Darkest Before The Dawn 5/9
By Jeannine Trevizo
jtrevizo@mindspring.com

-  X  -

Kwan Hui stood confidently in front of the two American sedans as the
group of gunmen came out the door of the warehouse. It only took
seconds before every gun was pointed in his direction.

"Wait!" Scully screamed over the sounds of weapons cocking and angry
voices shouting. 

Everything seemed to come to a halt as Scully holstered her Sig and
approached the man with the rifle. She had a feeling this was her
mystery sniper. But what puzzled her was why he'd stopped firing and
what he was doing here, standing in the open, waiting for them. It was
almost as if he wanted them to kill him. Or he was leading them into
another trap.

"Agent Dana Scully?" Kwan asked as he threw the strap of his rifle
over his shoulder, and sketching a polite bow in her direction.

She looked at him skeptically, her eyebrow raising a bit in
unconscious gesture. Glancing over her shoulder, she confirmed that
between Reggie, Skinner and Anthony's men, that this mystery man was
well covered. Once she had established that, she felt willing to
talk.

"Yes, I'm Dana Scully. And you are?"

"My name is Kwan Hiu, and I was sent here to kill you, and some of
these men with you."

There was a sudden shift in the men behind her, and she threw her hand
up, hoping that they would interpret it correctly as a hold signal. If
he'd been sent there to kill her, kill some of the others with her, he
must have been sent by the man who had Mulder. And if that was the
case, he might know where Mulder was, or who specifically had him. But
before she could say anything, Skinner broke in first.

"If you were sent to kill us, then you probably were sent here by the
man we believe took someone important to Agent Scully and myself,
Agent Fox Mulder. Scully found Mulder's watch in the warehouse. Do you
know where they took him," Skinner asked, pulling himself up
straighter as his regarded the man before him.

"I don't know who has this Mulder. I was sent here for one job only.
To follow the orders of someone here in the States to kill those of
you whom he felt were a threat to his government," Kwan replied. 

"You know that's a lie," Scully informed him directly, her arms
crossing against her chest. "He had Mulder here, and he sent you here
to keep us from finding him, and exposing his indiscretions to the
Consortium."

Swiftly, Scully had crossed the ten feet or so to where Kwan stood,
pulling one of her Sigs in the process and now held it beneath the
man's chin.

"I want to know who the man was that you met. Who asked you to kill
us, and keep us from finding Mulder. Was it the First Elder? Was it
Cancerman? Who?!" she yelled, her finger pressing lightly on the
trigger as she impatiently waited for an answer.

Seconds later, Scully found her hand whipped back, the gun falling
from her grasp as Kwan disarmed her. She started to reach for her
other gun, but he stepped back and held his hands up, showing her his
non-aggressive stance.

"My apologies Ms. Scully. I just don't like having those pointed so
close to me. You never know when they might go off," Kwan stated
almost humorously. "But to answer your question, I believe the man I
met with is called the First Elder, as you said. He did not say he had
this Mulder, but did send me to this location to see if you found it.
If and when you did, I was to execute my orders."

"But you didn't," Skinner said suddenly, cutting into the conversation
again as he forced the goons helping him stand forward to Scully's
side.

"No," Kwan said, and Scully looked at him, urging him with her eyes to
continue, to explain himself. 

"I was reluctant to do this thing. While I have killed many people,
and I come from a line of soldiers, I found myself questioning why
someone like you," he said, pointing to Scully, "should be desired
dead. I watched you inside the building, heard reasons why you were
there. And I found myself wanting to do something different. To offer
aid to the 'underdog', as it were, rather than be the man responsible
for killing people who don't deserve the fate bestowed upon them by
cowards. I wanted to feel what it was like to hope for something. Hope
like you have, to find your friend."

Scully stood there, stunned. She watched the man reach down into the
dusty ground and retrieve her weapon. He brushed it off and held it
out to her, grip first. This man had had every chance to fulfill his
obligation to the First Elder and kill her, kill all of them. Instead,
here he was, making himself vulnerable, offering her a weapon that she
could easily take back and shoot him dead with.

Moving closer, Scully looked up and swept her eyes over the man's
face. She took in the spiky black bangs of Kwan's hair, then the black
bushy eyebrows, simple nose and generous mouth. Then she turned her
attention to his eyes. Looking deeply, she tried to read the piercing
dark brown eyes that stared at her. She remembered the first time
she'd looked into Mulder's eyes like this, looked to find the trust
that had made them the best of partners, best of friends. And,
although that level of trust wasn't there, she did find enough to
accept his answer and his help.

"He's coming with us," Scully announced quietly.

"What?!?!" screamed Skinner, Carmine and Anthony at once while Kwan
looked at her in surprise.

"Shut the fuck up!" she roared back at them. "Do you realize this man
not *only* chose not to kill us, but came to offer *us* his help? He's
seen the First Elder. Knows where he's been, knows what he's thinking.
Fuck, between him and Carmine, we have a better shot at getting Mulder
back than before. And if he *was* going to kill us, he would have done
it already!"

They were stunned back into silence at that. She was right. There was
no reason for this man to have done what he had if he just wanted to
kill them. 

"So, I may help you?" Kwan asked Scully directly.

With a final silent nod of accent, Scully simply stood there while
Kwan respectfully bowed to her. Then he turned and opened the back
seat door of the first sedan, and helped Skinner inside, with the help
of Dominic and Stan. Once he was in, Kwan slid in beside him.

Scully shut the door and started for the passenger side while Reggie
climbed in the driver's seat. As she slammed her own door closed, she
wondered just what the hell she was doing.

-  X  -

Residence of Reggie Earle
1003 63rd St.
Oakland, CA


Kwan pushed past Scully as he hauled Skinner through the back door of
Reggie's house. The irony of her boss being carried by the man who
probably shot him wasn't lost on her. She still didn't know what had
possessed her to actually agree to let him join them as they left the
warehouse.

It was an uneasy alliance. Scully didn't trust this assassin farther
than she could see him. Yet he knew so much about the man who had
Mulder. He'd made a compelling case, standing there on the railroad
tracks outside the warehouse in front of their cars. After the
hailstorm of gunfire inside the warehouse that she was sure he'd been
responsible for, she'd accepted his help and even let him help Skinner
into the car. He'd had every chance to kill her, kill *all* of them,
but instead he was helping her. She shook her head in bewilderment.

Across the room, she noted Carmine, Anthony and one of his men had
come in and started talking on the sofa and love seat set near the
front door. Inwardly she shuddered as she realized how they had simply
sprayed the place during the firefight. While they had taken their
fair share of the MiB's out and found the one man hiding upstairs,
they weren't there for the same purpose as she was.

She knew that their own agenda outweighed her life, as well as
Skinner's and Mulder's. They were along for the ride, until they met
up with the First Elder. It was the whole reason they were there -
waiting until Scully and Skinner could locate Mulder in the hopes that
search would bring them to the First Elder.

Scully caught up with her boss, as Kwan laid him out on Reggie's bed.
A minute later, Reggie appeared with a first aid kit. When she opened
it, she found more than she'd expected. There wouldn't be any need to
take Skinner to a hospital with all this equipment. Again, she looked
at Reggie and wondered just what the hell he did for a living, really.

"Do you want to lose the jeans, or have me cut them off?" she asked
her boss, scissors from the first aid kit in hand.

He glared at her, but reached down and popped open the buttons and
then with Reggie and Scully's help, got them pulled off. For her boss'
sake, she draped the material across his lap as she looked over the
bullet wound on Skinner's upper thigh. The bullet had gone through
cleanly, had missed the bone and artery and she didn't feel any major
damage, so she doused the wound with disinfectant and bandaged the
holes up, wrapping the whole thing with gauze. She found some
antibiotics in the first aid kit, and handed them to Skinner while
Reggie appeared from the bathroom with a glass of water.

"Now I know why Mulder keeps you around," joked Skinner. As her face
went slack, Skinner instantly regretted reminding her of her missing
partner. "Scully. . . "

"Just get some rest Walter. We'll deal with everything later," she
said quietly, and got up from where she'd been kneeling by the bed,
and walked out.

She stood outside the door and forced herself not to think of Mulder.
Instead she found herself thinking back on what had happened at the
warehouse. What she'd done. Shaking her head violently, trying to get
the images out of her mind, she realized that she'd wandered into the
kitchen. It must have been an unconscious move on her part, looking
for a comforting place in this stranger's house. Kitchens were mostly
the same no matter where you went - kitchen table and chairs,
refrigerator, sink, stove. All so simple and uniform.

Pulling out one of the chairs, she settled into it heavily. Looking
down at her shirt, she noticed the dust and blood that had somehow
flecked the white t-shirt. She shrugged. It couldn't be helped. She'd
toss it, or try and get it clean later. Next she noted the leather
straps and metal buckles of the rig, and worked to shrug the thing
off, still fully loaded with her Sigs and the spare ammo she hadn't
used.

She hung it heavily over the post of the chair next to hers and then
brought her attention back to the one prize she'd found tonight.

Mulder's watch.

Digging in her pocket, she fished it out and held it in front of her.
She'd been so close. Damn it! If she'd only known that they were
pinning them down in the front of the building while they spirited
Mulder out the back, she would have planned for that. Instead, they'd
come close, but had ended up leaving without their objective.

Scully turned the watch over in her hands, her mind full of memories.
The paint splatters from the last crappy job of painting his bedroom
that he'd wanted her help in doing. The scratches on the face from
their side trip in Florida when they'd almost been consumed by the
exotic plant life. The plastic strap that had seen better days. She
closed her eyes and just grasped the plastic tightly, as if trying to
feel him through it.

God, she missed him.

Kwan stood in the doorway of the kitchen and observed the red haired
woman sitting at the table. Her hands held a watch, which Skinner had
said she had found at the warehouse. And that it belonged to the man
she was looking for. This Fox Mulder. Over and over again, she turned
the timepiece in her hands, her fingers almost caressing the face, the
band. It was obviously unconscious on her part, but since it was the
only physical link she had to where this Mulder had been, she was
communing with it as if it held a piece of the man's soul.

He knew what this man Mulder looked like. The First Elder had given
him pictures of the people on his list to kill. While he wasn't
expected to kill him specifically, the man had explained it might be a
bonus. Who was on his list were several of the men he'd just helped.
And the petite woman in the kitchen before him.

Except that after everything he'd seen happen in the warehouse, he had
found himself questioning his loyalty to the men who had sent him
here. What kind of threat could *she* be to Them? There was no
doubting her fire and intelligence, but what could she have done to be
put down like a dog?

Beyond that, while he'd watched her in the warehouse, and when he'd
looked into her eyes as he'd explained himself to her, he found
himself attracted to the object of his assignment. Yet he could see
that no matter what he believed he was beginning to feel for this
remarkable woman, she had someone else that occupied her thoughts, and
if he guessed correctly, her heart as well.

"You care for him?" Kwan asked from the doorway, surprising Scully and
rousing her from her meditation.

His words brought her up short, and she turned in her chair to face
the man who had spoken, seeing the assassin that she'd agreed to
trust, if only on a limited basis. Her eyes flicked to her guns, less
than a foot away, and wondered how she had disregarded everything
Mulder had taught her over the last five years.

Trust no one.

Except that she had to trust someone. And right now, she could use
this man's skills to get Mulder back.

Kwan walked toward her, and took a seat in the chair next to her, yet
across from the rig hooked on the chair by her side. She set the watch
down reluctantly and returned her thoughts to what she thought he'd
said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch what you'd asked."

"The man you are looking for," he stated, pointing one long finger in
the direction of the watch on the table. "Mulder. You care for him,
yes?"

"Of course. He's my partner," she replied quickly.

"Partner. That is the term Americans use for someone with whom they
have an. . . intimate relationship with. Is that right?" Kwan asked,
trying to recall the nuances of the word.

Scully looked at him in shock. Had he misspoken? If he hadn't, then he
thought. . .

