Title - Fantasies Author - Donna Email address - donnah@pop.uky.edu URL - www.geocities.com/Area51/Quadrant/4571/ Rating - R Category - MSR Spoilers - Series through 6th season Keywords - MSR Summary - Go with the flow Feedback - Please, I think Disclaimer - Mulder, Scully, the Lone Gunman and Skinner all belong to Chris Carter, 10-13 and Fox. No infringement intended Fantasies - (R) The plane was so late that they didn’t even bother checking in with local authorities, only checking into their hotel and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow morning would be time enough to find out why the police chief had asked for them specifically. She had drifted off to sleep fairly easily and didn’t move until she felt the weight press down on the mattress. Startled she reached out to fend off whoever was there. The contact with the hard muscles of his chest sent a surge of adrenaline through her. Who had gotten into her room? Would Mulder hear her if she screamed? Of course he would and he’d be here in seconds. Except . . . Mulder? This was Mulder, in her bed, his hands on her! He wasn’t really forcing himself on her, at least not in the rape sense. He was holding her, caressing her, murmuring her name as though he belonged in her bed. Fully awake now, she pulled away and he followed her. "Mulder! What the hell are you doing?" It was when he didn’t respond that she realized he was asleep. But walking in his sleep into her room was no excuse. "Mulder?" She shook him, which he seemed to take as a signal to nuzzle her breasts. "Mulder!" Now she drew back forcefully and before he could reconnect, slapped him across the face. That had the semi-desired effect. He woke with a start and looked down at her. "Scully? What are you doing in – " "This is my room Mulder. You were apparently walking in your sleep." She spoke dryly, trying to disguise her discomposure from him. "Sleep walk . . . " That was when the physical nature of his presence became clear to him and he rapidly exited her bed. Not good enough - he was only wearing the boxers and they, well, they weren’t adequate. He jerked the bedspread from her bed and wrapped it around him. She had finally managed to sit up and sat watching him without a clear idea of anything to say. "Scully, I – I’m sorry, I . . . I’ve never walked in my sleep . . . " "No, uh, no real harm done, Mulder. You must have been dreaming or . . . or something." "Yeah. Look, I’m sorry. Maybe, uh maybe you should lock the door on your side. Then if you need me . . . " He was backing toward the door, nearly babbling. She waited until he closed the door behind him, then rose from the bed and after a second, did turn the lock. She tried to ignore the fact that her hand was shaking and hurried back to the bed. Sleep refused to come for a very long time. Back on his side of the door the sound of the lock slipping into place sounded like a death knell. What the hell had he been thinking? That was the problem - he hadn’t been thinking; he’d been dreaming. But, hell, he’d been doing that for years. Thank god she’d slapped him when she had, or he’d be in a jail cell. Deservedly so. He dropped her bedspread on the floor. His "problem" hadn’t gone away, but he’d be damned if he was going to do anything about it. Not now. He slipped back into his own bed and stared at the ceiling, trying not to remember the feel of her body against his. He didn’t sleep the rest of the night. When he tapped on her door the next morning, the outside door, not the connecting one, she answered immediately. She opened the door, fully dressed as though she’d been up for hours. He didn’t look as good. The shower hadn’t really revived him and the guilt was still hovering over his head like a cloud. "Good morning, Mulder." All business. Okay, he could play that. She was probably just trying to make him feel better. She’d do that for him; he shouldn’t be surprised. "You want some breakfast?" "Just coffee. You look like you could use some too." "Yeah." Maybe he couldn’t do the "all business" thing. He wanted to talk to her about what had happened, maybe apologize again. She wasn’t exactly giving him an opportunity. His hand automatically came up to the small of her back and, though she didn’t flinch away, he dropped his hand immediately. She felt her spirits sink. Whatever it was that had happened last night had messed up the status quo. He was going to be awkward around her and face it, she felt awkward around him. Their breakfast coffee and bagels was even quieter than normal. She had barely finished her cup when he rose. "Well, I guess we ought to go meet Sheriff Baker." "Uh, yeah. I’m ready." But she didn’t look at him, fiddling with her jacket and slipping from the booth. Shit! He’d made an ass of himself last night. They hadn’t locked the connecting door between their rooms since . . . hell, he couldn’t even remember. He shook his head again at his own stupidity and