Title: Quiet Dinner
Author: babos
Date: August 18, 1998
Rating: PG - Muldertorture and Angst
Archive: anyone who wants it-- just so my name stays on it
Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to FOX Television and to Chris Carter, David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and Mitch Pileggi. I am only borrowing them with thanks and gratitude and respect. They are some of the best characters ever created on TV and that is due to the great talents of the actors and creators. Thanks for all the hard work! Thanks also to the fanfic writers, archivists and readers out there. Special thanks to Rachel, my friend and supporter in the "square state". Love ya, Dudette!

Summary: Mulder and Scully go out for a quiet dinner but, as usual in their lives, even a dinner can't be simple.

Please e-me at br_osen@hotmail.com I love hearing from you. Thanks. Hope you like it.

Quiet Dinner

"Come on, Scully! I 'm starving." Mulder whined. " Let's go to that little Italian place around the corner, my treat, then I 'll give you a ride home."

"Well, Mulder, since my car is in the shop I guess it is a choice between that or taking the bus, so let's go. We seem to be at a stand-still with these reports anyway and I could use a nice Italian salad."

As Mulder pulled the car into a nearby parking space on the street he grinned at Scully. "This place has the best tortellini gorgonzola around. You will love it!"

"Honestly Mulder, I don't know how you can stay so slim the way you eat all that high fat food and junk food." Scully teased.

"High metabolism." he responded with a boyish grin.

As Mulder guided Scully through the door with his hand at the small of her back, he scouted out a table near the back of the restaurant. The hostess wasn't usually on duty this late so he steered Scully to the table. After they were seated a waitress brought them some menus. Mulder noticed that Gina, the waitress, didn't seem to be as friendly and flirty with him as usual. He commented that he liked her new hairstyle and she just smiled at him nervously. Mulder ordered the tortellini without even opening a menu and also picked out a bottle of red wine for he and Scully to share. Scully gave him a glance over the top of her menu.

"Hey, we're off duty! Let's relax." he shrugged in response.

After Scully ordered her dinner she excused herself to go to the Ladies Room. There were only a few other patrons at the tables this late at night. She didn't notice the tension in the air. She was so tired. She just wanted a nice meal, perhaps a bubble bath and then her bed.

At the table Mulder occupied himself by playing with the wax along the sides of the old Chianti bottle candle. Something suddenly caught the corner of his eye and things seemed to all become slow motion. He saw Scully coming out of the restroom and at the same time saw a man in a nearby booth reach quickly and pull something from his side. Instantly Mulder saw that the man had pulled a gun and was aiming it at Scully. Apparently the man had seen her FBI holster under her blazer as she came around the corner. The man took aim just as Scully came around the divider from the restroom. Mulder was closer to Scully than he was to the man so he leaped to push Scully out of the line of fire. The gun went off as Mulder landed on top of his partner. As he was falling Mulder felt a flash of fire on his back then another flash near his ear. The flash then turned to darkness.

"Oh my God! Mulder!" Scully shouted as she carefully crawled out from under his prone body. By this time the man with the gun and his sleazy-looking friend were on their feet and had their guns trained on Scully.

"Back away and put your hands up!" the shooter yelled at Scully. He then reached to take Scully's weapon. He roughly pushed Mulder's unconscious form around so that he could take his gun as well. Scully attempted to approach Mulder but was shoved away by the second man.

"I am going to help my friend!" Scully screamed at the thugs as she started to move toward Mulder again.

The older man looked her over coolly and then flipped his gun toward her and said "Go ahead, but any false moves and I will finish him off."

Before Scully was on the floor near Mulder he groaned and tried to lift his head. He was lying on his stomach and didn't know why. As he moved to roll over the pain in his back reminded him of what had just happened. He also had the mother of all headaches.

"Mulder, stay still. I'm here. Just try not to move too much."

"Scully, what happened? Damn, I hurt." Mulder tried to see Scully but only heard her rustling around with something that sounded like cloth. Then he felt a painful pressure on his back.