"No, no," she started, her voice insistent and the words almost
tripping over her tongue in their haste to get out. "Mulder's my
partner in the FBI. We're not, I mean, he and I, we're not. . .
involved."

Curiously he stared at her, watching as her cheeks started to flush
pinkly. In embarrassment, he thought, or something else.

"Pardon me. I just assumed that your relationship was something more
than business by the way you spoke of him to me and to Mr. Skinner.
And because of what you seem willing to do to have him returned. Such
devotion seems to indicate to such a relationship, given your
partiality for him," Kwan explained at length.

Instead of correcting him, Scully found herself having to consider his
words closely. Certainly both she and Mulder had gone to great lengths
to aid each other. But they'd always attributed it to their
partnership, and the friendship that had developed from that.

Was it more than that though? On his end, as well as hers? And when
exactly had begun to realizes that she felt something more for Mulder
than friendship? Surely it was a recent development, maybe just a
passing thing, due to his abduction.

Except the longer she thought about it, the more she realized that it
wasn't something new. It was just her perception of her feelings had
changed along with her.

When she'd allowed herself to feel the full extent of her baser,
primal emotions - anger, fear, aggression, she hadn't considered that
the other base feelings she felt for Mulder would escape as well -
love, desire, need. And now all the emotions were flourishing in the
landscape that was Dana Scully unleashed.

The proverbial genie was out of the bottle now, and she didn't know if
she'd be able to get her emotions for Mulder to go back into the box
she'd been storing them in and pretend things were just like they had
been before.

And looking down at the watch in her hand, she was starting to
recognize the fact that she didn't want to.

-  X  -

Unknown location
Somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area


Mulder awoke and took in his surroundings. His head, arms and ribs
hurt from the beating he'd taken when they'd forced their way into his
room and hauled him out, informing him he was moving. He'd tried to
make a break for it, realizing it might be his only chance, and had
taken the punishment for it.

At least, he tried to look on the bright side, they hadn't shot him on
the spot.

His new prison was very much like an old brig. The stale smell of
sweat, urine and shit that permeated the cement block floor gave it
away. Of course the layout was obviously prison style - bunks, wash
basin, toilet, window with bars and the barred door that looked out
onto the wall of a corridor made it clear. At least it was bigger, he
sighed half-heartedly.

The smell of the sea was much stronger than before and the outside
noise was limited. His new space must be part of a much larger
building, most likely a prison or police station, not like the
warehouse he suspected he'd been in before.

Why would they have moved him? And so quickly? It was like. . .
someone knew he had been at the last place he'd been held at, and they
had to get him out before they were found.

His heart raced at the thought. He could only imagine one person
risking themselves for him.

Scully.

She was alive. He knew that now. She was alive and searching for him.
Obviously she had found him once already, which would explain why
they'd moved him. But if he was here, where was she? Did she know he'd
been there? Did she know where they'd moved him to?

Stretching, he looked up at his hands and noticed his watch was
missing. Where had. . . Then he remembered that he'd taken it off to
rub his wrist when he'd been in the small room in the old location.
Before he could put it back on, they'd come to get him. That meant, if
it really was Scully, she would search the place and find it. She'd
know he'd been there.

He could only hope that she was alright, and that she'd be able to
find him again.

-  X  -

Residence of Reggie Earle
1003 63rd St.
Oakland, CA


Kwan questioned his motives once again as he sat stock still, watching
the petite red-headed FBI agent pace back and forth in front of him.
His duty was supposed to be to kill her, yet he'd done everything
but.

Well, not everything he reminded himself grudgingly, as she turned
away from him, and he found himself watching her ass.

This man she was looking for, Fox Mulder was a lucky man.

"Carmine. I need your help," Scully said in a strained diplomatic
tone. "They've moved Mulder and I need you to tell me if you can
speculate as to where the First Elder would take him. Did he have any
property here, or maybe some old connections that he would use?"

"What makes you think I can guess where that fuck is taking your
partner after 25 years of being locked up," Carmine spat, wiping his
mouth on his tailored shirt sleeve as he sat in Reggie's recliner.

"Look, I'm not asking for you give me any assistance other than
information. If you can just say where they might take him in the city
on such short notice, I can take care of the rest."

Even without anyone voicing it, there was an obvious sound of
disapproval to her request.

"Dana, you need help. Even if you don't wish it, you must consider the
danger and the sacrifice you may be called upon to make if you decide
wrong," Kwan explained, his tongue slipping over a few words as his
native language accented his nearly flawless English.

Scully turned and glared daggers at the Asian man behind her, not just
for using her given name to try and sway her, but for the audacity of
him to believe that she needed help. She knew that Carmine and Anthony
were in agreement with Kwan's position. They were the big, tough men
and she was the poor, defenseless woman who needed their assistance
and protection.

Fuck that *and* them, she inwardly growled. In a sudden outburst, she
slammed her fist into the closest wall, the sound startling everyone.
Staring first at Kwan, then Skinner, and finally at Carmine, she
stalked across the room to look Carmine straight in the face.

"Jesus Christ, I've had enough of this bullshit. If you don't want to
tell me anything, just tell me so, goddammit. Don't use the pansy-ass
excuse of needing to protect me. I don't need anyone to do that. Not
you Carmine, or your Mafia buddies," she said angrily, and she then
began to look around her as she spoke, looking each man in the eyes as
she said their name. "Not you, Kwan, not Skinner and his friends and
not even Mulder. So unless you want to take this outside, I suggest
you start being serious with me."

The room was silent, and no one knew exactly what to say. 

Suddenly, Skinner's cell phone rang, and all eyes fell on him as he
answered. He didn't say a word, but when he closed the phone, he
looked at Scully.

"They have him on Treasure Island."

End Part 5

Darkest Before The Dawn 6/9

-  X  -

San Francisco Bay
7 miles from Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Island


They'd put on the wetsuits just in case they had to abandon ship and
swim at all in the cold bay. Reggie had explained that during the
winter, especially after dark it was cold enough to cause hypothermia
in a couple of minutes - almost as fast a frozen lake.

Reggie manned the Zodiac's outboard motor and rudder as the rubber
craft cut through the water. On board, Skinner, Scully, Kwan, Carmine,
Anthony and Anthony's three men kept low in the boat, heads forward
and focused on the shore of the island in front of them.

They'd been en route to the island for what seemed like forever after
leaving a remote part of the Alameda docks. Reggie had assured Scully
that they'd be on shore within 30 minutes of leaving the harbor, so as
she huddled down to check the time on the watch around her wrist,
Mulder's watch to be precise, she knew that it shouldn't be much
longer. As the boat skipped in the water, sending splashes of the cold
wet into the boat and onto its occupants, Scully turned her attention
from the watch to the lights of the Bay Bridge above them, winding its
way through their objective. She wished that they could have just
driven onto the island, but that route had to be watched.

In what seemed like record speed, they navigated under the bridge,
turning north towards the sea wall that skirted the island, and then
west. They stayed low in the boat as they continued along, and Reggie
suddenly turned them south along the far side of the island. Moments
later, they were anchored to the sea wall that lead up to a small
beach and then directly into the streets of Treasure Island.
Hurriedly, they scrambled in the dark onto the rocks, stripping off
the wet suits to reveal their street clothes. Once done, they passed
the equipment up from the Zodiac to the beach, where they parceled out
the weapons. Scully shrugged on her rig while Skinner grabbed the
binoculars in the pack and scoped out the situation.

From the beach, Scully, Skinner and Kwan passed the binoculars back
and forth as they looked up into the cluster of buildings before them.
While most of this end of the island was empty, there was one building
that has its lights on, and on closer inspection, Skinner and Scully
noted the four large black sedans parked outside.

"That must be it," Skinner said, pitching his voice loud enough to be
heard, but not too loud. "We'll get within a block, fire in some tear
gas and then storm the building. Scully, Kwan and Reggie are with me
going in the front, Carmine, you and Anthony's men cover the back."

"Carmine, make sure that they don't get off this island. Or so help
me, I'll make you sorry we sprung you from your cage," Scully growled
as she looked at him, her eyes burning like fire in the low light.

He replied by making a dismissing sound, and they started forwards,
creeping along the deserted streets, staying close to the walls and in
the shadows. A block away, Skinner turned to Reggie, who produced a
tear gas launcher. Dropping a canister into the tube, he aimed for a
partially open window and fired. As soon as it sailed through, they
headed for the front door, weapons in hand.

Moments before they reached the door there was a loud explosion and
grayish colored gas started to issue from the windows. The door swung
open, and Kwan shot the man trying to escape the gas point blank, then
grabbed him by the collar before he could fall, flinging him out of
the doorway. Scully and Skinner pushed inside, eyes watering from the
smoke while they fired at the shadows moving within that had just
realized that they were being attacked.

Bullets began whizzing in their direction, and Scully and Skinner
split up at the door, flinging themselves down and to the side as Kwan
and Reggie leaned around the doorway and fired into the room.

Scully leapt to her feet and started shooting, moving towards the
window and some fresh air. She heard rather than saw Skinner and
Reggie firing their S&W autos into the left side of the room, making
sure that anyone in the building firing at them was being fired upon.

Bullets zipped back and forth across the room, and Scully knew she had
just dodged one or two by seconds. Things were ok for the moment, she
realized, but things were going to change fast.

The gas was starting to dissipate.

At the back of the building's main room there seemed to be what looked
like a passageway or corridor leading left and right. Scully heard
scuffling and a clanking noise that sounded metallic coming from that
direction. Coughing for a second, she tightened her grip on her guns
and headed into the back of the building, firing at anything in her
path. From behind, the sound of his 12 gauge shotgun blasting away
alerted her to Kwan's presence behind her, following her. 

Skidding to a stop at the doorway into the corridor along the back of
the room, she flattened to the wall, Kwan shadowing her on the
opposite side, his shotgun in hand. For a moment, she flashed back on
the thousands of times she'd been in this same pose, except the man on
the other wall was Mulder. The thought sent another surge of
adrenaline though her system, and she swung herself into the corridor,
firing off half her clip, catching one of the MiB's fleeing from their
advance in the back, sending him sprawling.

Kwan turned down the other corridor going left and fired his shotgun.
He saw two men laying bleeding when he stopped, but no one else. He
turned to check on Scully, and saw her taking care of herself. He
paused and flattened against the wall while he pulled shells from the
pocket of his black vest and shoved them into the shotgun as fast as
his fingers would let him.

Scully started running down the hall, looking to both sides as she
went, looking for doors or windows where either MiB's could be hiding,
or Mulder could be being held.

Once door to her right appeared ajar, and she fired through it before
kicking it in. As it flew open, she shot again, moving inside. She
heard and felt the bullets fly past her, and she backed up, throwing
herself backward to the floor, shooting at the same time. When she hit
the wall of the corridor, she groaned at the impact at the same time
as she heard the groan and thud of whomever had shot at her.

Scrambling up, she went back inside and checked to make sure that
whomever was in there wasn't getting up again. When she saw the MiB's
body sprawled face up on the floor, bullet wounds to his head and
chest, she turned back to her task and moved hurriedly down the
corridor. There was a door at the end of it, open to the street she
guessed, and headed towards it faster than before.

Abruptly she came up short in front of a cell. An empty cell.

She paused briefly at the doorway of the brig-style cell, the iron bar
door wide open, and she knew in her gut that Mulder had been in there,
and that they'd spirited him out already, most likely they had hurried
him out that open door she'd been headed for, probably thirty feet
away at most. He was that close, she though excitedly.

"They're outside!" she yelled loudly as she ran down the hall.

Outside, Scully heard yelling and gunfire, and she continued down the
corridor and out of the building. She saw Dominic and Stan shooting at
three MiB's manhandling someone into a waiting sedan a block away. She
looked in the low light and was sure she recognized the lanky figure
that they were dragging.

