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Title: Anabelle 07. Night of the Twisters Summary: It's Anabelle's 16th birthday, and the friends hit the town for a night out. Trouble is inevitable... Wow, part seven. I did not think that I would make it this far at all! But people like it (my undying thanks to all the people who send feedback) so I'll keep writing. This part is another one that's going to be short on Mulder and Scully, so I hope people don't mind. Note: No cars were harmed in the making of this fic. ;) Feedback: Please? Feed me at RhiaRamsay@aol.com Archive: Spookys and Gossamer definitely, anyone else just let me know where it's going. Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully are not mine, Anabelle belongs to me, and the friends are their own people. The '98 Mitsubishi Montero Sport does belong to Lee. ;) April 1, 1998 When Anabelle Mulder woke up on the morning of her 16th birthday, she didn't feel any different. As a matter of fact she'd even forgotten it was her birthday until they began the descriptions of April Fools Day jokes on the radio. People had always told her that your 16th birthday was a landmark one, one that would always be remembered. To Anabelle, she would remember it as the day her rainbow painted hair refused to do what she wanted, and she tied a bandanna around it after the fifth attempt to smooth it down. Luckily the green bandanna matched the rest of her outfit, a short, simple black halter dress with a deep violet shirt tossed over that. She blearily stumbled her way down the stairs, still not fully awake, but that was normal for her. When she got out the living room/kitchen, it took her another few seconds to realize the small stack of presents on the kitchen table was for her. She pulled her chair up to Mulder, who already had his feet propped up on the table and was looking over some work. "Are those for me?" Anabelle asked, resting her head on his shoulder. Mulder looked over at her. "What do you think?" he asked with a deadpan look on his face. Then he smiled, and leaned over to kiss Anabelle on the forehead. "Happy birthday, Belle," he said. "Thanks," Anabelle grinned, albeit a little sleepily. She reached an arm out to drag the gifts toward her. When she was finished with them, she ended up with a book, a CD, a few movies, some candles that she'd been dying for, and a New York Yankees baseball jersey, which Anabelle couldn't decide whether to frame or wear she was that much of a fan. She always knew Mulder would give good things, he got the things that you wanted, rather than the rest of the family's habit of making a guess and her exchanging half of the stuff after she was done. Holding the baseball jersey as if it were a precious doll, Anabelle turned to Mulder. "Now you do remember that I'm having a couple of people over tonight, right?" "I know," Mulder nodded. "Don't worry, I'll stay out of the way." "Well, I just wanted to remind you that there were people coming over tonight, I'm not kicking you out. We'll probably end up going out for a while anyway," Anabelle grinned. "Besides, you're an awful lot better than Aunt Kate deciding to sit in on my last party." "That had to have been interesting," Mulder said. "No, not interesting. Boring. Boring as hell," Anabelle smirked. 4 p.m. Anabelle and Lucy Mulcahy stumbled up the metal stairs, each one laden down with two full brown paper bags. Anabelle arrived on the small landing by the door and balanced the bags against it as she jammed her key in the lock. The door swung open with an ungraceful thud and the two stumbled in. They dumped the bags down on the island and Lucy stretched her arms out gratefully. "So this is where you live?" Lucy said, getting a first look at the main room. The leather couch was in there, facing the front window, along with the television, a coffee table and a set of shelves. In the kitchen area was Mulder's old table and fridge. "Yeah," Anabelle said. "It's still pretty bare. My dad had a lot smaller apartment before and I didn't bring any furniture with me and we haven't had time to go shopping yet." "It's nice though," Lucy said. "It just needs some decorations." "Tell me about it," Anabelle sighed, leaning against the island. "There's just been no time at all to do anything. I said that we should get a few different colors of paint and let me have fun with the place, but that idea got shot down," she grinned. "Parents," Lucy sighed dramatically, and then grinned. "How's everyone getting here?" she asked Anabelle. Anabelle began to unpack the bags. An assortment of party foods came tumbling out onto the island. "Hmm. Well, I know Lee's giving Lill a ride here, but I don't have a clue how Josh and Harry are gonna get here. I gave them the directions, hopefully they'll figure it out. And not knock on the door to downstairs, that'll be embarrassing." "Well you did tell them to go to the upstairs apartment, did you not?" Lucy said, hopping up onto the counter next to the pile of foods. "Yeah," Anabelle said, ripping open a bag of Cheetos and popping one in her mouth. "So don't worry," Lucy said, stealing a Cheeto for herself. "So what's the rest of this place like?" she asked. "A bunch of empty rooms," Anabelle smirked. "C'mon, I'll give you the grand tour." Lucy hopped off the counter and followed Anabelle into the hallway. "This should be the dining room if we had a table and this in here is the library-slash-office," Anabelle said, waving at the two rooms. "The bathroom is self-explanatory. And upstairs is the bedrooms, all five of them, which we really don't need." "Can I send my brothers and sisters over here then?" Lucy sighed. "There's just one too many of them." They walked into the second floor hallway. "Which one's your room?" she asked. "This one," Anabelle said, walking to a doorway. "Just don't be surprised by the lack of a bed, like I said, there hasn't been much time to go shopping." She held open the door and ushered Lucy in. "Cool," Lucy said, heading straight for the turret window seat. "I know what you mean," Anabelle said. "That's probably the best part in the place," she sighed, looking up at the peaked ceiling beneath the turret. "Aside from that, the room is..." Lucy trailed off, unsure of what to say. "Bare as hell," Anabelle stated, and the two girls laughed. "All that made it down here from my old place was a few posters and a bookcase. The furniture stayed up there. 