Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 1/?
Author: Maria O'Rourke
Feedback: dk_scully_101@yahoo.com
Webpage:
http://geocities.com/begininng_and_end/index.htm
Summary: Can you change fate? If the events of requiem
were destined to happen yet, in another reality,
Mulder and Scully were happily together, no mention of
the events of Requiem entering their minds, is the end
product the same or can they change their destiny? 
Keywords: MSR, Angst, Alternative Reality. 
Spoilers: None for this part.
Disclaimer: This piece of fanfic belongs to me; please
ask before you use it. The characters of Dana Scully
and Fox Mulder and all related X-Files characters
belong to FOX, 1013 PRODUCTIONS and used without
permission.

Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
1:23pm.
	Her footsteps sounded off the linoleum floor, the
high heels clicking nosily as she strode towards the
door, her hand reaching in front of her to push open
the door when it swung open in front of her before she
had chance to touch the wood.
	"Get in here!" a voice demanded, it's tone harsh and
forced as a hand reached out and grabbed her jacket
collar, tugging it roughly to pull her inside, causing
her to lose her footing and slide across the floor to
come to a sliding halt in front of the counter, her
head hitting off the solid wood, causing her to feel
slightly groggy.
	She watched as her gun slid from her, sliding across
the floor to stop at the other side of the room.
	"She's a cop!" a voice sounded and Scully felt a
piercing pain in her chest as the sound of a gunshot
sounded and her white shirt became covered with blood,
it spread across the fabric as if it were water
running across glass.
	"What the hell did you do that for?" a second voice
demanded, frantic with a mixture of fear and
disbelief.
	"She's a cop!" the first retorted.
	Her head rose slowly, staring at the masked figure
staring down at her, her eyes closing as her head
slumped downwards, she suddenly felt very sleepy.
	"Now look what you've done! You've fucking *killed*
the bitch!"

Fox Mulder Apartment.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
6:58am.
	He wiped the back of his head with the towel, closing
his eyes as the wave of fatigue washed over him and he
sighed, wondering how he had become so tired over the
last few months. Three months ago, if he'd run his
usual three-mile run in the morning, he'd come back
smiling but now, he stared into the mirror, the
glowing reflection staring back at him. 
	He wiped his forehead again, grinning into the mirror
as he saw the second reflection coming behind his own.
He was tired all right, but he was getting plenty of
nightly exercise. The arms encircled his waist and he
grinned again, and morning exercise.
	"You're sweaty..." she sighed as he pulled her from
around his back, placing her in front of him, his arms
reaching down and pulling her against him and smiling
into the mirror.
	"I know, I think I need a shower..." he replied,
kissing the top of her head, planting small kisses
down the side of her face until he reached her
collarbone, stopping to pay special attention to the
area and she groaned slightly, disentangling herself
from his grasp and stepping a few feet away from him,
smiling mischievously at him, twirling the rope of her
bath-towel robe and shaking her finger.
	"Mr Mulder, I do believe those are impure thoughts
that you're thinking!"
He grabbed her and pulled her towards him again but
she smiled up at him.
	"You wanna bet?"
She pulled away from him and smiled again.
	"Go shower, I don't think that Skinner would
appreciate you coming in covered in sweat..."
	"He's seen worse..."
	"Go!" she ordered, her voice a playful nature and she
smiled.
	"Care to come with?" he asked, making a grab for her
robe.
	"Mulder!"
He smiled.
	"I love when you go all commando on me Scully!"
She shook her head, watching as he ran off to the
shower.

7:34am
	Scully smiled as she heard the squish of Mulder's
feet on the wooden floor.
	"You forgot to dry between your toes..."
His hands encircled her waist as his mouth kissed her
ear.
	"You're such a mother in the morning..."
She turned and grinned, pressing her mouth up to his.
She kissed him for a moment before pulling away.
	"If your mother did that in the morning Agent Mulder,
I'd be asking questions..."
He sighed, sitting down at the table and pulling over
the newspaper, unfolding it and before he began to
read it, he paused. Scully stared at him over her
bowel of cereal, her eyebrow cocking.
	"What's wrong Mulder?"
	"Huh?"
	"You zoned out..."
	"What?" he asked, beginning to laugh. "You said
'zoned' out..."
She shot him a warning glance.
	"Mulder, don't go changing the subject or..."
	"You'll shoot me, I know..."
She smiled.
	"What were you thinking?" she asked, taking a
spoonful of cereal, trying not to spill any excess
milk on the new table they'd bought last week.
	"Nothing much, just thinking..."
	"Sounds ominous..."
	"That's me, Mr Ominous..."
She smiled and he stared at a dribble of milk running
from the corner of her mouth, it seemed to stop and
run in slow motion, the amazement he got from just
watching something as silly as a drop of milk running
from her mouth was something he couldn't explain, he
didn't want to try. His love for Dana Scully was
something he didn't want to measure or try to explain,
nobody else tried to so why should he?
	"You're doing it again Mulder!"
	"What?" he asked, snapping out of his thoughts.
	"You're staring at me and doing that weird zoned out
look..."
He smiled, placing the paper tentatively on the table,
looking at his toast.
	"I guess I didn't get much sleep..."
She grinned.
	"You never get much sleep."
	"Do you ever wonder about things?"
	"That's very philosophical for this time of the
morning, even for you Mulder..."
	"I know, that's what I was thinking..."
She reached across the table and took his hand in
hers.
	"What's wrong? Another nightmare?"
He shrugged.
	"Quite the opposite actually, it was a nice dream..."
	"Call the record books!" she grinned. "I'm sorry
Mulder, I'm surprised, you've never admitted to having
a good dream before, even to me!"
	"I know, I've been having quite a lot recently..."
	"But this one's made you wonder about things?"
	"Kinda."
She sighed and crossed her legs.
	"You do know that I'm having to drag every single
solitary piece of information out of you."
He grinned.
	"It wouldn't be me, if you didn't..."
She squeezed his hand.
	"Mulder, you're worrying me..."
	"I didn't start out to..."
He paused.
	"Will you marry me?"
She stared at him and swallowed a mouthful of cereal.

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 2/?

Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
1:56pm.
	His hand went beneath her chin, feeling for a pulse
with his index finger and he noticed immediately how
cool her skin felt beneath his touch. He swallowed, a
hand gripping the collar of his shirt, pulling him
backwards onto the ground.
	"Well?"
	"She's.... been shot..."
	"I got that asshole, will she live?"
He removed his glasses, his hands sticky with sweat.
	"I.... I don't know..."
The first masked man hit him sharply across the head.
	"You don't know?" he demanded, beginning to pace.
"You're supposed to be a fucking doctor for Christ's
Sake!"
	"Hey!" the second masked man said, holding the first
back with his hand. "Mike, for God's sake, look at
what's happening, we *need* this guy if we want her to
live..."
	"She's a cop, she was coming in here to get us..."
	"She didn't know!" a woman screeched from beside the
counter. "She was..."
Mike aimed his gun towards her and she stopped
mid-sentence.
	"Shut up!"
	"Is she going to live?" the second armed man asked
and the doctor stared at him wide-eyed.
	"We need to get her to a hospital..."
	"Nobody leaves!" Mike shouted, waving the gun up into
the air.
	"Mike, calm down..."
They turned as they heard sirens coming from outside
the building, Mike's eyes widened and he could feel
his chest getting tighter.
	"The cops, it's the fucking cops!"

Fox Mulder Apartment.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
8:13am.
	She stared at their intertwined hands and suddenly
she wanted to run, but Mulder stared intently at her,
all she knew was that this was way more then she could
handle at 8 in the morning out of the blue, they
hadn't even discussed marriage yet. She withdrew her
hand from his and rose, turning her back to him.
	"Scully?"
She swallowed again as she heard the rustle of the
newspaper as he rose, she felt his hand touch her
shoulder and she turned around.
	"Scully, talk to me..."
	"I...I don't know what to say..."
He stared at her, his eyes hiding their feelings from
her.
	"I wasn't expecting a speech, just a yes or no would
do fine..."
She ran a hand through her hair.
	"This isn't what I expected Mulder..."
	"Expected or wanted?"
	"Mulder, you're twisting my words..."
He sighed and leaned against the table, crossing his
hands in front of him.
	"You're going to say no."
	"I never said that."
His jaw clenched.
	"You're not giving me a lot to go with here..."
She closed her eyes.
	"Why are you asking me this?"
	"Because I love you."
	"But why now? Why not before this?"
He sighed and bit his lower lip, rising from the table
and pulling her into an embrace.
	"It just feels right now. I've loved you for the
eight years that I've known you Scully and the past
three months that we've been together..." he stared down
into her eyes. "They've been the best months of my
life and I feel at this moment that it's the step I
want to take..."
	"Do you know what you're asking me?"
	"I'm just a guy standing in front of a girl, asking
her to love him..."
Scully smiled.
	"Mulder, you're watching too many movies..."
	"What can I say, Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant make
the perfect example..."
	"You're comparing us to actors in a movie?"
He smiled slightly.
	"He's a complete and utter fool and she's one of the
most beautiful women who ever walked the earth, I
think that sums it up..."
	She swallowed.
	"I'm just worried..."
She paused and he stared at her with such intensity
that she felt her legs go slightly weak.
	"What?"
	"I don't want to say yes and then have to face losing
you, I'm just afraid that..."
She stopped and her eyes brimmed with tears, one
falling silently from her lash and sliding gracefully
down her cheek, his finger reached up and wiped it
away.
	"That...that, you won't..."
Her lip quivered and he didn't know if she was crying
from happiness or sadness or a mixture of both, but he
knew she was afraid, he had felt the same in the
beginning of their relationship, afraid that he
couldn't trust her, that she was like all the rest,
ready to abandon him at the first sight of trouble.
She stared up at him and he could read her mind almost
as if it were his own.
"I will *always* love you Scully..."
She closed her eyes, leaning against him.
	"Then yes..."
	"Yes?"
She pulled away from his chest, smiling.
	"Yes! I'll marry you!"
He grinned and kissed her, hugging her so tightly that
she felt as if hr internal organs would burst inside
of her. There was a silence as they stared at each
other, their eyes connecting on a level that even
lovers couldn't often reach.
	"You've never said that to me before..."
	"What?"
	"That you love me..."
His forehead wrinkled slightly.
	"Of course I have..."
She shook her head.
	"You've never said it with that much feeling before..."
	"Scully?"
	"At the moment you said that, nothing else in the
world mattered..."
He pulled her close and kissed her pasionately on the
lips, his body joining with hers as if fused together
for one magical moment and he pulled away abruptly,
taking her hand.
	"We have to get you a ring..."
	"What?"
	"An engagement ring, I want everyone to know!"
She stopped him from pulling her.
	"Mulder..."
He knew that tone, it was the tone that warned him not
to move, or get overexcited.
	"I've got a meeting with Skinner in twenty minutes..."
	"We can skip it, this is important Scully..."
	"I know it is..." she paused. "And I know that you're
excited but I have got to go to this meeting, we've
already missed three..."
	"One more won't hurt..."
She threw him a look, picking up her jacket.
	"Thanks to certain external physical exercises not
usually contained in the FBI handbook, we nearly got
ourselves fired for being late the last two meetings,
I don't think that Skinner would appreciate me missing
the briefing for the next case, especially if we want
those two weeks off together in another month..."
	His face fell and she smiled, running her fingers
down his tie.
	"Lunchtime."
	"What?"
	"I'll meet you at lunchtime at..." she paused.
"Wiseman's jewellers, we'll pick out the ring and take
the rest of the day off to celebrate..."
He smiled.
	"Lunchtime?
	"2 o'clock, I'll be finished by then..."
	"If you're late...."
She smiled.
	"You can punish me later, but I won't..."
	"Promise?"
She kissed him gently.
	"Promise, cross my heart...."
And again.
	"Hope to die..."
And again.
	"Stick a needle in my eye..."
She kissed him again, this time standing on her
tiptoes and wrapping her arms around him, he jacket
falling from her grasp. Finally, she pulled away and
smiled.
	"Now Agent Mulder, we'd better be going or Skinner
will have our heads..."

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 3/?

Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
2:12pm.
	Sam stared out the window of the jewellers, watching
as another police car pulled up along side the dozen
or more that had been there for the last ten minutes.
He could clearly see the men and women running around,
arming their guns and setting up in their various
positions around the building, surrounding them,
cornering them and he didn't like to feel smothered.
	"There's around a dozen cars Mike," he said, turning
away from the window. "Triple that and you get the
number of cops..."
	"Fuck!" Mike swallowed, staring at Sam in utter
silence until there was a muffle from behind him; he
turned and stared at the bloodstained cop lying
sprawled against the counter. "It's all her fucking
fault, she did this..."
	"She didn't do anything but she's dying because of
what you've done!" the doctor stated, pressing the
ripped cloths he'd made into a makeshift bandage and
turned his attention back to the bleeding woman as she
moaned, coming out of the unconscious state that she'd
been in since she'd been shot.
	"Mul...." 
	"Shhhhh, don't try to talk."
She cringed as she tried to swallow.
	"What happened?" she licked her lip. "My chest..."
	"You got shot."
	"I'm an FBI agent..."
Mike stepped forward.
	"An *FBI* agent? Shit!"
	"Thanks Mike, not only are there cops out there, but
the FBI too?"
Mike shook his head.
	"No, they might not be there... She came here on her
own, they don't know she's in here..."
	"Yet."
	"Well, how are they going to find out?" he looked
around the room. "There's nobody to tell them..."
	"They're going to know that she's missing."
Mike swallowed and looked at her, lying sprawled
against the counter.
	"They won't know where she is..."
	"She's losing blood, we need to get her to a
hospital..."
Mike shook his head.
	"Ain't gonna happen doc, she's not going anywhere,
not while they're out there..."
	"She'll *die*, don't you understand that? She's
losing too much blood..."
Scully's hand gripped his shirt.
	"Don't, just do what he says."
	"You're losing too much blood, you need medical help
that can be provided in a hospital, I don't know where
the bullet is or how bad it's affecting you
internally..."
Scully licked her lips again.
	"I'm a doctor, I know the risks, just listen to him."
	"You can't just lie there..."
	"It hit my shoulder, if you make a sling for my arm
then it should help."
	"It looks like its hit you in the chest..."
Sam kneeled down beside her.
	"We didn't want anyone to get hurt..."
Scully turned her head slowly to stare at him.
	"You know you're not going to get away with this..."
Mike laughed.
	"I don't think you're in a position to judge, we're
going to get away with this and we've got the power,
your life's in our hands..."
Scully swallowed, looking around at the people spread
across the room, staring at her. She could see fear in
their eyes, she felt the fear herself, deep within
her, hidden behind the calm exterior that she had
built in the brief minutes that she'd regained
consciousness. 
	"If I die, then things are going to go really bad for
you, you won't get away with killing an FBI Agent..."
	"You think very highly of yourself Agent..." Mike
paused and stared at her. "I didn't catch your name..."
	"Scully, Dana Scully..."
	"Well, Agent Scully, Agent Dana Scully, nobody's
going to miss you are they? It's not as if anyone from
the FBI knows that you're in here, is it?"
	Scully stared at him, trying to hide the sudden depth
of fear that had entered her. Someone did know she was
in here and that someone would do anything to get her
out of here. She stared at the clock above the door.
	<2:31pm>
	He'd be here by now, ready to pick her engagement
ring, but would she live to choose it?
	
Basement Office.
FBI Headquarters.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
10:12am
	He stared into space, his eyes not focussed on
anything in particular, and the pencil in his hand
tapping gently against the stack of paperwork lying
idly on his desk. He stared at the clock, only another
4 hours to go and he wouldn't see her until then, he
felt like bursting.
	He didn't know why he'd asked her to marry him, he'd
never thought about it until after that dream. He'd
been up half the night because of it, even went for
his jog an hour earlier because he couldn't get back
to sleep, how could anyone get back to sleep after
what he'd seen in that dream?
	He'd envisioned her, lying in his arms, dead. Her
skin had been so pale, eyes unfocused and still,
non-blinking. Her lips were covered in caked blood and
she looked so fragile that she would break. He even
saw himself sitting there, holding her in his arms,
and cradling her like a broken toy, a porcelain doll.
He'd never felt so helpless in his life.
	He closed his eyes, trying to clock the images from
his dream. He'd never thought of losing her like this
in a long time, not since after she'd killed Donnie
Pfaster. The sleepless nights and continuous phone
calls that he'd had brought back bad memories. But
he'd been in a different position then, he hadn't the
opportunity to hold her the way he had now, he hadn't
the opportunity to take her in his arms and kiss her,
hug her, love her. It was shortly after this event
that he'd told her that he loved her.
	He leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on
the desk in front of him and folding his hand sin
front of him, allowing them to sit on his lap. He
stared at the photo on his desk, the only one to
accompany the picture of Samantha. Scully stood in
Mulder's arms, standing in front of him so that his
chin was propped on her shoulder and his arms
encircling her waist, hands intertwined so that every
part of them was touching.
	If he was so utterly happy then why had he suddenly
got the biggest dread building up inside?

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 4/?

Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
2:34pm
	She closed her eyes, wincing as Dr Paris fixed the
bandages so that no blood was contained and the wound
clean and completely covered. He tightened the sling
and tried to force a smile.
	"So which do you prefer, doctor or agent?" his voice
was shaking slightly and she touched his hand.
	"Dana will be fine..." she returned the smile, trying
to keep her eyes away from the doors. She thought that
if she could just will him not to come, that he'd stay
away, out of danger, away from trying to perform any
stupid, foolish, heroics that he had a habit of doing
in times like these.
	"Something tells me that you've had your fair share
of these situations..."
She leaned her head back against the counter.
	"You might say that, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your
name doctor."
	"Tom Paris..."
Scully stared at the greying man for a moment,
wondering why the name sounded so familiar.
	"No Star Trek please..."
Scully's forehead crinkled.
	"Excuse me?"
	"You don't watch Star Trek?"
	"I'm not exactly what you might call a science
fiction fan..."
He nodded.
	"My wife's the same, she never could stand it. I must
say, my name has put me off it a little too..."
	"What's taking so long? You don't have to talk to her
to fix a bandage do you?" Mike appeared above them,
gun in hand. He stared down at the two of them; Paris
kneeled in front of Scully's sitting form. "Get over
there with the rest of them doc..."
	"She might need me, I..."
	"It's not as if you're a million miles away..." Sam
came from behind Mike to stand beside him. "We just
don't want anyone trying anything and there's less
chance of that happening with Agent Scully isolated,
she can't do anything on her own..."
	"Just do as he says Tom..." Scully smiled reassuringly
and Tom stroked her hand briefly, rising and walking
over to the others, sitting quietly against the wall.
	"So what happens now, I take it that you've had
training in this kind of thing?" Sam took the chair
from beside Scully and sat down, sitting so that his
gun pointed in Scully's direction.
	"They'll probably ring."
	"Ring?"
	"They'll want to know your demands..."
Mike smiled.
	"Our demands? We were supposed to be in and out in
five minutes, we had it all planned, but you kinda
ruined it..."
	"Mike enough, she didn't ask you to shoot her."
Mike shook his head.
	"Whose side are you on Sam?"
	"I'm not on anyone's side Mike, I'm trying to keep a
level head, and I'm the only one who seems to be...
	"She seems pretty calm."
Sam turned to Scully.
	"No she's not, she's putting on a brave face." He
moved from the chair and kneeled in front of her,
making direct eye contact. "There's a glint in her
eyes, something she's not telling us..."
	"What aren't you telling us Agent Scully?"
Scully swallowed as Sam continued to stare at her, his
green eyes piercing her own. She felt vulnerable, she
didn't like it and she knew that he could see it in
her eyes.
	"She knows..." the barrel of Sam's gun went under her
chin, the cold metal pressed against her throat so
that when she swallowed, it cut into her flesh. "That
her life is in our hands, that in one moment.... we
could take it all away."
	Scully's breathing increased as she saw his finger
move to the trigger and felt her shoulder ache as she
pressed her body back against the counter, her mind
searching for any way that she could get out of this,
but she was pinned down with her shoulder and even if
her shoulder was alright, she had no chance with the
gun pointed to close to her throat.
	By the time Tom Paris had gotten to his feet, the gun
was cocked, the safety off and before he had a chance
to get to them, the trigger was pulled, Dana Scully's
head flying back.



Basement Office.
FBI Headquarters.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
1:36pm
	Mulder sighed and closed his eyes, running both his
hands through his hair as he removed his feet from the
desk, trying to calm his nerves. He'd get to the
jewellers early, have a brief look around and then go
away, he couldn't let her know that he was early,
she'd never let him live it down.
	He reached for his jacket and pulled it from the coat
rack, sliding it across his shoulders.
	"Planning to head off?"
	He turned around, fixing his collar and shrugged the
jacket into place.
	"I'm going out..."
Skinner stepped into the office, closing the door
behind him.
	"Sir, it's important that..."
	"You're not going anywhere Mulder, I need you to help
me with a few loose ends..."
Mulder looked at his watch and then looked up to
Skinner.
	"What loose ends?"
Skinner handed him a folder.
	"I need this report done by the end of the day..."
Mulder's face fell.
	"Can't it wait?"
Skinner looked at him.
	"Excuse me Agent?"
Mulder looked at him, trying to figure out something
resembling an excuse.
	"Sir, it's important that I get to this meeting..."
	"Why?"
	"What?"
	"Why is it so important? Mulder, this report was due
three days ago, I want it done by today..."
	"I'll get it done..." he promised, placing the folder
on the desk. "I will..."
Skinner's hand was on the door before Mulder reached
it.
	"Now Agent Mulder. I've put up with quite a few
things from you but it stops here..."
Mulder took a deep breath.
	"It's a matter of life or death sir..."
	"Tell me then..."
	"I can't, not yet."
	"Then I'm sorry, but if you don't get this done, then
it's your ass in background checks again."
His shoulders fell and Skinner smiled.
	"Whatever it was can wait."

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 5/?

Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
2:54pm
	Paris stared at Scully for a moment before Mike's
hand pushed him abruptly back to the ground, but his
eyes remained fixed on Scully's form, which lay still
and motionless as Sam rose, reaching into his pocket
and removing a handful of bullets.
	"But then again, the gun would have to be loaded for
any life or death decisions, wouldn't it?"
	Scully swallowed, closing her eyes, her head turned
away from Sam's view.
	"You bastard..." she whispered and Sam smiled, kneeling
down, touching her chin with his finger, making her
turn to face him.
	"What was that Agent Scully or can I call you Dana?"
She stared at him, trying to show defiance in her eyes
but she knew that he could see past her. Why couldn't
she hide her fear from him? She was better then this,
she had handled men twice his size with deftness and
professionalism, why was this different?
She could answer the question easily. This wasn't
professional, this wasn't work, this was her own life,
the same way Duane Barry and Donnie Pfaster had
affected her, they had broken through her
professionalism and cracked into the part of her that
she kept hidden from everyone, the got into the part
of her that held the forbidden emotions of fear and
terror.
"Why so silent?" Sam asked, rising and facing Mike,
smiling. "I think we gave our doctor quite a scare
there for a minute."
Mike grinned.
	"I agree."
Paris stared at Scully and could see that her façade
was falling, the little bit of control she had was
failing, along with her strength, he could see that
the shoulder was hurting her, but there was nothing
that either of them could do to help her, short of
getting some medical attention in here, he looked up
at Mike.
	"You could ask them for some supplies..."
	"What?"
	"Medical supplies, so I could treat her..."
Mike looked to Sam.
	"What do you think?"
	"I don't know, we're not bringing anyone in here...."
They looked at each other and Sam spiralled around to
face Scully.
	"What is that?"
	"What?"
	"That noise?"
He kneeled down in front of her and listened but then
turned and picked up her discarded trench coat,
searching the pocket. His hand came into contact with
something and he pulled it out, staring intently at
it. A phone.
	"Answer it."
Scully took the phone from him.
	"Scully."
There was a pause.
	"It's me..."
	"Fox..."
There was another pause and he laughed on the other
end.
	"What? Is something wrong Scully, you're not mad at
me because I'm late are you? I tried to ring but your
phone wouldn't answer..."
	"I'm a little busy right now, there's..."
Sam grabbed the phone from her.
	"Who is this?" he demanded.
	"Who's this?" Mulder replied.
	"I'm asking the questions here..."
	"Mulder, Fox Mulder, where's Scully..."
Sam looked down at Scully.
	"She's a little busy, is there something that I can
do for you?"
	"Put her back on you asshole!"
Sam smiled.
	"I'm sorry, I can't do that..."
He hung up, dropping the phone into Scully's lap.
	"Who is he?"
	"He's my partner, we live together..."
Sam stared at her.
	"You're lying."
	"I'm not..."
	"Then there's something that you're not telling me."
The phone rang again.
	"It's going to be Mulder..."
	"Give me the phone."
Scully made no move and Sam reached down and grabbed
the phone from her lap.
	"Scully.." he answered before Mulder had a chance to
say anything.
	"What's going on?"
	"What  do you want Mr Mulder?"
	"I want to talk to Scully."
	"Why?"
Mulder paused.
	"Is she hurt?"
Sam ignored the question.
	"What's your relationship to her?"
	"What?"
He repeated his sentence.
	"What's your relationship to her?"
	"She's my partner..."
	"Partner?"
	"Look, what's going on, tell me what you're doing to
her! If it's me you want, then..."
	"Why would I want you?"
Sam's face froze and he stared at Scully. She saw in
his eyes that he knew, he knew Mulder was from the
FBI.
	"Agent Mulder..."
	"Quit playing around you asshole, what are you doing
to her?"
	"You are Agent Mulder, am I correct?"
	"Yes..."
Sam swallowed; Scully could see that his eyes were
twitching slightly.
	"Well Mulder, Dana's fine, we're quite comfy
actually..."
	"Don't you *dare* hurt her!"
	"Hurt her?" he laughed and aimed the gun at Scully.
"Why would I hurt her? She's the most important person
in my life..."
	"What?"
	"Mulder, I see she didn't tell you about us..."
	"What are you trying to say?"
There was a pause as Scully tried to reach for the
phone, Mike held her down.
	"We're lovers, she doesn't want you, she never did,
she felt sorry for you..."
There was silence and Sam could hear Mulder's erratic
breathing.
	"I don't believe you, let me talk to her."
	"Goodbye Mr Mulder..."
Sam hung up the phone and Scully stopped struggling
against Mike's chest, his hand released her and she
fell to the ground. She stared into space and her lip
quivered.
	"What?" Sam began, grinning. "He won't believe me
will he, not the wonderful Agent...what was his name
again?"
	"Mulder..." Mike supplied and Sam grinned.
	"Yes, the wonderful Agent Mulder."
Scully rose to her feet, standing in front of Sam in a
matter of seconds, brushing past Mike as if he were
invisible.
	"What right have you to do that? You're here to rob a
bank, not talk on the phone! What are you, too afraid
to go for what you want? You think that by playing
around you're making us all afraid of you, that you're
gaining brownie points?"
Sam's hand hit Scully's face before she saw it coming.
	"And you hit women too, what a man!"
	"I think we've hit a sore spot Sam..."
Sam stared at Scully as she stared defiantly back at
him.
	"Maybe I did, maybe the wonderful Agent Mulder isn't
as wonderful after all..."
	"He's not stupid enough to believe you..."
	"Then why are you afraid that he might believe me?"
Scully stared at him, her eyes narrowed.
	"I'm not afraid of that."
There was a pause.
	"You think he'll come, don't you?"
She swallowed; he was getting into her head again.
	"He doesn't know where I am, he won't come."
Sam smiled and looked over to Mike, he was standing
behind Scully, gun held ready in his hand.
	"What do you think Mike? Do you believe her?"
	"She's with the feds..."
	"Hm, you can't trust anyone from the feds can you..."
Scully felt dizzy.
	"She's going to faint!" Paris called from his seated
position and he rose, getting behind her just in time
to catch her before she fell to the ground.


Basement Office.
FBI Headquarters.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
2:03pm
	He set his cellular on the table, staring intently at
it for a moment before he picked it up again, pressing
his speed dial and holding the phone up to his ear. He
waited until it had rung out before he hung up again,
replacing the phone to its previous position.
	"Ring!"
	He waited patiently for a full five minutes, drumming
his fingers on the table, before he picked it up
again. He repeated the procedure, waiting for her to
answer but all he got was the recorded message. Where
was she?
	He rose, beginning to pace around the room, trying to
clear his head. She was probably in the jewellers;
maybe she'd switched off her phone, or was out of
coverage for some strange reason. He sighed and ran a
hand through his hair, scratching his nose as he
stared at the basement door. Could he risk getting
out?
	He heard the soft but persistent voice of Scully in
the back of his mind.
	"Two weeks Mulder, vacation.... All alone, you're gonna
lose it if you go..."
But he was worried, he picked up his jacket and headed
for the door when he stopped as the office phone rang,
he sprang from the door and grabbed the phone before
the second ring had sounded.
	"Scully?"
	"She's a popular woman..."
	"Sir..." Mulder hesitated. "What's wrong?"
	"I'm looking for Scully, I need a report from her..."
	"She's not here..."
	"Do you know *where* she is?"
	"Waiting for me."
	"And where would that be?"
	"Wiseman's, I mean she should be back soon..."
There was a silence.
	"Have you finished the report yet?"
Mulder stared at the empty computer screen in front of
him.
	"Nearly..."
	"Tell Scully that I need to see her when she gets
back..."
	"Will do..."
	"Mulder?"
	"Yeah?"
	"Don't even *think* about going out."


Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 6/?

Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
3:22pm
	"She's fainted..."
Sam stared at him.
	"I can see that!" he shouted, banging the desk with
his fist. "Why?"
	"She's been shot in case it slipped your mind. She
might be an FBI agent but she's not infallible, she
can make mistakes, your stupid mind games didn't help
much either!"
	"Mind games?" he turned towards the dozen or so
people sitting against the counter. "I didn't think
that this was a game..."
	There was a ring from behind the counter, the
telephone light flashing.
	"Answer it!" Sam ordered Paris, reaching across the
counter and pulling the phone up. "No shit."
	"Hello?"
	"Who's this?"
	"Dr Paris, Tom Paris..."
	"Okay Tom, stay calm, is there more than 1 armed
person in there with you? Yes or no?"
	"Yes."
	"Good, you're doing fine, how many people in there?
More than 10, yes or no?"
	"Yes."
There was a silence before the voice came back.
	"Tom, can you put us onto one of the people in
charge?"
Paris held the phone away from his ear and held it
towards Sam.
	"They want to talk to you..."
	"Not yet, I'm not ready."
He put the phone back to his ear.
	"He doesn't want t talk."
	"What are his demands?"
Paris turned to Sam.
	"He wants to know your demands..."
Sam stared at him. 
	"I need to think."
Paris swallowed.
	"Medical supplies, he wants medical supplies to..."
Sam raised his hand and brought the gun down across
Tom's face. He fell to the ground, the phone
spiralling across the ground to land at the far door.
	"I said that I needed to fucking think!" he looked
over at the phone, shouting. "We don' want any fucking
supplies, I see anyone coming in here and I'll a
hostage!"
	He aimed the gun and fired, hitting the phone and
sending it through the small panel at the bottom of
the door, the glass shattered and flew across the
floor.

3:38pm
	"What did you do that for?" Sam screamed, staring at
Paris as he held his jaw, rubbing the bruising skin
gently.
	"She needs proper medical care, if you don't let her
out then I need to treat her here... I need supplies for
that!"
	"Nobody has to come in, we can send one of the
hostages out to get it, make sure they come back..."
Mike suggested, staring at Scully lying on the floor.
"I don't wanna go down for murder."
	"How do you propose we get them to go out and come
back in?"
Mike stared at them.
	"We send the doc out, assuming he's willing."
The two of them turned and stared at Paris.
	"What do you think Doc?" Sam began. "You up for the
job?"
	"You won't hurt anyone?"
	"Nobody..." Mike smile. "Scout's honour."
Sam kneeled down in front of him.
	"As long as you don't do anything stupid or pull any
tricks..." he stared over at Scully. "Because if you do,
then it's bye-bye to Ms model FBI agent over there..."


Basement Office.
FBI Headquarters.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
3:01 pm
	He tried the phone again and it rang out, reaching
her messaging service for the fifth time.
	"Scully, it's me, if you get this before I talk to
you, then I'm sorry that I'm late, Skinner's holding
me back on penalty of death. Love you..."
	He sighed and replaced it on the desk, he was getting
exasperated at this stage and felt like killing
Skinner. He took a deep breath, he'd try once more and
if she didn't pick up, hen to hell with Skinner.
	"Scully..."
	"It's me..."
She sounded funny, like her voice was forced.
	"Fox..."
Now he was stunned, she had called him that over the
phone before. His eyebrow cocked, what the hell?

Assistant Director Walter Skinner's Office,
FBI Headquarters,
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
3:15pm
	"I need to see him..."
The receptionist smiled politely again.
	"I'm sorry Agent Mulder, but he's on a very important
phone call..."
Mulder sighed, took a deep breath and walked past the
secretary, into Skinner's office. He was indeed on the
phone and he turned, stared at Mulder and waved the
secretary away. She left, closing the door.
	"Yes, I'm sure that you do..."
He indicated for Mulder to take a seat.
	"You're sure about that then?"
He nodded.
	"I see... Yes..."
He fixed his tie down the front of his shirt.
	"No, I don't think so...what if it's too big to get in
time?"
He paused and stared at his table.
	"I understand, yes.... Goodbye."
Skinner hung the phone up.
	"There's an assignment that I think you're suited
for..."
	"Sir, there's something wrong with Scully..."
	"What?"
	"I called her and a man came on the phone, claiming,"
he stopped and swallowed. "He answered her phone, I
think that there's something wrong."
	"Did he threaten you?"
	"Not exactly."
	"What's the problem?"
	"He claimed that..."
Skinner held up his hand.
	"Mulder, I'll get two agents around to her apartment,
I'm sure that she's fine, I need you on something else
right now..."
	"I think that-"
	"I'm well aware that something could be wrong but
this is important Mulder."
	"What is it?"
	"There's a hostage situation, they're asking for our
involvement..."
	"What?" he stared at Skinner. "Why me?"
	"You've had experience, Duane Barry and I think
you're the best suited."
	"Sir, with all due respect, I think that there are
other agents more suited to this, with more
experience..."
	"Mulder I'm assigning you to it, that's final. You
leave immediately with the rest of the team, I'll send
Agent Scully on when she gets back..."
	"Where is it?"
	"Wiseman Jewellers."

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 7/?

Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
3:45pm
	Mike sighed and turned towards Sam.
	"What do you think? Can we trust him?"
Sam turned to Paris.
	"If he's any kind of doctor he won't abandon her and
I think that he's worked up quite a friendship with
our lovely agent Scully. Haven't you doctor?"
	"I'll come back, I won't abandon her, she needs my
help..."
	"Okay, so here's what you're going to do..."


Assistant Director Walter Skinner's Office,
FBI Headquarters,
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
3:21pm
	"What is it Mulder? You look like you've seen a
ghost!"
Mulder rose.
	"Scully's in there..."
	"What?"
Mulder ran his hands through his hair.
	"I can't explain now, she went there earlier..." he
froze. "That's who was on the phone, it was one of
the..."
	"Wait Mulder, slow down, are you sure that she's in
there?"
	"I'm positive..."
Skinner rose and grabbed his jacket.


Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
3:33pm
	Mulder followed Skinner as he walked straight past
all the police and agents that surrounded the building
until they reached the SAC standing, talking to a
group of uniformed police. 
	"What's the status of the building?" Skinner asked,
interrupting the talk.
	"Sir..." SAC Coyne stepped away from the police,
issuing orders to the other agents over his shoulder.
"It doesn't look good, we communicated with them about
ten minutes ago..."
	"And?"
	"Well, we didn't communicate directly with them, but
through a Dr Paris and from what he's told us, there's
more then one armed person in there with over ten
hostages and we've got some injured..."
	"Injured?" Mulder interrupted. "Do you know who?"
	"No, Dr Paris asked for medical supplies against
their wishes and then one of the armed men assaulted
him, throwing the phone to the ground, issuing a
statement and then shots were fired and the phone came
out through the small panel up there."
	Mulder and Skinner looked up towards the door, seeing
the phone at the bottom of the three steps, surrounded
by glass.
	"Wait a minute...." Mulder began, stepping in front of
Skinner. "There's somebody coming out."
	Coyne issued commands to the agents and police and
within seconds there was a line of gunmen standing
ready behind the police cars as the doors of the
Jewellers opened and a grey-haired man stepped out,
his hands raised. 

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 8/?

Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
3:54pm
         "Well, can you see him?"
Mike nodded, without turning around to look at Sam.
         "What do you see?" 
Mike shrugged.
         "There's about ten guns still trained on us,
but they pretty much seem to be occupied with the
doc..."
        Sam sighed and leaned against the counter.
        "I'm hungry..." he began, placing his gun on the
chair beside him.
        "Then order out."
Sam jumped and grabbed his gun, aiming it down at
Scully.
        "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you Mr macho
man..."
        "Funny..."
Scully's eyes opened wider and she sat up straighter,
wincing slightly with the pain that sprang from her
shoulder. Her eyes darted around the room.
        "Where's Tom?"
Sam laughed.
        "Tom who?"
Scully's anger rose and she got to her feet but Sam
pushed her to the ground easily with one hand, the
other still training the gun on her.
        "Ah, ah... no moving, you have to rest....
Doctor's orders."
       "What have you done with him?"
        "He's gone." Mike said, stepping away from the
window, he turned to Sam. "They took him into the
building across the street, there's quite a crowd out
there now, I'd say about 30 people at least."
        "We're getting quite the celebrity status,
aren't we? No doubt the fine doctor is recounting all
the horrors we've subjected him to." Sam began,
staring at Scully and smiling. "Don't worry, he'll be
back."
        "Where has he gone?"
        "He's gone to get some things for us."
Mike stared at him.
        "You know, I could use some food, I'm
starved."
Sam stared at the broken panel where he'd fired the
phone out and looked around, his eyes stopping as they
reached Scully's phone. He reached down and picked it
up, looking through the phone book.
        "No doubt they know that you're in here,
wouldn't you say?"
Scully remained silent.
       "Let's see," he went through the numbers until
he found the one he wanted, the one Scully knew he'd
choose and she watched as he pressed the dial button. 

Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
3:49pm.
	"Hands up!" Coyne shouted and Mulder ran past the
barricade, pushing his way through the mass of police
and agents that swarmed around the man, whose face had
gone a paisley white shade the closer he'd gotten to
Mulder.
	"I... I'm not one of them, I came to get medical
supplies, and they agreed that I could get them, to
treat..."
	Mulder burst forward, staring from Skinner to the
man.
	"Who are you?"
	"Paris, I talked to someone..."
	"On the phone, yes Dr Paris, we remember, how are
you?"
He stared at Coyne and it was only then did Coyne
realise how stupid his question had been.
	"Who's in there?" Mulder began, his face eager with
anticipation. 
	"Eh, there's about 13 people that I can remember, I
was with the injured woman most of the time."
	Mulder swallowed.
	"What woman?"
The time it took Paris to answer made the seconds seem
like an eternity as Mulder stared into his eyes,
awaiting the answer.
	"Scully, her name is Scully, she's an FBI agent."
Mulder's legs suddenly went very weak.
	"What supplies do you need?" Coyne asked and Skinner
walked over to Mulder, pulling him aside with one arm,
while reaching into his trench-coat pocket with his
free hand.
	"She'll be fine Mulder we'll get her out..."
	"She's in there with God knows what kind of lunatics
and she's injured..." he went to break back to Paris. "I
don't even know how."
Skinner stopped him.
	"There's plenty of time for that, right now I need to
know if you're up to it, can you keep a clear head
with her in there?"
	"Of course."
	"This is serious Mulder..." Skinner stopped and stared
into Mulder's eyes, they seemed a shade lighter than
usual. "I need to know if I can count on you if
there's trouble."
	"Yes, you can. As long as I need to get her out of
there, I'll be as level as you need me to be."
	Skinner nodded.
	"Get set up with the gear, you're going to talk to
them."
	"They already know my voice."
	"Talk to Paris first, see what he can tell you."
Skinner began to walk away.
	"Sir?"
He turned.
	"Thanks."
Skinner simply turned and walked away.

3:55pm
         "What happened?" Mulder asked as Paris sat on
the chair, waiting for them to assemble the medical
supplies he'd needed. He knew by now whom he was
speaking to and he sighed.
        "They'd been in there for about five minutes
before she came in, she walked in at just the wrong
moment, caught them off guard..."
        "And they just shot her?"
        "Her gun slid from her jacket and when Mike
saw it-"
        "Mike?"
        "That's one of their names, Mike and Sam."
        "Then what happened?"
Paris stared into space for a moment and then ran his
hand through his hair>
        "He said that he thought she was a cop. I
examined her and when I said that she needed to get to
a hospital, Mike went ballistic, said that nobody was
leaving and then the police cars pulled up."
Mulder stared at Paris for a moment and the older man
avoided his gaze.
        "You know who I am, don't you?"
Paris nodded.
        "Please don't sugar coat this for me, how bad
is she?"
Tom swallowed, his fingers wringing together.
        "I tried to tell them that she needed to get
to a hospital but she wouldn't hear of it, she told me
to bandage it up and put a sling around it and she'd
be fine."
        "Will she?"
       "That depends..."
       "On what?"
       "Before I left, Sam has singled her out."
       "In what way?"
Paris shrugged.
       "I don't know, he threatened her. He pointed
his gun at her and pulled the trigger..." Mulder's face
went white. "It wasn't loaded, he did it to scare
her."
Mulder shook his head, swallowing as his hands joined
together.
       "I'll get her out, I'll get them all out."
       "He'll use you. He knows how you're related to
Dana and it seems that he's intent on aggravating
her."
       "To reach what?"
Paris shrugged.
        "I don't know but one thing's for sure, he's
not letting her out of there..."
        "Then we'll have to go in..."	 

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 9/?

Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
4:01pm
       "Wait!" Scully said, hobbling to get up. Sam
stared at her and ended the call before it was
answered. She stood beside him.
       "They'll storm the building."
       "What?"
       "You need to give them something or else
they'll come in, they're probably looking at ways to
do it already but if you give them something to work
on then..."
        Sam stared at her.
        "Why are you telling me this?"
She swallowed. 
        "I don't want anyone else to get hurt. Send
someone out."
        "You're not going anywhere."
        "I didn't say I wanted to, send out someone
else."
Sam looked around and shook his head.
        "I can't let anyone else out while the doc's
gone..."
        "Then wait till he comes back, but you have to
give them something."
        "I'm letting them live, isn't that enough?
This would've all been over by now if it wasn't for
you."
       "I didn't know."
Sam stared into her eyes.
       "Why are you here?" he paused. "You say you
didn't know, then why were you here?"
       "It was my lunch break."
       "People don't generally come into a jewellers
for their lunch break."
Scully stared back at him.
       "You're hiding something, tell me what it is."
       "I'm not hiding anything! Why would I?"
Sam turned his back to her and he raised his gun,
aiming it across the room as an old woman crouched
against her husband.
        "You've got six seconds to tell me before I
blow a hole through her head."
        "You're fucking crazy!"
He smiled.
        "One..."
        "Stop it!" she screamed, grabbing his arm. He
shoved her and she fell back, pain surging from her
bullet wound.
        "Two...."
        "Please...." She begged, sitting on the ground,
staring at the old woman howling in her husband's
arms. He looked over at Scully and she felt a surge of
hatred for her capture.
        "Three... Four.... Five."
        "Alright!" she said and he turned around to
face her.
       "What?"
        "I said alright god-dammit!"
Sam smiled slightly and kneeled in front of her.
        "Come on then, let me into the secret."
        "I came here to meet Mulder."
His face was puzzled.
        "Why would you want to meet him-" he stopped
and stared at her. "Very nice..."
        "What?" Mike asked, stepping behind Sam.
"what's nice?"
Sam rose.
        "I think Ms Scully was here for a special
reason."
        "What?"
Sam smiled.
        "Doesn't matter." He turned and stared at the
faces of his hostages. "I'm sorry about this folks,
but we're gonna have to let one of you go..."
         "What are you doing Sam?" Mike demanded,
grabbing his arm and turning him around to face him.
"You're letting one go?"
         "Look at it this way Mike, it's one less to
look after."
         "But the doc might not be back."
Sam stared at Scully.
         "He'll be back."
         A tear slid down Scully's cheek but she
furiously wiped it away wit the back of her left hand.
Her right fingers were numb, from lack of circulation.
She swallowed and turned her face away from them,
letting it press against the cold wood. This has
started as the best day in her life and was turning
out to be the worst.


Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
4:15pm
         "Dr Paris!?" Mulder called as he ran after
the doctor.
Tom turned around and stared expectantly at Mulder.
         "Will you do something for me?" he asked,
pulling Tom away from the rest of the agents.  
         "If I can, I will."
Mulder looked over his shoulder at Skinner who tapped
his watch; they needed to get the doctor back in
there.
         "Tell her I love her and..." he paused, looking
at the ground. "Tell her to hang on..."
Paris nodded.
         "I'll tell her."
He began to walk away when Mulder called him again, he
faced him and Mulder stared at him with such
fierceness that he felt compared to keep eye contact
with the younger man.
         "I will get you out."

4:20
       "He's coming back..." Mike called and Sam nodded,
smiling as he saw Scully's expectant gaze staring at
the doorway.
       "Welcome back Doc..."Mike began, as Paris stepped
inside the building, Mike locking the door behind him.
"We missed ya!"
       "I wish I could say the same."
Sam stepped forward.
       "Open your shirt."
       "What?"
Sam's jaw clenched.
       "Open your shirt."
Paris laid the box of supplies on the floor and began
to unbutton his shirt. When he'd got it all undone,
Sam checked under it, front and back and then nodded.
        "Didn't think that they'd be stupid enough to
bug you..." he turned to Scully. "Pick."
        "What?"
He smiled and folded his arms.
        "Pick one person to go."
        "I can't do that."
        "If you don't do it, then nobody gets out, so
it's your decision. You pick one or they all stay."
Scully stared at Paris and he winked at her. She
swallowed.
        "The woman."
        "Which one, you're going to have to narrow it
down a little Dana."
        "The older woman that you were going to
shoot."
Sam nodded.
       "No!" the woman screamed and Sam looked at her.
       "Excuse me?"
       "I'm not leaving, not without my husband."
       "You don't have a choice." He stared at her and
raised the gun. "On second thoughts, maybe you do,
I'll give you ten seconds to make up your mind."
       "Madeline..." her husband kissed her cheek gently
and smiled as his wife's tears slid down her cheeks.
"Go, I'll be fine. Please."
       "I can't go George, not without you."
       "Madeline, you're going."
       "Time's up!" Sam said, stepping in front of the
couple. "What's your decision?"
       "I... i..."
       "Tick tock Madeline, time's running out..." he
pointed the gun at George. "Well?"
She nodded.
       "Thought so." He paused and threw her a
notebook and pen from the desk above her. "Now take
this down and make sure it's right."
She swallowed and George gripped her arm.
       "16 burgers, with everything on them. 16 bags
of fries and 16 cokes, wait." He paused and re-thought
for a moment. "Make that 15 regular cokes and a diet
coke. Got it?"
She nodded and he grinned.
       "Now, hurry along, we don't want to delay you
any longer."
She rose and her body shook with her tears.
       "Thank you for your compliance Madeline, maybe
I'll see you again one day."
He watched with a smirk as she opened the door,
stepping out of the jewellers and onto the street, the
door closing behind her.
        "Lock it." He ordered and Mike nodded, walking
towards the door.

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 10/?

Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
4:36pm
	"Where are they?" Mike demanded, cracking his
knuckles.
	"You'll get arthritis if you keep doing that..." Paris
said as he ripped his third gauze from its package.
	"What?"
	"If you keep cracking your knuckles like that."
Mike stared at him.
	"Thanks doc, I'll keep it in mind." He snapped his
other hand and nodded towards Scully. "Is she
alright?"
	"She hasn't let me examine her fully, she says she's
fine."
	"But *is* she alright?"
Paris stopped ripping and stared up at him.
	"You didn't mean for this to happen, they'll go
easier on you if you give up and come out."
	"They tell you to say that out there?"
Paris picked up another bandage and began to unroll
it.
	"I'm telling you because I don't want anyone to get
hurt."
	"Nobody will get hurt if they do what they're told." 
Mike rose and stared over at Sam as he held the next
bottle of alcohol to Scully. There was no anaesthetic
available, so they had to make do. She took the bottle
and began to swallow.
	"You know that he's getting out of control?"
Mike stared at Paris.
	"Get ready and fix her."
	"It's not as simple as that, she's bleeding out..."
	"You're a doctor and you're going to fix her."


4:42pm
	"If I catch you doing anything back here, or I even
*think* that you're gonna do anything, then it's a
bullet through her head and yours."
Paris just stared up at Sam as he grinned and sat down
on the bench above the counter, Scully and Paris on
the opposite side of everyone else, the medical
supplies lay out across the floor.
"I need someone to help..."
Paris grinned and jumped from the counter, kneeling
beside Scully.
	"No better man..."
	"I don't think that you're what I had in mind."
Scully swallowed and opened her eyes; they were glazed
over with the alcohol.
	"It's fine, he can't kill me...." her eyes rose and
stared at his, they registered a slightly blurred
vision of Sam but there was still a hint of competence
hidden in their blue depths. "He'll go to prison and
he doesn't want that."
	Sam smiled.
	"I think I like you when you're drunk."
Scully's eyes closed and she swallowed.
	"Let's get this over with," she said and Paris
nodded.
	"We'll have to get your shirt off."
Scully rose from her lying position and Paris looked
to Sam.
	"You're going to have to hold her so I can undress
her..."
Sam grinned.
	"You're already holding her, I'll do the honours."
His fingers met the buttons of her soaked blouse and
unbuttoned them slowly, a little too slowly for Tom's
liking.
"Hurry up or she'll bleed to death by the time you get
the buttons open..."
"Doctor, all things that are worth doing, are worth
doing well..." he pulled the last button open and smiled
as her breasts, although covered in blood, were
revealed. "And worth seeing results."
"Get your mind out of the gutter and help me get it
off."
"With pleasure." Sam said and surprisingly peeled the
shirt gently from her shoulders, Tom then laid her
gently on the floor, her eyes fluttered open. 
"I'm cold..."
Sam stared up at Tom.
	"She's pretty out of it."
	"How much did you give her?"
	"How much did you bring?"
Paris stared at him.
	"Three bottles of vodka."
Sam grinned.
	"Pretty much that amount."
	"Then that explains it."
Scully swallowed and bit her top lip.
	"I fell sleepy, where's Mulder?"
	"Right here."
She smiled, her eyes still closed.
	"Hey honey..."
	"You got a kiss for your lover boy?" Sam asked and
Paris pulled him away as he moved closer to her. Sam
smiled and pulled out his gun. "Who's got the
firepower here?"
	"Look, you can push me around as much as you want,
*after* I get her through this."
Sam shrugged.
	"I was only having a little fun."
	"That's not fun, that's sick."
	"Look, are you gonna make smart remarks or help her?"
Paris shook his head and stared down at Scully.
	"Dana, this is gonna hurt a little."
Her eyes opened and she smiled.
	"I'll be fine just as long as Mulder's here..." she
patted Sam's hand and smiled sleepily, then sighed
groggily and swallowed. "It won't hurt, it'll be like
riding a bike..."
	"You better hold her down." Tom warned and Sam held
her arms, pinning her to the ground.
	Tom's hand moved her bra strap down past her shoulder
so that it lay half way between her elbow and
shoulder, the top of her right breast was now visible
to both Sam and Tom and Sam swallowed.
	Tom removed the bandage that he'd applied earlier.
When he had applied it, she'd simply said to make sure
to cover the blood and to make sure it was pressed
hard against her skin, she had been careful not to
show him too much. If she had let him see, he'd have
observed the bullet hole that was clearly lodged just
above her right breast, in her chest, not her shoulder
as she'd told him.
	He sighed and stared at the wound.
	"What?" Sam demanded. "Why aren't you doing
anything?"
	"It's lodged in her chest."
	"So?"
	"I can't get that out in here, you'd need a qualified
surgeon to do it, in a theatre, *not* in a jewellers
in a hostage situation."
	"I watch ER, I see what they do, there's always
situations like this."
	"This isn't ER, this is real life and we have to get
her out of here."
	"No can do doc, she ain't going out."
	"Why not? The obvious thing to do is to send her out,
she'll die in here and you'll be charged with murder
one."
	Sam stared at him.
	"You help her, or she'll die. Mike may have pulled
the trigger, but you're the one who's refusing to help
her now. You may not get murder one, but you'll have
to live with the knowledge that you're the one who let
her die by bleeding to death."


Outside Wiseman's Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
4:42pm
	"Mulder?"
Mulder turned and watched as Skinner walked into the
bar, taking a seat beside Mulder in the booth.
"Any news?" Mulder asked, closing over the file.
Skinner reached across the pulled open the file.
	"Nothing to report, we're getting the food ready to
send in..." he stared down at the folder. "What's this?"
	"You know what it is, you've seen it before."
Skinner stared briefly at it before closing it.
	"How did it get here?"
	"I had them send it over, from the office."
	"The cases aren't related."
Mulder stared at his hands.
	"Scully was taken from both."
Skinner pushed the folder under Mulder's view.
	"Duane Barry isn't here, there is no government
conspiracy involved, no alien activity."
	"She's in there, she's injured, and she might die."
Skinner sighed.
	"She might, you're here to stop that from happening."
	"Can we get a camera in there?"
Skinner sighed.
	"We can't get anything through those walls, they're
tougher then steel, parts are made of that. They knew
what they were at when they targeted here."
	Mulder grunted and sighed, taking a drink of his iced
tea. There was a pause until Skinner shuffled.
	"What?" Mulder asked, staring into the glass.
	"I know..."
Mulder looked up at him.
	"What? Has something happened in there? Is she
alright?"
	"I don't mean about that situation."
	"Then what do you mean sir?"
	"It's about you and Agent Scully."
	"What about us?"
Skinner waited until Mulder raised his head and made
eye contact.
	"I know about your relationship."
Mulder laughed.
	"Relationship? I don't know what you're talking about
sir." he rose, grabbed his jacket from the couch and
headed for the door, Skinner rose and followed.
	"Mulder!" he called, catching the younger agent's arm
as he left the bar and turning him around to face him.
"I'm not reprimanding you."
	"Sir..."
	"Mulder, listen to me. Above all, you are an agent
with the FBI and your duty is to reach the standards
set out for you and not to get personally involved in
the situation. If you think that, because of your
relationship, you can't do your job properly, then
I'll accept that you want to leave this case, but
god-dammit, you're on of *the* best agents in my force
and I'd rather have you here then on the sidelines."
	Mulder shook his head.
	"Sir, I'm doing my job and I will continue to do it
to the best of my ability."
	"That's all I needed to hear."

Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.
5:01pm
	Sam winced and his nose upturned as Tom used the
scalpel to cut into the hole, blood ran from it in a
thin river and slid down the curve of her breast,
falling to the white shit that lay underneath her. 
	"I didn't know you were the fainting type."
Sam glared at him.
	"Why is there so much blood, why haven't you got the
bullet out?"
	"Stop asking me questions and hand me that bottle..."
	"Which one?"
	"That one, with the lid off."
Sam picked it up and handed it to Tom.
	"What's wrong?" Sam shouted, looking at the wound.
"It's bleeding!"
Tom stared down and saw the blood beginning to gush
from the wound.
	"Hand me the bandages!"

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 11/?

Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
5:09pm
	"I said give me the damned bandages!" Tom screamed,
clutching the shreds of gauze against Scully's chest,
the blood oozing from beneath his fingers. Her head
rolled slightly from his knee. "She's lost
consciousness."
	"Is that bad?"
Tom shook his head.
	"She's losing too much blood."
	"Then stop it!"
	"I can't! Don't you understand?" Tom stared up at
Sam, his green eyes almost on fire with anger. "She's
losing too much blood, she *will* die unless you get
her out of here..."
	Sam shook his head.
	"I don't care what you do, but she's not going out of
here until we've got what we want!"
	"What do you want? Tell them, they can't give it to
you unless you tell them for Christ's sake!"
Sam stared at the blood now forming a large puddle on
the floor.
	"Fix her up, if you do then I'll release three more
people."
Tom shook his head.
	"You don't understand, this isn't up for discussion,
she has to get out of-"
Sam's gun was under his chin, against his Adam's
apple.
	"No, *you* don't seem to understand doc, she's not
going anywhere. Now you ca let her die here or you can
save her, you choose."
	"Hand me the scalpel."
Sam gave him the bloodied scalpel and smiled.
	"Now, that's easy isn't it?"
Tom shook his head as he made contact with the bullet.

 
Outside Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
5:09pm
	"Where is the damned food?" Mulder shouted and the
agent beside him stared at him for a moment before
heading off in the direction of the police car parked
at the side of the road. He spoke to the policeman who
got on his radio. Mulder sighed and swallowed, trying
to keep his anger at bay.
	"Calm down Mulder."
Mulder bit his upper lip and refused to turn around
and look at Skinner.
	"Is that an order sir?"
	"Mulder."
His tone was warning Mulder that he was stepping too
close to the mark.
	"I'm sorry."
It didn't sound very heart-felt to Skinner.
	"Any news?" Mulder asked, still keeping his back to
Skinner and his eyes on the building. "What did Mrs
Rose say?"
	"Well, after she stopped crying, she asked was her
husband dead and started to cry again. Then she told
us that..."
Mulder turned.
	"She's dead, isn't she?"
Skinner shook his head.
	"She's not, but she said that Sam is making it hard
for her in there. Mrs Rose said there was a lot of
blood but when she left, agent Scully was still alive
and awake."
	"Yeah, but that may as well have been years ago,
anything could be happening I there now." 
"Maybe the fact that he's signalling her out means
that there's less chance he wants to hurt her."
	"Did she give any specifics about what he's doing?"
	"Well, when they ordered the food he ordered the same
stuff for everyone, except the diet coke, that was for
her. Everything else was pretty much the same as what
Dr Paris said." Skinner paused.  "Well, what do you
propose we do? We can't get a camera in there because
like I told you, the walls are like steel and we can't
risk going in, we don't know if they've got
explosives...."
	"Send me in."
	"You're not serious?"
	"I am, deadly." Mulder turned and stared at the
building again, the street lamps had just come on, it
was getting darker. "We need to get someone in there
and it may as well be me."
	"And what if he recognises your voice?"
	"He won't."
Skinner sighed.
	"But if he did, then what?" he paused. "You know as
well as I do, from what the doctor and Mrs Rose have
told us, he's signalled Scully out, if something
happened to put him over the edge, then she..."
	"I know the risks."
	"Then the two of you would be dead."
Mulder shrugged and turned, Skinner seeing his eyes
glazed over but in a moment, his expression changed as
the food came over.
	"Get it in there!"
Mulder paused and stared at it.
	"Wait a minute."
Skinner looked at him.
	"What?"
	"I've got an idea."

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 12/?

Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
5:21pm
	Tom stared down at Dana, holding her hand loosely in
his, noticing how cold and clammy her skin felt
beneath his touch. He stared up at Sam, watching the
younger man, as he looked intently out the front
window, careful to keep his body concealed by the
partition. He turned and caught Tom's eye, a hint of
compassion flaring up in the blue depths before
sinking back behind a cold glare.
	"How is she?"
	"She hasn't woken up yet, so you're going to have to
postpone any torture you have in mind for her."
Sam smiled as he leaned on the desk above him.
	"Sarcasm will get you nowhere in here doc." He
crossed his arms across his chest. "And I'd say the
strapping agent Mulder might have something to say
with the way your patient-doctor relationship is
progressing with his girlfriend."
	"What do you want me to do? Let her lie here and
bleed to death?"
	"If I wanted that, would I have let you help her in
the beginning?"
	"How the hell am I supposed to be able to know what
you're thinking?"
Sam rose and called towards Mike who was in the
bathroom.
	"You finished in there yet big guy?"
Mike appeared, holding something in his hand.
	"What's that?"
He grinned and held it up; it was a small brown paper
bag.
	"It's a bag of sweets."
Sam smiled.
	"You are easily pleased aren't you?"
	"Yeah, well... the food isn't here and if I don't eat,
then I'll die of hunger."
Sam caught one of the sweets Mike through over.
	"How's she doing?" Mike asked, as he got closer.
	"She'll pull through." Sam answered and stared at the
front door. "I think your prayers have been answered
my man, look what just showed up."
	Mike turned and saw six bags of McDonalds take-outs
being lain out. Mike turned to the hostages.
	"You..." he said, pointing to a small boy, about 9
years old. "Go get the food and bring it in here, if
you try anything, I'll shoot your mommy."
	Mike aimed the gun at the boy's mother and watched,
bemused, as the boy scurried towards the door. He
opened the lock and pulled in the six bags.
	"Good boy, now bring them over here."
	The boy lifted them up and carried them to the main
table in the centre of the room, laying them out in a
straight line.
	"Now..." Mike began. "Who's hungry?"


 
Outside Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
5:28pm
	"You sure this will work Mulder?" Skinner asked,
staring up at the agent who cautiously placed the bags
at the front door.
	"I don't know, but it's the best chance we've got of
getting some idea of what's really going o in there."
They watched as the door opened and a small boy
stepped out.
	"There's kids in there?" Mulder stared up at the
building as the door closed. "What the hell is a kid
doing in there on a Friday?"
	"That doesn't matter, the bags are in... here..."
Skinner handed Mulder a pair of earphones and Mulder
put them up to his ears.
	"Good boy, now bring them over here..."
Mulder stared over as Skinner spoke to him.
	"Which one is that?"
	"Mike, that's not the one who spoke to me on the
phone."
Skinner nodded.
	"Let's just hope they don't find the bug."
	"They won't, hopefully."
	"Where'd you put it?"
Mulder swallowed.
	"In Scully's diet coke."
Skinner stared at him.
	"What if he doesn't give it to her?"
	"Then let's just hope whoever he gives it to doesn't
let him find it."

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 13/?

Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
5:36pm
	"Get over here doc and get your food."
	"I'm not hungry."
Sam stared at him for a moment before sighing.
	"When she wakes up, she'll need something to eat,
right?"
	"Fast food isn't exactly what she needs."
Sam smiled, handing out the next burger.
	"Well, sorry but they were all out of Chinese." He
lifted a coke. "I even got her diet coke, you got to
give me some credit..."
	"I'll give you some credit when you let some of these
people go!"
Sam sighed.
	"I did promise that I'd let some go, didn't I?"
	"You said three, three people."
	"Fine, pick three."
Tom shook his head.
	"Can't you do your own dirty work?"
	"It's like I told your patient down there, if you
don't pick 'em, then they all stay. Now I offered, not
my fault that you're still keeping them in here."
Tom closed his eyes and stared at his hands.
	"The boy."
	"Which one?" Sam asked, unwrapping his burger,
licking the red sauce from his fingertips. 
	"The one that opened the door."
Sam nodded.
	"Good choice, now you got two more to go."
	"His mother and the other woman's husband."
Sam nodded.
	"Fine..." he took a bite from his burger. "Go!"
The three of them looked at him fearfully and Sam
rose, producing his gun.
	"I said get the fuck out!"
The mother rose, pulling her son from the ground and
rushing towards the door, Madeline's husband following
them a little more slowly. Before he closed the door,
he turned, staring directly at Sam.
	"What is it old man? What you staring at?"
Madeline's husband stared at him.
	"Why would you do this? Why would you want to harm
these people, we've done nothing wrong..."
Sam returned the stare and shook his head.
	"You wouldn't understand, how could you? I bet you've
never had a bad day in your life old man..."
	"Everyone has bad days, that doesn't excuse what
you're doing and when your final days come, God won't
except that as an excuse either."
	"God?" Sam laughed. "Get out before I shoot you!"
The man showed no fear as he closed the door behind
him and Mike locked it, watching through the blinds as
the police and agents moved the hostages behind the
cars.
	"Can you believe the *cheek* of some people?" he
turned to Tom and stared at Scully for a moment. "Is
she awake yet?"
Tom shook his head.
	"She should wake soon though, but she'll be dozy."
	"Dozy? Aren't feds always like that?" mike quipped
and Sam grinned but Tom stared up at them, defiance in
his eyes.
	"As I seen to recall, it was you, Einstein, who
pulled the trigger in the first place. Is it me, or
was that dumb?"
Mike's eyes flashed red and he withdrew his gun,
diving at Tom, the gun under his chin. Tom merely sat
looking up at Mike.
	"Great, you're proving my point." Tom leaned in
closer to Mike's face, feeling his breath on his
cheek, it smelled faintly of onions. "You're only a
man when you have that gun in your hand, aiming it at
unarmed doctors and shooting unsuspecting FBI agents,
you're such a big man."
	"Shut up!"
	"Mike!" Sam's hand appeared on Tom's shoulder,
pulling him away from Tom. "Get off him for Christ's
sake! The last thing we need in here is another
bleeding person!"
	"So you're agreeing with him? How can you agree with
him Sam?" Mike hit his chest with his gun. "I'm your
partner in this Sam, *me*. It seems to me that you
think more of that fucking bitch lying on the ground
then you do about your own fucking partner. I have a
say in this too."
	"And what a great part you're playing, threatening
them all with your gun, shooting Scully!"
	"Oh, I didn't know that we were on a first name basis
with the hostages Sam!"
	"She's different!"
Mike stared at him, a sadistic smile creeping across
his lips.
	"What's the difference?" he stared at Sam, his eyes
showing recognition as it finally dawned on him. "Its
because she reminds you of her, isn't it?"
	"Shut the fuck up Mike!"
Mike laughed and turned around, pointing his gun at
Scully's unconscious form that lay next to Tom.
	"She fucking reminds of her, doesn't she?" Mike
turned around and faced Sam. "You asshole!"
Sam's lips pursed together as he stared at Mike, his
eyes glistening. 
	"I'm warning you Mike."
His voice was barely audible.
	"You're warning me Sam? What you gonna do? Shoot me?"
Sam's arm rose and the gun aimed towards Mike.
	"Try me."
Mike's face changed.
	"Come' on Sam, take it easy man..."
	"Not so talkative now, are you Mike?"
Mike stared at Sam, his Adam's apple quivering.
	"I knew I shouldn't have taken you along..."
	"Sam, we're partners... I was only fooling around."
	"But that's the problem Mike, that's all you ever
do."
Mike stared at Sam's trigger finger; it was tensed on
the trigger.
	"Sam! What the fuck are you doing?"
	"I'm pointing a gun at you Mike, that's what I'm
doing."
Mike swallowed.
	"If they hear gunshots, they'll come in!"
Sam shrugged.
	"They can't, they know that I've got..." he looked
around at the hostages and then looked back to Mike.
"9 hostages left, one an injured FBI agent. Do you
really think they'd risk coming in here?"
	"Sam!"
He was screaming now, the desperation clearly written
across his face.
	"Shut up Mike."
Sam pulled the trigger and Mike flew backwards,
hitting a file cabinet, scattering sheets and folders
everywhere. His body twitched, then lay motionless.

