All disclaimers still apply. "A House Is Where A Woman's Heart Is" Chapter 3 by Macspooky (1/27/96) With hands that he could barely keep from shaking, Mulder signed the papers. He thought idly that hanging seemed to take an awfully long time. He'd been swinging on the noose forever or so it felt. Well, death couldn't be far off now. He handed over the check and took the keys. It was all his now, leaky roof, rusted furnace, broken central air, antique kitchen....yes....all his. He shook hands with the settlement attorney and thought about Bruckman. Maybe this was what Bruckman had meant in the car that day when he talked about autoerotic asphyxiation...He did feel short of breath...trouble was that there was nothing erotic about it.....Fox Mulder....Harry Homeowner....Jeez...Life had been far simpler in his tiny dark apartment on Capital Hill. Now he had a bird and a dog and a wife talking about minivans and a kid on the way and a house....Oh, God, a house. He could handle the shrieking filthy mouthed bird, the dog peeing on his shoes and biting his ass, his neatnik wife throwing up every morning and itching with a yeast infection every night, a million nieces and nephews spitting and drooling all over him, even baby sitting with Skinner. He might, heaven forbid, might be able to tolerate driving a minivan, but a house.....aw jeez....give him aliens and mutants any day! Green bugs sounded good...maybe millions of roaches....no....there were probably billions, no zillions, of those in the damn house.......and he couldn't even call on Dr. Bambi.... ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Are you sure you feel up to this, Mom?" he asked. "Of course I do." Margaret smiled at him. She was actually feeling rather good for a woman of her age in her condition. Much of the tiredness had dissipated. Besides she had always loved a party and this one would make Dana so happy. "Anyway, Melissa will help, right Missy?" "Sure, Mom. We'll call the caterer together," she laughed looking around the rather filthy dump that Mulder seemed so proud of himself for having purchased. Sheesh, what could he have been thinking? She knew her mom was trying to involve her in the festivities. She had been laying really low since the pregnancy had started. In truth she had been miserable almost the entire time...awful morning sickness....then miserable allergies to everything...and now her flawless skin was breaking out and she was gaining too much weight. Chuck seemed to be working all the time these days and it was as though he found her unattractive, unlike Mulder who seemed ridiculously dazzled by the fact that his wife was getting a belly and big boobs. Dana of course had that flawless skin and glowed. She knew all of these inconveniences would pass, but it wasn't helping much right now. The one delightful thought was that they were going to have a little boy. Also she had had an excuse to foist the dog that Chuck hated so much onto Fox. The thought filled her with glee. Dana had told her the dog had bitten his ass. It was too bad that Skinner would have to be at the party. Melissa couldn't really stand the man especially after the fight she had had with him recently about the fact that he should have been more careful about birth control. She had really given him what for, but they had finally both agreed to hold their peace for her mother's sake. Still, she was not about to forget the way he had accused her of being more concerned with her own personal embarrassment than her mother's health. She and her mom had been estranged because her father hadn't loved her as much as he had Dana and had disagreed with everything she did. Now it seemed like she was reliving it again with someone who wasn't even related, but she didn't want to hurt her mom anymore. After all, Mom did love the creep. Between her mother and sister, they certainly had odd taste in men, although judging by the changes she had seen in her sister, Dana's was probably damned good in bed. "You just get Dana here, Fox, and we'll take care of the rest," she told Fox thinking about how Skinner would probably never talk to Dana the way he had spoken to her. Dana was his favorite too. Fox winced silently. Everytime Melissa called him Fox he wanted to throttle her, but she was his sister-in- law and what could he say? He grinned and bore it. That afternoon Fox and Dana went for a long walk. They stopped for cappucino, well, for him anyway, and sat and gazed at each other across the table as she sipped yet another cut of herb tea. He took her into a maternity store and bought her a dress, a pretty dress suitable for the cooler autumn. Fall was her season and the colors her very best with her beautiful red hair that seemed thicker and more shiny than ever these days. Dana was really starting to show, and he felt proud walking along side of her, but found himself blushing in front of the sales clerks, and then laughing as she came out of the dressing room with the pillow that made her look so big. He knew she was unhappy that he had left her behind when he had gone out of town, but it couldn't be helped. He had, at least, gotten