Scully had gone to her bedroom to put on some pajamas. As she stood in front of the mirror with her towel on, it dawned on her that Mulder had seen her naked in the bathroom. He had seen her naked and yet he had remained a perfect gentleman not taking advantage of the situation like most men would have. And he had told her that he loved her! She still couldn't believe he had admitted that. Normally, it seemed to be the woman who would say it first and the man would just basically cower in a corner. But this time it was the complete opposite; she was the one cowering instead of Mulder. And to be honest, she wasn't truly sure what she was so afraid of either. It wasn't that she hadn't thought of Mulder as more than a friend, she had. Many a lonely night had been spent in fantasyland about her partner but she would never admit it to him. Hell, she had a hard enough time admitting it to herself much less Mulder. The small kiss they had shared had been nice though. At least she had found out what she had been missing in that category. Fox "Spooky" Mulder could definitely kiss and she would have to tell her female agent friend Mandie that she was right on her suspicions. Wait, why would she tell Mandie that Fox Mulder was a good kisser? She would ask why and then she would have to tell her how she knew! Oh, that was the LAST thing she needed right now!

She removed the towel and stared at her naked body. It was true that she was petite but her body looked even thinner than usual. She had scars on her both from Jeremy's cuts and her surgery. If any man stared at her naked body now he would run! And now she couldn't help but wonder if Mulder had seen these marks as well. He couldn't have otherwise he wouldn't have admitted his love for her. For who could love someone who looked like a tic tac toe board? And that was the other reason she was afraid to admit her love for him. Tell him you love him, and then he sees your scars and changes his mind leaving you with your heart ripped open. It was true that Jeremy had left his mark on her now and she belonged to him even in death. Had Mulder approached her with his feelings before her traumatic experience with Jeremy, she might have had a different answer for him. But she knew now her life would never be the same. For now she felt like a wild filly that had just been broken in by rough hands. And her spirit just like that wild filly's had been broken as well. Jeremy had claimed her as his own.

"Scully!" Came Mulder's voice from the living room. "The pizza is here!"

She turned toward the closed bedroom door. "Ok, I'll…I'll be right there!" She called back. "I belong to him." She whispered before putting on her underwear and pajamas. "Even in death he has claimed me."

As Scully was turned away from the mirror, an apparition slowly appeared and began to take the form of Jeremy. His hand reached through the mirror and toward Scully's neck. His fingers were almost directly around her windpipe.

"Scully?" Mulder asked as he knocked on her door loudly. "You fall asleep in there or something?"

Scully quickly stepped away from the mirror just as the unseen fingers began to contort around her neck. She opened the bedroom door. "No, I didn't fall asleep. It just took me some time to get dressed in my pajamas. I'm sorry if I wasn't on your time schedule."

Mulder grinned. "Hey, I was just kidding around. I just didn't want the pizza to get cold."

"Oh, I should have known you were more concerned about the pizza getting cold instead of my well being." She smirked before putting on her robe and walking out of the bedroom.

Mulder walked after her. "Hey, I'm concerned for your well being too!"

The hands went back into the mirror. "Patience, patience." Jeremy whispered before he let out a laugh and disappeared again.

Scully stopped as she saw all the lights were out. The only thing giving off light were the candles placed around the room. "Oh, Mulder."

"Do you like it? I thought it might uh add something unique to our pizza dinner."

She glanced at the settings on the coffee table. "I want you to know I normally insist on eating at the dining room table."

"I'm sorry. I thought it might be nice to eat in front of the fireplace. Besides, I figured after your bath you might need to warm up a little."

Scully gave him a look. "Uh-huh."

"I did!" Mulder replied as he tried to look innocent. He cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together. "Anyway, let's eat, I'm starving!" He helped escort Scully to the couch.

"Wow, candle light, pizza and an escort to my couch? Not even my mother has done this much for me." Scully replied as she sat down.

"You mean your mother isn't attracted to you, Scully?" Mulder asked sarcastically as he took a seat next to her. He took a piece of veggie pizza and put it on a plate in front of her. "Here you go. Oh, oh and I added something special to the soda too."

"Dare I ask?" She asked as she put a napkin on her lap.

