Title: What They Started
Author: Jo Nelson (JoNe213@thexfiles.com)
URL: http://www.geocities.com/jsxfnelson Category: MSR, Casefile, HumorRating: PG Spoilers: It takes place in the 7th Season, some time after "all things" but before Requiem". Slight references to "Folie à Deux" and "The Sixth Extinction".
Distribution: Sure, just tell me where so I can visit.
Summary: What do UFO abductions, The South African Embassy and dog-sitting have in common?
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Files or any of it's characters. If I did, I'd probably be very happy. Those happy folks would be Ten Thirteen Productions and Fox.
Feedback: Sure, I love getting it, replying back to it and saving it!
Author's notes: This was originally written for the Scullyfic Improv. Elements to follow at the end the of the story. Special thanks to Christina for a great beta and for helping me with the title and stuff. Also to Stephy for reading it over...I'd be a mess without you all. :)
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What They Started
by Jo Nelson
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Chapter 1
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FBI HEADQUARTERS
WASHINGTON, DC
9:18 AM
Director FBI Director Louis Freeh speaks proudly to a room full of about one hundred of the FBI's best. With his impressive career reputation, it wasn't surprising. He was the type of man that everyone wanted to be like. All attention had been focused on this extraordinary man since he had first walked into the building that morning. It was only natural that once he was introduced to speak their interest would grow.
Assistant Director Skinner takes a moment to look through the gathered audience. He notices that, for once, all of the agents under him are surprisingly accounted for. Although these meetings were routine every six months, they were typically boring, so no one looked forward to them. He found himself having to cover for quite a few of his agents on several occasions. He knew they had better things to do, so it was a common understanding that he had with the agents he supervised regularly.
But that wasn't the case today. Everyone was genuinely interested and, surprisingly, no one there even looked liked they wanted to be doing anything else. He notices that even Agents Mulder and Scully are there. They are even sitting next to each other, which is rare in these type of meetings. Skinner smiles to himself. Yes, this is going exceptionally well-and then he sees a desperate look of realization hit Scully's face.
"Oh shit!" Scully shouts and jumps up to quickly leave the room.
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Director Freeh stops speaking then and all eyes follow Scully as she runs out of the room. After she is gone, all eyes go to Mulder, who is still in shock after her outburst. After a quick look in Skinner's direction, he goes after her.
He finds her pacing the hallway on her cell. "Scully? What's up?"
"Dottie, that's what's up. I forgot all about her!"
"Oh no, Scully."
"Yes, Mr. Coeben?" She listens on the phone for a few seconds.
Mr. Coeben fusses with someone in the background; "I don't know what I have to do to get that man to turn down his music! I swear, if this is Mrs. Moore complaining about him again, I'm going to personally hit his breaker switch! Hello?"
"Hi, Mr. Coeben, it's Dana Scully from apartment thirty-five."
"Oh, yes...hi, Ms. Scully! Look, I'm sorry if Raymond's been keeping you up, I'm going to speak..."
Scully interrupts him, "Actually, I'm not calling about that. I'm calling to ask you a really big favor."
"Oh?"
"Yes...you see, I'm dog sitting for my mom for just a few days, and..."
"Oh no wonder...I thought I heard a dog barking, but I didn't remember you having one, well, not since the little Pomeranian, so I just thought I'd been hearing things...over Raymond's music, that is."
"No, I'm sure you weren't hearing things. Like I said, it's only for a few days, but something important has come up at work, and it doesn't look like I'm going to be home for a few more hours." Scully decides not to mention that she hasn't been home since last night.
"Oh, I see. So you want me to go in there and feed the critter? I can do that."
"Um, actually no. I was wondering if it would be possible for you to take her out for a walk or two?"
"Um...I don't know, Ms. Scully. I mean, I do have some things to do around here. I don't know if I'll get time. Especially with all the complaints lately."
"Please...if you do..." She thinks for a second. "I can personally see to it that, for the sake of everyone, Raymond gets over his music obsession."
Mr. Coeben concentrates on Madonna's song "Music" which can suddenly be heard playing in the background. "Well, is it a nice dog?"
"Yes, she's a sweetheart. She just likes a lot of attention like most dogs."
"I see."
"You would only need to walk her once every 4 hours or so. I should be home sometime this evening."
"Well, okay Ms. Scully. I suppose I can do it today, just this once."
Scully releases the breath she was holding. "Thank you, I really appreciate this."
"You're welcome...well, I better get going. I'm sure I'll be talking to you later."
Scully clicks off and puts her cellphone away.
"Well?" asked Mulder.
"I've got my landlord on it. I just hope he makes it on time."
Mulder jokes, "Well, you certainly made a nice impression in the meeting, Scully. Can't wait to go back in there."
"Oh no, what did I say?"
"Nothing that any sailor's family wouldn't be used to by now. Skinner especially got a kick out of it. You should have seen his face." Mulder says, enjoying himself at her expense.
Scully motions with her head for Mulder to follow. "Speaking of Skinner..."
Looking over, they see Skinner approaching them. "Is everything all right, Agents?"
Embarrassed Scully says, "Sir, I'm very sorry about that outburst. I had a family emergency to handle."
Mulder knew Scully didn't want to go back in there after this and he certainly wasn't looking forward to the scrutiny either. "Sir, if it's all right with you, and I think I speak for the both of us, in asking that we be excused from the rest of the meeting?"
Skinner wants to laugh but thinks better of it. "You know, if you two didn't want to come to the meeting surely you could have come up with another way to get out of it than this?"
"Sir, I assure you...Agent Scully and I had no intention of getting out of this meeting. It just seems that leaving now would be better for our department than having to explain what just happened to everyone afterwards."
"For once, I have to agree with you there. I'll handle that. I do believe that you two do have reports to finish? I'm going to expect them on my desk by this afternoon."
"Yes, Sir," Scully replies.
Skinner leaves the two agents standing there as he walks away to return to the auditorium.
All Mulder can do is laugh about it at this point. "So Scully, does this mean that we get to go to the game now?" he asks her hopefully.
"Yeah, Mulder, I think we should go. Let's hurry up with those reports so we can get out of dodge."
Thank god it's Friday. The last few days had been crazy. Scully had thought that their case, her neighbor and that dog would be the last of her. But now she was taking a stand and she was going to fix everything. And when she was done with that, she and Mulder would be able to finish what they had started.
Two days earlier...
Dana Scully's Apartment
Annapolis, MD
5:46 AM
The ghetto fabulous sounds of Madonna's "Music" song filled Dana Scully's dark room...
"Hey Mr. DJ put a record on
I wanna dance with my baby,
And when the music starts
I never wanna stop,
It's gonna drive me crazy
Music makes the people come together..."
Dana Scully awoke. It wasn't just a nightmare, she was actually hearing that song and it was just as loud as it was in her dream. She turned over in an attempt to put a pillow over her head, but the weight of Mulder's arm holding it down prevented that. She turned over on her back to get a better look at him. He looked so peaceful these days. He had never been a good sleeper before, but now he seemed to sleep through everything. She wished she could be so lucky.
The song continued to play on...
"I think of yesterday
And I don't look at the clock,
I like to boogey-oogey
It's like riding on a wind
And it never goes away,
But she's everything I'm in
Got to have it everyday..."
Scully knew then that she wasn't going to get anymore sleep this morning, so she took a peek at the clock on her nightstand. It was a little early. Mulder didn't really need to get up for another hour or so, maybe she could talk him into making them some breakfast before he left.
She sat up and rubbed his bare chest gently. "Hey, Mulder...wake up." That got no response so she shook him a little bit. "Mulder, come on, wake up." Mulder just continued to sleep until she raised her voice, "Mulder!" She shook him even harder.
That woke him. "What's wrong, Scully?" he asked, getting up with a shocked expression.
"Nothing. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but you just wouldn't wake up."
Mulder gently smoothed a strand of her unruly hair back. "What time is it?"
"It's barely six o'clock," Scully said and laid back down with her head resting on his chest.
He paused to listen for a moment. "Where's that music coming from?"
Scully sat up and rested her chin on his chest. "That's a good question...and the reason that I couldn't sleep."
"So you decided to wake me, thanks a lot, Scully," Mulder said, continuing to stroke her hair.
"Actually, I thought that maybe you'd like to have some breakfast this morning."
"All right, I guess that's what I get for suggesting that we skip dinner." He ran his hand up and down along her side several times. "And since you're still in bed, I suppose that you want me to cook it, huh?"
"Well, you know how much I like your cooking."
"And I like a lot of things about you, too."
"Like what?"
"I think you know what I like, Agent Scully."
"Yeah, I think I do, too." Scully reached for him and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Then she maneuvered the rest of her body on top of his. As the thought of breakfast left both of their minds, the phone rang. Scully moved to reach for it.
"Don't answer it," Mulder whispered, pulling her back down.
"I have to, Mulder." She untangled herself from his grip and reached over him for her phone. "Could be important...hello...oh, hi, Mom." Mulder gave her a fake panic look. "No, no...I was um, already up. I couldn't sleep...my neighbor's playing his stereo loudly. What's going on?"
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MARGARET SCULLY'S RESIDENCE
ANNAPOLIS, MD
7:32 AM
Scully rung her mother's doorbell. There was no answer right away, but she knew her mother was at home, so she knocked a few times. "Mom, it's me!"
From behind the door in the distance, Scully could hear her mother's voice calling, "I'll be right there, Dana!"
Scully thought about letting herself in, since she did have a spare key. But she never liked doing that since she knew her mother needed her privacy and she definitely respected that. God knows her mother never just let herself into her apartment whenever she felt like it. Margaret finally opened the door.
"Dana, I'm sorry about that...I was upstairs, couldn't find my favorite purse. Can't leave without my favorite purse." Margaret pulled her in and kissed her cheek. "Thanks for coming, dear."
"No problem, Mom. What time is your flight?"
"At nine o'clock. Fran should be here any minute. Sometimes she runs late...I was hoping you'd get here before she did."
"I got here as soon I could."
"Are you hungry? I know you don't usually eat breakfast, but I knew you were coming so I just cooked and..."
"Yes, actually, I think I will...I'm starved." Scully never did get the breakfast from Mulder that she was hoping for. After she had hung up with her mother, she had immediately jumped in the shower and by the time she got out, Mulder had already left. She wasn't surprised...she had told him that she had to help her mother out this morning and that she might be late for work. "I'll help myself, Mom...you just finish getting ready." With that she walked into the kitchen.
Her mother yelled from the living room, "I just let Dottie out back. Thought I'd give you a break, I didn't want her ruining your car's interior."
"Thanks, Mom...Is she even going to remember me? It's been a while since I've been over."
"Oh, she's a sweet dog, honey, it doesn't matter."
Scully helped herself to a plate of eggs and bacon, put some bread in the toaster and poured herself a glass of juice. Maggie entered the kitchen.
"Okay, all set. I suppose I should let Dottie in now.
"No, eat, Mom...I'll get her. Anyway, I know how much you hate airplane food."
Maggie sat down as Scully got up from the table. "Well, you're right about that."
Scully walked to the back door and peeked outside before opening the door. Dottie, a small poodle, ran around in circles in the backyard. "What's she doing? She's acting like a mad dog."