'Course, it's probably in storage right now, but I need some new stuff," she grinned, sitting down on the window seat. "Did you used to live with your mom?" Lucy asked, perching herself on the other side of the seat. Anabelle got a strange look on her face. "No, uh, I was living with an aunt." The look on her face and the tone of her voice told Lucy that asking more probably wouldn't be a good move, so all she did was shrug in response. "So what are we gonna do to kill the time until the rest of them get here?" Lucy mused. "I have no clue," Anabelle giggled, her temperament returning to normal. "Oh, let's just get a movie and munch on the Cheetos for a while." "Fine with me," Lucy said. "Cheetos are good," she stated. "Yeah," Anabelle agreed, sliding off the window seat. "But they turn your hands orange." "So do Doritos," Lucy said, following her out of the room. "Doritos are better," Anabelle said. "Has it occurred to you that this conversation is ridiculous?" "Yeah..." 6:30 p.m. The sound of feet clanging on the metal stairs outside pulled Anabelle's attention out of the movie. She looked over at Lucy who was lounging on the couch. "Is that them?" Lucy asked. "I dunno," Anabelle said, pushing herself up from her prone position on the floor. Before she could reach the front door though it was opened up from the other side by Mulder with Dana Scully following behind him. Lucy peeked over the edge of the couch and when she saw that it wasn't one of their friends straightened up on the couch. "Hey, Mulder," Anabelle said, walking over to them. "Hi, Dana." Anabelle noted that Scully was already in casual clothes, meaning they had probably stopped off at her house before they came there. "Hey," Mulder said, then looked over at Lucy. Anabelle took that as her cue to make introductions. "Uh, Lucy, this is my father, Fox Mulder, and his partner Dana Scully," Anabelle introduced. "Guys, this is my friend Lucy Mulcahy." Lucy walked around the couch to stand next to Anabelle. "Pleased to meet you Mr. Mulder, Ms. Scully." "Same here," Mulder said, "and please, just call me Mulder." "Dana's fine too," Scully said. She then turned to Anabelle and handed her a bag. "Here, I got you a little birthday gift." "Ooh, goodie!" Anabelle exclaimed, taking the bag. Finding that she couldn't hold it and open it at the same time she moved over to the counter and put the bag down there. When she got past the layer of paper she smiled brightly. "Bath and Body Works stuff, my favorite," she said. Scully looked up at Mulder. "Told you she'd like it," she grinned at him. Mulder shrugged helplessly and Anabelle grinned at him. "It's got to be a girl thing," Anabelle said. "If you're ever stuck for a gift just get some of this stuff and I guarantee nine out of ten of them will be happy. Myself included." Anabelle walked over to Scully and gave her a hug. "Thank you so much," she said. "You're very welcome," Scully replied. Mulder grinned at the two of them, and then said, "I'll be right back, I just want to get out this suit." He walked out of the living room to head upstairs. After a brief moment of silence Lucy asked Scully in an attempt to make conversation, "So you're Anabelle's dad's girlfriend?" Anabelle snickered under her breath and Scully shot a glare at her that didn't really do much. "No, uh, we actually work together," Scully explained to Lucy. "We're partners at the FBI." "Sorry," Lucy blushed, but then changed lines. "FBI? Cool." "It's more paperwork than you think," Scully said, smiling a little at her. Another clanging on the stairs got their attention. "That's probably them," Anabelle said, taking Lucy's arm and dragging her to the door. When they were there she whispered to Lucy, "Remember when we went to the mall I told you about how I knew people who had known and loved each other for a long time and were still not dating?" "Yeah," Lucy whispered back, puzzled, but then finally catching on. "That's them?" "Yes!" Anabelle whispered fiercely. "You just proved it yourself that everyone else sees what they don't!" She cut off her tirade at the sharp rapping on the door. She looked through the peephole and grinned. "Looks like Lee found her way here." She pulled open the door to reveal two grinning girls. "It took us a little while, but we finally made it here," Lee Das said, walking inside. "I'm still getting used to going places by myself." "I'm just grateful we didn't get lost," Lill Nolan said. "Well I'm glad you got here too," Anabelle said, seeing out of the corner of her eye that Scully had disappeared into the background and was now sitting at the kitchen table. "C'mon, sit down," she said, leading them all over to the couch. "We got you some gifts," Lee said, bringing out a box. "Oh, you didn't have to do that," Anabelle said, blushing. "Yes, we did," Lill smirked. Anabelle stuck her tongue out at her childishly and they both laughed. "This one's from me and Lee," Lucy said, taking the box from her and handing it to Anabelle. "Neither one of us has the cash for one so we pitched in on this one." "I still say you didn't have to do this," Anabelle insisted even as she took the box. She ripped off the paper and opened the box. Letting out a laugh she pulled out what was in there. It was a necklace, the chain a bunch of silver links with a pendant in the shape of a rainbow and the seven different colors made out of chips of stones. "Oh, that is so cool," she grinned. "I think it's safe to say she likes it," Lee said. "Yeah, I saw it and immediately thought of you," Lucy said. "Gee, I wonder why?" Anabelle smirked. "I love it, thanks so much." "Now for mine," Lill said, handing her another box. Anabelle took it and tore at the paper, trying to get at the gift inside. It was greedy, yes, but it was her birthday and she was entitled to it. Inside the box, under a few pieces of tissue paper, was a small statuette in the shape of a dragon and painted a translucent green color. "Oh, that's so cute," Anabelle said, stroking the top of it. "I love dragons. Thank you very much," she grinned. "Now we just have to wait for the guys," Lee said, "who we know are chronically late." "And have a tendency to get lost," Lill agreed. "Hey, I resemble that remark!" Anabelle retorted, and the four girls collapsed into giggles. Mulder walked back downstairs, hearing the giggles travel from the living room. He paused in the hallway, watching the cluster of girls on the floor. Scully got up from her place at the kitchen table and walked over to stand next to him. "What are you thinking of?" she asked. He grinned down at her. "Just of the last time I was around a group of teenage girls and what a fiasco it was." "I'm almost afraid to ask what happened," Scully said with a smirk on her face. Mulder laughed a little. "Well it was back when I was in high school. This friend of mine, she wanted to go to a concert but the only way her and her friends would get to go was if they got some chaperones. So she wrangled me and her older brother to take them. "The concert itself was a madhouse. We had gone to see the Bay City Rollers, who I absolutely hated with a passion. That meant that the stadium was going to be filled with screaming girls, which included the ones I was with. So picture it, a hotter than hell stadium, screaming on all four sides with no escape in sight. "Then, it gets worse. One of the girls fainted. She was screaming right along with the rest of them and when the show got too much for her--out cold. So it's my job to keep her upright, because she falls right back against me, while the brother went to search for something to wake her up with. A bunch of screaming girls pushing from all sides, and dead weight in my arms." "That must have been a nightmare," Scully said, a wide grin splitting her face. "It was." A half an hour later the doorbell rang again. Anabelle looked up from the bag of chips she was munching on. The other girls were absorbed in the movie they were watching (Anabelle was too up until that point, although that could have been