Subject: THE SEMINAR (Revised)
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998

Note: Okay, I've received a few e-mails on this one, letting me know that
there is one major mistake in this story, which is now, hopefully,
corrected. Thanks to those who pointed it out to me. I'm grateful for the
feed-back. I wouldn't have thought about it myself. Thanks. :o)

Disclaimer: The characters of "The X-Files" and the rights belong to FOX
network, Ten Thirteen Productions, and Chris Carter and not to me. I'm just
borrowing them for a little while.

Questions, comments, praise, flames, criticizm, etc. are very welcome at
believethelie@secret.dk.

Summary: Mulder and Scully are sent to another seminar with strict
instructions that they are to arrive there without any deviation from
course. And they do. But that's when things go wrong. MulderTorture and
ScullyAngst.

Dedications: Again my thanks go to my good friend Sam for reading this and
letting me know that I'm not a complete failure. :o) Thanks, Sam. I
appreciate the effort you put into this. It means a lot.

THE SEMINAR (revised)

by P.C.Rasmussen

believethelie@secret.dk

The meeting would not be a success. Scully knew that up front. Although she
knew what the meeting would be about, she wouldn't tell Mulder up front.
Because if she did, he would be gone within a second and she would be left
to explain to Skinner why he wasn't there. And she wasn't going to cover for
him just because he didn't want to participate in another of these strange
partner-courses the Bureau arranged occasionally. So, she had kept her mouth
shut about the reason for the meeting, only replying with vague answers when
Mulder had asked her. He was annoyed at her for that. She could tell by the
way he kept glancing at her, frowning slightly. When they arrived at
Skinner's office, he grabbed her arm. "What is this meeting about, Scully?
You know, don't you?" he insisted for the umpteenth time.

Scully was about to say something when the door opened and Skinner starred
at them in slight surprise. "There you are. I was beginning to wonder," he
said, stepped aside and waved them into the office. Looking once at Scully,
he then turned his attention to Mulder. "I take it Agent Scully has told you
what this is about?"

Mulder scowled at Scully for a second. "No, actually all she told me was
that we were going to have a meeting with you this afternoon, sir," he
countered, not wanting Scully to get off the hook so easily.

"Well, that's all I told Agent Scully, too," Skinner countered evenly,
glancing briefly at Scully who managed to abstain from sighing in relief.
"Take a seat," Skinner added and sat down behind his desk again.

Mulder dropped down on one chair and Scully took the other. "So, what is
this about?" Mulder wanted to know. "I hope it wasn't the last report. I
know it was kind of..." he began, but Skinner cut him off.

"No, Agent Mulder, it wasn't your last report. Although it was kind of
sloppy, there's nothing wrong with it." Folding his hands, Skinner braced
himself for the expected reaction Mulder would display when he told him
about the reason for this meeting. "The Bureau has, once again, arranged a
partner seminar." It was with the greatest trouble that Skinner managed not
to smile a little at the groan that escaped Mulder. "As you so conveniently
missed the last one, Agent Mulder," he went on, starring pointedly at his
agent, "I advise you to be there this time."

"It wasn't my fault that we ran into..." Mulder began, but stopped after
realizing that it would do him no good to defend that action.

"Mothmen?" Skinner finished for him, the look on his face everything but
happy. "No, of course not," he added a little surly. "As it were, Agent
Mulder, I will not accept another deviation from course this time. No matter
what you run into on your way there. Do I make myself clear?"

Making a face, Mulder slumped back in the chair. "Yes, sir. Perfectly
clear," he said, his opinion about this coming through loud and clear in the
tone of his voice.

"Good. Now, you leave Friday. The seminar will take place over the weekend
in San Francisco. Nothing short of an earthquake should stop you from
getting there. No other excuses will be accepted," Skinner warned.

Nodding, Mulder glanced at Scully, then back at Skinner. "Don't worry, sir.
We'll get there," Scully assured Skinner and got up after receiving the file
Skinner handed her.

"Good. I'm counting on you to make sure he really get's there," he told her,
nodding toward Mulder.

"I'll do my best," Scully promised.

Mulder got up, feeling like a little kid again. He really, really didn't
want to go to the seminar. They bored the life out of him and he felt
completely depleted when he got home. He couldn't imagine anything more
stressful. Following Scully out of Skinner's office, he knew his reaction to
it was pretty childish, but he just couldn't stop himself from resenting
that he would have to spend a weekend in the company of a great many people
who didn't like him for one reason or another.

* * *

Back in their office, he dropped down on his chair and gave Scully a hurt
look. "How could you?" he demanded. "You know how I hate those things."

Scully starred at him for a moment, then dropped the file on his desk. "I
know and that's why I didn't say anything, Mulder. Because you would have
ditched me again and left it up to me to explain to Skinner why you weren't
at the meeting," she countered, sounding a little miffed. "Besides, these
'things' aren't that bad. They can be a great deal of fun. And it's not like
you're going alone. I'll be there," she added.

"I know," he grumbled. "I know, Scully. I just... I always feel like I need
a vacation after a trip to Hell."

"Always?" she countered, starring at him. "What do you mean, always? How
many times have you participated?"

Blinking, he looked away. "Once," he mumbled.

"Once?" she asked, starring at him with that look he knew so well. "You've
participated once and now you know all there is to know about these
seminars?" Shaking her head, she sat down on her chair. "Mulder, you're
impossible." Thinking things over for a second, she gave him a sharp look.
"And don't even try to come up with a way of getting out of this one.
Nothing short of a life-threatening disease is going to keep us from going,
do you understand me? I don't want any feeble excuses, because it's my
behind in a sling if you don't go. You heard Skinner. I'm not about to take
the rap for this one."

Starring at her, he smiled weakly. "And what a fine behind it is," he
countered.

Scully starred at him for a second, then she sighed and leaned her head
back. "Mulder, I swear on everything that is holy to me, I will shoot you in
the knee and stuff you in the trunk if you try to ditch me." Raising her
head again, she met his eyes. "I'm serious. I know you don't like these
seminars. But couldn't you just try to at least go along with it? For me?"

Now she'd gone and done it. Anything else he could worm his way out of. But
not when she asked him that. "That's not fair," he growled.

"Please? For me?" She knew exactly what it was doing to him. If there was
one thing she had learned about her partner over the past five years, it was
that he had trouble denying her anything. She made a point out of never
asking him in this manner because she knew he would do it despite his
feelings in the matter and it would always end with him being miffed that
she had talked him into it. But this time she wasn't going to let him wiggle
his way out of it. Not a chance. She hated these seminars as much as he did,
but she participated because it was expected of her. Now she expected him to
suffer through it with her.

Pursing his lips, Mulder held her stare for a moment, then looked away,
grumbling under his breath. He knew he wouldn't get out of this one. No
matter what they ran into. He actually wouldn't put it past her to threaten
him with a gun if he made any trouble. "Okay, fine. I'll go. But I won't
like it," he finally said, meeting her eyes again defiantly.

"That's all I ask," she countered, satisfied for the moment. "And I'm going
to keep you to your word," she added with a snide grin. "Or else."

"Or else what, Agent Scully?" he countered, wondering if she would actually
voice the threat openly.

Still grinning, she turned her chair around so she had her back to him.
"That's for me to know and you to find out," she said quietly, her tone of
voice menacing.

* * *

Friday morning came and Scully still didn't trust her partner to come along
quietly. As a matter of fact, she would first be at ease when they had
reached the resort outside of San Francisco where the seminar was to take
place. She parked the car outside his apartment building and honked the
horn. It took a moment before he showed up and he didn't look too
enthusiastic, but he was there. And that was an improvement. She had already
envisioned having to go up there and drag him out of his apartment. She
opened the trunk and let him stash his suitcase in it, noting that he wasn't
speaking to her.

"We're meeting up with two agents at the airport in San Francisco. We're
going to the seminar together from there," she told him as she got back
behind the wheel and he got in on the passenger side.

Groaning, Mulder leaned back on the seat. "At least let us drive there
alone, Scully. Just you and me? Please?" he begged.

"No, Mulder. The chance of you finding something better to do if we're
driving alone is too big. It's only for one weekend. What's the big deal?"
she countered, a little exasperated already.

"The big deal is that I could be at home, doing what I feel like doing. Now
I have to spend my weekend with a lot of people who don't like me, doing
silly stuff."

She glanced at him, knowing that this wasn't just a general rebellion
against having to go by the book. She knew him well enough to realize that
he was really unhappy about it. "And you don't do that usually? Silly
stuff?" she wanted to know, smiling.

"When I do silly things, Scully, I usually do them by myself or with you.
You're the only one I would do silly things around. Do you wanna loose the
privilege?" he shot back, folding his arms over his chest.

She almost laughed. He was so funny when he was annoyed. "Oh, I think I want
to share that privilege with others. It might also improve on that rather
shaky reputation you've got," she told him, not letting herself be persuaded
away from the main topic.

"What's my reputation got to do with this?" he countered, not looking at
her.

Scully kept her eyes on the traffic, smiling to herself. She was not going
to be pulled into an argument with him over this one. He was too sharp for
her when it came to discussions like that. "Nothing, Mulder. Just promise me
that you'll at least try to have some fun?" Glancing over at him, she
realized immediately how he would interpret that one. "And don't screw with
people's heads. I know how you love to do that."

He made a face but didn't comment on it.

* * *

Before going to the airport, they had to go by the office to meet with
Skinner. Skinner had to admit to himself that he was rather surprised to see
Mulder. He had not expected Scully to be able to drag him along. But here he
was. "Agent Mulder, Agent Scully," he said, nodding. "I just wanted to wish
you a good trip and... Mulder? Behave yourself." Mulder made a face, nodded
and turned to leave. "And one more thing," Skinner interrupted his
departure. "I have a case for you two to begin on when you get back."
Handing the file over to Scully, he gave her curt smile. "Take it with you.
You might find some time to read it on the way."

They headed back down to the garage, Mulder trailing after Scully with a
definite sour look on his face. He had realized that his hurt-little-boy
look didn't work on her today, so he didn't even try it. "Scully," he said,
his tone of voice indicating his displeasure in all this.

"Mulder, I already told you. We're going and we're going to have fun. Now
stop making such a fuzz," she countered before he could get into it again.

