Chapter Ten: Et Invitis Spiritus
Title: XII
Category: Episodic/MSR
Rating: M (you'll understand why)
Summary: Romanticizing his victims, a brutal murderer leaves behind symbols of love…but who is his true, intended target?
Post "Agua Mala" (Season 6 with mentions of "Rain King", "Two Fathers", and "One Son" Briefly and only for context purposes)
Note: Use of puns and witty comebacks were both necessary and wanted throughout this process – practicing balance between the extremes and humor has given a much-needed lift to the truly dark places that have been explored in the most recent chapters (and those dark places will be continuing for a bit so bear with me). Please enjoy.
Chapter title roughly translates to "The Uninvited" in Latin.
Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, Skinner, and Fowley belong respectively to Chris Carter, FOX Productions, and TenThirteen Productions. All other characters are original and any likeness or named similarities to any real-life persons are purely coincidental.
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5:05 AM
Scully's Apartment
Scully rarely slept with the curtains open or forgot to close a window, especially when the weather started to turn cold, but after stumbling from the bathroom to the bed in nothing more than a towel in the comfort of Mulder's arms at half past two left the pair of them a little more than careless. The rain had started falling shortly after 2:30 but had remained calm until the wind had picked up, sending it sideways against the window pane. Luckily, the window was only open a few inches, so the rain was not coming into the room quite yet. Late fall was unpredictable in DC but the rain was almost always a certain, daily occurrence until the snow would take its place. The gentle, almost melodic tapping woke Mulder, bringing him out of the much needed, restful sleep that had only lasted a few, short hours.
It was all worth it.
Mulder rolled onto his side and pulled Scully closer, spooning against her and nuzzling the back of her neck. She inhaled slowly and exhaled audibly in the form of a light, sweet moan, stretching her fingers out across the top of the pillow that had gotten turned sideways in the bed. The smell of her body wash on her skin brought it all flooding back as he replayed their intense yet exquisite makeout session that preceded use of Scully's overtly floral cleansers to rid themselves of the grime that had been building up on their skin. He kissed the nape of her neck and followed the line down to the curve of her shoulder. The notes of lilac, freesia, and passion fruit on her skin and in her hair only deepened the sweet smile of remembrance upon his lips. Last night had left an ache in him and pushed a hunger to the forefront that only re-invigorated in him as he listened to her softly breathing and looked upon the strikingly lovely sight of her tangled up in the sheets. It was terribly domestic of them but at the same time wild and unafraid of consequences – lost in the desperate need for the most limited of moments where they didn't have to think about the terror that they chased day in and out.
He didn't want to disturb her as he carefully slid out from under the covers and reached down to a small overnight bag that contained a change of clean clothes, snatching up the boxer briefs immediately. Keeping the bag in his car was a smart decision since their investigations often separated them from home for days at a time and he knew that as long as he had at least one pair of clean clothes to change into that he would be covered in a clutch. He stood as he pulled the soft material on and glanced back at Scully, who stayed peacefully unaware of his movements. Mulder glanced out the window at the nasty weather forming, opting to carefully push the window shut, latching it carefully as to not disturb her slumber.
"Brrrrr," The chill in the air nipped at the backs of his legs as he opted for his jeans and t-shirt from the bottom of the bag, immediately tugging the jeans on first before putting the t-shirt on over his head.
Scully rolled onto her back in the bed, stirring just enough to catch his attention, and tightened her grip on the covers before settling back down, returning to her quiet slumber. Mulder tiptoed out of the room after taking note of the time on the clock and made his way to the kitchen, where he thumbed through her sparse yet interesting variety of coffee in the bottom shelf of the cupboard. Hazelnut-vanilla crème, Irish cream, and caramel were carefully lined up and barely opened so he reached for the caramel and lifted the top, inhaling the rich, creamy notes. Satisfied with his choice, Mulder closed the cupboard and filled the water reservoir on the coffee pot then prepped a filter for coffee grounds. It was the simplest way to turn the switch between the want to crawl back into bed for more sleep and finding another burst of energy to start a new day…one that had become a necessary evil for quite some time.
