Safe Haven - Part 7
Feb. 4th, 2008 01:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
diandrahollmanTitle: Safe Haven
E-Mail: diandrahollman@yahoo.com
Website: http://diandrahollman.tripod.com/index.h
Rating: PG-13 to R for language and violence.
Keywords: Crossover, Alias/X-Files/Lost, slash, Vaughn/Mulder, Jack, hurt/comfort, angst
Spoilers: Only if you never watched season 5 of Alias or any season of Lost.
Disclaimer: All characters from The X-Files belong to Chris Carter and 1013. All other non-original characters belong to JJ Abrams and Bad Robot. I will put most of them back when I'm done with them, but I can't make any promises about Vaughn. The nurse is mine; any resemblance to the coroner on CSI: Miami is purely coincidental.
Author's Notes: See first chapter.
Previously
(Vaughn)
The first thing I noticed when I woke was the sharp smell of antiseptic and the muted sounds of voices and various medical machinery. I lay still, trying to get my bearings before I opened my eyes.
I was still trying to recall how and why I was in a hospital when a rustling noise came from my left. My eyes snapped open and I looked toward the source, my body instinctively preparing itself for a fight whether or not I was physically capable of defending myself properly. I saw a man who looked dimly familiar approach me hesitantly.
"Michael," he said cautiously. "I'm...Dr. Shephard. Do you remember what happened?"
The fuzziness surrounding my mind began to lift. The doctor, of course. I almost hadn't recognized him with his civilian clothes. "Somebody tried to kill me," I said, my voice sounding unsteady.
He nodded slightly and came closer, taking my hands in a loose grip. "Can you squeeze my hands?"
I squeezed absently as I took in his appearance, noting that his clothes were rumpled - as if they had been slept in. My breath caught as I suddenly recalled telling him the name of the organization I believed was trying to kill me. At the time I had been certain I was dying. I had reached out to him in desperation. I mentally kicked myself. It had been a stupid move. Even if this man could be trusted with the information I could have put a civilian in danger.
I jumped as a sudden knock sounded at the door. The doctor went to answer it and I breathed a sigh of relief as Mulder stepped into the room.
"He just woke up," the doctor said as Mulder handed him a piece of folded paper.
Mulder was at my side immediately, his eyes searching mine for confirmation of this before kissing me deeply. I stiffened slightly, still uneasy about his public displays of affection.
"Don't scare me like that again," he scolded, his tone a mixture of lightness, relief and something else. Something accentuated by the sadness in his eyes.
"What," I asked. Had I been injected with a toxin? Was I still dying?
"Nothing," he said quickly. "I was just afraid I would lose you." He took my hand in his and began subtly tapping a message in morse code. I didn't react, watching his face, pretending to listen as he babbled about finding the "leak" at the FBI. "You were right," his index finger tapped. "Extraction tonight."
"How do we know they won't come after me again," I asked, playing along. "When," I tapped on his palm.
"Don't know," he tapped as he began babbling about relocating me and changing my name "again". "Go with Jack."
I repressed a frown. "Jack," I tapped.
Mulder's eyes shifted toward Dr. Shephard, who was reading the paper Mulder had given him and looking increasingly nervous. I closed my eyes. The man had saved my life - twice - and now he was risking his own to save me again. My eyes snapped open as another thought occurred to me. "What about you," I asked out loud.
The sad, pained look deepened. "They know who I am now," he said, his voice strained. "I'm afraid you'll have to get a new babysitter." He tried to make his tone light but failed.
I swallowed. "Will I see you again?"
Mulder smiled weakly and reached to run his fingers lovingly over my cheek. "Yes," he said softly. "But right now it's too dangerous. Maybe when this all blows over..."
My heart sank. The odds were that "this" would not "blow over" any time soon - if ever. I nodded slowly. I wanted to argue but Mulder faced enough danger on a daily basis - he didn't need me adding to it.
Jack cleared his throat suddenly. "I uh...I'm gonna go home and change," he announced awkwardly. "Are you okay here?"
"Yeah," Mulder replied. "Now that he's awake I should be fine. Thank you."
I watched, dazed, as the man left the room. "Was he here all night?"
"Yeah. He helped stand guard."
I shook my head in amazement. "Why?"
Mulder shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he has a savior complex." He paused, regarding me with something like regret until I couldn't take it anymore. I reached out to him, dragging him toward me and kissing him, my fingers gripping his hair, my lips bruising his.
"I love you," I whispered into his mouth.
"I love you too," he whispered back automatically.
