Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 19:56:13 -0400
From: Kelli Rocherolle <kelli@edgenet.net>
Subject: Ecstacy


Ecstasy
by Kelli Rocherolle

Well I had some fun with this one.  It's the follow-up to 
GenderBender we'll never see... and that's probably a good 
thing!Feel free to send any comments to kelli@edgenet.net

*The following story is based on characters copyrighted by 
*Ten Thirteen Productions, created by The Man, Chris 
*Carter, and who are the property of the Fox network and 
*are used without *permission. No infringement intended.

***********************************

Ecstasy

"You're not gonna believe this, Scully."  Mulder dropped a 
file folder onto the desk in front of her.

Scully picked up the folder and opened it.  "What is it?"

"Remember the case we investigated a while back involving 
murders where the victims were killed in the throes of 
passion?"

"The Kindred case."

"Right.  Well guess what just turned up in a no-tell motel 
outside of DC.?"  Off her look he continued:  "Yup, you 
guessed it:  another body with the same features as the 
victims in that case.  The second one in two weeks."

"You're kidding."

"I kid you not," he responded with a smile.  "But these cases 
deviate from the original murders in one important factor."  
He was sitting on the corner of the desk now, his entire body 
alive with excitement.

"Are you going to make me guess...?" she asked wryly.

"What do you know about narcotics, Scully?"

"Personally, or medically speaking?" she teased.

He smiled back at her.  "Medically speaking, of course."

"Do you want me to start listing them by street name or text 
book?"

"I'll save you the trouble.  The victims in this case were 
found *exactly* like those in the Kindred case, only there 
were also massive amounts of hallucinogens in their systems.

She raised an eyebrow at him; this was getting good.  "Go 
on."

He moved around to the overhead projector and displayed 
the map highlighting the locations of the previous murders.  
"The last time, the killer was moving in a southerly 
direction.  This time, he seems to be heading north.  The 
first murder occurred in Jacksonville, the next in Charleston 
South Carolina... Hilton Head... Virginia Beach--"

"And the last two right here in DC."

Mulder nodded. 

"What are you thinking?"

"I think Brother Martin's back in the scene."

"The 'scene'?"

"The club scene, Scully.  Witness' say all of the victims left 
bars with an unidentifiable man-- and in one case a woman.  
Same m.o. as before.  The last two victims were seen leaving 
the same club here in DC."

"So..." she paused, thinking over the information in her 
head.

"So how do you feel about goin' dancing, Scully?"

***********************************

It was after midnight when they pulled up in front of the club 
the latest victims had last been seen leaving.  Scully 
unfastened her seatbelt.  "So what do you think the 
significance of the hallucinogens is?"

"I don't know..."

"Do you think he's developed an addiction? If he's been 
hanging around that crowd it would explain--"

"I don't think so:  the victims were all found with *different* 
hallucinogens in their systems."

"So?  That doesn't necessarily mean it's what Marty's 
prefers."

"I know.  It doesn't make any sense."

They both sat in silence for a minute, considering the 
possibilities.  Mulder was the first to break the silence.  "All 
right let's go."

*************************************************
*

It was a typical club: the lighting was dim, the music loud, 
the floor crowded.

Mulder turned to Scully "I'll take..."  his voice was 
swallowed by the music, he leaned in right to her ear and 
yelled, though she could still barely hear him.  "I'll take this 
side, you take the other.  We've both seen him before, but 
remember, if he underwent a transformation, he could look 
different.  And he might remember us, too, so be careful."

She nodded and they headed their separate ways.

