By Caroline O'Callaghan
caroline.o@virgin.net
 

Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 23:02:56 +0100

Rating: NC-17 I suppose, but its nothing too bad

Classification: Mulder/Scully Romance. Mulder and Scully
pursue a serial killer who calls himself 'The Fox'.

Spoilers: Small Potatoes/Never Again

Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully don't belong to me - I hereby
promise to return them when I've finished playing with them.

~~~
The Lure of the Fox - Part 1

By Caroline O'Callaghan
 
 

Dana Scully's apartment
Washington D.C.
June 26th, 1997

Bells, ringing. Dana Scully turned over in her sleep and struck
out at the offending noise. Her alarm clock crashed to the floor,
but she carried on dozing.

But the bells kept ringing. She woke then and grabbed for the
phone, putting it to her ear, she heard the caller speak before
she could get her mouth into motion.

"Morning Scully."

"wha time s'it."

"5.30. New case Scully. We're booked on an 8 a.m. flight so I
thought I'd wake you up, give you time to pack, have breakfast."

"How considerate of you." She sat up and turned the light on.
"Where are we going?"

She groaned inwardly when he told her.

"I hate the forest Mulder."

He ignored her. "Pack your hiking boots Scully. You might need
them."

"Oh God, no, we're heading for somewhere that civilisation hasn't
reached yet, aern't we?"

"Think of yourself as the Christopher Columbus of the FBI."

"What's the case?"

"I'll tell you on the plane. Hit the shower Scully."

She was about to do as he said, and went to hang up the receiver
when a thought occurred to her. "Mulder, its Saturday."

"Yeah, so.......you haven't got plans for the weekend have you?"

Scully sighed. "Well...I was going to redecorate."

"Exciting life you lead, Scully."

Suddenly, she was royally pissed off at him. It was okay for her
to mock her lack of a social life, but when Mulder did it, it made
her feel like a pathetic, nerd. She remembered a conversation
they'd had recently. 'If you could be someone else who would
you be, Scully?'. 'Eleanor Roosevelt' she'd replied. 'That's
boring' Mulder had decreed. To her it had felt like he'd said
'you're boring Scully'.

Mulder continued. "You can break out the paint and brushes
next weekend Scully. I need your help on this one."

Scully silently cursed herself. Mulder could manipulate her so
easily, he knew exactly what strings to pull. And despite the fact
that he'd gotten around her in the same way time and time again,
she still couldn't resist the call of 'I need you Scully'. When he
said it, she came running, it was her natural instinct now.

"Okay, I'll see you at the airport."
 

Airport
Washington D.C.
June 26th, 1997
7.50 a.m.
 

Mulder stopped pacing when he saw his partner approach him with
her graceful, but no-nonsense stride.

"Cutting it a little fine aern't we Scully?"

Mulder wanted to take the words back and bury them when she
shot him a glare that was all fire and ice at the same time. How did
she do that?

"I couldn't find my boots, I was out of coffee and I had to take a
cold shower."

"Why, were you dreaming about me?"

He got another glare for that, this one screamed 'can it Mulder,
I'm not in the mood'.

"My water heater chose this morning to lay down and die."

He flinched at her choice of words. Scully turned to the
check-in clerk to get her ticket and boarding pass. Lay down
and die. That's what Scully would be doing shortly if he couldn't
find a way to save her in time. His mind screamed at him 'can't
let it happen', 'won't let it happen'.

She turned back to him, paperwork in hand, he nodded his head
in the direction of their departure gate, and they began walking
towards it.

The plane was only half-full and they had no problem sitting
together. As soon, as they'd taken off, Mulder caught the attention
of the stewardess with a winning smile, she gave him a winning
smile back, but it seemed to fade a little, when she saw Scully
beside him.

"Can we get a cup of coffee?"

Scully smiled to herself. Mulder had ordered the coffee for her.
Sometimes, when she thought he'd paid no attention to what she'd
said, he surprised her. He'd noted her comment about not having
any coffee at home. Her inward smile turned to an inward frown
however when she saw Mulder admiring the retreating
stewardesses figure.

She should have been used to it by now. Mulder leered at women
all the time. Nurses, waitresses, motel cleaners. It shouldn't bother
her, but at times she felt like she was traversing America with a
hormonal sixteen-year-old.

"What's the case Mulder?" He dug around in his  bag and handed
her a manila folder.

"Its been handled by local law enforcement up till now but when
they found the third victim they realised they had a serial killer on
their hands, and sent it over to the Bureau."

Scully opened the folder. Saw an image of a dead young girl lying
amongst leaves and dirt, and quickly shut the folder again. She'd
deal with the pictures later, after her coffee.

Mulder continued. "Three girls, all aged eight, taken from their
homes in the middle of the night, raped and murdered. Their bodies
turn up a few days after the initial kidnapping."

Scully sucked in a breath and held it. This was going to be rough,
for her, but especially for Mulder.

"Is there an X File in this?"

"No." He looked at her. "But I requested we be assigned it anyway."
Scully looked into his eyes, which were filled with sadness and
nodded. She knew why he'd requested it, he didn't have to tell her.

"You haven't heard the best bit yet Scully. This guy leaves notes
behind in the kids bedrooms. He's given himself a nickname."

Scully cocked her head to one side, curious.

"He calls himself the Fox."

Scully saw Mulder's jaw stiffen and stifled her own surprise.
Mulder's first name, his hated first name. Someone was using
Mulder's first name on their calling cards, when they kidnapped
girls who were the same age as Mulder's sister was when she'd
been taken.

Scully cleared her throat. "Its probably a coincidence Mulder."
The words seemed trite, but Mulder must have appreciated them
because he put a hand over hers on the armrest and smiled softly
at her.

"I hope it is."
 

Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 26th, 1997
1.35p.m.

"You sure you're reading that map right Scully."

His partner had practically disappeared under the enormous
road map she had folded out in front of her.

"Mulder, reading the map is my job, don't interfere. Turn right.
The Sheriff's station should be around a hundred yards up the
road." She lowered the map and looked out of the window.
"Or should I say, track."

Mulder glanced up at the huge redwoods and pine trees.
"Pretty rugged huh?" It had been twenty minutes since they'd
last seen a house or store.

Scully sighed. "Give me the city any day."

Mulder suddenly felt guilty for dragging her out into the wilds.
Scully and nature didn't seem to agree with each other. Not that
she couldn't cope with rough conditions, inclement weather and
ten mile hikes. She coped with it all in the same consummately
professional way she did everything, but these kinds of trips
always seemed to end badly for her. Quarantine seemed to be a
frequent conclusion, and once there'd been a dead pet.

Mulder saw a small, wood-built building and pulled the car to a
halt. "Is this it?"

Scully looked at the map again. "Unless I'm holding the map
upside down."

He shot her a grin. "Wouldn't be the first time."

She gave him a 'you're not funny Mulder' look, and reached
behind her to get her coat from the back seat. Mulder got out
and walked around the car to open her door for her. She felt
herself flush a little, and cursed her fair complexion. Mulder's
little gestures sometimes had the strangest effect on her. He
was the only man she'd ever met who could treat her like a lady
without making her feel like she was being patronised. Not that
she met a lot of men these days.

Mulder stared at the building in amazement as they approached
it. "Our basement is bigger than this."

"Our basement?"

Mulder looked down at her confused. "What?"

She shook her head at him "Never mind." When she'd answered
her phone to Mulder that morning she'd felt nothing but resentment
for him. For waking her up, for presuming that she had nothing to do
on a Saturday, and being right. But he had managed to soften her mood
considerably on the trip out. And his last comment had brought back
a resurgence of warmth for him. She'd always felt like a visitor to
the basement, and had gone as far recently to tell him so, complaining
of her lack of a desk. That Mulder now considered the basement
'ours' instead of 'his' was pleasing to her.

Her new good mood didn't last long however. It disappeared when
they entered the Sheriff's office, and the Sheriff introduced herself.
 
"Hi, I'm Emily Watson." Scully was too busy looking at Mulder's
reaction to the tall, blonde, attractive, Sheriff to respond.

Mulder's face bore a Christmas-come-early-grin, as he shook Emily
Watson's hand. "I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder, this is Scully."

Scully bristled. 'This is Scully'. What kind of an introduction was
that? Why did he get a full title and a first name? He'd made her
sound like his dog. Why didn't he just pat her head and give her a
bowl of water?

Sheriff Watson turned to Scully and shook her hand briefly, but her
attention went straight back to Mulder.

"I've booked you into a motel. I hope you don't mind me planning
for you, but there's only one within thirty miles of here, so its not
like you would have had a choice."

Mulder was still grinning. "No, we appreciate it."

Although he said 'we', Scully noticed he never looked at her, or
even gestured towards her. All his attention was focused on the
skin-tight-kahki clad Sheriff, who was handing him a folder.

"I've drawn you some directions. Things are really spread out
around here and it can be difficult finding your way about. I guessed
you'd want to talk to the parents of the children, so I've included the
addresses. I also thought Agent Scully might want to talk to our
pathologist. He's about an hour's drive away."

Scully had to admit to being impressed. The Sheriff was obviously
efficient, thorough and helpful, and she'd looked into her and
Mulder's backgrounds enough to know that Scully dealt with the
medical details.

"I have that right don't I Agent Scully? You're a medical doctor?"

Scully nodded. "Yes and I would like to talk to Doctor Reynolds."
Scully had read the pathologists name in the case file she'd perused
on the flight, and dropped it in on purpose, just to let the
Sheriff know she wasn't the only one who'd done her homework.

Mulder turned to her. "It would save time if we split up. Maybe
you should go and do your thing, and I'll see the parents?"

Scully hesitated. "We only have the one car." She didn't say it but
she was also worried about Mulder interviewing grieving parents
by himself on a case that was bound to affect him deeply.

Sheriff Watson interrupted. "I could drive Agent Mulder around."

Mulder seemed so delighted by the idea that she wanted to smack
the smile off his face. 'Stop it Dana' she admonished herself. 'Don't
be so territorial. Mulder doesn't belong to you'.

Mulder accepted the offer smoothly. "Thank you Sheriff, that
would be great, if you're not too busy."

"This isn't exactly the crime capital of the world. I'm never that
busy. Oh, and call me Emily, in this neck of the words we only use
first names."

Scully saw Mulder's uncomfortable look. She wanted to be there
when Emily tried to use Mulder's first name. It would definitely be
interesting.

He recovered quickly and rummaged through the folder he'd been
given and shoved the directions to the pathologists at her. "There
you go....Dana."

She gave him a half smile as she took the rough-drawn map,
appreciating his in-joke.

She suddenly didn't have a reason to hang around and forced
herself to leave, heading out the door. "I'll see you later Mulder."

"Keep that map up the right way."
 

Lone Pine Motel
Breakspeare Forest
June 26th, 1997
6.50 p.m.

Scully was overcome with weariness by the time she found their
hotel. She collected her key, found her room and collapsed onto
the bed.

She tiered more easily now. Her body was slowly letting her
down, giving in to the cancer, even though her mind fought against
it. She banished the maudlin thoughts when the phone beside the bed
rang. She snatched up the receiver.

"Have I got a treat for you? The biggest burgers you've ever seen,
Scully, pickles, melted cheese, dripping in grease, and big, fat, juicy
fries."

Scully wrinkled her nose at the phone. "Sounds disgusting."

"We'll there's only one place to eat here, and that's what they serve.
You'll have to have the side salad."

"Where are you?"

"The other side of the paper thin wall, I heard you come in. Okay
togo to dinner in a few minutes?"

"Can't you bring me back take-out Mulder? All the travelling we've
done today has kind of knocked me out."

She heard him hesitate, and wondered what was going through his
mind.

"I could if you feel that bad Scully, but I said we'd meet Sheriff
Watson there."

"Okay, knock for me."

"You sure. If you're not feeling too good..."

She interrupted him, and cursed herself for making him worry about
her. It was nice that he cared, but he must have enough on his mind
already. "I'm okay Mulder."

"Alright I'll see you in five."
 

Christie's Diner
Lone Pine Motel
Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 26th, 1997
7.35  p.m.

"Mulder, have you no regard for your arteries?"

He shovelled a few fries in his mouth and spoke around them.
"Scully, my arteries and I am flattered by your concern. But my taste
buds are telling you to mind your own business. This is fine cuisine."

He pointed his fork at her sandwich and salad. "You ought to have
eaten more. Might be the last good meal you have for a while."

She narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

Sheriff Watson entered the diner and Mulder jumped out of his
chair to greet her.

Scully sighed at the sight. 'Emily' was wearing a similar outfit to
the one Scully herself had thrown on before Mulder had dragged
her out to eat. Jeans and a sweater. On the long-legged Sheriff
it looked cute and sexy. 'So why does the same outfit make me
look like a harassed Mom just back from a school run?'

"Hello Agent Scully."

The Sheriff scooted in the same side of the booth that Mulder
occupied.

Scully replied as sweetly as she could  "Dana's fine, Emily." She
kept telling herself to be nice to the other woman. After all it wasn't
her fault that she'd managed to attract Mulder's eye.

She'd not only managed to attract Mulder's eye though. She seemed
to have claimed his whole attention. "Would you like to order
anything Emily?"

"No thanks Fox I already ate."

