Title:  There Comes a Time
    by Dyann Zimmerman
Disclaimer:  The characters of Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Walter 
    Skinner, Margaret Scully and the Lone Gunmen... belong to 
    Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, Fox, whoever, whatever, etc.  
    No infringement is intended.
Category:  MSR; Angst; RST
Spoilers:  Several episodes, but nothing anyone reading this 
           hasn't already seen.
Rating:  NC-17 for sexual content and language.  Some violence.
Archive:  Go for it.
Summary:  Mulder and Scully get together amidst their everyday 
    life with a tangential case as an excuse for them to do 
    something other than hit the sack.
Feedback:  Welcomed at philer@onemain.com 


THERE COMES A TIME


HITCHCOCK'S PUB
WASHINGTON, DC
FRIDAY, 6:18pm
Five days into his two-week suspension, Fox Mulder was 
impatiently waiting to meet his partner at Hitchcock's Pub, a 
location way too smoky and intolerably too crowded for his usual 
tastes.  But he was anxious to see her.  Already bored with his 
forced exile from work, he found himself needful of more than 
their multi-daily telephone conversations.  As he sipped 
at his pint of Guinness, his eyes scanned the mostly male crowd 
for her distinctive red hair.  "Shit.  Friday afternoon happy 
hour in a Bureau watering hole.  Why did I pick this place?" he 
mentally mumbled to himself, impatiently checking his watch for 
the tenth, twentieth...hundredth time before reminding himself 
that it was he who was early, not she who was late.  

The relationship between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully didn't often
extend beyond their work as Special Agents for the FBI.  Over
their seven-year partnership they had been out for drinks or 
dinner at various times and, as he remembered fondly, to a 
couple of movies on an errant Saturday night, having even 
celebrated a few holidays together. But if they weren't on a 
case, they seldom socialized---especially not in public and, most 
certainly, not in a place so close to the J. Edgar Hoover
building where they might be seen by someone eager to add fodder 
to the office rumor mill. 

There were enough wild tales flying around FBI circles about Fox
Mulder and many of them included his female partner.  He would 
have been satisfied to just thumb his nose at such notions and 
regard them for what he knew them to be---inconsiderable 
ramblings by petty people.  But he had become sensitive to that 
kind of talk because of his awareness of his partner's 
understandable defensive reaction to it.  Despite her medical
degree and her impressive years of experience with the FBI, she 
was still absolutely driven to be perceived of as nothing less 
than equal to her male counterparts.  She regarded the 
water-cooler comments as an affront to her professional 
competence and her personal dignity and he had to admit,possibly 
because of her association with him, that she was probably right. 

As she entered the pub and made her way through the maze of suits
and clamorous laughter and conversation, her eyes and ears 
struggled to adjust as she focused on searching for Fox Mulder.  
Being diminutive rarely had any advantages and looking for 
another person in a crowded bar was certainly an instance when 
that fact was most evident.  However, after spotting a pair of 
crossed trouser legs below a copy of `The Lone Gunman' newspaper, 
she moved toward the empty chair across the table from them.  

"Hey," she said, getting his attention as she touched his arm.  

"Hey, Scully,"  he replied as he returned her smile over his 
newspaper before standing to move the chair for her to sit.  
"Good to see you!"  
 
"Good to see you, too, Mulder," she replied as she waved for a 
waiter.  She ordered a vodka tonic as Mulder folded his paper and 
devoted his attention to his partner.  "So, Mulder. What's up?" 
she asked.  He knew he was staring at her and grinning fairly 
much like an idiot, but in only a few short days, he had missed 
seeing her and his face mirrored his feelings.  Noticing his 
penetrating gaze, she nervously laughed, "What?" 

"Uh, sorry if I'm staring, Scully.  I'm just really glad to see 
you," he said as he looked down somewhat sheepishly.  

"God, Mulder.  You are really starving for some human interaction,
aren't you? Haven't you been out of your apartment all week?" she 
laughed. Hurriedly, he interjected that he was very anxious to hear 
about her new case, garnering a smiled reply from her that seemed 
tinged with some disappointment at thinking that seeing her might 
not be his only reason for their meeting.

Despite the infrequency of the occasions of their purely social
contacts, they were together most of the time anyway---working.  
They had never been romantically involved with each other, and, 
since becoming partners, not with anyone else for that matter.  
But something, some kind of unspoken need had seemed to be 
bringing them closer, not physically, but certainly emotionally.  
They had been there for each other through more illnesses, 
injuries and family tragedies than most married couples ever 
weathered together in a lifetime and the two instinctively knew 
that they were the most important person in each others' lives.  
Their comfortable raport with each other was rare, even with 
lovers; the obvious connection between them often mistaken by 
some as romance.  On the other hand, some people thought the two 
merely tolerated each other.  Only the two of them knew the 
strength and depth of their real relationship.  If there was a 
physical attraction, neither of them had admitted it---to each 
other or to themselves so that anyone would notice.  Their shared 
trust for each other was unquestionable, but their true need for 
each other had never been audibly expressed.  

If Mulder had known that carrying on any kind of conversation in 
this bar would have been such a challenge, he would have suggested 
another place, so they kept the topics trivial enough to be 
suitable for a low yell in case others would hear.  After only a 
few sips of her drink, Scully had wearied of the dull interchange 
forced on them by the atmosphere and the watchful eyes of several 
familiar co-workers.  She stood as she tilted her head to motion 
Mulder toward the door.  

Scully slipped her coat over her shoulders and waited outside in 
the January air while Mulder paid the tab.  As he exited, she 
rubbed her already smoke-reddened eyes and remarked "I couldn't 
endure another breath of that place, Mulder.  Let's go somewhere 
we don't have to scream at each other through cigar smoke and 
teenaged FBI agents."  

Smiling, he took her left elbow in his hand as he checked the 
traffic before steering her across the street to the parking 
garage.  "Scully, you got time to maybe get some dinner?"  he 
asked hopefully.  

"Dinner?  Really?  Wow, Mulder, you really are starved for human
contact."  Smiling, she continued, "Actually... I'd love to.  But 
after the week I've had, carry-out and my coffee table sound 
better than another attempt at finding someplace quiet around 
here." 

DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
GEORGETOWN, VA
FRIDAY, 9:12PM
They both sat conversationless on the floor finishing their meal 
from opposite sides of her coffee table.  It was cluttered with 
leaking take-out containers and a bottle of half-empty red wine 
sat just at the reach of Mulder's right hand.  The television was 
muted to yet another non-descript news channel and a Pat Metheny 
CD soothingly provided unnoticed background music. After 
devouring a large Caesar salad and seconds of seafood-mushroom
fettuccini, Mulder leaned back against the couch and finished the 
last swallow in his glass of Bordeaux.  "Damn, Scully.  A `1981'?  
Maybe you should've saved it for a special occasion."   

"What occasion could possibly be more special than you grilling 
me about this case?" she said facetiously.  "Mulder, if all you 
wanted was to find out about my case, why didn't you just ask me 
during one of the three occasions you called me at the office 
today?  And just think, it would have saved you the price of this 
meal."

"Well, you see Scully, I actually planned this whole scenario 
just to mooch some of your expensive wine.  And, to see... well, 
if... maybe... you might need my help on your case or..."   His 
voice trailed off as he seemed embarrassed by his stammering and 
his fear that she was beginning to realize he had absolutely no 
reason for asking to meet her other than just to be with her.

And she did realize it.  And although she was surprised by his 
effort, she was quietly gratified by his motive.  She had missed 
him too.   

The case she had been working on had been fairly routine in 
nature, but her experience with it had been nothing short of 
distressing.  The attitude of the local detective in charge had 
been so licentious that she had felt compelled to confront him 
about it.  Her very presence in the male realm of law enforcement 
had always elicited backhanded comments of varying degrees that 
often doubled as silent wolf whistles or condescending hints 
aimed solely for the purpose of testing for a reaction.  Her 
unprecedented self-control and cool unflappability had taught her 
to generally ignore the looks and remarks to avoid giving them 
credence.  But this particular man had crossed her line of 
tolerance.  She had made her boundaries clear---she would let it 
drop if he steered clear of her.  If not, she would report him 
and file charges.  He had reacted so angrily to her confrontation
that, at one point, she thought he was going to become physical 
and felt the force of his breath on her face as he yelled 
threats at her before she could move away from him.  But after a 
repeated warning, he had seemed to accept her stand and backed 
off.  She hadn't mentioned the incidents to anyone else or taken 
any formal action since her involvement in the case appeared to 
be finished.  She just wanted to get back to Washington and forget 
about it.

Since the case itself was essentially solved, she had almost put 
the whole matter out of her mind but Mulder had kept questioning 
her about the case.  "Mulder, this case is no big deal and it 
isn't anything close to being an X-File," she began.  "It 
initially appeared to be a suicide.  The victim, an over-achieving 
college sophomore, while seemingly the perfect co-ed, had a
long history of self-mutilation, most likely a manifestation from 
her childhood, which had been dominated with physical and sexual 
abuse," she continued, poking her fork at a few remaining pieces 
of her salad.  "The victim's sorority sister stated the girl had 
recently split with her boyfriend and had become despondent.  She 
said the victim had indicated that she was going home to stay with 
her mother for awhile, but the girl didn't show. The subsequent 
search found her desiccated corpse rotting in a $20-a-night motel 
room," she said with raised eyebrows for punctuation to her blunt 
description.  Noticing his expression of distaste, she moved her 
description back to the investigation.  "Suicide looked to be the 
plausible cause of her death---until I completed the autopsy."  
Scully continued her account of the case as she lifted her wine
glass toward Mulder in a gestured request for a refill. He poured 
her glass half-full and she took a sip, only momentarily 
interrupting the recounting of her week's activity.  

"During my examination of the body," she continued, "I discovered
multiple puncture wounds in various obscure areas of the girl's
body---inside the nasal cavity; between the toes; the perineum; 
under her tongue.  Further lab tests indicated a pervasive 
virulent infection that proved to be the actual cause of her 
death.  Mulder, evidently she met her boyfriend in a microbiology 
class and he had just enough knowledge to, essentially, make a 
home-brew of lethal bacteria from a multiform of ingredients, 
most notably rodent excrement, with a little human waste for
flavor," she added with a flippant tone she seldom used.

"Mmmm, shit soup.  Lovely," he grimaced.  "Sorry, I missed it."

"Anyway... clearly, after drugging her to the gills,the boyfriend 
had repeatedly injected her with his potion, which had time to 
putrefy further, over the course of several days.  Because of 
the organic ingredients, he assumed the bacterium wouldn't be 
discovered in autopsy and the real cause of her death would never 
be discovered---it would appear to be a typical OD/suicide.  The 
local authorities are looking for him as we speak...so...my 
involvement in this grim tale is essentially over.  Done.  
Finished," she reiterated with an affected satisfied grin.  
"So, you see Mulder, you haven't missed a thing.  No aliens.  
No clones.  No conspiracy between the boyfriend and a global 
consortium trying to kill off mankind one by one.  Nothing that 
would make the FBI regret they ever suspended you and, therefore, 
beg you to come back," she said smiling a small, knowing 
grin at him. "Sorry...but,the best thing about this case is...now  
I have a weekend off without any work hanging over my head and 
muddling my mind.  Kind of like your situation...but not," she 
teased. 

Mulder's hope for his method to interpolate himself into Scully's
case, and thus her weekend, now seemed to be lost as he resigned 
himself to spending the weekend and the rest of his `sentence' 
alone and bored. Recognizing his disappointment, Scully caught 
an urge to laugh and, instead, gave him an exaggerated pout.  
"Sorry, Mulder.  Looks like you're doomed to another week of 
sleep, relaxation and... the good fortune of being able to evade 
Skinner's requital.  You know, he's pissed at me, too. 
Guilt by association, Mulder.  You know how he can be."   
He got her point. It wasn't easy on her end either.

FRIDAY, 11:15pm
After yet another installment of `20/20' and seconds of cheese 
cake topped with an enormous portion of blueberries, Mulder 
slowly stood from his spot on the floor and stretched.  "Damn, 
Scully.  I'm getting old.  I creak," he said with a pained look 
on his face.  He picked up their dishes and took them to her sink 
as she followed, carrying their empty wine glasses. "Well, I 
guess I'll go," he yawned as he retrieved his coat from a 
neighboring chair.  He turned to look at her as he put his hand 
on the knob to her front door.  "So, what `cha doin' tomorrow, 
Scully?  Wanna go hit a few baseballs?" he said jokingly.  

Through her smile, she answered "Actually, I would, Mulder.  But 
I'm going to my mother's for the weekend.  I'd really rather lay 
around here and vegetate for the entire two days, but our caseload 
has been so chaotic lately that I need to take advantage of this 
break and spend some time with her." 

Dejectedly, he smiled as he opened the door to leave.  "Talk to 
you next week sometime, Scully.  Enjoy your visit with your 
mother," he said and closed the door as he left.  He paused in 
front of her door until he heard the deadbolt turn and the chain 
lock slide, once again accepting the probability of another 
weekend alone.  As he started to move down the hallway, he 
recognized a repetition of the same sounds he had just heard 
from her apartment and turned to find Scully peering around the 
edge of her opened door.   

"Hey, Mulder," she said somewhat shyly.  "If you aren't busy 
tomorrow night, why don't you come to my mother's and join us 
for dinner?  She doesn't have anything special planned, but, as 
you know, her culinary talents are considerable."

He didn't want to seem too eager, but immediately agreed.  "What
time?" he asked.  

"We'll probably eat around seven, but come earlier if you'd like. 
We're just hanging around the house," she said.

"Should I bring anything?" he said, nervously stuffing his hands 
into his coat pockets.

"Just yourself," she smiled and moved back into her apartment, 
again locking the door behind her.  

Scully knew that Mulder had been at loose ends since his mother 
died and since his realization and acceptance that his sister, 
too, was dead. He had been characteristically quiet about it all 
but she noticed a kind of sad cloud covering him since then.  She 
had offered to talk and even suggested that seeing a therapist 
might help, but he had become openly annoyed at her overtures so 
she hadn't mentioned it further.  She had also come to a 
realization of her own---she was all that Mulder had now. And 
while she grieved for him and his seemingly sad station in life, 
she had guiltily admitted to herself that she found some 
emotional comfort in her new status as Mulder's only significant 
other.  Even though her role thus far in his life wouldn't appear 
to conform to the usual interpretation of that expression, she 
felt it was her purpose because she knew he saw her that way too.  
He had seemed so disheartened upon leaving her apartment that 
she had hoped he might find some solace in the company of her 
mother and being included as part of her family, such as it was.  
It seemed apparent that he felt so too since he had so readily 
accepted her amiable invitation.  

MARGARET SCULLY RESIDENCE
SATURDAY, 12:20pm
Margaret Scully's house was crisply neat and clean and tastefully
decorated in a relaxed, homey way.  She could make it look more 
formal ifshe was entertaining, but the overall look had softened 
a bit since her husband had died and as she found herself 
entertaining less and less.  The house still seemed like home to 
her daughter and Scully had felt nostalgically comfortable as 
soon as she had arrived.  She liked coming here and immediately 
felt more like Dana and less like Scully as soon as she walked 
through her mother's door.  Every time she visited, she always
ended up promising herself it would not be so long between 
visits...next time. 

Scully had arrived at her mother's shortly after noon and had 
been greeted with the usual hugs and kisses.  Her mother's 
generous greeting helped somewhat to soften what generally came 
next---observations about her weight (or lack of it) and comments 
about how long it had been since she had last visited as well as 
the usual questions about work and, invariably, about Mulder.  

The two women talked, catching up on family news while enjoying 
tuna salad on melba toast, pretty much their staple lunch during 
Scully's visits to her mother's house despite her mother's 
oft-stated view that her daughter didn't eat adequately.  Scully 
would have felt something was missing if her mother had prepared 
anything different.  Since mentioning her invitation of Mulder 
for dinner, Scully had noticed that her mother seemed like she 
had just received news of an impending wedding.  However, after 
more fully explaining the reasons behind her invitation, her 
mother's reaction suddenly altered.

"What?!" Margaret exclaimed.  "Dana, I can't understand what Fox 
could have possibly done to warrant a suspension."

"Mom, you don't want to know," Scully sighed.  "But, trust me, he
deserved it.  To say that Mulder can be a bit impetuous and tend 
to go his own way even when he has been given a direct order not 
to is a monumental understatement.  Anyway, deserved or not, his 
suspension just seems to have exacerbated his blue mood, so I 
thought it would be better if he didn't stay at home alone and 
subsist on pizza all weekend."  

Along with her daughter, Margaret had attended Mrs. Mulder's 
funeral and was well aware of Fox's current emotional 
difficulties.  Even though they seldom saw each other, Fox Mulder 
and Margaret Scully seemed to have a bond that was only understood 
by them.  Scully had surmised that it developed during their time 
together during her abduction years ago, but neither her mother or
Mulder had been forthcoming about any particulars.  Actually, 
Scully kind of liked it that way.

After unpacking her things in the guest bedroom and bath, Scully
relaxed on the couch to read something mindless while her mother 
began working on the preliminaries for the evening's meal.  It 
had only taken a few pages for Scully's eyelids to begin to seem 
heavy and, within a few minutes, she closed her eyes to sleep.  
Her mother covered her with an afghan and found satisfaction 
seeing that her daughter still felt a comfortable familiarity 
that allowed her to feel at home on her couch.  The book was 
abandoned and Scully discovered she had been sleeping for 
almost two hours before she awoke to her mother's voice.

"Mom..., I fell asleep.  What time is it?" Scully asked groggily.

"Yes, you did and it's almost four.  What time did you tell Fox 
to be here?" she asked.

"Expect him anytime.  Predictability is not part of Mulder's 
psyche," Scully confessed as she got up and folded the afghan 
over the back of her mother's couch.  "I need to freshen up and 
change," she said as she smoothed at her hair and noticed her 
sleep-wrinkled sweater.

"I need you to run an errand to the market, so don't be long,"her
mother interjected.

Scully had taken a shower and exchanged her jeans and black 
turtleneck for a light blue v-neck sweater and black pants.  She 
had left her hair to air dry and her mother felt a twinge of 
melancholy at how much the natural waves and curls made her 
daughter look like she did as a child.  Noticing her mother's 
change in mood, Scully moved to her and inquired, "Mom, what
is it?"

"I like your hair like that, Dana.  You look like...,"she sighed, 
her voice starting to quiver before she could finish her 
statement.  But Scully had an idea what her mother was feeling, 
as always remembering her and her late sister, and gave her a 
reassuring hug.  

"I'll surprise you with something great for dessert," Scully 
promised speaking closely to her mother's ear as she held her 
embrace.  As Scully put on her coat she reminded her mother,  
"Leave the salad and the table for me.  I'll take care of them 
when I get back.  If Mulder arrives before I return, just feed 
him and he'll be happy."

Walking down the driveway to her car, Scully sensed something, 
almost like someone was watching her.  As she looked around, she 
instinctively reached her right hand to her hip despite not having 
worn her gun. Noticing nothing particularly unusual, she moved to 
unlock the car door. It was already unlocked.  She hadn't 
remembered leaving it that way and again a wave of uneasiness ran 
through her.  Giving her car and the area around it one last look, 
she got in and started the engine.  As she pulled from the drive, 
she laughed to herself, "Dana you've been around Fox Mulder
way too long.  You're getting as paranoid as he is."  As she 
concentrated on remembering what her mother needed from the 
market,her earlier concerns quietly disappeared from her thoughts.

SATURDAY, 5:54pm
In her well-equipped kitchen, Margaret Scully busied herself 
preparing the evening's meal.  Scully was washing the spinach and 
mixing a hot vinegar dressing for the salad as she heard the 
doorbell ring.  She picked up the towel to wipe her hands as she 
moved to answer the door.

"I'll get it, Dana," her mother said with a slight grin.  Scully 
acquiesced and returned to her work on the salad.  She had set the 
table in the dining room with everyday dishes despite her mother's 
protests, explaining that Mulder needed to feel like part of the 
family, not like a guest, and her mother understood.  Scully lit 
a couple of candles on the table in spite of her attempt not to 
do anything too obviously special.

Margaret opened the door to find Mulder, complete with a bottle 
of wine and a handful of fresh flowers.  "Fox, I'm so glad you 
could come," she said as she hugged him around the shoulders.  
Stepping away, she motioned him in and kidded, "Flowers and wine?  
Are you trying to impress me...or Dana?"  She took the gifts he 
offered and instructed him to put his coat in the entry closet.  
As they both entered the kitchen, Scully was putting the finishing 
touches on the salad.  

"Mulder, you made it.  I hoped you wouldn't back out since we have 
all this food to get rid of," she chided.

"Good to see you, too, Scully," he replied with a wry smile.  
"Something smells great, Mrs. Scully."

Margaret retrieved a cut-glass vase from the china cabinet in the
dining room and returned to the kitchen to fill the vase with 
water.  "Fox brought wine...and flowers,"  Margaret noted to her 
daughter with a smile.

"Jeez, Mulder.  Are you trying to brown-nose my mother?" Scully 
said feigning semi-disgust.  

"Eddie Haskell was my hero, Scully," he dryly replied.  

