Title: "A Rather Strange First Encounter"

Chapter 8 "Final Strike and Taking Flight"

Author: Jerome Mullins

Disclaimer, Summary and Rating: see previous chapters.

Author's Notes: It's near the end and Dana is heading back home. Fox takes her on one last adventure before she leaves. Not to be read by those who like Phoebe Green (that is, if such a person exists).

**WARNING** This is a rather racy chapter that I've written here. I've thought of toning it down a bit for those of you who might be underage and reading this because I have posted this as a non-R rating story, but this chapter is more for adults. Be warned that you are going to read some things that little ones should not read. I did this for a specific purpose, the most public and cruelest humiliation of Phoebe Green ever. I really hate that character, does it show?

* * *

Fox Mulder reclined on top of Dana Scully's bed. She had been moving around the room for the past half-hour retrieving her clothing which had been "borrowed" without her permission by Grace and Maggie. Her plane ticket home was getting harder and harder to ignore with each passing hour. She was tired and a part of her wanted to go back home, she missed her mother and father. She missed her older sister. Hell, she'd even admit to missing her brothers. But as much as she missed them, she felt an even stronger compulsion to stay at Oxford. Her reason for staying was reclined on her bed and had been watching her intently as she readied herself for the trip back home.
"I could always beg my parents for another week." She said without looking at him.
"You would just be dragging this out longer, one week from now we would be right back here. You packing and me thinking of a way to make you stay."
"So I'm not the only one who's working on a plan to get me to stay?"
Fox shrugged, "I've been thinking about it for the last twenty-four hours. But you have to go back."
Dana sat down on the bed and lied down next to him, draping her arm over his chest and burying her face into the side of his. She kissed his ear softly and he wrapped his arms around her to hold her in place.
"You will write to me, won't you?"
"Everyday." He promised as he took hold of one of her hands and kissed each finger. "I'll write everyday and then send each letter to you at the end of the week. That way you know everything of what's happening here."
"I'll do the same." She closed her eyes and rested for a minute. "When do you come back home?"
"Christmas."
She groaned unhappily. "That so far away. Nine whole months."
"I bet you if we work on it from now until you left, you can have a little present waiting for me in nine months." He drew tiny circles on her flat and lean stomach with his finger. The grin on his face gave away that he was only kidding.
Dana slapped the side of his chest playfully. Had he been anyone else and she wouldn't have let a comment like that go, she might have even felt uncomfortable. But she was flattered that he was already thinking of a family life with her. Fox Mulder was allowed a great deal of liberties when it came to her, she allowed them all with no offense and no objection.
She loved this man. She loved his laugh. She loved all his quirks, especially his obsession with abusing textbooks. She loved his sarcasm and quick wit. She loved his brilliance. She was completely in love with him and it was breaking her heart to leave him.
"We can do this right?" she asked uncertainly. "We can keep this up without seeing each other until Christmas, right?"
"Yes." Fox nodded confidently. The way he looked at her, all of Dana's fears had suddenly subsided and she felt foolish for doubting him. "This can work Dana, we were meant to be together. I'm sure of it."
Dana nodded and kissed his lips.
The moment was broken when Maggie knocked on the door and rushed into the room. She looked down to the floor, clearly sorry she had interrupted a private moment, but then looked back to them.
"You two had better come and see this." She gestured to the hall behind them.
"What is it?" Dana sat up in bed.
"Phoebe."
Fox sprang to his feet and followed Maggie out with Dana closely behind. Out in the hallway students were huddled together. The three of them pushed through the crowd and found Grace kneeling on the floor. She looked up to Dana and Fox and shook her head.
"We're not sure when she did this. No one saw the one who brought them in, but I bet you anything it was her friends."
There in front of the stairwell were two plastic inflatable dolls, one male and the other female, positioned in a grotesque pornographic position. Both figures were sans clothing and their faces had been drawn in black marker to resemble a rather passionate and enraptured look. On the side of the female, which was lying parallel to the floor, the words "Fox's Bitch" had been written in a bold black marker. "Fox" was written on the back of the male in the same hand.
While even Fox and Dana found the prank extremely childish and funny, it was still a rather embarrassing sight. The students in the hallway began to laugh and gawk at the sight. Fox rubbed the side of his temples harshly. At first Dana thought it was from embarrassment but he was actually deep in thought. He then seemed to snap back into the present and instructed Dana to retrieve the instant camera from back in the dorm room.
Acting quickly, Dana ran back to the room and grabbed the camera and took two pictures of the scene before the others collected up the blow-up sculptures. Fox and Grace took the dolls to the bathroom where they were able to clean off the marker but left the dolls fully inflated.
"Why not just pop them? Throw them away?" Grace asked.
"Because, they might come in handy later." Dana said as she fanned the drying one-step pictures. She looked to Fox who gave her a devilish wink, she was already well aware of what was on his mind and she wanted in.
"She also might want them back," Fox quipped.
After the display in class the day before, Fox had warned Dana that Phoebe would behave like a spoiled child and do something to get back at her. Never in his wildest dreams had he pictured Phoebe stooping to such a low form of revenge, but he did admit that the stunt had been unmistakably Phoebe in its childish style. After warning Dana that something would happen, he was able to easily convince her that action must be taken against her. But if she were to strike first, immediate retaliation must be done. And just as foreseen, their opportunity had arrived.
Sensing there was a plot afoot, Maggie looked back and forth between the two of them curiously, already knowing full well that they had been scheming. "Is this something bad?"
Fox nodded.
"Something against Phoebe?" Grace asked.
Dana nodded.
"Can we help?" Maggie asked slowly.
Both Fox and Dana nodded.

