by K. Phillips
xfstories@yahoo.com
 

Disclaimer Info:  Thanks to CC for letting me borrow his
characters for a little while.  I promise not to hurt them.
Spoilers:  None really and refers to Arcadia a bit in passing.
Keywords: Supernatural story involving Mulder and Scully with
perhaps a bit of romance thrown in for good measure
Archive:  I'll take care of gossamer and ephemeral. Anywhere else
is fine, just let me know.
Rating:  R for adult situations
Feedback: would love it. Email me at xfstories@yahoo.com
Summary:  Mulder and Scully once again go undercover as man and
wife when a series of murders occur in one particular
neighborhood under circumstances that make even Fox Mulder squirm
a bit.

XXX

Assistant Director Skinner looked a bit uncomfortable as he
ushered his two wayward agents into his office and motioned for
them to sit down.

"Good evening Agents" he started "Thank you for staying late to
meet with me."

Mulder nodded his acknowledgement already suspicious of the
courteous manner with which Skinner was addressing them.

"You two have been hand picked to work on an unusual case out in
Minnesota."

Skinner paused a second and then continued.  "There have been a
series of incidents all within a particular neighborhood and you
two are going to go undercover to
check it out."

Scully frowned thinking this case sounded a bit like the one in
Arcadia they had worked on months before.

Skinner saw her frowning and continued his description of the
case.  "Apparently there a lot of career couples living there.
You know the types, lots of money, no children, always looking
for some excitement."

The two agents said nothing just looking at him.  "Well, these
couples seem to find their excitement
by,hum,by,swapping,hum,partners." Skinner finally blurted
out.

Mulder's mouth fell open and Scully's eyes got huge.  She
regained her composure enough to ask Skinner a question.
 

"No offense Sir, but besides being quite distasteful, what type
of crime is being committed."

Skinner thought a moment before answering.  "As I said before,
several incidents have occurred in the neighborhood.  Several of
the participants have been found dead."

At this Mulder chimed in "Jealous spouses?"

"We think not"

Scully was looking more annoyed by the minute.  "Excuse me Sir,
but why give this case to us.  It sounds like a case for Violent
Crimes."

"Under normal circumstances it would be, but for one thing."

"And that is?"  Scully asked

"That the victims were all found to have no external injuries,
but upon closer examination, it was discovered that their hearts
had been removed."

"Must have been very jealous spouses" Mulder muttered under his
breath.

Skinner gave him a dirty look but continued.  "Your mission is to
go undercover as a married couple moving into the neighborhood.
You are to try to work your way into the confidence of the
members of the partner swapping group and
see if you can find the murderer."

Mulder raised his eyebrows at the prospects of this particular
undercover case.  Scully still frowned.

"I know this case sounds somewhat like an X-file Sir, but
wouldn't it make more sense to send in partners who are already
married."

Skinner nodded.  "We thought about that but rejected all those
agents."

"Why?" Mulder asked curious as to why they were picked.

Skinner looked a bit sheepish when replying "Basically because we
thought you two would have a better chance of being
propositioned."

"I see" Scully said with her voice sounding a bit like steel.
"If you'll excuse me Sir, I have some paperwork to finish up
before Mulder and I leave."

"Very well Agent Scully, I look forward to reading your field
reports."

Mulder waited until she had shut the door before commenting "I
bet you are Sir.  How often can you get paid to read smut?"

Skinner shot him a dirty look and then smiled.  "Agent Mulder,
can I tell you something off the record?"

"Of course Sir."

"I actually requested this assignment for you and Agent Scully so
you two could finally have a chance to be together in a public
setting."

"Excuse me Sir, I am not getting your meaning.  Are you saying
that you think that Scully and I have a physical relationship
going?"

Skinner squirmed a bit in his chair looking thoroughly
embarrassed as Mulder went to great lengths to ensure him that
his relationship with Scully was plutonic.

"You mean to tell me that you have been working with her for all
these years and not once have you made a move on her?"  Skinner
looked at him closely "Are you gay Mulder?"

"No" Mulder said trying not to sound too offended.  "It is not as
if I haven't thought about it, who wouldn't, but I really don't
think Scully is all that interested."

Skinner just smiled at him not believing that Mulder could be so
blind.  "Is that so Mulder?  Well then you had better watch
yourself on this case Agent Mulder or Agent Scully is going to
chew you up and spit you out."

Skinner shook his head and chuckled to himself after Mulder left
his office still not quite believing what Mulder had just told
him.  "Well"  he said to himself "we'll see how plutonic you two
are after this case."

XXX

Scully sat down in their office staring blankly at the computer
screen in front of her.  She still couldn't believe that she was
being sent off on yet another case where she had to pretend to be
Mulder's wife.

Doing it for the case in Arcadia had been a bit trying and this
case seemed like it was going to be even more difficult.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Mulder came into the room.  He
shut the door behind it and started laughing.

"What's so funny" Scully said looking up at him puzzled.

"It's Skinner.  Would you believe that he actually thought that
you and I were doing 'it'?"

"It?"

"You know, the dance of love.  He actually assigned us to this
case so we could do it guilt free.  Isn't that hysterical?"

Scully didn't join in the laughter but turned her attention back
to her computer screen.

Sensing that he had done something to offend her, yet again, he
walked over to her desk and leaned against it.

"What's wrong Scully?"  he said softly.

Scully started to tell him that she was fine but decided against
it.  "It is rather hurtful that you find the thought of doing
'it' with me so funny."

"Scully, I didn't mean it that way"

She cut him off "Of course this is the perfect case for you.  You
can drag me along to some party and then proceed to pick up some
long legged blonde and screw her all while getting paid by the US
government."

Mulder eyebrows drew together as he tried to figure out exactly
where that comment had come from.  "Scully? What is going on
here? If I didn't know better, I would say you were jealous."
 
She really glared at him then.  "In your dreams Mulder" and with
that comment she rose from her desk, picked up her bag and left
the room with Mulder standing there with his mouth open.

XXX

Mulder sat on the small bench outside Skinner's office waiting
for Scully to arrive.  He had thought about calling her several
times since she had stormed out of their office, but had decided
against it.  He knew his partner
and when she was this annoyed, the best thing was to let her be.

Scully arrived just in time to be led into Skinner's office.  She
barely glanced at Mulder as she strode past him and took a seat
at the conference table.

Skinner was already situated there and to his right sat a drop
dead gorgeous blonde.

She was the last thing Scully needed to see.  But Scully secured
her professional posture on and sat down several seats away from
Mulder.

Skinner noticed the subtle tension between the two partners and
regretted for a moment he decision to assign them to this case.
He was particularly fond of the two of them and hoped that he
hadn't jeopardized their partnership.

"Good morning Agents, I would like you to meet Lydia Bennett.
She is the one who brought the murders to our attention.  She
used to live in the Berkley neighborhood."

Both agents nodded their acknowledgements to Lydia and began
questioning her.

Scully asked direct questions concerning where she lived in
Berkley, how long she had lived there and what had made her come
to the FBI.

"Well Agent Scully, I lived in Berkley pretty much since getting
out of grad school.  Steve and I moved there as soon as we got
married."

Scully nodded for her to continue.  "We both had great jobs and
made a good amount of money.  We looked all around Minneapolis
for the perfect home in the perfect neighborhood and thought we
found it in Berkley."

"It was perfect until we started hanging out with some of the
other professional couples in the neighborhood."

"Go on" Mulder said when it looked like Lydia was going to
hesitate.

"In the beginning we were thrilled to be making so many new
friends.  There seemed to be a party at someone's house
practically everyday.  Nothing too fancy  a cocktail party here,
a wine and cheese party there.  We all worked really
hard at our jobs and looked forward to getting together to
unwind."

"After a couple of weeks, we noticed that the themes became a
little bit more outrageous.  People started arriving wearing more
provocative clothing and then one night, everything changed."

Lydia looked down at the ground and took a deep breath.  "It was
like something was in the water everyone just got really,
really,hmmm,horny.  They started making out with whoever was
around at the time.  Husbands and wives stuck
together or picked out new partners.  Women started going down on
other woman with the men cheering them on."

Skinner and Mulder exchanged a subtle glance at this and shifted
a bit uncomfortably in their seats.  Both were very happy to be
wearing their suits jackets that would hide any embarrassing
signs that they were enjoying Lydia's story a bit too much.

There was no sign of Scully being affected by Lydia's story and
she encouraged her to continue.  "Did you participate in all of
this" she asked softly with no sound of judgment in her voice.

Lydia blushed a bit and nodded.  "I have no idea why I did, but I
just jumped into the fray along with everyone else.  I don't even
remember who I ended up with that time."

"That time? How often did this occur?"  Scully said her eyes
widening a bit.

"Oh, I don't know.  Two or three times a week.  Maybe more maybe
less."

Mulder finally blocked enough mental images from his mind to ask
a question "So why did you stop going to these parties?"

"About three months ago, Roger, the head of the neighborhood
association, decided to throw a massive party at his house.  He
always threw the best parties.  But anyway, I was having wicked
PMS and terrible cramps so I
sent Steve off without me.  I guess I missed a heck of a party
because Steve told me the next day that the police had been
called to the house by one of the elderly neighbors down the
street."

"I assume this neighbor had not been invited?"  Mulder said
smiling.

"You assume right Agent Mulder."  Lydia said smiling back.
 

"Only the young and the beautiful are invited.  You two will fit
in nicely."

Scully ignored the compliment "what happened then Ms. Bennett?"

"Oh yes, well the police came and broke up the party and everyone
went home.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Tim (who
lived down the street from us) was found dead."

"Any idea what Tim was doing at the party?"

Lydia blushed a bit.  "From what I heard, he was trying to take
on four women at one time."

Skinner and Mulder shifted again trying to block out yet another
exciting mental image.

"Did that stop you from going to any more parties?"

"For a while everyone kept a low profile but a couple of weeks
later things started hopping again.  This time it was Steve who
seemed to been the most active.  One of the guys had bet him that
he couldn't get laid more than 5 times
throughout the evening.  I think he made it to 6 but was dead
before morning."

"No wonder" Mulder thought to himself figuring that no man could
withstand that much activity.  He stifled the thought and asked
"What killed your husband Ms. Bennett?"

"No one seems to know.  I found him in a crumpled heap in the
hall near the front door.  He looked perfectly fine except he
wasn't breathing.  I called 911 and they came almost immediately
but couldn't get a pulse on him.  It was
until the x-rayed him at the hospital did they discover that his
heart was missing."

"I know this is difficult for you, but do you know what his
autopsy revealed?"  Scully asked quietly.

"Autopsy?  They didn't do one on him, it was his wish to be
cremated and that was done within a day or two of his death."

"I moved away shortly after I buried him but came to you only
after two more men had died. It just seemed to be too much of a
coincidence"

"I know this may seem like a rather stupid question" Scully said
hiding her disappointment about the lack of autopsy results "but
why did these parties continue even after people seemed to be
getting murdered?"