Sleeplessness had been part of his routine.
Insomnia had been a plague for Mulder for a long time and sleeping next to Scully was not necessarily a cure for it but it seemed to abate it a bit and make the few hours he slept that much more fulfilling. Her skin against his, hair in his face, even the sound of her random sighing as she switched positions—perfection personified. He inhaled deeply, recalling every delicious and tantalizing moment in vivid detail and bit down hard on his bottom lip, his face already flushed with heat all over again. His twenty year old self would have had a field day with this version of him as he realized that he was getting turned on over recollection of a makeout session and half asleep dry humping since neither of them had enough energy to consummate their brewing sexual energy.
Get a hold of yourself, Mulder. He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes, letting out a low growl as he exhaled.
"Morning," Scully's voice was soft and sleepy, the mid-yawn effect in full swing as she came into the room, pulling him away from his morning recollection session.
His head turned just enough to see her in her fluffy bathrobe, hair still slightly mussed and tousled about. "Good morning, Scully, I'm making coffee…you game?"
"I don't think I'll make it through today without it—that was not enough sleep by a long shot," Scully poked him in the ribs as she noticed his half awkward stance in front of the coffee pot, almost as though he were staring it down. "It isn't going to run away from you, I can assure you of that."
Mulder coughed and smiled a little meekly at her, attempting to hide the not so subtle morning wood that he was sporting as he pivoted his hip in a somewhat graceless fashion. "You never know, Scully, you never know."
"Did you sleep?" Scully knew the right question to ask since it was never about the quality of sleep for Mulder, but simply that he did or did not engage in the activity.
"Mmmhmmm certainly did until the rain started in," Mulder's voice dropped an octave as Scully brushed up against him as she reached for coffee cups and sugar, the goosebumps forming across his skin, sending each little hair standing on end down his arms.
Scully felt him shudder and turned her body toward him, sliding between him and the counter, driving their closeness once again. "It was getting pretty loud out there wasn't it? It woke me up as well."
"Dammit, Scully," Mulder inhaled sharply and bit down on the corner of his lip until he looked down at her playfully grinning up at him, her hands gripping the front of his shirt, willing him forward.
Mulder held onto her hips and pressed against her a little roughly, causing Scully's backside to knock back against the top drawer, making it rattle the silverware inside. Scully inhaled sharply as she was taken aback by his by his physicality. She swallowed hard and bit the corner of her lip while she steadied herself against the counter with her right hand while her left pulled at Mulder's shirt until their lips met. There was nothing soft or sweet in their kiss as Scully's left hand slid around to the back of Mulder's neck, inviting him in, needing him. He couldn't get enough of her as his hands slid up from her hips and cupped her face in his hands, fingers sliding through her hair until he had full control of their movement. His tongue begged entry as it slid across her teeth and she let him in almost as if to appease a thirst that desperately needed to be quenched. They were like overly stimulated teenagers all over again as the heat between them manifested in a series of audible, almost sloppy kisses.
The shower had been an incredible manifestation of years of sexual tension but they were both considerably more awake in this moment than they had been when they dove into each other prior to falling asleep in each other's arms. Mulder allowed one of his hands to travel down and explore her curves over the top of the bathrobe, settling at the small of her back, urging her closer still. The sound of the coffee pot's end brew signal beep was the only thing to put a gentle stop to their action as both reluctantly allowed their lips to separate and hover silently for a moment as they breathed heavily.
"I'm awake now," Scully's eyes were still closed, chest still heaving as she could feel her heart beating up in her throat, thudding with a resonance that made it difficult to think let alone breathe.
Mulder rubbed the space between her hips and her ribs, then kissed her on the forehead, chuckling against her skin. "Glad I could be of assistance…now how about some coffee?"
