Note: Fine, Jamie, fine. Just for you, I'll make this chapter at least 1500 words. ;P It was going to be at least 1500 anyway, but, psh. Whatever. All you dedicated readers (hehe, there's actually five of you!!! ^-^), please don't yell at me! This chapter just had to happen… O:-) And they can have guns if I want them to! So ha!
Second Note: There's also some, ah…interesting author's notes toward the end…hehe. I got a little gabby.
Rivergem: Actually, I was only in England for a week, and that was just in London over Thanksgiving break of 2003. But I feel honored to be considered accurate enough to be British! Tee-hee. (If you want to get technical, by blood, I'm 12.5% Brit) The conductor yelling at the two idiots jumping on the train actually happened when I was there; I got the quote as close as I remembered it.
Disclaimer: I disclaim ownership of the X-Files, London, King's Cross Station, time, AM/PM abbreviations, dates, mathematical equations, the English Language etc. etc. etc. but NOT my plot. So ha.
Archive: It'd be an honor. Truly. *emotional* Just contact me and I'll most likely give you permission.
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September 21, 2003
King's Cross Station
9:30 AM
Mulder hopped from one foot to the other, eager to be off. They were at the King's Cross station, waiting for their connection to get to onto the Northern Line so that they could get back to their hotel, pack, and be off to Cambridge. Scully was giving him odd looks from the corner of her eye. Several people were staring.
"Come on, Scully, aren't you excited? The weather is a beautiful four degrees Celsius, we're in London, it's rainy, and we might be able to find a way to – "
Scully cut him off with a glance.
"We're in public, Mulder, in a foreign country. We don't need to give people an excuse to lock you up because you're babbling about saving yourself from an alien invasion." She whispered vehemently, and the people who had been staring made no effort to eavesdrop. This was probably just an argument between a newlywed couple on their honeymoon.
Mulder just grinned before nodding acquiescingly. She was right, after all.
The train screeched to a halt, but both former agents balked at entering the can of sardines. Rush hour. Joy.
"Let's wait for the next one, Mulder."
Another nod.
Several others made the same decision and within three minutes of the departure twelve others had joined them on their wait at the station.
"Think we'll see the Weasley twins?"
Scully stared at him in mock shock.
"You actually read those?"
"You must've, too, to understand what I'm saying."
She gave into to childish urge and stuck her tongue out at him, which he returned in kind. People were staring again.
There was the sound of running feet and a harried looking local jumped down the last few stairs, shouting at the top of his lungs, apparently with no regard for the four cameras in the station.
"NOBODY MOVE! I'VE GOT A GUN AND I'M PREPARED TO USE IT!"
He wasn't bluffing, either. A 12mm was positioned rather dangerously in his hand.
"I want all of you to give me your wallets. NOW!" He shouted, when no one was obeying. Several people shuffled in their pockets for their money. Their lives were worth more than their cash.
A train roared past, the passengers and conductor oblivious to the scene.
Mulder used the distraction to pull his own gun out of its ankle holster.
Scully jabbed him in the ribs before anyone could see.
"What are you gonna say, 'I'm an ex-Federal Agent with the Bureau of Investigation in the states and I want you to drop your weapon?'" she hissed.
"We have to do something, Scully, besides, self-defense."
"But then people will question your motives for carrying a gun in the first place!"
Mulder ignored her, bringing the gun back into sight.
"Put the gun down," he spoke slowly, his voice commanding.
The people who had been staring before found renewed interest in the American.
He could hear Scully groaning beside him.
The man was clearly delusional (though Mulder wasn't much better), and paid no heed to the American tourist. Newlyweds could be so annoying.
He crossed over to the locals and began taking their proffered money.
"Mulder, just put the gun down. This isn't worth a few lousy dollars."
He hesitated, then slowly lowered his gun. That is, of course, until the man pushed Scully into the trench where the train had just sped past. He took his gun and put it to her head, glaring at Mulder.
"You! Yeah, you, the American! Put down the gun!"
"You let her go!"
Scully groaned. Again.
Mulder was beginning to hear the too familiar sound of an approaching train. And it didn't sound like it was stopping.
"Shit…" he mumbled, lowering his gun.
"Toss me the gun!" the lunatic demanded.
"What?!"
"TOSS ME THE GUN!"
The man cocked his own 12mm. The point was not lost on Mulder.
Gritting his teeth, he began to take out the clip.
"LEAVE IN THE CLIP!"
"There's a train coming, you have about ten seconds to get off the tracks! Is it that important for me to take out the clip?!"
"JUST DO IT!" Mulder left in the clip, put the gun on safety, and tossed it to the man, who deftly caught it with two fingers.
He could just see the light coming around the corner.
Scully was released and the man scrambled out of the trench.
"SCULLY!"
He took a step toward her, not knowing what he would do, and after a loud crack found a bullet firmly lodged in his foot. Losing his balance, he fell to the floor, gasping not from the pain in his foot but from the fact that Scully was under that train.
-----Scully POV------ [a/n: Aren't you glad I didn't leave you with a cliffhanger?]
