Title: "Credidi me Felem Vidisse"

Author: KimotoCat

Rating: PG-13

Summary, disclaimer and all that are in part 1.

Credidi me Felem Vidisse

Part 5

"They're here," Kim whispered again, her voice quiet but coarse as her glazed eyes seemed to focus on something in another time and place.

"Get down on the floor," Mulder ordered, uncertain if it would change anything. He slid towards the door where he peeked out the window. Outside on the parking lot, three cars were parked. A dog was tearing on its leash by the main building but nothing else showed any signs of alarm.

The one car, a blue Chevrolet, had a few official looking papers in the front window. It could be a rental car and it could be rented by…

Instincts warned Mulder to duck mere moments before the bullet slammed through the window where his head had been, shattering shards of glass all over the crawling FBI-agent. There was not sound of the shot, only a sharp sound as another bullet hit the wall across from the door. Silencers.

"Kim, you all right?" Mulder barked as he tried to find a good shelter from the gunfire.

"No, I'm not all right," Kim yelled back in an angry voice, making Mulder's stomach turn. "I am everything but all right. I'm stranded on another planet in another time and if the so-called authorities get to me, they're gonna stick a needle up my tailed ass! No, I am bloody well not all right. I'm not shot, though. Not yet. How about you?"

"Get under the bed; I think it's the best cover right now. I'll see if I can-"

The rest of Mulder's words drowned in the infernal rampage created as the blue Chevrolet drove into the door, knocking out the door, the frame and a lot of the wall. The car stopped one-and-a-half a metre into the flat, steaming and hissing from the impact.

Mulder got on his feet, pointing his gun at the drivers' seat, not feeling very much surprise when he found it empty. No, this Vandenberg wouldn't be as predictable as to be sitting there. Cautiously, Mulder approached the car, covering his every step with the gun.

"Drop the gun, Mulder!"

The voice was commanding and had the weight of somebody, who was in a position to give orders. Mulder hesitated to look, not liking the authority of the voice.

"Takita, you can creep out from under the bed now. And tell Mulder to drop the gun or I'll fire!"

It could be a trick.

As he watched Kim slowly and insecure emerge from under the bed, Mulder dropped the gun to the floor and slowly started to turn around. When he met Vandenberg's eyes, he saw that the man was paler than he had been at the stadium. A huge stain had darkened his suit in the left side, leaving him sweaty and, obviously, in some pain. His right hand was steady, pointing a big and somewhat strange gun directly at Mulder.

"I don't know how much you know," Vandenberg said in a talkative voice. "But I do know that you have no solid evidence. Now, I request that you leave it at that, as it will only produce problems if you do not keep your knowledge to yourself. Miss Takita is coming with me and that's the end of the story in so far as you are concerned. Do I make myself clear?"

"Are you from the future too?"

"It's not polite to answer a question with a question," Vandenberg declared. "Turn around, lie down at the bed, face down, arms and legs spread. Now."

Mulder sensed the lack of alternatives. Slowly and disheartened, he complied with the orders and started to mount the soft bed, when the scene suddenly shifted. Kim was standing next to the bed when she suddenly jumped towards Mulder in a tackle and at the same time threw something towards Vandenberg, who automatically fired his weapon.

Mulder fell over the bed, halfway wrapped in Kim as he heard the soft whistle of a bullet passing his ear by an inch, dusting him with shards of panelling wood as it hit the wall in front of him. Instinctively he rolled sideways, down from the bed and Kim, trying to find cover and a way to defend himself as another bullet hissed past him and dug a nasty looking hole in the wall.

The gunshots did not sound loud at all and were obviously silenced, but when Vandenberg screamed out in terror, the noise was unbearable. Mulder turned to look at him and found the older man falling to his knees in the middle of the room, the gun falling from his hands as he reached for his ears in a protective gesture. His eyes were wide opened; staring into oblivion as his short scream trailed off into an unfulfilled gasp for air.

"What happened?" Mulder gasped, getting back on his feet, turning to see if Kim was all right.

She was still on the bed where she had fallen after pushing Mulder. Her face was more predatorial than ever, her whiskers trembling and her ears lying flat along her scull. Her green eyes focused on Vandenberg with a determination and precision like a surgeon.

Mulder went silent, trying to comprehend what was happening.

Slowly, almost gracefully, Kim turned her right hand, pointing all five fingers towards Vandenberg's chest, coiling them as if grasping onto something. Vandenberg's heaves for breath became tenser as he jerked, following the movement in Kim's hand. A few droplets of blood appeared from his nostril and his eyes seemed as if they were about to pop out of his head.

"Your heart ripped out," Kim whispered in a gentle voice. "Pain, Commander Francis Vandenberg. Pain. Pain followed by… darkness…"

"Hrnggg…" Vandenberg tried desperately to speak but was unable to catch enough air. "Nnnn…"

Mulder was horrified as he realised what was going on.