followed her from the coffee shop. The drive to the sheriff’s office was made in silence. He held the door for her, again having to remind himself not to touch her back. Did he really do it that much or was he just conscious of it now? ***** "Boy, are we glad you’re here." The Sheriff led them into his office, "Some friends of mine thought you guys might be the perfect people to investigate what’s going on around here. They said you were used to weird things and, well, that’s what this is." "Could you tell us what’s been happening?" Mulder would have listened to him recite the alphabet - anything else to think about besides his own stupidity. "Well, you aren’t going to laugh at me are you?" He shut the door to his office and motioned them toward the chairs. "No sir, we just need to hear what you think is going on." Scully looked up at the man to reassure him. Mulder noticed Sheriff Baker’s shoulders seem to relax just looking at her. He felt his own tighten. "Okay, guess I shouldn’t stall anymore. Have a seat." He sat behind his desk and pulled out a handful of folders. "We’ve had a real crime spree here in town: an arson, a bank robbery, the school vandalized, and several molestations. It’s like the whole town has gone crazy." "Sheriff Baker, I’m sure you know that this is happening all around the country. Maybe statistically – " "Yeah, yeah. That’s what you’d think, except for the people doing it. The arson was committed by the fire chief; the school was vandalized by the teacher voted teacher of the year last year; the minister of the Baptist Church broke into one of his parishioners homes and . . . well that didn’t get too far, but still . . ." "Excuse me, you know who’s done all of these things?" "Well, yeah. They’ve all been caught at the scene, before too much damage was done." "So, what do they say?" "That they were asleep." Mulder’s whole body stiffened and he felt Scully’s head snap up. "They say they were dreaming, like they were acting out their fantasies in their sleep." "Their fantasies?" Scully asked that one; no way he was going to speak. "Yeah, that’s been the most puzzling thing. I mean the fire chief and I have been friends for thirty years, grew up here together. I knew how much he liked fire as a kid, though he’d never set one. But apparently it’s been one of his deep, dark secret longings for years. That was real hard for him to confess to me. And Mrs. Perkins, over at the school, apparently she’s – what do you call it – burnt out? She just wanted to lash out like the kids do sometimes." "So these people are acting out." "Yeah, but the thing they’ve all said, and they’re real strong on this point. Every one of them thought they were in bed dreaming. When we found them, we did have to wake them, like they was in a trance or something. These are good people Mr. Mulder, Ms. Scully. They wouldn’t do this normally." "I’m not sure – " Scully tried to keep her eyes away from Mulder, not waiting for him to speak. "Could they be possessed?" The sheriff looked at them. "I, uh, I think Agent Scully and I need to, uh, need to talk to some of the people." "Sure, sure. Jacob is over at the fire station right now." "He wasn’t suspended?" Scully asked, looking up from the folder she had picked up in order to do something with her hands. "Well no. He helped us put out the fire and he’s gonna pay for the damage, but there wasn’t all that much. He’s a good carpenter, so he’ll be doing most of the work himself." Scully took a deep breath. Small town America - you had to love it. "Okay, we’ll start with this Jacob White and check back with you." She rose, and Mulder was only a beat behind her. He stopped to shake the sheriff’s hand and had to hurry to catch up with her before she left the building. "Scully – " "Don’t say anything." "But Scully – " "Let’s just go over to the fire department and speak with Mr. White." "Maybe there’s a hallucinogen in the water or . . . " His voice trailed off as she turned away. The fire department was less than a block away and the chief admitted them into his office immediately. "I sure hope you can help me. I’m afraid to go to sleep now." He wasn’t denying his part in anything. "Can you tell us more about what happened?" Scully was definitely leading this investigation. He leaned back to watch the man as he talked. He was obviously rattled; he’d never walked in his sleep and hadn’t even admitted to himself how much the thought of actually starting a fire had appealed to him until this incident. "Are you on city water here and at your home?" Mulder’s head snapped up at that question. So she had listened to him! "Well, here I am, but my house is on well water. The city gets its drinking water from the processing plant over near the river. Do you think someone slipped something into the water?" "We don’t have any theories at this time." "Boy that would be a relief. ‘Course it won’t help the Reverend Sykes too much, now that his