Trueblue, Oklahoma by Storm Scully thought, shooting an irritated look in the general direction of her partner, Fox Mulder, who was inside the building. It was always his fault, because he always picked the cases. She took a handkerchief out of her purse and swabbed the back of her neck with it, then took a brochure from the airport out and flapped it impatiently in front of her face. she thought. Mulder was wrapping things up at the police department, and Scully was standing out in the hot Oklahoma sun, next to their rented car. She squinted into the sun, which was high in the sky and much harder than the sun at home, she was sure. Waves of heat floated over the landscape. Scully thought. Just one more stop and they'd have enough information to fly back to DC. Mulder appeared from behind the glass doors of the building and stepped out into the sunshine. He took his sunglasses out of his inner jacket pocket and put them on. Scully wished she had remembered her own this trip. She'd have to pick some up at a convenience store. "What's the matter, Scully?" Mulder asked, as they climbed into the car. "Had enough of Oklahoma?" He started the engine and turned the air conditioning on high. Scully fixed the vents in front of her to blow directly on her face. "Yes. Completely enough. Thank the Lord we only have one more round of questioning and then... to the airport!" They had packed their bags when they left the motel this morning, and they were ready and waiting in the trunk. "Let's stop for gas, Mulder, before heading to the Lowrey's. I'm thirsty and have to use the bathroom." "Your wish is my command," Mulder said, as he pulled over at a Shell station. Mulder pumped the gas and Scully went inside, paid, and then went to the back and found the restroom. Inside, she flipped on the light and was appalled at the condition it was in. Sighing, she pulled out the small can of Lysol she kept in her purse for just this reason and sprayed it all over the toilet seat and the room in general. Then she covered the seat with tissue for good measure before she used it. At the sink, she tried to clean up as best she could. Her shirt was sticking to her; it was so damn hot! Taking a wet paper towel, she sponged off her neck and just under her blouse. Then she left the restroom and headed back out to the car. "I think I'll do the same before we go," he told her, heading inside. Scully leaned against the car and looked up at the sky. In the distance she could see what looked to be rain clouds gathering. She prayed. Mulder came out drying his hands, tossed the paper into a wastebasket, and got into the car. Scully followed suit, and in a moment they were on the road again. "Mulder turn the air conditioner back on," Scully said. "It is on..." Mulder leaned over and fiddled with the buttons. Nothing happened. Scully groaned and rolled down her window, letting the hot air blast in. "Great, just great!" Mulder rolled his down, too. "So much for my good hair day!" Scully gazed out the window at the scenery barralling past. Flat land, the only real color at this time of drought being clumps of Indian Paintbrushes gracing the sides of the road. The were tall wildflowers, their stalks weedy, but their flowers resembling paintbrushes dipped in blood red paint. Scully's back was beginning to stick to the leather seat and her hair was all over the place. This had been a particularly tiring case. July at it's hottest hadn't helped much. And to top it all off, she felt a migraine coming on. She put her hand to her head, wishing it were cool, but instead it felt warm and clammy. "What's wrong, Scully, your head hurt?" Mulder asked, one of the few who knew she suffered from migraines. Scully nodded. "I'm sorry, Mulder. I know I haven't been much help today." "That's okay. This'll be easy to wrap up. I'll ask the Lowery's the questions, and you don't even have to come in." Scully smiled gratefully. "Well, that might depend on whether they have air-conditioning or not." Mulder raised an eyebrow. "Have any of these people had air-conditioning so far?" Scully laughed. "Okay. Thanks, I'll just wait outside." Mulder was pulling up the gravel drive and over to the side, next to a beaten-up pickup truck. It was painted a banana yellow, and had big splotches of rust on it. "This won't take long, Scully." Mulder got out of the car and Scully leaned her head back on the seat. A gentle breeze blew through the window and Scully sighed with relief. she thought, and opened the door. She stepped out and threw her suit jacket in the back. She had on a cornflower blue, short-sleeved shirt underneath that was now damp with perspiration. The wind was definitely picking up. Scully untucked her shirt and flapped it, letting the air inside. Then she leaned in the open car window and fished her cell phone out of her purse. She dialed and presently got Skinner's secretary on the line. "Is he in? It's Agent Scully." After a moment, AD Skinner's purely masculine voice sounded at the other end. Scully briefed him on their case, and told him their flight out was a seven PM. "Fine, Agent. You and Mulder be in my office first thing in the morning with the paperwork." Scully hung up the phone and sighed. she thought, and put it back in her purse. A drop or two of rain fell. "Hallelujah!" Scully said out loud, and then glanced around, embarrassed. True to his word, Mulder didn't take long with the questioning, and he appeared in the doorway of the old farmhouse with the Lowery's. They walked outside, the aging couple heading for their truck. "We hope we didn't rush you, Mr. Mulder. It's just my sister has supper waiting on us..." "No, that's fine," Mulder assured them, tucking his pen back into his shirt pocket, "We have all we need." The couple got into the truck and waved at Scully as they backed out of the driveway, amid the dust of gravel. Scully gave a little wave back, and they disappeared in a cloud of exhaust. Mulder sighed and leaned against the driver's side of the car. He handed the clipboard to Scully so she could look over the questions. He loosened his tie and lifted his face to the breeze. "Thank you, thank you! A storm's-a-brewin'!" Scully lifted the top sheet on the clipboard and continued reading. "It all looks good, Mulder. Coincides with the other testimonies." She looked up at him. "Ready to go?" "Am I ever! I'm afraid Toto might run down the road any minute now with the witch on the bicycle right behind." They climbed in, and buckled their seat belts. Mulder turned the key in the ignition. Nothing happened. He looked at Scully. "Unbelievable." she said. Mulder tried again. No luck. "Crap!" he hit the wheel. "I actually thought we'd have time to catch a bite to eat before our flight!" Just then, a branch cracked on a tree a few feet away and hit the ground. A gust of wind sent a newspaper flying by and a rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. "Uh, oh." Mulder said. "Looks like we're in for a storm." Scully picked up her cell phone. "I'll call AAA," she dialed and explained the situation to the man on the other end, who promised to send someone out shortly. After a