Keywords:  None.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Chapter Seven
XxXxXxXxXxXxX

A pair of sedatives got her through the night, but Scully 
awoke on Monday morning with her hair mashed to her cheek and 
eyes that wouldn't quite open.  She made coffee by motor 
memory alone and stumbled to the front door to pick up her 
paper.  She brought it to the kitchen table, where she sat 
with her cup and her uneaten bagel, hoping she could find the 
energy to put on some clothes.  Hot tails of steam rose from 
her coffee as she focused bleary eyes on the headlines.  
President in China.  Bombing in Israel.  Rapist Arraigned 
Today.

The story was beneath the fold, a single column running 
alongside the teasers for the stories in other sections.  
Scully flattened it with her palm and squinted at the tiny 
print.  She was not wearing her glasses.

"St. Joseph's University student Gregory Alan Watts will be 
arraigned in Arlington County Court today on charges of rape 
and assault.  Police are now saying they believe Watts is 
responsible for a vicious series of rapes committed over the 
past year throughout three counties in the greater D.C. area.  
Watts, 20, is thought to be responsible for at least ten 
attacks, including one assault against an agent in the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation."

It continued recapping the crimes.  Savioshy was quoted as 
saying, "Our investigation of Gregory Watts is ongoing."  And 
later:  "We got the guy, all right."

On page sixteen there was a photo, maybe taken on his college 
campus.  Gregory Watts smiled big for the camera.  Scully 
stared at him until a lump rose in her throat.  Number two, 
she thought.  He had been number two in the lineup.

Near the end of the article, there was a quote from Chris 
Clark.  "I think the detectives on this case have done a 
marvelous job.  Watts has been caught.  He will be tried, and 
he will be found guilty. The women of the city can finally 
feel safe again."

In her bathrobe, with her cold hands around a coffee cup, 
Scully considered his words.  She supposed for other women it 
might be true.

XxXxX

Mulder arrived at the office extra early, wearing his 
favorite suit.  A fine layer of dust had settled over 
everything in just the few days they had been gone. Cracking 
the door was like breaking into a mummy's tomb.  Back with 
his files, sitting in his chair, Mulder waited to feel 
comfortable again.  He ran his fingers over the printouts 
from Texas like a blind man reading Braille.  Every few 
seconds he glanced up, hummed a little anxious sound, and 
expected her to come through the door.

He would say nothing first, he decided.  He would wait to see 
how she played it, and he would just follow her lead.  Maybe 
the Scully power of denial could work to his advantage and it 
would be like Nothing Ever Happened.

He jerked upright when her heels sounded in the hallway.  It 
wasn't until he felt the flood of relief that he realized he 
had been worried that she might not show at all.  She stopped 
just inside the door, holding her briefcase in one hand and a 
small, feathery potted plant in the other.  He leaned way 
back in his chair.

"Good morning," he blurted.  "Nice plant." 

"It's an asparagus fern," she replied, moving into the room.  
"I'm hoping not to kill it."

"And you brought it here?" he asked with a smile.  "Where 
even the bugs crawl down to die?"

She stood on tiptoe to set the fern on top of a tall file 
cabinet near the windows. "I thought it might add a little 
color."  Task finished, she dusted off her hands and cocked 
her head at him.  "When did you get back?"

"Late last night."

"I see.  You brought Rentham's files with you?"  Her voice 
was steady but she was still standing ten feet away.

"Yes."  He shifted some around on his desk to illustrate.  
"Most of the data are straightforward, but Rentham kept his 
own handwritten notes in the personnel files.  He used some 
sort of initial code that I can't decipher yet.  I think 
maybe he was trying to find a pattern among the abductions.  
This woman here has a M23SCC-NK next to her name, and the 
numbers 32.3 and 90.2.  This other woman has the same NK, but 
the other letters are different."

Scully inched closer, eyeing the files.  "Do either of them 
have children?"

"Um."  He pawed through to find the appropriate notes.  "No."

"Could stand for 'no kids.'  Like DINKs -- double income, no 
kids."

"Huh."  Mulder shuffled some more papers until he found the 
records Rentham kept on Tina Appleby.  "You may be onto 
something, Scully.  Tina Appleby's code doesn't have the NK 
included."

