Flight 814 - Part 3/4
Summary and disclaimers in Part 1

*****

THE FOURTH AND FINAL HOUR

Almost there. Mulder had never been so relieved as
he was the minute the pilot announced that they
were starting their decent to D.C. Just 20 more
minutes and they would be on the ground. He
glanced over at Scully. It would probably be a
good idea to take separate cabs home, he thought.
Just to avoid anymore conflict today. Wimp, he
thought. And yet, maybe it was best they get
everything cleared up today. Maybe it was best
they hash it all out in private. Get things
straight between them. Yell and scream and throw
things. That's what he felt like doing, and he had
a feeling Scully would be more than willing to go
along with that idea. They both needed to let off
a little...make that a lot...of steam. And
then, they could go home, and meet up at work
tomorrow with things back to normal. They should
probably go to his apartment, then. There were
fewer expensive things to break there.

Well, if he was going to broach the subject to
her, he better do it soon. He could already feel
the plane tipping gently downward. The flight
attendants were gathering trash and checking seat
belts. Lynn, the woman he had been talking to when
Scully came back from the bathroom, sent him a
small smile as she walked by. Mulder smiled back,
then glanced at Scully. She was glaring daggers at
him. Maybe talking to her today WAS out of the
question.

But then he saw something that startled him, while
at the same time it gave him hope. In the split
second before she turned away from him, he saw a
glint of what appeared to be sadness and
vulnerability in her eyes. Things he very rarely
saw. He took a deep breath. Now or never. He
unbuckled his seat belt, fully intending to get up
and move over to the seat next to her, when it
happened.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!

**************************************************

Scully had picked up her paperback about 40
minutes ago. Forty long minutes. Yet, she had only
read about 10 pages. She was constantly aware of
her partners movements. She knew when he gave up
on the magazine he was reading and tried to sleep.
She knew when he had given up on trying to sleep.
She saw the flight attendant smile at him. And she
saw him smile back, then look at her. 'Sure,
Mulder,' she thought. 'Dig that knife in a little
deeper, why don't you?'

She had also been aware of how agitated he had
seemed after she looked away. He was up to
something, she was sure of it. Mulder rarely sat
still; some part of him was always moving, whether
it be a tapping finger or a bobbing foot. But he
was very antsy now. He moved suddenly, undoing his
seat belt. She wasn't sure if he was getting up to
use the restroom, or if he was going to move
closer to her. And she never got the chance to
find out.

BOOM!!!!!!

The loud explosion caused more than one person to
scream, and Scully felt her own body jump at the
sound. The plane jerked, then shuddered horribly.
Scully dropped the book and grabbed the armrests
to her seat, though she was still firmly buckled
in. The plane dropped, and Scully felt her stomach
clench. She tightened her grip and squeezed her
eyes shut. Then the plane leveled out again. She
looked over at Mulder, who had also gripped the
armrests of his chair, to find him looking at her
with dark concern in his eyes. 'Oh, God!' She
thought. If he was scared, then they were in big
trouble.

"OH MY GOD!!!!"

A man toward the front of the plane had shouted
the very words Scully was thinking. He appeared to
be looking out the window. Scully quickly pushed
up the shade on her window, then regretted it. It
was dark outside, dusk having already fallen on
the east coast, and the flames shooting out of the
engine in the left wing were clearly visible. She
felt Mulder come up beside her, his face close to
hers as he looked out into the glowing night.
"Holy shit!" he hissed in her ear. 

The pilot's voice suddenly came over the intercom.
"Uh, folks. We're...uh...having a slight problem
here. Everything is under control now, but we ask
that everyone remain seated and keep yourself
belted in as tightly as possible. Flight control
is aware of our situation, and they have given us
clearance for an emergency landing at Washington
International." There was a pause as Scully shoved
Mulder down into the seat next to her and started
buckling his seat belt for him. Like a child, he
kept staring out the window at the flames, which
had diminished somewhat, but had not gone out.
With a groan of exasperation, she pulled down the
shade again.

The pilot continued. "We ask that you remain calm
and please listen to the instructions the flight
attendants are about to give you. We are preparing
for an emergency landing, and I will tell you now,
it's going to be rough, folks. So please, listen
to your instructions very carefully."

The flight attendants, looking very frightened but
staying admirably calm, began to traverse the
plane, talking to everyone individually. This is
what they had been trained for, but Scully knew
that most of them never had to actually do it. The
older woman reached them and calmly proceeded to
tell them what to do. "When we land, I want you to
lean forward and wrap your arms around your legs,
keeping your head on your knees. After we've
landing, unbuckle your seat belt immediately and
proceed to the nearest exit."

She was about to continue on when Mulder
interrupted her. "Have you ever done this before?"

