The Cost Of Being Unfaithful Part Three
By Katie Phillips
Disclaimer info located in Part One
 

Mulder sat up on the couch and slowly rose to his feet
stretching.  He managed to finally push his thoughts of
Scully out of his head long enough to get at least a few
hours sleep.

He stumbled into the kitchen and started up the coffee pot
and then creeped slowly up the stairs to get take a shower.
He paused in front of the bedroom door.

Usually Mulder waited until Scully was up to go into the
bathroom and take a shower not wanting to invade her
privacy, but today he had no choice.  He had to meet with
Roger in little over an hour and he was pretty sure that
Scully would not want to be woken up at this early hour.

He slowly pushed open the door and peeked around the corner
to make sure that Scully was asleep.  She was and Mulder
slowly, quietly started to make his way across the room.

He paused for a second just to look at her.  She looked so
beautiful and peaceful lying there that he wondered for a
second what she would do if he just crawled into bed next
to her.

"Probably have me drawn and quartered" he thought to
himself as he went into the bathroom and started the
shower.  He stepped into the hot water feeling his body
relaxing under the constant stream of water.

He tried to focus on his upcoming meeting but instead kept
wondering about Scully. What would her reaction be to their
brief encounter the night before?  Would she want to talk
about it or ignore it?  Was it the start of something
bigger between the two of them or just a pleasant
experience?

Mulder smiled as he turned off the water and stepped out of
the shower.  "Knowing Scully, first she will ignore it,
then she will want to talk about it and then she will want
to ignore it again."

XXX

Scully was somewhat confused when she woke up.  For a
moment, she couldn't remember where she was or what day it
was.  All she could remember was that she wasn't looking
forward to seeing Mulder and she could not remember why.

She lay there a second or two looking up at the ceiling
until she became fully awake.  Only then did she remember
fully the events of the evening before.

"Oh my God, how am I going to face him today after shoving
my tongue halfway down his throat last night?"  she thought
to herself fighting the temptation to pull the covers up
over and head.

Ashamed of her timid behavior Scully forced herself to look
at the clock.  It read almost 9am.  She strained her ears
but heard nothing.

"Funny" she said to herself "usually I can hear Mulder up
and about by now."

Scully flipped off the covers and swung her feet over the
side of the bed still not quite sure if she wanted to leave
the relative safety of her bed.

"Don't be such a chicken" she scolded herself.  "This is
the same man who pulled your naked body out of an alien ice
block.  Surely last night wasn't any worse than that."

She stood up briefly and then sat back down realizing that
although she knew that Mulder had already seen her naked
she had been pretty much out of it at the time and that the
circumstances were quite a bit different.

Last night she almost let him see her naked again. This
time without the aliens or the ice.

Shaking her head as if to rid them of negative thoughts,
Scully got off the bed, picked up her robe and headed for
the kitchen in search of coffee.

Descending the stairs, Scully was surprised not to find
Mulder sitting at his computer or in the kitchen as these
were his usual haunts in the morning.

"Great, I scared him away" Scully said out loud and she
surveyed the living room.  Mulder had put away the blanket
and pillow he had used the night before and there was no
sign of him.

Sighing she walked into the kitchen and immediately spotted
the pot of coffee sitting staying warm on the coffee maker.

"At least he didn't leave with the coffee" she joked to
herself pouring herself a large cup.  It wasn't until she
was opening the refrigerator door that she spotted his note
sitting on the kitchen counter.

"J, I am off to meet Roger at the club.  Will be back as
soon as I can.  Hope you liked dinner last night as much as
I did.  R."

Scully ignored the comment about the previous evening and
wondered how Mulder's breakfast meeting with Roger was
going.

XXX

Mulder gathered together a good number of opinions about
his breakfast partner Roger over the few hours they spent
together.  The first and foremost being that the man could
drink. A lot.

Here it was barely nine in the morning and the man was on
his third Bloody Mary while Mulder was slowly nursing his
first one.

Mulder thought they were going to play golf or tennis or
even racquetball but apparently Roger just wanted to get
drunk and talk.

"So Richard, it must be nice to have such a beautiful and
smart wife"  Roger said blurring his words together just a
bit.

Mulder just smiled in response.

"Can I ask you something rather personal Richard?"  Roger
said after motioning the waitress to bring him his fourth
drink.

"Sure Roger"  Mulder said wondering just how many drinks
Roger had in an average day.

"Are redheads as fiery in bed as they say they are?  You
know, I have slept with a lot of women, more than a lot, and
I have never been with a redhead."

Mulder didn't even want to think about what Scully would be
like in bed let alone talk about it so he tried to chance
the subject.  "Lots of women, man are you lucky.  Jodi and
I have been together more or less since college."

Roger shook his head and seemed to be genuinely sorry for
Mulder's plight.  "That is too bad my friend when they are
so many beautiful women out there who are looking for
variety too."

Mulder saw his opening and jumped on it.  "There are?  How
would you know that Roger, haven't you and Wendy been
married forever?"

Roger smiled a wicked smile at Mulder.  "There are ways to
have your cake and eat it too."

"Really" Mulder said taking a big drink of his Bloody Mary.

"Oh yeah"  Roger said and he began to talk about how he and
Brian had grown rather frustrated with the fact that they
were stuck sleeping with only their wives and how one night
when they had both been drinking quite a bit they had made
a deal to swap wives.

They rather thought that their wives would be hesitant to
go along with the idea so they hopped on the internet and
started looking up ways to 'loosen' up their wives a bit.

After many days and nights of research, Roger had stumbled
upon a small shop in California that specialized in
ordorless, flavorless substances that would increase desire
with no real side affects.

"Besides cheating your spouse" Mulder thought to himself as
he ordered himself another Bloody Mary and encouraged Roger
to continue.

Roger, who flew to California several times a year for
business, picked up the substance on his next trip and
Roger and Brian slipped it into their wives wine over
dinner.

"It was unbelievable." Roger was saying "Within a half of
hour of drinking the wine, Brian and I were out in the
kitchen trying to decide if we should give them another
douse and when we returned to the living room they already
beginning to grope at each other.  Needless to say, it was
a very enjoyable evening."
 
"Weren't they mad at you for slipping them the drug?"
Mulder said figuring that Scully would have surely emptied
her service weapon into him if he ever pulled such a stunt.

"They were disappointed about not being consulted
beforehand but were actually willing to try the substance
again as long as we took some too.  Before long, they had
told all their friends and our little parties began to grow
and grow and Wendy was growing the necessary herbs for the
potion out in our garden.  Of course, the best stuff still
comes from California.  Brian and I try to get out there at
least a few times a year."

Mulder just sat there when he finished speaking wondering
if he was given that opportunity if he would jump on it the
way everyone else had.

"So what do you think Richard?  Wanna give it a try?"

"I don't know Roger"  Mulder started "I am not sure that
Jodi would go for it?"

"Who says you have to tell her."

"I don't know if I can just drug her up and set her loose
in a room full of strange men."

"I understand completely"  Roger said  "I felt the same way
about Wendy and that's why we always break people in
slowly."

He ordered a couple more drinks and began to tell Mulder
exactly how they were going to pull it off.

XXX

Agnes was pulling weeds out from the garden which separated
her driveway from that of her neighbors when she saw a cab
pull up.  Out of it came a very obviously drunk Mulder.

"Hiya Agnes" he said trying his best not to sway too much.
"I just want to thank you for the tea.  I don't think I
have ever seen my wife as passionate as she was last
night."

And with that he staggered to the door wondering how he was
going to explain to Scully about being dead drunk before
one in the afternoon.

Agnes barely nodded her acknowledgement before heading into
her house..

She headed straight to her library going directly to the
section dedicated to spells.  She ran her finger along the
binders until she found the correct book.

"Well, Richard" she said out loud sitting down and opening
the page "I need to find out some more about you.  I think
this should do the trick nicely."

XXX

Scully walked slowly back up the street towards her house
reflecting back on the past two hours she spent with Brian
and Roger's wives Linda and Wendy.

It had been very strange to say the least.

At Wendy's invitation, the three women had gathered at her
house for coffee and conversation.  The coffee was fabulous
and the conversation bizarre.

Wendy and Linda did very little but sing the praises of
their husbands.  Under normal circumstances Scully would
have found it very charming, but these women were talking
only about their husbands talents in bed.

If that wasn't bad enough, they strongly implied that they
had both had incredibly good time with the other's husband
as well.

After rattling off the talents of their husbands, Wendy and
Linda then began to ask rather pointed questions about
Mulder.  Obviously if they were going to give their
husbands to Scully to play with, they expected something in
return.

Scully was torn between finding the entire situation
repulsive or incredibly funny.  It seemed more like
something that would happen in a movie or in a novel than
in real life.

The conversation made Scully realize what a fine line she
and Mulder were treading.  They were getting closer to
flushing out the killer but they were also getting much
closer to having their bluff called and ending up in a
compromising position with one of their neighbors.

Scully knew she didn't really have a claim on Mulder, yet,
but she wasn't much in the mood to share him either.

She was just turning into her driveway when she spotted
Agnes coming back out to finish up her weeding.

"Good afternoon dear" Agnes said waving and walking over to
Scully.

"Good afternoon Agnes, one of these days you really must
explain to me how you keep your gardens so beautiful."
Scully responded motioning to the endless colorful blooms
that separated them.

"All it takes is love and dedication.  Enough of that and
anything will grow."  Agnes was about to ask Scully about
the tea she had made her but then she stopped.
 
Something was different about Scully, she was sure of it.
She seemed to be sending out a different aura than she had
before.

Agnes made a mental note of this before saying "Your
husband is back from his morning outing and if I am not
mistaken, he is a bit worse for wear.  I have some
wonderful cures for hangovers, if he needs one."

Scully frowned at this comment thinking to herself that
Mulder barely drank at all and very rarely drank to access.
It was impossible for him to be drunk, it wasn't even 2pm
yet.

The two ladies parted company with Scully heading towards
the house and Agnes towards her flowers.

Scully opened the door and immediately heard the sounds of
ESPN blaring a little too loudly from the living room.  She
shut the door and headed into the room stopping abruptly at
the site in front of her.

