Part 31
   
   
   Friday, April 28
   
   
   8:54 AM
   
   
   
   
   Michael woke to a familiar feeling of warmth along his left side. It
   was a sensation he missed. He looked down his body and saw reddish
   brown hair fanned out over his chest. The sun streaming in from the
   windows augmented the highlights and the shine.
   
   Susan was sleeping nude nestled against Michael with her leg draped
   over his left hip and her hand on his other hip. Her face was smashed
   against his chest, her breath tickling the small patch of hair there.
   
   Slowly, he realized he had no feeling in his left arm. Her body was
   cutting off his circulation. As much as he didn't want to disturb her,
   he had to change position.
   
   Susan sighed in her sleep and snuggled closer. If she got any closer,
   she would be inside him. She raised her leg a bit, her thigh brushing
   up against him.
   
   He closed his eyes at the sensation.
   
   She slid her hand up his stomach to his chest, her palm resting over
   his heart. She tilted her head and buried her face in his neck. She
   licked her dry lips, her tongue accidentally touching the sensitive
   area on his throat.
   
   He breathed in deeply and was suddenly overwhelmed by memories. It had
   been almost a month since he had awakened with her next to him. He
   placed his arm around her, happy that she was there, and slid his hand
   down her back to her buttocks, spreading his fingers out, his large
   hand almost completely covered her cheek.
   
   Susan made a sound of annoyance and sighed.
   
   She was awake and he wasn't a bit sorry that he had awakened her.
   
   She shifted slightly and became aware of the warmth all along her
   body. She took a deep breath, and by the sweet smell, she determined
   that the warmth was Michael.
   
   A sound of contentment escaped her as he moved his hand up and down
   her back, his fingers running along her vertebra.
   
   Her fingers flexed and relaxed on his chest.
   
   "Mmmm," she groaned. Not opening her eyes, she placed a soft kiss on
   his neck, then traced her tongue around his Adam's apple and gave him
   a slight nip.
   
   He grunted and he could feel her smile.
   
   She moved to kiss his chest and snuggled against him again.
   
   Michael always loved this time of day when they could lay together and
   just feel, nothing interrupting them.
   
   Susan shifted again so that she was practically laying on top of him
   and he wrapped both arms around her.
   
   "Morning, Love," she sighed. She still hadn't opened her eyes.
   
   He responded by tightening his embrace.
   
   "You smell good," she said quietly.
   
   "So do you," he said, burrowing his nose in her hair, breathing
   deeply. "I missed this."
   
   Susan laid her arm over his upper chest, supporting herself so she
   could kiss him on the lips.
   
   Michael ran his hands up her back and buried them in her hair, holding
   her to him.
   
   After an eternity of lazy, sleepy kisses, she released his mouth and
   rested her head back on his chest.
   
   "I don't want to get up," she said.
   
   "Then don't"
   
   "I want to go for a run."
   
   "Susie, you just came home from the hospital, do you think that's a
   good idea?"
   
   "Probably not, but I'm going anyway."
   
   "You know, you can be a real pain in the ass."
   
   Susan smiled and lifted her head to look at him. "And you love me."
   
   Michael rolled his eyes.
   
   She chuckled and rested her chin on her forearm so she could look at
   him, but didn't have to move.
   
   "What were you and Dana doing up in the widow's walk last night?"
   
   "Talking," she stated.
   
   "About?"
   
   She frowned and sighed. "The Baby."
   
   Michael hitched in a breath, he wasn't expecting that. She didn't talk
   about it much.
   
   "Are you OK?" he asked hesitantly.
   
   She studied him for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I think I am."
   
   He gave her a small smile and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "She
   would have been a beautiful child," he said against her skin.
   
   She nodded. "She was."
   
   Michael pulled away to look at her. "You're right, she was. As
   beautiful as her mother."
   
   She gave him a brief kiss.
   
   "Katherine Elizabeth Halloway," he said in a far away voice.
   
   "No," she shook her head.
   
   He frowned at her.
   
   "O'Sullivan. Katherine Elizabeth O'Sullivan," she said with
   conviction.
   
   He smiled brilliantly and pulled her up for a kiss. He was the first
   to pull away and she settled back down on his chest. She ran her hand
   up and down his body.
   
   They stayed that way, quietly caressing each other for awhile until
   Michael broke the silence.
   
   "Do you want to go away?"
   
   Susan picked her head up.
   
   "Mulder and Dana are only staying `til Friday, that gives us the rest
   of your medical leave. We can go anywhere you want to go."
   
   She pondered his question. "But you have to go to work."
   
   He shook his head. "I'm on suspension, remember?"
   
   She frowned. "You never told me what happened."
   
   He groaned. "I don't want to get into that now, let's just say I was
   protecting your honor," he finished with a grin.
   
   She snorted. "You broke our boss' nose because he questioned my
   honor?" she asked incredulously.
   
   He nodded.
   
   She gave him another quick kiss. "Thank you."
   
   "So, where do you want to go?" He asked when she settled back down.
   
   She sighed. "I don't know, you choose."
   
   "Bali," he answered quickly.
   
   She laughed. "Shoulda known you'd pick that."
   
   "Mmmm, I loved it there," he sighed.
   
   "It *was* nice."
   
   He ran his hands along her sides, his finger tips brushing the sides
   of her breasts.
   
   "Yes, it was," he said in a deep voice, laced with arousal.
   
   Susan shifted, her knee connecting with the evidence of how much he
   enjoyed that island. She did it again and he groaned.
   
   "You make the plans, and I'll pack light," she said as she slid her
   hand down his chest to his stomach.
   
   Michael moved to get up and reached for the phone, but she grabbed his
   hand and pushed him back down.
   
   He chuckled. "I thought you wanted me to make the plans," he said
   innocently.
   
   She laughed and placed her hand back on his stomach. She slide her
   hand lower and he gasped.
   
   "Come shower with me," he asked suddenly.
   
   "I'm about to go running." She said as she moved her hand slightly.
   
   "Please," he begged.
   
   She looked up at him.
   
   "You can take another shower later," he said in a pleading tone.
   
   She gave him a curious look.
   
   He smiled at her shyly. "I just," he stammered. "I just want you in
   the shower with me." He looked a little embarrassed at his admission.
   
   She smiled and sat up.
   
   He instantly missed her warmth.
   
   "OK, but I get a massage after my run."
   
   He grinned and sat up, too. "You're on."
   
   
   
   ***
   
   10:03 AM
   
   
   
   Mulder was sitting at the breakfast nook when Michael padded shoeless
   into the kitchen dressed in shorts and a tee-shirt. His hair was wet
   and he was wearing a slight smile on his face.
   
   Mulder looked up. "Morning," he said, his mouth full with cereal. He
   was wearing sweats and a tee-shirt and looked as if he hadn't gotten
   much sleep last night.
   
   Michael nodded. "You know, if you had waited, I was going to cook
   breakfast," he said. Reaching above him, he grabbed a frying pan from
   the hanging rack.
   
   "I'll eat that, too," he said.
   
   Scully casually strolled into the kitchen, already dressed for the day
   in jeans and a white blouse.
   
   "Morning, Mulder," she said, leaning over to give him a chaste kiss on
   the cheek.
   
   He just grinned at her.
   
   "Morning, Dana," Michael said, handing her a cup of coffee. "Cream's
   in the fridge."
   
   She nodded her thanks and opened the fridge to take out the cream. She
   placed her mug down next to Michael on the counter, their backs to
   Mulder.
   
   Michael leaned in close to her and whispered, "Sorry about last
   night."
   
   She smiled and touched his arm briefly. They both noticed Mulder's
   head pop up.
   
   "It's OK," she said.
   
   Michael glanced at Mulder out of the corner of his eye and looked back
   to Scully. She was smiling slightly and had a mischievous sparkle in
   her eyes.
   
   He leaned in again. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" He asked loud enough
   for Mulder to hear.
   
   Scully grinned, her eyes flickered with amusement.
   
   Michael was glad Mulder couldn't see her, he knew she was having fun
   teasing him. "I know I grabbed you kinda rough and I wanted to make
   sure I didn't hurt you."
   
   Mulder frowned.
   
   "No, I'm OK," she said in a steady voice even though she was grinning
   from ear to ear.
   
   "No bruising?"
   
   She placed her hand on the top of her head. "Actually, I think I
   banged my head on the headboard."
   
   Michael almost laughed at Mulder's gasp. He placed his arm around
   Scully's shoulder and pulled her in slightly. "Sorry," he said as he
   kissed the top of her hair.
   
   Mulder stood up quickly and they turned to him, looking like they had
   forgotten he was in the room.
   
   "WHAT THE HELL?!" He shouted.
   
   Michael and Scully were laughing hysterically when Susan bounded
   barefoot down the stairs, her hair pulled back in a pony tail. She was
   dressed in black spandex pants that ended mid calf and a sports bra.
   
   Mulder looked none too happy slouching at the breakfast nook.
   
   Susan stopped in her tracks. "What's so funny?"
   
   Michael shook his head, he couldn't answer.
   
   "Their having fun on my behalf," Mulder groaned.
   
   Susan smiled. "That's the best kind of fun."
   
   He made a face at her.
   
   She leaned down and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Lighten up."
   
   He grumbled under his breath and shoved a roll in his mouth.
   
   Scully gave in and walked over to him. Touching his shoulder she
   apologized. "I'm sorry, Mulder," her voice betraying her amusement.
   
   "No, you're not," he mumbled.
   
   She hugged him from behind and kissed the back of his neck. "It was an
   opportunity I couldn't pass up."
   
   He ran his hand up and down her arm, turning his head as he kissed
   her. She was instantly forgiven.
   
   Susan watched the two of them and smiled. She looked toward Michael
   and noticed that he was watching her with a secret smile on his face.
   She walked up to him and put her arms around his neck, pulling him
   down for a kiss.
   
   "Don't forget you owe me a massage," she whispered into the hollow of
   his throat.
   
   He tilted her head back up and kissed her. "I don't think I could ever
   forget that."
   
   She hugged him tightly then pulled away and walked to the
   refrigerator. She looked over her shoulder as she reached for a bottle
   of water and wiggled her eyebrows at him.
   
   "Where're you going?" Mulder asked as Scully sat down next to him.
   
   "For a run," she said strapping the bottle to her waist.
   
   "Barefoot?"
   
   She nodded. "I always run barefoot on the beach."
   
   "Do you think that's wise?" Scully asked.
   
   She shrugged, put her pinkies in the corners of her mouth and
   whistled, Ruffus came barreling out of nowhere. "I'll have company."
   
   
   
   ***
   
   
   
   The water washed away two distinctly different set of footprints in
   the sand; one canine, one human. The human prints were deep in the
   sand, with long strides, while the canine's looked as if they were
   struggling to keep up.
   
   Susan passed her two-mile marker at a clip with Ruffus running
   steadily next to her, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
   
   It had been almost three months since Susan ran on the beach, and her
   muscles and lungs were paying the price for it. The lactic acid built
   up in her limbs causing them to scream in pain, but she ignored it.
   Her lungs burned from exertion, but she didn't feel it. She was beyond
   pain, beyond noticing the suffering she was causing her body. She
   would feel it later, but right now, all she felt was her feet pounding
   into the sand, her blood raging in her ears and the clearing of her
   mind.
   
   Running was her only escape from her life and her thoughts. The wind
   blowing her hair back, the sand she kicked up, the sweat streaming
   down her face gave her solace from her constant daily battles. She
   lived for this time and loved that Michael never questioned it or
   asked to come along. He knew it was the only time she ever was truly
   alone. At least it used to be.
   
   Now, she was alone all the time.
   
   She forced herself to speed up, knowing that when she reaches her
   three-mile marker, she will be far behind her normal time. She was one
   of those rare individuals who could run a five minute mile and
   continue the pace for an undetermined amount of time. Usually, it took
   about fifteen minutes to reach her marker, but today it took about
   twenty.
   
   She stumbled to a halt when she passed the piece of plywood sticking
   out of the sand with a white 3 painted on it. The owners of this
   particular section of the beach allowed her to hammer the wood into
   the sand as long as it was high and far enough away from the water so
   that no one would trip over it.
   
   She leaned forward, her hands on her thighs, gulping in air, forcing
   oxygen into her overtaxed lungs.
   
   Ruffus laid down next to her, panting rapidly, saliva pooling on the
   sand along with the sweat dripping off of Susan. She could have sworn
   he was smiling.
   
   "Worked ya hard," Susan huffed out.
   
   Ruffus licked his face in response and continued panting.
   
   Susan looked down at the timer on her watch and clicked it. 23:38 it
   read.
   
   "Damn," she cursed, it took longer than she thought it would.
   
   She wiped her face with her arm and grabbed the water bottle that was
   suspended from her waist. She downed half of it in one swallow, then
   took two more slower sips. She snapped her fingers and Ruffus stood as
   she poured the rest of the bottle out so he could lap hungrily at the
   stream.
   
   She tossed it into a wire trash can that was about 20 feet from her
   marker.
   
   "Ready to go back?" She asked the dog.
   
   He yowled at her and she laughed. Malamutes didn't bark, they kind of
   howled and whined and usually were very vocal. Ruffus was a quiet dog,
   hardly making any noise, except when he was happy. She missed the
   sensations she picked up from him. His feelings were always so pure
   and uncomplicated. If he was happy, he simply felt happy, no sense of
   any other feeling and it was always a relief from the rest of the
   world. That was one reason why she loved to run with him; the fact
   that he loved it, too and that she knew that he loved being with her.
   He was her dog and her dog only.
   
   She ruffled his fur, stretched her arms over her head and started her
   trip back. She had taken two steps when the pain stabbed in her
   temples. It was much more intense than the one that struck last night
   and she fell to her knees, scraping the skin on a jagged shell. Her
   hands flew to her face, covering her eyes. Suddenly, the sun was too
   bright and the surging of the Sound was too loud.
   