"I might need my ass off of the counter for that, Mulder," Scully's hand was still firmly gripping the edge of the counter, half perched on the edge with her feet dangling down fully off the floor.
"I'll let you off the counter if you promise me your creamer isn't any of that non-fat, I'm watching my girlish figure rice milk," Mulder's hands slid to her hips again and almost gripped her in such a way that it sent a shiver down her spine.
Scully inhaled sharply and smirked as the flood of sensations seared through her, flushing her skin almost instantly. "Mulder, I have regular creamer."
"Good," Mulder assisted her in the endeavor of sliding down off of the counter and went for the fridge to retrieve the bottle of creamer in question.
Scully smirked as she watched the subtle delight all over Mulder's face in realizing that she was being 100% truthful when she said that she had real creamer and not something meant for a person who had been overly conscious of weight management. He flashed a grin at her as he turned around with the bottle of coffee mate in his hand. Scully retrieved the cups from the bottom shelf along with a spoon and sugar. Mulder usually didn't muddle up his coffee with anything but there was that rare occasion that his sweet tooth took over—this was certainly one of those occasions. Scully didn't have a set way in which she made her coffee as she opted for one teaspoon of the sugar along with just enough creamer to discolor the coffee while Mulder went with the tried and true method of "just a little coffee with his creamer" option.
"Is it bad that I'm already wondering when the phone is going to ring and bring both of us back to reality?" Mulder was talking from behind his cup, the steam from the coffee rising around his nostrils just enough to be visible.
Scully shook her head as she sat down at the table. "No, it isn't bad—but I know that neither of us are exactly prepared for more bad news about this case despite the patterns that are emerging."
Mulder sat down at the table with her and took another gulp in hopes of gaining a little instant clarity or jolt from the caffeine but he certainly wasn't holding his breath in the endeavor. Scully reached over with her free hand and gave his left hand a gentle squeeze while she sipped her coffee as though to silently reassure him that he wasn't alone in this. He glanced over at her from behind the coffee cup and winked, the understated yet reverberating acceptance of her affection clearly conveyed. They had always needed each other's support in some form or another and had tried feebly to escape that unmistakable fact—until now.
There was no reason to run from it.
"I think I need a refill," Mulder looked down at his nearly empty cup and reluctantly withdrew his hand from underneath hers before standing up to refill his cup. "How's your cup?"
"I'm still at an optimist's level," Scully cradled the cup and crossed her legs, enveloping more of herself in the oversized bathrobe that her mother had given her for her last birthday. "It is cold in here, isn't it?"
"Your bedroom window was left open all night last night—I closed it this morning," Mulder stirred his coffee until it was to his satisfaction and turned back toward her.
Scully wrinkled her nose. "I don't remember even having it open to begin with…hmmm. Getting forgetful, I suppose."
"It's this case—even I'm second guessing nearly everything I do," Mulder sat down and took another sip. "As if I wasn't already haphazard and chaotic enough, right?"
"At least you said it," She grinned at him from behind her cup and took another sip, nearly finishing what was left of her coffee.
"Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have a completely normal existence, Scully? Completely leave all of these uncertain and, at times, gruesome cases behind and start over from scratch?" Mulder was often random but his pontificating was not usually focused on explorations of a life outside of his currently chosen path.
"Already trying to get rid of me, Mulder?" Scully smirked at him, unsure of whether he was being 100% serious or not with his questions.
"I'm being serious, Scully, do you?" Mulder put his cup on the table, his tone a lot more serious and less playful than it had been only a few moments earlier.
Scully took a deep breath and set her cup down, immediately sliding forward until her knees were between his so she could slide her hands within his. "There was a fleeting moment when Melissa was killed that I wondered about what would've happened if I had chosen another life. I thought about if it would've been easier, if I would've been happy, or a better person…and while I'm sure I would've had a much simpler life, I would've lost out on something very precious to me."