"Mulder!!" she screamed as she headed towards the MiB's who were
firing and dodging the bullets being fired by Anthony's men. She saw
the man who was sandwiched between two of the MiB's start to jerk
around wildly, trying to break from their grip.

"Scully!" Mulder called out, as one of the men holding him shoved his
hand over Mulder's mouth, silencing him.

Adrenaline rushed through Scully's limbs as she ran faster, needing to
stop that car. Dominic and Stan were taking shelter behind a few trees
as they were fired upon, by Scully ignored them. She saw the last of
the men get in the sedan and while the men in back kept firing out
their windows, the driver started pulling away, gaining speed every
second. She fired at them with one gun and then another in repetition
as she ran, knowing her aim had to be shit as her arms were jarred
with each step. 

She kept running and shooting until car was out of sight. 

Gone. He was gone again, she cried inwardly as she stood there on the
street, her weapons still clutched tightly in her hands. She'd lost
him again!

Part of her wanted to just break down, right there on the asphalt.
Sink to her knees and cry out in anger and loss. Except that she
didn't have time for that luxury. She'd seen him, heard him call her
name. He had been so close, and she knew that she could get him back
next time.

Slowly she holstered her weapons and turned back towards the block
house. Walking sluggishly back to the building, she caught sight of
Dominic and Stan turning the corner and heading into the building.

They'd been right there, less than 20 feet away from whatever exit the
MiB's had come through with Mulder, and they'd let them slip past and
get to the car. What the fuck had they been doing?

What they had been told to?

Had Carmine or Anthony told the gangsters not to interfere if they saw
Mulder being taken out? Were they only looking for the First Elder,
and to hell with the missing agent?

She started walking faster, her fury getting more out of hand the
closer she got to the block house. By the time she came through the
door, she had a Sig in her hand and was ready to murder Carmine,
Anthony or all of them if her suspicions were true. She felt her feet
crunch shell casings that blanketed the floor of the makeshift combat
zone as she stormed into the room.

"You *fucking* asshole!" Scully screamed at Carmine as she stormed in
the open door while he sauntered around the bullet ridden room, his
Uzi nearly dangling from his hand. "Your men lost them! They were
*that* close to saving Mulder and they let them get away! And why? Did
you tell them to? You think I'm not capable of making good on my
threat? I *will* put you down if I find out that you let them go!"

Instantly, Anthony's men are there, and holding their weapons in
Scully's direction. Skinner, Kwan and Reggie were taken aback by the
suddenness of both Scully's outburst and the gangster's response.

"You think I'm scared?" Scully asked Carmine, her voice dropping to a
level Skinner had never heard before. "I've faced a lot worse than you
and your kind, believe me. And I'll let you know a little secret. I'll
put a bullet through your brain before they kill me, so I'd suggest
you drop the fucking dramatic stand-off now!"

The tension in the air was thick while Carmine seemed to consider his
options. With a slight gesture, his men stood down.

"Look honey, I got more to gain by helping you than not at this point.
What you want will help me get what *I* want. Capeche?" he explained
to her as he reached in his pocket for a cigar.

She stared at him intently as he lit the cigar. He seemed calm enough,
but she watched the sweat start to bead at his temples. Good, she
thought inwardly. He needed to be afraid of her. If he had lied to her
just now, she'd find out and make sure he regretted it. For now
though, she didn't have any proof that they'd let Mulder's captors
escape. So, unless she wanted to finish it here and now, she knew it
was time to back off.

"Fine," she fumed, her eyes closing as she turned away from the men
around her. "But the fact is that they escaped and now we need to find
Mulder again."

They had to find him again, she sighed silently. But he had been here,
she'd heard his voice this time, had seen them spirit him away in one
of the sedans. While she had missed the tires on the sedan, she was
sure that she'd cracked the rear glass as the car sped away. She tried
to console herself that they had gotten closer this time. But it was
still frustrating and painful to the point of collapsing.

The only bright point she could find in it all was the fact that
Mulder had screamed her name after she'd called out to him. He'd heard
her, knew she was coming for him. With all her heart she hoped that
the knowledge that she was coming for him would help him hold on until
she found him.

Scully opened her eyes and turned to see everyone watching her,
waiting to see what she was going to do next. With a deep breath, she
straightened her spine and reconstructed her invulnerable, tough
exterior. She waded back into the discussion that seemed to have
continued without her as to their next move.

"Now what?" Scully asked Skinner, her anger and adrenaline faded under
the fear and failure of their blown rescue attempt. He could see, just
beneath the surface how the constant near-misses were affecting her.
If there had been no one else in the room, he was almost sure that she
would have just crumpled to the ground and started crying. But she
couldn't do that in front of everyone. She had to keep control of the
situation, even if it meant denying how she felt.

"We stop following them, and take this to them. By finding the First
Elder," Skinner explained simply. "I'll make a call and see if we can
find out where he is. But at this point, I don't think we'll be able
to do anything till morning."

At that, Scully only nodded her understanding. Another day. She could
do that.

-  X  -

300 California St.
Tenth floor
San Francisco, CA


The Well Manicured Man strode into the sun drenched office suite and
looked around. There were several of the ranking chair holders of the
Consortium in attendance, including the man who had gotten them in
such trouble in the first place, the First Elder.

"Mulder's associates have continued to look for him since his
disappearance. In their efforts to find him, a ghost from the past has
been retrieved, putting us all in jeopardy if he goes public with what
he knows. This is part of the reason we have never taken direct action
against Mulder. Too many people are involved in his well being," the
Well Manicured Man informed the men gathered there, as he took his
seat at the far end of the table.

At the opposite end, the First Elder glared at his silver haired
predecessor. He'd had Mulder snatched as part of his power play within
the council. Now, everything was being undermined, and he was certain
that his predecessor was behind it. Yet he had no proof, and he was
also vulnerable, thanks to Carmine DiMerra's escape.

"Mulder is a threat to this group and our work. I have taken steps to
eliminate those who are searching for him, and thus allow us to keep
Agent Mulder under our control until we decide what to do with him.
Permanently," the First Elder explained, hoping that the board would
be satisfied with his management of the situation.

"I think you take Mulder's acquaintances too lightly. Even now, your
assassin has been recruited by Agent Scully to help her locate her
missing partner."

"I've read Agent Scully's files. She's not a threat," the First Elder
said in his dull constant monotone.

The table was silent. While most of the council had not dealt directly
with Mulder or Scully, reports of their cases as well as their
capabilities were common place within the organization. 

At the First Elder's words, the Well Manicured Man tossed a stack of
color photos from both the San Quentin cell block and the warehouse
onto the table. The glossy pictures of bloody, shot-up bodies
scattered across the finely-polished conference table for everyone to
see.

"You've obviously underestimated her," the Well Manicured Man stated,
his thin lips almost curling into a smile. "And now we may *all* have
to suffer because of your error in judgment."

-  X  -

301 California St.
San Francisco, CA


Scully rested her linen clad arm against the high wall of the roof of
the building as she peered through the scope.

She was glad now that she had brought her black suit with her on this
trip. It had made it easier when she'd flashed her badge for a
fraction of a second and bluffed her way through the lobby and onto
the roof. Of course, if the security guard had known what she had in
the large briefcase, he would have been more attentive to her
credentials.

As it was, she now stood, leaning over the high powered rifle,
studying the street and the doorway to the building she knew the First
Elder was meeting his associates in.

On the street below, directly across from her, Kwan was waiting for
them to walk through the doors and for Scully to drop the first of the
expected armed retainer/bodyguards. Since he and Skinner knew what the
First Elder looked like, and she was the only one of the group that
had met the Well Manicured Man, she had been the best choice to take
up the sniper position. They would radio in when they saw the First
Elder and give her a description, so she could avoid him, and she
would know who the Well Manicured Man was by sight, and could avoid
shooting him as well. What she needed to do was bring down the
bodyguards and give Kwan and Skinner the chance to grab the First
Elder. 

Of course the fact that she had nearly perfect scores with rifle
training when she'd gone through the academy and received a
marksmanship note in her files had also weighed in the decision to
perch her 20 stories above the ground.

Skinner was sitting in their 'borrowed' car, less than a block away,
waiting for it to go down. He had an earpiece like Kwan and Scully
that was attached to a radio set up on the same frequency they were
all on. Once Kwan had identified their objective, Scully would take
out the defenders, Skinner would drive up so Kwan could shove the fat
fuck into the back seat, and then they would have their leverage to
get Mulder back.

It all rested on her skill and timing. And she wasn't going to screw
up what probably was her last shot at getting Mulder back.

Last shot, she thought humorously, as she minutely shifted the rifle
sight. Oh, that was bad. Jesus, she was as bad as Mulder was. At that
she felt a cold rush through her limbs as the frustration and longing
shot through her heart and soul. God, she missed him. She *had* to get
him back.

Angry at letting herself get distracted, even for a second as she
thought about Mulder, she chastised herself. She had to concentrate on
the pavement in front of the building across the street, and be ready
for Kwan's call. All she had to do was wait.

And wait.

They waited late into morning, and when the streets started to get
busy with the lunch crowd, she saw movement through the scope coming
out of the building. At the same second, she heard Kwan's voice break
onto the radio.

"Just coming through the door, the man with the black hair in the
black pinstripe suit that looks like he ate too much Dim Sum," Kwan
said quietly into the mouthpiece that was almost hidden against his
face.

She looked through the scope, saw the man Kwan had identified, counted
six men, and the Well Manicured Man hanging towards the rear. Four of
the six seemed to be guards or foot soldiers. And they would be the
first to go.

Scully fired four quick, precise shots which rang out in the busy
area, resulting in people screaming and running for cover. She saw
Kwan rush past the running, falling bodies and grab the First Elder
with one hand, a semi-automatic pistol shoved in the fat man's
stomach. Around him, his men lay dead, bleeding onto the pavement.

Dragging the First Elder with him, Kwan got the man to the curb where
Skinner and the car had arrived. Scully watched as Kwan swiftly shoved
the fat bastard into the car and they sped away.

Hurriedly, Scully broke down the rifle, threw it in the briefcase, and
headed to the stairs. She got off on the second to the top floor, and
caught an elevator to the underground parking lot. When the elevator
doors opened, she quickly looked around for any security that she
would have to flash her badge to, but found it empty. 

Running up the ramp to the street from the underground parking area,
she arrived on the sidewalk just as Skinner was pulling up. She threw
the briefcase in the passenger door, and jumped in. As soon as the
door closed behind her, Skinner was driving off, away from the chaos
behind them.

-  X  -

Laurel Motor Inn, Room 4
Presidio Ave. & California St.
San Francisco, CA


Scully stood in front of the man called the First Elder and frowned.
Why the hell would the rest of the Consortium want this guy back?

He writhed in the ropes against the sturdy desk chair. When they'd
first sat him down, she'd been afraid it would fall apart under his
weight, but it had held. Kwan had blindfolded him as soon as he'd
shoved him in the car, and she'd decided to keep it that way, at least
when she was in the room with him. She glanced over to where Skinner
stood by the window, and then to the door, where Kwan was posted.
Anthony and Carmine were on their way. She had to get this fat fuck to
give her the information she wanted or make the deal before they got
here.

Because Carmine, she reminded herself inwardly as she returned her
attention to the man before her, had other plans for the man before
her. She figured that he'd want her to take off the blindfold so the
First Elder could see who was blowing his brains out as Carmine fired
the gun that killed him.

Sigh. She didn't like the idea of having to convince them that their
vendetta against this man would have to wait until she had Mulder
back. In the short time she'd been dealing with Anthony and his
father, they hadn't shown too much in the give-and-take department.
Still, if she had to shoot them to keep the First Elder alive until
she got Mulder back, she wouldn't hesitate a minute.

"Tell me where Mulder is," she asked, her voice steely in its
determination.

