From: "Gemma Kingsley" Subject: "Bars on the Windows" (1/5) MSR Date: Fri, 05 Dec 1997 19:21:05 PST "Bars on the Windows" by Gemma Kingsley (gkingsley@hotmail.com) Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully and the rest of the gang belong to CC 'the surfer babe', 1013 and Fox. I mean them no harm and I promise that I'll give them back when I'm done. Rating: PG-13 Classification: T, R (MSR), A Spoilers: Minor spoilers for Redux II, Unusual Suspects Summary: On the wrong side of the law, Mulder and Scully must prove their innocence while racing against time and the people who want them out of the way for good. Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance "Bars on the Windows" Part 1 by Gemma Kingsley (gkingsley@hotmail.com) ----------------------- Crack! The door was kicked open violently and slammed against the wall behind it with a resounding thud. "What the He-!" Mulder exclaimed, still half-asleep and none too pleased at having been woken so unceremoniously. He scrabbled for the weapon he knew lay on the table next to the bed, but before he could reach it he felt a pair of handcuffs being slapped onto one wrist and his hand being jerked up and away from his gun. "Lights coming on." one of the intruders called, and Mulder grimaced, blinking eyes that were still heavy with slumber, as the motel room was suddenly lit up by the stark fluorescent bulb. The scene that was revealed caused everyone to pause for a moment in confusion. Mulder was not alone in the room as they'd originally believed. While they'd been preoccupied with restraining him, Scully had somehow managed to lean across Mulder and get hold of his weapon. She was currently engaged in aiming it directly at the head of the man who had cuffed Mulder and was now hindering his movement. Mulder was equally distracted for a moment, wondering how the buffoons who'd asked for his and Scully's assistance on a case and then opposed their work at every move, now came to be holding weapons on the two of them in their hotel room. "Well, well, well, looks like you two do more than chase little green men together." the man they recognized as Agent Burke said jeeringly. "I was in my own room when I heard loud noises coming from Agent Mulder's. Naturally I came to investigate." Scully covered. Another agent walked through the connecting door to report to his supervisor. "Agent Scully wasn't in her room." he told Agent Burke. "And the bed doesn't look like it's been slept in." "Oh really, Agent Scully." Burke continued. "And I suppose it's FBI policy for partners to share their pajamas too, is it?" he mocked. "Must save you plenty of money if you wear the tops and Agent Mulder wears the bottoms." A tiny crease formed between her brows as she realized there was nothing she could say to counter Burke's statement. "Look, just what is this about anyway?" Mulder interrupted, gesturing with his cuffed wrist. Burke snapped back to business. "If you'll hand over your weapon, Agent Scully." he ordered. "Not until you tell us what is going on." If anything, her grip on the gun tightened. "Agent Markham, read them their rights." "Now just wait one minute there." Mulder stated angrily. "I'd like to see the warrant." "Of course, 'Agent' Mulder." Burke agreed patronizingly, handing over the warrant. Mulder perused the document hurriedly. "We're being accused of what?" "Mulder, what?" Scully asked worriedly. "We're being accused of..of first degree murder." he told her, bewildered. "We're what?" Dropping the gun, Scully reached for the warrant to confirm Mulder's interpretation. "Agents Mulder and Scully, you have the right to remain silent. If you choose to give up that right, anything you say can and will be held against you in a Court of Law.." Mulder cut him off. "Yeah, yeah, we're federal agents, we know our rights." "Can I at least get dressed first?" Scully appealed to Burke. Burke smirked as his gaze rested on her bare legs and Mulder shot him a dirty look. "I think we can allow that Agent Scully." he assented. "Agent Markham, will you ask Angela to come in here and escort Agent Scully to her room." "Sir, are you sure you want Agent Clark in here?" Markham queried worriedly. "Markham." Burke said warningly. "Right away, sir." "Agent Burke, I'm sure there's been some kind of a mistake." "No mistake, Agent Mulder." Burke responded uncompromisingly, fastening the other side of Mulder's handcuffs. Scully glanced helplessly at him as Agent Angela Clark entered and escorted Scully back to her own room. As soon as they were out of sight, Burke pulled roughly on Mulder's cuffs to lead him out to the car. "Shouldn't we wait for Scully?" Mulder queried worriedly. He was still convinced that this was a case of mistaken identity or the like, but he figured they'd be better off sticking together. Burke laughed harshly, his sarcastic good cheer grating on Mulder's nerves like the monotonous staccato of a drum beat. "You'll be spending plenty of time together in a cold prison cell." he told Mulder. "The rest of your lives if we have anything to say about it." A couple of the agents laughed as though their supervisor had said something particularly amusing, but Mulder wasn't quite up to appreciating the humor of the situation. Burke pulled on the cuffs again, and Mulder was led reluctantly out to the car. ---------------------- "Angela, what's going on?" Scully appealed. The female agent had been one of the few who'd actually welcomed Mulder and Scully's contribution to the case they'd recently wrapped up, and her present reticence was confusing. "I prefer Agent Clark, _Agent_ Scully." Scully appeared disconcerted, pausing for a moment as she dressed to give Angela a questioning glance. "I'm sorry, I really need an explanation of what this is all about." Scully sat down on the bed to pull her shoes on. "Mulder and I get woken up in the middle of the night, told we're being arrested, and.." "Agent Winton is dead." Her posture was stiff and gave away nothing, but the lines of pain etched on her face were more revealing. Scully's eyes widened in shock, regret filling the deep blue depths. "Your fiance? Oh my God Angela, I'm so sorry." She reached out towards the other Agent, but Angela backed away promptly, her hand going to the gun at her side. "Angela, what is it?" Scully tried again. "Several shots were fired." The agent dictated almost detachedly. "The gun was later retrieved from outside the building." Scully's gaze slid unobtrusively towards the bedside table and her heart skipped a beat in alarm as she noticed that her own firearm was missing from its accustomed position. "Two unrelated witnesses observed yourself and Agent Mulder exiting the building only moments after the shooting." "Surely you don't believe that Mulder and I had anything to do with this?" Scully asked her, disbelief evident. "They're waiting for you outside." Angela gestured for Scully to precede her. "Angela, listen to me. I swear that neither Mulder nor I had anything to do with this." Scully's impassioned words didn't convince the other Agent, but they seemed to have some effect. "I thought the two of you were different." Angela said bitterly. "Like Jack and I.." She swallowed deeply before she was able to continue. "Like we...were. Actually interested in putting the bad guys behind bars. Justice, you know." She regarded Scully with a look close to hatred. "Now I find out you're just like all the rest. Lying crooks. And worse than that - murderers." "Angela, Mulder and I do care about that. You have to believe that we would never.." "They're waiting outside." Angela spoke resolutely, then turned away, signifying that the conversation was over. ------------------------- Mulder tensed as he heard the key turn in the lock and the awkward shuffling as another prisoner was thrust into the small enclosed space. "Hello." he said tentatively. Until a few moments ago he'd been sharing the holding cell with a drunkard whose breath had smelled like rancid meat and whose loud and consistently off-key singing had started to give Mulder a headache. "Mulder?" the other occupant of the cell queried hesitantly. "Scully?" he asked jubilantly. "Scully, is that you?" "Yes. Yes, where are you?" She peered through the half-light, trying to make out the definition of his body in the shadows of the cell. Scully almost jumped when she felt his hand on her shoulder, but then she reached for him thankfully and allowed herself to be pulled into his embrace. "Hey." He buried his face in the silken softness of her hair, feeling her breath hot on the side of his neck. "You alright?" "Yes I'm.." Scully paused and pulled back, her nose wrinkling with distaste. "Mulder, you smell like..." She took another careful sniff. "Well I'm not exactly sure what you smell like, but believe me, it smells baaaaad." "Yeah well, if you have any complaints, you'll have to take them up with my previous room-mate." Mulder commented dryly. His remark abruptly reminded Scully of why they were here in the first place. "Have you found out anything more about what's going on?" "No." he admitted. "I mean, at first I thought it might be some kind of sick joke. About what you'd expect from Burke and some of the others. But if that's what they're playing at, they've taken it way too far." "I think this is definitely serious." Scully said. "I know we've only been in town for a few days, but Angela didn't seem the type to be in on something like this. And she was genuinely upset when I talked to her in the hotel room." "Yeah, I agree. So what do you think we're looking at?" "Mistaken identity?" Scully suggested. "Or a setup." Mulder pointed out. "And whichever way you look at it, Winton's dead. Oh God, poor Angela." "Yeah." Mulder tightened his arms around her. "Why would anyone want to kill a rookie like that anyway?" Scully wondered aloud. "He couldn't have been out of the Academy even five years." "Which is exactly why I think this is tending more towards an elaborate setup than mistaken identity." "For what purpose?" Scully queried, still slightly dubious about Mulder's latest theory. "To get rid of us. Discredit us. Send us to jail. Whichever." "You really think they'd go to this extent to put us out of the picture?" Scully asked "They have before." Mulder reminded her. "And it's been awfully quiet lately. Too quiet, I'd say." "I take it you don't believe that the Smoking Man's really dead." "Do you?" he asked. "I don't know. Skinner said he was..but.." Scully shrugged her shoulders to indicate a lack of absolute conviction. "But we're still not a hundred percent sure of where Skinner's loyalties lie." Mulder completed her sentence. "Does it feel weird to you to be in here? On the other side of the bars?" Scully asked, changing the subject. "We've both been on this side before." "At least this time we haven't done anything that could possibly be construed as wrong." Scully observed. "I'll say. We catch a serial killer in a record three days, and then the oh-so-grateful local FBI branch of Middlesboro, West VA, show their appreciation by tossing us into a holding cell. Just charming." "Yeah, well, maybe we're just overreacting." Scully said optimistically. "Wishful thinking, Scully. But if that is the case, Skinner'll sort it out." "You called Skinner?" She sounded rather apprehensive and Mulder looked at her questioningly. "Who else was I supposed to call? Your Mom? Mine? The Gunmen? 'Cause if you've got a better solution I'm ready to hear it." Mulder replied. "No, I...it's just, what are we going to tell him?" "Oh, I already told him on the phone. That we're being accused of murdering an FBI Agent. And that we didn't do it, of course. He sounded irritated, but it's not like we got ourselves into trouble on purpose." He looked at Scully and she still seemed concerned. "No, I meant about the fact that we got caught in bed together." Scully elaborated. "Oh. That. Well they didn't literally catch us in bed." Scully rolled her eyes in exasperation. "They might as well have done." she told him. "Burke and his flunkeys may be dense, but they're not that dense." "There isn't actually an official rule against it, you know." Mulder told her. "What, you memorized the FBI handbook?" she teased. "Well I sort of went and reread that part, just to see. And in case this ever came up." he explained. "No kidding? How come you never mentioned that to me." "Oh, it was a while ago." Mulder replied. Something in his tone of voice made her suspicious. "Exactly how long ago?" Scully asked. He didn't reply and she twisted around to look at his face. "Okay, here's an easier question. We've been intimately involved for almost five months. Did you check the regulations before or afterwards?" "I don't really remember." he said, trying to evade the question. "I guess it was a few.." "A few what?" she demanded. "Weeks? Months?" "Years." Mulder admitted sheepishly. "So you'd been thinking about it for a while, even before we.." She made a gesture that was designed to encompass the current state of their relationship. "Oh, and you hadn't I suppose?" "Well, maybe just a little." Scully divulged in her turn. "A little? Yeah, right." Mulder said, sounding so insufferably smug that she just had to elbow him in the ribs. "Look, enlightening as this discussion obviously is, it's not helping us decide what we're going to say to Skinner." Scully pointed out. "You never know, he might surprise us and be in a good mood." ------------------------- "Agents Mulder and Scully, have a seat." Skinner instructed them sternly. Mulder grimaced silently. The AD did not look like he was feeling particularly cheerful. His jaw was clenching and unclenching sporadically in a way that looked positively painful. "Uh, Sir.." Mulder gestured awkwardly to the handcuffs that had secured the wrists of himself and his partner for