***

All the way to the airport and while they checked in, found the plane and
got on, Mulder said next to nothing. And that somehow bothered Scully.
Because she knew he was saving up for his next attack. Anything to get out
of this one. After they were seated, Scully pulled the file out of her
briefcase and opened it. It was nothing special, really. Nothing to write
home about. Starring at it while the plane taxied out onto the runway,
Scully couldn't help but notice that her partner was watching her. After a
moment, she turned her head. "What?" She knew what, but she felt she had to
give him a break.

"When we get to Frisco, can't we just rent a car and go there on our own?"
he asked.

Scully very nearly lost her temper at that one. The fact was that she would
prefer that, too, but the chance of him finding something better to do while
they were driving out there was too big. "Mulder, would you stop being such
a baby? It's not like the Bureau is asking you to give up the next ten years
of your life. Would you just go with it?" However much she tried, she
couldn't keep the exasperation out of her voice. She was getting pretty fed
up with this discussion.

"All right. Fine," he grumbled, folding his arms defensively over his chest
and settling back in the seat. "I'll go with it, Scully, but as I said
before. I won't like it."

"Then don't," she countered, a little put off by all this.

For the next few hours they hardly spoke at all. Scully knew he wouldn't
keep this attitude up, but while it lasted, it was pretty uncomfortable.
Occasionally, she glanced at him and it was with the upmost control that she
managed not to smile. If she started indicating that she thought he reaction
was funny, he would get even more miffed and she wasn't about to spend a
weekend in the company of a ticked-off partner. Men were such children
sometimes, she thought, picked up a magazine and read through it.

***

When the plane set down in the San Francisco International Airport, Mulder
had basically gotten over the fact that there seemed to be no way to
convince Scully to go on a different kind of trip with him. He disliked the
idea of the seminar, but one thing she had said made things a bit better.
She was going to be there. He wasn't alone in this one with a partner who
didn't like him.

With their suitcases in tow, they stepped out into the arrival hall and
glanced around. A tall brunette and a smaller, grumpy-looking man stood
waiting for them, unmistakable due to his attire. He looked every bit a
federal agent with his dull, grey suit, black tie and unapproachable
expression.

Scully took the first step and approached the woman who, dressed in black
jeans, a light blouse and high top sneakers of Italian design looked as if
she was on vacation rather than a seminar. Agent Teal?" Scully asked.

"Yeah, that's me," the brunette said, smiling broadly. "And this is Pete
Cranston."

They shook hands, introducing themselves. Cranston continued to look a bit
sour and said fairly little, so Teal took the lead. "Come on. We've got a
car waiting downstairs. We're running a little late here."

Down in the garage, Mulder realized why Agent Cranston looked so annoyed. He
glanced at the row of comfortable-looking rentals they walked past with
longing, making it very obvious that they would not be driving one of those.
When Cranston realized Mulder had noticed, he leaned a little closer. "We're
taking Agent Teal's car. She... drove here from New York in that thing." The
disapproving tone in the man's voice was lost on Mulder. He really didn't
care one way or another. Until he saw Teal's car. He had always believed
that people's choice in cars exposed a lot about their character. The black
four-wheel drive Range Rover that looked like it had seen its share of
driving was what they were heading toward. It wasn't new, but it was well
kept. Mulder glanced over at the tall brunette and couldn't help smiling. If
she drove a car like that, he was going to like her.

"So, Agent Teal, where are you from in New York?" Scully asked as they
stashed their things in the back of the Range Rover.

"The City itself," Teal countered, giving her a crooked grin. "And stop
calling me Agent Teal. My name's Jennifer. Or Jenny. Or whatever odd cut-off
you can get out of my name," she added. Glancing at the two men, she
inspected their differing height. "I think you better sit up front, Agent
Mulder. You're too long-legged to sit in the back," she said, smiling.

Mulder merely nodded. That suited him fine.

They all got in and Teal put the Rover in gear, almost caressing the
steering wheel. "Ready?" she asked and didn't wait for an answer.

The Rover was one of the smoothest cars Mulder had ever had the pleasure of
driving in and he started to think that this might not be such a bad thing
after all.

"This car is very cramped," Cranston complained, shifting around a bit to
get more comfortable.

Scully glanced at him, but ignored the obvious annoyance he was displaying.
"So, have you ever participated in a seminar like this, Agen... I mean,
Jennifer?" she asked their driver.

Teal grinned. "Yeah, a couple. I always get a lot of fun out of it."

"Where's your partner?" Mulder wanted to know after a moment.

Teal, keeping her eyes on the traffic, looking serious all of a sudden. "I'm
between partners at the moment," she countered cryptically.

Cranston had his arms folded over his chest, looking slightly annoyed at the
whole thing. "She used to be partners with Jimmy Fulks," he inserted.

Mulder glanced back at Scully, who was sitting behind Teal's seat. They had
both heard of the stake-out which had ended with Jimmy Fulks' death. They
had also heard that it was supposed to be his partner's fault that he had
died.

"The brass thought it would be a good idea that I participated in a seminar
for partners, seeing as I just got my partner killed," Teal said, shocking
everybody somewhat by her frankness.

"Did you?" Mulder wanted to know, tactful as ever.

"No, but that's beyond the point, isn't it?" Teal asked, sending him an
amused glance. "When the brass decides that I did, that's the way things
are. The truth, as such, is a creature of perception. It depends on how you
look at it." Shrugging it off, she grinned.

Mulder starred at this woman and wondered where the hell she came from. She
didn't seem too upset about losing her partner. "What happened? I mean, the
Bureau grapevine isn't known for accuracy."

Scully almost told him to stop asking questions. She knew from experience
that he liked to mess people up mentally if he could get away with it and
she was somehow afraid that this was another of these incidents. But she
kept her tongue, giving him a sharp glance when he looked back at her for a
moment.

"We got teamed up two months ago. He hated my guts and I didn't like him any
better. We ended up having an argument on a stake-out -- not a good thing --
and he walked off, stepping right out in front of an oncoming truck. I heard
the collision, but had my back to the scene. I never saw it coming," Teal
explained, her tone of voice as devoid of emotion as her expression. "Fulks
was a fool. He let his anger get the better of him and if there's one thing
that's stupid when you're in a heavily trafficked area, it's walking out
into the street without looking. The bosses blamed it on me. I was his
partner. I was supposed to have watched his back. Personally, I don't know
what they expected me to do. Tie him down so he doesn't get himself wasted
due to stupidity?"

"Ah, so it was Fulks' own fault?" Mulder asked.

"Kinda. He let his temper get the better of him and that got him killed. Not
me," Teal countered. "Anyway, what's the deal with you two? Why are you
going? From what I hear, you two are stuck together like glue."

Scully made a face. It wasn't the first time she had heard that one.
"Because our supervisor thinks that we need to work on our communications
skills," she said, cutting Mulder off before he could make some obscene
remark to that one.

Teal glanced in the rear-view mirror and grinned. "Really? You seem to have
wordless communication going right now."

"See?" Mulder said to Scully, halfway turning in his seat. "That's what I
keep saying. We don't need..." he began, but Scully cut him off.

"Mulder," she almost snapped. "Forget it. We are going. End of story." She
knew where this was heading and she didn't like it. Glancing at the
rear-view mirror, she caught Teal's eyes and attempted strongly to
communicate her need for help here.

Teal got the message. Reaching over, she patted Mulder's knee. "You'll have
tons of fun at this seminar. I think we can make them re-arrange certain
parts of their schedule. Don't you?" she said and winked at him.

Mulder starred at her for a moment, then he returned her grin. "Sure," he
countered.

Cranston made a face again, not at all happy about all these seemingly
unprofessional people he was going to spend the next few days with. Glancing
over at Scully, he had already decided that she was the one who was the most
professional. "Have you ever been to one of these seminars?" he asked.

"Only to one," Scully countered, watching Mulder intently for a moment. It
seemed that Teal had managed to convince him that he could create havoc at
this seminar and that would make him go along with it. She had already
decided to have a lengthy chat with Teal to find out how better to handle
Mulder. Smiling to herself, she turned her attention to Cranston. "Have
you?"

"Yes, several. I find them quite educational. They teach you ethics as well
as higher skills in co-operation. Communication is the key to it all. It's
something of a letdown that my partner couldn't come. She was so looking
forward to it," he told her.

Mulder rolled his eyes, very nearly unable to comment on that one. He hated
these overzealous agents, who would do anything to please the
administration. Glancing at Teal, he saw no indication of disapproval on her
face. But, then again, he didn't see her nodding in agreement, either.

* * *

The trip toward the resort where the seminar was to take place was rather
uneventful. Teal turned out to be a lot of fun and Mulder had decided by the
time they reached the outskirts of Frisco that he was going to enjoy this
trip, no matter what. If for nothing other than to make Scully feel better.
She was a bit grumpy and he couldn't really blame her. His attitude had not
been the best. The only thing that bothered him was that agents like Teal
and Scully were rare. Most of them resembled Cranston and he couldn't stand
the man already. It bugged him to know that he had to spend his weekend in
the company of people like him. But the fact that Scully was there helped a
whole lot. And Teal was going to make things even easier. He was sure they
could have fun together.

The resort turned out to be located in a beautiful scenery. The buildings
were neat and everything was tidy. Mulder was actually surprised to find
that Scully's room was right next to his. After they had settled in, they
went over to the canteen located in a low building near the motel where they
were supposed to spend the next few days. The first hour was spent with
being introduced to the others. Scully met old colleagues, Cranston found
other like-minded souls and quickly detached himself from the people he
would have to drive home with again and even Teal managed to find a few
friendly faces, who welcomed her back into their ranks. The only one who
went rather unnoticed by the main population of the thirty agents assembled
was Mulder. He sat back on a chair and watched the humdrum of people with no
wish to join in. He really didn't like these seminars. Mainly because he
felt it was a waste of time and, a reason he did not acknowledge willingly,
because he felt out of place. Heaving a deep breath, he folded his arms over
his chest and attempted to look indifferent.

Five minutes later, Scully turned up in front of him. "Come on, Mulder. Join
this rabble," she said, her face a little flushed.

"That's okay, Scully, you don't have to pay attention to me," he countered,
attempting to make a joke. It came out differently, though. Scully sat down
beside him, her hands folded.

"What's up? Is it because you don't feel you fit in here?" she wanted to
know.

"It's not important, Scully. Go join your friends," he told her, giving her
a grin to take whatever edge of his words there might be.

"There's a few people here I want you to meet, Mulder. Don't be this way.
Come on," she said, gently took his arm and more or less forced him to his
feet. "You'll like them. I promise," she added.

