Sister, Sister I by Talia

Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997
Subject: Sister, Sister I by Talia

Sister, Sister 1/5
By Talia :-D
HyperTalia@aol.com

Classification- XRA, A, A, and yet more A!

Keywords- Mulder/Scully romance

Rating- PG13 for language and violence

Spoilers- Deep Throat, Anasazi, Paper Clip and late fourth season.

Disclaimer- Mulder, Scully, and the rest of da gang are all the
product of the fertile scheming mind of Chris Carter, along with 1013
productions and FOX. Any struck nerves were not intended, but
nonetheless apologized for. Don't sue me, s'il vous plait, I'm only
playing, and I'm only 15 so it would be futile <evil grin> Anyone
that doesn't look familiar belongs to me.

Summary- Mulder and Scully find themselves entangled in a dangerous
web of lies - and feelings - that they are more connected to than
they think.

Note- This story takes place in the wonderful world in which there is
no Gethsemane and no cancer. Or, since Mulder lives, you could place
this in the early fifth season, after Mulder returns with a
miraculous cure for his partner :-)

E-mail? Yes? Please? Some feedback on this one would really be
appreciated. BTW, I shall be in Europe from the 16th of July to late
August, 1997, so if you send me comments I will respond when I get
back, so please be patient. I hope everyone has a good summer! Well,
um, this idea seems sorta risky, so remember that I'm taking a dive
here. So whip out your hankeys and fasten your seatbelts... it's
gonna be a bumpy ride...

Yet another note- Part one of this is rather Mulder/Scully less, and
I know this can be annoying, but I would encourage you to at least
skim it because it is VERY important to the story, and you won't have
a clue what's going on when M and S DO get there.

* * * * *
Sister, Sister 1/?
by Talia :-D
HyperTalia@aol.com
* * * * *

With a grin the curly-haired boy flashed his crooked teeth with a
smile and tossed his cards down on the table. "Four aces."

A scowl crossed the girl's face. "Geezit, Fred, you'se got to be
cheatin'."

"I don't cheat, honey." Fred rubbed his eyes with a dirty finger and
shuffled the tattered cards. "Is just that you can't play."

"Nuh-uh," shot out a voice from the other side of the small room. The
figure that was huddled next to a dim lamp trying to read a book
flashed a pearly white smile at the two. "Check his sleeve, Elly.
He's got 'em all hidden up his sleeve."

"Shut yer mouth, Weeza," Fred growled, but by then Elly had seized
his arm, cards pouring out of his sleeve as she did so. Crimson
flooded Elly's freckled face, peeking through a fine coat of dust.
"Freddy, you cheatin' son of a -" She hurled herself across the table.
Fred went down with an 'umph.' He grabbed Elly's braid and yanked at
it. She, in turn, shrieked and clawed at his face.

Weeza threw down her book in disgust and stood up. "Would you two be
QUIET?!" Skinny arms folded across her body, she radiated a superior
air even if she could not have been more than nine years old. "If
ya's don't stop yer squabblin', I'll go 'n' tell Alsie you's been
gamblin'."

Fred shoved Elly off of him and rose, face darkening as he approached
Weeza. "Ya can't gamble if ya don't have any MONEY, chickenshit..."

Weeza's chin jutted out defiantly, and she turned and banged open the
rickety screen door. "AL-SIE!!!" Upon recieving no reply, she darted
outside, Fred looming after her. "Ya's ain't gonna tell Alsie,
chickenshit."

Weeza shrieked and giggled, running down the whitewashed steps into
the moonlight. "Alsie!" She dodged around the corner of the house,
with Fred and Elly close behind .

Alsie was sitting on the fence behind the house, staring up at the
moon. Her back was to the children, framed in the milky light. Her
dark hair, thicker and more unruly than Elly's, was done in the same
fat braid that hung almost past her waist. Her hazel eyes were sharp
and thoughtful as she turned to watch them. A tiny ash haired boy was
squashed into her side, sucking two fingers loudly. Weeza skidded and
collided with the fence.

"Alsie," she gasped, dodging behind her, "Alsie, hide me!!"

Fred and Elly scowled as they slowed, defeated. Alsie untangled her
tall lanky frame as she stood, grinning at them. Even without the
boots that she was currently wearing, Alsie was much, much taller
than them. The little boy hopped down along with her, eyes round as
he stared at the others. Alsie tried to wipe the good natured grin
from her face and failed.

Weeza was glowing triumphantly. "They'se wuz fightin', Alsie. And
they'se wuz playin' poker, too. They wuz gamblin'." Weeza spat the
last word out so vehemantly that Alsie just had to smile.

"Yer such a brat, Weeza," Elly protested, rubbing her arm where it
had collided with Fred's fist moments before.

"No I ain't," Weeza protested, but Alsie cut in. "Alright, it's
enough already. I get the picture. Fred and Elly, no more playin'
poker in front of yer sister here, and Weeza, no more complainin' to
me unless they's playin' with money, ya hear?" They nodded, Elly and
Fred suppressing smiles as they had obviously gotten the upper hand
in this argument..

Alsie grabbed Tim's hand. "C'mon, we best be gettin' inside."

The children followed Alsie inside. As the door closed behind them
Elly called, "I'se gonna go wash up, 'kay?"

"'Yep," Alsie called absentmindedly glancing around the small room
that took up the first floor of the house. It was dark. Alsie hated
the dark. But it would continue to be dark until she figured out how
to pay the electric bill.

Weeza scrunched up next to the little lamp again, trying to read.
Alsie tilted her head. "Pride and Prejudice."

"Lordy Weeza," she said aloud. Weeza glanced up at her, annoyed that
she had interrupted the reading. Alsie grinned. "Dontcha want a
flashlight? Ya's gonna kill yer eyes."

Weeza hesitated, but complied, and moments later was scrunched back
in the same position, holding the flashlight, pointing it at the book.
Alsie felt a surge of affection for the little girl, countered when
she remembered her dirty face and not very hospitable surroundings.
Damn the Tyrens for having to bring up such great kids in this place.
It wasn't fair. They deserved more.

"Alsie?" It was Elly, in her nightgown, long brown hair wet and
glistening. "Can ya braid m' hair?"

"I sure can," Alsie smiled, sitting down in a chair next to the
window that shone with moonlight. She patted on the ground in front
of her. "Sit, girl."

Elly sat crosslegged, handing her a rough wooden comb. Alsie set to
work undoing the tangles.

Stretched out on the floor, Fred yawned. Weeza put the flashlight
away so she could watch. Tim clambered up on Alsie's lap.

They all watched as skillfully she braided Elly's long hair, using
the moonlight only as a guide. Weeza stood and scrunched up next to
Elly, leaning against Alsie's knee. "Alsie," she said presently, "How
old d'ya think ya are?"

"Shut up, Weeza," Elly hissed, but Alsie smiled. "I dunno, Weez. How
old dya think I look?"

Weeza peered up at Alsie's face. "Eighteen," she said finally. Fred
snorted. "More like forty." Alsie raied an eyebrow. He grinned. "Jus
kiddin', Als."

Elly was staring out into the darkness in front of her thoughtfully
as Alsie worked on her hair. "Does it ever bother ya? Not knowin', I
mean. Not knowin' much 'bout yerself?"

Alsie frowned slightly she divided up Elly's thick hair into sections.
"Oh, I dunno. It used to. I used to think I could 'member somethin'.
But now..." she shrugged. "I ain't sure 'n' I want to . I have ya'll
now, don't I? I'm happy with the way things are."

Alsie had planned those words carefully. In truth, she really didn't
want to know about herself. About her real family and her parents and
the first... fifteen? years of her life. Sometimes things would come
back, flashes in dreams or senses of deja vu. And she was always
scared. Frightened. She heard yelling. Sometimes she was yelling.
Pain.

At that thought, Alsie let one hand flutter to her stomach. The scars.
They were there, and always would be. She didn't know what they
meant. She didn't know what they were the result of. But they were
there.

There was a time that she had silently wished, more than anything, to
know who she was. But she had given that up long ago. Maybe it was
better not to remember some things. She had her own life now, a new
one, and even though it was anything but easy she was happy. Content.

The children had all fallen silent, looking out the window up at the
moon as Alsie always did. She didn't really need to think twice about
what they were thinking about. Weeza's next words confirmed that.

"Alsie," she said in a soft scared voice, "Alsie, momma ain't comin'
back, is she?"

Alsie had been dreading this for a while and knew that Weeza already
knew the answer to the question. "No, pumpkin. Yer momma ain't comin'
back."

Tim stuck his thumb in his mouth and buried his face in Alsie's
shoulder, closing his eyes as if it was painful for him to hear her
say that. "But ya don't gotta worry," she went on, "cuz I'm gonna
take care o' you. Yer momma had some..." she paused, "problems.
Problems that she couldn't really solve. So she left me to take care
of y'all."

Bringing home drunken boyfriends who beat her kids? That was a
problem. Leaving them home alone for days for no reason? That was a
problem. Not taking any interest at all in her own children? That was
a problem. Calling Alsie to baby-sit, and then never coming back?
That was definitely a problem.

Alsie finished the braid and patted Elly's head. "Dontcha worry, any
of you. We'll find a way, somehow."

They were all staring out at the moon now, silent. Weeza finally said,
"I think I'd like ya to be my new momma."

Alsie smiled, hugging Tim. She looked over at Fred, and her heart
skipped a beat. He was lying across the floor, his head propped up in
his chin. At twelve, he was tall with freckles and brown hair the
same color of Elly's, though in the shadow it looked darker.
Something hit Alsie suddenly, a sudden flash and torrent of emotions
when she looked at him. Elly heard her sharp intake of breath and
turned to look at her. "What's wrong?"

Alsie took another deep breath. "Nothing." she hugged Tim again.
"Nothing at all."

* * * * *

A loud crash hurtled Alsie out of her deep sleep. She jumped in her
chair, nearly sending Tim tumbling out of her lap. Shaking him awake,
she stood and dashed to the window. The others were beside her,
tiredly rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

"What wuz that, Alsie?" Fred asked, peering out into the darkness. It
was still night, but a thin streak of light across the horizon said
that day would be coming soon.