* * *

Phoebe Green arrived into the dining hall alone and took a seat next to one of the large and massive windows that opened out into the courtyard. She was feeling mighty proud of herself for what she had arranged in Fox's dorm. She heard many of the tenants whisper and talk about it, the news of the prank had spread rapidly across campus within a few hours. Phoebe didn't dare take open responsibility for it; it was enough for her to know that both Fox and Dana knew exactly who the exhibit had come from. She only hoped now that someone as young and ignorant as Dana would have learned her lesion.
_It doesn't really matter,_ she thought to herself. _She's going home soon. Fox will be left all alone here and soon forget about her._
She wouldn't have dared to presume that he would come crawling back to her, especially after the way he had acted the night before. He had been extremely rude, she was fairly certain that he was not going to come back to her. not right away at least.
Along with feeling very proud of herself, she was also feeling very satisfied. She had been, once again, successful in having another encounter with her new beau. He was older than she was, true, but not by much. He was a graduate student and spent a lot of time in classes and at work; she was only able to meet with him twice a week at most. But when they did get together, she would swear that the earth shook. This current object of her affection was the reason for her temporary uninterested in Fox Mulder. She could wait for him; she had someone else to keep her amused in the meantime.
Today's encounter happened to bring them to the large student lounge on the first floor of her dorm building. Normally closed for students in the afternoons, the janitor had foolishly forgotten to lock it the hall when she and her playmate had the sudden urge to do something naughty. This time the grand pool table best suited their needs.
Aside from this being the first time she had had sex in an open area, where the danger of discovery was much more prominent, they had been noisy. Several times they had to stop and hold their breath as they listened to footsteps approaching and then passing the door to the hall. She was sure that she would be found out; she had already been publicly humiliated by a high school girl, she was not going to allow it to happen again. Yet their passions lead them to continue. As they both reached their noisiest point, she momentarily did not care if she would be found out or not. Instead they carried on and then made a hasty retreat from the room.
At the moment, she felt rather wicked. She had done two naughty things that day.
As she quietly sat slurping her soup, she didn't seem to notice the odd sounds coming from the other side of the room. Not at first. There was a low groaning sound, more like a manly grunt. It was so low that no one in the cafeteria noticed at first. It could have easily been mistaken for a passing motor or the sounds of all the students in the dining hall talking all at once.
The grunting got louder.
Some of the students were taking notice now. The grunting was very controlled, not painful, more like a pleasant and passionate grunting. Some of the woman started to giggle, instantly recognizing what the sound could be. More students started to listen as the grunting got even louder and was now accompanied with a female counterpart.
The whole dining hall was quiet now; the students had stopped their discussions and were intently listening to the phantom groans shared by a man and a woman. The womanly grunts then turned into squeals.
Phoebe stopped eating and started to listen now.
It was quite clear now that the sounds were of a man and a woman having very passionate and noisy sex. But where was it coming from? Who were these two phantom lovers?
It wasn't until the woman started screaming and calling out dirty thoughts that Phoebe suddenly recognized that those were _her_ screams and that was _her_ voice.
She frantically looked around the room, to see if anyone else had recognized her voice. The others were too distracted and were now looking around to find the source of the recorded lovers at play.
Some students got up and wandered around the room, lifting up table cloths for a hidden tape recorder. It could be under any table or chair within the room. Phoebe joined them. Her identity had not yet been discovered. She was getting more and more nervous with each passing moment, her stomach growing tighter and tighter, her heart racing and thumping in her ear. She was terribly embarrassed. Panic rose within her and was getting stronger and stronger. Nausea had set in. Her face must have turned three different shades of red, each new one a darker and fuller hue than the previous shade.
The noises were at their loudest now. Phoebe and the unidentified companion were clearly reaching climax as Phoebe's husky and short breathed voice spewed more and more dirty words. Several of the faculty members, who had been dining in the hall along with the students, had joined in the hunt of the origin of the charismatic and embarrassing recordings.
The male voice then shouted out above the noise, his voice filling the entire dining hall, echoing and reverberating off the walls in the open dinning hall.
"Oh. _Phoebe_!" he shouted.
Her whole body tensed, all the muscles tightened in that very instant. Her face was a bright crimson that covered everything from the tip of her head down below her neck line and beyond. She held her breath, for a moment all she could hear was the beating of her pulse in her ears. Then and enormous roar of laugher broke out all around her; she could see their laughing faces turn towards her and point. In that very instant they had put one and one together and could identify her voice, saying those horribly dirty and inappropriate things, from the unfound recording to her own. She felt as if the wooden floor had suddenly turned into wet cement, sucking her feet in and rising to the level of her ankles then instantly drying. She was stuck, she couldn't move. There was no safe place to make a hasty retreat, not this time.
It got only worse when the discovery was finally made under one of the tables towards one of the exits. There the large tape recorder was found near the foot of one of the inflatable dolls, the very same dolls she had so successfully displayed for all to see in the dorm which Fox and Dana both shared. The male was in back facing forward towards the crowd. The female doll too was facing forward with her back up against the chest of the male doll. The female's face had been marked to appear that her eyes were closed and her mouth was wide open. She sat with her legs bent and pulled up close to her plastic breasts; the space between the inner thighs spread grotesquely apart, a position that would have revealed too much had the doll been made of flesh and blood.
The male on the recording screamed out the name again and it was at this moment that Phoebe could see her name scrawled across the plastic flesh of the female dolls exposed upper torso.
Collecting her strength, she commanded that her legs move and she slowly backed up from the scene as the laugher and taunting continued. She turned around to come face to face with Dr. Blackner, his face too was flushed and reddened but for a different reason, the man was laughing so hard that tears were trickling down his face. Phoebe then bolted from the dining hall and retreated towards her room. Leaving the pornographic scene and the boisterous laughter far behind.