few minutes of staring at one another, Mulder got antsy. "I can't just sit here and wait." A flash of lightning lit up the sky in the west, where a pile of high, black clouds cluttered the sky. He opened his door and got out, looking around. Across the Lowery's land, in the far distance, stood another farmhouse. "I'll just run over there and see if anyone has any jumper cables." He took off his jacket and stuffed it in the back seat, then took off his tie. "Be right back!" Scully nodded, and watched his long body jog through the field, coat tails flying. After a minute, he was lost to her sight behind the barn. Scully sat staring ahead out the windshield. Rain pelted it in big splatters, and then stopped. A gust of wind so strong that it rocked the car caused Scully to pick up her cell phone again to check on AAA. It didn't work. "Oh, shit!" Scully exclaimed, slamming it shut. Just then a chicken bounced off the hood of the car in a spray of feathers. Scully was getting unnerved. Throwing caution, and dryness, to the wind, she opened the door and got out of the car. The sky had gotten terribly dark, the clouds hanging low in the sky like a blanket. They moved as if a giant hand was stirring them from above. She looked around her. Debris was beginning to scoot across the ground. Scully felt a pin prick of fear. This was, after all, Oklahoma. She took a few steps forward, and was whipped around by the strong wind. She looked across the field for a sign of Mulder. Something hard hit her arm, then her shoulder, and bounced off the ground. Hail. Scully knelt down and looked at it as dozens of its twins went springing around her feet. "Ouch!" one the size of a golfball hit her head and she catapulted herself toward the car. Another hail ball knocked her in the back as she jumped into the vehicle and slammed the door. Scully watched as the orbs got larger, some as big as her fist. She thought with concern. Glass broke and she shielded her eyes as it sprayed inward and a piece of the falling ice shot past her head. "To hell with this!" she grabbed the clipboard and jumped out of the car again, holding it over her head as she pushed forward across the field toward the barn. A branch scuttling across the expanse bounced off of the fence and almost hit her head-on. Scully braced herself against the wind and quickened her pace. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mulder was barely to the farmhouse when the hail started. He banged on the door and looked around him, waiting. A dog ran by, yelping as its rump was lifted up and pulled over its head, causing it to somersault across the yard. The hail was getting larger. Mulder knocked again, yelling "Hello! Is anybody home? We need some assistance!" No one answered. Desperate, Mulder tried the doorknob, but it was locked. Shingles from the roof flew off across the wide expanse of now-black sky. "Fuck it!" Mulder let the screen door slam and moved off the porch and back toward the Lowery's. A piece of hail hit him in the cheek, causing him to cry out in pain. Several chickens half flew, half fell past him. The fact that chickens can't fly hit home and Mulder broke into a run, half expecting to see flying monkeys. "I always hated that movie," he said out loud, but his words were lost in the moan of the wind. Scully had made it into the barn. Three horses were restlessly stamping in their stalls, their eyes rolling in fear of the storm. She moved toward them and unlatched and opened each door, letting them run to freedom. Then, sticking her head out the door, she tried to see if Mulder was coming. She couldn't see anything but leaves, branches, and pieces of wood careening across the sky. The wind had picked up dirt and could be seen as brown ribbons curling in the air. Scully slammed the barn door and stood there a minute, listening to the moan of the rafters. Lightning flashed, followed closely by a clap of thunder that caused her to jump. There was a noise she couldn't identify, a creaking sound. She cast her eyes around the dim building, trying to see what it was. Another loud creak and a Rriiipppppp! Scully gasped as half the roof was torn from above her and went sailing into the sky. "This isn't safe," she murmured, and pulled the door open. She stepped outside, appalled at the noises the wind was making. "Mulder!" she yelled. It came out as a choked whisper, eaten by the wind almost before it was out of her mouth. Scully stumbled forward, hitting her knee on something sharp. At this point, she could barely see for the dirt in her eyes. Behind her, the barn made another crazy sound, and she turned in time to see the rest of the roof dislodge and fly away, causing the walls to fall in and slide crazily across the field. Scully spit as dirt filled her mouth, but the spit just slid across her cheek as the air pushed past her. Scully thought, wishing fervently that she and Mulder hadn't separated. She was worried that he was caught out in the storm. Then again, she was caught out in it! She moved slowly toward the house, almost knocked to the ground several times by the force of the wind. She could see the back door, and she focused on that as she made her way across the yard. More chickens were pitched into the air from the nearby coop. Scully dodged them and kept going. When she made it to the side of the house, she ran her hands along the wall and tried to feel her way along, hoping to come across some kind of protrusion in the building. Finally, her efforts were rewarded. The house jutted out just past the kitchen door and Scully felt for a handle. There was one. She pulled. The wind was working against her at the moment. A long keening sound sent shivers up her back, and Scully pulled harder, finally jerking the door open. She wished she had her flashlight. She climbed in, feeling her way with her foot until she found a step, then she pulled the door shut behind her and descended into the dank blackness. Mulder could see the funnel cloud, it's long twisted tail beginning to form. He ran against the wind, his muscles pulling taut. He had to get to Scully and some shelter. The chicken coop had been demolished, and feathers were flying everywhere. Mulder was a little surprised to see some horses fighting to stand upright, and then galloping lopsidedly away. He searched for the barn, which he knew he would have to pass in order to reach the Lowery's house, but it wasn't in sight. He considered the fact that the horses were free to mean the barn had been torn apart. He trudged on, wishing he had his jacket to pull up over his head and protect his eyes from the dust and dirt flying everywhere. Finally, he made it to the house and then past it, looking for their rental car. An electrical wire fell across the street, spreading sparks across the ground. Nearing the gravel driveway, Mulder was aghast to see the car sitting on its side, it's top half toppled against a large oak tree. He came toward it, and tried to see in, but couldn't. He went to the front where the windshield was broken into shards of glass. "Scully!" he shouted uselessly into the wind. On closer inspection, Mulder could