Disclaimer; Unfortunately I do not happen to own any of the recognisable characters in this piece. Sorry if you do happen to own them but I was only having a bit of fun!
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It was Dark. The all soul consuming blackness that not even nighttime cannot bring. Something dreadful had happened here, something unimaginable to even the most savage of human thoughts. It was going to happen again and this time no one could see it coming.
A high pitch wail of anguish echoed; the space was enclosed yet infinite. There was no telling how long the darkness continued, or if it ever came to an end.
She cried out again, in anger not in pain, but it was anger so strong that it made the air close in tight around her. Feeding of the noise in such a silent place. Over and over she twisted, her hands pressing up against unseen barriers. There was no light to see her by but somehow he knew her name. There was no escape. All hope was left in the shadows of long distant memories. No help. No warning. Alone, her exhausted hands grasping ahead a million times over, until she fell silent and dropped to the ground.
It was over. A final drawn out moan uttered from her mouth, that held both fear andhopelessnessin its resounding notes. He called out with her, until all that remained was the remnants of their voices, and the cool emptiness of nothing.
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3.56am
Mulders' Apartment
He sat bolt upright. For a moment everything was blank. He held the standard issue handgun pointing out across the room. The click of the safety being flicked off was enough to wake him.
Cold sweat ran down his face and chest, the covers of the bed were pulled back and laid in a heap on the floor. Taking in a few shaky breaths he put the weapon back in the draw, remembering to put the safety back on, before stumbling sideways towards the bathroom.
He was alone: The apartment was silent except for the distant noise of traffic a few blocks away.
" Shit …" Mulder gasped, running his fingers through his hair as he searched the mirror for his reflection. Slowly the last images of the dream were coming back to him. So solid and real he had to put one hand out to steady himself.
Without thinking he went to pick up the cordless phone laying on the table, and speed-dialled no.1. The phone rang three times before an answer message kicked in. Sighing, but more urgent now, he reached for the mobile thrust deep in the pocket of the jacket slung over a chair in the kitchen. This time the phone rang for at least five minutes before someone picked up. For a moment there was silence and then a very groggy voice sang joy to his ears.
" Scully. This had better be good. " A long silence followed " Mulder?"
He made a small noise of acknowledgement. She sounded really pissed off. Looking across to the alarm clock that blinked in angry red digits that it was 4.07am. The faint grey light that bled in from the windows backed up this fact.
" Are you there?" Maybe he shouldn't have called. "Is everything okay?"
" Yes, Sorry. I was just checking that it was still okay for the flight" He mumbled.
"We went through this on Friday, you were going to come and pick me up at seven, which means that I still have another two hours in bed."
"You don't want to meet up and go over the case?"
" We have a 3 hour flight, Mulder"
"Okay then, see you at seven"
Her end of the phone clicked dead. He looked back towards the bedroom, and then back to the kitchen. It was no use; he wasn't going to get any more sleep. It was time to confront the last two days of dirty dishes waiting for his attention.
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Somewhere above Texas
12.42am
The plane jerked as it hit the rising thermals over the flat dusty plains of cowboy country. Scully shifted in her seat, trying to place all her attention in reading the contents of an anomalous brown folder lying open in her lap. To her right, her dosing partner grunted in his sleep, and began to slowly slump into a deeper slumber, pressing all his weight across her shoulder. A young teenager in the seat in front sniggered as Mulder began to snore.
"We are currently preparing for our descent. Please return to your seats and return all trays to their upright positions" The intercom announced " There may be a spot of turbulence as we touch down"
Great, She thought sarcastically, folding the paperwork back into her bag. Mulder was now leaning all the way across, pinning her to her seat. The stewardess raised her eyebrow as she passed on the final check, asking if she should wake him. Scully shrugged. She had a pretty good hunch that Mulder had not sleep at all last night, and he was no good to either of them exhausted.
As the plane trembled to a halt, he jerked awake, seeming surprised that it was tarmac, not clouds, outside the windows.
"Good morning"
"Good afternoon you mean" Scully said, as they began to file out into the backing heat of Houston " I hope you caught up on the sleep you lost last night because we have to meet the sheriff in an hour, and navigate our way out of here" She spread her arms to gesture at the size of Bush International Airport. At least it was air conditioned, outside the temperatures soared to 95 Fahrenheit, andthey were right in the middle of one of the worst droughts that decade.
Mulder yawned and then headed over to the baggage area.
"I'll just go and grab some coffee then" She said spotting Starbucks out of the corner of her eye. It was going to be a long day!