Title: Kidnapped!  (1/1)
Author: L. M. Shard
E-Mail Address: lsshard@home.com
Rating: PG 
Category: S, R, A
Spoilers: none
Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance
Feedback: Yes, please!
Disclaimer:  All characters are the property of Chris Carter and Fox.  
No money is being made from this story, it is purely for 
entertainment purposes.
Summary: Mulder and Scully are locked up in a medieval-like 
chamber and tortured by their captor, a man they both know well.



KIDNAPPED!
By: L. M. Shard


Special Agents Mulder and Scully were following a lead in their 
latest case as they drove up to the old, abandoned warehouse.  They 
went in together, guns drawn and looked around.  Nothing.  Mulder 
opened a door marked "Personnel" and entered with Scully right 
behind him.  They heard a faint hissing noise then everything went 
black.

Hours later Mulder awoke to a splitting headache.  Dazed he looked 
around at his surroundings from his supine position on the ground.  
The ceiling and walls were made out of crude pieces of stone and 
covered with scattered colonies of moss.  There were no windows, 
but one naked light bulb illuminated the chamber.  The air was cold 
and damp and smelled of mildew and time.  Pounded into the middle 
of the far wall were medieval-like shackles and chains.  What was 
this place?  Mulder had no recollection of where he was or how he 
got here.  Suddenly panic gripped him.  Scully!  Where was Scully?  
He did remember being with her before everything became black.  
He sat up, the action causing his head to throb in pain.  He scanned 
the room and saw a motionless figure lying a few yards away.   He 
crawled over to it.

"Scully," he said, turning her face toward him.  It felt cold to the 
touch.  She did not respond and again he said, "Scully!"  He shook 
her gently.  "Wake up!"  A growing fear mounted in him and he 
checked her pulse.  After endless seconds he found one, although 
very weak.  He put his cheek close to her nose and mouth and could 
feel her slight, shallow breath.  At least she was breathing!  Suddenly 
she stirred and her eyes fluttered open.  

"So cold," she said faintly and closed her eyes again.

Mulder gathered her into his arms and pressed her close to his chest.  
He rubbed her arms and legs, forcing some warmth and circulation 
into them.  "Wake up Scully and tell me how you feel," he said, 
worry lacing his words.

Her eyes opened again and stared into Mulder's.  They looked foggy 
and disoriented, and although the bare light bulb shone into them, her 
pupils were dilated.  "I feel dizzy and my head aches," she said 
softly.   "What happened, Mulder?  Where are we?"

"I'm not quite sure.  We seem to be in some sort of dungeon.  I don't 
know how we got here, but I think we were drugged."

"Drugged?  Who would do that and why?"  She asked, trying to keep 
the fear out of her voice.

"I don't know.  Let me check this place out and see if I can find an 
exit."  He gently untwined his limbs from hers and stood up.

"I'll look too," she said getting up until a sharp pain in her head 
caused her to fall to the ground again.

Mulder was at her side immediately.  "Scully, you have to take it 
easy.  The drugs are still in your system."

Reluctantly, she remained seated and cradled her aching head in her 
hands.  Mulder looked the whole chamber over and the only exit was 
a door in the far corner.  He pushed and pulled on it, but it didn't 
budge.  Then he started yelling and pounding his fist against it, 
demanding to see their captor.  In response he got nothing but utter 
silence.  He was getting very worried.  Who brought them here and 
why?  He was also concerned about Scully.  When he first saw her, 
he thought she was near death: her breathing was so shallow and her 
skin so pale.  She still seemed weak and the cold, damp chamber 
didn't help.  How long would it be before they got out of here?  They 
were going to need food, especially Scully.  He searched his pockets 
and found a half-empty bag of sunflower seeds and a roll of 
Lifesavers.  Trying to hide the worry from his face, he walked back 
to her and seated himself besides her.

"We can't get out, can we?"  She said, already knowing the answer.