see that the car was empty. He turned around and barely had time to duck as a neighbor's trash can came sailing through the air like a missle. he thought, He wondered if she had gone down the road in search of another house, but he doubted it. There weren't too many around, and she knew he had crossed the field. Had she come after him? A disturbing thought entered his mind. What if she had gone into the barn? It had been destroyed. He headed in that direction, just missing a falling plum tree. "Scully!" he yelled, but this was useless. "Holy Shit!" Mulder watched as two or three cows sailed effortlessly through the sky about 1/2 a mile away, where the storm was picking up intensity. He remembered when one of the large animals had been picked up by a tornado and dropped unceremoniously into his hotel room while he and Scully were on a case. Mulder knew he didn't have long to find a place to take shelter. Scully couldn't close the door to the storm shelter completely. She could see cracks of light seeping in and the wind was pulling at it, as if it had human hands. She tried, but couldn't get it shut all the way. She opened it up again, helped by the force of the wind, and looked out. Across the sky she could see the long tail of the oncoming twister forming and diving low toward the ground. Scully's heart pumped wildly in her chest. Suddenly, she was distracted by movement over to the side of her. There a mother cat and her kittens were tucked into the corner of the porch steps. The kittens were mewling and wandering around their mother as tendrils of the wind made their way into their corner and knocked the little animals into one another like pool balls after an opening shot. Scully reached over and grabbed three of them in one of her hands. She climbed down the steps and set them into the darkness and then went back for the other two and the mother. At least she wouldn't be alone now. Scully had to climb out of the storm shelter to get a good grip on the door again. She grasped it with both hands and pulled. It wouldn't budge. she thought. A noise like that of an oncoming freight train had started up and Scully yanked frantically at the door. This is when Mulder, who was making his way toward the house, saw her. "Scully!" he shouted into the wind. "Scully!"but she didn't hear him and never knew he was even near until she felt his hand on her shoulder. She turned and smiled at the sight of him, then stepped back and let him wrestle with the door. When he had it part way up, she climbed down into the cellar and he came in after her, his hands still clutching the metal handle. She stood beside him on the step and grabbed the door by it's edge, yanking hard. Between them, they managed to get it closed and locked into place. It was pitch black all around them. "Don't fall down the stairs," Scully warned from below him where she was descending. "They're pretty steep." Mulder carefully felt with his foot where the step ended and the next one began. When Scully reached the bottom she said "And don't step on the mother cat and her kittens! They're to the right when you reach the bottom." Mulder wondered how in the world she knew that. He couldn't see his hand in front of his face! Scully bumped around the storm shelter. "I am not believing this, Mulder! There doesn't seem to be anything down here! Where are the candles and the matches?!" Mulder had reached the bottom of the stairs. "OW! Found a bench, Scully." He sat down and held his aching shinbone. Scully felt her way over to him in the darkness, grabbing hold of his nose. "Oops, sorry about that, Mulder. Did I hurt your nose?" "That wasn't my nose, Scully." "Ha, ha." "No, wait, that WAS my nose. Don't want to insult myself." "I don't know, your nose is pretty big..." "Scully!" A crash from outside shut them up pretty fast. Mulder knew that Scully must be pretty nervous to be answering his typically lewd jokes. She sat down on the bench next to him and they listened to the wind howl. The mother cat started yowling in answer, then the kittens took up the chorus. The sounds were almost demonical. Scully felt in the darkness for Mulder's hand and he silently took hers, pulling her closer to him on the bench. There was the sound of glass breaking and what sounded like the creak of metal bending. After a moment there was silence. "This is the center of the twister," Mulder said. "We're not out of the woods yet." "I'm glad you came back, Mulder." Scully squeezed his hand. He couldn't think of a funny return. He couldn't think of anything except the raging twister outside. "Scully...just a minute, I want to look outside." "No, Mulder!" Scully pulled him back. "Listen, I've never seen a tornado up close! Don't you even want to see it? Aren't you curious?" "I'm curious, Mulder, but I'm also afraid." Mulder was surprised to hear her admit to this. It pleased him in a way, because it proved that she trusted him and felt comfortable enough to tell him something that, at one time, she never would have revealed to anyone. Quietly he pulled her up off the bench and said "I'm afraid, too, Scully. But I'll regret it if I don't look. You can stay here..." "No, I'm coming with you. Something might happen to you." Mulder laughed. "Okay. You can protect me from the tornado." Together they climbed the stairs, bumping into the wall and each other as they went. They opened the door to the storm cellar. It was still very quiet. Eerily so. Half in and half out of the cellar, they looked around. Everything was in shambles. Pieces of metal were wrapped around trees, the barn and the chicken coop were gone, and there were dead animals, feathers, and gravel everywhere. They were surrounded by darkness. "Are we inside it?" Scully asked. "I don't know..." Mulder began, but then the noise started up again, and he grabbed Scully to shove her back inside. It was too late. A horrible sucking began and Scully was lifted off her feet. She felt like a tiny speck of dirt caught in the vacuum cleaner. Her whole body was lifted out of the cellar and she could feel Mulder grab onto her left leg. "Scully!" he shouted. She spun around, looking for something to grab onto, but there wasn't anything. She bent double in the wind and extended her hand down, letting Mulder catch it with his other hand. He pulled, but he was losing his grip. He felt himself being lifted off the ground, too, and tried to force his foot under the wood of the door to keep him steady. This anchored him for the moment. He could tell that Scully was slipping out of his grip. Her pants ripped under his hand and her body flipped in the air. All he was holding onto now was her hand and that was about to go, too. He grabbed onto it with his other hand, so that she floated above him like a balloon. "Mulder!" she yelled, but it was eaten by the wind. She could feel her shoes slip off and go barreling into the swirling blackness. Mulder's foot was losing its grip under the door. Scully could feel him coming with her, and she fought to loosen his hold on her hand. "Scully, don't!" Mulder yelled to her. She wrestled with him to gain her hand. She didn't want Mulder to