THE RUNAWAY(5/6)
The Magician - Book Two
An X-Files Fantasy by
Jennifer Lyon (jennyann@ix.netcom.com) and
Suzanne Bickerstaffe (Ecksphile@AOL.com)

Chapter 11 Part A

Finding a motel that would rent a room to a pair of teenagers
wasn't as difficult as Shannon had expected - at least not once she
plopped down enough cash to cover three nights. The bored,
acne-scarred man in the motel
office had been all smiles once his fist had closed around the crumpled
bills. Minutes later, they had settled into the ugly plastic room with
mutual relief, Andalor far too exhausted to be surprised by any new
marvels this world might have to offer.
Neither said much. By unspoken agreement, they decided to leave
the decisions for the morning. Shannon shut herself in the bathroom,
Andalor removed his boots and lay down across one side of the bed. He
wasn't used to sharing a room, much less a bed, with anyone, especially
a female, but right now he didn't have the energy to worry about it.
Laying his head down on the pillow, he was sound asleep in seconds.
Shannon luxuriated in the shower. Rusty, tiny, and sputtering it
might be, but it was hot. Scrubbing at her hair with her bare hands,
she resolved to hit a drugstore first thing in the morning. As she
stepped out and dried herself with the thin, frayed towel, she yawned
aloud. But exhausted as she was, she also felt a sense of
satisfaction. Finally free of both Gordon and her mother, she had a
full stomach, a clean - well semi-clean - place to sleep, and enough
money to keep her going until she had a chance to figure things out.
Pulling her overshirt and pants back on with a grimace of
irritation, she mentally added visiting a clothes store to her list of
things to do in the morning. Then she shook as much water out of her
hair as she could, and left the bathroom.
Yanking down the covers on the bed, she eased them under
Andalor's sleeping form, then slid underneath them herself. Turning
off the lamp by the bed, she settled down onto the pillow, unable to
stifle another loud yawn. Before finally closing her eyes and joining
him in the depths of slumber, she looked over at the shadow of his fair
head against the pillow.
"You'd better not snore!" she warned him. Then she too was
instantly asleep.
- - - - -

Sunlight streaked across Andalor's shuttered eyes, and he threw
his hand over his face to block it out.
"Nnnnn," he murmured, twisting, half-asleep, fighting to get
free of the hand that was insistently shaking him.
"Come on!! Wake up," said a vibrant voice, tinged with
irritation.
"Leave me alone, Dorbo," he said, though his eyes slowly began
to open.
"Who's Dorbo?" Shannon asked, sitting down on the edge of the
bed beside him. "Come on, Andy, we haven't got all day. We need to
get breakfast, do some shopping, then figure out how to find this
Mulder of yours."
Andalor's eyes popped fully open, and he stared up at her
now-familiar face, his mouth falling open. It was real!! He was here,
in Mulder's world. It hadn't been a dream.
Shannon cocked her head at him as his expression wandered from
shock to amazement to wonder. "You really are one strange dude, Andy,"
she said, getting up off the bed. Picking up his boots, she tossed
them at him. "Hit the bathroom if you have to, then get your shoes on.
Let's go!"
"Bathroom?" he asked, though his eyes had already noticed the
absence of a tub from the room. "Did they bring us water?" he asked,
dropping the boots and heading for the smaller, adjoining room she had
disappeared into the night before. He had been too tired to deal with
it last night, but now his bladder was about to burst. It seemed
strange to bathe and deal with other bodily functions in the same room,
but he was willing to go along with the way things were here.
"Bring us water?" Shannon answered a question with a question,
shaking her head again. Sometimes it felt like they weren't quite
speaking the same language. "Just use the sink..." her voice trailed
off as he closed the connecting door. It was a while before she heard
the sound of running water, but it came accompanied by a squeal of
delight.
- - - - -

Once Shannon was able to draw Andalor out of the chamber of
delights that was a modern bathroom, they made good progress on her
list of chores. Andalor was amazed by the drugstore, his eyes turning
a deep, brilliant purple as they recorded every sight and sound. He
wasn't quite sure what many of the goods were, but Shannon was all
business, and he followed her cues as best he could.
Then breakfast, again at MacDonalds, and on to the clothes store.
Andalor was in heaven. Beautiful garments, in such wonderful colors,
and he didn't have to spend hours being fitted, or poked with pins and
the seamstresses' needles. All he had to do was find something that
fit, and he was done. It was glorious!
By the time they got back to the motel room, it was well past
noon, and they were overburdened with sacks and bags. Dumping his load
beside the bed, Andalor collapsed onto it. Shannon followed suit.
They lay there for a while, then Shannon got up and slid herself
to the floor to start sorting things out. She made two piles, one for
him, one for her, and simply tossed things in the appropriate
direction. Andalor crawled over the bed, and lay down prone across it,
resting his chin in his hands.
He watched her for a moment, then sighed with happiness. "If I
was back at the castle, I'd have to be studying right now. The history
of the House of Maalfes...ugh! Or worse yet, having to read the Treaty
of Queltdennon or some such 'important' historical document. This is
much better."
Shannon leaned back, angling her head around so that one eye
could see him, while the other was hidden behind a raven wing of hair.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Even though I was being held
hostage, they still expected me to do schoolwork. In the summer,
even!" She shook her head at the impossibility of adults, then
frowned. "But we're still not out of the woods, here, Andy."
Pulling her knees up to her chest, she wriggled around fully to
face him. "We went through over half our money today. The rest won't
last that long. Unless you've got more stuff like those bracelets,
we're going to be in trouble."
Andalor shook his head. "Except for the crystals, I don't have
anything else we could trade. Gordon took the metal I was hoping to
use." He didn't mention the rings that were still tucked away safely
on the chain around his neck because they were specifically for Mulder
and Scully, and carried enchantments keyed to their intended owners.
He looked at her for a moment, then asked the question he had
been wondering about all day. "Don't you have any family? Was it that
they couldn't afford the ransom for you, or..."
"No, I don't have any family!" she shouted. Subsiding, she felt
his eyes fixated on her face. "Well, I have a mother. But she doesn't
really care. Oh she 'says' she's only working with THEM because they
threatened me, but I know she really wants to do it anyway. She has
always been more interested in her work than me. I'm just an
encumbrance she puts up with because she has to." Once the flood of
angry words was over, Shannon clamped up tight again, her jaw jutting
forward as though she expected him to argue with her.
But when Andalor spoke, it was with soft, sincere sympathy. "I'm
sorry."
She shrugged, her hair rippling over her shoulders with the
motion.
Andalor waited until she met his eyes again, then he spoke again.
"My parents were murdered. I saw it happen. I was only a kid, but
I've got a perfect memory." He closed his eyes, his face tightening
with the recalled anguish. "I couldn't do anything except cry. Just
stand there and scream for them..."
Reaching out to him, she closed her hand over his forearm. "I'm
sorry, Andy. That really sucks!"
"It was a long time ago," he responded, with a ghost of a smile.
"I'll never forget, but at least the ones responsible were
well-punished. And I was taken care of. My regent, Reinald, was
always good to me, even when he bored me to tears. And I had Dorbo and
Lita and Jourdain... and Mulder and Scully for a while." his eyes
glazed over, his mind far away, remembering. "Mulder was the best. He
understood me the way no one else did. He has a memory like mine, and
he always seemed to find time for me, no matter what was happening. I
hated it when he had to go away. That's why I had to try to find him
now. I'm sick of all the training." His voice changed timber as he
quoted, "Andalor, you're going to be King someday. You have much to
learn. You must act like a Prince. You must study more. You must do
this. You cannot do that..."
Swinging his feet around, he sat up abruptly. "I had to get
away, to see this world. And I want to talk to Mulder again. He'll
know the right things to do. He always does."
"Well, then we will find him," Shannon replied. "It can't be
that difficult. He's a federal agent, so I suppose we could always
contact the FBI. Though it would help if we knew what city he lived
in."
"Washington DC," Andalor said with a grin. She spun to look at
him. "The Professor told me, " he explained. "I remember it clearly.
He said Mulder lived in a giant village called Washington DC."
"Well, why didn't you say so before!?" Shannon chided, getting
to her feet and reaching for the phone. "Now as long as he doesn't
have an unlisted phone number, we're all set."
- - - - -

"This is Fox Mulder. I'm not home. Leave a message."
Shannon frowned, listening to the answering machine as it clicked
and beeped, then fell silent. "Uhnnn. My name is Shannon Vedner, I'm
with a friend of yours. Andy...Andalor. Look, we're in a bit of
trouble and Andy says you might be able to help. You can reach us at
the Bayside Motel in Boston. 617- mmmm 617-555-2736. We're in room
27. Please call us as soon as possible. Thanks."
She hung up the phone. Andalor was staring at her, his eyes
brimming with questions, to which she simply gave a shrug.
"He's not home, but I left a message on his machine. Guess all
we can do now is wait for him to call us back."
- - - - -

Mulder's building was quiet in the autumn sun. The street
outside was empty except for a small, gray van, with the words,
"Washington Light and Power" stenciled on the sides in broad blue and
green strokes. Unseen by passersby, the inside of the van was filled
with complicated electronics, monitored by two men in dark suits. One
sat sprawled in a small chair, headphones over his ears, tapping a
pencil against a small countertop. The other sat upright in front of a
computer monitor, typing vigorously.
Suddenly the man in the headphones jolted to an upright position.
Leaning forward, he adjusted the controls in front of him, then yelled
at his companion.
"We've got 'em!" One more flicked switch and a young girl's
musical voice filled the small space. "You can reach us at the Bayside
Motel in Boston..."
The men exchanged shark-like grins, then the computer operator
reached for the telephone. Moments later he was speaking urgently into
the receiver, "Sir, we've located the missing kids. They left a
message on Mulder's answering machine..."
- - - - -

Gordon hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair, a rare
smile crossing his hard features. Nothing like a little forethought.
Taking the time and expense to bug Mulder's phone had just paid off in
spades. For once, he had the lead. He'd get to those kids long before
the agent even had a chance. And this time he would see to it
personally.
As he got to his feet and fastened his gun into the heavy leather
shoulder-holster, his smile turned grim. He would not allow any
further mistakes.
- - - - -

Mulder drove the car slowly down the street, his eyes darting
from the familiar figures of Aldara and Jourdain to the faces of the
strangers who passed on either side of the narrow road. He pulled
ahead, and recircled the block, hoping against hope that he might catch
a glimpse of the missing boy, or his unknown companion. It was a
relief that Andalor had found a guide to help him cope with this
foreign world, though he knew all too well how much trouble could
befall a pair of teenagers, lost and alone in a city this size. He
edged the car slowly back around to the final corner, then braked to a
full stop and sat waiting for his friends to catch up. A few more
circuits and they would have to give up this almost hopeless way of
searching and rejoin Scully. Certainly it had been a waste of time so
far.
The thought of being with Scully quickened his pulse. Just
barely, he could sense her presence across the city, though that could
perhaps just be his desire to feel her near.
Shaking his head ever so slightly, he reached for his cellular
phone. He fingered through the code for his own apartment, the idea
of checking his answering machine an almost unformed decision on the
edge of his preoccupied consciousness. Eyes still searching, moving,
jumping from shadow to shadow through the dirt-spotted glass of the car
windows, he registered the sound of his own voice speaking flatly,
remotely, into his ear.
Stabbing at the "five" button, he held it until the phone
clicked, then released the button and settled back into the
uncomfortable driver's seat of the small compact car. As the machine
rewound, the stray thought that he wished they would start making cars
for people of 'normal' size again ran across his mind, and then was
lost in the sudden richness of the voice that rang in his ears.
"Unnnh. My name is Shannon..."
- - - - -

Jourdain twisted to the side to make room for the two young women
who walked past him, their slender bodies encased in skin-tight pants
and brightly-colored shirts that left little to the imagination. Their
hair was bound up off their faces, only to cascade over the shoulders
in a riot of color, one glowing faintly pink, the other tinged with
streaks of black. Both had faces the color of death, with garishly red
mouths and black-lined eyes. He shivered slightly, his eyes
automatically seeking the short, muscled, but full-bodied form of his
wife. To his eyes she was a model of grace and beauty, and even at a
distance, he admired the confidence of her walk, the way Scully's
borrowed clothes enhanced without being overly revealing, the shining
glory of her naturally ebony hair - and above all, the clarity of her
unpainted skin. He hoped she never tried to act like those women,
whose child-like giggles floated back to him on the breeze.
Seeing Mulder bring the small magic wagon up to the nearby
road-edge, he hurried his pace slightly, feeling a raw sense of
frustration coil within his guts. The sun was already beginning to
start its downward descent towards nightfall, and they seemed no closer
to finding the missing Prince. Jourdain hated the thought of the boy
being lost in this strange place for yet another night. Despite his
brave words to his wife, only two days previously, about understanding
Andalor's need to explore, Jourdain was well aware of the difference
between his own boyhood adventures and those of the young Prince.
For one, Andalor was much more sheltered than he had ever been,
and at least Jourdain had been in a familiar world in which the dangers
were known ones. Here the threats were unknown, and all the more
terrifying for that reason alone. Still searching each dark corner
with his penetrating blue gaze, Jourdain prayed desperately that they
would find the missing boy - and the girl who seemed to have become his
companion - soon.
"Jourdain!!" The big soldier responded instantly to the cry of
his name, racing across the street to confront Mulder's excited face.
Aldara came running up behind the tall agent, skidding to a halt beside
them.
"What is it?" Jourdain asked, fear warring with hope.
Mulder broke into a grin. "I think we found them! A girl who
called herself 'Shannon' left a message on my answering machine - "
at his friend's frowns, he waved his hands as though to signal that
he'd try to explain later, as the words continued to flood out of him "
- she said she was with Andalor, that they needed our help, and that
they were at the Bayside Motel here in Boston."
"Thank the gods!" Aldara explained.
"Where is that place?" Jourdain asked almost simultaneously.
Mulder shrugged. "Don't know." He flashed white teeth in a sudden
grin. "But we're going to find out. Come on!"
Seconds later, they were all in the car, Jourdain almost too
excited to feel his customary unease at getting into the much-disliked
magic wagon, and were speeding down the street. Mulder took them
around a corner far too fast, and Jourdain felt his stomach lurch.
Well, maybe not quite that excited.