"It's not so much a question of whether I will like them, Scully. I doubt
they will like me," he countered, but let her pull him along toward a small
cluster of people.

"This is my partner, Special Agent Fox Mulder," she introduced him to the
group of three men and two women. "This is Tina Wilder, John Buddenbaum,
Frank Hastings, Susan Neusiedler and George Harrodes."

Mulder shook hands with all of them, wondering when the taunting would
start. He smiled and exchanged pleasantries with them, laughed at their
jokes and told a few of his own, constantly watching his step so Scully
wouldn't have anything to be embarrassed about. It actually surprised him a
little that he was willing to go to such an extent to keep things calm. As
the day progressed, he found that it was actually rather easy to talk to
these people and he attributed that to the fact that they were Scully's
friends. None of them actually seemed to either know or care about his
reputation.

At the dinner table, Tina Wilder, a beautiful brunette with an ample shape
which he thought should be forbidden because it was distracting, leaned
closer to him. "Did you know that Dana and George had something going a
while back?" she almost whispered, conspiratorially glancing over at Scully,
who was engrossed in a conversation with said George Harrodes.

"No, really?" Mulder countered in an equally low tone of voice, feeling the
spikes of jealousy. He wouldn't show it, though. Not yet, anyway. "But
that's against Bureau policy," he added sarcastically.

"Yeah, I know. But they weren't partners. That makes a difference. Besides,
it was George who was nuts about her. Dana is something of an Ice Queen. She
doesn't let anybody get to her." Wilder grinned. "Except you. You've got
quite an impact on the poor woman."

Mulder raised an eyebrow, feeling the jealousy die a quick death. "Is that
so? I had no idea," he lied, smirking.

Still grinning, she jabbed an elbow into his ribs. "Mr. Modesty," she said.

New nickname, he thought, grinning back at her. That one he could definitely
live with. "Ah well, we all try to behave, don't we?"

Susan Neusiedler dropped down on the empty chair next to Mulder, looking
bored. She was tall, powerfully built with a set of shoulders that belittled
most men in the room. Her grey eyes were so light, they almost looked white
and that gave her stare something special. "So, what do you think of this
seminar, Agent Mulder?" she asked, her tone as bored as her expression.

"I'm generally against them," he confessed. "But this could turn out to be
fun."

Glancing at him, Neusiedler didn't even blink. "I hope so. These seminars
always bore me to death," she countered.

"Agent Neusiedler is known to hate these things," Wilder inserted.

"Yeah, and she does her best to make everybody else feel that way, too,"
John Buddenbaum said, stretching his long legs out under the table. "So, how
come Dana's working with you?"

Mulder sensed an oncoming storm here and figured he better try to pacify the
man before he started harassing him. "She was assigned to work with me," he
countered slightly indifferently.

"Really? I wouldn't think that the X-Files craved that much attention.
They're trash, after all."

Neusiedler glared at him. "Why don't you just can it, John? Nobody gives a
hoot about your opinions after all. It's not like your duties fall outside
the yawn-category," she growled at him, her grey eyes flashing with anger.
Glancing at Mulder, who had an indifferent look plastered all over his face,
she smiled. "I bet the X-Files must be very interesting to work with. More
interesting than all the crap that you always dig up," she added, sending
Buddenbaum another sharp glance.

Mulder was utterly taken by surprise. He wasn't used to people standing up
for him. Especially not people he didn't know. "Hey, that's okay. Everybody
is entitled to an opinion," he tried to soothe them.

Wilder leaned in again, her eyes on Buddenbaum. "Agent Buddenbaum shouldn't
be entitled to an opinion. He's got grass growing out of his ears," she
said, grinning viciously.

Frank Hastings, the oldest of the lot, put his elbows on the table, looked
from one to the other and sighed. "When are you going to learn that
offending other people doesn't get you anywhere, John?" he wanted to know,
looking utterly annoyed. "You're attitude reminds me of when my kids were in
kindergarten. It's amazing how cruel kids can be. But it's even more amazing
how some kids never grow out of their cruelty," he added. Having said his
piece, he leaned back again to finish his meal.

John Buddenbaum had nothing further to add to the conversation and withdrew
as soon as they were allowed to. Hastings clapped Mulder on the back, a
quiet kind of smile on his lips. "Forget about John. He's got a corncob up
his ass about anybody who doesn't go by the book," he volunteered.

Mulder found that he liked all of them. With the exception of Buddenbaum,
that was. "That's okay," he assured the older man. "I'm used to it."

"Yeah, I guess you are," Hastings grinned. "Well, I'm gonna turn in. We've
got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. See you at breakfast." With that, he
stuffed his hands into his pockets and wandered off.

Scully turned up next to Mulder, smiling. "So, how do you like them so far?"

"They're okay," he confessed. "Apart from Buddenbaum. He doesn't seem to
like me," he added thoughtfully.

"You were very tactful about that one. I noticed," she said. "Besides, John
doesn't like most people. Don' t take it personally."

"Oh, I don't. You know that," he countered. "I'm gonna go for a run. You
wanna come?" For some reason he couldn't really explain, he always asked her
and she always turned him down.

Scully smiled. "Sure," she countered, upsetting the balance.

"Wow, Scully. What's this? Change of plans?" he wanted to know, looking as
surprised as he felt.

"No, call it a change of tactics. Besides, I need to move a little. We've
been sitting down virtually since this morning," she countered, smiling
sweetly at him. "I'll meet you outside in ten minutes, okay?"

* * *

They ran for an hour before returning to the complex and both were exhausted
by the time they got back. "You're pretty good at this. I didn't know you
ran," Mulder said after having regained some of his breath.

Scully gave him a sweet smile. "On occasion," she said, wiping her brow with
the back of one hand. "When I feel like it. Anyway, see you in the morning,
okay?" She turned and headed toward her door.

"You go, girl," he called after her, grinning when she flipped him the bird
and disappeared into her room. "Sweet dreams, Agent Scully," he added in a
low tone of voice and went into his own room to take a shower.

Fifteen minutes later, he stepped back into the room wearing nothing but a
towel, his hair wet and combed back. With a sigh, he dropped down on the
bed, not at all surprised that he wasn't the least bit tired. Slightly
fatigued from the run, which however hadn't been half as long as he would
usually have run, he switched the TV-set on and scooted back on the bed to
watch until he fell asleep. As a matter of form, he opened the drawer of his
night stand to check on his gun, a habit he somehow couldn't shake. With
some confusion, he realized that the weapon wasn't in the holster. "What
the..." he mumbled and glanced around. Had he taken it out? He couldn't
remember and that usually meant that he hadn't. With an annoyed growl, he
got off the bed again and started searching the room. Eventually he had to
face the facts. His gun wasn't there any more. Standing in the middle of the
room, his hands on his hips, he starred ahead of himself for a moment,
frowning. A glance at his watch told him that he shouldn't go banging on
Scully's door right now. It was past midnight and he knew how she hated
being woken up for minor things like this. He decided to go to bed instead
and take another look for the gun in the morning.

* * *

Scully was about to put the finishing touches to her makeup when somebody
banged on the door. "It's open," she called, taking a step backward in the
bathroom to see who it was. Not that she actually had any doubts. When the
door opened, she smiled. "Morning, Mulder. Couldn't wait any longer, could
you?" she asked and took a step forward again to finish touching herself up.

Mulder appeared in the doorway to her bathroom, a frown on his face.
"Scully, do you have your gun?"

The mascara brush slipped and she briefly had to correct the black dot that
wasn't supposed to be there. Then she glanced at her partner. "My gun?" she
asked, a little startled. "Yes, it's in the night stand. Why?"

He returned to the room and opened her night stand drawer. "Because mine's
missing," he countered.

Scully forgot about her mascara and followed him into the room. "It's on the
other side," she waving to the night stand near the window. "What do you
mean, your gun is missing? Did you even bring it?"

"Yes, I brought it. I put it in my night stand. And now it's no longer
there," he said, opened the drawer of the other night stand and
straightened. "Neither is yours," he added, looking quizzically over at her.

Scully came around the bed and looked down at the empty holster. "There's
got to be an explanation for that," she said, looking up to meet his eyes.
"Hang on a minute. I'll just finish up and then we can go to breakfast and
ask the others if they've got similar problems." With that, she returned to
the bathroom, not overly concerned yet. She didn't want to be concerned. It
was beyond her power of imagining that anybody would try to pull anything at
an FBI-seminar.

* * *

They walked together over to the canteen, aware that nobody else was around
because they were late. Scully didn't worry too much about the missing guns,
but Mulder did. He was glancing around, trying to spot anything out of the
ordinary. As they neared the canteen, a building with one wall of nothing
but glass, he gazed in at the others already there and found it a little odd
that they weren't moving too much. It suddenly hit him that something was
utterly wrong with that scenario. "Scully, wait," he called out, but she had
already opened the door and had stopped short.

A guy in a black ski-mask and black jumpsuit stood just inside the door,
aiming an automatic riffle at her face. "Don't make any funny moves, pretty
boy, or Red here gets it," he warned.

Mulder stood rooted to the ground, starring at the man, and knew he was
serious. Slowly raising his hands, he stepped up beside Scully.

"Get inside, both of you," Ski-mask urged them. They were both ushered into
the canteen and waved toward some free seats. "Sit down and relax. Nobody's
gonna get hurt if you just take it easy," he said.

There were six other guys wearing the same outfit and carrying automatic
riffles. Mulder noted their positions as he slowly sat down, trying to keep
an eye on all of them at once.

"Twenty-nine down. One to go," Ski-mask hollered and closed the door again,
re-assuming his previous position. "For our new arrivals, please observe
complete silence and don't make any sudden moves. We're all a bit
high-strung here and we really don't want to hurt anybody if we can avoid
it. You should however be aware of that we will not hesitate to blow you all
to kingdom come at the smallest sign of resistance," he added loud enough
for everybody to hear.

Nobody made a sound. Mulder glanced at Scully, who in turn gave him a stern
look. She knew what was going through his head right now and she would do
her damndest to prevent him from going over the edge right now. "Don't even
think of it," she mouthed at him. Frowning, he pretended not to understand.

Two of the ski-masks got together and talked quietly. The acoustics of the
room allowed those closest to them to overhear what they were talking about.

"Who's missing?" the guy at the door asked.

"A Jennifer Teal. Vern already checked her room and she's not there," the
second guy replied.

