Title - Kismet
Author - Jaimee Kidder
Email - invisibleshining@ivillage.com
Rating - PG-13 (for violence)
Classification - XRA
Spoilers - Herrenvolk/Talitha Cumi, Fight the Future,
Triangle, Two Fathers/One Son, Three of a Kind
Keywords - Mulder/Scully romance
Summary - Mulder and Scully investigate a seemingly
meaningless murder in a small farming town in Alabama and suddenly find
themselves caught in the middle of events that could lead to the end.
::whirrrrr:: "I made this!"
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this
story. I wish I was Scully and owned
Mulder, but such is not the case. If I
did, this would be an episode -- or two, or five -- of the show, not some story
that Chris Carter will prob'ly never read. :) The secondary characters are mine (so there!). But Mulder, Scully, and the rest are all CC's (hail to the man!),
1013's, and Fox's. Too bad for me. ;-)
Oh yeah...and I borrowed Celine
Dion's "Because You Loved Me"...so thank you, Celine, for singing
such a lovely (and shippery) song!
.kismet.
.trial.by.fire.
Sleepy Z Motel
12:51 p.m.
Scully sat on her bed in her motel room in a daze. She couldn't believe what had happened. Mulder -- workaholic, obsessed, alien-hunter Mulder -- had told her that he loved her. He had kissed her and told her that he loved her. The words played endlessly over and over in her mind like a melody.
"...Dana...I love
you...."
She couldn't help it. She couldn't stop thinking about him.
Stop it! she told herself fiercely, wrenching herself
off the bed and pacing around the room. You need to think about this. You need to collect your thoughts and get ready to talk with him. Standing straight before the mirror now, she
threw her shoulders back and smoothed a loose strand of fiery golden hair back
into place. There. That's
better. You're calm, you're
rational. She let out a breath she
hadn't even known she was holding and replayed the scene in her mind.
They had kissed. Scully had never felt so completely at
peace. For the first time in years,
all the problems and rules of science and logic had melted away, and she
realized how much she trusted Mulder and felt his absolute trust of her. She had no idea how long the moment
lasted. After they finally pulled away
from each other, she had held his gaze for as long as it took for another car
to pull up and honk impatiently. Then
they went back to the motel. She had
gone to her room while Mulder drove to the Four Mile Cafe. Each had to be alone in their own way.
She hadn't thought the moment
would come when she and Mulder expressed their feelings for each other. In fact, it had only been recently that she
had realized that she loved him. But
she had never been sure about Mulder's feelings toward her -- if they were real
or if it was just teasing. She had
never thought about their relationship extending past anything but friendship;
she had never wanted to think that far ahead about her future or damage the
friendship they had now. Loneliness crept
in only when she let her guard down, and that didn't happen very often. But right now it was impossible not to think
about their relationship outside of the work and partner context, and for the
first time, the thoughts that came to mind were good and realistic ones,
and she indulged readily in them.
The adjoining door creaked open,
startling Scully out of her reverie. She glanced up from where she was now sitting on the floor with her back
to the bed, half-expecting to see the Cancer Man standing there, Morley in
hand.
"Hey again," Mulder
said cheerily, his smiling voice snapping Scully back to reality. "I got you a...salad and some very,
very good-smelling cheddar cauliflower soup," he said, whipping the two containers
out from behind his back with a flourish.
"That was
fast...mmmmm...thank you, Mulder," she smiled, taking the Styrofoam dishes
and plastic silverware from him with a curious glance into the soup. He shut the door and plunked down on the
floor next to her, leaning comfortably against the bed. "Yeah, they've actually got a
drive-through at that little place...look at that, Scully...big, juicy
hamburger..." he teased, brandishing it under her nose, then seizing it
with both hands and taking a huge mouthful. She grinned and speared a piece of mushroom with the plastic fork. "Oh, I looked over Robert Harris's
medical file."
"And?" It came out as
more of a grunt through the burger.
She smiled. "And...he was perfectly healthy in every respect. In fact, he had just undergone a complete physical as per company policy. It was very thorough. The EKG test showed no coronary artery disease, and the EEG and various CAT scans came back negative for any problems as well."
"They were thorough,"
he remarked, slightly amused. "I
guess that pretty much rules out death by natural causes."
Scully nodded. "So where do we go from here?" she
asked, poking her spoon into the thick soup.
"I think," Mulder said,
"that we should call the Lone Gunmen and see what they can find out. Maybe they can give us some leads."
"While you do that, I'm
going to run a background check on Phillip Kahn."
