Title: Not With a Whisper
Author: frogdoggie
CATEGORY: VRA
RATING: NC-17, and I mean it. WARNING! WARNING! THIS STORY CONTAINS VERY GRAPHIC 
SEXUAL SITUATIONS AND SOME WHICH MAY BE DISTURBING. IT'S LOADED WITH VIOLENCE AS 
WELL. Forewarned is forearmed. If you don't care for the physical, graphic stuff, 
STOP HERE!

TIMESPAN/SPOILER WARNING: This story takes place in my own X-Files universe I guess. 
The events take place after my stories "Wisconsin Death Trip" and "Standin' at the Crossroads". 
The story features many themes and plot elements from those stories. Slight spoiler
 for "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose". If you haven't read either of my previous stories 
and would like to read them for reference, feel free to check out my X-Files story archive at: http://www.squidge.org/3wstop.

KEYWORDS: x-file romance angst Scully Mulder NC-17

DISCLAIMER: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Walter Skinner, Margaret Scully, Cancer Man 
and Melvin Frohike belong to Chris Carter, Ten-Thirteen Productions and 20th 
Century FOX Broadcasting. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is 
being made from their use. 


SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully revisit some familiar Wisconsin friends and then confront 
some familiar foes as well in this wide ranging X-File adventure. The story takes the 
Mulder-Scully relationship to one possible conclusion too.

		~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dana Scully breathed deeply in the hot, scented water of the bathtub. As
she relaxed, she let all the tension of the last two weeks flow into the
water around her.

'God, this feels so much better' she thought. A magnificent unwinding of
all her muscles. The feeling of the steaming hot liquid, the sensation of
floating, of being weightless, the fragrant bath oil, and last but
certainly not least, the feeling of Fox Mulder's lean and muscular body,
propped against the tubs side, enfolding her in his loving embrace.

It had been a hellacious two weeks. The X-File they had been working on had
caused them to argue, which wasn't unusual, but the disagreements seemed
particularly acrimonious, and it was only the start of the trouble. Skinner
had called and requested that they put the case on hold temporarily so that
Mulder could consult with the Violent Crimes Section on a serial killer
profile. Scully had been asked to contribute some forensic assistance. They
had had to fly to Philadelphia and the case had been horrible. The killer
had raped and then murdered three pre-teen girls. Mulder had done the
profile and she had performed autopsies on unfortunately, victim number
four and then number five. The killer was caught within 48 hours of their
contributing to the case, but Mulder had been moody, depressed and quiet
afterwards. Scully's nerves were shot after looking into the dead eyes of
those two young girls - girls who would never see womanhood. And all that
was only the first week.

Week number two brought the conclusion of the X-File with the invaluable
assistance of Melvin Frohike. Scully had to admit that she could have
kissed the grizzled little gnome for hacking into the database that exposed
the whole case as a publicity stunt by a nationally known pharmaceutical
company. That was on the Monday after they had gotten back from Philly. On
Tuesday her mother had called and told her that her brother Bill and his
wife's baby was extremely ill and she was flying to San Diego to help.
Scully had asked her if she wanted her to fly out as well, but her mother
had told her to sit tight and she would find out if it was necessary. The
baby had a serious viral infection and it had been touch and go. Scully had
been on the phone to San Diego almost constantly for two days, but by
Thursday night the baby was out of danger, and expected to make a complete
recovery.

Mulder, God Bless him, and thrown off all his moodiness the minute Scully's
mother had called and had been supportive through the entire crisis. By
Friday however, both Agents looked like two shell shocked war veterans, and
Skinner had taken one look at them, and told them to leave before noon to
get some rest. And so the weekend was upon them.

Mulder had gotten into the habit of spending the weekend at Scully's
apartment. He just seemed to prefer doing it. Gradually he had brought some
of his things over, and now Scully always got a pleasant, soft feeling
inside when she saw his jeans hanging on the back of her bedroom door. On
Friday afternoon they had been forced, despite the luxury of leaving early,
to bring some paperwork home. They had changed out of their work clothes,
and then, there they were at her dining room table, heads bent over
reports, and coffee pot at hand. Scully was comfortable in her old sweat
shirt and sweat pants, but she was still tense and so tired that it was
hard to concentrate. She kept pushing her glasses up to peer at what she
was typing and writing, and signing. Mulder had on his glasses also, and a
worn t-shirt and faded jeans and even though he was dressed comfortably as
well, Scully could see the furrow in his brow. They slogged through the
paperwork until 4 PM.

"Scully, how's it going?" Mulder asked.

Scully sighed, taking off her glasses, "God, Mulder I can't believe how
many copies of these forms we have to fill out, it's daunting," she
answered rubbing her temples.

"No kidding, I'm thinking of buying a big rubber stamp to use next time,"
he replied smiling at her slightly.

"Well, if we keep at it maybe we can get it done, and then enjoy the rest
of the evening," she said hopefully. "I don't have too much more to go."

"Yeah, I guess that's a good idea. I thought Chinese take-out tonight? How
about you?"

"God, I've had a taste for egg rolls all day. That sounds wonderful."
Scully replied.

"Ok, with two you get egg roll - as soon as we plow through the rest of
this crap," Mulder agreed.

Scully was oblivious to almost everything as she worked to finish her
almost completed reports. She was vaguely aware that Mulder had excused
himself to use the bathroom at around 5 PM, but when he didn't come back
for quite some time, she looked over to his side of the table and raised an
eyebrow.

"Hey, Scully, can you come here a sec?" Mulder called from down the hall.
"I have something I think you should see."

'What the devil?' Scully thought as she got up and walked towards the
apartment's bathroom.

The door was shut when she got down there, so she opened it and walked in.
The bathroom was steaming. The lights were off but the entire room was
glowing with candles and the tub was full of inviting, hot, scented water -
as well as full of one hell of an inviting Agent Fox Mulder. Scully stood
and stared, and then she burst out laughing.

"Oh, Mulder - you look like something out of a romance novel," she gurgled
helplessly, love in her eyes.

"Just call me Fabio," he grinned. "Come on in, the waters fine." And she
did.

And the water was indeed fine. Now they lay together, and Scully rested
against him quietly because the two weeks had obviously caught up with
Mulder and he had fallen asleep against her, the tubs side and the rolled
up towel underneath his back and neck. Scully could feel the gentle breeze
from his sleeping breath and the slight nasal snoring that he sometimes
suffered with when he was particularly exhausted. She couldn't see his
face, but she knew what he looked like - his head tilted back, hair
tousled, long lashes closed and sensual lips parted slightly as he
slumbered. She was content to let him rest, and to just enjoy the feel of
him holding her in the protective comfort of his arms and legs for as long
as she could.

Mulder had to leave for Milwaukee, Wisconsin Sunday afternoon. Months ago
he had been invited by his friend in the Milwaukee bureau office, Janet
Price, to deliver a paper at a meeting of *The Whisper Group*, the local
paranormal investigative organization. At the time the idea had sounded
interesting, but now with the rotten two weeks they had just been through,
and the prospect of flying to Wisconsin in January, the trip seemed more
chore than charming.

But, Mulder hadn't wanted to disappoint Janet. She had been an invaluable
aid in too many X-File cases for him to let her down. And besides, she was
a friend, so he had gotten his notes together on the Clyde Bruckman case
for the paper's presentation.

So, with the prospect of his absence facing Scully, she wanted to have him
with her for as long as she could tonight and over the next day - and as
close as possible. 'Yes, very close,' she thought with a grin.

"Mulder?" she said quietly, "Mulder?"

"Hmmmm?" he answered.

"I'm starting to prune up."

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I dozed off there," she could hear the smile in his
voice.

One graceful hand crept around her and up onto her breast.

"Doesn't feel pruney to me." Mulder chuckled.

"Well, you're feeling the wrong one - see?" she said moving his hand over
to her other breast.

"Oh, I see that Agent Scully, Well I guess we'd better get out of the
water," he replied with a chuckle, and slight shifting of his weight.

Scully moved forward to let him get up and climb out. She simply had to get
a look at the sight. 'God, that man's ass never fails to make me warm all
over,' she thought as Mulder's wet feet slapped on the tiled bathroom
floor. He walked over to the towel rack, and grabbing a large plush towel
began to dry himself off.

'Now this is even better,' Scully thought as she watched him run the towel
over his arms, and chest, his waist, and down his legs. When he drew it
between his legs and rubbed it against his sex, Scully felt her insides
melt and her nipples harden at the sight.

She had a wicked thought then and she voiced it, "Mulder, do the Elvis
thing," she said, humor in her voice.

"Ah, Scully, come on.." he started to protest.

"Please?" she asked teasing him.

Mulder grabbed the towel, wound it up, and went into an Elvis karate move,
snapping the towel so that it cracked loudly, and echoed in the confines of
the bathroom.

"Happy now?" he pouted. But she knew he loved it because he could hardly
maintain the pout as she suppressed a giggle.

"More than you could ever know," she replied, quietly, suddenly touched.

He smiled at her then, extending his hand, and she got up out of the water,
out of the tub, and walked into his arms. He toweled her dry and then
taking her by the hand, lead her into the bedroom.

"I take it the rest of the paperwork is going to wait?" she asked him
playfully.

"And the egg rolls too, if you don't mind," Mulder replied grinning at her.

"Well, Agent Mulder, egg rolls aren't the only thing I've had a taste for
today," Scully replied. 'God he has, he has such bedroom eyes,' she thought
as Mulder pulled her down next to him on the bed.

The two weeks of gut wrenching tension, terror and turbulence were rapidly
fading away as they fell into the natural rhythm that their lovemaking had
become.

Mulder's foreplay was quite possibly the most erotic experience that Scully
had ever had in her life. She knew he had at one time had some doubts about
his abilities as a lover. He'd confessed that to her during one of their
first times in bed together. She had not hesitated to tell him that for
her, that couldn't have been farther from the truth. The look on his face
told her that he had been profoundly relieved to think he was able to bring
her pleasure.

Now, as he worked between her legs with his mouth and tongue Scully moaned
and entwined her fingers in his hair. She had never imagined that she could
enjoy oral sex this much, but this man was an incredible master at it, and
she had to admit it was a most phenomenal turn on. She came and it was a
soft, slow orgasm, and tremendously sweet. Mulder liked to see her come. He
held her and brought her to climax with his hands just so that he could
watch her. He had told her once that when she came she looked like an
angel, and she had blushed scarlet.

Mulder lay back and she propped herself up on his chest using her elbows.
"Fox Mulder, you can suck like a vacuum cleaner, did you know that?" she
asked.

"God, Scully!" he exclaimed laughing. She laughed too because it tickled
her to know that she could embarrass him every once in a while.

"Yes, I can't begin to tell you what that feels like," she replied and then
a thought leapt into her mind, 'but I can show you.'

"Don't move," she told him.

"What?" he started to ask as she shifted down, and took his partially erect
penis into her mouth.

"Jesus, Scully!" he gasped as she took him all in and then drew her mouth
up from the base to the tip. She worked her tongue around the end of his
penis and then took him in again...and again.

"Oh my..." she sucked, and teased his cock until he was as hard as a rock,
and he finished the sentence with a groaning, "God."

She removed her mouth then and looked up into his eyes. "See what I mean.
Interesting isn't it?"

He was breathing heavily and his penis was bobbing in front of her nose.

"Interesting isn't quite the right word," he managed to breathe out,
shutting his eyes.

"Do you want me to keep this up?" she asked huskily. In the time they had
been lovers, Scully had never brought him to climax in this manner, but now
she wanted to see him derive as much pleasure from it as she did. She
looked into his eyes and asked somewhat shyly, "Mulder, I, I'd like to make
you come this way if you'd enjoy it."

"Enjoy it?" he said his voice going up an octave. "Scully, my brains are
going to explode out my ears," he moaned.

"Well let's see if we can get something else to explode, Agent Mulder." she
laughed, "Scoot down to the end of the bed and sit up."

He did as instructed and she had all ready gotten up and knelt down between
his legs. He braced himself by leaning back on his arms.

Scully looked up at him then and said, "Relax Mulder, you're going to like
this - I know I will," and then she went down on him.

Mulder thought he had died and gone to heaven in that moment. Scully's
mouth sent electric bolts of lust up his cock in a trail along his spine
and right into his cerebral cortex. All the little pleasure brain cells
started to fire at once, and the indescribable endorphin rush traveled back
down the same pathway to make his penis burn with the white hot heat of
ecstasy. If Mulder could suck like a vacuum cleaner then Scully was more
like the some kind of pneumatic suction device. Mulder was moaning
incoherently in very short order, and he pumped his hips in time with what
her lips, tongue, and teeth were doing to him.

"OH, JESUS, THIS IS, GOD THIS IS SO GOOD..." he couldn't say anything else,
and he just shut his eyes and concentrated on what was going on between his
legs. Scully was teasing the head of his cock, bringing him up to the brink
of orgasm, and then backing him off by squeezing him just behind the glans,
and the seesaw effect caused him to collapse backwards so that he was lying
flat on the bed. He arched up to meet her mouth again, and again, he moaned
Scully's name, his fists clenched, and then he felt his balls start to
contract, and he knew he was going to come. He screamed out OH, CHRIST! as
he thrust one last time into her mouth, and then he shot his warm flood of
semen down her throat.

Scully had been watching him and enjoying every minute of his pleasure.
Mulder seemed transported to some other place, his head thrown back, eyes
closed and larynx working to swallow, and God, he was gasping so hard he
sounded like he would hyperventilate. When he fell backwards she struggled
to stay with him. He was arching his hips, and thrusting to meet her mouth,
and groaning out her name. Finally she knew he was going to come, she could
feel his whole body tense through his cock, so she knew what was going to
happen next. The warm semen was something she had prepared herself for, and
at that point there wasn't much more she could do except swallow. The
experience of swallowing part of him was odd at first but then very erotic
for her. She took it all in as he pumped weakly into her mouth, and as he
struggled to sit up, she released his penis. Mulder drew her up into his
arms.

Then he collapsed backwards again, taking her down next to him on the bed.
His breath came in ragged gasps, but there was an ear to ear grin on his
face as he looked into her eyes.

"You realize, Scully that I'm doing the rest of your paperwork for you
tonight," he wheezed out.

"And buying the egg rolls?" she replied.

"If you're still hungry," he teased, taking his hand and wiping her chin.
He couldn't believe she had swallowed his ejaculation.

"Mulder!" she slapped him on the stomach, suddenly embarrassed, but
laughing despite herself.

"Hey you can have one from Column A and one from Column B for all I care,
Scully! God, I'm not even going to ask you where you learned to, to..."

"Give head?"

"Jesus, Scully, Yeah," he replied flushing even more deeply.

"Mulder you must remember at times like this - I AM a Doctor," she replied
stroking his thigh.

"Dr. Feelgood," he grinned running his hand down her cheek.

'God I love this man," she thought, 'in every corner of my heart and soul,'
Not only could he send her to another world in bed, but he was so warm and
fun to be with before, during, and after, that she could hardly believe it.
The serious, self obsessed, intense man that Mulder was most of the time
seemed to disappear every now and then, especially here in her apartment,
and in her bed, and she was glad that this little corner of her world
helped to light some of his darkness. He might go back to being Spooky
Mulder once he hit the door to the J. Edgar Hoover Building, but here with
her he was just Mulder, (never Fox, of course), her partner, her soulmate,
and lover, and that was all, and it was wonderful.

"Scully, are you all right though?" he was asking. "I mean, do you need
anything else?"

Scully considered his question, but she really was content. The hot
relaxing bath, her slow sweet orgasm under his mouth and hands, and then
the wonderful experience of her man enjoying everything she could give him
had been enough for her.

"Yes, Mulder, I'm starving, I could really use those egg rolls, and some
pork fried rice, I think," she said planting a kiss on his forehead.

"Me too. Ok, coming right up, Doc," he answered reaching for his cell phone
on the night stand.

The rest of the weekend stretched ahead. Mulder had done the small
remainder of her paperwork as promised so they had spent Saturday together,
sleeping in, and then lounging in the apartment in their jeans and bare
feet, without the intrusion of the JOB. There had been one phone call from
Skinner to tell Mulder that the Philly PD had recommended them both for a
commendation for their help in solving the string of murders there. Despite
his self-depreciating comments over the phone to Skinner, Scully could tell
Mulder was flattered that for once old Spooky Mulder's efforts had been
considered worthy of an award.

Mulder's relationship with Skinner had changed subtly since the horrors of
the X-File case in Crossroads, Maine. Skinner was still Mulder's superior,
but he also struggled to be his friend. It was hard for Skinner to balance
the intrigue of the bureau and the darker forces that swirled around him
with his gratitude towards Mulder for saving his life. There were still a
lot of issues between the two men, but one of them was not Mulder's
relationship with Scully. Skinner knew about it, and after his one bit of
advice to Mulder to never stop loving her, and to use their love as a
strength in their partnership, he had never mentioned it again. Scully
believed that he was operating under the *don't ask, don't tell policy* in
order to protect them more than himself and she was grateful. She hoped
that someday Skinner would find someone like his lost love Maggie Flynn, so
that the man could find some modicum of happiness.

After Skinner's phone call on Saturday, Mulder was so full of himself that
Scully had to laugh. He was seldom so confident and pleased with his
violent crime work and Scully was relieved for once to see him strut a bit.

They decided to go shopping. Well, Scully dragged Mulder shopping while she
desperately tried to find one or two new tailored suits for work. He was
like most men in that department. He put up with the trip through the
boutiques and shops and she finally lost him to a computer software store.
They debated taking in a movie but opted for an early dinner out instead,
and rental of a video. Scully voted to rent *Room with a View* and Mulder
picked *Them!* a movie he had probably seen a zillion times but Scully had
never dreamed of watching. He said he wanted to get her reaction to it.
They ended up renting both. Then they had driven home, tired but happy, and
Mulder had helped her to carry her packages into the apartment.

Mulder and Scully were snuggled in front of the TV, popcorn bowl in
Mulder's lap. *Them* had been better then Scully had thought it would be.
Not Mulder's usual grade B-schlock horror film at all. She thought it was a
little bit of 50s paranoia about the A-bomb, and it's giant ant mutants,
mixed with an interesting blend of unexpected women's liberation with the
central role of the female entomologist. Mulder told her he was hoping she
would think the movie was classic 50s SF and she told him she had to agree.

They had just finished watching *Room With A View* which Mulder said he
enjoyed more then he thought he would too, when the phone rang. It was
Scully's mother calling to let her know that Bill's baby had improved so
much the child would more than likely be released from the hospital on
Monday and that she was coming home on Monday afternoon. When Scully
answered the phone Margaret Scully had heard Mulder talking in the
background briefly at first and asked, "Is that Fox, Dana?" Much to
Scully's guilt and chagrin, she answered "Yes, he just stopped by to drop
off some case files. We never did finish all of our paperwork on Friday,"
she lied.

Scully was terribly guilty because she had not been able to say anything to
her mother yet about her relationship with Mulder. She didn't know why she
hadn't told her. It seemed totally irrational. But she had a sneaking
suspicion it had something to do with her Catholic upbringing as well as
the fact that her older brother Bill, now the head of the family since her
Father's death, was increasingly involved in her mother's life.

Bill had an intense dislike for Mulder. Scully could remember only too well
the knock down drag out fight regarding her partner she and Bill had after
Emily's death. It seemed so long ago, but the memory was still fresh and
painful. Bill had accused her of sleeping with Mulder then, and he made it
sound as if it was something improper and dirty. There had been no sexual
relationship with Mulder at that point, but Scully's feelings were finally
becoming plain to her even then, and she had actually slapped her brother
across the face when he made the accusation. They were still attempting to
heal the rift after the many months, so Scully wasn't sure what the
reaction of her family would be to finding out that she was actually
bringing Mulder into her bed. Sometimes she wished Missy were still alive.
Missy, her wonderful free spirit of a sister. She had said to her once
"God, Dana, why don't you just ball his brains out and get it over with, I
would!"

Scully exchanged further pleasantries with her mother, told her to give her
love to Bill, his wife, and a big kiss to the baby, she would see her when
she got back, and then she hung up the phone with a sigh.

Mulder watched as she put down the phone. He had turned off the TV and VCR
while she had been talking and now he put the popcorn bowl down on the
coffee table. Scully leaned against him and he wrapped an arm around her
shoulders and drew her close.

"You know, Scully, you're going to have to say something to your Mother
soon. I, I don't like to think we're sneaking around behind her back. Crap,
I know that sounds juvenile, but you know what I mean," Mulder said
quietly. He had a great respect for Margaret Scully and thought he was
doing her a huge disservice in this situation.

"Oh, Lord, I know Mulder. But, well, it's just so hard for me. It's that
Catholic upbringing thing again. I feel so guilty. I've made a new
commitment to my faith and here I am lying about us to my mother. I feel
awful. It does seem adolescent. And of course, there's Bill."

Mulder sighed, "Yeah, he really still hates me doesn't he?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say hate Mulder. But he doesn't trust you and he
just feels you're not a suitable associate for his *little* sister. I
suppose I'll always be that to him, you know. He can be such a prick
sometimes," she replied against his chest.

"You mean he doesn't trust my intentions?" Mulder asked.

"Well, that's part of it. He just thinks you're too dangerous all the way
around, Mulder. I know he's concerned for my health and safety. God, he's
always hated my work with the FBI anyway and the X-Files, well, that
subject is just beyond comprehension for him. Just like Dad, he would have
preferred I took the safe route and become a practicing physician - even a
coroner would have been better then an FBI Agent in his eyes. He's such an
old fashioned conservative shmuck about the whole thing that I can barely
stand it at times."

"Yeah, but I don't like the idea that I'm coming between you and the rest
of your family, Scully, I..."

"Mulder, look, don't take the guilt onto your shoulders, all right. It's
not your fault and it's not something for you to deal with. It's an issue I
have to deal with, and I know I should do it soon."

"But maybe I should approach Bill, try to make amends, I don't know, talk
to him somehow."

"God, no Mulder. That would go over like a lead balloon. I need to get to
Bill through Mom. I need to talk to my mother..." Scully sighed. "Damn,
this is so complicated."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to get that idea - loud and clear," Mulder said
pulling away from her slightly.

"Mulder, please, don't shut me out," she whispered, touching his chin, "and
repeat after me - I am not responsible for Bill Scully being an asshole,
and this situation is not my fault."

"He really thinks I'm dangerous, huh?" Mulder looked into her eyes.

Scully looked down and away then, reddening slightly, "Mulder, it's, it's
not important what Bill feels, it's important what we...."

"Not important? Scully, come on, how can you say that for God's sake? Of
course it's important, the guy may be insufferable but he is your brother.
He's family, I mean it's a blood bond. Scully, you shouldn't ever overlook
the importance of family, it's ...." Mulder's voice faded off suddenly.

Scully looked up into Mulder's eyes, and she saw again the guilt in his
haunted look. She saw the self flagellation that he was always willing to
put himself through. She saw the pain over his sister Samantha, and his
father, and his mother. She knew that pain was always just within reach in
all his thoughts. But Scully also saw the emotion that was paramount in
Mulder's mind - the one that superseded all others - the need to know. The
search for the truth. She knew it would be hard to deny him the truth of
her brother's vituperation - but she hesitated to tell him of the
disapproval. He always hurt so much. She wanted to protect him just this
once - out of love, and compassion, and maybe she thought with chagrin, for
her own peace of mind.

"Mulder, I know, but, let's just drop the subject, please, all right?" she
whispered staring at him nervously. The look on his face told her instantly
that this had been totally the wrong approach.

"God damn you," Mulder spat at her, "You'd think that after all this time,
after what we mean to each other now - I mean Scully how can you let me
into your head like you do when I, when we're making love, and then when I
ask you a simple question like this you close up like, like the fucking
vault at Fort Knox!"

Scully's head jerked up. She was mad now herself. "God damn me? Well, let
me tell you Agent Mulder - you have more then enough God damning on your
shoulders to more than suit both of us don't you? Why do you think I don't
want to tell you what Bill said, for crying out loud? I don't want you to
suffer any more. I'm tired of seeing you put yourself through a fucking
self flagellation. I'm sick to death of seeing you hurt, you stupid
bast..." Scully stopped, horrified at her own words, as she watched Mulder
gulp and struggle for control.

Mulder's mouth snapped shut and he stared at her in amazement. Emotions
surged across his face. He took a deep breath and Scully saw the expression
there she knew would come, and dreaded - the guilt.

"Scully, I'm sorry, it probably isn't any of my business," he replied
quietly, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, and looking away from her
yet again.

'This is it,' Scully thought, 'this is too much. All right, I've had it,
fuck it," she inwardly cursed. And then she told Mulder what Bill had said,
and it came out in a rush.

"Mulder, Bill said you're dangerous to my life, health and happiness. He
accused you of seducing me long ago. He thinks you're a miserable excuse
for a human being for sleeping with me *out of wedlock,* as he so
delicately put it. Besides being an utter cad, he thinks you're nuts, a
borderline psycho and...."

"Jesus, he said that? You never gave me an any idea he said all that,"
Mulder's jaw was incredibly tight and he looked at her again, shock on his
face.

"Well, we had one hell of a fight about it, just, just after Emily," Scully
whispered. "And at that point for God's sake, you weren't, I mean we
weren't..." her voice trailed off.

Mulder looked down at his hands then and he folded them together tightly
between his knees. His whole body was tense under Scully's gaze. She was
instantly sorry for what she had said. Her much vaunted control had slipped
for just a moment, and she realized now that her wish to avoid hurting him
had failed miserably. 'Oh Mother Mary, help me salvage this,' she thought
desperately. 'He doesn't deserve this.'

Scully touched his hands and said gently, "Oh God, I'm sorry Mulder. I
shouldn't have repeated...I didn't mean to hurt you with any of Bill's
idiotic remarks."

Mulder's jaw muscles were very tight, and he stared at his hands as if they
were the only important thing in the world at that moment.

Scully hastened to continue, touching him on the shoulder now, "Mulder, my
brother has this instinct sometimes for ferreting out all the things in
life he thinks are improprieties, and then lecturing and lecturing...oh I
know he does it out of love for us all, and he feels such a responsibility
for the family now that Dads gone, but Lord, Mulder, I wish he'd give it a
rest."

"I'll second that," Mulder finally replied, sagging slightly.

"I know, dear God, Mulder, please, I love you, I didn't mean to let Bill's
remarks hurt you. I didn't want to tell you - I tried not to tell you," she
was immensely flustered and close to tears.

Mulder sighed, "Look, it's OK, Scully. Listen, I know, all right? I asked
for it didn't I?" he tried to muster a sheepish grin. "Hoisted on my own
petard, I guess. But Scully, believe it or not, I do know I'm capable of
damning myself. I just don't admit it most of the time. Please bear with me
though, OK. I'm trying to learn to change. And Scully, it's been a hard
couple of weeks. I know you're hurting too. I think, I think we're just
stretched a little too tight at this point, right?"

"Oh, Mulder..." Scully replied quietly, touched as she saw him attempt to
throw off his automatic will to blame himself for everything, and deal with
the situation as best he could. She touched his face and then rubbed her
hand along his arm.

"But Scully....uh, does what we're doing, I mean, our relationship, is it
really bothering you because of the religious, the Catholic thing?...Shit,
what I'm trying to say is, maybe Bill's right. Maybe I am compromising you
by sleeping with you. I hate the idea that I'm making you feel guilty or
confused over lying. It disturbs me to think about how that affects your
faith," Mulder said, a tone of misery still tingeing his voice. Scully's
faith was after all what had quite literally, pulled his nuts out of the
flames of hell, in Crossroads, Maine.

"Oh God, Mulder," Scully replied looking at his profile. "Please don't ever
think that, ever. I love you. I made a decision to be with you, I don't
regret it, I never could," she replied stroking his hair.

Mulder still wouldn't look at her so Scully gently reached over, and turned
his head around to look into his face. She closed her eyes and brushed his
lips with a kiss.

He yielded to the kiss, and started to finally unwind, his relaxation
seemed almost complete, but then he started to talk around her mouth,
"Well, there's always one solution," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"I could marry you, and make you an honest woman," Mulder replied.

Scully gradually opened her blue eyes wide and stared over his nose into
his hazel ones.

"Bad choice of words?" he asked, holding her gaze. His jaw muscles were
clenching and unclenching anew.

'OhboyOhboyOhboy,' Scully thought, pulling her mouth away from his.

"Mulder...."

"Ok, bad choice of words," Mulder sighed wistfully, breaking eye contact
and looking at his hands again.

"No, no, God, Mulder, it wasn't a bad choice of words, those were, those
were...wonderful words," Scully was stumbling all over herself. 'Marriage?'
she thought, 'For God's sake. This is certainly out of left field. I never
saw it coming. What a question. Talk about a 2 by 4 right between the eyes.
Does he mean it? Oh God, look at his face, of course he means it, Oh Mother
Mary...Am I ready for this step? Are we ready for this step? I just don't
know. I can't even tell my mother I'm sleeping with him - married to him?
Oh My Lord. What about the Bureau, the X-Files the...the...' her mind was
reeling.

"Wonderful, but?" Mulder asked looking at her again.

"Wonderful but, well, unexpected, Mulder - Good Lord! For crying out loud -
can't you do anything conventionally? I mean, where's the ring, the candle
light dinner, the violins? Why aren't you on your knees?" Scully blustered,
and then she broke into a radiant smile.

Mulder grinned at her. He got up and knelt in front of her, putting one
hand over his heart and the other flamboyantly out to the side.

"Oh, no, please get up!" she was really laughing now, in tears, her earlier
mood making her want to lose herself in laughter. Mulder was laughing as
well.

"Dana Katherine Scully," he choked, "Would you do me the honor of becoming
my wife?"

"Oh, for heavens sake," Scully exclaimed. But then she tried to gain
control of herself, because although Mulder was laughing, she could see the
look in his eyes now as he calmed down, and it was very vulnerable.

Mulder got up and sat back down on the couch next to her.

"So, last chance to dance, Scully," Mulder said, breathless. He searched
her face and Scully noticed he was sucking on his lower lip, a sign that he
was still nervous.

"Oh, Mulder," Scully said, laying her head on his shoulder. "I love you so
much, I can't imagine anyone I'd rather spend the rest of my life with..."

"I hear the *but* word again in there somewhere," Mulder replied.

"Well, I'm just not sure trying to please my brother, my mother, and the
Catholic church is a good excuse for marriage," Scully answered quietly.

"Excuse?" Mulder asked slightly affronted.