"Have a seat, Mulder," Scully said as she motioned him to a chair 
at the kitchen table.  "You want something to drink?  You can open 
the wine you brought if you'd like."  She looked at him with a 
friendly smirk before asking "Do you need a corkscrew or is it a 
twist-off top?" As she sarcastically grinned at him, he captured 
her hand as he reached for the corkscrew she already held out at 
him, moving closer to her and, in a voice deliberately audible 
enough for her mother to hear, whispering into Scully's ear.  
"Scully, please be nice.  I wouldn't want your mother to discover 
your real personality."  Margaret laughed, taking mental notice 
of the interactions between the two as she retreated to place the 
vase of flowers on the evening's table.  	

Dinner had been delicious and the conversation had been light and 
fun. Mulder had been a bit more quiet than usual, but seemed to 
have a good time in spite of his frame of mind.  Margaret rose 
from the table and began to clear the dirty dishes.  "Here, Mrs.
Scully, let me help with those," he offered as he reached toward 
the dishes in her hands.  Scully grinned a
knowing smile as she knew all too well her mother's next words.

"Fox, I will take care of this.  You and Dana make yourselves
comfortable in the living room and don't give any of this another 
thought. I mean it," she said pointedly toward her daughter and 
her partner.

"Come on, Mulder.  There is no point in arguing with her.  You 
won't win," Scully  replied.  "Anyway, I need to work off some of 
this meal. What do you say we go for a walk," she suggested, more 
a statement than a question.  Scully's idea elicited a satisfied 
smirk from her mother which soon faded as she noticed a warning 
in Scully's stern look in response. Mulder helped Scully with her 
coat as they departed into the fresh evening air.

Leisurely walking along the modest, well-manicured street, the 
couple were quiet until Scully broke the silence.  "Mulder, you
okay?" she asked softly.  He nodded, but not very convincingly 
she noticed.  "Come on, Mulder.  What is it?"

"Nothing, really.  I certainly enjoyed the meal, Scully, and
particularly the company," he smiled.  "But it just served to 
remind me that there were never any evenings like that in my 
house.  Our family meals weren't about making conversation, but 
more about avoiding it," he related despairingly.  Catching the 
mood veering toward melancholy, he quickly added, "Think your 
mother would adopt me?"

Scully stopped and turned to him, looking sympathetically into 
his eyes for several long seconds, absorbing his sad expression.  
She placed her right palm against his chest as she struggled for 
words that didn't come.  Instead, as her head brushed against the 
lapel of his coat as she turned to his side, she slipped her left 
arm around his waist and resumed the momentum of their stroll.  
His gesture of draping his right arm over her shoulder was 
rewarded with her warm hand reaching up to grasp his. They walked 
like this in silence for what seemed like an eternity,each 
thinking their own thoughts about their lives and their 
relationship.They both seemed to sense that something was changing.

Mulder was the first to interrupt the stillness between them when 
he suddenly stopped, abruptly turning to take Scully in his arms.  
He hoped that his heavy winter coat made his trembling 
undiscernible to her, thus disguising how absolutely afraid he was 
of the possible effects of his actions.  He was only slightly 
relieved to feel her return his embrace, knowing that she, too, 
was participating in what could be an immutable course.  She 
released her hold around his waist to step back and look up into 
his eyes, finding herself confused as he registered a look that 
she couldn't read.  Before she could speak the words she wanted 
to say, he bent to kiss her softly on her parted lips.  Time 
seemed to stand still as the kiss deepened and the intensity of 
the moment proved to be too much to sustain and as their lips 
finally separated, Mulder returned his arm to its position over 
her shoulders.  They resumed their walk back to the Scully home, 
neither of them having uttered another word.

They returned to the house to find it quiet and Margaret already
asleep in her bed. Realizing it was almost midnight,Mulder looked 
at Scully and noted, "Nothing like having a dinner guest that 
doesn't know when to leave, huh, Scully?"  As they stood face to 
face in the darkly lit living room, Scully found herself unable 
to move her gaze from his deep expression.

"Stay, Mulder.  You can sleep on the couch in Daddy's old study. 
There's no reason for you to drive home at this hour... and Mom 
would love to see you in the morning," she said in an automatic 
response to disguise her real thoughts for wanting him to stay.  
Her feelings where Mulder was concerned had always been confused 
enough and, despite the fact that she didn't want to add to her 
already mixed up emotions, she found herself continuing. "Mulder, 
sit down," she said as she removed her coat and shifted to the 
couch.  She sat down on the end cushion and gently folded her 
hands into her lap. She contemplated her swirling emotions as she
watched him sit down next to her.  He leaned forward shifting his 
weight onto his forearms as they rested on his thighs, leaving his 
hands to dangle between his knees as he stared at the floor.  When 
she began to speak, he turned his head back to look at her,finding 
the deep sincerity in her expression both frightening and 
comforting.  Sometimes her honesty and directness could be 
disconcerting and, on many occasions, she had made more than a few 
unfortunate suspects uncomfortably realize that fact.   

Scully continued with a soft deliberateness that he had never 
before witnessed from her.  "For reasons I am not quite 
comprehending, I'm feeling that if I let you leave me tonight, 
there will be important things that might never be said about what 
happened earlier," she began.  "And I don't want that to happen."  
He was touched by the depth of her expression and noticed a hint 
of tears beginning to well on her lids.  

"Scully..." he said with a sad resignation clearly evident in his 
voice.

"Mulder, I know you have been feeling lost and alone lately and
despite a couple of attempts to talk,I feel I haven't really been 
there for you.  But I want you to understand it isn't because I 
haven't wanted to be," she said as she looked at him through 
unacknowledged tears.  "You can't know how much I have wanted to 
take you in my arms and hold on to you for dear life."   He took 
her left hand in his and touched it to his face. She unfolded her 
hand from his grasp and touched her fingers to his cheek
before returning her unsteady hand to the safe haven of her lap.  
She needed to stay grounded.

Almost as if being startled from a comfortable sleep, Mulder 
suddenly stood, breaking the intensity of the moment.  "Scully, 
I really need to go."

"Mulder, please.  Please don't do this.  Something is going on 
here and we need to sort it out. I know you're scared---I am, 
too.  Actually, I am absolutely petrified.  But..."  She stopped 
in mid-sentence as she watched him grab his coat and move toward 
the door in one fell swoop. "Mulder..." she said with more 
pleading in her voice than her pride generally let her display.  

"Thank your Mom for dinner, Scully," he said, purposely avoiding 
her gaze as he exited without another word.  She stood, stunned, 
in the middle of the living room, unable to fully comprehend 
what may have just happened.
 
FOX MULDER'S APARTMENT
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA
SUNDAY, 7:35AM
Fox Mulder knew that his abrupt exit from Dana Scully last night 
would probably prove to be the most stupid thing he had ever done 
in his personal long line of stupid things.  Hell, he had plotted 
to put himself in the very situation that he ended up running away 
from.  But then, he was almost as good at making rash decisions as 
he was at chastising himself.  Last night, he had Scully in his 
arms returning his kiss and less than eight hours later, here he 
was sitting on his well-worn couch in his underwear...alone.  

Contrary to his promise to himself to never give up looking for 
his sister, he had accepted that she was indeed dead.  He grieved 
for his mother, but he felt some guilt at grieving more for what 
she had never been than missing what she was.  It seemed that 
after her daughter had disappeared and her marriage had dissolved, 
his mother had shut off most of her emotions except those that 
she had to have. Being with Scully and her mother last night only 
magnified his awareness of what his life had been missing.  He 
needed to belong.  And he realized, albeit belatedly, he wanted 
to belong to Scully.  There were times over the years when he had
given serious thought to feelings that went way beyond their 
mostly platonic partnership.  Some of his thoughts were graphic 
enough that he could barely look her in the eye the next day in 
the office.  But, following her lead, he told himself, he never 
really acted on any of his real emotions and here he sat 
regretting every damned one of his missed opportunities.  But, he 
decided, he wasn't going to let his greatest opportunity go 
missing.  Not this time.

MARGARET SCULLY RESIDENCE
SUNDAY, 7:35am
As she lay on her side wide awake in the fresh sheets of her 
mother's guest bed, Scully felt the recurrence of tears that had 
plagued her throughout the previous night.  Her mind was whirling, 
struggling to sort out her feelings about what had happened 
between her and her partner, realizing that the real struggle 
would be in determining what to do about it.  She startled at her 
mother's presence at her bedside not having noticed her enter the 
room.

"Dana...you're awake?" she questioned.  "I thought you were still
sleeping."

Scully sat up, covering her eyes with her hands hoping that her 
mother perceived her movements as an attempt to rub the sleep 
from her eyes rather than as an attempt to elude detection of 
her tears. 

"The coffee is ready and I've got fresh blueberry bagels," her 
mother said opening the bedroom blinds to the winter sun.  

"Okay, Mom.  Just give me a few minutes and I'll be in," Scully 
said as she headed for the bathroom.  Upon seeing herself in the 
mirror, she knew that the prospect of her mother not having 
noticed that she had been crying was remote.  She looked like 
hell.  Last night, she hadn't felt like removing her make-up and 
her mascara had smeared below her swollen eyes. She really didn't 
feel like talking about the events of the preceding night so she 
worked to freshen her look before again seeing her mother and 
still holding out hope that her tear-stained face hadn`t been 
noticed.

Margaret Scully's insight and perception had been of considerable
assistance to Scully at many times in her life.  But this time, 
she wished it wasn't a talent her mother possessed.  Scully could 
sense that her mother was suspicious the minute she entered the 
kitchen and after pouring a cup of welcomed coffee and spreading 
her bagel with cream cheese, she retreated to the kitchen table 
to await her mother's inevitable questions. Upon reading a 
slightly speculating look in her mother's eyes, Scully blurted, 
"Mom, I can just about guess what you're going to say, so please
don't.  Please.  Not right now."                     

"Dana, I'm not trying to pry into your personal business but you 
look terrible. I'm concerned. I know something must have happened 
between you and Fox last night...," she said sensitively.             
                                                                      
"Mom, you have always inferred more into my `relationship' with 
Mulder than has ever existed.  We work together and we're friends.  
That's it. Okay?"

Margaret emitted a slight laugh through her disbelieving smile. 
"You know I love you, Dana, but for such an inquisitive person, 
sometimes you can be so... unaware.  If you can't see that Fox is 
in love with you and if you don't realize that you are in love 
with him, then I think I'm going to have to give up," she said 
as she stood to go answer the ringing phone.

"Saved by the bell," Scully muttered under her breath as she 
seized her opportunity to end the conversation by retreating to 
her room to shower and dress.  

She refilled her coffee and as she headed down the hall, she was 
startled by her mother's voice, "Dana, it's for you."  A dull, 
discontenting wave moved through her stomach as she saw the 
apprehensive look on her mother's face and knew instinctively 
who it was on the phone.  

"I'll take it in the bedroom," she sighed.

Scully sat down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath to
settle herself before picking up the receiver. "I've got it,Mom," 
she said, waiting for the click of her mother hanging up the other 
phone before saying anything further.  "Yes...," she responded as 
a cue to the voice on the other end to begin.

"Scully, it's me," Mulder replied, more a sigh than actual voice. 
"I guess we need to talk.What time are you planning to head home?" 
he inquired.   

Hesitating several long seconds before responding, she replied, 
"Mulder, I'm not sure what...uh...I need to do here...with this.  
I agree that we need to talk...sometime...soon---I'm just not 
sure it can be today. I need some time.  Umm...I'll call."

"Promise?"

"Yes," Scully said genuinely and hung up the receiver.  Her 
shoulders fell in a physical sigh as she tried to collect her 
myriad thoughts into something she could understand.  Immediately 
weary from the process, suddenly, all she could think about was 
losing herself in a gourmet bath. She gathered her things and 
headed for the sanctuary of a tub full of hot, soothing water. As 
the steaming water began to fill, she thought she heard her mother 
enter the bedroom.  She was relieved that her mother had decided
not to disturb her and as she slowly slid into the tub, she began 
to relax within this small haven inside the eye of her exhausting 
emotional storm.  

DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
SUNDAY, 8:01pm
Scully had left her mother's house without really discussing the 
phone call or Mulder at all, for that matter.  Of course, her 
mother had inquired, but, of course, she had also respected her 
daughter's plea to leave the subject alone, for now.  Upon 
returning home,she felt like she just wanted to close the door and 
shut out the rest of the world. She unpacked and checked her phone 
messages unsure of whether she wanted to find any from Mulder. She 
found none, only an unusually long string of clicks from unknown 
callers who never waited to leave a message.  She fought her 
feelings of both disappointment and relief and changed into her
pajamas to settle on the couch with a pint of mint chocolate chip
ice cream.  If she was going to be miserable, she would at least
be comfortable.  

There was nothing on TV; she had made herself half-sick with too 
much ice cream; and she couldn't concentrate long enough to read 
anything. Emotionally drained, Scully lay on the couch, in the 
dark, staring at what was left of a crackling fire, allowing her 
thoughts to overtake her.  A sensation of numbness pervaded her 
entire being as she had examined her thoughts and feelings beyond 
what she felt was the limit of her endurance---until she thought 
she would internally combust.  "What a fitting end...," she 
managed to smile to herself.  And as she clenched her eyes shut 
for, seemingly, the millionth time, she imagined an image of her
sister ethereally appearing amidst her darkness, reciting 
epiphanic guidance: "Dana, don't analyze things that shouldn't be 
analyzed. Just trust your feelings and they'll lead you the right 
way."  The image was so startlingly clear that she was shocked out 
of her desperation---and sat up to reach for the phone.

As she hit the speed dial for Mulder's number, she was interrupted 
by a knock at the door, a knock she at once recognized as his. She 
felt as if her heart rate doubled in the few steps it took to 
reach the door.  Calming her breath, she opened the door to what, 
she thought, may well prove to be the rest of her life.  

"Hey," he said plainly, taking in the sight of her in her pale 
gray pajamas.

"Hi.  Come in," she offered.  "Um..., have a seat.  I'll be right
back." She retreated to her bedroom realizing she needed her robe. 
Returning to the living room, she watched as he fidgeted with the 
things on her coffee table in a very obvious outward display of 
his internal nervousness.  "Can I get you something to drink?" 
she asked.

"Um, no.  ...Yea, what ya got?" he stammered.

"How about a glass of wine?  Or maybe some tea," she said as she
thought better of her offer of alcohol.  He followed her into the 
kitchen and leaned against the counter as she began making the 
tea.  She could feel him watching her and turned to meet his gaze.  
"So, Mulder, you start," she said abruptly.

Remembering Scully's propensity for getting to the point, he 
wasn't surprised by her statement.  "Scully, I...I guess, first, 
I need to apologize for running out on you like that last night."

"Yes. Yes, you do," she replied with a distinct seriousness.  "And
I'll accept your apology if you explain why you did that, Mulder."

"I don't exactly know why I did that, Scully. It could be because 
I'm stark raving crazy and I always screw up anything good that's 
about to happen in my life. Or it could be because I felt my only 
options at the time were to either run away from you or to make a 
move that I couldn't take back.  It just seemed easier to leave."

"Easier for whom?" she said with a hint of the pain his decision 
had caused her.  She poured the hot water into the two mugs she 
had set on the counter.  Handing him his tea, she looked up 
directly into his eyes.  They stood there, looking at each other 
before she finally said, "At this very moment, Mulder, I don't 
know whether to take you in my arms and kiss you or get my gun 
and shoot you."  

"Well,if you shoot me,it would probably be considered justifiable 
homicide, you know, Scully," he added apologetically.  "But I'd 
rather you'd choose the other option," he said as he took a step 
toward her.

She set her mug on the counter and, putting her hand on the back 
of his neck, she pulled him to her and kissed his lips.  As her 
other arm wrapped low around his waist, he gathered her in to 
return her kiss.  Their kiss grew increasingly passionate until 
they finally parted to catch their mutual breath.  She moved her 
other arm to encircle his waist as she laid her check against his 
pounding chest.  

"Mulder...," she delicately sighed.

"What?  What, Scully?" he said quietly, stroking her hair.

"Nothing.  Just, `Mulder'," she said as she closed her eyes and
tightened her embrace.

He pulled away to take her by the hand and led the way to her 
couch as the tea was forgotten.  Her heart was pounding so that 
she felt as if it would just stop, right there within her chest 
and she would collapse without taking another breath.  She sat 
down leaning against an overstuffed pillow to steady herself and 
reclaim some emotional balance. As she moved to sit cross-legged 
to face him, he took her legs and laid them loosely over his lap.  
He played with the fingers on her hand as they looked at each 
other contemplatively.

"I didn't sleep last night, Scully."

"Well, you only got about two hours less sleep than I did then," 
she smiled empathetically.    

"Scully, I'm not sure I understand what I want or need from 
you...from us---and I sure as hell don't know what you expect.  
If you just want things to stop here, I'll try to understand and 
accept it, I guess," he said, almost already expecting defeat.  
"But that isn't what I want---I think. Or at least I think 
that's what I think..., I think," he added
smiling his skewed smile that she found so endearing.

"I have always told myself, Mulder, that I would never lie to you. 
But I now think, in a way, I have.  But, not nearly as much as I 
have lied to myself.  Or at least denied things to myself," she 
carefully spoke. "Mulder, I have feelings for you.  I always have, 
I think.  But I've never allowed myself to expand those feelings 
or, heaven forbid, act on them. And to be honest, there are times 
when I have wanted to," she finally allowed herself to audibly 
admit.  	

Stunned, he looked at her intently before speaking. "God...
Scully...I can't believe I am hearing those words come out of 
your mouth. I've always thought that, basically, you considered 
me as pretty much a big pain in the ass."

"Oh, Mulder, you don't really think that?!" she interjected,
actually surprised by his view.  "While that is occasionally 
true...," she smiled as she continued,  "Surely you have known 
how important you have been to me...how important you are to me.  
I've always thought I was essentially satisfied with my 
relationship with you.  I knew that I loved you on some 
level, I've always thought I was essentially satisfied with my 
relationship with you.  I knew that I loved you on some level, 
but never really allowed myself the thought of being in love 
with you.  And why now, after all this time, I'm finally acting 
on this... I have no clue," she said focusing on her trembling 
hands.  Finally lifting her eyes dirctly to his, she continued,
"Maybe I finally feel you need me."

"I have always needed you, Scully.  But maybe you are just now
realizing it...or accepting it.  And I just think it's time.  For 
both of us,"he said,turning to face her, wrapping his arms around 
her shoulders and moving to meet her lips.  She touched her lips 
to his, closing her eyes as his mouth pressed more firmly on hers.  
She moved her arms to clasp his neck as she began to lose herself 
in the sensations that she couldn't believe mere kisses were 
causing.  Moving his arm lower to grasp her hip, Scully sighed 
into his mouth as he lifted her fully into his lap.  

"Scully, I need you so much," he breathlessly said as he finally 
broke their kiss.  He moved his hand up to cradle her head as he 
laid her on her back against the pillow on the couch to resume 
the contact of their lips. Her tongue became more insistent, 
reaching deeper into his mouth in response. She withdrew,lightly
touching her tongue over the outer edges of his lips before 
resuming her kiss.  He thought to himself how he had never really
felt what kissing for kissing's sake was like before---it had 
always been, more or less, a means to an end.  

"Mulder, what are we doing?" she said breathlessly, barely 
moving her lips from his.  

"Do you want to stop?" he asked without interrupting his 
movements. 

She seemed to contemplate the enormous ramifications of what they
were doing in only a few seconds before looking at him, responding 
with a simple, "No."  He pulled on the sash of her robe, loosening 
the knot. As her robe gaped open, before he could move, she took 
his hand and placed it on her breast.  He felt her erect nipple 
through the softness of her pajamas before moving his hand up 
under her top to feel her ignited skin.  She moaned to herself at 
the contact, feeling utterly female at allowing the touch of his 
powerful hand against the sensitive flesh of her breast.

Scully separated from their kiss, moving her lips to his neck and 
the soft area behind his ear as his hand continued to move gently 
over her breast.  She could feel her emotions start to wet the 
area between her legs feeling him beginning to move on top of her 
in a progression she welcomed.He opened one button on her pajamas, 
kissing her skin before moving on to the next one.  Craving the 
feeling of her hands on his skin, she lifted the hem of his 
sweater and slipped a hand beneath it, rubbing gently across his
stomach around to his back.She could feel the perspiration of his 
desire beginning to form on the small of his back.  Only when her 
top lied open did he finally stop kissing her and move up,
searching her eyes.  It was his look at that moment that made her
realize she had surrendered her tight hold on the life she had 
known before.                      

"Mulder...," she said softly.

"Scully, you feel so good," he murmured.                          

"Mulder...  Let me up..., please."

"Scully...?" he responded fearing that she had changed her mind
and wasn't going to let things go any further.

She moved to get up from the couch,holding her hand out to his as 
she stood.  Noticing the somewhat puzzled look on his face, she 
smiled, "Mulder, I do have a bedroom---Unless you prefer doing 
this kind of thing on the living room furniture," she quietly 
teased.	

"Well, it does kind of make me feel like a teenager."

"If that's really your goal, then I guess we could continue this 
in the back seat of your car...," she said dryly, turning out the 
light as she led him into her bedroom.

