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.

.moving.targets.

8:49 p.m.

Mulder drove quickly along the interstate, looking for a motel. Scully lay catching up on some much-needed sleep in the passenger seat next to him, her breathing a quiet reassurance of her presence. He looked down at her. A compulsion to protect her from harm had arisen in Mulder ever since her abduction; her cancer had only made it stronger. He had never been able to completely rid himself of the feeling that everything that had happened to the two of them, to their families and friends, had been more than partly his fault. And though he knew that Scully supported him and didn't blame him for anything that had happened at the hands of the Syndicate, he felt none of it would have happened had they not been investigating X-files. And more than that, he felt responsible for Scully. She would be the last person to ever say that she needed his protection from anything, but his inclination and instinct toward paranormal cases gave him a better understanding of what they might face. He admired and respected Scully for being willing to give it her all even though she didn't share the majority of his beliefs. And...he loved her. With all of his heart. So he watched over her now, knowing he was prepared to die for her if necessary.

She had told him about the bee in their car as they were leaving the hospital. It was hard for her to admit how afraid she really was, Mulder knew. He had killed the bee without much trouble and had turned around to see her standing there, trembling slightly and very pale. She had slid into the car and tried desperately to stay awake, but Mulder knew he could never understand how much the events of the previous day had affected her. They had never spoken much about what happened to her that day last summer, but still they knew neither of them would be the same.

Again he looked down at her. She was so beautiful, especially sleeping. She looked so completely at peace, so childlike in her tranquility, so untouched by the evil in the world. When she was awake, Mulder was aware of a constant effort on her part to keep the mask of cool, detached, professionalism unwavering. Before this case, he had only seen it break down on occasion. Her sister's death. The letters never meant to be read, written during her darkest moments. The Donnie Pfaster case.

Eddie Van Blundht.

But now, their relationship had shifted. Subtly. While neither of them thought that their relationship was lacking in anything, there was something different now than there was before. It was moving past a professional relationship, past friendship, and into love. Scully's veil of untouchable calm was coming down more and more often. The air had finally been cleared of so many unsaid thoughts and feelings that had been so heavy before, and the release Mulder felt was palpable. Their friendship had just been waiting for it to happen. They finally now realized this.

They were soul mates.

Just then, they passed a sign -- "Motel 6 -- next exit." Mulder leaned over and reluctantly nudged Scully awake. "Hey, Scully...Motel 6 sound good?" She sat up, looking faintly disoriented for a second; then she blinked and her vision cleared. "Sure..." she mumbled, and sat up sleepily, straightening her seatbelt. "What time is it?"

Mulder checked his watch. "Ten." Seeing her surprise, he added, "You needed the sleep." She nodded slowly and sat up straighter.

Room 124

Motel 6

10:23 p.m.

"Are you sure? I mean, I'd be glad to --"

"Mulder. You've been driving for eleven hours. You need your sleep." Scully insisted mildly with her hands on her hips. He sighed in reluctant but thankful surrender and crawled into the little motel bed. They had asked for a single room with two beds since they were only going to be there for a few hours. Scully had been adamant on taking first watch. She strode into the bathroom and flipped the light off, then walked over to Mulder's bed. "Sleep tight," she whispered softly. The image of his sleepy, smiling face was imprinted on her retina as she twisted the switch on the light by his bed.

Surrounded now in complete darkness, Scully made her way to the chair by the large window and sat, cracking open the blinds just enough to see the parking lot. She had three hours to watch.

1:43 a.m.

"Mulder?" a tired Scully whispered, softly shaking him awake. "Mulder? It's quarter till two."

He blinked, then rolled out of bed, standing slowly up. "Anything happen while I was asleep?"

She walked back across the room and shook her head, conveying with the simple gesture the apprehension that had plagued her throughout the night. Mulder smiled with tender sympathy. He had always lived with the paranoia; she was only beginning to understand that it -- all of it -- was real.

Fully awake now, he walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulder, hugging her compassionately. She sighed and leaned her head against his arm, allowing her stress to slowly dissolve while she fuzzily considered spending the night in his arms.

Then she opened her eyes -- and saw the point of a laser tracing a path to the center of Mulder's chest.

"Mulder! Get down!" she cried, adrenaline snapping her awake. Hitting the floor next to Scully without a thought, Mulder looked up to see a bullet shatter the glass and bury itself in the wall directly behind where Mulder had been standing. Scully rolled to the dresser and snatched up her weapon. She ran to the door and looked out the peephole, then threw the door open. Mulder joined her with his gun, and the two walked cautiously out, guns cocked, only to see a black sedan with tinted windows -- that hadn't been there before -- pull out of the space directly in front of the door to their room and drive scornfully away.

Both sensing the absence of the immediate threat, they slipped quickly back into the room and bolted the door. Scully began methodically closing the blinds as Mulder sat slowly down on the bed, his head in his hands.

He was silent, thinking. He couldn't believe things had happened so fast; Sunday had been their only full day on the case. He could practically smell the cigarette smoke; the Consortium -- what was left of them at least -- had worked fast. Although Mulder had known deep down that the day would come where the two of them had to disappear, he'd never been forced to think about it. Now, with such an obvious threat on both of their lives, and such a crucial case to solve, he knew the time had come.

"Now what do we do, Scully?" He looked up and met her gaze, his face showing the frustration and quiet anger he knew they both felt. "What just happened was a warning. Next time we won't get the time to duck."