Scully nearly choked on the bite of sandwich she'd just taken, and
Mulder looked over at her quickly, to make sure she was okay, but
then his eyes were back on the Sheriff.

"I was just telling Scully about our trip."

"Trip?"

Mulder managed to tear his gaze away from Emily long enough to
explain.

"I spoke to one of the parents today. The night his daughter was
taken, he heard a noise. He rushed into his daughter's room, but
she was already gone. He looked out of the window and saw a
man running away. He says he looked like one of  the forest people."

Scully raised an eyebrow. "Forest people?"

Emily continued. "There's a number of people who live in the
forest. Nobody knows exactly how many, but there's hermits,
hillbillies. They don't come into town often and they seem to live
off the land. They move a lot around up there to avoid the authorities,
so they don't have to pay taxes. Every few months or so they
just move to a different part of the forest and build a new shelter."

"And we're going to question these people?"

The Sheriff nodded. "Although, I have to say that I've lived in this
area all my life Dana, and nobody from the forest has ever caused
any more trouble than stealing washing from lines. Jessica's father
may just be wanting it to have been someone from up there, because
of the in-built prejudice the townspeople have about them."

"Why are they prejudiced against them?"

"Who knows? Because they smell a little, because they don't buy
anything from the stores, because they don't send their kids to
school. Pick your reason. They get blamed for a lot, but I'm the
Sheriff in this town, and I can tell you that they actually do very
little wrong."

Scully nodded. "Maybe somebody new joined the community up
there. I mean the murders are very recent. Maybe he's using the
protection of the forest to hide, and blending in with the other
more established inhabitants so he won't be suspected."

Mulder nodded. "That's what I was thinking Scully. That's why
were going up there."

"Are we driving?"

Emily nodded. "Yes."

Scullly breathed a sigh of relief.

"But then we have to hike. The road only goes so far, and these
people live deep in the forest."

Scully hid her groan.

"I've got us some tents and supplies. We'll leave tomorrow at
six a.m."

Scully looked at Mulder who had the nerve to be excited about this.
He was looking at Sheriff Watson rapturously, obviously expecting
her to lead him on a great adventure.

'Why does he never look at me like that?' she wondered. 'Because
you've never led him anywhere, Dana, you spend all your time trying
to hold him back.'

Mulder must have felt her staring at him, because he turned back to
her. "Find out anything new from Doctor Reynolds, Scully?"

"Not much, only that the girls were all well cared for right up until
they were raped and then killed, which is strange."

Emily looked at her questioningly. "Why is it strange?"

Mulder answered the question before Scully had a chance too.
"Serial killers who wait before killing their victims usually do so
because they enjoy torturing them. They're usually starved and beaten."

Sheriff Watson blanched a little and looked at both them. "Well
you guys obviously have a lot more experience in this kind of thing
than I do. I hope you catch him."

"Oh don't worry, we will." Scully looked quickly into Mulder's eyes
and saw the fire and determination there. Although he was enjoying
the Sheriff's company, his soul was obviously in some torture. More
than his behaviour betrayed.

She was a little nervous about the next few days. If Mulder suddenly
swan-dived off the edge during this case, she wasn't sure if she'd be
up to her usual job of breaking his fall.

"Mulder, maybe this guy is on the run. My instinct, after reading
the autopsy reports, tells me that he's not a first-time killer."

"Your 'instinct' Scully?"

Mulder was laughing at her, rather than with her, for the second time
that day, and she almost told him to forget it, but it was a theory she
told herself she couldn't ignore.

"Okay, my 'medical training' suggests to me that its not the first time
he's killed. I think we ought to get the bureau to run a check on all
escape convicts. This Forest sounds like the perfect place to hide if
you've just broken out of jail."

"Or maybe he's just been released."

Scully frowned. "You think prisons release people like this Mulder?
They either lock them up and throw away the key, or they gas them
into hell."

"He might have progressed from paedophilia, to rape and murder
Scully, maybe the years in jail just made his condition worse."

"You sound like your defending him, and I just told you this isn't
his first murder."

Mulder glared at her incredulously. "Defending him? I was just
laying out a possible profile, and you don't know for sure that he's
killed before."

Scully felt her temper flaring, and tried to control it, but it wasn't
easy, nobody could get under her skin quite the way Mulder could.
"Why is it Mulder, that when I suggest a possible theory, you shoot
it to pieces, but when you come up with something, I'm supposed
to treat it like gospel, and follow you to the ends of the earth to
prove it."

Mulder was mad as hell at her. She could almost see smoke coming
out of the top of his head.

He looked at her in an incredulous rage. "Don't act the victim here
Scully. You've shot down every theory I've ever come up with, and
you know it."

"I've only ever offered constructive criticism and scientific
evaluation Mulder. I've never dismissed your theories out of hand
the way you do mine."

"And what theories would these be Scully? In the four years I've
known you you've probably only come up with about three, and I'm
being generous here."

Scully decided it was time to leave before she either slapped him,
poured his iced tea over his head, or burst into tears of rage. She collected
her coat with as much dignity as she could muster and stood to leave.
Mulder went back to his meal and refused to look at her. She nodded to
Emily. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Emily nodded back and Scully left the diner.

"Are you two always like that?"

Mulder sighed and stopped eating, turning to Emily. "No, well sometimes.
We've been working together a long time, and now and again we rub each
other up the wrong way...well actually its more like, now and again I feel
the need to be a complete arsehole, but Scully understands that. She'll
forgive me." He grinned. "Eventually."

"For a while there I was worried that you were going to draw your
weapons."

"Actually she did shoot me once...but that's another story."

Emily laughed thinking he was joking. "Listen Fox, I've got to run and see
a friend quickly, but there's a bar on the other side of the motel. I could meet
you there in half an hour and we could grab a beer."

"Shouldn't I be getting an early night before you put me through my hiking
paces
tomorrow?"

"The beer will help you sleep. I always have one or two the night before
a trip."

Mulder shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Emily stood to leave. "Why don't you go see if your partner has forgiven
you and ask her to come along?"

"Okay I will." He looked up at her. "But if you walk past our rooms and
hear screaming, come rescue me. That will be Scully trying to strangle me."

Emily laughed again and left.

Mulder finished his meal and paid his bill. He walked out of the diner that
adjoined the hotel and took a deep breath when he got to Scully's door.
He knocked on it lightly.

"Who is it?"

"Han Solo, come to beg forgiveness from Princess Lea."

"I'm not in the mood Mulder."

"Women are always saying that to me. Open the door Scully."

He heard her move towards the door and breathed a sigh of relief. He
thanked God for giving him Scully, whose compassionate nature
included an incredible ability to forgive those who never seemed to do
anything but hurt her.

She opened the door, gave him a look that told him he wasn't
completely off the hook, and went back into the room where she'd set
up her lap top. He followed  her in and peered over her shoulder at the
flickering screen.

"You on-line with the Bureau?"

She didn't turn around, but she nodded. "I'm requesting a list of
escaped prisoners, and especially for you Mulder, a list of all paedophiles
and rapists on parole."

"Probably be a big list."

"We can narrow it down tomorrow. Its likely that he might come from
around here originally, if he knows the forest well."

"Why don't you leave it downloading and come for a beer?"

She turned and looked at him, her face betraying her surprise. "A beer?"
In all the years they'd been travelling around the country, he'd never
suggested they go get a beer together. Sometimes when in Washington,
they'd grab a bite together after work, but he'd never asked her to go to
a bar with him while on a case, and she was both a little wary and
pleased. Maybe it was his way of apologising for that crack about her
theories.

"Yeah, a beer Scully. It'll relax you, help you get a good nights sleep."

He was smiling gently at her, and she found herself smiling back. "Okay."
Their recent argument was melting away, along with the anger it had
brought.

She put a self-conscious hand up to her sweater. "I should change,
I look a mess."

Mulder looked her up and down his smile still in place. "You look
fine Scully. Its just you and me."

Scully was grinning at him like a schoolgirl now and she had no
idea why.

"...And Sheriff Watson."

Her grin disappeared. "What?"

"It was her idea, she felt like a beer and asked us to join her."

Scully turned back to the computer screen. "I think you ought to go
on your own Mulder, I don't think she'd appreciate me playing
gooseberry."

"What are you talking about? She told me to ask you."

"She was just being polite."

"I don't think so Scully."

"Mulder just go and have a drink with her, leave me out of it. I've
no desire to be a third wheel."

"You make it sound like I'm going on a date with this woman. I'm
just having a drink with her."

"That's what you do on dates Mulder. Or has it been so long you've
forgotten?"

"Actually Scully it has".

She fixed a passive expression on her face and turned back to him.
"Listen Mulder, you don't have to worry about me. I'm exhausted,
I'm going to go to bed in a minute. Sheriff Watson seems to have
taken a liking to you...and don't tell me you're not attracted to her?"

"She's Claudia Schiffer in a uniform, who wouldn't be attracted?"

"So go, have fun."

"Scully, it would be unprofessional of me to get involved with this
woman while we're on a case, and why are you presuming that I
would want to?"

"Your tongue has been hanging out of your mouth ever since you
met her."

"So, what? Are you giving me your permission to get laid?"

Scully swallowed hard. "I'm just saying that if you want
to socialise with her, that's fine".

Mulder look intently at his partner and friend. He had no idea
what she was trying to say to him. Her face was an expressionless
mask. He was treading on eggshells with her and he wasn't sure
whether the subject needed to be delved into, or left well alone.

He was bemused and baffled. He huffed a little and headed for
the door. Then stopped and turned back to her. "No hang on, I
don't understand what this is about."

"No, you don't, but that's my problem."

Mulder threw his hands in the air. "What is it with you lately? You
used to speak English, now its all cryptic crap."

"Stop, yelling at me Mulder, and go away, I don't want to fight
with you again."

"I wasn't yelling."

"Yes you were."

"I WAS NOT." His voice reverberated around the room, and
Scully winced at his decibel level. There was a bang on the door
and Mulder opened it to a short, fat, balding man, in his underwear.

"Will you two please keep it down. I've been on the road all day
and I'm trying to get to sleep."

Mulder tried to look apologetic. "Sorry, my fault."

The man looked at Scully, and then back at Mulder. "I don't know
why some people bother getting married if all they're gonna do is
fight. And I'll tell you pal, if she was my wife.." he gestured at Scully
with a stubby finger. "...I wouldn't waste time yelling at her". He
winked at Mulder. "If you know what I mean."

"What are you a marriage counsellor?"

"No, I just..."

"Get lost then." Mulder slammed the door in his face and turned
back to Scully who seemed to be hiding a rare smile behind a hand.

He smiled too and walked over to her. Placing a hand on her sleeve.
"D'you want a divorce Scully?"

When she replied her voice was softer than he'd heard it in ages.
"Until death do us part Mulder."

He took her in his arms then, and hugged her tightly. "Good."

When he let go of her Scully stifled a moan. It was too soon.
She'd wanted to stay snuggled up against a chest his little longer.

"Listen Scully...earlier.....I didn't mean that, its just been a
strange day, and you're the easiest person for me to hit out at
....you know your work on the X Files has been invaluable to
me don't you?"

She nodded. Not trusting herself to speak, moved by his words.

He continued. "There's no one else I'd trust."

"I know Mulder, me too."

He touched a hand to her cheek, and then headed for the door.

"If you change your mind about the beer, we'll probably be there
for a while."

Scully watched him go and then put a hand to the cheek he'd
touched, still feeling his warmth there. Ignoring the beeping of the
computer she flopped down on the bed and starred up at the
ceiling, trying to control and make sense of her racing emotions.

What the hell had that been about? Her happiness at Mulder's
invitation, her disappointment when she'd realised it wasn't a drink
invitation from Mulder at all, and their shared confusion when
discussing Mulder's romantic intentions towards Emily Watson,
if he had any, and then the humorous moment with the cranky
next-door-neighbour, and finally Mulder's tenderness and caring
words. She felt like she'd just been on a roller-coaster ride, but not
a pleasant one.

Life was always so complicated with Mulder. God, she'd
practically told him to go screw the long-legged, blonde Sheriff.
Why the hell had she done that? 'Because you didn't want to seem
territorial Scully. You wanted him to think you didn't care, but you
do, don't you?'

"God, I need a drink." She thought about Mulder's last comment.
He'd meant that sincerely. 'If you change your mind, we'll be there
for a while.'

Scully made a quick decision, and headed for the bathroom to
freshen up."
 

Lone Pine Tavern
Lone Pine Motel
Breaspeare Forest
Virginia
June 26th, 1997
8.15  p.m.

Mulder entered the bar and looked for Emily Watson, she was
sitting in a booth and waved him over.

"Hi, no Dana? Don't tell me you had another fight?"

Mulder smiled and shrugged out of his coat. "I'm not sure if it
was a fight or not to be honest. We just had our strangest
conversation ever, which for us, is saying something. But anyway,
she's a little tired, so she didn't come along. She needs a good
nights sleep."

"You've been working together four years now?"

Mulder nodded, caught the eye of the waitress and ordered a beer.

"You must know each other pretty well."

"Sometimes I think I know everything there is to know about Scully,
and then she'll do something that will completely shock me." His mind
was running over a few examples, Ed Jerse, her tete-a-tete on the couch
with Eddie van Blundht - the pretend Mulder.

The waitress brought his beer, smiled at both of them and left.

