Title:	Just Lucky
Author: 	Quark
E-Mail:	bluechaos22@yahoo.com
Spoiler:	random ones maybe?!
Rating:	R - language, torture, rape(not too graphic)
Category:	X, T, A
Keywords: Mulder/Scully UST, MulderAngst, ScullyAngst,
		ScullyTorture, MulderTorture
Summary:	A mysterious murder case turns into a torturous 
		angst-fest.
Disclaimer: I am not a cali-surferdude and therefore I do 
		not have a lot of money and therefore I do not 	
		own these characters and I can't imagine that I 
		could make money at this even if I tried. So 
		I'm not trying. They belong to Chris Carter, 
		Fox, and 1013 et al.
Author's Notes: This is my first fanfic and it is pure cheesy
		goodness. So feedback is welcome if you want
		to comment but don't tell me that it's too 
		cheesy, sappy, angsty etc. - you have been 
		forewarned. Oh and I don't claim to know 
		anything about any of the science, logistics, 	
		murder investigations, or any of that so if I 
		got some stuff wrong, call it artistic license. 
		And don't tell me that I use too many dashes - 
		as if I don't already know. So sit back and 
		enjoy the angsty cheese.      


Just Lucky
By Quark

F.B.I. Headquarters
Washington, DC
7:41 am

For once the basement office was dark and silent when Special 
Agent Dana Scully arrived in the morning with coffee in hand. 

'Ha - he's late,' she thought to herself. 'I'll have to 
remember to bug him about that when he gets here.'

She grinned at the thought, opened the door and was reaching to 
turn on the light when she was stopped short with a "Hey  
Scully," that came out of the darkness.

"Jesus Mulder!" she exclaimed with a startled gasp before 
finally managing to switch on the light. "What the hell are you 
doing  sitting here in the dark?"

She examined her partner closely as he carefully considered his 
answer and what she saw was that Special Agent Fox Mulder had 
just woken up. His hair was messier than usual - indeed, it was 
sticking up in all directions and had a hint of greasy shine to 
it. His shirt was wrinkled - tie long since removed, top 
buttons undone, sleeves rolled up haphazardly - and Scully was 
willing to bet her next paycheque that it was the same shirt 
he'd been wearing the previous day. But all that was of 
secondary concern to her when she saw the look in Mulder's 
eyes - one of childish excitement that did its best to hide the 
underlying lack of sleep. 

"Um… I was thinking," he finally answered, knowing full well 
that she would see through his facade. 

"You were sleeping," she countered. 

He looked at her intently, a 'no I wasn't' on the tip of his 
tongue before he grinned and sighed all at once. There was no 
point in arguing - she knew him too well and, besides, she was 
right. 

"Okay, but before that I was thinking," he replied, still 
grinning mischievously.

She gave him a patented Scully-look before finally giving in. 
"Okay Mulder, I'll bite - what were you thinking about all 
night?"

"This," he said as he slid a file over to her.

She picked the file up warily, always too aware of how many 
misadventures had begun exactly in this fashion, and glanced at 
the label before opening it. 

"Mulder, this isn't even an X-File," she said as she looked 
through a wad of photos and reports.

"It is now," he replied.

"When did you get this?" she asked even though she already knew 
the answer - anything to delay his unbounded enthusiasm and 
unfounded theories until her coffee was done. 

"Last night, right after you left, someone slipped it under the 
door."

She eyed him suspiciously - "that's odd,"

"Scully, we're all about odd."

She shot him a dirty look. "You're  all about odd, Mulder."

"Scully, you wound me!" he exclaimed, feigning shock. "I though 
we were in this together."

She looked up from the file and closed it, a snappy comeback 
almost out of her mouth when his eyes changed her mind. Instead 
of the sarcasm he expected, as she handed the file back, she 
lightly gripped his fingertips with hers. - "always," she said 
seriously.

For a split second he was speechless, amazed at her ability to 
still surprise him when he least expected it and then  all he 
could do was give her a winning smile of heartfelt pleasure 
until the moment was broken with the ring of the phone. Scully 
let his hand drop as she reached for the phone.

"Scully," she answered, her eyes still on Mulder. She listened 
for a second and then replied "Yes sir," before hanging up.

Mulder raised his eyebrows questioningly - "Skinner?" he asked.

Scully nodded. "He wants us in his office in fifteen minutes."

"I wonder what he wants," Mulder mused.

"I don't know but I bet he'll be more willing to tell us if you 
get dressed before we get to his office."

Mulder scowled. "I am dressed … sort of."

Scully grinned - a rare moment that he enjoyed viciously - and 
replied "Mulder, you look like something the cat dragged in."

He grinned. "Why Agent Scully, you know I can't resist your 
compliments," he said with a classic Mulder leer in his eyes.

Arching one eyebrow at him, she grabbed her coffee and stood 
up.  "I'll meet you there," she said as she walked out the door 
chugging her much-needed dose of caffeine.
	
			******
AD Skinner's Office
FBI Headquarters
8:10 am

She was waiting for him when he arrived in Assistant Director 
Skinner's office fifteen minutes later - still dressed in the 
previous days' clothes but looking slightly more presentable 
with a jacket and tie on and with his hair marginally behaving 
after being lightly slicked down. Still, Kimberly, Skinner's 
assistant, did not look at all impressed when she glanced his 
way and as the agents entered Skinner's office she made a 
mental not to add 'another all-nighter in the basement for 
Spooky Mulder' to the office gossip pool.

Mulder and Scully sat in front of Skinner's desk - a familiar 
position that did not always evoke the kindest memories. This 
time, however, the agents were relatively relaxed = they had no 
misadventures of late to account for - though the AD still 
looked slightly stressed. 

"Agents," he nodded in greeting."

"Good morning sir," they replied - first Mulder, then Scully.

"Agents, a case has recently been brought to my attention - one 
in which your particular expertise may be of use," he reached 
for a file on his desk and handed it to Mulder. "I understand 
that you are not actively engaged on any other cases at the 
moment and your involvement in this particular case has been 
specifically requested by the Seattle Field Office."

Skinner may as well have never said anything - Mulder had 
stopped listening the moment he opened the file - and Scully, 
sensing Mulder's inattention, was also distracted, trying to 
get a glimpse of the file in his hands.

"Agents?" - apparently Skinner had gone on to say something 
they had been expected to reply to. "Is there something I 
should know about?" He asked even though he wasn't sure he 
wanted to know - no one brought more trouble to his office than 
the two agents in front of him at the moment, but they somehow 
also made him care a little too much about what happened to 
them. 

Both agents snapped to attention guiltily. "Sorry sir," they 
said in unison, both hiding small smiles at their shared 
inattention. 

"Agents?" Skinner repeated quizzically.

A quick glance at each other was all the conversation Mulder 
and Scully needed to come to a decision. 

"Sir, a copy of this file was slipped under our door at the end 
of the day yesterday," Mulder explained, silently agreeing with 
his partner that there seemed to be no reason to lie to their 
superior if the file was coming their way through official 
channels. 

Skinner raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Was there an 
explanation included with the file?"

"No sir."

"And you have no knowledge of who sent it to you?"

"No sir."

"Do you have any idea why someone would bring you this 
particular case?"

"No sir."

Removing his glasses, Skinner rubbed his eyes wearily as he 
considered the strange situation at hand. While no harm had 
been done, protocol and security had been breached. 
Furthermore, there was the concern that this case was a set-up 
of some sort for his agents - a strong source of concern 
considering their particular track record in being involved in 
high-stakes set-ups. But there was nothing to be accomplished 
by trying to take Mulder and Scully off the case - especially 
if he was correct in reading Mulder's mood. The man was like a 
boy who had yet to learn to hide his emotions, even when it was 
in his best interest to do so and now his fidgety body 
language, the gleam in his eyes, spoke loudly though his voice 
remained silent. 

"Sir?" Scully was the first to break the silence. "While it is 
strange that someone deemed it necessary to bring this 
particular file to our attention secretly, both Agent Mulder 
and myself have studied the file and there seems to be no 
reason to believe that there is some hidden agenda behind 
involving us in this case."

Skinner heard her words and nodded absently - she always knew 
exactly what to say to confirm his own thoughts and to 
alleviate any doubts he harboured. 'In fact,' he mused, 'it was 
almost uncanny - her level-headedness - except when dealing 
with her partner's particular situations - combined with a 
strength of will unmatched in his experience except by Mulder. 
Wryly Skinner allowed himself a second to consider what would 
have happened had either agent lacked the intensely stubborn 
spirit that held them together so strongly - disaster was the 
only answer he could come up with.

