From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: 26 Sep 2004 11:17:31 -0000
Subject: REAL HERITAGE, MSR, NC17, PART 3 OF 4 by FatCat
Source: direct

Title:           REAL HERITAGE PART 3 OF 4

XXXXX

I sat in the conference room, stunned for several minutes after 
Mulder's abrupt departure.  He was justifiably pissed.  Once again 
the mysterious THEM had tried to control him by manipulating his 
life.  I thought, 'This time, they've gone too far.'

I sat there contemplating how they could have possibly manipulated 
the surrogate agency to achieve the results they wanted, let alone 
know that Mulder wanted a child.  We had never spoken about this 
anywhere but at his apartment or at mine ... Oh my God!  Suddenly, 
I knew what I had to do.  I pulled out my cell phone and dialed 
number 6 on my speed dial.

"Silver Bullet," Byers answered the phone.

"Byers, it's me.  I need your help."  I was glad that Byers 
answered.  He was the logical one of the three and would be the 
most help.

"Agent Scully, what can we do for you?" he said immediately.

I explained what I needed, a sweep of Mulder's apartment, my 
apartment and our office for audio and video equipment.  "Feel free 
to keep everything you find at my place and the office, but leave 
the equipment you find at Mulder's alone.  I don't think he'll be 
home for a while and he'll want to decide what to do with what you 
find," I instructed.  "I'm sure he'll want to donate it to your 
stash after he's checked it out."

"Certainly, we'll get on it right away.  We have some new equipment 
we've been dying to try.  It may give us the location of the 
individuals who planted any bugs we find," he said 
enthusiastically. 

"Fine, just please go right away.  Start with Mulder's place first, 
please," I urged.  I hung up just as Chan walked back in the room.

He flopped down in a chair next to me, pulled his tie loose, and 
opened the top button.  "It's been quite a day, hasn't it?" he 
sighed.

"Yes, it has, Chan," I said.

"Is Mulder okay?" he asked.

"He will be," I assured him.  "But I don't know if he'll want to 
continue the search for a surrogate."

"Too bad," he said sincerely.

His tone of voice piqued my curiosity.  I stared at him for a 
moment and then asked, "Why do you say that?"

He gazed into my eyes as if trying to see into my heart and mind.  
"Mulder really wants a child, but I'm sure he's discussed this with 
you."

"Yes, but I've never really understood how this all became so 
important to him," I admitted.

"He told you about the Arthur Dales?" Chan asked.  When I nodded, 
he continued.  "He's like all of us, Dana.  He needs to be loved.  
I think he feels that he can't have the woman he wants so he's 
transferred those needs towards the idea of having a child of his 
own to raise."

"Chan, this idea of raising a child alone is a difficult way to 
fulfill one's need for love.  A lot of people lose a loved one to 
death and go on to marry and raise a happy family with another 
person."

Chan nodded and said, "You of all people should know, Dana, 
Mulder's not like most people.  Once he's committed to something or 
someone, he's incapable of being anything less than faithful to 
them.  He might have been able to get over your death eventually 
and moved on, but he's not the kind of man who can be less than 
faithful to the one he loves while she's still alive."

"I'm sorry, Chan, but you are mistaken," I corrected him.  "Mulder 
loved Diana Fowley.  Her death was the catalyst for his desire for 
a child." 

He stared at me as if I had grown a second head.  "What did you 
say?" he asked.

"His ex-wife, Diana Fowley, is the woman that Mulder was, and is, 
in love with," I said sadly.  "I can't believe that someone from 
the Consortium was going to use his desire for a child that looked 
like her as a tool to manipulate him."

Chan was still staring at me, a small, wry smile on his face.  "You 
really don't know, do you?" he asked after a few moments of 
contemplation.

"Know what?" I said as I gathered up my things to leave.  I wanted 
to get away before I had to hear about how much Mulder loved that 
woman again.

"Dana, Mulder doesn't love Diana Fowley.  In fact he's come to 
loath her memory.  Why would you think he wanted a child who looked 
liked her?  In fact, I was surprised that you two chose a brunette 
like Rebecca."

I was shaking my head to deny his words.  His hand closed over my 
forearm, gently guiding me back down into my chair.

"Dana, when Mulder and I began talking about this entire process, I 
was skeptical.  I couldn't believe that the most driven, focused 
workaholic I knew wanted to walk away from his current lifestyle 
and take on the responsibility of a baby.  As I listened to him, I 
realized that he had thought through this entire situation 
objectively and rationally.

"He sincerely felt that he had no chance for a personal 
relationship with the one woman on earth that he loved, 
unconditionally, for years," he said.

"Yes, his ex-wife, Diana Fowley," I interjected.  "Death does that 
to a relationship."

Chan shook his head and said, "No, Dana, not Diana.  She is, in 
fact, not even his ex-wife.  She had their marriage annulled so she 
is legally and emotionally nothing to him any longer."

I was shocked.  If it wasn't Diana, who did Mulder love?  My 
confusion must have shown on my face because Chan began to laugh.

"Dana, you and Mulder are two of the most intelligent people I 
know, yet you are also two of the blindest," he said with a shake 
of his head.  "He loves you, Dana, he has for years, but that's his 
story to tell.  He made this decision after you pulled away from 
him and began dating another man."

"No, Chan, I'm sorry.  You are mistaken."  I was shaking my head in 
denial.  Mulder couldn't love me.  If he did, surely he would have 
said something in the past six and a half years!  'What about his 
declaration in the hospital?' a little voice in my mind said 
clearly. 

"Dana, damnit!  I'm going to add stubborn and mule-headed to my 
description of both of you.  Face it, Mulder loves you.  You, for 
whatever reasons of your own, have pulled away from him and started 
looking for someone else to become personally involved with.  
Mulder loves you enough to want you to be happy, even if that 
happiness is found with someone other than him.  He loves you 
enough to keep his love a secret to prevent you from being upset 
about not returning his love.  If he can't have a future with you, 
and he doesn't believe he can, he needs someone else to love.  It 
can't be another woman, so he chose to have a child.  

"However, he is a man approaching forty.  He's alone in the world 
now that both his parents are dead and he's found some closure to 
Samantha's fate.  He feels the need to be loved and to love.  
That's what made him think of having a child with a surrogate."

I could feel tears streaming down my face as I listened to his 
words.

"You are aware that we tried to find a surrogate without your 
participation, aren't you?  Well, his instructions were for me to 
find a petite, blue-eyed, redhead with a high I.Q.  Does that sound 
like anyone you know?"

I nodded and sobbed openly.

"Dana, he wanted a child who would look like you," he said gently.  
"He loves you.  He hoped that you would be a part of the child's 
life, even if you were married to someone else.  He had already ask 
me to start drafting a revision to his will that would give you 
custody of the child if something happened to him.  I asked him why 
he didn't just ask you to have the baby and he told me about your 
infertility.  

"He'll probably kick me for telling you this, but I can't let this 
go on.  You are the only person in the world who he loves, Dana," 
he said quietly.  "What are you going to do about it?"

He got up and started to walk out of the room.  He slid a box of 
tissues to me down the length of the conference table and he left 
without another word.

I sat there sobbing, trying to understand everything he just told 
me.  If Chan was right, I had it in my power to give Mulder and me 
everything we both wanted out of life.  How could I have not seen 
this?  All I had to do, now, was find the courage to take the first 
step towards love.

XXXXX

What the hell was going on?  First the bombshell at Chan's office 
and now this little surprise.  I pulled on my jeans and a tee shirt 
and ran a brush through my hair.

I rushed back into the living room but it was empty.  "Scully?" I 
yelled.

"Yeah, in here," she called back from the kitchen.

I walked into the kitchen and watched as she finished making a 
call.  "What are you doing?"

"You never have anything to eat or drink in your apartment, Mulder.  
That's one thing that's going to have to change.  Every parent 
needs a well-stocked refrigerator," she said.

"Yeah, well maybe that's not going to happen," I replied morosely.  
"Are you hungry?  We could order out."

The phone rang as if on cue.  I picked it up and was surprised to 
hear Frohike ask to speak to Scully.

Her conversation was short and she agreed that we would meet them 
at the prearranged destination.  I asked her where we were going 
and she just smiled and handed me my coat.  I decided to play 
along, but I was surprised when we turned right instead of left 
into the parking lot of my apartment complex as we exited the 
building. 

Scully satisfied my curiosity by telling me we were going to meet 
the Gunmen at our favorite pizza place down the street.  It was a 
short walk completed in silence.
 
Less than fifteen minutes later, the guys showed up at our table, 
carrying a laundry basket half full of electronic equipment.  
Langly, Byers and Frohike all began talking at the same time.

"Man, who have you pissed off lately?"

"Do you know what this is?  It's the latest and greatest in the 
electronic surveillance world."

"We saw some of this stuff as proto-types at the last Def-Con 
convention in Las Vegas."

"Guys!" Scully said quietly.  "Hold on a minute.  We want to know 
all about this, but right now, we need to give the waitress our 
order.  Mulder and I need to hear about this from the beginning, 
but I don't want to be interrupted a dozen times.  Let's just wait 
until we get our food."

The three men obviously agreed because they settled down right away 
to peruse the menus left on the table.  I sat with my back to the 
wall and Scully sat next to me.  We decided on two large pizzas and 
a pitcher of iced tea.  Scully nixed the beer.  She felt we needed 
to keep our heads clear with the information that was about to be 
discussed.

After the pizzas came and the waitress was out of hearing distance, 
she picked up my hand and looked deeply into my eyes.  I heard an 
embarrassed cough from across the table, but couldn't have cared 
less.  Scully was touching me, voluntarily, in public.

"Mulder, I owe you an apology.  I was thinking about the 
confrontation we'd had earlier at Chan's and realized that the only 
places we had talked about this was in our homes and our office.  I 
called the guys to check for bugs without asking your permission to 
enter your apartment.  I'm sorry I didn't wait, but I didn't feel 
we had that luxury."

I nodded an acceptance to her apology.

"I asked them to start there because I didn't want your privacy to 
be invaded any further."

Once again, I nodded.

"I tried to think of who would do this to you and I came up with 
three possible suspects, the Consortium, Krycek and ..." she ground 
to a halt.

"Diana," I said.

Her surprised look let me know that she had come to the same 
conclusion.  We had thought she was dead, had been told she was 
murdered.  Now we knew she was in Brazil.  She was still scheming 
and lying to the last.

"I was trying to think about who could have done this to us while I 
was running and the most likely candidate I could come up with was 
her."  I sighed and decided to tell her everything I knew.  
"Scully, Diana was barren, too.  She told me she was raped when she 
was in college and contacted a STD that had scarred her fallopian 
tubes so badly, she would never be able to conceive unless we used 
invitro fertilization.  At that time I wasn't interested in 
settling down with a family, so it wasn't something we discussed 
more than that first time.

"Of all the candidates who could be interested in my using a 
surrogate for a baby, she's the only one who would benefit from 
Rebecca Morrison as a donor."

"Oh my God!" Scully groaned.  "She was going to manipulate the 
entire process so that you had a baby with a relative of hers and 
then steal the baby."

I nodded, swallowing hard.  "Yeah, that's what I think she had in 
mind."

I heard the guys discussing my theory in the background, but I was 
focusing on Scully's reaction.

"Mulder, I'm so sorry!" she said.  There were tears in her eyes, 
but she refused to let them fall.  "If that's true, we have to do 
something about this.  She could still steal your child, no matter 
who the mother was."

"Uh, Mulder, Scully?" Byers said, interrupting us.

"We know how to find her, if that's what you need," Frohike said.

"You do?" I asked.

"Well, we think so.  You see all the equipment in your office and 
Scully's apartment is high tech, but more or less standard issue."

Scully and I nodded, knowing that they were the experts and would 
know what they were talking about.

"The stuff at Mulder's place is a different matter," Byers said.

