Hi all! This is a repost of the same chapter since there seemed to be some techincal difficulties the first time it was posted. Hopfully this time it will work. Thanks for reading the story and putting up with me and my slowness at updating. Hope you enjoy the last chapter.
Disclaimer still applies
Chapter 12
I tensed at Mulder's words, wondering what he saw. Then I took a deep breath and peered around the corner.
My stomach tightened and rolled over when I saw one of the officers who had taken Nicole to booking. He was lying on the floor, not moving. From the doorway I couldn't tell if he was even breathing. A dark red puddle of blood was spreading out around him, staining fallen papers and the floor.
We entered the room, glancing around to make sure that we weren't about to be ambushed, and when we'd cleared the room I hurried over to the officer. My fingers searched to find a pulse, and for a brief, sickening moment, I couldn't. Then I felt a light fluttering under my fingers and I let out the breath I didn't realize I had been holding.
I heard a groan and I looked over to see Mulder kneeling down beside another officer, helping him sit up. "She went out that back door," he told us breathlessly, pointing towards the back of the room. "She grabbed Lenny's gun and shot him and then shot me. It was like she was lightening."
"Don't worry, we'll get her," Mulder assured him, heading for the door. About a second after he disappeared out the door, officers came swarming into the room. As they crowded into the small room, I could've sworn the tension and confusion were thick enough to cut with a knife.
"What's going on?" the homicide captain, Don Chambers, asked as he grabbed the nearest phone.
"We have an escaped suspect," I told him. "My partner just went after her."
"Go, we'll take care of him. We'll start a search around the front," he replied as he took my place beside the wounded officer.
I didn't need to be told twice. I grabbed my gun from the floor and headed out the back door. When I got outside, I stopped and looked around, trying to find some indication of which way Mulder had gone. I was in a narrow alley, and to my right it was a dead end, so I decided to go left. Hopefully I was correct and Mulder hadn't gone over the fence and dumpster.
I jogged up the alley, keeping all my senses readied for action. My whole body was tense, waiting for something to happen. I was even more on edge not knowing where Mulder was. At least when I caught up with him, that would be one less thing making me on edge.
After about a minute, I came to an intersection in the alley, and again I had to try to guess which way Mulder had gone. This time it wasn't so easy. The road to my right headed out to the main street, and the road to my left continued up between the backs of the buildings.
Suddenly the relatively calm sounds of the city were shattered by a loud, popping crack, just like we had heard in the police station. A fresh burst of adrenaline rushed through me as I raced up the left street, following the lingering echoes of the gunshot.
I turned the corner first corner I came to and my heart stopped and started again with a sickening lurch. There was Mulder, slumped against a dumpster. The front of his white dress shirt was stained crimson and his eyes were closed. A second later I realized that Nicole was standing next to him, pointing a pistol at his head, her finger on the trigger.
"Drop your weapon!" I yelled and Nicole whirled around to face me. I found myself staring at the business end of a 9mm. She kept the other gun aimed at Mulder's head.
"Drop your weapon!" I ordered again and I was almost surprised at the sound of my voice. I could hear myself, but it didn't seem like I was speaking.
"Not a chance!" she yelled back. "I'm not letting you take me in."
"Drop your weapon," I repeated, my voice cold and detached. I never took my eyes off her; I just kept watching for some little movement to tell me she was about to fire. A flicker, a tightening of her finger, anything and my training would take over, and I was trained to shoot to kill. And then a thought from somewhere deep in my mind fluttered to the surface. If I killed Nicole, I would be killing her baby. No matter what its mother had done, it was still an innocent child that deserved a chance to live.
"Nicole, drop your weapon. Just put it down slowly. I don't want to have to shoot you," I told her, watching her carefully to see if she would react. She did, but not in the way I wanted.
"Somehow I don't believe that," she countered, tightening her grip on the pistol aimed at me. "I just shot your partner, and I'll bet you're as mad as hell at me."
