From: CRHarmony@aol.com
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 1999 19:48:30 EST
Subject: The Final Sacrifice
Source: direct

The Final Sacrifice 
By LJP - CRHarmony@aol.com
Rated PG-13 
Keywords: Mulder/other eventually MSR 
Spoilers: None that I am aware of... 
Summary: Mulder and his new partner search for the truth. 
Author's Notes: This is my first attempt at an X-Files 
fanfiction, so please be kind. Feedback will be greatly 
appreciated and flames will be used to torch Diana Fowley. 
Disclaimer: All characters from the television show The X-
Files belong to Chris Carter, whose genius mind thought 
them all up. They also belong to Gillian Anderson and David 
Duchovny and 1013 Productions and 20th Century FOX. I am 
merely borrowing them. They will be returned unharmed. 
Thank you. 

***

It had been almost a year.

Fox Mulder stared blankly at the computer screen in front 
of him, unable to begin his final report.  Assistant 
Director Skinner had told him over six months ago to forget 
everything and to give up.  That's exactly what Mulder 
finally did.  After six full, tiring months, Fox Mulder 
stopped looking.  The final report he was now working on 
was due all those months ago, at the end of his search, but 
Mulder hadn't been able to muster up enough strength to sit 
down and work on it.

He fell back into his chair and scanned the room.  
Everything was as she left it.  Her desk neat and 
organized; nothing out of place.  He refused to touch a 
thing.  Part of his self-consciousness was constantly 
telling him that she would be returned to him.

There was a knock on the door.  Mulder ignored it.  The was 
another knock.  He groaned slightly and looked towards the 
door.  "Come in."  He stated, his voice tired and 
emotionless.

A woman walked into the office.  Mulder looked her over.  
She was shorter than him, with auburn hair bordering more 
on the side of brown.  It was curly and she had the sides 
clipped back with small barrettes.  Her expression was soft 
and her green eyes shone brightly.  She was wearing a dark 
blue pant suit with a white tank top under the jacket.  The 
jacket was unbuttoned and Mulder was left with a nice view 
of the bare skin of her shoulder.  She put out her hand.

"Agent Mulder?"  He nodded in acknowledgement.  She smiled.  
"I'm Special Agent Ashlyn Colls.  I've been assigned to 
work with you."  He didn't say anything.  She tossed a file 
right in front of him and she walked around to the other 
desk.  She plopped down into the chair, testing out the 
comfort.  Mulder eyed her suspiciously as she removed her 
jacket and wrapped it around the back of the chair.  "The 
assistant director has informed me of your request to work 
solo, but I was up for the challenge.  Our plane leaves 
tomorrow morning at quarter after eight for North 
Carolina."  Colls crossed her arms and leaned back in the 
chair, staring across at her very upset partner.

***

"Would you care for something to drink ma'am?"  The flight 
attendant asked Agent Colls.

"Iced tea please."  The young woman answered.  She nudged 
Mulder in the side.  His head shot around and he looked at 
his partner quizzically.  "Do you want anything to drink 
Mulder?"  She motioned to the waiting flight attendant.  

"Iced tea."  He said, returning his gaze out the window, 
his brow furrowed in thought.

The flight attendant nodded and walked away muttering 
something about relationships problems.  Colls rolled her 
eyes and leaned her head back against the seat.  She turned 
to look at her newly assigned partner.  He was a lot taller 
than her and he was handsome.  That was the first thing 
Ashlyn had noticed upon entrance of his basement office.  
He had dark brown hair that fell just a little bit onto his 
forehead and she found herself constantly wanting to reach 
up and brush it off of his face.  His eyes were dark, but 
she thought that, in just the right light, they seemed 
blue.  He was lean and muscular with long legs and broad 
shoulders.  And he was withdrawn.  Mulder hadn't said more 
than two words to her since the moment she had entered his 
office yesterday.  And he always seemed to be chewing on 
something.  In the office, it was his pencil.  In the car 
on the way to the airport, it had been a bag of sunflower 
seeds.  And here, on the plane, it was his lower lip.  
Ashlyn was doing everything she could to keep from leaning 
over and kissing those full lips of his.

Colls sighed heavily and closed her eyes, hoping that she 
would sleep before they arrived in North Carolina.

***

Ashlyn Colls walked into her hotel room, slamming the door 
behind her.  The room was small, with a bed on the back 
wall and a window on the wall adjacent to it.  A small 
wooden desk was nestled in the corner beside the bed and 
the bathroom was on the left just inside the door.  Just 
across from the bathroom, was a door that connected Colls' 
room to the one next to hers.  She narrowed her eyes and 
thought about the case.  She sighed and pushed her suitcase 
against the wall, slumping down into the seat at the desk 
and tossing her case file in front of her.  She opened it 
up and read the first couple lines.