"Is that you Agent Scully?" the First Elder asked around his
blindfold. "I'm surprised. I wouldn't have thought you capable of
taking up with gangsters and assassins. Perhaps we chose to take the
wrong person."

The sound of Scully's palm cracking against the First Elder's face
startled Skinner from where he was checking out the window for Carmine
and his son. At the door, Kwan looked shocked at the violence Scully
had just displayed. The First Elder himself seemed slack-jawed as
well, until he coughed and then spat out some pinkish saliva.

"Don't fuck with me," Scully nearly snarled. "I know he was alive last
night, and I doubt after moving him all these times without killing
him, you'd all of a sudden decide to kill him now."

He grimaced, and she knew she'd called his bluff. If they'd wanted
Mulder dead, they would have just shot him on the street, like they'd
done with her. Of course, they had fucked up, and hadn't killed her.
And in doing so, they'd screwed themselves.

"Here's the deal. You have two choices. One, you take me where you're
holding Mulder, and after we're away safe, I let you go. Two, you give
me a number for your Consortium friends, and I'll tell them I'll make
a trade - you for Mulder. What's it going to be?"

The First Elder grumbled. His men should have taken care of her in
D.C., he thought. Then there was that backstabbing slope who had
broken his agreement to kill Scully and now was helping her. He'd read
Agent Scully's files and thought he knew her; she was the skeptic
scientist, a by-the-book agent, a medical doctor who was trained to
heal. But this woman before him wasn't that person. She was ruthless
and determined. 

They should have tried to recruit her years ago.

"Fine. Call them and tell them to set up a trade. Me for Mulder," he
said with difficulty. There was one last shot he could salvage this,
if his men made Swiss cheese out of the bitch and her associates at
the exchange, he could keep Mulder and retain his position in the
Consortium. the more he thought on it, the more he found himself
warming to the idea.

"Give me the number, and we'll call and schedule a time to make the
exchange. If you're lucky, you'll be back with the other rats in time
for dinner," she spat.

It wasn't more than a few seconds before he started rattling off the
number.

End Part 6

Darkest Before The Dawn 7/9

-  X  -

Near Spreckles Lake
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA
11pm


The fact of the matter was that Scully didn't trust the First Elder
farther than she could throw him, and after seeing how large he was,
she doubted she could even lift his toes off the ground. But the deal
was a necessity. It was the only way they would hand over Mulder, and
she wasn't about to argue over semantics with them when they'd chosen
this place and time for the trade.

Besides, she still had a few aces up her sleeve. Including Kwan.

It seemed sometimes that he reminded her of Mulder, and then at other
times, he was exactly the opposite. If the idea of liking him hadn't
been forced because of the circumstances, she didn't think they would
have had much in common. Or perhaps too much.

Except again, it didn't matter. Her one goal was to get Mulder back.

Over the course of the last week and a half, she'd been forced to
think a lot about her partner and her relationship with him. How the
'thing' they had was more than just work related. She was willing to
lose her job in order to rescue him, and had uncovered a dark side of
herself that seemed to thrive in this kind of situation.

She'd found *it* didn't scare her anymore.

Nothing seemed to scare her. Except for the idea of never seeing
Mulder again. Of having to live the rest of her life with the ache in
her chest that had grown exponentially since his capture, and her
realization of how her feelings for him has grown.

Looking across the shadowed and foggy expanse of the park, Scully
squinted, searching for a glimpse of headlights. It was almost 11:05pm
and the other party should have arrived by now.

There was a sudden flash of light from probably fifty feet out, in
dense shrubs or small trees. The light landed on where she stood, just
barely in view, her black trenchcoat moving in the slight breeze.

Scully glanced next to her where Kwan stood. He'd argued with her the
whole way from the hotel to the park, insisting that he stay by her
side. He'd even said he felt guilty enough about his role in the plot
to kill her, and since he'd found out how badly she wanted her partner
back, understood what she'd done in pursuit of him, he couldn't let
her out of his sight and out of his protection.

It was like arguing with Mulder, she'd thought, and when she'd
continued to deny him, he'd only become more pleading, and turned to
Skinner for support. Once she'd been ganged up on, she reluctantly
accepted the situation. The most important thing, she reminded herself
over and over again as they had driven here and waited, was getting
Mulder back. If she had to have a babysitter with her at all times,
she'd put up with it. For the moment.

Anthony flashed the lights of their car from behind her. For a minute
or two, the park was almost pitch black. Then several sets of car
headlights all turned on, aimed their way. Quickly, Anthony and Reggie
flipped on theirs, trying to even out the odds.

Through the near-blinding white beams, a man started to head towards
them, his trenchcoat making waves in the light as he moved. Scully
realized that the time had come, and stepped out into the open,
walking to meet the Consortium goon in the middle of the field. When
they were a few feet from each other, Scully stopped, and watched the
man do the same. Warily, she studied him, trying to tell if she'd seen
him before, if he'd been one of the men on Treasure Island, or even in
the sedan in D.C.

"Agent Scully," remarked the white man in his thirties, his gray
trenchcoat and black suit looking very official.

She felt him look her up and down, taking in the black ensemble she
had on - black turtleneck, black jeans and boots all under her
trenchcoat. Of course, that trenchcoat covered her real assets. The
rig and her guns.

"We're here to make the trade, per your request. If we could see your
captive?" the MiB asked politely, except the nicety never reached his
eyes, and he wore a half snarl on his face.

Scully nodded, and raised her hand to signal to the men in the car
with the First Elder that it was time. At her signal, Skinner, Dominic
and Stan pulled the First Elder from the car parked behind the stand
of trees. They walked him forward just enough so that they could be
seen.

"Now, where's Agent Mulder?" she asked in a very aggravated way,
making the man before her jerk for a moment.

She watched carefully as the MiB before her turned slightly, and
Scully heard car doors pop open, and then watched in anticipation as
two armed men shoved and almost dragged the form of her partner
forward. He drew his head up heavily and saw her there as they moved
forward, and then they stopped ten feet from where she stood.

"Scully!" Mulder called out, and received a reprimand in the form of
the barrel of one of the guard's guns smacking him across the face.

Enraged, Scully felt her hands drift to her waist, pushing the sides
of the trenchcoat aside as they placed themselves on her hips. She
stared at the man before her with a menacing look.

"If they do that again, it will be the *last* thing they do. Tell them
to bring him here, and let's get on with this," she said in a deadly
whisper.

"We want the First Elder first," he countered.

She didn't like it, but she shrugged. There wasn't much more she could
bargain with at the moment and keep Mulder alive. Scully waved Stan
and Dominic forward with the First Elder, moving him closer to where
she and the negotiator stood. When he'd gotten as far as their
position, they let him go on his own and she looked back at the MiB
before her expectantly.

The two men guarding Mulder hauled him up and started moving with him
towards her. Scully looked away for half a second to lock eyes with
Kwan. He nodded at her, and she returned her gaze to Mulder, his eyes
locked now on hers so she couldn't look away.

Mulder fell to the ground as the men shoved him forward. Scully split
her attention to the First Elder walking past her and the man who'd
pushed Mulder. 

Suddenly, the First Elder ran towards the parked cars, screaming,
"Kill them *all*!" 

The two men standing over Mulder's semi-prone form reached for their
guns, and before Scully could reach hers, she heard Kwan's 12 gauge
fire and the men were falling, screaming in pain, blood pouring from
gunshot wounds. Behind her, she could hear Skinner, Carmine and Kwan
all yelling. To her left, she saw Dominic and Stan chase after the
First Elder, shooting at the MiB's coming to his aid, who shot back.

Lunging forward, Scully grabbed the collar of the man who'd been
designated as the negotiator, and pulled her Sig at the same time. It
was at his head in a second.

"I guess it's time that you learned that we all can't have everything
we want," she remarked coldly, and pulled the trigger.

She felt the man go limp in her grasp as blood sprayed from the wound.
Ignoring the wet liquid that had splattered her face and upper limbs,
she reached down, wrapped her arm around Mulder's chest from behind
and forcibly dragged him away from the center of the fire zone,
calling for cover from anyone who could hear her.

Suddenly Kwan was there, helping her haul the much larger and heavier
Mulder towards some shelter. In moments Scully and Kwan had Mulder
behind a stand of trees, and once he was sure she was able to take
over, he moved into a defensive position, his 12 gauge making a
thunderous sound.

"Hey Scully," said Mulder sleepily as she shoved him down behind the
downed tree. He stared at her intently, trying to focus through the
drugs. "So, what did I get myself into this time?"

For a split second, she was torn between checking over her limp
partner and throwing herself back into the battle. Instead, Kwan, and
then Skinner had moved in front of her position.

"We will protect you Dana, while you look after Mulder," said Kwan as
he and Skinner continued to make sure that nothing got past them. She
nodded in grateful understanding and let them do what they felt they
had to.

Quickly, she looked him over for injuries, and found more than enough
cuts and abrasions, but no gaping bullet wounds. Shoving up his
sleeves revealed bruises at the crook of his arm that suggested that
they'd probably drugged him intravenously more than once, and probably
just before the trade had been set up, judging from the fresh bruising
there.

Once she'd finished her once over, she realized that Mulder had been
staring at her the whole time, taking in her appearance and her
battle-weary countenance.

"Hey there partner," she said in quiet tones, almost drowned out by
the continuing gun fire.

"Hey yourself," he replied. "Thanks for coming to get me."

She smiled, unable to help herself. Then she heard more shouting
behind her and turned to see that Skinner and Kwan had vanished.
Looking further across the field, she found that they'd had to wade
further away from her position, using some trees and rocks for cover
as the Consortium continued their attack from another direction.
Realizing that the situation was still bad, she knew that she couldn't
just sit there, hoping that everyone else could deal with it. Finally,
after agonizing seconds, she reached back behind her, sweeping away
the trenchcoat, and pulled the spare gun from her spine and pressed it
into Mulder's hands.

"Nice outfit," he said suddenly as he got his first real good look at
her, and she gave him her patented Scully-look of annoyance. It was
wonderful to hear his voice, his humor again, but this wasn't the
time.

Seeing the black funky poaching clothes clearly for the first time,
Mulder had been surprised. But then shock had set in as he saw both
the blood on her face and clothes and the rig strapped to her body.
Shit, he thought. If her shooting their enemies while she'd dragged
him over here wasn't impressive enough, he now realized that she was
packing enough weapons to make him look like a lightweight. 

The blood dotting her skin was something that he couldn't process at
the moment, and he shut his eyes as a wave of dizziness struck him.
She squeezed his hands tightly and his eyes flew open.

"Take this, and shoot anyone in a black suit who comes near you. I'll
be back as quick as I can," she explained roughly, her hand closing
the gun in his, and lingering there ever so slightly. 

Once he nodded, she was up, pulling her Sig and its companion from the
confines of her jacket and ran back into the fight.

Scully made her way to where Kwan and Skinner were pined down and
fired a few rounds into the blinding lights. She heard car engines and
started to panic. Were they getting the First Elder out of there and
leaving the foot soldiers behind to do the dirty work? And if the man
*did* escape, would there be retribution later? 

"Damn it," she cursed as she leaned around the tree she was using for
cover and fired at the lights. She heard glass break and it got a
little darker. "Where's Carmine?"

"They went after the First Elder," Skinner replied, ducking his head
in closer as pieces of bark went flying when a bullet struck the tree
he was standing behind.

Scully scanned the area and saw Dominic lying face down on the ground,
obviously wounded badly or dead. Looking farther away in that
direction, she saw Carmine and Anthony moving as fast as the old man
could go. They were following Stan and Vinnie Jr. as they chased and
shot at the First Elder, who's men were trying to protect them the
best they could. they were getting closer to the cars, and she knew
that they were loosing their chance to kill the fat bastard before he
could escape.

And after what that man had had done to Mulder, she wasn't about to
let that happen.