 
Outside Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
5:36pm
	"What is it Mulder?" Skinner asked, walking over to
Mulder. Mulder removed the headphones from his ears
and turned to Skinner.
	"He's sending three out."
	"Three hostages?"
	"Yes, he's getting Tom to choose them. He's making
him pick them."
	"Like he did with Scully and Mrs Rose."
Mulder nodded.
	"It's part of the game."
	"Game?"
Mulder leaned against the desk, crossing his arms at
his waist.
	"I think that he did genuinely start out to rob this
jewellers but now it's changed."
	"Changed? In what way?"
Mulder stared up at the building as the door opened
and two people walked out.
	"Where's the third?" Skinner demanded and Mulder put
the phones back on his ears.
	"He's talking to Sam."
	"What?"
Mulder listened intently to the words being exchanged
between Mr Rose and Sam.
	"He's asking Sam why he's holding them hostage."
Skinner picked up the headphones beside Mulder and
slid them onto his ears, listening intently. He turned
as the door of the jewellers opened and Mr Rose
stepped out, the door slamming behind him.
	"He's either very brave or extremely stupid."
Mulder almost smiled but his face fell.
	"What?" Skinner asked, slipping the phones over his
ears again.
	"Scully's unconscious."
Skinner listened and suddenly Mulder's brow creased.
	"They're arguing." Skinner stated and Mulder nodded.
	"This is dangerous."
	"Why?"
Mulder stared up at Skinner.
	"Usually partners are united and when they're not,
that means trouble."
There was silence before Skinner turned and stared at
Mulder. They were talking about Scully and Skinner
realised that he wasn't the only one staring at
Mulder. There were five other agents with headphones
on and they were all, every last one of them, staring
at Mulder but Mulder either knew and just didn't care
or was too engrossed in the argument to notice.
	"Do we have a positive ID on Sam yet?" Mulder asked,
not even looking up.
	"No, they're still getting the sketches done."
	"We need to know who we're dealing with, this guy has
some issues."
	"You think that Scully reminds him of someone?"
Mulder paused.
	"Well, mike seems to think so."
	"Fuck!" Skinner muttered. "Get the snipers into
position!"
He turned to Mulder.
	"Never dare a psychopath to shoot you Mike."
	"Do you think that he'll fire?"
	"He'll not only fire, he'll kill him."
	"What?"
Mulder shrugged.
	"He blames Mike for shooting Scully and obviously,
whether we like it or not, Scully means something to
him. He's looking for an excuse to shoot Mike, he sees
him as a liability."
	The five agents, Mulder and Skinner waited for a
total of four minutes and thirty seconds before
hearing the gunshot. Mulder and skinner removed their
phones and stared at each other.
	"You said that he went in there to rob the jewellers
but something changed, what was it?"
	"Scully showed up."
Skinner stared at him.
	"You're saying that Scully's the key."
	"In there she is, but she's merely a representation
of whoever he's comparing her to. In there, he holds
the power, he can choose to let her live, or let her
die."
	"He was robbing a jewellers for Christ's sake, how
could it turn out like this?"
Mulder shrugged.
	"I'm not the only one here sir, I don't have all the
answers, at least not until you get that profile to
me."
	"Mulder, where are you going?"
Mulder ignored the question.
	"Tell me when Scully wakes up."

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 14/?

Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
6:01pm
        "You alright back there doc?"
        Tom returned from the back room, wiping his
hands on
his already stained shirt.
        "Fine and dandy, what do you expect?"
Sam shook his head.
        "You better get rid of that sarcastic attitude
doc, I
saved your life."
        "What?"
Sam shrugged and sipped his coke.
        "Mike would've killed you if I hadn't stopped
him."
        "Thanks..."
Sam hopped down from the table and stood in front of
Tom as he took Scully's pulse.
        "You don't sound very thankful doc, I put my
neck on
the line for you. You'd be the one in the back room if
it wasn't for me."
        "You didn't do it for me Sam, you did it for
Dana.
Without me, she'd bleed to death."
Sam sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
        "You're not very grateful doc, I don't
appreciate
what you're putting me under here."
        "I'm not putting you under anything Sam, it's
your
own fault that you're here, not mine. I simply came in
here to shop."
Tom turned suddenly and stared down at Scully, her
hand moved.
        "She's awake?"
Tom nodded, positing Scully's head on his jacket.
        "Dana?"
No response.
        "Can you hear me Dana?"
She mumbled.
        "She's alive?" Sam asked but Tom didn't reply.
        "Dana, can you hear me?"
        "Mulder..."
Sam grunted.
        "This fucking Mulder must be good, he's got
her
wrapped around his little finger."
        "Shut up Sam and give me that diet coke!"
Sam smiled as he handed Tom the coke, sighing as he
watched the doctor help Scully sip from the cardboard
container.
        "She's still out of it, when will she be back
on
form?"
        "Why?" Tom paused, "so you can torment her
again?"
        "I'm not sadistic doc." He sighed. "I know
she's
sick, but I didn't do it. You've got to remember that
this wasn't my fault, it was Mike who shot her."
        "And you shot Mike, justice is served."
        "I'm warning you doc, get that chip off your
shoulder
or..."
Tom looked up.
        "What?" he stared at him daringly. "You'll
take it
off? Then what? You'll let her bleed to death as you
all eat your burger and fries?"
Sam shook his head.
        "Its pointless talking to you, ever heard of
bedside
manner?"
        "You're not sick."
        "Who says?"
Tom looked at him, confused.
        "You're sick?"
Sam reached inside his jacket and pulled out a box of
pills.
        "Vitamins..." he paused and looked at them in
thought
for a moment< completely silent as his hostages looked
at him. "Vitamins, nothing' but vitamins."
        "What's wrong with you?"
Sam replaced the pills inside his jacket.
        "Nothing."
Tom stared at him.
        "Is it life threatening?"
        "I didn't know you cared..."
Scully coughed and Tom turned back to her immediately.
She swallowed and opened her eyes, the blue slightly
dimmer then usual.
        "What happened?"
        "The doc here got you drunk and took advantage
of
you, not very doctor like I know...I'm appalled."
Tom stared at her.
        "Do you know where you are?"
Scully paused, staring up at Sam, her had rolled
slightly so she had eye contact with Tom and she
nodded her head slightly.
        "How could I forget? What did you do?"
Tom held up the bullet so she could see and she
laughed slightly.
        "I think I felt better with it in..."
She coughed.
        "I know you're sore Dana, it was lodged deeply
in
there..."
        "Did I bleed much?"
Tom was silent.
        "How do you feel?"
He ignored the question and she knew from this what he
was avoiding, she would die in here, she knew she
would.
        "How are the hostages?"
        "He let some of them go."
Scully's eyes closed and Tom held her hand.
        "I know you're in pain Dana, but hold on..."
She opened her eyes and as Tom stared into the faded
blue depths he knew there was no point in lying to
her, she knew that if she didn't get out, she die...

Outside Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
6:12pm
        Mulder stared into his beer, watching as the
froth
began to dissipate from the top of the glass, leaving
a faded residue on the rim. He picked it up, placing
it to his lips with a shaky hand and took a gulp,
allowing the amber liquid to travel down his throat,
bringing him a momentary comfort. It, like the froth,
dispersed within seconds. He replaced the glass on the
table and stared down at the file again. Scully's face
stared back at him.
        "Dreadful out there isn't it?"
Mulder looked up and saw a barman standing over him,
picking up three empty glasses from the next table.
        "Yeah, I suppose..."
        "But then things like this are happening
everyday
now..." he placed the glasses on the bar top and stood
over the partition between Mulder's table and the one
he'd just cleared. "I mean, you just have to look in
the papers these days and you see some other poor
gobsheen being murdered.
        Mulder mentally thought what the word
"gobsheen"
could possibly mean and the bartender stared at him,
almost sensing hi question.
        "I'll have to apologise, it's the Irish
blood..." he
grinned and nodded towards the green white and gold
flag hanging on the wall beside the big screen TV.
Mulder noticed now the hint of an accent in the man's
voice and saw the streaks of red amidst his greying
locks. "I've been over here for more then thirty years
and still use that jargon. But the way that them lot
out there are chasing their tails, it's a wonder
anything gets done..."
        Mulder nodded and the bartender smiled again,
displaying three missing teeth on his tip row. He held
out his hand.
        "Patrick O'Toole...." He took Mulder's hand in
his and
gave a firm handshake. "Proud proprietor of this
establishment."
Mulder smiled slightly at his sudden change in
language. Now that he knew Patrick was Irish, his
accent stuck out like a sore thumb.
        "You are?" he asked after Mulder stared
intently at
him for thirty seconds without introducing himself.
        "Fox Mulder."
Patrick stared at him, releasing his hand and hiding a
grin.
        "And I used to think what was bad. So, Mr
Mulder...."
        "Mulder will do fine."
        "So Mulder, what brings you around here? I
don't
remember seeing your face in here before..."
Mulder nodded towards the various case files that were
spread across his table. Mulder nodded towards the
street.
        "I'm with that lot who chase their tails."
Patrick froze momentarily, staring at Mulder.
        "I meant nothing..."
Mulder waved his hand.
        "You're right."
Patrick sat down beside Mulder and stared at the
files.
        "Bedtime reading?"
Mulder sighed and picked up Scully's file. Patrick
stared at it and smiled.
        "That one seems to have been through the
wars..."
        "What do you mean?"
He shrugged.
        "Nothing. Just that the edges are worn and
you've got
a coffee stain on the front. Not exactly a file you'd
see with a case barely a day old..."
        Mulder stared at him.
        "You're not a bartender are you?"
        "I am..."
Mulder stared at him.
        "You said you moved here thirty years ago,
what were
you in Ireland?"
He smiled and rose, collecting Mulder's empty glass.
        "Now that'd be telling. You want another?"
Mulder nodded and watched as Patrick walked up to the
bar, talking to the barmaid across the bar and nodding
as he was handed another beer.
        "Here you go..."
The beer was set down beside Mulder's hand and Patrick
moved to go away.
        "Wait."
Patrick turned around and stared at Mulder.
        "What were you Patrick?"
        "I'm just a bartender Mulder..."
Mulder stared at him.
        "You were a cop."
        "Garda."
        "What?" Mulder paused. "More of your Irish
jargon?"
Patrick smiled.
        "That was over 30 years ago and believe me, we
made
more of a mess at it then you..."
        "So you've ended up here?"
        "I'm happy."
Mulder nodded.
        "I mean..." Patrick continued. "I've got this
place, my
health...apart from the cigarettes, my family...I
don't
miss it."
Mulder nodded, flicking a page of his file.
        "Would you?"
Mulder looked up.
        "What?"
        "Miss it. If you gave it up, would you miss
it?"
        "I wouldn't run a pub if that's what you're
asking."
        "Would you miss it though?"
Mulder nodded.
        "Maybe, at times like this, no."
Patrick stared at him thoughtfully, sitting down on
the edge of the couch, leaning across the table;
Mulder could smell the stale cigarette smoke from his
breath as he sighed.
        "Times like this? You mean the situation
across the
road?"
Mulder nodded.
        "But surely you've faced worse situations then
this?
I mean, you've been an FBI agent for what?"
        "Sometimes too long."
Patrick laughed.
        "Then what's different about this?"
Mulder, Fox William Mulder was not trusting. Not
usually. The last thing he'd think to do would be to
divulge anything to anyone, let alone a stranger, but
he felt something from Patrick, felt a strange logic
that appealed to him.  He pushed over the crumpled
file and Patrick opened it, glanced through it
briefly. He stopped at the blown-up picture of Scully
lying in the trunk, the one that Mulder had lifted
from the police car's camera when Duane Barry had
killed the cop.
"She is?"
"One of the hostages."
Patrick nodded but looked puzzled.
        "She's in there?"
        "That's right."
He nodded, then flipped back to the first page and
stared at the date on the file.
        "It's not recent."
        "It's from years ago..."
        "What's this got to do with the hostage
situation?"
        "She's my partner."
Mulder swallowed.
        "At the FBI?"
        "Yes."
He nodded.
        "She's important to you. She means a lot."
        "I proposed to her this morning."
Patrick smiled.
        "Did she say yes?"
        "Yep."
        "I'd offer my congratulations..."
Mulder's face was frozen in a grimace and he suddenly
felt the urge to tell Patrick things he'd never told
anyone before.
        "I'm in love with her..."

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 15/?

Outside Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
6:22pm
	"Well, I got that from the fact that you proposed..."
Mulder smiled, staring at his beer.
	"She's in there and I'm helpless out here."
	"Why have you got this with you?
He held up the old file. 
	"I don't know..."
	"I get the feeling that you blame yourself for what's
happening, like you could have prevented it."
	"I probably could."
	"Probably?" Patrick smiled. "Never say that, you will
never know. How do you know that you can change fate?
You think that you have the power to change it? You
don't, not unless whatever is up there chooses for it
to happen..."
	"That's very philosophical for a bartender slash
garda..."
Patrick smiled.
	"I took theology in college."
	"Figures."
Patrick sighed and stared thoughtfully at the file.
	"Things like these hostage situations were 
few and far between in Ireland. Everything changes
though; it's going to be
as common there as it is here in a few years. The most
we had to deal with was the odd cattle heist."
Mulder nodded, providing a small smile for Patrick's
benefit, not able to bring him to laugh aloud. 
	"No really Mulder, if it was my wife in there..." he
paused and stared behind the bar towards a plump woman
at the other end of the wooden bar, chatting to three
men. His eyes softened slightly and he shook his head
gently, looking at Mulder. "I don't know what I'd do."
	"It's not just today, it's everyday, it's what we
do...
it's our job. But our job puts her in more danger then
is necessary. FBI agents know the risks, but she's
faced with it more then any other agents, but I can't
let her go. I need her there as much as you need your
wife."
	"She's the reason we moved."
	"Your wife?"
	"Yes, she couldn't handle me going out at night, not
knowing if I'd come back."
	"So you moved."
Patrick stared at him.
	"Could you do it?"
	"Move?"
	"Quit? Do you love her *that* much to quit and leave
everything behind you?"
Mulder sighed and stared at his glass, opening his
mouth to speak when a young agent barged in,
breathless.
	"Mulder?"
	"Agent Heart, what is it?"
Mulder rose as Heart stood before him, gasping.
	"Assistant Director Skinner sent me, he's looking for
you. He says that Sam has said something that may get
us what you were looking for..."
	"I'm on my way."
Agent Heart disappeared from view and Mulder turned to
Patrick.
	"How much do I owe you for the beer?"
Patrick shook his head.
	"Nothing, pay me the next time you come in, you've
enough on your plate at the moment without having to
count your pennies..."
Mulder stared at him and Patrick rolled his eyes.
	"Just go..."
Mulder turned to leave, his hand on the door.
	"Mulder?" he turned and stared at Patrick. "Get her
out of there."
Mulder nodded and the door swung shut behind him.
Patrick stood still, watching to closed door for a
moment.
	"Pet?"
He turned and smiled at the red-haired woman that was
his wife.
	"Yes Maggie?"
	"Who was that?"
Patrick sighed as he leaned on the bar.
	"Gim'me a kiss sweetheart."
She kissed him gently.
	"You didn't answer my question Pat."
	"I know I didn't."
She glared at him and he smiled.
	"He's out there, he's an agent with the FBI."
	"Dear Lord, I hope those people are alright."
Patrick smiled half-heartedly.
	"I'm sure they're doing their best..."

Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
6:21pm
She shifted slightly as Tom placed a bundled up jacket
behind her head.
	"Comfortable?"
She nodded.
	"Thanks..."
Tom sighed.
	"Alright doc..." Sam moved over them. "Get over
there..."
Tom didn't move.
	"I said get over there!"
	Scully touched his arm gently and he faced her. She
nodded but he shook his head and returned his gaze
towards Sam. Sam sighed; his hand rose and the gun
came down across Tom's face, the barrel colliding with
his jaw, and a scrape forming across his jawbone.
	"You bastard!" Scully screamed, rising. Sam used his
free hand and placed three fingers on Scully's wound,
pushing hard. She cringed and tears sprung to her
eyes, her hands rising to push him away.
	"Don't *ever* do that to me, do you hear me?" he
pushed his fingers against the gauze, blood soaking
through the white bandages and staining what little
white was left on her shirt. She closed her eyes,
gritting her teeth to stop her cries. "I'm in charge,
say it!"
	She cried aloud, her voice shaking, tears streaming
down her cheeks.
	"Say it!"
	"You're... in charge."
She cried aloud again as he removed his hands from her
chest. She clutched the wound; her body shaking in
bursts and shivers. She was crumpled in a small
bundle before him and he stood staring down at her,
Tom rising beside her.
	"Leave her."
Tom paused, turned and stared up at him.
	"You could've opened the stitches."
Sam stared at him.
	"I'll tell you once more..." he pointed the gun
directly at Tom's head, releasing the safety clip.
"Get away from her and go over there, before I break
your face."
	Tom looked fleetingly back at Scully before rising
slowly and walking over to the other hostages.
	"Good boy."
	"They're not going to like this..." Tom warned and
Sam
grinned.
	"Are you worried about what they'll think or about
what *he'll* do?"
Tom remained silent.
	"But it doesn't matter..." he stared down at Scully,
kneeling on the floor in front of her, his arms
crossed, the gun resting I his lap. "Because they'll
never know..."
	Scully's eyes rose to him, tears streaming down his
cheeks, he shook his head.
	"And I leave my fate in your hands? How can any
criminal be expected to take something like you
seriously? You're crying because you've got a little
boo-boo and it hurts..."
	Her eyes raged with fear and she spat at his face.
The saliva landed squarely under his left eye and he
stared at her, his eye turned steely before his hand
rose and slapped her across the face. Her head spun
and remained facing towards the hostages. Scully
stared at them momentarily. A young woman, who looked
to be 24 at most, stared at her with teary eyes, her
face white. She remained unharmed and yet here was
Scully, lying bleeding to death against a desk. She
turned back to Sam and swallowed. He stared at her and
she could see it in his eyes, the anger, the anger
directed towards her.


Outside Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
6:31pm
	"So, what have we got?"
Mulder walked inside the crowded room and Skinner
turned, removing his headphones.
	"We've got a lead."
	"What is it?"
	"He's on medication..."
	"What kind of medication?"
Skinner shrugged.
	"We don't know, we're checking the pharmacies and
seeing if any medication was prescribed to any person
named 'Sam'."
Mulder sighed.
	"How long will that take?"
An agent shrugged.
	"Assuming that he lives local, there are at least 20
stores that can prescribe drugs. We don't know how
serious this illness is, or if he's just playing with
us and is packing a bottle of vitamins."
	"Sir!"
Skinner turned as an agent on the headphones called
him over. Mulder was at his shoulder within seconds,
placing a pair of phones on his ears.
	"He's just after hitting Dr Paris..."
	"What?"
	"He wouldn't leave Scully..."
Mulder stared at Skinner, his breath burning in his
chest as he heard Scully's voice.
	"You bastard!" she cried and Mulder's fingers gripped
the handles of the headphones, his knuckles turning
white. As Sam slapped her, he gritted his teeth,
swallowing hard, his Adam's apple quivering. He paused
and stared into space.
	"Mulder..." Skinner warned, his hand resting on
Mulder's shoulder, the younger agent remained still,
his anger boiling.
	"Are you worried what they'll think or what *he'll*
do?"
It was all Mulder could bear; he threw the headphones
from his ears and ran past all the agents, out the
door and running down the corridor.
	"Get after him god-dammit!" Skinner yelled, throwing
his own phones to the ground and following Mulder.


Divine Intervention
Part Sixteen

Outside Wiseman Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
6:44pm

            "Mulder!" Skinner's voice boomed as he raced after Mulder
through the swarm of agents and police who were to busy studying phone
books and read-outs to care who or what was running towards the
jewellers. Finally, a large agent turned around, just in time to see
Skinner calling after Mulder before Mulder ran past him. He didn't get
more then two feet before the agent grabbed his shoulder, pulling him
to the ground.

            "Get off!" Mulder screamed, struggling with the agent as
he pinned him to the ground. He struggled against the agent's unmoving
hands as Skinner loomed over him.

            "What were you thinking?" he demanded as the agent rose
and let go of Mulder, watching him carefully.

            "I need to get in there and do something!"

Skinner shook his head.

            "You'd do something alright, you'd get them all killed!
You said you could handle this Mulder."

            "I can."

            "Not from where I'm standing, you can't."

Mulder sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

            "We need to get them out, or get in." he paused. "That's
my professional opinion."

Skinner leaned against a police car as Mulder dusted off his overcoat.

            "Why do you say that?"

            "He's making no demands. If you take hostages, you make
demands. He said that he only came here to rob the place."

            "You think that this was his plan the whole time?"

            "No, not originally. I don't know his motive, not until I
know *who* he is and until I can talk to him."

Skinner removed his glasses and began to wipe them with a
handkerchief.

            "What do you propose?"

            "We ring her cellular. We need to talk to him. The longer
he's in there, the more chance he has to get mad. He's already getting
angry with Dr Janeway and he's shot Mike. So who next?"

            Skinner stared at him silently. He knew who Mulder feared
would be next. Everyone who was working on this knew who could be
next, Scully.



Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.

Washington DC.

November 17th 2000.