Lydia smiled sadly.  "It was like we were addicted to them. We
craved the excitement, the attention, the love.  What we got
seemed to justify the risk."

"I see" Scully said not seeing at all.

Skinner, who managed to finally get his lower body back into
order, asked Lydia to describe in detail how Mulder and Scully
should look and act to get themselves included in these parties.

Lydia looked both partners over carefully and smiled. "They will
have no trouble. They haven't had a red head around in quite some
time and the women are always looking for new blood."

Lydia then talked about what type of behavior would be expected
from them and how they should dress.  Both agents didn't say a
word during this part of the conversation but seemed to both be
very interested in their legal pads.

Skinner thanked Lydia for her time and sent his agents from his
office with orders to be in Minnesota within the next couple of
days.  A house in the neighborhood had been rented for them and
they were to proceed there as soon as
they had their cover stories in place.

Scully still seemed to be unusually quiet as they left Skinner's
office but agreed to meet up at Mulder's apartment that evening
to work on their cover story.

Scully headed off to review the victims' medical records and try
to dig up any autopsy reports there might be and Mulder planned
to return to the basement to finish up some paperwork.

Before Scully could leave, Mulder reached out and stopped her.
"Scully?"  he said with a look of concern on his face.

The frown on Scully's face softened a bit.  "I am fine Mulder.  I
will see you at seven."

XXX

Scully tried to concentrate on the reports in front of her, but
was having quite a bit of difficulty.  She had been on a wide
array of cases with her partner, but this one was probably going
to be the most challenging.

How was she supposed to look like she was in love with Mulder,
try to pick up other men without succeeding, she hoped,
investigate a murder undercover while have to watch Mulder seduce
every woman in the room.

She knew she had deep feelings for Mulder, so that part would be
easy.  The only difficult part there would be to stuff those
feelings away again after the case was over.  But she would worry
about that later.

The rest of her assignment she dreaded, some parts more than
others.  She was relatively confident that she could attract the
members of the opposite sex, even if her feminine charm didn't
work on Mulder, but she thought she
might just tear the head off of any woman who went near Mulder.

XXX

Mulder too spent some time thinking about the assignment. Part of
it seemed like the answer to every male's fantasy.  How many guys
would turn down the opportunity to be with a variety of women
with no strings attached?

"Frohike is going to kill me when he hears about this case"
Mulder smiled to himself and he put away the last of the files
sitting on his desk.

Mulder also knew that this case would be harder on him than he
liked to admit.  He would have to act interested in a lot of
different women, when the only woman he wanted tried to pick up
men in front of his very eyes.

Mulder was also worried about Scully's current state of mind.  He
was used to her being mad at him, they had their little squabbles
all the time, but this seemed different and he wasn't sure why.
He would have to try to get her to
open up tonight.

Looking at his watch, he noticed it was nearly 5:30.  He would
have barely enough time to pick up Scully's favorite takeout and
a bottle of wine before she arrived at his apartment.

XXX

Scully arrived at Mulder's promptly at seven and Mulder quickly
realized that her mood had not improved much.  She no longer
appeared to be angry with him but seemed to be constantly lost in
her own thoughts.

They ate the Indian food Mulder had bought in relative silence.
Mulder didn't even bring up the case until they were done eating
and Scully was on her second glass of wine.

"Scully, I stopped by Skinner's office on the way out today and
Kim gave me our documents for our cover story.  She told me that
you had picked out our names, just as we agreed after Arcadia."

Scully smiled slightly "I hope you don't mind being called
Richard."

"Not at all.  Why did you pick that name?"

Scully looked a bit sheepish. "Well, you always reminded me a bit
of Richard Gere."

"And the name Jodi for yourself? Is that because I teased you
about being like Jodi Foster after we rented Silence of the Lambs
that time?"

Scully nodded smiling a bit more.  "So what do what do Mr. and
Mrs. Buckland do for a living?"

Mulder opened the folder and took a peak.  "Jodi Buckland is a
research scientist working on synthetic polymers."  He looked up
at Scully "Very impressive"

He looked back at the folder "Richard is a novelist specializing
in Sci-Fi stories involving outer space."

Scully laughed at this.  "Who came up with these?"

"I think Skinner did.  I never knew he had sense of humor."

Mulder paused a minute and then continued.  "The Bucklands have
been married four no make that five years now.  They are both so
devoted to their work that their personal relationship has
suffered."

Scully nodded adding "They have no lives outside of their work
and are looking for a little fun."

Mulder then began to fumble around in his pocket.  He took out a
box and opened it.  Inside sat two wedding rings and a large
engagement ring.

Scully paled a bit at the sight of the rings but nodded when
Mulder said "May I?"

He slipped the rings on Scully's fingers not letting go of her
hand immediately.  "I don't know Scully, if I were Richard and
had a wife like Jodi, I don't think I would ever look elsewhere
for fun."

Scully blushed a little at this and Mulder quickly realized that
things were getting way too serious.  "At least Richard has good
taste in jewelry.  That is quite a rock you have on your finger."

Scully smiled and said quietly.  "We should probably set up some
ground rules now."

"Rules?"

"Yes, rules.  What is acceptable behavior on both of our parts."

Mulder just looked at her.  She felt a bit nervous but continued
"You know we are supposed to be married.  I want it to be as
authentic as possible but I don't want it to make things strange
between us.  Does that make any sense
to you?"

Mulder smiled kindly at her.  "Don't worry Scully, we will go by
whatever rules you want."

Scully nodded and stood up. "I really should get going.  We have
an early flight tomorrow morning."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather stay here and consummate our
marriage?"  Mulder said looking suggestively at his bedroom door.

Scully gave him a half-hearted glare.  "It's tempting Mulder, but
unless I get home and pack, Jodi will have nothing to wear."

Mulder smiled and opened the door for Scully to leave.  As she
was walking down the hall towards the elevator he yelled behind
her

"Tell Jodi to pack her black sleeveless shirt.  The one that
makes all the men at work drool."

Scully pushed the elevator button and smiled back at Mulder.
"Good night Mulder."

XXX

Richard and Jodi Buckland arrived at their new house shortly
after one o'clock the following afternoon.

Pulling into the driveway Mulder was relieved to find no
neighbors waiting for their arrival.  He turned off the key and
turned to Scully "At least we don't have to worry about our
neighbors helping us move in this time."

"Thank goodness" Scully said stepping out the car.

The house that had been rented for them was a cute little blue
Cape with a well manicured lawn and a large perennial garden.

"Looks pretty nice" Mulder said walking up to the door holding
his suitcase.  "Shall I carry you over the threshold?"

Scully shot him a dirty look and brushed past him through the
door.  The inside of the house was pleasantly furnished.  A quick
look around by Scully found two
bedrooms, two baths, a living room, family room and large eat-in
kitchen.  It was the perfect house for a professional couple.

While Scully was exploring the house, Mulder brought in several
large trunks.  They were in actually filled with very little, but
Mulder and Scully wanted to give the impression that they were
staying for more than just a week or so.

Scully joined up with Mulder in the kitchen.  He was standing in
front of the open refrigerator holding a carton of orange juice
in his hand.  He looked at Scully a bit guiltily.

"Great, they supplied us with food too."  Scully said peering
into the fridge.  "Mulder, don't drink out of the carton"

Mulder looked at the open carton in his hand and at Scully and
promptly began looking for a glass.

He poured some juice into the glass and drank it down in one long
swallow.  He gave Scully a small smile.  "My name is Richard,
remember?" he said teasingly.

Scully was about to come back with a proper retort when there was
a knock on the front door.  Scully and Mulder looked at each and
went out to the main hallway to see how it was.

Standing on their front stoop stood a very attractive man well
over six feet tall with sandy brown hair and huge brown bedroom
eyes.

Scully took one look at him and started to see what the appeal of
the sex parties could be.

The man thrust out his hand to Mulder who was standing in the
doorway with his arm draped casually over Scully.

"Roger Metcalf" the man said pumping Mulder's hand.  "President
of the neighborhood association.  I just wanted to welcome you to
the neighborhood."

"Thank you" Mulder said "I am Richard Buckland and this is my
wife Jodi."

Roger shook Scully's hand and she could feel the electricity flow
from him.  "This guy is a chick magnet" she thought to herself
after she was released from his grip.

"Tuesday night is when we usually meet up by my pool.  We throw
some stuff on the grill, have a couple of frozen drinks and take
a dip in the pool.  Do you think you could swing by and join us
or are you too tired from your trip
here?"

Mulder and Scully exchanged a quick glance and then Mulder said
"Sure we would love to. What can we bring?"

"Not a thing.  We would never think of asking you to bring
something on your first day here."

Roger left shortly after that and Scully and Mulder went back
into the house.

"They don't waste much time" Mulder said after the door was shut.

"No they don't" Scully agreed.  "I had better go unpack my
clothes and dig out my bathing suit."

"Me too" Mulder said following Scully upstairs into the bedroom.

They worked in silence as they both put away their own clothes.
The house had two bedrooms but they decided to use only one just
in case one of the neighbors stopped by and started snooping
around.

Sleeping arrangements had yet to be discussed, but both assumed
that Scully would take the bed and Mulder would bunk out on the
couch the way he did at home.  They assumed people would think he
had fallen asleep in front of the
television set if they spotted him through the living room
window.

"So Scully, or should I say Jodi, any thoughts about the little
party tonight."

"Not much besides the fact that I am dead tired and that I would
rather curl up with a good book than make small talk with the
beautiful people of Berkley Minnesota, but I guess it can't be
helped."

"You and me both" Mulder said even though he had to admit that he
was looking forward to seeing Scully in her bathing suit.  "I
don't think we will get a whole lot of sleep on this case.  From
what Lydia Bennett said, these little
gatherings happen two or three nights a week."

XXX

Roger's house was just down the block from Scully and Mulder's so
they opted to stroll down the street.  Scully said nothing when
Mulder casually draped his arm over her shoulders as they
strolled.

Roger and another neighbor Brian were chatting on Roger's front
lawn and spotted Mulder and Scully as they walked down the
sidewalk.

"So what do you make of the new kids on the block?"  Brian said
taking a sip of his beer.

"They seem nice enough but I think we should hang low until we
get to know them a bit better."

"Okay. I will go tell the others that there will be no special
activities tonight."

Brian turned to walk around to the back of the house just as
Mulder and Scully approached the house.

Roger walked up to greet them shaking Mulder's hand and giving
Scully a peck on the cheek.

"I am so glad you made it.  I can only imagine how tired you both
are.  But hopefully a nice juicy steak and a dip in the pool with
help you get your energy back."

"Sounds good to me" Mulder said still keeping his arm around
Scully.

"Come on in the house and I will show you where you can change."

XXX

Mulder finished changing first and waiting patiently outside the
bathroom for Scully to emerge.  When she did, it took everything
he had not to gasp out loud at the sight of her.

Scully was dressed in a simple black one piece bathing suit that
featured a low cut front and an even lower cut back.

He walked over to join her and bent over to whisper in her ear
"Wow!"

Scully smiled at him and then took his hand and headed towards
the pool saying "It's show time Richard."