Before either Kwan or Skinner could react, she had launched herself
out from her cover and was racing towards the First Elder's vehicle.
If she could take out the driver before he got to the car, Anthony and
Carmine had a chance. They deserved the chance to get their revenge.
If she didn't have some kind of understanding of the honor of the
thing, she would have headed straight for the fat fuck herself and put
him out of his misery.

Behind her, she heard Kwan call her name, and the sound of his 12
gauge. As usual since he'd joined their group, he was watching her
back. A little part of her knew why, that the Asian assassin had a
crush on her. Another part of her knew that it was deeper than that,
and without knowing the details, Kwan had also uncovered a side of
himself, and, like Dana, *it* no longer scared him.

Violently putting that thought out of her mind, she rushed at the car,
and when she could clearly see the driver, she shot at him through the
windshield. The third bullet went through the hole she'd created in
the windshield and then through the man's neck. He slumped in the
driver's seat.

There was a roar of car engines around them, and Scully looked to see
that the rest of the MiB's were pulling out. At the same time, she saw
Stan tackle the First Elder, sending the two men sprawling. Vinnie Jr.
helped Stan up and they yanked the fat man to his knees.

Carmine and Anthony caught up with his men, slowly walking now to his
hated enemy's side. The First Elder wildly looked around and saw that
the rest of his troops had scattered, repelled by the hail of bullets
that had continued to rain on them, even as he'd run for his life.
Scully and Skinner watched dispassionately as Carmine took an offered
.45 automatic from Anthony and pointed it at the man's head.

"Please *don't* Carmine!" the First Elder begged, his hands clenched
in front of him.

"I always knew you'd go out squealing like a pig, Joe," Carmine said
as he brought down the .45 and the huge dark tunnel of the barrel all
that the First Elder could see. "At least, in that, you did not
disappoint."

Carmine pulled the trigger, and the First Elder slumped to the ground.
Anthony muttered something in Italian, and pumped a full clip into
what was left of the fat man's face. The other two wiseguys followed
suit, emptying their pistols into the dead man, like mourners tossing
dirt in an open grave.

Scully watched the grim display. Then she heard a distant voice
calling from a thousand miles away. It was Mulder calling her name.
She turned to see Mulder being helped by Reggie, who must have
convinced Mulder not to shoot him. She smiled at the thought, and
memories of Mulder's ever-persuasive wit flooded her. She couldn't
imagine what she would have done if they hadn't found him. . .

Mulder wobbled up on shaky legs and took a good look at Scully, and
then he scanned the scene. His eyebrows shot up and his eyes darkened
in horror, then shock as they moved on. His eyes returned to hers, and
their silent communication kicked in. She read the warning, the
concern in his eyes and turned to see Carmine start to move towards
Skinner, who was patiently standing there, as if waiting for the old
man to strike him down.

In the resulting silence, Scully shifted her Sig in her hand,
tightening her grasp on the grip. It was a subtle shift, but it was
one neither Carmine, Anthony or his men missed, and the tension
ratcheted up a notch.

"Scully," Skinner warned, watching Carmine as he tensed. "I think
Carmine and I can work our problems out on our own."

"Right," Carmine replied as he swung the barrel of the .45 into his
other hand, holding the weapon close to him.

She shook her head and walked between her boss and the mob leader.
Mulder started towards her, but Kwan held him back, trusting in the
warrior he'd fought beside three times now to take care of herself.

"You had your revenge. The First Elder is dead. He played *all* of
you. Skinner made sure you got out, and that you got your revenge.
Shouldn't that count for something in your world of honor and duty?"
she pointedly informed him.

Everyone watched as there seemed to be some kind of internal debate
going on in the old man. Finally, he turned the gun over in his hands
and handed it back to Anthony.

"Yeah it does. You've got a pass Walt. But I don't ever want to see
you again. You are dead to me."

With that, he turned and walked back to the cars. Anthony followed,
while Stan and Vinnie Jr. picked up Dominic's body and carried it with
them. They loaded up into the car they'd come in and drove off into
the night, leaving the rest of the group standing there, still in
shock. Scully turned to look first at her boss, and then at Mulder.

"It's over," she said quietly.

Yet part of her knew that some things were far from resolved.

-  X  -

Flight 3020
American Airlines
En Route to Washington D.C.


Mulder sat on the plane, his eyes fixed on the clouds outside his
window seat. They'd been in the air less than 20 minutes and he was
already restless. Beside him, Scully sat next to him in the center
seat, while Skinner, who'd used his leverage as their boss had the
aisle. He groaned inwardly as he watched his boss stretch his legs
into the walkway.

Of course, the accommodations on the plane were better than where he'd
been over the last week, not counting the emergency room that Scully
had insisted on him visiting after everything had cooled down in San
Francisco before they got a flight back to D.C. For the first time in
his life, he'd actually been at ease in an ER. Of course, how he'd
been living the last week or so had made the sanitized white, air
conditioned ER seem heavenly.

"So, have I thanked you today for rescuing my ass from the Consortium,
Scully?" he asked humorously, leaning over to interrupt her reading of
what seemed to be the most fascinating two month old magazine
article.

Slowly she let it the magazine slide to her lap, and she turned to
face him.

"Considering that it all happened at less than six hours ago, and you
thanked me there, while we were at the hospital, and again before we
got on the plane, I think so."

Mulder stared at her, then focused his attention on his boss, who
seemed to be doing his best to ignore the conversation going on right
next to him. Then from out of the blue, Skinner reached up and punched
the attendant call button. A few minutes later, one of the airline
attendants showed up, and Skinner had a quiet discussion with her. As
she left, Skinner turned to his agents and gave them a once-over
before he spoke.

"I checked with the airline and they said that since there's room on
the flight that I could move seats. I'm going to check on Kwan, see
how he's doing. If I don't come back, I'll see you when we land," he
explained quickly, then got up and left them alone.

Both of them watched Skinner's retreating form as he headed to the
back of the cabin. Now, in the mostly empty plane, they had a small
area around them to themselves.

"He did that on purpose," Scully quickly said, folding her magazine
open as she tried to retreat into the articles within.

"Yeah. But I think he did it out of the kindness of his heart, Scully.
That and I don't think he wanted to intrude," Mulder began as he
wiggled his way past Scully's legs and sat down in the seat on the
aisle, stretching out his legs. He almost sighed at the relief of the
movement. But instead he turned to scrutinize his partner.

She continued to re-read the same page for another five minutes before
she sighed loudly and gave up, shoving the magazine in the pouch in
the seat in front of her. Turning her head, she found Mulder still
staring at her, almost as if he was drinking in the sight of her.

"What?" she asked suddenly, startling him out of whatever trance he'd
been in.

"I just," he started, then faltered. "I can't help thinking about how
relieved I was to see you tonight. I mean, when I first woke up in
that warehouse, all I could remember was them shooting you, and I was
terrified that they'd killed you. I thought I'd never see you again.
And then, after they moved me, I knew that it had to be you looking
for me. I spent those last two days holding onto that thought. That
you were coming to find me."

Scully sat there in silence. He had no idea just how much she'd tried
to hold onto the hope that Mulder would have faith in her. That he'd
trust her to save him. And that she'd been scared out of her mind that
she'd fail.

"I know. I was afraid that I'd never find you. Or that when I did. . .
" she said, and she found her emotions starting to get the better of
her as she almost choked on the last word.

"Hey," he roughly said, "I'm here and I'm ok. A little banged up, but
ok."

She couldn't help but smile at that. 

"Hell Mulder, when *don't* you get banged up?" she countered.

He had to shrug at that. It was too close to the truth to deny it. But
considering the situation, he wasn't quite ready to let Scully have
the last word.

"Sure Scully, rub it in why don't you," he whined in his sarcastic
tone. "Next time, I'll let you shoot the guys before they drag me into
the car, ok?"

"Sounds like a plan to me Mulder," she remarked, feeling better. "Oh,
by the way, I have something that belongs to you."

At that she reached under her cuff and unbuckled Mulder's watch from
its place on her wrist. She held it out to him, and he took it and her
hand in his grasp for a second, then pulled the plastic watch from her
grasp.

"Thanks."

He settled it back on his wrist and gave her a smile. Everything was
where it was supposed to be. They settled back into their seats,
Scully finding herself leaning into Mulder's side as they relaxed into
their comfortable roles of partners and friends again, on their way
home to their lives in D.C.

And for now, that was enough. 

End Part 7

Darkest Before The Dawn 8/9

-  X  -

Scully's apartment
3170 W. 53 Rd.
Annapolis, VA
1 week later


Over the last week, Scully had found herself having to relearn how to
conform to civilization, which was proving more difficult than she'd
expected it to be.

First had been the meeting with the OPR panel in regards to her
conduct in the recovery of Agent Mulder, as well as A.D. Skinner's
involvement in the matter. They questioned her at length about her
association with the DiMerra crime family in New Jersey. What had
surprised her was the lack of questioning on the subject of the dead
bodies that had ended up littering several locations across the San
Francisco Bay Area. The only thing she could figure was that either
Carmine and Anthony or the factions of the Consortium that had helped
or hindered her had "cleaned up" after them.

The final nail in her coffin, she was sure would be her week long
absence from the Bureau without requesting the time off or calling in.
The fact that Skinner was her boss, and he'd been with her the whole
time, so she didn't need to let him know where she was almost came out
of her mouth. She barely stopped herself, reminding herself that
Skinner didn't need her to help get him in trouble. 

But they never mentioned the missed work hours. Only later, when she'd
had the time to speak with her boss did she find out that he'd had his
assistant draw up the proper forms before they left and signed them.
She'd allowed her self the impulse of kissing him on the cheek in
gratitude.

As Scully had sat there, listening to the board members recite proper
conduct policy and procedures, heard them pronounce her one week
suspension without pay and found herself imagining pulling out her
pistol and emptying a clip into the lot of them. And it was an almost
overwhelming temptation that she had gripped her hands tightly in her
lap to keep them from itching at the thought.

If that hadn't been proof that she'd come back with less self control,
more willing to act on impulse, she'd found herself swearing like a
sailor when she'd been talking with her mother over lunch. Not that
the language was of any shock to Maggie Scully, Navy wife and all, but
Dana considered the lack of mental censoring of the colorful terms in
her vocabulary meant that she really had allowed herself to change
radically, if not even fundamentally.

Then there was the Kwan issue. Now, looking back at the past ten days,
she wondered again what the hell she'd been on at the time to have
*trusted* the assassin with not just her life, but Mulder's as well.

Yet he'd been there for her. Had helped her rescue Mulder, put himself
between her and harms way, provided her with a sounding board and
support until the very end. It still surprised her when she knew that
he could have simply just walked away from everything.

Instead he had followed her back to D.C., stopped in more than a few
times to talk, see how things were. He had spent a lot of the time
discussing family, his and hers. It seemed that he had family in
Chicago that had immigrated to the US years ago and he thought that
maybe it would be good to go there and start over. Leave everything
else behind, since he really didn't have anything left in Hong Kong
for him. She'd supported that idea. After everything he'd been
through, had done for her, Kwan deserved whatever happiness he could
find.

When the discussion turned to her, she'd found herself answering
questions about Mulder more often than her mother or brothers.
Sometimes she felt like he was almost confirming one more time that
her relationship with Mulder was something sacred, serious. 

She had to admit to an initial attraction to the handsome Asian, and
was sure she'd felt his eyes on her longer than was polite more than
once. But he'd never said a word, and she knew it was because he knew
that she was already involved.

With Mulder.

Since Mulder had been kidnapped, she had begun to realize that he had
never been out of her mind for more than a minute. While he was gone,
everything had centered on him. Getting him back. Finding him alive
and ok. Getting the First Elder to trade for him. Threatening gunmen
to find out his whereabouts. Worrying, fearing, crying, missing,
loving this man who was out of reach.