----------------------
End chpt11 Part A
----------------------

Chapter 11 Part B

Andalor wriggled into the new pants, the ones Shannon called
jeans, then pulled up the strange metal fastener, amazed again at the
intricacy of the workmanship. He pulled the loose metal tab down, then
up again, then left it, closing the button as well. Sitting down on
the edge of the bed he swung his legs out in front of him. A faint
smile softened his features as he decided he liked these new clothes
very much. Then he was distract
ed by the sound of the bathroom door opening.
His amethyst eyes widened as he saw Shannon standing in the
doorway, dressed in a light blue dress, v-neck in the front and tied at
the waist with a brightly patterned scarf, then falling in soft folds
to mid-calf. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, strands floating
around her. His jaw dropped. For the first time, he saw her as more
than simply a companion in adventure, but also as a very beautiful
young woman.
"Shannon..." he whispered, but was not allowed time to finish
the thought.
<BLAM!> The door suddenly burst inward, coming up against the
wall with a loud crack. Bright sunlight spilled into the room,
temporarily covering the entrance of the three big men. Shannon saw
them first, and recognized Gordon immediately.
"No!" her shout came involuntarily, then she darted back into
the bathroom slamming the door behind her. Andalor was on his feet
almost in the same instant, his only thought to protect her.
"Get out of here!" he yelled, lunging at the nearest intruder.
His head slammed into the man's belly, knocking him backwards, but one
of the others was ready for him, and grabbed him by the arm.
Andalor stumbled down onto the floor, but came up kicking. He
got one man in the shins, and managed to slam a fist into another's
groin before two of them took a firm hold of each of his arms and
lifted the slender youth up off the floor. His feet kicking at air, he
yelled furiously, his words slipping into New Realm.
Gordon left his two men to drag the struggling boy out of the
room, while he headed for the bathroom door. He knew there was no way
out for the troublesome girl, since the only window was barred shut,
and he had two men out there as back-up.
Drawing out his gun, he pulled on the doorknob, but it held.
"Don't be foolish, Shannon," he said reasonably. "There's no other
way out, and besides, your mother is worried sick about you. Come
quietly, so that no one has to get hurt."
"Go to hell!" she screamed back through the door. Backing up
against the side wall, she searched the room for something she could
use as a weapon, but found nothing. Her eyes alighted on the towel
rack, and she lunged for it, just as Gordon's knocks on the door turned
more violent.
"Shannon, there's no way out. We've got your friend. Just open
the door and come out. I promise neither of you will be hurt if you
simply do as I request. Shannon!!!" Gordon kicked at the door, even
as the trapped girl managed to break the thin metal towel bar free from
the wall.
Squeezing herself back against the wall beside the door, she held
it up high in her hand, ready and waiting.
She didn't have to wait long. An instant later, the door came
crashing open, and Gordon burst into the tiny room, his gun hand
stretched out in front of him - an easy target for her. With all of
her strength behind it, she slammed the bar down on his wrist,
eliciting a welcoming <CRACK> as it hit.
Gordon yelped, then swore, the gun clattering to the floor.
Shannon dropped the bar and dove for it, but he was too quick. Despite
the pain in his hand, he seized her from behind and pulled her back,
her outstretched fingers just a few frustrating inches from the barrel
of the gun.
"Let me GOOOO!" she screeched, kicking, struggling, trying to
get to his arms and hands with her teeth. Throwing her viciously
against the sink, he then backhanded her across the face as she turned.
She cried out, then spat viciously at him, snarling like a cat. He
grabbed her by the arm with one hand, and took a handful of her hair
with another. She yelled and cursed again, as he forced her out of the
bathroom.
She managed to catch her feet on the doorway, but another violent
yank on her hair wrenched her free, eliciting a shriek of pain. With
total disregard, he literally dragged her across the carpet and out of
the motel room.
- - - - -

Andalor fought hard against his two captors, scoring some
well-directed kicks against their legs. Then as they paused to turn
towards the waiting van, he twisted in their grasp and aimed a knee at
the genitals of the man on the right. He slammed that kneecap home,
and was answered with a cry of utter agony. Finding one arm abruptly
free, Andalor threw a fist into the other man's kidneys. Breaking away
from them, both doubled over in pain on the walkway, he turned towards
the street then hesitated as a loud shrill shriek split the air.
"Shannon!" he shouted, finding himself torn between the need to
run to freedom and the desire to help his new-found friend. His
feelings for her won easily, and he darted back towards the hotel room.
Just as he reached the doorway, the boy came face to face with a
scowling Gordon, Shannon kicking and yelling as he pulled her outside.
"Let her go!" Andalor yelled, his hands balling up into fists.
Gordon paused for just a second, but before either could move, Shannon
turned her head and screamed, "ANDY! WATCH OUT!"
<SLAM> something hard struck him over the top of his head, and he
crumpled to the ground. Hanging half-suspended from Gordon's grip,
Shannon looked up defiantly at the hulking goon who stood above
Andalor's unconscious body, his hand closed tight around the barrel of
a big pistol, the butt of which showed the unmistakable gleam of blood
mixed with a couple strands of fair, yellow hair.
Gordon wasn't about to waste time. Shouting "bring him" at his
subordinate, he pulled Shannon past her friend's body and out into the
parking lot. Her attempts to break free of his grip were ignored the
way someone would ignore the buzzing of an annoying insect. He smacked
her once again, then dragged her forward again.
Inch-by-inch he got her closer to the waiting van, while his man
followed closely behind, Andalor's body slung over his massive
shoulder.
- - - - -

It took one phone book, and two attempts at asking for directions
for Mulder to get a good sense of where the Bayside motel was. Pushing
the car as fast as he dared in the busy city streets, he cursed as he
realized he had already swung past it twice, merely a single block over
on either side. As he maneuvered through the maze of one-way streets,
trying to find the best path on which to circle back, he punched
furiously at his cellular phone.
Finally, Scully's welcome voice echoed in his ears. "Scully."
"It's me," he said. "I think I found them..."
"What? Where?" Scully interrupted, her excitement bringing a wry
smile to her partner's lips.
"They left a message on my answering machine at home, saying that
they were at the Bayside Motel here in Boston, and needed our help.
We're on the way there as we speak, E.T.A. about ten minutes. Can you
get over here?"
"Thank goodness," Scully breathed, then looked out her car
window at the suburban area she was driving through. "We're almost
back at the Professor's house. We'll pick up Tarnor, then meet you at
the motel. What's the address?"
Seconds later, Mulder had passed on the directions, though Scully
promised herself to recheck them before they left. Directions were not
Mulder's strong point, and she refused to get lost at such an important
time.
"OK, we'll be there as soon as we can," she assured him, then
followed with a heartfelt word of caution. "Be careful!"
Mulder smiled wryly at the phone as he hung up, whispering, "You
too."
- - - - -

Scully parked the car on the edge of the street in front of the
house, getting out swiftly, followed by the happily chattering Mage and
scientist. Both were delighted that they had finally found a lead to
the missing boy, so they didn't notice initially when Scully froze in
her tracks, staring at the wide-open front door.
"Scully!" Reinald started to say, his voice trailing off as he
caught the intense set of her face, then followed her fixed gaze to the
door that swung half-off its hinges in response to the wind. The
Professor stopped short also, his breath catching in his lungs.
"What?" he began, but Scully shushed him with a swift gesture.
Then drawing her gun, she motioned for them to stay put, and eased her
way up onto the front porch.
Turning to the side, she came against the doorjamb, then angled
her head to peek into the front hallway of the house. Immediately
noting the signs of disturbance - rugs askew, vase of flowers spilled
over onto the floor, furniture tilted at odd angles - she paused for a
moment, listening and watching. When she was met with a dead silence,
she took a deep breath and moved into the hallway, her head turning
from side-to-side, her eyes darting from shadow to shadow, her
footsteps quiet and carefully measured.
At each doorway, she stopped to peer inside, weapon always at the
ready - but was met with nothing. Until, finally she turned to look
into the library, and was greeted with the murmuring of voices.
Stepping firmly into the doorway, she lifted her gun and pointed
it at the source of the sounds. "Federal agent, don't move!"
They moved, of course, both jumping up out of their chairs in
alarm. Scully's fingers tightened convulsively on the trigger, then
relaxed with an audible sigh of relief as she recognized the two
individuals facing her.
"Please, Agent Scully, don't shoot!" Karen Mather said
anxiously. Tarnor merely stared at the red-haired woman holding her
foreign weapon at him, his uncertainty evident only in the jerking of
his broad ears.
Scully lowered her gun, and returned it to her hip-holster, then
stepped forward. Taking in Karen's rumpled and dirty appearance, as
well as the slightly ashen color of the gargoyle's skin, she asked
calmly, but authoritatively, "What happened?"
- - - - -

Karen hugged the old Professor, tears glistening in her eyes.
"I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried...but I did as you had
instructed. I shut everything down, and made sure your house was taken
care of."
"You did well, Karen, my dear," Professor Neumann said,
releasing her, then guiding her over to the couch. She sat down,
wringing her hands, then looked up at the four faces watching her
expectantly.
"Things were okay for a couple of months, then out of the blue,
this man, Gordon, turned up." The corners of her mouth tightened in
anger as she mouthed his name, her voice dripping with hostility.
"First he simply asked a lot of questions about you and the work we had
done. I tried to give him as little as possible, but he didn't give
up. Then he let slip that he was trying to repeat the experiments and
I told him that he had to stop. He just laughed at me.
"Then he told me that I had to come work for him. Well, of
course, I told him to get lost. I know men like him. They cover their
evil with smooth smiles and a greasy manner. But when you defy them,
they turn ugly." She shivered. "After I turned him down twice, he
started to threaten me, but I didn't take him too seriously. I didn't
think..." She broke into a sob, covering her mouth with her hand.
"What did he do?" Scully asked gently.
"He kidnapped my daughter!" Karen exclaimed. "Straight out of
school, he just went there and took her out of her class. Then he told
me that I had to help him or he'd hurt her."
"The girl that Mulder said was with Andalor, that's your
daughter?" Reinald asked urgently.
Karen nodded. "I was supposed to 'examine' the boy, but he
just...disappeared. One minute he was there, the next he was gone.
All hell broke loose, and then the next thing I heard was that the two
had somehow escaped together. I didn't know what to think, whether to
be worried about her all on her own out there, or to be glad she had
escaped from that horrible place. They kept her locked up in a cell!"
Her voice rose in outrage, weeks of buried rage finally surfacing. "I
could kill that bastard."
Reinald and the professor both looked horrified, while Tarnor's
head bobbed in sympathy. Scully's only response was a tightening of
her full mouth and the flash of determination in her bright blue eyes.
All were thinking that Gordon had some reckoning coming to him.
But Scully had several other concerns. "Exactly what were Gordon
and his people doing?"
Karen brushed the tears off her cheeks and responded eagerly.
"They were trying to use the vortex as a way to transfer people and
things between locations. I think they want to use it to get soldiers
behind enemy lines or to send in sneak attacks, assassins and spies.
To steal information."
"Typical!" Scully shook her head, thinking furiously. "What
worries me the most," she added, "is the effect this might have on
other worlds. The Professor's original research opened the gates to
the Dark Place. I can't even begin to imagine what might happen if
those particular pathways were re-opened."
That brought looks of utter dismay from both Tarnor and Reinald,
and a look of pained sorrow from the Professor. Sitting down beside
Karen, he sighed dramatically. "This is all my fault. If only I had
known what might happen..."
"There's no way you could have known, Professor," Scully
reassured him kindly. "You stopped as soon as you saw the dangers.
Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be able to say the same about this
Gordon."
Karen nodded agreement. Reinald rubbed at his chin thoughtfully,
then spoke with measured words. "Using the vortex to travel, if you
use it carefully and with full understanding of the forces you are
dealing with, I do not see as a problem. But I do agree that we cannot
allow evil and unscrupulous men to be playing with powers they do not
understand." He drew himself up proudly, and continued in a voice of
ringing authority. "These men must be stopped!"
The others all agreed, Karen included, though her heart was
elsewhere. "First, we have to find my daughter!" she insisted.
- - - - -