be propelled into the storm with her. A noise unlike any other caused her to look over her shoulder and gained Mulder's attention at the same time. As they looked, they saw the snake-like tail of the twister curling across the ground like a giant finger marking its way on a map. It grew larger and larger, catching debris. They were entranced by the sight as the vortex made it's way toward them. Scully's and Mulder's eyes met at the same time and he saw her mouth the words "Get inside!" then her hand was out of his before he could stop it and he watched her fly from his grasp and into the black sky. "Sculllllyyyyyyy!" Mulder yelled into the storm, over and over, the cords in his neck standing out. His face turned blue with the effort of screaming. She was gone. He couldn't see her anywhere, and he could feel himself still being pulled into the storm. His foot still lodged beneath the door, he leaned down and grabbed hold of the handle with his hand, pulling himself into the stairwell. A sudden, slicing pain went through his shoulder, and as Mulder knelt on the dank stairs, he felt and was horrified to find that something had flown through his shoulder muscle and was lodged there. He grimaced in pain. Another swell of vacuum force came into the tunnel and Mulder braced his feet on the far wall, holding onto the stair railing with his hands. Shapes flew past him in the dark and Mulder realized it was the cat and all five kittens being sucked outside by the tornado. Just as Scully had been. Mulder felt physically ill. He inched his way down farther into the storm cellar, the scent of earth and potatoes surrounding him. The wind was roaring in his ears. he thought restlessly. He clenched his teeth with frustration and in pain. His shoulder felt as if it was on fire. He gingerly felt over to where the wound was...trying to figure out what it was that was lodged there. Sharp, made of wood...it felt like a piece of a fence. He didn't know whether or not to try to pull it out. He decided against it, because he might very well pass out from the pain if he did. He shifted uncomfortabley and looked up to the opening of the cellar. Things flew by the door, all in swirling, dirty wind. He leaned his head against the wall. He felt dizzy and hoped he wasn't going into shock. Sweat began pouring down his face. "OOOOOOOOoo-klahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains...." Mulder laughed. "Now that's an understatement! How about 'Oklahoma, where the wind knocks the shit out of you!' Tell it like it is, Oklahoma!" he shouted to no-one. Then he started shivering. "I'm fucking delirious." he mumbled. His throat was very dry. He closed his eyes. "The answers are out there, you just have to know where to find them!" He heard Scully's voice. "The truth, Agent Mulder, is worth fighting for." Deep Throat appeared in his dreams. "Fox, I hope you will forgive me one day." His father. "It's for the good of mankind..." That bastard CSM. "Resist or fight." Krychek kissed his cheek. "I wouldn't put my job on the line for anyone else but you, Mulder." "Scully!" He shouted, his voice hoarse. "Scullllllyyyyyyyyy!" Only the moan of the wind answered him. Finally, Mulder lost consciousness. He revived to find voices over him and sirens in the distance. In the ambulance, Mulder fought with the perimedics. He wanted them to remove the piece of wood from his shoulder right then instead of taking him to the hospital. "Sir, we just aren't equipped for that. And we'd get into a lot of trouble. Now please lie down..." "You listen here, I'm FBI and I need to stay on the scene." The other perimedic prepared a sedative in a syringe. "This isn't a crime scene, Mister, it's a tornado." she prepped Mulder's arm as he struggled against her partner and then jabbed the needle in his arm. "OOOW! Shit, woman!" "Sorry, but you haven't been very cooperative." Mulder fought the effects of the shot, but it was a losing battle. He found himself falling asleep. The man stood over Scully's curled up form, lying in the overturned haystack. He bent down and felt for her pulse. It was there, just faint. He picked her up and took her back to his farmhouse. When Mulder awoke, he was in a hospital bed and Skinner was towering over him. He started to get up, but Skinner shook his head. "Don't try it, Agent Mulder. You need the rest." Mulder stifled a moan as he eased back down on the bed. His shoulder was bandaged. "How long have I been here?" he asked, staring at the ceiling. He was barely concealing his rage. "Two days." "What!" Mulder sat straight up and then groaned and held his shoulder. "Lie down, Agent Mulder." Skinner left no room for argument. "You had a huge piece of wood penetrating your shoulder. They had to take it out and treat you for an infection that was starting up. I was told that you were less than cooperative in the ambulance and gave them permission to keep you sedated until you had some time to start healing." "You what?!" Mulder was incredulous. "I think I know you pretty well, Agent. There is no way you would have stayed in this hospital bed for two days, am I right?" Mulder mumbled something and turned away. "Have you found Scully?" He stared at the wall waiting for the answer. Afraid of what it would be. "No." AD Skinner said quietly. The room was silent for a moment as Mulder closed his eyes. "I would have found her." he finally whispered. Skinner had to lean down to hear what he said. A look of compassion crossed his face, and he circled the bed until he stood in front of Mulder. Then he reached back and pulled a seat up to the bed and sat down. "Agent Mulder. I have had people looking day and night. All over. It's as if she disappeared. I need the entire story from you." Mulder sighed and looked his superior in the eyes. Skinner saw pure torture within them. "We went to the storm cellar of the Lowery's farmhouse. I-I went back up to look out and Scully came with me. The storm began again and she--she was sucked out. I had her by the hand and was holding on with both of mine, but I was being lifted off the ground with her. She...made me let go. She shook my hand off and......" he stopped. There were tears in his eyes and Skinner looked away. "Agent Mulder," he said after a moment. "We have looked everywhere within miles. We are still looking. We won't stop looking." He got up and Mulder grabbed his sleeve. "It was my fault." he said, the tortured look increasing. "I wanted to see the twister and she followed me. She was afraid." Skinner looked at him for a moment and then nodded. "She wouldn't want you to blame yourself. Get some rest, Mulder," and he left the room. Josh Blevins ran into the farmhouse. The girl was screaming. He rushed into his bedroom where he had made her comfortable in his bed after he carried her home the day before. He came to the side of the bed and touched her shoulder. "It's alright...you're o'kay. Everything's o'kay." He kept telling her this over and over until she stopped crying out. She had been yelling the strange word over and over "Mulder". Or was it murder? What did that mean? When she felt calmer, Scully looked wildly in