"Three murders in the past month.  All three victims were 
aspiring expressionist artists whose works were featured in 
the town of Hamilton's first art exhibit.  Victims were as 
follows: Jessica Holmes, 23 years old, white.  Adrian 
Philips, 19 years old, black.  Mathew Brames, 20 years old, 
white.  All bodies were found with no physical signs of 
injury.  Cause of death: unknown."

Ashlyn yawned and closed her eyes.  She was half-asleep 
when there was a knock on the door.  A moment passed before 
she stood up and looked out the peephole.  There was no one 
there.  Just as she walked away in confusion, someone 
knocked again.  It took a couple minutes before Colls 
realized that the knock had come from the door that 
connected her room to the one next to hers.

She mentally slapped herself on the forehead and opened the 
door between the two rooms.  Fox Mulder stood on the other 
side, sleeves rolled up and a frown on his face.  "Colls, 
Detective Mitchell of the Hamilton police force just 
called.  There's been another murder."

***

Agents Mulder and Colls pulled up next to the yellow tape 
surrounding the small cafe.  As they entered the building, 
a Hamilton police officer stopped them.  "Excuse me.  
You're not allowed in there."

Both agents reached into their pockets and removed their 
wallet.  They flipped the man their badges.  "FBI."  Mulder 
stated, pushing past him and to the crime scene.  Ashlyn 
followed her partner down the hall and into a small back 
room.

Detective Mitchell saw them enter.  "Agents Mulder and 
Colls?"  They nodded, surveying the room.  A young man was 
laying on the floor, face pale and body limp.  "Alexander 
Trump.  24 years old.  His first piece of artwork was on 
display in this cafe beginning yesterday.  One of the 
waitresses found him about an hour ago when she came in to 
close."

"What's her name?"  Mulder insisted.

"Michelle Polaski.  I can arrange for her to be 
questioned."  The detective explained.

Colls bent down over the body, pulling rubber gloves over 
her hands and looked it over.  "Any traces of blood in the 
restaurant?"  Mitchell shook his head.  Ashlyn examined the 
man's neck and throat.  "Any signs of a struggle?"  Again, 
he shook his head.  She looked up at him, biting her lip.  
"I'd like to perform an autopsy on him as soon as 
possible."

Detective Mitchell nodded.  "Alright, we'll transport him 
to Central Hospital and you can do what you need to do 
there."

Ashlyn rose to her feet.  Looking at Mulder, she pulled the 
gloves from her hands and dropped them into her pocket.  
"I'm going to head to the hospital.  Do whatever you need 
to do here and I'll meet you back at the hotel."  She 
didn't wait for an answer.  The female agent walked out the 
door, Mitchell and several paramedics with the young man's 
body following her.

***

Mulder knocked on the door.  He received no answer.  He 
tried again.  A few seconds passed before his partner 
opened to door to let him in.  He looked at her.  She had 
changed out of her suit and was wearing a pair of form-
fitting jeans and a navy blue tank top.  She had pulled her 
hair on the top of her head, several strands hanging down 
loosely.  He held his breath for a second before realizing 
that he was staring.  Mulder cleared his throat.  "What did 
you find?"

She invited him in.  "Not much.  There are no traces of any 
toxin in his system.  None of his internal organs are 
damaged.  And there are no wounds anywhere on his body."

Mulder narrowed his eyes.  "Then how did he die?"

"That's the thing.  I don't know."  She sighed in 
frustration.  "I did find one thing."  He rose an eyebrow 
as she produced two small bottles.  "This was found in the 
pocket of Trump's coat.  Detective Mitchell told me a 
similar bottle was found at the other three murder scenes."  
She handed it to him and he examined it closely.

"It's just an aspirin bottle."  He shrugged.

She nodded.  "Exactly.  An empty aspirin bottle.  No other 
fingerprints on it but Trumps'."  She showed him a picture 
that was sitting on the table.  "I searched his mouth and 
throat to determine whether or not he had suffocated, and I 
found this."  She pointed to a small gray speck underneath 
the man's tongue on the picture.  He snapped his head 
around to look at her.  "It's imprinted with a skull and 
crossbones Mulder."  She handed him three other pictures.  
"I managed to autopsy the three other victims and each one 
of them had the same thing."

He nodded.  "So whoever killed these artists did it with a 
pill the size of a pea?"  

"Yep."  Ashlyn fell back into the chair.  "What did you get 
out of Polaski?"