   She cried out as the pain intensified. Colors flashed before her eyes
   in rhythm to the searing hot pain that stabbed into her skull.
   
   Then as it began, it stopped.
   
   She was breathing heavily and her heart was pounding so hard she half
   expected it to burst from her chest. She sat back on her heels and
   gingerly lowered her hands. What she saw made her gasp.
   
   The world looked as if she had stepped into the negative of a
   photograph.
   
   
   Part 32
   
   
   11:14 AM
   
   
   
   Michael glanced at his watch for the third time in as many minutes and
   he was starting to annoy Mulder.
   
   "Mike," Mulder said. "She's only been gone for an hour. Relax."
   
   Michael paced behind the couch. "She usually doesn't take this long."
   
   "Is she still running four miles?" Mulder asked.
   
   Michael shook his head. "No, she's running six now."
   
   "Jesus," Mulder mumbled. "Give her a break, she just got out of the
   hospital yesterday."
   
   "That's what's making me uncomfortable. This is her first full day
   back." He ran his hands through his hair. "I shouldn't have let her go
   alone."
   
   Mulder snorted. "I doubt you *let* her do anything."
   
   Michael gave him a sharp look.
   
   "Mulder," Scully said softly from her place on the couch next to him.
   
   "I'm going to look for her," Michael stated as he walked out of the
   room.
   
   Mulder chuckled to himself. "God, he's got it bad."
   
   Scully narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing as she pushed up off
   the couch to follow Michael.
   
   Mulder watched her walk out of the room, confused at her reaction. He
   mentally reviewed the conversation and winced. Shit! No sleep and his
   raging hormones were starting to affect his thought processes. He
   groaned and got up to follow
   
   Scully.
   
   
   ***
   
   
   Michael stepped off the board walk that led down to the water and
   spied Susan. She was stumbling down the beach, looking around her as
   if she had never been there before. Her pony tail was askew with bits
   of hair hanging around her face. Ruffus spotted him almost immediately
   and howled.
   
   Susan cried out and covered her ears.
   
   Michael took off towards her, reaching her just in time to catch her
   as she started to drop to the ground.
   
   "SUSAN!"
   
   Susan groaned and tightened her hands over her ears, squeezing her
   eyes shut. He lowered her to the sand.
   
   "Mike," she whispered.
   
   "It's OK," he spoke softly. "Are you all right?"
   
   Susan slowly opened her eyes to look at him. His normally pale Irish
   skin was black and his beautiful dark hair was white. But what was
   most frightening was that his eyes were yellow.
   
   She quickly closed her eyes again.
   
   "Susie," he spoke a little louder this time and she opened her eyes
   and clamped a hand over his mouth.
   
   He looked at her questionably.
   
   "Shh," she said. "Speak softly."
   
   He nodded and she dropped her hand. He put an arm around her and
   helped her to her feet. "Come on. Let's get you back to the house."
   
   
   ***
   
   
   Mulder found Scully standing outside on the edge of the patio looking
   into the windows of the indoor pool that was connected to the sun
   room.
   
   "Where's Mike?"
   
   Scully startled slightly and glanced at him. "He went down to the
   water."
   
   Mulder nodded. "Hey," He came up next to her. "I'm sorry about
   before."
   
   She nodded and gave him a small smile. "Didn't get much sleep last
   night, did you?"
   
   Mulder smiled. "What do you think?" he said taking a step closer to
   her.
   
   Scully put her hand up. "Hey, don't blame me, all I wanted was a cup
   of tea," she said defensively.
   
   Mulder nodded and took another step toward her. "Sure, that's why I
   have scratch marks down my back," he said as he started to lean down,
   but stopped when he saw Michael and Susan walking up from the water.
   
   Scully turned to look in the same direction as Mulder and saw Susan
   leaning heavily on Michael as he helped guide her toward the house.
   Blood was streaming down her right knee and she had a hand over her
   eyes.
   
   
   
   ***
   
   
   Michael sat Susan down on one of the wicker chairs in the sun room and
   darted out to fetch the first aid kit.
   
   Susan shook her head. "You would think I've never had a skinned knee
   before," she said wryly.
   
   "Susan, what happened? Scully asked as she kneeled down in front of
   her.
   
   Susan looked at her with a touch of amazement and reached her hand out
   to caress her hair.
   
   Scully frowned and looked at Mulder curiously.
   
   "Susan?" Scully asked.
   
   Susan didn't answer, just continued to run her fingers through her
   hair; her green hair.
   
   "Green," Susan stated.
   
   "What's green?" Mulder asked softly as he kneeled down next to Scully.
   
   "Her hair," Susan said as dropped her hand and looked at Mulder. "Her
   hair is green."
   
   "What do you mean it's green?" he asked.
   
   Susan extended her hand to take a lock of Scully's hair in between her
   fingers and showed it to Mulder. "It's green."
   
   Mulder frowned. "You see it as green?"
   
   Susan nodded.
   
   "What else to do you see differently?"
   
   Susan stood on wobbly legs. "Everything. Everything is different.
   Dana's hair is green, her skin is black, her eyes are yellow, like
   Michael's."
   
   Mulder glanced at Scully. "Opposite."
   
   Scully frowned.
   
   "She sees everything in its opposite color."
   
   "Mulder," Scully started, but Mulder interrupted her as Michael came
   back in the room.
   
   "The opposite of red is green, opposite of blue is yellow."
   
   "What the hell are you talking about!?" Michael snapped.
   
   Susan turned quickly to face him, causing her to lose her balance.
   Mulder caught her, then lowered her back down into her chair.
   
   Scully took the first aid kit from him and started cleaning Susan's
   knee.
   
   "Michael please speak softly," Susan begged.
   
   He nodded and sat down next to her, but found that he was too fidgety
   and had to stand.
   
   Mulder ran into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and took out a
   green container.
   
   "What color is this?" He asked Susan.
   
   "Red," Susan stated.
   
   Mulder looked at Scully. "Is she right?"
   
   Scully shook her head. "It's green."
   
   "What the hell is going on?" Michael asked.
   
   Mulder turned to him. "I don't know why, but she's seeing things in
   their opposite colors."
   
   Michael looked at him. "I got that much, my question is why."
   
   Mulder opened his mouth to answer, but Scully spoke first.
   
   "Susan, what happened right before everything changed?"
   
   Susan took a deep breath. "I got a headache."
   
   "Then?"
   
   "Then everything got really loud."
   
   "Was the headache as bad as the others?"
   
   Susan glanced at Michael and shook her head. "Worse."
   
   "What headaches?" Michael asked as he came up next to Scully.
   
   Susan rubbed her eyes and looked up at him. "Oh, by the way, I've been
   getting these really bad headaches lately," she said lightly.
   
   Michael frowned at her. "Why didn't you tell me!?" His voice rose at
   the last word and Susan clamped her hands over her ears.
   
   He took a deep breath and glanced at Mulder.
   
   "Susan," he said softly, but she didn't respond. "Susan," he said
   again reaching out to touch her, but she jumped up from her seat and
   stumbled back before he could.
   
   "No," she said, tripping over the chair she just vacated. A searing
   pain that felt as if it started in her toes, worked it's way up her
   body slamming into her skull like a sledgehammer.
   
   "Oh, God!" she screamed as she fell, her knees colliding with the
   floor.
   
   Mulder and Michael dashed toward her, but as soon as they made
   contact, the pain she was feeling arched off of her and onto them.
   They both reared back. Mulder looked at his hands half expecting them
   to be burned.
   
   "SUSAN!" Michael shouted.
   
   Susan fell to her side and drew her legs up to her chest so that she
   was laying in a fetal position, her hands clamped on the sides of her
   head. Eyes squeezed shut and mouth open, she made horrifying keening
   noises.
   
   Suddenly her whole body shook as if she was having a seizure. Her
   cries grew louder.
   
   Scully was about to get up to grab the phone, when suddenly the room
   grew quiet and Susan stopped moving.
   
   No one breathed
   
   Susan sucked in a deep lungfull of air and relaxed.
   
   "Susie?" Michael asked as he slowly crawled toward her.
   
   Her eyes shot open as she watched him approach.
   
   He carefully reached out to her, but she sat up and he drew his hand
   back.
   
   Susan looked from Mulder to Scully, then back to Michael. Her eyes
   were slightly unfocused and she was flushed, her hair sticking to her
   sweaty face. She looked down at herself and noticed that her sports
   bra was all twisted. She righted it and looked back at Michael. He was
   watching her expectantly.
   
   Slowly a smile spread across her face, her eyes crinkling. "I'm back,"
   she said hoarsely and abruptly fainted.
   
   
   
   ***
   
   
   Saturday, April 29
   
   
   3:04 PM
   
   
   
   "Where do you keep the knives?" Scully asked Michael.
   
   He motioned toward the sink, his hands greasy with butter. "In the
   drawer next to the sink."
   
   Scully reached for the drawer, but Michael stopped her.
   
   "No," he shook his head. "On the other side."
   
   Scully nodded, opening the correct drawer, she pulled out a knife.
   
   Scully reached for a carrot and started cutting, trying to help
   Michael with dinner. He had been on edge all day, anxious about Susan.
   She had not woken up since the morning before. Scully had checked on
   her regularly but couldn't find anything wrong. It seemed that she was
   simply resting.
   
   Mulder walked into the kitchen and grabbed a stool from the breakfast
   nook. Placing it next to Scully at the butcher block, he sat down and
   quickly stole a piece of carrot.
   
   "Mulder," she chided.
   
   He gave her a smile.
   
   "You know, you could at least help."
   
   Mulder smiled wider. "The last thing you want is me to help out with
   dinner."
   
   Scully gave him and exasperated look.
   
   Mulder was about to say something, but was interrupted by a faint
   knocking on the glass door of the sun room.
   
   "Come on in," Michael said as he put down his knife and wiped his
   hands on a towel.
   
   Mulder and Scully glanced at each other.
   
   A tall, thin girl in her late teens or early twenties walked in the
   room followed closely by a blonde boy who couldn't be more than ten.
   By the resemblance, they had to be brother and sister.
   
   "Hey, guys!" Michael exclaimed.
   
   The girl gave him a dazzling smile. "Hi, Mike!"
   
   Michael smiled at her and Scully noticed a blush grow on the girl's
   cheeks.
   
   "Guys," Michael said, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder so that
   he could turn him toward Mulder and Scully. "These are friends of mine
   and Susan's." He motioned to Scully. "This is Dana and this" he
   indicated Mulder, "is Mulder."
   
   Mulder and Scully nodded and said `Hi'.
   
   "This is Keith," he tousled the boy's hair, making him laugh. "He
   takes care of Ruffus while Susie and I are away."
   
   "Hi, Keith," Scully said.
   
   He smiled at her.
   
   "And," Michael said, "This is Becca," he put his other hand on her
   shoulder. "They live next door."
   
   Scully smiled when she saw the girl look down shyly.
   
   "She helps take care of the house, basically cleaning up after Susan."
   
   Mulder snorted, Scully glanced at him.
   
   "Not much work," Becca said, still smiling slightly. "But it pays
   well."
   
   "I bet," Mulder said sarcastically.
   
   "Which is why you guys are here. Just give me a sec," Michael said as
   he walked out of the room and down the hall to his office opposite
   Susan's.
   
   There was an uncomfortable silence in the room while they waited for
   Michael to come back until Ruffus walked in and saw Keith. The dog
   practically knocked him down in his excitement.
   
   Keith laughed and ran out into the sun room with Ruffus following.
   They could hear the boy laughing and an occasional yelp from Ruffus.
   
   "So," Scully said to Becca. "you go to school?"
   
   The girl nodded. "I'm a sophomore at St. Joseph's College."
   
   "What's your major?" Mulder asked.
   
   "Political Science."
   
   Mulder's eyebrows rose. "Really? What do you want to do with your
   degree?"
   
   Becca shrugged. "Go to Law School? I'm not sure."
   
   "How old are you?" Scully asked.
   
   "Twenty."
   
   Mulder and Scully nodded. "Well, you still have time to make up your
   mind," Scully said.
   
   "That's what I tell my mom," Becca said. "I'm in no rush."
   
   Michael walked back into the room carrying his wallet and checkbook.
   "Keith?" The boy poked his head around the corner. "I've got your
   money," Michael said as he withdrew five twenties from his wallet.
   
   He cheerfully took the money. "Thanks," he said. "Is it OK if I take
   Ruffus out to the water?"
   
   Michael smiled. "Sure."
   
   "Thanks, Mike!" Keith shouted, smiling gleefully as he ran out of the
   room with Ruffus chasing after him.
   
   Michael looked at Mulder and Scully. "His mother won't let him have a
   dog, so we let him play with Ruffus whenever he wants."
   
   Scully smiled. "That's very nice of you."
   
   He shrugged and turned to Becca. "I don't have enough cash, is it OK
   if I write you a check?"
   
   Becca smiled. "Sure."
   
   Michael leaned over the counter to fill out the check.
   
   "Oh," Becca started. "Is Susan around?"
   
   Michael looked up. "Uh," he glanced at Scully and Mulder. "She's, uh,
   sleeping right now."
   
   Becca's smile fell. "Is she OK?"
   
   Michael nodded vigorously. "Yeah, she's just resting."
   
   The girl nodded. "Oh, OK. Can you just tell her my mom was asking
   about her? She wanted to come over, but she didn't want to intrude or
   anything. She wanted me to ask Susan to give her a call when she's up
   to it."
   
   Michael smiled and handed her the check. "I'll make sure I tell her,"
   he said as he walked with her into the sun room. When he returned,
   Mulder was the first one to speak.
   
   "She's got a crush on you," Mulder said in singsong.
   
   Scully laughed.
   
   Michael smiled. "I know, Susie told me."
   
   "It's sweet," Scully said. "And you're nice to her and her brother."
   
   He shrugged. "How else am I supposed to act?"
   
   "You could treat her like I piece of wood," Mulder said, "I don't
   think it would matter."
   
   Scully slapped him playfully.
   