Roger was waiting for them by the pool and gave them each a tall
cool drink and then escorted them around the pool introducing
them to everyone.

There were probably another 10 couples lounging around or
splashing in the pool.  All of them were either in their late
twenties or thirties and all of them looked like they stepped out
of a Ralph Lauren ad.

Scully and Mulder smiled and made small talk.  Luckily for them,
they spent so much time in each other's company that they were
very comfortable and natural with each other.  The only
difference in their behavior from that they
exhibited every day was that they were touching each other a bit
more often.

Mulder decided that he liked touching Scully and was pleased when
he felt no sense of disapproval at doing so from his partner.

Finally after about four hours the party began to break up.
Scully and Mulder said their goodbyes promising to meet up at
Brian's house Thursday night to sample some new wine he had
brought back with him from California.

Scully and Mulder strolled back to their house with their arms
around each other.  As soon as they entered their house, they
split apart both feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"That wasn't so bad" Mulder said heading into the kitchen to grab
a drink.  "I think I will take a couple of minutes to write down
all the names I can remember.  That way we can start running
checks on everyone in the morning."

"Well, I am going directly to bed" Scully said barely stifling a
yawn.

"Want some company?" Mulder teased from the kitchen wondering for
a split second what he would do if she actually said 'yes'.

"Very tempting, but I think I will pass. Good night Richard."

"Good night Jodi"

XXX

The following day Mulder and Scully busied themselves at the
house.  Mulder spent a good portion of the day on his laptop
running checks on the people who had attended the party the night
before.

Scully organized their belongings and when she was done, actually
opted for reading a book out in the backyard.

The sun was warm and inviting and Scully happily sunk into her
chair looking forward to reading a mindless novel. She felt a bit
guilty about doing it, but Mulder had reassured her that she
would be working well into the night on their
field report so she should take advantage of the nice weather.

 She had just turned to the first page when someone called out to
her.
 
"Good morning young lady" a female voice called.

Scully lifted her eyes from her book and saw an elderly woman of
at least 70 standing next to the hedge dividing their property.

Scully gave the woman a quick wave and got up from her chair and
walked over to her.

"Good morning" Scully said smiling down at the smaller woman.

"Good morning dear."  The woman said holding out her hand. "My
name is Agnes Murphy and I live right next door."  The woman
gestured to the small white Cape behind her.

"Very nice to meeting you Mrs. Murphy.  My name is Jodi Buckland.
My husband, Richard, and I just moved in yesterday."

"Please call me Agnes dear.  I saw you when you arrived but
wanted to give you a chance to settle in before coming over and
saying 'hello'."

The two women made small talk for about five minutes and then
Agnes invited Scully and Mulder over for tea.

"I know it won't be as exciting as the parties Roger throws, but
perhaps I can tempt you with my homemade cookies."

"We would love to come visit" Scully replied and it was decided
that she and Mulder would head over around four that afternoon.

The women parted company and Scully went in to tell Mulder about
their engagement that afternoon.

"Homemade cookies and gossip.  I can't think of a better way to
spend the afternoon."

XXX

Scully and Mulder arrived at Agnes's house promptly at four.  She
greeted them with a warm smile and led them into her living room.

It was obvious that Agnes had lived in this house for a long,
long time.  The furniture was a bit dated as were the rugs on the
floor, but the house, itself, was spotless.

Mulder milled about the living room while Scully helped Agnes in
the kitchen with the tea and cookies.  The mantle was covered
with pictures and Mulder looked at each one.  They were pictures
of Agnes over the years with a man who
Mulder assumed was her husband.

Agnes and Scully entered the room just when Mulder was finishing
up his inspection of the pictures.

"Agnes, is that you?"  Mulder pointed at a picture at the other
end of the mantle.

"Goodness yes."  Agnes replied a bit embarrassed.  "They are all
of me and my husband Jake."

Agnes set the tea on the coffee table and motioned for Scully to
put down the plate of cookies and take a seat.  Mulder
automatically sat next to her trying not to look too eagerly at
the cookies.

Agnes sighed.  "Jake and I were married close to 40 years. He
passed away about 10 years ago."

"I'm sorry" Scully said softly accepting the cup of tea Agnes
held out to her.

"Don't be" Agnes said her eyes taking on a look of cold steel.
"He had a heart attack, in bed in the arms of his lover."

"Oh" Scully said feeling a bit embarrassed.

Mulder took his cup of tea, added several large scoops of sugar
to it and decided it was time to change the subject.

"Agnes, have you lived here long?"

"Oh yes, this house was one of the first ones built.  The rest of
the neighborhood just sprang up around us."

"So you must have noticed lots of changes throughout the years."
Scully said nibbling on a cookie.

"This neighborhood used to be filled with families.  Children
everywhere.  It was wonderful since Jake and I weren't blessed
with any of our own.  But about five years ago, things slowly
started to change."

"The people who had raised their children here sold their houses
and moved to where the weather is warmer.  The houses were bought
up by married folks who were more concerned about their careers
and having a good time then starting a family."

"Really" Mulder said hoping what he was about to say wouldn't
upset Scully  "Jodi and I are hoping to have kids one day and had
hoped that there would be lots of children around here to play
with."

"I wouldn't hold my breath Richard" Agnes said before lowering
her voice to almost a whisper.  "The way folks around here
behave, I doubt that any of them will be starting families
anytime soon."

"What you mean?"  Scully asked.

"I may be old and a bit old fashioned but, as I see it, when
people stay up partying to the wee hours of the morning, during
the week, they don't seem to be too keen on having children
around to wreck all their fun."

"But enough about all, how are the cookies dear?" Agnes asked
Mulder as he popped his third one into his mouth.

"Wonderful" he said with his mouth still full.

"Good, I will pack some up to send home with you."

Mulder and Scully spent the next hour chatting with Agnes but
didn't get much more information out of her.

When they arrived back at their house, it was decided that Scully
would try to befriend Agnes as she would probably be a good
source of information.

"I don't know if I like the idea too much Mulder.  I feel like I
am taking advantage of a lonely old lady."

Mulder walked over to where Scully stood looking out the window
and stood behind her.  "I know Scully, but think of it this way,
the information you gather may help save a life or two."

Scully turned around and looked up at Mulder.  Their eyes locked
for a minute before Scully nodded in agreement.

"You're right Mulder." She pushed past him heading over to the
dining room table which housed her laptop.  "Don't forget, you're
responsible for dinner tonight since I am doing the field
report."

Mulder smiled and headed into the kitchen to look for the phone
book hoping that at least one restaurant in the area delivered.

XXX

Agnes watched Mulder and Scully return to their house walking
side by side barely touching.

"They are definitely in love" Agnes thought as she headed back
into the living room to pick up the dirty dishes.  "But there is
something else there."

She picked up their two teacups and carried them kitchen being
careful not to disturb the patterns of leaves on the bottom of
each cup.

Agnes put the cups down on the counter and turned on the bright
overhead light before picking up each cup and examining it
closely.

Both cups pointed to the same thing.  "They are lying" she said
to herself.  "I wonder what about?"

She put the dishes in the sink and glancing at the kitchen clock
noticed it was time for the evening news.  She went into the den,
switched on the TV and put Jodi and Richard Buckland out of her
mind.

For now.

XXX

Scully was just downloading the last of the autopsy reports on
the previous victims when there was a faint knock on the front
door.

She was tempted to ignore the knock, she had so much work to do
before heading to the wine and cheese party down the street that
night, but she rose slowly and headed towards the door.

Scully peaked through the peephole and saw Agnes standing on her
front stoop holding a large plate of muffins.

Realizing that her work would be put off at least an hour, Scully
sighed and opened the door plastering a smile on her face.
 
"Good morning Agnes"  she said stepping aside so the older woman
could step inside.

"Good morning dear."  Agnes said cheerily walking into the house
looking around with obvious curiosity.  "I had a craving for
blueberry muffins this morning so a whipped up a batch.  Too many
for me to eat so I thought perhaps you and that good looking
husband of yours would like a few."

As if on cue, Mulder came down the stairs his smile growing when
he spotted the plate of muffins.

"Agnes you are an angel"  he said planting a kiss on her cheek
which made her blush "you must have heard my stomach growling
from your house."

Agnes blushed again as Scully motioned her into the living room.
Agnes took a seat placing the muffins down on the coffee table in
front of her.

"Coffee?" Scully offered

"No thank you dear.  More than one cup a day and I am all
jittery."  Agnes replied.

Scully sat down a bit apprehensive.  Whereas she could interview
a potential suspect for hours, when it came to basic small talk
she was often tongue tied.  She hoped that Mulder would put off
his errands and help her out by saw
the keys in his hand and knew she was going to be on her own.

Mulder leaned over and grabbed two muffins smiling broadly at
Agnes.  "I wish I could stay and chat with you Agnes, but errands
await."

He walked behind Scully and planted a kiss on her head.

"Bye Honey" he said just a little too sweetly "I'll be home in
plenty of time for Brian's little party."

And with that, he was gone leaving Scully to entertain her
elderly neighbor.

"Brian"  Agnes said as soon as Mulder had left the room "Are you
sure you want to be associating with the likes of him?"

"I really don't know"  Scully said speaking the truth "I just met
the man but he was kind enough to invite us over to sample some
wine he brought back from California recently."

"He will probably be wanting you to sample more than that" Agnes
said a bit coldly.

"Why do you say that?"

"Let's just say that he and some of his friends have a bit of a
roving eye.  They have caused a few broken hearts in their day
but I am sure will pay the price for their unfaithfulness."
Agnes began crossly.

She seemed to catch herself for she took a deep breath and
managed to continue in a more normal tone of voice.

"But dear, judging by the way your husband looks at you, and you
at him, I don't think you will have anything to worry about."

Agnes then promptly changed the subject and try as she may,
Scully was not able to change it back.  She learned about the
best place to buy meat in town, where to get the prettiest
flowers and the freshest bread but nothing more about her
neighbors.

Agnes returned home about an hour later and Scully promptly
returned to her computer and her autopsy reports.

As she looked at her computer screen she found herself thinking
about what Agnes had said more than the autopsy report displayed
in front of her.

Two things had caught her attention, only one of which she
thought she would mention to Mulder.

The part about Brian and his friends having a roving eye and
paying the price seemed like a good tidbit of information to
share with her partner.  The part about  how she and Mulder
looked at each other she decided she would just keep to herself.

XXX

As promised Mulder returned in plenty of time to not only go over
the autopsy reports with Scully but to talk about her visit with
Agnes.

"So your little friend seems to have quite a disliking for Brian,
Roger and the rest of their merry little band. Very interesting."
Mulder said pausing in front of the closet door trying to decide
what to wear to the party that night.

"Are you trying to imply that she has anything to do with the
murders?"  Scully said.  "That seems a bit of a stretch Mulder,
even for you."

She walked over to where Mulder was peering in the closet and
pointed to a dark blue polo shirt.  "That and your khaki pants
will be perfect."