She looked him in the eye. "Yes. I've been on
emergency landings before."

Mulder looked in the direction of the shaded
window and the flames on the other side. "This
bad?"

She was silent for a while. With a quick shake of
her head and a tightening of her lips, she moved
on.

Scully reached over toward Mulder, and without his
even looking at her, he met her hand with his own.
He laced his fingers through hers and gripped it
tightly.

The plane continued to descend rapidly. Scully's
ears started to throb and she began to open and
close her mouth in a chewing motion, trying to
ease the pressure, but the plane was going down
too fast. 'It's literally falling from the sky,' she
thought. She squeezed Mulder's hand involuntarily
when the pilot's voice came over the speakers
again. It was amazingly calm sounding, but Scully
heard the fear in it nonetheless. "Please position
yourselves for an emergency landing." She was sure
he meant to say crash landing. He was just being
polite.

She leaned forward in her seat, looping her left
arm under her legs, feeling her head touch the
back of the seat in front of her. She never even
considered letting go of Mulder's hand, and he
gave no indication that he wanted to let go of
hers, either. They looked at each other.

"What a way to go, huh, Scully?"

"Shut up, Mulder." Her voice broke. He squeezed
her hand in response. 'At least I'm with him,' she
thought. 'If I'm going to die, at least I'm with
Mulder.' "I'm scared, Mulder."

He laughed softly. "You know, I was just wishing
you would admit that you were scared just once in
my lifetime. I didn't think we'd have to go to
such drastic measures to have it happen!" 

Scully couldn't help but smile at his words. "We
do tend to hold in our feelings too much, don't
we?"

He nodded, or tried to, considering that his tall
frame was bent over at such an awkward angle.

The plane dropped again and loose objects flew
about the cabin. She swallowed back a scream. Then
she clutched his hand even tighter. "Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

**************************************************

I love you.

Mulder stopped breathing when he heard the words.
Over the roar of the plane's struggling engine and
the screams of the passengers, he almost didn't
hear her. He thought for a minute he had
misunderstood, but knew by looking in her eyes
that he hadn't. He could see the words there, in
her crystal blue eyes, and knew that she meant
them. He felt his heart clench. Of course he had
known. Why else had she willingly followed him to
Hell and back? But to hear the words...

"Scully! I love you, too! So much!" He choked back
a sob. 'Why now, damnit?' he thought to no one in
particular. Tears were streaming down her face.
Love competed with the fear in her eyes as the
plane dropped again. Then she closed them.

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven."

Mulder closed his own eyes as he listened to
Scully's voice say the Lord's prayer. She sounded
calm, steady. Unafraid.

"Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us
our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us."

Despite his disbelief in a single, all-powerful
entity such as God, Mulder felt himself recite the
familiar words along with Scully.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil."

"Amen."

With a bone jarring crash, the plane hit the
runway. Then suddenly, Mulder felt his world
literally turn upside down.

**************************************************

When Scully was asked several years later what she
remembered about the crash of Flight 814, she
could truthfully answer 'nothing'. She could
remember nothing of the actual crash, anyway. She
did remember the moments directly afterward.
Barely. The screaming, and other loud sounds. She
remembered how tightly her eyes were shut, and
that she refused to let go of Mulder's hand. She
remembered the feeling of free-falling, even
though she still felt the chair beneath her, solid
and secure.

Then, everything stood still, and she remembered
the rest with perfect clarity.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself upside
down, her hair hanging toward the ceiling, which
she could easily reach up and touch. She was still
strapped firmly in her chair. She felt little
aches and pains travel throughout her body, and
then her head began throbbing. She looked to her
right, vaguely surprised to see her hand still
gripping, and being gripped by, Mulder's. He
looked at her at the same time, his eyes slightly
dazed looking in the dim, blinking emergency
lights that had gone on throughout the plane. They
didn't even stop to consider the fact that they
were still alive.

With one accord, they let go of each others hands,
released their seat belts, and dropped to the
ceiling, now the floor. Scully's ears rang, but
she still heard the crying and moaning going on
around them. The blonde flight attendant was
crawling past them, her left sleeve torn and
bloody, making her way to the rear emergency exit.
Mulder saw her and, reaching back to grab Scully,
began to follow her. "Everybody off the plane!" he
shouted. "Now!" The crying quieted as his shout
drove many out of their shocked stupor and into
action. The attendant had reached the door and was
helping the man in the seat next to it release
it. Red flashing lights appeared in the windows;
the emergency crews were coming.

On her knees behind Mulder, Scully noticed the
woman in the chair that had been behind them. She
was barely conscious, moaning and bleeding from
several places. "Mulder!"

