From exduck@llano.net Sun May 25 22:59:30 1997
Subject: Stay (1/5) by E. Livingstone
From: Erin Livingstone <exduck@llano.net>
--------

Stay (1/5)
By E. Livingstone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time Line: Takes place after Memento Mori
and before Gethsemane.

The characters belong to Fox, 
Chris Carter, etc..... not me. 
       
Classification: UST, A , H

Spoilers: for Never Again and 
Memento Mori

Rated: PG-13

Summery: Mulder and Scully spend the day
flirting, fighting and trying not to loose each other.

I would really love some feed back. 
Please send to Exduck@llano.net
or Eeees@aol.com

Note: I have put together a picture (JPG) to go 
with this story. If you would like to see it either
Visit my X-File Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
(look under "Story Pix")
or I would be happy to e-mail you a copy.




Stay (1/5)
By E. Livingstone

*************************************************1
Friday Evening, 9:00pm

As he juggled his luggage, trying to pull his 
plane ticket out of his long coat, Fox Mulder 
barely noticed the rain falling down,
or the approaching vehicle barreling towards 
him. The baggage trolley raced across the 
wet tarmac, rolling through a puddle and
splashing mud all over the pant legs of his 
jeans. He just looked down at the mud 
splattered on him, barely even registering 
what had happened. His day had gone from
good, to bad, to unbelievably bad in less 
than 24 hours and mud was the least of his 
worries. He climbed on to the small commuter
plane, finding his seat. Looking at the ticket 
stub in his hand he cursed himself for the
choice he had made. He tried to tell himself 
that he didn't have a choice, that he had to 
do it, but it didn't make him feel much better. 

He felt the plane leave the ground and  
gripped the arm rest lightly. He looked out 
the window, as the plane rose and he thought 
to himself the only way this day could get 
worse was if his plane crashed. 

Closing his eyes he thought about how 
the day had began on a much happier
note. 

`````````````````````````````````````````````
5:00am

Tring to make some sense out of the 
papers in front of him, Mulder glanced
up, noticing the clock that sat beside his 
bed. The morning had snuck up on him
and knowing Scully would be there any 
minute, he tried to organize the evidence 
that he had obtained.


They had been in town wrapping up a 
murder case when a young man had 
sought out Mulder, having heard about 
the agents being in town. He had given 
them an old box of papers, and computer 
disks that had belonged to his father. 
The older man had recently died and had told 
his son that the information in the files
needed to get to the FBI, to someone 
who would do the right thing with them.
Mulder took the box, thinking it was 
most likely the ramblings of some old
crack pot, but even so, it had been the 
man's dying wish. But after going through 
the box he realized the old man was a 
scientist and he ran in some pretty high 
ranking circles and he may have stumbled 
into something... something big.

Mulder had still been going through the 
contents of the box, having it spread all
over his bed when Scully knocked on his 
motel room door. After entering and letting 
him know they where already running late, 
she paced as he threw the most sensitive 
looking material in to his brief case and 
locked it, the rest he tossed into his suit 
case. As he gathered up his bags and 
headed for the door, Scully noticed a computer 
disk on the floor, half hidden under the bed.
She picked it up,  "You missed one," She 
informed him.  As she passed by heading 
out the door, she dropped it into his coat 
pocket. She leaned into him, giving him a 
gentle nudge, "Who knows Mulder, maybe 
that's the one that unlocks all the great 
mysteries of the universe and you almost 
left it on the floor of a motel room for 
the maid to find." 

"Probably would have ended up being erased 
and used to keep pictures of Antonio Banderos, 
downloaded from the Internet." He added.

"Some might say Antonio Banderos is one 
of the great mysteries of the universe..." She 
laughed, heading for the car, "or at the very 
least one of the great wonders."


``````````````````````````````````````````````



Scully looked like she was falling asleep 
on her feet as she found her window seat. 
Not even attempting to try and reach the 
overhead luggage compartment, she 
handed her carry-on to Mulder and  
moved into her seat. Mulder took her
bag without question and stored it easily, 
but found squeezing his tall frame in to the 
small airplane seats a bit more of a challenge. 

She watched him as he juggled his briefcase 
on his lap, trying to find a comfortable position. 
As he removed his coat she noticed his suit 
and tie were wrinkled and very familiar.

"Mulder did you go to bed at all last night?"

He looked past her out at the dark 
pre-dawn sky.

"Isn't it still night?" He asked, returning his 
gaze to the case that sat in his lap and 
running his hands across the soft leather.

"You've got a point." She replied stifling a 
yawn. Taking his discarded coat and using
it as a pillow, she propped it between her 
head and the side of the plane before 
continuing, "You going to fondle that 
briefcase the whole way home?"

"Jealous?" He asked, giving her a 
sideways glance and a mischievous grin.

"Why do I get the feeling if this plane 
goes down, that thing is getting my
flotation device?"

"Don't be silly, Scully. I would never 
let you drown...I'll share mine with you."

"What do think it all means?" She 
asked pointing at the case, "What
exactly do you think we found, Mulder?"

