Chapter 4
That got his attention. He entangled us, smiled warmly at the ward and thanking him for his patience, then grabbed my hand and walked us out of the Pantheon. I felt him tugging so much at me, as we raced back to the hotel. Normally, that was a thirty minute walk, now we made it in twenty. I was out of breath when we reached the hotel entrance. He dragged me into the elevator, trying to catch his breath as well. Luckily, we were alone in the car.
"Dana" he started, looking at me wantonly. So I turned to him, before I was able to rationalize it, I kissed him again. This time with more urgency, demanding his passion. As an answer he pressed me against the elevator wall and let his hands glide to my buttocks. Oh god, I am in heaven! This is all I need right in this moment. He wanted to lift me, but was interrupted by the doors opening on our floor.
Pecking me quickly before releasing me a bit, still tugging at my hand. We wobbled out of the elevator doors and went to our room in the same pace as in the city. While he opened the door, I used the opportunity to let my hands glide over his firm and perfect behind. He growled and finished fumbling with the key card, nearly letting it fall. It was accelerating to know that I could affect him like that.
He grabbed my hand again and drew me into our room. Then he suddenly stopped. "Dana, if this is too fast, you have to tell me now. I will sleep on the floor or something. I don't want to rush you."
Darn! He always knows what to say in the right moment. This is so sweet giving me an out, but doesn't he realize that I want him as much as he wants me? "Fox, I cannot believe you are asking me this. Don't you get it? I am so helplessly in love with you, that I can't concentrate anymore on anything. God, you are so sexy. Don't make me handcuff you to the bed and have my way with you."
"Oh Dana, that won't be necessary. Jesus, I love you so much it hurts. Don't you know what you do to me when you say these things and sashay around in that beautiful dress? You are drop dead gorgeous. The stars above this city must be jealous watching you."
Now he got me. I think I'll pass out. I swoon. Dana Scully doesn't swoon. Am I in romantic movie? This can't be real.
As if reading my thoughts, he picked me up and sat me on the bed. Kissing me ferociously while pushing me back into that soft and cozy matrass. "I want you so badly." He whispered, gazing at me. Now I am lost in those hazel eyes of his. There is no going back now, not even when the consortium's devil himself would tear us apart.
In the dim light of our room, we undressed each other feverishly, kissing every revealed inch of skin. He tasted like salt, musk and pure Mulder. Mulder Essence. God, I love this man. Not being able to withhold this feeling, I let him know over and over again.
It was so freeing to finally tell him how I feel about him, acting on it like I always wanted to. He returned the favor as he slid the last piece of clothing from me.
Holding still for that moment we both have been waiting for the last five years, feeling time to stand still as we are regarding each other. Hands roaming over each other, finally reaching our most intimate parts. "Jesus, you're so wet." He husked against my face. Kissing me and removing his hand at the same time, he entered me.
Fox Mulder was inside me. I cannot believe this is happening. Overwhelmed by the sensation, I let my eyes slip shut, only being able to growl "Oh my god".
"Honey, look at me." he plead.
I opened my eyes and was dazzled with the feelings showing in his, passion, lust and deep deep love. "I want to see you. Don't hide." He said.
"Not anymore. Not ever." So I opened my eyes even when it was nearly impossible with those incredible sensations. We found a rhythm together that knocked the wind out of me. But who needs oxygen, when you have the love of your life giving himself over to you. Yes, that exactly narrows it down. We gave each other over to one another. We became one in every way. Our souls and bodies intertwined.
"I knew it was you." he whispered breathing hard. I knew exactly what he meant. Yes, I am your soulmate, Fox. Now and forever.
Urging him on with a twist of my hips, he sped up and I raised my legs near his shoulders. He was impossibly deep. God, I never felt that before. He must have felt my muscles clench in my thighs and tense in my uterus, because he was rotating his hips slightly, changing the angle of penetration and that was exactly what I needed. That tickling in my belly escalated to a full force orgasm, the most intense I ever had, hitting me suddenly. I grabbed his dick with my vaginal muscles, while the orgasm went on and on and on. It initiated his release simultaneously and with one last thrust he gushed into me. "Fuck." he yelled. "God, yes." I yelled back. I could feel his spasms subside slowly, also something I never experienced before. This so intense.