   Michael sighed. "I think I alarmed her when she asked about Susan. I
   didn't know how to respond." He ran his hands through his hair.
   
   "You said the right thing," Mulder responded. "She's doing exactly
   what you said. She's resting."
   
   Michael nodded.
   
   "Scully said that Susan thought she was getting the headaches because
   her body was adjusting to the loss of her gift," he glanced at Scully.
   "But I think it was working on getting it back."
   
   Michael looked at him.
   
   "I mean, think about it," he paused for effect. "She's had this gift
   her whole life. Her body's made for it."
   
   "I don't understand," Michael said leaning on the counter opposite
   him.
   
   "You studied those brain scans we did," he said to Scully. She nodded.
   "She uses over 90% of her brain." Scully nodded again. "You also said
   that she doesn't really get sick and has been in perfect health as
   long as she can remember."
   
   "Mulder what are you getting at?" Scully asked.
   
   "What if she's like Gibson?"
   
   "Mulder," Scully warned.
   
   "No, hear me out, Scully."
   
   "Who's Gibson?" Michael asked.
   
   They looked at him like they had forgotten he was in the room.
   
   "Gibson is a boy from an X-File," Scully explained. "There was an
   attempt on his life."
   
   "And he can read minds," Mulder added.
   
   Michael stared at him for a beat before he answered. "But Susie can't
   read minds."
   
   "No, but she can read emotions and can skim your memory, that's pretty
   close."
   
   "So, what does this all mean?" Michael asked.
   
   "We theorized that Gibson is more advanced than the rest of us, the
   next step in evolution."
   
   "You theorized," Scully reminded him.
   
   Mulder frowned at her, but didn't respond. He looked back at Michael.
   "I think Susan is like that."
   
   "She's more evolved," Michael stated doubtfully.
   
   Mulder nodded. "She's extremely intelligent, she never gets sick,
   she's in perfect physical health, has a memory almost like mine,
   learns things faster than anyone I have ever met." Mulder paused to
   breath. "Think about it, can you imagine a world where everyone knows
   how the other is feeling, no one can lie?"
   
   Michael didn't respond.
   
   "Have you ever tried to lie to Susan?"
   
   A slow smile spread across Michael's face. "It's impossible."
   
   Mulder returned the smile. "Tell me about it."
   
   Suddenly Michael laughed.
   
   Mulder and Scully exchanged confused looks.
   
   "I just imagined a world where everyone was like Susan." He looked at
   Scully. "One person in a bad mood would set off mass suicides and
   murders everywhere."
   
   "Yeah," Mulder chuckled. "And one bout of good sex would cripple the
   world."
   
   Michael let out a loud belly laugh and Mulder joined in.
   
   Scully watched them amusingly.
   
   Suddenly, they both stopped laughing and looked up at the ceiling.
   
   "What's the matter?" Scully asked.
   
   Michael and Mulder looked at each other. "Susan's awake," they said
   together.
   
   Scully frowned. "How do you know?"
   
   "We can feel it."
   
   
   ***
   
   
   Susan slowly ascended into consciousness, just resting below the
   surface. She allowed her mind to focus on her surroundings, relishing
   in the familiar sounds and impressions. She determined that there were
   three distinct identities downstairs, probably in the kitchen and knew
   immediately they belonged to Mulder, Scully and Michael.
   
   She smiled and opened her eyes when she felt them laugh, then sighed
   contentedly when Michael and Mulder sensed that she was awake.
   
   It was as if she had just woken from a long nightmare.
   
   She rolled to her side and suddenly picked up a presence she hadn't
   felt since before this whole mess started. She made a kissing noise
   and a cat hopped onto the bed.
   
   "Hey, Ozzy," she said softly.
   
   The cat responded by chirping at her, greeting her as if she was
   another cat.
   
   Ozzy was about ten years old and was graying a bit around his face. He
   had the coloring of a Siamese and Windex blue eyes that crossed just
   enough to be amusing. But, his fur was a little thicker and a littler
   furrier and he didn't have the deep meow of a Siamese. When he made a
   noise, which wasn't often, he squeaked. He also had white booted feet
   and a white mark on his lip.
   
   The cat rubbed his face against Susan's hand and she lowered her head
   so he could butt his forehead against hers. She ran her hands over his
   body vigorously knowing he loved the way she massaged his coat.
   
   He was now purring earnestly.
   
   Susan kissed the top of his head and sat up. Pushing the covers aside,
   she noticed that she was dressed only in her sports bra and panties.
   Michael must have removed her running pants, knowing she would be more
   comfortable.
   
   She stretched her arms over her head then wrinkled her nose. God, she
   needed a shower.
   
   Swinging her legs over the side, she stood and immediately lost her
   balance. She grabbed the bedpost, righting herself. As she stumbled
   across the room to the bathroom, she figured a bath would be safer.
   
   
   ***
   
   
   Michael found her reclining in the large tub, head back and eyes
   closed. A slight smile touched her lips.
   
   "You can breath now." Susan raised her head, her smile growing as she
   opened her eyes. "I'm alive and very well, aside from a touch of jet
   lag," she finished dryly.
   
   Michael breathed out, but didn't speak.
   
   Susan wrinkled her brow. "How long was I out this time?"
   
   Michael glanced down at his watch. "It's 4:30," he stated.
   
   She frowned. "I've only been out a few hours? Why does it feel longer
   than that?" She asked herself out load.
   
   Michael smiled. "Today's Saturday."
   
   "Tomorrow?"
   
   "You've been asleep since about noon yesterday."
   
   "Why does the back of my head hurt?"
   
   "You cracked your head on the floor in the sun room," Michael
   explained.
   
   Susan nodded and rested her head back, staring up at the ceiling.
   "What are you cooking?"
   
   Michael smiled again. "Your favorite."
   
   She jerked her head up to look at him. "How did you know I would be up
   for it?"
   
   "If that couldn't get you up, nothing would."
   
   They both heard her stomach growl in the quiet of the room.
   
   Michael laughed. "The faster you're washed, the faster you can come
   down and eat."
   
   Susan grabbed the bath sponge from the basket at the foot of the tub.
   
   Michael took a step forward. "Want some help?" His voice was low.
   
   Susan smiled at him. "How is that supposed to get me out of the tub
   faster?"
   
   Michael knelt down in front of her so they were at the same eye level.
   "Dinner won't be ready for another hour."
   
   Susan reached a soapy hand out to caress his jaw. A tingling sensation
   traveled from her hand, down her arm, to the pit of her stomach where
   it liquefied.
   
   Michael closed his eyes as he breathed in deeply.
   
   He opened his eyes to see her looking back at him with such an
   expression of openness and adoration that he had to close his eyes
   again. After a moment, he felt a slight warmth of pressure on his
   lips. His surroundings faded as he could only concentrate on the touch
   of the tip of her tongue on his bottom lip. The world disappeared
   completely when he opened himself to Susan's mouth and the sensations
   passing between them.
   
   He screwed his eyes shut as the physical boundaries separating them
   crumpled entirely. Before all conscious thought left him, he
   fleetingly noted that he was still dressed as she pulled him into the
   tub with her.
   
   
   
   
   ***
   
   
   
   Part 33
   
   
   ***
   
   
   6:08 PM
   
   
   Susan bounced down the stairs, a contented smile on her face.
   
   "Hey!" Mulder shouted from the couch. "Good to see you up and about."
   
   Scully turned to her from beside Mulder. "Yeah, how are you feeling?"
   
   Susan glanced at Michael as he walked out of the kitchen and her smile
   broadened. "Good! I feel very, very good!"
   
   Mulder looked from Susan to Michael and gave them a knowing smile.
   "I'll bet you do."
   
   Michael ignored him. "Dinner's ready."
   
   Susan jumped off the last step of the stairs and practically skipped
   into the kitchen. On her way to the dining room, she grabbed two
   bottles of wine.
   
   "Susan, I don't think you should have anything to drink," Michael said
   from behind her.
   
   She turned and rolled her eyes at him. "Mike, you can't expect me to
   eat duck without at least one glass of wine."
   
   He shook his head and continued past her so that he could place the
   platter he was carrying in the middle of the table.
   
   "So," Mulder said as he sat down. "What's so great about this dinner
   that has you almost salivating?"
   
   Susan sat opposite him. "Mulder, you know how much I love duck, but
   nothing compares to the way Mike makes a Long Island Duck."
   
   Scully reached for her napkin and placed it over her lap. "What's so
   special about Long Island Duck?"
   
   Susan gave her an astonished look. "Long Island is famous for its
   ducks."
   
   Scully glanced at Mulder as if she was asking 'Did you know that?'
   
   He Shrugged.
   
   "Long Island is well known for it's ducks, potatoes, beaches and wine,
   like this wine." Susan picked up one of the bottles. "This is a bottle
   of 1996 Pellegrini Vinter's Pride 'Finale'." She poured a glass for
   Scully.
   
   Scully took a sip and nodded approvingly. "It's good."
   
   "It's my favorite," Susan poured a glass for herself and Michael.
   
   Scully speared a piece of lettuce with her fork. "What else do you
   know about Long Island?"
   
   "Oh, No," Michael groaned.
   
   Susan grinned.
   
   "What?" Scully asked confused.
   
   "Mike doesn't want to get me started."
   
   "Susan can talk forever about the history of Long Island," Michael
   said as he stood to carve the duck.
   
   "I want to hear," Scully said to Susan.
   
   Susan took a deep breath and started her speech.
   
   "Long Island, as I said, is well known for it's ducks, potatoes,
   beaches, wineries and history." She took a sip of her wine. "We have
   revolutionary war battle sights, historic whaling towns, the William
   Floyd Estate, he was a signer of the declaration of independence." She
   counted off the points on her fingers. "The Brookhaven National Lab,
   that was Camp Upton in WWI and WWII. It was the first choice for the
   Manhattan project."
   
   "Really?" Scully asked around a mouth full of rice.
   
   Susan nodded. "That's why William Floyd Parkway is as large as it is
   and why it starts from Smith Point Park. The government was going to
   ship the parts to Smith Point Beach, then drive them up from the beach
   to the lab."
   
   Scully nodded.
   
   Michael leaned back, resting his arm behind Susan.
   
   "We have Sag Harbor and Riverhead which are historic Whaling Towns. My
   great, great, great, great grandfather was a whaler." Susan paused to
   eat a bit of her duck. She closed her eyes at the taste. "Mmm, of
   course, we have the Hamptons where Steven Spielberg and the Baldwins
   live. And Jerry Sindfeld just bought Billy Joel's old house. Billy
   Joel now lives in Oyster Bay by Teddy Roosevelt's house."
   
   Michael sat forward. "We also have the Amityville Horror House," he
   said in a spooky tone of voice.
   
   "Ooo, I want to go see that," Mulder jumped in.
   
   Susan shook her head. "There is no way in hell you could get me into
   that house."
   
   "Don't tell me you actually believe that story," Scully asked.
   
   Susan sighed. "I don't believe the events of the movie, but a man
   *did* murder his entire family in that house."
   
   Mulder leaned forward. "What's the matter Susan? Afraid of a few
   ghosts."
   
   She took a sip of her wine. "Mulder, you know my standings on ghosts.
   But those were horrific murders, you know how I would react to that.
   The vibrations the house would emit, would drive me insane."
   
   Mulder nodded and leaned back. "I still want to see it."
   
   "The house doesn't look the same anymore. If you didn't know where it
   is, you wouldn't be able to find it." Now Susan leaned forward.
   "Besides, I would think you would be more interested in the Montauk
   Project."
   
   Michael groaned.
   
   Mulder sat up, his dinner forgotten. "What's the Montauk Project?"
   
   Susan smiled. "You're losing your touch, Mulder." She drained the rest
   of her glass, then spoke in a conspiratory tone of voice. "You've
   heard of the Philadelphia Experiment...."
   
   Mulder nodded. "It has to do with time travel."
   
   "Well," Susan started. "Out east more, by the Montauk Lighthouse,
   which was commissioned by George Washington, by the way, there is a
   state park called Camp Hero. It was named after Major General Andrew
   Hero, Jr. He was the Army's commander of coastal artillery.
   Originally, the site's purpose was coastal defense, to head off an
   invasion during World War II. In 1957, the army removed the weaponry
   and in 1962, a five story tower was built that contained a 75 foot
   radar dish."
   
   Michael interrupted. "You can see the radar dish if you go up to the
   top of the lighthouse."
   
   Susan nodded. "It's huge. It was used in part of our coastal defense
   warning system."
   
   "But what does this have to do with the Philadelphia experiment?"
   
   "Relax, Mulder," Susan said. "I'm getting to it."
   
   Scully smiled as Mulder leaned back and tried to act as if he wasn't
   that enthralled in the story.
   
   "Supposedly, the base was closed in July of 1981 during the Reagan
   Administration and the site and surrounding areas were sold to New
   York State as undeveloped land."
   
   "It's now a state park," Michael added.
   
   "Why do you say 'supposedly'?" Scully asked.
   
   "I say that because, there is still electricity running through the
   buildings, you need a special permit to enter the area, and it's
   patrolled by State Troopers who either arrest or fine trespassers."
   Susan smiled. "I speak from personal experience."
   
   "Why, what happened?" Scully asked.
   
   "Susie and I were horseback riding around that area with a few friends
   of ours, when we wandered into the 'forbidden area'." Michael laughed.
   "Even though there are millions of signs that say 'No Trespassing'."
   
   "We tied up the horses and looked around," Susan explained. "The
   buildings are in extensive disrepair. Mickey, one of Michael's
   cousins, almost fell through the floor in one of the buildings."
   
   "The wood is all rotted, the paint's peeling..." Michael trailed off.
   
   "So, how does this all have to do with the Philadelphia Experiment?"
   Mulder asked again, he was starting to get exasperated.
   
