Chapter Twelve
Lone Gunmen Headquarters
Frohike looked at the most recent satellite images from Texas and he did not like at all what he saw. At all.
"Hey guys" he said calling Langley and Byers over to his computer. "Take a look at this!"
Langley and Byers stood behind Frohike as he enlarged the image on his screen. It showed a cluster of buildings and two small shapes.
"See that?" Frohike said pointing a finger at the two small shapes. "I think that is Mulder and Scully."
"Can't be" Langley said. "Look at the size differential between the two people. Even Scully isn't that short."
Byers stared at the image in front of him. "Frohike, is there any way we can get a better look at what is going on down there?"
"Sure there is, but I have to do some more hacking into the Pentagon's computer."
"I think we should, just in case." Byers said
xxx
Scully couldn't tell if it was the heat or the bright sun that caused her to wake up the following morning. For a moment she just lay there enjoying the feel of a man next to her.
She quickly remembered the man was Mulder and bolted upright anxious to see if he had survived the night.
He had, barely.
Mulder lay practically motionless. The only movement came from his chest as he labored to breath.
Scully quickly checked his pulse and found it to be weaker than it had been the night before. She tried to wake him but the only response she got was a small moan.
Scully managed to get a few drops of water into his mouth and then lay him back on his makeshift bed. She stroked his hair and tried to push the horrible thoughts out of her mind.
Mulder was dying and there was nothing she could do about it.
Scully pushed the thought out of her mind by focusing on what she could do to increase his chances of survival and hers.
The first priority would be to get more water. They only had two bottles left and with the temperature increasing so quickly, those would be gone before noon.
As much as Scully hated to leave Mulder, she knew that she would have to go looking for supplies. She quickly rigged up two of the blankets to provide shade for him and then emptying one of the packs set out.
Chapter Thirteen
It took Scully several hours to check out all the buildings in her area of the facility. She found absolutely nothing.
Someone had preceded her and had made very sure that anyone who was lucky enough to survive an injection of the serum died from dehydration or starvation.
Totally discouraged Scully began to return to where she had left Mulder. On a whim, she decided to check out the small laundry facility she was passing.
Her persistence paid off. Inside were two vending machines. One filled with soda and one with junk food.
Scully practically jumped for joy at the sight of them. She quickly broke into the machines and stuffed as much soda, chips and candy into her pack and pockets as she could carry.
Walking back to Mulder she thought that her discovery had to be some kind of omen. Leave it to Mulder to be saved by junk food in the middle of the desert.
Her optimism quickly faded as she approached Mulder. He had not moved a hair since she had left him and the sight of his motionless body filled her with panic and she dropped the things she had been carrying and ran over to him.
Quickly kneeling beside him she felt for a pulse. It was still there but was much weaker.
Scully cradled Mulder's head on her lap and stroked his hair. "Come on Mulder, hang on. Please don't leave me. I can't do this without you."
Scully held Mulder for a long, long time only taking a break on occasion to pour some lukewarm Coke down his throat. She look at her watch as saw that is was getting close to eleven.
In two more hours Krycek would be destroying the facility. Scully pulled her thoughts away from Mulder and tried to think of some way to keep them safe until help arrived.
If it arrived in time.
XXX
It took a while, but Frohike was finally able to hack into the Pentagon's master computer. Minutes later he had the image he was looking for up on the screen.
"Byers, Langley I did it!" he called to his two companions. "Byers was right"
Before them they saw a very blurry image of a man in a wheelchair being pushed by a small woman.
"That has to be them" Langley said "But there seems to be something wrong with Mulder."
Byers studied the picture a moment and then spoke to Frohike. "Is there any way we can zoom out a bit. I want to see if Mulder's car is still there."
"Why do you want to know that?" Langley asked confused.
"To see if they are trapped there of course" said Frohike.
He tapped the keys a few times and the image changed. The buildings had shrunk and Mulder and Scully were no longer visible.
They could see, however, the fence surrounding the facility and the main gate which still remained open. There was no sign of Mulder's car.
Frohike exchanged glances with Byers and Langley. "We had better get on the horn to Skinner about this right away."
"He is not going to be too happy about being woken up at 2:30 in the morning." Byers said dialing the phone "but I suppose having his best two agents killed would put him in an even worse mood."
XXX
Krycek could see them from the small tower that stood in the center of the research facility. Scully had Mulder's head cradled in her lap and she appeared to be rocking him back and forth while crying.
Krycek smirked when he spotted the cans of soda and bags of chips that littered the area that surrounded them. Apparently Scully had found the little surprise he had left for her. After all he wasn't totally without a heart and he had to admit that part of him was rooting for their survival.
The world would be a pretty boring place without Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to torment.
Even so, he had a job to do and not even his bizarre affection for Mulder and Scully would stop him. The timers had been set and he, himself, was preparing to leave well before the explosions went off.
XXX
Scully placed Mulder gently back down on his blanket and stood up assessing her options. The closest building to them was probably two to three hundred feet away. Depending on the type of explosives Krycek was planning on using, they might be alright if she could just manage to get Mulder sheltered behind the large rock that sat behind them.
She frowned and looked at her watch. It was getting close to noon and she knew she wouldn't have much time. She quickly gathered up all their extra supplies and brought them around to the back of the large rock.
That task completed, she then had to figure out a way to move the unconscious and quite large, at least compared to her, man off the ground into the wheel chair and around the rock.
She had barely been able to manage moving him when he was still awake but she had to try.
She straddled Mulder placing one foot on either side of his body and squatted down taking one of his hands in each of hers. His hands felt like fire but she ignored this as she pulled up with all her strength.
Mulder moved up about an inch or so then collapsed back down again.
Scully sighed and tried again. And again. And again.