"At this point in time I have to agree with you, agents," even 
as he spoke Skinner realized that he had taken Scully's words 
as if they had been spoken jointly by the two agents. 
"Therefore, you will be travelling to Seattle this morning. 
Kimberly has your travel arrangements ready."

"Yes sir," the agents nodded together. "Is that all sir?" 
Mulder asked.

"Yes, that is all," Skinner nodded. However, as the agents 
turned towards the door, Mulder's arm gently touching Scully's 
back, unconsciously leading her, he was compelled to add 
"Agents, be careful out there."
"Yes sir," Mulder answered, knowing full well that, for them, 
being careful was about as useful as crossing one's fingers in 
hope of good luck - likely to be futile but attempted on the 
remote possibility that it would work. 

			******
FBI Headquarters
Washington, DC
8:29 am


Walking back towards their office, Mulder, still absently 
guiding Scully with a light touch, grinned in pure excitement 
and strode with a slight bounce in his step. Scully, though 
slightly perturbed over the already weird circumstances 
concerning their newest case, could not help but grin inwardly 
at her partner's boyish glee. Acting on impulse - a rare 
occasion for the normally serious and stoic agent - Scully 
slipped to her right, away from Mulder so that she was slightly 
out of his reach and, as he let his hand drop from the small of 
her back, caught his hand in hers, gripping it tightly. 

Mulder felt the warmth of her small hand and looked down at his 
partner - surprised but extraordinarily happy - and happier 
still when she glanced up at the same instant and flashed a 
quick smile. 

Leaning down, his lips just above her ear, he whispered "Agent 
Scully, don't you think this is inappropriate workplace 
behaviour? Some would call this sexual harassment."

She ignored his comment just as he knew she would and as they 
walked on, hand in hand, he was vividly aware that each moment 
provoked dozens of new office rumours about Mr. and  Mrs. 
Spooky - rumours that Scully especially despised. Just as 
vividly, he grinned as he walked, satisfied in knowing that 
Scully knew the rumour-generating figures as well as he did and 
that she was ignoring her normally strict code of conduct 
because of him, because she felt his excitement. 

Arriving in the basement office they reluctantly let their 
hands drop from the companionable grip and sat facing each 
other, ready to discuss the case at hand. 

"So what do you think, Scully?" Mulder asked. 

"This is weird, Mulder - why would someone secretly contact you 
about a case that we were already going to be assigned to?" 
Scully asked, raising the obvious point. 

"Unless whoever it was was trying to make sure we got the case 
and didn't know for sure that we would be involved through 
official channels," Mulder said.

"Do you think it's a set-up?" Scully questioned.

Mulder shrugged. "I don't know - maybe whoever sent me this 
file just wants the case solved for personal reasons and 
thought that we could help."

Scully eyed her partner sceptically  - it was a rare occasion 
when Mulder let common sense get the better of his innate 
paranoia.

"You're just saying that so I'm not worried about heading right 
into a set-up," she countered.

Mulder internally winced but kept a steady expression of pure 
innocence on his face. "I have no idea what you're talking 
about Scully, I don't see any reason to believe that this is a 
set-up," he said.

"Except for the fact that…" Scully cut herself off, slightly 
shaking her head. "Forget it, it doesn't matter since we're 
obviously going anyways. I'm going home to pack - I'll meet you 
at the airport."

Mulder grinned as he watched her grab her coat and head out the 
door. "Hey Scully," he called. "Can we hold hands on the plane?"

Scully turned, the scowl already on her fact. "In your dreams 
Mulder," she replied as she continued out the door.

With the memory of her hand clenched in his still fresh in his 
mind, Mulder smiled as he though to himself - 'but sometimes 
dreams come true.'

			*******
American Airlines Flight 19
Dulles International Airport
9:46 am


Scully was in a preoccupied state when they took their seats on 
the plane to Seattle - in fact she had been feeling slightly 
agitated since the meeting with Skinner and her subsequent 
personal debate about the secret file. Something was off - she 
could feel it but couldn't put her finger on it and she knew 
that Mulder could feel it too. She also knew that he wasn't 
going to admit that quite yet so she tried to dampen her own 
apprehension before meeting him at the airport. 

She looked at her partner, seated to her right in the aisle 
seat - he too looked slightly agitated but in his case it was 
with excitement, not apprehension. Furthermore, his suit jacket 
was off his tie was loose, his collar undone, and his shirt was 
slightly sweaty and wrinkled from his 400m airport dash to make 
the flight. 

Scully sighed - just as the plane was in the process of taking 
off - and Mulder glanced over at his partner though he didn't 
have to look to sense her nervousness. Scully didn't like 
flying at the best of times and now, with the uncertainty of 
what they were flying into, she was especially tense and he 
tried to think of something to say to get her to relax. 
However, he knew that whatever he came up with would sound 
either contrived or non-chalant. Deciding that neither type of 
statement would get more than a moments notice and a quick 
Scully-glare, he reverted back to the joke of holding hands on 
the plane and decided that it was actually the only solution he 
could come up with. So slowly and silently, Mulder let his left 
hand drift towards the armrest that Scully's right hand 
intensely gripped. Softly, he laid his hand over hers and 
grasped it so that their fingers were intertwined and the 
pressure she had subjected the arm rest to was entirely 
transferred into their grip. 

Looking up at her partner, Scully let a small, embarrassed 
smile escape and for Mulder that was all the confirmation he 
needed to know that he had definitely made the right decision. 
Watching Scully intently and, unlike usual, not hiding the fact 
that he was doing so, Mulder let a smile of his own escape - 
one of satisfaction. Knowing that he could, at least sometimes, 
make Scully feel better made him happier than anything else - 
he wasn't sure when this realization had come to him but he had 
been well aware of it for awhile. Usually she was so strong 
emotionally and physically that he felt he couldn't get 
through - she held everyone out, even her mother, even him. So 
rare was the opportunity given to him to help her in the same 
way that she helped him every minute of every day - not that he 
was any more willing to accept explicit help - that he was 
extraordinarily satisfied with every second for which she let 
him hold her hand. 

Shortly after take-off Mulder was gently snoring, his lanky 
body slumped low in the seat and his head resting on Scully's 
shoulder. Even in sleep his hand gripped hers tightly and he 
seemed to be slightly agitated - though only she would have 
noticed. Thinking that she should study the files more closely 
as she was sure Mulder had already easily memorized their 
entire contents, Scully deftly reached out with her foot and 
dragged her briefcase from under the seat in front of her to a 
spot where she could grab it without disturbing Mulder further. 

Two hours later Scully had absorbed most of the pertinent 
information on their newest case and Mulder had begun to dream. 
Looking over at her partner who had begun to breathe slightly 
unevenly, Scully dreaded what was coming and considered waking 
him before his dreams came to their usual nightmarish ending. 
She had never seen him sleep for so long a flight before - 
never long enough to enter real REM sleep and its accompanying 
dream cycle - and she knew it meant he really needed the rest 
after an all-nighter the previous night. However, she also knew 
he would be embarrassed by a typical Mulder -waking-up-from-a-
nightmare scene in the middle of a long cross-country flight. 
Still caught in her state of indecision, Scully's thoughts were 
disturbed when Mulder's hand gripped hers so tightly that it 
hurt and when his head began shaking violently from side-to-
side. "No!" he shouted loudly before Scully could reach across 
with her free hand and grasp his shaking shoulder. The shout 
naturally brought them to the centre of everyone's attention 
and the entire plane watched as Scully firmly but gently shook 
her partner and spoke to him calmly, encouraging him to relax 
as he woke up. Feeling everyone's eyes on her, Scully quickly 
looked up from her main object of concern and gave the entire 
planeful of people a glare that Skinner, not to mention Mulder, 
would have been proud of - all before Mulder awoke to find 
himself momentarily agitated from the nightmare but quickly 
calmed by Scully's voice, by her touch on his forehead. 

Scully, just thankful that his grip on her hand had lightened 
and that he hadn't awoken to a a gaping audience, turned so as 
to reach him better with her free left hand and gently brushed 
his sweaty hair from his forehead. Now it was his turn to look 
slightly embarrassed and Scully grinned slightly - very 
slightly - as she pulled his head down towards hers and kissed 
him lightly on the forehead.

"It's okay Mulder," she said softly.

And it was. 

