~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Five
~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The light outside turned blue and dimmed.  He released a 
deep, rumbling cough as he hoisted himself from the bed and 
walked to the window.  Pushing aside the curtain, he peered 
out at the shadowed street.

The girl stopped playing with her dolls on the floor.  "Is 
it time?" she asked.

"Soon," he told her, turning to smile.  "He'll be here 
soon.  You remember what to do?"

"Yes.  I'm not a baby."

"No, of course not." He chuckled, coughing, and stretched 
out an arm to her.  "Come here with me."

She pressed her nose against the glass, breath fogging the 
window.  "Tell me again how I'll know him."

"He will come in the night, like a thief.  He will wear a 
long black coat and not come to the door as a proper person 
would do.  He'll come in through a window with a torch and 
a gun."

"To--to kill us?"

"Yes, child.  I'm afraid that's what Satan does.  But we 
won't let him win, now will we?"

He popped a candy in his mouth and stroked her soft blond 
hair as they watched out the window, and waited.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mulder's coat flared behind him as he strode into the CVS 
with Grenier in close pursuit.  Laine was at the same 
register she had been minding when they had questioned her 
the first time.  "You lied to us," Mulder said, cutting in 
front of an old man who was counting out his bill in 
nickels.  The man went right on counting.

"You saw Pittsfield."  Grenier elbowed his way in and 
leaned over the counter.  

Laine rolled her eyes at them and continued ringing up the 
six sticks of deodorant in front of her.  Mulder snatched 
her arm and held it tight.  "Let's go back and try this 
conversation again, shall we?"

"Ow, let go.  You're hurting me!"

"A jail sentence for obstruction is going to hurt a whole 
lot more."  He began dragging her from around the counter.

"Hey, what's going on here?" the manager demanded to know.

Grenier flashed his ID and Mulder continued hauling Laine 
to the back storeroom.  He released her as soon as the door 
banged shut behind them.  The girl stumbled and rubbed her 
forearm. 

"Okay," Mulder said.  "From the top: when did you see the 
VW bus?"

"He's not a kidnapper."

"That's not what we asked you," Grenier said.

Lanie scowled.  "He was in around noon, okay?  He bought a 
magazine and a candy bar for the girl."

"He was in the store?" Mulder exchanged a look with 
Grenier.  "And you didn't think to mention this?"

"Listen, you've got the wrong guy.  There's no way he 
kidnapped that little girl.  She was happy to be with him -
- giggling and holding his hand."

Grenier whipped out his notebook. "Start at the beginning 
and don't leave anything out.  Exactly what time did he 
come in?"

"I don't know *exactly*.  He came in before I went on lunch 
break."

"You saw the van," Mulder said.

"Yeah.  You don't get too many of them like that around 
here.  It was in pretty good shape too."

"I don't suppose you saw the license plate."

"I suppose I did.  It was one of those vanity type ones 
that said 'ANGEL.'  I could see he had a little angel doll 
hanging down from the mirror, too.  He was a nice man.  
Polite.  He smiled and let me keep the change.  I'm telling 
you, you've got the wrong guy."

"Don't you love it when punk kids try to tell us our jobs?" 
Grenier asked Mulder.  He advanced on Laine, causing her to 
back up until she was pressed against the wall.  "This man 
took a six year old girl named Lily from her own backyard 
and drove her hundreds of miles away from her family.  Then 
he dragged her screaming and terrified through the woods 
only to throw her off a cliff into the ocean."

Laine turned pale.

"You still think he's sweet?" Grenier demanded.  "You still 
think a few extra pennies justifies lying to the FBI?"

"I-- I didn't know."

"Now you do," Mulder said quietly.  He stepped forward. 
"You need to tell us everything you know."

"Well, that's the thing... The little girl he was with?  He 
called her Lily."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Scully swallowed her Tylenol while still in the gas station 
convenience store.  The flickering neon light over the 
counter did little to quell her nausea.

"Is this it for you, Ma'am?" asked the clerk as he rung up 
the sunflower seeds.

Scully replaced the cap on her bottle of water and squinted 
out at the parking lot, where Mulder sat in their 
omnipresent Taurus.  It was hour two of the stakeout and 
who knew when they might get to eat dinner?  Scully added a 
giant Hershey's bar to her purchases and then paid the tab.

Out in the car, she tossed the sunflower seeds at Mulder.  
"Pre-shelled," he remarked sadly as he studied the bag.

"Yes, but they stock eighty-seven kinds of beer."

"If Pittsfield doesn't show soon, I may go buy a case."