She was right on that level, I realized. I was mad, and not just because she had shot Mulder. For everything she had done; killing Monterale, framing Mrs. Monterale, trying to kill Audrey, and Mulder and me, and for putting her own baby in danger. But I didn't want to have to shoot her.
"If I have to shoot you, there's a very good chance that I will kill you, and if I kill you, that will kill your baby."
Nicole's body jerked as if she had been struck and her hands started shaking, but she didn't loosen her grip on either gun.
"Nicole, drop your weapon."
My body jerked involuntarily at the sound of the deep voice behind me, and I saw Nicole's eyes widen and her face go white. A man stepped up beside me and out of the corner of my eye I saw that it was Don Chambers. I could hear the sounds of other people behind me; he had brought Nicole's brethren in arms with him.
"Captain, I can't do that," she responded, her voice shaking a little. "I can't."
"It's over Nicole."
"No, it's not. It's just beginning for me. You know what I've done; you know what will happen to me. My baby won't have a father. I can't let my baby grow up with a mother in jail."
For a moment there was silence in the alley. No one moved, we barely breathed. Every muscle in my body was tightened to its limit as I waited for something to happen. Would she surrender, or would someone be forced to shoot her to save another life? I didn't want it to come down to that. I just wanted to go to Mulder and get him out of there.
"Nicole, if you pull that trigger, you'll be signing your death warrant, along with your baby's," Captain Chambers said quietly. I could hear anger and sorrow in his voice. "What are you going to do? Shoot me? Shoot Agent Scully or Agent Mulder? That's not going to help you. There's no way out except to put down your weapons."
A sob shook Nicole's body and her words came out in a stammering hiss. "Everything fell apart. Everything. Why? Why'd you make me do it? Why'd you make me call the damn FBI? Everything fell apart." Another sob jerked out of her and her hands began to shake, but she still kept her grip on both guns.
She wasn't going to relinquish her hold on her weapons, and every second that she didn't could mean another second taken off of Mulder's life.
"Nicole, let us take Mulder to the hospital," I said, hoping to reason with her. "Let him go."
"I can't. If I let him go I have nothing."
My stomach twisted sickeningly. She was going to use him as a bargaining chip; as a means of escape. Didn't she know the FBI didn't negotiate?
"I can't negotiate with you," I told her. "The FBI won't let me."
"You know we don't negotiate either," I heard Chambers say.
Nicole simply shook her head, and jammed the gun hard into Mulder's temple. He flinched, but didn't open his eyes.
"I'm not bargaining," her voice was suddenly steady again and a cold nauseous feeling settle in my stomach as I realized what she was going to do.
"Don't use him as a shield," I said, trying to keep the pleading out of my voice. My throat tightened painfully and I blinked rapidly. Beside me, Chambers was shaking his head, and then he said, "Don't do this Nicole."
But none of our entreaties seemed to register on Nicole. She jabbed the gun in Mulder's neck and his eyelids fluttered and then opened. His eyes weren't focusing and his head rolled around on his shoulders like a rag dolls.
"Get up," I heard Nicole hiss at him, and he struggled to get to his feet. He grasped the edge of the dumpster and tried to pull himself up, but his feet skidded out from under him and he crashed back to the ground with a grunt.
"Get up!" she growled, and grabbed his arm and roughly jerked him. This time Mulder lurched to his feet, and then stood there, swaying dangerously.
"Don't worry," Nicole yelled at us as she once again pressed the barrel of the pistol roughly into Mulder's temple, "I'll let him go once I get out of here. But you can't follow or I will blow his brains out."
My hands were starting to shake, but I couldn't tell if it was from holding my gun on Nicole for so long or from the adrenaline. I never lowered it from her though. Something told me that if she walked out of the alley with Mulder, I probably wouldn't see him alive again. He would be a witness to which direction she would go and that was something she wouldn't want.
"Nicole, let him go and drop your weapons," I ordered loudly, taking a step towards her."
