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.

.the.winds.with.their.swiftness.

6:13 pm.

For the last few minutes, as Mulder watched from Krycek's car, he had seen at least several hundred military trucks and jeeps drive at top speed out of the base. Something big was going on.

"What's this about?" he asked tightly.

"I don't know," Krycek answered, his voice just as tense.

The radio was on, and something made Mulder turn it up. It was in the middle of a station news break.

"-- has said that he was not responsible for --"

"What?" Krycek asked. Mulder waved him to silence.

"-- was expected in recent years. In Chicago, a strange attack of what looks to be Africanized killer bees has swept the city. There are no reports as to the extent of the damage, or how many lives were lost, but it is rumored that the death toll is devastatingly high. Military --"

"That's it," Mulder said sharply, his heart racing. "We have to go, now."

"But if they catch us --"

"They won't," Mulder said, his foot on the accelerator. "This doesn't look like everything's going according to plan. Something's wrong, and they'll have bigger things to worry about than us."

"I don't think --"

"Shut up and sit back," Mulder snapped angrily. If Scully was in one of these cars, he'd never find her.

If she was still alive.

Scully could hear someone approaching her cell. One person. That should be easy enough if she could take him by surprise. She stood next to the doorway, pressed against the wall. The door slid open, and a man stepped in, looking at the empty bed in confusion.

As soon as he turned in her direction, as soon as their eyes met, she sent him sprawling against the opposite wall with a punch that should have knocked him out cold. She walked quickly to him and felt for a pulse.

There wasn't one. He must've hit his head too hard on the wall...

She felt a rush of remorse, instantly wiped away by the realization that she had her freedom. She walked quickly to the doorway -- and stopped cold.

That man was standing there, his lips twisted in a horrible parody of a smile. Behind him, she was aware of the shouts of people, running feet, and a rapidly desolating building. A lit cigarette was in his left hand, now at his side. In his other hand, held up tauntingly, was a small card. In an instant, she knew what it was -- the keycard for the door to her cell.

As that thought crossed her mind, the man crooked the fingers that held the card and flicked it into the chamber. She stared at it, unable to move.

"See you in hell, Agent Scully."

She finally got it -- but it was too late. The door slammed shut, and she was locked inside with a key that could open the door only from the outside. She sat down on the floor, hearing the sounds of what could only be an evacuation, and tried to accept the fact that she was going to die.

"This is it," Krycek said, gesturing to a turnoff up the road. Mulder didn't respond. "Mulder? You have to turn up here." He blinked, then shook himself. He had to stop thinking about...

He turned right onto the road. It was extremely wooded, and he couldn't see anything up the road ahead. Then he turned a corner, and his eyes widened.

He had no idea how to find Scully in all this.

Trucks, jeeps, and the occasional car were all over the place. People were running back and forth between buildings as fast as they could. The main building itself was huge, and there were other small buildings scattered around the main one. There were radar dishes, antennae, and several pieces of equipment Mulder had never seen before. Krycek was apparently used to it. "Come on, let's just get her and get out of here."

They jumped out of the car, and Krycek led Mulder at a run towards the main building. They walked right in; the doors were even open. As soon as they entered, and their eyes adjusted to the dark, Krycek stopped with a small gasp.

"What happened here?"

The place was a wreck. Tables were overturned, papers had been spilled on the floor, and several computer monitors had fallen off the desks and were lying on the floor in a halo of sparkling broken glass.

After a moment of stunned silence, Krycek pointed in the direction of a dark hallway, all the way across the room they were standing in now. "She should be down there, in one of those cells..." He trailed off, not saying the obvious. If she's here at all.

Mulder walked quickly, ahead of Krycek, through the massive room. It was almost completely empty, and every part of him was wondering why. A question came to mind, and he turned around. Krycek was gone.

He was hardly surprised, but slightly unnerved. If Scully wasn't here, he would have no idea where else to look. That thought really scared him. He was three-quarters across the huge room now, and for some reason, he looked behind him again.

Several men were standing in the entrance to the building, and Mulder could see them pointing at him. Krycek was with them. He took off at a desperate run for the hallway of cells, ignoring their surprised cries. He made it to the doors and started shouting Scully's name.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of pounding feet coming in her direction. She stayed sitting on the floor, her back against the wall. She was ready for whatever happened.

"Scully!"

She stood up in a flash, hearing his voice clearly, despite the thick metal walls. "Mulder! I'm in here!"

He ran towards the sound of her voice, all the way at the end of the hall. "I'm here, Scully -- are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mulder," she said, and he almost laughed at such a familiar response. He should've expected her to say that. The men had begun to walk towards him, slowly and ominously. "What's happening, Mulder? Why is the building being evacuated?"

"I'm not sure, Scully," he answered, and then paused, wondering how best to tell her.

"Mulder? What's the matter?"

He took a deep breath. "There was an attack on Chicago, Scully. Bees. I ran into Krycek. He told me that colonization would take place, no matter what, and that meant moving the date up closer if something threatened to get in the way. That's you and me, Scully."

Suddenly, there was a loud pulsating roar, and Mulder was knocked to the ground. He glanced back across the room, and the men were on the floor also. The building was shaking. "Scully? You okay?"

"What was that, Mulder? I can barely hear you."

"I don't know." He turned back to look at the door where he had come in. A flood of wind was rushing through the building, and he could see several people outside the building lying on the ground -- unconscious, or dead, it was impossible to tell. They had to leave, right then.

"Scully, we've got to get out of here. Do you know how to open the door?" He was looking at the lock -- there was a keypad and a slot for a card.

There was silence.

Then, "Mulder, I have the key. It's in here. I can't get out."

"You can't push it under the door?" he shouted against the wind.

"No," she yelled after a minute, calmness and desperation together in her voice. "There's not enough room."

It was unmistakably brighter outside. "Okay, then, stand back from the door." He removed his gun and fired as many remaining rounds as he dared at the thick metal door. It made no difference; he hadn't expected that it would.

"Mulder, go without me."

He didn't hesitate for a moment. "No."

"Come on, Mulder, it's pointless for you to stay here. It's pointless for both of us to die."

A rush of light was slowly, impossibly slowly, enveloping the building. "You're not going to die, Scully."

"Neither are you, Mulder, and you will if you stay out there. Please, get out while you can!"

"I'm not leaving you!" He tried to raise his hand to shield his eyes from the blinding light, but the wind was too strong. He turned his head away. The roar became louder, deafening; he could feel it in his chest. The light had almost reached them.

"Mulder, please!" She was sobbing. The ground was shaking so violently that his teeth were chattering.

"I love you, Scully...!" he called, as loud as he could. Then the light surrounded him, and somehow everything was still.