"I was going to ask you something, but maybe its a little personal."

Mulder looked up at Emily in curiosity. "Shorts."

"What?"

"My underwear. Was that the personal question?"

Emily laughed and shook her head. "God, no. How does Dana put up
with you?"

"Its a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Sorry I interrupted, what
were you going to ask?"

"You don't mind?"

"I'll let you know when I hear the question."

"Well back there in the diner, when you were arguing with her, I
felt for a moment like I was intruding on a lovers tiff, and I was
wondering..."

Mulder laughed and took a sip of his beer. "We're not lovers,
never have been."

Emily nodded. "Sorry. I just...I was dying of curiosity. Can I ask
why not, I mean, you're a great-looking guy..."

Mulder grinned. "Thank you Sheriff."

"...and Dana's very attractive."

"Its against Bureau regulations, and besides not every man-woman
relationship has to end up in the bedroom, does it?"

"No. I guess not."

"We have a great friendship, I wouldn't want to jeopardise it."

Emily was examining his words closely and staring into his eyes.
Mulder found himself a little hypnotised, but there was something
strange about Emily's questions? At first when she'd asked about
his and Scully's relationship, he'd thought she was testing the waters
before coming onto him, but she wasn't giving him come hither looks
now. Her face was tight in concentration, like she was trying to figure
out a problem.

"Some people say that best friends make the best lovers."

"Some people say Elvis is dead...Scully, well...she's just not my
type."

He saw Emily look up and Mulder's gaze followed hers.

"Dana, hi." Emily smiled and scooted over in the booth so Scully
could sit down.

Scully was standing right over the table, looking down at Mulder.
>From the uncomfortable expression she was wearing, Mulder could
tell that she'd heard his last remark. 'Shit, oh Christ'. 'Well done
Mulder, you've just upset her for about the thousandth time today'.

Scully sat down. Her face was expressionless, as it often was, but
he thought he could see a strange sadness in her eyes.

He jumped out his seat, mumbled "I'll get you a drink", and headed
for the bar.

"Glad to see you changed your mind."

Scully tried to smile at Emily. "I couldn't sleep, too wired. I thought a
nightcap might help."

"Good idea."

'No it wasn't a good idea' thought Scully. 'It was definitely a bad idea.
I should have stayed on my own in the room, and then I wouldn't
have heard Mulder telling a near-enough stranger, that he thinks I'm
an unattractive, short, ginger-haired, freckled-faced, sexless, bore'.
Okay, he hadn't used those terms, but to her mind, he might as well
have. 'You shouldn't care if your not his type Dana'. 'But I do'.

Emily touched her hand and she jumped. "You're miles away."

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking. Did you say something?"

Emily smiled at her. "Nothing important."

Mulder came back with her drink. When he took his seat opposite
their eyes met. It was a brief and painful glance.

Mulder turned to Emily. "So, I hope my tent has no holes, if it rains
like this tomorrow." He gestured with his hand to the window.

Scully stared out of the window, where the rain had begun to fall
heavily. She tuned out of Emily and Mulder's conversation, only
speaking when spoken to, slowly sipping the beer, lost in her own
thoughts.
 

Mulder's room
Lone Pine Motel
Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 27th, 1997
5.40  a.m.

Mulder stood under the shower. His back against the glass, the
water running over him, his eyes shut. His cupped hand sliding up
and down his rigid penis in a well-practised fashion.

The sound of Scully's shower had woken him fifteen minutes ago,
and while he'd lain in bed his mind had created an image of Scully,
standing naked under steaming hot water and the image had turned
into a fantasy.

He imagined her body before him now. Small, round breasts, tiny
waist, gently curved belly, the thatch of red hair above the joining
of her legs. In his mind his hand became her hand and she was jerking
him off good now. He could almost hear her breathing, feel her eyes
upon his body, looking at him with desire.

He imagined her kneeling slowly before him, preparing to take him
into her mouth, and his body went rigid, then exploded.

A mocking voice spoke in his head. 'She's not your type huh,
Mulder?'. His body recovered from its exertions, and he reached
for the soap and washed himself down. 'If Scully knew what you'd
just done with her in mind, she'd probably shoot you again, only
this time she'd aim a little lower'.

He turned the shower off and stepped out to dry himself off.

Scully had been quiet at the bar the previous night after hearing his
'not my type' remark. They'd all had another beer and then he and
Scully had wandered back to their rooms together. At her door she'd
said no more than goodnight and she'd tried to keep it airy and light,
but Mulder could tell he'd offended her.

At the risk of opening his mouth and doing further damage, he'd just
smiled and told her to sleep well.
 

Scully's room
Lone Pine Motel
Breakspeare Forest,
Virginia
June 27th, 1997
5.59  a.m.

Scully finished packing for their 'trip' and shouldered her knapsack,
before turning to the mirror to give herself one last inspection.

She spoke to her reflection. "Thirty-three-year-old girl Scout, Scully.
Not exactly a good look on you." Why did Mulder never take her
anywhere she could dress up a little?

She'd been up since 5 a.m., going over the data she'd received from
the Bureau. She'd also used the time to give herself a little pep talk.
Last night, after overhearing Mulder's conversation with the Sheriff,
she'd felt herself sinking into a depression. She'd crawled into bed
and had starred up at the ceiling for a least two hours. 'Scully's not
my type'. The words rolled around in her head. It was something
she'd known for a long time, but the confirmation from Mulder's
mouth stabbed her to the core. She was his pal, his friend, his partner.
He accepted her womanhood but it didn't affect him. She didn't affect
him the way the Bambi Berenbaum's and Sheriff Watson's of the
world did.

But he affected her in that way, he had for a long time, although
she couldn't quite pinpoint the moment after she'd been assigned to
him, that she'd stopped thinking of him as a complete fruit-loop and
had started to think of him in a completely different way instead. She
hadn't wanted it to happen. From the first she'd noted his good looks,
his well-proportioned physique, but had buried the stirrings of
attraction. She'd already had one inter-Bureau relationship that
had ended badly, and she didn't want to begin another one, but Mulder
had often caused a flutter in her heart, the puckering of her nipples, and
an ache at her apex. She'd often woke up drenched in sweat from an
erotic dream about him.

This morning she'd sat quietly, watched the sun come up through
the window and told herself that it didn't matter if Mulder had never
had the same stirrings for her. Mulder would put himself on the line for
her, move Heaven and Earth to help her, he'd probably even lay down his
life for her. How many women could boast of a man who'd go to such
lengths for them? She was fortunate, despite the tragedies that had struck
her life because of her involvement with him, to have Mulder in her life.

The end of her life was fast approaching, she didn't want to waste
any more time regretting what they hadn't shared, she wanted to revel in
what they did have. A true and honest friendship that surpassed all their
many differences, and a devotion that would last until she drew her last
breath and was forced to leave him.

She turned away from the mirror, picking up her medical kit and the list
of suspects she intended to give to Mulder, and left the room.
 

Outside the Lone Pine Motel
Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 27th, 1997
6.00 a.m.

Mulder was ready and leaning against a telegraph pole. He smiled
at her. "Morning sunshine."

She offered him a half smile back as she approached him.

She saw his gaze drift down and rest on the lower half of her body.
His grin widened. "Scully, I never knew you had legs!"

She self-consciously looked down at the mid-thigh khaki shorts
she'd elected to wear, and the somewhat pale, short, sturdy legs,
they revealed. "I thought I'd try to get a little sun on them." She
looked up at the sky. "Seeing as its such a nice day."

Mulder nodded and was about to say something else when Sheriff
Watson pulled up next to them in her truck.

"Morning people. Ready to hit the woods?"

Scully sighed. "As I'll ever be."

Mulder threw her a sympathetic look.

Sheriff Watson was grinning at them both in eagerness and
excitement. "Throw your stuff in the back and lets get going."

They stored their knapsacks and Scully took the back seat, before
Mulder had a chance to offer her the front. As Sheriff Watson pulled
onto the road, Mulder reflected. A serial killer, a deep dense forest,
nomadic people, and Scully in a pair of shorts...The next few days
were likely to be very interesting indeed.

CONTINUED IN PART 2

********

The Lure of the Fox
Part II

By Caroline O'Callaghan <caroline.o@virgin.net>

Disclaimers n' stuff in Part I

Oh, and I know nothing about U.S. Geography - so I apologise if
there's no forest in Virginia - but it sounds like the sort of place that
there might be one. (Breakspeare is entirely made up)

Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 27th
7.35 a.m.

Mulder's gaze was focused on the road ahead of him, but he wasn't
seeing it. His mind was occupied elsewhere. He was thinking about a
serial killer who, for some reason, took little girls, and then looked
after them carefully for three days before raping and killing them. Why
did he do it? Why care for them so well, only to brutalise and discard
them later?

He felt a tap on his shoulder and jumped. He looked round at Scully.

"Sorry Mulder, didn't mean to scare you."

"I was just thinking about our friend the 'Fox'."

>From the back seat of the truck Scully passed him a file. "Then you
might want to take a look at this."

He took the file, noted the thickness of it, and looked back at Scully.
"How about you summarise for me?"

"Well, I've been going through these suspect profiles, and this one
sticks out. His name is Forrest....."

"...Gump?" He heard Emily Watson's laugh, but he was watching
Scully's almost smile. Trying to make Scully smile was one of life's
more enjoyable challenges for him. He'd nearly had her that time.

"Forrest Mendhlesson. 38-years-old, Caucasian. He was born in a
small town seventy miles from here. In 1972 he was committed to a
mental institution."

"For what?"

Scully took a breath and held it, wary of Mulder's reaction to what
she was about to say. "He killed his eight-year-old sister."

She watched the pain flicker across his face briefly, and then noted
how he stifled it.

He tapped the folder. "This is our guy Scully." He dived into the
folder and began to read eagerly.

Sheriff Watson took her eyes off the road for a second to look
round at Scully. "Dana, I thought you said this guy was in a mental
institution?"

"He escaped two years ago."

Mulder stopped reading and looked back at her again. "Two
years? But the abductions only started recently."

Scully shrugged. "Exactly, so let's not get carried away Mulder,
okay?" She leaned forward and laid a small hand on his forearm.
He was wearing a short sleeved shirt, and he almost jumped at the
bolt of electricity her touch sent through him. "Everybody's a
suspect till we get some proof, okay?"

She leaned back and broke the contact, and he was relieved, because
it enabled him to think clearly again. He dove back into the file and
found a composite. He stared at their suspect. A nondescript looking,
middle-aged man. Brown hair, medium build. He looked average
enough at first glance, but Mulder thought he saw something evil in
his eyes.

"No, this is him Scully, this is him...and we're gonna nail the
bastard."

Scully tried to keep her sigh of exasperation to herself.
 

Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 27th, 1997
10.15.a.m.

They'd been walking for two hours and Scully was finally ready to
admit to herself that she was near exhaustion. She cursed her body,
and the demon of a disease that was praying on it.

Her breath was coming in gasps and she felt a thin line of sweat
trickling down between her breasts, but the two people walking in
front of her didn't seem bothered by the hike, they looked like they
were out for a leisurely stroll in the park.

The only thing that had kept her going in the past half hour, was the
great view of Mulder's behind she had. While they walked uphill,
his denim-clad tush was at her eye-level and it was working as a
great incentive for her to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

They were working their way up a narrow path, through some
pretty spectacular dense forest, and in the back of her mind Scully
knew she should be taking notice of her wonderful surroundings,
but she preferred the wonderful site in front of her instead.

The only thing that marred it was that she could see that Mulder's
gaze, just like hers, was fixed on a wonderful piece of ass, Sheriff
Watson's.

Mulder broke the silence that had pervaded for a while. "Hey
Emily, is that a clearing up ahead?"

Emily looked around. "Yep, why?"

"I thought we might stop for a bit. I need a drink and a rest."

Emily stopped, turned and looked at him. "Already Fox?, we've
hardly started."

"What can I say? I'm a city boy. The furthest I walk these days is
from my office to the men's bathroom."

Scully didn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed at him. He
hadn't asked to stop because he needed to. Mulder regularly ran
several miles a day and she could tell he wasn't tired at all. He'd
obviously heard her gasping and wheezing behind him and taken
pity on her. Her mind was protesting against his coddling, but her
body was incredibly grateful. She staggered into the clearing after
her fellow walkers and half collapsed, half sat, on a fallen tree trunk.
Mulder sat beside her and passed her a bottle of water. Sheriff
Watson stood at the edge of the clearing, examining a huge map.

"Isn't this great Scully, fresh air, exercise? It's almost like a
vacation."

She took a gulp of water. "I'll take two weeks lying static on a
Hawaiian beach over this any day."

Mulder grinned at her. "What? With your skin Scully? You'd
frazzle." He touched her pale knee and she was so shocked at the
contact that she moved it quickly away. Her eyes met Mulder's
and for a second she thought he looked a little annoyed at her, but
then his smile returned.

"So how you doing Scully?" His voice had a forced lightness in it
as he tried to keep the question casual.

"I'm okay Mulder, I wouldn't have come on this trip if I didn't
think I could handle it."

He put up his hands palms outwards in a gesture of peace. "I'm
just asking Scully."

Scully could feel him watching her closely as she took another sip
of water. She ignored his gaze, reminding herself that he was only
concerned for her.

"Do you have an appointment with your Doctor on Wednesday?"

She nodded.

