Title: Lucky Ones
Author: Laura Sprys
Date: 11/21/00
E-Mail: short_and_cute@hotmail.com
Rating: a graceful yet entertaining PG 
Category: MSR - in the end :)
Summary: Luck on Scully's part allows for Mulder to get a 
long awaited reply ... 
Spoilers: if you haven't seen 'Triangle' yet, put my story 
down and go hunt down another intensely fanatical fan to 
borrow their tape (my obsessive love of the show doesn't 
allow me to let any of mine out of sight - seven complete 
seasons is an awful lot of video tape)
Disclaimer: I'm just an ordinary college student from Michigan. 
These lovely characters belong to Fox/Carter - only borrowing 
them for a bit.

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Lucky Ones

Curling into a small ball, Scully wondered if she was 
slowly going insane or whether she had gone insane years ago 
and was just realizing it now. The clicking of the trigger 
drove both thoughts out of her head - her mind now filling 
instead with terror as well as a longing to have Mulder in 
the room with her, to jump in front, banishing that horror 
away.

Closing her eyes tightly, she gripped the child closer to her 
body, hoping and praying she would be enough protection; 
enough shielding to allow this child to see his parents 
again, to see the blue sky, to live another day ...

A heartbeat later, chaos broke loose above her and the 
child in her arms began shaking, whimpering into Scully's 
chest.

Amidst the hellish nightmare they were now both trapped 
in, Scully heard her name being called. Turning her head, 
she caught sight of a pair of black boots caked in mud 
crouching behind a ratty chair. Recognizing those shoes 
instantly, Scully had enough time to whisper Mulder's 
name before a stray bullet ripped through her body .

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Slowly opening her eyes, she searched the room for some 
kind of clue that she was actually alive. A moment late, 
she focused in on the body wedged painfully in a chair 
against the wall. 

Choosing that moment to check on Scully, Mulder met her 
gaze and held it for a moment before sliding out of the 
chair, trading for a more comfortable spot on the side 
of the bed. Lowering himself carefully onto the mattress,
he spoke softly, "sleeping beauty awakes."

"More like came off the pain medication," she answered back 
in a hoarse whisper. 

About to ask for some water, Mulder held up his hand, "save 
the voice, you sound like a 4-pack a day smoker." Getting up, 
he went and retrieved a pitcher of water from the bathroom. 
Handing a cup of it to her, "it's kind of strange to be the 
one in the chair rather than in the bed."

"I'll switch."

"I would if I could, believe me." Settling himself back 
down, "how're you doing?"

"I feel about as good as the floor of a taxi cab ..." 
hoisting herself up a bit, she winced at the pains that 
shot through her chest and arm. Dropping back onto the 
pillow, a tear slid down her cheek.

Mulder, in his spontaneously weird yet cuddlingly wonderful 
way, leaned over and quickly kissed the stray tear away. His 
mouth lingered near her ear for a moment, asking softly, 
"ready for a night on the town?"

Giving him a watery smile, "ask me again when I can sit 
up, okay?"

"Deal."

Staring at him for a minute, the air in the room seemed to 
grow heavier before Scully mustered the courage to ask, 
"did he make it?"

Grinning suddenly at her, "you saved him. He wanted to 
thank you himself but Relocation's already got him at his 
new home - parents, dog and all."

Breathing a sigh of relief, "thank God."

"I've thanked him plenty of times already."

Showing exaggerated shock, "Mr. Atheist himself??"

"Any entity that aims a bullet like that and keeps you 
alive gets my thumbs up."

"Here comes one of my trademark questions," eliciting 
another smile out of him, "what happened?"

"In a nutshell?"

"In a nutshell ..."

"The bullet went into your upper chest, exited through 
your left shoulder and embedded itself in the floor a 
foot in front of you."

"But Joey was under me. How could the bullet have missed him?"

Reaching for her hand, he began playing with her hospital 
band absent-mindedly, "I have no idea. By all rights and 
reasons, that bullet should have shattered his head wide 
open. But instead," locking eyes with her once again, 
"it ruffled his hair and whistled by his ear - never even 
touched him." His face crumpled for a moment, then straightened 
itself out again, "I wish I could say the same for you."

Squeezing his hand, "I'll heal; always do ... I'm just glad 
you found us."

"Told you I'd come and get you, wherever you are." Sliding 
off the bed, "but now I'm gonna go find Frohike, tell him 
he can stop having panic attacks."

Laying a kiss on her forehead and starting toward the 
door, Scully called him back. Leaning over the bed rail, 
he asked softly, "yeah?"

"I love you too."

Giving her a wonderfully quick yet completely possessing 
kiss on the lips, "I wondered when you'd get back to me."

Grinning up at him, "sorry to have taken so long."

Smiling back, "we've been a bit busy lately."

"I'll never be that busy again."

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Thanks for reading and hopefully enjoying.