Title: Imaginary Rescuer
Author: Anne Milne
Email: annem@iprimus.com.au
http: www.milneyfilms.com/mum
Date: August 31, 2006
Spoilers: None. Time frame is S6, no Fowley
Disclaimer: Anyone you recognise doesn't 
belong to me. They've just come over to play 
for a while. They'll be back home by the time 
it gets dark, I promise. Really.
Category: MSR, angst, MT, ST
Rating: PG13, physical violence
Feedback: Pleeeeeeeeeease!
Archive: Go for it
Thanks: Sara B., for encouragement and 
nagging.
Summary: a case of mistaken identity gets out 
of hand.
Other stuff: This scenario rattled around in 
my head until I finally let it out and ran 
with it. The fanfic fairies just kept on 
bugging me. 


Imaginary Rescuer


It had been a long, boring day, Special Agent 
Dana Scully decided as she drove home to 
Georgetown. She thought of all the paperwork 
that seemed to increase exponentially 
whenever she and her partner, Fox Mulder, had 
cases that took them out of town. Still, she 
thought, at least Mulder does his share of 
the paperwork now. Even if I did have to give 
him the evil eye a few times, she chuckled to 
herself. Earlier Scully had looked at the 
wall clock in the office, and on discovering 
that it was after 6 PM, she bid Mulder 
farewell and left for the day. I hope he 
doesn't stay at the office too much longer, 
she thought. We could both really do with a 
break. Fiji seems good; maybe I'll go online 
and check things out after I eat. She shook 
herself a little as she realised she was 
almost home. Checking her mirrors, Scully 
indicated that she was pulling in. Moments 
later, she was on her way upstairs. Perhaps 
it was tiredness, or just the boredom 
sticking to her a little, but she didn't 
notice the three men waiting across the 
street, watching her.

Dana puttered around her cosy apartment, 
putting things away, and wandered into the 
kitchen to check out her fridge contents. 
While she was considering her options, there 
was a knock on the door. Wonder who that 
could be, she thought as she walked to answer 
the knocking. Might be Mulder with pizza. 
That'd be sweet, Dana thought, and smiled 
softly to herself.

"Who is it?" she called through the door when 
she saw that the peep hole had been shadowed. 
Her previous ennui was gone, and the 
adrenaline began to flow. 

"Delivery for Dana Scully," was the response.

"Can you step back from the door so I can see 
who you are, please?"

"Okay," the voice responded. There was a 
crash, and the door connected with Scully's 
head as it was broken in. Scully went flying 
backwards, dazed, and looked up in time to 
have something sprayed in her face. Her last 
conscious thoughts were, Crap, not again. 
Mulder, help me. Then blackness.

The three men looked at each other. "Grab her 
things. We'll need her cell phone. Remember 
what we have to do," said the tallest of the 
three. "And don't forget to pull her door 
closed. No sense in alarming the neighbours 
too much." His cohorts nodded, then finished 
the job they were there to do. 

Less than five minutes had elapsed from the 
time they knocked on Scully's door to the 
moment they drove off, with an unconscious 
Dana Scully handcuffed in the trunk of their 
car.

****
Ohh, my head, were Scully's first thoughts as 
she clawed her way through the darkness back 
to consciousness. Why do my arms hurt? She 
carefully opened her eyes and looked around. 
The room she found herself in was dimly 
illuminated and sparsely furnished. So 
sparsely furnished in fact, that there was 
only a table against the wall across from 
her. There were no windows, and only one 
door. Okay, I'm in a basement. Then she 
looked up and discovered the reason for her 
aching arms. Her hands were tied above her 
head, and hooked to a chain. She found that 
she could stand up, and relieve the pressure 
on her arms a little. Just as she pulled 
herself up, the door opened and her captors 
entered. 

"Good evening, Agent Scully. You'll have to 
forgive us for the intrusion tonight, but we 
are in need of information that only you 
have."

Scully watched as the tall man walked along 
the table, placing her weapon, badge, and 
cell on it. She found her voice at last. 
"What is it you want?"

"Simple, Agent Scully. There are a couple of 
cases that you've been working on, and we 
need to know how far you've gotten in your 
investigations."