"No! Don't come any closer, or I swear, I will put a bullet in his brain."
"He's bleeding. I don't know how badly he's hurt. I have to get him to a hospital, and he has to go now."
"If he can get up and walk then he'll be okay until I'm clear."
No, he wouldn't be okay. Every fiber of my being knew she would shoot him as soon as she didn't need him anymore. I took another step closer, and then another, holding my breath with each step. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears so loudly that it hurt.
"Don't move!" Nicole yelled.
"Let him go!"
I took another step, keeping my eyes on her trigger fingers, watching for the slightest movement. If she shot at me, and I returned fire, she might react and pull the trigger of the gun pressed into Mulder's head. But she couldn't keep walking, at least not if she kept the gun that close to Mulder's head. He was weak and without her support he wouldn't be able to stay on his feet. And she couldn't very well support him with one gun pressed into his head and another one aimed at me.
"I said don't move," Nicole yelled, the tension rising in her voice.
Mulder looked at me hazily. His eyes seemed to be asking me what I was doing. What was it that I had in mind? And I didn't know the answer to that. All I knew was that I couldn't let Nicole walk out of the alley with Mulder. And I had to stop her any way I could think of.
"I need to get Mulder to a hospital. Look at him Nicole; he can barely stand. Do you want to be responsible for another person's death?"
"All I want is to get out of here, and I'm going to do that by whatever means available."
Nicole was slowing inching her way up the alley and trying to take Mulder along with her, but he was barely able to stay on his feet, so she was having a very difficult time using him as a shield. Suddenly he stumbled and fell to the ground, dragging Nicole down with him. She fell facedown, with him almost on top of her, and in the process, she lost the gun she had been holding to his head.
In a split instant I charged forward and kicked the other gun out of her hand. I kicked it as hard and as far away as I could, and then I aimed my own pistol at her.
"Don't move," I told her. The other officers had joined me, and now they were placing cuffs on her and getting her to her feet. I could hear sirens in the distance and I realized that an ambulance was on its way; it was coming for Mulder.
I dropped down on my knees beside him and gently touched his face. His eyes were closed, but he was breathing. A bruise was beginning to form on his temple where Nicole had been holding the pistol to his head and I grimaced.
It looked like he had been shot in the upper left part of his chest or maybe the lower part of his shoulder, but I couldn't tell at the moment. There was too much blood for me to see. I pressed both my hands on his chest, hoping to stop some of the blood flow, but I couldn't tell if it was making much of a difference. Why wasn't the ambulance here yet? What was taking it so long? Was it stuck in traffic? Suddenly I desperately wished I had my medical bag with me. Then maybe I could do something for Mulder, instead of just waiting and hoping the ambulance got there.
Mulder gave a small groan and I looked at him. His eyes were open, and even though they were unfocused and rather glazed looking, he seemed somewhat coherent. His lips moved slightly and I realized he was trying to tell me something.
"What is it?" I asked, bending down so that my ear almost brushed his lips.
"We did it," he whispered. Then his eyes slipped closed.
I was almost ready to scream. Where was that ambulance? I heard sounds behind me and I glanced over my shoulder to see two paramedics headed towards us. Part of me breathed a small sigh of relief, but another part of me kept frantically worrying about Mulder. I couldn't help it.
It seemed like ages until we finally got Mulder to the hospital and into a trauma room. And then the space was so tight that I was asked to leave. So I did the only thing I could: I stood just outside the room, waiting for any word that anyone could give me.
I don't know how long I stood there, but when they wheeled Mulder out on a gurney I jumped, and my heart started pounded again. I felt foggy, like I might've been sleeping, leaning up against the wall.
"What's going on?" I asked, following them down the hall.
"Agent Mulder is stable, but he needs surgery in order to remove the bullet," the one doctor told me. "The bullet is in the lower part of his shoulder. But it shouldn't be very long."