There was no one there at the residence hall and she was grateful to be left alone at such a vulnerable moment. That had to have been the worst and most embarrassing moment in her entire life. She took a deep breath as she climbed the stairs to her dorm on the third story. She was resolved not to cry, she was shaking too much to do anything else, but she wasn't going to cry. The humiliation was so great that she knew that she was never to be looked at the same the rest of her days at Oxford. She would have better luck putting in for a transfer than to ever find a way to earn the respect of her peers again. Not that she ever _had_ that respect to begin with.
She finally came to her door when she noticed a small white index card taped to her door. She looked around, half-expecting the culprit to be there watching her.
No one was there.
She was alone.
She took the note in hand and read it quickly, expecting that it would contain an admission of guilt or some kind of boastful confession for the humiliation she had just suffered in the dining hall. It was neither.
"Phoebe, I thank you for your contributions to my stress relief experiments. I was deeply touched that you were willing to help me in this new endeavor. I'm pleased to hear that there are no hard feelings and I thank you again for your donations. Sincerely, F. Mulder."
Phoebe read the note once. Then a second time. She stared at her front door and then back at the note.
_Contributions?_ Phoebe was completely lost.
The momentary confusion was enough to distract her while she opened the door to her room and turn on the lights. She was still re-reading the note while she closed the door. She then realized that the room was extremely cold. She looked over to find the windows open and the cold night air rushing in.
It was then that she saw it.
Her _walls_.
All four of her walls were completely covered from ceiling to floor. Even her desk, bed and nightstand were completely covered. There was not a spot in the room that had not been covered by a piece of paper with the same six black and white cells on a page.
A shaking hand reached over and took one of those pages from the top of her desk and saw that each of the six cells were black and white photo copies pictures. The first two were two different angles of the scene she had previously arranged to be displayed in their hallway earlier that afternoon. The next one was of her and a young man locked in a rather passionate embrace. The following two photographs were graphic pictures of the sexual encounter she and her new beau had shared in the student lounge just hours before.
It suddenly flashed on Phoebe that the recording heard in the dining hall was of the two of them. She could have brought criminal charges against Fox and Dana, as well as their two helpers, had it not been for the last photograph. The picture was simply of the man she was currently seeing, except this picture was not like the others. The others had been taken with an instant camera. This picture had been removed from the current faculty registration book. The young man in the photograph was wearing a suit and tie and a pair of glasses. Underneath the picture was the printed name, "Professor Arthur J. Maxwell, Dean of Student Affairs."
Phoebe's head slumped forward heavily, she was beat.
Fox had won.
Out of the corner of her eye she spotted something she hadn't before. The wall opposite her bed, which was also completely covered with these black and white photocopies, but in the middle, written in large, bold and red letters was the proud American phrase: "Don't tread on me." And it was signed, "Fox's Bitch."
Phoebe closed her eyes; she was completely defeated by this elaborate scene. She walked over to the windows and shut them. Upon first seeing the windows open, she wondered whether or not she had closed them before leaving for the dining hall. She was sure now that they had been closed. Just one more present to add to this evening's never ending horror show.
Beginning to clean up the room, she first removed all of the papers scattered on her desk and picked up the index card that Fox had left for her.
Quickly looking back to her desk she realized that all of her textbooks were missing as well as all of her class notes, folders and homework. She gasped with sudden surprise. Could this night get any worse?

