From: "C. Shuy" Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 21:30:04 -0800 (PST) Subject: REVISED: Nothing But Trouble I (8/15) [Disclaimers in the Introduction] Nothing But Trouble: Out Of The Frying Pan... by Christina Shuy (cshuy@netcom.com) and Diana Alexander (dmulder@nettaxi.com) Chapter Seven Plans Undertaken With a scowl, Bill Scully made his way back to his motel room. Every time he went to get his sister out of trouble here lately, she seemed to rebuff him for that... sorry son of a bitch that she called a partner. Running a hand through his red hair, he sighed, and wondered why he didn't just go home to Tara and the baby, instead of putting up with this bullshit from his younger sister. It was like she enjoyed her life being in jeopardy... He just wanted to get back to his room and make sure that all of his parts were intact after his encounter with ... that woman. Bill Scully was not the most intelligent person on the planet, but he had the feeling that if he even thought badly of the woman he had encountered outside his sister's hospital room earlier he would pay for it dearly. He wanted to avoid that possibility if at all possible. When he finally reached his motel room, he noticed the door was hanging open. He cursed when he realized that the only thing resembling a weapon was the Swiss Army Knife, and Dana's apartment was a couple of miles away, and he knew she wouldn't be there. 'Besides, I don't need her help. I can handle this. I'm a strong man, so I don't need some woman to come and save me from a thief. I'll have the hotel security's heads for this.' A voice he hoped he wouldn't hear again for some time met his ears when he warily entered the room, "Ah, Billy, I was hoping I'd get to see you again. I so missed the sound of your voice when you told me how much you hated me." Bill Scully whirled to face the taunting voice of the woman standing in the corner with one boot clad foot propped against the wall. A purely evil smile was on the woman's face and he sighed resignedly, "Starr Austin." "That's my name, don't wear it out," the woman quipped as she approached him slowly, almost seductively. Pressing a palm against his chest, she managed to get him against the wall. "Y'know, I was really planning to set you on fire right now, but I don't think I'll do that. No, I'll leave you as you are. And you're so much better alive and bothering the hell out of Dana and those other friends of hers. However, you mention one word of this to them, I'll find you." As quickly as she had been there, the woman was gone, and Bill Scully ran out of the hotel room, looking for the woman, but found nothing. * * * * * Storm Austin pressed her forehead against the window and tried to forget about what she'd seen in the park. Although she knew that Starr would do almost anything to get the guy she felt Storm had stolen from her so long ago, she didn't think it had included murder. With a sigh, she paid attention to the feeling of the glass; it was cool, and it helped to calm her slightly. It was then that she realized that Dana was talking and tried to pay attention. "...so I just think we should cover all bases, just in case. Bill may be a jerk at times, but he's still my brother." "I'd say that was an understatement, Dana," Storm muttered under her breath, glancing at Victoria, sensing that her friend would not be over that incident in the hospital any time soon. Not that she blamed her any. After all, Storm herself was still holding a sixteen year grudge over what happened with Bill when she was a teenager. "So, what are we going to do again?" Storm asked with a mildly puzzled expression on her face, trying to convince everyone that her memory was slipping instead of the fact that she wasn't paying attention. However, she knew that it wasn't going to work. "We're going to go to the hotel and make sure Bill is alive," Mulder repeated himself in an almost robotic voice and Storm resisted the urge to hit him. Barely. "Fine then," Storm said cheerfully. "I'll go in and check on him, and you four will be able to tell that he's alive when you see the fireworks going off. Do you even know where your brother is staying, Dana?" "Unfortunately so," Scully responded, gesturing to the huge hotel coming up on the left. She slowed down at the curb and Storm slid out. Flynn leaned over Mulder, who got stuck in the middle of the front seat, and handed her a cellular phone. "What's this?" "Your cel phone. We might need to call you out of combat for a *real* emergency." "Combat? Me?" Storm put on an innocent look and Flynn immediately started snickering. "Storm, stop it before everyone in this vehicle starts laughing. Nobody believes that and you know it." Storm sighed and slipped the cellular phone into the pocket of her denim jacket. "You're probably right. Sure you don't want to come and help me, Victoria?" Storm grinned widely. "I'd best not," Victoria responded with a smile. "After all, Dana did say she wanted him alive." "'Tis for the best, I suppose," she sighed and headed into the building. The first person she ran into, ironically, was the person she was looking for. "You... you bitch..." Storm's eyes narrowed as Bill Scully grasped her by her shoulder. Her instantaneous reaction was to slam her foot into Bill's instep, shove his hands off her, before backing him into the wall, keeping her palms placed firmly against his shoulders. Despite the fact that she appeared to be frailer than he, Bill couldn't move. "Now, William Scully junior," Storm asked, her voice like ice, "what did you just call me?" Bill blinked at her, and looked at her clothes, and the long braid that had ended up slung over one shoulder. "You mean you're not her?" "What do you mean by that?" Storm spat out. "I ... I thought you were that woman... she called herself Starr..." "Oh, so you thought I was Starr, eh?" Storm asked him icily with an arched eyebrow. "You thought I was Starr all along?" "Uh..." "You piece of shit..." Storm cursed, reaching out mentally and physically to knock him out just as the phone rang. Pulling away, Storm took some small pleasure in seeing him laying there, prone at her feet, then answered the cellular. "Austin." "Storm, it's Flynn. We need to get out of here." "What happened?" "We think there's been another fire." "Shit," Storm cursed under her breath. "I should have known. Okay, I'm on my way out," Storm flipped the phone closed, tossed her braid over her shoulder, and walked out of the building, leaving Bill where he lay. * * * * * "After Storm and her friends get out of the area, I'm going to go up to his room again. I did warn him not to mention seeing me." Starr narrowed her eyes. "You're sure you want to do this." Alex Krycek asked, as he and his companion sat watching Bill Scully get beaten up by Storm. "I want to. I want to see exactly what Bill might have in mind and use it again him... as well as against my sister and her friends, including her new one. How's sleeping beauty?" "Still out cold. We gave her enough of the drug to put her out for a while. Good thing too. She looks like the type that would fit in so well with the Syndicate group. So much the better that we have her." "So... this is Fox Mulder's old flame, is it? Well, as I said, this will be the time to turn her into a literal interpretation of that." Starr smiled, getting out of the car. She walked over and gave Alex a deep kiss before she pulled away and walked toward the older Scully sibling. "Can't be a moment too soon, Starr." Krycek smiled. * * * "So what do you think your sister's up to this time?" Dana asked. Storm had just finished filling the group in on what had happened between herself and the elder Scully. "What do you think? She threatened Bill... and Bill thought she was me... or, rather, I was her... and I think it's worse... Meaning we've got a serious problem here." Storm made a gesture with her finger across her throat. "Most likely." Victoria grinned. "I've not met your sister yet, and I don't honestly want to either. The impressions I've gotten from her letters was decidedly unfriendly." "British gift of understatement again, hmm, VC?" Mulder grinned at her. Victoria stuck her tongue out at him. "I wouldn't say that, Fox. There's no point making a bad situation worse... or, at least, seem worse than it is." "Besides, Quicksilver, with your sister on the loose-" Flynn began. "With Alex Krycek no less..." Storm growled. "Right. Your sister and Alex Krycek. It's already a bad situation." Storm and Victoria looked at each other. Storm sent. Victoria nodded, responding in kind. "Do we know what Austin and Krycek are up to now?" Mulder asked. Storm flinched. "Mulder, if you're going to refer to my sister, kindly do *not* refer to her as 'Austin'... it's damned confusing!" Storm spat out. "And insulting too." "Sure. Fine. Whatever." Mulder mumbled. Scully tried not to giggle. Storm reached over and yanked on his hair. It was a large clump, so it didn't hurt much, but *did* startle him, and he yelped. Victoria and Flynn traded amused looks but did their best to stay out of the fray. "I think what your sister may be up to next is possibly trying to go after everyone close to you... starting with either Dana or Mulder-" Victoria started. Victoria sent, and Storm raised an eyebrow, though also nodded. "-and probably ending with you personally. But that's just my theory." Victoria continued. "I wonder what she holds against you. This seems far more than just following orders from a higher authority. If this were orders from a higher authority, then Mulder's family and Scully's family would also be in danger. No. This is personal. Question is... why?" "That's what I'm afraid to find out." Storm grumbled through gritted teeth. "Personal vendettas are usually the hardest to figure out." Mulder put in as he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. "Oh thank you very much, Mr. High and Mighty FBI Profiler." Storm retorted. "We *so* needed your skills to figure THAT one out." "Mulder... even I could figure that out and I'm no profiler. In fact, I'm not much as anything." "Victoria, as I've said before... you're always too much of something." "And who asked you?" Victoria answered. Before anyone else could answer, Victoria made a sudden grab for her head, as did Storm. A sharp pain was lancing itself across the forehead in both cases. Flynn also winced slightly and rubbed the top of his head. Both of them shared the though and traded it. There was a faint impression of a warehouse. Flames. A woman's scream. One Victoria recognised as Phoebe's. A voice which sounded like Storm's but both knew wasn't. Victoria recognised it again... this time from her dreams of a few days ago. Only this time she knew exactly who she was dealing with. Storm made a desperate attempt to get out of the car, but was restrained from doing so by Flynn. "Let go of me! I have to go after her before she hurts anyone else, regardless of whether or not I can stand the person!" Storm screamed. "It's not right for her to hurt people all in the name of getting back at me for some reason!" Victoria sent calm along with the message. Storm just looked at Victoria who returned the look with a nod. "You know... I hate to interrupt this nonverbal communication, but are you two going to come in and eat? The rest of us are hungry." Mulder said. "Ahh, Fox, you haven't changed a bit. Still thinking with your stomach." "Well, my stomach is being pretty loud, VC. I'm surprised you haven't heard it by now." Both of them stuck their tongues out at each other as if they were two children at a duel. The rest of the occupants of the car burst out into giggles. "Okay, okay. Point made. Let's go eat." Victoria said. They headed inside. End of Chapter Seven Nothing But Trouble: Out Of The Frying Pan... by Christina Shuy (cshuy@netcom.com) and Diana Alexander (dmulder@nettaxi.com) Chapter Eight Upping the Stakes Storm sighed as she blinked at the menu. She hadn't counted on the writing being so small on the menus that she'd need her glasses in order to read it. She heard soft laughter and looked up. "What?" "We just decided what to order," Dana said with a perfectly straight face. "Oh? What is it, and why is it so funny?" Storm arched an eyebrow at her friends, even as Victoria giggled. "Baby back ribs..." "Ohhh..." Storm grinned and traded a look with Victoria, since she suspected that they were both seeing the same scene from the past of Mulder and Scully. A restaurant, Mulder, Scully, barbecue ribs, and a certain touching wipe of the napkin across Dana's chin. A fleeting thought of 'I wish he would do that with his tongue' accompanied by Mulder's matching thought of, 'I wonder if she'd let me do this with my tongue,'. Storm had to giggle, then she glanced at Mulder even as Victoria was looking at Scully. Finally, she returned to the menu with a frown, wondering if anyone would think her weird if she flipped the menu upside town to see if she could read it any better that way. She doubted that she could have seen it better, and besides that, Flynn would have probably taken great joy in pointing that out. came Victoria's amused mindvoice, "He what!?!" Storm lunged out of the chair and tackled her partner, knocking down several chairs in the process. Surprisingly, the commotion was unnoticed. "What the--?" "Where are they, Flynn?" Storm glared at him from her position atop him. "Where are what?" "You know what I'm