From: Vered&Roy Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 01:19:29 +0200 Subject: NEW: "The Promise" 1/1 Summary: This story takes place immediately after the last events of the Episode "Drive". Category: SA Spoilers: "Drive" Email address: royvered@netvision.net.il Archive: Yes Feedback: Should I start begging again? It would be nice to get some please... Disclaimer: Do I need to do this again? Oh well.... They're not mine. I shall make NO money out of them. Please send all checks to CC, 1013 and FOX.... and think about poor little me sitting at home with no money... Just in case you do like this and want to know what else I've written: http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/2571/MyWork.html "The Promise" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by: Vered Gilad Scully closed the door to Kersh's office behind her. She rubbed her right temple. A piercing headache seemed to have developed just from having to stand a few minutes in front of that impossible person. She wanted to scream. She wanted to kick his door. She wanted to throw her shoes at him. She wanted.... to kill somebody, and Kersh was at the top of her list. And it had to be excruciatingly painful, because what she and Mulder were going through now was worse than hell. She couldn't believe it, but right now Salt Lake City sounded so enchanting. Somebody was trying their darnest to make them quit, and each morning she got up since their current reassignment, she was hoping to find out it was all just a dream. The worst nightmare her mind could have conjured. But after the first few fuzzy waking moments, the cruel reality would strike her. She was living in a nightmare, one that seemed to have no end. They were being punished for caring. For helping. This was an unfair world she was living in where trying to get to the truth, and righting the wrong got rewarded by punishment. How come the good guys only won in the movies? Her headache was increasing with each and every frustrated thought coursing through her mind. She had hoped Mulder was still waiting for her outside of the A.D.'s office, but he was nowhere in sight. How typical. Leaving her in the middle of the battlefield to apologize for him. She began walking back to their office. The thought of their next assignment only made her wish she hadn't eaten her breakfast. One more pile of crap and she would throw up. But she knew that that was what lay ahead in their bleak future. As she walked past the men's room she heard the loud sound of water being flushed. She was just about to move on when the door flung open and her partner emerged holding his jacket in his hands and missing his tie. Scully raised an eyebrow. "Mulder?" "Hey Scully. I was just preparing our new assignment in there. Nice pile of crap to investigate." He gave her a weak smile. His heart wasn't in it. Not one bit. She gave him a gentle smile in return, feeling sorry for him, even though she didn't know why she kept feeling this was far worse for him, than for her. She was just as knee-deep in shit as he was, and yet, she still felt bad for him. Despite their long-term partnership, it was Mulder who was the real driving force behind the X-Files. She still felt like she was tagging along for the ride, but there was one thing she knew now. If Mulder was the driving force behind the X-Files, she was the driving force behind Mulder. She cared about him too much to let him give up. She knew that he would cease to exist if he did. "Where did you leave your tie?" She asked. He didn't look at her as he spoke. "I left it together with that crap for investigation." He told her calmly. "You what?!" She couldn't have heard him right. "I threw it down the drain, Scully." He told her sadly. "But.... but why?" Has he lost it? Was she too late? "You should have heard him, Scully." Mulder looked past her. "He hated me so much. I was the one he thought did it to him. He took one look at me and he hated my guts." "Crump?" She asked him, worried. "Mulder, are you talking about Mr. Crump?" "And I didn't do it to him, but does it really matter?" His voice rose. "I work for this institution. For him, I was the one that killed his wife. I was the one who murdered him. One look at my suit and tie was all that he needed. Innocent people are dying because of this institution which *we* represent, and I resent that, Scully! I don't want to be a part of it anymore!" Scully felt his misery. He was in deep pain and she saw no way to ease his suffering. "Mulder," she told him gently. "I know that right now everything looks hopeless-" "Everything *is* hopeless, Scully!" he cried out. "They will bury us under those piles of manure until we will have no choice but to quit. There is nobody left to help us anymore. We are all alone." He started walking away from her. Scully dashed after him and grabbed his arm. "Mulder, stop. Listen to me." She pleaded. "Let go, Scully!" "No. I won't. I can't." She held his arm firmly. He tried to pull against her, but he didn't put all his force into it. "We can't give up, you hear me. People like Crump, they depend on us. They have no voice. No power. They get trampled day after day and they have done nothing wrong. And there is nobody to help them. To hear their pleas. We may be helpless right now Mulder, but we are within the institute, and we have to use this to our advantage, and we must never give up, because it is not about us anymore and what we want to do. It's about all the Mr. and Mrs. Crumps out there, thinking nobody cares, and we can't leave them all alone in the dark Mulder." Mulder stood there in silence for a moment, then he turned and faced his partner. He pulled her towards him tightly and surrounded her small form with his strong arms. "I wouldn't know what to do without you." He sobbed. "Promise me you will never leave me." "I promise." She whispered, her eyes welling up with tears. "I promise." ``````````````````````````` THE END