"I dunno," she whispered, when suddenly a huge flame sprang from the
forest in the distance. **Could it...?** "I dunno," she repeated.
"But we'se gonna find out." Grinning, she pulled on a sweater. Elly
stared at her. "You crazy?"

"Come on, Elly," she insisted. "It coulda been a plane or somethin'.
They might be needing our help."

It only took moments to get ready, and then they stepped out into the
chilly early morning air. It rushed over Alsie invigoratingly, adding
a rush of adrenaline. She didn't know why, but...

"Dya think it could've been a flyin' saucer?" Fred jumped in a
puddle as they started off into the woods.

"Naw," Weeza scoffed. "Ain't no such thing."

"Alsie says there is," Fred said, slyly glancing in her direction.
"Dontcha, Alsie?"

Alsie was silent, gripping Tim's hand as they made thier way through
the dense forest. Though they couldn't see in the darkness, her face
was sheet white. In the distance her eye had just caught a glimpse of
a light. A pinkish light. It reminded her of something... something
that scared her...

She stopped, peering breathlessly through the trees. "Elly," she said,
"I think ya better go on home. 'N' take yer brothers and sisters.
I'll come back in a bit, okay?" Without saying anything more, she let
go of Tim's hand and took off ahead, walking briskly and insistantly.

Elly stared after her. "What in the hell wuz that?"

Fred shrugged and started walking after Alsie. "I duwno, but I'm
gonna go 'n' find out."

Elly grabbed his wrist. "Fred, no! Alsie said to go home." Fred gave
her a look.

"Come on, Elly," he whined. "I wanna see it. Alsie might need our
help."

"Alsie doesn't need no one's help," Elly replied stoutly, but Fred
and Weeza had already started after her. Sighing, Elly looked at Tim.
"Tim, ya stay here, ya hear? I'm gonna be right back. I just gotta
git Fred and Weeza, okay?" Tim nodded, sucking his fingers.

The closer Alsie got, the faster she walked, her breath ragged and
hard. She barely had any knowledge of where she was, but was driven
by the unspoken need to see this 'thing.' She didn't know why. She
just did.

A twig snapped farther behind her, but she ignored it. Just the kids
back on their way home.

The light shone brightly now from between the trees, coming from a
clearing. Alsie knew this clearing, she had come here sometimes with
Buddy. They had always gone in the cave whenever it rained and they
were out here. That meant that she was about a mile and a half from
the house. Suddenly Alsie broke into a run, ignoring the branches
that whipped at and stung her face and the undergrowth that made her
stumble.

She ran up a hill, gasping at every step, and darting behind a tree
once she got there. And she stared.

In the middle of the clearing, a huge craft was sticking up out of
the ground. Gasses and lights were being given off from it, leaving
the surroundings in a pinkish haze. The tress directly around the
clearing were charred.

But that wasn't what held Alsie's attention. It was the people.

If you could call them people. They were everywhere, about a hundred
of them, scurrying about, agitated. Most were lying motionless on the
ground. Some were being carried by others. They were moving out into
the woods across from Alsie.

Small, skinny, with huge heads and blank eyes that took up half of
their face. Skin with a grayish hue. They were jabbering to one
another, but their mouths did not move. Alsie could hear them inside
her head.

A twig snapped again, this time directly behind her, and Alsie spun
around to see the kids coming up the hill to her. "What the hell are
you doing?" she hissed. "I told ya to get one home!!!"

Fred clambered towards her. "We thought that ya could use our h-" he
stopped, staring at the scene in front of him. His face grew pale and
for a second Alsie thought he might faint. Weeza opened her mouth to
scream, but Alsie clapped a hand over her mouth. "Shhh," she
whispered. "Just watch."

They watched.

* * * * *

It always took a lot to get Colonol McCormick moving. He was a man
that liked his sleep, and was angry if someone disturbed it. So it
was only natural that he answered the phone in the early morning
hours of that day by yelling.

What he heard on the other end, however, made him jump out of bed
within moments. Now here he was, shouting orders in the military
truck as it hurtled towards the middle of nowhere with dawn just
beginning to show it's face.

McCormick recalled the phone call he got, and the terror that it had
sent through him.

"Code red 626. Repeat, code red 626."

"What?" he had rolled over sleepily. "Who is this? What is this
bullshit?"

"This it Luitenant Lawrence. We have a code red 626 twenty miles
south from you, Colonol."

McCormick sat up. "Twenty miles? Do you mean--"

"Yes, I do." The Luitenant was agitated. "We need a team out there
right away."

"Did you shoot it?"

"Of course we shot it!"

"Was there a spill?"

"A spill?" The Luitenant gave a high pitched laugh. "Yes, a spill.
They're everywhere. All over the area."

"That would be a problem."

The Luitenant did not appreciate McCormick's attempt to stay calm
"Yes, a problem. I would say that we have a rather big fucking
problem here. We've got fucking little green men all over the place.
"

"What are my orders?"

"Kill them. Kill anything alive within a two mile radius."

**Kill them** McCormick cursed himself as the truck hurtled foreward.
**I hate this job.**

* * * * *

The air was misty in the early morning light as Alsie , Weeza, and
Fred crouched up at the hill and watched the little men try to rescue
their colleagues from the wreckage. Some of them had already taken
off into the woods. Fred had wanted to go and help them, but she
wouldn't let him.

Alsie didn't even hear the men untill they were there. It started off
as a low rumble, and then the rumble split up into a million sharp
shots. Then her mind was filled with screams. Terrible, agonozing
screams, as men in military uniforms stormed into the clearing. Next
to her Weeza was screaming, her hands clapped on her ears.

The shots and the screams didn't stop. The men ran though the
clearing, and then Alsie heard a man shout, "We got people over
there!!"

Fear more terrifying than anything she had ever known flooded Alsie
as she turned and saw the little men, strewn about and bloody, as the
men the the military uniforms with big guns stormed about.

McCormick whirled around. **PEOPLE!!!** "Terminate," he bellowed.
**Crap, Jesus Christ** Just his luck. Why the hell did the people
have to be there?

* * * * *

<Alsie I'm scared what are they doin', Alsie make them stop it's so
loud Alsie...> Tim was frozen in fear., crouched down in the bush
were Elly had told him to wait. <Alsie...>

Screams were coming from beyond the trees, and he saw Elly, running
towards him. She staggared, bleeding, when behind her a man appeared
and grabbed her by the hair. She screamed again.

"You bitch!!!" he yelled angrily, and slapped her. When Elly fell to
the ground Tim heard a bunch of loud **poppoppoppoppop**s. Elly
shook on the ground. Then she was quiet, and the man picked her up
and carried her away.

Tim stuck his finger in his mouth and curled up into a tiny ball. He
didn't move for a long time, not even when he heard Alsie...

* * * * *

... scream.

"NO!!!!" Fox Mulder bolted up in his sleep, shaking all over.
**Jesus** He glanced at his watch. Five thirty a.m. At least he had
fallen asleep this time. The TV was still on, blaring.

He tried to stand, but the aftermath of the dream made him sit down
again. If it was a dream. What the hell was that? He was asleep, and
then heard shots, and then a scream... and terrifying pain...

He tried to force himself to calm down but found that he couldn't. He
only knew one thing... something was terribly, horribly wrong.

* * * * *

Here I hereby endeth part one aka the rather long teaser. Please
stick with me, from now on it's all Mulder and Scully, all the time.
I promise.

E-mail me anyway? HyperTalia@aol.com

END part 1/5

Sister, Sister 2/5
by Talia :-D
HyperTalia@aol.com
No I don't own these people. Formal stuff in part one.
<groan> I realized just as I hit "send" that I made a mistake in the
intro of part one- Scully does still have cancer in this story. Sorry.
But I am computer illiterate and it's like 100 degrees today. You
can all stop laughing now. <g>

J. Edgar Hoover Building
Washington, DC
9:16 a.m.

"... Agent Mulder, I'm afraid that I'm still not very clear on your
reasons to insist on taking this case."

Scully shot Mulder a quick look, warning. Skinner did not seem to be
buying the story. Then again, neither was she.

Mulder cleared his throat. "Sir, four children have gone missing
without a trace. I think that reason enough."

Skinner looked at Scully, hoping to find some more answers. She
stared right back at him.

Skinner took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Does this
have something to do with an X-File, Agent Mulder?"

"No sir."

The Assistant Director took a deep breath and shot Scully another
look. "So you are asking to go and investigate a case that is outside
of your division." He was looking at Scully, but she kept her mouth
clamped shut.

Mulder sensed her hesitation and straightened in the chair. "Yes, sir.
"

Skinner sighed again, and looked Mulder in the eye. He was confused,
and had good reason to be. This wasn't typical of Mulder. And Mulder
wasn't exactly what you called a typical person to begin with.
Scully's face remained expressionless.

"A week," he said finally. "One week. That's all I can give you. Then
I'll send in the usual team. Agreed?"

Mulder stood, as if he couldn't wait to get moving. "Yes, sir. Thank
you." He turned and hurried from the room back towards the basement.

Scully took her time. "Thank you sir," she echoed, and followed him.
When she reached the doorway Skinner called her. "Agent Scully?"

She turned. "Sir?"

"Do you have any idea why Mulder has been so insistant on taking this
case?"

She paused, then shook her head. "No, sir. But I'm sure that he has a
good reason, sir."

Skinner nodded, deep in thought, and Scully left his office.

She found Mulder in the basement, hurridely putting all of the
reports in order. She leaned against the desk to watch him, her brow
almost umpercepibly furrowed by a frown. There had to be a reason why
Mulder was so intent on this case. She didn't know why. It wasn't any
different from various Missing Persons cases that had been
investigated in the past. And even Mulder had said that it had
nothing to do with an X-File.

This just wasn't **like** him.

He didn't even look at her as he shoved the reports back in the
filing cabinet, he was so intent on getting ready to leave for South
Carolina. It wasn't until their hands brushed that his eye met hers
for a split second and he hesitated.

"Mulder," she said, "at least tell me why you insisted on taking this
case."

Something flickered in his eyes and he went back to arranging the
papers. "Just trust me on this, Scully."

She crossed her arms in front of her and regarded him warily. He shot
her another look, this one more pleading. "Please."

* * * * *

"We're experiencin' a slight delay due to the weather down thar...
sit tight, folks, we should be landin' within the hour."