"We'd better hurry and catch this guy then, so you can get back to
D.C."

"Mulder....." She cut off the acerbic reply she was going to give
his last statement, and he looked at her in frustration.

"What? Why are we not allowed to talk about the fact that
there's something wrong with you Scully?"

She shot him a warning look. "There's a lot of things we can't
talk about Mulder."

His expression was a mixture of curiosity and helplessness.
Sheriff Watson interrupted the conversation by striding over in
their direction, before he had a chance to voice his annoyance.

"There's a good place to camp a few miles from here. Its close to
where some of the settlers are. Once we're set up for the night
you two can start questioning them."

Mulder jumped to his feet. "Let's get going then." He pulled his
rucksack on and headed off in the direction Sheriff Watson had
indicated.

Scully sighed and got to her feet more slowly, looking after
Mulder who was now disappearing quickly into the forest. He
was playing games with her. He'd tried to be nice, tried to take
her illness into consideration, but she'd rebuffed him, denied her
weakened state, so now he was going to drive her so hard that
she'd have to force herself to admit it. 'Well done Scully', she
chided herself, 'you just dug your own grave'.

"Well, he's in a hurry for someone who was complaining about
the pace five minutes ago."

Scully winced as she pulled her rucksack back on. "Yeah."

"How are you doing Dana?"

Scully let out a small, wry smile. That was all anybody ever
seemed to ask her lately. She was glad Sheriff Watson's question
was innocent, and not emotionally charged like most queries into
her health were these days.

"To be honest Emily, I'm a little beat already. I haven't done
anything like this for a while."

Emily smiled at her and touched her arm. "Don't worry, I'll take
it easy for you."

"Thanks." Scully took a deep breath. "What's say we go and
see if we can catch Mulder the mad marcher then?"

Emily laughed and they headed off after Mulder.
 

Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 17th, 1997
12.30 p.m.

Emily Watson seemed to know the forest like the back of her own
hand and she found their camping spot with ease. She then directed
them in setting up the tents and other supplies.

Mulder hammered in the last tent pole and looked over at Scully
who was standing on the edge of the clearing, checking out the
spectacular view of the forest that the site afforded them.

She was nibbling on a sandwich and throwing out the bits of it she
didn't like. He smiled when a piece of limp lettuce got thrown into
the foliage. She looked better than she had earlier. Emily had slowed
the hike down, despite his efforts to speed it up. He'd been trying to
hurt Scully. He knew that and hated himself for it. He'd wanted to
punish her. 'For what Mulder?'. 'For shutting me out, for not
letting me get close, for not letting me care about her',
'for pulling away from my touch'.

He sat down, found his own lunch and began to eat. His gaze
returned to his partner, who in turn, was staring at the miles of
forest beneath her. Her eyes were fixed on it, but he knew she
was thinking of something else. The slight tilt of her head to the
left gave her away. Her knew her body language and knew she
was trying to solve a problem in her mind.

While crunching on an apple, he let his gaze drift over her. Her hair
was tied up, but a few strands had escaped and were curling against
her neck. Her white tank top was clinging to her breasts. Her tiny
waist and round backside were accentuated by the cut of her shorts.

Her legs were starting to go a little pink. His eyes rested on them.
They were short and curvy, and strong. He wondered idly if she
worked out. 'Yeah right Mulder, like she ever gets the time with the
workload you heap upon her'.  She was probably just born like that.
Strong Irish legs.

He looked over at Emily Watson who was setting up a radio
transmitter. 'Now there's a pair of legs'. But somehow, he
preferred Scully's curves to Emily Watson's lean form. However,
when the tall Sheriff stretched over to pick something up, he
couldn't help but admire the view.

When he looked back over to Scully, he saw her baby blues
glaring back at him. 'Busted again Mulder'. Why the hell had she
chosen that moment to turn and look at him, only to catch him
checking out the Sheriff? She had such exquisite timing. He got
to his feet and strolled over to her.

"Scully I've been thinking..."

"Save it Mulder, I think I can tell what's on your mind."

"I've been thinking about the case."

She nodded her head, both in apology for her comment, and to
indicate she was listening.

"I think maybe Forrest Mendhlesson is reliving the circumstances
behind his sister's case. Did he care for her for a while before he
killed her?"

"He was left alone to look after her while their parents went out."

She looked up at Mulder, a man who had also been left alone to
take of his only sister on one fateful night. She could see the
effort his apparent non-reaction took.

"He says that his sister begged him to take her for a walk in the
woods. They went out, got lost and separated from each other,
and he showed up three days later with blood on his shirt,
claiming he had no memory of what had happened. They found
his sister's body a day later, after a large-scale search of the area."

"Are they sure he did it?"

"As sure as they could be. The blood on his shirt was hers. He
later suggested she might have been savaged by a bear, but the
marks on her body suggested she was stabbed to death, after an
attempt at strangulation. He was never actually convicted though.
After experiencing fits he was diagnosed and committed as a
schizophrenic."

Mulder looked out at the view. "So why does Forrest
Mendhlesson call himself 'the Fox' Scully?"

She didn't reply. She knew it was a hypothetical question. He
didn't expect her to know the answer.

"Mulder, even though it looks like this is our guy, lets try and
think of everyone as a suspect until we know for sure."

Mulder looked at her in frustration. "Scully........"

She held up a hand. "I know you think I'm too cautious sometimes
Mulder, but hear me out. Forrest Mendlhsson didn't rape his sister
before killing her. 'The Fox' does rape his victims. And these
woods aren't the same ones that Forrest and his sister wandered
into that night. If he was reliving his sister's death in some way
don't you think he'd take his victims back to the place where it all happened?"

Mulder shrugged. "Maybe this is close enough. Maybe any forest
would do."

Scully nodded. "Maybe."

Mulder let out a sad little chuckle. "Hunting for Forrest in a forest."

Scully's eyes met his. "Fox chasing 'The Fox."

He looked down at his partner, and despite the pain the story of
Forrest and his sister had dredged up, he smiled at her. It was
only the second time he'd heard his first name fall from her lips.
Her low tones made it sound soft and dangerous at the same time.
Those who dared use it, usually spoke it quickly, their
embarrassment at the strange name making it sound harsh.

"Fox?" Emily Watson was calling and Mulder turned to see her
approaching them. He noted the concerned expression she wore.

"What's wrong?"

"After I set up the radio, I got a message from the Sheriff's station.
We've had another child disappear. Molly Turner. Her parents
woke up this morning to find her bed empty. There were signs that
the window in her bedroom had been forced open."

Mulder studied Sheriff Watson's face. "You know this kid don't
you?"

Enily nodded. "Her Mother, Maria, is a friend of mine. That's
who I went to see last night when I left you in the diner. I went to
warn her, to tell her about this case, and I told her keep a sharp
eye on Molly. I guess she didn't take me seriously enough."

"Is she eight, like the other children?"

"Actually no, she's only six, but she's big for her age, I guess
she could pass for eight."

Mulder looked out at the forest. "Then I think we can assume
our guy has her. We'd better get going and question some of these
people Scully. We're on a deadline now. He kills them within three
days, remember?"

Sheriff Watson let out a slight moan as Mulder walked away to
get his things together. "I should have told Maria to make sure
Molly wasn't out of her sight for a moment."

Scully tossed the remains of her sandwich into the trees, and
patted Emily's arm. "You did all you could. Don't blame yourself.
Put all your energies into catching this guy."

"Do you think we'll get him in time?"

Scully nodded in Mulder's direction. "He's the best. Mulder is
renowned throughout the Bureau. He's a bit like the Mounties, 'he
always gets his man'. If anybody can help Molly now, its him."
She put a hand on Emily's arm. "Let's go, we have a lot of work
to do this afternoon."
 
 

Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 27th, 1997
6.15 p.m.

After questioning the first dweller they came across, they decided to
split up. When they quizzed him en masse he began to get nervous
and defensive. They also quickly established that the people up here
lived far apart from one another, and they'd never manage to talk to
them all if they stuck together.

Mulder took off in one direction and suggested Emily Watson go
with Scully.

Scully gave him an 'I hope you're not suggesting I shouldn't go on
my own because I can't handle it' look. Mulder shrugged in an
'of course I'm not' way, and they separated.

She and Emily Watson had spoken to eight forest people. Well
actually they'd spoken to seven. The eighth had aimed his rifle
at them as soon as he'd seen them and told them he was going to
blow their heads off if they came any closer. Scully had taken a
good look at him to make sure he looked nothing like Forrest
Mendlhlsson before deciding not to force the issue. She didn't
think she would be able to talk him into lowering his weapon
 and she didn't want to risk her own, or Sheriff Watson's life
on someone who probably had nothing to do with their case.

They were walking back to their camp site now, and Scully
was day-dreaming of a hot bubble bath, and wondering if
Mulder was okay.

"What about that last guy, I mean, he was pretty ready to blow
us away? If he's that defensive, maybe he has something to
hide."

Scully shook her head. "In my job I've learned to distinguish
between people who are crazy murderers, and people who
are just crazy. He was one of the later."

Emily shrugged. "If you say so. I guess that means we've had
a wasted afternoon."

"Mulder might have turned something up."

Emily sighed heavily. "I hope so."

Scully sympathised with her walking companion. She was actually warming to the Sheriff and was building a respect for her. Despite
Emily's now personal connection with the case she hadn't got
hysterical and had continued to think on her feet. The only thing that annoyed Scully about her was that she insisted on calling Mulder
'Fox'. Well, that and the fact that, even after a day trudging through
miles of forest in humid conditions, she still looked like she'd
stepped off a vogue fashion shoot, modelling this season's hiking
casuals.

They walked into the clearing to find Mulder waiting for them.
Scully was used to the little flip that her stomach always took
when she saw him again after they'd been separated for a while.
She recognised it, but took no notice of it.

Mulder stood and greeted them with a nod of his head. "Anything?"

Sheriff Watson answered for them. "No, except a brush with
sudden death."

His gaze whipped across to Scully's face and their eyes met.
She shrugged. "Just a crazy wanting some target practice. We
made a tactical retreat."

Mulder nodded. "I showed the composite of Mendhlesson to a
woman who said she'd seen a man travelling through with his
daughter. She I.D.'d him."

 Scully suddenly noticed that Mulder had his weapon drawn. He
saw her looking at it.

"I got back just before you did and I found this." He pulled a note
from his shirt pocket and gave it to Scully to read.

She read it out loud. "Dear Fox, there's only one Fox. All the
chickens are mine. Get off my hunting ground."

"He was right here this afternoon Scully."

Scully reached for her own gun. "He might still be around."

"We'll do a quick search. Thirty minutes exactly. Don't be any
longer. I'll take North and work round to the East. You start
West and go South."

Sheriff Watson was looking at them both with a face etched in fear.
"What should I do?"

Mulder looked evenly at her, trying to calm her. "Stay here.
Keep your gun ready. If you hear any shots, come running like
the cavalry."

She nodded. Mulder and Scully looked once at each other for no
more than a second. 'Don't do anything stupid' and 'take care of
yourself' were exchanged in their glance without a word being
spoken, and then they turned and ran in different directions.
 

Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 27th, 1997
6.45 p.m.

Scully felt sick from the tension in her stomach as she made her
way carefully through the trees. Trying to move as quietly as possible,
her eyes constantly scanning her surroundings, hoping, and not hoping
to spot her prey.

'My prey?' 'So why does it feel like I'm the one who's being hunted?'
she asked herself.

She heard a crunch of leaves to her right and gripped her sig saucer
with both hands, whipping it around to where the sound had come
from.

In the fading light she saw someone approaching. She clicked the
safety off, and ignored the furious thudding of her heart as she yelled
out. "Hold it right there..... FBI.... I'm armed."

"So am I."

She sighed in relief.

"Mulder. Do you have any idea how close I came to shooting you?"

He came out of the shadows, a grim smile on his face.

"..and if you say 'it wouldn't be the first time' I will shoot you."

He held up his hands. "You really are armed and dangerous Scully.
What are you doing in this part of the forest? I told you to head
South."

She looked around her in confusion. "I did, at least I thought I did."

He shook his head. "You have the worst sense of direction. I'm
taking you off map reading duty for good."

"Find anything?"

"Nope. I think he's long gone. We'd better get back to the camp.
We told Sheriff Watson we'd be thirty minutes." He looked at his
watch. "Its past that now."

She started walking, but then stopped and turned back when she
realised he wasn't following her. He grinned and pointed over
his shoulder. "Its this way Scully."

She went past him with a defiant toss of her head. "I knew that.
I was just making sure you did."
 

Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 27th, 1997
8.35  p.m.

Mulder had wanted to pack up the tents and supplies and go right on
hiking after their suspect as soon as they'd returned from their search.
It had taken great effort on Sheriff Watson's part to get him to realise
that it was almost impossible to give chase in the dark. She explained
how they wouldn't be able to find their way without being able to see
 any landmarks.

He had paced around like a caged animal for a while, before accepting
that he had no choice but to wait till morning. Scully, for her part,
while worried about the child that had been taken, was in need of the
rest. She had elected to stay out of Mulder's way until he had worked
out some of his frustration.

Sheriff Watson prepared a meal that was eaten in almost total silence,
around a fire that she had also prepared. After he cleared his plate
Mulder jumped up and wandered away, muttering something about
wanting to go over the case file again.

Emily Watson looked at Scully. "Is he pissed at me for not going
on?"