"What does it say?"

She was close enough now that he could feel her breathing. 
Shoulder-to-shoulder, they stood over the mess of papers 
blanketing his desk.  Mulder moved slowly, as if he might 
frighten her away.  "Uh, Rentham wrote F3C, and the numbers 
29.9 and 95.6."

"We should enter all of them into a computer," she said, not 
looking at him.  "Easier to see a pattern that way."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

She touched the photograph of Tina Appleby.  "How is she 
doing?"

"She'll live."  Mulder looked down at the top of her head, 
where her slightly crooked part was the only sign that 
anything was amiss.  "How are you doing?"

Scully nodded to herself.  "I'll live."

Neither of them spoke for a long minute.  "I wasn't sure 
you'd come back," he said at last.

"I wasn't sure either," she answered baldly, and his heart 
stopped.  She met his gaze and held it.

"But--but you did," he pointed out.  She nodded.  Don't ask, 
he thought, but couldn't stop himself.  Mulder always asked 
questions he didn't really want the answers to.  "Why?"

Her shoulders rose and fell with a long breath.  "It turns 
out," she said with some disgust, "that I still believe in 
justice." She scooped up a sheaf of papers, handed them to 
him, and switched on the computer.  "You dictate," she said.  
"I'll enter."

XxXxX

Now that she had his face, the memory changed.  Under the 
mask, she saw his dark, bushy eyebrows, prominent cheekbones, 
and flared nostrils.  She felt his hot breath on her face, 
felt his fingers bite into her skin as he ripped off her 
underwear.  She could see him now, see him doing these 
things, this boy with big hands and charming smile.  

Scully peeled herself from the back of the elevator and began 
walking briskly through the parking garage of the Hoover 
building.  Just as inside, they had stuck her and Mulder as 
far away from everyone else as possible. The strange gray-
green light of the parking lot never changed; like a casino, 
it was always removed from time, neither day nor night.  
Mulder was gone.  So were most people.   Scully picked up her 
pace.

Her car chirped, a sharp, electronic echo that rattled her 
nerves even as she welcomed the familiar sound.  She reached 
the door and yanked it open with trembling fingers.  Tossing 
her briefcase in haphazardly, Scully scrambled in after it 
and yanked the door behind her.  She leaned back and closed 
her eyes as her breathing returned to normal.

The phone rang.  Scully started her car even as she dug out 
the phone to answer it.  She wasn't hanging around in the 
empty lot any longer than necessary.  "Scully," she said.  
Her headlights lit up the grimy wall in front of her.

"Dana, it's Chris."  He sounded more subdued than usual.  "I 
hope I haven't caught you at a bad time."

"I was just heading home."

He sighed.  "I'm sure you know we were in court this 
afternoon with Gregory Watts.  I'm afraid it didn't go as 
expected."

"What?"  Scully halted the car on the exit ramp.  Chris did 
not say anything for a few seconds.  "What happened?" 

"Watts made bail, Dana.  The judge let him go."

XxXxXxX

Mulder threw open all his windows, blinds rattling as the 
restless air swirled inside.  A front was coming through, not 
rain but wind, whipping up the trees and charging the air 
with electricity.  Dressed in black, Mulder paced his living 
room like the famed panther.  He felt the wind moving in him, 
urging him out onto the dark streets below.  He wanted to get 
out, away, to take his anger and run it into the sea.

Mulder grabbed his keys from the end table and yanked open 
his door.  Scully stood in the hall, hugging herself.  
"Scully?  What's going on?"  He reached for her and she 
backed away.  "How long have you been standing here?"

"They let him go, Mulder."

"What?"  All the energy rushed out of him.

"Watts.  He made bail."

"Come in," he said, holding the door for her.  "Tell me."

She brushed past him and went to stand in the middle of his 
breezy living room.  "He knows where I live.  He took my 
wallet with my license and my address, and now he's back on 
the streets."

"You can stay here," he said immediately.  The door slammed 
shut in the wind.

"I don't want to stay here!  I am not the prisoner!  I want 
him gone, in jail, where I don't have to look at him or think 
about him.  God, I am so tired of thinking about him."