talking about! Where are my bloody glasses?" Mulder leaned over to Scully and whispered, "Gee, if I'd known that she wanted him that bad, I would have left them both back at the hotel." "I heard that, Mulder!" "What are you talking about, Stormie?" "Mulder, innocence does not become you," Victoria commented, and he only turned up his innocence another notch. Scully elbowed him. Storm was, in the meantime, searching Flynn's clothing for her glasses case. She knew what material it was made out of, and knew that his own case was different. The jacket ended up sprawled across his chair, and finally, she emerged with them. Pulling the golden frames out of the case, she slid them on her face, then grinned as she realized where she was positioned. She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, then whispered softly in his ear, "So, Flynn, tell me... was it good for you, too?" He had no response as she rose from atop him and made her way back to the table to order her dinner with an extremely innocent expression on her face. Nobody believed it, yet nobody said anything. Finally, Flynn rose from the floor and seated himself back at the table, and the meal continued. * * * * * The server arrived with the food each of them had ordered. There was a pause in conversation and everyone looked down at their plates, almost as though studying what they had been brought for tastiness. Abruptly, Victoria shuddered, and an image flashed into mind. *** "Agent Austin, what are you doing?" Phoebe's voice held no fear. It was more curiosity than anything. "Storm, I really don't think this is wise." Bill Scully said, seemingly oblivious to his fellow prisoner. "Bill Scully, you are so naive... You don't know how insulting and annoying it is to be constantly mistaken for my sister, identical twin though she might be." Starr snarled. "Excuse me? But would you please explain to me what is going on?" Phoebe interrupted. "You know, this is one time I will be happy to agree with my sister on this, you bitch. You are annoying." Starr stopped Phoebe's protests with a glare. "And I think I will enjoy turning you into a literal interpretation of the term 'old flame'." As Starr spoke, there was a dangerous glitter in her eyes. Phoebe, of course, didn't know when to quit. "I don't know what you are talking about, but I wish you would shut up about it already." she continued. Starr gave Phoebe a look, and the toe of her shoe suddenly caught fire. In a panic, Phoebe quickly took the shoe off and stamped out the fire with her other shoe. "That was a mere demonstration of my ability. Don't make me do something like this prematurely. It would ruin the effect." Starr smiled. Phoebe, finally coming to her senses, shut up. "Now... I think we have DCI Jensen's attention. I hope she comes alone to rescue you. This would make the challenge so much more interesting." Starr smiled, knowing that the image she was sending out was reaching her intended target. *** 'Oh, gods... no... Not this again...' Victoria stood up abruptly from the table, the chair rattling away and bumping into the chair at a table close to them. There was only the sound of footsteps growing fainter as the former occupant of the chair hastily departed. Storm's voice echoed through Victoria's mind as she watched her friend's retreating form. Victoria's faint echo of a reply was heard. "What the hell...???" Mulder's mystified expression was only compounded by his tone of voice. A moment later, however, pieces began falling into place and his expression went from concern to panic. "I don't know, but she Saw something, and whatever it is rattled her badly." Storm answered. "Did you manage to see any of it?" Mulder asked. "Only a little. It wasn't directed at me, so I didn't get it clearly." "A little? You claim you have special abilities! What kind of special abilities are they anyway? You're supposed to be better than this!" Mulder raised his voice and didn't notice that with every exclaimation, Storm flinched, but he was too panicked to notice. "Mulder, calm down." Scully said. She'd also seen the expression on Victoria's face, and was also concerned. "Didn't you see the look on her face, Scully?" "Yes, Mulder, I did, but-" "Didn't that even worry you in the *slightest*?!" Mulder was now screaming almost. "Now that you mention it..." "It was the same expression on her face we both saw that time we went to London to help find her!" There was another clattering, and the partners turned to look at Flynn who was sitting next to another recently vacated chair. "Oh shit! We have a serious problem." Mulder said. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the guilt settle in over his shoulders. "That's putting it mildly. Did you see which way she went?" Scully asked. "I think so." Flynn answered. "Then let's go. The sooner we get to them, the safer they'll both be, I suspect." They went. * * * * * Storm Austin fled from the restaurant, fueled both by her worry over her new friend, and her anger at what Fox Mulder had just told her. At the back of her mind, she knew that he was only acting that way because he was worried. She knew this. But why did he have to pick such hateful words to get his point across? She heard a voice so faint that it might have been an echo of her own thoughts then, telling her, That cooled her temper so fast that it felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. She had been so angry that her thoughts were loud enough to be heard... She sighed and pressed her hands to her temples and tried to calm down. She was no good to herself, Victoria, or anyone else when her temper was running high like it had been. When she finally came back to herself, she noticed that she was standing at the very edge of the parking lot. The car was still there, although it was about a hundred yards away from where she was standing. As she stood there, trying to formulate a plan, Storm heard a familiar clicking sound behind her and slowly turned to face the person holding a gun pointed right between her eyes and her expression darkened. The man standing in front of her had done a lot of things in the past to make Dana and Mulder hate him, and things in the present to make her hate him. Storm snorted as she looked him up and down, trying to judge what he was going to do by his body language. He was standing almost cockily, with one arm dangling lifeless by his side as the other one continued to wave the gun in her face. Storm smiled humourlessly at the situation before asking with a smirk, "Oh, what's this Krycek? Did Mother Russia finally get sick and tired of your bullshit and send you back home?" "You know as well as I do, bitch, that this is *not* my home." "Oh, of course I know that," Storm commented. "Your home is wherever that slut who calls herself my sister is. How could I be so stupid?" It was Krycek's turn to smile humourlessly. "You know, Storm, there's nothing I'd love better than to shoot you in the head and leave your body here on the ground for everyone to find. However, that is not in the plan, so you're not going to die... yet. I'm sure you'd prefer that to the alternative." "Oh, what's the alternative?" Storm scowled. She knew Krycek was trying to scare her, but it wasn't working. All it was doing was pissing her off even more. "I don't think I'll be the one to tell you," Krycek smiled with such pleasure that Storm cringed. "Your sister should be the one to tell you. She'd do it in great detail." "I'm sure she would. Can we just get to the point?" "The point it that I'm to make sure that you don't fuck up Starr's wonderful little plan." Storm mentally knocked the gun out of Krycek's hand and headed back toward the car and the restaurant. She needed to get near some cover before either Krycek, Starr, or the people they were working with decided to pull something against her. As a all-too-familiar feeling knocked the breath out of her, Storm knew she had been right. It was an unusual sensation to watch someone beat your body while laying unconscious. Storm found an unusual humour in the entire scene, since that one armed son-of-a-bitch obviously has to have someone unconscious before he could beat the crap out of them. She watched Krycek handcuff her hands behind her back and drape her over his shoulder. With a sigh, she turned back to the restaurant as she felt something that she didn't understand. Walking through the door, she found her understanding as a knife hit the wall about two inches above her head. She shook her head, asking herself, "Why me?" shortly before everything disappeared around her and she found herself in an immense amount of pain. End of Chapter 8 Nothing But Trouble: Out Of The Frying Pan... by Christina Shuy (cshuy@netcom.com) and Diana Alexander (dmulder@nettaxi.com) Chapter Nine Into the Fire Victoria found herself outside the immediate vicinity of a river-front warehouse. Her mind had been in a blind panic since receiving the vision of Phoebe and Bill in danger of being burned to death. It seemed to set off a fiercely overprotective streak in her when she found out that Starr Austin, the evil mirror image of her new friend Storm, was responsible for the situation. And since she was using the same ability that Victoria had and had sworn never to use to harm another, it also made her angry. She felt herself being drawn into the warehouse she was currently in front of. How she got there was a faint blur in memory. 'Well, looks like that was another hidden program trigger. Fortunately, Mulder was able to leave me the disarming codes so when I found another one, I'd not need him in the immediate area.' she thought to herself. Faintly, she could sense someone who was close to her was in serious pain, but the draw of getting two others out of danger from fire and a pyrokinetic was far stronger. She sneaked into the warehouse and up to the area where she knew Phoebe Green and Bill Scully Jr. were being held. Quickly enough, she found Bill and Phoebe, though they'd been moved from the cage they'd been held in. "Victoria?! What are you doing here? It's a trap!" Phoebe said in a hiss. "Well, Phoebe, for someone who 'convinced' the Superintendent that I needed to come with you because you needed someone to help, you're not very bright, are you." "And what are you doing here?" Bill Scully asked. "Haven't you gotten my sister-" Whatever Bill Scully had to say was cut off when Phoebe began to scream in pain. Her clothing had begun apparently setting itself on fire. Victoria quickly brought the fire under control before directing it to the ropes where Phoebe and Bill were tied up together. As soon as they were both free, Victoria put the fire out and directed Bill to help Phoebe towards the door. "Get her out of here. I don't know what the two behind this have in mind, but I'd feel better if you both got out of here. Now. Get her to a hospital. Those burns need to be looked at." Victoria's tone of voice left no room for argument. Bill nodded and lifted Phoebe into his arms. She'd been burned painfully enough so that she'd gone into shock and wouldn't move. Without another word, they started to get to safety. In order to make certain they got out safely, Victoria led them to the door and watched them get into the car Victoria had driven over. Sighing in relief, she turned back to try hunting down Starr. "Well, I see you've gotten them out of this little trap... they were only phase One. Alex is enroute with my sister now." Starr's voice was heard behind her. When Victoria turned around to face Starr, she was hit with an intense beam. The appearance was like a laser, but something in the back of Victoria's mind told her it was much more than that. Before Victoria could identify it, everything went to Hell. ----- When Flynn opened his eyes, he flinched from the intensity of the sunlight shining down on him, and moved his hands to his temples, feeling like he was in slow motion. He had barely managed to get out a groan before he heard a voice beside him. "Headache?" Dana Scully asked with a worried expression, and he turned to his right to see her smiling understandingly and holding out two pills of the strongest over-the-counter pain medication. "Yeah," he responded, popping the pills into his mouth dry. That usually made Storm cringe, but Dana just watched and waited on him. She somehow knew that he wasn't finished speaking, and would have a question for her. Damn, the woman *had* to be psychic. "How did you know?" An enigmatic smile crossed her face, and Flynn prepared himself for her response. "I just knew." "Scully..." There was a warning note in Mulder's voice, one filled with slight humour overshadowed by pain and worry. "Sorry," she flashed her worried partner a smile before continuing. "It comes from being around Storm all these years. Whenever things would go flying around the room while she was there, Storm always ended up with these horrible headaches. She hinted in a telephone conversation once that you might eventually have the same problem. I came prepared." "Speaking of Storm, where is she?" "We don't know," Dana frowned, speaking for herself and Mulder, since her partner was pacing around, agitated. Dana sighed and handed Flynn a pair of broken golden frames with shattered lenses. "This is the only clue we have that she was even here." "That's impossible!" Flynn stared at the bifocal frames that he'd bought Storm for her last birthday. "I saw her right after things