Mulder was sitting on the couch with his head back, mouth
open holding a glass of orange juice, tilted in a most
peculiar angle, fast asleep.

"Maybe Agnes was right" Scully said walking over to the TV
and turning it off.  She removed the glass of orange juice
from Mulder's hand and gave him a little poke.

Nothing.

So she gave him a slightly bigger poke.

Still nothing.

Scully smiled despite herself and give him a good shake
leaning over him and using both hands.

This finally got his attention and he slowly opened his
eyes.  He took a minute to focus on her and when he
realized who she was, his face broke into an incredible
smile.
 
"Hey Scully" he said talking slowly so he could be
understood.

"Hey yourself.  Mulder what happened?"  Scully said sitting
down next to him.

"Roger happened.  God, Scully that man can drink.  He
managed to get five Bloody Marys into me and he had to have
had at least two for everyone I had."

"Five.  I am surprised you're not sick."

"Oh I was sick. Twice.  Brushed my teeth though, see" he
blew a breath on her "minty fresh."

"Lovely" Scully said noticing that his breath indeed wasn't
too bad for a man who had been sick twice.  "Why so many?"

"I think he was trying to loosen me up.  To get me to agree
to letting him have you."

"Have me?"  Scully said thinking she wasn't sure if she
wanted to know exactly what he meant by that.

"He wants to screw you Scully.  Badly.  Very badly.  He
wanted to know all about what you were like.  He wanted to
know if you were a fiery red head in bed."

"And what did you tell him?"  Scully said trying to keep
from blushing.

"I managed to skirt the issue pretty much.  That wasn't the
hard part."

"Then what was the hard part?"  Scully said curious.

"It was really hard to keep my cover when he was pouring
drink after drink after drink down me.  But it was really,
really hard for me not to punch him right in the nose."

"Why would you want to do that?"  Scully said hoping she
already knew the answer.

"Because he shouldn't be thinking about you that way.  If I
am not allowed to think about you that way, and I am your
husband, then he shouldn't be able to do it either."

"You're not really my husband" Scully said quietly secretly
pleased that Mulder felt the urge to defend her honor.

"I'm not? Oh yeah, I know that, but I am your partner,
aren't I?  And no ones talks that way about you to me."
Mulder said all the while poking Scully in the chest as if
to emphasize his point.

Scully looked down at his poking finger and snagged it mid-
poke.  She smiled at him.  "Thanks Mulder I appreciate
it.  And just so you know, Roger's wife has got the hots
for you big time."

"Yeah?  Wendy, the one with the big boobs who likes to wear
those low cut blouses?"  Scully nodded.  "Cool.  She's
hot."

Scully looked at him trying to remind herself that Mulder
was still rather drunk and probably not totally responsible
for what he was saying.

She was about to say something when Mulder continued.  "But
she is not as hot as you."

With that comment, he slowly let his head fall back onto
the couch and promptly fell asleep again.

Scully thought about trying to wake him again but decided
against it.  She left him there to sleep off his Bloody
Marys in peace and went over to her computer to complete
her request for background checks on everyone in the
neighborhood.

XXX

The small silver bowl was filled to overflowing and sat in
the middle of the small table.  It was surrounded by white
candles and one large ceramic bowl in which a small bundle
of sage was burning.

She stood over the table chanting and beckoning the vision
to appear to her in the reflection below her.

It took awhile to clear her mind but when she did, she
looked down into the bowl and saw the answer to her
question.

"So I was right about you Richard" she said to the image of
the dark haired man shining up at her.  "That's too bad I
would have rather not had to destroy you."

Scully had to admit that she was rather impressed with how
Mulder bounced back from his morning's adventure.  He slept
most of the afternoon, waking just in time to shower and
get ready for the party at Roger's.

"How did you manage to get yourself not only sober but
ready to drink again in such a short amount of time?"
Scully said as she wrapped her sarong around her bathing
suit.

Mulder paused a second to watch her admiring her figure in
the blue bathing suit she was wearing.

"Orange juice and sleeps works every time.  Well, at
least for me it does."

Scully spun slowly around while asking "Did I wrap this
around the right way?  I have never been very good at this
type of thing."

Mulder nodded his head slowly.  "Everything looks in place
to me Scully.  Man, if Roger wanted you before, he is going
to be beside himself tonight."

Scully smiled at him.  "So let me see if I have got it
straight about tonight.  Roger wants you to slip me some of
his 'magic' potion tonight to see how it works on me.  If I
pass the test, then we get to move onto bigger and better
things?"

"Pretty much. But remember, there is no way I want you to
drink that stuff Scully.  I will just tell him that I
slipped it into your drink and then keep it for evidence."

"I don't get to drink it?"  Scully teased "What's the
matter Mulder, think you can't handle me?"

Mulder laughed.  "I think I would manage somehow although I
would be worried that you wouldn't respect me tomorrow
morning."

He got serious then.  "We may have to, you know, make it
look convincing."

Scully smiled thinking how cute Mulder was when he was
embarrassed, which wasn't often.  "Don't worry about it
Mulder.  I am sure I will survive whatever you dish out."

Mulder nodded and they left strolling down the street hand-
in-hand to Roger's house not realizing that they were being
watched.

XXX

Brian greeted them warmly at the door and Scully couldn't
help but notice that he held her hand a tad longer than was
necessary.

"Not him too"  she thought to herself as she returned his
smile with one of her own.  "I think I am going to stick
close to Mulder tonight."

Mulder and Scully followed Brian out to the pool while he
explained to them the events of the evening.  "Tonight, we
decided to keep things rather small.  Just you two, Roger
and Linda and Wendy and myself."

Mulder nodded and gave Scully's hand a brief squeeze
acknowledging to her that he smelled the trap into which
they were walking.  "There is no way" he thought to himself
"that I am leaving Scully anywhere near those two guys."

Roger was standing behind the bar at the side of the pool
mixing something fruity in the blender.  His eyes widened
in obvious appreciation of Scully's outfit as he called out
his greetings to them both.

"Richard, Jodi it is so great to see you" he said showing
no signs of his earlier drinking.  "I am making something
special.  I hope you both like strawberries."

"Love them"  Scully said smiling at him.  She and Mulder
had decided that she would flirt with Roger, just a bit.

"Hi handsome"  Wendy said walking up to Mulder and sliding
her arm through his.  "I hate to take you away from your
beautiful wife, but I know you write books and I was
wondering if you could look at a little story I have
written."

"Sure I would love to" Mulder said allowing himself to be
dragged away leaving Scully to accept a frozen drink from
Roger.

Wendy led Mulder into a darkened study and began rifling
through the papers sitting on a desk.
 
"I don't mean for you to read it now"  she said handing
Mulder a stack of about 100 sheets or so "but whenever you
have a moment or two."

"I would be happy to" Mulder said eager to get back to
Scully.  He reached out to grab the papers.

"Ouch"  he said pulling one hand away from the stack.  His
index finger was beginning to show a small drop of blood
from where it was pricked.

He hurriedly put the papers back onto the desk and gave his
finger a shake to try to stop the stinging.

"Don't do that" Wendy said "it will only make it worse.
Let me see it."

Mulder gave her his hand and could not believe it when she
took the injured finger and promptly stuck in her mouth.
If that wasn't bad enough, she began to suck on it and
stroke it carefully with her tongue.

Despite the fact that he was in shock at her actions,
Mulder began to felt the faint stir of arousal as she
continued to administer her cure on his finger.

After a moment, she stopped and showed him his finger the
same way a mother shows a child after applying a bandage.

"See" Wendy said "Good as new."

Wendy then walked over to the desk and shook the stack of
papers.  A small straight pin fell out and landed on the
desk.

They quickly joined the others and Scully and Mulder found
themselves relaxing and enjoying the company of the other
four.  Tonight, unlike the other gatherings, there was no
sexual overtone floating just below the surface.

Mulder began to relax a little thinking that perhaps Roger
was too drunk that morning to remember his plan to drug
Scully on Mulder's behalf.

They had all enjoyed some marvelous swordfish steaks and
salad and were busily sipping away on their third round of
Roger's frozen drinks, when Wendy and Linda asked Scully to
join them in the kitchen to help prepare dessert.

As soon as they were out of the room, Roger smiled slyly at
Mulder.

"All taken care of my friend" Roger said jerking his chin
in the direction of the kitchen.

"What?"  Mulder said trying very hard to sound curious
instead of angry.  "How?  When?  I thought you wanted me to
do it?"

Roger smiled at him the way a parent would at a child
asking silly questions "I was going to let you handle it,
but you two have been joined at the hip all night.  It was
easy, you know that last batch of drinks I made up?"

Mulder nodded and he continued "Special ice."
 
"But didn't Linda and Wendy have some of that batch too?"

"Yeah" he said smiling an evil grin at Mulder.  "I wasn't
planning on using it on them tonight, but it will make for
a more entertaining evening."

Roger sipped his drink and raised an eyebrow at Brian who
was quietly listening to all of this.  "Are you up to it
tonight?  I can whip up another batch for you or we could
see if Richard wants to take on all three."

Roger laughed at this "We don't want the man to have a
heart attack the first time out.  Besides if this is Jodi's
first time he will have his hands full enough with her. As
far as the other two go, it's been awhile since we have
watched them and then enjoyed them when they were done with
each other."

Mulder felt like his was stuck inside of one of his porn
movies as he looked around hoping that Scully had left her
glass behind, but hers along with the other two, were
missing.

"Damn" he said trying to think of what to do next.

"So guys like to watch your wife with other people?"
Mulder asked trying to stall until he could think of a why
to safely get Scully out of there.

Roger chuckled at this.  "It does take a bit getting used
to but our little potion can put you in the right frame
of mood for anything and everything."

"Really?"  Mulder said half wondering to himself what it
really would be like to be exposed to a full dose of that
stuff in the right situation.  "There is no down side to
the stuff?"

Brian got a bit serious at this question.  "Well, it is a
bit addictive.  It is like your body craves to be released
and the only way you can get the release is by using it."

