He desperately wanted to throw the phone out the window. He could watch it disintegrate against the concrete and see its inside spill ceremoniously over the cold ground like his were trying to do inside of him. Maybe if he reversed the car over it a few times, he would feel a little better. He was sure Scully wouldn't mind if he threw himself under the wheel right now. He was an arse. That smug little devil had jumped off his shoulder leaving him with an angel standing their hanging her head in shame. Not wanting to risk another cell phone bill he thumped the undeserving steering wheel instead and then buried his heavy head against it. A sharp wrap on the window startled him and he looked up to see a woman peering through the glass. She wore black, square framed glasses usually reserved for fantasies of librarians and School teachers.
"Agent Mulder?" Her voice was slightly muted by the thick glass. "Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, give me a minute." If only a minute would help him. What he wouldn't give to lose the last nine. It's happened before, why couldn't it happen when it was most convenient?
He patted down his chest and waist mentally checking off his badge, wallet and gun. In his business these were the essentials required for meeting someone new. Dr Stevens had stepped away from his door giving him room to get out of the car. "Are the bodies inside?" He asked as a way of an introduction.
"Ah yeah." She had her hand out stretched in preparation of a handshake. He looked from her hand to her face and found her smiling brightly. Of course she just happens to be one of those overtly happy types, he realised. That is just what he needed right now. As if his morning could get any worse. Cautiously he took her hand taking a cursory scan up and down as he did. She was tall, almost meeting his eye and slim. She wore long black silk pants that sat low on her hips, flat soled shoes and a button up, floral patterned silk blouse that was tucked tidily into her pants. Her skin was sun kissed tan accompanied with a spatter of freckles over her nose and cheeks. Her hair was sandy blonde and extremely long if the giant bun that sat on top of her head was anything to go by. "I'm Cat." She announced proudly, still grinning wildly.
He didn't smile back instead dropped her hand and moved towards his boot to collect his bag. "Fox Mulder."
"Hi Fox, nice to meet you."
His head popped out from the now open boot "Actually, I prefer Agent Mulder."
"Really? Well I much prefer Fox." She replied, walking back towards the open door of the morgue. He watched her disappear back into the building, gathered his bag and slammed the boot of his rental harder than necessary. Lucky he was used to strong minded woman he thought and a small smile stretched his tight lips as he followed her into the building.
The morgue consisted of one big room divided into three parts by half-wall petitions. One third was a small lab, the second was where the autopsies were performed and the third was the refrigerators for the bodies. He noted there was only room for two. Dr Stevens – Cat was standing in the middle third between two metal slabs with body shaped white sheets on top of them. "If you insist on calling me Fox, I may have to call you Yusuf."
Her hands went to her hips, although she didn't appear offended. "You won't be the first."
He gave a genuine smile then "I'm curious, why Cat? Why not Kate or Catherine or Dr Stevens for that matter? Surely your overpriced education has given you the right to be called that."
"My parents were hippies, Fox. I was born in a hippy commune underneath the birthing tree, my father strumming 'moon shadow' on his guitar. I'm lucky actually, if it wasn't for my mother insisting on calling me Cat, my father would have named me 'moonshadow'"
Mulder chuffed a short laugh, he was surprisingly intrigued by someone who, like him, had been given an unfortunate name and yet unlike him, wore it proudly.
"I'm proud of my name it represents where I came from. I was born amongst nature and that fuelled a passion to understand it. That's why I became a biologist." She eyed him curiously through her thick frames. "What about you there has to be a story behind that name? Do you have American Indian ancestors, Fox?"
He laughed outwardly then "Not even close, just parents with an unusual sense of humour."
She pulled back the sheets then to reveal the two men pulled out of the ocean that morning. An over powering smell of sea life and decay hit Mulder with such a force his hand quickly shot up to cover his mouth and nose. The smell of death he was somewhat accustomed to, but as a sufferer of significant sea sickness the smell of the ocean/death combination was proving to be more than he could handle.