Mulder had wrapped up his surveillance of his side of the bar 
and started perusing the room for Scully.  He finally spotted 
her far on the other side, and waited to catch her eye.  Then 
suddenly, someone moving steadily, purposefully through 
the crowd caught Mulder's attention.  It didn't look like 
Brother Martin, but as they'd already considered, he could've 
changed.  Mulder continued to watch him as he made his 
way through the crowd, and realized... he was heading 
straight for Scully.  With a start he pushed through the 
crowd, fighting to make his way to her before the man did.  
But it was difficult to keep her in sight, people were passing 
by him, blocking his view.  By the time he reached the 
position he'd seen her in she was gone.  Panic started to 
wash over him.  He looked frantically around, finally 
grabbing a chair and standing on it, trying to see over the 
heads of the dancing patrons.  There was no sign of her.  He 
moved quickly to the front of the bar and made his way to 
the bouncer.  "Did you see a woman come through here 
recently?  Short?  Red hair?  She was with a guy..."

The man shook his head.

"You're sure?"

The man nodded.

<She must still be inside...>  He headed back inside bar and 
approached the bartender.  "Do you have any back rooms 
here?"

The bartender sized him up, then shook his head.

Mulder flashed his badge and leaned further over the bar.  
"Look, I'm not interested in whatever you have going on 
here, but there's an officer missing and if I have to call down 
more people to look for her--"

"Back there" the bartender conceded, his tone heavy with 
irritation.  "Back of the bar, under the staircase."

Mulder made his way as quickly as he could through the 
crowd to the staircase the bartender spoke of.  He went 
around to the side and saw a heavy red curtain hanging as an 
entrance to another room... and a very large, very unfriendly-
looking man guarding it.  Mulder started to head through the 
curtain before the man held out one massive arm across his 
path.  Mulder looked up at him, flashed his badge.  The man 
casually lowered his arm and returned his gaze to the dance 
floor.

Mulder breezed through the curtain and quickly scanned the 
room.  It was cast in an eerie red hue; there was a man 
reclining against some pillows on the floor...  and then he 
saw her.  She was slumped over on her side on a couch.  A 
young guy, probably in his twenties, was sitting on the floor 
in front of her, stroking her hair.  Another was sitting on the 
couch beside her, and appeared to be passed out.  Mulder 
headed for her, shoving the man on the floor to the side as he 
yelled at him, "Get away from her!"  He attempted to sit her 
up on the couch, her head lolled to the side.  One hand held 
her up, the other held her face.  "Scully?  Scully can you hear 
me?"  Her eyes opened slightly, but her dilated pupils were 
focused far away and glassy.  Mulder sat her back gently, 
turned around and grabbed the man on the floor, pulling him 
to his feet.  He shoved him up against the wall by his shirt.  
"What did you give her?"

"Take it easy, we weren't gonna hurt her, we just wanted to 
have a little fun- she would've enjoyed it too--"

"*What* did you give her?"

The man disintegrated into glassy-eyed laughter.  "Ecstasy 
friend- what else?"

"How much did you give her?"

"We haven't had a red-head in a long time..."

"HOW MUCH??"  Mulder yelled at him.

"Just the usual cc's man- no more, no less than the rest of us, 
we all get equal share."

"What do you mean 'cc's'?"  He slammed the man harder 
against the wall.  "Are you telling me you SHOT HER UP??"

The man struggled and tried to break loose.  "Jesus man, 
chill.  We tried to give her the tablet, but she wasn't 
cooperating, you know?"

Mulder felt light-headed and sick.  The color drained from 
his face.  "You stupid son of a bitch..."  His anger 
overwhelmed him and he fought the urge to beat the man's 
head against the wall.

"Calm down, man- don't worry, we're safe.  We use our own 
needles."  He tipped his head in the direction of the 
disposable needles sitting on a nearby table.

Mulder followed his gaze to the table's surface.  He looked 
back at the man, no less furious.  He said evenly to him:  
"Three.  I see three needles, there should be *four*."

"Over there," he said, this time motioning to a small table 
near the couch where Scully lay.  A single needle rested on 
its surface.

Mulder's body relaxed slightly in relief, he regarded the man 
with disgust before pushing him away and moving back 
towards Scully.  He steadied her head with his hands and 
tried to orient her.  "Scully it's me.  Scully?"