Stroking my sweaty hair out of my face, he panted with me. We tried to normalize our breathing and heart beats. He rolled to his side, taking me with him, still joined, not willing to end our connection just yet.
Reveling in this feeling we looked into each other's eyes. I didn't realize that I started crying till he told me so. "Oh Dana, what is it? Did I hurt you?" His voice dripping with guilt.
I needed to sooth and reassure him. "Christ, no Fox. That's not it. That was the best sex I ever had. Eventually being held by you, you saying that you love me, is indescribable, even unbelievable." I kissed him then sweetly and tenderly.
"Believe it then, because it's the truth. I love you." He said, cuddling close.
We were hit by exhaustion and the jetlag and fell asleep. His arm under my head, my cheek on his chest, our legs entwined. The last thing he did was to pull up the comforter and covering us. This was bliss.
Chapter 5
The morning after. October 10, 1997.
The sun peaked through the curtains, the sound of the traffic becoming a constant hum and I woke up with a content smile on my face. I realized where I was and with whom I was lying in bed with and what happened the night before. Mulder, my lover, was holding me, nuzzling my hair with his soft puffs of air in my neck. Body to body, soul to soul, he moved behind me, waking slowly.
"Hmmm. That's the best morning in my life." he said with his husk sexy voice.
"Really? How so?" I teased back, slowly opening my eyes and feeling him half-erect at my lower back.
"I never woke up before with the love of my life in my arms."
Wow, that whooshed the breath out of my lungs. He said that he loved me, also that he was in love with me, but not that. I slowly turned in his embrace, wanting to see it in his eyes if he really meant what he just said.
And he did. He was dead serious.
"Don't look so surprised. I thought you knew how I felt."
"Yes, I did. But you never said it aloud. Does that mean what I think it means?"
"Forever, Dana. Forever and always."
He kissed me and I sank into him again and he into me. Oh my god. This feels so damn good. Mulder in me and me in his soul. Feeling the love and passion at the same time, we sped up. "God, I can't last long, Dana. Please!" He was begging me. Oh yes. I took his hand between us, so that he could rub my clit while I was holding his hips. Laying side by side, can be hard work, but this was smooth. He hit the right spot and I shouted his name with expanding the "s"-sound in "Fox" in a hiss. That triggered him immediately and came inside me with force.
"Jesus, Fox. This was from outer space." Not noticing what I just said till he started to withdraw with laughter. He laughed really hard and I with him after realizing what line I just slipped.
"Oh…god… Dana. That… was… witty." I laughed so hard that my ears were ringing. He stroked my back to sooth me back. Then I realized that the ringing was Mulder's cell.
"Love, your phone is ringing." I said still chuckling.
Entangling himself from me he left the bed, naked, trying to find the ringing object in the puddle of clothes at the side of the bed. Finally finding it, he answered and meanwhile I went into the bathroom to shower.
"Oh hey, good morning Enzo." was the last I heard when I turned on the water in that huge shower stall. I soaped up my hair and suddenly felt a wave of cold air. Turning around, I rather felt then saw Mulder encircling my waist and kissing my back. "Ah, that was so obvious that you would do that. You're insatiable."
"I thought after yesterday and this morning, that I would have enough of the passion for you out of my system to concentrate, but I was so wrong. God, Dana, you make me a lovesick fool." During his little love speech he spread the lather in my hair all over my body in languid strokes. Then he approached my nipples, rubbing them between his thumb and forefinger. I gasped at the contact. He robbed me of coherent thought then. He turned me around, lifted me and didn't hesitate to let my body impale on his. "Jesus, Scully. You drive me crazy."
"And you me. God, don't stop, please." I was so lost on his strong solid liftings of my body. Thank god, he guided me through the stream of water first, or else I would be slippery like a fish.
Very quickly we reached the precipice again and fell deep into it. While he still was catching his breath, I tried to escape the dizziness with working on cleaning him, which he really appreciated.
Squeaky clean and properly sated we left the shower. I was full of energy, even if I should be tired after that workout. Maybe it hits me later, but for now, I reveled in my open love for this man in front of me.
