I don't own The X Files or its characters. The X Files is the property of Chris Carter, and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.
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Chapter 20 by AnarchyX-Phile
Lunch went by quickly as Samantha recounted her daring tale about how she saved Dana's life. "They should make me an honorary agent or give me some type of trophy for the mantle." She joked; Dana laughed and nodded her head in agreement.
"I'll have a word with Skinner and see what I can do." Mulder chuckled before turning to Dana and whispering in her ear, "does Tom have blond hair?" She gave him an odd look before nodding her head. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "I just want to know about my competition."
He stood up and excused himself as he headed towards the bathroom but veered off to a back section of booths once he checked that neither Sam nor Dana was watching him. He sat down on an empty bench and smiled politely at the man sitting across the table from him. "You can leave now."
The man stuttered as he stared at Mulder wide-eyed, "No, I think you should leave."
"Oh I don't plan on going anywhere." He leaned towards the man and whispered quietly, "I'm only going to say this once: you stay away from Dana Scully."
"You have no right to…"
But Mulder interrupted him, "I have every right. Leave her alone. No more office visits, no more lunch dates. Do you understand?" When the man didn't answer, "have I made myself clear?"
"You'll regret this Agent Mulder."
"No, I don't think I will, Tom. Now go, there's nothing for you here."
"I'll let Dana decide that."
"She already made her choice and she told you so this afternoon after you broke into her office." Mulder waved for a man to come join him, "Terry here is the owner of this restaurant." He said as the man walked up to the table and crossed his arms. "He's going to let you leave out the back door so that there's no unnecessary drama."
Tom went to stand up and pull his fist back when Terry stepped forward and grabbed hold of his upper arm, "let me help you, sir." He said politely as he roughly pulled him out of the booth.
Mulder stood too and straightened his suit sleeves. "If I catch you following her again, I'll make sure you lose your badge."
Terry shoved Tom towards the kitchen door, tightening his grip on his arm when he turned and looked at Mulder for the last time, "this isn't over."
"For your sake, it better be." Mulder calmly said as he walked back to his table.
When he sat down next to Dana and put his hand on her leg, she smiled at him. "What took you so long?"
"Just taking care of business." He said and laughed when Samantha gagged and warned him not to talk about his bathroom habits at the table or she would tell their mom.
Terry walked over to the table and asked if they were enjoying their meal, giving Mulder a covert nod to indicate that Tom was out of the building.
"It was excellent as always. Terry, have you met my sister? Samantha, this is Terry Albright, he owns the restaurant." Sam wiped her mouth and smiled up at him, extending her hand out so that he could shake it. "Why don't you sit down for a minute? I'm sure you're due for a break."
Ordinarily, Samantha would be kicking him under the table for trying to set her up with someone, but right now all her concentration was on Terry as she asked him about the history of the restaurant and how busy it usually was.
Mulder felt Dana pinch his side as she nodded her head towards Terry and smiled, he grinned and interrupted Samantha's next question, "Terry, Dana and I are going to the theater this weekend—we were trying to talk Samantha into coming with us but she didn't want to be the third wheel. What do you say about coming with us?"
Terry nodded his head but pretended to think for a second, "I could take this Saturday night off; I think I'd like being the fourth wheel." He said as he looked over to Samantha and smiled lightly.
He pulled a business card out of his front pocket and jotted down a number on the back, handing it to Sam. "That's my personal number on the back, just let me know what the plans are and I'll be there." He stood up and shook Mulder's hand before nodding politely to both Sam and Dana before walking back into the kitchen.
"Well that sounds exciting." Dana said to break the tension, unsure of how Samantha was going to react.
"I think so," Sam said absentmindedly, "do you want to go shopping Thursday? I don't have anything to wear." Dana smiled and nodded her head, putting her hand on Mulder's knee under the table and squeezed his leg approvingly.
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Despite coming into work late, Skinner let them both go home early so that Dana could rest and Mulder could look at potential apartments.
He drove her home and walked her up to her apartment but, when she opened her door, he pulled her to a stop and cupped her cheek in his hand. "Aren't you coming in?" She asked
"No, I've got an appointment in 30 minutes to look at some apartments."
"You want company?" She asked even though she wanted nothing more than to take some pain relievers and go to sleep.