"Oh, she's just getting her exercise."
"Dottie! Come here, Dottie!" Scully called the dog. Dottie came running for her and started licking her hand. She closed the door and bent over to pat her and she had to laugh. "She looks like she's gained weight. What are you feeding her?"
"Oh, you know...just that Pro stuff...for mighty dogs," answered Maggie.
"Mom, no wonder. She's not such an active dog, you know. I mean, you don't have her on an active schedule right?
"No, she just sits around here all day, until I come home, then I let her run around for a bit."
"You might want to start feeding her something with less calories."
"Well, you're the doctor, if you think I should..."
Scully interrupted, "I'm hardly a veterinarian, Mom, but I think anyone can see that she's a little overweight."
"Okay, then it's settled. I'll change her food as soon as I get back...unless you'd like to start her off on a new brand right away?"
"Oh, sure, I can do that. I know a good brand actually...not too expensive and
Queequeg used to love it."
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FBI HEADQUARTERS
WASHINGTON, DC
9:30 AM
Mulder was sitting at his desk fiddling with a pencil or two when Scully walked in. "And she made it!"
"Good morning, Mulder." She hung her coat up.
"You say that now. So how's your Mom?"
"Oh, she's fine. Sorry if I rushed you out this morning, but her flight was at nine, and I had to pick up Dottie then drop her back off at my place. It was a last minute thing...she didn't have time to arrange for a sitter."
"Does she always vacation spontaneously like that?"
Scully sat down and started looking through papers on her desk. "Not nearly as much as she should."
"So, what's this Dottie like, Scully?"
"Oh, you know...she's a cute puppy, likes to play, has a lot of energy."
"I'll bet. You know, you never told me that your mom had a dog."
"She's only had her for a couple of months now."
"So how long are you keeping her?
"Just for the week."
"Sounds like fun."
"Good...I can't wait for you to meet her then."
Mulder smiled. "Tonight?" Except it wasn't really a question, so she didn't answer. Mulder had been spending more and more nights at Scully's place. And although she didn't admit it, she liked waking up with him...even if it was on work nights. It was still awkward to think about the things that went on during their off hours while they weren't working. It was best to discuss plans for later when they were actually off duty, and that's what they did.
"So Skinner wants to see us in his office at ten-thirty...new case."
"Any idea what it's about?" Scully was back to all business.
"Not in the least. I'm thinking its punishment for the expenses on that last case. It's about that time." That earned Mulder an eyebrow. "About that time for a payback case, don't you think?"
"Let's hope not, Mulder. If I remember correctly, the last time you said something like that, you landed in the hospital mental ward, and I ended up shooting a giant insect out of your hospital window."
"So now you admit that you saw it?"
"And your point is?" Scully didn't want to talk about that case again. To this day she still wasn't sure what had exactly happened. She had barely escaped looking foolish herself when she had submitted her report to Skinner. And she had never thought that he was trying to get them back for anything when he assigned them that case to begin with either.
"Nothing, just that I hope this case is legitimate, that's all. I didn't tell you, but there's a rumor going around saying that they're out to close us down again, Scully."
"Since when did you start listening to rumors, Mulder?"
"When they start coming from outside sources."
"What are you talking about?"
"Just something the gunmen warned me about." And he left it at that.
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ASSISTANT DIRECTOR WALTER SKINNER'S OFFICE
10:35 AM
Mulder and Scully sat in their usual places in the chairs across from Skinner's desk.
"Agents, as you know, I rarely assign you cases outside of the Bureau, but this case was brought to my attention by an old colleague and I would appreciate your incite. But I also have to ask that this matter stay confidential."
"This isn't about an X-File?" Scully could count on one hand the number of times Skinner put them on anything outside of the X-Files.
"No, not officially, but I have no doubt that if this case was under Bureau jurisdiction, it would be."
Mulder was curious now. "So you're asking us for a personal favor?"
"I think I'm good for it, Agents. Anyway, in the meantime you'll be investigating this case. He passed the case file over his desk. "Reported UFO activity, possible abductions that, I think, warrant investigation."
Scully took the file. "Do you think these cases might be connected?"
Skinner seemed to get irritated at that question. "I think it's possible, but I doubt it."
"Okay, let's have it," said Mulder.
Skinner nodded, rose from his desk and opened the hallway entrance door to his office. "Come on in and have a seat," he said as a tall black man entered. "Arnold Smith, this is Special Agents Mulder and Scully." Mulder and Scully stood up and shook hands with him.
"It's a pleasure," Smith said before sitting next to Mulder. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Uh-oh," Mulder said with a smile.
Skinner got right down to business, "Arnold and I are old Marine buddies. I asked him to join us when I briefed you since this case involves his niece."
Mulder and Scully just nodded. Skinner opened another file folder on his desk. He pulled out a photo of a black woman in her mid 20's. "This is Arnold's niece, Victoria Lynn, a former kindergarten teacher from Chicago. She's been missing now for over two months." He passed the photo to Scully, who looked it over before passing it to Mulder.
"Was she abducted?" Mulder asked.
"That's what they're saying, but I don't believe it," Smith answered.
"Sounds like a rather convenient explanation," Mulder added.
Scully looked up from the file in her hands over to Smith. "Are you suspecting foul play, Sir?"
"Maybe," Skinner answered for him. "Before Victoria was missing, she worked for this man, Ndubisi Marutle, the son of a Colonel Thomas Marutle, Military Attaché for the South African embassy here in DC." Skinner passed another picture to the agents. "Arnold tells me that he noticed a change in Victoria when she started working with him. She wasn't herself anymore."
Scully was curious. "She wasn't herself?"
Smith responded this time, "No, she was behaving totally out of character. She left her teaching career, which she always loved, moved here and stopped communicating with the family altogether. We have always been close but the last time I last saw her, it was almost as if she had been brain washed or something."
"Do you think it could have been drug related?"
"No, she would never touch that. She didn't even drink," Smith answered, slightly offended.
"I am assuming the authorities have looked into this already?" asked Mulder.
Skinner jumped in again, "Yes...the DC police did their investigation and came up empty handed. No one seems to know of her whereabouts and the police can't investigate within the African Embassy's jurisdiction, especially when they can't even prove that a crime has been committed. So they're at a loss as to how to find her at this point."
Mulder looked over at Smith and asked him, "What do you think may have happened to her?"
"I don't know, but I'm almost sure that it has something to do with that African Embassy," answered Smith.
Scully looked at Skinner then. "Sir, I'm sure that you're aware that we don't have any authority there either."
"That's right, but I'm hoping that you won't need it since officially you'll be investigating the other case," replied Skinner.
Mulder nodded in understanding and looked over at Scully.
CHAPTER 2
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SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY
WASHINGTON DC
12:20pm
Scully knew exactly where the Embassy was located. It was one of the many big white buildings on Massachusetts Avenue that she passed by often enough. It always stood out to her because it looked more like a residence, a big mansion...not an Embassy. But since she had never had any reason to visit there before, she was, at least, looking forward to seeing what it looked like inside.
Mulder and Scully entered the building and looked around at the surrounding artwork. Scully paused to look at an Endangered Species Collection exhibit while Mulder approached the main reception area.
The small dark woman greeted him with an obvious African accent, "How may I help you, Sir?"
"My name is Fox Mulder and I'm with the Federal Bureau of Investigation." He pulled out his badge while Scully walked up behind him. "My partner and I are investigating the reports of a possible UFO sitting and abduction that took place here."
"You're kidding, right?"
"No, actually we're not," Mulder answered. "We need to speak with Colonel Marutle."
"Colonel Marutle is a busy person. I assure you, he doesn't have time for this nonsense."
Mulder looked at Scully before he said, "We were told that he may have witnessed the phenomenon himself. Do you know anything about that?"
The woman looked nervous. "No, I don't. I'm almost sure that he didn't witness anything either."
"Look, the sooner we can get everyone's statement, the sooner we can wrap up our investigation here," Scully said impatiently.
An older woman dressed in traditional African attire entered from one of the many offices. "What's going on here?"
The receptionist answered her, "These people are here from the FBI...they're asking about the UFO rumors and they want to talk to Colonel Marutle."
"I see...Well, I'm the Colonel's assistant. Was he expecting you?" the older woman said.
Scully answered, "No, we've tried to call him, but he didn't return any of our calls."
"Well, I'm sorry, I'm afraid the Colonel is not here right now."
"Do you know where he can be reached?" asked Mulder.
The older woman answered, "Yes, he accompanied the Ambassador on her trip to NY. They aren't scheduled to return until tomorrow."
"What about his son, Ndubisi, is he available?" Mulder asked.
"Ndubisi? No, he has returned to South Africa."
"We were told that he, and some other staff members may have witnessed something as well. How about you...have you seen any UFO's?" Mulder said. The woman looked at Scully, who was looking slightly embarrassed.
"No, I haven't," the woman replied. "And in my opinion, these accounts are nothing more than rumors."
"Why would you say that?" asked Mulder.
"It's simple," she stated matter of factly. "The staff here is overworked. They have been known to start strange stories, from time to time, to generate off time."
"Strange stories?" asked Scully.
"Yes, we've had ghosts, curses, bomb threats...you name it. The fact is, if we don't give them the time off, they'll take it anyway that they can. And so they make these reports, you people come in and evacuate the building for a few hours or the whole day and our staff, gets the day off."
"We have the names of several staff members who made reports." Mulder handed her the list. "Are any of these people here today?"
The woman reluctantly looked over the list.
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FBI HEADQUARTERS
4:38pm
Mulder sat at his desk talking on the phone.
"No, no one has admitted to seeing her yet, but we still have a few more witnesses to interview tomorrow. Nothing new there, but we did find out that the sightings were probably just a hoax brought on by an overworked, over imaginative staff. Well, either way, we have an appointment to see the Colonel tomorrow so we should know something by then. Yes, Sir." He hung up the phone. Across from him, Scully was gathering up her things. "Leaving so soon?"
"Yeah, and by the time I walk to my car, it will be five. I've got to stop by the store and buy some food for Dottie." She was putting the last few papers in her briefcase.
"Wait me for me Scully! Or did you forget?"
"No, I didn't forget..." The phone ringing interrupted her.
Mulder picked up the phone. "Mulder...yes...what type of information?" Scully stopped and listened. "In a half an hour? We'll see you there." He hung up the phone. "Dottie's going to have to wait just a little while longer for dinner, Scully."
Scully gave him the evil eye.
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SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY
5:45pm
Mulder and Scully sat in the car waiting for their newest informant to show up.
"Mulder, if he's not here within ten minutes, I'm outta here."
"He'll be here."
"It's been a long day, Mulder, and we still aren't any closer to finding her."
"He said he knew where she was."
"I don't see why he couldn't just tell you that...Why all the secrecy?"
"I don't know, but I expect that we'll find out now," Mulder said as he spotted a man walking up to the car.
The man looked paranoid. "Agent Mulder?"
Mulder unlocked the door so that he could get in the back seat. "Yes...you have information for us about Victoria Lynn's whereabouts?"
"That's right." The man's accent was quite strong and he was out of breath. "But you can't tell them that I told you."
"What do you know?"
"Well, I don't know where she is, but I can tell you who does know."
