A/N: Okay. Sorry for the wait =D My weekend was spent catching up on sleep,
and Monday's are always hectic until the last moment. But as promised,
here's the next chapter. It's just a bit shorter then the others, I think,
but bear with me. School is evil, dang it!
Anyways! Before I forget - regarding the spelling comment, I should have pointed this out sooner. See, anything Mulder says is kinda excused for spelling, cuz I'm writing it as he'd speak it in his state [-cue one's English teacher screaming "Never write the way yew speak!"-] Right then! Sorry if that bothers anyone =) I know it may get a little annoying to read at times, but... ha? There may be other grammar and/or spelling mistakes, and those are totally my fault, so feel free to yell at me.
Also, I'd like to greatly thank yew all for reviewing! This means *so* much to me - I skip home each day and plant my ass on the computer, and actually check my mail first thing for any news on how my story's doing. And when I get a couple of reviews, it just really makes my day. I'm a geek, yeah. An insane one at that =) But I really love yah guys for it!
Some more notes at the end of the chapter, so without further raving, here yew go!
~~~~~~
5:48 AM
The first thing Dana Scully became aware of when she peeled her eyes open was the fact that she was not in her bed.
No. She was on the floor; in her apartment no doubt - the smell of the air was too familiar.
It was dark, and the steady pounding of rain, or maybe hail, was accompanied by the howling late winter wind outside.
Through an open door ahead of her, Scully could see into her dimly lit bedroom, informing her that she was located in the bathroom.
With a groan, she pushed herself into a sitting position and allowed her eyes to adjust to the soft darkness.
Slowly but surely, Scully began recalling what had gone on in the past 24 hours. As she muffled a yawn, her mind filed through the events that had led up to this uncomfortable sleeping arrangement.
As if on cue, something crashed in the living room - not the kind of sound that breaking a cup or plate would cause, but more so the cracking of wood - and her breath caught in her throat, almost causing the agent to choke.
Mulder.
~~~~~~
Scully had never, in her life, ran as fast as she did now.
Once the thought that her terribly drunk partner was not around, along with the destructive noises coming from her living room, had sunk in, she'd bolted out of the bathroom, through her bedroom, and into the main section of her small yet spacey apartment fearing the worst.
And she wasn't disappointed.
Through what little light spilled into the room from behind her, Scully could make out Mulder's shadowed form laying in the center of the living room, on what *use* to be her coffee table.
It didn't stop there. Oh no. Her living room looked as if a hurricane has blown by; books and papers cramming the floor, furniture shifted if not broken, and light flickering on and off from at least three broken lamps.
Hurricane Mulder. Sweeping one residence after another.
Although the thought was oddly amusing, at the moment, Scully felt like beating the crap out of her partner.
Instead, she found herself moving to his side to make sure he wasn't greatly injured. Once this was established, she'd get down to serious business of the painful kind.
"Mulder - what in god's name are yew doing?"
He blinked, looking up at her in a daze, before grinning widely.
"I dunno what 'god's name' is or how to get in it, but I found this," he struggled a bit before pulling out a 3/4ths empty wine bottle from the table rubble, "in your cooling box thing and figured I'd care for it before it fell into the wrong hands!"
Scully cursed - why hadn't she taped the fridge shut or something? Just when she'd thought Mulder would sober up a bit, he'd gone and found a way to add to the problem.
Typical. Just plain typical.
"How fortunate for the 'wrong hands.'" Scully rested a palm against her forehead, inhaling and exhaling deeply.
This was not a good day, and it could *not* get any worse.
And just to prove her wrong. A pair of strong knocks on the door broke the mutual silence, and Scully began to regret her hopeful theory on 'worst case scenarios'
"It's them!"
Her partner exclaimed fearfully before long, pushing himself off the cracked wood and scooting over to her; wine bottle in tow.
Scully sighed, resisting the urge to throw herself to the floor and kick and scream until she was satisfied.
Why was this happening to her? What had she done to deserve this? All she wanted was a good night's sleep.
"Them who, Mulder?"
She didn't know why she even bothered, but a portion of her mind wished this all to be some prank act. Maybe if she played along and kept him talking, Mulder would laugh it off and stop acting like an ass.
Of course, this was Mulder after all, and anything short of what hope would be a miracle.
"I'll never tell." His voice was almost sing-song, and it brought chills up and down her spine.
