CHAPTER EIGHT

A/N: to my latest reviewer: thanks, but the CSM deserves a lover and I'm sick of all the MSR fics out there. There's certainly enough out there and I decided to write this one just to be different. I'm not the type to follow the crowds.

The CSM did have a lover once, remember that he once had an affair with Mulder's mother? She wasn't subjected to horrible tests.

And anyway, I'm enjoying penning this story and there will be several more to come. Carly will not remain a Mary Sue forever…I'm sorry if she turned out that way.

Carly's stomach growled plaintively and as if on cue, so did Sandra's. They were driving along a tree-lined road somewhere out of Washington but she wasn't quite sure where. She was sitting in the backseat, thankfully free of wires.

The trees thinned out and a few buildings loomed up ahead. They were in a town. Sandra drove for another half an hour until she parked alongside a row of shops.

" Come on, let's go." Sandra said as she opened her door.

" Where are we going?"

" to get some hair dye."

" Hair dye?"

" The manager back at the store recognised us from the news report. If we dye our hair, no one will recognise me as America's Most Wanted or you as the hostage."

Carly's stomach growled again, this time more louder. She decided to be more aggressive with Sandra, " I'm not going anywhere until you get me something to eat." She told her.

Sandra craned her neck to glare at her, " Come with me or I'll kill you," she took her gun out of her handbag.

Carly remained put, " If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it already. I'm staying until I get some food."

Sandra stared at the woman, her eyes locked with Carly's green ones. She couldn't tell if Carly was bluffing or she was serious.

" And anyway, you can't kill me in a public place. You'd be arrested in a second." Carly added.

Sandra sighed. Carly was right, she couldn't kill Carly here. " All right, come on then." She jumped out of the car and Carly followed her. " remember that we are two sisters on vacation." She reminded her hostage.

Sandra strode purposefully towards the nearest drug store that stood between a music shop and an adults only store.

Carly raised a hand and ran it through her blonde highlights and bit her lip. Three months ago she had gone to the hairdresser and got a new hairstyle-short with blonde highlights. The hair dye would ruin a $200 job.

Sandra bought two boxes of red hair dye, " If we both had red hair, we really would look like sisters." Sandra told Carly.

They bought takeaway sandwiches from a nearby deli, they got no suspicious looks.

That night, Carly stared at herself in the mirror. Her blonde highlights were gone thanks to the dark red hair dye she had to use. She didn't normally obsess about her looks, but red hair did not suit her. It made her already fair complexion look ghostly pale.

" Let's see how you look," Sandra called through the closed bathroom door. They were staying at Inglewood Inn, Inglewood being the name of the rural town.

Carly opened the door and Sandra studied her intently. " You look so different, no one will be able to recognise you now." She patted her own red hair, " As for me, when I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw a stranger staring back at me. Which is exactly what I wanted."

Carly nodded and followed her abductor into the living room. The motel room was a lot nicer than the one they stayed in last night. It was bigger with a kitchenette, living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. They even had their own balcony because they were staying on the third floor.

Carly sank down onto the sofa and Sandra disappeared into her bedroom. Carly stared at the gun Sandra had left on the coffee table. It would be so easy to grab the gun and turn it on Sandra…but Sandra had other weapons and she was not afraid to use them.

A few minutes later, Sandra reappeared, dressed in a skimpy red dress that showed too much cleavage and platform shoes. Her red hair tumbled down her shoulders in waves.

" I'm going to the pub. I've ordered some pizza for you for dinner. Here's some money to pay for it." Sandra left twenty dollars on the coffee table, " If you escape, I will find you and kill you. Got it?"

Carly nodded mutely.

" I'll be gone for a few hours." Sandra picked up her gun and stashed it into her bag and without another word, she left the motel.

Carly breathed a sigh of relief. It was good to get rid of Sandra for a few hours. And it was kind of nice of Sandra to order pizza for her even though Carly did not eat take away food often.

She switched on the TV and settled back. The news was on and she saw a photo of herself and Sandra on the screen. So they were still talking about her. She was probably in the newspaper too.

The news cut to the FBI headquarters and saw her two friends Mulder and Scully leave the building, trying to doge the barrage of questions the reporters were asking them. " Do you have anything to say about the whereabouts of the writer and her abductor?" one reporter asked Scully, sticking a microphone into her face.

Scully pushed the microphone aside, looking very annoyed, " We have no comment at this time."



Zachary Watson trudged up the stairs to the third floor to deliver a pizza. He hated this job, hated the wage. He glanced down at the piece of paper with the room number and found the room.

He knocked on the door and waited. The door opened and a red-haired, petite lady peered out at him.

" Here's your pizza," the delivery guy greeted her as he handed her a large cardboard box with the greasy pizza inside.

" Thanks."

" That will be twenty dollars." The guy added and she handed him the money when she hit with an idea.

" Listen, I want you to do something for me." Carly whispered urgently, then wondered why she whispered. Sandra wasn't here.

The delivery guy shook his head, " I gotta get back. I have other pizzas to deliver."

Bribe him, Carly told herself, " If I give you a fifty, would you do a huge favour for me?"

The delivery boy hesitated, " Okay." He agreed. What the heck, may as well earn a little something on the side. He thought to himself.

" What's your name?" Carly asked him.

" Zack. What's yours?" he demanded, now feeling suspicious of this red-haired lady.

" My name is Carly Garrett. Have you watched the news lately about a woman being abducted by someone who killed nine people in a movie theatre?"

" Sure, its all over the news and in the paper." Zack nodded.

" I don't want to scare you Zack, but this urgent." Carly paused, " You see, I'm the woman who was abducted."

Zachary's blue eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open, " No way!" he whispered in shock, " the woman who was abducted had blonde highlights and you have red hair."

" She made me dye my hair so I'd be harder to recognise," Carly stepped aside suddenly , " Come inside."

" I don't know," he hedged.

Carly pulled out her wallet and gave him a fifty, " I won't hurt you. I truly am the woman who was abducted and you'd be a big help to me."

If I saved this woman, I'd be famous! Zachary thought, " All right. What do you want me to do?"

Carly went to a chest of small drawers next to the couch and rummaged inside until she found a notepad and several pencils with the motel's name on them.

" I want you to see these two FBI Agents and tell them where I am," she jotted down the names of Agent Mulder and Scully and their office phone number. She also jotted down the number of Mulder's cell phone, " tell them we're staying at Inglewood Motel in Inglewood and that we are heading to a town called Wicklow in Maryland. It's a whole day's drive. I don't know what she's planning to do when we get there, buts that our next destination. Do you think you could that?"

" Where are the agents now?"

" I don't know, but you don't need to know that. Just call them and tell them where I am. That's all you need to do."

Zack nodded, " Okay, I'll do that. Is there any way I can reach you?"

" No, but once this is over, I'll look you up and thank you. Okay?"

" All right." Zack nodded.

" And don't tell anyone you saw me. It could put me more at risk and even put you in danger for helping me."

Zack nodded again, looking less confident as he left the motel. Carly crossed her fingers and prayed Zack never ran into Sandra…