"He did seem kinda...wasted
in that job, huh?" Mulder agreed, scooping a fingerful of Scully's soup
into his mouth before she could stop him. A smile tugging at her mouth, Scully cocked an eyebrow at him and
without a word, snatched Mulder's fry container. Mulder let out a "Hey!" and grabbed the other end of
the container in Scully's hands, a grin taking over his face. She laughed and shoved his hands off the
side of the box, but he reached back and captured her hands, his big ones
engulfing hers. Scully tried to yank
the container back from Mulder, but suddenly found herself looking into the most
adoring eyes she'd ever seen, and stopped tugging at the fry container. Realizing that the same look must be in her
eyes, Scully was vaguely aware of leaning over to meet Mulder's kiss.
The phone rang.
Startled, they snapped away from
each other, and Mulder jumped up to answer the phone.
Scully began eating her soup
again, trying to regain her composure. She turned her head to look as Mulder picked up the phone. "Yeah?" There was a brief pause, then Mulder called impatiently,
"Hello?" There was no
answer. He put the receiver down, a puzzled
expression on his face. Scully looked
at him, slightly concerned. "Mulder?" He stood by
the bedside table looking blank for a second, then he blinked and his eyes
cleared. "Mulder? You okay?"
He nodded slowly. "Good," she said, putting her worry
aside. "I think --"
Just then Scully heard the sound
of a car, turning the corner into the parking lot of the motel with screeching
tires. Something about the sound made a
chill go down her spine. She glanced up
at Mulder, who had turned his head to stare at the connecting door to their
room, closed now. Suspicion growing in
her mind, she was almost afraid to speak.
"Mulder...?"
Mulder stalked to the dresser and
slid the car key into his pocket. "We gotta get out of here, Scully," he said tightly. "Mulder, who was on the phone?"
Scully demanded, her body tense. "Someone who hung up the minute they heard me answer. They know we're investigating Rob Harris's
death, Scully, they know where we're staying, and now they know exactly where
we are right now, and I don't feel like hanging around until the
welcoming party shows up. The car's
parked outside my room. Grab your
jacket and let's go."
Scully picked up her jacket,
hoping against her instinct and all she had seen that this was a paranoid delusion,
and quickly strode to the connecting door close on Mulder's heels. He threw the door open.
Standing in the outer doorway to
Mulder's room was a man in a white decontamination suit smiling grimly. But that wasn't the first thing the two
agents saw.
A swarm of bees was rapidly
filling the room.
Unable to breathe, Scully was
snapped out of her daze by Mulder's voice.
"Run!" he yelled over
the growing hum. "Scully,
run!"
She whirled around, unwillingly
turning her back on the threat, and bolted out the door with her jacket pulled
up over her head. At the last moment
she remembered to close the outer door to her room, and turned to see the swarm
filling her room. Somehow she forced
her hand out to the door still inside the room and slammed it. Mulder was suddenly at her side, service
weapon in hand. "Come on, let's
go," he said gently. She nodded
numbly and pulled out her own handgun. The motel was laid out in such a way that Scully's room, although
connected to Mulder's, lay directly behind it, and opened out to the other side
of the motel. On the opposite side now
from where the car was, they stealthily walked the length of the motel and
rounded the corner with weapons leveled at any possible threat. Both of them were completely focused on the
last corner ahead. They had almost
reached it when a thought caused Scully to stop walking.
"Mulder," she said
quietly, touching his arm lightly with her fingers. He looked down. She
paused, searching for the words.
"What is it,
Scully?" Mulder asked, looking at
her closely.
"I have something I need to
tell you. Before we go." He nodded softly, inviting her to continue.
"I love you too,
Mulder..."
She leaned against him and only
then realized she was shaking. A slow
smile spread lingeringly across Mulder's features as he put his arms around her
and lightly rested his chin on her head. Scully blinked back sudden tears and forced herself to go on. "And I just wanted to tell you now
because...I want you to remember that whatever happens, I love you...."
She trailed off and stepped back to look into Mulder's eyes as he tenderly
wiped a tear from her cheek. "I
know, Scully," Mulder murmured as he put his arm around her shoulder,
pressing his lips against her hair. She
sighed and looked back at the corner of the motel.
"You ready?" Mulder
mouthed.
She nodded and ran her hand through her hair, composure coming on once. They pulled out their service weapons and cocked them at the same time, affording Scully a small smile. Mulder looked at her and grinned, and then both snapped into total concentration as they approached the end of the building. Scully leaned against the wall and slowly looked around the edge.
"The car's about ten parking
spaces away," she hissed. Looking
farther, she whispered, "Let's go -- it looks clear." She slid around the corner first and kept
her gun ready. Suddenly a sound made
them both freeze.
The click of a hammer.
Mulder's quick glance told Scully
everything. His hands went up in
surrender, as she watched out of sight on the other side of the wall.
Mulder stood, hands clasped
behind his head, staring at a man in a decontamination suit. In one gloved hand, the man was aiming a
.38; the other held a small white cylinder. Mulder could only think of two things.
The man was still suited up for a
reason.
The suit would slow the man down.
Mulder braced himself.
