Leslie's A/N: Don't bogart the love guys, spread it around.
"Give me a reason to believe you." Grissom said, standing and crossing the room to look at the information on the computer. He stared at Mulder and Skinner, a battle of wills ensuing. The three men stared at each other.
"I'll give you a reason," Nick said, looking at his boss as he lifted the ice from Sara's eyes. "She's fine now."
Grissom was back to the couch in a few short strides. Her eyes, which had been getting red and puffy to the point of being swollen shut were merely slightly bloodshot now, and her nose had returned to it's pale flesh tone from it's inflamed red.
"You, you realize that you sound like..." Brass started.
"I know." Mulder stated simply. "And right now you have three choices."
Brass, Nick, and Grissom unconsciously postured, sensing doom in his words.
"And those would be?" Nick said, standing.
"Arrest us for the murder of a man that can't die, another long story, and still leave your case unsolved because we actually didn't have anything to do with it. You can ask us for help, and we'll do what we can to catch you up and help you. Or you can leave and forget you ever knew us."
"What good would that last option do?" Brass asked, still trying to decide if he trusted Skinner anymore.
"Might save your lives." Scully said, opening the door and picking up William, who had just started fussing.
She could see the indecision on Grissom's face. "Big decision. Take their word for it and let two people tried for murder go, or get involved in a conspiracy that isn't even supposed to exist."
""I.." Grissom started, only to be shushed by Mulder. No one moved. One look at Skinner and Mulder knew he'd seen it, too.
"EVERYONE OUT!"
Grissom looked at the people in front of him, and stood his ground. "We have a warrant Mr. Mulder if you'd like to see-"
"GET OUT!" Scully screamed. Grabbing William's bag, her purse and the few discs that she had packed in the box near the door.
Sara took one look at the woman and shoved Nick. "Go." She demanded, wiping the liquid from her eye. Nick stumbled, looked at Sara and Agent Scully, then grabbed his kit and scrambled toward the door. Skinner caught Brass's arm as he exited the house.
"I suggest you tell your friend to move." Skinner grumbled in an authoritative voice, then let Jim go. Grissom stood in the middle of the living room, looking utterly pissed. Brass turned to him and in his best gruff voice told Grissom to leave.
"Jim." He shot back, his voice cracking, on the high end. "This is insane, you can't believe this B.S. ... a disc and a story about aliens? I've heard better to get out of murder."
Just as he finished speaking, Mulder ran back into the house and grabbed Grissom's arm. "Listen, believe me, don't believe me, but we have. To. Leave. Now. You're not dying because of me." Mulder shouted in his face. Griss looked from the computer, to Brass, to Mulder, who was biting his lip... and grabbed his kit.
"Mulder, where are we?"
"My car." Sara shouted, as Grissom, Mulder and Scully piled in. Nick and Skinner jumped in Brass's squad car... and they were gone.
Scully, in the backseat, attempted to hold back tears. A year of running had accomplished nothing. Her son still wasn't safe, neither was her husband. She couldn't protect her family and though she knew she shouldn't be, she was embarrassed.
The interior of the car was silent and they drove though the back streets of Vegas, Sara following Jim's shaky lead. "So, uh," Sara attempted to break the ice. Grissom shot her a look of astonishment. She was taking some sort of lead that he couldn't. "William, how uh, how old is he?"
Scully's head snapped up to the woman in the driver's seat. Sara made brief eye contact in the rearview mirror. Naturally, Scully was skeptical, but then her harsh veneer wore off and weariness set in. "He's... almost a year, eleven months."
The blonde stroked her son's head as he cooed, falling off to sleep despite the erratic driving.
"Well," Sara said, then paused as she swerved around a Dodge Dart. "He's gorgeous." She flicked her eyes to Scully's in the back. "I uh, can't wait to have kids." Sara spurted, attention torn between the conversation and the road, not entirely sure she was saying the right things.
Scully smiled in spite of the situation. "God, you don't know how lucky you are until they come into your life. It's fantastic. A miracle from God." She whispered the last part as her husband leaned over to stroke her hair. Grissom then took an opportunity to steal a glance at the couple in the backseat.
They were both staring at their son, in reverence.
Grissom wanted to say something, wanted to ask just what was going on, when the night lit up and they were rocked by the aftershocks of an explosion. One that had blown apart the house they'd just come from.
The family in the back seat huddled when the car swerved a bit. "Damn it," Scully swore, clutching William to her.
"How long has this been going on?" Sara asked quietly, in shock as she watched embers falling from the sky in the rearview mirror.
"We've been running for almost a year, now. Before that it was ten years." Mulder answered, feeling every bit of the battle they' been a part of.
"Ten years?" Grissom asked.
"I met Scully in 1992 when she was assigned to be my partner on the X-Files. From that day we were shoved deeper into all of this then I would have ever wanted." Sadness descended. No one spoke a word.
Grissom heard the whispers from the back seat, but ignored them.
Scully: "But I wouldn't change a day."
Mulder: "Not even the flukeman?"
Scully: "Ok, maybe the flukeman thing. And we've completely had this conversation before."
He felt the smile in their words, and took a deep breath. "So where are we going?"
Sara looked to her supervisor. "We're... going wherever Brass is going."
There wasn't a reply to her words so she continued to follow the cruiser, all the while checking the rearview mirror to see if they were being followed. She nearly rebuked herself for being so paranoid, but seeing as how the house they'd just been in had been blown to smithereens... she thought caution was best.
Brass took a sharp right turn, which Sara almost missed, but she steered the SUV at the last moment, sending then all careening to the left. "Sorry, sorry." Sara mumbled.
Grissom glanced out the window, becoming acclimated with his surroundings. "Oh god." He mumbled.
"What?" Sara asked belatedly, having caught Jim taking a fast left turn.
"We're going to my place." Grissom deadpanned. He bit his lip and silently cursed his detective friend for thinking so frantically. Though, when he thought about it, his home was the largest of all of his colleagues. He did have a guest room, and two bathrooms. 'Damn Jim for knowing me so well.' He cursed once more to himself.
Sara ignored the flutter that stirred in her stomach when she realized that they were heading back to Griss's townhouse.
Brass pulled back behind his house, where the dumpsters were and threw himself from the vehicle. Nick hopped out as well, followed by Skinner, whose trench coat billowed around him in a movie-like manner.
The other four also hopped from the SUV, all moving behind Grissom as he moved up his seldom-used back stairs.
