You think you know... by Caroline O’Connell

Classification: PG (for language and violence.)

Story: MSR (See foreword!), S,A,H.

Set: After Detour, before Christmas Carol/Emily.

Spoilers: Detour, Latter half of season four.

Summary: A Stalker turns his unwanted attentions to Scully, throwing Mulder and 
her into a situation neither of them ever envisaged.

Disclaimer: I do not own these. I own nothing. I am nothing! I fall on my 
ungrateful knees basking in the glory of Chris Carter’s creations. (will that 
do?) The Characters of Janie Becker and Andy Warner are mine and may not be used 
without permission. Any similarity to persons living or dead ... yadda, yadda, 
yadda.... Thank you.

Distribution: Anywhere it may be read and enjoyed, as long as I retain writer's 
credit.

Foreword: I can’t believe I actually did this! I was challenged by a friend on 
our differing views over Mulder and Scully’s relationship and being an avowed 
“noromo”, I was challenged to write a shipper fanfic! And here it is! It started 
off small and took on a life of it’s own! I’ve never written anything this long 
in my life! Good job it’s only fanfic, though!

All comments, flames, chocolate to: ginger@cyberia.ie

Thanks for reading.

***************************************************************
To a hopeful romantic. For changing my mind... Briefly!
***************************************************************

You think you know... Chapter 1 - by Caroline O’Connell ginger@cyberia.ie

Dana Scully walked through the foyer of the J. Edgar Hoover Building on her way 
back from lunch. She actually made it outside for lunch today, instead of 
grabbing a sandwich and coffee at her desk. She was running late and she didn’t 
care, having stopped off at a small cafe after collecting her answering machine. 
It had recently developed an appetite and had already eaten 2 tapes. And she 
knew Mulder wouldn’t say anything to her.

“You’re late!” Mulder said as she entered the basement office. He stood in front 
of the desk, hands on his hips, like he had been waiting for a while for her. 
Scully was about to tell him where to go, when the stern look softened to a 
playful smile that didn’t manifest nearly enough. “Meet anyone nice for lunch, 
Scully? She shook her head, puzzled that he would ask such a question. “Oh, well 
these must be for me.” he moved from the desk to reveal a bunch of long-stemmed 
roses, standing in their own water bag.

“These are for me?” She asked, biting her bottom lip and folding her arns.

“Your secret love’s no secret anymore!” he whispered, enjoying her obvious 
embarrassment.

“I’m not seeing anyone.” she said defensively and took the note that nestled 
amid the perfect blooms. Dana, roses as perfect as you are. Handwritten on a 
small red card. She frowned. Mulder’s grin dropped to a look of concern.

“You’re not seeing anyone, are you.”

Scully rang reception. “Hi, this is Agent Dana Scully. There was a delivery for 
me... yes, they’re beautiful.” She rolled her eyes. “Do you know who delivered 
them?... Bellefleur. Thank you.” She quickly found the number for the florists, 
having used them herself and dialled. “Hello. My name is Dana Scully. I just 
received a delivery of roses to the J Edgar Hoover Building... yes they’re 
really beautiful. Can you tell me who placed the order? You see, I’ve lost the 
card and... yes I understand you’re not supposed to, but I’m in a very delicate 
situation, here.” She picked up a pen, as Mulder looked on bemused. “I need to 
know if they’re from my husband or not. You can understand my problem.” she 
feigned a nervous laugh. “Credit card payment... Lindsay Schofield. Thank you 
very much.”

“So they’re not from your husband, then?” Mulder asked, fingering one of the 
buds.

“Nope. And I don’t know any Lindsay Schofield, either.” she said, unable to take 
her eyes of the flowers. “Maybe it was a mistake.” She shrugged it off.

“Maybe.” Mulder said, still concerned. “If it is, somebody’s gonna be pissed at 
not getting their flowers!”

“I’ll give them a good home.”

***

She carried them carefully to her car at the end of the day and drove home. 
Looking at them through her rear view mirror, she tried to think of the last 
time she got flowers that weren’t related to a hospital visit. Scully flexed her 
tense shoulders. A long, long soak in a bubble bath and an early night. The 
prospect sounded better the closer she got to home.

She emptied far more bubble bath into the rushing water than was necessary. 
Steam filled the bathroom drifting out the open door. The scent of the roses 
mixed with the sweet smell from the bathroom. She was going to enjoy this!

Leaving the water running, Scully timed it perfectly as she undressed, tied her 
hair up in a pony tail, put on a CD, turned down the phone, she made it back to 
the bathroom just as the bubbles reached the rim of the bathtub.

A slow smile spread across her face as she sank into the warm water until she 
was right up to her neck. Her head dropped back against the cool enamel and she 
closed her eyes. Bliss. And then the phone rang.

Dana Scully blessed the invention of the answering maching, despite its ability 
to eat her tapes, and never so much as blinked. “Hi, this is Dana.” she mimicked 
the message. “I’m in the bath right now and can’t be bothered to move!”

With the low volume of the phone and the music playing, she couldn’t hear who 
was phoning... she didn’t care who was phoning! There was nothing that would get 
her out of the tub until she had shrivelled into a prune!

The phone rang again. She shook her head smiling, figuring out that it was 
probably Mulder with a hot tip, telling her to get her act together because 
thaey were off to Middle of Nowhere, Iowa, to investigate crop circles or 
something. “Whatever it is, Mulder, I ain’t moving.” she said stretching out.

When the phone rang a third time, less than 5 minutes later, her mild amusement 
turned to annoyance. “Take the hint!” she sighed, sitting up. She heard the long 
beep at the end of the message and found herself waiting for the phone to ring 
again. “Great! Now that I’m waiting for it, the damn thing isn’t going to ring.”

She slid back down into the water. The bubbles not as plentiful as before. Her 
feet rested at the end of the bath. She wiggled her toes and contemplated. When 
she was finished, she was going to paint her toenails bright fire engine red! 
She’d love to be able to paint her fingernails bright red too, but it wouldn’t 
exactly fit the image. ‘Special Agent Dana Scully, Slicer, dicer and 
investigator of strange things.... Mrs Spooky!’

Her thoughts were once again interrupted by the phone. She rose quickly, gragged 
a towel and dripped all the way to the phone. “Alright what’s the emergency?”

“I don’t like talking to the machine, Dana.”

She didn’t recognise who it was. “Who is this?”

“Did you like my roses?”

“Ah, Lindsay Schofield.” She said. “Why did you send me flowers? How did you get 
this number?”

“All good things to those who wait, Dana, and I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Yeah, right.” and she hung up. Within seconds, it rang again.

“Don’t ever do that to me again!” It was him.

“Listen to me, you jerk!” she growled into the phone. “You are messing with the 
wrong woman.” And she hung up again. This time she dialled *69 to find out who 
was ringing her. She couldn’t get an answer. Scully rewound the tape and played 
back the messages.

The first one was him. “I don’t like machines, Dana. I want to talk to you... I 
want you.” She stared at the machine as his voice appeared on the second 
message. “Playing hard to get?... You have no idea how that turns me on, Dana... 
Do you know what I’d like to do to you right now? I want to f....” She pressed 
the forward button, disgusted at the comments. “Are you thinking about me?... I 
can’t stop thinking of you.... I want you.... and I will have you.” The tone was 
becoming threatening, annoyed that she wouldn’t talk to him.

Scully looked over at her roses. No longer a mistaken gift, this was a lot more 
sinister. Leaving the phone off the hook, she switched off the machine. If her 
family or Mulder needed to contact her, they had her celphone number. She 
shivered and pulled the towel around her shoulders. She looked at the front 
door. This wasn’t the first time she had felt threatened in her own home. Eugene 
Tooms and Duane Barry had broken in. Invaded her privacy... invaded her life. 
Scully made sure everything was secure doors, windows. Anything that could be 
locked was.

It was just after eight. She threw on some clothes and returned to the phone. 
She hesitated before dialling. “Mulder, it’s me.”

“What’s up?” immediately noticing the tone of her voice.

“Lindsay Schofield rang me.”

“The roses guy?”

“He’s been leaving messages.... How did he get this number? I’m not in the book. 
I got nothing when I *69ed him.”

“Meet me at the bureau with the tape. Let’s find out what we can about our Mr 
Schofield.”

***

“It’s going to take some time to analyse this.” the young agent said, taking the 
tape. “We won’t be able to get the credit check until tomorrow.”

Scully wished Pendrell was still there. He’d have had the information for her in 
a flash.