"I'm mot really sure, a place to start... 
with some luck, maybe the beginning 
of the answers we've been looking
for."  


````````````````````````````````````````````````

Mulder looked at his watch for the 
sixth time, starting to worry. Deciding 
he had better check to make sure his 
partner was ok, he unbuckled his seat 
belt and got up. Making his way down 
the narrow isle, he headed to the back 
of the plane, stopping at the restrooms. 
Luckily only one of the doors were 
labeled occupied, so he knew which
one she was in. 

"Scully?" he asked, knocking lightly. 
"It's me...let me in."

"Excuse me?" came her muffled voice 
from the other side of the door.

He smiled to himself, visualizing the 
expression on her face.

"You heard me...let me in..."

"You're insane...go away."

"Open the door, Scully...don't force 
me to make a scene."

"God, you probably would, too." She said, 
knowing he didn't have much problem
with what other people thought about him.

He heard the door click and seeing that she 
had unlocked it, he opened the door,
stepping into the small bathroom. Her 
back was to him and he stepped up behind
her, having to physically press against her 
back in order to get the door closed. She 
looked into the mirror in front of her as she 
pressed a tissue against her nose, 
stopping the last of the blood that had been 
flowing from it. It was impossible to ignore 
his presence, between his concerned
eyes connecting with hers in the mirror and 
the fact he was standing so close to her she
could actually feel his heart beating against 
her back. 

"What ever happened to privacy?"

"Well if you are going to hog the bathroom 
for the whole flight." He could see she didn't 
want to get in to a big discussion about 
her sickness, so he tried to lighten the 
mood that his concern for her was causing. 

She turned around to look at him having 
to tilt her head back just to see his
face. The plane rocked gently, making it 
impossible to keep any distance between 
them. Seeing her discomfort in having to 
crane her neck back, to talk to him and
feeling a little overheated by the touch of 
her body as it grazed his, he put the lid 
down on the toilet, taking a seat. 

"What are you doing Mulder?" She asked 
him, rolling her eyes as she turned back to 
mirror, wiping the last of the blood off and 
trying to repair some of the damage to her 
make-up.

"Uh..." He looked down at himself. "sitting?"

"What are you doing, in here?" She asked, 
waving her hand around the small bathroom. "No...
never mind I know exactly why you're in here. 
I have told you a million times, you do not 
have to take care of me...but do you listen? 
I am fully capable of..."

She was still talking but he had drifted off, 
his attention being drawn just below the 
hem line of her skirt to a small run in her 
panty hose, crossing along the back of her 
right knee. He tilted his head to get a better 
look, fascinated at the way it slowly moved 
down the inside of he knee, struggling to
reach the top of her calf.

"Mulder are you listening to me?" She asked,
realizing he hadn't make a smart ass remark 
in a while.

"Hmmm...yeah sure... your absolutely right." 
He answered, having no idea what he was 
agreeing to. As she went back to lecturing 
him, his impulses overwrote his brain and he 
reached out to the back of her leg, using one 
of his fingers to lightly trace along the run. 


"And if you think I nee...."  He felt her jump 
slightly at his touch, as her lecture came to 
an abrupt halt.

She tried to hide the sharp intake of breath
she took, as his fingertip moved against her 
stocking and hoped he couldn't see her
reflection in the mirror as her cheeks reddened. 

"Wha...what are you doing?" She managed 
to get out.

"You have a run in your stocking." He said 
causally, not taking his eyes or finger off
her leg. "Right here..." he added, running 
his finger back up, along the inside of her knee.

"Oh..." Her voice cracked slightly. 

After taking a deep breath to regain her
composure, she started rummaging 
through her purse until she found what 
she was looking for. Half turning, she 
handed a bottle of clear nail polish to 
Mulder. "here, use this."

He took it, looking completely confused. 
"You want me to paint your nails?"

"Mulder..."

"No...I mean... it's ok... odd timing, but..."

"Mulder..." she cut him off with a laugh,
"Your such a guy....you put a drop of
polish at either end of the run, it will stop it
from spreading."

"I knew that."

"Yeah right."

He unscrewed the lid, his fingers fumbling 
with the small bottle. 

"You sure about this?"

"Relax, I'm not propositioning you Mulder... 
I just don't have another pair of pantyhose 
handy and I can't see back there."

"Well ok..." He said, getting the brush out 
and setting the bottle on the floor, freeing up 
his hand to reach around her leg, his fingers 
pushing at the edge of her skirt's hemline 
and holding her knee still. Delicately he 
brushed the edges of the run, stopping it's 
movement. 

She watched him in the mirror, fighting a 
smile at how intensely he worked at the 
task she had given him. You would think 
he was touching up the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel.


"You know what the people out there are 
thinking..." She started, pausing as his head 
dropped out of view. Still unable to see what 
he was doing, she continued, "You know...  
with the two of us in here like this?" Suddenly 
her eyes flew open wide, as she felt him 
lightly blowing along the inside of her knee, 
drying the polish. She gripped the sink tightly, 
trying not to not jump completely out of her 
skin as she waited for him to finish.

" Well...couldn't be any kinkier than this." 
He answered with a laugh, as he put the lid
back in the nail polish bottle and reached 
past her to set it on the sink.

"But no, Scully... tell me... whatever could 
they think the two of us are doing in here?" 
He asked playfully. 

"You know."

"Do I?" 

"Do I have to spell it out for you, Mulder?" 
She asked, turning around to face him.

He leaned back, a mischievous smile 
spreading across his face, " Yeah...
spell it out for me."

She gave him a slightly embarrassed 
smile, but didn't answer.

"Come on, Scully, you can say it... 
they think I came in here to try and get
you to join the Mile High Club."

She raised an eyebrow at him, as she 
picked up her purse and reached for the
door, "Who says I'm not already a member?" 

She didn't wait for an answer as she 
left the small bathroom, but she could
see by the slack jawed expression on 
his face that he had a lot more questions
for her than answers.

He was looking to get some of those 
answers as he followed her down the
isle, taking his seat next to her. Deciding 
that she was just messing with him, he 
gave her a knowing smile and said, 
"Your bluffing."

"Your sure?"

"Scully, you're no more a member of 
the mile high club than..."

"You are?"

"Hey...I..I could be a member." He 
stammered, defensively.

"Yeah...right." She replied, laughing 
at the prospect.

"Oh, listen to you, little Miss Social 
Butterfly. Like you have such an active
social life. Tell me...what was the name
of your last date again... Fred?"

She pursed her lips, "Ed."

"Yeah...whatever. Nice guy, to bad 
about that whole killing the people that
his tattoo told him to."

This little exchange was taking a turn
for the worst, but before she could tell 
him off, the stewardess interrupted them, 
informing them to put their seat belts on 
because they were making there final descent.




Continued in part 2























^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
E. Livingstone

Exduck@llano.net
Eeees@aol.com
Wonbrikshy@aol.com

E's Page: www.llano.net/~exduck
E's X-Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



From exduck@llano.net Sun May 25 23:00:27 1997
Subject: Stay (2/5) By E. Livingstone
From: Erin Livingstone <exduck@llano.net>
--------

Stay (2/5)
By E. Livingstone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time Line: Takes place after Memento Mori
and before Gethsemane.

The characters belong to Fox, 
Chris Carter, etc..... not me. 
       
Classification: UST, A , H

Spoilers: for Never Again and 
Memento Mori

Rated: PG - 13

Summery: Mulder and Scully spend the day
flirting, fighting and trying not to loose each other.

I would really love some feed back. 
Please send to Exduck@llano.net
or Eeees@aol.com

Note: I have put together a picture (JPG) to go 
with this story. If you would like to see it either
Visit my X-File Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
(look under "Story Pix")
or I would be happy to e-mail you a copy.




Stay (2/5)
By E. Livingstone


```````````````````````````````````````2

As the sedan pulled up to the curb, Scully 
looked over at her partner. He was looking 
straight ahead, gripping the steering wheel 
so tightly his knuckles were white and she 
could see the muscles working along his jaw 
line. He was pissed and rightly so, his bags 
along with hers had been stolen out of the 
airport. After he fought with everyone there, 
she convinced him that their things where long
gone and they headed home. 

"At least you still have the briefcase." She 
said, trying to sound encouraging.

"Yeah..." He said under his breath.

"Go home, get cleaned up and then 
come back here and we will go through it, 
alright?"

She was trying to shimmy out of his coat. 
Hers had been in her stolen with the luggage 
and she had borrowed his, trying to keep warm 
on the ride in from the airport.

"Scully, keep it on..." He said, as he 
pulled it back around her.  He buttoned
the top button for her and she could see 
his anger soften a little.

