From spookyfoxx@aol.com Thu Oct 10 10:30:04 1996 From: SpookyFoxx@aol.com (Barbara Nice-Miller) Subject: Mistaken Identity (1/5) - New Short Story Date: October 10, 1996 Well, I finally got this sucker fixed. All the punctuation marks are now in place. And without further ado.... The characters of Fox Mulder, Dana Scully and Walter Skinner are copyright of Ten Thirteen Productions, Chris Carter and Fox Broadcasting. The lyrics to "Wherever Would I Be" are copyright of Dusty Springfield, Daryl Hall and Columbia Records. No infringement intended on my part...just doing some wishful thinking. :-) All other characters are copyright of the author. Category: Mulder/Scully Romance (SR) Time span: Third season (post-Pusher) Rating: PG-13 for strong language Summary: A case of mistaken identity puts Scully's life in danger. All comments and complaints go to: SpookyFoxx@aol.com Thanks for reading! ______________________________ Mistaken Identity (1/5) by Barbara Nice-Miller SpookyFoxx@aol.com ______________________________ Dana Scully was *not* happy. It had been the week from hell and it had all started last Friday afternoon.... ************************** FBI Headquarters Assistant Director Skinner's office Friday 3:24 pm "...and I will not take 'no' for an answer. The two of you need to get out of that basement and socialize with your fellow agents. That's all. Dismissed." And with that, she and Fox Mulder found themselves forced to attend the FBI Awards Banquet that Sunday night. And what a night it had been.... ************************ FBI Awards Banquet Ambassador Hotel Sunday 10:15 pm Skinner was trying to torture them. That had to be the reason. Or maybe it was revenge. Getting back at them for all the trouble they caused him. Why else would he have forced them to attend this dog and pony show? *They* certainly weren't getting any awards. Poor Mulder. That night had been interminable for both of them, but more so for him. It was so rare that he put in an appearance at FBI functions that the "Spooky" Mulder jokes had been flying. She wasn't deaf, she'd heard them, too. But Mulder being Mulder, had not let his emotions show. She, however, had grown angrier by the moment, listening to the whispers around them no matter where they walked. There was a dance floor there, fairly crowded with agents moving to the beat of a rock song being played by the DJ. The next tune was a softer, slower one and the dancers thinned considerably. Wanting to get him away from the whispers, she'd taken his hand and tugged him toward the dance floor. "Dance with me, Mulder." He'd looked a little shocked at first but then gave her one of his little grins and allowed himself to be led out onto the dance floor. In the almost four years they'd worked together, they'd never once danced together. But when they put their arms around each other and began to move, there was no awkwardness, only a smooth grace. She didn't remember much of their short conversation, only that she'd expressed her anger at the other agent's behavior and that Mulder had been more concerned about *her* reputation being tarnished than his own. What she did remember clearly was the feel of his arms around her, the song and his reaction to it..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The dreams I dream all seem a million miles away When I'm sure I'll never win When it's looking like I lost my faith I just look at you baby And I got reason to believe again Wherever would I be without you? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mulder's eyes widened almost imperceptibly as he listened to the lyrics and he drew her closer so that her head was resting on his shoulder. She would've given anything to know what he was thinking at that moment; at what images or emotions those words had stirred up in him. As it was, her own emotions were starting to run away with her. It felt so right, so natural, to be this close to him. She could smell his aftershave mixed in with a scent that was all his own. He was wearing a new suit, cool grey with a sky blue shirt and a dusky rose tie, the material was soft beneath her cheek and warm from Mulder's body heat. She could feel the heat from his hand where it rested against the bare skin of her back. She was glad she'd chosen to wear an open-backed dress. They let the music move them around the dance floor, oblivious to the stares of those around them. There was only the two of them and the music. She sighed softly and closed her eyes briefly before lifting her head up to look at Mulder. He felt her movement and looked down at the same time, their faces now only centimeters apart. It would've been the most natural thing in the world to close the distance and press her lips to his. To cross that line and never look back. And her breath caught in her throat as she realized just how badly she wanted that to happen at that very moment. But before either of them could be swept up in the moment, Fate intervened in the form of the DJ, announcing that that was his last song of the evening. They sprang apart from each other and she'd refused to meet Mulder's eyes as she mumbled her goodbye then turned and hurried to her car, leaving him standing in the middle of the dance floor. The memory of their dance would not leave her for the rest of the evening. The scene replayed itself over and over in her mind, only she let her imagination take it further. To how she'd wanted it to end. With her lips on his. She'd always cared for Mulder. He was her partner, someone she would lay down her life for, and he was her best friend, someone she could always turn to and trust implicitly. But it wasn't until the Modell case that she'd realized that she loved him. Not until she'd seen him put that gun to his head and pull the trigger. Not until she'd realized what her life would be like without him. Empty. So very, very empty. But she'd kept her feelings hid for fear they wouldn't be reciprocated and because she knew what Bureau policy was about situations like that. Only she couldn't do it any longer. She couldn't go on pretending she felt nothing for Mulder. The Bureau be damned. Come Monday morning she was going to lay her heart on the line and confess all to the man she loved.... ****************************** Only Monday morning did not go as she had planned. Arriving at the X-Files office, she'd hurried inside and shut the door behind her, expecting to find Mulder seated at his desk. She was so nervous, she had butterflies the size of bats flitting around inside her stomach. She'd planned on walking right