Title: Bareback Author: OKayVal Email: okayval@yahoo.com Website: http://donnilee.tripod.com/okayval Rating: NC-17 Archive: Honored; just tell me where Category: RST, PWP Pairings: Mulder/Scully Spoilers: Takes place during Season 7 Disclaimer: Not mine, you know the drill. Summary: Sequel to "Wild Wild Mulder." Mulder makes amends, as only he can. Thanks to everyone who's encouraged me to write another story with this, um, motif. Also, huge thanks to Donnilee for the title suggestion and for being my web hostess with the mostest, and to Tali for pulling this one out of the fire. "If you'll forgive me my ferocity I won't forget your sweetness..." --Blondie, "Forgive and Forget"-- *** The test tube shatters as it hits the floor, and so does the rest of her patience. She's already faced her share of obstacles today, and this latest incident will now add an annoyed Mulder to her list. Her analysis wasn't finished, and he's been chomping at the bit all day for the results. The red liquid pools on the floor and she stares at it. At least the young lab assistant who dropped the test tube has the decency to be upset about it. "I'm sorry, Agent Scully," he says, face flushed, eyes downcast. He begins cleaning up the mess and she glares at him until her cell phone rings, demanding her attention. She knows it's Mulder before she even touches the phone. Damn that man. His timing is uncanny. She thinks for a moment about not answering the call, but that will only make him more agitated. Ever since her little escapade with CGB Spender, Mulder goes haywire when he can't reach her. Best to get this over with now. She pulls the phone from her lab coat pocket and answers it. "Hey, it's me," Mulder says, then pauses. He's heard the snap that she can't keep out of her voice. She waits for him to continue. "Are you finished with that blood sample yet? He was poisoned, wasn't he?" *Here we go*. She clenches her fingers around the phone. "No, Mulder, I'm not finished. We've had a little problem and I need to start over." She is tempted to hang up now, feigning a bad connection, rather than listen to the rant she knows is coming. "You have to find the poison, Scully. That's the key. I can't tie the murders to Morgan without it. He's the only one who has access to that poison and I know that's what killed those people. But I need you to prove it for me." She watches the young technician carefully wipe up the mix of shattered glass and blood. Their whole case, Mulder's entire theory, rests among those small pieces of glass. A heavy weight for such tiny things, she thinks. "I'll do what I can, Mulder," she says, her tone weary. "Call me as soon as you can." Mulder ends the call and she takes a deep breath. She knows when he's profiling, he often shuts out the rest of the world and forges ahead in a narrow tunnel, focused only on the light at the end of it. She understands, but it still rankles somewhat when he shuts her out, too. The lab assistant has finished his clean-up and approaches her nervously. She knows that chewing him out will only waste more time, and she still needs his help, so she tells him take a break while she returns to the autopsy bay and tries to salvage what she can of this case. Mulder calls again as she is leaving the lab. She asks him curtly how he expects her to finish if he keeps interrupting her, then hangs up before he can respond. That seems to do the trick, because he does not call back. The sterile solitude of the autopsy bay allows her to regain her focus; she collects tissue samples and tries to see if there is any other trace evidence on the victim's body that she may have missed the first time. The afternoon stretches out ahead of her, like an endless road; running the tests takes time, and the lab assistant is so terrified of dropping anything else that he's now moving at a snail's pace. Hours later, she finds it, in lines and patterns that match up perfectly on a chromatogram--traces of the rare poison, just as Mulder predicted. He must have the phone attached to his ear, because he answers her call instantly. He's got enough evidence to obtain the arrest warrant, so he thanks her quickly and hangs up. She sets her phone aside and sinks onto a nearby stool. She should feel satisfied, but instead she merely feels drained. Her feet hurt and the dull ache in her stomach reminds her that she hasn't eaten anything in hours. And she still has to organize her lab results. It's going to be a long evening. *** She sneaks small bites of salad as her fingers fly across the keyboard, creating the report she hopes will be her final task of this thankless day. It's times like these that she is thankful for their basement office; she's far away from the noise and prying eyes of other agents in the bullpen. She clicks the mouse and takes another forkful of salad as the computer hums and saves her work. She prints the report and is about to toss the remains of her dinner into the trash when her phone rings. "We got him, Scully. Thanks to you." "I'm glad, Mulder." He's silent for a moment and she rubs her forehead while waiting for him to speak again. She has a hunch that she's not going to like whatever he says next. "I'm on my way home. Meet me there. I want to show you something." "Can it wait until tomorrow?" The last thing she wants to do right now is go chasing after anything with Mulder. She just wants to go home and spend some time alone in a nice, hot bath. "Not really." The confidence in his voice annoys her. "What is it? I'd really like to go home, Mulder." "You...you don't have to stay. Just come over. Please, Scully." This is the first time he has said "please" to her all day, and her resolve shatters like the broken test tube. *** She should leave now. It's not too late. He doesn't know she's here, standing outside his apartment door, with her hand raised to knock and announce her presence. She could sneak back to her car and call him to say she's changed her mind and whatever he has to show her can just damn well wait until tomorrow. Why can't she say no to