started going to hell." "After she left the restaurant?" Dana asked. "Yeah..." "That's not impossible," Mulder acknowledged, halting his pacing for a moment. "But where is she? Where is *Victoria*?" Flynn frowned, struck by a sudden thought, "Do you two know any nearby warehouses due for demolition in the next six months or so?" "Yes," Dana responded with a thoughtful expression on her face. "But why do you ask? Do you think that's where they are?" "Just call it a hunch," Flynn responded as he followed Mulder, who had leapt in the driver's seat at any suggestion of a location. Then he turned back and faced Dana, who was favoring him with her skeptical expression. "What? Haven't you ever followed something based upon just a hunch?" A grin crossed his face as a snippet of mental conversation flowed through his mind... "It's been a while," she admitted with a smile as she climbed into the passenger seat. After a glance at Mulder's expression and judging how tightly he was clenching the steering wheel, she fastened her seat belt. "How did I get out of the restaurant, anyway?" Flynn asked dazedly as Mulder burned rubber getting out of the parking lot, and proving both of them wise for fastening their safety belts. "Mulder and I dragged you out of there, only semi-conscious. We've learned that it's wise not to let on that someone you're with is capable of doing these sort of things. Those friends usually seem to end up abducted for some experimentation purpose that the U.S. government deems necessary." "Yeah," Flynn ran a hand through his thick blond hair, "I've lost kith and kin too often that way. People that I will probably never see again. I hate the government, and during some of my low moments, I serious consider moving to Canada. I hear Vancouver's nice this time of year," he finished wistfully. Once they stopped at a traffic light, Mulder frowned, then turned to look at Flynn. "Flynn, are you sure about this thing?" "I never said I was sure," Flynn sighed again at Mulder's harsh, worried tone of voice. "It may be a hunch, but it's all we have to go on. There's nothing concrete here to tell us where they're at. Mulder, I don't know what your feelings are for Victoria, other than the fact that she means a lot to you. I like her, but I don't know her as well as I know Storm. Storm is my partner, and I care about her a lot. Maybe it's just me, but I'd much rather follow a hunch of mine than to find Victoria and Storm dead in a burned down warehouse that was due to be torn down in two months." Mulder looked at Flynn carefully, noticing that the expression that lingered in Flynn's eyes when he talked about Storm being missing was the same one that looked at him in the mirror when Scully was missing and he had been able to do nothing to stop it. Once the light turned green, he turned and pressed the accelerator towards the floorboard. The silence reigned for several moments until Flynn sighed the car Victoria had taken with her when she left. He noticed a flame-haired man driving it away from the warehouse down the street the exact same way they were headed toward it -- like a bat out of hell. "I think we're getting close," Flynn commented. "Why?" "I think I just saw your brother speeding away in the car Victoria took," Flynn looked up as Mulder started to slow the car down a bit. "Is that it?" "I think so," Mulder said as he pulled into the parking lot, still going fast enough that the occupants of the car thought it was going to tilt so that it was only on two wheels. However, Mulder brought it back under control and pulled in front of the building, which looked almost totally deserted. They looked at each other. "We going in?" "Yeah..." They all exited the car in unison and headed for the building. As they did so, Flynn got the eerie feeling that they were being watched. * * * * * There was the sound of someone in serious distress. It was unlike any usual distress. It went beyond physical into the mental and psychological, as well as the psychic. Victoria was screaming. Whatever it was that had been in the beam she'd been struck with, it had torn off all the controls she had so carefully placed and reinforced in her own mind. 'Control... must have control...' she continued to repeat her mantra, slipping from English into Scots Gaelic. Things *had* to be bad. The more Scots Gaelic she lapsed into inadvertently and involuntarily, the worse the situation was, and right now she wasn't even certain she could understand if anyone spoke English to her. The images would not stop flooding her senses. Fire. Burning. The collapse of control. Shouts and hints of a confrontation. Mulder and Dana burning to death. Phoebe, looking a touch bandaged, making the report to Superintendent Miller of Victoria's untimely death due to fire. Suddenly, there was also an image of a man with smoke around him with a look on his face that was smug, arrogant, and pleased with himself. The plans for a new weapon of some sort was also in his mind, and there was a hint of realization. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Another scream. One she only barely recognised as her own voice. *CLANG* A sharp noise, and all was darkness. Mulder flinched suddenly. An image flooded his mind, and he felt sick to his stomach. "Mulder? What's wrong?" Dana's voice reached his ears as though from a distance. When he turned to look at her, he could somehow tell that she was feeling similar effects, though she seemed better at fending them off. "I... Oh, god, Scully, I think I'm gonna..." Before he could finish his statement, he rushed out of the car and promptly lost his lunch. "I see you got it too. Victoria's scream for help was kind of loud." Flynn said, looking a touch green too. "Flynn, I think you were right. We have to get into that warehouse and find out what is going on. I think I just got a loud mental scream. One I've heard before." Scully said, though she kept her eyes on her partner. "Victoria." Flynn said grimly. "And how do you figure that?" "She's the only one I know of who is entirely fluent in Scots Gaelic, even though I just met her a few days ago, and what I think I'm getting now is a stream of Scots Gaelic curses." He frowned. "Damnit, where did Storm run off to?" "Krycek." Mulder grumbled, getting back into the car. Sure enough, a car was pulling up and the three occupants of the car saw Alex Krycek driving up and getting out of the car. "Okay. I'm going after him." Mulder snapped, pulling his gun out of his shoulder holster. "You're either with me, or staying here." "I'm going with you, Mulder. He owes me one." The look on Dana Scully's face was grim. "Actually... he owes me *more* than one." "Count me in. Though I think I just found where Storm is." Flynn said, getting out of the car and headed for the trunk of the other car. In the meantime, Mulder and Scully slipped into 'Special Agent' mode, drew their weapons, and headed into the warehouse. "Do you think you could figure out where Victoria is by the sound of her mental voice?" Mulder asked. Scully thought for a moment, then nodded. "It seems to have gotten louder when we walked into this place. I think I can. We need to find her, though." "I think we might be better off splitting up for the search." "Agreed." After they were well started on their search, Flynn felt a sharp pain, and all went black. ----- When the car hit a sharp bump as Krycek sped toward his destination, it caused the person riding in the trunk to be awakened quite suddenly. She had a severe headache that would have been there even if she hadn't hit her head on the trunk door. Storm sighed as she opened one eye. Her first impression upon waking was that, judging from the sound of the screaming and stream of unfamiliar curses inside her head, Victoria was in trouble. When she managed to nearly knock herself unconscious with a flying tire iron, Storm realized that the laser gun Krycek had used on her back in the parking lot had managed to strip the control from her TK talent. She groaned and tried to tamp it down a bit until something else could be done. In that moment, she truly realized the stupidity of walking out of the restaurant with her temper running high, leaving Mulder, Scully and Flynn behind to follow her own vague intuition. Despite her initial anger at Mulder's comment, she understood the reasons why, and that's what bothered her the most. She had seen Mulder at the time of his sister's abduction - she had been eleven at the time, but she still remembered the encounter - and knew how distraught he was. Besides, from what Dana had confided in her, she suspected that Mulder's worry about Victoria was along the same lines as his worry about Samantha. At that realization, she cursed herself again. 'When I see Mulder again,' she promised herself, 'I will tell him I'm sorry and that I understand better than he realizes. If we make it out of this mess alive...' Just then, the car took a wild turn and she rolled on her side again, groaning. This ride was not doing anything for her bad back, she knew that for sure. When the car finally came to a stop, she sighed and reached up to massage her temples, surprised to noticed that her wrists and ankles weren't tied. Then there was a commotion outside, and although she couldn't tell what was going on, she had a sinking feeling that Flynn was in it somehow. With a sigh, she waited for what was going to happen next. It was some time after the car stopped that everything went silent, then she heard a vague, "Go on inside, lover. I will take care of this." "You're sure?" "Yes," she purred, and the sound of it made Storm cringe. "I'm absolutely sure." For moments, silence reigned, then a sudden pressure that didn't feel in the slightest bit physical weighed itself down upon her. That's when the door to the trunk opened and dim sunlight streamed in, nearly managing to blind her until her eyes got accustomed to it. Then she saw Starr standing over her with a smug expression on her face. "Good afternoon, dear sister. How nice to see you..." Starr's voice was so filled with sugar that it made Storm ill just listening to it. "Too bad I can't say the same about you," Storm muttered under her breath as she glared up at her twin. "Ooh, do I detect a hint of negativity in your voice?" Starr asked with more of that sickening sweetness before taking hold of Storm's right wrist and wrenching her out of the car with more strength than Storm thought her capable of. Starr's evil laughter overpowered Victoria's stream of curses in Storm's mind, and she shuddered as she found herself kneeling on the pavement, panting for breath and struggling for control. "What is this all about, Starr?" she finally looked up defiantly. "Oh, I think you'll find out soon enough, sister dear," Starr said, then walked away, leaving her kneeling there by the car. "But right now, I have other business to attend to." Storm tensed, knowing that her sister wouldn't just leave her kneeling there. Within moments after the thought crossed her mind, she was roughly pulled to her feet and pushed in the general direction of the warehouse. "Yeah, bitch, you thought right. Starr has other plans for you." "What about for Victoria, Mulder, and Dana?" Storm asked with a defiant voice. "Ahh, Dana..." Krycek's voice indicated the smirk that Storm could almost see plastered across his face. "Now that would have been a real pleasure, but it wasn't meant to be. She would never give up that loser, anyway." Storm's eyes widened as she saw part of the warehouse go up in flames, and froze in her tracks. When Krycek realized that she wasn't moving, he turned to face her again. "Well, since you're not moving anything except your lips, and in an unpleasant way at that, I think I'll do something to change that." With that, Krycek swung the gun that he had used to leave her defenseless, and hit her at her left temple. She groaned and hit the floor as the gun shattered in his hand. "Damn flimsy thing," Alex scowled as he flung her over one shoulder and carried her off to the other end of the warehouse. End - Chapter 9 Nothing But Trouble: Out Of The Frying Pan... by Christina Shuy (cshuy@netcom.com) and Diana Alexander (dmulder@nettaxi.com) Chapter Ten The Trap is Sprung "Dana?" Dana heard the voice calling her name. "Storm? Is that you?" "Dana! Help!" Storm's voice sounded distressed. "Storm? Where are you?" She wandered into a small room where her old friend's voice seemed the loudest. "Right *here*!" Storm's voice abruptly changed, and then it was obvious that it had been Starr, Storm's sister, the entire time. "NO! Wait!" The door slammed shut and locked behind her, leaving the place dimly lit. "Help! Mulder!" Scully started banging on the locked door. Victoria gradually returned to her own senses. The pain had been unbearable, and she was glad her shields and defenses were finally back in place, though slightly weaker than they had been. Carefully, she made her way over to the door, uttered one word, and the door fell away, smoking slightly at the hinges and lock mechanism. It was only then that she heard someone shouting for help. Carefully, she tuned her senses to be certain as to who it was. "Oh my god. Dana...." she whispered. Cautiously, she followed the feeling, and the voice into an office at one end of the warehouse. Someone was locked in the closet. "Dana!" Victoria heard Scully's shouting for someone to let her out. "Victoria! The door's locked! Try to see if you can't find Mulder!" Scully's voice was muffled by the material of the door locked between them. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Dana. Starr's out there, she's dangerous, and if she comes back-" "Scully!" Mulder's voice came into the room from the hallway. There was certain panic in his voice... almost as though he'd been looking for her for a while and hadn't been able to find her. "Mulder!" Victoria turned and gestured him to come into the room. "Over here! She's been locked in the closet." Mulder came over and gave Victoria a hug, clearly indicating his relief at finding both her and Scully to be relatively safe. It had been the first time he'd seen her since her abrupt departure from the restaurant several hours earlier. "How cozy. The two love birds." Starr's voice floated over from the door and was filled with incredible sarcasm. "Tell me, Fox, what would your partner think of this? Or about your little trick with fire, Inspector Jensen..." "What are you talking about?" Victoria turned to face Starr Austin, though she'd been holding onto Mulder only moments before. "You know exactly what I'm referring to, Inspector Jensen." Starr smirked, and this had a different effect than when Storm did it. Storm's expression was usually highly amusing. Starr's expression was far more sinister. "No. No, I do not." Victoria said slowly, though in her heart she knew exactly what Starr was referring to. Admittedly, it was something she had been trying to knock into Mulder since meeting Scully several years ago. And even before then. "Yes. Of course you do. The mere fact that Fox here has stronger feelings for Special Agent Scully. Much stronger feelings than just friendship." Starr smiled, the effect evil. "What?" Mulder's tone was strangled, even as he paled. "Fox, you know as well as I do that you've been madly and passionately in love with Dana Scully since the moment you met her." Starr's tone dripped with sugar and made Phoebe's voice, which both had heard, seem mild by comparison. It also cut like a knife. Victoria looked amused. It was *not* a revelation for her. Mulder's jaw dropped, even though it wasn't really a revelation for him either. "Starr, this is Alex." Krycek's voice came though the two way radio clipped to Starr's pocket. "Target is in the range." Starr smiled evilly at that. Everyone else in the room heard it as well. Victoria and Mulder traded glances before looking back to Starr. They knew exactly who Alex was. "And now, I will leave you to die with that knowledge... the same way I left the others to die, including my sister's beloved Matthew. And, shortly, her as well." There was an even more sinister expression as she finished what she had to say. "How will it all end? In fire." The door in the abandoned warehouse shut as Starr walked out, sinister laughter heard in her wake. Moments later, a fire started in one corner of the room. ----- Krycek's jarring steps brought Storm back to consciousness slowly and with a severe headache. Once she got her mind defogged, she recognized the lightness of her own shields alone, instead of that psychic barrier that Starr had imposed upon her. Shortly afterwards, she realized that she was slung across Krycek's right shoulder and his every step was making her headache worse. Somehow, she was not surprised since the action seemed typical of the caveman approach that Krycek seemed to hold: Knock out woman and drag back to cave by hair. She idly wondered how the hell he tolerated having sex with Starr with that short pageboy she wore. Then she decided that she *really* didn't want to know and went about planning a way out of this embarrassing position. A memory of a college-aged Dana Scully in a defiant stance teased at Storm's mind, then saw the younger version of herself, remembering the discussion that took place. <"Storm?" Dana Scully tucked a strand of red hair behind her left ear, attempting to look innocent and managing to look remarkably evil instead. "I have a question to ask." "Oh?" Storm imitated her best friend, barely stifling a wide grin. "Tell me... what is the easiest way to get a man's attention?" "Oh, you just grab him by the genitals, of course," Storm answered nonchalantly, grinning widely. "Undivided attention, I tell ya..." "I'm sure," Dana responded moments before they both burst into uncontrollable giggles.> With her typical smirk, Storm gathered her newly returned strength into a kind of telekinetic fist and directed it in the vicinity of Krycek's groin area. His reaction was immediate; he dropped to his knees so fast with a animalistic sound of pain that she fell off his shoulder, hitting the concrete floor and rolling near the open door. When she finally stopped and looked up at Krycek, his green eyes were blaze with such a hatred that she had to stifle a shudder. As he gathered enough strength to reach her, Storm felt a sudden rise of heat, and moved to her feet just as Krycek's arms - both the prosthetic one and the real one - caught on fire. 'Spontaneous human combustion,' Storm thought to herself with a silent chuckle. 'It couldn't happen to a better person.' While he was looking at his arms as though he wasn't sure that they were actually on his own body, she moved behind him and gave a solid shove. A wide grin crossed her face as she heard him hit the water with a very satisfactory splash. Then she turned to go try and find the others, since she sensed that Mulder and Scully had also arrived, a hand closed around her ankle, trying to pull her down into the river as well. After a moment of panic, she kicked the hand away, and struggled to her own feet. 'I've got to find Victoria... and Mulder and Scully," Storm thought as she headed away from what had once been a loading dock. She hadn't even gotten fifty yards away when she was shoved into a room by some unseen person -- or force -- and the door slammed behind her with a clang. Starr's voice echoed inside her head with a sickening sweetness just as the door opened again, and she heard the voice aloud. "Alex owes you his life... it's really such a shame that he will never get the chance to make it up to you." "What do you mean, Starr?" Storm asked, crossing her arms over her chest as her sister approached her. Starr gave her a look over and smirked in a way that made Storm cringe. "You know what I mean. I showed it to you while you were on the way here," Starr sounded smugly satisfied with herself. Storm frowned as the images of someone going up in fire superimposed themselves over one of a burnt down warehouse, a couple of months from now. "That's right. You will die with the knowledge that there was nothing you could do to stop Matthew's death. I know how much he meant to you, and how much that will cut you like a knife, making it all the better for me. Added to that is the fact that your friends Victoria, Dana, and Mulder will have gone down with you, doing both my job and the Syndicate's. I get the chance to kill two birds with one stone," Starr smiled. "I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. I will leave you now, Storm, to die with this knowledge. Good-bye, dear sister." "See you in hell, Starr," Storm snapped. "You first..." Starr laughed evilly, and then she was gone, the door slammed shut, and flames began licking at the walls as the heat inside the room slowly began to increase. 'Damn it all!' Storm mentally yelled to no one in particular. 'I know I wanted to know how Matt died, but not first hand!' She then started attacking the door that had sealed itself shut, doing whatever she could to get it open. And since she had spent most of her mental effort on her attack on Krycek, Storm was getting absolutely nowhere. * * * * * On becoming an FBI agent, Flynn Brannen had become quite familiar with pain. So familiar that when he opened his eyes after remembering that he had been knocked out in the parking lot of the warehouse, he was surprised to experience no pain. When he sat up, he was seated on a bench miles away from where he had formerly been. A voice came out of nowhere and startled him with the conversational tone, "Don't worry yourself, Flynn. The pain will be there when you really wake up. Here, at least, pain isn't something to be worried over." He turned to see a young man sitting on the edge of a fountain that was somewhere near the center of Washington D.C. He was tall, with dark hair and equally dark eyes. Although in truth, they had never met, the two men knew each other. "In that case, Matt, I do not think I will. Worry myself over pain, that is. There is something of concern, however." "Yes, I know. If we're not careful, you'll be seeing Storm here shortly. Her sister has a very sick sense of humour. She killed me in precisely the same way she wished to kill her sister and anyone who was close to her sister." "By fire?" "By fire. In a person with control over the ability, pyrokinesis can be a very useful Talent, when used under the right circumstances. However, in the uncontrolled person, it's fatal, to them and to the people around them. Starr is one of the latter, and must be stopped." "Does that mean that you are entrusting this task to me? To stop Starr?" "Of course not," Matt said flippantly. "Storm, Victoria, Mulder, and Scully are probably at least halfway there in stopping Starr. It's not letting the twit slip through their fingers is the problem. Starr makes Storm look like an absolute angel." Flynn snorted at that comment, and Matt laughed. "Yeah, I know Storm's no angel, but her sister's the latest devil incarnation. Listen, Flynn, I'll make you a deal. You watch over Stormie during the remainder of this lifetime, and when she gets sick of messing with people in the flesh, I'll be her partner in ghostly crime. Deal?" "I'm not so sure about that. I might fight you over that honour," Flynn grinned. "But now's the time, Matt..." With that warning, everything went black for the second for the second time that day. The first sensations Flynn experienced upon truly regaining consciousness was the dull pounding of a headache that made him want to flinch with every heartbeat and the rough heat of the concrete beneath him. 'Damn, I hate when that happens,' Flynn pulled himself to his feet, leaning against the nearby car for balance. 'From the feel of things, I have a concussion to boot. Those two deserve to die for this.' On the heels of that thought was a purely mental yell of Storm. Only in these circumstances could she come up with something like that. And Matt had thought that *Starr's* sense of humour was sick? Flynn groaned and headed toward the warehouse, albeit slowly, the promise he'd made with Storm's former fiancee ringing in his head, along with everything else. 'When did my life become a psychic soap opera?' Flynn asked himself. 'That's all I want to know...' * * * * * The fire was getting worse and Victoria could sense Mulder's panic building. At the rate he was building up, a psi-null person could feel it at a hundred yards. "Scully, stand as far away from the door as possible... nearer the hinges." Mulder shouted. "What are you going to do?" Dana's inquiry was marked with fear. "Try to shoot the door open. Or at least the lock." "Okay." Scully sounded skeptical. There was a soft clicking and then a loud bang as Mulder aimed and fired a round into the locking mechanism. They'd managed to get the door to the closet opened and Scully, looking a little worse for wear, stumbled out. The first thing Scully did was to grab firmly on Mulder's shirtfront and give him a highly passionate kiss. Victoria refrained from shouting in happiness. Especially when Mulder began to kiss back, which didn't take long. In her mind, it was about time something of the sort had happened. "Umm... I hate to break this up, but we had better get out of here before we all become little more than a memory." Victoria said. "Make one 'Ice Queen' comment and I'll kick your ass, Mulder!" Scully said, though there was a fire in her eyes he'd not seen before, and he liked it. "Well, that's one way to come out of the closet, Scully." Mulder snickered. "Mulder....!" Victoria groaned. Both Dana and Victoria rolled their eyes and the three of them started laughing. The mirth lasted only for a moment before they all started trying to get out of the room they'd been locked in. This time bullets wouldn't work. It was a steel door. Solid steel. "We've got to get out of here. Storm's in even greater danger than we are." Victoria said. Mulder noted the expression and tone he had heard before. Whenever Victoria was deadly accurate about something... emphasis on the deadly. <'Okay, I admit I wanted to find out what happened to Matt... but not first hand!'> Storm's declaration got Victoria to smile, if a little reservedly. <'Storm, calm down. We're trying to get to you as fast as we can. Keep mentally shouting. That way we can find you faster.'