Author's comments: And I'm only just getting started…mwah ha ha!

Wild One

Chapter 2

Part 1.

Scully stared nervously at herself in the bathroom mirror, primping at her hair and face, trying to look her very best. She went to exit through the bathroom door, but stopped before opening it, remembering something important. Reaching behind her neck, she unclasped the cross necklace she always wore. Not wanting to keep it too far from her, she dropped it in her boot. Taking a deep breath, she walked toward the door and prepared to begin her assignment.

Part 2.

Mulder sat on her Scully's couch that night, trying to focus on the Kindred murder case while waiting for her to get home. But the later it got, the more he wondered just what the heck she was up to. He had tried to call her earlier, and she answered the first time, telling him she couldn't talk at the moment but that she would call if it got to be too late. But what was too late?

She had not answered any of his other calls, and he was beginning to get worried. By 1 a.m., he was getting ready to put on his coat and go looking for her, when the front door swung open. There she stood, looking exhausted and reeking of cigarettes. Without thinking, he blurted out, "Where have you been?"

In hindsight, he realized that his voice had been a little too loud. But then again, she had not given him a reason not to be concerned. She gave him "the look", the one that told him that he was overstepping his bounds. One eyebrow raised, she dropped her purse on the kitchen table and said, "I was on assignment, Mulder."

He got up and stood a little closer than need be for the volume of his voice. "Yeah, and did that assignment involve a certain repulsive man that you narrowly escaped from just a week ago?"

She was downright scowling at him now. He didn't care. He could not see, through his anger, how he could possibly feel any differently with the evidence she was presenting to him on a silver platter. Her cheeks flushed with rage as she said, "You know what, Mulder? I think you need to back off. I already told you this case was sensitive. If you can't accept not knowing, then maybe…maybe that means we're getting too close for comfort right now."

Running on pure adrenaline, there was no way to stop the words from pouring out of his mouth. "Oh, and what does that mean, Scully? You don't want me around? After all we've been through lately?"

She held up one hand and opened her mouth, but stopped herself before answering him. Her tone softened. "No, Mulder. I just mean, maybe while I'm still working on this case, we need to keep some distance."

He was still angry, but he found it difficult to continue being forceful when she was trying so hard to stay calm. "Distance how?"

She chose her next words carefully. "Like maybe…maybe you could stay at your own place…" He sighed and dropped his head. She reacted by holding up her hand again. "Just for now, Mulder." Her tone softened once again, and she rested her hand on his arm. "Please, Mulder. Just trust me."

She tried to get his eyes to meet hers, and she finally succeeded, but he was still feeling the heat of anger. "I don't know, Scully. I want to, but…but you're making it hard."

"Mulder." Her eyes pleaded. "I know you don't like it. But you have to trust me. Because I am not going to blow this assignment."

Reluctantly, Mulder agreed to her terms and left in an uneasy emotional truce. But as soon as he got in his car, he made plans to find out what was really going on.

Part 3.

Mulder awoke in his car, in front of Scully's apartment building. He knew she did not leave during the night, because if she had, she would have spotted his car and given him hell for spying on her. He pulled his car around the corner so that she would not spot it when she left.

But he would not discover anything important that morning—she went straight to the office. She stayed there all day, working in the basement while he sat at his desk, wanting so badly to get a glimpse of the file she was looking at. But she carried it with her everywhere, and he had no more opportunities during the workday to snoop around.

After work, she went straight home, and she did not leave her apartment until 8 p.m. Mulder stayed well behind her, zigging in and out of cars to avoid being seen. He caught a glimpse of her pulling into a parking lot, and stopped his car so he could watch her walk into the building it was attached to—a large bar, well-lit with plenty of neon.

He gave her about twenty minutes to get in and get settled, so that hopefully she would not see him enter the bar. He crept in, peeking his head around the door to the entrance. But before he could see inside, a goliath man who Mulder wanted to call "Robo-Bouncer," stopped him with a hand to the shoulder. With a low voice that matched his humongous stature, he said, "Can I help you, Sir?"

Mulder backed up, putting his hands up in surrender. "I'm just…I'm just looking for someone."

The guy stared at him for a minute as if deciding whether he was worthy of entering the establishment, and then stepped aside. "Alright, go on in then."

So much for covert entrances. Mulder walked in quickly, head down, and headed straight for a table in the back corner, hidden in the shadows. He scoped the joint, looking at all the tables and the seats at the bar for any signs of Scully. He pondered who she might be meeting in here, but he did not see any signs of her.

Even though it was a large bar, he thought he could see all the tables from here. After all, there was hardly anyone in there. He considered leaving, but around 9 p.m., more and more people started coming in, mostly single men.

Mulder sincerely hoped this was not a gay bar, but his thoughts were interrupted when the speakers started blaring dance music, accompanied by colorful lights rotating all over the room.

His attention was brought to the center of the bar by a spotlight, and suddenly he realized what this place was—a strip club. Surprised that he had not recognized the bar for what it was—after all, he had been in plenty of these places before—Mulder watched as the first shapely woman gracefully pulled herself onto the side of the stage closest to him, and reached for the pole that stretched all the way up to the ceiling. Another stripper climbed onto the other end of the stage, and Mulder watched, entranced, as the girls began to swing their hips in time to the music.

The stripper on the far end began to strut her stuff towards his side of the bar, switching places with the diva closest to him. The one who approached his end of the stage now caught his attention, even though she was still quite a distance from him. He could see just enough to notice that she had just the right combination of muscular, sleek legs and curvy hips, topped off with perfectly round, natural breasts. Mulder tried to focus on the reason he was here, but he couldn't control the tingle of excitement he was feeling.

She was wearing a black, strapless dress that showed her cleavage, and matching boots that rose to her knees with spiked heels. The dress did not stay on long—with one fell swoop she ripped open the front and stepped out of it to reveal a lacy, see-through bra and a black, leather g-string. She put her hand against the pole and bent over to show off her sensual, smooth butt. She shook it back in forth in time to the music, causing her ass-cheeks to wiggle, and then she slid her hands slowly down her thighs until she was peeking backwards through her legs, but suddenly flipped her medium-length hair back so that it whipped her shoulders.

Distracted from his primary goal, Mulder was practically drooling now. The dancer swung around the pole a few times and then turned to face him. The spotlight swept over her face, and Mulder thought, 'That looks like…'

"Oh…my…God," he said aloud now. "Scully."