"The truth is out there, but so are lies..."  --Dana Scully
Come back, Scully, Come back!

                Faint Thoughts
                by:  Tiziana Sorrentino
                (TIZ37@aol.com)


  Mulder looked up and stared out into the star-filled sky.  He was alone
  now, no one to turn to.  Scully was gone, taken away from him; abducted.
  There wasn't anything he could do the night Duane Barry took her.
  He remembered the broken window, the blood on the walls. He wondered
  whether or not it was Scully's. He could still faintly hear her calling
  his name. [Mulder... I need your help... Mulder!]
  "How could I've let this happen?" he thought."It's my fault she's gone.
  If I hadn't called her the night Duane Barry had taken those people
  hostage, she'd be here right now."
  Mulder walked down the hill and got into his car. He looked over at the
  passenger's seat. There was an empty carton of milk and a bag containing
  the remnants of the half-eaten dinner he had bought the night before. It
  had begun to smell pretty ripe in the car and he reached over to the glove
  compartment and took out a pine scented air freshener. He held it in his
  hand and smiled.
  [Mulder, it's getting a bit ripe in here, don't you think?] Scully's
  voice echoed in his mind. [I wouldn't put myself on the line for anybody
  but you.]
  "And now you've put your life on the line, Scully." he thought as he put
  the freshener around the rear view mirror. He leaned his head on the
  steering wheel and closed his eyes. He was so tired, but he dare not
sleep.
  He wouldn't let himself.
  "Scully." He said out loud. "I'm sorry." The sun was coming up. He started
  the car and drove away. He remembered Krycheck's face, how he had actually
  believed Krycheck and had started to trust him. [Some of us followed your
  work, we believed in you.]
  "You son of a bitch... you were in on it all along. I was beginning to
  trust you." Mulder's fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly in anger.
  "I should have listened to my instincts from the beginning... I should
  have listened... How many times did Scully tell me that?"
  ("I should have known to trust your instincts, Mulder.")
  ("Why?  Nobody else does.")  A few months back, Scully had seen an alien
  embryo. It was a big change for her.  
  ("I've always held science as sacred.")
  "Now, they know that you are more open to extreme possibilities, Scully.
  They know you're a threat to whatever they're hiding... they don't care
  if 'Spooky' Mulder believes, but, they didn't anticipate you being the one
  holding the evidence and reaching for the truth."
  Mulder parked the car in front of Scully's apartment building and walked
  in. Her window had been boarded up so that no looters would be able to get
  in take any of her personal belongings. The blood and fingerprints were
  still there. He walked down the hall and stood in front of her door.
  "Did he hurt you, Scully?" he said while staring at the blood. "Barry said
  he didn't hurt you, but I saw the strands of auburn hair on his wristband.
  And I saw the bloody rope in the trunk. I hope to God that was his blood."
 
  He turned the knob. It was locked.  
  "Hey, who are you? No one's supposed to be here except residents."
  said the heavyset officer. "Do you live upstairs?"
  "No, I know the woman who lives in this apartment... My name is Fox
Mulder,
  FBI." Mulder showed the man his I.D. "I need to get in there, please."
  "Well, Agent Mulder, no one is allowed in there without permission... and
  no one has said anything about letting you in."
  "Listen, I need to get in there."
  "Why?" asked the officer.
  "Look, she's my partner." Technically, she wasn't his partner anymore.
  Deep down, Mulder felt she would always be his partner, though. She'd
  helped him even after they were reassigned to different departments.
  [I'd consider it more than a professional loss, if you decided to leave.]
 
