CHAPTER I

Tuesday, September 10, 1996

9:03 PM, Arlington, VA

Dana Scully was exhausted as she signalled and turned into her

partner's street. Just this one quick stop and she could get home

to her own apartment. She had just left her mother at the

hospital, and was on her way home to drop off their luggage, get a

short rest, then return to her mother's bedside. "So much for the

European vacation!" she thought. After planning this trip for

months, Dana and her mother had gotten as far as the Beltway headed

for the airport when Mrs. Scully began feeling sharp pains

radiating from her abdomen. After protesting that she would be OK,

the pains got worse, and Scully had headed for the hospital.

The doctors had confirmed Scully's diagnosis of acute appendicitis,

and had operated on her mother within the hour. She was resting

and would be out of it for quite awhile, so Scully decided to swing

by Mulder's nearby apartment on her way home. His cel phone was

apparently turned off, and his answering machine was taking

messages. This was not unusual, especially if he had brought work

home with him and didn't want to be bothered. She was sure he

would want to hear about what was happening with her mother, and

Scully also needed to let him know about the change in vacation

plans.

In the glow of the street lamps, Scully could see Mulder getting

out of his car in front of his apartment house, about half a block

down the street from her, on the left side. She saw an empty

parking space on her right and quickly grabbed it.

As she was unbuckling her seat belt, a nearby movement caught her

eye and she looked out through the windshield. Her breath caught

in her throat at the sight of a dark figure hurrying across the

street in Mulder's direction. Mulder was walking toward the front

of his car after having locked it, and had not yet seen the figure

approaching.

Scully shouted "Mulder!" in an attempt to warn him, but the window

was up and she was frantically trying to push the seat belt away

and open the door.

The attacker caught up with Mulder who turned, reaching for his

weapon. Before her partner could draw his gun, however, Scully

heard three shots and saw the flashes from the weapon held by the

assassin. It all happened in seconds, and Mulder seemed to fall in

slow motion to the street.

As Scully was screaming Mulder's name, scrambling to get free of

the car door and pulling her own weapon, the gunman took aim and

fired one more shot at Mulder's head as he lay on the ground.

There was a brief convulsive movement from the prone figure, then

he was still. The gunman turned and ran in the direction of the

shadowy apartment building as Scully brought her gun up.

A freight train hit her between the shoulders and she went down

hard, her gun flying out of her hands. A body that felt as though

it weighed twice as much as herself was holding her immobile and

saying "Keep down, there's another shooter."

She was vaguely aware that the voice belonged to AD Skinner, but

she was beyond coherent thought, fighting with all the strength she

had to get free, crying out, "Mulder!"

Skinner looked apprehensively toward Mulder's still form when

Scully screamed his name. He managed to hold her for just a minute

more, then rolled off and away from the struggling agent.

The second that Scully realized she was free, she got to her feet

and raced over to Mulder. As she approached, her heart felt as

though it were being squeezed by a fist. He lay on his back with

one leg bent under the other, his arms out and away from his body,

his head turned to one side. His eyes were closed and the

blood....God, the blood was all over him and pooling in the street

where he lay. There were three bullet wounds in his chest and one

ugly entry wound marred the left side of his forehead.

Before she could overcome the shock, Skinner was there, feeling for

a pulse at the neck artery. He looked up and shook his head.

"He's gone, Agent Scully. I'm sorry."

Scully was shaking so hard that her knees gave out and she sat next

to Mulder, not caring about the blood. She had to search for his

heartbeat for her own peace of mind, and placed her trembling

fingers against his neck, but felt nothing. She gently took his

hand in hers and let her tears flow.

EARLIER THAT SAME DAY

J. Edgar Hoover Building

3:30 PM, Tuesday

Mulder walked into Skinner's office straightening his tie and

wondering why he had been 'invited' to the inner sanctum. He and

Scully had covered all the latest with him in the morning meeting.

"Agent Mulder," Skinner acknowledged.

Mulder nodded and sat in one of the chairs facing Skinner's desk.

There was a moment of silence as Skinner tapped his pen on the

blotter, then he gave Mulder a keen look.

"I'll come straight to the point. I've been given information from

a reliable source about a 'hit' being ordered on you by a faction

of the 'shadow' government. Those orders include the caveat that

your death is to be confirmed by morning, or some heads will roll."

Mulder's expressive hazel eyes widened, but he said nothing, hoping

that Skinner was going to yell, "Just kidding!" and laugh.

Skinner, however, was perfectly serious. "The people in this

'splinter' group cannot be controlled by threats of the release of

the MJ tape information. They want your head and mean to get it.