> Victoria thought back. Storm's grumble came through loud and clear. "Victoria, I hate to ask you to do this, but it's a matter of life and death." Mulder turned to look at Victoria. "You're going to have to use your abilities to open the lock on the door." She sighed. "I knew this was coming. However, you do know that once I do this, it will take a lot out of me and you may have to leave me behind." "You know I can't do that." Mulder protested. "You're going to have to if it's important." "I wouldn't do it, even if you were Scully. Now will do you do it already before we all get burned?" Mulder asked, though there was an obvious note of panic in his voice. Victoria nodded, then directed her gaze on the lock, before closing her eyes. After a few moments of concentration, the lock smoked and fell away from the door. Victoria, looking slightly pale, staggered against wall where she had been standing. Mulder kicked the door open. "Come on, Victoria, we've got to get out of here!" Mulder shouted, his panic rising faster than he could control. "I thought I told you, Mulder," Victoria answered weakly. "Leave me behind. Go on and get Storm." "Not a chance, VC. We're better friends than that." Mulder said, bluntly. "Fox William..." Mulder silenced her with a glare. "Oh, fine..." Victoria sighed as Mulder helped her get back up to her feet. When she all but collapsed against him, he looked to Scully. "Come on. We're getting out of here." he said. "You'll not get an argument from me, Mulder," Scully replied. "Storm should be near by." Victoria murmured. <'Storm, see if you can find a door where you are and make as much noise banging on it as possible.'> Victoria sent, hoping she'd be able to get through. However, at the rate she felt herself slipping, she wasn't even remotely sure. End Chapter Ten Nothing But Trouble: Out Of The Frying Pan... by Christina Shuy (cshuy@netcom.com) and Diana Alexander (dmulder@nettaxi.com) Chapter Eleven: Escape, Barely Starr stumbled toward the loading dock, where she heard yells. Looking over the edge, she saw her lover hanging on with the only arm left intact -- the real one. She pulled him up, and looked him over. Despite the fact that he was soaking wet, he looked like he'd survive. "Y'know, Alex, I always knew I'd love you wet," Starr smirked at him. "I'm sure, Starr, but this is neither the time or the place for you to truly enjoy it." "Aww, too bad," she pouted for a moment, then pulled him to his feet, kissing him heartily as she did so. "You're right though. This place is gonna go up in smoke in under three minutes, so we'd best get out of here before it goes." With that, Starr dragged her lover to the nearest exit. * * * * * The flames had already danced down the walls and was heading toward the floor. They had had Storm nearly hypnotized until she'd heard Victoria's weak request. A worried frown crossed her face as she lunged for the door again, kicking the damned thing with all her strength, cursing her sister and her sister's lover between each kick. However, an image made her stop what she was doing for a moment. She heard a gunshot, and then Dana nearly tumbled out of a closet, instantly reaching for her partner's shirtfront in order to treat him to what appeared to be an extremely passionate kiss. A grin crossed her lips as she stifled the urge to yell out in triumph, "It's about damned time!" When she heard the comments that followed, her grin widened. 'That's one way to come out of the closet?' Storm shook her head. 'Mulder, what in hell are we going to do with you?' "Mulder!" Storm laughed and shook her head in exasperation at her best friend's partner, then stopped. She had gotten an impression of a sharp exhalation of air and an image of Victoria glaring up at Mulder from where he had been carrying her. "A psi-dead person could have heard *that* thought, Fox Mulder." "But VC, she started it," Mulder whined. "I did not..." Storm muttered under her breath, then laughed at what Victoria told Mulder. "Mulder, will you behave? Oh, I forgot... you don't know the meaning of the word." The sound of a blessedly familiar voice cut off Mulder's indignant response. "Storm, are you in there?" "Flynn, what are you doing here? I thought they left you in the car or something," Storm said, hoping that her initial impression that Flynn was getting in trouble was false. "Um, no..." "What happened?" "Um, I kinda got knocked out when I was looking for you. My head hurts." Storm sighed. "I should have known. Getting into trouble again... where are the others?" A muttered mental comment of came through before his spoken answer, "I don't know..." there was a pause, then Flynn spoke again, "Well, here's Dana. Dana, she's in here!" his voice raised and Storm could hear the sound of her friend's high heels hitting the concrete floor. To back up Flynn's claim, Storm gave the door another solid kick. "Oh, good," Dana sighed and the door came open with a satisfying click. It swung inward, proving that Dana looked a little worse for wear, but nowhere near as bad as Flynn. Storm ran out of the room and locked the door behind her again. "Old fashioned locks," Storm quipped with a smile as she let Flynn lean on her. "Where's Mulder and Victoria?" "I think Mulder was going to take Victoria outside." "Well," Flynn commented. "At least she stopped screaming." "Yeah, true, Flynn. I think she stopped screaming when she came back to her senses though," Dana smiled, then sighed. "We really need to get out of here..." "So you can finish what you and Mulder started?" Storm teased as they moved away from the room. "You saw that, then?" "Mmmhmm," Storm responded. "Well, I won't say that I don't have an ulterior motive," Dana grinned. "But I have a suspicion that this warehouse might be going up soon." Storm nodded, then smiled, "Getting psychic on us, Dana?" "I always have been, but did you think that I'd admit it to you, Melissa, and Victoria? Then again, maybe it's just that being around you and Victoria has worn off on me. I think," Dana laughed softly. "Is this a bad thing?" "Did I say it was?" The three of them exchanged amused glances before moving quickly to find Mulder and Victoria. * * * * * "Here we go, Victoria... You're going to be okay." Mulder set his friend down after they both limped out of the warehouse. Carefully, he set his old friend onto the patch of grass far enough from the warehouse to be safe. He was worried about her, as she hadn't said a thing to him since elbowing him for a remark he'd made to Storm about five minutes earlier. the whisper of Victoria's voice in his mind indicated that she was very weak. "You're not dying on me, Victoria. You're not." For a moment, Mulder sounded like a child. "*No*, Victoria. You're not dying on me. And don't think at me. *TALK* to me." "Mulder! What's wrong?" The sound of Scully's heels approached fast. She could tell by his posture and manner that he was badly distressed. Victoria flopped back onto the grass and shuddered. <'Victoria, you're not dying on me. I've just lost one good friend-> Storm started. <'Good friend, Storm? Matthew Night was a lot more than just a friend to you, and you and I both know that.> <'Regardless. I've just lost him. I'm not going to lose you as well. No matter what.'> Victoria closed her eyes and fought for control again... only this time it was not quite as obvious as to which side was victorious. "What's wrong with her, Mulder?" Dana asked. "I don't know, Scully." Mulder took his partner into his arms and held to her tightly. "You remember the last time she was like this... It was just after we'd gotten her home from the hospital in London after finding her in the Tottingham Woods..." "So she's fighting for control now?" "Yeah. Looks like." Mulder turned away from the scene, and tried to regain his own composure. "If control is the only problem, then maybe I can help." Storm said, putting a hand on Victoria's shoulder. <'Storma, don't do this...'> Victoria's voice was instantly in her mind, even as she felt for the mental threads of control and began weaving them back together in order to help Victoria who was already starting the process, though it had been threatening to overwhelm her senses prior to this. <'You know, I don't know how you know my cousin Shannon, but you do know him. And you also know that I only allow him... though now you as well, maybe... to call me "Storma".'> Storm's mental laugh was light. <'Shay? Aye, that I do know him...'> Victoria sighed. <'He and I met during a case in Scotland... and he also told me of what happened when he finally met Mulder. And the prank they pulled. Typical both of them, I always knew.'> Victoria sighed. Storm had to grin at the memory of what had happened, and she agreed, that it was typical of both Shay and Mulder, the kind of thing they pulled on everyone else. "What sort of thing did they hit you with, Victoria?" Mulder's voice came almost from a distance. "And just what makes you think they hit me with something, Fox Mulder?" Victoria asked, a touch on the indignant side. "Because you started a loud mental scream shortly thereafter, and Flynn just mentioned that he caught a Sight of something like that. And I know it's usually something bad when all I can hear out of you is either Scots-Gaelic, a mental grumbling, or both." "Well, I don't know what it was, but it had a nasty delayed reaction. First, it ripped all the surface shield controls from my mind, then went in and started to unravel everything as well. And before you ask, yes, Mulder, it was one of those things that bastard chain-smoker who meddles so much in your life came up with." Victoria's voice was slowly getting stronger. "Damn." That was Flynn. Victoria felt Storm finish the re-weave and hand what she had done back over. Upon receiving them, she breathed a physical and mental sigh of relief. She never liked the feeling of losing control, and now that she had her control back, things were getting back to usual. "Thank you, Storma." Victoria whispered. "It was nothing, Victoria." Storm nodded, a light smile on her lips. "Now, let's get out of here before that place blows a gasket." They all got to the car Mulder had driven over and right then, they were thrown against it with an 'oomph' as the warehouse exploded. Storm grit her teeth. "This is not over, Starr. Not by a long shot." For moments afterwards Storm stood against the car, staring at the remains of the burning warehouse that had almost been the place of their demise. Finally, her concentration wavered and she heard a vague conversation behind held behind her. "Mulder, you know how I feel about hospitals," came Victoria's voice, sounding almost angry at her old friend. "I know, Victoria, but I still don't think it would be such a bad idea for them to take a look at you--" "No, Mulder," Victoria responded. Storm sighed and turned around. "Victoria, I understand that you greatly dislike hospitals..." Storm started. "That would be an understatement." "--but after all you've been through today, I think I agree with Mulder for a change. It would not hurt... much," Storm amended her statement with an embarrassed expression, "to have them put you under observation for a while. Overnight at the longest. If it takes any longer, you can kill him." "Hey!" Mulder protested and Storm chuckled. Victoria still didn't look convinced, but Storm couldn't blame her much. She hated hospitals too. For some reason, the antiseptic smell and the blinding white walls made her feel more ill than she was when she entered the place so it seemed counterproductive. "We need to head to the hospital anyway," Storm ignored Mulder's protest as she continued. "I suspect that when Krycek knocked Flynn upside the head with his prosthetic arm or whatever, he gave Flynn a concussion, and x-rays need to be run." "I hate x-rays," Flynn moaned. "I know, but it has to be done. It's either that or a CAT scan, Flynn. Or would you prefer an MRI?" Flynn blanched at that. "I hate those *more*." "Just overnight, remember? To make certain there isn't any lasting damage." Storm responded with a sigh. "Anyway, the sooner we get this done the better. Shall we get out of here. It seems like we're asking for trouble--" a grin crossed her face at that "--to hang around here." They all climbed into the car, Dana managing to get herself situated between Mulder and Flynn in the front seat, and Storm slid into the back seat beside Victoria. She sighed, running a hand through her bangs, and considered unbraiding her hair to see if that would help with the headache she'd just developed. As she sat there, she couldn't help but think that this little adventure hadn't been easy for any of them, and that they all needed a vacation. She sighed then, and turned to stare out the window as Mulder drove away, her fury seething under the surface. "Hey, Storm," Mulder spoke as they headed toward the hospital. "What is it, Mulder?" "What was that little comment I heard about the new Anti-Christ? I sincerely hope that that was not directed at me." Mulder gave her an innocent smile by way of the rear-view mirror. "Mulder," Dana Scully looked confused. "What are you talking about? Storm didn't say anything." "I did, Dana, only Mulder's ears are as big as his nose so he could hear me more clearly." Storm returned Mulder's innocent expression in full as he scowled. "She did say something, Scully," Mulder said in his defense, obviously not liking the one Storm put forth. "I *heard* her." Dana smiled and placed a hand on her partner's shoulder. "I believe you, Mulder. Sometimes Storm says things to me that nobody hears. They all think *I'm* crazy, too," she then winked at Mulder, though she did it in such a way that both Victoria and Storm caught sight of it. "Then again, they think I'm crazy for staying with you all these years." "Sometimes I agree with them," Storm put in with her typical smirk. "Did anybody ask you?" Mulder glared at her reflection in the rear view mirror. "Did anyone have