Scully shook her head. "Don't worry about it. He knows it would be
pointless continuing in the dark. He just hates sitting still while on a
case. He's always impatient." She wondered for a moment if she
should warn the Sheriff about why Mulder was particularly impatient
in this case, and then decided not to. His sister's abduction, or
kidnapping, was a personal matter, and the decision to tell people
about it was his.

"I don't think I could do your job, this is too much for me. How do
you handle being on cases like this all the time?"

Scully shrugged. "I suppose that the personal gratification I get when
we make an arrest, or save somebody's life, makes up for all the
trauma."

Sheriff Watson shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Dana, I don't want to have to go back to Molly's mother and tell
her we found her body. I want to hand her little girl back to her
alive, and in one piece."

Scully stood and rubbed a hand briefly along the Sheriff's
shoulders to comfort her. "We'll do our best Emily." She sighed.
"I'm just going to go...and...well...answer the call of nature."

Emily smiled up at her and nodded. She watched Scully go and sat
in contemplation until Mulder stumbled back thirty minutes later.

"Where's Scully?"

Emily broke out of her reverie and looked around her. "She went
to...for a walk..but that was about a half-hour ago."

Mulder shot her a worried look and pulled a flashlight from the
waistband of his jeans. "Which way?"

"I'm sure she's fine."

"Probably, but I want to check. Which direction did she go in?"

Emily nodded her head to the south and Mulder took off.

He walked for about five minutes before he heard a rustle of
leaves and shone his light towards it.

"Will you get that light out of my eyes?"

He lowered the flash. "Emily said you'd been gone for a while,
I wanted to check on you."

"I'm fine. Can't I even have a pee in peace?"

He shone the light back on her, half expecting to catch her with
her shorts around her ankles, but she was fully clothed and sitting
calmly on a rock. "You've been gone for a while Scully, were you
looking for a public convenience out here?"

He stood over her and she moved a little to one side on her perch,
indicating that he was welcome to sit beside her.

He sat down and studied her face carefully, it had a strange
composure to it. An eerie serenity. "Just sitting and thinking, Scully?"

She shook her head. "No, well, sort of." She sighed and fidgeted,
looking a little embarrassed. "I was praying."

Mulder looked away. "Oh".

Their silences were usually companionable. The one that fell
between them now was slightly uneasy. Mulder broke it. "Do you
do that a lot Scully?"

She nodded and offered him a little smile, aware of how
uncomfortable he was talking about religion. "Most nights."

"What do you pray for?"

She didn't answer immediately and he suddenly regretted the
question, thinking maybe it was too personal. "Sorry...."

"No its okay." She pulled her legs up onto the rock and hugged her
knees to keep warm. "Tonight, I prayed for Molly Turner, and her parents."

Mulder nodded and she continued.

"And I prayed for my Mother, I asked God to give her strength to face.....
whatever may come."

Mulder felt his stomach churn. Scully was praying for God to help
her Mother cope with her coming illness and death. His mind went
into its now familiar chant. 'can't let it happen', 'won't let it happen'.

"And I prayed for you Mulder. I asked that you be helped on your
search. That God keep you safe and well. That you'll find your
answers, and your sister, if its God's will that you should do so."

Scully had been looking down at her own hands while she spoke.
When she looked back up at him, she saw tears brimming in his eyes,
and she was moved by his response to her words.

He reached for her hand in the dark. When he found it, he squeezed
it briefly and then quickly let it go. "Thank you Scully. I don't
deserve your prayers."

"Yes you do Mulder, and you're always in them."

"Sometimes, I wish I had faith like you do Scully."

"You have faith Mulder. You have faith in many things. In your
sisters memory, in truth, and in justice." She nodded her head at the
black night sky and her grave tone lightened. "And in the little grey people."

He chuckled, but it wasn't a happy sound. "Your faith seems to give
you peace Scully. I can't find any peace. I just have fear."

Her heart twisted for him, she felt his anguish. "What are you afraid
of Mulder?"

"That this quest we're on, this journey. That's it's all for nothing.
That I'm constantly being deceived, that Samantha....that...she." He
ran a hand through his already mussed hair. "That I've involved you,
destroyed your life, your career, when all along there was never any
hope of me finding what I was looking for."

"There's hope Mulder, that's what faith is." She nudged his side with
her elbow forcing him to look directly at her. "I once told you that I
wouldn't change a day of our partnership, and I meant that. Don't
blame yourself for anything that has happened to me. You live with
enough guilt and grief. I want the truth too, that's what drives me,
gives me strength. Our quest has enriched my life, knowing you has
enriched my life."

When he'd found Scully sitting on her own in the dark, he'd sat down
with the thought of offering her some company and comfort, and
instead she'd given those things to him. She was such a selfless soul. He
always took from her, and he found it so difficult to give. He fought the
urge to crush her to his chest and instead stood up, offering a hand to
Scully, which she took. He hoisted her to her feet.

"Come on, lets get some sleep."

The began to trudge back through the trees together.

"So whose tent do you want to share tonight Scully? I know you
planned to bunk down with Sheriff Watson, but there's plenty of
room in mine."

He caught the arch of her eyebrow, even in the dense darkness of
the forest. "Such a kind offer Mulder."

"Think about it Scully, the Sheriff might snore."

"Mulder, you snore."

He looked at her in amazement. "I do?"

She nodded. "Loudly." She quickened her pace and went ahead of him.

"Hey, hang on a second.  How do you know I snore?"

She threw him what he thought was an incredibly sensual look
over her shoulder, and before he could recover from it enough to
respond, they were back at the camp site.
 

 Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 28th, 1997
6.30  p.m.

Mulder kicked off his sleeping bag and reached for the jeans he
had discarded the night before. He pulled them on and gathered up his
gun and I.D., before crawling out of his tent. He was eager to get going
on their chase. Today Fox was going to catch 'The Fox'.

Although he was on the hunt for a serial killer, he felt a sense of
calmness. His conversation with Scully the night before had given
him that. She'd given him a share of the peace she was able to
make for herself.

He smiled. They hadn't talked on such a personal level for a long
while, and he hoped it marked a return to the closeness they had
once shared, before pain and grief had caused them to put barriers
between them. He didn't always understand his relationship with
Scully. What it was meant to be, what it had been, and what it
could be in the future, but he knew that when their friendship was
in crisis, he was a lesser person. He functioned better when there
was harmony in their connection.

The bright morning hit him full in the face and he winced up at
the sun, before stumbling over to Sheriff Watson who was cooking
over a small camping stove. She grinned at him and piled some of the
food from the pan onto a plate, and held it out to him. He took it gratefully and sat down to eat.

"I could do with this kind of treatment at home."

"No lady in your life Fox?"

He smiled. "Yeah, I have a lady in my life. She covers my ass,
patches up my wounds and occasionally does my paperwork, but
she draws the line at fixing my breakfast."

Emily Watson grinned. "She's still asleep. Should I wake her?"

Mulder looked at his watch. "Give her a while longer. Scully's
not really a morning person."

"Should I save her some breakfast?"

"She's not really a bacon and eggs person either. She prefers a
few bits of dried fruit, mashed together with oats and milk."

"Muselli?"

Mulder gave a mock shiver and cringed. "No, please, don't say
the 'M' word."

"You two are pretty different aren't you? In your eating habits,
your attitudes...even your appearance. You're kind of like each
other's opposite."

"I guess, but perhaps that's why it works. If we were similar
we'd have probably bored each other senseless years ago."

"So, does Dana have....you know...someone in her life? Apart
from you?"

"I have no idea."

Mulder looked at the Sheriff curiously. She was shifting her food
around her plate, deep in contemplation of something. Her questions
at the bar, and now these enquiries, were definitely leading somewhere,
he just wasn't sure what it was the Sheriff wanted to know. But he had
his suspicions.

He took a few more bites of his food, before renewing the conversation with a different topic. "So which way should we head?"

Emily snapped out of her reverie and reached for a map beside her and passed it to him. "Last night I marked out the locations where the girls bodies were found, and the places from which they were taken. Its not a strong, conclusive direction, but it does seem as if they were all taken through where we are now, and onwards, maybe up to Ferrier's point."

"Where's that?"

Emily leaned across and pointed it out on the map. "Here. It's a flat
part of the forest at the top of a seven mile climb. Its popular with
hikers because it has a great view, and its flatness means its a good
place to camp. There's also some settlers up there."

Mulder examined the map and the small red crosses Emily had
placed on it. "None of the bodies were found up that high."

Emily shrugged. "No, but he may have killed them up there and then
brought them back down a little, so that they wouldn't be found near
where he's settled. I spoke to Dana about this last night, before we
went to sleep, and she said she concurred with our coroner that the
bodies were moved after death. That the girls weren't killed where
they were found."

Mulder nodded. "Wasn't the first child taken while on a camping trip
with her parents?"

"Yes, and they were camping on the point. An investigation was done
at the time. They spoke to settlers around there, but turned up nothing."
She shrugged. "I don't know, maybe I'm jumping to conclusions." She
looked around her. "This Forest is so big and dense. He could be anywhere.
Maybe we should do a more general search of the area?"

"No, that will take too long. I've got a feeling you're right about this
place. I want you to take us there, by the shortest route possible."

"That involves some pretty steep climbs."

Mulder thought about Scully for a moment, and then dismissed his
worries about her health. They could stop regularly, and he could help
her if need be. He'd watch her closely to make sure she wasn't
pushing herself too hard.

"So we'll do the climbing. Whatever it takes to get Molly safely back
to her parents, we'll do it."

Scully climbed out of her tent, and rubbed a hand over her eyes. She couldn't seem to get them to open fully, and her limbs were stiff from sleeping without the aid of a soft mattress. She put her hands over her head to stretch her back and let out a groan.

Mulder heard it, turned briefly to look at his partner, and then shook
his head at Sheriff Watson. "What did I tell you? Definitely NOT a morning person."
 

Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 28th, 1997
10.35 p.m.

They'd been walking steadily for two hours, in near silence, when
Mulder saw Emily come to a stop in front of him. He caught up with
her and was about to ask her why they'd come to a halt when he saw
that her gaze was directed up a sheer rock face, to their right.

He heard Scully come up behind him and stop, but his eyes remained focused upon the spot that Emily was studying. "When you said 'steep climbs' Sheriff, I thought you meant we'd have to attack some pretty mean hills. Not thirty-foot slabs of rock."

"Sorry Fox, but going around this instead of straight up it would mean
an extra three hours."

He looked around at Scully. Who sensed his gaze and immediately
wiped the trepidation of her face. He'd always been aware of how diminutive his partner was, but she suddenly looked even smaller standing under the cliff she was expected to climb.

"Ready for this Scully?"

"I guess so."

Sheriff Watson was pulling climbing equipment from her backpack.
"I'll go first and secure a rope. I've done this climb a million times.
Dana, you should go next."

Mulder looked at the Sheriff. "Why am I last?"

Scully reached up and tapped his temple with a finger. "So that if I fall,
I'll have something soft to land on."

Mulder and Scully sat back and watched as Sheriff Watson climbed up
the rock face with apparent ease. Her movements fluid and confident.

Mulder leaned down to whisper in Scully's ear. "Spiderman's sister?"

She ignored him, and he smiled.

Sheriff Watson reached the top and hauled herself over the edge.
Scully jumped a little when she heard the Sheriff let out a frightened yell.

Mulder was instantly alert, and went to the rope to climb. "What's wrong?"

Scully was right behind Mulder and stopped him from beginning to
climb with a hand on his shoulder. "Emily, what's wrong? Is
everything okay up there?"

The Sheriff leaned over the edge to look down at them. "No, not
really. I found something." She extended her arm out and showed
them a pink piece of clothing. "I found this. Its a sweater. It has
Molly's name sewn into it."

Mulder and Scully exchanged glances of concern. Mulder called
up to Emily. "Anything else?"

"No. Nothing and no-one."

"Okay. I'm sending Scully up straight away. We're on his trail
now, and we don't want to lose any more time."

He turned to Scully, who had taken the rope from him, and had
a foot raised against the rock to begin climbing. Their eyes met.

"You okay to do this, Scully?"

She looked annoyed at him for a second but it didn't last long. "I'm
not the one you should be worried about now Mulder. We have to
find that child."

He nodded, and made a cradle with his hands. She stepped into it
and he gave her a boost to get her started on the climb. She took a
few uncertain steps up, and for a few moments, her ass was right in
front of his face. He smiled grimly. If they hadn't been there on such
deathly business he might have enjoyed the sight more.

He resisted the urge to give her a further boost up, by putting his
hand on her backside and giving it a shove. He thought he might feel
an 'accidental' climbing boot on his head if he tried it.

He watched Scully's slow but steady progress on the climb, and
only realised he'd been holding his breath when he saw her reach
the top safely. Emily hauled her over the edge.

He yelled up. "Okay Scully?"

She leaned over to look down at him. "Piece of cake Mulder."

Despite her bravado statement, she looked pretty pleased and relieved
that it was over. She pulled back from the edge and disappeared from
his view.

He gripped the rope and was about to start climbing, when he heard a
mass of noise suddenly erupt above him. There was a series of non-distinguishable shouts, and then he distinctly heard Scully ordering someone to 'get down'. When he heard a scream and a shot being fired he had to restrain his rising panic.