"Wear the coat in... it's freezing outside. 
I can get it later." 


She didn't fight him, knowing how cold 
it really was outside. She squeezed his 
arm lightly, giving him a reassuring smile, 
before opening the door and getting
out of the car. He watched her head in 
to her apartment building, making sure
she got in safely before heading home. 

He didn't get far.





`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````


Scully had hoped that a little time and 
some clean clothes would help Mulder
get some perspective. But as she opened 
her door to him she could see things
had gotten worse. His wrinkled suit was 
now a dirty, ripped and wrinkled suit and 
he had big purplish bruise forming along 
his eye.

"God, what happened?" She asked, 
ushering him into her apartment.

"What do you think?"

She went to the kitchen for some ice, 
returning she found him sitting on her
couch, looking completely defeated. 
Pulling one leg underneath her, she 
sat beside him, gently resting the ice 
against his swelling eye.

"The briefcase?" She asked, already 
knowing the answer.

"By the time I came to, it was gone... 
along with my car, my gun, and my
flashlight. They made it look like a 
car jacking."

"They? You know there is the possibility 
that it actually was a car jacking."

He stood abruptly, "Yeah...and there is 
a possibility that you were actually at
Club Med those three months you 
were missing, but you know what? 
I don't think so."

"Yelling at me isn't going to help."

He flopped back onto the couch, "I'm 
sorry... I am just so sick of this...one
step froward...two step back. Crap. I
knew we were onto something."

"Look... go in and take a shower, you 
look like hell and quite frankly you
don't smell much better. I'll call Skinner 
and tell him what's going on...maybe he
can help."

Mulder gave her a doubtful look. 

"I know...but it's worth a shot."


``````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Mulder was just starting to relax, as
the hot water ran over the back of his
head and down his body, but a knock 
on the bathroom door made him jump.

"Mulder..." Scully started, as she 
entered the steam filled bathroom.

"Scully...what are you doing? I'm 
naked here." 

"Relax... I promise I won't peek behind 
the shower curtain. I just brought you
some clean clothes."

"Is it your tan suit, with the matching 
skirt? Cause, if so...I'm gonna need to 
shave my legs..."

She laughed, glad he hadn't lost his 
sense of humor along with his evidence.

"Don't worry... I wouldn't make you wear 
a skirt... I've seen your legs." As she left
the bathroom, she called back, " I made 
some lunch, whenever your ready."



``````````````````````
Stepping out of her shower, Mulder 
smelled the food cooking in the other 
room and his stomach responded with 
a gurgle. He started to dress in a pair 
of jeans and a dark green cable knit 
sweater Scully had left out for him,  
taking a mental note to find out why 
she had mens clothing laying around 
her apartment.

As Scully set a plate of grilled 
sandwiches on the kitchen table 
she looked up to see Mulder 
padding towards her in his bare 
feet, his hair still wet. 

"Those clothes fit ok?"

"Don't tell me you have another 
selection, in a different size." He 
said, not wanting to know if she 
did.  He sat down at the table 
and picked up a sandwich and 
in between bites asked, "Who's 
clothes are these anyway?"

"Oh just some guy I used to date..." 
She leaned down over his shoulder,
whispering in his ear, "he was a pilot."

