From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: 5 Jul 2002 15:51:51 -0000
Subject: Oh, the Joys of Fieldwork by Rebel
Source: direct

Reply To: CDRebel@aol.com


Title: Oh, the Joys of Fieldwork
Author: Rebel
Category: M/S Friendship (safe for Shippers and Fencers,
          and almost safe even for NoRomos)
E-Mail: CDRebel@aol.com
Rating: PG-13 for violent imagery
Spoilers: Slight references to several episodes, but nothing 
          major
Keywords: Mulder, Scully, fieldwork
Disclaimer: I don't own the x-files characters, and don't 
particularly want to.  Chris Carter, Fox, etc. own all the 
rights and handle all the maintenance work.  Me, I'm happy 
just to play with them now and then.  No infringement 
intended - just fun.

Thanks to Anne for looking this over and making suggestions.

Oh, the Joys of Fieldwork

The four women were sitting at the table, lingering over their 
meal, in no hurry to finish.  They were attractive and 
well-dressed.  Most of men there had looked them over during 
the evening and suddenly noticed it had gotten hotter.  You 
would never tell by looking at them that they worked for the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Just a group of carefree 
friends out on a Friday night for drinks and talk.

They were all laughing as Kate regaled them with stories of her 
latest adventures in dating.  Kate somehow seemed to be drawn 
to men with unusual interests, and her dates always ended up 
being strange.  They were all laughing so hard they had tears 
running down their faces.  Then again, they'd had a few drinks 
and were quite relaxed. 

Special Agent Dana Scully was glad for the "girls' night out" 
with Jenny and Barb from the lab, and Kate from Quantico.  It 
was good to catch up with her friends and just hang out.  She 
had let too many friendships slide because of her crazy work 
hours.

Barb suggested to Dana, "Dating 'Spooky' must turn out some 
interesting experiences, too."

Dana knew the gossip.  She decided this was a good opportunity 
to refute some of the juicy rumors going around.  "I wouldn't 
know; I never dated Mulder.  Not just because it's against 
regulations, either.  I personally don't think it would be a 
good idea to date someone you have to work with everyday.  Things 
could just get too complicated. . . especially when you decide 
to stop seeing each other.  I've worked. . . we've ALL worked 
too hard to make it in our careers to risk it on something like 
that."  The other women all nodded their agreement.  They had 
all worked hard to get where they were, so they could sympathize 
with Dana's concerns.

Jenny soothed Dana, "At least you get to work with Agent Mulder.  
I think he's fascinating.  And, he may be 'Spooky', but he's 
still quite a 'Fox'.  Besides, you get to meet guys all over the 
country.  And when you finish a case and feel like just cutting 
loose, you can go wild knowing you don't have to worry about 
facing them again.  Any agents we date here we know we'll be 
seeing at work the next day.  You must have had some interesting 
encounters out there."

A couple of instances came to Dana's mind and she felt the heat 
rising in her cheeks.  "Oooh," teased Kate, "it must be a good 
one.  You're blushing."  They all urged her to 'fess up.

"Well,. . .," Dana started, then cleared her throat.  The others 
all leaned forward, staring at her intently.  She glanced up 
at them, then back down to where her fingers were curled around 
the stem of her wine glass.  "There was this one cute sheriff, 
a real hunk, that I just about drooled over.  Turns out that 
he. . .um. . .he seemed to think he was some kind of vampire."  
She glanced up again with an embarrassed giggle, then started 
warming to the subject and grinned.  "And then there was this 
nice guy I met in Philadelphia who talked to his tatoo."  She 
looked up with that and started giggling again.  They all joined 
her.

"Hey, Dana," laughed Barb, "you and Kate ought to have a contest 
to see who has had the weirdest date!"  That set them off in 
gales of laughter again.  

After their laughter had subside once more Kate mused, "It's so 
exciting that you get to fly all over the country.  D.C. is 
great, but I'd love to get to travel a lot like you do.  Just 
pack and go.  See the sights.  What freedom!"  Dana just smiled.  
If they only knew.  She loved her job, but being on the road so 
much was very draining.  Well, you know the saying - the grass 
is always greener. . .