his direction and said " I can't see anything! I'm blind!" Josh took her hand in his. "You've had a head injury. It's probably temporary. Settle down...please, you'll hurt yourself." Scully allowed him to push her back on her pillows and then she said "Who are you? Where am I?" "My name is Josh Blevins. You are in Trueblue, Oklahoma at my farmhouse. I found you in a field. You had apparently been injured by the twister." Scully nodded. "Yes...I was lifted up. I remember that. But...where is Mulder?" "Mulder?" "M-my partner. He was with me in the tornado. Fox Mulder." Scully stared out of unseeing eyes at a point just past Josh's head. "What do you mean, your partner?" he stiffened. Was she a cop? Or did she mean partner as in significant other? And Fox? What kind of a name was that? Maybe she was delirious. "I'm an FBI agent. We were questioning some people before the tornado hit. We were able to find shelter in their storm cellar, but during the quiet part of the storm we came out and looked, and that was when I was sucked up by it." she trembled. Josh looked at her pale skin, full lips, and shining red hair. She was incredibly beautiful. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her. Instead he said "I haven't seen anyone. Would you like something to eat?" Scully felt so nauseous, she couldn't imagine eating. She shook her head. This hurt, and she winced. "What did the doctor say?" she asked. "Doctor?" "Yes...I assume I have a concussion. I'm a doctor myself, but I suppose you've had one in to see me. How long have I been here, anyway?" "I found you yesterday...the day after the tornado hit. I was looking for my livestock. I haven't had a doctor here. No doctor would come out here "What do you mean?" Scully asked. "Well," Josh was unwilling to tell her about his standing in the community, so he just said "I live kind of far out. The tornado took you quite a distance." Scully was silent a moment. "Well, I need to call my partner. Can you bring me the phone?" "I don't have a phone." Scully shifted uncomfortably. This conversation was starting to scare her. "I-I really appreciate the way you have taken care of me. But, would you please take me into town now? To the hospital. I think I need to be there. I have a concussion and I'm really feeling very bad." Josh was quiet. Finally he said "All in due time," and left the room. Skinner stood outside squinting into the sunlight talking with 7 men. He'd had them all over Trueblue, Oklahoma looking for Scully without any luck. "I don't know what else to tell you to do, men," he admitted. "We've covered it all, Sir." one of them said. After a moment of thinking, Skinner's jaw tightened. "Well, cover it again and widen the perimeter by 3 miles." He walked off, leaving the men looking at one another. **** Josh Blevins hummed a little tune as he fixed the tray of food for Dana Scully. He smiled to himself. He hadn't been this happy in years! The day he had brought her to his cabin, he had dug out some of his wife's old nightgowns. They fit her perfectly. His wife had been petite just like her. In fact, she reminded him quite a bit of Elise. Something about her mouth... and the way she talked. He hummed some more as he put a rose on the tray. Those men had come looking for her yesterday, when she was napping. He had been working in the yard moving debris. They looked very military and Josh was shocked when he saw them arrive. It had been so long since anyone had been out this way... They had shown him their credentials...they were from the government. Said they were looking for a missing FBI agent that had disappeared in the vicinity during the storm. He could tell they didn't hold much hope finding her this far out. They barely paused to hear his negative reply before they were piling into the jeep again. It was so easy. And now he had her all to himself. His Elise... No, not Elise. Her name was Dana. Of course, Dana. And she was beautiful. And totally dependent on him. ***** Mulder paced around the hospital room. The nurse walked in with a tray and scowled at him. "Agent Mulder, you get back in that bed!" Mulder obeyed, but not very happily. "I've got to get out of here!" he said. "Probably tomorrow, the doctor said. Now I want you to eat all of this! You are not getting any better by starving yourself!" The older woman put a napkin under his chin and set the hospital tray in front of him. Then she patted his arm and started for the door. "Oh..." she turned around. "And don't flush it down the toilet this time!" She wagged a finger at him and left. Mulder sighed and took a bite of the mush. A few minutes later, AD Skinner entered the room. Mulder pushed the half-eaten tray away and said with a full mouth "Sir! Have you found her?" Skinner was shaking his head before he even finished the sentence. "No. I've sent them to cover the area again." He sat on the edge of the bed, uncharacteristically casual. "I don't know, Agent Mulder. It's like she's vanished into thin air." "Sir, I can't stand lying here anymore! Get me released and let me look for her!" After a moment of locking eyes with his superior, Mulder added softly "Please, Sir." Skinner sighed. "Don't make me regret this, Agent Mulder." Mulder didn't know quite where to begin to look for Scully. It seemed logical to begin where she had disappeared, though, so he went back to the Lowery's. The older couple was happy to see him. "We heard that you had been hurt in the storm," Mrs. Lowery said, looking at the bandage sticking out of Mulder's shirt. "Glad to see you are better," she looked down at the ground. "Sorry to hear about your partner, though. Had any luck finding her?" Mulder swiftly covered his rising emotions by getting down to business. "Not yet, and that's why I'm here. I just got released from the hospital, and I thought I'd start looking for her here, since this is where we were when the tornado hit." The Lowerys nodded. "Be our guest," Mr. Lowery gestured to the general vicinity of the farmyard. Mulder thanked them and went around back to the storm shelter. No reason to go in , but he stood near it and looked around. Much of the debris had been cleared up and carted away. The field just looked empty. A few fallen trees were being made into firewood. Mulder began walking. How far could the wind have taken her? In this flat country, it seemed that he could see miles and miles. Halfway to the next farmhouse, Mulder noticed a pile of rags. At closer look, he deduced that it was a clothes line with different garments that had been hanging on it wadded into a heap. He started to walk off when he heard a faint mewing. He walked back and bent to untangle some of the clothes. Underneath were a mama cat and two of her kittens. Mulder recognized them as the ones that Scully had put in the storm cellar the day of the storm. He patted the mother and walked on, feeling strangely sad, yet hopeful that if they could survive being picked up in the storm, so could Scully. ***** Josh sat on a chair by Scully's bed, watching her trying to eat. His eyes moved from her plate to her mouth and back again. Scully could tell he was staring at