up to him and confessing before her courage fled. Only Mulder wasn't there. Relieved, frustrated and disappointed all at the same time, she'd taken a deep breath and sat down at her own desk intending to do paperwork until Mulder arrived. She turned on her computer and found she had two e-mails. The first was from the AD's office. It was short and to the point and it knocked the wind out of her sails. Seemed VCS was in desperate need of Mulder's help on a case, so Skinner had called Mulder at home that morning to find out the status of their current X-File. When told they were just finishing up the paperwork, he had reassigned Mulder to VCS for the week. Mulder had left for Virginia an hour ago. By the time he got back, she would've most certainly lost her courage. The next e-mail did not help to improve her mood. It, too, was from the AD's office. Agent Danielle Tully, working Witness Protection, was in need of an agent. Seems her partner was in a severe auto accident on his way to work that morning and she needed a replacement. And lucky her, Skinner told Tully she was available for the week. She was to report to Tully ASAP. Then she looked back at the agent's name. Tully. She was never going to live this down. It was going to be a loooong week.... ******************************* And it most certainly was. After reporting to Agent Tully, she was given the facts on the case. Paul Whitfield was the witness they would be setting up a new safehouse for until he could testify next Monday. Paul had stumbled upon a drug deal gone bad that led to murder and later identified the suspect in a line-up. The suspect, Glen McCallum, was currently incarcerated awaiting trial. But it seems Glen's older brother, Darin was not about to let his sibling rot in jail. He had put out a hit on Paul which had failed, but the safehouse had been compromised. How Darin had found out the location was still unknown. The week seemed to go on forever. The "Scully and Tully" jokes were rampant, definitely not improving her mood during this monotonous babysitting job. And she missed Mulder terribly. She would've given anything to be out chasing a liver-eating mutant with him than sitting in a house day after day. She didn't even hear from him all week. VCS must really have him hopping so that he couldn't even take a minute to call her. But Friday had finally rolled around and with it brought the end of her witness protection assignment. The only excitement had come late that afternoon when word came in that Darin was planning another hit on Paul Whitfield. Agent Tully was not about to have another safehouse compromised and plans were made to move Paul that evening; plans she was not privy to because her assignment ended in a few hours. It was Friday afternoon, her assignment was over and the weekend loomed ahead. She was happy for the first time all week. That is until she went to the X-Files office.... ******************************** She hurried down to the basement with her briefcase and purse, tossed the former on her desk, the latter on her chair and set about gathering the files she wanted to take home with her over the weekend. Stuffing them in her briefcase, she turned and left the office. Stopping at the grocery store on the way home is what turned her mood foul once again. She had her purchases already on the counter before she realized she had no purse. She'd left it at the office. Thankfully, she'd stuffed her change from her lunch with Agent Brad Nelson, also on the witness protection team, in her suit jacket pocket instead of in her wallet. But unfortunately, there wasn't enough to cover her purchase and she had to go through and put things back. And that delay had put her in her current situation..... ****************************** Friday 5:28 pm So here she was, stuck in monster Friday night rush hour traffic, with a monster headache to match, reflecting on the past week. Leaning her forehead on the steering wheel, Scully debated whether or not to return to the office for her purse. It was a short debate. She would pick it up tomorrow. Arriving at her apartment almost an hour later, Scully struggled to balance her briefcase, bag of groceries, keys and her dry cleaning, which had been hanging in her car for far too long. Making her way across the street to the front door of her building, she took a deep breath of the cool spring air, trying to relax. Her street was quiet, not a soul in sight, the only sound was the occasional bird whistle. Reaching the door, she shifted her burdens to one arm and reached for the door handle when all hell broke loose. From the large bushes on either side of the doorway, two men burst forth, dressed entirely in black from head to toe, complete with black ski masks. Before Scully could react, one man was behind her with one arm wrapped around her throat, cutting off her air while his other hand reached to her waist, relieving her of her weapon and tossing it to the side. At the same time, the other man grabbed her briefcase and ripped it from her grasp, sending her other packages tumbling to the ground, while his other hand drew back and let loose with a cruel punch to Scully's stomach. The blow buckled her knees and she started to crumple to the ground. But the arm around her throat did not loosen and she found herself slowly choking to death, unable to make a sound. After a moment, the man released her and threw her to the ground with such force, her head bounced off the concrete doorstop. Dazed and gasping for breath, Scully could only watch helplessly as the second man drew back his leg and viciously kicked her in the ribs, laughing evilly at her cry of pain. And then they were gone, taking her briefcase with them. It was all over in a matter of seconds. *********************************** END PART 1 Barbara Nice-Miller SpookyFoxx@aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You even have an Indian name: Fox.You should be Running Fox or Sneaky Fox." "Just as long as it's not Spooky Fox." - 'Shapes' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Proud member of Extreme Possibilities, M&S, EMXC and The Dragon Posse! "I'm not going to ask if you said what I think you just said because I know what you just said." -- Dana Scully My other stories: Two of Hearts I Wish I May... Linked A Young Man's Fancy Midnight Serenade Can be found at: http://www.bns.com.au/alee/fiction.html or http://gossamer.simplenet.com/ From spookyfoxx@aol.com Thu Oct 10 10:37:28 1996 Disclaimed in part 1 ______________________________ Mistaken Identity (2/5) by Barbara Nice-Miller SpookyFoxx@aol.com ______________________________ ****************************** One block from Dana Scully's apartment Friday 6:30 pm Fox Mulder was in a fairly good mood. His temporary assignment to VCS was over. He'd gone in, done his job well and helped the other agents capture their criminal. And for that he was happy. But what troubled him was his partner. Scully had been acting strangely around him ever since the Modell case. And try as he might, he hadn't been able to figure out what was bothering her. Then there was the awards banquet last Sunday night. She had left him standing in the middle of the dance floor dumbfounded at her sudden departure after their dance. And what a dance it had been. Mulder had not held her that close since the hospital room after Melissa died. The lyrics from the song still played in his head. {Wherever would I be without you?