"What was that?" Mulder wasn't the kind of man to become truly defeated but she could hear him faltering with each word.
Something wasn't quite right and she knew that it was likely lack of sleep and this case but she did not know for sure.
She squeezed his hands and captured his attention, locking gazes with him. "I would've lost out on you and I don't think I could handle a life where you weren't there to keep me on my toes. After all we've been through—there's no one else that I'd want to battle through each second with."
"You read that off the back of a hallmark card, didn't you?" Mulder's humor snapped back like a rubber band and his smile returned as though it had never left, softening the knot that had formed in Scully's stomach.
Scully rolled her eyes and hid a smile. "You caught me."
Their sweet, reflective moment was brought to an abrupt end with the sharpest of knocks at the door that made them both sit up just a little straighter.
"Think it's your plumber again?" Mulder took another drink of his coffee as her glance met his.
"You're funny," Scully had a slight grin on her face as she stood up.
Scully didn't have much hesitation about answering it as she adjusted the loop around her waist to re-secure the bathrobe and unlocked the bolt and chain before pulling the door open. She wasn't expecting to find both Skinner and Diana waiting as she held the door open only about a foot or so. Part of her was irritated that he didn't just call but the majority of the frustration rested on the fact that he insisted on bringing along his new shadow.
"Sir…" Scully cleared her throat and glanced down at herself to do a once over just to double check that she was completely decent.
"We didn't wake you up did we, Agent Scully?" Skinner was quiet as he spoke in the hallway, visibly as exhausted as she and Mulder had been the night before. "I would've called but there was a bit of urgency in this."
Diana looked freakishly well-rested and almost robotic in her actions as she stood with a hand on her hip in the hallway just a foot or two behind and to the left of Skinner. She was perfectly well composed, pressed, almost too cleverly put together, and smug as she looked at a still disheveled Scully in her bathrobe. She smiled fakely at Scully and nodded in her direction, not daring to say a word to her almost as if silence was somehow besting Scully in some way. Scully raised an eyebrow and ran her hand through her hair before returning her glance toward Skinner. The stark contrast between them was almost shocking as Skinner looked as though he could use a full day of nothing but sleep with the stubble from missing his weekly shave and the bags under his eyes puffy and darker than usual. That lack of sleep was marked by the visible coffee stain on his shirt—he hadn't even gotten to change yet.
"No, sir, you didn't wake me—I've been up for a while," Scully's fingers gripped the edge of the door as she spoke. "Is everything ok?"
"We went to get Agent Mulder but he didn't answer his door, have you heard from him? We thought it'd be best to make sure both of you knew immediately of the new development in the case." Diana couldn't resist the opportunity to attempt taking a pot shot at Scully but her attempt looked half-witted and ill-conceived under the circumstance.
Scully pushed the door open nearly all of the way, silently firing back at Diana as she revealed Mulder sitting at the table with his coffee cup in hand. Mulder nodded in their direction, coffee cup still up by his mouth, and Scully kept her straight face in full effect while Diana squirmed silently, teetering back and forth in her heels, biting down on her tongue. Skinner pursed his lips together as he witnessed the clear pissing match between Scully and Diana, with Mulder standing at the center of controversy.
"Coffee, anyone?" Mulder's timing was perfect as he finished his cup and set it in the sink but a little part of him was glad that he had opted to put some clothes in when he got out of Scully's bed this morning as he locked stares with Skinner.
"There's been another murder," Skinner cut through the tension and awkwardness, going straight for the kill, diverting the attention to significantly more pressing matters. "A young woman went missing just under 36 hours ago. She was abducted from a nightclub and reported missing by her friends just a few hours after she went missing. Her description was given to local police and the details of the clothing that she was wearing when she went missing matched the body that was found just off the interstate in one of the parks in Arlington this morning. We have been unable to make a full identification."
