Title: A Final Prayer
Author: Samantha Brownlie
Spoilers: None
Summary: Mulder saves Bill Scully's life.
Rating: PG

Disclaimer: The usual - they're not mine, I don't earn any money
from writing about them, and I promise to give them back when
I'm done.

Feedback to sbrownlie@hotmail.com

'A Final Prayer' (1/1)

Bill Scully stood at the graveside, eyes closed and heart heavy.
Ronald Hartmann had been a good friend for years - since college
days, in fact. He remembered Ron as big, hearty and always
laughing - a far cry from the occupant of the silent oblong box
lying in the grave that morning - and though he hadn't seen his
friend for several years, knew that he was going to miss him.

He heard a shout from somewhere behind him, and ignored it.
Somewhere, vaguely hovering in the deep recesses of his mind,
was the knowledge that there were FBI agents surrounding the
cemetery and monitoring the service. Ron had been murdered -
brutally stabbed to death by what appeared to be a complete
stranger - and someone within the Bureau believed they could
catch his killer today. Bill doubted it, though he prayed it were
true. In a world where good men like Ron Hartmann could be
killed randomly and senselessly, he had little faith in truth and
justice.

Dana had come to his house two nights ago, when she had heard
the news. She and that good-for-nothing partner of hers were in
town on a different matter, though Bill believed she had offered her
help with Ron's case. He hoped she had, and wondered if she was
one of the party discretely hovering on the periphery of the
mourners. He hadn't talked to her since she first made contact two
days earlier. He'd considered it, but apathy had overruled his
thoughts. Ron's death had hit him far harder than he ever expected.

Another shout rang out, and Bill wondered if perhaps the Bureau
had sighted their man. Looking down at the coffin, he whispered a
silent prayer that they had. Perhaps with the knowledge that Ron's
killer was behind bars would come a restoration in his faith in the
country he lived in.

When he heard pounding feet, Bill started to turn around. He
proved too late, however. A heavy, moving weight slammed into
his side and he crashed to the ground with painful force. Lying
dazed on the wet grass, his mind registered the fact that he had
heard the sharp retort of a rifle being fired. He rolled over, and
wondered if he had been the target.

'Bill!' he heard Dana's voice call. So she had been there, after all.
'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' he managed, struggling to his feet a little too quickly.
Two hands reached out to steady him - Dana's and her partner's.

'Careful,' the obnoxious man had the gall to tell him. Bill moved to
pull away from him, wobbled, and felt both Dana and Mulder grasp
him with both hands to keep him on his feet. Mulder gave a sudden
gasp, and Bill watched as his sister's concern was suddenly
diverted.

'Mulder?'

'I think I landed funny,' the man said, through teeth clenched with
pain.

Dana released her brother's arm and turned to her partner. Bill
feeling steadier now, stared at the two of them, his mind grappling
with thought that a man he hated had just saved his life.

'Does it feel like it's broken?'

'I don't know. Maybe.'

'Hold still.'

Dana opened her partner's bomber jacket with quick, deft hands
and slid one inside. Her fingers gently probed his collar bone, then
travelled upwards to press on the point of his shoulder. A grimace
of pain contorted the man's face, but he did not pull away. A
paramedic came up.

'Everything okay, ma'am?'

Dana sent a quick, assessing look in her brother's direction, then
turned back to the stranger. 'We need to get this
man to a hospital. I think he may have fractured his collar bone.'

Bill watched as the paramedic nodded and led the way to the
ambulance. It had been parked around the corner and had appeared
swiftly upon hearing the gunshot. Mulder walked slowly, cradling
his injured arm with his uninjured one. For the first time, Bill
noticed the muddy, grassy streaks down the agent's right side. As if
sensing his gaze, Dana turned around for a moment.

'Will you be all right, Bill?'

He nodded. 'Ah...Agent Mulder?'

For a moment, he thought his words were going to be ignored but,
holding himself stiffly, Mulder turned around. 'Yeah?'

It took him a moment, but Bill brought to mind everything his
parents had ever taught him and made himself swallow his pride.
'Thanks.'

With a grunt of acknowledgement, the tall agent turned his
attention to climbing into the back of the ambulance. Dana touched
his arm lightly, and said something to him in a voice not loud
enough to carry back to where her brother stood. Mulder nodded,
and Dana walked quickly away. Within minutes, the ambulance
was making its leisurely way to the hospital. Three men had a
scruffy individual in their charge somewhere to Bill's left - Ron's
killer, presumably. Dana was speaking to a tall, balding man.

In the midst of the bustle which seemed so familiar to his sister and
her partner, Bill felt out of place and alone. Ron's still form, lying
in its final resting place only a few yards away, seemed forotten as
police and FBI swarmed around the crime scene. Confused by
Mulder's unexpected rescue, saddened by the loss of his friend, and
filled with an uncomfortable suspicion that his baby sister
inhabited a world that he never could, Bill bowed his head and
uttered one final prayer beside the grave.