Mulder was starting to get impatient. "Okay, so who does know?"
"I can't tell you unless you promise not to get me involved."
Scully jumped in, "We don't even know who you are...I mean, you're not one of the staff members that we interviewed today."
"No, I'm not, but I do work at the Embassy...maintenance department. And I really need my job. And if they find out that I told you, I'll definitely be fired."
"We understand that and we promise that this meeting will stay confidential," Scully said.
"Good," the man said.
The mysterious man had confirmed what they had suspected all along. That he had seen Victoria on several occasions and that every time she had been with the Colonel's son. Apparently, they seemed to have been romantically involved. But as far as UFO's and abductions, he had never seen anything and he didn't know anyone who had for that matter. But now they had reason to believe that the Colonel's son was actually still in the country, but hiding out since the man claimed that he had recently seen the two together. Now satisfied with their most recent clue, Mulder and Scully called it a night.
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SCULLY'S APARTMENT
7:17pm
Mulder and Scully exited the elevator each carrying a bag of groceries. As they headed down the hallway, they could hear Madonna's song playing loudly. When they approached her door, they noticed the apartment across from Scully's. There was a man in a robe banging at the door and the music was definitely coming from that apartment. "Come on, Raymond! Let me back in...I said I was sorry!"
Mulder was amused. He smiled at Scully, who was trying to ignore the man, as she pulled out her keys to unlock her door. The man saw Mulder and Scully appear and looked embarrassed. "Oh, hi, Dana."
"Hi...Robert, right?" Scully replied.
"Yes."
"Is everything all right?" Scully asked reluctantly.
"Yeah, Raymond is having one of his little fits again. He'll let me in after he has his fun though." Robert looked at Mulder then and in a flirty voice said, "Hi." Scully could have sworn that he winked at Mulder, but she couldn't be sure.
"Hello," Mulder replied and quickly turned back to Scully's door. When she finally got the door unlocked, the door across from hers opened up. There stood her fabulous and shirtless neighbor, Raymond.
Raymond stopped them before they could enter her apartment. "Oh, it's Dana...I thought I heard someone else out here."
Robert screamed, "So now you open the door!"
"You're just in time. Maybe you and your handsome partner wouldn't mind doing me a favor and arresting this man right here!" Raymond pointed accusingly at Robert.
Scully laughed, "I wish we could, but we try to make it a policy not to get involved in domestic affairs."
"Well, that figures," Raymond said. "By the way, I don't think we've officially met, but I've seen you around...I'm Raymond Jackson, I've been your partner's neighbor for what...2 years now, Dana?"
Mulder shook his hand. "Fox Mulder."
Scully really wanted to get away. "That sounds about right...Look, Raymond, we didn't mean to disturb you, but we should go."
"Oh no problem, I'm sure you and 'Fox' have plenty of things to do." And with that Scully and Mulder finally entered her apartment. Dottie immediately ran up to Scully and started trying to jump up on her legs as she excitedly barked her greetings.
"Hey, Dottie!" Scully yelled over the noise as she followed Mulder into the kitchen to put the bags down.
Mulder gave the dog some attention when she tried to jump up on him. "She's cute, Scully."
"Yeah. I bet she's hungry too...Look what I got for you, Dottie!" She pulled out a bag of dog food. "Hungry?"
"You know I am," said Mulder seductively.
Scully blushed. "I'm not talking to you, Mulder."
Mulder pouted. "You're not?"
She ignored him and started putting the rest of the groceries away.
"You know, Scully...we never did get to finish what we started this morning." He walked over to her and ran his hands up and down her arms.
"I know."
"What do you say we..."
"Not right now, Mulder. You just said that you were hungry. I was going to make us some dinner and then I wanted to start on the report."
"Aw, come on, Scully...we'll have time for all that later." He started pulling her towards the bedroom. "Just a quick one?" as he nibbled on her neck.
"Not if you know what's good for you, Mulder." Scully let him lead her into her bedroom.
Scully never did get around to making dinner or starting that report. And while she and Mulder were pleasantly occupied in her bedroom, no one noticed the poor dog standing patiently by the front door. And Mulder or Scully never heard the small whines that she emitted while scratching the door over their own noises.
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In the morning, when the alarm clock went off, Mulder got out of the bed and went into the living room.
Scully looked up sleepily then. "What time is it?" Scully said to him, but he was no where to be seen. She called his name, and when he didn't answer right away she began to worry. She didn't bother getting out of the warm bed until she heard him yell though...
"Damnit!"
Then she was on her feet in a hurry. When she found him, he was hopping around on one foot. She ran to help him. "What's wrong, Mulder? Did you stub your toe?"
He stepped back from her. "I just stepped in Dottie's shit!"
Scully looked around and noticed another pile of dog feces. "Oh no! I forgot to take her out for a walk last night."
"Shame on you, Scully!" He pinched his nose and sat down on the floor.
Scully went into the kitchen to grab some paper towels and returned. "I'm sorry, Mulder." She passed the towels to him. "You know, if it weren't for your sexual appetite, maybe I would have remembered." Dottie started barking and running around.
"Well, you know what they say, there's more room out than in," Mulder said jokingly. "I'm sure she didn't mean it."
"I know she didn't mean it...she couldn't help it is more like it."
Dottie looked like she was trying to help Scully cover up the piles by kicking her foot in the direction of the piles.
Mulder found that amusing. "Look, do you think that maybe she was a cat in another life?"
"Yeah, well, it looks like she forgot all about the liter box."
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SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY
10:20AM
Mulder and Scully had been waiting for over an hour to talk with Colonel Marutle, who was supposed to be in this morning, but so far he hadn't shown up. Mulder was sitting down reading through a magazine, but Scully had gotten restless about half an hour earlier and decided to go look at some of the art exhibits.
A woman had been staring at her since she began looking at the rare art collection but Scully hadn't noticed. "Doctor Dana Scully?"
"Yes," Scully answered, surprised. The woman smiled and Scully recognized her then. "Oh my god, Amina Ngebe?"
"That's right!" The two women hugged like old friends. "Wow, I guess it really is a small world. I can't believe it! Don't tell me you live here in DC?"
"Yes...in Georgetown, actually," Scully replied. "How have you been?"
"I'm good, but I couldn't say the same thing about you when I last saw you."
"I know and I'm sorry about that...I didn't get to thank you for all of your help."
"You're welcome...and you owe me no apology. I was worried about you though. They were never able to recover any evidence of the alien craft. It just vanished, along with everything else, you know.
"I know," said Scully reluctantly.
"Were you able to help your friend? The sick one?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, that's my partner over there." Scully pointed at Mulder who looked up and noticed the two women talking and then went back to his magazine.
"Your partner?"
"Yes, my FBI partner...and friend."
Amina smiled. "Well, he looks very healthy to me."
"He is...he's fine now."
Amina smiled. "Well, that's good for both of you then.
"So what are you doing here, in the states?" Scully asked.
"Well, I was here for the International Biology Professors Conference that ends today, but, to tell you the truth, I was hoping to find something else to get into as an excuse to stay a little longer."
"Okay, then you're going to have let me make you dinner."
"That's really nice of you...but you don't have to..."
Scully interrupted, "No, I insist. It's the least I can do."
"Well, since you insist."
There was a commotion starting and everyone inside started heading outside. Mulder walked over to Scully. "What's going on?"
"It's a parade." Amina pointed out a sign announcing the Zulu parade at 10:30.
"Mulder, this is Professor Amina Ngebe. Remember I told you about our experience in West Africa last year?" Mulder nodded.
Amina shook his hand. "Hello...It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."
"Nothing but good things I'm sure. It's my pleasure, Professor," Mulder said, and shook hands with her.
"Oh, please, call me Amina. Shall we go watch this parade?"
"I don't see why not," Scully said.
"Oh goody!" Mulder exclaimed before they headed outdoors.
Outside the parade was starting. It was being held in the front of the building on the lawn and sidewalks and the observers had lined up all along the lawn to watch the short route. The music was a simple drumbeat that gained tempo and rhythm while the performers danced and walked the length. They were dressed in colorful, traditional African Zulu costumes that included Zulu prop weapons as they beat on the drums and chanted a song that was vaguely familiar to Scully for some reason.
"They'll start over there and then turn around once they get to the end," Amina said, pointing in the direction of the first participants.
"I take it you've seen a lot of these parades?" Mulder asked.
"No, as far as I know, there aren't any actual Zulu parades in South Africa, but it seems to have become a tradition in custom relations," Amina said amusedly.
"But Zulu parades are quite popular in New Orleans during the Mardi Gras. I'd bet you'd get plenty of beads, Scully," Mulder said winking at Amina, who just laughed.
Scully didn't get it. "What?"
Mulder was shocked. "Scully, come on, you've never been to the Mardi Gras?"
"No, I never did get around to doing that," answered Scully.
Mulder teased, "Oh, you don't know what you've been missing...it's quite an experience."
Scully wasn't so sure. "I can only imagine."
"Look at that one!" Mulder pointed to a tall float approaching them. The float was rather animated and moving to the music but it seemed to be tipping over. "I think it's going down. Is it just me or does it look exactly like the Leaning Tower of Pisa?"
Scully observed it. "I guess that does come to mind."
"I think there's someone inside of it," Amina said. And they all moved closer to get a better look. There was a man falling out of the bottom. He continued to slide out of the tower, off of the float and onto the ground as the parade continued on. The man then looked around, obviously embarrassed after falling like that.
"Ouch." Mulder laughed for a while and then did a double take, "Wait a minute...isn't that our guy, Scully?"
Scully zoomed in on his face and realized that Mulder was right. Right there sitting on the ground was Ndubisi Marutle in the flesh. "I think you're right, Mulder."
"Let's go get him!" And with that the two agents took off running toward the suspect, who upon seeing them coming, got up and ran way. The crowd moved out of the way in shock as the Agents pursued him.
"What's going on?" shouted Amina, as she just watched them go.
---------------------------
When they finally caught up with Ndubisi Marutle and took him into to a room at the Embassy for questioning, the Colonel was back and wanted an explanation for what was going on. The meeting room was set up like a small theatre or slide presentation room, so Mulder and Scully sat in the front row of seats while Ndubisi sat in front of the screen facing them and handcuffed to a chair. Next to him stood his father, a distinguished looking man in uniform, and his assistant who Mulder and Scully had talked to the previous day.
The Colonel was outraged. "I demand to know what is going on here?"
Mulder answered him, "Colonel Marutle...it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I'm Special Agent Mulder, and this is Agent Scully. We're with the FBI and we have been wanting to talk to you since yesterday."
"Yes, my assistant told me about you." He motioned to her. "She said you were investigating UFO reports or something crazy like that. I had no idea that my son was involved."
"According to your assistant here, you son wasn't even in the country," Mulder snapped and gave the woman the evil eye.
Ndubisi cut in, "I can explain that!"
It was Scully's turn, "Colonel, we have reason to believe that your son has knowledge concerning the disappearance of a woman reported to be abducted by aliens."
"What? This is nonsense! You have no right here. I want him released immediately," the Colonel shouted.
Mulder responded, "Oh, but we do... your son resisted arrest by attempting to run away, even after we clearly identified ourselves as law enforcement officers."