Mulder peered out of the window and saw nothing but darkness. It was
late, the flight had been delayed in takeoff as well as landing, and
he wanted nothing more than to get there so they could start
investigating.

Beside him Scully had fallen asleep, still holding the map where she
was trying to find the tiny town that was near the house of the
family that had vanished. It didn't look like she had had much luck,
either.

He gently disentangled the map from her fingers and tucked it away,
his eyes lingering on her face. She was paler, thinner. There were
times when she seemed more tired, as well, even if she rarely showed
it. But Mulder knew her too well.

He wondered what she must have thought when out of the blue he had
announced that morning that he wanted to take the Missing Persons
case in South Carolina. She had given him an odd look, not
understanding why. But she hadn't tried to stop him, not asked any
questions. She seemed to understand.

It was funny that Scully could understand something about Mulder that
he himself did not. He didn't know WHY he wanted to take the case.
But ever since that night when he had had the terrible dream, he had
something in the pit of his stomach telling him that not all was
right. Something awful had happened. It had something to do with him.
He had been unable to think about anything else. And three days later,
when he had found the report, he knew that this case was what was
wrong. He needed to know.

For now, that was all that mattered.

* * * * *

Scully tried to disquise her fatigue by sitting up late and going
through the reports one more time. The door to the adjoining room was
open, and Mulder was putting his things away and looking for the town
on the map at the same time.

She shuffled through the snapshots of the missing children. Four of
them- Ellenor, Fred, Louisa, and Timothy Tyren. The report said that
their mother could not be found. The authorities had been notified
when the children failed to come to school. An investigation of the
house, which lay a good two miles away from anyone else, had proven
nothing. There were no facts. Nothing. There never were.

Mulder poked his head in the door. "You okay? You look kinda tired."

"Probably because I am." She slid the papers back in the folder and
tossed it on the floor, trying hard to ignore his gaze and the
burning effect it had on her. "Find Cressville?"

"Yeah. It's pretty far out thar in the boonies," he drawled in a bad
southern accent. Scully raised an eyebrow, trying and failing not to
look amused.

"The 'boonies'? And what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"I called the local detective and he said that he's glad to help us."
He shot her another look. "Seven a.m. Bright and early."

A sickening sense of extreme deja vu hit Scully then. <See ya
tomorrow, Scully. Bright and early. We leave for the very
**plausible** state of Oregon at eight a.m.> Mulder watched her with
an amused expression that deepened into something else as if he knew
what she was thinking.

Hell, he probably did.

* * * * *

Scully stared up at the ceiling. She was incredibly tired, and yet
sleep would not come. She glanced at the clock. 1:12 a.m. Lord.

She could hear the soothing low sound of the television on in
Mulder's room and felt slightly reassured. Scrunching her eyes up
with a deep sigh, she tried hard to fall asleep.

Her eyes snapped back open at the sound of something other than the
TV coming from the other room. It sounded like a low whimper. She lay
still, wondering if she had just imagined it, but moments later it
was followed by another agonized childish moan.

Scully quickly slipped out of bed and knocked on the door that
connected her room and Mulder's. "Mulder?" He didn't answer except
with another low cry.

Suddenly anxious, Scully opened the door and stepped inside. The room
had a garish light due to the television's flickering images. Mulder
was curled up on the bed, his hands on his head, shaking, and every
now and then he would emit a low cry from a horrendous nightmare. "...
No no no, run, ya gotta run, get outta here... GOD!" His body broke
out in terrified spasms and he doubled over as if he had been shot.

Stunned, Scully hurried to his side and tried to shake him awake.
"Mulder..." He twisted around, his face a mixture of fear and
agonized pain, until finally with a jolt his eyes shot open. He
blinked rapidly, not able to focus, still shaking in terror.

"It's okay... it was just a dream..." Mulder's hand reached up and
touched her face unexpectedly, as if to reassure himself that it was
really her. His other hand clutched at the covers and he tried to sit
up. "What..." he passed a hand over his eyes, "What happened?"

"You were having a nightmare," Scully replied softly, searching his
face in the dim light. His breathing was sharp and ragged, almost
painful. "Do you remember anything?"

He would not meet her gaze. "No, I don't... I don't think so..." He
pushed his hair back with a hand that was still trembling violently.
Scully frowned, and gently turned his face to hers with one hand.
Still he would not look directly at her, but something else caught
her attention. "You're bleeding." It was a statement, tainted with
undisguised surprise. There was a crude cut slanted from the corner
of his eye running towards his left temple. It looked almost like a
small gash. Scully touched it gently, and he flinched away. "Mulder."
Her tone was quiet but firm.

It was then that he looked at her, and she was so surprised that it
took all of her strength to squelch a gasp. His eyes were an
unmistakeable deep chasm of fear and utter terror. The eyes of
someone that was hunted for no reason. The eyes of desperation,
confusion, pain. Swallowing, her heart pounding, she touched his
cheek and turned his head again so that she could look at the cut.
With an "I'll be right back," she hurried to the bathroom to find a
small first aid kit. What had happened? What could he have possibly
dreamed that would place such sheer deperation, torture and fear in
his eyes? She wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

Returning to Mulder's side, she carefully dabbed at the wound with
some disinfectant. He started suddenly, as if being drawn out of a
numb shock. His expression was blank but he turned his head
obediantly so she could do her work. The fluttery feeling of Mulder's
breath on her cheek was a tad unnerving, but she swallowed all
forbidden thoughts and tried to ignore the warm rush of tingling that
flooded her body.

Finally she was finished and drew away from him, staring into his
face, concerned. "Mulder, are you okay?" He nodded almost childishly,
a stubborn set in his jaw but his eyes still cast downward. She
didn't believe him, but whatever happened he wasn't going to talk
about it. At least not now. "Okay then," she said softly. "Try to get-
" she hesitated, "some sleep."

There was a time when those words brought an ironic smile to his face,
but he didn't even seem to notice. Reluctantly Scully returned to
her room. She sat up well into the night, listening, but eventually
fell into a troubled sleep.

* * * * *

Cressville, South Carolina
9:15 a.m.

"I shore do 'ppreciate you folks comin' on down here to give us a
hand." Sheriff Rawlins drawled. "Tell you the truth, this has got
everyone a tad jittery. We don't usually have trouble o' this kind in
Cressville."

"No problem." Mulder sat down in one of the chairs, facing the
sheriff. Scully followed suit. "What can you tell us about the Tyrens?
"

Sheriff Rawlin's face darkened. "Nice bunch o' kids, those Tyrens.
Real nice. Well behaved, polite. Kept clean. Nuthin' to show that
they hadn't much money at all to support four kids. But their momma...
" he shook his head. "Sad story, it is."

"What happened?"

"Well, their father died when the youngest, Tim I think he's called,
when he was about two. And their momma went kinda crazy, they say.
Didn't take good care of 'em. Her fellers would hit the kids,
sometimes, and all. Caused a bit of a stir." He leaned foreward. "Now
they say that she left. Abandoned 'em. We couldn't find her when the
house wuz on fire and then people said they saw her car drivin'
towards the city couple o' days ago." He shook his head again. "Sad
story, it is."

"No one reported anything unusual that night?"

Sheriff Rawlins regarded the agents for a second before responding.
"Well," he said finally, "we gots us some teenagers passin' through
here. On their way to the city, they say. And they say that they were
over in Carter Feild that night-" he paused, with a knowing glint in
his eye, "and they say that they saw some light in the sky, over in
the woods a couple o' miles from the Tyrens."

Mulder leaned foreward, his interest caught. "And?"

Rawlins hesistated, and something flickered in his eyes. He glanced
at Scully. "And nuthin'. We went over there the next day. Nuthin'.
Those kids ain't in the woods, that's fur sure. We made sure o' that.
" There was an edge in his voice and Mulder and Scully exchanged
glances. "No. They ain't in the woods."

A loud screaming silence followed that, and the sheriff started to
drum his fingers against the desk. Scully shifted under her partner's
bombarding gaze. She didn't believe the sheriff, either.

Finally Mulder stood. "Thank you for your time, sheriff. And if we
have any more questions, then...?"

"I'll be here." The sheriff smiled at them, but his fingers were
still dancing around the desk nervously.

Scully smiled back and stood to follow Mulder out the door. It was
amazing how he could always manage to pretend that nothing had
happened. He had awakened that morning as his usual self, his little
innuendos and sexy smartass smile. Gone from his eyes was the
agonizing terror that she had seen and wanted to forget. When they
were in the hallway he bent down to whisper in her ear. "Have you
ever heard more bullshit at one time in your life?"

"I know what you mean," she murmered back. They had almost reached
the door when she stopped. "I left my notepad in the office."

Mulder nodded. "Catch you outside, then."

Scully hurried back towards the office when suddenly she was pushed
aside by a tall young man with blonde hair and a stricken expression.
He passed her and she could hear him yelling at the sheriff.

"What the hell is going on here? I told ya that Alsie was missin',
and you don't do a damn thing!"

Rawlins saw Scully in the doorway and his face flushed, though he
tried to keep his voice steady. "I dunno watcha mean, Buddy. Now try
to calm down. We did all that we could."

"Ya did nothin'!" Buddy ignored Scully as she bent to pick up the
notepad. "Yer just carryin' on about them damn kids, and no one seems
to care that Alsie was missin', too!"

Scully's eyebrows shot up. "I'm sorry," she said, sticking out her
hand. "Dana Scully, FBI. I couldn't help but overhear. You say that
there was a fifth person?" The sheriff started to say something but
Buddy cut him off.

"Yes. Alsie Donovan. She's my fiancee." He regarded Scully and seemed
to calm down a bit. "She wuz takin' care of the Tyrens, ever since
their momma left. And she didn't come home."

Scully turned to look at the sheriff. He was gripping the sides of
the chair so hard that his knuckles turned white. "What did she look
like, Mr...?"

"McDuvitt. Buddy McDuvitt." Buddy paused. "Tall, pretty. About
thirty years old... dark brown hair 'n' hazel eyes." His hands
fluttered apologetically. "I don't have a picture."

"That's okay, Mr McDuvitt." Scully shot the sheriff a look. "We'll
let you know if we find anything. We'll do our best." She handed him
a card. "Here's where you can reach us." Without looking at the
sheriff, Scully hurried from the office.