I nodded and the doctor gave me a smile as they disappeared into an operating room. The only thing I could do now was wait some more, so I slowly made my way down to the waiting room and sank into a chair. I was still running on the effects of adrenaline, but they were starting to wear off, and pretty soon I knew I was going to be feeling like crap.
Watching the clock wasn't going to help pass the time, so I looked down at me hands and my stomach did a slow roll. They were covered in dried blood; Mulder's blood. I could even smell it; or maybe that was my imagination. I didn't really know; I just knew I needed to wash it off me, so I headed for the restroom. There I scrubbed my hands until they were almost raw, making sure I got off all the blood. I hated seeing Mulder's blood on me. It literally made me sick to my stomach.
When I finally went back to the waiting, I found the doctor looking for me.
"I was wondering where you had gone," she said with a smile. "I just wanted to let you know that Agent Mulder is out of surgery and everything went fine and we've got him in a room. Now, he still hasn't recovered from the anesthesia, but you can see him if you like."
"Yes, I would. And thank you, Doctor…"
"Jamie McFee," she said, shaking my hand. "Don't worry; Agent Mulder is going to be just fine. He'll make a complete and rapid recovery." She gave me another smile, and then a nurse took me up to the room Mulder was in. I made sure to remember the number, because I had a feeling I would be coming and going quite a bit and I didn't want to forget where my partner was.
Mulder looked better than he had back in the alley, but he still looked pretty weak and pale. Too pale for my liking. But Dr. McFee had said he was going to be okay, so I had to trust her on that.
I picked up his chart and tried to read it, but my eyes seemed to be hazing over and crossing. The adrenaline was started to wear off, leaving me feeling like a limp dishrag. Mulder was shot, he was pale and weak looking, but he was going to be okay.
I seated myself in a chair beside the bed and took his hand in mine. I sat there for a little bit, just studying his face. Then I gently brushed a strand of damp hair off his forehead. I hoped he would wake up soon. My eyes were starting to feel so heavy; my whole body was feeling heavy, and sounds were fading in and out. I let my head sink down onto the bed beside Mulder, and my eyes slipped closed.
Something jolted me awake and I sat up with a jerk. I took a deep breath and looked around the room, wondering what had drawn me out of the delicious slumber I had just fallen into. Then I saw what it was. My head had been next to Mulder's hand and it was moving slowly. I raised my eyes to his face and a small smile curved my lips up as I looked into Mulder's hazel eyes.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" I asked after clearing my throat a little.
"I dunno. Sore, I think," he said a little hoarsely. "I think they got me on the good stuff. So what's the damage?"
"The bullet hit your lower shoulder, and they had to remove it surgically, but the doctor said you'll be fine."
He nodded, and then looked around like he was searching for something.
"Do you need something? Water?"
"Yeah."
I poured him a small glass of water and helped him take some small sips, then settled him more comfortably on the pillows.
"What happened exactly?" he asked. "Everything is kinda hazy."
"It's a long story. Why don't you rest some and then I'll fill you in on all the details."
"Give me the short story."
"We have Nicole in custody without anymore shots being fired."
"That's good." Mulder's eyes were started to droop closed and I decided he needed to get some rest. He was trying to fight it though.
"Mulder, you need rest. Close your eyes."
"You need s'eep too," he mumbled.
"I'm going to get some," I assured him, taking his hand in mine. I didn't want to leave him until he was asleep, so I sat there, just holding his hand until sleep claimed him. It wasn't very long before it did, and then I pulled the covers up a little more snugly around him. Then I did something on complete impulse: I very softly and gently placed a kiss on his cheek, letting my lips linger.
"Sleep tight Mulder," I whispered, giving his hand another squeeze before I left for the motel.
I had trouble keeping my eyes open on the drive over to the motel, and even more trouble keeping them open as I got into my pajamas and washed my face and brushed my teeth. It wasn't until I had drawn the curtains closed tightly and had just crawled into bed that I remembered that I needed to call Skinner. Our twenty-four hours had come and gone quite some time ago, and I knew Skinner was most likely in a bad mood. I was surprised he hadn't called either Mulder or me by now.
