Below the Surface [CSI/The X-Files; Grissom/Catherine, Mulder/Scully]
TITLE: Below the Surface
CHAPTER 13: Ad Noctum
FANDOM(S): CSI, The X-Files
PAIRING(S): Mulder/Scully, Grissom/Catherine
SPOILERS: [CSI: Fourth season]; [X-Files: Seventh season]
RATING: R (for language, violence, etc.)
SUMMARY: Whatever had her was wrapped around her midsection, blood trailing up through the water, curling and ebbing into various shapes like crimson cigarette smoke.
*****
"Scully? SCULLY!" Mulder continued to grasp the handrail of the boat, screaming down at the dark, murky water for his partner.
Grissom nudged him lightly aside, glancing down at the water with him, Catherine soon appearing at his side to do the same. "What happened?"
Mulder gave no response, and instead whipped off his suit jacket and began tugging his tie loose, throwing both items somewhere behind him. He then swung his legs over the railing, holding himself steady only briefly before leaning forward with arms extended, diving headfirst into the water.
"Agent Mulder!" Catherine exclaimed, one hand fluttering to cover her mouth.
Mulder bobbed on the surface, his hands swishing through the water as he turned in every direction, searching for evidence of the bubbles that would lead him to Scully. "Scully? Scully!"
"Agent Mulder, your sleeve!" Grissom pointed down at the crimson stains now soaking through Mulder's white button-down shirt as he treaded water.
"Shit," he cursed under his breath, and called upward, "It's blood. It's Scully's blood. I gotta find her!"
"Agent Mulder, don't! It's way too dangerous!" Catherine called after him, but it was too late. Mulder had already sucked in a deep breath and submerged.
The water was cold so early in the morning, and the blood and pollution stung Mulder's eyes, but he took no notice of the pain. He was consumed with the need to find his partner... to find Scully alive. Squinting through the algae, blood, and myriad other pollutants, he searched for that trail of bubbles.
When one floated up from somewhere beneath him, he nearly whooped with joy... but was able to restrain himself so choking on water wouldn't become an issue. He fought the pressure of the water trying to ease him upward, kicking his feet and swishing his hands out to the sides... doing a half-assed version of the butterfly stroke to push himself downward.
He spotted her halfway to the bottom, already having been dragged that far by who-knows-what... and his eyes widened underwater as he fought harder to get to her, now barely able to make out what was pulling her. Whatever had her was wrapped around her midsection, blood trailing up through the water, curling and ebbing into various shapes like crimson cigarette smoke. With one final kick of his feet, he was able to thrust himself downward enough to close his hand around her wrist.
When he gave a gentle tug on her wrist, her eyes snapped open, the sheer agony and fear in them terrifying Mulder to his very core. He'd seen that look in her eyes only one other time... and that was when she'd been in the presence of pure evil. Pushing himself forward, he hooked his other hand in her underarm, kicking at the slimy, slippery thing still curled around her abdomen while attempting to pull her out of its grasp.
The more he tugged, the more the creature latched onto her, and Scully's eyes squinted shut in what he could only assume was a blinding pain as more blood cascaded toward the surface. Now they were in a race against time. The need for air was becoming dire... for both agents. Mulder gave one last tug on his partner, followed by one swift kick downward... and she finally was freed, floating into his outstretched arms while he kicked frantically for the surface.
He looked down one last time, slowing his kicking though his lungs were tightening with a lack of oxygen... and his eyes searched out the creature in the darkness. He caught only a brief glimpse of what appeared to be a jet black-colored tail before it disappeared into the depths of Lake Mead.
*****
"Do you see them?" Catherine asked frantically, leaning halfway over the railing while her eyes searched the water for any sign of the pair of agents.
"No," Grissom murmured, shaking his head slowly though Catherine couldn't see this action. He eyed her, watching how she almost teetered precariously over the edge, and without a second thought reached over and grabbed her hand, pulling her away. "Cath, be careful." When she turned to face him, he managed a smile, but didn't release her hand. "I don't think all four of us need to go swimming today."
"Gil, are you alright?" Her eyes searched his, her hands giving his a squeeze before releasing it.
"I'm fine. I should be asking how you're doing." He immediately reached his hand around to the back of her head, searching out and locating the spot where it had hit the deck of the boat. "You've got quite the lump back there, Cath. Maybe we should take you in."
She swatted his hand away. "Gil, cut it out. I feel fine." Off his look, she gave a facial shrug, conceding, "Alright fine, I have a blinding headache... but aside from that, I'm okay."