"SCULLY." His voice echoed around the canyon. "SCULLY,
ANSWER ME."

His mind was spinning and he fought off the rise of bile that entered
his throat and threatened to spill from his mouth. 'No, not Scully,
please let it not be Scully, not Scully'.

He screamed her name so loud it brought a pain to his chest.
"SCULLY FOR CHRIST SAKES, ANSWER ME."
 

Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 28th, 1997
10.45  a.m.

"ANSWER ME. WHAT'S GOING ON UP THERE. SCULLY?"
Mulder knew he was screaming now, desparation in his voice as he
imagined Scully lying on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound.

He grabbed hold of the rope again and was about to start climbing,
when he saw Emily Watson peering over the edge of the cliff at him.

"Fox."

"Where's Scully? Is she okay?"

Emily looked a little dazed and confused. "She took off after him?"

"Who?" He did start to climb then, concern pushing him hastily
upwards.

"The guy who shot at us. She told me to get down, and she fell
herself, but then she jumped up and ran after him."

He cursed violently. What the hell was Scully thinking of? Taking
off like that without any backup. He knew he'd done exactly the same
thing himself on a few occasions but he was still going to tear her
apart for being hot-headed. When he caught up with her.

He reached the top of the cliff ledge and clambered over it.

Emily Watson was holding her head in her hands. He bent down and
touched her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just knocked my head when I dived for cover. I'll be fine
in a minute."

"Which way did they go?"

Emily pointed and Mulder was about to make tracks in that direction
when he saw Scully appear from out of the trees.

He was too impatient to wait for her to get to him. He strode up to
her. He tried to make his admonishment a hiss rather than a shout, to
keep it from the ears of Sheriff Watson. "What the hell were you
playing at?"

"I was trying to catch our suspect. He lost me. He obviously knows
these woods well."

"You know better than to take off on your own Scully."

Anger flared up in her. "So do you Mulder, but it doesn't stop you
from doing exactly that whenever the hell you feel like it."

"Yeah, well. You should have at least let me know you were okay
before you went off playing Rambo. I was at the bottom of this cliff
imaginging you dead, Scully."

"I'm sorry." His tone grated on her nerves. He spoke to her like she
was an errant schoolgirl, but she couldn't defend herself for some
reason. Perhaps because she knew how painful it was when your
partner threw themselves into the line of fire and danger, and all you
could do was sit back and wait, and pray that they would be fine.
She'd worried over Mulder to point of being violently ill on more
than one occasion.

"Yeah, well. You'd better check on Sheriff Watson. She took a
bang to the head and I think she was out for a couple of minutes."

Scully gave him a stern look and walked over to the Sheriff,
kneeling and taking Emily's face in her hands to look into her eyes.

"Emily, d'you know who I am?"

"Dana Scully." The Sheriff was returning Scully's gaze and, for a
moment Mulder felt embarassed, and had to turn away.

"The date, the year?"

"June 28th, 1997."

Scully looked up at Mulder. "She'll be fine, but her pupils are a
little dilated, she took a nasty bang. We'd better stop for a while."

Mulder threw his hands up in the air. "We can't afford to stop
Scully, he was just here, a few minutes ago. If we move quickly...."

Scully cut him off. "Emily needs to stop for a while Mulder, and
we can't go on without her. She knows this place, we don't. He
lost me within minutes in those trees."

"He's getting away Scully."

"He's got away. He's gone, and I don't think there'd be any point
in us charging after him anyway. I know I did just now, but I reacted
without thinking. What we need to do now is sit back and consider
how we're going to approach him. There's a little girl's life at stake.
What if we we're forced to shoot him in self-defence? He obviously
has that child hidden somewhere, and we need to keep him alive, at
least long enough for him to tell us where she is."

Mulder huffed a little and walked away from her. Scully watched him
go. He was kicking at the ground like a pre-schooler. She knew he'd
listened to her and accepted that her reasoning made sense, but she
could also see the desparation in him. The need he had to stop another
small girl being taken from her family forever.

She riffled around in her rucksack for her first-aid kit. She found
a couple of asprin and shook them into the palm that Emily
wordlessly held out.

"You're going to have a killer headache pretty soon."

Emily smiled. "I think its already started." She found a bottle of
water and drank from it to swallow the pills. She then got shakily
to her feet. "There's a small stream a couple of hundred yards away,
I'm going to go splash some water on my face and take a little stroll,
make sure my legs still work."

"Okay. Don't go too far though. You never know, our friendly
neighbourhood snipper might still be hanging around."

Scully got to her feet and watched Emily wander off. She then went
over to Mulder, who stood with his back to her, looking into the
trees they'd have to make their way through to find Mendhlesson. She
saw the muscles in his back tense at her approach, and she tried not to
admire the way his shoulder blades moved, but couldn't help it. There
was a sense of restrained power in them that caught her eye.

"Mulder. We'll get him. Twenty minutes rest and we'll be back on
his trail."

He didn't look round at her. "Are you sure it was him?"

"I didn't really get that good a look, but I think so."

"Then he's playing with us Scully. That note yesterday, taking a
pot-shot at you today. You and Emily were sitting ducks on that
cliff ledge. He could have killed you if he'd wanted to."

"Maybe he's just a really bad shot."

"No. He's toying with us, or to be more precise, me. He's
enjoying the chase."

"I don't know Mulder. His note yesterday sounded more like he
wanted to warn us off, than engage us in a game. Shooting at us
today might be a sign of panic."

"I think he knows about me, and Samatha. He knows my name"

"Maybe he has a transmitter and he heard Emily in contact with the
Sheriff's Station. Perhaps that's how he found out were up here, and
what your name is."

"You still think its all a bizzare co-incidence Scully? His sister,
mine? Him choosing 'The Fox' as a nickname?"

She sighed. "You know me Mulder, I try not to think anything
until I know all the details, until I have proof."

He turned to look at her and gave her a small smile, putting on his
best Dragnet voice. "Just the facts Ma'am."

She nodded and turned to go back to her rucksack in search of
some water.

"Scully."

She heard concern in his voice and halted immediately, afraid he
might have spotted Mendhlesson about to open fire on them again.

"Scully, you're bleeding."

"Huh?" She turned to look at him and saw him approaching her.
She instinctively put a hand to her upper lip.

Mulder took her by the shoulders and spun her around. "No,
your back." She tried not to jump at the feel of his hand running
along her spinal column, inspecting the blood stain that had
appeared on her thin, cotton, sleeveless shirt.

"Looks like a bad gash. Doesn't it hurt?"

"No. Well now you mention it, it stings a little. I think I caught
it on a branch while I was giving chase."

"Take your shirt off."

He walked over to her rucksack to find her first-aid kit.

"What?"

He looked over at her and tried to hide his smile at the
incredulous look she was giving him.

"We need to clean that up. Out here it could easily become
infected.Take your shirt off Scully." Mulder took a moment
to marvel at the fact that he was actually saying those words to
her, no matter that they were said in a perfectly innocent context.
He dug around in her kit and pulled out some cotton wool and
ethanol. As he approached her he saw the uncomfortable and
embarassed look in her eyes. She hadn't made a move to undo a
single button yet.

"You know, its okay Mulder. Its fine. I'll take a look it at myself
later."

"As talented as you are Scully, even you can't reach your own
back."

Her tongue darted out of her mouth, and ran along her upper lip.
Mulder's breath caught at the sight. That little habit of hers always
affected him. He leaned in close to her. She starred back at him for a
second before looking away, a flush creeping up from her neck.

Mulder felt a wash of sympathy for her. She just wasn't one of those
women who bared their skin easily. Scully was delightfully old-
fashioned at times.

"What's the matter, not wearing anything underneath?"

She looked down at her chest, and the redness of her skin deepend
as she realised Mulder's gaze was directed at the same spot.

She tried to sound outraged. "Of course I am."

He looked back up at her and grinned. "Its no big deal Scully.
Turn around, lower your shirt. I'll do it as quickly as possible,
I won't take a single peek. Scout's honour."

"You were never a Boy Scout, Mulder."

He sighed and was about to suggest that she let Sheriff Watson do
it, and then decided that maybe that wasn't such a great idea.

"Scully, give me a break here. If it was me, you'd be pulling the
old 'I'm the Doctor' routine on me. You know this needs doing."

She sighed and turned around. He watched as her hands went up
to start undoing the buttons of her shirt. She threw an unreadable look
at him over her shoulder. He busied himself with the cotton wool,
dabbing ethanol on it. Trying not to think about the flesh that was
about to be revealed to him. When he looked up at her now bared
back he gasped.

He suddenly realised why she hadn't wanted to take her shirt off. It
wasn't because she was shy at all.

"Scully...." Words failed him as his eyes took in the slew of bruises
that covered her back. The gash she'd gotten in the trees was nothing
compared to the ugly yellow, blue and red marks that coloured her
skin.

"Its the treatment."

He nodded even though he knew she wasn't looking at him to see it.

"Does it hurt Scully?"

She looked over her shoulder at him again. He sounded so hurt, so
traumatised by the sight, that she wanted to reassure him. "No, it
doesn't hurt. Well sometimes, while they're administering it, but
it doesn't hurt now."

His arms came around her so suddenly that her next breath came
out of her lungs in a hiss. He pulled her back against him and buried
his face in her hair. One hand was resting on her bare stomach and
the other on her upper arm.

She felt a pleasurable heat swim through her body and she relished
the contact, the feel of his hand against the sensitive flesh of her
stomach, until she realised where they were and how she must look,
standing half-naked in a forest. Her underwear paraded for any
passing hiker to see.

"Mulder..."

"Mmm."

He didn't show any signs of letting her go. She considered not
voicing a protest and just enjoying the moment, the musky smell of
him, the feel of his chest against her back, but then she thought
about Emily Watson, who'd be returning from her stroll any moment.
"Mulder. I'm fine. Its okay. Just clean the cut up."

He snapped to suddenly and let her go, almost with a push. "Sorry. I...
just..." He cleaned the cut quickly. Dabbing at it lightly. Trying to take
no notice of either the bruises, or the simple, white lace bra she wore.
For some reason the words of a Big Bopper song went around in his
mind. 'You know what I like'.

She gave a small breathy sound at the sting of the disinfectant.

"No pain, no gain, Scully."

She looked around at him, and he smiled, only realising after the
words had left his mouth that he probably meant it in regards to her
cancer treatment as well as the clean-up job he was doing on her gash.
He saw that Scully had also caught the double meaning behind the
statement.

"Yeah, Mulder. That's what they say."

"I think its stopped bleeding

"Thanks." She pulled her shirt back up, but didn't refasten the buttons.
She turned and took the cotton wool and small bottle of ethanol from
him.Giving him a soft, grateful, look she went to put the things away.
He turned his back when he saw her pull another shirt from amongst
her small bundle of clothing and realised she was about to change.

When he turned back she was fastening up a light-blue-short-sleeved
shirt. Emily Watson came walking slowly back, and Scully hastened
her buttoning up, flushing a little.

"Not interrupting anything am I?"

Scully gave Emily an embarassed smile.

"Believe me, this is not what it looks like. I had a cut on my back. I
had to change shirts."

She held up the bloodied white cloth for Emily to see. The sight made
Mulder want to smile. She looked like a courtroom lawyer presenting
evidence to the jury.

Emily ran a hand through her blonde hair. "None of my business."
She brushed past Scully and picked up her backpack. "Let's get going
shall we?"

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I think the pills are starting to kick in already."

Emily walked off, leaving Mulder and Scully struggling to gather their
things and follow. Scully looked at the bloodied shirt and sighed as she
tossed it into her pack. "My clothes really take a battering on these
trips with you Mulder. Another perfectly good shirt ruined."

Mulder was ready and started to walk. He leaned down as he passed
her to follow Emily, and spoke low, so that only she would hear.
"Never mind Scully, I prefer the one you have on now. It matches
your eyes."

She watched his retreating back, unable to move for a moment,
reeling from his compliment. 'Yes, that's what it was Scully, definitely.
Mulder just paid you a compliment'. "First time for everything" she
muttered to herself as she half-walked, half-ran, to catch up with him.
 

Ferrier's Point
Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 28th, 6.30 p.m.

After reaching Ferrier's Point mid-afternoon, Mulder and Scully
left Emily to set up camp, while they began to question campers
and settler's.

Although they were there on gruesome business, Scully noted how
good it felt to be walking alongside Mulder, discussing the
case, and their thoughts on the settlers they came across. Their
arms brushing from time to time as they made their way along
forest tracks.

They went their separate ways in investigations far too often for
her liking. Apart, they were weaker, less effective, together they
seemed invincible. They were making their way back to
the camp site now. Scully was flipping through her notebook,
hoping to garner something from their afternoon's work.

Campers seemed to have discovered that the FBI were on the trail
of a murderer in the area and had started to flee the area in numbers.
Around them were hikers packing up their supplies and their
children and preparing to make the descent down into town.

"I can't believe nobody's seen this guy Mulder, we must have
talked to twenty people who are up here, day and night, and they've
not seen even a glimpse of him."

"Or, they have, and they just don't want to tell the Fibbies about it.
Its a pretty close knit community, Scully, they're obviously wary of
outsiders. If they've accepted him up here, maybe they're willing to
defend him, cover his tracks."

"You're saying they're willing to cover up for a murderer?"

"They might not know he's a murderer."

