From: Laura Bontrager Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 19:18:48 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Knack (1/1) Source: xff Title: Knack (1/1) Author: RocketMan >lebontrager@iname.com< Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully belong to CC, 1013, and Fox. No fringe is intended. SPOILER:: Amor Fati Thanks to: Those who wait. =-=-=-= Knack =-=-=-= Panic was like a bird wheeling in the dark sky of her fear. It would land briefly on a wire, then startle again, sailing off into the high high altitudes of near-hysterics, then dive bomb to the ground. She felt its wings flapping and fluttering in her heart, its talons clutched tightly around her voice so that her speaking was weak and scratched. Its beak pecked through her rib cage and spilled her fear onto every surface. If they could find her by panic, by fear, by desperation, they would have already. She was surprised they hadn't. "Mulder, Mulder," she murmured, gently slapping his cheeks. He had woken from the deep unconsciousness after surgery, but once he'd spoken his few words and smiled at her, he had plunged right back down. "Mulder, you have to help me." She glanced over her shoulder again, so intensely aware of every nuance of sound and image that assaulted her. The bird of her panic was darting crazily through the trees, hopping from branch to branch. There was a sound, then a scrape, then a silence. She finally breathed and turned back to see Mulder's eyes watching her. "Mulder, get up. You have to come with me." His groan sounded off in the tinny room like a bullet in a tin can, and she shushed him with a look and gently tugged on his arms. He bit down on whatever pain was circling through his blood and closed his eyes to lean into her. "Get up, Mulder. I can't help you unless you get up." She sounded frightened even to herself. She managed to push him up into a loose sitting position, balanced mostly by leaning against her, and couldn't help hugging him tightly. He whispered hello and then jerked violently in her arms. "Dizzy, gonna, gonna get sick," he muttered and pushed back from her. She caught him before he could crash back onto the metal table and held him up while she smoothed the sweat from his narrow and gaunt face. "It's okay. It'll pass, Mulder. Let it pass." He stayed perfectly still, eyes closed tightly shut in an unconscious defense against getting sick. She murmured softly to him as his equilibrium slowly built back. "Okay," he said finally. She wanted to wait, but they didn't have the luxury of time in this place. So she stood, then pulled him up next to her, feeling dragged down until his knees locked and he managed to support half his weight. "I can't feel my toes, fingers..." She didn't want to think about that right then. "You're gonna be okay, Mulder. We just have to get out of here." Scully slid her feet along the floor until they managed to get to the key card door. She fumbled for the card for another panicked second, then successfully unlocked the door. It took a brief struggle to get out the door and into the long hall, and by the time they were through, she was weakening and Mulder was sweating rivers of pain. Her arms were limp feeling, but she dragged them on, her fear fueled by panic and the very real sense that they could be caught at any second. Any second they would march around the corridor, march right around and stare at her. She would have the brief second to shoot and or surrender, and then it would all be gone. Scully shivered despite the exertion of pulling Mulder along the hall and tried to ignore the rampant images in her head. Mulder made a stumbling step and they both pitched forward, falling, falling. Scully caught herself on the side of the wall with one hand, spraining her wrist in the process, but could not keep Mulder from going all the way down. She heard his head crack on the linoleum and felt like sobbing. She fell down next to him as his body pulled her down, then crawled close to his head. No blood, but he was out again. He could have been unconscious the entire trip down the hall, actually, because it seemed he had been heavier. "Mulder. Mulder, please. You have to get up right now." This was worse. Out in the hall, slumped on the floor in plain sight. She yanked on his arms, apologzing under her breath, and managed to sit him up. She had a sudden moment of clarity and realized how hilarious this must look to anyone else. She almost laughed, then the bubbling turned to a choked sob and she cut that off before she could plunge into panic again. He groaned too loudly and she dropped to his side to steady him. "Hurts," he murmured, his eyes opening with pain. "I'm so sorry," she said, choking on the words and the tears and the frustration. She couldn't lose him now. He reached for her hand and used her body as a ladder, climbing back to a standing position again, swaying on his feet. Scully moved to his side like a crutch and they began down the hallway again. "Hurts. . .Sc-" He issued a sharp cry as they moved, stopping to clutch his head, nearly toppling over again, crouching into her like a wounded beast. She wanted to cry but put her arms around him and held him and tried not to let her mind think about men coming around the corner. "We have to keep going, Mulder. We have to get out of here before they know you're gone," she said. He took a deep breath and pushed off from the wall, letting her shuffle him along. "How's it you always know where I am, Scully?" She smiled gently and pushed him along. "It's an X-File," he mumbled. "Scully you've got more X-Files than anyone I know." She stopped at the corner, her heart in her throat, not really hearing his dribble of words like mud through fingers, slow and thick with his pain. She waited for a moment, then brazenly pulled him around it, almost closing her eyes with the fear of her imagination. But there were no men coming for him. She breathed a sigh of relief. "We could call it the Knack. You got a knack for finding--" He stumbled and caught onto her shoulder, closing his mouth to keep from crying out. "Maybe I should shut up," he whispered finally. She nodded and found the door she had come through earlier, hope flaring tight in her chest. She pulled Mulder along to it, seeing only escape. When they got to the car, she made him sit up front with the seat lowered so he could close his eyes. She wanted to be able to see him, and he kept a hand on her thigh to let her know he was still okay. She backed out of the wooded area where she'd hidden the car and bit her lip as they sped down the road. He had to be okay now. They were home free. "Thank you," Mulder whispered and his fingers clutched reflexively on her thigh. She took his hand with one of hers and squeezed it, warming his icy fingers. Maybe she did have a knack. Or maybe more like a miracle from God. =-=-=-= end adios RM ====== Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. --Ecclesiastes 12:12 For my webpage: http://shannono.simplenet.com/basestation/ ======