their transportation from the holding cell to the interrogation room. Skinner nodded abruptly to the guard that had brought them in. "Take the cuffs off." "That's not procedure." the guard responded stiffly. Mulder was very glad that Skinner's displeasure had been diverted, however temporarily, towards another source. The guard however was becoming rather uncomfortable under the force of the AD's unyielding stare. "I, um, I guess I could make an exception just this once." the guard finally agreed, shifting nervously. "You being an AD and all." He unlocked both Agents' cuffs and then fled from the room and away from Skinner's gaze as fast as he could. "Have a seat, Agents." Skinner said again. Scully dropped gratefully into one of the uncomfortable-looking chairs adjacent to the desk, but the perverse streak in Mulder's nature led him to be difficult. "If it's all the same to you, Sir, I'd rather stand." he informed the AD. Scully shot him a reproving look and Mulder had the childish impulse, which he fortunately restrained, to stick his tongue out at her. Actually, the whole experience was making him feel rather like a recalcitrant schoolboy who'd been brought to the Principal's office to be disciplined. He wished he could share the idea with Scully but she didn't look like she'd welcome that kind of a confidence just at the moment. "It's not all the same to me, and you will sit down Agent Mulder." Skinner told him firmly. Before Mulder could object any further, Scully reached for his arm and practically dragged him into his chair. Skinner pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers, and regarded the two Agents gravely. "I hope both of you appreciate the seriousness of the charges that are being laid against you." he said. "You are talking about the accusation of murder, aren't you, Sir?" Mulder clarified. "Because Scully was worried that you'd be ticked off about.." "Shut up, Mulder." Scully hissed, making him yelp as she pinched him hard on the thigh underneath the table. "Sir, what Agent Mulder meant was.." she began, addressing Skinner. He waved his hand decisively to cut her off. "I think it's quite clear what Agent Mulder meant. Perhaps we should deal with this.." he paused, trying to think of a suitable euphemism, "er, other matter, before we move onto the main consideration. I think that might be best, don't you Agent Scully?" "Yes, Sir." She felt slightly uncomfortable, but pushed that aside so that she could concentrate on the questions that were to follow and try to keep Mulder from putting his foot in it again. "How long have you and Agent Mulder been involved?" Skinner asked. "We've been partners since March of 1992." Skinner frowned. "This is no time for obtuseness, Agent Scully." "Sir, I fail to see how this has any bearing on the case at hand." she countered. "Well at least tell me it didn't just happen during this case." he appealed. "The nature of the relationship between Agent Mulder and myself has not altered in any way over the course of the last week." Scully stated, neatly sidestepping any actual revelations while simultaneously answering the AD's question. "Good." Skinner responded. "Now I'm sure you're familiar with FBI regulations on this topic." "Yes we are, Sir." Mulder told him, earning a small smile from Scully for the improvement in his behaviour. "Be that as it may, and although there is no official dictate preventing partners from developing a _deeper_ relationship, if I see any sign that this is affecting your work, you'll be separated straight away. No second chances. Is that understood?" "Yes, Sir." Mulder answered, bristling slightly at the AD's implied threats. "I just have one more thing to say on the topic, and then we'll consider it permanently closed." Skinner added, removing his glasses and placing them on the table. "Uh, yes Sir." Scully replied, exchanging a slightly confused glance with an equally bewildered Mulder. What more was there to say? The AD looked up and gave his two Agents a small smile. "Congratulations, and it's about bloody time." Mulder and Scully stared at him in shock, trying to take in this out-of-character behaviour from their perennially austere superior. As the first to recover from his surprise, Mulder answered for both of them. "Thank-you Sir, we really appreciate how well you're taking this and everything." "That's fine, Agent Mulder, just see to it that you don't do anything that warrants another reaction from me." Skinner requested firmly. "Meaning you want us to keep it under wraps?" Mulder clarified. "Is that going to be a problem?" the AD asked. "In terms of this case, possibly yes." Mulder paused as Skinner took a seat and replaced his glasses. "As you've obviously heard, when we were arrested earlier, Burke and the others walked in on us together." "Frankly, that's the least of your worries right now." Skinner told them. "I'll be straight with you - this case is not looking good. I don't know how much they've told you so far, but.." "Not a lot." Scully replied. "I know that Agent Winton is dead. And that they think we had something to do with it. Agent Clark said something about witnesses. And that they'd retrieved a weapon." Skinner opened the folder that lay on the table before them and pulled out the relevant document. "Yes, a Smith and Wesson 1076. Which you both use." "Mine was missing from the hotel room." Scully said. "You didn't tell me that." Mulder said reproachfully. "Well we were busy talking about other things." She blushed slightly and Skinner decided that he _really_ didn't want to know what it was that they'd been talking about. Skinner cleared his throat. "In that case, I expect we can assume that Agent Scully's firearm was the murder weapon." "I trust you're not implying anything with that remark, Sir." Scully stated stiffly. "Such as?" Skinner inquired with studied nonchalance. Mulder frowned, watching their boss carefully. "I think you understand exactly what I mean." Scully rejoined uncompromisingly, the look emanating from her eyes quite frosty. "Sir," Mulder interrupted, "You're not really trying to suggest that.." "Relax, Agent Mulder." Skinner pulled a huge stack of papers and folders out of the briefcase on the floor next to him, depositing them deliberately on the desk. "Even if I'd had reason to suspect either of you, which I didn't," he qualified, "I would have changed my mind as soon as this was handed to me." Mulder reached for the top sheet of paper and examined it, puzzled as he was unable to find any significance in the lists of dates and figures. "And exactly what is this?" Handing the sheet to Scully he regarded the AD intently. "Ostensibly this is your motive." Skinner informed them. "Our motive?" Scully demanded, just as confused as Mulder. "How?" "All of this," the AD gestured to the documents and other records, "is supposedly evidence of a five-year embezzlement scam that the two of you have been running, swindling money out of the Bureau." Mulder choked on a laugh. "You've got to be kidding me!" Skinner shook his head. "I wish I could say that was true. And I agree with you that this is ridiculous, but whoever's behind it has done a very thorough job. There's a paper trail ten miles long and it's going to take months for a team of accountants to sort through this, let alone work out how it was fabricated in the first place." "So you agree that we've been set up?" Mulder asked. Skinner shrugged. "It certainly looks that way." "That bastard!" Mulder declared fiercely, slamming his fists into the table. "I should have killed him when I had the chance." "The Smoking Man?" Skinner queried, ignoring Mulder's display of temper in favor of the idea he was expressing. "It can't be him. All that blood - there's no way he could have survived. And it's been five, almost six months and we haven't seen or heard anything from him." "So maybe he's been hiding out. Recovering and waiting 'till we let our guard down before he gets us. And now he's making his move." Mulder suggested. "Look, just wait a minute. What's the link between this embezzlement setup and Winton's death?" Scully asked. "Right now, it makes no difference who's responsible. What we should be worrying about is how we're going to prove that we're innocent. They're throwing some heavy accusations at us, and we could end up in serious trouble if we don't figure it out." "Blackmail is supposed to be the connection." Skinner explained. "We were blackmailing Winton?" Mulder demanded incredulously. "No, apparently he was blackmailing you." the AD told them. "Well that's absurd from the start." Scully insisted. "No-one who knew Winton would believe that. Why he was just a kid." "Regardless, the accusation is that he found out about your corrupt financial dealings with the Bureau, tried to blackmail both of you, and you killed him to shut him up." Skinner closed the file he'd been reading from and regarded his Agents with some consternation. There really was no knowing how they were going to take this. "Goddammit! I hate this." Skinner looked at Scully in surprise. He'd expected anger from Mulder, but Scully usually kept her feelings to herself. "No wonder Angela was furious with me. Winton died because of us whichever way you look at it. I'm with you all the way on this one, Mulder, I say we find that son-of-a-bitch and take him down." "Whoa Scully, calm down." Mulder placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You know I want the men who did this to us, who killed Winton, just as badly as you do, but you were right the first time. We have to figure a way out of this before we do anything else." "Alright," Scully sighed. "So what's the plan?" "I'll field that question." Skinner replied. "I've got one of the Bureau lawyers coming down. Kelly Shaw. She's one of the best." "Yeah, I've heard of her. But can she be trusted?" Mulder asked. "I think so. But you can decide that for yourself when you meet her." Skinner told him. "Other than that, I guess you'll want your families contacted before they see this in the Press." Both Agents nodded and Skinner assured them he'd take care of it personally. "It shouldn't be too hard to get Bail." Skinner added. "Most of what they have is circumstantial. But we'll know more when Shaw gets here." A curt knock on the door followed and the same guard as before entered, his disposition apparently not improved by the absence. "Time's up." he declared peremptorily, and was slapping the cuffs back on Mulder and Scully before anyone could object. "Well, I guess it's back to our cozy cell." Mulder said sarcastically. "Not this time." The guard told them mockingly. "Don't expect special treatment around here just because you're FBI. It's into the general lockup this time for both of you." "You're splitting us up?" Mulder demanded. "No!" He grabbed for Scully with his free hand, but the guard was faster, roughly fastening the cuffs and jerking Mulder away from his partner. "Haven't you heard?" the guard continued. "We don't take well to crooks who go after one of our own." Skinner grimaced uncomfortably at his last view of Mulder's anguished expression as his partner was dragged away from him. -------------------------- End of Part 1. "Bars on the Windows" Part 2 by Gemma Kingsley (gkingsley@hotmail.com) For Disclaimer etc. please see part 1. ------------------------- Mulder looked up as the cell door clanged and was pulled open. "Fox Mulder." The guard said. "Come with me, you have a visitor." Mulder got to his feet, his body slightly stiff from sitting on the cold concrete floor of the cell for a prolonged period. "What visitor?" he asked the guard as he shuffled past the other inmates and into the only slightly less stuffy hallway. "Do I look like your social co-ordinator?" the guard said sarcastically. "How the Hell should I know?" Mulder winced as the cuffs were slapped onto his wrists again and he was led back to the meeting room. The guard took the handcuffs off without being asked this time, and Mulder found himself pushed into the room. "Mom?" Mulder said, surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?" "Oh Fox, I came as soon as I heard. This is just awful." Mrs. Mulder said concernedly. "Hey, don't worry Mom." Mulder patted her reassuringly on the shoulder. "I'm alright." "Oh I know, I know." she replied distractedly. "But you're in prison. What will people think when they hear about it?" Mulder drew back abruptly. "Silly me," he said cynically, half to himself, "For a moment there I thought you might actually be concerned about my well-being." "Now come on Fox, your mother's had a lot on her mind recently. You know it's important that she isn't placed into tense situations." "Fox, this is your father's lawyer, Mr. Evans." his mother told him, introducing the man who'd just spoken. "Yes, I know. We met after Dad's death." Mulder explained, reluctantly shaking hands. Evans' palm was damp and clammy and Mulder had to fight the urge to wipe his hand afterwards. "He's here to help with your case." Mrs. Mulder continued. "That won't be necessary." Mulder said politely but firmly. "I already have an attorney, provided by the Bureau." "Oh, a _government_ lawyer." Mrs. Mulder's tone of voice implied that, in her opinion, _government_ lawyers were rated only a little higher than pond scum. "Well I'm sure that's all well and good for those who can't afford any better, but Mr. Evans is here now and he'll be handling your case." Mulder looked like he was about to speak, but his mother cut him off again. "Now, now, don't worry about thanking me, honestly, what would the world be coming to if a mother couldn't organize a lawyer for her only son. Mr. Evans was just telling me he's already worked out how we're going to get you out of this, weren't you?" "I certainly was." Evans responded obsequiously. He started shuffling