out of taken Agent Schmidt with him even the possibility being something he didn't care to discuss with his wife. Then they passed a baby store. "Oh, look, Fox...what a beautiful crib!" she exclaimed looking at the light oak finish and the lovely carving of the lion laying down with the lamb on the end. This was an expensive item, probably custom made. "Looks like jail to me, Babe," he replied with a grin. She laughed. "You are impossible, Mulder." "Want it?" he asked her. "We have no place to put it," she replied ever practical. They would have to stick with a bassinet or porta crib as long as possible in their already full bedroom. "Besides, Susan is going to give me her old one when the time comes. It's white and kind of pretty." "Well, we'll see." As they walked home, they passed the house. A Sold sign hung in large letters on the post in the small front yard. Someone had cleaned it up and repaired and painted the shudders a lovely color and the door a rich blue. A claddagh doorknocker of highly polished brass had been screwed into place. Dana sighed. Someone had taste remarkably similar to hers. When the wrought iron was painted and the garden fixed in the spring, the house was going to be lovely. She took Fox's hand and walked on silently. She hoped that there would be love in the old house, love like that which she shared with her husband. As for Fox, he was aware that she was disappointed that the house had been sold. He loved her so much for not saying anything to him. Letting go of her hand, he slipped an arm around her. Dana looked up at him and smiled. ---------------------------------------------------------------- "Did you get the candy for the trick or treaters?" he asked. "For the fourth time yes, but we don't get very many," she replied. Fox was acting really weird. She had expected flowers or a romantic breakfast, or something, but he had been ignoring their anniversary all day. For her part, she had bought him some gifts including a Marvin the Martian watch as a joke and planned to give them to him later, but he didn't seem to remember that it was anything except Halloween. Now if there had been any trick or treaters last year, she hadn't known it. She had been too busy getting married and doing other things that night. She was starting to feel a little hurt. Well, she supposed that was her Fox. He waxed and waned on things like birthdays and anniversaries, and she supposed that this was better than having him in his lunatic mode the way he had been last Christmas or his 12 year old mode as he had during that horrible amusement park excursion she'd been forced to endure. At least he wasn't insisting on answering the door dressed as some sort of monster and scaring the little kids half to death just to get into the swing of things. It was in the middle of dinner, hamburgers and homemade fries, the kind he liked but that she didn't make very often because she didn't often have time, when the phone rang. "Yes, Sir....Yes......We'll be right there. Of course it's no trouble Sir.....I know we are the closest...No problem..." "That was Skinner..." he said handing her her coat. "We have a case...." "But.....what sort of case....." she sighed. She had lain his gifts on the coffee table but he hadn't seen them, and she had cooked this silly unhealthy meal.... "A bizaar murder...two blocks up....requested FBI help. Looks like it might be something for us...." She slipped into her professional mode and got her weapon. When they arrived, the place seemed deserted. A breeze blew making the autumn leaves rustle along the sidewalk. Dana glanced at the moon. It both looked and felt like Halloween. The place suddenly gave her the creeps. "Oh, God, Mulder," she said, "It's the house we looked at....Are you sure it's the right address? No one is here." What was lovely on a bright sunny day appeared sinister on Halloween night, especially with a possible murderer lurking nearby. And, where were the police? "Told you this place was bad luck," he muttered pulling his gun. "Be careful, Scully. I'll go first." They opened the door which was unlocked and went into the living room shining their flashlight. The place seemed deserted but there was a table laden with food along one wall and a banner....and suddenly people sprang out from all over the place....and yelled "Surprise!" The lights came on. Fox put his gun away and laughed. "Oh, God....oh my God...." gasped Dana. They had frightened her so badly her heart pounded. "Happy Anniversary, Scully," he grinned. "But...but...but...." "Stop sounding like an asthmatic choo choo train, Sis," laughed Bill, "and give the man a kiss." "You mean?" "It's all ours," he smiled. "Oh, Fox....." She fairly leapt into his arms. She was totally and completely surprised. Then she informed him in no uncertain terms that she had been so frightened she might have shot someone by accident. "No way, Short Stuff," he laughed, "I'm not that crazy. I took the bullets out!" Someone popped a bottle of champagne and sparkling cider for pregnant people. They toasted Fox and Dana with Bill adding an extra to Mulder for having provided his firm with such