From: "carol valent" Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 18:04:06 EST Subject: "Cravings" Source: direct Rating: PG Spoilers: character death dedication: This one's 4 Piper8120 because you absolutely HATE character deaths! I just love to torture you. disclaimer: Mulder and Scully don't belong to me. I wrote this just 4 fun. Don't sue me. I REALLY REALLY LOVE FEEDBACK AND I RESPOND TO IT 2, SO IT WON'T HURT TO EMAIL ME!!! spookyfox1@juno.com summary: How far will Mulder go to find his sister? "Cravings" by: Spookyfox1 FBI Headquarters Washington DC 7:31 AM Fox Mulder walked down the dark basement corridors. His alarm clock had refused to wake him up earlier that morning causing him to be late for work. Skinner was going to kill him for not showing up for the briefing on his and Scully's new case. Scully would be angry with him. If there was one thing Mulder learned from being around her, it was never to get her upset. Finally, Mulder reached the door to his office. He paused a moment and braced himself for Scully's continuous nagging. He cautiously opened the door. Scully wasn't there. That's odd, he thought, I wonder where she is. Maybe the meeting with Skinner is running late. Whatever the reason, Mulder didn't care. He wasn't in the mood to start a fight with her anyhow. He sat down on the swivel chair behind his desk and frowned at the noticeably large stack of paperwork that needed to be done. He knew he should work on it. He just didn't want to. "You're late for work," said and unfamiliar voice. Mulder gasped and looked up to find himself face to face with a tall man. Mulder looked him over. He was about six feet tall. He had an oval face and long, black hair. He casually sat in the chair adjacent to where Mulder was and he had a broad smile on his face. "Who are you?" Mulder asked, "How did you get in here?" The man's smile grew even wider and he let out a stiff laugh. "That's not important," he said and suddenly turned serious, "But I know something that is important to you." The man leaned closer to Mulder in his chair and said, "I can take you to your sister." Mulder was suddenly alert. When he was only twelve, his eight-year-old sister, Samantha, had gotten abducted from his house. Ever since then, he has dedicated his life to finding out what had happened to her. In fact, that was the whole reason why he was an FBI agent. He wanted to find her. He needed to find her-even if she was dead. At least he would know what had happened. "You know where Samantha is?" Mulder was anticipating the answer to his question when he heard approaching footsteps in the hall outside. He focused his eyes on the door for a moment to see who was at the door. When he looked back towards the man, he was gone. He vanished just as suddenly as he appeared. Mulder was confused. Where could he have possibly gone? People don't just disappear. He was just about to get up and start looking for him when Dana Scully walked through the door. She didn't look like she was in a very good mood. She stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted Mulder. "Mulder, where were you this morning? I was looking all over for you," she said with annoyance in her voice. Mulder looked dazed as he absently responded, "Sorry, Scully. I slept in." Scully was about to complain to him about how he shouldn't stay up until three in the morning watching porno flicks, but then she saw the expression on his face. "Mulder, what's wrong?" she asked. She knew her partner well enough to know when something wasn't right. "Nothing," he said, faking a smile. He didn't want to tell Scully about his little encounter with the man-at least not yet. "Are you sure?" Scully asked again. She knew something was bothering him. "Yeah, I'm sure," he lied. "All right," Scully said skeptically. She knew he wasn't telling her something. She also knew that if he didn't tell her something, then he usually had a good reason not to. "So," Mulder started, changing the subject, "what's this new case about that we're assigned to?" "It's supposed to be about people who have allegedly been abducted by aliens. If you want my professional opinion," she rambled on, "I think they're nuts!" "You aren't in a very good mood, are you?" "No, Mulder, I'm not," she confessed, "I woke up at five thirty this morning, had a meeting with Skinner at six thirty. May I remind you that Skinner blamed me for your absence this morning, so I had to listen to him yell at me for an hour. And that's not even the worst part of it! I haven't even had my coffee yet!" "Look," he said, "I'm really, really sorry for coming in late this morning." Scully sighed and said, "Look, Mulder. It's not your fault. How can you help it if you accidentally overslept." Mulder was glad she didn't bitch at him as bad as he thought she would, in fact, she didn't bitch at him for the rest of the day. He still didn't tell her about the man in his office that morning even though he wanted to. She didn't ask about it anymore, either. Fox Mulder's apartment #42 8:12 PM Mulder unlocked the door to his apartment and walked in. He was extremely tired. Maybe he'd go to bed early. It seemed wise after not falling asleep until around three in the morning the other night. He sat down on the couch, rubbed his eyes, and yawned. He picked up the clicker for the TV and started flipping through the channels. There was nothing good on. And he was so damned tired! He yawned again and then proceeded to lie down. It would only be a quick nap. He didn't think he'd sleep soundly anyways. He never did. Mulder succumbed into a deep sleep... 