papers on the table and Mulder sat down resignedly, figuring he'd go along with it for the moment to avoid antagonizing his mother, and tell her he wasn't interested later on. "The way I see it," Evans continued. "They really don't have anything much linking you to this crime. The embezzlement charges are laughable as soon as the matter of the inheritance left to you by your father comes into play." "I haven't touched that money." Mulder objected. "That's beside the point." his mother insisted. "Now be quiet and pay attention to what Mr. Evans has to say." "As your mother said, just the fact that the money's there renders any suspicion of your needing money ludicrous. The minor concern of the two witnesses shouldn't be too difficult on its own, and with any luck we'll have you out of here by this time tomorrow." "What about the murder weapon?" Mulder queried. "Isn't that rather important?" Evans frowned, looking over his papers. "I was under the impression that the weapon used wasn't yours." "That's right. It was my partner's." Mulder clarified. "Oh well that's alright then." Evans said, apparently relieved. Fits in well with the embezzlement angle." "Angle? What angle is that?" Mulder queried suspiciously. "Oh." Evans glanced at Mrs. Mulder. "I thought you said you'd already discussed that with him and he agreed." Mrs. Mulder turned her gaze on her son with a slightly guilty look. "We haven't actually discussed it yet per se," she revealed. "But I'm sure it won't be a problem." Mulder had a feeling he wasn't going to like what was coming. "Exactly what won't be a problem, Mom?" "Mr. Evans and I agreed that the best way to set about this would be if we, let's say, emphasize the part played by your accomplice." his mother explained. "My accomplice?" Mulder demanded nonplussed. "You mean my partner, I take it?" Evans nodded in a way that he intended to be encouraging. "Let's cut straight to the point here." Mulder stated grimly. "You're saying it's in my best interests to let Scully act as the fall guy and take the blame for the whole thing." "There, I told you he'd see it our way." Mrs. Mulder crowed triumphantly. Mulder simply regarded her with bitter humor. "Sometimes I honestly can't believe that you're my mother." he told her caustically. "Scully is my partner, my lover, and hopefully someday soon, my wife. Although I wouldn't blame her if she wanted nothing to with my family after this. She gives me a damn sight more love and loyalty than anyone else around here and I would rather die than betray her." "That's all very noble, son," his mother conceded, "but you've got yourself into one Hell of a mess and frankly, this is the easiest way out." "The easiest way isn't always the best." It was taking every ounce of Mulder's willpower to avoid yelling at his mother for her selfish ideas. "Now I suggest you take this lawyer back wherever you found him and stay right out of my personal business in the future." Mrs. Mulder got to her feet, her manner deliberately formal. "Come Mr. Evans, I think I know when I'm not wanted." She paused to brush her son's cheek with a kiss that had more to do with what she saw as her obligation than with any affection she felt for him. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Fox." was her final comment as she swept from the room, Mr. Evans trailing dutifully behind. I hope so too, Mulder thought as he waited for the guard to come and take him back to the cell. -------------------- "Court will now come to order. All rise." Mulder looked across at Scully again. Having spent the night apart in separate cells they'd been reunited in the court about half an hour ago. Too bad the occasion was their joint bail hearing. "We'll be alright. We always are." he whispered, squeezing her hand as the judge entered the court. A quelling look from their attorney, Kelly Shaw, prevented further communication and they watched with some perturbation as the judge took his seat and the rest of the court followed. Judge Ellis adjusted his glasses and looked down at the case details in front of him. "Fox Mulder and Dana Scully," he peered out over the court, his gaze focusing on them. "You are both accused of embezzlement, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, and the commission of the crime itself. Do you understand the accusations being brought against you?" "Yes." Mulder answered. Scully elbowed him in the ribs. "Yes, Your Honour." he corrected. "Yes, Your Honour." Scully repeated. "How do you plead?" the judge asked. He sounded almost bored. "My clients plead not guilty, Your Honour." Kelly Shaw informed him. "Fine, fine." Judge Ellis continued. "And both of them are seeking bail, is that right." "Yes, Your Honour. My clients are FBI Agents and they're just as anxious to find out who really committed this crime as everyone else." Shaw told him. "Are they indeed?" the judge queried, regarding Mulder and Scully appraisingly. "In that case, bail is set for...." "Your Honour, if I might speak at this point." the prosecuting attorney interrupted insistently. Judge Ellis sighed. He had rather hoped that the hearing would be wrapped up in time for a round of golf before his afternoon case. "Yes, go ahead if you must. What is it?" "Releasing either of these Agents on bail would be inadvisable with their previous records." the attorney warned the court. "Records?" the judge asked, regarding the notes in front of him more carefully. "I was under the impression that the accused were FBI Agents." "They are, Your Honour." Shaw informed him. "But Agent Mulder has left the country several times in his career without the sanction of his employers at the Bureau." the prosecutor pointed out. "Agent Mulder's profession requires that he be able to travel at a moment's notice." Shaw countered. "It's not always practical to file for permission when in pursuit of a suspect." "As I'm sure the court is aware, FBI jurisdiction is restricted to within the United States, so Agent Mulder should have no reason to leave the country in the course of his work." the prosecuting attorney reminded everyone. "And I for one would be interested to learn exactly what criminal Agent Mulder need to pursue to Tunguska, Russia." Mulder got to his feet abruptly. "I was pursuing evidence about a rock which was linked to a deadly contaminant." "Agent Mulder, sit down." the judge ordered. "The piece that came into our possession was only a fragment of the entire rock, and it was of vital importance that we obtain further information about...." "Agent Mulder, I don't want to have to say it again," Judge Ellis stated angrily. "Sit down!" "But, Sir, if you'd just let me explain how..." "NOW, Agent Mulder." "Yes, Your Honour." Mulder reluctantly took his seat again. "And as Agent Scully's previous criminal record indicates," the prosecuting attorney continued, smirking slightly, "she was jailed for Contempt of Congress after she refused to disclose Agent Mulder's whereabouts." The judge leaned back in his chair, his brow furrowed. Mulder and Scully glanced at each other worriedly as they awaited his decision. Finally he spoke. "In light of this new evidence, I'm afraid I'm going to have to recommend that Fox Mulder and Dana Scully be remanded into custody without bail." Mulder was back on his feet in a second. "NO! You can't do that!" Judge Ellis continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "I'm going to counsel as early a trial date as possible, but the flight risk posed by the accused is too great to allow them to go free at this time. Case closed." "Dammit! No!" "Mulder, it's too late. There's nothing more we can do now." Scully spoke gently, trying to convince him to accept what they couldn't change. "Mulder, Scully, I'm really sorry about this." Kelly Shaw told them, genuinely contrite. "It's not your fault." Scully reassured her. "Just, one of those things." Scully swallowed hard as she saw the prison escorts coming up behind Mulder with cuffs. "Could you...could you just give us a minute." she pleaded with them, breathing a sigh of relief when they agreed. "Mulder," He was still staring angrily after the judge. "Mulder." she repeated. He turned to look at her. "I'm sorry, Scully." "Mulder, listen to me." She said insistently. The expression in his eyes was listless and sad. "This is not your fault. I want you to remember that. Okay?" "I failed." he said despondently "You did nothing of the sort." Scully told him emphatically. "God Scully, do you know what I felt last time you went to jail for me? I felt like the biggest cur on the planet. And that was only for one day. This could be months, years even." Mulder bemoaned. "Well I'm glad you're so optimistic about our chances." Scully said wryly, coaxing a reluctant smile from her partner. "Look Mulder, there's something I have to tell you." Scully told him seriously. "Really - what?" He was already worried about her, she could see it in his eyes and hear it in every word he spoke. Was it really fair to place an added burden on him at a time like this. No, it can wait, she decided. "Just, I love you Fox Mulder." she said. "I love you too." Mulder told her, pulling her into his arms. "We'll be alright, Mulder." Scully insisted from where her head was buried against his chest, biting her lip to keep from crying. "Yeah." he agreed, but he didn't sound convinced. "Alright lovebirds, that's enough." the guard interrupted them. "The Federal prison system has two cells with your names on them and we don't want to keep them waiting, do we now?" Mulder loosened his grip on Scully. "Goodbye." he told her miserably. "Hey, what did I tell you about being optimistic." she reminded him. "Not goodbye, just see you later." She leaned towards him to plant a tender kiss on his mouth. Mulder deepened it slightly but the kiss remained gentle. A kiss not of passion but of promise. I love you. I'll miss you. I _will_ come back to you soon. The prison guard rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Come on." he groaned. Scully pulled back from Mulder unwillingly. "Smile, Mulder. I'll see you later." He nodded and for her sake allowed a small smile to grace his face until she'd been escorted from the Court. The sound of a deliberate cough caused him to turn around. "Sir? What are you doing here?" Skinner looked slightly disconcerted and Mulder suddenly thought of what the problem might be. "Oh geez, this isn't about Scully and me kissing just before, is it, because these were extenuating circumstances and all, and...." Skinner cut him off. "No, no, that's fine. I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am that you didn't get bail, and that I'm going to have people working around the clock preparing your case." "Thank-you, Sir." Mulder said, surprised at how obliging their boss was being. He looked up to see the guard waiting to take him away. "Well, prison calls I guess." Skinner nodded, then abruptly offered his hand. Mulder shook it, gratified. "Again, thank-you, Sir." "Good luck, Agent Mulder." Skinner said as he watched him being led from the Court. I have a terrible feeling that you're going to need it, was his final thought. --------------------- 1 week later Lorton Reformatory, VA "I really think this is a bad idea." "Yeah, alright Langly, you've already mentioned that several times." Frohike told him. "But Mulder's in there and he needs our help. You don't want to come, fine, turn around and go home." "I mean, they lock guys like us up in here." Langly continued as though he'd never been interrupted. "Only if you get careless." Byers pointed out. "And we don't." "I still think it's a bad idea." Langly repeated. "Too late, we're here now." Frohike told him as they walked through the metal detector. It beeped. "Langly, I thought I told you to leave the metal file at home. Mulder's never going to go for our plan to break him out of jail anyway." Frohike hissed under his breath. "Chill, it's just the car keys." Langly explained, taking them out of his pocket and walking through the detector again. "See." "Okay, okay. You guys stay here and I'll find out where we're supposed to go." Frohike walked over to the front desk and looked under the grill at the prison warden. "Uh, hi, we're here to see Fox Mulder." "That right?" the warden demanded unhelpfully. Okaaaay, Frohike thought. "Could you perhaps tell us where we're supposed to go." he asked politely. "Yeah, I could." the warden confirmed, sucking noisily on his gums. "Well where are we supposed to go?" Frohike demanded, his exasperation increasing. "Right through that door." The warden told him, gesturing at the opposite wall, then turning back to the small-screen TV that was occupying his attention. Frohike rolled his eyes, walking back over to the others. "Come on, through here." "Sign in here." The prison guard on the other side of the door told them. He raised his eyebrows at the unusual first names, but wisely decided not to comment. "Here to see...?" "Fox Mulder." Byers filled in. "Okay, right this way." The guard led them through a locked and barred door then showed them into a meeting room, bolting the door after them much to Langly's discomfiture. "Boy am I glad to see you guys." Mulder got up from his seat behind the table and greeted them enthusiastically. "Hey, this isn't too bad." Frohike commented, looking around. "I've stayed in plenty of hotels worse than this." "Room's probably packed full of listening devices." Langly commented, regarding the walls, door and ceiling with considerable suspicion. "So have you heard how Scully is?" Mulder asked eagerly. "We're heading over to DC Jail to visit her tomorrow morning." Byers informed him. "I wish I could talk to her, or at least just find out if she's okay." Mulder said uneasily. "You guys'll keep an eye on her for me, won't you?" " 'Course we will Mulder, but I