Chapter 14: The note

A/n: Sorry, the last chapter was pretty short. And it's taken me a while to get this up.

Now, the shower-scene in this fic I didn't want to go into detail because I'm not sure of the age of some of my readers. Sorry if you wanted more, just... Make it up in your head if you like smut?

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Is the brain-washing working yet?

Here it is.

--

"Scully, wake up."

"Mmmph," she told Mulder rolling over and turning her face into the pillow. It smelled of Mulder. He shook her shoulder.

"Scully, you know you can have the day off if you need to." She grimaced into the pillow and suddenly swung her legs out of bed making Mulder leap away in surprise. She stood with her hands on her hips. Mulder's t-shirt covering her, and reaching almost her knees. She had a cross looking on her face, but her hair stuck up in all directions and completely ruined that. She scowled even more when Mulder laughed at her. "You don't look at all intimidating when you do that after you've only just woken up." He took a step forward and leant in to kiss her, but she grumpily pushed him away.

"Very funny. I'm going to shower." She stormed into the bathroom and forgot to grab a towel and some clean clothes. But she groaned, after her usual morning tantrum that Mulder had come to expect, she didn't want to go out and face him. Before she could figure out what she was going to do, Mulder came in with towels, and her clothes. But as he silently placed them on the floor, she noted he brought his in too. He shut the door and crept towards her, she eyed him nervously. "What about Carrie?"

"Still sound asleep,"

"Oh," she said dumbly as he reached around her to turn the shower on. "Are we sharing a shower now?" She asked feeling a little surprised. She'd never, ever shared a shower with him. Well apart from the de-contamination shower that one time... But this was different. Mulder was looking her in the eye now, and the mirror next to them had begun to fog over.

"We don't have to, of course." He told her concerned. "I just thought it might be... Fun." He said with a smirk. She looked at him a moment longer. Of course she wanted to share a shower with him. She smiled slowly and leant forward kissing him on the lips.

"I think it's a good idea," she lifted her arms up so that Mulder could remove his t-shirt from her body.

--

When they entered their office, everything was a mess. Whoever searched their room for explosives, or dangerous items after the intruder had been in there, had made the office messier than even how Mulder usually left it in the evenings. Which was pretty damn messy. Scully started tidying up as soon as they entered, but after a few minutes of cleaning, and the phone rang. Mulder picked it up since he was closest, and looked over at Scully who continued to pick things up from the floor and put them back where they came from.

"Yes sir, we'll be right up." He nodded at Scully who was crouched by the filing cabinets. "I know sir." He put the phone down.

"Skinner wants us up in the office. He said he didn't expect you here today." Scully, predictably just rolled her eyes at this. "Carrie was grumpy this morning, she could probably pick up on our tension." She noted that he said our tension. It was his way of saying he was just as worried as she was. "Scully," he said as they reached the elevator. He turned her face to him. By just saying her name, he'd conveyed so much. 'Are you okay? I'm here for you,' and 'you don't have to do this if you don't want to.'

"I'm fine. I mean - I will be fine. We just have to figure out why the hell that guy was in here in the first place. And once the FBI realises that we had nothing to do with it..." She trailed off as they began walking to Skinner's offices. Every single person they walked past stared at them, unashamed.

"Do things really get around that fast?" He whispered to her. She looked at him, but said nothing. Did the entire FBI blame them for the idiot man who had come in? Invaded their privacy, and possibly planted something? Which still had yet to be found.

Skinner met them at the door. "Agent Mulder, Agent Scully." He said curtly walking over to his desk. They sat stiffly in the chairs across from him.

"Good morning Sir," Scully said.

"Do you know who this, Collins man is?"

"No, no. We've already told-" Mulder began.

"-I know you already said you didn't know him. But why else would he go into your office? We've had to put a camera in your office, outside it and also near the stairwell and elevator. It has cost us thousands of dollars already; not just in security." He frowned. "If you're holding anything back...?"

"Sir, I wouldn't hold anything back." Scully told him. I killed a man, and if I knew what he was doing in here..." She paused. "I'd tell you, okay?"

"I believe you. But frankly, most of the rest of the FBI know about this matter. They will not treat you kindly until they know what happened. So don't expect much from anyone other than me. And, before you go," he said, getting ready to dismiss them. "Watch what you do okay? The upped security means that they're going to be keeping a close eye on you."

"Thank you Sir," Mulder said. Scully nodded. It was bad enough that most of the FBI thought of she and Mulder as a joke. But now with this stupid case looming over them? Thing's would get so much worse. Mulder led her back to the elevator with his hand on her back. Though she rarely noticed it anymore, she felt nervous about it today.

"They're watching us." She said out of the corner of her mouth. "And if they see you..." Mulder looked hurt, but pulled his hand away from her. "I just don't want to be split up." She said softly when they reached the elevator.

"It's just not fair." Mulder said angrily. She resisted the urge to flinch at the anger in his voice. "I don't want to have to worry about me and you. I wish it wasn't..."

