Genesis
Ally

Chapter 27

Scully slowly lowered the gun and let it fall from her hand on to the floor where it clattered loudly on the linoleum surface. The minute since she had heard the door handle turn had seemed like an eternity. The sight of her partner crashing through the door in front of her had provoked one response and one response only: a fear so intense it had blocked everything out. As she had leveled the weapon at him, an inner voice had screamed at her to reconsider what she was doing.

The effects of the drugs though had been too powerful, and she had squeezed the trigger almost against her will, watching as Mulder was thrown backwards with the force of the bullet, waiting for him to get to his feet and at the same time praying that he wouldn't. She had waited for what seemed like hours before she had summoned up the courage to swing her legs over the side of the bed, ignoring the sharp pain that tugged at her side as she did so.

The canular that was still inserted in to her arm limited her movement, and with a shaking hand, she eased the needle out, ignoring the bright drops of blood that began to drip down her arm, ignoring everything but the sound of Mulder's breath that seemed to fill the silence that enveloped her.

Scully frowned as she edged closer to her partner's prone body, and for the first time she realised that the silence that surrounded her was unnatural in view of what had just transpired.

The gunshot should have prompted a score of concerned medical personnel, or at the very least the guards that Wickham had assured her were posted outside the door.

Instead there was nothing, and despite herself Scully felt a twinge of unease as what she had just done.

Mulder lay at her feet, the blood that spilled from the wound rapidly soaking in to the shirt he wore and beginning to pool around his unconscious form.

Despite this though, Scully could see immediately that he was still very much alive. Her eyes drifted to the Sig Saur that Mulder still clutched loosely in his hand, unwilling as he had been to release it in the face of such danger. Shakily, Scully bent down to retrieve it, removing the immediate danger she still felt her partner posed to her, but even as she did so she frowned. Something wasn't right.

The weapon felt lighter than it should have done, and, as she inspected it more closely, she identified the reason why.

The clip, when removed, showed the presence of a mere six bullets and both she and Mulder carried an expanded clip that would hold a maximum of fifteen bullets when fully loaded.

Despite the drugs in her system, and the knowledge that her partner had been on the run for over a week, Scully had a hard time reconciling the facts.

Only five minutes ago, she had been sure that Mulder had been here to kill her, but if that were the case, then surely he would have not risked coming here so poorly prepared, especially in light of the fact that he must have known of his wanted status?

<Unless they lied to you.>

The thought jumped unbidden in to her mind, fleeting and easily ignored, but Scully found she couldn't discount it.

She was becoming more and more uneasy regarding her apparent solitude in this vast hospital, a hospital that Wickham had assured her was literally teeming with federal Agents intent on her protection.

She shook her head in an effort to exercise her demons, to drive the thoughts from her mind, and carefully knelt down beside her partner, extending a hand towards him fearfully as she sought to find a pulse. She was also surprised to find that finding one seemed like the only important thing in her life right now.

The pulse was there, slightly thready, but still strong under her fingers and her doctor's training told her that the bullet had no doubt passed through Mulder's body without hitting any of the major organs.

Despite this though, the blood continued to spill from the wound at an alarming rate, and Scully was fairly sure that she had nicked a major blood vessel if not an artery.

Suddenly, despite all he had done, Scully realised with absolute clarity, that she did not want her partner to die, not like this.

She got to her feet and gazed wildly around the small room, seeking something to press against the wound, to staunch the flow of blood that she had caused, when a voice behind her made her spin around.

The injury under her ribs tore as she did so, and she cried out in pain.

Walter Skinner stood inside the doorway, his own gun leveled in front of him as he took in the carnage that greeted him. The sight of Mulder was shocking enough, but the look on Scully's face was almost more terrifying. He had never seen her look like that. It was as though she were not in control of her own actions, and when he allowed himself to look in to her eyes he found them to be alarmingly blank, devoid of the emotion that usually sparkled from them.

He did not lower the gun.

"Agent Scully? What happened here?"

Scully frowned at the sight of her superior, and her voice wavered slightly.

"He came to kill me."

Skinner followed her gaze to where Mulder lay, and he suddenly understood so much as to what had transpired here - who had fired the single shot he had heard and who had been the target. His eyes came to rest on the weapon she still held in her hand, and with a sinking heart he leveled his own gun squarely at the one woman he had come to respect above all others.

"Scully, drop the gun."

Scully shook her head slowly.

"You don't understand, sir. He came to kill me."

"Agent Scully, Mulder came here to save you. I came here with him for that very same purpose. Now *drop* the gun."

Skinner held his breath as he watched his Agent clearly trying to come to the right decision, and also to fit him in to the picture she had formed in her mind. He was all too aware that every second he wasted was a second wasted that might be getting the medical help that both Agents obviously desperately needed. He had already noticed the blood that was soaking through Scully's flimsy hospital gown and the sweat that beaded her waxen skin. As for Mulder, he had not had any kind of chance to even speculate as to the nature of his injuries, and wouldn't until Scully was disarmed and under control.

Finally, to his intense relief, Scully loosened her grip on the gun and allowed it to clatter to the floor, stepping backwards as she did so.

Skinner stepped up close to her for the first time since entering the room and gently grasped her elbow, guiding her back to the bed. Before he reached it though, he felt her go limp, and caught her just before her legs gave out. Her eyes fluttered though, and for a moment before she finally lost consciousness, her gaze locked with his and her expression cleared as she whispered a single word to him. It told him all he needed to know.

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