But once she had him in her arms, safe and real, she'd found that the
frequency of thinking of him hadn't changed. Only her thoughts about
him had. Thoughts of touching, kissing, holding, making love to him
seeped through her brain without her consciously calling on the
images. At times, she found an overwhelming need just to get on the
phone and talk to him, invite him or herself over to see him.

Most of all, she'd found that the walls around her emotions were still
down. Whether it was a conscious decision or not, she wasn't sure. But
her emotions hadn't been closed back up, like she'd worried they
might. At the same time, she was scared by the vulnerability she felt.
Of the unspoken truth about how she felt, the one that she was sure
Mulder had to have seen in her eyes by now.

Yet Mulder had still not done anything in the week since he'd been
rescued that convinced her that he knew things had changed. Had done
nothing that he hadn't done before the abduction. For all intents and
purposes, they were exactly the way they had always been. Partners and
friends. Nothing more.

She found herself fearing that in doing whatever it took to get back
what she wanted so desperately, she'd lost her chance to have him.
That he was troubled by what he'd seen in her, what she'd become, and
had chosen to avoid their feelings, and decided to simply stay her
partner.

And the notion of that scenario scared her more than she could say.

- X -

J. Edgar Hoover building
FBI Headquarters
Washington D.C.
2 weeks later


Mulder sat at his desk, enjoying the feeling of being back. Of course,
the comfortable chairs helped to. He almost smiled, but stopped when
he felt the slight ache at the side of his mouth at the movement.

He might be back, but the toll of his ordeal was still fading. The
bruises and cuts that had been all over his body were either totally
healed or almost gone by now. 

Not all the damage was on the outside, he reminded himself sharply as
he looked across the desk to where Scully was absent mindedly pushing
papers around on her desk. She'd been doing that for the last 2
hours.

He'd learned from Skinner and Kwan exactly what Scully had done to get
him back, and he could even read between the lines when the two of
them had talked about it as well. Once a person went through something
that fundamentally changed them or challenged their morals to the
degree that Scully had been through, he knew it was hard to deal with,
let alone accept that change as a part of them.

Especially someone like Scully.

He shivered inwardly as he recalled specifically what Skinner had told
him of her ruthless behavior in her search for him. The intentional
shooting of an unarmed, vulnerable prisoner, her language, her single
minded pursuit of Mulder's return, no matter what scum she had to
associate with, her double fisted shooting and fiery vengeance.

Of course, he'd seen some of it himself. At the park in San Francisco
when the trade had gone south and exploded into insanity and gunfire.
He'd had her snatch him up from the ground and haul him to safety,
then watched her wade back into the fray, guns blazing like an actor
in a John Woo flick, blowing away the Consortium goons who had been
holding him.

But more importantly, in the days following his rescue, he and Scully
had begun to touch on the feelings that they seemed to share. Both
good and bad. But most significant were the ones that he'd always been
afraid of acknowledging; the ones he didn't think that she shared.
Except that now he knew differently. Between the flight back from San
Francisco, and the time they'd had to talk because she'd been
suspended and his forced sick leave, they'd ended up spending a lot of
time together. They'd talked more than they had in the last year,
saying a lot of the things that they'd neglected to say before the
whole thing had happened.

And sometimes letting their emotions get the better of them.

Yet during all that time, they were never truly alone. While Skinner's
Mafia 'friends' had left directly from San Francisco back to New
Jersey, Skinner had still been in the picture; on the flight back,
getting them squared away with the Bureau, and making a point to see
both of them on a formal and informal basis. 

But probably the most difficult for Mulder to deal with was Kwan.

Over the last week and a half, the man whom he'd learned had been sent
to assassinate his partner had nearly been at her beck and call. Like
a forlorn, lost puppy. He could see the fondness that the other man
had for Scully. Not only was it written on his face whenever he talked
to her, but he'd found out the truth about Kwan's feelings for his
partner almost word for word from the man.

Thinking back, Mulder recalled the conversation he'd had with Kwan
less than two days ago. 

He'd shown up at Scully's apartment, and Mulder had let him in. Scully
had left hours earlier to go to a meeting at the Bureau before she
returned from her suspension and she'd asked Mulder to stay and wait
for a package from her brother. So when Kwan had shown up, looking for
Scully, Mulder had suggested he come in and wait for her to get back,
and offered him a beer.

Kwan had almost declined and left, but Mulder had verbally and maybe
even physically persuaded the man to stay. Besides, Mulder had yet to
talk privately with the man that Skinner had said had been crucial in
securing his release. And had made himself indispensable with Scully.
His gut reaction to that had been almost murderous. That Kwan was
trying something with Scully. . . So he wanted the chance to
straighten things out with him, and if need be, kick the guy's teeth
in.

After finishing off a six pack in under two hours, the men had come to
a slightly inebriated understanding. Mulder had found out that while
Kwan did care for Scully, he knew he didn't have a snowball's chance
in hell with her. When Mulder had asked why, the assassin had looked
at him like he'd missed seeing an elephant walk into the room.

'She's in love with you. You know that, don't you?' Kwan had said.

Looking back now, Mulder didn't remember choking on the beer, just
having Kwan slap him on the back as he started to find the air that he
usually breathed without problem had disappeared. When he'd gotten his
breath back and turned to Kwan, he saw the surprise and thoughts of
recrimination for how stupid he was clearly on the man's face.

It reminded him of his conversation with Skinner, which had started
this fact-finding mission about Scully's affections in the first
place.

The two of them had been sitting alone waiting for the plane for San
Francisco to be announced while Scully had searched for a pay phone to
call her mom. He'd sat there and in no uncertain terms been given the
obvious approval of their boss to get 'jiggy' with his partner.

Actually, the incident had been more like 'What do you mean you and
she aren't. . .' after Skinner had explained what she'd done to get
him back, as well as the emotions that he'd witnessed first hand at
each failure to rescue him, and their final success. He'd finally just
asked outright what was going on between his agents, and Mulder's
answer had caused his eyebrows to shoot up, and a look of
indescribable shock to appear on Skinner's face.

After that, he'd all but been told he was an idiot, and that if he
cared for Dana at all like Skinner was certain she cared for him, if
he didn't do something about it, he'd make sure that Mulder would be
working shit cases for the next twenty years.

He'd almost said something to her on the plane, and then when he'd
come over the night after they'd returned, he had found Kwan already
there, sitting on her couch. . . So he'd hesitated, unsure of how his
partner *really* felt about him. Except Kwan had finally put him
straight about where Dana Scully's heart lay - directly with him.

Skinner was back to being their boss, sending them on assignment and
chewing out their asses while Kwan had taken the red eye out that
morning to see some of his family in Chicago. Finally though, they
were alone again, partners again. Yet there was potential for so much
more. . .

He'd thought about it almost every minute since Kwan and Skinner had
confirmed his suspicions. Of course, the truth was that he'd been
pondering their relationship for longer than that. Mulder had sworn to
himself while he'd been imprisoned that if ever the day came that he
knew Scully could be in love with him, he'd make his move. Because the
truth was that they'd both been used against each other so many times
without their ever being 'intimately' involved made the fear of
reprisal based on such a change to their relationship just crumble
under the weight of the facts. 

They'd forced themselves to repress what they both wanted for the last
five years out of some misguided fear of reprisal, and he'd decided he
deserved, no, *they* deserved the benefits of a more intimate
relationship if they were going to suffer the disadvantages of one.
They loved each other for God's sake! 

Yet he hadn't heard Scully say the words. And he wanted, *needed* to
hear them. Except right now, they were in the office, and he had to be
business-like, be her partner. And he still needed to help Scully
resolve all the aspects of herself that she was struggling with before
they could take their next step. One that he so desperately wanted to
take.

Nothing like taking on a simple problem or two, he thought almost
bitterly.

He was just about to open his mouth and ask her how she was, hoping
that he'd get an honest answer and not 'I'm fine', when the phone
rang. Quickly he scooped it up and had it to his ear.

"Mulder."

The sound of his voice brought Scully up short, and her eyes left her
desk to watch him as he 'yes' and 'no'd his way through the call. She
couldn't help staring at him, her mind still having problems wrapping
around the fact that just 2 weeks ago she'd been on the other side of
the country looking for him. And that she'd found out just how far she
was willing to go to get him back.

Hanging up, Mulder was surprised to find a pair of brilliant blue eyes
staring at him, and he couldn't suppress the somewhat lopsided grin
that lit his face.

"Skinner?" Scully asked, her voice a mixture of keen interest and
dread.

"Yeah. He just wanted to make sure that now that we're back that we
keep up with the accounting paperwork. He also mentioned something
about possibly having something later in the week that we might need
to look into, but no assignments just yet," he explained simply.

"Oh, ok."

She turned away from him again, and Mulder felt the strangest feeling
of being cut off from his partner. Something he hadn't felt since that
time in Comity. And while he could feel, almost see some of the
emotions that she was feeling, the fact that she was so withdrawn at
the moment really concerned him.

"Scully," he finally said, breaking through the silence that had
descended into the room again. Her head slowly came up, and he swore
he saw guilt and pain in her eyes. "What happened in San Francisco,
what you did, what you *had* to do. . . You know that I don't think
any less of you because of it, don't you?"

His words cut through her like a sword. Of course he'd know how she
was feeling. He did have a damn degree in Psychology after all. And it
wasn't like she'd been dealing well with the whole thing. Actually,
she was more surprised that it had taken him this long to discuss it
this directly with her.

Especially since, besides how much she wanted Mulder, it was all she
could think about.

In the last two weeks, it was almost all she had been able to think
about. What she'd done, what she'd become. How she'd been able to
associate so easily, on such a base level with these people: Kwan the
assassin and the Consortium; the mobsters Carmine and Anthony; even
the military commando mentality of Skinner and Reggie. 

She'd delved deeply into her own psyche after rescuing Mulder, as
she'd found herself struggling to come to terms with who she was now,
how much she had allowed herself to change in her search for Mulder,
and whether or not she'd ever be able to go back to the way she was
before. She'd been trying, and even though she'd succeeded to some
degree, the knowledge that all those emotions, those impulses were
just under the surface, ready to come out at a moments notice
terrified her.

And at the root of all her fears about what she'd done, had become in
her pursuit of Mulder, she'd been worried about how he felt about it,
how it would *change* them.

"I. . . Mulder, you have to understand something," she said, her voice
hesitant as she pressed her hands onto her thighs to keep them from
trembling, her gaze wavering and then dropping. "I found a part of me
that's capable of being as cold blooded and calculating as the men who
took you are. It's not something that's easy to live with, and I've
been trying to handle it on a day to day basis since we got back. But
to know what you're capable of, not just from thinking that you could
be if pressed, but to truly know it. . . part of me wishes that I
didn't."

Mulder let the words just hang there for a minute. They'd skirted
around the issue for weeks now, and while his Psychology education had
trained him to expect her to feel something like this, to actually
hear the words from Dana Scully: his partner, his *strength*, the
woman he. . . well, it shook him more than he'd imagined it would. In
a heartbeat he had gotten up from his chair and moved to her side.
Turning her in her seat, he tenderly lifted her face to his, catching
her eyes and let her read them.

"I wish I could give you back what you've lost too Scully: the
innocence to not know what you're capable of; the knowledge that this
is a part of you, no matter what you do," he said softly, his eyes
speaking volumes in unspoken emotion. "But I also understand what led
you to delve into the part of you that you would have rather kept
locked away. . . me."

At his words, she wanted to stop him, try and explain herself better.
But the look in his eyes told her that he wasn't finished.

"You never gave up on me Scully. And I'll always be grateful for that.
I want you to know that I'd never judge you for what you've done. All
I want to do is just be here for you, be with you while you deal with
this. Whatever the price is that I have to pay to help you accept all
the parts of yourself, I'll pay it. Just please, *please* don't shut
me out," he finally said, his hands now clutching hers as he waited
breathlessly for a word, a sign that she understood what he was
saying. How he felt.