I saw the train speeding toward me at over a hundred kilometers an hour, immobilized not by the arm holding me in a headlock so much as the "deer in headlights" effect. I could only stare, mesmerized, as the light grew closer and closer, threatening to swallow the world in its ghostly sheen. Then the arm was gone, and I could breathe, and some instinctive part of my mind forced my body onto the ground, landing just as the train passed.
The great stomach of the engine flew past above me, millimeters from my body. To either side, the wheels sped by on track of steel. I couldn't put my hands over my ears without having a whole lot of skin or maybe even a limb sacrificed to the beast; If I had screamed I'd have not been able to hear myself over the roar of the machine. That theory was tested when my leg strayed too close to the rail and the fabric of my pants and a great deal of flesh were ripped from their places, and I pulled my leg back before I lost my foot. Barely.
It was an eternity of fear, my leg afire with pain so hot that before I could pass out it went numb. It's so hot it feels cold. Then it was past, rumbling on to whatever station it was destined to, leaving behind a platform of gawking humans.
-----End Scully POV-----
"DANA!"
Friendly locals rushed over to get the female off the tracks, amazed that she had survived. It seemed that being petite had its advantages. Scully drew her breath in long, ragged gasps, her entire form shaking from shock. Not to mention her leg injury. Someone had already alerted the hospital and before she could so much as form a word she was taken away on the stretcher, thoughts scattered, then drifted into welcome unconsciousness.
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November 6, 2003
Public Bus en route to Jurys Inn London
14:00
"Ah, it feels good to finally be out of that hospital, eh, Scully?"
For once she agreed with him.
"So…are we still going to Cambridge?" She raised an eyebrow at her former partner in question.
"I don't know, Scully…Maybe we got the wrong clue. Maybe there never was any clue."
The spoke quietly, not wanting to draw attention to their interesting topic of conversation.
A group of babbling teenagers – foreigners - was making no effort at courtesy.
"I went to Canary Wharf yesterday, at that new mall that's opened up?"
"Oh, the larney one?"
"Ya, and they had the coolest stuff. And there was this one store with this guy who was so cute. He had these…"
Mulder stopped listening and returned to the colloquy at hand.
"Ever heard of Canary Wharf, Scully?"
"Isn't that the strip along the River Thames*? They have all the old warehouses that have been converted into hotels and condos."
"Yeah, it also used to be an old dock where they unloaded cargo from ships. A wharf. It's near another harbor that's quite interesting. If they caught pirates, they'd tie them to the bank and wait for high tide to come in three times before disposing of the body."
"Lovely."
Mulder raised his eyebrows. "London terminology and the accent? Scully, I'm so proud of you."
"Oo, do I get a prize?"
"I can think of a few things…" He let the sentence hang, and she noticed with a surge of mixed emotions that he wasn't entirely joking.
They spent the rest of the ride in silence.
----------Aww, but I wanna end it there!! Stupid goals. You always have to live up to them. ^.~--------------
Tossing the last of her clothes into their suitcase – yes, their suitcase [a/n: Hey, it saves trouble. How'd you like to be lugging three bags across the length and breadth of England? Yeah! That's what I thought!] – Scully turned to Mulder, who was feeling under the bed.
"Mulder, what are you doing?"
He pulled his gun out from under the bed, made sure the safety was on, and slipped it into his ankle holster.
"That."
"You still haven't told me where we're going."
"That because I don't know."
"Then what are we doing? Where are we going?"
"How would you react to wandering aimlessly around England?"
"Not very well, especially if you had ulterior motives."
"Such as?" He had a sly half grin on his face which made him look a lot like his name.
"Oh, I can think of a few things…" She countered, zipping the suitcase.
"Oh really?" He got an odd look on his face, one eye squinted partially closed and an eyebrow quirked. "Are you thinkin'…what I'm thinkin'…?"
She completed the cliché. "I don't know…what are you thinkin'?"
"I think you're thinkin' that I'm spooky."
"I never did answer that question, did I?"
"No, actually, we were interrupted by Agent Colton."
"Mulder, that was ten years ago."
He tapped his head meaningfully.
She nodded before speaking. "You're not spooky, Mulder."
"Really?" The question was spoken more like a confirmation.
She sensed they were venturing into waters she hadn't yet swum.
Oo, you thought 'yet', Dana, you thought 'yet'…
What's your point?
I think you know my point.
Shut up.
Sure. Fine. Whatever.
She brought her thoughts back to where she wanted them.
"Really."
He glanced at his feet before taking her hand.
"Thanks, Dana…"
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Hehe…she was Dana twice in this chapter…It's fun to tie up loose ends from episodes. *creepy hand gestures* SQUEEZE ROCKS! In fact, here's a nifty quote from it! EEP!
SCULLY: It seems like you were acting very territorial, I don't know, forget it.
(Scully goes to turn away but Mulder stops her, he is touching Scully's necklace)
MULDER: Of course I was, in our investigations, you may not always agree with me but at least you respect the journey. And if you wanna continue working with them, I won't hold it against ye.
Footnote
*Pronounced Tĕms, on syllable.
So what'd you think of the chap? R&R, s'il vous plaît!!