"No.  Not until someone opens that door.  But then we'll be ready."  
He checked his gun holster: it was empty.  "Do you have your gun?"  
He asked, not much hope in his question.

She fumbled under her suit jacket, "No.  It's gone."

"I want you to eat these," he said, handing her the bag of sunflower 
seeds.  "They'll help you get some of your strength back."

She took them and hungrily started eating.  "I guess we're lucky you 
always have these with you," she said with a little smile.

"Yeah, and I also brought these," he said, handing her the roll of 
Lifesavers.

"Ooh!  A gourmet dinner!  You thought of everything, Mulder!"

He smiled.  He was happy to see that she could make a joke out of 
their bad situation.  He prayed it wouldn't get much worse, but he 
feared this was only the beginning.

Scully was worried too.  She knew Mulder was trying to hide his 
apprehension from her, but she felt it herself.  A feeling of impending 
evil permeated her mind and she tried unsuccessfully to block it out.

"Here, you eat some too, Mulder," she offered.

"I'm not hungry," he lied.  He knew she needed what little 
nourishment they provided more than he did.

Suddenly the light went out and the chamber turned pitch black.  
Mulder put his arms protectively around Scully and they sat in 
silence, listening, waiting for whatever may come.  After about an 
hour of nothing, they moved to a nearby wall and leaned against it.  
The cold was starting to seep into Mulder's bones and he knew Scully 
must be cold as well.  He reached out blindly for her hand and 
noticed it was beyond cold, it was icy.

"Come sit on my lap, Scully," he offered, hoping she would without a 
fight.  He had to warm her up as well as himself if they were going to 
survive this cold.

Although what she wanted most at this moment was to feel some 
heat, heat from Mulder being especially tempting, she heard herself 
say, "Mulder, you know that's against protocol.  We're still FBI 
agents."

"We're going to be frozen FBI agents, if you don't get over here," he 
said a bit more firmly than he intended.  Then added more softly, 
"Please, Scully, do it for me.  I'm freezing too."

She crawled into his lap without another word and he wrapped his 
arms around her.  Her tiny form was cradled perfectly in his strong 
arms, Mulder not letting any part of her touch the stone-cold floor.  
Slowly the cold faded from their bodies and was replaced by warmth.  
Scully's head lay against his chest and she could hear his steady 
heartbeat and feel his light breath on her hair.  She felt safe in his 
embrace, even in the face of evil.  How was it that just being with 
this man was so comforting to her?  She trusted him, she could 
always count on him, but more than that, she loved him.  Yes, she 
loved him, a fact she hadn't admitted to herself for years.  She had 
tried to label her profound feelings towards him as something else, 
like friendship or even just lust, but she knew in her heart it was
love, 
pure and simple.  Admitting this to herself was one thing, admitting it 
to Mulder, now that was entirely another.  What it all boiled down to 
was that she was too scared to tell him her feelings, and for many 
reasons.  The most important one being that she didn't know if he felt 
the same way, and if he didn't, she sure didn't want to lose his 
friendship over it.  But it was times like this, when they were in 
danger that she really wanted to tell him, lest she never get the 
chance to again.  She buried her face closer into his chest and he 
tightened his arms around her.

"Go to sleep, Scully.  I'll stay up and watch over us," Mulder 
whispered, breaking her reverie.

"You must be so tired too.  We'll take shifts.  Wake me in two 
hours," she instructed.

"Alright," he said, although he knew he wouldn't wake her.  She 
needed the rest.  He wanted her to be physically strong for whatever 
lay ahead for them.