"Like I said, there's a good reason for that," Ndubisi added.
Scully replied, "That's what we're all waiting to hear."
The Colonel scolded his son, "Yes, I want to know what are you doing here. Why didn't I know that you were in the country?"
"It's a long story, Father," Nbubisi replied.
"Okay, maybe I can help you make it shorter. Where's Victoria Lynn? We know that the two of you were an item before she disappeared," Mulder said. Ndubisi looked over at his father embarrassed.
"What are they talking about, Son?" the Colonel asked.
Ndubisi answered him, "My assistant, surely you remember her, Father." Then he looked at Mulder and Scully. "Trust me, Victoria is doing okay."
"How do you know that?" Scully asked.
Ndubisi answered, "Because I know where she is and I assure you, she doesn't want to be found."
"I think we'd like to hear that from Victoria herself," Scully replied.
"Well, you can't do that. She's in South Africa right now and she doesn't plan on coming back," Ndubisi said.
"Why is that?" Mulder asked.
"She's happy there," he answered.
"What about her family? They haven't heard from her in months. She was close to them before she met you," Scully added.
"I realize that, but that's the way it has to be for now," Ndubisi continued. "It's too dangerous for her to contact them right now and she's accepted that."
"I don't believe what I'm hearing here," said the Colonel. He looked to his assistant who looked at him guiltily. "You knew about all of this, didn't you?"
Mulder was getting tired of all the secrets. "Are we missing something here?"
The Colonel answered, "Yes...my son is what you call an adulterer and I'm ashamed of him. He looked at his assistant then. "That will be all Mrs. Hunter." She nodded and left the room as he turned to the agents. "But, I don't understand. What does this have to do with UFO's?"
"It's just a lie we told to cover up her sudden disappearance. It was nothing compared to some of the stories that go around here," Ndubisi said.
Scully wondered, "What about all those witnesses?"
"I paid them well," Ndubisi answered.
"Then why'd you run we came after you?" Mulder asked the younger man.
Ndubisi looked around the room at all the unforgiving faces. "I didn't want anyone to know I was here. I had to hide in the tower so that no one would notice me leaving." Everyone in the room looked surprised, the Colonel included. "We were hoping the UFO story would dissuade the hit men. That's the reason I'm back here...I wanted to see if it was safe yet."
It turned out that Ndubisi had Victoria hiding from 'African Hit Men' that were hired by his angry wife. Even though he was planning to divorce her, she had put out a hit on Victoria when she had found out that he had cheated on her. She had denied it, but it was a case for the Embassy to handle from within, so the agents were more than happy to hand it off to the Colonel and his own people.
By the end of the day Mulder and Scully had, not only, solved the case but they had arranged for Victoria to come back to the states where she would stay in protective custody provided by the Bureau until her life was no longer threatened. Also, a very relieved Arnold Smith had been able to talk with his niece via telephone for a short time, and so Skinner would be quite pleased with the outcome.
-------------------------
SCULLY'S APARTMENT
5:30PM
When Scully got home, she immediately took Dottie out for a walk and feed her before starting on dinner. She had been able to catch up with Amina after they had talked to the Colonel's son, and she was still looking forward to having her over for dinner. She was making her mother's favorite lasagna recipe, which Mulder loved. She looked at the clock thinking that Mulder should have been there by now.
"No, Dottie! Stay away from those plants!" Scully shouted at the poodle who was running around getting into everything.
The phone rang and Scully picked it up off of the nearby counter after putting the food in the oven. "Hello...oh hi, Mom. No, I'm just cooking. How are you enjoying San Francisco? That's great, Mom. She's doing good. No, no problem at all." Dottie picked that moment to get into something in the room and Scully ran into her room after her, with the phone still on her ear. Dottie ran back into the living with Scully on her tail when the music started.
"Mom? Oh no...hold on a second, I can't hear you anymore." The bass from the song started vibrating her walls...he had turned it up. Soon Madonna's voice filled Scully's and probably everybody else's apartment. "Mom, you there? I'm sorry, it's my neighbor, he's been going crazy with his music lately. Um, I'll have to talk to you later, okay? I love you." Scully angrily hung up the phone and headed for her door.
Scully banged on her neighbor's door. "Excuse me, Raymond! Hello, anyone in there?" She got no answer. She knocked harder, so hard that her knuckles were hurting. Raymond finally opened the door fully dressed this time in club attire. He looked like he was on his way out.
"Dana! What's up?"
"You, Raymond...and your music."
Raymond smiled. "You mean Madonna's 'music'... You don't like it?"
"It's not that I don't like it, it's just..."
Scully hadn't noticed that Dottie had followed her out into the hallway and she had just chose that moment to throw up. Raymond noticed right away though. "Ew, Dana, I think your little dog just barfed up something behind you there." Scully turned around in shock.
"Oh no! Dottie, come here." She turned around to handle Dottie as Raymond watched her.
"Okay, I'll catch you later, neighbor," he shouted after her, but Scully just slammed her door on him.
By the time she had cleaned up after Dottie and started on the salad, Mulder had arrived with his own mission in mind. But he didn't have any luck leading Scully into her bedroom since she was already too busy cooking and chasing after Dottie. An hour later, when Amina finally arrived it was out of the question, so they sat down for dinner.
They hadn't actually gotten to that point in their relationship when they had started having dinner as a couple with anyone else yet, but Scully was grateful that everything was going smoothly. Mulder was in his cute mode and Amina had seemed to enjoy their cute bantering. Even if it made her feel like a third wheel at times.
About halfway through dessert, Dottie started to whine like she wasn't feeling well. "What's wrong, Dottie?" Scully said to the dog.
"I don't think she's feeling too good," Amina guessed.
Mulder added, "Maybe it was the rest of the lasagna that I gave her."
"Mulder, tell me you didn't?"
"It was only a little."
"Mulder!" Scully fumed.
"All right, I'll take her out for a walk," Mulder volunteered. He grabbed Dottie's collar and led her outside, leaving Scully and Amina alone to talk for a while. After her walk, Dottie eventually calmed down and went to lay down in the living room.
--------------
"Well, it's getting late. I should probably go. My flight leaves at eight and I'm notorious for oversleeping," Amino announced.
"I'm glad you came, Amina," Scully replied.
"Oh, well I'm glad you invited me. It was really nice."
Mulder added, "It was nice meeting you, Amina. Have a safe flight home."
"Thank you, Agent Mulder. I enjoyed finally meeting you too."
As they walked to the door, Amina stopped suddenly. "Oh, I almost completely forgot!"
"What?" asked Scully.
Amina pulled a small envelope out of her purse. "Someone gave me tickets to a Yankees game tomorrow and since I'm not going to be here, I thought maybe you two would like to go?" She handed the envelope to Scully.
"Thank you. Mulder's a big baseball fan." Scully passed the envelope to Mulder who excitedly pulled the tickets out.
"But not you I take it?" asked Amina.
"No, actually, I like baseball too...just not as much as Mulder does," answered Scully.
Mulder was excited. "Wow, these are great! Box seats, Yankees vs. Red Sox! We gotta go, Scully!"
"Well, I'm glad someone could use them," Amina said smiling.
After Amina left, Scully started cleaning up and before long Skinner called wanting an update and asking about their reports. Scully promised to get her report to him tomorrow. He hadn't asked her about Mulder, but Scully had a feeling that he suspected that he was right there with her.
Scully tried to start on her report but Raymond had Madonna's "Music" on full blast again. He was driving her crazy with that song. If only she could think of a way to stop him. She tried to get back to her report, but she was too distracted. She didn't decide to give it a rest until Mulder suggested that they work at his house instead. For some reason, they never seemed to get much work done at her place anymore.
-----------------------------
MULDER'S APARTMENT
ARLINGTON, VA
9:15pm
By the time they got to Mulder's place, Skinner had already left messages harassing him about his report and complaining about some expenses that he racked up on another case. Mulder went in the kitchen to make some coffee while Scully sat down at his computer. "Is Dottie going to be okay, Scully? She didn't seem too well earlier. "
"Yeah, she'll be fine. You know Mulder, I was thinking. Maybe it's the new dog food that I have her on. With such a major change in her diet, her digestive system probably hasn't adjusted to it yet. It's probably what's making her have to go so often, too."
Scully managed to write more of the report, until Mulder brought her a fresh cup of coffee. "Here you go," Mulder said, and passed her the mug.
She turned around and took it from him slowly. "Thanks."
Mulder was getting lonely. "It's late, aren't you ready for bed yet?"
"I'd rather finish this report tonight. In case you haven't noticed, Skinner is really on our cases."
"No, I've noticed, but what's a few more hours? We can finish these in the office in the morning."
Scully was not budging. "Why put off tomorrow what you can do today?"
"Actually, I was hoping that we could play hooky and go to this Yankees game tomorrow. What do you say?"
He pulled his Yankees baseball hat out from behind his back and placed it on her head. When he saw how nicely it fitted he smiled. "I like it."
Scully smiled but then removed the hat, "No, Mulder, we can't. You know we have to go to that meeting tomorrow."
Mulder started to massage her neck and whined, "Come on Scully, let's go to bed."
She touched his hands as he massaged her. "Mulder, I promise you, if you can just wait another half an hour, I'll be done with this report and then we can go to bed...or not." Scully smiled.
Mulder bent down and gave her a quick kiss. "Well, since you put it that way..." Then he walked into the bedroom and he yelled, "Hurry up now, I'll be waiting!"
Scully worked on the report another ten minutes before she heard Mulder snoring loudly in the next room. Scully laughed to herself and shut down the computer before she joined him in the bed. She snuggled up next to Mulder's warm body underneath the covers. She was asleep in just a few minutes.
EPILOGUE
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FBI HEADQUARTERS
8:50am
When Mulder and Scully arrived at work the next morning, Skinner had seemed to be in a really good mood after he realized that both of them would be attending the meeting. He hadn't bothered mentioning the reports that were due on his desk that morning. And he hadn't even noticed that they had obviously arrived together that morning, or if he did, he hadn't mentioned it. Scully thought that it was turning out to be a good morning. That was until her little outburst.
She didn't know what had come over her. If she thought the rumors were bad before, she was not looking forward to hearing the latest. She figured that the past few days had just been too much for her. She had to let off the steam somehow. She just never thought it would be in front of hundreds of her peers, and she hadn't expected to embarrass herself in the process either.
Thank god it was Friday. The last few days had been crazy. Scully had thought that their case, her neighbor and that dog would be the last of her. But now she was taking a stand and she was going to fix everything. And when she was done with that, she and Mulder would be able to finish what they had started.
She was going to take care of her problems at home and at work and she was going to do it right this minute. Then she and Mulder were going to go watch that baseball game. And when they got home tonight, he had better be ready. She was going to give it to him the way he wanted it, damn it!
THE END
------------------
AND THE IMPROV ELEMENTS WERE...
Scully wearing a hat.
Scully at the Zulu parade.
Scully accidentally swearing (rather profanely) during a meeting with Skinner and other important folks.
Mulder stepping in dog doo-doo.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa!
A hot, fabulous gay man named Raymond who plays the new Madonna single ("Music") incessantly.