Scully thought as fast as her still muzzy 
brain allowed. Cases?  "Who are you?"

"Sorry, Agent Scully. I'm the one asking the 
questions, and you need to give me the 
answers." He considered for a moment, and 
added, "You can call me Tom." He indicated 
his buddies, and said as he pointed at them 
in turn, "That's Dick, and over there is 
Harry." The two men laughed at their names.

"And if I don't?" Scully asked. Instead of 
responding, he looked over at Harry who 
picked up the chain and pulled on it. 

The result was instant. Scully's arms were 
raised high above her head, and as Harry 
pulled, her feet left the floor and she was 
suspended a foot off the ground. She grunted 
at the pain, then looked in Tom's eyes. "Is 
that the best you can do?"

In reply, Tom looked at Dick. Dick approached 
the suspended agent and held her arm. He 
smiled briefly at Scully, and as he said to 
her, "I'm going to enjoy this part, Red," he 
punched her in the stomach.

Scully groaned in pain. Me and my big mouth, 
she thought. She looked at Tom again, who 
simply nodded at Dick. After moving around 
behind Scully, Dick held her in place, and 
Scully tried to tense up for the blow. This 
time, Dick delivered two blows to each of her 
kidneys. He leant in close to her ear and 
breathed, "Now give Tom some answers, Red."

Scully swung for a minute with the force of 
the blows, then raised her eyes to Tom. "What 
cases are you talking about, Tom?"

"First of all, I want to know about the case 
in Cleveland." At Scully's blank look, he 
added, "the one where you and your partner 
busted the drug ring."

Scully shook her head slowly, clearing away 
the remnants of pain. "What drug ring?"

"Wrong answer, Red," she heard from behind 
her just milliseconds before Dick's fist 
slammed into her ribs. A few more of those, 
she thought, and my ribs will be toast.

When she had caught her breath, she looked 
directly at Tom, and said very clearly, "I 
don't know anything about a drug bust, and my 
partner and I weren't in Cleveland." She 
tensed her body again, and the blow came to 
her ribs again. This time, she heard and felt 
the crack.

"Oops," said Dick. "I'll have to pick a 
different spot next time."

Tom gazed at Scully thoughtfully. "Who is 
your supervisor, Agent Scully?"

"Assistant Director Walter Skinner," Scully 
gasped as she tried to gather herself.

"Skinner? It's not James Mossman?" 

"No. Skinner's my boss."

"So, who's your partner?"

"Fox Mulder."

"So you're telling me that this guy Skinner 
is your boss, and Mulder is your partner?" At 
Scully's nod, Tom considered her response. He 
looked at Harry and Dick, and came to a 
conclusion. "You know, Agent Scully, I think 
that you're lying to me. Protecting your boss 
and your partner." He pulled a Polaroid 
camera from his pocket, and aimed it at 
Scully. "Smile," he said as he took several 
pictures of her dangling above the floor. He 
placed the developing pictures on the table, 
and motioned to Dick and Harry to come and 
take a look. It was at that particular moment 
that Scully's cell began to chirp. Tom picked 
it up, and asked, "Who's Mulder?"

Scully took a breath, and answered, "My 
partner. I already told you that."

Tom approached her with the phone and said, 
"Answer normally," and he flipped the phone 
open and held it to her ear. It was far 
enough away for him to hear Mulder's answers.

"Scully."

"Hey Scully it's me. I tried calling your 
place. Where are you?"

Scully looked tiredly at Tom, who nodded that 
she should be honest in her response. "I'm 
just hanging around. What about you?"

Mulder chuckled and said, "Pretty much the 
same. Wanna hang out together?"

"Sorry, Mulder, I can't. I'm kind of tied up 
at the moment."

Tom chose that instant to pull the phone away 
from Scully and tell Mulder his demands. 
"Agent Mulder? We have your partner. You can 
have her back if we get the information that 
we want."

"Who is this?"

"Who we are doesn't matter. That we have your 
partner does."

Mulder thought quickly. "What information do 
you need?" Gotta keep him talking. Gotta try 
to figure out where they are.

