From: Spooky2u2 Date: 03 Jan 2003 06:07:43 GMT Subject: New: A Shot in the Dark (1/1) Source: atxc Title: A Shot In The Dark Author: Spooky2u2 Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer. Mulder and Scully aren't mine--there I said it. Author's note-- Fic challenge: Something that happened to M&S in that missing year. I went a little darker this time...Just where did Mulder's propensity for ditching start? ************************************************************************* "Mulder, remind me again why we're here," Scully told her partner as they sped down the highway. "This man claims to have had contact with alien life." "Come on. If we looked into every such claim, the Bureau would collapse from the sheer paperwork alone. What's this really about, Mulder?" Mulder fixed his eyes ahead. His jaw twitched nervously before he finally spoke. "He claims to have experienced visions of prisoners aboard alien ships..." The uncomfortable silence seemed to close around them until the it squeezed the words from Scully's throat. "You're hoping he can tell you something about your sister." His nod was nearly imperceptible. Mulder had discussed his sister with her before. That was on their very first case together, and they had been working together for over six months now. She would call them friends and was fairly sure he felt the same, so she was a little puzzled. "Why didn't you tell me, Mulder?" she asked with a hint of hurt in her voice. Mulder's fingers flexed on the steering wheel. "I don't know.." When he finally chanced a glance in Scully's direction, he could see that it bothered her. "I guess I was worried you would try to talk me out of it. But I have to do this." Scully sat quiet for a minute. He was right. She would have lectured him about wild goose chases, told him about the improbability of finding what he was looking for out here in the middle of Nevada. But at that moment, she had no such desire. The man beside her was seeking something he had lost long ago. Not only his sister but the innocence that was taken from him when she disappeared. In just their short time together, Scully marveled at the complexity of this man. He had such child-like faith, looked at the world around him in such honest awe, but his eyes were aged far beyond his years. They were those of a person who had seen too much at much too young. "So how far are we?" she asked. His body relaxed. "Just a few more miles." "Mulder." He turned to find Scully staring at her hands, but she looked up at him with her next words," I hope you find what you're looking for." He knew her words weren't mere pleasantries. She meant them. In the few months they had worked together, Mulder learned very quickly that Dana Scully didn't mince words. she said exactly what she meant or nothing at all. It just wasn't in her to bullshit. His eyes shined at the thought. Scully was *truly* his polar opposite in every way, but somehow it worked. He showed her the world where science turned upside down, challenging her to her realm of thinking. She forced him to look at the world with more scrutiny, to demand concrete evidence and answers wherever they could be found. Knowing the truth didn't help much, if you couldn't prove it, not in this world. As much as a he didn't want to admit it, Scully was good for him. Hell, she even seemed to like him. And it wasn't as if he was at the top of the popularity poll at the FBI. He'd rank somewhere around the place he occupied there--the basement. And, though he hated to admit it, he honestly liked her, too. A lot. It wasn't long before they arrived at the residence of one Joseph Chamberlain. It was fairly isolated and a bit rundown, but then, Scully guessed, if a man where afraid of being found by aliens, this is where he'd be. They approached the house and Mulder knocked. A jumpy little man cracked the door open to peek at them. "Who is it?" a timid voice called. "Sir, I'm agent Fox Mulder. This is my partner, Dana Scully. We're with the FBI, Remember, we spoke on the phone." He looked them up and down before undoing a chain to let them in to his eerily dark home and taking a seat on an old sofa . "So... what..what do you want ?" "I'd like to know the nature of your visions, sir. I'd like you to tell me about them." "Ain't nobody believed me before. Why do you?" "Because I've lost someone close to me that I think you may have seen." "No. Uh-uh. I don't know nothin' about nobody. I told you before, I just wanna to be left alone." "Sir, I understand this may be difficult, but I know people who might be able to help you, if you could just..." The man suddenly exploded, "No! You don't understand! No one understands! I want you to leave!" Chamberlain stood, shouting angrily. Scully laid her hand on Mulder's elbow. "Mulder, I think we should go," she told him softly. Mulder gentled his voice."Sir, my sister was taken at the age of eight. I've been looking for her for a very long time. If there's anything that you could tell me..." The man settled down. Mulder's words seemed to touch him. "Your sister...?" "Yes, sir." Chamberlain seemed torn. "I...I don't know...I..." But the softness vanished quickly from his eyes. "No...*No*...I can't help you! Just leave me alone!" "But.." Mulder was about to protest when Scully squeezed his arm. He looked in her eyes and saw the plea she didn't speak. " I'm sorry to have bothered you." Mulder held out his hand. As the older man grasped it, he doubled over. The force of his grip on Mulder was crushing. He seemed to be in agony. "Mr. Chamberlain! Mr. Chamberlain, What's wrong?!" Scully came beside them and took his other arm to attempt to get him to respond. But he remained latched to Mulder's hand. "Oh God, not again. No...no...no" He kept chanting as he collapsed further to the floor. Blood poured from his nose as he gripped tighter. Mulder could do nothing but watch. Then, as suddenly as it began, it was over. The little man stood and slowly let go of Mulder's hand. "What did you see?" "Nothing..." "You saw something. Tell me..." Mulder prodded. Scully was more concerned with the man's apparent attack."Sir, you're bleeding. I'm a doctor, let me take a look at you." Joseph whirled around on her, wide eyed. " A what?...you're... you're a ...you're a what?" "A doctor," she told him, "Let me help you." He stumbled away from her, tripping over a