Jourdain's head hit the ceiling as Mulder bounced the car into
the motel parking lot without so much as a tap on the brake. Growling,
the big man rubbed at his head, but before he could voice the
complaint, his eyes focused on the scene outside the car window.
"Mulder, Look!" Aldara yelled, pointing out the windshield at
the man hauling a struggling young woman across the pavement. Mulder
slammed hard on the brakes, twisting at the wheel, so that the car spun
partially into a parking spot, the rubber tires squealing in protest.
Without bothering to turn off the car, the agile agent was out of the
car and racing across the lot, Jourdain only moments behind. Aldara
circled around in the opposite direction, her eyes focused on the man
as he backhanded the girl across the face, then dragged her almost by
her hair alone towards a larger gray wagon.
Jourdain's attention, however, was fixed solely on the golden
head of the body slumped over the shoulder of a man who almost rivaled
the big soldier in size. Reaching automatically for his sword,
Jourdain felt an abrupt pang of loss as he realized he no longer had
the comfortable weapon. Unhappily settling for his knife, he drew the
blade, his feet pounding on the hard pavement as he closed the distance
between him and his quarry.
Mulder was much fleeter of foot, and as he neared the kidnappers,
he was already holding his gun at the ready.
"Federal Agent. Hold it right there!"
<BANG BANG BANG> Shots rang out from the direction of the van,
forcing Mulder to leap to the side, dropping to the pavement and
rolling to avoid the sudden barrage of bullets.
"Watch out!!" he screamed at Jourdain, terrified that his friend
from the Realm would not recognize the danger from the unfamiliar
weapons. But Jourdain was battle-trained enough to recognize danger
when he saw it, even if he did not understand it. Weaving around a
pair of parked cars, he managed to get beside Mulder.
The agent knelt behind a car aiming his gun over the front hood.
Careful not to hit either the girl or Andalor, he fired back grimly
towards the van. Squinting his eyes, he could just barely make out the
shape of the man huddled behind the corner of the van, and the shadow
of the one using the van's back door as cover.
Gordon had to crouch down as he shoved Shannon towards the van,
trying to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Dammit! he thought,
hadn't someone had the sense enough to erase that tape on Mulder's
machine? Did he have to spell out every detail to these idiots?
Furious, he wrenched Shannon's arm around, then tripped her over
onto the ground. "Get up and move!" he hissed at her, shoving her
forward. Her amber eyes spitting fire, she spat at him through
clenched teeth, then bit at his arm. In response, he slapped her hard,
and this time she collapsed, a small trickle of blood dripping out of
the corner of her mouth. He grabbed her arms and hefted her body up,
yelling at one of his men to come help him get her into the van.
Mulder and Gordon's men kept up a running gunfight, Jourdain's
frustration reaching a fever pitch as he crouched behind the tall
agent, unable to do anything to help save his Prince. All he could do
was wait, and hope that Mulder's strange weapon would be enough. It
was enough to knock one of the MIB shooters down flat, eliciting a
throaty cry of triumph from Mulder as he saw his target fall.
Seconds later, another man went down, toppling head first onto
the sidewalk, causing Mulder to frown in confusion. Until he caught
sight of a flash of color, sunlight glinting off silver, the hilt of a
knife embedded in the man's back.
"Aldara!" he yelled involuntarily, eyes darting past the van to
try to find her, but she had already moved on. One of the other men
turned around, and shot back behind him, causing both Mulder and
Jourdain's hearts to skip a beat. Another shot, then another, and then
the man swiveled. Too far away to see if the expression was one of
success or failure, Mulder took the chance to strike, sending his last
pair of bullets whizzing at the dark-suited goon.
One bullet hit, one missed, the man stumbled down, grasping at
his shoulder. Mulder drew a rasping breath, then pulled back behind
the shelter of the car. He automatically checked the cartridge,
knowing even before he did so, that he was out of bullets. Jourdain
caught the look on his friend's face, and felt his stomach sink. "Is
it broken?"
"Out of bullets." Mulder answered, wishing fervently that he'd
had sense enough to bring extra ammunition. He just hadn't expected to
end up in a shoot-out with some obviously trained, obviously
government, flunkies. Then he grimaced at Jourdain and tried to
explain. "These weapons shoot out little lead pellets called bullets.
Without more bullets, it's useless."
Jourdain shook his head. For all of its ability to kill at a
distance, it seemed a pretty useless weapon if you had to keep feeding
it. Give him a good sharp-edged sword any day, he thought wistfully,
the image of his own prized blade hanging in its scabbard above the
door of his home flashing before his eyes. What he wouldn't give to
have it in his hands.
But thinking about what couldn't be was a waste of time. Getting
up from his crouch, he peered over Mulder and the car to watch the men
dump both Andalor and the girl into the back of the gray van, then slam
the door shut. Some of the men got inside it from the side, others got
into another smaller car.
As the engines roared, Jourdain and Mulder both stood up, then
had to duck again when a volley of shots came from one of the car
windows. They appeared to be trapped.
- - - - -

Aldara grinned as she took down one of the enemy, watching him
fall with a look of pure satisfaction. But as she was reaching for a
second knife, another of the men turned and aimed his strange weapon at
her. Instinctively, she darted to the side, then rolled across the
ground. Something pinged on the hard ground beside her, and she was
back on her feet and running in less time than it took her to draw air
into her lungs.
Leaping upwards, she dove over the front end of a car, tucking
her head into her arms, so that her shoulders took the jarring impact
with the ground. Momentum carried her through a full somersault, and
by the time she had righted herself, it was obvious that something else
had claimed the shooter's attention. Aldara saw him stumble, blood
gushing out of his shoulder, and smiled grimly, silently thanking
Mulder for his timing.
Circling back around, she kept low to the ground, her small size
assisting in keeping her out of sight. She watched, rage growing, as
the men loaded Andalor and the girl into the van. Her eyes narrowed,
moving past Mulder and her husband, who were trapped behind another
car, and on to Mulder's still-running vehicle.
Heading cautiously in that direction, she had to stifle a scream
when Mulder and Jourdain stood up, only to fall to the ground
underneath another round of loud bangs. Gathering all of her
considerable courage and determination, she took off towards the car,
her long curly hair waving out behind her. At last, she came up to the
side of the car, and with barely a second of hesitation, she got into
the still-open driver's side door. Slamming the door shut behind her,
she fastened the seat belt, only to find herself unable to reach the
pedals on the floor.
She wriggled as far forward as she could, cursing the length of
Mulder's legs inventively. But it was no use, she couldn't reach.
Then a sudden memory of watching Mulder adjust the seat to give himself
more leg room earlier that day struck her. Obviously, if he could make
the seat go back, she ought to be able to make it go forward. He had
pushed at something below the seat, so she leaned over, and was
gratified to find a small black lever. It took a couple tries, her
tense anxious fingers struggling as she tried to hold the lever down
and scrunch the seat forward at once. But finally, it released with a
loud click, and the seat shot forward, then clicked into place.
Now she was almost too far forward, her chest up tight against
the steering wheel, but her feet could easily reach the pedals. A look
of accomplishment lightened the grimness of her elven-cast features, as
she turned her attention back to the disaster unfolding around her.
Next, she ran back over all of her memories of watching Mulder
and Scully operate one of these vehicles. She had paid close
attention, and remembered vividly that the small hand lever to her
right had to be on "D" to go forward, or on "R" to go back.
It took a couple hard shoves to get it right, but she finally
forced it into "R." Then there were the pedals to consider. She knew
one meant go and the other meant stop, but which ones? She hadn't been
able to spend too much time staring down between either of her friend's
legs, curious as she had been, it wouldn't have been appropriate
behavior. Now wishing she had been a little less concerned with
protocol, she finally decided to try the one on the left first.
Nothing happened.
All right, that meant that the left was probably the stop.
Sending up a short prayer to whatever gods ruled this strange world,
she lifted her foot, then brought it down sharply on the right pedal.
"OOOOOHHEEEEEE!!!"
she squealed as the car jerked backwards, then slid to the right. It
moved so FAST!!! Slamming on the other pedal, she was greatly relieved
when the car jerked to a stop. Taking a look at her position, she was
delighted to see that she had pulled into a more open spot without,
quite, hitting anything.
Taking a deep breath, she adjusted the lever into "D" and this
time, VERY slowly, pressed down on the right pedal. The car bolted
forward, and she clung to the wheel with white-knuckled fingers as she
tried to aim for Mulder and Jourdain.

--------------------------
End chpt11 Part B
--------------------------

Chapter 11 Part C

Tires squealed on cement, horns blared, the crunch of metal on
metal filled the air. Aldara held onto the wheel for dear life as her
foot slammed down on the stop pedal. The car skidded to the side, and
she felt the jolt of the collision with the larger van reverberate
through every bone in her body.
Her car came to a full stop, its nose merely inches from the back
bumper of the car sheltering Jourdain and Mulder. Behind her, the gray
van backed away with a tearing metal wrench, then roared, as it angled
wide, racing past into the freedom of the street, followed closely
behind by another small car.
Unwilling to waste time figuring out how to open the window,
Aldara simply waved at the two men staring at her with dilated eyes and
gaping jaws. "Hurry!!!" she yelled, not sure if they could really
hear her, but hoping they would figure it out quickly.
Mulder was the first to move, his fears for the kidnapped
children pumping adrenaline through his veins. Holstering his empty
weapon, he grabbed at Jourdain's arm. "Let's go!"
Jourdain took the hint and ran for the car. For once, he got the
car door open on his own, and hardly stumbled on getting inside.
Mulder went for the driver's door, intending to replace Aldara there,
but before he could get it open one final round of shots came in his
direction from the second car as it weaved past them. One hand
instinctively thrown up to protect his head, Mulder ducked down, then
threw himself in the back seat after Jourdain. No sooner were they
both inside, than Aldara started the car sliding backwards. Not
expecting the sudden motion, both men were tossed around in the back
seat, Mulder landing hard against the solid bulk of Jourdain's
shoulders.
Aldara swung the wheel violently, grinding her teeth, as she
forced the overly-responsive car to go in the right direction.
Zigzagging with each attempt at correcting direction, she managed to
even it out as she brought them out of the parking lot and into the
street.
This posed an increasing amount of trouble, as she now had to
contend with other cars, some moving in the same direction and some
racing straight at her. She knew she was supposed to stay on the right
side of the painted yellow line, but found it harder to do so as the
speed increased. But the van carrying the wounded Prince was
accelerating smoothly, and Aldara refused to lose it from view. When
it took a sharp left turn, she hit the go pedal hard, yanking on the
wheel.
The car spun wildly, almost slipping from her control.
"OOOOOOO!" she yelped again, as she fought for control, her voice
rising in a sharp crescendo as it tilted over almost onto its side,
then fell back down onto all four wheels with a sickening lurch. But
somehow, they came up going full speed in the right direction, and she
let out a cry of triumph. Barely a block ahead, she could see her
quarry, and she jammed the pedal to the floor, her face resolved into a
grimace of utter determination.
- - - - -