"Shhh," the first one hissed. "No names, you moron."

Mulder listened without watching them. So, one of them was called Vern.
Whoever that might be. And it didn't help much. But the second guy over
there seemed to be a little slower than the rest. The weak link. Already
cooking up a plan, Mulder briefly glanced over at the two men, then let his
eyes drift over the canteen.

* * *

The leader of the terrorist group watched the latest arrivals with interest.
He could tell that the guy was a crafty one and by the way he watched his
surroundings, he also knew that this man would be trouble. He had already
marked six of the other men among their hostages as being trouble-makers.
They would all be stashed away from the others. In a secure area. Actually,
he had already made up his mind that he was going to lock most of them up.
The weakest would be the best hostages. The rest would be placed somewhere,
where he could control them.

* * *

Mulder tried to make out who the leader was and found one guy standing in a
secluded position near the entrance to the kitchen. The way he was watching
the crowd made Mulder realize that he was the top honcho among these apes.
Two of the others were not too bright. It was obvious by the looks in their
eyes. One of them had to be Vern.

He glanced at Scully, with a vague nod indicating that one guy. Scully
glanced over at him, then back at Mulder with a frown. When she realized
what he had in mind, she shook her head lightly, the look in her eyes
alarmed. "No," she mouthed at him. Mulder made a face, turned on his chair
and gained eye contact with Ski-mask at the door. "Excuse me, but what the
hell is going on here?" he demanded.

Ski-mask glanced over at the guy near the kitchen, confirming Mulder's
suspicion that he was the leader, then raised his riffle. "Just shut up,
okay? You don't wanna go shooting your mouth off," he advised Mulder.

Mulder ignored the warning and slowly rose, raising his hands in a
deprecating gesture. "Come on. At least tell us what's going to happen to
us," he said calmly, hoping that one of them would start talking. He took a
hesitant step forward.

Ski-mask by the door starred at him, neither raising the riffle more, nor
lowering it again. He again glanced over at his boss, took a step forward
and hammered the but of his riffle into Mulder's ribs. The unprovoked attack
came as something of a surprise to Mulder and he wasn't at all prepared for
it. The butt of the riffle connected squarely with the lower left edge of
his rib cage, depriving him of his breath instantly. His knees gave in and
he hit the floor, just barely bracing himself from falling on his face. Once
he was down on all four, Ski-mask hammered the butt of the riffle against
the back of his head, knocking him clean out.

Scully was out of her chair before she had a chance to think. But apparently
the attacker didn't consider her a threat as she dropped down on her knees
next to her downed partner, hoping to prevent any further attacks which
might kill him.

Raising the riffle in one hand up over his head, Ski-mask backed up a few
steps. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he said loudly. "Let's not repeat this
incident. Please stay seated and keep your mouths shut," he advised them.
"To answer this man's question, you will all be picked up in two hours time
by some trucks. They will take you to a facility where you will stay until
this situation has resolved itself. Hopefully to your benefit. If your
government does not give in to our demands, I'm afraid we will have to kill
some of you. Just to state an example of how serious we are." Looking
around, he tried to spot any others who might decide to take a crack at
talking them out of their agenda, but found that most of these people were
strangely placid.

Scully let her fingers slip up behind Mulder's head and was appalled when
her fingers came away bloody. Gingerly, she pulled out her handkerchief and
pressed it hard against the wound, trying to stanch the bleeding. He would
be in pain when he woke up again. That much was for sure.

* * *

Jennifer Teal watched the whole scene from a distance. Growling under her
breath, she swore that she would do what she could to get all of them out
unharmed. She crossed over to the cabins the furthest from the canteen and
found an open window to crawl in through. Ripping the receiver of the phone
off its cradle, she wasn't amazed to find that it was dead. "Fuck it," she
growled and glanced around the room. With some surprise she found herself to
be in Mulder's room. A cell phone. The man was bound to have a cell phone.
She just hoped he didn't have it on him. Rooting through his things, she
found the phone after a moment, flipped the lid open and quickly dialed a
number. Withdrawing to the bathroom and a second escape route, she waited.
"This is Agent Teal, sir. We've got a situation here."

* * *

The leader of the group glanced at his watch, frowning. The trucks should
have been there already. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other,
squinting out the windows. Waving one of his men over, he briefly thanked
whatever deity was watching over him that nobody else had made a fuzz for
the past two hours. "Where the hell are the trucks?" he hissed at his
counterpart. "You arranged it with Uzzo. Talk to me."

The second guy glanced toward the windows. "Uhm... he promised me that...
well... they'd be here."

"Yeah, well, they're not, are they, Vern?" he growled. "Go outside and see
if you can spot them."

"What about the last agent?" Vern countered, looking nervous.

"To hell with her. She's probably taken off. It'll take a while before she
gets to a phone. Move it, Vern."

Vern quickly moved over to the door, glanced back at his boss and opened it.
"Oh shit," he hissed loud enough for everybody to hear it.

Ski-mask at the door grabbed him and hauled him back inside. "Shut up," he
snarled. "What'cha see out there?"

"It's swarming with feds," Vern said nervously.

Ski-mask leaned a little sideways to get a look out the glass wall and his
eyes widened. "God damn it," he grumbled. He had his orders if something
like this were to happen. "Change of plan, folks," he said loudly. "One of
your colleagues has gone and done something stupid and now we'll have to
transfer you all down to the basement. If you would please all get up and
move toward the stairs in an orderly fashion, we can avoid anybody getting
shot in the process. Ladies first," he went on, waving his riffle toward the
crowd. All the female agents with the exception of Scully got up. "You too,
Red," he urged her.

Scully raised her eyes and starred at him. "I'm not leaving my partner," she
snarled.

Ski-mask starred back at her, then shrugged. "Okay, you go down with him,
then," he agreed.

Three of the other terrorists ushered the women downstairs while the three
remaining kept a keen eye on the men. Then they ushered the men downstairs,
at all times staying away from the windows. Pete Cranston thought he would
become a hero, when he tried to stay back and hide behind a table. Instead
one of the terrorists blew him away. "Nobody stays behind," Ski-mask said
with a tragic tone of voice. "Move it, people. We don't have all day."
Making sure he was basically covered, he stepped toward Scully and Mulder.
"Come on, Red. Get up. We gotta get your partner downstairs," he said,
grabbed a hold of Mulder's collar and simply dragged him along.

"Hey," Scully snapped, got up and hurried after them. "Watch it, will you?
You've already given him a severe concussion." She knew even as she said it
that the man didn't care.

Dragging the unconscious man through the door to the staircase, he stopped
briefly to look up at her. "Look, honey. If your bosses don't do as we say,
we'll put him out of his misery first. How's that for a deal?" he said,
sounding almost as if he was doing her a kindness.

Scully held her peace after that, wincing when Ski-mask dragged Mulder down
the stairs, not paying any attention to whether or not he was hurting him.
Once down at the foot of the stairs, he dragged Mulder into a big
storage-room, which was empty apart from all her colleagues, and
unceremoniously dumped him on the floor. Scully winced in sympathy at the
hollow thud when Mulder's head hit the floor. She hurried to him and gently
rolled him over on his side.

Frank Hastings put a calm hand on her shoulder for a second, then helped her
drag Mulder carefully over to one wall where she sat down with his head in
her lap. "How's he doing?" Hastings wanted to know in a low tone of voice as
he sat down next to her.

"I'm not sure," she confessed, sounding pretty shook up.

Frank patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, Dana. From what I have heard of Fox
Mulder, he'll pull through."

As if that had been the cue he had waited for, Mulder moved. Groaning in
agony, he raised his hands to cover his face. "Oh God," he moaned.

Scully put a hand over his. "Take it easy, G-Man," she said quietly. "You've
got a bit of a bump on the back of your head."

"And bruised ribs," he countered weakly and let his hands slip away from his
face. Squinting up at her, he gave her a smile which left something to be
desired, then glanced around. "Where are we?"

"Basement," Scully countered, glancing toward the door. "I think it might be
a good idea if you got back to your feet as fast as possible, Mulder. These
guys are insane," she added.

"I'm confused," he mumbled, looking up at her again.

"About what?" she asked and met his eyes.

"First you tell me to take it easy. Now you tell me to get up as fast as I
can." With an effort, he sat up, wincing at the pain in his head. "I swear
the next time I get a concussion, I'll die," he grumbled and leaned back
against the wall. Pulling his knees up, he covered his face with his hands
again, sighing.

Scully patted his shoulder, nervously glancing toward the door again. "I
don't know what they have in mind for us, but they're off to a good start.
They killed Agent Cranston," she said quietly.

Mulder let his hands drop away and starred at her. "Cranston's dead?" he
asked and she nodded. "How? Why?"

"He tried to stay behind and they shot him without even giving him a chance.
They don't stop to ask any questions, Mulder. So, for God's sake, don't get
any funny ideas. I think you were extremely lucky. That guy could have blown
you away when you tried talking to him," she told him.

"Aw, damn it," Mulder grumbled. "Have they said anything about why they're
doing this?"

"Not in so many words. After that guy decked you, he said that they would
move us to somewhere else and that we would have to stay there until they
got the replies they wanted. If not, they would start killing us one by
one," she told him.

Rubbing his temples, Mulder leaned his head back against the wall and
sighed. "But something went wrong, I guess," he countered.

"Yes, I'm not sure what. Something about the trucks not turning up and a
change of plans. I think maybe it's because Jennifer alerted headquarters."

Mulder grinned. "That means we're virtually on our way out of here. What did
they think they could do? I mean, this is an FBI seminar." Closing his eyes,
he thought about how he could be sitting at home, watching television
without a blistering headache and aching ribs. "I can't seem to go anywhere
these days without getting hurt. Next time, I'm staying at home. And I don't
care what anybody says."

Scully patted his arm. "I don't blame you, Mulder. I think I'll reconsider
any participation in future as well."

"Hey, this is the first time something like this has happened," Hastings
inserted. "We'll get out of here and everything will return to normal. And,
trust me, this kind of thing won't happen again," he added.

Mulder leaned forward a bit, one hand pressed against the base of his neck,
and raised an eyebrow at Hastings. "This kind of thing happens all the time,
Hastings. And there's nothing the brass can do about it. As long as someone
as high up as Blevins can be dirty, I don't give much for security around
seminars like this." With that said, he leaned back again and closed his
eyes once more.