   Susan laughed. "Ok, Mulder, I'll explain." Susan finished the rest of
   her duck and put down her fork. She leaned back in her chair, tucking
   her legs under her, she continued. "In the 1940's the Philadelphia
   Experiment or officially known as The Rainbow Project was a group of
   experiments government scientists were conducting in hopes to render
   ships invisible to radar; it was the groundwork for stealth technology
   used today."
   
   Mulder interrupted her. "I already told you that I know that. The US
   government tested it's theory about manipulating electromagnetic waves
   using huge generators on the USS Elderide in the Philadelphia Naval
   Yard. When they flipped the switch, the Eldridge not only became
   invisible to radar, but it became physically invisible as well."
   Mulder pause to drain the rest of his wine. "When the ship returned,
   they discovered that most of the crew had gone mad. Others, who were
   moving around the decks during the ship's disappearance found
   themselves fused into parts of the hull. These unpredicted side
   effects caused the Rainbow Project to be shelved in order to place all
   attention on the Manhattan Project."
   
   "Yes, the project was stopped, but it was started up again," Susan
   said. "In the 50's, the original members of the Rainbow Project
   decided that they wanted to continue the work. But this time they
   didn't want to just study the effects of manipulating radar, they
   wanted to study the human factor, too."
   
   Mulder frowned not quite following.
   
   Susan leaned forward. "They wanted to know why the men went loopy."
   
   Scully raised an eyebrow. "Loopy?"
   
   Susan smiled. "Wacko, cuckoo, nuts, crazy, lost it, insane."
   
   "Are those the official terms, doctor?" Mulder asked.
   
   Susan laughed. "You'd be surprised at some of the terms used, Mulder.
   I worked in a mental institution for a year, remember?" Susan sat back
   and placed her hand on Michael's shoulder, playing with the short
   curls that rested at the nape of his neck. "Anyway," she continued,
   not removing her hand. "After a few more tests, the men went to
   Congress for their approval to continue, but were denied, so they went
   to the military who, of course, jumped at the offer."
   
   Michael grabbed her hand, her touch were starting to tickle, and laced
   their fingers together on his lap.
   
   She smiled at him. "Because," she directed her attention back to
   Mulder. "Because they were turned down by Congress, they needed a
   remote base of operations. The military agreed and wouldn't you know
   it, they were in luck. There was this old radar station on the tip of
   Long Island that would be perfect for their base of operations."
   
   Scully nodded. "Camp Hero."
   
   Susan nodded back to her. "Right. Montauk was still a very small town
   back then, so they didn't have to worry about Congress snooping
   around." Susan took a deep breath. "Everything was going well, until
   it was realized that they weren't really studying the effects of
   electromagnetic fields, but mind control."
   
   "Mind control?" Scully asked dryly.
   
   Mulder glanced at her. "You have nothing to say on that matter," he
   said smiling.
   
   Scully ignored him, motioning to Susan to continue.
   
   Susan laughed at Mulder's faux hurt expression. "Give it a rest,
   Mulder. It doesn't work on her."
   
   Mulder turned toward Susan.
   
   "And it doesn't work on me, either. Do you want me to continue?"
   
   Mulder's expression morphed radically into one of overly interested.
   "Go right ahead."
   
   Susan rolled her eyes. "They discovered over time that by aiming the
   radar dish on a `Psychically Sensitive Subject' and by manipulating
   the power and frequency of the waves, they could make a person behave
   any way they wished. PSS's, apparently were trained to be able move to
   an alternate state of awareness. Some could invision an object or idea
   and have it materialize out of thin air."
   
   Scully sighed, but held her tongue allowing Susan to continue.
   
   "The scientists discovered that when they interlaced the Philly
   Experiment with the mind control project, they could not only
   manipulate the human mind, but time as well."
   
   Michael got up, having heard all of this before, to clear the table
   with Scully helping out. Susan and Mulder remained at the table.
   
   Susan glanced at Michael, then back to Mulder. "It was during all of
   this that they started abducting young boys to use as guinea pigs.
   They would submit them to excruciating periods of both mental and
   physical torture in hopes of `breaking their minds'. Then they would
   reconstruct them to suit their needs.
   
   "According to the story, in the 80's, the project reached an all time
   high when the work at Montauk linked with the original Rainbow Project
   from the 40's, becoming so interdependent on each other, that neither
   could be terminated."
   
   "What happened?", Mulder asked.
   
   "A group from within deliberately crashed the project."
   
   "How?"
   
   Susan shrugged. "I don't know, but after that, they decided that the
   work was too hazardous and ended the project, abandoning the site."
   
   Mulder studied her momentarily before speaking. "How do you know all
   this?"
   
   Susan smiled. "I have my sources."
   
   Mulder's eyes brightened. "Scully!" he shouted. "We have to check this
   out."
   
   Scully walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel.
   "Mulder," she pleaded. "We're on vacation."
   
   "Mulder, nothing is there," Susan said. "I've been there, nothing's
   going on."
   
   "It could be underground."
   
   Susan shook her head. "I would have sensed people. Even if they
   weren't there at the time, I would have known if anyone had been there
   recently; any residue was old and fading."
   
   "Maybe they use another entrance and they were so deep underground
   that you couldn't sense them."
   
   "Mulder, you know I don't work like that," she said exasperated. "I'm
   not like Superman, lead doesn't block me. You know that. We conducted
   our own experiments. We couldn't find any substances that blocked my
   senses."
   
   "Well, OK," Mulder started. "Then why don't you let me talk to your
   sources. Let me come to my own conclusions."
   
   Susan sighed. "Mulder, my source is the Internet."
   
   Mulder frowned.
   
   "I was surfing one day, put in Montauk in a search engine and came
   across the Montauk Project. I thought it was interesting so I looked
   into it."
   
   Mulder continued to frown at her, then crossed his arms over his chest
   and leaned back in his chair. "I still want to check it out."
   
   Susan shook her head. "You'll never change will you?"
   
   Mulder didn't answer.
   
   "Michael and I wanted to take you guys to see the lighthouse tomorrow.
   You can see the radar dish from there." She glanced at Scully. "And
   Mulder, I doubt Dana wants to spend the rest of her vacation in the
   hospital because you broke your leg falling through the floor in one
   of the buildings."
   
   "Mulder, I have to agree," Scully interjected. "We don't really know
   what's out there and I just want to spend this week relaxing and in
   the company of friends."
   
   Susan smiled.
   
   Scully kneeled down next to Mulder's chair and took his hand. "How
   about we look in the X-Files for anything related to this when we get
   back?"
   
   Mulder just looked at her.
   
   "I'll even help you."
   
   At that, Mulder had to smile. She was practically begging him to wait.
   He looked down at her kneeling at his side. All she wanted was to have
   a normal vacation without mutations and government conspiracies
   interrupting them.
   
   He sighed loudly. "Oh, all right."
   
   Scully beamed at him and leaned up to kiss him briefly on the lips.
   
   Susan stood. "Good, I'm glad that's settled." She walked into the
   kitchen to give them a moment to themselves, returning after a few
   minutes wearing her Mets hat and holding a set of keys in her hand
   with Michael following closely behind.
   
   "Where are you two going?" Mulder asked.
   
   Susan shook her head. "Not we two", Susan indicated her and Michael.
   "We two," she gestured to Scully.
   
   Scully looked at her, confused. "We're going somewhere?"
   
   Susan nodded and walked into the foyer. Picking up Michael's Yankees
   cap, she yelled back to them, "Yeah, I want to go for a drive and I
   have a feeling you really like my car."
   
   Scully magically appeared before her, her eyes bright. "In the Cobra?"
   she asked excitedly.
   
   Susan handed her the hat. Scully looked down at it as if she didn't
   know what it was.
   
   Susan explained. "It gets pretty windy, and your hair will bug the
   piss out of you." Scully took the hat. "And since I only have one Mets
   hat, this will have to do."
   
   "My woman wouldn't get caught dead wearing one of these." Mulder
   flicked his fingers on Susan's hat.
   
   Scully turned to him, both eyebrow's raised. "Your woman?" she asked
   slowly.
   
   Mulder had heard that tone before. He gulped. "Well," he stuttered.
   "You know..."
   
   Susan saved him from embarrassing himself further. "Shut up, Mulder.
   Let's go Dana." She turned to give Michael a kiss before she stepped
   out into the night air.
   
   Scully gave Mulder a quick peck then scampered after Susan.
   
   Mulder watched them leave then turned to Michael. "Why do I feel like
   we've just been ditched?"
   
   Michael laughed. "Because we have."
   
   
   ***
   
   
   8:35 PM
   
   
   To say that Scully was disappointed, would be an understatement as
   Susan drove the Cobra toward Route 25A at a breathtaking 30 miles an
   hour.
   
   Scully sighed as another car passed them.
   
   Susan stole a glance in Scully's direction, smiling to herself.
   
   "Everything OK, over there, Dana?"
   
   Scully squared her shoulders and sat up in her seat. Giving her a fake
   smile, she answered, "I'm fine."
   
   Susan chuckled. "You are such a liar."
   
   Scully frowned. "I...," she was going to say `I am not', then
   remembered who she was talking to. Scully sighed again. "I was just
   hoping we could go a little faster."
   
   Susan shook her head. "Just wait until we get onto the open road."
   
   Scully nodded and watched a VW Bug pass them.
   
   Susan stopped at a light and glanced at her again. "Dana?"
   
   Scully turned her head towards her. "Mmm?"
   
   The light turned green and the car started moving again.
   
   Susan hesitated before she spoke. "I, uh."
   
   Scully cocked her head.
   
   "I, I just want to say thank you."
   
   Scully looked confused. "For what?" she asked.
   
   Susan kept her eyes on the road. "For what you said before about just
   wanting to relax and spend time with friends. It means a lot to me,"
   Susan took a deep breath. "I don't have many female friends."
   
   Scully nodded. "Well, if it means anything, I don't have many friends,
   period. At least anymore."
   
   Susan chanced a look at her, giving her an understanding smile. "This
   work can do that to you. You lose touch with the rest of the world."
   
   "Yeah," Scully breathed, then fell into silence watching the darkened
   landscape go by.
   
   Susan kept quiet, allowing her a bit of introspection.
   
   Suddenly, Scully let out a small chuckle.
   
   Susan looked at her, smiling. "What?"
   
   Scully shook her head, laughing. "I just, I never imagined that I
   would be friends with one of Mulder's ex's."
   
   Susan grinned. "I never thought I would like Mulder's girlfriend."
   
   Scully snorted. "Girlfriend," she said under her breath.
   
   "You know, I never understood it."
   
   "What?" Scully asked.
   
   "He went from Phoebe to me, then to Diana, then to you."
   
   "I don't understand."
   
   Susan laughed. "It's like the Star Trek movies; only the even numbered
   ones are good."
   
   Scully chuckled.
   
   "He went from a bitch, to me, to a bitch, to you."
   
   "Hopefully he won't go to another a bitch."
   
   Susan grew serious. "He's not going anywhere."
   
   Scully didn't know how to respond to that, so chose silence as an
   answer when they stopped at another traffic light.
   
   Scully glanced to her right as a black Mustang convertible full of
   twenty somethings pulled up next to them. The driver leered at her.
   Scully rolled her eyes and looked straight ahead.
   
   The engine next to them roared.
   
   Susan craned her head to look past Scully.
   
   The Mustang roared again.
   
   Susan snorted and rested her palm on Scully's arm.
   
   She looked at her.
   
   "It seems that we are being challenged."
   
   Scully looked from Susan to the guy next to them. "Are you kidding
   me?"
   
   Susan shook her head.
   
   "Do they know what kind of car this is?"
   
   "Obviously not," Susan answered as she took her right foot off the
   brake and answered the challenge with a roar of her own.
   
   Scully went from chagrined to frightened in a matter of seconds.
   "Susan, NO!"
   
   She gave her a mischievous smile. "You were the one who wanted to go a
   little faster," Susan said, putting the car in first gear.
   
   Scully's response died in her throat as she was slammed back into the
   seat when the light changed.
   
   Susan popped the clutch and the car jumped.
   
   Scully held on for dear life.
   
   Susan didn't go as fast as she could, not wanting this to be over
   before it began. She would allow the punk in the `Stang, a bit of
   false confidence before she really creamed him.
   
   The two cars raced side by side along Route 25A, toward the Long
   Island Expressway, the Mustang slightly in the lead. As they
   approached the ON ramp, Susan overtook him, cut him off and merged
   onto the LIE, the other car close behind.
   
   On the open road, Susan again, allowed him to gain on her, riding next
   to them on the three lane highway.
   
   Scully was starting to hyperventilate and she was distracting Susan.
   
   Susan's eyes darted to look at her.
   
   Scully's hands were gripping the leather seats, probably leaving nail
   marks on the upholstery.
   
   Susan winced at the image.
   
   She needed to calm her down. Susan reached a hand out to rest on
   Scully's white knuckled fist. She instantly felt it relax.
   
   Scully looked at her incredulously as she felt all the tension drain
   out of her.
   
   Susan snatched her hand away, placing it back on the steering wheel,
   swerving to avoid a car that wasn't going nearly as fast she was.
   
   Scully took a deep breath, excitement replacing the fear. She looked
   at the speedometer, they were going about 110 miles an hour, the
   Mustang still keeping up with them.
   
   Weaving in and out of traffic, Susan was thoroughly enjoying herself.
   It had been a while since she'd been able to take the car out, let
   alone stumble upon some poor schumck who dared challenge her.
   
   As she passed a blue Mazda, Susan grinned at what lay before,
   completely open road.
   
   "Ready?" Susan shouted over the screaming of the wind in their ears.
   
   Scully clamped a hand over her/Michael's hat and nodded.
   
   Susan tightened her grip on the wooden wheel and let her foot go to
   the floor.
   
   The car lurched forward as they excelerated. Scully could see that
   they were rapidly approaching 180 miles an hour. She forced her head
   to look behind her as the Mustang grew smaller and smaller.
   
   She threw her hands up over her head and let out a long scream of
   complete pleasure.
   
   Susan echoed her.
   
