From: "Jacki Kilbride" Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2001 11:08:33 -0400 Subject: Home Now by Justa Girl Source: direct Title: Home Now Author: Justa Girl Date: August 1, 2001 Rating: A moderate PG-13, I would think, although I've never been to good with ratings. Spoilers: None, but you have to assume that none of season 8 ever happened, and Mulder and Scully are still assigned to the X-Files!! Keywords: A, MSR, Alternate Universe (I think, I've never really known what that meant!) Summary: Scully has been recieving threatening notes and phone calls, and must build up the courage to talk to Mulder about it, before she no longer can. Authors Notes: Well, here it is! My second fanfic!! Yes! This barely took two hours to write, although I managed to stretch it out over awhile! But that's just me.... I really hope you like it, I REALLY hope you like it.... So please like it!! Or even if you don't like it, well, send me feedback anyways, so I know where I need to improve, aside from how I need to learn to write longer stories. :p Thankyous: Well, first I'd like to thank God, for letting me win this award.... It's really an honor to be here with you all tonight.... But really, this story was never really beta written, but I'd like to thank LM Shard, for her constant encouragement! Without that, I doubt I'd ever have finished this!! Feedback: Hell, yeah! I'll respond to you, no matter how nasty your email!! Send it to justa_girl72@hotmail.com Disclaimer: Well, if there ever was anyone out there who thought I owned Mulder, Scully or ANY of the X-Files cast, well... you need help, dear. Although, "man" WAS my creation, so please don't try to take HIM from me!! Oh, and one more thing!! I personally edited this, so there's going to be some spelling errors- I couldn't catch anything, and WordPad doesn't have a spell check. I really don't know why I didn't use MS Works. But oh, well!! I also made it so you don't have to scroll over, because I HATE that, so be grateful! Supervision is what I need. Some consistance, tangibility. Some casual light days, part of the furniture. I want to take you for granted, and see you regular. So what you givin' up for me? And what shall I give up for you? The seperation's tired, it's been too long. And to make it real, I need to have you here. -Home Now, No Doubt I looked around me. I wasn't sure where I was, or how I'd gotten here. The last thing I remembered was.... No, I can't remember anything. Good, I've lost my mind. But then I see a two people in the corner. One is pointing at the other with something.... And the other is just standing there. I realize what's going on, just as the pointing man turns to me. With an evil grin, he walks towards me, pulling the other person with him. A sudden feeling of dread washes over me as I realize who the other person is. Scully. "Let me go!" she screams, trying unsuccessfully to kick him away. He just keeps walking, ignoring her attempts to escape. I quickly grab my gun, which fortunately was still with me, and jump to my feet. "She said, let her go," I say, aiming my gun at his chest. His finger goes for the trigger of the gun he's holding in the other hand. "Back off. Take one more step, and I'll do it." Scully hits him in the face, which momentarily distracts him. She then kicks his leg, and tries to run to me. I aim my gun at him, ready to shoot if he does anything, but it all happens so fast. He raises his arm, and hits Scully on the side of the head with the gun. Then, as she's falling he fires two shots at her, and points the gun at me. Shocked, I fire the rest of the bullets in my gun into his chest, and watch as he falls to the ground. Mulder's eyes shot open, and he found himself to be bathed in sweat. It was only a dream.... It never really happened! He felt he had to make sure, but he also knew that Scully wouldn't appreceate being woken at 3 o'clock in the morning for a welfare check. With that, Mulder turned over and fell back asleep. "G'morning, Scully!" Mulder said, as he walked into the office. Although it was unusual for her to be there first, he thought nothing of it until he saw her face.She looked different. Her eyes were red and puffy, as though she'd been crying. She seemed thinner, but he knew she had been on a diet for the past month. "What's wrong?" Scully looked up at him, for the first time realizing he was there. "Good morning, Mulder." "What's wrong?" he repeated, in a gentle yet firm voice. "Nothing's wrong." Mulder shook his head and walked over to his desk."You can tell me, you know. I'm not going to hate your for it." Scully looked down, avoiding eye contact. "I know, Mulder, but nothing's wrong." Sighing, Mulder tried to change the subject."Can't wait till the meeting in Kersh's office later," he joked. Scully's eyes closed, and she took a breath. She couldn't believe how tired she was. "No, me neither." "Come on, Scully, what