“I’ll get to work on it straight away and ring you tomorrow with the results.”

She nodded and left the room. Mulder watched her leave. Her hair was still up in 
a pony tail. She looked a bit untidy in general.... Most un-Scully like!

“Are you okay?” he asked as they walked to the elevator.

“Yeah, I guess.” She shrugged.

“Because if you want, I can...” he stopped. “Nah, forget it.”

“What?”

“I was going to ask if you wanted me to stay over.”

She found herself smiling. “That’s very sweet of you.” He laughed at her use of 
the word ‘sweet’, knowing she was trying to lighten her own mood. “But, I think 
I’ll be okay. Mr Schofield probably got my number from Bellefleur the same way I 
found out it was him, and now he’s being a jerk... And when I get my hands on 
him....”

Scully hardly slept that night. She wanted to shrug it off as a prank, but she 
found herself waiting for the phone to ring, waiting to hear that voice, deep 
and resounding with heavy breath. If his intention was to make her think about 
him, it worked! The bastard had her awake and eating breakfast at 5.30am.

***

When Scully arrived in the office at around 7.30am, she half expected Mulder to 
be there before her. She checked herself whern she felt disappointed that he 
wasn’t. Lately his life hadn’t revolved around his work, which was a good thing. 
The quest to find his sister had turned into a waiting game. He had mellowed in 
the last year. He certainly wouldn’t have offered to stay with her 18 months 
ago! he would have suggested she accompany him somewhere to suss out information 
and take her mind off her troubles.

She jumped when the phone rang. Scully tentatively lifted the receiver. “Hello.”

“Did you stay all night, Agent Scully?” it was the technician running the tests 
on the cassette. “I was going to leave a message on your voicemail.”

“I came in early. What did you turn up?”

“Calls were made indoors. There’s no distinguishing noises and the voice has 
been modified. I won’t have any more details until we get the credit check.”

“I’ll be here.” she sighed. “Thank you.” He modified his voice. It rang through 
her head like a bell. This was a lot more serious than some jerk pissed at not 
getting flowers. Scully rubbed her hand across her forehead. She could feel a 
headache starting... it wasn’t going to be a good day.

***

“No luck with the tape?” Mulder asked, arriving and seeing her coat and purse 
draped over a chair.

“No.” She sat in his chair with her back to the desk, staring at the cuttings 
nad photos on the wall. Some had been there since the day she walked in 5 years 
ago. “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” she said quietly, 
squeezing her eyes shut, trying to get rid of the tired feeling.

“You get very profound when you’re tired.” Mulder said, as a mug of coffee 
loomed into her line of sight. She gladly took it, as he leant against the wall, 
facing her. “Didn’t sleep, huh?” She looked up with a slight smile. “Welcome to 
Insomniacs Annonymous!”

“What do you do when you can’t sleep?”

“Get up, watch TV. I usually fall asleep 10 seconds before they give the price 
and phone number on those infomercials and then wake up on the couch.” He 
watched her try to wake herself up. “Go home.”

“I can’t.” She started to protest. “There’s the work...”

“Go home.” he repeated. “Put your head down for a couple of hours.” He hauled 
her up by the shoulders and ushered her to the door. She knew when she was 
beaten.

Mulder insisted on dropping her to the door and drove back only when she closed 
her apartment door behind her. She sorted through her mail, separating the 
important post from the junkmail that arrived on a regular basis. She threw the 
junk to one side, except for a sample package of pot pourri from a new store in 
the neighbourhood. She spilled it into a small bowl on her mantlepiece and 
inhaled the sweet, woody scent. Scully wrapped a blanket around her and lay on 
the couch.

***

Before she knew it, it was midday, and her celphone was ringing.

“Scully.” she said half asleep.

“Sorry to wake you.” It was Mulder. “We got those credit details on Lindsay 
Schofield.”

“So, who is he and where can I find him.”

“He’s a she and you can find her in a cemetary in New York.”

“What?” Scully liked the sound of this less and less.

“I think you better come back to the office, Scully.”

***************************************************************

End of Chapter 1.

================================

You think you know... Ch 2 by Caroline O'Connell.

Disclaimer: See Chapter One. Rated: PG for violence and language.

Summary: A stalker turns his unwanted attentions to Scully, throwing Mulder and 
her into a situation neither of them ever envisaged.

***************************************************************

"It's definitely the right person?" Scully asked, hoping the information was 
wrong.

"Lindsay Schofield, same date of birth as the credit card application." Mulder 
replied, wishing he had better news for her. "She was found dead in her 
appartment in New York 3 months ago. Raped and strangled."

"So who sent the note with the flowers?"

"The hand writing matches the assistant in the flower shop. She remembered your 
phone call and wanted to know how your husband was." Mulder smiled, trying to 
lighten her mood.

"He's fine." She sighed, unable to take her eyes off the notes he had taken 
about Lindsay Schofield.

"And you?"

"I wish my husband was here!"

The discussion stopped when the phone rang. "Agent Scully, we have a delivery 
here for you at reception." Mulder watched her flinch.

"I'll be right up."

She collected an extravagant bunch of roses and a small package. It felt as 
everyone was staring as she made her way to the elevator to get back to the 
basement as fast as she could. They probably thought it was a wonderful gift 
from a lover. A romantic, flamboyant gesture in such a prim setting. If only 
they knew the truth... they'd stare anyway!

"What does the note say?"

He wanted to offer his help. Wanted to ask her if she was alright. Wanted her to 
know that all she had to do was say the word and he'd do whatever she wanted. 
But she probably felt crowded enough. If she did need him, she'd ask.

***

The day couldn't end fast enough for Scully. Mulder's protective glances were 
starting to annoy her. She knew he meant well, but nobody was going to get to 
them down in the basement. She hoped they'd get a case that would send them to 
Alaska for at least a month. Anything to get away from the flowers and gifts and 
the damn phonecalls. She had been right about the prints. They chased the trail 
from Lindsay Schofield's credit card purchase through a courier company, to the 
florists and on to Scully. All done by phone.

"The joys of credit card shopping." Mulder sighed. "Shop til you drop from the 
comfort of your own home."

"Speaking of which." Scully said flipping her file closed. "I am out of here to 
do some shopping of my own."

"Are you going to be okay?" Mulder asked, tapping her shoulder on the way out.

She turned around to face him, trying not to look too annoyed. "Mulder, I don't 
need a babysitter." she managed a smile. And he knew when to take the hint!

***

Scully pushed the shopping cart around the store. Despite some of the incredible 
things she had seen and done over the last few years, the ordinary things still 
had to be done like laundry and groceries. It was nice to be mundane sometimes. 
She wandered through the aisles, picking at a tray of strawberries as she filled 
the cart with necessities and a few luxuries. She more than deserved the treat! 
Strawberries, ice cream and a movie. She probably wouldn't get much sleep, the 
least she could do was indulge herself.

Scully had parked her car in the far corner of the parking lot. It had been full 
on her way in, but now, the cars around her were scarce. As she packed away the 
groceries, she was slammed roughly against the rear car door from behind. She 
felt cold metal at her throat. "Say a word and I'll slit your fucking throat." 
he hissed into her ear. "Give me your purse."

"It's in the car." Scully said quietly. She reached for the door handle to open 
it, but he grabbed her wrist, wrenching it awkwardly back. He kept a tight grip 
on it, knowing any movement by either of them would cause her pain. "Don't move, 
bitch." he prodded the blade closer to her as she tried to remain composed. "The 
money's in the car?" she nodded. "Thank you." Manouvring her by the wrist, he 
threw her to the ground. She cried out as she landed, knocking her head. 
Scully's fall attracted the attention of a nearby motorist who stopped her car.

"Somebody call the cops!" She yelled running to Scully as the attacker took the 
wallet from Scully's purse and ran off. The woman was joined by two others, one 
who dialled for and ambulance on his celphone. The other man checked her for 
some identification. He found her driver's license. "Dana... Dana?" He barely 
got a reaction from her. "My name's Andy. We're going to get you to the 
hospital."

***

Scully had vague memories of the ambulance and being brought to the ER. Andy 
stayed with her, making conversation, keeping her awake until she was brought 
away for tests. The doctor gave her a thorough examination that involved a head 
CT and x-rays on her wrist. By the time she had been admitted for observation, 
she was fully conscious. And seeing Mulder's expression, as he raced in to her 
room, she wished she wasn't.

"Please don't lecture me." She said, not able to look him in the eye.

"I'm saying nothing, Scully." he replied, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm 
just glad you're okay."