Within minutes her breathing became steady and soft, her body 
relaxing into slumber.  Although he never would have wished for a 
situation like this, he cherished the feel of her in his arms.  It was a

rare occasion that he got to hold her, let alone like this.  It felt so 
good, so comforting, so right, even though his mind was wracked by 
fear of what was to come.  He let himself imagine that they were 
sitting like this on a white sand beach, not this damp, dark dungeon, 
with waves crashing on the shore and seagulls flying overhead.  He 
imagined looking into her eyes and telling her that he loved her and 
she telling him the same in return.  He imagined, as he had a 
thousand times before, kissing her, feeling her soft lips and tasting 
her sweet tongue.  His daydreams were causing his body to respond 
and he chastised himself for letting himself think of her in this way at

a time like this.  He was relieved that she was sleeping, lest she 
would have surely felt his firm manhood. 

He held her like that for what seemed like hours.  Exactly how much 
time had elapsed was beyond him, since the lack of light was so 
complete.  Suddenly she murmured in her sleep, "Mulder?don't 
leave me?."

"Shh, I'm here, Scully.  I'll never leave you."  He stroked her silky 
hair and pressed her closer to his heart.

Still half asleep, she responded to his words by lifting her face and 
whispering, "You're here."

"Yes, I'm here," he whispered back soothingly.

Since she couldn't see a thing, she had to reassure herself that she 
was indeed in Mulder's arms.  She brushed her fingers gently around 
his face, touching his cheeks, chin, nose, and hesitating on his lips.  
Surprisingly, she was not in the least inhibited in doing this, in fact 
she was slowly moving her own lips closer to his when a scraping 
noise coming from the direction of the door filled the chamber.

Instantly they were both on their feet, yet still in utter darkness.  
They didn't move a muscle and strained to hear even the slightest 
sound.  There was nothing more to be heard.  Without warning the 
light turned on.  After his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, 
Mulder walked over to the door and looked at the cause of the noise.  
Someone had slid a tray of food through the tiny door on the bottom 
of the main door.  Scully joined him and they both stared at the loaf 
of bread, two apples, and water before them.

"Looks like our captor is feeding us afterall," Mulder said. 

"Thank God!"  Scully said, picking up an apple.  

She was about to bite into it when Mulder grabbed her wrist, 
stopping the fruit from reaching her lips.  "Wait, it might be 
drugged."

"So we can't eat this," Scully stated, disappointed.  She knew Mulder 
was right in being so cautious, but she was ravenous.

 "We're going to have to eat, so I have an idea," Mulder said.  I'll eat

a little bit of each item and wait and see if there is some kind of 
effect on me.  If it's alright then you can eat the rest."

"Why are you being the sacrificial lamb?  I can just as well do the 
same," Scully said in a firm tone.

"Because you are smaller than I and if there are drugs in here, the 
effect on you would be greater than on me."

As much as she didn't want to admit that he was right, she said, 
"Alright.  You test the food."  She hesitated for a moment then 
added, "Thanks."

He smiled at her then tested each piece of nourishment, waited for 
what seemed to be a reasonable amount of time, and since he felt no 
different than before ingesting the food, invited her to eat the rest 
with him.  She dug in right away, already salivating in anticipation.  
Although the bread was quite dry and the apples mealy, they enjoyed 
the fare as if a five-star restaurant had prepared it.

After the spartan meal was consumed, Scully said, "Now it's your 
turn for some sleep, Mulder."  She sat with her back against a wall 
and patted her lap.

"You want me to sit in your lap, Scully?"  He asked with a big grin.

"Yeah, and crush my every bone.  How about just laying your head 
here."

"Gladly," he said without hesitation, and did just that.  Her lap was 
warm and soft and he felt aroused by this uncustomary position.  She 
began stroking his hair and even though they were in what could be 
called literal hell, his body was in heaven.  All it took was her 
slightest touch to turn him into a hormone-riddled teenager.  Lately 
his attraction toward her was becoming increasingly harder to control 
and he was scared that by just looking into his eyes she would see his 
great desire.  He desperately wanted to tell her how he felt, but he 
never thought himself worthy of her love.  She could do and 
deserved much better than him.  Yet again, here she was in a 
dangerous situation because of him.  He and his all-consuming X-
files.  And there wasn't a damn thing he could do right now to save 
them.  After mentally beating himself up some more, he drifted off 
into a dreamless sleep.