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Got Feedback? I'd love it! JoNe213@thexfiles.com
Visit my site: http://www.geocities.com/jsxfnelson
Author: Jo Nelson (JoNe213@thexfiles.com)
URL: http://www.geocities.com/jsxfnelson Category: MSR, Casefile, HumorRating: PG Spoilers: It takes place in the 7th Season, some time after "all things" but before Requiem". Slight references to "Folie à Deux" and "The Sixth Extinction".
Distribution: Sure, just tell me where so I can visit.
Summary: What do UFO abductions, The South African Embassy and dog-sitting have in common?
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Files or any of it's characters. If I did, I'd probably be very happy. Those happy folks would be Ten Thirteen Productions and Fox.
Feedback: Sure, I love getting it, replying back to it and saving it!
Author's notes: This was originally written for the Scullyfic Improv. Elements to follow at the end the of the story. Special thanks to Christina for a great beta and for helping me with the title and stuff. Also to Stephy for reading it over...I'd be a mess without you all. :)
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What They Started
by Jo Nelson
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Chapter 1
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FBI HEADQUARTERS
WASHINGTON, DC
9:18 AM
Director FBI Director Louis Freeh speaks proudly to a room full of about one hundred of the FBI's best. With his impressive career reputation, it wasn't surprising. He was the type of man that everyone wanted to be like. All attention had been focused on this extraordinary man since he had first walked into the building that morning. It was only natural that once he was introduced to speak their interest would grow.
Assistant Director Skinner takes a moment to look through the gathered audience. He notices that, for once, all of the agents under him are surprisingly accounted for. Although these meetings were routine every six months, they were typically boring, so no one looked forward to them. He found himself having to cover for quite a few of his agents on several occasions. He knew they had better things to do, so it was a common understanding that he had with the agents he supervised regularly.
But that wasn't the case today. Everyone was genuinely interested and, surprisingly, no one there even looked liked they wanted to be doing anything else. He notices that even Agents Mulder and Scully are there. They are even sitting next to each other, which is rare in these type of meetings. Skinner smiles to himself. Yes, this is going exceptionally well-and then he sees a desperate look of realization hit Scully's face.
"Oh shit!" Scully shouts and jumps up to quickly leave the room.
-------------------------
Director Freeh stops speaking then and all eyes follow Scully as she runs out of the room. After she is gone, all eyes go to Mulder, who is still in shock after her outburst. After a quick look in Skinner's direction, he goes after her.
He finds her pacing the hallway on her cell. "Scully? What's up?"
"Dottie, that's what's up. I forgot all about her!"
"Oh no, Scully."
"Yes, Mr. Coeben?" She listens on the phone for a few seconds.
Mr. Coeben fusses with someone in the background; "I don't know what I have to do to get that man to turn down his music! I swear, if this is Mrs. Moore complaining about him again, I'm going to personally hit his breaker switch! Hello?"
"Hi, Mr. Coeben, it's Dana Scully from apartment thirty-five."
"Oh, yes...hi, Ms. Scully! Look, I'm sorry if Raymond's been keeping you up, I'm going to speak..."
Scully interrupts him, "Actually, I'm not calling about that. I'm calling to ask you a really big favor."
"Oh?"
"Yes...you see, I'm dog sitting for my mom for just a few days, and..."
"Oh no wonder...I thought I heard a dog barking, but I didn't remember you having one, well, not since the little Pomeranian, so I just thought I'd been hearing things...over Raymond's music, that is."
"No, I'm sure you weren't hearing things. Like I said, it's only for a few days, but something important has come up at work, and it doesn't look like I'm going to be home for a few more hours." Scully decides not to mention that she hasn't been home since last night.
"Oh, I see. So you want me to go in there and feed the critter? I can do that."
"Um, actually no. I was wondering if it would be possible for you to take her out for a walk or two?"
"Um...I don't know, Ms. Scully. I mean, I do have some things to do around here. I don't know if I'll get time. Especially with all the complaints lately."
"Please...if you do..." She thinks for a second. "I can personally see to it that, for the sake of everyone, Raymond gets over his music obsession."
Mr. Coeben concentrates on Madonna's song "Music" which can suddenly be heard playing in the background. "Well, is it a nice dog?"
"Yes, she's a sweetheart. She just likes a lot of attention like most dogs."
"I see."
"You would only need to walk her once every 4 hours or so. I should be home sometime this evening."
"Well, okay Ms. Scully. I suppose I can do it today, just this once."
Scully releases the breath she was holding. "Thank you, I really appreciate this."
"You're welcome...well, I better get going. I'm sure I'll be talking to you later."
Scully clicks off and puts her cellphone away.
"Well?" asked Mulder.
"I've got my landlord on it. I just hope he makes it on time."
Mulder jokes, "Well, you certainly made a nice impression in the meeting, Scully. Can't wait to go back in there."
"Oh no, what did I say?"
"Nothing that any sailor's family wouldn't be used to by now. Skinner especially got a kick out of it. You should have seen his face." Mulder says, enjoying himself at her expense.
Scully motions with her head for Mulder to follow. "Speaking of Skinner..."
Looking over, they see Skinner approaching them. "Is everything all right, Agents?"
Embarrassed Scully says, "Sir, I'm very sorry about that outburst. I had a family emergency to handle."
Mulder knew Scully didn't want to go back in there after this and he certainly wasn't looking forward to the scrutiny either. "Sir, if it's all right with you, and I think I speak for the both of us, in asking that we be excused from the rest of the meeting?"
Skinner wants to laugh but thinks better of it. "You know, if you two didn't want to come to the meeting surely you could have come up with another way to get out of it than this?"
"Sir, I assure you...Agent Scully and I had no intention of getting out of this meeting. It just seems that leaving now would be better for our department than having to explain what just happened to everyone afterwards."
"For once, I have to agree with you there. I'll handle that. I do believe that you two do have reports to finish? I'm going to expect them on my desk by this afternoon."
"Yes, Sir," Scully replies.
Skinner leaves the two agents standing there as he walks away to return to the auditorium.
All Mulder can do is laugh about it at this point. "So Scully, does this mean that we get to go to the game now?" he asks her hopefully.
"Yeah, Mulder, I think we should go. Let's hurry up with those reports so we can get out of dodge."
Thank god it's Friday. The last few days had been crazy. Scully had thought that their case, her neighbor and that dog would be the last of her. But now she was taking a stand and she was going to fix everything. And when she was done with that, she and Mulder would be able to finish what they had started.
Two days earlier...
Dana Scully's Apartment
Annapolis, MD
5:46 AM
The ghetto fabulous sounds of Madonna's "Music" song filled Dana Scully's dark room...
"Hey Mr. DJ put a record on
I wanna dance with my baby,
And when the music starts
I never wanna stop,
It's gonna drive me crazy
Music makes the people come together..."
Dana Scully awoke. It wasn't just a nightmare, she was actually hearing that song and it was just as loud as it was in her dream. She turned over in an attempt to put a pillow over her head, but the weight of Mulder's arm holding it down prevented that. She turned over on her back to get a better look at him. He looked so peaceful these days. He had never been a good sleeper before, but now he seemed to sleep through everything. She wished she could be so lucky.
The song continued to play on...
"I think of yesterday
And I don't look at the clock,
I like to boogey-oogey
It's like riding on a wind
And it never goes away,
But she's everything I'm in
Got to have it everyday..."
Scully knew then that she wasn't going to get anymore sleep this morning, so she took a peek at the clock on her nightstand. It was a little early. Mulder didn't really need to get up for another hour or so, maybe she could talk him into making them some breakfast before he left.
She sat up and rubbed his bare chest gently. "Hey, Mulder...wake up." That got no response so she shook him a little bit. "Mulder, come on, wake up." Mulder just continued to sleep until she raised her voice, "Mulder!" She shook him even harder.
That woke him. "What's wrong, Scully?" he asked, getting up with a shocked expression.
"Nothing. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but you just wouldn't wake up."
Mulder gently smoothed a strand of her unruly hair back. "What time is it?"
"It's barely six o'clock," Scully said and laid back down with her head resting on his chest.
He paused to listen for a moment. "Where's that music coming from?"
Scully sat up and rested her chin on his chest. "That's a good question...and the reason that I couldn't sleep."
"So you decided to wake me, thanks a lot, Scully," Mulder said, continuing to stroke her hair.
"Actually, I thought that maybe you'd like to have some breakfast this morning."
"All right, I guess that's what I get for suggesting that we skip dinner." He ran his hand up and down along her side several times. "And since you're still in bed, I suppose that you want me to cook it, huh?"
"Well, you know how much I like your cooking."
"And I like a lot of things about you, too."
"Like what?"
"I think you know what I like, Agent Scully."
"Yeah, I think I do, too." Scully reached for him and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Then she maneuvered the rest of her body on top of his. As the thought of breakfast left both of their minds, the phone rang. Scully moved to reach for it.
"Don't answer it," Mulder whispered, pulling her back down.
"I have to, Mulder." She untangled herself from his grip and reached over him for her phone. "Could be important...hello...oh, hi, Mom." Mulder gave her a fake panic look. "No, no...I was um, already up. I couldn't sleep...my neighbor's playing his stereo loudly. What's going on?"
---------------------------
MARGARET SCULLY'S RESIDENCE
ANNAPOLIS, MD
7:32 AM
Scully rung her mother's doorbell. There was no answer right away, but she knew her mother was at home, so she knocked a few times. "Mom, it's me!"
From behind the door in the distance, Scully could hear her mother's voice calling, "I'll be right there, Dana!"
Scully thought about letting herself in, since she did have a spare key. But she never liked doing that since she knew her mother needed her privacy and she definitely respected that. God knows her mother never just let herself into her apartment whenever she felt like it. Margaret finally opened the door.
"Dana, I'm sorry about that...I was upstairs, couldn't find my favorite purse. Can't leave without my favorite purse." Margaret pulled her in and kissed her cheek. "Thanks for coming, dear."
"No problem, Mom. What time is your flight?"
"At nine o'clock. Fran should be here any minute. Sometimes she runs late...I was hoping you'd get here before she did."
"I got here as soon I could."
"Are you hungry? I know you don't usually eat breakfast, but I knew you were coming so I just cooked and..."
"Yes, actually, I think I will...I'm starved." Scully never did get the breakfast from Mulder that she was hoping for. After she had hung up with her mother, she had immediately jumped in the shower and by the time she got out, Mulder had already left. She wasn't surprised...she had told him that she had to help her mother out this morning and that she might be late for work. "I'll help myself, Mom...you just finish getting ready." With that she walked into the kitchen.
Her mother yelled from the living room, "I just let Dottie out back. Thought I'd give you a break, I didn't want her ruining your car's interior."
"Thanks, Mom...Is she even going to remember me? It's been a while since I've been over."
"Oh, she's a sweet dog, honey, it doesn't matter."
Scully helped herself to a plate of eggs and bacon, put some bread in the toaster and poured herself a glass of juice. Maggie entered the kitchen.
"Okay, all set. I suppose I should let Dottie in now.
"No, eat, Mom...I'll get her. Anyway, I know how much you hate airplane food."
Maggie sat down as Scully got up from the table. "Well, you're right about that."
Scully walked to the back door and peeked outside before opening the door. Dottie, a small poodle, ran around in circles in the backyard. "What's she doing? She's acting like a mad dog."
