DISCLAIMER: X-Files and its characters belong to C.C. and 1013 Productions. No copyright infringement intended, no money be made.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the result of a prompt given to me by oxfordshoes2. She supplied the first sentence. While this is set in my 'Weak in the Knees' universe, it is not part of the series.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
The Shootout
By Dhamphir
No matter how many times she had drawn her weapon in the past, it still caused her heart to pound and every muscle to tense. Once again, she squinted her eyes and held her breath. She had to be ready; she was in a very dangerous position – pinned down, outnumbered, and surrounded. And to make matters worse, Dana didn't know where Jess was or if she was alright.
They had thought splitting up would work to their advantage. If one of them got hit, the other still had a chance to make it. Another shot impacted only a couple of inches from her head. Dana cringed, that's what happened every time she tried to take a peek to look for a way out of this. She wondered why they all just didn't close in and end it.
Dana nearly jumped out of her skin and had a heart attack as someone surprised her by landing right next to her. She brought her weapon around but was stopped when a hand clamped onto her wrist.
"Hey! It's me."
"Jess! I was afraid they'd gotten you."
"They almost did."
Dana couldn't keep from giving her partner a close once over to satisfy herself that Jess was not hit.
"I'm okay, Dana, I promise." Jess jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "I got the one that was coming up behind you. If we keep low enough we can probably make it back out the way we came in." She paused and took a deep breath. "Or, we can try to keep going and get what we came here for."
The two women held each other's eyes as they silently communicated with a determined look and a slight nod.
"Alright, on three," Jess said.
Dana reached out and grabbed her partner's hand, giving it a meaningful squeeze. If only there was something more she could say in this 'do or die' moment. "I love you."
Grey eyes softened. "I love you, too."
On 'three' they went for it, jumping clear of what little cover they had with a yell and guns firing. If they were lucky, one of them might still be alive when the dust settled.
Finally, the rounds stopped and there was silence. Dana looked around at fallen bodies as she tried to catch her breath. Then she spotted Jess – she had it in her hand! But there was a large red spot in the center of her chest. Jess had sacrificed herself to achieve the mission.
Dana walked over, took the red flag from her partner's hand, and held it aloft. "We win!"
"Oh, man!"
"That was not fair!"
"I can't believe it!"
The groans and complaints came from paint spattered 'victims' – Dana's brothers and nephews.
Jess stood up, pulled off her protective goggles and face shield, and slipped her arm around Dana's waist. "I'm telling you guys, no one's a better shot than Dana," she said with a grin. "That's why we're the paintball champs."
The End