Mulder was in their rental car out in front of the building. She slid
into the car. "Something weird is going on here, Mulder," she said as
he pulled the car out of the lot. "Some man came in there yelling at
the sheriff. It turns out that there's a fifth person missing. Alsie
Donovan." Mulder turned to look at her. He didn't seem very surprised.
"Where are we going?"

"The woods," he answered. "I want to know why the sheriff seemed so
set on trying to convince us that there's nothing there."

* * * * *

The familiar feeling of unexplained fear settled hard in Mulder's
stomach as they pulled up to the edge of the woods. He swallowed hard
and hoped that Scully wasn't looking. He didn't want to have to add
anything to her list of worries. That was the LAST thing that he
wanted to do right now. Especially since he was dealing with
something that he himself did not really understand.

The dream he had had last night was as vivid and real as anything he
had ever known. But upon awakening a lot of it had disentigrated. He
remembered running. He remembered shots and fear. Most of all he
remembered pain. From then on he just remembered the look on his
partner's face on the fierce determination not to betray the terror
that ravaged his soul, not even when her voice was full of concern
and care as she pulled his head down to take care of the wound. Not
even then, even though it had been extremely difficult. She was ike a
mother that he had never really had. Or even something more. It had
taken all his strength not to lay his head down on her lap and cry
like a child. Cry about fears that he didn't know how to explain.
Fears that just were.

He scanned the woods in front of them. In the distance over to his
right he could just see a tiny rickety white house. The Tyrens.

Scully was watching him quizically. Suddenly he wished that he had
never taken the case. Something terrible had gone on here. Something
TERRIBLE. He could feel it.

He was surprised when suddenly Scully placed her hand over his, and
looked to see her face had something very much like understanding on
it. "Don't expect to get used to it, Mulder," she said softly. "We're
not supposed to."

The gaze was held a split second longer than was necessary, and
Mulder thanked whoever was listening for the gazillionth time that he
had her by his side. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of the car
and the two of them started into the forest.

* * * * *

They walked for what seemed like forever. At first it seemed foolish-
they didn't even know what they were looking for. But the farther
they went, the more anxious Mulder became. He pressed his lips
together and lengthened his stride, but his eyes were frightened.
Scully could feel it, too. It was a beautiful sunny day but yet a
heavy sense of wrong was draped between the trees.

Mulder stopped at the top of a hill about two miles into the forest.
His darting eyes scanned the trees below them. "Look," he said
suddenly, pointing. Scully followed his finger and her heart skipped
a beat. "What the hell happened?"

"The trees are burned," Mulder's voice was low as if in awe. "That
ring right there, by the clearing..."

"What does that mean?" She hoped, prayed, that he would give her his
usual absurd theory of UFOs and the invasion of the little green men,
but instead Mulder emmitted a low strangled noise from the back of
his throat and hurried down the hill.

She had to run to catch up with him, neither stopping untill they got
to the middle of the clearing. The trees around the clearing were
singed. The ground, which should have been matted down, was torn up,
the dirt loose as if someone had a plow truck go through there.

As Scully stood regarding the scene, the rustling of a bush in the
corner of her eye caught her attention. Frowning, she motioned to
Mulder and gestured to it. His hand resting on his Sig, he nodded and
they started towards the bush.

That's when Scully pushed aside the branches and got the surprise of
her life.

A little boy was curled up in a tiny ball, his fingers in his mouth,
trembling so hard that the branches around him shook as well. He was
covered with dirt and his eyes were wide open with shock. Scully
recognized him immediatly. "Oh my God. It's Timothy Tyren."

Mulder was by her side in an instant. Scully reached down to touch
the boy by he shied away. "He must have been here for days," she
murmered. "Timothy? Timothy, can you hear me?" Tim responded by
tucking himself into an even tighter ball.

"He's in shock." Mulder's voice was tight. Scully quickly pulled off
her jacket and placed it around the little boy, talking to him in low
comforting tones. "It's okay, Tim," she murmered, "It's okay. You're
going to be okay. There's nothing to be afraid of..." She had her
arms around his trembling little body and he stumbled to his feet,
still cowering. As she helped him out of the bush Tim suddenly shrank
back and clapped his hands over his eyes with low muttering moans.
Scully looked up. "What is it?"

Mulder followed Tim's sight line and his eye fell on a small cave at
the base of a hill, it's small mouth sealed up with rocks. Tim
shuddered himself away from Scully and curled up again, his body
breaking out in waves of fearful spasms.

The agents exchanged glances. Mulder's gaze was a bit pleading as he
turned towards the cave. Scully realized it with a start. **He's
afraid. Afraid of what we're going to find** That thought unnerved
her more than anything else, and she remembered the mysterious gash
on Mulder's face. **What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?**
Mulder turned and looked at her. He wasn't going to do this alone.
Swallowing, Scully stood to follow him.

The opening of the cave was little more than a crawlspace, chocked up
with rocks. Whoever had sealed up the cave had obviously done so with
the intention of coming back later.

A sick feeling of nauseau swept over Mulder and he felt the bile rise
up into his throat. His heart started pounding wildly. A flicker of
rememberance shone in the back of his mind. **I was here. I was here
in those dreams.** Fueled by that knowledge and the unknown force
that had been driving him to this from the start, he started to push
and kick aside the rocks that blocked the entrance. The longer he did
so, the more frantic he became, his heart beating faster and his
breathing more rapid. Suddenly he reached out and grabbed Scully's
hand, squeezing it tightly. She bit her lip and tried to stay calm,
but didn't let go.

Finally the last of the rocks were pushed into the tiny space,
letting light stream down. The opening of the cave was actually below
them, about five feet down. Scully peered down through the dusty
darkness and her heart stopped. "Oh my God," she whispered. **Oh no.
Oh no...**

Mulder had already lowered himself down into the cave and was by one
of the huddled shadows. "Scully." His voice cracked but it was
pleading. He said her name again and this time it was almost a
whimper.

Ducking her head, she slid through the space. The light from outside
streamed in, casting some of the forms out of shadow. **Bodies.**
Four of them. Shocked, she looked about her. Kids. The Tyrens. Their
bodies bloody, faces twisted into expressions of shock, pain, and
fear. Then her eyes fell on what Mulder was looking at, and this time
it was she that grabbed his hand.

"Scully," he whispered, his eyes never leaving the body of the woman
in front of him, "it's not her, is it? Please Scully, tell me it's
not her..." His voice shook and he fell silent.

The woman had long dark brown hair that had been done in a braid. Her
eyes were frozen open, glassy and blank, but a very familiar hazel.
Her face was bruised and she had a gash along the side. She looked
exactly like Mulder.

Mulder shuffled his feet, unable to look away. "Please." She could
barely hear him, but his tone was desperate. "Tell me it's not her...
"

Scully wanted to scream, kick, to run outside and kill all the
bastards that had done anything like this. But she was frozen in
place, and all that kept her in reality was the crushing feeling of
Mulder's hand desperately gripping hers.

It couldn't be. No God, it can't be. Don't do this. Please... it
can't be...

**Samantha**

END part 2/5

Sister, Sister 3/5
by Talia :-D
HyperTalia@aol.com
If you for some odd reason you have the funky notion that I own these
people, disclaimers in part one.

* * * * *

McCormick picked up the phone. "Hello?" he growled.

"Nobody said anythin' to me 'bout calling in the FBI."

McCormick sighed. "Standard procedure, Rawlins. You wouldn't want to
get the good townsfolk riled up, now would you?"

"Would've been nice had I been told 'bout this 'fore I agreed to all
this shit." Rawlins paused. "They found 'em."

McCormick almost dropped the cigar he had been nonchalantly puffing.
"What."

"They found 'em. Found the boy, actually. Doesn't look like you 'n'
your men did a very good job. The boy saw the whole thing, and he led
'em right to the bodies."

**Crap** "Did he say anything else?"

"Naw, he's pretty shook up by it all. Took 'em right to the hospital,
sayin' he's in shock. In the meantime, McCormick, I got a lot to
answer for. I thought you said that the bodies would've been gone by
today."

"At night, you bastard," McCormick snapped, trying to stay calm. "We
couldn't just move everything in broad daylight. I'm over at the base,
you hear? And we still got all those ETs to get rid of." When no one
answered McCormick frowned. "Rawlins?"

"Yah I'm listenin'." Rawlins sounded pretty unnerved. "I gotta go.
They want me to come down with the rest of 'em locals to go over the
evidence."

McCormick hung up the phone without another word. **Unlucky bastard**
Sighing, he went back to puffing his cigar.

* * * * *
6:35 p.m.

The sun had already started to sink low in the sky by the time the
local authorities were done. Scully wished it were over. She and
Mulder had given their statements a million times, and a team had
gone through the cave for what seemed like hours before they pulled
the bodies out. The whole thing seemed like a dream. She had her
fists so clenched that she could feel her fingernails digging into
her flesh.

Mulder was pacing restlessly a few feet away, like a caged animal. He
would go from anger one minute to complete vulnerability the next.
Scully knew that she had to be the strong one right now. Bu it wasn't
easy. God help her, it was impossible.

She had gone into the normal speech about how they couldn't be sure
it was Samantha, there was blood work that had to be done before they
were sure. The police had immediately identified her as the Alsie
that Buddy had been ranting about to the sheriff. By then Mulder was
ready to fly apart. The officers gave him wary looks every now and
then.

Finally the sheeted bodies were carefully pulled away from the site,
and Scully approached the leader of the investigation, Detective
Misan. She hadn't called the sheriff. There was no way that she would
put him in charge of this.

"Excuse me, sir?" Detective Misan was tall, with graying hair and a
radiating authority. "I was wondering if we could run some blood
tests on Alsie at the lab."

He raised an eyebrow. "The body's been identified, Agent Scully.
Whatever for?"

She sighed. "Well sir, we think that- well, this is just a leap, but
we think that she might be someone that has been missing for more
than twenty years now."

The Detective whistled. "Joe?"

"Yeah." A young man scurried to his side.

"Whaddaya know about this Donovan girl?"'

Joe shook his head. "Well, sir, she come to Cressville when she was
about sixteen, with foster parents. She never talk about her times
'fore that. Nice person though. Buddy's gal." He shook his head. "A
real shame."