She opened her eyes and slowly focused her sight on him.  
"Mulder?  Oh thank God you're here.  They gave me 
something.  I don't feel well..." 

"I know, Scully..."

She looked around the room.  Her eyes stopped on some 
unseen object and she grabbed Mulder's coat roughly.  "What 
the hell is that Mulder?? What's wrong with that cat??"

"There's no cat in here Scully--"

"Mulder I can't see my face!  Where's my face?"

He touched her cheek lightly with his hand.  "Right here," he 
said softly.  "Your okay, Scully, it's all right..."

"NO, no it's not!  I'm losing my mind, Mulder!"

"You are *not* losing your mind, Scully.  You'll be fine once 
the stuff wears off."

"This music tastes so strange."  Her voice dropped to a 
whisper as she leaned in close to him.  "I'm scared, Mulder...  
the red is watching me.  They're all watching me."

He had to get her out of  here quickly.  Mulder knew enough 
about hallucinogens to know that if he didn't get her to 
comfortable and familiar surroundings, her bad trip was only 
going to get worse.  "Come on Scully, get up,"  he said, 
pulling her to her feet.  She immediately started to fall back 
to the couch.  Draping one of her arms around his neck, 
Mulder then hooked an arm around her waist.  He led her 
out of the room into the open bar, where the loud music and 
strobing lights assaulted them.

They took a few steps before she clutched at the front of his 
coat once more.  Her voice was right at his ear.  "Oh my God 
the floor!"  she yelled, practically scaling his body with her 
own.

"It's all right Scully, there's nothing wrong with the floor.  
Look at me."  He gently pried her from his body and held her 
face.  "Look at me.  You're going to be all right, just close 
your eyes,  I'll take you home okay?"

She nodded and complied, and they continued toward the 
front of the bar.  Her legs gave out again and she started to 
slip to the floor, her head falling forward like a rag doll's.

This wasn't going to work.  Keeping an arm around her 
waist, Mulder slipped his other arm behind her knees and 
swept her up into his arms.  Her head hung back over his 
arm and he shifted until it was comfortably curled against 
his chest.  He made his way as quickly as he could through 
the crowd and exited.

Out in the parking lot, Mulder deposited Scully at the car, 
propping her body up against it with his own.  He fished the 
keys out of his pocket, opened the door and sat her in the 
front seat.  When she was settled in, he walked around to the 
driver's seat and got in.  Her eyes were heavy with sedation 
as he watched her, and he worried that she wouldn't be able 
to keep herself up in the seat.  Leaning over and taking hold 
of the seatbelt, he fastened it securely and they headed for 
her apartment.

When they arrived, Mulder placed her on the couch and 
crouched down in front of her, attempting to help her take 
off her coat.  As he was struggling with one of her arms, she 
suddenly started laughing.  It occurred to him that he had 
never really heard her laugh before:  she laughed like a little 
girl, with the unbridled joy of a child, and it was just another 
thing about Dana Scully that worked its way through all his 
barriers and touched his heart.  "Hold still, Scully..."  one 
arm slipped free, he went to remove the other.

She was giving her best effort at holding the laughter in.  
"You were right, Mulder, there *are* aliens..." her head fell 
against his chest, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter.  
He finally freed the other arm.  She looked up at him and 
smiled.  "But you know, they look more like leprechauns to 
me...  oh the wee green people! They've come to take me to 
their pot of gold!"

Her horrendous brogue made him smile in spite of the 
situation; this was priceless. The eternally composed and 
dignified Dana Scully... tripping the technicolor highway.  
Sitting her gently back on the couch, he removed removing 
his own coat and jacket before reaching for the phone.

{Hello}

"It's Mulder.  I need you to give me some information on 
MDMA."

{Ecstasy?  Something you want to tell me Mulder?}

"It's Scully, somebody slipped her some-- look it's a long 
story.  What do you know?"

{How much was she given?}

"I don't know-- what's a typical dose?"