"Yeah, that's some gnarly shit," Langley interjected.

Byers frowned at him and continued, "The surveillance 
equipment in Mulder's apartment is so high tech, we've only heard 
rumors of its possibility."

"Mulder, you recently signed up for a new digital cable service, 
right?" Frohike questioned.

"Yeah, I got it from A-Com.  I took the premium package that 
included all the Sports packages and a new broadband DSL for my 
computer.  Sure beats the heck out of a regular modem hookup," I 
enthused.

"We thought so.  Do you remember the date that you began your 
service?"

"No, not really.  It's been about three months ago, why?" I asked.

The three gunmen looked at each other.  "That's the earliest that 
the spy equipment could have been installed in your home."

"What?" I hissed.  "How do you know that?"

"Mulder, the equipment we found is so high tech that it is almost 
impossible to detect.  We just found it by accident when we were 
... uh ... checking your television remote for a bug," Langley 
said.  His cheeks were stained with embarrassment.

"My remote?" I sputtered.

"Yeah," Frohike said.  "We were checking the living room out and 
found nothing until we turned on the television and got a blip on 
the monitor.  We turned off the television and the same blip 
occurred.  We decided to check the back of the T.V. and when we 
pulled it out from the wall, we saw a small black transceiver on 
the cable box."

"It didn't look like anything we'd ever seen, so we called one of 
our friends who installs cable for a living."

"Yeah, among other things," Langley snorted.

Byers said, "He asked us to describe it and got really excited when 
we did.  He said he'd never seen one, but it was the exact specs on 
a new piece of surveillance equipment that the CIA is using.  He 
told us what to look for and how it works."

"Basically, Mulder, the piece on the cable box is a receiver for 
all the mini-cams placed throughout your place.  Someone who knows 
you well enough to realize that you always turn on the television 
when you're home had it rigged to start recording as soon as it was 
turned on.  The pictures were transmitted back on the broadband 
cable to the main receiver."

"Sweet, huh?" Langly said.

"Yes, very sweet," Scully growled.  "So how do we find the main 
receiver?"

"Already done," Frohike answered smugly.  "We checked it out as 
soon as we found it." 

"And where is it?" I asked.  I had a bad feeling about the answer.

"Not two blocks over, at 8324 Jackson Place, Number 12," Byers 
said.

"Do you happen to have a name of the resident at that apartment?" 
Scully asked.

"Yeah," he said.  "Debbie Franklin is the name on the mail box."

"Debbie Franklin?  D. F.?  Sound familiar?" Langly said with a 
snort.

"Yeah, too familiar," I agreed.

"What do you want to do, Mulder?" Scully asked.

"I don't know," I said truthfully.  My head was reeling.  What the 
hell was Diana thinking?  Did I really believe that she was behind 
the entire set up with the surrogate?  The immediate gut reaction I 
had was yes.  Yes, she would do something like this, but I don't 
have a clue as to why.  I needed to know.  I glanced at Scully as 
she watched me while I was thinking.  I knew she wanted answers to 
this question as much as I did.

"I think we should pay Debbie Franklin a visit," I finally said.

Scully searched my face for a long minute before she nodded.  "You 
know Diana hasn't broken any laws, yet," she said.  "At least 
nothing we can prove."

Frohike's head popped up.  "What the hell do you call illegal 
surveillance, breaking and entering, and trespassing on Federal 
property?" he asked indigently. 

"We don't have tangible evidence that Debbie Franklin is Diana 
Fowley.  She could be an innocent bystander," Scully said 
reasonably.

"But ... but ..." Frohike sputtered.

"We will make sure that we have evidence before we take any action 
to prosecute," I assured Scully and the indignant Frohike.  "Do you 
have your weapon?" I asked Scully.

"Yep, never leave home without it," she grinned.

I smiled back at her, once again thanking the powers that be for 
assigning this woman to be my partner.

XXXXX

We drove to the address Byers had supplied.  As I got out of the 
car, I was irked to see that the guys had followed us in their van.  
I glared at them, daring them to step foot outside of their vehicle 
as Mulder walked around the front of the car to join me.  "Look who 
followed us," I said, nodding towards the old VW bus that the guys 
had parked up the block.

"I should have told them to stay away," Mulder said.

"It wouldn't have done any good even if you had thought of it," I 
murmured as we strode up the steps to the building.

Mulder looked at me and grinned.  Unfortunately, neither one of us 
looked towards the top of the steps until a loud, authoritive voice 
said, "Hold it right there."

We looked up at the same time only to see a large man dressed in an 
impeccable black suit and sunglasses standing in front of the door.  
He hadn't been there when we arrived, so he must have seen us 
coming from the entryway and stepped out to stop us.

"Is there a problem?" Mulder asked.

I noticed that he was not quick to identify either of us.  I 
decided to let him do all the talking.

"Yes, this area is an open crime scene.  Unless you live in the 
building, you need to come back later."

"What happened?  Was someone robbed?" he asked, trying to sound 
like a casual visitor.  

I looked at him like he was crazy.  Unless I missed my guess, this 
man not only knew that we weren't residents, but probably knew both 
of us on sight.

"Agent Mulder, I am not at liberty to divulge that information at 
this time," he said, confirming my belief.

I put my hand on Mulder's arm and pulled him around to follow me.  
We got in the car and drove back to his place.  Mulder was silent, 
but his grip on the wheel was making my hands cramp in sympathy.  
He pulled up in front of his place and wrenched the door open, 
jumping out.  He slammed the door with a loud crash, taking off for 
his apartment without a word.

I followed him at a slower pace and saw the guys pull up as I 
waited for them in his front entry.

XXXXX

I paced back and forth in my living room, waiting for Scully and 
the guys to get here.  I was furious.  Once again, we would not be 
able to prove what we knew.  What was going on?  What the hell was 
Diana doing spying on us?

"Mulder?" Scully said as she knocked gently on the already open 
door before entering.

"Yeah, Scully, come on in," I responded.

All four of them trouped in and stood there watching me.  

I paced back and forth, more angry than I've been in a long, long 
time.

"What's going on, Mulder?" Frohike asked.

"I don't know, but if that M.I.B. was stationed there, you can bet 
we'll never know," I spat.

Byers, Langly, and Frohike exchanged looks with Scully.  She nodded 
and Frohike said, "I think I know a way to get in there."

"No go, Frohike," I said.  "I won't have one of you taking a risk 
over this.  We'll just wait and Scully and I will go in tonight."

"Mulder, listen to Frohike," Scully said quietly.  "If he has an 
idea that might work we could have access to the apartment this 
afternoon.  If we wait until later tonight, it might be too late." 

I threw myself down on the couch and sighed.  "Lay it on me, Fro."  
I would listen, but if it was too dangerous they could just forget 
it. 

XXXXX

I pulled the A-Com truck up in front of 8324 Jackson Place.  I sat 
in the seat, looking over the clipboard of current jobs listed for 
the day.  I put the ball cap with the company logo on and exited 
the truck.  While I was standing on the street beside the van I 
mimicked that Verizon commercial, and said, "Can you hear me now?"

The voice in my earpiece came through loud and clear.  "Don't be a 
smart ass, Frohike.  Someone might be watching."  It looked like a 
regular hearing aid, but it was actually a wire that let everyone 
back at A-Com hear me and everyone I spoke to.  I wiped the sweat 
off my brow and pulled the coveralls out of my crack.  I was the 
only one that the uniform would remotely fit.  I shook myself and 
made sure the badge on my pocket was straight.  I turned and walked 
up the steps towards my goal.

"Hold it," the huge man we had seen with Mulder and Scully said.  
"This is a crime scene and no visitors are allowed."

"No shit?" I said, trying my best to sound fascinated.  "What 
happened?"

He glared down at me and said with a sneer, "It's a need to know 
situation, and I'm sure you don't need to know."

I glared back up at him for a moment before I said, "All right, but 
I do need to get in to one of the apartments here and pick up some 
equipment."

"Didn't you hear me?" he growled.  "No one is allowed in until the 
CSI team is done."

"I heard you," I said as I tapped my earpiece.  "This little beauty 
makes sure I hear just fine.  What you aren't hearing is that I 
have official business in this building and I'm not leaving until I 
complete it."

"What business do you have here?" he asked.

"I'm a representative of A-Com, and I need to pick up the digital 
cable box from Apartment 12.  I have a work order right here," I 
said as I pulled it off the clipboard.  "The customer called last 
week and set this appointment up.  A-Com prides itself on having 
its employees meet every appointment on time."

Thank God, Byers had been able to convince the owner of A-Com that 
we needed to pick up this box.  He was very persuasive once he 
started talking about having the equipment disappear.  Mulder and 
Scully's badges had helped convince him to cooperate.  Little did 
he know what his property was being used for.

"No admittance allowed," he said and then hesitated.  "Did you say 
Apartment 12?"

"Yeah," I said and nodded.  "Right here."  I pointed to the work 
order address.

"Just a minute.  My supervisor will want to talk to you," he said 
as he pulled out a cell phone and dialed.

"Look, I don't want to talk to anyone.  I just need to get this 
box, the remote, and leave.  If I don't hustle, I'm going to be 
late to my next appointment and then my ass will get fired."

"Hold on," he said with a glare.  "My supervisor will be here in a 
matter of moments."

I groaned and pulled out my cell phone.  I dialed the number of A-
Com and asked for Chuck.  He was our connection and had agreed to 
deal with any resistance we met.

A neatly dressed man stepped out of the entry door and nodded to 
the behemoth standing in my way.  "What seems to be the trouble 
here, Agent Wells?"

"This man says he needs to have access to Apartment 12." 

The newly arrived M.I.B. looked at me sharply before saying, "What 
is your business here?"

I went through my entire spiel again, this time ending with having 
Chuck give it a try.  I was more than slightly pissed when he 
wouldn't talk to him on my cell phone.  He took the phone number 
from the pre-printed form and asked to speak to Chuck.  At the end 
of their conversation, the answer was still no.  

Finally, I said, "Look buddy.  I have to get in there and remove 
the digital cable box.  My new boss has been on my ass about 
meeting deadlines for my appointments.  If I don't get this box, 
the money will be deducted from my pay until it's brought in.  I 
just got this job and I need to keep it.  Frankly, I don't have any 
money to spare.  It's not easy for an older guy to get into this 
business, you know?  Especially one with a handicap."

He seemed to hesitate for a moment.  I fiddled with my 'hearing 
aid' and gave him the best down-and-out look I could muster.

"Very well, you may follow me back up to the apartment and pick up 
the cable box and the controller.  Do NOT touch anything else.  Is 
that clear?"

"Yeah, hey, thanks buddy.  I really appreciate it," I gushed.

I followed him at what I hoped was a respectful distance.  I hadn't 
had much luck acting respectful to anyone for years, but it was 
important now.  We went up the elevator and I stayed close to him.  
As we entered the apartment, several large, black-suited men glared 
at me from various parts of the room.  

He walked to the television with me and stood there while I pulled 
the cable box with the transceiver still attached off the TV and 
put it in the empty card board box I'd slid under the clipboard.  I 
looked around for the controller and spotted it on the coffee 
table.  I started to reach for it and heard the sound of several 
bullets ratcheting into the chambers of the guns that appeared in 
the hands of the other agents.

I froze where I stood.  I didn't have to fake fear.  I was shaking 
in my boots.

"Stand down," my guide said.  "He just needs the remote control for 
the cable box."  He walked around me and handed it over.

I pushed it into the box and nodded my thanks.  I silently followed 
him back down the hall to the elevator and out the front door.

"Thanks," I said with a gulp.  "I appreciate your help."

"No problem," he said, sounding uncomfortable at my gratitude.

I nodded at him and walked by the guard at the front door.  I kept 
my eyes down.  I knew that I was almost free and clear and I didn't 
want to blow it with a cocky look now.

