Title: Sacrifice (1/1)
Author: Claudia Modell
E-Mail: claudia@subsolo.org
Classification: V, A, mild MT
Rating: R (not for children)
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: The characters of Mulder and Scully belong to 1013
Productions and Fox Broadcasting Company. No infringiment in copyrights
intended. The characters of Thomas Grapes and Ale Morgilli belong to
me.
Notes: I want to thak Sunny, who gave me this traslation for my
birthday:)
Sunny Notes: * This fan fiction have been writen originally to appear
in Sci Fi News - the best science fiction/adventure magazine in Brazil.
* This story is the first fan fiction published in a big magazine in
Brazil. And it had to be writen in a very short period of time and in a
way that it could appear in only one sheet of the magazine! So, it goes
directly to the point.
Feedback: Always:)

Final Note: Look Mom, without a beta!! That's it, to find a beta is a
very difficult thing these days.

***************************


Sacrifice
by Claudia Modell


The only noises Mulder could hear were the sirens outside the building
and the gasping breath of the man holding him hostage with a knife in
his neck.

Mulder was on his knees, his legs hurting like hell. He didn't dare to
try and find a more comfortable position, though.

The knife was always there with its sharp blade making little cuts at
any movement.

The sweat dropped down his face and neck, mixed with the little drops
of blood in his shirt.

Scully was trying to convince the man who was taking Mulder hostage to
release him. Mulder noticed how calm she was. Even when the agressor
was impatient Scully showed comprehension, sending a message that he
was the one in charge.

That was the right thing to do and it seemed to be working, since
Mulder was still alive. For how much time no one could predict.

Mulder closed his eyes when the aggressor pulled his head back with
violence . His throat was now more exposed. He stayed motionless,
waiting for the blade to cut him, to cut his skin, his neck.

He opened his eyes when it didn't happen.

Scully wasn't there. There wasn't any other person there, but him and
his executioner. The moment of confusion hit the man too. He relaxed
and pushed the knife away enough to give Mulder some hope.

Suddenly Scully resurged making everything go back to the same point.
Mulder almost fell to the ground when the man grabbed him again.

She motioned to him and kneeled in front of Mulder.

"Thomas, I need to talk to you."

"Get out of here now! I have a mission. You are not going to stop me."

"I know, but I need to tell you the truth about this man. He's the
devil, Thomas."

"The devil?"

Mulder didn't like this. Scully wasn't helping and could even be
putting his life in a bigger danger.

The man squeezed the knife against Mulder's chest cutting through his
shirt and breaking the skin beneath it. It wasn't a deep cut but the
blood started spoting his shirt.

"Thomas, did you hear what I told you? He's the devil. I had a vision
about this man."

Thomas seemed to be impressed by that revelation.

"Tell me about this vision. I want to know about it."

The following silence was almost palpable. Thomas didn't release the
knife but at least he seemed to be a little calmer, ready to listen
what she had
to say.

She started to tell him her absurd dream. A dream that could mean the
diference between life and death to Fox Mulder.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ale Morgilli was an extraordinary psychology student who couldn't wait
to finish her studies and go practice all she had learned. While the
graduation day didn't arrive she dedicated her time studying and
preparing her thesis.

She decided to study the influence of religion in people's behavior. It
was a rich theme and should be studied carefully. Ale studied many
religions and interviewed volunteers. And then she met Thomas Grapes.

He had no brothers or sisters and was twenty two years old. He lived
alone since his mother died.

His father left them when he was a kid and he had been raised by his
mother alone, following the religion principles she taught him. The
religion became a very important part of Thomas' life and it could be
easilly seen by the cross he was always wearing or by his few words,
all about religion.

He was a shy person but the interviews with Ale were doing him open
himself more and more to his new friend. Ale knew that the guy's
problems weren't restricted to his religiosity in the verge of fanatism
but came from the loneliness where he was raised, the very few friends
he had, the missing father.