"We *have* found them!" Scully suddenly interjected, her eyes
widening as she realized she had almost forgotten Mulder's
communication in the excitement of finding Karen at the Professor's
house.
"What?! Where?!" Karen cried, jumping to her feet.
"Take it easy," Scully admonished her, tucking loose copper
strands of hair back behind her ears. "Mulder got a message on his
answering machine in Washington, saying that the two kids were at a
motel in Boston called the Bayside. We came back to get Tarnor and to
check directions, then we're supposed to go meet Mulder there."
"Wait!" Reinald said, even as Karen rushed to the door. "We
still need to know where this Inn is."
The Professor grabbed the telephone book and lifted it up.
"We've got the address and phone number, Scully has her mobile phone,
we're all set."
"So what are we waiting for?" Scully answered with a gentle
grin. Getting to her feet, the petite red-head led the way down the
hall.
Just as they were about to leave the house, Tarnor suddenly
paused, baring his gruesome smile. "Wait, what about the man we
captured?"
Scully, Reinald, and the Professor spun as one. "What man?"
they demanded in unison.
"A man Gordon sent to guard me," Karen explained anxiously, her
eyes darting to the open front door and the waiting car. "Tarnor did
something to him, then we locked him in the cellar."
Tarnor grinned broadly, his jagged teeth glinting in the soft
light. "I used a freeze spell on him, so he ought to be under its
influence for hours, but I do not know how well the spell will hold in
this world."
Reinald frowned, not knowing the answer to that question himself.
Then another thought occurred, his concern for his long-time friend
and associate coming to the fore. "Are you all right, dear fellow? Do
you need one of Corvay's medications?" He eyed the gargoyle anxiously.
Tarnor shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I will admit the magic
was very sluggish, but the use of it does not seem to have caused too
many ill-effects. I do not even feel tired."
"But that doesn't make any sense," Scully broke in. "Whenever
Mulder tried to use it here, it would knock him out. Sometimes even
to the point of unconsciousness."
Reinald nodded his agreement, he'd felt the same thing. But then
Tarnor was a gargoyle magician... "Maybe because he is not a natural
life form in this world, its laws affect him differently," the tall,
white-haired Mage spoke thoughtfully, biting at his lower lip in
concentration. "It may be that Tarnor can use magic more
effectively..."
"That's great, I'm sure," Karen interrupted, "but right now our
first concern has to be my daughter and the boy. We've got to get to
them before Gordon does!"
"She's right," Scully agreed. "Might as well leave the man
where he is. Did you did lock the cellar?"
Tarnor bobbed his head in the affirmative. "I barred the door
with a heavy piece of furniture. He should not be able to regain his
freedom."
"Good," Scully replied tersely. "Let's go." Minutes later,
they were all bundled into the car, Tarnor squeezed in-between Karen
and Reinald, while the Professor took the front seat, already searching
the bulky phone book for their destination.
- - - - -

Holding on for dear life, Jourdain finally gave up on watching
the blur of the outside world spin past. His stomach lurched as they
took yet another corner far too fast, drawing a strangled cry from the
big man's clamped lips. Closing his eyes, he sent out another round of
prayers, promising himself that he would never, ever allow his wife
behind the wheel of one of these monstrosities again.
Mulder was less willing to shut out the situation. Leaning into
the space between the two front seats, he screamed instructions at
Aldara, who only sometimes seemed to listen.
"Watch out! To the left - THE LEFT!!!!!" Mulder braced himself
as the car swerved again, swiping against an on-coming car, but still
missing the parked one to the right. Releasing the breath he was
holding in his aching lungs, Mulder barely had time to refill them
before he was yelling again. "LOOK OUT!!!!"
<CLANK, SCRAAAPE, CLANK> The car bounced, jolted to the side,
then straightened out, Aldara's foot never letting up the pressure on
the go pedal. Mulder swore as his head hit the ceiling, his hands
never releasing their death grip on the headrests of the front seats.
Aldara herself was riding on a wave of exhilaration. This was
great! She loved every minute of it\., Well, maybe not the moment she
almost hit the woman and her little girl. But she had missed them, she
thought proudly, even if she had had to hit that other wagon in the
process. Still, this 'car' was proving to be quite tough. Fine
workmanship, indeed, she decided, her emerald eyes gleaming with
pleasure as she fiercely pursued the elusive gray van.
Behind her, Mulder finally eased himself back into the seat and
reached for his cellular phone. Bracing himself with one hand, he
punched at the buttons awkwardly with the other. Placing it by his
ear, he exchanged a grimace with Jourdain. If there had been any time
to stop and exchange places with Aldara he'd have done it in a minute.
But there was no way they could afford to lose track of the gray van,
and Mulder had to admit that for someone who had never driven before,
Aldara wasn't doing too badly. At least not if you didn't mind leaving
a trail of near-disaster in your wake. Cringing at the thought of how
much all this damage might end up costing him, Mulder was incredibly
relieved to hear Scully answer her phone.
"Scully...thank God!" he said urgently.
"Mulder! What's happened? Are you all right?" Even at such a
distance, she could sense that something was wrong. Her stomach was
knotting in tension, and she could almost feel his panic leeching
through the life-bond.
"We got there a little too late, Scully. Some men had already
grabbed Andalor and the girl by the time we got there."
"Shannon," Scully corrected, causing Karen to jerk her head
forward in response.
Mulder silently, but immediately filed away the name in his
capacious memory. "When Jourdain and I tried to stop them," he
continued, "they opened fire on us. I think they were government or
military types, Scully. They had the suits and haircuts."
"Yes, that makes sense," Scully replied. "We found Karen. It
turns out some black ops group kidnapped her daughter to force her to
replicate the Professor's work. She's the girl with Andalor."
Mulder frowned into the phone. "Damn! If only we'd been a bit
sooner."
"Where are you now?" Scully asked.
"Chasing the bad guys," Mulder told her, then his hazel eyes
danced as he passed on one last piece of information. "Aldara is
driving."
"Aldara is WHAT!???" Scully exclaimed.
"Driving....sort of... Eeeoooowww" he yelled, glancing up to
see a big semi bearing down on them. Aldara wrenched at the wheel, and
they spun sideways, narrowly missing a collision. Righting the car,
Aldara pressed down again on the pedal, and the car lurched forward.
"Mulder!!!" Scully yelled anxiously into the phone. When he
answered, his voice was taught with stress. "I...we're okay. I
*think.* But when this is over, we have got to get Aldara some driving
lessons!"
"NO!!!" came a deep yell from Jourdain, loud enough for Scully
to hear over the phone. It was too much, and she couldn't help
starting to laugh. Her amusement was contagious, and Mulder managed a
weak smile.
"Anyway, I'm not sure exactly where we are, but we still have
them in sight. It's a gray Ford minivan with Massachusetts plates
JKU897. Right now, we're heading down..." Mulder stared out the
window hoping for a readable street sign. "I think we're on Lincoln
Ave. Heading away from downtown - I think..."
"OK, Mulder, hang on..." Scully put down the phone for a moment
to fill the others in on the situation. Karen managed to hold herself
to a single sob, while the others exclaimed their concern. "Mulder,
Jourdain and Aldara are in pursuit, on Lincoln Ave, he believes. It
would be good if we could head them off."
"I know where they are going!" Karen leaned forward in her seat.
"He'll take them back to the complex."
"Can you direct us there?" Scully demanded.
"YES!" Karen replied.
"Good." She put the phone back to her ear. "Mulder?"
"Yeah."
"Karen says she knows where they are going. We'll try to get
there first."
Mulder sighed in relied. "Good. We'll stay on their tail as
best we can. Be careful!"
"You too!" Scully put the phone away, then glanced back at
Karen. "Which way?"
"Better go back the way we came, then turn..."
Scully wrenched at the wheel, and executing a totally illegal
U-turn, sent them racing back down the road.
- - - - -

Gordon kept staring into the rear-view mirror, his fury
increasing as the small blue car never failed to stay close behind.
Damn Mulder, he thought furiously, leaning back as he fought for
control. They were almost to the complex. Once they were inside, he
reassured himself, there would be nothing that interfering man could
do. It wouldn't take too long to load things up and move to a new
site, and they could do it by helicopter from the roof. Mulder would
never be able to follow them.
And if Mulder tried anything in the meantime, well, so be it.
Gordon had never understood why that Morley bastard had always insisted
on keeping this particular thorn alive. If the man was a threat to
national security, simply eliminate him. You didn't play stupid head
games with troublemakers, you killed them cleanly and efficiently.
This was Gordon's territory here, and if Mulder continued to stick his
nose in, the man might soon find it shot off.
Glancing out the window, Gordon almost smiled.
- - - - -

Scully hit the car horn hard, even though she knew it was a waste
of time. Hitting the steering wheel with the palm of her hand, she
groaned with frustration. It was getting close to rush hour, and the
streets were simply clogged with cars. Angling the small car at every
tiny opening she saw, she tried to find a way through the mess, though
she could feel each second clicking away, eating away at their chance
to intercept the kidnappers.
- - - - -

Gordon nearly crowed with triumph as he saw the tower of the
heavily guarded complex loom up ahead. At first glance, it appeared no
different from the other buildings in the heavily developed business
district, however it was actually crawling with high security, from
cameras to infrared sensors to armed guards. The entrance to the
underground garage was electronic, and it only took a second to
activate the doors.
The driver aimed the van at the opening, and gunned the engine,
taking them inside in a sudden burst of speed.
Behind them, Aldara raced to keep up, but even before she could
get close, the door began to slide shut. She was perfectly willing to
try to race it, but there simply wasn't time. Instead of gaining
entrance, the front end of the car slammed into the solid thick steel
of the door at full speed, then bounced backwards, the hood crumpling
with the impact. Mulder and Jourdain were thrown forward, then
backwards, while Aldara was tossed upwards, then downwards, her head
cracking against the wheel.
"Aldara!" Jourdain screamed, trying to get to her, as the car
continued to bounce against the unyielding door. Mulder restrained
him, forcing him to pay attention.
"Not this way. Come on, we have to get her out from the side!"
Both men tumbled out of the side door, every part of their body sending
protesting sparks of pain along jangling nerve endings.
Mulder was relieved to find that he didn't seem to have broken
anything, at least at first glance, and Jourdain seemed to be bruised
but all right. The main concern was Aldara, who was still slumped over
the wheel unconscious.
"Easy, easy," Mulder warned Jourdain. Then, wishing fervently
that Scully was here, he struggled to open the crunched driver's door.
Panicked, Jourdain reached around Mulder and with one valiant effort,
literally took the door off of its hinges.
As the big man tossed the crumpled piece of metal aside, Mulder
leaned in to check Aldara. At the touch of his hand on her neck, she
moaned and shifted in position. He breathed again, then tentatively
settled her back away from the wheel. She groaned again, and shifted,
though her eyes remained closed.
Feeling Jourdain's anxiety beating at his back, Mulder managed to
release the seat belt holding her in place. Tenderly putting one hand
under her knees and the other behind her neck, he tried to ease her
out. She turned in response to his touch, and reached out to grasp his
arms. "Don't move," he told her, trying to lift her up out of the car
seat.
Jourdain came in to help, and none too soon, they had her out of
the wreck of the car and out onto the pavement. Mulder released her
into her husband's protective arms, and turned to look around.
Finally, to his great relief, he saw Scully's car careening down the
street.
Mulder stepped forward to meet up with Scully as she ran towards
them, while Jourdain remained crouched on the sidewalk, holding his
wife's bruised body with gentle hands. Aldara moaned, then huddled
into his embrace.
"Jourdain..." she muttered, her eyes fluttering open to rest on
his worried face, then closing shut in happy recognition. It might not
have been much, but that soft whisper of his name was the sweetest
sound he could ever have heard.

End Chapter Eleven

=====================================================================
======

Chapter Twelve Part A

"I'm fine," Aldara insisted defiantly.
"Sit still," Scully ordered bluntly, glancing over at Jourdain,
who instantly tightened his hold on his tiny wife. Aldara turned her
head to frown at him, but a sudden bolt of pain from her injured skull
silenced her complaint. Grimacing, she let herself relax - ever so
slightly - into his strong, comforting arms.
Scully pushed the heavy mass of ebony curls aside, then probed
gently at the wound. Aldara's face screwed tight, but she gave not so
much as a single whimper. Emerald eyes gleamed as Scully finished her
exam, then rocked back onto her heels.
"Well, you've probably got a slight concussion, and I wouldn't
mind taking some x-rays of your shoulder, but I think you'll live."
Scully was deliberately blase in her assessment, feeling everyone's
eyes focused on her, the mixture of fear and worry almost visible in
the air itself.
"I could have told you that," Aldara said with exasperation,
eliciting a rueful grin from her husband. Scully met Jourdain's eyes
with a glint of humor, sharing their mutual concern and relief in an
instant of understanding.
The others all breathed in sighs of relief, except for Mulder,
who was staring up at the complex towering over them, the sunlight
reflecting streaks of yellow off the dim white concrete. One hand
shading his eyes, his teeth bared in a grimace as he spoke, "Let's get
out of here."
"What?" Karen was at his side in an instant, knocking Reinald
aside in her burst of motion. "They've got my daughter in there..."
"And we'll get her out," Mulder's voice was deadly soft,
even-toned, only Scully knew the emotions that seethed beneath the
stone of his expression. Her hand instinctively stretched out into the
space between them, even as her mind flew to touch his.
//Mulder.\\ Her thoughts, emotions, rushed up against the shield
around his mind, then seeped through the cracks. His acknowledgment
was sparse, but the barrier slipped the mental equivalent of an inch.
Giving her a glimpse, faint and fleeting, of the turmoil within, his
mind flared with focused intensity.
Taking Karen's arm, he pulled her away from the building,
ignoring her protests. To Reinald, he stated tersely, "Not here."
Scully and the Professor were faster in accepting his decision,
and they shepherded the rest of their group towards the one functioning
car. There was no way that everyone was going to fit in the small
vehicle, so Mulder pushed Karen, the raincoat-draped Tarnor, Aldara and
Jourdain at the car. Ordering the Professor to drive them home, he
pulled out his cellular phone and briskly ordered a cab.
Scully and Reinald drew in close to him, their eyes questioning,
as he pocketed the phone, then drew both hands through his
short-cropped dark hair, causing strands to shoot out in all
directions. Then he turned his brilliant hazel eyes onto their faces,
letting his breath release in an audible sigh.
"Mulder," Reinald said with some hesitation. He had rarely seen
his friend angry, but knew the signs well enough, even without the Mage
storm that would have raged in the Realm. "I can understand the need
for a strategic withdrawal, but I cannot help but be concerned for the
Prince. With no knowledge of what they are intending to do with him, I
fear..."
"I know." Mulder glanced warily up at the bleached cinder block
of a building behind them, feeling the brooding presence of the
building boring into the space between his shoulderblades like the eyes
of a predator. "But I don't think their intent is to kill Andalor.
They went to a great deal of trouble to kidnap him and the
girl...Shannon..." He paused, the wheels turning behind his eyes.
"No, they want the kids alive, and that is the one thing working in our
favor." His lopsided grin was a mocking reminder that it was a faint
hope at best.
- - - - -

