7. We're Close and Then We Run

                                    

                                          
Mulder headed back towards his apartment, when he noticed there seemed to be more police on the road. That was odd, but D.C. was full of crime. An uneasy feeling washed over him as a thought crossed his mind. What if they were looking for him?
                          
No. That's ridiculous.
                          
Driving through the city, Mulder realized one of the cars turned around to follow him, but tried to keep it casual. Doing a random U-turn on M street is not "random." It was dark, so he wondered how someone saw him.
                          
What do I do? Mulder was still ten minutes away from his apartment. He remembered he threw his phone out, so he couldn't even call Scully. He decided to take a detour, but the cop was still slowly following him, definitely.
                          

                          

                          
Scully, into her third hour was still driving around the same streets over and over, in a grid search with Skinner, when she got another call.
                          
"Please say you have good news."
                          
"We found him. He's heading northwest on M street towards Alexandria." We've got a couple following him. We're waiting until he gets to a quiet road to turn the sirens on."
                          
"I'm heading there right now. I don't think he'll lead us on a chase."
                          
"Mulder is unpredictable right now, and possibly not thinking straight."
                          
Scully redirected her way to M street and sure enough, she saw the lights start flashing on this side street, so she followed.
                          

                          
Mulder saw the lights finally flash behind him. He couldn't go to jail! He somehow thought he would go to his apartment, tell Scully, and everything would be alright. It wasn't going to be alright. Fuck.
                          
He had two options. Try to avoid them, or surrender. Time was running out. It was a stupid move to throw out his phone. He wished he could call Scully, but then he realized there was a small radio in the car. Please work.
                          
He reached to it and set the frequency to the bureau one.
                          
"Scully?" he asked.
                          
"This is Officer Smith with the MPDC. Who is this?"
                          
"I'm Agent Fox Mulder, with the FBI. I need to talk to Agent Scully.
                          
A minute of silence before he replied, "We need you to pull over."
                          
"Let me talk to Scully first."
                          
"Mulder!"
                          
"Scully," Mulder said as his voice cracked.
                          
"You need to pull over."
                          
"Please tell me you didn't go to my apartment..."
                          
"Mulder, we don't want you for the drugs."
                          
"Then why is the whole capital looking for me?"
                          
"Mulder, just pull over so we can talk."
                          
"Are you going to send me to the hospital?" The line was silent. "Scully, I have something to tell you, but they're listening so I need to just talk to you. I fucked up."
                          
"Mulder, don't say that."
                          
"I failed, Scully."
                          
"Failed what?"
                          
"I failed to- to keep you," he said, instantly breaking down into tears. He looked at himself in the mirror. You're sick, Mulder. Physically and mentally. Know the signs. He looked to his wrist again which was losing a lot of blood, the shirt still soaked.