PRINCIPALS IX
Archive: Yes, please! Just let me know where...
Spoiler: Oh, absolutely everything up to season eight. Scully is not pregnant. Has not been pregnant. None of that crap has happened. Mulder is still hanging around. Ok? Krycek is not dead in this fic because even though they went and killed him on the show (or DID they?), I still need him for this story. Krycek-lovers rejoice!
Rating: R for language
Classification: MSR
Disclaimer: (As the Mad Hatter in Disney's Alice in Wonderland) Not mine, not mine, not mine! Although I can't help but think they're in better hands with me than CC... g.
Feedback: Please!
Notes: La dee da, part nine at your service... this is chapter nine of however many wind up getting written, just so you know. I realize there are a bunch of loose ends to be tied, and don't worry. I'm not Chris Carter (or AM I...?) and I don't do that mean stuff to my readers. So have fun...
More notes: Yes, there IS a difference between a smile and a Smile when it comes to Scully. That's not a typo. A smile is just one of those enigmatic little smiles she gives out every once and a while. A Smile is a full-fledged from-the-heart I'm-in-love-with-my-partner Smile. Just for your information.
Still more notes: There's a teensy bit of German in here, and because I'm only first year of that language, there might be some things wrong with it; missing umlauts and misspellings and wrong grammar. It's not my first language, just something I wanted to try. I'm sorry if it's confusing.
Even more notes: I have to thank DDs Tea Cup here for her invaluable help in writing this chapter. She kept me from making a rather fatal plot error that would've compromised the story's validity. Thanks a bunch, girlie.
Silver Beauty
Principals IX
December 22, 2000
Apartment of Dana Scully
Mulder rolled over, reaching for his partner's comforting warmth. It wasn't there.
"Scully?" He looked around the room. Her shadow fell across the floor and he got out of bed to see what was going on. "What are you doing?"
"It's snowing." She replied softly.
"Wow." He circled his arms around her waist from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. "It's really coming down."
"Mmm. It's really pretty 'til you have to go out in it."
"Yeah." He kissed her neck softly. "But we have to go to work. And that constitutes going out."
"I suppose. You going first today?"
"Yeah." Since they had started their new sleeping arrangements, it was decided that they should, for sake of appearances, arrive at work separately. "You get Monday."
"Lucky me." She turned and kissed him soundly. "You better go."
"Ok." He started to leave, then turned back and yanked her into his arms, bringing her lips to his forcefully. A good ten seconds later, he pulled away and reluctantly forced himself to leave.
Scully watched him go, smiling gently. In the nearly two months they'd finally broken down and spoken openly about their feelings, she and Mulder had grown closer and closer, if that was possible. Each was healthier, happier, and less prone to dangerous mistakes. And no one knew.
Oh, it was always a danger, but they were learning to be careful. Public places were avoided. They took a break on cases and tried to stay in their own hotel rooms. They even had the Gunmen sweep both their apartments for bugs every week under the pretense of a new and dangerous case.
Scully grinned wryly to herself as she began to get ready for work. The boys probably knew exactly how many shirts and socks she had in each color. Briefly she wondered which had gone through her underwear drawer, then decided she didn't want to know. That just would not help.
Finally ready, she stopped in
front of the mirror and glanced at her reflection. Suddenly she flashed back to the elevator ride up to Mulder's
apartment on October 31st. The soulful blue eyes of a woman in love.
And now she could finally admit it. Scully pulled a piece of paper out and scribbled a few words on it, then folded it and put it in her pocket. Right now she wanted nothing more than to be with Mulder. And she was running late.
***
8:57 AM
FBI Headquarters
Mulder was already in his chair, leaning back and examining the ceiling. Scully walked in and dropped the note on his desk. He looked up at her, puzzled, but she merely went back to the door to hang up her coat. Fearing the worst, he unfolded the paper and read it, then breathed a sigh of relief.
I love you, Mulder.
He slowly leaned over the garbage can and tore the paper into tiny, minuscule shreds. Scully was now on the other side of the office looking through their paperwork. Pretending he needed something too, he reached over her shoulder and grabbed a paper at random, whispering in her ear. "Come by tonight and we'll see about a reply." He felt her smile in response and went back to his desk triumphantly. "Meanwhile, I've got something here you might be interested in. It looks like an old case of mine has resurfaced."
Scully seated herself across from him. "Which one?"
"They called him the Gambler. His signature was a three of diamonds poker card sewed to his victim's chest."
"Huh." Scully looked back at the folder. "How did he kill them?"