is the matter?" Mulder was trying to be patient, but he hated when she wouldn't tell him what was wrong. "Nothing is wrong, Mulder..." her voice trailed off. Mulder walked over to her, and put his hand on her shoulder. "I know when you're not okay. Don't try to lie to me. Now, would you please tell me what happened?" Scully sighed, and looked at a note on her desk. "Al-" The phone started ringing. Mulder glared at it, willing it to stop as Scully picked it up. "Hello?" Mulder strained to hear the voice on the other side of the phone, but he couldn't recognize it. He noticed it was male, but it also sounded like a computer generated voice. No two words sounded the same. Scully hung up, took a breath, and walked towards the door. "I'm going to take the rest of the day off. I don't feel that good." "Who was on the phone?" Mulder said, blocking the door so she couldn't leave. "That was... Kersh. I called him earlier to ask for the day off, and that was him getting back to me. Goodbye, Mulder." Mulder stepped aside, and let her pass. Scully sat in her car, in the parking lot of her apartment. She didn't want to go in there, she was afraid. If only you weren't so damned stubborn, you could have told Mulder what was wrong, she thought to herself. Or better yet, you could tell him how you feel. She sighed, thinking about how good it would feel to have him hold her right then. But she couldn't tell him, because she feared rejection. Scully sat there for an hour or so. She'd lost all track of time, and although she knew she wasn't safe in the parking lot either, she was more comfortable there, where people could see her if someone came. It was starting to get dark, and Scully felt herself shaking from both cold and fear. She pulled her jacket closer to her, and closed her eyes for a minute. She knew she should go in the apartment now, if for nothing else than her bed. Scully got out of the car, just as she noticed someone walking towards her. Oh, God.... she felt for her gun, and kept a hand on it while she watched the man. As he came closer, she released her grip on the weapon. It was only Mulder. "What are you doing here?" she called to him. "Looking for you. Where have you been? I called your apartmen, but no one answered. I tried your cell phone, too." she could tell he had been worrying. "Oh, sorry, I haven't been inside yet, and I had my cell turned off." "Where have you been?" "Around. It's no big deal, Mulder." Mulder sighed. "Can I atleast come up, then? I came all the way here...." "Uninvited," she added. "That's not neccessary, you know. I can take care of myself." "I never doubted that, Scully. But I need to use the bathroom." Mulder didn't mention the real reason he wanted to come- he planned on telling her how he felt, even if it meant rejection. He couldn't take not knowing any longer. "Alright, fine," she started walking towards the front door. Although she'd never admit it to him, she was glad he was going to be there, if only for a few minutes. Scully sat on her couch. It felt good to be somewhere other than her car. She turned on the T.V., suddenly needing something to distract her mind. She didn't notice Mulder walk up behind her. "Mind if I sit down?" he said, putting his head near her ear. She jumped. "Yeah, er- no, no, go ahead." "Alright.... You're a little jumpy today," Mulder told her, waiting for her to explain why. When she said nothing, he dropped the subject, feeling this wasn't the time to push for answers. Scully stared at the television, although her thoughts were elsewhere. She felt like she needed to tell Mulder about the notes, the calls... all of it. But she didn't want him to feel obligated to protect her. She closed her eyes for a second, took two of the notes she had recieved from her pocket, and handed them to Mulder. He read them in silence. They both said pretty much the same thing. They were dated, both from the past weekend. The older one talked mostly about rape, saying that was what the person writing this planned on doing to her. The other one talked about the same things, only it was less specific about everything. They both said it would happen soon, and was unpreventable. "Who wrote this? Where did you get it?" Mulder said, his worry was evident in his voice. "They were in my apartment, I guess they were slid under the door. That's who was on the phone today at work, too." "What did they want?" "Just to remind me about the notes. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner.... I just didn't want you to worry." "You think I'm not doing that now?" "I'm sorry," she was on the brink of tears now. "No, don't be. It's not your fault, but I'm staying here tonight. I'll sleep on the couch- you're not going to be alone." "Thank you, Mulder," she looked away, afraid that if she kept looking she would cry. Mulder put his arm around her, and pulled her towards him. She buried her head in his shirt, sobbing freely now. He wrapped his arms around her, and decided that he should tell her now. "Scully, I need to tell you something." She looked up at him, still sniffling occassionally. "I've wanted to tell you this for a long time. You don't have to be afriad to tell me anything, I don't think of protecting you as a chore. Sometimes you do need proteciton, and it kills me when you won't let me do that for you. I owe you my life, you've done so much for me. And I think that you deserve to know how I feel," he took a breath, bracing himself for when she would laugh, saying this was ridiculous. "I love you." Scully felt like she would faint. It was too good to be true. "You love me?" She needed to be sure he wasn't kidding. "I love you." "I love you too, Mulder." Mulder looked at her, and she gazed back at him. He then leaned down towards her, and their lips met. Their first real kiss was just as intense as both of them had always planned on it being, if not more. "Don't let me interrupt," a voice said from behind them. They both looked up, startled. Neither recognized the voice, yet they both knew who this was. Mulder jumped up, ready to attack the man. Scully stood beside him. "Who are you?" she asked. "I think you know who I am, Dana. Come here." She stood, reaching for her gun. In an instant, the man was over by her, and grabbed the thing from her. "I don't think so," he grinned, then looked over at Mulder. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave- Dana and I have some business to take care of," he smiled at Scully. "No," Mulder kept his gun hidden, hoping the man wouldn't realize he had it. "Well, then," the man flung himself at Mulder, knocking him into a table. He punched the agent in the stomach and face, until he was sure he was unconscious. Scully flew at the man, knocking him off Mulder. She ripped at his eyes, and punched him in the face. He caught one of her punches, and flung her off of him. Before she could react, he pointed the gun at her. "Don't move," he said, as he stood up. "Now, stand up, put your hands in the air, and walk towards me." She did as he said, and while she was going towards him, she tripped over a piece of wood from the table. She came flying towards him, and he punched her in the stomach, then kicked her away from him. Scully let out a pained scream, as she clutched her stomach. "Get away!" The man yanked her to her feet, and walked with her to the corner. "Don't move," he said, pointing the gun at her. "If you do as I say, I won't kill you. Just let me...do a few things with you in the bedroom." Scully stood, not believing what was happening. She just hoped that Mulder would wake up in time. "No," she tried stalling for time. Mulder's eyes shot open, and he struggled to remember where he was. He looked in the corner, and saw two people standing there. One was pointing something at the other, who he decided was a woman. The woman just stood there while he talked to her. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he suddenly remembered something. He had been here with Scully when a man came. Then, Mulder remembered his dream. This was exactly like it! He couldn't let what happened to Scully in his dream happen to her now. He laid there, trying to figure out a way from preventing that from happening. The man turned around, just as Mulder knew he would, grinned, and dragged Scully over to him. Mulder didn't move, but kept his eye on his gun. He had to stay calm, no matter what. Scully's life depended on it. "Let me go!" Scully screamed, frantically kicking the man holding onto her. "Put me down!" The man hit her hard in the face, hoping to shut her up. She was barely conscious now, and found that all she could do was groan. "Scully!" Mulder grabbed his gun, and aimed it at the man. "Let her go, now!" "Back off!" the man growled. "One more step, she gets it." Suddenly, just as Mulder feared, Scully tried to escape. She hit the man, then tried to run. He hit her on the side of the head with his gun, and was about to fire a shot, when he fell to the ground. Mulder ran to his fallen partner, knowing that she would be alive, but doubting she would be conscious. He lifted her head onto his lap. "Scully! Wake up...." Her eyes fluttered open. "Huh? What... Mulder?" "Scully," he breathed, hugging her. "You're okay." Scully looked over to the man on the ground. "Did he do anything? Was I...?" "No. He didn't have a chance. After you ran, he hit you with his gun. That's when I shot him. I had a dream about this same thing last night.... But you're okay," he said, his voice was filled with emotion. "I thought you would die." Scully put her arms around him, and pressed her face against his chest. He rested his chin on her head, and they sat there like that for what seemed like hours. They were together at last, and that alone was enough to get them through anything. They were both home, now.