I heard a shot and the guard that had been glaring at me moments 
before raced back into the building.  I knew I should leave.  I 
knew that I needed to get the box back to our place and let Mulder 
and Scully check it for fingerprints.  I knew this but all I did 
was lock the doors of the van and tried to look busy with the radio 
as I watched the building for activity.

The front door of the building burst open and a young man ran down 
the steps, glancing behind him before taking off at a dead run down 
the street.

Two of the MIBs hit the door at a dead run and leaped down the 
steps.  One of the men took off after him but dodged as the other 
man yelled, "Halt or I'll shoot!"

The young man obviously decided that he would take his chances and 
kept going.  The two MIBs took firing stances and blasted him with 
a barrage of bullets.  He made it two steps further before 
collapsing in an obviously dead heap.

I made an illegal u-turn and hit the gas.  Everyone was waiting to 
examine the equipment I had.  I should have left before the shots 
started.  It had been years since I'd been this close to a 
firefight.  Suddenly I was shaking and I knew that I was in for a 
rough ride tonight.

I also knew I should check to see if I was going to have to launder 
these coveralls before I returned them.   

XXXXX

Waiting for Frohike was one of the hardest things I've ever done in 
my life.  I knew that the risks Mulder and I took everyday were 
part of the job.  I signed up for it and I had the training to 
handle myself.  I accepted the danger for us, but Frohike had 
looked so small and old in that jumpsuit when he'd climbed into the 
A-Con service van.  He might be small in stature, but he had the 
heart of a lion and I suddenly realized once again how much he and 
the others meant to me.

We had headed towards the Gunmen's place to wait for him after 
swinging by and picking up a portable fingerprint kit from the 
office.

Frohike was late getting back and when he told us the reasons, I 
was once again awash with regret over involving the guys in this.

He put up a brave front, but we all could tell that the shooting of 
the man on Jackson Place had really shaken him up.  We dusted the 
equipment and lifted the prints to take back to the Bureau for 
comparison to Diana Fowley's old records.  We gave the guys one set 
and took one with us for our official report.

We gave the transmitter to the guys for their equipment stash.  I 
didn't ask them what they would do with it.  I didn't want to know.  
For all the work they'd done to help us find and get rid of the 
bugs in our homes and to retrieve the box from Fowley's apartment, 
they deserved them.

Before we left, I made an effort to comfort Frohike.

"Frohike?  Are you going to be okay?" I asked as I gently put my 
hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, Scully, I'll be all right.  I'm just not used to the gun 
play like I was in the old days," he said with a weak smile.  "It's 
been a long time since 'Nam."

Mulder and I once again thanked him and the other two guys and 
left.  We dropped the second set of the prints off at the lab with 
Danny and headed out.  I wanted to talk to Mulder.  We needed to 
settle this whole misunderstanding.

I never had a chance.  As soon as we got back to my apartment, 
Mulder made an excuse and left me at my doorstep.

It's been over two weeks and he's made sure that there's been no 
chance for any kind of personal confrontation between us despite 
repeated attempts on my part.  He hasn't even given me an update on 
the fingerprints we found on the digital equipment.  He's 
effectively cut me out of the entire situation.

I'd decided that holding on to my feelings of love for Mulder, 
being in love with Mulder, wasn't enough.  I needed to let him know 
how I feel and find out if he truly felt the way Chan said he did.  
However, he'd put up a barrier between us that extended into every 
aspect of our relationship.  He refused to have any kind of 
personal interaction that would give me an opportunity to discuss 
our personal relationship.

We're still partners, but I can see even that changing.  He's 
pulling away from me.  He's even gone so far as to accept an 
assignment with VCS and a temporary partner.  He's leaving me 
behind and I can't seem to find any way to change his mind about 
it.  Was this how he felt when I pulled away from him?  Damn it.  
It really hurt.

Maybe we'd missed our chance.  Perhaps love wasn't enough.

XXXXX

I turned off my car and sat looking at the front door of the bar.  
'Why did I agree to show up?' I asked myself for the fortieth time 
since leaving the gym.  'Just because I needed an excuse not to 
think about Scully doesn't mean that I have to go off and do 
something crazy.'  I shook my head and wondered, not for the first 
time, just how far out I had to be to consider having a drink with 
my basketball teammates as crazy.  

I finally pulled the keys from the ignition and opened the door of 
the car.  Once I was standing up, I checked that I had my wallet 
and cell phone and walked towards the door of The End Zone.  'Never 
can be too careful,' I thought.  'Scul ... Skinner could call at 
any time.'  I pushed open the door and stopped, letting my eyes 
adjust to the dim light.

"Hey!  Mulder!  Over here," Rich Gentry shouted from my left.

I lifted my chin in acknowledgment and walked to the bar to ask for 
a beer.  I always get my own drinks straight from the bartender 
ever since I'd been drugged on that case in Indiana.  If Scully 
hadn't recognized the symptoms, I could have died that night.

I shook my head in disgust.  I couldn't get Scully off my mind.  I 
turned to join the rest of the team at the table they had staked 
out.  'Not gonna think about Scul ...  work right now,' I promised 
myself. 

"Here's the man of the hour!  Mulder, my man, have a seat."  Rich 
pulled a chair over to the table for me.

A chorus of greetings from the other guys surprised me.  I don't 
usually join the team for a drink after our Saturday afternoon 
game, but they all seemed glad I did today.

"Hey, Mulder, how come you got time to join us today?  That sweet 
little partner of yours busy for a change?" Ted McKay asked.

I ignored him.  McKay had been hot for Scully ever since she had 
interrupted one of our games about a month ago.  She had just shown 
up one evening and said she wanted to talk to me after the game.  I 
had taken it as a sign and decided to approach her about helping me 
find a surrogate.  I'd been so juiced about Scully watching that my 
game had been over the top.  Scully sat in the stands and cheered 
for me, never giving any of the other guys so much as a smile.  
McKay had tried to pump me for information on her every week since 
then.  It was just now occurring to me that she'd never told me 
what she wanted to talk about that night.  I'd leaped into the 
surrogate business, she'd gotten sick, and we'd never gotten that 
far.  Maybe she had been going to tell me about her break up with 
Dennis.  That must have been it.

"Lay off, Ted.  Mulder's here to celebrate our victory this 
afternoon.  The home boys won!  Man!  I'm pumped.  We picked off 
the top team in the league and right here is the man who made it 
happen!" Jeff Rogers said and slapped me on the back.

Unfortunately, I was taking a drink of my beer at just that moment.  
I started to choke and wheeze as the cold liquid went down the 
wrong pipe.  All the guys laughed but it wasn't a mean-spirited 
poke.  It felt good to be part of the group.

"Shit, Mulder, good thing you didn't choke like that out on the 
court," Danny laughed and thumped me on the back.

I grimaced and tried to get my breathing back to normal before 
trying to respond. 

"Hey, did you see the faces on those guys when Mulder stole the 
ball and charged up court?  Man!  I didn't think you had another 
dunk left in you, Mulder.  You'd played most of the entire half," 
Rich crowed.  "I'm glad those guys go to the Time Out Lounge 
instead of here after the games."

"Yeah, we might've had to call HRT to get out of the place," Danny 
agreed.

I sat there drinking the rest of my beer quietly, enjoying the 
locker room talk my teammates were indulging in.  It had been a 
long time since I'd joined them at the bar after the game.  I've 
never been a big drinker -- not with the shining example of my 
father's actions while under the influence.  I'd never had a desire 
to follow in those footsteps.  

A few of the married guys had to leave but the majority of the team 
members were fellow employees of the F.B.I. and footloose and fancy 
free on a cold Saturday afternoon.  Everyone ordered food and more 
drinks.  I switched to iced tea, not really interested in getting 
wasted in the middle of the afternoon.  Before evening, I'd driven 
most of them home and was on my way over to the Lone Gunmen's place 
for an evening of gaming.

I reached into my coat pocket to get my phone only to come up 
empty-handed.  I thought back to the last time I'd seen my phone 
and remembered it was at the bar.  I made a quick right turn and 
headed back to the bar to see if someone had turned it in.  Skinner 
would take the cost of a lost phone out of my check again, unless I 
got lucky and some good soul turned it in to the bartender.

I entered The End Zone and went immediately to the table where we'd 
been sitting.  No luck.  I walked back to the bar and waited until 
the bartender came down to talk to me.  Unfortunately, it wasn't 
the same guy who had been there earlier this afternoon.

"My buddies and I were in here about an hour ago and I left my cell 
phone at that table over there.  Did anyone turn it in?" I asked.

"Sorry, I just got on duty about ten minutes ago.  If anyone found 
it, it would have been Terry, the owner.  He's out to dinner right 
now, but he's going to be back in about forty-five minutes," the 
small man said.  "You're welcome to hang around and ask him 
yourself then."

I considered the time and said, "I think I'll just come back 
tomorrow or later in the week.  What nights does he usually work?"

"He normally is here every night, but he and his wife are going on 
a cruise tomorrow to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary.  
They won't be back for over a week.  Sorry," he said with a shrug.

"I guess I wait then," I said.  "Do you have change for the phone?  
I need to call my friends and tell them I'll be late."

"Naw, just use the house phone," he said as he placed an old black 
phone up on the bar.  "It's a local call, right?" 

"Yeah," I said with a nod.  I called the guys to let them know I 
would be late and then walked down the bar to sit down at an empty 
barstool.

"What's your poison?" the bartender asked.

I ordered an iced tea and settled in to wait for the owner.  I 
indulged myself in my second favorite pastime -- televised sports.  
There were several large-screen TVs placed throughout the bar.  
When the commercials were on, I switched to people watching.  The 
entire back of the bar was covered in 12x12 inch mirror tiles and I 
could see everything that was going on in the bar.  I did 
everything I could not to think about the events of the last few 
weeks.  

I glanced at my watch.  Only twenty minutes had passed.  I got up 
and wound my way through the bar to the restroom, half-way 
listening to the various conversations.  I was bored and wanted out 
of this place, but not badly enough to leave without my phone.

By the time a half hour had passed the bar was almost empty.  I was 
fed up with watching the Kings beat the Lakers and had fallen into 
contemplation of my life.  The events of the last few weeks weighed 
heavily on my mind.

I knew that Scully recognized my withdrawal for what it was.  I'd 
backpedaled from any kind of personal involvement with her enough 
times that she had to recognize my intentions.  I hated the hurt in 
her eyes, the resolved set of her mouth when I told her that I was 
going to work for VCS for a special assignment.

Her pain always tore me up, but I couldn't let her get involved any 
further in Diana's craziness.  I thought that it was over with the 
shooting incident at the surveillance apartment.  Even though we 
never confirmed that Diana had been apprehended by the M.I.B.s that 
were there, everything seemed to settle down.  I was wrong.

Rebecca Morrison was kidnapped.  When Chan had called me to tell me 
that she hadn't shown up for their date, I'd immediately suspected 
foul play.  Even though it hadn't been twenty-four hours since she 
disappeared, I'd convinced Skinner to get a search warrant for her 
apartment.  There were no signs of a struggle there, but there were 
also no signs of a planned absence.  We questioned her best friend, 
Gena Cook, and learned that she was shocked to hear that Rebecca 
was gone.  She had just talked to Rebecca the day before.  She had 
been effusive, talking for over a half hour about Chan and their 
coming date.  She'd not stated any intentions of leaving any time 
soon.    

The hunt was on.

Skinner had forbidden me access to the case at first.  He felt that 
I was too connected to the victim and possibly the perp.  He 
assigned it to Thomas Wolfe, a veteran agent that I'd worked with 
before.  Unlike a lot of the agents in VCS, 'Wolf', as they called 
him, was open-minded and we had worked well together in the past.  
I'd at least been able to assure Chan that the best available agent 
was on the case.  I'd asked Wolf to keep me apprised of any 
progress with the case and backed off.