The door was forgotten for half a minute, as Scully simply started at her partner as if he'd completely lost it - which he clearly had.
Then, the knocks returned, another strong and demanding pair forcing the duo back to reality. Scully had expected, for a moment, that the policy 'ignore it and it'll go away' would work, but did it ever?
"Mulder. Just. stay put. Don't move. Don't do anything. Hear me?"
He shrugged, bringing the elegant glass bottle up to his eyelevel before closing in for another sip, seemingly unaware of what was going on.
"And gimme that!" She quickly snatched the wine from his grasp, seconds before his lips made contact with the glass. Mulder looked genuinely hurt, and proceeded to reach for his claimed prize, but a warning look from Scully quickly set him straight.
With another sigh, she rose to her feet and stepped over the remains of her coffee table, trailing through the junk dominating the floor and finally reaching the door as the knocking commenced again.
Scully smoothed out her silky nightwear, which had gained a wrinkle for every time its bearer had shifted position during the endless night, before slowly unbolting the door lock and reaching for the knob.
"Don't listen to them Scully! Stay away from the light!"
Mulder's sudden appearance beside her scared Scully half to death.
"Damn it. I told you to stay still! Now go, sit!"
With a stern look and a pointing finger, she urged him back toward the couch, which was still in relative shape.
Another sigh, and again, she turned to the door. The knocks had stopped, and suddenly, Scully found herself scanning the area for her gun. Just in case.
Luckily, she'd left it by her desk, within easy access. Now that she thought about it, she was more then happy that Mulder had not come across it.
Did he even have his gun on him? She made a mental note to make sure he was disarmed before figuring out what to do with him for the rest of the night.
All she needed was him to go off and shoot something, someone, or himself.
After another moment of thought, she walked back to the door and reached forward, swinging it open.
The last thing she was expecting to see was what stood before her.
The last thing she needed tonight had come.
And now, her day was complete.
~~~~~~
A/N: Teehee. Cliffhanger-ish? It really wasn't meant to be, but I was running out of time with school looming over my head tomorrow [I'm 16 dang it, and school still controls my life!] And I wanted to have this up for yew guys as promised, so yes. I hope yew're still with me, and as always, review and make me very happy! I'll try and have the next installment up by Friday, but no promises. Defiantly the weekend =) Thanks again for everything and have a good week, ya'll.
Anyways! Before I forget - regarding the spelling comment, I should have pointed this out sooner. See, anything Mulder says is kinda excused for spelling, cuz I'm writing it as he'd speak it in his state [-cue one's English teacher screaming "Never write the way yew speak!"-] Right then! Sorry if that bothers anyone =) I know it may get a little annoying to read at times, but... ha? There may be other grammar and/or spelling mistakes, and those are totally my fault, so feel free to yell at me.
Also, I'd like to greatly thank yew all for reviewing! This means *so* much to me - I skip home each day and plant my ass on the computer, and actually check my mail first thing for any news on how my story's doing. And when I get a couple of reviews, it just really makes my day. I'm a geek, yeah. An insane one at that =) But I really love yah guys for it!
Some more notes at the end of the chapter, so without further raving, here yew go!
~~~~~~
5:48 AM
The first thing Dana Scully became aware of when she peeled her eyes open was the fact that she was not in her bed.
No. She was on the floor; in her apartment no doubt - the smell of the air was too familiar.
It was dark, and the steady pounding of rain, or maybe hail, was accompanied by the howling late winter wind outside.
Through an open door ahead of her, Scully could see into her dimly lit bedroom, informing her that she was located in the bathroom.
With a groan, she pushed herself into a sitting position and allowed her eyes to adjust to the soft darkness.
Slowly but surely, Scully began recalling what had gone on in the past 24 hours. As she muffled a yawn, her mind filed through the events that had led up to this uncomfortable sleeping arrangement.
As if on cue, something crashed in the living room - not the kind of sound that breaking a cup or plate would cause, but more so the cracking of wood - and her breath caught in her throat, almost causing the agent to choke.
Mulder.
~~~~~~
Scully had never, in her life, ran as fast as she did now.
Once the thought that her terribly drunk partner was not around, along with the destructive noises coming from her living room, had sunk in, she'd bolted out of the bathroom, through her bedroom, and into the main section of her small yet spacey apartment fearing the worst.
And she wasn't disappointed.