"Fox, what did Enzo say?" I finally tried to get my head out of my heart and back to work, talking to him while we were dressing.
"He wanted us to meet him at a café near the Pantheon to get the case moving. One Sant' Eustachio Il Caffè. He said Romans always have a cup of coffee before they got into the day. I find that idea very appealing, don't you?"
Turning to him after finishing to dress in a green short blouse and a black business skirt, sans pantyhose, I said "Certainly, my love."
Suddenly he grabbed me, cupped my cheek and demanded "Say that again!"
"What? My love?" He kissed me fiercely. I had trouble breaking the kiss, mummering against his lips "Fox, we need to… stop this, or we won't get out… of this hotel room, ever."
"Doesn't that sound like a proposal, honey?" still unwilling to let me go. He pushed me against the wall next to the door and tried to devour me.
"Stop it. Oh…Fox…My love…Stop….We have…work to do." I really tried to get out of his grasp. Really. But those lips. Those hands. I already started panting and gushing. Then he loosened his grip on me. "Are you sure you want to get hit by reality so soon?" punctuating the question with another kiss.
"Ah, no. Not really. But we have to." Kissing him back, he cuddled my cheek. "Always the voice of reason, my love." He stopped then, looked into my eyes "I cannot believe I can say that to you and that you just said that to me."
"God, Fox, me neither. But we need to get some composure here, or Enzo will know right away when he sees us."
That made him laugh lightly while he let me go a bit. "He knows. Believe me. Why do you think did he recommend the restaurant yesterday? He sensed that in the car already, when we had that little spell hanging between us. Damn, I wanted to kiss you so much in the back of that car. You had that dreamy look in your eyes, the same as right now. Please, let me kiss you one last time, before we have to leave this bubble."
How could I deny him this when he said these wonderful things. He kissed me passionately and I kissed him right back, sucking on his tongue, making him groan and eager for the time we could get back into that dreamworld. Finally, I released him and he me.
Both sucking in a big gulp of air, we left our love nest and tried to slip into our FBI persona. We took a taxi to the café, knowing we would be way too late if we walked that distance.
In the café. October 10, 1997.
We saw Enzo right away sitting at one of the little round tables in front of the café's entrance. There were 10 tables in two rows, with two seats per table. He just asked one of the other customer's to borrow one chair and we settled on our respective wooden chairs in the bright and warming morning sunlight.
"Buongiorno. How was your first night in Roma?" Enzo asked with a smirk.
We both were blushing and grinning foolishly at the same time.
"Thanks. It was wonderful. The restaurant was really good that you told us about. The food was delicious as well as the view."
Enzo just grinned. "Happy to help. So I figure you got rid of your jetlag and ready to dive into the case?"
"Sure. Let's get it on. But before we do that, I would like it to keep our private things secret. A.D. Skinner doesn't need to know about that." Mulder added to my satisfaction.
"No problem. Your secret is safe with me. Don't worry. Besides, I don't think he minds the shift in your private life. Walter can be really discrete about these kind of things and he is very fond of both of you, as far as I can tell. He spoke very highly of you and your professionalism. We Italians don't bother with being partners in the job and in life, actually we like that very much. L'amore is all life is about."
With a fond nod towards him, we received our coffee and cornettos. I didn't realize what coffee that was until I tasted it. Oh my! That coffee was by far the best I ever had. Until this day I thought the best coffee was the most expensive from Starbucks. I was so so wrong. That coffee had the thickest crema I ever tasted. It even seemed that there was more crema in it then coffee. Mulder looked at me with the same surprised look I had. Enzo chuckled and explained.
"Your faces are exactly why I brought you here. This is the best coffee in Roma. The café has been owned by the same family for over 100 years and their recipe is such a secret, that they hide it behind the blinds around the machine, so that nobody could find out."
I took a short glance inside the small café that only had a counter that covered the whole space on three sides and the coffee machine was in the middle. You could only see the crown of the head of the barista and either side was covered by a screen. Odd, but that coffee was worth it. Amazing.
"Thank you so much for showing us. It's by far the best coffee I ever had. And the cornetto! Outstanding."
Enzo just smiled and we started to talk shop.