Mulder smiled and took the clothes from the closet.  "Now I see
why men get married, so their wives can make all their decisions
for them."

Scully gave him a casual swat across the back and she headed to
the bathroom with her stack of clothes for the evening.  By
unspoken agreement, Scully always changed in the bathroom giving
her access to her cosmetics and the mirror while Mulder changed
in the bedroom giving him access to the sports scores on ESPN.

"Seriously Mulder"  Scully continued through the partially open
bathroom door.  "You can't be surprised that a woman of Agnes's
age would be offended by the behavior of these people.  I find it
offensive and I am less than half her
age."

Scully was about to continue her argument when she noticed her
small silver compact was no longer sitting on the bathroom sink.

"Mulder?" she called out to him  "Have you seen my compact?"

"Not since this morning when I saw it on the sink."

Mulder's voice was a bit muffled since he was pulling his shirt
over his head.  He thought to himself that now he and Scully
really were starting to sound like an old married couple.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am sure"  he said.

"Exactly where?  I need it to check the back of my hair."

Hearing the frustration in her voice, Mulder walked over to the
bathroom door "I will show you if you are decent."

"Decent enough"  Scully said opening up the door for him.

She was just buttoning up her shirt and gestured with one hand to
the sink.

Mulder tried to get his concentration from his partner's barely
covered chest to the bathroom sink that was littered with
objects, both his and Scully's.

"It was right here next to the stainless steel razor my mother
gave me for Christmas."

"The one you always bring with you but never use."  Scully said
teasingly.

Mulder didn't answer, he was too busy poking his finger through
the objects on the sink.  Not finding what he was looking for, he
looked in the garbage can and on the bathroom floor.

"They are both gone"  he said stating the obvious.  "Was anyone
else in here today?"

Scully saw the seriousness of his expression and took a minute to
think before answering.  "No of course not, who would be here?
Oh, wait a minute.  Agnes asked for a tour of the house.  She
said she was dying of curiosity to see
what it looked like now since it had been at least ten years
since she had last been inside.  She asked to use the bathroom
while I was showing her the bedroom."

Mulder took Scully by the shoulders and turned her towards him.
"Scully, did you happen to eat any of those muffins that Agnes
brought over today?"

"No, why?"

"Just a hunch."  Mulder said.  "I think I will have one tested."

Scully looked at him puzzled.  "Tested, you have got to be
kidding.  What could possibly be in those muffins? They must be
all right, you ate two of them yourself.

Mulder smiled down at her.  "I just took them to be polite.
Blueberries make me sick."

Scully rolled her eyes at him but decided she wouldn't convince
him that sometimes muffins were actually just muffins and she let
the subject drop.

"Ready?"  she said to Mulder as she finished putting on her
makeup.  She was wearing a bit more than normal tonight and hoped
that it looked alright.

"Almost"  Mulder said "I just want to make sure that nothing else
is missing."

They did a quick search of the house which revealed that a small
snapshot of the two of them was also missing.

Mulder's head was brewing with theories, but he thought they
could all wait until after the party.

He opened the door for Scully and after passing through it
himself offered him his arm.  "You are looking very pretty
tonight Mrs. Buckland" he said as she took his arm and they began
their walk down the street.  "I just hope I don't
have you share you with anyone tonight."

"That makes two of us" Scully replied.

XXX

The light of the struck match cut through the darkness of the
attic as Agnes lit several tall white candlesticks.

After her eyes had adjusted to the candlelight, she took out a
small ceramic bowl and began to throw a variety of dried herbs
into it.  Next to it she placed Scully's compact, Mulder's razor
and their picture.

Taking one of the candles, she lit the dried herbs and they
erupted into one large flame with a loud 'whoosh'.

Although the smoke of the herbs made her eyes water, Agnes stared
down at the flame sometimes blue, sometimes green until it
slowing died out.  She then watched as the last plume of smoke
slowly lifted up through the air making
small circles in its trek towards the ceiling.

When the last of the smoke had disappeared, Agnes blew out the
candles and returned to her sitting room her plan of action
clear.

She did not like was she had seen in the flames, but she had no
choice in the matter.  Another man must die and soon.

Agnes just hoped that it wouldn't be her handsome new neighbor.

XXX

Scully and Mulder reached the end of Brian's driveway at the same
time as several of the other neighbors.  Nodding greetings to
each other they all made their way to the door.

Scully recognized them all from the pool party and wished that
she had Mulder's memory for she wasn't sure of all of their
names.

Sensing this, Mulder called out his greetings

Hi there, Stan.  It is nice to see you and Brenda again."

Stan and Brenda both looked like runway models with glaring white
teeth, blonde hair and absolutely perfect tans.

"Good evening Richard"  Stan said returning his greeting.  "It
looks like we and the Petersons have perfect timing."

The Petersons, Scully remembered, were the other couple. John was
short and athletic in build and Cindy was even shorter than
Scully and looked as frail as a rose petal.

Brian opened the door and welcomed them all into the house. The
living room, dining room and family room were already brimming
with people.  Brian led the group to a small table that housed
several different bottles of wine.

"Red or white?"  Brian said pointing to the bottles.  "We have
quite a variety here so take your time and try them all.  Just
make sure to take a bit of cheese or one of these biscuits Wendy
made to cleanse your taste buds before switching types."

Scully and Mulder approached the table and Mulder raised his
eyebrow at Scully.  "I think I will start with the white and work
myself over to the red"  she replied to his gesture.

Mulder, himself, started immediately with the red.

Glasses in hand, they slowly worked their way around the room
making sure to have said hello and be seen by everyone in the
room.

Only then did they take a seat on a loveseat in the living room
where they could easily observe what was going on around them.

Brian's living room was quite large and hosted a huge fireplace.
The furniture had been rearranged so it all lined the outside
walls of the room leaving a large empty space in the middle of
the room directly in front of the fireplace.

Mulder assumed it was a dance floor and wondered to himself how
this sedate group of adults quietly sipping wine and nibbling on
cheese while chatting with each other would be induced to dance.

His thoughts were broken when the hostess of the evening, Wendy,
slowly made the rounds around the living room offering her wine
biscuits and a sample of a 'very light red' that Brian had picked
out specially with her in mind.

Mulder and Scully accepted both the biscuits and the wine.  They
both nibbled on the biscuits which did their job perfectly.  They
were bland enough to totally remove all taste from the previous
glass of wine and  dry enough to make the person who had eaten it
want to take a sip of wine immediately.

They both sipped the new wine and agreed that it was indeed a
nice little red wine.  Seeing as they both enjoyed it, they put
up no resistance when Wendy came around to top off their glasses.

"I told you it was good"  Wendy said smiling as she filled up
their glasses "I think it really grows on you."

Wendy started off with her wine bottle poised in the air and
Mulder caught himself looking at her.  Not just looking at her
but looking in a way that made him advert his eyes.

He had suddenly seemed to be fixated on the way she looked
in her tight pants as she walked around the room.

Slightly embarrassed he turned his attention back to his wine and
sipped at it again.

Scully sipped her wine savoring its taste in her mouth.  For some
reason, she seemed to be able to pick out the different tastes
within the wine more while drinking the second glass than she did
while drinking the first.

Her sense of taste didn't seem to be the only one of her senses
that seemed to be getting more sensitive as time passed.  She
could swear that she could smell the soft scent of Mulder's
aftershave more now then she could when they first sat down.

Not only that, but she became keenly aware of Mulder's arm as it
lay casually across the back of the loveseat.  He had placed it
there when they had first sat down, but she didn't seem to notice
until now when Mulder had started to draw circles with his finger
on her arm.

Slow, sensual circles that made Scully start to feel sensations
she hadn't felt in a long, long time.  She looked up at Mulder as
if to ask him what exactly he
thought he was doing when she caught him looking down at his own
leg.

There, her hand was doing the same thing, making slow sensual
circles.

Mulder looked briefly down at his partner and saw her puzzled
expression.  He was a bit puzzled himself but was more concerned
about his partner's attentions causing him to be in an
embarrassing situation than figuring out exactly what was
happening to them.

He placed the hand not occupied with Scully's arm firmly on hers
and managed to stop the circular motions.  He sighed a bit then
feeling that he had adverted the disaster, at least for now.

Mulder was just about to whisper a theory about what was
happening to them into Scully's ear when the music began to play.
Brian had an impressive stereo system and within seconds all
thoughts of conversation were drowned out by
the sensual beats of Brian's music.

Mulder had doubted the necessity of a dance floor only moments
before saw the dance floor immediately  fill with people as the
formerly sedate couples began to bump and grind and spin their
way across the room.

Scully watched the couples dancing and was surprised to find
herself longing to join them.  Usually Scully shied away from any
such activities not thinking herself capable of such public
displays.  But tonight was different.  She
couldn't think of anything else she would rather do.

Apparently Mulder had the same thought as he removed his arm from
her shoulders and rose to face her.  Smiling down at her he
offered her his hand.

Scully smiled back and let Mulder lead her out to the dance
floor.  He pulled her into his arms and they slowly made their
way around the room.  Neither one exactly sure how they had
gotten to that point, but both very happy to have
gotten there together.

Scully and Mulder fit together perfectly and the swaying
movements of their bodies only added to their aroused state.
Mulder was sure that Scully would have little doubt about his
feelings for her as he pulled her just a little
bit closer.

Scully felt Mulder's presence and fought, for only a moment, the
urge to look up at him.  She knew that when she did that her
simple gesture would result in their first true kiss.  She paused
a minute trying to think through what she was doing.  She tried
to call upon logic but the desires of her body won out.

Scully looked up at Mulder with her blue eyes wide and full of
desire.  Mulder looked down at her with a similar look in his
eyes.  His intent was perfectly clear.  He was going to kiss her.
Right now.

Mulder bent down closer, closer, closer until their lips just
touched.

"Sorry folks"  a loud voice boomed making Mulder and Scully
spring apart and look at each other with a mix of excitement and
horror at what had almost happened.

Mulder blinked once, then twice noticing for the first time that
the music had disappeared and that the lights had all been turned
on again.

"One of the neighbors thought things were getting a bit loud
here"  Brian said.  The group gathered in front of him groaned
collectively.  "So the police have come and asked us to shut
things down for the night."

Everyone groaned louder.  "I know you were all just starting to
have fun, but with a bit of luck, you will all be able to take up
where you left off when you get home."

With that, everyone started to pick up their things and head out
the door.  If not for the police sitting out on the street,
Mulder thought that a lot of the couples would have thrown
themselves into the bushes and finished off
what they had started in Brian's living room.

He shamefully admitted to having the same thoughts about Scully
as he escorted her back to their house practically dragging her
back he was so impatient to get inside.

Scully followed Mulder's lead without comment.  She was too
confused by her own actions to question any of his.  She knew
what had almost happened while they were dancing and assumed that
it would happen again once they got behind
closed doors.  She wasn't exactly sure what she thought of the
idea.

Mulder leaned against the door after shutting it.

"Thank God we made it out of there"  he said "it must have been
something in the wine or those biscuits".