{Depends on the user.  Intoxication can occur at doses as low 
as 50mg. }

"Well what can I expect?"

{Pretty much the same thing you'd expect with LSD- 
distorted perception, synesthesia, depersonalization...}

"Her face is all flush, almost looks like she has a fever."

{That's okay, it's normal-- increase blood pressure, body 
temperature and pulse.  How long has it been since 
ingestion?}

"Almost 2 hours."

{Okay.  Symptoms usually begin to wane in about four to six 
hours, most of them will have cleared completely after eight 
to twelve.}

"*Most* of them?" 

{Well she might report feeling some phantom 'numbness' for 
a few days.}

"What can I do?"

{Nothing, unless you happen to have some diazepam lying 
around.  Just stay with her, reassure her-- be calm.  She 
shouldn't be alone until the effects have worn off.}

Mulder nodded into the phone.

{Oh, and Mulder...  watch yourself.}

"What?"

Mulder could hear the amused smile in his voice.  {That 
stuff's a *looove* drug my friend.  Aphrodisiac- big time.}

Mulder looked over at Scully, her head collapsed back 
against the couch.  She was staring at the ceiling.

"Somehow I don't think I'll have to worry about that.  But 
thanks."

He replaced the receiver and looked over at Scully.  He 
studied her carefully.  "Scully?  You okay?" he asked with 
affection.

She rolled her head to the side to look at him and smiled.  
She shifted to pull her feet up off the floor and deposit them 
on Mulder's lap.

He looked at her, curious, but she had her arm draped across 
her eyes.

"I think I'm just going to lie here for a while.  It's so 
beautiful."

He took hold of her ankle and started to slip her shoe off.  
She let out a soft sigh and he looked up, surprised.

"That feels so good Mulder... keep doing that."

"I'm not doing anything Scully."

"Keep massaging my foot, it feels good."

He glanced at her briefly:  this is going to be a *long* night.  
Pressing the arch of her foot against his palm, he gently 
massaged it.

A small sound of pleasure escaped her... and the strangest 
sensation came over him.  There was something about the 
thought that *he* was causing her to feel this way; that he 
was giving her pleasure, that both unsettled and aroused 
him; and he felt extremely uncomfortable.  He got up and 
moved off the couch, loosening his tie and rolling up his 
cuffs.  It was at once very warm in the room.

"Hey come back here..."  she swung her legs off the couch, 
sat up and paused, trying to focus her dilated eyes.  She 
squinted and continued to stare at him.

"What is it, Scully? Can--"

"Shh-shh...  I'm not finished listening to your tie."

"What?"

"Your tie, Mulder-- it's making so much noise."

He smiled.  "Well that's nothing I haven't heard before."

She started to get up off the couch, but winced, clutching her 
upper leg, and sat abruptly back down.

Mulder approached her quickly. "What's wrong?" he asked, 
kneeling in front of her.

She continued to hold her leg.  "They injected me with 
something... why did they do that Mulder?"

"I dunno, Scully," he responded absent-mindedly as he 
moved her hand and pushed her skirt back slightly to 
examine her leg.  God he hoped that little worm wasn't lying 
about the needle.  *Damn it* he should've grabbed those 
needles before they left.  And why would they inject her 
thigh? To hide the mark?  He examined the area closely, 
then stopped, shrugging his shoulders.  "There's nothing 
here, Scully."

She didn't respond.

And then he had the distinct impression that there never 
*had* been any pain in her leg.  He suddenly became aware 
of her breath so near to him, the smell of her skin, and 
glaringly aware of his hand's location.  He didn't dare look at 
her.  He stayed there frozen for a few seconds before he 
ventured to slowly lift his eyes to her face.  Her head was 
down as her eyes focused on his hand.  Her hair fell loosely 
around her face, a light mist of sweat dotted her flushed 
cheeks and nose, and her mouth was slightly open, 
provocative and inviting.  Keeping her head down, she lifted 
her eyes to meet his, and Mulder thought he had never seen 
anything sexier in his entire life.

