I hope you are gonna like this chapter. There is some new elements in it, which I don't really have a lot of experience writing about, so let me know if it's working.
Chapter 11 – An engagement party x-files style
"Agent Roberts?" Scully questioned him. "What are you doing here?"
"I need your help!" he exclaimed looking straight into Scully's eyes.
"What makes you think we are going to help you?" Mulder asked him not seeing the desperation and grief in his eyes as Scully did.
"They have my daughter…" he almost whispered looking down. "They have my Zoe!"
Tears formed in his eyes and he started to hyperventilate. Mulder and Scully dragged him into the hallway and closed the door behind them to their apartment. They sat Agent Roberts down with his back against the wall. His breathing calmed down after a few minutes.
"Tell us what we can do to help", Scully told him, seeing the same desperation she had felt earlier that day, when she had feared losing her own child.
"I don't know what to say. I don't even know how you can help. But I didn't know of any others who would be able to help me. I can't ask the other agents. These people… you have to have fought true evil to understand."
Mulder and Scully looked worried at each other. But Roberts continued his rambling.
"I know I give you a hard time. But truth is I believe in your work. I believe in what you do."
"Where is your daughter?" Mulder asked him pushing him to get to the point.
"I have been working for some bad people. It started a few years ago. I never meant to become one of them, but I needed the money. My wife was very sick. She was hospitalized and they did everything they could to cure her. But if I didn't pay a large sum of money they couldn't perform the operation, which could save her life. The bastards came to the hospital. They told me they would give me the money, if I worked for them in return. I didn't trust them. But they were my only option at the time. So I played detective. I investigated some buildings, took pictures at the people who came, and at the ones who exchanged money and papers. I don't know what it was about. I never know what it is about. A few weeks later my wife past away. I had used every penny I had on her hospital bills. I was about to lose my home, and my daughter. The men showed up again. They had a new job for me. A job that paid even better. Since then I have been working for them. They have paid my house, my car, Zoe's kindergarten, my wife's funeral."
Roberts took a deep unsteady breath. Mulder and Scully was speechless.
"Some weeks ago they told me I had to mess with you, Mulder. For the first time, I asked questions. Why, I asked them. They looked at me as if I were insane. They told me I didn't need to concern myself with that. As long as I did my job, I didn't need to concern about my daughter's health. So I did some research. Found out about Scully's boyfriend."
Scully looked worried at Mulder. He hadn't told her how Roberts thought she was going out with some Marvin Dean from VCS. He gave her a look that said not to worry, and that he would explain later.
"Then I tried to provoke you that Saturday. But it didn't work. My job was to get into a fight with you. And when I couldn't do that they told me to kill you. I said I wouldn't do it, they have never asked me to kill for them before. I said that they could have their money back. But they started threatening me about Zoe again. So I said I would do it. When I got home I started packing; clothes for Zoe, some of her toys, clothes for me, and the old photo albums. I picked up Zoe at her friend's house. And then I drove out of the city. I was heading towards Annapolis. My wife's sister lives there. But as soon as I had left the city four black range rovers were following us. I knew it was them. I tried to evade but I couldn't, and I knew they had guns. I couldn't risk Zoe's life. So I parked at the side of the road. I told Zoe to stay in the car and I walked out with my arms in the air. They walked towards me in a fast pace. I backed away and told them to calm down but before I knew it they had knocked me out. When I woke up I was back in my house. Zoe wasn't there. I finally found a video tape on the table in the living room. I pushed it into the machine and pressed play. I can't describe what I felt when I watched it. There were two men, some of the guys I used to work for. Zoe was sitting in a chair between them. She was tied on her hands and feet, and her mouth was duct taped. The men said I had to kill the two of you if I wanted my daughter alive."
Now Roberts broke down crying again. It took him a few minutes to form the next sentence.
"They followed me when I left the house. I knew they would. But as soon as I got into the city I evaded them quickly, and came here. I don't know what to do", he cried.
"Don't worry, Roberts. Scully and I are gonna help you. Tell us the place you usually met with these people, and then go home. Pretend you are getting ready to kill us. Don't let them question what you are doing. When you can't extend it any longer head for my apartment. I will give you a key, and then just stay there till we come get you. But be armed all time. And trust no one, besides Scully and me."