Mulder smiled and shook his head, leaning down to kiss her softly. "Go to bed."
"Here, take these." She said as she put her car keys in his hand. "The first key gets you into the building and the second key is my apartment key."
"I'll be back with some dinner as soon as I've finished with the real estate agent." He said as he kissed her again and turned to walk away. Before he had taken three steps, he turned back around and looked at her. "I love you."
She smiled and raised her eyebrow, blowing him a kiss as she said "hurry back." She went inside and locked the door and the deadbolt; she shrugged out of her coat but when she lifted her arms to hang it on the coat rack, the kitchen light flickered on. Her brows furrowed as she walked into the dining room and craned her neck until she could see into the kitchen.
"Tom?"
"Dana, it's good to see you." He said casually, as though he had bumped into her on the street.
"Why are you in my apartment?" she asked calmly as she looked around the kitchen suspiciously.
"I wanted to see you."
"I thought we talked about this today in my office. I want you to leave."
"Why, so you can be with Fox Mulder?" he asked, his lip curling in disgust as he spat his name.
"That's none of your business." She said, taking a step backwards.
"But it is—I've done more for you than he ever has. I got you that promotion, not him."
"You had absolutely nothing to do with my promotion." She was fighting so hard to stay calm as she slowly inched backwards towards the phone on the side table behind her.
"I figured you'd get assigned to his new case—hell, he's refused to work with every other lab technician except you. So when the bodies were transferred to our lab, I hurried and ran the DNA I found through the database and got a match."
"But there was no match in our database." She said confusedly.
"Not now—I deleted the profile from the system."
"Oh Tom…" she said with a disappointed shake of her head.
"You've got to understand, I was helping you." He explained as he rubbed his hands over his face. "I was only going to wait until the next body was found and then reinsert the DNA profile into the system. I wanted to be certain you were going to be the lab technician…I wanted you to be the one to find the match so that you'd get all the credit. But when I saw you with him today and the way he grabbed at you and treated you—I just lost it. You deserve better…so I took care of it."
"What have you done?" she asked wide-eyed as her heart began pounding in her ears.
"I emptied the playing field." He chuckled uncomfortably as he looked down at his shoes. "It's surprising what a murderer will agree to do when you've got evidence against him." His voice was so calm and detached, as though he was talking about last week's baseball game.
"If you lay a finger on Mulder, I'll kill you." She spat as she glared at him.
"But that's the beauty of it, Dana—I don't even have to touch him. We can be together now."
"Tom, don't you get it? I don't want to be with you. I'm in love with Mulder. And I sure as hell wouldn't be with you if you hurt him." She threw her hands up; she was wasting time talking to him.
"I don't think you mean that." He said as he began walking slowly towards her.
"Stay away from me!" she spat as she went for the phone.
"Dana, I really don't want to hurt you—but I will if you pick up that phone."
She turned around and grabbed for the phone; she knew Tom and she knew it was an empty threat— if he was going to hurt her, he would have done it already. She hurriedly dialed Mulder's number, but then she heard a loud thud and felt a warm wetness trickle down her neck before her vision blurred. She fell to the floor and managed to whimper, "help me…Mulder—love y…" before she blacked out.
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Mulder had only gotten about ten miles away from her apartment when he got her phone call. He stopped at a red light and answered with a smile on his face, "Miss me already?" he laughed, but then he heard the phone hit the floor and her labored breathing and then she said the two words he never wanted to hear her say: "help me."
He didn't even look at the oncoming traffic as he jerked his car into the opposite lane and raced back to her apartment. He kept his ear pressed against the phone and felt his stomach drop when he heard the receiver being picked up off the floor and a heavy breathing come across the line.
"If you've hurt her, I'll kill you." Mulder screamed, hardly recognizing his own voice. There was a soft chuckle before the line clicked and call was ended.
When he got to her building, he pulled the car onto the sidewalk and busted through the building's front door as he yelled for the manager to call 911 while he ran up the stairs.
When he got to her apartment door, he screamed in frustration when he found the door locked. He fumbled in his pocket for the keys but his hands were shaking too much and he ended up dropping the key ring onto the floor. He slammed his shoulder against the wood twice before the door splintered and broke in half. He drew his gun from his holster and looked down the barrel as he searched the room.
