He had lost money.
"Do you have any idea how much many you just cost me, David?" Jackson screamed, leaning over to the tray and picking up an object. "Do you? Answer me!"
David mumbled incoherently, face down in his blood.
"I had eighteen preorders on your tape already. Look at me when I'm talking to you!" he shouted, pulling the boy's head up by the hair so he could look him in the eye. "That's fifty bucks per tape you cost me, and all the other orders I will never be able to fill. Do you know how much money that is David? Do you!?"
Jackson produced the knife he had removed from the tray and placed it against the boy's throat. "That's a lot of money, David. A lot of money. And now," he brought the knife closer, "I'm going to-"
Jackson gasped as a hand violently jerked him up by the collar of his shirt. Its fingers wasted no time in finding his neck, squeezing every breath out of it as the hand slammed him against the wall, bouncing his head off the hard concrete blocks. It did again. And then again to hammer the point home.
And then Jackson felt the cold barrel of a handgun jammed against the middle of his throat.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your head off right now, you son-of-a-bitch," Mulder said. There was no emotion in his voice, no indication that he had ever had a soul..
"Oh, Mulder. Mulder Mulder," Jackson said, his rage disappearing into calmness. Mulder was too far gone to say anything about being recognized. "You want a reason? I'll give you one. You kill me, and you never find Agent Scully."
"Nice try, she's in this school," Mulder said, pushing the barrel into Jackson's throat.
Jackson smiled smugly. "Is she? Are you so sure about that? How do you know I haven't hid her somewhere else? Did you see her? When was that? How do you know she's still here? How do you know I haven't tied her up in the back of some junkyard on the other side of town in the time it took you to get here?" He leaned in close, and whispered in Mulder's ear, "Can you really take the chance?"
Each word was a knife in his chest, but Mulder held onto the man's throat. It would be so easy to just pull the trigger, to put him away, and to shut him up permanently. He would never be able to hurt anybody ever again if he was dead, but Mulder may never find Scully. He had not bothered searching the school, finding David only by following the screams. What if Scully was not in the school anymore? How could he ever find her? How could he ever go on if he did not find her? Mulder, pushing reluctancey to the limit, released his hold on the man's throat, and slowly put his gun away. "You're under arrest."
"No. It's not going to work like that," Jackson said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a cellular phone.
Scully's.
He dialed 911, but held off on pushing send to complete the call. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to walk out of this building, and into my car without any kind of harassment or police following me. You did think to call the police this time, didn't you?"
Mulder said nothing.
"Then once I'm over the state line, I'm going to complete the call and tell them where Scully is." Jackson smiled and looked over towards David. "In the mean time, I'd see about getting him to a hospital."
Mulder's heart bypassed his stomach and fell straight to the floor, where it either died or evaporated to nothingness as he leaned down over the boy. As he took off his jacket and wrapped the child in it, he thought about the first time he had held the boy back when David needed a shoulder to mourn the loss of his sister. He had been there for him then, but this time he had not. He knew he had failed. He knew Jackson was going to get away again. He knew another life would be on his hands. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"Whoa. If this isn't déjà vu," Jackson said suddenly.
Mulder bit the bottom of his lip, as he slid his arm beneath David's limp neck.
"You know, I hung around a bit when you showed up the last time," Jackson stated. "I watched as you picked her up and held her in your arms. I watched as you pressed her head against your chest as you tried in vain talking to her. I watched the expression of your face as you watched the girl die right there in your arms, Mulder. Right there in your arms, Mulder! It was much like the way you're holding him now.
"What's that feel like Mulder? To be no better than me… to have innocent blood spilled on your hands?"
Tears began to form in Mulder's eyes, and the stream began its decent as he clutched the boy closer to him. He wanted nothing more than to punch that smile right off of Jackson's face, to kill him right there on the spot. But he couldn't. He could just sit back while his partner-his best friend-remained missing, this child died in his arms, and the killer got away.
All for the second time.
Jackson smiled smugly, grinning as he watched the pained lines that crossed Mulder's face. Even better than the first time, he thought, as he took the first step out of the doorway and into the hall.
He may not have gotten his tape, but he was a free man yet again. And seeing Mulder's face had all been worth it. And now I'm going to walk out of the building Scott free.
That was the last thing that went through his mind as the fist collided with his stomach knocking the air out of him, the knee connected with his midsection no doubt bruising some organs, and the elbow cracked against the base of his skull leaving him in a heap on the floor.
