by Gerry Hill (fox42@ix.netcom.com)

CHAPTER V

Scully hadn't seen any vehicles coming their direction when she

looked out over the approach to the house. She prayed that she

could make it to the main road before anyone showed up.

Driving with one hand, her thoughts were tumbling over each other:

Lucky this car is an automatic; got to call Sinner ASAP for help

but no time; Mulder's still out cold; how can he be unconscious

with all this bouncing around; should check on Garcia when I get

the chance; shit this arm hurts; thank God, there's the main road!

Scully didn't slow down, but took the turn practically on two

tires. Mulder slammed into the window and muttered, "Ow!" as he

was thrust into wakefulness.

Scully glanced into the back seat and didn't see Garcia. He must

have rolled onto the floor when she took the turn. No time to do

anything about it for a few minutes. She had to get away from the

vicinity of the farmhouse before stopping.

Mulder sat rubbing his cheek where he had smacked it on the window

and watched the scenery speeding by at an alarming rate.

"You OK Mulder?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the road.

"Don't know. Ask me again when the runway clears you for landing."

She smiled and pushed the pedal even harder to the floor, and

Mulder just closed his eyes.

"Mulder? Why don't you scoot down in the seat so if we pass them

they won't spot you?"

There were very few positions comfortable to him right now, and

that wasn't one of them. With bucket-type seats, lying on his side

wasn't an option either. Undecided, he groped for the lever to

push the seat back farther to give him more room to maneuver. He

jumped a foot when Scully yelled out "No!!"

Startled, he looked questioningly at her, and she said in a quieter

tone, "Garcia is on the floor back there, and you might squash him

if you push the seat back any farther."

Oh. Mulder did feel bad about old Garcia. He had saved Mulder's

life, and in return had been shot, stabbed, fallen down the stairs,

and bounced around on the floorboard of the car. The trouble was,

Garcia had hated Mulder all along, and he really didn't think that

the treatment Garcia had received lately would endear Mulder to

him.

A face suddenly appeared in the rear-view mirror, startling Scully,

and she jerked the wheel. Mulder grabbed at a hand grip to steady

himself, and turned his head, to find himself looking into Garcia's

face from a distance of two inches.

"Shit! Don't *do* that!" he exclaimed.

Garcia shakily said, "I hope you're going to tell me that we're

headed for a hospital." He was sitting on the edge of the back

seat, looking extremely pale. He was hunched forward, trying to

protect his wounded shoulder and neck from unnecessary movement.

"Uh, well, no, we're just trying to get out of the area before the

bad guys get here." Mulder went on to fill Garcia in on what had

been happening.

It didn't seem to impress Garcia very much, since the only comment

he had was to ask, "Where are my shoes? We are on the run here,

and I'm barefoot. Are you two this clueless all the time, or is it

just when I'm around?"

Mulder hadn't really noticed his own unshod condition with all the

commotion recently, but now gazed grimly down at his own naked

feet. A quick look to his left revealed that Scully was wearing

the low-heeled shoes from her earlier outfit.

Seeing where this was going, Scully protested, "It's automatic for

me to step into my shoes when I get out of bed in a strange place

and go wandering around."

Mulder's large expressive eyes stared accusingly at his partner,

making her feel guilty that she had not gathered up everyone's

*shoes*, for God's sake, when a hit squad was practically breathing

down their necks.

Deftly changing the subject, she told Garcia that he should lie

back down on the seat or at least get below the windows so no one

would see him.

Garcia obediently slid back low into the seat, muttering something

about "Can't *believe* they left my shoes...".

Ignoring him, Scully said, "Mulder, a sign we just passed read

'Tiffany - 6 miles' and I plan to stop there for gas and to check

everyone's injuries. You should probably call Skinner from a pay

phone, so they don't track a cel call. Skinner really needs to

know what's going on and maybe send us some help."

Mulder nodded, and things were quiet in the car for a few minutes,

until Scully suddenly pulled into a large parking lot of one of

those inexpensive variety stores where you could buy almost

anything.