"Oh, you know what I mean, not an excuse - I mean it's not a good
foundation to start out on, that's all," Scully sat up and ran her hands
through her hair, pushing it back behind her ears. She looked down at her
lap, "I don't want to go into marriage because I felt like I...we were
forced to in order to please anyone else but us. For God's sake that's
like, like..."

"A shotgun wedding?" Mulder asked grinning slightly.

"God, yes, and Bill's holding the gun," she answered. "And besides the
family issues - For heaven's sake, Mulder what about the Bureau? And our
work on the X-files? and..." she let her voice trail off.

Mulder sighed. "Yeah, I guess I can see your point."

"Mulder, besides the obvious occupational difficulties and, and the dangers
all that implies - well, it's just that I've begun only recently to realize
a really basic fact about myself. The fact that I've lived most of my life
pleasing others, never myself. I don't want to do that again where we're
concerned, where our relationship or...marriage is concerned."

"Am I included in there along with the rest of the *others*?" Mulder asked
quietly.

"Sometimes," she answered truthfully. "But take my word for it, not very
often - anymore," she looked up at him smiling slightly.

"Too easy to argue with, hey?" he asked, a bit of humor tingeing his voice.

Scully smiled, "You challenge me, Mulder, and I love a challenge."

"So, is that a no, Scully?" he asked finally.

"Mulder, let's call it a maybe, all right. Give me some time to think about
it," she tempered her words my stroking the side of his face. "I want to
get my mother alone for a long talk when she gets back. You'll be in
Milwaukee - maybe I can get her to come for a visit. I need to be honest
about this with her. When you get back, we, well we need to talk about some
of the other obvious issues. But Mulder, I, I won't make you wait long for
an answer - ok?" she squinted at him a bit, and then she grinned at him
from under her eyelashes, despite herself. She was almost inclined to throw
caution to the wind, and just say yes, and to hell with all the rest.

Mulder caught the look and said, "Ah ha, see, watch out, the idea is
growing on you, Scully."

"Well, I have to admit, it's an attractive proposal. God, proposal. I can't
believe this..." she let her voice trail off into helpless laughter again,
waving a hand through the air for emphasis.

"You can't believe it? - I thought I was going to swallow my tongue..."
Mulder began.

"No, Mulder, don't do that, I'd really hate it if you did that," Scully
managed to sound both suggestive and extremely tickled all at once.

"Oh, sure, drag me through the gutter, you wanton woman," Mulder started to
tickle her.

"Oh, no, Mulder, please, stop it, come on," Scully was flinching and trying
to keep his hands from her most sensitive spots.

"Uncle?" Mulder asked.

"Yes, Uncle, Uncle, damn it, Mulder," she was helpless with laughter.

Mulder stopped tickling her and grabbed her in a bear hug, "Want some
coffee?" he asked, "I could use some coffee."

"Sure, that would be a great idea," Scully struggled to regain her
composure. She felt hot all over. 'I wonder if this is what spontaneous
combustion feels like,' she thought errantly.

Mulder had gotten up and gone into the kitchen. She rose and followed him.
He was measuring the coffee into it's filter and his hands were shaking
slightly. Scully felt an overwhelming surge of emotion almost take her
breath away. Here was a man that not that long ago had been afraid to admit
his feelings, wary of commitment of any kind, and frightened to death of
seeing Scully endangered because of any involvement with him. Now, they had
come full circle to completion, like the tattoo of the snake devouring
itself that nestled in the flesh of her lower back. Scully realized that
Mulder had offered her the most profound gift he had to give - his life and
his love as her husband, and as the marriage ceremony would say - until
death do us part. 'And with Mulder, maybe even beyond death - forever,' she
thought, gazing lovingly at his restless hands.

She walked over and leaned into his back, her arms drawing around his waist
in a hug. He spilled the coffee all over the counter. She laughed, "Don't
worry, I'll clean it up."

Scully released him, and moved about the kitchen getting the mugs, sugar
and cream together. Mulder gathered his thoughts.

'Well at least she didn't reject me outright,' he mused. 'God, maybe she
should. I am such a fucking geek. What a loser. No. Crap. Cancel the
self-deprecation shit this time, come on, she's receptive. I can tell she's
receptive. She just needs time. There's hope here yet. I should just be
patient. She's honest. I can trust her for God's sake. I know she won't let
me twist in the wind for long. Whew, I'm Christfully glad I got this over
with - whatever her answer is going to be. I didn't think I had the guts to
pop the question. Guess I'm not such a jerk after all. Ha, not bad, for
once, Mulder. Gee I wonder if I should think about a ring? Time for that
later I guess,' and he smiled as he thought of the possibility of Scully
saying yes, and the look on her face when he finally did get conventional
and gave her that ring. Gradually his hands ceased to shake and he ventured
a tentative conversation with Scully again.

"Scully, uh, would you mind listening to some of the paper I'm going to
present? I've got most of it down but I think there's one or two parts I
could really use your input on," Mulder asked as he filled the coffee pot
with water.

"Clyde Bruckman?" she asked.

"Yes, I decided the Whisper people might find him intriguing," Mulder
replied.

"That poor man," Scully sighed remembering the unfortunate psychic. "Sure,
I'd be happy to listen to it."

"Thanks, I can use the rehearsal too," he grinned as the coffee perked.

Later, after Scully added a few points to Mulder's paper and Mulder had
declared the work presentable at last, they tidied up the cups, coffee pot,
and kitchen. Mulder used the bathroom, and then waved Scully past him as
she went in to wash and brush her teeth.

Mulder went into the bedroom, and turned on the bedside lamp. He grabbed
his duffel bag and hefted it onto the bed. "For once I don't have the damn
garment bag with all the G-man suits,' he thought. At least out in
Milwaukee he could dress casually. He was only going to be there through
Wednesday morning - just enough time to say hello, deliver the paper, and
blow out of the *great place on a great lake*. He was going to miss Scully,
he thought, and he certainly would be anxious to get back and get her
answer to his question, no matter what it might be. Whatever the outcome,
they would deal with it.

Mulder placed the folder with the presentation in the top of his bag next
to his extra gun, the one that went into the accompanying ankle holster. He
wasn't sure why he had packed the damn thing. He knew he would take it out
tomorrow before he went to the airport and strap it on. Including the extra
gun had been a formless feeling at the time. He'd just shrugged and thrown
it in. He chalked it up to his natural, but advisable paranoia. He shrugged
again, zipped up the duffel and placed it in the corner of Scully's
bedroom. As he was bending to set the bag down he heard Scully clear her
throat. He turned around.

Scully was standing in the doorway to the bedroom and she was dressed in
the most incredible piece of lingerie he had ever seen. It was black, and
very little else. His eyes bugged out, and after his mouth hung slack for a
few seconds Scully took pity on him and spoke.

"Like it?" she asked.

"Holy shit," he breathed out, "Was this a recent purchase?" he asked, his
pupils contracting to tiny little pin pricks.

"You carried the package inside yourself this afternoon," she replied
seductively.

"Well, I didn't think that was a very heavy package, and now I can see
why," he grinned.

"I'm glad you like it, I just wanted to dress up a little tonight, you
know, before your trip," she was saying as she started to walk over to him,
"Consider this a bon voyage present."

Mulder actually found himself backing up until there was no where else to
go, and he was standing against the side of the bed. His eyes widened as
she sashayed across the room to confront him. She looked positively wicked
and Mulder struggled to swallow.

"Why Agent Mulder, are you afraid of me?" Scully asked teasing as she stood
in front of him.

"Afraid, ah, no - but you are one hell of a formidable women, Ms. Scully,"
he answered finally swallowing audibly. 'Whoa,' he thought. Maybe I am a
little afraid of her. She, she looks so strange, so hot, uh, a little
un-Scully like here. But, my she is - stimulating,' he chuckled trying to
pass off his nervousness as she started to unzip his pants. He stepped out
of his jeans, and then he pulled his t-shirt over his head. He was standing
there in his boxers looking down into Scully's eyes. 'God, that little
outfit is too much,' he thought.

Scully looked up at him and her eyes were an electric blue, and wild in
their passion. Her mouth was open slightly and she was breathing harder. A
drop of sweat was on her upper lip. The total effect excited him strangely.
A image came suddenly into his head. A disturbing image of Scully biting
him on the back of the neck, holding him immobile, drawing his blood. The
blood dribbled down his back. The image abruptly touched a side of him that
he didn't expect to see revealed, didn't know he had. It was an unexpected
violent side, a darkness, and he felt an urgent need to be frenzied, and
rough in his lovemaking.

Scully studied his face, his eyes, and his body. She was picking up on his
signals in an almost psychic way. Suddenly an image came into her mind. A
disturbing image of Mulder biting her on the back of her neck, holding her
immobile, drawing her blood. The blood dribbled down her back. The image
made her gasp, and abruptly, she was all over him. She grabbed his boxers
and actually tore them in her haste to pull them off. Mulder fell over onto
the bed, backwards but struggled upright to catch her as she followed him.

Scully couldn't grab, suck on, or stroke enough of him at once, and he was
struggling with her, fighting her off, resisting her. The resistance sent a
searing heat right between her legs. She was so excited from the battle
that the feeling took her to the brink and then over it, and she had a
crashing orgasm. As she came, her inner lubrication ran down her thighs.

Mulder tore Scully's little black lingerie number right off her body, his
nails scratching her as it ripped away. He flung it through the air and it
fell on the floor in a crumpled heap. He wanted her naked as quickly as
possible and all thoughts of gentleness were totally forgotten in his white
hot lust. Scully groaned, and then arched her neck in delight as Mulder
bent his head, and lapped at a bloody scratch near one of her taunt
nipples.

Mulder knelt on the bed, holding her by the wrists in front of him for a
moment, and Scully looked into his eyes. They weren't hazel any longer,
they were black, dark with his desire, two shadowed spots, two black holes,
and tonight, Scully wanted to go over the event horizon, and right down
into them both.

Mulder kissed her violently, crushing her mouth against his, taking her in,
forcing her head back. She struggled against him now, and her twisting and
turning made him achingly hard. Mulder flipped her around and held her arms
tight against her sides so she couldn't move. Scully tried to lever up to
gain some advantage, but he was too strong. She ground her ass against his
balls and cock. His hard on was crushed against their bodies, and he
groaned loudly into her ear.

They were becoming slick with sweat from struggling, and Scully was so wet
between her thighs, that she could barely feel the skin there any longer.
Mulder bent his head to her neck and worked his mouth and teeth down from
her ear to her shoulder. He reached a spot just next to the tip of her
clavicle and then he sucked on the skin so hard that Scully thought she
could hear every capillary in the area popping. She jerked her shoulder
aside but he brought his arms up higher, holding her immobile. She bent her
head forward and bit him on the arm. They hadn't spoken an intelligent word
until that point but then Mulder hissed, "Fuck..." and Scully arched back
violently into his body and moaned, "Oh God Mulder, Please - Fuck Me,
Pleaseeee!"

Mulder took one arm away from gripping her shoulders, and putting his hand
on the back of her neck threw her forward into the mattress, onto her knees
and forearms. He grabbed her around the waist with the same arm, and using
his other hand parted the folds of her cunt and rammed into her, hard, fast
and deep.

Scully cried out, but not in pain. His violent thrust met her lust
perfectly, and the pleasure was almost too much for her to bear. They were
both crying out now, words that neither one of them would ever dream of
saying to each other under their normal, gentle lovemaking. These were
words to match the darkness, the violent ecstasy of this unexpected, and
obscene, animalistic act.

Mulder continued to drive into her, both hands on either side of her hips
now, drawing her to him. Scully didn't need to be drawn, she was eagerly
meeting his cock, struggling to brace herself, back up on her hands and
knees now, against the mattress. She didn't want him to ever stop, and she
didn't want to come, she just wanted to feel him pounding into her,
groaning her name, and the things he wanted to do to her. "Harder, OHMYGOD,
don't stop, please don't stop!" she screamed.

Mulder was gone. He was focused on his penis and that was all. Focused on
the sensation of ramming into her, of Scully's tightness and wetness and
his plunging into the darkness, her darkness and his darkness. He was going
down, down somewhere, to a place he had never been with Scully, down where
it was black, into a hidden erotic, dark city. He sought another dimension,
a sybaritic metropolis of carnality he never new existed and wasn't sure he
wanted to know was there, even now. But he was searching for it, and he was
vaguely aware that Scully was screaming at him, and it was distracting him
from the trip. So, he slowed his thrusting and was greeted with a mewling
sound of protest from the kneeling body of his lover. Mulder draped his
body over Scully, his cock still hard and buried inside her up to the hilt.

"You don't want me to stop?" he hissed into her ear.

"You bastard..." she wheezed, breathing hard below him.

"What?" he asked quietly right next to her ear. Scully could just look
sideways into his profile. His eyes were closed, face flushed, and his full
lips were parted in erotic abandon. He looked feral, and his appearance
took her to another level, a higher plane of near orgasmic delirium. She
felt her body tighten around his cock. He grunted in time to her spasm.

"I don't want you to stop..." she whispered, breathless.

"Then beg me not to," he said. And she did without hesitation.

Mulder listened to her words for what seemed like an eternity. Scully
pleaded, and he held so still, and his breath came in labored gasps. Once
he moaned in a strange whining manner. Then finally when she thought she
couldn't stand it any longer, Mulder spoke, and his curt command which
should have disgusted, angered, and frightened her sent her instead into a
red hot, searing heat.

"Shut the fuck up, you bitch," Mulder snapped, and Scully groaned in torrid
ecstasy.

Scully was indeed somewhere else herself by this time. The only thing she
could feel was her cunt, and his cock and both were on fire.

Mulder rose up from leaning over her body, gripped her waist tightly, drew
out and then pulled back. Then, without any further warning, he thrust into
her so hard that she thought he would split her in two.

Scully cried out in surprise, and then she shrieked because she was coming
again. A burst of blinding light flashed in her head. The orgasm was quite
unexpected, and quite phenomenal, and she knew her body was squeezing
Mulder's cock like a vice grip. Mulder howled, pumping into her violently
twice more and then he came, ejaculating into her. She felt his warm semen
filling her, and then running down her thighs. He screamed to God, and then
he collapsed sideways, blacking out.

Scully fell over in front of him and he slid out of her, wetly. She rolled
over onto her stomach, and pushed him onto his back. He was really out of
it, his head lolling to the side. He was breathing hard, and his eyes lids
were fluttering.

"Mulder," she prodded him, "Oh Christ, Mulder!" Scully shook him and he
started to come round.

"Scully? What the...Jesus..are, are you all right?" he asked groggily,
concern on his face.

"God, Mulder I should be the one asking you that question," she gasped,
touching his chest and then his neck, feeling for his pulse.

He took her hand and kissed it. "Scully, My, God, What? What...Dana are you
all right?" he asked again still dazed.

"Mulder, please, I'm fine..." she whispered. 'God, what had come over
them?' she wondered. "Are YOU all right?" she asked, concerned. He wasn't
quite focused and it was scaring her.

"I'm, I'm ok, I think. I, Christ, I blacked out," he ran his hand over his
face. "Ha, uh, well, I guess, I hardly, Scully, I don't know what to
say..." he let his voice fade. It was obvious to Scully from the brief look
she had gotten into his haunted eyes, that Mulder was mortified at what had
just taken place between them. She looked at the arm that he had flung
abruptly across his face. There was a bloody bite mark on it.

"Oh my God, Mulder! Your arm!" she exclaimed, "Dear God, is that where - I
mean - I bit you! I'm so sorry, I didn't realize I'd been so rough."

"YOU were rough? Shit, Scully," Mulder replied quietly sitting up and
hugging his legs to his chest. "What the fuck was I thinking," he added
dismally. He felt like his balls were rapidly shrinking and seeking a safe
haven up in his groin somewhere.

"I'm going to get some alcohol and gauze, I'll be right back," she said as
she got up off the bed. Mulder watched her leave. He could see the bruises
all ready forming on her waist and backside. He cringed.

Mulder was totally at a loss for his behavior. He couldn't imagine what had
caused him to do what he had done to Scully. And the horrible part of the
whole thing was that he had a vague, rapidly disappearing, feeling that he
had enjoyed it.

Scully came back into the room with the disinfectant, cotton, gauze, tape
and scissors. Placing the alcohol on the night stand, she took his arm and
gently began to clean away the blood using the cotton swabs. 'The bite
isn't too deep, thank God," she thought, "but still...."

"Scully, I'm sorry," Mulder said.

"YOU'RE sorry?" she looked into his sad eyes. "Look at what I did to your
arm."

"It doesn't hurt very much," he said as she finished bandaging it.

"Well, I just hope it doesn't get infected. Human bites can be
extremely..." she whispered, laying the tape, and scissors on the night
stand.

"Scully, I know," he said touching her hair. She was shaking.

"Here, you're getting cold," he said and he pulled the covers back and
gently maneuvered her under them and then himself in beside her. He
stretched one arm out and turned off the bedside lamp. Mulder held her
close, and they were face to face in the darkness.

"Mulder, what was..?" she started to ask in a small voice. She was almost
afraid to ask. She had hurt him and she hated to admit it, but she had a
half remembered sensation that she had enjoyed doing it. Their frenzy had
been unbelievably pleasurable and even now her body buzzed with the memory
of his and her own roughness.

"I thinking?" he replied guiltily.

"I was going to say, what was I thinking?" she sighed.

"Scully, I don't have an explanation, I just want to tell you I never meant
for that to happen."

"Mulder, I think I enjoyed it," Scully interrupted him.

"What?" he asked as if he hadn't heard her correctly.

"I think, God, I, I can't believe it, but I think I enjoyed it."

"Really? Shit," Mulder replied. "I felt like I might have liked it too."

She put a finger to his lips and when she drew it away she could just make
out the stain in the darkness. There was blood on his bottom lip. "Listen,
Mulder, let, let's just forget this all right, chalk it up to hormones, or
the stress of the past two weeks, or that damn piece of lingerie I
bought...or whatever. Let's just go to sleep and forget about it," Scully
said, fatigue and the need to forget dragging her down into sleep's
embrace.

"Yeah, Scully, yeah," Mulder yawned, he was suddenly tremendously exhausted
and he snuggled against Scully as she turned over onto her other side. He
spooned closely against her and put one arm around her waist.

"I love you," Mulder breathed into her hair, as he drifted towards sleep.
"Dana, I'm, I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"It's all right, and I love you too - Fox," she replied kissing his arm.

Later Mulder's bladder woke him, and he went to the bathroom to relieve
himself. On the way back to the bedroom he thought he heard something in
the living room. He considered going back for his weapon and then chided
himself for being a bit too paranoid as he listened to the seemingly
random, insignificant sound. He also debated waking Scully, thought better
of it, and moved to shut the bedroom door as he crept out into the
apartment. Cold winter darkness met him there. There was no moon to send
light in through the windows. The street light in front of Scully's
apartment was burned out. A quick sweep of the area told him there was no
one in the rest of the apartment. Then he heard it again, an aimless
scratching. It was coming from outside the front windows. He walked over
and drew the curtain back. He was just in time to see a large dog running
off across the street, through the dark. He jumped. "Crap," he hissed,
startled. Then he chuckled as he glimpsed the dog's tail as it fled behind
the apartment building across the street, "God, someone's going to be
missing one huge mutt in the morning," he mused and then he went back to
bed.

Across the street, and behind the other apartment near a dumpster, the huge
red-furred shape stopped and crouched down. One large human like hand came
up and pulled a tape recorder out of it's mouth. He exhaled a cloud of
steam into the cold night air. Setting the device down on the cement, the
creature fumbled around with the bugging device it was also carrying and
then crushed it accidentally between it's powerful taloned fingers.

"Shit..." the wolf thing cursed gutturally as it tossed the useless piece
of electronics up into the dumpster. 'I'd better watch it with the
recorder,' he thought as he carefully depressed the off button. "Success!"
he growled as the tape stopped running.

"Oh, man, you're going to love this you butt puffing bastard," the thing
hissed as he tucked the recorder under one massive arm. He glanced back
around the dumpster in the direction of the apartment opposite. He knew the
asshole FBI guy was watching him. He could feel it. He chuckled at what he
had just made the skinny creep and his little women do. It had been easy to
follow them around town during their little shopping expedition that
afternoon. And equally easy to make the mind link that allowed him to
influence them later. The only thing that hadn't been easy was listening to
him fuck her brains out tonight. "Yeah, how come he got some, and I'm stuck
out here with a major case of blue balls?" he snarled. Such was the lot of
the subservient wolf - even if he was an enforcer. "Cocksucker," he rumbled
running his long pink tongue around his feral lips. Then he lifted his leg
and urinated copiously on the side of the dumpster. "Welcome to the jungle,
Agent Mulder," he said and then he turned, and rising onto two legs, loped
off into the shadows.

Scully pulled her car up in front of the departure terminal at Dulles
airport to drop Mulder off for his flight to Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon.
They had got up that morning and neither of them had mentioned what had
happened the night before. In truth, Scully could barely remember what had
transpired. The events had seemed almost like a dream. If it hadn't been
for her bruises, and Mulder's arm she would have thought it had been a
dream - a brutal, aberrant nightmare.

She could tell that Mulder was still deeply upset about hurting her, and he
had gone out of his way to show his care and love by touching her tenderly
every chance he got all morning long. She bore him no blame. His arm was
testament enough to her participation in their sadistic sexual gymnastics.
The whole incident was better forgotten for now. She'd consider talking to
him about it when he got back from Milwaukee - maybe. 'God, I'll have a lot
to discuss with him when he gets back,' she thought sighing. Mulder had
gotten out and she popped the tailgate. He was getting his duffel bag out
of the trunk as she got out and walked back to him.

"Be careful out there, Mulder, don't eat too much kielbasa," she said as he
hefted the duffel's strap over his shoulder.

"Hey, I hate that stuff," he grinned back at her boyishly. Her heart did a
back flip, because he looked so handsome in his LL Bean foul weather gear,
jeans, and hiking boots.

"Well, at least you won't have to smell the alewives this time," she
smiled. Then she stepped forward and hugged him hard around the middle. He
dropped the duffel and threw his arms around her shoulders.

"God, I'm going to miss you, Scully," he said.

"Well, it's only for a couple of days, I'll see you Wednesday," she told
him. "And, Mulder. I am going to talk to my Mother while you're gone. I'll,
I'll..."

"I know, Scully, don't worry about it, all right. Say hello to your Mom for
me," he was grinning again as he picked up his duffel bag. He turned and
went into the terminal. Scully watched him go, and then she got back into
her car, and pulled away from the curb, heading for home.

Across the city, in a glass fronted, concrete and steel, sterile, office
building, a man dressed in conservative black sat behind a desk in an
office on the top floor. He picked up another Morley, lit it and sucked the
acrid smoke deep into his lungs. As he exhaled, he pushed the button on the
cassette recorder again, and then used the same hand to adjust the
headphones on his head.

'Yes,' he thought. 'Mr. Rimmer certainly knows his business, this tape's
audio quality is crystal clear,' he coughed slightly as he listened
impassively to the sounds on the tape. The first part of the tape he found
particularly - he fished for a term - touching? No, cloying was a better
choice. Yes, saccharine - as Mulder proposed to the love of his life. God
what a moment,' he thought. Somewhere in the organ in his chest that passed
for a heart, he felt joy for Mulder, and ultimate sorrow for something he
would never experience - at least never again experience, although he had
come close - once. As he listened to Mulder expressing his love, however,
his cold calculating mind sealed off his heart, and he sneered at the
sounds on the tape. 'Weak, weak, weak,' he thought, the man is weak, and
I'm going to use that against him again and again. It's frustrating really,
you'd think he'd learn.' he mused stubbing out the cigarette in the ashtray
near his arm. He lit up another, and settled back, because the second part
of the tape was much more interesting.

He hadn't believed Rimmer at first when the man had told him what he could
do, so he had asked for a little demonstration. Rimmer had been only too
happy to oblige, so he had supplied him with the necessary sophisticated
bugging device and the location of the apartment. Rimmer had indeed done
the rest. His influence over the two FBI Agents had been total and absolute
and quite incredible to listen too. 'Hmmm, maybe I should have requested
video instead,' he considered as he listened to Scully's screams on the
tape. He felt a tightness in his groin and then he started to become hard.
He took the cigarette out of his mouth and put it down in the ash tray.
'Talk about coming back from the dead', he chuckled.

His return to power had been complete and a direct result from the good
sense of faking his own death. That ploy had worked better then even his
wildest dreams could have expected, and he had been able to consolidate his
position all over again. Revenge had been sweet and it would be even
sweeter soon, he thought, gently massaging his swelling organ. Just as he
was contemplating seriously taking matters into his own hands, his phone
rang. He flipped off the cassette recorder, took off the headphones, and
picked up the receiver, hissing into it, "Yes? Very well, send him in." He
picked up the half burned cigarette and took a drag on it as the office
door opened.

A tall, impeccably dressed man walked in. The man had ice blue eyes and
hair as golden red as a setting autumn sun. He stood formerly in front of
the smoking man's desk and inclined his head.

"Sit down, Mr. Rimmer," the man said indicating the chair in front of the
desk. Rimmer sat down.

"Well?" he asked quietly, "Did the tape meet with your approval?" he had a
very upper class British accent.

"As a matter of fact, the tape is superb," the man replied blowing smoke in
his direction. Rimmer wrinkled his nose and coughed slightly.

"So, I take it that means you would like to employ my services?" he asked
moistening his lips with the tip of his pink tongue.

"Yes, I believe I would like to do that, Mr. Rimmer," the man answered, "I
believe I would."

Fox Mulder walked through the airport terminal towards the departure gate
for his flight to Milwaukee. He was still troubled over his actions of the
night before. He still couldn't imagine what had come over him, or Scully
for that matter. He didn't blame her for biting him. She had bitten him
when he had restrained her, it had almost been self defense. But the rest
of it - God. Had she really enjoyed all that? Had he really enjoyed it?
Rough sex had never really been his scene, it had been one of Phoebe
Green's many scenes, and yes, another aspect of their relationship that he
abhorred to this day. He shook his head to clear his mind as he walked down
the concourse.

Mulder reached the baggage check with it's x-ray and metal detectors. He
placed his duffel bag on the conveyer and then flashed his FBI
identification, and displayed both his guns. The Sheriff on duty raised an
eyebrow at the ankle holster but he was waved on through anyway. As he
walked on down to the gate his thoughts still churned a bit.

'I guess I should just chalk last night up to that fucking Philly homicide
case, and the stress of the last two weeks,' Mulder thought, 'I'll think
about talking it over with Scully when I get back. I guess we're going to
have a lot to talk about,' he sighed. But his mood lifted slightly when he
remembered their Friday evening and how wonderful it had been with the
relaxing soak together. Despite their argument things had turned around for
the better. Seeing her laughing at his proposal had been icing on the cake.
When he thought about Friday he felt like he was walking on air even if he
wasn't sure what her answer would be. Even the anticipation of her answer
was exciting - a new and refreshing feeling for him.

'Why can't you do anything conventionally?' she had asked. 'Because I like
to surprise you and see you laugh,' he thought smiling to himself. 'If
acting like an idiot will let me see that smile in your eyes, Scully, I'll
be happy to drool down my shirt for you any time,' he added to himself,
grinning. As he smiled a voice interrupted his pleasant revelry.

"Hey, G-man what are you grinning at?"

Mulder looked over beside him and then down into the face of Melvin
Frohike, Lone Gunman, photographer and occasional partner in crime.

"Frohike?" Mulder raised an eyebrow, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Catching a plane, Mr. FBI, what do you think?" Frohike replied grinning as
they reached the gate area for the Milwaukee flight.

"On this flight?" Mulder winced. 'Oh oh,' he thought.

"Yeah, I'm going to Milwaukee, Mulder. Surprise!" and then Frohike cracked
up. The look on Mulder's face causing the photographer to dissolve
helplessly into one of the plastic chairs.

"You're flying to Milwaukee? What for?" Mulder fished, confused.

Frohike struggled to compose himself as he looked up at the blinking
Mulder.

"Yeah, I didn't want to tell you, big guy, but I'm going to Milwaukee for
that Whisper Group meeting. I'm giving a paper on the use of special
filters in photographing psychic phenomenon. You know - how to get a better
look under the ghostly sheets," he guffawed.

Mulder put his duffel down on the floor and sat down heavily into a chair
next to Frohike.

"So, why didn't you mention this to me earlier, when you hacked that file,
and helped Scully and I last week?" Mulder asked.

"Well, you two were so busy, and you looked like someone had run you both
over. I just decided to let sleeping dogs lie. Hell, it wasn't important at
the time. I just thought I'd surprise you out in the dairy state. I had no
idea we'd be on the same flight," he sat back and unbuttoned his leather
coat. His battered carry-on was at his feet along with his rather
impressive and much newer camera case.

"So I'm going to be blessed with your company for the entire trip?" Mulder
asked, "Hey, and why didn't Janet mention you were giving a presentation?"

"She probably thought I'd tell you. Jimmy Rafferty was the one that invited
me anyway. I'm staying at his place," Frohike answered, "And yeah, we're
going to be traveling companions, Mulder. Kind of cool hey? A road trip,
just like *Easy Rider*."

'Thank God for small favors,' Mulder thought. Janet had arranged to have
Mulder stay at an FBI owned apartment in downtown Milwaukee. 'And who am I,
Peter Fonda?' he thought, 'I guess that makes Frohike, Dennis Hopper,' he
mused looking at the grizzled little photographer. Well, hey, Frohike was
all right. He had helped them more then he would ever know in that
pharmaceutical case, as well as so many times before. Mulder liked the guy.
He was a friend. A geek, but a friend nonetheless. But then Mulder was an
acknowledged geek himself. He smiled at Frohike, "Yeah, well, you're
dressed for the part," he joked, slapping the lapel of Frohike's leather
jacket.

"Only the best quality goods for me," Frohike laughed. "And besides,
leather jackets really turn the ladies on," he arched an eyebrow.

Mulder guffawed himself this time.

"And speaking of ladies, Mulder, how is the enigmatic Agent Scully?" he
asked. Frohike had a thing for Scully, of course. It was equal parts
serious, good natured fun, and healthy sexual attraction, and Mulder
sometimes thought he was really a bit in love with her too. He always tried
to respect Frohike's feelings regarding Scully just in case they were
actually a little deeper then his off color jokes and leers indicated.
Sometime soon he was going to have to tell him about his own relationship
with her. He didn't want the guy to make a fool out of himself around her.
He owed him more respect.

"Ever enigmatic," Mulder answered smiling, "She's doing fine, Frohike. In
fact, she did say to tell you thanks for helping on the case the next time
I saw you. You really were instrumental in solving it," he added.

