From: Deanna Dilbeck Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 17:23:28 -0500 Subject: new submission Source: direct Title: Broken Walls Author: Deanna Dilbeck Rating: PG Spoilers: Irresistible Feedback: dilbeck613@aol.com - Please!!:) Classification: V,MSR Disclaimer: You know the drill. They belong to CC, Fox and 1013. Chapter 1 Time seemed to stand still. His heart clinched at every sob that racked her body. His cool demeanor fell as the room emptied and Scully slipped her arms around his waist, clinging to him with a strength born of sheer terror. He had never seen Scully flinch, let alone fall apart like this. He wondered if she realized how desperately he needed to know that she trusted him this much. She was always 'fine'. Had been 'fine', through the whole investigation. He knew she wasn't 'fine', not even close to it, but he let her repeat it, if for nothing more than her own self-assurances. His hands ran over her back and shoulders, soothing, comforting, gently drawing her closer. Gradually her sobs turned to mild hiccups. She pulled back to look up at him, her tear-stained face breaking his heart all over again. "He would have killed me." Her voice was barely a whisper, clogged with her tears. "Oh, Scully..." Mulder tugged her back against his chest, his hand buried in her hair, holding her firmly against his body. His composure slipped as he buried his face in her hair and felt her tremble in his arms. He never wanted to let her go. Never. "Agent Mulder? The paramedics are here." "No, Mulder! No, I'm...I'm fine. Please?" Scully's eyes filled again as she leaned back, looking pleadingly up at him, her hands clutching fists full of his shirt. "Shh... It's Okay." Mulder pulled her close again and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Looking over at the officer, he nodded a silent 'no' and the officer acknowledged it and walked back out of the door. "Come on Scully. Let's get you outta here." She nodded 'yes' against his chest, but made no move to pull away. "Scully? What's wrong?" "My legs...my legs, they feel like rubber." She tried to laugh it off, but it came out more like a groan instead. "Well...I could always carry you?" "I'm sure that would reassure the paramedics." Well, at least her sarcasm was coming back, he thought. "Just hold on to me Scully. I'll hold on to you. I promise." Releasing her arm from its clutch, she gingerly turned, and immediately felt her knees begin to buckle. "Mulder..." "I've got you, Scully. I've got you." 'I'll always have you,' he thought solemnly. His strong right arm wrapped tightly around her waist, cinching her body tightly against his. "Just slip your arm around my waist, and slip your fingers into the waistband of my slacks. Concentrate on moving your feet. Let me worry about keeping you on them." Scully obediently hooked her left arm around Mulder's waist, and slid her fingers inside the edge of the waistband of is pants, securely anchoring herself to his side. Using every ounces of willpower that she had, she forced one foot in front of the other, letting Mulder support her weight all the way to the car. By the time they had reached the vehicle, Mulder was almost fully carrying Scully's weight. He opened the door, and before she could protest, picked her up and gently deposited her in the seat. Reaching across her body, he clicked the seatbelt in place and started to pull back, but he was stopped short by a small hand on his neck. Turning slightly, he smiled as they bumped noses, their faces so close he couldn't focus on her features. Her fingers traced a trembling line across his jaw, cupping his cheek tenderly. "Thank you." He wasn't sure what possessed him. If it was the tremble in her touch, the huskiness in her voice, the closeness and trust she had shown him, or a combination of it all, but in that instance he knew that he would do anything for her. He would die to protect her. Her watery blue gaze captured his, and he was hers forever. Leaning forward, he placed a gentle, chaste, kiss on her lips. Her gasp of air at his touch caused him to pull back, afraid of over-stepping his bounds. But her hand buried itself in the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him gently back, her lips tentatively caressing his. Shy and soft, a low tremor passing over them. He pulled back again, but only enough to rest his forehead against hers. "You're welcome." A small tug of a smile, pulled at the corners of her mouth. "Can we go home?" "Sunshine, you're wish is my command." "Sunshine, huh?" Mulder only grinned, placed a tender kiss on the scrape on her chin, and closed the car door. Chapter 2 "What! But Mulder, I want to go home tonight...to 'my' bed. Why are there no flights?" "I'm so sorry Scully, but the earliest flight is six a.m. tomorrow morning. Looks like we're stuck here for the night." Sighing, Scully leaned back against the headboard, and chewed pensively on her bottom lip, wincing as she bit on still tender skin. Mulder walked over to the dresser, and wrapping up some ice in a washcloth, brought it over to her. She wasn't even paying the least bit of attention, still pouting over the flight schedule and chewing on her lip. "Here Scully, don't do that. You're going to make it worse." Sitting on the bed beside her, he gently laid the makeshift icepack against her bottom lip, wincing with her, as the cold touched her lip. "Hold this on your