Scully closed her eyes briefly. Misan was watching her. "Well, Agent
Scully, I guess you better go ahead and do whatever tests ya want. I
ain't stoppin' you."

Scully nodded her thanks, and turned to find her partner. He was
still pacing in circles. "What did that man say, Scully?" he asked,
eyes wild.

Stay calm. "Mulder, I want you to go back to the motel. I'm going to-
" she paused, "run some tests and see what I can find out about..."
she let her voice trail off.

His eyes flashed. "I'm coming with you."

"Mulder, no." She lowered her voice. "Please. Don't do this to
yourself. I'll let you know as soon as I can-"

"She could be my **sister** Scully," he hissed, his tone rising.
"Don't try to hide the truth from me, I swear to God..." he stopped
when his voice trembled. "I need to know," he whispered.

"I know you do. I know you do, Mulder." God, she wouldn't be able to
maintain the outward calm for long. "But I don't want you to have to
put yourself through some unnecessary torture- no matter **who** that
young woman is."

"Scully, I-" his voice broke and he averted his gaze to the ground.
"I can't just sit and wait. Please... don't just leave me to wait...
"

**Shit, you are not making this easier** She bit back tears. "Mulder,
just... just trust me on this, okay?" He looked back at her again,
eyes full of a mirroring emotion. "*Please*"

"Agent Scully." It was Misan, standing by the car. "We're goin' down
now. You comin'?"

"Yes," she called back. Lowering her voice, she touched Mulder's
cheek. "Listen to me. It's going to be okay, no matter what. We can't
just jump to conclusions with this. Okay?"

He barely managed to nod before she dropped her hand and hurried to
the car, the whole time praying that it was the truth.

* * * * *

"Sir, calm down, please... sir..." Scully watched helplessly as the
nurses and doctors tried in vain to restrain Buddy McDuvitt. He had
come barreling into the hospital, and managed to get a glimpse of
Alsie's body before going berserk.

Finally they managed to drag a sobbing Buddy away, and through the
hubbub Scully's eyes found those of Sheriff Rawlins. He looked
agitated and nervous. Dammit, he had cause to be. But she wasn't
going to deal with him now. Not until she knew for sure...

For a split second her countenance failed her and she gripped the
sides of the chair, closing her eyes and willing the panic to die
down. **Don't jump to conclusions. You have to be strong for Mulder...
you have to...**

"Agent Scully?" She opened her eyes and found Misan gesturing at her.
"We got the stuff ya wanted." His face was grave and he handed her
the envelope. She took it reluctantly. "Died a couple a nights ago,
multiple gunshot wounds." Scully flinched at the words. "Military
weapon." His expression was stony but his voice had an edge. "Someone
killed those kids in cold blood, Agent Scully. But-" he shook his
head. "I hope ya understand that I don't want no trouble with the
military. I be thinkin' that I leave it up to the Feds from here."

Scully's eyes narrowed, but she nodded. "Of course, Detective. I
appreciate all that you had done."

Misan nodded, his eyes lingering on the envelope that Scully was now
clutching, touched his finger to his hat, and moved away. Scully let
out her breath in a shaky sigh and stared down at the envelope. This
was the answer. It all depended on what was in the envelope.

Mulder had been through hell many times over, and always he pressed
on. His whole quest, which had turned into his life, was based on
finding Samantha. And if she was dead, then...

What would happen? What would happen to him? Was this **really** what
the truth was? Was this what they had been searching for all this
time?

She was surprised that tears were brimming in her eyes, but she
forced them away, and slowly opened the envelope. Charts slid out.
Scully let her gaze scan over the top columns.

And closed her eyes.

* * * * *

<Oh God oh god where is she what's taking so long...> Mulder was
pacing back and forth in the small motel room. He was unconsciously
clenching and unclenching his fists. <Please God don't let it be Sam
please...>

It seemed that Mulder's entire life was based on hope. Hope that
someday Sam would come back if he searched hard enough. Hope that
someday he would be able to make everything all right, to reconcile
for all that he had screwed up in his partner's life. Hope that he
would be able to find some way to save her from a disease he still
blamed himself for. Hope that someday all of it would be over.

As long as they hadn't discovered that Samantha was dead, there was
still that hope. If he could believe that his sister would return
after these many years, the/n anything was possible.

But now...

His mind's eye clearly replayed the scene that had met them today.
The kids... they had been shot, he could tell that much. Shot
brutally and repeatedly. Only one question remained- why??

As his thoughts wandered suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his side.
Gasping, memories of the dream came flying back...

Gasps, struggling for breath, hearing the shots in the background...

Head snapping back as the branches whip relentlessly...

Mulder held his head in his hands and willed for it to go away.
<Maybe I'm just going crazy...>

There was a fiddling at the door and Mulder looked up, relieved to
have something to divert his mind. **This is it** The door opened and
Scully stepped in, squinting into the dim light. She looked tired,
very tired. Her face was expressionless as she closed the door. But
Mulder noticed something else. He noticed the envelope that she was
holding in her hand. A hand that was trembling relentlessly.

His heart thudded and he swallowed. "Scully?"

There he was, looking at her. Depending on her to make everything all
right. Her words had the capability of making it all fall apart. She
heard rustling and noticed that her hand was shaking terribly. For
some reason that brought everything crashing down into perspective.
**Shit**. She felt her face start to crumple, and her voice was
little more than a squeak. "Mulder..."

He reached out for her then, and she crossed the room, knees quaking
and threatening to give way. She was crying even before she reached
him, but when she did she didn't even care.

Mulder held her tightly and buried his face in her neck. Her body
shook with light sobs that she was trying to cover but was not
succeeding. She could feel his warm breath mingled with tears against
her neck. Muffled quiet childish sobs as he rocked her gently back
and forth, he suddenly felt frightened that if he let her go then the
world would come crashing to an end. And so they clung to each other,
overwhelmed by crushing grief. Time slowed, and was of no importance
anymore. It was as if they were the only two left in the world. Like
there was nothing else. And at that moment, it was true.

Finally, exhausted, still drawing hiccupy shuddery breaths, her sobs
subsided, though she did not move. Eyes still stung from tears
recently shed, and she squeezed them shut. Mulder's head drooped so
that he was leaning against her, and she rested her chin against his
head, fingers idly playing with his hair. **What's going to happen
now? Where do we go from here?**

As always, Mulder seemed to read her thoughts. When he spoke, voice
cracking, his tone was muffled and still shaky. He sounded like a
scared twelve year old that had just lost his only sister. "You won't
leave me, will you, Scully? Please don't leave me..."

Tears started to push against her eyes again, and her eyes fluttered
shut. "Never," she whispered, "you know that..."

* * * * *

It was the strangest feeling in the world to wake up the next morning,
with Mulder still clinging to her. Only the bitter tang of tears
reminded her of what had happened. A sick feeling in her throat rose
up. God, if only she could close her eyes and just stay like this and
pretend that it had never happened. That they had never found the
kids. That they had never found Samantha. That they still could
pretend that someday they would, and that she would be okay. And that
Mulder would have some haven from the hell that his life seemed to be
unfolding before him. That everything would be alright. Just like a
fairy tale.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the way that it worked. **What the hell is
going to happen now? Or do I want to know?**

Would Mulder want to continue? Or was this what he thought the
"truth" was?

Somewhere from the other side of the room a cellphone trilled. Mulder
shifted, and raised his head, bleary eyed. He moved a way quickly
when she stood and grabbed the phone. "Scully."

"Agent Scully, this is Doctor Grady, down at Memorial. I unnerstand
that you're in charge with the 'vestigation?"

Scully hesitated. It would probably be a better idea to put this in
someone else's hand for while... but the doctor did not wait for her
response.

"Well, ma'am, we were doin' the autopsy on Alsie Donovan and we
noticed something that we thought you'd be interested in.

"What?"

"Well, to put it bluntly, Agent Scully, she's got scars. A lot of 'em,
runnin' down her chest and stomach. But... they ain't from any
medical procedures that I can see. To tell you the truth, I dunno
what they are. But they ain't from the attack, I can tell you that
much. These scars are old. Some form of physical abuse-- ..." he
paused. "It looks like it was some sort of an experiment."

Scully winced. Samantha Mulder. An experiment. Bastards... "Thank you
for letting me know, doctor." She hung up the phone, and with a sigh
turned back to Mulder. He was rubbing the sleep out of weary, red
rimmed eyes.

"Mulder," she said finally sitting down gingerly beside him, "I don't
know how to say this... but from what I heard, she was happy. She
made the most of what... of what she was given." **What am I supposed
to say? That she had a good life? Kidnapped at eight, subjected to
some cruel scarring experiments, and then brutally murdered before
being given the chance to understand what life really is?**

He was watching her with a strange expression, weary, signs of grief
apparent only in the eyes. It was an expression that she recognized
from when Missy had died. Holding her next to the stark empty
hospital bed where Missy had died for her sister, he had said that
the truth would be found. It was that hope again. But the truth did
not mean justice. It never did. Pulling out of her reminiscing,
Scully took a deep breath and continued.

"And I'm going to call in another team out here. To investigate. I
think that-"

Mulder cut her off. "Scully, no."

"Just listen to me." She had been expecting this. "This isn't our
area. It's-"

"Not our area? Scully, this is my **sister** we're talking about."

"I know. I just-" she bit her lip. "I think that we should let
someone else handle it, Mulder. I don't want you to have to... to
look into this yourself any more than you have to. It's to trying
emotionally-" Mulder shook his head and stood up.

"I need to know what happened."

"So do I, but I'm just saying that we should let someone else find
out."

"Someone else? Do you think that they won't end up with the same
bullshit story that the sheriff gave us? He didn't even mention that
the trees were burned."

"Mulder, this isn't a UFO case. Just because it was Sam doesn't mean
it has anything to do with the Consortium or-"

"To hell it doesn't, Scully!" He exploded. "The sheriff was told to
keep his mouth shut, and I doubt that he or anyone else knew that my
sister was involved, because they would **know** that it would just
make me bent on finding the answers. Four people were murdered, and
thrown in a cave, while one of them, a little boy, somehow got away.
They were running, Scully. There were more than one attacker. And the
trees around the area are burned. Why?"