**********************

Dana Scully shoved her apartment door open with her back and 
shut it with her foot.  Then, as the phone rang, she hurriedly 
set the laundry she had just carried up the stairs onto a chair 
and dashed to pick up the receiver.  It was her partner, Fox 
Mulder.  Assistant Director Skinner had just given them an 
urgent assignment, and their plane was to leave at 6:30 the next 
morning.  She hung up the phone, figured the amount of time she 
needed to be there before take-off, plus travel time to the 
airport, and groaned.  She had just done her laundry for the 
first time in two weeks.  She had spent the morning cleaning her 
apartment, having had to let that slide for a while, too.  And 
her cupboards were getting pretty bare.  She just hadn't had 
time to grocery shop.  And now she had to pack for yet another 
trip.  She sighed and retrieved her laundry.  At least she had 
clean clothes to pack.

**********************

Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully hurried through the 
terminal carrying their luggage.  As they approached the car 
rental desk, Scully took a deep breath and said quietly to her 
partner, "Blue."

"Silver," he shot back, again quietly so only his partner could 
hear him.  Whoever guessed the color of the car got to drive, 
but the other one got to choose the radio station.  Since they 
travelled so much, they found this arrangement cut down on 
arguments.  When they reached the slot where their rental car 
was parked, they grimaced at each other.  Green.  Okay, so 
they'd take turns.

Mulder drove to the motel.  Traffic was a little tough, but it 
was almost the end of rush hour.  Scully sat back and thought 
about the case.  The investigation had been in progress for over 
two months, calculated from the day of the first murders.  They 
had reviewed a copy of the report on the way down.  In each case, 
the murdered couple had met in a bar, left together, and turned 
up dead later.  There was a circle of evenly-spaced punctures 
between the shoulder blades of each victim.  Those were apparently 
the only things the murdered people had in common.  No one had 
heard or seen anything.  There was no sign of a struggle.  There 
was really not much they could do till they spoke to the local 
authorities and viewed the evidence.

Mulder and Scully had arrived late in the morning. The Special 
Agent in Charge of the FBI field office there, Agent Leider, 
welcomed them and led them into a conference room to look over 
the case files.  He talked mostly to Mulder, even when answering 
questions that Scully asked.  The agents were seated at a table 
littered with papers and photos.  

Agent Leider filled his visitors in on the details of the case.  
He said, "Excuse me, ma'am," to Scully, then he turned to Mulder 
and handed him some photos.  He directed his remarks to Mulder 
saying, "As you can see, the wounds are all similar.  I don't 
understand why anyone would want to mutilate a body like that."  
When Mulder handed the photos to Scully, Leider nervously tried 
to intercept them.  "Those are rather gruesome, ma'am.  I don't 
think you want to see them."

Scully gave him a polite smile and responded, "That's alright.  
I'll be fine with it."

As SAC, Leider had called Washington for help, and was told 
these agents had the highest solve rate in the Bureau.  In 
addition, they specialized in the bizarre and inexplicable.  
The man had a doctorate from Oxford, and had graduated from 
Quantico at the top of his class.  He had a highly successful 
career profiling, then turned his attention to these stranger 
types of cases.  He didn't know much about the woman.  He 
mentally shrugged.  She was just there with the man.  After 
all, field agents had to have a partner.  She probably figured 
she could pick up some pointers for field work, although she 
picked a messy crime for it.  Agent Lieder had high hopes for 
a quick conclusion to this perplexing case.  

Agents Miller, Benson, and Redding, also from the local office, 
joined them later to discuss the information.  There had been 
a little disagreement on the need to ask for help.  Actually, 
there had been quite a blowout about it.  Redding, who had 
originally been in charge of the investigation, felt it was a 
personal insult to him and a black mark on his record.  But in 
the end, Leider, who was responsible for getting the situation 
taken care of, deemed it necessary.  He was getting close to 
retirement, and didn't want anything to spoil it.