Grissom was about to respond when the sound of gasping broke the surface of the water, and he and Catherine rushed over to the railing. Peering down into the water, they spotted Mulder reaching for the boat with one arm wrapped around Scully, who was unconscious and bleeding profusely. "Help me!" Mulder grunted, hoisting Scully higher in his grasp as if trying to hand her off.
Catherine immediately sprang into action, searching the main deck for a life preserver or aid of some sort for Mulder. After finally finding a ladder, made of knotted rope, she rushed back to the railing, checking Mulder's location briefly so as not to hit him before flinging the ladder over the side of the boat.
With another grunt, Mulder reached out to grasp the ladder, taking a step up while hoisting Scully even higher in his arms. "Can you reach her?" he called up in a strained voice, Scully's back blocking his view of Grissom and Catherine.
Grissom reached down and grabbed for Scully's arms, Catherine joining him a moment later to lift her onto the boat. "We got her!" she called, and the pair pulled the copper-haired agent up onto the deck... moving very cautiously after taking note of the mass amounts of blood leaking from her abdomen.
Mulder was back on deck seconds after Scully had been hoisted aboard... and immediately he rushed to his partner's side, soaked to the bone with water, blood, and God only knew what else. "Scully..." he whispered, his voice hoarse as his hand fluttered to her abdomen, shakily covering the gaping wound near her navel. "Oh Jesus, Scully."
"We gotta head for shore, now," Grissom breathed, before rushing up the stairs to start the motor, steering the boat toward the docks.
"What the hell happened to her?" Catherine asked, kneeling beside Scully, opposite Mulder.
He shook his head. "Whatever the hell that thing was... that thing that's been killing all these people... it tried to kill her."
Catherine, with wide eyes, looked down at Scully, whose pallor was becoming more and more pronounced as the seconds ticked by. Catherine reached for the agent's wrist, her thumb finding the pulse point while Mulder leaned over her, ear above her mouth. "Agent Mulder, her pulse is extremely slow," she reported, voice shaking out of ever-rising fear.
Mulder nodded, and gently pushed Catherine aside before reaching for Scully's head, tipping it back. "I know," he whispered... which came out as more of a gasp. "She's not breathing, either." He pinched her nose and leaned over her, lips covering hers while he breathed air into her lungs. After receiving no response, he breathed one more time into her mouth before starting chest compressions... a pleading chant accompanying each compression: "Come on, Scully... come on, Scully..." he chanted, pausing to breath again into her mouth, then leaning back to resume the compressions. "Don't you dare die on me, partner... not now. Now's not the time Scully, now come on!"
Catherine's eyebrows slid into a sympathetic frown, her trained criminalist's eye able to read the terror in the lanky agent's face... able to decipher the quaver of desperation in his tone. She could only imagine what he was going through, and subconsciously tossed a glance toward the upper deck, where Grissom was busy finishing his call to the paramedics and steering the boat into the docks.
She put herself in Mulder's shoes; what the hell would she do if Grissom were to be seriously injured? Or on the brink of death? She'd faced the situation once, while the team had been in pursuit of a serial killer. Grissom had been seconds away from being bludgeoned with a shovel. Thank God she'd somehow known to head to the laundry room of Syd Goggle's apartment complex. If Grissom would have been killed by that maniac, she didn't know how she could've recovered. Or if she could have.
And now, watching Mulder frantically try to breathe life back into his partner, Catherine saw him as more than she had in the past two days she'd known him. She didn't see him as merely an eccentric FBI man with a penchant for chasing little green men, or a 6'2" wisecracking flirt. She saw him as a man very obviously in love with the woman closest to him. A man who, she was sure, would go to the ends of the earth for that petite redhead. Just like she, herself would for Grissom.
Catherine was torn from her thoughts when a loud gasp filled her ears, followed by the sounds of water being expelled onto the deck of the boat. Scully had regained consciousness, and was now laying on her side with Mulder's aid... choking up all the water she'd swallowed. Catherine breathed a sigh of relief, and her gaze met Mulder's... seeing that same utter relief silently expressed in his hazel eyes.
Scully gasped for breath, laying on her back once more as her eyes slid closed. Her hand reached out blindly beside her, finding her partner in the darkness threatening to consume her. "Mulder..." she rasped.
He grabbed her hand and pressed the slightest of kisses to her knuckles before holding her hand against his chest. "I'm here, Scully. We're gonna get you to the hospital." His eyes smiled down at her, though she couldn't see this. He knew she sensed it as he quipped, "Stay alive for me, huh?"
"Mmm." She merely nodded with eyes closed, her petite hand tightening around Mulder's to the best of her ability... though the physician in her was fully aware of just how much strength she'd lost. Not to mention blood. Her free hand reached for the gold cross perpetually clasped around her neck, her fist weakly closing around it as she prayed she could do what Mulder had asked, and stay alive.