I pulled back, blinking furiously to stave off the threatening flood of emotion and tugged at his hand. He understood and climbed onto the narrow hospital bed beside me. We clung to each other fiercely, as if that alone would keep us from this forced separation. I didn't know when or if I would ever see him again. If these were our last moments together I wanted to spend them as close to him as possible. I pressed my ear to his chest, trying to find comfort in the sound of his steady heartbeat and inhaled deeply, committing his scent to memory.
"It's okay," he said, his voice strained, unsure. "We'll get them."
I nodded and closed my eyes, praying that he was right.
**********
I forced myself not to fidget as Nurse Mary wheeled me down the hall toward the elevator. For the sake of appearance I had made a show of insisting I could walk even though I knew the wheelchair was policy at every hospital. Mulder had left not long before Mary had arrived, called away on an "emergency", leaving me to "call for a cab" to take me home. I had pretended to look up the number of the local cab company and dialed a number from memory that I knew would be routed through the CIA. Everything was in place so far. I just hoped the rest of the extraction went as smoothly.
Jack rounded the corner just as Mary pressed the button to summon the elevator. "I can take him," he said in a tone that left little room for argument. "There's a phone call for you at the nurse's station."
Mary looked surprised. "Are you sure? This'll just take a minute..."
"No, it's okay, I'm on break right now anyway," he said easily.
She hesitated, eyeing Jack strangely before giving in and hurrying back down the hall in the direction of the nurse's station to answer the call I was willing to bet had already been disconnected.
The elevator arrived and Jack pushed me inside, pushing one of the buttons on the lighted panel and standing in awkward silence while the doors closed and the elevator began to move.
"Thank you," I blurted, my voice echoing loudly in the small cabin. "For saving my life."
He glanced at me briefly and went back to watching the display above the door indicating floors as the passed. "It's my job."
'Pumping my stomach and countering the effects of poisoning, yes,' I thought. 'Spending the night at the hospital making sure nobody else tried to off me and smuggling me out of the hospital, definitely not.' I couldn't say anything though. Not until I knew we were safe.
The doors opened and we emerged into an underground parking garage.
"Get up," he said, stopping just outside the doors. I stood and he pushed the wheelchair back into the empty elevator. "This way." He led me to a car and popped open the trunk. I had a moment of instinctive panic when he pulled out a handgun. He handed it to me and explained "In case anything goes wrong."
I nodded and took it, automatically checking that it was loaded properly.
"I'll be back in a couple hours. Will you be all right?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
He gave me a stiff nod and waited while I climbed into the trunk, arranging myself somewhat comfortably and making sure the gun was within easy reach. I noted that the back seats folded down, giving me a route of escape and access to the front seats in case anything happened. Hopefully I wouldn't need it. I nodded to him and he shut the lid with a resounding slam, plunging me into darkness lit only by a sliver of light shining through the gaps in the upholstery. I listened to Jack's footsteps retreat and closed my eyes. There was nothing for me to do now but wait.
Next chapter
The first thing I noticed when I woke was the sharp smell of antiseptic and the muted sounds of voices and various medical machinery. I lay still, trying to get my bearings before I opened my eyes.
I was still trying to recall how and why I was in a hospital when a rustling noise came from my left. My eyes snapped open and I looked toward the source, my body instinctively preparing itself for a fight whether or not I was physically capable of defending myself properly. I saw a man who looked dimly familiar approach me hesitantly.
"Michael," he said cautiously. "I'm...Dr. Shephard. Do you remember what happened?"
The fuzziness surrounding my mind began to lift. The doctor, of course. I almost hadn't recognized him with his civilian clothes. "Somebody tried to kill me," I said, my voice sounding unsteady.
He nodded slightly and came closer, taking my hands in a loose grip. "Can you squeeze my hands?"
I squeezed absently as I took in his appearance, noting that his clothes were rumpled - as if they had been slept in. My breath caught as I suddenly recalled telling him the name of the organization I believed was trying to kill me. At the time I had been certain I was dying. I had reached out to him in desperation. I mentally kicked myself. It had been a stupid move. Even if this man could be trusted with the information I could have put a civilian in danger.
I jumped as a sudden knock sounded at the door. The doctor went to answer it and I breathed a sigh of relief as Mulder stepped into the room.
"He just woke up," the doctor said as Mulder handed him a piece of folded paper.
Mulder was at my side immediately, his eyes searching mine for confirmation of this before kissing me deeply. I stiffened slightly, still uneasy about his public displays of affection.
"Don't scare me like that again," he scolded, his tone a mixture of lightness, relief and something else. Something accentuated by the sadness in his eyes.
"What," I asked. Had I been injected with a toxin? Was I still dying?
"Nothing," he said quickly. "I was just afraid I would lose you." He took my hand in his and began subtly tapping a message in morse code. I didn't react, watching his face, pretending to listen as he babbled about finding the "leak" at the FBI. "You were right," his index finger tapped. "Extraction tonight."