Scully picked up the binoculars and studied the small house 
across the street.  "We aren't even sure he's in there," 
she reminded Mulder.  "The van was registered to a Henry 
Hutton."

"It's him," Mulder said, popping a seed.  "The place is 
pitch black and all the blinds are drawn.  I'll bet you 
anything that garage has a yellow VW van on it."

"But until we see it -- or Pittsfield -- we can't get a 
warrant."

Their walkietalkie crackled, and Grenier came on the line.  
"Anything?"

"Nothing here," Mulder said.  "Anything by you?"

"I had a dog come piss all over my tires, but that's about 
the only excitement I've seen today.  I still say the 
little shit's in there."

"I agree."

"Let's go up and ring the bell," Grenier suggested.  "He's 
all but waved the flag at us anyway."

"Not yet."  Mulder chewed thoughtfully.  "Let me get back 
to you in a minute, okay?"

"Mulder?" Scully asked.  "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking none of this feels right.  The poster, the 
van, the webcam -- hell, he's even sitting here in a house 
in the middle of suburbia.  It's not like Pittsfield is 
making even the slightest effort to hide.  I can't help 
thinking that if we're sitting here, it's because that's 
where he wants us to be."

He crunched another seed, and Scully rubbed her eyes with 
one hand.  "Okay, then what do you propose?"

"We need to get in that house."  Mulder began dusting off 
his hands.

"What?  Where are you going?"

"I might be able to see into that garage."

"If you can't see it from the sidewalk, it's still not 
enough for a warrant."

"I'll swear out an affidavit to my eagle eyes," Mulder 
replied as he opened the door.

Scully took up the binoculars again and watched him jog 
across the wide, busy street.  There were no signs of life 
in the small house on the hill.  Mulder skulked up the 
driveway, keeping close to the scraggly bushes at the side.

The radio crackled again.  "What the hell is he doing?" 
Grenier demanded.

"Looking for the van," Scully replied.  She peeked again.

Mulder had reached the garage and was peering through the 
dark window.  Scully found herself checking the house and 
back again, just to be sure.

"C'mon," she muttered when he lingered.  

Mulder froze.  Even from a hundred yards away, Scully saw 
the change come over him.  She froze too in response, her 
heart caught in her throat.  His head tilted; he saw 
something in the yard.

Scully shifted the binoculars a fraction so she could look 
too.

What happened afterward seemed so unreal that time spread 
out like taffy.  The world around her closed off; she saw 
Mulder turn, saw the gun.

She never heard the shot.  Mulder took a million years to 
fall. 

Seconds later, Scully jerked alert again at the sound of 
her own scream.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She had been waiting for him just as she was supposed to 
do, with the curtain pulled back an inch so she could see 
him creeping up in his black coat.

He was huge and scary.

She clutched the heavy gun and opened the back door. 

He saw her coming and she could tell he recognized her -- 
just the way that Father said he would.  He started to 
speak but she pointed the gun at him.

"Wait," he said.

She didn't wait.  She fired four times until he fell down.  
The gun slipped from her hands and she ran through the 
woods.  

Wind frosted her ears until it hurt.  The cold air burned 
her lungs.  She ran and ran until she found the road, where 
Father was waiting with the car.

"I did it," she told him, still panting.  "It's done."

"Good girl.  Now buckle your seatbelt.  We still have work 
to do."

She leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes, tired from 
conquering Satan.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Scully reached Mulder before Grenier did, crashing to her 
knees beside him as Mulder gripped his leg in pain.  "I'm 
fine, I'm fine," he said through gritted teeth.

It was dark enough that she couldn't see to disagree with 
him.  "Where are you hurt?"

"Mulder?" Grenier said, catching up.  "What the hell 
happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine.  Get the girl."

Grenier took off running through the woods.

Scully gingerly inspected Mulder's leg where he was holding 
it.  Her hands came away cold and wet with blood.  "Mulder, 
we need to get you to a hospital."

"I'm lucky she's such a lousy shot."  His teeth started 
chattering.

Scully called for the ambulance, one hand on the phone and 
the other one on Mulder's chest.  As long as he was still 
breathing, so could she.  "Hang in there, Mulder," she told 
him.  "They're on the way."

Sweat broke out across his brow.  "It was the girl from the 
webcam.  I didn't see the gun at first."

"Here, let me do that."  She pried his hands loose from his 
thigh and inspected the wound with her flashlight.  Blood 
oozed through his pants but not at an alarming rate.  "She 
didn't hit an artery," she told Mulder, relieved.  "You're 
going to be okay."

"My hero," Mulder said weakly.

Scully ignored him and applied pressure to his wound.