I'd tried to at least, but when the first anonymous e-mail, with an 
attached picture of Rebecca in a small cell-like room, hit my 
private account, Skinner pulled me from the X-Files and assigned me 
to be Wolf's partner for the duration of the case.

Skinner had not understood why I didn't want to involve Scully with 
this case.  He knew how difficult it would be to dissuade her from 
following me into a case to cover my back.  However, when I 
explained the more private details of this entire affair, he 
agreed.  He realized that Diana Fowley had fixated on me and any 
involvement by Scully would put her in unnecessary danger.

When the request for my assistance with VCS came, Skinner had made 
it sound like a profiling consult.  I had done my part and made 
sure that she would leave the entire situation alone by making it 
feel more like a ditch than a consult.  I could have sworn that she 
had tears in her eyes when I told her that I would be assigned a 
temporary partner during my stint there.  My actions had put a 
chasm between us that might never be bridged again.  It was one of 
the hardest things I'd ever had to do, but I had to keep her safe.

I took a drink of my iced tea and checked my watch again.  It was 
almost time.

I was glad the case was over.  Rebecca had been returned, unharmed, 
and her kidnapper was dead.  Diana Fowley, her own kissing cousin, 
had abducted her.  I shivered with revulsion, once again 
remembering her demise.

Diana had finally slipped over the edge of the abyss into insanity.  
She had become fixated on me and having a child with me even though 
she was sterile.  Her previous plan to insert Rebecca into my 
search for a surrogate mother had been foiled.  She had kidnapped 
her own relative in order to impregnate her with my sperm and steal 
the baby for her own.  She had madly assumed that I would play 
along with her scheme as soon as she had everything in place.  She 
knew from her eavesdropping that I wanted a child very badly.  In 
her twisted mind she reasoned, how could I resist?

She had flown Rebecca and herself to a small, private island off 
the coast of Florida.  It had been one of the Consortium's testing 
facilities in the past, but had been abandoned when the majority of 
the members had been fried by the Alien Rebels in West Virginia.

She had planned well.  No one would have found them if she had not 
needed to call upon me to provide the sperm for the baby.  I'd 
agreed to meet her, convincing her that I was willing to go along 
with her plans.  With Wolf's help, we had prepared an elaborate 
sting operation to assure Rebecca Morrison's safety.

Unfortunately, while we planned to rescue Rebecca and take custody 
of the ex-agent Fowley, others used us to find her for their own 
purposes.

Diana had planned well.  She had anticipated every probability 
except one.  She had financed her mad scheme with money she had 
siphoned off the Consortium's off-shore bank accounts.  While her 
ex-employers would forgive her abandoning their ranks and the use 
of one of their facilities, they would not overlook the 
embezzlement of millions of dollars.

Wolf and I had captured Diana and released Rebecca.  While we were 
escorting them both home They had struck.  We were walking to our 
gate at the Miami airport and we'd been jostled several times by 
the crowds and didn't think anything of it.  By the time we had 
cleared security at our gate, Diana was ill.  Paramedics had been 
called, but before they got there, Diana was dead.

The family had insisted that the body be sent to New York for 
burial.  They had finally agreed to an autopsy.  The New York 
coroner had found massive tissue damage due to an unknown poison.  
The small puncture wound on her back was the point of entry.  Once 
again a crime by the Consortium went unsolved.  

The only bright spot in the entire investigation was Chan and 
Rebecca's reunion.  Well, that and the reaction of Thomas Wolfe had 
been pretty cool.  He was incensed that our prisoner could be 
killed right under our noses.  When I'd laughed and told him, 
'Welcome to the X-Files,' Wolf had merely nodded.  I felt like I 
had gained an ally with this case.  I may have gained an ally, but 
had I lost a partner?

I checked my watch.  It had been over fifty minutes.  I called the 
bartender back down.  "Have you heard from the owner yet?" I asked.

"No, he'll be here any minute," he assured me.  "He knows how this 
place fills up about now.  He's never let me down before.  Terry's 
a great guy to work for.  You'll see.  He'll be here shortly."  The 
bartender must have felt bad for having to make me wait because he 
set me up with another iced tea.

I nodded at him and reached to pay for the drink.

"Naw, this one's on the house."  He smiled and walked down to tend 
to the other customers.

I took a drink of the tea and choked.  It wasn't just an iced tea.  
This was a Long Island Iced Tea.  Not bad, just a surprise.  As I 
sipped this drink the crowd began to arrive.

One group of guys at a table behind and a little to the left of me 
caught my attention.  They were all a few years younger than me, 
actually reminded me of a group of agents I used to hang out with 
when I was first out of the academy.

They were loud and rowdy, but in a friendly, amusing way.  That is, 
until a new guy entered the bar and joined them.  I heard them call 
him by name and start teasing him about being all dressed up on a 
Saturday night with nowhere to go.

At that point, the owner of the bar came back.  The bartender 
greeted him and immediately asked about my cell phone.  The owner 
assured me that he had it in the back room and went to get it.  I 
let my attention wander back to the teasing going on behind me.

"Hey Brody!  What's really with the suit?  Got a hot date?" the guy 
I had heard called Fred asked.

I stared at the table in the mirror, smiling along with the others 
as they teased him good-naturedly.

"I've got plans," Brody said before he tossed back his shot of 
tequila.  "Big plans.  I'm not like you dickless wonders, hanging 
out with each other on Saturday night.  I'm getting laid tonight."

"Yeah, Mr. Every-Woman's-Dream has a big night planned," teased his 
friend named Bob on the left.

"Well, Mr. Every-Mother's-Nightmare better watch it.  He almost got 
hooked last time he was so cock sure of his evening," said Fred 
with a grin.  The entire group laughed at this remark.

"I didn't know she wasn't on the pill!  The blood test proved that 
I wasn't the baby's father.  She's still trying to pin that on 
someone," he said with a nasty laugh.  Some of the group laughed 
but others ignored his crude remark.

"So, who's the lucky lady?  Or should I say, babe, tonight?" Bob 
asked.

"Yeah, anyone we know?" 

"I'm not telling you assholes," he laughed.

"Come on, Brody.  You know we'll find out later anyway," the tall 
blonde guy wheedled.  He motioned for another round for the table.

When Brody had thrown back his second drink, he sat back in his 
chair, a smirk on his face.  After a satisfying bout of nosey 
questions, he deigned to answer.  "Picture this.  I was at a family 
picnic about three weeks ago and I saw this woman jogging alone in 
the park."

"Don't tell us," blondie said.  "Tall, brunette, legs to her throat 
and tits to die for, right?"

Brody snorted.  "Wrong.  This woman wasn't the kind who gave you 
whiplash, if you know what I mean, but she's more naturally 
beautiful than any woman I've ever seen in real life.  She's small, 
petite I guess you'd call her, perfectly formed.  She's got red 
hair, perfect skin, and a pair of the bluest eyes I'd ever seen.  
She's slim but ripe, you know what I mean?"  He formed a voluptuous 
shape in the air with his hands. 

All his buddies must have known, because they just nodded.  I knew 
what he meant.  He could have been describing Scully.  Not a show-
stopper, but ... perfect.

"So you falling in love, Brody?" Fred asked incredulously.

Brody got a contemplative look on his face and then said with a 
grin, "Naw!  But lust isn't bad!"

Everyone broke up laughing.  The owner of the bar came back with a 
basket of cell phones and I picked mine out of the masses.  I 
thanked him and put it back in my pocket right away.

The guys at the table were still talking about Brody's date.  I 
decided to finish my tea, fascinated by his story of his date 
tonight.  Why couldn't I have met Scully like that?  Things would 
be so different now.

"So what'd she say when you asked her out?" Fred pumped.

Brody looked at him and grinned.  "She told me she wasn't 
interested in dating, didn't need 'romance' she said.  Her life was 
too busy and she wasn't available at set hours."

"Well?" Bob asked.

"So I figured I'd just go for it.  I said, 'How about just getting 
together for a good fuck then?'  And she looks me up and down with 
those blue eyes that look like they could laser me down to a pile 
of ashes and finally said, 'Okay.'"

The entire group gasped, including me.

"She goes on to tell me that she's in love with someone she works 
with and doesn't see that ever changing, but that she can't go 
through her entire life without sex."

"Why didn't she just have sex with the guy she's in love with?" 
asked blondie.

"I asked her that and she told me it was none of my business, but 
that I should just take her word that it wasn't possible.  I didn't 
push.  I figure the guy's married or something."

Fred sat back and stared at Brody.  "So let me get this straight.  
You actually hit on this incredibly sexy redhead and she's agreed 
to be your fuck buddy because she's in love with a co-worker and 
she's horny?  Just like that?  Did I get everything straight?"

Brody considered his comments for a moment before grinning evilly 
and saying, "Yeah, just about."  He let the details sink in for a 
few minutes, knowing each one of them thought he was one lucky son-
of-a-bitch.  "I guess I didn't tell you that she's a doctor, did 
I?" he said as he turned the knife just a little harder.  All his 
friends groaned and a couple threw peanuts at him for rubbing it 
in.

I almost fell off my barstool.  He was talking about Scully; small, 
perfect, beautiful Scully.  My Scully.  My Scully was going to get 
involved with a fuck-buddy because she was in love with me but I 
had rejected her love once too often.  I wanted to kill the asshole 
who was sitting there contemplating having sex with my Scully.  I 
actually found myself reaching to my side where I normally kept my 
gun.  Thank God it was safely stored at home.

I wanted to leave, but I was riveted to my seat.  I had a 
masochistic need to hear what this asshole said.

Fred called the barmaid over to order another round of drinks but 
Brody refused.  

"I don't want to be drunk when I get to her house," he explained.  
"I want to remember everything."

"When's all this happening?" Bob asked.

Brody looked at his watch and shrugged.  "She told me to call her 
after 8:00 PM.  She's having dinner with her family and thought she 
would be home by then."

I glanced at my watch and saw that it was just a little after 
seven.  Scully should be home any minute from her mom's house.  If 
I hurried, I could stop her before she agreed to meet this asshole.  
I couldn't let her do this.  I loved her but I'd driven her away 
with my insecurities.  This had to end right now.  If I was going 
to lose her anyway, I had nothing to lose by telling her how I 
felt.

I threw a couple bucks down for the bartender and left, glad that 
I'd only had one drink.  It wouldn't do to be stopped for drunk 
driving now.  I had to get to Scully.

END PART 3 OF 4

Title:           REAL HERITAGE PART 4 OF 4

XXXXX

I wanted to be at my best when I talked to Scully.  I swung by my 
apartment and took a quick shower.  As I stood under the hot water, 
I let my thoughts run free for the first time in a long while.  I 
had stepped away from Scully when she began dating Dennis, even 
though I felt he was the wrong man for her.  He was too cold, too 
rational, too staid for a woman like Scully.  Outsiders might think 
that they were a perfect match, but I knew better.

Dana Scully has a reserve about her that led others to believe that 
she had those qualities and little else.  They were mistaken.  
Beneath that reserved, professional exterior of hers, Dana Scully 
was a warm, loving, and passionate woman.  I knew she needed a man 
who would understand her need for respect by her peers and not be 
hurt or confused when she hid her real self behind her 
professionalism.

Scully needed someone who knew her well enough to see both sides of 
her and to accept her as she was and love her unconditionally.  She 
wasn't perfect.  Who is?  However, if I was right -- if I could 
allow myself to believe young Brody's words -- she loved me but was 
afraid to let me know how she felt.  Perhaps I'd been doing too 
good of a job at keeping my feelings for her hidden.  I knew I 
hadn't been the most open person lately.

I continued to let my thoughts race as I shaved, carefully, and 
dressed.