Mulder started pulling off clothes and Scully began to think she
was right about starting up where they had left off even though
she thought Mulder was perhaps rushing things just a bit.

"Forgive me Scully, but I don't get myself upstairs and into a
very cold shower very fast and get some relief, I think I will
have no choice but to ravish you right where you stand and we
both know what a mistake that would be."

And with that comment, Mulder sped upstairs leaving Scully
standing by the front door with her mouth open unable to think
let alone speak.
 

~~~
 
 

The Cost Of Being Unfaithful Part Two
By Katie Phillips
Disclaimer Info included in Part One
 

After a moment Scully heard the sound of the shower
starting and the noise helped to bring her to her senses.
She had been right about the situation that night after
all.  She was out of her league with the swingers who had
been with her in the room.

Scully slowly climbed the stairs and walked into the
bedroom.  She stood in front of the mirror rather disgusted
by what she saw.  For a few moments that night she had felt
like a beautiful sensual woman, but as she looked at
herself now all she saw was a practical FBI agent who men
avoided at all costs.  The Ice Princess who was so
unattractive that even a man filled to the brim with
aphrodisiacs would avoid - preferring a cold shower and his
own hand to her.

Silently Scully stripped off her clothes and into her
pajamas not even noticing the large tears slowing
descending down her cheeks.

Scully climbed into bed her body still feeling aroused and
unfulfilled.  She thought briefly about trying to find some
relief herself but dismissed the idea.  She was too sad to
even try.

XXX

Mulder realized something was wrong the moment he walked
out of the bathroom wearing only his boxer shorts.

The bedroom was dark except for a small lamp on one of
bureaus still on to aid in his crossing the room to the
couch waiting for him in the living room.

Scully always left that light on for him when she retired
before he did.  What was different were the clothes
scattered on the floor in front of the bureau.  In all the
years Mulder had known Scully, he had yet to see her leave
a piece of dirty laundry on the floor.

He turned to look at her curled up form and knew in an
instant that she wasn't asleep.  She was trying to look
asleep but what she didn't know was that often at night,
Mulder had paused during his trek across the room and just
watched her sleep in the dim light.  For some reason, the
look of peace on her face brought peace to him as well.

"Scully"  he said in a loud whisper.

Nothing.

He stepped closer to the bed and whispered a bit louder.
"Scully?"

Still nothing.

Feeling a bit on edge still, Mulder took a deep breath and
slowly sat down on the bed.  "Scully, I know you're awake.
Will you not talk to me?"

Silence still filled the room and Mulder slowly moved
across the bed until he was stretched besides his partner
with only the bed coverings between them.

Scully felt his presence there but offered no resistance as
Mulder slowly drew himself close to her, his lips close to
her ear.

"Scully, I know you probably don't want to talk to me right
now, but please, please listen to me."

Getting no signs of protest from her, he squeezed her a bit
harder and continued.

"What I said when we came back tonight.  I know how it must
have sounded, but that isn't what I meant.  God, you have
no idea of how beautiful you looked when you were in my
arms tonight and every ounce of my being wanted to take you
there in the front hall.  But I just couldn't."

Mulder thought he heard a soft sob and felt Scully's face.
Finding a tear he gently brushed it away and kissed her on
top of her head.

"Scully, you know I find you attractive, very attractive in
fact, but if you and I ever decide to make our relationship
a physical one I want it to be based on our feelings for
each other not by raging hormones brought on by chemicals.
If I am ever lucky enough to become your lover, I want to
know that when you reach for me and scream my name it is
truly because of what you feel for me and I for you."

He paused for a moment "Do you understand?"

Scully was barely able to nod her head she was trying so
hard not to cry.  Mulder felt the motion and kissed her
head again turning her unresisting body towards him.  He
gathered her into her arms and held her while her tears
fell.

When they seemed to have subsided, he raised her head up,
brushed the remaining tears away with his two thumbs and
looked at her carefully.

"You are beautiful"  he said kissing her forehead.

When she smiled weakly at him he decided to press his luck
a bit.  "If you are still feel the affects from tonight and
I will be happy to help you find some relief."
 
He waggled his eyebrows at her and promptly got smacked on
top of his head.

Scully smiled again "Perhaps some other time."

Mulder smiled back and rose to leave her.
 
"Mulder?" she said meekly.  "Could you do me one little
favor?"

"Anything"

"Could you just hold me tonight?"

"Gladly"  Mulder said as he lay back on the bed.

XXX

Mulder woke up not knowing exactly where he was and with
absolutely no feeling in his right arm.

After blinking a few times, he realized that he was still
in the bedroom and that his arm was asleep because Scully
was using it as a pillow.

He eased his arm out from under her and stroked her hair as
he waited for the blood to flow back into his arm.  He was
tempted to snuggle up with her again but his desire to do
so was not as strong as his fear that his lower half would
enjoy the snuggling a bit too much and wake up raring to
go.

"Don't think Scully would want to deal with that this
morning" he thought to himself and he quietly got off of
the bed.  He paused to look at his sleeping partner a
moment before heading for the shower.

XXX

Roger and Brian sat in Starbucks following their normal
routine of coffee and conversation.

"Any idea who placed the call to the police" Roger said and
he stirred sugar into his coffee.

"The police wouldn't say" Brian replied "But if I was a
betting man, and I am, I would say it was that old bitch
who lives next to the Bucklands.  She seems intent on
ruining our fun."

"So what are we going to do about her?"  Roger asked.  "If
this keeps up, people will start looking elsewhere for
their entertainment and we will be stuck sleeping with our
own wives"

Brian laughed at this.  "Do you think we could drive her
out of the neighborhood?  Maybe we could get Richard and
Jodi to be such annoying neighbors that she moves into a
retirement community where she belongs."

"We barely know Richard and Jodi.  We don't even know if
they will even be game to join in our little activities.
So far they only seem to have eyes for each other but I am
hoping to get him out to the club tomorrow morning to see
just how the Buckland marriage is holding up."

Brian nodded at this.  "If it seems to be crumbling, I get
dibs on Jodi.  You know I really like the silent brainy
ones."

Richard laughed.  "Only if I can watch"

XXX

Scully opened her eyes slowly and knew immediately that
Mulder was no longer next to her.  She shut her eyes again
willing herself not to be disappointed.  After all this was
Mulder. She couldn't really expect him to lie around in
bed all day just to comfort her.

She sat up in bed stretching a bit when the smell of coffee
brewing reached her nostrils.  It smelled so wonderful that
she quickly forgot all about Mulder and hopped out of bed
and headed directly into the shower.

Scully emerged from the shower wearing her robe and rubbing
her hair dry when the sight of Mulder sitting crossed-
legged on the made bed startled her.

"He must feel bad about last night to have actually made
the bed" Scully thought to herself and she walked back into
the bathroom to hang up the towel.
 
Combing out her hair she looked over at Mulder who motioned
towards her dresser with his head.  She looked over there
and spotted a steaming cup of coffee.

She picked up the cup, took a sip and smiled her thanks to
Mulder wondering all the while if she should bring up last
night.

Her actions were quite an embarrassment and she was quite
happy not to talk about it.  She just hoped that Mulder
felt the same way.

Mulder took one look at Scully and after he pushed the
thoughts that sprang to mind as she walked around in her
barely closed robe combing her hair, knew instantly that
she was going to act like what happened in this very room
the previous night never happened.

He decided to let her ignore the issue. For now.  In the
meantime, he would have a little fun with her.

"So Scully, what exactly do you think happened last night?"

He saw the panic spring up in her eyes and decided to have
pity on her "You know, at the party?"

"I have been thinking about that Mulder.  I assume we were
either drugged or subjected to mass hypnosis."

"My guess would be drugging.  But how do we prove it?"

Scully smiled at Mulder.  "Well, I could draw some blood
from you and take it to the lab and test it."

Mulder paled a bit at this suggestion.  "I thought you said
you were never very good at taking blood."

"Well, I didn't say I wasn't any good at it, I just haven't
had to do it too often.  I am sure I could get a sample
after two or three tries."

Mulder got even paler but nodded.  "Okay."

"Or" Scully said smiling again at him "I can take something
else down to the lab."

She walked over to her crumpled pile of clothes still
sitting on the floor of her room and picked through them
digging out her pair of slacks.

Scully walked over to the bed and sat down not noticing
that her robe was offering quite a view to her partner.
Mulder did his best to look elsewhere.  She stuck her hand
into the pocket and pulls out a piece of cheese, a small
piece of wine biscuit and a napkin that contains a bit of a
wine stain.

"Scully, you little thief" Mulder said smiling and shaking
his head at her. "Let's add one of the muffins Agnes made
to the pile."

"Do you still think she has something to do with all of
this?"

"Yes I do.  I would not be surprised if she was the one who
called the police last night.  She made it pretty clear
that she doesn't approve of all this illicit behavior."

Scully nodded.  "I guess it won't hurt to check.  What are
you going to do today?"

"I thought I would return that muffin plate to Agnes and
see if I can get a better feel on her."

"What exactly do you think she is?"

Mulder looked at Scully surprised that she hadn't come to
the same conclusion "A witch of course."

"That sweet woman is a witch?"  said Scully frowning at
him.

"I never said she was a bad witch."
 
Scully shook her head and went into the bathroom to get
dressed.  When she returned to the bedroom she found Mulder
dressed as well.

"Hey Scully, how about I make you a little breakfast before
you head out to your office like a good husband?"

Scully looked at him a bit uncertainly but smiled at him.
"Sure Richard, I would love that."

XXX

Mulder saw Scully off and then headed to his computer to do
some research on witchcraft.  He spent about an hour
absorbing as much as he could about rituals involving the
heart.

Feeling relatively well armed with information, Mulder
grabbed the muffin plate and walked over to visit Agnes.

He knocked on the front door while noticing the wide
variety of plants that Agnes had growing in her gardens.
They weren't the type of plant you normally saw in suburban
gardens.  Mulder was making a mental note to ask Agnes
about the plants when Agnes opened the door and invited him
in.

"Good morning Agnes, I thought I would return this to you
in hopes that you will fill it up again quickly."

"Richard, you are such a flirt" Agnes said taking the plate
from him and leading him into the living room. "Do you
always flirt so outrageously?"

"Only when Jodi isn't around" Mulder said with a smile.

Agnes motioned for him to sit and offered him coffee.  "No
but I would love some water" Mulder answered not wanting to
risk Agnes slipping him something.

Agnes went off into the kitchen and Mulder got up and
wandered over to the mantle and was looking at the pictures
on it when Agnes returned with a glass of water in her
hand.

Mulder picked up a picture of Agnes and her late husband
"You two were a very handsome couple"  he said before
putting the picture back and joining Agnes who had already
sat down.

"That we were.  We were so in love" she started with a
rather dreamy look on her face.  "We did everything
together and then one day the magic was gone.  He started
looking elsewhere.  I ignored it for a while but then he
began to rub it in my face.  That was just too much."

"So you made him pay?"  Mulder said trying to look as
innocent as possible.

Agnes just gave him a smile.  "I was going to divorce him,