They feel that you're too much of a danger to their power."

As Mulder began to speak, Skinner held his hand up in a gesture to

halt what he had to say.

"Locking you up in a secure area until we could deal with the

threat would be of no use. Believe me, if we sealed you into a

vault, they would get to you. They wouldn't care how many people

or structures they destroyed along with you at this point."

Mulder felt a chill and wondered if his time might be truly running

out.

"At least several days, probably more, will be needed to take care

of this rogue faction, but you don't have that much time."

Skinner hesitated, then said, "There is a way we can keep you safe

for the period needed, but it's rather drastic. Have you ever seen

the movie 'F/X?'

Mulder tried to re-focus at this abrupt change in topic. He wildly

thought for a minute that Skinner was recommending a movie he

should see.

"Uh, yeah. Special effects expert helped make it look like a

mobster is gunned down..." he faded out and stared at Skinner.

Skinner nodded. "We can make it look as though someone kills you

before this bunch has a chance to do it. But we need to move fast

if you agree. You're even in danger here in this office. And no

one is to know about this, not your partner, your mother...no one."

Mulder looked at his shoes, thinking, then shook his head. "Scully

is on a 6 PM flight to JFK, then on to London. She'll be out of

the way and wouldn't hear about all this until it's over. But my

mother is another story." He drilled Skinner with his eyes. "I

won't have her hearing that I've been murdered and have her drop

dead of a heart attack."

Skinner sighed, and said, "We should be able to..."

"'Should' be able?" he interrupted. "That's not good enough. What

if something went wrong and she *did* hear about it?" Mulder stood

and began pacing back and forth. "No. We have to make sure that

my mother knows enough not to worry." He stopped and looked at

Skinner.

"All right," Skinner conceded. "We'll have seven people in on this

instead of six. We'll let her know to ignore any news of your

death in the next twenty-four hours and to wait to hear from you.

That leaves you, me, Dan Warfield the special effects expert, the

'triggerman', and the two ambulance 'EMTs.' We'll get you to the

morgue, switch you with another body, and stash you away."

Mulder was amazed. All this just to save his miserable butt.

Skinner was continuing, "They'll be watching your every move,

obviously, so we have to jump on this fast and make the hit, or

we'll have to stand in line to whack you."

Mulder winced at that, and muttered, "Take a number."

"Yeah, something like that." Skinner got to his feet and said,

"Let's go. Janet Farley, a detective with the Washington DC police

department's SWAT team not only volunteered to 'shoot' you, but she

has offered to let us use a safe house where we can prepare this

little exercise."

As they walked to the door, he added, "I just swept my office for

bugs, found a couple and removed them. This conversation was safe,

but be careful what you say once we leave this room. We'll go out

the back way. My car is waiting for us, with Agents Nathan and

Garcia ready to get us to the safe house without a tail."

Mulder had questions, but kept his mouth shut while they made their

way through the building and out a little-used exit. As Skinner

had said, his car was idling nearby, with Garcia in the driver's

seat and Nathan in the back. As Mulder opened the rear door, he

leaned in and remarked in a whiney voice, "And my horoscope only

predicted a bad hair day." Nathan snickered appreciatively, but

Garcia just snarled, "Get the hell in and shut the door, Mulder."

Skinner missed this exchange, and, oblivious to the tension between

Garcia and Mulder, settled into the passenger seat. He was unaware

that Garcia, who was an excellent FBI agent, could not stand

Mulder. Garcia's opinion of Mulder was mostly unprintable, but

basically it was that he was a fag who was insane, but was able to

keep his job because he had connections.

While they were en route, Skinner told Mulder, "I picked these two

agents to act as EMTs when our borrowed ambulance shows up to

remove your 'body' from the crime scene. I trust them with this

job; they're both very good agents and know how to keep secrets."

Garcia's handsome latino face with the hooded eyes never changed

expression, but Nathan's mouth broke into a grin and he ducked his

head in embarrassment. Nathan was black and huge, and looked as

though he could be a stand-in for a football linebacker. He was

taller than Mulder and at least 75 pounds heavier, all muscle.

Mulder was grateful that this behemoth found him amusing and was

not as unfriendly as Garcia and some other FBI agents.

Mulder turned to look forward and commented, "So, who's idea was it

to do this at rush hour?"

The traffic was bumper to bumper and not moving much. Knowing he

was pushing it, but feeling safe because of Skinner's presence, he

asked Garcia, "I must have been out sick the day they taught this

maneuver in 'How to Lose a Tail' in the Academy."

Garcia's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel and muscles in his

jaw clenched, but he said nothing.