Retrieving her purse, Scully said, "I'll be right back," and opened

her door. She glanced in at the two agents and saw their accusing

gazes, while Garcia muttered, "Yeah, she's got the *shoes*."

Scully slammed the door shut as hard as she could, thinking, "this

is ridiculous!"

When she returned in ten minutes, she threw a plastic bag at Mulder

and said, "There. I don't want to hear any more about it."

Mulder noticed that she was holding her wounded arm close, and that

she winced when she settled back into the car, but he knew better

than to say anything. She would only say she was "fine."

While she drove looking for a gas station, Mulder pulled her

purchases from the bag one by one.

"Shower shoes!?" Mulder held the offending rubber items up and

threw a pair back to Garcia, who just said, "Thongs!?" But that

was the *good* stuff, Mulder soon discovered.

The next item was a sweat shirt with "Macho Kitty," and a kitten

wearing a tiny "Rambo" kerchief on its head, tiny bandoliers criss-

crossing its chest, and a miniature machine gun stuck to its paws.

Mulder threw that, too, back at Garcia, but regretted his action

seconds later when he pulled out the second sweat shirt. This gem

portrayed another kitten; an extremely cute one, with a cute little

puddle of something lying next to it, and the caption left him

mentally gagging; "Love is never having to say you're sorry."

"Scully..." he began, then words failed him.

Scully's eyes dared him to say another word.

She spotted a gas station ahead on the right and drove up to the

pump on the far end so that she could get out fast if need be.

Mulder opened his door and contemplated moving his very sore body

enough to put on the shoes and sweat shirt and get out of the car.

Scully had anticipated the problem, and appeared by his side. She

picked up the shirt and put it over his head, placing each arm in

the holes and pulling it over his body. "Thanks," he managed.

"Don't thank me. I'm practicing for when I have kids."

She helped him swing his legs out of the car, biting her lip when

she had to use the wounded arm. She picked up his right foot and

slid it into a thong, then did the same with his left. When she

stood back up, she saw that his eyes were darkened and he joked, "I

could get used to this, Scully."

She gave him one of her amused/disgusted/superior looks, handed him

some change, and said, "The phone is over there, along with a men's

room."

She opened the back door and pinned Garcia with her eyes. He

whimpered.

Mulder somehow made it up and out of the car, then very painfully

made his way over to the telephone.

He punched in Skinner's number, sincerely wishing that he didn't

have to make this call. "Hi, Skinner? Hate to tell you, but I

just killed your cousin's kid. Come and rescue us." Yeah, right.

He heard Kimberley answer, and said, "Kimberley. Please get me AD

Skinner. This is Fox Mulder and it's an emergency." There were

only a few seconds' pause before Mulder was speaking to Skinner.

He must have been waiting for this call.

"Yes, sir. No, sir. We're on the run and need a little help.

Agent Scully has been wounded, as has Agent Garcia. We need a

doctor and hospital pretty badly." There was a pause, then Mulder

went through the whole story, concluding with their approximate

current location.

It was a lot for Skinner to digest, particularly Janet's actions

and death. To his credit, he was able to keep his shock and grief

in hand and concentrate upon getting his agents to safety.

He told Mulder that he had just gotten word of the successful

neutralization of the splinter group which had caused all this

trouble. It had not taken as long as they had originally thought.

He was afraid, however, that the hit squad wouldn't have been given

this news yet, and was still after them.

"They must know in general where you are, and it's just a matter of

time before they reach you. I'm going to send in a helicopter;

it's the only way we can quickly get you out of their reach."

"Where and when?" It sounded wonderful to Mulder. A helicopter to

lift them out of this mess. Get medical attention for Scully's arm

and Garcia's stab wounds. Find some normal clothes again.

After a minute, Skinner replied, "I was checking a map. Drive to

the east side of Tiffany and pull over into the rest stop. We

should be there in half an hour."