"A case you and your partner worked in 
Cleveland. You busted a drug ring. A case in 
Cincinnati. You broke up a chop shop. Do I 
need to go on?"

Mulder answered Tom quickly. "I don't know 
what you're talking about. We haven't been to 
Ohio in over two years."

"Wrong answer Agent Mulder," Tom growled as 
he nodded to Dick. He then held the phone 
near to Scully as Dick pummelled her kidneys 
again. She cried out in pain. "Now, Agent 
Mulder. Tell me about those cases, or I'll 
have to hurt your pretty partner again."

"I swear, we haven't been anywhere near Ohio 
at all, and I don't know anything about the 
cases you're talking about. Please don't hurt 
Scully." Mulder thought furiously, then 
asked, "What is Scully's first name?"

Tom laughed out loud before replying, "It's 
Karen, you moron."

"Your information is wrong, because my 
partner's first name is Dana. You've got the 
wrong Scully!"

Tom walked over to the table, and opened 
Scully's ID badge. "Son of a," he muttered. 
"Okay, Agent Mulder. We'll just have to make 
the best of this situation. You can have your 
partner back when we get the information 
about those cases I mentioned." He paused, 
then added, "Oh yeah, it'll cost you half a 
million as well. Stay in touch," and Tom 
ended the call. He put the phone back on the 
table, then turned around to look at Scully. 
"Dana Scully, not Karen Scully. No wonder you 
don't know anything about those cases." He 
gave the agent a gentle push, which left her 
swinging.

Scully raised her head slowly. "The Bureau 
doesn't pay ransom money," she grunted out.

"For your sake, they better change their 
minds." Tom considered the situation for a 
while, then told Harry to let Scully down and 
take her to the bathroom. Once that was 
complete, Scully was reconnected to the chain 
and left alone in the dim light.

****
When Scully's kidnapper had hung up her 
phone, Mulder wasted no time in contacting 
Skinner and hustling back into the Hoover 
building. An hour later, he was growing 
frustrated at what he perceived as a lack of 
action. He was about to open his mouth when 
Skinner spoke to the milling group of agents 
in the conference room he'd commandeered as a 
response room.

"Thank you all for arriving here promptly. We 
are here to find out who Agent Scully's 
kidnappers are and how we can get her back. 
Agent Mulder?"

Mulder stood and walked to the whiteboard. 
"We know that Scully's kidnappers made a 
mistake when they took her. They were 
actually after Special Agent Karen Scully, 
formerly of the Columbus field office. Karen 
Scully needs to be brought in and kept 
protected. We can also gain an insight into 
the cases that the kidnappers are interested 
in. From the brief conversation that I had 
with one of Scully's kidnappers, they aren't 
afraid to use violence against her." Mulder 
finished what he knew, and returned to his 
seat.

Skinner stood once again. "Agent Dobbs, what 
do you have for us?"

Paul Dobbs stood up straight from the wall 
he'd been leaning on. "Two of my boys have 
picked Karen Scully up from her home, and 
have an ETA of five minutes. Based on the 
sounds that Agent Mulder heard in the 
background, we can assume that Agent Scully 
is being held in an enclosed space. My comms 
guy will have a trace ready to run on Agent 
Scully's cell when Agent Mulder next calls 
her kidnappers, so that we can start to 
triangulate an approximate location. My team 
will be ready to roll as soon as we get that 
location." Dobbs' no nonsense attitude showed 
why he was boss of the Hostage Retrieval Team 
in the FBI, and Mulder felt a little better 
knowing that Dobbs was in charge.

Skinner nodded. "Okay people. We all have our 
jobs to do, so let's get on it." As the room 
began to empty, he said, "Mulder. A word, 
please."

Mulder walked over to Skinner, who said, "You 
know that the FBI won't pay any ransom." 
Mulder nodded, and Skinner gripped the 
younger man's shoulder. "We'll get her back."

"Yeah, but in what shape? These guys hurt her 
while I was listening. Who knows what they're 
like?"

"When Karen Scully arrives, the two of us and 
Dobbs will talk to her about what these guys 
want. Until then, try to relax."

