A/N: Firstly, sorry for the long time it took to update. I'm expecting the next chapters to come out more quickly.

Also, I wanted to get this chapter up relativly soon, but my beta is havinga busy week, so I apologize in advance if there are any mistakes in it. I will revise later if there are.

By the way, for plot purposes, I'm changing the location of the fictional town of Ashville to southern Georgia (you'll see why in this chapter).

Disclaimer:I don't own any characters from The X-Files. Also, lyrics are from "you and Me" by Lifehouse.


Chapter 2 - An All-too Familiar Description

"'Oh, it doesn't matter,' you said," Scully mocked, on the verge of growing very irritated. "'A nice, peaceful drive down the eat coast. We don't need to wait for a plane or anything,' you said. 'How far can Ashville be? Georgia is just two states away.'" Sighing dramatically, she glared at him.

Mulder returned her gaze sheepishly. "I had heard that driving down the coast was a beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime experience."

She snorted irritably. She really hated long drives and, though she was sure Mulder had good intentions, over six hours of driving later she couldn't help a bad mood. "Well, I think it's just a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a reason, Mulder."

"See, now I get that." He offered her an apologetic smile coupled with those sweet eyes that she had never been able to resist.

Involuntarily, she melted. "Watch the road," she barked, but her tone was lighter and inside she knew that she had already forgiven him. Why does he have to be so damn cute? she mused. It would be so much easier to stay angry at him that way.

Sensing the change in her attitude, Mulder all-out grinned. "Come on, Scully, we'll be there any minute now." Without thinking, he reached down and squeezed her hand.

He quickly looked over at her to see her reaction. She was smiling back at him, the anger of before completely gone. He didn't move his hand. Somehow, this felt right to him, near meant-to-be, despite all the obstacles.

He wished that he could tell her his feelings. He wanted her to know that he had loved her nearly since they first met. He wanted to express that despite everything the bureau said about agents' relationships he would be willing to take the risk for her. He wanted to explain how all other people seemed to fade away when she was near him, and it felt like it was just the two of them against the world, and that that was okay with him.

But he also knew he would never say any of those things. There was too big a chance that he would screw everything up. After all, he didn't know if she felt the same way.

She did.

The tension was beginning to grow thick in the car, but neither Mulder nor Scully were ready to move their hands. With her free hand, Scully switched on the radio.


All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right
I'm tripping on words
You've got my head spinning
I don't know where to go from here

Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you

The song's ridiculously appropriate lyrics rang through the car, causing both occupants to drift into thought. Almost unconsciously, the car pulled into a service station Finally, Mulder took a deep breath and began, "Um, Scully, I've been wanting to tell you something."

Scully looked up into his eyes. "Tell me what, Mulder?"

By this point, both their voices had dropped down to a near whisper.

"Scully, I…"

The mood was abruptly broken by the harsh ring of Scully's cell phone. Dragging her gaze away from her partner's, Scully snapped open her cell phone and lifted it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Honey!" It was Suzanne.

"I just had to call you. I had the most amazing experience. Remember how II was telling you about that dating service? Oh my God, you should have seen my date last night. He was so hot!"

"Well, that's nice," Scully said, trying unsuccessfully to muster up some interest in Suzanne's tale of the previous night.

Mulder tapped her. Scully prepared to hang up as she looked back expectantly at him, but whatever she had seen in his eyes before had vanished. "You want some soda?" he mouthed, motioning to the mini-mart.

She nodded, slightly disappointed. Nothing's ever going to happen here, is it? She thought darkly.

As Mulder left the car, she turned her attention back to Suzanne. She was still going on about her date.

Abruptly, she cut herself off. "You sound fascinated, dear. No, no, don't protest. I'll change the subject. Guess who I ran into this morning?"

"Who?"

"The scrumptious Lieutenant Varrick."

Scully blushed a little. "Oh, really? How was he?"

"He seemed great. He was asking for you, of course. You are so lucky. It is so obvious that he wants you, Dana." She paused, thoughtful. "Actually, I'd say that the fact that you already have a guy just makes him even more jealous to impress you and get you to go to him. He is totally jealous."

Scully couldn't help but smile a little. Lt Varrick had come unexpectedly into her life less than a week ago. She had met him at a party with a group of friends. He had been kind and attentive to all of them, most especially her. By the end of the night, he had become a part of their circle. Scully was a pretty modest woman, but even she could sense his deep interest in her, a feeling that she definitely returned.

That is not to say that she was in love with him, or even that she was under the illusion that she could ever fall in love with him. Scully was well aware of the fact that her heart belonged to her partner.

But it's not like that's going anywhere anytime soon, she reminded herself. Its impossible. I was overreacting to whatever he was going to say, he obviously just wants to be friends. He would have said something otherwise. Might as well have some fun. Lt Varrick would definitely be some fun.

Fighting down the guilt and hesitation that had risen up unbidden in her, she forced a smile and a laugh and replied, "Well, that's very interesting."

"Yeah. Lucky for you that you're breaking up with your current beau."

"Right." Scully had figured that the best way to get out of her thoughtless lie was to just tell Suzanne some story about how she and her "boyfriend" had lots of problems building up and that she was planning to break it off any day now.

"I keep forgetting that, despite your not-so-subtle interest in the wonderful Lt Varrick, you do have who you claim to be some exceptionally gorgeous boyfriend, no?"

Scully near groaned. Did I really say that? "Sure."

"Well, come on, then. Describe."

"Look, Suze, I really have to…"

"Oh, no. You are not getting out of it this time. Tell me about him now."

"Um, okay…" replied Scully, trying to rack her brain for a good-sounding description. Just describe the first good-looking guy who comes to your mind. Make her a little jealous. Take her down a peg; maybe, she is being extremely aggravating. Actually, she's always aggravating, but that's beside the point. Why do I so desperately want to be her friend again?

With a sigh, she silenced her inner dialogue and began a description. "Well, he's about six foot, with this adorable shortish floppy brown hair." She was working so hard to maintain a normal-sounding tone of voice that she barely heard what she was saying. "He has these deep, hazel eyes that you just melt into. He's the most handsome man I know."

Suzanne took a deep breath. "Oh, wow, Dana. Um, remind me. Why are you breaking up with him again?"

"Because he's not as serious about me as I am about him."

"Right. Well, I have to go, but I would strongly advise you to rethink, hon. See you around!"

"Bye."

Mulder returned, carrying the two sodas. Handing one to her, he started up the engine. Scully leaned back in her seat. "Two more hours of driving. Georgia seems endless, really."

"Actually, there's a change of plans. We're heading into the next town. It's called Rylant and I think that our killer struck there, which means that he's moving north. The cashier was telling me about it."

Scully was hesitant until they reached the crime scene, which was located down by a riverbank. Upon hearing all the details, the woman in her thirties, the blind date with one seemingly non-existent Roger Morris, and the presence of Neronge, it became apparent that this was the work of their killer.

As they began heading back to their car, Scully looked up at her partner. "How did you know that this would be the work of our guy, Mulder?"

He smiled. "Well, mainly because I am an infallible genius."

She playfully shoved him. He laughed and moved closer to her, resting his arm on her shoulder and leaning down to whisper jokingly in her ear, "There's a better reason, though. Don't tell anyone, cause I want to seem like a genius, but honestly, when I first heard the description, it was just a little too close for comfort, you know?"

Scully tried to meet the eyes of her strikingly attractive partner, but failed miserably.

I think that there's another description that was a little too close for comfort.


Next chapter: Scully has a dilemma and may have to enlist Mulder's help in a quite unusual scenario for her.

Please review and let me know what you think so far!