When Diana died, I let my hope for a family of my own die.  Not 
that I wanted one with her in any way, shape or form, but the 
entire experience brought home how tenuous my life was.  Any plans 
I made were subject to the whims of others; others who did not care 
who they hurt as long as their own goals and objectives were met.  
How could I think about bringing a small child into this life 
alone?  I had withdrawn from everyone, licking my wounds.  As I was 
thinking about it, I realized that I had been mourning the loss of 
Sam, my mother, and everything I'd thought I would never have.

That had all changed.  I'd been given another chance to have a life 
with Scully.  I had to make her see that I was the man she needed.  
I loved her and wanted her any way could get her, even if I had to 
be the man she turned to as a 'fuck-buddy'.  Even if I never 
managed to unlock her heart, I wanted her.  I'd do anything for her 
professionally, personally, and emotionally.  Her barrenness wasn't 
an issue.  If I could have Scully, then I didn't need a child.  
This was about having someone to share my life with.

I flipped on the radio as I drove, trying to keep my thoughts from 
overwhelming me.  There was a song by Billy Joel that Garth Brooks 
was singing and the words kept flashing through my mind even after 
I'd turned it off.  It hit too close to home.  Shameless.  That's 
how I felt about my love for Scully.  I'd do anything to keep her 
in my life.  

She had asked for very little from me, giving me constant support, 
friendship, and affection.  Not that she was easy.  She still told 
me I was crazy on a regular basis.  She'd discount my theory in one 
moment and work like a demon to prove that I was right the next.  
Was it any wonder I loved her so much?  

I've never been good at relationships.  Phoebe reveled in 
humiliating me, forcing me to accept her unfaithfulness and 
degrading behavior to keep her in my life and bed.  As hard as she 
worked to control me, to subjugate my will to hers and reduce me to 
a puppet, she had failed in the end.

Diana tried to control me through my ego and using her sex.  She 
made me feel as if I were always right and worked hard to help me 
prove my off-the-wall theories.  Or so I thought.  She was just as 
controlling and self-serving as Phoebe. 

All their efforts had failed, yet Scully had me in the exact same 
position with no effort at all.  The only difference was that 
Scully didn't know how deeply I loved her and if she did, she'd 
never take advantage of it.  

I'd camouflaged my love for her with snarky innuendos, denying my 
love for her to myself and others for so long that it had become 
second nature.  I couldn't deny it any longer.  Dana Scully was the 
love of my life and I was willing to take any chance to convince 
her that we belonged together, including giving her my body without 
asking for her love.  

For a Saturday, the traffic was light.  I made it back to her place 
by 7:50 PM.  I sat out in my car for a few minutes, trying to calm 
my breathing and bolster my nerve for the coming conversation.  
'Conversation?' I thought.  'Maybe we've done enough talking 
without saying anything.  Maybe I need to show Scully how I feel.  
We can talk about everything later.'

I was working against a stopwatch.  That Brody asshole would be 
calling at eight.  I slammed the door of my car and ran into her 
building.  I had to get to Scully.

XXXXX

I stood up from my squatting position in front of the refrigerator.  
Once again my mother had sent enough food home to feed me for the 
week and I was left with the task of finding a place to store it in 
my small refrigerator.  She didn't think I got enough good, 
homemade food, I guess.  I was a good cook, but why bother to cook 
for one?  That question remained unanswered when I heard a knock on 
my door.

I wasn't expecting company, so I was surprised that someone was 
here.  The visitors I normally had were my family and Mulder.  I'd 
just left my mom's house and Mulder had made it clear that he had 
plans for this weekend that didn't include me.  I stood on my 
tiptoes to peek out the peephole before opening the door.

It was Mulder, standing there in his black leather jacket, a black 
sweater, and black jeans.  I'd bet he even had those yummy black 
hiking boots on too, but I couldn't see down that far through the 
peephole.  I stepped back in surprise.  What was he doing here 
tonight?

He knocked again and I realized that I had been standing there, 
thinking, instead of opening the door.  "Scully, let me in," he 
demanded.

I opened the door and stood there staring at him.  I was caught off 
guard by his gaze.  He stood there wordlessly letting his eyes 
linger on every part of my body and I could feel myself becoming 
aroused.  This would not do.

"Mulder, I thought you said you were going to be busy all day 
today," I said.

He brought his eyes up and looked into mine for a few seconds 
before he said, "I did.  I was.  But I'm here now."  He brushed by 
me and walked towards my couch.  He tossed his jacket on the back 
of a chair as he strode away from me.

"What is it?  Did Skinner call?  Do we have a case?"  I asked as I 
shut and locked the door.  It gave me a moment to compose myself.  
I needed to keep this conversation on a professional level.  

If I ever let myself think of Mulder in my home for a more personal 
reason, I might break and tell him how I really feel about him.  It 
was that bad.  My feelings for him were so raw right now.  All 
protestations by Chan aside, he'd made it clear how he felt about 
our relationship.  He might love me, but he was never going to act 
on it.  I had to find some way to deal with my emotions before they 
exploded and ruined the best friendship I'd ever allowed myself to 
develop.  I slowly walked into the living room to join him.

XXXXX

When Scully finally pulled the door open, she'd let her eyes slash 
down my body and back up a couple times.  I knew she was checking 
me out, but I was too busy doing the same to her.  She looked 
fantastic.  She was wearing the blue cashmere sweater I gave her 
for Christmas and silky navy blue slacks that clung in just the 
right places.

When she spoke to me, I was barely able to answer.  I pushed my way 
past her and stripped off my jacket.  I wanted to settle in before 
she had a chance to ask me to leave.

"Did Skinner call?" she asked.

"No.  This isn't about work, Scully.  I ..." 

The sound of the phone ringing was loud in her silent apartment.  
We both moved toward it at the same time.  I grabbed her hand just 
as she reached to pick up the receiver.

"Let it go, Scully.  I need to talk to you."

"Mulder?" she said with a frown.  "I'm expecting a call and I need 
to answer this.  We'll talk as soon as I'm through."

"No," I said as I reached around her and pulled the phone from the 
wall with a jerk.  I wasn't going to allow good ol' Brody to talk 
to her before I'd had my say.

"No?  NO?" she growled.  "That call was important to me.  What the 
hell do you think you're doing, Mulder?" she said incredulously.

I stepped into her personal space and she moved back against the 
wall.  I had never used my body to overpower or intimidate her 
before and I knew by her expression that she was surprised.  She 
wasn't a bit afraid of me, but seemed to be paralyzed by my 
proximity.  I pulled the phone up and wrapped the cord around the 
base and the answering machine.  I turned and walked back to the 
armoire by the front door and put it on top of it.  I strode into 
the bedroom and disconnected the extension in there and walked back 
through, depositing it with the other phone.  I moved towards the 
kitchen to grab that phone but by now she was getting the picture 
and raced towards the kitchen, hoping to beat me there.

I smiled at her as she glared at me and clutched the receiver in 
her hand, as if claiming her prize.  I merely shook my head and 
picked her up and placed her on the kitchen table.  The long cord 
of the phone stretched out across the room as we moved.  I strode 
back to the counter and flicked the plastic latch on the base of 
the cord and it snaked across the kitchen to recoil into its 
original shape as it dangled in her hand.  I pulled the phone off 
the wall and disconnected it.

I walked back into the living room and placed it with the others.  
I turned to survey the room and spied her cell phone charging on 
the entry table.  I snagged that one, turned it off and put it out 
of reach with the others.

Scully hadn't said a word during this entire performance.  I turned 
towards the fireplace and knelt down to start a fire.  She must 
have removed her shoes because I didn't hear her behind me until 
the sharp point of a knife rested at the top of my spine.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she growled.

"Scully," I said as I started to turn around.  "It's me."

"Don't fucking move!  I'm not afraid to use this knife.  You're not 
Mulder.  I've seen your kind before.  Now talk or I'll kill you 
where you are."

A thrill of excitement flushed through me.  Scully believed that I 
was an Alien Bounty Hunter, using a Mulder disguise.  I know it's 
sick, but I was never so turned on in my entire life.  My Scully, 
my little skeptic, was finally a believer.

"It's me, Scully," I said as I moved back against the knife just 
enough for it to slice my skin and let a trickle of blood appear.

She jumped back and dropped the knife.  "Mulder, what the hell is 
going on?" she gasped.

"I told you before; I need to talk to you," I said as I turned and 
picked up the knife from the carpet before the blood could stain 
it.  I laid it on the pile of newspapers she kept to start fires 
and turned back towards the fire.

"Shit, Mulder, you're bleeding," she gasped.  She pushed my head 
down and pulled the neck of my sweater away from the flow of blood 
that I could feel sliding down my back.  She flipped the bottom of 
my sweater and tee shirt up over my head and forward to trap my 
arms.

She stood there gazing at my back for a moment before rousing 
herself and growling, "Go sit down at the kitchen table.  I'll get 
my first aid kit."

I shook my head at her delaying tactic, but stood to obey her.  
When Scully was in her doctor mode it was wise to play along.  I 
tossed my sweater and tee shirt on the chair with my jacket as I 
walked into the kitchen.  Now I was closer to where I wanted to be 
before the night was over; naked with Scully. 

I realized that I hadn't heard Scully making any noise for several 
minutes and surged to my feet.  The phones!  I quickly walked to 
the armoire and checked but all the phones were still there.  
Curious now, I toed off my boots and socks by the front door and 
quietly walked towards her bedroom.  I chuckled silently to myself.  
I was down to just my jeans now.  I glanced in the bathroom as I 
walked down the hall and found her there.  She had her medical kit 
in her hand and was standing in front of the mirror staring at her 
reflection.

"A penny for your thoughts," I said.  

She startled and looked at me sheepishly.  "They're not worth that 
much, Mulder," she said as she stepped aside and motioned for me to 
sit down on the toilet.

I sat down but instead of turning sideways so that she could step 
behind me, I turned my back to the wall and spread my legs so that 
she had to step into the vee and lean close to me to see the cut on 
my neck.  "It's probably nothing, Scully.  Just slap some ointment 
on it and let it go," I said as I ducked my head.

"Mulder, the last thing you need is another scar.  I'm putting some 
Neosporin on it and covering it up with a bandage.  I was just 
reading an article the other day that confirmed that covering a 
small scratch or scrape is more effective in keeping down the 
overgrowth of cells, hence scaring, than the old fashioned method 
of leaving it open to heal."

I knew that she was nervous.  Scully was babbling.  She seldom 
babbled unless she was extremely uncomfortable personally.  She 
usually kept her distance from people and stayed quiet until her 
opinion was asked.  It's one of her main defense strategies.

I reached out and placed my hands on her waist, letting my fingers 
span it completely.  "You are so tiny, Scully," I said without 
thinking.

"I don't need a reminder of my size, Mulder.  I have to live with 
it every day," she snapped.

I drew back and looked up into her eyes.  "I wasn't making fun of 
you, Scully.  Normally, I don't think about your physical size.  
You're so strong, so intelligent, such a forceful personality that 
I tend to think of you as much bigger than you are.  I was just 
complimenting you on how slender your waist has remained."

She stared back down into my eyes for a moment, looking for the 
truth before she said, "Thank you.  Lean forward again, Mulder.  I 
need to put this bandage in the right place.  This is a waterproof 
Band-Aid so you should be able to shower with it on for a day or so 
until the cut is healed."

She was back to babbling.

XXXXX

I stood in the bathroom, staring at my reflection in the mirror.  I 
might have been looking at myself, but all I could see with my 
mind's eye was a flashback to the last few minutes with Mulder.  
The feel of his sweater on my fingertips, the wide expanse of 
golden skin over muscles and spine, and the slow flow of his blood 
from the knife wound kept rolling through my mind like an instant 
replay on a sports show.  

'What the hell is Mulder up to?' I thought as I finally closed my 
eyes and shook off the images.