* * *

Fox and Dana sat snuggling together near a small pond miles away from the campus. He had taken the four of them out to dinner in celebration of a job well done. They had planted the recorder and the dolls in the dining hall, instructed Fox's roommate to gradually turn up the volume and then leave the hall once the recorder reach its maximum volume. Immediately after Phoebe had left to go to dinner, the four of them were able to sneak into her room with the key they had lifted from the dorm's RA. Fox knew that time was short as the recording was scheduled to go off a full half- hour after she went down to dinner. With that in mind the four of them worked quickly to cover all the walls as well as the fixtures and left the note for on the wall. Grace had then opened all the windows and they walked out the door where Fox left the note for her to find.
Knowing full well that despite all their hard work and original plan to reap vengeance on their common enemy, they would not be able to witness it first hand. Although it was unfortunate, they decided that they could all easily live with the aftermath of the incident, piled into Fox's car and drove out to find a quite pub off the college campus where they could enjoy their last night together in peace.
All of Phoebe's textbooks, notes and assignments lay at his feet in a sack he had brought with them. This was the most elaborate thing he had ever done since living on the campus at Oxford. He was quite proud of himself. He was even more proud of having done this with Dana's help. Now she sat close to him, hugging him close as they listened to the quiet sounds of the night.
"She'll try to get us back for that." Grace said breaking the silence.
"Maybe," Maggie shrugged. "But if she was paying close enough attention to those pictures, she knows that it could be a pretty messy scandal if it ever got out."
"Would she get expelled for that?" Dana asked.
"Definitely, she would also never be able to get into Scotland Yard. There would be no way they could take her." Fox chuckled devilishly.
"I think you should report it to someone anyway, it's so vile." Grace shivered.
Fox smiled, "I might want to hold onto this for a while."
"How long have they been together?" Dana asked.
"Not too long. He was one of the guys she had been seeing on the side when she was with me. I think they just met a little while before I left her." Fox sighed. "I was a fool to even think she was remotely human."
"Consider this your chance to make amends," Dana kissed him.
"How are you two going to keep this up? When you return to the States, I mean." Grace sat up.
"We'll just have to take it one step at a time." Dana shrugged. "It won't be easy but what we have is stronger than what any ocean could divide."
Dana gave Fox a squeeze after she quoted him.
"Whoever told you that is a foolish dreamer," Maggie shook her head. "Get your head out of the clouds, Fox."
"I think I'm right." Fox said firmly.
"I think he is too." Dana agreed.
"_Two_ dreamers," Grace sighed. "You're perfect for each other then."
Silence again as they relaxed and listened to the night sounds. Dana kissed his cheek and picked up the sack full of Phoebe's books.
"What are we to do with these?" she asked shuffling through them.
"I was hoping," Fox sat up and took a few of the books out of the sack. "That maybe you and I could have one last flight together."
Fox stood up and Dana smiled at him, she took his hand and allowed him to bring her to her feet. Grace and Maggie got up as well and they each took up a book. In the dark before them, they could hear the bullfrog croak and heard a splash of water. They knew that a watery mass was before them. No one seemed to move at first except for Fox who took a step back, wound his back tightly and then flung the book out in front of him. He waited for a moment and then heard a reassuring splash. The book had met a watery grave.
He turned to Dana who instantly did the same and waited to hear the splash of water. He turned around to Grace and Maggie and gave them the proper instruction.
"Just wind up and let 'em _fly_, ladies. It's easier than it looks."
Maggie went first and let the Physics books go out into the pond, the following splash gave her positive feedback that she had done it correctly. Grace then was the next and heard the splash as well and felt proud of herself. Each reached in the sack to reload and fired off another round together in the dark.