   The wind blew over them at hurricane speeds and Scully felt
   her/Michael's hat start to give, the bill fighting against the
   current.
   
   She tried to grab it, but was too late, it flew off her head,
   disappearing into the night behind them.
   
   "HOLD ON!" Susan yelled.
   
   Scully clutched the hand grips on the door as Susan slammed on the
   brake, spinning the wheel wildly.
   
   The car turned suddenly onto a dirt strip on the median, narrowly
   missing a no U-turn sign.
   
   The car fishtailed. Scully could hear the metal clanging of a hub cap
   as it rolled away from the car onto the shoulder of the road.
   
   Dust clouded the air around the Cobra that was now going in the
   opposite direction.
   
   They passed the black Mustang on the other side of the road. Susan
   waved a hand at them.
   
   "SEE YA!"
   
   Scully laughed and threw her hands up again, letting the wind whip her
   hands and hair around.
   
   They drove steadily on at about 150 miles an hour until they passed a
   white streak that was parked on the divider.
   
   The red, white and blue lights of a Suffolk County Highway Patrol
   Camero came to life.
   
   "Shit!" Scully swore. "That's a police car!"
   
   Susan glanced in the dash mounted rear view mirror, but didn't let up
   on the gas.
   
   "Aren't you going to stop?" Scully asked.
   
   Susan shook her head. "I'll wait until he catches up with me a bit."
   
   Scully felt the car slow down, but didn't go under 100.
   
   "Do you have your badge?" Scully asked?
   
   Susan looked at her. "Our badges won't help us, we passed him at 160."
   
   "We could just keep going, a Camero can't keep up with a Cobra,"
   Scully couldn't believe what she just suggested.
   
   Obviously, neither could Susan. "You mean run? Are you shitting me?
   We'll stick out like a sore thumb."
   
   Scully didn't respond.
   
   Susan patted her leg. "Don't worry," she said, letting the car slow
   down further as the police car approached. The car slowed down
   completely as they came to a halt on the shoulder.
   
   Scully started rooting around in her jacket for her ID.
   
   "Stop that!" Susan admonished. "And put your hands on the dashboard."
   
   The clicking of the Gestapo like boots of the High Patrol Officer grew
   louder as he came up next to Susan.
   
   "Ma'am, can I ask you to step of the car?" the officer said.
   
   Susan turned to Scully. "You stay put!" she said and got out of the
   car.
   
   "What can I do for ya, Charlie?" Susan asked, sweetly. Crossing her
   arms over her chest, she leaned against the door of the car.
   
   The officer removed his hat. "Susan! Do you know how the hell fast you
   were going!"
   
   Susan shrugged.
   
   Scully was confused. They obviously knew each other.
   
   "This has to be the hundredth time I've pulled you over. I *have* to
   give you a ticket!"
   
   "Charlie," Susan sighed.
   
   "NO, don't you `Charlie' me! I should arrest you! Giving you a ticket
   is letting you off easy!"
   
   Susan extended her hand, putting it on his shoulder. "Charlie, you
   don't have to do anything you don't want to do."
   
   He opened and closed his mouth a few times, sputtering. His shoulder's
   sagged and Susan removed her hand. "Does Mike know you're out here?"
   he said weakly.
   
   Susan crossed her arms again. "When does Mike not know where I am?"
   
   Charlie shook his head and looked down. He mumbled something.
   
   "What was that?"
   
   "If I were him, I would take this car away from you!"
   
   Susan laughed. "If you were him, you would know better than to think
   you could!"
   
   He shook his head again. "You are one piece of work, you know that?"
   
   Susan grinned.
   
   He returned it. "Get out of here!"
   
   Susan patted his arm. "Thanks, Charlie."
   
   "Yeah, whatever," he said turning away from her, walking towards his
   car.
   
   Susan vaulted over the closed door like a guy from the 50's jumping
   into a muscle car.
   
   Scully looked at her. "How'd you do that?"
   
   Susan wiggled her eyebrows at her. "I have many skills."
   
   
   
   Part 34
   
   
   Saturday, 10:05 PM
   
   
   
   Susan passed the turn that would take them toward her house and
   continued on into the business district of Riverhead.
   
   Scully looked at her querulously. "Where are we going?"
   
   Susan glanced at her. "I told a friend that if I was in the
   neighborhood, I would stop by."
   
   Scully nodded and watched the old style buildings pass.
   
   "You know," Susan said. "This town, back in its day, didn't look much
   different than it does now." Susan swept her hand out in front of her.
   "Except of course, for the cars."
   
   Scully smiled, trying to imagine how the town looked during the days
   of big ships and whalers. It must have been a sight.
   
   Scully was slammed against the door when Susan made an extremely
   illegal U-turn in the middle of the street, tires squealing, and
   parked in font of a No Parking sign.
   
   Scully shook her head as she unbuckled her seat belt and got out of
   the car. It was then that she noticed that they had parked in front of
   a busy looking pub. She tilted her head back to look at the marquee.
   'O'Sullivan's', it read. She gave Susan a confused look.
   
   Susan smiled and motioned for her to follow as she opened the door,
   setting off the jingle of a bell from above.
   
   At the sound, the crowded room fell silent and heads turned in their
   direction, making Scully feel very uncomfortable. Susan ignored the
   looks and headed toward the bar. The room roared again, obviously not
   interested in them.
   
   Out of the corner of her eye, Scully saw a small round man with a
   slightly flushed face making his way towards them. Susan turned to
   him, a wide, happy grin on her face.
   
   "Paddy!" she exclaimed, spreading her arms out.
   
   "Ah, Susie!" he answered in a thick Irish brogue, enveloping her in a
   bear hug. When he released her, holding her hands, he gave her a quick
   once over and shook his head. "You're still too thin."
   
   Susan smiled and looked down shyly.
   
   Scully watched the two of them, amused.
   
   "So, how have you been?" Paddy asked.
   
   She shrugged. "As well as can be expected."
   
   Paddy snorted. "The life of a Secret Agent."
   
   Susan sighed. "*Special*. Special Agent."
   
   He waved his hand in the air, "Whatever," he muttered.
   
   "Besides, it's now Special Agent in Charge," Susan said, sounding very
   proud of herself.
   
   He looked at her with astonishment.
   
   She grinned, nodding. "Yeah, I got promoted!" she said, acting as if
   she had brought home a report card full of A's.
   
   "Oh, that's great, Susie!!" He wrapped his arms around her again,
   squeezing her. "But didn't you just get promoted?"
   
   Susan stepped back. "Yeah," she said. "About a year ago."
   
   "If you keep this up, you'll be Director before you're forty."
   
   Susan smiled.
   
   "Hey," Paddy started. "Where's that nephew of mine?" he asked looking
   around, his eyes falling on Scully.
   
   Susan looked at her. "Mike's at home."
   
   He nodded absently, studying Scully. "And who is this beautiful
   colleen?"
   
   Susan slung an arm around Scully's shoulders. "This is a friend of
   mine, Dana Scully."
   
   His eyes narrowed. "Scully?" he asked.
   
   Scully nodded.
   
   He took a step closer to her. "You wouldn't happen to be related to
   Bill Scully? Would you?"
   
   She nodded again. "He's my brother."
   
   Paddy frowned. "Brother? No, can't be." He paused. "Captain William
   Scully?"
   
   Recognition dawned on her. "Oh, that's my father."
   
   Paddy smiled. "As I live and breath," he extended his hand to her.
   "You must be Starbuck."
   
   Scully stood stunned for a moment before she took his offered hand.
   "Hhhow, how did you know that?"
   
   A bright smile lit his face. "I served with your father a looooong
   time ago," he said, pumping her hand. Scully noticed an anchor tattoo
   on his forearm. "I knew you when you were this big." He released her
   hand, holding his hand next to his waist.
   
   Scully looked at Susan asking if she had known about this.
   
   Susan shook her head, a slow smile spreading across her face. "I had
   no idea," she said.
   
   "How is he doing these days?" Paddy asked Scully.
   
   Scully's smile fell. "He died a few years ago," she said softly.
   
   "Oh, Dana," Paddy sighed. "I am so sorry."
       
   Scully nodded mutely. "We had his ashes spread across the water."
   
   "Then he is forever with his love; the sea."
   
   Scully gave him a small smile.
   
   "How is your mother doing?"
   
   "Well, she's doing well."
   
   He nodded. "Hey Bridget!" he shouted over his shoulder to a tall
   willowy woman standing behind the bar. Her long graying black hair was
   held off her face with a low ponytail. "This is Bill Scully's little
   girl!"
   
   Bridget put the glass she was cleaning down and walked over to them.
   "Bill Scully?" she asked Paddy, her brogue wasn't as thick as her
   husband's. "As in..." she trailed off.
   
   Paddy nodded. "The one and only," he said smiling.
   
   Bridget looked amazed. "This can't be Missy."
   
   He shook his head. "No, it's Starbuck."
   
   She clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh, my!" she exclaimed, placing
   her hands on Scully's cheeks, tilting her face up to get a better look
   at her. "What a beautiful woman you have turned out to be."
   
   Scully smiled in spite of herself.
   
   "I remember when you used to chase your brothers around," Bridget
   continued, "crying that you couldn't run as fast as them; unhappy that
   you were a girl."
   
   Susan snorted and Scully gave her a look.
   
   Bridget stepped back, releasing her. "And she's a friend of yours?"
   she asked Susan.
   
   Susan nodded.
   
   She shook her head. "It really is a small world."
   
   Susan smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I half expect Will Smith to show up
   somewhere," she said looking around.
   
   Bridget looked confused, obviously having not seen 'Six Degrees of
   Separation.'
   
   Susan waved her hand in the air. "Forget it."
   
   She looked at Susan for a moment longer, then turned to Scully. "Come,
   sit," she commanded, indicating the table to their right.
   
   "HEY PADDY!" a man yelled from the far side of the room.
   
   He turned to the man. "Just hold your horses!" he said, then finished
   in a mumble. "Ya drunkard." He shook his head. "Susan, you sure picked
   a busy night to drop by."
   
   Susan smiled. "It's OK, go take care of your customers. We'll come
   back during the week," she said giving him a hug.
   
   "Love ya, darlin'," he said, then reluctantly pulled away. "It was
   good to see you again, Dana. I'm sorry I couldn't be more of a host."
   
   Scully smiled. "It's OK."
   
   "Well, make sure you drop in again, I'll tell you stories about your
   Da that would make your head spin!"
   
   The man yelled again in a slurred voice for Paddy and they watched him
   walk toward the rowdy crowd in the corner, grumbling under his breath.
   
   "Sit, Susie, I'll get you two something to eat," Bridget said.
   
   Susan shook her head. "No, it's OK. We had a pretty big dinner."
   
   "Nonsense, you two could use some more meat on your bones." Bridget
   smiled. "And I know just the thing," she said in a tone that left no
   room for argument, then hurried away.
   
   Scully turned to Susan. "You really didn't know about this?" she
   asked.
   
   Susan shook her head. "I swear to God." She held one hand over her
   heart and raised the other. "I had no idea."
   
   She looked at her suspiciously.
   
   Susan laughed. "Really!" She extended her hand. "If you don't believe
   me, just take my hand."
   
   Scully looked down at her hand. "I don't know if I want to, I remember
   what happened to me last time I took your hand."
   
   Susan laughed again.
   
   Scully leaned back in her chair, "I guess I will just have to trust
   you."
   
   She suddenly became serious. "You can always trust me."
   
   Scully studied her, then nodded. "I know I can."
   
   Susan nodded, a serious expression on her face. "Thank you," she said
   softly.
   
   Scully looked over at Paddy who was trying to talk a man out his keys,
   saying that he had too much to drink and that he shouldn't drive home.
   
   "Really, though," Susan said. "Don't you think that it's a strange
   coincidence?"
   
   Scully turned her head to her. "How so?"
   
   "Well, I dated Mulder and you wind up with him. Michael's uncle knew
   your father and you, and I wind up with Michael."
   
   "Mmmm," Scully hummed.
   
   A smile worked it's way over Susan's features. "It's like we just
   completed a circle."
   
   "What, that we were all meant to meet; to become friends?"
   
   Susan leaned back in her chair, not responding, allowing Scully to
   come to her own conclusions.
   
   Scully considered Susan's words and turned back in time to see the man
   reluctantly hand over his keys. She smiled to herself, impressed by
   Paddy's gift of the gab. As he clapped the man on the back, good
   naturally, Bridgett came back to the table carrying a tray loaded with
   different kinds of desserts.
   
   "Jeez, Bridget." Susan watched her unload the plates onto their table.
   "What are you trying to do to us?"
   
   Scully eyed the items being set down in front of her with wide eyes; a
   plate of cheesecake, a bowl of vanilla ice cream, a slice of apple
   pie, chocolate mousse, an apple turnover, and some chocolate dish that
   you could gain 30 pounds just by looking it.
   
   "Dana, you look like you are in a state of awe," Susan stated.
   
   "It all just looks so good."
   
   "Well, dear," Bridget said. "It's all homemade, right on the premises,
   by me, so I can vouch for just how good it is." Bridget dug her elbow
   into Scully's side. "I have to test it before I can serve it, if you
   know what I mean." She gave Scully a wink.
   
   She laughed.
   
   "Now, eat up you two and whatever you don't finish, we can just pack
   up for you to bring home."
   
   "Thanks Bridget, all I need is more food in the house." Susan tasted a
   piece of the apple pie. "Mmm, and with this, you might give Mike a
   complex."
   
   Bridget chuckled. "Michael has nothing to worry about. He's a
   fantastic cook." She smiled. "Takes after his aunt."
   
   Scully picked up her spoon and hesitated for a moment.
   
   "What's the matter, Dana?" Bridget asked.
   
   "I, I just don't know where to start."
   
   "Try this," Bridget pointed to the chocolate thing. It's to die for."
   
   Scully brought a spoonful to her lips, closing her eyes in pleasure.
   "This is, is, I can't even describe it!"
   