because Ethan Hawke was in it) and Mulder and Scully had disappeared into the office. She pushed herself off the floor and walked over to the door. She pulled it open to reveal two teenage boys, one dark haired and a taller, fair-haired one. "You found it!" Anabelle said with a wicked grin on her face. "It was farther than I thought," the dark haired one, Harry Cardiff, said as he walked inside. The other one, Josh Aidenn, just shrugged and followed him inside. The two boys sat down in the midst of the other girls on the floor, each grabbing a slice of pizza. "So what's the plan?" Josh asked, munching on his slice. "Well that club in D.C.'s got a teen night tonight, we were thinking of going there for a little while but after that it's anyone's guess," Lee said. "Does that mean I have to get changed?" Anabelle whined, looking down towards her shirt and dress. "Look at the rest of us," Lucy said, motioning at the rest of them who were all wearing jeans (except for Lee who was wearing black pants), "None of us look right for clubbing, so don't worry about it." "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Anabelle muttered, then jumped when she was hit with a face full of potato chips. "Hey!" she yelped, and Lill snickered. "Stop being so paranoid about your fashion and just have fun!" she said back to her. "That's it!" Anabelle cried, scooping some of the chips off the front of her shirt and tossing them back at her. The chips didn't go exactly where she planned though, and some landed in Harry's hair. He in turn grabbed the Cheetos and flung them back. And that's how the food fight broke out. Various sorts of chips were flying through the air, landing on everyone and everything. In a fleeting thought Anabelle was grateful for the lack of furniture in there, it would be easier to clean up. In the end though they had to say that it was fun. It finally died down when most of the chips were in crushed little piles on the floor. "That was fun," Lucy grinned, dusting crumbs off the front of her shirt. Lee pulled a few pieces of Doritos out of her hair and winced. "This is not going to be fun in the morning though trying to get this crap out." "I smell like Cheetos," Josh said, sniffing the hem of his shirt. "And we're going to have to clean this up," Anabelle sighed, standing up and watching a shower of crumbs falling off her dress. The six stood up, brushing themselves off, and wincing at the large amount of crumbs on the floor. Anabelle walked to the kitchen and found a garbage bag. Even more miraculous she found a broom. It took them a little while, but they managed to get the majority of the crumbs cleaned up. There was still a lingering scent of potato chips in the air though. "Aww, it's good enough," Anabelle sighed. "Maybe we should go out now before we trash anything else?" she suggested. The rest made sounds of affirmation. "Okay. Bathroom's up that flight of stairs if anyone wants to get cleaned up." While the others made their way upstairs Anabelle headed for the open door to the office where Mulder and Scully were. She knocked gently on the door to get their attention. "We're going to go out now," she said when they had noticed her. "Okay," Mulder said. "Just be careful, and don't get back too late." "We will," Anabelle smiled at them, and walked off. A few seconds later she was back though. "Oh, and if the living room smells kind of like potato chips, don't worry about it, it should go away in a few hours." Mulder sighed and turned to Scully when Anabelle had left. "Why do I get the feeling that there's going to be trouble before this night is over?" "So where exactly is this place?" Anabelle asked as they headed out to Lee's Mitsubishi Montero Sport. Harry's p.o.s. car would gratefully be left parked in front of the house. "It's in the heart of D.C.," Lee said. "The area's kind of seedy, but the club is hotter than hell." She walked to the driver's seat and pulled open the door. "Find your seats!" she yelled. "Because one of you is going to get stuck in the trunk!" The mad dash started. Lucy took the other front seat, while Anabelle ended up squashed between Josh and Harry in the back seat. Lill graciously conceded to taking the trunk. Lee started the car and tore out onto the street. It was a Friday night so naturally D.C. was busy. People heading out for dinner, to see a show, or anything else of their choice. In the main streets well-dressed people were heading towards respectable places. But where the group was heading at the moment was disrespectable defined. "I hope no one steals the car," Lill said, looking back at it as they walked towards the club. Harry sidestepped a person slouched against a building. "It better be there when we get back," he muttered. "Yeah, I do not want to be stuck here," Lucy said. Lee just sighed and walked quicker, leaving the others to scramble to catch up with her. Anabelle stayed behind with Josh, still keeping the same speed. She laughed slightly. "I doubt the car will go anywhere," she said. "The amount of alarms she's got programmed in there would be enough to scare the shit out of any would be burglars," Josh agreed. "And then if she herself goes after them they'd have to be stupid not to turn tail and run," she smirked. "Hey, hurry it up you two!" someone yelled from ahead of them. Josh and Anabelle rolled their eyes and kept walking. They managed to get past the bouncer easily, because of the teen night security was lax for some strange reason. Inside the club Anabelle began to choke on the smoke in there, a combination of simulated stage smoke, cigarette smoke, and a sweeter scented one that reminded her of marijuana. "Oh man, this smells like the bathroom at my old school," she coughed out. She grabbed onto Josh's arm so as not to get lost in the mass of bodies. Finally the six stood around a small table. Lucy waved a hand in front of her face to clear away the smoke that was drifting there. "Well if they can't drink they certainly have their other vices," she said. "Are you sure this was a good idea?" Harry said nervously. "Look, it's just an experiment," Anabelle said. "If it doesn't turn out good then we'll leave." "Sounds good," Lee said. "Now who wants to dance?" she asked with a grin. "Oh no, no way!" Anabelle yelped, backing up against the wall of the club. "Why not?" Lee said, frowning. "Have you ever seen me dance? No. There's a reason for that," Anabelle wheedled. "I'm with her," Josh said. "I can't dance for shit." "What about you?" Lill asked, turning to Harry. He shrugged. "I'll give it a shot, just don't expect anything spectacular." "That's good enough for me," Lill said, and grabbed an arm. Lucy grabbed the other arm and Lee began to shove at him, pushing and pulling him out onto the bustling dance floor. Harry shot a fearful look back at Josh, who smiled a little too cheerfully and waved back. "You are an evil person," Anabelle smirked. "I know," he said, still smiling. "Why don't you get out there with the rest of them?" he asked her. "For the same reason you didn't. I can't dance for shit," Anabelle insisted. "All those years of ballet lessons as a kid down the pipes as soon as I put a pair of heels on." Josh shrugged. "It's your birthday though, don't