"Gunshot to the head."
"How many victims?"
"Ten. Then a VCS squad thought they'd found him and made a premature arrest. His lawyer pushed hard for a fast arraignment and he was released on a technicality. He disappeared into the woodworks and was never heard from again."
"Until now?"
"Apparently. This got sent anonymously." He handed her a piece of paper. "It's a note claiming there's another victim buried in a field about twenty minutes south of New York city. I already called a forensic excavation team from the local Bureau. They should be out there right now.
"When are we leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning."
Scully looked up in surprise. "Why not now?"
"Because it's going to take them all day to exhume the body—provided there is one, and I won't be of any help. So today we're gonna find all the old files and get them in our heads so we know what we're dealing with. So yes..." he lowered his voice. "My previous invitation still stands."
Scully ducked her head to hide her grin. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you thought this out logically."
"Yep." He looked so proud of himself it was ridiculous. She hated to burst his bubble, but her eyebrow started creeping up of it's own accord. He groaned and gave it up. "That, and Skinner said he wasn't gonna bump some poor people off their Christmas flight when chances are I won't be any help." Mulder shrugged. "What are you gonna do?"
Scully shook her head. "Whatever." Her partner grinned and shot a paper airplane past her head.
"Agent Scully. Please come in." Skinner waved her to a seat. "I suppose you're a little curious about why I needed to see you."
"Yes I am, actually." She tried to make herself comfortable. "I was under the impression that Agent Mulder and I were already assigned to a case."
"You are. That hasn't changed. I just wanted to ask you—how much has he told you about it?"
"Just the basics, sir."
"I see." Skinner leaned forward and folded his hands on the desk. "Agent Mulder was very deeply involved in this whole thing. You know he tends to blame himself when things go wrong. He told those agents it was too soon to get the arrest, but they didn't listen to him. So don't be surprised if..."
"I see." Damn it, Scully thought. Is there any case Mulder doesn't get 'involved' in? "Is that all?"
Skinner hesitated, debating. Then, "Has Agent Mulder been acting... odd over the past few weeks?"
Scully blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"I've noticed just a different attitude. Just slightly. If he weren't always in here getting in trouble, I wouldn't even have noticed it."
"Well, sir... I haven't noticed anything, but I could ask him."
"No. No." Skinner said, just as she'd known he would. "Never mind. Just make sure he's careful."
I always do. She thought, but nodded and got up. Mulder was gonna have some explaining to do. Scully left as calmly as she could, but inside her stomach was beginning to coil and ache. What would come next?
***
Apartment of Fox Mulder
6:00 PM
Scully knocked lightly on the door. On her way back from Skinner's office, one of her old students from the Academy stopped her. I'm assigned to VCS now and I've got this bizarre death and if you're not too busy could you assist on the autopsy 'cause I'm way out of my league here?
Of course she'd had nothing pressing to take care of, and so she'd agreed. The autopsy had been long, hard, and hot, but in the end Scully found what the younger, inexperienced agent would've missed. Only now could she approach her partner about this new case.
And she was not going to be distracted.
Business before pleasure, she told herself firmly. Then Mulder opened the door. Oh, damn.
He had to be wearing those clothes. In stark contrast to the work clothes she hadn't yet changed out of, he stood before her in a black t-shirt and jeans.
"Hey Scully." Mulder waved her in. "Autopsy go into overtime? You sounded pretty tired when you called."
"Something like that." She dropped her bag on the floor by the closet. "Why'd you ask me to bring this? I'm just going home later anyway, right?"
"Why?"
Scully looked around. "Where am I gonna sleep if I stay here?"
Mulder tilted his head at her, a sly grin forming. Then he took her hand. "Come 'ere." She raised an eyebrow as she dropped her coat on a chair and took the proffered hand, following him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." He pulled her around in front of him and put his hands over her eyes, lining her body with his and walking her through his apartment carefully. "Almost there..."
"Mulder, what—"
"Ok, ok." She heard a door open. "Ready?"
"More than."
"You are no fun..." he grumbled, then released her. "Surprise."
Scully gaped at Mulder's bedroom. "That's a bed."
"Very good, Scully."
"Where'd it come from?"
"I've always had it. I just took it apart and put it in storage when I got the couch. Today I got it back out."
"When?"
"Didn't take long. I left work a little early." He put a hand on her back, intending to lead her further into the room, then stopped. "Scully, your muscles are one big knot. Come on." He turned her aside and began to knead the area between her shoulder blades.