Mulder choked on the piece of 
sandwich he was attempting to 
swallow, nearly coughing it across 
the room. Before he could regain 
his composure and ask her any one 
of the many questions that were 
running around his head, his cell
phone rang from his coat that was 
neatly laid over Scully's sofa. 



```````````````````````````````
Scully was sitting at her dinning 
room table, trying not to get angry, 
at least until she had all the facts. 
But she had little doubt that what she
was thinking was right on the money. 
Mulder visibly reacted to the voice
of the caller, turning to look at Scully 
as if she may have been able to some
how decipher who it was from the other 
side of the room. He had quickly taken
the call in her bedroom. She knew the 
drill by now, mysterious caller, keeping 
her in the dark by giving her half truths, 
then running off to God knows where... 
alone. Only to end up in a hospital, to 
be named later.



As he returned to the kitchen, she 
could see by the wide eyed look on 
his face that she had been right. 

"There is a chance to get it back Scully. 
But the window of opportunity is
small, I have to leave immediately..."

"You mean we, don't you Mulder?" 
It came out more as an accusation than a
question.

"I'm sorry, but my informant said I had 
to come alone... it was the only way these 
people will deal."

"What people...what informant...more 
importantly, what in the hell are you
doing?" The sudden anger that swelled 
up inside her startled her and she could 
see by his expression that it surprised 
him to.

"What do you mean... I'm getting back 
what they stole."

"You don't even know what was in 
those files."

"But they do... and they're going to a lot 
of trouble to get them."

"Which brings me back to my point. 
Do the words 'set up' mean anything to
you?"

"You don't know this is a set up... my 
informant says..."

"How does your informant even know 
about the files being stolen... it just
happened? You could be... hell, you 
most likely are, walking into a trap."

"It's a chance I'm willing to take."

"Yeah... well I'm not."

"Funny, I don't remember asking your 
permission."

"I'm your partner..."

"Yes, you are my partner... not my mother."

"I'm asking you...as your partner... not 
to chase this. Wait 'till you have more 
information, 'till we know what we are up 
against. Or at least 'till we know what we 
are fighting for."

"And how exactly do we find out what 
was in those files... they've taken them
from us?"

"Yes they have taken them... so why would 
they just hand them back to you now?"

"My informant said..."

"God... enough with the lurking in shadows 
informants. Why can't you just let this go?"

"They have taken too much already, I won't 
let them have this...not without a fight?"

Silence fell between them. She knew this 
was about more than the stolen files, he 
was fighting to save them... and hoping some 
how it would save her. Her gut was telling 
her that he was about to make a huge mistake. 

"You have to learn when to pick you fights, Mulder."

"Funny, I thought you were the one picking a fight."

"This isn't about fighting with you, it's about 
keeping you alive. I'm asking you to leave it 
alone...I'm asking you to stay."

"It's not that simple."

"It is, exactly that simple...Damn it Mulder, 
I've never asked you for anything..." Her concern 
was starting to be over shadowed by anger.

"You certainly started with a whopper..."

"And you can't do it...you can't listen to your 
own partner of four years...but the word of a 
stranger on the phone...that's good enough for
you?"

"Scully..."He reached for her, but she moved 
away, turning her back on him before his hands 
could touch her.

"It's crap..." She said softly, shaking her head.

"What?" He asked her accusingly.

She turned back to face him, eyes blazing, 
"Crap, Mulder, as in... full of. How can you 
trust no one and believe everything... you 
don't see the contradiction in that?"

"I do trust one, Scully..."

"Yeah right..." She laughed bitterly. 
"You trust me... only me. Funny how
that's not enough for you to listen to 
what I am saying to you."

"I hear you...ok. I understand what you 
are saying, but..."

"But you are still going to leave...your 
going to walk into a trap that may
cost you your life...because finding 
your truth means more to you than your
own safety... and more than my piece 
of mind. Well, I'm not playing this game
with you anymore. I'm sick of being 
ditched by you... not knowing where 
you are...if you are dead or alive. I 
can't do it anymore...I won't do it anymore."

"What are you saying, Scully?" She 
saw the flash of fear he tried to hide.

"If you chase this..."

"Don't..." He cut her off, knowing what 
was coming.

"What option are you giving me? It 
should have never come to this...asking
you should have been enough. You 
know this is not what I want ...but I 
don't know how else to make you 
understand. This...our partnership...
our friendship... is the only thing I have
to bargain with....it is the only
thing I have to take away from you..."

"You would throw it away!?" His face 
reddened with anger, as he spat out the
words.

"You are the one throwing it away, if 
you do this...I'm giving you a choice."

"A choice...no, what your giving is an 
ultimatum. You've got a gun pointed
at my heart and saying it's all up to me...
a choice, my ass." Grabbing his coat 
off her couch he headed to the door, 
making a point not to look back at her,
knowing his resolve wasn't as strong as 
he pretended. As he reached the door
she stopped him with one softly spoken word.

"Stay."

He closed his eyes tightly, keeping his
back to her. 

"I can't...." He replied quietly before walking
through the door, leaving her standing alone 
in her apartment. 




continued in part 3





^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
E. Livingstone

Exduck@llano.net
Eeees@aol.com
Wonbrikshy@aol.com

E's Page: www.llano.net/~exduck
E's X-Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



From exduck@llano.net Sun May 25 23:01:15 1997
Subject: Stay (3/5) By E. Livingstone 
From: Erin Livingstone <exduck@llano.net>
--------

Stay (3/5)
By E. Livingstone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time Line: Takes place after Memento Mori
and before Gethsemane.

The characters belong to Fox, 
Chris Carter, etc..... not me. 
       
Classification: UST, A , H

Spoilers: for Never Again and 
Memento Mori

Rated: PG - 13

Summery: Mulder and Scully spend the day
flirting, fighting and trying not to loose each other.

I would really love some feed back. 
Please send to Exduck@llano.net
or Eeees@aol.com

Note: I have put together a picture (JPG) to go 
with this story. If you would like to see it either
Visit my X-File Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
(look under "Story Pix")
or I would be happy to e-mail you a copy.



Stay (3/5)
By E. Livingstone

**********************************************3

Mulder was still deep in thought as the 
stewardess touched his shoulder lightly, 
bringing him back to the present. After 
getting some peanuts and a coke, he 
tried to get comfortable again. Feeling 
someones eyes on him he turned to see 
a very attractive woman a few rows up 
trying desperately to make eye contact 
and still make it look accidental. He gave 
her an, 'another time, another place,' smile 
and closed his eyes again. There was a 
time when he would have gone over and 
introduced himself, it seamed like another 
lifetime ago... before the X-files, maybe... 
before Scully, most definitely. He had no
idea what he was going to say to her when 
he got home. She had been so angry and 
even worse, she had been right.  It would 
have been so simple if he had gotten what 
he went for, if all his information had been 
true. It hadn't taken long after he arrived to 
figure out he had been sent on a wild
goose chase. But for the life of him he 
couldn't figure out why, there had been no 
trap, no agenda, just an empty warehouse 
and an informant that never showed up. He 
was starting to think this whole day had been 
some kind of cosmic joke.

Shifting in his seat he tried to find a 
comfortable position, as he did so,
something stabbed his leg, causing 
him to wince. Trying to find the offending
object he reached into his coat, feeling 
a flat, square piece of plastic. His eyes 
went wide as he pulled the computer disk 
out of his pocket.

"The key to the mysteries of the universe." He 
said aloud, with a broad smile. 

He looked at the empty seat beside him, 
realizing he was instinctivly looking for his partner, 
the partner he had left behind. The partner he had 
chosen this wild goose chase over.

"Stay"

He heard her voice echoing in his head. She
wouldn't really leave him over this... would she? 
They had fought before, but she had never 
threatened to leave. He still couldn't believe 
she would give him an ultimatum... he still 
couldn't believe that he walked away. He 
looked back at the disk thinking maybe once 
she's seen what's on it.

His optimism soon turned to confusion, 
realizing that if he had this disk all along, 
then why had he been aloud to walk away 
with it. Why the whole ruse to get him out 
of town... to get him away from home 
...away from... Scully. He felt his chest 
tighten and  prayed that he was just 
being paranoid. But paranoid or not he 
grabbed the air phone out of the seat 
in front of him, dialing his partner.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After trying everything she could think 
of to stop thinking about Mulder, she
opted for not being able to think at all. 
She had made it though a previously
opened, half bottle of wine and was
working through a fresh bottle of tequila 
she kept around in case she ever 
had the urge to make margaritas. She 
knew she shouldn't mix alcohol, but 
since she didn't drink much, she only
had a mismatched selection to choose 
from. 

She made less than straight lines, as 
she paced the floor of her apartment,
dwelling on the nights events.

She was worried about him and it  
pissing her off even more. How could he 
leave like that? She had made it painfully 
clear how she felt...he knew it could mean
the end of their partnership. She admitted
to herself, grudgingly that it had been a 
bluff to get him to stay. But between anger 
and tequila, she would be damned if she 
would allow him to call her on it. 

"Who ya rebelin' from, Dana?" She laughed, 
a little to loudly at her own joke, making her 
realize just how drunk she was.

"God, when did I get to old to drink?" She 
asked, looking around at the empty room. 
"Probably around the time I started talking 
to myself." 

The phone rang, startling her. 

"Around the time I met him." She said, 
pointing at the phone, before reluctantly 
picking it up. "What." She slurred into 
the receiver. 

"Scully..." He started, sounding breathless.

"Are you dying?" She asked evenly, 
cutting him off.

"What...no I'm...I'm fine...Scully 
listen to me..."

"Being held hostage...hurt in 
some way?"

"No...I'm ok... now listen to me..."

"Uhhh...don't think so." She said as 
she dropped the receiver, hanging up 
on him.

The phone rang again. She looked 
at it, but made no effort to answer. 
After a few minutes of ringing she 
could see he wasn't going to give in. 
As if to show him that she wasn't 
going to give in either, she went over 
to the wall pulling the phone cord out 
of the jack, silencing the room. With 
that done she picked up her bottle of
tequila, refilling her glass and headed 
for her computer.


````````````````````````````````````````````

As she threw the umpteenth number 
of wadded up attempts at her resignation 
over her shoulder, she saw a reflection 
that wasn't hers move across the computer 
screen. Figuring it was probably just her 
over inebriated imagination, she ignored
it. But seconds later, she could not ignore 
the feel of cold steel, as a gun was pushed 
into the back of her neck.