Seeing that this wasn't going to work she tried again to wake him up. She splashed water on his face.
Nothing.
She poked him.
Nothing.
She shook him.
Nothing.
She straddled him again trying desperately to fight off the tears that were threatening to begin to fall. "Come on Mulder" she said out loud "we have to do this."
She began again to tug on him when suddenly she froze. Next to Mulder's body was the shadow of a man.
She gulped, released Mulder's hands and turned around.
"Are you sure you want to stay with him?" Alex Krycek said looking first at Mulder and then at Scully. "He really doesn't deserve you."
Scully just glared at him wondering why he was standing not two feet away from her.
"I take it since you have chosen not to respond to my question that your mind is made up." Krycek said shaking his head at her.
"I guess I really have no choice then." Scully gasped at this statement wishing that she hadn't let her weapon sitting with her supplies on the other side of the rock.
Krycek took Scully's arm and moved her off of Mulder. She knew she should resist but figured it was pointless. Obviously Krycek had come to finish off the job himself.
He bent over Mulder and placed one hand under each arm. With a large grunt he lifted Mulder up to a more or less standing position.
"Well, don't just stand there Dana" he said looking at her "bring the chair over."
She just stared at him for a second and then seemed to pull herself together. She grabbed the chair and pushed it behind where Krycek was holding Mulder up.
He let go and Mulder collapsed, more or less, in the chair.
Scully continued to stare at Krycek still speechless.
Krycek walked over to her, took her head between his two hands and kissed her. This kiss was so full of passion that it made Scully a bit weak in the knees. Krycek broke off the kiss and dropped his hands.
He said nothing for a moment just gave her a grin. "You owe me one Dana" he said and he turned to leave.
Scully watched in silence as he calmly walked over to a small shed that appeared to be in ruins. Apparently it was not for he entered it and within second reappeared pushing out a small motorbike.
He hopped on the bike, gave her a brief wave and disappeared into a cloud of dust.
Scully looked at her watch. It was quarter to one. She would have to hurry.
Chapter Fourteen
Skinner and the three Lone Gunmen ran off the FBI's charter plane and across the tarmac to the small group of uniformed officers standing there waiting for them.
Lieutenant Norman greeted all three of them.
"Thank you for meeting us here Lieutenant" Skinner said after shaking his hand. "Have you been able to track down Agent Mulder and Scully yet?"
"We are pretty sure they are still on the facility grounds Sir. We have been in contact with the government authorities who run the facility and they have told us that the contamination risk is too high for us to enter the grounds."
Skinner nodded and looked at the three Gunmen. "How long will it take you to confirm this?" he asked ignoring the perplexed looks on the officers' faces.
"Only a few minutes Sir. I just need someplace to plug in my computer." Frohike said.
"We have set up a command post in this hanger Sir" Norman said pointing to a small building behind him. "And we can get a helicopter here in fifteen minutes if need be."
Skinner nodded as he began to walk towards the building. "How long would it take to fly from here to the research facility?"
Norman paused a moment to think. "I imagine we could get there in less than an hour Sir."
Skinner nodded again and looked at his watch. It was about half past twelve.
XXX
It took Scully several minutes to push Mulder around the rock and into the makeshift shelter she had built. Sweat was pouring down her face and she grabbed a warm chocolate bar and crammed it into mouth followed by several large gulps of warm soda.
She was starving.
"You know you will make yourself sick eating that stuff" a weak voice from behind her said.
Scully spun around soda still in her hand and smiled at the sight of Mulder looking at her through eyes clouded by fever.
"Hey" she said putting down the soda and picking up a water bottle. She gave him a sip and he smiled at her.
"How come you get the soda and I have to drink hot water?" He teased fighting to keep his eyes open. Mulder knew that his strength was fading fast and he meant to look at Scully as long as he could before he went out again.
"I know this is a dumb question" Scully said kneeling down in front of him and stroking his face "But how do you feel?"
"Like I have been through the wringer, twice." He raised his hand up to capture hers against his cheek. "Scully, I don't know how much longer I am going to be around" he said and he brought her palm up to his lips and kissed it.
Despite the temperature outside the terror Scully was feeling made her quite cold. His lips were incredibly hot against her skin and she shivered.
Mulder smiled at her reaction. "There is so much I should be saying to you" he said weakly.
"Save your strength Mulder, you can talk my ear off when we get out of here." Scully said trying hard not to cry.
Mulder opened his mouth to disagree with her but thought better of it. "Can I talk you ear off in a candlelit restaurant Scully?" Mulder asked reaching up and pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear. Scully was covered with sweat and dust but looked beautiful to him.
"Mulder" she said swallowing hard to keep her voice from breaking "you can do it any where you like."
Mulder raised an eyebrow at this. "Anywhere Scully? Maybe I do have a reason to live after all."
Scully was about to answer when a huge explosion occurred. The ground shook so hard that Scully worried about the rock behind them breaking into pieces.
She screamed, despite herself, when the second of the explosions came a few seconds later. She buried her head in Mulder's lap and he bent over her trying with the last of his strength to protect her from the pieces of debris that were flying through the air and hitting the ground all around them.
"Goodbye Scully" he whispered.
Chapter Fifteen
Frohike called Skinner over to his computer and motioned to his screen. On it was a memo from a high ranking official in the CIA. Skinner read it quickly and turned away with his face showing nothing but pure rage.
"Get me that helicopter now Lieutenant" he said trying desperately to contain himself.
Norman nodded and got on the phone immediately. "Done Sir" Norman paused before continuing his curiosity overshadowing his better judgment. "May I ask what was in that memo Sir?"