"You were playing hero again and ended up with a couple new holes." Scully's voice held a combination of concern, love and admiration. "Damn it, Mulder, we can't even go to dinner without you getting hurt!" she said tenderly as she probed the wound. He tried to squirm under her hands but it was too much effort.

"So, Doc, how does it look?" Mulder said with pained breath. He was also trying to make light of the situation so she wouldn't be so worried. She was right. He was an accident waiting to happen. Why did she stay with him?

"Well, one bullet glanced off that thick skull of yours," she teased softly. "The other is near the left shoulder," she lied. With that, she applied a stronger pressure to try to stop the bleeding. The bullet was lower than shoulder level, closer to the center of his back, but she didn't think he needed to know that, given the situation they were in. It was a serious wound and he needed a hospital... soon.

Scully stood up and moved carefully over to one of the gunmen. "He needs to be in a hospital...NOW," she said in the man's face but not loud enough for Mulder to hear.

"Sorry, lady, but you two kind of screwed up our plans so now this here is a hostage situation instead of a robbery. I guess with two cops in our group we might have a little more to bargain with," the younger man sneered. "Especially if one of 'em is 'knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door'!" He chuckled at his use of the old song lyrics. "That might get their attention."

"We are Federal Agents. The FBI does not bargain with terrorists and he will die if he doesn't get to a hospital now."

"Hey, he called you Doc. You fix him up until we get what we want. Or, well, I guess he'll die. And then so will you. Get him off the floor, he's makin' a mess." said the older shooter.

Scully glared at the man and then mentally weighed their options. She knew Mulder didn't have too many. She also saw that these men were scared and desperate but trying to act tough. She would have to play it carefully to keep everyone alive. She quickly looked around at the other occupants. An older couple, the man in a wheelchair, had terror in their eyes and the waitress who seemed stunned by the scene. She assumed the cook must have gotten out through a back door when the shots were fired. The waitress looked like a deer caught in headlights. But Scully would need her help if she was going to help Mulder and get them all out of this mess.

Scully bent back down to Mulder's side. She felt his pulse and listened carefully to his breathing. Then she checked the tablecloth she had placed over his wound and spoke gently into his left ear.

"Hey, partner, how ya doin'?"

"Been better. How 'bout you?" he said, trying to look at her from the side.

"We're going to get you off this cold floor. Think you'd like a change of scenery?" Scully did not want to move him at all. She was very afraid that the bullet in his back would do more damage as he was carried. She did want to check for an exit wound but was pretty sure the bullet was still in him because of the blood pattern on the floor. If it had gone straight through he would have been bleeding from the front as well. More blood loss but easier to deal with than leaving the bullet inside for any length of time, especially with the possibility that the slightest movement would create more damage.

"Yeah, I am getting tired of counting these floor tiles." Mulder said. He wasn't looking forward to being moved but tried to keep his fears hidden. Scully had enough to deal with.

Scully looked over at the two men and resisted asking them for help carrying Mulder. She figured they would be too rough with him and it could kill Mulder if the bullet moved. She looked at the waitress. She was the only one to ask. The older couple were still in shock but the waitress seemed to be starting to focus on the situation.

"We need your help, Gina. I need you to take his legs while I take his upper body. We can put him on that small couch over in the lounge area."

Gina looked at Scully as if she were asking for the moon. Then she looked at the man bleeding on the floor. The man had eaten at the restaurant a few times and had always been friendly and polite. She had pondered this Mr. Mulder on several occasions. He was very attractive but had the saddest eyes. Gina had also seen what had happened. She saw how the man had pushed his friend out of the line of fire and ended up with a bullet in his back. She had to help him somehow. She moved over to the fallen agent and Scully, determined to help.

Scully brought the couch closer to Mulder so they wouldn't have to carry him as far. Even though Scully was small she was strong and Mulder was tall but lanky. Scully seemed to find super human strength from the need to help him. They gently lifted Mulder's feet and then, trying to move his torso as little as possible, they managed to get him to the sofa which was much too short for him.