"How did you find out?"

"You were unconscious and I'm your 'in case of emergencies' person. Call me 
crazy, but this looks like an emergency."

"Mulder, it was a mugging."

"Jesus, Scully, when they rang me, I thought it was the roses guy. I thought 
you... I don't know what I thought." He was getting progressively angrier. "I 
just... I got scared."

"I thought you weren't going to lecture me." She looked at him, her eyebrows 
raised, smiling slightly in the hope of calming him down a bit.

"I lied!" he said after a moment. He sat on the side of her bed and looked at 
the extent of her injuries. "Are you okay?"

As she was about to answer, Assistant Director Skinner knocked on the open door. 
"May I come in?" He wasn't alone. "Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, this is 
Agent Jane Becker. She's here in connection with your enquiries after Lindsay 
Schofield."

"We worked together, briefly in 1991 on the Dawson case." She said shaking 
Mulder's hand. Then she turned to Scully. "And you. I turn my back for 5 minutes 
and this happens!"

"I have a note." Scully said, as the two men looked on, bemused. "We trained 
together in Quantico." she explained, smiling at their expressions.

"And if you'll excuse us, I need to talk to Dana about the attack." Becker 
ushered the two men to the door.

"Hold on a moment. Jane, what's going on?" Scully asked.

"Dana, you recieved phone calls, flowers and gifts. And now you've been mugged. 
You're wallet and keys have been taken. If we check your apartment, there's 
probably more flowers and another gift waiting for you." Becker said. 
"Unfortunately Dana, you are the next potential victim of a stalker who has 
killed at least 5 women and 2 men in the last 8 months in the New York and 
Washington areas."

"We're having your apartment checked now." Skinner said. "I'm on my way over 
there now. Mulder, you stay with Agent Becker." And he left them to their 
discussion.

"Excuse me, is Miss Scully okay?" A man stopped Skinner in the corridor.

"I'm sorry, sir, you are?" Skinner asked for an introduction.

"Andrew Warner. I found her, along with a couple of other people." he explained. 
"The police questioned us about it. I didn't see anything, though, just a man 
running off. We were more concerned about her to chase after him." He looked at 
the door to Scully's room. "Any way, will you tell her I was asking for her and 
that I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she'd be happy to see you, herself." Skinner ushered him to the door.

Nervously, Andy knocked on the open door. "Hello?" The three agents stopped 
talking and looked at him. "Oh, this is a bad time. I'll come back."

"No, please, come on in." Scully said. "It's Andy, isn't it?"

"I wasn't sure you'd remember." he smiled. "I just wanted to make sure you were 
alright."

"Andy got me to hospital." Scully explained to Mulder and Becker. "You waited 
all this time?"

He nodded, shifting his weight from foot to foot, clearly embarrassed to be 
there while she had company. "I had to give a statement to the police anyway. 
I'll leave you and your friends to talk. I'll call again tomorrow, if that's 
okay?"

"I'm only here overnight for observation, but I'll be home for a few days." She 
took Mulder's notebook and wrote her phone number on it. "If you want to, you 
can ring me here." she handed him the note and he left, smiling broadly. "He's 
an artist." Scully said once he was out of range. She was smiling too.

"Dee, giving your number to strange men!" Becker said in mock disgust.

"But seriously, folks." Mulder interrupted. "What do we do about Scully's other 
admirer?"

"Keep surveillance on the apartment and keep Dana out of harm's way." Becker 
said.

"Wait a minute, Janie," Scully stopped her mid flow. "Where am I supposed to 
go?"

"Dee, he's a killer. A rapist and a killer. The fact that you're an FBI agent 
isn't going to deter him one bit. In fact, that's part of the chase." Becker 
explained. "He's getting more and more daring. Picking out women he sees as 
powerful. Previous victims were a lawyer and a cop. He stalks, he rapes, he 
kills, he moves on. And I am not giving him you to add to his tally." The anger 
in her voice was obvious.

"The only way we'll catch him is to lure him in. When I'm discharged, I'm going 
home. You can set up whatever you need to catch him from there." Scully said. "I 
am not running away from this."

"We can get 24 hour protection for you. When I'm not there, I can assign another 
agent to stay." Becker said, writing out a list of things she'd need.

"When you're not there, I'll be there." Mulder said. "You do the day shift, I'll 
do the night shift." He turned to Scully. "You at least know us. The last thing 
you need now is agents you don't know messing up your place."

"As opposed to agents I do know?" Scully sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"Dee, we'll leave you to get some rest. Don't worry because we're taking care of 
everything." Becker said and indicated to Mulder to come outside with her. "Do 
you know how long she's been getting phone calls?"

"We were on a case in Florida last week. When we got back, Scully's machine had 
eaten her messages. The first evidence we have is from yesterday." Mulder 
explained.

"I've been trying to catch this guy for 4 months." Becker said sitting into the 
moulded plastic chair in the hospital corridor. "Going after Dana has put me 
ahead of him for the first time in this case. And I have to catch him. I have to 
stop him, because the alternative doesn't bear thinking about."

"So, Becker," Mulder sat beside her. "How the hell are you?"

"Gee, Mulder, never better!" Becker replied sardonically.

"Are you back in DC long?"

"Just since this afternoon. My contact in the Credit Card company told me of 
purchases in Washington and that some agents in headquarters were also making 
enquiries. I wanted to find out who was muscling in on my case. When I found out 
it was Dee and she was in hospital..." Becker broke off, shaking her head. "I've 
seen this guy's handywork, Mulder. It's not pretty."

"You and Scully trained together?" Mulder asked.

"I warned her about you before she started working in the dungeon - sorry - the 
basement!" Becker laughed. "Further proof of the Disney theory of relativity!"

Mulder smiled as they both said "It's a small world, after all!"

Becker's phone rang disturbing them from the conversation. "Agent Becker."

"Agent Becker, this is Assistant Director Skinner. We're at Agent Scully's 
apartment now. There's flowers and a gift. We've preserved the scene for you."

"I'm on my way. Thank you sir." And she hung up. "Your AD, does he always sound 
so uptight?"

"Jeez, Becker, the Bureau seminar on tact really sunk in, huh?" Mulder laughed 
as he tagged along with her.

***************************************************************

End of Ch 2

========================

You think you know..." Ch3 by Caroline O'Connell.

Disclaimers in chapter one. Rated PG for language and violence.

Summary: A stalker turns his unwanted attentions to Scully, throwing Mulder and 
her into a situation neither of them ever envisaged.

********************************************************************************
*********** Mulder followed Agent Becker into Scully's house. "No prints, 
right?" She strode through to the reception room.

"Other than Agent Scully's?" One of the forensics team replied. "No."

Becker looked at the gift as Mulder slapped on some latex gloves to pick it up. 
Earrings to match the pendant Scully had been given earlier. "Wow." she 
exclaimed quietly. "These are exquisite." The amazement turned to worry. "He's 
serious about her. The mugging is his way of letting his victims know that he 
can have them at any time. The gifts are his way of showing affection. He then 
believes that he's entitled to a relationship because he's lavished such time 
and effort, that he's entitled to payback. So he rapes his victims." Jane 
sighed, too aware of what this guy was capable of, having seen the bodies of his 
previous 'conquests'. "And he's had them, he's had them, The chase is over. He's 
won."

"And he moves on to the next woman." Mulder interjected.

"He's been working his way up." Janie explained. "A shop assistant, a nurse a 
doctor, a lawyer. His last victim was a senator's assistant. He killed her 
boyfriend for good measure. Having a partner or husband is no deterrent."

"Once he fixates, that's it." Mulder said. "No hope of him getting bored and 
moving on?"

"No." She said. "I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, at this moment."

"What do you mean?" Mulder asked.

"Dana's his current obsession. He won't be unfaithful, no matter who he sees. 
Which means he won't move on until Dana's dead. I can't... I won't let that 
happen. I have the best chance I'm ever going to get to catch him, but that 
means using Dana as bait." Becker said bagging the neatly typed note that 
accompanied the flowers and gift. "And I can't do that to her. "

"Maybe you should let her decide for herself. She was very clear in the hospital 
about what she wanted to do." Mulder said. "Scully can be quite single minded 
when she wants." "Tell me about it!" Janie smiled, knowing well what Mulder 
meant.

"In the mean time, we should get this stuff out of here." Mulder said quietly, 
trying not to let his anger show. "Sort out changing the locks... I don't 
suppose changing the phone number will get rid of him?" Before she could reply, 
he sighed loudly. "Wishful thinking.... God will it ever stop?" He rubbed the 
bridge of his nose. The tension building in his neck and shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Becker placed a hand on his arm. "Of course you're not. How 
could you be? Do you want to go for a drink or something?"