XXX

Inside the kitchen, the three women were chatting away
getting out the pie that Wendy had whipped up earlier in
the day.  What should have been a simple chore taking only
a couple of minutes turned into well over a half and hour
as Wendy and Linda, once again, started asking Scully about
Mulder.

It seemed to be Wendy who was most interested.  "I don't
know about you Linda" Wendy started "but if my husband
looked at good as Richard does, I would demand that he wear
nothing but Speedos."

"If Richard were my husband, I would demand that he wear
nothing at all."  Linda responded bringing on peals of
laughter from Wendy.  Scully just smiled and tried her best
to play along.

More comments along the same lines continued when suddenly
Scully started to notice that both Wendy and Linda were
starting to touch each other, and her more frequently as
they talked.

"I must be crazy" Scully thought as Wendy placed her hand
on her arm while emphasizing a point "I am getting as
paranoid as Mulder"

And then she wondered "I wonder if I am touching them
back?"

XXX

Mulder was starting to get worried about Scully and made
some mention of being still hungry and checking on what was
taking the women so long with the pie.

This, of course, resulted in some very crude comments by
the other men about the various uses for pie filling and
whether or not the women in the kitchen had come up with
any new ones.

Finally Wendy and Linda came out.  Linda was holding the
pie and Wendy a large can of whipped cream.

Roger and Brian beamed knowingly at each other while Mulder
felt like he swallowed lead.

"Where's Jodi?"  Mulder said trying to sound interested not
worried.

Wendy strolled over to Mulder and slowly dragged one
fingernail up his bare stomach then circling it slowly
around one nipple.  "Don't worry about her, Richard.  Linda
and I can keep you plenty busy until she gets out of the
bathroom."

Mulder pushed her away slowly.  "Very tempting Wendy,
really but I think I am only going to share my dessert with
Jodi tonight."

Wendy pouted slightly and then looked around as if to spot
her next victim.  Linda was standing next to Roger and she
turned her attention to the two of them.

Mulder was so busy watching what was transpiring between
the other four people that he didn't notice that Scully had
joined the group until he felt her arms wrap around him
from behind.

"Hey" she said.

"Sc, Jodi?"  Mulder said willing himself not to embarrass
himself in front of Roger and Brian although they both
seemed to be rather occupied themselves at the moment.

Scully slowly walked around Mulder, never taking her hands
off of him.  When she reached the other side she put one
hand on either side of Mulder's face and pulled him down to
kiss her.

Whereas their previous kisses had been tentative, this was
filled with passion.  Mulder forgot about embarrassing
himself as he opened himself to her.  She could have pulled
him down to the ground and he would have gone willingly
without a thought.

She broke off the kiss and looked up at him leaving
Mulder's head spinning.  If she could get this kind of
reaction out of him while he was drug free, he couldn't
begin to imagine was his response would be if he had
sampled some of the tainted drinks.

The mere thought had him swallowing hard.

"Richard" Scully said her voice husky and low.  "I want
you. Now.  But not here, at home.  We haven't properly
baptized all the rooms yet.  If we start now we should be
done by morning."

Brian heard this and let out a long whistle.  "Hope you ate
your Wheaties this morning, buddy"

Scully saw Mulder look over at Brian and reached down and
cupped him. "Do I have your attention now?"  she said.
When he weakly nodded, she let go of him and took his hand.
"I said now."

She dragged him away from the pool and the only thing the
other four heard as they rounded the corner of the house
was "I think we'll start on the back deck."

They all exchanged smiles knowing that soon they would have
some new blood in their group.  Once Jodi had experienced
sex on the drug, she wouldn't be able to do without it for
long.

XXX

Scully opened the front door for Mulder and leaned against
it as she shut it.

"Come here" she said barely above a whisper.

Mulder who knew he should go running away from her in the
opposite direction could not resist her.  He stepped
towards her and leaned down to kiss her again.

This kiss was as filled with passion as the last one and
Mulder could feel himself getting more aroused by the
minute.

Apparently, Scully felt it too for she pulled back from him
smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"Got you."  She said simply releasing his face and
instantly transforming herself for the sexy vixen to his
regular partner.

"What?"  Mulder said totally confused but getting more
embarrassed by the minute.

"I said 'got you'" Scully said again walking by him into
the kitchen.  "You always said I couldn't fool you but
tonight I did."

Mulder stomped behind her feeling his anger rise by the
moment.  "You, you, faked all that?"

"I don't know if I would call it faking per se."  she
poured water into the coffee pot and switch it on to start
brewing.

She then turned to Mulder and continued.  "It wasn't like I
could just stroll back to the side of the pool, take your
hand and walk you out of there.  They expected a bit of a
show and I gave them one."

Mulder felt anger then embarrassment.  He turned from her
and walked into the living room, sitting on the couch with
his arms on his legs and head down.

"You knew what you had to do?  But how?"

"How did I know about the drug?" she asked as she took down
two coffee mugs.  "Well, while we were talking away in the
kitchen the two of them were sipping away at their drinks
the whole time.  I had decided I didn't want to drink any
more and was looking for a way to dump my drink when they
weren't looking."

She walked over to the refrigerator and took out the milk.
"I started getting suspicious when they both started
touching each other, and me, more and more.  I knew I was
right when Wendy took out the whipped cream and started
making suggestions to Linda and I about how we shouldn't
waste it on the pie."

Only then did Scully notice how Mulder was sitting.  She
shook her head wondering to herself why her partner loved
to beat up on himself so much.

She walked over and sat down next to him, leaning her face
on his hunched back.  "If you are wondering how I faked it
with you, that was the easy part.  I just imagined how I
would act if I actually allowed myself to touch you the way
I sometimes want to."

Mulder raised his head a bit at this.  "Those kisses were
real Mulder although I must admit to being scared that you
would be appalled by them and push me away."

"I would never push you away Scully" Mulder said sitting
back and looking right at her.

Scully felt the moment getting a bit too serious "It wasn't
until we were almost back here that I realized that you
didn't know that I was faking so I thought I would push the
envelope a little bit just to make sure.  Forgive me?"

Mulder looked embarrassed again.  "Of course Scully, I
Just. Oh never mind."

Scully put a finger under Mulder's chin and lifted his face
up so he looked her straight in the eye.  "Mulder you have
no idea how I felt when I realized that I actually" she
looked down a bit as if to gather strength to continue
"aroused you.  It was so tempting just to lead you upstairs
and see what would happen. But as you said before, if and
when that time comes, I want it to be without any outside
suggestions."

Scully took Mulder's hands in hers and he flinched in pain.
"What is it?" she said concerned.

Mulder showed her his sore finger and told her about it.
"She stuck in her mouth?"  Scully said her normal self
returning.

"Do you realize how many germs are in the human mouth?  I
had better clean it for you so it doesn't get infected."

"Are you sure you don't want to suck it and make it
better?"  Mulder said raising an eyebrow at her.

Scully rose to get her first aid kit.  "Mulder if there is
sucking to be done, I will not waste my time on your
finger."
 

Scully was still rather embarrassed by her actions the
night before maybe she had drunk of bit of Brian's magic
potion without knowing it.  How else could she explain her
behavior?

Scully found Mulder in the kitchen going through the
morning paper and sipping on his coffee.  He looked up her
and nodded his good morning greeting to her before
returning to the story he was reading.

Apparently, Mulder had decided to forget the events of the
night before too.  Scully wasn't sure if she was happy or
disappointed about that.

She poured herself a cup of coffee and joined him at the
table quietly sipping until he was finished with his story,
folder up the paper and looked at her.

Mulder knew the moment that Scully walked into the room
that she was nervous about what had transpired between the
two of them the night before.  He had taken his time
reading the paper not so much because he was interested in
the story, but because he was trying to decide how to best
handle Scully.

He decided to have pity on her.  "What do you have planned
for today Scully?"  he said sipping his coffee.

"I think I am going to take a sample of the tea that Agnes
wanted you to give me down to the lab for testing.  I am
very curious to find out exactly what she put in there.
You?"

Mulder put down his coffee cup and shrugged.  "Not totally
sure.  May work some more on the background checks for
everyone in the neighborhood here or perhaps do some more
research into the Gibson family."

"Sounds like a fun-filled day to me" Scully said rising
from the table and putting her coffee cup in the sink.  "I
shouldn't be too long. Is there anything on the schedule
for this evening?"

"Nothing yet."

"Great.  I could do with a quiet evening.  Shall I rent us
a movie while I am out?"  Scully asked putting the sample
of tea into her briefcase.

"Sure just make sure you don't bring home any 'chick
flicks'."

Scully smiled at her partner and left Mulder alone with his
coffee and paper.

Mulder quickly finished up his reading of the paper and
proceeded to log onto his computer.  He knew he should work
on some more background checks, but his desire to learn
more about Agnes, her family and their particular kind of
magic won out.

Mulder was so deep in thought that he barely heard the
doorbell ring.  He rubbed his eyes while getting up and
noticed that it was almost lunch time as he headed for the
door.

He opened the door to find Wendy standing there holding a
stack of papers that Mulder assumed was the story that she
wanted him to read the night before.

"Hello Wendy" Mulder said trying very hard to look into
Wendy's eyes and not down her plunging neckline.

"Hi Richard."  Wendy said pushing her way past Mulder into
the house.  "I hope you don't mind my popping over like
this."

Mulder shook his head.  "Of course not.  Is that your
story?"

"Yes, with all the confusion last night you forgot to take
it with you."

"Sorry about that."  Mulder said even though he was not
sorry at all.  "Would you like some coffee?"

"Love some" Wendy purred as she followed him into the
kitchen.  Mulder wasn't sure why, but his intuition was
telling him that something was not right.

His intuition was right.

Wendy waited until Mulder crossed over to the kitchen sink
to fill the coffee pot before making her move.  She easily
trapped him when he turned from the sink.

She took the coffee pot from his hand and placed it on the
counter.  "Your hand" Wendy said picking up the one he
pricked the night before "Does it still hurt?"

At her touch, Mulder felt a strange sensation slowly flow
into his body - like he was watching himself in a dream.
"A bit."

Wendy pouted at this and brought the hurt finger to her
lips.  "Let me kiss it and make it better for you."

She placed a small kiss on the tip of his finger and then
proceeded to run her tongue around the edge as well.

