| “What would I do without you?” “Have no friends.” “That’s not funny.” “Yeah, I’ve been getting that a lot lately.” Piper responded. “So, did you guys do anything last night?” Max asked, taking a bite of the macaroni salad. “You guys as in who?” “I don’t know. Mulder and Scully? Our possi?” “Oh, so now it’s our possi. I thought it was my possi.” Piper said. They both laughed. “No, Scully went back to the lab to see if there was anything she missed and Mulder played Snood all night.” “Oh, another one hooked on the infamous Snood.” “Yeah, and don’t even mention Napster in front of him. It’s his new best friend.” “Speaking of Napster, did you bring me any music?” “Yeah, I got my CD Player and my CD’s.” Piper pulled them out of her bag. “So where’s Mulder and Scully now?” “I don’t know. Suzanne dropped me off. Mulder and Scully were gone when I woke up. They just left a note saying they had to run errands.” “Errands, huh?” Max asked, sarcastically. “They’re friends, Max. We’ve tried getting them together in the past and it just doesn’t work.” They both laughed again as Max continued eating her macaroni salad. “So are you ready to get scared tonight?” “What are you talking about?” “We’re going with that snake guy, Jeff tonight to the woods.” “Piper, I’m not being released until at least tomorrow.” “Tomorrow?! It’s only a snake bite.” “Well, thanks for you concern. I mean, I’m well enough to go now. My leg doesn’t hurt and I’m not even on any medication but my doctor’s would never let me go.” “Yeah, well we’ll see about that.” “Oh and what is that supposed to mean?” “I’ve got a plan.” Piper looked at her TV, not really watching it. She was listening, listening for the footsteps above her. She could tell each member of her family, and now Mulder and Scully, by the sound of their footsteps. She listened as Mulder walked across the third floor hallway before going into his room. Piper located her remote control on the floor and picked it up. She pressed the ‘power’ button, turning the TV off. She stood and began walking up the stairs, quickly and quietly. She grabbed her backpack off a nearby chair and grabbed a nearby flashlight. She turned it on, and walked through her house silently. She located her sister’s car keys on the counter, where they always were and then made her way to the side door. She took one look behind her before opening the door and leaving. Max rolled over, unable to speak. Piper told her that she had a plan but she had yet to explain what that plan was and Max was growing impatient. She had been told that Jeff was staying at the park overnight with his nature buddy without Mulder, Scully, or Piper. He said that they could meet him there later the next day. Max brought her hand to her arm and looked at her watch. It was almost one and time for her to go to bed. Max rolled over again, trying to get comfortable. She was about to close her eyes when she heard a noise coming from outside her window. She tried to ignore it, but it got louder. She quickly got up and walked to the window. She was somewhat afraid but she had been lying in the bed so much that any kind of action would be nice. She looked out the window and panicked. She quickly unlocked it and opened the window. “Piper, what are you doing?!” She exclaimed as loudly as she could without waking up everyone else in the building. “Rescuing you.” Piper responded. She carefully held onto her rope for dear life as she continued to climb up the rope. Max let out her hand and helped in pulling Piper over the edge of the window. They both went tumbling in the room. “Sorry but you’re not my idea of a knight in shining armor.” “Well, how about I just be the idea of your best friend who climbed up a six story wall to help you?” Piper asked, picking herself up from the ground. “Okay, that works.” “Glad I meet your approval.” Piper joked. “What are you doing here, anyway?” “I told you, it’s part of my plan so that we can find out what’s going on in those woods once and for all.” “I hope getting yourself killed wasn’t part of that plan.” “That’s always part of the plan. Now, come on.” Piper said, straddling the window sill. “You’re kidding, right? We are not climbing down that wall.” “Um…yeah we are.” Piper said, securing herself on the ledge before taking out another rope. “Tie this around your waste and then claw the end to your window sill.” “Is that how you got up here? You threw this…hook up here, hoping it would hold you?” “Basically, now come on, we don’t have all day.” “Can’t we just go through the front door?” “What and have all the doctors and nurses see us? Just trust me on this.” “What happened to trust no one?” “Come on.” Piper said, starting to climb down the rope. Max sighed and attached the end of her rope to her windowsill. She had never been as scared in her life as she was when she began climbing down the rope. “Just don’t let go.” Piper said as she and Max slowly climbed down the wall. “Thanks for the advice.” Max responded. They climbed down the rest of the wall in silence, concentrating on climbing without falling. They both reached the bottom, safely. Piper pulled both ropes off the ledge and shoved them into her bag. “This way.” She said, walking off. Max followed. “So, how did you get here anyway?” Max asked. Piper walked a few more feet and turned a corner, not answering Max’s question. Piper reached behind her and took out her flashlight from her backpack. She turned it on, fixing the beam of light and the blue car in front of her. “Piper, that’s your sisters car.” Max observed. “Yes, it is.” Piper answered. “Does she know you have it?” “Does it look like she knows I have it?” Piper retorted, throwing her backpack in the back seat. Piper opened the driver’s side door. “Piper, your sister drives a stick.” “Yes, yes she does.” “You don’t drive a stick.” “I don’t drive an automatic either but so far no one’s complained.” Piper got into the driver’s seat and slammed the door. Max walked around the car and got in. Piper turned off her flashlight and threw it onto the back seat. Piper turned the keys in the ignition and started the car. “So when did you learn how to drive a stick?” “Who’s said that I’ve learned?” “Okay, let me rephrase that, how did you get here without totaling the car?” “Well, I’ve seen Suzanne drive it before and I kind of just picked it up.” “Picked it up?” “Yeah, after going over a few curbs, hitting a sign or two, I managed. It makes it easier since there are hardly any people on the roads. Piper turned off the parking break. “Oh and Max?” “Yeah?” “Put on your seatbelt.” Max quickly did as told while Piper tried to figure out which gear to put the car in. Before stepping on the gas, she also put her seatbelt on. Five minutes later, when they most likely would have already been there, Piper was just making it to the end of the street. “Think we could speed it up?” Max asked. “Yeah, well you might be Ms. Speedemon but I’m quite content doing two miles and hour.” “And for once that isn’t an exaggeration.” |