How did he do this?  Every time I thought that I had my emotions 
under control and was ready to go on with my personal life, he 
barged in and sent me off into a crazy tailspin again.  I had to 
hold on to my resolve.  Mulder was my partner and I loved him.  I 
was in love with him if the truth was to be told.  I didn't believe 
he was able to love me back, despite what Chan had said.  Ergo, if 
I was ever going to have any kind of romantic love in my life, I 
had to go beyond the boundaries of our partnership and find it with 
someone else.  There.  Everything was clear as glass again. 

I opened my eyes and allowed my mind to wander.  'What if he was 
finally ready?' a little voice in the back of my mind asked.  'What 
will you do if he wants you?'  A pain shot through my stomach.  'He 
hadn't been able to talk to me for over seven years.  Why would he 
start now?'  I refused to believe that our time had finally 
arrived.  That would just be setting myself for disappointment.

"A penny for your thoughts," he said.

His voice was low and sexy as he stood in the doorway staring at 
me.  He had snuck up on me again.  What the hell was going on?

XXXXX

Scully stepped away from me and pulled a clean washcloth from the 
cabinet.  She turned on the hot water letting it run until it was 
warm.  She didn't look at me, but I knew that she was aware that I 
was staring at her by the two red spots that bloomed on her cheeks.  
She was embarrassed but trying not to let me know.  She clearly was 
trying to figure out what was going on.

"Got it figured out yet, Scully?" I asked casually as she stepped 
back between my legs to wipe the blood from my back.

"No," she admitted.  "Care to share?"

'Huh!  Scully wants to play.  Imagine that,' I thought.

I lowered my head to give her better access to my back.  This 
brought my nose up against her stomach.  I inhaled and grunted my 
approval.  It was pure Scully-scent.  Was there anything better 
smelling in the world? 

She finished and tossed the washcloth into the sink.  She moved to 
step away from me, but I was quicker.  I trapped her between my 
legs, pulling her closer with my hands that still enveloped her 
waist.

"Mulder?" 

I rubbed my nose and cheeks against her abdomen, letting her scent 
and the softness of her sweater envelope my senses.  "You feel so 
good, Scully," I whispered.  I slid my hands under the back edge of 
her sweater and caressed her back, effectively pulling her closer 
to me.

"Mmm ... Mulder, stop," she groaned as she began to massage my 
scalp with her fingertips.

"Don't wanna," I managed to slur.  Being this close to her was 
intoxicating.

"Mulder, this isn't appropriate behavior for the bathroom," she 
said, almost primly.

I let my nose move up to nuzzle the undersides of her breasts.  
'Ah, God, Scully,' I thought.  'I want you, please want me.'

"All right," I said and stood up, sliding my body up hers as I did.  
The shiver that swept over her as my erection pressed against her 
encouraged me.  I reached down and placed my hands on the backs of 
her thighs.  I picked her up in my arms and started out of the 
bathroom.  She struggled a little so I acted like I was going to 
drop her.  She automatically wrapped her legs around my waist, 
clasped her arms around my neck and buried her face against my 
chest.

"Mulder, what are you doing?" 

"I'm taking this to a more appropriate venue," I said with a smile.

"Oh."

I turned right instead of left out of the bathroom doorway and she 
jerked her head up again.  "I thought you were taking me back to 
the living room so we could talk," she said.

"I never said that, Scully.  Besides, I don't want to talk," I 
said.

"You don't?" she asked.

"Nope," I said as I walked into her bedroom and stopped beside her 
bed.  I let her slide back down my body.  My hips thrust into her 
soft stomach as it came in contact with my cock.  I leaned down and 
sniffed her hair before kissing her temple.

"Why?" she asked as I let my lips drift down to kiss her cheek.

"I always screw it up when I try to talk to you about my feelings, 
Scully.  I'd rather show you."  I nibbled the outer shell of her 
ear before I let my lips move down to kiss her neck.  

"Mulder!" she said.  I could tell that she was under a great deal 
of strain, trying to keep her voice on an even keel.  "Mulder, what 
are you doing?  What are we doing?  We should be talking."

I pulled back from her.  "Do you really want to talk, Scully?  Or 
are you tired of this song and dance as much as I am?"

"I don't know what you mean," she said stiffly.

"Don't you, Scully?  Don't you know what I want after all these 
years?" I growled as I began to stroke the globes of her ass 
through her silky slacks.

She shook her head in denial, even as she began to rub her entire 
body against me from her breasts to upper thighs. 

"You want what I want, Scully," I said in between nipping, sucking 
kisses to her neck.  "I want you, under me, naked and hot, begging 
me to bury my cock in you until it touches your heart."

She gasped and tried to pull away, but I slid my hands up from her 
ass to splay across her back, under her sweater.  I hoped she 
wasn't offended by my vulgar language.  That was another reason why 
I didn't want to talk.  I flicked the hook on her bra and kept 
raising my hands, dragging sweater and bra off her until I leaned 
back and whisked them over her head and down her arms.  I tossed 
them to the chair in the corner, giving her a minute to adjust 
before I launched my next level of attack.

I let her press her breasts against my chest, modestly, while I 
leaned down to nibble her other ear.  "I want you on top of me, 
Scully, riding me.  I want to watch your beautiful breasts sway 
with the rhythm of your body as you drive me crazy with the 
movement of your hips."  I could feel her begin to shake as I found 
the zipper of her pants and opened it.  I flicked the button open 
and let my hands slide inside to caress her derriere.  "I've been 
in love with your ass for years, Scully," I groaned.  "Even longer 
than I've been in love with you."

"I want to wake up with you every day and make slow, sweet love 
with you.  I want to go to bed with you every night and make hot, 
wild love with you."  I slid my hands down enough to slip under her 
silky bikini panties.  I kept pushing until they were over the 
globes of her ass and only the fact that her legs were pressed 
together held them and her slacks up.

"I want to touch and kiss you all over," I said as I slid my right 
hand around to her mound and began to stroke through the crisp 
curls I found there.  "Open to me, Scully.  Let me feel you."  She 
moved her legs apart slightly.  As soon as she did, I slid my 
fingers down, angling my arm out enough to push on her clothing to 
let gravity take over.  She was standing naked in my arms.

I groaned and pushed my hand farther between her legs, moving my 
other hand to the middle of her back to help hold her up.  "Damn, 
Scully, you're wet.  Is this for me?" I asked as I lifted my finger 
up to smell then taste the proof of her arousal.  "Answer me, 
Scully.  I know you can."

She lifted her face to mine and her eyes widened as I licked her 
taste from my fingers.  She watched as if hypnotized when I brought 
my fingers up and let the combination of my saliva and her juices 
paint her lips.  For a moment I thought I had gone too far.  She 
blinked slowly and sought my eyes before continuing.  I was holding 
my breath, scared like I've never been before, not by Tooms, not by 
Phaster.  Not even Model caused my gut to twist like this in 
anticipation of her reaction. 

She let her lips quirk up for an instant and then the tip of her 
little pink tongue came out and licked her lips.  I watched until 
she slid it back between her lips.  I lost it.

I dove down to kiss her, pressing my tongue against her lips, 
demanding entry.  I clutched her to me, grinding my body against 
hers as tightly as possible.  

She startled me by opening her lips and thrusting her tongue, along 
with mine, deeply into my mouth.  She explored every nook and 
cranny in my mouth with long, soulful kisses.  I suckled her 
tongue, desperately trying to keep it in touch with mine as she 
moved back and turned away.  I put my hands on her shoulders and 
drew her back to me, sliding my arms down and around her under her 
breasts.  She was shaking, trying not to cry.

"What's wrong Scully?  What do you want?"

XXXXX

Oh my God!  Mulder was going to make love to me, if I don't stop 
him.  I had to put a stop to this.  We hadn't talked about 
anything.  I wanted to think.  I wanted to sort this out.  I wanted 
him to leave; to go away and let me cry.  I needed time to rebuild 
my defenses.  I couldn't make love with Fox Mulder.  I could NOT 
allow myself to let him love me because ... shit, I knew there was 
a good reason but I couldn't remember what it was when he was 
kissing my neck like that.

XXXXX

I could feel her building up her defenses as surely as I could feel 
her breathing.  I leaned down and began to kiss her neck again.  
Little sighs of pleasure escaped her lips as if against her will.  
I sucked on her earlobe and then moved down to the pulse point that 
was thrumming in double time at the base of her neck.  I let my 
thumbs flick against her nipples and they expanded even as her 
areolas puckered and darkened.  She pushed against my hands begging 
soundlessly for more even as her sweat little ass pushed against my 
upper thighs.  She was so tiny my cock was almost up to her waist.  
I could feel the heat of her body through my jeans.  Now I wished 
I'd taken the time to put on a pair of boxers under my jeans.

"Mulder," she groaned.  She turned in my arms and plastered her 
body against mine.  She rubbed her face against my chest and kissed 
me in the exact center.  I tightened my arms around her, squeezing 
a small, sexy grunt from her.  She threw her head back, looked up 
into my eyes and said, "Get naked."

XXXXX

I have to hand it to Mulder.  If he had to pick a time to listen to 
me and obey blindly, right now was the optimum time.

"Get naked," I said and he did just that.

He popped the button on his jeans and grasped the zipper.  He got 
this sweet little grimace on his face as he began unzipping and I 
glanced down to see what the problem was.  HolyMaryMotherofGod!  
There was no problem.  There was the answer to my every dream.  
Mulder was standing there, easing his zipper down over a huge 
erection.  I reached down and stayed his movements with my hand.  I 
fell down on my knees and stared at him.  Unimpeded by any boxers 
or briefs, the copper of the zipper edged the black denim that 
framed his swollen cock and turned it into a modern work of art.  

I slid my hands up along the edge of his waistband and pushed 
gently to make more room for his cock as I stared at him.  When I 
was young, I thought that the sight of a boy's penis was amusing.  
How horrible to walk around with that sticking out, jumping to 
attention at the most inopportune times.  Remember, I did have 
brothers and we usually lived in cramped base housing.  As I 
matured, I was sure that while a man's penis was probably never 
going to be considered a thing of beauty, they did have a very 
pleasant role in a woman's life.

I've finally proven myself wrong again.  Mulder's penis WAS a thing 
of beauty.  It was long, but not too long.  It was thick, much 
thicker than average.  It had a beautiful, upward curve to it and 
was symmetrical in its beauty.  The testicles that slid into view 
were as elegant as the penis they were attached to.  The dark, 
chocolate brown hair that surrounded them was just right.  Not too 
much, not too little.  Yummm.  The entire package had a masculine 
elegance that was mesmerizing.  Oh Lord, I'd been such a fool.  

I helped Mulder step out of the legs of his jeans and settled back 
on my heels, gazing for a long moment at his beauty.  A mischievous 
thought crossed my mind and I acted out one of my favorite 
fantasies.  I leaned forward and up on my knees.  I moved my hands 
up and pressed them to the sides of my breasts as I rubbed them 
against his testicles and cock.  I pressed harder and he was now 
imprisoned by my breasts -- not that he's trying to get away.  My 
breasts weren't really big enough to continue this any further, but 
I reveled in the feeling of his skin against mine.  Mulder must 
have liked it too because he was groaning and there was a dot of 
pre-cum on the end of his glans.  

I lowered my mouth and licked the head of his cock.  Mulder's knees 
bobbed but he recovered and locked them in place.  "Scully," he 
begged.

I knew he wanted more.  So did I.  

XXXXX

'Jesus, Scully, are you trying to kill me?' I thought.  Her little, 
pink tongue was lapping and swirling over the head of my dick.  I 
almost lost it just moments ago when she brought her breasts up and 
pressed them to each side of my cock, and then rubbed them up and 
down.  Looks like I took the right approach.  All these years I'd 
been trying to get up the nerve to talk to her and all it took was 
a physical display at the right time.

God, I loved this woman.

I reached down and grasped her upper arms.  I lifted her to her 
feet and leaned in to kiss her again.  This kiss was almost harsh, 
out of control.  She grabbed my hair in her hands and held on for 
dear life.  I reached down further and lifted her up to my height.  
My hands were grasping her little ass and I could only hope that 
there wasn't a lot of bruising tomorrow.