"You're under arrest," Dana Scully said, tying his hands with the remnants of the rope she untied from her ankles. "And be thankful that I chose to be professional," she hissed, making sure to slam his face on the ground as hard as she could.
"Mulder, I…oh my god…" Scully said, swallowing hard as she saw Mulder step over the captive, carrying the limp body of David. "Mulder, you…you shouldn't be moving him…" It took everything she had to follow Mulder as he walked around the hall and down the stairs. She wished it was her his arms were around.
"I have to, Scully," he said coldly. He didn't sound like Mulder at all. "He's barely breathing; by the time the ambulance gets here, it will be too late."
When they stepped outside, they were met by the stunned gasps of a dozen police officers just arriving. One of them walked up to Scully, wanting to ask what they should do, but he was unable to take his eyes off the child in Mulder's arms. "The suspect's on the second floor," Scully said weakly. The officer motioned for the others to follow him into the building.
It was a long walk to the car. Scully opened the back door at Mulder's direction and climbed in, and he put the child in the seat with his head on her lap. Mulder drove while Scully did her best to administer medical attention in the back seat.
There was not much she could do.
He was covered with blood, his breathing just barely detectable. There was a good chance he would not make it to the hospital. Unable to stop them as she wiped the blood out of the boy's eyes, tears began to fall down Scully's face. She remembered the time one year ago when for one week, for one perfect week, they had been a family, and she began to cry amongst the tears.
"David, please don't die," she whispered. "Please. Don't die."
"Dana?" he replied. It was a whisper, one Scully could just barely hear, but it was there.
"It's me. You're going to be okay," she lied.
"Are you…?"
"I'm I what?"
"…okay?"
"I'm fine, David," she said through tears, unable to keep from smiling at his selflessness.
"Good," he said, even softer than he had said anything else.
David said nothing else after that..
Sunday
5:44 P.M.
"Mulder, where have you been?" Scully asked from her chair in the waiting room. She had been there all day and was thoroughly sick it and worrying. David slipped in and out of consciousness all night, and the nurses were reluctant to give out information. Her partner had disappeared somewhere around noon, and now he walked in like he had the weight of the whole world on the top of shoulders that he shrugged in response to her question.
His eyes never met hers, and he looked pale as he sat down in a chair next to her. "David just woke up," she said. "The Watsons are in with him now, but we can visit him for a few minutes when they are done."
Mulder only nodded, his eyes still staring off into nothing.
"The nurse said he had a concussion or two, three cracked ribs, a black eye, and a ton of bruises, but he should make a full recovery."
Again Mulder only nodded like he was not the one in his body at all.
Scully's hand moved to his, and she took it off of his lap and held it in her warm grasp. Her eyes looked into his, comforting and supportive, and they cracked his shell. .
"I failed, Scully. I failed David like I failed Angela. Like I failed Samantha and my father." He looked straight at her, his face that of a desperate, desperate man with his last hold on the thread of what was once his life. "Like I've failed you."
Scully was taken aback. "Mulder, you've never failed me."
He smiled a little. "Don't try to protect me, Scully. How many times have you been taken - put in harms way - all because of my obsessive, maniacal quest for the truth? How many people have died or had their lives ruined because I didn't act in the right way? Samantha would be here right now if I had not frozen and choked up. Angela would still be alive, and David wouldn't have spent the night fighting death had I acted differently."
"You know what, Mulder, you're right," Scully said sternly. "You're right. David wouldn't have been in there fighting death if it had not been for you; he would be dead."
He gave her an odd, barely noticeable smirk that said, Don't waist your time, Scully, it's pointless, but she chose to ignore it.
"Mulder, you have never failed me. I took this job on my own; I knew the risks. No matter what has happened, you have always been there for me, supported me. You've saved me more times than I can count, whether it was just going out of your way to make me smile or traipsing down to the Antarctic to pull me out of alien goo."
He chuckled.
"You're only human. You could not have prevented Angela's death. I know you, Mulder, and if you couldn't do it I doubt anyone else could have either. You can't keep blaming yourself because you're only one man."
Mulder let out a deep breath as he felt Scully's arm around him and her cheek pressed against the top of his hair as he leaned on her shoulder. "It's hard," he said.
"I know," she replied. "But you have me. I'll be there for you, just like you've been there for me."
Mulder smiled a little, sad smile.
"David's been through so much. He didn't need this to carry with him," Mulder said.
"Agent Scully? Mulder?" Mrs. Watson said before Scully could reply. She was leading her husband and son out of David's room. "He's still weak, but he wants to talk to you."