"I won't relax until Scully's back where she 
belongs. What worries me is how they got her 
address. Who do they have on the inside 
feeding them information?" Mulder rolled his 
shoulders to try and get some blood flow 
going as he walked away from Skinner. Hold 
on, Scully, he thought. We're trying to get 
to you.

****
Dana Scully was starting to shiver from the 
cold. Her ribs and back were aching from the 
repeated blows she'd received. She was still 
chained, but her captors had left enough 
slack that she could lean against the wall. 
Dana had been praying quietly since Tom and 
his buddies had left her alone. Help me, God, 
she prayed. Lead Mulder to me. Mulder, please 
come. I need you. While she was lost in her 
thoughts, she felt a feather light touch on 
her cheek. She roused a little, then started 
to sink back into sleep. The touch came 
again. She opened one eye, then the other, 
and gasped in disbelief. Kneeling next to her 
was someone who had once been a friend, who 
had taken a bullet meant for her. Sean 
Pendrell.

"Hey Agent Scully. Long time no see."

Great, Scully thought, now I'm hallucinating. 
Either that or I'm dying.

Pendrell spoke again. "No, you're not 
hallucinating or dying. I'm here to help 
you."

"If you're here to help, then unchain me and 
give me my gun."

"I can't. Us spirits are noncorporeal, so I 
can't do that. I can make a few suggestions, 
though. If you're interested."

Scully thought for a while as she looked at 
Pendrell. As she looked and her mind cleared, 
she realised that he had a soft blue white 
glow around him. "You're an angel?"

Pendrell chuckled softly. "No, not yet. I'm a 
spirit, so you can't touch me. Now, if I was 
an angel I could unlock those chains because 
I'd have a corporeal body. So, it's just 
suggestions and ideas for now I'm afraid."

"Then why was I able to feel you touch my 
face?" Scully asked.

"Because you really needed to know that you 
are being looked after."

Scully considered that, and nodded slowly. 
"Okay. What can you tell me about where I 
am?"

Pendrell answered her quickly. "You're in the 
basement of an abandoned warehouse just 
outside of Falls Church. The men who took you 
weren't after you: they were after another 
Agent Scully who just transferred to DC from 
Ohio. There's not much I can do to stop them 
hurting you." He looked at Scully, and added, 
"I'm sorry."

"No, no, that's okay. It's a comfort that 
you're here." Scully sighed and asked, "How 
long before they come back?"

"They left a while ago, and from what I 
heard, they won't be back until tonight. 
Rest, Dana. I'll keep you warm." Scully 
started to drift into sleep; barely 
registering that Pendrell had dropped down to 
the floor beside her and had wrapped his arms 
around her, keeping her warm.

****
The war room at the Hoover building was 
buzzing. Special Agent Karen Scully, late of 
the Columbus field office, had been an 
invaluable resource to the team working on 
Dana Scully's retrieval. Karen Scully was 
also running through all the Bureau staff 
associated with the cases to try to determine 
who the kidnappers' inside source was. The 
cases that Dana's kidnappers were interested 
in had netted over thirty offenders, some of 
whom were considered affiliated with 
organised crime. When Mulder found out that 
tidbit, he grew more worried. What's 
happening to you now, Scully, he thought. And 
it's a case of mistaken identity. What a 
mess! He walked around the room, waiting for 
an opportunity to do something. As he raised 
his arms above his head to stretch, his cell 
phone started ringing.

"Mulder."

"Agent Mulder, did you know that you're speed 
dial one on your partner's phone?" came Tom's 
baritone.

Mulder quickly signalled to the agent working 
comms to start the trace running, and 
answered calmly, "Yeah, I know that. She's 
number one on mine, too. That sort of thing 
happens all the time for FBI partners." He 
carefully put his cell into a special cradle 
so that the conversation could be recorded, 
as well as broadcast to the rest of the room.

Tom laughed at his response, then went on. 
"Agent Mulder, do you have the information I 
requested?"

"I have the case files I front of me."