suggest you don't tell her you asked us to." Frohike joked. "So you and Scully are...you know, are you?" Langly asked curiously. "Are what?" Mulder questioned guilelessly, putting every effort into keeping a straight face. "You know, dating and that." Langly clarified. " 'Fraid so." Mulder confirmed, an amused glance at Frohike. "Hey, I know when I've been out-maneuvered." Frohike said good-naturedly. "And I'm happy for you, really I am." "Yeah sure you are, Frohike." Langly said, still checking for bugs and other listening devices. "Okay, I think the room's clean. So you want to hear our big plan, Mulder?" "Why do I have a feeling I'm going to regret this?" he asked, half to himself. "Alright guys, what've you got?" "He's never going to go for this." Byers said. "I'm never going to go for what?" Mulder demanded impatiently. "Because if you've figured out a way to get Scully and me out of this mess I'm all ears." "That depends on how flexible you are." Frohike told him. "We're talking out in the literal sense." He turned to Langly. "You bring the map?" "Yeah." He pulled it out of his pocket, spreading it on the table and trying to smooth out some of the creases. "There's a railroad about 3/4 of a mile east of here." Frohike told him, indicating where it was marked on the map. "Now we can organize an empty railcar with engine attached, but we only have a limited time window available. Four days, Mulder, it's this Sunday night or nothing." "Whoa guys, you're seriously talking about breaking out of jail?" Mulder asked incredulously. "Byers, surely you don't agree with this?" Byers nodded hesitantly. "We've seen what they've got on you and Scully, and it's going to be damned hard to prove that you didn't do it. Whoever's setting this up really knows what they're doing. But if you were outside instead of in here, you'd at least have more of a chance at finding them." "Yeah sure, but breaking out of jail. If this goes bad, we'd end up a lot worse than we started." "It won't go bad if you do exactly what we say." Frohike promised. "At least let us show you what we've got, then you can think about it." "Alright." Mulder conceded, still very doubtful about the whole idea. "Sunday night 7:30 p.m., you're at dinner in the main hall. Yes?" Langly queried. "Yes." Mulder acknowledged. "Been spying on me, guys?" "You don't trust us, Mulder? I'm offended." Frohike joked. "Anyway, 7:40 exactly the power goes off." "What about the generators?" Mulder asked, making sure every angle was covered as began to seriously consider going ahead with their plan. "Already taken care of." Langly confirmed. "The switch which enables them to take over directly when there's a power cut will have been mysteriously disabled." "So the power cut takes care of the alarms, but there's still a locked door between the hall and the outside. And then the main gate gets locked at night." "Not until 8 p.m." Byers told him. So you have twenty minutes maximum to get out of there. "We took a look at the gate mechanism, but it's automatic, and mechanical rather than electric so there's nothing we can do. Just make sure you get out of there as fast as you can." "And as for the key you need," Frohike continued, "we've got someone inside who'll take care of that." "Take care of it how?" Mulder queried. "Not sure exactly." Langly admitted. "But he said he will, and he's never failed us before." "So what do you say, Mulder? You in?" Frohike asked him excitedly. "I say you're asking me to take some pretty huge risks." Mulder said frankly. "But worth it." Frohike insisted. Seeing that his friend was still uncertain, he continued, "Look, don't decide anything now. Just think about it for a coupla days. I can get a message to you then and you let us know what you decided on." "Yeah, okay." Mulder agreed. "And thanks for coming to visit me, I really appreciate it." "No problem, man." Langly replied. "You know you can always count on us." "Give Scully my love when you see her, Frohike." Mulder said, chuckling. "Ha, ha Mulder." Frohike answered as he knocked on the door to tell the guard to let them out. "Now you just think about what we said." He counseled as they walked out of the room. What the Hell am I getting myself into, Mulder wondered, as he watched them leave. ---------------------- Mulder was startled abruptly from sleep for the second time recently. He swallowed deeply, the cold barrel of the pistol he could feel pressed into his neck encouraging him to keep silent. A pair of glittering eyes looked down into his intently, daring him to make a move. "Who are you?" Mulder whispered grimly. The pistol was withdrawn and Mulder sat up quickly in his bunk. "Who are you?" he repeated. "You don't recognise your former partner? I'm insulted Mulder." "I ought to kill you right now Krycek." Mulder hissed. "Now, now. Let's not forget who's the prisoner and who's the one with the gun." Krycek reminded him. "What are you doing here?" Mulder demanded hostilely. "I was sent to kill you." Krycek told him simply. "You what?" Mulder tensed, preparing to defend himself. Krycek laughed ironically. "Don't worry, Mulder. If I was going to kill you'd be dead already. I was feeling friendly, so I thought I'd warn you instead. He wants you out of the way and he's taking it very seriously this time." "The Smoking Man? So he's not dead?" Mulder asked him. "What do you think?" Krycek said ambiguously. "I think that I don't trust a single word you say." Mulder responded promptly. "Suit yourself." Krycek slipped silently out of the cell, locking it behind him. "But remember, I could have killed you, but I didn't. Next time you might not be so fortunate." Dammit, Mulder thought, punching his fist into the bunk's mattress. But at least it solved one problem - if he wanted to stay alive then he had to go along with the Gunmen's plan, escape and take his chances on the outside. He was damned if he was going to stay here and let them pick him off like a sitting duck whenever it suited them. -------------------------- End of Part 2. "Bars on the Windows" Part 3 by Gemma Kingsley (gkingsley@hotmail.com) For Disclaimer etc. please see part 1. ------------------------- "Just look at this place, Dana. What your father would say if he were still with us, I don't know." "Oh, he'd probably say something about being brave and facing the challenges that life throws at you." Scully smiled, trying to reassure her mom. "But you shouldn't be...here." Mrs. Scully insisted. "Prison, Mom. You can say the word, you know." "Yes, prison. It gives me nightmares just imagining you locked in here every night. Are you sure you're alright?" she asked worriedly. "I'm fine." Scully told her firmly. "And hopefully it won't be for too much longer. We've lodged an appeal for Bail and it's looking hopeful." "Have you heard from Fox?" Mrs. Scully asked, trying to find a more pleasant topic of conversation than prison and Court cases. "Not since the hearing. But one of the guards told me he was being taken to the Lorton Reformatory." Scully explained. "And some friends of ours are going to be dropping in later today, so hopefully they'll have some news." "Well I do think he could have taken the time to contact you personally." Mrs. Scully complained, twisting her wedding ring distractedly, "after all, it's because of him that you're in this situation in the first place." "What? No, Mom, this is not Mulder's fault in any way, shape or form." "If you hadn't joined the FBI..." Mrs. Scully started to say. "....then I might be working in a hospital somewhere. I could have been stabbed by a knife-wielding mental patient, I could have been infected with contaminated blood, or I could be languishing in prison after being sued for malpractice." Scully's list of the alternate misfortunes that could have befallen her coaxed a reluctant smile from her mother. "I'm sorry, Mom, I know you don't like a lot of the choices that I've made, but I need you to respect my right to make decisions for myself." Scully appealed. "I know, sweetheart, I know. But it's hard sometimes. I still see you as my little girl. And it's not that long ago that we were afraid we'd lose you for good." Her mother reminded her. "I understand." Scully said, embracing her mother. They separated as a knock came on the door announcing another visitor for Scully. Frohike shuffled into the room, and stood there rather awkwardly as he took in the presence of Mrs. Scully. Mrs. Scully raised her eyebrows as she observed the new visitor but said nothing. "Uh, Mom, this is Frohike. He's a friend of mine and Mulder's." Scully performed the introduction. Frohike blushed deep red when Scully described him as her friend and Mrs. Scully looked at her daughter questioningly. Scully almost laughed at the slightly- horrified look on her mother's face. Hope she takes it better than that when I tell her about Mulder and I, she thought. "See you later, Mom. Thanks for coming to visit me." Scully told her. "And don't worry, I'll be fine." "Alright, dear. You just be careful." Mrs. Scully replied. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Frohike." Frohike blushed even deeper red, if that was possible. "Uh, nice to meet you too, Mrs. Scully." When Mrs. Scully had left, Frohike hurried over to the table and sat down. "Sorry 'bout that," he said, "didn't mean to interrupt anything." "No..she was just getting ready to leave anyway." Scully reassured him. "So have you seen Mulder? Is he okay?" "Yeah, yesterday." Frohike revealed. "He seemed like he was doing alright. Pretty worried about you though. He said to give you his love." Frohike smirked. "Alright, yes very funny. I take it he told you about us, then." Scully said. "Hey, don't look at me. Langly's the one with the overdeveloped sense of curiosity." "No, I mean I don't mind. Actually, it makes what I have to say easier." She looked rather nervous and Frohike wondered what on earth she was about to tell him. "I'm pregnant." she blurted out suddenly. Frohike went white, then green, then white again, and stared at her in shock. "With a baby?" he asked stupidly. "No, with a monkey." Scully joked. "Whoa, Scully, this is, um," Frohike was trying very hard to form a coherent sentence, but his brain didn't quite seem to be co-operating. "It's, um, well, congratulations." "Thanks." She smiled at him. "But you see the thing is, and this is where I need a favor from you, Mulder doesn't know yet. I mean I know I should have told him, but we were working so hard on that case, and it just didn't seem the time to bring it up. And then I was going to tell him in the Courtroom," Scully continued, "but he was already so worried, and telling him then would just have made it worse. But he deserves to know, and so...." "Scully, you're babbling." Frohike said kindly. "I know. But it's just..." "I'll tell him." Frohike agreed. "You will?" she queried delighted. "Oh thank-you Frohike." Leaning over she kissed him on the cheek and he blushed red again. "I really appreciate this." It'll be worth it just to see the look on Mulder's face, Frohike thought to himself. ---------------------- As it turned out, Frohike didn't get to break the news to Mulder personally after all. Crossing their fingers that Mulder was going to agree to go along with their escape plan, the Gunmen decided that two visits in one week might look a little suspicious. So when Mulder got back to his cell after exercise the next day, he found a folded note on the floor: M, Everything's set, just waiting for your go ahead. Leave the reply on the floor of the cell, our friend will collect it. We know you'll make the right decision. P.S. Congratulations. S said to tell you that you've gotten her knocked up. F. Mulder's eyes widened. What the Hell was that last line? He read it again and it still said the same thing but he could hardly take it in. Suddenly it hit him. Scully's having a baby! We're having a baby! I'm going to be a father, he realized. Mulder wanted to jump up and down and yell for joy but he had a feeling that might not be appreciated by the guards and the other inmates. Ripping the bottom section of the note off and stuffing it in his pocket so he could read it over and over again, he quickly scribbled a reply on the other side of the note. He put it back on the floor where it could be retrieved by the whoever the Gunmen's inside friend was, and lay down on his bunk to read Frohike's final comment again. This is really happening, he thought. We're gonna have a baby. ------------------- The Next Day Lone Gunmen Headquarters, D.C. "That's a good color on you, Langly." Frohike told his friend. "One more word and you'll be doing this on your own." Langly cautioned belligerently. "Oh, and nice hat, Byers." Frohike regarded his outfit critically. "Just one question. What were you planning on doing about the beard?" "I think I'll be okay as long as I stay away from any bright lights." Byers frowned, looking at himself in the mirror. "You don't like my hat?" "Sure we do. It's cute. Matches your eyes." Langly teased. "You know I still think we should have told Mulder what we were planning." Byers said. Frohike shook his head. "You read the note. He was stressed out enough over Krycek's threats. He would have had a coronary if he'd known what we're about to do. So everyone ready?" "Yep. You got the drugs?" Langly queried. "Right here." Frohike answered, tapping his pocket. "Let's move." ------------- "Hi." The warden looked up as he heard the seductive greeting. "Hey, baby, haven't seen you around here before." "Yeah, a friend got me a job working in the kitchens last week. It was pretty quiet, so I thought I'd take a little walk." "So, I guess a pretty girl like you must have a steady boyfriend." the warden continued. "No, I live all on my own. Gets lonely at times." The warden smiled. "Well we can't have