Connie POV


Mulder's excitement was contagious.

Not that I was in a bad mood before.

I mean, the evening was really nice.

My foot was throbbing slightly, but it was tolerable and the wound on my stomach barely hurt at all.

And Lupo was exceptionally sweet.

I mean, he usually is, but tonight he was even more so than normal.

I think he felt bad about not wanting to elope.

And I'd teased him about it, but I understood.

He wanted to wait and do it as we planned.

Because he was afraid that I was overreacting to my ordeal.

And maybe I was reacting to it, but I wasn't overreacting.

I just wanted to be married to him and I was tired of waiting.

But anyway, the evening was pleasant, and then we headed for home with Mulder in the back seat.

He was chattering away like a kid going on a field trip, and I had to smile at him.

"This is so awesome," he said. "I mean like…this is better than scouting the dinosaur, you know? And that's some cool shit."

I was starting to wonder if he'd ever spent the night away from home.

Not counting the time he'd spent in prison, of course. That had surprised me, but Lupo said it was a minimum security clubhouse, so maybe that was why Mulder was still so…innocent.

He'd called his mom a few minutes ago to let her know that he wouldn't be home.

"I'm gonna hang with Lupo and his ten," he'd told her.

It didn't bother me that he referred to me like that. Knowing him, he meant it as the highest form of compliment.

But I did wonder if his mom understood a single word that came out of his mouth.

"It's work, okay, Ma? Jeez, it's nothing illegal. Lupo's a cop."

He'd rolled his eyes at me while he listened to whatever his mother was saying, and then he said, "I'm not crashing. They asked. I'm gonna write a program for him tomorrow. And then I'm gonna help Carolyn, too…No, Ma, she's not my girlfriend. She's another cop."

He was quiet for several minutes after the call, but then he perked back up.

"You really think the FBI would hire me?"

"Absolutely. They don't like to advertise that they pick up rogue hackers, but…yeah," Lupo told him. "Carolyn knows a lot of people at the New York field office. If she says she can get you in, then believe it. Although personally, I'd rather have you at the NYPD."

"You just don't want to lose him as a resource," I said. "The Bureau would be a better fit."

"I know," Lupo agreed. He looked in the rearview mirror at Mulder and said, "She's right. I want you at the NYPD for selfish reasons. You sure make investigative work a whole lot easier."

"Hey, man, I'll still creep around in any shit you want, Lupo."

"So you think you might be interested?" I asked him.

I knew he'd be great at it, but considering how little time he spent out of his mother's basement, I was surprised to hear that he seemed to be thinking it over so seriously.

"I'm thinking maybe it's time to fly the coop, right? I mean, past time. I'm a grown man. I shouldn't have to call my mom to tell her I won't be home. I mean, what if I was hooking up with a chica, right? And then I gotta call my mom? Shit, no."

"Do you…hook up with chicas?" Lupo asked with barely masked amusement. I chucked him on the leg, but Mulder didn't seem offended.

"Just 'cos I haven't, doesn't mean I won't, right?" he replied optimistically. "So yeah, this fibbie thing sounds like some seriously cool shit."

"Let Carolyn know tomorrow," I told him. "I'm sure she'll make the call on Monday."

"Hey, Lupo, will you…you know, like check out the offer? I mean, if they make one. I've never…you know, had a real job before."

"I've got your back," Lupo promised.

It was strange how Mulder had latched onto Lupo, but as far as I was concerned, the dichotomy worked for both of them.

Mulder got guidance from someone he respected, and Lupo got a confidence boost from being admired and emulated.

"So, Bernard and Lauren looked better by the time they left," I commented. "I don't know what Logan said to her, but I guess it worked."

"Yeah," Lupo agreed. "I really need to catch up with Bernard. I have no idea what's going on with them."

"Well, maybe by Mary's housewarming party next weekend, things will have settled down."

"And we'll have caught Carl," he added pointedly.

I'd been purposely avoiding thinking about Carl tonight.

Every time I thought of him, I could literally feel my blood pressure going up.

I hated him.

And yeah, I know he must have something wrong with him mentally, but it didn't change what he'd tried to do to me.

And the terrible things he'd said.

I'd shared some of it with Lupo, but I'd kept the worst of it to myself.

It had taken me a long time to bring him around to the fact that he was the perfect man for me, and I wasn't about to let the ramblings of a delusional jerk like Carl cause a backslide.

But still…I couldn't get Carl's voice out of my head.

"You know he slept with a murder suspect, right?" he'd taunted.

"I know about that," I'd assured him.

"I read the trial transcript. How…tawdry. And common. And… shameful."

I hadn't responded to his attempt to bait me, so he kept going.

"Was that before or after he started sleeping with you?"

"Before," I answered firmly. "Months before. What, you never slept with someone you regretted after the fact?"

"No, have you? Other than Lupo, I mean."

"I'm not discussing my sexual history with you."

"It doesn't matter. After I have you, no one else will exist for you."

"You okay?" Lupo asked me gently.

I realized that we were now parked across the street from our building and that he'd cut off the car. Mulder was already climbing out of the backseat.

"I'm good," I said, giving him a smile to back up my words.

"I'm sorry I mentioned his name," he said knowingly.

"It's okay," I promised.

He leaned across the seat and kissed me on the cheek and then we both got out of the car.

He came around to my side quickly, looking up and down the street. Despite the fact that he'd been relaxed only moments before, now he was on alert.

Looking for Carl.

All was quiet, so we crossed the street and went into the building.

The elevator was on the fritz, which happens from time to time, so we went up the stairs to our apartment.

My foot was hurting more by the minute, after walking around on it so much, so I was moving slowly, but Lupo and Mulder stayed at my pace.

"I can carry you," Lupo offered.