Her scream never had a chance to leave 
her mouth as a large hand clamped over
it, pulling her tight to him and right over 
the back of the chair into his arms. She 
struggled but he held her tightly against 
his chest, as he spun her to face the other
intruder.

"Shall I take her into the other room and 
tie her up." The man holding her asked the 
taller man across the room.

"I think you'd better stay out here, where 
I can keep an eye on you. Here use these..." 
He tossed over a pair of hand cuffs, 
"and gag her mouth."
 
Doing as he was told, he tied a cloth 
around her head, keeping her from
screaming. As he got one of her wrists 
cuffed and was working on the other,
she took her opportunity to fight back, 
lunging at him. Unfortunately, the
alcohol in her system was working 
against her and she barely moved him. 
She was swearing under her breath 
over her extremely bad timed drinking 
binge. The taller man saw the commotions 
from across the room.

"Hey... don't fight with her. We are 
here to search the place... that's all."

"She's the one doing the fighting."  
He seemed more amused than anything 
else at her attempts to fight him off, as 
he swatted away her punches. 

The amusement suddenly left his eyes, 
as her knee came up hard into his groin.
As he doubled over, Scully took hold of the 
free cuff dangling off her wrist, bringing it 
down savagely against his head. She began 
to run but only got a few steps before he 
grabbed her, spinning her around and 
slamming her into the nearest wall,
using the weight of his body to hold her 
there. She could see blood making
it's way down his face, as his eyes blazed 
with pain and rage and she felt the cold 
steel of a gun as he slid it up between them.

"Leave her alone." The taller man, said 
angrily, as he grabbed the other man
shoulder. "Our orders were very clear. 
She wasn't to be hurt. You'll follow
the plan we were given."

"There's been a change in the plan, " 
He replied, shrugging off the other 
mans hand.

Scully knew it was now or never. 
Using one hand to knock away the 
gun, she used the other to force 
him back, trying to make a break 
for the door. She made it half way 
there before the taller intruder 
stepped in front of her, his gun 
pointed right at her heart. 

"I don't want to hurt you... but I 
can't let you leave."


She heard the other man rush up 
behind her, but never even saw his 
gun as it came at her. The blow from 
the butt of his gun knocked her 
clean off her feet, the side of her head
striking the coffee table as she landed. 
The impact split open her skin, causing 
a rush of warm blood to run down her 
forehead. Forcing herself to open her
eyes, she looked up at the man above 
her as he stepped up, placing his feet
on either side of her body and, pointing 
his gun down at her. 

"Don't do this, man." His partner's 
voice warned.

It was all she could do just to remain 
conscious, but with all the effort she
had left, she used her feet to push 
her body along the carpet, away from 
him. His eyes were cold and ruthless 
as he slowly followed her, never letting 
her out of his gun sights. She had 
looked in the eyes of enough murderers 
to know that this was the end. As his 
finger starting to pull back on the
trigger, she closed her eyes tight giving  
herself over to unconsciousness.  An 
onslaught of images from her life  flashed 
through her mind... her childhood... 
her Father... her Mother... Melissa... 
Mulder....

"Oh God...Mulder...."


*BANG*



Hundreds of miles away, in a plane 
flying through the clouds, Fox Mulder 
lurched forward in his seat. In a raspy 
voice he whispered only one word,
"Scully." 




continued in part 4




















^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
E. Livingstone

Exduck@llano.net
Eeees@aol.com
Wonbrikshy@aol.com

E's Page: www.llano.net/~exduck
E's X-Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



From exduck@llano.net Mon May 26 14:44:57 1997
Subject: Stay (4/5) By E. Livingstone
From: Erin Livingstone <exduck@llano.net>
--------

Stay (4/5)
By E. Livingstone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time Line: Takes place after Memento Mori
and before Gethsemane.

The characters belong to Fox, 
Chris Carter, etc..... not me. 
       
Classification: UST, A , H

Spoilers: for Never Again and 
Memento Mori

Rated: PG - 13

Summery: Mulder and Scully spend the day
flirting, fighting and trying not to loose each other.

I would really love some feed back. 
Please send to Exduck@llano.net
or Eeees@aol.com

Note: I have put together a picture (JPG) to go 
with this story. If you would like to see it either
Visit my X-File Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
(look under "Story Pix")
or I would be happy to e-mail you a copy.


Stay (4/5)
by E. Livingstone



````````````````````````````````````````````````````````4
She could feel pressure against her chest,  
as the blackness that had engulfed her 
became harsh light pushing against her 
closed eye lids. Even before she opened 
her eyes she could tell the pressure was 
not that of a bullet, it was of something 
heavy...someone heavy. She opened her  
eyes, blinking against the light, to see 
the weight pressing down on her was 
the body of the man she had last seen 
about to kill her. Now he lay, very dead, 
across her chest. A gapping hole marked 
where a bullet had exited his forehead and 
caused both he and Scully to be covered 
in his blood and gray matter. A wave of 
nausea arose in her as she recoiled from 
him, pushing at his body until his dead 
weight rolled off her. Trying to stand, the 
dizziness from the blow she had taken 
to the side of the head caused her to stay 
put for the moment. With a shaky hand 
she reached up, feeling the wet hair along 
her forehead, matted with blood... hers. 
A sudden  noise coming from the other 
room made her realize her time was up. 
She searched the dead man for his gun, 
finding none and knowing her choices were
limited. She considered her options, she 
was unarmed and hurt and still very
drunk. Glancing down at the hole that 
had been blown through the man's
forehead, it was clear his partner, who 
was rummaging through her apartment,
was well armed and had no qualms about 
using force. Know when to pick your fights.
Her advice came back to her and unlike 
her partner she listened to it and staggered 
to her feet, making her way out of her 
apartment as fast as she could.

``````````````````````````````````````````````

As she stood in front of a high rise apartment 
door waiting for the man inside to answer her 
knock, she couldn't decide if the high quantity 
of alcohol in her system was a good thing or 
not, but she was pretty sure her bruises and the
gash running along her hair line was going to 
hurt a lot more when she sobered up.

A deep voice called out that he was coming. 
As the door swung open she kept her head 
down, not quite knowing where to start.

"Agent Scully...what are you doing here?" 

"I'm sorry sir..." She lifted her head, looking 
into her bosses eyes, "I didn't know where 
else to go."

His eyes went wide, as he took in her bruised 
and battered appearance. She was drenched 
from the storm blowing outside and shivered 
almost convulsively in the jeans and light t-shirt 
she wore. The rain had only served to spread 
the blood that had soaked into her t-shirt,
making her look like a victim out of a horror 
movie.

"My God, Scully what happened to you." 
He reached out, lightly gripping her arm. 
Thinking the blood covering her was hers, 
he started to panic. She could see what he 
was thinking and covered the hand he had 
on her arm with her own.