6:44pm

            Scully sipped the diet coke slowly, her eyes staring away
from Sam, refusing to look him in the face. He was pacing along the
wall, his back to her, his face not visible. She swallowed the
lukewarm substance, allowing it to wet her cry throat. Her chest
throbbed. Her head throbbed and she was acutely aware of the fact that
the hostages were becoming more and more restless.        Tom stared
over at her and she could see in his eyes, had seen it from the moment
that she'd woken up, that it didn't look good. God only knew how long
she'd been out; her watch had somehow been smashed so she didn't know
what time it was. She didn't need a medical degree to know that from
the amount of blood around her, she'd lost a lot. Too much, especially
when there was no way of replacing it.

            Her once white shirt was now drenched and sticky with
drying blood, she stared at it for a moment. What if she died? How
would Mulder react to seeing her like this? Covered in blood,
contusions spreading across her face, her lip bleeding? She closed her
eyes, trying to imagine his face before her, his smell as he held her
close at night, his touch as he caressed her.

            "What the fuck?"

            Scully's eyes opened to see Sam staring carefully from the
window. He smiled and started to laugh. He turned to stare at Scully.

            "Didn't they teach you to get along with one another in
the academy?"

Scully stared back at him, trying to keep her emotions at bay.

            "What are you talking about?"

Sam laughed again.

            "There are agents out there fighting with one another.
Seems serious, I wonder if your precious Fox is one of them?"

Scully didn't reply. She didn't need to; Sam knew that she feared what
he'd said, even before he's uttered a word.

            "I'm guessing from your silence that I'm probably right.
Has he got a bad temper, this Agent Mulder?"
Silence.

            "Don't try to guess what he's like, you're an animal, how
could you know what a real man is like?"

He stared at her. She was sorry she'd opened her mouth. The words had
come in measured tones, but they stung him. She didn't know why, she
just knew she wished she'd kept them inside her head, where they
belonged.

            "You think that you're smart, don't you Dana?" he paused,
walking towards her slowly, purposefully. "Women like you always do,
they think that they're better then men. You think that just because
you have some brains in your skulls... that you can try to act aloof
and flirt with us, then you turn around and say that..."

            "What? What do you think we say?"

He snorted.

            "Don't try your psychoanalysis with me doctor."

            "I'm not trying anything."

He stared at her, turning as the phone lying on the ground rang.


Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.

Washington DC.

November 17th 2000.

6:51pm

            Mulder swallowed.

            "What do you want?"

Skinner nodded to Mulder as he heard Sam's voice.

            "Before you say anything... Can I take a guess that this
is Agent Mulder?"

            "Wrong." Skinner replied.

            "Too bad, I saw his performance out in the car park."

Skinner bit his lip.

            "That wasn't Agent Mulder Sam."

There was a pause.

            "I'll let you talk to Scully if you put him on."

Mulder grabbed the phone but Skinner shook his head.

            "What do you want Sam?"


The phone went dead. Skinner stared at the receiver in his hand.

            "What happened?"

            "He hung up."

Mulder dialled the number and picked up the second receiver.

            "Hello."

            "It's Mulder."

            "Why hello Agent Mulder."

            "Let me speak to Scully."

            "Who?"

            "Don't mess around Sam, you said that we could speak to
her if I came on the phone."

            "Did I say that?"

Mulder looked to Skinner.

            "What do you want?"

            "Want?"

            "To release the hostages? What do you want?"

There was a pause.

            "Mulder?"

Mulder's heart froze. It was Scully.


Divine Intervention
Part Seventeen


Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
6:53pm

            "Mulder?" she froze, as there came no answer; Sam stared
down at her, his eyes cold and switched off.

            "Scully? Are you alright?"

            "Oh my God Mulder..." tears trickled down her cheeks.

            "Hang on Scully, don't let him get to you." He paused. "Is
he listening?"

            "No."

            "Listen carefully, there's a bug in your Pepsi. We can
hear what's going on, you're not alone, do you understand?"

            "Yes..."

            "Is there anyone else hurt in there?"

Sam walked over to her and reached for the phone.

            "No."

            "Has he hurt you?"

Sam motioned for the phone.

            "I miss you Mulder," she whispered quickly.

            "Give it here..." he ordered and Scully mutely handed him
the phone, he put it up to his ear.

            "Now, ready to listen Agent Mulder?"

            "Tell me what you want Sam."

Sam looked at Scully.

            "I want you."



Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.

Washington DC.

November 17th 2000.

6:55pm

            "What?"

There was a pause.

            "I'll release all the hostages if you come in."

Skinner shook his head and Mulder swallowed, his heart was burning. He
stared at the phone.

            "I don't think that I can do that Sam."

Sam hung up the phone and Mulder stared at the floor.

            "I've got to ring him back."

            "You're not going in there Mulder."

Mulder threw the phone onto the ground and it smashed into a million
tiny fragments. His eyes were full of anger as he looked intently
towards Skinner.

"He could *kill* her!"

"If he was going to do that, he would've done it already."

"What? How can you say that? He's *torturing* her in there for
Christ's sake!"

Skinner's face was set in a harsh stare and the whole room of agents
watched the two men, riveted to the scene. Nobody in the room removed
their eyes from the two agents until a shot sounded from inside the
jewellers. Both Skinner and Mulder turned to the agents on the
headphones.

"What happened?"

"He shot someone."

Mulder took the headphones.

            "Who? Who did he shoot?"

Mulder listened to the screaming people as they wailed and cried in
shock and fear.

            "Who the fuck did he shoot?"

There was a groan, soft and yet distinguishable from the rest of the
voices. Mulder was sure that it was Scully. But was she hurt? Mulder's
cellular rang and he answered it immediately.

            "Mulder."

            "Agent Mulder, are you willing to change your mind?"

            "Who did you shoot Sam?"

            "I'm asking you a question, are you willing to come in?"
            "I need to speak to Scully."

Sam sighed.

            "She can't come to the phone right now."

            "If you've so much as hurt a hair on her head!"

Skinner's hand rested on Mulder's shoulder and the younger agent took
a deep breath.

            "You said you'd send out all the hostages."

            "I'll send out 6 now and the rest when you come in." he
paused. "You are coming in, right?"

Mulder swallowed and refused to look at Skinner.

            "Are you going to hurt anyone else?"

He had to know Scully was going to be all right.

            "No."

            "I'm coming."




Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.

Washington DC.

November 17th 2000.

7:02pm


            Sam hung up the phone and placed it on the counter,
staring intently at it for a moment before facing the hostages.

            "6 of you will be leaving us now..." he stared at the hole
in the cabinet behind them, it lay at least 20 inches above any of
them, he'd aimed above them all. "The rest of you will be leaving once
our guest arrives..."

            "You...you...you...you...you and..." he paused and stared
at the hostages momentarily, trying to decide on the last hostage to
leave. "You."

            Tom stared back at him.

            "You want *me* to leave?"

            "I know how much you like it in here doc, but I'm letting
you go."

            "She'll need medical care."

            "She's fine."

            "I can't leave until she comes with me."

Sam shook his head.

            "There's no winning with you people is there? I'm keeping
you here, you complain. I let you go; you complain and want to stay.
Does the word stupid come to mind?"

            "She needs medical attention."

            "And she'll get what she needs, you're leaving."

Sam pointed the gun at him.

            "10..."

            "You're not serious!"

            "9..."

3 of the chosen hostages rose and ran to the door, throwing fleeting
glances towards Tom.

            "8..."

Two others rose and followed, running through the open door.

            "7..."

            "Can't you choose someone else?"

            "6...5...4...3..."

Tom rose and looked at Scully, she nodded to him and he ran to the
door.

            "2...1...0. Bye doc."

Sam aimed and shot as Tom's hand reached for the door. He'd hit him in
the back of the head. Tom's body went limp and he tumbled to the
ground, falling less then a foot away from the door.

            "Tom!" Scully screamed, her voice frantic. She couldn't
move from the ground, her shoulder pinning her with the pain. She
began to crawl towards him.

            "Stay where you are, don't test me Scully."

            "You bastard, he was going, why did you shoot him!"

            "He didn't go when I said, stay where you are. I don't
want to hurt you anymore then necessary."

Scully shook with rage and tried to rise, Sam walked over and shoved
her back down to the ground. She began to cry helplessly on the
ground.

            "You fucking bitch!"



Outside Wiseman's Jewellers.

Washington DC.

November 17th 2000.

7:09pm

            "What happened?" Mulder demanded from the other side of
the room.

            "He's shot Paris."

            "What?"

Mulder walked away from the other agents who were fitting him with
safety gear.

            "Why?"

            "He was releasing the him, but Paris wouldn't go at
first."

            "Is he dead?"

            "We're listening for any sign, Scully's trying to get to
him right now."

            "How many hostages are out?"

            "5"

Mulder strapped the last clip of the bulletproof vest.

            "I'm going in there!"

Skinner shook his head.

            "He's after killing another hostage."

            "There are at least 4 more people in there Sir, we need to
get them out."

            "He'll kill you!"

            "We don't know that."

            "Sir?" Agent Anglia stared up at Skinner, removing his
headphones.

            "What is it?"

            "The line's just gone dead."

Divine Intervention 
Part Eighteen

Outside Wiseman's Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
7:13pm
 
               "What do you mean the line's just gone dead, what
happened?"
               "We don't know exactly."
               "What do you mean *exactly*?" Mulder ordered.
               "Sam was going towards Scully and then he called her
a fucking bitch and the line went dead."
               "He found it."
               "The bug?"
               "How else to you explain it? I have to get in there."
Skinner stopped him.
               "Wait Mulder. Are you sure about this?"
               "You think I'm personally involved."
               "I *know* you're personally involved, that's the
trouble."
Mulder sighed.
               "Of course I am, she's my partner and..." he stared at
Skinner. "It's my duty not to let her get hurt. She'd
do the same for me."
 
 
 
Inside Wiseman's Jewellers.
Washington DC.
November 17th 2000.
7:18pm
 
               "You bitch, you've been talking to them the whole
time!" he kicked her in the abdomen again and spat on
her, his face contorted in anger. "I knew I couldn't
trust you, fuck!"
               Scully coughed and spluttered, coughing up blood, her
hands failing to protect her already battered form.
               "Sam!"
               Sam turned as the door was banged upon. A man, roughly
6 ft, with brown hair was banging on the door, eagerly
trying to get in.
               "It's Mulder, open the door!"
Sam looked at Scully and then looked back at Mulder.
               "Open the door for him, then leave."
He was talking to the other hostages and they rushed
to the door, opening it for Mulder and running out.
Mulder stepped inside.
               "Lock the door."
               "Let Scully go."
               "I can't do that."
Mulder stared levelly at him.
               "You said you'd release all the hostages."
               "She's not a hostage."
               "Let_her_go_"
               "I can't do that. You see, she and you broke our
agreement. There never was a mention of this..." he
reached down and picked up the bug that had been in
the bottom of Scully's cup, he'd seen it when he'd
walked over to her. "I don't remember agreeing to be
spied on."
               "We needed to know what was happening in here."
               "Well, at least you're admitting to it and not saying
it was part of the drink."
               "Let her go, you wanted me and now I'm here."
Sam laughed.
               "I don't value her over you. I never did." He aimed
the gun at Scully. "She's the prized possession of any
man."
               "What are you doing?"
               "I'm aiming a gun at your lover Agent Mulder."
               "Don't shoot her."
Sam laughed.
               "And why the hell not? What's to stop me? I'm going
to prison anyway. I've killed Mike and the doc and
I'll be put away for life on those charges alone. Then
there's the bank robbery..."
               "Don't kill her, there's no need."
               "There's never a need. There's no need to wear
clothes during the summer, everyone does though."
Mulder stared at him and felt that his heart was
twisting.
               "You wanted me here, didn't you? You wanted me here
to watch her die..."
Sam was silent.
               "It happened to you..."
               "I'm no FBI agent..."
Mulder stared at him.
               "Your girlfriend was killed..."
Sam stared down at Scully, his finger moving over the
trigger.
               "How did she die Sam?"
               "It wasn't me who did it, if that's what you're
thinking."
               "I wasn't thinking that Sam."
Mulder took a step towards him.
               "Stop right there."
Sam turned and aimed the gun at Mulder.
               "Don't try and talk me down."
               "I'm not, I'm trying to understand why you're doing
this, who killed your girlfriend."
               "It was my wife, she was my wife."
               "Who killed your wife?"
               "And my baby, they killed my wife and my baby."
               Mulder stared at him, his glance occasionally slipping
to Scully who lay motionless on the floor in a pool of
blood.
               "Who did it? Who killed your baby?"
Sam shook his head.
               "It doesn't matter, I don't care anymore."
               "That's why you're off your medication, isn't it Sam?
You suffer from depression don't you?"
               "The medication doesn't help, it only numbs what's
already there."
Sam scratched his ear with his free hand.
               "I didn't mean for this to happen, it wasn't supposed
to go like this...If she hadn't come in, then none of
this would've happened."
Mulder nodded, watching with relief as Scully's
finger moved. Sam's finger retracted from the trigger.
               "I know that you didn't, how long ago did you lose
your wife?"
               "7 months ago."
               "I'm sorry."
               Sam nodded, tears beginning to slide down his cheeks.
It was only up close that Mulder realized how young
this man really was. He couldn't be more then 30.
               "You still haven't told me who did it Sam."
Sam swallowed.
               "It..."
               Scully moved, her leg hit a chair as she moved and Sam
spun around, gun aimed.
               "No!" Mulder yelled as he saw Sam's finger returned
to the trigger and in a second he was running towards
him, pushing him to the ground but Sam landed with his
back on top of Scully. Her body jolted and a gunshot
sounded.
               Within seconds Skinner and a team of agents were
bombarding the jewellers. Skinner ran in but stopped
as he stared at the bundle of bodies lying beside the
solid oak desktop at the back of the shop. It was as
if time slowed to almost nothing.

Divine Intervention
Part Nineteen
 
Washington General Hospital.
November 18th 2000.
1:24am
 
        "I'm so sorry, I know how hard it is on parents to
lose a son or daughter..." the doctor shook her hand
slowly and gently, noticing how cold the older woman's
hands were.  "We did everything in our power to
save..."   
        "I know you did..."
Dr. Rabbit stared at her, watching quietly as the
mother cried, the tears streaming from her blue eyes,
her brown hair hanging loosely around her face.
        "By the time the ambulance arrived, there was little
that could have really been done. If it's any comfort,
the gunshot would have caused no pain..."
        She nodded limply, releasing the doctor's hands.
        "When I got the call, it frightened me half to death,
I knew that something was wrong. I could feel it in my
bones. And when they told me, it wasn't real. I
thought I was dreaming, it's a mother's worst fear,
losing your child. Children should never die before
their parents."
        "Is there anyone that I can call, anyone you'd like
to speak to? We have a priest available if you'd
like."
        "I'd just like to see him."
She rose as a balding man passed her and he glanced at
her briefly before striding down the corridor.
Assistant Director stared at Mrs. Angela Hunt as if she
were just another person on the street, not knowing
she was the mother of Samuel Hunt.
He strode past the front desk, ignoring the night
nurse's pleas for identification and that visiting
hours were over. His overcoat swayed as he walked past
one room after another, searching them all for his
agents. He came to room 321 and saw Mulder sitting by
the window, his eyes staring vacantly through the
panes of glass, into the gardens below.
"Mulder?"
He didn't turn.
        "Where is she?"
He didn't speak.
        "Mulder?"
He didn't move, just continued to stare through the
window.
        "I told her I loved her, I asked her to marry me..." he
paused. "I was so happy, I could barely keep it in."
        "She went to pick a ring." Skinner stated and Mulder
was silent for a minute.
        "We were going to pick it together, but I had to do
that paperwork..." he paused. "Remember?"
        "Why didn't you tell me?"
Mulder stared at him, his eyes almost empty of
everything but anger and resentment.
        "The FBI frowns upon relationships between agents,
remember? It's the unspoken rule of the FBI."
        "Mulder..."
A tear slid from his eye, but they held no sadness,
just pure anger.
        "I loved her with everything I had, with every pore
of my being and now some guy with a mental problem has
taken it all away."
        "Sam is dead Mulder."
Mulder snorted and closed his eyes.
        "After all he's done, he won't have to even pay. I
bet he died instantly."
        "As far as I know, yes he died instantly."
Mulder shook his head, staring out the window.
        "Scully's in theatre..."
        "How is she?"
        "They said they'd tell me..."
Skinner nodded and swallowed.
        "I'm sorry Mulder..."
        "You didn't shoot her."
        "It wasn't your fault."
        "Who pulled the trigger?"
Skinner paused, as Mulder stood motionless in front of
him.
        "You were trying to protect her."
Skinner watched Mulder's reflection in the pane of
glass.
        "I was trying to protect her and ended up shooting
her in the stomach.
        "You shot Sam."
        "I shot Scully."
Skinner swallowed again.
        "Nobody's going to hold you responsible."
Finally Mulder turned around and stared at Skinner.
        "I know I will..."

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 20/?

Washington General Hospital.
November 18th 2000.
2:31am

        Mulder sat with his head in his hands, staring at the ground.
He was alone in the room, occasionally hearing the rush of feet as
some doctor called a "code blue"  from down the hall. A nurse had come
in three times, telling him that a doctor would be with him as soon as
it was "convenient". He sighed and ran his hands through his hair,
rising as he heard a familiar voice come from down the hallway. 

        He walked outside, onto the linoleum floor of the peach
coloured hallway and saw a sight that was becoming more and more
common as his partnership with Scully progressed. Mrs Scully stood,
her hands clutching the desktop of the nurse's station, her face awash
with emotion, tears streaking her motherly face. 

        "Please, you don't understand...." She was pleading to the
nurse who nodded sympathetically, pulling out a form from under her
desk. 

        "Mrs. Scully?" Mulder began as he approached her, his hand
outstretched, touching her shoulder. She turned and looked at him, as
if momentarily not recognizing him and then recognition flashed into
her eyes. 

        "Fox..." she said it with relief, clinging to him, as he was
her lifeline, as if he were the only thing that kept her from losing
hope. "What's happened? They won't tell me anything." 

        "Do you know this woman Mr. Mulder?" the nurse asked and
Mulder glared at her. 

        "She's Scully's mother." 

        "I didn't know..." the nurse began and the doors opened, Mrs.
Scully released Mulder and faced the doors, watching Bill and Tara
enter, wheeling Matthew in front of them. 

        "What's he doing here?" Bill demanded and Mulder's body
tensed. He wasn't feeling up to battling it out with Bill at this
precise moment in time. 

        "Don't Bill." Tara pleaded, looking at Mrs.  Scully. "How is
she mom?" 

        "I..." she turned to Mulder. "I don't know, Fox?" 

        "She's in surgery..." 

        "I'm betting you've got something to do with this." Bill
stepped from behind Matthew's stroller.  and stared at Mulder. Mrs
Scully's hand touched her son's arm and Bill looked at her and then
nodded.  "Well then what happened?" 

        "She was taken hostage." 

        "Hostage?" Mrs. Scully's mouth opened. "What happened?" 

        "It's difficult to explain. She was in there since 1 pm..." 

        "And you didn't call us?" Bill demanded and Mulder swallowed. 

        "I was having enough trouble trying to save your sister,
without having to worry about you being down there too." 

        "How did she get hurt Fox?" Margaret asked and Mulder sighed. 

        "One of the hostage takers shot her in the chest." 

There was a pause and then Bill stared at Mulder. 
        "The bastard better be in jail." 

        "He's not." 

Bill grunted and said with unbridled disgust. 

	"I should've known." 

        "He's in the morgue..." 

        "He's dead?" Tara asked, her brow creasing. 

	"You shot him." Bill said, it wasn't a question and he sounded
surprised. Mulder just nodded and there was silence. Mulder closed his
eyes for a moment and then he sighed. 

        "I..." 

        "Mr. Mulder?" 

He turned. 

        "Is something wrong?" 

        "I'm Dr. Stent. I'm sorry it's taken so long to get back to
you." 

        "She's not..." he stopped, not able to say what he feared. 

        "No, she's not dead." Mulder breathed a sigh of relief. "But
it's not over yet. We operated on her chest and removed the bullet;
there was only minor damage, but a lot of blood loss. I'm afraid that
the bullet wound to her stomach was much worse." 

        "What wound to her stomach? You said that she was shot in the
chest!" 

Mulder ignored Bill and concentrated on the doctor. 

        "What is it?" 

        "I'm afraid that the bullet ruptured her spleen and we're
trying to repair the damage, I have to ask," she paused. "Is she
married?"  Mulder swallowed. 

        "We're engaged." 

        "What?" Bill demanded, grabbing Mulder's arm but Mulder pulled
away roughly, staring at Bill but it was Maggie who spoke to Bill. 

        "This is no time for your macho man antics Bill, your sister
is in there being operated on, grow up and shut up! Do you think that
you're helping here? Do you?"

        "Mr. Mulder?" 

Mulder returned to face Dr Spent, her face grave. 

        "The main reason I came out was to talk to you, I have to get
back in there." 

        "What is it?" 

        "Can I talk to you for a second alone Mr Mulder?" 

        "We're her family, for God's sake! Surely you can tell us?" 

Mulder nodded to her. 
        "It's fine." 

        "I'm so sorry Mr Mulder, but she's lost the baby." 

        "Oh Fox..." Mrs Scully's hand rested on Mulder's shoulder as
he stared blankly ahead. 

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 21/?

Washington General Hospital.
November 18th 2000.
2:44 a.m.

        "Did you know about this?"  Mulder stared at the floor. 
        "Mr. Mulder?" Dr. Stent touched his arm. "Are you alright?" 
He swallowed.
        "I didn't know, I didn't..."  His eyes glazed over and he
shook his head. 
        "I didn't know..."  He turned from Dr. Stent and walked down
the hallway.  Bill moved to go after him but it was Dr. Stent who
stopped him. 
        "Sir, I don't think you should go after him." 
        "I have a right to." 
        "Bill!" Mrs. Scully's hand touched Bill's and he faced his
mother. She had tears in her eyes but they were harsh as they glared
at him. "He's lost his child, don't you dare go after him!" 