"Oh, she's just getting her exercise."
"Dottie! Come here, Dottie!" Scully called the dog. Dottie came running for her and started licking her hand. She closed the door and bent over to pat her and she had to laugh. "She looks like she's gained weight. What are you feeding her?"
"Oh, you know...just that Pro stuff...for mighty dogs," answered Maggie.
"Mom, no wonder. She's not such an active dog, you know. I mean, you don't have her on an active schedule right?
"No, she just sits around here all day, until I come home, then I let her run around for a bit."
"You might want to start feeding her something with less calories."
"Well, you're the doctor, if you think I should..."
Scully interrupted, "I'm hardly a veterinarian, Mom, but I think anyone can see that she's a little overweight."
"Okay, then it's settled. I'll change her food as soon as I get back...unless you'd like to start her off on a new brand right away?"
"Oh, sure, I can do that. I know a good brand actually...not too expensive and
Queequeg used to love it."
----------------------
FBI HEADQUARTERS
WASHINGTON, DC
9:30 AM
Mulder was sitting at his desk fiddling with a pencil or two when Scully walked in. "And she made it!"
"Good morning, Mulder." She hung her coat up.
"You say that now. So how's your Mom?"
"Oh, she's fine. Sorry if I rushed you out this morning, but her flight was at nine, and I had to pick up Dottie then drop her back off at my place. It was a last minute thing...she didn't have time to arrange for a sitter."
"Does she always vacation spontaneously like that?"
Scully sat down and started looking through papers on her desk. "Not nearly as much as she should."
"So, what's this Dottie like, Scully?"
"Oh, you know...she's a cute puppy, likes to play, has a lot of energy."
"I'll bet. You know, you never told me that your mom had a dog."
"She's only had her for a couple of months now."
"So how long are you keeping her?
"Just for the week."
"Sounds like fun."
"Good...I can't wait for you to meet her then."
Mulder smiled. "Tonight?" Except it wasn't really a question, so she didn't answer. Mulder had been spending more and more nights at Scully's place. And although she didn't admit it, she liked waking up with him...even if it was on work nights. It was still awkward to think about the things that went on during their off hours while they weren't working. It was best to discuss plans for later when they were actually off duty, and that's what they did.
"So Skinner wants to see us in his office at ten-thirty...new case."
"Any idea what it's about?" Scully was back to all business.
"Not in the least. I'm thinking its punishment for the expenses on that last case. It's about that time." That earned Mulder an eyebrow. "About that time for a payback case, don't you think?"
"Let's hope not, Mulder. If I remember correctly, the last time you said something like that, you landed in the hospital mental ward, and I ended up shooting a giant insect out of your hospital window."
"So now you admit that you saw it?"
"And your point is?" Scully didn't want to talk about that case again. To this day she still wasn't sure what had exactly happened. She had barely escaped looking foolish herself when she had submitted her report to Skinner. And she had never thought that he was trying to get them back for anything when he assigned them that case to begin with either.
"Nothing, just that I hope this case is legitimate, that's all. I didn't tell you, but there's a rumor going around saying that they're out to close us down again, Scully."
"Since when did you start listening to rumors, Mulder?"
"When they start coming from outside sources."
"What are you talking about?"
"Just something the gunmen warned me about." And he left it at that.
--------------------------
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR WALTER SKINNER'S OFFICE
10:35 AM
Mulder and Scully sat in their usual places in the chairs across from Skinner's desk.
"Agents, as you know, I rarely assign you cases outside of the Bureau, but this case was brought to my attention by an old colleague and I would appreciate your incite. But I also have to ask that this matter stay confidential."
"This isn't about an X-File?" Scully could count on one hand the number of times Skinner put them on anything outside of the X-Files.
"No, not officially, but I have no doubt that if this case was under Bureau jurisdiction, it would be."
Mulder was curious now. "So you're asking us for a personal favor?"
"I think I'm good for it, Agents. Anyway, in the meantime you'll be investigating this case. He passed the case file over his desk. "Reported UFO activity, possible abductions that, I think, warrant investigation."
Scully took the file. "Do you think these cases might be connected?"
Skinner seemed to get irritated at that question. "I think it's possible, but I doubt it."
"Okay, let's have it," said Mulder.
Skinner nodded, rose from his desk and opened the hallway entrance door to his office. "Come on in and have a seat," he said as a tall black man entered. "Arnold Smith, this is Special Agents Mulder and Scully." Mulder and Scully stood up and shook hands with him.
"It's a pleasure," Smith said before sitting next to Mulder. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Uh-oh," Mulder said with a smile.
Skinner got right down to business, "Arnold and I are old Marine buddies. I asked him to join us when I briefed you since this case involves his niece."
Mulder and Scully just nodded. Skinner opened another file folder on his desk. He pulled out a photo of a black woman in her mid 20's. "This is Arnold's niece, Victoria Lynn, a former kindergarten teacher from Chicago. She's been missing now for over two months." He passed the photo to Scully, who looked it over before passing it to Mulder.
"Was she abducted?" Mulder asked.
"That's what they're saying, but I don't believe it," Smith answered.
"Sounds like a rather convenient explanation," Mulder added.
Scully looked up from the file in her hands over to Smith. "Are you suspecting foul play, Sir?"
"Maybe," Skinner answered for him. "Before Victoria was missing, she worked for this man, Ndubisi Marutle, the son of a Colonel Thomas Marutle, Military Attaché for the South African embassy here in DC." Skinner passed another picture to the agents. "Arnold tells me that he noticed a change in Victoria when she started working with him. She wasn't herself anymore."
Scully was curious. "She wasn't herself?"
Smith responded this time, "No, she was behaving totally out of character. She left her teaching career, which she always loved, moved here and stopped communicating with the family altogether. We have always been close but the last time I last saw her, it was almost as if she had been brain washed or something."
"Do you think it could have been drug related?"
"No, she would never touch that. She didn't even drink," Smith answered, slightly offended.
"I am assuming the authorities have looked into this already?" asked Mulder.
Skinner jumped in again, "Yes...the DC police did their investigation and came up empty handed. No one seems to know of her whereabouts and the police can't investigate within the African Embassy's jurisdiction, especially when they can't even prove that a crime has been committed. So they're at a loss as to how to find her at this point."
Mulder looked over at Smith and asked him, "What do you think may have happened to her?"
"I don't know, but I'm almost sure that it has something to do with that African Embassy," answered Smith.
Scully looked at Skinner then. "Sir, I'm sure that you're aware that we don't have any authority there either."
"That's right, but I'm hoping that you won't need it since officially you'll be investigating the other case," replied Skinner.
Mulder nodded in understanding and looked over at Scully.
CHAPTER 2
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY
WASHINGTON DC
12:20pm
Scully knew exactly where the Embassy was located. It was one of the many big white buildings on Massachusetts Avenue that she passed by often enough. It always stood out to her because it looked more like a residence, a big mansion...not an Embassy. But since she had never had any reason to visit there before, she was, at least, looking forward to seeing what it looked like inside.
Mulder and Scully entered the building and looked around at the surrounding artwork. Scully paused to look at an Endangered Species Collection exhibit while Mulder approached the main reception area.
The small dark woman greeted him with an obvious African accent, "How may I help you, Sir?"
"My name is Fox Mulder and I'm with the Federal Bureau of Investigation." He pulled out his badge while Scully walked up behind him. "My partner and I are investigating the reports of a possible UFO sitting and abduction that took place here."
"You're kidding, right?"
"No, actually we're not," Mulder answered. "We need to speak with Colonel Marutle."
"Colonel Marutle is a busy person. I assure you, he doesn't have time for this nonsense."
Mulder looked at Scully before he said, "We were told that he may have witnessed the phenomenon himself. Do you know anything about that?"
The woman looked nervous. "No, I don't. I'm almost sure that he didn't witness anything either."
"Look, the sooner we can get everyone's statement, the sooner we can wrap up our investigation here," Scully said impatiently.
An older woman dressed in traditional African attire entered from one of the many offices. "What's going on here?"
The receptionist answered her, "These people are here from the FBI...they're asking about the UFO rumors and they want to talk to Colonel Marutle."
"I see...Well, I'm the Colonel's assistant. Was he expecting you?" the older woman said.
Scully answered, "No, we've tried to call him, but he didn't return any of our calls."
"Well, I'm sorry, I'm afraid the Colonel is not here right now."
"Do you know where he can be reached?" asked Mulder.
The older woman answered, "Yes, he accompanied the Ambassador on her trip to NY. They aren't scheduled to return until tomorrow."
"What about his son, Ndubisi, is he available?" Mulder asked.
"Ndubisi? No, he has returned to South Africa."
"We were told that he, and some other staff members may have witnessed something as well. How about you...have you seen any UFO's?" Mulder said. The woman looked at Scully, who was looking slightly embarrassed.
"No, I haven't," the woman replied. "And in my opinion, these accounts are nothing more than rumors."
"Why would you say that?" asked Mulder.
"It's simple," she stated matter of factly. "The staff here is overworked. They have been known to start strange stories, from time to time, to generate off time."
"Strange stories?" asked Scully.
"Yes, we've had ghosts, curses, bomb threats...you name it. The fact is, if we don't give them the time off, they'll take it anyway that they can. And so they make these reports, you people come in and evacuate the building for a few hours or the whole day and our staff, gets the day off."
"We have the names of several staff members who made reports." Mulder handed her the list. "Are any of these people here today?"
The woman reluctantly looked over the list.
------------------------
FBI HEADQUARTERS
4:38pm
Mulder sat at his desk talking on the phone.
"No, no one has admitted to seeing her yet, but we still have a few more witnesses to interview tomorrow. Nothing new there, but we did find out that the sightings were probably just a hoax brought on by an overworked, over imaginative staff. Well, either way, we have an appointment to see the Colonel tomorrow so we should know something by then. Yes, Sir." He hung up the phone. Across from him, Scully was gathering up her things. "Leaving so soon?"
"Yeah, and by the time I walk to my car, it will be five. I've got to stop by the store and buy some food for Dottie." She was putting the last few papers in her briefcase.
"Wait me for me Scully! Or did you forget?"
"No, I didn't forget..." The phone ringing interrupted her.
Mulder picked up the phone. "Mulder...yes...what type of information?" Scully stopped and listened. "In a half an hour? We'll see you there." He hung up the phone. "Dottie's going to have to wait just a little while longer for dinner, Scully."
Scully gave him the evil eye.
---------------
SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY
5:45pm
Mulder and Scully sat in the car waiting for their newest informant to show up.
"Mulder, if he's not here within ten minutes, I'm outta here."
"He'll be here."
"It's been a long day, Mulder, and we still aren't any closer to finding her."
"He said he knew where she was."
"I don't see why he couldn't just tell you that...Why all the secrecy?"
"I don't know, but I expect that we'll find out now," Mulder said as he spotted a man walking up to the car.
The man looked paranoid. "Agent Mulder?"
Mulder unlocked the door so that he could get in the back seat. "Yes...you have information for us about Victoria Lynn's whereabouts?"
"That's right." The man's accent was quite strong and he was out of breath. "But you can't tell them that I told you."