her, and was beginning to fear him. He made her extremely uncomfortable. She knew instinctively that she must handle him carefully. "You're so beautiful," Josh whispered hoarsely. Scully felt herself stiffen, her fork midway to her mouth. She had never felt so utterly powerless. He could be poisoning her food, for all she knew! And why had she lost her sight? Was it temporary due to the head injury? As a doctor, Scully knew that it might be temporary or permanent. She needed to get to a hospital. Complications from a concussion could be very serious, and she couldn't help but entertain the possibility that this man had done something to her. "Thank you," she answered to his compliment. "Um, Mr. Blevins..." "Oh! Please call me Josh, Dana. After all, we are friends..." "O'kay, Josh...listen, I am really worried that if I don't get to a doctor soon, this blindness might be permanent." She couldn't see Josh smile at that. He quickly straightened his face so that she couldn't hear it in his voice. "Yes, well, as soon as I fix my car, I'll drive you to the hospital." "And you don't have a phone." Scully found this utterly hard to believe. "No, I told you I didn't." Josh sounded impatient. "For pete's sake, Elise, why are you always questioning what I say?!" his voice had risen in anger. Scully was taken aback. "Dana. Josh, I'm Dana." she said quietly. "I know you are." Josh relaxed a little and resumed his staring at her in adoration. "Well, when do you think you will have the car fixed?" Scully ventured. "Damn it!" Josh abruptly took her tray off of her lap and sent it sailing across the room. "I said to stop questioning me!" With a force that stunned Scully, especially since she couldn't see it coming, Josh struck her hard across the face. "You had better tow the line, Elise! If you know what's good for you!" he screamed at her, and left the room. Scully heard a key turn in the lock. ***** Mulder had walked a couple of miles and was hot and tired. The sun beat down on him mercilessly. "This is bullshit," he muttered. He sat down on a stump and fished his handkerchief out of his pocket. He wiped his forehead with it, wondering how Scully could have disappeared as she had. Someone had to have come across her, or, if she was able, she would've walked to the nearest house! He was at a loss to figure it out, and every hour that went by left him more fearful for her safety. It uncomfortably reminded him of her abduction and his powerlessness to find out where she was or to help her in any way. Suddenly, something caught his eye glinting in the sun. He got up and walked over to some underbrush at the edge of a patch of forsythia bushes. Bending over, he uncovered and picked up the object that had caught his attention. Black and pretty beaten up, Mulder held it up triumphantly--Scully's cell phone! ***** Scully felt that she had to escape this place. She didn't know how she would manage it without her sight, but she had to take the chance. Josh Blevins was obviously unstable and she didn't know what he would do next. The side of her face was aching where he had struck her. She tentatively felt it with her fingers. It was swelling up, and probably turning black and blue. She got up off of the bed and moved her hands around her carefully. There was a bedside table between the bed and the door. Next to the door was a closet that opened with accordian-like panels. Scully felt along the wall until she came to a window. She fumbled for the latch. Finding it, she turned it and as quietly as she could, shoved the window open. Was she on the first or second floor? How was she going to figure this out? She leaned her head out the window and listened. A bee buzzed past her head. She could hear the sounds of horses a little distance away. Water was trickling, as if from a stream, somewhere nearby. The sun was hot and the air felt dry. She sniffed the air and smelled fresh hay. All of her senses seemed to be working extra hard, as if to make up for her lack of sight. She could hear birds and the sound of the occasional gentle breeze in the trees. Scully turned back into the room and got down on her knees, crawling across the floor. After a few minutes, she came across the tray that Josh had thrown. Her hand hit some of the food that had undoubtedly been strewn everywhere. She picked up the tray and crawled back to the window. Pulling herself up, and making sure that she had a good idea where the open part of the window was, she flung the tray out. She immediately heard a thud outside. Scully smiled. She was on the first floor. Hitching her gown up, she climbed out of the window and onto the ground below.***** "I can't believe he's made us check everywhere twice," Agent Simon said, shifting irritably in the seat of the jeep. Agent Franklin, a tall and well-built African-American only shrugged. "What else are we to do? She's still missing. We can't just leave without finding her!" "Why the hell not? It's not like we can't do without Mrs. Spooky...the Ice Queen!" Simon snorted. He was tired of roaming around this hot city looking under bushes and interogating old farmers. "Why don't we just skip this last place! She didn't get thrown all the way out here to the edge of town by that twister!" They were nearing Josh Blevin's farm. "Well, you can stay in the jeep. I'll go check it out." Franklin parked the jeep in the gravel drive and hopped out of it, heading for the barn where he could see Josh through the open door forking hay. Simon rolled his eyes and got out. "I'm tired of sitting in the jeep," he muttered, walking toward the house to look around. Scully had fallen down three times and banged her leg twice. She was almost in tears at the frustration of not being able to see where she was going. She didn't know what was around her and constantly feared she was going to step off of a precipice and fall through the air like one of those waking dreams. She was walking away from the sounds of the animals and the barn, since she knew that was near the house and where Josh would likely be. She had walked a little ways and had come upon a large amount of trees. This is where she kept injuring herself. Scully finally deduced that she had hit the woods and tried to walk carefully. This was especially necessary since her feet were bare. She felt very afraid, but forced that to the back of her subconscious. She had to get as far away as possible before Josh realized she was gone. Franklin held the picture of Dana Scully up for Josh Blevins to see. Blevins shook his head again. "You people have already been out here asking. I told you I haven't seen anyone around here." He continued forking the hay to the horses in their stalls. He certainly seemed unfriendly, Franklin thought. "Well, you wouldn't mind us looking around a bit, would you?" he asked, heading toward the house. "Actually, I would!" Blevins followed him. "What right do you people have snooping around here?" Franklin was halfway to the house when Blevins caught up with him. "You're going to need a warrent or something to get into my house!" Now Franklin was really feeling suspicious. He entered the house and