Cat looked concerned "I'm sorry, Fox. I thought you would be used to seeing things like this."
"No, no that's ok, I am." He waved his free hand at her "It's just that smell, God what is that?"
Cat pulled the sheets completely away from the bodies "Sargassum Muticum Wireweed."
Mulder was careful to hold his hand to his face but took a few steps closer to the middle of the room. His eyes wide in the wonder of finding something new and unusual, he could see straight away why she thought to call him. Each man was naked, their bodies tangled in, what appeared to the layman's eye, a thick red seaweed. The arms and legs were intricately bound together by the deep red weed and long leafed limbs extended up their arms and legs like a vine climbing a tree.
Cat's eyes were volleying between Mulder and the bodies as he circled each body bending down to examine them at different times. She was patiently awaiting him to offer her some explanation but he appeared much more shocked than she had expected him to be. He was currently examining the large abrasion that spread across the torso of one of the bodies.
"What do you think caused this?" He pointed along the straight edge of the reddened wound now soggy and yellowing from being soaked in sea water.
Cat moved to stand directly beside him. "I think that was made from some sort of sea creature. This one has the same mark on his back." She pointed to the other body sitting on the slab.
The smell had dulled a little for Mulder, allowing him to uncover his face again. "What do you think happened to these men?" He always liked to hear a rational person try and explain the bizarre evidence before he threw his spooky theory out into the wind.
"Well, the most obvious theory is that these men were bound by the weed and then thrown in to the ocean. The reason I called you is this weed, while it is a common species of Sargassum it is non-existent in the waters that surround this bay. Its reproductive cycle is very rapid." She pointed to the wrists of one of the victims. "The weed used for the shackles is older than this weed that extends up their limbs. This tells me it has been sitting in the water growing over the last few days. The part that puzzles me is if these bodies had been sitting at the bottom of our bay growing this weed for the past few days. Given the rapid reproduction of this particular species of Sargassum and its ability to overpopulate an ocean space in the matter of a few hours, I'm left wondering why we can't find any evidence of it along the shore line."
Mulder shook his head Marine Biology was never listed under his fields of expertise.
"And then there is this." Cat moved to the head of the autopsy table grabbing a metal spatula looking tool off the table as she passed. Mulder intrigued moved closer to her and peered over her shoulder as she hunched over the first victims face and began prying open his mouth. The same weed spread over his arms and legs now crept out of his mouth like a giant tarantula coming out of its hole in the ground. She looked to Mulder for explanation. "It appears to extend down his oesophagus." Mulder shook his head in disbelief. "I've never seen a seaweed act like this, Fox. I just can't formulate an explanation for the sheriff that makes any sense." She wished he would jump up and offer something that resembled an explanation. Perhaps the fact that maybe he had seen something like this before instead of just standing there looking the bodies up and down with his hand covering his face again.
"Have we confirmed the ID?" He asked instead.
"Yes, this is James Harvey the groom and Ben Stottle his best man. We will need family to formally identify them but I've seen the pictures. These are definitely the two sailors that went missing, Fox."
"Wrap 'em up, Yusuf."
She didn't look impressed.
"If you insist on calling me Fox, I'll have to resort to calling you Yusuf. You tell people in this town that Cat and Fox are on the case and you may as well call me Yosemite Sam" He offered in way of an explanation.
"Yosemite what?"
Mulder looked genuinely shocked "Your parents never put you in front of television did they?"
"I was home schooled. We played music, read poetry and sang. Much more entertaining and beneficial to developing the human mind than anything I have seen on television as an adult."
"Heston?"
"Gazuntite."
"Albert Finney, Charlie Chaplin, Marlin Brando?" He tried. She was still looking at him like he was speaking in tongues "Al Pacino?"
Finally she looked like she understood "Wait. Is he the guy from 'Titanic'?"
"You might just be one of the strangest people I have ever met. Trust me, Cat, coming from me that means a lot."