   "Knew you would love it!" Bridget said then gave Scully a pat on the
   back. "I have to get back to the bar. Do you want anything to drink?"
   
   "Wawfer," Susan said around a mouthful of pie. "Peas."
   
   Bridget laughed. "Water, coming right up." She turned to Dana.
   
   She just nodded, not daring to talk.
   
   "Two, then. I'll be right back," she said, then left the two of them
   alone again.
   
   Susan dropped her spoon and took off her hat, combing out her hair
   with her fingers. "I am really starting to get annoyed by my hair."
   
   "Why don't you just cut it?" Scully asked.
   
   Susan sighed. "I would love to, but Mike and I have an understanding.
   If I cut my hair above my shoulders, he grows a beard."
   
   Scully wrinkled her nose. "I can't see Mike with a beard."
   
   "No, neither can I. He has such a beautiful baby face, especially when
   he smiles."
   
   Scully nodded.
   
   "I mean, stubble can be really sexy on him, but nothing more than a
   five o'clock shadow," Susan said as hung her hat on the chair next to
   her.
   
   "That reminds me," Scully pointed to the hat. "I'm going to have to
   buy Mike a new hat."
   
   "Nah," Susan waved her spoon at her. "It's just a Yankees cap."
   
   Scully smiled. "How do you get yours to stay on?"
   
   Susan lifted her hair off her forehead, revealing a red indentation.
   "I keep the hat really tight, so that not even a tornado could get it
   off my head."
   
   Scully chuckled. "How long have you had it?"
   
   Susan grinned. "Since the Mets won the World Series in '86." She took
   a bite of the cheesecake. "Haven't washed it yet."
   
   She made a face. "That's gross, Susan."
   
   She shrugged.
   
   "Here you go, girls." Bridget put two glasses of water down in front
   of them. "Sorry I can't stay and chat, but it seems Paddy has his
   hands full."
   
   "It's OK, Bridget." Susan stood to give her a hug. "I told Paddy we'd
   stop by in the middle of the week."
   
   Scully stood as well.
   
   Bridget turned to give Scully a hug. "It was good you see you, Dana.
   You really have become a beautiful woman."
   
   Scully looked down shyly.
   
   "And must be one hell of a person for Susie to call you a friend."
   
   Now, Scully grinned.
   
   "Go, eat up. Make sure you say goodbye when you leave." She turned to
   Susan again. "I have some stuff for you to take home to Mikey."
   
   Susan smiled. "Thanks, I'm sure he'll love it."
   
   At that, she took off again in a wind of hurried movements.
   
   "Mikey," Scully stated flatly.
   
   "Yeah, doesn't that sound weird?"
   
   Scully nodded, then sat down. "It seems you and Michael's family are
   pretty close," Scully observed, digging into the apple turnover.
   
   "Mmm," Susan mumbled around her cheesecake. "They couldn't have
   children, so they kind of adopted me and since I lost my mom and dad
   pretty early, they've taken on the role of the parents I never had."
   
   Scully didn't comment, just nodded.
   
   Susan continued, sensing that Scully didn't want to broach the
   subject. "His whole family has accepted me. It's kinda strange."
   
   "How so?"
   
   "Well," she said. "When Mike took me to meet his parents, they made it
   a huge family event. I don't think I've ever seen a family that large
   before."
   
   Scully smiled.
   
   "I came from such a different kind of background, having been brought
   up by my father's sister and only having my cousin Mary for company,
   that when I met all of the O'Sullivans, it was kind of intimidating."
   
   "I can imagine," Scully commented.
   
   "When we got to his parent's house, I was greeted by his mother first,
   and the moment she saw the ring, she just put her arms around me and
   said `Welcome to the family'."
   
   Scully smiled, a smudge of chocolate on her chin.
   
   Susan pointed to her own chin. Scully got the hint and wiped it off
   with a napkin.
   
   "Everyone kept saying `She's got the ring'." Susan ate the last of the
   cheesecake. "Then I found out that I was the first `girl' Mike brought
   home to the family."
   
   "Really?"
   
   "Yeah, Michael never stayed in a relationship longer than six months."
   
   Scully was surprised. "And you guys have been together over two
   years?"
   
   "Mmmhm."
   
   "Wow, he doesn't seem like that type of guy."
   
   "I know, I guess it was just fate; he was waiting for me," she said
   brightly, half serious.
   
   Scully laughed. "You don't strike me as the type that would believe in
   fate."
   
   "I didn't before I met Michael."
   
   Scully moved the contents of her plate around with her spoon. "I don't
   know how I feel about the idea of predestination."
   
   Susan cocked her head. "Why?"
   
   She dropped her spoon. "I believe that everyone has free will and can
   control their own future."
   
   "But you believe that God has a plan for everyone."
   
   Scully sighed. "Yes, I believe that God has a plan for all of us."
   
   "But we can choose to follow that plan or not," Susan stated.
   
   She nodded.
   
   "Then how do you know that your free will isn't just God giving you a
   nudge to get back onto the path?"
   
   "A nudge?" Scully asked wryly.
   
   Susan smiled. "I truly believe that all things happen for a reason and
   when I met Michael, I wasn't nudged, I was pushed."
   
   Scully didn't respond but instead studied her hands that were clasped
   in front of her on the table, pondering Susan's statements. She
   remembered a time back when she was talking to a priest about
   something similar. `What if God is speaking, but no one is listening?'
   What if the `nudges' Susan was talking about were just that, God
   helping us when we had been led astray? We meet the people in our
   lives for a specific reason; hoping to find that one person. But how
   do we know who that person is?
   
   "You knew right away that Michael was `the one'?"
   
   "My whole body hummed," Susan replied quickly, without any hesitation.
   She was trying to determine why Scully suddenly had such a mood switch
   without reading her. Scully seemed to be able to sense whenever she
   scanned her and she didn't think now would be such a good time to
   invade her like that.
   
   Scully looked at her. "That must be something to know that definitely,
   not having any doubts," she said, her voice flat.
   
   Susan nodded. "It is." OK, things are getting too serious here, she
   needed to lighten things up. "But you had a taste of it when Mike and
   I walked in on you and Mulder in the car," she said grinning widely.
   
   Scully blushed, still looking down at her hands. "Yeah, well. It was
   all a little overwhelming."
   
   Susan narrowed her eyes at her, an idea worked it's way from the
   depths of her mind.
   
   "I would have liked more time to..."
   
   "What?" Susan leaned forward, anticipating what Scully was about to
   say.
   
   Scully's blush grew. "Indulge."
   
   Susan let out a bark of laughter. "Indulge?" she asked, really
   laughing now.
   
   "Susan," Scully said quietly, looking around the room at the patrons
   who had turned their heads at Susan's guffaws. "Susan," she said a
   little louder. "It's not funny."
   
   She quieted down a bit. "You're right, it's not," she said still
   chuckling. "I'm sorry." She got herself under control, wiping at her
   eyes. "I just didn't expect you to say that."
   
   Scully pressed her lips together and watched the ice cream melt.
   
   "I'm sorry," she said earnestly. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. It's
   not every day someone surprises me."
   
   Scully gave her a lopsided smile.
   
   "Look," Susan stood suddenly. "I'm going to go use the lady's room,
   then do you want to get going?"
   
   Scully looked at her for a moment, a little confused about Susan's
   abrupt urge to leave, but nodded anyway.
   
   "All right, I'll be right back."
   
   When Susan was out of sight of Scully, she pulled her cell phone out
   of her pocket and dialed the first number in its memory."
   
   "Hello?"
   
   "Mike, it's me."
   
   "Susie, where the hell are you guys?"
   
   "We stopped by to see Paddy," she said as she entered the bathroom.
   
   "How's he doing?"
   
   "Good, but that's not why I'm calling."
   
   "Why? What's up?"
   
   "I need you to be ready to go when I get home."
   
   "OK," he said hesitantly. "Where do you want to go?"
   
   "How about the boat?" she said, smiling into the phone.
   
   "Sure." She could hear the grin in his voice.
   
   "Good, here's my plan.........
   
   
   
   ***
   
   
   
   11:41 PM
   
   Residence of Susan Halloway and Michael O'Sullivan
   
   
   "What the hell are you watching?"
   
   Mulder craned his head so that he could look at Susan who was hanging
   over the back of the couch.
   
   "Hey," he said cheerfully. "I didn't hear you come in."
   
   Susan came around and dropped down next to him. "Yeah, Dana and I
   decided to go around the back."
   
   He nodded. "Where is she?"
   
   Susan stared at the television, confused. "She's upstairs, talking to
   Mike." She pointed to the TV. "What the hell is this?"
   
   Mulder turned back to face the television. "It's about this guy who
   was lying on the ground in the woods. A tiny snail crawled into his
   ear, worked it's way up the ear canal, through the ear drum and into
   the guy's brain where it grew."
   
   "Eww," Susan cringed. "That gross, Mulder. How the hell can you watch
   that?"
   
   An x-ray flashed on the screen. "Look how big the sucker got."
   
   "Oh, God," Susan groaned. She reached across Mulder, grabbed the
   remote from his right hand and clicked off the TV.
   
   "Hey!"
   
   He tried to get the remote from her, but she leaned back, holding her
   hand away so he couldn't reach it. He lunged again, but he lost his
   footing and fell heavily on top of her.
   
   "Oomph!" she let out. "Get off me, you clod!"
   
   Mulder ignored her protests and reached again for the remote. He
   finally decided that his plan of action wasn't working, so he
   straddled her, pinning her to the furniture and proceeded to tickle
   her.
   
   After many futile attempts to get out from under him, laughing her
   head off, she dropped the remote, then placed both hands on his chest
   and pushed with all her strength. He landed hard against the opposite
   arm of the couch.
   
   They both stared at each other, breathing heavily.
   
   She narrowed her eyes at him. "That was a dirty trick."
   
   He laughed and leaned down to pick up the remote. "All's fair in love
   and who has control of the remote," he said as he turned the
   television back on.
   
   Susan smiled when she noticed that a commercial was on.
   
   "Oh, man!" he cried.
   
   "Serves you right," she said then took a deep breath, trying to
   regulate her breathing.
   
   Mulder flipped through the channels, settling on the Sci-Fi channel. A
   blue woman dressed in a blue robe was talking to a man that looked
   like a cross between a Klingon and a lion.
   
   "So," Mulder turned to her. "You girls have a good time tonight?"
   
   "Mmm," Susan nodded as she slipped her shoes off and folded her legs
   under her. "But I think I blew the transmission in my car." She
   winced. "I let Dana drive on the way home and she does NOT know how to
   drive stick."
   
   A small smile spread across Mulder's face.
   
   "Don't say it," Susan moaned. "Please."
   
   A mask of innocence fell over his features. "Me? I wasn't going to say
   anything."
   
   "Sure."
   
   After a few moments of watching the television, they determined that
   the Klingon Lion guy was named Dargo and he was a member of a crew
   that were aboard a living ship named Moya. Currently he was talking to
   a muppet that sat in a floating thing.
   
   Susan glanced sideways at Mulder when she saw his arm move. She
   watched the movement of his hand go from a bag of sunflower seeds next
   to him, to his mouth, then to the table in front of him where he just
   dropped it on the wood.
   
   Her eyes widened when she took in the growing pile.
   
   "Mulder," she said quietly, trying to hold back her anger.
   
   He looked at her, his hand stopping just before his mouth. "Yeah?"
   
   She spoke through her teeth. "Do you realize that you are dropping
   sunflower seed shells on my 18th century table?"
   
   Mulder looked at the table mutely. "I saw you put your feet up on it,
   I didn't think you'd mind," he said with a shrug.
   
   "MULDER!" Susan stood. "My feet on the table is completely different
   than salvia-soaked sunflower seeds!" She stormed out of the room and
   returned a few moments later with a paper towel, a paper plate and a
   paper cup. Holding the paper towel with her right hand, she swept the
   shells onto the paper plate, then wiped up the remnants of the mess.
   
   "Jeez, Suz," Mulder mumbled. "I'm sorry."
   
   She spun around. "No, your not! And don't call me that! You know I
   always hated being called that!"
   
   Mulder tried not to smile at her as she stood there with her hands on
   her hips glaring down at him. God, she reminded him of his mother.
   
   The corners of Susan's mouth lifted slightly and she shook her head.
   She sensed his amusement and as in the past, it was infectious. No
   matter how pissed she was at him, as soon as he found something
   humorous, all the anger drained from her. It was an extremely strong
   power he held over her and he knew it, the bastard.
   
   She sighed and dropped down again next to him. Reaching for his bag of
   sunflower seeds she mumbled under her breath at him. "You are the
   biggest pain in the ass I have ever met, Fox." She looked him in the
   eye as her mouth twitched into a grin, then stuffed in a handful of
   seeds.
   
   He grimaced at the sound of his first name. "I could never get past
   how you ate those."
   
   She smiled around the items in her mouth and proceeded to spit the
   empty shells out one by one into the paper cup.
   
   "It's how the baseball players do it," she said.
   
   "Yeah, well, you're not a baseball player."
   
   She shrugged, then tossed a few more in her mouth.
   
   Mulder shook his head.
   
   "What?"
   
   He smiled. "I was just thinking about how you reacted before. It was
   so..." he trailed off.
   
   "So, what?"
   
   "I don't know," he said honestly. He looked down at his hands. "You
   just seem to have made a life for yourself." He gestured to the
   television. "This room, this TV, this house. It's so you, but it's
   not." He sighed. "It a perfect combination of you and Michael."
   
   Susan studied him. She knew he had more to say and she didn't want to
   interrupt him.
   
   "I was sitting here tonight, talking to Mike, watching TV and it got
   me to wondering."
   
   "Wondering what?" She asked softly.
   
   "Wondering how things would have been if you had never been
   transferred."
   
   "Oh, Mulder," Susan sighed.
   
   "No," Mulder said. "I've been thinking a lot about this lately."
   
   Susan shook her head. "No, Mulder."
   