Mulder disconnected and visited the men's room. He took a long

look at himself in the mirror, and saw someone he wouldn't want to

meet anywhere, under any circumstances. Unshaven, hair wild, dark

smudges under his eyes, bruises, the crappy sweat shirt... He

threw some water on his face and felt a little better, until he

turned, pulled his sweat pants down over his rear and looked in the

mirror at it. Just as he suspected - his butt was alarmingly black

and blue, a match for his abdomen bruise.

Pulling his pants down further, he saw that the damage extended

down the backs of his legs, too. He winced and pulled the pants up

again. "I wish I hadn't seen that. Now it hurts more than it did,

knowing what it looks like," he thought.

When he reached the car, Scully was nowhere to be seen, and Garcia

was lying on the back seat, dressed in the sweat shirt, eyes

closed. Without opening his eyes, he said, "She's paying for gas,

and visiting the ladies' room."

Mulder opened his mouth to reply, when he saw a large black car

make a U-turn on the street in front of the gas station, and come

roaring towards them. Mulder spun around to get Scully, but she

was already hurrying his way. He dove into the car, ignoring the

pain shooting everywhere in his body, and grabbed his gun. He

hoped that Scully was wearing hers.

He had his answer when she suddenly had it in her hand, and she was

firing at the tires of the oncoming car. It swerved, but not

enough to miss the rear of their vehicle. With a resounding crash,

it hit the left rear and shoved the car into one of the gas pumps.

Mulder's door was smashed and wedged against the pump, sealing him

off from that exit. Scully had leaped clear of the smashup and was

still outside, keeping low behind anything that gave her cover.

She was firing into the other vehicle now, smashing safety glass.

Mulder turned and fired through the rear window at the other car's

occupants as they backed away under the onslaught of bullets.

Garcia was screaming, "Give me a weapon!"

As Scully ran to get back into the car, Mulder found Janet's gun in

the bag and tossed to Garcia, who immediately added his firepower

to the covering fire for Scully.

She fell into the front seat, slammed the door and started the

engine. As soon as it caught, she rammed the accelerator to the

floor, and the car bounced and scraped along the pumps until it

broke free with a metallic screech and a surge forward.

As they picked up speed rapidly, the other car came roaring toward

them.

Mulder yelled "Go east out of town on the main road. Skinner's

meeting us at the rest stop!" Scully nodded and concentrated on

keeping the car on the road as she pushed it to its limit.

The vehicle following them stuck close to their bumper, but the

occupants didn't try to ram them or even shoot at them for some

reason.

"There!" Mulder pointed ahead to a sign that proclaimed, "Rest Stop

- 1 mile." He looked at his watch, thinking that the air-borne

cavalry wasn't due for at least ten or fifteen minutes yet.

Scully said, "I think I know why they're holding back a little."

Mulder looked rearward but couldn't see out the shattered rear

window.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"We've picked up the local cops."

She could see the flashing lights behind their pursuers through the

side-view mirror.

"OK, hang on," she yelled. "I'm not signalling or slowing much!"

She steeled herself against the pain from her injured arm, grabbed

the wheel tightly in both hands, and hauled the car onto the

curving exit ramp. She could tell right away that she would not be

able keep control of the car at the speed they were going.

She felt the car sliding and tipping toward the curb on the left.

It took a split second for her to see that, although the ramp

curved right, it then curved back to the left, and the parking area

of the rest stop was separated from their current position by a

swath of lawn and scattered trees...

She scared the hell out of Mulder when she abruptly turned the

wheel, bounced over the curb, and sped cross-country. He saw that

they were on grass, and then several trees whizzed past at high

speed. They approached a drop-off to the parking lot, and all they

could do was hope it wasn't going to be too far down to the

pavement.

Suddenly they were sailing into space, then hit the ground hard.