And he knew he was in trouble.

He started to slide his hand away, but she stopped it with her 
own.

"Scully..."

She drew her arms up around his neck, but her balance was 
unsteady and she pushed him right back to the floor with her 
on top of him.  After the momentary shock passed, she 
dissolved into another fit of giggles.  It was contagious, and 
a wide grin spread across his face.  His hands rested lightly 
on her waist, her arms still encircled his neck.  She raised 
her head to look at him.  Both of their faces turned serious.  
She shifted against him, and his body couldn't help but 
respond.  Undoing his tie, she slowly slid it out of his collar.  
"Let's get rid of this shall we?"

"Scully," he said softly, "you don't want this."

"But I do," she crooned, drawing a hand down from around 
his neck to rest on his jaw.  She cocked an eyebrow at him.  
"Don't you?"

You have no idea...  "No Scully-- not like this."  But despite 
his words, confusion clouded his mind.  He knew he should 
stop her, before things got out of hand; but the intensity of 
his feelings for her was great, she felt so good...  and she was 
*really* turning him on.

This is it, he thought, this is what my hell will be like.  He 
struggled against his better judgment as she slowly moved 
for him:  what harm was there in a few kisses?.

She leaned in until his lips were just beneath hers.

His eyes closed as she neared, his skin prickled; his ears 
were ringing loudly. He let out a tremulous breath.  "Don't 
Scully," he whispered weakly just before her lips came over 
his.  Lifting his hands off her, he then froze...  But it was too 
much-- the gentle curves of her warm body against him, her 
full, wet lips on his own.  The battle in his head raged on:  
just a few harmless kisses...

His lips softened against hers and a ripple of pleasure twisted 
through his midsection.  His hand came up against the back 
of her head, the other encircled her waist as he pulled her 
against him and kissed her fully.  Her tongue lazily explored 
his mouth;  her kiss was hot and sexual and it was quickly 
moving way beyond harmless. Breaking from the kiss and 
exhaling sharply, he rolled her underneath him.  His entire 
body was rigid with desire for her.  And at that moment, he 
almost wished he *didn't* care for her as much as he did.  
During the course of their relationship, he had wanted many 
things from her:  her company, her friendship, her loyalty, 
her laughter;  but at that moment, he wanted from her one 
thing and one thing only:  her sex.  He brought his lips back 
to hers.

What was he doing?  She was his partner...

His kiss drown the breath out of her.

She was his friend...

His desire stormed frenzied and wild; like a raging hurricane 
had been set loose inside him;  her touch was ecstasy--

Oh God what the hell was he doing?

He pulled from her with a groan of frustration and rolled 
onto his back.  He lay there spread eagle on the floor, 
breathing heavily.

Scully propped herself up with one arm and looked down at 
him.

He met her gaze, his face filled with the frustration of 
longing and unfulfillment.

She started to move for him again but he sat up and held her 
arms.  "*Don't,* Scully," he said, with more resolve than he 
felt.  "Come on..."  He stood with her and brought her to the 
couch, laying her down carefully.  He wiped the sweat off his 
brow.  "Try and sleep now, okay?" he said softly as he 
wrapped a blanket around her.  He lay a hand on her head.  
"I'll be right here," he said, stroking her hair tenderly.  He 
sat on the floor and reclined back against the couch, sighing 
heavily.  Thankfully, she did find sleep, and soon he 
followed.

**********************************8

The next morning he woke, stiff and sore from sleeping in a 
sitting position.  He became aware of the smell of coffee 
before he realized Scully wasn't on the couch.  She 
approached him from the kitchen, showered and changed 
into casual clothes.  He averted her gaze as she neared, his 
mind still reeling from last night's dreams that had abounded 
with fantasies of her.

"Hi," she said, handing him a mug.

He took a sip of the hot liquid.  "Hi."

"Thanks for staying with me all night, I was in bad shape..."