wife knows he’s lusting after the widow Sutherland. Even if he was drugged, the impulse was still there, you know?" Neither of them responded to that. After a few more questions and a sample of the water from the station, they were back in the car. He sat for a minute, not starting the car, waiting and hoping she’d speak. When she didn’t he swallowed, "Scully." "Let’s go to the school. I want to talk to the teacher next." "Fine." He turned away from her and started the car, not speaking again even after they parked and were headed inside. They stopped at the office and were directed to the teacher’s lounge, where Mrs. Maddox would meet them. They sat in silence, uncomfortable though neither would admit it, while they waited for her. She entered the room with shoulders slumped, head down. She didn’t look at all like a teacher of the year would look. "Are you here to arrest me?" "No ma’am." Mulder rose and held a chair for her. "We’re here to try to get to the bottom of what’s going on and why." "I can’t believe I did it. I mean, yes it was a fantasy of mine, especially after a really bad day, but not something I would ever really do. My god, I’m a teacher, an authority, and now . . . " She buried her face in her hands. Scully moved closer to her and comforted her until she was composed again. They got very little new information out of her. She had been dreaming. It was a dream she had had many times in the past. She’d always felt a guilty pleasure in enjoying the dream. And yes, she was on city water. ***** "Scully, it’s not the water. You’re not going to find anything there." "What do you mean? This was your idea in the first place. Now you’re convinced it’s something else? Why?" She finally turned to look at him, really look at him, probably for the first time all day. "I didn’t drink any water, or any water based fluid. I didn’t even take a shower." "What have you got to do with – " "Are you going to keep denying that I experienced the – " "I’m tired Mulder. I’m going to bed." She moved to the connecting door, leaving his room. "Scully, we need to talk about this." He was beseeching her, but she refused to look at him again. "Scully . . . " But he was talking to the closed door, and after hearing the lock snick into place, sank onto his bed unable to decide what to do next. She obviously didn’t want to face the fact that he had fantasies about her. And she just as obviously didn’t have them about him. Great. He felt his mood slip even lower. Finally he stood and decided to get ready for bed. After having no sleep last night he was tired. At least he knew she was safe, she’d locked him out to ensure it. He’d fallen asleep to the TV, sprawled on top of the covers, not willing to admit he was going to sleep and possibly dream of going to her again. The sound of the TV being turned off and the light missing from the room woke him. He was aware of someone moving around. He lunged for his gun as a car drove past his window. The headlights illuminated the room and he realized Scully had entered and turned off the TV. "Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I had it turned too loud." She didn’t answer, moving toward him. "Scully?" She tugged on the covers and he shifted, allowing her to pull them from under him and crawl inside. "Scully, if this is some kind of joke, retaliation for last night . . . Scully?" She still hadn’t spoken. But his eyes had adjusted enough now to see that she was completely nude. His mouth went dry. What was going on? She was against him now, her hands doing things he was enjoying way too much. As one hand trailed down his stomach, heading even further south, he managed to grab it. Now what? No way was he going to slap her. He couldn’t hit Scully anyway, but for doing this? No way in hell. "Scully, please." She was biting him now, his nipple, his chest. His arousal was complete and he knew he was losing good judgment. "Scully!" He forced her down on the bed, trying to talk to her, make her hear him. His hand cupped her breast and his fingers tightened on her nipple. Ahh, she liked that. He was definitely going to end up in jail. He had to stop thinking with his cock, not an easy thing under the circumstances. "Scully, listen to me. We can’t do this, not like this." He grabbed her hand again, accidentally bringing it down on her thigh just close enough . . . he was frozen in place, she was coming – he was holding Dana Scully as she came in his arms. This was a sight he’d been afraid to even imagine and here it was. She was relaxing again, drifting off pressed against his body. Once he was sure she was sound asleep again he rose, no way he could stay in the bed with her, not and remain sane. He made his way to the chair as he wrapped the extra blanket around him. ***** "Mulder? What are you . . . " She sat up in bed, "I locked the door from my side." "This isn’t your room." He responded gently. "You came to me last night. You