"Nothing.  Ms. Polaski disappeared about two hours after 
being questioned by the Hamilton police.  No one has seen 
or heard from her since."  He yawned and rubbed his eyes 
tiredly.

Colls leaned on her elbow.  "Mulder, go and get some sleep.  
We'll talk more in the morning."

He looked at his watch.  "It is morning."  Turning his 
wrist, he flashed her the face of it.  3:47am.

She rolled her eyes.  "You know what I meant."  She stood 
up and approached him, her body inches from his.  "Get some 
sleep."  He stared into her eyes for a minute, heart 
racing.  She placed a hand firmly on his chest and pushed 
him toward the connecting door.  "Sleep."  She shoved him 
into his room, shutting the door behind him.

Returning to the table, Ashlyn shoved the pictures into the 
case file and slammed the whole folder into her briefcase 
before peeling her jeans from her body and pulling on a 
pair of boxers.  She fell onto the bed, falling asleep 
practically upon contact.

***

Fox Mulder sat on the edge of his bed, his face in the palm 
of his hands.  He groaned slightly and fell back onto the 
bed, his thoughts drifting to the woman in the room next to 
him.  Doctor Ashlyn Colls, special agent.  Specializing in 
pediatrics and forensics, Colls had been on an undercover 
assignment for the Bureau for the last three years.  Upon 
her return, Mulder had discovered, she had requested to 
work with him on the X-Files.  He groaned again, angry at 
himself for this attraction he was feeling.  She was a very 
pretty woman, there was no denying that.  And she reminded 
him of someone.  The same someone he had been trying to 
forget for the past year.  All those memories, all those 
feelings, they all just resurfaced the moment Agent Ashlyn 
Colls entered his office.

Mulder crawled up to the top of the bed and buried his head 
in the pillow.  This was going to be a long assignment.

***

Ashlyn Colls moaned and rolled onto her back.  Muffled 
screams and sobs were coming from the room next to her.  
Mulder's room.  She sat up, eyes wide and stumbled to the 
door.  She pounded on it.  "Mulder!"  She called out.  
"Mulder!"  She received no answer and tried the door 
handle.  It was unlocked.  She pushed it open and hurried 
to Mulder's bed.  

He was crunched up in a ball, crying.  "Scully."  He 
moaned.  "No!  Don't take her.  Take me!  It's me you want.  
Not her!"  His breathing was heavy and ragged.  
"Scully...no...Scully...I love you!  Please...take me!"

Colls sat on the edge of the bed and placed her hand on her 
partner's shoulder.  He jerked and his eyes shot open.  
"Scully?"

She shook her head.  "Mulder, it's me.  Ashlyn."  He looked 
at her, gasping for breath, before falling into her arms, 
sobbing.  "Shh...shh.  I'm here, just let it out."  She 
really didn't know what she was doing, they had only just 
met.  But she did know that he needed her.

Mulder took comfort in being in Colls' arms.  The nightmare 
had come again.  It had come for days, weeks, months.  He 
couldn't remember not having the nightmare.  Every time it 
was the same.  She was taken in place of him and there was 
nothing he could do to stop it.  His sobs quieted and he 
pulled away.  "I'm sorry."  He said, taking a deep breath.

She looked at him softly.  "It's okay.  Do you want to talk 
about it?"  

He started to shake his head, but changed his mind and 
started to speak.  "You know that I had a partner before 
you?  Dana Scully?"

Ashlyn nodded.  She had heard the stories.

"We were so close Colls, so close.  For six years we had 
worked together, searching for the truth.  It was February, 
right before Scully's birthday, and we were searching an 
abandoned warehouse after I had received an obscene phone 
call in the middle of the night."  He paused to take a 
breath.  "I remember her complaining about being tired and 
how cold she was.  Then I remember smelling cigarette smoke 
and realizing we shouldn't have come."  She scooted closer 
to him on the bed and placed a hand on his knee.  "Only 
seconds later they had taken her.  She was being dragged by 
her arms, calling out to me.  And I couldn't do anything.  
I screamed after her, begging them to take me.  It had 
always been me that they wanted, but they didn't listen.  
And then she disappeared.  I woke up the next morning with 
a terrible headache and no Scully."  She saw a tear fall 
down his cheek.  "I tried.  For six months, I tried to find 
her.  I did everything I could and I swore that I wouldn't 
stop until she was back in my arms.  But I gave up."

"And you have a recurring nightmare about the experience, 
right?"

He nodded.  "Every night."