"Against protocol." Scully finished for him, and looked him in the eye so he knew she felt the same way. He reached out to grab her hand, but pulled away at the last second realising even the elevator was probably being watched now.

--

Scully was reaching for something under the desk when she found a piece of paper cello taped under it. It was folded, and hidden under the edge of the desk, she wouldn't have even noticed it if her hand hadn't brushed it. A thin stripe of red lined the back of her hand, a paper-cut. She swiped at the blood and took the note out. She knew it probably wasn't a good idea to show Mulder if there was a security camera in the room.

"Mulder," she said as she backed out from under the desk, and slipped the piece of paper into her pocket. "I cut myself, I need to go and get a band-aid."

"I have su - oh ok. Sure, maybe we should get some brunch while we're out then." She nodded and picked up her coat and handbag. Mulder locked the door after them, and neither spoke until they were walking down the street and away from the building.

"What's wrong?" He asked as they sat on a park bench. He inspected her hand and kissed it before looking up at her. She frowned at him, she didn't like him fussing like that. He just have her a smug smile. She pulled the paper out. She started wondering whether it was anything at all, imagine if she dragged him all the way out here for nothing...

"I found this..." She started unfolding the note, and he leaned in closer to her, so that he was able to read it too. In small hand-writing it read:

--

Agent Mulder and Scully.

Leave the case alone, you will find nothing.

They deserved it.

MeticulousMan.

--

"What the hell?" Mulder said staring at it. "Meticulous man." He scoffed.

"Is it some kind of internet username?" Mulder looked up at her in surprise.

"You could be right there, should I get the guys to look it up?"

"Good idea. Do you think that Collins left us that? And how does he know we're on the case?"

"He must've been watching us. I still don't know how he knows our names though. Maybe he can hack, like a certain few someone's we know. I'll tell them to come around tonight, I told them they couldn't come during the whole fiasco anyway."

"Okay, well have to get some drinks on the way home then I suppose." She followed him as they walked back to the J. Edgar Hoover building. Checking over their shoulders, both of them hoping that Skinner was able to get the surveillance team off their backs.

"I hate the feeling of being watched." Mulder said when they made it back to the building.

"Me too." Scully said. "But we can't let it get to us, we have to solve this case so that we can get on with our lives without this case getting in the way all the time." She told him. Mulder watched as her face changed from the Scully he knew, to the Scully no-one wanted to mess with, and he smiled, but inside so that he didn't get her angry. Things would work out, he and Scully were smart - they would find out how to get out of this mess.

--

"Hello, my lovely. No Christmas Tree yet?" Frohike asked as he walked into her apartment. Scully chuckled.

"It's only the beginning of December, we still have a few more days before it becomes a must-do. As you know we've been pretty busy." She led the three men into the kitchen and allowed them to choose the drink of their choice.

"And where is Mulder?" Byers asked.

"Just getting Carrie up." Just as she finished saying that she heard Mulder saying 'Carrie let go of Daddy's hair, ow.' "There he is," she said, stating the obvious. The three men hurried into the lounge with their drinks.

"Say hello," Mulder told Carrie. Carrie waved confidently at the men, and when Mulder placed her on the floor, she pulled herself toward Frohike who had kneeled next to her blanket on the floor.

"Hey Carrie," Frohike said patting her awkwardly on her tiny shoulder. Carrie stared at him curiously, and Scully and Mulder stifled their laughs and hid their smiles behind their glasses. Langly stood near the blanket and awkwardly said "Hello little one," then took the seat furthest from Carrie. Byers walked past Carrie and sat on the couch, looking at her, and then up at Scully and Mulder. She read the look in his eyes. It was a wow this is weird kind of look.

"We have a favor to ask you." Mulder said outright.

"Anything for our favorite FBI agents." And the only two they were friends with.

"We'd like you to search for a username, on the internet for us. We can't tell you much more yet." Frohike sat on the couch next to Byers and gazed over at Scully. "But when we go over to the Lone Gunmen headquarters," Mulder said with a smirk. "We can tell you more."

"Right," Byers said rubbing his hands together.

"So how are you guys?" Frohike asked, looking pointedly at Scully.

"We're fine. Frohike, her face is up here." Mulder told his friend as Scully leant forward a tiny bit, trying to see Carrie who was slowly making her way to Langly.

"Right you are." Frohike told Mulder, and coughed. "And are you two planning on getting married then?" Scully who didn't seem to hear the exchange just a moment before between Frohike and Mulder sat up abruptly, she definitely just heart the word married though.

"What?"

"I guess not." Byers said with a cough. "We've developed a new use-"

"We haven't exactly talked about it," Mulder said. "We don't know." Scully was surprised, she knew he was talking about the marriage comment Frohike had made. It sounded like Mulder had actually given it some thought.

"We have to get back," Langly said.

"Yes, we have a lot to do." Byers said.

"Thanks for the drinks." Frohike finished, and the three of them put their empty bottles on the coffee table as they left. Carrie, Mulder and Scully stared at the closed door in surprise. But the thought of marriage was at the forefront of Scully's mind. Had Mulder really thought about it? Or was she jumping to conclusions...

TBC