looked around the main room. Nothing looked particularly out of place. Normal kitchen, dishes in the sink. He noticed there was a fair amount of them. "Anyone live here with you?" he asked Josh. "My mother came to lunch today," he said, leaning on his pitchfork and eyeing the agent with barely-contained hatred. "What's this room?" Franklin motioned toward the bedroom. "Where I sleep." Blevins said, his face carefully still. Franklin walked over and tried the knob. "It's locked." Blevins nodded. "Well, I need you to open it." Franklin said. He felt an excitement rip through him. Something was not right here. Was Agent Scully in this room? Was he about to find her? He pulled his gun out of the holster. "Don't have the key." Josh said calmly. "You don't have the key to your own bedroom?" Franklin muttered, then walked backwards a step and slammed his heavy boot into the door, splintering it. "Stop!" Blevins yelled. Franklin kicked again and opened a hole big enough to step through. As he prepared to do just that, the pitchfork came ripping through his torso, sending him slamming into the wall and sliding to the floor. "I said, Stop," Josh reminded him, and stepped over him to enter the room. His eyes quickly scanned the room, searching for Dana. They lit on the open window and he ran over to it. "Damn!" He climbed out of it and took off running in the direction of the woods. He didn't see Agent Simon come into the house and stand horrified over his dead partner, whose still beating heart hung quivering from the end of the pitchfork. Simon picked up Franklin's gun and inched forward, peering into the bedroom. He went inside and looked in the closet and various other hiding places. When he felt sure that no one was there, he left the room and the house and walked slowly around outside looking for Blevins. After searching the grounds and the barn and not finding him, Agent Simon climbed into the jeep and phoned AD Skinner. He kept looking around him as he informed the older man of what had happened. "Don't move, Simon. I'm coming with backup." "He may have headed into the woods, Sir. Shouldn't I go after him?" "No. He may have Agent Scully with him and harm her if pushed. Stay where you are and I'll post men on the outskirts of the woods." Skinner hung up and barked orders to his men. As he climbed into his car, he dialed Agent Mulder's cell phone. The last time he had spoken to Mulder, he had been nearing the outskirts of town. He had told Skinner that he'd found Scully's cell phone and had hopes he was on the right track. "Mulder," he sounded tired. "Agent Mulder. Listen, two of our agents went back to a farm outside of town and ran into trouble. One of them was killed and the suspect has disappeared. Simon suspects that his partner Franklin had come upon Agent Scully and that's when he was killed." "How did he disappear?" Mulder almost shouted into his cell phone. "We don't know, Agent Mulder. He just wasn't on the premises when Simon searched for him. He suspects they went into the woods. Look, I'll give you directions and you can meet us there." ***** Scully was dizzy and tired. She was making painfully slow progress through the woods, and had hurt her foot on something sharp. She sat down under a tree and leaned her head against it. She shut her eyes, and a few tears squeezed out of the corners. It wasn't any use. There was no way she was going to escape this man in her present condition. She had stopped to vomit twice already. Her head ached. Scully knew she was suffering from a concussion, and she knew the dangers of pushing herself too hard. Resigned, she sat and waited for her tormentor to catch up with her. Scully had lost consciousness when Josh Blevins found her. He stood over her, his chest heaving in anger. She would pay for this. He scooped her up and walked back toward his house. As he came near the edge of the woods, he spotted the jeep and the man sitting in it. "Shit!" He changed his path so that he would come up behind the house. He hoisted Scully inside the window and then climbed in. With cold determination, he went about barricading his house. Next, he unlocked his gun cabinet and took out his weapons and ammunition, laying it all out on a table. He also took out his explosives. Then he went back into the bedroom where Scully was lying on the bed. He moved a piece of her hair out of her face, then began to undress her. He got soap and a wash cloth and bathed her, stopping now and again to gaze at her nude body, shuddering with emotion. Finally, he chose another one of his dead wife's nightgowns and put it on her. Then he went to a closet and got out some rope. With great care he tied her hands to the bedposts. Blevins took the body of the dead FBI agent and, after removing the pitchfork, dragged it across the floor. Then he shoved it into the closet. He didn't want to look at it anymore. Besides, it might spoil the mood. He knew that more FBI would be coming and he could only hold them off for so long. He wanted to have some time alone with Elise before they came. There was so much he wanted to say to her. There was so much left undone. And then he would end it all for the both of them. They would die together, like they should have the first time. Mulder arrived almost precisely when Skinner and his men did. "What have you found out?" he asked him. "We think they've returned to the cabin. We've seen movement inside. We haven't approached him yet...I'm waiting for information on the owner." "I've got that, Sir." a young Korean agent approached with his notepad flipped open. "His name is Josh Blevins. He's 40 years old, and has lived in this cabin for almost 10 years. He moved out here after his wife Elise Blevins died in a fire. There was some suspicion that he had killed her, but it could never be proven. The people around here didn't like him much, so he moved way out here where he's lived alone all this time." "Let me see that." Mulder took the notebook and looked it over . There was a description of Josh Blevins, and also of his deceased wife. It was this that caught Mulder's attention. She was 5 foot 2, 105 lbs. Red hair, blue eyes. "She looked like Scully." he said aloud. "What?" Skinner asked. "The dead wife. She was approximately the same height and weight, same hair and eye color. He is projecting his feelings for his dead wife on Scully !" "And what were his feelings?" Skinner asked. "Couldn't have been too good seeing that he killed her," Mulder said seriously. Skinner took up the megaphone and started talking, his voice projecting across the field. "Mr. Blevins. This is Walter Skinner with the FBI. We need you to come out of the house with your hands up." Skinner waited a moment and repeated himself. There was no movement or response from within. "Josh Blevins! This is the FBI. Come out with your hands up!" "Let me go in." Mulder said urgently. Skinner turned away from the megaphone. "No! Don't be crazy, Mulder. He'll kill you. We'll have to storm the place." "He might kill Scully if you do that! Let me go in unarmed and talk to him." Skinner studied Agent Mulder for a moment, then sighed and looked