"Tell me about it."  He studied his coffee, ran a hand along 
the stubble at his jaw.  "Do you remember anything?"

"All of it,"  she said, taking a seat in the nearby chair.

He nodded but said nothing.

"Mulder..." she started.

He looked up at her, understanding.  He waved a hand in the 
air.  "It's all right, don't worry about it Scully-- Really."

She studied the floor.  "I'm just mortified by the whole thing-
-"

"*Don't* be, Scully.  Look, we're partners... friends; you 
don't ever have to be embarrassed around me."

And she thought how absolutely wonderful he was, but, 
clinging to the last vestiges of her professionalism after last 
night's fiasco, she repressed the urge to hug him.  She smiled 
appreciatively, though, and it was understood.

*************************************

A few hours later they met at the office.

Mulder sat at the desk, Scully on the other side, looking over 
the files once more.  They were desperate to get a lead.

Scully paused and looked up from her file.  "You really don't 
think he could've been one of those guys at the club last 
night?"

Mulder shook his head, continuing to peruse the file.  "I 
can't be sure, Scully, but I don't think so.  They were just 
some young guys..."

"But maybe we should go back and question them, maybe 
they know Marty."

Mulder considered this and nodded.  "All right, we'll go back 
tonight and see if they can't give us some information."  He 
smiled at her and headed for the door. "But this time Scully, 
you're sticking with me."

She smiled ruefully back at him and gathered her things.

**************************************

Mulder was stretched out on the couch and hit the remote 
control, enjoying some down time before his meeting with 
Scully when the phone rang.

"Mulder it's me, you're not going to believe this."

"What is it Scully?"

************************************

They pulled up in front of an old farmhouse in Alexandria 
just before 10:00pm.  Mulder killed the engine and looked 
over at Scully.  "Did he say anything else?"

"No, just that he had some information about this case, and 
to meet him here at 10:15 tonight-- alone."  She paused, 
shaking her head.  "I still can't figure out how he knew to 
ask for me."

"Maybe--"  Mulder stopped as movement inside the 
abandoned house caught his attention.  "He's here, let's go."

They exited the car quickly and drew their weapons.  Mulder 
motioned to the front door:  You take the front, I'll take the 
back.

Scully passed through the front door and quietly started 
moving through the first floor.  It was dark and deserted, 
dust-covered sheets were draped over the furniture 
throughout.  She ran into Mulder in the kitchen.  He pointed 
upwards and they headed for the stairs.  In the hall or the 
second floor Scully motioned to the right and headed down 
the hall.  Mulder headed in the opposite direction.

As Scully approached the second to last bedroom, she saw an 
orange glow flickering from underneath the door-- 
candlelight.  She opened the door slowly, extending her 
weapon, and cautiously entered the room.  It was practically 
bare:  there was a bed, a night table and chair, but that was 
it.  An old lantern burned dimly on the night table and cast 
eerie shadows around the room.  Scully stood in the center 
and looked around-- nothing.  But then she saw it:  barely 
perceptible in the dimly lit room, but there, in the dark 
corner, she could just make out the shadow of a man.  She 
raised her weapon.  "Step out into the light."

The shadow didn't move.

"Do it! Now!"

Down the hall in one of the other bedrooms, Mulder heard 
Scully's voice and headed back down towards her.

"Now!" Scully yelled.  The man took a single step forward 
into the light.

Scully's mouth fell open.

Mulder had just about reached the door when he heard 
Scully's voice once more, this time filled with fear:  
"Oh my God, it's you..."

The door slammed shut as Mulder reached it.  He grabbed 
the knob and shook it vigorously.  "Scully?! Scully what's 
happening?!"

"Yes.  Didn't you recognize my voice on the phone?  I 
thought you knew."  Brother Andrew secured the lock in the 
door and headed back towards her.  "I asked you to come 
alone."

Scully kept her gun trained on him.  "What do you want?"