They finally found a break in the traffic and were moving through

the back streets a little more quickly. After another fifteen

minutes of driving, some of it back-tracking, they pulled up in

front of a boxy 70's glass-front building in a commercial/retail

type of neighborhood. The grimy six foot window had a fading sign

taped to it: "Tae Kwon Do, Hap Ki Do, and Judo."

Skinner reached the door first and walked right in; it was not

locked. They gathered at a long counter near the door and looked

out at a large empty room with wooden floors and practice mats

thrown down here and there.

The door of a room in the far right corner opened and a woman

crossed the space toward them with quick strides of her long,

shorts-clad legs. Mulder noticed right away, quick as he was, that

she was quite a knock-out with her curly dark hair, shapely figure

and, as she reached the group, her intelligent green eyes.

"Couldn't you guys try to be more conspicuous?" were her first

words. She looked at the four formidable agents in suits with

amusement. "Next time you might try wearing a neon sign that

flashes "FBI" on and off."

Skinner wryly said, "Janet Farley, gentlemen. She's with

Washington PD, and is head of the local SWAT team."

She nodded, said, "And I know who you are, so let's get on with

it." She turned and walked back toward the room in the corner.

Mulder wasn't the only one who enjoyed the view as they followed

her. Of her admirers, to give credit where credit was due, Mulder

was the only one who felt a little guilt about his chauvinism.

They were introduced to Dan Warfield, who was a free-lance special

effects expert. He was recruited for the job by Skinner, who knew

someone in the business who owed him a favor. Dan was 24 years

old, a genius at what he did, and would have asked to set this up

for the FBI anyway, just for the fun of it. He wore his long brown

hair tied back in a ponytail and wore a t-shirt (Looney Tunes are

my LIFE) and jeans.

Skinner had them all sit around the table for a strategy meeting

before getting started with the F/X details.

"It's after 5:00 PM already. We need to let Dan get started no

later than 6:00, since it will take a couple of hours to do his

thing with Mulder." He looked at Dan. "Why don't you tell us

generally what you're going to do and how the shooting will go

down?"

Dan grinned and said, "'Kay. Normally I take lots of photos of the

subject, make plaster and smear it all over his head and shoulders,

let it harden, then use the cast to make latex forms which hold the

wires and blood bags. In this case, we just don't have the time,

so I've brought some latex pieces that should work all right if we

limit the head to one wound. The rest of the rounds should be

placed in his chest, and I have a form to cover his torso for that.

There's a transmitter and receiver which will allow the blood bags

to burst in a prescribed order so the shooter will know where to

aim the gun and when to shoot the blanks." He paused to take a

breath and saw they were all intent on his explanation.

"I suggest that we make rough holes in his shirt before the

shooting, strategically placed over the blood bag locations. No

one will have the time to notice and the results will be more

realistic."

Mulder mentally said goodby to his designer shirt; his favorite and

most expensive.

Dan looked at Mulder and said, "You will park at the curb as close

to your apartment as possible, take your time getting out, lock the

door, and begin walking toward the front of your car. Janet will

step up to you and fire at your chest three times. You'll fall to

the street and then she'll fire one more round at your head." He

stopped at this point and motioned to Skinner, with, "It's all

yours."

Skinner picked up the scenario. "Janet will run into the shadows

of the apartment building, go around to the back street, and get

into her car which will have been left for her there. She'll drive

around the block and arrive at the scene in her capacity as DC

police. Mulder will continue to play dead while everyone gathers

around. She'll give approval to remove the victim at some point,

and then these two gentlemen," and he nodded at Garcia and Nathan,

will put him into a body bag and onto a stretcher, load him into an

ambulance, and take off to the morgue."

Skinner directly addressed his agents. "EMT uniforms are over

there." He pointed to a table in the back of the room. "The

ambulance you'll be driving is parked behind this building. You'll

need to stay on the phone with me after we leave here so you can

properly time when you show up at the scene. I'll ride in the

ambulance with the body," he nodded at Mulder, who smiled and waved

at the group, "and guide you to the morgue. Several people may

want to have a look at you there to satisfy themselves that you're

actually dead, then we can sneak you out of there to another safe

location for a couple of days."

He sat back in his chair and asked, "Any questions so far?"

Mulder spoke up. "Won't the medical examiner on the scene suspect

that my shelf date hasn't expired when he starts poking around?"

Skinner looked a little uncomfortable. "We haven't been able to

get around that problem, so Janet is going to use her position and

friendship with the guy to convince him to stick with just a

cursory examination, promising to explain everything later. She'll

tell him it's an 'FBI thing' and carries a top secret

classification."