***

I had no Idea she was so close to dying." Janie said eyes wide in horror as 
Mulder shared the story of Scully's illness. "But she's okay now?"

"Aside from the torn muscles, the bang on the head and the boot mark on her 
stomach, I'd say she's never been better!"

"Well, I'm sure if anyone knows how she really is, it's you." Janie smiled. "How 
long have you and Dee been together?"

"Since 1992." Mulder replied, missing the point totally.

"Duh, Mulder!" She looked at him and the penny dropped.

"Oh, oh no!" He said almost tripping over the words to clear up the 
misunderstanding. "We're not together together. Not like that at all!" He 
shifted uncomfortably in the seat. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"The way you look at her ." Janie smiled. "There's not many people look the way 
you look at her."

"And just how do I look at her.?" "C'mon, Mulder! Do I need to draw pictures?" 
Becker laughed.

"Huh?" Mulder asked.

"I know official Bureau policy frowns on it, but you don't have to continue the 
act on my account ." Janie nudged him. "I'm not going to tell on you!"

"It's not an act, Becker." Mulder insisted.

"Oh. Strange." Janie frowned. "I usually have a talent for this kind of thing."

"What kind of thing?" Mulder asked, worried where the conversation was leading.

"How people really are." Janie explained. "They'll say one thing, but you look 
in their eyes and they'll say something completely different." She stared him 
right in the eye and found her gaze locked with his. "Did you ever plan on 
telling her?"

"What?" He blinked rapidly, taken aback at her directness.

"Oh come on!" Janie laughed as he tried to come up with another excuse. "I've 
seen you both for roughly an hour and I figured it out like that!" She snapped 
her fingers. "So when did it happen?"

"Becker!" He shook his head, a slight smile creeping across his face. "You have 
no idea how far off base you are."

"Deny everything, right?" Janie laughed, attracting the barman's attention for 
another round. "You haven't changed, Mulder."

"You have." He laughed.

"Some of us do actually grow up and do grown up things." Janie took a long 
drink. "Like get married... and divorced."

"Oooh." Mulder grimaced in sympathy for her. "What happened?"

"He'd forget to tell me things. Like bills being due, his parents coming to 
stay." She stopped for a moment, eyeing her empty shot glass. "His girlfriend."

"Ouch. I'm sorry, Becker." Mulder said. "But tis better to have loved and lost, 
yadda, yadda, yadda…"

"…Than to sit there doing nothing about it." She countered.

"Nice block, but I think you've got your wires crossed."

"Buy me another drink, and the subject's dropped!" Janie put her empty glass 
beside Mulder's. There was a brief silence after Mulder ordered another round.

"So, how about those Yankees?"

***

"Good morning." Janie swanned into Scully's hospital room, carrying an overnight 
bag. "Becker's Escort Agency to take you home."

"Sorry, I ordered something a little more male." Scully smiled, sitting up.

"Let's see. Tall, dark, looks good in a suit..." As Janie listed off each 
attribute, Scully nodded in appreciation. "Nice eyes and and extremely chewable 
bottom lip." Scully stopped nodding when she realised Janie was describing 
Mulder.

"Jane Frances Becker, stop that right now!" Scully exclaimed.

"I warned you about him." Janie laughed. "Ol Spooky will turn on the charm and 
you won't be able to resist."

"You did!"

"Ah, but I was engaged, Dee. Seriously off limits, and besotted with my no good, 
two timing, what did you ever see in him in the first place ex-husband!" She sat 
on the bed. "Can you honestly say, hand on heart, that you've never thought 
about it?"

"Janie, you made him out to be a complete weirdo!" Scully laughed, deftly 
avoiding the question. "What was the phrase? 'A psychologist in need of a good 
psychiatrist'."

"And he was." Janie countered. "He probably still is. But you'd know more about 
that than me."

"I'm getting changed!" Scully said, slipping out of bed and into the bathroom.

Fox Mulder and Janie Becker had a brief history together. Reggie Perdue had 
brought her in on the case of Charles Dawson not long after She and Dana had 
graduated. Janie's resemblance to Dawson's victims was instrumental in catching 
the serial killer. Scully remembered the long phone calls about Fox Mulder, the 
genius working in Violent Crimes. And yes, he was cute, but boy was he strange! 
Mulder's "Spooky" reputation had preceded him and Janie could report that it was 
well deserved. During his spare time, Mulder would look through old, unsolved 
cases, crank cases, UFO sightings... The cases that would eventually make up his 
X-Files.

Janie didn't relish the prospect of working closely with Fox Mulder again. She 
didn't dislike him, but she couldn't work with him. Couldn't in 1990. Probably 
wouldn't be able to now. The guy was just too weird and having spent all those 
years looking for little green - sorry, grey - men, he was sure to be weirder!

"So Dee, any plans for a wild weekend?" Janie asked through the bathroom door. 
"I heard about this great club. We could go talent spotting."

"Last time we did that Jane, we nearly got arrested!" Scully called back.

Janie didn't see Mulder arrive and hover around the doorway.

"Oh come on, Dee! A little criminal activity..."Janie started

"… never did me any harm." Scully opened the bathroom door, dressed and ready to 
leave.

"When did you get so settled?" Janie meant it as a joke.

"The day they took my baseball bat away." Scully grinned.

Mulder stifled the loud laugh that threatened to give him away. Dana Scully - 
Wild Thing! He'd have to find out more about that.

As Janie took Scully's belongings, Mulder made his way in. "Hi." Scully said, 
surprised. "I wasn't expecting to see you until later."

"Just making sure everything's okay." Mulder smiled. "Did Becker tell you we 
changed the locks? Here's the only key. If you want to give us copies, I can get 
it done for you."

The psychologist at work, Janie observed. Give her the only key. Give her back 
control. Nice work.

"I've been at your place with Agents Douglas and Ryder." Mulder continued. "We 
have a tracer on the phone. There's going to be a car outside on 24 hour 
surveillance."

"And, of course, you'll have company to keep you out of any trouble you may be 
thinking of causing." Janie interrupted, sensing the technical details were 
bothering Dana.

What bothered her more was the fact that she had to be wheeled through the 
corridors by hospital staff with Mulder and Janie carrying her clothes. This was 
the part about hospital policies that Scully hated. Being wheeled around like 
a... a patient. Whoever said it was right. Doctors do make the worst patients.

"I had better get back to the office." Mulder said as they made their way to the 
car. "I'll be over after 6."

"Have a nice day, dear." Janie smiled sweetly.

"Yeah, yeah." Mulder said scrunching his face. "Whatever."

"Children, behave!" Scully laughed as Mulder drove off.

"C'mon, Dee. Let's get you safe and home." Janie said starting the engine.

****************************************************************** End of 
chapter 3.

==============================

You Think You know... Ch 4 by Caroline O'Connell

Disclaimers: See Chapter One. Rated PG for violence and language.

Summary: A stalker turns his unwanted attentions to Scully, throwing Mulder and 
her into into a situation neither of them envisaged.

*******************************************************************

Mulder arrived at Scully's apartment and rung the bell. Janie Becker answered.

"Hi, can Dana come out?" he asked. She shook her head and let him in. "How is 
she?"

"She's fine." Scully said "She takes sugar too." put out that they were talking 
about her as if she wasn't there. Her arm still hurt a lot, must be near time to 
take more of the pain killers she was prescribed.

"Everyone was asking after you." Mulder said, noticing she looked tired. "I've 
spent the day talking to people who hoped I didn't exist!"

Scully cracked a slight smile. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought!

Janie was making sure everything was in working order with the tracer and 
Scully's answering machine. "We've decided to tape the messages whilst we run 
the trace so we can bring both copies for analysis. If our guy keeps to form, he 
will ring tonight. I've brought Mulder up to speed. The Panic Button is working 
and we have a patrol car keeping an eye too."

Scully let Janie out and double bolted the door behind her. "Safe and secure." 
she sighed and unceremoniously dumped herself across the couch that was to be 
Mulder's bed for the next few nights.

"Did Becker feed you?" Mulder asked sorting out his luggage.

"No, I wasn't hungry. Do you want to get take out?" she reached for the phone.

"Actually, " he smiled. "I thought I might cook something up."

She looked over the top of the couch at him.

"Now that's a look I haven't seen since the killer pussycats!" he said as her 
eyes grew wide with abject terror.