"Don't you know?"  He stepped closer, Scully steadied her 
aim.

"I came back for you," he continued, "I never understood the 
appeal your world had for Marty... until I met you.  I'd never 
met anyone like you before."  He was close now, but kept his 
hands at his sides.  "But I didn't want to hurt you, really I 
didn't."

The door continued to rattle.

Brother Andrew started to take another step, Scully raised 
her gun and took a step backward.  "Are you responsible for 
those murders?"

"I did it for us...  some among us have proposed the theory 
that certain drugs might counteract the negative... 'side-
effects' of our pheromones."  He slid a hand out of his pocket 
and held up a small needle.  "I had an awful time finding 
one that worked..."

Scully took another step backwards, and then strangely, so 
did Brother Andrew.  He stepped into the darkness... and 
disappeared.  Scully quickly surveyed the room, but did not 
see the face appear in the shadow behind her.  Brother 
Andrew slipped his hands around her from behind, forcing 
the gun to the floor.  She whirled around to face him, but just 
as she did so his hand came at her, knocking her down onto 
the bed.

Mulder steadied his aim to the left of the door knob and 
fired.  With a loud buckling noise the old wood shattered and 
the door swung open.  He could see Scully lying on the bed 
in front of him.  He entered apprehensively,  holding his gun 
out in front of him.  The room was dim, but empty.  He 
lowered his gun and approached her.  "Scully what 
happened?"

A small trickle of blood ran from her nose.  Her voice was a 
whisper:  "Mulder... behind you..."

He turned just in time to block the blow that was meant for 
his head.  Mulder struggled with Brother Andrew as Scully 
reoriented herself and reached for her gun.  "Back away!" 
she yelled.  Mulder pushed from Andrew and moved to 
Scully's side.

Andrew started to take a step backwards.

"Stay where you are!" Scully insisted.

"I'm sorry,"  Andrew said quietly... and disappeared into the 
shadows.

Scully looked up at Mulder and their eyes held for a 
moment.  Then, Mulder moved back out into hall and started 
down the stairs.

They scoured every corner of that old farm house, but found 
nothing, not a trace was left behind.  Like that night in the 
alley, he had simply vanished.  They made their way back 
out to the car, and on the ride home, Scully filled Mulder in 
on what Brother Andrew had told her.

"Well you certainly left an impression on him..." 

Scully looked over at him.  "Do you think he'll come back?"

"I don't know, Scully.  Maybe he thought the only reason you 
were reluctant was because of the resulting death--"

"Well that would certainly make you think twice about 
getting involved with someone,"  she said wryly.

Mulder smiled.  "--right.  So maybe now he knows you're 
just not game, and he'll give it up."

Scully looked back out the window.  She hoped he was right.

**************************************
The following week they sat in Scully's apartment, sharing a 
pizza and going over the files they had just obtained for their 
new case.  They sat side by side on the floor, their pizza and 
sodas balanced precariously on piles of paper and case files.  
Mulder glanced over at Scully and saw that her thoughts 
were far away.

"What's on your mind, Scully?"  She looked up at him... and 
he knew.  "I told you not to worry about that Scully.  I 
haven't given it a second thought," he lied.

"You must think--"

"I *think,*"  he started, then paused, putting down his slice 
of pizza on top of the cardboard box and wiping his hands 
with a napkin.  He finally looked at her.  "I think that you 
are the best partner that I have ever had, and the only true 
friend.  And if because of some case we got to share a little 
something that we other wise probably never would have... 
well I don't have any problems with that.  And I hope you 
don't either... and you better move that root beer before you 
destroy the only existing photographic evidence that proves 
Elvis was on the grassy knoll."

She stared at him, the corners of her mouth turning up 
slightly.  She knew how hard it must have been for him to 
say that.  It wasn't easy for him to put his emotions to words, 
but he had-- for her; to make her feel better.  Because he was 
wonderful.  Because he was Mulder.

And this time, she did hug him.

The End