"Fine, Fox, can we get back to these bodies please. What do I do with them once they are wrapped up?"
"Wrap 'em up to go and put a Washington sticker on them. My partner at the F.B.I will perform the autopsy's and maybe help you out with a better explanation than Davey Jones's Locker."
"Ok. That sounds good." She started to cover the bodies with the sheets again. She was just about finished when it occurred to her how unusual it was that he was here alone. "Wait, if she is your partner why didn't she come with you?"
"Uh. She has a medical condition." God, that sounded lame in his head. "Just temporary." He was ridiculous "She is off field work at the moment, light duties. You know until she…" He was stuck on how to finish that sentence. They never talked about what happens after that.
Cat looked a little green "Gosh Fox, what's wrong with her?"
"No, nothing like that, it's not serious or anything. She's um, well she's pregnant."
"Well that's exciting. Gee Fox I may not be a 'medical' Doctor but the last time I looked 'pregnant' didn't come under the 'medical conditions' category."
He smiled awkwardly really just wanting to change the subject. "I thought that maybe you could go back down to where the bodies were found."
"Ok, I'll get the sheriff to bring the families in this morning. Confirm the ID's before I send them to your partner. Then I'll go back to the Bay. I'd like to get some samples. If I do find evidence of this Sargassum in these waters, I can't stress enough how badly that can affect the ecosystem of a small bay like this."
"Great, that sounds important." Mulder replied, trying to think of a way to subtly push his own agenda. "Hey while you are there, see if you can find any evidence of what could have made those laceration marks on the victims."
"I did look at those. Your partner will have to examine them a bit more closely when she does the autopsy but my preliminary conclusion is that those marks were made by a large fish. Most likely an Eel."
"An Eel. Ok I'm thinking more like a mermaid."
"Excuse me, did you say Mermaid?"
"The only surviving sailor on board that boat says he saw Mermaids swim up to the vessel and lure these two men into the water."
Cat laughed a good hearty laugh that made tears drop on the lens of her glasses. "Mermaids! Fox *you* may be the strangest person I have ever met. Oh and trust me where I come from, *that* is really saying something." She threw his words back at him.
"This place doesn't seem to be the kind where you would find a lot of Eels is it?"
She composed herself a little "It would be unusual for an Eel but far more plausable than seeing a mermaid sitting on the rocks."
He smiled at her then turned to leave. "Oh baby, baby it's a wild world." He half sung, half yelled as he walked out the door.
"Ok anytime you are ready to quit the Cat Stevens jokes is fine with me." She yelled to his back. She figured he didn't or wouldn't hear her and huffed. A smile broke out across her face. What had she stumbled into?
Mulder threw his overnight bag onto the large hotel bed and breathed in the sea air. The advantage of being in a town like 'Sunset bay' is there were no crappy hotels. You only had a choice of two and both held five stars. His large glass sliding doors opened onto a small balcony that held a table and deck chairs made for two. He closed his eyes and breathed in deep. The sounds of the ocean surrounded him, seagulls squawking, waves crashing against the rocks and lapping against the shore. This might just be paradise and how typical it was that this time he was here alone. He turned his back on the beautiful scene in front of him and dug inside his pockets for his phone. The screen showed what he expected to find anyway: no missed calls. He pushed the contacts icon and scanned through A's B's he got to R's before he chickened out again and returned his phone to his pocket. A shower and breakfast he decided would be needed before anymore confrontations this morning so he shuffled out of his sneakers and shirt and went looking for a bathroom. He had spent many years as a field agent in little hotels around this fine country. He was a seasoned hotel bathroom user. He knew where to find the mould and the cockroach bait. Well, there would be no cockroaches or mildew in this case. The bathroom was almost the size of the bedroom. His first thought was of Scully how she would love this place. There was a large porcelain bathtub with four golden clawed feet, his and her basins and a shower with two water heads. He could almost hear the crystal sparkles bounce off the glass around him. Not wanting to waste any time he scrambled out of his pants, socks and boxers while simultaneously turning the faucet that activated both shower heads. Steam immediately started filling the bathroom; he was just about to step in when there was a knock on the door. He looked between the shower and the door a few times contemplating whether or not he could get away with pretending he didn't hear it when whoever it was knocked even louder. His shoulders slumped with disappointment, they weren't going anywhere. Hastily he picked up his jeans pushing one leg in then hopping as he tried to maintain momentum and balance while getting the other leg into the trousers. He was at the door by the time he was up to zipping the fly so he left the top button and pulled it open.