Time passed and Mulder slept, at one point turning around and 
burying his face into Scully's stomach.  Had he been awake, Scully 
would have had to chastise him for this unprofessional behavior, but 
since he wasn't she could secretly enjoy it.

All of a sudden the door flew open, startling Scully and waking 
Mulder up from his slumber.  They stared at the man who stood in 
the doorway.

"Krycek."  Mulder spat out his name as if it were poison.

"I see you two are getting quite cozy with each other.  What would 
Skinner think about that?"  Krycek said with a self-satisfying smirk. 

In a flash Mulder leapt to his feet and barreled towards Krycek, his 
eyes filled with anger.  "Not so fast, Mulder," Krycek said, pulling 
out a gun and pointing it straight at him.

Mulder stopped abruptly and said," How dare you drug us, bring us 
here, and lock us up.  Do you know that you could have killed Scully 
with those drugs?!  You overdosed her, you bastard!" 

"Overdosing her was not my intention.  I need you both alive, at least 
for now," he replied.

Scully was now standing by Mulder's side.  "What do you want from 
us?"  She asked, afraid to hear the answer.

He looked her over with a desirous glint in his eyes before he 
answered.  "All you need to know is that you'll be here until someone 
who gives a shit about you gives me what I want.  I'm hoping it will 
be today."

"What exactly do you want?" Mulder asked.

"That's nothing you need to know," he said to Mulder, then turned his 
attention back to Scully.  "I must say, Scully, even in these less than 
first class conditions, you are looking quite fine."

She said nothing at his words, but stared at him with deep loathing in 
her eyes.  Mulder, too, kept his anger and animosity in check, as not 
to provoke him.  He knew they were treading into extremely 
dangerous territory. 

"Mulder, see those shackles over there," Krycek pointed to them, 
"walk over to them and put your legs and arms in them."  At 
Mulder's hesitancy, he ordered sternly, "Do it now!"

At gun point Mulder and Scully were lead to the wall with the 
shackles.  Seeing no other choice, Mulder put his limbs into the cuffs 
and on order Scully clasp all four of them.  Krycek checked to see if 
they were on tight, keeping his gun pointed at Scully at all times.  
Mulder's fear for Scully's safety was mounting quickly.

"Come here," Krycek ordered Scully.  She took one step closer to 
him and stopped, seeing the crazed desire in his eyes.  "Come here," 
he repeated more firmly, pointing to the ground next to his feet.

She reluctantly obliged.  As soon as she was in reach, Krycek 
grabbed her and pressed her to him with an iron grip.  He started 
nuzzling and kissing her neck.  She struggled against him, her skin 
crawling with disgust.

"Let go of her, you bastard!" Mulder cried, helplessly.  He struggled 
futilely with the chains that bound him.  Blood was running down his 
arms in his efforts to free himself.  But he felt no pain, just hatred 
and rage toward Krycek and desperation for the situation.  Scully was 
being violated right in front of him and there was nothing he could 
do.  This was hell at its hottest.  "Let her go!"

"Stop, Krycek," Scully pleaded.  "Please stop!"

He grinned and held her even closer, forcing his mouth upon hers.  
She resisted, but she was no match for his strength and the gun.  He 
kissed her brutally and pried her mouth open with his, filling it with 
his tongue.  With the hand that was not holding the gun to her side, 
he roamed her body harshly and freely, feeling every curve.  She 
recoiled at his touch and her mind screamed out in agony.

"No!  No!  Stop!" she cried between rough kisses.  But he ignored 
her pleas and tore open the front of her blouse, exposing the tops of 
her breast cupped in a white satin bra.

"Stop it, Krycek!  Let her go!"  Mulder cried in desperation.  He had 
never been so scared in his life.