  "She's my... best friend." said Mulder without taking his eyes off the
  officer. "You understand, don't you?"
  The officer smiled and stood there for a moment. "You know, I can get
  fired for this..." he walked over to the door and opened it. "Just don't
  take too long, okay."
  Mulder smiled and walked in, closing the door behind him. He went over to
  the couch and sat down. Looking around him, he saw the house was still
  the same as when he left a couple of days ago. A picture of Scully was
  sitting on the television and Mulder got up and picked it up. She was
  younger, her hair was longer; past her shoulders and she was smiling
  seductively. Her knuckles pressed against her chin. It must have been
  taken in college.
  "Dana," he said, looking at her picture. "I don't know where to look.
  Krycheck is gone. Duane Barry is dead. Our friend at the FBI knows
  something, but won't tell me." Mulder sat down. "Skinner said he was
  reopening the X-Files, but, I feel...  Oh God! I'm going crazy. I'm
  talking to a picture of you." Mulder raised his hands and pressed the
  palms of his hands against his eyes. "I'm just so tired, Scully, tired
  and alone." He leaned back upon the couch and held the picture close
  to him. "One word, just one little... word... I need to hear you...
  say one... little word... so I know... you're... alive." Mulder closed
  his eyes and found himself floating in a whirl of dreams.
  [Mulder... I need your help... MULDER!]
  Mulder could feel his legs moving, but he couldn't reach the steps of
  Scully's house. He could see Daune Barry in Scully's apartment. 
  "SCULLY," he shouted. "I can't move." He looked down at his feet and
  they didn't touch the ground. He seemed to be suspended in air. "DANA!"
  Mulder tried to reach an object... a tree, the pole, anything he could
  push himself from.  
  [MULDER!... MULDER!... MULDER!"  Her voice was getting louder in his ears.
 
  To loud, he covered them with his hands. He looked back at the window and
  Duane Barry was standing in the frame. He seemed to be holding something.
  The light from the street made the object shine. It was so blinding that
  it hurt to look at it, but Mulder looked closer and he felt his eyes
  focus closer and closer while his body was still in the same spot. It was
  Scully's necklace, the cross her mother had given on her fifteenth
  birthday, the cross he was going to give her personally when he found her.
 
  "How did you get that?" he asked Barry. "Give it back."
  Barry waved it in Mulder's face.
  "I hope they don't hurt her a lot with the tests."
  "Give her back to me. Let her go. Take me instead." he said with angered
  eyes. "Let the women go... you don't need them...take me." The scenery
  changed. Mulder was sitting on a chair with his hands behind his back.
  He looked around and saw a dark figure approaching him.  He blinked,
  trying to focus on the image's face. A tall, slender man approached him.
  He was wearing a tacky tie and suit. Mulder opened his mouth in disgust.
  "Krychek?" he asked. The man didn't say anything. There were two other
  men behind him. Mulder could see the outline of their bodies, but couldn't
  make out who they were. 
  "Bring her out." one of the voices said. Scully was brought out. Her hands
  and feet were tied up with a bloody rope, she was gagged and blood was
  running down the side of her mouth. One of the men pushed her forward and
  she fell to her knees in front of Mulder. She looked up at the man who hit
  her with disgust and fear. The man looked at her, raised his hand and
  slapped her, sending her down against the floor.
  "NO, YOU SONOFABITCH!" screamed Mulder. He couldn't move. He couldn't
  help her.
  The sound of glass breaking brought Mulder awake so quickly he wasn't
  sure where he was. The he looked down to see the picture of Scully on the
  floor, the frame broken and glass twinkling on the floor. As he bent down
  to retrieve it, he heard the front door open.
  "Agent Mulder, is everything okay?" said the heavy-set officer.
  "Yeah, I just had a... How long have I been here?" he asked.
  The officer glanced down at his watch. "An hour or so."
  Mulder couldn't let go of the dream. Was it a sign? Could Scully actually
  be alive? Deep inside he knew she was and he was going to find her if it
  was the last thing he did.
  
  
End...
  I'd like to thank M1927 for the fine editing job. Thank you, thank you,
  thank you. She didn't want me to mention her, but I never listen.....:D
  
This story is based on the characters and situations created by Cris Carter,
Ten Thirteen Productions and Fox Broadcasting. Used without permission and
no infringement is intended.