that. Why don't you..." He froze, listening carefully. "Did you hear something?" he asked his companion. "No, nothing. So what were you saying?" The warden walked across the room, still listening for any signs of a disturbance. When he heard nothing, he picked up his mug of coffee and took a large gulp. His companion sighed thankfully, but the warden didn't see it. "I was saying...I was....ohh...suddenly I don't feel so good." The warden grabbed for the edge of the desk as his companion watched coolly, and was soon passed out on the floor, snoring loud enough to wake the dead. "You alright, Langly?" Frohike asked as he and Byers ran up. "Yes, no thanks to you." he said, pulling off the wig. "What the Hell was that noise? You almost gave the game away." "Yeah, we ran into a little trouble when we met up with a rather suspicious _female_ guard. But we took care of it." Byers explained. "And it's all clear now?" Langly queried. "Yeah." Frohike confirmed. "But you should have seen me flirt with the first guard we came across. Damn I was good. He was so hot for me, wasn't he Byers?" Langly shuddered. "I really don't want to know. Let's just find Scully and get out of here. When that warden started coming onto me - yuck - I'm sure I'll have nightmares about it for weeks." "Right." Byers said, looking at the plan on the wall of the warden's office. "She's in B block." They hurried through the halls as quietly as possible, Langly particularly reluctant to stumble across any more guards. Inserting the key in the door to Scully's cell, they listened carefully, not wanting to alarm her. Byers winced at the grating noise as Frohike turned the key, and Scully had apparently been woken as well. "Who's there?" she called out sharply. "Scully, it's me, Frohike." he whispered as loudly as he dared. "Frohike?" she whispered back, approaching the door as all three of the Gunmen trailed into her cell. "And Langly, and Byers too? What are you guys doing here?" She looked in astonishment at their dresses and wigs. "And what on earth are you wearing?" "All questions will be answered later." Frohike assured her. "But for now, we're getting you out of here." "Out as in we're escaping from prison?" Scully squeaked. "Krycek was sent to kill Mulder." Byers told her. "They might send someone for you too and it's not worth the risk." "Ohmigod, is Mulder okay?" Scully panicked. "You'd tell me if something had happened to him, wouldn't you guys?" "Relax." Langly reassured her. "Mulder's doin' just fine and we're getting him out tomorrow. So are you coming with us or not?" "Are you kidding? Yes! There is no way I'm letting Mulder run around the country by himself, trying to track down whoever set us up." Scully already felt uneasy just imagining what kind of trouble her partner could get into. "Good, then let's get on with it." Langly said, leading the way out of the cell. Byers followed, but Scully grasped Frohike's arm, holding him back for a moment. "Did you, uh, tell Mulder about..." she asked him. "Yep, all taken care of." He decided not to give her the exact details of how he'd communicated the news to Mulder since it probably wasn't quite how she'd envisioned telling him. But Mulder knew, and that was the most important thing. Before they could move any further, Langly and Byers ducked rapidly back into the room. "Shit, someone's coming." Langly declared. A few seconds later, Krycek appeared in the doorway and advanced into the room. "My, my, my, a pajama party and I wasn't invited? How thoughtless of you." His gaze fell on the Gunmen. "And these must be Mulder's friends, the paranoid freaks. Lovely dresses ladies." "What are you doing here?" Frohike snarled hostilely. Krycek raised his eyebrows. "My business is with Scully." he told them. "Well you'll have to get through us first." Langly asserted boldly. Krycek shrugged nonchalantly. "If that's the way you want to play it then who am I to stand in your way." Langly's eyes widened in alarm and he took a hasty step backwards. "Enough with the melodrama, Krycek." Scully regarded him without fear. "Why are you here?" Krycek looked at her speculatively. "I'm here to give you the same warning I gave Mulder, although it would appear you're already taking drastic steps to protect yourself." He stepped back into the doorway. "I suggest you lie low for a while. Certain people are going to be most displeased about this." Langly breathed a sigh of relief once Krycek had left. "That guy gives me the creeps." "Yeah, whatever." Frohike agreed. "Now we'd better get moving, he's delayed us enough already." I can hardly believe I'm doing this, Scully thought to herself as she followed the Gunmen back through the prison. An FBI Agent, sworn to uphold the law and work for justice, and currently involved in her own jail break. Suddenly she stopped short. "What?" Langly asked, having bumped into her from behind. "I just had a thought." Scully related. "My Mom was already upset by the fact that I was in prison. She's going to have a fit when she hears about this." Frohike snickered quietly to himself as they continued to make their way along the passage. --------------------- Lone Gunmen Headquarters, D.C. "Boy am I glad to get that skirt off." Langly said "Just because you don't have the legs for it." Frohike teased, grinning as Scully rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Guys, be serious for a minute." She pleaded. "Shouldn't we be working on our plan to break Mulder out of jail." "Uh, *our* plan, Scully?" Langly queried. "Your only part is hiding out here until we bring Mulder back." "Guess again." She slipped the map of the Lorton Reformatory into her pocket. "I'm coming with you." Frohike approached as though he was going to try and get the map off her. "If you so much as think about it I'll break all your fingers." Scully threatened him. "But Scully," Langly whined, "Mulder'll kill us if we let you go too." "So I'll tell him I made you guys agree. Which I did." She pointed out. "You're not going to get very far without the map, are you?" Langly, Byers and Frohike had a rapid, whispered conversation which Scully watched, part in annoyance, part amused. "Okay, you can come." Langly told her begrudgingly. "Good. Now what's the plan?" ---------------------- Mulder glanced quickly at the clock again as he swallowed another mouthful of disgustingly mushy peas. Twenty-five past seven. Almost time. Sure enough, just as he finished scraping his plate a few minutes later, the lights suddenly went off. "What the Hell?" one of the guards exclaimed in alarm. "Why didn't the generators kick in?" Some of the other prisoners had let up a whoop of excitement when the lights went out, and Mulder could hear crashes as plates and cutlery were thrown on the floor and tables were upended. Come on, come on, where's Frohike's friend, Mulder worried as the seconds ticked past and no-one approached him with the key he so desperately needed. Just as he started getting up, resolving to attempt to make his way out of the room anyway and see how far he could get, he felt the requisite key pressed into his palm. Breathing a sigh of relief, Mulder got to his feet and took a step towards the door, only to find himself slipping in a pile of someone's uneaten baked beans and mashed potato. "Dammit." Mulder groaned, wincing at the pain in his arm as he stood back up. He was about to head towards the door again when he suddenly realized something that caused him to freeze, paralyzed. The key, I've lost the wretched key! Crouching on his hands and knees, Mulder began searching frantically through the soup of broken crockery and food mess that now littered the floor. His fingers slid through the slimy mess, trying desperately to grasp hold of something key-shaped, but to no avail. No, dammit, I won't give up now, not when I'm so close, he resolved. Sliding forward on his knees, he stretched still further, instinctively ducking as one of the last intact plates flew dangerously close to his head, breaking on the bench where he'd been sitting a few minutes earlier. Relax Mulder, he cautioned himself. Sitting up and closing his eyes, he concentrated hard on remembering the exact moment that he'd fallen and dropped the key, trying to guess which way it had flown and where it was most likely to have landed. A little further to the right, he conjectured, his hands traversing this new area. He almost skipped over it the first time, thinking he was imagining it, but then he paused, and his fingers went backwards slightly. Grasping the cold, hard metal of the key he pulled it out from under the bench and stood again, making sure he had a very firm grip on the key this time. Time's ticking away, no more space for mistakes, Mulder told himself firmly. ---------------- Byers looked through the binoculars at the Lorton Reformatory again. "I don't like this. He should have been here by now." "We can wait a bit longer." Frohike pointed out. "If we try and leave now, Scully'll have our heads." "Speaking of which," Langly said, overhearing the last comment as he climbed up the rungs of the ladder to the engine railcar, "could you go back there and talk to her Frohike, she's been trying to convince me that we should go over and storm the place." "I'll talk to her." Byers offered. "But make sure you keep an eye out for Mulder." "Will do." Langly agreed with a mock-salute. "How much longer can we afford to wait?" he asked Frohike as Byers climbed down the ladder. Sudden light, loud noise and movement answered his question as the alarms started to blare at the Lorton Reformatory. "Fuck." Frohike swore abruptly. "Our time window just ran right out. Langly leaned out the door, telling Byers to get back in the engine car this instant because they were about to leave. Byers climbed back in apprehensively followed closely by Scully. "No, I won't let you leave." she told Frohike angrily, trying to wrest the keys from his hand. "Scully," he said, gripping her wrist with more strength than she'd have guessed he possessed, "you know we can't stay here." "Yes we can," she insisted vehemently, still struggling, "I'm not leaving Mulder." "Oh yeah, and what help will it be to him if you get caught again?" Frohike demanded as he passed the keys to Langly who then started up the engine. "I don't care." Scully told him, pulling her wrist free of his restraining grasp. "Well fine, maybe you don't, but Mulder sure does." Frohike replied. "First thing he asked when we saw him was 'Have you heard about Scully? How's Scully?' That man adores you, and he would never forgive any of us if you endangered your life or that of the unborn baby you're carrying, to save him." Scully sighed. "But..." she tried to protest further. "But nothing." Frohike said firmly. "Mulder will understand. They catch you now, they'll lock you up and throw away the key, and I'm not going to take that risk." Scully knew when she'd lost the argument. "Fine. But I want you to remember that I'm deeply against this." "Great." Frohike said. "Now go lie down on that mattress we put in the railway car. It's two hours by rail, then we have to switch to the car." Scully descended the ladder with a heavy heart and clambered back into the rail carriage. It's just not fair, she thought, we came so close. The mood in the front engine area was no more cheerful. "This sux." Langly stated as the train started to move. "I know, but what else could we do?" Byers asked. "Staying any longer would have meant putting Scully at risk. At least this way, one of them's safe." "What was that?" Frohike suddenly asked. "What?" "I thought I heard something." He said, listening intently. "There it is again." The other two Gunmen fell silent, trying to hear the noise that Frohike was talking about. "Wait!" They heard faintly. Langly ran to the window, peering out into the darkness. For a second he thought he was imagining things, but he blinked, and the man running diagonally towards them across the field was still there. "OH MY GOD - it's Mulder!" he yelled. "Frohike, stop the train. Quick, quick!" "I can't stop it." Frohike told him. "We're only a few minutes ahead of the Express train and we have to get off this section of track as fast as possible. He glanced hopelessly toward the field on their right, "Tell him to run, maybe he can catch up." "Run, Mulder, run!" Langly shouted out the window. Mulder strained with every last bit of energy he had, his heart pounding, every breath tightening his lungs a little more. Havetocatchthattrain...havetocatchthattrain havetocatchthattrain throbbed in his head with some kind of manic rhythm. But it was going too fast, he was close, but not close enough, and the train was pulling further away from him with every second that passed. Langly was yelling himself hoarse trying to encourage Mulder to run faster, but nothing seemed to work. That is, until Scully stuck her head out of the carriage door. "Langly, what are you yelling about?" she demanded. "Mulder, Mulder!" Langly cried, gesturing to where he was running alongside the railway line, behind the train. "What?" she screamed, and then she saw him. He was still striving staunchly to catch up to the train, but his head was drooping, his breaths seemed labored, and he was dropping further back with every passing moment. "MULDER!" Scully cried out, as loud as she could. "RUN!" His head shot up, eyes focusing steadily on the train. That sounded like....oh my God, it is Scully, he realized. A new burst of speed seemed to accompany the knowledge. I'm getting on that train, he determined. "Run, Mulder!" Scully continued to yell, inwardly rejoicing as he began to narrow the distance between himself and the train. "Come on, you can do it!" His long strides and seemingly renewed strength brought him to the door of the train in seconds. "Take my hand and jump!" Scully