The strange sensation within Mulder continued.  He knew he
should pull back but somehow couldn't bring himself to do
it.  In fact it took a great deal of willpower to get
himself to speak.

"Wendy.  What are you doing?"

Wendy smiled as she sucked the entire finger into her
mouth.  She sucked on it for a moment or two watching
Mulder's eyes slowly fill with desire.

She slowly released his finger and then answered his
question.  "I just wanted to know if what I felt happening
between us last night was real or just a figment of my
imagination."

She turned Mulder's hand palm up and traced the lines on it
with her tongue.  She smiled again this time not looking at
Mulder's eyes, but his crotch.  "Judging but what I am
seeing, it is real, very real."

Mulder felt his arousal start to stir with her first touch.
It was as if every nerve ending in his body was on high
alert and sending sensual feelings to his groin.

He heard a sound and realized it was his own groan as she
pulled him towards her and slowly rubbed her body against
his.

"Oh yes Richard what we have is definitely real."  She put
a hand on either side of his head and pulled him down to
kiss her.

XXX

Scully pulled into the driveway of the house and gave a
small sigh.  "It is good to be home" she thought to herself
and she picked up her briefcase and the two movies she had
chosen.  "Pizza and a movie it doesn't get much better
than that."

Scully opened up the front door and placed her briefcase on
the small hall table, reaching into it to pull out the
results of her lab tests.  She couldn't wait to tell Mulder
about them.

She called out to him as she pushed the door of the kitchen
open.  "Mulder, you will never believe what I"

The rest of what Scully was going to say froze in her
throat.  There in front of her were Mulder and Wendy.  Not
only were they kissing in a most passionate manner, but
Wendy was busily working on getting Mulder's zipper down.

Scully stood there mouth open unable to believe what she
was witnessing.  She must have gasped out loud for Wendy
pulled herself away from Mulder and looked at her.

"Well, Richard, guess you and I will have to finish this up
another time.  That is unless your beautiful wife would
like to join us?"

Wendy took another look at the scowl on Scully's face
before continuing.  "Well maybe next time."  She patted
Mulder on the face and turned to walk out of the room
pausing right in front of Scully.

She reached out and stroked Scully on the face almost
wistfully.  "You are a beautiful woman."  she said as she
continued her stroking.  "I may just have to have you
next."

And with that she was gone.

XXX

Agnes was waiting for Wendy as she left the house.  As soon
as she was through the door, Agnes crossed over to her and
grabbed her arm.

"Leave him alone" she hissed at Wendy.  "He is in love with
her."

Wendy just smiled at the older woman and forcibly removed
her hand from her arm.  "Well, he may love her but he wants
me.  And even more importantly, I want him and I always get
what I want."

Having found herself free of Agnes, she smiled an evil
smile at her.  "He will be mine, all mine, by the end of
the week."

Wendy then walked down the street planning her conquest and
wondering why Jodi would call him 'Mulder'.

XXX

As soon as he could not longer feel her touch, Mulder
slowly came back to reality.  With that reality came the
knowledge that Scully, who was still standing in the middle
of the kitchen with her mouth open, had walked into the
kitchen at a most inopportune time.

Mulder blinked once then twice and shook his head to clear
the last of the cobwebs.  "Scully" he said taking a step
towards her.

She raised her hand to stop him.  "Not now Mulder."

Mulder tried desperately to read her face but it gave no
clue of what emotions were roaring behind those blue eyes.
The walls he had been working so hard to bring down were
once again in place and even stronger than before.

He had no choice but to let her walk away.

XXX

Mulder walked into the living room and did something he
very rarely did.  He walked over to where the liquor was
stored and poured himself a good stiff drink of whiskey.

He made a slight face as he quickly drank the liquid
feeling it first burn his throat and then send a slow
feeling of warmth throughout his body.  He paused a second
before taking another quick shot, then picked up the bottle
and walked over to the couch.

Mulder placed the bottle of whiskey and the glass on the
coffee table and then leaned forward his face in his hands.
He didn't want to think about what had just transpired but
he had to.

He had to make at least himself understand why he let Wendy
do what she did.  If he couldn't explain it to himself, he
definitely wouldn't be able to explain it to Scully.

That is if he ever got the chance to explain.  He shuttered
and took another shot of whiskey as he remembered the look
of shock turning into one of pain when his partner had
first realized what was happening.

How could he ever get her to forgive him?  He wasn't sure
he could forgive himself.

All he really could remember was Wendy following him into
the kitchen and trapping him by the sink and laying her
hands on him.  The rest was mostly a blur until Wendy had
stepped away from him and he had seen Scully standing
there.

Mulder knew it had been a long time since he had truly been
with a woman. His hormones were racing at even a higher
throttle with all that was going on between him and Scully.
But was he so desperate that he would succumb to the first
touch of the first woman who came along?

He hadn't thought so, but obviously that appeared to be the
case.

Mulder sat back, sighed and thought about Wendy.  He had to
admit that she was an attractive woman who he had noticed
almost immediately during the first party Scully and he had
attended.

He had also noticed immediately that Wendy had the type of
presence and personality that drew people to her.  He
hadn't thought her as being all that sexual at least
until the night before.

After those few moments alone together it seemed like the
mere sight of her got him aroused.  But why?

Mulder thought and analyzed and thought some more and the
only thing he could think of was deprivation.  He was as
horny as hell and whereas his mind was willing to wait for
as long as it took to bring Scully around, his body wanted
action and wanted it now.

"Could it be as simple as that?"  Mulder said to himself
pouring another shot of whiskey.  "Am I really that
pathetic?"

He drank the whiskey down a bit slower this time.  His
motions were getting slower as the effects of the whiskey
made themselves felt.  "She is better off without me."
 

The only thought Scully had as she walked out of the
kitchen was to run.  Run as fast and as far as she could
away from Fox Mulder.

She grabbed her purse and hurried into the garage not
wanting Mulder to catch her.  Scully doubted that he would
follow her and part of her was disappointed when she was
able to climb into the car and hurry down the street
without him even making an effort to stop her.

She vaguely remembered seeing Agnes standing in one of her
gardens looking at her with concern as she backed out of
the driveway and headed down the street in the opposite
direction from where Wendy would be walking.

That was her last conscious thought.  After that she drove
on autopilot - aimlessly driving around Minneapolis
stopping only to refill her tank and grab a quick cup of
coffee.

When she grew too weary to drive any further, she pulled
into a parking lot and turned off her car.  Only then did
she take the time to notice where she was.

Scully was sitting in front of a large cathedral made of
stone.  She smiled to herself as she acknowledged the fact
that at least her subconscious mind was trying to help her
find peace.

Scully got out of the car and after glancing at her watch,
realized there was a very good reason for the stiffness
that encompassed her body.  She had been driving around for
close to four hours.

She slowly walked up the stairs and into the church.  It
was very quiet with only one other person a man, with his head
bowed in prayer, sitting in the front pew.

Scully genuflected and got into the back pew.  She dropped
down on her knees and said a quick prayer, as she always
did for her father and sister, and then she just let the
silence surround her.

It was only when her heart had stilled that she allowed a
tear to fall.

She sat silently still letting her mind clear itself and
giving herself the opportunity to, for the first time,
really think about what she had witnessed.

On the one hand, Scully was perfectly aware that she had no
real claim over Mulder.  Both of them were free to date
whomever they wished whenever they wanted.

But up until today, neither of them had chosen to do so.

Scully thought about the implied promise of a deepening of
their relationship upon their return to DC.  Perhaps Mulder
was just sowing his wild oats while he could.

Or, maybe Mulder was just playing his role as Richard
Buckland.  He knew he had to stir up the pot a bit to try
and get a reaction out of Agnes.  Maybe he was just doing
that.

"No, it's not that" Scully murmured to herself.  If that
was the case, Mulder would have done his pawing of Wendy
out where someone could see them, not in his own kitchen.

Scully sighed deeply and tried to figure out which
disappointed her more.  The fact that Mulder was kissing
another woman and by all appearances enjoying it very
much or that she was incredibly hurt and jealous by his
actions.