"As you can see, a number of arrests were 
made in Cleveland and Cincinnati. Five of 
those arrested are of particular importance 
to me. I want you to arrange their release. 
These are their names: Damien Russell, Tony 
Lloyd, Kim Cornes, Greg Draper, and Chad 
Merrett. You have twenty four hours to 
arrange for their release. Do you 
understand?"

"Yes, I understand, but it's going to take 
more than twenty four hours to go through the 
legal process." 

There was a brief silence, then Tom's voice 
came through the speakers. "That's too bad 
for Agent Scully then, isn't it?" The next 
minute of sound through the phone was 
chilling. The sound of chains moving, 
followed by heavy footsteps. Another voice 
saying, "Ready for more, Red?" Then the 
obvious sound of fists on flesh, and someone 
grunting in pain. "Hold her in place, Harry." 
A metallic dragging sound.

Tom asked, "Agent Mulder, is your partner 
right or left handed?"

"She's right handed," Mulder whispered.

"Good. Break her left elbow, Dick." There was 
a muffled thump, followed by a scream. Then, 
silence.

"You bastards! Stop hurting her!" Mulder 
yelled at the kidnappers. Tom laughed at him.

"Agent Mulder. We all know that the FBI won't 
negotiate with terrorists and criminals for 
agents' lives. I believe that you might want 
to make an exception in this case. I'll call 
again in twenty four hours." The phone line 
cut out as Tom hung Scully's cell up.

Agent Dewey on comms spoke up quickly. "I've 
got a general location down to ten square 
miles near Falls Church."

Dobbs shot his agent a questioning look, and 
Dewey responded with a shrug, "It's a cell 
phone, and that's the best I could do from 
here. When we get a van down to Falls Church, 
I can narrow it down to a few blocks."

"That'll have to do for now. A.D. Skinner, do 
you and Agent Mulder want to be on site with 
the rest of my team?"

Skinner glanced at Mulder, who was sitting 
ashen faced and staring straight ahead. At 
Skinner's cough, Mulder blinked, and said, 
"Hell, yes!" Skinner nodded to Dobbs, who 
moved into action, ordering weapons and 
protective gear for all those who'd be on the 
strike team.

"Meet on parking level 2 by the freight 
elevators in five hours. I'll call in a 
helicopter to sweep the area that we have; 
check out likely sites. Agent Scully?" Dobbs 
asked the agent who had just entered the 
room. At her nod, he continued, "Do you have 
any likely suspects as the inside source?"

Karen Scully answered, "Yes, sir. My partner 
and I have narrowed it down to three 
possibles in the Columbus office. My former 
SAC is checking them out as we speak, and 
I'll have a name for you within the hour."

"Good work, Agent. Agent Mulder, how are you 
holding out?" Dobbs asked Mulder, with 
genuine concern for the younger man.

"I'm managing. It's just unnerving to hear 
Scully get hurt, and knowing I can't do 
anything about it."

Skinner came up to Mulder, and directed him 
out of the room. "Time to get some rest and a 
meal, Mulder," he said gently. When Mulder 
looked like he was going to object, Skinner 
added, "Scully needs you to rest so you can 
be there when we get her back."

Mulder nodded once, and they left the room 
together.

****
Dana Scully was slowly swimming back to 
awareness. In the last session with Dick's 
fists, she'd collected a couple more cracked 
ribs, and she was fairly sure that her 
kidneys had been bruised. Bet I'll pee red 
when they give me another bathroom break, 
Scully thought. She tried to move her arms to 
get some blood circulating, and nearly passed 
out from the pain ripping up and down her 
left arm. Crap, she thought as she observed 
the damage the iron bar had done. Her left 
arm was bent impossibly backwards, and there 
was blood coagulating on her shirt sleeve. 
Compound fracture, she noted hazily. She 
spoke out loud.

"Mulder, where are you? You have to come and 
save my ass now." When there was no response, 
she added in a whisper, "Please. I need you."

"Dana?"

"Sean?" she whispered. Pendrell seemed to 
shimmer into existence in front of her. "I'm 
not going to get out of here, am I?"

"Not unless we can figure out a way between 
us," Pendrell answered. At Dana's raised 
eyebrow, he grinned a little. 