Hastings sighed. "You got a point there," he mumbled, not happy about it.

* * *

The terrorists were spread out around the kitchen door, watching as the swat
teams closed in. Their leader sighed. "Damn it, I knew we should have tried
to find that bitch," he growled. "Now it all blows up in our faces." To make
it clear to the swat teams that they would not hesitate to kill, they had
put Cranston's body on a chair and placed him in full few of the approaching
forces. So far, it had done little to hold them back.

"Uhm... does that mean that we're not getting out of here now?" Vern asked,
edging closer to his boss.

The man rolled his eyes and glanced over at Vern. "Man, you're sharp, huh?"
Lashing out at him, he knocked Vern off his feet and got up. "Of course it
means we're not getting out of here, you idiot. If you had arranged things
differently with Uzzo, we might not be in this mess now. Fuck it," he
snapped and kicked a cupboard angrily. "I'm not giving in without taking a
few of those assholes with me."

One of the others rose. "How about we start right now by blowing that guy
away that Joe decked," he suggested in a low tone of voice, waving toward
Ski-mask who had been standing by the door.

The leader eyed him for a moment. "You're trigger-happy, Buddy," he said,
but was not opposed to the idea. "Sure. You do it. Joe, go down with him and
keep an eye on the others. I don't want them making any fuzz when he drags
that punk out of there," he added.

Buddy turned and strode toward the stairs leading to the basement, followed
closely by Joe. "Hey, man. You're sure out for action, aren't ya?" Joe
asked, catching up with him.

Buddy merely grumbled as he hurried down the steps.

* * *

Mulder grumbled angrily at the pounding in his head. This was not good. The
others were keeping quiet, sitting there like lamb-chops ready to be eaten
and it made him furious. They were supposed to be Federal Agents, trained to
deal with situations like this. Maybe that was why these people had been
sent to this seminar. To learn to act when necessary.

"Mulder, whatever you're thinking, forget it. We won't get out of here by
making a fuzz," Scully told him quietly. "I feel as frustrated by this as
you do. There's just nothing we can do. They've proven to be able to blow us
away without a warning."

"Did I say anything?" he mumbled. "I didn't say anything."

"No, you don't have to say anything. I know what you're thinking. So, forget
about it." She hooked her arm under his and leaned against him. "I just want
us both to get out of this one alive. Okay?"

Nodding weakly, he patted her hand. "Okay. I'll be good," he promised her.

* * *

Buddy reached the base of the stairs before realizing that Joe wasn't the
only one who had followed him down. Two of the others had come along as
well. He briefly glanced at them, then strode over to the door leading into
the storage room and pulled it open. Glancing around at the twenty-eight
Federal Agents, he smiled behind his mask. Then his eyes settled on Mulder.

Joe pushed past him and stopped in front of Mulder. "On your feet, buddy,"
he said calmly.

Mulder starred up at him. "Why?" he wanted to know, a little taken aback.

Joe didn't much care for people who asked too many questions, so instead of
answering that, he reached down and hauled Mulder to his feet. "Because it's
time to say goodbye, pal," he told him. "You're bosses think they can get
away with holing us up in here and... well... they can't. We're gonna show
them. So, unless they want to have to account for twenty-nine dead Federal
Agents, I guess they'd better get their heads out of their asses and get
with the program. Don't you?"

It took a moment for Mulder to realize what Ski-mask meant by that. When he
realized it, he swallowed hard, suddenly very much afraid.

Scully scrambled to her feet, her hands locking around Mulder's arm. "No,"
she said, shaking her head, starring at Joe.

Joe raised his gun and pressed it against her forehead. "Back off, Red, or
we'll take you instead."

Mulder quickly disengaged his arm from Scully's grip and pushed her back.
"Don't, Scully," he said. Looking into her eyes, seeing the fear there, he
knew she wouldn't keep back on this one. "Hastings, make sure she doesn't do
anything stupid," he said to the older man when he got up, too, and pushed
Scully into his arms.

Hastings wrapped his arms around Scully, holding her back. "Don't worry," he
said, his expression telling Mulder what he thought of this gesture.

Joe hauled Mulder toward the door, not giving him a second chance to say
goodbye before he virtually threw him out the door.

* * *

Mulder hit the floor, barely preventing himself from falling on his face
again. Wincing at the pain in his head, he tried to come to terms with the
fact that was going to die. Unless he could do something to prevent it. But
there were four of them and that was too much for him. "Look, can't we talk
about this? If you let me get in touch with whoever you want to talk to, I
bet I could work something out," he suggested, raising his head to look up
at Joe.

Joe's eyes narrowed for a moment, then he shook his head. "Sorry, pal. We've
got our own ways of dealing with the brass," he countered. "Buddy, would you
do the honors?"

Buddy nodded. "Sure," he countered and grabbed Mulder's shoulders from
behind, hauling him back to his feet. He pushed him toward another door,
leaving the others behind.

"Need any help?" Joe called after him.

"No, I've got it," Buddy replied.

Mulder stumbled through the door out into a cellarway leading to a staircase
coming up outside the building. Certain that he could talk Buddy out of his
hazardous plan, he knew he just had to gain eye contact with the man. But
before he had a chance to turn around and take a look at him, he received a
powerful shove in the back, which threw him off balance and made him hit the
floor once more. Buddy jammed a knee against his back, keeping him down, and
the cold steel of the muzzle of his gun pressed against the back of Mulder's
neck.

Scared to death, Mulder swallowed. "Look, killing a Federal Officer is not
something you want to do. You're gonna end up dead or in jail for the rest
of your life," he spurted out.

"Yeah, well, they gotta catch me first," Buddy replied indifferently.

"And they will. You and your pals will be the subject of a man hunt of
enormous proportions. You won't get away," Mulder snapped. He really didn't
want to die right now.

Apparently the conviction in his voice had been stronger than he had hoped,
because the pressure of the muzzle of the gun relented a little. Buddy
starred down at this guy, his mind working overtime. He hadn't joined this
group to end up in jail.

Mulder decided to try and use the leeway he had gained to talk some more and
maybe save his behind in the process. "If you help get us out of here, I can
promise you immunity," he said. "Just testify against the others and you'll
stay out of jail."

Buddy thought that over for a minute, then sighed. "Sorry, pal. There's
something called loyalty between thieves. And I live by that code."

* * *

Scully stood rigid in Hastings' arms, completely silent. She couldn't
believe this was happening. This trip was supposed to be relaxing, fun even.
She flinched visibly when a shot rang out and she lunged forward toward the
door, trying to pull out of Hastings grip. "No," she snapped.

"Dana, I'm sorry," Hastings said, his arms still tightly around her. He
didn't want her trying to do something silly. "It's never easy to loose a
partner."

"He was my friend," she hissed and with a vicious movement ripped free of
him. Grabbing the door handle, she tried to force the door open. "God damn
it, he is my friend. I refused to believe that he's..." She stopped dead,
pressing her forehead against the door. She couldn't even say it. Couldn't
bring herself to realize that, maybe, Mulder was gone for good. "No," she
mouthed soundlessly at the door. "Please, no."

Hastings grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back again. "Dana, don't do
this. He wouldn't want you to do this," he said quietly.

"What do you know about what he wants?" she snapped angrily, but made no
attempt to pull free again. "What does anybody know about him anyway? Nobody
has ever taken the time to get to know him."

* * *

Buddy stepped back into the corridor, noting that Joe was the only one left.
"That's it," he said and stuffed his gun back into his belt, not paying
attention to that the door behind him didn't close properly.

"That must have startled those morons approaching us," Joe countered with a
grin that Buddy couldn't see due to the ski-mask. "Did he struggle a lot?"

Buddy met Joe's eyes for a moment. "No, he went quietly," he countered. "Why
don't you go upstairs and tell Steve?" he added after a moment, glancing at
the door to the storage room. "I'll be there in a minute."

Joe nodded. "Sure thing, pal," he said and turned for the stairs. With one
foot on the first step, the glanced back over his shoulder. "Say, have you
ever killed anybody before?" he wanted to know.

Buddy starred at him for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I have." That, as
such, was a lie, but he felt wired now. Blowing somebody away was definitely
up his alley.

Joe didn't like the look in Buddy's eyes at that. There was something
threatening about the guy. Shrugging, he turned and hurried up the stairs to
let their leader know so they could contact the brass and tell them about
it.

Buddy looked after him, his stance tense. "And I will again," he growled
under his breath, turned and walked up to the door to the storage room,
intent on getting a little release.

* * *

Joe dropped down into a crouch next to Steve. "He's a goner. Buddy blew him
away," he said.

Steve nodded. "Good. What was that guy's name again?"

"Mulder," Joe countered, looking content.

"Where's Buddy?" Steve asked, looking back toward the staircase.

"He'll be up in a bit. I think he just needed to chew that one over," Joe
soothed him.

Steve glanced at Joe, wondering where he got his expression from, and shook
his head. It was time to call the high lords of the FBI and let them know
that another agent had bought it. They would place him alongside the other
one out in the canteen as a warning. If they didn't get their way, they
would have to kill a whole lot of these people down in the basement.
Actually, Steve would make sure they all died before he gave in. He pulled
his cell phone out and dialed the same number as before.

* * *

Buddy tore the door to the storage room open, stopping short to stare at the
occupants and the quietly despairing looks he got. With his gun in one hand,
he stepped inside, looking them all over. Then his eyes settled on Scully,
who was standing a few feet from the door, hands clenched, her expression
angry. Not hesitating, he reached out, grabbed her arm and yanked her to
him. "You're coming with me, Red," he snarled and pushed her out in the
corridor, closing the door behind him and locking it again.

His push had given her enough momentum to slam hard against the opposite
wall of the corridor. The impact knocked the breath out of her and it took
her a moment too long to regain her composure.

Buddy grabbed a handful of her hair and made sure she stayed where she was.
Pressing the gun against the small of her back, he leaned in to inhale the
scent of her hair. "You're pretty," he said, grinning behind the mask.

Scully knew what came next and she wasn't sitting still for that one. If he
turned her around, he would be in a world of hurt. "And you're not," she
countered through clenched teeth, angry and sad at the same time.