"How do we know they won't come after me again," I asked, playing along. "When," I tapped on his palm.
"Don't know," he tapped as he began babbling about relocating me and changing my name "again". "Go with Jack."
I repressed a frown. "Jack," I tapped.
Mulder's eyes shifted toward Dr. Shephard, who was reading the paper Mulder had given him and looking increasingly nervous. I closed my eyes. The man had saved my life - twice - and now he was risking his own to save me again. My eyes snapped open as another thought occurred to me. "What about you," I asked out loud.
The sad, pained look deepened. "They know who I am now," he said, his voice strained. "I'm afraid you'll have to get a new babysitter." He tried to make his tone light but failed.
I swallowed. "Will I see you again?"
Mulder smiled weakly and reached to run his fingers lovingly over my cheek. "Yes," he said softly. "But right now it's too dangerous. Maybe when this all blows over..."
My heart sank. The odds were that "this" would not "blow over" any time soon - if ever. I nodded slowly. I wanted to argue but Mulder faced enough danger on a daily basis - he didn't need me adding to it.
Jack cleared his throat suddenly. "I uh...I'm gonna go home and change," he announced awkwardly. "Are you okay here?"
"Yeah," Mulder replied. "Now that he's awake I should be fine. Thank you."
I watched, dazed, as the man left the room. "Was he here all night?"
"Yeah. He helped stand guard."
I shook my head in amazement. "Why?"
Mulder shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he has a savior complex." He paused, regarding me with something like regret until I couldn't take it anymore. I reached out to him, dragging him toward me and kissing him, my fingers gripping his hair, my lips bruising his.
"I love you," I whispered into his mouth.
"I love you too," he whispered back automatically.
I pulled back, blinking furiously to stave off the threatening flood of emotion and tugged at his hand. He understood and climbed onto the narrow hospital bed beside me. We clung to each other fiercely, as if that alone would keep us from this forced separation. I didn't know when or if I would ever see him again. If these were our last moments together I wanted to spend them as close to him as possible. I pressed my ear to his chest, trying to find comfort in the sound of his steady heartbeat and inhaled deeply, committing his scent to memory.
"It's okay," he said, his voice strained, unsure. "We'll get them."
I nodded and closed my eyes, praying that he was right.
**********
I forced myself not to fidget as Nurse Mary wheeled me down the hall toward the elevator. For the sake of appearance I had made a show of insisting I could walk even though I knew the wheelchair was policy at every hospital. Mulder had left not long before Mary had arrived, called away on an "emergency", leaving me to "call for a cab" to take me home. I had pretended to look up the number of the local cab company and dialed a number from memory that I knew would be routed through the CIA. Everything was in place so far. I just hoped the rest of the extraction went as smoothly.
Jack rounded the corner just as Mary pressed the button to summon the elevator. "I can take him," he said in a tone that left little room for argument. "There's a phone call for you at the nurse's station."
Mary looked surprised. "Are you sure? This'll just take a minute..."
"No, it's okay, I'm on break right now anyway," he said easily.
She hesitated, eyeing Jack strangely before giving in and hurrying back down the hall in the direction of the nurse's station to answer the call I was willing to bet had already been disconnected.
The elevator arrived and Jack pushed me inside, pushing one of the buttons on the lighted panel and standing in awkward silence while the doors closed and the elevator began to move.
"Thank you," I blurted, my voice echoing loudly in the small cabin. "For saving my life."
He glanced at me briefly and went back to watching the display above the door indicating floors as the passed. "It's my job."
'Pumping my stomach and countering the effects of poisoning, yes,' I thought. 'Spending the night at the hospital making sure nobody else tried to off me and smuggling me out of the hospital, definitely not.' I couldn't say anything though. Not until I knew we were safe.
The doors opened and we emerged into an underground parking garage.
"Get up," he said, stopping just outside the doors. I stood and he pushed the wheelchair back into the empty elevator. "This way." He led me to a car and popped open the trunk. I had a moment of instinctive panic when he pulled out a handgun. He handed it to me and explained "In case anything goes wrong."
I nodded and took it, automatically checking that it was loaded properly.
"I'll be back in a couple hours. Will you be all right?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
He gave me a stiff nod and waited while I climbed into the trunk, arranging myself somewhat comfortably and making sure the gun was within easy reach. I noted that the back seats folded down, giving me a route of escape and access to the front seats in case anything happened. Hopefully I wouldn't need it. I nodded to him and he shut the lid with a resounding slam, plunging me into darkness lit only by a sliver of light shining through the gaps in the upholstery. I listened to Jack's footsteps retreat and closed my eyes. There was nothing for me to do now but wait.
Next chapter