10:13 PM There was a noise. It sounded like someone was moving around. Mulder groaned in his sleep. He heard footsteps but he could not bring himself out of his subconscious. Breathing-he heard breathing... deep and calm breathing. Who was there? Was it Scully? He was too tired to care at this point. Maybe he was just dreaming it. It was probably just his imagination. A door slammed shut. That brought him fully awake. He looked around the room, unnerved, and reached for his gun sitting on the coffee table next to the couch. He saw a note on the table and he examined it. It was written on a small piece of white notebook paper and was folded in half. He unfolded it and studied the handwriting. The message was written in black ink and in bold, capital letters. The message read: I CAN TAKE YOU TO YOUR SISTER. MEET ME AT 215 MARIE DRIVE AT 11:30 PM. COME ALONE. Mulder was certain that the author of the note was the man he had an encounter with in his office this morning. Should he go and meet this guy? Mulder was suspicious of the man. There was something about the man that he didn't trust. But he has my sister, he countered himself. Maybe he was just paranoid. After much thought, he made up his mind that he would go. He searched for 215 Marie Drive in the phone book and found a match. It was about a half hour drive away. Mulder looked at his watch. It was 10:40. If he hurried he could make it. He grabbed his leather jacket and the keys to his car and headed off. Outside Mulder's apartment 10:47 PM Scully was sitting in her car as she watched Mulder's tall, lanky figure exit from the apartment complex. She knew he wasn't telling her something and she didn't want him doing anything stupid so she followed him home from work. She was almost convinced that he wasn't going off somewhere- until now. She watched Mulder get into his car and drive off. Scully sighed, started the engine to her car, and followed him to 215 Marie Drive. 215 Marie Drive 11:21 PM Mulder's car pulled up in front of an old abandoned warehouse. He shut off the engine and started walking towards the disheveled and dilapidated building. He looked around. No one was there. He tried to open the main door. Much to his surprise, it opened. Mulder cautiously maneuvered his way around boxes and shrapnel that was left scattered on the floor. He looked around again. There was still no one there. He was just about to leave when he heard a familiar voice. "Agent Mulder." Mulder turned around. He recognized the man as the same one who was in his office that morning. Mulder eyed him suspiciously. He started to regret coming to meet this man. There was something about him... something... not quite right. Mulder sighed. He was here now so he might as well get down to business. "You said you could take me to Samantha." "Yes," the man said and grinned at him, "Yes I did." *** Scully walked up to the old, broken down warehouse. I wonder why Mulder came here, she thought. She watched him enter the building from about fifty feet away. She stealthily ran across the pavement towards the building. She climbed up top of a large pile of crates and peered through the dusty windows. The inside of the warehouse was barren except for a few debris scattered about across the floor. She saw Mulder. He was directly behind the door and he was talking to someone. She couldn't see the man's features very clearly, but she didn't think she recognized him. Scully nervously watched them talk. She prayed that Mulder wouldn't get hurt. *** Mulder stared coolly at the man. "Just tell me where she is," he said. "You'll be with her soon enough," the man responded, still smiling. Mulder was annoyed with the man's calm patience and said indignantly, "Take me to her now." "All right," the man responded calmly, "I'll take you to her now." The man pulled out a gun and aimed it at Mulder. Mulder's expression turned from irritated to frightened. The guy had set him up. He didn't know where his sister was. He just wanted to kill Mulder. "What are you doing," Mulder said in a shaky voice. What was the point in asking? Mulder knew what he was doing. He closed his eyes and waited for death to come. The gun was fired. Mulder was surprised to find that it didn't hurt much when the bullet hit him. He just felt numb all over-numb and disoriented. He collapsed onto the floor. He felt weak and disconnected, but he somehow managed to hear the man speak. "Your sister's dead," he said coldly, "And soon you will be dead too. You know, I kind of felt sorry for you. You've looked so hard for Samantha. But don't you worry. You'll be with her soon enough. And you can be with her for eternity." By now Mulder was too weak to fight. He just wanted to sleep. He just wanted to rest. He tried to hold on but he knew he had to let go. Finally he slipped away into a dark abyss. *** A frustrated Scully tried to peer through the window. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see the two men clearly. Halfway through their conversation, they had shifted positions and now both were out of Scully's field of view. Then she heard a gunshot. Scully reacted immediately. She quickly jumped down off the pile of crates and raced through the door. She spotted Mulder. He was lying motionless in a pool of blood about ten feet away. Oh my God, she thought, No. Not Mulder. She ran over to him. She checked him for a pulse. There was none. He was dead. Scully felt her eyes get watery. She shouldn't have let him go here. it's all my fault, she thought, It's all my fault that he's dead. "I'm sorry, Mulder," she whispered to his corpse, "I'm sorry." She then remembered the man that Mulder was talking to. She was angry now. She wanted to ask him why he did it. She wanted to know why he had to shoot Mulder. But when she turned around to face the man, he was gone.