you want to give it a try?" "Not if it means sacrificing my dignity," Anabelle said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Slow dancing I can handle, but anything beyond that I look like a jackass." "Slow dancing is easy," Josh agreed. "All you have to do is sway back and forth." "Unfortunately that would look just a little out of place here," Anabelle sighed, a little disappointed. Truth be told, she sort of wanted to dance with him. "Mmmm, I don't know," Josh said, turning to her and holding out his hand. "Dance with me," he said with a smirk on his face. Anabelle couldn't help but burst out laughing. "You are crazy!" she laughed, but put her hand in his anyway. "Yes, I know," Josh said, pulling her close. The loud, pounding beats of the dance music provided an odd background for the slow dance, but they really didn't care. Anabelle had to crane her neck up to look at him, he was that much taller than she was. She got an inkling of how Dana felt when she was being held by Mulder, if she had ever had been before. Anabelle had the feeling she had though, six years without even a hug between 'just friends' was not at all plausible. She was about to say something to Josh, when suddenly the doors to the club burst open and police in riot gear came swarming in. "Police! This is a raid!" various cops shouted, and panic broke out. "I don't fucking believe this," Anabelle muttered over the din so that only Josh could hear her. "I say we get the hell out of here as fast as possible," Josh said, looking around at the people swarming around them. "Yeah," Anabelle agreed, and they untangled themselves, each feeling slightly reluctant to let go. She compensated for the loss by grabbing onto his hand under the guise of not wanting to get lost in the crowd. Josh stood on his tiptoes, trying to see where the other four were. "I can't see them," he said, yelling down to her. "Damn," Anabelle cursed. She wanted to get out of there before the cops got a hold of them for whatever reason. She wasn't up to spending another night in jail. "Wait, there they are," she said when she spotted them near the door. Lee spotted the two of them and waved frantically. When they finally joined up a few voices said "What the hell is going on?" "I'm not sure," Harry said, "but I think I heard someone say something about drugs." "Oh, joy," Lucy muttered sarcastically. "Let's get out of here now!" The chaos in the crowd provided the perfect way for them to slip out past the cops stationed at the door. They knew for sure they weren't involved, but they didn't want to take the chance and land in unnecessary trouble so as soon as they arrived at the side street the car was on the sped out of there and didn't look back. Later that night Mulder and Scully sat on the couch watching some reruns on television and trying to ignore the lingering odor of potato chips. From out of nowhere Mulder leaned his head onto the back of the couch and sighed heavily. "Do you know how old I feel today, Scully?" he asked. Scully turned to him with a puzzled look on her face. "What do you mean?" she said. Mulder sighed again. "She's turning sixteen today. I know people who are well into their fifties who've got daughters turning sixteen. I'm only thirty-six and I feel a lot older than I should." Scully reached over and rubbed his arm sympathetically. "I wouldn't worry about it," she soothed him. "You had her a lot earlier than you planned to--" "I never planned to have her," he cut her off. "Let me finish," she insisted. "What I trying to say is that maybe she would have been born eventually, and you'd still be feeling like this when she turned sixteen no matter what age you were. Maybe it's just something that happens with having a kid..." she trailed off, not able to think of anything more to say. "So what you're saying is that this is probably normal?" Mulder said with a slight smile. "Yes," Scully grinned. "It's nice to know I can do something normal," he smirked. 10:30 p.m. After searching for other places to go with an astonishing lack of success the group decided it wasn't worth the trouble and decided to drive to another place where they could possibly find somewhere to hang out. A couple of hours and two 'we're lost''s later they ended up in the parking lot of an ice cream parlor with a map from the local gas station spread out over the hood of the car. "I think we're here," Lee said, jabbing at the map with the spoon from her frozen yogurt. "And where is here?" Josh asked, leaning over the map. "Somewhere in Virginia, I think," Lee said. Anabelle sighed and walked over to lean against the side of the car, taking a thoughtful lick of her cone. Lucy joined her, leaning next to her. "Some way to spend your birthday, huh?" Lucy said. Anabelle smirked. "It's surely one I'll remember," she said. "I don't think I've ever spent most of my birthday party in a car before." She shivered slightly, even the night was oddly warm for the beginning of April. "I'm just wondering what do we do now, that's all." "Hey Lee!" Lucy called out. "Yeah?" "About how long would it take to get home from here?" "An optimistic guess would be an hour. That's assuming absolutely nothing goes wrong, we don't get lost, nothing. Now what are the chances of that?" Lee called back. Anabelle rolled her eyes. "That's it, let's just get the hell out of here and go home. If we're lucky we'll be there by midnight," she yelled, tired of everything at the moment. "I think we may have to," Harry said, walking back over to the group as he pocketed his cell phone. "My mom just called, she wants me home because my sister is having a crisis and needs them up at her place." "Crisis?" Lill asked with a puzzled look on her face. Harry rolled his eyes. "Her apartment got flooded and she's got no one to help her muck out the place. So my mom wants me home within the hour before she leaves." "That settles it then," Lee said. "Let's go, and hope like hell we don't get lost again." The six got back into the car and drove out of the parking lot. The route they had to take to lead them home led them down a rural road, complete with forests on each side, kept from growing out onto the road by a metal guard rail and a streetlight every few hundred feet or so. Anabelle sighed and rested her head against the window, feeling the coolness on her forehead. "Not the birthday you expected, hmm?" she heard whispered in her ear by Josh. She laughed under her breath and leaned back against the seat to look at him. "Definitely not. Better than last year's attempt at a party, but there's been better through the years," Anabelle said, a tired look falling over her face. Josh wrapped an arm around Anabelle's shoulder as comfort and she leaned into him, feeling her eyes slide shut. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep she heard Lill's voice come from the direction of the trunk. "That car looks like it's coming awfully close," she said. Anabelle turned her head around to see a pair of headlights close to them through the back window. "You're right," Lucy said, twisting around from the front seat. The headlights seemed to come closer and closer at an alarming speed, appearing to be barely even two feet from the back of their car. Anabelle dug her fingernails into Josh's arm, feeling a knot of nervousness start in her stomach. Suddenly there was the screeching whine of metal on metal. "Oh, shit!" Anabelle slowly felt consciousness returning. She wasn't sure what had happened, all she could remember was a screech of metal, a loud crunching sounds, breaking glass... Her insides seized up at the memory of breaking glass, sending her spiraling into a flashback of that night at Jennifer's. The sounds of screaming, glass breaking, pain and blood everywhere. "Anabelle!" Someone was calling her name, in her head she saw it as if Jennifer were speaking to her. Someone called out again, the voice sounding different than how she remembered Jennifer's. She gasped sharply and her eyes popped open only to see Josh's golden colored eyes extremely close to hers. The odd angle she was lying at triggered in her head what happened. They were run off the road by another car and ended up in a ditch. By sheer luck they managed not to crash into a tree. "Are you okay?" Josh was asking her. His body was leaning heavily against hers, pressing her against the door in an awkward position. Anabelle breathed out shakily. "I think so," she said, squinting at the feel of a sticky liquid dripping down over her eye. It took her a minute to realize it was blood, coming from a very large gash on the right side of her forehead. She began to raise her right arm to wipe the blood out of her eye, but she screamed sharply, "Oh, GOD!" and dropped her arm back to the hollow between the front and back seat. "I think it's broken," she gasped, painful jabs shooting through her arm. Josh reached up with his right hand and tried to wipe as much blood out of her eyes as possible. "Is anything else broken?" he asked. "No," Anabelle said, wiggling her toes to see if they were still there. "Nothing else hurts as much." There was a rattling sound in the front seat. "Is everyone okay?" Lee said in a weak voice. "Define okay," Harry groaned. Anabelle stretched her neck, trying to see over Josh. She was trying to see how everyone was without much success. "I'm alive," Lill called out, "although I don't think my knee will forgive me." "I think something's happened to my elbow," Lucy said next. "My head hurts," Anabelle whined. "And I know I broke my wrist." "I killed my arm," Josh muttered. "Okay," Lee said, trying to calm herself down and organize a plan. "Now that we've established that we're all alive does anyone have any objections to getting out of here?" There was a chorus of groaned and muttered "No"'s. Lee pushed her door open, hearing it creak unnaturally loud. She slid awkwardly onto the slanted ground, gingerly trying to keep her weight off the ankle she was sure was sprained. All around the car people were struggling to get out. Lucy wedged her own battered door open, and keeping her hurt elbow bent close to her body hopped out. Harry managed to get his own door open and after he slid out, Josh and Anabelle followed, each taking care to stretch out the parts of their cramped bodies that they could. Anabelle noted with mixed feelings of sickness and detachment that the blood staining the other window was probably hers. When the first five were out they slowly went around to the back of the car to try and pry open the hatch to get Lill out. Since her leg was in such an injured state she couldn't crawl over the backs of the other seats to get out. With four of them each using one good arm and a few sturdy branches they were able to pry apart the somewhat crushed metal. Lill slid to the edge, keeping herself away from the rougher edges of the broken metal. "Okay, now one of you hand me that box back there, it's an emergency kit," Lee said. Lucy reached in and grabbed it for her. They managed to support Lee and Lill enough to struggle up the edge of the ditch, past the wrecked guard rail and onto the soft shoulder. They sat down in a line, a battered row of tired travelers. Lee cracked open the emergency kit and pulled out a small lantern. "You've got everything in there, don't you?" Anabelle said when she saw that. "It never hurts to be prepared," Lee said. "Besides, it was my parents' idea. Ummm, does anyone know any first aid?" she said nervously. "Uh...." "I can bandage some things," Lill said. "Maybe make a few slings." "We'll settle for that," Lee said, pulling out a pair of scissors. "You first, Josh, yours looks easiest." "It's just a cut I think," Josh said, gingerly stripping off his coat. He walked over to where Lill was, who now had the scissors and the bandages. He only managed to wince a little as she wrapped it up. "What about you, Harry?" Lill asked. Harry was clutching his arm close to his stomach in the same manner as Lucy was. "I don't know," Harry said. "It just really hurts. Maybe a sling would help, I don't know." He walked over to Lill, who tried to wind long strings of bandages around his bent arm to make a sling. "I don't know if that's going to do any good," he sighed. Lill shrugged. "Maybe if you just keep it still?" "What about you, Anabelle?" Lucy said, turning to her. "You said your wrist was broken." Anabelle looked down at the wrist that was resting at an odd angle against her stomach. "Yeah, something's wrong with it." "I think your shirt will make a better sling than these bandages," Lill said, holding up the scissors. "I'm going to freeze!" Anabelle whined. "All I've got on under this is a halter." "But your wrist is broken," Lill persisted. "That takes precedence over you being cold." "Aww, all right," Anabelle sighed, walking over to her. Lill took up the scissors and started slicing through the shirt. When it was all off Lill used the cloth to tightly bind the broken wrist and arm to Anabelle's torso. "Well, it's not going anywhere, but it should hold you until help comes, whenever that is," Lill said when she was finished. "It still hurts like hell," Anabelle muttered. "Damn." She heard Harry mutter from off to one side. Anabelle walked over to where he and Josh were staring disgustedly down at his cell phone. "What's wrong?" Anabelle asked. "We're in a dead zone, I can't get through to 911," Harry said. Anabelle noticed that he was wincing with pain more as time went on. "Great," Anabelle sighed. "I'm going to walk down the road a way, see if I can get better reception," Josh said, taking the cell phone from Harry. "By yourself?" Anabelle said incredulously. "Not a chance!" Lee called out from where she was bandaging up her swollen ankle. "We don't need any of you getting lost." "So let me go with you," Anabelle said with a stubborn look on her face. "With a busted arm? Are you crazy?" Josh replied. "Harry's still in pain, just take a look at him, Lee and Lill can't walk, and Lucy hasn't been bandaged up yet. You don't exactly have a choice!" Anabelle yelled back at him, tired and in pain and feeling extremely worn out. "Fine!" Josh huffed, throwing his arms up in the air as he leaned back against the guardrail. "Take this with you," Lee said, tossing Anabelle a flashlight from the emergency kit. "Thanks," Anabelle said, catching it left handed and wincing as it jarred her injured wrist. "Let's get going," she nearly growled at Josh, who rolled his