Ignoring Mulder, Krycek put her at arms length to get a better view 
of this sight.  He could see Mulder struggling fruitlessly with his 
chains.  "She's beautiful and tastes great, Mulder.  Or do you know 
that first hand?"  Mulder glared at him in rage.  Krycek smiled and 
suddenly got a delicious idea.  

"Do you like this, Scully?" He asked, kissing her again.

"No! You repulse me!"  She spat out the words, thick with hate.

"Well, I'm feeling generous right now, so I'll give you a choice.  It's 
either Mulder or me.  One of us is going to have you right now.  It's 
your choice."

She stared at him in horror.  "Choose woman!"  He demanded, "or I'll 
choose for you!"

Her mind raced.  She loved Mulder and would welcome his kisses 
and touch, but not like this!  Not like this!  But if she "chose" Krycek

she would face the ultimate horror.  "Mulder?" she said barely 
above a whisper.

"Louder, I can't hear you," he demanded.

"Mulder," she repeated, tears welling in her eyes.

"Mulder.  Fine.  I must say I am disappointed in your decision, but 
I'll let you have your wish."  He kissed her one last time and shoved a 
key in her hands.  "Open his shackles."

She did as she was told, all the while Krycek had his gun pointed at 
the two of them.  Finally Mulder was freed and Scully looked into his 
eyes.  They reflected her own: horror-stricken and wild with fear.  He 
embraced her and she clung to him, praying Krycek wouldn't make 
them go through this.

"Alright, lovebirds, show me your stuff and make it good, or else I 
will show you how it's done properly," Krycek ordered with glee in 
his voice.  "This was going to be fun!" he thought to himself, 
smiling.

Mulder and Scully stared into each other's eyes, both trembling in 
fear.  "I'm sorry," Mulder whispered, his voice laden with pain.

"It's not your fault," she said.

"Get on with it!" Krycek commanded, becoming increasingly 
impatient.

Slowly they kissed, tender and bittersweet.  What should have been a 
most special, private moment, was really just a show for a madman.  
Their first kiss was something to forget and bury out of reach, not 
treasure and remember lovingly as it should have been.  Tears 
streamed down both their faces as they continued their gentle kisses.

Krycek's impatience was mounting, "Come on lovebirds!  Show 
some passion, put some force into it."  He put his gun to Mulder's 
head, emphasizing his command.  They intensified and deepened 
their kissing, tasting each other's tongues.  They were kissing for 
their lives.  "Strip," he ordered.

They looked at him in horror, paralyzed in each other's embrace.  
"Strip, now!" Krycek repeated, cocking the gun.  Reluctantly, they 
slowly started removing their clothes.  "Faster!" he demanded.  They 
did so and soon both stood stark naked in front of him.  Krycek 
hungrily gazed at Scully's perfect body, knowing he would have her 
as well.  He just loved torturing them like this.  "Continue!"

They embraced again, feeling flesh on flesh for the very first time 
and resumed their kissing.  The mere contact of Scully's skin on his 
made Mulder's groin tighten.  He hated himself and his body for 
responding like this in such a horrible situation.  But his mind knew 
it was Scully in his arms and his body responded to his love and 
attraction for her on its own.  Scully too chastised herself for being 
turned on to Mulder's obvious arousal.  A gush of warmth pooled 
between her legs.  But they knew what step would be demanded of 
them next and they dreaded it with all their heart.  It shouldn't be
like 
this.  Never, ever like this.  Their tears continued to flow and mingled

with each other.

Suddenly a cell phone rang startling Mulder and Scully from their 
agony.  Krycek answered, "Yes."  Silence, then, "I'll be right there."  
He clicked off the phone, headed for the door, and said, "You're off 
the hook for now, but I'll be back and we will continue our fun."  He 
locked the heavy door on his way out.

Relieved but still in shock about what they were being forced to do, 
Scully and Mulder clung to each other tightly.  Then Scully's whole 
body began shaking with great sobs, tears spilling down her face like 
a waterfall.

