipped easily into the 
car before Redden and Mulder managed to try to help her. 

"Thanks Doctor - for everything," she called from the car. 

Mulder nodded. "Yeah, thanks. And well, sorry." 

"No worries Agent Mulder - something you should try remembering."
			******
Scully's Apartment
Georgetown, Washington DC
6:31 pm

"Look Scully - just for a couple of days! You really shouldn't 
be alone," Mulder tried, aghast at her stubbornness.

"Why not? Look Mulder - it's not like I've never had broken 
bones before - I'll be fine." 

She was not going to budge on this one. She was not going to be 
watched every minute and they were not going to spend days in 
uncomfortable silence. He was not going to stay. 

"Go home, Mulder. Please."

He looked hurt. He was hurt. 

"I'm sorry. I appreciate your concern Mulder but I need to be 
alone for a bit. I'm fine. Go home."

It took all his strength to restrain the asshole in him that 
wanted to scream and shout "YOU ARE NOT FINE!" but for once he 
managed to just nod and turn away dejectedly. 

Damn. How did he manage to make her feel so guilty? He looked 
like a puppy that had been kicked as he shuffled slowly down 
the hall away from her apartment. 

"Mulder!"

He stopped shuffling as she walked slowly towards him but 
remained silent, ever wary of the asshole inside. She got 
closer and closer before lightly wrapping her arms around him 
and he had to resist the urge to pull her into a crushing 
embrace. 

"I really am sorry, Mulder but I really need some time to work 
this out for myself and then we'll talk okay?"

God he was such a jerk! She was apologizing to him?! 

"No, Scully, I'm sorry. I'm such a jerk! You're right." 

At that, she looked up and, predictably, arched an eyebrow at 
him. "I'm what, Mulder?" she asked with a small smile. 

He couldn't help it, he grinned too as he looked at her smile 
and repeated himself. "You're right, Scully." 

"Goodnight Mulder - see you tomorrow," she said, releasing her 
arms. 

"Goodnight Scully," he replied and applied a light kiss to her 
forehead. "Sleep well." 

"You too, Mulder," she said, already back at her door and 
closing it. 

He stood there for a second just staring at the closed door 
before slowly making his way home. 

			******
FBI Headquarters,
Washington, DC
6:26 am


The next day he arrived at the office even earlier than usual 
and then proceeded to wait impatiently. 

Coffee after coffee helped to make him hyper but other than 
that, nothing happened. But she had said she was coming in - 
against any sensibility she had swore she was fine - broken 
ribs and fingers aside - and would be at the office that day. 
Finally he could resist no longer and grabbed the phone. 

"Hi Mulder," she said, picking up the phone. 

"Hey Scully," he relied. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Except I don't think I'm coming in today." 

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Mulder. Everything's fine. I'm just a little tired, 
that's all."

"Want me to bring something by? Skinner won't mind if I take 
off…."

"No, Mulder - I'm fine. I just need to do some thinking on my 
own. I'll see you soon."

'I'll see you soon?' What did that mean? Alarm bells began to 
blare in his head. 

"When, Scully?"

"I don't know, Mulder - when I'm ready. I'll call you." There 
was no arguing with that voice and he heard the warning loud 
and clear. It hurt and he had to resist exploding but she was 
right, she deserved whatever she needed. He just wished she 
needed him. 

"Okay Scully," he managed to choke out. 

"Talk to you soon?" 

"Soon, Mulder."

"Bye, Scully."

And with that all the hope of the day was gone and all that 
remained was a barely started report that he wasn't sure he 
could finish. 

			******
FBI Headquarters
Washington, DC
4:20 pm


Three days later the report remained unfinished and she still 
hadn't called. It had taken every ounce of will power to resist 
the need to call, make sure she was okay. But the consequences 
of pissing her off royally held him at bay. 

Three days! What was she trying to do to him? He was useless - 
Skinner had stopped trying to get him to do anything after the 
second day but he kept coming in to the office for lack of 
anything else to do. At least he could pretend to be working 
though everything sailed idly past his agitated mind. 'She was 
strong. She could handle it. She just needed some time,' he 
repeated to himself endlessly. But it was of little use. What 
if this was it - the breaking point? How much did she have to 
suffer before it was too much? Maybe she wasn't okay at all -  
he knew she was still there at home, he saw her shadow at night 
from his carefully concealed vehicle - but maybe she needed him 
and was waiting for him to call, unable to reach out herself…. 

He was at a loss - to call or not to call…

He sat and debated through the work day until he realized it 
was time to leave and sit outside her apartment for another 
night. 

			******
Scully's Apartment
Georgetown, Washington DC
6:48 pm


Three days. She knew what it must have been doing to him but 
couldn't bring herself to call. Physically she felt better - 
still very sore but able to get around and it was getting 
better everyday. Mentally, she wasn't sure. There were 
nightmares of course and she ha even had a minor panic attack 
when she had thought about talking about her ordeal. Logically 
she knew she had to talk about it to someone but she still 
wasn't sure she could. She couldn't believe he hadn't broken 
down and called and mentally berated herself for putting him 
through such hell. It was almost enough to get her to pick up 
the phone. Almost but not quite. The thought of having to spill 
it all - to tell him her thoughts, feelings, fears - was enough 
to keep the phone on its cradle. She walked over to the window 
and stared at the lonely figure in the non-descript car across 
the street for a minute before sitting back down on the couch. 

			******

He couldn't take it anymore. He didn't care what she thought or 
did. He had to know. He had to see her, talk to her, feel her 
presence. 

He got out of the car. 

			******

"Scully!" he yelled as he pounded on her door. "Scully, let me 
in! I know you're in there, Scully!"

No response. 

"Scully! Come on - we have to talk - let me in!"

"Jesus Scully! Let me in or one of your neighbours is going to 
call the cops!"

"Scully! PLEASE let me in!"

"Okay, Scully, two can play this game. You take your time - 
I'll be sitting right here when you decide to let me in - 
whether it's tonight or next week."

And with that he sat down, leaning against her door, ready to 
wait her out. 

Twenty minutes later he was hunched over, slightly dozing when 
the door slowly slid open. The movement woke him and he looked 
up with a forlorn expression on his face. 

She stood there silently as he slowly stood up and faced her 
but then broke the almost reverent silence with a quiet "come 
in, Mulder." 

He followed her in and they sat down on the couch facing each 
other a little apprehensively.

Mulder finally spoke. "Sorry Scully - I tried to… give you some 
time but…"

He looked so contrite - like he was afraid that he would blow 
this and she would leave him forever. She shook head and smiled 
wanly. 

"No, Mulder - I'm glad you came - I think I've been stalling, 
secretly waiting for you to come and force the issue."

He stared blankly - had he waited too long? was she alright?  
she looked a little shaky but…

Right on cue, she said. "Mulder, I'm fine."
He shook his head. "Scully…"

"And I think I'm ready to talk about what happened."