} Truly, where *would* he be without her? When had Dana Scully ensconced herself so deeply in his life that he couldn't imagine being without her? He honestly couldn't pick a specific moment. She had just slowly and steadily wiggled her way into his heart, crumbling the walls around it. She was always there for him, no matter if she thought his ideas were crazy or not. He had come to care for her deeply and those feelings had slowly turned to love, though he had never told her how he felt. He was scared. Scared of rejection, scared of letting someone get that close to him, scared of having his heart broken again. But he would always be there for her, loving her from afar. And it looked like she needed him now. Something was bothering her and he wanted to help her get through it. He had intended to confront her on Monday morning about it, but an early morning call from Skinner had changed all that. So instead he spent the week worrying about her and wishing he had been able to find just one moment to call. He hadn't been, so he was eager to see Scully upon his return to Washington. He had planned to drop over tomorrow morning. But that was before he stopped at the X-Files office on his way home from Virginia. He'd pulled up to the parking garage entrance just in time to see Scully's car exit the garage on the far side of the building. He went down to his basement office, eager to see if any new cases had come across his desk in the past week. Two had, so for the next hour and a half, he sat engrossed in the files. The rumbling of his stomach reminded him he hadn't had anything to eat since noon that day. So gathering up the files, he decided to call it quits for the night and head home and have dinner. But as he passed Scully's desk, he noticed her purse sitting on her chair. He'd seen Scully's car leave and the lights had been off when he entered the office, so she must've forgotten it. Grabbing Scully's purse, he decided to stop by, ask her to have dinner with him and ask her what was bothering her. As he headed out the door, he smiled at the prospect of seeing her a day earlier than he had planned. ****************************** So here he was, sitting at a stop light about a block away from Scully's apartment, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, keeping with the beat of the song on the radio. About a minute later he pulled up behind Scully's car across from her building. Grabbing her purse and glancing up at her windows as he exited his car, he noticed all the lights were off. Averting his gaze from her windows, he looked both ways before starting across the street. Two steps later he saw the body. It was laying like a broken doll in front of the door. He couldn't see a face though, as it was blocked by an overturned sack of groceries. Mulder broke into a run. Two more steps and he saw the face, the red hair. "SCULLY!" Her name was ripped from his throat as he saw his partner lying in a broken heap on the concrete slab. He was at her side in an instant, taking stock of the situation. She was lying on her side, unconscious, her head resting on the doorstop. There were bruises on her throat and her arms were wrapped around her stomach. She was deathly pale, her breathing ragged and irregular. Mulder had his cell phone out instantaneously, frantically calling 911. After being assured help was on it's way, Mulder turned back to his partner, throwing the phone down. Placing one hand on the back of her neck to support her head and the other on her shoulder, he carefully turned her onto her back, cradling her head in his lap. As soon as he turned her over, he saw the blood on the doorstop where her head had rested. Quickly removing his suit jacket, he pressed the material against the side of her head to stop the bleeding. He gently stroked the other side of her face, whispering, "Hang on Dana. Help's on the way. Stay with me. Please, stay with me." At his touch, her eyelids fluttered then slowly opened. She looked up at him, eyes glazed and unfocused. She blinked once and recognition crossed her face. "M--Mulder..." It was barely a whisper. A small smile touched his features as he spoke softly. "I'm here Dana. I'm here. Just hang on, help's on the way." Her eyes closed briefly as she struggled to take a breath. "They...they took--" Mulder cut her off. "Shhh. Scully don't try to talk." "--my brief...briefcase," she finished with a gasp. "Scully, please," Mulder pleaded, "just lie still, OK?" Mulder looked up and down the street. He looked quickly back down at his partner when he saw her hand reach for his. He grasped her smaller one in his and held on tightly. Scully could feel the darkness closing in, but she wasn't going to leave this life without telling him. She couldn't take these feelings with her to the grave. Her voice was steady when she spoke and full of emotion. "I'll love you always, Fox." And with that, Dana Scully's eyes closed, her body went limp and her hand slipped from Mulder's grasp. "Scully?....Dana! NOOO!" **************************** Unknown Location Washington, DC Same time Darin McCallum was not a patient man. He wanted things done and he wanted them done *now*. So when Marcus and Lyle arrived almost an hour late, he was not a happy man. "Where the hell have you two been?" he bellowed when they finally walked through the door. Lyle held up his hands and shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, Boss. It ain't our fault. She showed up late." "Oh, nevermind," Darin replied brusquely. "Did you get it?" Marcus held up the briefcase for Darin's inspection. "Right here, Boss." Darin strode forward and pulled the briefcase from Marcus's grasp. "Unbelievable. You two *finally* did something right," he said scathingly. Lyle and Marcus looked down at the floor as Darin continued. "If you two hadn't messed up the hit in the first place, we wouldn't have had to go through all this and my brother would be home free instead of rotting in that jail cell." Darin turned and walked over to the desk that sat against the far wall of the room. Placing the briefcase on the surface, he picked up the screwdriver laying there and proceeded to pry open the latches, exposing the contents to his gaze. So intent was he on finding the information that he sought, he never noticed one important thing until he had dumped every file folder onto the desk. "What the hell...? It's not here. It's NOT HERE!" Marcus and Lyle began slowly backing up towards the door at the sound of their boss's raised voice. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Darin yelled at the retreating figures, "Don't you two take another step!" They didn't. This time Darin went through the file folders more carefully and saw what he'd missed the first time. Each folder was marked with an X, a number and two names: Agent D. Scully and Agent F. Mulder. One look at the names and he immediately knew what had happened. Whipping around to face his two henchmen he barked, "What have you two done?!" The two men looked completely innocent. "What'da ya mean?" questioned Lyle. "We waited for her just like you said and snatched the briefcase." Darin was across the room and standing in front of Lyle in two long strides, carrying a file folder in his right hand. His left hand whipped out and grabbed Lyle by the back of the neck while his right came up and shoved the file in Lyle's face. Darin was livid. "I said TULLY, not SCULLY you idiot!" ******************************** END PART 2 Barbara Nice-Miller SpookyFoxx@aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You even have an Indian name: Fox.You should be Running Fox or Sneaky Fox." "Just as long as it's not Spooky Fox." - 'Shapes' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Proud member of Extreme Possibilities, M&S, EMXC and The Dragon Posse! "I'm not going to ask if you said what I think you just said because I know what you just said." -- Dana Scully My other stories: Two of Hearts I Wish I May... Linked A Young Man's Fancy Midnight Serenade Can be found at: http://www.bns.com.au/alee/fiction.html or http://gossamer.simplenet.com/ From spookyfoxx@aol.com Thu Oct 10 11:03:04 1996 Disclamed in part 1 ______________________________ Mistaken Identity (3/5) by Barbara Nice-Miller SpookyFoxx@aol.com ______________________________ ************************** Northeast Georgetown Medical Center Friday Several hours later Fox Mulder paced the waiting room like a caged animal. When the paramedics had finally arrived, after what seemed like an eternity, they had taken Scully from his arms and quickly and efficiently prepared her for transport. She was still alive, but barely; something was preventing her from breathing properly. One of the paramedics had attempted to stop Mulder from climbing in the back of the ambulance, as civilians were not allowed to ride with the patient. But one look at Mulder's face and the argument died on his lips. Nothing was going to stop this man from being at the red-haired woman's side. The young paramedic worked on Scully the entire way to the hospital, struggling to stabilize her breathing and stop the bleeding from her head wound. Mulder kept quiet and out of the way, sitting next to Scully's head, gently stroking her hair. Upon arrival at the hospital, she was whisked away down a hallway to surgery, leaving Mulder again standing in the middle of a floor watching her disappear through a doorway. How long he had stood there he didn't know. He just kept staring at the double doors through which his partner and best friend had been wheeled through, not knowing if he'd see her alive again. he thought with a wry grin. He was snapped out of his musings by a hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly and turned to see a young blonde nurse standing beside him with a clipboard in her hands. "Excuse me, sir. I need to get some information." He nodded his head and she led him to the waiting room where he now paced, after answering all her questions. Striding over to the wall, he angrily smacked his palm against it. It had been almost two hours and no one had told him anything. The waiting was killing him. Resuming his pacing, he ran the situation through his mind one more time, searching for answers as to why this happened to Scully. "Agent Mulder." The deep voice stopped Mulder's train of thought and his pacing. Glancing at the doorway, he was surprised to see the figure standing there. Assistant Director Skinner. "Sir? How did you..." Mulder trailed off. "The hospital called my office to verify some information. Luckily, I was working late tonight." He paused. "How is she?" Mulder sighed deeply and raked a hand through his hair before dropping it dejectedly at his side. "I wish I knew. She's been in surgery since we got here and no one's told me anything." Skinner gestured to the couch and both he and Mulder sat down. "While we wait for the doctor, tell me exactly what happened." When Mulder finished, Skinner's face was grim. "Has her mother been notified?" he questioned. "I've tried, Sir. I just keep getting her answering machine, but I haven't left a message. I wanted to speak to her personally." Skinner nodded. "I understand. Did Scully mention her mother might be going somewhere this weekend?" Mulder shook his head. "I haven't spoken to Scully all week. That reminds me. What *was* Scully working on last week?" "Witness protection detail with Agent Tully." That got a smile out of Mulder. "Scully and Tully. I can hear the jokes now." Skinner chuckled. "Trust me, there were quite a few." "Excuse me," said a voice from the doorway. "I'm looking for Agent Fox Mulder." Two heads swiveled in the direction of the voice, seeing a thirty-something Asian doctor in surgical scrubs leaning against the doorframe. Dark splatters of blood dotted the front of his gown. Scully's blood. The doctor straightened up as Mulder rose from the couch and began walking toward him. "I'm Agent Mulder." The doctor stuck out his hand and introduced himself. "Agent Mulder, I'm Doctor Omoto. I just performed the surgery on Dana Scully. I understand that her mother has not yet been reached and that you are her partner." At Mulder's nod he continued. "Normally, I wouldn't be discussing a patient's condition with anyone but a