Frohike visibly swelled. He was smiling from ear to ear, "It was my
pleasure, Mulder, after all, when you need the best you know you two can
always count on me," he was almost bobbing up and down from the flattery.

"Right," Mulder suppressed a laugh. They were interrupted by the
announcement that their flight was boarding and both men picked up their
luggage and headed for the entrance to the plane's gangway. As they talked
and joked neither man noticed the tall, red headed Tony Rimmer as he picked
up his suitcase and boarded the plane after them.

The flight was uneventful. Mulder tried to doze a bit, but Frohike had left
his seat and taken the empty one next to Mulder in order to talk to him
about his photographic presentation. Mulder actually got interested in what
Frohike had to say, but then he asked him to stop giving so much of the
presentation away. "Hey I have to have something left to listen to during
the Whisper meeting besides my own voice," he joked. Frohike had laughed
and put his lenses and camera back into his camera case. They made small
talk again but then Frohike started to nod off and Mulder suggested the
grizzled Lone Gunman put his seat back and nap. Frohike yawned and complied
with the suggestion. 'Good,' Mulder thought, 'now I can do the same,' and
he put his seat back as well, stretched out his legs as best he could, and
shut his eyes. The next thing Mulder knew the fasten seat belt sign was
coming on again with a ding, and the plane was making it's approach over
the lake and into Milwaukee's airport. It was 4 PM and the sun was starting
to go down over the horizon.

"Mulder, Frohike," Janet Price called from the gate area of the United
Airlines satellite terminal at Mitchell Field in Milwaukee. Mulder smiled
and waved back. Frohike was hurrying forward through the crowd to meet her.
As Mulder hefted his duffel to follow, a tall, red headed man bumped into
him. Mulder turned to look at the expensive leather coat the guy was
wearing and then he looked up into his eyes. They were ice blue, cold, and
bottomless. Mulder blinked and when he opened his eyes again the man was
gone. He shook his head, 'Welcome to Milwaukee, Mr. Freeze,' he thought,
shivering slightly. He suddenly had an impression that someone was walking
over his grave, and it startled him. But, as quickly as the feeling of
dread was there, it dissipated slightly, and Mulder was grinning again
because Janet was laughing as he drew near. Frohike had dropped his bags
and grabbed her in an excited hug.

"Janet, you look like a million bucks," Frohike slapped her on the back.
They were pretty much the same height. "Hey, you've cut your hair, it looks
great!" he complimented her.

"Wow, Frohike it really must be a good look for me if you noticed the
change," she teased pounding his back as well. Besides being the same
height, they both wore thick glasses and leather jackets, and Mulder
thought they looked like they could almost be brother and sister. Janet's
short white-blond hair bounced around her head as she released Frohike, and
then she turned towards Mulder, a beaming smile on her face.

"Mulder...." she began.

Mulder stepped forward and to Janet's surprise, he also dropped his bag and
hugged her tight. Her face was crushed into his chest at a level slightly
lower then Scully's would have been. Her glasses were pushed askew.

"Mulder, how the hell have you been," she giggled, pulling away from him
and looking up into his face.

"I'm great, Janet, and Frohike's right, the do is you," he laughed as she
punched him lightly in the stomach.

"We'd better get out of the way here you guys, I think we're blocking
traffic," she said and the three compatriots gathered themselves together
and headed up into the main terminal.

"So, Janet, where's Jimmy?" Frohike asked as they passed the shops and bars
that lined the route.

"Oh, Jim stayed back at the *Whisper House*. He had some tapes he was
listening to from our last investigation and you know how he is when he
gets involved - you can't pry him away," Janet replied with humor.

"So the House remodeling is done?" Mulder asked looking over and down at
the smaller women.

"Oh, thank God, yes it is - I didn't tell you guys. We're all moved in and
well - I sort of wanted it to be a surprise. I'm really proud of it," she
enthused, "Wait till you see the place."

Mulder was very pleased for her. Janet Price had been dreaming for years of
a special headquarters for *The Whisper Group*. A large house somewhere on
the eclectic East Side of Milwaukee, near the university where like minded
individuals could stay and study the occult and the supernatural. Several
years before, after the death of her parents left her a small inheritance,
Janet had purchased an old boarding house on Shepard Avenue. Now it seemed
her dream had come to fruition and Mulder grinned because Janet was almost
walking on air.

"Wow, that's fantastic, Janet," Frohike added, beaming also.

"Yeah, great, I'll really look forward to the grand tour," Mulder
interjected as they reached the main part of the terminal and headed
towards the parking garage exit.

"Well, you'll be getting more than a tour actually, Mulder, you'll both be
staying there for the duration," Janet replied a bit of embarrassment in
her voice.

"Both staying where?" Mulder asked, his voice rising an octave.

Frohike started to laugh.

"Did you know about this too?" Mulder asked, annoyance creeping into his
voice as he squinted at Frohike.

"Cool your jets, Mulder," Janet hastened to break up any animosity.

"No, it's OK, Janet, I deserve it. I neglected to tell the G-man that I was
coming out for the conference. But, no, Mulder, I had no idea we'd be
bunking together," Frohike smirked, "Jim just said I'd be staying at his
place."

"Well, for God sake, we do have separate rooms for you," Janet sighed,
"Look, Mulder. I tried to get that FBI owned apartment for you, but the
office is keeping a witness in it right now. So, I thought this would be
the next best thing. If it's a problem I can arrange for a room at the
Hyatt, downtown. That's where the conference it taking place."

Mulder ran a hand through his hair. Crap he hadn't meant to jump on Janet
or Frohike. He just seemed tense. He had since he bumped into that tall guy
at the gate. 'Get a grip, Mulder,' he thought. 'These people are amongst
the friends you can count on one hand, for crying out loud. What's the
problem?'

"Hey, I'm sorry you two. I guess I'm still a little fried from the last
couple of weeks. Scully and I had some trouble with a case in Philadelphia,
Janet - it's still got me sort of over a barrel," he offered in way of an
apology.

Frohike gave him a sympathetic look and patted him on the back, "No problem
amigo, no offense taken," he hurried to say.

"Apology accepted here as well," Janet was grinning again, "And Mulder, you
can feel free to relax in Milwaukee. You're a guest of *The Whisper Group*
- consider this a mini vacation."

Mulder smiled at Janet and attempted to shake off his formless feelings of
edginess. By the time they reached the inside of the parking garage he felt
a bit better, and he hefted his duffel bag as they approached a new deluxe
long body Dodge Caravan in one of the parking stalls.

"Whoa, Janet is this yours?" Frohike asked running his hand along the hood
of the black vehicle. Mulder walked over and read the logo *The Whisper
Group*. *Psychic investigators* was written in small letters underneath and
the group's address and phone number under it, all emblazoned in white
along the side.

"This IS nice, Janet," he said.

"Well, it's one of two we are now proud to owe payments on," she laughed.
The other is identical except it's full of equipment. This one does
chauffeuring duties. Gentlemen..." she added opening one of the large side
doors.

Mulder and Frohike climbed into the back, and dumping their bags at their
feet, took the bench seat. Janet climbed into the front seat and turned the
key in the ignition. She backed the van out of the stall and they drove out
of the parking garage, and out onto Howell Avenue.

"Scenic or fast and dirty route?" Janet asked.

"Scenic," Mulder and Frohike answered in unison, and then all three of them
burst into laughter, and Mulder felt most of his tension drain away.

Janet pulled the van into the two and half car garage next to the large
three story white boarding house on Shepard Avenue. Mulder and Frohike got
out and followed her around to the columned porch that stretched full
length across the front of the edifice. There was a tasteful sign to the
left of the double front doors that said *The Whisper Group - Paranormal
Investigation and Research*. Janet unlocked the front door and they passed
through the vestibule, and through the inner double doors into the front
hallway. Mulder and Frohike put their luggage under a large side table that
sat against one wall. All three hung their coats on a clothes tree nearby.

Jimmy Rafferty was pounding down the large sailing ship style staircase
that faced the doorway, an enormous grin on his face, "Hey, hey, hey,
welcome to Brewtown," he laughed bouncing up to Frohike and grabbing his
hand and arm.

"Jimbo!" Frohike laughed pumping the younger man's hand up and down.

Rafferty was taller, and much more muscular than Mulder, and as blond as
Janet. He dwarfed the photographer and Mulder suppressed a guffaw as the
two proceeded to pummel each other on the back. Rafferty released Frohike
and then spun around to grab Mulder's hand in a death grip.

"Rafferty," Mulder smiled broadly as the blond giant shook his entire arm.

"Mulder, Mulder, Mulder, how the hell are you," he asked, his green eyes
shining.

"Well, except for the broken arm, I'm doing great," he joked as Rafferty
stopped shaking and guffawed loudly.

"Glad to hear it Mr. GQ or should I say, LL Bean. I like those boots," he
added grinning at Mulder.

"Hey, jumping bean, how about me?" Janet laughed as Rafferty turned towards
her voice.

"Oh, sorry babe, I just got carried away with these two reprobates," he
teased walking over to her and sweeping her up into his arms. He squeezed
her tight and planted a kiss on her head, "That better?"

"Much," she smiled up into his eyes.

Frohike and Mulder exchanged glances and Frohike was smiling like the
Cheshire cat. Well, obviously here was a little development he had also
neglected to tell Mulder about. Janet Price had been a very lonely woman
for quite some time having been through a bad early marriage with a husband
who abused her. She had known Jim Rafferty for a number of years as a good
and faithful friend. Now it appeared that the relationship had taken a new
turn. Mulder sighed. The parallels between his relationship with Scully
were only too obvious. Frohike continued to grin at him, and soon Mulder
was caught up in the moment as well, and smiled back at the Lone Gunman.

"So, something you'd like to tell me, Janet, besides "Welcome to the new
Whisper House," Mulder chuckled looking at the mismatched couple.

Rafferty looked from Janet, to Frohike, to Mulder, and back to Janet again.
"Didn't you tell him?" he asked confused.

Janet laughed, "No, I got as far as telling Frohike but, well, I just
didn't have time to say anything to Mulder."

"Oh for Pete's sake, Janet," Rafferty winced slightly shamefaced.

Mulder was still chuckling at the two of them.

"Mulder, I guess it's obvious by now anyway, but I'll make it official -
Janet and I are getting married, the date's set for this June," he smiled
gently over at the much shorter woman.

Mulder looked at Janet then, and saw the ring on her finger. He chuckled,
'Should have spotted that one, Doh!'

"Hey, congratulations," Mulder reached forward and took Rafferty's hand
again. He shook it vigorously. Then he let his hand go and walking over to
Janet looked down into her face. "Congratulations, mighty mouse," he said
quietly. It was his pet name for her, and Janet smiled up into his eyes.
Mulder took her gently into his embrace and hugged her close. He really was
tremendously happy for her, and despite the poignancy of the similarity
with his and Scully's situation, he let his pleasure in the news of her
impending marriage have free reign.

Janet pulled away from Mulder and there were tears in her eyes behind her
thick spectacles. "God, Mulder, I...thanks so much," she was flustered.

Rafferty stepped forward to her aid, "Hey, you two, you have to take a tour
of this place. You gotta see what Janet has done with it!"

"Oh, Jim, come on, take some of the credit - the place wouldn't be anywhere
near ready if it hadn't been for you," Janet added jabbing him in the ribs.

"Let's see it then, if you two can cut out the mutual admiration society,"
Frohike playfully grouched.

"Right O Fro - follow the guide and keep your hands behind the ropes
please," Rafferty laughed, sweeping his hand around the hallway.

Rafferty lead them around the house and both Mulder and Frohike were soon
impressed with the remodeling job. On the ground floor there was a small
but comprehensive research library to the right of the front door. Mulder
noticed many rare volumes on the occult. On the left was a den and a large
dining room with a huge wooden table and chairs at it's center. There was a
charming plant filled room off the dining room and then a hallway that lead
to the back of the house into a huge kitchen and laundry room. Once they
had seen the ground floor they proceeded to the second floor up the
sweeping staircase.

"These are some private testing and conference rooms up here and three
sleeping rooms. This is where we're going to put you guys, if that's ok?"
Janet asked.

"No problem, here," Mulder replied. He wanted to make up for his earlier
graceless comments regarding the accommodations.

"Looks fine to me too," Frohike added.

"Fantastic," Rafferty chimed in. Let's head upstairs. The third floor
consisted of four individual sleeping rooms and a larger double room suite.

"Uh, this is our suite," Janet said shyly glancing at her fiancee,
indicating the door to the rooms.

Mulder smiled at her and Frohike did his best not to leer for a change.

There's an attic above us, but it's just storage. Let's go down to the
basement - that's where this house really shines," Rafferty was saying as
they all turned to trudge back down the stairs.

The group went all the way downstairs and into the circular hallway that
bounded the stairs, the dining room, and kitchen. There was a door just off
the right of the stairs. Janet opened it and Mulder could see over her head
at the steps leading down. "Watch out you guys, these are a little steep,"
she warned as they made to descend.

Rafferty had reached past Frohike and turned on a light switch at the head
of stairs. The room below them was bathed in bright white light. When they
reached the bottom of the stairs a huge room, running the length of the
house, stretched before them. It was filled with every kind of equipment
imaginable from computers to sophisticated photographic equipment, and
Frohike whistled in obvious appreciation.

"Holy shit, you two. Wait till Langly and Byers hear about this," he
exclaimed with delight, moving off into the room, and rubbing his hands
together. Rafferty hastened to follow and the two friends were instantly
caught up in a discussion over a new computer Rafferty had on a work bench
nearby. Mulder and Janet stood together at the bottom of the stairs and
shook their heads in amusement.

"Well, I guess that's it for the tour," Mulder said, smiling slightly at
Janet.

"I guess so, you know how they are," she chuckled.

Mulder sat down on the steps so he could look Janet more directly in the
eyes, "Janet, I am really happy for you," he said quietly.

"Thanks Mulder, I, well, that means a lot coming from you," she replied
laying a hand briefly on his shoulder. "But, Mulder, are you ok? I mean you
did seem awfully tense. Is there anything you'd like to talk about?" Janet
asked with concern.

"No, it's ok, Janet. I'm just still beat from the casework, that's all. I'm
sure the time here is going to help me to relax. Don't worry about it."

"All right, but remember if there's anything you need to vent about, I'm
here, Spooky," she whispered.

"Thanks, lady," he smiled up at her.

Janet turned and called over to the two occupied photographers. "Hey,
Frohike, don't you want to see your room?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess I should stow my stuff," Frohike replied.

"Well, let's go back upstairs and get it," Rafferty offered and all four
made the pilgrimage back to the first floor hallway.

Mulder and Frohike retrieved their gear. Mulder carried his coat and his
duffel and Frohike shrugged his coat back on. Rafferty excused himself to
answer the telephone that was wringing insistently from the den. "See you
guys later," he said.

Janet lead them back up to the second floor, "The rooms have individual
sinks and toilets but the shower and tub are at the back of this floor. The
linen closet is back there too if you guys need any more towels. Also,
we're on the sweat equity system here folks - you make up your own beds. We
can't have everything I guess," she laughed.

"Gee, just like college," Frohike grinned at Mulder as the Agent grimaced
slightly.

"Well, this room is yours if you want it Frohike," Janet was saying
indicating the first room at the top of the stairs. "And Mulder you can
bunk next to him, all right?"

"No sweat, Janet," Frohike smiled at her and opened the door to the room.

"Thanks for the hospitality, Janet, I really mean it," Mulder grinned at
her and squeezed her hand with affection.

"Oh, I almost forgot," she said reaching into her jean's pocket, "we have
keys so you can lock up your valuables and get in the front door as well,"
she added handing them both two keys.

"Why don't you guys get settled and then come back downstairs. Jim and I
would like to treat you all to dinner tonight, we thought Japanese if you
wouldn't mind. We made reservations at Izumis - they serve great sushi."

"All right!" Frohike agreed with enthusiasm.

"Sounds like a plan, Janet," Mulder added.

"All right, I'm going to go downstairs and find out who that was on the
phone. You guys come on back downstairs as soon as you're ready. No big
rush - our reservations are for 8 PM."

"Cool," Frohike replied opening the door to this room. "See you all in a
bit," he added shutting the door behind him.

"Later, Mulder," Janet called back over her shoulder as she headed back
down the stairs.

Mulder opened the door to his room and walked in. It was plain but
comfortable looking with a full sized bed, dresser, night stand, desk
chair, and reading lamp. The bathroom and closet were small but adequate.
Mulder walked over and placed his duffel bag down on the chair at the desk.
He took his cell phone out of his coat pocket, threw the coat on the bed,
and flipped open the cover on the cell phone. He sat down on the bed and
dialed Scully's number.

The phone only rang twice. "Scully," her voice reached his ear over the
distance.

"Hey, Scully," he smiled into the phone, "Miss me yet?"

"Miss you much," she replied. He could hear the love in her voice and his
heart did a handstand in his chest.

"How was the flight?" she was asking.

"Uneventful except Frohike was on it," he chuckled.

"Frohike?" Scully replied, confused.

"Yeah, the little dweeb neglected to tell me he was coming out here for
this conference. He's the other keynote speaker."

"Oh for God's sake," Scully snorted into the phone.

"Well, his paper does sound kind of interesting - I got a sneak preview on
the plane," Mulder replied.

"Thank heavens for small favors," Scully said.

"Yeah."

"So, when do you take center stage?" she asked.

"The conference is only one day - I go on Tuesday afternoon. I guess I'm
being left to my own devices tomorrow. We're all having dinner tonight."

"Sounds nice," she answered.

"Hey, and guess what, Scully? Janet and Jimmy Rafferty are getting
married."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a second and then Scully
replied, "Get out, Mulder!"

"No, really, the weddings in June," he insisted.

"My God, tell her I said congratulations. Mulder, that, that's wonderful!"
Scully enthused.

"Yeah, they seem really happy," Mulder agreed, "And oh by the way, the
Whisper House is now a reality, and Frohike and I are both staying here for
the conference."

"That's marvelous!" Scully replied, "Lord, I am so excited for her, for
them," she added.

"So, I guess I'd better get going," Mulder said.

"All right, and Mulder, my mother is definitely coming back tomorrow
afternoon. She called again to let me know, and I volunteered to pick her
up at the airport so she wouldn't have to take a cab. I'm going to talk her
into visiting me, Mulder. We, I'm going to have that talk with her." There
was nervous anticipation in her voice, but Mulder thought he also heard
resolve there as well.

"Well, that's good Scully, I, I really appreciate it. Say hi to your Mom
for me," Mulder replied kindly, chewing on his lower lip.

"All right," she answered quietly and then she added, "I love you, Mulder."

"I love you too, Scully, I'll call you tomorrow night, OK?"

"No, I'd better try to call you, I'm not sure what's going to happen
tomorrow night," she said, a grin in her voice. "I'll give you a call
Tuesday sometime and let you know how things went."

Mulder grinned as well then, "OK, Scully, I'll expect your call. Good
luck."

"Thanks, Mulder," and she broke the connection. Mulder turned off the phone
with a sigh and tossed it over onto the top of his duffel bag. 'I hope
Margaret Scully has more of an open mind then her son, or else this ship is
going to go down fast,' he thought staring off into space, lost in his
emotions.

In downtown Milwaukee a dark blue Ford Taurus pulled up to the Phister
Hotel on Wisconsin Avenue. A very dapper Tony Rimmer stepped out, garment
bag grabbed from the back seat, in hand. He handed the keys to the valet so
that the rental car could be parked in the hotel garage. He watched as the
car was driven away, exhaling into the cold early evening air. The Phister
was his kind of hotel. Old and richly appointed, it oozed class and
history. It wasn't new, bland and uninteresting like the Hyatt or Whyndham
Suite hotels across the river. The tall red headed enforcer walked in
through the front entrance and into the lobby. He inhaled the many scents
with delight. God, he loved coming to a new city. There were so many
sensations to explore. He still remembered the scent of that prick, Mulder,
from the airport. He had bumped into him to get his smell and then to just
tweak his mind a little for fun. He'd also smelled the heady aroma of the
FBI Agent's girl friend on his clothing and skin. He idly wondered if the
dickhead had fucked her again in the morning after Rimmer's little induced
night of debauchery. It didn't quite smell like it though, so he supposed
the creep had held himself back. 'What a schmuck,' he thought, 'if I had a
piece of ass around like that I'd bang it every chance I got,' he thought
with a sneer, as he walked up to the hotel registration desk. 'Well, plenty
of time to entertain myself with Mr. Mulder,' he mused, 'the game is about
to begin in earnest."

"May I help you sir," the dark haired woman behind the desk asked him.

"Yes, you can my dear, I have a reservation, Anthony Rimmer," he replied, a
feral grin oh his lips.

Mulder got ready to leave his room after unpacking and putting his clothing
away in the dresser. He had changed into his black turtle neck and a sports
coat for dinner out. He was rather proud that the rolled up coat had
survived the trip in his duffel bag without becoming too wrinkled. He
slipped his cell phone into his jacket pocket. He kept his holster and
weapon on his belt behind his back, and under the sports coat. He had
removed the ankle holster and left it, along with it's gun, in the desk
drawer. Mulder finally jammed his ID into his back pocket, picked up his
LL. Bean outer coat, and opening the room's door walked out into the
upstairs hallway. Frohike was nowhere to be seen so he headed for the
stairs without him. He glanced at his watch. It was 7 PM all ready. His
stomach growled loudly and he grinned sheepishly, 'Looks like it's lucky I
don't have much longer to wait for dinner.' He walked down the stairs.

He could hear Frohike, Janet and Jim Rafferty talking in the den. As he
crossed the hallway to join them the front door bell rang. "I'll get it,"
he called into the den, and he crossed over to the large doors to the
vestibule, stopping to hang his coat on the coat tree. Mulder yanked the
doors open with an authoritative pull and then his mouth dropped open, and
he blinked in shock at the figure standing there getting ready to knock on
the inner doors.

"Good evening, Agent Mulder," the silky voice of the statuesque Sian
Phillips said, with a smile, and gleam in her striking green eyes.

Mulder just stared, prompting the blond to say, "May I come in?" He stepped
back, and she walked past him into the hallway.

Janet was coming out of the den along with Rafferty and Frohike, "Sian, I'm
glad you could make it," she was smiling as the taller woman took off her
coat and placed it on the coat tree.

"I appreciate the dinner invitation," she replied graciously turning to
face the group, "it's nice to be included in your plans. You make a new
girl in town feel very welcome."

"New? You've been here six months!" Rafferty laughed.

Frohike was ogling Sian Phillips like he had never seen a woman before, and
Mulder's expression wasn't much better. Janet looked from one to the other
and then asked, "Do you three know each other or something?"

"Uh, no," Frohike gulped.

"Yes, Ms. Phillips and I have had the pleasure," Mulder finally found his
voice.

Jim Rafferty chimed in, "You've met?" he asked.

"Yes, as Agent Mulder said, we've had that pleasure," Sian smiled at Mulder
as he struggled to swallow.

Sian Phillips had a secret identity, of course. She was a werewolf, plain
and simple. She had also been the librarian at the Addison Public library
during Mulder and Scully's brush with death under the hands of the
murderous werewolf Ross Baker. Sian was sort of a canine hit woman for the
hidden society of shapeshifters that walked among human kind. She had saved
their lives in Addison by killing Ross Baker. She had also helped to heal
Mulder's injuries and at Scully's request, wiped his memory clean of the
horrendous fact that Baker had raped him while he and Scully had been held
hostage.

Mulder wouldn't remember that she was a wolf either, he thought he had
saved Scully and killed Baker. Sian had wiped her shapeshifing identity
from his mind. But he did remember his first impression of her in the
summer heat of the Addison public library basement, along with the memory
of the instant, awkwardly embarrassing hard on he had gotten on the
occasion. Her non-human presence still affected him without his realization
and it was made slightly worse by the fact that Sian had been in intimate
psychic contact with him during the fateful events in Addison. She was
slightly amused about the effect she was having on him despite Mulder's
discomfort. It was always nice to know one hadn't lost one's touch.
However, she remembered Scully, and her love for this man, and she hastened
to touch his hand. She shook it, and as she did so, she sent out a calming
tendril of psychic energy into his mind. Mulder visibly relaxed and
returned the handshake with a smile.

Frohike was bobbing around like he was stepping on hot coals. "Oh, Sian,
this is Melvin Frohike," Rafferty quickly added.

"Frohike? Didn't you write that article in the last newsletter - the
article on spirit photography?" she asked with interest.

Frohike puffed up like a blow fish, "Right, yes, I wrote it."

"Well, we'll have to discuss that further, Melvin, it was very
interesting," Sian smiled and shook his hand.

Frohike practically fell over, and Mulder suppressed his laughter. The guy
looked like he had no idea what to do with the attention Mulder thought.

Mulder, Frohike and Sian Phillips continued to talk, and as they did so Jim
Rafferty pulled Janet Price aside and whispered into her ear.

"Did you know he knew her?" he asked.

"No, she didn't say a thing about it," Janet replied frowning.

"Well, this could be a little awkward," Jim hissed.

"Not really, I mean they seem friendly. Maybe that will be an advantage."

"God, Janet I still can't believe you tried to set him up with her like
this, it, it's so contrived."

"Oh come on, Jimmy, Mulder's unattached, and I know he's lonely. He's such
a workaholic he has no social life. It's about time somebody introduced him
to a nice woman for a change."

"All right, all right. But let's hope this little blind date works or we
could all be eating crow in the morning," he finished.

Sian was laughing at something Mulder had said, and Janet glanced at Jim
with a look that said "See, I told you so," "Well, I vote we get going,
folks, personally, I'm starving," she said aloud.

"I'll second that motion," Mulder replied and they all gathered up their
coats and exited the house for the garage and the drive to Izumis.

As the black van pulled out and away from Shepard Avenue, past Sian
Phillip's parked Toyota RAV4, a silent figure sat up into full view inside
the blue Ford Taurus. Tony Rimmer licked his lips. 'Hmmm, this is an
interesting development,' he thought as he caught a glimpse of Sian
Phillip's head in the passing van's window. 'So the she-wolf is in
residence,' he grinned, 'Well, the more the merrier,' he chuckled. Tony
knew Sian. He had worked with her once and had a grudging admiration for
her skills as a killer. She could be a formidable adversary, but he
welcomed the challenge if it was too come.

Tony was late of the British Isle branch of the shapeshifting clan. He had
only come to the states comparatively recently, having been sent as an
official emissary by the London area alpha wolf. His mission was to gather
information on the colonies comings and goings. There was some intrigue and
rivalry between the old world and new world clans, and Tony enjoyed his
investigative capacity. He also enjoyed the liberal leeway in the business
that the alpha wolf had given him. Tony's little side jobs, like this one
for the cigarette smoking bastard, were part of the perks of his occupation
as spy and enforcer. He enjoyed every minute of the moonlighting - not to
mention the lucrative cash he made. 'As long as I'm discreet anything
goes,' he thought, stretching his back in the confines of the cars front
seat. 'And if that bitch, Sian gets in the way, she's dead meat,' he added
fishing around on the seat next to him, 'Now, where the fuck did I put
those bugging devices?' he mused as his hand fell on the tiny box. 'Good,
now I'd better get to work before the goon squad gets back here,' he
finished exiting the car quietly, and heading towards the darkened *Whisper
House*.

Izumis was packed so it was lucky that Janet had gotten their party
reservations. The group of five was escorted to two pushed together tables
in a small alcove off to the side and they were soon ensconced and perusing
their menus. Janet made sure that Sian was seated between Mulder and
Frohike and then she sat back with the hope that something would develop
between Mulder and the stunning blond librarian. Once they had placed their
orders they all began to chat while they waited for the food.

"So, how many people are coming to the conference?" Frohike asked Janet.

"We're expecting 100 people this year, it'll be a nice turn out," she
replied.

"Yeah, I was really surprised," Jimmy added, "also, you guys, we're having
an open house tomorrow up at Shepard Avenue. You're welcome to stick around
for it or take off on your own. Whatever, either is fine."

"Sounds interesting," Mulder offered, "I'll probably stick around for a
while."

"Yeah, me too, I'd like to see who shows up," Frohike added taking a sip of
his Japanese beer.

"So, Sian, you're living in Milwaukee now?" Mulder asked the women to his
left.

"Yes, Fox, I decided to move a little over six months ago. Addison was such
a nice town, but quite frankly the pay there was making it hard for me to
live comfortably. I'm a librarian at the main library downtown now. It's
very rewarding so far, and Milwaukee is a nice smaller city. Everyone has
been very friendly," she said smiling at him.

"So you're a member of *The Whisper Group*," Frohike asked staring at her.
Mulder looked at him and he started to hope that the photographer wasn't
going to make a fool out of himself in front of this woman. He made a
mental note to watch Frohike's beer intake. The guy could get rather
strange after he'd had too many.

Sian stared back at the smaller man and a smile played about her lips. For
some odd reason she liked this little fellow. He was eccentric, but he had
well, he had an interesting mind. She had just skimmed the surface of it
when they had shaken hands, and it had proved as absorbing as the article
he had written for *The Whisper Group* newsletter. He also had a very
interesting scent that she found attractive. And he was a friend of
Mulder's so he had that going for him as well. 'Hmmm, maybe I should get to
know him a little better,' she mused as she formulated an answer to his
question. "Yes, Melvin," I joined it almost right after I moved here. I've
always had a terrific interest in the occult and supernatural. I have an
interest in amateur photography as well so that part of the group's
investigations fascinates me. Jimmy has been really helpful in honing my
photographic skills," she nodded over at Rafferty, and then she fixed
Frohike with a shining smile.

Frohike was poleaxed by this time. His brain was on auto pilot and he took
a really deep swig of his beer as Sian picked up her cocktail and took a
dainty sip of it. "Photography?" he asked, "Well, maybe we can talk about
that a little more later," he managed to say.

"Yes, that would be nice, I'd like that," Sian replied staring into his
glasses.

Mulder sat back and raised an eyebrow. 'Holy shit,' he thought, 'she's
actually flirting with Frohike.'

Janet Price let a frown pass across her mouth. Her brow furrowed. She knew
flirting when she saw it even though it wasn't something with which she had
very much personal experience. 'What the heck is going on here?' she
considered with confusion. 'How can Sian possibly be interested in Frohike,
I mean, God.'

Jimmy Rafferty took in the scene and thought dismally, "Shit, I knew this
was going to take a turn for the worse,' he thought. He liked Frohike a
whole lot but this scene was well, a bit farfetched.