Cat seemed to pale almost instantly when he opened the door making him wish he had checked to see who it was before he answered half undressed.
"Fox!" She exclaimed seeming shocked. Why couldn't she get her eyes to lift to his face? They were fixated on his bellybutton suddenly far too fascinated at watching his hands slip that little button through its loop. "I'm sorry" she stumbled 'look up, look up, look up' her brain was instructing her eyes but they just weren't paying attention. 'up, up look up Cat!' They made it to the centre of his chest. "I um just wanted to ah." Why had she come here again?
"Sorry Dr Stevens, I was just getting in the shower, let me get a shirt." He went to turn.
"No!"
He turned back slowly a little confused, why did he suddenly feel incredibly uncomfortable.
"Sorry, I won't stay long." She finally looked him in the eye "I just need your partners name so I can send these bodies to Quantico."
"Oh right, sorry here I'll write it down for you."
He seemed to walk in slow motion as he turned his back to her then bent down to scribble on a note pad sitting on the small table beside his giant bed. Her head tilted a little of its own accord, soaking up the view. When he ripped the piece of paper from the pad her head snapped back up again. She adjusted her glasses on her nose and focused on the piece of folded paper he was handing to her, blushing furiously. "Thanks"
He closed the door without saying goodbye and all she wanted to do was crawl under a giant rock down on that beautiful beach and hide from him forever. She unpeeled the folded up piece of paper "Special Agent Dana Scully" she read out loud then shuffled back to her own room.
###
Mulder was finishing the knot on his tie when his phone rang. He didn't recognise the number on the caller ID. "Mulder"
'Agent Mulder, this is John Winter. I'm the Sheriff who arranged for Dr Stevens to take a look at these bodies that washed up on the beach last night. I believe she has involved you and the F.B.I in this case, something about your expertise in unusual phenomena?'
"Yes Sheriff. I was hoping to speak with the surviving sailor today. Can you tell me where I might find him?"
'Well that's what I am ringing to tell you Agent, I don't think your services are needed any longer. I know the information you received was spouting nonsense about mermaids but it turns out this man was suffering from Decompression Sickness. He fell unconscious this morning after a significant seizure. They had to take him East for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. I'm afraid his original statement is sounding more and more ridiculous by the minute and more than likely delusional ramblings.'
Deep lines formed between Mulders brows. "I'm sorry Sheriff, are you no longer treating these deaths as suspicious?"
'Well with no evidence of anyone else on the boat and such an unreliable statement from the only witness it is starting to look as though this was a diving accident rather than sailors being pulled off their boats and drowning.' The good Sheriff sounded confident.
"And the seaweed?" Mulder pushed.
'Yeah, they must have got tangled up.'
"So Sheriff your explanation is what? That three men boarded a boat, stripped naked and went deep sea diving to unfortunately be meticulously shackled by sea weed that doesn't even exist in your waters."
'It was a bucks party, Agent Mulder.'
Why did people keep offering that as a valid explanation? "Thanks for the information Sheriff, I think I'll stick around for a while longer. I was just heading to your office I'll see you soon." He disconnected the call and headed out the door.