"Hmm." She groaned as she began to loosen. What had she wanted to talk to him about again? Scully closed her eyes, trying to focus. It had been important, she remembered that much. "Mulder, I—have to talk to you."
"Go 'head." He whispered against her ear. "What's up?"
"I—uh... I talked to—" Mulder was leaning down to kiss her neck. "Mulder, you're distracting me."
"Good." He said, grinning. "It's Friday, Scully, we can put the case aside for a while and pick it up for the flight tomorrow morning."
"Ah—no." She said reluctantly, stepping around to face him. "This is important. The, uh... the reason Skinner wanted to see me today." Mulder groaned loudly. "Mulder, look. As soon as we take care of this, we can have the whole night. But I want to get it done now so I don't feel guilty."
He sighed and sat on the bed. "Ok, go ahead."
"About this case." Scully stood before him, arms crossed over her chest. "Skinner told me you took it very personally."
"Scully." Mulder took her hand and spoke to it. "I don't know if you noticed, but I take a lot of cases personally."
"Oh, I noticed."
He smiled wryly and continued. "It's just who I am. I realize it's not always my fault, but..." he looked up from her hand and into her eyes. "I can't help it."
"Psychologist, heal thyself." She said gently, smiling at him. "I just want to make sure you're gonna be ok."
Never taking his eyes from hers, Mulder lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. "Long as you're with me. Now, was that all?"
Feeling a little ridiculous for thinking it would be such a big deal, Scully nodded. "That was all."
"Good. Now, more pressing matters." He pulled at her arm until she was laying on top of him and reached up to kiss her throat.
"Mulder..." she gasped. He rolled over and got off the bed, leaving her on her back. "Mulder, what?"
"I'm making dinner."
"Be still my heart."
"You like a guy who cooks, Scully?"
"No, I'm just terrified."
"Just for that..." he leaned in close. "No dessert."
"Oh, please forgive me." She whispered sarcastically.
Mulder debated for a moment, then kissed her quickly. "Ok."
Scully sat up and grabbed the case file from Mulder's dresser as he left the room, trying to catch up on what she'd missed during the autopsy.
A half-hour later, she put the papers down and wandered into the kitchen. Mulder was leaning over the stove, stirring something on the back burner. She watched silently for a moment, then approached slowly. "Can I taste?" The spoon flew back over his shoulder to the floor, splattering sauce everywhere.
"Geez, Scully!" He gasped, spinning around. "What are you doing?"
"Testing your reflexes." She looked pointedly at the fallen spoon. "I see they're working."
Mulder smirked and knelt to mop up the small mess. After a moment, she joined him. "Here." For some reason, her voice was raspy when she handed him a paper towel.
"Thanks." He started to stand up, but Scully's hand was suddenly on his face, her lips covering his softly.
"How is it," she whispered when they broke apart. "that you still make me feel this way after so many years?"
"This way?"
"I can't even describe it. The word 'magic' comes to mind, but..."
"Dana Scully believes in magic?" Mulder teased.
"This magic." She stroked his hair.
"My shampoo?"
"You're sure a jerk."
"You love me anyway."
"Yes, I do." Her voice was quiet, introspective. "But if we don't finish cleaning this up, you're gonna have a pink floor."
"You're such a neat freak, Scully."
She stood at the sink and picked up the hose, pointing it at him. "Take that back."
"Nuh-uh."
"Take it back." Her smile grew into a grin as she squirted him with one short, experimental blast.
"No." He tried to get up, but she blasted him again. "You are so asking for it."
"Not if you can't get up—whoa!" Mulder grabbed at her arm and pulled her down, causing her to spray herself before releasing the lever and losing her weapon. The hose clunked dryly against the sink as Scully fell back into his arms.
"You look good wet." He said, hugging her into his lap.
"So do you."
He leaned down. His lips barely brushed hers when there was a knock at the door.
"Yep, that'll be Skinner now." Scully said, hauling herself up. Then she looked around. "Oh, shit."
Mulder jumped up as whoever was at the door knocked again. "Scully, I really hope you're wrong."
"Me too."
Mulder looked through the peephole. It was Skinner, as suspected. Looking around quickly, he pushed Scully's chair off the chair to the floor, hidden in the darkness of the corner. He opened the door. "Sir."
"Agent Mulder." Skinner eyed his wet clothes. "Everything all right in there?"
"Oh, yeah, I just—got on the bad side of a leaky faucet. What's up?"