			******
Commodore Hotel
Seattle, Washington
11:49 am

Upon arriving in Seattle, Mulder and Scully were pleasantly 
surprised by the quality of the hotel that had been booked for 
them. Indeed, the mere fact that it could be called a hotel and 
not a hole-in-the-wall-scummy-motel suggested that their new 
case ranked highly on the bureau's to do list. 

"Look Scully, free soap!" Mulder exclaimed - loudly - so that 
his partner could hear him from her room across the hall. 

Poking her head out of her open room door, Scully tried to 
refrain from grinning but even the long flight hadn't displaced 
her own sardonic sense of humour. 

"Free cable too Mulder - you should sleep well." she added 
wryly. "I'm having a quick shower before we head down to the 
field office - I'll be ready in twenty minutes."

When he failed to respond Scully stepped across the hall and 
quickly glanced in his room to see him seated on the bed, 
absorbed in the case file. Beginning to recognize a very 
familiar pattern,Scully internally sighed, turned, and headed 
for the shower.

			******
FBI Seattle Field Office
Seattle, Washington
1:02 pm


An hour later they successfully made it to the Seattle Field 
Office after a stop for coffee and a traffic jam. Striding 
purposefully, together the agents entered, stoic faces ready 
for anything, minds sharp with the details of the case at hand. 
Walking together, his arm on her back as always, they moved 
down the hall until they found the office of the special-agent-
in-charge. 

In response to Scully's firm knock, they were asked to enter 
and were greeted by a middle-aged agent some fifteen years 
older than Mulder and Scully who wore a military-issue haircut 
and a no-nonsense facial expression. 

"SAC Dollin?" Mulder queried when the man showed no intention 
of speaking. 

"Yes, and you are?" the older man finally replied. 

"I'm Agent Mulder and this is Agent Scully," Mulder replied. 

"Ah, the dynamic duo," Dollin replied tersely. "What can I do 
for you?"

Mulder and Scully exchanged a quick glance and an unspoken 
question hung in the air before Scully took the initiative to 
speak. 
"Sir, we were under the impression that our assistance on this 
case was requested by you. If this is not the case then maybe 
you can give me another explanation for my partner and I to 
have flown across the country on a moment's notice." Scully's 
tone was, as usual, unforgiving. 

Slightly taken aback, Dollin's scowl turned into a tired 
grimace as he gestured for Mulder and Scully to sit down. 

"Look, sorry. This has been a rough few weeks but I was always 
sure we'd get a break in the case soon - I still am. We've got 
a good group of agents working the case and we will find out 
who's killing these people and why. But it's all politics 
right - pressure's up - bring in new blood just so it looks 
like we're doing more, even though it's not likely to help." 
Dollin rubbed his eyes with one hand, both to assuage a growing 
headache and to avoid the glare Scully was giving him.

"Look sir, this is a matter of people dying - quickly and 
mysteriously. This is not some 'who caught whom, who solved 
what' competition. Our assistance has been requested and we 
expect to be treated with the same respect as any other agent. 
So when do we meet to discuss our direction with the case 
agents?" Scully asked authoritatively. 

Though of the two agents, Scully tended to show more tact and 
respect of rules and customs while Mulder was quite likely to 
go off and explode on anyone, anything, regardless of time or 
place, Scully was also prone to challenge anyone who dared look 
at her - or, worse, at Mulder - with disrespect. And she had 
sensed it in Dollin, in his slight sneer, in his demeanour. The 
rumours proceeded them, as they often did, and Mr. and Mrs. 
Spooky were not welcome in SAC Dollin's smooth-sailing ship. 
But the ship had already been rocked with three weeks of few 
clues and fewer lead. So there they were, to the annoyance of 
Dollin, looking - to his greater annoyance - like a perfect 
young professional couple poised to save the world. But to let 
his annoyance show would have been instant death - he could 
feel it as he was subjected to the frostiest Scully-glare 
imaginable. 

"We meet every night at five to debrief and discuss our 
progress for the day." was all he could manage with the ice-
cold eyes still glaring at him.

"Well, sir, I guess we'll see you at five." Scully replied 
tersely as she and Mulder stepped out of the office in perfect 
unison.

Once outside Dollin's office they both instinctively began 
walking to the exit - as most do when they sense being 
unwanted. 

"So what are we going to do for two hours Scully?" Mulder asked 
with a leer in his voice as they descended the outside stairs. 

"Your place or mine?" Scully returned playfully - looking up to 
catch the instant of surprise on Mulder's face before he 
carefully changed it to a goofy grin. 

Though Scully loved to catch Mulder smiling, she also felt 
obligated to turn Mulder's attention back to the case he had 
been so excited about. Understanding that Dollin's hostility 
towards their presence had sent a few waves of angry 
familiarity through her partner and sensing that he was 
dutifully hiding the hurt he still felt when looked down upon 
by other agents, Scully wanted to do nothing more than hold him 
tightly and assure him that he was stronger, smarter, better 
than they were. However, a job was a job and she would address 
the hidden hurt feelings when they had the privacy and the 
time. 

"How about we have some more coffee for lunch and discuss the 
case? We are in Seattle - birthplace of Starbucks," Scully 
suggested - breaking the silence.

Mulder sighed. "I thought you said…." 

Seeing that a part of Mulder's forlorn expression was genuine, 
Scully couldn't resist. "Later Mulder - I promise," she 
whispered, her lips brushing his ear. 

Stepping back she almost giggled when she watched Mulder's face 
go red but contained her laughter and gently took his hand, 
leading him to the closest coffee place. It being Seattle, that 
was less that ten steps. 

			******
Starbucks #1451283438432187023148743761789234
Seattle, Washington
1:26 pm


"There's something here - it's here and we're just missing it," 
Mulder muttered - more to himself than to Scully. 

"I know, Mulder, but the victims are seemingly completely 
unrelated - if not for the MO we wouldn't even suspect a serial 
killer to be responsible for such a strange assortment of 
deaths," Scully stated even  though she knew her partner was 
well aware of what she said - there just didn't seem to be 
anything new to say. 

The six victims so far - all turning up in the past three 
weeks - were not a very cohesive group. Looking through the 
photos for what seemed like the 18126th time, Scully's head 
began to ache and this time she couldn't blame it on lack of 
caffeine. The first photo was of a young woman, twenty-two 
years old, Caucasian, lying peacefully in the woods. There was 
no sign of any physical trauma to her body though she had been 
dead for sometime before her body was found. 

Looking at the coroner's report attached to the photo, Scully 
felt as if she could repeat the results in her sleep.
- no physical injuries
- nothing on the tox screen
- no sign of injections of any sort
- cause of death inconclusive

Continuing through the photos, Scully encountered bodies she 
already knew too well. 
An older man - 70 years old, Hispanic. 
A teenaged boy - 17, Black.
A middle-aged woman - 46, Caucasian.
An older lady - 62, Asian.
A young man - 29, Hispanic. 

Every picture showed the victim lying dead in the woods, each 
looking equally peaceful in perpetual slumber, none yielding a 
single clue as to what killed these six people. Looking up from 
the photos in frustration, Scully found her partner staring 
blankly at a piece of paper in his hands though it was obvious 
that he was not focused on the piece of paper itself. Scully 
knew the look - the faraway gaze that meant her partner was 
searching through the many dark possibilities, the many 
murderous minds that could have killed six people so easily. 
This was his curse - to be able to see clearly into the minds 
of murderers - and what made him both the best and the worst 
agent to work in the Bureau's VCS. Mulder's 'spooky' ability in 
tracking killers haunted Scully and seeing that faraway look 
was all-at-once heart wrenching. She knew why he was so good at 
profiling - not because he himself was on the brink, a killer, 
a lunatic, just managing to get by in 'normal' society - a 
suggestion made altogether too often by various agents - some 
of whom had never even met Mulder. No - she knew his unique 
ability came from his natural empathy for all people but 
especially for tortured souls - those who, like him, had to 
hold personal demons at bay. But he held his demons in check 
while others were not so successful. And whereas a demon-
controlled Mulder would only ever injure himself, others tended 
to lash out in other ways. 

She watched as he mentally dove into possibility after 
possibility - forming a profile as he searched through the many 
evils that human minds are capable of. He was completely 
unaware of her gaze, locked in his head, trying to access the 
head of the killer. However, as she continued to watch him 
think, Scully could tell that he wasn't in too deep yet - there 
was nothing to worry about yet. Indeed, she remembered that 
this case had excited him - not the usual case when it came 
down to VCS files - and even she recognized the very X-filefish 
nature of this particular case. So maybe she didn't have as 
much to worry about as usual when they were working a VCS file 
though she really wished the damn things would stop coming 
their way. Mulder's gift/curse was one of her great fears - she 
knew how close he would get - how far into the darkness he 
would go no matter what the cost was to him, to his sanity. 
Though this dedication was something she admired in him - and 
though she knew that she was equally stubborn - Scully 
sometimes wished they both had a little more sense of personal 
safety. 