They stood beside the bed looking at each other uncomfortably 
before they both laughed a slight laugh at their awkwardness.  
Mulder moved his hands to her shoulders and lowered her robe and 
the unbuttoned pajama top down the length of her arms.  She felt 
a shiver of modesty as she stood bare in front of him for the 
first time, moving into him to wrap her arms around his waist.  
After a moment, she moved back, pushing upward on his sweater 
until he reached to pull it off over his head.  She ran her hands
over the soft hair covering his chest before following her hands' 
path with soft kisses.  

"Scully, I want you so much," he said as he lifted her onto the 
edge of the bed.  She reached for the button of his jeans and he 
could literally see the eager throb of her pulse moving under the 
sheer flesh of her throat.  Scully's eyes were already dark and 
heavy-lidded as he helped her remove his jeans and stepped forward 
between her legs as she reclined backward onto the bed.  As he 
leaned over her, he began kissing and caressing her breasts as 
she ran her hands through his hair and over his shoulders.  She 
gently stroked his forearms while he reached to lower the 
waistband of her pajamas, lifting her hips slightly as he pulled 
them down off her legs.  He moved her further onto the bed, 
crawling up her body until they were again kissing and stroking 
everywhere they could reach. The mere touch of the soft hair of 
his chest against the bare skin of her breasts enflamed her so 
that she felt as though she couldn't go on.  

"Oh, Mulder.  I don't think I knew how much I wanted you...like 
this," she whispered.

"Scully, I knew how much I wanted you like this," he replied 
tenderly.

She knew he noticed the scent of her arousal as he moved off her,
slightly to her side, to slip his hand into her ivory-colored 
panties. His fingers brushed against her pubic hair softly as she 
delicately sighed anticipating what she knew was coming next.  He 
stopped as she put her hand over his signaling him to remove her 
only remaining clothing.  She reached for him, rubbing his
erection through the fabric of his boxers.      

"Mulder, take these off," she said quietly, looking at him with 
a look of desire he could barely withstand.

Her golden cross shimmered against her skin, flushed and moist 
with a sheen of perspiration that, he thought, made her look 
beautifully surreal. "Scully, you are so beautiful," he said 
against her lips.  

"Being here with you...like this...is beautiful," she answered 
as she traced his velvety mouth with her soft lips before kissing 
him again.  She trembled at the light touch of his strong hands 
as he stroked her stomach moving slowly down to the soft skin of 
the inner sides of her legs.  He eased a hand between her thighs 
moving her leg slightly to allow him access to her.  He brushed 
his thumb across her outer lips, parting them with his fingers, 
rubbing her folds slowly and smoothly before his fingers settled 
into her fervent center. 

"Mmmm, Scully," he moaned at feeling how wet and wanting she was.  
She buried her head in the crook of his neck as her hips began to 
move against him as if she was barely aware of what her body was 
doing.  Her breath became serenely uniform as she was lulled by 
the rhythm of his fingers. Then she reached for him, encircling 
his erection with her hand, stroking him as she tightened and 
relaxed her fingers.  He wasn't sure he could hold out much 
longer.  As if reading his mind, she moved to spread her legs
apart against his hips, bringing him between them as she placed 
her feet flat on the bed.  

"Oh... Mulder...," her voice sounding more like a moan. She bent 
her knees further up and wrapped her arms around his back.  He 
recognized her clear invitation and began to push into her slowly 
before stopping at her sharp intake of breath. She was undeniably 
aroused, but it didn't stop the twinge of pain that made her gasp.  

"Scully...'you alright?" he asked, concerned she wasn't ready. 
"Relax...I'll, wait as long as you need to." 

"God...Mulder," she said almost panting. "It's just that... it's 
been a long time.  I want you so much, Mulder.  Just take it 
slowly...," she spoke gently as her hands moved up and down his 
sides and over his hips. He gently moved her ankle a little to 
open her further as he slowly entered her again.  

He moved in only slightly before withdrawing all of the way out. 
He entered a little further with each stroke until he could feel 
her relaxing and moving to meet his rhythm.  Scully closed her 
eyes and turned her head away as her exhaled breaths kept time to 
his movements.  Her legs moved as she rubbed her feet along the 
backs of his knees and thighs before she wrapped them around his 
hips to allow his thrusts to deepen.  He kissed her face and her 
neck and nipped at her skin where her collarbone curved 
gracefully to meet her shoulder while they continued to meet each 
others' thrusts.  Her muffled sighs and feminine whimpers merged 
to speak his name, "Ummm...Mulder.  ...Ahuuhh, God, Mulder...."

He felt the slick inner walls of her body begin to tighten around 
him as he thrust harder and faster toward the inevitable 
culmination of their lovemaking.  He groaned her name and was 
holding on as long as he could, waiting for her.  As their 
frenetic movements became increasingly forceful, he felt her body 
shudder with spasms of pleasure as her inner muscles squeezed him, 
over and over and then again as her orgasm exploded. 
Simultaneously, he came into her with a succession of thrusts so 
intense he collapsed onto her, struggling for breath.  

They seemed unable to stir from their motionless position until 
she finally put her hand gently on his chest and he pulled out 
of her, both of them sighing. He rolled off of her onto his back, 
letting his arms fall limply back over his head as he tried to 
catch his breath. "Scully...," he managed to say, almost laughing.

"Mulder, God...," she said as she rolled halfway over to blanket 
her leg over his waist.  She looked up and smiled at him sleepily 
before laying her head and her hand on his chest.  "I need to feel 
you," she murmured contently, rubbing her body against his.  He 
could feel their fluids, warm and sticky, on her mound and her 
legs and the intensely sensuous pleasure it gave him was 
unanticipated, but wondrously contenting.

"Scully, did what I think happened just happen?" he asked in a 
voice somewhere between astonishment and self-satisfaction.

"Yes, it happened and I've never had it happen before," she said.  
He felt her smile against his chest as he laid his arm and hand 
along the length of her body and reached to grasp the sheet and 
quilt to cover them.

"It's a first for me, too, Scully. It must mean we did it right, 
right?"

"Mmm hmm."

"Scully.  Were you okay...with this?  You were kind of...um...
quiet...," he said somewhat questioningly.

"I'm not really...vocally demonstrative, Mulder.  But if you 
consider volume your barometer for whether I liked it or how good 
you made me feel-then I'm leaving to go scream over the PA system 
at Yankee Stadium," she said dryly.

"I'd rather take your word for it and keep you right where you 
are," he said as he stroked her cheek with the backs of his
fingers.  

She moved up to give him a light kiss on the mouth."'Night, 
Mulder."

"Scully, do you have to go to work in the morning?" he asked in 
his best little boy voice.

"Not on your life."

MONDAY, 6:10am
As she slept, he woke from his comfortable sleep suddenly 
remembering where he was and what had happened the previous night.  
She looked almost breakable as he watched her sleep, lying on her 
stomach with her arms against her sides,her hair tousled,her body 
seemingly still glistening with a shimmer of sweat and fluids. He 
reached to smooth her hair away from her face to discover a 
sleepy, replete smile.  As he moved toward her on the bed, she 
opened one eye and smiled, "So, Mulder.  Do you still respect me 
in the morning?"

"I'll show you just how much respect I have for you," he said with
a smile as he moved to lay half over her and began nuzzling and 
kissing the back of her neck, reaching his hand around her to 
find her breast.  She turned under him to face him, drawing his 
mouth to hers.  

"Don't I get a good morning kiss first?" she teased.  

"I guess we could start there...," he said as he kissed her and 
began kneading her breast.  

"Mulder," she said as he continued his intentions, seemingly 
oblivious to her voice.  "Mulder, stop.  I need to go to the 
bathroom."

He stopped, leaning up on his elbow to look at her.  "Make it 
snappy, FBI woman," he joked as he kissed her quickly on the lips.  
She stood, bending to retrieve her robe from the floor.  "Scully, 
you don't really need that, you know.  I like the view as it is." 

"I do have some sense of modesty left, Mulder," she said only
half-seriously as she disappeared into the bathroom and closed the 
door. He fell back onto the pillow, staring at the ceiling 
reveling in the satisfaction of where his life had led him in the 
last 24 hours.  He heard the shower start and gave thought to 
joining her, but had the impression that maybe she needed some 
time alone.  Suddenly, the phone rang.     

"Scuuully," he called to her.  Knowing that she wouldn't hear him 
from the shower, he reached to answer.  "Hello."

"Agent Mulder?" questioned a surprised voice he immediately 
recognized as his boss, Walter Skinner.

"Oh, shit!," he thought to himself.  "Um... Yes, sir?" he finally 
said into the phone.

"Agent, I'm trying to reach Agent Scully.  Did I dial the wrong
number?" he asked---rhetorically, Mulder figured.

"Just a minute, I'll get her," he said flatly.  He knocked on the
bathroom door as he covered the portable receiver with his hand.  
"Scully," he said as he knocked again.  He opened the door and as 
he opened the shower door, she startled slightly, and then smiled.  

"I wondered how long it would take you to find your way in here to
join me."

"Scully, the phone.  It's Skinner," he said.

"Shit!"

"My sentiments exactly," he said, laughing, and handed her the 
phone.

She turned off the shower and took the phone,"Good morning, sir."

"Agent Scully, there has been a new development in this `coed' 
case and I need you in here ASAP-or before," he said emphatically.

"Sir?  All that was left on that case was for the local Bethesda 
PD to apprehend the suspect," she said surprised.

"Well, Agent, they did just that yesterday morning---and there 
were two more murders last night that we suspect were from the 
same cause. So I need you here... now," he said.

"Yes, sir.  I'll be right there," she said, turning off the phone 
and slowly looking at Mulder.  "I have to go in.  There have been 
two more murders in that case I was working on."  She reached up 
and put her hand on his check and gently kissed him. "I'm sorry."

"Not half as sorry as I am. Well, so much for best laid plans...," 
he said dejectedly, but none the less indulging himself in the 
sight of her standing in front of him wet and naked.  She smirked, 
acknowledging his double entendre as she wrapped herself in a 
towel.  She retreated to the bedroom to change into one of her 
proverbial tailored suits as Mulder disappeared into the kitchen.  
After finishing her hair and her slight make-up, she was greeted 
with a kiss to her neck and a cup of hot tea. "For the road," 
he said sweetly.

"Mulder, I'll try to get this wrapped up as quickly as I can.  
Where will you be when I get off work?"

"Here..., if you want me to be," he said as he bent to kiss her.  
"Call me. Let me know what's going on, okay?"

"I will.  We need to talk, Mulder. When I get home?" she asked as 
he nodded.  She put her hand on the back of his neck and smiled 
intently into his eyes before kissing him. "And... for the record, 
I am much more than half as disappointed as you are," she said as 
she grabbed her keys and her coat and put her cell phone in her 
pocket before turning to look at him one more time before leaving.

WASHINGTON, D.C.
MONDAY, 7:31am
After her briefing from Assistant Director Skinner, along with 
the other agents assigned to the case, Scully headed for the 
Quantico morgue to complete the autopsies on the two new bodies 
which had been delivered from Bethesda.  She had learned that 
despite the fact that the suspect had been in custody, two more 
bodies were found dumped in a deserted area in the motel parking 
lot.  She could determine fairly easily if the cause of death
had been the same---if they had been poisoned by the same 
concoction that had been used on the other victim.  But she would 
need to closely identify the time of death, which she knew to be 
notoriously difficult to quantify,especially if the body had been 
exposed in the cold, open air.  

As she worked on the bodies, another agent completed necessary 
tests in the adjoining lab as she requested. She heard the door 
to the autopsy bay open, but, continuing her work, didn't 
physically acknowledge it---until she heard the voice of her
visitor speak.  

"Well, Agent Scully.  I thought maybe you might be back on this 
case." She turned on her heels to find Det. Martin leering at her 
and immediately flashed back to his threatening actions toward her 
at their last encounter. He was the animate epitome of the word 
`creep', she thought, puffy in the loud clothes too small for his 
overweight frame but still perceiving himself as the lady's man he 
may have been twenty years before. He was a big man, probably a 
former athlete to whom the passage of time had not been kind and 
whose lifestyle had accelerated time's effects.  Even his scent
was excessive, with too much cologne coupled with a pervasive 
smell of yesterday's hangover. She remembered thinking to herself 
on their first meeting that he was a walking example of what bad 
taste and an inflated ego can do to a person.  As she refocused 
her thoughts, she turned back to her work, ignoring him."I thought 
I'd give you a chance to apologize and reconsider, baby," he said 
as he moved closer to her, invading her personal space. "Contrary 
to your reputation, I have this feeling that you would
actually like a big strong man," he grinned, placing his hand on 
her back. 

She stopped, stepping back as she turned to look him squarely in 
the eyes."Detective, I've said this once and now I am saying this 
for the last time.  Stop with the crap.  I will report you if you 
don't get the hell out of here right now," she said as 
unemotionally emphatic as she could.  

"Report me?  For what?  You fucking FBI people come in to my case 
like I don't know how to do my job.  Especially you...big fucking 
important doctor, huh? Well, I know you aren't the perfect little 
virtuous agent you portray yourself as and you mess with me and 
I'll have your career!" he said as he grabbed her arm, pulling her 
toward him.  She jerked her arm from his grasp, stumbling away 
from him.  She moved around the stainless steel table where the 
female body lay open and moved directly to the telephone.  

"I need Security in autopsy three," she said calmly into the 
receiver.

"You fucking bitch!" he said as he lunged at her.  

"You so much as touch me again, you bastard, and I'll add 
assaulting a federal officer to the charges!" she said glaring 
sternly at him.  "I may anyway!"

"You mess with me...Look, I know what you're doing and who you're
doing it with you self-righteous...," he screamed as two large 
security officers entered through the double metal doors.  

"Is there a problem, Dr. Scully?" the older one inquired.  

"This man needs to be removed from the premises---now," she said
professionally.  Before they could move toward him, he turned to 
leave. 

"I'm leaving.  But I'll be seeing you again, Agent Scully," he 
said as he stared at her on his way out.  

"Should we stop him?" the security guard questioned.  

"No, I know where to find him," she said, glaring at the swaying 
steel doors. 

FBI HEADQUARTERS
OFFICE OF AD SKINNER
MONDAY, 6:42pm
"Agent Scully, why didn't you report this last week?" her boss 
asked pointedly.

"Sir, I thought the case was over and I would never have to deal 
with him again. I just wanted to forget about it and not call any 
attention to the situation---or myself.  I thought it had been 
handled," she answered with a slight bit of embarrassment to her 
voice.  

"Well, he's been picked up and charged with assault and they will
be waiting for your report on the harassment charges to handle 
internally," Skinner said matter-of-factly as he thumbed through 
the pages of the file. "He's denying everything as you may have 
guessed.  But, evidently, Martin has had a problem with this kind 
of thing before.  You should've reported him before this got out 
of hand, Agent Scully."

"Sir, with due respect, if every female agent reported `this 
kind of thing' every time it happened, it would quickly become 
your full time job," she said calmly.  He got her message.

"What did you find in the autopsies?" he asked, changing the 
subject.

"The second woman was, indeed, killed by the same lethal bacteria, 
but with injections in more obvious areas of the body than the 
first woman. However, I found no points of injection on the third 
victim, but he did indeed die of the same infection.  The 
approximation of the time of death for both victims would 
indicate, sir, that they died within hours of each other. But 
they had been dead for, at most, six to eight hours, so it isn't 
possible that our suspect could have killed them also.  Sir, my
suspicion---my fear---is that our third victim somehow contracted 
the infection from the second victim, probably through body 
fluids. They were living together. I think our suspect may have an 
accomplice or someone else has gotten his hands on the bacterial 
solution.  It appears it has become a much more aggressively 
virulent strain, working extremely fast, since the third victim 
seems to have contracted it from the second and he died so quickly 
after the probable time of contact.  I think it is important, sir, 
that you afford all efforts in locating this accomplice, or this 
other person,as soon as possible or we may be finding corpses--and
the bacteria, all over the place."

"We have all available agents on the case, Agent Scully.  We're 
hoping to get more information out of the suspect, but if this is, 
as you fear, a situation where someone unrelated in any way to our 
suspect has gotten his hands on this... bacteria, then we're 
really at a loss on this.  We would have no place to start, except
maybe with the bodies."

"Sir, if Agent Mulder were...," she began, knowing that Mulder 
would certainly be the best person to establish a possible profile 
of another suspect.

"That'll be all, Agent Scully.  Please remain available on this," 
he said dismissively.

DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
MONDAY, 7:05pm
She opened the door to her apartment and was surprised to find it
dark---and unoccupied.  She had called Mulder earlier in the day
to let him know she thought she would be only a bit late, not too 
late, so she had expected to find him there---no, she had 
anticipated it.  Her every free thought all day had been about 
nothing except anticipation of another evening---another night---
with him.  All day at work, remembering last night had made it
more than difficult to prevent her mind from wandering before 
catching herself, hoping that no one had noticed her concupiscent
flush.

She tossed her keys on the table and turned on the small lamp next 
to her phone as she pressed the button to listen to her messages.  
Only one from her mother, "Nothing special, Dana.  Just wanted to 
see how things were going. Call me soon." Scully removed her coat 
as she headed for her bedroom. She questioned herself again about 
Mulder's absence when suddenly she was grabbed from behind and 
thrown to her bed.

"Dammit!!" she yelled.  "Dammit!!  Mulder, you scared me!!"

"You didn't think I wouldn't be here, did you Scully?" he 
laughed into her hair, still laying on top of her.  	

"Actually, no Mulder.  But I didn't expect you to tackle me in 
the dark either," she said more calmly.  "Let me up."

"Only if you let me tackle you again later..."

"Oh, I think that can be arranged...," she said as he climbed off 
her, rolling onto his back on the bed, watching her as she stood.  
"...if you live that long!" she laughed as she smacked his thigh 
before jumping on top of him.  Slipping her arms under his 
shoulders, she began kissing him, moving from his lips, to his 
face then down his neck before moving back to his lips.  She 
kissed and licked his face and under his chin and nipped at
his neck until he lifted her face to look at her.

"This will have to wait, Scully.  I've got a surprise that can't 
wait. Slip into something more comfortable, or slip out of 
something uncomfortable, and give me a couple of minutes... 
in the kitchen," he grinned at her.

"Kitchen?  You?  Surely, you're kidding," she said incredulously,
almost laughing. 

"Now, you've hurt my feelings," he said faking a pout as he left 
her bedroom.

She changed out of her suit and removed her make-up, trying to 
give him more time---she didn't want to spoil his big surprise. 
She peeked around the corner into the kitchen and almost gasped 
at the sight before her.  The table was interestingly set, 
complete with flowers in water in an empty olive jar he'd 
obviously retrieved from her recycle bin and a candle lopsidedly 
burning in a salad dressing cruet.  A bottle of champagne was 
chilling in the sink filled with ice and a small package wrapped 
in yesterday's copy of `Doonesbury' sat next to one of the 
plates.  Without turning around from his place at the counter, 
but sensing her watching eyes, he said, "Come on in, Scully.  
I'm ready."
     
"Mulder...," she said as she walked up behind him, putting her 
arms around his waist.  "I think I'm in shock.  I didn't know you 
had these kinds of talents," she said, only mildly facetiously, 
impressed by his thoughtful improvisation.
    
"Gee, thanks Scully. It's nice to know you think of me as nothing
more than a pretty face,"he said as he turned to carry the dinner 
to the table.  "Have a seat.  This is my thing here, you don't 
have to do anything."
     
She picked up the wrapped box, shaking it. "For me?" she said 
with a playful glint in her eye.
     
"That's dessert," he said taking it from her hand and setting it
back down on the table.
	
He opened the champagne, pouring each of their glasses full and 
raised his to hers for a toast.  "Here's to, unquestionably, the 
most intelligent, genuine, truehearted, honorable... beautiful 
woman on this, or any other, planet... whom I love and who is 
the best friend I could ever... ever have in my life," he said as 
he looked straight into her eyes.  He touched his glass to hers 
and they sipped a drink before he moved to kiss her lightly
on the lips.  He could see the tears starting to form in her eyes. 
"Scully, the last thing I wanted to do was make you cry..."
	
"Oh, Mulder.  I'm just...I don't know what to say," she said, her
voice trembling.

"Don't say anything.  Just know that I absolutely mean every word 
I said."

"I guess that's just it.  I know you do and it almost scares me.  
Only twenty-four short hours ago, I had more questions than I 
thought I could ever find answers for in my life.  And it scares 
me that just having you seems to have answered everything. I can't 
imagine being any more happy or content than I am with you at 
this exact moment.  And if something would happen... to change all 
this... what we've discovered in each other...well, I don't know 
if I could... ever... recover," she said as she put her hand over
his.  "And that scares me, too."

"Nothing is going to happen, Scully.  Nothing.  I promise," he 
said as he gave her a comforting smile and another soft kiss.  
"Come on, let's eat. I slaved all day cooking this dinner and 
I'd hate for it to get cold."  She smiled at him, saying nothing, 
but knowing that he knew that she knew he'd ordered the meal at 
LeMagines.  

As they finished their meal, she refilled their glasses.  "So, do 
I get dessert now?" she said looking at the box still lying on
the table. 

"Ummm.  Define `dessert', Scully," he winked at her.

"You can turn anything into sex, can't you Mulder?" she said 
trying her best to suppress a full-out giggle.