eyes and started walking down the road after her. Anabelle used the flashlight to guide their way to the next streetlight. "Let me try here," Josh said, hitting the redial button. A few seconds later he groaned and dropped the phone back to his side. "Still no signal." Five streetlights later it was still the same story. Josh was about ready to give the cell phone from hell a drop kick into the next millennium. "Let's trade off," Anabelle sighed, using the flashlight to look back down the road and to try and figure out exactly how far they had come. "Here you go," Josh said, trading the cell phone for the flashlight. "Let's try the next light," Anabelle said, turning slowly on her heel and walking on. She heard Josh's footsteps trailing along behind her. Somewhere in between the two lights, on the darkest part of the road Josh suddenly stopped. "Wait up a sec." "What is it?" Anabelle said, starting to turn around. "No, don't turn around," Josh said, freezing her in her tracks. She heard his footsteps coming close and saw the light from the flashlight bobbing ahead of her on the asphalt. Anabelle could feel the exact moment when Josh was barely a foot away from here. Josh's hand came up and pushed her hair and the tie to her bandanna away. "You've got a pretty nasty cut back here," he said softly. Anabelle twisted her neck around to look at Josh, but then hissed in pain. "Ah!" she gasped, feeling pain course through her neck, back, and shoulder. Josh ran his fingers over the skin right below the cut. "It looks pretty bad, you're bleeding all the way down...." he trailed off suddenly, but his fingers still moved over the open skin exposed by the halter back. Anabelle took in a shaky breath. "What is it?" she asked hesitantly. She was getting slightly unnerved by the feel of Josh's fingertips on her bare skin. "Your back," Josh said softly. "It's all scarred." Anabelle groaned and let her head fall forward, ignoring the pulling of the cut. With her head bent down like that she felt the blood from the cut on her forehead drip down her eye once more; it was still bleeding. "Don't worry about it," Anabelle said, turning around. Josh's hand remained on her skin and trailed blood around to where his hand came to a rest on her shoulder. She squinted at the sudden gleam of the flashlight in her eyes. Josh looked at Anabelle. He thought she made a rather gruesome picture, with the harsh light from the flashlight gliding over battered features and blood-stained pale skin. But what really got him was the look in her eyes, a nervous and tired look that made him wonder what he could do in order to get rid of it. "What happened?" he asked, running his hand down her left arm, ignoring the blood that he was trailing down it. Anabelle looked up at his golden brown eyes, turned pale by the bad lighting. 'What did he mean by that?' she thought, unsure of why he was asking after she told him not to worry about it. Did he just want to be nosy, or was he genuinely interested? She couldn't tell, but when she looked into his eyes again she saw something there that told her that he really cared. 'Is that the sign of a good friend?' she wondered. "Okay," Anabelle finally sighed, moving to perch on the ever present guard rail on the side of the road. "You just can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, that's all." Josh sat down on her left side so as not to accidentally bump into her injured wrist. "This is going to be pretty complicated," she said, pushing some hair back behind her ear. "We've got time," Josh said wryly, thinking of the busted car and the dead phone. Anabelle twisted her lips into a sort of smile. "I guess so," she sighed. "Okay," she said, taking a deep breath to compose herself. "The scars on my back are from when my mother attacked me, whacked me across the back a few times with a vodka bottle." "Your mother?" Josh said incredulously. He couldn't even possibly comprehend why a mother would do that to her own child. "Well actually I didn't know she was my mother until about a month ago," Anabelle said. "What?" he said with a puzzled look on his face, and Anabelle laughed lightly. "I told you it was complicated. I should just start at the beginning. My birth mother was an old girlfriend of my father's back in college. He was only twenty when I was born and she didn't want me so my father gave me to his aunt to raise me as her own child. About a month ago I found out that the guy who I thought was my cousin was actually my father, and I ended up moving in with him soon after because my aunt was moving overseas and I wasn't going with her. "Now here's where the scars come in. I didn't know it at the time, but I had met my birth mother before, back in 1991. She invited me and my real father (who I thought was my cousin at the time) over for dinner and she'd been drinking a lot and just snapped. Hit me with the bottle on my head, did a number on my back. She actually ended up killing herself that very night so I think it's no great loss. And that's pretty much the condensed version of the story," Anabelle finished. Josh sighed disbelieveingly, taking time to digest what he just heard. "It sounds like something out of a novel, or a TV show," he finally said. "My family's got its share of oddities," Anabelle grinned. "This is par for the course." Her smile faded as she looked down at the cellphone in her lap. "Might as well give it another shot," she sighed. She hit the redial button and was extremely surprised when it actually rang. "Holy shit, it's ringing," she gasped. "911, what is your emergency?" an operator said, and Anabelle sighed with relief. "Yeah, um, we were in a car accident," Anabelle said, suddenly at a loss for what to say. Josh slid over against her side to listen to the call and she tilted the phone slightly towards him. "Can you tell me what happened?" the operator asked. "Um, we were in a car accident, um, someone ran us off the road," Anabelle stuttered, nervousness setting in. "Okay," the operator said, "take a deep breath and calm down, can you do that?" "Yeah," Anabelle said, taking another shuddering breath. "Okay." "Now, was anyone seriously injured?" was the next question. "Uh," she said, "no one's bleeding to death or anything like that I think, but there's still some broken bones. I think I broke my wrist." "What about your friends? How many are there?" "There's six of us altogether. One hurt her knee, another her ankle, a shoulder," she trailed off, leaning against Josh for support. "Okay, good," the operator soothed. "Now, we just need your location, and we'll dispatch the ambulances." Anabelle looked over at Josh. "Sarter Road," he whispered. "Sarter Road, heading towards Georgetown," Anabelle said into the phone. "Okay, we'll have the ambulances there as soon as possible. Now, can you put me on the phone with your friends so I can see how they are?" "No," Anabelle said nervously. "We had to walk a way to find an area the cell phone would work in. They're down the road somewhere." "You said we, is there someone else with you?" "Yeah, that's Josh," Anabelle said, looking over at him. "And what's your name?" "Uh, Anabelle. Anabelle Mulder." "Okay, now I want you to put Josh on the phone," the operator