The agents decided to take a break and stretch.  They had 
been working for several hours discussing the evidence and 
interviews.  Mulder questioned them in detail about every site, 
with Scully adding a question or remark occasionally.  She had 
to repeat herself several times when her questions or comments 
were just sort of passed over.  It was fairly unusual to 
encounter this chauvinistic attitude, but they did sometimes 
come across it.  They tried not to let it disturb them.  Mulder 
asked about certain things he had noticed in the photos but 
that they hadn't mentioned.  They had been reasonably thorough, 
but it was agreed that another trip to the crime sites might 
yield more information.  

Mulder went to the bathroom, washed his hands, and splashed 
water on his face to refresh himself.  He was just drying his 
face when Redding came in.  Agent Redding was a tall, strong 
man, somewhat arrogant.  He thought that with his size and 
strength, he should be able to solve any problem.  He resented 
hotshots from Washington coming down to lord it over the local 
FBI, insinuating he hadn't been thorough enough.  He had been 
surly throughout the meeting, challenging every idea Mulder 
tossed out.  

Mulder saw him enter through the mirror and calmly finished 
drying his hands.  He tossed the paper towel in the garbage 
and headed toward the door.  He tried to keep his demeanor 
nonthreatening, while inside he was tightly coiled, ready for 
action.  Redding deliberately shoved into him and knocked him 
into the wall.  Mulder, having sized him up during the meeting, 
had been prepared for such a move and caught the wall with his 
hand and slid behind Redding, still headed for the door.  He 
wanted to avoid trouble if he could.  But Redding wasn't about 
to let it go.  He grabbed Mulder's shoulder and spun him around 
to face him, ready to really slam him against the wall this 
time.  Again, Mulder was prepared for the move and added the 
momentum of the spin to the power behind his punch.  Redding's 
knees buckled with the first punch.  Mulder flipped his legs 
out from under him with one smooth kick.  Then he slammed him 
face down on the floor, grabbed his arms, and twisted them 
behind him.  He kept him pinned in place with his knee in the 
center of Redding's back.  

Redding started swearing at Mulder, who by now was holding him 
in place easily.  Mulder noticed Miller and Benson watching the 
fracas but keeping their distance.  They didn't want to get on 
the bad side of either Redding or the agent from Washington, 
who was obviously able to take care of himself.  

Mulder drew on his training as a psychologist and started 
talking calmly, reasonably to the man on the floor.  He 
explained that they weren't trying to make him look bad; they 
were just here to help.  He convinced Redding that his record 
would suffer if this cased wasn't resolved soon.  

"And it would be quite a good thing for your career, wouldn't 
it, if you use just a little help and bring this case to a 
successful conclusion?"  Redding nodded his agreement.  
"Cooperation with the Washington bureau would also show your 
'people' skills."  Redding agreed that would certainly be 
another  good thing.  "Now that this misunderstanding is 
cleared up, how about if we get back to work on the case?"  
Redding was very willing to do that.  

Mulder let him up and Redding apologized profusely to him for 
ever doubting his intentions.  He gave him a 'good ole boy' 
clap on the back and a grin, and headed out.  Miller and Benson 
expressed their appreciation, too, for Mulder's coming down to 
help, then left.  

Mulder looked at their retreating backs in mild disgust and 
annoyance.  It didn't happen all the time, but it happened 
often enough.  Even though their assistance was requested, 
it seemed at least half the time someone resented their help 
on the case.  The antagonism usually was more subtle than 
Redding's, but it still hindered the work somewhat.  That's 
why when he got into a situation like this, one of the first 
things Mulder did was read the attitudes of the people he 
would be working with.  That's also why he was ready for 
Redding's attack.  

