Hey! I just watched Kitsunegari, and I thought the ending could have
been a little more true to the characters. So anybody who was
disappointed in that ep, please let me know if you like this better!
Archive anywhere with my name and address. Thanks!
This is the first thing I ever wrote--be nice!
Title: Only A Second
(Kitsunegari alternate ending)
by Pam Gamble (eksphyl@yahoo.com)
I'm a shipper at heart, but this is really just angst.
Summary: A new ending for Kitsunegari.
Disclaimer: I get no money from this, only a sick pleasure in
disrupting Chris Carter's perfect little un-romantic world. All of the
characters belong to him.
Only A Second
Mulder rushed into the darkened warehouse, gun drawn, nerves taut. He
slowed as he pushed open the heavy door, and waited impatiently for
his eyes to adjust to the hazy blackness now surrounding him. His
footsteps echoed as he advanced on...what?
He couldn't imagine.
"Mulder?"
Scully's voice startled him as he rounded the corner.
"Scully? Where are you?"
"I'm over here. She's here, Mulder, you were right."
He saw Scully step into his line of sight. At the same moment she
raised her gun to him. He shook his head in disbelief. "No, Scully..."
"I can't help it Mulder, she's making me do it."
"Scully..."
"Mulder."
That voice came from behind him. But it couldn't be. He turned
sideways, slowly. "Scully?"
She was *there*, too.
Mulder's mind raced. He knew now that Linda Bowman had this
power--he'd seen it with the two officers. But he was not prepared
for this. He had to think of something.
"Both of you, get where I can see you."
He raised his own weapon, ordering the second Scully to his left.
Now, at least, they were both in his line of sight--even if he didn't
really trust his sight right now. Their identical weapons were now
trained on each other; he couldn't get this wrong. There wouldn't be
a second chance.
The second Scully was speaking.
"Mulder, it's me. She's pushing you. Just like Modell did. You have
to listen to me."
"No, Mulder, I'm Scully. Don't listen to her."
"Mulder--your mother's name is Tina," declared the second Scully.
"Your sister's name is Samantha," retorted the other woman.
"Shut up, both of you, shut up!!" Mulder yelled in frustration.
Anyone doing a little homework on him could have come up with those
names. He had to think fast.
He saw both women's fingers tense on the triggers. He
needed a question *only* Dana Scully would know how to answer. , he thought to himself bitterly, .
Then, he had a flash of inspiration.
"Scully!", he yelled, trying, and failing, to keep his voice even.
Both women turned to look at him briefly.
, he realized.
Mentally, Mulder counted the bullets in his gun.
And knew he would be alone on this earth for only a second.
It was now or never.
"Scully--are you okay?"
A flash of recognition lit up the bright blue eyes of the woman on the
right, and as she opened her mouth to speak, the woman on the left
sputtered, "No, I'm not okay, she's pointing a gun at me!" Mulder's
finger squeezed the trigger as he heard the familiar mantra coming
from the woman on the right--his Scully.
"I'm fine, Mulder."
Scully closed her eyes with relief as Linda Bowman crumbled to the
floor, and when she opened them again, she looked into the eyes of her
partner.
As Bowman lost control over Mulder's mind, he saw the red hair flash
to gold. Scully watched a wave of relief flood over him. She didn't
take her eyes off her partner as she lifted Linda's gun from her
hands, and checked her vitals.
There was no pulse.
The two agents backed away as blood began to pool at their feet.
Mulder listened as Scully called for an ambulance on her cell phone,
then updated Skinner on the case. When she was done, he could already
hear the sirens in the distance. He looked again at Linda Bowman's
lifeless eyes, and wished he could tell them there was no hurry.
Mulder was so deep in thought--nightmarish thoughts about what *could*
have happened--that he didn't hear Scully at first. He knew she had
been calling him for a while, because her voice was urgent now, as
though she were searching for him.
"Mulder!" She lay a hand gently on him arm.
Slowly, he turned to her. "Yeah."
"Are you okay?" The irony of that question didn't escape him, but her
eyes told him that she was serious.
He didn't realize his body had been shaking until it stopped, when he
pulled her into his arms. She held him tightly, but no words passed
between them.
The question had been answered.
The End