From: Shane Date: Sat, 03 Jul 1999 21:01:34 +1000 Subject: So You're Mulder Title - So You're Mulder Author - Paula Rating - PG Classification - SA Spoilers - Never Again Keywords - Mulder/Scully UST Summary - Sequel to "So Who's Mulder?". Mulder pays Ed Jerse a visit. As stated, this is a sequel to "So Who's Mulder?" and if you haven't read that one you may be a little lost. Then again, maybe not. There's going to be a third installment to this one in the near future. I hope you enjoy and if you have any comments (good or bad), I'd love to hear them. E-mail me at . Disclaimer - Mulder, Scully & Ed remain the rightfull property of Chris Carter & 1013 but Oh how I love to play with them. So You're Mulder by Paula Mulder was not sure he knew what he was doing. He knew that if Scully found out about it she'd kill him. He was sure about that. "Curiosity didn't just kill the cat, it tortured the hell out of it first" he muttered to himself as he was led down the hospital corridor by one of the orderlies. God he hated hospitals. He'd spent far too much time in them over the years and could well do with out that particular combination of smells. Disinfectant and fear. The hospital he was visiting was one for the criminally insane. The verdict was not yet in on the inmate Mulder had come to see. He was still being evaluated to see if he had killed out of rage or some kind of psychosis. Mulder was there because he thought there may be a third option. That and a few other reasons that didn't have anything at all to do with the case. They had finally reached the small interview room at the far end of one of the corridors in the west wing of the hospital. The man he had come to see was not there yet so Mulder had time to prepare himself for the coming interview, pulling out the notes he had made on this case he made sure the tape recorder was in working order. He had never been nervous interviewing suspects before. He had conducted interrogations on serial killers, rapists and paedophiles, and had always been able to maintain his professionalism. Well to be honest there had been a few occasions when he had lost his temper while interrogating a suspect but he'd never been NERVOUS for God's sake. He started when the door opened and the burly guard brought in a handcuffed man wearing light blue overalls. "I'll be right outside" the guard said as he shut the door. "Ed Jerse?" Mulder said. The man in front of him nodded but did not raise his eyes to Mulder's. "Take a seat." Mulder was glad the Ed would not look at him. It gave him a chance to observe without self consciousness. He estimated the guy was about 5 8, average weight, longish dark hair. As far as Mulder could see he was nothing special. For some reason this irritated him. Ed had sat down across from him with his hands on the desk. His right hand was covered with angry red scar tissue and pink shiny new skin. Looking closer Mulder could see the same marks appearing on his neck. His face was unmarked. Clearing his throat Mulder introduced himself. "I'm Agent Mulder of the FBI. I wanted to talk to you about the events of..." His voice trailed off as he noticed Ed had suddenly come to life. As Mulder had mentioned his name Ed's head had snapped up. Almost as if he'd been hit. Mulder could see Ed's face fully for the first time now and he was looking at Mulder intently. Mulder was no expert but he didn't think the guy was conventionally handsome. Attractive maybe and he did have striking eyes. "So you're Mulder." His voice was low and his intent expression did not change. Mulder felt like his chair had been pulled from under him. He gaped at Ed like an idiot feeling his control of this situation slip away from him. "What...What did you just say?" "You're her partner aren't you?" Ed said ignoring Mulder's question. "You're Dana's partner." It wasn't a question this time but a statement of fact. "How did you know that? Did she..." He let the question he was framing trail off, not sure he wanted to know the answer. He hated the way this guy was making him feel. Hated not knowing what Ed Jerse knew about him and more importantly how he knew. "What are you doing here Agent Mulder? What do you want from me?" the question was quietly spoken. Whatever he had done in the past there seemed to be no aggression in Ed Jerse at the moment. "I have a few questions to ask about what happened to you. I have an interest in unexplained phenomenon and there have been experiences not unlike your own that I have read about." He shrugged. "I figured it was worth further investigation." Even to his own ears his excuse sounded flimsy. Ed looked unconvinced. "I'm sorry Agent Mulder but I just don't buy it." He paused then asked in a strangled voice "How is she? How's Dana?" Mulder opened his mouth to give him an angry retort but stopped when he saw the pain in Ed's eyes. In spite of what he had done to her, his concern was obvious and stopped Mulder in his tracks. When he finally