yes, but he passed away before I could take him to court."

Mulder noticed the careful deflection of his comment and
decided to change the subject.  "Agnes I was noticing your
garden.  Jodi loves unusual plants. Where did you get all
of yours?"

Agnes smiled broadly and began to talk about her love of
gardening and how gardening has been in her family for
generations.

"Really?  Do you mean vegetable gardening or did they
specialize in flowers or herbs?"

"Mainly herbs.  My family was known for their healing
powers during colonial times.  The Gibson Family were very
well known."

"And you?  Have you followed in their footsteps?"

Agnes looked a bit suspiciously at him but Mulder had a
look of pure innocence plastered on his face.  "A bit, why
do you something that is ailing you?"

Mulder saw a small opening and even though he felt a bit
guilty about how he was going to depict Scully he answered
her without hesitation.  "Well, not me.  It's Jodi."

He paused dramatically as if he was thinking about whether
or not to continue.  Agnes looked at him encouraging.

"Please don't tell her that I told you this, but Jodi has
been working so hard and has been under so much pressure
from her job that she doesn't really like to, well, you
know, make love very much any more."

Agnes nodded in silence but Mulder thought he saw a hint of
anger in her eyes.  Apparently he had hit a bit of a nerve
with her.

"It seems like forever since we have been together and I am
dying.  I don't want to bother her about it but it is
getting harder and harder to wait for her to be in the
mood."

Agnes looked a bit more annoyed but kept her professional
face on.  "Do you want something to keep your desires in
check or to put her back in the proper mood?"

Mulder smiled a bit sheepishly at her.  "I am a guy you
know.  I must admit that I would like to try to get her
back into the groove first."

Agnes nodded and smiled at Mulder even though it was
obvious that her opinion of Mulder had lessened quite a
bit. "I may be able to come up with something for you.  Are
you going to tell Jodi about all of this, or slip it to her
without her knowing it?"

Mulder thought before answering.  "I haven't really thought
about it.  What would you suggest?"

Agnes took no time to answer.  "Honesty is always the best
policy Richard, but sometimes one has no choice but to be a
bit dishonest."

"So you have been in a similar situation?"  Mulder asked.

"Let's just say that it took a bit of effort to get my
husband's attention when we first met."

"You bewitched him?"  Mulder said noticing Agnes bristling
a bit at his use of the word 'bewitched'.

"You could say that"  Agnes said without elaborating.

Agnes and Mulder wrapped up their conversation with Agnes
agreeing to drop by later with a herbal tea for Scully.

Mulder left Agnes at her front door thinking that Agnes
most likely did practice some sort of witchcraft.  He
couldn't help but smile at the thought of trying to
convince Scully.

Mulder smile quickly vanished when he realized that he
would have to tell his partner about the little story he
made up.  "Scully is going to kill me!"

XXX

"You told her what?"  Scully said giving Mulder one of her
better glares.

Mulder was right.  Scully was mad, very mad.

"You told her I was frigid?"  She began to pace around the
room.  "Is that the first thought that popped into your
mind when you thought of me?  Frigid?"

Mulder began to speak and then stopped.  Better to let her
rant a bit since it was unusual for her to be so open with
him about how she was feeling.

"So you are sitting having a nice little chat with Agnes
and you just manage to work into the conversation that your
'wife'"  she said the word wife with great sarcasm "was
frigid and denying you your marital rights.  Your genius IQ
couldn't come up with something a little better than that?"

She threw herself down in an armchair by the fireplace,
crossed her arms and continued to glare at him.

Figuring that she was done ranting for the time being,
Mulder took a deep breath as if to muster up the courage to
face her and crossed over to the chair and squatted down in
front of it.

He took Scully's hand in his and was actually amazed that
she didn't pull it back.

"Scully, don't you see?  It's not you I was trying to set
you in a bad light, it's me.  I am trying to set myself to
be seen as the villain in her eyes - the man who is so
lustful that he is desperate enough to try and fix his wife
and if that doesn't work, who knows what he will do next."

Scully just glared at him again, removed her hand from his
and got up from the chair.  She wandered over to the window
and stared out of it.

Mulder came up behind her and stood almost touching her.
He wanted to wrap his arms around her but just couldn't
quite bring himself to do it.

"Scully, don't think for a second that I think you are in
any way frigid."

This comment received a small snort from Scully.  Mulder
ignored it and continued.

"The woman I held in my arms on the dance floor the other
night is in no way, shape or form frigid.  I can guarantee
you that."

Scully seemed to relax a bit at that comment and sighed.
She didn't turn to face him but instead address herself to
the window in front of her.

"I'm sorry Mulder.  I know you are just trying to stir the
pot up with Agnes a bit to see what happens.  It's just"
Scully paused unsure of whether or not she should continue.
"It's just that I feel so far out of my league in this
situation.  There were so many beautiful women at that
party. I am just not on the same level as them."

Mulder leaned over a bit then and placed his chin on her
head.  "You're right Scully, you're not at their level.
You are way above it."

Scully smiled at his reflection in the window.

"You aren't going to make me actually drink the stuff, are
you?"

Mulder smiled glad to see Scully's good humor restored.
"Are you kidding? You and I definitely would not need any
help in that department."

Scully blushed a bit and Mulder realized that he had
inadvertently stepped into the territory that they both
seem to avoid at all costs.

He turned and walked away from the window.  "I am going to
get a soda, do you want anything before you start telling
me about your day at the office?"

"Anything diet would be great" Scully said glad, too, that
the awkward moment had passed.  She walked over to the
dining room table and started unpacking the test results
from her briefcase.

After Mulder handed her a soda, she took a long sip and
began "I ran tests on the wine, the biscuits, the muffin
Agnes made and the cheese."

"And?"

Scully smiled at Mulder.  "Both the wine and the biscuits
appeared to have some unusual biological substances in
them.  I wasn't able to get an exact reading on what it
was, so I sent it out for further testing but I think you
and I know what the affect of whatever that biological
substance is."

"I'll say" Mulder mumbled "And the other two?"

"The cheese seemed to be nothing more than simple cheese.
The muffin, however, did have an extra ingredient added to
it.  I was able to identify it."  Scully stopped and waited
for Mulder to look at her expectantly. "You know Mulder,
you are definitely smarter than you look."

"I was right?"

"You were right Mulder.  Salt peter or something similar to
it.  I guess Agnes was trying to make sure we both behaved
ourselves."

"Excellent work Scully."

"Thanks Mulder. Did you manage to dig up anything on our
fine neighbor?"

Mulder smiled "Dear sweet Agnes is from a long line of
herbal healers."

Scully could tell Mulder was on the verge of a very long
explanation so she took her soda into the living room to
get comfortable knowing Mulder would follow her in.

He did talking the whole time.  "The Gibson family was
famous in the early American colonies for being able to
cure ills that before had devastated entire families.  From
what I could dig up on their early cures, a lot of them
revolved around basic common sense - eating vegetables,
washing food etc.  But it seems some of the Gibsons also
had a reputation for using their gifts for herbal remedies
in not such a charitable manner."

Scully looked up at him truly interested now.  "How so?"

"From what I gathered, their skills were sometimes used to
help in the torture and then execution of prisoners.  The
stories I found told of them being to extract the truth
from people and being able to control people by simply
giving them a special tea to drink.  Of course, we have no
way of knowing exactly what was in the tea and how much of
the stories was fact and how much fiction."

Mulder paused a second to take a large drink of his soda
but then continued "Apparently there were also stories
about the Gibsons injecting fluid into prisoners that made
their organs turn to mush resulting in a slow painful
death."

Scully rose a hand to stop him "Are you trying to say that
Agnes was able to overpower a full grown man and stick a
needle large enough to go into his chest cavity without him
giving her a fight?"

Mulder shrugged.  "Well, I haven't worked out all the
details yet but with a little luck, you and I will be able
to get Agnes to strike out again."

Scully looked up at Mulder with just a slight bit of fear
in her eyes.  "Isn't that just a bit risky Mulder?"

"I'm not worried Scully" he said "you'll have my back
covered."

XXX

Their conversation then turned to an invitation that Mulder
had received just before Scully had returned.

"Roger wants to me to go to the club with him tomorrow
morning."  Mulder said  "I think he is trying to get a read
on me or perhaps both of us."

Scully glared a bit at Mulder and he smiled back at her.
"Don't worry, I won't say anything about you but will just
let Roger know that I may be tempted to wander and that
your still waters run very deep."

"Did Roger say anything much about tomorrow night's
gathering at his house?"  Scully asked.

"He mentioned it in passing.  I think it is just going to
be drinks around the pool again.  I am thinking that maybe
they are planning on laying low for a bit after the police
were just called."

"Perhaps" Scully said frowning slightly.

"What is it Scully?"  Mulder asked stopping his pacing of
the room and sitting next to Scully on the couch.

"Well, I was just thinking.  We are going to have to pick
our poison."

"How so?"

"Well" Scully continued "We either risk eating whatever
Agnes has whipped up for us or drinking whatever Roger and
Brian decide to make in that blender of theirs. Either way,
we may find ourselves in a somewhat awkward situation."

Mulder noticed Scully staring down at the floor while she
was speaking and couldn't help teasing her just a bit.  "I
don't know about you Scully, but I think I would prefer
Roger's type of fun over Agnes's lack of it."

Scully smiled weakly and shook her head.  "I am being
serious Mulder.  I find it hard to believe that we will be
able to avoid either making out with each other or making
out with someone else."

She was turning redder by the minute but forced herself to
continue.  "What we have to decide is which way is it going
to be and what happens it we have to do both?"

Mulder stopped smiling then and sat back on the couch with
a sigh.  Scully had brought up some practical problems.

"Scully, I really have no desire to be with any of the
women we have met."

Scully just looked at him skeptically causing him to smile.
"Okay, I will admit that I have found some of the women to
be very attractive and maybe under different circumstances
would be interested in them."

He looked at Scully and thought he saw the slightest look
of hurt in her eyes.  He looked again and it was gone.
"But knowing what I know about these parties, I know that
any arousal I feel is artificially induced.  There is no
romance in any of this and that is half the fun."

Scully eyed her partner with renewed skepticism.  "You are
trying to tell me Fox Mulder that you, the man with the
world's largest personal porn collection, need romance?  I
would think what has been presented to you here is the
fantasy of most men and probably a lot of women too."

Mulder saw another opportunity to tease Scully and grabbed
it.  "Really Scully, haven't you fantasized about men you
barely know sweeping you off your feet and making mad
passionate love to you?"

"Like you haven't?" she retorted "Just because one thinks
of such a think at some point in their life doesn't mean
they want to actually act it out."

"Exactly my point" Mulder said smirking at her.  "My
problem is, if I am going to smoke out Agnes I am going to
have to play the cad and actually go through the act or
convince her that I have.  I don't think she acts until
someone she is close to has been hurt the way her husband
hurt her."

Scully frowned again and Mulder spoke quietly.  "Maybe you