"I don't know, Mulder. All I know is that this case has caused too
much pain already to make us able to investigate it properly."

"I will not let you force me to sit back and watch them brainwash
whatever idiot they send down here to believe it was some
happenstance thing. I **will not**."

"**Dammit**, I just don't want to see you get hurt, okay?" The words
had come out more forcefully then intended, but at least he shut his
mouth. "Okay?"

Silence hung heavily in the air. "Okay," he replied finally, sitting
back down again and lowering his voice. "But we both want something
else, don't we? Justice. And right now, we're the only ones out there
who can do that."

She stared at him. "I thank God every day for your hope, Mulder. And
I'll be here as long as you keep believing there's a way."

His eyes softened sadly, and he leaned in towards her. "That's one of
the tricks you have to learn. There always is a way..." His searching
eyes sent a million little shivers up her spine. "Always..."

**always always always always** his words echoed in her head over and
over. **he's close so close too close...**

The phone chirped again, smashing down the glass wall into the other
world they seemed to be floating in. Scully realized that she had
been holding her breath and grabbed it up. "Scully."

"Agent Scully, I heard about what happened." It was Skinner. "How is
Mulder?"

"As well as can be expected, sir."

"Agent Scully, you both have my deepest regrets for the turn of
events. But I have already suggested that I send in an alternate team
to relieve you of your duties."

"Sir, Mulder wants to stay and handle this investigation himself."

Skinner paused. "I'm afraid that I don't think that's a very good
idea."

"Sir, you gave us a week for this investigation." There was an edge
in her voice pleading him to let them continue. Skinner hesitated,
considering.

"All right," he said finally. "A week. But I'm trusting you on using
your judgment, Agent Scully. If you think that this is too much for
your partner to handle, then..." his voice trailed off.

"Of course. I understand, sir."

"Good luck." Skinner hung up the phone.

Scully put her phone away as well. Suddenly she remembered something.
"Mulder." He looked up at her. "The bullets- the doctor told me
yesterday that they were military issue."

His expression clouded over at that. "We'll find out, won't we?"

She could only nod numbly.

* * * * *

"Tire tracks." Mulder's voice was grim as Scully hurried to his side.
"**What?!**"

"Right there." He gestured. Squinting in the high sun, she saw that
there were indeed very faint tire tracks starting from the edge of
the woods. "This is ridiculous," she muttered. "Ridiculous. What the
hell does this mean?"

"I don't know." His gaze travelled along the stretch of woods,
following the faint tracks until they disappeared altogether. "But
they lead in the direction of the military base."

Scully's eyebrows shot dangerously high. "Military base?"

"Yeah, there's a small one, twenty or so miles from here." His eyes
met hers for a long moment. Scully drew a shuddery breath and shook
her head. It didn't take much to put two and two together, but only
one question remained- *why?* "I'm calling Sheriff Rawlins."

It took seven rings for someone to pick up, and from the sound of it
it was an older woman. "Hello?"

"Yes, uh... I'm trying to reach the sheriff?"

There was a pause. "Are you family?"

"No, I'm-"

"Then I regret to inform you that sheriff Rawlins was found murdered
last night."

**Murdered?!** Mulder was watching her face as she turned off the
cellphone. "What's wrong?"

"He's dead."

* * * * *

"I have a visual, sir." McCormick winced at the burst of static that
followed this announcement. "The area is clear."

McCormick exchanged glances with the tall gray man that had been
called in that morning. As he watched, the man took out a cigarette
and puffed on it easily. McCormick put the walkie talkie back up to
his ear. "Take 'em out."

* * * * *

Mulder shoved her down just as the tiny *zing* registered in her ear.
The ground came rushing up to meet her, simultaneous with a sudden
explosion of pain in her shoulder. Her mind seemed to be numbed to
everything but the pain as Mulder dragged her behind a tree.

"Scully!" he whispered frantically. "Scully, can you hear me?" She
could only nod in response before swallowing and remembering to
breathe.

Mulder ducked at another *zing* and pulled out the Sig. "Shit," he
breathed, eyes lingering for a moment on her bloody shoulder and then
scanning the trees beyond the road fearfully.

"What is it?"

His voice was stony. "Military. Only one, I think. I'm not sure." His
eyes were searching hers worriedly.

She clenched her teeth, managing to grind out an, "I'm fine, Mulder"
before there was another *zing*, this time from a different angle.
"We have to move," she forced out. "He won't be able to follow us
across the road without coming out." She tried to stand but her knees
buckled and she went down with a gasp, tears of fear and utter
frustration coming into her eyes. He caught her, holding her to him.
"Don't stand," he murmured into her hair, trying to control the panic,
his heart threatening to tear out of his chest with it's relentless
pounding.

He read in her eyes what she was going to say next, but shushed her
with a quick finger to her lips. "Like hell I'm leaving you here," he
growled, slinging one arm around her waist and rising to his feet.
"I'll more likely kill myself first."

As they moved slowly , ducking behind trees, Mulder was hit head on
with a staggering remembrance. He gritted his teeth and tried to push
the thoughts away, but they wouldn't budge. <Run run run run run run
hurry hurry hurry oh god oh god Elly is that you>... and then the
stabbing explosion of pain...

With a cry he stumbled and fell to the ground, taking Scully with him.
She wriggled away. "Mulder?!" she gasped. "Mulder, what-"

He could barely hear her. <run run run oh my god what are they doing
why are they doing this, no...>

Another *zing*, badly missing it's mark, told Scully that for now
that were out of the feild of vision of the gunman. But they wouldn't
be for long. One hand pressed to the throbbing in her shoulder, she
tipped up her partner's chin and stared into his vacant eyes. He
shuddered and flinched in an unknown pain. "Oh God, Mulder, please...
" her hands were shaking terribly and her vision was starting to
become blurred.

<They're everywhere, running... oh god why are they doing this
everywhere everywhere they're killing them all... did I get away oh
good I think I lost-- NO!> The pain escalated to his head. <I have to
go back I have to go back this is not me, it's not me...> Another
shot and then more pain...

<NO! This is not happening to me! I have my gun...>

He fumbled for it, found it lying on the ground beside him. The cool
metal in his fingers pushed away some of the horrifying thoughts and
he gritted his teeth, determined to come back to the present...

Mulder squeezed the trigger, the gunshot echoing loudly in his mind
but even more loudly in the world that he returned to with a start
when Scully fell beside him with a thump.

* * * * *

Sister, Sister 4/5
by Talia :-D
HyperTalia@aol.com
*yawn* all join in now... I don't own 'em, that shipper in denial
does. All he has to do is convert.... <hint, hint>...

Note- I've been easy on the shipping for now, but starting right --->
[0] there I am posting a relationship **WARNING**. Or maybe it should
be a, **LOOK EVERYONE!!! MSR!!! AWRIGHT! MSR IS GOOD!** sign. <g>
Remember feedback, the answer to all your problems... (that's a hint
if I ever saw one- sheesh)

* * * * *

Scully threw herself down the second she saw him grip the gun shakily
and raise it to the air. The loud explosion rocketed through her body
and for a second everything seemed to dissintegrate as the pain in
her shoulder burned into her flesh once more. Somehow she raised her
head, and when she did her eyes widened in shock.

A man, dressed in camaflouge, holding a gun that she did not doubt
had been shooting at them moments before, was slumped down on the
ground, eyes wide in surprise. Right in the center of his forehead
was a bullet wound. The gun fell out of Mulder's hand with a
sickening clunk. He was still shuddering as if in pain.

She realized now that she had been crying all this time. Tremors
continued to pass through Mulder's body. Her hands were smeared with
her own blood, but she didn't care, touching his flushed cheeks.
"Mulder, come on. Please. What's happening..."

His eyes snapped into focus then, and he seized her wrist so hard
that she felt a surge of pain from her shoulder. He struggled to sit
up. "Oh my God," he stuttered, staring at the man. No, kid. "What...?
"

His mind flashed to the memories and what had happened. **What is
going on here?** The wrist that he was holding was shaking violently.
He looked at Scully, crouched down beside him. She had blood and dirt
smeared across her cheek and was deathly pale. Crimson was welling
again from her shoulder. Quickly Mulder tore some strips from his
jacket and pressed it to the wound to try and stop the bleeding. She
shuddered painfully but moved towards him rather than away from him.
Now Mulder got his first real look at the wound. "It's not that bad,
doctor Scully," he said lightly, but she didn't seem to hear. Instead
she was staring at him wildly- or it seemed more **through** him than
at him, as if she didn't believe that he was really there.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, brushing a leaf out of her hair.

She nodded jerkily, chewing on her lower lip. With a sigh he started
to help her up again. "We have to get out of here," he murmered.
"They're not going to stop here." **Yes, but go where? They'll be
waiting for us back in town... best to wait. Best to wait.** He
glanced up at the sun. It was sinking low in the sky. Suddenly his
eyes lit up. **Oh, the miracles of high technology** Slowing to a
stop he gingerly took out his cellphone, then grimaced. It was pretty
banged up, but it might still work. Holding his breath, he turned it
on, relieved to hear a little beep. He dialed a number and strained
through a burst of static.

"-ello?"

"Sir, it's Agent Mulder."

" Agent Mu-r? Where- **hiss**"

**Crap**. "Can you hear me?"

"Mmph **hiss** brhf **hiss**"

He took a deep breath. "Sir, if you can hear me, we need backup.
Please. Anybody."

**hiss...**

Suddenly enraged, he threw down the offending hunk of hissing plastic.
Scully seemed incredibly weak, and their progress was slow. How far
to another road? Couldn't be more than a mile, though at this rate...
maybe it would be better to wait till dark. He didn't want to risk
another encounter.

Scully drew her breath in sharply and Mulder decided it was time to
stop. Scully seemed better, she wasn't shaking anymore, and a
familiar flash had returned to her eyes, dulled only slightly by the
pain. Still, he couldn't resist.

"Are you okay?"

She shrank back as if stung. He braced himself for her icy usual
response, but instead her face crumpled a bit and she shook her head.
"No. No, I'm not." She was staring hard at his face. "You- you scared
the hell out of me. I mean-" she raised her hand, but her voice
caught and she let it drop. "Y-you were just lying there, shaking,
and he just kept shooting and I had no idea what to do..." She
stopped short, as if ashamed at what she had just said. Suddenly the
wound flared up again, and she winced hard. Mulder rested his hand on
her other shoulder. "It's okay," he murmered. "Just relax. Breathe."