He released her hair and let his hand slide down her back toward her
buttocks, still pressing the gun against her as well. "You're gonna play
ball or I'll sever your spin, honey," he told her. "I like red-heads," he
added.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the best moment to act, but the
decision for that moment was taken away from her. Suddenly there was a
hollow thud, which was followed by her attacker slumping against her before
he collapsed to the floor. Almost afraid to turn around, Scully turned her
head a little. What she saw was a sight for sore eyes. "Mulder," she
breathed, afraid to say his name out loud. There he stood with a steel pipe
in one hand, his other hand pressed against his bleeding neck. He was barely
able to stand upright, but he had managed just that to protect his partner
from the worst possible crime committed against a woman. Before she had a
chance to think about what she was doing, she was in his arms. "Oh my God, I
thought they had killed you," she whispered against his chest.

"They almost did," he countered weakly.

Scully looked up, realizing that he was bleeding severely. "Oh God." Looking
around frantically, she searched for a place where they could deal with his
injury and stay out of the spotlight. Putting all her strength into it, she
guided Mulder down the corridor they were in, to the rear of the basement.
The corridor turned at the end and ended at a door. She opened the door,
took the key out of the lock and shoved Mulder inside. It was another
storage room, this one filled with goods and she got him to settle down on a
load of paper napkins. Searching around, she found a first aide kit and set
about bandaging him up to keep the bleeding to a minimum. His back was moist
with blood. Examining the wound for a moment, she knew what had happened.
This guy had tried to kill him, but Mulder had shifted the moment the gun
had gone off. The bullet had gone through the right side of his neck,
miraculously not damaging anything important there. He was in pain, but at
least he was alive. "Hang in there, you hear?"

"I'm still with you," he countered with a weak smile. "Scully, that guy I
just decked. We have to move him."

"You're not moving anything, Mulder," she told him. "Any over straining on
your side is going to make that wound bleed a whole lot more. You need to
sit back and relax. I'll move him. I'll get help from the others."

"No, Scully. Where are you going to hide the others? In here? It's not
feasible. We need to get out and get help. And you can't move twenty-nine
people out of the building without some of these goons noticing. "

Scully thought that over for a moment. "But they have to get down here
and..." she began, but Mulder cut her off by putting his left hand over her
mouth.

"Scully, they're armed. We're not. Even if we could come up with a way to
outwit them, somebody's going to get killed. If we however move this guy in
here and leave the cellar door open a crack, the others will probably think
that this moron has run off with you. That will give us some time," he
countered.

She starred at him for a moment, then finished bandaging him. "Okay," she
finally said. "I'll get him in here... somehow," she replied, looking a
little dubious. Until her eyes fell on a toter standing in the corner of the
room.

Mulder leaned back, desperate for some painkillers right now, not happy that
Scully had to do all the work. But he also knew she was right about her
assumption. If he did try to carry something, it could make things worse for
him.

* * *

Joe was a little concerned about the approaching swat teams, but Steve's
call pulled them back. Joe grinned as he watched them retreat. "They're
drawing back," he said.

Steve lowered the cell phone for a moment, glancing out into the canteen and
past the glass wall at the retreating swats. "Good. Finally they're paying
attention," he grumbled. "Now all we need is to get the damned trucks in
here, load those morons onto them and get the hell out. I'm not dealing from
here." He flipped the lid of the phone shut and slowly got up from his
crouching position. Glancing around, he noted that Buddy had not returned
yet. "Where the hell is Buddy? Joe, go check on him."

"He's probably puking his guts out," Joe said with a leer. "I did the first
time I blew someone away," he added and headed toward the stairs.

Steve looked after him for a moment, then sighed. "Man, I wish I was dealing
with professionals," he grumbled. Reaching out, he grabbed a hold of Vern's
collar. "Get on the horn to Uzzo and tell him to get those trucks here.
Stat." He handed the phone to Vern. "You know how to use a phone, don't
you?" he added sarcastically.

"Yeah, sure, Steve," Vern countered.

* * *

Joe came down the stairs and stopped short when he reached the bottom.
Looking around, he wondered where the hell Buddy had gotten to. "Buddy?" he
called out. No reply. "Damn it, man," he mumbled and started toward the door
to the storage room with their hostages. A breeze hit him and he glanced
over at the open cellar way door. "What the fuck?" he mumbled and walked
over there, looking outside. Nobody there, either. Frowning, Joe went back
to the storage room door and opened it, looking inside. He counted the
people sitting along the walls, then withdrew again, closing and locking the
door. "Well, I'll be damned," he mumbled and returned upstairs. Dropping
down in a crouch next to Steve, he wasn't too happy about what he was going
to tell him. "Uhm... Steve?"

Steve looked up with a frown. He didn't like Joe's tone of voice. "What's
up? Where's Buddy?"

"Apparently, Buddy has made off with Red," Joe said. "She's missing and so's
Buddy."

The thought that he would love to work with professionals just once in his
life crossed his mind again. "God damn it," he growled. "Are you sure he
hasn't just found a quiet place where he can have some fun with her?" he
countered.

"Uhm..." Joe said, ready to kick himself for not checking. "No, not really,"
he said after a moment.

"Well, if I know Buddy right, he's doing just that. Leave him to it," Steve
countered, not wanting any trouble right now.

"Okay, Steve," Joe countered, relieved. He had feared the worst and then
there was a reasonable explanation after all. Grinning, he imagined what
Buddy might be doing to that little redhead.

Vern switched off the phone and scooted over beside Steve. "I just talked to
Uzzo and he doesn't wanna come. He says there are too many feds out there,"
he said quietly.

"Figures," Steve growled. "Okay, I'll just give our buddies out there a
call. Change of plans, guys. We need to make the feds give us
transportation," he added. "We'll just tell them that the basement is rigged
and we'll blow their precious agents up if they don't do what we say."

* * *

In the rear storage room, Scully pushed her hair back from her face and
sighed. She had managed to move a man almost two heads taller and quite a
bit heavier than her down the corridor and into the storage room on the
toter. Using a role of duct-tape, she had tied his hands and feet together,
bundled up a piece of cloth and gaged him, too. Just in case he came around.
She couldn't having him making a racket. Then she turned to her attentive,
yet exhausted partner. "Are you okay?" she wanted to know.

With one hand pressed against his neck, Mulder met her eyes. "I will be as
soon as we're out of here," he countered weakly.

Scully double-checked his bandage, then briefly paused to cup his cheek with
one hand. "I'll get you out of here," she promised and started to turn away.

"Scully," he said, grabbing her arm. "Don't do anything rash. It's not worth
it," he told her.

Scully met his eyes with a smile for a moment. "I think it's too late for
that, Mulder. If they catch us now, we're both dead," she countered, patted
his hand and went up to the door. Carefully opening it, she listened to the
hallway beyond for a moment. After removing her shoes, she patted down the
hallway toward the bend, hoping that the terrorists hadn't figured things
out yet. She was glad for small favors, though, since Buddy's gun gave her a
sense of security. Carefully edging forward, she took a look down the
hallway leading to the stairs and the other storage-room where all her
colleagues were. She wanted so desperately to go and set them free, but she
could see Mulder's point. They couldn't make it out of this place without
someone getting killed. On the other hand, the chance of these morons
upstairs killing some of her colleagues was pretty big right whether they
made a break for it or not. Listening intently to her surroundings, she
hurried across the hallway to the cellar door, pushed it open and slipped
out into the cellarway. Making sure the door didn't click shut behind her,
she moved forward. When she reached the stairs leading up outside the
building, she hesitated. She needed to know if there were any windows on
this side. Edging along the wall, she carefully stuck her head up over the
edge of the stairwell and looked around. Nobody was outside. Turning, she
inspected the back wall of the building, sighing in relief when she realized
that there were no windows. There wasn't even a door. "Good show," she
whispered to herself. Inspecting her immediate surroundings, she noted any
possible hiding places within the vicinity. Then she returned to the cellar
and the possible dangers lurking there.

Mulder had allowed himself to close his eyes for a moment. He was so tired
and his neck hurt along with his ribs and his head. Having lost a good deal
of blood didn't help his general state of health and all he wanted to do was
lie down and sleep. But, as things were, the chance to sleep would be a long
way off. He jerked awake again at a sound he couldn't immediately recognize.
Then he realized that Buddy had come alive again. The man was thrashing,
trying to get free of his bonds. Mulder glanced around, trying to find
something to shut the man up with, but he also knew that he wouldn't be able
to do an effective job. He didn't have much strength left. Just as he was
about to try anyway, Scully slipped back into the room. She stopped short
when she saw him trying to get up. "Don't. Where are you going?" she wanted
to know, putting her hands on his shoulders and pushing him back down.

"He's awake," he countered.

Scully glanced over at Buddy, who was starring hatefully at her, and
sneered. Grabbing the first, best thing she could find, she hammered a big
can of jam against the side of his head, knocking him clean out again.
"That's for my partner, you shit," she snarled and dropped the can beside
him.

Mulder had dropped back down on the pile of wrapped-up paper napkins. Scully
turned back to him, a look of concern crossing her face. "You don't look so
good. It's time to get you out of here," she told him. "I just checked and
there are no windows or doors in the back of the building. Not too far away,
there's a cluster of trees. If we can make it that far, we'll be safe."

"Don't you think it might be a better idea if you..." he began, but Scully
cut him off.

"No, Mulder. I'm not leaving you here," she insisted.

Frowning a little, he starred at her. "How did you know that I was going to
suggest that?" he wanted to know.

"Because basically breathing the same air as you for five years has given me
the opportunity to get to know you. I can read you like an open book,
Mulder," she told him, took his arm and helped him to his feet.

"Now there's a scary thought," he mumbled with a weak smile. Leaning a
little heavier on her than he needed to, he wrapped an arm around her
shoulders.

Scully took a hold of his wrist, wrapped one arm around his waist and took
the lead out the door. They didn't say another word as they slowly moved
toward the bend in the corridor and stopped long enough to make sure they
had the basement to themselves. Scully elbowed the door open and hauled her
partner out in the cellarway with her, stopping briefly to close the door
behind them. Pulling Mulder with her, she headed toward the stairs, frantic
to be away from the building. "Come on, G-Man. Help me out here. I can't
carry you," she said, sweating profusely over the added burden of having to
virtually carry her partner.

Mulder pulled himself together, straightening a little and grabbed a hold of
the handrail of the staircase. "Damn, I feel lousy," he mumbled, forcing
himself up the steps with as much speed as he could muster.

Scully kept glancing back as they moved upward, listening, hoping to God and
any other available deity that they could make it away unseen.

