Chapter 3

That evening

Scully didn't know if she more irritated at Mulder, Shelia Fontaine, or herself. She decided it must be herself. She was an FBI agent. A doctor. A professional woman who had a professional relationship with her partner. And she had had to physically restrain herself from bitch slapping Shelia Fontaine when she saw the hussy kissing Mulder. She very nearly cried.

Even now, as she sat in the bathroom of her motel room, she was fighting a combination of tears and irrational rage. These stupid hayseed jackasses and their insipid small lives and their horrifying bleached blonde hairdos. Nothing else to concern themselves with but cows and grass and stupid irregular weather phenomena….she angrily wiped at a hot tear, coming away with a streak of mascara on her hand.

And what had they found out anyway? Did Mulder actually believe that Holman was controlling the weather through his unrequited emotions? That was even more bizarre than the idea that Shelia was somehow controlling the weather herself. And then she moved on to trying to control Agent Mulder. Scully growled to herself. The worst of it was, she was touched by Holman's undying devotion to Shelia. How would it be to love someone so much, that your unchecked emotions could actually create weather events?

"Scully?" she heard a knock on the door. Of course it was Mulder. She didn't want him to come in. But she couldn't kick him out. And she sure as hell couldn't go to the door with mascara running down her cheeks over him kissing Shelia Fontaine.

Quickly she wiped off her face. "One second!" she called out. "I'm in the bathroom!" that would buy her a minute or two. She faced herself in the mirror and took deep, cleansing breaths. "Maybe he wasn't even enjoying it." She told herself sternly. "And it's not like you've exactly laid your claim on him."

She opened the door but could not look him in the eye. He saw the hurt in her eyes, and saw the anger that she had at herself for feeling hurt. He placed his hand gently under her chin and tilted up her face to look in his eyes. "Scully." He said. "I was trying desperately to get away from her. I hope you realize that."

Before she could come up with words her eyes overflowed with hot tears. He could not believe he was seeing Scully, his Iron Scully, breaking down in front of him. And because she had seen him being kissed by another woman. Nonconsensually. But he was deeply touched. Was this the sign he was looking for? Did it take Shelia Fontaine's cigarette-flavored kiss to touch off a reaction in Dana Scully that she couldn't help but show him?

"Scully." He said softly. "I'm so sorry." He wrapped his arms around her and put her head on his chest. He just held her. And she let him. Panic surged within him however. Was he taking this too far? Too fast? Was this where she backed off and told him this was too close for friends? Where she said she wasn't at all hurt or jealous that he was kissing that blonde hussy? Where she said she that he should sleep on the floor after all?

But he didn't move, he just held her, and soon he felt her tears soak through his shirt. He gently led her to the bed and coaxed her into sitting down. "I'm going to just get you some tissues." He said softly. When he returned, she was lying face down on the bed, hiding her tearstained face in the pillow. "Scully?" he asked, putting a hand on her back, risking that rise of panic again.

"Mulder, I'm really mad at myself." She croaked out, muffled by the pillow.

"Why?" he asked, incredulous. "What do you have to be mad at yourself for?"

"Mulder, who you kiss is up to you, I don't have some claim on you or anything." She paused to take a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm mad at myself for being upset that you kissed Shelia."

His hand had been moving in slow, stroking circles on her back, but he stopped. No claim on him? Did she really not have any idea? And did she really think that he was willingly kissing Shelia Fontaine? "Scully, you have had a claim on me since you walked into my office." He said, bracing himself for the wave of panic. This was the end right here. But if it made her feel better, made her stop crying, made her stop being mad at herself….then it was worth it.

She rolled over and looked at him. "You didn't want to kiss her?"

He snorted. "No. Not even slightly. Scully she pushed me up against the wall, she like attacked me!" Outside, his mood was light and joking. Inside, he was falling apart. She had pretended not to hear his confession. He was going to be waiting for a gentle letdown all evening, maybe for longer.

"Mulder?" she started, and then her attention was caught by something outside. "Holy shit Mulder look at that RAIN."

He joined her at the window and saw literal buckets of rain sluicing down the roof of the hotel and puddling in the parking lot. "Wow. It's Holman. I bet everyone in town is watching this."

"I wonder if they'll call off the reunion." Scully wondered.

"Are you kidding Scully? They've been waiting for that for decades. They won't be calling off the reunion. Not even if a cow comes crashing through the roof of the high school."

"Mulder, I think we should go. We need to make sure Holman actually follows through on his promise. Too much rain at this rate and there will be flash floods in a parched area like this." Scully was more than happy to abandon the previous topic, and felt a secret satisfaction that Shelia had forced him to kiss her. She felt awfully sheepish though. She had told him far too much.

But then, so had he. She hadn't known how to reply to his saying she had a claim on him. She suspected that meant something more than friendship, especially coming from Mulder. But how to respond to that? She felt thoroughly uncomfortable. She had no idea what ground she was standing on. It was probably best to see to the conclusion of this case at the dance, and be back home on the next available flight.

Once the hurricane let up.