down. "You'll be in more danger when we storm the place if you're inside. And we WILL storm the place in 20 minutes." Mulder nodded his agreement. "O'kay. Go ahead." Skinner put the megaphone to his mouth again and said "Josh Blevins. An unarmed agent is coming toward the cabin. I repeat! He is NOT armed! He only wants to talk with you." Mulder was slipping on a bullet-proof vest under his shirt. He slowly began walking toward the cabin with his hands in the air. When Mulder got to the door of the cabin, he rapped on it with his knuckles. The door opened a little. "Come in slowly," came a voice from inside. Mulder slipped in and saw that Josh Blevins pointing a sawed-off shot gun to his face. "Go in there," he said, motioning to the bedroom. Mulder followed his directions, and upon entering the room, was relieved to see Scully on the bed. She was alive. In the next moment, it registered that she was tied by the wrists to the posts and that her face was black and blue. Scully knew it was him as soon as he entered the room. She could smell his cologne. "Mulder?" she said, turning her face toward him. "Scully..." Mulder stepped toward her but Josh's words stopped him in his tracks. "Don't touch her, you son of a bitch, or I'll blow your head off! Now, you go real easy over to the chair and sit down." Mulder tried to register reassurance on his face to Scully, but she didn't seem to be looking at him. She was looking past his head. He went over and sat down in the chair. Josh Blevins proceeded to tie him to it so tightly that the rope was cutting into his flesh. "So you're Mulder, are you?" he asked sarcastically. "Well, glad you could come and watch. I've always wanted an audience." This sentence made the hairs on the back of Mulder's neck stand up. "Listen Mr. Blevins," Mulder began. "There's no need to hurt anyone else. There are a lot of FBI agents outside and it is best if you cooperate. Things don't have to get ugly..." "SHUT UP!" Blevins screamed, his face turning red. "You just shut up! Say one more word and I'll kill her!" He swung the shot gun in Scully's direction. Mulder noticed that Scully's face didn't register as it should. What was wrong with her? Blevins went over to her and touched her face and she winced, but she hadn't watched him coming. Mulder suddenly realized that she couldn't see. Mulder held his breath as Blevins bent down and kissed Scully on the lips. Scully turned her face away. This angered Blevins and he raised his arm and hit her. "Stop!" Mulder shouted. Blevins turned to him with fury in his eyes. "I warned you!" He reached for his gun. "No, no...don't. I won't say another word. I promise," Mulder quickly assured him, running through his mind trying to find an idea...any idea that might get them out of this situation alive. Blevins stared at him a moment and then slowly brought his hand back to his side. He looked over at Scully with a dazed expression. "You came back to me." he touched her hand. "You forgave me." His voice was almost a whisper. He ran his fingers through her hair. "You came for me. We are meant to be together. This time you want me to come with you, don't you, Elise?" Scully held herself still, afraid to move. Mulder knew that Skinner would storm the place as he had promised. He could hear him shouting for Blevins on the megaphone. Blevins seemed oblivious to all that was around him. He climbed on the bed and lay down on top of Scully. Mulder saw her shiver. He tried in vain to pull the rope loose from his wrists. Blevins was rubbing his face all over Scully's. Mulder knew she was trying to control herself so as not to anger him. A trickle of blood spilled out of the side of her mouth from where he had struck her. "Do you remember when we were one?" he was whispering to her. He began kissing her neck. Scully stiffened beneath him. Mulder silently entreated. Blevins was unzipping his pants. Scully whimpered at the sound. Mulder's wrists were bleeding from his struggle with the rope. He was pushing her gown up...rearranging things the way he wanted them. Mulder closed his eyes. Sweat was pouring from his forehead. "I can't watch this," he thought. "I can't stand it." At a noise from Scully's, his eyes popped upon. Blevins was forcing her legs apart, his sex standing out of his pants. Mulder thought. "Stop it! Let her go!" He screamed, hoping to invoke the man's wrath upon himself. Blevins did not seem to hear him, though. He pushed Scully's gown up higher, revealing her breasts and began to rub his face on them. Scully turned her face toward the wall. Mulder was half standing, the chair still tied to him. If he could get get loose he'd kill that mother fucker! The very air was buzzing around him in his anger. Blevins sighed and was preparing to enter her when the door to the farmhouse slammed open and Mulder saw a shitload of men with guns enter the room like a swarm of hornets, knocking Blevins off the bed. Hands came to his wrists and cut the ropes off, and Mulder fell to the floor as his feet were being freed. Skinner untied Scully and she sat up, her gown falling to cover her, tears running down her face. She covered her eyes with her hands and sobbed. Mulder's heart constricted and he went to her. She clung to him, heedless for once of her composure. ***** Scully was taken to the hospital in Tulsa. She had indeed suffered a concussion and also had a broken rib. She had been there a few days when her sight began returning to her. The relief she felt was palpable. Mulder had been readmitted because the wound in his shoulder had broken open during his struggling in the farmhouse. Other than a brief conversation the day she was admitted, Scully had not spoken of her ordeal with Josh Blevins. Mulder hadn't expected her to, but wished that she could. Exactly two weeks after the tornado had hit, the two agents were discharged from medical care. On their way to the airport, Mulder was surprised when Scully asked him to stop at the Lowery's. "What for?" he asked, but did as she wanted. "I just want to ask them something," Scully replied mysteriously. The Lowery's had rebuilt a portion of their house, and were out in the sun working when the agents arrived. "Wait here," Scully told Mulder, and got out of the car. She approached Mr. Lowery, who was working on the side porch, and Mulder saw him nod and smile. He disappeared in the back. When he returned, he handed something to Scully and they spoke for a few more minutes. Then Scully returned to the car. When she'd seated herself, she reached into her jacket and pulled out an orange and white kitten. "You've got to be kidding, Scully." Mulder couldn't believe it. "Oh come on, Mulder. We need a reminder of this trip." "We do?" Mulder was incredulous. "Well, maybe not, but truthfully, I miss QeeQueg. I need another pet. And this little kitty survived being hurled through the air by the tornado just like I did. I want to keep it." Mulder looked at her a moment more and then smiled. "O'kay, then. Let's go!" He backed out of the driveway and they headed down the road. A short time later they left Trueblue, Oklahoma behind. But not the memories. THE END