They blew a tire and Mulder's head briefly met the ceiling. Scully

drew a deep breath and looked behind her at Garcia. He was hanging

on to a hand-grip at the top of the door, and seemed paler than he

had earlier, if that was possible. She noticed that his hand

holding the gun shook slightly.

Mulder said, "Let's get out of here. The maintenance shed over

there is concrete block and would be better protection. Skinner

won't be here for a few minutes yet."

Scully had to help Mulder out through the driver's side, while

watching both approaches for the hit team. As Mulder, ready to

pass out from the pain, was finally getting to his feet, she heard

the sound of a siren and saw their pursuer speeding toward them,

being pursued themselves by the police car, which had now been

joined by a highway patrol unit.

"Run for the shed, Mulder!" she yelled, as she opened the back door

to get Garcia out.

Mulder tried to will his screaming body to move quicker, and had

almost made the shed when he tripped over the ridiculous rubber

shoes he was wearing.

Desperately glancing up from where she was supporting the nearly

helpless Garcia as he tried to vacate the back seat, the image of

the scene was imprinted on her brain, probably for all eternity.

The hit team had emerged from their car as it skidded to a stop

behind theirs. There were four of them, all with automatic

weapons, all aimed at Mulder. The cops had stopped also, and were

behind their open car doors, yelling that they put their weapons

down. Mulder was on the ground, with his gun aimed in the bad

guys' general direction. There was going to be a lot of blood shed

in seconds, and she doubted that Mulder, or even any of them, would

survive.

That was when the miracle happened. When they had all converged on

the rest stop, no one had noticed that it was not totally deserted.

A family had pulled over to relax in their RV for an hour or so,

and they had fallen asleep. Their little four year old girl was

the only one still awake to notice the new arrivals.

Emily had climbed down out of the RV and watched all the cars come

roaring into the far end of the parking lot. She began running

over to see what all the excitement was about.

So at the moment when Scully knew they were all going to die, Emily

casually walked up to Mulder and picked his sandal up from the

ground. She shyly held it out toward him, saying, "Shoe."

The death squad stared at the tiny blond child in a long, flowery

print dress, with blue tennis shoes and blue berets in her hair.

She was in the line of fire. They looked back at the cops, who

were ready to kill and/or arrest them. By unspoken agreement, they

piled back into the vehicle and gunned the motor, barely missing

Scully and Garcia as they passed their car.

Because so many people had been in their way, the police hadn't

tried to fire on the fleeing gunmen. The highway patrol car gave

chase, and left the local police to deal with everyone else.

Mulder had been horrified when the little girl stood between

himself and the men with the weapons. He had to do something to

keep her from being murdered when they began firing. Before he

could react, however, the men had backed down and driven away.

Tears stung his eyes as he laid his gun down onto the pavement and

gently took the proffered shoe from her tiny hands.

She giggled, turned, and ran back toward her folk's RV.

Scully yelled to the police that they were FBI and their ID was in

the car. She and Garcia lay on the ground with their arms

outstretched and waited for the police to satisfy themselves as to

their identity. The representatives of the law were pretty

skeptical for awhile, even with the FBI ID in hand, under the

circumstances.

One young cop kept eyeing Mulder's sweat shirt and fingering his

holster snap. But, at long last, their promised helicopter

arrived, unloading a very worried-appearing Skinner, another agent,

and two emergency medical techs.

By now, more local police were on the scene, and the senior officer

met Skinner halfway across the parking area. They had an intense

discussion, with Skinner exhibiting his ID, and then they waved the

EMTs on, so they could tend to the wounded.

By the time Skinner made it to the scene, Mulder, Garcia, and

Scully were being thoroughly checked out with the medical

equipment. Skinner just stood near the three agents, unable to

believe that he should claim this scruffy, ill-dressed trio as FBI

agents, and under his command. But he inwardly was grateful that

they had made it out alive. He was still trying to deal with

Janet's death, but at least these guys had made it through.

Mulder had a thermometer in his mouth and was trying to get his

boss' attention. Skinner moved closer to the agitated agent, and

said, "Yes, Agent Mulder?"