Unable to answer this question herself, she bent her head
again to ask for guidance from her God.
 

~~~
 

She had seen Scully storm out of the house and knew that soon
her opportunity would come.

She was frankly quite surprised to find both the garage door and
the door into the house open.  In her effort to flee as quickly
as possible, Scully had forgotten to shut them.

She walked into the room and found it to be completely silent
except for a small sound emanating from the living room.

Going into the living room, she found Mulder sprawled out on the
couch, fast asleep and snoring quietly.

She shook her head as she glanced from Mulder, to the empty
whiskey bottle, to the shot glass lying on its side on the floor
back to Mulder again.

"This is going to be easier than I thought" she said to herself
as she withdrew a small vial of bluish liquid from her pocket.
Originally she had thought to pour into the liquid into
something he would drink, but now all she would have to do was
to use the eye dropper and put the liquid directly into his
slightly open mouth.

She bent over Mulder and noticed as she brought the eye dropper
closer, that his face showed signs of freshly fallen tears.
"Poor guy" she thought as she easily administered her potion
"Perhaps you really do love her after all.  But think wisely my
friend, for if you do not follow your heart down the right path
I will see you dead."

She stroked his forehead tenderly for a second and then left the
house, closing the door behind her.

XXX

It was completely dark when Mulder managed to open his eyes.  As
soon as he did, he wanted nothing more than to close them again.

He glanced at the coffee table and saw the empty whiskey bottle.
The mere sight of the bottle made him groan.

Mulder forced himself into an upright position and with a bit of
effort managed to stand.  He was a bit wobbly but got himself
into the kitchen and opened up the fridge.

He grabbed the carton of orange juice and was about to take a
drink when a wave of nausea hit him.  He barely made it to the
kitchen sink before relieving himself of most of the whiskey
that was still sitting in his stomach.

Mulder waited a moment to make sure he was done, and then headed
for the bathroom to brush his teeth.  It was while doing this
that he noticed the clock sitting by the bed.

It read 9:30. He had been sleeping for hours.

Only after brushing his teeth and drinking a good quart of
orange juice did his head clear enough for him to realize that
Scully still hadn't returned to the house.

Mulder reached for his cell phone and quickly punched in her
number all he got in return was a message asking him to leave
a message.

He didn't bother. He knew that if she wanted to talk to him, she
would have left the phone on.

Suddenly Mulder felt the overwhelming need to find his partner.
To not only make sure that she was all right, but that they were
all right too.

He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door not knowing
exactly where he was going.

XXX

Mulder wasn't really surprised to find her there, sitting
quietly in the pew lost in her own thoughts.  He was only
surprised that he had thought to look for her here in the first
place.

He quietly approached her and stood silently waiting.

Scully felt his presence and slowly opened her eyes and turned
to him.  He could tell instantly that she had been crying and it
broke his heart to know that he had brought her so much pain.

Scully silently rose and walked past him out of the church.

He followed her waiting for her lead on how to proceed.

She said nothing, just got in her car and drove back to the
house.  Mulder followed her wondering how he could possibly
cross the gap that had come between them.

XXX

Mulder arrived back at the house only a few minutes after Scully
did.  He entered the house to find her filling the coffee pot
and pulling out the cookie jar.

She grabbed a couple of cookies and motioned for him to have a
seat at the kitchen table.

Mulder did so, bracing himself for her interrogation of his
actions, but she surprised him by sitting down and removing a
manila folder from her briefcase.

Even before she spoke, Mulder knew that what had happened that
afternoon was being added to their very long list of 'things
that happened between us that we will ignore forever'.

"I ran tests on the tea that Agnes made for me" she said her
face showing absolutely no emotion.

"And?"  Mulder replied

"And, it was nothing but a bunch of dried herbs.  It seems she
gave me a placebo."

"Really? I wonder why?"

"Perhaps Agnes had more faith in Jodi that Richard did" Scully
said in a mocking tone of voice.

Mulder's eyebrows went up at this comment.  Maybe he and Scully
would talk after all.

"Or maybe she wanted Richard to fail so he would want to look
elsewhere."

Scully looked at him and Mulder thought he saw a bit of hurt in
her eyes.

"Perhaps" Scully replied.  "No matter what her reason for doing
it, there is no way to link the tea she made with the crimes you
think she committed."

"So where do we go from here?"  Mulder said getting up and going
over to the coffee pot.  He raised his eyebrows to question
Scully if she wanted a cup.

She shook her head.  "No, I made that for you.  Judging by what
I saw in the living room, I thought you might need it."

"Thanks partner."  Mulder said a bit sheepishly.

Scully walked over to him and placed her hand gently on his
back.  "Don't worry Mulder, no matter what may come between us,
you can always count on me to cover your back."

Leaving Mulder to pour his coffee, she walked into the living
room and picked up the empty bottle and glass.  She had been
quite surprised to find them when she had walked into the house
knowing that Mulder never drank alone.

She placed the bottle and glass on the kitchen counter and
raised her eyebrow at Mulder giving him a chance to explain
why he had drunk the whole bottle.

Mulder looked at Scully and then at the bottle.  "I messed up
big time, didn't I Scully?"  he said barely able to meet her
eyes.

"Yeah you did" she answered.

"Are we going to be okay?" he asked wanting desperately to take
her into his arms but knowing she would never allow it.

"To be honest with you Mulder, I don't know."  Scully reached
over and stroked Mulder's cheek.  "I hope so, but I really don't
know."

Mulder nodded.  "What about the case?"

Scully smiled weakly at him.  "Not to worry Mulder, Jodi has no
plans to leave Richard just yet.  She will stick with him at
least until the big party."

Mulder groaned.  He had forgotten about the party which Roger
had told him about.  It was a costume party with prizes going to
the wildest outfit.  From what Roger implied, this would be
their big opportunity to flush out the murdered.

But the party was three days away.  Mulder hoped Scully and he
could get along until then.

XXX

After their brief conversation that night, it seemed to Mulder
that he barely saw Scully.  She rose, showered quickly and then
found some excuse to go out to the local FBI headquarters every
day before having any breakfast.  She often didn't return until
dinner time and then the only thing they discussed were her
findings for the day.

Mulder knew perfectly well that Scully could have performed all
of her research using her laptop, but said nothing.  Scully
wanted some space between them and after what he had done to
her, he was happy to oblige.

He spent his time puttering around the house working on field
reports and doing massive research on the internet.  He knew the
key to the murders was Agnes but he just couldn't find the
smoking gun that would prove him right.

On the second morning he had been busily making himself a cup of
coffee when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him from
behind.  Scully had left for the research lab well over an hour
ago but had probably forgotten something which had prompted her
return.

Mulder turned around about to address his partner when he froze
in his tracks.  The woman standing in front of him was
definitely not Scully.

"What are you doing here?" he said rather annoyed.

The woman he was addressing gently touched his arm and the look
of annoyance vanished immediately.  It was replaced by one of
total peace.

"Now, that's better" she said gently taking his hand and leading
him into the living room.

They sat on the couch and she was careful not to release his
hand.

"Tell me" she said with some authority "who you really are."

Mulder looked at her, paused for a second as if trying to decide
whether or not to answer her but then did.  "Fox Mulder"

"Why are you here Fox Mulder?"

"I work for the FBI.  I have come to catch the murderer."

The woman's eyes widened considerably.  "How fascinating.  And
your wife?"

Mulder smiled at the thought of Scully. "She's my partner."

"Your partner.  Very interesting.  Are you two involved?"

Mulder looked sheepishly at her. "No, not yet."

The woman nodded at this.  "One hour after you leave the party
you will meet me by the Mile High Bridge.  Understand?"

"I understand"

"You will remember nothing of this conversation Fox but will
have a wonderful time at Roger's party for it will be your
last.  Close your eyes, count to 100 and then return to where
you were in the kitchen."

The woman released her hand and left the house to the sound of
Mulder softly counting to himself ringing in her ears.

Mulder picked up his coffee mug wondering how it could have
possibly cooled off so quickly.  He had thought, for a moment,
that he had heard the sound of Scully's approaching footsteps
but upon turning saw nothing.

He shook his head and returned to his computer.
 
Scully had brought back pizza and beer with her and she and
Mulder sat at the kitchen table eating in silence.  Scully had
regretted her avoidance of Mulder and was hoping that the beer
would help loosen them both up a bit.

They were just finishing up their pizza and opening up their
second bottle of beer when the doorbell rang.

Scully got up quickly looking over at Mulder who shrugged.
Scully walked over to the door hoping that it wasn't Wendy
coming to pay them a call.

It wasn't.  It was Roger.

"Good evening Roger" Scully said opening the door and letting
him enter the house.

"Good evening Jodi" Roger replied after allowing himself to
truly take in Scully's appearance.

Scully followed Roger into the living room feeling a bit
embarrassed by his gaze.

"Roger" Mulder said walking over to him and extending his hand.
"To what do we owe this honor?"

Roger pumped Mulder's hand "Just wanted to make sure that you
two were coming to our little party tomorrow night."

"We wouldn't miss it for anything" Mulder said noticing for the
first time that Roger seemed to be unable to keep his eyes off
Scully.  "Would we sweetheart?"

Scully who was fighting the urge to squirm under Roger's
constant gaze smiled flirtatiously at Roger.  "I am looking
forward to it" she said in a voice that seemed to Mulder to drip
of sexual innuendo.

Roger must have noticed too for his smiled broadened and he
became bold enough to practically stare at Scully's chest which was
rather well displayed in the tight t-shirt she was wearing.

"Wonderful.  I know Wendy is looking forward to having a dance
with Richard and I was hoping to keep you occupied on the dance
floor during your husband's absence."

It took every ounce of control to keep Mulder from punching
Roger right in the nose.  He was practically asking Scully to
sleep with him right in front of him.

Scully said nothing but just smiled a sexy little smile at
Roger.

"Wonderful" Roger said again.  "I will leave you two to finish
up your costumes and will see you tomorrow at eight."

Scully started towards the door to walk Roger out but Mulder
slyly cut her off and saw Roger out himself.  Scully smiled to
herself as she realized that Mulder was acting like a jealous
husband.

"Can you believe him?" Mulder began to rant as soon as Roger
cleared their driveway.  "The way he was coming on to you?"

"Oh, I've seen worse" Scully said dryly going to the kitchen to
retrieve their beers.

Mulder stopped his ranting at this and took his beer from Scully
in silence.

"I suppose our course has been pretty much decided for us"
Scully said taking a large swig of beer.  "Apparently you have
been chosen for Wendy and I get Roger"

She watched Mulder scowl at the thought of tomorrow night's