Mulder and Scully had left their own engagement party. They said it was because of work, but of course that wasn't the entire truth. They didn't have many leads to follow. Only one lead actually. They parked a few streets from the empty warehouse, Roberts had told them about. They walked in a fast pace towards their goal. When they could see the warehouse they started walking slower and more careful though.
"There are lights on", Scully stated pointing at the windows in the back of the building.
"Yes", Mulder said and studied the warehouse. "Let's go in at this end. It's dark so there will probably not be anyone. Then we will walk towards the other end of the building."
"And if there is someone in the dark?" Scully asked pointing out the flaws in his plan (as usual).
Mulder thought about it a few seconds. "I walk in front, and you stay right behind. And keep your hand on your gun!"
Scully nodded. She thought about what she had been doing a half hour earlier. Mulder and she had been kissing in her bedroom. It seemed like weeks ago now.
Mulder crawled into the building through a window with no glass in. He held his gun up, and tried to see in the dark. His eyes finally got use to the dark a bit. It didn't seem like there was anyone in there. He put his gun back in its holster and helped Scully in through the window as well. He let them through the dark room, her holding onto his jacket. They came to a door. There was no way of knowing what would be on the other side.
"What do we do now?" Scully asked holding onto Mulder's jacket still.
Mulder put his ear on the door, and Scully did the same. They couldn't hear a thing.
"What do you think, Scully?" Mulder asked her.
"Let's do it", she said.
Mulder slowly opened the big door. It screeched a bit, but fortunately there was no one in this room either. At the end of the room though, was another door. And it was evident that in the room behind the door there were lights on. It lit up cracks of the door and some of the room they were in. They looked at each other quickly and then walked towards the door. They began to hear muffled voices as they walked towards it. When they were right in front of it, they could clearly hear what was being discussed.
"What's his twenty?" a dark voice asked.
"He is at home now, sir. It appears, as if he is getting ready to do the job", someone informed him.
"Good. Keep tailing him. And keep informing me!" the dark voice said.
"Yes, sir."
"Is the girl still sleeping?"
"Yes, sir. But we will need to move her soon. It's too dangerous to keep her there, sir."
"I know, Hastings", the dark voice agreed and thought for a moment. "Bring her here!"
"Here? But Roberts knows about this place!" another strange voice disagreed.
"Roberts is sticking to the plan so far. And if he escapes again we will move her. Even if he did come here, I am sure it would be worst for him. And even worse for the girl", the dark voice said smugly gaining some chuckling from the other muffled voices.
Mulder and Scully looked hateful at the door. They contained their rage and sat down by the wall next to the big door.
"Let's just wait for them to bring her to us. She can't be that far away", Mulder whispered.
Scully nodded. "But what will we do when she's here? What's the plan?" she whispered back questioning.
"I am yet to figure that out myself", Mulder sighed. "She will be guarded of course. The only thing I can think of is some kind of diversion."
"No!" Scully said a bit louder than intended grapping Mulder's arm. "Nothing like that, Mulder!"
"I have to, Scully", Mulder told her honest looking down. "I love you."
"If you love me you won't do it!" Scully whispered harsh grapping his arm even tighter. "What about Elias?"
"I won't die, Scully!"
"You don't know that, Mulder. I know for sure these men won't hesitate, if they have a clear shot at an intruder!"
"But the girl…"
"No, Mulder! We will stay here. If the girl is in trouble we will break through the door and shoot every single one of them. Not sooner! And if there is even the smallest opportunity, I promise you we will try and get her out of there. But we do it together!"
"All right, Scully", Mulder sighed and smiled at her cupping her cheek. "Just know this; whatever happens tonight, I love you. And I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you."
"Good, Mulder", she smiled back.
They heard a car park in front of the building. Someone yelled; "The girl is here!"
"Come on, Scully", Mulder said.
Mulder and Scully walked towards another door in the same wall as the one with the lights behind it. In the room behind the door there were windows. It allowed them to see what was going on in the lit room. But the mysterious men wouldn't be able to see them, because they were in the dark.
"There she is", Scully whispered as she eyed Zoe on a chair in the corner next to the door they had been listening to moments earlier.
There were 8 men sitting around a round conference table. They were all wearing boring grey and black suits. Another two men stood by the door leading out of the building. These were wearing suits as well but were build rather different. Typical bodyguard types. They both had nasty looking Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns, and they were ready to use them. The other men didn't appear to bear arms though. Mulder thought about just walking in there and shooting the bodyguards, but he knew Scully wouldn't go for that.
