Part 9a By Jen (JenR13@aol.com) She had already picked up the phone when she remembered it wasn’t working. She walked outside of her motel room and saw a maid coming out of another room. "Excuse me?" Scully asked. "Do you have a heating pad?" The maid reached inside of her cart. "Here," she said, smiling as she handed it to Scully. "Thank you." Scully walked back to Mulder’s room. As she walked in she saw Mulder wiggling himself out from underneath the covers. "Mulder," she scolded, in a tone that indicated that she expected him to disobey her, "We had a deal." "I’m so coold, Scully," Mulder pleaded, his eyes staring straight at her. "Well, I did get a heating pad . . ." She held it up as evidence. "But if you’re not going to listen to me. . . ." Mulder saw the determined glare in Scully’s eyes. He really wanted that heating pad. "Okay, okay," he wheezed, "You win." He got himself out from under the covers. Scully smiled. "That’s better." She found a plug and plugged it in. She placed it on top of Mulder’s chest and turned it onto a low setting "This should help." She settled into a chair beside Mulder’s bedside. Mulder turned his head slowly so he was facing Scully. "What?" Scully asked, when she noticed him staring at her. "You look distracted," Mulder said softly. "Did something happen on the case?" he blurted out. "Mulder, the case is going nowhere. Our witness, Lynn Johnson, and her friend, Sarah Marks, are dead." Scully regretted telling him this. She didn’t need him get all riled up in the case. He needed rest. And sure enough, Mulder, taking all of his strength, sat up. Mulder thought as pain radiated through his chest and he had another coughing spell. After that passed, and with Scully watching him under very concerned eyes, he continued to press on with the case. "They’re dead," he rasped, "JW got to them. We have to find him." "_You_ are not going anywhere," Scully said, gently pushing him back down on the bed. "But Scully, what about JW?" Scully eyed the window. "Mulder, the phones are out. There is 3 feet of snow on the ground and at least another foot expected to arrive soon. We couldn’t go anywhere if we tried. We’re lucky the power hasn’t gone out." As soon as Scully said that, as if on cue, the lights and TV went dead. "Shit," Scully muttered under her breath. "Power’s out," Mulder said softly. "Great observation," Scully said, with a bit of sarcasm. She got out of her chair. "Mulder, I have this feeling that JW left town. He may have killed those two girls to silence them, but I doubt he’ll stick around. I should know. I dated the guy." Scully paced the room in the dark. "So, he left town. We should track him down, Scully." "No, Mulder. We don’t even know what we are looking for. A needle in a haystack perhaps? Skinner is not going to approve a country wide search. We haven’t learned much, Mulder. No more than we began with. And in the end, it looks like that’s what I may have to write in my report." Mulder opened his mouth to continue, but another cough interrupted him. Scully looked at him with a worried expression. "Right now, you need some rest," Scully said, taking her seat beside him again. "Hopefully when you wake up, the snow will be gone and we can get the hell out of here and get you to a hospital." Mulder nodded. He hated to admit it, but Scully was right. He was in no condition to search for JW. The information he had learned from him was sketchy and not entirely clear. Unless they got a lead, this case was going to be another one of those closed unsolved X-Files. And Mulder had plenty of those in the filing cabinets in the basement. Part 10 By Lauren (JRDG1013@aol.com) 9:49 p.m. Mulder's motel room Mulder must've done a pretty good job of feigning sleep because Scully had finally left him alone and gone back to her own room. He cracked open an eye and surveyed the room. The lights had been turned off (thank God, his head was pounding) but the adjoining door was left open and a sliver of light fell into the room. The next thing he noticed was his burning skin. He groped around and switched off the heating pad then let it slide to the ground. The blankets he had wanted so desperately minutes ago were now kicked violently away. He was so hot. 10:01 p.m. Riverside Motel Scully opened the adjoining door a bit wider to squeeze through. She sat gingerly on the side of Mulder's bed and listened to his breathing. He was definitely asleep now, not faking like he had been when she'd left. She knew he was faking but decided to let it pass; she knew he hated to be babied but she'd done nothing but that for the entire day. Cautiously, as to not wake him up, Scully laid a hand on his forehead. Damn, hot. She pulled her hand away. < In two hours he can have some more Motrin. Not that it's doing anything, anyway.> She noticed he had thrown off the heating pad, and probably for the best. It had put the burn in his chest at bay for a while but was just a nuisance to the fever at this point. She found the pad of paper and pen the motel leaves for it's guests on the dresser. Mulder, she wrote, I'm going to try to find a working phone. I promise I won't leave the motel's premises. You follow me, I'll personally slaughter you on the spot. I'll be back by 10:30. Scully. Outside was absolutely frigid. Knives of cold stabbed her exposed cheeks and nose. The power had come back on, and she could only hope that the phones would be next. Through the flurry of snow she found the sign. LOBBY THIS WAY ----> 10:56 p.m. Riverside Motel, Mulder's room He awoke with a start. something told him. "Scully," the word barely emitted from his parched throat. He cleared his throat, phlegm rumbled somewhere near the hollow of his neck, in his trachea. He choked on it, each cough burning deeply in his chest; he felt so bad he was ready to drop back on the pillow and die... but he had to find Scully first. Pushing off of the bed he stood shakily and made his to the con-joining doors. Stuck to the door with Scotch tape was a note. Mulder, I'm going to try to find a working phone. I promise I won't leave the motel's premises. You follow me, I'll personally slaughter you on the spot. I'll be back by 10:30. Scully. He squinted down at his watch. 