Mulder squirmed in his seat as CSM and his pawns continued to pace around the room. Scully bobbed her head up and down as she slipped in and out of consciousness. The bleeding had slowed down, but Mulder wasn't sure what they had done to her before they had been put in the same room.

"Mr. Mulder- Fox," CSM said, as he took a long drag of his cigarette. "This does not need to be difficult. Just tell me where the tape is. Then, before you know it, you and Agent Scully will be walking through these doors like nothing ever happened."

Mulder ignored the plea. He didn't have the tape. He didn't know where it was and if he had, there's no way that he would have carried it on his person.

"Don't you think if I knew where your damn tape was I would have exposed you and your scumbag friends already? I don't know where the tape is. We traded the tape for our safety…why would we risk this for something we already gave up?!" Mulder exclaimed.

The Cigarette Smoking Man looked blankly at Mulder before he carefully removed another cigarette from his pack and lit it. He took a long drag, never taking his eyes off of Mulder.

"Actually, Mr. Mulder, you're right. I don't think both of you would do that. In fact, I don't think Agent Scully would do that at all, being the more reasonable of you two. I do think, however, you orchestrated this whole plan in order to buy your safety and end up with the tape again. And Mr. Mulder, I'm not going to put up with that." CSM said.

"Look, I don't have what you want! Scully doesn't have what you want! At least let her go!"

"Mr. Mulder, I would really like to believe what you're saying. But, I need to be sure." CSM said, as he glanced at the taller of his associates and nodded silent instructions.

The beefy man put a hand on Scully's shoulder as he pulled the collar of her shirt to the side. She swayed to his side, disoriented, as he put a cattle prod to her neck and sent a shock through her body.

"You son of a bitch! Stop it! Stop it!" Mulder yelled. He was now swaying back and forth in his chair and thought he would tip over any moment.

Scully convulsed against the shock and started shaking lightly. Mulder thought her body was going into shock. Before anyone could do anything else, her wound started bleeding again.

"Mr.-" CSM began to say, as what little light was shone suddenly went dark.

Mulder heard the scurrying of feet and murmur among the men.

"There seems to be some complications. I shall return soon. Until then, my associate shall keep an eye over you two." CSM said, as he and two of his men left the room.

The beefy man who had prodded Scully walked towards Mulder, and though not visible due to the darkness, Mulder could feel his heartrate go up as the man brushed by him. He tried to wriggle his hands free from the rope that was binding him; though tight, with the element of darkness on his side and hopefully some time, Mulder was hopeful that he could remove himself of the binds around his wrists.

The associate of CSM ruffled around the room until Mulder saw a bright light being swayed. Shit- Mulder thought- a flashlight. The light wasn't adequate enough to spotlight everything in the room, but if the man had decided to point it at Mulder, he wouldn't be able to get free. However, the man didn't point it at Mulder, he pointed it directly in Scully's face.

Scully squinted from the harsh light as the man's steps echoed loudly through the room. She was still lightly shaking and her lower lip was quivering, but she was still slightly out of it. Mulder continued to work on the binds until he felt the ropes loosen significantly.

"Tell me something, Mulder," The man said, as he stroked Scully's hair tenderly. "Do you and your partner-"

The man didn't get to finish, because as he looked up, Mulder had taken the rope that had bound his wrists and jumped on the beefy man, pulling his throat with the rope. He dropped the flashlight and immediately began wrestling with Mulder and the rope around his neck.

Though much larger, Mulder had the element of surprise and managed to pull the big man to the ground with the rope. As he felt the man lightening up, his grip loosened, in which the man elbowed Mulder hard in the ribcage, causing him to fall backwards. The man stood and kicked Mulder in the ribs again before he had the chance to get up. Mulder staggered backwards, putting his hand in front of him, as a means to weakly dodge another blow. The man pulled his knife from his pocket and snapped the blade open, grinning, from what Mulder could see in the shadow-cast light from the flashlight on the ground.

As the man inched towards Mulder, Mulder suddenly heard a light crackling sound and watched as the man's eyes grew wide and stared at the ceiling. His body convulsed briefly and he fell to the floor. Scully stood hunched over, both hands still bound, but now in front of her. She held the cattle prod tightly in her grasp.

"Scully…"

"Mulder-" Scully started to say, as she fell to her knees. Mulder caught her, trying to lift her up, but her body was going limp from the trauma that had been thrust upon it.

"Scully, we don't have much time. We need to get out of here. Can you walk?" Mulder said, as he checked her wound for signs of blood. Scully was lightly bleeding and her heartrate was quickened. Mulder saw her nod her head as she took in some deep breaths.

"Come on," Mulder said, as he hoisted her to her feet and put his hand around her waist to keep her up. They walked to the door, before Mulder went back and grabbed the flashlight that had fallen. He also checked the unconscious man's clothes and found a gun in an ankle holster.

He slowly opened the door as he heard creaking. He held the flashlight towards the ground to avoid alerting anyone who may be outside, but noticed that no one was in his immediate vicinity. Scully's head lolled back and forth to the side, and Mulder noticed that though she was shaking, she was also shaking heavily. He knew that she needed medical attention.

"Scully, we'll be out of here in a minute, I need you to stay with me." Mulder hoisted her up from her collapsing state, as Scully nodded her head in acknowledgement. He led her down the hallway, looking for some sort of exit and hoping to not run into anyone. He tried to pick up the pace, when a man of slightly shorter stature rounded a corner and shone a light directly in his face.

Mulder flinched against the light, and reached for the gun he had taken, dropping the flashlight in the process. It didn't help that his partner was hanging onto him, basically acting as dead weight.

"Agent Mulder, I'm not here to harm you. I'm Klonikin." The man said, lowering his flashlight. "We need to get out of here."

"Where the hell were you? We waited for hours and then were blindsided-"

"I know, I'm sorry. This warehouse is where I've been hiding for the past few days. These men showed up and I couldn't signal to you without being discovered. They're looking for me." Klonikin said.

"They didn't ask for you they want the-"

"They want the tape, yes, Mr. Mulder. But I have information that they need. Look, I'll explain everything when we get out of here. We need to go."

Mulder didn't know whether to go with Klonikin as his explanation sounded vague and lacking detail, but he heard the sound of a metal door opening about 100 feet behind him. He looked to his partner who he knew couldn't withstand any more trauma and saw two lights bobbing down the hall with the sound of hollow footsteps.

"Where are we going?" Mulder asked, as he turned to Klonikin. Scully was gaining more consciousness, but still lolled lackadaisically as she came to.

"Come on."

TBC. Please Read and Review!