"They unearthed a body. They were able to tell right away it wasn't one of the original victims, just from the sight of it. It was too, uh… fresh."
"So he's started up again?"
"Looks that way. I brought your plane ticket, but I wasn't able to find Agent Scully."
"Oh, I—I can just call her cell phone and have her meet me at the airport." Mulder waited. "Was there anything else?"
"Are you going to make the call now? I need to have a word with her."
"Uh… yeah." Mulder went towards the kitchen. "Let me just get my phone…" Please, Scully, do something… why can't he just call her himself? He hadn't even gotten through the room when Skinner call him back.
"Agent Mulder. Isn't that your phone right there?"
"Oh. Yeah." Scully, Scully, HELP! "I'll just call her up, here…"
Scully looked around wildly, trying to remember where her phone was.
Oh, no…
She remembered. Her cell phone was in her coat pocket. In the living room.
By the chair.
Next to Skinner.
And the ringer was on.
Mulder… she leaned her head against the wall. Do something…
Mulder looked around surreptitiously. If memory served him (and it usually did…), Scully's phone was still in her coat pocket on the floor. He put his own cell to his ear, pushing 'power' instead of speed dial one. Skinner watched as he stood there for a moment, then put the phone down.
"She's not answering."
Scully sighed with relief.
Skinner pulled out his own phone. "I'll keep trying."
"No! Uh, no, don't worry about it. Why don't you just write her a note and I'll be sure to deliver it."
"When are you going to see her?"
"I'll—" Shit. He's not leaving! "I'll page her."
Yes! Scully leaned back against the wall. Ok, think. Turn off the pager.
Get the portable phone.
Scully looked cautiously out towards the living room. This was going to be risky. If only Skinner was looking the other way…
Mulder began to dial Scully's pager number, then saw her out of the corner of his eye.
"Distract him!" she mouthed, pointing to the bedroom where he kept his portable phone. He understood immediately. Stretching awkwardly as he brought the phone to his ear, Mulder directed an elbow at a decorative vase of glass marbles on a nearby shelf, sending them flying. He blinked.
"Well, sir, guess you could finally say I've lost my marbles."
Skinner groaned and knelt to help him pick them up. Scully bolted for the bedroom and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Skinner thought Mulder had paged her. That was fine. She could handle this. She grabbed the phone off the bedside table and opened the window, climbing out to sit on the fire escape. After waiting a few minutes, she dialed Mulder's cell phone.
"Mulder."
"Mulder, wouldn't it have been easier to just say that I was here looking over a file?" She hissed.
Mulder closed his eyes. That made sense. That would've been easier, huh? "Scully, Skinner wants to talk to you." He handed his superior the phone.
"Agent Scully?"
"Yes, sir."
"I gave Agent Mulder the plane tickets."
Wait a second. What am I not supposed to know? "Plane tickets to New York?"
"Yes, they found a body. I need you to do the autopsy. The coroner at the county hospital has it. He said they would have an autopsy bay ready for you whenever you arrive. A man named Nigel Thomas will be at your disposal for photographing the body."
"All right. Is that all?" Scully was fuming. He couldn't have told Mulder that?
"Yes." Skinner hung up and gave Mulder the phone.
"That's the message you couldn't let me give her?"
"Agent Mulder, I learned long ago that the best way to keep something a secret is to tell you to pass it on." Skinner started to leave, then turned back. "We are going to close the file on this thing, agent. Don't take any chances." And he was gone.
Mulder slowly went to his bedroom, looking for Scully. She was sitting on the windowsill, dangling one leg into the room. Mulder held up the tickets.
"Dinner is burned. You want chicken or pasta?"
"I don't care." She sung her other leg over and stood inside the bedroom, closing the window. "Whatever's inconspicuous." Mulder grimaced. "This has to stop, Mulder. We just panicked. I can think of a dozen things we could've said to justify my presence here."
"I know." Mulder stepped toward her and laced his fingers through her hair, kissing her softly. "I'm sorry. But we have to go. You want to call your mom? We'll probably be there through Christmas."
"I'll call her in the car," Scully said. "Come on. Let's get going."
***
Somewhere in the air
9:15 PM
"Hey Scully, you want to join the mile-high club?"
"Shut up, Mulder."
***
New York, New York
11:21 PM
Scully rolled over and stared at the clock, her eyes gritty and heavy. Why wouldn't they stay closed? Finally she figured it out. This was the first night in what seemed a very long while she was sleeping without Mulder.