By the time everyone was gathered safely into the Professor's
living room, tempers were running short. Unable to sit sill, Karen
paced back and forth while Tarnor's ears twitched in a frantic
compliment to her movements. The Professor wrung his hands, his thin
shoulders shaking. Reinald sat with regal calm, though his eyes were
deep sunken pools in a face that seemed to have aged years beneath the
mane of silver hair.
Mulder moved with the tense litheness of a caged panther as he
entered the room, handing Aldara a glass of water, then moving to stand
behind Scully, his hand falling to rest lightly against her shoulder.
She leaned back against him, reaching out for his mind with a wave of
love and comfort.
Gratefully though silently acknowledging her support, Mulder
cleared his throat, only to elicit another tirade from Karen. "Why are
you all just sitting there? We've got to do something! They've got
Shannon, and you are doing nothing to help. Why aren't you doing
anything? I can't stay here, I have to get her out of there..." Her
voice rose, then shattered into an incoherent sob.
"My dear," The Professor got up to go to her, but Mulder was
faster. Taking a firm hold of her shoulders, he restrained her until
she focused tear-filled eyes up onto his face.
Enunciating each word carefully, he repeated his earlier promise.
"We will get them out of there. But you have to hold it together. We
have to plan this carefully." He turned slightly to take in the rest
of the room. "We will only get one chance at this, so we can't afford
any mistakes."
Jourdain nodded his agreement. "I think we have three choices.
First, we can try to contact them and attempt to negotiate. Second, we
can try a sneak attack. Third, we can attempt an all-out assault. I
would suggest trying one of the first two, as the third is quite likely
to put the hostages' lives in unnecessary danger. The enemy may decide
it is easier to kill them."
"You can't 'negotiate' with that bastard!" Karen cried, grabbing
at Mulder's arm. "He doesn't care about anything except power. He'll
kill Shannon without so much as a second thought!"
"But he must have taken her for a reason," Aldara interjected,
throwing Jourdain a warning look when he moved to restrain her from
sitting up. "From what the Professor has told me, this evil man only
took her to get you to do what he wants. So he doesn't have what he
wants right now, only a tool to get it."
"Right," Jourdain picked up the direction of his wife's thoughts
easily, a small part of his mind admiring her strength even in the
midst of the crisis. "He has what we want, we have what he wants. So
we offer him a trade, you for your daughter and Andalor."
"No!" This came from the Professor. "We offer him me, not
Karen." He stepped up to his colleague, gently reaching out to take
her hands. "I'm the one who ran off and left you to deal with these
people alone. I should have found a way to protect you better before I
left." He gazed sadly from one face to another. "This is my
responsibility, and I think this man - Gordon - will be happy with me."
"We're not giving anyone over to these people, Professor,"
Mulder replied. "IF - and that is a big IF - we decide to pretend to a
trade, I want to be absolutely certain we can get everyone back out of
it safely."
"Exactly," Jourdain agreed. "We'd have to draw them out into a
trap. Bait it with the Professor or Karen, then when we have them in
it..." His massive, callused hand slashed violently through the air.
"It's risky," Scully said doubtfully. "Gordon will know that we
are likely to make a rescue attempt, so he'll be prepared for it.
Hostages tend to get hurt in situations like that." She exchanged a
quick glance with Mulder, knowing that the same terrible images were
flashing through his mind as through hers - a shot fired in the
darkness, sending a killer and his hostage tumbling into icy waters,
leading to the terrifyingly strange death of the woman who *might* have
been Samantha.
"Anything we do is going to be risky," Reinald broke in sadly,
unknowingly interrupting the silent, emotive communion between the
partners. "It's just a matter of what is most likely to succeed. I
know magic is hard to use here, but we do have three quite powerful
Mages. Perhaps we could devise a spell which would help to rescue the
Prince and the young lady."
Mulder frowned, shutting down the painful memories with the
abruptness of long practice. "I know it is a tempting thought,
Reinald, but I've felt the aftermath of spell casting in this world.
We would be useless afterwards..."
"Maybe not!" Tarnor spoke up brightly, his skin tone
brightening. "Whatever drain you feel on magic use in this Realm does
not seem to affect me as strongly. I was able to bespell the man who
was holding Karen without any exhaustion."
"What man?!" Mulder asked sharply. There were gasps, then a
flood of explanations as the two groups finally caught each other up on
their separate adventures. This was followed by a long moment of
silence.
"OK," Mulder spoke first, his long legs eating up the room as he
paced back and forth, in a pattern perpendicular to the one Karen had
taken earlier. "Gordon has got to know that we are going to come for
the kids..." He paused, his eyes glittered like diamonds as his mind
made a decisive leap. "The question is... does he know that Karen is
with us?"
"He must have seen..." Scully paused, considering. "Depends on
whether they have the outside of the building under surveillance, and
whether anyone recognized her."
"And even if he does know that she is with us," Jourdain picked
up. "He would also have to realize that she knows he has her daughter.
And he has already accepted that she's only been cooperating with him
because he has the girl." He stared over at the thin, middle-aged
woman. "I think he would expect you to return now that he has her
again."
"No." The Professor was still hesitant to let Karen take the
risk. "It's too dangerous. Who knows what those men might do to her."
"But if she can get inside, then she may be able to find a way to
let us inside as well." Mulder was determined, and Karen's expression
was just as grim. "All she has to do is leave a door open, or distract
security. You know the general plan of the building?"
Karen nodded.
"Good," Mulder stopped short in the middle of the room. "I
think we send in three people at most. Everyone else can provide a
distraction to keep them occupied while Karen leads the rescue team to
Andalor and Shannon. We get in and get out...quick!"
Jourdain and Aldara nodded instant agreement, recognizing the
sense of the plan. Scully and Reinald looked thoughtful, the Professor
looked doubtful.
But Karen was fiercely resolute. "I'll do it."
- - - - -

Earl sat on the floor of the basement, knees drawn up against his
chest, relieved to be finally free of the confining blue light.
Shuddering, he couldn't decide which he was more afraid of, his boss or
that strange ugly creature with the TEETH. Still seeing sparks of blue
against the backs of his squinched eyelids, he decided that he was more
scared of the thing, albeit not by much. Sighing, Earl tried to
marshal all of his limited intelligence in an attempt to construct an
explanation that Gordon might possibly believe.
<CREAK> The door resisted, then swung open, the rusty hinges
groaning in protest. Earl stumbled to his feet, throwing up a thick
arm to shield his eyes from the new source of light. Squinting, he
backed away slowly as his eyes fastened on the squat, gray figure that
approached him, dwarfed by a tall, lanky man.
"Ggggget away from mmmeeee," Earl yelled, moaning as his feet
stumbled over something unseen in the gloom, and he fell to his knees.
But the two approaching figures did not stop until they were standing
less than a foot away. Close up, Earl got a full view of those jagged,
glittering teeth as the monster began to chant in a soft, shockingly
musical voice.
Not recognizing the words, Earl threw a despairing, pleading
glance at the stern face of the other man, but was met with an
unforgiving glare from those deep, dark eyes. Earl scrambled up to a
crouch, one foot underneath him, but before he could move any further,
there was a sudden blaze of blue light from the creature.
His hands waving in mid-air, weaving amid strands of blue light,
Tarnor concentrated hard on focusing the wayward spell. While he did
not feel the weakness that both Mulder and Reinald had reported, he did
feel a distinct recalcitrance in the magical energy. It was sluggish,
dribbling like pure honey poured from a jar, rather than the quick rush
that he was accustomed to within the Realm. But he was able to use it,
and so he did...
<FLASH> The sapphire glow grew, spinning outward in streams,
until it surrounded the cowering thug. His eyes closed, his body rose
up within the cage of blue light, then drifted downwards to settle on
the basement floor.
Mulder could feel the power focusing and releasing, and he ached
to reach out to it and twine his fingers into the brilliant glow, to
feel it course within his veins. His fingers tightened into fists as
he restrained himself, knowing full well the consequences of such an
act. His friends needed him now, awake and in control, so he forced
himself to wait and watch.
Finally, the power dissipated, a few last azure sparks flickering
along the floor, until they too were swallowed by the darkness.
Tarnor turned to Mulder and nodded. The tall man flashed a grin,
then leaned down to grab the unconscious goon by the arm. Earl shifted
weakly in response, then meekly came to his feet. Guided by Mulder, he
sleep-walked his way up out of the basement and into the car.
Slamming the car door behind the unfocused Earl, Mulder went
around to the driver's side. Karen looked up at him through the open
window.
"Will you be okay?" he asked.
She nodded. "I'll be fine. Will he...?"
Mulder smiled ironically. "He'll be a bit confused, but he will
back up your story. Keep it as simple as possible. I don't think he
was too bright to start with, but after Tarnor's treatment, he's going
to be even more dim."
Karen snorted. "If that's possible."
Mulder chuckled, then turned serious. "Be careful Karen."
Not bothering to answer, she started the car. There was no
turning back now.
- - - - -

Aldara had not been happy about being consigned to providing a
distraction while Mulder, Scully, and Jourdain made the rescue attempt.
Jourdain and Mulder had been adamant, however, and she had to admit
that she was not at her best. Still, it rankled to be left behind
while her husband and best friends went into battle. Well, not exactly
left behind, perhaps, for she did have an important role to play.
Someone did have to keep the guards occupied, and that job belonged to
her and Reinald and Tarnor.
Aldara stifled a giggle, imagining the reaction to Tarnor of
people who had never seen a gargoyle before. Even she, who was
completely accustomed to the gargoyles, could be startled by their
appearance, especially when they smiled. Those teeth... It almost
made being relegated to distraction duty worthwhile. Besides, she
thought happily, squaring her shoulders and ignoring the shot of agony
that spread down her arm from the bruised joint, there might yet be
action enough awaiting them.
- - - - -