Skinner glared at him for a second and then smiled. He liked Norman. "We never saw that memo Lieutenant. And since we have never seen it, we would never have known that it contained specific instructions to fake the quarantine and to destroy the facility and everyone associated with it."
Norman gasped at this thankful that his men were all outside the hanger preparing for their departure. "Understood Sir. If I understand all of this correctly Sir, you were never here and we never met."
Skinner smiled at him. Yes, he liked Norman a lot.
The helicopter made it to them in less than fifteen minutes. Skinner, Norman and Byers hopped on board with Langley and Frohike staying behind with Norman's men. They would rendezvous later at the hospital in El Paso hopefully with Mulder and Scully.
They were probably still 25 miles away from the facility when Byers spotted the large plumes of smoke. He tapped Skinner on the shoulder and pointed it out to him.
"Damn" Skinner said unable to take his eyes off the smoke.
Norman, Skinner and Byers did not speak after that. Each man was too busy hoping and praying that somehow Mulder and Scully had managed to survive the inferno that lay ahead.
The helicopter circled the facility several times looking for signs of life. They saw nothing besides burning buildings and vehicles. Skinner was about to give up when Norman tapped him on the shoulder and pointed towards a large group of rocks.
Skinner squinted willing himself to see through the smokey haze. There was definitely something there. It appeared to be the remains of some sort of shelter.
He motioned for the helicopter pilot to fly directly over the rock. He was right, it had been a shelter. A meager one that was riddled with holes and surrounded by debris. Among the debris he spotted two backpacks.
"Take her down" he shouted to the pilot.
They landed the helicopter and Skinner and Byers leapt to the ground and ran over to where the backpacks lay. They pulled down what remained of the shelter and stopped dead in their tracks.
In front of them sat Mulder in a wheelchair bent over Scully who had obviously sought shelter in his lap. They were both covered in blood.
Norman, who had lagged behind Skinner and Byers, yelled into his radio "Call the hospital and put them on alert and get the two stretchers over here NOW!"
Skinner closed his eyes as if to gather himself and walked over to Mulder. He touched Mulder's neck and gave a sigh of relief when he found a pulse there although it was very weak and irregular.
He gently pushed Mulder back and took hold of Scully and gently placed her on the ground. It appeared that Mulder had taken the brunt of the damage caused by the debris but Scully had a large gash on her right side. Skinner could see that her light colored t-shirt had turned dark with blood.
Skinner looked around a grabbed what remained of the blankets that sheltered them and immediately tore it into pieces. He bound her wound the best he could and cradled her in his lap as Byers and Norman placed Mulder on the first stretcher and carried him to the waiting helicopter.
Scully moaned slightly and opened her eyes a crack. She smiled weakly when she recognized Skinner but only had the strength to utter one word. "Mulder?"
"We've got him Dana and he is still alive." Scully nodded to show that she understood and then closed her eyes letting the darkness take her.
Chapter Sixteen
Mulder floated in a thick haze. He could hear voices around him, speaking to him and he was tempted to go to them. He also saw a bright light shining off in the distance. The light looked so peaceful and he was incredibly tempted to go to it.
He had to decide which way to go and soon.
XXX
Scully opened her eyes to see Frohike staring down at her. "She's awake" he called over his shoulder before turning his attention towards her. "Good morning beautiful. I am glad that you decided to join us."
Scully smiled at him. "What happened? The last thing I remember is getting pelting by flying debris. I didn't think we would make it."
That statement brought Scully fully awake. She bolted upright in her bed ignoring the many tubes that were running into her arm and the pain that cut through her side. She grabbed Frohike's arm.
"Mulder? Is he. . ." she couldn't bring herself to say the word.
Frohike looked at Scully with such tenderness that she began to panic. Mulder must surely be dead. "He is hanging in there, barely."
Scully sighed and sat back in her bed relaxing just a bit. "Tell me everything Frohike and don't leave out a thing trying to spare me." Her look told Frohike that she meant business.
He settled into the chair by her bed and told her. How they had intercepted a satellite image that looked suspicious so they had disregarded Mulder's instructions to wait and had flown directly out to Texas.
They had taken a helicopter out to the facility which was already burning. They had almost left without finding them but had spotted the shelter she had built behind the rock.
"You and Mulder were in pretty bad shape when we got there." Frohike said looking at her tenderly again. "You were bleeding like a stuck pig, but Skinner bound you up and. . ."
"Skinner, he was there?" Scully said surprised that her boss at come to their rescue.
"Well, not officially of course" Frohike said with a smile. "He has already flown back to DC but yeah he was here and he probably saved your life."
Scully took deep breath and tried to let everything sink it. "And Mulder?"
"He received plenty of lacerations from the flying debris but none of those seem to be life threatening."
"But the serum is" Scully finished for him.
"Possibly. They have given him a complete blood transfusion but his organs have taken quite a beating from the stuff. It is touch and go now."
"I need to see him." Scully said sitting upright in the bed again.
"Scully you can't, you are seriously injured yourself." Frohike said knowing full well that she would ignore his protests.
"That doesn't matter." She pushed the 'call' button on her bed frantically "Don't you see? He needs to know that I am okay. He needs to know that I need him here with me. I have to give him a reason to come back to us."
Byers and Langley had joined them and along with Frohike looked at her quite puzzled. "Do you remember when I was abducted?" she said trying not to loose patience as she pushed the 'call' button again. "Well there was a time when I was in the coma when I had to decide if I was going to come back or go to where it would be peaceful."
The nurse entered the room and Scully quickly explained what she wanted to do. Skinner had anticipated this and had cleared everything with her doctor. Frohike helped her into the chair and he along with the other two walked along with her to Mulder's room.
They paused at the door to let Scully enter alone. She motioned for the nurse to stop for a second. "Mulder is the reason I came back. He wouldn't let me leave him. It's my turn to do the same for him."