"Well, I guess we'll find that out later...," he said fluttering 
his eyebrows at her.  "Actually, it's just a little something 
that I saw today... and wanted you to have... from me," he 
smiled shyly as he handed the box to her.

"Mulder, you've really been busy today," she smiled as she tore 
the paper from the box.  As she opened it, she almost gasped as 
she looked at him.  "Mulder.  They're beautiful!  Mulder...," she 
said, obviously moved by his gift.  They were small gold hoop 
earrings with a diamond at the bottom of each ring.  He had 
spotted them at a jewelry store downtown and wanted something 
special for his first gift to her.  She removed the earrings she 
was wearing and put her new ones in their place, watching his
reaction.  "I hate to be cliche', but you shouldn't have, Mulder.  
Really," she said as she placed her palm against his face before 
moving to kiss him. She looked at him sincerely, whispering 
"Thank you," before kissing him lightly twice more.  Touching the 
earrings again, she said somewhat sadly, "You know, Mulder, I 
can't wear these to work.  They're larger than regulation."

"I know, Scully.  That's why I bought that particular pair.  I 
don't want you to wear them to work.  They're just for when it's 
us... you and me."  She moved over to him and sat on his lap, 
looking at him for several seconds before wrapping her arms around 
his neck and kissing him---hard, on the lips.  He embraced her, 
drawing her to him as he returned her impassioned kiss.  He put
his hands up under her sweater, rubbing her back as they continued 
to kiss.

She moved her kisses across his face, along his jawline to his 
ear, then whispered "I want you, Mulder. Right now."  He placed 
his hand under her knees and stood to carry her as she continued 
kissing and licking his neck and face.  

They were silent as they moved to the bedroom.  He laid her on 
the bed, moving on top of her as they continued the frenetic pace 
of their kissing.  She moved under him as a sign for him to move 
off of her.  As he rolled over on his back, she climbed on top of 
him continuing her kisses. He reached to pull her sweater off and 
she moved off him to stand at the side of the bed.  She removed 
her sweater and reached to push her slacks off before putting her
hand out to him as he moved to get off the bed.  He pulled his 
shirt off and reached to undo the button on his jeans, slipping
them off in one quick movement.  They crawled back on the bed 
together and she resumed her position on top of him, stroking his 
hair as she looked into his eyes.  

"Mulder, I love you," she said clearly.  "I love you."

"And I love you, Scully.  More than I could ever say."

They continued to kiss and he reached around her back to undo her 
bra and she pulled it off over her arms and hurriedly tossed it to 
the floor. Her passion was intensified upon feeling his erection 
beneath his boxers.  She wanted him and didn't want to have to 
wait through too much foreplay.  Not this time.  She tugged at 
his underwear and as he reached to remove them, she rolled off him 
and removed her own.  She moved back over on him, rubbing his 
penis lightly with her soft pubic hair.  

"Scully, you keep that up and this isn't going to take long."

"That's what I'm hoping.  Mulder, now.  Please."

"Are you ready?"

"I've been ready since six o'clock this morning," she cooed.

He put one arm up her back and one around her hips as he rolled 
her over onto her back.  She opened her legs and he slid into her 
quickly.  She moaned faintly as she wrapped her arms around his 
sides, stroking his back to the rhythm of his movements.  He 
pulled out of her to move down to kiss her breasts.  But she 
didn't want that, she wanted him inside her, she needed him 
inside her.  

"Mulder, that isn't what I want right now...," she said, almost
panting.  He smiled at her, entering her again, this time with 
more thrust. He propped himself up on his elbows, sliding his 
hands under her back holding on to her shoulders as his thrusts 
became more powerful and intense.  Her body rose up and down in a
rhythm that made him realize he had found the right spot.  

"Oh.  Just.  Like.  That," she whispered breathlessly.  Her eyes
closed as her head turned away and he could see that she was
trying to keep some semblance of control.  But she couldn't hold 
back any longer.  Her body shuddered as her toes curled and her 
feet splayed out further on the bed.  Her breasts heaved in 
symmetry to the arch of her back as she struggled for breath.  

"Mullllderrrr...," she cried out.  "Jesus...Mmmm... Mmmm... God! 
Mulder...."  He continued thrusting as she struggled to continue 
moving with him in anticipation of his release.  She could feel 
him pounding her cervix as he finally came with deep lunging 
moves that almost lifted her off the bed as she exhaled a 
guttural sigh at the familiar warmth of being filled.

"Scuulllly... Scuulllly... Scuulllly...," he groaned amidst his 
grunts and ragged breathing.  She pushed herself against him 
again and the feeling of his pubic hair against her engorged 
clitoris made her come again, almost as intensely as she had 
only minutes earlier.  He felt the furious spasms of her inner 
muscles as his mind floated amidst the resonance of her 
voiceless purrs.  

He collapsed on top of her unable to hold his weight on his elbows 
any longer.  "Scully, I think I can die now," he managed to say as 
he regained some capacity over his body.  He started to pull out 
and roll off her but she held him to her, spreading her hands 
across his shoulders.  

"Don't.  Stay there... for a little bit," she whispered as she 
kissed him.  He ran his fingers through her hair, returning her 
tender kisses.  He moved within her only slightly and he felt her 
quiver, her muscles beginning to throb again around him in a more 
slight, but unmistakable orgasm.  

"I love you so much, Scully.  You are so beautiful like this," he
spoke into her ear as he continued to nuzzle her neck.  "You are 
the most responsive woman..."

"It's you, Mulder.  This isn't my usual physiology.  Once is 
usually a struggle for me."

"You make me feel like I almost know what I'm doing, Scully."

"I just hope you can feel how much I love you," she murmured 
quietly. She clamped her internal muscles purposely as she moved 
upward just enough to give him a slight tug.

"Jesus, Scully.  Where'd you learn that little maneuver?!"

"I do know a bit about anatomy, Mulder," she said as she did it 
again.

"You keep that up and we may never get out of this bed," he said.

"And, that's a problem?" she said, grinning at him through 
half-opened eyes.

"Yeah, right now it is 'cause I gotta go clean up the stuff from 
dinner," he said as he kissed her lightly before moving off her.

"Mulder, leave it...leave it."

"Scully, I need to at least put out the candles and make sure the 
apartment is locked," he said as he leaned back over her to kiss
her."I won't be long," he said almost into her mouth as he kissed
her again.  He looked back at her, sprawled naked on the bed 
looking at him with a loving smile he could feel as well as see.  
"Don't go anywhere," he teased as he left.

After cleaning up the dinner mess and putting the leftovers away, 
for breakfast he thought, he checked the front lock and turned out 
the lights before rejoining her.  He thought she was asleep when 
he came back to the bedroom, barely having covered herself with 
the sheet and spread.  He joined her under the covers, wrapping 
his arm and leg over her before nuzzling and kissing her neck.  

"Mmmm...is that you, Seymour?" she said deadpan before giggling 
when he put his tongue in her ear.

"Yes, I'd like to see more, Ms. Scully," he murmured into her ear, 
feeling himself starting to stiffen again.

"Mulder...?" she questioned, not believing she was feeling him 
growing so soon again against her hip.  

"I can't believe this is happening," he said as he kissed and 
licked her face.  "Damn, Scully. What you do to me."

"Mulder, are you sure you're as old as you say you are?"she said, 
smiling at him in pleasant anticipation of what his quick recovery 
time was going to lead to. "Let me help," she said as she reached 
for him and began stroking him softly, yet firmly.  He kissed her 
soundly, then, moving on top of her as she guided him to her 
opening.  He moved into her with a long steady push, with a low 
moan that made her shiver.  Almost simultaneously, they began to 
move in slow, measured movements.  She moved her hands over his 
hips, pulling him deeper as he moved.  He moved himself up on his 
hands, pushing into her with more force as she moved up, grasping 
his upper arms, almost sitting, before cradling his face in her 
hands.  

"I love you," she said deeply into his passionate eyes. He moved 
back onto his ankles, reaching behind her to take her with him.  
Straddling his lap, she continued to push and rotate, harder and 
harder until he jerked with several short,powerful thrusts coming 
into her, grunting her name between his panting breaths.  He laid 
her back down, managing to move within her a few more times to 
bring her to yet another orgasm.  

He looked at her, breathless, "I think I'd better pull out.  I 
can't do this a third time!"  He felt the vibration of her 
laughter against his chest before rolling off her.  He reached for 
her, pulling her over to him as she crawled halfway over his body, 
resting her head on his shoulder, nuzzling his neck.  He loved the 
feel of her bare breasts against his damp body, the feel of her 
leg on his groin.  

She moved up to kiss him lightly.  "Mulder, I want to tell you
something...I mean, I just want you to know...,that at this exact
moment, I feel more like a woman than I ever have... ever in my 
life.  I have never been more fulfilled or felt more loved than I 
do right now... because of you."  He embraced her more firmly and 
she laid her head back down against his shoulder before he covered 
them with the blanket as they both drifted off to sleep.

TUESDAY, 1:10am
The bedroom was still except for the quiet resonance of his 
breathing as she awoke, chilled from being only half-covered. She 
lovingly watched his sleeping for only a few minutes before her 
pleasure was interrupted by the ringing of her bedside phone. She 
reached over him and stabbed her hand at the receiver.  

"Hello?" wondering who would be calling at this hour.

"You will pay, you fucking bitch.  Count on it!" the voice 
screamed at her before she heard the click on the other end.  

"Who was it, Scully?" Mulder asked sleepily, putting an arm around 
her body as she still lay over his chest.

"Umm, nobody.  Go back to sleep," she told him with a soft 
kiss as she moved off him.  She knew full well who it was but it 
wasn't the time to explain things.  She rolled over on her side, 
pillowing her head on her arm to return to sleep, dreading having 
to deal with the problem on the other end of the phone when she 
returned to work. She felt him move over to her, wrapping his arm 
around her middle and kissing her ear and her neck.  

"Scully, `you awake?"

"Umm-hmm."

"You know I love you."

"I'm becoming convinced of it,yes," she smiled as she turned back 
to look at him, his face lit by the soft moonlight filtering in 
the dark bedroom.  He propped his head on his hand, stroking her 
stomach with his other.  She liked the feeling of his strong hand 
on her skin and realized she was covered with gooseflesh merely 
from his touch.  She rolled over on her back reaching her hand to 
his cheek, rubbing him with her thumb before moving up to kiss 
him.  He tenderly returned her kiss as they again began their 
newly familiar dance of lovemaking.

TUESDAY, 6:50am
Dressed and ready for her day of work, Scully paused for a moment 
to watch him sleep, thinking to herself what a beautiful man he 
was.  She bent to touch his ear with her tongue before whispering, 
"Mulder, I'm leaving." He began to stir but didn't wake prompting 
her to kiss him lightly on the lips. "See you later. I love you," 
she said as she turned to leave.  But as she turned, he grabbed 
her arm, pulling her off her feet and onto the bed.  "Mulder!" 
she laughed as he wrapped his arms around her, covering her
with his body, kissing her neck.

"Morning, Scully," he said as he continued kissing her face and
nuzzling her neck.  "You weren't going to leave me, were you?"

"Mulder, please.  I have to go to the office.  Please don't do 
this," she said laughing, only half struggling to move away from 
him.  He continued kissing her, reaching for the buttons on her 
suit jacket. "Mulder, no. Come on, really. I have to go in today."  
He continued what he was doing, seemingly paying no attention to 
her weak protests.  Almost before she realized it, she found 
herself returning his kisses, kneading the back of his neck with 
her hungry hands.   As he moved his hand up under her wool skirt, 
she grasped his arm to stop him.  

"Mulder, hand me the phone.  Let me at least tell Skinner I'll be
late..."
	
FBI HEADQUARTERS
TUESDAY, 9:06am
"Agent, did you think the scheduled briefing this morning did not
include you?" AD Skinner said sternly to her without looking up 
from his desk as she entered his office.

"No, sir.  I notified your assistant that I would be late," she 
said plainly hoping he didn't pick up on the slight self-conscious 
blush in her expression.  She sat down in one of the chairs in 
front of his desk, "Are there any new developments in the case?"

"Had you been here earlier, you would already know there have been
several," he said finally looking at her.  "But that isn't my 
biggest dilemma this morning, Agent Scully," he stated before 
standing and moving around to the front of his desk to speak to 
her more closely.  "I received a call earlier and it seems that 
Det. Martin has well-placed friends and is causing some trouble 
in relation to your charges against him."

"What kind of trouble?" she asked with a careful tone.  Skinner 
handed her a manila envelope with what she read as a rather 
embarrassed glance as he moved back around to sit behind his desk.  
When she opened it, several 8X10 color photographs slid out, 
causing her to stiffen as she shifted in the leather chair.  She
couldn't believe what she was seeing---pictures of Mulder going 
into her apartment building with packages and flowers and of the 
two of them kissing.  She leafed through several pictures before 
getting to the last one, a grainy, moonlight-lit picture of a man 
and a woman very obviously in the throes of sex.  Had the picture 
not been included in this package with the others,their identities 
probably wouldn't have been discernable.  But in this context, it 
was obvious who the two people were---and she certainly recognized 
them.  There was even a typed ledger summarizing the times he went 
in to and out of her apartment in the last four days---or maybe 
more to the point---the times he didn't come out of her apartment. 
She closed the envelope slowly, finally looking up at him, saying 
nothing through a derisive smirk.

"Scully, this isn't something I wanted to be involved in but this 
was handed to me.  I have a meeting with the Bethesda Chief of 
Police, Martin's attorney and an OPR rep in less than one hour. 
Martin's attorney is using these pictures as evidence that you 
have a predisposition for... um...involving yourself with your 
co-workers and that your charges are your retaliation for him 
spurning your advances.  Now, Scully, I will, of course, take you 
at your word, but I need a modicum of information to deal
with them on this---to defend your position."

"To defend my position...?!" she said incredulously.  "There is no
position to defend.  I cannot believe this is happening," she said 
almost to herself as she shook her head.  "This arrogant bastard 
has harassed me---no---threatened---and assaulted and stalked me!!  
And again as recently as this morning, might I add!  And now I am 
being accused of...I don't even know what!---because he has a few 
`well-placed friends'?!!  I have resisted intimidation by greater 
forces than this man can ever muster!"  Regaining her control, she 
continued, "Although my personal business is my own, I realize it 
could become a potential issue for me within the Bureau, but it 
has absolutely nothing to do with this situation with Det. Martin.  
Nothing.  And I will not dignify this...this crap with a response.  
If you need to follow-up on the subject of these pictures later, 
then I understand and respect that.  At such time, I will speak to
that--- Agent Mulder and I will speak to that.  But I will not in 
relation to my charges against Det. Martin.  I will not."

"Is that what you want me to tell them?"

"Sir, you tell them any damn thing you want.  But in the end, no
matter how they try to divert the focus from the real issue, the 
charges against him will stand," she said as she rose from her 
chair.  "Is there anything else, sir?"

"Check in with Agent Clark about the case.  They'll need you for
another autopsy," he said plainly.    

"Yes, sir."

MORGUE, FBI ACADEMY
QUANTICO, VIRGINIA
TUESDAY, 4:46pm
The autopsy on the fourth victim had shown pretty much what Scully
expected---same cause of death but different evidence of delivery.  
Lethal doses of barbiturates were found in the victim's system so 
the injections were overkill, totally unnecessary to get the job 
done.  The injection areas had been prominent, so easily located 
that it almost appeared as though someone wanted them found---that 
they wanted someone to recognize that these murders were connected 
to the others, or at least think so.  Later in the day, a fifth 
victim was found and Scully had located injection marks on this 
one, too. And again, in very obvious places.  But the fifth victim 
also had his head bashed in, most likely, by a large metal object 
such as a flashlight or a metal bat or pipe.  There were also 
defensive wounds on his arms, as if he had made some attempt to 
fight back.  She theorized that possibly the killer was caught in 
the act of killing the fourth victim by the fifth victim and was 
forced to kill him, as well.  
 
Agent Clark had relayed that he had made very little progress in
discovering any accomplice or any relation between the victims for 
that matter.  The fourth one had been a prostitute well-known to 
the police department and they speculated that maybe the man had 
been her `John'. Scully was relieved,for a change, that she wasn't 
actually out on the field investigation---that essentially, her 
only duty on this case was to complete the autopsies and to try to 
discover some, if any, connection between the victims and the way 
the bacteria was being spread.  So far, it almost looked like the 
bacteria had been spread by two separate, unrelated suspects---the 
suspect in custody who had tried to inject his girlfriend
surreptitiously and another person who was injecting the others 
to be obvious. 

Again, she wished Mulder was on the case and felt that Skinner 
was cutting off his nose to spite his face by not relenting and 
returning Mulder to duty.  But after the events of this morning,
she wasn't about to ask again. She left her preliminary reports 
and her cell phone number with Agent Clark and headed for home.  
She hadn't had a chance to call Mulder all day and they needed to 
talk.  And she was dreading it.

DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
TUESDAY, 6:02PM
Mulder was in her kitchen slipping off his running shoes when she
returned home.  "Hey, Scully.  Nice day at the office?" he said
facetiously, judging her expression to indicate just the contrary. 
She gave him a look that told him she wasn't in the mood for his 
humor as she set the take-out on the counter.  "Sorry, Scully.  
Bad day at the office?" he said as he moved to her.  

She turned into his embrace, sighing, "Mulder, hold me.  Just hold
me."

"Scully, what is it?"

"I've thought about you all day," she said looking up at him.  She
kissed him lightly and said, "Go take a shower and I'll get dinner 
ready. I need to talk to you about something."

They sat eating dinner, her earlier notice that `we need to talk'
hanging in the air like the proverbial elephant in the living room. 
Finally, it was Mulder who broached the subject, his curiosity 
outweighing his trepidation."So,Scully, are we just going to talk 
about the weather or are you going to get to what's on your mind?"

"I'm sorry, Mulder," she sighed.  "I just don't know where to 
start...because I know you're going to be angry."  She refilled
her glass of wine before continuing.  "There are some things going 
on at work that I haven't told you about."

"Things?  What things?"

"There is... was a detective, a Det. Martin, with the PD in 
Bethesda that was assigned to this case I've been working on.  He 
was... um... very inappropriate, lascivious actually, on the first 
day I worked with him."

"Scully, did he do something to you---did he touch you?!" he asked
quickly.

"No, Mulder, not then."

"Not then?!!"

"Mulder, just let me tell you what happened, okay?  Please."

"Sorry.  Go on."

"Well, initially, I just tried to ignore him, thinking that I 
wouldn't be involved in the case beyond the initial autopsy.  I 
would've just let it drop.  I didn't want the hassle.  But, as you 
know, the case didn't turn out that way.  His behavior continued 
and I felt it necessary to confront him, to tell him to desist.  
Well... to say that he became upset is a considerable 
understatement."

"Scully, did he hurt you?"

"No.  But he grabbed me and may have done more had I not been able 
to get away from him and call for Security.  Anyway, after that 
point, I filed a report against him---for harassment and assault.  
Needless to say, he was put on suspension," she relayed 
matter-of-factly.  "And, evidently, someone has been following
me... following us and I suspect it's him."

"What?!  When?!" he said, becoming more uneasy.

"Skinner presented me with some pictures this morning---of us...
kissing... when we were at my mother's and yesterday before 
work... at the car and of you coming into my building with 
flowers.  There was also a record of when you entered and left 
here... and stayed here.  And... a picture of us, luckily very 
fuzzy, that must have been taken through my bedroom window... 
last night."

"Jesus!  Where is this son-of-a-bitch now?!"

"Mulder, please.  Don't even think of doing anything!  I mean it.  
It is important that I handle this myself.  Do you understand me?  
Mulder?" she said emphatically, looking directly into his incensed 
eyes.  "Promise me."

After a long pause he finally agreed, "Okay, Scully.  But you have 
to promise me something... that you won't keep me in the dark on 
this!  You have to let me in, let me know what is going on when it 
happens, not a fucking week later!  Why didn't you tell me sooner, 
Scully?! Why didn't you tell me the truth?!"

"Mulder, I didn't lie.  I have just avoided telling you because I 
knew you would react just like you have."

"Withholding something is no less untruthful than deliberately 
telling a lie, Scully," he said, almost dejectedly.

She stared at the table, not looking at him as she thought about 
the point he had just made.  "You're right, Mulder.  I'm sorry and 
I promise I won't keep anything more from you. Promise," she said, 
leaning over to him and giving him a light kiss.  "Promise...Seems 
Det. Martin has some `well-connected friends' that are putting 
some heat on Skinner and I guess, indirectly, me."

"You're kidding."

"No, unfortunately I'm not.  Skinner mentioned it this morning."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that I would not be intimidated, nor would I have any
comment about the pictures... or anything related to them, even 
though Martin is using them to make it appear as if I fuck 
everybody I work with,"she said, barely hiding her inner feelings 
of feared defeat.  "I told Skinner if he needed to talk to us 
later, about how the FBI was going to handle this, then so be it,
but that I wouldn't comment in relation to this case.  So...
that's where it stands right now."

"Has this Martin bothered you further?"

"Well, I'm sure it was he who called early this morning.  And who
knows, Mulder, he may be outside right now.  He's obviously been 
around here more than once and he followed us to my mother's for 
Christ's sake!" she said with a distressed tone to her voice. 