Their meals arrived and the food was outstanding. Everyone sampled each
other's dishes, and sushi was passed wide around the table. Mulder and Sian
continued to converse politely but it quickly became apparent to both Janet
and Jimmy that neither one of them had much real interest in each other
except in a friendly way. Sian and Frohike on the other hand were another
story all together. Something was definitely brewing there and Janet was
flabbergasted as the minutes ticked by.

The meal concluded all too soon it seemed to Janet and soon they were all
pushing back from the table and having coffee.

"Janet, I want to thank you for bringing me here," Mulder said. "This was
fantastic."

"Ditto here, Janet," Frohike burped, "Oh, sorry," he grinned sheepishly
over at Sian.

"Yes, I must say Izumis out did themselves this evening," Sian added
smiling all around.

"Well, I'd better get the check," Jimmy offered suppressing a yawn. "Sorry,
it's been a long day," he added.

"Yeah, I could use some rest myself," Mulder agreed. The earlier tenseness
had begun to take a toll on him and he did feel tired now.

"Well, ok we should get going, it'll be a busy day tomorrow for sure,"
Janet replied.

It was 10 PM when the van pulled up front of the house on Shepard Avenue.
Janet wheeled it into a spot just behind Sian's parked Toyota. The
temperature had dropped a bit and all five huddled together on the side
walk saying their good-byes.

"See you tomorrow, Sian, 10 AM?" Janet asked.

"Wouldn't miss it," Sian smiled. Janet and Jimmy turned and headed towards
the front porch. Mulder began to follow them. He glanced around to say
something to Frohike but the photographer wasn't following him. He turned
around and looked back. Frohike was engaged in an animated conversation
with Sian Phillips. Mulder was amazed to see the tall woman place a hand on
his arm in a very affectionate manner. Frohike was smiling and then he left
her and walked up to where Mulder was waiting at the bottom of the porch
stairs.

"Listen, uh, Mulder."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not coming in just yet. Sian, well, she's offered to go bar hopping
with me a bit. I'm too buzzed from the trip and the meal anyway. I can't
even think about turning in yet," he exhaled into the night air.

Mulder looked down into his face. He wanted to laugh but he didn't because
Frohike really did look excited, and for once the dirty old man persona
that he sometimes affected was absent. He looked like your average Joe that
had just met a very attractive woman and wanted to enjoy her company for an
innocent night out on the town. Mulder smiled at him.

"Hey, knock yourself out Frohike, we're on vacation after all. Sian seems
like a nice person. Have a great time," he replied patting him on the
shoulder.

"Ok, tell Janet and Jimmy I'll let myself in later. I have the key."

"Later, Frohike," Mulder called after him as he bounced back down to the
waiting Sian Phillips.

Mulder walked back up onto the porch, opened the door and went inside. He
walked into the glowering face of Janet Price standing right inside the
door. "Mulder, we have to talk," she said gesturing towards the den.

Mulder stared after her, a perplexed look on his face. He took his coat off
and walked over to the coat tree and slung it over one of the hooks. Then
he followed Janet into the empty den.

"Where's Jim?" he asked looking around.

"He went up to bed," she stated flatly, and then she said, "So, Frohike
went with Sian?"

"Yeah, I guess they hit it off, they went bar hopping. He was pretty keyed
up. He said he'd let himself in later," Mulder grinned at her. Then he
dropped the grin because he could plainly see that Janet was rather angry.

"What's the matter?" he asked her.

"Oh, Mulder," she shook her head and moved to sit down in one of the
chairs. Mulder walked over and sat down on the couch next to her.

"What's wrong, Janet, did you and Jim have an argument?" he asked in total
confusion.

"No, no, nothing like that, God, this is embarrassing. Maybe I should drop
the subject."

"All right," Mulder answered beginning to become annoyed, "I'll just go to
bed then, I'm beat," he started to rise.

"Mulder, I'm sorry, I'll explain," Janet hastened to stop him. She could
see that not revealing her matchmaking plans to the truth seeking Agent
would cause more harm then good so she plunged ahead without any further
thought for her own embarrassment. Mulder sat back down on the couch.

"Mulder, you know how I hate the fact that you work all the time and have
no social life..." she began.

Mulder ran a hand over his mouth, "Yeah, so, it's an old story, Janet,
what's the big deal?"

"Well, I wish it wasn't the whole story, Mulder. I, well, I'm so happy now
with Jimmy, you know and, I, I guess I've been guilty of trying to bring a
little happiness into all my friend's lives lately. It hasn't always worked
out for the best though," she replied sheepishly.

Mulder looked into her face and some of what she was getting at started to
sink in. 'Oh, oh,' he thought, 'maybe now might be a good time to tell
Janet about his news regarding his relationship with Scully'. Obviously his
omission of that little item had created an awkward situation between Janet
and himself, not to mention Janet and Jimmy as evidenced by his absence in
this little conversation.

"So, Mulder, I'm really sorry about tonight. I tried to set you up with
Sian. I just thought you'd make such a nice couple. God, what a stupid
idea, and it obviously backfired!" she laughed a little as the image of
Frohike with the statuesque blond came into her mind.

Mulder sensed what she was laughing at and he smiled over at her, "Hey,
Janet, it's ok, really, I knew you meant well," he replied reaching over
and patting her knee. "And listen, I don't think you have to worry about my
social life for much longer anyway," he added quietly.

"What?" she asked her attention riveted on his face.

"Well, I guess I can tell you but, keep it under your hat, all right."

"Mulder?" she asked, a smile creeping into her eyes.

"Well, you met Scully that summer we came out here for that Addison case,
you know, my partner, Dana Scully?" he began.

"The red head?" she asked quickly, "Yes, she seemed really nice, and
professional...." she let her voice trail off, "Mulder, are you trying to
say that you and Dana Scully...."

"Yeah," he grinned at her sheepishly.

She gave out a low whistle.

Mulder chuckled. "That's why I said to keep it under your hat, Janet, we
both know the Bureau policy on this kind of thing. Besides you know more
then you probably want to regarding the X-Files. That just complicates the
whole relationship matter," he added bemused.

Janet got up and moved onto the couch next to him. She threw her arm around
his shoulder and hugged him. "Oh, Mulder you big goofus!" she laughed, "I
couldn't be more happy for you. Thank God!" she put her head on his
shoulder, "So did you actually get around to asking her to marry you or are
you just shacking up with her?" she asked matter-of-factly.

Mulder laughed at her directness. "Well, we've sort of been cohabiting, but
yeah, I asked her to marry me just before I came out here. She, she's got
some issues regarding the decision. She's considering the proposal while
I'm in Milwaukee," he answered sucking on his lower lip.

"Oh you poor man, no wonder you were so tense," Janet patted him on the
back. "Well, I'm sure she's not going to leave you hanging, she didn't seem
like that type of person."

"You're right about that, Janet. She's honest and besides that, she's well,
we trust each other with our lives, Janet. She said she wouldn't let me
twist in the wind for long. I know she'll have an answer for me when I get
back," he sighed looking into his friends face.

Janet smiled and got up. "Mulder, I know she'll say yes, I just have a
feeling. We don't call this place *The Whisper Group* for nothing you know.
Janet's intuitions were no joke. She had a strong psychic mojo going on
occasion, and Mulder knew it. "And, Mulder, don't worry, I won't say
anything to anyone."

"Well, Janet, I'll take that as a hopeful sign then. You can tell Jimmy if
you'd like, but no-one else ok? I haven't even said anything to Frohike. I
have to talk to him sometime soon too," Mulder yawned, "Sorry," he grinned
slightly.

"Wow, you'd better get some sleep big guy. This place is going to be a zoo
tomorrow," she giggled. Mulder rose as well then and he headed to get his
coat and then walked upstairs. Janet went back into the kitchen area, drank
a glass of milk, and then went up to bed herself.

Later, outside on a side street, Tony Rimmer sat in the Ford Taurus, head
phones stuck to his ears. He had been able to hear Janet and Mulder's
earlier important conversation without any interference. The antenna was
working well and he could could use the black box on the top of the dash to
tune into all the bugging devices he had planted in the house. The bug in
Mulder's room was excruciatingly boring. He was sawing wood like there was
no tomorrow. 'God, what a set of sinuses,' Rimmer thought rolling his ice
blue eyes.

The bug in Janet and Jimmy's room was interesting, but distracting and
ultimately annoying, as he picked up the sounds of their lovemaking. "Fuck
this shit,' he thought ripping the head piece off with a snarl. 'I have to
get some relief from this sexual tension or I'm going to go ballistic,' he
thought. He had checked the phone book before leaving the Phister hotel
earlier in the evening for the address of strip joints that might be
nearby. There was only one in the downtown area - The Cheetah Club - and he
had really gotten a laugh over the name. He started the car and pulled away
from the curb, pointing the hood towards the downtown area. 'To hell with
this subservient wolf crap,' the enforcer thought, 'I've been given carte
blanche over here, for God's sake. What's London going to care if I get it
on with one of the local chippies,' he mused. He ran his tongue over his
lips, moistening them as thoughts of the exotic dancers undulated across
his mind.

Monday morning dawned for Dana Scully in DC and she didn't face the day
with a happy face. Her mother was coming in, of course, and she was
becoming more and more nervous as the day dragged on. She had occupied her
time by clearing out the entire apartment of any trace of Mulder's presence
in anticipation of her mother's acceptance to come for a visit. She had
stashed everything away, even his leather jacket, which she had hugged to
her body, inhaling his cologne before she hung it in the back of her
closet.

One last search of the rooms around 3 PM had shown her that not a trace of
him remained and she shook her head in sadness and guilt at having erased
Mulder in such an efficient manner. She sighed. 'God, please let this be
over tonight,' she thought as she grabbed her coat, purse and car keys and
left the apartment.

Margaret Scully was all ready in the arrival gate area when her daughter
hurried up to meet her. Scully grabbed her mother in a hug and the older
woman squeezed her tightly back and kissed her cheek.

"I'm sorry, Mom, traffic was horrible," she smiled at her in way of an
apology.

"Oh, I know, some poor business man next to me on the plane was on the in
flight phone complaining about that fact," she laughed, "He was making
alibis all ready for being late to meet his client." Margaret commiserated.

"So, you must have checked luggage Mom," Scully stated noticing her
mother's small bag.

"Yes, we'll have to go down to the baggage claim, I'm afraid. It's just the
one bag though," she replied taking her smaller overnight bag and putting
it over her shoulder.

"Oh, that's all right, maybe the wait will allow the traffic to improve a
little," Scully answered, taking her Mother's arm in hers as they headed
towards the baggage claim area.

Once they were in Scully's car and out on the Beltway, Scully made some
small talk about her Mother's trip, Bill, his wife, and the baby. But she
quickly brought the subject around to the issue that was paramount in her
mind.

"Come stay with you for a few days?" Margaret asked her daughters profile
as she stared at the road ahead. She could see that Dana was tense because
her jaw muscles were tight. "Is anything wrong honey?" she asked, concern
in her voice.

"Wrong, oh no, nothings wrong, Mom. I just thought you might like to come
for a visit. I have off until Thursday," she replied, and then she smiled
slightly, "maybe I'm a little jealous of Bill, Mom, he shouldn't be getting
all your attention you know."

"Dana, you sound just like Charles," she replied affection in her voice.
Charles was her other son, the world traveler, very seldom home, but
envious just the same of the attention she gave his two siblings.

"So, what do you say, Mom?" Scully asked mentally crossing her fingers.

"Yes, sweetheart, I'll come for a visit. I think it might be nice. I've had
quite enough of Bill for a while. The peace and quiet might do me good,"
she grinned.

Scully glanced at her and then she laughed. Her mother very seldom said
anything snide about any of her children so she knew Bill must have been
really gotten under her skin.

"I guess he was in a panic over the baby, wasn't he?" Scully asked.

Margaret sighed, "Yes, it was very stressful for him and his wife. I have
to admit that's probably why he was such a bear. But, it was tiring."

"I can imagine," Scully replied.

"Well, let's try not to talk about all that now, honey. If you can just
take me past the house, I'll get some fresh clothes and check my answering
machine. I put a hold on my paper and mail until this Friday, so I don't
have to worry about them," Margaret suggested.

"All right Mom, that sounds fine," Scully answered taking the exit that
would go past her Mother's house.

Once Margaret Scully was at Dana's apartment the two women made coffee and
sat around making small talk. Scully was still very jumpy and she noticed
her Mother was still a bit strained from the San Diego trip as well. 'Maybe
I should suggest dinner out, my treat,' she considered, 'then I can bring
her back here when she's more relaxed and we can have our talk."

"Mom..." she began as her Mother was taking a sip of coffee.

"Yes, Hon," she answered over the cup.

"I don't know about you, but I don't feel like cooking tonight. How would
you like to go over to Gabella's for dinner, my treat," she smiled at the
older woman. Gabella's was a small Italian restaurant that was close to
Mulder's apartment. Scully had gone there often with Mulder, and she had
also taken her Mom there at Mulder's suggestion.

"Gabella's? Lord, that would be wonderful, Dana! Believe it not, I got so
tired of fresh seafood out in San Diego. I would love some veal
scaloppini," she enthused. "But don't you think they might be crowded?"

"Well, it's Monday night, they usually aren't too busy. Even if we have to
wait, it shouldn't be too long. We can always sit in the bar and have a
glass of wine," Scully replied.

"All right, let's go then, I am hungry," her mother smiled and the two
women got up to leave the apartment.

Gabella's was a little crowded but the Maitre D' had promised only a short
wait so Scully and her Mother went into the bar to have their glasses of
wine.

They hadn't been sitting at the bar for very long when Margaret Scully
craned her head to look past Dana's shoulder and over to the Maitre Ds'
stand behind her daughter.

"Dana, honey, isn't that Assistant Director Skinner?" she asked moving to
get a better look. Scully blanched, 'God I hope not,' she thought instantly
as she turned around to look in the direction of her Mother's gaze. Sure
enough, standing in the doorway was Walter Skinner, Assistant Director big
as life. 'Oh shit,' Scully cursed inwardly, 'I hope he doesn't see us.'
"Yeah, Mom, that looks like the A.D.," she answered her mother and then she
turned back around to take a large sip of her wine.

"Dana, he's going over to the other side of the bar, I bet they don't have
a table for him either. Why don't you ask him to join us?" her mother asked
politely.

'Oh Christ,' Scully thought with chagrin, 'I was afraid this would happen.
Lord! Just what I need - a charming night out with my Mother and my Boss,'
she sighed.

"Oh, Mom, maybe he wants to be alone, we shouldn't intrude," she insisted
trying to salvage the moment.

"Oh, Dana, don't be silly, the poor man is alone, no one likes to eat
alone," she disagreed, "I'll just go over and ask him to join us."

"Mom, he's divorced, he's used to it, Mother..." Scully was hissing after
her mother but Margaret had moved off into the noisy bar crowd and was
quickly beyond earshot.

Scully sighed and resigned herself to the fact that one of the people that
made her more nervous than anyone else in the world was more than likely
joining them for dinner. Even the events in Crossroads hadn't helped her
feelings for the A.D. In fact, that situation had served to make her even
more upset at times in his presence. She respected him and liked him, but
he just made her think of her father too much and that bothered her to no
end. He was her Boss and she stuck to thinking of him formerly and
professionally, and that's how she got through most situations involving
him.

Scully watched as her mother walked around the bar and reached Skinner on
the other side. Skinner was surprised to see her and he pushed his glasses
back up his nose and straightened up as she started to talk to him. Her
mother was smiling as Skinner shook his head no and then he was smiling and
shrugging and glancing in her direction. Scully caught his eyes, and smiled
weakly, waving her hand limply in his direction. Skinner was soon picking
up his glass and following her mother back around the bar.

"Scully, how are you?" he said in way of greeting as he sat his drink down
next to her wine glass.

"I'm fine, Sir, how are you this evening?" she asked looking over at her
Mother as she approached.

"I'm fine. Scully, you're Mother has asked me to join the two of you for
dinner. Is that all right with you? I mean, I don't want to intrude," he
asked formerly, studying her face.

'Well, he gets points for asking at least,' she thought staring back at
him. 'Oh hell, maybe the guy was lonely, she thought, 'what the heck, I
might as well make the best of things.' She fixed Skinner with her best
professional smile and replied, "No sir, that would be just fine," and as
her mother joined them the maitre d' called out that their table was ready.

While Scully was hiding Mulder's belongings in her apartment that morning,
Mulder was getting up sleepily at 6 AM and trudging down the hallway
towards the communal shower, his change of clothes in one hand and his
shaving kit in the other. He hadn't heard Frohike at all in his room so he
expected the guy was sleeping off a hell of a hangover. Mulder showered and
dressed, and headed downstairs to rustle up some coffee and breakfast. He
could hear noises coming from the kitchen and as he turned to walk into the
hallway that lead towards the sounds, the front door swung open. In walked
Melvin Frohike. Mulder's jaw dropped open. Frohike looked rested and happy
and Mulder could pretty much figure out the happy part without much of a
stretch.

"Hey, G-man, any coffee to be had around here?" he grinned walking over to
hang his coat on the coat tree. Mulder saw that his hair was still slightly
damp and he was cleanly shaved for a change. Mulder continued to stare.

"Mulder, coffee?" Frohike prompted, grinning more widely.

"Oh, yeah, come on, I was headed in search of caffeine myself," Mulder
answered finally moving towards the kitchen again. He was shaking his head.
It was obvious the Lone Gunman had spent the night with Sian Phillips and
from the way he was strutting, Mulder was fairly sure it hadn't been on her
couch. 'Will wonders never cease?' he thought, and then, 'God, this is
almost an X-File in itself,' he mused trying to hold back his mirth.

The two men walked into the kitchen to see Jim Rafferty and Janet Price
performing a graceful ballet between the twin refrigerators and the stove.
Coffee was on, and both Mulder and Frohike made a bee line for the mugs on
the kitchen table. "Grab a plate, you two, eggs are almost ready," Jim
grinned. "And then get out, we have to start getting the stuff ready for
the open house," Janet laughed.

"All right, we'll go eat in the dining room then, Martha Stewart," Frohike
teased.

"Are you sure we can't help?" Mulder asked.

"You two help? I don't think so," Janet teased as well.

"Ok, I get the message," Mulder smiled and both he and Frohike made a hasty
exit for the dining room table.

They both put their full plates down across from each other and started to
eat. Mulder kept looking at Frohike as he pounded down his chow. He didn't
know what to say to the photographer. He was happy for him but a little
embarrassed as well. The mismatch between the gnome-like Frohike and the
devastating Sian Phillips was almost beyond even his mind to comprehend.

Frohike looked up at him over his coffee cup and then he burst out
laughing, "Christ, Mulder, don't look so flustered," he laughed, "I know
what you're thinking, and you're right dude. I'm not embarrassed, why
should you be," he chortled.

Mulder grinned sheepishly then and took another bite of his scrambled eggs.
"Well, I guess all I can say is congratulations, Frohike," he chuckled.

"Yeah, thanks man. And Mulder, you were right, she really is a nice
person," Frohike replied quietly.

Mulder smiled back at him and then he thought instantly that perhaps now
might be the time to tell Frohike about Scully. After all the guy had
another woman to definitely occupy him for now and they were alone at the
table which would probably not be the case before very much longer. Mulder
decided to go ahead and he cleared his throat. "Uh, Frohike, as long as
we're talking about man/women relations here, I, I have something I'd like
to talk to you about," he began.

"Oh, yeah, hey, I'm sorry man, I didn't mean to step in ahead of you with
Sian, I know it seemed like Janet was trying to get the two of you
together, but..."

"No, no Frohike, that's not a problem, that's not what I had in mind,"
Mulder hastened to interrupt him.

"What then?" Frohike asked putting his coffee mug down next to his plate.

"Well, Frohike, I haven't said anything about this before because, well,
mostly because I just didn't have the right opportunity. But, I thought now
might be a good time to let you know that, that Scully and I are seeing
each other," he replied quietly.

"Seeing each other?" he asked, "You mean like..."

"Yeah, we're having a relationship, Frohike. We've been together since we
were on that case up in Crossroads, Maine. Frohike, I've, I've asked her to
marry me," he stumbled over the words, and then he took a long sip of his
coffee.

"Son of a bitch," Frohike hissed. Then he broke into a broad smile. "God,
damn it Mulder, that's great! Holy cow, I'm, Christ, Congratulations!" he
exclaimed. He was bubbling all over and Mulder grinned broadly back at him
"Holy shit, wait till Byers and Langly hear about this too," he chortled.

"Oh, listen, Frohike. Don't tell them yet ok, Scully and I still have some
stuff to work out. She hasn't said yes, yet, and besides there's the job
issue to think about."

"Ah, fuck that stuff, Mulder, she's nuts about you, she'll say yes. And you
can always tell the Bureau to go screw and come work for us," he joked.

"Seriously, Frohike, don't say anything to anyone for a while, out of
respect for Scully at least, ok?" Mulder asked.

"For Scully? No problem, Mulder. All right, Mums the word, my man. But, did
you tell Janet and Jimmy?" Frohike asked.

"Yeah, I told Janet and told her she could tell Jim as well. But I want to
keep the *in the know circle* fairly small for now, all right. Just a few
close friends," he added smiling at the other man.

At Mulder's inclusion of Frohike under the few close friends heading, the
photographer had puffed up even more if that was possible.

"Hey, my lips are sealed, Mr. FBI," Frohike replied.

"Ok, great, thanks," Mulder breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you going to stick around here for this open house?" Frohike asked,
changing the subject.

"Yeah, I thought I'd check it out for a while. But then I want to go
downtown for a while. I have something I think I need to buy," Mulder
replied.

"Oh yeah, like what?" Frohike asked.

"A ring," Mulder smiled back at the Lone Gunman.

In an apartment just off Kilbourn Avenue and quite close to the Milwaukee
FBI field office, Tony Rimmer grunted between the legs of the stripper he
had picked up the night before. She was a tall, large breasted blond, very
similar in appearance to Sian Phillips and Tony had found her performance
at the Cheetah club quite marvelous to behold. Now he thrust into her as
she raised her knees higher to meet his pumping hips. "God, baby, harder,
come on, Oh, God, you're so good," she was moaning, and Tony had no doubt
it was the truth. He had burrowed quite deeply into her mind as well as her
body, and now he stoked her passion, making her cunt nice and tight, just
the way he liked it. This wasn't his favorite position for banging a broad,
but it would do for now. He intended to take a more dominate position later
for his ultimate sexual pleasure. For now he just wanted this woman to
worship his hugely erect cock and crawl back eagerly for more when he
showed up at the club this evening.

"You fucking bitch," he growled at her as she writhed under him, "This is
the best you're ever going to get, you whore," and then he allowed her to
orgasm, clenching her muscles around his cock like a vice. He howled as he
came and the dazed women screamed for more as Rimmer laughed into her face.

Sian Phillips showed up at *The Whisper House* at about 10 AM, overnight
bag in hand. She was scheduled to help Janet set up the refreshments for
the open house which was due to begin at noon. Janet had prepared most of
the food ahead of time on her own in order to save money. Jimmy had gotten
most of the supplies using his Sam's Club wholesale card. The provisions
were mostly snack type items that people could munch on easily while
touring the house and there was plenty of soda and beer in case everyone
was incredibly thirsty. Mulder had been in the library engrossed in one of
the occult volumes when he had heard the front door bell. He hastened to
open the door into the January cold.

"Come on in Sian," he said smiling at the librarian.

"Good morning, Fox," she replied walking past him. "Is Janet in the
kitchen?"

"Yes, she's really bustling around in there. She wouldn't let Frohike or I
help. I don't think she trusted us," he chuckled taking her coat from her
and hanging it on the coat tree.

"Well, I'll go and give her a hand," she replied looking around.

"Oh, ah, Frohike's downstairs with Jimmy. They're getting the basement
ready for the open house," Mulder grinned a bit. Despite Frohike's
admonishment to not be flustered about the photographer's liaison with Sian
he couldn't help but turn a bit red now that she was standing before him.

"Oh, well that's good. I'm sure I'll see him later," she looked into his
eyes enigmatically. Mulder gulped as the room strobed in and out suddenly
and then Sian was walking back towards the kitchen. Mulder shook his head
to clear it and went back into the library to read.

Sian smiled to herself as she walked towards the kitchen. The look on
Mulder's face had been priceless she thought. But even so, he didn't even
know half of her pleasure from the night before, and she giggled slightly.
She had gone to several bars with Frohike last night, and had really
enjoyed herself in every one of them. She had danced with him which had
been rather amusing considering their height. They had certainly drawn
stares. But holding him close had been extremely pleasant. They had ended
up in a quiet little bar near her apartment next to the downtown campus of
Marquette University.

It was here that Sian touched Frohike's hand again and let her mind join
with his deeply for the first time. The man really was an open book, and
Sian quickly saw his diamond in the rough quality. He had a genius IQ, was
intensely loyal to his friends, driven to find the truth and uncover all
manner of twisted government conspiracies, some imagined but many very
real. He was also intensely lonely. She saw his failed romances, the one or
two brief successful liaisons he had formed with women, and the one romance
that had broken his heart, the one he had never really gotten over to this
day.

All these thoughts came to Sian in a rush and her breath was taken away for
the first time, in a long time, with the overwhelming sensations. In her
wolf like way Sian felt the need to protect this man. She also found
herself attracted to him which surprised her because she knew most human
females would consider him physically repulsive. But she found him
extremely arousing and she decided on the spot that she would take him
home, and take him to bed as well. One of her perks as a favored member of
her clan was the permission to take a human lover when she so desired it.
"And I so desire it, tonight,' she smiled. So, she had taken Frohike home
and they had made love, and it had been unhurried, very tender, and sweet.
In the morning he had insisted that she sleep in, and he gallantly took a
bus back to Shepard Avenue.

Sian looked forward to seeing him again that morning at *The Whisper House*
but she could bide her time. Anticipation was part of her pleasure after
all.

The open house was in full swing by 1 PM and Mulder and Frohike were at the
center of it. Mulder especially was the object of much attention due to the
X-Files. The attention was flattering but by 3 PM it was getting tiring as
well so he decided to try to make an exit to go downtown. There was a brief
lull in the stream of visitors so Mulder went in search of Frohike in order
to tell him he was leaving. He found him in the little room filled with
plants off the dining room. Frohike was in there sitting with Sian on the
wrought iron bench that sat against the wall. He was holding her hands in
his, and Mulder cleared his throat.

"Oh, hi, Mulder," Frohike looked over at him nonplused.

"Frohike, I'm going to cut out for a while. I need to run that errand we
talked about," Mulder said.

"Ok, But try to be back by 7 PM, Janet says she's ordering in pizza for all
of us - sort of a post open house feast," Frohike advised.

"Fine, I can manage that, see you two later," Mulder replied.

"Stay warm, Fox," Sian said smiling into his retreating back.

Hours later, DC time, Dana Scully was sitting at a table in Gabella's
Italian restaurant staring at her Mother and her Boss, A.D. Walter Skinner
as they carried on an animated conversation on Italian cooking. She stifled
a yawn and glanced at her watch. "Holy Mother Mary, it's 10 PM,' she
thought with dismay. But she looked in her Mother's eyes and she could see
that she was really enjoying herself. 'But what is wrong with this
picture?' she thought as she watched Skinner advising her Mother on what
went into a really good marina sauce. It dawned on her with a jolt then
what was wrong. The expression on her Mother's face was the same sort of
rapt attention that Margaret Scully had reserved for Dana's late father and
the idea was suddenly terribly troubling to Scully under the circumstances.
'Oh God,' she thought, 'this is too much.'

"Mom?" she interrupted, "It's 10 PM," she stated pointedly.

"Oh good heaven's Dana, is it that late? Oh, I'm so sorry. Mr. Skinner,
we've kept you out too long," she laughed.

"Please, call me Walter," he told her smiling slightly, "and it's no
problem, you've been very gracious," he added.

"Well, as long as you call me Margaret," she smiled back.

'Oh, crap,' Scully thought as Skinner beckoned for the waiter. He was
taking out a credit card and he intercepted the check before Scully could
grab it.

"Oh, Sir, I can't let you pay for the meal," Scully blustered as Skinner
glanced up from signing the credit card receipt.

"Nonsense, Scully, it's my pleasure," he rumbled looking over at Margaret
Scully again.

"All right, Sir, well, thank you," she sighed. Skinner finished with the
credit card business, and then they all headed towards the restaurants
cloak room. Skinner got all three of their coats and then he helped first
Scully on with hers, and then held her Mother's coat open for her. Scully
bristled because it seemed as if Skinner held onto her Mother's shoulders
just a bit longer then necessary when he wrapped the coat around them. 'No,
it must be my heated imagination,' she thought because Skinner was quickly
holding the door open for them to exit the restaurant.

"Can I walk you to your car?" he asked.

"No sir, we lucked out, it's right here,' Scully gestured towards her car
parked at the curb.

"Oh, all right," Skinner replied nodding his head, "Well, I'll say
goodnight then, ladies. It was nice seeing you again, Margaret. And
certainly under much more pleasant circumstances," he added in his usual
clipped way.

Scully rolled her eyes.

"Yes, it was a wonderful evening, Walter, and it was nice seeing you again
as well," Margaret Scully replied.

Skinner turned and headed towards his car then, tossing back a final
"Goodnight," over his shoulder.

"What a charming man," Margaret Scully sighed as Scully unlocked the car.

"Well, I guess he does have his moments," she agreed still worried over her
Mother's obvious interest in the A.D.

Her Mother got in the car and they drove back to Scully's apartment. As
Scully unlocked the door she thought, 'Well, it's now or never,' and she
walked into the apartment, her Mother trailing behind her.

Both women hung up their coats in the closet.

"Mom, would you like an after dinner drink, or some coffee?" Scully asked
procrastinating still.

"Actually honey, do you have some herbal tea?" Margaret replied.

"Celestial Seasonings," Scully answered.

"That would be fine," her mother smiled.

Scully went to make the tea, leaving Margaret Scully to sit down
comfortably on the couch in front of the TV and VCR.

When Scully came back in, tea cups and saucers balanced carefully in both
hands she stopped dead. Her mother was looking at two video tapes that had
been on top of the TV. One was *Room with a View*, the other was *Them*.
Scully's eyes went wide as her mother read the back of the box for the 50s
SF classic. 'Oh Lord,' she thought, 'As Mulder would say - I'm busted. Why
the hell didn't I take those back and to top it all off I'll have to pay an
overdo charge.'