They stood slowly, giving the foster parents a smile and a nod as the stepped in. David grinned at them as best he could amongst the tubes and bandages when he saw them. "Hey," he said, his words struggled.
"Hey," Scully said, so happy to see him smiling. "How are you feeling?" she asked, resting her hands on the side of his bed. Mulder walked around to the foot.
He chuckled. "I've been better."
"Well, just hang in there. You'll be breaking hearts again before you know it," Mulder said. God… Every time he looked at the boy, he could only think, Oh, God, I did this to him.
"Yeah," David said. The room was silent for a while, except the steady sounds of the equipment David was being monitored by.
He started to shut his eyes for a moment but opened them almost as soon as his eyelid touched the bottom of his eye. He looked at Scully and saw she was frowning. Wondering what could be wrong, he noticed the bandage on her arm. "Hey, what happened to you?" he asked, trying to raise himself up.
"I cut myself on some glass last night," she said.
"Did he do that?"
"No."
"Good," David said, lying back down. "If he did, I'd have to hunt him down and hurt him."
It was meant in a good way, but it made Scully frown even more. He looked at her, his face telling her he saw it. He wanted to ask what was wrong. She wanted to ask him about it too. "David, you could have gotten away from him at any time you wanted to with your 'gift.'" Even after all these years with Mulder, even though she knew what David's "gift" was, it just felt weird to admit that something like it existed. "Why didn't you?"
"Oh," David said. "He was going to hurt you. I wasn't going to let him do that."
He almost gave up his life for you, Dana, Mulder thought as Scully leaned over quietly, almost resting her head on his chest, giving the boy a hug.
"Uhh, Dana, I appreciate the hug and all, but…you're kind of hurting me."
"I'm sorry," Scully said, immediately standing up. "Weren't you…weren't you scared?"
He protected her. He succeeded where I failed, Mulder was telling himself. He was tuned out of everything going on in the room.
"Yeah," David said. Then he turned to look at Mulder and smiled. "The only thing that kept me going was that I knew Fox would come."
Mulder's head turned and looked at him sharply, his face saying What did you say? so loudly that the people in the next room could have read it.
Scully turned and looked at him with a smile that said, I told you so.
Washington D.C.
1977-1988
"You taught us how to smile."
"I don't think I've ever been here, Scully," I said, reading the grave for the first time. "I don't know why. Maybe I was always afraid of what I would say to myself."
"And what are you saying to yourself?" she asked me as I knelt to place the flowers on the grave. They were such pretty flowers…
I stood up and looked in her serious, green eyes before I answered. "That I'm glad you're here with me."
We did not say anything but paid our respects to the dead. Then we started back the way he had came, back to the car.
Scully tells me that David is going to be okay. We both know he will have issues to deal with, but we're confident he will deal with them appropriately when the time comes. The Watsons are there to help him. So are we.
Logan Jackson expects to never see the light of day again. The evidence we uncovered from '88 in addition to the tapes we cleaned out of his house should put him away for a long, long time. I suppose I should be happy about that. I suppose I should be happy that David is safe as well, but I am not.
Then there's Scully. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have Scully. Sometimes I forget that what she went through was just as traumatizing as what David endured. Still, she goes forward like nothing happened, never pulling me aside to talk about it. I can read it in her eyes, see the reflection of the thoughts that played through her mind that night. On the flight back, when it got very quiet, I thought I heard her shudder. I tried to comfort her, but she said it was nothing. She deals with so much pain, so much more than any normal person could.
It makes me admire her even more.
"You okay?" I asked as I climbed into the driver's seat.
"Huh?" she said, not expecting it I assume. "Oh, I'm fine." Her voice was distant, and I could see what she was thinking of in her eyes.
She is so determined to keep it to herself. "Say, Scully, what are you doing tonight?" I asked, starting the car. I'm determined too.
"Tonight?" she said, sounding like the second question had caught her more off guard. "I do not know. Nothing, I suppose…"
"What do you say you and I make a date?" I said, grinning mischievously.
"A date?" she said, eying me like I was the craziest man alive. Not that my superiors would disagree, or anything…
"Yeah," I said, reaching under the seat. "A date with Torgo." She laughed as I showed her the copy of Manos: The Hand of Fate. "He takes care of the place while the master is away, you know. This guy is going places."
"Sure, Mulder. Sure," she said, shaking her head and smiling.
For this one brief moment, she was happy. And that's all I needed to make me smile too.