Hi, folks... me again...
just before I leave for a well-deserved long weekend with my SO; he's decided
to send a story to me to post for your dining and dancing pleasure...
but this weekend he's mine...
;-)
 

Hello X-Philes!  Once again my extremely slow muse (in comparison
to my fiancee) has churned out another story.  I hope you all
enjoy it, and once again Sheryl has consented to post it for me,
so please direct any comments, good or bad, to me at
mnantus@ryker.itech.cup.edu and not to her, ok?  Now, onto the
legally required stuff...

Legal Disclaimer: The characters 'Fox Mulder' and 'Dana Scully'
are property of Fox Broadcasting, Chris Carter, and Ten Thirteen
Productions, and no copyright infringement is intended.
 

                               Bedtime Story
                            by Martin A. Nantus

     Fox Mulder and Dana Scully waved good-bye to the two FBI
agents from the Violent Crimes section, Giannetti and Morter,
whom they'd come to relieve.  It was another average stakeout of
a "suspected serial killer".  Mulder had already reviewed the
case and determined that this guy did not fit the profile that
he'd drawn up for his own use.
     Unfortunately for both of them, his was not the profile
being used on this case. So once again he found both himself and
Scully loaned out to VC for another observation detail.  Mulder
loudly sighed his discontent with the situation.
     "What is it?" Scully asked him from the passenger seat.  She
had already begun to put her bag of snacks within easy reach and
was removing a handful of pretzels from it.  Popping one of the
bite sized snacks into her mouth she waited for Mulder to answer.
     "I've really got to talk to Skinner about this."  He said as
he leaned back in the seat, trying to stretch as much as he could
in the small car.  "I mean, the X-Files aren't a section of VC
anymore, we're our own *division* now.  We shouldn't be doing
this, we have other cases we could be looking into."
     "Yes, I'm sure there's always a mutant killer out there
somewhere waiting to get caught or a crop circle that needs
looking at."  Dana said smiling sweetly.
     Mulder looked at her smile and couldn't help smiling a bit
and laughing at himself.  There wasn't much he could do about it
if Skinner wanted to assign them to help take up some slack for
agents on vacation or on assignment when they weren't actively
investigating a case.  But he still didn't like the fact they
were watching someone for no reason.
     "That still doesn't change the fact that this guy can't
possibly be the one they want." He said gesturing at the third
floor apartment window. "The killer would have already moved on
by now.  Probably to Georgia."  Mulder slouched down in the
drivers seat, folding his arms across his chest.
     "Well Mulder," Scully began. "Maybe if you'd actually
submitted your profile through the proper channels for once, we
could have gotten out of this."
     Mulder raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey,
it's not my fault if they don't want to look at a profile done by
'Spooky' Mulder."  He smirked and then looked up at the window
just as the light in the apartment went out.
     "Looks like he's going to sleep." Mulder looked back at
Scully. "Which might not be a bad idea all around.  You want to
take the first watch or the first nap?"
     Scully yawned widely, stretching her arms toward the cars
windshield. "I'd love to, but I'm so wired right now I don't
think I could.  I've been running all day, I had to fill in for a
friend at Quantico this morning and most of the afternoon.  I
think I drank way too much coffee to get to sleep now."
     Mulder looked at her and noticed the tendency her eyes were
having of wandering on their own, a definite sign of tiredness if
there was one, and he should know!  He watched as Scully's
eyelids drooped for a moment and then opened wide again to show
her blue eyes.
     Her beautiful, deep blue eyes.... <Stop that Mulder!>  He
admonished himself, shaking his head to clear the thoughts away.
     "You're just over-tired Scully.  If you like I could do what
my dad used to do for me and Sam when this would happen."  He
said.
     "Oh?" She asked. "And just would that be?"
     "You just get comfortable and I'll tell you a story." Mulder
smirked just slightly at the thought of telling his partner a
bedtime story.
     His partner however, interpreted the smirk in quite another
way.  "I'm almost afraid to hear what kind of story you have in
mind Mulder."
     "Don't worry Scully, it won't be anything that will have you
yelling out names in your sleep.  Well, not unless you want to."