"Or they do and they don't care as long as he isn't murdering them.
You realise Mulder that probably about three-quarters of those settlers
have criminal records. You saw the way some of them looked at our
badges, they looked almost ready to surrender themselves, before they
realised that we were just there to question them."

Mulder gave her a wry smile. "So what do you want to do G-woman?
Round 'em all up? It would boost our arrest records."

"Might close hundreds of cases in States all across the country Mulder.
But I don't think the tax payer would thank us. Think what it would
cost to lock all these people up. Why bother, when they're in a prison
of they're own making." She gestured at the forest.

"Not such a bad prison Scully. Fresh air, freedom to move about."

She shrugged. "They're still trapped here, as non-identities,
non-citizens. They can never go back into society for fear of their
crimes catching up with them. They've given themselves a life
sentence."

Mulder studied Scully's thoughtful face as they walked. For
someone who constantly saw the horrific after-affects of crimes of all
shapes and sizes, she was incredibly compassionate. She still had a
belief in human nature.He wondered if he still did. He believed in her,
but few other people.

She continued. "Anyway, we have an ongoing crime to solve. Let's
let the sleeping ones lie."

"Another wasted afternoon Scully, we're running out of time."

"We still have another day Mulder. Three days, remember?"

"I just feel so useless. We're the FBI and all we're actually doing is
the equivalent of door-to-door enquiries. A rookie cop could take
my place on this case."

Scully stopped and put a hand on his arm. She was breathing a little
heavily. "Slow down Mulder."

He pulled up and looked at her reddened face. "Sorry." He usually
altered his pace naturally to fit in with her shorter strides. He knew
he'd been walking too fast because he was frustrated at their lack
of progression the case.

She puffed a little. "So do what your good at Mulder?"

He leaned against a tree, Scully didn't seem in any hurry to move on
yet. "What?"

"You're saying you're doing what a rookie cop could do, but you can
do more that that. You're a criminal profiler. Use your skills and get
inside this man's head. Tell me why he's doing what he does, and
where he would go to do it."

"Scully, if I knew that, we wouldn't be wandering around aimlessly,
looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack."

She started to walk again and he followed. "You can do better than
that Mulder. I know you, I've seen you pull theories out of thin air."

He was warmed by her faith in him, and was afraid of letting her
down. "I don't know Scully, this guy, it's almost like I don't want to
know what he does, or why he does it. I'm afraid of what I might
find out."

She looked up at him. "Afraid?"

"I can't explain it. I just....I just want to get this child back to her
parents."

Scully nodded, and they walked on a little further in silence, before
Muler spoke again.

"To be honest Scully, I haven't been very focussed on this case. My
mind has been on....on other issues."

She glanced briefly at him, before looking back at the trail in front
of them. "What other issues?"

"I've been wondering if there's something wrong with me."

She stopped and looked up at him, suddenly concerned, and was
about to ask him if he felt ill, when the quiet of the forest was
shattered by a piercing scream.

Their eyes met, and they both drew their weapons.

"That sound like a child's scream to you Scully?" He whispered
low.

They heard the scream again, louder this time. Scully nodded at
him and they took off in the direction it had come from.

They ran for a couple of minutes before they heard it again, they
were closer to it now, and Scully wanted to call out to Mulder,
to tell him to slow down, not to go charging in, but she didn't
have the breath for it. Her lungs were too busy gasping for air
as she tried to keep up with him.

The screams were continuous now, and Scully sensed they were
close to the cause of them. In front of her she saw Mulder burst
through a mass of branches into a clearing and stop. Feet apart,
gun obviously aimed at someone's head.

She slowed her stride and walked more carefully into the clearing,
her gun held steadily out in front of her. She was surprised at the
sight that greeted her, and looked up at Mulder, whose shoulders
had slumped, his gun hanging limply by his side. He ran his hand
through his hair and gave her a wry smile.

There were three persons in the clearing, a man, a woman and a
tiny girl, of no more than three, who was still screaming.

The man held his hands up, palms towards them in surrender.
"Please, don't shoot."

Mulder nodded at him. "Its okay, we're sorry sir, we're with the
FBI." Scully put her weapon back in its holster and reached for
her badge when she saw Mulder do the same. "We're investigating
a crime in the area, when we heard the screaming, we thought
maybe someone was in trouble. We didn't mean to alarm you."

The man examined both their badges and nodded, lowering his
arms. Still looking a little shocked, he gestured to his daughter.
"We heard there's some kind of killer on the loose, and we're
packing to go home. Casey here doesn't want to go, she was
throwing a little fit."

The little girl had stopped her fretting and now rested
peacefully in her Mother's arms. She stared at Mulder and
Scully in curiosity. Scully caught her looking and smiled at her.
Her heart was warmed by the shy, toothy grin she got in return.

"We'll get out of your way."

The man nodded. "Thanks."

They began to wander away when they heard the man call
out to them. "I hope you catch the guy."

Mulder answered with a grim smile. "So do we."

They found the trail that would lead them back to where they'd
left Emily setting up camp.

Scully looked up at her partner. "Cute kid."

"Cute? I suppose so. Got a great pair of lungs on her."

"Do you like children Mulder?"

"Sure, particularly with some fava beans and a nice chianti."

Scully chuckled and the rare sound startled him a little.

"Seriously."

"I suppose so Scully. I don't really know any children well
enough to decide whether or not I like them."

"Do you want children?"

He looked down at her and made a quick study of her face,
but it was giving nothing away.

"You say that like they're something I can go and pick up
at the store. Why d'you ask Scully?"

She shrugged, her voice was light and musical, but there
was a tinge of sadness in it. "Its just that sometimes I think
how my life might have been different, if I hadn't chosen
this path, and I was wondering if you have those kind of
thoughts too." She swiped at a strand of copper hair that
had fallen out of the band she'd used to tie her back, and
continued. "I mean if you hadn't lost your sister, if you hadn't
gotten involved in the X Files. Do you think you'd be a family
man?"

"You mean two-point-five kids and a station wagon? I don't
know. Sometimes I dream about that kind of life, but I think
I'm dreaming about something I wouldn't want if I had it.
This is me Scully, this is what I was meant to do."

She nodded. He wanted to say something to her. Ask her how
she felt about not being able to bear children, but it seemed
too intimate, too personal, too painful.

"It must be comforting though Mulder, to be a parent and to
know that you're leaving a part of yourself to the world. That
there's someone who will always remember that you once
existed, because they carry your genes, your blood."

"Scully." They were near their camping site now and he put a
hand on her shoulder to stop her. "You're not going to die."

She shrugged his hand off. "Everybody dies Mulder, sooner
or later. I was talking in general terms, not about myself."

She went ahead of him, saw their camping ground, and Emily,
and froze.

She felt and heard Mulder come up behind her and stop, taking
in the scene.

Emily was being held by a dishevelled looking man, his arm
around her neck, and her own gun pointed at her temple. His
clothes were worn and shabby, dirt was ingrained into his
features and there was madness in his eyes. He yelled at Mulder
and Scully.

"You two make one move on me, and I'll blow her head off I
swear."

Scully spoke in a soothing tone. "We're not going to do anything.
Just let the Sheriff go."

"I will. I don't want to hurt her, but I want to talk to you."

Mulder took a step towards the man and Emily, and stood in
front of Scully. The man clicked the safety off the gun, and
Scully took a deep breath.

Mulder held his hands up by his head to show they were empty.
"I'm not trying anything. What's your name?"

"You don't need to know that."

"Okay. What did you want to talk to us about?"

"I got information for you, but I want something in return."

"What?"

"Food and a little money."

Scully admired Mulder's negotiating skills. Seconds ago Emily's
captor had been a bundle of nervous panic, ready to pull on the
trigger his finger was still gripping, but now he was almost calm,
and willing to enter into a conversation with Mulder. She
decided to keep quiet and let her partner handle this particular
situation.

"We can give you that, what did you want to tell us?"

"I know who you're looking for. The child killer. I saw him
dragging another little one up these hills two nights ago."

Mulder nodded. "Where is he now?"

"I don't know exactly."

"Then your information isn't much good to us, is it? If you
want some food, you'd better think about what else you've
seen."

The man licked his lips. "I know who he is. He tried to trade
some things with me. He had a child's necklace, and some hair
pins, and a pair of sneakers once. I told him I had no use for
stuff like that, and I asked him where he got it from. He told me
they were his sister's. That she lives up here with him."

Registering the remark, Mulder looked around at Scully briefly,
to see if she had too.

"But you don't know where he lives?"

"Its near. You're close. He's always around here. He traded
some things for digging stuff once. Got them from a friend of
mine. You know, shovels and so."

The man released his hold on Emily a little, and she seemed to
sigh a little in relief.

"That's all I know."

Mulder nodded. "Okay this is what were going to do. You
release Sheriff Watson, and start heading South. When you
get two hundreds yards away, you put her gun down. I'll
come in ten minutes, take the gun and replace it with food
and money. You can collect it when I'm gone."

The man looked a Mulder warily for a while. "You won't
try anything on me once I give up the gun will you?"

"No, you have my word. As much as I dislike like people
who attack law enforcement officers and hold them hostage,
I won't try and arrest you. Think of it as a return favour for
your information."

The man seemed to grin a little as he released Sheriff Watson
with a gentleness that surprised Scully, and then he took off into
the trees.

She went straight over to Emily who had collapsed to her
knees and put a hand on her bowed head. "Emily, are you
okay? Are you hurt?" Scully dropped to her knees beside
her.

Emily shook her head and threw her arms around Scully.
Mulder began looking through their supplies, for some
food he could give to their informant.

Scully was having a little difficulty breathing. Emily had
crushed her to her chest, and her arms held her there with
a vice-like grip. Scully ran a hand up and down the Sheriff's
back to soothe her.

"Its okay Emily. He's gone."

"I just feel so stupid. I should have been paying more attention.
He came up behind me, while I was setting things up."

"Don't worry, you're alive, and unhurt, that's all that matters."

Scully saw Mulder walk off into the words. She tried to pull
away from Emily a little, but the other woman didn't seem to
want to let go.

"Its okay Emily, really. You wouldn't believe how many times
I've been caught out like that."

"You have no idea, how pleased I was to see you come back."

"Oh, I think I do."

Emily finally released her, and Scully pulled back and looked up
at the sky. "We're losing the light. How about we get ready to
settle down for the night?"

Emily nodded and got up, smiling softly at Scully. "Sorry, if I...
I just lost it a little there."

Scully smiled back. "No problem."
 

Ferrier's Point
Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 28th, 1997
8.30 p.m.

Mulder accepted the fact that their investigation had to stop
with nightfall much easier than he had the previous night. He
tried to relax over the meal they ate.

When he'd arrived back from the drop point, he'd handed
Sheriff Watson's gun back to her with a sympathetic smile
and a pat on the arm.

Scully had asked him how much money he'd given away. He'd
told her and she'd clucked her tongue at him, telling him
he was far too generous, and that probably meant that she'd
be buying their lunches for a while when they made it back to
D.C. Mulder had smiled and gone off to collect materials for
a camp fire.

They sat around the fire now. Mulder watched Scully who was
sitting opposite him. She was staring deep into the fire, lost in
thought, she hadn't spoken in a while. Sheriff Watson was equally
quiet.

His mind drifted back to that morning, when he'd pulled Scully
against him. He'd reacted to a mixture of things. His relief that
the shot Mendhlesson had fired had missed her, the bruises
that covered her back, her bravery in dealing with a fatal disease.

He remembered how soft the skin on her stomach had felt against
his hand, how good she had smelled, how right it felt to hold her
in his arms. He couldn't control his wanting her anymore, he'd
been controlling it for too long, and now that he might be losing
her slowly, he was filled with a desparation for her, a need to
posses her, totally. To be inside her, to fill her and be surrounded
by her. He let out a mild curse at the direction his thoughts were
taking and Scully looked up at him.

He shook his head to let her know nothing was wrong and she
got to her feet.

"Its a little chilly, I'm going to get a sweater."

Mulder nodded and watched her go, her backside swinging as
she walked. He cursed softly again.

"You okay Fox?"

He looked over at Emily. "Yeah. Just a little....frustrated." He
shifted his position on the ground.

"Its hard isn't it?"

Mulder tried to hide his grin. "Mmm, pretty hard."

"Knowing we're so close, yet not being able to look for
for him because its too dark."

He forced his mind back to the case. "Yeah. At least we have
something more to go on tomorrow."

"You think he's underground?"

"It would explain the digging materials, and how he's able to
disappear for periods of time, and hide his victims."

The Sheriff nodded. "We'll do a search tomorrow, look for
disturbed earth. There's some caves around here too, we should
check those out." She paused. "Fox, do you think Molly's
okay still, he wouldn't have done anything already would he?"

"No, he's taking care of her. He will until tomorrow, that's how
long he took care of his sister. If he's playing out his memories
of that time, she'll be safe till then."

He looked at the Sheriff's pained face and searched his mind for
a subject that would relieve her fears for a while.

Meanwhile, inside the tent, Scully had to tip everything out of her
backpack until she found the sweater she'd packed. She pulled it
out and slipped it over her head, looking at the rolled-up cuffs. Why
the hell had she packed this? Mulder's sweater. She wore it all the
time at home, it was comfortable. She'd had it for years now and
couldn't quite remember how she'd gained possession of it.