As they walked up to the first crime site, Benson took the 
opportunity to invite Scully to dinner later.  She was easy 
on the eyes and he was quite taken with her, in his own quiet 
way.  She thanked him pleasantly, but declined.  Later on, 
Redding tried to persuade her that what she needed was a local 
man (him) to show her around the area and see that she had a 
good time.  He could just picture the reaction of his friends 
when he swaggered in with this good-looking dame hanging on his 
arm.  Scully finally convinced him that she'd had a really long 
day and just wasn't up to it.  But she told him she appreciated 
his thoughtfulness.  

In her travels since joining the X-Files, she'd had way too 
many opportunities to practice turning down guys who hit on 
her.  In the beginning she had accepted a few.  Then she 
realized there seemed to be two outcomes, neither pleasant.  
On one hand, and this was usually the case, the guy thought 
he could get away with something because she was a only there 
temporarily, or he was just boring.  On the other hand, and 
this only happened a few times, she really enjoyed the man's 
company, but would never see him again after she went back 
home.  This was just as disappointing as the dud.  So, she 
didn't bother going out with these new acquaintances anymore.  
She and Mulder would eat together, and usually go over the 
case back in her or his motel room.  And, since she really 
enjoyed Mulder's company, that was no hardship either.

Returning to their rooms after supper, Mulder and Scully passed 
the motel pool.  Mulder eyed Scully and leered, "Hey, how about 
you and me going skinny-dipping?  Great way to relax after a 
hard day!"  Scully, even though she was tired, made the expected 
response.  She gave him 'The Look', and kept walking without 
commenting.  She knew he only did it because he was comfortable 
with her.  He was just trying to relax after the tension of the 
day.  It was a game they played: he made passes at her he knew 
she would ignore; she smiled to herself at his antics and 
pretended she wasn't amused.  It helped both of them get some 
distance from tense cases so they could get some rest.

**********************

Scully started yawning.  She was sitting up against the 
headboard with the files scattered around on the bed.  Mulder 
was seated at the foot of the bed, studying a photo intently.  
They had been going over the case again, trying to get a 
clearer picture of the sequence of events.  Mulder, seeing 
her yawn, decided to call it a night.  They gathered up the 
material, and Mulder took it with him to his room.  He ducked 
his head back into her room a moment later and asked, "Oh, 
Scully, you need any help getting to sleep?  A backrub maybe?"

Scully smiled, then called "Good night, Mulder!"

Being on the road so frequently, Scully had learned that 
pampering herself in little ways was not a luxury.  It was 
necessary to take care of herself and rejuvenate herself in 
little ways, so she could keep going physically and mentally.  
She packed  her bath oil on these trips so she could enjoy a 
steaming soak in the tub.  This was the one time she was content 
to be short because the bathtubs were invariably small.  She 
relaxed in the tub as long as possible knowing that she had a 
standard-issue lumpy mattress and hard, flat pillow to look 
forward to.

Scully was almost roused from her sleep when the air conditioner 
kicked on again.  But after identifying the noise, she slipped 
back into slumber.  She was used to this happening every half 
hour or so; the air conditioner would either kick on with a 
whoosh or kick off with a metallic rattle of the fan.  She 
had trained herself to go right back to sleep after identifying 
the source of the noise, but it certainly didn't make for a 
refreshing sleep.

In the connecting room, Mulder dozed off and on with the 
television on low, masking the other noises in the room.  As 
dawn approached, he awakened again to the flickering of the 
television and rumbling of vents.  He knew he wouldn't be able 
to get back to sleep again, so he put on his jogging clothes 
and went out for a run.  It was a routine he followed most days 
on the road, when the weather cooperated.  He was able to clear 
his mind, and then soon he'd start organizing his thoughts for 
the day.

When they entered the office in the morning, Agent Leider 
pulled Mulder aside.  "I heard what happened yesterday and I 
want to apologize for Agent Redding.  He's just a little 
hotheaded sometimes and acts before he thinks.  We really 
appreciate you being here."  Mulder assured Leider that he and 
Redding had come to an understanding, and that there were no 
hard feelings.  However, he made a mental note that Leider was 
aware of Reddings' shortcomings and let them slide.  What else 
did he let slide?  What was the quality of investigation done 
here?