"Kim, don't kill him," he said in a low voice. "It's not right."

"You…" Kim's claws made another small gesture, sending Vandenberg to the floor in desperate convulsions, making it obvious that the only reason he didn't scream, was because he could not gulp down enough air to do so. As the atmosphere in the ruined flat became more and more sultry, it occurred to Mulder that Kim was not aware of his presence. Or his words.

"Kim, listen!" Mulder leaned over and placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. "Kim, don't hurt him anymore!"

For another brief moment, Kim paid no attention to Mulder. Then she exhaled violently and curled up on the bed, sounding like a diver who had been under water just a bit too long. Her shoulder trembled under Mulder's hand as she pulled herself together and looked up.

"You're right," she said in a fatigued voice. "I shouldn't kill him. He is not worth it. He's not really evil or something, you know. Just not on my side either."

"I'm glad you look at it that way," Mulder said with a smile. "Hey, why didn't you do this last time he attacked you?"

"I couldn't," she sighed. "And I can't. The drug he gave me, it impairs my abilities. I've all ready strained them as much as I possibly can. Nothing more will happen for a while. I'm burned out. Empty. I'm not sure I could have killed him, even if I had tried."

"Could you have done it without the drugs?" Mulder asked, turning to pick up Vandenberg's gun. The older man had collapsed onto the floor and not moved since Kim stopped her attack and his eyes were closed, he seemed harmless at the time, barely able to breathe, much less attack.

"Theoretically, perhaps," Kim said in a low voice. "I really don't know. I've never killed anyone. At least not that way. I can't say I've never killed anyone, but…" Her voice trailed off and Mulder noticed a distinct tone of shock in it. What ever had just happened, it had drained her of almost all her energy.

o o o

"What has happened here?"

Mulder almost flew from the bed as he heard the voice. He turned around, relieved to see a familiar face.

"Scully! Am I happy to see you here!"

"You have a funny way of doing interior decorating," she smiled, nodding towards the broken car. Then she got serious and went towards Vandenberg, who still hadn't moved. She knelt next to him, staring to examine him. "What happened?"

"Kim came round," Mulder explained, reaching for a bottle of ice tea to help Kim. "She told me about the magic and then all of a sudden there were shots towards the flat and then this car came in without even knocking."

"Unpleasant," Scully mumbled, trying to provoke a reaction from Vandenberg by pinching his ear. He groaned quietly, but didn't move. "What happened to agent Vandenberg? He's pretty badly messed up."

"As is Kim," Mulder explained, trying to make the silent feline drink some ice tea. "She attacked him mentally. Something about making him think that she was ripping his heart out."

"Ouch!"

"It worked. He fell where you found him. But she was really not up to it so she's pretty exhausted right now. Which reminds me. Did you get that medicine you were going for?"

"Yes, I did," Scully replied. "It's actually some amphetamine and similar drugs; I figured it could come in handy here. As is, I'm not to sure though. In either case, this man is the one, who really needs medicine. And a surgeon."

"A surgeon?"

"Yes. He has been hit in the lower left side, a penetrating wound. Mainly a flesh wound, but there easily could be internal bleedings. He could manage a day or so, but by then, this would get terminal."

"A small calibre gun?" Mulder asked, reaching for the small weapon, he had found in Kim's hand at the stadium.

"Yes, pretty small, but at point blank. It seems that agent Vandenberg, who ever he is, is a tough man. It must have hurt a lot to walk around with this."

According to Kim, he is a pro of sorts," Mulder explained. "Her gun was small and she claimed to have gotten a clear shot at him. Probably her work."

"Probably. But the mental attack or what ever it was…" Scully raised her head, looking at Mulder as she stressed the last words. "…only served to make it worse. If he doesn't get to a hospital soon, he could die."

"Scully…"

The concern in Mulder's voice made Scully look up, just in time to watch as her partner slipped the unconscious feline onto the bed. She got up from Vandenberg and came to the bed, automatically reaching to check the pulse.

"She just passed out on me," Mulder mumbled. "Must be my deodorant."

"Her heart-rate is very fast," Scully said. "As is her breath. That's it! I'm not taking any responsibility for this anymore. They both need to go to a hospital. We'll have to worry about the consequences later."

"But what about Kim?" Mulder asked. "You know as well as I do that she'll get into a lot of trouble this way."

"She'll get into a lot of trouble if she doesn't go to a hospital," Scully replied. "I just can't take that responsibility. And neither can you!"

Mulder knew his partner when she was like this. With a sigh, he also realised that she was right. With a sidelong glance towards Kim, he snapped out his cellular phone and put a finger on the first key to dial 911.

"Stop right there, agent Mulder!"

Agent Randolph Simmons entered through the hole in the wall, pointing his normal but obscenely big gun at the two FBI agents. With a short glance, he seemed to take in the entire situation and decide in accordance.

