Chapter 2

The next morning

Far too early, the rising sun streamed in the window and into Scully's eyes. Blinking and trying to bury her face in the covers against the harsh light, she noticed with a start that Mulder was in her bed. Slowly she recalled the events of last night; the storm, the cow, and Mulder spending the night with her. A cow. She was still having difficulty with that. She also really had to pee.

She got up carefully to avoid waking Mulder, but she didn't really worry that he would awaken anytime soon. He was obviously stressed out and alarmed by last night's events, and was sleeping off the emotional turmoil. As she brushed her teeth and pulled on a pair of sweatpants, she figured she could slip into the office and see if there were any more details about the cow.

She opened the door just enough to sneak out and pulled it shut behind her. The pavement was bone dry. Apparently no rain had come with the wind and storm last night. So, cow notwithstanding, they were stuck here for at least a couple more days.

The proprietress of the hotel was sitting at her desk with a cigarette and a cup of coffee. She looked up when she saw Scully and waved her in. "Good mornin' darlin'." she drawled. "Rough night last night eh?"

Scully nodded. "Yes ma'am. I was wondering if there was any further investigation done into the cow um...issue."

"Well, they've figured out whose cow it was. He's pissed by the way. His crops are dyin' in the field and now he's down a milk cow. We're luckier—our insurance will cover the hole in the roof." She took a drink of her coffee and set down her cigarette. "Tell me honey, you said that isn't your boyfriend?"

Already blushing, Scully shook her head. "No ma'am. Just my partner."

"Sweetie, I'm an old lady so don't pay me any mind. But I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that was your boyfrien'. The way you just...LOOK at each other, like you can read each others' minds."

Scully realized the only way she was going to derail this conversation was a more interesting topic. "Ma'am do you think that the reunion may have brought a vandal into town? After all, several people remember a number of odd weather circumstances over the year."

"Sure, sure, but it ain't a vandal. I tell you what it is." Scully smiled inwardly and waited for what promised to be a fascinating theory. "It's that Shelia Fontaine." The woman lit another cigarette and sat back in her chair. "I tell you."

"Shelia Fontaine." Scully repeated. "Daryl Mootz's ex girlfriend."

"Yep." The proprietress nodded as though she expected Scully to head right out and make an arrest based on this.

"And what evidence do you have that this is Ms. Fontaine's doing?" Scully asked, bewildered.

"A number of years ago, on her weddin' day? Middle of the summer and it SNOWED." She ashed her cigarette and brought it back up to her mouth. "Then on the night of the big dance at the school? A hurricane. Ms. Scully we are in Kansas we don't GET hurricanes here."

Scully took a deep breath. Was everyone in this town crazy? "Thank you for your help ma'am. I think I best be going."

"Oh honey?" the woman called after her. "You and your boyfr...I mean...PARTNER gonna stay for the reunion dance? We'd love to have you."

"I'll have to see what...my...PARTNER says." Scully replied with a smirk.

Back in the motel room, Mulder was just beginning to stir. He opened his eyes and fought that early morning confusion...where was he? There was a purse on his dresser next to the TV. And there were two service weapons on the nightstand. Was he in Scully's room? And how did he get here?

Memories filtered through the haze in chunks—a cow. An amazing backrub. The hotel proprietress with rollers in her hair. A storm. Scully telling someone that he was not her boyfriend. And then tenderly lulling him to sleep with her magic little hands. He grinned as he remembered that. Whatever got him here, he was glad he was here. A night in Scully's arms was one of his favorite dreams.

There were so many times he felt the words "I love you" on his tongue, but he always swallowed them back just in time. It wasn't that the words were untruthful—he loved Scully more fiercely than anyone he had ever loved, with the possible exception of Samantha. But after Phoebe and Diana, he swore that he would never say those words again. It only opened him up to be manipulated. And it ended up with him being alone, with a battered heart. He was terrified of something even worse though. What if she did not feel the same, and pulled away from him in embarrassment? No, it was better to have Scully in his life as a friend and wish there were more, than to chase her off and lose her all together.

The door opened and he jumped a little, instinctively reaching for his weapon on the nightstand. Before he did, he realized it was Scully coming in. He felt a momentary panic of awkwardness—he was in her bed, after all-and quickly covered it up with a joke. "Scully! Didn't anyone ever teach you to knock?"

Scully regarded him with a raised eybrow (maddeningly cute, that was). "I figured you were still asleep."

"Where were you?" he asked.

"I went up to the office to speak with the hotel manager, and ask her if any further information had been found on last night's...incident. Apparently, the owner of the cow is pretty peeved."

"So it wasn't the owner of the cow that put it through my roof, I'm guessing."

"No." Scully paused. "And the proprietress has an...interesting theory as to the responsible party."

"Daryl Mootz?" he guessed.

"No. Apparently Mr. Mootz controls rain, but not cows. Which is probably a good thing. Supposing, that is, that he controls anything at all but his little dog and pony show." She sat down in the chair next to the bed. "She believes that it's Sheila Fontaine that's behind this."

"Shelia? Mootz's ex girlfriend?" Mulder asked, incredulously.

"My reaction exactly. Apparently the old-timers in the town recall some of the strange weather events in the past, and at least one person believes that it centers around Shelia. She was married in the middle of the summer, but apparently there was a freak snowstorm on that day. And the hurricane that occurred during the end-of-year dance was Shelia's graduating year."

"How does that make her responsible? Sounds like she's a victim more than a perp. Who would want snow during a summer wedding? Or a hurricane, for that matter?"

"This trivial information was not shared." Scully smiled at him, letting him know exactly what she thought of this 'testimony'. "But I do feel that we should at least talk to Shelia and decide for ourselves."

"We can do that this morning as soon as I get dressed." He suggested.

"And then, there is the small matter of the reunion this evening." She said with a smile. "We've been invited."

"Aw Scully, are you asking me to go to the dance with you?" Mulder made her blush, yet again. "Of course I will." He got up out of the bed and gave her a hug and a kiss on the top of her head. "Can we go parking afterward?"

The question was barely out of his mouth before a resounding slap hit him in the arm. "SHUT UP." She glared daggers at him. He knew she wasn't really mad, but it seemed somehow he had touched a nerve.

"Okay, okay. I'll have you home by 10 okay?" He turned to go take a shower. "I'll be ready in about half an hour, and we can go talk to Shelia Fontaine."