"Oh, that tea looks good, honey," Margaret was saying as Scully approached
the couch and placed the cups on the coffee table. She placed the video
tapes back on top of the TV, and sat back down on the couch. Scully sat
down next to her and pushed a tea cup closer to her hands.

"So, did you rent these for us to watch while I was here?" she asked
indicating the tapes. "I've haven't seen *Room with a View*, but this other
one, God, that brings back memories. I saw that film with your father,
honey, years ago," she smiled in remembrance.

Scully sighed. 'Well there's no need to put off our little talk any
longer,' she thought and then she began to explain.

"Well, no Mom, I didn't exactly rent them for us. But, now that you mention
them, Mom, they do involve something I need to talk to you about," she
said. "Those are Mulder's tapes."

Margaret Scully took one look at her Daughter's face and knew something was
wrong. She settled into the couch, flipping her shoes off and tucking her
legs up under her. Scully did the same and Mother and Daughter looked like
bookends at either end of the furniture.

"Dana, what's wrong, dear? I thought you said earlier that nothing was
wrong," Margaret said with worry.

"Mom, please really, nothings wrong. In fact, well, it may be very right
depending how you look at things," Scully added opaquely.

"Dana, can you get to the point, sweetheart, it's late and I'm not as sharp
as I used to be," her Mother teased her lightly reaching over and touching
her knee.

"I don't know how to start," Scully sighed with love in her eyes.

"Why don't you just start at the beginning, honey, that's usually the best
place. I'll just let you talk. I won't interrupt."

"Well, Mom, I need to talk to you about Mulder Mom, about Fox," she fumbled
with his Christian name. "You know, I've been partnered with Mulder now
for, Lord, it's been almost five years," she continued, 'We, we've been
through a lot together Mom, an awful lot. He's been so tortured over his
sister, so driven Mom, to find her, so obsessed and self centered for the
five years I've known him. But despite all that, he's been there for me
through everything, Mom. Dad's death, my abduction, Missy's death, the
cancer, Emily. He's supported me and trusted me and, God, Mom I don't know
what I would ever do without him," she had stretched her arm across the
back of the couch and her mother extended her arm and touched her hand with
hers. "He's saved my life I can't count how many times. Mom, he sent the
cancer into remission for heaven's sake. I just know I need him, and I want
him with me now more than anything in the world."

Her mother tightened her grip on Scully's hand and Dana let the rest come
out in a rush.

"Mom, what I'm trying to tell you is, I love him. I've loved him for five
years, almost from the beginning when I walked into that crummy basement
office in the J. Edgar Hoover building," she stopped for a moment to catch
her breath.

"Dana, honey, does Fox know how you feel?" her Mother asked quietly and
kindly.

"Does he know Mom? Yeah, you could say he knows," she laughed bitterly then
because she was about to admit to her Mother what had been going on for
months, and she was scared to hear her response.

"Mom, I've been sleeping with him," she said looking down into her lap. She
waited for something then, the sign of disapproval, the sharp intake of
breath, or the removal of her Mother's hand from her arm.

But instead her Mother gave her arm a gentle squeeze and then she said
firmly, "Dana, look at me honey," and Scully looked up into her Mother's
face. Margaret Scully was smiling slightly and Scully searched her face in
amazement.

"What's wrong, Dana, did you think I was going to go all Catholic on you?"
she asked and Scully's mouth dropped open.

Margaret Scully laughed then, "Honey, I have to tell you a little secret
too. I never told any of you kids this dear, but I wasn't exactly a virgin
on my wedding night either. Your father and I spent one idyllic weekend up
on the Cape just before the wedding and well, one thing lead to another,
and your sister Melissa was probably the result," she stroked her daughters
hand.

"Mom....!?" Scully replied staring back at her.

"Well, I never mentioned it because it wasn't important, at least until
now," she smiled, "and we were too young and dumb to know what we were
doing in terms of protection. Things were a lot more naive in those days.
But look, honey, do you really love each other, I mean, are you sure?" She
asked her daughter.

"Oh, yeah, Mom, we're sure," Scully replied and then she started to tear
up.

"Oh, baby, come here," her Mother comforted, opening her arms so that
Scully could come into her embrace. Scully scooted over and rested her head
against her Mother's breast as Margaret closed her arms around her and
rubbed her back. "Dana, honey, if you love each other everything else will
take care of itself, believe me," she kissed her hair.

Scully started to cry a bit harder but she struggled to gain control
because she wanted to tell her mother the rest of the story now.

"Mom, Mulder asked me to marry him just before he left for Milwaukee."

"Oh, Dana, that's wonderful," her Mother replied releasing her. Scully sat
up and looked into her Mother's face, "You know Dana, I have to tell you
that I've always liked Fox, and I've always felt he really cared for you. I
wondered if he might love you honey, oh, I'm so happy to hear this I never
dreamed, Oh baby, I love you," she kissed her hand.

"Well, I'm really glad to hear that, Mom. But it's not your approval I'm
worried about you any longer I guess - it's Bill's," she admitted at last.

"Bill? Oh I see," Margaret answered her lips tight for the first time that
evening.

"Mom, I haven't given Mulder an answer yet because I wanted to talk to you
and well, I need you to talk to Bill. I can't face his anger and
disapproval with Mulder. I'm afraid of what I might say or do now," Scully
stated with determination.

Margaret Scully sighed, "Dana, your brother has tunnel vision where Fox is
concerned, I'm afraid. After the cancer and Emily he just won't."

"Mom, if Bill doesn't approve of Mulder, if I have to make a choice between
Mulder and Bill, well, then I'm afraid to say that I'll no longer have an
elder brother," she finished, anger in her voice.

Her Mother was silent for a moment but then she replied, "Look, Dana, I
know Bill has been a royal pain in the ass on this issue."

"That's an understatement" Scully answered.

"Well, be that as it may. All right, I'll talk to him, Dana. I think he
needs to have his cage rattled a bit too I guess. I've put if off for too
long, I'll see what I can do," she finished touching her Daughter's cheek.

Scully let out a profound sigh of relief. 'God this is such a weight off my
shoulders,' she thought.

"So, honey, are you going to tell him yes?" her Mother was asking.

"Well, Mom, I'm leaning that way. But you know, we have to factor a few
other things in here, like our careers and The X-Files and Mulder's sister
and..."

Her Mother laughed, "Well, Hon, don't let the poor man wait for long, all
right. And honey, if you talk it all out I'm sure you can settle all those
other issues. You were friends before you were ever lovers, let that
friendship make your bond even stronger. If you trust each other enough,
like I said, the rest will fall into place."

"Don't worry, I told him I'd let him know my answer when he got back. And,
I'll consider your advice, Mom, I really will," Scully replied with a
smile. Now she would have some news to tell Mulder, she thought, and with
her Mother's approval that only left Bill to sway. She had hope and a
sudden peace calmed her heart.

"Good," her mother nodded decisively. "But, honey, I think we'd both better
get to bed, I thought you might like to go shopping tomorrow, we could get
an early start and then have lunch out if you'd like."

"Fantastic, Mom, I saw an outfit I thought would look great on you the
other day, it was on sale too."

"Ah, ha, I knew you'd inherited my shopping smarts all along," Margaret
Scully laughed and both women got up to prepare to go to bed.

Back in Milwaukee earlier in the afternoon, Fox Mulder was traipsing from
jewelry store after jewelry store on Wisconsin Avenue. He just could not
find the right ring for Scully and it was pissing him off. Clerk after
clerk looked at him like he was crazy as he asked them to show him case
after case of engagement rings. Nothing looked right. 'Damn it,' he
thought, 'I guess this is going to have to wait till I get back to DC.'

But just as he was about to give up, he walked down a little side street,
Milwaukee Street, and saw a tiny shop nestled between two older office
buildings. The sign above the shop said *Pandora's Box - Jewelry, Clothes,
Statuary & Gothic Collectibles*. It drew Mulder like a magnet.

The bell above the door tinkled as he walked in. A slender blond women with
a pierced nose was sitting behind a counter sorting earrings into separate
piles. She looked up at Mulder, "May I help you?" She smiled pleasantly.

"God, I hope so," he sighed. "I'm trying to find an engagement ring for my
fiancee and I can't seem to find what I'm looking for."

"Do you know the size?"

Mulder had been sure of the size having taken a look at some of Scully's
rings in her jewelry box back in her apartment. He told the woman and she
pursed her lips.

"So she's petite?" she asked.

"Yes," Mulder answered.

The women peered closely at Mulder, a somewhat dreamy expression in her
watery blue eyes, "What color is her hair?"

"She's a red head."

"Ah, Irish then?" the women asked.

Mulder smiled, 'Gee, that was a lucky guess,' he thought snidely.

But then he stopped that thought because the woman said, "With a name like
Scully that should be obvious, I guess," and then she laughed a very
tinkling musical laugh.

Mulder stood with his mouth gaping open.

"Juan, can you come out here a minute?" she turned and called back through
the curtained door behind the counter.

"Yeah, what is it Kim?" the short muscular Hispanic man asked as he came
through the curtain.

"Can you bring me the Claddaugh you're working on, the gold one, not the
silver?" she asked.

"Sure, I'll be right back. He returned directly and placed a small square
of black velvet down on the counter. He then placed a ring down in the
velvet's center and Mulder stepped forward to see it. One look and he knew
he had found the ring for Scully. The ring was a primitive Claddaugh, with
the hands and heart and crown design appearing raised on a plain gold band.
The heart and crown were inlaid with a tiny diamond. It was beautiful and
very unusual. Mulder raised his head and looked at Juan.

"You made this?" he asked impressed.

"Yeah, man," Juan smiled back.

"This is the first Claddaugh my husband has made in gold, he usually works
in silver. So, this piece is one of a kind. Juan usually breaks the molds
on a unique piece like this one. So, it really will be a limited edition.
And you'll notice, it's just your fiancee's size," Kim grinned.

Mulder whistled. Juan chuckled.

"Did she guess your fiancee's name?" he asked Mulder.

"Yeah, she did."

Juan laughed again. "Kim, you're going to have to stop showing that
*Shining* off to the customers, babe, you're going to start driving them
away."

Kim smiled wide at her husband, "So, would you like to purchase the ring?"
Kim asked Mulder.

"You bettcha, Kim," he answered with a bemused grin.

Now, Mulder walked back up Wisconsin Avenue, his coat pulled around his
ears, and the box with the ring in his pocket. He ran ahead quickly as he
approached the 30 bus stop, the city bus that would take him back up to
Shepard Avenue and the dinner of pizza that awaited him there.

His cell phone rang on Tony Rimmer in his hotel room, as he was taking a
piss. 'Damn it he thought," as he hastened to stop and zip up his pants. He
left the bathroom quickly and picked up the phone.

"Mr. Rimmer?" the familiar voice coughed over the connection.

"Who else would it be?" Rimmer answered sarcastically.

"Now, now, temper, temper," the voice warned, "Do you have anything to
report?"

"Yeah. I bugged the house quite thoroughly. Nothing much is going on right
now. They're having some sort of open house today. I spent a little time up
there checking things out, but it was pretty uneventful." Rimmer neglected
to mention the appearance of Sian Phillips. It was none of the government
creeps business what went on amongst the clans. That was a shapeshifter's
affair and not meant for human kind.

"Very well, what are your further plans?" the cigarette husky voice asked
the red headed wolfman.

"Well I intend to really get things moving tonight, Sirrr," he drew out the
Sir so that it was just a touch insulting. Rimmer felt more confident
dealing with this human from a distance. He was beginning to think he might
even feel confident close up as well. He could almost feel the black lunged
fuck's neck in his jaws as he listened to his wheezing voice over the cell
phone.

"Good, Mr. Rimmer, I hope you aren't losing sight of our little mission. I
expect you to report in a little more often than you have been, Tony," he
hissed.

"Fine, I'll do that," Rimmer whispered.

"See that you do," and the cigarette smoking man broke the connection.

Rimmer threw the cell phone down on the bed with a violent slap. 'That turd
is really going to pay when I get back to DC,' he growled, and then he went
back into the bathroom to finish emptying his bladder.

Frohike pushed his plate back from the table. "God, I can't eat another
slice of this stuff," he grinned patting his stomach, "Where did you say it
came from?" he asked grabbing one of the pizza boxes to look at the cover.

"Pizza Man," Jimmy Rafferty answered munching on his last piece.

"Great crust," Frohike added and Sian laughed as he said it.

All five were seated around the dining room table, empty pizza boxes and
bottles of beer between them. It was late, almost 10 PM again but they had
gotten a later start at dinner then planned after cleaning up after the
open house. At least Mulder had returned early enough to help out on the
clean up and for once Janet had been more than willing to let he and
Frohike lend a hand.

"So, are you two going to go downstairs and take a look at those new lenses
of Frohike's?" Janet asked Jim Rafferty and Sian Phillips.

"Yeah, I'd be happy to give you all a demo," Frohike enthused glancing
shyly at Sian.

"I guess we could take an hour to look," Jim replied. But then I'm going to
have to crash, I'm beat and the conference starts at 11 AM tomorrow."

"All right," Janet answered. "Well, I'll clear up and then, Jim, honey, I
think I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted."

"Gee, sweetheart, I can't imagine why," Jim grinned hugging her from his
chair next to her.

"Janet, why don't I give you a hand," Mulder offered.

"God, that would be great, Mulder, thanks," she said with real gratitude.

Rafferty, Frohike and Sian Phillips got up and headed for the basement
stairwell. Mulder moved to gather up the first of the plates and carry them
into the kitchen.

"So where were you all afternoon?" Janet asked curious.

"Oh, I went downtown. I wanted to look at rings for Scully," Mulder
answered quietly.

"Oh, that's nice, Mulder. Did you find one?"

"Yeah, I did. I'll show it to you later, it's upstairs."

"I'd like that, Mulder," she replied smiling at him. They carried the
plates on into the kitchen. Several trips later they were done and Janet
was yawning widely.

"Go on up to bed, Mighty Mouse, I'm going to read a little in the library,"
Mulder told her. He was still awake enough from the days excitement to feel
sleep still a bit reluctant to come so he thought some reading in the
volume he started earlier might help him to relax.

"Well, if you can't get to sleep, have some warm milk - it works for me,"
she patted him on the arm.

"Thanks, Mom," he teased her as she headed off up the stairs. Mulder went
into the library and presently he heard Rafferty, Frohike and Sian coming
back upstairs from the basement.



He heard Rafferty saying, "Naw, like I said, she won't mind, I'm sure. She
was expecting, Sian, don't worry. See you guys in the morning," and then
his heavy footsteps as he went up the stairs.

Mulder could just make out Frohike and Sian in the hallway, "After you,"
Frohike was saying and then he heard another noise and he realized that
they were kissing. He smiled as their footsteps soon receded up the
stairwell. Mulder settled back into the comfortable recliner, thick book in
hand. He took his glasses out of his jacket pocket, cracked the book to the
spot where he had left off and proceeded to read. Soon however his lids
grew heavy and before he realized it, his head was falling onto his chest
and he was asleep.

Outside in the dark blue Ford Taurus, Tony Rimmer adjusted the earphones on
his ears. The joint was really jumping tonight he thought as he listened.
The short blond and her tall Viking Prince were humping like hell. And for
God's sake he couldn't believe Sian Phillips was screwing that pathetic
little dwarf he had seen her with earlier in the day. 'I thought that white
furred bitch would have better taste then that,' he mused listening to her
moans of pleasure as the pathetic little geek put it to her. The only one
who was truly unoccupied was Mulder, Rimmer thought. 'Ha, time to change
that, you FBI fuck,' he thought. He had followed him around in the mall
downtown today and then later watched from afar as he bought the ring for
his red headed lady love. The guy had some class though, he thought. The
ring had been tasteful at least. Having all ready touched his mind and
gotten his scent at the airport and back in the apartment in DC, it was
relatively easy for Rimmer to reestablish the psychic bond with the Agent.
Now, he let his mind loose and touched Mulder's slumbering brain.

Fox Mulder dreamed. He dreamed he was in a forest, a dark tangle of trees,
ferns and undergrowth. He swiveled to look around and stretched with the
pleasure of his heightened senses. The crisp air on his face, the earthy
smells, the sounds of tiny rustlings at his feet. Everything seemed vivid,
alive and new and he reveled in it. For some reason he could see in the
dark, and he sensed that he wasn't standing upright. No, he, he was
standing on all fours. And when he glanced down he could see his legs, and
they were covered in fur, and his hands were more like paws and they were
equipped with razor sharp claws. All this didn't seem strange to him
however, just different, and he ran his pink tongue over his lips as he
loped off through the brush. Presently he caught a sent. It was musky,
afraid, it was a deer, and it was running. Mulder became incredibly excited
as he heard the deer fleeing before him. He began to run, crashing through
the underbrush, and suddenly he looked around and noticed he had been
joined by other four legged furry shapes.

He was a wolf he realized suddenly, a huge brown wolf with dark hazel eyes,
and he lifted his head and howled with the pack as they ran on after their
prey. A large white wolf, a female, ran by his left side, and on his right
a larger red wolf, a male streaked along as well. But Mulder pulled ahead
of them both, and soon he saw the terrified deer right ahead of him. He
knew it was a doe then, and he took four strong bounds, and he was upon the
deer in a flash. He threw himself up onto her neck and pulled the doe
crashing down under him. He gripped the deer's neck in his jaws, grunting
and growling as he did so. The creatures eyes rolled in terror and her
tongue jutted out as the doe bleated in pain and panic. Blood was on her
lips, and Mulder was inflamed with the killing lust as he began to squeeze
his jaws tight. The deer writhed in her death throes.

But, just as he began to taste the hot blood of the deer in his mouth, the
prey's body shifted, and the doe's face became that of Dana Scully's, and
she was screaming in terror as Mulder felt her neck snap under his teeth.

Mulder woke with a shout of utter fright. He jerked up and the book he had
been reading fell from his lap with a thud. His glasses fell off as well
and clinked into his lap. 'God All Mighty, what, what an awful dream,' he
shook his head with dismay, reaching to pick up his glasses. He put the
glasses back on and gasping, struggled to still his breathing. He listened
to see if his yell had disturbed anyone else in the house. All was quiet,
however, and he sighed and rubbed a hand across his face. His stomach was
sour, and he was having a massive case of acid reflux from the pizza he had
eaten earlier. 'Shit that's what I get for eating spicy food so late,' he
sighed getting up to retrieve the book. He remembered he had some Pepcid AC
in his duffel upstairs so he got up and headed out of the library to find
the medication. As he headed upstairs he turned off lights as he went.

Mulder entered his room and went to his duffel, took out the meds and went
into the bathroom to get water to go with the pills. Exiting the bathroom
he walked over to the bed and set his wrist watch alarm for 7 AM. 'Should
be plenty early enough to get ready for the conference,' he thought as his
shoulders sagged. 'God, that dream...' passed through his mind again and
the thought made him really dreadfully tired so he decided to lay down on
the bed, fully clothed to try to get some sleep. He'd only been laying
there for a few minutes when he heard the muffled sounds coming from
Frohike's room. 'Oh Jesus,' he thought with annoyance as he heard the low
moans and creaking bed next door. 'God, doesn't he realize somebody might
like to sleep around here,' he thought, turning onto his side. As the
noises continued, albeit very quietly, Mulder yanked the pillow from under
his head, placed it over his ear and closed his eyes. The terror filled
dream he had experienced earlier began to recede and he was fast asleep
once more. This time no dreams came immediately, and soon he was snoring.

Next door, Frohike was in Sian Phillips embrace. He was beyond believing
that he could ever be this lucky again in his entire life and he didn't
even stop to question whether it was a permanent state of affairs or
whether he would ever see the gorgeous blond again after leaving Milwaukee.
It wasn't even the sex he thought, hell he would have been just as happy to
sit and talk with her for hours. He was still surprised that he was making
love with her, and to know that she truly enjoyed being with him. Sian
touched his eyelids as he lay next to her now, drowsy from his efforts, and
he fell asleep breathing against her breasts. Sian smiled down at him and
reaching over gently removed the condom that he had used with her. The
protection hadn't been necessary of course, but Sian had been touched at
his thoughtfulness on the issue.

He really looked so cute, smiling, and asleep, she thought and she quietly
got up and went into the bathroom to dispose of the rubber. As she stood
looking into the mirror she was suddenly met with a chill, and she sniffed
the air, her green eyes aflame as she sensed danger. Every muscle and nerve
in her body went on alert. She exited the bathroom and went over to her
clothes which hung over the back of the chair with her overnight bag, next
to the room's desk.

Frohike shifted in his sleep and asked groggily, "Sian, is everything all
right?"

"Yes, Mel, everything's fine, lover, go back to sleep," she assured him
with a light stroke to his brow. Frohike sank back into slumber and Sian
took the keys to his room, and the main doors from the desk top, stepped
out of the room and locked the door behind her. She crept downstairs into
the darkened lower floor. All her senses stretched out and she could just
make out a presence. The hair on the back of her neck and her arms stood on
end. One of her own kind she thought, but male, and vaguely familiar. She
cast her head about again to pick up the scent, and soon she knew the
direction from which it came and she walked back through the kitchen to the
house's back door. She opened it cautiously and stepped out into the cold
January air.

A tall shape stood up in the shadows by the dumpsters. Sian growled low in
her throat, and she felt the nubs of her fangs spring from her gums.

"Hey, cool it Sian," the tall shape hissed, "Is that any way to greet an
old friend?" Rimmer added stepping into full view.

Sian relaxed slightly when she saw the familiar face. But she didn't let
her guard down completely, "Tony, what are you doing in the states?" she
asked her eyes narrowing at him.

"Business, my dear. What are you doing in Milwaukee?" he asked in return.

"I live here now, Tony. The pays better. A girl has to make a living you
know."

Rimmer chuckled and looked up idly at the dark house above them. Sian
followed his gaze and then looked at him with further suspicion.

"You're business wouldn't involve anyone in there would it?" she asked, the
warning plain in her voice.

"In there? No, Sian," he lied smoothly. Rimmer had been in the enforcing
business longer then Sian. He had also been brought across as a
shapeshifter way before she had and he was very powerful. Under normal
circumstances, Sian would have caught his lie, but his seniority allowed
him to mask the untruth. Sian knew this was a possibility also, so she was
still worried that he was coming after one of her friends.

"Look, Sian, if you're worried about your little human up there, God, that
dwarf you're fucking, he's safe, don't worry," he hastened to reassure her.
It wouldn't do for the she-wolf to go on the rampage Rimmer thought.

"Well, you'd better stay away from everyone in this house, Tony, or there
will be hell to pay," Sian snarled.

Rimmer held both hands up in surrender, smiling ferally at her. "No
worries, Sian, they are as safe as little lambs," he replied, 'lambs headed
for the slaughter,' he grinned inwardly.

"All right, Tony, I'll take your clan oath on that," she whispered and Tony
made the sign that signified his clan loyalty. Sian relaxed.

"So, how long will you be in Milwaukee?" she asked.

"Oh, just until tomorrow night. I'm making the grand tour, for Alex," he
added, meaning London's alpha wolf, "I go down to Chicago on Wednesday to
meet with the Midwest clan leader."

"Oh, well, sorry to hear Alex is still so caught up in his political
intrigues," Sian sighed.

"Well, not really Sian, he's been having me put out peace feelers now for
weeks. It think the old asshole is getting ready to bury the hatchet," he
added.

'Probably right in your head, you prick,' Sian thought staring into
Rimmer's icy eyes.

"Well to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Sian asked him finally.

"Oh, I just wanted you to know I was in town so you wouldn't be surprised
if you sensed me around. And for old times sake. I did enjoy our one bit of
business together, Sian," he smiled. She had been quite spectacular at the
time Rimmer thought, especially when they had thrown caution and clan
propriety to the wind and fucked each other almost unconscious after
killing a dozen men in a Spittelfield's crack house. Those had been the
good old day Rimmer thought. He half hoped Sian wasn't going to give him
any grief over his killing of Fox Mulder. But he was just as prepared to
rip her throat out now as he had been to screw her two years ago.

"Oh, well, I suppose I should be flattered Tony," she chuckled. Rimmer
frowned at the sarcasm in her voice.

"No, I'm sorry, I am flattered, really, I, I was just a little startled to
see you that's all," she hurried to say.

"No harm done, white one," he replied seductively, walking over to touch
her on the cheek. She arched her head slightly and rubbed against his hand.

He drew away quickly and said, "Well, I need to take care of business,
Sian, Au revior, my sweet. I'm sure we'll cross paths again. Enjoy your
little human," he laughed and then he was gone. Sian blinked and shook
herself all over. She turned and quietly reentered the house.

'I hope that bastard is telling the truth,' she thought. 'I'm not in the
mood for a fight right now," she added. However, if Rimmer so much as
harmed one hair on the heads of anyone in this house she would not hesitate
to snap his spinal column and she would be glad to do it.

Sian stopped to listen to the various sounds to make sure all was well. The
wolf women's hearing was very acute, and she could hear Janet Price and Jim
Rafferty snoring lightly in their suite on the third floor. She could hear
Mulder talking in his sleep, and then his silence, and Frohike tossing a
bit. She hastened up the stairs and unlocked the door to Frohike's room.
The photographer was waking up again and Sian carefully climbed back in bed
beside him. He reached sleepily for her, but she stroked his neck and then
his face whispering, "Melvin, go back to sleep, you're going to be totally
dead on your feet for your presentation tomorrow if we go at it again," she
chuckled slightly as Frohike gave her a lopsided smile. She lay back and
pulled him close as his head lolled onto her breast and she closed her eyes
as he snuggled next to her.

Tony Rimmer sat in the front seat of the Ford Taurus and shook with
laughter. This whole thing was too rich he thought. Sian Phillips boffing
that repugnant little gnome, the equally diminutive blond upstairs amusing
herself with her tall fiancee, and Fox Mulder mewling in the library below
as Rimmer forced him to dream of the pack, and the kill and his slaughtered
lover. Tony really wanted to just walk into the Shepard Avenue residence
and butcher everyone in it - they all deserved it, they were such cunting
fools. But he knew he had to show some restraint. It would be suicide to
draw too much attention to his real identity and the world of the
shapeshifters. Discretion would be the better part of valor he thought even
though it would be damned hard to do.

Rimmer hadn't even revealed his wolf form to the smoking man in DC. He had
just let the petty tyrant think he was an accomplished psychic able to warp
men's minds to his will. He did intend to let him get a glimpse of his true
form however when he returned, and after the pay off for this little job,
of course. It would be the last thing the cancer stick puffing shit would
see, and Tony was really looking forward to the moment.

The smoking man's instructions on this mission had been clear but rather
annoying to Tony. Rimmer would have been more content with a direct
approach with Fox Mulder. He would have just enjoyed grabbing the Agent off
the street some dark night, crushing his neck, and then ripping his heart
out for a snack afterwards. But the DC dick had wanted Rimmer to torture
him a bit first, and then incredibly give the guy the idea that he had a
sporting chance against Rimmer at the end before he delivered the coup de
grace.

Maybe the old fuck was part wolf himself. Maybe he had a little
shapeshifter in his ancestry somewhere along the line. He was certainly
blood thirsty enough to fit into a certain segment of their society Rimmer
thought. Of course, he could understand some of the man's motivation. The
old established wolves always got nervous when their son's showed some
initiative and threatened to rock their little world in a struggle for
dominance. Rimmer knew the cigarette man would want to eliminate Mulder
before his son had a chance to dethrone him and he could understand that
need at least.

Still, the whole job was taking too long, it was too drawn out to be really
fun. Rimmer wanted it to end, and ultimately he would have preferred that
it ended in another way. Tony didn't really want to kill Fox Mulder. In
fact he would have liked to bring the FBI man across into the life of the
pack. Rimmer had delusions of grandeur. He knew Milwaukee was a city
without an alpha wolf - a no-man's land controlled at a distance by a weak
and decrepit elder leader in Chicago. Rimmer thought that if he planned
things right, he could set himself up in Milwaukee as an alpha wolf. A
first step in that plan might be to recruit some subservient hunters as
pack members. Mulder would do for that role. Tony thought he might even be
able to convince Sian to become his alpha bitch if he played his cards
right. He sighed. Well it was an idea. He'd have to see how things went
however. It could be a plan that was better left for the future, but the
near future, he hoped, as he ran a hand through his golden red hair.

'Well, at least things would be heating up tomorrow,' he thought, 'and then
it will be end game and I can finish the whole bleeding show.' Rimmer took
the head phones off and placed them down next to him on the front seat. 'In
the meantime, there's always the Cheetah Club' he mused thinking of the
Divine Desdemona a.k.a. Susan Foster, the exotic dancer now his sex toy,
that awaited him there. Tony switched on the ignition and once again
pointed his car south into downtown Milwaukee, a evil smile on his wolfish
lips.

Tuesday dawned and the occupants of the house on Shepard Avenue began to
stir. Frohike and Sian Phillips had gotten up early and walked quietly down
to the communal shower. The hot water was pouring down on them and Sian
scrubbed Frohike's back tenderly. There was no sex between them that
morning, just the shared pleasure of each others company, and Frohike
thought that was very fine. Janet rolled over in bed and kissed Jimmy
Rafferty on the forehead. Jim's eyes opened and he reached to brush a
strand of her hair back behind her ear. She kissed his lips and then
giggled at the love in his eyes. "Honey, we'd better get up and fix some
breakfast," she said. "I'm starving and I imagine Frohike will be in
serious need of energy food this morning." Jimmy laughed, and agreed and
they got up to go downstairs.

Fox Mulder's watch alarm went off at 7 AM and he grudgingly brought himself
out of his dreams. He had finally dreamt something pleasant that night, a
wonderful vision of walking with Scully on a sunlit beach somewhere
tropical. He had seen the ring on her finger plus the second ring, a
wedding ring as they walked. He knew it was their honeymoon and his heart
had soared at the scene. Mulder woke reluctantly but refreshed and he had
headed down to the now vacant shower to clean up for the conference.

Once everyone was showered, clothed and fed, they gathered up all the
material needed for their various presentations, loaded up the van, and
made the exodus for downtown Milwaukee and *The Whisper Group* meeting at
the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Tuesday morning had dawned for Dana Scully in DC and she did meet the sun
with a happy face. Her Mother sat at the kitchen table as Scully prepared
breakfast for them. The coffee was perked and Scully was putting bagels and
fresh fruit onto plates.

Margaret Scully all ready had a cup of coffee before her and she was
smiling at her Daughter because Scully was more content and joyous then she
had seen her a long time.