She'd kept meaning to give it back, but had forgotten to return it
for so long, that it had become hers.

'Ah hell Scully, you're gonna look like a lovesick grad student
mooning about in his clothing'. She almost whipped it back off,
and then remembered how cold she'd been without it. 'Since
when does Mulder pay any attention to clothes, he won't even
remember it was his'. She left it on and crawled out of the tent.

She tipped her head to one side when she heard Mulder and
Emily's laughter. Her stomach sank a little. He never laughed
like that around her. He smirked, made the odd sarcastic remark,
waggled his eyebrows, but he never really laughed, and neither
did she. They seemed to be surrounded by gloominess when
they were together. Even when Mulder was at his funniest she
could barely manage more than a chuckle.

Hearing chatter and some more laughter, she considered
disappeaing back into the tent and leaving them to it. Mulder
was obviously getting along well with the Sheriff, why spoil
it for him? 'He'll need someone when you're gone'. She banished
the thought when it surfaced. 'You're not going to die', 'Mulder
promised you, you're not going to die'.

Suddenly feeling alone and scared she made her way back to the
fire, and Mulder and Emily. They both looked up when she
arrived.

"I was just telling Emily about that guy who ate the live crickets,
remember Scully? You did that slight-of-hand, had me fooled
for a second. I really thought you'd eaten it."

Scully smiled at the memory. It seemed like a thousand years
ago now. A million miles away.
.
"Yeah. I remember."

The moment she sat down, Mulder and Emily's mood seemed
to change, the laughter ceased. Scully wondered if she had
that effect on people now. If her seriousness depressed others.
She looked over at Mulder, a soft smile still played on his
lips. Their eyes met. He winked at her.

She shut her eyes for a moment and opened them again, looking
back over at him. 'Did I imagine that?'. He was looking into
the fire now. 'He winked at me? What was that for?'.

Emily clapped her hands together, breaking the silence. "Who's
for a little dessert?"

Mulder looked over at her in surprise. "What? Don't tell me
you brought ice-cream up here?"

"Better than that. It's a liquid dessert."

"An alcoholic, liquid dessert?"

"Now you're getting the idea. I have a half-litre of brandy."

Mulder imagined the smooth liquid running down his throat,
warming his stomach. "I'd love some." He wasn't much of
a drinker. But tonight, sitting around a camp fire, his favourite
person with him, it seemed like a wonderful idea.

Emily went off in search of her bottle, and Mulder looked
over at Scully.

"Nice sweater Scully. I used to have one like that."

She looked down at the navy woollen garment and then back
up at her partner, flushing a little.

"Really?"

He nodded. "Lost it a few years back."

"That's too bad."

"Yeah. I think I was at your apartment when I lost it."

She gave him a sheepish look and he smiled his forgiveness.
"Keep it. In return for all the Christmas presents I never
bought you, and the birthdays I missed."

"Thanks Mulder. It wouldn't fit you now anyway. I think it
shrunk it when I washed it last."

"Ah, finally, I've discovered something you're bad at."

She glanced at him, eyebrow raised.

"Laundry. I knew there had to be something, you seem to
excel at everything else Scully."

She smiled and then suddenly remembered a conversation
they'd had earlier. One that had been interupted.

"Mulder are you okay?"

He looked over at her, confused. "I'm fine, why?"

"Earlier, when we were talking, before we heard that child
screaming, you said you were worried there was something
wrong with you."

"Oh that, I didn't mean physically Scully. I was just rambling,
don't worry about it."

"Mulder. Tell me. There was obviously something bothering
you if you said that."

He looked over carefully at her. He hadn't had the brandy yet,
but he felt a little drunk. Too much fresh air maybe. Now
wasn't really the right time, but she had asked. He took a deep
breath.

"I was thinking that maybe there was something wrong with me,
because I'm up here in these wonderful surroundings, with this
woman that I think is wonderful, intelligent and beautiful, and I'm
not doing anything about it."

He glanced at her fearfully, wary of her reaction. She was
obviously taken aback, her face was a mixture of surprise and

panic. Her eyes looked a little moist. His hopes faded, and then
rose.

She shrugged and offered a thin smile.

His hopes died again. 'Shit. You just blew it Mulder, four years
of partnership. Down the drain, why the hell d'you open your
mouth, things were near perfect the way they were'.

Scully licked her lips. "Mulder, you could do something about it."

His eyes bored into hers, his hopes were rising again. "I could?"

She nodded. "Yeah I mean, I...don't worry about me, I wouldn't
want to get in the way. I could just, you know...go for a walk, or
...something."

He started to laugh.

Scully glared over at him, he was laughing at her again. Annoyance
registered in her voice when she spoke.

"What's so funny?"

Mulder tried to control it, but couldn't, he laughed harder.
Incredulous at Scully's mistake. He'd gotten up the courage, after
four years, to tell her how he felt, and she thought he was talking
about someone else. It was so tragic, it struck him as funny.

Emily came back bearing a bottle and three mugs. She looked at
Mulder who was laughing so hard he was close to tears, and then
turned to Scully.

"What's the matter with him?"

"I have no idea. I'm going to bed." She got up and Mulder rose
and held out an arm to stop her leaving, but she brushed past it.

He managed to control his laughter long enough to call out to her,
as she disappeared into the night. "Scully, come back here."

He realised she wasn't coming back, and suddenly it wasn't funny.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before sitting back
down. He took the mug of brandy that Emily offered him.

"So how d'you upset her this time?"

"I'm not sure, but I promise you, I was trying to be nice."

"You two confuse me, I can't make you out."

"We confuse each other." Mulder downed the brandy, and shivered
at the unaccustomed taste.

"I know you care about her, but you seem to give her a really hard
time you know?"

"I swear Emily, I was just telling her how wonderful, intelligent
and pretty she is." He held out his mug to be refilled and looked
at his drinking companion carefully. "She's all those things, don't
you think?"

Emily nodded as she poured him another drink. "Yes, I do."

"I don't normally go for red heads, but there's something about
Scully that makes it look wonderful on her, and then she has
those cute little freckles across her nose that come out in the sun,
and her eyes are amazing. They change colour with her moods,
you know?"

The Sheriff was staring at him now. "Yeah, I'd noticed that."

"And her lips...she has a mouth that was made for kissing. When
you look at it, don't you just want to lean in and feel those lips
against yours?"

"Yes, I....I mean, no...I" Emily flustered. Realising what he'd
made her admit, she put a hand over her eyes, and groaned.

"Fox, am I that obvious?"

He chuckled and reached over to put a comforting hand on her
knee. "Don't worry, I think you have great taste."

She looked at him seriously as she sipped her drink. "My feelings
aern't going to get reciprocated are they?"

Mulder shrugged. "As far as I know, there's only ever been men in
Scully's life, but I don't know everything about her. Even Scully
and I, as close as we are, have secrets from one another. But to
be honest Emily, I think the odds are pretty long."

"D'you think Dana knows, that I...this is so embarassing."

"Don't be embarassed. You can't help the way you feel, and I don't
think Scully has a clue. She's one of those people who seems to be
completely oblivious to the fact that they're incredibly attractive."

Emily nodded. "I think that's what I like about her."

"Sounds to me like someone has a mighty big crush." He stood
and Emily looked up at him.

"Sounds to me like I'm not the only one."

He smiled and ruffled her hair. "Thanks for the drink, I'll see
you in the morning."

He left her sitting by the fire and strolled over to his tent. He
looked over at the other tent and saw a light shinning inside it.

He went over, pulled up the zip, and crawled half-way in, resting
on his elbows, his feet sticking out the opening. He looked at
Scully, who was lying on her side, reading a case file. She was
in her sleeping bag, still wearing his sweater. He wondered briefly
if she still had her shorts on. She acknowledged his presence with
a raise of her eyebrow.

"Still friends Scully?"

Her expression softened and she looked warmly at him. "We'll
always be friends Mulder."

"Get a good nights sleep. It's all or nothing tomorrow."

She nodded. "Yeah."

He began crawling backwards out of the tent when a thought
struck him and he stopped.

"Want to keep me company in my little house across the way,
instead of sleeping here?"

"Didn't we have this conversation last night Mulder?"

"I have chocolate in my tent Scully."

"Thanks Mulder, but for some reason I think I'll be safer here."

Mulder smirked. "I wouldn't count on it."

He was gone before she had a chance to ask him what he meant.

**

Breakspeare Forest
Virginia
June 29th, 1997
1.53 a.m.

Mulder was tired, but unable to sleep. He had learned to survive on
very little rest over the years, so that now, even when a good nights
sleep was available to him, when he could rest for as long as he
wanted, he found it difficult to do so.

He lay awake listening to the sounds of the forest, thinking about the
killer they were attempting to hunt down. He thought about what
Scully had said. She'd encouraged him to get inside Mendhlesson's
head, but he was reluctant to do so. For once, he didn't feel the need
to dissect the perpetrator's motives or intentions, as he did on almost
all of their cases, but he felt he might have to, if they were to save
Molly's life.

Perhaps the reason he didn't want to get inside Mendhlesson's
head was because his own mind was too fully of Scully at the moment.
He didn't want to mix his thoughts of a schizophrenic, child abuser
and murderer up with those about someone as good, and as pure as
Scully.

His mind was replaying their converstion beside the fire. He could
remember it all, word for word, every little movement on her
exquisite face. What the hell had he almost said to her? What was he
hoping would happen after he'd told her how he felt?

Scully's misinterpretation of things filled him with both relief and
regret. 'Its fate Mulder. It isn't supposed to happen. If it was,
Scully would have understood.'

He'd taken many risks in his life, but intensifying his relationship with
Scully would have been the biggest risk of all. He wanted her, he
couldn't stop wanting her, but with Scully it wouldn't just be about
sex. It would be about transforming their relationship into something
beyond friendship, and in that process, the friendship they now had,
the most wonderful, truest, honest friendship he had ever known,
might be destroyed.

Convincing himself that it was better to keep the friendship, than to
try for more and lose everything in the process, he turned over in his
sleeping bag, and tried to banish thoughts of Scully from his mind. It
wasn't easy.

But when the knife came through the canvas of his tent, slitting a hole
about a foot in length, Scully was suddenly the last thing on his mind.
At first, he was too shocked to react to the flash of blade. He heard a
maniacal laugh and a fast retreating step before he managed to propel
himself into action. By the time he had clambered out of his sleeping
bag, grabbed his gun, fought with the zipper on the entrance flap, and
made it out of the tent, there was no-one to be seen. Nothing but
blackness all around. He considered giving chase, but really had no
idea of what direction to take.

He looked down at his t-shirt and underwear. 'wouldn't get far like
that anyway G-Man'. He was about to duck back inside the tent,
when he saw a note pinned to the side of it. He sighed and ripped it
off, squinting to read it in the all encompassing darkness.

He read it to himself. "I didn't kill her". He sighed and folded the note.
What did that mean and who was he talking about? Molly, or one of
his other victims? Perhaps his sister?

A loud burst of thunder erupted overhead, and he felt the ground
rumble under his bare feet. Lightning lit up the sky, and when he felt
the first few drops of rain he looked at the slashed roof of his tent in
dismay. "Great, simply wonderful."

He walked over to the other tent and yelled at the top of his voice.
"SCULLY." He heard some rustling around and a kind of 'hummph'
sound that he was sure eminated from his partner, but it was Sheriff
Watson who opened the flap and poked her head out.

"Something wrong Mulder."

"Our chief suspect decided I needed a little ventilation in my
sleeping quarters."

Emily rubbed a hand over her face. "What?"

"He slashed a hole in my tent, and now its raining dogs, cats
and mice."

"Oh, I guess you need to come in here then?"

"Yeah, right after I do my Gene Kelly impression."

She smiled. "Go get all your stuff, you don't want it to get wet."

He gave her a little salute and ran back to his tent.

When Emily pulled back inside, Scully yawned at her and rubbed
her eyes. "What time is it?"

"The middle of the night. We have a new bedfellow."

"Yeah I heard. A knife through his tent?"

"Mmm. Of course he might have done it himself. Maybe he just
wants to sleep with you?" Emily slipped back inside her sleeping
bag.

"I'm not his type remember?"

Emily looked across at her and smiled softly. "Dana, you're
anybody's type."

"Thank you, that's a nice thing to say, but.."

Emily interrupted. "Dana, I..."

Mulder came bustling into the tent before Emily had a chance to
finish the sentence. He grinned at them, his sleeping bag under
one arm and knapsack brimming with his belongings in the other.

"Hi girls, sorry to interrupt the slumber party."

"What happened Mulder? Are you okay?" Scully's face was full
of concern.

"Well I got to admit that it shook me up a little, but I'm fine. I just
wished I'd managed to react a little faster, I might have caught him."

Emily yawned as she shifted her sleeping bag to the side so that
Mulder could lay down between them. "Don't worry about it Fox,
its pitch black out there. Even if you had reacted faster, you probably
wouldn't have caught him. He would have lost you in minutes. Its
hard enough to find your way around this forest in the daylight."

Scully watched as Mulder laid out his sleeping bag. She took in
the elegant movements of his lower torso, clad only in his boxer
shorts. She'd seen it before of course, the muscled thighs, the hairless
patches of skin on his shins, his oversized feet. As her gaze drifted
upwards to his groin she gave herself a mental s