to?" Storm looked innocent, then ran her fingers through her bangs with a sigh. "I guess not," Mulder smiled. At that point, he stopped at the stop sign, turned around and looked at her, but said nothing. Storm had no idea what he was thinking, but that was no surprise to her since she *never* knew what the frustrating man was thinking. It was rather like trying to deal with her cousin Shannon. Finally, they made it to the hospital, and Doctor Dana took over. Storm watched her with a smile as she bossed around the people in the emergency room, who were probably wondering why there were there twice in as many days. She watched over Flynn like a hawk, knowing that due to what happened, he was quite vulnerable and prone to losing control over this new Talent. He had barely any control over it anyway, and if anything should happen... She shook her head, hard, driving the thought away. It would be nothing but trouble if things got out of hand again. When they'd been called in from Seattle, she hadn't counted on this. Maybe she should have, and then she would have been more prepared for it. Then again, maybe not. She did seem to attract trouble, after all. They finally came to take Flynn in to be x-rayed. He gave her the puppy-eyed expression that Mulder had seemed to perfect a long time ago. She watched the lab technician take him away, and then stood by the window and let the sun shine on her face. She could sense Victoria's displeasure about being here, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Sometime later, Dana placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and watched as she jumped visibly, and smiled, "Was I interrupting some discussion with the great beyond?" "Nah... just got a little lost inside my own head. There hasn't exactly been a lot of time for thinking here recently... too much has happened." "Explain," Dana said with a smile, settling into a listening stance. "Well, Dana... I *knew* Matthew was dead, even before Phoebe was taken. In the shower that morning, I saw him die, but I couldn't take much time for grief over it. I'm numb... I can't feel anything other than the need to get rid of Starr, and to make sure you, Victoria, Flynn, and Mulder are safe." "That's understandable, Storm. Once given enough time to think, and some time alone, I'm sure things will take their natural course." "I'm sure," Storm echoed Dana's sentiment with a smile. "Now, about this thing with you and Mulder..." "Oh no..." Dana covered her face with her right hand, but Storm could still see the embarrassed blush spreading across her face. "Oh, come on, Day... it's not a surprise to anyone that you two are in love like this," Storm grinned and twined her first and second fingers of her left hand together as she held them up. Dana just blushed more. "Not even to you and Mulder." "Maybe," Dana admitted with a small smile. "Maybe? A kiss like that is not a maybe, Dana Katherine Scully. So, when are you two gonna finish it?" "Why? So you can contact Frohike and get it all on tape?" Storm brightened at the mention of Mulder's friend who had had a thing for Scully ever since he'd first met her. "Now that's an idea..." "Don't even think about it." "Too late," Storm grinned. "Seriously though, Day, this has been a long time coming and you two should be allowed to enjoy each other. Even if I think the man is the most frustrating person on the entire planet, if not the entire universe..." "Oh, I've gotten the approval of the great Storm Austin. I should be honoured," Dana's eyes danced mischievously. "Dana..." Storm glared at her friend for a moment before she started laughing hysterically. Then she sighed and shook her head. "Nothing like sheer hysteria to make a person feel better. I think I'm going to grab a cup of coffee." "I think I'll go check on Mulder and Victoria. That should be interesting." "I'll bet. Hey, Dana?" "Yeah, Storm?" "Check on Flynn when he gets back, okay? He's vulnerable at this point, and I feel bad for leaving." "Consider it done." "Thanks, Day," Storm said as she and Dana parted ways. Yawning, she walked into the visitor's lounge and headed toward the coffee machine. "You." 'Oh, damn... I don't need Bill and his egotistical bullshit right now... and why do I keep running into him in the lounges of hospitals, anyway?' Storm moaned to herself. "What do *you* want?" she snapped at him, turning away from the cup of coffee. "I want to talk to you about what's happened, and that mirror image of yours. What? Did you hire her to do this?" The little control Storm had shattered at his words, and she barely kept from grabbing the styrofoam and flinging the hot liquid in his face. "Listen to me, you goddamn son of a bitch," Storm shouted. "If you think I'm the one who's responsible for all this hell, then you're dead wrong. If I had been capable of all this, then you would have been dead *years ago*. I would have killed you on the day we met and never thought twice, but you're still alive, aren't you?" He didn't even respond, but Storm kept going. "Actually, I'm tired of looking at you, so get the fuck out of my face..." her voice reached a high hysterical level as Bill fell across the room, right across a bandage-covered Phoebe, who had just stepped in. At the sight of them entangled, Storm's sense of humour returned, and she grabbed the cup of coffee, remarking on her way out the door, "Ahh, you two are perfect for one another." There was no response from either of them. End Chapter Eleven Nothing But Trouble: Out Of The Frying Pan... by Christina Shuy (cshuy@netcom.com) and Diana Alexander (dmulder@nettaxi.com) Chapter Twelve: Hospital Hijinks At the same time Storm was confronting Bill and leaving him and Phoebe entangled, Mulder was trying to convince his old friend of what was best for her... with the usual, predictable results. Static electricity crackling in the air. Apparently, Victoria's control was not as strong as she would have liked. "No, Mulder! I will *NOT* stay in this hospital. Don't push me. You know damned well why I don't like hospitals, and you aren't making it any easier." Victoria was vehement. "Victoria, please. We don't know what that beam has done to you." Mulder said. "And I don't want a repeat of when we had to go to London to look for you." "Oh, so we're back to *that* are we? Mulder, I spent a year in the hospital after my little experience getting three years of learning back... and regaining control of my ever-present abilities that go beyond the conventional. I had to hide it from most people because most people were afraid of it. Until I met you, that is. You were not only willing to keep an open mind on the subject, you were actually happy that someone else seemed even remotely like yourself." Mulder looked at his friend askance. "Are you saying..." "Mulder, I know you're not stupid. How else can you explain how often I can get in touch with you by mind and little else, not even a touch? You also have the talent, except it's not as strong as it is in myself and Storm. I told you this when she and I first met... but apparently you didn't believe me. So much for being open-minded. And it's no wonder you get into as much trouble as you do." "Did I hear my name?" Storm Austin's lilting voice held a note of teasing. She had just walked into the hallway from visitor's area. Apparently, she had impeccable timing. "Middle name, Storma?" Victoria turned to grin at her. "You could say that. Going to stay in the hospital?" "Yes-" Mulder started. "NO." Victoria turned back and glared at him again. "Absolutely NOT, Mulder. I'm not staying in a hospital again." Mulder looked stern. "Victoria..." "I said *no*, Mulder. So, Storm, how is Flynn?" Victoria said. "Oh no you don't. No changing the subject." Mulder said. "Mulder, I thought I just made myself clear. The subject of my staying overnight in a hospital is *closed*. I am *not* doing it. Or would you rather this hospital have a burn ward that *is* burned?" "Victoria, for that, you should stay for observation... I... I mean if your control isn't up to what it should be..." "Must I remind you of how badly you objected to staying in this hospital this last time we were here?" "VC, you *did* convince me, though. Remember? I stayed." "Not before driving the doctors crazy, and then nearly throwing a tantrum to get yourself released." "Well, okay, I don't like hospitals. But I still think you should stay... at least overnight. I'll even stand guard for you." Mulder's eyes pleaded with her to see his side. Victoria said nothing but glared at Mulder. At that exact moment, a wooden yellow pencil flew off the nurses station and hit him on the head with a loud *clunk*. Victoria and Storm traded momentary looks and then nearly collapsed with laughter. Mulder stood there pouting momentarily before grinning in memory. "Uh, Victoria, I didn't know you were telekinetic..." Storm said when she could speak again. When her expression turned from smile to somber, Victoria began to worry. "I'm... well, at least, I wasn't before." Victoria sighed. "I think you're right, Storm. I might need an overnight stay here... but you never answered me. How's Flynn?" As they led Victoria off into a room, Storm made a face before answering, and wasn't even sure she wanted to answer even then. It was a total nightmare to think about what had happened only a matter of minutes ago, but to tell it was another story all together. She tried to stall, but even then she knew that it wouldn't work, "Are you sure you want to hear this?" "Would I have asked if I didn't?" Victoria responded as Storm dropped into a chair in the hospital room they had moved Victoria into. "Right..." Storm sighed and tried to remember what all had happened, and started to compile it into something that made sense. If the entire incident could be considered to make sense at all. Most people would think that she was high on something and had hallucinated the entire thing... * * * * * After snickering at the entangled mess she'd left Bill Scully and Phoebe Green in, Storm turned her thoughts away from what was happening in there at the moment, since she was certain for some reason that Phoebe was in the process of seducing Dana's brother, despite the fact that she was wrapped in gauze in several different places. But since when did a little thing like gauze stop a master seductress like Phoebe Green. She could almost hear everyone groan at her sarcastic response, but she couldn't help it. She wondered for a moment if she'd go through with the mind games with Mulder after this momentary distraction of Scully's brother, then shook her head and looked for the map to find out which way radiology was. After staring at the little red dot that said "You are here" for a number of minutes, she figured out where to go and headed in the general direction of Radiology. She should have known that all hell was going to break loose. Again. Something deep inside of her should have told her by the thick tension in the air. She shifted her shoulders uncomfortably, but continued on. Storm was still caught by surprise as a scalpel shot out of one of the nearby rooms, and missed her only because she saw it out of the corner of her eye and dropped to the floor. It landed with a solid thud in the opposite wall. "Oh, shit... Flynn..." she called out as she rose from the floor to stare at the metal object before heading into the x-ray room. For a moment, she just stood there, watching with a mixture of amusement and concern. After all, it wasn't everyday that you saw a lab technician being stalked by her own manual. Flynn's voice sounded very confused as he opened his eyes to see her looking down at him. she responded just as silently as he had asked. Her gesture around the room was just as mental as her speech. he admitted. Storm sighed. Storm asked, barely stifling a laugh. Flynn teased her. "You were supposed to," his voice was hoarse when he spoke aloud. "I hate that it caused all this problem, but can't you help a little bit, Storm? I'm still not used to this." Storm sighed and reached in to wind his shields a little tighter around that talent that was yet to be trained. She couldn't remember that much about when she'd first noticed her own telekinetic talent... maybe Victoria could help. She reminded herself to ask when she got the chance. She watched with detachment as the things that had formerly been floating crazily around the room fell to the floor, then turned back to her partner. "Flynn, can you stay put for a while? I want to check in with Victoria and see how she's doing..." Storm placed a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, sure, Quicksilver," Flynn responded. "I still have to get the x-rays done, after all. So, see you later?" "Yeah..." Storm wandered out, and to the room where Victoria was just in time to hear a comment about Mulder in trouble... * * * * * "So, in short, that's how Flynn is. Still in radiology, and waiting to get x-rays done," Storm sighed as she leaned back in the chair and looked up at Mulder, noticing that a hand had been placed upon her shoulder, then turned back to Victoria. "Victoria, I have a favour to ask..." Storm sighed and trailed off, trying to figure out how she was going to phrase it. "You want to know if I'll help you and Flynn contain that wild new talent of his, right? I'm doing it again, aren't I?" Victoria gave her a slightly apologetic smile. "I'm sorry." Storm shook her head