Scully let out a tremulous sigh, and she felt tears start to well up
in her eyes. The final fear she'd had was gone and it was like a
weight had lifted from her shoulders. He didn't hate, didn't fear what
she'd had to do to save him. Instead he was willing to stand by her as
she sorted out all those issues of her psyche.

"I've never wanted to shut you out Mulder. I was just. . . afraid that
you wouldn't understand," she started.

"But I do Scully. And I can't say that it going to be easy, but I've
always known you had it in you," he said, lightening the mood, then he
put his hand over his shoulder where he proudly carried a bullet scar.
"Hell, you've kicked my ass enough times to know."

She couldn't help but smile at that, and nodded her head. He smiled
back, and she knew everything was going to be ok. 

End Part 8

Darkest Before The Dawn 9/9 

This part is NC-17

-  X  -

Epilogue
Scully's apartment
3170 W. 53 Rd.
Annapolis, VA


Scully shrugged her shoulders as she felt Mulder's hands come down to
rest on them. Even through the warm cloth of her flannel shirt she
could feel the heat of his hands as if they burned. It was like that
nowadays, since San Francisco and the abduction. His touch was like
fire as she truly understood what losing Mulder would have done to
her. And what she would have lost if that had happened.

He'd been over most nights since they'd returned, but tonight was
different. A couple of hours ago, after their talk in the office, he'd
shown up at her apartment with Chinese take out and beer. They'd sat
and eaten and talked. In the past, that had always a good sign. It was
something that lent itself to the pattern of their partnership and
friendship. It was business as usual.

Except tonight it had just made her feel anxious and uncomfortable.
She had found herself distracted and giving him one word answers to
his questions as they talked. Finally she'd moved from the couch and
sat down in the wing back upholstered chair she'd always considered
her father's as Mulder had taken the leftovers into the kitchen.

That's where he'd found her now, as he waited to see if his touch
would roust her from her thoughts. Little did he know he was doing
more than just that. 

She turned under his grasp and looked up at him. He released her
shoulders and walked around the chair to sit on the coffee table
before her. She could see the beginnings of something dangerous
brewing behind his eyes, and sucked in a deep breath. It wasn't bad
enough that her nerves had been fried after she'd admitted just how
deep her feelings for Mulder ran during her quest to get him back. But
since he'd been liberated, he always seemed to be near her. In her
space and on her mind. It was driving her crazy.

"I understand that Kwan left for Chicago this morning," Mulder began,
trying to ease into the discussion that he had avoided in the office.
It required a lot more privacy than their basement afforded. And the
final results, well, he was thinking that they might be less than
'friendly'.

"The job he'd been brought here to do seems to have been called off,"
she replied dryly. The man had been hired to kill her, what more could
she say about that. Except that he'd turned against his orders and
ended up helping her. She'd come to depend on him while she'd been
searching for Mulder. And once she'd accomplished that goal, Kwan had
decided to take his leave, since his employer had 'vanished'. "Some of
his family is there. They immigrated some years back and there was
nothing keeping him D.C. any longer. He didn't know anyone here,
didn't have anyone. . . "

"He had you," he said softly. 

Scully looked up into Mulder's usually hazel eyes and found them
darker than she could remember them ever being. She found herself
swimming in them, drowning in the complex emotions that she found
there. And when she found the one emotion that she'd longed to see,
she found her courage to leap into the fire.

There was a long pause as they looked at each other, and Mulder was
starting to worry that he'd misjudged her reactions. That Skinner,
Kwan and he were all wrong in what they'd been sure they'd seen.
Except he was *sure* he saw it now. . .

"No. *You* have me," she explained quietly, the true weight of what
she meant evident in each syllable that had passed her lips. "That is,
if you want me. . . "

Mulder was sure his heart had stopped as he finally comprehended what
she'd just said, just admitted to him. He looked at her as if she was
insane. Did he want her? Hell yes! He'd wanted to hear her say that
for five years, and he couldn't believe she would even doubt that he
could need her, want her, love her like he did. He'd spent the days
locked in those different prisons realizing just how much he cared for
her. And now that he knew that she felt the same as he did, he wasn't
backing away.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you how much I want you Scully," he
replied breathlessly.

Her tongue flicked out of her mouth and wetted her lips, which seemed
to have gone dry in the seconds that had passed between being friends
with the man she loved and being told he wanted her as much as she
wanted him. She watched his eyes follow her tongue, and then he
gravitated towards the chair.

Without thinking, her hands flew forward and stopped him, the palms
resting against his chest. He looked at her, confused at her blocking
him from touching her, when it had been just seconds before that she'd
said she wanted him.

"I just want you to be sure Mulder," she asked softly, her fingers
almost burrowing into his soft gray t-shirt. "I spent all that time
looking for you, and while I was doing that, I came to the realization
that I needed you more than I knew. That I was in love with you."

Mulder was sure he had stopped breathing, and his heart was thudding
in his chest. She'd finally said the words he'd needed to hear, told
him that she *loved* him, and now he knew that nothing could keep them
apart any longer.

Kneeling at her feet, his hands came up and closed over where hers
still pressed against his chest. The results were electric, as he felt
a jolt like an electrical shock starting from where their hands met.
It coursed along his nerve endings and sent his heart rate climbing
and his blood pooling south. On top of that, he saw her eyes widen a
bit and knew that she'd felt it too. He couldn't help but grin like an
idiot.

"I'm sure Scully. I'm sure that I've never needed or trusted anyone
more than I do you," he started, pulling her hands away from his chest
so he could lean in closer. "And I'm sure that I've never loved anyone
like I love you."

His face was inches from hers by the time he stopped speaking, and he
gazed in her eyes one last time for permission. The spark of lust he
saw there was invitation enough, and he leaned in the final few inches
to press his lips warmly to hers. Her lips were soft and hot, and he
found himself intoxicated by just this simple kiss.

Then her mouth opened under his and Scully's tongue ran across his
lips and he was gone.

Mulder's hands flew to her hair, weaving themselves in her silken
tresses as he pulled her closer to him, ravishing her mouth with his.
In turn, Scully tightened her grip on his shirt, her fingers kneading
both the cloth and his chest as she struggled with the onslaught of
his lips on hers, feeding back to him the same passion he was showing
her.

Prying his lips from hers, Mulder leaned back and smiled at her. At
the same time, he let his hands ease from their grip in her hair to
brush over her ears, down her neck and to her shoulders. Scully
shivered at his touch and he grinned wider. Moving back in, he drank
of her lips only for a second before he let his mouth start wandering.
He kissed at her forehead, her cheeks and her nose, then gravitated to
her left ear. All the while, his hands stroked up and down her flannel
covered arms.

"Say it again Scully," he whispered in her ear, making her shudder.

"Say what again? I've said a lot of things tonight," she countered
huskily, her head lolling back as his mouth moved down her neck
slightly before moving back up to her ear.

"The part about wanting me and trusting me."

Once the words were out, he headed back to his task, his lips kissing
and sucking at her neck, moving towards the neckline of her shirt. 

"Oh, that," she said in an dismissive manner as she felt his lips curl
against her skin. "I want you Mulder. I think I always have. And I
trust you. . . you're the only one I trust."

"Oooh Scully, I just got really turned on."

He looked up at her and saw her arch her eyebrow. She was smiling
though. One of the rare Scully smiles that turned his insides to
butter. How the hell had he resisted doing this with her all this
time? Fought the feelings that they had when this was the benefit of
them? The thoughts running through his head seemed to short circuit
what he'd been doing, and he was just sitting there, watching her.

Mulder suddenly felt Scully's hands at his waist. Then they slipped
lower and she stroked him through his jeans. His eyes slipped shut and
he couldn't breathe. Dear God, he was sure that he was dead. He must
have died in the firefight in San Francisco because there was no way
in hell that this could be real. Except that it felt too good for him
to be dead.

"Do you want to take this somewhere more comfortable?" Scully said in
a smoky whisper that Mulder was sure he'd only heard in his
fantasies.

Looking at her, seeing her disheveled hair, the passionate look to her
eyes and her full, well kissed lips, he knew he'd have to take it to
the bedroom sooner or later, or they'd end up on the floor. But for
the moment, he still liked where they were.

"Not quite yet," he replied, his lips finding hers and locking to them
as his hands started at the buttons on her shirt. 

Even with shaking hands, he got the small discs undone in record time.
Never let it be said that being focused and obsessive didn't have its
benefits, he thought wickedly to himself as he peeled the shirt off
her shoulders and pooled it around her waist. Scully had to let up on
rubbing his erection through his jeans when he'd shoved her shirt down
her arms, effectively pinning her hands nearly to her sides. Now she
fought not to squirm under his touch and gaze as he reached for her
bra.

It wasn't more than a heartbeat before Mulder had the clasp of her bra
in hand, and looked up to her eyes for any signs of dissent. When he
saw none, he had it apart and her breasts in plain and very
appreciative view. She watched as his tongue swiped along his lips
slowly, and she wondered if it was a conscious act or not. 

Then that tongue found its way to the ivory skin between her breasts
and licked from below the swell of her breasts to her throat, and then
kissed his way back down, swerving to her left breast before he
returned to where he's started. She'd closed her eyes, the strength of
the emotions rolling through her startling her and making it near
impossible to watch without moaning. That was until his lips wrapped
around her pink nipple and he pulled ever so slightly, his tongue just
barely brushing it before she felt a groan of pleasure slip from her
mouth.

Encouraged even more than before, he lapped at her like a cat, his
lips occasionally closing tightly on the bud and sucking. Each
variation produced a different pitch in her moans or groans as he felt
her arch herself further into him. His right hand grasped her right
breast and played with the nipple there, alternating pinching and
rolling it to flicking and rubbing the hard point of flesh. His left
hand had wrapped around her waist and held her to him as he continued
to explore her.

"Oh God that's good Mulder," she hissed as his teeth barely grated
against her skin. He glanced up at her and found himself respond with
another twinge to his groin as he saw her lolled back, her cheeks
flushed and her eyelids half closed. She was the sexiest thing he'd
seen in his life.

He'd wanted to take this slow, draw out the experience, but he didn't
know if he had it in him. Stubbornly, he shoved aside his discomfort
and urgency and instead refocused on Scully. The hand at her waist
found the waistband of her leggings and he curled his fingers inside.
With a tug, he got them and her panties started down her hip, but
realized he needed both hands and her help to get them off. His mouth
and his other hand left her breast as he started to concentrate on the
problem at hand.

Once she'd felt his hands pull at her waist, Scully had shuddered and
forced her eyes open to watch Mulder struggle with her clothes. With a
little grin, she slid her hands beside his and helped him get the
garments off her hips. As soon as he had them to her thighs, he shoved
them down with ease. Then before she knew what had hit her, he'd put
his hands around the backs of her knees and pulled her forward on the
chair, spreading her legs open and her ass halfway off the cushion.

If she hadn't been wet before now, she was certainly getting hotter
and damper by the second as Scully watched him stare at her lower
body, now exposed to his view. The smile that graced his face was
feral, lustful in every way. She felt her excitement ratchet up
another notch, her insides humming in anticipation of his next move.

When it came, it was like lines of fire.

Mulder leaned in and let his long fingers glide past her auburn down
and over her wet folds, lightly but with enough pressure to make sure
they both felt every stroke. He went from her clit to the bottom of
her slick opening and back up again in a leisurely fashion as he
breathed in her scent, made stronger by his touch. There was no reason
to rush, he reminded himself over and over again. They had eternity,
didn't they?

With each stroke, Scully felt the fire coiling low in her belly,
turning her mind to mush and her inner walls to quivering jelly. She
was quietly calling out to God, Mulder and all variety of deities as
he continued his assault. The small part of her brain that was still
trying to function rationally realized that she was almost over the
edge, and he had yet to put his lips or tongue to her.