11:16. He leaned on one elbow on the dresser, suddenly not able to support himself. Common sense managed to push through his fever induced fog. CALL THE LOBBY. His hand fumbled on the phone. "Hello," a cheerful voice greeted him. "Riverside Motel, how may I help you?" He cleared his throat. "Have you.. my... my partner.. where is she?" "Excuse me?" Mulder realized his inquiry had been terribly jumbled and felt bad for the perplexed operator. "Agent Scully." Leaning the phone against his shoulder, he dropped onto the bed. "Sir?" "Have you seen my partner Scully??" he demanded, suddenly outraged. "She was s'posed to..." He coughed violently. "S'posed to be back at... at..." His wonderfully eidetic memory couldn't remember the time. "A long time ago." A rude dial tone rang in his head. He dropped the phone and rubbed his temples. his tired mind told him. "Shut up," he mumbled. He fell back, his torso lying flat on the bed, the other half of him slowly slipping off. 11:35 p.m. In a car Scully thought. She had been thinking up interesting ways to describe her current situation for the past half hour. After a short trek through the snow, Scully had been pleased to find the lobby phones working. Her brow had furrowed. She had dropped a coin into the phone and had raised her hand to press the first number when she felt a hand on her arm. She spun on her heel to see John Weston staring ferociously at her. "You ruined my fun," he growled. And now she was locked in the back of John Weston's car while he drove in circles around the small town, the snow stopping him from going anywhere far. she realized, <'cause he's passed out in the warm hotel room.> She shivered. She remembered how cold the Y's basement had been. she repeated in her mind. Maybe then she'd figure out a way to escape and get rid of this guy for good. 11:36 Riverside Motel Mulder was shivering uncontrollably. He had somehow managed to slip onto the floor during the few minutes he's been asleep and was now incredibly sore from the impossible position he was heaped in. Scully, he remembered, disappeared. His mind said defiantly. He pushed hard on the bed and found himself slowly moving upward. Levitation? He contemplated. He spotted them on the radiator across the room and painstakingly made his way over. Somewhere in the un-deliriously part of his mind, he knew sweatpants and a sweatshirt were going to do him nothing in the blizzard outside but unfortunately the hallucinating portion of his mind had maximum control at this point. He slipped one bare foot into his boot, ice stinging his skin. He glanced out the window and saw Samantha. He hastily stuck his other foot in the remaining boot and hurried outside. Samantha was gone. The little bit of common sense left in him shut the door (leaving the key inside) and walked off into oblivion. "Scully??" he rasped to the parking lot. "Scully? Sam...." Part 10a By Jen (JenR13@aol.com) Mulder walked out into the dark still air, snow whirling around him as he walked. "Sam? Scully?" he said weakly into the still air. Then she appeared. Not Scully, but Samantha. She stood simply in front of Mulder, looking the same way did the night she disappeared when she was eight. Mulder blinked, thinking he was seeing things, which in his state, was very possible, but the image did not disappear. Samantha smiled at him, and turned around waving at him to follow her. "Sam?" Mulder repeated, but got no answer. Instead Samantha started running. "Sam!" Mulder called, and forgetting his illness for a minute, he ran after her. He was out of breath, his head was spinning, his chest was hurting, and his feet were freezing, but he kept running. He didn’t know how long he ran for. He didn’t care. It was Sam. Even if it was all in his head, he didn’t care; he didn’t want to let go. "Samantha!!" Mulder called again. He had to stop running to catch his breath. His head started spinning. He put his hand to head, trying to stop the spinning. He blinked and looked around. Samantha was gone. Out of sight. In place of her he saw a building. He looked up. It was the Y. "Scully??!!" Mulder yelled as loud as he could, and it was not very loud at all. he thought; his gut feeling told him. Mulder just looked at the building. "Thanks," he whispered toward the sky as he walked unsteadily toward the building. 11:46 p.m. The Y Scully knew at once where JW had taken her. The Y. She recognized the stairs he carried her down as she tried to struggle but to no avail. < It’s so cold down here> she thought, bringing her thoughts back to cold. But suddenly something that sounded like one of her partner’s way out there theories didn’t sound so bad. Scully searched for a heat source, but at that moment JW put her down. "Home sweet home," he said with an evil smile. He put her down in a chair, tying her down to it so tightly, Scully could barely move an inch. "Dana, running away was not a bad idea, I *had* intended to leave town soon, but I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye first," JW said in a sickly sweet way. "Yeah, I’ll bet," Scully said evenly, not giving in to the fear he expected her to have. She searched the room for a possible escape. She found none. she thought. JW had turned away for her and was doing something at the only table in the room. < If my theory is right, then all I need in something warm, something like. . . > Scully’s eyes scanned the room again. Her eyes came to rest upon something near the door. Something that someone had most likely accidentally dropped. They were far from her. < If only I could get near them. . . .