Mother and Daughter had chatted over breakfast, lingering in their
bathrobes and slippers over their food. The subject of Mulder had come up
again and this time the conversation was light and pleasant with Scully
telling her Mother about some of Mulder's more amusing jokes and acerbic
humor. At one point in the conversation Walter Skinner's name came up and
Scully squinted at her Mother because she seemed suddenly interested in the
Assistant Director and the idea still gave Scully fits. Dana was successful
however in steering their chat into other avenues and they whiled away the
time until mid morning. Finally the two women had showered, dressed taken
their coats and purses and left the apartment for their day of shopping.

At around 1 PM, Fox Mulder waited outside a section of the ballroom in the
Hyatt Regency Hotel where *The Whisper Group* conference was in full swing.
The first speaker was inside finishing up his presentation and Mulder could
hear his voice and then the crowds laughter at some joke he made. Frohike
was scheduled to go on after Mulder and the photographer had excused
himself to use the rest room a sudden attack of stage nerves causing him to
have to piss. Mulder sat down on a bench against the wall and opened his
presentation folder to take one final glance through his paper on Clyde
Bruckman.

As Mulder read, the hairs on his neck suddenly stood on end and he became
aware of the feeling that he was being watched. He looked up and scanned
the lobby and his eyes fell on the tall red headed man from the airport.
The man was standing near the elevators and his ice cold blue eyes were
boring a hole right through Mulder's skull. Time seemed to stop and
everyone in the lobby was moving in slow motion as the tall well dressed
man pinned Mulder under his hypnotic stare. Mulder got a glimpse then of
the forest and the chase and blood and darkness and as quickly as he felt
all the sensations they were gone and so was the tall stranger. Mulder
blinked and time returned to normal. Mulder stretched, the memory of the
moment fading fast, and he looked towards the doors to the ballroom as he
heard the applause that signaled the first presentation was complete.
Standing he opened the door, walked into the room and headed up to the
stage where the speaker was just leaving the podium.

Tony Rimmer exited the lobby of the Hyatt Regency smiling. 'The pump's
primed,' he thought. Mulder was softened up enough now to go along with
just about anything Rimmer was going to do this evening and he had pretty
much decided how the Agent was going to meet his death - or just remotely
his rebirth. He still held out some hope that he would be able to bite
Mulder at some point and convert him rather then kill him. He was leaving
his options open. 'To be or not to be,' he mused. Well, it didn't matter.
The game was afoot and that was the ultimate pleasure. 'And speaking of
ultimate pleasure, I'd better get back to the Divine D,' he thought. The
exotic dancer, Susan Foster was waiting for him in her apartment near the
FBI Headquarters. Tony had checked out of the Phister Hotel and then picked
Susan up at the Cheetah Club the night before. He had decided to make her
apartment his final base of operations, and he had escorted her there last
night for an evening of debauchery which she had begged him for.

Rimmer had fucked her in every conceivable position possible during the
evening and made her scream for more. He had tweaked her orgasms until she
was almost passing out from their intensity and then he had sprawled back
on the bed, the woman straddling his hips, impaled on his huge cock. He
watched her as she rode him, rubbing her clit in a frenzy, and he closed
his eyes and smiled. As the woman pumped up and down on his erection and
her cunt spasms squeezed him tightly Rimmer grunted just allowing himself
to begin to feel his own ecstasy. He had grinned then and picked up the
cell phone lying next to him on the bed and punched in a number in DC. The
phone was answered after one ring.

"Rimmer here, Sir,' he grunted into the receiver end as another spasm
constricted his penis.

"Mr. Rimmer, I'm glad you're reporting in, I was getting a bit anxious,"
the smoke hazed voice hissed from the other end of the connection.

"Well, never fear, things are moving along quiet nicely Sir," he licked his
lips, 'moving, yeah, I'll say they're moving' he gave out a low groan as
the blond writhed against his crotch.

"And...my son?" the cigarette smoking man was asking.

"OH, Mulder's primed, I don't think the conclusion of my little play will
be any trouble," Rimmer assured him, thrusting slightly to meet the blond's
hips. She groaned loudly and Rimmer could hear the sharp intake of breath
on the other end of the line.

"See that it isn't, Mr. Rimmer the voice said, "And remember the
stipulations of our deal," he added breathing somewhat heavily as he
listened to what he now obviously knew was going on in the Milwaukee
apartment.

"Yes, Sir, I know - torture, terror and fake triumph and then I frag his
ass," he hissed as the blond raked his chest with her nails.

"Correct, Mr. Rimmer, and don't forget it," he advised.

"No problem, Sir," Rimmer stated, and then he added, "if you'll excuse me
for a moment, I have something I need to finish here," and he put the cell
phone down on the bed next to him, the connection still open. He grabbed
the blond by the waist and flipped her over violently, forcing her legs up
as he drove into her, hard and deep. She shrieked in lust and Rimmer could
her a low moan coming from the cell phone next to her head and he laughed
as he came with a guttural roar.

Rimmer smiled at the memory. He chuckled at the thought of the cancer man
beating off in his office in DC as he listened to Rimmer and the exotic
dancer. It had been a sublime bit of business. Now Rimmer really wanted to
get back to the Divine Ds apartment because when it finally came down to
it, Susan Foster had a very important part to play in his plans and he
didn't want her to wait to take center stage much longer.

Dana Scully and her Mother carried the packages from their shopping
expedition back into Scully's apartment at around 6 PM. It was late but
they had had such fun shopping and stopping in an art gallery on the spur
of the moment. Dana had decided to cook for her mother tonight and then to
call Mulder to tell him how things had gone on Monday evening. As she was
putting her packages in her bedroom and planning a dinner menu in her head
she heard the phone ring in the living room.

"I'll get that honey," her Mother called.

Scully put her packages down on the bed and then she went back into the
living room. Her mother was talking into the phone and it was obvious the
call had been for her and not Scully.

"Well, how nice," she was saying. "But, I'm not sure, uh, let me ask Dana,"
she was saying, "Just a moment, she's right here," Her Mother pressed the
mute button on the phone and then she turned to Scully, a half flustered
and pleased look on her face.

"Honey, this, it's Walter Skinner on the phone," she whispered smiling
nervously.

"Skinner, is something wrong?" Scully was worried that even though the call
sounded like it was for her mother that something had happened to Mulder.

"Oh, God, no honey, nothings wrong!" Margaret Scully hastened to reassure
her, "He, he's calling for me. I told him I was staying with you the other
night in the restaurant so he called me here. He wants to know if I'd like
to have dinner with him this evening."

"Dinner?" Scully raised an eyebrow, "Alone?"

"No, together, honey," she teased, but then she went very serious, "God,
Dana, I think he's asking me for a date," and then Margaret was suddenly
extremely flustered.

Scully's mouth dropped open, "Oh, Mom..." she started to say.

"What should I do?" Margaret whispered.

"Well, don't keep him on hold forever," Scully advised equally upset. She
didn't know what to say. This was incredible.

Her Mother put the receiver back to her ear and it was evident that Skinner
was talking to her right away.

"Oh, no, it's not that short a notice, Walter. No, we haven't eaten yet,
we've been shopping all day. Yes, I have to admit I've worked up quite an
appetite," she took a deep breath and then came to a decision.

"Walter, I'd love to go to dinner with you. Yes, Thai food would be
marvelous. 8 PM? Fine, you know the address? Oh, yes, of course you would.
All right, I'll see you then," she finished hanging up the phone.

"Mom, I think we'd better have another talk," Scully sighed at the look of
utter confusion and chagrin on Margaret Scully's face.

At 6 PM in Milwaukee, Janet Price, Jim Rafferty, Frohike, Mulder and Sian
Phillips were just sitting down to a post conference dinner in the
restaurant of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. It was a convenient location and the
food was passable but their main intent was to enjoy each others company
for one final evening before Mulder and Frohike returned to DC. They all
ordered traditional Milwaukee German specialty dishes, Mulder opting for
veal rather then the despised kielbasa. As he ate his meal he was content
but slightly buzzed and he chalked that up to the enthusiastic reception
his paper had gotten that afternoon and the fact that he was thinking about
returning to Scully and her possible answer to his marriage proposal.

Frohike was lost in Sian Phillips eyes and Mulder was really happy for the
photographer. He figured Frohike could always talk to her over the Internet
if he wanted, and Milwaukee was only a plane flight away, so the
relationship might have a chance at continuing despite the fact that they
looked so mismatched. Sian Phillips really did seem eager to be with the
Lone Gunman and Mulder just shook his head with a smile at the vagaries of
fate.

Janet and Jimmy were laughing and joking, and in love, and all in all
Mulder thought, the evening was going to be wonderful. He picked up his
knife and fork and cut another piece from the excellent piece of veal on
his plate.

It was close to 8 PM in DC and Margaret Scully was breathing deeply to calm
herself. She and Dana had indeed talked for quite some time about Skinner.
Dana had explained that she wasn't entirely happy with her Mother accepting
the invitation to dinner with her Boss and why. It had been hard to admit
to her Mother that Skinner made her so nervous and even though she
respected him he still made her feel like she was about six years old. And
of course, she did have to work with him, maintaining a professional
demeanor although that wasn't as hard since he had known about her
relationship with Mulder. Of course she had to tell her mother about that
little fact as well.

Margaret Scully had listened and then confessed that she wasn't sure she
should have accepted either. After all, she hadn't had a single date since
her husbands death. She hadn't even thought about another man in all that
time. She was totally flummoxed and afraid that she would make a total fool
of herself even though it did seem like she wanted to go.

But as they talked, Dana Scully began to realize that maybe her Mother had
grieved for her late Father long enough. It wasn't healthy for her to deny
herself the pleasure of a man's company forever. She needed some sort of
social life. Scully chided herself for making too much of the Skinner
situation. 'I mean, God, he just asked her to dinner, it isn't like he's
serious or anything'" she mused. After the extended conversation in the
restaurant about cooking - a subject she knew Skinner was very familiar
with after the Maine case, she figured he just wanted someone to talk to
about a shared interest. She knew Skinner was lonely. Since the horrible
events in Crossroads, Maine, and the loss of his love, Maggie Flynn he had
mostly been absorbed in the job and it's day to day grind. He had no social
life to speak of so Scully finally decided she really couldn't begrudge him
escorting her Mother to dinner. After all if he was going to pick an
attractive older woman to entertain he couldn't go wrong in squiring
Margaret Scully.

Dana had smiled and told her Mother to go for it and then they had both
laughed long and hard to break the tension. Margaret Scully sat on the
couch now, dressed in a stunning red dress that she had purchased just that
afternoon. Dana thought she looked beautiful. The door bell rang promptly
at 8 PM.

"Look, Mom, I'll be in the kitchen, all right?" Scully whispered. She
thought it might be more easy for her Mother to answer the door on her own
without her hovering like some suspicious chaperone.

As she poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot on the counter she could
hear her mother opening the apartment door.

Skinner was greeting her and Scully could tell from the tone of his voice
that the dress was a hit. She smiled. She wished she could have seen what
he was wearing but it really wasn't important. Skinner was somewhat of a
clothes horse so she knew he would have done it up right. They made small
talk for a couple of minutes, and then Scully heard her mother getting her
coat from the closet near the door.

"Honey, we're going now," she called and Dana took a deep breath and just
poked her head out of the kitchen door. 'Yup, I was right, he looks great,'
she thought taking in Skinner's tailored suit.

"All right, have a nice time you two," she smiled. Skinner smiled ruefully
at her. He was nervous for once and Scully suppressed a grin.

"I won't keep her out too late," Skinner was saying a slight smile playing
about his lips.

Scully grinned back and keeping with the good mood and light tone said,
"Well, see that you don't - Sir." and then she smiled more broadly to show
that she was only joking.

Skinner took her Mother's arm then and opening the front door gently
steered her through it and out into the crisp January evening.

Scully went back out into the living room with her cup of coffee and sat
down on the couch. She picked up a book she had been reading and settled
back to wait for her Mother's return.

Tony Rimmer sat naked on the edge of Susan Foster's bed in downtown
Milwaukee. He glanced at the clock as the equally naked blond knelt between
his legs, his cock in her mouth. Rimmer was stroking her head with one hand
as he idly glanced over at the clock. '8 PM' he thought. 'Well, it's about
time I got this show on the road,' he added.

"Susan, my dear, that's really exquisite, but could you stop a moment
please. I don't want to come yet. I'd like to save that for you," he
grinned down at her ferally as she looked up into his face and released his
erection.

"Oh, sure, Tony..." she purred. She was panting for him now and he stood up
and extended his hand to pull her to her feet. He embraced her and kissed
her tenderly on the lips. She opened her mouth and he stuck his tongue into
her and deepened the kiss. As he explored her taste he reached into her
mind and let her feel that she could never experience such rapture again.
He also told her that no matter what happened next she would do anything he
asked without hesitation. She groaned and Rimmer moved her over to the bed
and sat her down on it. She made to pull him down on top of her but he
disengaged himself.

"Look baby, I need to take a leak, all right, I'll be right back, keep the
home fires burning," he licked his lips as she lay back, stroking her
breasts and between her legs.

Rimmer walked into the bathroom and shut the door. This part of his life
was always a little painful and inconvenient and he always felt just a
trifle vulnerable during it. He didn't want Susan to see what he was going
to do now and just possibly have his control over her broken. It was a
remote chance but caution was what had kept Tony Rimmer alive for so long.
He stared into the mirror and then crouched down on the floor on all fours.
He grunted in discomfort and then retched slightly in pain as his bones
began to shift and pop and twist. His legs elongated, turned furry, and
bent at an odd angle. His arms swelled and became equally as furry and his
ears lengthened as well. Sharp talons sprung from his finger tips and fangs
broke through his gums. He snarled quietly and mewled a bit as the pain
swept over him one last time and his shapeshifting transformation was
complete. Tony Rimmer stood on all fours next to the tub in Susan Foster
apartment and his ice cold blue werewolf eyes glowed with a supernatural
light, and his now mammoth erection swung between his legs.

Rimmer reached up with a nearly human hand-like paw and twisted the
bathroom door handle. The door swung open and he loped back down the
hallway to Susan's bedroom.

The blond was masturbating on the bed and Tony crept up to her and stuck
his head up over the bed's edge between her legs. She looked down into his
wolfish muzzle, her eyes grew wide and her mouth opened to scream. Rimmer
pinned her eyes and then sent a bolt of psychic energy into her mind and
she smiled at him.

"Oh, hello Tony, what took you so long?" she asked him, dazed.

Tony laughed. He pulled the dancer down off the bed and flung her to the
floor onto her hands and knees. She pushed her ass up into the air eagerly
as he grabbed her by the waist, and without further preamble, the werewolf
thrust violently into her. The blond screamed in fear and torment then as
Tony pulled back and then pounded into her again and again, snarling and
groaning. 'God this is so fucking good,' he thought. 'The only way, the
only way,' he kept repeating and he mentally stifled the blond's shrieks
because he didn't want to attract attention.

Susan Foster writhed in front of him. There would be no pleasure for her
now, only terror and anguish in her mind, and complete compliance to the
wolfman with her body. Tears streamed down her face as Rimmer continued to
brutalize her with his cock and his claws. Blood ran down her legs and back
and finally when she was close to collapse she felt the wolf's muzzle at
the back of her neck. Rimmer was close to coming, he grunted in time to
this thrusts and rolled his hips and head in white hot bliss.

He gripped the blond's neck in his jaws and then as he drove into her hard
and deep for two last tremendous thrusts, he erupted, his jaws shut in an
orgasmic rictus and he snapped Susan Foster's neck like a broken twig. As
Rimmer's semen spurted into her dying body, her blood spurted everywhere,
and Rimmer caught some of it in his now gaping and gasping jaws.

It was nearly 11 PM and Janet Price was wheeling the black Dodge Caravan
out of the Hyatt Regency Parking garage and heading for *The Whisper House*
on Shepard Avenue. The little group, still including Sian Phillips was
happy but tired and somewhat subdued now as they drove off into the night.
Jim sat next to her riding shotgun and he smiled as he glanced in the rear
view mirror. Mulder was seated on the middle bench seat staring out the
window into the Milwaukee City lights a small smile on his face. Rafferty
figured his mind was miles away. He could just see past Mulder to the rear
bench seat where Frohike was talking quietly to Sian. Janet had invited her
to return to the house with them again and Jim had to chuckle at the way
she had finally excepted the fact that Frohike and the tall blond were an
item. It was a strange vision but fun to watch Rafferty thought. He reached
over and patted Janet on the knee and she smiled over at him. The van sped
on towards the lakefront route and towards the East Side.

Dana Scully had dozed off when a noise outside her front door awakened her.
She rose from the couch instantly and went to open the door to let her
Mother in. Something caused her to hesitate however, and she stepped
forward impulsively and pried the curtain aside just a bit to make sure it
was indeed her Mother returning, 'It had better be, it's almost midnight,'
she yawned.

Through the window she could plainly see Skinner and her Mother on the
stoop. They were standing very close and then Skinner bent over and started
to give her Mother a kiss on the cheek. But then he hesitated, looking into
her Mother's eyes, and searching her face for something. Her Mother touched
his arm, and then instead of a chaste kiss on the cheek Skinner drew
Margaret Scully close and kissed her on the lips.

"Oh shit," Scully breathed as her Mother melted against him, 'Jesus,'
Scully amended and she dropped the curtain and backed quickly into the
living room. Her knees were shaking and she sat back down on the couch with
a thud. 'God, her Mother was kissing him, kissing Walter Skinner, oh for
Christ sake! And on the first date. I mean wasn't there something against
that according to Miss Manners? Oh my God! Well, the A. D. certainly
doesn't waste any time does he? Holy Mother Mary. But he has been so lonely
and my Mother is really warm, and fun, and attractive and...oh dear Lord,'
Scully's mind was in turmoil. She struggled to compose herself as she heard
her Mother's key turning in the lock.

Margaret Scully came in the door and Dana took one look at her Mother's
face and she knew. She had seen that look enough times in her own mirror
when she thought about Mulder to know what it meant. Margaret Scully was
very close to falling fast for Skinner and Scully could not believe it. She
was too skeptical to consider love at first sight as a valid reason for
this unexpected turn of events. She began to think it was more than likely
the feelings of two lonely people taking a sudden turn and she wasn't sure
it was a turn for the better.

Her Mother was quietly closing the door behind her and taking off her coat.
After she hung it in the closet she stepped back and then Scully felt a
tremendous rush of love go through her body because her Mother was smiling
as she reached up and touched her lips with her finger tips.

"Mom, are you all right?" Scully asked quietly from the couch. Her Mother
jumped slightly and then turned to look at her daughter.

"Dana honey? Oh, you shouldn't have waited up for me," she smiled at her as
she walked into the living room.

"Oh, that's ok, Mom, I wanted to finish this book anyway," she said placing
the novel on the coffee table. Then she patted the couch next to her and
said, "Why don't you come over here and tell me all about your evening. Was
the restaurant nice?"

Margaret Scully crossed to the couch and sat down, a dreamy expression on
her face and Scully thought, "Yes, she looks just like me after Mulder and
I..." and then suddenly she thought, 'Oh my God, I forgot to call Mulder!'
With everything that had been going on between her Mother and Skinner she
had completely neglected her promise to call him that evening.

"Oh, Mom, I forgot to call Mulder," she blurted out.

"Oh, Dana, Lord, you'd better try to get him, he must be frantic by now!"
her Mother touched her arm. Scully picked up her cell phone from the coffee
table and punched in Mulder's cell phone number. She sat back as the phone
rang.

Janet Price closed the garage door on the Dodge Caravan and turned to
follow the rest of her little group into the house. Once inside everyone
decided it was best to go to bed. Mulder and Frohike's flight wasn't until
Wednesday afternoon but both of them thought it might be best to turn in.

"All right you guys. I'll let you all sleep in the morning and we can all
have a big brunch before we drive you to the airport," Janet said

"Thanks, Janet," Mulder replied, "I really enjoyed today. The conference
was great."

"Hey, your paper was great, G-man," Frohike chimed in slapping him on the
back.

"Hell, Frohike, I don't think it held a candle to yours," Mulder grinned.
The photographer had really outdone himself with slides regarding the new
lenses, and a demo of spirit photography, and then the many ways photos
could be faked at the end of the presentation. Mulder had been very
impressed and almost felt his paper was boring by comparison.

Frohike laughed. "Yeah, well, you got the most applause, Mulder. But maybe
that was just because you've got that GQ look," he teased.

Sian Phillips laughed and patted Frohike on the arm. He smiled over at her
and then said, "I'm beat, Sian, I'm going up to bed."

"All right, Melvin, I'll be up in a minute," she replied smiling at him
with love in her eyes. Sian couldn't quite believe it but in just a few
days this little man had captured her wolfish heart. She wanted to see him
again or at least try to maintain the relationship. She'd do it long
distance for now if she had to but she was even considering relocating to
Washington, DC. It wouldn't be a bad move, DC held lots of action and there
was certainly a need there for her special, hidden talents.

Of course, she would have to tell Frohike about her true nature. She had
probed his mind enough to know that he would be shocked at first but the
experiences in his life as well as his association with Mulder had made him
more then open to extreme possibilities. She thought things could be worked
out in the shapeshifting department. And then of course she would bring him
across. He wasn't exactly a prime pack candidate but the clan could
certainly use his genius and photographic expertise not to mention his
underground hacker connections. She smiled to think what the change would
do for him too. He wouldn't be quite the gnome like individual he was now,
not that she didn't find that aspect of him charming. No, he would be much
larger, muscular, powerful and graceful. She grew slightly wet with the
thought.

She watched as Frohike went up the stairs and then she turned to Janet and
Jimmy and said, "I, I just want to thank both of you for inviting me to
stay here for the last couple of days. I can't tell you how much..." and
she suddenly became uncharacteristically flustered and her voice trailed
off. Mulder and Jim Rafferty stepped aside, slightly embarrassed and Janet
stepped forward and hugged Sian around the waist.

"Oh, honey, don't mention it," she replied quietly, "I'm so happy for you."

Janet released her then and Sian said, "Good night everyone, I'll see you
in the morning," and she turned to go up the stairs.

Mulder scratched his head and smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, well, I guess I'd
better hit the sack as well."

"I'll turn off the lights and lock up down here you two, go on up to bed,
Jim," Janet replied, "Oh, and Mulder, can I stop by before I go up and see
that ring?" she asked.

"Oh, sure, Janet, great, I'll leave my door open a crack, just come on in,"
Mulder replied and then he turned and headed up the stairs with Rafferty
following behind him.

Janet Price began to make her rounds of *The Whisper House* checking doors
and windows and turning off lights as she went. When she reached the door
to the basement work rooms she noticed it was open and the lights were on
downstairs. 'What the hell,' she thought, 'Jimmy must have left the lights
on again,' she thought in exasperation. But as she made to switch off the
light she noticed a dark, wet stain at the bottom of the steps. 'Oh shit,
have we got a leak?' she thought. 'No, that doesn't look like water, God I
can't believe Jim would have spilled paint down there and not cleaned it
up,' she mused descending the steps to get a better look. As she reached
the bottom step and beheld what was splayed out on the floor before her she
put her hands to her face and screamed in terror.

Fox Mulder sat on the bed in his room upstairs and fingered Scully's
engagement ring in it's box. It glinted in the rooms soft light. He was
smiling and then he suddenly heard an almost inhuman shriek of terror
coming from below. He dropped the box onto the bed, grabbed his weapon from
the holster behind his back and was out the room's door instantly and
thundering down the stairs.

Frohike was just unbuttoning his shirt as Sian sat on the edge of the bed
to remove her shoes when the air was split with a wail of terror from the
basement. Sian rushed past Frohike in a blur of motion, and the
photographer's neck snapped around as the door to the room flew open and
she was gone. He turned and dashed after her at a dead run.

Jim Rafferty was standing in his briefs when he heard Janet's loud screams
from the basement, 'Oh my God, that's Janet,' he thought and he was out the
door in three long strides, panic on his face.

Mulder was the first down the basement steps and he collided with Janet who
stood paralyzed. He caught the small blond who was still screaming and
rapidly turned her around in his arms and looked into her face. He
recognized hysteria well enough when he saw it. He jammed his gun into his
belt and then he took the only route to stop her wails that came to mind.
He slapped her across the face and Janet stopped at once sagging against
him. He held her close as she shook and then he looked past her into the
room. 'Christ,' he thought as he beheld the charnel house the room had
become.

Blood covered the floor in a circle around the naked body of a tall blond
woman. She was splayed out - her arms and legs stretched wide almost in the
position of a crucifixion. Mulder couldn't see her face, only the halo of
her long blond hair because a large sheet of white paper was covering her
head. The paper had writing on it that he couldn't make out from the steps,
and the missive had been nailed to her forehead, the bloody hammer print
staining the paper. But the worst thing about her body was the fact that
she was gutted from the base of her neck to her pubic bone. Her organs had
been yanked out and spread all over the floor near her body. A quick
cursory inspection told Mulder that almost everything was there, except for
her heart he thought. He felt the gorge rise in his throat and he gagged it
back down as his professional persona took over. Suddenly he was Special
Agent Fox Mulder and he gently extricated Janet from his embrace and turned
her around towards the stairs. By his time Sian Phillips was coming down
and Mulder pushed Janet up towards her.

"Sian, take Janet back upstairs," he said in a clipped voice, "and don't
let the others come down here under any circumstances," he added tersely.

Sian looked past him, saw the body, and her eyes narrowed. Mulder was
surprised to see no look of horror or shock on her face as she gently took
Janet by the arm and went back upstairs. He could hear Frohike and Jim
Rafferty's excited voices from above but Sian was saying something and they
were fading away slightly.

Mulder walked over to the body on the floor and bent down to take a closer
look. He wanted to examine her further but he hesitated because he didn't
have any gloves. Then he glanced around and noticed a box of latex gloves
on one of the work benches. He walked over, drew two out and put them on.
Then he bent back down to take a look at the women's corpse.

Her heart was indeed missing he observed. It looked like her neck was
broken as well. He bent over and tore the paper off her forehead. Her face
was horrible beneath it, her eyes wide open and staring and her mouth open
in a silent scream. Mulder walked over to the work bench again, grabbed a
large rag that was lying there and threw it over her face. Then he stepped
back over to the bench and turned on one of the bright magnifying lamps
that was bolted to the wall over it. He placed the note flat on the bench
and began to read it.

******Sorry Sian, I lied, I'm afraid. Well Mea Culpa, my dear. I hope
you'll understand. This is just business.

Fox Mulder. Greetings again. We've seen each other over the last few days,
but I haven't had the pleasure of making your direct acquaintance yet.
Consider this little calling card an invitation to get to know me better.
Also, I bear you glad tidings from DC, from a certain cigarette smoking
mutual friend of ours. He wants me to discuss some things with you as well,
G-man, so listen up. We need to meet, and soon, in fact, Agent Mulder. Wait
for my phone call tomorrow night. And be prepared to come because if you
don't I'm going to come up to that fucking house on the hill, and slaughter
everyone in it, you bastard. Don't think I'm not serious. Ask Sian, she'll
tell you.

Yours truly,
Anthony Rimmer***********



Mulder sucked his breath in and bit his lower lip, 'Oh fuck,' he thought
angrily. A sudden noise drew his attention and he whirled around to see
Sian Phillips standing quietly at the bottom of the stairs.

"Sian, this letter, it, Sian, what in God's name is going on here?" Mulder
asked.

"Fox, I, well, I can explain," Sian said.

Mulder glared at her. "You'd better, Sian, this is serious," he hissed
handing her a pair of latex gloves and then the letter he had in his hand.

Sian looked at him closely and then she came to a decision. Tony Rimmer had
overstepped his bounds for sure now. Besides calling out Mulder, the
woman's body only served as a signal for Sian also. It was a battle signal,
a challenge to fight, to kill or be killed, and she was perhaps for the
first time in a long time, afraid.

Sian would need help in this war. Tony Rimmer was a skilled assassin and
older and more powerful then Sian. He was no minor wolf easily vanquished
like Ross Baker had been. She knew Mulder would need help as well to defeat
him, so she decided on the only course she could. She would make Mulder
remember the events in Addison, Wisconsin and her role in them and then she
would try to convince him to aid her in killing Tony Rimmer.

Mulder stood staring at her as she glanced at the letter one last time and
then placed it on the work bench. She was standing very close to him and
she removed one of the rubber gloves from her hand. Stepping forward
quickly, she grasped his arm and then she sent a bolt of psychic energy
into his mind. Mulder reeled back but Sian kept a tight grip on his arm as
the Agent groaned in shock. He fell to his knees and Sian followed him down
and then held him in her embrace as the memories flooded into him.
Everything went in, except for one tiny fact, the one that Scully had
wanted devoutly to keep from Mulder, the rape by Ross Baker. Other then
that he got it all, and he got it fast, and when Sian was done, Mulder
looked up into her face in wonder.

He extricated himself from her arms and moved away to sit in one of the
chairs that lined the workbench.

"Uh, Sian, I, I don't know what to say," he whispered as she got up and
pulled a chair up to sit next to him. She had probed his mind as well
during their bond and she read there the story of the smoking man and
everything that he meant in Mulder's life. She snarled at the thoughts.

"Mulder, you don't need to say anything, but you need to listen to me
because we obviously don't have much time. And I think we should take this
discussion upstairs. I'm going to have to tell the rest of them what's
going on for their own safety and quite frankly I'm going to need their
assistance. I could use your help to explain."

"Yeah, all right, but let's find something to cover the body first," Mulder
replied.

Once they were upstairs they went into the den where Janet, Frohike and Jim
Rafferty were sitting in shocked silence. Janet was more calm but she was
still shaking on the couch, and Jim held her close in his arms.

"What the fuck is going on here, Mulder," Frohike barked from his seat in a
chair. "Janet said something about a dead woman in the basement!" Frohike
was shaking slightly also, and Sian crossed to stand next to him and put a
hand on his shoulder.

"Sian's right, there's been a murder, and we need to explain something to
all of you." Mulder said crossing to a chair next to Frohike and sitting
down. "It's going to take an open mind too, but I know you're all open to
extreme possibilities, so bear with us," Mulder began.

And then he and Sian began to explain about Tony Rimmer, and Sian, and the
shapeshifters and what had happened in Addison, Wisconsin. Mulder explained
a bit about the Cancer Man too - Frohike knew him only too well, and the
danger of his involvement was not lost on him. Sian told them all that they
would have to kill Tony Rimmer and then destroy all the evidence so that no
one would know about the werewolf clan. She begged for their help and
Mulder backed her up.

As they explained they could see the faces of their companions go from
disbelief to various levels of acceptance. When it seemed that the three
were willing to believe but not quite convinced Sian decided to do
something that would definitely sway them. She stepped across the room and
to their utter shock, took her clothes off, got down on all fours and
transformed before their eyes.

