From: Megamurf@aol.com Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 15:45:51 EST Subject: Flashbacks e-mail #1 Source: direct Flashbacks by, Megamurf@aol.com Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance, with some sarcastic humor to top things off. Rating: R, for violence, language and sexual situations. If you have a weak stomach or are very emotional, well, you've been warned (not about the sexual stuff, I don't go into enough detail there to have anyone make frequent trips to the bathroom, don't worry, LOL!) I do go into violent detail though, and that's where you've been warned. Categories: UST, MSR, X Spoilers: Nopers, none here. Summary: A girl's psychic powers enable her to witness murders. She claims to be a witness in a robbery/murder, but she wasn't actually there to see the crime when it happened. This calls for a case for Mulder & Scully, as they start brand new on the X-Files again! I tell this story from each characters point of view. I don't tell the same thing with each character, but, well you'll see. I did't do anything weird or unique, I did what was necessary for you, as the reader, to understand the story with full clarity. There is a lot of thought and angst with each character as the case expands and the plot thickens..... ooooooh, he he :) Disclaimer: The X-Files are of course owned by Chris Carter, Fox, 1013, ya know, all that jazz. I'd like to think I own David Duchovny, but....... well :::sniff-sniff::: Tea Leoni won his heart before he got a chance to meet me! :( he he! Dedications: I dedicate this story to all the people who have gone through what the characters in my story experience. I also want to give my biggest ThanX to my best friend Jessica, I love you hun!! Also, Juliet, unfortunately a noromo, but I try to change her perspective on that, he he! Karly, Meg, Molly and Ben, I'm not sure you have any idea how much you have gotten me through some bumpy roads, but you guys never stopped caring, and that's what makes you special, I Love Ya Babes! This story is sentimental in a secret way, I dedicate this story to anyone who can appreciate that! :) Bre and Danielle, now that I have turned both of you into shippers, I can die happy, he he :) I've also gotten you hooked on to fan-fiction, and Erica and Mere for that matter, LOL! Maybe that's not such a good thing :) That is my life's goal, to turn noromos into shippers, JK, LOL! :) Also Ms. Nickel who can understand just about ANYTHING! Of course Dr. Brown who actually told me to write this story, he he! That takes more talent than any Olympian! My old Spanish teacher, Miss. Carter, who has relation to "the" Chris Carter, (he he) and is the sweetest person to walk the face of the earth! :) And of course Ms. Pawlowski (aka Miss Markert) who puts up with reading my LONG stories and gets me out of my God-awful resource to go to her room!! :) And Nessybells, my fellow shippy you :) I love you ALL! :) Feedback: Please!? I love hearing your opinions! Positive feedback is always nice to hear, but if you have any ideas that can help improve my writing, I would love to hear that too! I just really would love it if you could take a minute out just to e-mail me, saying how much you liked or disliked my story, Thank You! :) Archive: Anywhere, just as long as you keep my name on it, and let me know, cuz I would like to stop and visit :) ThanX! :) (now that that took like over an entire page, LOL! Let's get the show on the road!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flashbacks by, Megamurf@aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Debbie Mitchell reached over to slam down on her alarm clock as it blared at 7:00 on Saturday morning. She wanted to get an early start on shopping, so that she could check out the great sales before everyone else. Now that it was 7:00, she wished she could sleep more, but she got out of bed and slowly made her way to the shower. Lately, she had completely lost count on the number of times nightmares would interrupt her sleep. She would suddenly wake up all sweaty, her heart pounding so hard she feared if may just burst through her chest. She would do her best to try to fall back to sleep, only to be disappointed that the same images would seep back into her terrified mind. Eventually she drifted back into a well needed slumber, only to find herself awake, breathing heavily and remembering the evil thoughts that played through her once peaceful dreams. Debbie quickly took a shower, hoping to wash away the horrid nightmares that were now a part of her every night. She feared falling asleep, knowing how she would awaken soon after. She never was one for horror movies. At least now she had a good excuse... She pushed that all behind her and now concentrated on doing her hair as she stepped out of the shower. Debbie was 15 and only had her driver's permit. Her parents were never home to drive with her though, so she grabbed the keys and made her way outside to her car alone. She knew how much trouble she could get into, so she was always careful to drive the speed-limit. Getting into the driver's seat, she started the car. She turned the knob on the radio until she came to a song she liked and started singing to it. Debbie usually drove her friends everywhere since she didn't need any permission to drive. The day was sunny and warm, and she was a little shocked when she saw her friend Lillian run out to the car in big baggy pants and a large sweater. "Lill, are you okay?" Debbie asked, concern clearly showing on her face. She knew that Lillian had problems with depression in the past. Memories of her childhood would haunt her in flashbacks. They would haunt her during the day and when night came, you'd better believe the traumatizing events came to life so real, they were almost re-living themselves over, and over again. The only way Lillian seemed to deal with those feelings was to hurt herself on the outside. Talking about it didn't seem to help her out, so the anger would build up inside. Debbie remembered on one such occasion, Lillian mentioned being able to see visions of what other people were doing. They were always bad. Debbie never did believe in any of that stuff though. She always referred to the Psychic Network as the Hopeless Hotline. Those people were sham. Maybe it was commendable because they brought hope into other people's lives, but the hope was unrealistic. And wouldn't it only be hurting them worse, if the outcome of what the psychic said turned out completely contradictorily? "Lill, are you okay?" Lillian heard the question asked again. She didn't know how to answer. Debbie's words just kind of hung, frozen in the air. Memories of how she had just spent the last hour, sitting on the bathroom floor came back. It had almost become tradition for her. The events that had happened to her so many years ago, only now seemed to have it's aftermath. Most people who would slit their wrists used scissors, knives or razor blades. Lillian would have none of that; sharp objects scared her. She had just spent the last hour tearing at the flesh on her arms with her finger nails. The blood came just as easily, and the deep open wounds were more sore and bloody than any thin cut from a knife would bring. Every morning she would tear open old wounds and dig deeper into the holes in her arms. No one seemed to notice how pills in the medicine cabinets seemed to disappear either. Matches left over from last years 4th of July were virtually nowhere to be seen. Lillian took her anger out with a burning flame running over the lengths of her arms. So, was she okay? She hated lying to Debbie, but there was no way she was about to start explaining any of this. "You know I'm fine. Come on, lets get to the mall before any of these mass-murderers get there first." Debbie took that as a clear warning that she had been slitting her wrists again. She sighed. Sometimes she hated the fact that there was absolutely nothing she could do about that. Lillian refused to seek psychiatric help since her family knew nothing of the past events. Debbie started the car again and drove off, Lillian's last statement re-playing itself over and over again in her head. There had been some recent murders at the local mall. The police never caught the suspects. For some reason, these crimes never seemed to scare people away from shopping. They got to the mall about 15 minutes before it opened, and were surprised to find that there were already people crowded around the doors. There has been a lot more security around the mall these past couple weeks because of the crimes. Nothing seemed to help though... Debbie and Lillian stood outside talking for a few minutes before a security guard came over to the doors and unlocked them. Everyone waiting outside tried to get through the doors at the same time, people yelled, screamed and pushed their way through. "God, you would think Harrison Ford is standing on the other side of the door," Lillian replied sarcastically referring to the obnoxious group of adults. They stood back waiting, until the mob of people cleared away from the doors, before walking in themselves. Lillian noticed a nice looking guy dressed in khaki pants and a white shirt walk past her and into the store. The guy smiled at her. "What's his problem?" She thought, scowling to herself. He gave her the strangest feeling of deja-vu. She hated overly nice people. They were always happy. She was never happy herself, and she felt that no one else deserved to be happy either. "Finally!" Debbie exclaimed as the once "entirely filled side-walk" outside the doors cleared away, leaving them room to make their own way into the shopping mall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Debbie and Lillian spent about 4 hours of trying on cloths, buying jewelry and "guy-watching" before deciding to take a break for lunch. Debbie stood in line at the Mc Donalds. Lillian found a table in the food court and sat, waiting for Debbie to come back. When she saw her walking over with her tray, Lillian cleared the table of their bags to make room. "You can go get something now, thanks for finding a table. I promise I'll wait for you," Debbie smiled. "No, really, that's okay, I'm not hungry actually," Lillian looked at the floor when she talked. She knew she couldn't lie to Debbie anymore. She hated doing it, and she knew Debbie wasn't stupid. She was her best friend, and they could practically communicate by just looking into each other's eyes. "Look, I've had enough. I know your problems, and you know mine. I know what you're going through, so why do you always feel that you have to lie to me? You're hurting yourself, and you're hurting me when I see you like this. It's the end of spring, yet you're dressed like you're waiting for a blizzard to hit any minute. Do you think I overlook this? You never eat anymore. You exercise like you're preparing for an Olympic race. And you're telling me that nothing has changed, that nothing is wrong. It never used to be like this, Lillian. You can't hold back anymore. The world is watching. If you lie to me one more time, I swear, it will all come down and crash all around you," Debbie said, trying as much as she could not to cry, and she could tell that Lillian was having the same problem. Lillian barely ever cried. It was considered a weakness to her. The world was against her, why should she show pain? There was enough inside her to give the universe a piece of it. "If you knew what I'm was going through, you wouldn't be questioning it," Lillian started, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I wear these sweaters so people don't see the cuts I make. It's not suicidal anymore, Debbie. It's all a stress reliever, and a good one at that," Lillian pulled back her sleeve, revealing red, puffy lines and gashes going up, down and diagonally on both arms. They went from her wrists to her elbow. Debbie brought her hands to her face, it all looked so painful to her. Now she knew Lillian was right, how could she understand something so absolutely atrocious. "You do know, there are other ways to release stress," Debbie offered. Of course it wouldn't make much of a difference. It was more of a consolation to herself. It hurt her to see her friend this way. She couldn't imagine what would bring someone to this sort of level, to this last resort. "It's not the same. There is nothing like the feeling of ripping your own flesh open. It lifts a million pounds off your shoulders. And then it hurts. Not right after, but the next day is when you regret it. You have to carry all your books around, and it's enough to make you want to hire someone else to do it for you. And when you feel this way, I swear Debbie, there is nothing that can make you build up an appetite, so you don't eat. And it's not suicidal. Food just makes you sick to your stomach. So don't get mad at me when I don't eat. I just don't want to hurl all over the whole store, okay? I can't talk like this. Please don't be mad at me when I don't talk to you about this. It happens, but it's the last thing I want to talk about," Lillian took a deep breath. She hated lying to Debbie. The real truth was, she saw things. All sorts of things, wherever she went. They were horrible, awful things. She had flashbacks of her past, because it was a crime. Right before they walked into the food court, she saw someone being killed, right there. Right in that mall. She shook it off, but it did leave her feeling very sick to her stomach. That was also another reason she was not in the mood to eat anything. Although telling something like that to Debbie, the skeptic, would most likely not go over too well. She would see the outline of the people's bodies. There was a women being pulled. The man told her not to struggle, that if she did, she would regret it. He made her calmly pass over her wallet. Then he suddenly the life was just sucked right out of her. It appeared as though her life was transferred from her right into his hands. He walked away without having anyone notice him. All attention