family member. But I've also been informed that you are the witness to Agent Scully's living will. So I feel it would be appropriate to inform you of her condition." At the mention of Scully's living will, Mulder had a flashback to Duane Barry and the horrors surrounding that case. Dr. Omoto had started to speak again. "...rib had punctured her left lung, causing it to collapse. I was able to repair the damage, but she will be on a respirator. Her chest suffered quite a bit of trauma. There were also bruises on her throat, but they were superficial and caused no internal damage. As for her head wound, the laceration was quite deep and required several stitches. X-rays and the CAT scan showed no signs of fracture or internal bleeding." Here Dr. Omoto paused. "However, Dana has not yet regained consciousness. She suffered a concussion and we are keeping a very close eye to make sure there is no swelling of the brain." While the doctor was speaking, Skinner was watching Mulder. He watched, as, with each word the doctor spoke, Mulder's body grew more tense and rigid. Like a watch spring wound too tight, Mulder was about ready to come undone. Fearing another scene like the one Mulder had caused in the emergency room after Scully's return, Skinner quickly stood up, moved to Mulder's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. The muscle under his palm felt like rock. Skinner spoke before Mulder had a chance. "Can we see her?" Dr. Omoto nodded. "But only one at a time please, and only for a few minutes. She's upstairs in ICU for now, until we're sure she's not going to slip into a coma." And with that, he turned and left the waiting room, leaving the two men to stare after him. Skinner squeezed Mulder's shoulder before dropping his hand to his side. "Go on, Mulder. You go see her first." But Mulder's shoulders sagged and he remained where he was. He covered his face with both hands briefly and sighed deeply. "I...I don't think I can see her like that again," he said softly. "Don't run out on her now, Mulder. She needs you." ***************************** Northeast Georgetown Medical Center ICU wing 8:47 pm The walk to the ICU wing seemed to take no time at all. One minute he was at Skinner's side and the next he was at Scully's . He sank down into the chair next to the bed then gently took Scully's hand and placed it between both of his. This scene was all too familiar to him. The sight of Scully, looking so pale and small in the hospital bed, bandaged and hooked up to so many machines. The sound of those machines, the beeping of the heart monitor, the pumping of the respirator as it forced her lungs to expand and contract and the drip, drip of the IV giving her body needed fluids. Even the smell, the antiseptic odor that permeated every crevice of the hospital. He looked up at her closed eyes and tried to chuckle. It came out as a strangled squeak. "You know, Scully, we've got to stop meeting like this." He sighed. "Please don't do this to me again, Dana. You've got to wake up. It's not supposed to be *you* in a hospital bed, it's supposed to be *me*. I'd give anything to switch places with you, to take away your pain. But I can't, so I'm going to do the next best thing. I'm going to catch the bastards who did this to you and make them pay." His voice had started to rise with those last words, along with his anger. A nurse poked her head in at that moment and motioned it was time for him to go. Giving Scully's hand a squeeze, he said, "I have to go now, Scully, but I'll be back really soon." He released her hand and stood up to go, but then leaned over and whispered in her ear, "I'll get them, I swear," before walking out of the room. He found Skinner standing in the hallway and strode angrily up to him, his face a mask of barely controlled fury. "I want to speak to Agent Tully *right now*. Where is she?" "What? Why?" "Because I've exhausted every possible reason this could've happened to Scully except the witness protection angle. This attack could have something to do with it and I want to go see Agent Tully. *Now*." Skinner shook his head. "I'm sorry Mulder, I can't tell you where she is or how to contact her. She moved the witness to a new safehouse tonight and she'll remain with him until the trial on Monday." "Sir, please..." "Damnit, Mulder! Don't you think I want to find out who did this to Agent Scully just as much as you do? But it's called a safehouse for a reason. We've already had one compromised and we're still not sure how. I can't risk any more lives by having you barging in there or trying to contact her any other way. If you're right and this does have something to do with the witness, who says the people who did this to Scully aren't just waiting for someone to go out to the safehouse so they can follow them? And who better to watch than Scully's partner?" Mulder hung his head, his anger slowly dissipating. Skinner was right and he knew it. His hot-headedness may have almost cost other agents and a witness their lives. But damnit! It was so *frustrating* not to be able to do something. For the second time that night, AD Skinner placed a hand on Mulder's shoulder, causing the young man to look up at him with frustration written across his handsome features. "Go home, Mulder," Skinner said softly. "You look terrible. Get something to eat and get some sleep. I'll have a guard posted at Scully's door, just in case and I'll have the hospital call you if anything changes. And I'll do what I can to contact Agent Tully. But I'm not promising anything." Mulder nodded then turned to go, though he knew sleep was out of the question tonight. ******************************** Stepping outside the hospital doors into the crisp spring night, Mulder bypassed the line of waiting cabs. He wasn't ready to go home yet. He wanted to walk, and think. To think about Scully's last words to him that evening for the first time since she'd uttered them. {I'll love you always, Fox.