might want to pull up the covers." "I . . . I . . .oh god." Her face was bright red as memory flooded her. Not a dream. "I think I understand now why you acted like you did yesterday. You weren’t angry at me for having fantasies; you were scared your own would surface." He rose from the chair now and stretched, then bent and picked up his t-shirt from yesterday. "Here." He tossed it to her and watched as she dived under the covers with it. When she emerged he sat on the bed beside her. "You okay?" She shook her head but didn’t speak. "Look, you may not remember it like it really happened. I didn’t take advantage of you, Scully. I swear. Otherwise would I have slept in that chair? I was nearly a perfect gentleman. It is nice to know I’m not alone in the fantasy department. Was it me you were fantasizing about?" She nodded her head miserably. Now what was going to happen? Her power, her distance was gone. He knew even this about her now. Was nothing sacred? "I’m not going to use this against you Scully." She looked up startled and he gave her a small smile. "If you won’t use the same information against me." "Mulder . . . " "We still need to get to the bottom of what’s causing this. What if we meet back here in a few minutes, after we’re dressed." He stood and headed for his bath. "Thanks." He turned back and nodded, but didn’t speak. He heard her leave his room just as he turned the shower on. He wanted to laugh when she did return. Did she own a more severe suit? "I assume this is not for my benefit, since I’ve already seen – " "Mulder! You said – " "I said I wouldn’t use what happened last night against you and I won’t. But you don’t have to punish yourself either. You are no more to blame about what didn’t happen here than Chief White or Mrs. Maddox. Lighten up, Scully. No one will ever know about this." He stepped closer to her and lifted her chin to look into her eyes. "I promise." ***** He looked up as Scully approached with a fax in her hand. At least she’d removed her jacket and unbuttoned the top button of her blouse. She still looked a little too much like a Catholic schoolgirl, but it didn’t hurt his memories at all. "Well, the water has no discernable chemicals that could cause a lowering of inhibitions. Now what?" She sank into the chair beside the desk he was using. "Look at this." He pointed to a map he had drawn of the town with the work locations of the ‘participants’ marked. "It seems to fan out from this location." He pointed to their motel. "If ground zero is the motel, that would explain why I was affected so quickly. That and the fact that I hadn’t slept the night before." "Why not?" She looked up from the map. "Huh? Oh, bad dreams." He dropped it at that and she let it go. It was explanation enough. "Since this is a new phenomena we need to find out what’s new in this area." His hand encompassed the area around their motel. She nodded and he rose to go search for Sheriff Baker. She watched him walk away. Who would have thought Mulder could be so sensitive? This could have ruined everything, but he had made it tolerable. She knew a talk would be forthcoming, but at least for now they were okay with each other. That brought back memories of the ‘dream’ she’d had and color suffused her face. She rose abruptly and headed for the ladies room. She couldn’t let Sheriff Baker or Mulder see her like this. After she splashed water on her face she was able to return to the squad room and found the two men leaning over the map talking quietly. "Oh Scully, we going to head over to the motel, look around. Sheriff Baker isn’t aware of anything new." She nodded and he rose. This time when his hand automatically went to her back he left it there and saw her smile before she turned away. The Sheriff followed them and as they parked he hurried over to their car. "I thought of one new thing, but there’s no way it has anything to do with this. In fact, it’s stupid to even mention it." "Go ahead anyway." Mulder rose from his seat in the car and looked over at Scully. "Well, Becky, the woman that runs this place has a son. In fact, he’s the reason she took this job, because she lives here and can keep an eye on him, you know, even when she’s at work. He, uh, he’s in a wheelchair. Always has been. He can’t speak, feed himself, anything much. He has partial use of his left hand and he can see and hear. He’s in his teens now and just too big for her to handle alone so the church, the men’s group, and some townspeople went in together and bought the boy a new chair. It’s electric and he can move himself around a little, move forward, turn right or left." Baker grinned, "He can play the remote control now and turn to see the screen. He watches a lot of TV while Becky works." "Well, you’re right. I don’t see a connection." Scully ventured as they walked toward the office. Fantasies - part 2 (R) "Now Becky, this is not . . . there’s no arrest pending, so we don’t have