"Well, last night another murder happened. We found the corps in the gutters right behind the Palatine hill, where the Tiber flows and some the canalization ends into the river. Our forensic team was already there and tried to cover as much evidence as we can get, but there wasn't much. Walter mentioned that you knew how to pursue that, because you once were in contact with that kind of case?"
Mulder answered him. "Yes, we came across similar cases in Newark, New Jersey three years ago. We came across a creature that looked like a hybrid between a human and a worm or parasite. It was nearly as tall as me, had a white roughed up skin and a mouth full of parasite teeth as well as red eyes. Really creepy and dangerous. In the end we were only able to speculate about its origin. We found some traces to Russia near the Chernobyl site of the nuclear catastrophe. But we will never know for certain."
I took over from there, after he glanced at me. Silent communication still intact.
"The nuclear catastrophe might explain why this creature came to be. One of the survivors must have come in contact with that parasite and the nuclear downfall must have caused a fusion between the human DNA and the parasite's. I cannot say exactly how, but it must have turned that human body into the parasite through the change in the genome. Years after that catastrophe it grew into that creature Mulder and me call the flukeman. It nourishes from garbage in the sewers, but when it gets too big, it needs more protein to survive. That's why it looks for bigger prey, in this case humans. Three years ago we caught the creature but it could escape. So I never was able to examine it more closely. All knowledge was gathered at the crime scenes on the corpses. Typical are the huge bite marks on the backs or the torsos of the victims. In each wound I found saliva that showed DNA of humans as well as a parasite only existing in sewers. It nourishing from garbage. It lives in the water of the sewers, needs the darkness there to survive, which explains the whiteness or paleness of skin. It was fascinating to find equivalent traits in the flukeman. The saliva is toxic for human skin and enflames the bite area first by bacteria then spreads across the whole skin till the tissue looks like decomposition. The bite looks like a whole in the middle and four hooking spike marks around it on either edge. The host has symptoms like dizziness, mood swings and cold sweat. It also causes the growth of the actual parasite, a fluke or flatworm, which invades the body so that the host feels itchiness across the whole body, fever, strange taste in the mouth causing nausea, weakness and a severe cause of stomach pain. This pain comes from the parasite that feasts on the bile and the liver. Normally, one parasite wouldn't kill a healthy adult, but this parasite is so aggressive and maybe spreads larvae within the body, so that the host only has one choice either to die or to change so that both the host and the parasite can survive."
Enzo looks astounded by the details of my explanation. "Wow, agent Scully. This is amazing. Our pathologists here really need that information right away. They didn't came up with an explanation like that. What else did you find."
"Well, it seems to be sexless. It reproduces by mitosis and spreading larvae."
"Mhm. Larvae. We found them in some of the bodies. That might explain the increasing of victims." Enzo said with a frown.
"No it doesn't. On the one hand the larvae couldn't survive in the human body and on the other hand even if one of them grows fast enough there wouldn't be that hectic spree of prey. This is the piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit. It is like there is more than one flukeman. Not even our old big fluky could have feasted on so many in such a short time. Something is really wrong here." Mulder completed.
"So what do you have in mind how to pursue the case?"
I answered "We think it would be best, if I go straight to the pathology to find out more on the victims and Mulder wants to visit the crime scenes and needs an expert for help with the sewer systems of Rome."
"Sounds plausible, agents. I'll take you to the labs first and then Mulder and I go from scene to scene. But I have to say I am not really looking forward to going into the sewers."
Mulder just smirks. "Been there. Done that. Not fond of it either. But we have to do that to find out what really happened." Enzo shivered at the thought and grimaced his face in disgust. We paid and went to Enzo's car.
Chapter 6
The M.E.'s office in midtown Rome. October 10, 1997. 10.13 a.m.
We reached the pathology and Enzo guided me in and introduced me to the local M.E., Dr. Stephanie Rossi. She was as tall as me, had long black hair, extraordinary red glasses and was nearly 20 years older than me. She was very polite and nice and I thought we might get along quite well.
Before I joined her, Mulder asked me to talk to him outside for a minute. We stood there in the hallway in front of the pathology lab, me leaning against the wall, him standing very close in front of me and he looked at me with the cutest and goofiest smile he ever gave me. "What?" I asked him, blushing and smiling.