Controlling his immediate reaction to find this piece of shit and
beat his brains out, Mulder instead put his hand on hers, giving 
her a supportive smile. "It'll be okay, Scully.  And maybe..., 
maybe I should call this guy and thank him," he said to her 
questioning expression.  "If you remember, that phone call brought 
about a nice little interlude this morning...," he good-naturedly 
leered at her.

"If I remember...?"she said smiling at him as she stood. "Come on, 
Mulder. Let's clean the dishes and you can watch a movie or 
something. I need to work on some notes for a bit. It won't take 
long."

Mulder was lying on the couch surfing through the channels
mindlessly as he watched her sitting at her desk.  He thought to 
himself how beautiful she was, almost numinous, lit only by the 
glow of her computer screen, lustrous blue reflecting off her 
glasses.  Finally, as she finished her report, she looked back at 
him only to find him sleeping, lying on his side with the remote 
still in his hand.  She shut down her computer and thought twice 
about waking him, thinking she'd take her shower first.  After 
readying for bed, she went to the living room to wake him, 
kissing his ear, whispering, "Mulder, come on.  Let's go to bed."

He stirred, opening his eyes to meet hers. "You don't have to say 
that to me twice," he said as he got up from the couch, putting 
his arm around her shoulders as they walked to the bedroom.  She 
crawled into bed as he undressed before joining her.  

They lay together in each others' arms, talking about nothing...
everything, for over an hour before he moved to kiss her.  "You 
are everything to me, Scully.  I love loving you," he said as he 
shifted over her in a progression she recognized.  

"Mulder... um... can we just snuggle tonight?" she said demurely.  

"Is something wrong, Scully?  You got a headache?" he joked.

"No, Mulder.  No.  It's just that... um...," she hesitated.

"If you don't want to, it's okay, Scully.  Really."

"Believe me, Mulder.  It is not that I don't want to---it's just 
that I, uh, don't think I can...," she said softly feeling her 
discomfort rise to a perceptible blush.  "God, this is so 
embarrassing...," she murmured almost under her breath.  "I'm... 
a... a bit sore... and swollen, I think." He fought his immediate 
reaction to laugh, but after a second or two, he couldn't hold it 
any longer and began to snicker, grabbing her around the waist, 
chuckling into her hair.  "Damn it, Mulder!  It isn't funny!" she
said, smacking his arm.  "And it is all your fault."

"Ouch!  Boy, Scully, when you don't get any you can turn into a 
really nasty person...," he quipped.  "Buuut..., I have just the 
cure, Dr.Scully...," he said with a deliberately lustful tone as 
he began kissing down her neck before reaching for the buttons on
her pajama top.  He grinned a deliberately lecherous grin at her, 
enjoying her giggle as he continued with her buttons.  Slipping 
the top off her, he trailed his hand over the lush curve of her 
breasts down the smooth skin of her stomach. She moved to kiss 
him, sliding her hands over his shoulders and down his arms.

"Scully, just lay back and let me do this... for you.  I don't 
want anything in return."

She embraced him, kissing him gently as she looked deeply into his 
emerald eyes before allowing herself to relax onto the pillows in
anticipation. He took her hands in his, intertwining their fingers 
as he kissed her eyes, the tip of her nose and each corner of her 
mouth, seemingly deliberately avoiding her lips.  He kissed and 
licked the soft underside of her chin, sliding to the hollow of 
her neck. "You know,Scully, Groucho Marx once said `Whoever called 
it necking was a poor judge of anatomy.'"

"Umm.  Nothing turns me on like a romantic quote from Groucho 
Marx," she said with a languid facetiousness.  "Mulder... I think 
you should stop talking now."  She stroked his wrists with her 
thumbs as she watched him return to his amatory activity. He began 
moving over her, running his tongue down the hollow of her 
cleavage, only letting go of her hands to palm and cup her 
breasts.  He rubbed his rough cheek against her already erect 
nipple before putting his mouth on her, sucking her hardened 
point into his mouth, making love to her breasts with his lips, 
his tongue and his strong but tender hands.  She had never 
considered her breasts as especially erogenous but she knew he 
had just changed her mind. 

Her hands were not still, touching him lightly, her fingers 
dancing over his moist skin.  He looked up to read the expression 
in her unfocused azure eyes, sensing the deep love she felt for 
him.  He scooted down to tongue her stomach and her navel as her 
breaths changed to sharp pants as he removed her underwear.  He 
pressed his face against her stomach for a moment as she stroked 
his hair, waiting.  He eased her legs apart, feeling how 
absolutely acquiescent, almost limp, she was to his touch, as he 
looked up to behold the contented expression on her face.  He 
kissed her inner thighs, which elicited a twitch, almost a 
shiver, as her hands fell away from their place on his shoulders.   

Placing his hands under her knees, he moved her legs up over his
shoulders, noticing she was already barely able to move and he was 
just beginning. He blew on the silky fluff of her pubic hair as he 
teased her lower lips with his fingers before parting them.  She 
reached for his hair, massaging his scalp to the rhythm of her 
soft moans.  Finding the small covering of her clitoris, he 
touched it lightly with the tip of his tongue, at last tasting her 
flavor. The intimacy of the moment was so overpowering, he had to
draw back for a moment before he could continue.  His hand held
her outer folds open for his tongue, his other hand finding its 
way over her ribs to her breast as she covered his hand with hers.  
A single finger carefully discovered the opening of her body 
already dripping with her silky fluid.  His finger entered her 
slowly as he licked at her engorged bud with his full flat tongue.  
As he slid his finger further into her center, she drew in a 
sudden, sharp breath, closing her eyes.

"Scully, is this okay?...I'm not hurting you?"

"Mulder, please stop talking,"she murmured, her eyes still closed. 
At this, he placed an open-mouthed kiss directly on her clitoris 
which caused her to lift her hips completely off the bed with a 
tender cry.  His self-satisfaction at her physical response made 
him smile as he continued to kiss and lick her.  He felt himself 
becoming harder as he gently tongued around and around and then 
over her clit moving his finger gently in and out of her opening.  
Her clit was swollen and throbbing as he took it between his lips 
to suck on it as he smoothly slid two fingers into her, stroking 
the slick heated flesh inside her.  He continued pressing his
fingers softly against her inner walls, trying not to hurt her, 
but hoping to find just the right spot to pleasure her.  She 
clutched his hand that had moved to hold her thigh as her body 
began to move more vigorously against him.  She moaned and 
whimpered unblushingly as she tensed and released her hand on his 
in rhythm to his mouth and fingers.  He momentarily stopped as
he caught his breath, thinking he had never been more turned on 
in his life and all because of what he was doing to her, not 
because of what was being done to him.

"Oh my God, Mulder.  Ooohhh....God...," she managed to cry out.  
She was almost writhing now and her hips lurched as she grabbed 
for the headboard to find some equilibrium.  He watched her 
display, getting so hard himself, knowing that he was bringing 
about this kind of reaction from a woman who generally kept her 
emotions further in check than anyone should.  He held on to her 
as she shouted, literally shouted, his name as her orgasm burst, 
her walls oscillating in spasms around his fingers, her juices 
coating his face and her thighs.  He held on to her, riding out 
the convulsion of her climax until her shuddering had slowed.  
He felt her legs continue to tremble against both sides of his 
head before he finally pulled his fingers from her, panting, 
resting his head on her thigh.

"Mulder, come up here," she wearily spoke, holding out her arms 
for him.  He moved up her body, resting his thigh between her 
legs as she continued to quiver weakly.  "Hold me.  Hold me 
tight," she said almost groping for him as she burrowed her head 
into his chest.  "Jesus, Mulder!" she said breathily, her voice 
exhausted.  As she began to settle from her euphoria, she looked 
at him and grinned slyly, "I'll never think of Groucho Marx the 
same way again."

Responding to his erection moving against her thigh, she reached 
for him as she nudged his mouth with hers, kissing him hard and 
wantonly. She moved her hand up and down his penis, spreading the 
beginning of his moisture over the tip before massaging her 
moistened palm against his constricted scrotum.  The friction and 
the pressure of her hand made him realize he wasn't going to last 
any longer.  She started kissing him, moving down his body, but 
before she could, he held on to her, saying "Scully, I'm not 
going to make it..."  She at once grasped his bulging shaft, 
bringing him off into her hand, continuing to stroke him as he
finished.  Once he regained an ability to move, he kissed her, 
panting into her mouth as he embraced her.  

"Thank you, Scully.  But I wanted this to be for you. You didn't 
need to do anything for me."

"It didn't feel like I didn't need to do anything for you," she
smiled at him.  

"I love you, Scully."

"I love you, Mulder.  But right now, I'd love you even more if we
took a shower.  We're both a mess," she whispered.  He smiled a 
contented grin as they both slipped softly out of bed and headed 
for the bathroom.

PARKING GARAGE
J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
WEDNESDAY, 7:25AM
Despite her usually focused mind, she felt like she was barely 
aware of where she was, still awash with her feeling of total 
contentment since the change in her relationship with Mulder had 
altered her emotional being so drastically.  She was reaching to 
lock her car door when, suddenly, someone grabbed her hair and 
yanked her violently to the pavement.  As she instinctively 
reached to her hip for her gun, her attacker grabbed her wrist, 
twisting it over her back until she heard a snap.  The sharp pain
made her cry out but as she began to yell, something, a towel she 
thought, was stuffed into her mouth.  Pinned down prone on the 
floor, camouflaged between her car and the wall of the building, 
her face was scraping on the oily concrete as she struggled 
beneath the person whose large body was constraining her.  A male 
voice threatened her with denigrating and odious names, slapping 
her mouth and punching her ribs as she struggled to look up in an 
attempt to see his face.  But as she tried, the last thing she
remembered was a fist, hard, to the side of her head.

When she awoke, a man she recognized from the bullpen as a fellow
agent, was bending over her, urgently calling for help on his cell 
phone. She could barely see and tried to reach up to move her hair 
out of her eyes, but felt an overwhelming pain in her right arm.  
She felt the cold air and realized that her clothing must be torn, 
exposing her bare skin. But before she could cover herself, she 
must have passed out again as the next conscious thing she 
remembered was lying on a stretcher being lifted into an 
ambulance.  She tried to speak, to tell the agent to call Mulder,
but she could barely get any words out, realizing her mouth was 
swollen as she tasted blood.  She felt the doors slam shut as the 
ambulance screamed off and out of the garage.
	
EMERGENCY ROOM
WASHINGTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
WEDNESDAY, 8:08AM
All she could discern was hurried voices and medical equipment
clanging, opening her eyes only to be blasted by the blinding 
glare of the overhead light. She was trying to speak, knowing 
that everyone was necessarily too preoccupied with her physical 
condition to stop to listen to her.  She started to reach for 
someone's arm closest to her right hand but grimaced with a gasp 
at her attempt.  She suspected immediately that her hand or her 
wrist was surely broken.  She reached up with her left hand, 
comforted to feel a hand take hers and a woman's face come between
hers and the glowing light.  "Miss Scully, can you hear me?" 
she said soothingly.  Scully nodded and grasped at the woman's 
hand tightly.  "It's okay.  You're okay.  You have some injuries, 
but you're going to be fine," she said calmly and sincerely.  
Scully tugged on the woman's arm to draw her close to her.  The 
woman leaned in as Scully whispered to her as best she could, 
"Call Fox Mulder at 555-0160.  Please."  She laid Scully's arm
back on the gurney as she answered "I'll get someone to reach him
immediately, Miss Scully. Please relax and let us help you, okay?"  
Scully nodded as she closed her eyes into a drugged haze and 
relinquished her physical self to the strangers who were 
continuing all around her.

ROOM 306
WASHINGTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
WEDNESDAY, 12:42PM
She awoke feeling groggy and sore, but feeling a hand holding 
hers, she smiled recognizing it as Mulders.  "Scully?  Scully, 
`you awake?" he said softly.  She opened her eyes to locate him, 
to see his face.  But as soon as she saw him, she felt tears 
overcome her and began to cry. "Scully, I'm here.  You're okay. 
I'm here," he said to her quietly as he moved to hold her as he 
could without hurting her.  She held on to him with her left arm 
as her crying deepened until she was sobbing openly as Mulder
stroked her face and wiped her tears.  He kissed the side of her 
mouth trying not to touch her injuries.  She looked exactly like 
she had been beaten.  Exactly.  

"Umm... Mulder," she whispered. "I needed you to be here. Please
don't leave me," she said, starting to cry again.

"Scully, I'm right here.  I'm not going anywhere.  Just lay as 
still as you can.  Are you comfortable?  Can I do anything?" he 
said softly, searching her face and petting her hair.  

"I hurt like hell, Mulder, if you want the truth," she said with 
only the faint hint of a voice.  "God, what happened to me?  Who 
did this?"

"Scully, you got the crap beaten out of you and I have no doubt 
that the lovely Det. Martin, who is suddenly nowhere to be found, 
is involved somehow.  And if I ever...," he started to say before 
stopping himself. She didn't need his anger to worry about too.

"Mulder, remember your promise to me.  Please..."

"I'm here with you, Scully.  And that's where I'm staying as long 
as you need me."

"That'll be forever---Ouch," she murmured, reaching up to touch 
her lips as she grimaced in pain.  "Has anyone been apprehended?"

"No.  And they haven't found any witnesses, either.  But I talked 
with Skinner---he just left.  So whoever did this has the full 
force of the Bureau down on his ass. They may be able to find 
some clues on the towel that was stu...um...found at the scene," 
he said, softening his description.  The thought of what must have 
happened to her made him heartsick and angry enough, he feared, to 
kill the bastard who did it.  Her face was full of bruises and 
abrasions, probably from being scraped on the concrete floor of 
the garage.  She had a large lump above her blackened left eye and 
her top lip was split and swollen from blunt force, most likely a 
leather-gloved fist.  Her right forearm had a spiral fracture, the
result of a severe twist of some kind and her doctors figured the 
severe bruising to her chest and legs was the result of a few 
well-placed kicks. Actually, she had come through fairly luckily, 
physically at least. It could've been a lot worse---no broken ribs 
or internal injuries and nothing that would be permanently
disfiguring.  

She looked away from his sad expression as the door to her room
opened.  She recognized the person who entered as the consoling 
woman from the ER earlier that morning.  "Hi, I'm Dr. Goodwin," 
the woman said as she reached out to shake Mulder's hand.  

"Fox Mulder," he nodded.  "I'm, uh, Agent Scully's... partner."

"Nice to see you, Mr. Mulder," she said moving closer to the bed. 

"Dr. Scully, how are you feeling?"

Scully smiled at her, saying, "That depends...on when you're 
going to let me out of here, I guess."

"Well, Dr. Scully, first, we need to check out a few things 
further. I think we need to speak privately, however," she said 
as she looked expectantly at Mulder to leave the room.

"No, it's alright.  He can stay.  What is it you need, Dr.
Goodwin?" Scully asked. 

"I'll come right to the point then.  Do you remember being 
sexually assaulted during your attack?" she asked quietly.

"What?...No... I mean, no, I don't remember," Scully answered 
uneasily.

"Upon examination, we found semen and some swelling,but we're not
sure this is from your assault. When did you last engage in sexual
intercourse?" the doctor asked matter-of-factly.

"Um, yesterday morning," Scully answered, looking toward Mulder.

"Would it be possible for your sexual partner to cooperate with
some testing to determine if the semen is his?"

"Yes, her `partner' would agree to that," Mulder spoke up to the
obvious surprise of Dr.Goodwin. "Just let me know where and 
when," he stated looking sincerely at Scully as he moved to take 
her hand.

"We can take care of that now, while Dr. Scully finishes her IV
antibiotic and her fluids," she spoke to Mulder.  

"I'd like to go home," Scully said sadly.  "I'll stay in bed and
I can certainly recognize any problems if they would arise.  My 
antibiotic is almost empty as is the glucose, so, I'd like to go 
as soon as I can," she said, more a statement than a request.

"Your CT scan was negative and we found no symptoms of internal
injury, but you still need observation for a couple of days to be 
sure nothing will surface,"  Dr. Goodwin reported.  "But 
considering your circumstances, I might agree to you going home, 
but only if you have someone to stay with you," she said sternly.

"She does," Mulder interjected quickly.

"Um, okay, Dr. Scully.  You can probably go in a few hours or so
if we don't discover any further difficulties.  We'll give you a 
preliminary report on Mr. Mulder's tests as soon as we can and 
then you can decide how you want to proceed from there.  I'll 
write an order for Demerol PO and Keflex as a prophylaxis.  But I 
need to see you in my office next Monday, okay?"

"Yes, okay, but I think I'd rather just have Tylenol #3 for the 
pain. Demerol is more than I need and it has a tendency to make 
me nauseous."

"Well, that's what you've had thus far, so be aware of that. Call 
if you need anything else," she told her as she moved to leave.  
"Mr. Mulder, if you'll come with me, we'll get this over with."

"Just give me a minute, Doctor," he replied as the doctor nodded
on her way out of the room..  

"Scully...," he said softly as he moved to hold her.  "It'll be
alright.  We'll get this straightened out... together."

"It's okay, Mulder.  I'm okay with this.  Really," Scully said as 
she moved from his embrace to see him.  "I just want to go home."

DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
WEDNESDAY, 5:01PM
Scully had been compelled to leave the hospital in her issued gown 
and Mulder's top coat since her clothing had been cut off in the 
ambulance and the emergency room.  When they arrived home, Mulder 
had eased her onto her bed, gently helping her out of the gown and 
into her own pajamas.  As he dressed her, he could see fully how 
bruised and welted her entire body was and it made him angry all 
over again.  He couldn't believe she wasn't complaining more about 
her pain---he would've been whining his head off had the situation 
been reversed.  He had made her some tea and encouraged her to eat 
some cottage cheese, about the only thing she had in the house
that didn't require a lot of chewing.

"Scully, I called your mom," he said flatly.

"Damn it, Mulder.  I wish you wouldn't have done that.  This will
really upset her, you know. For God's sake, I hope you didn't tell 
her anything about the possibility of the sexual assault... at 
least until we find out for sure."

"No, of course not. But, she's coming over and she's going to stop 
at the market and get some stuff you can eat,Scully. And she needs 
to know. She's your mother,for Christ's sake,"he said firmly.

"Oh, I was beginning to think you were my mother," she murmured
irritably.  "And answer your damned phone!  It's in your coat 
pocket---over there in the chair."

He looked at her, puzzled by her sudden grouchiness as he 
retrieved his ringing phone.  "Mulder.  Yes, sir...  Yes, sir...  
Okay, I'll see you in the morning then.  Yes.  She's doing fine, 
under the circumstances.  I will, sir.  And... thank you, sir."  
Turning to her he said "Skinner wants me back at work...
tomorrow... on the Bethesda murders.  We'll find this 
son-of-a-bitch, Scully.  I promise you that."  

Seemingly paying no attention to what he had just said, she spoke
"Mulder, come help me.  I need to turn on my side.  I think I'm 
going to be sick."

"Scully... Shit."  He cradled her in his arm, trying to turn her 
as smoothly as possible.  But she was obviously in pain, actually 
moaning...and cursing---several times.  

"Mulder, get me a towel and a pan--- there's one in the bottom 
cabinet next to the stove... And then leave me alone."  He got 
her a towel from the bathroom before going to the kitchen.  
Suddenly, the apartment door opened and Margaret Scully entered 
carrying a grocery bag and a small suitcase.

"Hi, Mrs. Scully.  You're just in time," he said taking the bag 
of groceries from her, setting it on the table. 

"Hi, Fox.  How is she?" she asked as she set her suitcase on the
floor.  

"You should probably go on in there.  I think she is going to be
sick," he said squeamishly.  She looked at him apprehensively 
before hurriedly heading for the bedroom.

"Dana?  It's Mom," she said, laying her coat on a chair.  As she 
moved closer, she could see her daughter's injuries.  "Oh, Dana.  
My God..."

"Mom, please.  I'm going to be sick and I need a pan or the 
wastebasket or something.  Please... Hurry, Mom."  Her mother 
looked around the room grabbing the wastebasket just in time 
before Scully began to heave, retching over the side of her bed 
into the container.  She threw up again, all over her sleeve and 
into her hair before her mother could hold her hair back out of 
her way. When she finally stopped, she rolled backward on her bed, 
moaning audibly, her voice hitching as she began to cry from the
pain, tears streaming from the edges of her eyes.  Her mother
returned from the bathroom with a wet washcloth and wiped her 
daughter's mouth and face and cleaned her hair before getting her 
another pajama top from the dresser.  

"Mom, could you get Mulder?" she asked.  "I need help into the 
bathroom."

Mulder helped her to the sink and she washed her face and gargled 
with water before brushing her teeth as he waited outside for her
to finish. After getting her back in bed, he left her alone with 
her mother as he went to retrieve the rest of the groceries and 
Mrs. Scully's things out of her car.  Her mother helped her take a 
Tylenol and fluffed her pillow before covering her with the sheet 
and spread.  "Thanks, Mom," she said quietly.

"Dana... Are you alright?" Margaret asked, her voice trembling.

"I've been better.  But I'll be fine.  Really, Mom.  Nothing 
serious, I just look and feel like hell."