a search warrant. We just want to look around, see if there’s anything that could be causing what’s happening around here." "But why here? What do you think . . . you don’t think I’m doing anything." "No, Becky, don’t even think that. We’re just exploring extreme possibilities." Scully’s head flew up and she looked over at Mulder who was trying not to grin. Her eyebrow went up, she obviously shouldn’t have left these two alone together. "Well, don’t mess anything up. You never know when those corporate guys are going to come by and check on things." She opened the door to her personal apartment just off the lobby. Mulder took one step in and stopped in his tracks. "You never mentioned this." Scully had nearly bumped into him when he stopped, now she looked around him to see the electronic equipment on the far side of the room. "Well, you said new stuff Agent Mulder." Sheriff Baker turned back to look at him. "This equipment has been here for years." "Yeah," Becky looked up at Mulder. "I’m licensed, there’s nothing wrong with . . . " "I’m sorry, I’m not accusing you of anything. What is all of this?" "It’s my radio equipment. I do ham." "Yeah, Becky’s been doing this since before Joe was born. She’s been a big help in more than one emergency. Couple of years ago, she was our only contact with the world during a bad ice storm. Not only with this, but keeping this place going with generators and letting folks stay here." Mulder nodded and Scully watched his eyes. He had a theory now, she better buckle up. "May we meet Joe?" She wasn’t able to follow his thought processes but whatever it was . . . "Sure, he’s in his bedroom." Becky led them to the room behind the equipment. It was definitely not a typical teenage boy’s room. Hospital equipment predominated: the bed, the oxygen canister. There was a TV and a VCR; the universal remote was attached to the arm of the motorized wheelchair. The boy was awake, his eyes following the movement on the screen. "Looks like a nice chair." Mulder spoke quietly so as not to disturb the boy. "Oh it is. He’s much more comfortable than in the old one and being able to move around himself has just been a godsend. He’s even started sleeping in it occasionally. He breathes better and with the neck support I don’t have to worry as much. I’m even sleeping better. And I’ll tell you trying to get him in and out of bed alone has become more and more difficult." "So Joe is now sleeping in the chair?" "Part of the time. He asks to, actually. It’s okay, I mean I wouldn’t do anything to hurt – " "No, I’m sure he’s more comfortable. I was just asking. It looks like you take very good care of your son." Becky smiled at him, the look of relief plain on her face. Scully marveled at the charm this man exuded without even trying. Joe looked over at them then and Mulder saw the agreement in his eyes. Mulder squeezed the boy’s shoulder lightly and nodded for Scully to proceed him from the room. He thanked Becky for her cooperation and followed Sheriff Baker out to the cars. "I think I know what’s happening." "Happening? Mulder – " "Just listen. That chair, it’s high tech and it sits right next to the ham radio. What if . . . what if that boy is doing this." "Doing what? How could the boy do anything?" "He’s trapped in that chair, he always has been, but now he’s a teenager. He’s feeling desires, longings. He watches a lot of TV and I’m pretty sure it’s not censored. Okay, now he’s got this new electronic chair, one he even sleeps in, dreams in. When his mother is broadcasting over her radio . . . " "Mulder, you think that boy’s fantasies are being sent throughout the town and causing people to – " "Yes, I do." He didn’t finish his thought, not in front of Baker and Scully was grateful. "This started two weeks ago, when did Joe get his chair?" "Uh, maybe three weeks ago. I could look it up. I was here so it’s on the signout sheet." "Thanks, I’d like that information. Then I think we need to run some tests." He looked over at Scully who nodded. Sheriff Baker got into his car. "I’ll check on that. I’ve got to do my patrol now, but I’ll call you." He waved and pulled out. Mulder turned back to her, "It makes sense Scully. It took a few days for the boy to get in synch with the chair. But now he lives in the thing, dreams in it, watches all of his fantasies played out on the TV and movies from that chair. Then at night, while he’s asleep his mother gets on her radio. I’m not sure what direction her antenna’s pointed but I’m willing to bet it’s right past my room. And yours." The color rose on her face, but she didn’t look away. "How do we test for something like this?" "Well, I’d like to volunteer." Her eyebrow rose and he grinned, "Well I would, but that’s not really feasible. I don’t know . . . if we stop her from transmitting for a few nights and nothing happens . . . " "That’s not a very scientific test." "I’m listening." "I . . . what about the