Suddenly, the connecting door swung open. He was standing there like out of a dream, uneasy at being caught. Obviously he'd assumed she would be dead to the world by now.
"Mulder." She motioned him over. "Can't sleep?"
"Not really." He seated himself on the side of the bed as she sat up. "But that's normal."
"Not lately." She frowned and put a hand to his forehead. "Are you feeling ok?"
"Yeah. Scully?"
"Hmm?"
"What do you want for Christmas?"
She blinked. "Where'd that come from?"
"I was just wondering. I was sitting there thinking to myself, what would Scully like for Christmas? A Porsche? Diamonds? New keychain? Something silky for the bedroom?" He looked over at his partner. She was sound asleep. "Scully, is this going to become a habit?" He got up carefully, pulling the blanket further over her shoulders and kissing her cheek softly. It would be so easy to stay…
No. He turned and forced himself back to his room. It was gonna be a long night.
***
December 23, 2000
9:00 AM
Johnson Memorial Hospital
A small, balding man with a camera came slowly through the doors. Scully looked up.
"You're just in time. I was about to get started."
"Yeah, the, uh, other doctor wanted some pictures taken. Such a perfectionist. Took a while." He rolled his shoulders and looked around. "You got the body out already."
Scully looked at the 250-lb. Giant of a man on the examining table. "Yeah."
"Who's assisting?" He blanched as she rose an eyebrow at him. "I can't assist, Miss Scully. I've got another—"
"Your assistance won't be necessary, Mr. Thomas. I just need you to take the pictures."
"Oh." He breathed a sigh of relief. "It's just that I've been double-booked so many times…" He talked as he worked, an endless line of prattle. "And there's always someone who needs more of this or more of that or another shot of this—help me flip him? Thanks. Or a doctor who thinks I've got nothing better to do and then I get stuck, everything gets pushed back, people get annoyed, I get in trouble… and the next day it starts all over again. Even Saturdays. Like today, I got a ton of stuff to do. I love my job. Ok, I think you're all set here. I'll give the prints to the coroner and he can call you… or fax you… or whatever…" his voice trailed off as he left the room. Scully stared after him.
"O…k."
A few hours later, Mulder came in with a grim look on his face. "We have a problem, Scully."
She looked up. "What?"
"I got the pictures from Dr. Weiss, the coroner? Look at this." He showed her the picture of the victim's chest. The three of diamonds had not yet been removed.
"So…?"
"The card is face up."
She blinked. "Yeah."
"On all the other victims, the card was face down."
Scully frowned. "Mulder, I may not have an eidetic memory, but I think I would've remembered something like that. Especially something so obvious."
"No, it wasn't on the report. It was just something that occurred to me right at the end of the case. I was going over all the victims, picturing them in my mind, and it came to me. Generally you would think the actual signature would be face up, but this one was inverted. Then I thought that not only was that backwards, everything else was, too. He sewed the card on, then shot them. And it became compulsive…" He glanced at her. "Anyway, I think you see where I'm going with this."
Miraculously, she did. "It's a copycat."
***
8:00 PM
Mulder walked outside, stretching. Scully was 'meditating'—at least that was what he called it. He had a feeling if she ever found that out he'd get his ass kicked. Truly, she was spacing. He could see it just as clearly as if he were in the room with her. Glasses on the table upside down, elbows on the table, head bowed, fingers massaging her temples. Probably the picture of the inverted card and the picture they'd had taken earlier in the day side by side in front of her. Her frustration at the circular thinking this problem introduced.
His thoughts weren't exactly linear either. So he walked around the corner, then stopped short. The bounty hunter was standing in the shadows.
"Geez!" Mulder grabbed for his gun.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Agent Mulder." He said infuriatingly.
"How the hell do you expect me to believe that?"
"I saved you. I gave you your life back—don't you remember being dead?"
"Why would you do that?"
"Krycek wants you gone."
Mulder scoffed, making a dismissive motion with his hand. What's that supposed to mean?
"I don't like him." The tone made it seem like the obvious answer, until he spoke again. "That, and you've been of use to us."
"Who's 'us'?"
"You're just full of questions, aren't you, Agent Mulder? And I don't have time to answer them. I have some information about your current case."
Mulder folded his arms, his finger still on the trigger of the gun. The bounty hunter didn't seem to care. Finally, he clicked it off. Hard to hit the back of a person's neck unless you're Scully. "Go on."
"You have discovered that things have changed. It's not the same person as it was all those years ago."
"And you know who it is."
"Alex Krycek."