"Oh, Scully, my sweet Scully.  I'm so sorry.  You know I would 
never intentionally hurt you," Mulder said lovingly, wiping the tears 
from her face.

"I know, I know.  I would never hurt you either.  You are the one 
man I trust completely.  I never wanted it to be like this," she said, 
her tears abating a bit.

"Me either," he replied, taking her face tenderly into his hands and 
looking directly into her tear-filled blue eyes.  "I love you."

"I love you too," she said.  Their lips met again, but this time of
their 
own free will and the result was explosive.  Their kiss was deep, 
intimate, and personal, everything a first kiss should be.  And that 
was what they both individually decided in their minds that this 
would be: their first kiss, not anything that preceded it.  The kiss was

utterly passionate and all the love that they had for each other flowed 
into it.

After a long while their lips, flushed with heat, parted.  Mulder 
looked into her eyes again and said, "We're going to get out of here.  
I have a plan, but it's risky."

"It's worth the risk," she said immediately.  "Staying here would be 
hell on earth.  I would rather die then have Krycek touch me again."  
He agreed and proceeded to tell her his plan.  Then they got dressed, 
Mulder giving Scully his shirt to wear since hers was so badly torn.

They walked over to and stood next to the door.  Mulder took her 
into his arms again and held her tightly, never wanting to let go.  He 
knew this was the time, maybe the only time they had left, to say 
what was in his heart.  "Scully?Dana," he began softly.  The sound 
of her first name coming from his lips touched her deeply and she 
looked up at him.  "I just want you to know, in case I don't ever get 
the chance to say this to you later, that these past five and a half
years 
of knowing, being, and working with you have been the best of my 
life.  You have given me strength, friendship, loyalty, and your 
complete trust, something no one else has ever really given me.  You 
are my sanity.  You are my purpose.  You are my life.  You are all I 
need, all I want.  And if we ever get out of this hellhole alive, I want

to spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you?if 
you let me."  The feelings that he had suppressed for so long were 
finally poured out and in the open.  It surprised him how easy it was 
to actually verbalize them, something he had been so afraid to do.

Scully stood speechless in front of him, trying to absorb what he had 
just said.  Was she hallucinating?  Or did she really just hear from 
Mulder the words she had wanted to hear for as long as she could 
remember?  The look of intense love in his eyes gave her the answer 
and she said, "Mulder, how long I have waited to hear you tell me 
your heart.  I have been yours from the moment I laid eyes on you.  I 
love you more than any words could ever say."  And if to show him 
just how much, she pulled his lips down onto hers in a fiery, soul-
bearing kiss.  She devoured his mouth, claiming him as hers, and 
opened herself, her being, to him completely.  All emotions that 
could not be formed into words were said with that kiss.  It took his 
breath away and he responded in kind, giving her everything he had, 
freeing himself in his utter vulnerability.  The love that passed 
between them was so profound it was almost tangible. 

The sound of footsteps interrupted their most sacred moment and 
they quickly took their places.   Mulder stood behind the door and 
Scully in front of it so Krycek would see her immediately upon 
entering.  She lifted her skirt so that it just covered her panties, 
exposing most of her creamy white thighs.  Krycek walked in and 
gazed at the unexpected but delightful sight before him.

"I've been waiting for you," she said in the most seductive voice she 
could muster.

Mulder took advantage of Krycek's momentary distraction and 
pounced on him from behind, slamming him hard into the ground.  
The impact forced the gun from his hand and Scully wasted no time 
in grabbing it.  "Freeze!"  She commanded, pointing the weapon at 
Krycek.  He obeyed instantly.  Mulder roughly pulled him to his feet 
by his collar and shoved him to the wall with the shackles.

"Put them on, you scum!"  Mulder ordered, loathing in his voice.  
Krycek hesitated and Mulder's anger flared.  He propelled him up 
against the wall and punched him in the face several times.  Blood 
ran down Krycek's chin as a result.  Mulder forced his limbs into the 
cuffs of the shackles and clasp them tightly shut.  He searched his 
captor's pockets for the keys and took them.