a profitable home improvement job and thus his family with a nice staid green mini-van. "Let's stop the mushy stuff and eat," said Michael Scully now nearly 14 and already taller than most of his female relatives. Everyone laughed and commented that that boy just couldn't seem to get enough food in him. Fox ruffled his hair and told him to dig in. His arm around her, Fox led his wife through the house. Bill accompanied them. "We've put a primer on everything," he explained. "Tomorrow you pick the colors you want for the different rooms, and we'll do that and then refinish the floors." "Oh, wow," she gasped. "Now, we've insulated the service porch and put in the washer dryer connections, but you need to let me know what you want to do about the kitchen and chose bathroom fixtures. I'll explain the details tomorrow." "Do you know, I don't think I want you to do much with the kitchen Bill. I love the old cabinets....I'll let you know." She noted that the glass in the China cabinets had been repaired and the old chandelier polished. "That is one ugly light fixture," laughed Fox. It had a hideous spidery shape and was surrounded by a molding made of fat little Putti holding grape leaves. "We can replace it later," she laughed agreeing with him. The shadows it would cast at night would frighten a little one to death. Then Fox took her upstairs alone. There, just off the master bedroom in the lovely little sitting room sat the crib she had admired. "It's handmade by the Amish," he informed her. "Oh, Fox....." She put her arms around him and they kissed for a long long time before moving on to the next room. Then he took her into the room with the guardian angel where matching furniture sat waiting for the room's occupant. "For my baby girl," he said with a smile. "Do you think she will like it?" "I think she will love it." Dana looked up above the door. "That's your real gift, Fox Mulder...guardian angels.." He smiled and hugged her close before they went downstairs. "Hey," said Chris, "You two were gone so long that if Dana wasn't pregnant we'd have sworn you were up there making one...." That brought raucous laughter. "I know how to make a baby," announced Eileen loudly in very adult fashion. "You can explain it later, Eileen," said Meg quickly before the child could elaborate. Dani ran to her Uncle Fox and begged to be picked up. Sean's dad bounced him on his arm. Michael and Eileen started to bicker while Maureen dealt with a dirty diaper. Melissa seemed kind of unhappy with Chuck out of town, and Skinner found himself thinking that if she would just stop sulking, this family business wouldn't be half bad. His sister, of course chose that moment to make a smart remark about "tight assed Wally" causing Meg to burst into a fit of giggles. People were making noises about getting on the road. It was a school night for some or a work night for others. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Well, it was Halloween after all. "Probably neighbors complaining about too much noise already," laughed Skinner. He couldn't quite get used to all this family but realized he was going to. The thought made him more relaxed suddenly. He was adapting. With Dani in his arms, Fox went to the door. His mouth dropped open in shock. A tiny woman in her sixties with blue hair in a tight frizzy perm dressed in a loud tye dyed suit with fingers covered in huge gaudy rings worse than the engagement ring Fox had originally threatened Dana with stepped in the door and dropped a rather large suitcase on Fox's foot. Around her shoulders hung a long dark cape. "Good evening," she announced in a loud brassy voice, "I'm Aunt Sophia, and I am going to move into the apartment downstairs....." Everyone stared silently. Fox handed Dani to her dad. "Uh....Aunt Sophia...." he said. God, he hadn't seen her in years. She looked good....as eccentric as ever, but good....even with a blue afro and Dracula cape. "Well, you are going to need someone to watch those babies aren't you?" she demanded pointing at Dana, "No grandniece and nephew of mind is going into a daycare center!" "Uh.....it's only one Aunt Sophia..." "We'll see. Give your aunty a hug, Mulder....and yes, I know the downstairs is a dump, but we'll have it fixed up in no time." He did just that, not knowing what else to do. Aunt Sophia had never asked for a hug in his life, but this was the aunt who had raised him for four years and then disappeared as soon as he had gone to Oxford. He had loved her in a strange fashion. She was a strange person. "Not so mushy, Mulder," she said breaking away and turning to Dana, "The cards were right," she said mysteriously, You are absolutely lovely. Don't you worry about a thing. I won't bother you and I'll take good care of the babies when they comes..." Somehow, Dana wasn't worried. The woman appeared crazy, but there was something about her that seemed comforting, almost like Gran. She hoped Aunt Sophia wouldn't be disappointed that she was only getting one. The sonogram had said so. "And you must be Margaret.... " she said to Meg. "We'll be great friends. We can push the baby carriage together...." "Aunt Sophia....how do....." stuttered Fox. "There now dear, Aunt Sophia sees all, knows all and says little or nothing....Melissa dearest, when my things arrive tomorrow you'll have to come and see my crystals and don't you worry, you'll come to be very fond of your stepfather if you just relax and for heaven sake, stop worrying about zits. They will go away." Melissa's mouth dropped open. This woman had a very strange aura, unlike anything she had ever encountered before. It was...alarming. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dana had insisted that Aunt Sophia spend the night on their sofa bed which the woman did only with great reluctance. She said she'd slept on the floor of worse places than the downstairs apartment of her nephew's new house. She announced that she would buy a bed the next day and move into the apartment, and they could just paint around her as well as do the wiring to her specifications. Dana remembered suddenly that Fox's furniture was still in storage and explained about the couch. They all laughed when Aunt Sophia informed them that it sounded perfect and she would arrange to have it moved in immediately. She laughed with delight when she saw the silly watch Dana had gotten her nephew for their wedding anniversary, then announced that she was tired and needed to get some sleep. "Something is missing," murmured Dana curled up in Fox's arms. They had made love, and it had been okay, and were content and relieved. "Thing...Thing is missing. He's sleeping with Aunt Sophia..." "Do you miss him?" "Well, I guess that depends on whether or not you are talking about the dog that bites my ass or the little fur ball that curls up on my neck," he replied. "I love you so much, Fox....Tell me about Aunt Sophia..." "Not much to tell," he sighed shifting his position. "After Samantha....after my father...." he struggled for the right words, "After my father beat me, social services dug her up and sent me to live with her in New York City. She's dad's older sister, but she took what money she could and ran away on her eighteenth birthday. She made a lot of money with a computerized fortune telling business long before computers became popular, with a machine she built herself but never bothered to patent...I don't think she particularly wanted a young boy around, but she did the best she could...." "She seems eccentric..." smiled Dana. "Well, she is that, love. The truth is, looking back, I think she was good for me. She was the first one who really appreciated my intellectual capacity and was eccentric enough to ignore my....strangeness. She sent me to an excellent private school on one hand, but let me roam the streets of Manhattan on the other. I missed her when she disappeared, but I didn't question it because she was...well...Aunt Sophia.." He lapsed into silence remembering how he played basketball in the park with tough kids one day and roamed the Natural History Museum the next. He had been helpless with her computers, but she had forced him to read good books. "Dana, her moving in....I mean....maybe you don't....." "We'll try it, sweetheart," said Dana quietly. "It may be perfect. I like her. Let's see, okay?" "Okay....I just don't want anything to come between us...." "Thing already has," she giggled cuddling a little closer. Fox stopped by the house and looked around with satisfaction. All of the painting had been completed, and the floors refinished. Dana had been right. Once it was cleaned up, it was quite beautiful. Suddenly he heard rattling around in the closet. Opening the door Aunt Sophia popped out looking dusty and a bit warm wearing old jeans and an I believe in UFO's t-shirt. "What the hell are you doing?" he inquired. She had a small glowing light in one hand and some strange small tool in the other. "I'm installing the security system of course," she replied. "AmSec is coming to do that..." "Those idiots? No way. I could get through their system in 10 seconds flat. I cancelled the order...Besides, AmSec people can be bribed. I can't...." "Aunt Sophia....." he began. "Listen, this is a system that I invented. Not even aliens from outer space can get past it, theoretically. Trust your Aunt Sophia on this will you? You don't think I'm going to let them get your children the way they got to Samantha do you?" "What do you know about that?" Fox demanded putting his hands on her arms, the security system forgotten. Dana chose that moment to come in with some sandwiches and a thermos of coffee and some ice tea and fruit juice. "Oh, hi Aunt Sophia.. Thought we might have a snack. How is it coming along? Hi, Fox." "Just fine if my nephew would let me finish." "What do you know about Samantha?" he demanded again. "Not enough," she sighed. "I need to take a break. Come on. We'll talk. Light the fire, Mulder. I love a nice fire even if it is gas." "The one disappointment about the house..." he muttered. The fire places had been gas. Oh, well. The three of them sat on the floor on some wildly colorful cushions that Sophia had made appear and Dana passed around sandwiches and poured coffee. She handed Fox and ice tea she had bought just in