Skinner's secretary put the call through to him and the first thing he said when he picked up the phone was: "Agent Scully, do you have any idea how long it's been since I said you could have twenty-four hours?"
"I'm sorry Sir," I said in my best apology voice. "A lot happened since we last talked."
"Enlighten me Agent Scully."
I gave him an abbreviated, but still lengthy version of the events that had happened since our last conversation almost forty-eight hours ago. After I finished, Skinner wasn't nearly as angry as he had been. In fact he didn't sound angry at all. He told me to get some rest and to tell Mulder that he hoped Mulder would be feeling better soon. That was the extent of our conversation, and almost immediately after I had hung up, I was asleep.
The thing that finally woke me up was the rumbling of my stomach. It was growling angrily, and I figured it was about time to put something in it. I looked over at my clock and blinked in surprise. It read twelve-fifteen pm. I couldn't really have slept that long, could I? It had been going on six in the evening when I had gone to sleep. I would've had to have been really tired. Well, considering that I hadn't really slept in the past day or so, and everything that had happened, it made sense.
But right now I needed to get back to the hospital and see how Mulder was doing. The hospital hadn't called me, so I assumed that he was doing okay, but I still wanted to make sure for myself. I wanted to see him.
I got a quick shower, and didn't bother to fix my hair, and then grabbed a cup of coffee and a donut on my way. When I arrived at Mulder's room, I found him fast asleep. I wondered if he had slept straight through the whole time I had. He was looking a lot better than he had last night though. I tiptoed over to the bedside and looked down at Mulder. He looked so peaceful; so unthreatening right then. It was hard to believe that so many people hated him and considered him a threat. He looked anything but.
Gently, I placed my hand on his forehead. It felt normal to me, and then I scolded myself for even bothering to check. He was hooked up to a bunch of machine, and I knew one of them had to have his temperature. Still, I let my hand linger there with a sigh. It had been quite a while since we had hugged or touched each in comforting gestures. I hadn't realized before now that those little touches and hugs were a big part of our relationship, and I really missed them. Really, really missed them.
"Keep going G-Woman," Mulder's voice was rough and somewhat hoarse, but there was still a teasing tone to it. "Feels great."
Startled, I jumped and took my hand away. I had been stroking his forehead without even knowing it.
"I-I didn't realize you were awake," I stammered. I could feel the hot blood of a blush staining my neck and checks.
"I wasn't, until you started petting me. It's a nice way to wake up."
"I wasn't petting you," I protested, as at the same time my eyebrows reached for the sky. I wasn't petting him. I wasn't. Was I?
Mulder just looked at me with an impish twinkle in his eyes. For a man who had been shot less than a day ago, he was full of himself.
"Do you want something to drink?" I asked by way of changing the subject.
He nodded and I handed him a cup of water. After he had drunk his fill, he looked over at me and said, "So, I think you promised me a rundown on what happened."
"Are you sure you want it now?"
"Yeah I would."
I opened my mouth but before I could get a word out, there was a knock at the door and we both looked up to see Capt. Chambers standing in the doorway.
"Can I come in?" he asked.
"Yeah," Mulder replied. "Have a seat."
"Thanks, but I can't stay long. I just wanted to check and see how you were feeling."
"I'm feeling pretty good. And before Scully tells you that's because they're giving me the good stuff, I feel pretty good even with them. Actually, I think I feel like I can leave."
I sighed to myself and shook my head. Mulder'd been in the hospital for just one night and already he was getting ready to protest being kept there.
"Well, that's good. Look, I don't really know how to say this, but I'm sorry," Chambers said quietly. His face was so sad that at that moment I felt so sorry for him.
"For what?" Mulder asked.
"For, for Nicole."
"There's nothing to be sorry for. It's not your fault."