Then he leaned in even closer, putting one hand to the wall for support right next to my head, trapping me ever so slightly with his athletic body. I felt my stomach flutter and I let my eyes drift from his mouth to his bottom lip and back again. Seeing the memories of last night reflected in his eyes. Like reading my mind, he said with his raspy voice "I just wanted to say good bye properly."
He kissed me with all his passion, wanting to show me what I meant to him. I reflected his movements to show him right back how much I love him.
He pulled back a little, exhaling "See you later, honey." He tried to release me, but I stopped him. Holding him to me with one hand on his neck and the other around his waist under his jacket. I pulled him down and I spoke directly into his ear.
"I love it when you call me that, Fox." Oh my. I am so far gone. I put my hands on both of his cheeks and got teary when I looked into his gentle hazels. "Be cautious, will ya? I want to have you back in one piece and without fluky's bite mark. Understood?"
"Of course, honey." We kissed one last time with great tenderness and, letting our hands drift apart on the way, I floated back into the lab.
Enzo passed me, smirking, and left with Mulder.
Damn, how can I miss him already? I feel like a 16-year old who is in love for the very first time. Maybe that is exactly what it is. I am really in love for the first time. Never have I felt so much for a men. God, I really hope he will be back unharmed. I wouldn't stand it if he got hurt. I can't lose him, especially not now where we have a real future together. It feels strange not to be by his side and have his back. I hope Enzo can watch him, though.
Then Stefanie approached me and put me out of my thoughts.
"Dana, Enzo mentioned you had a case like that three years ago?" So I told her everything we discovered and how we investigated. Then we looked at all the victims. Some of them already had the fluke larvae spread in them. We sealed up the body bags under haphazard routine, so that it couldn't harm the personnel. I didn't recognize anything new till we had a look at the newest victim."
Stefanie pointed at the bite marks on the lower back of the victim and shifted the spotlight above the table so that it illuminated the area more clearly. "Look at those bite marks. What do you see?"
I leaned across the body, strapped on a latex glove and was inspecting it precisely. "How?...There are even two bitemarks one bigger than the other and the smaller right within the bigger. That doesn't make any sense."
Stephanie interrupted me and made me look closer. "Dana, look at that. I don't know what to make of that either." There is a huge infection around this smaller bite mark. It is even purple around the edges. This is weird. It looks like…as if... "Stephanie, I don't know any kind of bacteria that causes these severe infections, not even gangrene. How is that possible? Did you culture it?"
Stefanie nodded in the positive. "Of course. The cultures must be back from analysis in the lap tomorrow. When you examine the body further, you'll find this kind of infection around the mid-section. I haven't ever came across anything like it. Have you?"
I shook my head. "No! I have never seen that and I saw many unbelievable things in my career. Believe me. But I often found a natural explanation for such things. Where did you say, did you find that corpse?"
"I think it was in the cloaca maxima." Stefanie replied.
"Excuse me, the what?" I said, flabbergasted at the term. Stefanie chuckled and explained. "That's the name of the oldest part of our sewage in Roma. It is located at the Forum Romanum. It's about 2500 years old."
"Oh, ok. I hope Mulder finds something in there, so that we can explain that infection." While saying that, my cell rang.
"Scully."
"Hey Scully. It's me. I wanted to tell you that it might last a bit longer than Enzo and me thought. This is a huge area. We will be late about 2 hours. Don't worry about me. Nothing seems to be abnormal, but we only covered a quarter of the area in question."
"Ok. But please be careful, you know what this thing can do."
"Sure. Fluky and I are old friends. Why don't you go back to the hotel and wait for me there? When I am back I will definitely need a bath. Maybe we have to burn my clothes." That made me laugh.
"Fluky might be an old friend but you don't know the area in which he resides and he might be more hostile then before. Speaking of which, he might have a smaller friend. We found smaller bite marks right in the spot of the bigger one on the latest victim and an infection I have never seen before in my entire career as a pathologist. Stephanie said that they found that mostly on the only victim found in the oldest sewer part of the city with the funny name cloaca maxima. You and Enzo might check that area first. The bacteria seems to be deadly. Please, watch out and don't touch anything without gloves. This is more dangerous than the New Jersey case." Silence for a moment.