case and took an orange juice for herself. "Mulder," said Sophia quietly, "there are some things that are very difficult to talk about, and in truth, I am not certain what happened to Samantha, but I can tell you that I was taken too.." "What?" he demanded. The older woman gazed into the flames. "Mama was a gentle soul....and that bastard...broke her...broke her health and her heart, and someday....someday I'll be able to prove that he supported the Nazi's..." She sounded bitter and hard edged for a moment and then pulled herself together. "When I was sixteen, your grandfather came to my room one night. When he left, I was pregnant." "My, God..." burst out Dana. "God had nothing to do with it, believe me. Three months later, I was taken. I don't remember very much, a white place...a bright light...pain....and when I was returned, I wasn't pregnant anymore and Mama was dead." Dana winced, "I remember that place," she said softly, "in my dreams sometimes." Aunt Sophia said nothing merely gazing at Dana with compassion. She was aware of Dana's abduction as well. For Dana's part, she thought she might introduce Aunt Sophia to the women in Allentown one day. Was it really possible that it had started even before the war? The woman sipped her coffee. " I slept with a knife under my pillow and then stole what money I could as soon as I could, and ran away. I never went back, at least not that anyone knew. When I read about Samantha in the paper, I wasn't surprised." "Who do you think took her?" asked Dana. "What I think is that the people your father worked with, y our grandfather worked with, planned on taking Samantha. Then, your father decided to play headgames and told them that Samantha was his favorite thinking that they would take you believing you to be the one. They were wise to him. They knew she was his precious little girl. They were great at doing psychological profiles. I did try to keep my eye on things when I could...told your father if he ever touched her....but I never wanted to stay on the phone long enough for them to trace a call. They planned to take Samantha instead. I'm sorry that that hurts, Mulder. It's just the way things were and I never wanted them to know where I was when I called...or when I snooped. I was afraid too. I let social services find me in Manhattan when I read in the local paper about....what happened...but I was prepared to disappear with you again if I had to." "I'm aware of a lot of this Aunt Sophia...but how do you know?" asked Fox. This woman was a real mystery. "I've been following your work," she replied enigmatically and changed the subject quickly. "I also think that someone or something else got there first. I think they might have saved her. I don't know for certain." "Actually, I've been having similar thoughts," replied Fox. "It explains your father's rage when you couldn't remember. I think he had hoped that you might have heard something that might lead him to where she was being kept and when you couldn't....." Sophia sighed. "Bill was such a sweet little baby...always laughing until...until he...daddy beat it out of him. Billy couldn't do anything to please him....anything. I know he did the same to you, Mulder....not as bad perhaps....but bad.....He did it all to please daddy, and in the end daddy could never be pleased. I can't believe the old bastard is still alive..." "Aunt Sophia," said the younger man gently. "What, Mulder?" "Call me Fox..." he smiled ever so slightly. The older woman nodded. "Well, I guess I better get back to work here..." "I feel a whole lot better knowing you are installing the security yourself," said Fox getting to his feet. "I have a letter I want to show you later. I think you will appreciate it....but I have to explain about the gray banshees." "Mul....Fox, may I ask you a favor?" asked the older woman not blinking an eye at the remark about banshees. "I mean, if you don't mind, Dana." "What Aunt Sophia?" "The bedroom in the apartment is rather large. I'd like to have it divided.....in case....well, just in case we ever find her, I'd like to have a room for her....my niece, the one I never knew...I can't have children you see. They took care of that...whoever they are....." "Of course," he said quietly, "You make the arrangements with Bill and send the tab to me.." Fox looked at his aunt. Then he and Dana exchanged glances and realized how lucky they were. Dana was pregnant. "Not necessary," grinned his Aunt. She had learned to deal with the fact of her sterility a long time ago. "I'm a wealthy woman and I'm lucky. I'll have little babies to hug and hold and take care of at a time in life when that doesn't usually happen. That reminds me. I'd better get out those baby books I bought and reread them..." ========================================= Fox wouldn't let his wife lift a finger. The movers were to pack everything, well almost everything. Krycek and Thing were already at the house with Aunt Sophia. In fact, she had more or less adopted both of them informing Dana that Krycek's constant revelations about their love life was more entertaining than her favorite TV show UFO Chasers. Maybe