Now all he could do was not fall over from shock. 

Scully?! Ready to talk?! 

With a slight grin at his reaction, she moved a little closer 
on the couch. 

"But it has to be now. Just me and you. No tape - I'll do one 
for evidence later. We do it now and after that this is over, 
discussed and done with. I don't mean ignore it or pretend it 
didn't happen but it's in the past and we're moving on." 

Mulder just nodded obediently. Apparently she had thought this 
through. Thoroughly. And she was speaking in that no nonsense 
tone of voice. 

"Okay Scully - it's your show," he said quietly. 

She took a deep breath and exhaled calmly. 

"Well, you saw the tapes."

Mulder winced in confirmation.

"And I remember it so vividly but now it's not overwhelming 
anymore and in a way I felt so removed from the situation even 
at the time. I was so scared, Mulder. Scared of what he was 
going to do… of what he did do to me…"

She paused as if in rememberance and began to shiver a little. 
Mulder viciously debated whether to touch her - he didn't want 
to invade her space, especially considering what she was 
remembering. But in the end he couldn't help himself. Reaching 
out, he pulled her close, feeling her shivers die down as she 
leaned up against him. She flashed him a small smile before 
continuing. 

"But that wasn't really what scared me… the whole time I was 
just waiting for him to figure it out and then I would be dead. 
And the worst part was how good death sounded in comparison to 
the torture. It seemed like such an easy way out."

She bit her lip and stopped for a beat and his calculating mind 
tried to see where she was going with her story. He didn't like 
what he saw. 

"It would have been so easy just to give up but I couldn't. I 
had to fight it, no matter how much it hurt, even though I was 
sure I would die as soon as I stopped trying to stay alive. I 
was in shock and I was almost ready to let go but…."

God! Why was it so hard for her to say it? 

She looked at her partner through teary eyes and saw the pain 
in his equally wet eyes. He knew where she was going but she 
still didn't want to say it. 

"Scully….if this is too hard…." he whispered, trying to give 
her a way out. 

She shook her head. If she could survive torture for Mulder she 
was strong enough to tell him so. If their relationship was to 
go anywhere she had to do it. 

"I was so scared, Mulder. I was so scared for you. For what 
would happen to you if… if I gave in. I was just waiting for 
him to figure it out, get me to talk, and then I'd be dead. It 
sounded so good but then I just couldn't… couldn't leave you 
like that." 

His heartbeat quickened a bit as he heard her words. Of course 
he had known what she had gone through - it would have been the 
same had their roles been reversed. But to hear her say it…. It 
created such a vivid picture in his mind of Scully strapped 
down, fighting death only because he would never survive if she 
wer to give in…

What had he ever done to deserve her?

"I'm sorry, Scully," he whispered.

"Don't be, Mulder, because, otherwise, I wouldn't be here" she 
replied. "And now I think I'm okay Mulder. Because I wasn't 
scared of that man because of the torture or because he raped 
me. I was just scared for you and now we're both going to be 
fine."

He had visibly winced at the 'R' word but kept quiet and now 
she looked right into his eyes and let him read her soul. And 
what he saw there was what she had said. Ironically, having had 
so many terrible things happen to them made each subsequent 
even less traumatic. Only Scully could be tortured and raped 
and put it all out of mind because 'it wasn't that bad'.

"Scully?"

"mmmm? yeah, Mulder?"
"Thanks"

"Thank you, Mulder."

"Scully?"
"mmmm, yeah Mulder?"

"I love you, Scully." 

She paused just long enough for him to stop breathing. 

'Shit, Mulder! Why did you just say that? You're such a 
DUMBASS!' he mentally berated himself in the silence. 

"Love you too, Mulder," she finally replied. 

She was rewarded with the goofiest grin she had ever seen on 
his face and couldn't help but smile too. 

"Let's go to bed, Mulder - we have work to do tomorrow. I'm 
sure Skinner wants the case report before the next millennium" 

He let go of her and watched as she slowly stood up and 
shuffled to the bedroom on shaky legs. When she reached the 
doorway she turned around and gave him a questioning look. 

"You coming, Mulder?"

She didn't have to ask twice. Instantly he was at her side and 
guiding her into bed. When she was carefully settled, he 
climbed in beside her and pulled her to him gently. 

"More comfortable than your car, Mulder?" Scully whispered 
mischievously as she started to drift off. 

"God, I love you, Scully."

			*******
FBI Headquarters
Washington, DC
8:57 am

It felt good to back at the office, to have something to do 
other than think about spilling her guts to Mulder. Even the 
stale coffee perked her spirits as she started on the long-
overdue case report. 

"Let me do that, Scully - you should be taking it easy."

"Mulder, I think Skinner wants this today," she replied in 
annoyance. 

"But, Scully…"

She hit him with the glare and ended the conversation. Then, as 
if on cue, the phone rang. 

"Mulder," he said, picking it up. 

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir." click. 

"Skinner wants us up there with the report at one."

Scully just nodded, engrossed in her work.

			******

Just before one they got up to go, Mulder leading his partner 
with a light touch and a concerned eye. She still moved very 
gingerly and even breathing was still painful. He knew all too 
well what she was going through and winced every time she did 
as they slowly strode through the crowded bullpen. 

But on this day, no one would be close enough to jostle her 
broken ribs or her bruised legs. In fact, it was like the 
parting of the Red Sea - as they walked by, the entire room 
fell silent and everyone stared while moving aside. 

News, especially shocking gossip, travelled fast and the 
description of the tape had quickly gotten to DC from Seattle. 
Now all they could do was gape as Scully walked through, all 
business as usual, just barely a week after it had all 
happened. The silence was extremely uncomfortable as were the 
pitying looks and horrified glances but Mulder and Scully tried 
to ignore it all as they quickened their pace. 

			******
AD Skinner's Office
12:52 pm

Even Skinner could barely refrain from staring at the 
diminutive red-headed agent who was all strength as she handed 
him a report detailing the excruciating torture she had been 
subjected to. 

"Agent Scully, I can't say how glad I am to see you here," 
Skinner began with an all business facade that both Mulder and 
Scully saw right through. 

"Thank you, sir," she replied, equally business-like. 

"And it is the bureau's every intention to catch the group that 
did this and bring them to justice," Skinner continued, still 
trying not to stare. He had recently seen the tapes - copies 
had been sent from Seattle and he had forced himself to witness 
his agent's torture - a responsibility he had wanted 
desperately to shirk. He hoped his ridiculous schoolboy-esque 
crush on Scully remained a closely guarded secret but somehow 
he knew that they knew. It had been one of the most difficult 
things he had ever done - watched her be beaten and raped, 
watched her survive for Mulder's sake even as her small body 
was tortured again and again. 