party even as she admitted to herself that she could think of
worse things than having to kiss the very handsome Roger.

Mulder sat down abruptly on the couch and Scully sat down too
on the far end of the couch.  If Mulder noticed the literal
distance between them, he didn't mention it when he started to
speak.

"Scully, we have to finalize our plans."

"Do you still want me to burst in before you and Wendy"

Mulder cut her off immediately.  "Of course I do.  Do you really
think that I want to be with that woman?"

"You did seem to be enjoying yourself quite a bit the other day.
Or did my eyes deceive me?"  Scully said surprised with how
angry she was.  She sounded like a jilted wife.

Mulder turned to her and looked her straight in the eye his face
red with anger.  "And what choice did I really have?  Should I
have pushed her away and possibly wrecked our case?"

Scully looked away but he moved closer to her and took her face
in his hands forcing her to look at him.  "I thought she only
meant to kiss me.  Believe me I was surprised as you were when
she decided to be so bold.  As far as my reaction goes, I would
imagine if you were in a similar situation with Roger"  he said
the name as if it were poison "and he was stroking you the way
she was stroking me, that your body would respond even if your
mind didn't want it to."

Scully blinked at him not knowing what to say.  Even now her
body was responding to his words in a way that her mind found
quite annoying.

Mulder dropped his hands from her face and sighed.  He spoke
softly now.  "Scully, she is nothing to me.  Do you believe me?"

Scully nodded and picked up one of his hands and brought it to
her cheek.  She left it pressed there for a moment and then
turned it over and kissed it right in the middle of the palm.

Scully dropped his hand then whispering "I am going to take a
long hot bath Mulder and then go to bed."

Mulder sat back on the couch and sipped his beer trying very
hard not to think of his partner lying naked in the bathtub
upstairs.

XXX

Scully didn't go to the office the following morning but decided
instead to do her work using her laptop.  Mulder saw this as a
minor victory and was happy to just be in the same vicinity as
her again.

Over lunch, they discussed their plans for the evening, how they
would avoid eating or drinking anything at the party lest their
judgment be impaired.

They planned without ever mentioning the names of either Roger
or Wendy although both Mulder and Scully knew that the two would
be major players before the evening was over.

It was decided that Scully would drop over to see Agnes sometime
during the day to ask for some advice on how to handle the
party.

Everything had been discussed at great lengths with the
exception of their costumes.

"Why won't you tell me what you will be wearing?"  Scully asked
as she cleared away the lunch dishes.

"For the same reason you won't tell me."  Mulder said with a
smile.  He had picked out his costume with his partner in mind
and didn't want to ruin the surprise.

"I don't want to tell you because you will just make fun of me
and then I won't want to wear it" Scully said faking a small
pout.

"Nonsense Scully let me guess?  Little Bo Peep?"

"No you can keep on guessing but I am not going to tell you.
I am, however, going to pop over to see Agnes now."  Scully
replied as she left the room.

"Bo Derek" Mulder yelled as she walked through the door.

A few minutes later Mulder heard the sound of unexpected
footsteps behind him and had a strange sensation of deja-vous.

He turned around and found Scully walking towards him.

"Back so soon?" he asked.

"Agnes was on her way out the door when I got there.  Apparently
she had some very important errand to run.  All she said to me
was to 'take care' and to wear this around my neck."

Scully showed Mulder a small pendant made out of what appeared
to be hematite.

"Hematite?  I think she is trying to protect you from something.
Make sure you wear it."

"Wear it? Surely you don't believe that this"  she waved the
pendant in his face "is actually going to protect me?"

Mulder shrugged.  "What harm could it do?  In fact, let's put it
on your right now just to be on the safe side."

Scully was about to argue with him but knew it would be useless.
If wearing this little piece of shiny stone would make Mulder
feel better she would do it.

Mulder's touch was light as he placed the necklace around her
neck.  He pushed her hair aside and thought he felt her tremble
ever-so-slightly at the feel of his touch.

He fought the temptation to kiss her neck as he smoothed the
hair back in place and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.
He turned her around so she stood facing him.

"You will be careful tonight, won't you Scully?"

Scully nodded and frowned at him. "Why are you so worried?  We
have been on more dangerous assignments than this."

"I am not sure.  I just have a feeling in my gut that something
may go wrong tonight and I may not be there for you when it
does."

Scully reached up and stroked his cheek.  "Don't worry about me.
I'll be fine."

XXX

Mulder pulled on the white officer's jacket and buttoned it up
looking at himself in the mirror.  He was dressed in Navy whites
from head to toe and the uniform seemed to suit him quite well.

He remembered that Scully had mentioned how much she had loved
Richard Gere in "An Officer And A Gentleman" and since he was
borrowing the actor's name for this case he thought he would
borrow his attire too.

He just hoped Scully got everything that the uniform implied.
Even if he wasn't able to sweep her off her feet that night, he
would love to do so in the future.

Mulder walked into the living room and glanced at his watch.  He
was getting a bit nervous even if they did have a good half hour
before they had to be there.

"Where is she?"  he thought to himself.  One of the things
Mulder appreciated about Scully was the fact that she could
always get ready in a hurry.

Tonight, however, seemed to be an exception to this rule.

He was about to call up to her when he heard the clatter of
heels on the wooden floors above.  Not normal heels his mind
told him, but stiletto heels.

Mulder had a strong feeling that he was going to be in big
trouble.

He was right.  He barely could breathe as Scully slowly made her
way down the stairs.

Mulder had been right about the stilettos.  She wore thigh high
black leather boots that featured four inch heels that were
designed to make any man think of nothing but bedding the wearer
immediately.

If the boots were not enough, above them she wore a skin tight
black dress also made entirely out of black leather.  The zipper
on the dress's front had been left precariously down so that
when Scully moved, you could catch small glimpses of the black
lace bra she wore underneath.

Mulder stood there, hat in hand with his mouth open in total
shock.

Scully enjoyed his reaction for she hadn't been sure if he would
appreciate her appearance or break out in laughter at the sight
of her.

She was also glad of the fact that while Mulder was busy gawking
at her, she could gawk right back at him.

Scully looked down at him and knew instantly why women were so
turned on by a man in uniform.  The simple white uniform had
transformed her already good looking partner into one who was
absolutely gorgeous.

She smiled at Mulder as she walked over to him.  "You may want
to close your mouth Agent Mulder before a fly flies in"

Mulder snapped his mouth shut and walked slowly around her.
 
"Christ Scully" he said his breath a bit ragged "the men tonight
aren't going to need any of that potion once they get a load of
you."

He stopped in front of her and tugged her zipper up a bit.  "You
are lucky I have such good self control."

Scully pulled the zipper back down again, noticing that by all
appearances, Mulder didn't have all that much self control.

"Nice uniform Richard is it the same one you used in the
movie?"  she purred as she smoothed the front of his jacket.

Mulder looked at her fighting the urge to kiss her and drag her
upstairs right then and there.

"Tell me that you bought that outfit"  he said trying desperately
not to stare at her chest "and that you will be bringing it back
to DC with you."

"I thought I would wear it the next time Skinner wants to chew
us out.  Maybe it will distract him a bit."

"I think he will promote you on the spot."

They both chuckled at that before Mulder put his cap on his head
and offered her his arm.  "This is it Mrs. Buckland.  Shall we
go?"

XXX

Agnes watched from her porch as they two of them strutted down
the street.  She had spent the majority of the afternoon gazing
into her reflecting pan trying to decide how best to handle the
events she knew that would come.

She didn't like any of her choices and prayed that what she had
seen would not come to pass.  But it would she had yet to be
wrong.

XXX

Roger took one look at Scully and found himself counting the
seconds until he could tactfully get her away from her husband
and have her all to herself.

Unfortunately there were certain rules to these parties and
those rules could not be changed no matter how much pain his
aroused state was causing him.

Wendy, however, never felt obliged to play by the rules and
began to eye Mulder openly as soon as he and Scully had entered
the room.

She was dressed in an outfit that seemed reminiscent of the Star
Trek TV show from the 1960's.  Her dress was very short, very
low cut and she too had killer boots on.

Wendy had to acknowledge to herself that Scully looked great.
The outfit she had chosen had transformed her from a pretty
woman to a woman who oozed sex out of every pore.

So much so, that Wendy thought to herself that maybe she would
treat Mulder to a threesome just so she could sample Scully
herself.

"Enough thought of that"  she said to herself as she walked over
to Mulder and Scully "You two look fabulous.  I hope you ate
your Wheaties this morning because the way you two look, you are
both going to be very busy tonight."

With that said, she walked away but only after trailing her
finger along Mulder's arm.  Scully saw a strange look come
across Mulder's face at Wendy's touch but thought it was only
that he was nervous about what was going to be happening later
that evening.

She pushed the thought out of her mind she was too worried
about Roger.  He had barely been able to take his eyes off of
her since she had arrived.

The party proceeded along as the others did but it was obvious
that this party was going to be different.  Even before Brian
and Roger began to pass out their special cocktails, the air was
filled with sexual tension.

Mulder and Scully managed to avoid taking any of the drinks
given to them and watched in awe as the people around them seem
to be slowly transformed into sex starved beasts.

Mulder looked down at Scully and smiled weakly at her as he
pulled her in front of him and wrapped his arms around her.  He
was trying to follow the lead of the other men in the room by
pulling her closer to him and occasionally nibbling on her neck
and stroking her body.

Under normal circumstances both would have enjoyed the contact,
but tonight they were both too nervous about playing their roles
correctly.  One mistake might not only blow their case but cost
Mulder his life as well.

Mulder bent over Scully and whispered into her ear as he slowly
licked it.  Despite her nervousness, Scully couldn't help but
snuggle a bit closer to him.  "Remember, don't leave me in there
with her any longer than you have to."

Scully leaned her head back and pulled down his head so his lips
were almost touching hers.  "No more than 10 here she comes."

Wendy who was at this point oozing sex from every pore of her
body came sauntering over to them.  "Sorry to break up the cozy
little scene but it's against the rules to only play with the
person you came with."

She walked away a step or two then curled her finger at Mulder
motioning him to follow her.  He did, but only after bending
over and giving Scully a deep kiss.  He winked at her and
disappeared into one of the many bedrooms.

Before Scully had a chance to catch her breathe, Roger was by
her side pulling her onto the dance floor.  Scully tried her
best to smile flirtatiously at him but then realized that he was
probably too far gone to even really notice what she was doing.