Skinner said, "OK, just remember that the bad guys will be there

watching this performance, and we only have the one shot to do it

right. No matter what happens, follow the scenario, or Mulder here

is a dead man. Now, let's get to work."

Dan was first on his feet and started moving his equipment and

material onto the table near Mulder.

Janet got up and said, "Guess I'll go get into my assassin's

costume. Have fun, guys." She left the room with a parting wink

at Mulder.

He blinked. Had she *winked* at him? Was she coming on to him?

Did she have dust in her eye?"

Garcia, who had been observing this silently, said, "Unbelievable.

Spooky here gets the death sentence, and he's sittin' here figuring

on how to get Ms. SWAT into bed."

Skinner looked up from the notes he was making and snapped, "That's

enough, Agent Garcia. 'Ms SWAT' happens to be my cousin's

daughter, and I don't appreciate that kind of innuendo."

Everyone mentally said "Ooops."

Dan had prepared a section of latex, and asked Mulder to take off

his coat, tie, watch and shirt. He complied, placing his watch in

the coat pocket, then hanging his clothes over the back of a chair.

Dan had him lay his arm on the table, then fitted the piece of

latex to Mulder's forearm and wrist.

"What's that for?" Mulder asked. "You're not shooting me there,

are you?"

Dan shook his head, saying, "This is to cover your pulse points so

that when someone feels for your pulse, they won't get one."

The latex's skin color was close to Mulder's own pigmentation, and

there was even hair and the slight snaking of veins over the

surface of the material. When Dan spread some spirit gum on

Mulder's arm and applied the latex, it blended right into his body

and felt near enough to his own skin to fool anyone.

"Now I'll put one on the other arm and wrist, then you'll need one

on each side of your neck, all to hide the pulse points."

It took half an hour or more to complete this process, and the

results were amazing. "You have to know that stuff is there to see

it or to feel the difference from your own skin," Dan told Mulder.

He had not yet applied the latex to the left side of his neck,

needing to leave that until last so he could run wires under it.

Janet came breezing into the room dressed in black from head to

toe. She looked Mulder over thoroughly, but refrained from comment

and sat down to watch. Mulder shifted uncomfortably under the

scrutiny, but soon was engrossed once more in Dan's magic show.

"Now for the fun part." Dan rummaged through a large box and

selected a lightweight fiberglass form with wires embedded and

dangling at the bottom, and placed it against Mulder's torso. He

explained, "We have to cover your chest and stomach with something

that will hold the wires and blood bags, and also provide a shield

so someone won't notice the rise and fall of your chest when you

breathe."

He seemed to be satisfied with the fit, and proceeded to strap it

around Mulder's body with velcro strips. He then located several

pieces of latex and held each one in turn against the left side of

Mulder's forehead, trying to get the best fit. He at last decided

on one and applied it with spirit gum. This appliance also had

visible wires running through it, and Dan had to cover them with a

very thin second layer of latex. He left a small tear in the latex

where the blood bag would burst, allowing for the free flow of

blood. The wires were run down the side of his neck and behind the

chest cover, to emerge at the bottom with all the other wires.

Last of all, Dan applied the final latex piece to the left side of

Mulder's neck to cover the wires and pulse point.

He stepped back and critically looked things over before grabbing

Mulder's shirt and holding it against his chest. Picking up a

black felt tip marker, he drew a small X in three places on the

shirt front. "This is where he gets shot."

He handed the shirt to Nathan and asked, "Could you make holes in

the shirt the size of the Xs while I finish up here?"

Nathan happily pulled out a pocket knife and went to work on it.

Dan was strapping a small black box to Mulder's waist, saying,

"This is the receiver. Hold still while I get all the wires

attached to it."

Mulder wondered, "What would happen if someone's garage door opener

sets it all off?"

Dan just laughed, shaking his head, and kept on fiddling with the

wires. He muttered, "It can't, so don't worry about it." He

clearly didn't want to be distracted, so Mulder settled down and

let him work. He caught Janet's eye, and decided that he didn't

need a distraction either; at least not that kind. Garcia was

sitting stone-faced against the wall, so Mulder idly wound up

watching Nathan instead, who was holding the mutilated shirt up,

admiring his own handiwork.

Mulder sighed at this pitiful remnant of a once splendid example of

his sense of sartorial acumen. Then cheered up when he realized

that he could claim this destruction on his reimbursement voucher.

Although Skinner was deep in a file and his notes at the moment, he

was here to see this for himself, and would be sure to sign off on

the form. "In your dreams, Mulder," he told himself. "When did

Skinner *ever* sign one of your vouchers without a magnifying glass

and sending it back ten times first?"