"Sir?" Scully queried. "Are you all right?"

He grimaced at being caught lost in thought. "I think that's my 
line, Agent Scully," he replied. 

"I'm fine, sir," she said predictably. 

He hid a grin. "And that's definitely your line, Agent. Welcome 
back agents."

"Thank you sir," Mulder said, wincing a bit at Skinner's hint - 
that he hadn't been there either during her absence. Their boss 
was beginning to know them a little too well. 

			******
FBI Headquarters Bullpen
Washington, DC
1:22 pm

Going back through the bullpen was not something either agent 
looked forward to but there was no other way back to their 
office so they pretended not to notice the stares and whispers 
as they walked by. Or at least they pretended until they were a 
few steps from the elevator at which point Scully turned 
abruptly, leaving Mulder hanging with his arm still out. 

Staring down the roomful of agents, she surprised all of them 
with the strength of her voice and the ice in her glare. 

"Look, if any of you have something to say then say it now, to 
our faces. Otherwise, shut up at least until we're out of the 
room and at least pretend not to stare. Got it?"

Silence followed by a couple of shocked nods. 

Satisfied, Scully turned back towards the elevator and Mulder 
who was now staring at her like everyone else. 

"Let's go, Mulder," she said as they stepped into the elevator. 

Inside the elevator, he continued staring at her until she 
started to feel uncomfortable. Had she gone too far? Had she 
totally unfairly bitched out a roomful of FBI agents with non-
basement offices? 

She felt his arms wrap themselves around her and started to 
back away from his embrace. Was he just pitying her lack of 
control? Did he think she was too vulnerable and needed his 
strength?

But all it took was a look into his eyes to stop her backward 
movement. His hazel gaze shone with absolute pride and envy. 
His embrace was selfish - he wanted to hold her, to know that 
this woman, the kindest and strongest and smarted person he had 
ever met was his partner, was his to work with, was his to 
love. So she gave in and let his arms take her in. She could 
still feel his grin as he held her close. 

"God, Scully. That was unbelievable."

He pulled away just far enough to look into her shining blue 
eyes. "The look on their faces…."

She finally allowed herself a self-satisfied grin. "I'm glad it 
was good for you too, Mulder," she said coyly. 

That got her another huge grin and a squeeze that would have 
hurt in any other situation. 

			******

Two weeks later

FBI Headquarters
Washington, DC
9:26 pm

They had been futilely trying to track down the mysterious 
United Americans as Scully's various injuries slowly healed but 
two weeks later they knew nothing more except that even Dr. 
Jonathan Kalis had disappeared along with any hard evidence 
other than the tapes themselves. And even the tapes only 
contained evidence of Scully's kidnapping - there was nothing 
on them that explained the group's project or their motive. All 
in all it had been a difficult two weeks, though at least 
Scully was feeling infinitely better - the last of the fingers 
and ribs were healing nicely - and she no longer looked quite 
so frail. 

As Mulder watched his partner work through more information 
gleaned from the bureau's vast databases, he smiled in 
satisfaction. No matter how frustrating it was being unable to 
track down Scully's torturers, it felt so good just to watch 
her work, to hold her without being afraid of hurting her. For 
the millionth time, he wondered why fate had decided to bless 
him with her. 

"Mulder? Earth to Mulder?"

"Huh?" Damn! Caught staring yet again. He smiled sheepishly. 
"Yeah? What's up?"

She frowned and sighed. "Nothing. That's the problem. How did 
they manage to disappear so completely? What kind of random 
paramilitary group has the time and the money to equip bases 
for long enough to have all their members completely drop out 
of society? I mean we have their names but it's like these 
people don't really exist - no property, no credit, no life, no 
relatives. Who the hell are they and what were they doing?"
Mulder shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know, Scully - 
it's getting weirder and weirder."

"Yeah, well, I've had enough. It's past nine, Mulder. Let's go 
home."

"What exactly are you suggesting, Agent Scully?" Mulder said 
with his best leer. 

She sighed tiredly, unable to even think up a comeback. 
"Nothing, Mulder - except that I need some sleep and you could 
probably do with some too. I'm going home - see you tomorrow."

He sighed and gave her a pouty look until it was clear that she 
wasn't going to invite him over. The last two weeks had left 
him spoiled - he had spent most of the nights at Scully's 
though after the first night he slept on the couch. Not that he 
minded really - at least he had his foot in the door and she 
seemed content with his presence. But she must've been looking 
forward to some time alone that night and he tried his best not 
to really pout as she collected her things and got ready to 
leave. 

"See you tomorrow, Mulder - don't stay all night," she said as 
she stepped out the door. 

"Goodnight, Scully," he said too-brightly, still trying to 
conceal his real disappointment. 

He obviously had done a poor job of it because a minute later 
he was started by a "Hey, Mulder" that came from the doorway. 

"Yeah?" he asked, surprised at her return. 

"Love you," she said - thereby surprising him even further - 
before quickly turning and heading out again. It took him a 
second to respond - she had never done anything like that 
before - but after a momentary glitch, he was up and calling 
her name out the doorway. But she was already out of sight and 
he was left standing there wearing a stupid grin. 

			******

He was still wearing the grin thirty minutes later when a large 
manila envelope was slid under the door and in his hyper-aware 
state, he was out of his chair in a flash - just in time to 
catch the mysterious envelope's deliverer running down the 
hall. 

"Turn around slowly with your hands in the air or I will shoot 
you, Krycek."

The young, darkly-clad assassin and all-around double-crosser 
stopped and slowly did as instructed. 

Mulder's face showed the multitude of emotions that Krycek 
always brought out in him. He had killed his father, Scully's 
sister, and who knew who else but he had also, inexplicably, 
been an ally too in various situations.

"Relax, Mulder, I'm just trying to help you," Krycek scowled. 

Mulder sneered. "Yeah, like you've 'helped' me in the past? 
With friends like you, Krycek…"

"Well, obviously I'm not here to kill you or else you'd be 
dead. You'd think the security here would be a little tighter…" 
Krycek replied, still all innocence. "Seriously, Mulder, just 
open the envelope and you'll see."

Cautiously, Mulder reached down and grabbed the envelope and 
opened it. It was stuffed full of black and white surveillance 
photos of a military-style barracks building and troops with 
various computer printouts of information that ostensible 
pertained to the mysterious troops. 

"What is this?" he snarled. 

"I think you know exactly what this is. These are the guys you 
want to kill, Mulder. I'm just being helpful," Krycek said 
amicably. 

"Why?"

Krycek sighed. His was an odd position and he had a front to 
put up but sometimes it was lonely being the only one in the 
know. 

"Because they have to be stopped. And because I like you, 
Mulder - you may be a pawn but at least you're trying to fuck 
things up. And I like Scully too. I know what happened and I 
would kill them too if I had the chance…" 

Mulder's grip on his gun wavered a bit. "Isn't that sweet of 
you, Krycek. Why should I believe you?"