Frohike gagged suddenly at the sight, and standing up, ran out of the room.
Sian's muzzle turned in the direction of his fleeing back, and she quickly
changed shape again and reached for her clothes.

"I'd better go talk to him," she said.

"No, Sian, let me go," Mulder said but just as he commented his cell phone
rang. He took it out of his sport's coat pocket and flipped it open,
"Mulder," he barked into it. It was Scully. 'Oh Jesus,' he thought getting
up to walk away from the other three people for some privacy.

"Mulder, is anything wrong?" Scully asked immediately recognizing even over
the long distance connection, the tone of his voice.

"Yeah, Scully, we have a problem here," and he started to explain about the
dead woman, and Cancer Man, and Tony Rimmer.

"Oh my God," Scully was saying.

"And Scully, Uh, Sian Phillips is here, and, well, she gave me back my
memories about Addison, Wisconsin," Mulder added quietly.

"Oh Christ, Mulder, I'm, I'm so sorry..." Scully whispered over the
distance.

"It's ok, Scully I understand why you did what you did, it's all right,"
Mulder replied.

"Mulder?" Scully asked.

"Yeah, Scully?"

"I'll be on the next flight out there. Now, don't argue with me either.
I've had as much experience with the shapeshifter's as you have. You'll
need all the help you can get. And I can help take care of that body.
Mulder, if Sian hasn't explained it too you I might as well tell you -
we're going to have to erase all the evidence. Those creatures are
extremely dangerous, Mulder. Sian implied up in Addison that she would kill
us if we revealed their secrets," Scully said.

"Yeah, I sort of got that idea," Mulder agreed, "All right Scully, come on
out, but be careful, all right. Let me know what flight you'll be on as
soon as you can."

"All right, Mulder, I'll try to get a flight on United. But don't come out
to the airport to meet me, just give me the address of *The Whisper House*.
I'll rent a car and drive up there as soon as I land."

"Ok, Scully," Mulder replied, and then he gave her the address.

Scully started to say good bye, but then she had one last thought and her
voice came into Mulder's ear over the miles.

"Mulder, I had that talk with my Mother," she said.

"Yeah?" Mulder whispered.

"She wants you to start calling her Mom," Scully smiled into the phone.

Mulder grinned wider and gripped the phone tightly, "Tell her I said it
would be my pleasure," he replied, "I love you, Scully," he added, "and
stay sharp, Dana."

"Sharp as a tack. I love you too, I'll see you soon," Scully replied
breaking the connection.

Mulder put the cell phone away and turned towards Janet, Jim and Sian.

"We're about to get some extra help, guys, and she's a fucking crack shot."

Outside in the Ford Taurus Tony Rimmer took off his earphones and dropped
them on the seat. He flexed his arms lazily and then cracked his back.
'Well as that old saying goes, *the cat is out of the bag*,' Rimmer
thought. 'Well, no matter, I'm ready for the fray,' he grinned. 'Too bad
about that stupid bitch, Sian Phillips though,' he sighed. 'She was going
to have to either submit to his will or die now,' he thought. And if she
died, well, there was always Mulder's fetching little red head. Her
imminent arrival was a development that could prove interesting. Tony moved
his head back and forth to further work out the kinks in his muscles.
Rimmer remembered only too well Scully's performance back in the apartment
in DC as Mulder had fucked her. Her moans and screams had been quite
delightful. Rimmer thought it might be pleasant to make her acquaintance.
'Yes,' he thought, 'I think I'll have to meet Ms. Dana Scully,' he decided
bending forward to turn over the ignition. As the car sprung to life, Tony
Rimmer glanced back at *The Whisper House*. 'Well, this is it, G-man,' he
thought. 'You're about to take a walk on the wild side, Fox, so enjoy life
while you can.' and then he laughed. 'Well, I'd better go get some sleep,'
he advised himself as he gripped the steering wheel, 'Wouldn't want to be
sluggish for Mr. Mulder or Ms. Scully,' he grinned and then he drove the
car back towards the late Susan Foster's apartment in downtown Milwaukee.

After talking to Scully, Mulder got up and went in search of Frohike,
leaving Sian to continue to talk to Janet and Jim. He figured Frohike might
have gone up to his room and as he neared the open door upstairs he could
hear the sound of vomiting coming from inside the room's attached bathroom.
Mulder walked in quietly and sat down on the bed. Frohike finished and came
out of the bathroom.

"Mulder," he said weakly crossing to the chair by the desk. He sat down and
put his head in his hands.

"Frohike, she, she's the same person really. I mean, she touched my mind, I
know," Mulder said quietly.

Frohike looked over at him, "Mulder, I, God, I just couldn't see her like
that, it was a shock, man. And the pain, Christ it looked like it hurt," he
whispered referring to Sian's transformation.

"Yeah, it doesn't look pleasant, but I think it's something she knows how
to cope with."

"God, I hope so," Frohike sighed.

"But Mulder, I, Jesus, I'm in love with her...I slept with her, and all
this time she, she wasn't, Mulder, I don't even like dogs," he whined
pathetically running a hand over his face.

Mulder smiled slightly, "Frohike, if it's any consolation, when she fed me
those memories I picked up a lot of her emotions. She loves you too, truly.
One of the reason's she's going into battle with this prick, Tony Rimmer,
is to protect you," Mulder finished watching Frohike closely.

"Really?" the photographer asked.

"Really," Mulder replied. And as he watched Frohike sat up straight and set
his shoulders. A look of determination came into his face and his lips
formed a tight line.

"All right, Mulder, what can I do to even the odds?" he asked.

Mulder straightened up himself then, "Well, I think we need to go back
downstairs and formulate a plan of attack. We don't have much time until
Rimmer calls to let me know where the meeting will be. We need to have some
idea how we're going to protect ourselves and then kill the son of a
bitch."

"Yeah, Mulder, but what about that fucking black lunged bastard back in
DC?" Frohike asked.

"Well, I think he's going to have to wait for now, Frohike, but he's going
to pay if I have anything to say about it," Mulder hissed.

"OK, Mulder, I'm with you all the way, big guy, let's go back downstairs
and brainstorm. I need to apologize to Sian anyway. God, I really lost it."

"Yeah, well it's not every day that a guy gets to see his lover really bark
like a dog, I guess," Mulder smiled slightly.

"Ho, you got that right," Frohike replied with a grin.

"And Frohike, speaking of lovers. Scully's coming out on the next flight,"
Mulder added as they both left Frohike's room and headed for the stairs.

"Good, that should help ace the bastard," Frohike nodded following Mulder
down.

Mulder hoped Frohike was right. A feeling of dread was threatening to creep
over his soul and he was fighting hard to keep his thoughts steady and as
he had advised Scully, his mind sharp. If he didn't he thought it would
prove fatal.

Dana Scully moved around her bedroom tossing her belongings into an
overnight bag, worry creasing her brow.

As soon as Scully had gotten off the phone with Mulder she had called the
airport and booked a 6 AM United airlines flight for Milwaukee. Her Mother
had watched her make the call in patient silence. Scully had then called
Mulder back, quickly told him the flight number and her time of arrival.
She hung up with him and then turned to her mother to explain what was
going on. She hadn't elaborated too much, she just told her that there had
been trouble in Milwaukee, a murder, it was shaping up into an X-File, FBI
business, and Mulder had requested her assistance. Her mother swallowed
hard and nodded agreeing that of course, she had to go and not to worry
about her or anything in DC.

"Mom, you'll have to take a cab home later, I'm sorry," Scully said.

"Oh, that's all right, honey, don't trouble yourself about that," her
Mother answered. "And, Dana, why don't you go get some sleep. I can wake
you in time for you to drive to the airport.

"Well, Mom, I have to pack. I'll sleep if there's time, but I may have to
do that on the plane," she added. Sleep wasn't something she thought was
possible now anyway, she was starting to run on adrenaline, "I think you
should go to bed though, Mom, you look beat yourself," Scully added,
touching her Mother's arm with affection. Her Mother smiled back at her. It
looked like their little talk about Skinner was going to have to wait.
'Skinner?" she thought, 'God, I'll need to call him too,' she thought as
her Mother got up off the couch and left her side to head off towards the
guest bed room.

As soon as her mother had closed the bedroom door Scully picked up her cell
phone and dialed Skinner's number. The phone rang several times and then a
slightly blurred voice barked into it.

"Skinner."

"Sir, this is Dana Scully," she winced. She had obviously rousted him from
sleep.

To his credit however, Walter Skinner was awake instantly. Years of
experience making him alert at a seconds notice at the tone in her voice.

"What's wrong Agent Scully?" he asked falling into Assistant Director mode.

Scully hurried to explain the situation. She told him pretty much the same
thing she had told her Mother. There had been a murder in Milwaukee, and it
was definitely an X-File and would prove to have some dangerous elements in
it much like their case in Crossroads, Maine. Mulder had requested her
assistance and she was flying out there on the 6 AM flight.

Skinner had listened without interruption and when she was done he said,
"Like Crossroads? Christ, Scully," as his professional demeanor dropped
slightly. But then he had recovered and added, "Very well, it's an X-File
and that comes under Mulder's expertise as well as yours, of course. Go
ahead out there. We'll consider it an open case, I'll take care of the
paperwork back here tomorrow. Don't sweat it."

"Thank you Sir," she replied.

"And Scully, watch your step and tell Mulder to do the same. And if you
need any help don't hesitate to call me. All right?" Skinner advised.

Scully sighed. She did have something she needed to ask Skinner's help on
but the request was going to be difficult. Scully knew that dealing with
the situation in Milwaukee would be incredibly dangerous given the
involvement of the shapeshifters. She had no idea what might happen. But,
she was afraid that there was a possibility that she might not return from
the Midwest. She was worried about her mother in that eventuality.

"Sir, I, I do have a favor to ask you," Scully said.

"Shoot," Skinner replied.

"Well, I'm a little worried about my Mother. I'm going to have to send her
back home in a cab later this morning. She's really worried, Sir, about my
trip even though she won't admit it to me. I just figured she might need
someone to talk to, Sir, just in case...." she winced. She was managing
this badly she thought as she let her voice trail off.

"Scully?" Skinner interrupted, "Your Mother's welcome to bend my ear
anytime. I'll give her a call later today, if you'd like, just to make sure
she's coping," he added quietly.

Scully heard his tone and smiled slightly. A certain tension was leaving
his voice, and it was being replaced with an emotion Scully had heard there
before, once, in Crossroads, Maine. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'What will be
will be.' She couldn't afford to worry about Skinner and her Mother right
now. 'God, they're adults, I should mind my own business,' she mused. And
then she grinned, 'Lord, if Bill is having conniptions over the thought of
her relationship with Mulder what would he think about this little
development? But then of course, Skinner was much more staid and
respectable wasn't he? Maybe he'd be more acceptable to Bill. And if not
she could just imagine the backlash he was in for from her Mother if he
protested this time around. She smiled broadly at the idea.

"Thank you Sir," she replied.

"Fine, Scully, keep me posted, all right," Skinner finished and then he
broke the connection.

Scully had put the cell phone down and then gone into her bedroom to pack.
She crossed to her dresser drawer and opening it took out her extra side
arm, the one she had used during her suspension from the Bureau. She pulled
out one of the extra ammo clips that went with it and tipping the gun up
rammed it into the handle with one violent stroke.

At 2 AM, Sian Phillips and Fox Mulder stood at the bottom of the basement
steps in *The Whisper House* staring at Susan Foster's body. Sian had
volunteered to dispose of the evidence and Mulder had grudgingly agreed to
let her do it. He felt uncomfortable about just letting this unfortunate
victim's remains disappear into oblivion but Sian assured him that she
could make arrangements for her to get a decent burial.

In truth, she lied. For Sian, Susan Foster's remains were just meat, meat
for the beast that was Tony Rimmer. Whatever this woman had been, and
knowing Tony's taste in human females, she had come from a lower sub order
of humanity, her essence was long gone and what was left was merely a cold
husk. Sian intended to take her body, weight it down inside the sleeping
bag and tarp she had retrieved from her Toyota RAV4, and dump the corpse
into a secluded stretch of the Milwaukee river. In sympathy for Mulder's
sensibilities, however, she didn't mention a single word regarding her
plan.

So, now they stood staring at the exotic dancer's body, and Sian moved to
pick up the sleeping bag. Mulder crouched next to the body, latex gloves
on. Sian watched him as he stared at her corpse and a sudden formless
feeling of strangeness came over her. All her body hair stood on end. She
moved closer to the Agent and stood very still.

Mulder studied the corpse and he suddenly felt dizzy. He was focusing on
the blood pooled around her neck and he started to sweat. An image sprang
into his mind, an image of a doe running through a forest. Mulder sniffed
the air. He could smell her even now, her fright and terror, and he became
excited. He licked his lips and removed one of his latex gloves. He reached
down and touched the congealed blood on Susan Foster's neck and started to
raise his damp fingers to his lips.

His arm was stopped in a grip of steel before it could reach his mouth.

"Mulder, Stop!" Sian Phillips hissed and the Agent looked up into her eyes,
a dazed expression on his face.

Sian's brows furrowed and as she gripped his arm she let the tendrils of
her mind enter Mulder's brain again, and then she gasped, 'Shit, how could
I have overlooked this before,' she thought, 'my God, how could I have been
so stupid and lax?' she mentally kicked herself. But of course she thought,
she hadn't been lax. Tony Rimmer was extremely skilled and the auto
suggestions he had planted in Mulder's mind were very deep. Sian had to
probe hard to get at them but now she saw what Tony had done to Mulder and
it enraged her.

"Mulder, listen to me," she whispered into his ear. Mulder was panting now,
almost hyperventilating, and Sian had to move fast before he blacked out.
"Fox, Tony Rimmer has planted something in your head, he, he's going to be
able to play you like a piano later if he wants because of it. I need, I
need to remove the auto suggestions and it's going to hurt, so just hang
on, I'll try to make it quick," she warned him.

Mulder must have heard her which was good she thought because it meant he
was stronger mentally then she had originally thought. He shook his head up
and down and sat down with a thud from the squatting position he had been
in.

Sian Phillips ripped into Mulder's mind, and he doubled over further,
groaning as he passed out. Sian strained to follow his mind down into
unconsciousness and then she felt the bubble of Tony's control burst and
disappear and she released his arm and staggered backwards. She just
stopped herself from falling down. Mulder fell back flat onto the floor,
his breath coming in puffs. Sian squatted down next to him and ran her hand
over his forehead and his breath slowed in relaxation.

She picked him up then and carried him over to the corner of the room,
placing him carefully down on the floor on his stomach. Then she went back
over and started to clean up what was left of Susan Foster from the
basement floor.

Mulder woke up and hoisted himself onto his hands and knees. He looked
around and saw Sian Phillips mopping up the small amount of blood that was
left on the floor in the middle of the room. He stood up and smoothed the
front of his black turtle neck down. His jeans were all scrunched up so he
smoothed those down as well. He walked over to Sian.

"Thank you," he stated flatly running a hand through his hair.

"No problem," she answered, "The body's gone," she added, "I arranged for
her burial," she said, "Look, Mulder, don't feel bad about what Tony did to
you, all right. It's not your fault. He, he must have established his
control much earlier for him to bury the suggestions so deep."

Mulder's mind flashed instantly back to the night in Scully's apartment
when they had brutalized each other in their sadistic sexual encounter. He
quickly told Sian about the incident.

Sian sighed. "That bastard!" "Mulder, believe me, none of that was your
fault or Scully's either. When, when we control humans and force them into
that type of brutality, well, they're hardly human any more at that moment.
Sure, you can talk and such, but your reactions will be largely
animalistic. They'll be those of the wolf in control. In fact a really
skilled shapeshifter experiences the very acts he's influencing right along
with his victim. Christ, I can imagine Tony was going right along for the
ride with you and Scully," Sian sighed shaking her head.

"Crap," Mulder hissed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Mulder," Sian apologized.

"All right, that's ok Sian, you don't have to apologize for that asshole.
Listen, where's everyone else?" Mulder asked stretching his back.

"They're upstairs in Janet and Jim's room. Melvin claims to have a plan of
attack and he's organizing things. As soon as this is cleared up they're
coming down here to organize some equipment."

Mulder glanced at his watch. 'Christ it's 4 AM,' he thought. No one was
going to get any sleep and he didn't think that was going to be a good
thing.

As if Sian had read his mind she replied to his thoughts, "Mulder, why
don't you go up and get some sleep, the rest of them are just waiting for
Scully to show up and then they're all going to try to get some rest.
Melvin said that once everyone's more rested it'll be time to go over the
battle plan."

"Rest? Jesus, Sian," Mulder sighed, "I don't think I can sleep."

"Mulder, I can help you if you'll let me. In fact, I intend to help all of
them before long. It won't do for you to be running on empty. Just let me
finish mopping this up and we'll go upstairs. I'll help you to get to sleep
and then I'll stand watch," she suggested.

Mulder agreed and when Sian was done cleaning up the blood they exited the
basement and went up to Mulder's room.

Dana Scully stood at the Hertz rental car counter at Mitchell Field in
Milwaukee signing her credit card slip. She picked up her overnight bag and
swinging it over her shoulder next to her purse, went to get her rental
car. As she turned around she bumped smack into a tall red haired man
standing behind her.

"Sorry," she mumbled turning to hurry away.

"No problem, my dear," Tony Rimmer smiled with his wicked lips he turned to
follow her up the concourse.

On Shepard Avenue, just before Scully's arrival in Milwaukee, Sian Phllips
sat in the den and composed her thoughts. She used the ancient meditation
techniques of her race to gather strength and steel her will for battle.
She would not need to rest again from this point on and her senses and
energy level would be at their peak.

Earlier she had quietly touched all the humans in the house and gotten them
to fall into peaceful, pleasant dreaming slumber. When they woke they would
be invigorated and as ready for the events to come as they could be. All
had gone to their beds uncomplaining, all that was except Melvin Frohike.
He had been shaking when Sian came into his room.

"Melvin, I'd like to help you get some rest, now, honey," she said.

"Sian, I'm, God, I want to apologize again for being such a loser
earlier...Please..."

She had crossed to the bed and sat down next to him, "Melvin, it's all
right, really, I understand. My Lord, I imagine my true nature must have
been a tremendous shock to you, I..."

"I love you, Sian," he blurted out interrupting her.

"Oh, Melvin," she replied quietly.

"I don't give a flying fuck what you are - it doesn't matter, it won't ever
matter," he sighed.

"I love you too, sweetheart," she replied and she embraced him then and as
they kissed she sent him to sleep.

Sian allowed them all to sleep and at 8:30 AM the front door bell rang.
Sian shifted and rose to go answer the door. She swung open the inner doors
and met the frowning face of Special Agent Dana Scully standing in the
vestibule.

"Where's Mulder?" Scully asked pushing past her into the hallway.

"Nice to see you again as well, Dana," Sian replied staring down at the
much smaller woman.

Scully dropped her overnight bag onto the floor and turned to look at Sian
and her serious face softened a little.

"I'm sorry, Sian, I didn't mean to be rude, really. I'm just wound up very
tight right now. I didn't get much sleep."

"I can understand, Dana, that's ok. Look, I've, well everyone's sleeping
right now with a little suggestion from me actually. Mulder's upstairs in
his room. I can show you where he is if you'd like."

"Thanks, that would be fine," Scully smiled weakly at her.

"And, Dana, if you'd like I can see to it that you get some rest too," Sian
offered.

"Well, I'll think about it, Sian, but I just want to see Mulder right now,
please," she sighed and then followed the blond werewolf as she headed
towards the stairs.

Sian knocked on Mulder's door and called out, "Fox, there's someone here
you'll want to see."

"Mulder, Mulder, it's me," Scully called through the door.

"Scully, oh, wait a sec I'll get the door," Mulder answered and she heard
his feet slap across the wooden floor.

Mulder opened the door and stood in his t-shirt and boxer's staring down at
Scully for a moment. Then he stepped forward and grabbed her, hugging her
close. Her night bag and purse slipped to the floor.

"I'll go back downstairs, Dana, if you want me for anything just let me
know," Sian said and she turned and left them alone.

Mulder released Scully and picked up her carry on and purse and then
placing a hand on the small of her back gently ushered her into his room
and then closed the door. He walked over and put her bags down on top of
the desk and then turned.

"Oh, Mulder," Scully breathed and then he crossed to her again and gathered
her into his arms. He bent down and kissed her deeply. Scully molded
herself against him and eagerly returned his kiss, opening her mouth to
admit his questing tongue.

They tasted each other for several minutes and then Scully pulled away from
Mulder and lead him over to the bed. They sat down on the edge together.

"Mulder, maybe you can fill me in a little more about what's happening
later, but I think right now, we both could use some more rest," Scully
whispered looking into his sad eyes.

Mulder searched her face and knew she was right. She looked exhausted. She
needed to sleep. Sian was on guard downstairs and their battle plan was
almost complete thanks to Frohike, Janet and Rafferty. They could afford to
rest and regroup.

"Yeah, you're right, Scully," he smiled gently at her and then he tenderly
began to help her undress. He removed her coat and sweater and jeans,
unfastening even her holster from her belt. She unfastened her bra and let
it slip onto the floor with rest of her clothing. Before she could remove
anything further, Mulder pulled her down next to him on the full sized bed
and maneuvered her under the covers by his side.

"Mulder, just hold me," Scully said and he pulled her close and Scully
realized that she wouldn't need Sian Phillips help to get to sleep. All she
needed was Mulder's warmth and the touch of his protective embrace.

*The Whisper House* began to stir at various times over the next few hours.
Frohike came down first and found Sian in the library reading one of the
many occult volumes. He told her he was going to make some food for
everyone and Sian followed him into the kitchen to help. Janet and Jim
Rafferty came down next.

At around 4 PM, Mulder and Scully were the last to appear, and when they
walked into the kitchen, Frohike put down the soup spoon he was using on a
large pot on the stove, and grabbed Scully in a bear hug.

"Boy, am I glad to see you," Frohike grinned squeezing her tight.

Scully glanced over at Mulder and raised an eyebrow. Mulder was smirking.

"He knows you're a dead shot, Scully," he laughed.

"Welcome to Milwaukee again, Dana," Janet added, "I just wish it were under
better circumstances."

"Yes, well, the circumstances can't be helped, Janet," Scully answered
kindly, crossing to the smaller woman and putting an arm around her
shoulders.

Janet was doing much better, the Sian Phillip's induced sleep having
brought her out of her previous hysteria and near paralysis. Scully's kind
words seemed to buoy her spirits further and she smiled at her weakly.
Scully released her shoulders and took a step back to look at Jim Rafferty
who was standing at the sink rinsing out some soup bowls.

"Dana, this is Jim Rafferty," Janet said making the introductions.

"Jim, nice to meet you, and I heard congratulations are in order," she said
taking his outstretched hand and shaking it.

Jim blushed and replied, "Thanks Dana, and I guess I should say the same to
you."

Mulder coughed. Scully glanced back over at him and smiled a little to
assuage his discomfort, "Well, yes, thank you, Jim," she said, and Mulder
grinned back.

"Hey, if you all want to eat why don't we go into the dining room. Sian and
I can bring out the soup and stuff," Frohike offered, "And then we can go
over the plan for tonight," he added quietly.

It was near dusk as they finished their meal. Janet and Jim cleared the
table and Frohike went back upstairs to his room and brought back a note
pad full of his cramped handwriting.

"Ok, folks, here's the drill. This is the best thing we could come up with
so anyone has any better ideas, please don't hesitate to jump in," Frohike
said and then he began to explain.

Of course they would have to wait for Tony Rimmer's phone call to Mulder
before they could spring into action. Sian had theorized that Rimmer
wouldn't contact them until after dark and then probably around midnight,
the witching hour, because Tony was if nothing else theatrical, and that
would appeal to him.

Frohike had figured that they would have enough time between dusk and
midnight to load the rest of the surveillance equipment into the all ready
well equipped Dodge Caravan. This vehicle would be the base of operations
and Frohike, Janet and Rafferty would ride in it to monitor the equipment.
Sian and Scully would take the second Dodge and Mulder would drive Sian's
Toyota to wherever Rimmer wanted Mulder to meet him. The other vehicles
would follow him at a discreet distance and once they were at the location
Mulder could go in, with Sian and Scully acting as back up. At that point
it was anyone's guess what would happen but at least it was a plan.

Mulder had some concerns.

"How will you guys keep track of us all?" he asked.

Frohike sent Jim Rafferty into the basement to bring up a large box. Scully
raised an eyebrows when she saw the *Eyes and Ears* brand name written on
the lid.

"Hey, you'd be surprised what kind of stuff we've had to investigate on
occasion," Janet shrugged at Scully.

Mulder recognized the tiny video cameras and combination microphones and
ear pieces that he had worn during his pursuit of Robert Modell a.k.a.
Pusher.

"That should do it," he nodded.

"We can pretty much follow your entire progress anywhere with these,
Mulder. The van is equipped with the screens to follow all three video
cameras and the audio for all the microphones. We have redundant walkie
talkies in the vans and an extra for the Toyota," Rafferty added, "so we
can stay in constant touch."

"But if you're sitting around outside while Mulder, Sian and I go in to
find this assassin how are you going to protect yourselves?" Scully asked.

Janet Price got up and walked out of the room. They heard her going into a
closet under the stair well. When she returned she was carrying two large
gun cases and a smaller case slung over her shoulder. She put them down
with Jim's help on the table and opened them up. Both larger cases
contained deer hunting rifles. The third case contained a really serious
looking sawed off shot gun.

She took it out of the case and cocked it with one arm. Mulder's mouth
dropped open.

Janet laughed, "Don't look so shocked, Mulder. You know what a big fan I am
of Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2."

"Janet and I both deer hunt," Jim added, "so, if you need back-up, I guess
we're it."

"Well that's fine," Sian said, "but remember, bullets will slow us down,
they may even incapacitate us in our wolf form, but they won't kill us. You
have to severe our spinal columns to do that. Don't forget it because Tony
won't."

"Right," Frohike replied, "So, can you guys think of anything else we need
to do?"

"Load the vans," Mulder answered and they made to do so. By eight o'clock
the van's were loaded and there really wasn't anything else to do but wait
for Rimmer's phone call. The couples all came to about the same decision at
the same time. They wanted to be alone with each other for the few hours
before midnight so in tacit agreement they went to their separate rooms.
Janet and Jim told everyone that there was a phone in their suite so when
Rimmer called it would certainly get their attention and they would send
for Mulder. Mulder shook his head in acknowledgment. Then all three couples
went upstairs.

Frohike and Sian Phillips, in a concession to privacy didn't take the room
that Frohike had been using up until that point. Instead they went up to
the third floor and went into one of the other guest rooms diagonally
across and down the hall from Janet and Jim's suite. As soon as the door to
the room was shut, Sian turned and embraced the little photographer and
they began to kiss and then to undress each other.

"God, I, I love you so much," Frohike said yet again as they sunk down onto
the bed together. "I love you too, Mel,' she whispered as she drew him
close.

Janet and Jim Rafferty went to their suite with their guns and checked them
out again. They would be the last things they loaded into the vans and they
wanted to make sure they were ready for use. Then they had gotten into bed
and fallen asleep for a few more hours of rest before the battle would
begin.

"You're Mother and Skinner?" Mulder was saying in his room. "Are you
serious?"

"Yes," Scully was shaking her head and smiling.

"God, that's almost as weird as Frohike and Sian Phillips," he chuckled.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Scully replied jabbing him in the stomach.
They were sitting cross legged and in their underwear, facing each other on
the bed and Mulder looked into Scully's amused face.

"Uh, Holy shit, that, that's going to make Skinner my father-in-law," he
realized and then he really started to laugh.

"Mulder, I don't think things have gotten that far yet," Scully replied.
'God at least I hope not,' she thought.

Mulder looked at her and his brow furrowed. 'Oh!' Scully thought 'he thinks
I meant between us and not between my Mother and Skinner,' and she opened
her mouth to say something further but Mulder was getting out of bed.

"Mulder..." she began as she watched his boxer clad legs move across the
room.

He walked over to his duffel bag and took something out of it. Scully
shifted closer to the edge of the bed and watched as he came back and sat
down next to her.

He had a small box in his hands.

"Scully, I got this for you the other day," he said, "I think, I think it
might be a good time to give it to you now," he said and he opened the box
to let her see the ring. She was stunned.

"Oh, Mulder, it's beautiful," she whispered.

"Scully, uh, Dana.." he cleared his throat, "I guess this is my moment of
conventionality here. You would do me a great honor if you'd become my
wife, Scully. I, oh Christ. I want you by my side for the rest of my life,
no matter what happens. I mean, my life has been so fucked up until now,
and if marrying you is going to act as an anchor, a last chance at
stability for me, or whatever, then so be it. But I can tell you this - our
marriage isn't just about me and my wants and needs, Scully, it's about us.
I don't feel complete without you, and I have this feeling that you may
feel the same. So, shit, what I'm trying to say is, will you accept this
ring, and marry me?" he asked looking into her eyes.

Scully started to tear up then and she looked at the ring in his shaking
fingers. "Mulder, I...God, yes, I'll marry you,' she whispered.

Mulder's face lit up with an expression of absolute and utter joy and he
took the ring and slipped it onto Scully's finger.

Scully held it up in the soft light of the room and it sparkled.

"Mulder, God this is so wonderful," he said tears still in her eyes. "I
love you so much. You're the only one I ever want to be with, and for the
rest of my life too," she said turning to look into his face. She reached
over and touched his cheek. She was going to make a suggestion and she
hoped he wouldn't take it the wrong way.

"But, well, let's not rush to the altar all right?" she whispered stroking
his jaw to temper her words. "We really have some serious issues to work
through first and I think we need to address them. We've made this
commitment now. We can take the time to plan the rest out really well, ok?"

"Oh, well, yeah, I can see your point," Mulder agreed. Looking into her
face he would have denied her nothing at that moment. He grinned, "Besides,
you have to help me pick out a ring for myself too you know, so I won't
feel left out," he teased.

"Ha, I think I can manage that," she grinned.

"Hey, Scully, maybe it'll be a double wedding, you know, you and me, your
Mom and Skinner."

Scully choked and then she started to laugh almost uncontrollably. Mulder
laughed as well and then he pulled her close and they began to kiss. Mulder
felt as if this time was the first time he had touched Scully, and she felt
the same. The explored each others mouths, tasting each other slowly.
Scully sighed. They both moved back up onto the bed to face each other, and
then they helped each other to undress.