"Unable?" Scully crossed her arms and shot a glance at Mulder.
"There were complications—we need to take you both to scene before the media gets wind of it," Skinner was a bit agitated and the discomfort was written on his face as he crossed his arms and breathed a heavy sigh.
"With this weather we have more than the media to be worried about," Mulder stood and came up behind Scully, pressing a hand to the center of her back.
"We don't even know how long the scene has slowly been deteriorating since the rain began, either—for all we know this could have been a deliberate attempt to hide sloppiness," Diana's mouth opened again and her 'know-it-all' tone was jarring as Scully glanced back at Mulder as he stepped barely to one side of her.
Scully nodded and looked over at Mulder, who was already looking for the out to go find his socks and shoes. "I'll go get dressed. You need your shoes and coat?"
"We'll be out here while you go get dressed," Skinner wasn't in the mood to continue to waste time as he rubbed his temples.
Scully nodded and pushed the door shut, immediately heading for her bedroom to retrieve clothes from the dresser. She pulled off her robe, revealing the delicate material of the satin and lace thigh length nightgown underneath, and tossed it onto the edge of the bed. She set the rest of her clothes on top of the dresser before sliding into a pair of dark, barely worn jeans and pulled them up past her knees, still wearing the nightgown. Mulder wasn't far behind her, shoes in his hands, and walked into the bedroom just in time to catch a glimpse of her pulling on her jeans underneath her nightgown, eyes slowly moving over her curves until her pants were firmly in place, hugging her perfectly.
"Mulder, I can see you," Scully had her hands up underneath of the nightgown, prepping to pull it off as she shot him a look though the mirror to her right side.
Mulder smirked as he sat down on the edge of her bed and slid on a sock, taking his eyes off of her. "I was just admiring the view."
"We need to focus," Scully tossed the nightgown across the end of the bed and pulled the bra on, snapping it into place.
Scully put simple button-down shirt before running her fingers through her hair again, taking a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The lack of sleep was still obvious but there was a hidden part that glimmered in her eyes that could instantly replay the rush all over again, moment by moment. She inhaled deep and counted backwards in her head to clear away the fog and focus her energy on what was to come. She was fully in work mode despite Mulder's best efforts at distracting her into keeping her head swimming, but Skinner and Diana were standing outside, waiting impatiently for them to get ready. Making them wait longer than necessary would only decrease the patience level that Skinner was holding onto. Mulder stood up, slid into his shoes, and turned around just as Scully was zipping up her ankle boots.
"You ready?" Mulder asked her as they walked toward the kitchen.
Scully nodded and pulled on her jacket as Mulder zipped up his own. "Ready as I'll ever be."
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Just under 30 minutes later
Madison Manor Park (Just off Quantico Street)
Arlington, VA
The ride to the crime scene was nearly silent as Mulder and Scully sat in the backseat of Skinner's car. The only break in chatter was the occasional yes or no question and answer from Skinner toward mainly Diana as he noticed that Mulder and Scully were both staring out the same window, ignoring them unintentionally. Both were consumed with the thought surrounding the downpour that was drenching the pavement as they pulled into the park entrance near a string of houses and watched the police tape sway in the wind. Skinner pulled to the front of the group of official cars and parked at an odd angle, blocking another pathway. Skinner was the first to get out of the car with Mulder and Scully not far behind him. Diana was the last to leave the car with no sense of urgency at all as she seemed more concerned with not ruining her over-priced shoes than the crime scene in front of them. The park itself was serene but the onslaught of rainfall had made it a little eerie and melancholy, foreboding even.
"Agents, we had to install a cover over what's left of the crime scene, the rainfall has picked up so badly that we are about to lose half of our footing and part of the body," One of the Virginia State Police officers came up to them, soaked to the bone from the rain.
Skinner zipped the front of his blue FBI coat and nodded in his direction. "Lead the way, the sooner we can process this scene the better."