"They're not going to let me go. What I heard 
last night tells me that these guys are 
organised crime. I've seen what they look 
like, and a dead Fed doesn't scare them at 
all. Even if Mulder could find where I am, 
they'll still kill me. Probably use my 
weapon, too," Dana trailed off.

"Come on Dana, think! You're smarter than 
them. Work with what you have!" Pendrell 
tried to encourage her.

"Work with what I have? That's a laugh! I 
have several broken ribs, my kidneys are 
killing me, and if you can't tell, my left 
arm is useless!" she ended by coughing, then 
spat out something metallic tasting. "Well, 
at least I know why it hurts so much to 
breathe. I'm bleeding in one of my lungs. 
Thank you very much," she finished on a 
whisper, then looked directly at Pendrell. 
"Help me, Sean."

"Dana, I wish I could do more. Can you move 
your left arm at all?"

"Not without the pain overwhelming me," she 
wheezed at him, then looked up at her 
misshapen limb. She considered what she saw, 
and thought for a few minutes. Pendrell was 
about to talk to her again when she asked him 
a question. "Sean? You know how you said last 
night that I could feel your touch because I 
needed to know that I was being looked 
after?" At his nod, she went on, "Then let me 
feel that now while I pull on my arm." Scully 
watched the glow around Pendrell's hands 
become stronger, and she felt his touch on 
her face. "Okay. Here I go." Scully put all 
of her weight on her damaged arm and leaned 
back as far as she could. The pain 
crescendoed through her, and she felt 
Pendrell's touch grow firmer. Just as she was 
about to pass out with the agony of the 
manoeuvre, her wrist slipped free of the 
rope. Her right hand soon followed, and she 
hitched herself up against the wall. Slowly 
her breathing returned to normal. She glanced 
over at Pendrell, and smiled weakly at him.

"Next time warn me when you're about to sound 
like a banshee!" Scully raised an eyebrow, 
and Pendrell asked, "How did you figure that 
out?"

Scully coughed some more blood up, and 
answered, "When I looked at the shape of my 
arm, the broken elbow had changed the 
geometry of my hands inside the knot. I 
figured that if I could stand the pain, I had 
a good chance of getting out of the ropes." 

Pendrell smiled broadly at her. "That's the 
Agent Scully that I know and. . ." he 
stumbled to a stop. Scully filled in the 
missing word herself.

"Love, Sean. I know, and I'll always treasure 
knowing you, but. . ."

"Mulder's the one for you. Yeah, I know." He 
looked around and seemed to come to a 
decision after having what appeared to be a 
conversation in his head. "You need to get 
out of here. They'll be back in three or four 
hours. Your cell, badge, and weapon are on 
the table, and your jacket is under it."

Scully spotted her jacket, and gingerly moved 
away from the wall. Somehow she managed to 
make a sling out of her jacket for her 
injured arm. She slipped her badge into her 
pants pocket and clipped her weapon to her 
waistband. Then picking up her phone, she 
slowly moved towards the door.

Pendrell used the time to reassure her that 
it was an easy climb up the stairs, and there 
were no locked doors between her and freedom. 
Scully turned to him and said, "I probably 
won't see you again, will I, Sean?"

"Probably not, Dana. Sean's a good name for a 
boy, don't you think?" He grinned sheepishly 
at her one last time, then faded out. Scully 
felt one last feather light touch on her 
cheeks, and whispered goodbye to Sean 
Pendrell under her breath. Moving carefully 
to the door, she opened it, and started her 
struggle up the stairs to freedom.

*****
The unmarked cars and van were parked roughly 
around the perimeter of the hot zone, waiting 
for Mulder's cell to ring. Mulder was in the 
van with all the tracking gear, and they 
still had four hours to go when his cell 
started buzzing.

"Mulder."

"Mulder, it's me."

"Scully? Where are you?" Mulder asked as 
Agent Dewey started the trace.

"I managed to get out of the warehouse, and 
I'm moving down Fourteenth Street. The street 
signs say Fourteenth and Collins."

"Got it, Agent Mulder." Dewey opened a 
channel to Skinner and gave him directions. 
The van door was pulled open and Dobbs 
motioned to Mulder.