"All right, Scully, here is what we gotta do: I take the man with the blue tie hostage. I get everybody to focus on me. Then you take Zoe and head for our car", Mulder told her.
"How will you get away?"
"I keep blue-tie my hostage and get into one of their cars. They won't shoot me when I got him, I think he is the boss", he told her.
Scully had observed that blue-tie was the man with the dark voice from earlier, and she, as Mulder, believed him to be their boss as well.
"Just promise me you will be careful, Mulder! I love you!"
"I promise", he said and kissed her forehead tenderly. "Just stay by the car with Zoe. And if someone follows you flee."
"Yes", she nodded and kissed his forehead in return.
There was a knock on the door by Zoe. The mysterious men looked at one another with fear evident in their eyes.
"Hugo!" blue-tie yelled at one of the bodyguards. "Go check it out!"
"Yes, sir", Hugo answered and went for the door.
When he opened it he couldn't see anyone. He looked back at the bosses and their eyes told him to search the room. He slowly walked in with his gun ready to fire. Suddenly someone wacked him over the head though. Hugo didn't get up.
"Hugo?" blue-tie yelled into the room from his seat as he had heard the thud.
"Gavin! See what's happening!" he told the other bodyguard.
Gavin walked towards the door. But when he stepped into the room someone shot him in the shoulder with Hugo's gun. Gavin fell to the floor and dropped his own gun. Mulder kicked it away as he stepped into the room, revealing who he was. One of the mysterious men was about to dial something on his phone, but Mulder pointed the weapon at him and said; "I would drop that phone if I was you!"
And so he did. All eight men were standing with their hands in the air.
"What do you want, Agent Mulder?" someone with a red tie asked him, letting him know they knew who he was.
"You there! With the blue tie, get over here!" Mulder yelled.
Blue-tie pointed questioning at himself.
"Yes, you!" Mulder yelled impatient taking a step towards them.
Blue-tie walked slowly towards him. When he got in Mulder's reach, Mulder grabbed him towards himself and held the gun to his head.
"If one of you as much as move without me telling you to, I am gonna shoot his brains out!" Mulder warned them.
Everyone looked frightened. And he could feel blue-tie tense as well.
"Which one of you has keys to the van outside?" Mulder asked them, but no one answered him.
"Which one?" he yelled pressing the gun harder to blue-tie's temple.
"I have them", one of them said nervous.
"Fine. Slowly get them up from your pocket!" Mulder ordered.
The man took them from his pocket in slow motion and held them up.
"Throw them over here!" Mulder told him, and he did as said.
The keys landed right in front of Mulder and blue-tie.
"Now pick them up for me, blue-tie!" Mulder told him holding the gun to his head the whole time.
He picked them up and Mulder snatched them from his hand and started moving sideways towards the door leading outside. He had to turn the mysterious men's attention away from Zoe so Scully could take her.
As Mulder was close to the door something creaked under his feet. He looked down haste and saw a hatch in the floor. It was covered by dust but only barely.
"Hey, red-tie! Get over here and open that hatch in the floor!" he yelled.
The man with the red tie did as told. Mulder saw it was kind of a secret hideout.
"Get down there", he ordered red-tie.
While he ordered the mysterious men down there one at a time, he saw Scully coming in, in the other end of the room and taking Zoe. He knew blue-tie saw it as well so he whispered to him; "If you say anything you'll be dead on the spot!"
Soon all the men were down there, except blue-tie. Mulder had had them leave their phones on the ground so they wouldn't be able to call anyone from the hideout.
"Lock the hatch!" he ordered blue-tie, who did as told. There was no way they could get up now.
Mulder took his handcuff and cuffed blue-tie. He took him outside and sat him in the back of the van, where they had probably held Zoe.
Then he drove towards Scully. He hoped she would be waiting by the car. That would mean no one had followed her. Luckily she was.
Mulder put blue-tie into the trunk. And got in the car, leaving the van behind.
"Scully!" he said and kissed her gently on the mouth.
Then he looked to the backseat.
"Hi, Zoe", he said sweet. "Are you okay?"
She nodded but kept her head down.
"She is a bit scared right now. But I think she's gonna be okay", Scully told him.