The group moved past the baseball diamond and headed toward a small footbridge where the normally small, soothing, and calm creek had swelled to a good four to six feet deep, mimicking the sound of an overflow on a dam being released into the bypass. Scully and Mulder were behind the group and were already fairly soaked already. The scene unfolded through the thick underbrush near the cherry trees, up against the wood and cement walk bridge, like a foggy, unreal dream. The yellow police tape lined sectioned off area was a stark contrast against the green tarp covered space where a group of crime scene investigators, police officers, and FBI were doing their best to collect every shred of evidence before the rain could wash it away.
What lay before them was so much worse than they could've imagined.
"Oh, my God," Scully was the first to see the body as she passed the tape line and immediately knew why they had not made an identification of the body.
Their victim was more heavily tortured than the previous girls had been. What was left of the girl's dress only hid away part of the wounds as the cuts and slits through the sheath-like material exposed parts of each gauge and mutilated section. He bisected the musculature of her forearm, clearly dividing them into two parts where barbed wire seemed to be almost woven in, holding her together. She was visibly ripped up through the shreds of dress that had been cut away to accommodate access to her skin—flesh and muscle were gleaming through each stretched out section of slashed fabric. Her face was heavily mutilated by barbed wire, eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, lids slit through the center and stapled poorly open so that she was staring straight forward, and the same, large gauge from ear to ear, revealing her teeth beneath. Her arms were stretched out with one wrist tied precariously to a tree next to the water's edge and the other hooked over the top of the hand railing, water creeping up beyond her waistline. Scully followed the curve of her collarbone toward the hollow spot at her neck and noticed that the sternum had been sliced open at the top and likely popped apart. She couldn't tell for sure as the dress and more barbed wire hid it carefully like a poorly wrapped present. The rising water level was certainly well thought out as the killer chose a spot where debris had gotten clogged underneath of the foot bridge and had doubled back, rising further with every hour of rain that had fallen. There wasn't much time left before there wouldn't be much left of the evidence as Scully and Mulder could see the blood pooling around her and dissipating as the current drove it downstream.
"We don't have enough time to mess around with this, get a gurney out here and get the body down, now," Mulder ducked underneath of the makeshift canopy that had been suspended over the creek bed above the body and was already half furious they had waited this long to address the situation.
"We have to finish with the grid before we can take her down," Diana was following protocol a little too much as she watched the photographs being taken and small bags of evidence being collected, thoroughly pleased with the way in which they were all following orders to a tee.
"If we don't get her down now, there won't be any evidence left to collect," Scully wasn't in the mood for any more of Diana's bullshit as she turned toward Skinner. "Skinner, you need to make the call or we run the risk of losing half of her organs—and I'm certain we don't want to drag the creek bed for anything that could be potentially pulverized by debris."
Skinner turned around and shouted toward the crime scene investigators that had brought the transport with them. "Bring the gurney and get her down."
He knew that they were right and that they didn't have any more time to argue about the logistics, procedure, or protocol. Skinner went up toward the investigational crew, while Mulder went back toward the gurney to assist in getting it down the hill and Scully went in for a closer look at the water's edge. Three of the local police officers were wearing hip waders and were already working on getting the body pulled down as she neared their positions. Scully couldn't help but think of Victoria as she watched the lifeless body sway as the officers struggled to cut away the ropes that suspended her. She knew that she hadn't been able to save her then she would've suffered a fate similar, or worse, to this one. Her eyes traveled up each rope length and took note of the way in which the killer tied each length. Each loop wrapped around itself three times before crossing back through each loop, locking it into place around each object. The loops around the railing were the most secure and hardest to cut. Scully followed the loops to the tree branch where her eyes caught something reflecting light off of it. The object was small and rounded but had a base attached to it, secured to a 'y' curve in the branches by four large screws that pushed it into place just enough that even a stiff wind wouldn't have brought it down. She had an inclination of what it was, but the rain kept pulling branches and leaves in front of it, obstructing it from view.