"Krycek." Mulder groaned. "Just when you think you've got rid of him for good. But what's he looking to do?"
"Your partner is in great danger, Agent Mulder. She has something he wants." He began to walk away.
"What?" He gasped. "Wh—" But he had dropped back into the shadows, vanishing around a corner. "Scully." Mulder raced back to her room.
***
Unknown location
Krycek looked at the man sitting on the couch. "Do you understand?" He stared back blankly. Sighing with irritation, he picked up a gun and pointed it at a picture. The man's eyes brightened and he took the gun.
Outside the window, another man's eyes widened, and he took off running.
***
8:15
"Scully!" Mulder burst into her room through the connecting door. She jumped out of her chair.
"What—"
"You're ok? Nothing happened?"
"Y—I'm fine, but—"
Mulder gasped for breath, reaching out and stroking her hair. Scully spoke softly as her hand went up to cover his. "Mulder. Mulder, what happened?"
"I was so scared, Scully. I thought—"
"Sit down." She led him to a chair. "What happened?"
"I was taking a walk. Never got more than fifteen feet away from the room when I ran into our old friend the bounty hunter. I know." He acknowledged Scully's expression. "He said it was Krycek who murdered that man to get us up here. He said…" He looked up at her, touching her arm. "He said Krycek wants to kill you 'cause you have something he wants."
Scully bit her lip. "Was he telling the truth?"
"I think so." Mulder hesitated, then pulling her down to sit on the bed with him. "Scully… reckless as I may be with my own life, I'm not inclined to be the same with yours. I want to stay here tonight."
"Mulder…" she said warningly.
"Not—not like that. I'll sit in the chair. I just don't want you to be alone."
She sighed. "Let's make this easy. Are you going to give up on this any time soon if I say no?"
"Do I ever?" He grinned and got up, striding over the chair she had vacated. Scully rolled her eyes and yawned. Then he noticed that she was already dressed for bed.
"Fine, Mulder. But you stay there."
"Ooh, Scully, I don't know if I can do that." He leered. "Maybe you should cuff me."
"In your dreams, lover boy." She grinned as she crawled under the covers.
"Scully, you know me so well. Mwah!" He blew an exaggerated kiss in her direction. One more roll of the eyes and she turned her back to him, turning off the light. Mulder closed the drapes and sat just out of line of sight from outside. She squeezed her eyes shut when she heard him pull his gun from the holster and knew he had it ready in his hand.
Without her realizing it, a tear raced down her face, and then his hand was there, wiping it away gently and rubbing her shoulder. She shook once, then allowed him to pull her up into his arms, not questioning how he'd known; how he always knew.
"Scully…" he said softly, not wanting to push.
"I'm so sick of this." She choked. "I know it's the job, danger's a part of it, but—" she leaned back to view his face, his eyes stunned at the admission. "Are we always going to be looking over our shoulders?"
There was nothing he could say. So he pulled her close again and offered what comfort he could until it looked like she was about to drift off. Then he took up his post by the window and didn't leave for the rest of the night.
***
December 24, 2000
Scully stirred, groaning faintly. Water was running somewhere nearby and she could hear a voice humming a very familiar tune. Jeremiah was a bullfrog… She opened her eyes. Mulder.
He was standing in the bathroom with the door open, shaving. Scully sat up, pulling her knees to her chest and watching openly. Oblivious to his audience, Mulder hummed on until he finished, then started back into the room. He stopped short in the door what he noticed her.
"Not bad," she said, grinning wickedly.
"I'm glad you find me so enthralling," he returned, advancing on her until she was unable to move. His voice was husky as he leaned down to kiss her. "Merry Christmas Eve, Scully."
"Mm." Her reply was lost in his mouth. So much for taking a break on cases… which reminded her. "Mulder, we've got to go to the police station, tell them what's going on."
"Or," Mulder said, moving down to her throat, "we could stay here and make out."
"Somehow I don't think so." Scully pushed him off. "I gotta go get ready. You want to call the chief, let him know we're coming?"
"Yeah, sure." Mulder reached over to the table and dialed the phone. A man answered after seven rings.
"What?" He yelled.
"Chief Michaels? This is Special Agent Fox Mulder with the FBI."
"Mulder?" Came the screeching reply. He held the phone away from his ear as the man yelled on. "Mary! Cut out that confounded NOISE!"
Scully heard from the bathroom, raised an eyebrow, decided she didn't want to know.
"Sir? Sir, Agent Scully and I—"
"What?"
"Sir—"
"Mary, I don't speak German! I don't—what about red hair?"