"Don't worry...very little of it is mine."

He took her hand in his, looking at the 
empty cuff that hung from her bruised wrist 
and lead her inside.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Skinner had called the police to search 
Scully's apartment, while she changed 
into some dry clothes. As she returned 
he tended to her injuries. He had tried 
to get her to go to the hospital, but she
had insisted that all she needed was 
ice, a couple of butterfly bandages to
close up the gash on her forehead and 
some dry clothes. And except for the fact
she kept disappearing into the x-large 
sweat shirt and pants he had loaned
her, he didn't have much trouble fixing 
her up.

"You didn't answer me before....where 
is Mulder?" He asked her as he tried to
unlock the cuff on her hand, "Why didn't 
you call him?"

She remained quite for a second, rubbing 
her newly freed wrist before replying.

"I don't know where he is...and I don't care." 
It was a lie, and she hadn't convinced Skinner 
any more than she had herself. She knew that 
if they had come after her, then he had almost 
certainly walked into a trap. She needed to
know that he was ok, then she wanted to 
beat the crap out of him, for making her worry.

"I'll find him." He hadn't finished his sentence 
with 'for you' but she knew that's what he 
meant. "In the mean time I'm getting you to 
a safe house, 'till we know what we are up 
against."

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Mulder ran up to Scully's apartment door, 
still hoping he was just over reacting. As 
he approached her door and saw it slightly 
ajar he couldn't fool himself anymore. 
Pulling out his gun, he slowly opened 
her door. The apartment appeared empty, 
but it had been torn apart, making it look 
like a tornado had blown through. Once 
he had established that he was alone, he
dropped his gun, but as he reholstered it, 
a flash of red caught his eye. Looking 
down at the carpet, he saw the dark red 
blood soaking into the carpet.

"Oh, God... Scully..." He cried, 
re-searching her apartment... looking for
her... but knowing it was futile... that 
she was gone.

His eyes kept going back to the blood 
stain. He turned away trying to focus on
what to do next, as he did, he saw 
wadded up papers littering the floor. 
Hoping they would be helpful, he picked 
one up, reading it. He read the words 
she had written, the words of  her 
resignation... to leave the X-files... to 
leave him. He was lost, his emotions 
over loading his system. He stood 
gripping the paper tightly, not knowing 
how to deal with this...or even where 
to start. 

Suddenly the door burst open as 
policemen filed in, guns drawn, 
screaming at him to put his hands up. 
Trying to explain who he was he 
reached inside his jacket for ID. The 
cop closest to Mulder jumped him, 
thinking he was going for his gun. 
He had Mulder down on the floor, his 
face pressed into the carpet and telling 
him not to move as he searched for his 
gun and removed it. Mulder was still 
trying to explain who he was as he 
saw a pair of tennis shoes step up to 
his face.

"Let him up... " A deep voice ordered.

As the cop released him, Mulder rolled 
onto his back, seeing his boss standing
over him.

"Sir... Scully... she's gone...we have 
to..." He started to try and explain
as he jumped to his feet.

"She's ok." He interrupted.

"Thank God. Is she hurt... all this blood 
on the floor...where is she?" 

"Did you find what you where looking 
for, Mulder?" He asked, ignoring
Mulder's questions.

"What?"

"I'm just wondering if all this was worth 
it." As he spoke his eyes fell on the blood 
stained carpet. He lifted his eyes to 
meet Mulder's. "Was it?"

"Where is she?" He asked in a 
determined voice.

"It's my job to see to the safety of the 
agents under my command... as such, I
think it would be best if you waited 'till 
tomorrow to see Agent Scully."

"You think I would hurt her?" He asked.

"Not intentionally... no." As he spoke
he picked up an almost empty bottle 
of tequila. "But it wasn't her safety I
was referring to."

"She's that angry?"

"Anger and tequila, Agent Mulder. A 
very volatile mix. Throw in some bruises
and..."

"I need to see her."

"I know." He replied, as he took 
out some paper and wrote down the 
address of the hotel room she was 
in and handed it to him, "I'll alert 
the agent guarding her, that you 
are on your way."

"Thank you, sir." He said, heading 
for the door.

"Don't thank me Agent Mulder, I'm 
hoping she kicks your ass."




`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````



Mulder burst into the motel room, 
calling out her name. 

"I'm here... I'm ok." Came the reply 
as she entered the living room.

His response was to grab her, pulling 
her against his body, enveloping her in
his arms and holding her there for a 
long moment. Stepping back he put
his hands along her face, asking, 
"Are you alright? I went to your
apartment...saw all that blood..."

He took a good look at his partner's 
bruised and battered appearance as 
well as her glassy, unfocused eyes.

"God... what happen to you?"

"I got some unexpected visitors."

"All that blood..."

"One of the men decided to go 
against orders and was going to 
kill me, his partner blew a hole 
through the back of his head to 
keep him in line." She smiled 
slightly, "and you thought I was 
tough to work with."

"Do you want to know what I found?"

"Unless it's aspirin... I could really 
care less." She said, running a hand
through her hair.

"No aspirin, sorry... just this." He 
pulled out the disk, showing it to her.
"I may not have gotten back what they 
stole, but at least I didn't loose everything."

"That's right Mulder... you still have what 
matters most." The sarcasm was more than 
evident in her statement, even if slurred slightly.

He looked up at her, realizing he had managed 
to once again say exactly the wrong thing.

"I discovered I still had it on the way back 
home. I called you... worried that you might 
be in danger, but you hung up. I spent the 
last two hours scared shitless."

"Are you expecting sympathy?" 

"No, I...." He started to try and explain, 
not knowing how to start. 

She saw the guilt in his eyes, sometimes 
she wondered if it ever wasn't there,
where she was concerned. 

"Scully..." he started, as if trying to find 
the right words," I should have been there..."

"Oh don't start... please. I don't have 
the energy to appease your guilt... hell, 
that damn energizer bunny doesn't have enough 
energy to appease your guilt..." 

"But... if I had known..." He started again.

"If you had known... what Mulder... what? 
You wouldn't have left town tonight? You 
would have camped out on my door step? 
But lets back up... maybe you would have 
had me transferred out of the x-files long 
ago... before there was any danger... before 
you let yourself care?"

"Well, it would have simplified things for 
both of us... wouldn't it?"

"You think being apart would simplify
our lives... is that what you want? "

"No... that is not what I want. But it is 
what you want... isn't it?" He pulled
out a rumpled piece of paper, that had 
been one of her failed attempts at a
resignation. "Your the one who wrote it down."

"You knew how I felt... I gave you a choice."

"So I don't do your bidding and you walk?"

"Bidding...my bidding...you son of a bitch...
I begged you not to go...you were the one
who walked. You walked out on our partnership...."