While Scully squinted at the object in the tree, Diana had crept nearer to the edge along with her and her poor choice in footwear was illuminated as her heels sunk down into the mud. Scully wasn't paying attention to Diana as her eyes were high above the police officers' heads, fully focused on making sure that nothing was about to go terribly wrong as they carefully cut each rope.
"Don't let the body sink further into the water if you can," Scully noticed that the slack was beginning to bring their victim down a little further, making the water level creep dangerously close to her intestines, which didn't look like they were being held in by much of anything but fabric and barbed wire.
To Scully's right, Diana finally lost balance entirely and essentially flopped forward into the water as she compensated her backwards motion by propelling forward far too much. She let out a shout and flailed in the water, her ankles getting caught up quickly in the debris that the current had begun to carry downstream and almost knocked over one of the investigators in the process. Scully wanted to find a little bit of amusing joy in it but couldn't as she watched Diana's arms flailing dangerously close to the body.
"Jesus Christ," Scully slid into the water beyond knee level and reached out toward her, shouting in frustration. "Reach back and grab my hand before you hit the body!"
Diana was panicking, and it was painfully obvious as she feebly reached back, eyes clamped shut, desperately waving her hand around until Scully was able to get a grip on her and pull her toward the muddy shore. Scully wasn't exactly gentle as she yanked Diana to a near standing position and pushed her forward until her knees met stable ground. She was thoroughly soaked and now covered in mud as she shot Scully a dirty look even though she essentially just saved her from making an even bigger fool of herself in front of an entire investigational unit. Mulder came down toward them as the gurney was being rolled down to the footbridge and went straight to Scully's side while the crime scene investigators continued to assist in removal of the body.
"The hell happened?" Mulder noticed Scully's wet pants and then looked over at a thoroughly soaked Diana, who still hadn't gotten fully to her feet.
"The mud gave out from underneath of my shoes and I fell in," Diana scrambled for her words, visibly shaking from the cold as well as frustration with herself.
She was angry, even, as she continued to shoot daggers through Scully, who contemplated how easy it would've been to watch her drown instead of helping her.
"She kept flailing like a seal, so I grabbed her before she could inadvertently hit the body and cause more of an issue," Scully didn't talk loud enough for Diana to hear but made eye contact with Mulder, who seemed more concerned with her than with Diana's well-being anyway. "Couldn't let her drown herself."
"Agent Scully, do you need a dry blanket?" Skinner came back with a couple of wool blankets from the first responder kits that the police kept in their squad cars.
"No, I'm fine, just check on her," Scully was cold, but Mulder had already slipped his oversized blue FBI coat around her by the time Skinner had gotten there.
"Had a split second thought of you mud wrestling, Scully, don't judge me," Mulder joked and rubbed her shoulders while he had his gaze locked on hers. "You going to be ready for an autopsy soon?"
"Certainly not with her, I'm sure. Yeah, I'll be fine, just need to empty out the water in my shoes and I'll be ready," Scully continued, eyes focused that same small, round object in the tree and realized that it was aimed perfectly at the area in which the body had been hanging. "Mulder…I think he was watching this."
"How do you know?" Mulder turned his head in the same general direction, his eyes focused on the trees as well, rain in his eyes.
Scully pointed to the bend in the branches where the small lens seemed to be peeking out at them, aimed at the scene below. "Camera lens."
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Outside of Scully's apartment complex
The rain hadn't let up as Miles's van pulled into a parallel parking spot across the street from Scully's building. Miles fiddled with the radio station, flipping back and forth between stations until it squelched at him.
"The National Weather Service in Washington, DC has issued a severe weather warning for…" the storm warning sounded after the long squelch and Miles didn't bother to even listen to it all of the way as he turned the radio down and stared out the window for a moment at Scully's building.