} My God. How long had he wanted to hear those words? But to hear her say them as she lay hurt and possibly dying was not the way he'd wanted it at all. Not like that. God, never like that. She *had* to wake up so he could say the words back to her. The fact that life is precious and our time in this world is short enough as it is without something like this happening, really hit home tonight. He'd wasted so much time... Deeply lost in thought, Mulder never noticed how far he had wandered from the hospital. Nor did he notice the two men come up silently behind him until it was too late. ****************************** END PART 3 Barbara Nice-Miller SpookyFoxx@aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You even have an Indian name: Fox.You should be Running Fox or Sneaky Fox." "Just as long as it's not Spooky Fox." - 'Shapes' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Proud member of Extreme Possibilities, M&S, EMXC and The Dragon Posse! "I'm not going to ask if you said what I think you just said because I know what you just said." -- Dana Scully My other stories: Two of Hearts I Wish I May... Linked A Young Man's Fancy Midnight Serenade Can be found at: http://www.bns.com.au/alee/fiction.html or http://gossamer.simplenet.com/ From spookyfoxx@aol.com Thu Oct 10 11:06:12 1996 Disclaimed in part 1 ______________________________ Mistaken Identity (4/5) by Barbara Nice-Miller SpookyFoxx@aol.com ______________________________ *************************** Unknown Location Washington, DC 10:18 pm The first thing Mulder was aware of was an intense pain in his head and neck. Not exactly a wonderful thing to wake up to. But on the bright side, at least he was still alive. And considering how careless he had been and allowed someone to get the jump on him, he was thankful just to be breathing. Moaning softly, he slowly opened his eyes and waited until the world stopped spinning before taking in his surroundings. He was laying on his back on a cot with his head tilted at an awkward angle. That explained the pain in his neck. And the lump forming on the back of his head explained *that* pain, too. Being careful not to make any more noise and lying completely still so as to not alert his captors, Mulder let his gaze rove around the room. It was a drug lab, that was for certain. The room was not very big, and the long tables laden with drug manufacturing materials made it seem even smaller. From what he could see, it looked like they were producing either cocaine or heroin. The only other furniture in the room was a desk with a briefcase and file folders on it and a chair. There was only one door at the opposite end of the room. And before Mulder could avert his gaze, that very door was thrown open and he came face to face with his captors. Three men strode into the room and Mulder could instantly tell the first man in the door was the ringleader. The most obvious fact was because he carried Mulder's own 9mm Sig Sauer in his right hand. The large, muscular man with shoulder length dirty blonde hair turned his head and gave the other two orders. "Lyle, haul him up off there. Marcus, grab that rope and tie him to the chair." Mulder let himself be pulled upright and led over to the chair, trying to ignore the throbbing in his skull and fighting the brief wave of dizziness as he stood up. Lyle pushed him roughly down into the chair and Marcus grabbed his arms and began tying his hands behind his back. Marcus was obviously going too slow in the other man's opinion and he yelled at him to hurry and finish. Marcus did as he was told, then he and Lyle retreated to stand just behind the other man as he began to speak. "Allow me to introduce myself, Agent Mulder. My name is Darin McCallum and you are here because of my associates' ineptitude. Your partner, Agent Dana Scully, was involved in a case of mistaken identity. Agent *Tully* was the intended target. But wait, let me start at the beginning. My brother, Glen, is in jail being held for murder. Paul Whitfield is the only witness. With Whitfield out of the way, my brother goes free. I only have until Monday to see that that happens. I knew that Agent Tully was moving Whitfield to a new safehouse tonight and that the information about that house was in her briefcase. So I sent my men to retrieve that briefcase using whatever measures they deemed necessary. But being the incompetents that they are, they went after the wrong witness protection agent. And, well, we all know what happened. I *do* hope they didn"t hurt Agent Scully too much," he finished with a sneer. Mulder sat with an impassive expression on his face throughout Darin's speech, but inside he was seething. He still didn't know why he was here, but he had been right about Scully. Damnit, he *knew* her attack had something to do with her witness protection assignment. He was also dumbfounded at his luck. Fate had dropped him right in the laps of the men he sought. And he was going to take full advantage of it. Darin had started speaking again, "...but all is not lost, for we both know Agent Scully was also a part of the witness protection team, although not the lead agent." "But she *was* filling in for Agent Tully's partner, which would make her more privy to information than the other agents. And partners talk, Agent Mulder. Especially those who've worked together for years, namely you and Agent Scully. They discuss cases with each other, especially when they're not working on the same one together. So tell me...where did Agent Scully tell you the safehouse was?" Mulder's mind was still reeling with the fact that Darin possessed all of this knowledge about himself, Scully and Tully, but he did answer him. "I haven't got a clue," Mulder replied in a sickenly sweet voice that was meant to annoy. Darin focused a hard stare at Mulder. "Wrong answer." As if on cue, Lyle took two steps forward and let loose with a punch to Mulder's stomach. Mulder gasped in pain as all the air rushed out of his lungs. As Mulder struggled for breath, Darin repeated his question. "One more time. *Where* is the safehouse?" "Go to hell," Mulder gasped, wanting nothing more than to tear this man limb from limb. And that punch had just given him an idea on how to go about doing just that. Marcus had been sloppy when he'd tied Mulder's hands together. Darin had been yelling at him to hurry, and, consequently, the knot was not as tight as it should be. Mulder had been working at the knot from the moment Marcus has moved away from him, but he hadn't gotten all that far because he couldn't make any big movements with all three men staring at him. But if he could get these guys to keep hitting him, he could jerk around in his seat and use the movements to cover up what he was really doing. A painful plan, but a plan nonetheless. It didn't take much to get his plan rolling. All he had to do was sit there and refuse to answer Darin's questions. Each time he remained silent either Lyle or Marcus would take a swing at him. By the time Darin grew tired of asking and sent his men from the room, Mulder was bloodied and battered. He'd be lucky if he didn't end up with a broken rib himself. As it was, he had a