<![CDATA[
From: Glenna at GWoman1013@aol.com, and K@tie at
DKScully@juno.com
Category:MSR
Date:April 24, 1997
Summary: Mulder and Scully fall victim to a bomb while they are in the
basement. Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully don't belong to us, though we
wish they
did, huh, Glen?<G> But, alas, we'll have to settle for borrowing them.
They belong full time to CC, 1013, and FOX. Author's Note: This story is
here-by dedicated to our good friend <and
surrogate mommy ;*)> Sharyn, and her new baby boy, Matthew! This is
our
gift to you. The title of this story is from one of Glenna and I's FAV
episodes of Silk Stalkings!
Partners
As Scully slowy came to, she opened her eyes and blinked.
The air was
filled
with dust and so were her lungs. She could hear pieces
of the building
stilling falling after the blast.
Briefly, the doctor in her wondered about asbestos. As her
head cleared,
she
realized that was the least of her worries.
Something heavy was pushing against her, making it hard to
breath.
Something
big and warm.
Mulder.
Unconscious, and sprawled out on top of her, with a large
chunk of the
wall
pinning him down.
Try as she might, Scully couldn't struggle out from under
him and the
rubble,
the force of the blast had left her too shell shocked, and
sometimes she forgot just how much bigger
Mulder was than
her.
She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. How did she get
herself in
these
situations? When she joined the FBI she knew there would be
a certain
amount
of danger involved, and true, over the years working on the X-
files, she had
gotten
into some unbelievable situations, some she'd like to
forget, but this was just plain rediculious.
She sighed instead.
"Mulder." Scully pushed on his shoulder as best she could.
Mulder mumbled into her neck.
"Mulder!"
"In a minute." He slurred, not quite conscious.
"MULDER! NOW!"
Mulder jerked awake and hit his head on the piece of sheet
rock that was
on
top of him. He swore, then realized where he was.
He inhaled sharply, as he tried to push off her. To no
avail, his arms
collapsed, and he resumed the position he was in. "I can't
move. Am I
hurting you, Scully?"
She smiled. He always thought of her first nowadays.
"Just a little,
Mulder, but I'll be fine."
He nodded weakly, still trying to take some of his weight
off her. "How
long do you think it will be until they find us?"
"Oh, I don't know. They probably think we're dead."
Mulder mumbled under his breath, "Always the optimist."
She heard this, but said nothing. Come to think of it, she
kind of liked
this position. It was then that she laughed.
"What?"
"It's just that I don't understand how this always happens.
I mean look
at us, Mulder. We're trapped under a fallen wall."
He grinned, "Yeah, I'm begining to see your point. Though
I gotta tell
you Scully. I kinda like this."
"Being trapped under a fallen wall?"
"No, I meant being on top of you, G-woman." He chided her.
She gave him a look, but was a little scared that his eyes
didn't look
like they were 100% lying.
They heard a crash from close to where they were laying.
They looked over to see a box of Dunkin' Donuts that had chosen
that moment to
fall
through the rubble, probably from the office on the floor
above them.
This was too much.
They began to giggle, which escalated to laughing hysterically until
tears streamed down their
cheeks.
"Someone's looking out for us, Scully." He smiled then
reached up to wipe
the
tears off her face that she couldn't reach, and smoothed
her hair gently.
They looked in each other's eyes and were silent for a
moment.
Scully suddenly glanced away, and narrowed her eyes.
"Do you hear that, Mulder?"
Sirens.
"Yeah, their already on their way. But considering that
we're in the
basement, it will be hard- it will be a while." He stopped
himself from
saying what they we're both worried about.
"Yeah it will." Scully sighed. Then perked up.
"Hey, can you reach the donuts, Mulder? You have long arms." She
grinned remembering the last time his long arms came in handy, and his
distaste
with the chore. That
time he hadn't
been reaching for something as appealing as donuts.
"I think so. And I know what your thinking. Digging through
left over
body
parts looking for Leonard Betts head is not one of my
favorite memories."
He
replied wryly as he stuck his arm out and stretched for the
donuts.
The thought of Leonard Betts made Scully's smile fade.
"Well, looks like we got boston creme, french crullers, uh,
what is THAT?
Um,
let's leave that one in the box. What else? Chocolate
frosted, powdered,
and
plain. What'll it be?" Mulder ticked off the
selection but when he
looked at Scully for an answer she was looking the other
way, lost in thought or so it seemed.
"Scully, I'm gonna eat all the good ones if you don't
answer me." He
cajoled.
"What? Oh, never mind, Mulder, I'm not hungry." She looked
over and said
hastily then turned her face away again.
"Scully? What's wrong?" Mulder turned her face towards him,
and looked at
her, concerned.
There were tears streaming down her face, leaving trails through the
dust.
"God. Scully, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"It wasn't your fault, Mulder."