Mulder had seen the picture too.  He tried not to think about 
it because when he did, it made him want to hit his fist 
against a wall until it was a bloody pulp.

Scully's voice became rough with emotion.  "It's like he's in 
me, like I can't get away even when I'm asleep.  He has my 
thoughts, my feelings, my whole body tied up inside and it's 
like I can't even breathe."

"Scully..."  He stretched out a hand to her, but she inhaled 
sharply before he could touch her.

"You ever just fuck someone, Mulder?"

"What?"  His heart hurt.

"You know, a one night stand.  You meet someone at a party, 
or a bar, and you just fuck them.  Just sex, no 
consequences."  She stared at him hard, but he could see her 
trying to contain her trembling.

"Um, I guess I found there are always consequences."

"But you've done it," she said steadily.  He answered with a 
short nod.  "And it's just sex. A person doesn't own you just 
because you have sex with them.  It doesn't change your life 
forever."  Her words grew increasingly desperate.

"Scully, he didn't have sex with you.  He raped you."

"I know that!" she cried, covering her face with her hands.  
"Don't you think I know that?  I just... I don't understand 
why it has to be this hard."

He laid a hand on her shoulder, and this time she did not 
pull away.  Hunched and tense, she let him pull her against 
him, her hands still over her face.  He tucked her into his 
empty places. "I'm sorry," he murmured, his chin atop her 
head.

"How could this happen?" she whispered brokenly, and he 
tightened his arms around her.

"Why the hell did they let him go?"

"They never found the items he took:  the jewelry, the 
wallets, the clothes.  Savioshy searched his parents' home 
and they searched his dorm at the university as well.  
Nothing."

"He's got them stashed somewhere.  They just have to keep 
looking."

She nodded, relaxing a little.  She laid her cheek against 
his heart.  "Maybe--maybe now that he's been released, he'll 
lead them to it."

"Sure."  Mulder tried to sound encouraging as he rubbed her 
back.  The wind slapped his blinds against the windows and 
Scully shuddered.  "Cold?"

She shook her head.  "I'm just so tired."

"You should lie down," he said.  "Get some rest."

Her voice quavered moist and hot against his shirt.  "I need 
to go home." 

"But not tonight." She leaned back to look at him and he 
nodded to show he meant it.  His apartment felt chilled 
clean, renewed, ready to offer peace.  The night air tickled 
them both as Scully smoothed her fingers over his breastbone.  

"One night," she whispered, and he tucked a lock of hair 
behind her ear.  "Since I'm already here."

He took her to his bedroom, where he did not even turn on the 
lights.  They undressed by the light of the street lamp 
slanting through his blinds, turning Scully into a 
beautifully curved zebra before his eyes.  She plucked his T-
shirt from the floor where he discarded it and pulled it over 
her head.  He watched in admiration as she slid her bra out 
through one armhole. 

She visited the bathroom while he shook out the sheets, 
lifting them high into the cool summer air.  He climbed in 
and listened to the sounds of Scully moving around in his 
apartment.  The floor creaked a different song for her; the 
tap ran a steady stream rather than the full blast he always 
used. He opened his eyes again when he felt the mattress 
shift under her weight.

Mulder rolled to his side to look at her in black and white.  
"Find everything you need?"

The pillow scratched with her nod.  "Thank you," she said, 
reaching over for his hand.

"For what it's worth," he told her softly, "I didn't think it 
would be this hard either."

Her eyes slid shut as she held his hand between her breasts. 
"One day," she murmured, "it'll be over."

"Yes."  He felt the steady beat of her heart and the tide of 
her breathing against his hand.  Her jaw slackened, mouth 
parting slightly as she found sleep.  He gave her a few tiny 
fingertip caresses before extricating his hand to adjust the 
sheets up over her waist.  

Mulder lay down again so his position mirrored hers.  He 
pretty much dwarfed her, legs stretching far beyond her toes, 
large hairy arm heavy and awkward next to her fine, delicate 
bones.  She nearly disappeared in the hulking shadow of his 
shoulder.

In his whole life, he had never felt so small.

XxX

He woke to shadow puppets around his room, as the wind had 
picked up again, Mother Nature putting on a show across his 
bare walls.  Scully had hunkered down against him, submerged 
completely under the blankets with his arm trapped over her 
head.  It was she who'd awoken him, he realized as she 
twitched again.  Her knee jerked against his crotch.