He walked in slowly, craning his head around corners as he tried to concentrate on anything other than the fear pumping through his veins. But then he saw her lying with her back against the floor, blood soaking into the collar of her shirt.
He went to her, dropped to his knees and grabbed her, pulling her into his lap as he scooted them into the nearest corner so his back would be covered. He wrapped one arm around her as his other arm extended out with his gun clutched tightly in his hand.
"Dana," he said as he shook her body and tightened his arm around her, "Dana, talk to me—you've got to wake up."
He saw a shadow move in the living room and he fired two shots, using the muzzle flash from the first shot to aim his second shot. He heard a thump as a heavy body hit the ground. He didn't know exactly where he hit the intruder but he wasn't going to lower his guard. "Don't fucking move." He said as he chanced a glance down at Dana.
Her eyes were fluttering open and he shifted to let her lie more comfortably. "You're okay, I'm here." He said softly and laid his upper body weight on her when she began jerking and fighting against him. "It's me, baby—it's me." He said as he kissed her temple.
"Tom was here—Mulder, it's Tom. You have to leave now." Her voice was weak yet there was so much strength in her words.
"I'm not going anywhere without you. We're going to get through this. We have a date on Saturday…you can't stand me up again." She smiled softly even as she began to pale. "Dana, you've got to stay awake. You know you can't go to sleep."
"Mulder—I love…"
"Don't say you love me—don't you say goodbye." He said sharply as he pulled her tighter against his chest. He saw the figure on the living room floor move slightly and he fired his gun again, hearing a groan before it fell back against the floor.
He could hear the police sirens outside and then the loud stomping of boots as the officers worked their way up to their floor. "Agent Fox Mulder, FBI—there's an agent down. We need an ambulance." Mulder screamed loudly at the men flooding into the apartment.
The team of officers broke into three groups, one breaking off to search the rest of the apartment, another team going into the living room with the man Mulder shot, while the last group came up to him and assessed Dana's injuries.
An office got on the radio, "head injury, she's losing consciousness;" he turned his back to Mulder and spoke softly, "she's lost a lot of blood, sir. We need that ambulance stat. Get the Bureau on the phone and find out her blood type." Mulder tried to focus his vision long enough to read the man's name tag: O'Brian.
Another officer tried to pull her from Mulder's arms but he shook his head and held onto her tighter. "I'm not leaving her."
"You don't have to sir, but we need to take her downstairs." O'Brian said as he waved off the other officers.
"I'll carry her." Mulder said as he struggled to stand up.
"Let me help you then, sir" O'Brian said as he grabbed Mulder's arm and helped him stand. "You can lean on me." He said understandingly as he motioned for the paramedics to bring in the stretcher.
As soon as he made it to the front door, his legs gave out and it was all he could do to set her down on the stretcher before he collapsed. O'Brian turned to the nearest paramedic, "he goes wherever she goes. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir," the paramedic said as he came over to Mulder and linked his arm around his waist, pulling him up onto his feet and half dragging him out of the apartment building while the other medics hooked Dana up to IVs.
"What happened to man I shot?" Mulder asked over his shoulder.
"I'll come and talk to you at the hospital." O'Brian answered as he nodded his head towards the group of paramedics going down the stairs.
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When they got to the hospital, Mulder had to lie and say that they were married in order to stay with her past visiting hours. "Her emergency contact is Margaret Scully." The nurse said suspiciously.
"That's her mother. I'm out of town so much on business that Maggie is more likely to be closer than I am." He explained as he turned away from the nurse and went over to Dana. He tilted her head to the side and moved her hair until he could see the black stitches—13 in all. How lucky.
He heard the nurse leave and he pulled up a chair next to Dana and sat down, grabbing her small hand in his and laying his head on the side of the mattress.
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He woke up to the feeling of a hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. "Fox, wake up." He jerked upright in the chair and looked beside him, loosening his hold on Dana's hand when he saw her parents standing next to him.
"I hear congratulations are in order on your marriage." Her father said gruffly as he contradictorily reached out and softly rubbed Dana's foot.
"It was the only way I could stay with her—and I didn't want to leave her." He said apologetically.