He cupped her cheek with one hand, and smoothed her hair
again with his
other. "Dana, I promise you we're gonna beat this thing.
If you go, I
go with you, and you know I'm not one to give up."
A laugh escaped through her tears. "Yeah, I know." She
said with a
smile.
"I give you my word." He whispered a little closer than
friends might
allow. Not that she cared. Actually, she lived for these
moments. She
nodded as he wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. When
they blinked
back open, his hands entangled in her hair, they stared
deeply into each
others eyes. What they saw there almost made their hearts
stop.
Dana lifted her arm, and ran a hand through his hair. She
closed her eyes and sighed, relieving the tension that had
built up in those precious
minutes. They both knew what had happened, but neither was
ready to admit it out loud just yet.
Mulder's face took on a frightened look when he saw whisps of
smoke rise
from the pile of wood across the room.
Scully looked over and her eyes widened in fear.
"Oh god. Oh god, Mulder! See if you can move again."
Mulder renewed his efforts to struggle out from under the wall and
rubble
piled on top of them, but stopped when she winced, then inhaled sharply
with pain.
"There's no use. Damnit!" He whispered as he watched the smoke grow
thicker
and flames started dancing up the far wall.
He looked at Scully with pain and regret written all over his face. "No.
It
can't be like this. No!"
Scully looked helplessly at him. There was nothing she could say to that.
He
was right, there was too much to be done, they couldn't die like this. It
was
the ultimate insult to all their sacrifices. She could feel their time
now,
like the growing heat, burning up, and she wanted to tell Mulder
everything
she had been to afraid to tell him, but something in her still held back.
The smoke was filling the air now making it hard to breath. Their eyes
were watering. Mulder was busy feebly trying pull
himself
over Scully to cover her in some last ditch effort to protect her.
The last few things he remembered was Scully's arms around him,
hearing
something crack, and then something heavy connecting with the wall on
top
of
him.
Dana felt the arms that had been holding her fall limp at her
sides. "God, Mulder, no." She whispered. Dana put her hand on his
face, but his eyes remained closed. When the object had fallen on the
wall, it had
broken it in half, and she could push some of it off. She sat up on her
elbows, and proceeded to pull herself out from under him. Dana pushed
the rest of the wall off of Mulder, and turned him on his back so she
could check for injuries. She couldn't find any, so she gently tried to
help him regain conciousness. In this case, gently wasn't gonna do it.
She looked around the room in desperation, trying to decide what
to do. Finally, she did what came natural. She kissed him gently on
the lips.
Mulder couldn't find the strength to open his eyes until he felt
a soft wonderful pressure on his lips.
Dana saw that he was coming to, so she broke away before he
opened his eyes. She pulled him into a sitting position, and then
helped him to his feet. "Come on, Mulder. We have to get out of here."
Mulder groaned as he stood up. His felt like he'd been hit by a truck. He
was
having trouble focusing and his head felt like it was splitting open, but
he
felt Scully half tugging him, half dragging him along so he tried his
damnest
to take as much of his weight off her as he could handle.
They made their way slowly out of the smoke filled room that was
quickly
becoming ingulfed in flames.
Dana was thinking hard. They'd been in the basement when the bomb
had
gone
off, but she could see the stairs had remained intact, or at least looked
stable. She was having a hard time with Mulder, and she was afraid he
might
have
gotten a concussion.
They were making their way up the stairs when she heard a shout.
Her right arm was slung around Mulder's waist. The smoke was
blinding,
and she could barely hear anything. They stopped for a moment, and
she
heard the shout again. "Help us! We're down here!" She yelled as loud
as she could manage.
Mulder felt more than heard Dana yell to someone. His eyes struggled to
see to no avail.
Dana could see the bright yellow of a fireman's outfit as he made his
way
to help them. She was strong and directed the fireman to get on the
other
side of Mulder, since he was barely concious.
Fox felt a great weight being lifted from him, and totally allowed
himself to drift out of conciousness.
She felt her partner go limp again, and was glad that now she had
someone
to help her carry him. They reached the main floor, and spead up their
pace, eager to get out of there.
A cold breeze splashed against her hot face as they finally got out.
There were ambulances waiting for injured victims, and Mulder was
soon
spread out on a stretcher, and placed in one. Dana climbed in the back
with
Mulder, and the fireman who had saved them came with her. She took
Mulder's hand in hers, and squeezed it tight.
Mark could see the tears flowing from this beatuiful young agent's face,
and
falling onto her partner. He put a soothing hand on her back.
"He'll be ok, ma'am."
"Please, call me Dana." She said through her tears. "And thank you for
helping us."
He nodded. "Dana, you're welcome." He said with a sympathetic smile.
It had been a quite few hours since Mulder was admitted to the hospital
for
head injuries, but Dana hadn't left his side. She herself had been
checked out
and the doctors had tried to send her home to rest, but she refused to
leave
until Mulder regained consiousness.