"Where is my daddy?" Zoe asked them sad. "I want my daddy!"
"We are going to see him now, Zoe. He is waiting for us", Mulder told her.
This got her attention. She looked into Mulder's eyes with her beautiful hazel ones.
"Are we really?" she asked them.
"Yes, Zoe. We got away from the bad guys! Now we just have to find your daddy", Mulder told her and started driving towards his apartment, where Roberts were supposed to be.
Scully and Zoe got off by the hospital. Zoe would need to be checked and Scully would call the police there.
When Mulder was close to his apartment he saw a black range rover parked in front of the building. 'Real settle' he thought to himself and parked far behind them. He got blue-tie out of the trunk and started walking towards the range rover.
"What are you doing?" blue-tie asked him.
Mulder didn't answer him though, he just kept walking.
"You won't get away with this! I have thirty-five men working for me, and twelve of them are trained agents, fourteen could kick your ass from here and to Canada, and the rest of them could hide the fact that you were ever born in a matter of days", he warned him.
"That's nice of you to tell me, but save it for the judge!" Mulder told him and twisted his arm a little.
Now he was standing behind the black car. He shot the back tires flat, which made the two bodyguard looking guys in the car come out.
"Hey, what the…" he shut up as soon as he saw his boss with a gun to his temple and lowered his own similar gun.
"Both of you slowly put your gun down, if you don't want me to pull the trigger!" Mulder warned them.
They did as told and kicked the guns away. Then they lay down on their stomachs as Mulder told them to. The police came driving towards them with sirens on. There were four patrol cars. They arrested the two bodyguards and blue-tie. Mulder told them about the other men he knew where were and they called for more backup and then went to the abandoned warehouse to arrest them.
Mulder ran to his apartment. He opened the door and was met by a nervous Roberts pointing a gun at him.
"Wow, Roberts. It's me", Mulder told him holding his hands up.
"Oh, thank God, Mulder!" he sighed and lowered his gun. "Please, tell me she's alright? Tell me you found her?"
"We got her Roberts!" Mulder said happy and smiled at him. "She's safe now."
"Oh, Zoe, I am so sorry. Are you okay?" Roberts asked his daughter as he kneeled by her hospital bed.
"Is okay, daddy. Elias' mom saved me from the bad guys", she told her dad smiling.
"I love you, Zoe", he told his daughter honest and kissed her cheek.
"I love daddy too", Zoe said and locked her arms around his neck in a hug.
Mulder and Scully closed the door and waited in the hallway. They didn't want to intrude the father-daughter moment.
"So what happened?" Scully asked.
"Well, that man in the blue tie turns out to be one Ulrich Larding. He is wanted for being involved in more than forty hits, several cases of disturbing the privacy and for being the key figure in an illegal organization called; The Retaliators. The organization gets paid for doing all kinds of illegal favors for rich guys who are afraid to do it themselves. They were paid by Mr. Quinn to make Elias theirs", Mulder told her. "That's why they wanted us dead."
"I can't believe this", Scully said shaking her head in disbelief.
"I know. I felt the same way", Mulder told her rubbing her back.
"I am really glad Elias didn't have to get involved in this. Imagine if they had kidnapped him", Scully wondered out loud but relaxing into Mulder's backrub.
"I am glad Quinn is going to be put away for a long time", he said, letting his hands stop their work on Scully's back. "He must be insane to think he could get away with paying for the hit on two FBI agents."
"Don't stop, Mulder!" Scully told him referring to his hands that lay still on her back now. "It felt good."
"Oh", Mulder said moving his hands over her tensed back once again. "I never knew you liked massages."
"I never did before", she told him honest. She had never really liked someone rubbing her back or shoulders. It had always made her even tenser. "It's different with you, I guess."
"We should do this more often then", he whispered close to her ear. "But next time with no clothes on."
"Mmh, I would like that", Scully whispered back.
Mulder kept his face close to her neck while sitting almost sideways in his chair massaging her back and shoulders.
"So… Elias is with your mom tonight, right?" Mulder whispered again.
"Yeah?" Scully answered knowing where this was going.
"Then maybe we should celebrate our engagement?" Mulder said and kissed her neck lightly.
"I like that idea", Scully told him seductively and kissed him gently on the mouth.
"Good", Mulder said and kissed her a bit more passionate.