> JW took that opportunity to turn around, with a syringe in hand. "This time there is no partner to shot it away," he said, bring the needle closer to her arm. Scully eyes narrowed and the needle came closer and closer until it was only an inch away.. . . . "Clank!" The sound caused JW to turn around. Scully took that opportunity to kick the needle out of JW’s hand. It fell to the floor. Scully turned around and spotted a very unsteady Mulder at the door. His eyes were glazed with fever and the clank they had just heard was the sound of Mulder dropping his gun to the floor. He now bent now, slowly, coughing on the way, and retrieved it. He pointed it with both hands toward JW. His hands shook and he looked as if he was going to drop the gun again. "Agent Mulder, nice to see you again," JW said, smiling sweetly at Mulder. "As always, charmed," Mulder said sarcastically, his gun still pointing at JW. "Agent Mulder, shooting me isn’t going to do anything," JW said matter-of-factly. "It will for me," Mulder replied, his voice cracking. "Mulder, the cold. He lives in the cold. No heat. Maybe that’s it. Look down at your feet," Scully called out and JW turned around as if to silence her. Mulder looked down at his feet. Matches. Mulder was in such a sickened state he had trouble putting together what Scully had said. He scooped up the matches and with a little difficulty, he lit one. He lifted it up, but accidentally dropped it by JW’s feet. JW seemed to move back. Mulder thought. He lit another match and threw it (well, kinda dropped it) closer to JW this time. The man moved closer toward Scully and away from Mulder. He lit another match and grabbed a piece of paper (lucky for him it was there) and lit it on fire. JW moved back more, not saying anything. Mulder walked toward Scully, paper in hand. "Good partner, now how about untying me?" Scully asked. "I guess I really have no choice," he teased, and coughed. "How sweet," JW said, annoyed. Mulder struggled with the rope, but he managed (and he wasn’t sure how) to untie Scully still keeping paper in hand! Scully took the paper from him as soon as he untied her. She smiled and walked closer to JW, waving paper in hand. "Maybe someday you’ll know why I dumped you," she said evenly. She removed her cell phone from her coat pocket and dialed the police. No sooner had she finished when Mulder asked, "Is it over?" Scully nodded, fire still near JW. "Yep, Mulder, I think it’s wrapped up." "Good," Mulder whispered right before he passed out cold on the concrete floor. Part 10b By Lauren (JRDG1013@aol.com) 6:22 p.m. Two nights later at the Hospital His vision was beginning to clear but he wasn't so sure he liked what he was seeing. Scully's concerned face came into view, her hand reached up to its usual place on his forehead. He vaguely remembered chasing Samantha 2 miles through a blizzard. "Hey there," she whispered, stroking his hair. He blinked trying to focus his eyes. "Here." She held out a tall glass of water. "Water." The rasping voice stated. He reached out but found he didn't have the strength to take it. Scully put the rim up to his lips and he drank slowly, remembering what had happened the last time he had drank too quickly. When he was done she placed the cup back on the table by the bed. Hazel orbs flicked, studying her face. "What day?" Mulder asked, a hand unconsciously rubbing his throat. "Tuesday. You've been out for a while. The paramedics had to go down 6 flights of stairs to get you in the Y's basement. The medical staff in this town is going to be slightly perturbed at you for the next few months at least. You'd better hope they forgive and forget around here." "Mm." He stared blankly out the window. "When do--" He coughed hoarsely and she could still hear the rasp in chest painfully obvious. "Go home?" She laughed. "Not this soon, Mister. Do you have any idea what you did??" He shook his head. "Well, I'll start from the beginning. Your first bright move was to go outside in a sweatsuit with no socks under your boots, I might add. The boots were on the wrong feet too, if you're interested in details. You then proceeded to run through one of the worst blizzards this area has ever seen two miles to the YMCA with a hundred and four fever and a nasty case of pneumonia." He bit his lip, swallowed sluggishly. "One oh four..." he repeated. "Mm hm. Then you saved my ass, oh yeah, thank you for that, by striking a match. The police came soon after and arrested John Weston and they were followed by the paramedics. I must say you scared the living shit out of some poor young nurse. I think it was her first day on the job. You insisted that she was an alien and could she give please give you directions to Burger King because you lost your little sister." His eyebrows raised past his hairline. "I..." She nodded, lips pressed into a small smile. "You." "The End" Thanks for reading till the end and remember all feedback goes to Jen and Lauren at JenR13@aol.com and JRDG1013@aol.com. :-)