"Sundae for your thoughts"

Scully's attentions returned to find Mulder - who had 
apparently returned from profiler-mode - grinning slyly at 
her - amused to have caught his so-serious partner staring at 
him and daydreaming. He was hoping her thoughts were worth a 
lot more than a sundae. Turning red, Scully shook her head a 
little and let a small smile of her own appear on her lips. 

"Your place or mine?" she said.

Her reward was a very amused Mulder. 

			*****
FBI Seattle Field Office
Seattle, Washington
4:58 pm

The agents entered the conference room at five o'clock sharp. A 
few agents were already there and were engaged in small talk 
though they did curiously glance at Mulder and Scully when they 
entered the room. 

Within a few minutes the agents had all arrived - Dollin being 
the last one in - and were seated around the conference table 
as Dollin began the meeting. 

"Okay, so - Redden and Koston - what have you got for us today?"

"Uh sir?" came a questioning voice before either Redden or 
Koston had time to speak. 

Dollin looked exasperated as he replied. "Yes Agent Saari?" 

"Well, sir, considering that we haven't yet met our new 
colleagues I thought that introductions and an overview of our 
work so far would be a good idea," said the young female agent, 
ignoring her boss's signs of irritation. 

"All right then Agent Saari - if you're so enthusiastic about 
this then why don't you provide this introduction and 
overview," Dollin remarked sarcastically.

"Fine with me," Agent Saari stood up and turned to face Mulder 
and Scully - both of whom were bemused by the strong stance 
taken by this just-out-of-the-academy agent. 

"Welcome to Seattle, Agents. I guess we all know who you are 
but let me introduce our team to you. I'm Ani Saari and this is 
my partner Doug Lindros. We are working on linking the victims. 
Those two guys - Mark Redden and James Koston are working on MO 
and Jane Penny and Tim Smyth are dealing with possible 
suspects. Obviously we are all working closely together as well 
considering all of these angles are intertwined on many levels. 
Unfortunately, we haven't made much progress on any of the 
fronts. As I'm sure you know, none of the victims seem to be in 
any way related to each other outside of all being of a similar 
but very broad socio-economic status. Also, the means and 
motive behind these murders are, as yet, completely unknown. 
Therefore we are forced to try and pick out possible suspects 
based only on a vague idea of the crime itself. So basically we 
have very little to go on." Agent Saari concluded with a small, 
resigned shrug. 

Mulder and Scully were amused. Though all the information Agent 
Saari had just given was in the file, she was nonetheless right 
to brief the new agents on the basics - it was, after all, a 
part of the protocol and the polite and friendly thing to do to 
break the ice. 

Dollin and a few of the other agents around the table were not 
so amused by Saari's admission of lack of leads on their 
behalf. Looking bad in front of the 'the clean-up team' brought 
in because the local office wasn't competent enough to handle 
the case was not their favourite game. Not that Saari hadn't 
told the truth - it was just that the truth made them look 
incapable, weak. 

Scully especially admired the young agent's resolve and manner. 
Forceful but polite - it quickly made the point clear - and 
Mulder inwardly grinned at Saari's very Scully-like 
performance. 

"Right so when are you going to show us how incompetent we 
are?" Dollin questioned - breaking the silence. 

Mentally sighing, Mulder wondered why everyone seemed to hold 
some kind of grudge against him catching killers. Then he 
mentally laughed at his own momentary naivety in thinking that 
FBI agents never got jealous of others' success. But he would 
bet a million to one odds that none of the resentful agents 
wanted to be 'blessed' with his particular talent. 

With Mulder apparently not responding to the obvious barbed 
remark, Scully settled the matter with a withering look and a 
refusal to dignify Dollin's comment with a reply. Instead, she 
carried on neutrally. 

"Agent Mulder and I need to visit the crime scenes and I would 
like to have a look at the bodies as soon as possible." 

Dollin reluctantly nodded. "Saari and Lindros will take you to 
the crime scenes and the coroner's office first thing tomorrow 
morning. We'll meet again tomorrow afternoon," he said as he 
stood up abruptly and left the room. 

The other eight agents were left shrugging their shoulders and 
looking around. Well, six were looking at Mulder and Scully 
while Mulder an Scully were looking at each other and 
pretending not to notice being stared at. 

Mulder shrugged his shoulders and broke the silence. "I guess 
that means the meeting's over," he dead-panned, knocking the 
other agents out of their momentary reverie. "C'mon Scully - 
don't you owe me dinner?" 

"In your dreams Mulder."

			******
Luigi's Italian Restaurant
Seattle, Washington
6:02 pm

She bought - to make him feel guilty - and made him eat a 
semblance of a decent meal by stopping at an establishment that 
was not a greasy diner or fast food joint. But even Mulder 
wasn't picky enough to not like Italian with red wine. 

"So what do you think?" Scully asked as they ate. 

"I don't know yet," Mulder replied. "But it's obvious that 
there is a link between the victims - we're just not seeing it 
yet." 

"What if there is no link?"

"There has to be - this is too methodical and perfect to have 
been done without a very specific purpose." - or at least that 
was what Scully guessed he said from the few syllables that 
escaped his pasta-filled mouth. But sometimes it seemed to her 
that he didn't even need to speak - she already knew what he 
was going to say and they were just going through the ritual of 
actually communicating orally. And other times she was still 
astounded with what came out of his mouth, his head. 

			******
Commodore Hotel
Seattle, Washington
7:21 pm

Arriving back at their hotel - for once at a decent hour - both 
Mulder and Scully changed into hotel clothes aka jeans and t-
shirts before settling down with the files in Mulder's room. 
Well, Scully settled down - on the bed - as Mulder paced the 
room. With one eye on the forensics reports she was committing 
to memory and the other on her partner, Scully continually 
fought the urge to physically restrain him to a seat. 

Mulder did not notice any of this - he was just getting into 
the case, the possibilities, the profile. The pacing was part 
of it - like the sunflower seeds, it steadied his thoughts with 
its rhythm, though sometimes the thoughts would begin to 
frantically outrace the slow beat of the pacing, the seeds. 

Though he had yet to visit the crime scenes he vividly imagined 
the scene as the killer dropped the dead body off - no mess, 
seemingly no reason to be dead but dead nonetheless. But where 
did the actual killing take place? Why these particular people? 
How were these people killed? It was strange to find no ritual 
involved in the killings - usually serial killers were big on 
rituals. And on and on the chain of questions, partial answers, 
hypotheses, wrong turns, absurd thoughts, questions, questions, 
more questions filed through his head until he though the wave 
just might get the best of him this time around. Then suddenly 
the wave subsided and his head began to clear - he could hear 
Scully talking him down - "Mulder, stop thinking," - she 
commanded as she stood up to stop him from pacing, thinking. 

Her voice had broken through his thoughts and her touch calmed 
both his body and mind. She was just so fucking stable - he 
looked down at her blue eyes - noting the intense concern 
hidden behind the faux anger as she told him his pacing was 
driving her crazy. 

It was driving him crazy too. 

He settled down next to her on the bed, allowing his mind to 
block out any lingering thoughts on the profile - it was too 
early, he didn't have enough evidence to go on, hadn't even 
been to the crime scene. He'd drive himself crazy tomorrow - 
after he knew a little more. Tonight he would just bug Scully. 
Cause it was fun. And cause he knew that he could. 

Flipping on the TV to the science-fiction cable network, he 
then ceased to pay any attention to the B-movie playing and, 
instead, read over Scully's shoulder as she continued to work 
her way through the file. As he did this he made bets with 
himself on time before: 1) withering glare  2) verbal abuse  3) 
feigned annoyance  4) mock-grudging acquiescence. 

Withering glare in less than five minutes! He was way off on 
that one - he didn't even think she'd really noticed his 
annoying behaviour for a bit….

"Mulder, do you mind?"

Hmmm, not too abusive but still qualified for the category as 
it came with withering glare no. 2. 

Still shocked at the speed at which Scully was moving through 
the stages of annoyance, Mulder barely noticed 3) feigned 
annoyance before, bam! The file was down and defeat 
surrendered. 

Only one explanation - 'I must look hot tonight,' he mused 
silently before he returned to reality - 'no Mulder - only one 
explanation - she's tired of reading the same thing over and 
over again.'