She touched his cheek with her palm and felt him shudder 
beneath her touch.  "Mulder, look at me."  He tentatively 
turned to face her, seeing only worry and affection in her 
green eyes.  "I requested to work with you because I had 
heard about an FBI agent with very strong beliefs in the 
existence of extra-terrestrials who had just lost someone 
he had cared very deeply about.  I knew, at that moment, 
that I needed to be with you.  To help you.  To help her."

Mulder gasped as she wrapped her arms around his neck and 
pulled him close.  "Thank you."  He muttered, burying his 
lips in her soft hair.  He backed away and looked her in 
her eyes again.  She smiled softly.  Mulder inched closer 
to her, lips descending upon hers.  She let out a small 
gasp as their lips touched gently, his fingers running 
through her hair  Her hands connected at the base of his 
neck as he lowered her onto her back.  His tongue ran along 
her lower lip, asking for entrance.  She opened her mouth, 
inviting him in.  His hand ran down her arm, stopping to 
rest on her hip, making its way underneath the cotton of 
her shirt and coming in contact with her bare skin.  Ashlyn 
moaned softly as he pulled his mouth from hers and placing 
his lips on the side of her neck.

This wasn't right.  This shouldn't be happening.  Ashlyn 
knew before getting into this that Mulder was very handsome 
and good looking, but she wasn't anticipating on being in 
this particular position with him.  She wanted to find his 
former partner and help him discover the truth.  She didn't 
want him.  And he didn't want her.  He wanted Scully.  She 
was sure of that.  

Almost sure.  She began to disagree with herself when she 
felt the bulge in his pants.  He hadn't changed before 
getting into bed and the soft cotton of his dress pants 
pressed against her bare thigh.  The hand that had made 
it's way into her shirt had inched it's way higher.  And 
his mouth had inched it's way lower, sucking softly on the 
skin on her shoulder.  Ashlyn moved her hands down his 
chest and pulled the shirt from his pants.  Just as his 
mouth met hers again, she realized just what was happening 
and she pushed him away, gasping for her breath.

"We can't do this Mulder."  She choked out.  "It's not 
right."

He groaned.  "Ashlyn..."  Mulder reached out and grabbed 
her hand.

She pulled away, shaking her head.  "No, Mulder.  You are 
in love with Scully."

He looked at her incredulously before raising his arms in 
defeat.  "Scully is gone Ashlyn.  I know that.  You know 
that.  She is not coming back."

Ashlyn shook her head and pushed herself off of the bed.  
"Mulder!  How can you say that?  After everything you two 
had been through?  After everything you have seen?"

"How do you know what we've seen?"

She turned her back to him.  "Mulder, there are things that 
I can't tell you."  Ashlyn didn't explain any further.  
"Good night."  She headed straight for the door, shutting 
it softly as she left.

***

Ashlyn shoved her hands even farther into her coat pockets 
as she walked briskly down the alley.  Why had she let her 
guard down and done that?  It wasn't in her job description 
to hit on her partner.  She hadn't planned on it.  All that 
she ever wanted to do was find Agent Dana Scully and find 
the truth.  She sighed heavily in frustration as a tear 
fell down her cheek.

Hearing soft footsteps behind her, Ashlyn spun around to 
see no one.

She sucked in a deep breath and continued walking, not sure 
where she was going.

Colls walked for hours, thinking about her job.  About her 
reasons for taking the job.  About Mulder.  Her thoughts 
were all jumbled in her head, making her dizzy.

Again, she heard the footsteps behind her.  She turned 
around again, silently wishing she had grabbed her gun 
before she left, and came face to face with a tall man in a 
trench coat.  The last thing she remembered was gasping in 
pain as a sharp, cold object was injected into her arm.

***

Mulder awoke to the shrill ringing of the hotel room's 
telephone.  He rolled onto his side and grabbed the phone.  
"Mulder."  He groaned into it, still half asleep.

A deep voice spoke on the other end.  "Agent Mulder, if you 
wish to see your partner again, hurry to the abandoned 
warehouse on the corner of Yeakes and Main."  That was all 
that was said as the phone clicked beneath his ear.

It took Mulder a few seconds before the conversation 
registered in his head.  The agent sprung out of his bed 
and pulled on a pair of shoes.  He hadn't changed from his 
dress pants.  Grabbing the dress shirt from the back of the 
chair, he buttoned it up quickly and grabbed his jacket 
before running out of the door.

Mulder opened the door to his Ford Taurus and climbed 
inside, shoving the key into the ignition and pressing his 
foot to the gas pedal.  He sped out of the hotel's parking 
lot at full speed, heading hurriedly for the warehouse down 
the road.