Scully discussed in detail the autopsy reports and the 
significance of certain of the findings.  They added that to 
the information they already had and brainstormed possible 
explanations for the facts in the case.  When they took a 
coffee break, Mulder and Scully walked toward the exit.  A 
little way down the hall, away from other agents, Mulder leaned 
toward Scully a bit and teased, "If we wrap this up quickly, 
we'll still have time to go back to our rooms and "relax"."  He 
waggled his eyebrows suggestively.  

Scully stopped dead in her tracks.  Mulder took another step 
then turned to see why she stopped.  Scully stepped right up 
to him, invading his space for a change.  Mulder took a step 
back in surprise and found himself against a wall.  Scully, 
with predatory smile, leaned in really close, took his tie knot 
in hand and said in a low, sexy voice, "That sounds great, 
Mulder. I'd love for us to go back to the motel and reeeealy 
relaaax."  

Mulder just stared at her with his mouth open in shock.  
*Whoah!  What the . . .?!  Was this his no-nonsense partner 
flirting back at him?*  The honeyed tone of her voice made his 
heart race in panic and his mouth go dry.  Oops.  She did know 
he was just kidding, right?  The last thing he wanted was OPC 
investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.

Scully continued, still purring, "Now, I'm not suggesting 
you disregard the alien theory, but why don't you use that 
brilliant mind of yours and come up a couple more scenarios 
to fit the facts?  The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go 
back to the motel.  Okay?"  Mulder, still somewhat stunned at 
her uncharacteristic behavior, just nodded rapidly.  

Scully took a half step back, straightened the tie knot, then 
turned and left Mulder staring after her.  It took another 
moment or two for his dazed mind to recover.  Then he shook 
his head and chuckled.  He had to admit it.  Scully, the 
ever-professional, had got him good.  Mulder continued on his 
way to get coffee.  

The whole by-play only took about thirty seconds.  Unfortunately, 
a couple of the agents had witnessed this little "confrontation".  
But from where they stood, all they saw was Mulder being backed 
up to the wall and held in place by his diminutive partner, 
nodding his vigorous acquiescence to whatever it was she was 
saying.

The agents in the conference room were eagerly discussing 
their collegues from Washington.  The little hallway scene 
didn't seem to fit their ideas of the two.  How could that 
tiny woman browbeat that tall man?  They already knew he was 
no coward, but he was obviously intimidated by this woman.  What 
was he afraid of?  The easiest explanation, of course, was that 
they had something going on on the side.  It certainly made 
sense.  She was quite a beauty.  And she obviously had him towing 
the line.  This was something they could understand (especially 
the married ones).  They had already relegated her to the status 
of "assistant" in their minds.  She had turned down offers to go 
out, so that made it even more probable that she and Mulder were 
a couple.  Come to think of it, that was probably the reason she 
was assigned to this case.  They shook their heads; he was 
henpecked and not even married.  

When Mulder and Scully returned, the buzz died as soon as they 
walked in.  All eyes were on them.  They looked around at the 
men puzzled, but sat down and resumed discussion of the case.  

They argued the merits of various points back and forth.  
Mulder's profiling skills helped them get an idea of the 
murderer's motives and possible characteristics.  Scully 
suggested that, since they knew his methods, they should set 
up bait to lure the perpetrator out and catch him red-handed.  
The men listened to Scully politely, but then went on as if she 
hadn't spoken.  It had been somewhat noticeable earlier, but 
was even more evident now that they didn't really take her 
seriously.  The first couple of times this happened, Mulder and 
Scully had exchanged glances of surprise and disbelief.  This 
last time, just as Mulder opened his mouth to make an angry 
comment, Scully gripped his hand and shook her head slightly.  
She got up and excused herself and went to the ladies' room.

Mulder, forcing down his anger, asked quietly for suggestions on 
how to implement Scully's last proposal.  

Agent Leider said, "Miss Scully's nice, but we don't want to 
waste time and manpower on her 'theories'."