Not the same thing at all.

With his "what Scully?" look of innocence securely ensconced on 
his face, Mulder forced himself to behave normally even though 
he felt especially over-stimulated that night. 

She could feel it though - had felt it through his eyes as he 
pretended to read over her shoulder. He was bored, he wanted 
attention and between Mulder and the file, Scully did not have 
a very difficult time picking. But he didn't have to know that. 

"Okay, fine. Mulder, if you're determined to distract me then I 
may as well not bother," she said, looking up at her partner 
with a fairly realistic scowl. 

He grinned - not even pretending to believe her - and got a 
pillow to the head for it. 

"Scully!" he exclaimed. "Don't you think pillow fights are 
unbecoming of a federal office?", even as he fended off another 
vicious pillow to the head. 

"Well, what do you suggest instead Mulder? Obviously you were 
bored." Scully said, disarming herself by again lying against 
her weapon. 

"Well…considering that we are living in the lap of luxury with 
cable television and fluffy pillows at our disposal… and 
considering Planet of the Apes is up next… you can see where 
I'm going with this can't you, Scully?" 

She sighed, half-genuinely. "Only too well Mulder," she replied.

"So?"

"I guess it's your place tonight."

Grinning stupidly, he wrapped his arms around her as they lay 
on their sides to watch the movie. Scully snuggled in close to 
Mulder's chest. Ten minutes later she was asleep, snoring 
gently. Still grinning idiotically, Mulder spent a minute 
relishing the feeling of holding Scully so closely as she slept 
before joining his partner in sleep. 

			******

She awoke with a start - breathing heavily and snatching at 
already fading memories of her dream. Methodical, merciless 
men - she could remember that much - physical pain - 'well that 
certainly wasn't anything new and exciting,' Scully admonished 
herself. Sitting up in bed she felt slightly disorientated - 
something was not quite right. 

She was in Mulder's room. Alone. Looking at the clock which 
brightly announced the ungodly hour of 4:20am. Scully groaned 
and wondered for the millionth time if anyone else in the world 
went running at 4 in the morning. Then for a minute she debated 
going back to her own room though the whole time she knew she 
would stay. Because she could smell him in the sheets, because 
he would come back, shower, get back into bed, put his arms 
around her and pretend that he had slept through the night. Not 
that she consciously admitted this - not even to herself - 
always better to leave it unconsidered for the time being. But 
she knew it - in her heart - she knew it. Debating whether to 
call him on the late-night/early-morning jog, Scully drifted 
back to sleep. 

			******

Downtown Streets
Seattle, Washington
5:26 am

Mulder ran hard for over an hour. The brisk early air felt good 
on his body, in his lungs, as he pounded his way through the 
empty Seattle streets. Mostly he thought about nothing - in 
fact, running was the only way he could ever shut off his 
thoughts - but sometimes his thoughts drifted to Scully. Lately 
things had been so good - too good he sometimes thought. An odd 
lack of physical injuries and threats and no real mental 
traumas either. He was starting to feel safe - well, safer at 
least - thinking that Scully wasn't going to be taken from him 
at any moment in which he wasn't diligently watching her. But 
he couldn't let himself be lulled into sloppiness, complacency, 
because then they would catch him with his guard down, and they 
would… they would…

Unconsciously, Mulder began to run faster and faster as the 
inevitable thought wormed its way into his head. As if physical 
pain could eliminate the mental pain he felt at even thinking 
about Scully dying. Why couldn't he just not think about it? 
Why did he consistently obsess in such a paranoid manner? 
Mulder asked himself these questions relentlessly even as the 
very obsessive thoughts pushed him to run faster and faster 
back towards the hotel . Back to Scully - a safe Scully… 
'Scully is okay, she's okay, she's okay,' he tried to 
substitute this new thought for the old terror as he drew 
closer and closer to the fateful moment when he would know that 
she was okay that he was just being paranoid, delusional. But 
being delusional was fine as long as she was okay. 

He took the stairs three at a time - no time for elevators - 
but remembered enough not to burst through the door in a panic. 
He even tried to breathe normally before opening the door but 
abandoned the idea when his impatience and anxiety got the best 
of him. Opening the door quietly, Mulder finally stopped 
hyperventilating as his eyes fell on the small form of his 
partner - buried beneath blankets and pillows. She was okay. 
Therefore he was okay too. Closing his eyes in tired relief, he 
quietly grabbed clean clothes and headed for the shower. 

Mulder showered, dressed in the same clothes he had been 
wearing before the run, and very discretely slipped back into 
the bed next to Scully. Still a bit agitated from the minor 
panic attack he experienced earlier, he tried to breathe evenly 
as he gulped in air scented with her particular shampoo. She 
let his breathing get almost back to normal before turning to 
face him. He was not surprised to find her awake - somehow she 
always knew. 

"It's okay Mulder," she whispered, taking his hand in hers. 
"I'm okay. I'm fine."

"I'm sorry Scully," he whispered back. He knew she hated how he 
obsessed over her safety but he couldn't help himself. 
Logically he knew why it was a bad idea to focus on the most 
disastrous thing that could happen but that sure didn't stop 
him from thinking about it. 

He had finally stopped trembling but she brought him into her 
arms anyway. "It's okay, I do it too sometimes," she 
uncharacteristically admitted. 

Mulder looked up - surprised. "You do?"

"Of course I do," she said, hugging him tightly. "And it scares 
me too. But I'm okay. And you're okay."

The look of relief in his eyes as he relaxed in her arms 
threatened to make her cry. 

"Thanks, Scully," he whispered as he dozed off - it still being 
early enough  to catch a pre-work nap. 

"Anytime, Mulder," she whispered back, gently stroking his hair 
while watching him fall asleep. 

			******

An hour and a half later they were both up and showering - very 
much separately. Then, with a few swallows of coffee for 
breakfast, they were at the first crime scene. At least it was 
where the first body had been found - the murder had likely 
taken place somewhere else as initial forensics reports showed 
that the pattern of tracks leading to the site indicated a 
vehicle driving up to the very spot where the body was found. 
It was considered highly unlikely that the killer had driven 
through the woods and happened to encounter the first victim 
and killed her. Mulder and Scully already knew this of course 
but Mulder needed to be there, to feel the environment, the 
place where the victim had been found. Through it he could 
reach out, feel the killer as he dropped the body off, feel the 
scene … damn - he just wasn't getting anything. Something felt 
wrong - these murders were 'different' somehow…he just didn't 
know how."

From a ways away a smirking Agent Lindros - one of the two 
agents instructed to show Mulder and Scully to the crime 
scene - called out to Mulder - "told you you wouldn't find 
anything - this scene's three weeks old and there was nothing 
here to start with, just the body."

Mulder barely heard the other agent - even though he wasn't 
receiving the signals he usually got from a murder scene, there 
still was something there that he was trying to grasp. 
Therefore, it was slightly annoying to have his concentration 
broken when Lindros approached him and yelled "hey lose the 
spooky act man and just admit that there's nothing here!" into 
his ear.

Startled, Mulder jumped and whirled around while instinctively 
showing his agitator. Then, seeing who it was, he checked his 
next instinct to reach for his gun and instead hyperventilated 
for just a second before facing Lindros who had stumbled and 
fallen on his ass after being pushed. 

"What the hell was that?" Lindros asked, slightly angrily, 
getting to his feet. 

"You surprised me," Mulder replied. "I reacted on instinct."

"Instinct this!" Lindros replied. Still worked up about getting 
his ass dirty. "I was talking to you the whole time." 

Mulder wasn't sure what to say to that - he only knew that 
Lindros had startled him and he had long ago learned to react 
quickly and decisively when startled. He was still trying to 
figure out what to say  - "I didn't hear you" would only 
perpetuate the stupid spooky thing while "I was ignoring you" 
was bound to anger Lindros even further. 

Giving in to natural inclination, Mulder settled on a spacey 
look and a shrug - as if that would explain everything to an 
aggressive law enforcement officer who's physical body had been 
challenged. 

To Lindros the stupid shrug was really the last straw - he 
hadn't even really been mad when Mulder pushed him at first - 
just a bit put off, nothing a short "sorry, didn't mean to" 
wouldn't have appeased - but now Mulder's confident aloofness 
was really getting to be too much for him. 'Mr. Spooky Mulder - 
can push anybody around cause he's Mr. In Charge, ready to show 
the locals a thing or two.' Lindros thought as he grabbed an 
unsuspecting Mulder by the shoulder. "Look man, your attitude 
is really starting to piss me off," he said as he gave Mulder a 
hard shove. 