Maggie clicked her tongue disapprovingly at her husband and pushed him aside as she came up to look at Dana more closely.
William stuck his hand out and Mulder shook it with as much strength as he could muster. "I'm just glad you found her, son."
Mulder nodded his head and put his hands in his pockets. "The doctor came by a few hours ago and said all the scans showed little to no swelling. She lost a lot of blood so she'll be weak for a while but they expect a full recovery within a few days."
"She's a Scully—it won't take her long." William said as he went to the other side of the bed and sat down in a chair.
"I…guess I'll leave so you can be alone with her." Mulder said sadly as he stared at her. He so wanted to be next to her when she woke up. He recalled a row of chairs lined down the hallway, he could sleep there tonight.
"Nonsense, you'll stay right where you are." Maggie said with a finality that no one could argue with.
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The next morning, Officer O'Brian knocked softly on the door and stepped into the room. "Agent Mulder, can we have a word?" He asked as he politely nodded to Mr. and Mrs. Scully.
He squeezed Dana's hand tightly before laying it in her lap and stepping out into the hallway. "Who was it I shot?" The question was out of his mouth before he could stop it.
"Frank Lovell. During our search, we also found a Mr. Tom Jackson hiding in her bedroom closet. He claims that Mr. Lovell was the one that assaulted Agent Scully; he says he got scared after she failed to regain consciousness but when you tried to break in, he ran and hid. He claims he's a frightened Good Samaritan" O'Brian said doubtfully.
Mulder shook his head, "Tom has been following Dana; I approached him about it yesterday and he said I'd regret it. I know he hit her…I just know he did."
"And that's why I want to talk to Agent Scully; she can help clear all this up." O'Brian said.
"Who the hell is Frank Lovell? I've never heard his name before." Mulder asked.
"He was one of you—he worked for the Bureau for seven years. Oddly enough, his employee profile is missing from the records database. We're running his DNA through the system." O'Brian paused and took a step closer to Mulder, "Lovell's dead. He died about four hours ago. Naturally, I have to ask you to come to the station to formally answer some questions, but if you'd like to wait until Agent Scully regains consciousness, I understand."
"Thank you." Mulder said, "what is Tom being charged with?"
"Right now, breaking and entering and I'm trying my damndest to make sure he isn't granted bail because I'm guessing that more charges will be rolling in as soon as Agent Scully wakes up. And now, he's refusing to talk to us anymore about last night; he says he'll only talk to Agent Scully."
"Then he'll talk to no one because I'm not going to let him get near her ever again."
"To be honest, that's what I expected you to say and that's exactly what I told Mr. Jackson."
Just then Maggie stuck her head out the door, "Sorry to interrupt but she's waking up."
Mulder pushed by O'Brian and went inside, crossing the room in three large steps before he went to Dana's side and grabbed her hand, running his finger down her hairline as her eyes opened and adjusted to the lighting.
"Hey fighter, welcome back." He said softly as he pressed a smile on his face.
He felt her fingers weakly tighten around his hand as she smiled. "I'm so hungry. Did you bring back dinner?" she joked as she reached up to run her fingers across his lips. He kissed her fingertips and nodded his head towards her parents who were standing on the other side of the bed.
And then her face whitened and she sat up straight as panic flashed across her eyes as she remembered what had happened. "Tom was there, Mulder. He said he was going to have you killed. He said he'd hurt me— but I didn't think he really would."
"Take it easy Starbuck." William said as he put his hand on her shoulder and tried to lay her back down.
"No, you don't understand. He tampered with the evidence. He said he had a DNA match for the murderer and he covered it up; and then he used it to blackmail the murderer so that he'd kill you. He hit me, Mulder. Tom hit me." She said as she turned back to Mulder and put her hands on his face.
Officer O'Brian cleared his throat and stepped up to the foot of the bed. "If that's true ma'am, I'll make sure he never sees the outside of a prison cell for the rest of his life."
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I hope y'all enjoyed it, as always please review and I'll update as soon as I can. I promise the next chapter will have some steam and I'm already working on it so it won't take me too long to update! My next update will most likely be a one-chapter, stand-alone story so watch my profile this week and I'll try and have it up. (HINT: Small Potatoes!).