She looked up at the nurse and nodded. The nurse positioned her next to Mulder's bed close enough to be able to hold her hand.
"Doctor Scully" the nurse said "I can only give you ten minutes with him and then you will have to get some rest."
Scully nodded slightly as she reached over and took Mulder's hand between her own.
"Mulder, it's me"
XXX
The haze was getting a bit thinner and Mulder felt like he was swimming through thick soup. He began to push towards the surface to the voices that seemed to be discussing his health but then he saw the light again.
It was warm and bright and the mere thought of it filled him with peace. Somehow he knew if he went towards it all his pain would be gone.
He turned towards it and began to swim.
XXX
Scully looked up at Mulder's monitors and noticed that the numbers were beginning to drop. His breathing was getting slower and he blood oxygen level was falling too.
He was trying to head towards the light, she knew it.
"Oh no you don't Mulder" she said loud enough to make the Lone Gunmen standing outside his room raise theirs heads at the sound of her voice. "You are not leaving me. Do you understand me?"
Scully struggled to the edge of her chair and leaned as far as she could over his bed ignoring the fact that her stitches were tearing the flesh of her side.
"I am not going to let you die and leave me all alone Fox Mulder. You have to come back to me. You can't leave me" Scully voice was beginning to falter and her tears ran down her face and splashed on his chest.
"You promised me Mulder. You said you have so much to tell me Mulder. Well, I have a lot to tell you too. You promised me."
When the nurse arrived ten minutes later she found Scully half lying on top of Mulder crying her heart out. She gently got Scully back into her chair and returned her to her room.
There she placed Scully back in bed and disregarded her wishes by injecting her with a strong sedative. Within seconds Scully was asleep.
XXX
He was just about there. A few more strokes and he would be within reach of the light. He could feel the sense of peace already. He was about to enter it when he heard a small voice calling to him and felt a small splash of water hit him.
He stopped to listen. He strained to hear what the voice was saying to him. He looking longingly at the bright light just outside his reach then turned and swam away from it.
XXX
Scully woke several hours feeling like her head was filled with cotton. When she opened her eyes, she saw the figure of a man sitting in the chair next to her.
She tried the best she could to focus but could not. The medicine was pulling her under again.
Seeing that, the man got up and walked over to the bed and bent over and kissed her gently on the forehead.
"I am glad you made it Dana" Alex Krycek whispered in her ear. He kissed her again and turned and walked out the door leaving a large bouquet of roses behind.
Three weeks later
Scully was miserable in more ways than one. Not only did her side hurt her every time she drew a breath, but she had lost her partner.
Not to the killer serum as she first feared but something potentially even worse. Her government.
As soon as it became clear that Mulder would survive, the government had swooped in and taken him off to a research facility somewhere in Colorado for testing. Skinner had assured her, practically every day, that Mulder was safe and sound and that as soon as he was strong enough to resume active duty he would be returned to Washington, the X-files and her.
Scully herself had only returned to work a few days before. She was allowed to work regular business hours as long as she promised to stay out of the field and not perform autopsies until she was cleared by the Bureau doctors.
So Scully sat in their basement office bored stiff and lonely. By four she had enough and had headed for home stopping first by Mulder's apartment to feed his fish and retrieve his mail.
Scully walked into his apartment and noticed immediately that it looked different. She glanced around and spotted two suitcases sitting just inside Mulder's bedroom. She looked around and noticed that his mail had been haphazardly thrown onto the coffee table.
It looked as if Mulder had arrived home, dumped his luggage and immediately had left.
"Damn" Scully said as she threw a pinch of food into the fish tank "he probably went to the office looking for me."
She left as quickly as she could but decided to head home instead of back to the office. Surely Mulder would figure out where she was.
Scully jogged up the front steps into her apartment building immediately regretting it when her side began to hurt. All thoughts regarding her side disappeared when she saw a tall man standing at her door knocking.
She froze in her tracks and just looked at him. He had heard her footsteps and had stopped knocking and turned to look at her.
Before she knew it she was in his arms and he was squeezing her tight. "Ow" Scully said as she pushed him away.
She saw the look of puzzlement followed by one of fear flash across Mulder's face. "My side" she explained as she took his hand and led him to her door. "Didn't they tell you what happened?"
Mulder followed her into his apartment, threw his jacket on a chair and turned to face her. This time he took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Scully, they didn't tell me anything. Not even if you were alive or dead. They dropped me off less than an hour ago. . ."
Scully reached up and stroked his face. "I'm fine, Mulder." She saw him frown at this overused statement "Really, I am Mulder."
Mulder held her in his gaze for a moment longer as if to confirm this fact for himself before releasing her. "Sit down Mulder, I will get us a couple of beers and we'll talk."
She returned with the beers to find Mulder still watching her intently. It was if he took his eyes off of her she would vanish.
"What is it Mulder?" she said gently as she sat beside him on the couch.
"I didn't think I would ever see you again Scully" he said so softly she could barely hear him.
Scully put down her beer and took his head between her two hands and gave him a long kiss on the forehead. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not right now, but if it is okay with you, I would like to hold you for a while."
Scully raised her eyebrow at this request. "I'll be careful of your side, I promise. I just need to convince myself that you are really okay."
Scully smiled at him and moved over so that she lay back against him. He immediately wrapped his arms around her carefully avoiding her side.
They sat like that without talking for a very long time. Finally Scully broke the silence and turned to face her partner.
"Mulder, why did you come back?" Mulder looked at her realizing that she was not talking about his return from Colorado but his return from the brink of death.