"And yours, Agent Lindros, is really starting to piss me off," 
Scully replied in an ice cold voice from behind Lindros. 

Lindros turned. "Look - Mulder started it." he said angrily. 

"I know what happened Agent Lindros," Scully replied coldly as 
she approached Mulder and offered a hand up. Mulder, who had 
been sitting, slightly dazed from both 'crime scene mode' and 
the unexpected push sheepishly accepted and pulled himself to 
his feet. 

"Scully, I…" he started to explain before she cut him off with 
a "don't worry Mulder, I know what happened."

"You weren't even here," Lindros argued. 

"I know what happened," Scully repeated for the third time. 
"You, Agent Lindros, approached Mulder, telling him that he was 
wasting his time. When it looked to you that Mulder was 
ignoring you purposely, you proceeded to yell in he ear. 
Startled, Mulder instinctively pushed you away and you 
stumbled, got mad, got madder when Mulder brushed you off, 
pushed Mulder."

"Okay - so you sway what happened then - I had a right to be 
pissed," Lindros argued. 

"Except that he wasn't ignoring you," Scully explained. "I know 
it seemed like he was but I swear he just didn't hear you and 
you really just startled him."

Lindros looked suspiciously at Scully and Mulder. She no longer 
looked so mad and seemed to be being truthful while he just 
continued to look slightly dazed. Finally he just shrugged and 
walked off. "Whatever," he mumbled by way of exiting the scene. 

Once Lindros was gone, Scully gave Mulder a quick once over 
with her 'doctor's eyes' and saw nothing more than regular 
'crime-scene Mulder'. Catching her glance as she looked him 
over, Mulder shrugged helplessly. He hoped she wasn't mad at 
him for antagonizing their new colleague. 

Scully sighed. "Ready to go Mulder?" she asked, shaking her 
head slightly, as if exasperated with him. 

Was she mad? He had to know. "Scully, I…" 

"I know Mulder," she replied, once again cutting him off. 

He looked at her and understood. "You didn't even see what 
happened."

"I didn't have to," she replied lightly, making Mulder wince 
slightly at how well she knew him - even though he loved it, 
sometimes it was eerie. 

			******

Crime scenes two through six were almost unbearable similar to 
the first one and didn't even have angry shoving matches as 
side entertainment. The scenes were nearly identical - a spot 
in the local woods, accessible to trucks or suvs, drive-up dump 
off. There had been no real effort to hide the bodies thought 
the locations were secure enough to ensure the perpetrator 
would not be caught if dropping the bodies off at night. 

However, though every scene was so similar to the next, Mulder 
and Scully insisted on staying for awhile at each - to get a 
feel for the environment, the killer. 

Mulder especially felt that he was close to something - that 
just one small detail or two was tripping him up. And Scully 
could feel that Mulder was close as she too climbed after her 
partner into the mind of the killer. But Saari and Lindros were 
close to being bored out of their minds as they dutifully 
showed Mulder and Scully each and every already-examined-
thoroughly sit. Indeed, Lindros was constantly on the verge of 
just up and driving off - this is when he wasn't on the verge 
of yelling at Mulder and Scully for wasting his time. Saari, on 
the other had, agreed that it was stupid to have two agents 
show them around but also acknowledged that she and Lindros 
hadn't done anything much more productive in the past three 
weeks. And she knew that pissing Dollin off had gotten her this 
particular detail so she couldn't complain - it wasn't so bad 
when compared to the enjoyment she got from arguing with 
Dollin. 'the guy is just such as ass!'  she thought to herself 
as she tried to pass the time without dying of boredom. But 
really, what the hell were those two doing out there?" 

			******
Crime Scene
Seattle, Washington
4:11 pm


Mulder was actually lying on the ground, settled in amongst the 
damp Seattle leaves in the same place that the sixth victim had 
been found. Scully was trying to ignore her partner but was 
having a hard time thinking when, every time she looked, she 
was startled into the thought of really finding Mulder lying 
there dead of a mysterious cause. Finally she just had to 
completely turn away from the scene, forcing herself not to 
constantly check if he was still lying there, pretending, yes, 
only pretending, to be dead. 

God, she felt so stupid! Logically, she knew he was absolutely 
fine, but her every urge compelled her to go up to him, touch 
him, feel him breathe, see his eyes. Still busy trying to 
ignore her impulses, Scully was more than a little startled 
when she was touched on the shoulder. 

"What?" she exclaimed, spinning around sharply. 

"Sorry!" Mulder replied. "I didn't mean to startle you - I 
thought you heard me get up."

Scully shook her head sheepishly. "No, I didn't hear anything," 
she admitted. 

This time it was Mulder that understood - and with a grin that 
betrayed his understanding he quickly pulled his partner to him 
before she could object. Hoping that the other two agents 
wouldn't catch it, he gave Scully a small hug and a short kiss 
on the forehead before turning with her and walking with her 
back to their car. And when she continued to smile ruefully, he 
knew he had called it correctly.

			******
FBI Seattle Field Office
Seattle, Washington
5:02 pm


The four agents barely made it back to the field office in time 
for the daily review but it wouldn't have mattered had they 
missed it completely considering no one other than Mulder and 
Scully had gotten anywhere with the case and Mulder and Scully 
weren't exactly able to explain what they had achieved. 

Dollin was not especially amused by the lack of achievement. 

"Nothing?" he queried, a little sarcastically. 

"Not nothing sir" Mulder replied neutrally. "We're close, I can 
tell - there's just nothing concrete yet." 

Dollin scoffed. "So, nothing," he repeated. 

"Yes, sir," agreed Lindros. "There was nothing new at the crime 
scenes - nothing not already in the file."

"Didn't think there would be. Did you Agent Lindros?"

"No, sir."

"Well, looks like we knew what we were talking about doesn't 
it? Admit it, Mulder, there was nothing there - just another 
day wasted," Dollin continued, intent on taking advantage of 
this opportunity to put Mulder in his place. 

For an instant it looked as if Mulder was going to fight back 
as he stood and glared at Dollin. But then, he just as suddenly 
sat back down without saying a word and stared down at the 
floor. 

Scully, on the other hand, was more than ready to defend her 
partner's position.

"Compared to three weeks wasted a day hardly seems 
significant," she said icily. "And considering Agent Mulder has 
done more in one day than your team has in three weeks I can 
hardly understand how you can consider his efforts to have been 
wasted." 

Dollin was not impressed but, again, the tone of Scully's 
rebuke and the look in her eyes made it difficult for him to 
challenge her statement. He settled for a quick "well, I'd like 
to see some of these results when we meet tomorrow," before 
leaving the conference room. 

Storming down the hall he mentally abused himself for backing 
down from Agent Scully's challenge. How did she do that to him? 
He was the SAC, she should have been the one challenged but 
that ice blue glare was impossible to defend against. Still 
shaking his head, Dollin grimly looked forward to a meeting 
with Mulder, sans Scully. He could easily take Mulder, he 
thought, the man was obviously a loser - incapable of standing 
up for himself, hiding behind his partner. Just another flaky 
know-it-all with a fancy degree that needed to be shown his 
place in the bureau's pecking order - and Dollin was more than 
willing to do the dirty work. Finally satisfied with that 
thought and ignoring the fact that he was too scared to face 
Scully. Dollin grinned evilly as he left the building. 

Meanwhile, after another abruptly ended meeting, the eight 
agents again faced each other with a small amount of 
trepidation. Though Dollin was never the type to behave 
especially calmly, the six Seattle field agents were also not 
used to seeing him so tense and angry. And obviously Mulder and 
Scully's superior attitude wasn't sitting too well with him - 
not that the other agents were impervious to their attitude 
either. Most of them - all of them at times - already 
considered Mulder and Scully to be aloof, enclosed, unwilling 
to adhere to social niceties - and this was after knowing them 
for only two days. 

Feeling the emanating hostility, Mulder and Scully wordlessly 
stood in unison and walked out together, his arm on her back 
like always, in perfect solidarity. 

The perfect timing had not escaped the notice of the other 
agents.

"How the hell do they do that?" Saari asked once they had made 
their exit. 

"I have no idea," was the only response she got other than a 
bunch of shaking heads. 

			******
Commodore Hotel
Seattle, Washington
6:49 pm

"Mulder, I don't think more coffee is really necessary," Scully 
called from her room, hoping they weren't disturbing some 
ridiculously early-to-bed types by yelling at each other from 
across the hall. 'This is why connecting rooms were made' she 
thought as she slipped into cotton pants and shirt. Next time 
she would insist - no matter how it looked to the hotel clerk, 
no matter how full the hotel/motel happened to be. 