Roger pulled her close and they swayed slowly to the music.
Despite the fact that she was mentally keeping track of the time
in her head, Scully had to admit that she enjoyed the feel of
Roger wrapped around her.

And judging from what was pushing itself against her stomach,
Roger was enjoying it to.  Scully did her best to try and relax
and enjoy the moment figuring that the time would pass much
quicker if she did.

She had her scheme all mapped out in her head.  She would wait
for Roger to make his move and then freak out and frantically
start looking for Mulder.  After she found him, she would demand
that they both head home.  There she would wait for Agnes to
find out about Mulder was up to and make her move.

Roger seemed to be doing his best to keep us his end of the
deal.  He was slowly stroking Scully's back moving lower with
every stroke.

It felt wonderful and Scully was very glad that she had managed
to stay clear of Roger's special drinks.  If she hadn't she
would have been in very big trouble.

Roger bent down and kissed her.  First on the neck and then on
the cheek and then ever so lightly on her lips.  Scully kissed
him back trying to not loose track of what time it was.
She just needed a minute or two more.

XXX

Wendy slowly shut the door behind Mulder and walked over to him
enjoying the fact that his eyes showed just a small amount of
fear as she approached him.

The look disappeared immediately as soon as she put her two
hands on his chest and moved them up slowly until they were
wrapped around his neck.  She pulled him down and kissed him.

Wendy looked deep into his eyes.  "We are going to have a lot of
fun tonight you and I."  She took his hand and led him over to a
large arm chair.  She sat in it and motioned for him to kneel
down in front of her.

She sat down in the chair and put one long leg up on his
shoulder revealing to Mulder that she was wearing absolutely
nothing under her very short skirt.

"Me first" she said smiling like the Cheshire Cat.  "Satisfy me
and I will make you a very, very happy man."

XXX

Roger and Scully were still slowly turning on the dance floor.
Scully was beginning to get frustrated with the gentlemanlike
manner in which Roger was treating her.  Never in her life did
she think she would want a man to grope on her.
But now she did desperately.

Finally Scully noticed that Roger was beginning to move one of
his hands off of her back and towards her front.  After what
seemed to be an eternity, he finally began to massage her
breast.

For a second Scully forgot her master plan, Roger's touch felt
so good, but then she pushed him away and started blabbering her
apologizes to him.

Roger was shocked and tried to comfort her but Scully would hear
none of it.  "I want to find Richard and I want to go home"
Scully said stomping her foot for emphasize.

She headed straight for the door through which Mulder had
disappeared and opened it without even knocking to announce her
arrival.

Scully stormed into the room and stopped dead in her tracks not
believing her eyes.  Surely Mulder couldn't be doing what it
looked like he was doing.

XXX

Scully blinked with disbelief at the image in front of her.
There on the armchair sat Wendy with one leg perched on Mulder's
shoulder.

And Mulder was kneeling in front of her, with one hand holding
the leg to which he was administering small licks and kisses and
judging by the small moans coming from Wendy, Scully was very
happy she could not see what the other hand was doing.

She took a deep breath and said "Richard"

Mulder didn't seem to hear her, but Wendy did.  She opened her
eyes and Scully could see they were filled with desire.  She
smiled a wicked smile at Scully.

"Couldn't stay away?  Well, I am sure we can find some way to
incorporate you into our little plans."

Scully's eyes grew huge at the thought.  "Who would you like to
service you first my dear.  Me or your husband?"

Having definitely heard enough Scully grabbed Mulder's shoulder
and hissed "Richard I want to leave and I want to leave now!"

Mulder still didn't seem to hear her and she yanked at him with
all her might.  He stumbled backwards and looked up at her a bit
puzzled.

Not waiting for his head to clear, Scully grabbed his hand and
pulled at him to stand up.  "We are leaving here now"  she said
with a panic in her voice that was not longer just acting.  "We
don't belong here.  We are going home."

With that she took Mulder by the arm and dragged him from the
house.  He said nothing but allowed himself to be led without
putting up any fight.

As soon as Scully had dragged him far enough away from the
house, she dropped his arm and turned on him.  "What was that
all about?"  she said trying very hard not to yell her question
at the top of her lungs.

Mulder who finally seemed to be coming out of his daze answered
quietly.  "What was what all about?  I have no idea what you are
talking about."

Scully's mouth dropped open at this and she turned on her heel
and stormed up the street back to their house.  Mulder followed
behind her frantically trying to think of what he did wrong this
time.

Both were so wrapped up in their swirling emotions, that neither
of them spotted Agnes sitting on her porch swing slowly shaking
her head at the sight of them.

"Scully"  Mulder said as soon as he had shut the door  "I
honestly don't know what has gotten you so upset."

Scully stopped in her tracks and turned to face him with nothing
but pure anger burning in her eyes.  "You really don't know.
Why don't you go ask Wendy?"

"Wendy?"  Mulder said still confused.

"Wendy, you know the woman you were just with.  Christ Mulder
you reek of her scent and you claim you don't know what is
bothering me?"

Mulder just stood there not knowing what to say.  Scully glared
at him one more time then headed for the stairs.  "I am getting
out of this outfit and taking a nice hot shower.  Perhaps by the
time I am done, your memory will have returned."

Mulder watched her storm up the stairs having absolutely no idea
what to do next.

XXX

The shower and more comfortable clothes helped Scully's mood but
not much.  She was still furious at Mulder for taking his role
tonight so seriously and even more furious at herself for being
so upset by it.

"Thank God we will be going home soon"  she said to herself as
she turned off her bedroom light and headed for the stairs.  "I
just don't know if I can stand being around him much longer."

She walked down the stairs and into the living room but found it
to be empty.  She checked the kitchen, the basement family room,
both bedrooms and baths and found them all empty as well.

Mulder was gone.

All of a sudden the anger she was feeling was replaced by pure
panic.  She had been so mad at Mulder that she hadn't even
thought about whether or not their little plan had worked.

Apparently it had.

She grabbed her service weapon and identification and ran over
to see Agnes.

Scully pushed pass Agnes when she opened the door.

"Where is he Agnes?"

"Who?"

Scully turned towards the woman as she dug out her id.  "I am
with the FBI Agnes, tell me when my partner is."

Agnes did not seem to be at all surprised at the revelation that
her neighbors weren't who they said they were.  "I knew you two
were hiding something but I didn't want to look too deeply."

Scully glared at her ignoring her comments.  "Richard, I mean
Mulder, where is he?"

"He isn't here, but check the house yourself if it will make you
feel better.  Then we will talk."

Scully pulled out her weapon and did a systematic sweep of the
house finding nothing more than the missing articles from her
house.

She put her weapon away and walked over to Agnes who was
standing by the window looking out.

Scully took a deep breath to calm herself before she spoke.
"Agnes, do you know where he is?"

"Perhaps"  the woman said looking older by the minute.  "Answer
me this.  Has your partner been acting strangely when he is
around a particular woman."

Scully started to shake her head 'no' and then thought back on
their last few encounters with Wendy.  "Yes."

Agnes sighed and the look of sadness in her eyes grew deeper.
"Do you know if by any chance this woman was able to take any of
his fluids into her body."

Scully rolled her eyes at Agnes.  "Fluids?" she said trying not
to sound as annoyed as she felt "Really Agnes, what does
Mulder's bodily fluids have to do with anything?"

Agnes said nothing and Scully shook her head thinking that Agnes
and Mulder had more in common than she had originally thought.

Scully paused and thought a while before remembering the night
when Mulder had pricked his finger.  "Mulder pricked his finger
and she sucked the blood off of it.  I thought she was just
trying to seduce him. Are you saying there is more to it than
that?"

"You were right, my dear, she was trying to seduce him.  But she
was also working her magic on him.  By using his blood she was
able to control him by simply touching him."

"Magic?"  Scully said trying not to look too disgusted.  "Are
you trying to tell me that Wendy cast a spell on Mulder?  That
Wendy is a witch?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I am telling you.  She is a witch, a
much stronger one than I, who likes to use more black magic than
white."

"How can you say that?"  Scully demanded

"Because I am her mother."  Agnes said quietly

"Her mother?"  Agnes cut off Scully before she could say
anything more.

"We have no time to waste.  If Wendy has seen the way your
partner looks at you, then she will have realized that she can
never truly have him for her own.  Wendy doesn't like to loose
she will kill him like she did the others."

Scully stared at Agnes speechless but after a moment nodded.
"Okay Agnes, I guess I have no choice but to believe you.  What
do you want me to do?"

Agnes smiled very weakly.  "My car is already running"  She saw
Scully's look of puzzlement "I knew you would come to me when
Richard, or whatever his real name is, went missing."

"His name is Mulder"  Scully mumbled as she walked behind Agnes
to the car.

Agnes got in the driver's side with Scully sitting beside her.

"How do you know where to go?"  Scully asked slipping on her
seatbelt and praying that she wasn't making a mistake going with
Agnes.

"I saw it.  Just as I saw that Wendy plans to kill him and she
may very well succeed if we don't get to him first."

"But you said her influence on him is only by the use of touch.
All we have to do is pull him away from her."  Scully said the
feeling of panic increasing.

"That is true, unless she has taken a second type of fluid from
him.  It can be something as simple as a tear or a drop of
perspiration and as intimate as"

"I get the general idea"  Scully said frowning "but what does it
mean?"

"What it means is that she can place an even stronger suggestion
in his mind and he will do it without thinking.  She can make
him do anything."

Scully swallowed hard and looked out the front window.  "Where
are we going?"

"To the Mile High Bridge"  Agnes answered her "From what I saw
in my reflecting pan, Wendy means to have him jump off but she
also wants you there to witness it.  She always was a bit
melodramatic."

"So you have known all along about what she was doing?  Why
didn't you do something to stop her?  All those men"  Scully's
voice trailed off.

Agnes looked a tad guilty when she spoke "Who do you think cast
a spell on Lydia and got her to talk to you.  I have tried my
own magic on her but Wendy is too strong.  I did all I could do.
I tried to keep the men she had her eyes on away from her and
uninterested."

Scully just looked at her and shook her head again.  "Believe it
or not Dana, that is your real name, isn't it?  I managed to
keep a good number of men away from her.  You and your partner
chose to ignore the warnings."

"We were hoping to set a trap"  Scully muttered.

"You were hoping to trap me.  You had the right theory but the
wrong witch."

"It's Mulder's theory.  I don't even believe in witches. Or at
least I didn't."

They rode in silence for the next ten minutes until they
approached a high bridge crossing the Mississippi River.  Scully
scanned the distance from the bridge itself to the churning
waters below it.

If someone survived the fall, they would be consumed within
minutes by the current of the river.

The bridge was deserted with the exception of one lone car.