was focused on the women who just fell to the ground in convulsions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The rest of the day they didn't talk much. An uneasiness between them was apparent. Lillian was more embarrassed than anything else. And Debbie was afraid of saying the wrong thing. She was sure that people like Lillian were very fragile, anything could set them off. What she didn't know was the most important, people like Lillian were actually stronger than most people. They are more familiar with their emotions so they know themselves better. They can hide their real feelings and learn to live a lie. By doing this they grow extremely strong. If you push them, they push back. It takes an awful lot for them to crumble. Debbie needed to get some shoes to go with the new outfits she bought so they walked into Gadzooks. She went into the dressing room to put on her new outfits to see how they looked with the shoes she picked out. Lillian shopped around in the store, waiting for Debbie to finish. As she was behind a rack of shirts, she noticed a guy walk into the store. She immediately recognized him as the guy she passed when entering the mall that morning. And she still couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen that guy before. He walked to the back of the store. He noticed her behind the rack of shirts and again smiled. "That sure is one happy guy. What gives him a reason to be happy?" Lillian thought to herself with great animosity. Suddenly Lillian noticed that the man's smile was not cheerful anymore. She caught a glimpse of evil vaporize into the air around him. Lillian did all she could to steer clear of the man but it appeared to her as if he were following her around the store. She would walk over to another rack of clothes, and when she looked up he was always within 10 feet of her. "Debbie hurry up!" Lillian screamed hoping maybe Debbie would get the message telepathically. When nothing happened, Lillian faked interest in some string bikinis. The mall was scheduled to close in about a half hour and people were already starting to go home. "Is this guy gay or what? He certainly has his interest in those flare jeans!" Lillian gaped in disgust but quickly turned her attention back to the bikinis when the man started to look up. Lillian's instincts told her to run out of that store but she couldn't leave Debbie, she was her friend, and come to think of it, she had the car. Debbie had only been trying on her new cloths for about 5 minutes, but it was beginning to feel like an eternity for Lillian. "Go swimming much?" Lillian jumped at the sound of a man's voice. She swallowed hard, trying her best to get the lump out of her throat when she realized the man was talking to her. "Just make up a bull-shit story!" Lillian's conscience argued in her head. "Umm, well yeah, I ah, I go swimming but with these bikinis, it's more for looks or tanning. You can't dive or anything in these," Lillian kept swallowing with no hope of removing the now painful lump in her throat. "Those are very expensive you know. Everything in this store is expensive," The man said, starting to move closer to Lillian. She took a couple steps back, feeling very uncomfortable in this situation. Suddenly she got images racing across her mind, images of people in this mall getting hurt. They were still unclear, but the more she concentrated, the clearer they got. "Yeah, but the clothes are in good quality. I umm, I think it's worth the cost," Lillian brought her hand to her forehead, the more the flashbacks came, the worse a headache came on. She was sweating bullets, and was certain the man could easily sense her fear. Read it across her mind. See it in her eyes. Lillian was running out of space to move back. It was her, the wall, and the man, no escape. The person behind the counter was watching the whole time. He noticed the man bothering Lillian and was getting a little frustrated. The mixture of sympathy and annoyance aroused the end of his patience. "I bet you have a lot of money if you shop here," The man insisted. Now that was pushing her over the line. Lillian was getting to the point where she was nauseous. "It's him! This is the guy! He's going to rob me, and he's going to kill me!" Lillian was almost positive she would throw up all over the display in front of her. "Hey, sir! Will you leave her alone?" The kid behind the counter walked around and stood between Lillian and the man. "Back away!" Lillian screamed, but it was already too late. The man grabbed this kid by his arm, as his life slipped away almost in mid-air. He started shaking so hard on the ground he was rotating in circles. The man looked up at Lillian with big black eyes. The white that was once there a few minutes ago was virtually undetectable. Lillian was trapped in a corner with no escape. "This is great, just perfect. I try to kill myself and I'm unsuccessful. It makes me even more depressed and now someone is trying to kill me and suddenly I don't want to die anymore!" Lillian thought to herself, sobbing. Instead of seeing her own life flash before her eyes, Lillian only saw all of the deaths this man performed earlier. Only this time, they were as clear as day. All of the faces, and the man's evil black eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Back away!" Debbie heard Lillian scream outside her dressing room. This caused her to slip on her shoes and tumble to the floor. "Oh my God!" Debbie sobbed as she got a view of what was going on outside. She stayed on the floor watching from under her dressing room door. "Oh my God Lillian! Oh-my-God! Oh-my-God!" Debbie's heart was racing by now. She jumped up and quickly pulled her clothes back on. Squatting underneath the door, she noticed for the first time the store clerk who was shaking on the floor and turning a bright shade of blue. "My God he's dead!" Debbie whispered to herself. "This is not happening, this is not happening!" Debbie pinched her arm, but to her dismay, she was indeed awake. "We're gonna die! I am going to die. Lillian is going to die" Debbie tried some positive thinking, but whoever says that works? Debbie didn't want to open the door, that would only reveal her to the strange man. She slid under the dressing room door and rolled over behind a pile of jeans that were not hung up yet. Debbie looked up, down, left and right for something useful to hit the man with. But clothes? How much damage can you do there? Her attention flew up to the shoe display? "Hmmmmm, 4 inch heels. It might hurt, but this guy is much bigger than us. Boots, platforms, I need a gun! Where can I find a gun? Damn!" She thought about running up behind him and knocking him to the floor, but he would hear her coming up from behind him. Debbie was ready to give up, on herself and her best friend... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The man grabbed Lillian's arms and squeezed hard. "Owwwww!" Lillian had never felt such pain in her life as the man pressed down on her cuts. She screamed as she thought she was dieing. She opened her eyes, relieved that for some reason she wasn't dead, but in an unfortunate situation still. "I didn't even do anything yet!" The man laughed but when he saw Lillian still flinching he got a little curious. He pulled up her sleeve and covered his mouth when he felt bile in the back of his throat. "Ahhhh, a weakness," Lillian thought to herself. "Yeah, the guy's a wuss!" The other half of Lillian's mind responded. The man saw deep gashes going up and down Lillian's arms. Big thick red and brown scabs and red puffy scars seemed to stare right up at him and laugh. It didn't matter if he took this girl's life, she had already tried to do the same. There was no game in this, they would both be winning. And that wasn't how he played this game! "Why this? Why would you do this?" The man squeezed on Lillian's arms again, hard. He enjoyed seeing her pain and the tears building up in her eyes. He was getting mad; this girl was playing on the same level he was. "Why do you do what YOU do?" Lillian screamed back, shocking him at first. "You want to know why I do this," The man started, loosening his grip on her arm. "Well I'll tell you why I do this," He stood up straight like he was about to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. "Because it's fun!" He screamed in her face. Lillian was getting a little suspicious. No one had walked by the outside of the store since she had came in there. And what happened to Debbie? She slapped the man right across the face making him laugh. "Oh, so you like to play rough? Well I can play rough too," He slapped her back, right on the right side of her cheek. Her neck turned with the force and she thought surly her neck would snap. When it didn't she looked right back at him and hissed under her breath, "Rot in hell you rat bastard!" She ran into him forcing him lost his balance. Debbie ran to Lillian and they ran out of the store together, never looking back. "You think you can beat me? You think you can win? I will never die! No one can beat me!" That was the last thing they heard as they ran through the mall. The man never made any attempt to chase after them. They both breathed sighs of relief as they saw the exit doors in front of them. "Where is everyone?!" Debbie cried out in horror. The lights were still on, but there was no one to be seen. They ran outside to an empty parking lot, except Debbie's car was still there. They jumped in the car, and left without looking back... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Washington D.C. The Next Day 7:00 AM Scully and Mulder sat in Skinner's office, nervously fidgeting in their seats. They never knew what to expect anymore. They could be fired, reassigned, anything. So they were always nervous entering their superior's office. The X-Files had just been given back to them not too long ago, and they were determined to keep them as long as they could. Although they had nothing to say in that matter, so Scully and Mulder sat hoping for the best. Skinner walked into his office some 15 minutes later. "Agent Mulder, Agent Scully," They both nodded at Skinner in silent greeting. "I am very proud of your steady solve rate. You two are still number one at the FBI," Skinner attempted to fake a smile. He was never one for being Mr. Congeniality. Both Scully and Mulder let out a sigh of relief at the same time, realizing for the first time they were holding their breath. "I felt you guys could use a break. I found a new case. It still seems pretty interesting, so nothing too boring. But I figure with the cases you guys have been through and solved, it should be pretty quick and easy," He handed Scully the case file. He continued talking while she took out the crime scene photos. "A series of murders have occurred at a mall in Illinois. The mall has tried it's best to avoid media attention, so the mall had remained open. This is why the murders kept happening. There is no cause of death determined yet and this is where you come in hand Agent Scully. We would appreciate it if you could perform some autopsies. There is no apparent entry wound on any of the victims. The death toll has now rose to a total of 38. All of the victims were found looking as though they had suffocated..." Scully pulled out the first picture. A young women, around the age of 25 was the first. Her skin looked as though she had been asphyxiated, and drained of all her blood. She was bright blue, and her eyes were rolled back in her head. She passed it to Mulder who seemed bored in this assignment already. "Sir, were there any witnesses?" Scully asked, interrupting Skinner. "All of the video-cameras were turned off in the mall except for the one facing the parking lot. Yesterday, which was the last of the crimes before they shut down the mall, there seemed to be 2 teenagers exiting the mall. The entire parking lot was vacant except the one car these two girls came in. They seemed terrified at the rate they ran to the car and sped away," Skinner explained. "Are they suspects?" Mulder asked. "We're not sure yet. We have yet to find the two girls and then they will be taken in for questioning." "Is that all sir?" "Yes, seems pretty easy, huh? Well good luck." They walked out of the office, Mulder opening the door and motioning with his hand in a "Ladies first" signal. As he did that he put on one of his famous evil seducing grins on. Scully walked through the door mumbling under her breath, "You better wipe that grin off your face or else...." "Or else what?" Mulder asked. Scully jumped at his voice, not realizing until then that she had spoken aloud. "Never mind, Mulder," She sighed. "Scully," Mulder whined giving her the puppy dog eyes. Those eyes meant there was no getting away. The eyes always won. They won arguments, they won fights, but most importantly, those eyes won Scully's heart. Long ago when Scully was introduced those eyes for the very first time, no other eyes even existed in her world. Mulder stood alone in her view of the universe... And he knew it... "So where do we start with this case?" Scully purposefully changed the uncomfortable subject. She quickly got herself back into "Defense mode". "Well I was thinking, when we fly up to Illinois, you might want to start on those autopsies right away. There are quite a few, but don't get me wrong, I don't expect you to autopsy all of the victims." Scully gave him a quick glance out of the corner of her eyes that read "and you better believe it! Even if you did want me to autopsy all of them, I would be sure to add you at the bottom of the list". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Next Day Fairfield Inn 7:00 AM Scully awoke at the sound of the annoying wake up call sounding from her phone. She yawned and stretched before making her way to the shower. Scully walked out of the bathroom, still brushing her hair. She pulled her cell phone out of the pocket in her trench coat and dialed Mulder's number. She double checked their plans and finished getting ready. As she was preparing to leave, she heard a knock at her door. It was Mulder waiting for her. They only had one rental car, so he would drop her off at the morgue. He was going to interrogate the two witnesses while Scully performed her autopsies. Scully started walking down the hallway as Mulder gently put his arm around her back... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Subject: Flashbacks e-mail #2 Interrogation Room Joliet, Law Enforcement Agency 8:05 AM "So you two were the only ones left in the building?" Mulder asked, not believing this story for a minute. Debbie sighed. What was the use trying to convince these people that they were alone besides the nut-case with God-like powers? She barely believed it herself. How could everyone just leave and have them standing there all alone and not be noticed? Even if it was closing time, it's not like the security guards can drag you out of the place. Someone would have seen them, right? She put her hand on her forehead feeling a migraine come on. Great. Perfect. Just another thing to top off this lovely weekend. Now she almost understood how Lillian could cut herself up. If there was a knife laying on the table in the interrogation room, she would have stabbed herself too. "Look, will you stop asking all these questions 50 million times! Don't you have the security tapes from yesterday? Maybe you should look at your evidence before coming to conclusions." Lillian slouched back lower in her chair getting extremely frustrated with the situation she was in. "All of the tapes had been tampered with and damaged. Somebody planned ahead of time," Mulder said a little too matter-of-factly. "Well if we did this crime then we would have known that then, wouldn't we?" Lillian asked very snobbishly. Her bitch attitude was coming on very strongly, and she was starting to enjoy this. This Agent Mulder was pissing her off, and she was going to make sure the feeling was mutual. "I am not saying you did this. In fact I believe very strongly that you didn't. But you're going to have to come up with a better alibi if you don't want to be convicted of this. Now start talking. Why don't you start with right when you went into the mall. Go through your whole day of shopping; everything you saw, everyone you saw, everything you remember." Mulder pulled up a chair in front of the two girls, and listened to them both talk and interrupt each other. "So you're saying you saw him enter the mall and you had a weird feeling about him to begin with?" Mulder asked Lillian. "Well he gave me a flashback of something I never saw. That only happens in weird or bad cases," Lillian explained turning bright red. Now this was not turning out to be fun. She hated talking about her feelings and this was exactly what this man was going to make her do. Flashbacks. This definitely peaked Mulder's interest. Was this girl psychic? Maybe she was and she didn't even know it. This could be good. "And this man was doing something bad in the flashback?" Mulder didn't want to embarrass the girl so he tried to make it seem as if he believed her, and like it wasn't something out of the ordinary. "I couldn't tell right away. But when we went into the mall it became more clear to me. I saw him in the food court killing a women. But even then, his face wasn't clear. It wasn't until I saw him up front in Gadzooks did I realize that he was the one. That's when he tried to kill me, and that's when I saw him killing everyone else." Lillian took a deep breath. Did this man accept what she was saying? She didn't miss the strange look coming from Debbie, but her opinion didn't matter at that moment. "Lillian, do you believe in psychic ability?" Mulder asked slowly, choosing his words carefully. Psychic. Psychic. Could it really be? No, that couldn't be what he was suggesting. But, then why else would he even bring it up? An agent from the FBI thinks I'm psychic! But am I? "Well I've never really spoken to one before...." "That's not what I meant." "Are you suggesting that I am a psychic?" "I'm not saying you're a psychic. I am just merely suggesting you may have psychic abilities. Do you?" Mulder was getting excited now. "But it's only bad things, it's only crime!" Lillian cried out unexpectedly, surprising herself and all the rest of the members in the room. "There are lots of..." "Yes." Lillian interrupted. "What?" Mulder's eyes lit up. "I said yes. I don't need a definition. I guess I am psychic," Lillian finished feeling a heavy load lift off of her shoulders. In a matter of seconds, Lillian saw a man and women kissing flash before her eyes. Mulder saw her demeanor change in that instant, but he didn't say anything about it. He asked Debbie some questions after that, and they finished the interrogation two hours later. When they were done, Debbie quickly got up and rushed out of the room. She had to get home right away and told Lillian to find herself her own ride. Lillian saw her anger and didn't protest. Mulder put away his papers and tape recorder in his brief case. He was about to leave when he looked up and saw Lillian still standing there. "Do you understand the pain I'm in?" Mulder was caught off-guard with her question. "I don't think you do. But in the same way, you didn't show any doubt in your interrogation. In fact you brought the whole subject of being psychic up in the open. Debbie doesn't believe in any of that and neither has anyone else. I've tried to discuss the whole issue with people in the past, but they laugh like I'm making a joke and blow it off. So I've never talked to anyone about it, and I somewhat learned to deal with it. But I know no one likes seeing murders in movies or even TV. Try seeing a murder in you dreams and then waking up the next morning and seeing it on the news. It's not fun Agent Mulder, but that's my life. I've had to live with it forever." Lillian spoke without her voice cracking or breaking down into tears, but in the same way, Mulder saw the pain written write across her face. He'd seen that same pain in Scully a thousand times over. Just trying to prove his own hidden point, Mulder asked, "Are you okay?" "I'm fine," Lillian answered. It definitely was the same pain. But Mulder really wanted to get back to Scully, so he told Lillian to finish this conversation in the car. They got into the car, but they didn't talk much on the way to the morgue. Mulder looked over at Lillian and saw that same distant look on her face that he saw before. This time he decided to question it. "What are you thinking about?" Mulder asked making Lillian jump up in her seat. "Nothing much," She whispered smiling. She had a vision of a couple in love. She was having another flashback, but this time the flashback wasn't a crime: it was love. The more she concentrated, the clearer the vision got. They both sat in silence again. After a while Lillian broke the silence. "What does your partner look like?" Lillian asked turning to look at Mulder. He looked down at her with a confused look on his face. "Why? You're about to meet her in a minute." "I was just thinking about things, and I'm just curious. Describe her to me," Lillian said almost pleading. "Well okay... Ummmm, she's very short, about 5'3". She has red shoulder length hair, blue eyes and a great body," He laughed before continuing. "She is very smart and has good taste in fashion. I'm not quite sure what else you want me to describe, but why do you need to know?" Mulder asked glancing over at Lillian again, finding a huge smile on her lips. "You love her, don't you?" She asked, already having an "all knowing" look on her face. "Who are you to come up with a conclusion like that from just a description from me?" Mulder asked, obviously very annoyed. "You're description had no say in that conclusion. It only pinpointed the two of you." "Excuse me?" "Just answer the question. You're avoiding it," Lillian demanded. "My feelings towards my partner are none of your business." Mulder was stunned at this girl's insistence. She almost reminded him of Scully in that way. "I'm not asking if you sleep with her. It's a simple question with a simple answer. Yes or no? And to tell you the truth, I already know the answer, I'm just waiting to hear it from you." Lillian smiled for about the tenth time in the past two minutes. "Now how could you know...," Mulder stopped himself in mid-sentence. Oh my God! Could she really see his feelings? This girl could read him like a book now. She's found new faith. There is someone who believes her and she has, in a sense, healed from that. And now that she has discovered something new, she is experimenting with it. Shit, there is no getting around this one. "You know what I'm feeling?" Mulder asked, testing his theory. "You know, your partner loves you," Lillian said, avoiding his question. "She does?" Mulder was enjoying this now. "She has for a long time." "But she doesn't think you love her," Lillian explained just as they pulled up in front of the morgue. She got out of the car and waited for him to get out. He still sat staring and nothing at all, enveloped in his own thoughts. Suddenly he just opened his door and climbed out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Debbie sat in her car at a red light. She was angry at Lillian. She was angry at Agent Mulder for leading Lillian on, and she was angry at herself for being such a bitch to her best friend. She can surely say they've been through the best and the worst now. They've been through everything together. And she was still angry. She had already cried. She had already laughed at Lillian's ridiculous accusations and her version of the story. Now all she had left of herself was to be mad. Mad at herself, because what Lillian was saying actually made sense. It would explain almost everything that happened, and it would explain her past, and her past actions. She had been a horrible friend for not being there for Lillian, and she hated herself for it. She now sat at the red light in her own thoughts. A car pulled up next to her. She looked over and saw that there was a man in the car with sunglasses and a hat on. He was yelling something at her through his open window. She rolled down her window, wondering what he wanted. "Do you know where the subdivision called "The Vintage" is? A friend of mine lives in there. He gave me directions but I'm not sure where to go next," The man yelled from the window. "Yeah, I live in there, just follow me," Debbie explained not paying much attention to what she was doing. When the light turned green, she was off with the man following close behind. Debbie pulled into her driveway, realizing that the man who asked for directions pulled into her neighbor's driveway. Her neighbors were never home, how could he have a friend there? Her thoughts came too late when the man got out of his car came running very fast towards Debbie. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joliet Morgue 10:35 AM Mulder walked into the autopsy room with Lillian following behind. "Hey Scully, this is Lillian," Mulder said as soon as he saw the redhead bending over a corpse. Scully quickly stood up when she heard his voice. "Hey Mulder, Lillian," Scully smiled at Mulder. "My God this is ridiculous, these two are totally in love but neither will they admit it to themselves or each other!" Lillian thought. But since she knew, she was going to dedicate her time to change that. "I'm going to find some vending machines, so I'll be right back." Mulder turned and left. Lillian walked up to Scully to see the body she was working on. Grimacing, she turned around as she recognized the corpse as the guy who worked at Gadzooks. "Do you recognize this man?" Scully asked Lillian. "Yeah. He worked at Gadzooks," Lillian explained. Scully just nodded. She had never heard of that store before. "Gadzooks? What has this world some to?" She signed to herself. "You love him don't you?" Lillian asked. "Excuse me?" "You love him." "Who?" Scully looked angry. The man she was autopsying? What kind of sick mind did this girl have? "Mulder. You know he loves you," Lillian responded. "And how would you know that?" Scully asked, with a bit of relief. "It's so obvious. He practically said it himself. You do love him back, don't you?" Lillian prayed she felt that way towards him. "We have been partners for 7 years...," "That wasn't the question. You just need to say a simple, yes or no." "What I was going to say, was that we have been partners, and nothing more." Scully gave Lillian the death stare. "But you want more in your relationship, it's the one thing you want more than anything else in the world. Agent Mulder says you have a great body. What else do you need the man to say to get your attention?" Lillian asked smiling. "I think a lot of guys have great bodies. That doesn't mean I love them," Scully argued. "I only said that to help convince you more easily. I know he loves you and I know you love him. Why don't you just come out and say it?" Lillian whined. "It isn't that easy, Lillian, to just come out and admit your feelings," Scully signed. Lillian nodded in agreement. There was no arguing that. She knew exactly how that went. "So is that a yes?" Lillian asked hoping that is was. "If it makes you happy, then it's a yes," Scully smiled. Mulder suddenly appeared in the doorway with 3 cans of pop and several bags of chips. He handed Scully the diet caffeine free Coke and a bag of Cheetos. Lillian got a Mountain Dew and some Ranch Doritos. "Are you teaching her how to slice and dice?" Mulder asked sitting in a chair at a desk. Scully gave him the eyebrow, making him laugh. Lillian rolled her eyes, not knowing how they could have ignored all these signals for 7 years. Scully saw her rolling her eyes and gave her a knowing glance. "So what have you found so far?" Mulder asked Scully. He wondered how many autopsies she had done so far, and immediately felt sorry for her. He got up off his chair and stood behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders and started rubbing her, giving her a back and