Mulder, Jourdain, and Scully crept up silently to the basement
windows. Karen had warned them that Gordon had ordered the openings
sealed, but a quick recon had confirmed that those instructions had not
yet been met. Finally, a stroke of luck, one that they were fully
grateful for. Mulder poked at the window that was most accessible to
the alley, peering down cautiously into the gloom. Jourdain knelt by
his side, his hand never far from his belt-knife. Scully stood with
her back to them, her alert eyes scanning the evening shadows.
Easing the sword into a more comfortable, albeit less
'regulation' position on his back, Mulder made certain his re-loaded
gun was fastened tight to his belt, then turned his head and banged his
elbow hard into the remaining splinters of glass in the window frame.
Twisting his arm, his breath catching in his throat as the fragments
shattered and clinked down into the dusty recesses of the basement, he
cleared a wider opening.
Then pulling back, he glanced doubtfully at Jourdain, seeing his
friend's bulk as a problem for the first time.
"I'll get through," Jourdain assured him, "though it might help
to remove the frame as well." Mulder nodded, and leaned over to
examine the wooden frame, delighted to find it was already rotting with
age and weather. He shoved at it with both hands, bracing his feet
against the concrete wall. It shifted, but did not come loose.
Sighing, he hefted the sword out of its scabbard, frowning at the idea
of using the expertly crafted weapon for such a job. But necessity
ruled. The blade was hard and strong, the point sharp, and it
accomplished what was needed.
The frame broke loose with a screech and tumbled down, causing a
series of loud crashes below. Mulder and Jourdain both winced,
waiting, listening, for any sound that might indicate they had been
discovered. But there was nothing.
"OK," Mulder checked his watch, then met Jourdain's clear blue
gaze. "I'll go first."
Jourdain wanted to protest, but knew that Mulder was far more
agile than he. The big captain had always relied on strength over
speed, assuming the physical force of his muscle would win through.
And under most circumstances it was successful, but this was not a
normal situation. So he swallowed and nodded his acceptance.
Mulder replaced the sword in its scabbard, then swung around to
slip his legs into the opening. Jourdain took hold of his arms, and
Mulder allowed the other man to lower him slowly into the basement.
Once he was through to his shoulders, he bent his arms to take hold of
the window sill, easing himself further downwards.
His feet struck something solid, and he paused, then felt for it
again. There! Just to his right was some kind of solid support.
Cautiously, he lowered more weight onto it, freezing when he felt the
surface wobble beneath his feet. Slowly, he let himself down again,
until he was hanging from his finger tips, aided by Jourdain's iron
grip on his wrists.
He peered downwards wishing for more light, when suddenly a beam
from a flashlight shone down from above his head. //Ask and ye shall
receive...\\ whispered Scully's mindvoice.
//Thanks.\\ he returned wryly, staring down at the unsteady pile
of boxes and furniture beside his feet. "Looks like there is a pile of
junk we can use to get down," he told them. Then propping his feet
onto the most steady part of it he could find, he took a deep breath
and let go.
Jourdain let Mulder slide out of his hands, watching anxiously as
the agent half-clambered, half-slid to the distant floor. Mulder
landed in a crouch, his knees jerking with the shock of the landing.
Staring up into the light streaming from above, he used the
mindlink to his partner. //I'm ok. Send Jourdain down next. He may
need some help.\\
Scully's amusement echoed in his mind, even as she gestured at
the big soldier, signaling him to begin levering himself into the
narrow window. It took some shoving from above, and a good tug from
below, but they finally got Jourdain through the window and down onto
the cluttered dirty basement floor. It was now Scully's turn, but for
the petite woman, the slide into her partner's waiting arms was nearly
a pleasure.
//...mmmm...\\ A purr of satisfaction echoed from her mind to
his, as she stole a precious moment in his arms. He took a deep
swallow of her fragrance, then reluctantly set her on her feet beside
Jourdain. Now all they could do was wait.

----------------------------------
End Chapter Twelve Part A
----------------------------------

Chapter Twelve Part B

Karen glanced furtively behind her, then crept closer to the
stairway door. To this point, all had gone according to plan, though
she was nearly soaked in her own sweat, her heart and lungs pounding as
though she had just run the Boston Marathon. But at least Gordon had
been pleased enough with his success in recovering the two runaways to
accept her explanations without extensive questioning, and Earl had
corroborated her story as planned. She didn't know what Mulder had
done to the man, but he had dimly echoed each of her statements, almost
as though he was speaking through a thick fog. She shrugged mentally,
all that mattered was that it had worked. Gordon had interrogated her
enough to make her guts cramp as she waited for the knife to drop, but
not enough to break her resolve. And finally, he had simply stopped,
dismissing them both with a casual wave of his hand.
It had been the scene with her daughter that had nearly broken
her. Shannon had faced her with utter contempt. Karen had desperately
wanted to reach out, to tell Shannon the truth, assure her that help
was coming. But under the watchful eyes of two more of Gordon's thugs,
all Karen could do was accept her daughter's bitter sarcasm, grateful
at least that she was alive and well enough to be angry.
The boy, Andalor, had gazed at Karen with pale determination, a
look of wary pride evident in the striking violet eyes. He refused her
attentions stoically, yet with a flash of spirit that lit up his
well-carved features. The last image of the two teens, sitting
together on the bed, the girl poised and tense, the boy wary, yet
somehow regal in his bearing, still haunted her. And gave her the
courage to continue.
At last, her fingers closed around the door knob, and with one
quick, furtive glance into the empty hallway, she slipped into the
dimly lit stairwell. Working quickly, but silently, she placed a strip
of duct tape over the door jamb, then eased the heavy door back into
place. Another instant of time lost to check that it would indeed
re-open, then she was off down the stairs, every echo of her footsteps
sounding loudly in her sensitive ears.
Down, down, down, she ran, sometimes taking two steps at a time,
occasionally slowing to listen to every noise and creak, waiting, even
expecting to be caught at any moment. Yet, somehow, she managed to
make it to the bottom without apparent discovery. A sharp lance of
triumph sent a jolt through her veins, as her fingers tightened around
the handle to the basement door.
She pushed hard, but it didn't open. A whispered, "nooo,"
escaped her lips, as she shoved hard with all of her strength. It
held, held...then finally gave way, sending her tumbling down to her
knees, her white-knuckled hands still clasped on the door handle as it
swung out and away.
Breathing a silent prayer of thanksgiving, she pulled herself to
her feet, and cautiously stepped out into the darkness. Her eyes
blinking hard in an attempt to adjust to the sudden lack of light, she
didn't notice the figure standing behind the door until a pair of hands
seized her, one clamping around her waist, the other closing over her
mouth.
"Unnngggg," she struggled violently, until a deep male voice
whispered into her ear. "Karen, it is us. You must be quiet." Not
recognizing the voice, she continued to fight until a small figure
stepped out of the gloom into the thin triangle of light that trickled
through the open door. The yellow light glinted off bright copper
hair, causing Karen to slump in relief against the man holding her.
Feeling her relax in his grip, Jourdain released her, and she
pivoted, only then recognizing him. "Where..."
"I'm here," Mulder said, moving like a shadow up from behind
Scully. "Have you found the kids?"
"Yes," she nodded. "I saw them briefly. They're all right.
The boy is hurt, but conscious."
"You can lead us to them?"
"Yes, though we will have to go out on another floor and work our
way down. I was only able to get away from the guards on the lab
floor. Shannon and Andalor are being held two floors down from there.
I taped the door to the stairwell on the lab floor, it's our only way
out of the stairwell. All of the doors lock from the hallways."
Mulder grimaced, though he hadn't expected anything else. He
received confirmation of their readiness from both Jourdain and Scully,
their eyes steady, but alert. "All right. Karen, you go first.
Jourdain, you go last."
There was no argument, and together, in cautious single-file,
they began the slow climb upwards.
- - - - -

Gordon rested the remote control against his knee, his eyes
darting from screen to screen. Smiling his vulture's grin, he watched
as Karen furtively disappeared into the stairwell. He had been fully
aware of her intent to betray him, and had been more than willing to
give her the rope to hang herself. Even though that dimwit Earl had
verified Karen's tale, there were parts that just didn't ring true.
Gordon wasn't sure how Karen had managed to manipulate the thug, but
Gordon had little respect for the man's intelligence. In fact, Earl
had seemed even more stupid than usual. Not that it mattered since
building surveillance cameras had clearly indicated that Professor
Neumann had returned. His presence made his research assistant useful
only as bait.
Gordon frowned, wondering yet again what Mulder and his rag-tag
group of oddities were up to. But it didn't matter, for building
security was on full alert, and plans were already underway to move all
necessary personnel and equipment to a new site. He decided abruptly
that he would take both of the teenagers. The boy, of course, for
further study, and the girl because she would make a useful tool. They
had yet to send a living human through the experimental vortex, but
that could be done soon enough.
Pointing the remote, he scanned back through all the cameras,
noting the men in position, waiting for any sign of trouble.
Everything was ready, even the self-destruct was primed. He poised a
finger over the relevant button on the remote - just one stab and it
would be set. The building would go, and this time Mulder would go
with it.
- - - - -

The Professor parked the car barely inches from where Scully had
parked it that afternoon. Now it was well after dusk, a full moon
visible on the horizon. Even with the faint disguise of industrial
smog and natural fog, the stars twinkled in a clear navy sky. Leaving
the engine engaged, he turned to the woman sitting beside him.
"I think I ought to go with you," he insisted. Aldara shook her
head, the cascade of dark curls waving down her back with the gentle
motion.
"I'm sorry Professor, but it is important that someone remains
here in the car to ensure our escape from the tower. Mulder will be
quite angry if we do not follow his instructions."
The Professor frowned, reluctantly accepting her decision, even
though sitting in the car waiting the outcome of this night's rescue
attempt was going to be the hardest thing he had ever done.
"Be strong!" Aldara told him with a smile of understanding, then
her face turned grim. "And be ready." Inclining her head at Reinald
and Tarnor, she swiftly exited the car.
The two Mages followed her lead, each moving to stand by the
petite warrior's side. Framed by the small, draped figure of the
gargoyle and the tall, slender frame of the white-haired magician, she
strode with determination towards the front door of the complex.
- - - - -

The guard looked up as he was approached by a small woman wearing
a bright blue dress. A long mane of black curls covered her shoulders
and cascaded down her back, framing a thin oval face with a pointed
chin and the brightest green eyes he had ever seen. A smile broke over
his face as he preened, slicking back strands of his thinning hair over
the bald spot on the crown of his head.
"Sir..." She spoke in a tentative voice, her huge eyes seeming
to dilate even further as she stared up at him.
"What can I do for you, Ma'am?" he replied, his eyes traveling
up and down the length of her well-curved body.
Aldara felt dirtied by the way he was gawking at her, causing her
hand to creep ever nearer to the knife sheathed below her belt. "My
grandfather and I are lost." She turned to smile tentatively up at
Reinald who stepped closer. The guard tensed at the man's approach,
but relaxed instantly as he took in the slender frame and the silver
hair. On alert or not, these two were hardly a threat to anyone.
Semi-consciously flexing the muscles in his arms, the guard smiled
indulgently, quite willing to draw out his time with the tiny beauty.
What he didn't see was the figure of the gargoyle Mage, hidden in the
shadows.
"I was wondering if you could tell us..." Aldara began, her
voice soft as a whisper, while at the same time easing the knife out of
its sheath.
The guard leaned forward to hear her, and she attacked with
merciless ferocity. One instant he was leering down into her face, the
next he was staggering backwards, hands reaching for the hilt of the
knife buried with perfect accuracy into the center of his chest.
"Aaaaggghhhuuunnnhh," he groaned toppling backwards. Aldara
leaped onto him, wrenching the knife out of his chest. Then pressing
the tip of her toe into his abdomen, she held the knife ready to strike
again. But with blood bubbling out of his mouth, the surprised guard
slid slowly out of consciousness and into death.
Satisfied he was going to be no further threat or hindrance,
Aldara nodded to her companions. They moved forward instantly, Reinald
letting Tarnor take the lead. Grateful to be finally free of the
encumbrance of the heavy coats, the gargoyle reached intently for the
door. Closing his eyes, his head bobbed as he concentrated on the
opening spell.
- - - - -

"Damn," Gordon muttered. His attention focused solely on Karen
as she made her way down to the basement, he had missed the action
stirring in the front lobby. Now, suddenly, he had a major situation
on his hands, and though he was sure it was a deliberate distraction,
it still required an outlay of time and men.
Focusing the security cameras on the first floor hallway, he
watched in sudden shock as a small woman took down one of his best men
with casual ease. Beside her, a tall, old man, with a shock of silver
hair held a long knife at the throat of another man.
"What the Hell!" Gordon swore again...knives?? Why on earth
weren't his men simply shooting these intruders? A woman that could
hardly weigh more than one hundred pounds and an old man - they ought
to be easy pickings. So what...
<FLASH> A sudden burst of blue light burst out of the screen, and
Gordon leaned forward even as he instinctively shielded his eyes.
Lowering the arm slowly, he peered closely at the nearest monitor,
frowning as he tried to make out the shape in the midst of the blue
cloud.
Cold eyes narrowed to pinpoints as he managed to discern the
shape. He blinked and looked again. He rubbed his eyes and stared.
Could it be? The creature that had first appeared in the lab before
Mulder and Scully did their all-too-short disappearing act several
months ago? If it was, then it was an incredible find!!!
Snatching at his phone, he dialed down to security and issued a
flood of orders. Karen, her daughter, even the strange youth were
forgotten in a rush of greed. Nothing was going to stop him from
capturing that creature!
- - - - -