Mulder sucked in a painful breath and pulled away.  She 
clawed his chest.  "Scully," he said, searching for her under 
the covers.  "Wake up."  She fought him tooth and nail, 
panting like a trapped animal and crying out as he pinned her 
down.  "Wake up!" he said, and her eyes shot open.  He had 
her legs immobilized with his knees and both arms trapped 
above her head.

"Help," she said, her eyes wild.

"It's okay," he told her.  "It's just a dream."

"Mulder?"  She went limp in his grasp and he let her up 
immediately. 

"It's okay now," he said.  "It's all right."  Her whole body 
started to shake, from cold or fright he did not know.  
Mulder gathered her against him again and tucked the covers 
around them.  Her teeth chattered but she was not crying.

"Sorry," she said as she slipped cold arms around his chest.  
He kissed the sweat from her brow.

"Scully," he murmured near her ear. "What do you dream?"
She had never told him everything that had happened that 
night.  What few details he knew he'd gleaned from news 
reports.

"He's on top of me," she said, voice small against his chest, 
"and I can't get up."  Mulder stiffened and clutched her 
tighter.  Details were bad.  He didn't need details.

"Shhh," he said, stroking her back as much to soothe himself 
as to calm her.  "You're safe now.  You okay?  You want some 
water?"

"I'm all right.  I didn't mean to hurt you."  She touched her 
lips to the scratch across his chest.

"It's nothing," he told her as he lifted the damp hair from 
her neck.  "You forget I've been mauled by a beast woman."

She laughed gently into his neck and hugged him close.  
Mulder nuzzled her, extending her smile.  He felt connected 
to her again, as though they had a shared experience among 
all her private pain.  He wanted to taste her, feel her, 
bring her inside all his senses so they would never be 
separate again.

Scully seemed to want the same thing.  She tucked her leg 
between his, cuddling closer.  "Scully," he murmured, filled 
with love.

"Mmm?"

He kissed her forehead and then her check.  She answered with 
a soft sigh that tickled his face.  Her hand crept up and 
combed through his hair over the back of his neck until he 
tingled from head to toe.  He touched his lips to hers 
tentatively, almost an apology for the last time they had 
lain together like this.  She froze for an instant, gripping 
his hair, and he gentled her with kisses until she relaxed 
into the pillow again.  "It's okay," he breathed against her 
mouth.  

"Mulder," she whispered back, stroking the side of his face.  
"You don't have to--"

He kissed her again, mouth soft and persuasive as he reached 
back to run his hand along her naked thigh.  Her leg came up 
and over his, holding him in place.  He hummed to her, 
letting her know it was all right, caressing her with splayed 
fingers until her skin quivered under his hand.

He felt himself expanding, hardening in the cradle of her 
thighs as they kissed.  Scully drew her fingers over the 
bumps of his spine and pulled her mouth from his.  "We 
can't," she said in a tight whisper, even as her hips pressed 
for closer contact.  He stroked her from breast to hip and 
kissed her nose.

"Nothing you don't want."

"No, it's not that.  I--I don't have protection."

"Oh." He settled more fully against her and her lips parted 
at the pressure.  "It's okay, I've got it covered."

Surprise colored her features, and she sounded uncertain. 
"You do?" 

"Yes, after you said we needed it.  I thought just in case--"  
He broke off as she hugged him fiercely.  "What?"

"I'm so glad." 

He held her tightly and pressed his face into her clean-
smelling hair.  "I want you," he told her.  "Always."  She 
nodded but continued to burrow into him, as if she couldn't 
quite speak.  He rubbed her head messily and placed 
occasional kisses on her shoulder, her arm, her temple.  At 
last she squeezed him one final time and brought her face 
back to his.  They kissed lingeringly, limbs and tongues 
sliding together in tandem.  Mulder's toes curled as she 
stroked his ears.

Gently, he worked his hand between their bodies, brushing the 
tender skin of her inner thighs.  She pushed her hips against 
his fingers, sending his hand higher between her legs.  
Mulder watched her face as he touched her, but her expression 
gave nothing away; she had her head thrown back deep in the 
pillow, eyes closed, her breath coming in shallow pants.  
Mulder caressed her softly through her underwear for a minute 
or two before she wriggled away.  She yanked down the 
offending garment and tossed it over the edge of the bed. 