Dan finished his work, finally, and Mulder was able to carefully

put his shirt back on. When he let it blouse a little bit at his

waist, the receiver was not noticeable.

"Now we get to set you up, Janet," Dan said, as he picked up

another black box similar to the one that Mulder wore. After doing

something with the settings, he strapped it around her waist, and

showed her the sequence and how to relay a signal when she fired

the weapon. They practiced it a little bit, then he ran both

Mulder and Janet through the procedure, step-by-step.

Dan finally fell back into a chair and declared, "OK, they're as

ready as they'll ever be. Good luck, guys."

CHAPTER II

While Skinner talked with Garcia and Nathan for a minute, Janet

walked with Mulder across the large room toward the front door.

She surprised him by saying, "I know you don't remember me, Agent

Mulder, but I certainly remember you."

Mulder turned his head to look inquiringly at her.

She grinned and said, "You probably don't want to be reminded of

this, but I came in with the SWAT team after you shot Modell in the

hospital room. I saw how it affected you...and your partner." She

added, "I'm sorry," when she saw the fleeting expression of

distress cross his face.

He just nodded, then asked, "What inspired you to get involved in

this?" He vaguely waved a hand back toward the conference room.

"Walter is my mom's cousin," she replied. "He trusts me. And I'm

placed in the DCPD where I can help him from time to time.

Besides, I remembered you and wanted to help you out."

The warm brown eyes she turned on him were a little more personal

than he felt comfortable with, so he wryly said, "Encounters with

me usually have the opposite effect."

Then she surprised him again when she said, "How about dinner

tomorrow night on me if this is all cleared up by then? If it

isn't, we can make it the night after."

His hazel eyes darkened slightly as he focused on her face and he

saw an uncertainty and shyness behind the bold proposal. He moved

a few inches closer and leered, "Why, Detective Farley; are you

coming on to me?" He didn't know why he pulled that on her - she

wasn't Scully and, not knowing him all that well, she might take

offense.

She flushed a becoming pink shade and bravely stood her ground,

saying, "Hell, yes, I'm coming on to you; I would have to be blind

not to. So, are you interested?"

He blinked. Well, there it was, a clear challenge and the ball was

in his court. It was his turn to react and he leaned even closer,

touching his lips softly to hers for a moment. As he broke the

contact, she breathed, "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

His thoughts turned unbidden to Scully then, wondering what she

would think of this charming little scene, knowing she would see it

immediately for what it was - lust, pure and simple.

"So what's wrong with that," he thought defensively.

They reached the front door, where Janet walked out first, looking

around for anything suspicious. It was after 8:30 and dark

already, so she was limited in what she could see on the nearly

deserted street. At her all-clear signal, Mulder quickly exited

the building and got into the back seat of Skinner's car, being

careful not to disturb any of the f/x applications with which he

was equipped. It would be embarrassing if he should suddenly begin

bleeding all over the car. Janet took the front passenger seat,

and Skinner appeared a moment later and took the wheel.

"I had Nathan move your car and leave it where it isn't being

watched, Mulder. I'll drop you at your car first, then take Janet

with me so she can get into position. You need to head on over to

your apartment and get this thing started."

They drove in silence after that, each lost in their own thoughts.

They reached Mulder's parked car and he was left with a wave and

smile from Janet as Skinner drove off.

Mulder made his way to his apartment, his car pretty much on

automatic pilot as his brain dwelled on the coming deadly charade.

He was all too aware that his fake death had to look good, or he

wouldn't be alive to see the sun come up. He was a little nervous,

but was otherwise fairly steady. He was just grateful that Scully

would be thousands of miles away and safe while this played itself

out.

Mulder tried to distract himself from the coming little drama, and

Janet's shorts-clad rounded bottom immediately came to mind. From

that starting point, he had no trouble recalling all her other

attributes. In practically no time he found himself approaching

his apartment.

He saw a car pull away from the curb in front, leaving an empty

parking spot. He figured that it was not an accident to have a

suddenly convenient place to park and once again was amazed at how

much Skinner had been able to arrange in such a brief period.

He took his time parallel parking, then shut the engine off. He

hoped everyone was in position, but refrained from glancing in the

rear view mirror or from swivelling his head around to look. He

took a deep breath, unsnapped the seat belt, and got out of the

car. He locked the door, then started to walk along the side of

the vehicle, expecting Janet to show up at any moment. By the time

he had reached the front headlight, his nerves were really on edge.