   He looked at her querulously.
   
   "We can't start thinking about `what ifs'."
   
   He nodded and looked down at his hands again.
   
   "Mulder," she said as she moved closer to him on the couch. She
   touched his cheek turning his face toward her. She wanted him to look
   at her. "To be honest," she said hesitantly. "I think it was a good
   thing that I was transferred."
   
   Mulder didn't respond. He watched her eyes watch him. For the first
   time, he found himself comparing her eyes to Scully's. They paled in
   comparison; Susan's were not as vibrant, not as blue, but equally
   compelling, equally piercing. However, Susan's eyes were a bit softer,
   more relaxed. He blinked and looked at her again. She gave him a small
   smile. She could always know what he was thinking. He looked away
   toward the windows.
   
   The clock over the fireplace in the dining room chimed twelve times.
   
   "It's the witching hour," Mulder whispered, not wanting to disturb the
   quiet.
   
   "Mmm," Susan agreed. "They say that this is a magical hour."
   
   He smiled in response.
   
   "Mulder?" Susan asked.
   
   "Yeah?" he replied, not looking at her.
   
   "You don't really wish that I was never transferred." It wasn't a
   question.
   
   He took a deep breath and turned his whole body to face her. "Not any
   more."
   
   She gave him a sad smile.
   
   "I did for a long time, even when I was with Diana and for a while
   after Scully was assigned to me."
   
   She licked her dry lips and nodded.
   
   "Then I resented you."
   
   She looked at him sharply. "Why?"
   
   "Remember the last time we were together?"
   
   She tilted her head to the side, not following his line of thought.
   
   "At the time I didn't know what it was," he stopped speaking.
   
   "I don't understand," she said frowning at him.
   
   "There was something different about you, I couldn't grasp it."
   
   She sighed and looked at the wall behind him.
   
   "We were on our way back together. I sensed that you wanted it, but
   you pushed me away." He cupped her jaw, making her look at him. "Why?"
   
   She took a shaky breath. "Because deep down inside, you didn't want
   it."
   
   "What are you talking about!" His voice rose. "Of course I did!"
   
   "NO!" She stood. "No, you didn't! You thought you did, but you
   didn't!"
   
   "Susan!" He stood and grabbed her arms roughly.
   
   She wrenched herself from him and put her hand out, stopping him from
   coming closer. "No, Mulder. You're right, I did push you away. But I
   did if for you!"
   
   "Me?" he asked incredulously. "I needed you then, but you shut me out!
   I was going through hell with Scully's abduction, but I couldn't talk
   to you!"
   
   "Mulder," she pleaded. "Please let me explain."
   
   He dropped down on the couch and spread his arms out. "Please," he
   said sarcastically. "Enlighten me."
   
   Anger rumbled inside her. "You son of a bitch," her voice growled.
   
   He tried not to look surprised.
   
   "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I WAS GOING THROUGH!" She crossed to the other
   side of the room, putting more space between them. "I had never loved
   anyone the way that I loved you," she almost whispered, looking down
   at the carpet. "And when I found you with Diana, it tore me apart."
   She wiped at her eyes. "Then when she left you, you came crawling back
   to me, begging for my forgiveness, your heart broken. And because I
   loved you so much, I took you back." She looked at him, he looked
   away.
   
   "I know you loved me, still do, but when I saw you that last time, I
   knew it was just that, the last time," she explained.
   
   He leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs. "Why?"
   
   She moved closer and sat down on the table across from him. Her knees
   in between his. "Because I knew that you weren't *in* love with me
   anymore. Your love had changed. You were falling in love with Dana."
   
   He sat back and scrubbed his hands over his face.
   
   "I knew it, but you didn't."
   
   "So you pushed me away," he said, his hand still covering his face.
   
   She reached out and took his hand so that she could see him. "All I
   wanted was for you to be happy."
   
   "You damn near killed me when you told me that we couldn't see each
   other again."
   
   She swiped a tear away annoyingly. "I know it hurt you. I know you
   didn't understand. And you have no idea how many times I had to force
   myself not to call you, just to hear your voice."
   
   He sniffed.
   
   "Those first few months were horrible for me."
   
   He nodded. "Me too. I was so afraid that you were going to hang up on
   me when I called you about Scully."
   
   She squeezed his hand. "I could never do that to you."
   
   He smiled.
   
   "And I fought to get on with my life."
   
   "And you did."
   
   "Not for a long time. I immersed myself in my work, eventually going
   out on the occasional date. Did you know that the first date I really
   enjoyed after we split was with Walter Skinner?"
   
   "Really?" He asked, surprised.
   
   "Yeah," she laughed. "He can be quite charming when he wants to be."
   
   "But you only went out on the one date."
   
   She nodded. "I was in town assisting on a case, I was only there for a
   few days. Besides, he was in the middle of being separated from his
   wife. That's never a good time."
   
   He nodded.
   
   "He's a nice man, but I knew nothing would come of it."
   
   "Why?"
   
   "Because I he didn't make me feel the way you made me feel," she said
   simply.
   
   He gave her a smile "What about that guy," he paused for a minute
   trying to remember his name. "Nick?"
   
   "Oh, God," she groaned.
   
   He laughed. "I often wondered what the hell you were thinking."
   
   She smiled. "What about that chick, Bambie?"
   
   He dropped his chin to his chest.
   
   "Who the hell names their kid Bambie?"
   
   He mumbled something under his breath.
   
   "What was that?"
   
   He looked up. "She was pretty and had a nice chest."
   
   She stared at him blankly then laughed out loud. "Christ, Mulder.
   Sometimes you are such a guy."
   
   He laughed. "And I never went out on a date with her."
   
   "Yeah but you sure as hell wanted to screw her."
   
   "I wouldn't talk if I were you. The only reason you dated Nick was
   because I quote, `He's cute and has a nice ass' end quote."
   
   She doubled over with laughter. "I said that didn't I?"
   
   He nodded, grinning.
   
   She leaned back, her hands behind her on the edge of the table,
   supporting her weight. "He was such a simple man," she said with
   amusement. "And he was good with his hands."
   
   "I'll bet."
   
   She frowned at him. "That's not what I meant, he was a carpenter."
   
   "Uh, huh."
   
   She smiled.
   
   Suddenly Mulder yawned. "Jesus, I'm tired."
   
   "Mmm, me too."
   
   "Come on," he said as he stood and grabbed her hand to pull her to her
   feet. "We should really hit the sack."
   
   She gave him a coy smile. "Are you coming on to me Agent Mulder?"
   
   He laughed and started up the stairs, still holding her hand.
   
   "Mulder," Susan said, following him into his room.
   
   He turned to her, in the process of removing his shirt. "Yeah?"
   
   She moved towards him. "I have come to a decision." She stopped a few
   feet from him. "Our connection," she paused for a movement. "I think
   it's time I broke it."
   
   He frowned. "Why?" He stepped closer to her. "Why would you do that?"
   He sounded panicked.
   
   "Because it's not fair," she said.
   
   "Not fair?"
   
   "Yes, Mulder." She placed her hand on his chest then slid it up to his
   jaw. Everywhere her hand touched, felt like fire. He couldn't help but
   become aroused. "That's another reason why."
   
   "But..."
   
   She shook her head. "This thing between us, is not fair to Dana and to
   Michael; it's not right."
   
   He put his hand over hers that was still resting on his face. "I don't
   know if I could handle losing you that way," he choked out.
   
   She gave him a sad smile. "You'll manage, we both will."
   
   He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her furiously. He held her for
   a few moments, absorbing as much of her as he could, hoping that his
   photographic memory would be able to remember how she felt in his
   arms.
   
   "What about the side effects?" he mumbled into her hair.
   
   She chuckled and stepped back. "I'm not really sure what would happen
   with that, but you've always been a bit in tune with the world, so I
   doubt you will lose your empathy toward others. Remember, you are a
   great profiler, you had that before you met me."
   
   He nodded. "But what about the other thing?"
   
   She smiled. "Hopefully, for Dana's sake, with our connection severed,
   it will put a damper on it."
   
   He laughed. "I never heard you complain," he said.
   
   She shrugged. "And hopefully with Dana around you can chuck your
   videos."
   
   "Hey, some of those are classics!"
   
   She snorted.
   
   "And you're the reason I had to get them in the first place."
   
   She put her hands up. "Don't blame me! If you hadn't forced me to lose
   control, none of this would have happened."
   
   He smiled at her suggestively. "I didn't have to force you to do
   anything, you were more than willing, if I remember correctly."
   
   She blushed and looked down. "It was a great relief to finally let
   go."
   
   "And I am extremely honored that I was the one you chose."
   
   "I loved you more than I ever loved anyone and you were the first
   person I let see the real me," she said. "I had never relaxed
   completely around anyone before, so it was a bit new to me. When I
   allowed you in, both figuratively and physically, I was unaware of how
   it would it affect you." She turned away from him to sit on the bed.
   She took a deep breath. "I had no idea that it would affect your, ah,
   hormones."
   
   He laughed. "You had no idea that it would make me extremely easy to
   turn on?"
   
   She smiled. "You were already easy for me, but I didn't know that it
   would pop up at the most inappropriate times," she laughed.
   
   He sat down next to her. "I learned to control it after awhile. But
   when it started to happen even when you weren't around, I started to
   get concerned."
   
   "No Viagra for you!"
   
   "God, never!"
   
   "When did you figure it out?"
   
   He sighed. "When I met Scully."
   
   Her eyebrows went up. "Really?"
   
   "Yeah, what I think happens is that unconsciously, my body senses
   something that reminds me of you; a smell, a sound, a look, a woman
   with blue eyes..."
   
   "Ahh," she nodded.
   
   "Yeap, I also would have a problem if I saw a crime scene that
   resembled something we worked on together."
   
   She grimaced. "God, Mulder, you would get a woody at a crime scene!?"
   
   "No," he said quickly. "But it would start me thinking about sex."
   
   "I don't know if that's better."
   
   He shrugged, there was nothing he could do about it.
   
   "Well," she said as she stood. It was time to get the rest of her plan
   rolling. "We were going to take you guys out to the lighthouse
   tomorrow, but I don't think we'll be able to."
   
   "Why?"
   
   "There's been a change of plans."
   
   He frowned. He knew she was up to something.
   
   "But if you're up to it." She smiled. "I would like to go to this
   restaurant in East Quoge called The Pine Barrens Inn for dinner. The
   place isn't much to look at, but the food is spectacular."
   
   He nodded. "You know these things better than I do."
   
   "Good," she smiled. "It's settled then." She walked to the door,
   stopping just before it. "Oh." She turned around to face him. He
   stayed where she left him sitting on the bed. "I have a gift for you."
   
   He tilted his head.
   
   "Consider it a `break away gift'."
   
   "A break away gift?"
   
   "Yeah." She walked back to him. "Do you want it?"
   
   "What is it?"
   
   She moved to stand in between his knees. "I can't tell you."
   
   "Why?"
   
   "Because, you have to trust me."
   
   He looked at her suspiciously.
   
   "You do trust me, don't you?" she asked.
   
   "You know I do."
   
   She smiled. "So you accept it?"
   
   He considered her for a moment before he responded. "I guess so."
   
   Her smiled widened. "It's not just for you, but for Dana as well."
   
   "OK," he said slowly.
   
   "And you have to use it quickly, I'm not sure how long it will last."
   
   Now she was scaring him, but he still trusted her. "All right."
   
   She took a deep breath, steadying her nerves and cupped his face.
   "Good bye," she said softly, her voice full of emotion, then tilted
   his face up to her as she leaned down to kiss him.
   
   
   
   Part 35
   
   
   
   Her lips grazed his, then pressed firmly against him. His eyes widened
   at her actions, not expecting her to kiss him.
   
   Susan felt his surprise and held his face tighter afraid he might try
   to pull away. She smiled inwardly with a sense of satisfaction when
   she felt him relax.
   
   Mulder closed his eyes and pressed back against her mouth as a feeling
   of detachment wound through him. Suddenly it was as if he no longer
   had a body. He could not feel his arms or legs or any other part of
   himself except where Susan touched him. His whole body was dead expect
   for his face and lips. His thoughts were starting to fog over and
   thinking became difficult.
   
   Somewhere, in the depths of his mind, he was frightened. He was losing
   parts of himself, but the curious side, the side of him that ruled his
   life, that kept him investigating the unknown, the side that lived by
   the motto `what if', took over. He trusted her and knew that she would
   never hurt him. Besides, he wanted to see what would happen next.
   
   Then he got his wish.
   
   She deepened the kiss.
   
   He groaned, but not out of pleasure, but of pain. Colors blended
   together like a cubist painting behind his closed eyes as what felt
   like jolts of electricity tore through his brain occasionally
   augmented with blinding flashes of light.
   
   Susan gripped him tighter, her hands moving from his face to his hair
   where she grabbed tufts of hair, pulling slightly in an effort to hold
   him to her. She felt his pain which added to the pain she was
   experiencing. She knew how this would end. He would no longer be able
   to sense her, to feel her; and she, him. She wasn't only removing
   herself from him, but him from her. This would be the last time she
   would know how he was feeling; whether he was happy or sad, intrigued
   or disinterested and it felt as if she was losing parts of herself.
   She had great love for his mind, that sexy mind she always called it.
   She would mourn it's loss like a death of a lover.
   
   Mulder's hands reached out of their own volition to cradle Susan's
   face. Deep inside, he was aware of her pain.
   
   Mulder's muscles flexed involuntarily as the flashes of color and
   light blended together to form pictures. Images of his life with Susan
   flickered by his eyes like an old silent film. In a state of
   disembodiment, he watched as her essence was ripped from his
   consciousness starting with her lips touching his and ending on that
   fateful weekend in Vermont.
   
   Susan tensed, then released him.
   
   Mulder fell back onto the bed, his legs bent and his feet still flat
   on the floor. His breathing was irregular and his body was covered
   with a sheen of sweat.
   