"Do what you want, Mulder - I'm just trying to help. See you 
later." And with that he turned around and left with no 
consideration of the gun trained at his head. There wasn't a 
whole lot he could trust being in his line of work but Mulder 
was an open book - too honourable to shoot him in the back 
whether or not he was a wanted criminal that had just breached 
bureau security. 

			******

Mulder sat down and exhaled loudly. Encounters with his 
longtime enemy always left him slightly agitated and his hands 
shook with nervous excitement as he looked through the evidence 
in the envelope. It was all there and if it wasn't a set up 
then he was home free - he would surprise them and kill the 
bastard that….
He fought a flashback of a screaming and hurt Scully, of her 
torturer's snide voice. 

If they were in Nevada then he would kill them all and expose 
their experiments and he would do it alone. She would be uber-
pissed when she found out but he couldn't bring her out there. 
The flashback came back and his decision was easily made. 

			******
Scully's Apartment
Georgetown, Washington DC
4:01 am

She awoke with a start, another nightmare shocking her from a 
fitful sleep. This time, however, the nightmare didn't involve 
being tied down and tortured. Instead, she seemed to have 
slipped back into another familiar nightmare - one where she 
wanders the desert hopelessly calling Mulder's name. 

Still breathing rapidly, Scully resisted the strong temptation 
to call her partner just to check if he was okay. 'You're being 
irrational,' she chided herself - but try as she might, she 
couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong and she 
wished that Mulder was out there on the couch - or better yet, 
in bed with her, to talk to, to argue with, to prove her wrong. 
But he wasn't and it was her fault so she did her best to 
ignore the uneasiness that she felt. It was a long, sleepless 
wait until it was late enough to get up and go to work. 

			******
FBI Headquarters
Washington, DC
6:21 am

The uneasy feeling had not abated any as Scully approached the 
dark basement office - in fact, the close she got, the more 
wary she became. When she opened the door to find everything as 
it had been the previous evening - minus Mulder - she breathed 
a sigh of relief and finally smiled at her own paranoia. Maybe 
she was just imagining things and everything was fine - it even 
appeared as if Mulder had gone home and gotten some sleep. 
Still feeling slightly off, she headed for the coffee machine 
just as her adrenaline rush was beginning to wear off. 

Three hours later she knew something was up. He was never late 
and he usually answered at least on of his phones. Except when 
he ditched her….

She picked up the phone and dialled Skinner's extension. 

"Assistant Director Skinner's office," Kimberly answered. 

"Yes, this is Agent Scully. I have an emergency situation. I 
need to speak with the Assistant Director immediately."

"Just a minute, Agent Scully."

Scully waited for the call to transfer, chewing her lip 
impatiently. 

"You have and emergency, Agent Scully?" Skinner asked sounding 
more tired than usual. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Sorry sir but…"

"But you were wondering if Agent Mulder had informed me as to 
where he went," Skinner finished for her. 

"Where did he go?" Scully's voice was coldly determined. 

Skinner sighed. "I don't know, Agent Scully. All I got was a 
voicemail this morning saying that he needed to take some time 
off."

"That's all he said?"

"That's all."

"When was the voicemail sent?"

"Just a minute and I'll check…"

Again Scully waited impatiently. 

"4:20am. It sounds like he's somewhere busy."

"Like an airport."

"Possibly like an airport….but Scully…."

"Yes sir?"

"Be careful."

"Yes sir."

Her next call was to requisition passenger lists for all 
flights from Dulles between 9pm and 6am. Then as she waited for 
the lists to come through, she sat down tiredly and rubbed her 
temples. 10am and she was exhausted already.

			******
Rock Quarry
Outside of Las Vegas, Nevada
11:06 am

It was way too hot a day in Nevada to be dressed in black 
cotton clothing, hiding in a rock quarry, trying to stay 
conscious. 

'If Scully were here I would have brought more than 500mL of 
water,' Mulder thought to himself as he surveilled the military 
building below. 

And if Scully were there he would have someone to share the 
monotony with. 

And if Scully were there she'd complain bitterly about the heat 
and the riskiness of the operation and would save his life. Not 
that his life needed saving. Not yet at least….

Damn he wished  she were there. 

'Stop it Mulder,' he chastised himself. 'Focus.'

With the noonday sun pounding on him, he spurred to attention 
when four figures - also dressed in black - marched out of the 
building and pointed right. at. him. shit. 

			******
FBI Headquarters
Washington, DC
12:02 pm

There it was. Clyde Bruckman. 5:00am flight to Las Vegas, 
Nevada. 

Shit. It was hot and dry and dusty in Nevada. 

Shit. She had dreamt of losing Mulder in the desert. 

She got a ticket on a 1:00 flight to Vegas. 'Only Mulder would 
go to Vegas to gamble with his life,' she thought anxiously. 
She frowned at the thought but quickly went back to work - only 
forty minutes to figure out where he went after he landed. She 
had a hunch it wasn't to the Sigfried and Roy show. 

			******
Rock Quarry
Outside of Las Vegas, Nevada
11:32 am

Running down a treacherous rock quarry was difficult even when 
the sand wasn't whipping up and settling in your eyes. Blindly, 
Mulder kept up his quick pace, hoping that he was still headed 
towards his vehicle until he heard pounding army boots close 
behind him and realized it wouldn't matter anyway. That was an 
instant before he was grabbed roughly by the shoulders and 
smashed in the head with the butt of a gun. Another kick to the 
head and he was drifting into the familiar world of 
unconsciousness. 

			******
FBI Headquarters
Washington, DC
12:22 pm

It wasn't everyday the Las Vegas Field Office got called up and 
harassed endlessly by a determined DC agent with a steely cold 
attitude. Sure there had been a few mysterious disappearances 
lately and even a few strange deaths but it was Las Vegas - 
party town extraordinaire - it was to be expected. 

"What about any paramilitary activity in the area?" Scully 
questioned  unrelentlessly . 

"Well, there have been a couple reports of something going on 
in the desert between here and Arizona - some tourists got 
chased by a bunch of guys in black when they got lost and 
approached an army-style building for directions. But they 
weren't even sure where they were when it happened and there 
are a lot of military bases around here so it could have very 
well been an actual US military operation." 

"Whereabouts did they have this encounter?"

"Let me grab the report - this might take a few minutes."

"Okay, thanks. Oh, actually - I'm getting on a plane right now. 
Can you have the report ready for me when I arrive? I should be 
there in about five hours, at around two or three Nevada time."

"Sure. See you then."

"Thanks again, Agent Chalmers - you've been a huge help."

Scully boarded the plane with an anxiety-meter rating that went 
off the scale. 