Suddenly Mulder's ears picked up the sound of rapid footsteps and

he turned, seeing the figure all in black quickly closing in on

him. He began reaching for his weapon, then Janet leveled the gun

at his chest and fired three times in rapid succession. Mulder

was surprised to feel the blanks hit him as well as the shocks from

the small explosions, but he was mostly fascinated seeing the blood

spurt out of his chest area. "Cool!" he thought, then let his body

recoil from the shots and become as limp as possible when he

collapsed to the street. He thought he heard his name called from

somewhere, but was too busy concentrating on dying properly to pay

any attention. He proudly thought that the convulsive movement he

gave as Janet fired the head shot was inspired.

His satisfaction at his Academy Award performance was short-lived,

however.

"Mulder!!" This time, he clearly heard the scream from..."Scully!?

Oh, my God. She saw this and thinks it's real. I can't do

this..." he frantically thought.

Racked with indecision, he temporarily opted to keep very still and

see what transpired, knowing that he could be going through a

similar murder scene later, only for real, if he screwed this up.

He heard approaching footsteps, then someone was kneeling by his

side. Mulder felt a pressure on his neck, and Skinner's voice

said, "He's gone, Agent Scully. I'm sorry."

Mulder felt as though someone had punched him in the stomach when

he realized that Scully was next to him, feeling for his pulse

herself, as if she trusted no one else to confirm that he had

permanently been ripped from her life. And he nearly gave

everything away when her trembling hands sought and held his while

she wept for him.

"This is too damned hard," he agonized, and hoped that his own

tears of frustration and pity were unnoticed in the darkness and

the blood. "She's gone through enough already because of me; and

now this." He mentally tried to reach Scully, telling her to hold

on just for a little while, and everything would be all right.

After what seemed like an eternity he heard sirens, and other

people began to arrive.

Mulder was dimly aware of the heightened level of activity around

him and of the subdued voices with questions and theories. His

concentration, however, was on Scully and their mutual grief.

Hers, though, was for losing him, while his was for the pain he was

causing her.

The small hands which held his hand so tenderly, giving him a

tangible link to Scully, suddenly slipped away. Someone was urging

her to move from his side so they could carry on with the

investigation of the crime scene. He felt her move closer to him

and held his breath as he felt incredibly soft lips press against

the corner of his mouth. He fought the instinct to respond and

ravage her delectable mouth with his, and then nothing was touching

him but the cold night air and the asphalt upon which he was lying.

Mulder singled out and followed the sound of her footsteps until he

was distracted by several bright flashes of light in his face. He

nearly blew it then but struggled to keep his features impassive

when he realized that someone was taking photos. Then his ears

picked up Skinner's distinctive Assistant Director of the Federal

Bureau of Investigation voice directing someone to do something.

All Mulder could think about now, however, was wishing that he had

not fallen with one leg bent under the other. He doubted whether

he would have any feeling in the leg when he could finally get to

his feet again.

The next person to touch him was not nearly as desirable as Scully.

He could smell after-shave mixed with some antiseptic odor, and

then latex-covered hands were probing inquisitively all over his

body. He felt a finger at his eye and was prepared when the eyelid

was raised and a light was directed at the pupil. "Well, this guy

would have to be as dumb as a box of rocks not to know I'm still

alive, with my pupil expanding and contracting like this." He

vaguely got an impression of an oriental male's face, then the

eyelid was closed. Mulder heard a soft chuckle near his head and

a whispered, "Nice job, young man." Finally the medical examiner

got to his feet and signaled that it was all right to remove the

body when they were finished.

Someone drew an outline around his body on the pavement. Mulder

hoped that whoever it was would not notice the involuntary twitch

his leg gave. The muscle was protesting the extended time in its

awkward position.

He suddenly heard Scully's anguished plea from somewhere off to his

right; "Don't leave him like that any more. Please cover him." He

was surprised, considering that she had handled more dead bodies in

every state imaginable. He wished they would hurry the hell up and

get him inside the ambulance. Scully had to be told what was going

on. He had thought that Skinner would have filled her in by now.

Mulder recognized Eldon Bennett's voice then. He was the current

head of the FBI's Violent Crimes section. "Sir, I have Wright,

Sims and Cusak on the scene trying to put this together and make

sense out of it. I've called in four more agents to handle things

from the office. We can't let them take out one of our own like

this."

Mulder was taken aback. He had been under the impression that half

those agents would have liked pull the trigger on him themselves.

Now everyone was out to "avenge" his death. Must be an image

thing, he mused.