called, reaching out from the train as far as she dared. "You trust me don't you?" "Always!" he shouted back, taking a running leap towards the doorway, flying through the air until his hand met Scully's and she hauled him into the carriage where he promptly collapsed on the floor. She was beside him in a second, "Mulder, Mulder, are you alright?" Mulder pulled himself to his knees, staring at her as though he still wasn't sure whether to believe what his eyes were telling him. "I am now." he said, and Scully threw herself into his arms. ----------------------- End of Part 3. "Bars on the Windows" Part 4 by Gemma Kingsley (gkingsley@hotmail.com) For Disclaimer etc. please see part 1. ------------------------- "Think I should go back and check on them?" Langly asked his friends. "Not unless you want an eyeful." Frohike paused for a second as he considered what he'd just said. "On the other hand maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea." "Frohike." Byers warned. "Kidding, kidding." Frohike assured him. "Can't anyone make a joke 'round here anymore?" "Frankly, running from the law seems to put a damper on my sense of humour." Langly told him. "Come on, let's not argue. There's a long way to go yet." Byers pointed out. "I still think we should check on them." Langly repeated. "NO!" Byers and Frohike replied in unison. ---------------- "You sure you're alright, Mulder?" Scully asked again, running her hands over his face to reassure herself that he was really there. "I'm fine." he insisted. "I feel like I was in a food fight then ran a marathon, but other than that, never been better." "You have made rather a mess of yourself." Scully commented as she examined his baked bean, pea and mashed potato splattered outfit. "Yeah well the table manners of some of my companions left a lot to be desired." he explained. "Not to mention the fact that I ended up face-down on the floor after slipping on a strategically positioned pile of food." "You fell over? Did you hurt yourself?" Scully was instantly in doctor mode, eager to help. "My arm." He held it up and she could see where the bruises were already forming. "But it's fine now." Scully was not to be dissuaded from checking it out for herself. "Does this hurt?" Mulder shook his head. "How about this?" she inquired further. "Uh-uh. Really Scully, I'm fine." he insisted. "You don't hurt anywhere?" "Well actually," Mulder started to say, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Yes, what?" Scully asked with concern. "I could use some attention here." He took hold of her hand and pulled it into his lap, gasping slightly with pleasure when she began to stroke him. "Oh I don't know," Scully teased, "you really think that needs a doctor's attention?" "*A* doctor - no," Mulder responded, gulping as she squeezed him gently, "*this* doctor - definitely yes." "You want to play doctor with me, Mulder?" Scully invited seductively. He nodded vigorously. "Good." She said, giggling, "But I suggest we move this check-up to the mattress before the patient catches pneumonia from sitting on the cold floor." "You're not propositioning me, are you doc?" Mulder asked, feigning artlessness. "What do you think?" ----------------- "So now that we're off the main line, we continue on for about an hour and a half until we hit this disused byline. Then..." Frohike paused in his explanation as a distinctive thump was heard from the carriage behind them. He cleared his throat awkwardly and tried again. "So then we.." Thump. Thump. Thump. Byers turned bright red and suddenly found the view out of the window fascinating. Thump. Thump. Thump-thump. Frohike raised his eyes towards the ceiling. "Whose bright idea was it to stick a mattress in there anyway?" ----------------- "Mulder." Scully whispered, kissing his chest, and looking down at him. "Mmm hmmm." "You awake?" He opened his eyes. "Yes." Rolling over to face her they exchanged a long, slow kiss. "Why? You wanna go again?" "Maybe later." she told him, curling up against his side. "I was just thinking." "Well that's a good sign." Mulder joked. "Thinking 'bout anything in particular?" "Kind of." "You're going to have to be a little more specific, I'm afraid." He touched her hair gently, a little concerned by this sudden reticence. "I was thinking about...I mean, Frohike said he told you, that is...." Scully's words trailed off as she waited for his response. Mulder grinned, suddenly catching on. "You bet he told me. Wanna see?" He climbed off the mattress and started digging around in his pile of clothes. Scully rolled onto her side, unabashedly admiring his nude form. "See? What do you mean?" "Ah! Here it is." He pulled the crumpled but precious piece of paper out of his pocket, handing it to Scully. Sitting up on the mattress, she read it quickly: P.S. Congratulations. S said to tell you that you've gotten her knocked up. "Oh that weasel Frohike is going to pay for this!" Scully declared. Mulder laughed. "It did the job didn't it? Actually, I kind of like it. Maybe I'll get it framed and hang it up on the wall." "So, you're not upset then?" she asked, her tone still rather hesitant. "About Frohike? Nah, he was just having a joke." "No, I meant about the fact that I'm pregnant. About the baby." Scully clarified. "Upset about the baby?" Mulder sat down next to her on the mattress, confused, and wrapped his arms around her. "Why would I be upset about the baby?" "Well, I mean, we never talked about anything like this." Pressing her head against his shoulder, she whispered so quietly that he had to bend his head down to hear her. "And I didn't know if you wanted it." "Aw geez, Scully. Is that why you didn't tell me earlier?" Mulder asked her. She nodded woefully, hiding her face in his neck. "Scully," he said softly, "Look at me, please." She lifted her head uncertainly, gentle hazel eyes meeting still slightly frightened blue ones. "I wish you could have seen me when I first read that note." Mulder told her. "I was literally ecstatic. So happy I could hardly believe it." "Yeah?" "Yeah." he confirmed. "Bet you were shocked first." Scully guessed. "Well, maybe just a little." he confessed. "But in a good way." She nodded and gave him a small smile. "So what else is the matter?" Mulder asked. "Um, I'm not sure exactly." Scully answered, looking away from him again. "You know if I had to guess, I'd say maybe you were the one who's not quite sure about this." Scully swallowed heavily. Mulder's last conjecture had come a little too close to home. "That your professional psychologist's opinion?" she joked. "No, it's the personal opinion of your life's partner." he corrected. "I'm scared." she finally admitted, her throat choking up slightly. "I keep thinking, what if they did something to me when I was taken. How did I even get pregnant in the first place if they took my ova like you said? And even if I carry it to term, what if there's something wrong with it?" It was a relief to let her fears out, to share them with Mulder, and he felt the heat of her tears on his skin as she cried against him. Mulder felt his heart tighten painfully as Scully let him witness her vulnerability. "Scully, I.." he gulped as he felt the tears forming in his own eyes, "I can't answer any of those questions for you. I wish I could, you don't know how much I wish that." He squeezed her tightly against him. "But, um, I can promise you this - that I will always be there beside you and that we'll face whatever happens together." He buried his face in the comforting softness of her hair, rocking her gently as their cleansing tears chased away the darkness in the past and gave them hope for a brighter future together. ------------------ FBI Headquarters, D.C. Skinner walked into his office, pinching the bridge of his nose sharply. 7:30 a.m. and he already had a headache. The headline of Sunday morning's paper about Scully's prison break had put an end to any hope of a relaxing weekend, and although he'd expected today's parallel, 'Mulder escapes from jail' article, that didn't make it any better reading. He froze abruptly as he recognized a smell that had been missing for a number of months now. "Mr. Skinner," the Smoking Man said, stepping out from the corner of the room, "what a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect to see you here." "This is my office, asshole. Get out now or I'm calling security to throw you out." Skinner asserted. The Smoking Man took a calm drag of his ubiquitous cigarette. "My, my, aren't we cocky. Everything perfectly under control, is it?" Skinner remained silent, staring down his adversary. "You wouldn't have had anything to do with say, this and this, would you?" the Smoking Man asked, grinding his cigarette into the newspaper pictures of Mulder and Scully as he spoke. "Because," he said, walking towards the door, "it would be a very great shame if an Assistant Director of the FBI turned out to be involved in such a scandalous affair." He remained unperturbed as he took in Skinner's impassive expression. "Not to worry," he continued, lighting up another cigarette, "they'd be foolish to head anywhere other than the Canadian or South American borders, and we'll have a very warm welcome waiting for them when they turn up. Very warm indeed." The Smoking Man paused in the doorway to deliver his final comment. "Oh, and don't worry Mr. Skinner, I'm perfectly aware that you weren't involved in this. Just wanted to see how you were taking it." Skinner grimaced distastefully once the man had left his office. Maybe I wasn't involved, he thought, but I might have been if I'd come up with the idea first. ------------------- "Okay, it's all clear." Frohike whispered. Scully rolled her eyes. "They really go for this cloak and dagger stuff, don't they?" Frohike frowned at her reproachfully. "On my count, 1, 2," "3!" Mulder called out, grabbing hold of Scully's hand and pulling her across the street to the doorway of the Lone Gunmen's Headquarters. Rapping on the door three times as he'd been instructed, they waited for a response. "Password." Langly asked through the door. "Ohmigod Langly, open the door quickly, Scully's having the baby!" Mulder yelled. "What?" Langly squawked, panicking as he fumbled with the lock on the door. Throwing it open he stared at them with wild eyes....and was brought up short as he was confronted with Mulder's wide grin and Scully turning red in the face from laughing so hard. "I can't believe you fell for that, Langly." Scully teased as they walked into the main room. "I'm only three months pregnant, for God's sake." Frohike gave Mulder and Scully a critical look as he came in. "I could hear you guys from across the street." he complained. "Try and remember that we're running from the law here and that secrecy would be a very good idea please." "Sorry." Mulder mumbled penitently, winking at Scully. He figured that anything was worth it if it made her laugh. "So, what's the plan now guys?" Langly rubbed his hands together eagerly in anticipation. "The plan is to get some sleep." Mulder announced. "It's four in the morning and I for one haven't slept in a real bed for over a week." "I thought you slept on your couch anyway." Frohike pointed out. "I used to, but not anymore." Mulder looked at Scully fondly and she blushed slightly under his scrutiny. "You guys do have beds here, don't you?" "As a matter of fact," Frohike said, slapping Mulder on the back, "we converted one of the storerooms into a bedroom specially for you two." "And Langly and I decorated it." Byers told them. "Why does that thought make me very afraid?" Scully whispered to Mulder as they followed Frohike upstairs. ------------------ "Mulder, this is even worse than I could have possibly imagined." Scully said once the Gunmen had left the room. "It's pink." "It certainly is." Mulder agreed. The carpet was pink, the walls were pink, heck, even the ceiling was pink. But the crowning glory was the waterbed (pink again) in the middle of the room. "Surely no-one could really have taste this bad." Scully asked rhetorically as she stood staring around the room. "Come on Scully, it's not _that_ bad." Mulder insisted. "They probably thought it was romantic." "Well if they did, I really pity any woman who gets involved with one of those three." she pronounced. "I think the only women they have a connection to are more likely to be of the two-dimensional kind." Mulder theorized. "So you're saying this could be a situation out of a Playboy shoot, is that right?" "I wouldn't know, I only read it for the articles." Mulder countered. "Hey, I was just kidding," he continued, noting the mock-threatening she was giving him. "You know I gave up all that kind of thing when we got involved." "Humph." was Scully's only response. "Look, if we turn off the lights it won't be so bad." Mulder suggested, flicking the switch to demonstrate his point. "Yeah, but there'd better not be any cameras in here." Scully said. "Mulder, where are you?" She could hear him moving around in the dark somewhere. "I'm right...here." he replied, pulling her onto the bed, on top of him. "Why so you are." she said, smiling wickedly in the darkness as she reached down to grasp him. --------------- All three of the Gunmen were down in the main computer room when they heard the noise start upstairs. Thump. Thump. "Please tell me that's not what I think it is." Frohike begged. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. "Who on earth has that much stamina?" Byers wondered aloud. "Uh, I think I'm going to pass on that question." Langly answered. "Look, let's just ignore it. It's not that loud." Frohike's suggestion sounded like a good idea...until that is, a strangled YESSSS! noise floated down the stairs, causing all three of them to groan simultaneously and bury their heads in their hands. --------------------- "Mornin' guys, sleep well?" Mulder greeted them cheerfully the next day. "Oh yeah, just great, what with you and Scully- " Langly started to say, but was elbowed sharply in the ribs by Frohike and told to shut up. "Where's Scully?" Byers asked, noticing she hadn't come down yet. Mulder grimaced. "Morning sickness." "Oh ewww." Langly declared. "She makes a mess, you're cleaning it up." "Don't suppose you guys have found evidence proving our innocence yet?" "Afraid not Mulder. We did manage to get a copy of the so-called proof of your embezzlement." Byers gestured to a precariously balanced stack of papers on one side of the room. "But it's going to take us ages to get anywhere with that." "Okay, this is what I want you to do." Mulder instructed them. "Find out everything you can about the murder. Whatever info you can get about the victim, Jack Winton. Ditto with the crime itself. Ballistics on the weapon, fingerprints, all that shit. Maybe they slipped up somewhere." "And what are you gonna be doing?" Frohike queried. "I'm going after Krycek." "No way! How?" Langly demanded. Opening his fisted hand, Mulder revealed a thin matchbook, the type you might find in any motel. The type that commonly had the motel's name printed on them, as did this particular one. "He dropped it?" Frohike asked, instantly suspicious. Mulder shook his head. "I very much doubt it. I think he left it there on purpose for me to find." "Then isn't it more likely to be a trap?" Byers suggested "Sure, maybe." Mulder acknowledged the possibility. "But he could have killed me, and he didn't. And from what Scully told me, he could have killed her and you lot as well if he'd wanted to. The fact that he didn't suggests to me that he some other intention. I'm going to find out what that is." He crossed to the door. "Now, you're leaving now?" Frohike questioned anxiously. "Scully's puking her guts out upstairs on your behalf and you're going to walk out on her? Man will she be pissed off at you when she finds out." "Yeah, I know." he said dejectedly. "But she's in this mess because of me in the first place, and I don't want her or our unborn baby in any more danger. Keep her in the dark for as long as you can, then run for cover as she lets off steam." "He's going to be in such deep doodoo when she finds out." Langly said, shaking his head sadly as they watched Mulder flag down a cab and hop in. "When she finds out what?" Scully inquired, breezing into the room, apparently over her morning sickness. "Uh, what?" Langly tried to cover, flustered. "No, we were, uh, just..." "...talking about this new computer game." Byers filled in. "Yeah right, new computer game. That's it." Langly agreed. "Okaaay." Scully said, looking at them doubtfully. "So, um, where's Mulder?" "Mulder? You want to know where Mulder is?" Byers asked as though she'd just said the moon was made of green cheese or something of the sort. "Yeah, Mulder. Remember him? Tall, brown hair, the cutest hazel eyes you've ever seen and a body to die for. Sound familiar?" Scully queried. "Oh thaaat Mulder." Frohike answered. "Oh I'm sure he's around here somewhere. So, any big plans for today?" "Guys, what is going on? Tell me now or I promise I will make you live to regret it." "There's nothing going on." Byers protested. "Nothing at all. Isn't that right Langly?" "Yep, nothing out of the ordinary. Actually, Mulder just stepped out a few minutes ago to..uh...to run some errands, yeah, that's it. A few last minute errands he'd forgotten about." Scully sat down and looked at the three men menacingly. "I want to know where he's gone and why, and I want to know now!" -------------- Half an hour later, threats and recriminations hadn't gotten her any further, so Scully decided to change her tactics. "Frohike, you don't really want to upset me, do you?" she asked pleadingly, giving him a mournful face. "No, of course not, Scully." he instantly reassured her. "But Mulder was worried about you, and we are too." "I know." Scully continued, sniffling a little for effect, "but I'm worried about Mulder too. And you know he always needs me there to keep an eye on him." "Yes, but..." Frohike said, weakening under the onslaught. "And what kind of life would it be for our child," she asked fervently, "if both his or her parents were in jail? A home with bars on the windows and locks on all the doors. Please Frohike, I need your help." She bent her head as though to hide tears that were beginning to fall, and Frohike was lost. "Alright Scully, I'll give you the address, just please don't cry." he implored her. She kept her head bowed until he pushed the piece of paper into her hand, then looked up at them with completely dry eyes and just the hint of a smile. "Gotcha." she told them. "Damn she's amazing." Frohike said admiringly as they watched her hurry out into the street, the address he'd given her clutched tightly in her hand like a talisman. ------------------- Krycek had left a message for Mulder at the motel's reception, telling him what room he was staying in. The owner bestowed a rather speculative look on Mulder, but had given him the directions willingly enough. He knocked warily on Krycek's door, and a voice from inside bid Mulder enter. "I see you got my clue." Krycek told him. Mulder swiftly flipped the matchbook onto the worn couch. "Enough with the games. What do you want?" "Drink?" Krycek offered, gesturing towards the half empty bottle on the table top. "No thanks." Mulder managed to grind out. "Your loss." Krycek poured himself a glass of the amber liquid, raising it to Mulder in a silent toast. "Krycek, I'm not in the mood for this crap." Mulder growled. He sighed with resignation, putting down his drink. "Well at least you haven't arrested me yet. Oh wait, that's right, you're a fugitive too now." "You could have killed me in prison and you didn't." Mulder stated. "I want to know why." "Have a seat, Fox." "Mulder." he corrected firmly. "Fine, Mulder then." Krycek acquiesced. Mulder took a seat at the table. "What game are you playing, Krycek?" Krycek drained his glass and banged it back down on the table before he spoke. "This one's personal." "Every time's been personal for me. So how does it feel to have the tables turned on you?" Mulder asked derisively. "You want to hear this or not?" Krycek's tone was unmistakably belligerent. Mulder shrugged. "Suit yourself. Talk if you want, but I'm not particularly inclined to believe anything you say." Krycek appeared slightly irked by Mulder's indifference, but continued anyway. "Like I was saying, it's personal this time. You met Angela Clark, well she's my cousin." "Seriously?" Mulder demanded, intrigued. "Despite what you may think, Mulder, I am human and I do have a family of sorts." He sighed. "In this case I expect our Smoking friend assumed I'd be so caught up with thoughts of revenge against you and Scully for the murder of my cousin's fiance that I wouldn't stop to consider the fact that it was out of character." "Oh gee, such flattery." Mulder commented sardonically. "But are these just suspicions or do you have actual proof. 'Cause assumptions and conjectures are no good to me at all." "I can get proof." Krycek promised. "I can get the guy that did it. But I need your help. Whaddya say? Partners again?" "Only one person holds that title, and it's not you." Mulder declared firmly. "In that case, guess it'll have to be accomplices." Krycek pronounced. "So do we have a deal?" Before Krycek could even consider suggesting that they shook on it, Scully burst through the door, eyes wide and frightened. Taking in Mulder and Krycek in one rapid sweep of the room, she cried, "We have to get out of here! Someone called the cops!" "Mulder," Krycek growled, "this had better not be your idea of a joke." "Are you kidding?" Mulder demanded furiously. "We get caught now and we'll be in at least as much trouble as you, and probably a damned sight more." For a long second Krycek stared at them, breathing heavily and trying to decide if it was in his best interests to rely on anyone but himself. "Alright," he said, decision made, "we can get out the window in the bedroom. Come on. But if I find out that you've double-crossed me...." Hurrying into the bedroom, Krycek jumped out the window just as they heard the cops kicking the door in. Mulder and Scully looked into each other's eyes, terrified by the split second decision that had to be made. "Go." Scully urged and he didn't stop to argue, knowing that this was their only chance to find proof of their innocence. "I love you." he told her, his voice laced with the anguish of another separation as he leapt out of the window only an instant before the cops set foot in the room, weapons out and aimed at Scully's head. "Quick, round the back." one of them yelled, seeing the open window and deducing the escape route. Two of them hurried back through the motel room to race in hot pursuit of Mulder and Krycek. "Hey, Detective Nelson, I recognize her." said the cop who'd whacked the cuffs on Scully. "She was on the front of the paper. Escaped from jail, she did." "No kidding." Nelson remarked, examining Scully closely. "I see a promotion in my future for this one." Scully glared at him hostilely, unflinching under his scrutiny as the litany 'Please let Mulder get away...Please let Mulder get away' repeated itself over and over in her head. --------------------- End of Part 4. "Bars on the Windows" Part 5 by Gemma Kingsley (gkingsley@hotmail.com) For Disclaimer etc. please see part 1. ------------------------- Later that day "What's the matter, Mulder?" Krycek flopped tiredly down on the couch. "We got away, didn't we?" "Scully didn't." Mulder replied uncompromisingly. "And where's the damned phone?" "Over there." he gestured towards the other side of the room. "Who are you calling?" Mulder rolled his eyes. "Relax, I'm a fugitive too, remember?" "I'm not likely to forget it." Krycek responded. "Can't say I ever thought we'd end up working together again." Mulder didn't answer as his call had gone through. "Frohike. Turn off the tape." he insisted. "Mulder, thank God. We saw on the news that Scully'd been arrested again, but they didn't say whether they'd got you or not. What the Hell happened?" Frohike demanded on the other end of the phone. "Ah, the jerkhead motel owner called the cops." Mulder related. "Scully got there just in time to warn us, but she couldn't get away." Mulder's eyes closed in pain as he relived the heart-wrenching decision to leave her behind again. "Mulder, you still there?" Frohike asked anxiously after the prolonged silence on the other end of the line. "Yeah, still here. And not particularly impressed by the fact that you told Scully where'd I'd gone." "Give me a break. You know how she gets when she really wants something. I didn't stand a chance." Frohike insisted. "Yeah, I understand. Sorry, didn't mean to take out my frustration on you." Mulder paused for a moment, thinking. "Don't suppose there's any chance of a repeat of that prison break?" he finally asked. "Afraid not, Mulder." Frohike confessed reluctantly. "They've thought of that already and stuck her in the high security wing. Twenty-four hour personal guard and the place is built like Fort Knox to begin with." "Damn." Mulder exclaimed as his last hope for being reunited with Scully in the near future was extinguished. "We're doing what we can. Going through the papers, looking for that info you asked about. But it's not looking that good. What about you? Did your lead pan out?" Frohike sounded hopeful and Mulder wished he had more to tell him. "I've got something." Mulder revealed to his friend. "But it's tenuous at best." Krycek raised his eyebrows upon hearing this description, but remained silent nevertheless. "Well we'll be crossing our fingers for you." Frohike promised. "There's one other option." Mulder continued after a few moments. "Yeah, what?" "I was thinking, that maybe I should give myself up." He explained to Frohike. "I'm pretty sure I could convince them that I was responsible for the murder and that Scully had nothing to do with it." Frohike swallowed deeply, not sure how to respond to This suggestion. "Yes, you could do that." he answered cautiously. "If you think you could stand to spend the rest of your life in jail." "If that's what it takes." "Away from Scully, away from your child." Frohike continued. "If that's what I had to do to keep them safe then I'd manage." He barked a self-derisive laugh. "It would be the hardest thing I've ever done, but if it's the only way then what choice do I have?" "It's not what Scully wants." Frohike pointed out as a last resort. "She said something to me this morning, about what kind of a life it would be for your kid if home was a place with bars on the windows and locks on the doors." Mulder bit his lip hard - he could almost hear Scully saying those words. "Mulder, I think what you have to do is take the risk and follow this lead." Frohike asserted. He waited in silence for several minutes, the only sound Mulder's even breaths on the other end of the phone. "Okay, I will." Mulder finally answered. "If Scully was here, I think she'd tell me that too." "You're making the right decision, Mulder." "I hope so." The silence stretched away again for another few moments before Mulder continued. "Listen," he said into the phone, "I don't know when I'll be able to contact you again. But tell Scully that I swear I'll come through for her. One way or another." "Of course." Frohike agreed. "Shall I tell her that you love her too?" Mulder smiled. "She already knows." ---------------------- 2 months later From his seat in the body of the courtroom, Frohike frowned as Scully was brought into the court, her hands handcuffed behind her back. She looked pale and tired, the dark circles under her