She walked over and sat on the bed next to him, then began stroking his back softly, taking her turn to comfort her partner. They remained there for several minutes, both taking solace in the presence of the other. Reluctant to break the quiet but feeling the need to ask, Mulder took a deep breath and said, haltingly, "Scully, if you want to give up the case...I mean -- I'll understand."

She looked up quickly, taken aback at his words. "Mulder, I know you may feel...responsible for this, but I'm here because I want to be. And I'm in this just as much as you are."

He watched her closely. "You have to realize this -- staying on this case will probably mean getting a...a false ID, and changing the plates on the car, and...dyeing your hair," he murmured, grimacing at the last as he gently entwined his fingers in her smooth red hair. "We'll be…disappearing, going into hiding. You know that."

She looked him straight in the eye. "Mulder, I will do whatever I have to."

He smiled, trust and love surfacing on his troubled face. "Thank you, Scully. I -- you have no idea how much this means to me." She smiled back, standing up. He stood as well, looking deeply into her eyes, then murmured, forcefully, "Thank you."

They left right then, with Mulder driving. They had five hours left to get where they were going.

The Lone Gunmen.

Office of the Lone Gunmen

Tuesday, August 17

5:17 a.m.

Mulder waited impatiently as the ten or fifteen different locks slid out of place. "Hurry up, Frohike," he called edgily, staring deliberately at the security camera that was trained on the door. Finally the door opened, and Frohike peeked out, warily ensuring -- in spite of the camera -- the identity of the two at the door. "The mighty warrior and his little..." Trailing off and seeing the sharp looks on their faces, Frohike contented himself with "...Hey, you two." Scully shot him one last Look, and they edged inside.

Byers and Langly sat hunched over the computer, Byers looking up when Mulder and Scully came in.

"How are you feeling, Mulder?" Byers asked, sizing him up as if trying to see where exactly he had been shot.

"I'm okay," he informed him, "But that may not last for long if Scully and I can't find somewhere to hide so we can solve this case. Whatever you've been doing, it better be good."

Obviously curious, all of the Gunmen were paranoid enough not to ask and contented themselves with cryptic glances at each other. Mulder watched all this with hidden amusement until Frohike said, "Oh, it's good." The confidence in his voice was impossible to miss. "Take a look for yourselves." Mulder and Scully walked over to the computer to see for themselves. "Almost done," Langly reported. Byers stood up. "We've entered the names into all national databases, and gave you both medical files, addresses, work information...the usual. Now we're just formatting the drivers licenses."

"Can you alter those photos?" Mulder asked, pointing to the screen.

Langly looked up, curious. "Sure...what do you want us to do?"

"Okay...give me glasses like these," Mulder said, pulling a pair of tortoiseshell-rimmed glasses out of his jacket pocket. Langly nodded and tapped out several commands on the keyboard.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah...try this on for size." Mulder removed a box of women's hair color from his pocket. Langly's eyes widened slightly as he looked from the box to Scully, then back to the box. "Okay, you got it." He fiddled some more with the mouse and then, "How's that?" Scully looked. On the screen was a picture of her -- with dark brown hair. She squinted. It was very well done. "Nice work."

The IDs printed out and Frohike laminated them, then handed them to the agents. "There ya go...Mark and Silvia Ryder. Enjoy."

"Thanks," Mulder said absently, staring at the IDs. Then he glanced up. "Did you get those plates registered?"

"Yup," Langly confirmed, walking to a metal cabinet and pulling out a set of license plates. "Don't even ask how we got these," Byers editorialized, "but we got them. And don't worry -- they're registered, and they weren't taken off a car."

Mulder didn't ask and took the plates from Byers. "Thanks," Scully said in genuine gratitude. "Did you get anything else on those names we gave you?"

"Nothing." Scully arched her eyebrow in surprise. "But we'll keep looking and call you as soon as we find anything." Langly finished hurriedly.

She nodded, her eyes holding a distant look as she resigned herself to their words. Then a sudden thought brought her back to reality. "Come on, Mulder, we have to go," she murmured, squeezing his hand.

"Thanks again, guys," Mulder said, walking with Scully toward the door.

"Don't mention it," Byers called.

"I'm going back to bed..." Langly remarked, smiling out of the corner of his mouth.

"Hey Scully..." Frohike called.

She turned.

"I'll miss your hair."

Not knowing what to say, she blinked, then said "Thanks" quietly, more for the help than for the compliment. The door closed, and Scully listened for the first time as the locks slid back into place.

It was odd, knowing that a little thing like that could so affect her. But the locks on the door only reinforced her feeling of shutting the door on her life. For as long as it took to solve this case, anyway, she was disappearing from the world that had been her life. She was alone.

Except for Mulder.

She had always counted on the assurance that no matter what, he would always be there. They were all they had left now.

But that thought wasn't as horrible as Scully would've imagined it to be. As it would've been four years ago.

"Scully?"

Mulder's quiet voice broke through her thoughts. She looked up as her eyes came to focus on his face. He watched her tenderly, concern highlighting his features.

She looked down again and let out a ragged sigh. Then she saw his hand, stretched out to meet hers. She looked up to see his face, smiling at her in support and understanding. Scully took Mulder's hand and their eyes met. Without a word, the two walked together to the car -- and their new identity.