Mulder shoved his hands in his pockets as he made the short walk towards the crime scene. He thought about the dream he had last night. This time he had actually kissed her. It was weird for him because in his dreams he was Édouard and Scully was Léonie. So, to him, he kissed Scully in his dream last night. He didn't know exactly what all these dreams were about, but he knew that they were trying to tell him something. The only thing that he really wondered was if Scully was experiencing any weird dreams of her own. Mulder decided that he would ask her over lunch.
The sheriff and many of his officers were going over the crime scene by the time Mulder finally showed up. The body, thankfully, had been removed; however, the numerous blood stains remained.
"She was stabbed 13 times in the torso," Sheriff Clark informed Mulder.
He nodded, turning in a slow circle to take in the whole scene.
"Any suspects?" Mulder asked. "Now that it's thought that she knew her killer."
"Unfortunately, we don't have many leads. Almost everyone was at the mayor's dinner. All we have gathered is that she was clearly on her way out to join us," he explained.
"Okay," Mulder said as a delay to gather his thoughts. "He targets women between 25 and 35. They all have red hair. They are all, for the most part, single. And they live alone, which just makes them easier targets. Let's think about the profile of this... person," he used the word loosely.
"Well, he obviously has something against young redheaded women," the sheriff supplied.
"Yeah. He hates them. Think about the way he kills them. All in torturous ways. It's almost personal..." Mulder's mind was racing. He was trying to come up with more for this profile. "I think that he almost feels entitled to this."
"Entitled?" Sheriff Clark asked, clearly confused by Mulder's choice of words.
"It seems to me that he thinks his victims deserve to die."
Mulder met the scrutinizing gaze of the sheriff.
"I'm not even sure why I think that, but I do."
"Thanks, Agent Mulder... That's an odd opinion you have, but any opinion is better than none," Sheriff Clark told him, shrugging. "I'll let you look around a bit longer, then I'll take you to see Claire's body."
Mulder nodded. He walked around the small apartment, taking in all aspects of the room.
She definitely put up a fight, he thought, surveying the broken lamp, shattered glass table, and other askew objects and furniture.
He took another look at the shattered table. He noticed that among the glass from the table there were two broken drinking glasses. They blended in well.
Was she having drinks with her murderer?
"Hey!" Mulder got the attention of the sheriff and two officers. "Come look at this. Here are two drinking glasses. Maybe she did know her killer. Well enough to have drinks with him. Try to get some prints, if at all possible."
"Well spotted," the sheriff gave him a look of thanks.
"I'm sometimes useful as an FBI agent," he lightly joked.
"They'll take care of this," he referred to his officers. "Come with me."
Mulder shuddered slightly. Examining the body was Scully's area of expertise, not his. Usually dead bodies didn't bother him, but for some reason this case was getting to him. He didn't want to dead another dead redhead. Someone who could be Scully.
Sheriff Clark pulled back the sheet. Mulder could already tell that the attack was frantic rather than well planned and executed. There were some slash marks that probably were supposed to be additional stab wounds. Most of the wounds were located on the victim's abdomen, with a few to her sides and one to her chest.
"This may be a stupid question, but did she bleed to death?" Mulder asked the coroner.
"Actually, not a stupid question, he punctured her lungs and they filled up with blood. She drowned before she could bleed to death."
"Lovely," he said, repulsed."Okay, thank you. I don't really have any extra information. Agent Scully is the specialist when it comes to the victim's body."
"Are you sure?" the sheriff asked. "You don't see anything that could help us out?"
"No, nothing that I can see now. Maybe I can bring Agent Scully back with me later?"
"Sure," the coroner replied, covering up the body.
Mulder exited the the dark cold building and was welcomed by the warm sunlight of the town. He walked through the town square and entered the diner. Scully was already there, waiting for him.
"So?" she asked once he took his seat in the booth across from her.
"I found two drinking glasses at the crime scene. I definitely think that she knew him."
"Well that narrows it down!" she said sarcastically. "This is one of those towns where everyone knows everyone else."
"At least we know that it's most likely a local person and not a stranger doing this. So, technically, we already know who it is, but we just have to figure it out."
"Mulder. That makes no sense!" Scully laughed at him. "But I get what you're trying to say," she added.
"I knew you would," he said, giving her his best smile.
She rolled her eyes. "I know you too well..."
"Speaking of... I wanted to ask you something," he said, lowering his voice so only Scully could hear him.
"Yes?" she whispered back, leaning forward and smiling at this silliness.
"I've been having weird dreams. Have you been having weird dreams?"
The look that crossed her face and the fact that she sat back into the seat to stare at him better, told him that she had.
"What do you mean by weird?" she asked, trying to play off her previous reaction. She also wanted him to spill it first.
He beckoned for her to lean forward again. She obliged.