Ale considered the man perfect for her thesis, a person who was trying
to win his insecurities through his faith.

But she was sure that he would need much more help than she could
offer. Anyway Ale became closer and closer of him, creating a
friendship between them based in comprehension of his problems.

And because of that Thomas searched Ale to tell her he had a mission,
he would have to kill a man, the same one who had saved little children
last
month. Ale tried to understand Thomas' logic. How he saw his future
victim not as a good man, almost a saint who had come to save innocent
lives but as a man that should be killed.

Maybe, by been killed the man would become a saint, in Thomas' mind.
And that would be his mission.

It had been easy to Ale to find out who was the FBI agent who was
predestinated to be the first victim of Thomas. She had made too many
mistakes and had underestimated his illness, not sending him to a
psychiatrist. But now she would have to take a decision. She should get
in touch with Fox Mulder and warn him about the danger he was in.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That morning Thomas didn't go to the faculty and Ale blamed herself for
thinking that he would attack agent Mulder in a distant future and not
so soon.

Thomas could have planned the attack a long time ago. And maybe it was
too late to save Agent Mulder's life. When she started looking for him
she discovered that he had already taken Agent Mulder hostage, but
maybe she could do something.

She left her home running and fought the traffic. She would have to run
if she wanted to arrive in time at the building Thomas was, in the
other side of the city.

It would be easier if she found someone in the FBI and tried to
convince that person to use a different kind of strategy in the
negotiation.

When she hung up the phone she prayed the woman she had talked to would
follow her advices.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Thomas, did you hear what I have told you? He is the devil. I had a
vision, Thomas, about this man."

"Tell me about this vision. I want to know."

"I saw a light, a very bright light and then a stairway with steps made
by clouds. Then an angel appeared. He was beautiful, all dressed in
white clothes. But he seemed sad. And I became sad. It was not only
sadness it was a very deep sadness. I wanted to cry but I couldn't.
Then he stopped
in front of me and with the sweetest voice I have ever heard he told me
that you shouldn't shed this man's blood, that he is the devil and in
the
moment his blood touches the ground the world will end."

Scully felt ridiculous telling this absurd story but she was trying to
play Thomas' game.

"I hurt him and nothing happened! You are lying!"

"No, I was trying to tell you that you can't kill him. Don't you see
that it's what he wants? He could have runned away anytime he wanted
to. He is an well trained FBI agent. He wants to die by your hands."

Mulder made a mental note that one day Scully would pay for that. Maybe
she knew what she was doing, who knows? It would be better that she did
know.

"Then I can't leave him go!"

"Don't worry about that, the FBI already called competent authorities
and they are going to solve this. He won't run."

"They are going to exorcize him?"

"Yes, Thomas, they are going to exorcize him. He is using the body of
an FBI agent."

And that is a federal crime, right, Scully? Mulder thought and fought
back the laughs. The idea of having the FBI exorcizing their agents was
really funny.

"Look, Thomas, that is why you can't kill him. You would be killing an
innocent man and the devil would escape."

Thomas hesitated. The tension was still in the air but he was no more
holding so hard the knife. Mulder started to believe that he would
escape,
with many cuts but alive. He would take care of Scully later.

Finally, almost as acting in slow motion Thomas put the knife down, on
the ground beside Mulder. Scully took it and threw it away. Then Thomas
got up and walked to the door, where he would be arrested.

"Scully, you'll pay for that."

"I just saved your life. Don't complain."

"He could have killed me!"

"I knew what I was doing, Mulder. Don't exaggerate or I'll not take off
the handcuffs."

"That's what I'm waiting you to do."

"You are really cute that way, you know?"

"I'm injured. You are not planning let me this way, are you?"

"No, of course not. I will take the handcuffs off and you will be
treated but before this we are going to wait for the exorcize team. We
can't know
what kind of demon could be hidden in there..."

"Scully!"


*** The End ***

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