2:57 a.m. 
        Mulder stood with his hands in his pockets, staring absently
at the grounds of the hospital, his jaw set in a grim expression. He
swallowed, allowing the cold wind to freeze his body, but it only
froze his skin, not his heart, not his thoughts. His eyes closed and
he tried to block out everything, to just find relief that she was
alive, that she was still breathing. 
        A baby.  His eyes opened wide with shock. 
        A baby girl.  He swallowed. 
        A baby girl with flaming red hair, like Scully's and his nose. 
The tears fell before he finished his description. He sat down on the
bench, his head in his hands, the tears slipping through his fingers
and his body shivered. He gulped, trying to take deep even breaths and
when he finally managed to calm himself down and stop the tears, he
stared across the parking lot.  He'd never thought about kids, not
really. Here he was, losing one. What was the saying? You never know
what you've got until you've lost it? He shook his head as the tears
welled up again. If he lost Scully now... 


4:32 a.m. 
        Mulder stared at her silently, standing at the window looking
in. Her mother turned, as if she sensed him, and she smiled sadly at
him, he nodded, turned and walked away. 

4:44 a.m. 
        "Mom said I'd find you out here."  Mulder looked up and saw
Tara standing in front of the cafeteria table. 
        "If you've come to give me a lecture Mrs.  Scully..." 
        "Tara..." she assured, sitting down, her hand landing on top
of his. She smiled reassuringly. "I'm so sorry Mr. Mulder..." 
        "Mulder..."  She smiled again. 
        "Mulder..." she paused. "I just wanted to say, I mean I know
from what..." she stopped and took a deep breath.  "I mean, if you
need anyone to talk to, someone who won't..." 
        He stared up at her expectantly. 
        "What I'm trying to say Mulder is that, I know from what I've
heard from Bill that you're somewhat of a recluse and if you need
someone to talk to about things, I'm here." 
        "It's not necessary..."  She swallowed. 
        "I don't know if you know this, but we didn't get Matthew
overnight you know..." she sighed sadly. "I've had three
miscarriages..."  Mulder swallowed. 
        "I'm sorry." 
        "Don't be, what matters really in the end is that we have
Matthew. The point is, you'll get through it, if you love each other.
I know you don't get on with Bill..." she smiled. "Few people do at
first, but if you saw him with Matt, he adores him so much." 
        "I know you're trying to help, but this is different...  I
didn't even know, this isn't the way you're supposed to find out." 
        "There's no way to find out Mulder, it's not something anyone
should have to deal with."  He swallowed and bit the top of his lip as
it quivered. 
        "I didn't ask for this, yesterday was supposed to be..." he
stopped and swallowed. "Look at me, how am I supposed to face her? How
can I be there for her when I can't even look at her without wondering
what if I hadn't asked her to marry me yesterday, that if I hadn't,
she wouldn't have gone into that jewelers, that she wouldn't have got
shot... that I wouldn't have shot her." 
        There was silence as Tara stared at him. 
        "You shot her?"  A tear slid down Mulder's cheek. 
        "It was an accident. I made her lose this baby, it's because
of *me* that she lost the baby. *I'm* the reason she's in there
without *our* child inside her." 
        "Mulder, what you're telling me." she paused and took his
hand. "It's not your fault. You love her, you didn't mean to harm her,
and you stopped that madman from killing her." 
        "And in saving her, I killed the one thing she's wanted all
her life and thought she'd never have! Why doesn't that make me feel
any better?" 
        "Because it's your fault."  Mulder and Tara turned around and
saw Bill standing behind Tara. 
        "Bill..." Tara began, rising. "Don't."  He glared at her, as
if talking to Mulder was the ultimate betrayal. 
        "Mom blames me for disliking you. She says that I do it
without a reason, I just do it maybe because I don't want her
happy...." He shook his head. "Even Dana won't fault me after this." 
        He turned and walked away. 
        "Let me go after him and talk to him Mulder, he's-" 
        "Right. Everything I touch breaks." 

6:21 a.m. 
        "I don't care what you say he's done Bill, Fox would never
hurt Dana on purpose!" 
        "He did Mom, get over it! Your precious knight in shining
armor isn't infallible and has cost Dana her child!"  Margaret Scully
stared at her son. 
        "When did you become a monster? When did your heart stop
beating? You know the pain of losing a child, would you honestly think
that Fox would do that to Dana or himself? He loves her Bill and you
know he does." 
        "If he loves her so much then why isn't he here?  She's been
out of surgery at least 2 hours, if he loves her so much then why
isn't he here?"  Margaret swallowed and stared at her hands as she sat
beside her daughter's bed, the machine beeping quietly in the
background. Mulder turned away from the observation window and walked
down the corridor. 


Title: Divine Intervention 
Part: 22/? 

Fox Mulder Apartment.  
Washington DC.  
November 18th 2000.  
7:31 a.m. 

	Mulder stepped inside his apartment, closing the door and
throwing his keys on the couch, dropping his jacket on the side of his
sofa-come-bed. Sighing he switched on his machine and listened
absently as he lay on the black leather, which squeaked predictably as
his body rustled slightly, ignoring the mundane recorded voice that
relayed the time of the calls.

	"Fox? Fox, if you're there.... Pick up, it's Margaret,
Margaret Scully. I've just got word from the hospital, we didn't know. 
We're on our way to the hospital right now, if you can call me back,
please." 

        There was a beep as the message finished and Mulder sighed and
covered his eyes with his hands.  "Mulder..." there was a pause and a
mumbling of voices.  "Mulder, it's Frohike. We're watching you on the
news right now man. Is Scully all right? I mean, there's not much
we've found out so call us when you get the chance, you know the
number."

        Another beep and Mulder rose, heading towards the kitchen. 

        "Friday, November 17th 2000 at..." 

There was a pause and Mulder stopped, suddenly feeling apprehension
creeping into his every pour, causing his stomach to knot. "1:15 p.m." 

        He spun around and stared at the machine. That was before the
robbery, that was the time she'd gone into the jewelers. It might be
her. It could be her. He stopped and stared at the machine. 


Washington General Hospital.  
7:31 a.m. 

        "Dr. Stent." Margaret Scully said as she rose from her seat,
Bill remained seated beside the door. 

        "Mrs. Scully." She smiled warmly towards the older woman. 

        "Is there any news?" Bill asked and Dr. Stent didn't turn
around to face him but kept her eyes on Mrs.  Scully. 

        "I'm afraid we could be in for a wait. Your daughter was
operated on for a significant period of time and due to the injuries
and trauma she has survived, we've decided to keep her sedated for at
least today." 

        Mrs Scully nodded, sitting down on the chair again and
crossing her hands on her lap. She sighed. 

        "I am happy with her progress. The stitching seems to be
holding and there's no bleeding, and there is every

indication that the operation was successful. Is Mr.  Mulder here?" 

        "No..." Margaret replied and Bill grunted. 

Dr. Stent smiled again towards Mrs Scully. 

        "Is there anything that we can bring you Mrs.  Scully?  Would
you like to freshen up or get us to bring you in a more comfortable
chair?" 

        "No, I'm fine." 

        "I'll be back to check on Dana at the end of my rounds and if
you speak to Mr. Mulder, can you tell him that I need to speak with
him?" 

        "Certainly, and thank you." 

Dr. Stent nodded and turned, her hand on the door. 

        "Can I speak to you outside for a moment Mr.  Scully?" 

He didn't reply but just got up and followed her outside the room. 

        "Mr Scully..." she began as he closed the door. "Do you care
for your sister?" 

        "Excuse me?" 

        "I'm afraid that from what I've seen, your attitude towards
her has been less than..." 

        "Just what exactly are you implying doctor?" 

        "When your sister wakes up, she's going to have to deal with a
very substantial and heartbreaking ordeal and she will need everyone
around her to be as considerate as possible and not badgering each
other in the manner you're doing." 

        "I don't believe that you-" 

        "If you'll pardon me *Mr.* Scully, I am Dana's doctor and I
know what is best for my patients. Whatever grudge you hold against
Mr. Mulder, you leave outside this room, do you understand?" 

        "In all honesty *Dr.* Stent, I believe that I know what's
better for my sister than-" 

        "No, Mr. Scully, you don't." she stared at him. "I am the
doctor that is in charge of your sister's medical care and whatever
brotherly problems you have, I suggest that you keep them out of this
room and even out of this hospital until your sister is in a fit state
to cope with your attitude. She's been held hostage forthe last 24
hours and on top of that, she's lost a child that she may or may not
have known that she was carrying. Now, for *her* well-being, I'm
warning you not to make me ban you and I don't care if you *are* her
brother!" 

        It was all Bill could do to stand there and take it.  He
simply stared after Dr. Stent as she walked down the hallway. He
swallowed and opened the door to his sister's room. 

Fox Mulder Apartment.
7:40 a.m.

        His finger pressed the button again and he leaned back against
the couch, covering his eyes with his hands. 

        "Mulder? I know you're not at home, but I've tried to leave a
message at work, but the phone's busy. Anyway, I'm just calling to
tell you that I finished early with the meeting so I'm going to go
into Wiseman's and get a head start on you with the rings. Before you
get jealous, I promise I won't pick anything until you get here which
will hopefully be soon. I'm standing across the street from the
jewelers and I'm thinking of you.  Love you, Bye." 

        He licked his lip and sighed, tears pricking his eyes. It was
the last thing she said to him before she went in there. She'd called
here because he'd been using the phone to try to call her. She
couldn't get through to him and if she had, maybe she wouldn't be in
that bed. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, reaching over
and picking up the picture frame he kept on his desk. 

        He stared at the photograph and even though he had a eidetic
memory, staring at her face in this picture always made his heart skip
a beat. In the photograph, he was staring down at her lovingly, his
arms encircling her waist and his head lying on top of hers. She
stared at the camera, her blue eyes gleaming as she smiled fully
towards the photographer. 

	It was the last photograph that he had of them together. It
had been taken by a complete stranger after Mulder had asked him to,
more like begged him to, at the carnival they'd been to a
 couple of weeks ago. He'd won a neon pink elephant for her and she'd
kept it beside the bed ever since. She held it proudly in her arms in
the photo. 

        A tear slid from his cheek and landed on her neck, rolling its
way down the glass until it dripped from the edge of the frame and
landed on the wooden floor.  He clutched the frame to his chest as he
closed his eyes. 

Title: Divine Intervention 
Part: 23/? 

Washington General Hospital.
Washington DC.
November 18th 2000.
1:24 p.m.

        His footsteps were tentative as he approached the door, his
fingers were shaking and his whole body felt as if it would never stop
trembling. It was all he could do to put his hand on the door without
turning away. As he felt the cool metal of the handle beneath his
hand, it twisted before him and the door opened, Bill stepping out of
the room. 

        He stared at Mulder momentarily before grunting and walking
down the hall. Mulder swallowed and opened the door, immediately
seeing Mrs. Scully sitting beside Dana's bed and staring out the
window. The curtains had been drawn back since he'd been here last. 
She didn't turn.
        "I thought you went for coffee."  Mrs Scully said as Mulder
closed the door.
        "How is she?" he asked and she turned around. 
        "Fox?"  Mulder stared at her and Mrs. Scully rose, walking
over to him.
        "They sedated her; they said it was best." 
        "When will she wake up?" 
        "Tomorrow hopefully."  There was silence as Mrs. Scully stood
before him, her eyes not meeting his. 
        "Bill told you."  It wasn't a question and she walked away,
her back now to him. 
        "I told him you wouldn't hurt her on purpose." 
        "You're right, I wouldn't."  He stared at her back, not
willing to look at Scully. 
        "You shot her."  Mulder swallowed and she nodded, her back
still to him. 
        "I don't blame you Fox, you saved her." 
        "I killed our child in the process."  Mrs. Scully licked her
upper lip and turned around, her arms folding across her chest. 
        "There's nobody that can stop you from feeling sorry for
yourself Fox, only you. Dana will wake up and she will be hurt and she
will need you, more then you need her. Look at her." 
        He didn't move. Mrs. Scully walked to him, turning his face
gently in Scully's direction with her fingers. He stared at her and
his heart stopped. 
        "She's alive Fox and she needs you." 
        Mulder stared at what used to be his beautiful partner. Her
face was covered in bruises and small cuts; her left eye was
completely closed because of the purple contusions that surrounded the
soft tissue. 

He could faintly see the top of the dressing that was covering the
wound on her chest and Noticed the harsh red color of the skin that
surrounded it. Her worst injuries were hidden, hidden by her gown and
by the covers of the bed. He swallowed as his stomach contents turned
somersaults. 


        He only noticed now the absence of Mrs.  Scully's hand from
his face and thatshe had left the room.  He took the three steps
needed to get to her side slowly, allowing himself to walk calmer then
he felt for inside he was dying. How could he look at her like this
and not feel that it was his fault. Bill was right, as much as he
hated to admit it, but it was his entire fault. If Mulder hadn't
proposed that day, she'd be alive and she wouldn't be lying here with
two bullet holes in her and her life at risk. 
        She would always be at risk with him around but he couldn't
let her go. He'd be here for her, she was going to be his wife and
he'd care for her. He'd always be there for her, he'd take her in his
arms and never let go, and there would be nobody who could separate
them, nobody that could hurt her with him there to protect her. 

        He gently took her hand in his and rubbed the back of her hand
absently with his thumb. Swallowing, he used his other hand to wipe a
stray strand of blood stained hair from her face. He wouldn't lose
her, he couldn't bear to lose her, he needed her as much as she needed
him. 
        "Mr. Mulder?"  He didn't turn around to see who it was; he
knew the voice was vaguely familiar. 
        "Yes?"  Dr. Stent stood on the opposite side of the bed and
looked at Mulder. 
        "Did Mrs. Scully inform you that I wanted to speak to you?" 
He looked surprised. 
        "No, why is something wrong?"  She swallowed and looked
briefly at the clipboard in her hands. 
        "I'm afraid that I haven't told you everything about the
operation." 
        "What do you mean?" he stared accusingly at her. "Are you
saying that she won't wake up?" 
        "No Mr. Mulder, I'm not saying that, please calm down." 
        "I'll calm down when you tell me what's wrong."  She paused
and looked uncertain. 
        "I'm afraid that when we were operating on Dana..." she paused
again and her eyes changed slightly. Mulder noticed that Scully's
always did the same before she broke bad news to him. "When we were
operating on her stomach injuries and discovered that she was
pregnant, the damage was so bad that we were forced to remove-" 
        Mulder interrupted. 
        "Are you trying to tell me that she won't..."  He couldn't
finish. 
        "I'm sorry to tell you...but due to the nature of the wound
and the position of the bullet, we were forced to remove the uterus
and Dana will be unable to conceive a child again." 
        Mulder swallowed. 
        "I don't understand this, you're telling me that she can never
have children again?"  Dr. Stent's eyes softened. 
        "I know this is a hard thing to take in Mr.  Mulder." 
        "You're telling me that she can't have any more children, is
that correct?"  He rose and started to pace. 
        "Mr. Mulder, there were certain aspects of the pregnancy that
are... strange." 
        "She was told that she was barren, that she wouldn't be able
to conceive." 
        "I'm well aware of that. I've looked over her medical records,
and I really don't know how to explain what has happened." She paused.
"It's the first time that I've ever seen something like this occur." 
Mulder shook his head. 
        "I can't take this in. I don't understand what you're trying
to tell me." 
        "I'm saying that there is no way that I can explain what
happened to Dana other then the possibility of..."  Mulder closed his
eyes. 
        "I understand that this is trying Mr. Mulder." 
        "You don't know anything, not unless you shot the most
important person in your life and caused them to lose the one thing
they thought they'd never have..."  Dr. Stent sighed. 
        "Would you like me to tell her mother?" 
        "No, she's under enough pressure as it is." 
        "Do you want to talk to a counselor?" 
        "And hear again how sorry everyone is? I just want her to wake
up." 
        "She will."  Mulder shook his head and sat on the chair by her
bedside again. 
        "Is there anything else that I should know?"  Dr. Stent was
silent. 
        "I won't know for certain until Dana wakes up." 
        "You won't know what?" 
        "It's always difficult to estimate the damage bullets can
cause."  Mulder swallowed and stared at Scully. 
        "With these bullets, what kind of damage can be caused?" 
        "It can range from nothing to more long term concerns..." 
        "Like what?"  She gathered her clipboard from the bed. 
        "There is no point in worrying until she's awake."  She went
to walk towards the door. 
        "Tell me." 
        "Mr. Mulder...." 
        "Tell me, I need to know."  She sighed. 
        "It depends on the bullets." 
        "The chest wound, what could that do?" 
        "Well, she already had the bullet out when she came here, it
just needed to be cleaned out but the blood loss from the wound was
worrying, it was close to muscles and vessels that could affect her
motor skills." 
        "Motor skills?" 
        "It might affect her arm or hand functions." 
        "What?" 
        "I said might, and I use that word heavily Mr.  Mulder.  You
asked what might happen and I'm telling you. It could turn out
perfectly fine, I'm giving you worst case scenarios here." 
        "What about the other bullet?"  She sighed. 
        "Mr. Mulder..." 
        "Tell me Dr. Stent." 
        "I really can't predict that. The worst case would be
paralysis." 
        "What?" 
        "It would be in the worst case Mr. Mulder, there's probably a
5% chance of that happening." 
        Mulder ran his hand through his hair and sighed. 
        "I really don't think that you're in any fit state to deal
with this." 
        "Why would you say that?" 
        "I know that it was you..." she stopped. 
        "That pulled the trigger." 
        "I was talking to the police."  Mulder nodded and closed his
eyes. 
        "Just tell me she'll wake up." 
        "She will." She laid her hand on his shoulder.  "I promise." 


3:12 p.m. 
        Mulder's head was lying on his shoulder when Margaret Scully
walked in the door, Bill following with a bag over his shoulder. 
        "He's asleep."  Margaret said and Mulder's eyes opened. 
        "I was just resting my eyes for awhile."  Bill stood by the
window and stared at his sister silently. Margaret sat on the other
side of Mulder, beside the window. 
        "How is she?" 
        "Dr. Stent came in after you left, she..." he paused and
forced a smile. "She said everything would be fine." 
        "Did she say when Dana would wake up?" 
        "No, not really. She didn't give precise details."  Margaret
nodded and sighed, taking Scully's hand in hers and smiling towards
her unconscious daughter, almost as if Dana would wake up to see her. 
        "Tara will come by tomorrow to see you when you wake up honey.
She says hi." 
        Mulder glanced at Bill and saw that he was intently staring
out the window, his hands clasped behind his back, his face grim. What
would a man like that think about? Was what he said always what he
thought? 
        Bill turned and stared directly at Mulder. His eyes spoke all
they needed to. He hated Mulder, with vengeance. 

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 24/?

Washington General Hospital.
Washington DC.
November 18th 2000.
5:16 p.m.

	Mulder rose slowly from his seat, his back stiff as he'd sat
in the same position for over 3 hours. He sighed softly as Margaret
looked up at him, her eyes softening slightly as she stared at his
tired form. 

	"Where are you going?" she asked and he closed his eyes,
running his hands over his face. 

	"To get some coffee, do you want something?" 

She stared at him for a moment before smiling. 

	"Sure, some coffee would be great." 

	"I'll come with you." 

	Mulder looked towards Bill as he rose from his seat in the
corner. Mrs Scully threw her son a warning glance that, if he saw, he
did not acknowledge it. 

	"Sure," was Mulder's only reply as he turned and opened the
door of the hospital room, walking out and leaving it open for Bill to
follow. 

	"You didn't have to come." Mulder began as he headed towards
the cafeteria. 

	"Yeah, well..." he paused as he caught up with Mulder.  "I
don't want to find myself lying in some hospitalbed with poisoning." 

	"Poisoning? You think that I'd poison you?" 

	"I heard you've done worse, like shooting my sister." 

Mulder stopped walking and waited for Bill to turn around. He did and
his face was as hard as steel. 

	"Why did Tara marry you?" 

Mulder could clearly see that he'd caught her off-guard. 

	"What business is it of yours?" 

Mulder shrugged, his anger flaring up. Bill had never seen Mulder's
anger in full swing. Mulder had always controlled his anger in front
of Scully's brother, for her sake but at this particular moment in
time, he didn't give a damn what Bill thought of his behaviour. 

"Well then what business is it of yours about me?" 

	"My sister, that's what." 

Mulder's eyes bore into Bill's and Bill blinked several times before
Mulder answered. 

	"Your sister?" 

	"That's right." 

	"Then act like her brother." 

	"Excuse me?" 

Mulder took a step forward, his face a few inches from Bill's. 

	"Act like her brother, because right now, you're acting liked
a damned fool!" 

	"You've no right to talk to me like that." 

	"And what right have you got to treat me the way you've
treated me in the past? Nobody else in your family seems to have a
problem with me." 

	"I'm the only one who knows what you're like!" 

	"What I'm like? Tell me, inform *me* what *I'm* like!" 

Bill grunted. 

	"I don't have the time to tell you anything."  He turned and
began to walk away but Mulder grabbed his right arm and turned him
around. 

	"The way I see it, the reason you're here is because your
sister is in there."  He pointed towards the room they'd just left.
"And she's not going to be awake for at least another three hours so
the way I see it, you've got plenty of time to inform me what you
think of me." 

	Bill stared at him. 

	"You've got a problem with me and I want to sort it out right
here and right now because...." He paused and stared at him, his eyes
stony. "I'm tired of your dirty looks and strong talk with that stupid
chip on your shoulder!" 

	Bill stared at him stonily. 

	"You wouldn't know how I feel about my sister. You had one and
before you were out of high school, you fucking let some asshole take
her." He paused, seeing with happiness that his words had stung
Mulder. "You lost yours and now you're trying to take mine." 

	Bill stared at him in disgust a moment longer and then turned,
heading towards the cafeteria. Mulder grabbed his arm, turning him
around and punched him squarely on the jaw. Bill fell to the ground
and Mulder clutched his aching fingers momentarily as he stared down
at Bill before stepping over Scully's brother, who was clutching his
jaw. 

	"Don't *ever* mention my sister." 



5:35 p.m. 
	Mulder placed the money on the counter as he picked up his
tray. 

	"Have a nice day sir." The cashier said politely as Mulder
nodded towards her and carried the tray towards a vacant table. He sat
down and sighed, unwrapping the sandwich.  He was about to take his
first bite when Bill occupied the seat opposite him. 

	"Running off from a fight is a cowards way out..." he said,
sighing and rubbing his jaw absently. 

	"From what I remember, you were lying on the ground."  Mulder
took a bite of the ham sandwich. "If I'd stayed, you would have more
then a cut lip and a sore jaw." 