Mulder tried to contain his groans and bit his lower lip until it bled as he was lifted and gently placed on the couch. Scully placed him on his side with his back to the back of the couch. She wanted to use his body weight for pressure against the wound. When he was situated she instructed Gina to get some clean towels and some water and any first aid supplies they might have.

Mulder was barely conscious as Scully placed a couple tablecloths over him for warmth. She listened to his breathing again. It was strained but not wet sounding so she was quite sure the bullet had, thankfully, not punctured his lung. Then she checked his pulse (weak but steady) and tried to look at his pupils. When she opened the right one near the bullet that grazed the side of his face, he roused and looked at her with a weak grin.

"Here's another fine mess I've gotten us into, eh, Ollie?" he said in a very bad Stan Laurel impression. Scully almost broke down in tears as she flashed on a memory of sitting with Mulder watching an old Laurel and Hardy film. She was broken from her reverie when he coughed. She held onto him through the coughing fit so that he wouldn't move too much.

Gina returned with a blanket, some water in a bowl and a small first aid kit.

"I took a first aid class a few months ago. I hope I can help you." she said.

"I am sure you can, Gina. Are there some bandages in that kit? Maybe some gauze and tape? We need to make a pressure bandage." Scully said to the young woman.

Gina dug through the kit while Scully replaced the tablecloths with the blanket to keep Mulder warm. He was fighting to stay conscious, staring into space across the room. She could tell that even in his pain he was trying to come up with a plan.

"Mulder, we need to pull you forward a bit so that I can check your wound and apply this bandage. Do you think you can handle that?" Scully said softly.

He didn't say anything but nodded slightly. Scully instructed Gina to quickly take the folded gauze and place it against Mulder's injury as Scully held him forward. Scully took him by the shoulders and gently leaned him forward. Gina tenderly pressed the gauze at his back then Scully laid him back against it. Mulder managed to only whimper through the movement but Scully knew it had been very painful. She stroked back the hair on his damp forehead when they finished and cooed to him, "It's ok, it will be fine..."

Then Scully put some water on fresh cloth napkin and cleaned the bloody spot near his temple. A little different angle and that wound would have killed him. He scrunched up his face when the cold cloth touched the injury. He tried to bat her hand away but his arm was under his body and already it felt like it was falling asleep from his weight of being on top of it.

"Scully, can you help me get my arm out? It's cutting off my circulation being under me this way."

"I don't want to move you too much, Mulder, but we can try. Are you ready?" she said.

With that he leaned back a little more so that she could get his bottom arm out from under him. The sudden jolt of pain against his back made him gasp out loud and he almost passed out.

"You OK?" Scully said with great concern. He could barely focus on Scully's tender voice.

"Yeah." he said with a small smile. Now his arm was sticking out straight from below his body but it was a little more comfortable, at least for a while. "Got any ideas on how to get out of this ?" he asked quietly.

"We'll figure something out." Scully said reassuringly as she stroked his hair. She wished she felt as confident as she sounded.

"OK, Doc. Enough with the Florence Nightingale stuff. Get back over here. The FBI wants to talk to you." shouted the older terrorist.

During the time that Scully had been helping Mulder the two thugs had contacted the police and told them what was happening. Since two FBI agents were involved in this hostage scene the police called the FBI. AD Skinner found out who the agents were and, after cursing about the way Mulder always seemed to find himself in dangerous situations, went down to the scene. He demanded to speak to Scully when he was told by the hostage taker that "the guy Fibbie ain't doin' too good".

Scully explained to Skinner how Mulder had been shot and that he was in serious need of care that she could not provide. The terrorists did not want to release the agents because they figured the agents were their ticket out. They did agree to release the older couple. Their demands for a million dollars, a helicopter to the airport and private jet to Brazil proved to everyone that these two had not really planned on this becoming a hostage situation. It was a robbery gone bad - very bad.

That the hostage takers did not really seem to have a plan was probably a good sign that they would negotiate. They seemed very nervous and confused about what to do. They had been arguing between themselves. They hadn't paid too much attention to Scully and Mulder.