split lip and his left eye was beginning to swell shut. Darin was furious. "My patience is at an end, Agent Mulder! So I'm going to end this right here and now. Since you have decided to be so uncooperative, it looks like I'll have to pay a visit to your partner in the hospital. It's risky, but I'm sure she'll be more than happy to tell me where the safehouse is once I inform her I've got you hostage." Here he paused, reached into his left pants pocket with his left hand and tucked the gun into his waistband with his right. When he withdrew his left hand it was holding a syringe filled halfway with a clear liquid. Heroin. Enough to kill a person almost instantaneously. "Only you'll already be dead. But she won't know that, will she?" He was goading Mulder and Mulder knew it. But he had nothing to say and Darin obviously had no idea what condition Scully was in, so he remained silent, biding his time. Until Darin's next remark, that is. "And from what Lyle and Marcus tell me, she's quite a looker. Might just have to get me a piece of that--" That did it. Mulder could stand no more. *No one* talked about the woman he loved that way and got away with it. *Especially* not the man responsible for putting her in the hospital. Quick as lightening, Mulder launched himself at Darin, the rope that bound his hands together dropping uselessly to the floor. Darin was taken completely by surprise, and before he could blink or utter a sound, Mulder's hands were wrapped around his throat. Mulder's forward momentum sent them both crashing to the floor, Mulder on top of Darin. When Darin hit the floor, the syringe flew from his grasp and skittered across the cement under a table, out of reach. Mulder's rage and adrenaline rush had carried him this far, unthinkingly. But as he looked down at Darin's face, turning blue, and at his own hands, wrapped like vices and squeezing the life out of the man below him, logic finally kicked in. As much as he wanted to wring the last breath from this man, he was no cold-blooded killer. To continue what he was doing would make him no better than the slime below him. So with one last squeeze for good measure, Mulder pushed himself off Darin and onto his knees beside him, pulling his weapon out of Darin's waistband as he did so. Standing up, he grabbed Darin by his shirt and hauled him to his feet, the other man still gasping for breath. Placing one hand on Darin's chest, Mulder shoved him down onto the same chair Mulder himself had so recently vacated. Stepping back from Darin, Mulder raised his 9mm and pointed it at Darin's chest. "Well, well, well. Now who's the one with the upper hand, you son-of-a-bitch?" questioned Mulder, with a hard voice. And to Mulder's complete surprise, Darin laughed. "Well, it's certainly not you," said Darin. "Take a look around, Mulder. This is a heroin lab. One spark from that gun going off and you'll ignite the kerosene fumes in here and blow us both to kingdom come." Before Mulder's brain could process that fact, the situation got out of control, because, even being the experienced agent that he was, Mulder made a mistake. He turned his gaze away from Darin for just a split second when the door opened and in walked Lyle and Marcus. Lyle and Marcus were shocked at the scene before them and froze momentarily. But Darin saw his opening and sprang into action. Like reverse de ja vu, Darin launched himself at Mulder from the chair. But Darin made a mistake, too. He underestimated the distance between himself and Mulder and the agent's FBI reflexes and instincts. All Mulder saw out of the corner of his eye was a body hurdling toward him and did what his training taught him to without heeding Darin's warning. He fired. And the world exploded in a ball of fire. ********************************* END PART 4 Barbara Nice-Miller SpookyFoxx@aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You even have an Indian name: Fox.You should be Running Fox or Sneaky Fox." "Just as long as it's not Spooky Fox." - 'Shapes' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Proud member of Extreme Possibilities, M&S, EMXC and The Dragon Posse! "I'm not going to ask if you said what I think you just said because I know what you just said." -- Dana Scully My other stories: Two of Hearts I Wish I May... Linked A Young Man's Fancy Midnight Serenade Can be found at: http://www.bns.com.au/alee/fiction.html or http://gossamer.simplenet.com/ From spookyfoxx@aol.com Thu Oct 10 10:41:32 1996 Disclaimed in part 1 ______________________________ Mistaken Identity (5/5) by Barbara Nice-Miller SpookyFoxx@aol.com ______________________________ ****************************** Northeast Georgetown Medical Center One week later 9:28 pm The first thing Dana Scully noticed when she woke was the pain in her throat...and her chest...and her head...and she hadn't the foggiest idea why her entire body hurt until she focused in on her surroundings. A hospital room. Then it all came back in a rush: the men, the attack, everything. Swallowing painfully, she went to reach for the water cup on the tray near the foot of the bed when her hand came in contact with something hard and rough. Carefully turning her head to the right, she looked down to see what she was touching. It was an arm, encased in a cast from the elbow down. Letting her gaze travel upwards, she saw that the arm was attached to a man with short, dark hair sleeping in a chair next to her bed, with his face turned away from her. But even without seeing his face, she knew who it was. She tried to speak his name, but her throat would not cooperate and all that came out was a squeak. But the man was a light sleeper and the noise woke him. He quickly turned his head....and warm hazel eyes gazed lovingly into sparkling blue ones. "Morning sunshine," whispered Mulder. Still groggy from the painkillers, Scully smiled drowsily at her partner then took a deep breath to clear her head and focused in more closely on her partner's face. If her voice and throat had been working properly, she would've gasped at his appearance. As it was, her jaw dropped opened and her eyes widened. Mulder knew what she was thinking and hastened to reassure her as he reached for, and handed her, the water cup. "I'm fine, really. It looks worse than it is. Wait, don't drink that so fast." The water helped considerably and Scully was able to whisper, "Tell me everything." Mulder chuckled. "Better get comfy, Scully. It's a long story." He told her almost everything, starting with why he'd gone over to her house that evening last week. But he