"Let go of the phone, agent Mulder, and raise your hands, both of you. I would not hesitate to shoot."

"Where did you emerge from?" Mulder asked as he dropped the phone onto the floor.

"I was told to wait outside. I watched the whole thing and awaited my chance. I also told the landlord of this establishment that this was an FBI-affair and that he should stay away."

"What are you gonna do now? Your colleague is downed and as is your target, Kimoto Takita."

"Leave that to me," Simmons replied in a calm voice. "I've got the situation under control."

"I'm glad to hear that," Mulder grunted, peeking at the scenery.

"This has not been quite the way it was supposed to be," Simmons admitted, gesturing for Scully and Mulder to move away from the bed. "And I am sorry about that. But as things are, it can still work out. Go to the other wall and kneel on the floor."

"What can work out, agent Simmons?"

"Don't ask and you'll not regret anything," Simmons replied as he slowly reached for something in his other pocket.

"How are you, Vandenberg and Kimoto Takita gonna make the journey back to your own time?" Mulder asked straightforward, ignoring Scully's eyes as he did so.

"How much do you know, agent Mulder?" Simmons asked in a tense voice.

"Enough, agent Simmons," Mulder answered. "But you can't kill me. Think of the time-paradox. For all you know, your life may depend on my survival."

"My life may also depend on your silence," Simmons replied, finally retrieving the item, he had been searching for in his pocket. Another gun, even if this one did seem somewhat alien to the environment.

"Mulder, shut up!" Scully whispered in a low voice.

"You can't stop me from knowing things," Mulder continued, ignoring Scully's pleading eyes. "I have notes, files, pictures, samples. And you can't make all that disappear. Add to that that your partner is in critical condition. You can't make it. Stay here and I may be able to help you!"

"You couldn't help me even if you wanted to, agent Mulder," Simmons said, revealing a touch of insecurity in his voice.

"Simmons…" Vandenberg's voice broke in, trembling, weak, but firm. "Why don't you tell him who's gonna win the Baseball Championship 1999 and who's gonna be President of the European Union 2012 while you're at it?"

"Boss!"

"I hate when you call me boss, agent Simmons. Is Kim out cold?"

"I think so," Simmons answered in an intimidated voice. "In either case, there are two of us now, Sir."

"And three of them," Vandenberg replied, slowly getting on his feet, supporting himself on the edge of a table; his face distorted from the strain. He reached for the smaller of the two guns, Simmons had in his hands "Good thinking to keep the landlord at bay, Simmons."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Mulder, you really are a right royal pain, did you know that?" Vandenberg turned towards the two agents and gave Mulder a sharp stare across the muzzle of the gun, a cross between anger and admiration. "If times were different, heh, I would ask you to work with me."

As the two agents watched helplessly, Simmons walked towards Kim and checked her vital signs. He put down his gun and took out a kind of collar, which he placed around her neck and locked with a soft click. Then he activated a switch on the collar, causing Kim to twitch slightly and then relax again.

"What are you doing to her?" Mulder asked frantically. "I demand an explanation."

"I wouldn't concern myself with her now, agent Mulder," Vandenberg replied in an icy voice. "She's safer right now than you are. You should know that much."

"Stop sounding like a cheap B-movie," Mulder demanded. "Where are you taking her?"

"Far away from your area of concern," Vandenberg said. "Agents, it's been nice talking to you, but I must demand that you lie down as I am about to have you both sedated."

"What are you up to?"

"Agent Mulder, you're trying my patience by asking questions, whose answers you'll have no use for anyway," Vandenberg barked. "Now lie down or take the unpleasant bruising of a fall."

"Mulder, do as he says," Scully appealed in a coarse voice. "I don't think he is bluffing."

"I'm not, agent Scully," Vandenberg nodded. "And the only thing you can change now is the method of sedation. The comfortable one or the uncomfortable one. Given the circumstances, the latter can have unpleasant side-effects."

Reluctantly, both Scully and Mulder got down on their knees and onto the floor. Mulder hadn't felt this desperate for years. Not since They took…

"What can you tell me about the future, Vandenberg?" he suddenly yelped. "Do you know anything about Samantha?"

"Samantha Mulder?" Vandenberg asked in surprise, the first surprise Mulder had observed on the older mans face.

"Yes, Samantha Mulder. My sister!"

"Boss…" Simmons voice broke in. "I don't think it's a good idea."

Mulder looked up only to see the muzzle of Vandenberg's ordinary gun, pointing at him in a steady grip. Obviously Vandenberg was considering killing him.

"Think of the time-paradox, Vandenberg!" he cried. "Your entire world could depend on what you do here and now!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Vandenberg groaned back in a strained voice. "I do."

"But what's that got to do with Samantha?"

The world suddenly turned black…

o o o

To be continued…