| “Mulder.” He answered dully. “Is it bad if you can’t find a pulse?” The man on the other end teased. “What? Who is this?” Mulder asked. He was afraid to know the answer to the question. “Don’t worry, Agent Mulder. She’s still alive.” Mulder sat upright. “Where is she?” “She’s…around.” “What have you done to her you bastard?” “Funny, that’s what she just called me. You two really do work well together.” “If you touched her….I swear to God…” “She’s a beautiful woman, Mulder. How could I resist her?” “You sick son of a…” “I didn’t contact you just to be called names, Mulder. You have what I want and I have what you want.” “Then what do you want?” “I want you.” Mulder paused. “I don’t even know who you are.” “Yes you do. Three years ago you killed my father. Now you’ll pay.” “Fine, take me. Let her go.” “It’ll take more than just you, Mulder. You come here tonight. Leave now. No backup. Don’t tell anyone. You do and she dies.” “Fine. Tell me where you are.” “The abandoned home in the Richmond Woods. You’ll find it. I’m warning you now, Agent Mulder. You come alone or you’re both dead.” Mulder heard the phone on the other end hang up. He brought the phone away from his ear and looked at it. His anger all rushed through his head in one moment. He turned off the phone and threw it across the room. He heard it shatter against the wall. He buried his head in his hands and whimpered. He knew Scully was alive but how hurt was she? How badly did he injure her? He tried not to think about it as he ran out of the room, leaving the door ajar. * * * * Scully tried to move into a smaller ball but her legs wouldn’t allow her to move. She was so weak and hungry. She could tell she had lost a lot of blood by the amount that pooled around her. Her whole body shook slightly sometimes lapsing into small seizures. She would have given up long before if she hadn’t kept thinking of Mulder and then just recently she just heard the strange man talking to Mulder. Now he was coming and she had to protect him. She tried to stay awake but her body wouldn’t let her. She rested her head on the cold, bloody ground and fell asleep. She awoke to the sound of his voice calling out her name. She raised her head slightly and peered into the darkness. She could sense his nearness and then felt his hand on her own. “Scully.” “Mulder.” “Oh God, Scully. You’re bleeding.” He said as he placed pressure on one of her deeper wounds with his hand. “Scully, I thought you were dead. Everyone told me to give up but…” “You have to get out of here.” She protested shakily. He started trying to undo her bruised wrists. “Mulder he brought you here to kill you. Get out!” “That’s where you’re wrong.” The man said as he walked towards them. He reached above him and turned on a light. Scully closed here eyes, unaccostumed to the bright light. Mulder stared at her. It took all off his effort to keep from crying. She was pale, bloody, bruised, skinny, and dirty. She looked like death itself. He whispered her name under his breath. She noticed his strange look and turned away, embarrassed by her appearance. “Let her go.” Mulder said as coolly as he could, considering the circumstances. “It’s not that easy, Mulder.” The man said. “See, I not only want to kill you but I want to make you suffer like I suffered. So I took the only thing that meant the most to you – I took her and now she dies. “No!” Mulder wailed. “You can see the hurt in your eyes just because she looks like this. What if I tortured her in front of you? How would that make you feel?” “Please don’t do this to him. Kill me but don’t make him watch…please.” Scully pleaded. “I’ll tell you what. You get five minutes to say goodbye before she goes in front of you.” “But…” Mulder began to protest. “But nothing. You have five minutes.” The man walked upstairs. Mulder looked down at her, trying to smile. Tears began rolling down his cheeks. “Please don’t cry, Mulder. These weeks…just knowing you were still out there kept me going. After he had taken everything from me…my dignity, my personality, my love…you were still there.” “But now he’s doing this because of me, Scully. I can’t let him do this.” “The only thing I asked from him before he killed me was to be able to say goodbye to you. And now I have that chance. Goodbye, Mulder.” He took her in his embrace and let his tears roll down his cheeks. He knew this was really the end. This was their final goodbye and he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t change her inevitable fate, or could he? He tried to think of an escape but his thoughts always led back to one thing – his love for her. “I can’t to this without you, Scully. I can’t.” “But you can, you’ve just never tried before.” She began to cry. “I need you to be strong. To promise me you’ll come out of this and continue on. Find the truth. Find what you’ve always been looking for.” “But don’t you see, Scully? I’ve found what I’ve been looking for all along. I’ve always had it.” “And what’s that?” “You.” He answered. He planted small kisses on the palms of and backs of her hands. “I love you, Scully.” She was about to speak when they both heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He approached Mulder and Scully sitting next to each other on the ground. Scully’s blood was all over Mulder’s body, especially his hands. The man couldn’t help but admire their love for each other but now that bond had to be broken. “Am I to assume all goodbyes are said and you’re both ready?” The man asked. Mulder stood up in protest. “Don’t do this. I’m begging you…please.” “Good. I want you to hurt like I did. I know what it feels like to lose a loved one.” The man said. “You killed my father!” “I know what it feels like, too. My father was murdered, my sister was taken from me and my mother took her own life. Scully and I have lost so much throughout our lives. I can’t lose someone else I love. Please don’t do this.” “But this is the only way to get to you. Look at your pain – this is your only fear. You love her. Say it. Say you love her.” “I’m not hiding that. I am in love with her.” Mulder said wiping the tears from his eyes. He eyed Scully lying on the ground. She looked so beaten, so alone. She seemed as if she couldn’t be in a darker place, almost as if she had given up. She wouldn’t meet Mulder’s eyes but he could tell she had been crying. “You don’t have much to say.” The man said as he kicked Scully sharply in the ribs. Mulder held his breath and winced as Scully grasped for breath. She sounded like she was wheezing - like she would never again return to a normal breathing pattern but she did a few minutes later. It was still staggered and heavy but it was better than before. “Scully.” Mulder whispered feeling her pain. “I’m okay, Mulder.” She managed to say back. She hated doing this to him. She knew he felt so much pain when he saw her like that. She wanted to just shoot herself in hopes that he would hurt no more but it didn’t work like that. He would always hurt for her. Always have a tear come to his eye when he thought of her. She wanted to assure Mulder that everything was going to be okay, that she was going to be okay, but that wasn’t the truth and the truth was the one thing she couldn’t lie about. Mulder quickly brushed his hand across his hip, searching for his gun. A feeling of despair fell over him as he realized how much he needed it now. “So, he finally confessed his love for you, Dana. What do you have to say?” The man asked. Even the sound of Scully’s first name coming from the man’s lips pierced Mulder’s heart. He had only used her first name on several occasions throughout the last eight ears and when he did it was only during a special time, a time when he wouldn’t have it any other way. The usage of their first names was sacred to each other – and not to be used by this man. “What do you want to hear?” Scully asked, testing the man. She knew exactly what he wanted to her to say just to torture Mulder. To torture herself. “Tell him how you feel.” The man prompted. “I love him. I’ve always loved him.” She finally made eye contact with Mulder as she spoke. He looked into her beautiful blue eyes as she stared back at him. They both smiled at each other. That one smile took away both their pain, emotional and physical. |