"Look, I won't apologize for the decision I 
made. I made the choice I felt I had to, 
but I am sorry I wasn't there to protect you..." 
He didn't have a chance to finish as her 
palm connected hard against his face.

*SLAP*

"What the hell?" 

"Protect me!?" She yelled," All I ever 
wanted from you was for you to be my
partner... not my protector. I needed you 
to believe in me... to trust me and
you ignored that... for what... a piece 
of plastic."

He paced away from her, trying to get 
a handle on his temper. Counting to ten
wasn't helping. 

"You know... you are a mean drunk?" 
Walking back towards her, rubbing his
jaw to emphasize his point, he continued, 
"You hurt me."
 
She looked down, speaking just loud  
enough to be heard,  "Well I guess 
we're even."  As she looked back up 
at him, her emotional barriers long gone, 
he could see exactly how much she 
had been hurt by him...by his actions.

Without another word she left him standing 
there, as he searched to find the words 
that would change the past. The pain 
he saw in her and the click of the
bedroom door softly closing behind her, 
stung far worse than the red welt marking 
his jaw line. 



continued in part 5



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
E. Livingstone

Exduck@llano.net
Eeees@aol.com
Wonbrikshy@aol.com

E's Page: www.llano.net/~exduck
E's X-Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



From exduck@llano.net Mon May 26 14:45:52 1997
Subject: Stay (5/5) By E. Livingstone 
From: Erin Livingstone <exduck@llano.net>
--------

Stay (5/5)
By E. Livingstone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time Line: Takes place after Memento Mori
and before Gethsemane.

The characters belong to Fox, 
Chris Carter, etc..... not me. 
       
Classification: UST, A , H

Spoilers: for Never Again and 
Memento Mori

Rated: PG - 13

Summery: Mulder and Scully spend the day
flirting, fighting and trying not to loose each other.

I would really love some feed back. 
Please send to Exduck@llano.net
or Eeees@aol.com

Note: I have put together a picture (JPG) to go 
with this story. If you would like to see it either
Visit my X-File Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
(look under "Story Pix")
or I would be happy to e-mail you a copy.


Stay (5/5)
by E. Livingstone
``````````````````````````````````````````5
3:00am

He awoke with a start, not knowing exactly
why, but knowing something was wrong. 
It didn't take long to figure it out. The 
coughing that had been coming from his 
partners room, periodically breaking the 
silence had ceased. There was no sound 
at all, nothing. He didn't think anything could 
be worse than hearing that cough, knowing he
could do nothing for her. But the silence was 
deafening and frightened him more than
he thought possible. He knew that checking 
on her was going to piss her off even more 
than she already was, if that was possible, 
but he didn't care. He left the livingroom, 
moving down the hall to her door. Knocking 
lightly he pushed it open, only to find himself 
alone. He wasn't sure weather to be relieved or
even more frightened. The bright red blood, 
staining the pillow case of her bed, made his 
choice for him. Leaving her room he made 
his way farther down the hall, stopping at 
the faint gagging noise coming from the 
bathroom. The door was ajar and he slowly 
pushed it open. His chest tightened at the 
sight of his partner seated on the floor, her 
back pressed against the wall. She was
close enough to the toilet to reach it if 
necessary and from the look of her pale
skin, it had been very necessary. But it 
was the white terrycloth towel that she held,
covered in blood, her blood, that caused the 
fear that was in his eyes. She looked up at 
him, obviously to sick to be embarrassed 
and to tired to fight.  He didn't say a word 
as he pulled a fresh towel off the rack above 
her head and lowered himself till he was 
sitting on the floor opposite her.

"I'm ok, Mulder..." She said quietly, 
knowing his thoughts.

"Yeah...I can see that..." He replied 
sarcastically, giving her a forced smile.

Holding out the clean towel to her, he 
exchanged it for the blood soaked one
she clung to. He looked at the bright red 
stain, the sight of it causing too many 
emotions to even try to sift through. He 
didn't know what to say...what to think...
what to do. His thoughts became words 
and in a barely audible voice he asked her, 
"What do I do, Scully?"

"Mulder, I told you I'm..."

"Don't tell me your ok, Scully...you're 
not alright...this..." He cut her off in an 
angry voice. Holding out the bloody 
towel to emphasize his point, he continued, 
"...this is not right ...we aren't alright...hell...
nothing is alright anymore. "

She turned away from him, so he could 
not look into her eyes, knowing he could 
see every emotion she was trying to hide. 

"I'm sick and I'm tired... and I don't 
want to fight with you anymore,
Mulder."

"Then just listen... because we can't 
keep doing this... you tell me I have
to learn to pick my fights. Well, I... we
don't have time to be that choosy 
anymore. In case you don't realize this... 
I do understand why you tried to stop me
tonight... but it doesn't change the fact 
that I had to leave. Even if it was just the
slightest chance, I had to take it. I 
have to believe that every truth leads
me closer to an answer...for you...
for us. Don't you see, Scully... I don't 
know how else to help you?
And that scares the hell out of me."

She turned her head, her eyes locking 
with his, laying her emotions bare.

"Your scared...and I'm not? ..." She 
could see him physically flinch at the
pain and fear she knew he could see 
in her. "You want to know what you 
should do? What do I do, Mulder? 
How do I deal with my own mortality 
and at the same time fight you to 
keep yourself from running head long 
into every trap you come across? 
How can you  expect me to sit and 
do nothing, when I know your life is 
hanging in the balance?" 

"That's what you ask of me everyday, 
isn't it? You say the choice was mine
to make, but what kind of choice is this 
you give me?  Either I loose you to 
death or to anger?" He scooted closer to
her, his legs meshing against hers as 
he took her hands in his. The intensity 
of his eyes meeting hers caused a slight 
shiver to run up her spine as he asked, 
"If it were me...if I was the one that 
was sick...."

She looked away from him, breaking 
eye contact.

"It's not you."

He quickly pulled his hands off 
hers, replacing them on her arms,
griping her tightly. The action 
caused her to look up, seeing
the intensity in his eyes had 
become almost pleading. Pleading 
for her to answer...pleading for her 
to understand.

"If it were? Tell me, what would you risk?"

She pulled back, breaking his grip on 
her arms. Her gaze followed his hands
down as they fell, gently resting on her 
bent knees. 

"You know I would risk everything..." 
She answered, honestly. Placing her
hand on his, she looked up at his face 
and asked, "And what would you do... 
to stop me from risking it?"

He shook his head and pushed himself 
back against the bathroom cabinet, 
"Neither of us is going to win this fight... 
we're both doing the wrong things for the
right reasons."

She reached out taking his large hand 
in her smaller one. 

"For the record... I don't blame you for 
what happened to me tonight... any
more than I blame you for this. " She 
lifted her had, pointing at the unseen
cancer that lay between eyebrows. 

"I blame me." He whispered.

"I know." She answered simply.


Suddenly they both looked up, as the 
bathroom door opened, their boss filling
its frame. 

"Am I interrupting anything?"

"Just a wicked hangover, sir." Scully 
responded weekly, quickly trying to
hide the bloody towel that rested 
beside Mulder. 