Several more big feet approached, accompanied by a squeaky thing on

wheels. He was lifted and not-too-gently dropped onto a plastic

surface, then the body bag was zippered shut over him. He almost

sighed with relief to be in a new position, the macabre setting

lost on him for the moment.

As they wheeled him to the ambulance, Mulder could hear a muffled

sob from nearby, and cursed Skinner silently. "He's letting her

believe this just to get her honest reactions for the audience, the

bastard." Then he thought just how pissed Scully was going to be

with all of them for not telling her before now. He was no longer

so sure he wanted to face her any time soon, after all.

He heard Skinner climb in with him, then someone, probably Garcia

or Nathan, shut the doors and all was quiet for a moment. The

engine started, then they were on their way.

Skinner broke the silence first, saying, "That went well, I think,

Agent Mulder." He reached over and unzipped the body bag as far as

Mulder's midsection so he could breathe better.

"Ow. You grazed my nose with that," Mulder complained.

Skinner diplomatically refrained from commenting.

"And not to appear ungrateful for all this work on my behalf, but

why are you allowing Agent Scully to go on believing I'm dead,

sir?" Mulder clearly was angry, and his tone of voice bordered on

insolence.

Skinner looked surprised, then answered a bit testily. "She

doesn't, Agent Mulder. I took her aside after she was persuaded to

leave your body to the specialists, and told her briefly what was

going on. For a minute I thought she was going to faint dead away,

her face got so pale." He had a rueful expression when he added,

"I almost wish she had fainted because she then proceeded to read

me the riot act about putting her through what we did."

"Then the reactions after that were all an act?!" he said

wonderingly. "What a woman!"

Skinner nodded, and said, "She's going to meet us at the morgue.

I'm sure you'll have your turn getting an earful from her."

Suddenly the ambulance lurched in a high speed turn into an

alleyway, sped along for a minute, then slammed to a stop. Skinner

wildly grabbed for something to keep him from falling. Mulder

landed on the floor with a thud, entangled in the body bag.

"What the hell?" he managed, when he heard a gunshot.

Skinner was going for his gun and Mulder was desperately kicking to

get free of the bag when the doors were yanked open. Agent Nathan

stood there in the dim light from the street lamp and the interior

ambulance glow with his weapon in his hand and blood spattered over

his shirt.

Mulder was shoving the last part of the bag off his foot and

reaching down for his gun when Nathan said, "Pull it out slowly and

throw it out here, but not toward me." Mulder looked up, his hand

frozen on the butt of his weapon to see the large barrel of

Nathan's gun aimed right at his face. He was careful to comply

with his instructions. Then Nathan spoke to Skinner, but he kept

his eyes on Mulder.

"I'm sorry to involve you in this, sir, but if you drop your

weapon, you won't be harmed. They paid me to take Mulder down; not

you."

Skinner complied and dropped his gun with a clatter, but could only

stare at what he thought was one of the best and most trusted

agents in the Bureau. He finally said, "Agent Nathan, your

career..."

Nathan smiled. "With the amount of money they've deposited for me,

to paraphrase a favorite movie of mine, 'I don't need no stinkin'

career.' And I want to thank you for selecting me to help carry

off this one-act play. You would have fooled us all with this set-

up."

Skinner looked at Mulder and shrugged, then launched himself at

Nathan.

It took the big man by surprise - hell, it took *Mulder* by

surprise - but Nathan was a match for Skinner in strength, and he

had the gun. Before Mulder had a chance to do more than place one

foot toward the doors, Skinner had fallen to the ground, stunned by

the impact of his head meeting the hard surface of Nathan's weapon.

That same gun was again trained on Mulder, who backed up a step to

his former position, when Nathan said, "I'm truly sorry; I liked

you." Nathan's first bullet clipped Mulder at the top of his left

shoulder, not doing more damage because he had seen the trigger

finger tighten and had twisted to his right. The second round

smashed into the plastic and metal receiver box at his waist,

ricocheted up the outside of the fiberglass torso cover, and

whizzed past his ear. Although his stomach felt like it was on

fire and it was hard to breath, Mulder was still moving, rolling to

his left in the narrow confines of the ambulance, going for

Skinner's discarded gun. He felt like a wounded fish swimming

around in a lighted goldfish bowl; an easy target with nowhere to

hide.

A third bullet plowed a shallow furrow in his scalp, but the fourth

shot didn't seem to have any impact on his body at all. Finally

his hand closed over the heavy weapon Skinner had discarded, and

Mulder swung it upward, feeling that he was moving in slow motion,

knowing that he was going to be too late.

When he faced the doors again and realized that he was still alive,

he was surprised. Nathan lay on the ground, obviously dead, with

a bloody Garcia standing over him. The fourth gunshot had been to

Nathan's head at fairly close range.