He leaned forward and kissed her ever-so-gently on the lips. "I came back for you Scully." +++++
end of story
Lone Gunmen Headquarters
Frohike looked at the most recent satellite images from Texas and he did not like at all what he saw. At all.
"Hey guys" he said calling Langley and Byers over to his computer. "Take a look at this!"
Langley and Byers stood behind Frohike as he enlarged the image on his screen. It showed a cluster of buildings and two small shapes.
"See that?" Frohike said pointing a finger at the two small shapes. "I think that is Mulder and Scully."
"Can't be" Langley said. "Look at the size differential between the two people. Even Scully isn't that short."
Byers stared at the image in front of him. "Frohike, is there any way we can get a better look at what is going on down there?"
"Sure there is, but I have to do some more hacking into the Pentagon's computer."
"I think we should, just in case." Byers said
xxx
Scully couldn't tell if it was the heat or the bright sun that caused her to wake up the following morning. For a moment she just lay there enjoying the feel of a man next to her.
She quickly remembered the man was Mulder and bolted upright anxious to see if he had survived the night.
He had, barely.
Mulder lay practically motionless. The only movement came from his chest as he labored to breath.
Scully quickly checked his pulse and found it to be weaker than it had been the night before. She tried to wake him but the only response she got was a small moan.
Scully managed to get a few drops of water into his mouth and then lay him back on his makeshift bed. She stroked his hair and tried to push the horrible thoughts out of her mind.
Mulder was dying and there was nothing she could do about it.
Scully pushed the thought out of her mind by focusing on what she could do to increase his chances of survival and hers.
The first priority would be to get more water. They only had two bottles left and with the temperature increasing so quickly, those would be gone before noon.
As much as Scully hated to leave Mulder, she knew that she would have to go looking for supplies. She quickly rigged up two of the blankets to provide shade for him and then emptying one of the packs set out.
Chapter Thirteen
It took Scully several hours to check out all the buildings in her area of the facility. She found absolutely nothing.
Someone had preceded her and had made very sure that anyone who was lucky enough to survive an injection of the serum died from dehydration or starvation.
Totally discouraged Scully began to return to where she had left Mulder. On a whim, she decided to check out the small laundry facility she was passing.
Her persistence paid off. Inside were two vending machines. One filled with soda and one with junk food.
Scully practically jumped for joy at the sight of them. She quickly broke into the machines and stuffed as much soda, chips and candy into her pack and pockets as she could carry.
Walking back to Mulder she thought that her discovery had to be some kind of omen. Leave it to Mulder to be saved by junk food in the middle of the desert.
Her optimism quickly faded as she approached Mulder. He had not moved a hair since she had left him and the sight of his motionless body filled her with panic and she dropped the things she had been carrying and ran over to him.
Quickly kneeling beside him she felt for a pulse. It was still there but was much weaker.
Scully cradled Mulder's head on her lap and stroked his hair. "Come on Mulder, hang on. Please don't leave me. I can't do this without you."
Scully held Mulder for a long, long time only taking a break on occasion to pour some lukewarm Coke down his throat. She look at her watch as saw that is was getting close to eleven.
In two more hours Krycek would be destroying the facility. Scully pulled her thoughts away from Mulder and tried to think of some way to keep them safe until help arrived.
If it arrived in time.
XXX
It took a while, but Frohike was finally able to hack into the Pentagon's master computer. Minutes later he had the image he was looking for up on the screen.
"Byers, Langley I did it!" he called to his two companions. "Byers was right"
Before them they saw a very blurry image of a man in a wheelchair being pushed by a small woman.
"That has to be them" Langley said "But there seems to be something wrong with Mulder."
Byers studied the picture a moment and then spoke to Frohike. "Is there any way we can zoom out a bit. I want to see if Mulder's car is still there."
"Why do you want to know that?" Langley asked confused.
"To see if they are trapped there of course" said Frohike.
He tapped the keys a few times and the image changed. The buildings had shrunk and Mulder and Scully were no longer visible.
They could see, however, the fence surrounding the facility and the main gate which still remained open. There was no sign of Mulder's car.
Frohike exchanged glances with Byers and Langley. "We had better get on the horn to Skinner about this right away."
"He is not going to be too happy about being woken up at 2:30 in the morning." Byers said dialing the phone "but I suppose having his best two agents killed would put him in an even worse mood."
XXX
Krycek could see them from the small tower that stood in the center of the research facility. Scully had Mulder's head cradled in her lap and she appeared to be rocking him back and forth while crying.
Krycek smirked when he spotted the cans of soda and bags of chips that littered the area that surrounded them. Apparently Scully had found the little surprise he had left for her. After all he wasn't totally without a heart and he had to admit that part of him was rooting for their survival.
The world would be a pretty boring place without Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to torment.
Even so, he had a job to do and not even his bizarre affection for Mulder and Scully would stop him. The timers had been set and he, himself, was preparing to leave well before the explosions went off.
XXX
Scully placed Mulder gently back down on his blanket and stood up assessing her options. The closest building to them was probably two to three hundred feet away. Depending on the type of explosives Krycek was planning on using, they might be alright if she could just manage to get Mulder sheltered behind the large rock that sat behind them.
She frowned and looked at her watch. It was getting close to noon and she knew she wouldn't have much time. She quickly gathered up all their extra supplies and brought them around to the back of the large rock.
That task completed, she then had to figure out a way to move the unconscious and quite large, at least compared to her, man off the ground into the wheel chair and around the rock.
She had barely been able to manage moving him when he was still awake but she had to try.
She straddled Mulder placing one foot on either side of his body and squatted down taking one of his hands in each of hers. His hands felt like fire but she ignored this as she pulled up with all her strength.
Mulder moved up about an inch or so then collapsed back down again.
Scully sighed and tried again. And again. And again.