could interrupt me before the actual act is committed and
then let Agnes know all the gory details."

"I could do that easily enough.  I will be more than happy
to be the one to get cold feet and end our participation."
She stopped talking still looking concerned.

"That isn't what is bothering you, is it Scully?"

"No, it isn't and I am not sure if I want to tell you what
is."  She said once again resuming her examination of the
floor.

Mulder reached over and pushed a stray piece of hair behind
her eye.  "Come on Scully, you know you can tell me
anything."

"Well, well I, I am"  Scully got annoyed at herself
rambling and finally blurted it all out.  "I don't think I
am going to like seeing you pawing other women and them
pawing you."

Mulder smiled and said softly.  "Scully, believe me, it
will take every ounce of strength in my body to keep from
whipping out my service revolver and taking out anyone
laying a hand on you. But unfortunately we can't control
that."

Scully looked up at him with her face once again not
letting him see what was going on inside her head.

"But what we can control is what happens between the two of
us."  Seeing Scully look of puzzlement he continued.  "You
said yourself that either we would be with each other
tomorrow night or with someone else."

Scully nodded but still looked puzzled.   This time it was
Mulder's turn to be hesitant in speaking.  "I don't know
about you but I really don't want to kiss you for the first
time full of some sort of substance in front of a room full
of people who are probably watching us to get their
jollies."

"So what do you suggest?"  Scully said turning to face him.

"Well, I could kiss you right here and now" he said smiling
at the startled look on Scully's face.  "just to get it out
of the way."

"Or" he continued "I could take you out for a romantic
dinner the way a good husband should, followed by a stroll
along the lake and ending with a good night kiss."

Scully still looked a bit suspiciously at him.  "Ending
with a kiss?"

Mulder sensed Scully's unease and decided to lighten the
tension that had rose up between them.  "Unless you want to
drink of couple of cups of the tea Agnes is going to make
for you."

Scully laughed at this.  "I think the just the kiss for now
Mulder."

Both of them realized that they at just about ready to
break down another barrier between them.  Just about but
not quite.

XXX

Scully and Mulder's conversation about their plans for the
evening was interrupted by a knock on the front door.

"Agnes" Mulder said.  "Do you want me to answer it or you?"

"I will" Scully said walking slowly to the door wondering
exactly what she would say to Agnes when she opened it.

Agnes was obviously surprised to see Scully open the door.
Apparently she expected Mulder to do so in order to keep
his request a secret.

Scully put on a sad/weary face and smiled weakly at Agnes.
"Hello Agnes, I see you brought the tea that Richard spoke
to you about."

Agnes saw the look on Scully's face and took her hand and
pulled her outside in order to speak with her in private.

"My dear, I am so sorry that he is putting you through all
this.  Your job is causing you anxiety and yet he expects
you to take him to your bed every night."

"And morning" Scully said actually enjoying the role she
was playing.

"Goodness, that man is full of energy, isn't he?  Are you
sure you wouldn't want me to brew something up for him.  To
calm him down at bit?"

"No Agnes, I will try this.  Hopefully this will make
things better between us.  And keep Richard from"  Scully
stopped looking embarrassed.

"Keep Richard from what?"  Agnes asked.  Scully was pleased
to see that she was lapping up her story the way a cat laps
up milk.

"From cheating on me.  He is a very attractive man you
know.  Woman just flock to him."

Agnes look went from concern to one of anger.  "Well, we'll
see to it that doesn't happen"

Scully nodded her thanks and said goodbye to Agnes.  She
walked back into the house and leaned against the door
trying hard not to laugh.

"Nicely done Jodi" Mulder said.

"You heard it?"

"The whole thing.  Glad to know you think I am attractive."
He teased.

"I don't Jodi does" Scully retorted.

XXX

Scully and Mulder both went upstairs to prepare for their
big evening out.  They didn't say a word to each other as
they quickly moved around the bedroom picking out the
clothes they would wear.

Scully gathered together her stack of clothes and went into
the bathroom to change while Mulder quickly changed in the
bedroom.  He stood in front of the mirror for awhile
looking at himself. Something he rarely did.

Smiling at his reflection, he had to admit to himself that
he was actually nervous about spending the evening with
Scully.  He told himself not to be so stupid that the woman
with whom he was spending the evening was just his partner,
his best friend, his make-believe wife.

"Who I promised to kiss before the end of the evening."
Mulder thought to himself groaning and sitting down on the
bed.

"I must be an absolute nutcase" he thought "this case is
going to put enough strain on our relationship without me
having to play the romantic.  What the hell was I thinking?
What if that one simple little gesture ruins everything?
What if??"

Mulder was interrupted by the sound of Scully quietly
clearing her throat.  She stood over him as he sat on the
bed with an amused smile on her face.  She knew perfectly
well that Mulder would start overanalyzing things and work
himself into a tizzy.

"Is having a simple dinner with me that depressing to you?"
she said, obviously teasing him.

Mulder looked up at her and all the thoughts he was just
having left his head.  Scully was wearing the little black
top he had teased her about before they left DC and looked
absolutely stunning.

No, not stunning. As sexy as hell and it scared Mulder
even more.

"No, it's not you"  Mulder lied knowing that Scully would
know he was lying "I was just thinking about how to
rationalize tonight's dinner on our expense report."

"Oh yeah" Scully said stepping back so Mulder could stand
up.  "Where are we going?"

"You'll see" Mulder said motioning for her to precede him
out of the room.  "Are you ready to go to dinner Jodi?"
 
"As ready as I will ever be Richard"

Before changing for dinner Mulder and Scully had decided
that it would be safer, in more ways than one, if they
portrayed themselves and Mr. and Mrs. Buckland for the
evening.  Not only would this help them from blowing their
cover, but it also get them each a false identity to hide
behind if things got out of hand between them.

XXX

The Minneapolis area of Minnesota is blessed with a wide
variety of lakes and Mulder had picked a secluded
restaurant located right on the shore of one of the larger
ones.

Scully raised her eyebrows in appreciation as they walked
into the restaurant.  It was decorated in the kind of
subdued elegance that made her think for a second that
maybe Mulder was worried about this meal showing up on
their expense account.

Their table by the window not only gave them the privacy
they wanted but a spectacular view of the lake.  The view
was enhanced even more by the long shadows made by the sun
slowly beginning to set.

"Mul Richard, what a wonderful surprise."  Scully said
putting the napkin in her lap and then picking up her menu.
"How did you find this place?"

"The Lone Gunman.  I promised Frohike a picture of you in
the black bathing suit if he could find me the perfect
restaurant."

Scully gave him a feeble attempt at a glare and then just
laughed.  "If the food here tastes as good as I think it
will, I may just pose for that picture."

Scully and Mulder then dropped into silence as they looked
over the menu and ordered their food.  Mulder opted for
steak while Scully picked chicken.

Mulder then surprised her by ordering a very good, yet very
expensive bottle of wine.

"Richard"  she said trying to sound like the scolding wife
but not succeeding too well "are you sure that wine is
within our budget:?"

"Jodi"  he responded taking her hand and pressing his lips
gently against it.  "Nothing is too good for my wife."

He put her hand down and then as if just realizing what he
had done, let go of it and stared out the window.

Scully felt just as awkward, even though she admitted to
herself that she found the gesture very sweet.  She was
very happy when the wine arrived and there was an excuse to
break the silence.

Mulder tasted the wine and finding it to his liking
motioned for the wine steward to pour it out.  Scully
tasted it and was also impressed.

"Did Frohike tell you which wine to buy as well?"

Mulder looked a bit embarrassed.  "He wasn't the one who
taught me about wines."

Scully noticed that Mulder was hesitating and said "Then
who did?"

"Phoebe"  Mulder said suddenly becoming interested in a
small piece of lint on the table.  "She always liked
surrounding herself with the best.  She and I spent a week
in France learning all we could about the stuff.  Comes in
handy every once in a while."

At the mention of Phoebe's name, Mulder noticed that
Scully's eyes showed a small amount of emotion and then
nothing has she once again raised up her defenses.

They sat in relative silence for awhile being somewhat at a
loss at what to talk about.  They couldn't talk about the
FBI or their case and neither one was ready to talk about
anything too personal, like their relationship.  So they
sipped their wine in silence both worrying and wondering
about whether or not this was a good idea.

"Jodi"  Mulder started not being able to take the
uncomfortable mood any longer "are you sorry we went out
tonight?  We can eat quickly and go back to the house if
you would like."

Scully smiled "What, and missed all those fabulous
desserts?  Not on your life.  If I promise to be better
company, can we stay?  Please? Please? please?"

"I love it when you beg"  Mulder said good humor restored.
"Let you tell me about the rest of my conversation with
Frohike."

The rest of the meal went smoothly enough with Mulder
entertaining Scully with stories of his antics (without
Phoebe) while his was at Oxford and Langley's hidden desire
to meet Leonard Nimoy in person."

Scully laughed at Mulder's stories and realized that this
was probably the first time that they had ever spent time
together not talking about a case or dealing with one or
the other of them lying in a hospital.

It was fun.  It was nice.  Very nice.

Scully thought that she could get used it.

Mulder too enjoyed himself more than he thought and was sad
to see the meal come to an end.  Not only did they both
enjoy their dinners and dessert but they managed to easily
put away the entire bottle of wine.

Scully, whose glass Mulder had been continually topping off
, found herself feeling just a bit wobbly.
 
Mulder seemed to notice too and gallantly offered her his
arm.  She shot him a bit of a dirty look but took the arm
anyway and allowed him to lead her out of the restaurant.

Neither of them noticed the woman sitting in at the bar
watching them very carefully.  The woman smiled to herself,
paid her tab and followed them out of the restaurant.

Instead of heading back to the car, Mulder and Scully began
to stroll along the shore of the lake taking a path that
appeared to go all around the lake.

Mulder removed Scully from his arm opting to take her hand
instead.  They walked in silence just enjoying the
reflection of the full moon on the lake as it began to rise
and being with each other.

After walking for about 10 minutes they reached a deserted
stretch of beach.  Not wanting to ruin her new sandals,
Scully walked over to a good-sized rock that was perched on
the beach and sat down to remove them.

Once off her feet, she took a moment to savor the wonderful
feeling of the cooling sand between her toes.  She stood up
and walked over to the edge of the lake and stuck one toe
in.
 
"Cold"  she said to Mulder who had come up behind her and
wrapped his arms around her.  She jerked ever so slightly
at his actions but then allowed herself to sink into his
warmth.

"Beautiful isn't it?"  she said looking out at the still
lake glowing in the moonlight.

"Even more beautiful in the moonlight"  Mulder pulling her
a bit closer and settling his chin on her head.  Scully
swallowed hard as she realized that Mulder wasn't talking
about the lake.

Mulder couldn't help but think how wonderful Scully felt
leaning up against him.  It took every ounce of willpower
he had not to kiss her right then and there and then throw
her down on the sand and show her just how wonderful he
felt.

But that wouldn't be right. Scully had set the rules and
he had given his word.

"Hey"  he said "do you think that Fox and Dana will ever
get to the place where Jodi and Richard are?"

"I don't know."  She replied sighing a bit before
