CHAPTER FOURTEEN

She gasped and felt such an overwhelming sense of love and warmth as he said he loved her.

Scully tried to speak, she tried to say it back, she looked into his deep hazel eyes and melted, trying not to cry, as it was so sweet and perfect, he reduced her to a soppy mess sometimes, only him.

He was the only one that she would let see her like that, apart from may be her Mom.

She tried again to respond but he just smiled and out a soft chuckle, he knew her well.

She was awful at expressing her feelings. And before she could find the words herself, he was pulling away and was standing up...

She looked up at him, her happiness now turning to panic as he left her, as she was too weak to stop him.

Then before she knew it, he was gone.

She was alone.

He took off through the dense trees towards the strange underground building as fast as he could, the ground was still wet and he stumbled a little on his feet, but he kept going, as he was determined. He had no choice, he had to finish this.

He was smiling slightly as he left her, as he hadn't dismissed him, or told him to shut up, she had been silent.

Sure, he would have liked her to say it back, but he knew her and it was so typical of her to struggle to say it. He would have to wait for that, he knew deep down that she loved him too. He was sure of it..

His thoughts of her went to the back of his mind as he needed to focus, as he neared the door and got out the keys out of his pocket and he slid the front door key into the slot and took a deep breath, opening it and moving inside.

It was exactly the same as they had left it.

It was deathly silent, and he moved slowly and cautiously.

He wished he had his weapon, this was when he really missed his firearm..

He edged forward and through each door, which was now open as he had unlocked them one by one. Mulder felt his hair stand up on the back of his neck, he was nervous, he was sure he had heard footsteps before. But now, there was no sign of anyone, no blood on the floor from what he could see, which he would have expected if Bruce had come after them...

He cursed himself for not taking the knife out of him when he had the chance, so he at least had some sort of weapon.

He tried to ignore the pain in his arm, Scully had fixed him up good, but it was still broken, like she had said. He puffed out some sharp breaths from his lips as he tried to keep it together and not get affected by it.

He went through another door slowly, then another, then one more, then down the steps until he was finally back in the main room where they had been kept.

Again, he saw no blood anywhere.

May be he had imagined it all?

He couldn't be too sure though…

He decided to move quickly now, as he was starting to realise that the longer he lingered, the more tense he was getting, so he searched the whole place, going back into Bruce's bedroom again and throwing his clothes and belongings about, trying to find a damn phone. Surely he had a phone somewhere…

He couldn't find one though, so in annoyance he walked out of the bedroom and into the make shift living room and searched all the cupboards and drawers. There was nothing, nothing at all.

"Fuck!" He grunted in anger and then paced towards the kitchen, looking in every drawer and compartment for anything. He made a mental note there was a kitchen knife there in the block, and lots of other things he could use as weapons. There was a toaster, he could smash that over his head if he came up behind him…

Mulder realised his vision was swaying and his heart was racing so fast against his rib cage that he felt he might pass out.

He needed to find a phone.. or something..

"Dammit!" He exclaimed in anger and frustration as he couldn't find a thing.

But then, suddenly he jumped out of his skin as he felt a hand on his shoulder…

His reflexes on overdrive, he spun around quickly and was already clenching his fist, swinging his good arm around and he almost roared as he smashed his fist hard into Bruce's face, knocking him backwards.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" Mulder raged as he saw that bastard once again.

He knew it. He knew he was still alive...

Bruce staggered backwards and was clearly weak, but then again, so was Mulder.

He needed to remain focused.

"Why don't you just die!" He shouted and launched himself onto him, grabbing his shirt into his fist roughly and pushing him backwards. He didn't even think twice, he started to beat him violently, over and over again with his fist. "Just.. fucking.. die!" He spat out between hits. He was so angry, he just saw red. He was not usually this violent, he was killing him with his own hand. Bruce had no chance at all, he was too weak to fight back, and Mulder was amazed he had even tried to attack him again.

After a lot of heavy punches, Mulder was sweating and grunting in fury, lost. He had to take deep breaths to steady himself and Bruce fell down to the floor with a thud.

He stared at his bloodied body and almost stopped then, he was starting to see what he had done, but his chest was tight with rage again as he saw him move.

Not dead yet.

Mulder roared again and bent down to his knees and shoved one up into Bruce's ribs hard, keeping him pinned down on the ground, putting all his weight on him.