Then I went on in a lower voice "And the bath I can arrange. We'll see about your suit. Don't you have protection?"
"What, now you ask for protection? Ain't that a little late after last night and this morning?"
I laughed right away. That comment was so Mulder. "Stop that. You know what I mean."
Laughing himself, I recognized the hint of a little relief that he didn't overstep the boundary of talking about my infertility.
I remembered our conversation on that bench in Home, PA. I think he was already testing the waters with his questions about what I wanted in my future. But I didn't have the guts to tell him then. Back home in D.C., I found the nerve and came to him about what I recently found out, right before that case. Since my abduction my cycle was very unsteady and after some months I went to see a doctor. I guess I suspected it, but never thought it might be true. The doctor found out that I won't be able to have children. It must have been something they did to me. The things that happened to me during those 3 months were non-existent in my memory. The only thing I was sure of during that dreadful time, was Mulder's voice in my head when Duane Barry came after me, calming me. Mulder's hand when I was in a deep coma, urging me to come back. He was always there. I know he wants to find out what they did to me and wanted them to suffer for it. I want that as well. We will find out together, I hope.
After the diagnosis, I was devastated and Mulder's little idea of uber-Scullys stirred something deeply in me. I realized that I hadn't processed the diagnosis and needed to talk to someone desperately. He was the only one I could turn to, the only one who could understand. I told him of my infertility and he took care of me so sweetly. He held me when I cried and reassured me that this wasn't the end of my dream of having a family one day. At that time, I didn't tell him that the only man I could consider having a family with, was him. But now, after what happened between us, was a different story.
With his soothing voice he reminded me of the present and Mulder just asked "Are you waiting for me then, honey?" Oh god.
My voice dropped as well "You bet. See you later and take care." He didn't say anything, just breathed into the receiver, as if he wanted to say something but didn't know how. So I prompted him.
"Mulder?"
"Yeah."
"I love you."
I could literally hear him smiling. "I love you, too."
And we hang up, but we have to talk about this whole family planning thing for sure. For now, I was so worried about him. This case doesn't look good. I looked up at a smirking Stefanie. "What?" I innocently asked. She just replied "Nothing" and we put ourselves back to the work at hand.
When we went through the autopsy together, I constantly compared it to the cases I already knew. I came across specific markers on those smaller bites. The hook marks were also smaller and not as deep as the bigger ones. Also the bacterial infection around it was bigger, so that the bacteria must be more severe and aggressive as the ones I knew. Thinking about it, I remembered the research that I did the last time on those bacteria, the article I read. So I went through the old file and found it. Ah, here was written that these bacteria only existed in the sewage but they also needed a host to spread.
I found them on the skin of flukeman as well as in his blood results. I hypothesized that because of the old age and highly-frequented sewers, that the bacteria turned into flesh eating ones and ate the skin of the hosts away. I took another sample of the tissue around the bigger bites for comparison and asked Stefanie to send them in. I told her about my theory and she agreed with it.
Even though we found out about that part of the puzzle, there were still so many left. Especially the size didn't make sense to me. Fluky wasn't a big creature. Maybe he had offspring or his pendent was simply smaller than him. Could it be a female? Did he grow a family? All plausible ideas, Stefanie said as well. I just hoped that Mulder found something, some traces that fit the theory. However, it was very dangerous to come in contact with this or these creatures. I hope he is ok.
Chapter 7
In the cloaca maxima. 20 minutes later.
"Enzo, I don't think we should take this tunnel. It looks too new. We should ask the guide first."
Enzo turned around to Mulder and nodded. He then went back a few steps to the guide, an archeological professor also working for the city service, asking him about the path. They chatted in Italian and Mulder noted that he had to be more patient to get answers due to the constant translation issue. Finally, Enzo told him that it wouldn't make any sense to use the old tunnel. It haven't been used in years and so we should take the newer one. Mulder didn't agree at all. He took his flashlight and walked only a bit in the direction of the old worn-down tunnel. Suddenly he stopped. He saw splatters of a strange liquid on the wall. It looked like slime but grey with dips of deep red as blood. He used his latex-covered finger and took some of it onto his finger tip.