"I'm sorry, you never struck me as the cooking type."

"I've been fending for myself for nearly 20 years. " Mulder said, unpacking the 
food he had brought over with him. "Do you think I lived on take-out for all of 
it?"

***

"Mulder, this is fantastic!" Scully said, testing the sauce that he was about to 
smother the chicken in.

"Amazing the things you get in jars these days!" he said putting a couple of 
handfuls of spaghetti into a pot of simmering water. "It should be ready in 
about 10 minutes."

"I've got a great bottle of wine that I've been saving." Scully said, opening 
one of the presses. "We may as well open it now."

"Oh, red." he said, sounding less than enthusiastic.

"Don't tell me you're one of these 'red wine - red meat' people." She joked . 
Fox Mulder - great cook and wine snob to boot!

"I don't like red wine. Sorry." he shrugged.

"But you introduced me to this when you....oh." She stopped. "That wasn't you."

"That wasn't me." Mulder said, remembering the Eddie Van Blundht incident.

"So, you don't like red wine?" Scully asked, trying to keep the conversation on 
a lighter note than work.

"Not even a summer grape-picking in France could convert me."

"You spent a summer in France?"

"Oui!" he exclaimed, testing the pasta by throwing it at Scully's pristine white 
ceiling. "In 1984. The fine weather started in April and didn't end until mid 
October." He couldn't help but smile at the memory of it.

"I've got white wine too." she said opening her fridge.

"Scully, how many bottles of wine do you keep on hand?" he asked as she returned 
the Cabernet Sauvignon to its hiding place.

"Not nearly enough!"

***

"Wow! If I'd known you cooked this well, I'd have had you around sooner, or 
invited myself over to your place!" She cleared her plate quickly.

He was pleased he was cheering her up "This is only because you're 
incapacitated!" he said grinning at her.

"So, you're only being nice because I'm being stalked!" She sighed loudly.

"Scully," he smiled sweetly, close to her face. "I'm always nice!" his

honeyed tones dripping with mock-sincerity.

The phone rang, startling her. It was only then that Mulder realised how much 
this stalker was upsetting her. He gave her the go-ahead after checking the 
tracer.

"Hello?" she said, trying not to let the fear show in her voice.

"Dana, hi. It's Andy, Andy Warner." Andy had called for the ambulance when she 
was hurt.

"Hi, Andy." she said, pleased to hear from him. "How are you?"

"I think that's my line!" he replied.

Scully smiled and switched off the machines. "I'm fine."

"Good.... I just.... you know... wanted to make sure." he stuttered bashfully 
down the phone. "And if you need anything, you have my number... so feel free to 
call me.... anytime.... please."

This time she laughed. Mulder watched her relax into the chair as he started 
clearing up. May as well be useful! Whoever this Andy guy was, he was at least 
taking her mind off her troubles.

"Thanks for ringing, Andy" she said after a few minutes of conversation.

"Anytime! And you never know." he said. "I might just ring again!"

"Good, you do that." and she hung up, smiling.

"Andy." Mulder said. "He's the guy who got you to hospital, right? Didn't you 
say he was an artist or something?"

"Yeah!" Scully said going to the fridge, completely ignoring his fishing 
expedition for information. She took out a large tub of ice cream, by-passing 
the bowl and going straight for a spoon.

Mulder watched her as she happily sat watching television. She was saying 
nothing, but obviously delighted with the attention. He continued clearing up 
the aftermath of his cooking and let her sit channel surfing, until he joined 
her with coffee about 20 minutes later.

"So, Mulder..." Scully said taking the coffee from him. "How's work?"

"Let's not talk about work now, Scully." he whined, rubbing his eyes. "I've had 
it up to here with work today. In fact, I don't know how I ever got through a 
case before you came!"

"Nice to know I'm good for something!"

"You have your uses!"

Scully wasn't turning the night into a sparring match and decided to change the 
topic. "Who taught you to cook so well, Mulder?"

He burst out laughing. "I knew you'd ask that! How do you know I'm not self- 
taught?"

"Because that's not a self-taught sauce and before you leave, I want the 
recipe!"

"Okay. Final year in Oxford, February 1986. I'd just gone through the big 
breakup with Phoebe." he explained, between stealing scoops of her ice cream. 
"We had been living together for a while so I moved out of the flat and in with 
a very good friend, Sally Redmond. She was originally from California, but lived 
in London from the age of 17. I slept on the sofa in Cookie's...."

"Cookie?" Scully interrupted

"We were Scott and Cookie, the Americans. Her nickname stuck, mine didn't! 
Anyway, I stayed at Cookie's until graduation in a house with 5 women." He 
couldn't help but smile at the memory. "And all of them wanted to nurse my 
broken heart!"

"I'll bet!"

"I'll thank you to keep your mind out of the gutter, Scully!" he said with mock- 
indignation. "It wasn't like that at all. Four of us were too busy studying for 
finals, the other 2 were too busy partying! Somewhere inbetween, I picked up a 
few tips when I worked weekends in a restaurant in Oxford.

"Sounds like you really enjoyed college." Scully said

"I can honestly say, Scully, I was never happier." he sighed. "I was a million 
miles from home. Nobody knew who I was or what had happened. A clean slate.... 
You have no idea how close I came to staying there."

He went silent for a moment, and Scully looked at him. Was that a trace of 
regret? "Why didn't you stay?"

"I spent the summer before graduation at home. Had to go home sometime, right?" 
He shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with discussing his home life. But knowing 
Scully wouldn't betray his confidence. "Dad had set up an interview for me with 
the bureau. I did the exam just to get him off my back. They said if I did well 
in my finals, I could start training after graduation. At this point my parents 
didn't know that I planned on staying in England and working there. After the 
break up, the need to stay in England diminished rapidly. So, I passed my 
finals, came home and the rest, as they say, is history."

This was good. Scully thought. They were talking like real people about real 
things. No giant flukeworms, no shapeshifting clones, no goatsucking aliens... 
no aliens at all! Surprisingly normal. Maybe Eddie Van Blundht's escapade 
finally rubbed off on Mulder! But this was more fun that Van Blundht. He was 
telling her all about him, instead of talking about herself... and it was fun. 
She was afraid they'd end up discussing Mulder's scarred psyche and all his 
deep, dark demons.

"So, what were you like in college, Scully?" He interrupted her train of 
thought.

"The same as now... only bigger hair." she said matter of factly.

"Err!" he made a buzzing noise. "Wrong answer! I heard Becker in the hospital 
the other day!"

"You heard what?"

" 'When did you suddenly become so settled?' I think that was the quote!"

"That wasn't referring to college." she said with a wicked smile. "That was 
referring to Quantico! I was a very good, quiet student in medical school. When 
I graduated... now that's when I started to have a little fun!"

"I always suspected you had a wild, wild side, Dana Scully!"

"And my wild, wild side is now heavily sedated because of the tablets I'm on." 
She smiled drowsily. "I'm off to bed. Goodnight, Mulder."

"Goodnight." He replied and watched her go into the bedroom, and close the door. 
That wasn't the complete nightmare he expected. He was delighted she liked his 
cooking. It had been a longtime since he'd actually cooked something substantial 
from scratch. He'd been too damn busy working! He's still too damn busy, but 
that was only because Scully was out of action for the next week or so. He meant 
it when he said he didn't know how he managed to get a case closed before she 
was assigned to work with him. He was all over the place. Files everywhere. 
Stuff everywhere. Needless junk that accumulated over a very short period of 
time. The office was still a mess, but at least now it was a semi-organised 
mess.

Bastard. Mulder thought. Whoever did this to her... was doing this to her.... 
Five minutes in a small room, that's all he needed and from some of the 
reactions he was getting from fellow agents, there would be no shortage of 
people to help him out should he get the opportunity.

He flicked absent-mindedly up and down the channels, not really watching 
anything. Scully had left pillows and bed linen for him to use. As he drifted 
into a deep sleep, they remained untouched. And Mulder slept soundly through the 
night.

*******************************************************************

End of Chapter 4.

=========================

You Think You Know... Ch 5 by Caroline O'Connell

Disclaimers: See Chapter 0ne Rated PG for language and violence.

Summary: A stalker turns his unwanted attentions to Scully, throwing her and 
Mulder into a situation neither of them envisaged.

**********************************************************************

Dana Scully woke to the sound of music gently playing in the next room. She 
could also smell fresh coffee. Looking at her alarm clock she was surprised to 
find that she had slept soundly until almost 10.00am.