"Let's just say I found your bottle of rum in the cupboard."

"Mulder! That's MY cupboard!" Scully replied looking at him. "Were I normally in this situation I would kick your ass!" She watched as Mulder flinched. "But under the circumstances, thank you."

Mulder let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I just thought we could both use it, that's all." He raised his glass. "Should we make a toast?"

"Sure. Why not?" Scully answered as she raised her glass. "How about….to new beginnings?"

"Sounds good to me. Oh and the best damn pizza ever!" Mulder added before clinking his glass with hers.

Scully took a sip of her drink and made a face. "Damn, Mulder! How much rum did you put in here anyway?"

"Too much?"

"Too much? It feels like my mouth is on fire!"

"Ah, but that's the best kind, Scully." He took a sip of his drink. "Oh, yeah! Now THAT'S a rum and Coke!"

"Mulder, are you trying to get me drunk?"

Mulder nearly choked on his next sip. "Drunk?You? Why Scully, I'm surprised you would think such a thing! I'm insulted!" He paused. "I wouldn't make it that obvious."

She playfully hit him in the shoulder. "Yeah, well it takes a lot to get me drunk anyway."

"Really?" Mulder asked with an intrigued voice. "Well, that's a theory we'll have to put to test sometime. But first things first." He picked up a slice of pizza. "I want to know what happened to you in those bathrooms."

Scully sighed. Leave it to Mulder to ruin a perfectly good mood. "Mulder, do we have to?"

"Hey, you promised me that you would. And besides, Scully I want to make certain that whatever happened to you doesn't again." He took another bite of his pizza.

"All right. But I want you to know this may sound crazy."

Mulder let out a laugh. "Scully, this is ME you are talking to! Nothing you are going to tell me will sound crazy, believe me." He picked up his Coke. "So tell me what happened?"

"Well…I was standing in the bathroom getting dressed and…I was having flashbacks of what had happened to me. I was….looking at all the scars on my body and remembering where they came from. And then this….this draft came from no where."

Mulder looked at her as he continued to alternate between his pizza and Coke. "Go on."

Scully took a bite of her pizza. "I told myself that it was over and then….I heard this voice."

"What did it say?"

"It said do you really think so my sweet, Dana?" She swallowed. "I said it was all just in my head and related it to trauma. Then…the voice asked if it missed me and said that it had come back to finish what it had started. It told me to look in the mirror…"

Mulder was practically on the edge of his seat. "And what did you see?"

"I saw…I saw…" She took a breath. "I saw Jeremy…laughing at me."

"In the mirror?"

She nodded. "That's why I fainted."

Mulder's mind was already teeming with ideas but he wasn't about to share them with Scully just yet. "And what about here?"

"Well…I was in the bathroom in front of the mirror just kind of…thinking about things and then it started to crack like I told you. And then it just shattered."

"And what about the bathtub?"

"Well, I was lying back and…" She of course couldn't tell him what she was REALLY thinking about in that instance. Yeah, tell him you were fantasizing about him giving you a sponge bath! "Relaxing." She finished. "When I heard a voice say Little Red and it asked me if I wanted to go for a dip? And then…the next thing I knew my legs were pulled out from under me and I was pushed under the water."

"You actually felt yourself being pulled and pushed?" Mulder asked before taking another drink of his Coke.

"Yes. It…it literally felt as if there was a hand holding me down. And I could hear this laughing…."

Mulder folded his hands. "And that's what happened?"

She nodded. "Everything that happened was just in my head, Mulder. I have been through a lot you know." She took another sip of her drink and a bite of pizza.

"That is true, Scully." He took a bite of pizza. "Now, you want to know what I think?"

"I'm almost afraid to ask but..yes."

"Ok, here goes. Based on what you told me earlier about your experience with Jeremy, he called you Little Red, right?"

"Yes."

"And based on the draft you felt, the cracked mirror and your feeling like you were being held down in the bathtub…"

Scully put up a hand. "Wait. Are you trying to tell me that was the ghost of Jeremy?"

"You see, you are like me, Scully."

Scully shook her head. "Oh, no, no. I am NOT going to believe this!" She slowly rose from her seat.