Holding the light onto it, he stood up and walked to Enzo. "Look at this. I saw that once before on one of the victims. I'll take a sample and bring it to Scully to let her have a look at it. Maybe there is a connection. Could be anything. But I think it's worth a try." But before Enzo could say anything, there was a screeching loud sound.
Both looked up and watched the guide, who seemed to be scared by the noise. He asked Enzo what it was, who also didn't know. Mulder wanted to follow the scream, but the guide stood in his way and panicked, yelling at Mulder in Italian to not go any further. Mulder and Enzo tried to calm him down and the three decided to stop there, mark the place and get up again to plan their next steps. Mulder didn't like that, wanting to hunt down the scream, but knew it would be too dangerous to do this without backup.
Months ago he wouldn't even think about it and just run for the hunch, but with coming to terms with his feelings for Scully and planning on not ditching her anymore, he was sure she wouldn't approve this behavior any longer. Funny how love changes you and tames you. Feeling of having made the right decision, he went with the other two men back to the surface. He needed to know more about those strange sewers first.
At the morgue. An hour later.
The big double door to the morgue opened and there he was. Fox Mulder. Thank god, nothing happened to him. He smiled at me so that my insides melted immediately. I tried to hide it but Stefanie smiled at me and I blushed.
"Agent Mulder. There you are. How did it go?" Stefanie asked him.
"It was dirty, stinky and the worst place on earth to go monster hunting." Stefanie and me laughed. Damn, it was freeing to finally be able to laugh at his jokes. I loved his humor, even if I tried to hide it before we became involved in order to not show how much he can affect me. Blessed with himself he approached me and explained in detail what happened. Stefanie and me were shocked when he told us about the screeching sound.
Then Mulder handed me the substance in a vial and I put it under the microscope. I couldn't believe what I saw there. "Stefanie, look at this and tell me I am not hallucinating."
Mulder touched my upper arm to make me look at him. "Scully, what is it?" But I didn't answer I wanted to know what Stefanie said.
"Oh my god! These are flesh-eating bacteria." Stephanie said. This can't be true. "Mulder, those kind of bacteria should have been extinct for nearly thousands of years. How is that even possible? We have to analyze these even deeper."
Suddenly Stefanie dipped her head to one side and said "Wait a minute." She went to the computer and typed something. After a few minutes she said "Aha. I knew it. Look at those data. This is a research on the cloaca maxima. After it had been built by emperor Augustus it had been used as a fresh water source for the market on the forum. Five years later there is a written report of a scholar that there was a strange decease hunting the streets of Rome. People complained about itchy skin, that hurt so much at a certain point that they scratched and infected the whole tissue. It grew and infected more tissue till there was no help anymore. Many people died. They suspected the water as a source and shut down the cloaca maxima. Years later, after the market flourished on the forum and more aristocrats settled on the Palatine hill, it was used as sewers since they shut them down completely in the 1860's. From then on it was replaced by the newly built sewers."
Mulder and me let that sink in for a moment. Then I said "That could be a source but we will only know if we investigate the sewers properly. Can we send in a team of scientists and take samples?"
"Sure. I'll arrange everything. I also call Enzo and tell him about it. I also think we should stop for today. We have to wait for the toxicology report anyways. You two should get back to the hotel and Mulder, please wash up, would you?" Stephanie said and went straight to the phone without another word.
Mulder looked embarrassed but so cute. I need to take him out of his misery and clean him up properly. Now, that gave me ideas. "Mulder, let's go. You do need a bath."
"Aw, Scully. Don't you say that, too. I know how I smell. I am fairly sick of it myself."
"Don't worry sweetheart. I'll take care of you." With that he smiled at me and I grabbed my things. On the way out he murmured "You know, you could use a bath yourself with that waft of formaldehyde around you."
"Why, thanks Mulder. I guess we have to take care of each other's smell then, don't we?"
He just laughed and we went back to the hotel.
In Mulder and Scully's room.
After nearly running through the lobby, we were eager to shed the clothes but this time for another reason. While Mulder put them into bags for the dry-cleaning of the hotel, I went into the bathroom and draw the bath. The tub is so huge. That's going to be fun.