answered it was only to tell him shortly that she had had superficial cuts and bruises, nothing serious. Ed's face was in his hands. "They wouldn't tell me. I asked but no one would tell me if she was OK. I...Thank you Agent Mulder." Mulder looked speculatively at the man sitting in front of him and made a decision to be honest with him. "Look Jerse, I did come here to talk to you about what happened but I've got to admit that I was hoping to get some insight as to why Scully became involved in all of this." "Did you try asking her?" "Don't push it Jerse. I don't care how sorry you are about what happened, you hurt my partner and I tend to have extremely violent tendencies where Scully is concerned." Mulder was having a hard time figuring this guy out. There was nothing specific but he got the feeling Ed knew something about him that he himself didn't know and in spite of Ed's passive attitude Mulder could tell that Ed had some pretty strong feelings of aggression towards him. What the hell did Scully tell Ed about him? "Let's get back on track. Why don't you start by telling me about when you got the tattoo and we'll go from there." Ed was silent for a few minutes, as if gathering his thoughts, then he started to talk, detailing the events from the time he got the tattoo. He told Mulder everything about the tattoo. The way she changed expression, way she had talked to him, the words she used, the tone of her voice. He describes his feelings about the murder he had committed. The way it had seemed surreal to him. He left nothing out until it came time to tell Mulder about meeting Dana. "I don't feel right talking about Dana with you Agent Mulder" he stated bluntly. "I think if she wanted you to know what happened between us, she would have told you herself." 'Goddamn him. What the hell does he mean "what happened". Is he talking about the tattoo she got? Or is he talking about something else?' Thought Mulder angrily. Ed made him feel like a heel. Of course he should have asked Scully but how could he? How could he ask his partner if she'd had sex with a complete stranger? And if he was completely honest with himself that was the one thing he really wanted to know above all else. "Fine," he said shortly. "But there is just one more thing. How did you know my name, who I was?" "She mentioned your name once and I asked about it." Ed replied. "What...what did she say about me?" Mulder felt pathetic for asking this question but couldn't help himself. For a while he thought Ed wasn't going to answer but eventually he spoke watching Mulder closely for his reaction. "She said you were her partner and her friend." Ed could see that Mulder was disappointed with his answer and smiled to himself. He allowed himself to think back briefly to the night he had spent with Dana. The night she had freely given her body to him while keeping her heart for the man sitting across the desk from him. "Thank you for your candor Ed. I think I've got everything I need." Mulder said and called for the guard. He was lying of course. He had wanted to find out what happened between Ed and Scully. He didn't question his reasons for wanting to know. He was afraid to. Ed had risen as the guard entered the room and walked toward the door. Before he left he turned and addressed one last remark to Mulder who was packing his files away. "You know the way you talk about her confuses me Agent Mulder. It's like your Agent Scully and my...and Dana are two different people. You should get to know Dana. You'd like her." With that remark hanging in the air Ed left. Mulder was floored. Ed had figured out in a few days what Mulder had never understood. He always thought of Scully as his loyal partner, even if she didn't agree with him he always knew he could depend on her, trust her yet he rarely let his guard down around her. He couldn't. She was too much of a temptation to him. He was extremely attracted to her but fought against it constantly thinking that to give in to his feelings for her would be to lose her as a partner. So he had always treated her as a partner and she had responded in kind. But obviously there was something lacking in her life or she wouldn't have gone to bed with Ed Jerse. Mulder had no doubts about that now. Ed knew too much about her and besides Mulder had finally figured out the emotion that Ed had been radiating during the interview. Envy. For some reason Ed envied Mulder his relationship with Scully. Mulder finally finished packing the last of the things into his case and took a last look around the small room. It had ended up being an illuminating interview after all. He felt he knew more about his partner now but he didn't know what he was going to do about it. Did he dare change the status quo between he and Scully. He wanted to, desperately, but the prospect of losing her completely scared him badly. Hell would she even be interested in him anyway? "What the hell" he thought. "Life is nothing without risk." The End