Only minutes later, Mulder arrived outside the dark 
warehouse.  He jumped out of the car, pulled his gun from 
his jacket, and ran inside the building.  He crept down the 
main hallway, his hands gripping the gun tightly.  As he 
began to round a corner, a figure could be seen coming 
toward him.  Retreating to the shadows, Mulder sucked in a 
deep breath.

Little time had passed before Mulder followed the men down 
the hall.  He came upon a dimly lit room and sprinted into 
it, hiding behind a crate near the entrance.  He peered 
over the top to find his partner, Ashlyn Colls, tied to a 
chair and gagged, both her jacket and shirt thrown to the 
side.  Her eyes were closed tightly, her hands grasping the 
sides of the chair firmly.

A man approached her from behind, running his hands over 
Colls' shoulders.  Mulder heard her take a sharp intake of 
breath.  The male agent quickly scanned the room, searching 
for possible accomplices to the man holding Colls captive.  
He could find none.

Taking a deep breath, Mulder leapt up and point his gun at 
the man.  "Freeze!  Federal agent!"

Ashlyn's eyes shot open and she shook her head frantically, 
muffled sounds coming from under the piece of cloth tied 
around her mouth.  The man looked at Mulder.

"Agent Mulder.  I've been expecting you."  His voice was 
deep and rough.  "Your lovely partner here has been most 
uncooperative."  He ran a finger over Ashlyn's cheek and 
she shuddered, shrugging him off.

"Let her go."  Mulder demanded, taking steps closer to 
them, gun still raised.

The man shook her head.  "I'm afraid I cannot do that."  He 
stated.  "A year ago, if I recall correctly, you and Agent 
Scully found yourselves in a situation very similar to this 
one, am I right?"  Mulder nodded stiffly.  "Ms. Scully, was 
taken from you and you could do nothing to prevent it from 
happening.  Agent Colls here, has just been your partner 
for a matter of days.  Are you willing to risk losing her 
as well?"

"Let.  Her.  Go."  Mulder stressed, taking another step 
closer.

The man made a motion to someone in the shadows and 
suddenly the bruised, limp form of Dana Katherine Scully 
appeared at Mulder's feet.  He gasped in horror.  A long 
cut surrounded by dried blood was visible running down her 
forehead.  She had a black eye and her left leg was bent in 
a way Mulder figured was not good.

"You cannot save them both."  Mulder looked up to see the 
man holding a sharp knife up to Colls' neck.  The blade was 
a mere centimeter from her skin.

Ashlyn was breathing heavily and the man carefully reached 
behind her with his free hand and let the gag fall to the 
ground.  She gasped for air.  "Mulder, save her.  Don't 
worry about me.  I did what I wanted to do.  I wanted to 
find Agent Scully.  Just save her."  She pleaded.  Mulder 
looked from the half-dead form of Dana Scully, to the form 
of his beautiful partner Ashlyn Colls.  "Mulder.  Please."

"You have to make a choice Agent Mulder."  The man taunted, 
edging the blade even closer to Ashlyn's neck.  Mulder 
looked at Colls.  Her dull green eyes begged him to do the 
right thing.  To find the truth.  And Mulder knew that the 
truth was in Dana Scully.

He lowered the gun and scooped Scully into his arms, 
bolting for the door.  The last sound he heard was the 
harsh gasp coming from the throat of Ashlyn Colls as she 
was murdered.

***

Mulder paced outside the hospital room of Dana Scully.  It 
had been a year since he had last seen her, but even with 
the bruises and cuts on her body, she was the most 
beautiful woman he had ever seen.  It took him one fatal 
night to find her.  One night that would be etched into his 
mind forever.

A blonde woman in a lab coat exited Scully's room.  "Agent 
Mulder."  She said softly.  "Dana is asking for you."  He 
breathed a sigh of relief and pushed past the doctor and 
into the hospital room.

Mulder found her laying on the bed on her back, eyes 
closed.  As he neared her, she opened them to look at him.  
He gasped, a sob escaping from his throat, and knelt beside 
her.  "Scully."  He cried, tears flowing freely from his 
eyes.

She reached out and laid a hand on his cheek.  "Thank you."  
She whispered, her voice hoarse.  Just hearing her speak 
was music to his ears.  "I'm sorry about Agent Colls."  She 
continued.

Mulder shook his head.  "It doesn't matter."  He insisted.  
"I thought I'd never see you again.  I tried to find you 
for a year, but I couldn't. I didn't know where you were.  
And Ashlyn sacrificed her life for yours.  I can't dream of 
losing you again.  I..."  His voice trailed off and he 
buried his face in his hands.  "I give up.  I couldn't find 
the truth."  He confessed softly.

"Mulder."  She smiled gently.  "The truth is out there.  We 
just have to find it...together."

Finis

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