Scully lay back down, still dressed in his T-shirt, with her 
legs spread slightly and her fingers digging into the 
mattress, as though she were bracing herself for some 
unpleasant task.  Mulder hesitated, and when he didn't 
immediately climb back on top of her, Scully tensed visibly.  
"You're stopping?"

"No," he told her.  "No."  He reached up and touched the 
smooth curve of her cheek.  "Not if you don't want."

She shook her head against his hand, and Mulder took a deep 
breath.  The mattress bounced a bit as he moved up the bed 
and stretched his hand to the bedside drawer.  Scully lay 
still as stone beneath him.  He fumbled to get the box open 
one-handed, and the foil packet felt unfamiliar between his 
fingers.

*You can do this* he coached himself even as his erection 
began to fade.  

He peeked down at Scully, who was looking back at him with 
wide, apprehensive eyes.  She hadn't made a move to remove 
his boxers, and he knew it was because she was afraid of what 
she might find if she tried.

"Is it okay?" she asked in a small voice, her gaze skittering 
away from his.  Mulder sagged back down on the bed, palming 
the condom as he rolled to face her.  Scully stared at the 
ceiling.

"Come here," he said, urging her back against him.  She was 
stiff but not resistant, like a life-sized action figure 
fresh from the box.  "Like this," he whispered against her 
face as he ran his fingers through her hair.  Facing her, on 
their sides, he didn't feel so oppressive.  He stroked her 
and kissed her until her arms wound around him again.  Her 
knee rested on his leg, and he welcomed it with slow caresses 
down the back of her thigh.

Scully stroked her fingers along the hollows of his ribs and 
lifted her face for his kiss.  The space between them grew 
warm and close.  His brain fuzzed out again as his dick came 
back on line.  He rubbed against her, felt her sharp intake 
of breath against his face.  "Mulder, now," she whispered to 
his chin.  He kissed her swiftly and pulled away.

His erection bobbed as his underwear joined hers on the 
floor.  Mulder's hands shook, Scully watching while he tried 
to open the slim packet.  He felt about sixteen years old.  
"It's so dark.  I can't see where I'm supposed to tear."

"Let me try."

He heard it rip neatly, her trim little nails getting the job 
done in nothing flat.  Mulder lay facing her again and bit 
his lip.  Scully fingered the opened packet as she stared as 
his penis.  For a moment he thought she might finish the task 
herself.  Wordlessly, she handed him the condom.  She curled 
into a ball and watched him sheathe his cock.

"Okay," he said, trying to sound confident.  He scooted 
closer to her and she put her arms around him, hugging him 
convulsively.  He kissed her neck.  "All right?"  She nodded 
and raised her leg over his hips so he could slip his penis 
between her thighs.  They both jerked at the initial contact.  
"Tell me if this is okay."

"It's okay."  

They held their breath as he eased his way inside her.  Ah, 
Mulder thought, relaxing.  There.  He smiled into her hair 
and nuzzled her affectionately.  Scully started to shake.

"Scully?"  He tried to pull back but she clutched him tight.  
"Scully, what is it?"

She answered with a high, keening sob, and horror flooded 
through him.

"Scully, talk to me.  What is it?"  He brushed sticky hair 
off from her face but she would not let go.  She held him 
inside her with all her strength.

"Don't leave," she choked out between awful sobs.  "Please 
don't leave me."

"No, I'm right here."  He rocked her back and forth, holding 
her as tightly as he could while she seized and shuddered in 
his arms. 

"Please," she said again.  Mulder was helpless against the 
tide, reassuring her with lips and hands that he was real and 
solid and not going anywhere.  His erection softened and 
started to slip out of her, setting off a fresh round of 
wracking tears.

"I'm here, I'm here, Scully."  He repeated the words until he 
was hoarse, until he was crying himself from the sheer force 
of her anguish.  "I'm right here."

But Scully cried on, wrapped around every inch of him, and 
yet somehow unable to hear.

XxXxXxX

End Chapter Seven.

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