Scully went back to Mulder after the older terrorist had yanked the phone from her hand as she tried to tell Skinner more details of Mulder's condition. Scully took another clean napkin, wet it, and wiped Mulder's damp face. He roused again and looked at her through bleary eyes. She could tell he was in a great deal of pain and felt so helpless not being able to do anything more for him.

"Mulder, I need to check your back again. I will be as gentle as possible, OK?" she said as she leaned him forward slightly. He grimaced but made no sound. She was relieved to see that the bleeding seemed to have stopped. Thank God for small favors, she whispered to herself.

"Scully, I have the gun in my ankle holster. Do you think you can get it without them noticing?" he said in her ear as she leaned him back again. She looked at him in surprise and nodded. Before she had the opportunity to work her way down to his ankle the younger gunman came over. Scully could see that he was very wound up and looking for release. He yanked Scully roughly away from Mulder and brought his gun at point blank range to Mulder's head. Scully screamed as did the young waitress. Mulder just looked at the man, trying to remain calm and keep eye contact. He knew that it might freak the guy out but also knew that the eye contact would help the criminal see Mulder as a real person. The man held the gun for several shaky moments as if he were going to shoot Mulder right between the eyes but then he pulled back the weapon and started to turn away. Before he finished his turn, he jerked back and slammed Mulder across the head with the gun out of frustration. The blow opened up a big gash along Mulder's forehead and sent the agent into unconsciousness. The gunman chuckled and turned away, his frustration released for a while.

Scully could barely contain herself. She wanted to grab the gun and blow these two assholes to Kingdom Come. She managed to control her emotions and rushed to Mulder's side. He was still out so she cleaned his new injury as much as she could and replaced the blanket. Then she checked his pulse and breathing. He was getting weaker and the blow to the head was just an added danger. They were running out of time. She had to act. The waitress came over to see if she could help and Scully tried to communicate with her eyes alone. It had so often been her communication system with Mulder. Scully made eye contact with the waitress and then asked her verbally to get some more clean water for this new cut. She also signaled with her eyes for the waitress to move out of the way as much as possible. The waitress seemed to understand and moved toward the service area of the restaurant to get another water pitcher.

Scully discreetly pushed the blanket off of Mulder's prone form and then pretended she was just replacing it around his legs. As she moved down by his ankle she carefully lifted his pant leg enough to reach for the small pistol in the ankle holster and smuggled it into her hand. Luckily, the goons were again in a heated argument and didn't notice her movements. Quickly she swung around, took aim and fired at the younger, more volatile punk. She couldn't chance a mistake and hit him square in the chest. He fell forward onto the table,dead instantly. Before the other gunman could react she screamed, "Drop it or you're next!"

The man cautiously held up his gun and set it on the table. He had fear in his eyes as he looked at this small, tough woman. He knew he didn't have a chance. Scully kept her gun trained on him as she slowly approached the table and took the weapon. When she had it tucked into her jacket she pulled her cuffs, told him to stand and cuffed him.

By this time the police and FBI agents outside had stormed the building. AD Skinner found Scully over by Mulder's side. She was caressing his battered face as his eyelids fluttered open.

"It's over, Mulder. Everything will be fine now. Just take it easy. The paramedics are coming in to take you to the hospital." she cooed gently as she stroked his soft hair and held his hand.

"Sc... Scully?" he had a bit of trouble focusing on her. Man, he hurt... everywhere. He could see the worry in Scully's beautiful, loving face. He was so in love with her. He wanted this to be over so he could kiss that face and hold both of her hands and ...

"Yes, Mulder, I'm here. You are going to be fine. Just hang in there. OK?"

"Scully..." he croaked. "Scully, I'm still hungry." he said with a sly grin which was followed by a grimace at the pain it brought to his face. He let himself take comfort in her voice and drift off to blessed unconsciousness as the paramedics placed an oxygen mask over his face. Scully smiled tenderly at him and held his hand all the way to the hospital.

He would be fine.

the end

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