```````````````````````````````````


Skinner and Mulder gave Scully some 
time to clean up as they set up the
laptop computer that Skinner had 
brought with him at the request of Mulder.
As Scully entered the livingroom, taking
a seat on the couch, she watched the 
two men working the computer. 

They both remained silent as they 
scrolled through the information.

"The answers to the mysteries of 
the universe?" She asked.

"Uh...not exactly...it seems our dear 
departed friend was keeping tabs on his
colleagues but on more of a personal 
level than professional."

"What were they doing?"

"More like who... as in who was doing who."

"You mean..."

"Uh huh... detailed accounts of high 
ranking officials with secretaries,
mistresses, hookers...well, it gets 
worse from there."

"I can't believe this... all this over a 
bunch of high ranking officials
getting....wait a minute how high 
up are we talking?"

Mulder and Skinner looked at each 
other before looking back at Scully. 
They didn't have to tell her... she was 
pretty sure she didn't want to know.

"Great..." Mulder said, standing up 
straight, "Out of all the information
the old man left me, the only thing 
they didn't take is a disk of sex
secrets of the rich and famous."

"Do you think they will still be looking for it?" 
Scully asked both men.

"No... even if they know of it's existence, 
any number of people could have seen it 
by now. They'll be concerning themselves 
with damage control at this point... waiting 
for the bomb to drop." Skinner turned back 
to the computer, taking the disk out and 
heading for the door. "Stay here for now, 
until I can get some security set up at 
your apartments. Better safe than sorry."

"Sir?" Mulder asked, stopping him. 
"What are you going to do with the disk?"

"Sell it to 'Hard Copy'... what do you 
think I'm going to do with it Mulder?
I'm going to keep it somewhere safe. 
This thing has a lot of very damaging
information on it... you never know when
you could use a little... leverage."

Mulder could swear he saw his boss 
smile as he tucked the disk into his 
jacket and left.

 
Mulder turned back to Scully who was 
starting to stand. He walked over and
placed his hand in the small of her back, 
ushering her back to bed. He could
see how tired she was, just at the fact 
she didn't start lecturing his 
overprotectiveness. As the passed 
by a wall clock he noticed the time.


"Look at the time Scully, it's 5:00 am. 
This is where we started the day."

"God, has it only been 24 hours?"

"And what do we have to show for it?" He 
asked turning his head to look at her.

"A hang over..." She offered.

"Bruises" He added.

"Yeah... lots of bruises."

"I got a new sweater." He said pulling at 
the front of the green sweater he wore.

"I only loaned that to you..."

"Why, is fly boy coming back for it?" He 
asked a little more sarcastically than
he meant to.

"No...I just happen to love that sweater, 
as matter of fact I sleep in it."

"When your not sleeping in Skinner's 
sweatshirt?" He joked, trying to cover
the sudden dryness in his throat, thinking 
of her in just the sweater that he was 
now wearing.



He stood silently in the doorway as she
crawled under her covers, pulling them 
up to her chin. She made a mental note
to never drink again, as a wave of nausea 
welled up in her. She hadn't noticed that 
Mulder was still there, until he spoke.

"Dana?" The tenderness of his voice 
and the fact he used her first name
caught her off guard, even more than 
his unexpected presence. She could 
see he was holding the crumpled 
remains of her resignation. The 
unspoken question hung between them. 

Rolling on to her side away from him 
she laughed lightly.

"Say please." She taunted, smiling 
into her pillow.

There was a long pause and then 
the mattress bounced out from 
under her as Mulder flung his body 
on to her bed, the sudden movement 
of the bed was not helping the delicate 
situation of her stomach. She turned 
onto her back see him laying on his
stomach beside her. She gave him a
'what the hell are you doing' look.
Ignoring it, he pushed himself up, sat
back on his knees and handed her the 
crumpled resignation she had written. 
She took it, but did nothing with it, as 
she waited for him to respond to her
last request. 

"What...you want me to beg?"

She thought about it for a minute and 
answered, "Yeah...begging is good...do
that."

His response was a wide grin and to 
start bouncing up and down on his 
knees, causing the mattress to bounce 
under both of them. It didn't take long 
for her pale skin to become a light 
shade of green. Her hand came down 
on his thigh, griping it tightly and making 
him stop.

"Ok...ok... maybe begging is a bit strong..."

"Your such a light weight." He laughed, 
climbing over her to get off the bed.
As his body hovered over hers she 
reached up, pushing the resignation 
into his chest, stopping him. His 
smile faded, as his questioning eyes 
looked into hers, not sure of what she 
was thinking...not sure he wanted to know. 

She looked into his eyes for a long moment 
before whispering, "Ask me to stay?" 

His voice was a mixture of urgence 
and fear as he softly asked her, 
"Stay?"

His body hovered only inches over hers 
and she saw a flash in his eyes of
something... something neither of 
them had ever been willing to explore, 
but always seemed to be there. She 
knew he was seeing the same thing in 
her. Mulder knew the line he was 
standing on all to well and knew how 
easy it would be to cross it. With a 
considerable amount of willpower he 
finished climbing off the bed. But 
deciding to push the boundaries just 
a little, he knelt down beside her, lightly 
brushing aside a stray lock of hair, carful 
to miss the cut that ran along her temple. 
Leaning down, he placed his lips gently 
against her forehead,  "Please stay?" 
He whispered against her skin. 

She didn't have a chance to respond 
before he dipped his head down to her
ear, whispering, "I'll be good..."

A smile played at her lips, the double 
entendre not lost on her. She pushed
her head into her pillow, with a light 
laugh. "Promises...promises."

Raising his head to meet her eyes, 
he asked." Is that a yes?"

'No..." She started, as she held 
up the resignation, ripping it in half,
"That's a yes."

"Please... let me help you with 
that." He said with smile, as he 
took half the paper and sat on the 
floor leaning his back against the 
side of the bed. He felt like a giant 
weight had been lifted from him, as 
he ripped the paper up into confetti, 
throwing into the air. Sliding down 
slightly, he rested the back of his 
head on the mattress. He felt her 
fingers run through his hair, smoothing
it and closed his eyes at her touch, 
feeling the lack of sleep weighing down 
on him. Without opening his eyes, he 
smiled and with a laugh asked her, 
"So partner... what do you want 
to do tomorrow?"

Her answer was a pillow to the back 
of his head, knocking him the rest of 
the way to the floor.


The End

(so...what did you think?)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
E. Livingstone

Exduck@llano.net
Eeees@aol.com
Wonbrikshy@aol.com

E's Page: www.llano.net/~exduck
E's X-Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
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