She pulled away and smiled at me.  "Mulder, bed."

Apparently my partner lost her ability to form complex sentences 
when she was aroused, but still wanted to be in charge.  'Well, 
baby,' I thought.  'We'll see who's the top dog around here before 
the night is over.'

I turned and laid her down on the bed.  She scooted over and 
reclined against the pillows.  She stretched sinuously, reminding 
me of a little cat, sleek and strong and sensual.

I climbed on the bed and hovered over her, waiting until she met my 
eyes.  I leaned over and lifted my right hand, gathering her 
slender wrists together and pulling them up over her head.  "Keep 
them there, Scully or I'll have to take steps to make sure you 
obey," I said.  I wanted to explore her, kiss and lick and suck 
every inch of her skin, and I knew I could hold off long enough to 
achieve this goal.  Not, however, if she touched me.  Her touch 
enflamed me and would drive me over the edge of my control.

"Ohhhh, what are you going to do, Mulder?  Tie me up?  Cuff me to 
the headboard?" she gently taunted.  Her breathing was rapid and 
her pupils were dilated. 

Scully was testing me.  "Nothing so brutal, Dana," I said purposely 
using her first name.  "After all, you grew up in a very 
disciplined family.  What happened at home when you disobeyed?"

Scully giggled up at me.  "You're going to stand me in the corner, 
Mulder?" she said incredulously.

I laughed with her.  I slid my hand down to cup the right cheek of 
her perfect ass and said, "Surely you are not unaware of the 
behavior modification effects of a good, old-fashioned spanking, 
are you, Agent Scully?"

Her breathing quickened and that sexy little tongue of hers darted 
out to lick her lips again.  She stared up into my eyes for a 
moment before laughing again.  "All right, Mulder.  I'll play."

'I bet you will,' I thought.  Surprise!  Scully likes to play 
discipline games.  'Not tonight, Scully, but I'll definitely 
remember this for another time.'

I caressed her cheek and gave it a playful smack before moving my 
arm back up and rolling back over to lower my body down on hers.  
God, it felt wonderful.  Scully hates her height.  She rarely 
discusses it, but once in a while she'll make a comment like she 
did earlier that she 'has to live with her size.'  I was truthful 
when I said that I didn't normally notice her size.  That didn't 
mean that I didn't notice her physical attributes.

Scully was petite and not just in her height.  She had the fine 
bone structure that went along with her height and made her 
absolutely, perfectly formed.  I was sure she'd disagree with me on 
that.  She'd indicated in the past that she thought her legs are 
too short and her boobs too small, but I didn't agree with it for a 
moment.

I now had her naked below me and I knew without a doubt that she 
was absolute perfection.  "Scully, you are so beautiful," I said.

"Mulder," she demurred.  "Any naked woman you were in bed with 
would seem perfect.  That's your little head talking, G-man."

I smiled at her, but shook my head to deny her words.  "If that's 
right, why haven't I been with any other naked women for the last 
few years?  Why would I want anyone else if I couldn't have the 
woman I ..."  Whoops.  Almost screwed up.

"The woman you what, Mulder?  Mulder?"

"We're talking too much, Scully," I said just before I began to 
kiss her again.  I loved kissing Scully.  It was addictive.  I'd 
only been at it for a little under an hour and I didn't think I 
ever wanted to stop.

XXXXX

'Damnit, Mulder!  Just as I got my brain working again, you go back 
to kissing me stupid,' I thought.  Did he really expect me to 
believe he hadn't slept with any of those women that he dated?  
What did he mean?  That was the last fully coherent sentence 
thought that I was able to have.  Words filled my mind, but they 
couldn't be glued together to make sense.  Words like, yes and 
there, and more.  Oh, Lord.  I was in big trouble now.  He started 
to kiss down my body and I had a small reprieve, at least I could 
think right now.

It was a little known fact that I am one of those women who cannot 
maintain her distance when she's being kissed by a man who knows 
what he's doing.  I knew that probably sounded ridiculous given my 
Ice Queen reputation at work, but it was true.  Melissa used to 
tease me about it all the time.  She told me that for all my 
intelligence and education, I was just like any other woman.  I 
couldn't help myself when a man I liked kissed me.  She claimed 
that they could kiss me stupid.  As I recall, we had imbibed the 
better portion of a gallon of cheap wine at the time she laid this 
jewel of wisdom on me.

I'd actually had friends in the past who claimed to be able to 
decide menus and make out grocery lists in their heads while their 
boyfriend, lover, significant other made love to them.  Not me.  
When I'd let a man close enough to be intimate with me, my entire 
brain disconnected when we were in bed together and my body was 
running the show.  I think the entire Ed Jerse fiasco proved my 
point.  Thank God his psychosis hadn't allowed him to actually have 
sex with me.  

That was a good example of why I'd never been able to date 
casually.  There're a lot of really good kissers out there who 
could conceivably get me to sleep with them just by kissing me 
stupid.  Oh, I wasn't easy, just easily aroused.  I'd made some 
poor choices in the past.  That was the reason I'd stayed away from 
dating co-workers during my tenure at the FBI.  Well, except for 
the Jack Willis thing.  

Mulder's kisses were the best ever.  His lips had been the basis of 
many of my fantasies for years.  His oral fixation had driven me 
crazy for even longer.  Oh Lord, he was working his way back up to 
my lips.  

XXXXX
  
My mind was racing as I kissed Scully.  Kissing Scully.  I was 
kissing Scully and she was kissing me back, but when our lips were 
not engaged in kissing, she had been babbling every thought in her 
head.  I'd kissed her stupid according to her own words.  Thank God 
she didn't actually have sex with Ed Jerse.  That had haunted me 
for years.  I knew she was unaware that she was babbling out loud.  

I'd determined to go slow, do everything just right for her.  I ran 
my fingers over her body as my lips followed.  Her skin was so 
soft.  She was perfect.  Her breasts were the exact right size for 
her body.  In fact, in proportion to the rest of her, they were 
lush and full and so damned perky that I couldn't quit kissing, 
licking, fondling and sucking them for several minutes.  I could 
feel my arousal grind into her somewhere down by her knees and 
realized that I needed to continue my exploration downwards.

Her body was perfect.  Had I mentioned that before?  Her skin 
glowed like a pearl and she smelled so good.  I knew that this was 
how it would feel to love my Scully.  I felt like I was going into 
sensory overload by the time I got to her nest of ginger curls.  
I'd known Scully was a real redhead since the decontamination 
shower we were forced to take together.  I also knew the color of 
her hair varies with the hairdresser she visits, but essentially, 
she is a true redhead.  I'd cut out my tongue before I'd give any 
of the assholes at work a clue about it.  There was a betting pool 
going as to whether or not she was a real redhead.  Hell, there was 
a pool for everything.  There was a really big one on whether or 
not we were having sex.  I wondered who was going to win that one 
if this got out.

God!  She smelled good.  I moved lower on the bed and began to 
nuzzle her curls.  She moved her legs further open.  Ah, another 
thing my Scully liked.  I couldn't wait to taste her. 

"Mulder!  Don't tease me, please.  I want you.  Don't stop," she 
begged.

How could I deny her anything?  I slid my arms under her thighs and 
wrapped them around until my fingers are parting her lips.  Her 
clit was pink and pulsing and I lowered my mouth to taste her.

I was in heaven.  I was lost in a haze of sensual pleasure as I 
licked and sucked and stroked her.  I could live the rest of my 
life right here.  I realized that I was drilling my cock against 
her mattress so hard that I was endangering any further activities 
for at least an hour or two.  I eased off but kept up the tongue 
bath I was giving Scully.  Heaven.

XXXXX

"Oh, that feels so good, Mulder.  I love what you do with your 
tongue.  I've fantasized about it for years now.  That's it, a 
little to the left, ah, right there.  Please don't stop, don't 
stop, don't ... OH GOD!"

XXXXX

Making love to Scully was both the easiest and the hardest thing 
I'd ever done.  It was easy because the constant stream of thoughts 
she was verbalizing as I touched her let me know that I was doing 
something right.  It was hard because, now that I had her in my 
arms, I didn't think I could live without this experience at least 
once a day for the rest of my life.

By the time she had her second orgasm, I knew I needed to be in her 
or I was in danger of losing it and embarrassing myself like I 
hadn't done since I was 15.

I moved up to her lips and we kissed for an eternity.  She tasted 
like heaven.  I leaned back to look at her.  She was a vision.  Her 
lips were swollen and red, her eyes glazed with passion.  There was 
a gorgeous pink flush down her neck to her chest.  Her breasts were 
actually quivering from the breathlessness she was still 
experiencing as she recovered from her last orgasm.

"Mulder, I need to touch you," she whispered.

I suddenly realized that she had kept her hands above her head this 
whole time.  I slid my hand up her arm and brought her hands down, 
rubbing her shoulders to alleviate any discomfort she might have.  

Her hands tenderly stroked my face.  She rubbed her thumbs over my 
lips as she looked deeply into my eyes, searching for answers to 
unspoken questions.  I was swamped with emotions I had never felt 
before; love, need, desire, fear.  I was terrified.  What if this 
wasn't what she really wanted?  What if I'd just kissed her until 
she couldn't stop me?

"Scully ..." I said as I began to pull back.

"Mulder, no!  Don't you dare ask me if this is what I really want," 
she said fiercely.  She reached down and grasped my cock and guided 
it to her warmth.  "Now, Mulder.  Love me now."

I nodded in agreement and moved back over her, gently forcing her 
legs to open wider.  I held her gaze as I slid into her.  

"Ah, fuck, Scully.  You're so tight.  Am I hurting you?" I gasped.

"No," she whispered.  "Just go slow like that and it will be okay."

I groaned.  I was going as slow as I could, but I was fighting a 
losing battle with my need to drive into her.  I bit my lower lip, 
letting the pain distract me from my primal desire to thrust and 
conquer.  She lifted her head up and let her lips ease my lower lip 
from between my teeth.  Her tongue came out and slid over it, 
distracting me in an all-new way.

I slid the final few inches in, our bodies were joined as if we 
were one.  I buried my nose in the crook of her neck, resting my 
forehead on her pillow.  I was panting so loudly, it sounded like 
I'd just run a marathon in record time.  I was able to calm down 
enough that I wasn't afraid of losing control after a few moments.  
She was so hot and tight around me.  I didn't think I'd ever felt 
this desperate to move before.

I took a chance and lifted my torso so that I wasn't crushing her 
upper body, just letting my chest brush against her breasts.  I 
felt her gaze before I found the courage to open my own eyes.  She 
was smiling up at me.

"Oh, God, Scully, I ..." I choked out.

"Make love to me, Mulder.  I need to feel you come inside me."

That was all that I was waiting for.

I began to move in long, slow strokes, making sure I ground against 
her clit on each downward slide.  I fought for control.  I needed 
for her to have an orgasm before I allowed my own release.

"More, Mulder.  I need, I need more ... harder.  Oh God, that's 
perfect," she moaned. 

I could tell what she liked so I made sure I continued hitting her 
in just the same place, but let my hips speed up.  Scully matched 
me stroke for stroke.  She began kissing my neck and upper chest.  
I could feel her muscles tighten, and I reached down deep inside me 
and found my last shred of control.  I was pounding into her, and 
she was meeting me with equal ferocity.  My Scully was a wildcat!

I could feel the quaking of her inner walls begin.  I had never 
been so thankful in my whole life.  I felt my balls tighten and 
knew my release was unstoppable.

"Oh, Mulder.  Oh, God!  Uhhh ..." she screamed as her orgasm ripped 
through her.