He took the thermometer out to speak, irritating the EMT, who tried

to put it back in.

"What about Detective Farley's sister? Have you turned up anything

on her yet?" He was silenced when the EMT won the struggle, but

his eyes pleaded with the AD for some positive news.

Skinner replied, "We were able to reach her in time, once we were

aware of her abduction. She's just arrived at the hospital, and

will probably recover. At least physically."

Mulder could see the emotion hidden behind the official front

Skinner was maintaining. More people than just Janet's sister

would need psychological healing after this was over.

The EMTs moved Garcia first on a gurney, one holding an IV bag

above his head as they headed for the helicopter. Mulder called to

his partner, "Hey, Scully. How ya doin'?" He grinned at the

anticipated reply, "I'm fine, Mulder." Now, how did he know she

would say that?

Scully and Mulder entered the hospital room with Mulder bearing a

big gift-wrapped box. Scully wore her suit jacket loose over the

arm in a sling, and Mulder walked very gingerly. They grinned at

the slumbering agent in the bed.

"Aw, isn't he cute when he sleeps?" Mulder crooned.

Garcia's eyes snapped open and looked at his visitors with some

alarm.

"That's got to be a bomb," he said, referring to the box. "Nothing

less would fit your modus operandi."

Scully took his hand in hers and said, "How are you feeling?"

Keeping a wary eye on Mulder, he said, "Healing. They'll let me

out tomorrow."

Mulder dropped the box onto the bed and said, "Great! Glad to hear

it. This is for you." He clearly wanted Garcia to open the box

and see what they had brought.

Scully said, "Here, I'll move the bed so you can sit up. Mulder,

why don't you take the ribbon off and Garcia can do the rest." She

pushed the appropriate buttons and the bed re-positioned itself,

while Mulder obediently took the ribbon off the box and moved it

closer to Garcia's hand.

Garcia tentatively pushed the lid up and removed it, then reached

into the box.

The first thing he encountered was a key chain with tiny rubber

shower shoes dangling from the ring. He shuddered, then gave a

weak smile. Interested now, he dug down and came up with a clean,

freshly-laundered "Property of Lola" sweat shirt. His smile got

bigger at seeing his old familiar favorite piece of clothing.

The next item was a t-shirt, imprinted with "I got a 'Spooky'

assignment" on the front, and on the reverse side, "...and I

survived to tell the tale." He had to chuckle at that.

The last item was an envelope, and he tore it open. Inside was a

picture of the little girl who had come to their rescue that night

at the rest stop. On the reverse side one of her parents had

written, "To our favorite G-men/woman; Hope everyone is doing fine.

Emily says hi."

Scully said, "Three of those pictures arrived at the Bureau. It

was nice of them to remember us that way, after what must have been

a terrifying experience."

Garcia carefully placed the picture of the smiling child into the

envelope and put it with all the other items back into the box,

with Scully giving him a hand.

He finally looked up at them and said, "Thank you." He directed

his gaze to Mulder and added, "I was wrong about you. I apologize;

you may be weird, but you're a good agent."

Mulder wasn't sure how to take that, but decided any compliment was

welcome, especially from this guy.

"We have to get out of here; Skinner wanted a meeting this morning,

but we needed to see how you were doing. And to tell you that you

have been temporarily reassigned to help out with the X Files since

you worked so well with us on this." Mulder smiled innocently.

Garcia paled, and Scully hastened to reassure him. "Mulder was

only joking."

Garcia managed to grab a cup of water from his tray near the bed

and threaten Mulder with it. He rasped, "Out. Now."

Mulder just grinned and said, "See you later. That's a threat, not

a promise."

He saw Scully jab Mulder in the ribs as they left the room, and a

loud "Aaagh!" from Mulder. The last thing he heard was, "Oh,

Mulder, I'm sorry. I forgot your bruises."

Garcia sighed in relief, wondering how those two had survived this

long.

THE END