"You should've aimed better, you piece of shit," Garcia snarled at

the dead man. He held one hand with a bunched-up cloth to the side

of his head, and the cloth was saturated in blood.

Garcia looked up at the equally bloodied Mulder and grinned, but

there wasn't much humor in it. "Ain't we a friggin' pair? Any

more of this and we'll need our own blood bank for supplies."

He leaned over and helped a dazed Skinner to his feet, then punched

buttons on his cellular phone.

"What are you doing?" Mulder demanded. I'm still the Target of the

Month in these parts. Who are you calling?"

Garcia stopped punching in numbers and looked contemptuously at

him. "The cops, of course. We've had a shooting and a death in

case you haven't noticed. You can just climb back into your body

bag and keep your trap shut. They already know that you're dead

and shouldn't bother with you."

Skinner spoke up. "You can't assume that Agent Nathan didn't

inform his...employers about our scheme here. They probably know

that Mulder's not dead and will come after him."

Garcia held his gaze and said thoughtfully, "No, I don't think he

contacted anyone after you pulled us into this. Not in any way

that he could outline what was going on, at least. He was with me

all the time."

While this was going on, Mulder had painfully picked the body bag

up from the floor of the ambulance and was standing in a bent

position while spreading it carefully on the gurney. Skinner

noticed, and asked, "Where were you hit, Mulder?"

Skinner walked up to the ambulance entrance and climbed back into

the vehicle. He touched Mulder's scalp wound, and was rewarded

with a hissing intake of breath. "That's not too bad. What else?"

"Easy for you to say," was the muttered response. Mulder's hand

went to the shattered box at his waist, and began pulling at the

remnants of the straps to remove it. He said, "My left shoulder

got clipped, and then a round hit this thingamajig."

Skinner helped him remove the remains of the box, disconnecting any

wires that were still attached, then he pulled aside his shirt

bottom to expose the raw skin where the bullet had slammed the box

against the left side of his stomach. Skinner winced at the

rapidly-forming bruise, and said, "That's gonna hurt."

Mulder spoke through clenched teeth, "It already does." He tucked

the shirt very carefully back into his pants and used Skinner's arm

to help him up onto the gurney. The bruised area was really

beginning to hurt now, and he hoped there was no internal damage.

Garcia spoke up as he disconnected the phone. "The cops, including

Janet Farley, will be here any minute. Janet insisted on another

ambulance, since this one will be part of the crime scene. They'll

use it to transport Mulder to the morgue after they run me by the

hospital." Then he fell over in a dead faint.

Skinner rushed to his side, blaming himself for not realizing the

severity of the agent's wound. His vitals seemed OK, however;

probably the loss of blood caused him to pass out. He looked up as

he heard a siren, and saw a police car turn into the alleyway. A

glance back in Mulder's direction reassured him that he was once

again zipped out of sight within the bag.

The car stopped some twenty feet away and Skinner saw Janet and

Agent Scully fly out the doors. They quickly reached his side, and

began the questions. While Skinner quietly filled them in, other

police cars were arriving, but soon had to make room for the

ambulance to pull in. Garcia received medical attention and was

bundled into the ambulance, then Scully broke from the group and

supervised moving Mulder into the vehicle, also. Because of the

space restriction, Mulder's body bag was placed on the floor along

the inner wall of the ambulance to make room for Garcia's gurney

and EMT attending him. Grim-faced, Scully managed to squeeze into

a small pocket of space between Mulder's covered head and the cab

of the vehicle.

She didn't make an attempt to talk to Mulder, not with the EMT

practically in her lap. She did ask loudly, however, how Garcia

was doing, primarily to let Mulder know that she was there.

The EMT, Broyhill from his nametag, said that he wasn't sure, but

it looked as though the bullet may have bounced off his thick

skull, giving him a concussion, and he had lost a lot of blood.

While nodding at this information, Scully noticed the bag at her

feet was moving around. She looked up at Broyhill in concern, but

the EMT was busy with Garcia and didn't notice it. She discreetly

nudged the bag with the side of her foot, not very hard, but the

bag moved even more.

Squatting down next to Mulder, she pulled the zipper down a short

way and hissed, "What?!"

"Ow! You got my nose!"

She just gave him the patented "Scully" look and waited.

He whispered, "It's been a long day with no bathroom breaks,

Scully." His eyes expressed a terribly basic, urgent need.

"Oh, great," she thought, and wondered what they could do without

giving away the fact that he was very much alive and in need of a

pee.

Continue in Chapter III