Through what little light spilled into the room from behind her, Scully could make out Mulder's shadowed form laying in the center of the living room, on what *use* to be her coffee table.
It didn't stop there. Oh no. Her living room looked as if a hurricane has blown by; books and papers cramming the floor, furniture shifted if not broken, and light flickering on and off from at least three broken lamps.
Hurricane Mulder. Sweeping one residence after another.
Although the thought was oddly amusing, at the moment, Scully felt like beating the crap out of her partner.
Instead, she found herself moving to his side to make sure he wasn't greatly injured. Once this was established, she'd get down to serious business of the painful kind.
"Mulder - what in god's name are yew doing?"
He blinked, looking up at her in a daze, before grinning widely.
"I dunno what 'god's name' is or how to get in it, but I found this," he struggled a bit before pulling out a 3/4ths empty wine bottle from the table rubble, "in your cooling box thing and figured I'd care for it before it fell into the wrong hands!"
Scully cursed - why hadn't she taped the fridge shut or something? Just when she'd thought Mulder would sober up a bit, he'd gone and found a way to add to the problem.
Typical. Just plain typical.
"How fortunate for the 'wrong hands.'" Scully rested a palm against her forehead, inhaling and exhaling deeply.
This was not a good day, and it could *not* get any worse.
And just to prove her wrong. A pair of strong knocks on the door broke the mutual silence, and Scully began to regret her hopeful theory on 'worst case scenarios'
"It's them!"
Her partner exclaimed fearfully before long, pushing himself off the cracked wood and scooting over to her; wine bottle in tow.
Scully sighed, resisting the urge to throw herself to the floor and kick and scream until she was satisfied.
Why was this happening to her? What had she done to deserve this? All she wanted was a good night's sleep.
"Them who, Mulder?"
She didn't know why she even bothered, but a portion of her mind wished this all to be some prank act. Maybe if she played along and kept him talking, Mulder would laugh it off and stop acting like an ass.
Of course, this was Mulder after all, and anything short of what hope would be a miracle.
"I'll never tell." His voice was almost sing-song, and it brought chills up and down her spine.
The door was forgotten for half a minute, as Scully simply started at her partner as if he'd completely lost it - which he clearly had.
Then, the knocks returned, another strong and demanding pair forcing the duo back to reality. Scully had expected, for a moment, that the policy 'ignore it and it'll go away' would work, but did it ever?
"Mulder. Just. stay put. Don't move. Don't do anything. Hear me?"
He shrugged, bringing the elegant glass bottle up to his eyelevel before closing in for another sip, seemingly unaware of what was going on.
"And gimme that!" She quickly snatched the wine from his grasp, seconds before his lips made contact with the glass. Mulder looked genuinely hurt, and proceeded to reach for his claimed prize, but a warning look from Scully quickly set him straight.
With another sigh, she rose to her feet and stepped over the remains of her coffee table, trailing through the junk dominating the floor and finally reaching the door as the knocking commenced again.
Scully smoothed out her silky nightwear, which had gained a wrinkle for every time its bearer had shifted position during the endless night, before slowly unbolting the door lock and reaching for the knob.
"Don't listen to them Scully! Stay away from the light!"
Mulder's sudden appearance beside her scared Scully half to death.
"Damn it. I told you to stay still! Now go, sit!"
With a stern look and a pointing finger, she urged him back toward the couch, which was still in relative shape.
Another sigh, and again, she turned to the door. The knocks had stopped, and suddenly, Scully found herself scanning the area for her gun. Just in case.
Luckily, she'd left it by her desk, within easy access. Now that she thought about it, she was more then happy that Mulder had not come across it.
Did he even have his gun on him? She made a mental note to make sure he was disarmed before figuring out what to do with him for the rest of the night.
All she needed was him to go off and shoot something, someone, or himself.
After another moment of thought, she walked back to the door and reached forward, swinging it open.
The last thing she was expecting to see was what stood before her.
The last thing she needed tonight had come.
And now, her day was complete.
~~~~~~
A/N: Teehee. Cliffhanger-ish? It really wasn't meant to be, but I was running out of time with school looming over my head tomorrow [I'm 16 dang it, and school still controls my life!] And I wanted to have this up for yew guys as promised, so yes. I hope yew're still with me, and as always, review and make me very happy! I'll try and have the next installment up by Friday, but no promises. Defiantly the weekend =) Thanks again for everything and have a good week, ya'll.