they should have been embarrassed, but they weren't. In fact, they got a kick out of the way she put ribbons in Thing's fur, and donning her loudest clothing went out with him and pretended to be the new neighbor's eccentric and rather loud tenant. It was almost as though it was a persona she were trying to cultivate for the outside world, while in her home she had turned the dining room into a computer lab with very sophisticated equipment( with the foresight to make it childproof by making certain doors closed over everything.) At home, she was actually rather quiet and didn't interfere. And, she had done incredible things with Mulder's old furniture using color afghans and cushions, informing them that is was perfect. It was so ratty looking and awful that it wouldn't matter what the kids did to it! "Obviously the best the Salvation Army had to offer," she had grinned when she had seen it. Fox had looked at her rather sheepishly because, in fact, that was exactly where he had gotten a lot of it. "Fox, I'm not an invalid," protested Dana as he took the vase out of her hand, "and that was Grandma Scully's vase..." "They will pack it carefully, Dana...Now you just relax..." he said dropping it on the floor causing it to shatter. Dana winced. Oh well, it had really only been a five and dime store item. What the heck...sentiment....oh well... So it went all day long until finally the movers carried out the bedroom furniture leaving the room empty and desolate looking. Dana bent down to pick up a scarf that had been dropped behind the dresser a long time ago, and when she looked up, her husband was standing there regarding the room with tears in his eyes. "What?" she asked gently crossing the room to him. And then suddenly she understood. He hadn't wanted to buy a house, hadn't wanted to move, because he loved it here with her. "I've been so happy here," he whispered. "I know. So have I, but we'll be happy in the new house. You'll see." She put her arms around him. "We'll be a real family, you and me and the baby and Aunt Sophia, and the monster creatures, and who knows....maybe one day...Samantha..." "I know. In my heart, I know that but....this is the first place I was ever really happy, and it's hard...you know..." "I understand. I really do..." she replied, and she stood with him holding on to him for a long long time. Pleading exhaustion, although she hadn't done anything, she suggested that Fox go out for some Chinese food and bring it back. He did so without complaint although he was tired himself. The moment he was gone, Dana raced up the stairs and unpacked the sheets and covers that she had put in a suitcase. Quickly she made the bed and lit the gas fire. Trotting down to the kitchen, she filled an ice bucket and popped in a bottle of sparkling cider that had been left from the party and found two glasses...Looney Tunes jelly jars as it turned out..Marvin the Martian and Tweety and Silvester. Then quickly she headed upstairs and slipped into the lovely nightgown she had bought for their first night in their new home. "Dana," called Fox returning home. "I'm upstairs," she replied, "Bring the food up here, will you sweetheart?" He stopped in his tracks when he walked in the door. Although the room contained boxes, she had made up the bed with clean sheets and lit the fire, and she lay stretched out in a long gold colored nightgown, the bulge in her middle very obvious. Her hair fanned out against the pillow. He swallowed. They drank cider pretending it was champagne toasting each other and the house. They made love, food temporarily forgotten, and then he lay with her rubbing the bulge in her abdomen. "Oh," gasped Dana suddenly. Fox had felt it too. Movement....his baby moving inside her. "Oh, Dana..." he whispered, "mine, all mine..." He nuzzled her neck and felt the little butterfly inside her move again. "Fox....I'm so glad you were with me tonight...the first time it happened..." She turned to him and smiled. In truth, she had felt it before when he hadn't been around, but never wanted him to know that. She decided that in this case a little dishonesty was okay. This had to be a special moment between them. It was important for him. "You know what...." he whispered, "I think you were right about this house....Already it's a special place...." Fox knew darn well she was lying, but appreciated that she wanted it to be special for him. That made it special. "I'm always right...." she announced sitting up with a grin. He smiled at her. "I'm starved, Fox. Let's go warm this stuff up in the microwave if we can find it and eat. Now that we've broken in the bedroom, it's time to use the kitchen. The two of them trailed downstairs and ate their dinner on a pile of cartons. Beneath them they could hear Krycek yelling, "Help, Murder. Help, Murder....Open you legs, Scully...." "Think I'll call Bill in the morning," said Fox. "Why?" "Time to get Aunt Sophia's ceiling soundproofed." "Krycek isn't bothering me," said Dana. "Well, maybe not, but you never know what might happen on the kitchen table that we don't want Aunt Sophia to hear." He winked, and Dana laughed. The End