			******

Outside of Las Vegas, Nevada
1:02 pm

The feeling of waking up on a cold concrete floor was 
disturbingly familiar and he knew enough not to move suddenly - 
an unexpected jolt of pain might send him back into 
unconsciousness and he needed to stay awake and make a plan. A 
plan that didn't involved being rescued by Scully because that 
was highly unlikely. Even if she did catch the Clyde Bruckman 
clue, it was improbable, maybe even impossible, that she'd find 
the base without the information Krycek had given him. That 
left him with few options and fewer hopes but there had to be 
something he could do - he was not going to die alone in the 
desert, he was not going to be found cold and stiff or 
decomposing months or years later with Scully forever wondering 
what happened to him. 

But as he looked around the bare concrete room, no ideas came 
to him and his head began to ache. The pounding concussion 
induced nausea and there was nothing he could do but close his 
eyes and try to ignore it. Instead, he drifted off into a semi-
conscious, semi-asleep state. 

			******
Las Vegas, Nevada
3:14 pm

It was the first time she had gone a whole flight without 
thinking about crashing, her thoughts so trained on her 
partner's disappearance. It made no difference to her that it 
was a planned disappearance. She knew exactly what kind of 
trouble he got into when he was on his own. 

Arriving at the field office, she stormed through until she 
found the agent that she had spoken to on the phone. 

"Agent Chalmers? Hi, I'm Agent Dana Scully - we just spoke on 
the phone?" she greeted with a minimum of cordiality - the 
ability to be pleasant had vanished with her partner. 

Agent Chalmers seemed to know exactly who he was dealing with - 
FBI rumours had spread to the desert and it was well-known 
across the country that Agent Scully was the Ice Queen. He 
certainly didn't think he wanted to challenge the fierce 
redhead standing before him. 

"Hi, Agent Scully - I have just what you're looking for," the 
young, timid agent said as he handed her the file. 

"Thank you," she replied, already opening the file which 
described an encounter between lost tourists and heavily armed 
men. 

"Can you show me how to get there?" she demanded. 

"Sure thing - you just follow the interstate for about 60 miles 
and then hang a right on this dirt road for another 30 miles or 
so. Do that and you can't miss it - it's the only thing out 
there - looked pretty deserted when we went out to check up on 
this case. We just figured it was a stray military base - lots 
of those around here…" the young agent nervously explained. 

"Sure. Thanks again." Scully was already taking off with map in 
hand, leaving Agent Chalmers standing there, slightly dazed. 

'shit she's hot' he thought to himself as he watched her storm 
out of the field office. 

			******
Outside of Las Vegas, Nevada
4:01 pm

It was never a good sign when you woke up to being roughly 
handled and dragged across cold concrete and Mulder groaned in 
discomfort as he instinctively pulled away from the hands 
pulling him along. He was rewarded with a sharp kick to the 
ribs and another to the stomach and decided to play it safe 
until he figured out what he was up against. 

His final destination was a non-descript concrete room where he 
was handcuffed with his arms suspended high above his head - 
too high for him to even slouch comfortably. 

That's when he heard the voice. It sent violent shivers through 
his body even as he recoiled physically. 

"Well, well, well. Agent Mulder. What a pleasant surprise. It 
is awfully nice of you to drop in - we all wanted so much to 
meet you after getting to know your partner so well during her 
visit." The man looked exactly as Mulder remembered from the 
tape - dressed head to toe in black. And the voice - a voice 
Mulder would never forget and one he wished to silence forever. 

"But back to you, Agent Mulder - are you ready to have some 
fun?"

"Fuck you," Mulder replied. 

"No, fuck you, Agent Mulder," was the reply that Mulder missed 
as a fist came slamming into his torso, aggravating already 
sore ribs. All the breath shot out of his lungs and he hung 
winded even as another fist struck his jaw, propelling his head 
back against the concrete wall.

Again, barely conscious and seriously considering throwing up 
all the coffee he had ingested earlier, Mulder tried to stay on 
his feet but was only rewarded with a slew of strong punches to 
his sore body. 

"What was that, Agent Mulder? Does it hurt? I'm disappointed in 
you - Agent Scully withstood so much more. But then again, she 
had something to live for - you on the other hand… what have 
you got? a pathetic career? a non-existent social life? yeah - 
I know all about you, Agent Mulder… It's too bad I don't have 
the time to stay and 'question' you as I did Agent Scully but 
we really must get going if our location is compromised."

And that was when the gun came out. Mulder looked at it 
anxiously. Somehow he couldn't believe that he would die there, 
alone, after all they had been through together. That he would 
never see her again, make her smile, hold her close. He visible 
flinched as his torturer cocked the gun but then managed to 
look up defiantly. 

The balaclava-clad man aimed carefully and, with obvious glee, 
pulled the trigger. 

			******

Outside of Las Vegas, Nevada
4:12 pm

He had been there recently - she could feel his presence in her 
bones - and there was a rental vehicle covered in sunflower 
seed casings abandoned nearby. She had parked her own rental 
next to his and pulled out her phone to call for backup and 
paramedics - if Mulder was involved, then paramedics would 
probably be needed…. hopefully only to transport a certain 
balaclava-clad man…. Then she was out of the car and had 
climbed up the rock quarry extraordinarily quickly considering 
her still-weak body. 

Spying on the building with binoculars from what she hoped was 
a safe distance, she tried to come up with a plan. An open 
window on one side of the building piqued her attention and a 
plan began to form in her mind. The desert heat might have 
saved her mission and her partner's life and she was self-
satisfied in having brought a large arsenal of supplies - no 
rushing unprepared into dangerous situations for her. 

Carefully, she slid down the rocks towards the building until 
the unmistakable sound of a gunshot came through the open 
window. It was as if she herself had been shot. Had her effort 
been in vain? Was this it? Everything they had done, been 
through together…

Even as she scrambled down the rocks at a blazing speed, 
carried by momentum, adrenaline, and fear, hot tears began 
streaming down her face. And it wasn't from dust getting into 
her eyes. 

Almost instantly she was close enough to the building to get 
her plan started - it was her show. Backup wouldn't be there 
for more than half and hour and at that moment she  realized 
that he wasn't dead - not from any physical evidence or 
scientific theory - but from an odd feeling that came from 
within her soul that told her that she would know if her were 
truly gone. Quickly and silently, she donned a gas mask and 
took two canisters out of her bag. Grasping the canisters 
firmly, she opened them and threw them in the open window with 
perfect aim. Then, just as quickly, she pulled her silencer-
equipped weapon out and headed for what appeared to be the main 
entrance. 

			******


The bullet ripped through his thigh with a piercing hot 
intensity and Mulder nearly passed out from the pain. Looking 
down at the gunshot wound made him particularly dizzy and he 
was pretty sure he didn't want to be losing quite that much 
blood. 

He was going to die. Either the maniac would blow his head off 
or he would bleed to death just hanging there….