I was already naked and on my way to climb in, when Mulder suddenly grabbed me and lifted me, carrying me in his arms squarely. I squeaked and he laughed while he stepped into the tub and sat us both down with me to his back, encircling me with his arms and legs. I was trapped. "God, Mulder. I nearly had a heart attack." I said only being able to turn my head.
His reply was nonchalant, even sassy. "You had it coming, walking around naked and all."
I chuckled and he released me to turn around to grab the shampoo. With him being distracted, I used that opportunity to launch at him, turning quickly onto my knees and dunked him under me into the water. The water splashed around us and over the rim of the tub, soaking up the bathmat in front of it. I was laughing so hard, when, as quickly as I dunked him, he grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me down to him. We both came up for air immediately and laughing both like maniacs. I still squirmed to find a seating position, when he lifted me by the waist onto his lap and put my front flush against his chest. I relaxed into him, letting my head fall onto his shoulder, still chuckling. "Fox, that was uncalled for."
"Why Dana, can't take what you dished out?" I smirked against his shoulder and moved to straddle him, with my legs wrapped around his middle and my face millimeters from his. In a husky voice I replied: "Oh yes, I can. Can you?" And I pushed my crotch into his and he gasped when his almost erect penis made contact with my already wet labia.
"Mhm, honey. You don't know what you got yourself into." He growled into my ear as he rubbed his penis up and down, making him harder with each stroke and me as aroused as I was yesterday. Oh god, how can he do this that quickly. I am so easy with him, I can't believe it.
He pushed forward a bit and adjusted us so that he was poking at my entrance, now as hard as he can get. I kissed him then fiercely. We let our tongues slide over the other, exploring each mouth properly and then I closed the distance the rest of the way till he was inside me again, completely filling me to the brim. "Oh god. I can't get enough of this. I never want this to end, staying connected like this forever."
Breaking the kiss for a breather he whispered "God, Dana, it never felt like this. Don't ever stop…I…love…how…we…feel…together." He said between thrusts, kissing my neck and I started to move above him. "Oh yes. Why have we waited so long to have this?" he asked then.
I stopped. He looked confused. I locked eyes with him. "Because I knew this all along." He frowned, not knowing what I meant. So I went on, already teary. "I knew that I would lose myself in you. You are a force that would swipe me away if I wouldn't be careful. I first had to learn how to deal with your passion and single-mindedness. I needed to know how to put up with you. Now I know but I still feel like I am drowning, but in a good way." He put his hands on my cheeks and his eyes became watery.
"Fox, I still don't know how to handle it when all your passion and concentration is centered upon me like now. I need your help to not let me get lost in you completely."
"Honey, don't you get it?" Now I was the one with the confused look on the face. I cocked my head to urge him to continue. "I am drowning in you, too, and it feels absolutely amazing. I never want to resurface. Let's drown together, so that we can become one, forever." I nearly sobbed and breathed deeply. I cannot believe he just said that. I never felt so connected with anyone.
He kissed me then for all he was worth, while tears rolled down our faces. In this moment I knew that drowning isn't at all dangerous but liberating. This is it. Forever with him or no one at all. I never felt as happy as in this moment. So we melted into each other again. Holding on each other for dear life, we rocked in a counter rhythm and made the water splatter onto the floor around the tub. We couldn't care less.
I adjusted to get him even deeper and then I felt a coiling in my lower abdomen but with a force I never felt before. I looked into his face and saw my emotions reflected there. I speed up a bit and then we both were blinded by white light at the same time. He spilled into me while I climaxed. Totally in tune. But this time it was so deep, I could feel his warm life in my uterus shooting up even higher. Could it happen, against all odds? Till now he broke all my barriers. Maybe this one as well? No, that isn't possible. As fast as that thought crossed my mind, it vanished again.
I fell onto his chest exhausted and panting.
"Oh my god, honey. What was that? I never had an orgasm as intense as that." He hushed the words because he was panting so hard like he was running a marathon. "Me neither. I think you hit my cervix there." I answered him. We said no more and just floated in the warm bathwater, still joined.
After the water went a bit cold I shivered and we separated with a deep sigh of protest for the loss. "Sweetheart, we have to get out. I am so tired." I said and we both climbed out and dried each other tenderly.
Moving to the bed, we sank into the covers and slept cuddling.