neck massage. Lillian knew these weren't the type of people who would share their feelings with themselves besides in front of another person. She took it was her clue to get out of that room if she wanted them to admit their feelings. "I'm getting a little uncomfortable being around a bunch of dead people, I'm going to go sit outside." Lillian exited the room and sat in a seat in the waiting room area of the building. "Mulder, did she interrogate you?" Scully asked. "Scully, I just spent the last 2 and a half hours interrogating her," He laughed. "Yeah, but that's not what I meant. Did she tell you she knows how you feel?" Scully asked uncomfortably. Mulder kept his hands moving on her body and she was beginning to enjoy it a little too much. "I know you don't believe in this kind of stuff, but I seriously think Lillian has some sort of psychic ability. And I'm not about to get into it now, but I can prove it to you later. But for now, I just want you to relax," Mulder whispered. Scully was rolling her neck in pure ecstasy. Suddenly Scully turned around in his arms. "She told me that you love me Mulder," Scully whispered, slowly putting her arms around him. "She told me that we were both in love. She envisioned us in love, Scully. I would really like it if it were that way. If it could be true...," Mulder explained softly. This was so brand new to both of them. He had to be extremely careful, so as not to screw it up. His reputation was surely known for doing that... "We can make it that way," Scully said, her voice getting low with arousal. "I've always loved you," Mulder whispered very softly right in Scully's ear, sending shivers down her spine. Scully opened her eyes, not even realizing until then, that she had them shut. She noticed Mulder's close proximity and took in a deep breath. It was happening. Her dream was happening. Right here. In a morgue. Surrounded by dead people. "We have got to get out of here," Scully thought. As much as she wanted this to continue, she was doing this for her future. Nothing like looking back on their first encounter with sharing their feelings, in an umm, morgue. Scully cleared her throat, "Mulder, as tempting as it is, let's let the dead people rest in peace. I think it would be a good idea if we took this elsewhere." This made Mulder laugh as he took in his surroundings. In a non-verbal agreement, he quickly kissed Scully on the cheek and broke of their embrace. Scully cleaned up her work so she could come back to it on a later date, locked up the room, and they exited holding hands. Mulder went out to the car and then climbed back out. He forgot about Lillian and felt really stupid and embarrassed, hoping she wasn't reading his thoughts at the current moment. He went back inside, found her and led her out to the car. She got into the back-seat laughing, clearly reading his mistake. "Dammit," Mulder thought, and then cursed himself for thinking that, and quickly cursed himself for thinking his last thought. By now, Mulder had one of the biggest headaches in the world but forgot about it, there was really nothing he could do in this situation. Lillian was in the back-seat covering her mouth as she tried her hardest not to laugh out loud. Mulder and Scully remained quiet the entire way of taking Lillian back to her house. Before letting her out of the car, Mulder made her promise if she ever envisioned anything else, to let him know. After making that point he gave her a business card and pulled out of the driveway. Now the butterflies start. Mulder smiled nervously at Scully, and she returned the gesture. They both knew they wanted "it" to happen. That it would. And that it had to. They held that concept at heart, and gained strength in it. Keeping that strength in mind, Scully reached over and squeezed Mulder's hand. "It will work," She said in confidence, knowing that those were the words Mulder needed to hear. He nodded in tense acquiescence. This... was going to be good. They pulled up at the hotel some 20 minutes later. Mulder took Scully's hand and they walked into the hotel that way. They walked up the stairs and stood in the hall, trying to decide whose room they would be going into. They stood there in the hall for a few minutes until Scully couldn't take this ridiculous behavior any longer. She walked over to her room and opened the door. "You are coming in, right?" She asked becoming more and more impatient with every passing minute. "Yeah," Mulder fidgeted with his hands, deep in his pockets. They walked in her room slowly. Mulder went over and sat on the bed in her room. "I really don't want this to be uncomfortable for us. We don't deserve that after all we have been through together. I really think if our relationship can't advance to the next step comfortably, it's not worth it. So let's just do this. We have both loved each other for a long time and this is our reward for holding on so long," Scully walked over to Mulder on the bed and put her hands on his shoulders. Mulder started to pull off her coat. He yanked it off her arms pulling it completely off and threw it a couple feet away... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Debbie stood frozen to the ground, unable to make a clear thought and unable to move. The man took off his hat and sunglasses, throwing them on the grass, revealing his face to her. Debbie finally came to her senses and started to run in the opposite direction. But it was already too late. The man was only 10 feet away when she started to run. This man was twice as tall as her, with much longer legs, and he was much stronger. He caught up to her in only 3 strides and knocked her to the cement in her neighbor's driveway, knocking the wind out of her. Getting up, he pulled her up with him and dragged her back to his car. "You make one sound, any sudden movements, and you can say goodbye to your life," The man threatened. He had something else in mind for her. He opened up his trunk, looked around to make sure no one else was in view of his actions, and laid her in there. There was rope back there, and he used it to tie up her ankles and wrists. "Why are you doing this?" Debbie asked in a whisper. "I told you not to make a sound," The man grumbled, his voice changing completely, sending chills up her spine. "Now shut up!" He yelled, slamming down the back of the car. Debbie couldn't keep track of time, and she had no idea where she was being taken. She estimated she had been in the car for about 2 hours but maybe it just felt like that long. She had to cry so hard that she couldn't even do it. All that came out of her mouth were short gasps. She never wanted to be home so bad in her entire life. She had one of the biggest headaches in her life because the man had his radio blasting heavy metal. She recognized some of the music as Marilyn Manson. "He's most likely the leader of the Trench-Coat Mafia, no doubt," Debbie thought. Nothing like positive thinking, the other half of her conscience told her. The best weekend of her life just kept getting better and better. She sighed. It was about time she started to come up with a plan. The fact that she was tied up with rope in the trunk of a car didn't leave her too many options though, and she quickly ran out of the little hope she had. She gave up, coming to the conclusion that is was all over. She was going to die. She thought of her parents. She hardly ever saw them. Did they not love her? She thought of all she would have liked to tell them before she died. "I love you mom! I love you dad! I'm sorry I couldn't outrun this man. I'm sorry I didn't get straight A's like you wanted. I'm sorry I never did make you happy and meet up to your standards!" Debbie started to sob at her thoughts. "I'm sorry I couldn't make things change. I know I disappointed you," Debbie whispered this last thought underneath the loud pounding of an electric guitar. She started thinking about her friends. Would they miss her? Her heart sunk when she thought about Lillian. She was never there for her when she tried to tell about her deepest fears. Those flashbacks really were real. Debbie now realized this. "So this is what it takes to prove her point?" Debbie sighed in pure defeat. She really was a screw-up. "I love you Lillian," Debbie whispered. "I am so sorry I left you behind. I made you feel inadequate, and I didn't listen to you. Please forgive me," Debbie desperately hoped Lillian would understand. The tears were streaming down her face by now. He shirt was soaked and her stomach ached. She thought about the kids she would have had. She would have married a man that was deeply in love with her. She never got to meet this man. She would have had a family she loved and cared for. She sobbed knowing these dreams she had would never be fulfilled. She discovered something about herself laying there in that car. Had she ever been able to experience pregnancy, she would have been a woman literally in love with her positive urine test. Debbie was positive that something so wonderful would never happen to her. She will never experience the love of a man, a man who would have definitely been chosen in part for his potential as not only a mate, but also a father. A man who not only passed genetic muster, but the muster of his potential for loving. She would never experience the support from her family and friends during her nine month battle. She would never experience bringing life into the world. She was 15 years old, and the only thing she experienced right now was pain. Emotional and physical pain. Emotional pain from fear of death. Fear of losing everything she had and anything she could have had. She experienced physical pain from the cement meeting her head and the rope ripping her skin whenever she tried to move. She already missed her life. More than anything she missed her freedom. Her freedom to choose the next route. She had been making her own choices since as long as she could remember. Now she lay in the hands of one man. One man who had all say in what she did, putting her life on the line. He was risking all that she had. With one flick of his wrist, her life would be literally sucked from her. Her life was in his hands. This was a choice that only God had the right to make. And he was defying all the rules that were sacred. He didn't have a motive. All of his victims were of all ages, man and women of all nationalities and for no reason. This man killed because he liked doing it. And she lost her freedom. She lost her liberty. There was no forgiveness for a sin so immense. There was no impunity. And she had no freedom. She continued to create the puddle of tears around her. She had never felt so helpless, so useless, so... fragile. It terrified her. Debbie was thrown into the side of the car as it came to a halt. The rope tore even more at her ankles and wrists. She took in a deep breath, attempting to prepare herself for more torture. "Is this really what I deserve? Does anyone deserve this?" Her thoughts continued to scare her. But she knew the answer. Of course she didn't deserve this. And the only people that did deserve torture were people like the man doing this to her. They deserved a lot more than this. She prayed not for her safety, but that this man would receive his punishment, and he would beg for mercy. She prayed that she would be his last victim. And she prayed that God would be waiting for her on the other side. She no longer feared death. She feared this man. A white light shone in her eyes. She blinked back her tears and squinted to see what stood above her. The man had lifted up the hood and now had a flashlight shining directly in her face. He tucked it under his armpit and lifted her out of the car. It was night-time where he had taken her. She new she had been in that car the entire evening. They could for sure be in some other state. Her eyes began to adjust, and she saw a log cabin in the distance. A feeling was deep down in the pit of her stomach, her clock was ticking, and her time was running low. She took in her surroundings. She stared at the star-filled sky and tried her best to think peaceful thoughts. She lost all optimism when the man dropped her to the gravel pavement and proceeded to drag her all the way over to the cabin. The rope tore at her wrists and ankles, and her legs and arms banged against the rocks. Debbie screamed in pain, and she felt the blood stick to her broken body. She closed her eyes, trying to steer her mind away from the agony. But she couldn't control her thoughts. She had lost her freedom... The man yanked her into the cabin and threw her in an empty room with no furniture and no windows. When he turned on the lights Debbie got to see for the first time, all of the damage he had done to her. There were deep gashes covering her knees. Blood trickled down her legs and dripped onto the cabin's floor. She swore she saw the bone at her ankle but quickly converted her attention to her arms. She couldn't bend her elbows without having to flinch in excruciating pain. Her wrists were in the same condition as her ankles and her back and chest throbbed. The man came into her room with scissors and started cutting off the rope, making sure he scratched her wounds as he removed them. Debbie yelped and began to sob again. When the man was done extracting the rope, he started to walk out of the room. "I'll just leave you in here tonight, I don't think you'll be going anywhere," The man snickered, evil evident all around him. He turned off the light, leaving her battered, bloody and bruised body on the wood floor. No matter how hard Debbie tried to get comfortable, she was bruised all over, and to pain, there was no escaping. She eventually fell asleep in her emotional and physical state of exhaustion. She had lost her freedom... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Subject: Flashbacks e-mail #3 Lillian sat at home alone, watching TV. She could easily say that yesterday had been the worst day of her life. Now that she could say she had been put in a near-death experience, she had a reason to be glad that it happened. Today she was interrogated by an FBI agent. This man believed everything that she said. He even brought up the subject of being psychic. Now that it had been completely brought out into the open, and she talked about it with someone, a million pounds have been lifted off her shoulders. She, for once, was now understood. Now that Lillian was happy, she had a whole new understanding about her "gift". Before this time, she didn't want it to happen for fear of being an outcast, and it would appear in her mind involuntarily. Now, she knew how to make her mind work, and she was enjoying experimenting with it. When she was around the two FBI agents, Mulder and Scully she was shocked at what she saw. These two people never talked about their private lives with each other, but both of them wanted their lives to involve each other! As confusing as it seems, Lillian knew she had to make a stop with it. Now that they both knew they were both in love, she hoped to God they would take the next steps themselves. Later on that evening, Lillian fell asleep on her couch, only to be awakened from a horrible nightmare. Debbie was being taken hostage in the trunk of a car, tied up with a rope. The man was torturing her and pulling her on the ground. The next thing she saw was Debbie covered in her own blood. Lillian sat up on the couch, breathing heavily and drenched in her own sweat. This is real, and she had to do something about it. Lillian pulled Agent Mulder's business card from her pocket and dialed his number... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mulder and Scully lay cuddled in each other's arms, sleeping peacefully. Their dreams were of their soon-to-be wonderful future, together. Both agents awoke at the same time at the sound of a cell-phone beeping. Mulder got up and found his phone, turning it on. "Mulder." "Agent Mulder, this is Lillian...," "Are you okay?" Mulder interrupted, very concerned. "Ummm, well yeah, I'm fine," Lillian answered. Mulder cringed once again at those "all to familiar" words. He wondered if she was really telling the truth. She obviously called for a reason. He turned to see Scully turning on the light at the side of the bed. She gave him a gaze reading, "Would you mind explaining this to me?" "What's wrong?" Mulder asked. "I just had another flashback, Agent Mulder. I think you know what that means," Lillian said matter-of-factly. "Damn," Mulder thought, he sure did know what that meant. "It was a flashback of the murders? But it was something brand new?" "It was very brand new. I saw everything clearly. The man took Debbie somewhere in a forest and brutally abused the living hell out of her," Lillian said, her voice cracking in her attempt to hold back tears. "Could you see where they were?" Mulder couldn't believe the bastard took Debbie. He put his hand on his forehead, disturbed at his latest fact. They were getting nowhere in this case. He was sure pissed off at Skinner who gave them a "break". He suddenly wondered if he said that just to lure them into this. "No, just out in the woods somewhere. It's not any place I've ever seen before." "Could you see the car?" Lillian gave him a description of the car. It was a blue cadillac but, that's all she saw. "I know this sounds ridiculous, but without a location, we can't really do anything. So why don't you try to go back to sleep and really concentrate on everything you see. Call us whenever you see anything of great importance," Mulder hung up after the call and explained to Scully what just went on in the conversation. Mulder called the bureau and told them to find out all they could about any blue cadillacs licensed in the state of Illinois to any middle-aged males. Mulder sat back on the bed, taking Scully in his arms and just holding her like that for a few minutes. She rested her head on his chest, breathing in his scent and caressing his back with her hands. Mulder leaned back so he could look in her face. In that moment as they locked eyes, Mulder lowered his lips to her's where they shared the most innocent and at the same time, erotic kiss either of them had ever experienced. The kiss deepened as their tongues performed a delicate dance of love and passion. Scully pulled back and looked into Mulder's eyes. They were filled with a desire that she had never seen before in any man. This was not any desire, it was a desire for the one and only women he loved. It was all for her. All for her. "I love you so much," Scully managed to whisper. "I have always loved you," Mulder responded with so much confidence it melted her heart. She had never felt this loved in all her life. And she was planning on cherishing every waking moment of it. Mulder moved his hands all over Scully's small, petite body. He thought he had her memorized before, but all of this was so new to him. He felt Scully tremble under his touch as he slid his hands up her shirt, lifting it off. With every inch of skin being revealed to him, he thanked God for this wonderful gift; for this wonderful women. With everything that went wrong in his life, every second spent with this creation of God's could make it all go away... all disappear, right into thin air. Once Scully got a hold on reality, she began to mirror Mulder's movements and stripped him of his clothes. "My God Dana, are you sure you should be doing this?" Her conscience asked her. "Screw you and for once, stop thinking rationally," She answered herself and tried her best to be unscrupulous. Now she understood what Mulder had to go through almost everyday of his life with her. Mulder wrapped his arms around her and pulled her off the bed. They stood perusing over one another in their nakedness in pure awe. Never in their wildest dreams did they think it would ever come to this. But the very thought of it had lingered in their dreams and in every moment of their consternation. It was through fear and terror that had never brought this day forth sooner. It was fear that they didn't feel the same way about each other. Rejection. It all ended there, and there was no continuing. But Mulder's strong belief in psychic ability brought his belief in love to surface. It hung in mid-air until he came up with enough strength to grab hold of it and have faith in himself and his partner. It began with trust, and it was trust in her feelings that brought them where they were now. They were holding each other with a love stronger than all of natures forces to crash all around them. Wrapped in an embrace God himself couldn't break, they moved in, meeting each other half-way in a kiss filled with more emotion than either of them thought possible. Their lips danced, caressing every inch in their mouths, tongues intertwining, exploring, searching for gold. They struck gold, and found themselves lying on top of each other on the bed. Mulder had to force every muscle in his body not to jump right off that bed and find a needle, to prove to himself that this in fact, was not a dream. Instead he lay there under Scully, having the time of his life with the only women he had ever loved. "You know Scully, I used to wish that I had never met you," Mulder whispered in her ear. She looked in his eyes with shock and a little bit of hurt written in her eyes. "I would come to work everyday knowing that you would be there, and knowing that yet another day would pass where I had to face my true love, and not being anything more than just a friend to her. If I had never met you, I would never go through such hurt and pain. But all of that is more than worth it right here, right now." Scully smiled and Mulder saw relief in her eyes now. That was more than proof to him right there that this was definitely reality. The next thing they both knew their bodies were performing the age old dance of unconditional love. Scully slid her torso up and down Mulder's muscular frame, her breath catching in every descent. His hands were massaging her back and rear in circular motions, adding choreography to their dance. This was yet another thing Mulder could add to his proof. Oh yes, this was very real. Tears of joy dripped from their stained cheeks, unafraid, unrevealed, shameless and pure. All pain was forgotten in this simple act of love. Years of heavy burden were lifted off their backs, quicker than a blink of their eyes. They became light as a feather, floating on a cloud of ecstasy. They found a new remedy in themselves and knew that God created this event in time and had planned it all along. They were created in each other, falling in love even before they met. Wrapping their arms around each other, fitting perfectly in one another, they knew it was true. It couldn't happen any other way. Their love was never-ending, a cycle meant to be for the rest of eternity. They were one being, one love, one soul, and one mind. They shared the same dream. They were that dream. Images of every moment with each other played through their minds. Each touch, each glance, each gentle word brought them to where they were that day. Their first handshake, their first hug, their first kiss... None of it was even intimate, it was more of a consolation than anything else. Although they both wanted it to be more. They wanted it more than anything else. And it would never be that way anymore... Thank God... They both smiled, sharing the same thoughts as usual... Past thoughts, when all was given up, came filtering through their minds, never to return. Life comes to that more than we would like, when nothing can possibly repair old wounds. When the only thing that can be better than life, is death. And the knife, or the gun, whatever the "tool" may be, is your only friend. It provides freedom. Life had come to that on many occasions. They made it through those times, only because of each other. Nothing else mattered. And they made it through it, now being rewarded for everything heart wrenching. It was all done for love. The over-powering emotion that beats all odds. The never-dying emotion. It lives strong in life, and it's the only emotion that lives in death. Without love, there's no life. Without each other, there would also... be no life. Mulder and Scully fell asleep, entwined in each other's arms and legs. There was no separation now. There were no longer any lonely nights where they could only dream of each other. Fantasy was now reality. Reality was now perfection. Right outside their hotel window the stars shone brightly, lighting up the otherwise blind night. Twinkling in a language of their very own, they seemed to be alive, breathing in their own way, providing a heart-beat. It was almost mystical, as if they knew two very special people were experiencing love for the first time. An X-File in itself... The light filtered through the curtains, creating a spot-light of passion. Is there a word stronger than love? Giving yourself up to another person. Ownership. One complete bond. They already had that before. The power to read each other's minds. They had that too. One look, one glance, a smile. Each movement had a meaning behind it that no other person could understand. Yet not up until now, did they speak one word about the obvious. The spot-light of the stars and the moon could tell this story, they had been watching all these years. Watching from above, entertaining the spirits. They had gotten their fairy-tale ending. The show was over as the sun came up, casting a new spot-light upon them. Mulder awoke, confused at the warmth beside him. He smiled when he realized who it was. That would apparently take some getting used to. The coldness beside him everyday had become almost custom and predictable. But of course, it was like that for her too... He wrapped his arms tighter around her and set his head against her shoulder, kissing her cheek. He got butterflies of joy in his stomach; he knew he would have this for the rest of his life. He would make certain of it. Scully smiled in her sleep, feeling Mulder's lips on her face. Her eyes fluttered open, focusing on him. She turned onto her back so that Mulder was right above her. "Hey you." She gave him the usual greeting. "Hey yourself." He gave her the usual response. Some things would never change. Mulder laid down on top of her and wrapped his arms around her shoulder blades. They locked lips, giving each other the good old fashioned, good-morning kiss. Of course it didn't last quite quick enough to be qualified as "appropriate". But who made up that rule? "Mulder," Scully managed to make his name out when breaking for air. It didn't quite get his attention though. "Mul... der," Seeing as though his attention was fully focused on her lips and not her words, she took it in herself to push him away. "Scully, what's wrong?" Mulder asked, giving her his finest puppy-dog expression. "Nothing is wrong. It's just 10:00 in the morning. I think we should probably start working now? I also think we should check on Lillian. You told her last night to call us when she found out anything. She had one long night to do her little psychic thing, whatever that may be... Anyway, we never got any call." Scully was back into her rational-mode. Mulder had to smile at how she changed so much from "Passionate Scully" to "Professional Scully". Why couldn't they inter-mingle? He would have to work on having her do that. This would definitely be fun... "What are you smiling at?" Scully eyed him, giving him the eyebrow. "Nothing," Mulder got off the bed and started towards the bathroom. Seeing him do this, Scully got out and went into her suitcase, picking out what she would wear. Suddenly Mulder turned around and tackled Scully, throwing her back onto the bed and started tickling her. "Mulder... stop!" She screamed in between bursts of giggles. Mulder didn't want to stop, he had never heard these sounds come from her before. She had never allowed him to even touch her before because it would be to "unprofessional". And of course their relationship had been led of a purely "professional" basis. He stopped though... and turned back around to take his shower. It took Scully a few minutes for her mind to completely sink in what had just occurred. In the past it didn't matter what they would be doing, if she told Mulder to "stop", he never would. They could be chasing down a mass-murderer down a dark alley. He wouldn't listen. He did everything his own way. Now when she yells "stop", suddenly he listens. And the ironic thing about this situation is she didn't want him to stop... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lillian's household Minooka, IL 12:36 PM It took Mulder and Scully an extra half an hour to find Lillian's house. Everything in this town was surrounded by hundreds of acres of corn. "At least they have a Mc.Donalds," Mulder mumbled, keeping his priorities straight. "I'm surprised the roads are even paved," Scully realized. She felt like she was back in Mayberry. The town itself was huge, giving them many options to turn, and continue getting lost. "I think it should be illegal," Mulder said, talking to himself mainly, but peaking Scully's inquisitive mind at the same time. "What?" "To have this much corn in one town." "Well I think it's a nice crop." Scully did a very good job at keeping a straight face, but when she saw the shock and disgust on Mulder's face, they both burst out laughing. When they finally found the road Lillian lived on, it was already after one o'clock in the afternoon. They both got out of their rental car and walked to the front door. About five minutes after they stood ringing the door bell and knocking, a man came to the door. "Can I help you?" The man asked, not hiding his anger. He had on only his underwear and a sweat stained t-shirt that could be mistaken as an ancient artifact by now. He hadn't shaved in at least a week and was in need for a long shower. "I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder, and this is my partner Dana Scully. Is your daughter Lillian home?" Mulder asked, as both of them showed the man their badges. "What do you want from her?" His breath reeked of alcohol, and Scully prayed this man wasn't her father. Suddenly Lillian came up, pushing the man away from the door and stepping outside. Once again she was dressed in big pants and a long-sleeved shirt. She had tear stained cheeks and looked as though she hadn't slept at all. "Are you guys just gonna stand there staring at each other, or are you going to tell me what's going on?" The man's voice interrupted all of their thoughts. "We need to talk to Lillian about the disappearance of her friend Debbie. Would it be all right if we took her with us?" "Whatever, I don't care," He said before slamming the door. "Nice guy," Mulder said sarcastically. "Yeah, he's really in touch with his feminine side, as you can tell," Lillian grumbled. "Is he your father?" Mulder asked, dreading the response. "Hell no! That pompous ass is far from it. I don't even know who my father is, but I have all the respect for the man. My mom used to tell me bad things about him to get me to be on her side, but she's the one who screwed up. They had been married for a year after they had me. My mom cheated on him with some guy she worked with, so he walked out on her. He went to court and tried to get custody of me, but the woman usually wins in those cases, and that's exactly what happened. So I've never seen him ever since, and my mom has gone through millions of creep boyfriends. I have to say though, this one is by far the biggest loser she's come across," Lillian sighed. Scully just wanted to give the girl a big hug, but held back. They got in the car, not really having any idea as where to go. They had intended to question her at her house, but decided against that after meeting "Mr. Right". So Mulder pulled up at the Mc.Donalds and they got a booth in there and had lunch. Mulder played around with the Toddler Toy he got in Scully's Happy Meal while they asked Lillian questions. It was a little miniature Tigger from Whinnie the Pooh. "After I got off the phone with you last night, it was really hard for me to fall back to sleep. I still haven't got the slightest clue as to where Debbie might be. All I keep seeing is a log cabin in some woods. It's dark there and the man beats the shit out of her. She is all bloody, black and blue and swollen," She gasped, trying to hold back the tears. Scully couldn't take it anymore. She was sitting next to Lillian in the booth, and she wrapped her arms around her. Lillian rested her head on Scully's shoulder and just let the tears fall. She shut her eyes and tried her best to concentrate on helping her best friend. She sat up and wiped her eyes. "She's not in Illinois anymore." "Are you sure?" Mulder asked, ready to get any information he could out of her. "How do you know?" Scully asked. "Yes I'm sure. I don't know how I know. But I'm positive she's not in Illinois anymore. She's not far from it though." They really didn't know what else they could ask her. Here they had a murderer without an apparent motive, except just to kill. There was no distinct pattern, and the cause of death wasn't even clear. The whole case practically lied in the hands of a 15 year old girl. A girl who was scared and in pain. In pain not only physically, but emotionally as well. Mulder knew that when he got back to his office, he would definitely have a word with Skinner, and give HIM a "break". So they were done questioning Lillian, and they sat their for about ten minutes in silence. Scully didn't exactly want to bring her back home. It didn't strike her as a healthy or a safe environment, especially in her emotional state of mind. It was up to Lillian what she would do though. "Umm, Lillian, now that I guess we're done here, do you want us to take you back home?" "Yeah, I think I need to be alone, so I can just think. My mind needs to rest. My eyes feel like they could fall out right about now. Just take me home." "Does your mother's boyfriend ever bother you?" Mulder asked, also concerned for her safety. "No, neither of them bother me. They hardly ever talk to me, let alone bother me. So I'm in no danger, if that's what you're thinking." Lillian sighed, these people felt sorry for her. She hated sympathy, it was the last thing she wanted. She was fine, and she took care of herself. If she ran away from home, it definitely wouldn't be to get attention. It wouldn't raise any attention for a few days anyway. She could go weeks without seeing her mother. Lillian stood up and took a deep breath to hold back more tears. She followed the two agents back out to the car, unaware of anything or anyone else, lost in her own empty thoughts. She stared out her window on the way back to her house. It was as if she was seeing her town for the very first time. Now she knew she had to leave. It consisted of only corn! She didn't understand how anyone could live here. She knew it would be stupid to leave though. She had no reason to leave. As she told Agent Mulder, no one was bothering her. The only thing that bothered her were her own thoughts. And for some strange reason, she couldn't control them anyway. Staying with what she had seemed like the legitimate decision for the time being. As she became lost in her thoughts once again, everything outside the window became one big blur. It was as though she had fallen asleep with her eyes open. Scully had to turn around and shake her to let her know she was home. "Oh... thanks." Lillian got out of the car and made her way back inside. She didn't turn around because she had tears running down her face... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Debbie awoke, confused at the inconspicuous amount of light shining through her bedroom window. Fear struck her, as she realized it couldn't be her bedroom. She made a feeble attempt to stand up but lost the war to her own body. Her bones were stiff from sleeping on the cold, hard, wood floor. Her body was broken and frail. The only light she had came from under the door. She knew there was a light switch only a few feet away from her. But it was nearly impossible for her to force herself to get up and walk those few feet to turn it on. She shuttered at the memory of the night before. As the shutter went through her body, pain was inflicted to her sore frame. As if he knew she was awake at that moment, the man came barging through the door to her room. "You look like you've just come from the very depths of hell itself," He said doing his best to build anger inside of her. "I guess that would be an appropriate description. Does that make you the devil?" Debbie would not let this man get what he wanted. If she was to die, she would do her best to make it harder for him to get his satisfaction. She flinched when he walked over to her and kicked her hard in her side. "Do I look like the devil?" He kicked her again in the same spot, his anger raging. "Huh? Do I?" He picked her up and slammed her up against the wall. Debbie shook her head in response, but that was not good enough for him. "Answer me! Do I look like the devil to you?" The blood rose to his face, and he turned beat red. Debbie knew she had to give him the answer he wanted to hear, or he would blow. She did not want to die by getting her head smashed against a wall. "No, no you don't," She whispered, looking everywhere except at him. "That's what I thought," He answered, loosening his grip on her shoulders. Her legs were not strong enough to hold her weight anymore, and as he loosened his grip, she started to slide to the ground. "Get up!" She struggled to use her legs, but it hurt way too much. "I can't." The tears were flooding the front of her eyes, and the man became nothing but a blur. "Do it! Stand up!" "I can't!" She screamed, and she slid even closer to the floor. The man yanked her up by her hair, causing her to scream. "Either you stand on your own two feet, or you die." The man let go of her and she did her best to balance herself. She swayed back and forth, trying to stabilize herself and adjust the pain in each leg with no success. "Now walk!" He pulled out a gun and placed it against her forehead. She almost preferred the shot to the head than to be tortured to death. But she knew it was too early to die. She couldn't give up now. She put one leg in front of the other, slowly making her way out of the room. It was easier to breathe outside the room. But maybe the only thing making her feel that way was that the man was out of her personal space now. He was a few steps behind her, watching her cause her own pain by walking, and enjoying the tear drops that splashed onto the floor under her feet. The first object in front of her was a green leather couch, and she grabbed it, taking the pressure off her legs. The man pushed her backwards onto the couch, and as her legs flew up in front of her she saw for the first time the deep gashes on her legs surrounded by the now dried blood. He got on the couch, stradelling her thighs and sat down on her legs. Screaming in anguish at the newly added pressure added to her legs, Debbie did her best to slap him across the face, but it didn't have the force she had intended. Her arms were just as weak as her legs. This caused him to laugh at her, and she spit in his face. "Cute... very cute. Now let's see how cute you look after this!" The man started to pull off her shirt, and she wiggled from side to side, preventing him from doing so. "Oh, so now we want to be difficult. How about you go ahead and say your last words. You should pick them wisely. Keep in mind where you want to end up," He smirked. "Rot in hell you arrogant son of a bitch!" Debbie screamed with every last ounce of energy she had left. That was all it took for the man to reach in his pocket and pull out the gun. He raised up his arm with a threatening grin on his face and pointed it at her face. But before he could pull the trigger, she had reached behind her, pulling out a pillow, knocking the gun a couple inches away from her fact, and the bullet flew through the leather couch. Before the man could comprehend what had just happened, Debbie pulled the gun out of his hand and shot it in his heart. She didn't even know how to use a gun. In fact she had never even held one before She watched in astonishment as the man struggled for air. He brought his hands up to his neck as his face turned a shade of blue. Debbie watched in horror as he died. His eyes glared into the very depths of her soul, and she swore she even saw tears in his eyes. His eyes pleaded with her to save him and in response she shoved him off the couch and he landed with a thump on the hard wood floor. She couldn't take it anymore. The smell of death lingered in the air, yet this man was still alive... barely. She pushed herself off the couch and slowly made her way to a window and looked out. All she could see in any direction was pine trees. She had no idea where she was, but she knew that no one else did either. She was stuck in a trap. Was she really supposed to die here? With that man dead or alive, it didn't look good for her. Debbie made her way out of the cabin's living room and found a bathroom. Whenever she needed to think about something and just really concentrate, taking a hot bath always helped. And in her current state of mind, it was the only thing that seemed like a solution. She started to take her clothes off, carefully balancing herself. As the bath-tub filled, she looked over her broken and bruised body. She had never seen anything so gruesome and hideous. Her knees were covered in thick scabs. Her ankles were so severed she could see her bones. The rest of her legs were stained in blood and had a pattern of bruises to top it off. Her wrists looked much like her ankles and her elbows much like her knees. On the side of her waist she had a bruise the size of a volleyball where the man had continuously kicked her. To top it all off, her forehead and stomach were scratched up from the gravel and rocks too. She screamed as she stepped into the water. She could only get warm water to come out of the faucet, and thank god, because it burned into her