Mulder's eyes were flashing fire, but his voice was cold steel 
when he spoke, "Let me enlighten you about AGENT Scully.  She 
went through the same FBI training you did at Quantico.  But 
SHE finished near the top of her class.  In our work together, 
she has had to deal with a liver-eating mutant, a carnivorous 
fungus, a psycopathic serial killer, and situations that would 
make YOU run for cover.  And before she was recruited by the 
FBI, she was a medical doctor.  She is outstanding in her field, 
as well as being a skilled scientist.  Add that background with 
her FBI training, and you have a formidable combination. You 
complimented us on our high solve rate.  She's the reason it is 
so high.  She's one of the best, if not THE best, field agent 
I know.  Believe me, there's no one I trust more than Agent 
Scully to watch my back when my life is on the line.  She 
certainly deserves a lot more respect than you've shown her so 
far.  It's a mark of her professionalism that she's put up with 
your narrow-minded attitude this long."

Scully leaned on the sink in the ladies' room and took a deep 
breath.  This is the kind of bias she had fought all through 
her life.  Even when she was young she'd had to prove her 
capabilities because she was small.  That had toughened her 
enough to get through the prejudice of training in predominantly 
male professions.  But working with Mulder for so long had 
gotten her to relax her defensive mindset.  From the start he 
had treated her as an equal partner, and expected that of course 
she would carry her part of the load.  She had appreciated that 
and was determined that he would never regret it.  They were 
good friends now.  And, although he bantered with her, he always 
treated her with respect.  

Well, she was a professional.  She could do her work in spite of 
their attitudes, no matter how frustrating.  She just had to 
remember that she and Mulder were working on the case together.  
She wasn't facing them alone.  She could do it.  Well, back to 
work.  She ran cold water over her wrists, dried them, and went 
back into the bears' den.

She noticed the subdued air in the room as she took her seat.  
Leider cleared his throat and said to her in a conciliatory tone, 
"Agent Scully, we were considering your proposal.  How were you 
thinking we should set up the trap?"  

Scully looked around startled then slid back into her professional 
mask almost immediately.  She thought a moment, then suggested, 
"We should have a man pick up a woman in a bar.  There are three 
bars in this area."  Here she pointed to the section on the map 
where the murdered couples had met.  "The pair will have to go 
to all three bars to make sure the perpetrator spots them.  Make 
it known where they can be found later.  Then they'll wait at the 
designated spot and see who shows up."  They outlined a plan of 
attack, implementing Scully's ideas.  

**********************

Mulder entered the third bar and quickly scanned it.  It wasn't 
much different from the other two he had been in that night.  
It was dingy, smoky, not particularly crowded since it was a 
weeknight.  The patrons looked comfortable with each other, like 
this was their regular place.  He made his way to the bar and 
ordered a beer.  It wasn't that hard to appear tired and stressed.  
It was getting late and the tension of him and Scully being 
targets was wearing on him.  He took his mug to a dark little 
table along the side where he'd have a good view of the place.  
He took a sip and slouched down, trying to appear uninviting.

When Scully came in, he almost missed her.  He was watching a 
little commotion at the juke box.  Someone wasn't happy with 
the current selection and was trying to get it to stop.  The 
doorman (bouncer) was able to persuade him to leave it alone 
and go back to his drink.

Scully had been chosen as bait because she was the only female 
agent at the field office and she was unknown.  She'd made a 
quick trip to a thrift store and picked up suitable clothes 
for a night of barhopping and pickups.  Her hair was piled on 
her head and strappy heels completed the picture.  Mulder 
insisted on being paired with her because he was her partner 
and they could read each other's signals.  Actually, he didn't 
trust anyone else to watch her back, but he wouldn't admit it.

Taking a seat at the bar, Scully ordered her drink.  The 
bartender looked her over and tried to get friendly with her, 
really friendly.  When they'd stopped at the first bar, THAT 
bartender had almost gotten a pounding for the same actions.  
Mulder had used all his self-control to stay slouched at his 
table before wandering over to Scully.  But Special Agent 
Doctor Dana Scully was more than able to take care of the 
bartender herself.  She had him eating out of her hand in just 
a few seconds and smiles.  So Mulder sat back this time and 
let her handle the bartender.  