"What do you know?"
"Well, I don't know where she is, but I can tell you who does know."
Mulder was starting to get impatient. "Okay, so who does know?"
"I can't tell you unless you promise not to get me involved."
Scully jumped in, "We don't even know who you are...I mean, you're not one of the staff members that we interviewed today."
"No, I'm not, but I do work at the Embassy...maintenance department. And I really need my job. And if they find out that I told you, I'll definitely be fired."
"We understand that and we promise that this meeting will stay confidential," Scully said.
"Good," the man said.
The mysterious man had confirmed what they had suspected all along. That he had seen Victoria on several occasions and that every time she had been with the Colonel's son. Apparently, they seemed to have been romantically involved. But as far as UFO's and abductions, he had never seen anything and he didn't know anyone who had for that matter. But now they had reason to believe that the Colonel's son was actually still in the country, but hiding out since the man claimed that he had recently seen the two together. Now satisfied with their most recent clue, Mulder and Scully called it a night.
----------------------
SCULLY'S APARTMENT
7:17pm
Mulder and Scully exited the elevator each carrying a bag of groceries. As they headed down the hallway, they could hear Madonna's song playing loudly. When they approached her door, they noticed the apartment across from Scully's. There was a man in a robe banging at the door and the music was definitely coming from that apartment. "Come on, Raymond! Let me back in...I said I was sorry!"
Mulder was amused. He smiled at Scully, who was trying to ignore the man, as she pulled out her keys to unlock her door. The man saw Mulder and Scully appear and looked embarrassed. "Oh, hi, Dana."
"Hi...Robert, right?" Scully replied.
"Yes."
"Is everything all right?" Scully asked reluctantly.
"Yeah, Raymond is having one of his little fits again. He'll let me in after he has his fun though." Robert looked at Mulder then and in a flirty voice said, "Hi." Scully could have sworn that he winked at Mulder, but she couldn't be sure.
"Hello," Mulder replied and quickly turned back to Scully's door. When she finally got the door unlocked, the door across from hers opened up. There stood her fabulous and shirtless neighbor, Raymond.
Raymond stopped them before they could enter her apartment. "Oh, it's Dana...I thought I heard someone else out here."
Robert screamed, "So now you open the door!"
"You're just in time. Maybe you and your handsome partner wouldn't mind doing me a favor and arresting this man right here!" Raymond pointed accusingly at Robert.
Scully laughed, "I wish we could, but we try to make it a policy not to get involved in domestic affairs."
"Well, that figures," Raymond said. "By the way, I don't think we've officially met, but I've seen you around...I'm Raymond Jackson, I've been your partner's neighbor for what...2 years now, Dana?"
Mulder shook his hand. "Fox Mulder."
Scully really wanted to get away. "That sounds about right...Look, Raymond, we didn't mean to disturb you, but we should go."
"Oh no problem, I'm sure you and 'Fox' have plenty of things to do." And with that Scully and Mulder finally entered her apartment. Dottie immediately ran up to Scully and started trying to jump up on her legs as she excitedly barked her greetings.
"Hey, Dottie!" Scully yelled over the noise as she followed Mulder into the kitchen to put the bags down.
Mulder gave the dog some attention when she tried to jump up on him. "She's cute, Scully."
"Yeah. I bet she's hungry too...Look what I got for you, Dottie!" She pulled out a bag of dog food. "Hungry?"
"You know I am," said Mulder seductively.
Scully blushed. "I'm not talking to you, Mulder."
Mulder pouted. "You're not?"
She ignored him and started putting the rest of the groceries away.
"You know, Scully...we never did get to finish what we started this morning." He walked over to her and ran his hands up and down her arms.
"I know."
"What do you say we..."
"Not right now, Mulder. You just said that you were hungry. I was going to make us some dinner and then I wanted to start on the report."
"Aw, come on, Scully...we'll have time for all that later." He started pulling her towards the bedroom. "Just a quick one?" as he nibbled on her neck.
"Not if you know what's good for you, Mulder." Scully let him lead her into her bedroom.
Scully never did get around to making dinner or starting that report. And while she and Mulder were pleasantly occupied in her bedroom, no one noticed the poor dog standing patiently by the front door. And Mulder or Scully never heard the small whines that she emitted while scratching the door over their own noises.
---------------------
In the morning, when the alarm clock went off, Mulder got out of the bed and went into the living room.
Scully looked up sleepily then. "What time is it?" Scully said to him, but he was no where to be seen. She called his name, and when he didn't answer right away she began to worry. She didn't bother getting out of the warm bed until she heard him yell though...
"Damnit!"
Then she was on her feet in a hurry. When she found him, he was hopping around on one foot. She ran to help him. "What's wrong, Mulder? Did you stub your toe?"
He stepped back from her. "I just stepped in Dottie's shit!"
Scully looked around and noticed another pile of dog feces. "Oh no! I forgot to take her out for a walk last night."
"Shame on you, Scully!" He pinched his nose and sat down on the floor.
Scully went into the kitchen to grab some paper towels and returned. "I'm sorry, Mulder." She passed the towels to him. "You know, if it weren't for your sexual appetite, maybe I would have remembered." Dottie started barking and running around.
"Well, you know what they say, there's more room out than in," Mulder said jokingly. "I'm sure she didn't mean it."
"I know she didn't mean it...she couldn't help it is more like it."
Dottie looked like she was trying to help Scully cover up the piles by kicking her foot in the direction of the piles.
Mulder found that amusing. "Look, do you think that maybe she was a cat in another life?"
"Yeah, well, it looks like she forgot all about the liter box."
---------------------
SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY
10:20AM
Mulder and Scully had been waiting for over an hour to talk with Colonel Marutle, who was supposed to be in this morning, but so far he hadn't shown up. Mulder was sitting down reading through a magazine, but Scully had gotten restless about half an hour earlier and decided to go look at some of the art exhibits.
A woman had been staring at her since she began looking at the rare art collection but Scully hadn't noticed. "Doctor Dana Scully?"
"Yes," Scully answered, surprised. The woman smiled and Scully recognized her then. "Oh my god, Amina Ngebe?"
"That's right!" The two women hugged like old friends. "Wow, I guess it really is a small world. I can't believe it! Don't tell me you live here in DC?"
"Yes...in Georgetown, actually," Scully replied. "How have you been?"
"I'm good, but I couldn't say the same thing about you when I last saw you."
"I know and I'm sorry about that...I didn't get to thank you for all of your help."
"You're welcome...and you owe me no apology. I was worried about you though. They were never able to recover any evidence of the alien craft. It just vanished, along with everything else, you know.
"I know," said Scully reluctantly.
"Were you able to help your friend? The sick one?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, that's my partner over there." Scully pointed at Mulder who looked up and noticed the two women talking and then went back to his magazine.
"Your partner?"
"Yes, my FBI partner...and friend."
Amina smiled. "Well, he looks very healthy to me."
"He is...he's fine now."
Amina smiled. "Well, that's good for both of you then.
"So what are you doing here, in the states?" Scully asked.
"Well, I was here for the International Biology Professors Conference that ends today, but, to tell you the truth, I was hoping to find something else to get into as an excuse to stay a little longer."
"Okay, then you're going to have let me make you dinner."
"That's really nice of you...but you don't have to..."
Scully interrupted, "No, I insist. It's the least I can do."
"Well, since you insist."
There was a commotion starting and everyone inside started heading outside. Mulder walked over to Scully. "What's going on?"
"It's a parade." Amina pointed out a sign announcing the Zulu parade at 10:30.
"Mulder, this is Professor Amina Ngebe. Remember I told you about our experience in West Africa last year?" Mulder nodded.
Amina shook his hand. "Hello...It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."
"Nothing but good things I'm sure. It's my pleasure, Professor," Mulder said, and shook hands with her.
"Oh, please, call me Amina. Shall we go watch this parade?"
"I don't see why not," Scully said.
"Oh goody!" Mulder exclaimed before they headed outdoors.
Outside the parade was starting. It was being held in the front of the building on the lawn and sidewalks and the observers had lined up all along the lawn to watch the short route. The music was a simple drumbeat that gained tempo and rhythm while the performers danced and walked the length. They were dressed in colorful, traditional African Zulu costumes that included Zulu prop weapons as they beat on the drums and chanted a song that was vaguely familiar to Scully for some reason.
"They'll start over there and then turn around once they get to the end," Amina said, pointing in the direction of the first participants.
"I take it you've seen a lot of these parades?" Mulder asked.
"No, as far as I know, there aren't any actual Zulu parades in South Africa, but it seems to have become a tradition in custom relations," Amina said amusedly.
"But Zulu parades are quite popular in New Orleans during the Mardi Gras. I'd bet you'd get plenty of beads, Scully," Mulder said winking at Amina, who just laughed.
Scully didn't get it. "What?"
Mulder was shocked. "Scully, come on, you've never been to the Mardi Gras?"
"No, I never did get around to doing that," answered Scully.
Mulder teased, "Oh, you don't know what you've been missing...it's quite an experience."
Scully wasn't so sure. "I can only imagine."
"Look at that one!" Mulder pointed to a tall float approaching them. The float was rather animated and moving to the music but it seemed to be tipping over. "I think it's going down. Is it just me or does it look exactly like the Leaning Tower of Pisa?"
Scully observed it. "I guess that does come to mind."
"I think there's someone inside of it," Amina said. And they all moved closer to get a better look. There was a man falling out of the bottom. He continued to slide out of the tower, off of the float and onto the ground as the parade continued on. The man then looked around, obviously embarrassed after falling like that.
"Ouch." Mulder laughed for a while and then did a double take, "Wait a minute...isn't that our guy, Scully?"
Scully zoomed in on his face and realized that Mulder was right. Right there sitting on the ground was Ndubisi Marutle in the flesh. "I think you're right, Mulder."
"Let's go get him!" And with that the two agents took off running toward the suspect, who upon seeing them coming, got up and ran way. The crowd moved out of the way in shock as the Agents pursued him.
"What's going on?" shouted Amina, as she just watched them go.
---------------------------
When they finally caught up with Ndubisi Marutle and took him into to a room at the Embassy for questioning, the Colonel was back and wanted an explanation for what was going on. The meeting room was set up like a small theatre or slide presentation room, so Mulder and Scully sat in the front row of seats while Ndubisi sat in front of the screen facing them and handcuffed to a chair. Next to him stood his father, a distinguished looking man in uniform, and his assistant who Mulder and Scully had talked to the previous day.
The Colonel was outraged. "I demand to know what is going on here?"
Mulder answered him, "Colonel Marutle...it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I'm Special Agent Mulder, and this is Agent Scully. We're with the FBI and we have been wanting to talk to you since yesterday."
"Yes, my assistant told me about you." He motioned to her. "She said you were investigating UFO reports or something crazy like that. I had no idea that my son was involved."
"According to your assistant here, you son wasn't even in the country," Mulder snapped and gave the woman the evil eye.
Ndubisi cut in, "I can explain that!"
It was Scully's turn, "Colonel, we have reason to believe that your son has knowledge concerning the disappearance of a woman reported to be abducted by aliens."
"What? This is nonsense! You have no right here. I want him released immediately," the Colonel shouted.