	"Funny Mulder, real funny..." 

Mulder chewed. 

	"I wasn't being funny."  Bill stared at the coffee. 

	"Why are you here?" Mulder asked, not looking up at the navy
man. "I thought that you didn't have the time to talk to me?" 

	"Yeah, well I fit it into my schedule..." 

Mulder glanced up at him as he took another bite from his sandwich. 

	"I'm sorry if I can't hide my surprise..." 

Bill shook his head. 

	"Look, I'm not here to chit chat, I want to know what happened
to Dana in that jewelers..." 

	"There's a paper over there, why don't you invest in a copy?" 

Bill stared at him, not blinking, Mulder sighed. 

	"She got shot." 

	"How?" 

	"With a gun." 

Bill swallowed and looked at Mulder through stony eyes. 

	"Is this some kind of joke to you? Or does Dana really mean
nothing to you?" 

	"How can you say that?" 

	Bill took one of the coffees from Mulder's tray and opened the
plastic lid, steam evaporating from the open cardboard cup. 

"It's simple, you treat this as if it's nothing." 

"I've lost my child, or have you forgotten. It's far from nothing..."
He paused. "What would you like me to do? Cry? Is that what you want?
For me to be a wreck and to fall to pieces to make your job of
tormenting me easier?" 

	"You like to twist everything anyone says, don't you?" 

Mulder shook his head and Bill stared hard at him, unrelenting. 

	"I just want to know what happened." 

Mulder stared at him. 

	"I proposed to her yesterday and she said yes, we were going
to pick out the ring at lunch, she was finished early from her meeting
and decided to go." 

	"To the jewelers that she was held hostage in?" 

	"That's right." Mulder paused and placed his sandwich down on
a napkin. "She went in there to pick a ring and I was late. I got held
up. She walked in on two guys who were holding the place up and she
was taken." 

	"She went in there by accident and one of them decided to
shoot her just because she had an FBI badge, no other reason, she
didn't do anything. She was unconscious for awhile and by the time I
got there everything had gone to hell. Two people were dead and the
robbers were agitated." 

	"A doctor that was in there came out to get medical supplies
and said that one of the men, Sam, was particularly picking on Scully
and was intimidating her to the point that she her condition might
deteriorate and he wouldn't let her go. Shortly after that, Mike, the
other suspect, got shot and died." 

	"Who shot him?" 

	"Sam. I talked to him and he agreed to let everyone in return
for me going in there. He shot another person, someone who was
responsible for saving Scully's life, before I got in there. When I
did get in there he refused to let Scully go." 

	"And that's when you shot her?" 

	"Yes, that's when I shot her." 

	"Why? 

Mulder stared at the sandwich. 

	"He aimed at her, I jumped at him and we fell on top of
Scully, I pulled the trigger by accident and the bullet hit him
through the chest, straight through his heart and killed him
immediately." 

	Bill was silent as he went through what Mulder had just told
him. 

	"If you want me to say that I blame myself, then I do. Are you
happy now? Don't you think I've tortured myself with my own doubts and
worries without having you constantly aiming your anger aimed at me?" 

	"Mr. Mulder?" 

Bill and Mulder looked up as a hand touched Mulder's shoulder and a
nurse stood in front of them, smiling. 

	"Dr. Stent told me to find you." 

	"Is something wrong?" Mulder asked as he rose. 

	"No..." she began and Bill rose too. "Dana's just woken up." 

Title: Divine Intervention
Part: 25/?

Washington General Hospital.
Washington DC.
November 18th 2000.
6:03 p.m.

	Mulder ran from the stairway towards Scully's room.  He barged
past medical staff without a word of apology and when he reached her
room, he found Mrs. Scully standing outside it, looking anxiously in. 
	
	"Mrs. Scully?" he asked and she turned and smiled. 

	"She woke up Fox, she woke up!" 

The door opened just as Bill joined them and Dr. Stent stepped out. 

	"She's awake and you can see her for a couple of minutes, then
we need to examine her." 

	Maggie went to her left side, placing her hand gently in her
daughter's and she smiled as Scully's half opened eyes stared up at
her. 

	"Dana? It's mom..." 

	But if Scully recognised her mother, she didn't show it. Her
head turned limply around to stare at Mulder and Bill. She blinked as
she stared at Mulder but no recognition entered her eyes and she
swallowed, closing her eyes again. 

	"She doesn't know us!" Maggie said aloud and Dana's eyes
opened again, staring up at her mother. She looked tired and dazed and
confused all at once. 

"Fox?" 

	"Scully." Mulder came to her bedside and took her other hand
in his. She turned her head groggily around to face him and looked up
at him. Again, no recognition crossed her face as she looked at him. 
"It's Mulder..." 

	"Alright, I think she's had enough now, you need to wait
outside." Dr. Stent's voice demanded gently and they said their
goodbyes to a woman who seemed to remember nothing about them. 

	Mulder watched as the same nurse who'd come to the cafeteria
closed the door of Scully's room. 

	"What happened your lip Bill?" Maggie asked and Mulder turned,
staring at Bill's blood stained lip and swelling jaw. 

	"I..." he paused and stared at Mulder. "Tripped." 

	"Tripped? That's not like you Bill." 

	"No..." he swallowed. "It's not." 

If Maggie knew her son was lying to her, she chose to either hide it
or not to acknowledge it. She turned to Mulder. 

	"She'll be alright Fox, won't she?" 

	"She's awake, that's all that matters..." 

Maggie nodded and they took the seats opposite the room, looking at
the door. 



6:25 p.m. 
	"She's awake now..." Dr. Stent said as she closed the door
behind her. "When you saw her, she wasn't fully alert, you must
remember that she's been under heavy sedation till now." 

	"She needs to rest, she can't exert herself too much, she's
had two serious operations but..." she smiled.  "She's asking for you,
so you can see her for a short time." 

	Maggie and Bill opened the door and smiled enthusiastically
towards Scully, as she lay almost motionless on the bed, her face
looking expectantly to the door. 

	"Mr. Mulder..." Dr. Stent held him from entering the room by
placing her hand on his arm. He turned around and stared at her
anxiously. "I haven't told her about the operation, not completely. I
want to wait until she's feeling a little better, a little stronger. I
just wanted you to know that she's not fully aware of what's happened,
she doesn't seem to remember most of the incident in the jewelers and
I'd rather you not say anything to upset her at the moment." 

	Mulder nodded. 

	"Is it alright to go in now?" 

She smiled. 

	"Of course." 

	Mulder stepped inside, looking at Scully from the doorway. She
was lying on her back, small tubes and lines hanging from everywhere.
The steady beeping of her heart on the monitor brought a smile to his
lips. 

	"Where is he?" Scully's voice demanded hoarsely. "I want to
see him." 

Maggie stared around at Mulder and he nodded towards her and smiled as
he walked towards Scully's bed. 

	"I'm here Scully..." he took her hand. "Don't worry." 

	"Oh Mulder..." she began, tears brimming her blue eyes. "I
thought I was going to die in there and I..."  her lower lips
quivered. 

	"Shhh..." he wiped a stray strand of hair from her eyes.
"You're alright." 

	"But they're all dead Mulder... all the blood and the
shots..." she closed her eyes. "They're all dead because of me..." 

	"Scully..." his hand moved to caress her cheek as if he were
aware of nobody in the room but the two of them. "They're not dead..." 

	"Tom..." her eyes became scared. "Tell me Tom's alright..." 

Dr. Stent stepped beside Mulder. 

	"I think it's best that you leave her alone for now, she's
very confused and getting into a state." 

	Scully clung to Mulder's hand. 

	"Don't go, please, I don't want to be alone here..."  her
lower lip quivered again and a tear fell from her eye. "Please
Mulder..." 

	Mulder glanced at Dr. Stent before smiling slightly and
kissing her forehead gently. 

	"I'll be back tomorrow honey." 

	"Please..." 

	Mulder swallowed as he released his hand from Scully's. He
closed his eyes as he walked towards the door. 

	"We'll be back too honey, okay?" Maggie said as she kissed
Scully gently. 

	"Please, you have to promise you'll come back..." 

	"We promise." Bill replied and Mulder turned in the hallway as
Maggie and Bill came out of the room. Dr.  Stent walked to the door
and her hand rested on the handle as Mulder stared at Scully. 

	Her body was shaking with the force of the emotion coursing
through her body and she clung to the sheets as tears fell down her
cheeks. She shook her head. 

	"I don't want to stay here..." 

	"Please..." Mulder begged, staring intently at Dr.  Stent. "I
don't want to lave her like this..." 

	"I'm sorry Mr. Mulder, maybe tomorrow..." 

	Dr. Stent closed the door and Mulder moved to the observation
window. He looked in as Scully's eyes met his, Dr. Stent sticking her
IV with a needle. 

	"It's alright Dana, you'll feel better soon." 

	Mulder turned from the window, the last thing in his mind was
the image of Scully lying on the bed and crying. 

Divine Intervention
Part: 26/?

Assistant Director Walter Skinner's Office.
FBI Headquarters.
Washington DC.
November 19th 2000.
8:45 a.m.

        Mulder sighed. 

        "The four weeks isn't my idea Mulder, it's bureau policy..." 

        "I don't need time off." 

Skinner leaned on the side of his desk and pressed his hands against
the desk. 

        "Mulder, the truth is you have to take it off." 

Mulder stared at him, waiting for him to go on. 

        "What?" he asked. "There's something you're not telling me." 

Skinner closed his eyes briefly, thinking. 

        "You know every time you discharge your weapon there is a
bureau inquiry. And until it's complete you are going to be
suspended." 

	"Suspended?" he stared at Skinner. "This isn't the usual
shooting related investigation."

Skinner swallowed. 

        "No. We've watched the tapes from the surveillance cameras
recovered from..." 

        Skinner grew silent for a moment as Mulder stared up at him
expectantly. 

        "It shows everything..." Skinner stared at him to gage his
reaction. "From the original take over to..." 

        "Me shooting Scully." 

        "You never said anything to me... I didn't know." 

        "It wouldn't have made any difference." 

	Skinner's jaw twitched and Mulder sighed. The powers that be
had been trying to get him out of the FBI since the day he'd decided
to investigate the X-Files.  Mulder had managed to outwit them for
over 8 years, he'd held onto his precious files through everything and
now he could be re-assigned, or worse, for shooting the one thing he
loved more then the files.  He stared at Skinner with more emotion
then he'd originally intended to show. 

	"They want me out, don't they?" 

Skinner shrugged and forced a smile. 

        "Since when have they been able to get rid of you?" 

        "I never shot my partner before." 

Skinner sighed and rose from his desk. 

        "You saved their lives Mulder, not only Scully's....  but
everyone in there." 

        Mulder shook his head. 

        "But I have a suggestion." 

        "Which is?" 

Skinner swallowed and Mulder knew that he wouldn't like what his
superior was going to say. 

        "I think you should see a psychiatrist." 

        "What? You're kidding." 

Skinner's face told Mulder he was far from kidding. 

        "No. I don't need a psychiatrist to tell me something's wrong
with me, there is *nothing* wrong with me." 

        "You shot Scully. All I'm saying is, if the board decides that
you're staying, then they'll tell you to go. Better to do it now
before they order you."  Skinner removed his glasses and left them
sitting on his desk. "It'd show them that you're..." 

        "Willing?" 

Skinner smiled slightly and Mulder nodded. 

        "Fine, I'll do it..." 

Mulder rose. 

        "How's Scully?" Skinner asked as Mulder walked towards the
door. He stopped and turned t face his superior, his face holding
emotion he could not keep under control. 

        "She woke up yesterday, but was pretty dazed and frightened." 

        "It's understandable... She's been under a lot of pressure." 

Mulder shrugged. 

        "I think it's more then that." 

        "Why?" 

        "I don't know... she wasn't acting like herself. She was
petrified..." 

	"She's been through a lot Mulder." 

Skinner paused. 

        "Do you love her Mulder?" 

Mulder looked appalled at Skinner for asking the question. 

        "Don't worry, it's between us..." 

	Mulder paused, looking out Skinner's window as if wishing he
could be anywhere else but here. Skinner sighed. 

        "Look, it's not some big secret, the two of you have tried to
be discreet but I wasn't born yesterday." 

        "What do you mean?" 

        "Well, for one, I went to her apartment a few days ago to
discuss something and..." 

        "Her car wasn't there..." Mulder finished, realizing now for
the first time that Skinner had known for a long time what exactly was
going on. "Yes." 

        Skinner smiled and nodded his head. 

        "It wasn't that hard, was it?" he stared at Mulder as he
looked up. "You love her Mulder, so go to the physiatrist." 

        Mulder rose. 

        "I have to see her, I haven't seen her all morning..." 

        "Why?" Skinner asked, puzzled. 

        "I..." he paused, looking uncertain suddenly.  "She wasn't up
to visitors..." 

        "Well, then why was the FBI told they could send down their
agents?" 

        "Their agents?" Mulder swallowed. "They're there now?" 

         Skinner nodded. 

        "I haven't spoken to her yet, she doesn't know I..."  He shook
his head and rushed from Skinner's room. What the hell were they
thinking? Scully was confused, they'd tell her everything, they'd tell
her things she didn't know, like... he paused, standing at a doorway
as his head spun... like he'd shot her and killed their child... 


Washington General Hospital.
Washington DC.
November 19th 2000.

        He raced down the hall, pushing past an orderly who yelled
after him, shouting obscenities as Mulder ignored him and ran towards
Scully's room. He forced the door open as if his life depended on it
and stood momentarily shocked at what he saw. 

        The priest raised his hand so slowly that it made Mulder's
heart stop as he stared at the hand moving in the sign of the cross,
the long monotonous beep of a machine in the back of his mind and then
it clicked.  He walked forward one step, looking in the observation
window of her room as the nurse pulled the sheet over her body, a male
nurse pulling the curtain around the bed. He swallowed, this couldn't
be happening. 

        His heart was racing miles ahead of his mind, it's thumping
banging so hard his chest hurt. His hands ran into his hair and his
body pressed against the wall, sliding down until his buttocks sat on
the backs of his legs. His head lowered toward his knees as the first
tear fell from his eyes. 

        He heard the footsteps that were becoming all too familiar
over the last few days and he rose before he looked, grabbing the man
by the collar and pushing him up against the wall, hearing the crack
of his head as it hit the cement. He punched the man's side, gaining
no pleasure as he heard his grunt as he placed his hands up against
Mulder's chest. 

        "Get off me!" he screamed at Mulder but Mulder's arms pinned
him to the wall like iron. 

        "You bastard!" he yelled, hitting Bill across the cheek. "You
couldn't fucking tell me? You let me walk in here and find her
like..." he stopped, his arms going limp. "Damn fucking son of a
bitch!"

Divine Intervention
Part: 27/?

Washington General Hospital.
Washington DC.
November 19th 2000.
9:30 a.m.

	"Fox!" Maggie's hands were on Mulder's shoulders.  "What is it
you think has happened?" 

	"Why couldn't you tell me?" he demanded slowly, not looking
her in the eye. "I had a right to know!" 

	"Fox..."Maggie's hands moved from Mulder's shoulders.  "I
don't know what you're talking about." Her voice became urgent. "Has
something happened to Dana?" 

	"I had a right to know..." Mulder muttered, Bill pushed past
him. 

	"What the hell is going on with him? One minute he's slapping
me around like he's some big tough FBI agent and the next he's sobbing
like a little girl..." 

	"She's not dead." Maggie stated, looking at Bill but speaking
to Mulder. His head rose. 

	"What?" 

	"She's not dead Fox." Maggie repeated, staring at her
daughter's previous room and realizing what was going on. She watched
absently as Bill wiped blood from his lip. "She's moved rooms." 

	"She's..." he couldn't finish and rose from the ground, his
eyes glancing at Bill before centring on Maggie.  "You're...sure." 

	"She was moved to a another room earlier this morning, we
found out just a few minutes ago but..." she paused.  "We didn't get
to see her." 

	"Your FBI friends are up there with her."  Mulder swallowed. 

	"They're interviewing her?" 

Maggie nodded. 

	"The guard that's outside her room said that we couldn't go
in." 

	"What room?" 

	"Room 346..." 

Mulder swallowed and passed by Maggie. "I have to see her..." 

	"Why?" Bill shouted as he rushed to the stairs.  "Afraid that
she'll find out the truth?" 

	Mulder climbed the stairs, running through the stair doors at
the right floor in time to see two FBI agents getting into an
elevator. He recognized the woman from Headquarters but before he
could get to them, the elevator doors closed and they were gone. 

	Mulder walked along the hallway, passing room after room, door
after door until he saw room 346. He paused, running his hand through
his hair and wiping the tearstains from his eyes. He took in a deep
breath and prepared himself to see her. He smiled, she was alive. 

	"I'm sorry sir." A nurse opened the door in front of him. "You
can't come in, Dr. Stent is speaking to her." 

	"What about?" Mulder asked, glimpsing Scully's back as she
faced Dr. Stent but the nurse closed the door. 

	"I'm sorry, I don't know..." 

	"Please, I have to speak to her..." 

The nurse smiled. 

	"I'm sorry sir, but you'll have to speak with Dr.  Stent." 

	Mulder sighed and closed his eyes, sitting on the chair
outside the room but rising just as quickly, finding the act of
sitting down something he couldn't do with Scully in there, thinking
God-knows-what after those two agents filled her head with anything
from him playing no part or planning the whole thing! 

	He paced up and down the hall, not knowing how Long he had
been waiting when the door to Scully's room finally opened and Dr.
Stent finally stepped out. 

	"Mr. Mulder..." she began, swallowing and Mulder sensed that
she wasn't expecting to see him out here.  "You can't go in here..." 

	Mulder's lips pressed together as Dr. Stent swallowed again
licking her upper lip. 

	"Does that include FBI Agents?" 

She looked at her feet for a moment. 

	"That's different Mr. Mulder..." 

Mulder shrugged, his anger rising. 

	"I don't see how, in my opinion, I'm entitled to see her..." 

	"Not if she doesn't want to see you." 

Mulder was momentarily stunned. 

	"What?" 

	"She..." she paused. "She's extremely distraught..." 

	"Distraught? In what way?" 

Dr. Stent sighed again. 

	"Look, no matter what you say, she'll want to see me, I know
it." 

	Mulder pushed past her and opened Scully's door.  She was
sitting, her face turned away from him as she stared out the window.
She pressed a kleenex to her eyes. 

	"Hey..." Mulder ventured as he stepped inside the door. 
Scully didn't turn around, her hand just moved away from her eyes. 
Mulder walked towards her bed, standing beside the bedside table.  He
reached out and touched her shoulder and she flinched, he withdrew his
hand and stared at her. "Scully?" 

	She turned towards him, her eyes filling with tears.  As she
stared at him, a single tear slid down her cheek and fell silently to
the blanket. 

	Dr. Stent's hand touched Mulder's arm gently. 

"Mr. Mulder, I think that you should leave..." 

	Mulder looked longingly at Scully as her head turned back
towards the window. He waited for a moment to see if she would say
something but felt the silence seemed to clamp down and smoother him. 

	He turned but was stopped when her sheets rustled but he
didn't have a chance to turn, her words made him freeze. 

	"Is it true?" 

	Mulder's back was to her and he froze, afraid of turning and
seeing the pain he knew would be in her eyes, he couldn't face seeing
her look at him. 

	"Yes." 

	Dr. Stent led Mulder out of the room but as he turned he saw
Scully staring at her stomach, tears streaming down her face. He
wanted to go back, but was afraid that she'd tell him to leave and he
didn't think that he could take that so he turned and left. 

Divine Intervention
Part: 28/31

Washington General Hospital.
Washington DC.
November 19th 2000.
11:59am.

        Her eyes looked older then her 64 years as she stared at her
daughter, sighing as she wiped a stray strand behind her ear, crossed
her legs and swallowed. 

        "It wasn't Fox's fault Dana..." she paused and stared at her
daughter's turned head. "If you weren't pregnant..." 

        Scully flinched. 

        "... You might think differently about what happened..." 

Maggie's hand entered Scully's and she finally turned and faced her
mother, a tear slipping from her eye. 

        "Don't worry..." Maggie began. "He'll come back..."  Scully
returned her gaze to the window. 




        She doesn't understand. Nobody understands.  How could they? 
It's not as if this is an everyday occurrence.  They've never
experienced the emotions that I'm feeling coursing right through me. 
Mom tries to simplify everything, to make it clear-cut. Mulder shot
me, he didn't mean it, and everything is all right.

        The rational person/doctor/FBI agent inside me is screaming
that she's right, but something else inside me is screaming at her and
telling her that she hasn't a clue, that nobody does. I'm empty now.
Inside, I'm empty. 

        Mom's view is that the "bad guy" is always to blame.  The bad
guy is at fault. But it wasn't the bad guy who shot me was it? I don't
know where I am or what to think, but all I know is at this particular
moment I don't want to hear any excuses, I don't *want* to hear any
apologies, I don't want to see him.  I don't want to see the father
and killer of my child. 

        It wasn't my fault that Missy was killed. It wasn't Mulder's
fault that I was abducted. It wasn't my fault that I couldn't save
Emily. Don't think that the church is to blame for anything; it cured
my cancer, it was my salvation. It's not even Bill's fault that he
doesn't like Mulder. He's over protective. It's not Bill's fault that
he doesn't approve of my job, he's watching out for me. It wasn't
Mulder's fault I lost the baby. 

        I haven't heard his side of it; my mother has sugarcoated the
truth while the agents who saw me this morning probably tried to make
it appear that it was Mulder's fault that the whole thing happened in
the first place. One question runs through my mind.  How could I love
someone *so* much and never want to see them again? 




      Bill pushed the door open as Tara came behind him, carrying the
small bundle of pathetic grapes in a plastic bag-he didn't want to
bring flowers, flowers meant condolences. 

      He looked at his sister. She looked dreadful.  Her face was
pale, except for the yellowish bruising that appeared in small patches
on her skin. Her eyes were blood-shot with dark circles underneath and
her blue eyes lacked their usual depth and intensity. He swallowed as
he approached her, watching as she feigned a smile for Tara, asking
how she was. Tara smiles, and he closed his eyes as his lips come into
contact with his sister's cold skin. 