continuing "Fox and Dana seem to be in a whole different
place with a whole different set of pressures on them.  I
don't know if they could ever take the time to just 'be'
with each other."

"You may be right. But maybe when we get back to DC I will
look Fox up and give him some pointers.  Do you think it
would do any good?"

Scully paused and thought before answering.  It was clear
that Mulder, whose insecurity was showing up big time, was
trying to test the waters with her to see if maybe they
could take their relationship to another level when the
case was done.

"It might"  she said finally "That Dana is a pretty
sensible woman most of the time."

Scully felt Mulder relax a bit at her words and she closed
her eyes and just enjoyed being with him.

XXX

The woman from the restaurant peered at them from her spot
behind the trees.  She thought to herself how cute they
were standing along the edge of the lake.  But even so, she
couldn't help but feel that they were hiding something from
either each other.  Or her.

XXX

It seemed to Mulder that he and Scully had only been
standing by the edge of the lake for a short time. He knew
he had to be mistaken because even with him wrapped around
her, Scully was beginning to shiver.

"I am such a jerk"  he said looking down and noticing that
Scully was standing barefoot in the water "You must be
freezing"

He pulled away from her a bit more abruptly than he
Intended. Once again considering himself guilty of hurting
Scully.

Scully shook her head seeing Mulder begin his internal
battle with himself.  "Don't be silly"  she turned him
around so she could look at him. "It's my own fault for
staying in the water so long.  I guess I just didn't want
the moment to end."

"It doesn't have to end"  Mulder said looking down at her
with eyes that told her that he had some pretty definite
ideas about how to warm her up.

"No it doesn't"  she agreed bending down to pick up her
sandals.  "But unless you want me to be too sick to flaunt
myself in that black bathing suit tomorrow, we had better
go home."

Mulder nodded and Scully had to admit that she felt a bit
disappointed that Mulder no longer held her hand as they
were walking.  Obviously he had taken her declaration that
she needed to get home as a signal to back off.  He was
right -  it was.

Now it was Scully's turn to beat herself up.  She knew
perfectly well that she had blown a chance to truly kiss
Mulder without any rules, pretenses or fellow party goers
gawking at them.

"Idiot"  she muttered under her breath.
 
"What?"  Mulder said thinking she was talking to him.

"Me, not you"  Scully said still quite annoyed with
herself. "I seem to always know how to ruin everyone's good
time."

Mulder stopped at this and turned Scully to face him. "You
haven't wrecked my good time, not by a long shot.  But
remember you are making up the rules. I will pretty much
do whatever you want"

Mulder looked at Scully's face in the moonlight as she
slowly thought through what she had just heard.  He hadn't
meant to say that especially not now when they weren't even
free to call each other by their real names.

He waited a bit nervous wondering how Scully would react.

Scully couldn't believe what she just heard.  Surely she
was mistaken.  She and Mulder were just pretending tonight, right?
After all they were undercover on a case, weren't they?

They didn't really mean what they were saying?  Did they?

Finally Scully slowly nodded and began walking again.

Mulder wondered to himself what her response meant.  But
spoke no more about it.  He did take her hand again and
they walked hand in hand just enjoying being with each
other.

The restaurant parking lot was all but deserted but for one
lone car when they arrived back at their car.

"Where is everyone?"  Scully said looking around the
parking lot.  "Surely we weren't walking that long?"

Mulder looked down at his watch.  "Just after midnight"  he
said.  "Don't suppose you want to park here for awhile?" he
said unlocking her door for her.

She threw him a flirtatious glance "What would you do if I
actually said 'yes'?"

She laughed at the look of panic on Mulder's face at the
prospect of necking passionately in the car with Scully
"Just what I thought."

Scully sat in the car and was still chuckling when Mulder
got in.  He looked at her and felt very tempted to silence
her with a kiss but somehow that thought of making out with
Scully with a steering wheel poking into his side didn't
appeal to him as the prospect of getting to do it on the
living room couch.

"You're lucky I'm a gentleman"  Mulder said chuckling
himself.  He started up the car and pulled out of the
parking lot not even noticing the small figure watching
them from the other parked car.

XXX

Once within the safe confines of the car, Mulder and Scully
talked briefly about their plans for the next day and how
they would handle Agnes and the party at Roger's house.

After everything was settled they were silent.  Both of
them wrapped up in thoughts about what was about to happen
between them.

Mulder, who felt so confident at the beginning of the
evening, began to have doubts again.  Scully wondered what
she would do if Mulder's kiss was half as good as she
thought it would be.

XXX

They arrived back at the house and instead of shifting into
their normal routine they both hurried off to freshen up.

Scully took a bit longer and was surprised to see Mulder
sitting down on the couch in the living room with another
bottle of very good wine open in front of him.

Mulder patted the seat next to him on the couch and gave
Scully a look that challenged her to sit anywhere else.

Having almost convinced herself that she wasn't scared of
being that close to Mulder, Scully sat down and accepted
the glass of wine that Mulder offered her.

She sipped it and let the heavenly taste of it roll over
her tongue.  "I think this is the first time" she began
taking another quick sip before putting the glass down
"that I am happy about you being involved with Phoebe."

Mulder saw a small opening and jumped on it.  "Why does she
bother you?"

Scully shifted a bit uncomfortably and fought the urge to
drink more wine.  "I just didn't like how you and she, she
always, she hurt you."  She finally blurted out knowing
that Mulder wasn't really buying what she was saying.

"You know Scully"  Mulder said settling back into the couch
"you and I have known each other for years.  Have seen each
other at our absolute best, nursed each other through
personal injuries, grave diseases and the deaths of our
loved ones but I don't think we really know all that much
about each other."

Scully smelled a trap and tried to avoid it.  "What do you
mean?  I know you inside and out."

"I think you know how I will react in most situations but I
doubt very much that you know that I always eat the inside
of Oreo cookies first.  Or that my favorite part of the
turkey is the drumstick."  He continued "You know the
personal stuff."

"Is it so important that we know all of that?"  Scully said
wondering where he was going with this.

"Yeah, I think it is or will be soon enough.  Hasn't there
always been some personal aspect of my life that you have
been dying to ask about but for professional reasons you
didn't?"

Scully thought a minute and then blushed a bit.  "Okay, if
you insist did you and Diana, oh never mind.  It really is
none of my business."

Mulder waited until Scully took another long sip of wine
and then turned her face towards him.  "It is your business
and to answer your question 'no'.  Diana wanted to but I
didn't."

"Oh"  Scully said feeling more relieved than she had a
right to.  "Does this mean you get to ask me something
now?"

"Yup"  Mulder said obviously starting to enjoy himself.
"In Philadelphia that time?"

"No"  Scully cut in before he could finish "believe it or
not, he was a gentleman.  He knew I was drunk and wouldn't
let me drive back to my hotel."

Mulder nodded looking rather relieved.  "Not that I would
have blamed you Scully.  The X-files and I have pretty much
robbed you of your social life.  I hope it hasn't been too
long"  feeling somewhat embarrassed he decided against
finishing his statement.

Scully smiled weakly "Probably since right around the time
I started working with you."

Mulder stared at her obviously shocked by her answer.  "You
haven't? You?  I mean, look at you, you're beautiful smart
and half the guys in the FBI would love to have a shot at
you.  Even Skinner."

Scully laughed at this "You flatter me Mulder.  I think
your view is tainted by spending so much time with aliens
and mutants."

Mulder got very serious then and took her head in both of
his hands.  "Scully, you are an incredibly beautiful,
incredibly sexy woman, intelligent woman."  He released her
before continuing "I am sorry I am holding you back."

Eager to lighten the mood, Scully said brightly "Well,
Mulder surely your draught cannot be as long as mine.  Not
with the way women always throw themselves at you."

"Only once in the past six or so years."  Mulder said
barely above a whisper "and that was a big mistake.  I was
trying to fill a hole in my heart."

"California?"  Scully said softly

Mulder barely nodded not taking his eyes off of hers.  He
wondered if his eyes were showing the pain he felt during
those lonely months when she was gone, when he a turned to
someone as desperate as himself to try and dull the pain.

It hadn't worked.

Scully looked at Mulder and couldn't believe the pure pain
that she saw in his eyes.  Her mother and Skinner had told
her how upset Mulder had been during her abduction and how
he was the only person who refused to give up on her.

But it wasn't until that very moment when she saw him
trying to blink back a tear that she really understood how
much the events of those three months had hurt him as well.

She put a tentative finger on his face and gently brushed
the tear away.  Mulder took her hand and place a long
tender kiss on it.

Scully felt a shutter flow through her entire body.  Mulder
turned her hand over so that the palm was facing up and
kissed it as well.

Scully closed her eyes savoring the feeling.  When she
opened them she saw Mulder moving closer to her without
knowing it, her lips opened to receive his kiss.

His lips were soft and gentle and the kiss between them not
one of passion but one of healing and tenderness.  Their
kiss lasted but a moment and when they parted Mulder looked
down at her with eyes that seemed to reach right into her
soul.

She smiled at him ever so slightly and he leaned into to
kiss her again.  This kiss deepened and Scully found
herself opening herself to him and eagerly exploring him as
well using her hand in his hair to pull him closer.

They stayed like that exploring each other until the lack
of air caused them to part.  Mulder took her in his arms
then and hugged her kissing the top of her hair and her
neck enjoying the way she snuggled trying to get closer to
him.

He sat back then and pulled her down on top of him so her
head lay on his shoulder.  He wrapped his arm around her
and softly stroked her upper arm.

"Scully"  he said planting a small kiss on her head "that
was even better than I expected and let me tell you, I
expected a lot."

"Thanks, I think"  said Scully.  She snuggled a bit closer
and closed her eyes just enjoying the feel of Mulder
holding her close.

"Mulder"  she said looking up at him  "thanks"

"Thanks?  For what?"  he said looking a bit puzzled.

"For stopping.  For giving me a chance to digest all of
this."

"I would like to say it was my pleasure Scully but I can't
with all honesty.  I will probably end up taking a cold
shower when all is said and done."

Scully poked him in the ribs and he continued "Ouch.
Seriously though, I said you could set the rules and I
meant it.  You and I both know what is at stake here
professionally and personally and we don't want to do
something we will regret later."

He looked down at her and smiled "But I don't think I will
regret anything we choose to do.  But seriously Scully, it
is getting very late and I have an early date with Roger at
the Country Club in the morning so unless you have had a
change of heart, we should call it a night."

"You're right Mulder"  Scully said forcing herself to leave
the comfort of Mulder's arms.

Mulder followed Scully to the bottom of the stairs as if
walking her to her door after their first date.  Scully
went up at step and then turned now able to look Mulder
right in the eye.

She reached out and pulled him towards her kissing him with
more passion than she thought she processed.  After a
moment or two, she pulled back and said in a voice huskier
than normal.  "Good night Mulder."

Mulder watched her climb up the stairs to the bedroom
thinking to himself that he really was going to need a cold
shower.