eyes an indication of the many sleepless nights she'd spent worrying about Mulder and about what was going to happen to their child if she was found guilty of murder today. She raised her head, scanning the room before her, but Frohike knew he was not the one she wanted to see there. He'd spoken with her that morning, the ban against having visitors repealed on the day of her trial. "Have you heard anything from Mulder?" she'd asked straight away, almost pitifully eager. Frohike swore he'd heard her heart breaking when he'd had to tell her that Mulder hadn't called since the day she'd been recaptured. "He's not dead." she'd told him insistently, although he wasn't sure if she'd been trying to convince him or herself. "He wouldn't leave me. He promised." Frohike was brought abruptly back to the present as the Judge came in and everyone rose to their feet. Scully scarcely seemed to notice. Her eyes continued to scrutinize the courtroom, faltering slightly when they focused on Frohike. She afforded him a small smile, then her survey of the spectators continued. Come on Mulder, Frohike thought, you swore you'd be here and I know you're not the type to break your word. Specially not when it's a promise to the woman you love. As the plaintiff began to make his opening statement, Frohike forced his attention back to the trial being played out in front of him, hoping against hope that Mulder was coming, and that he'd get there before it was too late. -------------------- "Can't you drive faster?" Mulder implored. "No I cannot." Krycek answered firmly. "We're already breaking the speed limit, and getting pulled over right now would ruin everything we've accomplished in the last two months." "Grrumph." came from the back seat. "What'd he say?" Krycek queried. Mulder glanced into the back at their prisoner. "I couldn't quite make it out, but I think it was something uncomplimentary about your mother." Krycek grinned. "Never would have guessed you had a sense of humor, Mulder." "Never would have guessed you had any morals." Mulder countered. "What, just because I didn't blow that murdering bastard's head off where he stood?" Krycek inquired, gesturing at the trussed and bound man in the back of the car. "Hey, I figured I owed you." Mulder grunted in disbelief. "What?" Krycek looked over at him. "You don't believe me? And here I was thinking we'd got our working relationship back on track." "Come on, don't go getting sentimental on me." Mulder said sarcastically. "We both know damned well that we're only helping each other out 'cause it's convenient, and that we'll be on opposite sides again as soon as this is over." "Sentimental, huh?" Krycek questioned, his attention still focused on the road. "I'm not the one who's about to settle down with the little woman and raise 2.3 kids in a house in the suburbs." "How'd you know about...?" Mulder demanded suspiciously. "What, you don't read the papers? Hottest story in ages." Krycek explained. "Female Fed arrested for murder, pregnant and not telling who Daddy is, deserted by her partner." "I didn't desert her." Mulder told him angrily. "Hey, I don't write the newspaper articles, just read 'em." he protested. "Yeah, whatever." Mulder said. "Just hurry up and drive." "Will you relax. We're nearly there, okay?" Five minutes later they were pulling up outside the Courthouse and Mulder was out of the car before it had even stopped moving. "Slow down, Mulder." Krycek cautioned. "I still have to get the stuff out of the trunk, and you'll have to untie some of the ropes that are round Prince Charming in the back if you want him to be able to walk up the stairs." Pulling off the aforesaid ropes with more haste than care, Mulder dragged their prisoner out of the car, ignoring his struggles and exhorting Krycek to hurry. Hauling the man up the stairs, closely followed by Krycek, Mulder pushed open the great double doors of the building and made his way inside. A gaggle of leftover reporters who hadn't been able to find room in the Court itself immediately rushed over to Mulder and his companions. "Hey I know who that is!" one of them yelled. "That's Fox Mulder. He's the other one who escaped from prison!" "Fox, what are you doing here?" "Are you here to turn yourself in?" "Are you the father of Dana Scully's child?" they all yelled out. "Quiet!" Mulder shouted authoritatively, waiting until they'd all shut up before he continued. "I'm here to deliver justice. This man," he said, gesturing to the prisoner he had hold of, "is the real perpetrator of the crime we've been accused of. Scully and I are innocent." Camera flashes went off and a babble of questions followed this speech, but Mulder ignored them, barging through the crowd until he reached the door of the main Courtroom, then throwing it open without ceremony. People at the back of the court began to turn around to see what the disturbance was and a buzzing whisper rose up as they peered at the two dark-haired men who held another bound and gagged between them. Careless of the sensation he was creating, Mulder strode down the aisle straight to the front, his eyes seeking out Scully and feeling his heart leap when their gazes met and he saw her whole face light up with joy. "What is the meaning of this?" the judge asked sternly, getting to his feet and peering over the bar at Mulder. "That's Fox Mulder!" one of the guards called out. "Arrest that man!" "Your Honour, please let me speak." Mulder beseeched fervently. "I have information that's of vital importance to this case." The judge pondered it for a moment, then agreed. "Alright, let's hear what he has to say. Can't hurt." Shooting Scully a brief look of reassurance, Mulder began to explain. "This," he gestured to his prisoner, "is Thomas Lee, and he's the one who killed Agent Jack Winton. Neither Scully nor I had anything to do with it." The prosecuting attorney leapt to his feet. "Your Honour, this is highly improper. Agent Mulder is accused of the crime too so this testimony is inadmissible." "Sit down, Mr. Fowler." the judge instructed him firmly. "I will decide what is and what isn't permitted in my courtroom." "Well, take the gag off him." the judge continued. "What do you say to these charges Mr. Lee?" "I didn't do nothin'." Lee snarled hostilely. "Is that right?" Krycek demanded, approaching the bench. "Who are you?" the judge asked, and Scully seemed equally shocked by Krycek's sudden appearance. "Someone who has proof of Lee's guilt, that's who." Krycek pronounced. "Surveillance photos of Lee committing the actual murder." He dumped them down on the desk. "Contract signed by Lee detailing the job and his payoff." It was placed on the table next to the photos. "Lee's bank account details. And, the original crime scene report before Mulder and Scully's fingerprints were substituted for the ones that were really found there. I suspect you'll find they're a match for Thomas Lee." "These are very serious accusations, do you have anything to say in your defense Mr. Lee?" the judge questioned him. "Look, I needed the money, 'kay." Lee declared abruptly. "An' I didn't know he was a cop 'til after." "You admit to the crime then, Mr. Lee?" "Yeah," he groaned, "might as well. He's gone and proved it now, ain't he?" The judge nodded to one of the police officers who came forward to arrest Lee and started to read him his Miranda rights. "Your Honour, I strenuously object to this." The prosecuting attorney tried again. "Shut up, Mr. Fowler." Judge Ellis insisted. "We've been here for hours already and the only thing you've proven conclusively is that you enjoy listening to the sound of your own voice." Fowler sat down chastened as the judge continued his spiel. "I suggest, Mr. Fowler that you forget about this case and start considering that of Mr. Lee. It shouldn't be too difficult even for you," the judge told him sarcastically, "in light of the fact that he just confessed and all the evidence has been handed too you on a plate." "Yes, Your Honour." Fowler responded meekly. "And as for you two," the judge said sternly, regarding Mulder and Scully in turn. He broke into a wide smile. "Case dismissed." The crowd cheered and Mulder let out a whoop of joy as he bounded over to Scully, snatching keys off the nearest officer and unlocking her handcuffs. "We did it!" he yelled, pulling Scully into his arms and embracing her fiercely. "You're safe, you're alright." she murmured thankfully into the warm skin at his neck. "I was so worried, Mulder." "I know, I know," he said, drawing back slightly so he could kiss her forcefully again and again. "And I had such nightmares about you alone in a cold prison cell." he told her, breaking off for a second to catch his breath. "Don't think about it," Scully insisted, kissing him back unrelentingly. "We're together again now." "But it was so close." Mulder mumbled into her mouth. "Yeah, and I could hardly believe it when Krycek started helping us." "Mmmm." he agreed, "speaking of which." Drawing back but not releasing his hold on Scully, Mulder looked quickly around the courtroom for Krycek. "Damn, he's gone." "Well you weren't going to arrest him after that, were you?" Scully queried. "No, actually I wanted to thank him." Mulder explained, "but it doesn't matter, I think he knows." He was about to kiss her again, when Skinner came up behind them and tapped him on the shoulder. "Sir?" Mulder was very surprised to see him there, and even more so when Skinner handed over their badges and weapons. "Good work, Agent Mulder, Agent Scully." Skinner told them. "I expect to see both of you in my office first thing Monday morning." "Uh, actually Sir," Mulder interrupted, "I was hoping we could have a couple of weeks vacation." "Two weeks vacation? Where are we going?" Scully asked her partner. "I was just getting to that." Mulder answered. Clearing his throat nervously, he dropped to his knees in front of her. "Dana Scully, will you marry me?" Her jaw dropped and she froze. Whatever she'd been expecting, this wasn't it. Most of the court had fallen silent too, watching this little melodrama as it played out before them. "Aren't you going to say something, Scully?" Mulder asked apprehensively. "Make an honest man out of me and all that?" "Well when you put it like that. Yes." Scully said unwaveringly. "Yes?" Mulder queried. Scully nodded, confirming it. "Alright!" Mulder yelled, and the whole court rose to its feet and cheered as they kissed again. Even the judge was clapping his hands and smiling. When some of the excitement had died down and Mulder and Scully had drawn apart slightly, Skinner revised his earlier statement. "In that case, Agents Mulder and, er, Mulder, I'll see you in my office in two weeks." So much for keeping this under wraps, he thought. "Yes, Sir." Scully confirmed. "And while we're on the subject of the Bureau, I've been meaning to tell you that I'll have to fill out some forms for maternity leave sometimes soon." Skinner blinked in shock, opened and closed his mouth without any sound coming out, then stared again at his two best Agents who were sharing rather foolish looking grins with each other. "How ya feeling, Momma?" Mulder was asking Scully, his hand resting possessively over her belly as he rubbed it gently. "Wonderful now that you're with me again." she admitted, gazing at him, her eyes full of love. "What about you? Are you ready to be a Daddy in a few more months?" "Can't wait." Mulder told her ecstatically. Before Skinner could respond to this latest development, Frohike came racing up to them, closely followed by Langly and Byers. "Byers and Langly just got here, and they figured out how the embezzlement evidence was forged!" Frohike exclaimed. "Yeah, so we can prove Scully's innocent and then we can all go and look for Mulder!" Langly declared, stopping short suddenly when he saw Mulder and Scully in each other's arms, smiling happily. "Dammit!" Langly complained, "How come Mulder always gets to be the hero and we're just the amusing sidekicks?" "Search me." Frohike responded. "I don't know." Byers said. "Never mind guys," Mulder tried to cheer them up, "Actually, there is something you can do for us." "Yeah, what?" Langly asked eagerly. "Tickets on a plane to Vegas tonight." "Why do you want tickets to...." Byers started to ask, but was cut off by Frohike's groan. "Because they're getting married." he moaned. "Come on, Frohike," Mulder said, amused by his friend's antics, "she's carrying my child. You didn't really think you still had a chance, did you?" Grinning at his bride-to-be, he clasped her hand firmly in his and led her out of the court. ------------- The three Gunmen sat down despondently in the front row of chairs. "This ending sux." Langly declared. "We didn't get to save the day." "None of us got the girl." Frohike continued. "And we don't get to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after." Byers concluded. They sat there looking dolefully at the ground until they saw a shadow on the floor in front of them. Langly looked up and his eyes widened in terror as he recognized the warden who'd ogled him when they'd been breaking Scully out of prison. "Hey man, don't I know you from somewhere?" the warden asked. "Aaaahhhhhhhhhh!" Langly's scream echoed throughout the building as he ran out of the court as fast as his feet could carry him. "Was it something I said?" the warden queried. "No, never mind." Frohike said, laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face. The warden shook his head in confusion and walked away. "You know Byers," Frohike said, almost choking on his laughter as he turned to his equally overcome friend, "I've changed my mind. I think I like the way this ended after all." The End. Comments, criticism, or just letting me know that you read it are very, very welcome. Gemma at gkingsley@hotmail.com