He never expected a warm welcome from local authority, frankly he didn't care for tea and cake, just co-operation so at least the Sheriff and Deputy of Sunset Bay were extending him that courtesy. He had been allocated a windowless office, he suspected the worst in this building, but it had a desk with a swivel chair and even a computer and phone; everything he needed. He had the files of the three men open on his desk. James Harvey, Ben Stottle and Aaron Dun. All Caucasian, all early thirties, all lawyers. They had attended the same law school together, each qualifying top of their class and had obviously become good friends as they opened their own law firm together as soon as they passed the bar exam. They were all 'upper class' American citizens with fathers who were lawyers or judges and mothers who could afford to shop at Prada. Ben and Aaron were married and James was engaged to be married in a little over a month. None of them were from this area or had family or property in the bay but had flown in for the weekend for James' bucks party. Mulder wondered what the appeal of this area for a bucks party was given that there didn't seem to be much of a night life. That he had passed anyway. Unless they came for the seafood and beach? He didn't buy it something was missing but as expected when a lawyer is found dead and tangled in seaweed most of the information, including their movements over the evening, had been removed by their lawyers.
The door to his office opened and the smell of coffee followed the sound of woman's heels tapping the hard wood floor. "They told me I'd find you in here."
He looked up and into a now familiar pair of black framed glasses.
"I thought you might like a coffee. I assumed you take it black." Cat smiled
"Thanks." He took the hot Styrofoam cup from one of her hands and blew over the top of it before taking a sip.
He went straight back to what he was working on, not giving her a second glance so she dragged a spare chair to sit next to him at the desk. "I spoke to your partner."
Mulder stopped suddenly, almost spilling his coffee when he turned to her. "You talked to Scully?"
"Yeah, not the warmest person is she?"
He smirked.
"I just wanted to make sure she had received the bodies and make sure they were still in the condition I sent them in and she nearly bit my head off."
He laughed a little then.
Cat didn't think it was funny "Apparently I sent them to the wrong place at Quantico. You know you are sitting there laughing but I got the impression you aren't really flavour of the month either."
That got his attention "Why? What did she say?"
"Oh, nothing specific. Just a sense I got when we spoke about you."
He picked his phone up and opened it again, still no missed calls. Scully really was letting him sweat this one.
Cat sipped on her hot coffee and had a peek at the files he was reading. "Did you find anything?"
He flicked a few of the pages in front of him then rested back into his chair. "No. Not that I have much to go on, most of it has been censored. I can't help but feel like we are missing a giant piece of this puzzle."
"Well, Fox, I found something in the water." She loved that he looked so pleased with her saying that. She smiled at him and sipped at her coffee again.
"Don't tell me you saw a mermaid, Yusuf."
"I told you to stop calling me that."
"I told you I will call you that if you call me Fox."
"But that's your name isn't it? You should be proud of your name, it suits you. The fox is a master manipulator with an agile mind and strong wit."
Mulder ran his hand over his face and wondered if he had become a magnet for difficult woman. "What did you find?"
"Well I took water samples from varying positions around the bay and luckily found no evidence of our nasty seaweed friend. I did however find more of those scales." He was looking impressed again. "I took them back to the morgue lab for a closer look and you were right. They weren't from an Eel, in fact they weren't from any sea creature I have seen before."
Mulder sat forward in his chair "Really?"
"Don't get too excited, I don't think they were your mermaids either."
"Then what were they?"
"They were organic but unusually they were mostly synthetic."
Mulder's face fell "Synthetic? What does that mean, manmade, fake?
"I don't know Fox. I bagged them and sent them to your partner. Hopefully she might be able to get something off them. Although, I wasn't looking forward to calling and asking her."
"I'll talk to Scully." He rubbed his hands over his face again. He caught her watching him. "Cat, do you know much about this town?"
"No this is the first time I have been here, I live in California."
"California? Why did they call you in then?"
"I don't honestly know. I assumed it was because I was experienced in working this kind of coast line and in all honesty I tend to deal with the same population of people."
"I'm just trying to work out why they came here for the bucks party. There doesn't seem to be many bars, just a few nice restaurants really."
"Maybe they were water sports enthusiasts. That would explain the diving right?"
"You've spoken to the Sheriff." He stated matter of factly.