   Susan gazed at him as tears ran down her face, watching his chest rise
   and fall frantically. She sniffed quietly and wiped her face with a
   trembling hand. She turned away from him when she noticed that his
   breathing had started to even out. She knew that he would become aware
   of his surroundings again at any moment and that she had to get out of
   there or this would all be for naught.
   
   She took quick stumbling strides out of the room and across the hall
   to Scully's room. She took a shaky deep breath and banged on the door.
   
   It took Scully a few moments to respond; she was just about to take a
   bath. She wrapped a satin rope around herself and got to the door just
   as Susan started pounding on it again.
   
   "Susan?!" Scully said, the concern evident in her voice.
   
   Scully frowned as she took in the woman before her. Susan's eyes were
   red and swollen, her face was flushed and tears streamed down her
   cheeks unnoticed.
   
   Susan didn't answer her right away and Scully started to panic. The
   sight of Susan crumbling, obviously extremely upset and failing to get
   hold of herself was a frightening vision. The pain radiating off of
   her was not lost on Scully.
   
   She grabbed Susan's upper arm. "Susan!" she said, shaking her. "What
   is it? What's wrong?"
   
   Susan gently removed her arm from Scully's grasp. "Mulder," she
   croaked out, not looking at her. "Mulder needs to talk to you."
   
   Scully almost didn't understand her; Susan's words were overshadowed
   with sobs and hiccups like a child trying to explain how the window
   got broken.
   
   The panic started to rise higher. "Is he all right?"
   
   Susan nodded. "He, he just needs to talk to you," she said as she
   started to back away from her.
   
   Scully didn't move. Her brow was furrowed as she watched Susan retreat
   down the hall toward her bedroom.
   
   Susan turned suddenly and gave her a magnificent smile; her blue eyes
   shined with tears. "I am so happy he found you." Her smile grew. "You
   are his one in five billion."
   
   With that, Susan stepped inside her bedroom and closed the door behind
   her.
   
   Scully stood rooted to the floor unable to move. The groan coming from
   the opened door across the hall spurred her into action.
   
   "Mulder!" Scully shouted as she hurried into his room. She stopped
   just inside.
   
   Mulder sat on the bed stooped over, his elbows on his thighs and his
   fingers tangled in his hair. His head hung down. Scully could see that
   he was crying by the movements of his shoulders.
   
   "Mulder?" she asked gently, taking a step closer to him.
   
   He slowly lifted his head to look at her. His eyes were red rimmed and
   his lower lip quivered slightly.
   
   She took another step towards him. "Are you OK?"
   
   He stared at her, his eyes boring into hers so intensely, she had to
   look away.
   
   "Scully?" he asked, his voice breaking on the last syllable.
   
   She looked up at him, but didn't move closer.
   
   He looked so lost. "She's gone," he said quietly. His breath hitched
   in his throat.
   
   "Mulder, what happened? Who's gone?" she asked, not quite following
   him. She started to breach the gap between them but stopped when he
   shot up from his seated position.
   
   She flinched.
   
   "SUSAN!" he shouted. "SHE'S GONE!!" He gestured wildly with his hands.
   
   "Mul...," she started but he interrupted her.
   
   "Susan! She said goodbye!" he stared at her begging her to understand
   what he was saying, but he wasn't making any sense to her.
   
   She shook her head. "I don't understand. Where did she go?"
   
   He flopped back onto the bed taking the same position he was in when
   she entered and started to sob.
   
   Scully moved to stand in front of him and kneeled done on the floor so
   that they were at the same eye level. "Where did Susan go?" she asked
   softly.
   
   He looked at her with tearstained eyes as he placed one hand over his
   forehead and the other over his heart. "Here," he croaked. "She left
   me here. She said it was a gift." He dropped his hands. "She said
   goodbye."
   
   "Oh, Mulder," she said, finally following what he was saying. "She
   broke your connection."
   
   He nodded mutely. "She said it was for us."
   
   Scully frowned. "Us?"
   
   He nodded again. "She said she had a gift for me, but it was for you,
   too."
   
   She gave him a small smile. "She gave you your freedom from her," she
   said. "It *is* a gift."
   
   Now he frowned.
   
   "Don't you understand?" When he didn't respond she continued. "She no
   longer has an influence over you. You can move on."
   
   He sniffled. "She set me free."
   
   She smiled and nodded. "She set you free," she said reaching out to
   lay her hand over his clasped hands, hanging between his thighs.
   
   As her skin made contact with his, a tingling sensation started in her
   hand and worked it's way up her arm and into her chest. The same
   happened for Mulder.
   
   They looked at each other, an expression of wonder forming on their
   faces. When their eyes met, the tingling grew into a flutter, almost
   like their entire bodies were filled with butterflies.
   
   They smiled broadly.
   
   "A gift," Scully whispered.
   
   He nodded. "A gift," he agreed as he moved his head closer to hers. He
   could hear her take a quick breath before she closed her eyes and
   touched her lips to his.
   
   When their lips connected, the stirring inside metamorphosed from
   butterflies to birds. Scully had to break away. The sensations were a
   little overwhelming and were causing her to have a difficult time
   forming thoughts.
   
   "Scully," Mulder breathed.
   
   She didn't respond, she just looked at him.
   
   "Scully," he said again as he brought his hand up to cup her face.
   
   Scully gasped as intense emotions ran through her; desire, need, lust,
   and love. Oh, God, could she feel the love. Not only was it in his
   touch, but in his eyes.
   
   She moaned and closed her eyes. It was too much all at once.
   
   "Scully." It seemed that it was the only word he could say.
   
   She opened her eyes and looked at him - really looked at him. That's
   when she saw it. She was not only feeling him, he was feeling her as
   well.
   
   He smiled as if he knew she just realized this.
   
   Suddenly she felt claustrophobic. This was nothing like when she had
   the lingering effects of Susan's mind screw. He could feel her this
   time, know exactly how she felt about him; how much he had become an
   integral part of herself. He would know her very essence.
   
   Could she trust him enough with this? She trusted him with her life,
   her heart, but could she trust him with her very soul?
   
   As she was waging her internal battle, Mulder continued to hold her
   face, his thumb slowly caressing her cheek. He knew that she had to
   make the decision to give herself to him.
   
   He had given himself to her a long time ago.
   
   She looked into Mulder's expressive eyes. He was completely open, he
   had laid his entire being before her and it was up to her whether she
   was going to walk away or take him in.
   
   Scully thought about the conversation she and Susan had at Paddy's
   bar. Susan believed that God occasionally gave people nudges when they
   needed to be put back on the path. Was this such an instance? Susan
   said she knew immediately that she and Michael were meant to be
   together. Did Susan feel that the same was true for her and Mulder? Is
   that why she broke the connection now and not years ago? Was she
   looking for Mulder's other half? Is that why she said what she did in
   the hall? Is she Mulder's one in five billion? Is he hers?
   
   Scully couldn't lie to herself. She honestly believed that he was.
   
   Susan had given her one of the most precious gifts anyone could give
   someone. And by God, she was going to take it.
   
   She took a deep breath and gave Mulder a bright smile.
   
   He returned it.
   
   Scully brought her hand to his face and ran her thumb over his bottom
   lip, then moved forward to brush her mouth against his. He stayed very
   still, allowing her this bit of control.
   
   "I love you," she said against his mouth as she brought her other hand
   up to his face and took the last step.
   
   She opened herself to him.
   
   
   
   The End
   
   ~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
   
   
   The Epilogue
   
   
   4:55 AM
   
   Sunday
   
   
   
   Mulder woke alone in bed with the blankets twisted around his waist.
   He moved his arm over to the side where Scully should be sleeping and
   found the sheets were cold. He picked his head up slowly, his hair
   sticking out in all directions and squinted as he looked around the
   room.
   
   The sun was just starting to stream in through the windows. He started
   to wonder if the events of last night, actually a few hours ago, were
   just a figment of his imagination.
   
   He groaned and dropped his head onto the pillow next to him. Then he
   smiled into the fabric. He could smell her, not only on the pillow,
   but all around him. He sniffed his arm and his smile widened. He could
   smell her on his skin.
   
   Mulder pushed himself up and turned so that he could sit with his back
   against the head board. That's when he noticed that he was nude.
   
   He smiled again and rested his head back. Closing his eyes he allowed
   himself to indulge in the memories of her, of Scully. The feel of her
   skin so fair and soft against his golden, callused hands, her body
   arching under him and the sensations he experienced were unlike
   anything he had ever imagined. He'd have to remember to thank Susan
   the next time he saw her.
   
   Suddenly he opened his eyes and looked straight ahead. Susan! This is
   all because of her. As she was removing herself from him, she gave him
   the most fantastic gift anyone could ever have given him. He got to
   *feel* Scully. And oh God, she was beautiful.
   
   Mulder got up quickly and searched for his boxers. He chuckled to
   himself when he found them across the room. Scully was so impatient
   trying to get the damn things off that she almost tore them. Mulder
   was greatly pleased when he discovered that Scully wasn't wearing
   anything under her satin robe.
   
   He hastily pulled on his boxers, hopping around a bit on one leg until
   he got his limbs to cooperate, then put on a gray T-shirt. As he
   crossed the hall, he noted that Scully's door was open. He also
   noticed that Susan and Michael's wasn't. He padded quietly down the
   hall to their room and cracked open the door. The bed looked as if it
   hadn't been slept in. He closed the door and took a deep breath. He
   had no idea if Susan was in the house or not, but if he knew her as
   well as he thought he did, he would guess that Susan took off leaving
   him and Scully alone.
   
   He smiled and shook his head. There was no way he could thank her for
   this.
   
   Mulder entered Scully's room and scanned his surroundings. She wasn't
   in there. He frowned and took a few steps further in. That was when he
   saw that the doors to the balcony were open. The curtains swayed
   gently in the breeze. He silently walked toward the door and paused at
   the threshold.
   
   Scully stood sideways leaning against the railing of the balcony with
   her head tilted up toward the rising sun. Her eyes were closed and a
   small smile graced her lips. The sun reflected off her hair causing
   Mulder to curse his color blindness. What he wouldn't give to see her
   in full Technicolor.
   
   Mulder silently approached her and wrapped his arms around her from
   behind.
   
   "Mmm, `morning," she said lazily.
   
   He kissed her temple then rested his chin on the crown of her head and
   swayed back and forth. "Morning," he mumbled. "You weren't there when
   I woke up."
   
   She rubbed her hand over the fine hairs on his forearm. "I wanted to
   listen to the birds wake up."
   
   He tightened his grip around her. "Why didn't you wake me?" he asked
   softly.
   
   "You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to disturb you." She
   still hadn't opened her eyes.
   
   He nodded against her. "You wouldn't have bothered me."
   
   She smiled. "I'll remember that next time," she murmured.
   
   He grinned. "Next time, eh?"
   
   She laughed. "God, I hope so."
   
   He kissed her neck. "Mmm, me too."
   
   She tilted her head to allow him better access to the skin of her
   throat and hummed happily when he started to nibble on the area where
   her neck and shoulder met.
   
   "Mulder," she groaned when his hands untied the knot of her robe and
   started caressing her stomach. "Mmmm?" he responded into her hair.
   
   "Mulder," she said louder now with more strength in her voice and
   caught his hands as they started to venture south.
   
   He got the message and stepped back so she could turn around to face
   him. He internally pouted when she retied the belt on her robe.
   
   "Mulder," she said, then stopped. She wasn't sure what to say.
   
   "Scully," he said, saving her. "I know what you're afraid of, I'm
   afraid of the same things, but nothing has changed."
   
   She arched an eyebrow at him and he smiled.
   
   "OK, some things have changed, but you know what I'm saying."
   
   She slowly nodded and crossed her arms in front of her.
   
   "I have loved you for a very long time. Now I get to show you," he
   said simply.
   
   "But we no longer have Susan's gift," she said rather urgently.
   
   "I don't need Susan's gift to know how you feel about me. And you
   don't need it to know how I feel about you."
   
   She looked over the balcony toward the water.
   
   "Scully," he said.
   
   She turned her head back to him.
   
   "All you have to do is trust me."
   
   "I do," she said with conviction.
   
   "I know," he said with a smirk.
   
   She smiled.
   
   "I know everything there is to know about you."
   
   She looked down shyly.
   
   "I used to curse my photographic memory, now I cherish it," he said as
   he tilted her chin up so he could see her face. "I will never forget
   how beautiful you are, not only on the outside."
   
   She smiled.
   
   "But in here as well," he said, placing his hand over her heart.
   
   Silent tears welled up in her eyes as she copied him and placed her
   hand over his heart. "God, Mulder," she said, her voice breaking. "I
   love you so much."
   
   He took her other hand from where it rested on the railing and
   entwined their fingers. He gave her a devilish smile when he spoke
   again. "Come on Scully, let's go back to bed."
   
   She grinned at him and allowed herself to be pulled toward the bed. As
   her back suddenly hit the mattress, she wondered if she should thank
   Susan or send her her chiropractic bills.
   
   
   The End
   
   
   
   ***END NOTES***
   
   
   First, I want to say thank you to my proofreader, my MOM. I don't know
   what I would do without you. You listened to me incessantly talk about
   this story with patience only a mother could have. You also made it so
   that I didn't sound like an idiot, especially when I spelled something
   so badly that the spell checker didn't even think it was a word.
   
   
   I also wanted to say thank you to my office mates, Elaine, Eileen,
   Ellen and Joan (I MISS YOU!) even though most of you teased me about
   my obsession with everything X-Files, you read my story with interest
   and even bugged me to get the next session out.
   
   
   One more thank you must go to my readers. Since this is my first
   X-Files Fan Fiction, your feedback has been a wonderful gift to me. I
   don't think I would have ever finished this without your
   encouragement. That especially goes to Jenny O., you are my most
   faithful reader.
   
   
   I have but one request, please hit that reply button and let me know
   what you thought of this. It would mean the world to me.
   
   
   Thank you all very much,
   
   McKab
   
   
   Mckab@yahoo.com