"Ow!"

"Sorry."  She winced as he did but did not let up the 
pressure.  In the distance, sirens began to wail.

Grenier came thrashing back out of the woods, breathing 
hard.  "No sign of her," he said.  "She must have made it 
to the road."

"Where Pittsfield was waiting," Mulder concluded.

"Shh, lie still," Scully said.  An ambulance pulled into 
the driveway with its red lights flashing.

Grenier loomed over Mulder.  "Shot by a six year-old," he 
said, shaking his head.  "At least when I took a bullet it 
was from a real criminal.  This is sad, Mulder.   Truly 
sad."

Mulder coughed.  "At least I am not *dating* a six year-
old," he retorted.

"Enough.  The both of you." 

The paramedics trudged up the icy driveway to displace 
Scully.  She moved all of three feet, hovering in the slush 
as the EMTs went to work on Mulder.  The arriving cruisers 
created a dizzying light show on the snow-covered lawn.

Grenier shifted to stand beside Scully and cast a grim look 
down at the blood on her clothes.  "Well, here's one piece 
of good news," he said.  "I'm thinking we shouldn't have 
any trouble getting that warrant now."

~*~*~*~*~*

Mulder had his eyes shut when she slipped into his hospital 
room.  Scully closed the door softly but he awoke anyway.  
"Hey," she said, moving to stand next to the bed.  "How are 
you feeling?"

He was pale and pantless but otherwise looked okay.  "It's 
nothing but a flesh wound, Ma'am," he said.  "I'll be up 
and hunting cattle rustlers again by morning time."

Scully took his hand.  "She could have killed you, Mulder."

"Yeah," he said, sobering.  "But she didn't.  And I can't 
help thinking Pittsfield must not want me dead all that 
badly if he trusted a six year-old to do the job."

"Grenier says the house was definitely Pittsfield's -- the 
prints inside match the ones we have on file.  Still no ID 
on the girl."

Mulder squeezed her hand and began easing out of the bed.  
"You want to hand me my pants, Scully?"

"Mulder, no.  Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to that house.  So far Pittsfield has us chasing our 
tails, doing exactly what he wants us to do.  I want to 
know what the real plan is."

"Grenier's over there, Mulder.  He's on top of things."

"Grenier is very, very good at connecting the dots.  He is 
not so good at seeing the dots to begin with."  Mulder 
groaned as his feet hit the floor.  "I need the crutches."

"You need to get back in bed."

"The doctors said I could go home."

"Home to bed."

Mulder lurched for his pants and caught them.  "I will go 
home to bed.  I just want to make a pit stop first."

"No.  Mulder, I can't let you do this.  If you think I'm 
going to help you go out on crutches the freezing cold, 
back to a crime scene that may still be potentially 
dangerous, then you are crazier than I ever believed."

"I need help putting my pants on," Mulder said as though 
she had never spoken.

"Mulder!  'First do no harm' -- remember that little credo?  
I am not going to help you go out and injure yourself 
further."

Mulder sighed, fingers clenching around his pants.  He 
looked at her.  "Okay, Scully.  I will make you a deal. I 
will stay here and rest like a good boy if you stay and 
have those tests done."

"Wh-what?"

"You heard me."  He held her gaze.  "If you stay, then so 
will I."

"It's the middle of the night.  The people who do those 
sorts of tests aren't here right now."

"You're telling me they can't do a CAT scan?  There's no 
one in the lab doing blood tests?"  

Scully was silent.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Mulder said, resigned.  He 
lifted his good leg and started putting on his pants.  
Progress was slow, and lines of pain etched his features.  

"Here, let me do that," she said at last.  She helped him 
maneuver both legs into the loose pants.  "I don't know 
what you expect to find at the house," she said, not 
looking at him.

Mulder put a hand on her head.  "It's what I'm not expected 
to find that counts."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Scully held the door for him as he limped into the house.  
"One quick look," she warned. 

Mulder leaned on his crutches and surveyed the living room.  
A battered couch; two chairs and a floor lamp.  There was a 
stack of newspapers sitting by the fireplace.  The windows 
had dark curtains nailed over them, and the bookcases were 
empty.

"Hey, you're back," Grenier said as he poked his head into 
the room.  

"Momentarily," Scully said, more to Mulder than to Grenier.

"What've you got?" Mulder wanted to know.

"Look at this."  Grenier led them down the hall to a small 
pink bedroom.  "We think this is the one the girl was 
using.  Her fingerprints are everywhere and there are 
clothes in the closet that seem to be the right size.  
Check this out."  He pulled a purple notebook off of the 
small desk.  "It says Lily Ann Tucker."