lip. I'm going to go get you a room..." "No!" "No?" Mulder looked down at her, watching as her cerulean depths filled with unshed tears. "Please. I can sleep on the floor. I...I don't' want. I can't..." She couldn't go on. Sinking back down beside her, he cradled her in his arms. "Shh...it's all right. It's fine. You can sleep here. I'll take the floor." At her protest, he eased the washcloth back against her lip gently. "You're going to be sore enough, without sleeping on a hard floor. Don't worry about me. Remember, I'm an insomniac anyway. I'll be fine. Okay?" She nodded her head. Slowly a tear tracked its way down her cheek. He brushed it away and stood back up. "Let me find you something to sleep in." Mulder rummaged through his bag and produced a clean t-shirt and a pair of drawstring shorts. "These will be huge I'm sure, but they're clean. Why don't you go take a long, hot bath." At the look of pure terror on her face, he swiftly came over to her side again. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. A shower Scully, take a nice hot shower. It'll loosen up the knots." She reluctantly nodded, and slowly slid her legs over the edge of the bed, cringing with each movement. The longer she had sat, the worst she felt. Shaking his head in frustration, Mulder picked her up and carried her to the bathroom, depositing her on the closed commode lid. She didn't make a sound. Wordlessly he pulled the shower curtain to and adjusted the water and nozzle to the right temperature and spray. "Can you get your clothes off by yourself?" "Yes. I think I can manage." Fifteen minutes later, she was in tears and had only managed to toe off her shoes and unbutton half the buttons on her blouse. "Mulder." A little louder. "Mulder." The door burst open as Mulder worriedly rushed in. "What? Scully? Why aren't you in the shower?" "Mulder I can't... I need help." Frustration and embarrassment were both evident in her voice. "Ahh, Scully." Gently he pulled her to her feet. He let one arm hold her steady, while the other deftly unbuttoned and unhooked. Sliding her clothes off quickly and methodically, he did his best to keep her from as little discomfort as possible. As her unmentionables joined the clothes pile, she refused to look at Mulder, the flush of embarrassment lingering in her cheeks. His gasp finally drew her face up to his. The look on his face was one of pure agony. His eyes were glued to her body. his hand reached out to softly caress her ribcage, then drift down over her hipbone. Looking down, she saw the why he looked so pained. Deep reddish-soon-to-be-purple bruises covered her torso, chest and thighs, probably her hips as well, from the struggle, and subsequent fall down Donnie Pfaster's staircase. "They're just bruises Mulder. They'll fade." His eyes moved up to meet hers and what she saw there made her heart constrict with it's intensity. Such compassion, such tenderness. It made her want to weep anew. "Help me into the shower?" "Huh..sure. I'm sorry, Scully. I'm so sorry." Painfully reaching her hand up to lay it on his chest, she leaned into his warmth. "It's all right. I'm...I'll be fine." He smiled down at her at the correction to her comment. "Of that I have no doubt, Ms. Scully" He tenderly helped her into the shower. "Call me when you're ready to get out. Okay?" "Okay." He sank down onto the bed, listening to the sounds of Scully showering, waiting for her to call him. He closed his eyes, and rested his head on the headboard, but all he could see were the bruises covering Scully's body. He felt anger well up in him that threatened to engulf him. He would like to kill Donnie Pfaster with his bare hands. Forcing himself to relax, he slowly unclenched fists that he didn't even realize he had made. Blowing out a sigh from deep in his chest, he rose and walked to the bathroom door as he heard Scully turn off the water. Standing silently at the door, he heard her slid back the shower curtain and a muffled moan as she stepped out of the tub. His hand reached for the door just as she called out. "Mulder? Why don't you order a pizza? I'm starving." He released his grip on the door and moved back over to the bed. "Sure thing. What do you want on it?" "Cheese." "Just cheese, Scully?" "Just cheese, Mulder. The grease will be bad enough, without adding that other gook you like on top of it." "Cheese it is, then." Mulder stretched out across the bed and snagged the phone. Hitting zero, he told the operator that he was looking for a delivery pizza place and she hooked him up. "Twenty minutes Scully. Want to watch some television?" "Sure, just so long as it's not the local porn station." A chuckle rose from Mulder as he pulled the remote over as well and began to channel surf, settling on a movie called "A Walk in the Clouds." "This looks interesting Scully." She walked slowly out of the bathroom, but, she was moving on her own recognizance, still toweling her hair dry. He looked up at her face and smiled. It was rare that he got to see Scully without her 'face' on, as she called it. She was more beautiful to see without all that stuff, at least in his opinion. Her pale skin was flush from the heat of the shower, but tiny flecks of golden freckles could still be seen all across her nose, cheeks and forehead. He smiled as she met his eyes. "What? Did I sprout a third eye?" "Nah, I was just wondering why you cover up that delicious looking