slightly, "Quite alright. I was thinking it loud enough. You're right though, Victoria..." "Well, why don't we try and get out of the hospital first, hmm? The last thing we really need to deal with is the aftermath of that clausterphobic partner of yours." "Hmm, now that I think about it, that might be a good idea," Storm grinned, then turned and looked around. "What's wrong?" Mulder asked from his position near the doorway. "Has anyone seen Dana lately?" * * * * * Dana Scully was fine. That is, if finding Bill in Phoebe's arms in a passionate embrace could be considered 'fine'. They were kissing... and it was more than just friendly. "Bill, I wasn't aware that you and Phoebe knew each other." Dana finally said something, and when she did, her brother and Inspector Green both startled. "He saved my life, and I was just thanking him." Phoebe smiled sweetly, wiping away a smudge of lipstick she had left on him after their lingering kiss. Even with the gauze dressing over her burns, she looked cool and collected. As well as thoroughly pleased with herself. "Uh... right. I guess she's the physically affectionate type. I drove her here after we got freed. She had some burns which needed looking at since they were second degree and third. You know how it is, Dana." Bill smiled, though he seemed a touch uneasy. "Uh-huh. Bill, can I have a word with you? Alone?" "Agent Scully, you don't need to keep any secrets from me. Bill and I are friends." Phoebe's smile grew wider. Bill extricated himself from Phoebe's arms and walked over to his sister. "What's going on, Dana?" Dana led her brother outside before she said anything. The look in her eyes gave her brother pause not to argue. "Bill, do you remember what you called Victoria a few days ago?" "Uh... no. What?" "You referred to Victoria as 'that English slut'. The one you claimed Mulder had a hang-up on. Well, in case you failed to pick up on the fact, the woman you were just kissing-" "Whoa, wait a minute, Dana, I was NOT kissing her. I told you, she kissed me, remember?" "Bill, what I saw looked a little more like you were kissing back. As I was saying, Phoebe *is* that person. Victoria is not." Bill looked uneasy. "Uh... I think I figured that from the way Victoria reacted when I said that." "And have you also forgotten you are married and have a new baby at home in San Diego? Honestly, Bill, sometimes I get the feeling that you are too busy meddling in *my* life to even care about your own." "And what are you trying to say, Dana? That I've forgotten about Tara and Matthew? I haven't. Just so long as YOU don't forget about the fact that your partner and those people you think are your friends-" "There you go again, Bill, trying to run my life. Dad never tried to, Mom doesn't, so why do you?" "Dana, lower your voice." "No. Why should I have to?" Scully did lower her voice a little, but only because she knew it was not a good thing to be yelling in a hospital corridor when patients needed to recover. "Look, why don't you go back to your hotel room and rest up. And get yourself on the next plane available to San Diego and your family." "And what about you?" "What about me? Bill, I live in DC, remember? This is where my job is and where my life is." "Oh, Bill, would you be so kind as to take me back to my hotel?" Phoebe stuck her head out of the waiting area and smiled coyly. "Sure, Phoebe. Give me a minute." he answered, looking back over to her, and she smiled before ducking back into the room. "What do you think you're doing?" Dana's eyebrow rose. "Driving her back to her hotel in a minute. Don't worry, Dana, I'll just drop her off..." Bill started back to the room where Phoebe was waiting for him. "Watch your back, Bill. She's the type to get her claws into someone and to hell with the consequences." "I can take care of myself!" "So can I, Bill. Remember that," she said. Bill nodded and disappeared into the room. "Dana! There you are!" Storm's voice sounded relieved to find her. "Yeah... just trying to keep Phoebe's claws out of my brother." "Oh God... What happened?" "I found them kissing in the waiting room." Scully gestured towards the waiting room even as she started leading Storm away from the area. "How are Flynn and Victoria?" "About as well as can be expected, I guess. It's a long story." Storm made a distasteful expression at the thought of Bill and Phoebe together. "I told Bill and Phoebe that they were perfect for each other, but I didn't think they'd take it seriously." "Yes, well, that's my brother... and Phoebe. So, fill me in on Flynn... and has Victoria consented to the hospital room?" As they talked, they caught up on what happened. * * * * * Mulder had dozed off in the chair beside Victoria's bed after Storm had gone looking for Dana, and was startled awake when he heard two voices walking down the hallway. "You can't be serious, Storm," Dana's laughing voice met his ears. "I am," came Storm's reply. "Thunk right off the top of his head. I laughed myself silly. I know you told me about that time after your 'vacation' in Maine, but still..." "And the day after your cousin pulled the same stunt *pretending* to be Mulder. I don't think I've ever felt so vindicated in my *life*. But tell me, Storm, isn't it better if you see it first hand?" "Oh, definitely!" Storm's laughter made Mulder flinch. "Geez... why does it seem like the longer we're on this case, the more trouble I end up in?" Mulder grumbled. "I don't know why you're so surprised, Mulder," was spoken as Storm reentered the hospital room with a wide grin on her face. "Did I hear my name?" "You're wearing that line out, Storm..." Mulder said to Storm, then looked up at Dana as she walked into the room, trying to act as though he hadn't been worrying himself sick and failing. Then he asked anxiously, "Scully, where were you?" "Um, I'd rather not talk about it." "Scully..." "She found her brother and um," Storm paused as though she was looking for a tactful way of phrasing what she wanted to say, "Phoebe tightly entwined in the waiting room." "The waiting room?" Mulder arched an eyebrow, though his tone indicated that he wasn't surprised... much. "I don't know why you're surprised, Mulder..." "I'm not, really..." he ran a hand through his hair. "It's a good thing she's leaving tomorrow." "That's putting it mildly." "Yeah, Mulder, it's a real understatement," Storm commented, sinking into one of the chairs and giving Victoria a half-smile as she did so. "I still have to put up with you, though," he glared at her, and she flashed him a sweet smile. "And I'm going to enjoy every moment of it." "Enough, children." Mulder glared at Storm, who was pretending that she had done nothing. Dana was trying not to laugh, and Victoria seemed exasperated with the entire situation, though not entirely. There was a hint of a laughing spark in her eyes. A low, raspy voice entered the fray, "Storm, will you behave for a change?" "What's that mean? Behave?" "Never mind... I thought you all, Victoria especially, would like to know that the doctor told me that whenever we want to leave the hospital, we can sign out of here. She was rather understanding of hospital-o-phobia," Flynn grinned tiredly. Victoria smiled and turned to Mulder, "As soon as we get out of here, I want to talk to you..." "Uhoh..." Mulder's eyes widened. "I'm in trouble now." "Same with you, Dana," Storm grinned teasingly. "You owe me an explanation..." "Oh, no I don't..." Scully protested, and they all laughed. End Chapter 12 Nothing But Trouble: Out Of The Frying Pan... by Christina Shuy (cshuy@netcom.com) and Diana Alexander (dmulder@nettaxi.com) Chapter Thirteen: Nothing But Trouble... The door to the hotel room swung slowly open and Victoria wandered in tiredly before collapsing on the nearest bed. "So, VC, now that we're here, what did you want to talk to me about?" Mulder asked, closing the door and going to sit on the edge of the same bed. "Life, the Universe, and Everything, Fox..." Victoria yawned, tossing her keycard back onto the nightstand. "Victoria..." "What would you do if I said you needed to hurry up and take the initiative when it comes to your partner-" "Oh no you don't. Stop playing matchmaker. And I know Storm is trying too. Hell, she's trying in more ways than one. I've told her and I've told you more times than I can count: Scully and I are just friends." "Mulder... it is more than obvious to me that Dana does not think of you in those terms, otherwise she would not kissed you in the warehouse-" "Victoria, it could have been just the reaction of someone who had just gotten out of a life or death situation." "Mulder, that logic would only work had she kissed you after you both had gotten out of the warehouse. As it was, she kissed you right after you got the door open to where she'd been trapped." "See? Stress reaction," Mulder smirked. "Mulder, I always knew you were stubborn, but I'd forgotten exactly how stubborn you are. And you've seemed to have gotten worse." Mulder grinned, eyes shining. "That was not a compliment," Victoria sighed. "Either way, I remember your penchant for doing things that are outrageous, and have a little gift for you. Admittedly, they're originally from Phoebe, which she wanted to use on you and I stole them from her, but I think you'd enjoy it regardless." Mulder gave her a look which resembled what Scully often gave him. Victoria grinned and reached for her bag, which she had dropped on the side of the bed. "Do I really want to see this, Victoria? Or is this just you daring to live up to your nickname?" "No violence involved, Mulder. Just something Phoebe dropped and I figured you might want... if only just to amuse yourself... or maybe you'll actually show Dana... while you're in it." "Uhoh. Now I *really* don't want to know." "Will you relax? It's not something you will regret, unless you decide not to go through with it, or if you decide to go with Phoebe instead of Dana." Mulder shuddered at the thought. "No way. Once with Phoebe is more than enough, thanks." "That's what I thought." She grinned at him while continuing to rummage through her bag, her eyes lighting on what she had been searching for. "Ah! Here it is..." Victoria handed him the small bundle she'd stolen from Phoebe's room while Mulder still gave her odd looks. Upon unwrapping it, Mulder started to laugh. "Ah... Victoria... you know me far too well. I just wonder what Scully will think of this." Victoria only grinned at her old friend. ----- After spending ages in the hospital chatting with Dana while Flynn got his stuff together, Storm finally sank gratefully into the passenger's seat of the car Dana had. If everything went according to plan, they'd drop Flynn off at the hotel and head on to Dana's apartment to have that chat she promised Dana. 'This is a chat that's been a long time coming,' Storm thought with a slight smirk as she rolled the window down. It was a pretty day, and there was no need to waste the air conditioning. 'Now, if I can manage to convince Dana about what she feels for Mulder is mutual. I know it is, though the damn man keeps denying it. Geez, the saying, "Deny Everything" really does apply to him, doesn't it?' "Hey, Quicksilver," a voice floated to her from the back seat, "if you think any harder, your head is going to fall off. I can almost hear your train of thought from back here." "Well, you *are* a telepath, Flynn," Storm retorted with a snort. "That's what you do, or so you keep telling me. So," she said with a mischievous expression on her face, "what *was* I thinking about?" "That's so obvious that even a child could figure it out," Flynn snorted. "You were trying to figure out how you could push Mulder and Dana even closer together than they already are." "Did I hear my name mentioned?" Dana asked with a smile as she got into the driver's seat of the car. "I mean, I'd like to know if I'm being talked about behind my back." "Oh, it's nothing much," Storm commented with a smile as they pulled out of the hospital parking lot. The further they got between this place and their destination, the better she felt. "Flynn is just accusing me of being a matchmaker again." "It's just an accusation? I thought it was a fact." "She does have a point, Storm." "Did I ask you?" she snorted as she turned around to glare at him. "No, but then again, as you always tell me, you didn't have to. You know how I love giving my opinion," he flashed her a sweet smile and formed a halo over his head with his fingers. She snorted again. "Y'know, Dana, I think he needs to go back to the hospital." "Why do you say that?" "If he thinks that I'm going to believe he's innocent, that whack Krycek gave him upside the head with his prosthetic limb must've knocked something loose in there. Might need to take more x-rays or something." "Actually," Dana smiled, "I think he's sounding rather normal. After all, you do say that he's an awful lot like Mulder." "Too much for my comfort," Storm sighed and let the wind whip her bangs into her eyes. "Then I think he's doing just fine. Probably needs some sleep, though," Dana spared a glance back at Flynn before she was back to watching the road as she drove. "Is that your professional opinion, Dr. Scully?" Storm teased her friend. "Oh, definitely. Although I haven't had a chance to do a closer examination." "I thought you saved those for *your* partner." "Oh, right, Storm. My *partner*," Dana grinned as she exaggerated the word. "I