said. Anabelle handed the phone over to him. "Yeah?" he said, his voice sounding tired. "How are you, Josh? What are your injuries?" Josh looked down at his left arm. "Well, mostly cuts, a really bad one in my arm. We tried to bandage it up but it's still bleeding." "Okay," the operator said. "And what about Anabelle?" He looked over at her next, her head lolling tiredly against his good arm. By this time she had his jacket draped around her shoulders to ward off the cold. For some reason he didn't care about the blood getting on there. "Uh, I'm pretty sure she broke her right wrist, she can't move it.. She's also got some really bad cuts that keep bleeding, on her forehead and neck and shoulder." "Is she getting drowsy or starting to fall asleep?" He felt the weight against his arm. "Yeah, I think so." "There's a chance she could have a concussion," the operator said. "You're going to have to try and keep her awake until the ambulances get there." "What should I do?" Josh asked. "Try to get her to talk to you, keep her talking and awake." "She was talking fine before," Josh said nervously. "It's just now that she's getting sleepy." He nudged her with his shoulder and heard her groan and nudge back. "It would still be safest to keep her awake." "Okay," Josh said, turning slightly to look at her. "Hey, how you feeling?" he asked. Anabelle turned an evil looking eye at him. "I just got into a car accident, walked God knows how far in the cold and you ask me how I'm feeling?" she practically growled. Josh shrugged slightly. "The operator said to keep you awake." "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Anabelle muttered. "I've had a concussion before, I know the drill." "Good," the operator said into Josh's ear. "Now I want to keep you on the line until the ambulances get there." For an amount of time neither Josh nor Anabelle could pinpoint they talked about nonsensical things between them and the operator designed for the sole purpose of keeping them aware until the ambulances got there. Soon Anabelle lifter her head off of Josh's shoulder. "Do you hear that?" she said. "What is it?" Josh asked. "It sounds like sirens," Anabelle said, looking up and down the road. When they saw the red and blue lights there was a collective sigh of relief. 3:30 a.m. Mulder opened his eyes sleepily. The last thing he was aware of was watching television with Scully. Now he was slumped back against the arm of the couch with Scully fast asleep draped over his leg and hip with her head pillowed on his side. As much as the position was uncomfortable he would be happy to sleep like that if it meant Scully waking up beside him. He then realized why he had suddenly been awakened. The phone on the end table was ringing right next to his head. He reached back and picked it up. "Hello?" he said softly, trying not to wake Scully. "Mr. Fox Mulder?" A voice on the other end said. "Yes," Mulder said, still feeling slightly asleep. "This is Doctor Douglas at George Washington University Hospital. It's about your daughter Anabelle. She was in a car accident earlier tonight." Mulder sat up straighter on the couch, his sudden movements jostling Scully awake. She looked up at him with puzzled eyes, but Mulder's sharp nod of 'no' quickly silenced any comments she was thinking of. "Is she okay?" "Well she doesn't have any extremely seriously injuries, but she's been hurt," Doctor Douglas said. "I'll be right down," Mulder said, and clicked off the phone. "What is it?" Scully asked with a worried look on her face. "Anabelle got into a car accident," Mulder sighed, leaning his head against the back of the couch. Scully ran her hand up his side in an attempt to comfort him. "What hospital is she at?" "GWU," Mulder said, looking down at her face which displayed many different emotions that he couldn't identify. What he saw though seemed to warm something deep inside his heart. "Let's go get her," Scully said with finality, and Mulder nodded. Mulder guided his car into the very familiar parking lot of George Washington University Hospital. He knew he had been there countless times before, and he had hoped that Anabelle would not have ended up in there for a long time. But knowing her propensity for trouble he wasn't that surprised he'd gotten the call from the hospital. He found a parking spot and pulled in. Scully looked over at him and ran a hand up his arm. "Let's get going," she said. The hospital emergency waiting area was surprisingly full for 4 o'clock in the morning, but it took them a second to realize that they were all there for the same reason--to retrieve their injured children. There was a woman in a business suit, another one slouched in a chair looking extremely tired. There was an Indian couple, and another rather well dressed couple. "Oh, shit," Mulder muttered, stopping in the entranceway. "What is it?" Scully asked. He motioned to the well dressed couple. "One of Belle's friend's is the son of a senator." "Senator and Mrs. Aidenn," Scully sighed. "Uh-huh," Mulder muttered. "This just keeps getting better and better," he said as they found seats. Scully looked around at the group in there, a bunch of adults obviously awakened from sleep. The only one who looked even remotely awake was the woman in the business suit with the British accent. She was standing in a corner of the room speaking into a cellphone. She figured that it was already the business day in Europe. After that she pretty much gave up thinking and rested her head on Mulder's shoulder. A few minutes later a doctor in a lab coat walked in the waiting area. The people in there suddenly sat up straighter, eager for news. "Are you all here because of the motor vehicle accident?" the doctor asked. They all nodded. "I'm Dr. Douglas, I spoke with you on the phone. Now all your children are fine and will be able to go home tonight." Amidst the sighs of relief one of the women called out, "Are we going to be able to see them anytime soon?" Dr. Douglas nodded. "I'll show you where they are and explain their conditions to each of you separately if you'll just follow me." They filed out of the room, with Mulder and Scully bringing up the rear. "You know this seems really familiar," Mulder whispered to Scully as they walked down a hall. "We've probably been here more times in the past two years than they have in their lives," Scully whispered back with a grin. "That's not exactly something to be proud of though." "Finances sure hates it," Mulder said. Dr. Douglas was showing the parents into the rooms with their kids in it. Towards the end of the hallway he turned to Mulder and Scully. "Right in here, Mr. Mulder," he said, motioning to an open door. Mulder and Scully walked in to see a very tired looking Anabelle sitting on an examining table. Hearing their footsteps she looked up and smiled sleepily at them. "Hey," she said. They moved closer to her. "How are you doing, Belle?" Mulder asked, leaning against the examining table. Anabelle motioned to her right arm, which was now in a pale blue cast that ended right below her elbow. "Wanna sign?" Aside from that she had a large bandage on her forehead over her right eye, and there was an intern sewing tight, neat stitches into the cut