Mulder pulled up to a nice looking home, but after he and Scully got out of the car, they turned around to a desolate, abandoned house. She stared at the boarded windows and broken doors, feeling a slight shiver of fear. They both walked quickly and silently to an opened door. Mulder peeked inside cautiously, finally giving Scully a nod of safety. They walked as quietly as they could, but that was a very difficult task with the creaking and squeaking of the floorboards. As they were tiptoeing up the stairs, there was a loud crash. When they reached the upstairs, they ran face to face with a scrawny, seventeen-year-old boy. They were ready to draw their guns, but both of them were too late before the boy, Carlos, was able to make a shot at Scully. He ran out the window as Mulder felt his entire world click to a stop. His breath left him as he saw Scully crumble to the floor, blood flowing from her upper chest. He searched for a towel, finding a reasonably clean one and he pressed it hard to the wound. Mulder dug for his cell phone in his back pocket, frantically dialing 9-1-1. His voice cracked tearfully as he told them that he had an agent down. After hanging up, he picked Scully up and practically ran down the steps to the outside part of the house.

"Scully..." He whispered, tears starting to run down his face. She stirred, opening her eyes slowly, the throbbing pain almost taking her from consciousness instantly. She opened her mouth, but no words come out, only a painful moan. Mulder warned her not to speak, feeling his surroundings start to come back to place. When the ambulence arrived, he made sure that they were very gentle with her, trying to avoid the most ammount of distress. Before the doors of the vehicle closed, Scully drifted away from the real world, the white-hot pain keeping her from her surroundings. She vaguely felt a cold cloth put on her chest, and she felt some of the pain start to drift away. While in the ambulance, the attendant was able to remove the bullet and dress the wound, saying that she was lucky it wasn't even a few inches to the left. Mulder didn't ask, didn't even want to think about what would have happened then. After they arrived at the hospital, the nurses checked her vital signs and checked on the baby as well, seeing nothing seriously wrong. A few hours later, Scully woke to find many bandages covering her chest and a machine checking the baby's heartbeat. She watched the screen, tears of relief surrounding her eyes. Mulder was in a chair, snoring slightly in a very uncomfortable looking position. Just as she touched his hand, his hazel eyes fluttered open. He stared at her for a moment before giving her a hug.

"Everything is fine. You're fine, and the baby's fine." He said with a smile. He leaned in to kiss her, but ended up kissing her forehead instead. He of course wanted to kiss her, but his instincts told him not to. Their faces were still close together, and ignoring the negative cries of his conscience, he brought his lips to her's in a gentle but perfect kiss. "Maybe that can give us both more courage than we know." They looked deep into each others' eyes for a moment before they hugged in a tight embrace.

"Mulder, this isn't some way to butter me up to get me off the case is it?" She demanded, changing the mood completely.

"Of course not, but now that I think about it..." He said sharply.

"Stop it. Do you truly want to find Nadine as much as I do?"

"Of course Scully."

"Why don't you stop worrying and trying to protect me all of the time?"

"You know I do not want you to put your life and your child's in danger!"

"Mulder," She was softer now. "I have put my trust into you a countless number of times. Can you do the same for me just once?" Mulder looked into her eyes, knowing that she was right.

"Okay, but if we hear even one damn thing-"

"I'll get out of there as quickly as I can."

"You'd better, because whoever made the sound will probably be dead by the time I get done with them." He said fircely. She smiled.

"Only you Mulder."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Mulder walked up the stairs, no longer trying to be as quiet as possible. Before both him and Scully came in, he checked all of the rooms in the house, making sure there were no surprise killers. Scully was behind him, her eyes wide with fear of death. A horrible feeling lingered in both of their minds. When they both reached the top of the stairs, they took seperate rooms. After over half an hour, they still found nothing. Scully walked into the room Mulder was in, sitting on a chair to silence her throbbing feet. He looked through a closet, a look of disgust and misery on his face, and was about to slam the door after not finding a thing. A small door inside the closet door cought Scully's eye. She jumped from the chair, her heart pounding.

"What? There's not anything in there."

"A door. There's a door." She whispered. Mulder looked at her, his eyes wide with surprise. Her hands trembled before she opened the door. She felt her breath leave her chest as she stared at a tied up body of a girl. He saw it too, and quickly got the girl out of the hidden place. He set her on the filthy floor, his eyes searching for some sign of life in her. Scully held her wrist, not feeling a pulse. The girl's eyes had dark cirlces under them and had a hollow look, which made it obvious that she had been starved.

"Nadine..." Scully whispered. A small sob escaped her throat, and she put her hand over her mouth in misery. Mulder hugged her, feeling the same despair from defeat. Suddenly, the thin girl let out a cough. Her eyes blinked at the sudden light and started to wimper with fear.

"Nadine, it's okay..." Scully was bent over and had her hand under Nadine's head. She stared at Scully's red hair, milky white skin, and ice blue eyes.

"Are you an angel?" The girl whispered.

"Not quite.. You aren't dead. You've been found." She answered. "You can call me Dana." Nadine saw the lump on her stomach from the pregnancy.

"What do you say we get you home?" Mulder said.

"Dana?" The girl whispered. "Can you make promises?"

"Of course."

"Can you promise me that you won't let this happen to your baby?" Nadine asked softly. Mulder was already downstairs, unable to hear the conversation.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Scully stared out the window of the car, watching the endless cornfields go by.

"You alright?" Mulder asked quietly.

"I'm scared. Scared that I can't keep Nadine's promise."

"And what promise is that?"

"That nothing like that will happen to our baby." She answered, a shiver coming from sadness. "I really hope I can keep that promise." He nodded.

"Well, it's fun to hope, right?"

The End