* * *

Steve looked up after having talked to whoever was answering the phone at
the other end and grinned. "They're going to supply us with a truck. Things
are clearing up for us, guys." Glancing toward the stairs to the basement,
he then turned to Joe. "Go get Buddy. I don't care what he's up to. We don't
have time for this," he added.

Joe nodded, got up and hurried to the stairwell. Pounding down the stairs,
he hurried past the first storage room toward the second one, aware that his
partner would have to be hiding out there with his new squeeze. Grinning, he
hoped he caught them in the act. "Hey, Buddy," he called and rounded the
corner. "We gotta move. No time for lovin'," he added, grabbed the door
handle and pulled the door open. What he found wasn't what he had expected
to find and it made him stop short for a second. Then he swirled around,
ignoring his unconscious buddy and ran back the way he'd come. Stopping in
front of the door to the cellarway, he frowned for a moment, then ripped the
door open and ran out. Taking the steps two at a time, he cleared the
stairwell and saw the red-head dragging her allegedly dead partner with her.
"Hey, hold it," he yelled, ripping his gun from his waistband. He came to a
stop, aimed and fired.

* * *

Scully had heard him and had decided to keep moving. The faster they got
away from him, the better. And then the shot rang out. Mulder let out a howl
of pain as the bullet dug into his right calf. The impact of the shot as
well as the sudden flare of pain made him loose his balance and topple over,
pulling Scully down with him as another shot rang out. Through a haze he
heard Scully hissing, "Oh God." Then she returned fire.

Getting up on one knee, Scully aimed and pulled the trigger twice. The guy
who had shot Mulder the second time hit the wall of the building, looking
down himself with an utterly surprised expression before sliding down the
wall. Both her shots had hit home. "Damn it," she hissed, grabbed Mulder and
coaxed him back to his feet. "Come on, Mulder. We have to leave. Now," she
insisted, her tone of voice unrelenting.

"Scully. Get out of here," he urged her. "I'll manage. You've got a better
chance at getting to the others without me. I'll find..." he began, but she
clapped a hand over his mouth, effectively shutting him up.

"I told you once and I'm telling you again. I'm not leaving you behind. No
matter what you say," she told him. "Now, come on. I know you're in pain and
I know you want to rest, but if you value your life as much as I do, you'll
move. Now!"

There was a military kind of drill over her tone which he found himself
unable to resist. Mustering his reserves, he managed to get back on his feet
and limp with her until they reached the cluster of trees. Scully let him
slip to the ground, making sure he was hidden from sight, and turned to run
back the way they'd come. He grabbed out for her, his fingers wrapping
around her ankle. "Where are you going?" he demanded with what little
strength he had left.

"I'm going to get the second gun. We might need it." With that, she pulled
free and ran, on bare feet, back to the downed terrorist. She pulled his gun
out of his slack hand, briefly examined the body for further clips, then
backed up again. She made it back to the cluster of trees before the first
sounds reached them from the stairwell. Two men came running up the stairs,
stopped dead at the sight of their dead comrade-in-arms and then scanned the
area.

Scully had hit the ground, virtually dropping down on top of her partner,
both guns in her hands, ready for whatever these guys might try. She
expected the worst, but after they had scanned the area and seen no
indication of movement, they vanished back down the stairwell, pulling their
dead friend with them. Letting out a shivering sigh, she suddenly realized
she had been holding her breath. "I'm not good at this," she mumbled against
Mulder's chest. "I'm not a commando."

"Well, I, for one, am impressed," he managed to say through clenched teeth
before the whole thing became too much for him to handle and he simply
passed out.

Scully looked at him for a moment, then pulled her suit jacket off, ripped
both sleeves from her blouse and used them to bandage his right calf. She
found herself reacting on instinct before she even had a chance to think
twice about what she was doing. There wasn't the slightest regret that she
had to tear apart one of her favorite pieces of clothing. The only thing
that mattered right now was to prevent Mulder from losing any more blood.

* * *

Steve was outraged. One of his men had a sever concussion and the other was
dead. Which of course left the five of them. Two he wasn't too keen on. They
were simply too stupid. "Okay, guys, listen," he said. "Vern, I want you and
Emil here to go out back and find that little bitch and her partner and kill
them both. I want them dead. They are not going to reach their friends
alive."

Vern and Emil took of, thrilled that they were finally allowed to do
something, never once realizing that Steve had sent them off with the
knowledge that they might not come back.

Steve turned back to Bruce and Gene and nodded. "Now it's down to us, guys.
Buddy isn't worth much, so we can't count on him right now." He started
laying out his plan, believing he was ready for whatever came next.

Vern and Emil left the basement door wide open as they snuck out of the
building and up the stairs.

Scully saw them coming a mile away. She eyed them thoughtfully for a moment,
wondering if she should or should not shoot them, then voted for disabling
them rather than killing them. Aiming her gun, she kept them in her sights
until they had closed half the distance between the building and the cluster
of trees where she was hiding with Mulder and finally fired both guns at
once. Which put both of them out of business. With a bullet in one leg, they
dropped like rag-dolls. Satisfied at her marksmanship and the fact that
these shots would probably attract attention from whoever was out to rescue
them, she devoted a bit of attention to her unconscious partner, at the same
time trying to keep an eye on the two downed guys.

* * *

The first shot they had heard had been far away. AD Skinner had been the one
to answer the phone and he had run into the greatest trial concerning his
temper ever when the terrorists had informed him that Mulder was dead. He
was more set on getting the rest of the agents out of that building now than
ever before. Then the second and the third shot had followed in rapid
succession. At that point, he had ordered the swat team to spread out behind
the building and find out what was going on. They had reported back that one
of the terrorists had been shot, but they hadn't seen by whom. And now there
were two shots again. Skinner frowned and grabbed the walkie-talkie. "Team
leader, do you copy? What's going on? Over!" he demanded of the team leader
on the other side of the building.

"Team leader here. Apparently, we've got a shooter hiding somewhere near the
back of the building. Whoever it is, that person just took out two more,"
the team leader replied. "We're moving in on the shooter. I expect that it's
one of your agents. Over and out."

Skinner made a face. He was in such a state that he would personally take
these terrorists apart when and if he could get his hands on them. Nothing
would please him more than to blow them away. Growling under his breath, he
started pacing, his eyes never leaving the front of the canteen.

"Sir?" Agent Teal turned up beside him, her eyes locked on the canteen, as
well. "Do you think they are for real?" she wanted to know. "I mean, do you
really think they... killed him?"

Skinner glanced at her, frowning. "They killed Agent Cranston. That one's
confirmed. So I don't really harbor any doubts about it. Unfortunately," he
countered.

"Damn," she whispered.

"Yeah," he said, not knowing what else to say at the moment.

* * *

Scully heard a sound behind her and her immediate reaction was to whirl
around, throw herself backward and aim the gun. A guy in a military outfit
armed with an automatic riffle raised the riffle up. "Time out," he
whispered. "I'm with the swat team. I take it you're Federal Agents?" he
added.

Scully nodded. "Yes, we are," she replied and sat up again. "Sorry, you
startled me."

Grinning, the solider moved closer. "I'm glad you didn't fire that. You're
pretty sharp. Ever thought of joining the special forces?"

"No, I haven't. Listen, we need to get him to a hospital. He's been shot
twice and has already lost too much blood," she countered, returning her
attention to her partner.

The soldier squatted down and raised his walkie-talkie to his lips. "Team
leader, this is one. Come in, please." There was a crackle and a curt reply.
"I've got two agents here, one wounded. We need to get him out of here.
Over."

"Copy that. What is your location? Over," the reply came.

"A cluster of trees straight out from the stairwell at the back," the
soldier replied, keeping an watchful eye on the two figures on the ground.
"There are two terrorists down here, as well. Not dead. Over."

"Copy that. On our way. Over and out," came the reply.

Scully watched in fascination when two more soldiers appeared out of nowhere
to drag the two terrorists away. Then two more appeared behind them with a
stretcher. They quickly loaded Mulder onto it and disappeared again.

The first solider held Scully back. "I need some info," he said. "How did
you get out? Where are the terrorists and the remaining agents? Have they
killed any more?"

Scully glanced after the stretcher, then turned her attention back to the
man. "Uhm... we got out through the basement. They're not very professional.
They haven't stationed any guards down there. One is dead, two more are
down, which leaves three upstairs in the kitchen and one in the basement we
managed to knock out. I believe he has been found, though." She paused,
getting the facts straight in her head, then nodded. "The remaining agents
are in a storage room across from the basement entrance, which is down those
stairs," she added, pointing. "There's a spiral staircase going up from the
basement straight into the kitchen and a normal staircase, which leads up to
the main canteen."

Grinning, he put a hand on her shoulder. "You've got a knack for detail,
Agent. I think you should get out of here now. We'll take it from here."
With that he helped her up and gently pushed her toward another solider who
had just turned up. "Better carry her. She's got no shoes on," he added.

The newest arrival nodded and scooped her up in his arms, not waiting to
hear her comment on this. He briskly carried her away, taking the long way
around. Scully had to admit that she didn't mind being carried. Having to
walk through this area on bare feet would have been an invitation to an
injury.

* * *

Skinner stopped his relentless pacing when the two swat team soldiers with
the stretcher neared. He went to meet them, expecting to see anybody but
Mulder on the stretcher. When he spotted his wayward agent, he stopped short
and barely prevented himself from sighing with relief. The man was more
lucky than most when it come to surviving impossible odds.

"Wow. Does he do that a lot?" Teal asked, starring in fascination as the
soldiers carried Mulder toward the waiting ambulance.

Skinner briefly looked at her before returning his attention to the
ambulance. "Do what?" he wanted to know, not entirely certain what she was
talking about.

"Survive when everybody thinks he's dead?" Teal countered.

Smiling a little, Skinner nodded. "Yeah. He does that a lot."

The soldiers left Mulder in the care of the paramedics and hurried off
again, eager to resume their dedicated positions. Moments later, another one
turned up with Scully in his arms.

Skinner couldn't help smiling. Where Mulder was, Scully wasn't far behind.
Especially when Mulder was injured. Stopping in front of her after the
solider had put her down again. "Are you all right?" he wanted to know.

"Yes, just shoeless," she countered, her eyes already on the ambulance. "Can
I go with them to the hospital?" she asked, looking up at Skinner.

"No, Scully. I want you here. They may need your advise. After this is over,
I'll personally drive you to the hospital," he countered. Noting the look on
her face, he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Mulder will be fine.
He's in capable hands. Don't worry about him."