on her neck and shoulder. "What are her injuries?" Scully asked the intern. The intern kept stitching as he answered her question. "She's got a fractured wrist, and two lacerations, one on the right forehead and one on the back of her neck and shoulder." "What's the course of treatment?" Scully said, moving to look at where he was stitching her up. "Well, she'll have some pain pills for the wrist, and she'll have to check up with a doctor in about a week to see how the stitches are. Then when the cast comes off she'll have to go for physical therapy in order to regain full use of the wrist," the intern said. At that moment Dr. Douglas walked in and said, "I hope my assistant has explained everything satisfactorily." Mulder and Scully nodded. "Good. Now, I've just got some papers for you to sign and then you can all go home." "Oh, thank God," Anabelle sighed, leaning against Mulder. Soon after that the three were walking back through the waiting area, Anabelle hanging onto Mulder's arm tiredly. Anabelle couldn't wait to get home, it had been the night from hell and all she wanted at that point was to sleep through the weekend. When she saw Josh leaning against the wall she realized she was still holding onto his jacket. "I'll be right back," she said, and then walked over to him. "Here's your jacket," she said, holding it out to him. "Sorry I, uh, bled all over it." Josh took it with his good arm, the other was in a sling. "It's no problem," he said, exhaustion evident in his voice. Anabelle motioned to his arm. "What did the doctor say?" "It's a really bad cut," he said wryly. "What about you?" She looked down at her nearly identical sling. "Just what we thought. My wrist is busted and I got cut up a little." She shrugged. "At least I'll get out of gym for a while." Josh laughed sleepily, but stopped when he caught sight of something and rolled his eyes. Anabelle turned slightly to see Josh's parents talking heatedly with a police officer. "What are they doing?" she asked. "My dad's trying to get the cops from saying anything to the media about the accident," he sighed. Anabelle shot him a puzzled look. "It's because every time something remotely bad happens to us and people hear about it they get nosy and I personally don't relish the attention so he's trying to stop things now." She shook her head, although with a slight smile. "Whatever. I'll see you on Monday, if I don't end up sleeping through it." "See you then," Josh smirked. Anabelle walked back over to Mulder and Scully. "All done," she said. "Let's get out of here then before you collapse," Mulder said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. The car ride home was pretty much a blur, tiredness and pain pills reducing her to a low level of awareness. Soon though she was home and settling into her sleeping bag with her cast covered arm propped up on a pillow. The last thing she realized before she dropped off to sleep was that Scully had come to the hospital with Mulder. Given the late hour she figured he wouldn't have called her just for this, so did that mean she had slept here? Anabelle fell asleep with a slight smile on her face. After they had gotten Anabelle to sleep Mulder collapsed on the couch, with Scully falling right next to him. He dropped his head against the back of the couch and sighed heavily. "I just knew this would happen." "No you didn't," Scully said. "Didn't you hear what that police officer said? Someone ran them off the road, the fresh scrapes and paint chips on the back of the car attest to that." "But she's one of those people who just seems to have trouble follow her around. I should have seen this coming." "She obviously takes after her father then." Scully looked at her watch and groaned. "It's late, I'm tired, so would you mind if I stayed here for a little while?" she asked drowsily. "Nope," Mulder said around a yawn. "Make yourself at home..." he trailed off, falling asleep mid-sentence and sooner than he had expected. Scully didn't hear him either after 'nope', her eyes had closed and she was fast asleep against his shoulder. The next morning Anabelle was awakened by the sun shining directly in her eyes. She wasn't sure of what had happened the night before, but when she tried to raise her right arm up and felt the heavy cast and a jolt of pain she remembered it all. She groaned and dropped her head back to the pillow, wincing at the tug on the stitches. She turned a bleary eye over to the clock near her head, and was surprised to see that it read 12:39 p.m. 'Might as well get up,' she thought, and tossed the sleeping bag back. Pushing herself up with her good arm she shook her head to clear it but then regretted it when the cut on her forehead screamed with pain. "Owies," she winced. Anabelle shakily got to her feet and tugged down the t-shirt that was serving as pajamas. She practically staggered out of the room and down the stairs, still incredibly tired. 'Where are those pain pills?' she wondered. She made her stumbling way into the living room where Mulder was sitting on the couch. She noticed that Scully wasn't there anymore, meaning she had probably gone home. Mulder looked up from the file he was reading when Anabelle dropped onto the couch next to him in an unladylike fashion. "Work again on a Saturday?" she asked, looking at the files spread out across his lap and on the coffee table. "I have no life, that's an established fact," Mulder said, putting the file on the table. "So how are you feeling?" Anabelle rubbed her good hand across her eyes. "Like hell," she muttered. "That's certainly understandable," Mulder said. "The police showed us pictures of the car, that thing's pretty mangled." Groaning, she said, "Lee's going to kill someone, she just got that car." "She shouldn't worry, since it wasn't her fault insurance will cover all of it," he soothed her. "That's good," she said, her eyes drifting shut for a second but then popping open again. They focused on the TV screen playing a spring training baseball game. "Who's playing?" "Yankees versus Orioles," Mulder said. "When's the season opener?" "Next Thursday." "Are you going to let me stay home from school to watch it?" "No." "Do you think we could get tickets to a game?" Anabelle asked wistfully. "I think we could," Mulder said, not at all against the idea, he and Anabelle both loved baseball. Maybe he could even convince Scully to go with them. "Cool," Anabelle said. "Let's try and make it Yankees versus Red Sox." "That'll be near impossible." For him maybe, but not the Gunmen. "And we'll get a ticket for Lucy too. She's a die hard Sox fan because she used to live right near Boston. She's been ranting on and on about how the Sox are gonna go all the way to the series and win and I have to prove it to her that the Yankees are gonna win it again." Mulder grinned. No matter what twists and turns were thrown into their lives there were some things that always stayed the same. Like baseball. End 'This is the Fish Patrol in 201. Our flying fish has flown away. In fact, things are so rotten around here that even the pigs won't stay! But we'll fight to the bitter end! Beware The Fish!' Bruno Walton Beware The Fish
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