Seeing that this wasn't going to work she tried again to wake him up. She splashed water on his face.
Nothing.
She poked him.
Nothing.
She shook him.
Nothing.
She straddled him again trying desperately to fight off the tears that were threatening to begin to fall. "Come on Mulder" she said out loud "we have to do this."
She began again to tug on him when suddenly she froze. Next to Mulder's body was the shadow of a man.
She gulped, released Mulder's hands and turned around.
"Are you sure you want to stay with him?" Alex Krycek said looking first at Mulder and then at Scully. "He really doesn't deserve you."
Scully just glared at him wondering why he was standing not two feet away from her.
"I take it since you have chosen not to respond to my question that your mind is made up." Krycek said shaking his head at her.
"I guess I really have no choice then." Scully gasped at this statement wishing that she hadn't let her weapon sitting with her supplies on the other side of the rock.
Krycek took Scully's arm and moved her off of Mulder. She knew she should resist but figured it was pointless. Obviously Krycek had come to finish off the job himself.
He bent over Mulder and placed one hand under each arm. With a large grunt he lifted Mulder up to a more or less standing position.
"Well, don't just stand there Dana" he said looking at her "bring the chair over."
She just stared at him for a second and then seemed to pull herself together. She grabbed the chair and pushed it behind where Krycek was holding Mulder up.
He let go and Mulder collapsed, more or less, in the chair.
Scully continued to stare at Krycek still speechless.
Krycek walked over to her, took her head between his two hands and kissed her. This kiss was so full of passion that it made Scully a bit weak in the knees. Krycek broke off the kiss and dropped his hands.
He said nothing for a moment just gave her a grin. "You owe me one Dana" he said and he turned to leave.
Scully watched in silence as he calmly walked over to a small shed that appeared to be in ruins. Apparently it was not for he entered it and within second reappeared pushing out a small motorbike.
He hopped on the bike, gave her a brief wave and disappeared into a cloud of dust.
Scully looked at her watch. It was quarter to one. She would have to hurry.
Chapter Fourteen
Skinner and the three Lone Gunmen ran off the FBI's charter plane and across the tarmac to the small group of uniformed officers standing there waiting for them.
Lieutenant Norman greeted all three of them.
"Thank you for meeting us here Lieutenant" Skinner said after shaking his hand. "Have you been able to track down Agent Mulder and Scully yet?"
"We are pretty sure they are still on the facility grounds Sir. We have been in contact with the government authorities who run the facility and they have told us that the contamination risk is too high for us to enter the grounds."
Skinner nodded and looked at the three Gunmen. "How long will it take you to confirm this?" he asked ignoring the perplexed looks on the officers' faces.
"Only a few minutes Sir. I just need someplace to plug in my computer." Frohike said.
"We have set up a command post in this hanger Sir" Norman said pointing to a small building behind him. "And we can get a helicopter here in fifteen minutes if need be."
Skinner nodded as he began to walk towards the building. "How long would it take to fly from here to the research facility?"
Norman paused a moment to think. "I imagine we could get there in less than an hour Sir."
Skinner nodded again and looked at his watch. It was about half past twelve.
XXX
It took Scully several minutes to push Mulder around the rock and into the makeshift shelter she had built. Sweat was pouring down her face and she grabbed a warm chocolate bar and crammed it into mouth followed by several large gulps of warm soda.
She was starving.
"You know you will make yourself sick eating that stuff" a weak voice from behind her said.
Scully spun around soda still in her hand and smiled at the sight of Mulder looking at her through eyes clouded by fever.
"Hey" she said putting down the soda and picking up a water bottle. She gave him a sip and he smiled at her.
"How come you get the soda and I have to drink hot water?" He teased fighting to keep his eyes open. Mulder knew that his strength was fading fast and he meant to look at Scully as long as he could before he went out again.
"I know this is a dumb question" Scully said kneeling down in front of him and stroking his face "But how do you feel?"
"Like I have been through the wringer, twice." He raised his hand up to capture hers against his cheek. "Scully, I don't know how much longer I am going to be around" he said and he brought her palm up to his lips and kissed it.
Despite the temperature outside the terror Scully was feeling made her quite cold. His lips were incredibly hot against her skin and she shivered.
Mulder smiled at her reaction. "There is so much I should be saying to you" he said weakly.
"Save your strength Mulder, you can talk my ear off when we get out of here." Scully said trying hard not to cry.
Mulder opened his mouth to disagree with her but thought better of it. "Can I talk you ear off in a candlelit restaurant Scully?" Mulder asked reaching up and pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear. Scully was covered with sweat and dust but looked beautiful to him.
"Mulder" she said swallowing hard to keep her voice from breaking "you can do it any where you like."
Mulder raised an eyebrow at this. "Anywhere Scully? Maybe I do have a reason to live after all."
Scully was about to answer when a huge explosion occurred. The ground shook so hard that Scully worried about the rock behind them breaking into pieces.
She screamed, despite herself, when the second of the explosions came a few seconds later. She buried her head in Mulder's lap and he bent over her trying with the last of his strength to protect her from the pieces of debris that were flying through the air and hitting the ground all around them.
"Goodbye Scully" he whispered.
Chapter Fifteen
Frohike called Skinner over to his computer and motioned to his screen. On it was a memo from a high ranking official in the CIA. Skinner read it quickly and turned away with his face showing nothing but pure rage.
"Get me that helicopter now Lieutenant" he said trying desperately to contain himself.
Norman nodded and got on the phone immediately. "Done Sir" Norman paused before continuing his curiosity overshadowing his better judgment. "May I ask what was in that memo Sir?"
