Disclaimer: I don't own Mulder and Scully, nor do I own the X-Files. But I do, however, own anyone you don't recognize from the show. No infringement, don't sue: I'm a poor kid who's not even out of high school yet.
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"Thank you, Scully!"
Mulder grabbed both sides of Scully's face, pulling her head to him to kiss her forehead. But just before he could kiss her, she spoke. "You kiss my forehead, and I will whack you with my cast."
Mulder let go of her face, with his mouth in a tight 'o' shape. She gave him a small scowl.
"Will you check on them please?" She asked Mulder, nodding at the two seats in front of them. He knew she was afraid of flying, and agreed. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he stood up and took a peek over the chairs.
"Sound asleep." He told her. Scully was glad to hear it.
"Good, because they didn't sleep at all last night. I woke up every once in a while to check on them."
"You always were a light sleeper, Scully."
"Yeah. Did Skinner ever get in last night? He was supposed to fly back with us today."
Mulder shook his head. "No, but I got a call. He said he was going through the local P.D, transferring Sir and Miss to our turf."
"Good. Do you have his gun?" Mulder nodded. "Okay."
About 15 minutes after the two had stopped talking, Mulder had fallen asleep. Scully couldn't. Not on a plane. She sighed. You wouldn't think a flight to Washington, D.C. from Maine would be a long one, but it was about 3 hours. They still had 2 hours and 15 minutes to go.
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They finally landed. Scully and Mulder waited until the plane was mostly empty to get off, because they needed help getting the baggage down from the overhang. Mulder couldn't do it because of his broken ribs. Scully was too short. And the girls weren't strong enough.
The stuartess was happy to help, and Mulder rolled his bag off. He was stopped by one of the flight attendants. "Hey…why are your girls so skinny? They got a problem or something?"
"No," Mulder replied. "They were being malnourished by the people who kidnapped them."
"And that's not you, right?"
"I'm an FBI Agent. What do you think?" Mulder finished up the ramp after flashing the man his badge.
Scully shook the girls awake. "Girls, come on. Time to wake up, we're in Baltimore."
"We are?" They said simultaneously in a groggy voice.
"We are. C'mon." Each one looped an arm through one of hers as they walked through airport security. They had never been in one, and they were scared to death but astonished at the size of it and the amount of people in it.
"Dana, are we going to ride with him?" one of the girls asked.
"No, Chardonnay." They had agreed to be called by their birth names.
"He's getting his own taxi!" Scully called after Mulder with a smirk. Mulder turned around, taking a few steps towards the girls. Chardonnay and Honoria stopped. Scully looked at Mulder, annoyed.
"Sorry," he muttered. "Why do I have to get my own taxi?"
"Because they can't ride in one alone, and they certainly won't ride with you." Scully told him. "Now walk, mister."
Scully hailed a cab, and let the girls climb in before she did. She told the driver her address, and they were off.
Mulder hailed his, and pointed to the cab in front of them. "Follow that cab."
"Where are we going, Dana?" Honoria asked.
"We're stopping by my apartment, and then we're going to Wal-Mart to buy you two clothes that fit."
Mulder recognized the way both cabs were going, and knew that they were on their way to Scully's apartment. The girls would sleep there until what needed to be done was done, and they were on their way home. Before they knew it, Mulder and Scully were pulling into her building lot, and unloading.
"Mulder, would you go upstairs and unlock my apartment?"
"My keys are melted, Scully."
"Oh. Take mine then. Here." She dug them out of her left coat pocket and tossed them to her partner. She took both rolling suitcases, and made sure nothing was left in the cabs. She then paid both cabbies, and turned to the girls. "Ready?" The girls nodded excitedly. "Okay. Up we go then."
They followed her up, Scully checking over her shoulder quite often to make sure they were still there. They found her apartment door cracked open. "Mulder?" There was no answer. Scully set the suitcases by the door and told the girls to get comfortable. "Mulder…?"
"Mmm!" came as a reply. "Kitchen." Mulder had gotten to Scully's orange juice.
"Okay. Making sure you were still alive. I'm going to run the girls to Wal-Mart…they need clothes. My over-sized ones aren't going to cut it."
"Okay."
"And you owe me fifty bucks for that cab ride."
Mulder shrugged. "Okay."
"Now. I need it for the clothes."
"Crap." Mulder dug into his pockets. Then he pulled out his wallet. "Here. Here's 75."
"Mulder, I don't want 75, I only want--"
"Scully take it, or give it back."
"Indian-Giver." She gave Mulder a playful pout, and grabbed one hand of each girl.
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Mulder was waiting at Scully's apartment for two and a half hours before the three got back. They came in with what seemed like fifty bags. "Jeeze, Scully. How long are they staying?"
"Awhile, considering that A.D. Skinner just called me, saying that he got a call from the police department in New Portshire. Michael and Jenn Galt, along with 19-year-old son Jeffery and 18-year-old son Ash have conveniently handed themselves in jail."
"Really?" Mulder asked. "I never would have guessed…what are they charged with?"
"Possession, using, drunk driving, one with vehicular manslaughter, and the other three as accessories to the crime." Scully replied.
"And we were gonna give these two back to them?"
"Apparently. So DCF has made an order. Guess who Skinner suggest they stay with?"
"You?" He asked, pointing to her.
"Mm-hmm." Scully nodded. "And the trial could go on for months."
"What happened to the little girl that was there?"
"I don't know. Maybe a grandparent or something." She looked at the girls studying the TV remote and smiled. "The blue buttons change the channels." Mulder watched them, smiling as well. "Mulder, help me set up the guest room?"
He nodded and followed her back.