She emerged, fastening her robe over her pyjamas, to find Janie sitting at the 
kitchen counter going over her case notes. "Good morning."

"Hi." Scully replied, still not fully awake. "Where's Mulder?"

"I took over at around 9.00 and he headed off to headquarters to hunt for some 
more little green men!" Janie said, hopping down and pouring some coffee for 
her. "He told me there was no calls from Psychoboy! How did you two get on?"

"Great. He cooked dinner and we talked for ages."

"Get out of here!" Janie laughed. "Do you need Pepto-Bismol?"

"Jane, it was incredible. The leftovers are in the fridge for lunch, later."

"Luke Skywalker cooks?" Janie shook her head in disbelief. "Did he bore you to 
death about work?"

"I wanted to know what was going on, but he was fed up with work and we just 
talked, for ages. Considering the circumstances, it was a great evening." She 
couldn't help but smile as she spoke.

"It's the Pod People." Janie said. "The Pod People have taken Mulder and 
replaced him with a normal person. Did you check him for implants?"

Scully laughed loudly. It was the closest explanation she could come to accept 
as to Mulder's unusual behaviour... or what she perceived to be unusual. She had 
forgotten how much fun Janie Becker was. They were inseparable during training 
at Quantico, but ended going their separate ways when they were assigned. Janie 
ended up in Seattle, whilst Scully remained in Quantico, teaching.

***

"So, Dee, " Janie started. Scully instantly knew she was up to no good! "Will 
Mulder be cooking for you again tonight?"

"As much as I would love another of his home-cooked meals, I hope he doesn't!" 
Scully patted her non-existant spare tyre. "He uses real ingredients, full 
cream, butter... the works! Not good for my figure!"

"So much for 'Spooky' Mulder! " Janie smiled. "But, let's not talk about him! I 
brought all my case notes over with me, as requested. Maybe a fresh pair of eyes 
will make a difference, because I have exhausted almost every avenue at this 
stage." She shook her head in disbelief. This case had been ongoing for over 6 
months. Two more people had died at the Stalker's hands since Janie had gotten 
involved on the case. Scully spent the rest of the day with Janie going over the 
case notes, reading Janie's detailed profile of the stalker. Without any 
positive evidence, they had no way of connecting him to any potential suspects.

Janie had profiled him as 25 - 35 male, caucasian, highly intelligent, affluent. 
He stalks women he feels are his equals and therefore, worthy of his attentions. 
Professional women. His victims include a doctor, lawyer, an art gallery owner, 
and now, potentially, an FBI Agent. Colour didn't seem to be a factor, as one of 
the victims, Sasha Barton was black. All victims were sent flowers and gifts, 
paid for with stolen credit cards. A husband or partner was no deterrent. Brian 
Lavelle, Elaine Lavelle's husband and Alan Reeves, Connie Vaughan's partner were 
among the victims. Once fixated, nothing seemed to stop him. Both men were taken 
hostage to convince the women to meet with the Stalker, resulting in both 
couples being murdered.

Looking over the photos of the victims, Scully felt a sense of dread. She knew 
she was safe. Her professional background and training offered her some sort of 
protection. But he had already attacked her... and could have easily killed her 
at the scene. Then he wouldn't have had the opportunity to woo her.

Janie surmised that in the sending of gifts and flowers the Stalker felt he was 
"owed" a relationship with these women and therefore "entitled " to have sex 
with them as some kind of payback. Once he had raped them, there was no more 
pursuit, no more fun for him to have. So he moved onto the next victim.

"Great. I'm now officially 'the victim'." Scully thought. That was the worst 
part of all of this. She had lost her independence. She was under 24hour 
surveillance from Janie and Mulder, which she could just about handle. At least 
she could tell them to leave her alone and they would. But this guy, her 
Stalker, wouldn't take no for an answer.

***

"It's a real page turner, isn't it." Janie sighed. "So, Doctor Scully, any 
insight you wish to throw into the pot?"

Scully shook her head. "Mulder's the profiler, not me. I'll dissect him, 
afterwards... actually; I'd like to dissect him right now. I can think of 
nothing I'd rather do than disembowel him ... he doesn't even have to be dead."

"Ah, the old 'don't get mad, get even' philosophy." Janie laughed.

"What are the prospects of him just getting bored and leaving me alone?" Scully 
half joked.

"I don't think that's likely, Dee." Janie sighed. "Which, I know, is not good 
for you. But, it does have its advantages. At least we know who he's after and 
his methods, and we will do everything in our power to get this guy for once and 
for all." The two women worked on the case for the rest of the day. Scully at 
least felt useful. Offering theories, looking over autopsy data. Taking in every 
detail and being able to give Janie a few more pages of notes to add to the 
collection.

Janie was pleased that she was being more than just a glorified babysitter. 
Whilst Dana Scully was, in theory, the victim, Janie couldn't have asked for a 
better one. She wouldn't be lured out easily. Wouldn't panic in the event of him 
attempting to get to her again. He had lost the element of surprise. The 
challenge had been laid down. The Stalker's ego wouldn't allow him to back away, 
to move onto somebody else. He had won every other time. He had set his sights 
on Dana Scully and Janie hoped she would prove to be his downfall.

***

Mulder's arrival took them by surprise. It was 6.00pm already and he was 
knocking on Scully's door to take over the night shift.

Janie answered. "Nice pasta, Mulder." She said as he came in carrying files and 
a large cardboard box. "What's for dinner tonight?"

"I'm afraid I'm swamped with reports to finish, so tonight's special is a large 
pizza with everything, but anchovies. And vanilla chocolate fudge ice-cream." He 
replied. "Would you care to join us?"

"I'm very tempted, but I have plans." Janie sighed "So you two kids behave and 
be in bed by ten."

"Becker, you have a life?" Mulder asked, sarcastically. She just laughed and 
waved on her way out. "Okay, to the kitchen before this pizza goes cold!"

As he searched for her pizza cutter, the phone rang. They both looked at the 
phone, then each other. With great apprehension, Scully picked up the phone. 
"Hello."

"I want you." Her heart sank as she heard the voice. "I want to see you."

"Tell me where you are and I can meet you right now." She said, trying to remain 
calm.

"Oh no, Dana, not yet.... All good things to those who wait. I'll meet you 
soon."

Mulder watched as the numbers slowly popped up on the read-out display.

"Do you want to know what we'll do then?" the voice asked, low and suggestive.

"Why don't you tell me." She felt sick at the thought of making conversation 
with him, but knew she had to keep him on the line to make the trace.

Mulder indicated that there were 3 numbers left.

"Next time.... " and the line went dead.

Scully looked hopefully at Mulder. He shook his head. "Shiiit!" she yelled, 
slamming the phone back into its cradle. "Dammit! He has to know we're tracing 
him and he knows exactly how long to stay on before he's caught!.... Bastard!" 
She paced angrily around the room.

Mulder watched on anxiously as she vented some of her pent up anger. "Hey," he 
said quietly moving towards her. She stood silently, running her hands back 
through her hair, trying to calm her breathing. All he could think was that she 
looked so fragile. This was upsetting her more than she ever let on. She stood, 
staring down at the ground, her hands hooked behind her head. She looked like 
she wanted to hide. He approached slowly and put his arms around her. He got 
none of the expected resistance from her. Quite the opposite. She held on to 
him. Held tightly.

She closed her eyes and disappeared into his embrace, hoping she wouldn't 
actually start crying. That was the last thing she needed. To break down like a 
helpless little girlie, unable to protect herself, relying on everyone else to 
save her.

To his credit, Mulder said nothing. No trite, "it'll be alright" or "don't 
worry". He just held her close, marvelling at the ease of it all. They had 
become so close lately. It almost seemed beyond friendship. They were both such 
polar opposites, yet they had lived and almost died for each other, particularly 
in the last year. Each trusting implicitly in the other's loyalty and 
friendship.

After a moment, Mulder stroked her hair. "You should open that wine you were 
saving." and he ushered her to the sofa. "Sit, watch ER, or something. You've 
got good wine, pizza, ice cream, scintillating company," he gestured to himself. 
"What more could you ask for?"

Before she could throw back a smart answer, the doorbell rang. Mulder went over 
and opened the door. Another flower delivery, this time they were white roses. 
Mulder took in the arrangement and tipped the delivery guy. "And now you have a 
vase of flowers." He sounded as disappointed as she looked. "Will I open the 
note?" She just nodded. "Hope you call soon, Andy." She took the note from him. 
"Andy? The hospital guy, right?"