She shot him a Look. "Breathing is not something I'm likely to for-"
she winced again and it cut off her words.

"What was that you just said?" His tone was amused. "Hold still." He
started to untie the makeshift bandage. She shuddered again. "Sorry."
His breath stirred her hair and he glanced up at her face. She was
looking away from him, teeth gritted. "It stopped bleeding."

She looked at him then, turning her head so she was facing him.
Mulder hesitated. "I- I was reliving it," he said finally. Her eyes
widened but she didn't say anything. "The dream- it was the same
thing. When we were running... I was Sam. I saw what she saw, right
before-" he stopped, and let out a shaky sigh. "And then I looked up,
and there was a man there. Somehow I remembered that I had a gun and
I just fired..." he stopped. "Except Sam didn't have a gun. She just..
." his voice trailed off, feeling the grief that was slowly taking
him over.

Her gaze softened. "I'm sorry," she murmered. "I'm so sorry, Mulder.
I know that she was what your whole quest was for. I'm sorry that it
had to turn out this way, and..." maybe now was the time to let him
know what she was afraid of, "and if you don't want to go on then I
understand."

His eyes widened, but he didn't say anything, so she went on. "I know
your role was always about Samantha, and I accept that. So..."

He cut her off. "**Used** to be about Samantha. A lot of it was, and
still is. I want to find out what happened to her and why. But it
wasn't all about Samantha, Scully. Not since..."

"Not since what?"

"Not since you came along," he said finally. Something in his low
voice sent shivers down her spine. She found herself lost in his gaze
and her heartrate doubled. She swallowed. "Not since you came along,"
he repeated softly, brushing a strand of hair out of her face."

A flush spread across her face, and for once she was sure that it
wasn't from the pain. **Pain? What pain?** The hand that had been
brushing back her hair moved back behind her neck, pulling her
foreward gently and dissipating the rest of the space between them.

* * * * *

"Gerald? Come in? Gerald?" McCormick stomped around the cramped
office, seizing up the walkie talkie once more. "GERALD, WHERE THE
FUCK ARE YOU??!!!!"

"Is there a problem?" It was the gray man, holding yet another
cigarette. It was his fifth in the past half an hour. McCormick was
counting. "We seem to have lost contact."

The gray man's face remained expressionless, and with a nonchalant
"Hmm" he continued puffing. "I shall deal with them later, if they
are still alive," he said finally. "In the meantime, McCormick, how
are the rest of the bodies?"

McCormick started. "They're a mile or so from where we found them.
There were more than one hundred, sir. We couldn't move them all at
once."

"Hmmm." He puffed again. "I would suggest that you get that done,
then." He flicked some ash on McCormick's desk and strode from the
room.

McCormick stared after him. **I hate these ugly higher ups**

* * * * *

The warning bells that had gone off in Scully's head the second
Mulder's lips touched hers faded down to a pathetic clink. World War
Three could have started four feet away and she wouldn't have budged.
She probably wouldn't even have noticed. The only thing that she
could percieve at the moment was Mulder, holding her face in his
hands and kissing her gently.

She had gone through these various scenarios many times in her head.
They had ranged from an explosive frenzy of passion to an awkward
bump on the lips. But she had never imagined that a kiss this light,
this gentle, could be so incredibly... wonderful.

She shifted, drawing her arms up and around his neck, but her
shoulder refused to cooperate and responded with an angry stab. So
angry that she winced in spite of herself. Mulder pulled away at that
instant, but he kept his face hovering inches above hers, his gaze
still holding hers. She swallowed, aware of the look that his eyes
held and felt like a gawky teenager, unable to figure out how to
handle what had just passed between them. He didn't break his gaze,
seeking some sort of answer in her face. **An answer? How's this for
an answer?** Leaning foreward, she finished what he had started.

A warm trickle and she jerked away suddenly, her hand flying up to
her nose. "Oh sh-shit..." she mumbled, hurridly wiping away the blood,
her vision blurred by a sudden onset of frusterated tears. **Why now?
Why now? Every time that I think I can forget, then...**

Mulder tipped her face up and peered down at her worridly. His eyes
mirrored hers. Sorrow and frusteration. But something even more then
that. **Understanding.** Her lower lip started to tremble. "Shit,"
she mumbled again, wishing that the trickle would subside. Mulder
hastily wiped away some of the tears. "It's okay," he murmered. "It's-
"

The roar of an engine not far away cut him off. He ducked down beside
Scully. "What was that?" she asked softly. He shook his head, eyes
scanning the woods. Then in the distance he caught the glint of metal
as the car flashed by. A slow smile spread his face. "We're near the
road. We can get to town from here."

Scully struggled to stand, and his look was a mixture of worry and
warning, but he didn't make a move to help her when she stood on her
own. He took her wrist in his hand. Surprised, she gave him a quick
sidelong glance but he ignored it. "Come on."

Her legs wobbled a bit but she bit her lip and started after him,
slowly moving through the woods. As they approached the road, another
car flashed by, but this time Mulder stopped. "Military," he ground
out.

"Looking for us?"

Mulder crouched down but kept his eyes on the road. "I don't know. I
don't think so."

"Well then what are they doing here?" Scully glanced at the sky.
"It's getting late."

"There's only one way to find out." He started foreward.

"Mulder?!" she almost screamed but caught herself just in time. He
didn't stop. Scully gritted her teeth angrily. **Damn you.** Rising
shakily to her feet, willing the throb of her shoulder to die down,
she started after him.

She neared the road when the sound of another engine caused her to
crouch down again. This time they had their headlights on. She held
her breath as the light swept about. She was about to continue when
the second car also passed. Both had been heading in the opposite
direction of before.

Scully slowly counted to fifty before standing again, almost tripping
over Mulder, who was sprawled ahead of her. A strange grin crossed
his face. "Now, now, let's not be falling head over heels for your
partner, Scully." His tone was light, but the expression on his face
screamed otherwise, and the rememberance of what had happened not
long before sent a million flutters up her spine. After a moment he
pulled her up beside him and motioned through the trees. "They're
moving something," he whispered, his hand closing around her wrist
again. "Whatever it is it's in that cave over there." She looked at
him quickly, a sick feeling rising into her throat. **Another cave.
Does that mean...?**

His expression was grim. "I was too far to see what it was, but..."

"There's only one way to find out." He didn't look all too surprised
when she said that.

* * * * *

"Colonol? Colonol, come in."

McCormick yanked up the walkie talkie, straining against the roar of
the engine as he sped towards the site. "What is it?"

"It's Gerald, sir. We found him. He's dead."

"Dead??"

"Yes, sir. And we found a blood trail from a different source. They
got away, but they didn't get far."

"Hurry it up, then," the Colonol growled. "Find them, and don't waste
any more time about it."

"Yes, sir." There was a hiss of static and the rustle and snap of
twigs and leaves as the men hurried through the forest. McCormick
ducked at a low branch that almost took his head off and saw a
similar military truck come speeding up to them. He motioned for them
to slow. "Status?"

"They should be all gone within the half hour," the driver of the
other truck responded. McCormick nodded. "Speed it up." The other man
saluted, and the truck roared away.

The walkie talkie crackled again. "Colonol sir!"

"Go ahead."

"We have a visual, sir. They are approaching the site."

**The Site?** "Terminate," he snapped. "And make it fast. Don't let
them get too close."

"It's getting dark, sir."

McCormick grimaced"Is that supposed to be an excuse? I don't care
what you do. I don't want them getting away from the Site alive."

"They won't, sir."

* * * * *

"Is this some kind of a shelter?" Scully peered through the rocky
passage, barely making out a tiny dusty trap door in the center. "It
could be from the Civil War, though it doesn't seem very stable-"

She stopped when a terrible stench hit her. Mulder smelled it, too.
"Oh boy." He clapped his hand over his nose, but did not let go of
her wrist. After a second he did, though rather apologetically, and
flipped open the trap door. The stench worsened, but all that she
could see was blackness. Worridly, she glanced over her shoulder out
of the cave. The last streaks of orange were starting to disappear
from the sky. When she turned back around Mulder was gingerly
lowering himself down into the hole. "What are you-"

He hit the ground with a thump. "Mulder?!" If she quinted she could
just make out a black blob. He felt around with his hands. "There's a
ladder here or-" There was another thump and he swore. "Holy shit.
Holy **shit**!!!"

"What is it?"

"I need light. Dammit, I..." Mulder fumbled aroud anxiously and
pulled out the small penlight that he used earlier. A thin streak of
light shone around. Scully glanced over her shoulder again. They
would be back soon. "Mulder, we have to hu-"

"Oh my God." Mulder's voice was trembling with a mixture of
excitement and horror. "Scully, you have to see this."

She swallowed. "What are they?"

"Bodies." She drew in her breath sharply but he continued. "They're
not human, Scully. Oh my God. They're everywhere..."

<... "From the looks of it I"d say they were alien..."> Scully
swallowed. "Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty damn sure." His voice cracked at the rememberance of his
discovery in New Mexico. "Scully-"

**And this is where they-**

A bang exploded in her ears and with a yell Scully scooted up against
the wall. She peered out anxiously through the opening. **They're not
shooting at me. What the-**

"*Scully?*" Mulder's head appeared as a dark shadow and he scrambled
out towards her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadow flash
across the opening. Another shot and a low rumble.

"Bastards," Mulder ground out, whipping out his gun and starting for
the entrance.

"Mulder, no-"

The rumble grew louder, another bang. Crashing, a loud horrifying
sound of rock tumbling down. **Oh god no the cave is collapsing...**
Mulder yelled something before the last bit of light from the opening
was swallowed up and darkness was spun about...

* * * * *

"Colonol, sir?"

"What is it?" McCormick was busy instructing the other two trucks
that were already loaded with the bodies. He listened for a second
and his face grew red. A vein bulged on his forehead. "You *WHAT*?"

* * * * *

Darkness. Quiet darkness. Peaceful darkness.

<No...>

She was tired, so tired... and it would be so nice to just stay in
this cozy place....