"Yes." She looked unsure of herself.
"Did you believe his story?"
She exhaled loudly, adjusting the grasp on her coffee in a nervous twitch. "I assumed the men drowned. The autopsy report will shed a little light on that. But I found no evidence of diving equipment, although he did say there was diving equipment on the boat. But that weed, Fox. Someone tied that weed around their wrists and ankles of that I am certain. And why were they naked?"
Mulder looked at his watch "There are a few more hours of daylight left. I'm going to see if I can have a look at that boat." He stood gathering his jacket from the back of his chair and hooking it with a finger over his shoulder. "Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?"
Cat stood from her own chair, trying to hide the little flutter of excitement in the prospect of spending the rest of the afternoon investigating with him. "No, I'm free until we hear back from your partner."
"Could you do me a favour?"
"I'm all yours." She adjusted her glasses unnecessarily.
"Could you ask around a few local shops and restaurants? See if you can find out why our groom wanted to spend the last of his bachelor days here with his best buddies in tow."
She suddenly felt flushed again, she had misjudged him. He didn't want to spend the afternoon with her after all "Ah sure. Yeah. Of course I can." She was nodding too much, her glasses definitely didn't need adjusting again but she did that anyway.
"Great thanks. I'll call Scully. Something tells me she isn't in a hurry to call me."
"Ok, we'll catch up later. I'm staying in the same hotel as you, two doors down in number nine. "She watched him leave before gathering up their half full coffee cups and followed behind him.
It was 8.00pm. She couldn't possibly still be working. She was definitely making him sweat this one out. She still wasn't answering her phone. He was sitting with his back against the head board on his very large, very comfortable hotel bed flicking through the hundreds of channels he had at his disposal. Not really paying attention to what was flashing past the millisecond he held on each one before flicking to the next. Without removing his jabbing finger from the up arrow on the remote he looked back over at his phone sitting on the little bureau next to him. "Dammit" he traded the remote for the phone again. He needed to talk to her, he needed to know what she found on those bodies. He pushed redial heavily into the receiver. She was going to talk to him whether she liked it or not. This was crazy she couldn't do this, it was unprofessional and…. and…
'Scully.' She finally answered.
"I'm an arse." He could hear every heart beat pounding in his chest as he waited for her to reply.
'Keep talking.'
"I'm a huge arse."
'Finally we agree on something.'
He smiled a genuine smile, laughing softly into the phone and the angel on his shoulder adjusted her halo. "I wish you were here. You should see this place Scully, it's beautiful." He heard a deep sigh on the other end of the phone. He wasn't off the hook yet. "Did you like the stiff I sent you?" She chuffed and his confidence built a little. She was always a sucker for his sly innuendo.
'It's definitely the most impressive 'stiff' I have seen this week'
"Ouch Scully. Ok I may have deserved that." He heard her soft laugh again. "Did you find anything?"
'Well, yes, actually. You may be a lot of things but in this case you were right. You have definitely found an X-File.' He didn't answer for a long time. 'Mulder?'
"I'm sorry, Scully. I'm still stuck on the part where you said I was right."
'Do you really think it is wise to be smug right now?'
"Sorry, carry on please. So I was right and…"
'And, these men were definitely murdered. They didn't drown, however, as your Biologist suggested. Death by drowning is associated with hypoxia and water in the lungs. These men died from the exact opposite hyperoxia. Oxygen toxicity. The unusual thing is I did find traces of sea water in their lungs and that, combined with the sea weed suggests they were, in fact, under the water when they died. The weed tied around their wrists and ankles was definitely not accidental either. It was knotted meticulously to ensure it couldn't break and the weed of the shackles is much newer than the weed growing up their limbs, suggesting it continued to grow post mortem.'
"Oxygen toxicity is what the surviving sailor has just been diagnosed with. So that definitely makes sense. What about the funky stuff in their mouths, Scully?"