As he spoke, she was dialling the number on the card. "You sent me flowers." She 
was trying not to sound agitated.

"Yes I did" Andy said. "Seems pointless to make you a vase and not put flowers 
in it."

"You made me a vase?" The angry looked softened.

"I did tell you I'm a sculptor." Andy explained. "But that was in the hospital, 
so it might not have registered."

"I remember." She said, a broad smile spreading across he face. "You made me a 
vase."

"I could also make you dinner?" He said, hopefully.

"Sorry, that's been taken care of."

Mulder scribbled a note HE KNOW'S YOUR ADDRESS? and flashed it up to her.

"Andy, how did you know where to send the flowers?" Scully asked, taking note of 
it.

"Ah, that FBI training!" he smiled. "I confess! When we found you, I got your 
address from your driver's license. We wanted to find out who you were, so we 
checked the car and your pockets.... Sorry. I'm being very forward."

"Yes, you are." She laughed.

"Well, I'll go now, so you can call me some other time."

"Thanks, Andy." And she hung up. "He made me a vase." She looked at it, smiling.

"Where are you going to put it?" Mulder asked glad that something was lifting 
her spirits.

"I think I'll put it in my bedroom. It's been a while since I've had flowers in 
a room that wasn't a hospital room!" She lifted it and immediately put it down, 
grimacing with pain. "Ow... ow ow ow!" she held her wrist carefully. "It's 
heavier than it looks."

Mulder left it on the table near the window in her bedroom while she took a 
couple of her painkillers. "How is it?" he gestured to her arm.

She looked at the moulded casing around her wrist; it could be removed at any 
time, held in place by velcro straps. "Sometimes it hurts like hell... sometimes 
I forget about it, then lift something" she sighed "and it hurts like hell!"

"You're lucky it's just muscle damage" he said, reheating the pizza. "If it had 
been ligament or cartilage damage you'd have ended up having operations and 
stuff."

"Thank you, Doctor Mulder!" She sat on the sofa and watched him uncork her wine. 
"When did you suddenly become such an expert on muscles and ligaments?

"Ah, my short but inglorious soccer experience!" he sat next to her handing her 
a very full glass. Mulder himself had opened a beer. "When I was in Oxford, a 
few of the guys in the halls of residence were trying to get a team going and 
they invited me along to a practice basically because I was tall and I could 
run!" he laughed at the memory. "So, they teach me the rules, which takes all of 
5 seconds, and we start playing. They're playing nice, passing me the ball and 
the next thing I boot the thing into the back of the net! I'm playing 15 minutes 
and I score a goal. Of course, the opposition thinks I'm a ringer and decide 
they're going to take me down. The next time I got the ball... Wham! This guy 
goes in for a sliding tackle, takes me down with him and I can't walk for three 
weeks!"

"Sounds like fun!" Scully said, happily drinking her wine and eating a slice of 
pizza.

"It's a game of two halves, and so was my leg!" Mulder said, taking a slice. 
"There were x- rays, check-ups, very strong painkillers, torn muscles and a pair 
of crutches that attracted more attention! I tell you, Scully, the next time you 
want to get a date, get a pair of crutches, a backpack and a look of extreme 
helplessness and they'll flock like bees to honey."

"I'll be sure to remember!" She laughed. If he was telling her stories just to 
cheer her up, it was working. Two college stories in 2 days. Maybe before the 
end of the week she'd find out exactly what Phoebe Green did to him. He had 
never said much about his time in Oxford. Getting personal details out of him 
was like getting blood from a stone. But now, he seemed quite willing to talk. 
It was good to know that some parts of his life were happy.

"I really have to get working." He grabbed the remains of his dinner and left 
her to watch tv as he used her laptop to type up a case history.

***

Mulder realised it was time to call it a night when he heard David Letterman's 
top 10 list. He took his beer and went to join Scully on the couch. "Who's on 
tonight?" he asked, crossing the room to find her laid on her side, sound 
asleep.

Mulder stood, hands on hips and lips pursed, looking at her. "You have two 
choices..." he thought. "One, you could scoop her up like Scarlett O'Hara and 
put her to bed which means she'd probably freak out... and we don't want that. 
Two, you could sleep on the floor and let her sleep there which means you'd 
really screw up your back... and we don't want that either. Or three, you could 
sleep in her bed which means you've had more to drink than you should have!... 
Three it is then."

He quietly placed a blanket over her and took his things into her room. He felt 
awkward being in there. This was Scully's Bedroom. Why was it bothering him so 
much? He'd been in there before. He'd even slept in her bed before... although 
that was alone too.

"Woah!" he said quietly. "Where the hell did that come from?" Janie Becker, 
that's where! He was perfectly fine thinking of Dana Scully as his best friend 
before Becker put in her 2 cents! He looked at the vase Andy Warner had sent and 
the roses.... Roses. Scully never struck him as the roses type... Maybe she was. 
Maybe roses were her favourites. He wouldn't know! They had been through so much 
together, but could he really say he knew her?

The strange thing was, for the first time in 5 years, he wanted to and was 
starting to regret not knowing these things. He had to stop thinking like that 
because he knew he was on a hiding to nothing! If something were to have 
happened between them, surely it would have happened by now... wouldn't it?

He undressed and got in bed. "Not only am I in Scully's bedroom, now I'm in 
Scully's bed." he muttered quietly to himself. "Definitely more comfortable than 
the couch! More comfortable than my couch... I could get used to this... Yeah, 
dream on Mulder!" He drowsily rubbed his eyes, aware of the delicate scent of 
her perfume on the pillow. "Go to sleep!"

***

Scully woke with a start. Why was she on the couch? Because she fell asleep 
watching the tv. The temptation to 'do a Mulder' and spend the night there was 
great, but she knew just a few paces away was her warm cosy bed. She made her 
way through the dark with little effort. It was her place and she knew her way 
around. Her painkillers had her feeling very drowsy as she quietly entered the 
room and half dressed, slipped into bed.

*********************************************************************

End of chapter 5

--------------------------

"You Think You Know..."Ch 6 by Caroline O'Connell

Disclaimer: See chapter 1 Rated PG for language and violence.

Summary: Scully attracts the unwanted attentions of a stalker, throwing her and 
Mulder into a situation neither of them ever envisaged.

*******************************************************************

Her bed, familiar, unlike so many motel rooms she had spent her career in. Warm, 
safe and occupied by somebody else!

With split-second timing, she sprang up, grabbed her gun and switched on the 
bedside lamp, yelling at whoever the hell was there.

Mulder, startled by her, tumbled ungracefully on to the floor. "Scully, it's 
me!" he said, scrambling to his feet, dressed only in his shorts.

She put down the gun, her heart racing. "Jeez, Mulder!" she yelled throwing a 
pillow at him. "You scared the crap out of me!"

"Sorry." He muttered.

"What the hell are you doing in my bed?"

"Sorry."

"I could have killed you!" She threw another pillow at him. She paced alongside 
the bed trying to calm herself down. "What time is it?" She picked up the clock 
before he could answer. "3.25am... Great!"

"You were asleep. I didn't want to wake you." Mulder said picking his clothes 
off the bedside chair. "The last thing you need is more disturbances. And I know 
you need the rest."

"I'm sorry" Scully sighed. "I'm also wide awake. Go back to sleep, Mulder. I'm 
going to watch TV."

"You think I could sleep after that?" He said throwing on a sweatshirt and 
trousers and following her out to the living room. I am never letting you have 
wine with your painkillers again!" He grumbled sitting beside her on the couch 
where they would both have the best view of the television.

"Yes, Mom!" She grumbled, playing with the remote control. Scully's mood 
suddenly altered when she came across 'A Matter of Life and Death'. "I love this 
film! Why are all the best films on so late?"

They sat and watched in silence. Scully dragged a blanket around her. Mulder 
held a cushion across his lap, both getting comfortable, preparing to last the 
distance. But neither lasting too long, drifting to sleep within minutes of each 
other.

***

"What the hell are you doing in her bed?" a voice muttered beside an elaborate 
voice activated tape recorder. Dana wasn't supposed to be seeing anyone. He had 
made sure of that. And he damned well wasn't going to share her! She wasn't to 
be shared. Dana was to be loved and adored by him alone.

And if FBI makes as much as a suggestion to her, he'd have to die... simple as 
that.

He listened to the film play quietly. The conversation had stopped. Was she 
alone? He'd have to make do with just listening. It would take too long to 
install cameras. They're too obvious anyway. Dana's that brilliant; she'd 
probably find them in a heartbeat.