TBC
CHAPTER 13: Ad Noctum
FANDOM(S): CSI, The X-Files
PAIRING(S): Mulder/Scully, Grissom/Catherine
SPOILERS: [CSI: Fourth season]; [X-Files: Seventh season]
RATING: R (for language, violence, etc.)
SUMMARY: Whatever had her was wrapped around her midsection, blood trailing up through the water, curling and ebbing into various shapes like crimson cigarette smoke.
*****
"Scully? SCULLY!" Mulder continued to grasp the handrail of the boat, screaming down at the dark, murky water for his partner.
Grissom nudged him lightly aside, glancing down at the water with him, Catherine soon appearing at his side to do the same. "What happened?"
Mulder gave no response, and instead whipped off his suit jacket and began tugging his tie loose, throwing both items somewhere behind him. He then swung his legs over the railing, holding himself steady only briefly before leaning forward with arms extended, diving headfirst into the water.
"Agent Mulder!" Catherine exclaimed, one hand fluttering to cover her mouth.
Mulder bobbed on the surface, his hands swishing through the water as he turned in every direction, searching for evidence of the bubbles that would lead him to Scully. "Scully? Scully!"
"Agent Mulder, your sleeve!" Grissom pointed down at the crimson stains now soaking through Mulder's white button-down shirt as he treaded water.
"Shit," he cursed under his breath, and called upward, "It's blood. It's Scully's blood. I gotta find her!"
"Agent Mulder, don't! It's way too dangerous!" Catherine called after him, but it was too late. Mulder had already sucked in a deep breath and submerged.
The water was cold so early in the morning, and the blood and pollution stung Mulder's eyes, but he took no notice of the pain. He was consumed with the need to find his partner... to find Scully alive. Squinting through the algae, blood, and myriad other pollutants, he searched for that trail of bubbles.
When one floated up from somewhere beneath him, he nearly whooped with joy... but was able to restrain himself so choking on water wouldn't become an issue. He fought the pressure of the water trying to ease him upward, kicking his feet and swishing his hands out to the sides... doing a half-assed version of the butterfly stroke to push himself downward.
He spotted her halfway to the bottom, already having been dragged that far by who-knows-what... and his eyes widened underwater as he fought harder to get to her, now barely able to make out what was pulling her. Whatever had her was wrapped around her midsection, blood trailing up through the water, curling and ebbing into various shapes like crimson cigarette smoke. With one final kick of his feet, he was able to thrust himself downward enough to close his hand around her wrist.
When he gave a gentle tug on her wrist, her eyes snapped open, the sheer agony and fear in them terrifying Mulder to his very core. He'd seen that look in her eyes only one other time... and that was when she'd been in the presence of pure evil. Pushing himself forward, he hooked his other hand in her underarm, kicking at the slimy, slippery thing still curled around her abdomen while attempting to pull her out of its grasp.
The more he tugged, the more the creature latched onto her, and Scully's eyes squinted shut in what he could only assume was a blinding pain as more blood cascaded toward the surface. Now they were in a race against time. The need for air was becoming dire... for both agents. Mulder gave one last tug on his partner, followed by one swift kick downward... and she finally was freed, floating into his outstretched arms while he kicked frantically for the surface.
He looked down one last time, slowing his kicking though his lungs were tightening with a lack of oxygen... and his eyes searched out the creature in the darkness. He caught only a brief glimpse of what appeared to be a jet black-colored tail before it disappeared into the depths of Lake Mead.
*****
"Do you see them?" Catherine asked frantically, leaning halfway over the railing while her eyes searched the water for any sign of the pair of agents.
"No," Grissom murmured, shaking his head slowly though Catherine couldn't see this action. He eyed her, watching how she almost teetered precariously over the edge, and without a second thought reached over and grabbed her hand, pulling her away. "Cath, be careful." When she turned to face him, he managed a smile, but didn't release her hand. "I don't think all four of us need to go swimming today."
"Gil, are you alright?" Her eyes searched his, her hands giving his a squeeze before releasing it.
"I'm fine. I should be asking how you're doing." He immediately reached his hand around to the back of her head, searching out and locating the spot where it had hit the deck of the boat. "You've got quite the lump back there, Cath. Maybe we should take you in."
She swatted his hand away. "Gil, cut it out. I feel fine." Off his look, she gave a facial shrug, conceding, "Alright fine, I have a blinding headache... but aside from that, I'm okay."
Grissom was about to respond when the sound of gasping broke the surface of the water, and he and Catherine rushed over to the railing. Peering down into the water, they spotted Mulder reaching for the boat with one arm wrapped around Scully, who was unconscious and bleeding profusely. "Help me!" Mulder grunted, hoisting Scully higher in his grasp as if trying to hand her off.