Since Mark had found the agents in the burning building, he couldn't stop
thinking of the beautiful worried agent. As soon as his shift was over he
hurried back to the hospital to see how she and her partner were doing,
and maybe, just possibly, if he had the nerve, ask her to dinner.
As he approached them, he could see Dana sitting next to her
unconcious
partner's bed, looking at his face, apprently lost in thought. He was
struck by the tender look on her face, and started to wonder just how
close
she was with her partner.
"Dana?" He spoke softly.
Dana started a little at the sound of his voice, and looked up.
"Hi Mark." She smiled at him, but didn't get up. " I'd like to thank you
again for getting us out of there, I couldn't have done it alone."
"All in a days work. Then again it's not everyday, I'm able to save women
as
beautiful as you." He grinned but held his breath for her reaction.
"Thank you. But you really saved Mulder. I'm sure when he wakes up he
will want to thank you too." She said with determination and turned to
looked
back
at Mulders peaceful face. She wondered if he knew just how irresistable
he
looked when he was sleeping. Well, how could he but still. She figured
that was one of the reasons all
the
nurses loved it when he landed in the hospital for the millionth time.
That and being able to put him in the tiniest hospital gown possible.
Mark watched Dana watch Mulder.
"Dana, I understand if you want to stay with him until he wakes up, but I
was wondering if you might want to get something to eat? You could
use it
after what you've been through."
She was all set to say no, that she wouldn't leave Mulder now for
anything in the world, but she suddenly realized that she really was
hungry, having turned down the doughnuts earlier. "I'd like that." She
said quietly.
Mark smiled, and offered her a hand up from her perch next to Mulder's
side.
Dana sat in the diner, sipping slowly and thoughtfully at her iced tea.
She had rearranged her salad ten times before Mark decided to say
something.
"Dana? Are you okay?"
This woke her from her reverie. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. It's just
been a long day."
He looked at her sceptically, knowing he wasn't getting the whole truth.
He simply nodded, and let it go.
Dana noticed this behavior, and knew it wouldn't be fair to lead him on
any
longer. "Mark, you're a very sweet guy, and if it weren't that I feel
the way I do, I'd love to go out with you. It's just that I love him."
She said with feeling. She realized that that was the first time she had
ever admitted it to anyone. Including herself.
He reached over the table, and set his hand on hers. "I understand."
She could tell that he really meant it too.
"What you need to do now is tell it to him." He said gently.
Dana and Mark walked back into the hospital in comfortable silence.
Mark stood near Mulder's bed, while Scully checked with nurses station
to
see
if there had been any change in Mulder's condition.
Mark studied the man in the bed. He was a handsome guy, he'd give him
that much. And one lucky guy. Mark hoped he would treat Dana right and
from what
she had told him, he
suspected he would, and that he loved Dana.
He turned as Dana approached.
She crossed her arms and gave him a warm smile.
"Again, thank you, Mark. Your a wonderful guy, and you've done alot for
me. Us."
"Anytime. Take care of yourself, and him, okay?" Mark motioned to
Mulder.
Dana nodded and reached up and gave him an affectionate hug.
Unfortunately, Mulder awoke at that moment.
His eyes opened, and his heart broke.
Dana took an akward step away from Mark. "Mulder." She said in
surprise
"How are you feeling?"
"Fine I guess."
She could hear the hurt in his voice. "I was just-"
"Scully, you don't have to explain to me what you were doing. We're
partners. It's not like we're in a relationship."
It came out of his mouth, but even Mark could hear that it wasn't true.
"Mr. Mulder, really, she was only thanking me. We went out to dinner,
but she couldn't stop talking about you. She was very worried, and she
told me something that she has to tell you. I've got to be going, but
it was nice meeting you both. I only wish it could have been under
better circumstances."
"Thanks again, Mark." Dana said. Mulder nodded his appreciation.
Mark nodded back, showing his understanding. He winked at Dana, then
left.
Mulder looked at Scully, waiting for her to tell him.
She sat by his side, and took his hand, thoughtfully looking into his
eyes. "Fox, there's something I need to tell you."
At the mention of his first name, he realized that this was seroius.
"Today made me think. About everything. My past, my present, and my
future. Our future. I think you've always known, but I do love you.
With all my heart and soul. "
At hearing this, he sat up, and took her in his arms. She held him
tight,
yet carefully. Both of them were crying on each others shoulders, and
she turned her head, and kissed him on the cheek. She backed away a
little, and wiped away his tears. He gave her his famous lop-sided
Mulder grin, and she couldn't help but laugh.
"I'll love you forever, Dana." He said with the most velvety voice she
had ever heard.
She placed a loving hand on his shoulder, and massaged it gently.
"Same
here, partner."
The End!
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