Chambers sighed heavily, running a hand through his graying hair. "I guess not. It's just hard for me to believe that it turned out this way. I guess this explains why she got so hot under the collar when I told her to call in the FBI."
Mulder nodded understandingly and then said, "I think we're all sorry it turned out this way."
"I do want to thank you for your help though. It was much appreciated."
"You're welcome," Mulder replied and I echoed his words. Chambers gave us another nod and after telling Mulder to feel better soon, he was gone.
For a little bit, Mulder and I didn't say anything. We sat in a companionable silence, both lost in our own thoughts. Finally, I broke the quiet.
"Do you want me to fill you in on the things you don't remember?"
"No, I don't think so. I'll remember most of it soon anyway. Besides, it's not… it's not really worth it."
"What do you mean?"
"This case is over. There isn't any point in dwelling on it."
I nodded slowly and sighed. I had to agree with Mulder. There wasn't any point discussing this case. It was over.
"We do need to talk though, Scully," Mulder said quietly. My stomach gave a flop and then lay very still. Those kinds of words, said in that tone of voice almost always meant whatever needed to be talked about was sure to be complicated and awkward. I really didn't want that; at least not at this time. But somehow I couldn't stop myself from asking, "What about?"
"About things… about us."
"Oh." That was all I could say. Us, he wanted to talk about us! What did he mean by 'us'? Us as partners, us as friends, us as what? We were working through our argument; I had apologized, he had apologized, what more was there to say? "What about us?"
"Things, about our relationship specifically," Mulder began, and then he stopped with a heavy sigh and looked at me. His eyes were studying me; it felt like he was trying to see all the way inside me. Just the way he was looking at me scared me. This talk that he wanted to have, he would want to discuss things I didn't really even think about too much myself, or if I did, I denied it to myself that the thoughts occupied my mind. Quite possibly, it might lead to the answers I wanted for myself about how he felt about me.
Suddenly my stomach started churning wildly. I didn't think I wanted the truth to be revealed to me, not yet. I wasn't ready. And this wasn't the time and place for this talk, not here in a hospital while Mulder was just starting to recover from a gunshot wound. When we had this talk it should be when we were both relaxed and rested and healthy. It should be when we could both think rationally and calmly.
"Scully?" Mulder's voice drew me out of my thoughts and I looked over at him questioningly. "You still with me?"
"Yeah," I said heavily. I took a deep breath and my stomach gave a quiver. This wasn't going to be easy; explaining to him why I didn't think it was a good idea to talk right now. "Listen Mulder, I think it would be best if we had this conversation some other time."
Now it was Mulder's turn to sit and stare at me without saying anything except for a very flat, "Oh." Then, "Why?"
"Because, we're both still tired, you're sitting in a hospital bed on pain meds; now's just not the right time."
"Then when is the right time?" Even as he asked, his eyes were beginning to become unfocused. He pushed himself up a little further on the pillow and struggled to keep his eyes from going closed. It seemed like come hell or high water, he was determined to have this talk now, and I felt guilty, traitorous even. Did I really, truly believe that this wasn't the right time, or was it merely a way of avoiding issues and feelings? Whatever it was, I didn't want to analyze it. I just wanted Mulder to understand that we couldn't talk right now, and I had given him the reasoning.
"When we can both think straight," I told him. "There will be a right time; it's just not now."
Mulder just looked at me, a little blankly I thought. Then he blinked and sighed heavily.
"I hope there will be a right time," he said softly, almost sadly, and my heart fell to the floor. Suddenly, I felt more traitorous than ever, and I was even less convinced than before that I was handling this the right way. Maybe there wouldn't ever be a "right time". With our history and track record, who knew? And what if there wasn't?
I felt a gentle pressure on my hand and I looked down to see Mulder holding it in his. He was gently rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb and I felt tears sting my eyes as my throat squeezed painfully. I hoped that there would be a right time. I sighed and then in my mind, I made a promise to myself. I would make sure, someday, somewhere, somehow, there would be that right time.
Fin
The end is just the beginning…