Then they started their little charade.  Mulder picked up his 
beer and sauntered over to sit next to her.  He eyed her up 
and down and asked if he could by her a drink.  She declined 
and feigned indifference.  This was difficult because she was 
so relieved to have him nearby.  She felt exposed and vulnerable 
knowing the assailant could be any of the men surrounding her.  
Mulder continued to make small talk and she showed interest.  They 
talked about astrology for a few minutes, then started to get 
cozy.  After a little while decided to leave together.  They 
made it clear where they would be headed later, a secluded area 
north of town.  Supposedly they were going to watch for shooting 
stars.  


The police and other agents settled in and waited, carefully 
hidden around the clearing and along the route the attacker 
would most likely take to escape.  Mulder and Scully spread out 
a blanket and leaned back on their elbows watching the sky.  
Small talk was difficult because their minds kept straying 
to the real reason they were there.  Finally, Mulder started 
a monologue of myths about the constellations.  It was a 
tense night, waiting in the little clearing for the attack, 
trying to seem defenseless and unaware of danger.  But they 
got their man, or rather men.  

***********************

Mulder and Scully were present for the interrogation.  One of 
the men, Sid, was just an accomplice.  He was more than willing 
to tell the whole story.  He originally was just helping his 
friend get revenge.  After that the other man, Hank, blackmailed 
him into continuing.  They would come up on the victims from both 
sides and hold their guns on them until they stood right behind 
them.  Then they would deal a blow to the head that knocked them 
out.  That's why there was no sign of a struggle.  

What Mulder had surmised about the motive based on the autopsies 
proved correct.  Also, Hank seemed stunned when Scully asked 
about certain things he had done to the victims.  It was almost 
as though she had seen him do it.  He too made a full confession, 
hoping his cooperation would win him some leniency.  He ended with, 
"I know I shouldn't have done the first two.  But she just made
me so mad!  Here, she wouldn't even have a drink with me, but 
she's willing to leave with some jerk whose good at bragging.  I
just got angry and lost it."

"And the others?" Scully asked.

"Well," Hank looked a little embarrassed here, "I enjoyed it so 
much the first time, I just couldn't resist."

Mulder passed Hank a picture of the fourth man he had murdered.
"I noticed there weren't as many cuts on this man.  Why?"

Hank looked at the picture and snorted in disgust.  "What a wimp!  
This dumb guy kept passing out whenever I would make a cut.  Heck, 
he didn't even feel half the cuts I did make.  What's the fun in 
that?"

Hank took another look at the photo and handed it back to Mulder 
thoughtfully.  "The woman with him, now, she was good."  He
glanced over at Scully and continued, "She was about your size, 
maybe just a little taller."  A slow smile came to him.  "She
cried and begged, and screamed.  She screamed till she could 
hardly make a sound.  Oh, yeah.  She was good."

Mulder got up to leave, but turned back to ask, "Why did you 
make those punctures in their backs after they died?"  

"Oh, that.  Well, I just wanted to throw off the police, 
at least at first.  I figured maybe they would look for a 
psycho instead of a normal guy like me.  But the second
time, I thought it would be cool," Hank gave Mulder a proud 
grin, "sort of like a signature on a work of art.  So I 
kept it up."

**********************

Mulder and Scully finished filling out forms and reports, then 
headed back to the motel in silence.  After a while, Mulder 
reached over and gave Scully's hand a comforting squeeze.  Scully 
returned the light squeeze and gave him a slight, sympathetic 
smile.  They both still felt the effects of Hank's chilling lack 
of conscience.  Scully leaned back in her seat and closed her 
eyes while Mulder drove.  

When they had almost reached the motel, Mulder leaned over and 
whispered suggestively, "We still have time to go skinny-dipping."  

Scully kept her eyes closed and smiled.  "Let's go home, Mulder."

End