"We know it's not her," Mulder said.

"Yeah, but I am guessing the girl doesn't know that.  But 
check out the next room."  

They moved next door to a second pink bedroom.  This one 
had an angel poster on the wall above the bed.  "For the 
new acquisition," Mulder murmured as he looked around.  
"There's a layer of dust on the desk here.  He must have 
been planning this for quite some time."

Scully spotted something shiny glinting in the shag carpet.  
She stooped to pick it up. 

"What is it?" Grenier asked.

"A foil candy wrapper," Scully said.  She began unrolling 
the tiny ball.  The foil was red and gold, with the number 
21 stenciled on it.  "Looks like it's from an Advent 
calendar."

"A what?" Mulder asked.

"A calendar to mark the days before Christmas," Scully 
explained.  "You open a slot for each day, and some of them 
have chocolates behind them."

"He's counting down to Christmas then," Mulder said.  
"Three more days."

"You think that's when he means to take Natalie?" Grenier 
asked.

"It means something to him."  Mulder looked around the 
room.  "I'm still not convinced he wants Natalie, though."

"Why?" Scully asked.

Mulder gestured around with one of his crutches.  "Just 
look.  There's no crib."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was after one in the morning by the time they got back 
to Mulder's place.  Mulder used his last scrap of energy to 
drag himself to the bed, where he let Scully tuck him under 
the covers.  She looked as bad as he felt, with the circles 
under her eyes and his blood still dotting her clothes.

"Vicodin is one of the great discoveries of our time," he 
told her.

She smiled and smoothed his hair.  "Right up there with 
remote-control TV."  Scully adjusted the covers first one 
way and then the other.  He watched her for a minute before 
grabbing her hand.

"Scully."

"Hmm?"

"You're fussing."

"I'm not."  She picked lint from his pillow with her free 
hand. 

Mulder smiled and kissed the center of her palm.  "Come to 
bed," he told her.

She halted, not looking at him.  "You scared the life out 
of me today."

"You and me both.  Shot by a six year-old girl.  Out of all 
the indignities I've suffered, Scully, that has to be the 
worst."

"Well, I am glad you can laugh about it."

He tugged her down against his chest.  "I'm fine," he 
murmured in her ear.  

She hugged him tight.  "This was not how I envisioned 
Christmas together," she said.

"Oh?  What did you have planned?" He stroked her hair.

"Definitely less bloodshed."

"Ah, so that's why you skipped the family get-together," he 
teased, and she poked him.

They rested together in silence for a moment.  At last, 
Scully eased away.  "I should let you get some sleep," she 
said, cupping his cheek.  "You must be exhausted."

She started to leave but he stopped her.  "Scully?"  He 
waited until she looked at him.  "Get the tests done, 
okay?"

She hesitated a beat, studying his face, and then nodded.  
"I will."

"Tomorrow?"

"Mulder--" She stopped when he squeezed her hand hard.  
"Okay," she said with a sigh.  "Tomorrow."

She turned down the lights on her way out and Mulder 
drifted to the sounds of Scully getting ready for bed.  
Vicodin did its beautiful work.

The next thing Mulder knew, the phone was ringing.  He 
jerked awake, trying to clear his fuzzy head, and saw that 
Scully was not in bed.  The clock read two-oh-nine.  
"Scully?" he called.  The phone was out of his reach.

Scully did not answer, so Mulder scooted over to the very 
edge of the bed and groped for the phone.  "Hello?" he said 
roughly. 

"Mulder, Natalie's gone!"  Amelia was hysterical on the 
other end.  "I went to check on her, and she's gone!"

"Grenier?"

"He's on the way.  So are the cops.  I didn't hear 
anything!  She was fine just a few hours ago.  Oh, God.  
What am I going to do?"

"I'm on my way," Mulder said.  He replaced the phone.  
"Scully?"

Light came from the hall but there was no sign of Scully.  
Mulder tried to make his heavy limbs cooperate.  He grabbed 
the crutches and headed for the bathroom.

"Scully, Natalie's missing.  We have to--"

He stopped short at the sight of Scully lying face down on 
the tile cold floor.  Blood ran from her nose.  

"Scully!"  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

End chapter five.  Continued in chapter six.

Thanks to Amanda for proofing!

Sorry for the lengthy delay this time.  With the new job, I 
don't get as much free time to write, and the bad eyestrain 
has prevented me from using what little time I do have.  I 
do apologize for making you wait so long.  Hopefully the 
time between chapters five and six won't be as bad.

All feedback welcome at syn_tax6@yahoo.com