Skinner glared at him for a second and then smiled. He liked Norman. "We never saw that memo Lieutenant. And since we have never seen it, we would never have known that it contained specific instructions to fake the quarantine and to destroy the facility and everyone associated with it."
Norman gasped at this thankful that his men were all outside the hanger preparing for their departure. "Understood Sir. If I understand all of this correctly Sir, you were never here and we never met."
Skinner smiled at him. Yes, he liked Norman a lot.
The helicopter made it to them in less than fifteen minutes. Skinner, Norman and Byers hopped on board with Langley and Frohike staying behind with Norman's men. They would rendezvous later at the hospital in El Paso hopefully with Mulder and Scully.
They were probably still 25 miles away from the facility when Byers spotted the large plumes of smoke. He tapped Skinner on the shoulder and pointed it out to him.
"Damn" Skinner said unable to take his eyes off the smoke.
Norman, Skinner and Byers did not speak after that. Each man was too busy hoping and praying that somehow Mulder and Scully had managed to survive the inferno that lay ahead.
The helicopter circled the facility several times looking for signs of life. They saw nothing besides burning buildings and vehicles. Skinner was about to give up when Norman tapped him on the shoulder and pointed towards a large group of rocks.
Skinner squinted willing himself to see through the smokey haze. There was definitely something there. It appeared to be the remains of some sort of shelter.
He motioned for the helicopter pilot to fly directly over the rock. He was right, it had been a shelter. A meager one that was riddled with holes and surrounded by debris. Among the debris he spotted two backpacks.
"Take her down" he shouted to the pilot.
They landed the helicopter and Skinner and Byers leapt to the ground and ran over to where the backpacks lay. They pulled down what remained of the shelter and stopped dead in their tracks.
In front of them sat Mulder in a wheelchair bent over Scully who had obviously sought shelter in his lap. They were both covered in blood.
Norman, who had lagged behind Skinner and Byers, yelled into his radio "Call the hospital and put them on alert and get the two stretchers over here NOW!"
Skinner closed his eyes as if to gather himself and walked over to Mulder. He touched Mulder's neck and gave a sigh of relief when he found a pulse there although it was very weak and irregular.
He gently pushed Mulder back and took hold of Scully and gently placed her on the ground. It appeared that Mulder had taken the brunt of the damage caused by the debris but Scully had a large gash on her right side. Skinner could see that her light colored t-shirt had turned dark with blood.
Skinner looked around a grabbed what remained of the blankets that sheltered them and immediately tore it into pieces. He bound her wound the best he could and cradled her in his lap as Byers and Norman placed Mulder on the first stretcher and carried him to the waiting helicopter.
Scully moaned slightly and opened her eyes a crack. She smiled weakly when she recognized Skinner but only had the strength to utter one word. "Mulder?"
"We've got him Dana and he is still alive." Scully nodded to show that she understood and then closed her eyes letting the darkness take her.
Chapter Sixteen
Mulder floated in a thick haze. He could hear voices around him, speaking to him and he was tempted to go to them. He also saw a bright light shining off in the distance. The light looked so peaceful and he was incredibly tempted to go to it.
He had to decide which way to go and soon.
XXX
Scully opened her eyes to see Frohike staring down at her. "She's awake" he called over his shoulder before turning his attention towards her. "Good morning beautiful. I am glad that you decided to join us."
Scully smiled at him. "What happened? The last thing I remember is getting pelting by flying debris. I didn't think we would make it."
That statement brought Scully fully awake. She bolted upright in her bed ignoring the many tubes that were running into her arm and the pain that cut through her side. She grabbed Frohike's arm.
"Mulder? Is he. . ." she couldn't bring herself to say the word.
Frohike looked at Scully with such tenderness that she began to panic. Mulder must surely be dead. "He is hanging in there, barely."
Scully sighed and sat back in her bed relaxing just a bit. "Tell me everything Frohike and don't leave out a thing trying to spare me." Her look told Frohike that she meant business.
He settled into the chair by her bed and told her. How they had intercepted a satellite image that looked suspicious so they had disregarded Mulder's instructions to wait and had flown directly out to Texas.
They had taken a helicopter out to the facility which was already burning. They had almost left without finding them but had spotted the shelter she had built behind the rock.
"You and Mulder were in pretty bad shape when we got there." Frohike said looking at her tenderly again. "You were bleeding like a stuck pig, but Skinner bound you up and. . ."
"Skinner, he was there?" Scully said surprised that her boss at come to their rescue.
"Well, not officially of course" Frohike said with a smile. "He has already flown back to DC but yeah he was here and he probably saved your life."
Scully took deep breath and tried to let everything sink it. "And Mulder?"
"He received plenty of lacerations from the flying debris but none of those seem to be life threatening."
"But the serum is" Scully finished for him.
"Possibly. They have given him a complete blood transfusion but his organs have taken quite a beating from the stuff. It is touch and go now."
"I need to see him." Scully said sitting upright in the bed again.
"Scully you can't, you are seriously injured yourself." Frohike said knowing full well that she would ignore his protests.
"That doesn't matter." She pushed the 'call' button on her bed frantically "Don't you see? He needs to know that I am okay. He needs to know that I need him here with me. I have to give him a reason to come back to us."
Byers and Langley had joined them and along with Frohike looked at her quite puzzled. "Do you remember when I was abducted?" she said trying not to loose patience as she pushed the 'call' button again. "Well there was a time when I was in the coma when I had to decide if I was going to come back or go to where it would be peaceful."
The nurse entered the room and Scully quickly explained what she wanted to do. Skinner had anticipated this and had cleared everything with her doctor. Frohike helped her into the chair and he along with the other two walked along with her to Mulder's room.
They paused at the door to let Scully enter alone. She motioned for the nurse to stop for a second. "Mulder is the reason I came back. He wouldn't let me leave him. It's my turn to do the same for him."