guys? Would they have any gadgets that would be able to detect something like this?" "Good question." He pulled the cell phone from his coat. After a short conversation he hung up. "They’re sending me some equipment overnight. We just have to hope no one ‘overreacts’ tonight." She looked away shaking her head. "Do we lock both sides of the door tonight?" "Mulder!" "Okay, just so you know I offered." She turned away, "Hungry?" "I guess so." "Then come on." They had been served their dinner when his phone rang. "Mulder. Yeah, yeah, that sounds right. Okay. I have some equipment coming tomorrow morning; we’ll run some tests. Tonight? We just have to keep our eyes and ears open. Thanks." He hung up and looked over at Scully. "The first incident happened three days after Joe got his chair. We can’t prove it only happens on nights she broadcasts, yet, and let’s face it a lot of the ‘fantasies’ probably haven’t been reported. I mean between married couples, smaller non-illegal fantasies . . . " "I get the picture Mulder." He grinned, "Should we canvass the town, get everyone’s dreams?" "No thank you." She turned back to her meal. It had started raining by the time he walked her to her room, so she let him in. He took off his coat and draped it over the back of her chair. "I’m going to call the guys back, see what kind of tests they’ve worked up for us to run." "Well do it in your room; I’m getting ready for bed." "You shouldn’t be tired. You slept very well last night." "Don’t start with me." He grinned and moved toward the connecting door. "Here." She tossed his coat to him, splattering his face and grinned. "Thanks." He retreated to his own room and shut the door behind him. He didn’t hear the lock engage and his smile grew bigger. After a lengthy conversation with the guys he got ready for bed himself and flipped on the TV. He settled in, not knowing if he was waiting for her to join him or not. Morning brought disappointment as well as daylight. He stretched and made his way into his shower. When he emerged he heard hers going. Damn, too bad. He finished dressing and headed over to the office. "Morning, Becky." "Agent Mulder. Did you sleep well last night?" "Better than I even wanted to. Say, were you on the radio last night?" "No, I was tired. Joe’s therapist comes every other day. When she’s not here I have to do it." "I guess that’s rough." She nodded. "I just wanted you to know I’m expecting a package overnight. Could you call me at this number when it arrives?" "No problem." She smiled up at him and took the card he handed her. "Joe liked you." "I liked him. I wish I could explain to him what he’s done for me." "Done for you?" "Nevermind. I’ll talk to you later." He returned to his room and tapped on the connecting door. "Come in." She was brushing her hair. "Breakfast?" "Aren’t you going to complain about being lonely?" She shot him a nearly lethal glare. "Just FYI, Becky wasn’t transmitting last night." "Oh." "I know it doesn’t prove anything . . . " "No, but it does support your theory. When should the package get here?" "By ten. Let’s go eat." The sheriff joined them for breakfast and Mulder went over the tests he wanted to run. There had been no disturbances or reports of sleep walking during the night. Explaining what they wanted to Becky was a little more complicated. The fact that she didn’t believe them at all and thought they’d lost their minds didn’t help any. "Look, you are not being accused of anything. We just want to test to see if there are any funky wavelengths in the radio band. We’re not going to see if anyone starts sleep walking, we just want to see what happens when you transmit while he’s in the chair." "I never transmit during the day. The company – " "We’ll clear that, don’t worry. You’re helping with a police investigation." "I don’t know if I can explain this to Joe. I can’t take the chair away from him." "There’s nothing to explain and we’re not asking you to take the chair. This is just a test." "You’re crazy." She looked over at Baker. "You are, you know." "What’s been happening around here is crazy, too, Becky. Maybe we ought to look for crazy solutions." She shook her head but went to power up her equipment. Scully sat in front of the screen, Mulder leaning over her. "Ready? Go ahead, Becky." "You know, we probably need Frohike here to interpret - Mulder look at that." The lower bandwidth jerked alive. "Okay, something’s there. What does it mean?" "I can’t tell you that. Now we’ve got to do some testing." Scully stood and pulled Mulder away from the others. "Mulder, how the hell are we going to test this?" "We’ll have to leave the door unlocked, and promise not to take advantage of one another. Can you keep a promise like that?" "You are having altogether too much fun with this case, Mulder." He grinned. "So far no one’s been really harmed. No charges have been filed. Maybe some secrets have come out but I’m not complaining. The