Still losing blood fast as his torturer admired his own 
handiwork, Mulder tried to hold onto consciousness long enough 
to see Scully one more time in his head and just as he was 
mentally staring at her image, the room began to fill with 
toxic smoke. 

'Why would they teargas themselves?' Mulder wondered to himself 
absently even as he found himself struggling to breathe. Then 
consciousness lost out and his world went black.

			******

They quickly moved to assemble outsider the main entrance - 
their efficiency belying their paramilitary training. However, 
this time their strict training was their downfall as Scully 
had predicted their evacuation procedures and had lain in wait. 

As the first man came running from the building, Scully 
silently shot him in the shoulder and edged her way into the 
building. Once inside, she stopped just inside the entrance and 
easily picked off the tear-gas blinded men as they headed 
toward the door in a panic. 

It was the easiest shooting she had ever done - they had ran 
right at her - and she noticed that she had even managed non-
lethal shots as she quickly cuffed all of her fallen opponent. 
Then, with only the briefest of pauses as she cuffed the 
balaclava-clad man, she was running down the hall, frantically 
checking every room until she saw something, someone, hanging 
from the wall in one of the rooms. 

Even through the smoke she could see the blood and her heart 
had rarely beat faster or more loudly. He wasn't moving and 
didn't seem to be conscious. 

'Please god. Please god.' she breathed silently as she held her 
fingers up to check his pulse. She exhaled loudly as she felt a 
faint but relatively steady pulse. 

He was alive. 

He was alive. 

She allowed herself an instant to gather herself before 
unlocking the handcuffs and gently lowering Mulder's 
unconscious body onto the ground. Quickly she took off her t-
shirt and used it to apply pressure to Mulder's leg wound 
before awkwardly lifting him up onto her shoulder. He was a 
dead weight and she could barely move on her first attempt to 
carry him but her second try was a stronger effort and she 
began to half-carry, half-drag her much-larger partner out of 
the building. 

The physical strain was excruciatingly taxing on her sore body 
but the mental anguish of not even knowing if he was still 
breathing, if his heart was still beating, weighed even heavier 
on Scully as she slowly but surely pulled Mulder down the 
hallway and out the door into non-toxic air. 

Finally she had a chance to really look him over and what she 
saw made her normally iron-clad stomach extraordinarily queasy. 
Seeing Mulder's blood always made her slightly nauseous and 
seeing so much of it at once was not doing good things to her 
body but she quickly forced that all aside as she automatically 
checked for an open airway and any signs of breathing. 

He wasn't breathing. 

Shit. 

Instantly, her lips were on his, breathing for him, begging him 
to breath on his own. And then with the fourth breath in he 
violently coughed and startled himself into a semi-conscious 
state. 

Scully started into his glassy hazel eyes and smiled. "It's 
okay Mulder - you're going to be fine," she said reassuringly 
as she checked his pulse again and listened to his ragged 
breathing. 

She wasn't sure anything she said was registering but continued 
to speak soothingly as she used her clothing to apply pressure 
to the bullet wound in his leg. "It's okay, Mulder - I'm here 
and we're going to get you to a hospital really soon." Where 
the hell were the paramedics?! "It's okay, Mulder… Here, this 
will make you feel warmer." It was hot still but Mulder was 
shivering and covered in a cold sweat as a result of shock and 
gratefully accepted the jacket she covered him with. "The 
bleeding's under control. You're going to be okay." She 
wondered if she were just saying it to make herself feel 
better. But he was going to be fine. He had to be. 
				
			******

Things had gone from dark to bright very suddenly and Mulder 
was having difficulty figuring out what was going on. He could 
breathe again - that was good - and he though he could hear 
Scully - that was very good. Except that he was probably either 
dead or imagining things. But no matter what he did, the mirage 
Scully stayed and absently brushed the hair off his forehead 
just like the real Scully sometimes did. And she was whispering 
to him, telling him that he was okay. And, strangely, he felt 
okay - still pretty shocky but nothing he hadn't felt before…. 
His head sure did hurt though and he was starting to get dizzy… 
He couldn't figure out what had happened and how he had gotten 
outside… or maybe he wasn't even outside…

If only that were really Scully….

			******

It was possible that she had been more relieved to hear the 
sirens of emergency vehicles before but none of those 
situations came to mind as the backup team finally arrived on 
the chaotic scene. Scully flagged the paramedics over and 
started filling them in. 

"Thirty-seven year old male with a GSW to the left quadricep 
and a possible concussion or skill fracture. Oh and smoke and 
tear gas inhalation and probably some broken ribs. Let me fill 
the agents in on what's going on and then I'm riding with you. 

The paramedics weren't about to argue with her and would have 
had to chase her down to do so as she marched off, yelling out 
instructions and explanations to the team of men milling about 
in confusion. 

"There are six injured and restrained paramilitary soldiers by 
the main entrance - we might need a few more ambulances or they 
might be fine to be transported by car to a hospital. Your 
decision - then search the building and tag every thing that 
you find as evidence. You'll find the case file in my rental 
vehicle over there and possibly other files in Agent Mulder's 
vehicle. Call me when this is all sorted out - I'll be at the 
hospital." And with that she was in the back of the ambulance, 
holding Mulder's hand in hers, stroking it gently with nervous 
fingers. 

			******
Mountain View Hospital
Las Vegas, Nevada
5:44 pm


In the course of their partnership, she had filled out way too 
many of his hospital forms. There was nothing more frustrating 
than watching the doctors wheel Mulder away down the restricted 
access hallway and then waiting anxiously and glaring at all 
the hospital personnel that seemed to be involved in a 
conspiracy of silence. Of course, logically she knew it wasn't 
quite like that but logic had difficulty getting past her over 
paranoid impulses in regards to her partner's well being. 

Finally after what seemed like days of pacing and terrible 
coffee, she saw a doctor she definitely recognized as the one 
who had taken her partner through the doors. 

"Excuse me, doctor? How is he?" she asked in her fiercest 
voice. 

The doctor eyed her warily. "Agent Scully right? Well, your 
partner suffered some serious injuries, including a hairline 
fracture of the skull along with the gunshot wound to his left 
thigh and some less serious ones, including a couple of 
fractured ribs. We had to perform surgery to remove the bullet 
and to stop some internal bleeding but he seems to holding up 
well. He should be fine." 

Scully let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. 

"Can I see him?"

"Well, he's in recovery right now and won't be moved up to a 
room for a couple of hours at least. He won't wake up for a 
while yet so why don't you grab some coffee or a decent meal…"
The doctor's well-intentioned advice was cut short with the 
glare he received from her intense blue eyes. 

"…or, seeing as you're a medical doctor, I suppose it would be 
alright if you sat with him in recovery - it's down the hall, 
just ask one of the nurses for directions."