'That's where it gets interesting. It appears the weed was rammed down their oesophagus with enough seawater and excessive oxygen making it rapidly reproduce throughout his large intestine and back up his oesophagus.'
He swallowed uncomfortably "Gee Sully, What do you think happened to these guys?"
She exhaled. 'One hell of a bachelor party. They had both had sex right before they died.'
They were both quiet as each formulated a theory in their heads. He had spent the afternoon scanning the boat the trio had taken out that night. It had been found floating alone with its sole confused survivor, by a passing vessel who radioed the local coastguard to bring it ashore. Local law enforcement had gone over the small boat the best they could with the equipment they had available but unfortunately, as it was a hire vessel there were too many prints for them to figure out who was with the sailors right before they died. There was alcohol and cigars found and nothing else, no identification or belongings; not even the sailors discarded clothes. By the time Mulder got to see the boat it had already been cleaned and re-used by the hire company. Mulder had questioned the owner who had confirmed that all of the diving gear had been left untouched by the three men that night. They had hired the boat earlier that day, therefore no one saw them take it out that night and the company didn't ask where it was going to be taken just how long it would be gone for. He was starting to formulate a theory. "Too much oxygen will kill you, but just a little extra than the 21% we breathe in our atmosphere has a euphoric effect right?"
'Yeah, there are actually bars around that sell oxygen for exactly that reason.'
"The sheriff thinks these guys had a diving accident but the diving gear on their boat was untouched. So either they used their own gear and it's at the bottom of the bay or whoever killed them took the equipment with them. Maybe it was some kinky under water sex thing that went horribly wrong."
'I'd agree with you if it wasn't for the sargassum in their stomachs. Someone forced that seaweed down their oesophagus's and judging by the lack of injury in the oral cavity, it was placed there post mortem.'
"Who would do that Scully and why?"
'The easy answer is their spouses; these guys obviously weren't big on monogamy. A vengeful spouse is always a popular theory except that it's such an elaborate murder. I did the research on these guys, their wives didn't seem like the types to pull something like this off. Unless they hired someone?'
Mulder flicked the TV off so he could concentrate, adjusting himself higher against the head board. "I don't buy it Scully."
'What about your mermaids, Mulder?'
"That reminds me, the scales. Did you get them?"
'Yes I left them with the lab tech. Do you really think they were mermaid scales?' her voice was laced with sarcasm.
"I guess we'll find out tomorrow."
She sighed deeply again. With the TV now off the silence seemed has long as the distance between them. Mulder cleared his throat adjusting his position awkwardly again. "I shouldn't have left like that this morning. I should have woken you and told you where I was going."
'Was that an apology?'
He rubbed his hand down his face, he really didn't want to fight with her again.
'It's not just you and me anymore Mulder. When you leave, when you run off to chase God knows what without telling me. Without getting me involved its…' she faltered calming her tone again. 'it's not just you and me anymore.' She repeated.
"I know." He sat up on the edge of the bed and looked out over the darkened bay beyond his glass sliding doors. He suddenly needed some air so he stood and went out onto the balcony.
'I can hear the ocean.' She sounded calmer this time.
"I'd like to bring you back here someday. I'm having fantasies about seeing you in that giant tub in the bathroom. Put a few candles around the room, bubbles, champagne.."
'Champagne?'
"Maybe some sparking apple juice."
'Sounds wonderful.'
"Scully?" he whispered
"Yes."
"What are you wearing?"
'Well I have officially grown out of all my pyjamas and have resorted to wearing one of your old Knicks jerseys and my sexy new maternity underwear.'
A knock on the door saved him.
He hurried back through the room to pull open his hotel door. Cat was standing on his step looking mighty pleased with herself holding a large bright photograph up in her hand. "I found your mermaids!" She exclaimed.
'Mulder?' He heard Scully again and wondered how long she had been saying his name.
"I've got to go Scully. I'll call you back." He shoved the phone in his pocket freeing up his hands to snatch the glossy print Cat was holding up "What!?"
Continued in part 4