Sunday, August 6

1010

Scully's Motel Room

Scully jerked awake, a fist clenched in her mouth so she wouldn't scream. Another nightmare. She was so sick of them, but there really wasn't anything she could do about it. She couldn't control her dreams as much as she wished she could.

She sighed and rolled over, glancing at the clock. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was ten ten. She had planned to be back to Hartsmith by now. Oh, well, she thought, closing her eyes. She was tired and not eager to face Mulder. A little more sleep couldn't hurt.

Sunday, August 6

1100

Mulder's Tent

Mulder was starting to get worried. Scully had said that she would meet him by his tent by ten, which was an hour ago. He had tried to call her, but he had forgotten to plug his cell phone in last night (big surprise, he thought bitterly), so he couldn't.

He briefly considered going into town and calling via a payphone but he didn't want to leave the tent incase Scully came back. He glanced at his cell phone but figured it needed another half-hour before he could call anyone. Of course, it was at that moment that it rang.

"Mulder," he answered, praying that if it was Scully, he would have enough battery power to find out where she was – and if she was talking to him at all.

"Hey. It's me," Scully said. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving now and I'll be back in about an hour and a half, maybe two hours, depending on the traffic."

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Scully laughed. "Yeah. I just overslept."

"Lucky you. I've been up since six." Mulder instantly realized how mean that came out and added, "I'm sorry. That didn't come out how I meant it to."

"It's alright" Scully replied. "I'm sorry you didn't sleep well. Were you at least able to fall asleep quickly?"

"Uhhh . . . Yeah, I did. Scully, I should go. The batteries on my cell phone are still recharging. I forgot to plug it back in last night."

"I guess you did fall asleep quickly. That's good. I'll see you in a few hours, ok?"

"Alright. Bye, Scully."

"'Bye, Mulder."

Sunday, August 6

1400

Delore's Office

"So what do you recommend we do?" Delore asked the two agents.

"Well, I'd say you should put everyone on watch for a green snake that looks like a vine," Scully said. "I'm not sure if there's anything more we can do. Of course, once you get a specimen, call us immediately."

"You're leaving?" Delore asked in surprise, raising an eyebrow.

"There really isn't anything else we can do here," Mulder said, echoing Scully's words. "You can always contact us Washington."

"Ok," Delore said. "We'll keep you updated."

"Thank you," Scully said. "And thank you for all the help you've given us."

"Anytime," Delore said.

Mulder and Scully took their briefcases, walked back to their rented car and began driving towards Phoenix where their flight would take them back to D.C.

"Well, that was interesting," Mulder commented.

"Yes," Scully said carefully, wondering if he was going to bring up the previous night. "I don't know if they'll ever catch all of the snakes, though. They are, after all, snakes."

"Yeah, but even if they got one, it would be amazing," Mulder replied. "A new species of snake – discovered by Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully."

Scully smiled. "And the good people of Hartsmith."

Mulder glanced at Scully for a second before turning back to the road. "About last night-"

"No. I don't want to talk about it," Scully snapped. "We already sorted it out."

"I know, but I don't know if you know that if you ever feel like you're ready, I'll be here."

"I did know that, actually."

"Good. Never forget it."

"I'm sure you won't let me."

"I promise never to bring it up again."

"Thank you." There were a few moments of silence before Scully said, "Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. Even if I can't be in a relationship right now, I do love you. And I don't want you to forget that."

Mulder tried to laugh, but it came out hollow and empty. "Oh, I don't think I will."

"And I want you to know it's nothing personal."

"Yes it is, Scully. It's as personal as you can get. You've been raped and now you can't trust me."

Scully turned to look at Mulder with something like horror. "No. No, that's not true. I do trust you. I trust you with my life."

"But not with your sex life."

Scully's eyes turned to fire. "You're not going to blame this on me. I've had enough people doing that already and I don't need it from you. Do you know how hard it was to share that sleeping bag with you, Mulder? Do you know how hard it is for me to let you touch me? And you can't possibly know how hard it was for me to say that I love you. I've done a lot for you, Mulder. More than I've done for anyone else, including myself, and I'm not going to let you blame Jonah Black raping me on me. That's not fair and I'm not going to let you."

Mulder glanced at Scully again, wishing he wasn't driving so he could really look at her. "I wasn't trying to. I was just telling you that it really hurts that you can't trust me."

"It hurts me more."

Mulder felt his insides cracking. She didn't trust him. She really didn't. She just said so. And if there was anything that he wanted more than her love was her trust. And he didn't have it. All because of a certain Jonah Black. "Scully? Do you know what prison Jonah Black is in?"

Scully looked at him suspiciously. "Yes, but I'm not going to tell you because I don't want you to get into trouble."

"You can't even trust me with the location of the person who raped you."

"No, I can't, because knowing your personality, you'd storm over there and beat the shit out of him. I personally wouldn't mind, but I don't want you sent to jail."

"Thanks, Scully. Thanks a lot."

"It's for your own well-being, Mulder."

"I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself."

"I know that."

"Then tell me where he is."

"Why?"

"So I can go beat the shit out of him."

"No, Mulder."