think I'll examine Flynn myself," Storm gave him a look over herself with a typical smirk on her face. "Hey!" Flynn protested. "Don't I have a say-so in who gets to examine me?" Both women looked at each other, then back at Flynn and said in perfect unison, "No!" "Figures. I'm outnumbered," Flynn grumbled good-naturedly. Dana and Storm laughed, then Flynn spoke up again, "Hey, Dana, what is it exactly you feel for that partner of yours? I mean, Storm did tell me about that kiss..." Dana flushed, and Storm grinned, "That didn't look very platonic to me, Day..." "Hey, if I knew I'd get teased endlessly about it, I would have just hugged him," Dana wrinkled her nose. "Nah, you wouldn't, Day. You and I both know you've been *dying* to do that to him forever..." Storm grinned. "That and more!" "I've almost died already to get the chance," Dana retorted with a snort of her own. "I know, Day," Storm sighed as she turned serious again. "It was a close thing." "Yeah, but I'm fine now. I think," Scully amended. "Well, Day, you're always fine. Glad to see that you sometimes have doubts about that, though." Dana turned and gave her a half-smile, "Don't we all?" "Oh, yeah. So what are you planning to do to follow up on that kiss?" Storm asked, lightning the mood again. "Nothing," Dana grinned mischievously. "What do you mean, nothing?" Storm sounded outraged. "After the kiss of the century, you meant to tell me that you're not going to resolve some of the sexual tension floating around?" "Nope. I'm going to keep ignoring it," Dana spoke, but it was obvious by her tone that she was enjoying teasing her friend about this. "We're just friends." "That's BS, Dana, and you know it," Storm shook her head. "Dana, please tell me you're kidding." "No," Dana responded in a deadpan, "I'm perfectly serious, Storm. We *are* just friends." "Danaaaa..." Storm whined, and both Flynn and Dana started laughing at her. "That's not fair. You're making fun of me." At that moment, they arrived at the hotel, and both Storm and Dana turned to look at Flynn, but Storm was the one who asked, "Now, Flynn, you've just gotten out of the hospital. Do you need assistance upstairs or something?" He snorted, "No, I do not need assistance upstairs or something. Storm, I just got out of the hospital, but I am *not* an invalid. I'll be *fine*. Go have your little conversation. I know you want to." "Me? Want to do something like that?" Storm arched an eyebrow at him. "Surely you jest." "Sure, fine..." "Whatever!" Storm and Dana finished in unison, laughing. "Now, Flynn," Dana said in a warning tone, "I want you to get some sleep and take care of yourself. I wouldn't want to come back over here and hurt you. Remember, I know my way around a scalpel," Dana teased lightly. "Of that, Dana Scully, I have no doubt," Flynn said as he got out of the back seat and leaned into Storm's window. "Now, you girls don't get into too much trouble..." "Who?" Dana responded and Storm finished with an innocent toned "Us?" "Always," Flynn responded with a grin before placing a kiss on the tip of Storm's nose. "See you two later." Storm sat there, shocked, and Dana giggled. "So, is there something about your relationship with Flynn that you're not telling me, Storm?" "Don't you even start..." "Oh, why not?" "Just... don't..." Storm laughed and they headed toward her apartment. "There's nothing there. I promise you." "Yeah, Storm... whatever you say," Dana said with a smile that indicated that she believed otherwise. "I've heard that before..." "What? From your own lips?" Storm retorted. Dana Katherine Scully gave her friend the only reply necessary: an enigmatic smile. Finally, after another half hour on the highway, Scully parked her car, and they got out of the car heading for Dana's apartment building while trying not to giggle hysterically at the conversation they'd been having. Storm flopped on Dana's bed as Scully turned on the lights and sat on the edge of her bed. With a sigh, Storm rolled to face her friend before asking, "So, what's going on between you and Mulder?" "Nothing," Dana responded with a sigh. "Every time I think we're getting closer, I'm put in an emotionally tight position where I feel compelled to push him away, or the closeness is scaring him, and he pushes me away. It feels like we're going two steps forward, one step back at all times. Plus, so much has been going on lately that we haven't had much time to talk." Storm nodded, since she and Dana had talked about that a bit over the phone. "So, how does he feel?" "I don't know!" Dana said in exasperation, raising her hands in the air. "I think sometimes that he believes me to be a replacement for Samantha, still." "That would be rather incestuous, Dana," Storm teased. "Storm!" She smiled, then asked, "But didn't you tell me that he found Samantha?" "Yeah, but she didn't want to see him again, so he's got closure, yet not," Dana sighed again. "I just don't know, Storm..." "Well, I have a suggestion, if you'll take one from your wild and crazy friend from the West Coast." "We both know that you're as East Coast based as I am, Storm, but I'll be glad for any suggestions. I'll do *anything*." "Anything?" Storm arched an eyebrow and grinned mischievously yet again. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to regret this?" Dana asked. "Oh, come on, Dana, it's just a little suggestion. How bad could it be?" "Knowing you, it's going to be *very* bad. It'll probably get me into lots of trouble, as well." "No, this couldn't possibly..." "It was devised by the mind of Storm Austin. There has to be some aspect of trouble involved." "Ooh, you wound me, Day." "Don't I always? Trouble, thy name is Storm Austin." Dana grinned. "Hey! I like that! Mind if I borrow it to use in a .sig file or something?" "Sure, fine, whatever, Storm... So, what is this idea of yours that's going to get me into so much trouble?" "It won't. I promise," Storm smiled. "You have your fingers crossed behind your back. That doesn't count." "It doesn't? Since when?" "Anyway... what's this idea of yours?" "Do you remember that shopping trip to the leather store that we took while we were in college?" "How could I forget? You talked me into getting that..." Dana's voice trailed off as she realized what Storm was suggesting. "Oh, no... No, no, no! Not *that*! Anything but that!" "Yes, that. Can you wear it, still?" "I don't know, Storm... it's been so many years... and I lost so much weight after my cancer..." "Oh, come on, Dana, it couldn't hurt to try it on. I wonder if Mulder will like it." "I don't even remember where it is in my closet..." Dana protested as Storm rolled off the bed and headed for the closet herself. "Betcha I can find it," Storm flipped through the contents for a moment before pulling out a plastic wrapped outfit. "Here it is. Still looks as good as the day we bought it." "We? You bought it when you forgot my birthday, and was trying to make me forgive you for that!" "I did not. It was during finals and I didn't have any money." "Whatever you say, Storm..." "Hey, I got it for you, didn't I?" "Yeah, you did. But it's not the kind of gift I normally ask for." "Of course not. That's what makes it so memorable. So, are you going to see if it fits well enough to use on Spooky?" "Maybe," Dana smiled as Storm unwrapped it, then slipped from the room to go see if it fit. Storm sprawled on Dana's bed once again, and after a few moments, looked up to see Dana standing in an infamous vogue pose. She laughed. "Mulder's going to love this! Just you wait!" "I can hardly stand the anticipation," Scully said in a sardonic tone before the both of them dissolved into laughter again. End Chapter 13 Nothing But Trouble: Out Of The Frying Pan... by Christina Shuy (cshuy@netcom.com) and Diana Alexander (dmulder@nettaxi.com) Chapter Fourteen: Sending Away Annoyances Victoria woke up early the next morning, glad she hadn't had to spend the night in the hospital. She sat up and looked over at the other bed, where Mulder was snoring softly. As Scully lived closer to Dulles, where Bill and Phoebe were leaving from, than did Mulder, he'd agreed to spend the night in Victoria's hotel room. However, that didn't mean he hadn't put up a fight with her about it. *** "But, VC, I don't have any trouble sleeping!" he protested. "Mulder, you know as well as I do that you don't sleep as much as is healthy for you. You've spent enough time at my flat in London overnight for me to know that you don't sleep." "And how would you know?" Victoria raised both eyebrows. "Mulder, I thought you knew better than to ask me *that* question." "Sure. Fine. Whatever." "Mulder, it takes you half an hour to get back to your place. With what we've been through today alone, you're exhausted. And, besides, you live over an hour's drive to the airport and Dana only lives about 20 minutes from there. This hotel is nearer to where she lives than where you do." "Victoria..." "Mulder, listen to me for once. Stay here, get a little rest, and then we'll be certain to get to get to the airport on time." "Oh, all right, Victoria... I'll stay here, then. Fortunately, you've got an extra bed in this room." Whatever else Mulder intended to say was interrupted by the phone ringing. *** "Come on, Mulder, it's time to wake up now." Victoria threw a pillow at a snoring Mulder. She'd managed to get him to sleep by giving him a sleep aid, and a helping hand by murmuring to him in Gaelic, which turned out to be a spell, though he didn't know that. "Mmmph... Victoria.. what are you doing here? I thought you'd be in the hospital." Mulder mumbled. Victoria sighed. Mulder hadn't changed. He never woke up well, and now was no exception. "Mulder, we need to get moving or else Bill and Phoebe will miss their flights." "Thought you were going home too?" he mumbled, still more than half asleep. "Mulder... The Yard gave me a little more time off. Remember?" She walked over to the bed where he'd crashed out, and pulled on his arm. "Up and out, Mulder." "I'm up, I'm up!" he grumbled, pulling her down at the same time he pulled himself out of bed. She landed with a muffled thud onto still-warm sheets. Mulder turned and grinned at her. "Now, Victoria, didn't you just say we were running late?" Mulder grinned, picking up his folded clothes and going into the bathroom to get dressed again. He'd taken off his suit and dress shirt before bed, and folded them neatly on a chair. The door to the bathroom clicked locked. Thinking there was something in the room that was different, she looked around. It was only then she realised what it was. She looked after him before starting to laugh. ***** Storm tucked her nylon-clad feet under her as she flipped past a CNN news report on the latest Windows news with Bill Gates, and made a face, before flipping it to VH-1, where Sex and Candy was playing. She rolled her eyes in exasperation and flipped again to the Disney and caught sight of a dark-haired boy playing a harmonica. "Ooh, the original..." her eyes lit up and she tossed the remote control to one side and started to braid her hair again. "Hey, Dana, check it out!" "What's that?" Dana poked her head in the room, half-dressed. "It's the original, and not the remake. I *hated* the remake of this movie. It was just so dumb and pointless!" Storm removed her hands from her hair and threw them up in the air in exasperation. "I *swear* it had no point, Dana." Her friend chuckled and went back to applying the slight makeup she wore to cover up the mole above her upper lip. Storm didn't know why; she figured Mulder would use that as a reason to kiss her. Yes, he had denied the fact that he and Dana were more than friends, but his actions didn't support his words. She settled back and began to braid her hair while she watched the movie. The case was over, and while her sister was still on the loose, Storm wasn't allowing herself to worry about it at the moment. There wasn't any point in it. "So, Day?" "Yeah, Storm?" "How do you think things are going to go?" "At the airport, y'mean?" Dana stuck her head out, the shirt hanging open to show what she was wearing underneath. Storm grinned. "No, Dana, I'm talking this thing between you and Mulder." "Storm..." "I know, I know... ease off, eh?" Dana just shook her head and wandered back into the bedroom. Storm finished braiding her hair and wrapped a plain ponytail holder around the tail of her hair, then waited for Dana to finish getting ready. About five minutes later, Dana walked out, fully dressed, and looked at her friend, "So, Storm, are you ready to go take Bill and Phoebe to the airport." Storm unfolded herself from the comfortable position, slipped her shoes on her feet, and turned the TV off before looking at her friend. "I guess... so think that's about it, trouble-wise?" Their eyes met for a moment, then they shook their heads and laughed as they said in unison, "Nahhhh!" They walked out the door, still laughing. End Chapter Fourteen End: Nothing But Trouble I : Out of the Frying Pan... "The Truth is Out There. Trust No One."- from "The X-Files" Pursuing a BS(Electrical Engineering)-Winter Quarter 1999 hiatus - CSULA Looking for work and a place to live - San Jose bound delayed till August "If his hand moves from the small of my back, shoot him." Anne Rooney(C-16) "I want you to do me a favour. It is not negotiable. Either you do it or I kill you. You understand?" Special Agent Dana Scully-The X-Files-"Triangle"