"You're not going to leave me here!" Krycek exclaimed in panic.

"You can rot here until you die for all I care, you stinking bastard," 
Mulder yelled with venom in his voice.  "Never, never will you lay a 
hand on Scully again!  I could kill you with my bare hands for doing 
so!"  He punched him some more and Krycek's body went limp with 
pain and exhaustion, but he didn't stop.

"Mulder!  Stop!  He's not worth it!"  Scully pleaded, fearing Mulder 
would actually kill him.  "We better go!"

Mulder gave him one last punch to the stomach, then turned to 
Scully, "Let's get out of here."

"There's just one thing I want to do," she said, walking over to 
Krycek.  She slapped him hard across his already bloodied face.  
"You disgust me," she said and punctuated her words by spitting on 
his face.  She then turned on her heel and grabbing Mulder's hand 
they both rushed out of the chamber that had held them prisoners.

Cautiously they walked the corridors of the cave-like building, 
searching for an exit.  Finally they found one, surprised that they 
hadn't encountered any of Krycek's co-horts.  The place seemed 
deserted.  They opened the door and sunlight flooded the building, 
causing them to shield their eyes from the bright light.  Stepping 
outside they discovered that they were on a tiny island in the middle 
of nothing but blue water.  In the distance they could see land, but 
nothing close enough to swim to.  They were about to scour the 
island for a boat, when they heard a helicopter overhead.  They ran to 
the side of the building, hiding themselves from view.  The 
helicopter landed and three men stepped out, one of them carrying a 
briefcase.  As they walked closer to the building, Scully and Mulder 
recognized one of them.

"Skinner," they whispered in unison.  

"Why is he here?"  Mulder asked.  "Can we trust him?"

"I don't know, but I think we'll have to trust him.  It might be the
only 
way we'll get off this island," Scully reasoned.  "Besides, those other 
two guys look FBI too.  I think I've seen them at the Bureau before."

Mulder agreed and they slowly walked towards the three men.  
Skinner recognized them immediately and ran to them.  "Are you 
guys okay?" he asked, concerned.  "Where's Krycek?"

"We're fine.  How did you know Krycek is here?"  Mulder asked.

"He contacted me demanding fifty million dollars for your safe 
return.  That's why we're here."  Skinner replied.

"Held us for ransom, that low-life!"  Mulder seethed.   "We just 
escaped.  We left him locked up in the dungeon he was keeping us 
prisoner in," he informed.  "Here are the keys."

With a nod of his head, Skinner instructed the two FBI agents to pick 
up Krycek.  "I'm going to take these two back," he said, referring to 
Scully and Mulder, "and send another chopper for you and the 
prisoner."  With that they headed to the waiting helicopter and 
climbed in.

"Thanks for rescuing us," Scully said to Skinner, relieved to be out of 
that hellhole and on the way home.

"I was quite worried about the two of you.  I'm glad you're both 
okay," Skinner said sincerely.

"We were worried too.  Krycek is a madman," Mulder said, thinking 
back to all the torture he had put them through.  He put his arm 
around Scully, pulling her close to him.  She laid her head on his 
chest, exhausted.  Mulder closed his eyes and thanked God for letting 
them escape this nightmare relatively unharmed.  He didn't know 
what he would have done, had Krycek forced himself on Scully.  The 
thought sickened him to the core and he pulled her even closer, 
taking her hand with his free one.  She entwined her fingers with his 
and finally felt totally at peace.


Skinner observed their behavior toward each other in silence.  He 
saw their serenity and ease with each other and could tell that this 
experience had changed something in them.  He figured that perhaps 
this episode had prompted them to share their true feelings and admit 
to the love that they had for each other.  Skinner had seen it for a 
long time and always wondered when or if they would ever give in to 
it.  He was happy that they had.


THE END



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Thanks!