Teal wrapped a friendly arm around Scully's shoulders. "He's one tough
cookie, that one," she said, grinning.

"Yeah, he is. And thanks to you we got the back-up we needed," Scully
countered.

"Hey, it's a dirty job but somebody's gotta do it," Teal said, nudging
Scully in the side.

Scully glanced longingly at the ambulance as it pulled out and drove away.
The siren wasn't on, which meant he wasn't in mortal danger. That at least
was a consolation. Turning her attention to the events at hand, she heaved a
deep breath. "Well, we sure manage to get ourselves into a mess every time
we go somewhere," she said, shaking her head. "And Mulder is never going to
let me live this down."

That comment made both Skinner and Teal frown. "Meaning?" Skinner wanted to
know.

"I did my damndest to convince Mulder that this weekend would be fun and
that he had to come. All I can say now is that he's jinxed. There's no other
explanation. Whenever he tries to do something that normal people do, he
gets hurt," she explained, her eyes scanning the front of the canteen.

"Jinxed?" Skinner asked, glancing at Teal, who shrugged. Those words, coming
from Scully, surprised him a little. That was the kind of talk he was used
to from Mulder. Not Scully. "Scully, Mulder is not jinxed. I consider him to
be damned lucky. He does get hurt, yes, but he survives it every time.
Although he may be a magnet for trouble, he's also protected in a way I
can't understand."

Scully gave her boss a dubious look. "Well, he does get hurt even when he
does get his way with things. Maybe you're right. It could be worse, I
guess." Sighing heavily, she forced her mind away from her injured partner.
"So, what's the deal with these guys? They didn't tell us anything worth
while."

Skinner made a face. "They seem to be complete and utter morons," he
countered. "I've been up against a lot of terrorists in my time and these
guys rank among the bottom half. The ones that think they can get something
out of taking people hostage, but are not really committed to the cause."

Scully frowned. "What are they demanding?"

"They want us to set two men free. Two men I've never heard of. We checked
with the prison they mentioned and those two are there. One has been locked
up for killing a convenient store clerk by accident, it seems. The other has
robbed a few banks and also killed someone. They're both serving time for
man slaughter." Shaking his head, Skinner had a hell of a time trying to
keep his temper at bay. "The fact that they have killed Agent Cranston and
nearly killed Agent Mulder warrants a man slaughter charge for all of them.
What the hell they think they can accomplish by taking FBI Agents hostage I
don't know, though."

"I think they should be rather easy to overcome. There are only three of
them left and I got the impression that the only one who had any brains at
all was their leader," Scully countered.

"Did you get his name, by any chance? I think I know him," Skinner said.

"No, I didn't get his name. The only name I heard was Vern and I think that
was one of the guys I shot," she said thoughtfully.

Skinner nodded. "I think this guy is Steven Umbracio. He's done a few
break-ins, robbed some banks, killed a few people along the way. We've had a
warrant out for his arrest for a few years now. Somehow, he's always given
us the slip. This time, however, he won't. Dead or alive, we've got him
now."

"I hope so," Scully said. "I hope so."

* * *

Steve kept watching the opposition on the other side of the compound from
his vantage point near the kitchen doors leading out into the canteen, his
expression strained. The only one with any kind of experience in this sort
of thing had been Buddy and he was out cold. The concussion had to be worse
than he had first thought. Glancing over at his unconscious friend, he
sneered. Now they were screwed for real. He knew it even before he heard the
first signs of intrusion downstairs. After hearing the shots, he knew that
both Vern and Emil had bought it. Somehow, that was okay, though. They would
have blabbed, told the Feds what they wanted to know. Besides, they were
just too damned stupid to go on living a life of crime. After that, he had
told his two remaining counterparts to get their asses down into the
basement and keep watch. But they had refused, insisting that they should
give up right away. That was not on Steve's agenda, though. Getting up, he
looked toward the stairwell to the basement. "Fuck it," he grumbled. "We've
got company."

"Yeah, man. I was just thinking the same thing," Bruce said and slowly rose.
"What do you say we just give up? Maybe they'll go easier on us if we do."

Steve starred at him for a moment, then made a face. "Yeah, and maybe you'll
get lucky and won't get gang-banged in the slammer. We killed one federal
agent, you moron. Nearly killed another. And if Buddy had gotten his way, we
could have added rape to the list. There is no way in hell that we'll avoid
going to jail, pal." Pinching the bridge of his nose, he hissed silently.
"I'd rather blow my own brains out than let those fuckers get to me."

Gene, the quiet one of the gang, rose from his hiding place, his dark-brown
eyes scanning the kitchen for a moment. Then they settled on Steve. "You got
us into this, you shit," he growled. "You convinced us it would be easy as
pie. Now look at us. We stand between the choices of going to jail or
killing ourselves. Nice going, pal," he added, angrily glaring at Steve.

"Yeah, well, I didn't hear you bellyaching before," Steve countered. "I..."
he started, then froze at the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

"Drop your weapons," the solider who had just turned up at the top of the
stairs yelled. "Drop them," he added in a harsh tone of voice before either
of them could make a move to counter-attack.

All three men glanced at each other, then they all swirled to face the
solider, raising their guns. They never had a chance. The second they
started moving the solider knew what they were up to and that was when he
opened fire, gunning all three down virtually at once. Steve took a little
longer to die than his buddies, but he relished the thought that the
correctional system wouldn't get its clammy hands on him. With the certain
belief that they had won after all, he passed away moments later.

The solider glanced around, then raised his walkie-talkie to his lips. "Team
leader. This is four. We have three dead terrorists. One still alive. No one
else present in the kitchen. I'm moving on to the canteen itself. Over."

The walkie-talkie crackled. "Copy that, four. Move with extreme caution.
Over."

The soldier made a quick sweep of the canteen after handcuffing Buddy and
eventually returned to the kitchen. "Team leader. This is four. No further
activity. We're in the clear. Over and out," he announced and squatted down
next to the battered terrorist to wait for the rest of his team to catch up
with him.

* * *

The hospital room was quiet apart from the steady ping of the heart-rate
monitor. Mulder lay there with his eyes closed, trying to relax enough to
fall asleep. But he couldn't. No matter how much he wanted to. He was
drugged up to his ears to keep the pain from both his neck and his leg at
bay and a plasma drop was hooked up to his right arm to restore the loss of
blood he had suffered. Although he in general did not need the heart-rate
monitor, the doctor had thought it a good idea to just keep an eye on him
for a bit. The only thing Mulder wanted right now was to have Scully by his
side. For some odd reason he couldn't sleep in a hospital if she wasn't
there. He grinned weakly at the thought. It was funny how he thought of her
sometimes. At times when he had previously always been alone, she would be
there now. Sighing, he shifted his position a little, trying to get more
comfortable.

"Hi, G-Man."

Smiling, he carefully turned his head a little. "Hi, G-Woman," he countered.

Scully smiled back at him. "How are you feeling?" she asked, stepping up
beside the bed.

"Aw, I've felt better. But, then again, I've also felt worse. I think I'll
pull through," he said, chuckled, then briefly closed his eyes at an
uncomfortable sensation running through him.

Scully sat down on a chair, fighting to keep her smile on her lips. She was
worried about him. More than she ever had been before. "Yeah?" she asked.
"The doctor thinks you've merely lost too much blood, but that you will pull
through, all right. I have no doubts about that, either." Shifting a little,
she grabbed his left hand with both of hers. "The only one of the terrorists
to survive was the one who shot you. According to what they can tell, he was
also the one who shot Cranston. You're very lucky to be alive, Mulder."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't be in this shape if I hadn't gone on that trip," he
countered, smiling.

Scully hesitated before responding to that one. "And maybe you would.
Because I would have gone and..."

"No, you wouldn't," he cut her off. "Skinner wouldn't have sent you if I
hadn't gone."

Smiling, she shook her head. "Now you tell me," she said, patting his hand
gently. "You see? We do need to work on our communication skills. Mainly
because you never tell me what you're up to." Making a face, she hoped he
didn't take it wrong. "Anyway, how are you really feeling?"

"What? You mean apart from two bullet wounds, a concussion and bruised
ribs?" he countered, thinking of a snide remark to add to that one. Then he
noted the look in her eyes and grew serious. "Actually, I feel like I've
been run over by a steamroller. Nice concept, that. Makes me thing of Who
Framed Roger Rabbit."

Chuckling, Scully had to admit that despite the injuries he had mentioned,
he was doing okay. He had to be. He was joking. "Judge Dread... no, no...
Doom. His name was Judge Doom, right?" she countered. "The guy in black who
got run over by that steamroller?"

"Yeah, that's right," he countered, giving her an admiring look. "You watch
cartoons?"

"Sometimes. When I have time for it," she countered. "Why don't you try to
get some rest? I take it your concussion isn't bad enough to warrant keeping
you awake?"

"No, not really," he consented, his fingers closing harder around her hand.
"Will you stay a while?" he added, feeling drowsy now.

"Yes, I'll be right here," she told him. "I've got nowhere else to go,
Partner," she added and was pleased to see him smile weakly before he
slipped off into dreamland. Leaning back on the chair, she held onto his
hand. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," she whispered, her eyes on his
face. He heard her. Whether in sleep or still awake she didn't know. And it
didn't matter. He smiled briefly. Scully watched him sleep, memorizing every
inch of his face as if she hadn't done that a million times before. This
time around had been worse than usual. And she knew why. She blamed herself
for the mess they had ended up in. Mainly because she had pushed him so hard
to go. Maybe he had a knack for sensing danger ahead? At least sometimes.
Mostly, though, he would rush headlong into danger, never stopping once to
check if the coast was clear. And Scully had often wondered if he wasn't
actually just a tad suicidal. Maybe he wanted it all to end? Maybe he wanted
out of this life which had so far brought him nothing more than pain?
Shaking her head, she carefully placed his hand on the bed and leaned back
again, starring at him. If that was the case, then he wasn't consciously
thinking of it. He tried to unravel a twisted past which had left him with
more questions than answers. He was uncertain of everything, unsure of where
life would lead him. But, mostly, he was uncertain of where he had been. She
hoped that someday, he would be able to fit all the pieces together and find
the ultimate truth that he was so desperately searching for. Whether it was
hidden in aliens from other planets or a government conspiracy made fairly
little difference. The only thing which mattered was that he found what he
was looking for. Maybe then would he allow himself to enjoy life a little.