"Scully, wait." Mulder stood up from his seat. "Just listen to me, ok?"

"You're trying to tell me that I'm being haunted by the ghost of a serial killer, Mulder! Do you know how crazy that sounds?"

"Scully, everything you experienced and described in those scenarios fits the profile for spirit activity. The draft, the cracking of the mirror, you seeing his face and hearing his voice. You can't deny that happened to you. You just admitted it to me."

"I told you I thought it was all in my head, Mulder! I never said that I believed it was a ghost!"

"I know you don't believe that but will you just hear me out?" Mulder placed his hands on her shoulders. "Whatever this is has threatened your life, Scully. Whether it is a ghost or just some kind of strange energy it needs to be stopped. Even if you created this somehow like you think you did, it needs to be stopped before it succeeds in killing you. You were almost killed. You admit that right?"

"Yes."

"And I'm assuming you don't want to die?"

Scully glared at him. "What kind of question is that?"

"I just want to make certain you are clarifying all this before I move further."

"And just what do you propose then?"

"I know someone who deals with ghostly experiences."

"Do they have a proton backpack and go around trapping ghosts?" She asked sarcastically.

"Scully, I'm being serious. I know someone who can look into this. They can…evaluate it and then decide what to do."

"So…what we have to go see him?"

Mulder smiled as he pulled away from her. "Actually it's a HER and no we don't go see her. She comes to us."

"Since when do you know about female researchers in the paranormal, Mulder?" Scully asked as she crossed her arms.

"Hey, now I do occasionally have a life." He sighed. "I met her in a chat room, all right?"

Scully giggled. "You met her in an internet chat room? What was her ID? Sweet and Sassy?"

"Not THAT kind of chat room!" Mulder answered as he stepped away from her. "Give me some credit will ya? It was in a paranormal chat room."

"Ok, then….Spooky Sweet and Sassy." She noticed Mulder's temper flaring. "Ok, ok I'm sorry. You have to admit though that is what most of those chat rooms are."

"Yeah, well this one wasn't. Anyway we chatted and I found out that she did research on ghosts. She knows quite a bit actually. I've been wanting to go with her on a project but…well you know how busy I am."

"Oh that I do."

"Anyway, she gave me her number and told me to contact her anytime. I'm sure she would come over here and check things out."

"What's her name?"

"Her name?"

"Well, you had to at least get her name in these chats right?"

"Oh, yeah. Here name is Isabelle."

"Isabelle? Sounds like she should be a dancing gypsy or something."

Mulder sighed. "Look, don't make fun all right? She's….nice and very insightful. Hell, she even knows more things than I do."

"Imagine that."

"Look, Scully I don't want to screw around with this. Whatever this is has almost killed you. The last thing I want to do is wait around and see if it does." He walked over and took her hand. "So, will you let me call her?"

"Well…ok."

"Good."

"But can you do it in the morning or something? No offense Mulder but a ghost hunter is the LAST thing I want to deal with tonight. And besides…" She placed her hand on the side of his face. "I've got my protector for the night. And I don't plan to be alone."

Mulder swallowed. He could literally feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead "Uh….sure. Why…why don't we finish our dinner huh?" He quickly walked back to the couch and took his seat. "So….how about those Chicago Bears huh?" He knew he had to distract his mind as much from Scully as possible.

Scully sat in her seat and looked over at him. "Remember when I told you it took a lot to get me drunk and you wanted to test that theory of yours?"

Mulder looked back at her. "Uhhhh….yeah."

"It looks like you're getting your answer now." She replied leaning toward him.

"Scully, are you drunk?"

The next thing he knew Scully's lips were on his neck and she was kissing it. "Does it matter?"

Mulder took in deep breaths and closed his eyes as she explored his neck. "Uhhh…yeah. I…I think it does." He swallowed. It was obvious he had put WAY too much rum in Scully's Diet Coke. "Scully, I…I don't think this is such a good idea."

Scully pulled her head back and looked at him."Why not? You wanted to test your theory right?" She placed her lips near his. "Well now is your chance."

"I…" His words were then cut off as Scully took his lips in a fiery kiss.