The darkness faded into another darkness. A deep, ominous black. She
blinked, but the darkness did not go away. Dust filled lungs and she
coughed. Just then a dizzying pain exploded in her shoulder.

Carefully testing her other arm, she tried to raise it. Her head was
throbbing. Fumbling, she felt her skull. A huge bump was already
forming. She couldn't see a thing. It was pitch black. Carefully she
felt around. Rock everywhere, huge chunks of it. Something warm and
liquidy was seeping through her blouse. Blood. It was bleeding again.
A similar trickle was running down her face.

Gingerly she tried to move, rock sliding off her as she did so. She
coughed and tested her voice. "Mulder?" Thin and shaky. Her head was
swimming. The doctor in her was complaining. **You've lost too much
blood you have to stop the bleeding.**

**Screw the bleeding I can't see a damn thing!** She felt weak,
incredibly weak. "Mulder?" More silence.

In her mind's eye she could see what had happened. Mulder turning
towards the entrance just as it came crashing down...

She tried again, feeling around frantically. "Mulder?!" She was on
her hands and knees, balancing precariously, her hands dancing around,
banging into rock every other second. "Mulder, can you hear me??"

She thought she could hear him breathing laboriously. She followed
that sound, muttering a prayer under her breath. The stench started
to work it's way above the flinty odor of dust, and she gagged.

Finally her fingers found a wall of loose rock. This was where it had
collapsed. She stopped again, hearing the unmistakeable rasps of her
partner's painful breathing. **Thank God he wasn't crushed.** "Mulder.
.."

Her fingers touched the fabric of his shirt first. His arm was
sprawled out towards her. She found his hand, limp and cold, but one
of his fingers twitched when she touched it. "Mulder, it's me..." Her
hands found his face. It was cold and dampened with sweat, and blood
was trickling down the side of his head. His breath was hot on her
hand, but at least he was still breathing. Suddenly his lips moved
against her palm. "N-nnnnooo," he gasped out. "Run, don't let 'em...
oh god..." His head moved quickly, almost a flinch. Scully swore
under her breath.

"Mulder, that's not happening to you. Do you hear me? It's not."
Tears started to fight their way up to the surface. "It's not. Don't
do this, please..." His body started to tremble and she almost hit
him in frusteration. A feeling of defeat washed over her and she bent
down, her forehead resting against his. "Dammit, don't do this to
me!"

He shuddered suddenly, grabbing her arm to hard that she almost cried
out at the pain in her shoulder. Her hands fluttered over his face
again. "Mulder?"

"Scully..." his voice was weak and he shifted a bit. His hand found
her face in the darkess, and he traced the contours of it. She bit
back tears but forced herself to stay calm.

"Can- can you move?" Mulder shifted and she heard him gasp. "Shit,"
he grumbled, "my leg. I think I broke it." There was the sound of
fabric against rock as he tried to sit up again. " I can't see a
thing." His hand found her arm, travelled down and squeezed her hand.
"Are you okay?"

"I don't- I don't know." She felt sick. The smell made her head reel.
She was shaking so hard that her teeth were chattering. "I- I think m-
my shoulder is bleeding again."

Carefully in the blackness he found her shoulder. "It is." His tone
was grim, but he drew her to him. She reached out clumsily, and heard
more rustling. "What-?"

"Hold still." Mulder's voice suddenly was in her ear. She felt him
tie something around her upper arm. "I have to stop the bleeding,
Scully." It tightened. "You always hated my ties, but they do come in
handy sometimes." Pause. "You still with me?"

"Yeah."

"This might hurt a little bit." His lips brushed against the curve of
her ear this time, and she shivered involuntarily. "Hold still..."

The tie tightened while Mulder applied pressure to the wound and her
shoulder shrieked in response. Scully bit her lip to keep from crying
out, but the pain brought tears to her eyes. She couldn't stop a low
whimper from escaping her throat. "Shhhh," he whispered, "I know it
hurts, Scully, but we have to stop the bleeding..."

She swallowed and tried to hold still, but she was still shaking.
Mulder moved and put his arms around her, though he did not release
the pressure. She was trembling like a leaf. **God** She whimpered
again it it tore at his heart. "I know."

After what seemed like forever he let go and she collapsed against
him. The pain blinded the rest of her mind but she could still feel
Mulder's arms around her. "Don't forget to breathe," he said lightly,
and she drew in several shuddery breaths. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Her voice was dull. "We're trapped."

Mulder didn't answer. There had to be a way out of here. Somehow. A
little voice in the back of his head chided him. **A way out? You
can't even stand up, asshole. Nice try.**

He heard light sobs and realized that Scully was crying. "Scully?" He
shifted, his leg protesting, fumbling in the darkness and finding her
face. He felt blood trickling along the side and ignored the lump
that was rising in his throat. "Scully, we're going to be okay."

"Cut the crap, Mulder," she muttered weakly. "There's no way out."
Her voice still held that dull note, though it was lower this time.

"There's always a way, Scully."

She gave a low bitter laugh. "Not from here, Mulder. There isn't a
way out of this one. They've won-"

"Scully- Scully! Listen to me." He dropped his voice again,
tightening his arms around her. "You said that you'd be here as long
as I believed that there was a way. Right?"

She paused. "Yes."

"Well, I believe that there is a way. There has to be. Just- don't
give up." He hesitated, and dropped his head down, whispering in her
ear again. "Trust me."

She was silent for a couple of seconds, and he felt his heart thud
with fear. Then she turned, her hair tickling his chin, and put her
hand up to his face, letting her fingers linger, voice hoarse. "Say
please."

A finger fluttered around his lips and he froze, suddenly finding it
hard to breathe. "Trust me, *ple-*"

He was cut off when she found his mouth and kissed him.

* * * * *
And so endeth part 4. We got one more to go, folks... and no non-
shippers' whinings because I warned you, and frankly, I'm a shipper
and DAMN PROUD OF IT! On with the show...

END 4/5
HyperTalia@aol.com

Sister, Sister 5/5
by Talia :-D
HyperTalia@aol.com
No one here belongs to me. 'Nuff said.
Warning for the Observationally Challenged!!! Mushy gush ahead!!!!!

* * * * *

A single tear slid down her face, adding a salty tang to the
sweetness of the kiss. Something stuck in Mulder's throat, and he
started to pull away, but she wouldn't let him. Finally he let go and
relaxed with the feel of the gentle press of Scully's lips against
his. Her hands explored his face in the darkness, fluttering through
his hair. He caught one of her wrists and gently twined his fingers
with hers.

She pulled back, but tilted her head so that their foreheads were
touching. "You could have lost all hope years ago and I would never
have left."

He made a noise that was very much like a chuckle. "Don't think
that's possible, Scully. You give me my hope." He drew her close
again, his lips brushing another "We're going to be okay" against
hers.

* * * * *

The sun rose on a gray, misty, rainy day as the team started to work
on the cave. McCormick was standing on the edge of the business,
shouting orders as the men scurried to clear the rubble away. Every
now and then he would stop and glance at the man standing across from
him. Puffing a cigarette and not seeming to have any opinion
whatsoever on what was going on.

Standing next to him was a man that McCormick did not recognize. Tall,
fortyish, balding. He had a strange grimace on his face as he
watched the proceedings.

Around ten o'clock the drizzle had turned into a downpour, and the
men managed to clear away the last of the rubble. There was a yell,
and the men crowded like ants around two figures that appeared
amongst the rock. The bald man started and hurried to them. McCormick
exchanged long glances with the Cancer Man, who in turn put out his
cigarette and strode from the site.

McCormick grimaced as he watched the bodies being trundled away. **He
better know what he's doing** Shaking his head, he motioned to
another man. "Fire!!" he bellowed.

Moments later the shelter exploded.

* * * * *

The Well Manicured Man stared at the grey figure in front of him
disapprovingly. "This is a rather astonishing decision, I must admit.
Why not just kill them?"

The Cancer Man rolled his cigarette between his fingers. "Agent
Mulder's sister is dead. And we all know that she was the driving
force for him mission. I doubt that he will continue to be a threat.
"

"And if he is?"

"Then we take the only thing that he has left away."

"I assume you are talking about his partner."

The Cancer Man brought his cigarette to his lips.

* * * * *

Mulder stared up angrily at the ceiling. "They did something, sir,"
he snapped. "I don't know what, but they've done it before. I saw
something out there. I just- don't remember. It's gone."

Skinner eyed him calmly. "Agent Mulder, I believe that the stress of
losing your sister might have caused you to *think* something
happened other than what did."

"And what do you say happened?"

"You and Agent Scully were found in a terrible auto accident next to
the woods."

Mulder snorted. "I doubt Scully could have somehow torn her shoulder
apart from a *car* accident, sir." He took a deep breath to calm the
frustration. "And what about Timothy Tyren?"

"The boy is in shock, agent Mulder. He doesn't remember a thing."

"How convenient." Mulder glared at his boss. **Something happened.
They took it from me. Something they didn't want me to remember.**

After Skinner left Mulder kept his eyes focused on the ceiling. He
turned his head when the door opened. "Skinner gave you the talk?"

Scully's eyes were dark. "Yes."

He watched her sit down in the chair by the bed. Her arm was in a
sling and bruises dotted her face. He reached up and touched one of
the bruises gently. "Did you believe him, Scully?"

She stared intently into his face. "No." Her hand came up and closed
around his wrist. He moved his hand and grabbed hers. Something about
that gesture brought something back, hitting him so hard that he
almost dropped her hand. He glanced at his partner. Her gaze softened.
She remembered, too.

There was one thing that had happened that he doubted he would ever
forget. No matter what.

"I don't think that we were in a car accident, Scully."

She leaned over him, brushing the hair out of his eyes, fingers
lingering. "How can you be so sure?"

He pulled her head a bit closer. Softly, "Trust me." He brushed his
lips against hers. "*Please*"

* * * * *

There we go. It's done!!! Well, comments would REALLY be appreciated
to the utmost degree for this. So please let me know what you think?
PLEASE? Once again, I will be gone from July 16th to late August 1997
so if you want a response be patient. E-mail? :-)

*END part 5/5*
HyperTalia@aol.com

____
~Talia :-D
******************************************************
"You are the ONLY one I trust..."
******************************************************
Outspoken shipper forever!!!!!!!!!