Quickly, Scully's glare changed to gratitude and the young 
doctor was rewarded with a tired but dazzling smile. He 
seriously wondered if there were any more regulations he could 
break to get another smile like that from the fierce female 
agent. 

			******

He never failed to look angelic as he rested. Or at least it 
seemed that way to her. 

She stood over his pale face and gently traced his face with 
her fingers, softly touching the bandage around his head. He 
looked ridiculous. The bandage looked like a headband and you 
could still see his hair, messy, trying to take over the 
bandage's space. God he was cute. She almost giggled at the 
thought and took his hand in hers as she sat down next to his 
bed. 

"Mulder, I knew you wouldn't ditch me like that…" she whispered 
in his ear conspiratorially. "I'm so glad you're going to be 
okay."

She stroked his hand soothingly and sat back to wait for him to 
wake up. 

			******

"Agent Scully?"

She awoke with a start, quickly looking around and grabbing for 
her weapon before realizing it was just the young doctor from 
before. 

She smiled tiredly. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.

"No problem - you look like you could use the rest. But we're 
moving Agent Mulder upstairs now."

She smiled again and the doctor flushed slightly. 

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

			******
Mountain View Hospital
Las Vegas, Nevada
1:21 am


She managed to convince the staff to give him a private 
room as much for her sake as for his - she needed to have some 
time alone with her partner. 

He was comfortably settled when she finished discussing his 
recovery with the doctor and she couldn't help but smile as she 
sat down gingerly and took his hand in her. How had she ended 
up in love with the most eccentric and irrational agent in the 
bureau? She had no idea when it had happened but there had been 
no denying it after the fact. Well, technically there had been 
a lot of denying it but through it all she knew that it was 
merely a facade, a mostly impenetrable facade but a facade 
nonetheless. 

God how she loved him. His quirky mind, his boyish good looks, 
his too-tender heart and his selfless soul. Someone had really 
read the two of them poorly when they had thought she would 
blindly follow orders and invalidate his work. Sometimes she 
wondered when they had realized the mistake they had made - she 
guessed that it had been around the time of her abduction. But 
she had survived that and he had too - and they had gone on to 
survive so much more. She was so wrapped up in reminiscing that 
she didn't notice the slight fluttering of his eyelids and only 
turned to see his eyes opening when his hand moved in hers. 

"Hey G-man," she said with a huge smile on her face, releasing 
her grip on his hand to touch his hair, his face. He looked 
right at her and blinked a few times without saying anything. 
Then, still silent, he slowly reached out with his hand to 
touch her face as she held a cup of water to his dry lips. 
Finally, he registered something and smiled contently. 

"This is real," he whispered through cracked lips. 

That made her smile even more broadly as she stroked his hair 
soothingly.

"Yeah Mulder - this is very real," she said softly.

"I thought I was going to die," he said seriously and sounded 
so vulnerable that she had to bite her lip hard to keep the 
tears at bay. Silently shaking her head, not trusting her 
voice, she leaned over and kissed him lightly on the forehead. 

"I'm sorry," he said as she tried to blink her tears away. 

Finally she found her voice - a little shaky but soothing to 
his ears. "Don't be, Mulder - everything is fine. You're going 
to be okay and that's all that matters. 

He shook his head even as waves of tiredness advanced on him. 
"No, Scully - I'm sorry - it wasn't supposed to end up like 
this." 

"It's okay, Mulder, really." She felt his exhaustion and rubbed 
his hand gently. "Get some rest and we'll talk about it later."
He nodded slowly and closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of 
her small hand grasping his. Then he felt another light kiss 
grace his forehead just as he fell asleep. 

			******

When he awoke again, Scully was dozing with her head by his 
shoulder and he couldn't resist the urge to touch her gently. 

She awoke, startled at his touch and saw his concerned eyes 
trained on her. She grinned sheepishly and forced herself to 
take a calming breath as she looked Mulder over. 

"Scully, are you okay?" he asked as he took the opportunity to 
look her over too. 

She frowned slightly. "I think that's my line, Mulder," she 
said, trying to deflect his comment. 

"Bullshit, Scully. You look tired." he replied. " You should go 
get some real sleep."

She shook her head. "Go where?" she asked wearily. 

He smiled a bit at that - of course she had come straight to 
the hospital after hearing that he was there. But how had he 
gotten there in the first place? He hadn't even thought to ask 
when he had awoken before. 

"How did I get here?" he asked. 

She shook her head again. "Later, Mulder," she said. 

This time he was the one shaking his head, a movement that made 
him wince in pain but it didn't change the determined look on 
his face. 

Scully sighed. " I found your name on that flight to Las Vegas 
and I got the Las Vegas field office to pull up any recent 
suspicious activity nearby." 

"And?" That didn't answer his question completely. How had he 
gotten out of the building before being shot and before 
bleeding to death? The last thing he remembered was some sort 
of gas making it difficult to breathe. "And Scully? No way you 
convinced a team of Las Vegas agents to check out an abandoned 
base on a hunch."

She sighed again - there would be no hiding the truth from his 
inquisitive mind. 

"I flushed them out with tear gas and shot them at the door. 
Then I went in and pulled you out," she explained. 

He looked at her with questioning, wide, eyes. "You pulled me 
out alone?" he whispered, already knowing the answer but 
determined to get it out of her.

She nodded. 

"Scully…" He didn't quite know what to say. She was so tiny - 
not that he doubted her strength but there were the laws of 
physics to be considered. She shook her head again, trying to 
alleviate his concern - he was the one who had been injured, 
she was fine. 

"I'm fine, Mulder."
He didn't think he hated any statement more than that one. It 
always brought back terrifying memories of Scully being sick, 
of his fear of losing her. He shook his head. 

"Stand up" he demanded. 

She looked at him confusion. "What?" she asked. 

"Stand up." he repeated. 

She stood up cautiously, trying not to betray sore bones and 
muscles with any sudden moves. And obviously he didn't buy it 
one bit. 

Just then the young doctor from the previous night walked into 
the room. 

"Good morning, Agent Mulder. I'm Doctor Brewer. How are you 
feeling today?"

Scully grinned to herself - saved by the doctor - but felt 
relieved only until she heard her partner's response. 

"I feel alright, all things considers. But if you have the time 
maybe you could take a look at Agent Scully's injuries…" Mulder 
said innocently, pretending not to notice that Dr. Brewer would 
probably pay him for the chance to check Scully out. 

For that he received a death glare from Scully. 

"What injuries, Agent Scully? You didn't mention any injuries 
last night," Dr. Brewer asked in concern. 

Scully shook her head in exasperation. "I didn't injure myself 
last night, Doctor. I'm fine."

"Then you won't mind if he checks out your ribs or your hand," 
Mulder said loudly. 

She scowled yet again. "I'm fine." 