* * *

Fox held Dana's hand as they stood at the departure gate at Heathrow Airport. Her heart had shattered. Grace and Maggie stood at a distance to the let the two of them say good-by privately. Their farewells had already been said.
Dana dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him closely. "I love you."
"I love you too." He whispered back to her. "I'll come visit you at Christmas."
She knew that he would keep his promise, she just wished that they could see each other sooner. Nine months was too far away. They hugged tighter and her flight was called to board. She pulled away slightly and kissed his lips.
"You going to be okay?" he asked softly.
"Not at first," she shook her head. "But I promise you, I will write to you. Everyday. Just like we said."
"I know you will, I promise to do the same." He nodded.
"Are you going to be okay?" she asked in a gentle and tender tone.
"After a while," he nodded. "It will be all right. You'll see."
"What about Phoebe?"
"She's transferring, my roommate told me this morning. We have nothing to worry about."
They approached the gate hand in hand. Dana was taking one more step closer to home.
"Just one thing remains," he gestured to Grace and Maggie. "What do I tell them? About us, I mean. About that night."
Dana laughed. "They still after you about it?" Fox shrugged. "You could always tell them the truth."
"The truth is a good thing," he nodded, looking down to his shoes.
"But it's still none of their business."
"That's even better than telling them the truth."
Dana leaned in and lifted his chin. She gave him one final kiss and embrace.
"I love you, just remember that when you cross that ocean."
Dana nodded, promising she would.
They then let go of each other's hands and she walked to the boarding gate. Her ticket was handed over and she looked back at the three of them, one last wave and she was gone.
Fox, Grace and Maggie moved over to the large window and watched the plane depart from the gate. They stood there for a long while until they saw her plane take off and head back towards America. Fox's heart sunk a little lower in his chest, he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to handle this.
"She's gone." Maggie said softly.
"Yes, she is." Fox nodded.
"You can tell us now, right?" Grace said trying to brighten the mood.
"Nothing happened that you need to know about." Fox said without looking at her, he was still watching the plane shrink into a tiny speck off in the distance.
"You're still not talking, are you?" Grace shook her head.
"It just wouldn't be fair, Dana's gone."
"Being respectful of her feelings even in her absence," Maggie smiled. "Behold the last of a dying breed, a true life gentleman."
"Do you find that so hard to believe? I'm not one to kiss and tell," Fox shook his head and looked over to them. "Not this one. This one's much more important to me."
"How so?" Maggie asked.
"Because she's different than anyone I have ever met. I want this one to last."
"How can you do that when she's all the way across that ocean?" Grace asked softly.
"I don't know," Fox shook his head and looked back out the window. "It will. I know it will."

* * *

Later that evening, Fox sat quietly in his room reading through his assignments and finishing one of his psychology papers. That same day he had also witnessed the departure of Phoebe Green who had dropped out for the rest of the semester. More accurately, she had been _expelled_ when some rather graphic photographs of herself and the now ex-Dean of Student Affairs had been turned into the Headmaster's office. The photos had been sent in a plain, unmarked envelope and the matter was quickly dealt with. Fox didn't even send his regrets or say good-by to her when she came into to see him that afternoon. He didn't even answer his door to let her in.
A knock came from the door and Grace entered.
"Finishing your work?"
"Just this class, I'm moving onto English next." He nodded.
"You might need this," she held out his copy of Shakespearean plays. "You left it in my room."
Fox nodded. "Maggie already asleep?"
"No," Grace shook her head. "She still has some work to do. Are we on for lunch tomorrow?"
"Yes," Fox nodded and looked at his watch. "I'll meet you around one."
Grace nodded and then left him alone to his work.
Fox finished his paper and moved on to his reading assignment in _Henry V_. He picked up the book and flung it to the wall behind him; it hit the wall and he was surprised when something flew out of the book. The book itself landed to an open page in front of him on the desk. On the floor laid the foreign object that had been hiding in his book. He got up and moved over to pick up it up and found it was a picture. It was one of the pictures that Dana had taken of the two inflatable dolls. In the picture he could clearly see Phoebe's writings on both dolls; it was still a horrible and terribly funny thing to see. He then smiled as he read the note she had added to the picture:
"See you at Christmas."

* * *

Only one more chapter left, the story's not through yet. Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter. Please feel free to review this one and stay tuned for the final chapter.