Mulder responded, "Oh, but we do... your son resisted arrest by attempting to run away, even after we clearly identified ourselves as law enforcement officers."
"Like I said, there's a good reason for that," Ndubisi added.
Scully replied, "That's what we're all waiting to hear."
The Colonel scolded his son, "Yes, I want to know what are you doing here. Why didn't I know that you were in the country?"
"It's a long story, Father," Nbubisi replied.
"Okay, maybe I can help you make it shorter. Where's Victoria Lynn? We know that the two of you were an item before she disappeared," Mulder said. Ndubisi looked over at his father embarrassed.
"What are they talking about, Son?" the Colonel asked.
Ndubisi answered him, "My assistant, surely you remember her, Father." Then he looked at Mulder and Scully. "Trust me, Victoria is doing okay."
"How do you know that?" Scully asked.
Ndubisi answered, "Because I know where she is and I assure you, she doesn't want to be found."
"I think we'd like to hear that from Victoria herself," Scully replied.
"Well, you can't do that. She's in South Africa right now and she doesn't plan on coming back," Ndubisi said.
"Why is that?" Mulder asked.
"She's happy there," he answered.
"What about her family? They haven't heard from her in months. She was close to them before she met you," Scully added.
"I realize that, but that's the way it has to be for now," Ndubisi continued. "It's too dangerous for her to contact them right now and she's accepted that."
"I don't believe what I'm hearing here," said the Colonel. He looked to his assistant who looked at him guiltily. "You knew about all of this, didn't you?"
Mulder was getting tired of all the secrets. "Are we missing something here?"
The Colonel answered, "Yes...my son is what you call an adulterer and I'm ashamed of him. He looked at his assistant then. "That will be all Mrs. Hunter." She nodded and left the room as he turned to the agents. "But, I don't understand. What does this have to do with UFO's?"
"It's just a lie we told to cover up her sudden disappearance. It was nothing compared to some of the stories that go around here," Ndubisi said.
Scully wondered, "What about all those witnesses?"
"I paid them well," Ndubisi answered.
"Then why'd you run we came after you?" Mulder asked the younger man.
Ndubisi looked around the room at all the unforgiving faces. "I didn't want anyone to know I was here. I had to hide in the tower so that no one would notice me leaving." Everyone in the room looked surprised, the Colonel included. "We were hoping the UFO story would dissuade the hit men. That's the reason I'm back here...I wanted to see if it was safe yet."
It turned out that Ndubisi had Victoria hiding from 'African Hit Men' that were hired by his angry wife. Even though he was planning to divorce her, she had put out a hit on Victoria when she had found out that he had cheated on her. She had denied it, but it was a case for the Embassy to handle from within, so the agents were more than happy to hand it off to the Colonel and his own people.
By the end of the day Mulder and Scully had, not only, solved the case but they had arranged for Victoria to come back to the states where she would stay in protective custody provided by the Bureau until her life was no longer threatened. Also, a very relieved Arnold Smith had been able to talk with his niece via telephone for a short time, and so Skinner would be quite pleased with the outcome.
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SCULLY'S APARTMENT
5:30PM
When Scully got home, she immediately took Dottie out for a walk and feed her before starting on dinner. She had been able to catch up with Amina after they had talked to the Colonel's son, and she was still looking forward to having her over for dinner. She was making her mother's favorite lasagna recipe, which Mulder loved. She looked at the clock thinking that Mulder should have been there by now.
"No, Dottie! Stay away from those plants!" Scully shouted at the poodle who was running around getting into everything.
The phone rang and Scully picked it up off of the nearby counter after putting the food in the oven. "Hello...oh hi, Mom. No, I'm just cooking. How are you enjoying San Francisco? That's great, Mom. She's doing good. No, no problem at all." Dottie picked that moment to get into something in the room and Scully ran into her room after her, with the phone still on her ear. Dottie ran back into the living with Scully on her tail when the music started.
"Mom? Oh no...hold on a second, I can't hear you anymore." The bass from the song started vibrating her walls...he had turned it up. Soon Madonna's voice filled Scully's and probably everybody else's apartment. "Mom, you there? I'm sorry, it's my neighbor, he's been going crazy with his music lately. Um, I'll have to talk to you later, okay? I love you." Scully angrily hung up the phone and headed for her door.
Scully banged on her neighbor's door. "Excuse me, Raymond! Hello, anyone in there?" She got no answer. She knocked harder, so hard that her knuckles were hurting. Raymond finally opened the door fully dressed this time in club attire. He looked like he was on his way out.
"Dana! What's up?"
"You, Raymond...and your music."
Raymond smiled. "You mean Madonna's 'music'... You don't like it?"
"It's not that I don't like it, it's just..."
Scully hadn't noticed that Dottie had followed her out into the hallway and she had just chose that moment to throw up. Raymond noticed right away though. "Ew, Dana, I think your little dog just barfed up something behind you there." Scully turned around in shock.
"Oh no! Dottie, come here." She turned around to handle Dottie as Raymond watched her.
"Okay, I'll catch you later, neighbor," he shouted after her, but Scully just slammed her door on him.
By the time she had cleaned up after Dottie and started on the salad, Mulder had arrived with his own mission in mind. But he didn't have any luck leading Scully into her bedroom since she was already too busy cooking and chasing after Dottie. An hour later, when Amina finally arrived it was out of the question, so they sat down for dinner.
They hadn't actually gotten to that point in their relationship when they had started having dinner as a couple with anyone else yet, but Scully was grateful that everything was going smoothly. Mulder was in his cute mode and Amina had seemed to enjoy their cute bantering. Even if it made her feel like a third wheel at times.
About halfway through dessert, Dottie started to whine like she wasn't feeling well. "What's wrong, Dottie?" Scully said to the dog.
"I don't think she's feeling too good," Amina guessed.
Mulder added, "Maybe it was the rest of the lasagna that I gave her."
"Mulder, tell me you didn't?"
"It was only a little."
"Mulder!" Scully fumed.
"All right, I'll take her out for a walk," Mulder volunteered. He grabbed Dottie's collar and led her outside, leaving Scully and Amina alone to talk for a while. After her walk, Dottie eventually calmed down and went to lay down in the living room.
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"Well, it's getting late. I should probably go. My flight leaves at eight and I'm notorious for oversleeping," Amino announced.
"I'm glad you came, Amina," Scully replied.
"Oh, well I'm glad you invited me. It was really nice."
Mulder added, "It was nice meeting you, Amina. Have a safe flight home."
"Thank you, Agent Mulder. I enjoyed finally meeting you too."
As they walked to the door, Amina stopped suddenly. "Oh, I almost completely forgot!"
"What?" asked Scully.
Amina pulled a small envelope out of her purse. "Someone gave me tickets to a Yankees game tomorrow and since I'm not going to be here, I thought maybe you two would like to go?" She handed the envelope to Scully.
"Thank you. Mulder's a big baseball fan." Scully passed the envelope to Mulder who excitedly pulled the tickets out.
"But not you I take it?" asked Amina.
"No, actually, I like baseball too...just not as much as Mulder does," answered Scully.
Mulder was excited. "Wow, these are great! Box seats, Yankees vs. Red Sox! We gotta go, Scully!"
"Well, I'm glad someone could use them," Amina said smiling.
After Amina left, Scully started cleaning up and before long Skinner called wanting an update and asking about their reports. Scully promised to get her report to him tomorrow. He hadn't asked her about Mulder, but Scully had a feeling that he suspected that he was right there with her.
Scully tried to start on her report but Raymond had Madonna's "Music" on full blast again. He was driving her crazy with that song. If only she could think of a way to stop him. She tried to get back to her report, but she was too distracted. She didn't decide to give it a rest until Mulder suggested that they work at his house instead. For some reason, they never seemed to get much work done at her place anymore.
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MULDER'S APARTMENT
ARLINGTON, VA
9:15pm
By the time they got to Mulder's place, Skinner had already left messages harassing him about his report and complaining about some expenses that he racked up on another case. Mulder went in the kitchen to make some coffee while Scully sat down at his computer. "Is Dottie going to be okay, Scully? She didn't seem too well earlier. "
"Yeah, she'll be fine. You know Mulder, I was thinking. Maybe it's the new dog food that I have her on. With such a major change in her diet, her digestive system probably hasn't adjusted to it yet. It's probably what's making her have to go so often, too."
Scully managed to write more of the report, until Mulder brought her a fresh cup of coffee. "Here you go," Mulder said, and passed her the mug.
She turned around and took it from him slowly. "Thanks."
Mulder was getting lonely. "It's late, aren't you ready for bed yet?"
"I'd rather finish this report tonight. In case you haven't noticed, Skinner is really on our cases."
"No, I've noticed, but what's a few more hours? We can finish these in the office in the morning."
Scully was not budging. "Why put off tomorrow what you can do today?"
"Actually, I was hoping that we could play hooky and go to this Yankees game tomorrow. What do you say?"
He pulled his Yankees baseball hat out from behind his back and placed it on her head. When he saw how nicely it fitted he smiled. "I like it."
Scully smiled but then removed the hat, "No, Mulder, we can't. You know we have to go to that meeting tomorrow."
Mulder started to massage her neck and whined, "Come on Scully, let's go to bed."
She touched his hands as he massaged her. "Mulder, I promise you, if you can just wait another half an hour, I'll be done with this report and then we can go to bed...or not." Scully smiled.
Mulder bent down and gave her a quick kiss. "Well, since you put it that way..." Then he walked into the bedroom and he yelled, "Hurry up now, I'll be waiting!"
Scully worked on the report another ten minutes before she heard Mulder snoring loudly in the next room. Scully laughed to herself and shut down the computer before she joined him in the bed. She snuggled up next to Mulder's warm body underneath the covers. She was asleep in just a few minutes.
EPILOGUE
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
FBI HEADQUARTERS
8:50am
When Mulder and Scully arrived at work the next morning, Skinner had seemed to be in a really good mood after he realized that both of them would be attending the meeting. He hadn't bothered mentioning the reports that were due on his desk that morning. And he hadn't even noticed that they had obviously arrived together that morning, or if he did, he hadn't mentioned it. Scully thought that it was turning out to be a good morning. That was until her little outburst.
She didn't know what had come over her. If she thought the rumors were bad before, she was not looking forward to hearing the latest. She figured that the past few days had just been too much for her. She had to let off the steam somehow. She just never thought it would be in front of hundreds of her peers, and she hadn't expected to embarrass herself in the process either.
Thank god it was Friday. The last few days had been crazy. Scully had thought that their case, her neighbor and that dog would be the last of her. But now she was taking a stand and she was going to fix everything. And when she was done with that, she and Mulder would be able to finish what they had started.
She was going to take care of her problems at home and at work and she was going to do it right this minute. Then she and Mulder were going to go watch that baseball game. And when they got home tonight, he had better be ready. She was going to give it to him the way he wanted it, damn it!
THE END
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AND THE IMPROV ELEMENTS WERE...
Scully wearing a hat.
Scully at the Zulu parade.
Scully accidentally swearing (rather profanely) during a meeting with Skinner and other important folks.
Mulder stepping in dog doo-doo.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa!
A hot, fabulous gay man named Raymond who plays the new Madonna single ("Music") incessantly.
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