March 10 2000 8:30 PM
Mulder pulled up across the street from Scully's apartment and turned off the car. He looked out of the window to the U Haul truck that was parked out front. That must be Charlie, he thought. He got out and walked over to the truck, it was empty.
"Damn Charlie, I told you to wait." He said to himself before rushing up to the door of building.
He quickly pulled out his keys and entered the building, taking the stairs to Scully's floor two at a time. When he reached the third floor landing he ran to her door, it was wide open. He could see Charlie standing inside staring at the pool of dried blood on the floor.
"Charlie." He said startling the man.
Charlie turned to face Mulder with a look of horror on his face. "Mulder, where's my sister?"
"She's fine, she's at my place with some friends. It's not her blood." He replied calmingly.
"Not her blood….. What the fuck happened here?" Shouted Charlie.
Mulder walked in the apartment closing the door behind him. "Calm down." He said taking the terrified redhead by the arm and leading him to the dining room to sit down. "Sit down, I'll tell you everything."
Charlie sat, the fear was starting to subside and now he could feel the rage building up in him. How dare Mulder keep this from me! How dare he not let me see my sister! Who did he think he is?
"I wanted you to wait until I got here before coming in, so I could explain what happened." Started Mulder.
"Well, I'm here now, get to explaining. You can start with whose blood that is." Shot Charlie.
"It's a man by the name of Donald Pfaster's, he came here last night and attacked Scully. They fought and she shot, and killed him."
Charlie sat back in his chair. "Dana, killed someone. Here? In this apartment?" He couldn't believe it. She was so little. "And where were you?" He asked accusingly.
"I got here just as she shot him. I'm sorry Charlie, I never should have left her alone with Pfaster out there, I didn't think." Said Mulder guiltily. He felt awful, he should have protected her.
Charlie shook his scruffy curls. "Who was that guy? Why did he attack Dana?"
"He was a sick man, Scully and I helped put him away five years ago. But he escaped prison and came after her."
"And you left her alone? If you knew he was coming after her, why would you do that?"
Mulder bowed his head in shame. "I didn't know, I read him wrong. I thought she was safe, I had no idea he was obsessed with her."
Charlie took a deep breath, he was still furious at Mulder. But Dana was alive, and safe. "What do we do now?"
"I was hoping you could help me clean up, I don't want Scully to have to come home to that." He said gesturing to the dark pool. "And I thought she would want family around."
That shocked the man more than anything else Mulder had said. Didn't he know how much Dana needed him? Sure she hadn't really been forthcoming with him about her feelings, but he was her brother, he didn't expect that. But surely she had told Mulder how she felt. And even if she hadn't how could he not know? When the two of them were together it was like the rest of the world just slid out of focus. Charlie shook his head, sometimes Mulder was as brick headed as his sister. "Let's get started I guess."
They worked hard on clearing up all the shattered glass and broken Knick knacks from Scully's bedroom floor. Mulder noticed the Bonsai tree he had given her for her birthday had survived the carnage, safe on her bedside table. Charlie had run down to his rental truck and grabbed out a large mirror of his to replace the one that had been broken. Before too long the room was back to its immaculate self.
The bloodstain in the living room was harder. They tried soaking it in chemicals and scrubbing it hard. But even after a solid twenty minutes of scrubbing, the light pink pool was still visible on the floorboards. Another trip to Charlie's truck found a suitable rug to cover up the damage, and they both agreed that short of replacing the floor it was the best they could do.
They stood up, backs aching from the labour and headed into the kitchen for some iced tea. Mulder glanced at the clock, it was almost eleven. He knew that he wouldn't have much time before Scully started calling to find out where he was. He took a long swallow of the sweet drink and put it down on the bench. "I guess I should go get your sister."
Charlie looked at the clock. "It's getting pretty late, why don't you wait until the morning. That will give her more time to get used to the place before she goes to bed anyway."
Mulder nodded, the younger Scully made sense. "Well, I should be getting back to her anyway. Who knows what kind of stories the Gunmen have been telling her while I've been out."
Charlie laughed. He had met the Gunmen a few weeks ago when they had come by to do their usual sweep. He had liked the strange little men. They had some good points with their conspiracy theories, and he felt safer knowing they were checking his house. "Alright, tell the boys I said hi." He joked.
Mulder nodded and headed for the door. He turned as he opened the door. "Are you going to be alright?" He asked.
Charlie looked at the man surprised, he hadn't expected Mulder to care about how he felt. "I'll be fine, I mean it's a little freaky, but I'll live."