"How did this happen?"

"Mom, I don't think I can talk about it right now.  Mulder can fill
you in."  She felt the Codeine starting its effect and finished, 
"I just need to sleep now, Mom."

"I'll leave the door open.  Just call if you need anything," her
mother said as she kissed her daughter's forehead before turning 
the light down to leave.

"Mom... I'm glad you came."

WEDNESDAY, 8:46PM
Mrs. Scully had made dinner and she and Mulder had eaten while he
filled her in on Scully's injuries and what he knew about her case 
and Det. Martin.  He was actually relieved that, this time, he 
hadn't dragged Scully into the situation which had caused her 
injuries and didn't feel responsible for causing the Scully family 
yet more pain.  The two of them had taken turns going in to check 
on her as she continued to sleep peacefully.  Mulder had resisted 
waking her after receiving a call from the hospital confirming 
that Scully had not been sexually assaulted as the semen had been 
a match for him.  Even though she had almost passed off the 
potential for her having been raped as only another chapter in her 
ordeal, he knew she had been devastated by the possibility. But on 
his last check, he found her awake, sitting on the edge of the bed, 
clearly in pain.

"Scully, what do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm trying to get out of bed, Mulder.  What does it look like I'm
doing?" she said as she stood.  He ran to her, slipping his arm 
around her waist as she gasped at his touch.  "Ow!  Mulder, I need
to try to get myself to the bathroom.  I can't have you carrying 
me around for the rest of my life."

"Scully, the hospital called... you weren't raped," he said, 
reaching to hold her as she physically stuttered at his words. 
He held on to her for a few moments as she composed herself before 
continuing toward the bathroom.
"I thought that was bothering you more than you let on.  Scully, 
you don't have to cover your feelings anymore around me.  I hope 
you know that."

"I do.  I do.  It's just...the thought of that was just more than 
I could manage right now, Mulder," she said quietly.

"Well, I guess it was your favorite sperm donor instead," he said 
as he stepped back to look at her.  Characteristically making no 
comment, she simply sighed another heavy sigh of obvious relief 
before leaning on him to walk to the bathroom.  	

"Unless you want to watch me pee, close the door on your way out," 
she said, finally giving him a slight smile.  

He stood outside the door and continued to talk to her.  "Scully, 
your mom is suspecting something..."

"Like what?"

"Like there is something going on between us.  I think you should 
talk to her.  I didn't think it was my place.  And I'm not leaving 
the two of you alone here tonight, so she needs to understand 
sleeping arrangements."

He heard the water running, so he opened the door, continuing, 
"And don't you think it's okay for me to see you pee?  Jeez, 
Scully, I've seen you---"

"Mulder... enough."

"Don't tell me that at your age you're afraid to tell your mother 
we're sleeping together," he teased her.

"I guess it's the Catholic girl thing still in me," she laughed 
as she moved toward him to give him a light kiss.  "I'll talk to 
her.  Help me into the kitchen first, I'm starving."

She finished a healthy portion of Jello and cantaloupe and was
enjoying a cup of herbal tea before giving Mulder a `get lost' 
look.  "Mom, let's go sit in the living room.  I'm sick of 
looking at that bedroom."

"Well, I think I'll go take a shower... or maybe a nice looonnng
bath," Mulder said obviously, excusing himself.  

She held on lightly to her mother's arm as they moved to the couch 
to sit.  Scully blew in her mug of tea to cool it before taking a 
drink. "Mom, I need to tell you something," she said, still 
staring at her cup of tea.  "Um, a lot has happened since last 
weekend and I don't mean all this stuff with work."

"You mean between you and Fox...," she said as she smiled a
knowing smile at her daughter.

"Well..., yes, that's exactly what I mean," she said, giving her
mother a surprised smile.  "Something changed, Mom.  Mulder and I
talked--after being at your house, actually--and we realized just 
what you said---that we weren't being honest about our feelings.  
And... well...I love him and he is very much in love with me.  I 
have no doubts.  None," she said looking squarely at her mother 
with a reassuring smile.

"Dana, I'm very happy for you.  Truly.  I'm glad the two of you 
have finally come to your senses.  And I'm hopeful that you have 
found what I found with your father... in Fox.  You know how much 
I care for him, Dana."

"Well, Bill will probably faint dead away...," she laughed. "Just 
so you realize, Mom, Mulder won't be leaving tonight.  I don't 
want you... or him, to feel awkward."

"Dana, you're a grown woman and this is your home.  I'm just 
thankful he is here to keep you safe."
	
DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
THURSDAY, 6:01AM
"Scully..., Scully..., wake up," he said softly before kissing her
nose and sitting down on the edge of the bed.  

"Mmm, what time is it?" she asked groggily as she stirred awake.

"I've got to go.  I need to go home before I go in.  I don't have 
a suit here... So, how are you feeling this morning?  You seemed 
to have a restless night," he said as he stroked her hair.

"I'm okay, ...I think," she said as she groaned, trying to sit up. 
"Help me up, Mulder...  Oh, Jesus... Christ!---I hurt."

Touching her face to look at her he said, "Well, if it's any
consolation, I think you look a little worse today."

"Thank you, Mulder.  You are such a comfort," she said giving his
comment the facetious retort it deserved.

"Scully, I hate to run, but I've gotta go.  We've got two agents
stationed outside.  I'll call you later," he said bending to kiss 
her. "I love you."

"Mulder, promise me something," she said with a tone of caution 
in her voice.

"What,Scully?"he asked, already knowing what she was about to say.

"Remember that you are working on these homicides in Bethesda 
only. You are not on a mission to catch up to Martin.  It is very 
important that I handle this myself, Mulder.  Okay?... Okay?" she 
said emphatically, moving her legs over the side of the bed.

"Scully, I can't just stand by and let someone get away with 
beating the shit out of you!"

"First of all Mulder, you have no proof that it was Martin and,
secondly, I do not need my business handled by another agent, 
especially the one I am sleeping with.  Mulder, you will only
make my situation worse! Trust me, leave it alone!" she warned, 
shouting at him now.  "Mulder, I am adamant about this!"

"Scully, if all you want is to hear me say that I promise you, 
then I promise you.  Satisfied?  Look, I've got to go.  I'll call 
you later," he said plainly as he left the room already knowing 
that if given the right circumstances he would break his promise.

"Mulder!  Goddamnit! We aren't finished with this...!" she yelled
after him, bending over to clutch herself from the pain her 
exertion had caused.  She staggered to the over-stuffed chair 
falling into it in obvious pain.  

Her mother appeared at the door with a concerned, but questioning
look.  "Dana...?  Are you alright.  What's happened here?" she 
said tenderly.

"Mom, get me a Tylenol, please."  Scully took the pill drinking 
the entire glass of water to wash it down.  

"Dana, what were you two arguing about?  I could hear you all the 
way in the kitchen," her mother said.

"I just have a feeling that Mulder is going to do something 
incredibly foolish... incredibly, incredibly foolish."

BETHESDA, MARYLAND
THURSDAY, 11:10AM
First thing that morning at FBI headquarters, AD Skinner had 
briefed Mulder on the case and had inquired about Scully, 
seemingly taking it for granted that Mulder had been with her.  
After arriving at the local police department in Bethesda, Mulder 
hadn't found the officers especially forthcoming---or receptive to 
his presence.  He had found a little time to review the actual 
case file but still didn't quite have a handle on what he thought 
might in fact be going on.  Seated in an uncomfortable chair in 
the corner of the antiquated squad room, he was absorbed in the 
file and Scully's autopsy reports when he was startled by a 
booming voice, "We've found another body!"

Based on the case file, Mulder curiously noticed that the current
crime scene was uncannily identical to the last one.  A woman, 
found in a very public place---a Wal-Mart parking lot, to be 
exact---who had injection marks---very obviously---in her jugular 
and the insides of her elbows.  

"Who found the body?" Mulder asked the lead detective assigned to 
the case, a Det. Donaldson.  

"Uh, we got an anonymous phone tip," he answered curtly.  Mulder
quickly flipped the pages in the file to find printed confirmation
of what he expected---the last murder had been reported the same 
way.  After returning to the precinct, Mulder had promptly pursued 
Det. Donaldson in an attempt to determine exactly who had been 
involved in the initial investigation of the case.  Mulder was 
beginning to harbor suspicions that all of these murders may not
be totally connected to the suspect in custody.

"Excuse me, Detective.  I'd like to ask you a few questions," 
Mulder began.

"I thought Agent Clark was the FBI man on this case.  I wasn't
notified that anyone else would be coming up," Donaldson remarked. 

"Well, I'm sorry you weren't notified.  But I need to know where 
the initial specimen of the bacteria was taken and stored, who 
took it there and who had access to it,"he said matter-of-factly, 
sliding over the detective's apparent issue with jurisdiction.

"Just what are you asking?"

"Did Det. Martin have access to this bacteria?" 

"Look," the detective began as he led Mulder to a secluded corner 
out of the earshot of anyone else.  "I know who you are and I can 
about guess why you have shown up here asking questions, but..."

"You know who I am...?" Mulder queried, already irritated at the
detective's tone.

"Yea, I know exactly who you are!  And if you think you're going 
to come into my precinct, throwing your weight around to dig up 
dirt on one of the best police officers ever to wear the badge to 
try to justify the bullshit charges of your little red-headed 
girlfriend, then you're crazier than I've heard you are!"

Grabbing the front of the detective's shirt collar with both 
hands, Mulder shoved him into the wall with enough force to cause 
a nearby bulletin board to fall to the floor, making noise enough 
to draw the attention of the others in the squad room. "You listen 
to me you fucking prick.  Your best police officer ever to wear 
the badge put that FBI AGENT in the hospital yesterday, beaten to 
a pulp!" Mulder said, his voice dripping with anger.  Shoving the 
man again, he continued, screaming now. "So, if you know anything 
about the whereabouts of that best police officer ever to wear the 
badge, I suggest you tell me what I need to know! Because if you 
don't, you'll be the next one to visit a hospital!"  By this time,
several other officers had descended upon Mulder, pulling him off 
the stunned detective. As Mulder shook his shoulders to straighten 
his suit, he turned to leave, then stopped and pointed his finger 
at Donaldson with one last warning, "I'll find the bastard, you 
motherfucker."

Mulder sat in his car, thinking about his next move as he reached 
for his cell phone to call Scully---if she was still speaking to 
him, he thought.  But before he retrieved the phone from his 
pocket, he was startled by a tapping on the passenger side window.  
He rolled the window down and looked at the man standing outside.  

"Agent Mulder, I may have some information that you would be
interested in."

Mulder looked at the man for only a few seconds before opening
the door.  "Get in," he said noticing the young man's nervousness.  
"Who are you?"

"My name is Steve Reynolds... Officer Steve Reynolds. Let's drive,
Agent Mulder.  I don't want to be seen sitting in this car with 
you."  As they drove, the man began to explain, "I heard about the 
scuffle in the squad room earlier and I had to tell you that I 
think you are on the right track.  I never got along with Det. 
Martin.  He treated us rookies like we were there to clean his 
shoes.  He made no bones about the `friends' he had in high places 
and always acted like he could do just about anything he wanted 
and get away with it.  He had a reputation for being brutal to 
perps and everyone in the station knew how he felt about working 
with female officers.  I never doubted that he did what that FBI 
doctor, your partner, said he did to her, but some of the 
detectives are saying she trumped it up.  They don't like the 
Bureau being around anyway and I think they're all half-afraid of 
what Martin may have on them.  But..., truthfully?..., even I 
never thought Martin would go as far as I'm afraid he has in the 
case of these murders."

Mulder continued to drive as he looked at the officer, trying to 
get a feel for him... his motives... his reliability.  He just 
had a gut feeling that the kid was putting himself at risk to 
tell him the truth.

"Go on," Mulder said.

"Well, I've just heard this `through the grapevine' so to speak,
nothing concrete, but I don't think you are the only one who is
suspicioning that Martin may be involved somehow, at least as 
involved as far as falsifying evidence... and maybe further."

"How much further?" Mulder asked slowly.

"I don't know.  But you need to check the flow of evidence from 
the second and third victims.  They came along after your partner 
reported him and Martin had initial control of the evidence... a 
vial of the bacteria."

Mulder contemplated the man's inference before asking, "If I'm 
getting your drift... why would someone go so far as to commit 
murder simply to divert attention away from a sexual harassment 
and assault charge that may have eventually come down to a `he 
said/she said' anyway? Isn't it a bit like driving a tack with a 
sledgehammer?"

"Martin had been having a lot of trouble lately... a lot of 
trouble. Financial problems, family problems---his wife and his 
girlfriend left him. He was passed over for a promotion three 
months ago and he had once trained the woman who got `his' job.  
He'd just returned from a forced leave, for a drinking problem,
and he knew if he got anything else on his record, he would be 
 out the door.  So you can imagine, he might have had a
few reasons to... panic, I guess."

Absorbing the situation the officer had just handed him, Mulder
worried out loud, "A gun ready to go off and Scully may have
pulled the trigger."

THURSDAY, 6:58PM
Mulder had mingled with the locals trying to get a lead on where
he might find Det. Martin. Officer Reynolds said that he had heard 
that Martin hadn't fled the area and that a couple of the 
detectives, including Donaldson, probably knew where he was.  
Mulder had discovered information that, after Martin's wife had 
thrown him out, he was staying at a motel not far from his old 
house.  Mulder had parked his FBI issue sedan and had rented a 
small, inconspicuous car before staking out Martin's motel room. 
He sat in the car drinking coffee, absently chewing on what was 
left of a club sandwich as he remembered that he still hadn't 
called Scully.  As he reached for his phone, it rang.  "Mulder."

"Agent Mulder, where are you?" Skinner asked, obviously irritated.

"I'm still in Bethesda, sir."

"I want your ass out of there immediately.  I've been on the phone 
all afternoon trying to smooth the feathers you seem to have 
ruffled from there to the White House!"

"What?!"

"You heard me!  I want you away from Bethesda, away from this 
case, and back in Washington... now!  And I want you in my office 
in one hour. One hour!  Is that understood, Agent Mulder?!"

"Yes, sir," Mulder answered... with absolutely no intention of 
going anywhere until he got his hands on Martin.

DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
THURSDAY, 9:30PM
In clear contrast to her mother, who was becoming increasingly 
uneasy, Scully seemed calm, sitting in front of her computer 
reading yesterday's field notes from Agent Clark on the Bethesda 
case. However, Margaret Scully noticed her daughter's distraction 
heightening as the evening progressed and as the likelihood that 
she would receive the call from her partner she awaited 
diminished.  Even though they had argued that morning as he left 
for work, he had still promised he would call and despite Scully's 
outer facade, Margaret sensed that her daughter was inwardly as
worried as she was.  Why hadn't he called?

For most of the evening, there was little conversation between
Scully and her mother, Scully seemingly consumed with what she was 
reading---or anticipating---on the monitor. "Dana, what are you 
so engrossed in?" Margaret eventually said as she approached her 
daughter from behind, glancing toward the motionless screen.   

"I'm waiting for another agent to post his notes from today...from
that case I've been working on,"Scully replied leaning back in her 
chair to look up at her mother.  "There was another murder this 
morning and I was hoping to get the autopsy report."

"Dana, I would think that would be the last thing you would want 
to hear about," she uttered before she was startled by her 
daughter's sudden movement toward her computer.  

"Here it comes," Scully said, apprehensively, her mother thought. 
The new image had no more than appeared on the screen when Scully 
distressingly gasped... yelling "Mulder!  Dammit!"  She continued 
to read, getting only partially through the document before 
slamming her only good fist to the desk, as she stood, cursing 
"Damn him!  Goddamn him!!!!"

"Dana!" her mother chastised with a look.

"Mom, he promised me!  He promised me!" her voice trembling.  

"Dana, sit down...and calm down. What is going on?" Margaret said 
calmly as she took her place on the couch next to her daughter.

"He promised me he would not do anything rash... with this Martin
thing and that report just told me that he didn't keep his word.  
He has, evidently, been fighting with someone in the Bethesda 
police department..."

"You mean as in hitting someone?" her mother questioned 
disbelievingly.

"Yes.  I mean as in assaulting a police officer!  Oh, but that 
isn't all..." she continued, moving to stand, biting her lip as 
she gasped slightly from the strain.  "The Bureau is on notice to 
locate him due to the fact that he failed to show up today for a 
disciplinary meeting with Assistant Director Skinner!  Jeez-us 
Christ, Mom!" she said exasperated, throwing her hands up as she 
paced the living room floor.  "No wonder he hasn't called.  I 
don't know which is my greater problem---this case or Mulder?!  
Actually... that isn't true.  I do know," she said looking sadly
at her mother as she sat down on the couch.  "And therein lies my
problem, I guess."

Margaret reached for her, as she lay her head on her mother's lap,
folding her legs up onto the couch.  "God, Mom, what have I gotten 
myself into?" she sighed.  

BRUMMAGEM MOTOR COURT
OUTSIDE BETHESDA, MARYLAND
THURSDAY, 9:30PM
Every once in awhile the blinds in Unit #10 would part slightly 
and Mulder could see that there was in fact someone occupying it. 
He was sure that Det. Martin was indeed hole up inside the crummy 
cabin but what he wasn't sure of was whether Det. Martin had 
realized he was being watched. Mulder had seen Det. Donaldson go 
in the room earlier in the evening, so he had to assume that 
Martin now knew that Mulder was in town.  Since no one else at 
the Bureau yet knew what Mulder suspicioned---that Martin was also
involved in the murders--- Mulder realized that if he fucked up 
this arrest, he was going to be in more trouble than Martin!  And 
besides, he could barely control his desire to break through the 
door and beat Martin senseless... for what he'd done to Scully. 
"Scully!  Shit!  She must be worried by now--- or mad as hell," 
he said to himself.  But he decided not to call her.  He had 
figured that Skinner was probably demanding information from her 
and he thought it would be easier for her if she didn't have any.

Mulder could tell the lights were off, the only illumination in 
the room being the blue flicker of the television filtering 
through between the slats of the blinds.  It was now or never, he 
thought, and he figured he would surprise Martin, hopefully, 
subduing him easily.  

Mulder closed the car door softly as he reached for his weapon and
eased off the safety.  With his gun and his flashlight in hand, he 
directed himself toward the door of #10, taking a deep breath 
before plunging his left shoulder full force into the firm wooden 
entrance.  As the door flew open, he raised his gun and flashlight 
and bolted into the room to find...no one.  Hearing the distinct 
sound of running water, he slowly moved further into the sparsely 
furnished room aiming at the bathroom door which stood only 
partially open.  "Martin, come out or I'll blow the door off it's 
fucking hinges!" he yelled.  But as Mulder took another step 
toward the bathroom, he felt the barrel of a gun jam against the 
back of his head.

"Drop the gun or your brains are hamburger," a voice said plainly. 
"Drop it!"  Mulder held his hands up slowly, letting the gun drop 
from his hand onto the unmade bed.  "Now, slowly... down on the 
floor... on your knees, hands on your head," the man ordered as he 
moved back to close the entrance door.  

"Detective Martin, I presume," Mulder said too lightly considering 
his dire situation.

"Shut the fuck up," Mulder heard as he felt handcuffs being locked
around his wrists.  Before he could speak, he was shoved forward, 
landing face first, hard on the linoleum floor.  

"Good move, Martin.  At least you aren't picking on a woman this
time."  He felt a hard kick to the left side of his head and lost
consciousness.

As Mulder lay motionless on the floor, Martin frantically searched 
his overnight bag, finally locating a syringe and a small vial. He 
removed the cap and pulled the remaining murky liquid into the 
syringe. He pushed one of Mulder's pant legs up to expose the 
inside of his knee,injecting him with what was left of the 
bacteria.  

J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC
FRIDAY, 6:34AM
Scully knocked on the door to the inner office belonging to Walter
Skinner as she opened it with the same motion.  AD Skinner watched 
her enter his office, the troubled expression on his face a direct 
reflection of how she thought she must look to him.  

"Sir, I'm sorry for barging in, but I think Mulder is in trouble."

Skinner stood up from his expensive leather chair, motioning her 
to sit down.  "Agent Scully, you should be home in bed.  You are 
in no condition to return to work."

"Sir,that is not the issue right now. I haven't heard from Mulder
in over 24 hours and I do not have a good feeling about it.  I 
think I've telephoned every living person in Bethesda in the past 
eight hours and the last person to admit seeing him said he was 
pursuing Det. Martin.  Sir, I'm afraid he may have found him."

"Agent Scully, I have every damned agent I can spare trying to 
locate Agent Mulder but for a very different reason.  I'll have 
his ass when we find him!"

"Sir, I know all about the altercation in Bethesda and his 
failure to show up here at your order, but I don't think it was 
within his control," she said, almost pleading with him to heed 
her veiled warning.  Skinner looked at her contemplatively 
before turning to answer his phone. 

"Yes.  What can I do for you? ...What's his condition? ...Which 
hospital? Tell the hospital that I'll have an FBI physician up 
there who is familiar with his situation in less than 30 
minutes," he said precisely as he hung up the phone, looking 
toward Scully.  She intuitively knew the call was about Mulder.

BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL
BETHESDA, MARYLAND
FRIDAY, 7:16AM
As they traveled to Bethesda in Skinner's FBI fleet Towncar, with
sirens, he had filled her in on what he knew.  Mulder had been 
found in a motel room, handcuffed and comatose, with a laceration
and a hematoma on the left side of his head.  He had a temperature 
of 104 degrees and his kidneys were shutting down.  The hospital 
personnel had found Scully's phone number in his wallet and her 
mother had directed them to Skinner's office.  

Entering the emergency room, her own very recent visit flashed 
through her mind, giving her still sore body a shiver.  "You have 
a Fox Mulder here?" she said to the attendant at the desk.  

"Uh, ma'am, if you'll just have a seat, I'll check for you," the
attendant replied, obviously staring at Scully's bruised face.  

"I'm Dr. Scully with the FBI and I need to see Mr. Mulder now.  
Now!" she said raising her trembling voice as she fumbled to show 
them her badge.

"Uh, okay.  Let's see...  Through the double doors---second door 
on the left.  Ask for Dr. Morgan..." the attendant yelled toward 
Scully as she hurried off down the hall.

As Scully entered the ER bay where Mulder lay, she was stunned to 
see his condition, closing her eyes before taking a deep breath to 
settle herself.  She slowly walked to the edge of his bed, taking 
his hand before sighing to herself, "Oh, Mulder." The ashen pallor 
of his swollen and puffy face closely resembled the color of the 
sheets, she thought.  His skin was burning hot and he was shaking, 
obviously from the chills of his fever.  But before allowing 
herself to get lost in her emotions, she quickly turned to the 
nurse attending to the mass of medical equipment hooked up to him.  
"I need to speak to Dr. Morgan, immediately," she stated firmly.

"And you are...?" the nurse replied politely.

"I'm Agent Mulder's partner and I'm also a medical doctor.  And I 
think I know what is causing this!" she said moving back toward 
Mulder.  The nurse pushed a button on the wall intercom, speaking 
quickly, "Dr. Morgan.  ER 2. Stat."

As Scully checked Mulder's current vitals and began to review his
file, a man entered the curtained cubicle, immediately looking at 
the monitors before shifting his attention to Scully.  "Dr. 
Morgan?" she asked. "I'm Dr. Scully with the FBI.  This man has 
been exposed to a bacteria--most likely a combination of Endamoeba 
histolytica and Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae and possibly an H7 
strain of E. coli.  It is an extremely virulent bacteria, causing 
fatal Hemolytic uremia and Amebiasis---we have to start treatment 
now!"

"Dr. Scully, how on earth would someone have contracted all of
these bacteria simultaneously?" Dr. Morgan said incredulously.

"By injection, Dr.Morgan. We have at least six deaths attributed 
to it.  Now are you going to stand here and chat or are you going 
to treat him?!"  She looked at him sternly as the realization that 
she knew what she was talking about reflected on his face. "You 
need to begin with IV infusion of mega-doses of metronidazole or 
dehydroemetine until we can get him started on dialysis.  I can 
see that he is already jaundiced..., his...his labs show the WBC 
is already over 20,000 and the BUN and creatinine levels are 
already at dialyzable levels!  His treatment isn't something
that can wait!  Dr. Morgan?!"

"Nurse, load a 2000mg dose of metronidazole hydrochloride and 
infuse over the next hour.  Then maintain on 1500.  Get full 
labs again and call Nephrology---now," Dr. Morgan said and 
exited the room without another glance toward Scully.  She 
wouldn't have seen it anyway.  Her eyes were transfixed on Mulder.  

BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL 
FRIDAY, 4:36PM
Scully had spent the day waiting. Mulder had awakened somewhat but
was delirious, so he was sedated when she had gone with him to 
dialysis. She sat with him for several hours before going to lie 
down in the room Mulder had been assigned in ICU.  Prior to him 
returning from dialysis, the staff had come in every hour or so to 
give her a status report.  Even Dr.Morgan had called a couple of 
times, particularly after the FBI had furnished a copy of Mulder's 
Power of Attorney for Health Care form, naming Dr. Dana Scully as 
his POA.  Skinner had been there most of the morning trying, in 
vain, to get her to go home for awhile, as had her mother. Scully 
had her mother bring her Tylenol to the hospital, but she had 
taken only a half tablet about noon, not wanting to be too drowsy,
but being too uncomfortable to do without it.  No one had directly 
asked what had happened to her, why she was bruised and stiff and 
had her arm in a cast, but she certainly felt their inquisitive 
stares.  

Scully had drifted off for a short nap and her mother was leafing
through a magazine when the gurney carrying Mulder was rolled into 
the room.  Scully immediately awakened to the thud of the edge of 
the gurney banging into the opened door.  She winced as she stood, 
moving over toward her mother to allow the orderlies access to 
transfer Mulder into his bed. He was awake and instantly surveyed 
the room with his eyes until he fixed on Scully.  

"I'm not dead?" he said hoarsely with the dry wit she would have
sometimes like to have killed him for exhibiting at the wrong 
times.  

"No, you're not.  But you might be soon if they leave you alone 
with me," she said, then smiling as she moved toward him, taking 
his hand. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been reamed out by the Roto-Rooter man," he said 
weakly. "Have you been here the whole time?"

"I've... we've been here all day," she answered looking over at 
her mother. "Mulder, lie still and let them get everything hooked 
up.  I'll be right outside.  I want to talk to your doctor."

Dr. Morgan relayed that the combination of dialysis and large 
dosages of antibiotics had reduced the presence of the bacteria 
in Mulder's system, but that he was not yet out of the woods.  
"While no pockets of internal infection have surfaced thus far, 
as you know, this is still a possibility, given the type and 
strength of the bacteria.  We are particularly watching the 
injection site on the inside of his left knee.  He continues to 
have minute amounts of ameburia and the bacillus and coliform 
aren't yet indiscernible at this point.  We will continue the 
maintenance of antibiotic IV and we'll do another dialysis in the 
morning and... go from there," he said.  "Things look good, though 
Dr. Scully.  You were right on the mark with your diagnosis and 
treatment recommendations.  I have no doubt you saved your 
partner's life."

When Scully and her mother returned to Mulder's room, Scully
suppressed her initial reaction to cry when, seeing him amidst 
the labyrinth of requisite tubes and wires, the magnitude of his 
situation became starkly real to her.  Moving to him, she stroked 
his cheek before giving him a light kiss on the mouth. "I'm here, 
Mulder.  I'm here," she said quietly, looking at him with 
observable pain in her eyes.  

Noticing her daughter's expression, Margaret spoke to Mulder 
quietly before excusing herself from the room, knowing the two of 
them needed to be alone.  "Fox, I'm glad you're doing better," 
she said touching his arm.  "I'll leave you and Dana to talk, 
but I'll see you again before I leave.  Listen to your doctors, 
Fox... Both of them."

Scully leaned over him, looking into his eyes before giving him
another light kiss on the lips. "You gave me quite a scare,
Mulder."

"I gave myself quite a scare," he said without so much as a hint 
of humor to his statement. He told her he didn't remember much,he 
did remember the injection."And it was Martin...and Donaldson was 
involved too, at least in as much as aiding and abetting Martin."

"Mulder, they've arrested Donaldson and the troops are out in full
force after Martin.  It turns out that the last victim was 
Martin's girlfriend---and the wife of the fourth victim.  I think 
it will take a genealogist to figure out how all these people were 
connected....  But enough about this case---right now you need to 
rest," she said as she smoothed his hair, looking into his eyes.

"You still mad at me, Scully?" he said with absolute sincerity.

"Mulder,how could you even ask me that---or care for that matter?"
she answered with a small smile.  "I just want to get you well and
back home."  She laid her head on his chest, comforted by the 
strong, steady cadence of his heart. 
	
DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
FRIDAY, 9:46PM
Margaret Scully was finishing some of her daughter's laundry while
waiting for her to return home from the hospital.  Scully had 
wanted to remain at the hospital with Mulder for the night, but he 
had finally talked her into going home.  After all, it had only 
been two short days since she had been in the hospital herself and 
being there with him all day had taken it's toll.  

"Mom?" Scully called as she entered her apartment, removing her 
coat. Even though she had felt so empty after leaving Mulder in 
the hospital alone, she had to admit she was comforted to be back 
in her own apartment again.  She just wanted to take a long, hot 
bath and go to bed.

"I'm in here, Dana," her mother answered exiting from the utility
room.  "How's Fox?"

"He was finally sleeping when I left him.I waited for the results
from his last blood test and everything looks good.  He might get 
to come home in a few days if he continues to respond to 
treatment," she said as she poured herself a glass of juice and 
took a Tylenol.  She sat down in the closest chair, taking a deep,
tired breath.  "Mom, I am about as exhausted as I have ever been 
in my life, I think.  I had thoughts of taking a hot bath..., but 
I think I'll just go to bed."  She finished her juice before going 
to her mother and embracing her.  "Mom..., thank you...for being 
here for me---and for Mulder.  I love you."

"I love you, too, honey. I am so proud of you. I heard Dr. Morgan
tell you that you saved Fox's life.  You can't know how that made 
me feel, Dana. I know your father is proud of you, too," she said 
releasing her daughter's embrace."Come on,let's get you into bed."

As Scully started to open her dresser drawer to retrieve a fresh 
pair of pajamas, she noticed that the drawer wasn't quite closed.  
She didn't know why that struck her as unusual, but she felt an 
odd sense about it. "Mom, did you put any laundry back into this 
drawer?" she asked her mother somewhat suspiciously.  

"Um, I don't think so.  Your pajamas are still drying.  Why?" her
mother asked innocently.

"Oh, nothing.  Nevermind," Scully answered, absently looking 
through the drawer for something, anything.  Finding nothing out 
of the ordinary, she figured she was just tired and overwhelmed 
by the day's events and forgot about her uneasiness.  

After securing her daughter into bed and watching her fall almost
immediately to sleep, Margaret had felt equally tired and in need 
of a good night's rest.  She knew there were officers outside 
watching the apartment and she felt safe, but she unlatched the 
door locks to check the hallway just to reassure herself.  Just as 
she opened the door, she was startled but relieved to see a man 
immediately produce a police badge and identification.  "Ma'am, I 
need to speak with you," the voice said plainly, prompting her to 
open the door fully to allow the officer in.  

"Officer.  Is everything alright?" Margaret asked innocently as 
the man stepped into the apartment.  

"Are you here alone, ma'am?  Is Agent Scully here?" he said 
surveying the areas of the apartment he could see from his 
position just inside the door.  

"Um, she's sleeping.  Is there something I can help you with?"

"No need to wake her.  But, we've received a tip that the man we 
are looking for may be in the area.  Would you mind if I checked 
out the rest of the apartment?" he asked politely. The man turned 
on the lights in the guest bedroom, looking around as he needed.  
He had his gun in his hand but reassured Margaret that it was 
only precaution.  He checked the kitchen before asking what other 
rooms were down the hall.  

"The bathroom and utility.  And Dana's room, but we don't have to
wake her, right?" she asked.  "She's had a very tiring day."

"No.  No.  I'll just go on in and have a quiet look, though, if 
you don't mind," he replied as he moved down the hall.  But 
before he reached the bedroom door, Scully appeared with her 
weapon aimed with both hands directly at the officer.  

"Hold it right there, you son-of-a-bitch!!"  she yelled in an 
incensed voice her mother didn't even know her daughter possessed.  
Her mother stood behind him,frozen in her steps at her daughter's 
words.  But as Margaret stood motionless, the man whirled around, 
frantically grabbing for her. Startled, she tried to move back 
from him, but as she did, the sound of a gunshot reverberated 
throughout the darkened apartment.  The bullet had hit him 
squarely and the officer dropped to the floor like a lead weight,
bleeding profusely from the gaping wound in what remained of his 
head.  

Margaret stood fixed to the floor, in shock from what had just
transpired before her eyes.  Scully had to step over the body to 
get to her mother, grasping her shoulders, physically moving her.  
"Mom.  Come on. Get in to the living room," she said quietly.  
Scully sat her mother down on the couch, reassuring her, 
"Everything will be okay, Mom."  There was pounding at the door 
that Scully immediately reasoned were the real agents who were 
assigned to guard her apartment.  "Stay right here, Mom.  I'll 
be right back, okay?" she asked and her mother nodded.  

"It's Martin.  He's dead," she relayed to the two agents whom she
allowed entry to her apartment.  "He's down the hall," she said 
pointing past the kitchen as she was dialing `911' before going 
back to her mother who was still sitting silently on the couch.  
Bending down placing her hands on her mother's knees, she looked 
at her closely, before quietly asking, "Mom, 'you okay?"

"Dana, who was that man?"

"Mom, listen to me.  Everything is fine.  It's over," Scully said 
as she moved to sit down beside her mother on the couch.

"Was that the man you've been looking for---the one who attacked
you?" Margaret said, almost fearfully.

"Yes," Scully answered plainly.  "Mom, I need you go into the 
guest room for awhile... until they get him out of here.  I need 
to take care of some things and they'll want to ask you some 
questions later."

"If that's what you need me to do."

"It is, Mom... for now," she said, giving her mother a reassuring
touch.  Noticing that her mother was splattered with Martin's 
blood, she added, "And get out of these clothes, Mom.  Please."

Within ten minutes, Scully's apartment was full of FBI Agents,
paramedics, local police and even a TV camera crew had tried to 
gain entry. The scene made for an incongruous picture---all kinds 
of people talking and moving around reflecting almost a social 
atmosphere within a circumstance that was one of the worst of her 
life.  She had slipped a jacket on over her pajamas and figured 
she must be a noteworthy picture in her haphazard wardrobe with 
her bruised face and casted arm.  Scully was relieved to see 
Skinner arrive knowing he would expedite things in order to get 
the unwanted strangers out of her apartment.  

After getting Scully's recounting of the evening's events, 
Skinner angrily quizzed the agent in charge.  "How the hell did 
Martin get in this building?!"  Not really waiting for an answer, 
he continued "I want this body out of here and this mess cleaned 
up now.  Get your pictures and evidence and go.  Agent Scully and 
her mother can make their official statements tomorrow."

BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL
BETHESDA, MARYLAND
FOUR DAYS LATER, TUESDAY, 10:13AM
Mulder was scheduled to be discharged and he was antsy, 
impatiently strumming his fingers on the arm of the chair waiting 
for his doctor to come in to officially release him.  "Mulder, 
please stop that.  It isn't going to get Dr. Morgan in here any 
sooner," Scully said as she sat across the room waiting much more 
patiently.  She and her mother had gone to her mother's house 
after the shooting and she hadn't spent a night in her apartment
since.  She was glad Mulder would be with her when she returned
home for the first time.  

Scully had gone to the hospital early the next morning after the
shooting hoping that someone hadn't already told Mulder about the 
incident. He had taken the news about Martin in a way that she 
didn't really expect. Initially, he had said nothing, simply 
taking her in his arms and holding her while she finally cried. 
Then..., he apologized. "Scully, this shouldn't have had to be 
you.  If I hadn't screwed up everything... with Martin..."

Dr. Morgan, along with his nurse, entered Mulder's room with his 
chart in hand.  Scully stood, moving to stand behind Mulder, to 
await Dr. Morgan's words.  

"Mr. Mulder, you are a very lucky man," he began.  "Your labs 
appear clear at this time, but we'll continue with weekly tests 
for a month just to make sure.  You'll need to continue on oral 
antibiotics for a good six months before we can give you a 
totally clean slate.  Considering the debilitated condition of 
your body, coupled with your line of work, I wouldn't return for 
at least a month," he cautioned as he moved to leave.  

"Thank you, Doctor,"  Mulder said humbly.  "I kind of like my life 
and I guess I have you to thank for allowing me to keep it."

"Well, Mr. Mulder, as much as I'd like to take the credit," he 
said. "I had very little to do with it.  You need to talk to Dr.
Scully about that."

DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
TUESDAY, 8:31PM
When they got home to her apartment, she was as drained as he was, 
but most of her exhaustion wasn't physical.  While her muscles 
remained tender and discomfort was still painfully present, she 
had almost forgotten about her maladies since being consumed with 
Mulder's precarious health. The repressed anger she still harbored 
at Mulder's reckless pursuit of Det. Martin, despite her warning 
and counter to his promise to her, was beginning to finally find 
time to surface.  She had tried to reason herself into forgetting 
about it, but she felt the very basis of their trust, their bond, 
had been violated.  If he was going to react in the same impetuous 
way to every situation that might present personal problems for 
her, then she wasn't sure their present personal involvement and 
their professional life could continue to coexist in their current 
state.  	

He had camped out on the couch as she had busied herself with 
trying to catch up on everything overdue, which was just about 
everything.  The evening had been rather taciturn, conversation 
having been limited by both her schedule of neglected household 
tasks and by their escalating emotional distance.  He sensed her 
cool mood but prudently, for once, left her alone and pretty much 
steered clear of her all evening.  The whole Martin debacle had 
been a mess from the beginning, he thought, but he was determined 
not to let it ruin what they had, either personally or 
professionally.  

"Scully?" he called after her as he got up from the couch to go 
find her.  "Where are you?"

"I'm in here," she called from the bedroom. "Mulder, you shouldn't 
be up.  Why didn't you call?  I would've come in to help you."

"Because I'm tired and I want to go to bed but I'm not going to do
that until we talk."

"Mulder, trust me, you do not want to talk to me right now," she
warned as she turned to look directly at him.

"But, Scully, I'm..."

"So help me God, Mulder, if you're about to say `I'm sorry' and 
think that everything will suddenly be just fine,I'm going to come
over there and hit you.  This is not about a simple apology.  It 
goes much deeper than that---at least for me, it does."  She laid 
the towels she was folding down and sat on the edge of the bed, 
motioning for him to come sit next to her. She took his hand 
before going on.  "Mulder, I love you... I love you more deeply 
than I ever imagined I could love anyone.  But that is not enough 
to maintain this relationship as it is... as I want it to be... 
for the rest of our lives.  A relationship is about honesty and 
trust... and consideration... and respect.  And the way I see it, 
you paid no attention to those aspects of this relationship when 
you went off after Martin. Maybe this whole thing in Bethesda 
happened as a sign to us that we weren't meant to be together... 
Maybe we can't be lovers, Mulder.  Maybe we should have left 
things as they were."

Although he felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach, he
managed to stand and moved over to sit in the chair facing her, 
needing to see her face when he spoke.  "Scully, I'm not offering
an apology for going after Martin the way I did.  Had he done 
this to you before our relationship changed, I would have reacted 
the same way.  It is the way I operate.  You know that.  I didn't 
do what I did because I didn't respect you or consider your plea 
to stay out of it.  I did it because that is what I do---it is who 
I am.  I do admit that I promised you I wouldn't go after him 
knowing full well that was exactly what I was going to do.  But 
that was due more to the fact that you were hurt---I was trying to 
appease you so that you wouldn't worry.  And that was wrong.  I 
should have been honest with you," he admitted, searching her eyes 
for understanding.  "But for you to say that you feel I don't 
respect you or that you can't trust me is inconceivable to me, 
Scully.  I have never respected anyone more than I do you.  And I 
trust you unquestionably and I thought you trusted me to the
same degree."

"Mulder..."

"And one more thing... Just because we wouldn't be sleeping 
together wouldn't make me love you any less---ever.  It's too late 
to turn back now, at least for me."

"God, Mulder, I don't want things to go back to the way they 
were---I doubt they even could.  But we can't leave them the way 
they are either. We have to have an understanding... or something.  
I have to know that when you promise me something that you mean 
it, really mean it."

"I promise you, Scully," he said as he stood, moving toward her 
to take her face in his hands.  "I.  Promise.  You."  She put her 
arms around him, laying her head on his chest as he wrapped her in 
his arms, kissing the top of her head.  

She separated from him, looking up into his eyes.  "Mulder, please
make me believe that I can trust your promise," she said as she 
stood, reaching up to kiss him lightly on the lips as he again 
enclosed his arms around her.  She just stood there, returning his 
embrace knowing that this was his way of sealing his promise to 
her.  "Mulder, get into bed.  I've got a few things to finish and 
then I'll be in."  He nodded and then kissed her, holding her 
without saying a word.  When she returned to the bedroom, he was 
already soundly sleeping, sprawled across the entire bed.  He 
almost looked like a different man lying there, since he had lost
so much weight and his generally robust color had not yet 
returned.  She wanted just to hold him feeling that she could 
transport some of her life into him just by her proximity... and
her will.  She thought of sleeping in the other bedroom, not 
wanting to disturb his obvious comfort, but knew he would find
more comfort in having her next to him and so would she.  
	
FBI HEADQUARTERS
ONE WEEK LATER, TUESDAY, 8:30AM
Scully sipped at her morning coffee while sorting through the 
previous week's mail and faxes.  She had been off duty until her 
shooting of Martin was investigated and even though a final 
determination hadn't yet come, Skinner had at least, let her 
return to desk duty.  Mulder had moved back to his own apartment 
the day before and she was tired, not having slept well without 
him next to her.  As her thoughts had wandered from the work
on the desk before her to Mulder alone in his apartment, Skinner 
appearedin an uncommon visit to their basement office.  

"Agent Scully, good to see you back at work," he said plainly.