"Well, just to make sure - I'll just check you out quickly 
okay?" Dr. Brewer said eagerly and Scully knew she was trapped. 
She sighed and relented. 

Brewer poked and prodded her for a few minutes with her trying 
desperately not to wince in pain the whole time and especially 
when he grasped her overused, barely-healed hand. 

"Agent Scully, apparently we have different opinions on a what 
it means to be fine. I wouldn't call extreme tenderness, broken 
ribs, and a damaged hand being fine. I would like to put you 
under observation for the night," Brewer suggested. 

Scully glared at him. "I'm fine, Dr. Brewer. There is no need 
for concern - my ribs and my hand were broken before yesterday 
and are healing nicely. I do not need to be observed overnight." 
There was to be no arguing with the look that both Brewer and 
Mulder were subjected to. 

"Okay, Scully - then just a bed where you can lie down and get 
some sleep. Please?" Mulder said with sad eyes. 

She considered the idea and realized that she hadn't really 
slept in over twenty-four hours and that napping in a chair was 
never a good idea. 

"Okay - you win, Mulder. If they can get another bed in here I 
will lie down and try to sleep," Scully said, a little dismayed 
at having given in though his smile at her words made up for 
any misgivings she had.

She came up close to him as the doctor went off to request a 
cot be brought in and he lost the goofy smile, not knowing what 
type of reaction he was going to get from her. He was very 
surprised to feel her gently wrap her arms around his own 
broken ribs to pull him closer. It felt so good that he forgot 
about all the aches and pains. 

"Thanks, Mulder," she whispered lightly into his ear. 

			******

He was still sleeping when she awoke and she took the 
opportunity to look him over carefully with a slight smile on 
her face. She couldn't help but reach over and brush a stray 
lock of hair off his forehead as she watched him sleep. She 
lingered there for another minute before getting ready to 
leave. 

She was putting her wrinkled and smelly suit jacket back on 
when she felt him wake up. Pretending not to have noticed, she 
kept her eyes off of him and stepped towards the door. 

"Hey Scully," he said quietly, making her turn and look at him 
with an expression that implied both sadness and rage, both 
hidden carefully under a look of concern. 

"Hey yourself," she said with a smile as she stepped back 
towards his bed. 

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Field Office to grab some paperwork and see what kind of 
evidence they found in the building. I'll be back soon - want 
me to bring you anything?" she said, trying to sound natural. 

He shook his head and she took that as her opportunity to turn 
and head out but just as she was a step away from the door, he 
had to say something. 

"Hey Scully…."

She turned and looked at him nervously. 

"You're a terrible liar."

She sighed and looked at him forlornly, ready for him to berate 
her for lying to him but all he did was grin at her and that 
was enough to get her to grin back.

"Bacon cheeseburger, Mulder?" she asked. 

He nodded goofily. "Give 'em shit, Scully," he replied. 

Her heart a lot lighter, she was still smiling when she left 
the hospital. 

			******

Prison Interrogation Room
Las Vegas, Nevada
11:20 am


The interrogation room was physically no different from the 
hundreds of others she had visited in her lifetime but panic 
was surreptitiously sneaking up on her as she sat and waited 
for him to be brought to the room. 

A sharp click and the door was opened to reveal a prison guard 
leading a still0fierce presence into the chair opposite her. 

"The remarkable Agent Scully - how do you do it?" he said 
nastily, a slimy leer itching at his lips. 

"Fuck off," she said with an icy cold glare that bore into the 
prisoner's eyes. "I'm here to tell you that you will never win. 
You can hide the evidence, you can hurt us both, but we will 
always be stronger than vermin like you that trade in dark 
secrets and human lives. I hope that they lock you up forever 
but, regardless, if you ever, ever, hurt Mulder again I will 
hunt you down and kill you gladly."

Without another word and without looking back, she turned and 
left the room. 

			******

En Route to Georgetown
Washington DC
4:46 pm


"No way, Scully - I'll be fine!" Mulder argued vehemently as 
she zipped by the exit for his apartment. 

"Mulder," she said reproachfully. "You're still in pain, you 
can't cook, you can't even really walk. You're coming to my 
place where I will make you coffee and rent you movies and 
maybe, maybe, make you grilled cheese sandwiches and where I 
can make sure you can't go to work."

He wasn't sure whether to pout or to succumb easily - it really 
didn't sound to bad….

"Oh, just give in Mulder - you could use a week or two off - I 
know I could," Scully glanced over at a remarkable complacent 
Mulder. 

"Then take a week or two off," he said. 

She smiled and shook her head. "And do what?" she asked. 

"Stay with me," he said - a little more seriously than he meant 
to. 

That startled her a bit but she was as composed as ever when 
she replied. "Okay, why not - we both deserve a break."

It was his turn to be startled then and he remained speechless 
until they arrived at her apartment, thinking that if he didn't 
break the almost-reverent silence then she would remain in 
whatever other reality she would have had to have been in to agree to
stay home with him.

			******

Scully's Apartment
Georgetown, Washington DC
8:41 pm


He was comfortably sprawled on the sofa, flipping channels 
aimlessly when she came in with two steaming mugs of coffee. 

"That smells sooooooooo good, Scully - I haven't had a decent 
cup of coffee since…"

She winced a bit at the thought - since before Nevada, before 
she found him unconscious and bleeding. 

"Sorry," he said, watching her closely. 

"Don't be Mulder - it turned out fine," she said as she sat 
down and gently leaned up against her partner. 

"Yeah, if you call this fine," he said, looking pointedly at 
his injuries. "And considering there wasn't even enough 
evidence to charge them for the original Seattle murders…. I 
can't believe we can't break the encryption on their computers! 
This is ridiculous - we know they did it but we can't get them 
for anything except… except for what he did to you…"

"And that's enough for now, Mulder. We can't win them all and I 
think we did better than a tie on this one. At least the leader 
is behind bars and will be for a long time. And we're both 
okay - I learned long ago to settle for making it through a 
case alive, Mulder," Scully replied with a touch of sarcasm. 

"Alive thanks to you - I still can't believe it, Scully…"

She shook her head in resignation and looked up at his 
childlike amazement with a soft smile on her face. Slowly she 
pulled him closer to her until their faces were almost touching 
and slipped a quick kiss onto his lips. Then she let go enough 
to give him some breathing room but still close enough to run 
her fingers through his slightly sweaty hair. 

"How did this happen, Mulder?" she asked in a whisper. 

He looked at her in confusion, still dazed from the touch of 
her lips on his and not understanding her question. 

"How did I fall for a rebellious basement-dwelling, UFO-
believing, federal agent?"

His smile was priceless as he looked into her twinkling eyes. 

"Just lucky I guess," he replied as seriously as he could. 

And as he held her in his arms, tightly wedged together on her 
sofa, he couldn't remember ever feeling quite so content.

end.