Catherine immediately sprang into action, searching the main deck for a life preserver or aid of some sort for Mulder. After finally finding a ladder, made of knotted rope, she rushed back to the railing, checking Mulder's location briefly so as not to hit him before flinging the ladder over the side of the boat.
With another grunt, Mulder reached out to grasp the ladder, taking a step up while hoisting Scully even higher in his arms. "Can you reach her?" he called up in a strained voice, Scully's back blocking his view of Grissom and Catherine.
Grissom reached down and grabbed for Scully's arms, Catherine joining him a moment later to lift her onto the boat. "We got her!" she called, and the pair pulled the copper-haired agent up onto the deck... moving very cautiously after taking note of the mass amounts of blood leaking from her abdomen.
Mulder was back on deck seconds after Scully had been hoisted aboard... and immediately he rushed to his partner's side, soaked to the bone with water, blood, and God only knew what else. "Scully..." he whispered, his voice hoarse as his hand fluttered to her abdomen, shakily covering the gaping wound near her navel. "Oh Jesus, Scully."
"We gotta head for shore, now," Grissom breathed, before rushing up the stairs to start the motor, steering the boat toward the docks.
"What the hell happened to her?" Catherine asked, kneeling beside Scully, opposite Mulder.
He shook his head. "Whatever the hell that thing was... that thing that's been killing all these people... it tried to kill her."
Catherine, with wide eyes, looked down at Scully, whose pallor was becoming more and more pronounced as the seconds ticked by. Catherine reached for the agent's wrist, her thumb finding the pulse point while Mulder leaned over her, ear above her mouth. "Agent Mulder, her pulse is extremely slow," she reported, voice shaking out of ever-rising fear.
Mulder nodded, and gently pushed Catherine aside before reaching for Scully's head, tipping it back. "I know," he whispered... which came out as more of a gasp. "She's not breathing, either." He pinched her nose and leaned over her, lips covering hers while he breathed air into her lungs. After receiving no response, he breathed one more time into her mouth before starting chest compressions... a pleading chant accompanying each compression: "Come on, Scully... come on, Scully..." he chanted, pausing to breath again into her mouth, then leaning back to resume the compressions. "Don't you dare die on me, partner... not now. Now's not the time Scully, now come on!"
Catherine's eyebrows slid into a sympathetic frown, her trained criminalist's eye able to read the terror in the lanky agent's face... able to decipher the quaver of desperation in his tone. She could only imagine what he was going through, and subconsciously tossed a glance toward the upper deck, where Grissom was busy finishing his call to the paramedics and steering the boat into the docks.
She put herself in Mulder's shoes; what the hell would she do if Grissom were to be seriously injured? Or on the brink of death? She'd faced the situation once, while the team had been in pursuit of a serial killer. Grissom had been seconds away from being bludgeoned with a shovel. Thank God she'd somehow known to head to the laundry room of Syd Goggle's apartment complex. If Grissom would have been killed by that maniac, she didn't know how she could've recovered. Or if she could have.
And now, watching Mulder frantically try to breathe life back into his partner, Catherine saw him as more than she had in the past two days she'd known him. She didn't see him as merely an eccentric FBI man with a penchant for chasing little green men, or a 6'2" wisecracking flirt. She saw him as a man very obviously in love with the woman closest to him. A man who, she was sure, would go to the ends of the earth for that petite redhead. Just like she, herself would for Grissom.
Catherine was torn from her thoughts when a loud gasp filled her ears, followed by the sounds of water being expelled onto the deck of the boat. Scully had regained consciousness, and was now laying on her side with Mulder's aid... choking up all the water she'd swallowed. Catherine breathed a sigh of relief, and her gaze met Mulder's... seeing that same utter relief silently expressed in his hazel eyes.
Scully gasped for breath, laying on her back once more as her eyes slid closed. Her hand reached out blindly beside her, finding her partner in the darkness threatening to consume her. "Mulder..." she rasped.
He grabbed her hand and pressed the slightest of kisses to her knuckles before holding her hand against his chest. "I'm here, Scully. We're gonna get you to the hospital." His eyes smiled down at her, though she couldn't see this. He knew she sensed it as he quipped, "Stay alive for me, huh?"
"Mmm." She merely nodded with eyes closed, her petite hand tightening around Mulder's to the best of her ability... though the physician in her was fully aware of just how much strength she'd lost. Not to mention blood. Her free hand reached for the gold cross perpetually clasped around her neck, her fist weakly closing around it as she prayed she could do what Mulder had asked, and stay alive.
TBC