"She's here."  Agnes said slowing down her approach towards the
bridge.

Scully merely nodded and reached for her cell phone.  Within
seconds she was in contact with the local Bureau office and had
told them of her situation and requested backup on the bridge
and beneath it.

Agnes continued to drive across the bridge until they were a few
yards from where Wendy and Mulder stood.

Both women got out of the car.  "Let him go Wendy"  Agnes said
quietly.  "You have let your emotions take charge.  It is time
to stop."

"Shut up old woman!"  Wendy yelled back at her mother.  "What do
you know?  You never even thanked me for killing off that
cheating husband of yours."

"That cheating husband was your father."  Agnes said quietly.

"Don't you think I know that, don't you think I want to forget
that.  But I made him pay, just like I am making all of them who
broke my heart pay."

Scully motioned Agnes behind her and slowly approached Wendy.
"Wendy, I am a Federal Agent as is Agent Mulder.  I have
requested backup. There is no way you will be able to escape.
Let him go while you still can."

Wendy walked around Mulder possessively. "Do you think I don't
know who he is?  What kind of fool do you think I am?  I knew
who you were and believe me it only added to my pleasure when I
seduced him."

Scully managed not to wince at the words but continued to move
slowly towards her pulling out her weapon as she went.

Scully stopped about a foot from them holding her weapon
casually in her hand.

"Wendy, I don't want to hurt you" she started before Wendy cut
her off.

"You know your beloved partner is completely under my control.
He mind bends totally to my will."

"I don't believe you"  Scully said hoping she sounded more
confident than she felt.

"Would you like a little proof?"  Wendy said turning to Mulder.

"Kiss me Mulder"  she whispered and immediately Mulder pulled
her into his arms and gave her a long passionate kiss.

When they parted she gave Scully an evil smile.  "Strike her
Mulder and take away her gun."

Scully could only gasp as Mulder slapped her hard across the
face without showing the slightest hint of emotion.  A simple
twist of her arm sprung the gun from her hand.  He held in
loosely in his own hand.

"Well done lover boy."  Wendy purred at him.  "Now climb up on
the railing there and throw yourself in."

Mulder went to do what he was told when Scully yelled out
"STOP".

He scream caught his attention and he stopped.  Scully took this
as a sign of hope and continued.

"Mulder, it's me"  she said softly using her normal greeting
"You can't do what she says.  You have to stay here with me."

Mulder paused and a small spark of recognition lit in his eyes.

Wendy responded quickly before the spell could be broken.
"Don't listen to her fool.  She is trying to trick you so she
can use you and hurt you."

Mulder looked at Scully as if he had never seen her before and
was trying to figure out what danger to him she presented.

"That's not true Mulder.  I have never hurt you and will never
hurt you."

"You aren't going to be fooled by that, are you?"  Wendy
retorted.  "Shoot her"

Mulder looked at Scully and raised her gun and pointed it at her
while Wendy kept talking.  "Shoot her and then shoot yourself."

Scully looked Mulder directly in the eyes and spoke calmly to
him.

"Mulder, don't listen to her.  You know me. All you have to do
is make yourself remember.  When we got stuck up in the Artic
and I locked you in the cold storage unit; when you came halfway
around the world to rescue me;  when you went to investigate
that submarine and I had to find a cure to save you we belong
together Mulder.  We could never hurt each other for only
together we are whole."

"Very touching my dear"  Wendy said "all the more reason why you
should both die together."

"Do it!" she yelled at Mulder.

Mulder moved back and forth between both women his face showing
his attempt to focus his thoughts.  He face then went perfectly
calm and he fired one shot and collapsed on the ground.

Agnes screamed when the shot went off still not believing that
Mulder had pulled the trigger.

Scully too was surprised that Mulder had actually been able to
shoot his kidnapper.  She rushed over to his crumpled body and
since he seemed to be breathing left him and ran over to Wendy
yelling for Agnes to dial 911 even though she heard the sounds
of sirens approaching.

"Tell them there have been shots fired and that we have two
victims and one is an FBI agent.  That will get them here even
quicker."

Scully rolled Wendy over and was relieved to see that Mulder had
been able to shoot her cleanly through the shoulder.  She was
awake and in considerable pain, but she would live to stand
trial for all she had done.

"Mulder"  Scully said as she pressed her hand against Wendy's
wound to stop the bleeding.  "What have you done to him?"

Wendy moaned and then smiled that evil smile again at Scully.
"Nothing much.  I just told him that if anything should happen
to me, he was to go to sleep, just like sleeping beauty."

Try as they might, neither Agnes nor Scully were able to get
anything else out of her.  Wendy apparently was keen on having
the last laugh when it came to Mulder.

XXX

36 hours later Washington DC

Mulder had slept and slept and slept.  He had slept through his
examination at the hospital in Minneapolis, on the chartered
flight back to DC and the entire time he had been hospitalized
at George Washington Hospital.

The doctors were stumped.  He brain functions appeared to be
those of a man in a very deep sleep but they could not rouse him
no matter what they tried.

Scully had only left Mulder's side to check in with Skinner and
get a few changes of clothes.  Other than that, she spent all of
her time at his bedside telling him over and over again how
sorry she was for assuming the worse about him.

"Come on Mulder" Scully said for what must have been the
thousandth time  "It's time to wake up.  I miss you Mulder.  Our
work needs you, I need you."

Scully was so wrapped up in her one way conversation with Mulder
that she didn't even notice Agnes standing in the doorway until
she cleared her throat.

Startled, Scully looked up surprised to see her former neighbor
entering the room.

"Hello dear"  Agnes said bending over to kiss Scully on the
cheek.  "I thought I would come here to see if there was any way
I could help."

Scully smiled weakly.  "Not unless you know of some magic that
will break whatever hold Wendy still has on him."

Agnes pulled the extra chair over next to Mulder's bed and sat
down, taking his hand in hers.

"I have tried to talk to Wendy but she won't see anyone.  Since
she will be of no help I tried to replay what happened on the
bridge over in mind and to try and think of the key that will
unlock the puzzle."

"I have been doing the same thing, but can think of nothing.
Figuring out clues from bits and pieces of information is the
type of thing he can do"  Scully said pointing to Mulder "not
me.  He has the open mind, I have the closed one."

Agnes patted her hand.  "Well, then we will just have to see if
we can open it a little bit, won't we?"

Scully looked at her totally confused so she continued.  "Dana,
I want you to think about what Wendy said to you after Fox here
collapsed.  Exactly, word for word."

Scully sat back in her chair and closed her eyes forcing herself
to relive those terrible moments again.  "She said that Mulder
would sleep just like sleeping beauty."

Agnes looked at her expectantly waiting for her to make the
connection.  When Scully shook her head at her and continued to
look puzzle Agnes spoke.  "I believe the key is in the phrase
'sleeping beauty'."

"Sleeping beauty as in the fairy tale?"  Scully asked still
quite puzzled.

"Exactly.  Wendy always loved fairy tales when she was a little
girl.  Her favorite was Sleeping Beauty.  I think the cure for
Sleeping Beauty will work on Fox as well."

Scully frowned as she tried to recall the story.  Fairy tales
were not her favorite growing up but she still had been exposed
to most of them.

"Are you trying to tell me that he will awaken with the kiss
from his true love?" Scully said not knowing whether she should
laugh or cry at this idea.

"Exactly" Agnes said beaming.  "After all, love is the strongest
magic of all."

"You have got to be kidding."  Scully said "Even if you aren't
kidding, how am I ever going to find his true love?"  Her
thoughts immediately went to Phoebe who was probably floating
around Europe somewhere.

Agnes smiled at her as she rose from her chair.  "You know your
partner well, don't you Dana?"

Scully nodded.  "Then look into your heart and his and I am sure
you will find the answer.  After that, the rest is simple."

Scully looked up at her stunned.  Surely Agnes had spent too
much time locked up with her magic books to believe such things.

Agnes kissed her cheek again and walked from the room pausing
only long enough at the door to say "Trust yourself and him
Dana. You won't be disappointed."

With that she was gone and Scully was left alone with her
sleeping partner wondering what exactly she was supposed to do
with the information Agnes had given her.

Scully picked up Mulder's hand and held it to her cheek.  "Oh
Mulder, where are you when I need you?  This is the kind of
puzzle you love to figure out.  What should I do?  What would
you do if you were me?"

She turned his hand over and kissed his palm when suddenly she
remembered the way Mulder had looked at her over dinner the
night of their first kiss.  Mulder, she knew, would take the
chance and worry about the circumstances later.

Scully got up and paced around the room a few times trying to
think things through.  If she kissed Mulder and he woke up, did
that mean that she was his true love?  If so, could she handle
that?

If she kissed him and he didn't wake up would she be able to
handle the fact that she wasn't his true love?

"Either way, you are going to be dealing with a basket case"
Scully warned Mulder as she positioned herself on the bed so she
could look directly down at him.

He looked so peaceful and handsome that Scully found it easier
than she thought to lean over and place a gentle kiss on his
lips.

She lifted her head and looked at him and could have sworn that
she saw his mouth twitch towards the hint of a smile.

"So you liked that Mulder?"  she said "Good thing, because here
comes another one."

This kiss was longer and with more feeling.  Scully was about to
pull away and give up when she thought she felt the smallest of
movements beneath her lips.

She deepened the kiss and realized that Mulder was beginning to
kiss her back.

Scully opened herself to him and felt a surge of joy when Mulder
seemed to melt into her.

She finally pulled back and looked down at him.  Mulder slowly
opened his eyes and raised his hand up and carefully brushed
away a single tear that was running down her face.

"Hey" he said.

"Hey yourself"  Scully replied.

"How come you never kissed me like that the other 100 times I
was in the hospital?"  Mulder asked.

Scully just blushed.  "It's a long story. I thought it would
bring you around."

"Really?  I can't wait to hear it."  Mulder said pulling himself
up in bed.  "Tell it to me. All of it."

So Scully did.  She told him about him and Wendy at the party
(which caused Mulder to blush considerably); her conversations
with Agnes; her standoff with Wendy on the bridge and how she
had kept him from jumping into the river and how after he shot
Wendy she had told Scully that he would sleep like Sleeping
Beauty.

Mulder listened carefully and when Scully finished immediately
said "So you knew that I had to receive a kiss from my true love
to awaken.  Very good Scully, I never thought you would have put
much validity into a fairy tale."

"Well actually I didn't think of it.  Agnes flew all the way out
here to put me on the right track."

"All the way out here?  Does that mean we are back in DC?"
Mulder asked.

"Yes"

"Did you pack up everything in the house?"  Mulder asked.

"Of course I did. Are you worried I forgot something?"

Mulder leered at her.  "Everything?  Including the little number
you wore the other night?"

Scully didn't answer her only rolled her eyes at him.

"Good"  Mulder said smiling from ear to ear. "You can wear it to
my coming home party."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
End of story