The gallery was bustling with lunchtime viewers.  They were met by the curator who proceeded to give them a full tour of the building including a commentary on the art and it's price.  Finally they reached a small room that had been cordoned off from public viewing.  Scully noticed his reluctance to enter the room. 

"This is where the Van Gough had been disturbed," he said through a choked voice.  "It's on loan to us from the Louvre in Paris, it would have been a travesty had it been taken."

            Two large windows that almost reached from floor to ceiling adorned the back walls, showering the room in a magnificent sunlight.  Yellow police tape marked off the picture and the dusty remains from the finger print kits was spread around the room.

"These windows were locked?"

"Yes both of them.  But the first one," he said pointing to the one nearest Mulder, "was found unlocked, but closed."

            Mulder tore away the police tape and pulled the window up leaning out over the ledge.

"A hell of a climb," he said looking at the street below.

"The cops checked for prints and crane tracks on the street but found nothing," Scully said reading the police report from the file.

"I wonder if the hotel has external security cameras," he mused.

            Scully walked over to him and saw him pointing to the Marriott Hotel across the street.

"The car park too," he added.  "Mr. Wilson, this painting is obviously a target.  He'll be back for it.  I want this room opened for the public again and-,"

"But it's from the Louvre?" he argued as if it were enough.

"He will be back, he could be in the gallery right now."  Wilson's face showed his discomfort at the thought of loosing the painting.

"Mr. Wilson," Scully began her voice soft and calming.   "We'll set this place ready to trap him.  He wont get away."  He seemed to take some refuge at her words and his shoulders visibly relaxed.  "Is there a room we could use as a control centre?"

"Yes, we have a storage room over here, by the roof access."

            Scully looked over at Mulder and he saw the small nod before she followed Wilson out of the room.  He reached for his mobile and called the headquarters for a surveillance team.

  ***

            Scully stretched her arm up high to shield her eyes from the unrelenting sun.  The heat was stifling made no easier by the insulated FBI windbreaker she wore.  Standing on the roof of the two-storey gallery she looked longingly at the people sunbathing in Lafayette Park and eating in a near by pubs beer garden.  Hearing footsteps behind her she turned to see Mulder walking towards her.  His tie had been loosened and his top button opened.  He carried a small brown paper bag and was smiling.

"Hey Scully see anything?"

"Only normal people enjoying this beautiful Friday evening."

"Oh Scully, you'd be bored within a week."  He sat on the roofs ledge and patted the area beside him.  Sitting next to him she rested back on her hands letting the sun caress her face.  The rustling of the paper bag made her look over to Mulder and she saw him pulling out a sandwich and a bottle of water.  He held them out to her and she took them, letting the cool bottle dampen her forehead before unwrapping the sandwich. 

"I hope you don't think his counts as the dinner you owe me."

"Let's just call it an appetiser."  She smiled at him and bit into the salad sandwich.  The city seemed so quiet from up here and neither of them wanting to disturb it they ate in silence. 

            The evening passed without incidence and the bright sunshine finally gave way to a cool twilight.  Mulder found it harder and harder to reign in his frustration.  The heat had cooled considerably and Scully found herself wrapping up tighter in her windbreaker.  She watched him pacing the length of the building and listened to his ramblings as he revised the profile aloud.

"It's all about a challenge Scully, the art is merely a bonus…"

            She didn't reply knowing he would answer his own questions without her help.  It was a trap she often fell into.  The argument he instigated to reassure himself that his profile was right.  She tried before to reassess it with him but he always argued his doubts away.  Watching him now his footsteps small, his stride slow, she knew he was nearing the end of his indecision and action would soon follow.

"He's not coming." He stopped suddenly in his tracks.  "He knows we're here.  We need to get this place cleared out and get a bit more stealth into the operation."

"Isn't that a bit like locking the door after the horse has bolted?"  Mulder gave her a strange look and started towards the door.

"We need to regroup and set up again." 

            They entered the control room and Mulder quickly scanned the television screens that had been set up for the cameras.  When he saw nothing he turned to Agent Whyte who had been operating the system.

"I want the team recalled and set up for night watch.  I'll need two people in the control room and two on each side of the building.  With us scattered around like this he'd be-,"

"We have a visual on the north face of the building repeat a visual on the north face."

            Scully glanced at Mulder who couldn't hide his surprise.  He grabbed the active radio and called for the agent to confirm the sighting.

"Yes Agent Mulder, he's leaning out a window on the second floor on the north face.  Third window from the edge of the building"

"That's the room next to the Van Gough." Scully started to leave with the other Agents when the radio crackled to life again.

"He's heading for the roof…the fire escape…oh My God…"

            The exclamation stopped her in her tracks and she turned to see Mulder running for the roof door.  She followed quickly and caught him as he bounded out the door slamming it into the wall as he ran.

"What? What's goin on?" she heard him shouting into the radio as he ran.

"It…it looks like he's walking on the wall…"

            They exchanged a quick glance before slowing their run.  Mulder pulled out his gun and motioned for Scully to circle closer to the wall to cover the other end of the building.  He listened for the creaking sound of the moving fire escape but heard nothing.  Cautiously he stepped up to the roofs edge and leaned out over the metal frame.  Scully stood behind him her gun held rigidly by her side.

"You see him?" she asked.

"No…"

            But before he could step away from the edge a hand reached out from behind the fire escape, pulling Mulder forward and off the roof.

"Mulder," Scully yelled as she ran over.  He hung from the frame his gun dropped below.  A small man stood by his hands, smiling up at her.

"Freeze…put your hands on your head and interlock your fingers."  The stranger did as she said, stepping back and standing heavily on Mulders fingers.  Mulder yelled and reached up and squeezed the stranger's ankle.  Scully pulled out her radio but before she could call for back up two agents ran up to them.  One of them jumped down and pushed the suspect up to the other where he was cuffed and led away.  He bent down and reached to grab Mulders forearms.

"Hang on Mulder," he urged.  Distant sirens could be heard and she hoped they would arrive in time.     A small crowd had gathered below and Scully watched as the FBI cleared them away, throwing cardboard boxes into a pile in case he fell.

"I'm slipping…" Mulder yelled as his hands started to loose their grip.

            Agent Watters who was struggling to keep hold of him, his face red and strained, shouted for Scully to grab some rope or something but as he yelled at her he lost his grip.  Mulders hands slipped out of his reach and they watched in horror as he fell as if in slow motion to the ground below.  Scully called out his name and thrust her hand forward as if she could catch him.  She saw him landing and winced at the awkward angle of his left arm.

            Jumping up she ran to the street below, followed closely by Agent Watters.  She dropped to her knees by his head and quickly checked for a pulse.  It was weak but she was just happy to feel the soft throb in his neck.  She draped her windbreaker over his body to keep him warm.  Rubbing his hair she noted with surprise that her hand came away bloodied.  As she checked more carefully she saw a deep cut that ran just over his ear to the back of his head, bleeding slowly.  Thinking quickly and silently thanking god that she'd worn her bulletproof vest she pulled off her blouse and bunched it up pressing it firmly against his head. 

            A cold threatening wind curled around her shoulders but she didn't even seem to be aware of it or of the other agents that formed a protective circle around them as she whispered for Mulder to hold on.