Note: Thanks for the reviews, you people are fricken awesome. Doing my best to write in character and well.
Turns out the local college is an hour away. I wasn't eager to drive there at eleven o'clock at night when the call came in. Of course Mulder couldn't wait. Nights like these are always long, and a normal sleep cycle is not really something I've had in years. But here I sit, in a jeep driving down a dark road in the middle of the night.
The campus is pretty empty with only a few drunk students wandering around the quad. We pull up to a big hulking century old building. All lights are extinguished within, but no doubt our scientist isn't the only one working away in a lab within its walls.
Our shoes reverberate down the empty halls as we move through the darkness. It would be eerie for me if I hadn't spent college in labs like these while others partied the night away. This is like a home away from home. We reach a doorway with a faint light shining out into the hallway. A women is bent over looking closely at something on the table in front of her. Her back is to us and doesn't seem to notice our arrival, though I'm not sure how. She isn't wearing a lab coat, in fact she looks as if she might be a student.
"Dr. Zentmer?" Mulder announces our presence. She doesn't move, not even a flinch. She is just intently working on whatever lay before her. We walk closer.
"Excuse me." I try to say loudly without yelling. The woman jumps, turning and ripping ear buds out of her ears at the same time.
"Oh sorry, didn't hear you." She's panting and holding her chest as if nearly having a heart attack. She pulls an MP3 player out of her pocket and shows it as if in silent explanation. "You must be Mr. Mulder." Her hand shoots out towards him.
"Just Mulder." They shake, her hand lingering with his for a little too long.
"Call me Catherine." She beams.
"So you're the zoologist?" I ask trying not to notice the way she is looking at him. Like a puppy looking at a brand new toy. Her eyes shift towards me, as if just realizing I'm there.
"Oh yes. And I think I have some answers and some questions." She walks down an aisle of lab tables to the main desk. We follow dutifully. She looks to be in her early to mid thirties, blond hair tied up in a bun and glasses complete the studious look. I'm sure the glasses are just for fashion's sake.
"So I've been looking at these prints trying to pinpoint at least a species type." Dr. Zentmer shuffles through her papers. "I think it may be part of the canine family looking at its paw pattern. But not any that I've heard of, or have been able to find."
"Well there have been stories of a creature stalking these woods." Mulder interjects. The zoologist smiles widely.
"It does bear resemblance to tracks reported to be from a creature that no one can seem to identify." She hands him a crude drawing. "This is probably the best picture from all the descriptions given."
"So you're telling me, you believe a monster is in the woods killing people?" I cross my arms in front of my chest, giving them a look of incredulity. Her eyes look at me for a moment before she dismisses me altogether.
"This could very well be a species that hasn't been discovered, a cryptid." She's practically jumping out of her skin with excitement. One hand comes to rest on Mulder's arm. Ugh, all I can do is shake my head. Mulder groupies are just so annoying.
"Is there any more information you've been able to get?"
"That's where even more questions come into the picture." I lean back against a lab table. I might as well not even be here. Dr. Zentmer, Catherine, leans in closer to Mulder. "There haven't been any reports of attacks like these in this area, but the next county had a problem with animals be killed in a similar fashion about 30 years ago." I can see the wheels turning in his head. I'm just hoping I can get a few hours sleep first.
They stay huddled together for another twenty minutes. This stool is starting to hurt my butt, and watching the zoologist fawn over Mulder is getting tiring. Sometimes he's oblivious to the fact that these women are hitting on him, but not always, he is a man.
Back in the jeep, on the dark road back to our hotel room, Mulder is detailing his plans to find the 'cryptid' in the woods. Of course this involves camping out in said woods. I'm still annoyed by that so called professor. Hopefully we don't have to see her again but unfortunately I'm sure we will.
"Do you ever consider how unnatural it is to be turned on by creatures and monsters?" I ask; my eyebrow lifts giving him a look of mock scorn.
"There's a term for that." He grins.
"Don't tell me, I don't want to know."
As soon as we step into our room, I flop myself on the bed. I don't really want to move again, hunger came and went an hour ago. Mulder is standing at my feet looking down at me with a cockeyed grin.
"What?" He better not be thinking of going out again.
"Did I ever tell you how sexy you look when you're tired?"
"No." I nudge his leg with my boot. He has actually, many, many times. Bending down he starts pulling my boots off. As soon as air hits my feet I feel instant relief from the tension I've been storing. He gives my foot a tickle then drops down on his side next to me.
"Are you sure about that?" His fingers start playing with my hair.
"I'm sure I would have remembered that." I try to suppress my grin. We're weird.
"Oh, oh well." He hops up and starts to walk away.
"Heey."
"What, I need to go take a shower." He fanes innocence. Quickly I sit up, grab him by his shirt, and pull him back down on top of me.
"You're not going anywhere." We're grinning at each other.