flesh. She forced herself to sit down in the water, and it burned the wounds on her legs and knees. She reached over and grabbed a bar of soap sitting at the edge of the tub and rinsed it off under the water. She washed all of the excess blood off of her body and couldn't believe taking a bath could hurt as much as it did. When she had finished, her ankles and wrists had begun to bleed again and the water had actually turned a light shade of red. After she dried herself off, she found a first-aid kit under the sink and bandaged her wrists and ankles. She did her best to search the cabin from top to bottom, but found no maps, no telephones, and no indications what- so-ever as to where she was. She was way too debilitated, that when she went into the bedroom, the sheets looked so inviting. She went and laid down on the bed and fell fast asleep. Subject: Flashbacks e-mail #4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After Mulder and Scully dropped off Lillian, they went to look for other people to question. After knocking on a few of Debbie's neighbor's doors, they found someone who was actually home. Scully saw an old man approach the door through the window. He opened the door without saying anything, so Mulder introduced them to the man. "The FBI, huh? I never did trust you guys. I hear all of these government conspiracy allegations, especially after Roswell. Why is it that you guys are concealing everything from the American public?" The old man made himself stand up straighter and appear menacing. Mulder had to chuckle at how up-front the guy was. "Well sir, first of all I'll be the first to say that we're not hiding anything. You have no right not to trust us just from what the media says," Scully demanded. "Well of course, they tell you guys to say that. That's what you're paid for." The old man made a gesture, letting them come inside. "Would it be okay if we asked you a few questions?" Scully asked. "Am I being recorded or videotaped?" The old man asked "No, that I can assure you, we're not doing," Mulder responded. He would like to introduce this guy to the Lone Gunmen. "First of all, can you tell us your name for the record?" "William Shakespear." Both heads went up on that one. Mulder and Scully exchanged another glance but the man's face continued to stay normal. "Well, William Shakespear, are you retired?" Scully was waiting for the man to laugh and confess his real name, but he went right in to answering the next question. "Yes, I had been a reporter for the Chicago Tribune for over 50 years. That's how I got all the scoop about the government. If anything happened I was the first one there. And believe me, I've seen a lot of things." Mr. Shakespear went over and showed the agents a plaque, awarding him best reporter of the year. And indeed, his name was William Shakespear. Scully was relieved that neither her or Mulder questioned it. "What we came here for, Mr. Shakespear, was about the disappearance of Debbie Mitchell. Do you know anything about her or her disappearance?" Mulder got right down to business. The old man sat down across from the agents and couldn't hide the shock from his face. He lived right across the street from Debbie. "When did this happen?" Mr. Shakespear began to look nervous. "She was taken early in the afternoon yesterday. Did you see anything unusual happen to her?" "Well, yes, actually I did. I like to sit and look out my window and watch people go by. I saw a man get out a blue cadillac and knock Debbie down. I didn't want to watch any more than that, I figured it was some boy friend of Debbie's." The man cursed himself, realizing the mistake he had made. Both agents hoped they could get a break in the case with this man. "Can you describe what the man looked like?" Scully asked him. "Yes, that I can do. He was about 6 feet tall, with brown hair. If you want I could talk to a sketch artist for you." And that's exactly what they did. They asked him a few more questions, but by that time, they already had a name and a profile of the man they needed to look for. His name was Christopher Lumberson. He had no criminal record at all. He was an only child, shared between two divorced parents. He was of above average IQ and graduated from Harvard University with a PHD. "Are you sure we have the right person, Scully? This man could probably recite you the 10 commandments," Mulder mumbled. "So could I Mulder. That won't determine whether or not I will go on a killing spree," Scully answered while looking over Mulder's shoulder as he scrolled down Christopher Lumber's life history. "He's 35 years old. So he hasn't been a doctor for very long, has he?" Mulder turned to look at Scully. "Well, he went through all the schooling and got his masters degree. So I would say he's probably been practicing medicine for about 7 years, why Mulder?" "Because it looks like we'll have to cut his career short. His step-father has a summer home in Iowa. It isn't occupied by him anymore, he past away over 5 years ago. It's a perfect place to bring a hostage, wouldn't you say?" Mulder smiled, knowing once again he most likely solved another case. "I guess this means we're taking a nice road trip to lovely Iowa," Scully sighed. She was relieved that this was looking to be the ends of yet another horrid case, yet she hated road trips. She despised them in fact. She noted that anything had to be better than living in the part of Illinois they were currently staying... They drove in silence back to the hotel. Scully was silently saying a prayer that Debbie would be alight. She couldn't withstand breaking the news to Lillian if she wasn't. Mulder was daydreaming about Scully. He knew their relationship would be great. But he also knew Scully would want to keep it strictly professional while they were on a case. He looked over at her and smiled. She looked so peaceful. He knew she had just as many worries as he did, but she hid them so well. He would have to ask for some advice later... They packed up everything when Scully insisted. She knew it would be a long drive there, and it would be late when they got there. She hoped the area in Iowa they would be going would have a nice hotel like the one they were staying at. She had seen some pretty repulsive ones... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Somewhere in Iowa Later on that day... The sky was filled with white puffy clouds trying their best to cover the bright blue atmosphere. Just underneath them, birds flew to their individual destinations, so carefree; their lives based only on survival. That was exactly how Debbie felt at that exact moment as she stared out a window in the bedroom she was in. Her life depended on her survival. She felt as though she had won a race, passing the finish line and beating her competitors by a fraction of a second; and then later on finding out that she didn't win. She had killed a man in self defense. She was only 15 years old, an honors student, and she had murdered someone. The thought revolted her. Debbie had slept for the entire morning and most of the afternoon. She had regained a desirable amount of strength and was determined to come up with a plan. She limped around the cabin until she came into the living room. She covered her nose and mouth with her hands at what she was seeing. She kept telling herself that she was the victim, and she was still the victim. The man lay dead on the hard wood floor, stiff as a board surrounded in his own pool of blood. As if in a horror movie, the room suddenly became icy cold. Her stomach became extremely nauseous, and she felt bile rising in the back of her throat. She had heard about long-term-effects when people experienced traumatic situations. This was morose and morbid, it went beyond traumatic. Debbie sighed realizing she really had no choice in the next thing she was going to have to do. She wasn't sure if she was up to it, but the only thing that could happen is the condition of the man's body would get worse. The mere thought of the body decomposing made Debbie even sicker, so she went and opened the door to the cabin. Grabbing the man's shoes she pulled with all the ambition God gave her. The man had to be at the very least, twice her size and the job wasn't at easy as she thought it would be. The stiffness of his body didn't help her to drag him and in her state of weakness, it couldn't get much more difficult. Once she got him out of the door and was dragging him across the gravel, she almost wished he was alive. He would feel the pain he made her endure. When she got him as far away from the cabin as she could, she dropped his legs. The anger that flowed through every joint in her body as she saw him in front of her was at it's bursting points. She screamed and kicked in hard on his skull. "That's for the lady at the mall!" She stomped on his face. "That's for the man working at Gadzooks!" She thought about the way he was only trying to help Lillian, and continued to kick him. "That's for everyone else you killed!" Debbie's leg was in so much pain but the rage won over her actions. "That's for the grieving and suffering you make all those people's families go through!" Debbie fell down in tears next to the man, sobbing into her hands. She realized she was beyond the point of sanity, but she didn't care. Having a nervous breakdown even seemed like a reasonable proposal at this duration in time. When she had settled down, she made her way over to a gazebo to the side of the cabin and sat down in a cushiony lawn chair. She took in her surroundings as a painter would. She noticed the purple weeds, speckled throughout the grass. She noticed the shape of the trees, much like an old women, stooped over the land below. She noticed the way a nearby pond twisted around the tress, as if protecting them. All in all, the place was simply gorgeous. The man couldn't have picked a better location, but he didn't deserve this. No one of his stature should enjoy such splendid gifts from nature. A scummy apartment on the highest crime rated side of a city was much more applicable. She sighed again, trying to relax, and trying to enjoy the current situation to the best of her ability. She closed her eyes and did some consequential thinking. She was more than determined to get out of this place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scully awoke to Mulder lightly tapping her on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and quickly remembered what she had been doing last. They were in the car, and she must have fallen asleep. "You fell asleep," Mulder stated. Apparently she had been correct. Scully chuckled to herself at how they thought alike. Mulder had left the headlights on, and she took a look at the hotel he had picked. Actually it was an Inn, and a small one at that. But it didn't look dirty or filthy at all. In fact, it appeared to be pretty cute in her opinion. She smiled, remembering her last thoughts before they left. Thank God he found another place that, so far, appeared to be in adequate condition. Mulder got their luggage out of the car as Scully walked in to get them a room. There were plenty of rooms that weren't occupied, so Scully got two rooms. She knew the FBI always looked at information like that, and most likely even more if it involved the two of them. She was very aware of all the rumors of her and Mulder being involved. They would be correct now, and she wondered if everyone else knew something they didn't. Life seemed to have different expectations then her own. Everything that appeared completely obvious to everyone else, she seemed to never accept. Then again, she knew the answer to the "riddle without an answer". She was blind to the things she chose not to construe. And that was her relationship with Mulder. The love she had always known was for him, was against protocol, and she couldn't let it go any further. She had grown up though. Was there anything more important than love? Even the scientist inside her could find no answer to that labyrinth. She smiled, knowing she had truly made the right decision. If she had died any earlier, even in the afterlife she would have never forgiven herself for not choosing love. She laughed, imagining herself being the only depressed person in Heaven. She would be surrounded by love, but not the love she had spent her life dreaming about. She would be surrounded by happiness, but unable to have any herself. God himself couldn't convince her otherwise. Thank God that none of that would have to happen from here on. She gave Mulder the key to his hotel room. The glint of sadness in his eyes when he saw the number on his key didn't match her's made her heart sink. Her heart dropped to her knees, and she now hated her job. Instead she took his hand in her own and led them both to her room. The FBI would never know that they didn't use both rooms... Even in the small contact of both their fingers, entwining and linked together, was electric. The comfort radiating from his hand, covered her like a security blanket. Once at the door to "their" hotel room, Scully hated having to let go of Mulder. The sudden coldness of the air seemed to literally bite at her hand as she put the key in the lock and turned. They entered the room, evaluating it's cleanliness. The beds were made properly; two mints lying on top the pillows. The carpet was amazingly spotless, and the furniture had been dusted recently. There was a porch leading off a sliding glass door, giving them a nice view of a... field. "It's a nice night for star gazing," Scully jumped as Mulder came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She didn't even notice the sky, but lavished at it's beauty as she looked up. They both stepped outside to get a better look of the celestial bodies. "We don't get to see the stars like this in D.C," Scully observed. The pollution in cities was definitely noticeable in the sky. Of course the presence of light would do the same. When you get out into the middle of nowhere, it's almost as if you live with the stars. They're alive in