damages done are being repaired." "What about the minister’s marriage?" "Well, sometimes the truth is painful, Scully. But what I’ve learned about myself and others has been enlightening to me." "Mulder." Her tone was warning. "Scully, you came to my bed two nights ago naked and willing and I managed to keep my virtue intact." He saw that her blush was accompanied by a smile. "You’re just going to have to trust me." He sobered then. "Can you trust me that much?" "Of course I trust you, Mulder." Of course? She’d said of course? "We’re just in very delicate territory here. I don’t . . . " She gave a small shrug and he nodded. "We’ve got some time. I think I better get on the horn to Byers and see what they think of this." This conversation took a lot longer and when he finally hung up he was shaking his head. "They can’t duplicate it and they haven’t seen it either. But Frohike wants to move here." Scully snorted, "He would. So what do we do?" "There’s not a lot we can do right now. Nothing happens until everyone’s asleep, including Joe. I think I’ll go for a run, work off some of this energy." "Excellent idea." She spoke dryly. "Take a long one." "Like I’m the problem." He shot back at her and left to change. She was left with little or nothing to do except contemplate what might happen that evening. She found herself becoming more and more nervous. She actually jumped when she heard him come back from his run. When she heard the shower cut on she thought for an instant she was running a fever. She needed to get out of here as well, this was stupid. It was like she was waiting for him to attack her or something. She signed off the computer; it had already gone into pause mode she had sat in front of it without working for so long. She wasn’t going to admit she was bolting from the room before he could knock on the door. When she finally worked up her courage to return, she was caught off guard to see him lounging in the chair in her room. He looked up at her, not moving. "Do I scare you that much?" "What do you mean?" She tried to sound confident, even defiant, but she knew it didn’t work. "You were here when I got back from my run. I take a three-minute shower and you’ve vanished. Scully, I’m not going to do anything to make you uncomfortable. And I sure as hell am not going to force myself on you. Talk to me, please." She sat on the bed facing him, not sure what to say. How much should she confess to him? She took a deep breath, "I’m scared." "Do you think I can’t make you happy?" "No! No, that’s not . . . Mulder I don’t think I can make you happy." He gaped at her, not make him happy? Did she not know – "When’s the last time you were happy, Mulder? Really happy?" "You mean other than waking up to find you in my room?" Her eyebrow stopped further quips. "Okay, the first thing that comes to mind with me is New Year’s Eve. I was very happy then. When do you remember being happy, Scully?" She was back in the emergency room, watching the ball drop in Times Square. Yeah, even the memory made her happy. "Me too." Then she straightened her back, "But that was a one-time thing. I don’t normally make you happy." "Where are you getting this? The first time I remember being happy since I was twelve years old is the night you burst into my motel room in Oregon and showed me . . . " She stiffened, "your trust Scully. I was going to say your trust. Then we talked, really talked like I hadn’t talked to anyone in years. Maybe I wasn’t dancing around, but god I was happy for the first time since I could remember." "What about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?" He looked at her startled. And people talked about his memory. "That was lust Scully, just lust. My memories of Phoebe don’t include happiness. I remember betrayals and mind games, but never happiness. I was just a kid when I met her, alone in a foreign country. If I’d had more experience I would have seen through her much earlier. No, happiness is not a word I use when I recall that period of my life." He stood then and joined her on the bed. "Scully, when I think of the word ‘happiness’ I see you bending over me when I woke up after you fished me out of the Bermuda Triangle. I feel you breathing against my chest after the stranger tried to take your heart, when you came out of your coma and, oh god, when I found out your cancer had gone into remission. Do you see a theme here, Scully?" Her eyes were bright with unshed tears as she reached for him, bringing her lips to his and pulling him down with her to the bed. "Scully, Scully, wait. This could mess up the test." "No test. I don’t want any outside interference in this. I want to be wide awake and making my own decisions. I want you." "Scully?" Had she really said those words? Did she mean them? And how did her hand get inside his t-shirt? ***** He collapsed beside her, not sure he’d ever get his breath back. My god what a woman! She was