"Storm's coming, better be quick," Miles muttered to himself as he flipped the stereo off and slid into the cargo area of the van.
The van was the one originally set up for the plumbing company, but he had affixed a closed-circuit television inside along with a link up to his cameras, in the corner was a modified computer with a circuit board attached to it that had a power feed directly into the van's battery. It wasn't particularly expensive as it looked as though it had been constructed over a long period of time with several mismatched parts, some in terrible condition. The set-up, while obviously cheaply constructed, had taken a great time to rig up over the years and only illuminated his ever-growing fascination with voyeurism as it tapped into every video feed that had a readable serial number that could be inputted. The main setup of equipment was all of the plumbing gear but hidden among the normalcy was the ugliness as the barbed wire, implements of torture and sharpened objects were peeking out from the mess. Miles situated himself in the middle of the cargo area and pushed the power button on the television until it turned on.
"Looks like no one is home, hmmmmm," He was instantly disappointed when the video feed of Scully's bathroom popped up on the television screen, only to reveal the half-dimmed bathroom, only natural light streaming in from the window. "I guess we'll need to see what you were up to last night, then."
He pushed the tape into the player and clicked the play button. He ran it forward as the feed from the night before was quite inactive and the space darkened as the running time stamp moved forwards both quickly and in real time as he pressed play occasionally, hoping to catch a glimpse of anything at all. The frustration was growing as he ran it forward again until he saw the light come on in the room. He was expecting only to be watching Scully as she walked into her bathroom but his calculations were completely wrong as he witnessed her leading Mulder in with her, lighting the candles, seemingly toying with one another. Miles balled up his fists and practically shook as he watched last night's events unfold before his eyes.
"No, no, no, no, not him," Miles had become instantly enraged over watching them undress each other almost painstakingly, taking their time to seduce each other.
The rage only grew as their connection grew and distance between them decreased with every layer shed. He watched as Scully was enveloped fully in Mulder's arms, the moment that was meant to be private between them that he was certainly not invited not be a part of. Part of him was relieved that he couldn't hear the sound associated with his intrusion of personal space with this camera, but his mind was now racing as he began to imagine what he could've done to block this if he had known. If he had only been able to knock at the door randomly or if he had just loosened one of the bolts to the shower, she wouldn't have been able to do anything like this with HIM. The thought seared through him as he pictured slitting Mulder's throat in front of her, subjecting her to mental torment, breaking her down until he could break her down physically.
"Keep your hands off of her—she doesn't belong to you. She just doesn't know what she wants, she's fickle," Miles seethed, practically spitting all over as he knocked over a stack of VHS tapes and some other items as he desperately tried to hold back the urge to shout into the air.
He roughly turned off the screen, unwilling to continue to watch what they had done together, and slid back into the front seat of the van, fists pounding on the steering wheel. He stared blankly at the road, eyes half twitching from the increase in blood pressure, and almost became consumed with focusing the blanket of rain as it surged over the windshield, blurring the roadway in front of him. He inhaled deeply and flipped on the stereo, then rolled the volume up to one of the loudest settings to the point that the speakers vibrated hard into the air. The hypnotic quality of the song was almost cathartic and centering as his pulse returned to normal and his eyes focused on what was in front of him.
I don't want your body
But I hate to think about you with somebody else
Our love has gone cold
You're intertwining your soul with somebody else
He gripped the wheel, slowly coiling his fingers around the upper curve and slowly sneered as the music played loudly. His newfound clarity provided his inner psychotic the necessary switch flipped into the direction that he needed to continue. The curve of his grin only increased as he finally knew absolutely what he was going to do and torture wasn't even going to cover half of what he had in store for both of them.
"So much more than suffering—you're going to regret this," he twitched before starting up the engine and speeding off down the street, tires squealing along the way.
End chapter 10
Chapter 11 is already in progress Thank you so much for bearing with me! Please leave me feedback or kudos. This has been so fun to write.