They stopped kissing as an older nurse walked by them. She looked at them as though they were two teens misbehaving. They just laughed together.
Just as they were sitting with their heads close chuckling they heard a door slam behind them. They looked up behind them and saw Roberts looking at them.
"What are you doing?" he asked them frowning.
"Nothing", Mulder said and got up from the chair, while Scully did the same. "I think we are going home now though, Roberts. It's getting late."
"Ehm… yeah, okay", Roberts said still frowning.
"Bye, Roberts. Say hi to Zoe for me", Scully said.
Mulder and Scully walked down the hallway leaving Roberts a little confused. Of course they couldn't tell him. Maybe if they became friends with him one day, they could. But for now they had to be careful who they told.
"So… do you think he knows?" Mulder asked Scully as they sat in the car in the parking lot by the hospital.
"I don't know. He has been spreading so many rumors about us that I don't think he can believe any of them to be real", she said.
"Maybe not", Mulder concluded. "So you wanna get home and start the celebration", he asked her wiggling his eyebrows.
Scully had to laugh at him. He was so irresistible. "Oh, Mulder", she said shaking her head at him. "I can't wait to celebrate."
"Me neither", he told her and began kissing her.
He let his soft lips drift over hers. He caressed her lower lip carefully with his tongue. She tasted like nothing else. Like Scully, nothing compared to it. He opened his mouth, and she did the same, allowing him to slip his tongue into her mouth. She moaned into their kiss, getting him to become even more enthusiastic. He slipped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap so she was straddling him. She reached down and pressed a button, sliding the seat further back in the car, expanding their space.
"You sure you don't wanna wait?" Mulder asked her between kissing her neck.
"I can't", she told him moving her hips against his waist gaining a groan from him.
"Oh, dear God, me neither", he declared capturing her lips once again.
Suddenly someone knocked on the window and said; "Agents?" in a firm voice.
"Ehm, yeah?" Mulder answered not stopping kissing Scully; nobody could see them anyway, due to the fogged windows.
"You forgot your jacket, Mulder", Roberts told him.
"Just a second", Mulder sighed annoyed.
Scully sat back in the passenger's seat and Mulder drove the seat back into place. Then he opened the window.
"Oh, thank you, Agent Roberts", he said and took the jacket and threw it to the backseat.
"So the rumors are true after all?" Roberts said smiling.
"I am sure I don't know what you are talking about", Mulder smiled back.
"No, of course not. See you at work, agents", Roberts said and waved at them as they drove off.
"Do you think he will tell anyone?" Scully asked a bit concerned.
"He has been for years, Scully", Mulder laughed.
Scully laughed as well. The whole situation was kind of ironic. Soon they were home in good old apartment 35. The place was kind of a mess from the party. Maggie had left them a note on the kitchen counter saying;
"I am sorry you had to work. I will bring back Elias in the morning as soon as we wake up. He says to tell you he loves you. I am sorry I haven't cleaned up, but Elias is tired so we are heading straight for my place. I will help you clean in the morning though.
Love M."
"I guess we have all night then", Scully said wrapping her arms around Mulder's middle.
"Good! We are gonna need it!" he said huskily and lifted her up on the counter and began kissing her neck.
When Maggie and Elias entered the apartment everything was very quiet. And everything was an even bigger mess than when they had left the night before. Most of the stuff on the kitchen counters had been knocked down. Several of the paintings on the walls were hanging very crooked. And the couch was several meters from its usual place. Clothes were spread all over the kitchen and the living room floor.
"Let's go again, Elias", Maggie said knowing what had been going on. "They are probably still sleeping."
"But I want mom", Elias said sad. "I miss her."
"We will be back later", Maggie told him comforting but it didn't help.
"I will go wake her", he exclaimed and ran for the bedroom.
"Elias! No!" Maggie said and ran after him.
But it was too late. He had already opened the door to the bedroom. Mulder and Scully were lying naked in the bed only wearing a duvet. Scully was lying on her back, while Mulder was lying on his stomach, half on top of her, with his nose touching her cheek and his arm around her, hiding her breast. Maggie hurried and closed the door.
"Let's make them breakfast", Maggie told Elias.
"Okay", Elias sighed. "But only if it's pancakes", he smiled.
"Alright", Maggie laughed.
Please review and let me know what you think :)
