Date sent: Thu, 6 Nov 1997 13:02:45 -0500 (EST) From: AGillian21@aol.com Subject: Drink the Most Windex (1/1) Title: Drink the Most Windex Author: Noelle Lundgren Rating: PG Classification: V Keywords: Character dies Spoilers: None Summary: Hey, Dana! Tell us how your partner died, again... Disclaimer (as oppose to "datclaimer"): The beautiful and talented Dana Scully belongs to Gillian Anderson and Chris Carter and 1013. She and Agent Mulder are not mine, but I had to borrow them for this one. Oh yeah! I borrowed diet A&W root beer, too... :-) Author's Note: Here's one for Marissa, for letting me kill "David," and for co-starring in all of the Tall Tales. Also for Kris, who is still trying to figure out what I'm on. And how about D (what can I say, my dear? Insanity...) and Elaina & Kate, who are both probably convinced now that I am completely insane. My love to all of you wonderful women! (10-27-97) "Drink the Most Windex" by Noelle Lundgren "Hey, Dana! Tell us how your partner died, again?" Dana Scully folded her feet under her, feeling her legs practically sink into the spongy couch. Golden orange flames licked at logs in the fireplace, making soft grey shadows dance across Scully's face like the fluttering wings of miniature bats. Scully breathed out slowly, and took a final sip of her drink--a diet A&W root beer in a tall glass. She tilted the glass up at just the right angle to let a few chunks of ice glide smoothly into her mouth. Her tongue curled at the sudden intense cold, but she became accustomed to it quickly. Scully chewed the ice thoughtfully for a few minutes. She looked carefully around the fire-lit room as though seeking inspiration. She cleared her throat. "We were in this field. There was all of this tall grass... It was this high." She held her hand in front of her face so that it was even with her upper lip. "So we're looking for this little girl, who Mulder believes is some sort of alien abductee: you *know* how Mulder gets about those things. Anyways, he suggests that we split up, so we do, and I'm walking through this grass thinking what an idiot he is when I stumble across this little body. She's lying in the grass in her nightdress, and kind of rolling on the ground like she's in pain." Scully stopped and thought for a moment before she continued. "This little girl...she's coughing up blood and all, and saying something about don't let the light touch her. "It was such a relief to finally find her, and I picked her up and started back the way I'd come, calling for Mulder. I'm yelling, and yelling for him, and there's no reply, so I call for him again, but I don't get any answer. "By now it's starting to rain, and I know we have to get this little girl to a hospital before we lose her, but I still can't find Mulder. I yell and yell for him, and finally I find him. He's kind of stumbling around in this circle, bent over, and clutching his stomach like it hurts, and his face is all pained and twisted... So I set the child down, and go over to him. He sort of falls over on me, almost knocking me down. All I can do is hold on to him until his eyes close, and he's still. And then... Oh, God... And then I look over at where the little girl was lying, and she's standing there, on her feet, looking at me like she's trying to figure out what planet I'm from...." Scully stopped, shutting her eyes. She swallowed. "No, wait a minute..." She shook her head. "We can do a little better then that..." She cleared her throat. "It took at least two hours before they let me see him in the hospital. See, we had been in this field, looking for this guy, but anyway, he'd come out from some tall grass and just shot Mulder square in the chest at *least* four times. I didn't run after the guy. I managed to catch Mulder as he fell, and he didn't hit his head, but I had to use almost my entire blouse to try and stop the bleeding. When the paramedics finally got there, I was nearly topless, and this one guy..." Scully laughed out loud at herself. "Save that one for some other time." She fished another chunk of ice out of her glass with her thumb, forefinger, and middle finger, and spooned it into her mouth once she was able to hold onto it. She bit down hard, and began once more. "The first day I brought this big bunch of zinnias, and I put them in a vase with water and aspirin. Aspirin is supposed to keep fresh-cut flowers fresh longer, you know... But anyway, by the time I got back to see him, they were all ugly and withered, and I thought how much those flowers represented his life: so beautiful to start out, but then as time goes by, it withers, and rots and starts...to...die... " Scully fluttered her eyelids, experimenting with whether or not she could cry at will. "And finally, it gets to the point where not even aspirin can help!" Her vision became blurry for a few moments, and then a solitary tear trickled down her cheek. Scully shook her head. No. She'd have to cry -- *really* cry -- with that one. Definitely not. Try something that requires a little less emotion, she thought. Something a little spookier... "Mulder and I were walking in this field. You know, tall grass and all... We were just talking, and suddenly, I glanced around and I saw something in the sky. I didn't really pay much attention until I saw that it kept getting closer to us. I tried to tell Mulder to watch out...but... but I couldn't... I didn't have enough time! The...the spaceship came down... It came down on top of him, and squashed him. Flat. Like a pancake..." Scully, who had been trying to fake tears once more, smiled despite herself. "Now, you see, I have *always* been very fond of pancakes..." She laughed. "There was this *giant* elephant... No! We were on this case out in the woods, and it was the middle of the night, and we wanted to go skinny dipping..." Scully smiled at the thought. "But we didn't know that there were...there were alligators in the lake, and Mulder--" She cleared her throat. "We wanted to see who could drink the most Windex, and--..." She shifted on the couch, both feeling and hearing the bones in her ankles crack and crunch as she moved her legs out from under her. Scully sighed, and stood up, crossing the room with glass in hand. She walked until she was practically against the wall, and then turned, and moved back to the middle of the room. Scully stood there for a moment, looking down into the glass in her hand. She swirled the remaining chunk of ice around in the water from the others that had already melted. She raised the glass, as though to drink from it, but changed her mind, and hurled the glass across the room at the wall. It hit hard, and shattered with the liquid sound of glass against plaster and paint. Scully dropped to her knees in the middle of the floor, sitting back on her heels and looking into her lap. She folded her hands, lacing her fingers. "You want to know how my partner died?" She breathed out, slowly. "I was sitting in our office, doing work, when Mulder came and leaned over my desk, and asked me, 'Dana, how did your partner die, again?' And I looked up at him, and I said, 'Mulder, I will tell you. My partner leaned over my desk and asked how my partner died. I wouldn't tell him. He pestered me. He said, 'Pretend that I'm him. How did I die?' I pulled out my gun, Mulder. I shot him. Right there, at that close range. His brains blew apart and spattered all over the desk, and all over my face. That's how he died, Mulder.'... And he looked at me, then, and all he said was, 'Scully.' Like he was scared. I hated that look on his face, so I pulled the gun out of my lap and put a bullet through that face." Real tears streamed down Scully's face, as she giggled a little. "I shot him. Right there. I did it. Right there in the office. And I don't have to hear any more about aliens or abducted little sisters, or--" A sharp knock at the door made her jump. There was a long moment of silence while whoever her guest was waited for a reply. When none came, a strong male voice called, "Hey, Scully?" She looked at the closed door. She'd been expecting him. "Mulder? Is that you?" "Yeah. Are you ready?" Scully stood slowly, and adjusted the gun that was tucked into the waist-band of her skirt, and hidden by the maroon silk of her blouse. "Yeah," she said, aware of the cold metal against the skin of her back. "Yeah. I'm ready." She moved slowly towards the door. ========== The End.