It's amazing the things you can hide in small places in an apartment. A 
listening device on the mantelpiece in the living room, next to her lamp in the 
bedroom, even a small bug in the bathroom.

"I want to know everything Dana." He muttered beside the recorder. "To know all 
about you so when we finally meet you'll realise that we're perfect for each 
other."

***

"Aw... Perfect." The soft female voice giggled quietly as she watched Mulder and 
Scully sleeping soundly. Scully's head lay on the pillow on Mulder's lap. His 
arm was wrapped protectively around her shoulder, both blissfully unaware of 
Janie Becker's presence in the room. She had let herself in when she noticed the 
curtains were still closed. Janie managed to make fresh coffee without 
disturbing them. Having poured a mug, she decided it was time to waken the happy 
couple. She perched next to Mulder's ear. "Good morning, starshine." She 
whispered.

Mulder bolted awake, causing Scully to snap upright, with his arm still around 
her shoulder. "Doesn't anybody use alarm clocks anymore?" he asked, removing his 
arm, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Why does everyone feel 
the need to scare me half to death to wake me up?"

"Obviously not a morning person!" Janie grinned, handing him the coffee.

"What time is it?" he asked. "Ohmigod! It's 9.30. I am so late!"

"Sorry." Scully mumbled, wiping the sleep from her eyes. "You were sleeping so 
soundly I didn't want to wake you. I know you have trouble sleeping sometimes."

"Maybe once every other month." He said grabbing his overnight bag. "I'm 
sleeping fine at the moment, except for when I'm rudely awoken at 3 in the 
morning!" He locked himself in the bathroom.

"I thought you said he was one of those wide awake, tortured souls type." Janie 
said pouring more coffee.

Scully just shrugged. It had been a while since they had spent a night in each 
other's company. How could she have misjudged him so easily? All those nights 
she found it difficult to sleep, she wondered if Mulder was lying on his couch 
watching the same bad infomercials. It's probably just as well she didn't ring 
him. He wouldn't have appreciated being woken. Although he probably would have 
told her he was awake anyway.

"Will you be okay?" Mulder asked racing out, fixing his tie. "I can drop in 
later."

"The building's under surveillance, the phone is wired, I'm stuck here for the 
day." Scully smiled. "I think I'm safe."

"And of course, you have Scary Spice to babysit!" Mulder said on his way out the 
door. He just about heard the loud burst of laughter from Scully as he closed it 
behind him. It was good to hear her laugh again.

"Scary Spice?" Janie asked giving Scully a look that made her feel like she was 
looking in a mirror. "Scary Spice?" She took out her radio. "Hey Douglas, who 
came up with Scary Spice?"

Peter Douglas, one of the agents keeping watch outside tried not to burst into 
laughter. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Jane. You're not scary. 
You're lovely"

"Damn straight, Douglas!" Janie growled.

"I want to be just like you when I grow up." He said sweetly.

"Oh, you charmer!" Janie said as Scully continued to laugh loudly. "Now get back 
to work!"

"Are you like that all the time?" Scully asked.

Janie shrugged. "You have to have a laugh, sometimes. You know how bad work can 
get. You should hear us when Libby Ryder is with us. She's a riot. She and 
Douglas are close."

"It's been a while since I've been with a team, as opposed to working with 
Mulder, or teaching at Quantico. "

"Maybe it's time for a transfer?" Janie asked.

"No!" Scully exclaimed. "I love my work. I like working with Mulder. I don't 
want to change that."

Janie sat next to Scully on the couch. "It's been way too long, Dee. We should 
have kept in better touch after graduation."

"Good morning, Dana." The voice said, once again listening intently for some 
detail of Dana Scully's early life. "Did you sleep well? Did you dream of me?"

*** "I have interviewed friends and family, but have come up a complete blank." 
Janie said as Danalooked over her case notes "Unless he can crawl through drains 
or air conditioning systems, this guy is the invisible man"

Scully's mind immediately sprang to Eugene Tooms. "They still had their livers, 
right?"

"Eeewww! Gross, Dana!" Janie exclaimed. "You've been spending way too much time 
with Spooky!"

"Okay, Janie." Scully sighed. "What exactly do you have against him?"

"I read all of Fox Mulder's case histories when we were training. The man is a 
genius. He's brilliant and I wanted to work with him." Janie explained. "His 
insights, his ability to profile. He's not that much older than us, but he 
brought experience way beyond his years. He could have been an Assistant 
Director in VCU by now, but he throws it all away to look for ET!"

"Wow, Janie." Scully was taken aback. "That's one hell of an opinion. have you 
been talking -to Tom Colton or something lately?"

"That little toadie?" She replied sarcastically

Scully paused for a moment. "Mulder works on the X-files for his own reasons, 
but does good "work... we do good work. I don't know why everyone thinks he's so 
weird and ... and..." she searched for the right word.

"Spooky?" Janie offered.

"Spooky!" Scully exclaimed. "His methods are unusual, yes. His cases 
unconventional, but he doesn't treat me like some kind of subordinate and I 
trust him implicitly. I would take him over ten Tom Coltons any day of the 
week."

"Wouldn't we all honey!" Janie said, raising an eyebrow.

"I did not mean it like that!" Scully laughed trying to hide her embarrassment 
when she realised how it sounded.

"Come on, Dee, are you telling me, hand on heart, that you never ever thought 
about Fox Mulder in that way?" Janie asked. "Ever?"

"Me and Mulder?"

"You and the Fox!" Janie taunted playfully.

"Scully took a deep breath as if to vehemently deny any romantic affection, but 
stopped. "Can I plead the fifth?"

"Yes!" Janie exclaimed.

"No!" The voice spat. "No, Dana, you're mine, do you hear. I'll kill him if he 
touches you."

"Oh God, what have I said?" Scully sighed, head in hands.

"Does he know?" Janie asked. Dana shook her head. "Do you want him to know?" She 
repeated the motion. "Why not?"

"It would be too weird." Scully smiled, wistfully. "He's my best friend, he has 
been for so long."

"What if he feels the same?" Janie asked, knowing he did. It wasn't her place to 
tell them. They were both adults, and with the right nudging, they would figure 
it out for themselves.

"I don't know... I just... he doesn't." Scully couldn't believe she was having 
this conversation

"When did it change?" Janie asked quietly.

A broad smile crept across Scully's face. "A couple of months after I got out of 
hospital, we had to go on a seminar." She rolled her eyes. "And we ended up not 
making it to the seminar, but exploring the woods... long, long story! And 
Mulder, the jerk, gets himself hurt and we end up spending a night huddled under 
the stars trying to keep warm and ... and it felt right." She smiled at the 
memory. "We talked for a long time, trying not to both fall asleep and Mulder 
asked me to sing to him."

"Sorry, Dee, but you can't sing!" Janie laughed.

"I know that. But I sang anyway." She found herself laughing too.

"It must be love, Dee! What did you sing?" Janie was enthralled.

"Joy To The World."

"Both women collapsed into hysterical giggles, much to the annoyance of the 
stranger listening to every word.

"And you'll be pleased to know, this time there was no clothing removed!" Scully 
said cryptically.

Obviously some college prank she had played with that Becker bitch. Now he had 
this vision of Dana Scully seductively removing her clothes and coming to him 
and being with him forever. Not even the might of the FBI could keep them apart 
You can't fight destiny, and it was destiny that he should have Dana Scully.

"Well, it's nice to see you interested in someone your own age for a change." 
Janie smiled. "This 'older man' complex really had to stop, Dee." Scully 
continued to laugh. "What? Come on, spill it!"

"It seems I have attracted the attentions of a younger man." She was referring 
to Andy.

"That means you've got Mulder, your Stalker and - gasp - Dana K Scully, a 
toyboy!" Janie exclaimed, loving every minute of making her friend squirm... and 
distracting Dana from her troubles.

"He's thirty one, Janie" Scully exclaimed. "Hardly cradle snatching."

"This is the artist guy from the hospital?" Janie asked.

"He made me a vase." she giggled, pointing it out. "Can you believe it?"

"What are his prospects?" Janie asked feeling her out.

"It's hardly the best circumstances to start a relationship." Dana shrugged.

"And there's that business with Mulder." Janie added.

"There's no business with Mulder!" Scully exclaimed.

"Exactly!" Janie said.

"I need to get out." Scully sighed stretching her arms over her head. "I'm going 
stir crazy here."

"How about I take you out to lunch?"

"Janie, you have the best ideas!"

**********************************