From her new vantage point on the
opposite side of the Camry, Scully watched her partner's back and kept her gun
trained on the edge of the wall.
Suddenly, Mulder broke into a
run, snapping himself around to the other side of the wall as the gunman fired
several shots. Forcing herself to put
apprehension aside, Scully waited for Mulder to join her, eyes focused on where
the gunman should appear.
Just then, a small white cylinder
came flying through the air and clanked to the ground a few feet past the
sidewalk that ran around the motel. She
dropped to the ground, unsure of whether it was an explosive or something
else. She watched the object warily
from where she lay on the pavement. Then, inexplicably, one end of the capsule came loose and rolled to a
stop a few feet away from the Camry. Knowing she should go investigate, Scully stood cautiously and then
spotted Mulder, half-crouching, half-lying against one of the doors of the
motel.
"Mulder!" her voice
rang out across the desolate parking lot. He looked up weakly, his eyes blank. She ran to him, bent down and began to move his arm to lay it across her
shoulder. His cry of pain caused fear
to course through Scully like a deadly poison. Looking quickly down, she saw his white shirt, now soaked with blood.
Then she looked up from Mulder's
limp form...and gasped. A massive cloud
of...something was hurtling towards them and a humming noise was rapidly
growing louder. Then her body kicked
into high gear as her senses belatedly registered what her mind refused to
acknowledge.
Bees.
"Mulder! Come on, Mulder, we have to move," she
cried hoarsely, fighting the panic that threatened to paralyze her. They got to their feet, and started
stumbling towards the car as the bees overtook them. Scully fought down the instinct to swat at the insects, knowing that
would only provoke them. She managed to
slide into the car and help Mulder in through the passenger door before the
bees boiled around the car. Leaning
back in her seat, panting, Scully was suddenly struck by a thought.
My window is open!
Scully slammed her hand down on
the power window button. Slowly, the
window started up. At last it closed.
But not before one bee had gotten
inside.
Scully sat, frozen, watching as
the deadly insect crawled along the roof of the car and buzzed at the back
window. Wrenching her eyes from the
tiny creature, she looked down at Mulder sprawled in the seat next to her,
blood seeping into his shirt. Trying to
ignore the angry bees outside the car and the one inside, Scully bent over her
partner, choking back a sudden gush of fear.
"Oh, Mulder..."
She deftly unbuttoned his jacket
and began undoing the buttons on his shirt. He smiled exhaustedly and mumbled, "Don't you want to slip into
something more comfortable?" She
raised her eyebrow at that, but, totally absorbed in the task at hand, said
nothing. His shirt was off by now, and
Scully was looking at a bullet lodged in Mulder's right shoulder.
"I hope you weren't real
attached to this shirt," Scully murmured through pursed lips, and began
tearing it into strips. "Is that
the only place he shot you?"
"No..." Mulder
whispered, gritting his teeth in pain as she pressed the cloth against his
shoulder. "My side..." He
rolled stiffly onto his left side, revealing another wound on his back, several
inches to the right of his spine. Scully took it all in.
"I think you're gonna be
okay, Mulder--"
"Tell that to my
nerves," he muttered, smiling faintly.
"--As long as we can get you
to the hospital," Scully continued, doctor-style.
"No hospitals, Scully...the
first place they'd look."
Scully sighed wearily. "We
have no choice, Mulder. We can't stay
here, and you need a hospital."
Mulder closed his eyes, obviously
drained. "Whatever you say, Dr.
Scully," he said, half-asleep.
Scully had finished wrapping his
shoulder when she saw the approaching military jeeps. Starting up the car, she slammed the accelerator and swerved onto
the main road, the two vehicles coming up the road behind her.
I'm being chased in the same
direction the hospital is in, she thought.
But to Scully's surprise, the
jeeps turned in to the motel and parked. Watching in her rearview mirror, she saw eight white-clad figures leap
out of the cars and begin hosing the area with a reddish-brown spray. Scully sighed in uncertainty and filed this
new information away for later.
Apprehensively checking the Camry's
back window to ensure the bee hadn't moved, Scully picked up her cell phone and
dialed the number for the Lone Gunmen.
"Lone Gunmen," Byers
answered in a professional voice.
"Byers, turn off the tape;
it's Scully."
There was a small series of clicks. "Hey, Scully, " Byers greeted
pleasantly. "How's Mulder?"
"He's been shot,"
Scully said abruptly.
"What?? Is he okay?"
"It's because of this case
we're working on. Byers, I need you to
get me some information."
"Well...what do you need to
know?" Byers asked, still sounding concerned.
"I need you guys to find any
information you can on a Phillip Kahn, Robert Harris, or a company called
Nature's Best. This is very
important. Are we clear?"
"Gotcha. We'll call you back as soon as we find something."
Eyeing the bee on the back
window, Scully slid her cellular back into her pocket and drove.