"Bill..." she says, smiling. His eyes let her know that she isn't
fooling him. "How are you?" 

"Better than you, did you get any sleep?" 

"A little." 

<Liar> a voice inside Bill raged, his eyes asking the question he
didn't speak. <He was here>

"Really Dana..." Tara said, sitting down. "How are you feeling?" 

"She didn't get much sleep last night, she was twisting..."Maggie
began and Dana's thoughts zoned off again. 





      It's impossible not to wonder, even in this short time that I've
known. Brown eyes? Blue eyes? Red hair?  Brown hair? His nose? My
temper? I can almost picture the frail little fingers gripping mine as
I smile down at him or her. No, it was a boy, I've decided. A little
boy. I would have called him Adam. 

"Charlie says he's coming home from New York on..."  Maggie's voice
interrupted her thoughts, Dana's mind closed off again. 

      A boy. A wonderful little baby boy. Brown hair.  Blue eyes.
Perfect smile. He was perfect, until he was taken away from me in the
blink of an eye and I didn't even know. 

      "It's hard to imagine..." Tara begins and the first tear falls
from Dana's eye as she stared out the window.  I was four months gone.
He felt pain. His little heart had beaten in his chest and then the
beating had stopped. He'd lived inside me for four months and had been
taken away, by the person that I loved.  "Dana!?" 

      I turned towards Bill. It was one of the few times that he had a
worried expression on his face.  "What was that?" I asked, wondering
just how long he's been trying to talk to me. 

"I said I'm going for some coffee, do you want anything?" 

      I shake my head and returned my gaze to the window. I heard the
door close after Bill and felt the tears well up in my eyes again, for
no reason other than I couldn't stop them. 

      "You're looking well Dana..." Tara commented as she looked at
her sister-in-law intently. "Considering..."  I turned my head towards
her, tired of hearing her say the same thing. She always acted
unthinkingly in a difficult situation. 

      "Considering what?" I asked, finding my emotions on an
uncontrollable roller coaster that I neither wanted to be on nor
wanted to stop.  At this stage, I didn't care if I flew from the seat.
I watch as Tara fiddles with a strand of hair, looking at mom for some
re-assurance or rescue, maybe both. 

"You know..." she finally replies. I ponder for a moment, do I know?
Tough question. 

      "Well, that depends, which particular trauma are you referring
to?" I felt my mother's hand rest on my arm but I shook it off,
feeling too wound up for niceties or emotion controlling. "Considering
I was taken hostage?" 

      "I didn't mean to upset-" 

      "Considering that I was shot by some maniac who thought I looked
like his girlfriend?" I could feel my voice beginning to tremble and
Tara's face was growing paler as my mother's hand slipped from my arm
in shock, she'd never heard me deliver an outburst like this. 

      "Considering I watched a man who saved my life, murdered in cold
blood..." 

The first tear fell silently down my cheek. I swallowed. 

      "Considering I thought I was going to die, that..." my mother
took my hand and squeezed. "That when I finally think I'm safe, the
one man who..." the tears were trickling down my cheeks now, dampening
my nightshirt collar. "The one person who I count on, takes away the
only..." I pause, the tear continuing to fall. 

      "It's okay Dana..." Mom offers as the door opens and I look up
to see Mulder walking in. 

      "No Mom..." I begin, staring at him. "It's not." 


Divine Intervention 
Part: 29/31

Washington General Hospital.  
Washington DC.  
November 19th 2000. 
12:43am. 

	His footsteps were hesitant at first, as if a child taking
it's first, clumsy, steps. He stared from Scully to Maggie to Tara and
then back to Scully who turned her head towards the window, avoiding
his gaze. 

	"Fox..." Maggie sounded surprised and relieved at the same
time, almost as if she hoped that he could make sense of this new and
strange daughter that she found herself with. 

"I didn't mean to interrupt..." 

Maggie rose; Tara followed her lead, picking up her coat. 

	"You didn't, we're going to meet Bill for coffee..."  Maggie
turned and kissed Dana's cheek. Her daughter remained motionless.
"I'll be back honey."  Mulder brought the flowers out from behind his
back and placed them on her bedside locker. 

	"Sorry they're such a small bunch..." he began, smiling
nervously. "I would've come earlier..." 

	He cleared his throat, and watched for any sign of recognition
on her face, he received none. 

"They said that you needed to rest..." she stared at the window, not
moving. "I didn't know if I should bring flowers or not, you always
hate having too many..." 

His voice trailed off and he remained silent, watched her for a minute
to see if anything she did told him that she was going to speak to
him. 

	"It was a boy," she finally said and he stared at her,
unnerved by the tone in which she spoke in. It sounded like the manner
she used when interrogating suspects. 

	"What?" 

	"Our baby...it was a boy." 

	"I..." 

	"You don't have to say anything, I'm just filling you in, you
are, were, the father..." 

Mulder was silent, thoughts running through his head.  He'd never seen
Scully this angry. He wasn't saying that he expected to walk in and
act like nothing had happened, but Scully had never been this way with
him and he didn't know how to react. 

	"I was four months along," she continued, her words cutting
into him like a knife in butter. "I didn't know, did you?" 

	"I don't think..." 

	"What? You don't think what? Give me your psychologist's
opinion." 

	"Scully..." 

	"Mulder, *get* out." 

	He stared at her, thinking he'd heard things. 

        "Go." 

        "Scully, please..." 

        "Mulder don't, I need time to think before I say things that
I'll regret." 

        "Scully. I need to talk to you, I don't want to leave it like
this..." 

        "Like what?" her head had never turned to face him since he'd
walked in. it was either because she couldn't face looking at him
because she hated him so much or she didn't want to look at him for
fear of breaking down, he didn't know which he feared more.  "With me
lying here with the knowledge that I had the chance to have a child
and you took that away from me?" 

        "I didn't mean to..." he drifted off mid sentence and
swallowed, wondering where they'd gone wrong to end up here. 

        "Didn't mean to what?" 

        They were silent. Neither could stand to speak but Mulder kept
his eyes riveted on Scully while she still refused to look at him.
Thoughts ran through his mind so quickly that he had trouble keeping
up and then it dawned on him. 

        "You can't forgive me." 

It wasn't a question. 

        "I don't know what I can or can't do, it's too soon." 

        "I can't live without you Scully." 

She swallowed. 

	"And I don't know if I can live with you."  "Scully, we're
engaged to be married..." his voice came in a whisper. 

	"We were engaged to be married." 

Mulder stared at her intently as a tear slid down his cheek. 

	"You're..." he paused and laughed nervously, wiping the tear
away with the back of his hand. "You're saying you're not marrying
me?" 

	"I don't know." Her voice was measured, calculated, as if
every word counted. 

	"You don't know?" his voice was frantic and he swallowed
again, his hands running through his hair, the fact that she would not
loo at him was driving him crazy. "I don't understand." 

	"I lost *my* child Mulder. I had a baby in my womb for *4*
months and the bullet from *your* gun took him away." 

	"He was my son..." 

	"If you found Sam and I fired my gun at her and murdered her,
would you be so quick to forgive me?" 

	"That's different." 

	She closed her eyes briefly. 

	"Is it because she was a living breathing person?" 

	"That's not fair! I didn't know!" 

	Scully sighed. 

	"Life, Mulder, isn't fair..." 

        He was reeling in shock. He stood in the middle of her
hospital room and yet it felt as if he were standing in a stranger's
room. She was different. The rational man inside told him that it was
her right and that she was in shock but what she was saying to him
wasn't coming from someone who was in shock, it was coming from
someone who'd been hurt too many times in the past and had reached the
final straw. 

        "He was going to shoot you," he offered lamely, just in case
it made a difference. 

        "I remember." 

        "I did it to save you." 

        "I know that, I'm thankful." 

        "Thankful?" 

She swallowed thoughtfully. 

        "I don't know how or what to feel Mulder, give me time." 

        He sat down on the chair beside her bed. 

        "I need time to re-evaluate things..." 

Mulder's head lay in his hands as she spoke. 

        "Tell me..." he begged, raising his head.  "Tell me you'll
marry me." 

	She closed her eyes and he knew the answer before she even
said it. 

        "I can't do that..." 

Mulder's hand reached across her body and with gentle fingers, he
turned her face around so he was looking at her for the first time
since he'd come in. 

        "Tell me you love me." 

Scully opened her eyes, staring at him. They were brimming with tears
but were empty of any emotion. 

        "I can't do that..."

Divine Intervention
Part: 30/31


Washington General Hospital.
Washington DC.
November 26th 2000.
3:23pm.

        His footsteps traveled up the stairs slowly, his hand sliding
along the railing as he took the steps, one at a time. When he reached
her floor, he didn't speak to the nurses, he didn't want to speak to
anyone but her. 

        She'd been all he'd thought about since he'd left her room a
week ago. She filled his every waking thought, his every dream and
everything in between. He couldn't believe that what she'd said to him
last week had been what she'd been thinking. 

        The Dana Scully that Mulder knew would never talk to anyone,
never mind him, like that. She was so cold, so detached and it had
made him wonder if this is what she was like to people she didn't
know. If that's where she got the name "Ice Maiden." He'd cursed
himself for thinking such a thing, the torment she'd been through
because of him had been dreadful and here he was, acting like an
asshole and thinking something like that. 

        He couldn't face going back to his apartment.  He couldn't
face seeing her pictures everywhere and her clothes hanging in his
closet. He couldn't face seeing his life without her so he'd stayed
with the Lone Gunmen. 

        He ran a hand through his hair and realized that he was
shaking. She'd had a strong affect on him. She could cause him to feel
such depths of passion and at a glance could make him fall to earth
with the force and strength of lightening. 

        He knocked on her door and a voice called "enter"  from
within. 

        "Are you the doctor?" a man asked from the bed and Mulder
swallowed, staring at him in surprise. His hand fell from the door and
he turned and left. She was gone. 





Fox Mulder Apartment.
November 26th 2000.

        He pushed the door open quickly, walking inside. 
        "Scully?" he called, looking into the living room and staring
at her things still lying across the couch. 

For a moment, a small hope began to grow inside him. 

"Scully?" 

        He should've known that she wouldn't be here.  He walked into
their bedroom and saw the open closet and the missing suitcase from
under the bed. He pulled open the drawer nearest to him and saw that
her things were missing. He walked over and sat on her side of the
bed, picking up the picture frame that sat neatly on her nightstand.
He stared at his face smiling back up, cradled in her shoulder as she
smiled up at him. 

     The teardrop fell to the glass, landing softly above his head and
rolling down the glass until it dripped from the edge. He ran his
finger over her face and for the first time since she'd been taken
hostage, he cried. 
        His body shook as his hand went up to his eyes and the picture
frame fell to the ground, smashing into a million tiny pieces... 




Margaret Scully Residence.
November 26th 2000.

        "Maggie!" He yelled, banging on her door with his fist.
"Maggie, are you home?" 

Mulder gritted his teeth and took a step back, cupping his mouth with
his hands. 

        "Mrs Scully!" 

        "Hey!" a man called from over the white picket fence of
Maggie's front yard. "Are you trying to wake the dead?" 

        "What?" 

The man smiled slightly. 

        "The shouting." 

        "I need to speak to Mrs Scully." 

The white haired man shrugged and continued clipping his bush. 

        "She left about twenty minutes ago..." 

Mulder stared at him. 

        "Her car's still here..." 

The man looked up at him and smiled. 

        "I didn't say she drove away..." 

        "Do you know where she went?" 

He shrugged again. 

        "I've no idea..." he paused. "The man she went with was about
your height, long trench coat and bald." 

        "Bald?" 

        "Yeah, kind of stern looking if you ask me...  Maybe he was
one of yours..." 

        "One of mine?" 

        "FBI, you're FBI right?" 

Mulder didn't answer, he got into his car. He was going to find out
why the hell Skinner drove Mrs.  Scully away in his car. 



Assistant Director Skinner's Office.  FBI Headquarters.  Washington
DC.  November 26th 2000.  5:34pm. 

        "He's been waiting for over an hour Sir." 

Skinner walked into his outer office and stared at his secretary. 

        "Who?" 

        "Agent Mulder, Sir." 

Skinner stared at her and she swallowed. 

        "I couldn't stop him, he was convinced that you were in there
and when he saw you weren't, he wouldn't leave..." 

        "Hold all my calls..." 

She nodded and Skinner opened his office door. 

        "Agent Mulder, what do you think you're doing?" 

        "I think *I* should be the one asking that *Sir*" 

        "What are you talking about?" 

Skinner placed a pile of files down on his desk. 

        "Where did you take Mrs. Scully?" 

Skinner stared at him, straight faced. 

        "I don't know what..." 

        "I've got a witness who saw you driving Mrs.  Scully away from
her house." 

        "Agent Mulder..." 

        "Where is Scully?" 

        "Agent Mulder!" Skinner slammed his fist on the table. Mulder
stopped talking. "What are you doing following me? 

        "I'm trying to find Scully!" 

Skinner sighed and sat in his chair, taking off his glasses and laying
them on the table. 

        "Sir, please..." Mulder's voice was desperate.  "I need to
talk to her, she left without saying anything..." 

        "She's confused and upset." 

        "I need to talk to her Sir." 

Skinner stared at Mulder, noticing the deep circles under his eyes and
the three days growth on his cheeks and he sighed. 



Bill Scully Residence.

        Mulder stared at the door as it opened before him.  Tara stood
in the doorway and sighed. 

        "She said that you'd come..." 

        "She's here?" 

Tara sighed again and reached inside behind her, picking something up
from the mahogany table in the hall. 

        "She said it's best that you don't see her..."  she looked at
the envelope she held in her hands before handing it over to Mulder.
"She said to give you this." 

        "Please let me see here Tara..." 

Tara smiled slightly and shook her head. 

        "Mulder, she told me she doesn't want to see you, she made it
quite clear that what she wants to say is in there..." she tapped the
envelope. "I'm sorry." 

        Tara began to close the door but Mulder's hand stopped her.
She looked alarmingly at his hand on her arm before he removed it and
swallowed. 

        "Tell her I love her." 

Tara nodded, closing the door. Mulder took a step away from the door
and turned around, beginning to walk down the path. He stopped half
way, staring at the envelope intently, unaware of the watcher in the
window above. 

        She stared at him as he looked at the letter and the tears
began to fall from her eyes, rolling quietly from her cheeks. She held
the curtains in one hand as she gazed at Mulder's form below. He
turned and she drew the curtains together. She didn't want to see him. 


Divine Intervention
Part: 31/31

Basement Office.
FBI Headquarters.
Washington DC.
November 26th 2000.
6:34pm.


He got a faint whiff of her perfume as he ripped open the sealed
envelope. He'd sensed her watching when he'd stood holding the letter
in Tara's driveway. He sighed as he stared at the crisp white paper in
his hand, swallowing as he closed his eyes. 

It wasn't good news. He knew it. He could tell as his fingers unfolded
the letter hidden within the white envelope. The paper held her neat
penmanship and as he stared at it, he was immediately drawn to the
tearstain that sat ominously at the bottom left hand corner, smudging
the last initial of her name. Tearstain equals bad news, he thought
and felt his stomach knot. 

        "Mulder, It's hard to express my thoughts when I don't even
know what I'm thinking. I don't remember what happened. Telling you
that I did would be lying and the last thing I want to do is lie to
you. 

There are so many things that you, my mother or even Bill could say to
explain what happened, but for me, there is only one thing to be said.
My child is dead. It's a harsh statement but it's the only one that
keeps coming to my mind. 

Emily was hard on both of us. We both blamed ourselves for letting her
slip away and it was hard to accept the fact that she was gone when I
had just found her and accepted that she was mine.  But we survived it
and our relationship grew stronger, so strong that I felt that there
would never be anyone else in this world for me.  How naive of me. 

You've loved, cared and protected me for so long Mulder and I am
thankful. But even with the many times you've saved my life, I can't
forgive you, taking this one life from me.  There are many things that
run through my mind. I should love you, I do love you, but it's not
the same. 

I don't blame you for what happened Mulder; I can't blame you because
it wasn't your fault, none of it, no matter how much you think it is.
I've simply had enough. It's been one case, one mutant, one shooting,
and one kidnapping too many. I can't risk my life anymore. I've paid
dearly Mulder, as have you, but I feel that it's time to break away.
I'm starting again and giving you the chance to start again. 

Eight years is a long time to depend on someone and I suppose we've
come to the stage where everything is vital, everything counts and
when something happens that upsets the balance of things, everything
is turned upside down. 

You might call it fate. Maybe this tells us that we weren't meant to
be, some kind of intervention from the almighty powers that be. It's
hard to think of my life without you, but I have to move on. I need to
move on.

I can't be an effective agent working with you and it would be better
if the work went forward without me.  You've always had me to protect.
I've just held you back. You never needed someone to question your
every move. 

We've both moved from one controlling relationship to another. When we
found each other, we found that our souls clicked, we connected and in
connecting we dominated the other's life. We stayed a constant
reminder of what might have been in another life, in another
profession, in another time. 

Our work won't allow us to live and love each other the way we should.
I can't ask you to give up what you do, just as you can't ask me to
forget our son.  They're both impossible. 

You'll hate me. You'll blame me but in time, I hope, you'll
understand. There are things in this world that nobody can comprehend
or justify. This is one of them.  Maybe this was meant to be. Maybe
what happened in the jewelers was supposed to tell us something.
Everything happens for a reason. 

You'll disagree, you never did really believe in fate.  You always
believed in taking the plunge and doing things your way, never
following the rules, making your own rules. You're so intense Mulder,
you intoxicate everyone. People have different ways to react to you,
the most common being fear.  But you amaze everyone, whether they want
to admit it or not.  You amazed me and you still do. 

I know you better then anyone Mulder, I even like to think that I know
you better then you know yourself sometimes. But I can't be consumed
in you, by you. I need to get away.  I need to break free and build a
life, a new life that I can truly live. 

I need to break away from the mutants and monsters and conspiracies
that have grown to take over my life. I need to find something normal
and safe. I can't fear for my life anymore. I need something to help
me fill the emptiness. 

I can't talk to you because I don't want to resent you in another 8
years for not letting me go. 

You'll always be Mulder and I'll always be Scully. " 




Bill Scully Residence.
Washington DC.
November 26th 2000.
6:34pm.

The tea was getting cold. She just stared at the mug;  the steam had
stopped rising about ten minutes ago. Her hand reached for the spoon
and started to stir the lukewarm water, even though there was no sugar
in the cup. 

Tara stared at her as she took a sip from her own mug that had "best
mommy" plastered across it. She hadn't thought how inappropriate it
was until she'd seen it sitting on the oak table. She swallowed the
drink and placed it back on the table, staring across the oval table
to Scully. 

"Are you sure you don't want to talk to him?" Scully swallowed and
stopped stirring, her hand still held the spoon as she stared at the
tea. 

"I..." she paused, a tear slipping down her cheek and landing on the
table. She released the spoon and rose her hand to her face, wiping
the tears away as they fell. 

"You could still talk to him..." she suggested and Scully's hand fell
from her face and she stared at her sister-in-law. Scully could hold
in the tears no longer, she laid her head on her hands and wept. Tara
rose and rubbed her back soothingly. 




Fox Mulder Apartment.
November 26th 2000.
7:21pm.

He'd read it four times now. Each word, over and over.  He'd looked at
every word until he'd learned the whole thing by heart and then he'd
read it once more to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. 

"I need something to help me fill the emptiness." 

Emptiness? What emptiness? The emptiness left from her son or the
emptiness that Mulder had created by being in her life? By cutting her
off from her friends, her family, her 'normal' life? She was sure to
feel empty after losing another child, but to stop seeing him
altogether without an explanation, without at least a chance to talk
to her? 


"I can't talk to you because I don't want to resent you for another 8
years for not letting me go." 

Does she resent me now? Did she always resent the changes I caused by
having her with me on the X-Files?  The fact that she used "another"
seemed to suggest that she already resented him. He shook his head in
a mixture of disbelief and uncontrollable emotion.

What could he say to change her mind? If this was really some long
festering resentment brought to a head by the shooting, how could she
ever stand to work with him again, let alone love him? 

His mind reeled with possibilities and hidden meanings. He sighed and
looked at the letter again. She hated him. 

"I need to move on..." 

How much clearer could she make it? She'd had enough, it was the last
straw. He couldn't blame her, but he was angry. He was angry at
everyone and everything but he was angry with himself most of all. How
could he not know this would happen? He always knew she risked her
life just being his partner. Letting her into his world changed
everything. 

With her in his world of secrets and lies and hidden meanings, he had
changed her life. He'd been on his own for so long and when she'd
come, after the initial suspicions, she'd become a part of it, part of
him. 

"I know you better than anyone Mulder..." 

And he'd thought that he'd known her. He thought that he knew every
inch of her so well. He thought they'd told each other everything. The
first time that he'd held her in his arms and felt her lips on his,
he'd forgotten every bad thing that had happened in his life. He'd
forgotten conspiracies, forgotten aliens, forgotten his father and
even forgotten Samantha.  She'd consumed him. He swallowed. Didn't she
know?  Couldn't she see? 

"You never did really believe in fate." 

Wrong! When he was with her, it was the one thing that he believed. He
believed that they were meant to be.  When he held her in his arms and
felt the warmth of her body next to his, he felt that everything in
their lives had led up to THAT moment. That every single thing
happened so he could feel her in his arms and kiss her hair. Maybe he
was wrong; maybe everything led to him losing her. That was the way
his life, his love always went. 

Was there really some plan for them? Was there a path that they were
directed on, whether they knew it or wanted it? If he saw her again,
could he change her mind, change fate? Could he ask her to come back? 
Would she agree or would she laugh in his face? 

"Our work won't allow us to live and love each other the way we
should. I can't ask you to give up what you do, just as you can't ask
me to forget our son." 

Patrick's words came back to him. Could he give up his job at the FBI
for her? If she came to him and asked him, said she'd come back to him
if he did, could he?  Would he? 

He looked at the letter as it fell to the ground as he felt the first
tear slip from his eye and fall to the paper, next to the now smudged
remains of her tear. He let his head fall to his hands and wept. 

  "Please forgive me Scully..." 


Well did you like the ending? Want a sequel? Tell me what you think
and I guarantee a reply! After 31 parts, you're bound to have a
thought or two!!!!  dk_scully_101@yahoo.com