"Do you own a phone!?" He demanded.

Bruce mumbled something incoherent. He was slipping away.

"WHERE'S YOUR PHONE DAMMIT!" He interrogated him, just sick of it all. He needed a phone and he was going to find out where it was.

He couldn't let Scully die out there...

"Argghhhpleeeezzzzz.."

Mulder blinked once, and shook his head. He was not going to fall for that shit. He was begging for his life, no chance..

"Tell me where it is!" Mulder demanded again, looking down at him with a red face full of fury.

"Coat… coatpoc-pocket.." Bruce managed to say, pointing weakly towards the door. Mulder frowned and spun his head around to look at where he was pointing, but in his moment of looking away, he fell for it, and Bruce managed to punch him clear across the jaw, making him taste blood.

"Argh!" Mulder cried out and then caught his fist and twisted it back, making Bruce groan in agony as he felt his bones breaking under his fingers.

"IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT!? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Mulder glared at at him in such fury he felt like he was going to kill him there and then, finish it off.

He took a breath and shoved Bruce down hard against the floor again, so he hit his head against the wood, letting him know he was not putting up with any more shit. Then with all his strength, he punched him one last time, and that seemed to do it.

He was pretty sure his own fingers were broken now, but that didn't stop him.

Mulder looked at him for a second and had to stop himself from reaching to strangle him to death.

After a few long seconds, he slowly turned back to where he had pointed and saw a black coat on a rack behind the door. Sighing in desperation, he stood up and ran towards the coat, and then he felt such a relief wash over him when he felt the firmness of the phone in his hand...

With trembling fingers, he blinked the sweat out of his eyes and lifted the phone up to his face, and then he realised he was shaking all over as the adrenaline left his body.

He dialled Skinner's number as fast as he could, though his vision was blurred again. He had to fall back into a near kitchen chair as he couldn't stand up straight, as he heard the dial tone ringing.

He almost had tears in his eyes as heard the pick up, and his superior's familiar voice. He kept watch of Bruce's body on the floor, covered in blood, unable to look away as he spoke and told Skinner everything he needed to know in a low and measured voice, one of a well trained FBI agent.

After he hung up he walked over to Bruce one last time and stared down at him.

He couldn't help but feel hollow inside.

He had beaten a man to death…

After a few long minutes, he managed to tear himself away. He grabbed his coat on the way out and locked all the doors behind him, one by one just in case. Just in case for some ungodly reason, he would come back to life. He had already once.

That's what monsters did, he thought, he had seen a fair few in his time...

He finally made it out and ran back towards Scully, desperate to see her.

He needed to hold her and tell her everything was ok..

As he reached the bushes, it was starting to get windy and cold again, and he had the coat over his shoulder, ready to wrap around her as soon as he saw her.

But as he looked around, he realised that he couldn't see her.

He started to panic, his strong resolve that he had kept so long was already wavering, after he had beaten Bruce to death, he was starting to crumble now as he realised help was on the way. Skinner said he had been able to trace the call.

He was only an hour away, tops. He was coming in the chopper..

"Mulder?"

He heard her voice to his left and he gasped a little and turned his head to look at her. He felt his eyes get damp with tears as she sat on the ground, her arms hugged around her knees. She was sitting up, which he wasn't that happy about, but at least she was there. He hurried to her and bent down, wrapping the coat around her immediately and fastening it up.

He was in such a hurry to be with her and feel her near that he almost fell to the ground.

"Hey, its ok." He heard her whisper, and her voice sounded like an angel.

He sighed and wrapped his good arm around her, still shaking.

He was gone then, and he bit back tears as he buried his face in her neck, taking her the feel of her soft skin against his face, the scent of her.

"Hey…" She frowned with concern and used all her strength to hug him back. Mulder kept his eyes shut and let her, as he was unable to speak. She tilted her head around to kiss his hair then nuzzled in his neck. "You did it Mulder." She said softly into his ear, knowing that everything was going to be ok now, even though he was clearly distressed. She knew that he had experienced something horrible in there, perhaps Bruce had still been alive. She sighed with worry but held him close. "We're going home, everything is going to be ok, thanks to you, we're going home now…" She soothed him over and over, as their roles reversed and she was now his strength, as he had been for her.

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