their own vitality. "Have you ever wished upon a star, Scully?" Mulder tilted his head around her face so he could see her eyes. He had a pretty good idea that she had, but loved the smile that formed on her lips when he asked. "My father and I used to lay out and star gaze. We would just stare at the sky, and talk about... well anything. We could sit out for hours and just let the time fly by. My mother would get mad if we stayed out after midnight; sometimes I just thought she was jealous. I could never have a conversation with her like I could with my father. She was always the one to worry about everything. Well he was more open minded... I guess I'm more like my mom, which is probably why we didn't get along as well," Scully's voice trailed off when Mulder laughed at that last statement. "Seeing a certain resemblance, Mulder?" Scully elbowed him in the side, only causing him to laugh harder. "I noticed a resemblance between you too long ago," He smiled. "How about you?" "How about me, what?" "Did you ever wish upon a star?" "When I was looking at the sky, it wasn't for the stars," This time it was Scully who laughed. "I was more interested in trying to find U.F.O's, and I think I missed the opportunity to view what was there. I didn't have too much faith in anything though, let along wishing on a star. It's too bad, really. I think I could have used simple support like that." Scully turned around in his arms and rested her head on his chest. She knew Mulder had had an extremely difficult childhood, and wondered if it hurt him listening to her "perfect" one. She had to admit how lucky she was. In her mind it certainly wasn't classified as perfect, but Mulder had quite a devastating family life. Mulder looked up at the sky, marveling at the billions of little lights. They sure were gorgeous. How could he have ever missed them before? He found the brightest one, and took the opportunity to make a wish. There was a first time for everything, and this moment seemed exquisite. The women he loved was in his arms. "I made my wish," Mulder whispered, kissing the top of Scully's head. Her brilliant, red, fiery hair almost appeared to burn his lips on contact. She tilted her head up and smiled at him, before both their lips caught in a delicate kiss. The Heavens watched with sanguinity, as their fairy-tale began to live happily ever after. "Mine already came true," Scully replied between gentle kisses. "Maybe we should take this inside?" Mulder was astonished at this spectacular women. She never ceased to amaze him. They moved simultaneously back into their hotel room. The evening played out, as Mulder's star did everything in it's power to grant him his wish. He knew he didn't deserve this fabulous woman, and he considered himself the luckiest man on earth. There was no possible way that he could ever be depressed or angry again, as long as Scully was by his side. She gave him the strength to wake up in the morning. She gave him the will-power to see each day and live in it's lower depths. She gave him light, when darkness filled up the atmosphere. Without Scully, there was no life for Mulder at all. They made love with each other, as if it were the last time. That's how it would always be. Each experience was completely different from the last, and new discoveries were made. Love was a disillusion for the both of them. Their souls are reborn in one another. They would live forever in each other, an immortality of love. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Debbie woke up the next day noticing for the first time how incredibly hungry she was. The last time she had eaten was at the mall with Lillian. She realized that that could be half the reason she was so weak. She went back inside the cabin finding absolutely no food or water. Immediately she thought of the blue cadillac in outside; she could leave! She happily began to half run, half limp back outside when she perceived the bloody clothes she had put back on after her bath. Going back inside once again, she made her way into the bedroom and searched the dresser's droors. She found one half-way-decent-looking dressy males shirt and put it on. 'It's the style now-a-days to wear guy's clothes, right?' Debbie thought sarcastically to herself. She found a pair of blue jeans too and put them on, flinching as she bent her knees and elbows. She figured they must have not fit the man anymore which would be why he left them here, because they were only a little too long for her. Exiting the cabin for the last time, she walked over to the car. Thankfully the keys were still in the ignition. She opened the car door, ready to get it when she now apprehended that she would need money. "Damnit!" Debbie yelled, as she searched the empty glove compartment. She knew there was nothing in the trunk, except maybe a lot of her own blood. She whined loudly as she knew what she had to do. She slowly walked over to the dead corpse with her hand over her nose and mouth. She lost her balance during the walk over to her assailant under her trembling frame. Bending down so she could search his pockets for a wallet, she screamed as the jeans scraped her knees. "You caused me all this you fucking bastard!" She moaned and quickly brought her hand back up to her nose and mouth. Choking on her own tears she grabbed the wallet out of his back pocket and made her way more quickly back to the car. She hated that car before for bringing her there, but now she loved it, for it would also bring her out of the traumatizing environment. She sat down in the driver's seat and took a slow, deep breath. Looking down at her hands she opened up the black leather wallet she held. Inside, she was shocked at what she saw. The driver's license identified the man as a Christopher Lumberson. And to make matters worse, he was a doctor! This man went completely out of his mind. She put all of that in the back of her mind, and was happy with the $75 she found in there too. And without a second thought, she backed out of the gravel driveway, leaving her capacious fears behind. When she got to the end of the driveway, she didn't know whether to go left or right. It was the middle of nowhere in both directions. She took a right, and drove for about 15 miles before coming to a gas station. She decided to just stop there, concluding that if she didn't eat something, she would surely pass out any minute. Walking into the tiny gas station, the attendant grunted as a gretting, and quickly went back to reading the apparently mind-boggling National Enquirer. Debbie walked around, trying to figure out what she should get, when she remembered seeing the pay-phone outside. Excitedly she called Lillian, her heart beating 100 miles per hour with anticipation. She sure hoped to God that Lillian would accept the phone call. She wondered if she even knew what happened to her. Debbie knew Lillian had every right to be upset with her, she just prayed she could talk to her! The next thing she heard was a very familiar voice on the other line yelling, "Oh my God, Debbie?" "Lillian, it's me, do you have any idea what's happened to me?" Debbie asked, with tears of joy filling up her eyes. "Debbie, yes as a mater of fact, I do know where you are. These visions that I see, you were in them! And now Agents Mulder and Scully are in Iowa looking for you. Where are you? How are you calling me? Are you okay?" Lillian was having a heart attack of her own. "Lill, you can calm down now, because I'm fine. I'm at a gas station right now at a pay-phone. First of all, I have to apologize big time for being such a bitch to you. I just have an extremely hard time believing in all that science fiction. But now I know it's not fiction, and you really can see the future in your flashbacks. Lillian I love you, and I never meant to hurt you!" They both cried into the receiver. "I wish I could see you righ now," Debbie sighed, but then remembered what Lillian had said. "The FBI agents are looking for me?" Debbie cried out! "Yeah, they're found out you were at a cabin, is that right?" "Yes! Yes! Oh my gosh, I just left from there! Oh no, what if they're already there?" Debbie started shivering agiain, realizing her mistake. "Debbie you should go back, it's your ticket home. Wait, what about the man, what did he do to you? Where is he?" "I think he hurt me pretty badly, but I don't have to worry about him anymore. I umm, well I really took care of the situation. I'll tell you more about it later, but it's really too soon for me to go into any such details." Debbie frowned at the awful memories. "That's fine, as long as you're okay right now. But you should really go back okay? The sooner the better." "All right. You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice!" "I could say the same to you honey! But you better go now, the sooner you get off this phone, the sooner I get to see you." "Okay," Debbie laughed nervously. "I'll let you go then, I love you." "Love you too." Lillian hung up the phone and leaned back on her couch. She brought her hands up to her face, crying happy tears now knowing her friend was okay. Debbie climbed back into the car, not really wanting to go back at all, but knowing that it would be in her best interests all the same. They always did say that in facing your fears it will benefit you in the end. The closer she kept getting to the cabin, the more her stomach kept sinking. She pulled back into the forest of pine trees, slowly moving deeper and deeper into the shade. She got out of the car, making her way over to the pond. She sat on the edge loving the breeze that accompanied the peaceful ambience. It was almost as if she could live right here for the rest of her life. But the devestating instance that took place here, would never allow it. She leaned back, laying down in the long grass and closing her eyes. She eventually slipped off into a halcyon dreamland, unaware of anything and everything. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mulder and Scully followed a road map right to the cabin. They knew right away that they had the right place when they parked right behind the blue cadillac. As soon as they got out of the car, they both pulled out their guns. "Mulder, over here!" Scully yelled, directing him to come over where she was. "Well here lays the late Christopher Lumberson." "So now where's Debbie?" Mulder asked the $68,000 question. They both walked together into the cabin. "Oh my God," Scully mumbled, seeing the enormous pool of blood smeared all over the wooden floor. Trying to avoid stepping in the blood, they searched the rest of the cabin. "There's blood everywhere," Mulder muttered, more to himself than Scully. But she heard what he said, and went to look at what he'd found. He was in the bantam, wondowless room Christopher forced Debbie to sleep in. Mulder and Scully stared into it from the doorway, noting the blood smeared on the floor and all over one wall. The next room they went in was the bathroom. Debbie just let the water go down the drain, she didn't wash it out after that. Because of that, there was a blood-stained ring going around the bath-tub, and the floor had a good amount on it too. "It doesn't look like she's in here," Scully said. They found her bloody clothes in the bedroom, but Debbie was nowhere to be found. They made there way out of the cabin back into the beautiful outdoors. Scully walked over to the gazebo, and looked out over the pond. "Mulder!" Scully yelled as she saw Debbie laying in the grass. She ran down the steps of the gazebo and over to her side. Seeing the heinous gashes in Debbie's arms, she made careful not to hurt her any worse as she shook her by the shoulders. Debbie awoke, started by something touching her. She sat up, taking in her surroundings. She was overtaken by fear once again when she saw Scully, but calmed down when she saw Agent Mulder run up to her. "Debbie, we're here to help you. I'm Agent Scully, Agent Mulder's partner." Tears began streaming down Debbie's face. She didn't care that she'd never met her before, she wrapped her arms around Scully and began to sob uncontrollably in her embrace. Mulder knelt down next to them and wrapped his arms around them both. It was an 8 hour drive back to Illinois, and Debbie slept the whole way. When they got to the hospital, Lillian and Debbie's parents were already there waiting for her. Mulder got her a room and a doctor right away, while Scully sat down to talk to her parents and explain the situation. Lillian snuck into Debbie's room while the doctors examined her wounds. "I'm sorry, you're not allowed to be in here," The doctor explained to Lillian. "Please let her stay," Debbie pleaded with the doctor. He didn't entirely understand what had happened to her, but he knew this girl deserved the world in her hospital room right then. When he was done giving her stiches and medication, Lillian sat down to here Debbie's story. "I wonder if they'll ever solve this case," Lillian wondered. After all, none of it made any sense. "Oh we will," Mulder's voice came from the doorway. He and Scully walked in behind Lillian. "Will you let us know about it when you do?" Lillian asked. "No, please don't. I don't think I want to know," Debbie said while shaking her head for extra emphasis. "I think some things are better left unexplained," Scully said. Grabbing Mulder's hand, they gave Debbie their best wishes and left the girls in silence. All they knew, was that after this, anything could be accomplised, explained or unexplained, nothing mattered anymore. Debbie made Lillian promise that she'd stop cutting herself, because they had just about the same amount of scars on their arms now. Lillian made Debbie promise that she'd stop driving until she got her license. They both promised each other that they'd always be there for each other no matter what, for God's greatest gift of all, is love and friendship. The End Feedback is wanted!!! Please?? Pretty please? With a cherry on top? ThanX! Send to Gillyann at Megamurf@aol.com and I will respond and love you forever!