chair. "No! No! Stay away from me! Don't touch me! Keep your hands off me!" Before anyone knew what was happening the man pulled a gun from a nearby drawer. "You're one of them! Keep away from me! I'm warning you!" Neither Mulder or Scully had time to pull their gun before he took aim at Scully. Instinctively, Mulder moved to protect her, blocking the older man's way. "Move!" he screamed at Mulder. "I can't do that," Mulder told him as calmly as he could, with the his pulse pounding in his ears. "Put down the gun. You don't want to hurt anyone." "THEY hurt people. The ones like her! Now get out of the way!" "She's here to help, just like me," Mulder told him softly. "Then you're with them," he said coldly and cocked the trigger. The next moments happened in a blur. Mulder saw the gun shift to the right. A bright flash seemed to light the whole room with two sharp cracks. He dove forward knocking the man into the far wall. A gun clattered to the floor. Then the agent's vision seemed to return to normal. The little man was hit by a round in the shoulder and was no match for the much larger agent. He was quickly pinned and handcuffed and soon passed out at the sight of his own blood. Mulder could scarcely hear another sound over his own hard breathing. "Scully?" he called. Getting no answer, he turned to find her. She laid on the floor behind him, a blood stain spreading over her blouse. "Scully!" Mulder was at her side in two strides. He shot her... He shot her...He shot Scully...*no.* He took her face in his hands to turn her to him. "Scully, talk to me." The words came out as a desperate command. And she obeyed them. "Mulder?" Scully's eyes fluttered open and squinted in pain. "Don't move," he told her as he took out his cell phone and dialed for an ambulance. "Are you all right, Mulder?" Her question caught him off guard. She was the one lying on the ground covered in blood. "Yeah...yeah. I'm fine," he answered numbly. Her words spilled from her in a jumble. "Would have shot you...had to move...had to shoot." "Ssshhhh." You did great." Oh, Jesus. She had moved to force Chamberlain's aim away from him. "Where is he?" "You got him. He's right over there." "Alive?" "Alive," Mulder answered in disgust. "Then maybe you'll still get your answers," she told him hopefully. The words hit Mulder like a sledgehammer. Despite everything, she was still worried about him. He choked back the nausea of his own guilt as he answered. "Don't worry about that. " His words were shaky and broken. "It's all right, Mulder. I don't think he did any serious damage. He just hit high and to the right," she tried to assure him. Just? Was she fucking kidding? Right now, it was taking every ounce of will he had not to walk over a beat the *shit* out of that bastard. The blood continued to seep into the blue of her blouse creating a deep, dark purple. All be damned if he was going to use anything in this place to stop the bleeding. Good knows if anything was clean. Mulder tore his white dress shirt open, yanked it off and pressed it over the wound. A sharp whine ripped from Scully. "I'm sorry." She heard the added weight behind his words and knew he wasn't just talking about her pain. "It's all right, Mulder. You couldn't have known this would happen." But Mulder had already put up a wall that allowed no comfort. He said nothing for the rest of the time until the ambulance arrived, simply watched over her. ----------------------- She could have died *snap* just like that. Just a few inches to the left. And it would have been all his fault. This was *his* personal cause. She shouldn't have been out there with him, not for one second, not because of his personal demons. God, if she had died out there today... "Mr. Mulder?" A nurse walked out of Scully's room, startling him when she called. "Yes?" "Ms. Scully says, and I quote 'I know you're out there. Now, get yourself in *here,* before I send out a search party.' Mulder blushed slightly and shuffled passed the young lady into Scully's room. Scully was sitting up waiting for him. He kept his distance. "Hey." "Hey," she tossed back with a hint of a smile. There was an awkward silence before Mulder spoke again. "So... the doctor says everything looks great." "Yeah, I know. I'll be fine. No big deal," she told him nonchalantly. Mulder's face dropped in disbelief. No big deal? No big deal...? He closed the distance between them in a heartbeat and stood by her bed. His gaze seared her. "Scully, that man could have killed you. That's a *very* big deal," he was trying hard not to sound as though he was scolding her. He just couldn't believe his ears. "That's part of the job, Mulder. You know that." "It's not your job to get yourself killed for me!" Scully jumped at his words. They were harsh and biting. "Mulder.." "I don't need you to protect me! As a matter of fact, I was doing perfectly fine before you came along!" Mulder turned to storm out. "Mulder, wait!" Scully leaned forward, trying to catch him by the arm, which pulled at her stitches, "Aaaahhaa." Her cry stopped Mulder dead in his tracks. When he turned back, his face was panicked, horrified. "Scully...? Scully, are you okay?" She leaned back to her pillow again and took a deep breath. "I'm fine." "Scully, I..." "I know you didn't mean it." She tried to think of the right thing to say. "But Mulder, I need you to know something. I didn't take this assignment as a step on the way up the ladder. For better or worse, I'm your partner and that means something to me, both as an Agent," Scully put her hand over his "... and hopefully a friend. You can't dictate my choices but you can be there when I need you, just as I will be for you. Okay partner?" She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Her words shook him the core. There it was. She had laid it out for him. She chose, of her own free will, to be with him, and she wasn't going anywhere . Words seemed lost to him for a moment. Then he turned his hand over and laced his fingers in hers. "All right, partner," he whispered reverently. He left her room later that night with a strange mixture of emotions-- the light of knowing he had been given a rare gift in Special Agent Dana Scully and the darkness of knowing he could never again chance his personal agenda putting her in harms way, no matter what the cost. What happened today, would never happen again.