I joined her, letting my seed empty into her in several long 
strokes.  I looked down at her as the last of my essence flowed 
into her and realized that we were no longer two people.  We were 
one.  I had no reason to hide my love from her any longer.  I could 
see her love and acceptance shining in her eyes.  Without words we 
had melded into a couple.  I wanted to spend the rest of my life 
with this woman and I now knew that she felt the same way.

Amazing.  

We hadn't said a word about love, but it was there.  I'd screwed up 
so many times when I'd tried to tell her before.  Now that I knew 
she loved me, it suddenly seemed so easy.

"I love you, Scully," I whispered.

"And I love you, Mulder," she said with a smile.

XXXXX

Mulder rolled off me and pulled me with him.  I was laying half on 
him, wrapped up in his arms, my thigh thrown over his.  I felt 
sated and warm and sleepy.  I knew we had to talk, but right now I 
just wanted to bask in the afterglow.  Sex had always made me 
sleepy.  I just needed to doze for a few minutes and then I would 
wake up refreshed.  Most of my partners in the past were snoring 
like beached whales by the time I was dozing off.

Why did it just seem logical that Mulder would be different?  He 
kissed me and wanted to talk.  I tried to stay awake, but he'd 
given me the best orgasms of my life and I was desperate for a few 
minutes of sleep.  I knew that this was something we'd have to work 
on in the future.

"Muller ... sleepy," I said just before conking out.

I woke up about a half hour later to the feeling of a warm 
washcloth cleansing me.  It felt wonderful.  The dry towel that 
followed was a surprise.  Tears sprang to my eyes.  No one had ever 
taken better care of me than Mulder.  Even before we were intimate 
he had always been there for me.  Why was I surprised now?

XXXXX  

I came back from the bathroom after putting the washcloth and towel 
in the hamper and saw that Scully had tears leaking out of her 
closed eyes.

My heart fell to my feet.  I felt like I was heading for a wall at 
ninety miles an hour, getting ready to crash and burn.

"Ssscully?" I stuttered.

Her eyes flashed open and I could see more tears there.  I closed 
my eyes for a moment before I reached down and picked up my jeans.

"Mulder?  What the hell are you doing?  Get over here!" Scully 
demanded.

I stepped closer to the side of the bed, jeans still in my hand, 
waiting for her to tell me to leave.

She stared up at me for a moment, with a blank expression on her 
face.  Finally, she reached out and snagged the jeans from my hand.  
"What made you think I was going to let you get dressed for the 
rest of the weekend?  Get into this bed, Mulder.  We need to talk."

Her words were ominous, but the grin on her face belied them.

I pounced onto the bed, thankful for the reprieve.

We really did have to talk -- both of us.  I needed to tell her 
everything I felt, and I needed to hear everything she had to say.  
There was no way I wanted to leave this apartment until we had 
everything worked out between us.  She obviously felt the same way.

"Scully, you know how sex always makes you sleepy?" I asked.

She nodded and I said, "Well, it makes me very, very hungry.  Do 
you think I could at least put the jeans on when the pizza delivery 
guy gets here?"

She laughed and nodded.  She pointed towards the living room and 
said, "No one's ordering anything until you get my phones down off 
the armoire, Tall Guy."

XXXXX

I'd never eaten pizza in bed before, but I think it might be my 
second favorite thing to do in bed from now on.  Of course, making 
love with Mulder was the new number one.  Sleep had dropped to a 
far distant third.

We ate pizza and drank wine and made love again, before we settled 
down and had the conversation we both knew we needed to have.

He told me how depressed he'd been after his mother's death and 
finding out about Samantha's fate.  He knew he had withdrawn from 
me, but couldn't seem to come to grips with the loss of his only 
living relative and the end of his quest all at once.

I told him about why I had accepted a relationship with Dennis.

He told me why he started dating and why he stopped.

I told him about realizing that I wasn't ready to settle for Dennis 
and what a good friend he'd been when I told him.

He told me about the death of the Arthur Dales and how profoundly 
he was touched by their passing.  He once again told me how much 
he'd wanted someone to love and if he couldn't have me, he'd wanted 
a child of his own.

I told him how devastated I was when I thought he wanted a 
surrogate who looked like Diana, but I loved him enough to help him 
anyway.

He told me about Rebecca's kidnapping by Diana and her subsequent 
death.

I told him how scared I was that he wanted a new partner when he 
went on the consult with Agent Wolfe.

He told me how scared he was that he had damaged our partnership 
permanently but had agreed with Skinner to keep me out of the loop 
on the kidnapping.  Diana was acting irrational and they both 
feared that any involvement by me would result in my death.

He told me that he honestly didn't know when he first realized that 
he loved me.

I told him the truth.  "I've been attracted to you since the first 
day we met, Mulder.  You were so gorgeous, so GQ.  You sat there 
with that smirk on your face, looking like a walking wet dream.  I 
knew I was in trouble.  However, as much as I lusted for your body, 
I wanted to prove that you were wrong.  I wasn't a spy even though 
I knew that what Blevins expected.  I wanted to knock you on your 
gorgeous ass with the real truth.  I wanted to force you to respect 
me.

"You were young and so damn handsome, just the kind of man who 
always walked on by me and stopped at the tall, slender, stacked 
women who were struggling to keep up with me mentally.  I was able 
to sidestep falling in lust with you because of your attitude.  

"I could avoid you when you were that young smartass, but I 
couldn't resist the man you became as the years wore on.  All your 
strength, your compassion, the beauty of your soul became more and 
more apparent as the years marked you.  You lost that boyish look 
and became the strong man that only pain and suffering could forge.

"I couldn't resist that man.  I've lusted and loved you for years, 
Mulder.  However, I've been in love with you for only the past 
couple of years," I said with tears in my eyes.

We made love again after that, and I was deeply surprised at the 
profound feeling of contentment and fulfillment that we both 
experienced when we were done.

He told me about the conversation in the bar that drove him to 
finally open up to me.

I told him about the call I was waiting for, a call from Ellen to 
set me up with a blind date.  She and Dennis wanted to set me up 
with a man Dennis worked with.  Mulder snorted and made sure I knew 
that wasn't going to happen.

He told me that when I was ready, he wanted to look into the 
possibilities of our having a child through the miracles of 
science.

I told him about my physical and that I could have children.

XXXXX

It took a few minutes before I could believe what she was telling 
me.  Somehow, some way, she had been healed.  Was it the chip?  Was 
it her proximity to the African UFO?  Could it have been reversed 
during her trip with CGB Spender?  We'd probably never find out the 
answer, but for some reason, I really didn't care.

Suddenly it hit me.  "Oh my God, Scully!  We've had unprotected sex 
all night.  What if you're pregnant?" I blurted.

"Then we'll have everything we've ever wanted, Mulder," she said 
with a smile.

"Yes, everything," I agreed as I leaned in to seal the deal with a 
kiss.

XXXXX

Epilogue:

Cassandra's Closet
Fine Baby Apparel and Trappings
Georgetown, D.C.
Nine Months Later

XXXXX

I walked through the aisles of the third baby store Scully had 
dragged me into today.  She was a woman on a mission.  She had been 
put on mandatory maternity leave and needed to get the nursery in 
our new house finished before she went into labor.

She and her mother had been doing most of this shopping, but she'd 
decided that there were some choices that she needed my input on.  
Her mother said she was nesting.  Maybe the baby would be on time 
or even a little early.  So far, all I'd done was nod my head and 
smile as she piled things into our cart, basket, or my arms.  
Whatever was closest.  

I was waiting for Scully to come back from the bathroom, again.  I 
thought she spent as much time in restrooms as she did in the 
stores anymore.  I was ambling down the aisle and happened upon the 
baby clothes with sport team's names on them.  There was a little 
sleeper with the Knicks logo in the traditional orange and blue.  I 
couldn't believe that anything this small was going to fit the baby 
who was nestled in Scully's body.  I felt a strange wash of emotion 
and before I knew it, there was a tear threatening to fall.  I had 
to show this to Scully.  

I looked around the store and finally spotted her shiny red hair a 
couple aisles over, looking at cribs.  'Please don't tell me she's 
changed her mind,' I thought as she stood stroking a different crib 
than the one we already had at home.  'Not after the hell I went 
through to put that thing together.'

"Scully," I called.  "Look at this."  She was deep in thought so 
she didn't turn to look at the little sleeper I'd suddenly become 
very attached to.  I walked down and around, coming up behind her.  
I put my hand on her far shoulder, hugged her to my side, and held 
the sleeper up with my other hand.  "Look, Scully.  Isn't this the 
damnedest thing?"

"Excuse me?" an amused voice near my ear said.  I turn my head and 
look down into two flashing blue eyes.  Beautiful as they were, 
they were not Scully-blue eyes.  Oops.  I immediately took my hand 
off this strange woman's shoulder and stepped back.

"Mulder?" 

I looked down the aisle and there came my redhead.  Scully stopped 
and cocked her eyebrow as she stared at me practically caressing 
another woman.  Only the fact that both of them are wearing black 
jackets and have their almost-identical red hair back in the same 
style had saved me.

"Sorry," I mumbled to the amused woman beside me before I rushed to 
Scully's side.

"Mulder?" Scully said again.

"Scully, look what I found," I said.  I was embarrassed by my 
mistake and wanted to avoid the coming conversation.

She gave me a smirk and then let me off easy.  "What have you got, 
Mulder?"

I showed her the little Knicks sleeper and then led her over to the 
shelf with all the other sports logo items.  

We were standing there arguing over the validity of the team sports 
look of unisex baby wear versus the more traditional pastels when I 
saw an angry-looking man come charging down the aisle behind 
Scully.  I automatically reached for Scully and pulled her closer 
to me.  His expression darkened and he began walking faster.

"Brody!" a voice called from the area where the cribs were 
displayed.  "Over here, Brody."  The other redhead was laughing at 
the look of consternation on the face of the man not ten feet from 
us.  

He slowed down and moved to step around us.  I watched him gawk at 
Scully as he walked by.  He looked up into my eyes and nodded his 
head in acceptance.  I knew what he was doing and who he was, so I 
nodded back.

"Mulder, do you know that man?" Scully asked.

"No, not personally, but I think he just almost made the same 
mistake I just did," I said with a laugh.

She glanced over at the couple by the cribs and her eyes widened in 
mirth.  "How often do you think that could happen?" she whispered.

"Oh, more often than you think," I replied, grateful that she'd 
forgotten our conversation about my impetus for making my move.

I watched Scully sort through the little outfits, looking for just 
the perfect one for our baby.  I let my mind wander and thought 
about a few weeks from now when the baby was born and I could hold 
it and rock it and feed it.  We'd already discussed division of 
duties and though she was going to breast feed, Scully had strong 
opinions on the role of a baby's father in its life.  I couldn't 
wait.  

She was perfect.  She was mine and she was carrying our first 
child.  I was glad she didn't know how much she owed our happiness 
to that younger couple.

I glanced over to watch them leave.  The guy was the same wise ass 
braggadocio I had seen in the bar the night I made Scully mine.  
His words had given me the strength to finally make my move.

I wondered if Brody realized how much the woman with him was worth.  
In a few months, he and his redhead were going to be parents just 
like Scully and me.  I looked back at Scully and smiled when she 
looked up at me.  She and our baby she carried were my world, my 
everything.  The two Arthur Dales were wrong.  A baby wasn't the 
only real heritage in life.  Love was the only real heritage any 
man or woman could leave on this earth that mattered.  I hoped that 
this was a lesson we could teach our children and our grandchildren 
and if we were lucky, our great-grandchildren.

Right now, I wanted to practice loving with Scully.  I grabbed all 
three of the outfits that she had been considering and took her by 
her hand, and began pulling her towards the register.

She stopped and pulled her hand from my grasp.  She looked up into 
my eyes and saw the love and desire there.  She nodded and started 
walking towards the register, pink splotches of color on her 
cheeks.  We were both ready to go home and work on our love, our 
real heritage.

END PART 4 OF 4