"Dude, you're so awesome," Mulder commented enthusiastically. "The hero in the movies always carries his girl."

"Except when the girl doesn't want to be carried," I pointed out.

"Even then," Lupo argued as he scooped me up into his arms.

I couldn't stop the squeal of protest that escaped, but Lupo ignored it and carried me up the last two flights of stairs.

"You're going to hurt your back," I insisted.

"From carrying you? I don't think so."

"Up two flights of stairs?"

"To keep you from hurting? I'd carry you anywhere."

"Dude, did you ever see that movie?" Mulder asked, turning to face us as he pushed open the stairwell door with his backside. "You know the one with…"

But that was all he got out.

Because as the door opened, I looked towards Mulder, and past his shoulder, standing in the hallway in front of our apartment door, was Carl.

He appeared to be attempting to pick the lock, but he turned at the sound of the door opening, and then I saw what he had in his other hand.

A gun.

"Lupo!" I screamed.

And what came next all happened so fast.

Lupo reacted instantly to my shout, grabbing onto the front of Mulder's shirt with one hand, attempting to pull him back into the stairwell with us, while at the same time, he moved slightly past the doorway and released me so that I was back on my feet.

He firmly shoved me into the corner, keeping me out of Carl's line of sight, and then he took a split second to catch my eye, giving me the unspoken directive to stay put.

He still had one hand on Mulder's shirt, tugging hard since momentum had been carrying Mulder into the hall instead of into the stairwell, but he finally started moving in the right direction.

Shots rang out just as the Mulder lurched into the stairwell, and then he went down, flat on his face.

I looked at him in horror, not believing that he'd actually been shot, but it was real and this was happening and he was sprawled in the doorway, and his legs were blocking the door, keeping it from closing, and the small corner where I stood wasn't big enough for two bodies, so Lupo was a sitting duck as he pulled his gun from his holster.

But he's quick, my Lupo.

And all I could think about, as he stood there in the line of fire without batting an eye, was how much Mulder would love to see Lupo like this, standing there like John McClane, facing down the bad guys while protecting the innocent.

Because really, it was just like a movie, only the bullets were real and the blood was real and it was scarier than any movie I've ever seen.

Carl continued firing his gun and bullets were whizzing around the stairwell, ricocheting off the concrete walls and steel railings, but Lupo stood fast and took aim and fired off three shots in quick succession.

And suddenly everything stopped.

My ears were ringing and the stairwell was filled with the smell of gunpowder and I'm pretty sure that I hadn't blinked in the entire thirty seconds that it took for everything to happen.

I stayed still, mostly because I wasn't sure if I was capable of moving, and I stared at Lupo as blood began to seep through the sleeve of his jacket.

"You're shot," I managed to say, and my voice sounded hollow and far away.

"Stay there," he instructed confidently as he cautiously stepped out of the stairwell.

"Lupo…"

"Don't move."

So I didn't.

I waited while he went down the hall, presumably to check on the status of Carl.

I hoped he was dead.

Maybe that makes me a bad person, but I don't care.

I really, really hoped he was dead.

I glanced down at Mulder, who still hadn't moved, and I started to feel sick.

"Mulder?" I asked quietly.

He didn't respond and I saw that there was quite a bit of blood pooling beneath him.

"It's clear," Lupo called out, so I looked around the corner to see him trotting back towards me. "Call 9-1-1."

He dropped to his knees next to Mulder and all I could do was stare.

He was so cool under pressure while I stood frozen.

"Connie," he said sharply. "Call 9-1-1."

And his tone finally pulled me from my trance.

I quickly pulled out my phone as I knelt down on the other side of Mulder. Lupo turned him over and the blood stain on his front side was huge and I faltered briefly when the dispatcher came on the line, but then I swiftly barked out the specifics of our situation and I included Lupo's badge number, hoping that it might make the ambulance move just a little bit faster, and then I dropped my phone and leaned over to see if Mulder was breathing.

Lupo had the kid's shirt ripped open and he was doing what he could to slow the blood flow.

"Is he breathing?"

"Yes," I answered. "Barely."

I felt for a pulse, and it was there when I first put my fingers against his throat, but as I kept my fingers in place, trying to assess his heart rate, it stopped.

"Lupo," I said, my voice cracking as the fear rolled through me that he might actually die. "He's not breathing anymore."

Lupo whipped off his jacket and covered the exit wound on Mulder's stomach.

"Hold this here," he ordered, taking my hand and setting it on top of his jacket.

So I used my hands that didn't want to stop shaking to hold pressure on the wound, trying to control the blood that continued to pour out, while Lupo gave him CPR.

"Call…um…call Bernard," Lupo said as he continued to thrust his hands down on Mulder's chest. His voice was ragged, and it was the first sign of real emotion that I'd seen from him since this whole thing started.

I'd tossed my phone down after calling 9-1-1, so I glanced back to see where it had landed, and then I reached out with one hand to get it while keeping the other hand in place.

As I turned back around, I noticed that Lupo's shirt sleeve was completely soaked in blood, and the fabric near his elbow was torn.

"Switch," I told him as I finally found my inner strength.

"What?"

"Your arm."

"It's nothing."

But I moved him out of the way and took over chest compressions so that he could hold pressure on the wound and make the call.

So Lupo talked to Bernard.

The purpose of the call was likely only for support because the cops were coming and so was an ambulance and Carl was dead.

But Bernard was his best friend and Lupo was clearly more rattled than he was letting on, so I was grateful that he'd allowed himself the luxury of reaching out. It wasn't something he normally did.

And while he did that, I continued to alternately breathe and force the heartbeat for Mulder, who so far was completely unresponsive.

So I didn't just do that.

I also prayed.

TBC...