obviously struggling with composure herself and he reached for her. "You okay?" She smiled up at him – he’d never seen that smile before. "Happy?" He grinned at her. "I’ve never been any happier, Mulder. I didn’t think it was possible." They held each other for a few minutes then he felt her hands exploring. "Scully, you’re going to have to give me a break here. I’m not seventeen anymore." "Oh yeah?" What the hell was she . . . god! "You’re a dangerous woman." He managed to growl before he lost himself in her again. ***** She started to roll over but his arms stopped her. Morning? Scully smiled. She’s just spent all night in Mulder’s arms and wanted more. But it was morning - one of them needed to be mature. "Mulder? Mulder, wake up. We need to see if anything happened last night." "Do you need reminding about what happened last night?" He was kissing her hair. "Not that." She moved his hand away and scooted toward the edge of the bed. "We need to see if the ‘test’ worked." "Scuulllly." He whined at the thought of leaving the bed and her body. "Come on, big guy." She jerked the sheet from his body and after admiring it for a second, slapped him smartly on the ass. His eyes widened and she stepped away, out of his reach. Now he rose and followed her into the bathroom and on into the shower. When they finally were dressed she tried hard to wipe the smile from her face. She carefully applied lipstick and looked herself over. Damn, a blind man could see that she’d ‘gotten some’ last night and he was no help. Look at him, grinning like a fool. How the hell were they supposed to go out in public like this? "Mulder, we’ve got to get a grip here. We are supposed to be working." "You’re absolutely right Agent Scully. I want you to try to keep your hands to yourself for at least a few minutes." Her eyebrow rose and she straightened her spine to walk past him. "Behave!" She growled at him as she opened the door and moved toward the office. Sheriff Baker looked up as they entered the office. "Morning. Did you sleep okay?" Scully knew the blood was rising in her face, but she spoke as though it were a normal day. "Fine. Did anything happen?" "Yep. Almost came over and woke you, but I decided there wasn’t anything you could do about it." "What?" Mulder eagerly joined the conversation. Baker couldn’t keep the grin off his face. "We had a woman ride down Main Street on horseback – stark naked." "You’re kidding! Maybe I shouldn’t have missed that." Scully turned so that the Sheriff couldn’t see her face. Mulder wiped the grin off of his face once again. "Yeah, I got a deputy who may never recover. You see Mrs. Marshall was his third grade teacher and he . . . " He looked over at Scully who had begun to chuckle. That was all it took. She was laughing now, full out, and leaning against Mulder to remain on her feet. Both men watched her. Mulder began to snicker himself; that’s when the sheriff started in and all three of them were lost, laughing as hard as they could. Becky came out of the apartment about that time. "Lloyd? What is going on out here?" Scully recovered first, standing up straight and wiping her eyes. "I’m sorry, I just . . . Sheriff Baker, that’s a powerful weapon you have there. You need to make sure it’s used for good and not evil." And they were all three off again. ***** She opened the door to the apartment already smiling. She knew he was in there, waiting for her. "About time you got here." He called from the kitchen. "Afraid I’ll learn you can cook?" She retorted as she headed his way. "Oh I can cook." He put his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. "Want me to show you?" "Later, I’m starving." She kissed him and moved over to the stove to check the pasta. He spotted the envelope sticking out of her pocket. "What’ja got?" He was nuzzling her neck again. She arched her neck to increase the contact. "Do you remember Sheriff Baker?" "Um, my favorite X-File." "Yeah, him. He sent a letter updating us on the situation." She pulled it from her pocket. "They did additional testing after we left. It seems there were only problems when Joe actually slept in the chair. So, they made some improvements to his bed and Sheriff Baker settles him in every night and gets him up every morning. He’s not that heavy, but he was tall enough that Becky couldn’t handle him alone anymore." "That’s got to be a strain on the good sheriff’s time, making sure he goes by twice every day." "Not really. It seems Lloyd has moved in with Becky." "Oh?" "Yep. And it seems that the only long-term effect on the town is the population explosion that’s due in seven months." "Ah, so there were fantasies we didn’t get to investigate." "Apparently." She smiled up at him then turned back to dish up their dinner. He leaned back on the counter and watched her. She’d already more than fulfilled his fantasies and was busy creating new ones every day. Yes, definitely his favorite X-File ever.