At that he did smirk in the way she thought he meant, but he
spoke again before she could yell at him. "You just lie back and
relax and I'll tell you a nice story to drone you off to sleep,
ok?"
     Scully looked at him skeptically for a moment, not quite
"the look" but very close to it before she replied.  "All right
Mulder, but don't you let me sleep through the entire shift."
     Mulder put a wounded look on his face and replied in a
mocking tone. "Who, me?  Why Scully I'm actually hurt that you'd
suggest such an idea."
     "Ha Ha." Dana moved around in the seat to remove her
trenchcoat.  Draping it over her like a blanket, she reclined the
seat a bit. "Ok Mulder.  Just let me get comfortable."
     Scully kicked off her shoes, and Mulder couldn't help
watching her legs as she did so.  Her stockings gently brushing
each other as she moved...<Get a hold of yourself Mulder!>  Again
his inner voice chastised him for the path his thoughts were
taking, though admittedly it was even more difficult this time
than the last.
     "Ok Mulder, go ahead and start." Dana yawned loudly.
     Mulder thought for a moment about what story to tell his
partner, taking into account that once she really tried to sleep
it wouldn't take long for her to drift off.
     "When I was in Oxford." He said. "Nothing put me to sleep
faster than the Mythology class I had to take.  So, if you don't
mind I'll tell you one from there?"
     Dana nodded and said "Sounds nice."
     Mulder cleared his throat and then began. "When the Gods
first decided to create mankind everyone had two heads and four
arms and legs.  This was done so that the new humans could do
twice as much work if they wished them to.  And for several
centuries, the double-men worked for the Gods making temples and
statues and huge monuments to their greatness."
     "I could do two autopsies at once.." Dana muttered sleepily.
     Mulder smiled, thinking to himself how she always managed to
put things to some advantage at work.  He took a breath and
continued his tale.
     "But then one day the Gods had a great war amongst
themselves.  The ruling Gods armed the double-men to use against
the rebellious Deities and for 90 days and nights great fighting
took place all over the Earth.  Though it was a very close thing,
the rebellion overthrew the old Gods and cast them all into
eternal imprisonment."
     Mulder looked at Scully, and while she was definitely
drifting off, she wasn't quite gone yet.  "The new rulers" He
said. "Seeing how much trouble the double-men were to them
decided that something should be done about them.  They didn't
want to destroy them, because they found them useful, but they
couldn't allow any of their enemies to use the humans against
them if they should escape.
     "So, they sent down thunderbolts and each double-man was
split into two parts.  A male and a female part, each with only
one head and one set of arms and legs.  To make doubly sure that
none could undo their magic, the new ruling Gods scattered the
humans all over the Earth.  Because without the correct two
halves the enchantment could not be undone for any of the
double-men.
     "But their spell was flawed in that each half of the split
person still shared only one soul.  So now each person searched
for that one who had the other part of themselves, yearning to be
complete at last.  The Gods noticed this, and with a final
pronouncement on the whole matter sent down one last thunderbolt
to the Earth.  This one clouded the perceptions of each human so
that many did not recognize the one they looked for when they
met.  Only with deep persistence and perception could this spell
be overcome.  The feeling that was felt when one half found the
other was one thing the Gods could not control, love."
     Mulder looked over at Scully.  Her breathing was the slow
and regular rhythm of the sleeping, so he stopped his story at
this point.  No sense in going into the search two lovers made to
find each other if she was going to fall asleep during the set
up.
     Mulder grinned, watching her sleep.  She looked so peaceful
and pretty lying there, her breath moving between her slightly
parted lips.  He stared at them longingly for a moment, and began
to reach out to touch them, but then thought the better of it and
just gently brushed some stray auburn hair from her forehead.
     Sighing, Mulder took out his bag of sunflower seeds and
looked up at the window of the man they were supposed to watch.
Cracking one of the seeds open in his mouth he settled down in
the seat to watch and think.
     Think of things he'd found, things he'd yet to find, and
those he didn't realize were there.

--End.