He turned at her shout and noticed immediately
what she was looking at. Together, they worked to
get the injured woman out, Scully undoing her seat
belt, and both of them slowly lowering her to the
floor/ceiling. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the
cabin. Instinctively, Scully ducked her head and
leaned her upper body over the injured woman's
head, protecting her. Mulder, also moving on
instinct, leaned over Scully. Protecting her. But
the explosion hadn't been close. Mulder looked at
Scully as she straightened. "The next one might be
us."

The passengers, who had stopped their movement
toward the door at the explosion, pushed forward
once again. With a slight grimace, Mulder lifted
the woman in his arms, Scully helping him to
balance her, and then staggered to his feet. "Come
on," he said to his partner, then made his way
toward the exit.

Scully followed. She glanced behind her, to what
had been the front of the plane. The Asian woman
was helping the last of the passengers out the
front exit. She could see no one between herself
and the flight attendant. When the woman looked
down toward her, Scully gave her a nod. All clear.
At least here. It looked like there were more than a
few still bodies in the forward section of the
plane, and the cockpit had been completely
obliterated. The woman nodded back, then left
though the door in front of her. Scully was about
to do the same when she heard it. A baby crying.
From INSIDE the plane. 

Without clear thought, Scully turned toward the
sound. Back into the plane.

**************************************************

Mulder barely made it to the first emergency
vehicle with the woman he was carrying. He had
wrenched his shoulder sometime during the crash
and he felt the pain with every step he took. The
firetrucks and ambulances, which had been on
standby ever since the pilots reported the first
explosion in the air, where set far enough back
from the plane to be close for the passengers to
reach, yet safe if the plane exploded again.

"Hey! Help! Over here!" One of the firemen saw
Mulder and the woman and rushed to his side. "I
can't..." His shoulder was giving out. He was
surprised he'd made it this far. The fireman took
hold of the woman, and Mulder let his arms drop in
relief. 

The man nodded off to his side. "Paramedics over
there. Get yourself checked out, huh?" He looked
at the woman in his arms. "She yours?"

Mulder shook his head. "No. No, she was sitting
behind us." He looked back, expecting to see
Scully right behind him. His weary body came to
full attention when he realized she wasn't there.
"Scully?"

"Well, thanks, Mister. She's gonna call you a
hero, you know." The man started walking toward an
ambulance. 

Mulder didn't even acknowledge him as he turned
and began stumbling back toward the burning plane.
He could see the damage now. Both wings were gone,
as was most of the very front and the very back of
the plane. It had cartwheeled, he knew. Like the
one in Sioux City years earlier, and had ended up
on its back. "Scully?" His voice rose a bit.
Rescue personnel where circling the plane,
carefully searching for passengers. But none
wanted to go too close; the flames had already set
off an explosion in the cockpit area. The whole
body of the plane could go at any moment. Mulder's
eyes darted about, searching for that one familiar
figure. She had been right behind him in the
plane. He remembered feeling her hands pressed up
against his back as he carried his load to the
door. Then?

"Scully?!" Desperation started to fill his voice
as he began running for the back door, the one he
had escaped from. "Scully!" One of the men
searching the outside of the plane realized his
intent and tried to stop him. Mulder easily
brushed off the man's hands. He grabbed the sides
of the door and leaned in. "Scully?!"

"Here!" The lights had gone off in the cabin, but
the flashing lights from outside, and the flames,
helped light the inside of the plane. He was able
to make out his partner, just barely, as she
walked carefully toward him. She was carrying
something in her arms. He reached for her and
helped her down through the door. 

"Damn, Scully! Don't do that to me!"

She gave him a small smile, barely noticeable
through the blood streaking her face. She had a
cut on her forehead. "Sorry." He noticed the
bundle in her arms was moving and looked closer. A
baby. A toddler of about 18 months he guessed.
He/she/it was looking at him with terrified,
tear-streaked eyes.

"Where's Mom?" he asked as he led a slow moving
Scully and baby away from the plane.

"Dead."

Mulder winced at her bald statement. How many
other dead bodies had she passed en-route to this
living child? How many people couldn't she save?
"Admit it, Scully. You didn't want me to be the
only one called hero."

She didn't look at him, but he felt her tiny laugh
anyway. "Yeah, right."

They reached the ambulance, where Scully
regretfully handed off the baby, which turned out
to be a girl, to the people there. Then, the two
F.B.I. agents silently sat back out of the way,
content to wait for medical treatment until after
all the serious cases where looked at. The
explosion that took the plane later turned out to
be much smaller than anticipated, but it was a
spectacular sight in the night anyway. 

Mulder and Scully sat on the tarmac, their backs
leaning up against one of the firetrucks. Mulder's
arm sat comfortably around Scully's shoulders, and
her head rested against him. They sat like that
for more than two hours, not saying a word.

*****

End 3/4

    Source: geocities.com/virtuesandvices