"You must be delusional, Scully and I know what you need for 
that," Mulder replied loudly.

"What, Mulder?" Scully asked, already preparing to be 
exasperated at the answer.

"Coffee?" he said, appearing at her door with two coffees 
already in hand. 

She shook her head, grinning. "Jesus Mulder - how the hell did 
you do that? You didn't even leave your room."

"What do I look like, Scully? An expert on unexplained 
phenomenon?" Mulder asked so seriously that it made her laugh. 

"You are unexplained phenomenon Mulder," she replied. 

Unable to keep the smile from his face, Mulder approached his 
partner, handed her a coffee and replied "I don't know Scully, 
I think I know someone who would have a pretty good shot at it." 

Flattered by this uncharacteristic admission, Scully could not 
come up with an appropriately worded response and had to settle 
for blushing slightly and pretending to ignore the comment. 
Embarrassed, she turned away from his gaze and asked herself 
why they had been acting so openly to each other recently - it 
was difficult when they were so used to hiding their feelings - 
but maybe they would just have to get better at responding to 
the truth instead of hiding behind emotional shields. She hoped 
that would happen instead of a relapse into the emotional 
void - though it was slightly nerve-wracking to face their 
feelings she knew they couldn't hide from them forever. 
Watching his embarrassed partner Mulder settled in next to her 
in the bed though she continued to avoid facing him. Feeling 
slightly edgy, he wanted to grab her, shake her, make her say 
everything she had thought of saying but had abandoned due to 
embarrassment. 'When the hell were they going to stop hiding 
behind walls?' he wondered even as he wussed out of confronting 
her and turned his thoughts to the case. 'There's time for that 
later - after we catch this killer,' he though to himself, 
trying to justify his lack of guts. 

When Scully finally trusted herself to turn back towards 
Mulder, she was both relieved and slightly disappointed to find 
him staring intently at the pictures of the six victims spread 
out on the bed. For an instant she had thought that he was 
going to force her hand, to make her respond to his comment and 
its implications and she had half-hoped that he would just so 
they could get it out of the way or at least make some headway 
into the situation. 'Oh well - next time' she thought - 
definitely not for the first time - as she too settled in on 
coffee and files. 

			******

He was pacing again and this time he knew that he was close. 
The perfectly undetectable murder weapon. A clean and 
methodical killing. The variety in victims. Killing for another 
purpose - not just killing for killing's sake. The secluded but 
not hidden body drop off points. Clean and methodical like the 
killings. Well coordinated. Full of purpose. No ritual. So 
clean. Meticulous. Well led. 

"Well led," he repeated - this time out loud. "Well led."

"Hmmm?" Scully questioned absently. 

"It's not one person Scully - it's a group, a well led group 
with a very specific purpose. These killings have a higher 
purpose - it's not just killing to kill. That's why there's no 
sign of any ritual, why its done so cleanly and meticulously." 
Mulder explained as coherently as he could. Listening to his 
reasoning, Scully nodded - in fact, she'd been close to that 
conclusion herself.  In going through the forensics on the 
victims, she'd been focusing on the results of the toxicology 
reports of, rather, on the lack of results. Not a single victim 
had any toxin of any sort in their system and therefore it had 
been concluded that they had not died from being poisoned. 
However, it was quite odd that none of the victims had traces 
of any other drugs in their systems. This was especially odd 
considering interviews with the friends of the first victim, 
the twenty-two year old girl, Julie Steamer had originally 
speculated that she might have been in the woods smoking weed 
when she was killed. Apparently it was not odd for the girl to 
spend her evenings with a friend and a joint in the woods. 
Therefore, traces of marijuana should definitely have shown up 
on the tox screen - especially considering that marijuana 
traces lasted in the body for a notoriously long time and Julie 
was apparently a habitual smoker. All of this put together 
meant that something was given to these victims to wipe their 
toxicology tests clean. This then suggested a very 
sophisticated operation - not that the clean and methodical 
style of killing hadn't already suggested that. But these new 
hypotheses suggested more than ever that the killers belonged 
to a very organized group with a higher purpose which could 
require experimentation on humans. 

"I agree, Mulder," she said. "The tox screens suggest that 
too - six people in this socio-economic strata of Seattle, 
three of whom are known to use various drugs, should not all 
have clean tox screens."

Mulder looked up, nodding. "I knew it - it's a group - that's 
what we were missing. Good thinking Scully." 

'So willing to gloss over equally good thinking on his part' 
she thought, mentally shaking her head at him. "And I suppose 
you were daydreaming? Wondering what's on the Space network?" 
she remarked. 

He grinned sheepishly while she looked him over carefully, 
making sure he got the point. Sure he was a federal agent but 
sometimes he was ridiculously obtuse. But this time she was 
pretty sure he got it. 

"Thanks, Scully," he said. 

"Anytime, Mulder."
Now that the break had been made, Scully knew that neither 
agent would be getting much sleep that night though she would 
methodically try while Mulder would barely notice the night go 
by. Already he was up, off the bed, pacing and muttering to 
himself. 

"But why? It's still the same questions Scully - just different 
suspects," he mused as he strode back and forth. 

Scully sighed. "You're right Mulder - we aren't much closer to 
finding the murderer - but we definitely are close now that 
we're looking in the right direction. Maybe there's a clearer 
reason as to why a group might be killing various, seemingly 
randomly selected people and then covering up the toxicology 
reports." 

It was a sign of her tiredness that Scully didn't even really 
realize the familiarity of the scenario she just described. 
Mulder, however, even through his own reverie, heard her 
comment very clearly. "Scully - are you suggesting what I think 
you're suggesting?" he asked. 

"Am I suggesting what?" a confused Scully asked. 

"A group, killing random people, covering up tests or drugs… 
you see where this is going," Mulder replied tersely but 
thoughtfully, turning the idea over in his head. 

"But I don't know - I don't think this is their particular 
style… but I still think you might be onto something, Scully." 

Scully looked at him, first in dread and then in tiredness. 
Thinking it through she realized that it was rather unlikely 
that the group behind the Seattle killings happened to be the 
group of men that she and Mulder had the unfortunate luck of 
constantly encountering. Those men would have burnt the bodies 
to ensure that nothing was discovered - she was convinced of 
that. However, the idea of being involved in another of the 
conspiracy's subplots gave her a chill, especially considering 
the peculiar way in which they had first heard about the case. 
There was still a small chance that they were involved somehow 
and that she and Mulder were walking into a trap. 

"Scully, you okay?" Mulder's voice broke through her troubled 
thoughts. 

"Hmmm? I'm fine Mulder - just thinking," she replied in what 
she hoped was a casual tone - no reason to concern him with her 
paranoia. That thought made her smile inwardly - since when had 
she become as paranoid as Mulder?

"Are you sure?"

'Damn!' she though he would have gone back to pacing already. 

"I'm fine, Mulder," she repeated.

That particular response didn't seem to help alleviate Mulder's 
concern. Instead, he seemed to take it as a sign of foreboding 
and sat back down next to his partner on the bed. 

"I really don't think they're involved in this one, Scully - at 
least not directly," he said, hoping to quiet the concern 
obviously gripping his partner. 

She turned and smiled at him wearily. "I know Mulder and I 
don't think so either but…."

"But?" 

"You never know right?" she said.

Scully's tired tone caused Mulder to examine his partner 
carefully. Lately he had been feeling particularly guilty at 
having brought Scully into the deadly conspiracy that he was, 
in a way, born into. How much had she lost to accompany him 
into a world of sinister shadows, of merciless men? He was 
constantly torn by the conflicting desires of making her leave 
him so that she would be safe and of holding onto her 
partnership forever so that he would be whole. So what was she 
really saying to him not? That she was tired of the endless 
battle, that she wanted out but stuck with him out of 
obligation? He couldn't tell, couldn't read the tone of voice, 
the body language. He was beginning to think too hard, was 
becoming almost frantic - what was she saying? Did it even 
matter? He should obviously do the noble thing and set her 
free, make her leave him, force her when she pretended, out of 
loyalty's sake to not want to go. And on and on the endless 
chain of guilt an doubt rolled through Mulder's head as it had 
done countless times before. He couldn't help it and having 
already been worked up about the case, his over-active mind had 
easily fallen into obsessing over the problem that seemed to 
forever haunt him. 