"Come on agent. Don't you want to see that 
pretty partner of yours?"

Mulder didn't answer; he just grinned at him 
and followed Dobbs to his car. Five minutes 
later the men were pulling up beside 
Skinner's car. In the back seat was a very 
dishevelled and bloody Dana Scully. She 
smiled weakly up at her partner, then 
grimaced in pain.

Mulder just looked at her in relief. Dobbs 
told them that there was a medivac chopper on 
the way, and that she'd be taken to GWMC. 

"Agent Scully, can you tell me where the 
warehouse you were kept in is?" Skinner 
asked. Scully nodded, and pointed it out to 
him. "Good. Mulder, go with your partner in 
the chopper. Don't leave her side." Mulder 
acknowledged his orders with a curt nod.

The helicopter landed, and Dr Scully ran 
through her injuries as far as she could tell 
them. With each new injury, Mulder shuddered.

"I think I have three or four cracked ribs. 
I'm having trouble breathing and I'm coughing 
up blood, so that's likely to be lung trauma. 
My kidneys are probably bruised, and my left 
elbow has been badly broken."

The paramedics were amazed, and one asked, 
"Car wreck?"

She responded, "A beating with fists and an 
iron bar."

"You allergic to anything?"

"Nope. Some pain relief would be appreciated, 
though." 

The paramedics got on with their job and made 
Scully as comfortable as possible for 
transport. Finally, they were ready. The 
paramedics loaded Scully into the chopper, 
Mulder climbed in, and they were off. Skinner 
and Dobbs watched the helicopter leave, then 
busied themselves with arranging a reception 
that Tom, Dick, and Harry would never forget.

****
"So I got banged up in Karen Scully's place. 
I guess she owes me one."

Mulder nodded. He had assumed his usual 
place, holding Scully's hand while sitting 
beside her hospital bed. "How are you doing, 
Dana?"

"They have me on the good drugs, so I feel 
fine. The broken elbow will keep me out of 
the field for six to eight weeks. I'll be in 
here until my ribs start to knit, which will 
be at least a week. Are you going to be okay 
while I'm in here?"

Mulder nodded while he stroked her hand. 
"Hey, are you interested in what happened 
with this case?" Scully inclined her head for 
him to go on. "The other Agent Scully had 
made an enemy of one of the other agents in 
Columbus. He asked her out and she said no, 
so he decided to get her back."

"By having her kidnapped, and then make 
himself look good by going in and rescuing 
her, right?"

"Yep. He's now behind bars in protective 
custody. Tom, Dick, and Harry are safely 
locked up as well. You'll still need to make 
a statement, but Skinner said that could wait 
until you're ready." She nodded, and smiled 
at Mulder. "You never explained how you got 
out of there. How did you do it?"

Dana leant back on her pillows and thought 
for a while. Finally, just as Mulder was 
about to ask another question, she answered 
him.

"I saw Agent Pendrell."

"Pendrell? But he's. . ."

"Yes, I know. But I saw him. He gave me 
comfort, kept me warm." Mulder looked a 
little confused and a lot jealous, so Scully 
gripped his hand and continued speaking. "He 
showed me that there was a way out, even when 
I couldn't see it. He gave me hope that I 
would see you again. You need to know that I 
wanted to get out of that basement so that I 
could see you again." Scully was fading fast.

Mulder stood, and kissed her on the forehead. 
"I'll leave you to get some sleep, Scully. 
I'll be back in the morning." He squeezed her 
hands, and turned to leave her hospital room.
"Mulder?"

"Yes, Scully?"

"What do you think about Fiji?"

"Well, it's tropical."

"I'd like us to go there once I'm out of 
hospital."

Mulder nodded and said, "That sounds like a 
good plan."

"And, Mulder?"

"Yes, Scully?"

"I love you," Scully said with a dimpled 
smile.

"Oh brother." Mulder smiled at her, a rare 
full smile. He waved, and closed the door as 
he left the room.

Dana Scully snuggled down into the hospital 
bed and chuckled to herself. Oh brother 
indeed.