"Every night since we have been here I have had a dream where I'm some guy named Edward, or something, and I'm trying to solve a murder. I just thought that the stress of this case was getting to me, but now I think that there may be more to it than that."
"Like what?"
"I'm not sure yet. But I do think that my dreams are trying to tell me a story. They're trying to warn me of something."
"Don't be ridiculous, Mulder! They're just dreams!"
"Really? Then what have you been dreaming about? You've been the same person every night, haven't you? And I'm there, aren't I?"
Scully was quiet. He could tell that she was thinking, trying to rationalize things.
"I'm a dancer. Every night."
"Leonie?" he asked.
Scully gave him a peculiar look. "Yes..." she answered. "And, you are there. Well, once. You were in one dream."
"Edward?"
"Édouard," she corrected.
"Whatever. Scully, we have been having similar dreams. Does that not say something to you?"
"No. It creeps me out. I would like it if you would stay out of my dreams, thank you. I have to deal with you enough in real life!"
Mulder could tell that she was half joking, but she was half serious as well. He debated whether or not he should creep her out even more by telling her what he had dreamed last night. He couldn't resist.
"You know," he began, "I had another dream last night..."
"Yeah. Me too. What's your point?"
He could tell that she was uncomfortable with this topic. Probably because she couldn't rationalize it away.
"You- Leonie came to me- Édouard. You- she was no longer a dancer, but a singer, but she was worried. She told him that she thought that she was being sold to a rich man. He was scared. He kissed her..." Mulder summed up.
Scully sat there, staring at him. She looked thoughtful.
"So, basically, you're telling me that you had a dream where you kissed me?" she questioned.
"Uh... yeah. Basically."
"Uh-huh."
"But it's more than that. There's something going on that's important for us to know. What if it's a past life or something?"
"Mulder!" she exclaimed. He was frustrating her. She got up and quickly left the diner. He quickly followed her, giving an apologetic look at the waitress for them not actually ever ordering anything.
"Wait!" he easily caught up with her.
She turned on him. "Why does everything have to be some weird x-file to you? Why can't it just be a dream? A normal dream?"
"Because it's not normal, Scully!"
"You're not normal," she muttered.
"I'm just saying that maybe you should pay attention to your dreams. I really think that there's a reason for them. Please. Just be open to this. Please," he begged.
She sighed and sat down on a bench. He joined her.
"This is all too weird for me," she confessed. "These dreams. Now knowing that you're having them, too. Me, putting my life in danger."
Mulder took her hand. "Do you want to go home?"
"Yes. But I'm not going to. I'm not going to give up on these people. I do think that there is a reason for all of this. I'm here, in this town, for a reason. I'm just afraid of what that reason is."
"Don't be afraid. I'm here, with you, for a reason too."
"You believe that things are meant-to-be?" it was half a question and half a statement.
"Yeah. I have to believe something, don't I?" he said, smiling and nudged her with his arm.
She smiled faintly, but the smile quickly faded. She looked up into his eyes. "What if you're right? What if I'm meant to die here."
"Don't say that. You're not."
"You don't know that..."
Mulder wrapped his arms around her. Scully rested her head against his chest.
"If that's what you really think, then we should leave."
"No," she said stubbornly. "I think I'm just being ridiculous now. You're rubbing off on me."
He chuckled and shook his head. "It's all up to you. We'll leave if you want. We'll stay if you want. Whatever you want."
"Whatever I want?" she asked, looking up at him.
He looked down at her, "Yeah. Just please be nice to me. No more jumping off of cliffs."
"Let's go do something normal."
"Make-out?"
She punched him in the ribs.
"Ow! Sorry."
She decided to not verbally address that comment and changed the subject. "Want to see a movie? They have a movie theater here."
"Don't know. May have to get my broken ribs checked out."
"Stop it," she told him, getting to her feet. She pulled him up. "I didn't even hit you that hard. Though, now you know what will happen if you insist on making comments like that."
"Does me wanting to kiss you make you uncomfortable?" he said, grinning down at her.
"On second thought, a movie sounds like a bad idea!" she said and started to walk. He followed beside her.
Her ignoring his comments let him know the answer to his question. He was having too much fun making her feel uncomfortable to stop, at the risk of his ribs. Plus, it got their minds off of the darker situation around them.
"No, I like the idea of being in a dark movie theater with you. There probably won't be too many people in there..."
"Will you just stop it! I will hit you again," she warned.
He slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her against his side. He placed a kiss where her hairline met her forehead.
"That will do for me."
A/N: I'm going to set everyone straight on the dreams so there will be no confusion (though some confusion is good)- Mulder is Édouard and Scully is Léonie. Past life stuff. The dreams are important, some of it may seem like its filler, it's not. :) Now you know it's past life as a reader, but they don't as characters.