mole on your upper lip." Scully blushed, a deep crimson heat moving up her neck and face. "It's a little difficult to make a suspect cower in fear during an interrogation, when they are mesmerized by a spot on your face. And, I don't even want to go down the list of why a female FBI agent shouldn't cover it up. It's hard to get someone to take you seriously when they keep looking at you like that..." "What? I wasn't looking. How was I looking?" "Like you'd like to devour me whole." That remark, pushed ever last ounce of breath out of Mulder's lungs. Had he been looking at her like that? He figured he must have. The bad part was he didn't even realize it. "Sorry. I...didn't. Well...I'm sorry Scully. I guess I see your point." Eyeing the movie, Scully looked back at him. "And you thought this looked interesting?" Mulder only shrugged, refusing to incriminate himself any further. Scully didn't say anything else, just plopped down on the bed, seized the remote and turned up the volume. Mulder gazed down at her for a minute than picked up his clean clothes to go take a shower himself. "Pizza shouldn't be here before I get out, but if it does there's money in my wallet to pay." Scully nodded in response, but her eyes never left the television screen. Chapter 3 They had spent the remainder of the evening watching the movie, and munching on pizza and popcorn from the vending machine down the hall. Mulder made himself a pallet in the floor to sleep on, but was at the moment lying across the end of bed, drowsily watching the end of the movie. A gentle nudge several minutes later by Scully foot woke him from a half doze. "Mulder, the movie's over. I'm going to sleep now." She had slid down in the bed and was forcibly pushing Mulder's body off the end. "Okay, all right, I'm going." Slipping down to the floor, Mulder fluffed and tugged on his pillow, trying to get it just right. The hard floor was already making his side hurt, and he hadn't been down there five minutes. "You sure you don't want to share? I can sleep on the edge." A low chuckle was her response. "'Night Mulder." "Goodnight Scully, sweet dreams." Mind debilitating terror was what woke her up three hours later. Her voice was raw, so raw that she couldn't scream, couldn't cry out. She needed Mulder; she needed him now! Where was he? Why wasn't he here? Finally finding her voice she cried out. "Mulder! Mulder...please" In a flash, an instant, he was there. Holding her trembling body close. Willing her to take his strength. "Scully, what happened? Was it a dream, a nightmare?" She could only nod her head against his chest in response. Finally taking a deep breath, she started to talk, low, monotone syllables. "He was evil Mulder. Pure evil. I saw...I saw things I can't even begin to describe, let alone believe. I know that evil exists. I know that demons are real. It's one of the few things that I do accept. I have to accept it. To accept the belief in God is to except the belief in Satan. But I have never actually seen it, not face to face. Mulder, he changed. He transformed in front of my eyes. I saw a man one minute, then another man, and another, and finally a being that...that I can't even begin to describe in words." Her voice broke and Mulder slid upon the bed beside her, pulling her gently into his lap and stroking her hair. "It's all right Scully, I believe you. "How..how can you believe me when I can't even believe myself?" Mulder didn't have an answer, at least not one that he knew would make any sense to her. Her science was waging war with what she had seen, and right now any of his 'out-there' theories, were not going to help matters any. He cradled her closer and gently kissed the side of her face, his lips remained pressed against her temple, relishing the feel of her skin beneath them. Slowly her body relaxed in his arms, and her breathing became slow and even with sleep. He continued to hold her long after she had drifted back into sleep, not wanting to relinquish the feel of her body against his, or the soft scent of her hair in his nostrils. Finally, aching muscles forced him to quietly lay her back on the bed. He pulled the covers up around her shoulders and slipped his hand carefully out of hers. Her moan of protest, pulled him back to lay beside her. "Shh...it's all right. I'm right here. Sleep, Scully, sleep." "Scared, Mulder. Don't go." Her groggy confession caused his heart to tighten, and he had to blink rapidly to hold back the sway of emotion that coursed through him. He'd bet she didn't even realize that she had admitted her fear. Sliding under the covers beside her, he pulled her into his embrace and she snuggled against and sighed. Taking a catchy breath, he made himself commfortable and wrapped her tightly in his arms. He'd never sleep, but he didn't care. Scully needed him, asked him to help. That was worth a night's sleep lose in any form you put it. Her head slipped off the pillow and pushed onto his chest, her arm slipping up across his stomach to rest over his heart. A soft sigh the only indication that she realized what she had done. Laying his hand softly over hers, he closed his eyes and let himself drift off. The last thought he had before sleep caught him, was one of a tousled-haired little girl with beautiful blue eyes laughing and runing along the beach. Her voice calling out in child-like play to 'run faster Daddy, run faster'. The end