And then suddenly he felt warmer and more stable and this 
physical change shocked his mind into wondering what had 
happened, leaving it incapable of focusing on the painful 
debate it had previously been engaged in. 

Seeing the world clearly for the first time since falling into 
his favourite argument with himself, Mulder was only marginally 
surprised at being held in Scully's arms. 

Looking at her partner and seeing that he was finally focused 
and conscious, Scully smiled a sad smile, thinking about the 
tortures that Mulder put himself through. She had seen it 
through his body, had looked through his unresponsive eyes and 
flinched at the pain he inflicted on himself so consistently. 

"Why do you do that to yourself, Mulder?" she asked, almost 
whispering as her usually strong voice threatened to fail her. 

He had nothing to say. Instead, he just looked at her intently, 
as if he was only clinging to the world through her, even 
though at the same time he was already telling himself to let 
go, disengage, let her have a life no matter what cost to him. 

The expression in his eyes was almost enough to make her cry - 
especially considering she was exhausted, but she held off the 
tears because she knew he would only later guilt-trip himself 
about making her cry. Unable to face that look for long, she 
brought his head to her chest and felt a tear stain through her 
shirt. Kissing him on the top of his head, she let her lips 
remain in his messy hair as she whispered softly to him. "It's 
okay, Mulder, let it go," she said over and over as she softly 
stroked his hair. Eventually his body became less tense and he 
let himself relax in her arms and enjoy her touch on his 
forehead. How could he give up the one person that could give 
him any comfort?

"Mulder," Scully said quietly. 

"Hmmm?"

"Mulder, listen to me," she whispered as she lifted his head 
and looked into his confused hazel eyes. "You have to stop 
doing this to yourself. I know it's hard for you - for some 
reason, guilt comes naturally to you. But you have to know that 
you, of all people, have nothing to feel guilty about. After 
everything you've done, everything you've sacrificed to search 
for the truth, to do what's right."

But he wasn't easily appeased. The tortured look remained as he 
stared right into his beautiful partner and dared himself to 
give her a chance even though it would suicide to do so. 

She pulled out her last weapon - her ace in the hole. "Look 
Mulder, think about it this way. I know you think that if we 
weren't partners, I would be safe, happy, free to live a normal 
life. And I know you want to sacrifice yourself to save me. But 
you can't and I wouldn't let you, Mulder, because the time for 
that has long passed. If we were separated now you would be 
hurting me as much as you would be hurting yourself. I don't 
know why you can't see this, Mulder. I wouldn't know what to do 
without you, Mulder," she said, finally giving into the tears 
that had been threatening to spill. 

It was as if something finally clicked and registered itself on 
his brain. Still staring intently at Scully, Mulder reached up 
and brushed away her tears. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. 

"No Mulder," she said, frustrated. "That's the whole point - 
you shouldn't be sorry."

"No, Scully - I mean I'm sorry for…" he couldn't find the words 
to continue with his thought and began a new one in hopes of 
explaining himself. 

"Do you believe in fate?" he asked. 

"Staring at Mulder, holding him so close, Scully knew exactly 
what he was saying. "You know Mulder, I think I do," she 
replied honestly. 

Grinning at her answer, Mulder let her pull him in even closer 
and let his mind clear itself of its usual guilt thoughts. She 
felt the release follow through his body and held him tightly 
to protect him from their return. Feeling more at ease in her 
arms than he had felt for awhile, Mulder let himself fall 
asleep and, for once, slept through the night. 

			******

They awoke the next morning still dressed and still entangled 
in each others' arms. After giving each other a slightly 
embarrassed look, they proceeded to treat each other with the 
professionalism and clarity of the morning - as they usually 
did after emotional nights. 

"So I suppose we should meet with the other agents early to 
tell them what we've found," Scully said without so much as a 
'morning!' to start the day. This was no time to get overly 
sentimental - there were things to do, deaths to prevent. 

Mulder, however, groaned half-seriously but did seriously 
consider grabbing his partner and holding her captive in bed. 
But only for a split second before sitting up and stretching. 

"Morning to you too, Scully," he replied. 

Scully smiled by way of apologizing and ran her fingers quickly 
through his scruffy hair. "Good morning Mulder," she whispered 
into his ear. 

And then it was his turn to grin - goofily as he got up and 
wandered back into his room for a quick shower. 

					******
FBI Seattle Field Office
Seattle, Washington
7:40 am

By the time they arrived at the field office they were high on 
a mix of coffee and adrenaline - ready to shake up the 
investigation with their new insight into the case. Striding 
confidently in step, they stopped at Dollin's open door and 
knocked even as they let themselves in. 

The SAC looked up at their intrusion and scowled. "Yes?" he 
asked impatiently. 

"Sir, Mulder and I have some new findings to present to the 
group and we'd like to gather the case agents for a meeting 
first thing this morning," Scully said, getting straight to the 
point. 

Dollin, however, only continued to sneer. "What new findings 
agents?" he asked. 

"Sir, if you would call a meeting then Mulder and I would be 
able to present the evidence to everyone at once," Scully 
replied tersely. 

Grudgingly, Dollin had to agree and proceeded to call the 
agents involved into the usual conference room. Once gathered, 
the group sat quietly, nervously anticipating Mr. and Mrs. 
Spooky's findings - maybe there were aliens involved and that 
was why they hadn't gotten anywhere on the case.

Mulder took the floor and explained that he and Scully had, 
separately, using different sources, come to the conclusion 
that the killings were being done by a group of some kind - not 
by a single serial killer. He then went on to explain his 
reasoning - using the concrete evidence and omitting his own 
'feelings' on the matter. 
Scully then proceeded to explain her belief in the same fact 
and discussed the medical oddity of so many perfectly clear tox 
screens that had screened for so many different toxins. 

The audience was captivated but grudgingly so. While they all 
had to admit that Mulder and Scully seemed to be onto 
something, no one could understand why they hadn't seen it 
before. They were annoyed at themselves and at each other for 
being shown up by the out-of-town agents - it wasn't as if they 
were some rural local police force - they were top field agents 
in a large city. Obviously, none of the agents would have owned 
up to any of these thoughts - they were good little FBI 
protocol-following robots who spouted the party line on 'it all 
being about catching the killers, saving innocent lives.' 
However, the resentment was felt by everyone and especially by 
the two targets. 

After the meeting had broken up, the agents got to work on the 
new angles introduced with Mulder and Scully's hypothesis - 
poring through records on special interest groups that would 
have the ability and motive to perform murders of this type. 

Letting the other agents do the grunt work, Mulder went back to 
absently wading through files he already knew by memory, trying 
to put together the motive behind the killings. If they knew 
why, it would narrow the list of candidates considerably.

Meanwhile, Scully set to work on the question of how the people 
were killed and what was used to mask the effects of the toxin. 
She was convinced it had to have been a rare toxin that killed 
the victims but the killers had been careful enough and had the 
medical knowledge and technology to hide the agent of death. 
Tackling the problem from all angles, Scully tried one medical 
expert after another, called every hospital and university, 
hoping to find some obscure expert on unmasking toxicology 
reports. The closest she got was an expert on biochemical 
weapons - close because she was pretty sure what lay under the 
toxicology mask was a biochemical killer. 

"Hey Mulder, I'm going to see this Dr. Kalis - the biochemical 
weapons specialist - do you want to come?" Scully called out to 
her obviously frustrated partner. 

Looking up, Mulder sighed and nodded. "Sure - it's not like I'm 
getting anywhere doing this." he said as he stood and rubbed 
his eyes wearily. "Coffee on the way?" 

"Do you even have to ask?"

			******

University District
Seattle, Washington
9:10 am

Driving through Seattle's university district, only slightly 
lost, Scully grimaced at the slow-moving traffic even as she 
took long swallows from a venti latte. 

"So who is this guy anyway?" Mulder asked, trying to kill some 
time by distracting his irritated partner. 

"Dr. Jonathan Kalis - top level university researcher on 
biochemical weapons and defences. I suspect he once worked for 
various government research agencies - namely DARPA - but those 
records are unsubstantiated to say the least. But really this 
is kind of a wild good chase - there's little to indicated that 
he would know anything about what killed these people 
considering we can't even figure out if it really was a 
biochemical weapon," Scully recited easily as she finally 
managed to find her way into the university parking lot. 

Mulder nodded seriously. "So basically you're playing a hunch," 
he teased. 

Scully looked up at her partner and scowled. "Just covering all 
the possibilities, Mulder," she replied. 

Still grinning, he lead her up the stairs. 

******