Aldara laughed with exhilaration as she swung her knife at the
man facing her, his hand held exposed in mid-air as though still
holding his weapon. His widened brown eyes swung from the glowing blue
form of the weapon, floating just above his feet, to her focused face,
then to the glint of the knife. Jumping backwards, he only barely
escaped the sharp edge of her blade as it sliced through the space
where his nose had been a mere breath before.
The sound of the knife-edge whistling through the air only
stirred the half-elf's battle fury. She leaped forward, an incongruous
figure, ebony curls waving down her shapely back, emerald eyes
dominating a delicate oval face, as she yielded the dagger with perfect
ease. His shock-dilated eyes never leaving the weaving silver blade,
the black and gray suited guard drew himself up, his male ego assuring
him that he could handle this tiny woman.
Aldara grinned as she caught the glow of confidence in his eyes,
immediately leaping in for the kill. He dodged her blade, but not
before she drew blood, slicing a long gash along his forearm.
Swearing, he swung a fist at her, only to find himself striking at thin
air. Before he could recover his balance, a swift foot caught him in
the rear, and he tumbled forward onto the tiled floor.
His opponent was on him in an instant, her knife blade pricking
into the sensitive skin of his throat.
"Ddddon't," he found himself pleading, staring mesmerized up
into blazing emerald eyes.
Aldara held the knife point against the skin above the pulsing
jugular vein for a moment, then frowned with distaste. This was far
too easy. Sighing, she moved faster than he could breath, lifting her
arm, she slammed down the rounded bottom of the dagger's hilt against
his temple. He groaned aloud, convulsing once, then lay still.
Leaping to her feet, the warrior quickly assessed the situation,
taking in the blue-shadowed form of the gargoyle mage and the poised,
gritted face of the man to her right. Reinald looked distinctly
unhappy to be reduced to fighting with a knife, but he was doing his
part without complaint. Nodding to him, Aldara stepped gracefully over
the two bodies on the floor and moved further down the hall.
Only to come face-to-face with half-a-dozen more of the black and
gray suited guards.
- - - - -

Mulder led the way down the pale, light-flooded hallway. Right
hand clasped around the grip of his gun, his left strayed to the strap
holding the sword over his shoulder. He wasn't sure why he had
bothered to bring the antique weapon, since it would be less than
useful against a modern handgun, yet somehow the long silver blade
was a comfort, perhaps a reminder of better times or a final security
against attack.
All of his senses alert, his vision was doubled by that of his
partner. Scully paced the white-tiled floor like a lioness on the
prowl. Head lifted high, clear blue eyes scanning each inch of the
long path ahead, she moved with a preternatural grace that was utterly
feminine and wholly her. One hand held her gun with casual confidence,
the other was poised, floating in mid-air, ready to seize the hilt of
the sword that hung neatly over her shoulders.
Feeling, more than sensing, his gaze upon her, Scully responded
to his mind, not needing to look up into his face to see him. For
every expression of that mobile, handsome face was engraved deep within
her heart, and all that was necessary now was the slightest brush of
her thoughts against his, a whisper of contact between their souls.
Neither of their companions ever noticed the silent communication
between the two agents, and neither needed to know. Karen was intent
on one thing only, her daughter, and Jourdain was focused solely on the
action of the moment. Footsteps echoing in the stillness of the
apparently empty hall, the four moved slowly, steadily onward, closer
and closer to their goal.
- - - - -

Gordon watched the battle on the monitors, absently noting the
ferocity with which the small woman fought. "Too bad my men don't have
half her guts," he muttered to himself, the remainder of his attention
focused obsessively on the blue-shrouded creature that floated three
feet off the floor behind her. Streaks of blue light shot out of its
thick, stubby hands, twining around the metal shapes of his men's guns
and forcing the glowing weapons out of their hands to clatter to the
floor.
Then the battle was down to hand-to-hand combat, the little
warrior giving far better than she received. The tall man beside her
suffered more, and Gordon gave a grunt of satisfaction as the
silver-haired figure was sent flying to land in an unmoving huddle on
the floor. But that instant of triumph gave way all too quickly, as
the creature gestured angrily, creating a wall of blue flame that
surrounded and shielded his companion, blazing up in fiery intensity at
the slightest touch of one of the guards.
"Damn!" Gordon swore again, shaking his head in disgust as he
watched a small, barely five-foot woman systematically eliminate four
of his best-trained officers. So intent was he on the disaster in the
making, that he almost missed the blinking light on the console.
<FLASH...FLASH...FLASH> The tiny, red LED blinked in and out on
the edge of his consciousness for long minutes, before it finally
registered in his preoccupied mind. Brushing at his eyes, as though
trying to ward of an annoying insect, Gordon abruptly focused on the
tiny red light, and then upon the screen above it. Pointing the
remote, he focused on that one screen, an unconscious growl rumbling
from his throat. How the hell had they gotten there so fast?
Reaching for his own weapon, he tucked the self-destruct remote
control into a pocket, then slipped out of his office and down the
hall.

- - - - -
Mulder and Jourdain exchanged uneasy glances as they waited for
the elevator door to open. Scully was as cool as ever, her presence as
solid as a rock on the edges of Mulder's mind. Karen was pale and
trembling, her eyes darting from one to another, from floor to ceiling
to walls, her hands clasping and unclasping convulsively.
"Take it easy," Scully whispered to her, readying herself at the
sound of the bell that signaled the slow opening of the doors.
Breath caught tight in four pairs of lungs, then released in a
sigh, as they faced another long, empty hall. Suddenly feeling the
closeness of her goal, Karen darted out before Mulder could restrain
her.
"They're just down this hall!" she cried, racing on ahead.
"Karen - WAIT!" Mulder hissed, his long legs covering the space
with economy, though he was still too far behind to stop her before she
ran right into a pair of guards exiting one of the rooms.
Karen stumbled into one of the men, his hands closing harshly on
her arms as he dragged her to her feet. "No!" she yelled, kicking out
at him, struggling violently in his grasp.
"Hold still, bitch!" he told her angrily, throwing her up
against the wall, even as his companion reacted to the sight of Mulder
running towards him, gun outstretched, sword loose and bouncing on his
lean shoulders. Reaching for his gun, he was an instant too late, as
Mulder's bullets ripped into his shoulder and side, knocking him
backwards. Blood welled and flowed from the wounds, while the gun
slipped from pain-wracked fingers.
At the sound of the shots, the guard holding Karen let go of her,
spinning as he drew his own weapon. Mulder and Scully both aimed, but
Karen interfered before another shot could be fired. With a screech,
she jumped onto the guard, grabbing onto his gun hand with both of her
hands and then her teeth.
"AAAGGHHH!" he yelled, as she bit deeply into his exposed wrist.
Twisting in an attempt to free himself, he slammed at her head with
his other fist. Mulder and Scully both grit their teeth in
frustration as they found themselves unable to gain a clear shot.
Jourdain didn't bother waiting, bolting past the two agents, he tackled
the guard with every ounce of his considerable weight.
<SLAM> All three fell to the floor with a loud thud of soft flesh
contacting solid, unyielding tile. Karen's teeth were dislodged from
the guard's wrist, and she was thrown sideways, colliding with the
wall, then curling over onto her side.
Jourdain came down hard on top of his opponent, and he wasted no
time in trapping the smaller man. One iron fist struck, then another
and another, until the guard was laying like a rag doll on the floor,
head hanging at an unnatural angle, arms and legs splayed outwards.
Scully pushed past Mulder to pick Karen up off the floor,
supporting the taller woman with uncomplaining strength, while Mulder
stepped over to Jourdain. "You okay?" he asked tersely.
Jourdain nodded, then looked over at Karen. "We'd better hurry.
Where are the Prince and your daughter?"
"There," Karen pointed at a door no more than three feet down
the hall. A sense of sudden, yet knowingly presumptive, triumph
streaked through the minds of the rescue team, as they went to confront
the one last barrier between them and their goal.

-----------------------------
Chapter Twelve Part B
------------------------------