Or, as she felt the tips of his fingers push minutely past her outer
lips, used his finger where she most wanted them - inside her. She
moaned in pleasure and frustration as he did it over and over again,
increasing her need with each stroke. Her hands clutched at the arms
of the chair until she couldn't stand it any more.

"Mulder, please," she pleaded beseechingly, her voice raspy in its
need.

Confused, Mulder stopped and looked at her face. His eyes were
transfixed by the vision of lust before him. She was biting on her lip
and had her eyes closed tightly. Her nails were pressed deeply into
the well upholstered arms of the chair.

Shit, he thought, was he doing something wrong?

"What Scully? Please what?" he asked, concern starting to creep into
his expression as well as his voice.

The tone of his question popped her eyes open, and she saw the fear in
his gaze. Inwardly she laughed, he thought he was doing something
wrong when the truth was he was simply torturing her to death with the
pleasure of it. But she needed more, and she had to tell him so.

"Please *more*," she said throatily, the words dripping from her mouth
like honey. "Please don't stop. God, it feels so good, please don't
stop there. . . "

The anxiety was gone from his face in a heartbeat and he grinned at
her. His fingers stroked along her again, faster this time and rubbing
slightly at her clit before they started back down. He felt her tense
and her hips slide forwards a fraction as his fingers brushed below
the surface of her lower lips. Without needing any further
instructions, he let his fingers slide to the end of her opening, and
on the stroke back up, he slid his first two fingers deeply inside of
her.

Scully cried out. If it had been louder, it would have been a scream,
but instead it sounded high pitched and more like a wail. As he slid
his fingers in and out of her hot passage, he felt her insides shake
around him. It wouldn't take long, and he knew that if he was going to
take full advantage of his kneeling position before her, he had to do
it now.

He lowered his head and dropped his mouth to her clit as he furiously
thrust his fingers in and out of her body. It took only a few moments
before he felt her tighten around him and quake as her orgasm hit. 

"Ohhh God!" she yelled, her head thrown back as the waves of release
washed through her body, shaking her with the force of her climax.

Mulder rode it out with her, his tongue lapping at her juices as his
fingers moved slowly inside her until she finally came down. before
long she could open her eyes and look at him. It took a little longer
for her voice to return.

"Wow," she murmured, her hand unclenching from the chair arm and
burrowing into Mulder's hair.

"Double wow," he replied, a look of satisfaction plastered on his
face. "That was amazing."

Scully tried not to blush, but found it impossible. Her emotions were
too far out of her control for that. Gazing lovingly at the man
kneeling before her, she noted both the painful looking bulge under
his jeans, and the fact that he was still wearing clothes.

That would not do at all, she jokingly thought to herself.

Using her grip on his head, Scully pulled Mulder up until his face was
in front of hers. She paused only for a second before she savaged his
lips with hers, tasting him and herself on his lips and tongue. While
her mouth toyed with his, her hands moved to pull at his clothes,
tugging at the hem of his shirt and struggling with the button of his
jeans.

Forcing himself not to chuckle, Mulder pulled himself back to watch a
very aroused Dana Scully frantically try to get him undressed with
little success.

"You know Scully, you could just ask," he teased as he gently moved
her hands from him, taking over for her. 

His shirt was gone in a second, and he popped the button and unzipped
his pants in no time flat. It wasn't until he got to his tennis shoes
that he realized he had a problem. Scully watched with a mixture of
lust and humor as she shrugged her shirt and bra completely off. When
he nearly fell on his ass, trying to pull off his shoes, she couldn't
help giggling. Quickly she threw her hand over her mouth, but it was
too late.

"This is *not* funny," he growled lightly as he finally pulled the
shoe and sock off, their momentum throwing them across the living
room.

"If you were sitting where I am, you would think it was funny too
Mulder," she retorted, leaning forward in the chair to lick at his now
bare chest. 

He started at the touch and fell backward to land ass first on the
coffee table. 

"Ow!" he yelled, his hand flying to his abused backside.

"Anything injured?" she asked quickly, jumping up from the chair to
his side.

"My pride is about it," he replied, and with that she reached over and
pulled his other shoe and sock off. His jeans followed.

She crouched there, looking at his erection straining towards her,
held back only by the white cotton boxers. Her eyes came back to his,
and all the humor and hurting were gone. Replaced with the love and
lust she was becoming used to seeing there.

Standing quickly, she held out her hands to help him up. He took them
readily and stood in front of her. Gravitating closer, they pressed
against one another, almost totally flesh against flesh. 

"You ready to go someplace more comfortable?" she asked softly, her
mouth curling into a soft grin.

"Oh yeah," he replied with a lustful grin and looped his arms around
her waist. She yelped, and he lifted her from the floor, hauling her
with him as he moved quickly to her bedroom.

Inside, he laid her on the bed, reluctantly letting her go, his hands
dragging along her soft skin as he released her. Scully looked up at
him inquisitively from her reclining position on the bed as she tried
to gauge his next move. Before he did anything else, he reached down
and pulled at the bedcovers and Scully moved to accommodate him. Now,
with nothing but the sheet below her, she expected him to come to
her.

Instead he just stood there, his cock straining against his boxers and
a look of utter astonishment on his face. It was as if he was finally
coming to realize that this was really happening. That they were doing
this for real.

Scully decided that the only thing that was going to haul Mulder out
of his analysis was for her to make the next more. Sitting up, she
reached forward and insinuated her fingers between the elastic of
Mulder's waistband and his skin. She felt his breath catch as her
fingers slid down inside the cloth, then he growled when she tugged at
them forcefully, pulling him to her as his knees butted against the
side of the bed.

Her other hand came up to join the first, and she drew down his boxers
in one attempt. Using his feet, he pushed them past his calves and
onto her bedroom floor. All the while, they watched one another,
seeing the desires and emotions playing across their features.
Deliberately she moved her hands back to his waist, pulling his pelvis
closer to her, and Mulder stared as she licked her lips as she came
closer to his engorged cock.

As soon as he saw her tongue dart forward, he stepped back, nearly
unseating her from the bed. Confused, she looked up at him, trying to
figure out what she'd done wrong. Mulder's hands were in her hair in a
second and he leaned down to kiss her passionately, pushing them both
onto the bed, his body sprawling on top of hers.

"Not this time love," he said affectionately as he pulled himself from
her lips. "I want to come with you. If you'd even touched me, I don't
think I could have held out long enough for this. . . " 

At his words, he positioned himself at her vaginal opening and slid
inside in one long, slow thrust.

"Oohh God!" Scully moaned as he filled her up beyond her wildest
imaginings. It was the most incredible sensation.

"Mmm, oh Scully, that feels *so* good. *You* feel so good," he panted,
feeling his length pulse within the heated sheath of her body.

Beneath him, Scully arched up into him, her hands moving along his
back and to his shoulders. Her body was getting restless as he held
himself still, embedded deep inside her core. She was on the edge
already, the sensation of him just being inside her was almost enough
to make her come. But she needed him to *move*.

"So do you Mulder," Scully murmured, her voice passion-filled but with
a raw edge that surprised him. "But if you don't move *soon*, I'm
going to have to hurt you."

A lopsided grin spread across his face while his emotions warred
between humor and lust. His hands slid from her head, one going to
brace himself over her as the other wrapped around her waist as he
shifted them further onto the bed, the movement rocking him slightly
back, then farther insider of her. Scully moaned at the shift in their
position, and helped him, letting the heels of her feet dig into the
mattress and her legs push while he moved forward. When he settled,
she wrapped them around his thighs, holding him tightly to her.

"Well?" she started, then gasped as he withdrew suddenly and thrust
back into her.

His reply was non-verbal as he released her waist and his hand flew
back to her hair as he gradually started to drive himself in and out
of her, his mouth closing onto hers as he set up a tempo which she
quickly countered.

Picking up the pace, Mulder had her writhing under him, words of love
and cries of pleasure reaching his ears as he strove to bring them
both to completion. He pounded into her while his mouth kissed and
sucked at her neck and collarbone, her nails running up and down his
back.

Mulder knew the pressure within them both was almost ready to explode,
his balls were on fire and his cock seemed to throb almost constantly.
He was just about to reach between them when he felt her inner walls
pulse, and then strongly contract as Scully's orgasm hit her suddenly,
accompanied by a shrill cry that he was sure was his name.

Holding nothing back, Mulder slammed forcefully once, then again as he
felt his balls clench and his semen shoot out his body and into hers
as he let loose with a hoarse yell. Wracked with the indescribable
pleasure of his release, his eyes fell shut as he slumped forward, his
lower arms holding him above Scully as he laid there, gasping for
breath.

He felt her hands touch his face, and he opened his eyes to see the
shinning blue he'd become so dependent on. Even if he hadn't seen the
smile on her face and the glow that radiated from her body, he could
have told how much she loved him from just the look in her eyes. And
now that he'd seen it, he never wanted to live without it.

Scully grunted in discomfort as Mulder unconsciously let his weight
fall on her, and he quickly lifted himself up, dislodging his
deflating cock from her body as he did so. They both winced at the
loss, but he quickly rolled to his side, pulling her beside him. He
watched her as her eyes blinked slowly, tiredly. The toll of their
lovemaking, he smirked. He'd tired her out.

Sitting up, he searched blindly at the bottom of the bed for the
covers and finally caught hold of them. Pulling them up over them, he
settled himself on his side, gazing lovingly at the woman tucked
against him.

Scully reached over and ran her hand down his bare chest, then up to
his neck and behind his head. With the lightest pressure, she pulled
his face to hers and kissed him tenderly on the lips and then let him
ease from her grasp as her hand found a resting place over his heart.

"I love you Mulder," she said with quiet conviction, her eyes heavy
and glassy with unshed tears of joy. 

He smiled at her, and she reflected it back at him. 

"I love you too Scully," he whispered in her ear, brushing at the
wisps of auburn that spread across her face as she attempted to stifle
a yawn. "Get some rest Scully. I'll be here when you wake up. I'm not
going anywhere anytime in the foreseeable future. Except where you
are."

Scully smiled and nodded, then curled up against him, exhausted and
happy. She had everything she wanted. After everything she'd been
through to get it, she had it. As she felt him stoke her hair, she let
her eyes slip shut and sleep claim her.

He watched her intently, his heart full and his emotions overflowing.
She just kept amazing him. Every time he was sure he knew all there
was to Dana Scully, she surprised him again. When he'd been held
prisoner, he'd fantasized about this moment, but the reality blew the
fantasy away. His warrior-like defender had come to his rescue, and
not only had given him his freedom, but her heart as well. And with
that, she'd given him a future - *their* future.

Mulder smiled warmly, then looked away from the fiery red-head
pillowed against him in the bed and out the window. It was dark
outside, pitch black almost. Yet he remembered a quote by someone that
said that it was always darkest before the dawn. But as he turned his
gaze back to where Scully lay, he knew that no matter what happened to
them now, the darkness was over. 

Dawn had finally arrived. 

-End-

Thank you for reading. I have been obsessed with this project on and
off for the last 4 years now. It was one of the few projects that I
swore to myself that I would finish. No matter what, and I'm glad to
say that it's finally done.

At this point, I need to acknowledge the main contributor, motivator
and support - my husband Gil. When this story idea started, it was
during a time when I was immersed in several things: running an
X-Files Mailing List (XFCreative), writing fanfic, planning a wedding
and living the day to day life of someone in a relationship. And while
I ended up putting the writing and administration duties on hold, I
always knew that if I ever wanted to pick up either of them again, I'd
always have his support. I turned to him for technical advice on
weaponry and foreign history, and he helped write several story
sections as well as helped me develop the plot line. So, for
everything, I thank him from the bottom of my heart (which is his
anyhow).

Also my thanks to the beta readers for looking this over - you know
who you are.

So to wrap up, I simply say - I hope you enjoyed this, and if you
liked it, please drop me a line at jtrevizo@mindspring.com and let me
know. 

This story and others can be found at Writing Machine Central:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Orion/1341/stories.html

Thanks!