She looked up at the nurse and nodded. The nurse positioned her next to Mulder's bed close enough to be able to hold her hand.
"Doctor Scully" the nurse said "I can only give you ten minutes with him and then you will have to get some rest."
Scully nodded slightly as she reached over and took Mulder's hand between her own.
"Mulder, it's me"
XXX
The haze was getting a bit thinner and Mulder felt like he was swimming through thick soup. He began to push towards the surface to the voices that seemed to be discussing his health but then he saw the light again.
It was warm and bright and the mere thought of it filled him with peace. Somehow he knew if he went towards it all his pain would be gone.
He turned towards it and began to swim.
XXX
Scully looked up at Mulder's monitors and noticed that the numbers were beginning to drop. His breathing was getting slower and he blood oxygen level was falling too.
He was trying to head towards the light, she knew it.
"Oh no you don't Mulder" she said loud enough to make the Lone Gunmen standing outside his room raise theirs heads at the sound of her voice. "You are not leaving me. Do you understand me?"
Scully struggled to the edge of her chair and leaned as far as she could over his bed ignoring the fact that her stitches were tearing the flesh of her side.
"I am not going to let you die and leave me all alone Fox Mulder. You have to come back to me. You can't leave me" Scully voice was beginning to falter and her tears ran down her face and splashed on his chest.
"You promised me Mulder. You said you have so much to tell me Mulder. Well, I have a lot to tell you too. You promised me."
When the nurse arrived ten minutes later she found Scully half lying on top of Mulder crying her heart out. She gently got Scully back into her chair and returned her to her room.
There she placed Scully back in bed and disregarded her wishes by injecting her with a strong sedative. Within seconds Scully was asleep.
XXX
He was just about there. A few more strokes and he would be within reach of the light. He could feel the sense of peace already. He was about to enter it when he heard a small voice calling to him and felt a small splash of water hit him.
He stopped to listen. He strained to hear what the voice was saying to him. He looking longingly at the bright light just outside his reach then turned and swam away from it.
XXX
Scully woke several hours feeling like her head was filled with cotton. When she opened her eyes, she saw the figure of a man sitting in the chair next to her.
She tried the best she could to focus but could not. The medicine was pulling her under again.
Seeing that, the man got up and walked over to the bed and bent over and kissed her gently on the forehead.
"I am glad you made it Dana" Alex Krycek whispered in her ear. He kissed her again and turned and walked out the door leaving a large bouquet of roses behind.
Three weeks later
Scully was miserable in more ways than one. Not only did her side hurt her every time she drew a breath, but she had lost her partner.
Not to the killer serum as she first feared but something potentially even worse. Her government.
As soon as it became clear that Mulder would survive, the government had swooped in and taken him off to a research facility somewhere in Colorado for testing. Skinner had assured her, practically every day, that Mulder was safe and sound and that as soon as he was strong enough to resume active duty he would be returned to Washington, the X-files and her.
Scully herself had only returned to work a few days before. She was allowed to work regular business hours as long as she promised to stay out of the field and not perform autopsies until she was cleared by the Bureau doctors.
So Scully sat in their basement office bored stiff and lonely. By four she had enough and had headed for home stopping first by Mulder's apartment to feed his fish and retrieve his mail.
Scully walked into his apartment and noticed immediately that it looked different. She glanced around and spotted two suitcases sitting just inside Mulder's bedroom. She looked around and noticed that his mail had been haphazardly thrown onto the coffee table.
It looked as if Mulder had arrived home, dumped his luggage and immediately had left.
"Damn" Scully said as she threw a pinch of food into the fish tank "he probably went to the office looking for me."
She left as quickly as she could but decided to head home instead of back to the office. Surely Mulder would figure out where she was.
Scully jogged up the front steps into her apartment building immediately regretting it when her side began to hurt. All thoughts regarding her side disappeared when she saw a tall man standing at her door knocking.
She froze in her tracks and just looked at him. He had heard her footsteps and had stopped knocking and turned to look at her.
Before she knew it she was in his arms and he was squeezing her tight. "Ow" Scully said as she pushed him away.
She saw the look of puzzlement followed by one of fear flash across Mulder's face. "My side" she explained as she took his hand and led him to her door. "Didn't they tell you what happened?"
Mulder followed her into his apartment, threw his jacket on a chair and turned to face her. This time he took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Scully, they didn't tell me anything. Not even if you were alive or dead. They dropped me off less than an hour ago. . ."
Scully reached up and stroked his face. "I'm fine, Mulder." She saw him frown at this overused statement "Really, I am Mulder."
Mulder held her in his gaze for a moment longer as if to confirm this fact for himself before releasing her. "Sit down Mulder, I will get us a couple of beers and we'll talk."
She returned with the beers to find Mulder still watching her intently. It was if he took his eyes off of her she would vanish.
"What is it Mulder?" she said gently as she sat beside him on the couch.
"I didn't think I would ever see you again Scully" he said so softly she could barely hear him.
Scully put down her beer and took his head between her two hands and gave him a long kiss on the forehead. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not right now, but if it is okay with you, I would like to hold you for a while."
Scully raised her eyebrow at this request. "I'll be careful of your side, I promise. I just need to convince myself that you are really okay."
Scully smiled at him and moved over so that she lay back against him. He immediately wrapped his arms around her carefully avoiding her side.
They sat like that without talking for a very long time. Finally Scully broke the silence and turned to face her partner.
"Mulder, why did you come back?" Mulder looked at her realizing that she was not talking about his return from Colorado but his return from the brink of death.
He leaned forward and kissed her ever-so-gently on the lips. "I came back for you Scully." +++++
end of story