Chapter Twelve Part C

Andalor rubbed at the sore spot on the back of his head, wincing
as another jab of pain lanced through the space behind his eyes.
"Hey, better stop messing with that," Shannon told him, her
characteristic bluntnessameliorated by the look of concern in her honey
brown eyes.
"Yeah," he replied, leaning back against the pillow with a sigh,
his eyes turning with unconcealed frustration towards the door. "What
do you think they're going to do with us?"
Shannon shrugged, pulling up to a sitting position and eyeing
their prison cell with distaste. "I don't know what they have planned
for you, but for me it's just more boredom. Having me held captive
here gives my Mom the excuse to work for them without damaging her
'social conscience', so they'll just keep me locked up in this damned
room." She sighed, exaggeratedly, then frowned. "I wish I knew what
they wanted with you."
Andalor sat up, stifling a groan at the effect of the sudden
change in motion on his aching head. "I think they want to use me to
trap Mulder." Biting at his lower lip, he tried to shut down the more
horrible possibilities. "Unless they are planning to..."
"Planning to what?" Shannon asked, not in the least liking the
expression on her companion's face.
Andalor shrugged his shoulders in an imitation of her early
motion, and tried to brighten his expression. "Nothing. I'm sure I'm
only useful as..."
The sound of the door lock being disengaged silenced any further
conversation, and both got to their feet, turning as one to face the
door as it slowly began to open.
Stretching out a hand to Andalor, Shannon darted into the shadow
of the inwardly moving door, preparing to strike out at the incoming
enemy. Andalor recognized her intention and deliberately moved into
the line of sight from the doorway, ready to distract the guards. But
as the light from the hallway hit his dim-adjusted eyes, he blinked,
then opened his violet eyes in surprise. Could it be...
"Yaaahaaaa!" Shannon screamed as she jumped on top of the tall,
unfamiliar man stepping through the doorway.
At the same instant that she got her arms tight around his neck,
her feet kicking viciously at his shins, Andalor yelled
out..."Mulder!!!!"
"Whhaatt...GET OFF ME!!!" Mulder demanded as he struggled under
the unexpected assault. "OOUCH!!" he grabbed for the fingers
tightening on his throat, the gun falling from his hand as he fought to
regain his ability to breath.
"Shannon STOP!" Two voices cried at once, Andalor's slightly
cracked adolescent voice mixing with that of her mother.
Mulder finally got hold of her wrists and yanked them away
forcibly, pivoting, then pulling her up off the floor by her arms.
Hanging from his grip, her feet still swinging at his calves, Shannon
focused on the face that was boring down on hers, the hazel eyes wide
and piercing below a shock of hair as dark as her own.
Another pair of hands tugged on her from behind, and she turned
to see Andy's anxious expression. "Stop it, Shannon - that's Mage
Mulder. He's not the enemy!"
"What?" She was suddenly aware not just of the man still
pinioning her arms, but the three people standing behind him as well.
Her mother, a big man who reminded her of an old oak tree, so surely
were his feet planted on the floor, and a woman with hair that shone
like flame in the yellow fluorescent light.
Mulder set her down on the floor, then looked down at her with a
wry grin. "If I let go of you, will you promise not to try to strangle
me again?"
Recovering her aplomb, Shannon responded easily, "Sure!"
"OK," Mulder let go, and turned to Andalor as he rubbed at his
throat. "Andalor, are you alright?"
Andalor nodded. "Mage Mulder, I...I mean..." Suddenly faced
with the living presence of the man he had come so far and risked so
much to find, the young Prince abruptly found himself at a loss for
words. But his idol had more important things on his mind.
"Later," Mulder said tersely. "Let's get out of here."
Karen and Scully stood back to allow the two teens to exit the
room, while Jourdain stepped further down the hall, eyes narrowed and
ready for trouble.
The last to leave the room, Mulder was leaning down to scoop up
his gun when chaos erupted in the hall.
//Mulder!!!\\ Scully screamed for him mentally, saving her
breath for the fight ahead. Facing the men that had seemingly come out
of the walls in front of them, she drew the sword off her back, and
hefted it in her left hand even as she raised and aimed her gun.
"Nooo!" Karen shouted, turning to press Shannon behind her into
the wall.
Mulder swore as his fingers touched just the edge of his gun,
causing it to shoot across the slick surface of the floor and under one
of the beds. The urgency of Scully's cry, followed by the sound of
shots from the hall, forced him to abandon the weapon. Drawing the
sword with a grimace, he raced out through the doorway and into the
battle.
There was no cover available in the open hallway, which led
quickly to an uneasy stand-off, Gordon's three men holding their weapon
pointed at the four adults who stood shielding the two teens, Scully
holding both her weapons proudly, Mulder balancing his sword in both
hands, the edge tilted up into the air in front of him. Jourdain held
one knife out in front, the other resting in seeming negligence by his
side. Karen's hands were empty, but she held them both out in front of
her, palms facing outward, as though she could deflect a bullet with
bare skin.
Gordon gave his predatory smile and stepped forward, directing
himself to Mulder, who watched and listened with stony calm.
"A sword, really, Agent Mulder. Do you think this is some kind
of game?"
Mulder remained silent, his eyes cold and watchful, his mind in
perfect link with his partner. When he was ready, she would be too.
At the lack of open response from his adversary, Gordon chuckled.
"Well, game or not, its over, and I have won. Now, I'm willing to be
magnanimous. For some reason, the powers-that-be have decreed that you
are not to be killed. If it were up to me..." Gordon shook his head.
"Well, you are their problem. All I really want is the boy and the odd
creature of yours which is presently downstairs causing no end of
trouble. Hand them over to me, oh - and I'd like the Professor as
well. I'm sure he's around somewhere, and we'll let the rest of you
go." Gordon spread his hands, attempting to appear reasonable, but
Mulder's expression never wavered.
"Forget it."
Gordon shrugged. "Have it your way, but please remember that I
offered you the opportunity." Stepping back, he issued a terse order.
"I want the boy alive, kill the rest."
Five guns lifted up and aimed...
//NOW!!!\\ Mulder and Scully moved as one, in perfect
synchronicity, Scully fired her gun, while Mulder leapt at the nearest
man, sword slicing through the air.
At the first shot, Jourdain grabbed Andalor and shoved him down
onto the floor, covering the boy's slender frame with all of his bulk.
Shannon screamed, grabbing at her mother's sleeve, while Karen charged
forward, desperately throwing herself into the line of fire.
Two of the men were thrown backward under a volley of bullets,
their own weapons firing randomly at the walls and ceilings. Mulder
felt a rush of adrenaline surge through his bloodstream as he brought
the sharp edge of his silver blade down on the wrist of the man firing
at him. <BANG...BANG>
"EEEOOOAAAAHHHGGGGG!" The man cried, as the sword sliced right
through his wrist and severed the hand and gun in one swift moment.
Mulder danced sideways in the same motion, feeling the heat of the
bullets as they raced by the edge of his hips and thighs, one scraping
through his clothing to sear his skin.
Close, far too close. But not quite close enough. Gritting his
teeth, Mulder swung the now-bloodied blade at the second man, who had
stopped firing at the sight of the severed hand falling to the floor,
blood spurting from the wounded arm in a rich gush of gore.
"Nooo!" the second man screamed as he saw the red-tinged glitter
of the sword coming straight for him. Lifting his gun, he fired
blindly at Mulder, but was a single breath too late. His bullets went
wild, one hitting another of the guards in the shoulder, another
striking the underside of Scully's exposed right arm.
She cried out, the gun falling from her hand, but the damage was
only superficial. Caught in the heat of the battle, she forced herself
to ignore it, closing both hands on the hilt of the sword, a wing of
bright auburn hair swinging down to shadow her chin and mouth, framing
the blazing azure of her eyes.
The man facing her lifted his gun in triumph, only to find the
point of the sword pressed into his throat. He took an involuntary
step backwards, though he pressed his gun into the middle of her chest.
But that only brought out a smile from her face and a spark of
challenge from her eyes.
"Go ahead, shoot me," she dared. "But don't think I won't rip
your throat out before I die."
His eyes widened, the only thought capable of forming in his mind
the pure certainty that she had gone berserk. Seeing a pang of fear
strike his face, Scully pressed her advantage, pricking the skin above
his jugular vein with the point of the sword. "What's the matter?"
she taunted.
"For God's sake, shoot her!" Gordon yelled, turning his own gun
from Mulder to Scully. Even as he moved, Karen finally broke free of
Shannon, running straight over Mulder, who had dived to the floor to
avoid another round of bullets fired in his direction.
Gordon corrected his aim when he saw her coming, firing intently.
Karen staggered as she was hit, once, twice, and again, blood welling
out of her abdomen and shoulder, oozing out of her thigh. But she was
too focused on her target to stop, even when Shannon fell to her knees
screaming "MomMomMom!"
Mulder pulled himself up to a crouch, the sword heavy in his
hand, only to see Karen stumble straight into Gordon's gun.
<BANG BANG BANG> Gordon fired rapidly, striking the already
wounded woman in her chest and stomach, forcing her down to her knees,
a groan of agony escaping her lips, even as blood bubbled and frothed
in the corner of her mouth. Yet, somehow, she found the strength to
move one step closer, and then another.
Seeing her continue to move towards him, when she should by any
rights have fallen dead to the floor, his eyes widened in shock, and he
moved to empty the rest of his cartridge into her body, but Mulder was
there first.
With a cry of pure rage erupting from the depths of his soul,
Mulder scrambled to his feet and levered the big sword up over his
head, hilt clamped in both hands, whirling it down as he leapt forward
over Karen, who was now reduced to crawling forward on the floor, hands
scratching at the smooth tiles.
Gordon saw the blade slicing towards him far too late to raise
his gun from the floor. Screaming, he saw his own mortality reflected
in the shimmering blade as it sliced unerringly for his throat. Taking
his one last, desperate bid for victory, he closed his fingers down on
the remote control still concealed within his pocket.
Merely a second too late, the hand-crafted wrought-silver sword
sliced through Gordon's throat in one clean sweep, barely catching on
the bones of the vertebrae, Mulder's arms and the force of gravity
pushing it through with inevitable force, until it swung free towards
the floor.
Gordon's face took on a look of shock, his eyes still staring
wide open, as his head wobbled on his shoulders, then tumbled sideways.
Karen lifted her head long enough to see her enemies head roll
off, smashing to the floor with a sickening thud, then she sighed and
slid downwards to the floor, all of the remaining breath rasping out of
her lungs as she collapsed and lay still.
"MOMOMOM!!!" Shannon screamed, darting forward to pull her
mother's bullet-wracked body into her arms, her voice wafting up into
an unintelligible wail.
The one remaining soldier, still standing with Scully's sword
point in the hollow of his throat took one look at the detached head of
his boss, dropped his gun onto the floor, and took off backwards down
the hall as fast as his feet could carry him. Scully moved to follow,
but Mulder reached out to restrain her, the blood-spattered sword
suddenly an almost unbearable weight in his right hand.
"Let him go!"
As if to confirm Mulder's words, an ear-shattering alarm blared
into life, followed by a strobe-like blinking of the fluorescent
lights. The alarm whined and rose, then squeaked into silence, soon
replaced by a blank human voice.
"The self-destruct sequence has been activated. Please evacuate
the building at once. Countdown sequence to begin...NOW.
One-hundred...ninety-nine...ninety-eight..."
"My God," Scully breathed in shock, her eyes meeting Mulder's in
a millisecond of shared panic. Then they both bolted into motion.
"Come on!" Mulder grabbed for Shannon, while Scully ran over to
Jourdain who was already pulling himself up off of Andalor. The big
soldier did not quite understand what was happening, but it did not
take much to figure out that something was drastically wrong. Dragging
Andalor to his feet, Jourdain began to follow Scully, never letting go
of the Prince.
Mulder struggled to pull the sobbing Shannon up from her mother's
corpse, but with only one hand free, he was unable to succeed in
gaining her attention. Seeing his friend's attempt to remove the girl
failing, Jourdain didn't even bother with a single word. Releasing
Andalor, he brushed Mulder aside, took hold of the girl, and lifted her
right up into the air, the big muscles in his arms and back flexing as
he threw her kicking, screaming body over his shoulder.
Scully extended a hand to Mulder, who took hold of it, racing
down the hall with her at his side.
They ran for the stairway, shoving the door open with violent
urgency, pounding their way downwards, every number of the countdown
echoing loudly in their ears.
"Seventy-five...seventy-four...seventy-three..."
- - - - - -

Reinald stumbled to his feet, grimacing ruefully as he gratefully
took the hand Aldara held out to him. Once he was on his feet, he
looked over in amazement at the bodies strewn out across the hallway.
Shaking his head, he found himself incredibly grateful that this fierce
warrior was on his side.
Beside them, Tarnor slowly drifted down to rest on the floor, his
skin taking on an ashy pallor as the blue glow faded away. "Are you
all right?" Reinald asked his former pupil anxiously.
"Just tired," Tarnor drew in a deep breath, then bared his
pointed teeth in another startling grimace. Using magic here is much
more difficult than at home. It flows so slowly...
"Sorry to interrupt, but we've got to get moving," Aldara
interrupted tersely, surprising herself by ordering around the two
magicians without so much as a single jolt of worry. It wasn't so much
their lessened ability in this strange world, as it was her concern
over their situation. For the moment, there were no more black-suited
men with the pellet weapons coming at them, but the loud blaring that
seemed to emanate from the very walls themselves did little to reassure
her.
And in abrupt confirmation of her worries, the alarm broke off to
be replaced by a man's voice.
"The self-destruct sequence has been activated..." A sudden
attack of certainty struck Aldara, and she grabbed at Reinald's sleeve.
"We've got to get out of here NOW!" she insisted.
"But..." Reinald began, but one look into her eyes, combined
with the countdown that echoed though the air, signaling some unknown
kind of disaster, and he abruptly lost any desire to argue.
The urgency drove them all, and moving in unison, they turned on
their heels and raced back the way they had come, down the hall,
through the doors into the lobby, and out into the welcoming night.
- - - - -

Getting up through the window was much harder than climbing down,
but driven by desperation, they somehow managed. Mulder physically
hefted first Andalor, then Scully up towards the broken window, shoving
them out with all of his remaining strength. Then he turned to assist
Jourdain with the still-hysterical girl. Shannon fought them, kicking
and biting, until Jourdain lost patience, backhanding her into
unconsciousness. Then together, the two men lifted her up through the
opening, Scully and Andalor pulling hard from above.
At long last, they got her to the relative safety of the
sidewalk, leaving the men to decide who would go next. Mulder broke
in before Jourdain could speak. "Don't be a fool, it took a lot to get
you down, you'll need me pushing to get you out."
Jourdain wanted to argue, but one look at his friend's determined
face, and he unhappily acceded. Climbing upward, he seized the edges
of the window frame, a groan escaping, as he attempted to lever all of
his bulk upwards, the muscles in his arms and shoulders screaming with
the effort. Then suddenly, there came a violent shove on his feet, and
he shot upwards.
His hands and arms extended outward, to use the wall of the
building as a support to pull himself out. Hands closed in around his
upper arms, and began to pull. The combined push from below and assist
from above moved him one slow inch at a time. A tense moment came when
his hips got caught, his jacket snagged on a rusty, protruding nail.
But with one last, fervent effort, he broke through, and was able to
crawl out onto the ground.
"MULDER!" Scully screamed, almost crawling on top of Jourdain,
to stare down into the darkness.
Mulder didn't waste his breath replying, the echo of the count as
it reached the low twenties reverberating in his mind as he clambered
up the loose pile of junk to reach for the window sill. Unsteady to
begin with, the loose agglomeration of boxes and broken pieces of
furniture tilted under his feet, threatening to tumble him to the
ground.
//MULDER!!!\\ Scully cried again, stretching her hand as far
down as she could, fingers grasping at air...at air...at... Mulder's
fingers brushed hers, missed, then swung back again and.... caught and
held onto hers. Scully strained to pull him upwards, but lean as he
was, he still weighed far too much for her to bring him up alone. But
she was not alone, and in less than an instant, she felt Jourdain's
weight come down on top of hers, his long, massive arm following the
short length of hers until his heavy callused fist closed tightly
around Mulder's slender wrists.
Together, they pulled upwards, teeth clamped, breath caught in
their lungs, each second racing by. First one arm came through,
followed by the other. Then his head and shoulders appeared, Jourdain
shifting his grip to ake hold of Mulder's armpits. One more desperate
yank from both Scully and Jourdain, and Mulder came flying up through
the window, to the point that he could grab hold of their shoulders and
wriggle his own hips and legs up and out.
Crawling over Scully, Mulder rolled off to the side just as the
countdown hit "ten...nine...eight..."
"Ggget going...." Mulder rasped, stumbling for his feet and
reaching for Scully's arm. She took hold of him, while Jourdain moved
surprisingly fast for someone his size. Scooping up Shannon, he
ordered Andalor to run.
They managed to put about six feet between them and the building
when the explosion came.
<BOOM> Not pausing an instant, they ran even harder, while the
ground rocked beneath their feet. Andalor stumbled, only to be caught
on the collar by Mulder. Yanking the boy up, Mulder almost threw him
forward, only to be knocked over himself as a wave of pure force
emanated from the exploding building, sending them all tumbling across
the pavement.
Staggering, they half-ran, half-crawled away from the raging
inferno that had once been the complex. It seemed an eternity until
they were far enough away to pause, gasping for breath, and turn to
stare with wide-eyed shock at the conflagration.
Still holding the unconscious Shannon in his arms, Jourdain felt
his stomach turn over in his belly, a tide of nausea rising in his
throat as he abruptly remembered that his wife had been in that
building.
"Aldara...." he whispered, almost terrified to even say her
name. But it was loud enough for Scully to hear, and her hand still
clasped tightly in Mulder's turned to look up at him, en equal sense of
pain and terror striking her lovely face.
But before either of them could react further, a voice cried out
their names in a shout of pure relief.
"Jourdain, Scully, Mulder....!!!!" All spun on their heels to
see the tiny form of Aldara streaking towards them, her long hair
streaming out behind her.
In an instant, Jourdain lowered Shannon to the ground and was
gone, leaping forward to sweep his wife up into his embrace.
"Aldara..." And this time her name was spoken with a ripple of
pure joy.
Behind them, Mulder's fingers tightened convulsively on Scully's
while she merely leaned her head against his shoulder. Nothing more
was needed.

End Chapter Twelve