skipped over what'd she'd said to him. They'd talk about that later. He explained to her what her injuries were and the surgery she'd gone through. He said she'd been here for a week, drifting in and out of consciousness and that the doctors had finally removed the respirator tube yesterday, which is why her throat hurt so bad. Then he told her about the men who'd attacked her and why, and about the mistake they'd made. Next, he explained about his own attack and abduction by those same men. "...and the last thing I remember clearly is shooting Darin in the chest and then the explosion and the fire..." Here he trailed off and took a shuddering breath. Scully thought as she reached out and squeezed his hand in comfort. Mulder squeezed back then continued, "I don't know who called the fire department and the paramedics. I woke up briefly in the ambulance and they told me I must've been thrown backwards with an incredible force, because when I landed on my side I broke my wrist." Here he held up his casted left wrist with a small smile. "I know my face still looks pretty bad even after a week. What with the beatings from Lyle and Marcus and all the exploding glass bottles and jars in that lab, you could play connect-the-dots with all my cuts." Scully gave a little laugh then reached out to brush her fingers across the large bandage on Mulder's forehead. "Does it still hurt?" she asked quietly. He looked directly into her eyes before replying, "Not any more." They remained that way for a long moment before Scully finally broke eye contact. "Did you ever find out how Darin got all his information?" she questioned. Mulder took a deep breath before answering her. "Yes, and you're not going to like it. With Darin dead from my shot and Marcus killed in the explosion, Lyle was left holding the bag. With all the charges against him, he wised up and gave up Darin's source for a plea bargin. Are you ready for this? It was Agent Nelson on the witness protection team with you." "What? You've got to be kidding me." "I wish I was. Because Internal Affairs is involved, I don't have all the specifics yet, but here's what I know: Nelson was passing information along to Darin's gang about the whereabouts of Paul Whitfield, which is how the first safehouse was compromised. But when Agent Tully suddenly decided to move Whitfield to a third safehouse, she kept the details to herself this time. Maybe she suspected she had a leak, I don't know. Anyway, Nelson couldn't tell Darin where they were moving to and Darin was getting desperate. Whitfield had to be dead before the trial on Monday. The only thing Nelson could tell him was that he saw Tully put information about the new location in her briefcase. But something was lost in the translation between Darin and his men and 'Tully' became 'Scully'." He paused for a moment and squeezed her hand before continuing softly. "And, well, we both know what happened. God, Dana, I was so scared. When I saw you lying there..." "It's OK, Mulder. I'm fine now, thanks to you. I'm beginning to think you're my guardian angel." She smiled. "But tell me why Nelson did it. Why did he sell out?" Mulder shook his head. "IA's clamped down tight on this one. They're not saying why he did it or how long he'd been on the take. I don't know if we'll ever find out." He opened his mouth to say something else but all that came out was a huge yawn, followed closely by a matching one from Scully. They both laughed. "Just how long have you been here, Mulder?" Mulder ducked his head and looked away. "That's what I thought," she said with a smile. "Thank you for being here with me," she finished sincerely. Mulder just nodded then rose to go. "I'd better get out of here and let you get some rest." But he didn't want to leave at all. There was still some unfinished business between them. Scully could barely keep her eyes open but she knew she and Mulder needed to talk and they might not get another chance to be alone together for awhile. Mulder made it to the door before she called him back. "Wait. Mulder, don't go. We need to talk." Her soft-spoken words stopped him in his tracks and he turned to face her. "On one condition." She looked at him quizzically. "That you move over in that bed and make room for me because I'm about ready to drop. Keeping vigil over your partner takes alot out of a guy, you know," he finished with a grin. She simply patted the bed in answer. That was all the invitation he needed. After a little maneuvering on Scully's part, he finally got his tall, lanky frame comfortably situated next to her petite one in the small bed, laying on his right side facing her, being careful of her injuries. There was so much to say, but neither of them knew where to start. Scully finally took the inititive. "Mulder...what I said--" "--Made me the happiest man in the world." At her shocked expression he continued softly, "I guess I did too good a job at keeping my feelings hid, huh?" She just nodded, trying to comprehend what he was trying to say. He couldn't possibly mean what she thought he did... "Well maybe this will be clear enough," he whispered as he leaned in even closer and softly pressed his lips to hers. A jolt of electricity passed thought them both at that first contact, hearts pounding at the same tempo and breathing quickening. It was a soft, slow, deep kiss that spoke volumes without words; both of them pouring out pent up emotions in that one kiss, telling each other what they'd kept hidden from each other for so long. They broke apart a long, tender moment later and Mulder gently pulled Scully's head against his chest, whispering, "I love you," in her ear, before both of them drifted off to sleep. Bruised and battered, they lay side by side, confident they could take anything life threw at them now that they were where they belonged. Together. ****************************** THE END ....and that s all she wrote, folks! Thanks so much for reading! Barbara Nice-Miller SpookyFoxx@aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You even have an Indian name: Fox.You should be Running Fox or Sneaky Fox." "Just as long as it's not Spooky Fox." - 'Shapes' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Proud member of Extreme Possibilities, M&S, EMXC and The Dragon Posse! "I'm not going to ask if you said what I think you just said because I know what you just said." -- Dana Scully My other stories: Two of Hearts I Wish I May... Linked A Young Man's Fancy Midnight Serenade Can be found at: http://www.bns.com.au/alee/fiction.html or http://gossamer.simplenet.com/