Mulder froze. So he said red hair. Scully was not the only redhead on the planet. But still… "Sir… sir!" Scully stepped out of the bathroom and fixed him with a stern look. He flapped his hands frustratedly and she ducked back out of sight. "Sir, what was that you said about red hair?"
"Yeah, some nut head rambling in German, all we got out of him was 'red hair'."
"Is he lucid?"
"Uh… I suppose."
"Chief, my partner and I are gonna be coming in, and I think we're going to want to speak with him. Will that be possible?"
The man scoffed. "Bring a translator!"
***
New York District 154 Police Station
Interrogation Room
Mulder sat impatiently in a chair across from the German. Scully was still outside, talking to the chief. Finally she walked in, and all hell broke loose.
"Ich spreche Deutsch," she said.
"Mein Gott!" The man jumped and pointed at her, babbling at Mulder in some incomprehensible language.
"Slow—langsam fahren!" Scully said. "Slow down. Uh… was ist… deine… name?" Mulder raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. "It's close, anyway."
"Georg." The man seemed slightly relieved that someone sort of knew how to talk to him.
"Georg. Sind sie fertig?"
"Ich habe hunger."
"Ok." She turned to Mulder. "Why don't you get him something to eat? I'll stay here and talk to him."
"All right. I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, ok? Be careful."
"I will. Go ahead."
An hour later, Mulder came back and found Scully pacing in front of the door to the interrogation room, cell phone at her ear. He tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around, hitting 'end'.
"Mulder, where were you?"
"Seems there's an elaborate conspiracy." He said with a grin. "Every time I turned around someone wanted to talk to me or ask me something… how'd it go?"
Scully sighed. "He said he followed his brother here from Germany, because he was going to do something bad. Apparently there was a man who paid for his brother's trip who visited them quite often and offered money and a safe ride back home after he did a job for him. This man had a prosthetic arm."
"Krycek."
"It would seem so. And now Georg says he saw Krycek give his brother a gun with instructions to shoot me."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I have something he needs, remember?"
Mulder clenched his teeth. "So what now?"
"Georg's in there with a composite artist describing his brother. This way we can put out an APB. Forget about finding Krycek. He'll just slip through again."
"Yeah." The door opened and the artist came out, handing them a piece of paper.
"It's a good thing I speak a little German, or this wouldn't have gotten done. But from the look on that guy's face, this is who you're looking for."
"Thank you, officer." Mulder said. "Could you give Georg this food? And make sure he stays safe. Agent Scully and I need to get going."
"Sure."
***
Red Barn Hotel
New York, New York
Mulder parked the car and walked with Scully toward their rooms, not knowing what would come next. Suddenly, a shot rang out and she was on the ground. Krycek and Georg's brother watched from the shadows.
"No—Scully, please…" Mulder begged, dropped to his knees beside her and dialing 911. "Come on—yes, this is Special Agent Fox Mulder with the FBI. My partner's been shot." On and on went the questions, which he knew intellectually were to keep him calm, though he didn't feel it at all. Finally he just hung up on the operator and looked down at his partner. "I'm sorry, Scully, I should have—"
"Mulder—Mulder, listen to me." Scully gasped. "You are panicking. Stop it."
"You've just been shot, Scully. Forgive me for being a little concerned."
"Press down—on the wound—" She gasped, her eyes slipping closed.
"No—Scully!" Mulder managed to stop the blood flow just as the ambulance pulled up.
"Sir? Sir, don't go fainting on us. Come on, get the wheels over here… ma'am, if you can hear me, we're taking you to the hospital…"
As soon as the ambulance left the scene, the shooter hurried out to the puddle of blood that had gathered and scooped up what he could with a small vial. He exchanged it with Krycek for a few thousand dollars in German currency and a plane ticket home before the two men vanished in opposite directions into the night.
***
December 25, 2000
New York County Hospital
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. It's Christmas…" Mulder whispered in Scully's ear. Her eyes fluttered and slowly opened. "Hey homegirl. Word up."
"Mulder?" Scully asked softly. "What happened?"
"You were shot." Mulder raised the bed a little. "In the left shoulder. We're gonna have matching scars now."
"What?"
"Georg's brother, I assume," he said, stroking her hair. "Right through your left shoulder. You lost a lot of blood, but they got you stabilized pretty quick."
"Oh." Scully looked around. "It's Christmas?"
"Yeah. Your gift is back in DC, though. Do you want to call your mom?"