"It's good to be back, sir... I think," she said as she gave him 
a slight smile.  He sat down in the chair in front of the desk 
that was usually reserved for her when Mulder was working. "Is 
there something I can do for you this morning, sir?"

"Oh, not really, Agent Scully.  I just wondered how Mulder was
recuperating," he said, almost sheepishly looking into his lap.  
His demeanor was not his usual official temperament and it made
her slightly uneasy about why he might have actually come to 
their office. 

"Um... he's doing fine, sir.  All of his blood tests have come 
back negative for the pathogen and he is gradually getting his 
strength back. He isn't ready for a triathlon yet," she smiled, 
"but he's been going to the club to swim the last couple of days.  
Quite frankly, sir, I think he's bored."

"I just wanted to let you know that you can return to full duty
anytime you're ready, as soon as your cast is removed, that is.  
The determination on Martin came in last night and you were 
cleared.  It was a good shoot.  I also wanted you to know that a 
vial of the bacteria was found in your apartment, along with a 
syringe.  We know it was planted.  It seems that Martin's initial 
plan was to miraculously solve the crimes he committed in an 
effort to bolster his troubled reputation.  But then, after
you entered the picture, after you weren't scared off by the 
pictures or the assault, we figure he decided to discredit you... 
to frame you," he finished.

"God.  He was obviously a very, very sick man...sad really. Thank 
you for telling me this in person,sir. I'm hoping that my personal 
involvement in this case can be kept as private as possible."

"I'll try my best, Agent Scully," he said trailing off without 
saying anything else.

"Um, sir, is there something else?" she asked quietly sensing he
was hesitating.

"Yes, actually there is, Scully.  But I'm not relaying this 
information in any official capacity yet," he commented before 
continuing. "But I wanted to prepare you."

"Um, okay..."

"As you know, there are others within the Bureau who have seen 
those pictures of you and Agent Mulder and who may want to use 
them against you or him to put an end to your partnership and 
the X-Files."

"Yes, I assumed as much," she sighed as her concerns were 
confirmed.

"I have received unofficial information that you and Agent Mulder 
may be re-partnered. I was hoping no one was going to follow up on 
those pictures or on your relationship with Mulder,but...they were 
just waiting for your professional behavior to be compromised..."

"Sir, I think you know that I have always taken great pride in my
professional behavior and that has not changed," she interrupted 
firmly.

"It's not you I'm concerned with, Agent Scully," he said finally
looking squarely at her for understanding.  "I'm afraid Mulder's 
recent conduct has been considered as just enough to finally 
cross the line."

"Sir, he has certainly done worse things." she snarled slightly.
"Why make an issue now?"

"Maybe they were just waiting this time.  I really don't know,
Agent Scully.  I hope you know that I will do what I can, but I 
answer to someone, too."
	
DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
SATURDAY, 8:22PM
Scully arrived home carrying just enough grocery bags to make her
remember that she still had a few tender muscles from her tangle 
with Det.Martin.  She realized that shopping for two was a bit 
more cumbersome than simply shopping for herself and her own 
narrow personal preferences in food.  After putting everything in 
its place and making a light dinner, she sat down on the couch to 
call Mulder. Despite spending three nights at her place this week, 
he was still living at his own apartment.  She had stayed last 
night with him at his place, but had spent much of it cleaning his
neglected surroundings.  His stamina was still compromised and his 
daily trip to the gym to swim was about his limit, so she didn't 
mind doing things for him she would never do under normal 
circumstances.  

After the eleventh ring, she knew he had time to answer even
considering his slowed navigation these days.  She tried his 
cell---it was turned off.  Her underlying feelings on the status 
of their relationship this last week began to creep into her 
reasoning about why she couldn't reach him.  The atmosphere 
between them had been strained, seemingly just going through the 
motions of being together rather than wanting to be.  It made her 
tired and, she thought, resentful.  Resentful that he seemed
oblivious to her turmoil and that he didn't appear to have any.  
Resentful that he seemed content enough just having her around to 
help him and contributing nothing in return.  They were sleeping 
in the same bed, but nothing else, the unspoken excuse being the 
remnant physical limitations imposed by Mulder's medical 
condition.  But they both knew it was more than that.  

Slamming the phone back into its cradle, Scully became even more
irritated at herself for allowing herself to become so irritated 
at him. She knew this had to end and grabbed her coat as she 
headed out the door.  

Arriving at his apartment in record time, she just sat in her car
knowing that she needed to calm down and think about what she 
wanted to do before doing it.  That didn't seem to help much and 
she still wasn't resolved about what she was going to do---or even 
what she wanted to do. She knocked on the door, believing he was 
actually at home and just not answering his phone.  He opened the 
door with a look on his face that told her he knew it was her 
before he answered.

"I've been expecting you," he said resignedly as he closed the 
door behind her.  He stared at the floor as he slowly followed 
behind her choleric stride into the living room looking up to see 
her standing in front of his desk with her arms characteristically 
folded in a stern physical expression of her emotional state.  

"I'm so glad I have become so predictable to you," she said 
testily.

"Scully, I don't want to fight," he replied humbly. 

"And you think I do, Mulder?" she said as more of an accusation 
than a question.  "Well, actually, maybe I did come over here 
looking for an argument.  At least it would be some kind of 
emotional connection---which is more than we've had in the last 
week."

"Please, Scully.  Sit down and let's talk if you want to.  But 
I'm not going to stand here and trade snippy remarks with you.  
Call me names and get it over with if it'll make you feel better.  
I'll just catch the end of this movie here and you can let me know 
when you're finished," he said flippantly as he sat down on the 
couch, picking up the remote control. Infuriated, she moved 
between him and the television, slamming her hand on the button 
to turn it off.

"Goddammit, Mulder.  What is it?!  I can't take much more of this. 
I'm drowning here and you're acting as if it's just an 
inconvenience. Do you not sense that something is wrong--that our 
relationship is not where it should be?!" she said, still angry.

"And where is it our relationship should be, Scully?" he said 
looking directly at her.  "Should we be having candle-lit dinners 
and great sex every night before we get up and toddle on off to 
work hand in hand each morning?  That would make Ward and June 
proud, I guess.  Or maybe, it's William and Margaret, huh, 
Scully?"

She was absolutely seething now, too incensed to speak, her mouth
literally gaping in response to what he had just said and, more to 
the point, insinuated.  His metaphoric comparison had stunned and 
hurt her at least as much as it had surprised her.  "Is that the 
kind of life you think I want with you?  When have I ever given 
you any indication of that, Mulder?  When?  Actually, maybe I 
should've made that remark to you.  You sure as hell seemed to 
acclimate yourself well to me cleaning your house and washing 
your underwear this past week!"

"Oh, I don't think I acclimated myself to it nearly as much as 
you did, Scully."

"Mulder, if you think that was acclimation, then I've been very
mistaken about how well I feel you know me.  If you have 
interpreted the actions of my love for you as an attempt to 
transform you into a domesticated drone, then I don't know if we 
can go on from here...  I don't."             

"Scully...  You don't mean that.  You have blown this way out of
proportion.  I was just trying to illustrate that we don't need to 
have a white picket fence and three cats in the yard to have a 
relationship.  Why can't we just keep things as they are?"

"God, I can't believe we have come to this.  We are at such 
opposite ends that I'm not sure there is enough common ground left 
for us to continue, Mulder."

"Oh, come on Scully.  We're having an argument.  So what?  We've 
had `em before and we'll have `em again.  Don't make this more 
than it is...," he said more dismissively than he really meant to.

"Well, if you don't see that this is more than an `argument',
then...," she looked at him, unable to finish her words.  She 
turned quickly to leave, not wanting him to see the tears that 
seemed to suddenly burst from her.  If this was what life was like 
as Mulder's lover, she wasn't sure she was up to the task.  
	
DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
SUNDAY, 9:20AM
"Mom, it's me," she said calmly into the telephone.  "I just 
wanted to let you know that I'm taking some time off from work and 
going away for awhile and not to worry."

"Dana, what's happened?" her mother asked, concerned.

Scully hesitated before deciding how much she wanted to tell her
mother over the phone.  "I really can't get into it right now, 
Mom.  But, I'm okay.  I'll be okay."

"Is it Fox, Dana?" she asked figuring it couldn't be anything 
elsethat would cause such a reaction.  

"Yes.  I need some time away.  So if Mulder contacts you, you can
honestly tell him you don't know where I have gone.  I'll call you 
in a few days, Mom, so don't worry.  Okay?"

"Dana, are you sure you want to do this, that this is the way you 
want to handle this?" she asked comfortingly.

"I don't know, Mom.  But right now, this is what I feel I need to
do... for myself."

FOX MULDER'S APARTMENT
SUNDAY, 4:00PM
He never thought he could get sick of watching basketball, but he 
was. But Mulder knew his inability to enjoy his usual Sunday 
afternoon fare had less to do with boredom than it had to do with 
his escalating preoccupation with rehashing his remarks to Scully 
the previous night.  What had he been thinking?  He had been 
scared.  Scared he was adapting too easily to the mundaneness of 
her being around his apartment waiting on him, seemingly enjoying 
her domestic role.  But he had blamed her for wanting it that way,
knowing now that it was him who started to slide so easily into 
that routine, not her.  Maybe she was, as she said, just taking 
care of him out of love because he needed it.  One of the things 
that had always attracted him to her was her apparent lack of 
desire for a conventional life.  What made him think that she 
would so quickly domesticate just to please him? God, he was an 
egotistical bastard, he thought.  

After calling her apartment for the sixth time and her cell an 
equal number of times in the last two hours, he dialed her mother.
"Mrs. Scully? It's Fox.  Is Dana there?" he asked politely.

"No, Fox.  She isn't," Margaret quietly answered.

"Please, Mrs. Scully.  If she's there, I need to talk to her, 
please," he appealed.  

"Fox, she isn't here.  I don't know where she is.  She called 
this morning and told me she was taking some time off and going 
away for awhile---and she didn't tell me where---purposely," she 
said truthfully.

"Would you have any idea where she might have gone?  Someplace 
maybe that she has gone before---a favorite vacation place... 
anything?" he pleaded.

"Truly, Fox.  I haven't a clue.  The only thing she told me was 
that she would call me in a few days."  He gave her his cell 
phone number and she promised if she heard from her daughter that 
she would at least call him and let him know that she was alright.  
He trusted that she would, but he wasn't content to wait.

He spent the next several hours checking her credit card and phone
records.  She hadn't charged anything or made any phone calls. He 
thought she may still just be driving and hadn't yet checked into 
a hotel, but she should've, at least, had a charge registered for 
gasoline.  But as he knew all too well, she was aware of every 
trick in the book and he thought maybe she had taken cash, 
presuming he might try to track her.  As he checked her bank 
records for a large withdrawal, he realized she would kill him if 
she ever found out everything he was doing to track her.  No 
transactions.  He resolved that maybe she already had enough cash 
for a day or two, so he decided he'd have to let it rest tonight 
and try again tomorrow.

FOX MULDER'S APARTMENT
MONDAY, 7:15AM
Mulder ran his hands through his hair as he waited on hold for AD
Skinner.  "Yes, Agent Mulder.  What can I do for you?" he 
questioned seemingly somewhat bothered by his phone call.

"Sir, I'm trying to reach Agent Scully.  Have you heard from her?" 
he asked plainly.

"Agent Mulder, please don't be coy with me.  I'm sure you know 
what I know.  She called in to take some time off.  She didn't say 
why and I didn't ask.  And I'm sure you know more about that than 
I do."

"Sir, did she mention where she was going or how long she would 
be gone?" he said, almost demanding an answer.

"No," Skinner answered flatly.  "I hope you get this resolved 
before you both come back to work," he finished as he hung up.  

Between running more checks on her credit cards, ATM and her phone,
Mulder called her mother again, but to no avail.  Scully wanted to 
be away from him and she didn't want to be found and she was doing 
a damn fine job of it.  The efficiency he had always appreciated 
and admired in her had come back to bite him in the ass, he 
thought.  He was just going to have to wait until she came to him. 
And the process of waiting was just about non-existent in Fox 
Mulder's mental and physical being.

MONDAY, 11:33PM
Mulder's eyes were transfixed on the dull glow of the muted 
television. He had never felt so utterly alone in his life.  If 
Scully had walked into his apartment at that very moment wearing 
pearls with Wally and the Beaver in tow, he would have bowed down 
and taken her back with pleasure. He only thought he had known all
these years how much he had wanted her---but now he really knew.  
He thought if he had to go another hour without holding her, 
touching her, he would shrivel up and die.  He couldn't bear it 
any longer and he suddenly felt an overwhelming need to at least 
go sleep in her bed.  At least he could see and touch her things 
and smell her smell.  God, he felt like he couldn't live if he 
didn't have something of her---his fix, he thought to himself as 
he grabbed his coat and headed out the door of his apartment.  

DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
TUESDAY, 12:18AM
Using his key, he opened the door to her apartment, immediately
relishing in the fresh smell of her place that was her.  He closed 
the door with his foot as he slipped off his coat,throwing it over 
the back of the couch.  As he bent to take off his shoes, he was 
startled by her voice. "Put your hands up or I'll blow your head 
off," she said in her best FBI inflection.

"Scully!  It's me!  Don't shoot!" he said, sincerely afraid for 
his life.  He knew what a good shot she was.

"Mulder?" she said as she flipped on the kitchen light.  "What the
hell are you doing here?  You scared the shit out of me!"

"Scully.  Jesus.  You're here?  Have you been here the entire three 
days?" he asked, his voice almost trembling from a combination of
fear and the exhilaration he felt at just seeing her.

"Yes.  Mulder, you still haven't told me what you are doing here,"
she said, annoyed. She laid her gun on the mantle before moving to 
sit in the closest chair. Wrapping her arms around her knees as 
she bent them to her chest, she looked at him with an expression 
that, she hoped, didn't mirror her real feelings of how glad she 
was to see him.  He took her move to sit as permission for him to 
stay, at least for now, and took his place on the couch.  

"Mulder...?"

"Scully, I just wanted to stay here tonight, okay?  If you only 
knew how much I've mi...," he trailed off before he could finish 
telling her that he couldn't bear another moment without her, 
without something of her.  She sat there looking at him for only 
a few seconds before moving over to him on the couch.

"Mulder, have you been taking care of yourself?  You look like 
hell," she said as she touched his forehead to check for a 
temperature.  "Are you taking your medication?  Because if you 
haven't been, so help me God...," her voice dripping with 
irritated warning.

"Yes, Scully.  I've been taking my medication---as prescribed.  
I look like hell because I've been sick with worry... about you."

"Oh, please, Mulder," she said dismissively as she moved back to 
her safe place in the chair.  "It has only been a few days.  And 
you've been much better off not seeing me, believe me."  She 
leaned her head back against the chair before speaking, "What do 
you want, Mulder?  I'm tired."

"You.  I want you.  Scully, everyone I have ever been close to has
left me, in one way or another.  So when I get close to people, I 
have a tendency to leave them or, more to the point, make them 
leave me.  I guess before they do it to me anyway.  This 
overwhelming impulse just takes over that makes me want to piss 
people off to hurt them to some degree as sort of a defense 
mechanism, I guess.  And last week I panicked.  It meant so much 
to me that you took care of me, even though I could tell you were
ready to kill me, that I couldn't handle it.  I kept thinking you
would just back out of the responsibility and I would be left 
alone again. So I did what I always seem to do---I pissed you off 
so you'd leave. Subconsciously deliberately... if that makes any 
sense at all to you."  He moved over to sit on his knees on the 
floor in front of her chair, putting his hands over hers. "I love 
you, Scully.  I can't be without you.  We've got to talk this out 
and make this right.  I've missed you," he said pensively.

"Mulder, right now all I want to do is go to sleep.  These last 
few days have been anything but restful for me, too, you know," 
she said as she moved to stand.  He moved out of her way, standing 
as she did.  As she began to walk out of the living room, she 
turned back to see him still in the same spot,just looking at her.  
"Are you coming?" she asked.  

"What?" he asked, not believing he heard her correctly.

"Come on, Mulder.  We'll talk tomorrow," she said as she moved
back towards him, putting her arms around his waist, holding him 
tight.  "I've missed you too... so much.  I want you next to me...
in bed.  Is that okay?"

As they lay beneath the sheets holding each other, neither of them
could find the sleep they knew they needed and thought they wanted.  
His head rested on her breast, contented by the timbre of her 
delicate breathing and the unwavering cadence of her careful heart
as he realized his venerating need for her. This past week, he had 
feared their private relationship was disintegrating, almost 
before it had a chance to flourish. She reflected an 
unbeknowningly analogous scenario in her mind, subconsciously 
enlacing her fingers with his as his hand lay on her stomach
just beneath the silk of her pajama top.  

"Mulder...," she began as she touched his cheek with the palm of 
her other hand.

"What, Scully?" he answered, tightening his grip on her hand.  

"What happened to us?" she asked sadly.

He lifted his head from her chest, laying it next to hers on the 
down pillow.  He touched her cheek, turning her head to look at 
him before lightly kissing her triste lips. "I don't know, Scully. 
I think I was just scared.  What happened to you and what happened 
to me made me realize just how fragile life is... But now, it has 
made me understand that every moment counts... absolutely every 
minute of every day... and I don't want to waste any.  And I don't 
want to spend a minute without you in my life...ever."

"God, Mulder.  I have missed you so much, in so many ways," she
said turning to embrace him.

"Tell me, Scully," he said, smiling.	

"I've missed your heart... your love, your mind..., your... sneaky
smile," she relayed as she stroked his chest and his strong arm.  
"I even missed your disgusting sense of humor."

"Anything else?"

"Are you fishing, Mulder?"

"Maybe..."

"Yes, I missed your presence in my bed... and my body.  I love 
making love with you, Mulder.  I almost can't believe how used to 
it I became in such a short period of time.  I don't ever want to 
think about what life would be like without you...  I love you."  
She moved over his body, kissing him passionately before 
repeating, "I love you."

"I love you, Scully," he said with his passion unmistakable in his
voice, kissing her almost violently in his hunger to capture her 
body. They scrambled to remove their pajamas,laughing and giggling 
at their behavior as they kissed and groped for each other with 
the libidinousness of prom-night teenagers.  Without moving his 
attention from her body, he kicked at the constraining sheet and 
blankets as he moved to take her breast in his hand, his lips 
capturing the nipple of the other.

"Oh, Mulder...," she murmured, relishing in the carnal excitation 
her body had missed. She couldn't stay stationary, her entire body 
stimulated by the choreography of his mouth and his hands on her 
breasts as she writhed and moaned underneath him.  He reached for 
her center, roughly parting her lips with his almost 
uncontrollable fingers. Feeling the fervent secretion of her 
intemperate arousal, he quickly moved to part her legs and enter 
her in a single uninterrupted motion, his ingress causing her to
finally still beneath him.  She embraced him tightly, her hands 
spread across his perspiring back as if she was trying to gather 
him in all at once.  He moved within her only slightly, his 
breathing becoming more raggedly labored.  

"Scully, I think I used all my energy on your boobs," he panted.  
She kissed him, laughing into his mouth before moving under him as 
he rolled over to his back, still inside her.  She began to move 
on top of him, taking him in as far as she could, losing herself 
in the physical stimulation of his chest hair on her tortuously 
raised nipples.  He reached for her hips and she followed his
physical inference to sit up, sensually gliding her hands across 
his chest descending to rest on his quivering stomach. She shifted
her hands back to his thighs, arching her back as she began to 
move back and forth, undulating her hips in a continuous wave. 
Despite the inexplicable eroticism the painful depth of his 
penetration in this position elicited in her, it became too 
uncomfortable to continue. She moved her hands to his hips, 
shifting her weight to her knees to lean forward, lifting herself 
slightly to relieve the pressure of his length. She knew his 
exiguous stamina impeded him from thrusting against her and she 
secretly smiled to herself at the challenge of being in control of
bringing them both off.  She moved faster and harder against him, 
grinding herself against the heated surface of his body.    

"Oh, Scully.  Right there.  Right there..." he gasped, wrapping
his fervent hands around her waist.  She reached down to open 
herself further to expose her engorged clitoris to the wiry 
friction of his pubic hair, now covered with the liquid of her 
stimulation.  Suddenly, his hips lifted from the bed as he thrust 
into her with force she didn't think he could muster. She felt his 
semen warm her as he groaned her name, pulling her down over him 
in his embrace. She allowed him only a moment of repletion, before
moving up again to ride him, losing the last tenant of her control
until she was sated with her own orgasm, pulsing against him as 
she fell forward onto his chest.  He stroked her back, down her 
bottom to her thighs, massaging her softly as she lay spent, 
spread over him panting to catch her breath.

"Ohhh, Mulder," she sighed contentedly into his chest.  "I'm never
moving from this spot.  Never.  We could both quit the FBI and stay 
like this forever."

"Scully, you'd have to eat sometime... and buy shoes," he smiled 
as he turned them over on their sides, finally pulling out of her 
and rolling onto his back.  She reached for him, embracing, almost 
grabbing, him as she wantonly kissed his face and mouth climbing 
halfway over him again.

"God, Mulder.  If we could bottle what we have, we wouldn't have 
to work.  We could just do this and sell it," she said finally 
resting her head against the hollow of his shoulder.  "I love you 
more than..."

"I know, Scully.  I love you the same."


THE END