"Uh… no. Not now. I'll talk to her on the plane. I don't want her worrying if it's not that big a deal."
Not that big a deal. Only Scully would say that about a gunshot wound, Mulder thought.
"Mulder, is this case over? Or is Krycek going to kill more people?"
"I don't think so." He answered. "Skinner said as soon as the doctor says it's ok, we're going home."
"Great. Just one more unexplained, unsolved folder to add to the collection."
"Another day in the life of us." Mulder said. "But at least we were able to prevent any more killings."
"At least." She murmured. Mulder leaned down and kissed her softly.
"I'm gonna go talk to your doctor."
"Ok."
Scully watched as he walked away. Would it never end?
***
Unknown location
Krycek gave the doctor the blood. "In here there should be evidence of immunity to the alien virus. I need you to make a vaccine. We're the only ones who need to know about this, understand?"
"Yes, sir." The doctor nodded. All he wanted was to do was live.
***
Washington, DC
6:39 PM
"Where are we going?" Scully asked, trying to hold back a laugh at Mulder's attempt to carry all the bags so she wouldn't strain her shoulder.
"Well—I want to give you your present. So let's go see the Gunmen."
Scully stopped walking. "Why?"
He shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "I hid your gift there so you wouldn't stumble across it while you were at my place."
That was it; Scully burst out laughing. Mulder looked on, confused.
"What?"
"There's where I hid your present!" She gasped.
"Well, my dear Agent Scully, I guess great minds think alike. But could we get things moving? My arms are gonna fall off."
Scully rolled her eyes and started walking again, leading him to the car. This could be a long night.
***
Offices of the Lone Gunmen
"Hey guys, open up!" Mulder knocked on the office door.
"What's the password?" Frohike called.
"I'm armed." He growled. "And Scully's hurt."
"Scully's hurt?"
"What happened?"
"Open the door, man!"
The door swung open so fast they nearly fell in. Scully glared at Mulder as the Gunmen escorted her to one of the couches, talking nonstop.
"Guys—guys, I'm ok. Hey!" They stopped. "We just came to get our gifts."
"Oh—ok, we'll get 'em…"
"Stay here—don't more…"
"Make yourself comfortable."
"Hey." Mulder whispered a few words to his friends as they gave him the packages. When Scully looked up next, they were nowhere to be seen and Mulder was sitting next to her on the couch.
"Where'd they go?"
"Oh, they're still here. I just asked them to give us a few minutes. Here. Merry Christmas, Scully."
She took the box and unwrapped it carefully. "Oh, Mulder." Inside was a card for a 5-year membership to a tennis club in Georgetown. It was made out to Katherine Scully. "Mulder, I—"
"This is for all the times you need to get away," he said. "I know I take a lot out of you and I know you sometimes need a normal life. So… here it is."
Scully stared at him. "Mulder… I don't know what to say. I mean, I love it…"
"That's all you need to say, then." He said, smiling gently.
"Well, here." She handed him his box. "I, uh, don't know if—"
But Mulder wasn't listening. Already he had his gift open and was staring at the contents. Nestled in the paper was a stuffed fox. He glanced at his partner, who was leaning back against the couch with her eyes closed. "It's for your nightmares," she said. "When I can't be with you. It's—"
"Perfect." He said, then got up and pulled her into his arms. "Now you'll be with me all the time." Mulder gazed into her eyes for a moment before lacing his fingers through her hair and kissing her gently. Scully's arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him even closer until something made them stop.
The Lone Gunmen were standing in the door, and their jaws had dropped about a foot.
"Uh—we're sorry for intruding," Byers managed, backing away.
Frohike stared for another minute, then shrugged. "Ah, hell, I guess I saw this coming."
Langly grinned and nudged Mulder with his elbow before leaving. "You dog, you!"
When they were alone again, Mulder looked back at Scully. "Why do I get the feeling we've just been given their blessing?"
"Because we have." She said simply, smiling gently.
"Poor Frohike. I wonder what he's gonna fixate on now that you're taken."
"Well… you could always give him those videos of yours…"
"They're not mine!" He growled, tickling her until they fell on the couch. "Ah, what do I need them for, anyway? I've got you."
Scully scoffed, but the look in her eyes was pure adoration. "I love you, Mulder." She whispered, and they were lost in each other again.
End Part 9/??
One LAST NOTE! (Couldn't help myself) I know that's like the weirdest Christmas presents they possibly could've given each other, but hey—I was tired. It's one o'clock in the morning. You forgive me, right?