Mulder sat down and Scully straddled his legs. She pressed her skin to his
skin and Mulder began to stroke her hair and her neck with his hands and
then he followed his hands with his lips. He was incredibly soft and tender
and when he reached Scully's breasts and her tight nipples, she arched her
neck. As Mulder sucked on one of her nipples, Scully touched his cheek with
her fingers, and then she lifted her breast from beneath, and Mulder took
more of her flesh deeper into his mouth. She moaned.

Scully was straddling his thighs, and rotating her hips slowly over his
cock and his balls in a tremendously sensuous motion. Mulder breathed
heavily against her neck. He moved his head to look into her eyes as she
rubbed herself along his length.

"Scully, I... God, Scully, you, you're so wet," he gasped as her folds
played up and down his penis. He rested his hands on her back and then he
ran them up and down her spine in time to her movements on his lap.

Scully looked into his hazel eyes and smiled. At that moment there was no
guilt there, no pain, no worry, only Mulder's arousal and the bottomless
depths of his love for her. She reached up and met his lips.

Soon Mulder was very hard and Scully moved back slightly, reached between
them and stroked his erection as she continued to probe his mouth with her
tongue.

"Oh Jesus Christ," Mulder was moaning as Scully pumped his cock and he
struggled to reach his hands down between their legs to rub her clit. They
closed their eyes and leaned against each other savoring the mutual
masturbation. Scully was close to coming, she gasped in ecstasy 'Lord!' she
thought, 'this is so good,' and she knew she wanted Mulder inside her. She
quickly shifted up and guided Mulder's cock closer. He thrust forward, but
gently, and she eagerly helped him to enter her. They sat very still for a
moment, breathing and feeling the sensation of being connected, the
fullness and completeness, inside, and enfolding.

Mulder rubbed his cheek against Scully's hair. "Hold me, Scully," he
whispered and then he began to move within her, tenderly and slowly and
Scully held him close. They moved together languidly as long as they could,
but finally they couldn't hold back any longer and as Mulder picked up the
pace of his thrusts, Scully felt her body begin to tense before her orgasm.

"Mulder, I love you, it's so good, Oh God," Scully moaned into his neck and
then she reached down and stroking herself hard, she came, pumping against
his stomach. She was spasming over and over, and Mulder was grunting as he
felt her tightening against his flesh.

Mulder cradled her and met her writhing hips, he thrust deeply and moaned
incoherently and then he came with her, grabbing her tight to his chest.
They collapsed in each others arms, gasping and laughing again, and
supremely satisfied.

Later as a clock chimed somewhere, Scully extricated herself from Mulder's
arms and got up. She was incredibly thirsty she thought and even though
there was water in the bathroom she really felt like she wanted a Pepsi.
So, She quietly pulled on her clothes and then headed downstairs to the
kitchen in search of a soda.

Standing at one of the refrigerator's doors she rooted around inside
amongst the leftover open house sodas, "Ah ha," she said aloud as she
spotted a Pepsi way at the back. When she closed the door and looked up
behind it her breath caught in her throat.

"Good evening, Agent Scully," the tall red headed man grinned down at her
shocked, upturned face. Scully dropped the Pepsi to the floor and the top
popped, spurting brown carbonated liquid all over the wood as the can spun
around and around.

Just before midnight, the phone rang in Jim and Janet's suite. Rafferty was
awake instantly and picked it up.

"Yes," he said into the receiver.

"Get Mulder, you freaking Viking," a British accented voice hissed into the
phone.

"Hold on," Rafferty answered his face going pale as he hit the hold button
on the phone, "It's him," he hissed at Janet and then he went to get Mulder
and Scully.

He pounded on Mulder's door, "Mulder, get up, Rimmer's on the phone. Mulder
was up like a shot and reached to wake Scully but she wasn't there. He
checked the bathroom and when she wasn't in there either he frowned. 'She
must be downstairs," he thought and then he pulled the room's door open.

"All right," he said to Jim, "Have you seen Scully?"

"No, she must be downstairs, I'll go get her," and then he left the Agent
as Mulder climbed up to the third floor suite. By this time Frohike and
Sian Phillips were standing in the hallway as Mulder passed them and
entered Janet's room. Janet held the phone out to him and he took it and
gritted his teeth, depressing the hold button.

"Mulder," he said into the receiver.

"Good evening Agent Mulder," Tony Rimmer replied pleasantly. "How are you
feeling this evening?"

"Cut the crap, Rimmer and get to the point," Mulder sneered.

"Oh, Fox, temper, temper," Rimmer replied with a chuckle, "But, all right,
I'll dispense with the chit chat if you insist."

"Good, I'm all ears," Mulder replied.

"Fine. Here's the story. Our mutual friend in DC hired me to trail you out
here Mr. Mulder. Actually he wants me to kill you, I'm afraid. Of course
he's unaware of my special abilities. He just thinks I'm an extremely
efficient assassin with unique psychic abilities - and of course he is
right in that assumption. But he really hates your guts, you fucking FBI
sod, and he wants you dead. So here I am, your friendly werewolf hit man."
Rimmer explained calmly.

Mulder sucked in his breath. So it had come to this. The Cancer Man was
back and he was back with a vengeance. 'Well, so be it,' Mulder thought. He
wasn't going to go down without a fight. And if he won the war he was going
to go back to DC and send the black lunged son of a bitch straight to hell,
"Ok, so why the phone call and all the other dicking around, Rimmer?"
Mulder asked.

A hint of annoyance crept into Rimmer's voice, "Oh come on, Mulder have
some respect, please. I'm an artist in a way. I like to orchestrate these
things. And I like to give my targets a sporting chance on occasion if I
respect them enough. You qualify, Mr. Mulder for my grudging respect. So,
I'm going to give you a chance to get me. Who knows, you might succeed and
then you can go back to DC and make that cigarette smoking bastard pay for
his mistakes."

"Yeah, Ok so where do you want to meet," as he was asking the question he
could hear Frohike's worried voice just outside the door. Jim Rafferty came
in then followed by Frohike and Sian. When Mulder glanced in his direction
the expression on Jim's face froze his heart, and struggling to maintain
the calm in his voice he said into the phone, "Rimmer can you hang on for a
minute, I think I'm having trouble with the connection here."

"Make it fast, Mulder," Rimmer chuckled and Mulder pressed the hold button.

"Mulder, I looked all over the house, I, I can't find Dana anywhere,"
Rafferty whispered his face getting whiter by the minute.

"Oh my God," Janet hissed.

Frohike looked on in stunned silence.

Mulder's hand shook as he depressed the hold button.

"Mulderrrrr..." a groaning voice came through the connection. It was Scully
and she sounded like she was in pain, and terrified.

Her voice stopped abruptly and then Rimmer came back on the line, "I'm sure
you know I'm deadly serious now, Fox. And by the way, it's been really
stellar to make Agent Scully's acquaintance."

"You cocksucking monster, you bastard, God damn you, I'll fucking kill you,
you rotten limey turd, you bastard, you snake, fuck you...." Mulder was
raving and shrieking into the phone.

Sian Phillips dashed forward and grabbed the receiver from Mulder's hand.
Janet pulled him away and held him back with Frohike's and Jim's help.

"Tony, this is Sian."

"Good evening my white furred beauty," Rimmer replied urbanely, "Please
tell that frothing FBI dickweed that his lady love is still alive. She's a
little the worse for wear but she's alive," Tony fingered the black eye
Scully had given him before he had knocked her out.

"Cut the shit you fucking asshole," Sian hissed.

"Sian, I'm crushed. This is just business, can't you understand that?" he
asked in a last ditch effort to win her over.

"No, I don't understand it you jumped up little freak. All bets are off you
prick. I'm going to snap your neck tonight Tony, and I'll enjoy listening
to the sound of every breaking vertebrae."

"We'll see about that, you cunt," he finally hissed.

"Just so we understand each other, lover..." she drew out the sarcasm on
the last word and Rimmer snarled into the phone, "Now where do you want
Mulder and I to meet you?" she asked.

"The third ward, a charming little warehouse establishment called
"Paintball Dave's. You have until 2 AM Sian. If you don't show up by then
I'll kill this little red head and the I'll come after you and Mulder
anyway. And for God's sake, just bring Mulder all right. Leave the rest of
the goon squad home, please. That cancer ridden son of a bitch back in DC
isn't paying me enough to take care of all of them, understand."

"Fine, 2 AM," we'll be there," and she hung up the phone.

Tony Rimmer flipped the cell phone shut in the cavernous warehouse complex
that was *Paintball Dave's Splatter Emporium* in the artsy Third Ward of
Milwaukee. The area was a warren of warehouses, most of them like Dave's
business. Some of them had been converted into galleries and artist's
studios or loft apartments. But this end of the area was still seedy and
the warehouses that made up *Paintball Dave's* were old and just enough up
to code to be legal for their clientele.

Rimmer turned around and looked at the bound and gagged Dana Scully and
gave her a toothy grin.

"Well, Ms. Scully, your man is on his way, I'd say."

Scully squirmed in her bonds and cursed at him around the gag. Rimmer
stepped forward and yanked the gag down.

"You are absolutely dead you overweening shit," Scully hissed at him. Her
mouth was bleeding and she had a livid welt on her forehead where Rimmer
had struck her. But her eyes flashed in anger and defiance.

Rimmer stepped forward and grabbed her bound hands and strung her up to
meet his face. Her feet didn't touch the floor.

"Dead? You red headed bitch. I wouldn't count on it, here's how dead I am,"
he snarled at her and then he threw her almost full force into the
warehouse wall. Scully slid down it crying out in pain as she felt her ribs
snap. She curled up into a fetal position against the wall in preparation
for the kick she thought was surely to come. But instead Tony Rimmer walked
over to her, bent down and stroked her forehead gently. The pain from her
broken ribs began to recede. He ran his hand over her breasts and then down
her rib cage. Scully flinched away from his touch but then she leaned into
it because the warmth was causing all the pain to go away. She felt her
ribs knit back together.

"See, Dana, I can be kind as well as cruel," Rimmer said, and Scully gagged
then, because his eyes, his voice and the quote were a much more sinister
and powerful version of the late Ross Baker, the insane werewolf of
Addison, Wisconsin.

"Mulder, you have to snap out of it," Sian Phillips was shaking the Agent
violently by the front of his LL. Bean sweater, "Scully's still alive but
we only have until 2 AM to rescue her."

After the phone call Mulder had continued to lose it, screaming and
spitting. Frohike had tried to calm him down but he was raving. Sian sensed
that some of his panic was a residual effect of Tony Rimmer's conditioning
and she had hurriedly explained this to Janet, Jimmy and Frohike. Mulder
had grown suddenly silent then and Sian had taken him by the arm and
propelled him out of Janet's suite.

"Listen, go get the rest of the equipment ready and load up the vans, I'll
take care of Fox. I, something has to be done about this," she told them as
she dragged him out into the hall and down the stairwell. Mulder was limp
under her hands so she steered him all the way downstairs and into the
library and then she shut the library doors.

Now she was shaking him so hard his teeth were rattling. Finally when she
saw it was having little effect she sent another bolt of psychic energy
into his head and then she simultaneously slapped him across the face. As
she was preparing to slap him a second time his hand shot out and caught
hers in a strong grip.

"That will do, Sian," he hissed completely himself again. She released him
and he sat down in one of the library chairs.

He put his head in his hand for a moment and then sat up to shake it. There
was a look of fire and determination in his eyes as he looked over at Sian,
"There is no doubt that fucker is going to die," he snarled.

"Mulder, this is bad," Sian replied quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Mulder, I hate to admit this but, I'm afraid. I don't think I, I don't
think I'll be able to beat him," Sian sighed and then she sat down in one
of the other chairs in resignation.

"Not beat him? But you didn't have any trouble with Ross Baker," Mulder
replied worry furrowing his brow.

"Well, Mulder, Ross was young and just a jumped up little despot. I had a
lot of seniority and skill over him. Killing him was relatively easy. But,
Tony, well, Tony Rimmer is a werewolf of a totally different color."

"So you're saying you won't be able to take him on?"

"Oh, I can take him on all right, Mulder, and I will. I won't back down
from his fucking challenge - no way in hell. It's just he's more then
likely going to kill me and then he'll go through the rest of you like crap
through a goose," Sian answered in dismay.

"And we won't be able to stop him?"

"No."

"Shit," Mulder hung his head. If they couldn't stop Rimmer and he killed
Scully, then Mulder was half inclined to just walk into *PaintBall Dave's*
and let Rimmer rip his heart out too. Or maybe he would save him the
trouble and just blow his brains out.

"Mulder, there is a way though to beat Rimmer. It's a remote chance, but it
just might work," Sian began.

"What, Sian? I'm open to any suggestion at this point," Mulder answered
desperately.

"I can get another shapeshifter to help me," she replied, "two clan members
might be able to go up against him and succeed, just maybe. I think it
might work though, and I'm willing to give it a try."

Mulder pulled out his cell phone and handed it to her, "Call up whoever you
need to, Sian. Just tell them to get over here fast."

"I don't need to make a phone call, Mulder, the wolf's sitting right here,"
she answered staring into his face.

Mulder raised both his eyebrows and his eyes went wide, "What the hell do
you...."

"Mulder, I can change you. It doesn't have to be a large bite, just a nip
really. I can help you through the first change. It'll happen almost
immediately. It won't be pleasant but I'll make it as easy for you as I
can. Once you've changed I'll show you how to change back and then we can
go down to the Third Ward and..."

Mulder looked at her in amazement, "Uh, Sian, isn't this bite thing
permanent? I mean Ross Baker lead me to believe that once you're recruited
into the family it's for life. Sort of a werewolf Mafia. I'm not sure I
want to be a *Made Man*, Sian. It might prove to be a bit awkward even if
my nickname is all ready Spooky Mulder," he tried to grin but didn't quite
make it.

"Well Ross Baker was largely full of shit, Mulder. There is a way for me to
turn you back to the proverbial human condition after all this - it's
difficult - but possible. Don't worry about the reverse trip. We'll cross
that bridge when we come to it," she answered with a sigh.

Mulder studied her face for a moment and as he did so Scully's terrified
voice came back to him, "Yeah, all right, Sian, let's do it," he said with
finality.

"All right, look, we'll need more room. I think I'd better take you down to
the basement. I'm going to tell the rest what I'm going to do also and I'm
going to suggest they wait outside or in the vans. The garage is heated
maybe they can wait in there."

"Why?" Mulder asked.

"So they don't hear your screams," Sian answered.

Frohike stood next to the vans in the garage with Janet and Jim Rafferty.
He was twisting and untwisting some wire he'd picked up in the basement. It
wasn't helping to calm him but it helped to center his anger.

"So you know where this *Paintball Dave's* is located?" he asked again for
the third time.

"We know where it is, Frohike," Jim Rafferty answered patiently chewing on
one of his nails.

"I wonder how long this is going to take?" Frohike asked looking at his two
companions and then back in the direction of the house.

"I hope not long," Janet answered looking at her watch.

In the basement workroom, Sian Phillips had Mulder strip. She watched
interested as he removed his boxers and walked over to place them on top of
one of the work benches with the rest of his clothes and his two guns.

"Hmmm," she thought distantly, "Dana Scully is a very lucky woman,' as her
eyes strayed below his waist. But then she put all thoughts of sex out of
her mind, and told Mulder to sit down on the floor in front of her. She
stood in front of him and removed her jeans, and sweater, and then the rest
of her clothes as well, throwing them off to the side. She then sat down
across from Mulder.

"What do I do now?" Mulder asked. He was surprised that Sian's nudity had
no effect on him. Maybe it was the fact that her green eyes were glowing
slightly.

Sian noticed a bite mark on his left arm. She reached over and probed it
with a finger, raising her eyebrows. Mulder remained mute.

"Mulder, you don't have to do anything really. Just sit back and breath
deeply. You know those classes pregnant women go through, Lamaze? Try to
breath like that or something, whatever."

"I used to meditate," Mulder offered helpfully.

"Good, try to meditate. And Mulder, I wasn't kidding about the screaming.
This is going to hurt like hell the first time so if you need to wail, go
ahead, it'll help."

Mulder shut his eyes and began to pace his breathing. He felt Sian Phillips
touch his chest over his heart and then his forehead. There was a smell
then, an earthy odor of the forest. It was dark and he could see shadows in
the foliage, and eyes, so many eyes, glowing ice cold blue, black, brown,
red, and they beckoned they beckoned, they...he felt Sian grasp his arm
gently and then her lips pressed against the scab of Scully's bite wound.
He sucked in his breath as she bit down lightly, broke his skin, and sunk
her canines into his flesh.

There was a feeling of warmth and almost sexual arousal and then suddenly
the pain came. And it was agony. Mulder felt like every muscle and nerve in
his body was on fire. His brain was boiling. He moaned and clutched his
stomach and then his genitals as a terrific cramp tore through his balls
and up into his spine. He could just hear Sian's voice calling to him from
a great distance, "Go with it Mulder, let it happen, feel the flow, feel
me, come for me baby," as if she were having sex with him. And it a way it
was like sex because he was joining with her mind and her saliva was
flowing into his veins from the bite on his arm. He gasped for breath and
then his bones started to pop and shift and then the screaming began. He
never thought he could scream that loud in all his life but he did. But as
he screamed he changed and the last scream he uttered wasn't a human scream
at all, it was the howl of a wolf and he sprung up onto all fours in the
basement of *The Whisper House*, his hazel eyes glowing with supernatural
fire.

Sian stood up and stood back. She hadn't changed yet but as soon as she saw
that Mulder wasn't going to totally lose it on her she transformed and then
they both stood facing each other under the lights of the basement.

Mulder struggled to talk. The muscles of his muzzle clenched and
unclenched. Sian's wolfish lips smiled at him.

"Hang on, Fox, speech is hard at first, just think about the sounds and the
mechanics of it for a moment and then try again."

Mulder swallowed and his jaws worked, "God, Sian dis is really stwange," he
said and Sian laughed.

"You have a talent for understatement Agent Mulder," she chuckled.

"Sian, I have to take a pith," he lisped again, "I mean a leak, a piss," he
said. His speech was improving by the second.

"Oh, don't stand on ceremony with me," she said. Mulder raised a wolfish
eyebrow and started to try to stand up to relieve himself. He fell flat on
his face. Sian howled with humor.

"You idiot, go lift your leg on a bench for God's sake," she choked out.

Mulder's wolf lips twitched into a sheepish grin and he walked over and
took her suggestion.

"Now, Mulder, walk around the room and get the kinks out," Sian told him.

Mulder walked, and stretched, and marveled at his transformed body. He
flexed his arms and legs and felt his fangs with a taloned finger. He could
feel the raw power in every muscle and sinew. He was finally able to stand
up and he found it remarkable that his head brushed the 7 foot ceiling of
the basement. All his senses were magnified and he could just feel the
embryonic development of a sixth sense, the one that would allow him to
control men's minds.

"You won't be able to use much of that unfortunately, Mulder," Sian told
him as she felt his weak telepathic probing. Those skills develop over time
and with training from an elder. We don't have time for that training. But
believe me, you're physical change is more than adequate to face Tony. I'm
beginning to think this just may work."

"Ok, how do I change on my own?" Mulder asked, "And how do I change back,
Christ, I may be getting used to this, but I'm sure I can't drive your
Toyota with these," he said extending his human-like paws.

Sian gave him the secrets of transformation then as well as the ones that
would change him back. Mulder practiced them both again. The second
transformations hadn't been nearly as bad and when he was done Mulder had
gotten up and put on his clothes. Sian had changed back as well, dressed,
and then they both went back upstairs.

Tony Rimmer glanced at his watch. It was a quarter to 2. He glanced over at
Dana Scully. She was sitting up against the wall but her head was lolling
down against her chest.

"Come on Dana, I know you're awake, cut the shit," he hissed at her.

Scully's head came up and she looked at him with total hatred.

"Ouch, if looks could kill," Rimmer laughed at her. Then he strode over and
picked her up by the handcuffs that bound her wrists, "It's show time,
baby," he said dragging her off into the depths of the warehouse.

Mulder pulled the Toyota RAV4 up a block away from *Paintball Dave's*
warehouse. The two black Dodge Caravans pulled up behind him. Sian got out
of one of them and walked up to the other and knocked lightly on the side
door. Frohike slid it open and as Mulder came up behind Sian they both
climbed into the back amongst the equipment. It was really cramped and
Janet and Jim had taken refuge in the front seats. Janet held her sawed off
shot gun cradled in her arms and Jim had one of the deer rifles propped up
on the console between the seats.

Frohike bustled around adjusting audio and video. Mulder glanced at his
belt. He had jammed both of Mulder's gun into the back of his pants. Mulder
had given them to him just before they left Shepard Avenue with the
admonishment to take the safety off before he tried to fire them, and not
to shoot himself in the foot.

Frohike turned around to face Mulder brandishing two of the "Eyes and Ears"
units.

"Here you go, you two," he said quietly.

"Hey, wait a second, Frohike, we have to change first and, fuck it, these
things aren't going to fit after we're all warm and fuzzy," Mulder replied
with chagrin.

"Ha, G-man, I thought of that," Frohike answered brandishing a large roll
of duct tape, "Duct tape, a 1000 and one uses," he deadpanned.

Mulder grinned. Sian Phillips looked into Frohike's eyes then and Mulder
caught the look and turned away to give them a moments privacy.

Sian touched Frohike's face gently and then she bent forward and kissed
him. Frohike sighed and drew her face closer to his and explored her mouth
for a moment. Then he released her lips, "Good luck, Sian,' he said simply
and then he turned towards Mulder. "All right, let's go over to the other
van and you guys can wolf out. I'll adjust these things afterwards," he
said.

Mulder and Sian Phillips loped towards the entrance to *Paintball Dave's*,
sticking to the shadows as they went. Mulder had no trouble seeing in the
dark. The "Eyes and Ears" sets had been comfortably arranged on their wolf
heads with duct tape and some extra wire Frohike had also brought along.

"Are you getting this, Frohike?" Mulder whispered into the microphone.

"Loud and crystal clear, Lone Wolf," Frohike's voice answered tinny in his
ear. "That's a five by five on audio and video," he added.

"All right, we're near the entrance," Mulder replied. Sian crept ahead of
him and when she reached the door she pushed against it. It opened.

"How convenient," she whispered over to Mulder as he drew up beside her.

At the center of the warehouse, in the very center of the maze that was
*Paintball Dave's* premiere test of a paintball team players skill, Dana
Scully hung suspended, bound and gagged, from a hook in the ceiling. Her
arms were on fire as gravity pulled her body weight down. She tried to hold
very still because if she moved she twisted around and the pain from the
movement was horrible.

Tony Rimmer stood below her, naked, hands on his hips, and he was grinning,
his teeth huge, and his eyes glowing.

"Just hang around here, Dana. I think you make a most attractive capture
the flag, my dear. In any event you won't have to twist in the wind very
long. I can feel the marines landing even as I speak," and as he said that
he changed and Scully gasped in anguish.

Mulder entered what must have been *Paintball Dave's* office area. It was
sort of a staging room with safety posters on the walls, the rules for
playing paintball, a long counter, and cases with paintball equipment for
sale displayed in them. Sian followed him in and prowled about.

Mulder sniffed the ground and then the air. He could smell a musky alien
odor, the smell of another male wolf, and he snarled, and the hair on his
hackles stood up. He walked over to one of the cabinets and urinated on it
with authority, marking his territory. Sian smiled her approval.

"You're getting the hang of this Mulder," she said.

"God, Mulder piss a bucket, but don't get any on the electronics, ok?"
Frohike's voice came to him over the ear piece.

"Hey, even I can't aim that high," Mulder replied and then as he reached a
hallway leading off to the side he sniffed and picked up another scent. It
was Scully.

Sian drew up next to him and she sniffed as well, "She's still alive,
Mulder, can you tell?"

"Yeah, I, I can tell," he whispered. The two wolves moved off down the hall
way and into the depths of the warehouse.

As soon as they were out of the hallway they came into an open area full of
walls and tunnels, false furniture and every manner of hidden spots. It was
a maze, and Mulder thought it wasn't unlike an obstacle course at Quantico
except much more elaborate and strange. The warehouse stretched up two
stories and there were ladders and cat walks around the perimeter leading
up to the second floor. The middle of the warehouse was open however, and
as Mulder looked up towards the ceiling he could see a lone figure
suspended from the rafters. His night vision told him it was Scully.

"Oh my God," he hissed.

"Shit," Frohike's voice groaned in his ear. Mulder ran off towards Scully's
direction and Sian hurried to follow him. Mulder sensed Rimmer was very
close and he prepared himself to meet him at any moment.

"Hold it together you guys," Sian advised and just as she said it their
senses were assaulted. Rimmer had obviously turned on the buildings sound
and light system. Sweeping lights moved and crawled about the walls.
Strobes began to flash creating the strange twitching motion effects that
they were infamous for in every SF film since 1979. To complete the sensory
overload, blaring Rock Music pounded their ears. The song was *Welcome to
the Jungle* by Guns N' Roses.

Mulder fell down and writhed on the floor. The audio and video assault were
too much for his new wolf senses. Sian dashed over to him and touched his
head before he could damage his *Eyes and Ears* equipment. She probed his
mind and shut off the confusion and pain and Mulder stood back up, calm
again.

"Take a deep breath, Mulder, this shit won't bother you anymore," Sian said
licking her lips.

"Frohike, can you still see and hear us?" Mulder asked swiveling his video
camera over towards Sian.

"Barely," he answered and just as he said it a huge red furred form dropped
down from above right onto Sian Phillip's back.

"Sian!" Frohike screamed into Mulder's ear piece.

Sian Phillips bucked and rolled beneath Tony Rimmer to the deafening sounds
of Guns N' Roses. In a split second Mulder was upon the slightly larger red
furred wolfman, pulling him off her in a snarling frenzy. He levered Rimmer
up using both his back and front legs and tossed him over his head and into
the wall with a crushing wallop. Rimmer was on his paws in a flash and then
all three wolves stopped to stare at each other in defiance as the bass
beat of *Welcome to the Jungle* blared around them.

Out in the front of the Warehouse in the equipment filled black Dodge
Caravan, Melvin Frohike was yanking a set of headphones off his head. The
violent battle inside the warehouse had obviously dislodged Mulder and
Sian's connection to him and he was beginning to panic. He threw the
headphones down onto the floor of the van and then turned to grab the side
door.

"Frohike, where the hell are you going?" Rafferty asked.

"I'm going in there, Jim, they need help for God's sake, I can't just let
them get chewed all to hell."

"Well, don't just rush in, Frohike, hang on a minute. We're coming with
you. You're going to need more fire power then those two little pop guns,"
Janet advised, tensely as she gripped her shotgun.

"All right, Yeah you're right. And wait, we can at least put on these other
three portable walkie talkies. At least we can communicate once we're
inside," and he pulled the devices over towards them with shaking hands,
"but hurry up!"

Inside the warehouse Tony Rimmer glared at Sian and Mulder. He lifted his
leg and pissed a huge stream of hot urine in Mulder's direction. Mulder
jumped back as some of it hit his paws. Rimmer laughed. He shouted over the
music, "I wish it was hydrochloric acid you piece of shit," and then he ran
off into the maze towards the direction where Scully was hanging.

Mulder looked at the slightly dazed and bleeding Sian Phillips, "Are you
all right?" he asked, concern on his fuzzy face.

"Yes, let's go," she breathed, and they ran off in pursuit.

Frohike, Jim and Janet entered the warehouse through the main entrance and
crouched down in the entry office.

"Look, someone has to stop the special effect show in there," Frohike said
as they listened to the loud rock music coming down the hallway that lead
into the maze, "I think you should handle that, Jim. Take Janet with you
and shut that fucking noise off. Wait for my signal. When I call, come
running."

"Where are you going, now?" Janet asked fear in her voice.

"The Jungle," Frohike barked.

"Well, here, we'd better trade I think," Janet said quickly and she handed
Frohike her shotgun and the bandoleer of extra shells she was wearing.

Frohike handed her Mulder's two guns and she jammed them into her belt.

Then she bent forward and kissed Frohike on the cheek, "For luck," she said
and Frohike walked towards the hall way that lead out into the maze.

Tony Rimmer had climbed up one of the ladders to the second story and
unhooked Scully from the hook in the ceiling. He laid her down carefully on
one of the overhead catwalks.

Scully was unconscious now, the pain in her arms having caused her to pass
out, so Tony Rimmer pushed her back against the wall so that if she came
too she wouldn't pitch over the side. Rimmer had all ready decided that he
wasn't going to kill Scully. She was too feisty and sexually attractive for
him to bring himself to do it. 'No,' he thought, 'I think I've definitely
found my alpha bitch,' he mused licking his red lips. 'She's certainly a
hell of a lot more desirable, at this point, than that slut Sian Phillip,'
he thought.

Glancing down he could just make out Sian and Mulder winding their way
through the maze towards his location. He could not fathom the fact that
Sian had brought Mulder across. The event was a serious problem he thought.
A real fucking inconvenience. Now he couldn't influence Mulder and all
possibilities of making an easy kill had flown out the window. Now Tony
would have to fight, and fight for his life. The prospect was a royal pain
in the butt.

But Rimmer smiled. He was good. He had confidence, and he had Scully and if
nothing else, this might prove Mulder's downfall. He watched again as his
two adversaries reached the spot where they knew Scully had been hanging.
He drew back into the shadows of the cat walk, and waited.

Frohike crept through the maze. He had to crawl on his belly at one point
but now he was upright and he hurried towards where he thought he had seen
Mulder and Sian looking at Scully's suspended body before the communication
link had been cut. He held the shotgun before him loosely in both hands,
and as he did so the strobe lights and loud music stopped. Only the
sweeping lights remained to light the warehouse dimly and Frohike thanked
God that Jim and Janet had been quick enough, and smart enough to figure
out how to give them some light for the end game that was to come.

"Where the hell is she?" Mulder hissed at Sian as he yanked the broken
*Eyes and Ears* set from his head in fury.

"I don't know Fox, I can smell her but I can't see her," Sian replied
yanking her set off as well.

Mulder sniffed the air. He could make out Scully's scent and it was quite
close. Then suddenly his nostrils were assaulted with the smell of Tony
Rimmer's spore and the furred assassin dropped down on top of both of them
from the catwalk above.

"Mulder!" Sian howled she was thrown to the side, and the two males rolled
about the floor clawing, and biting each other with impunity.

Mulder lunged at Rimmer again and again, snapping impotently at his neck.
The older wolf was just too strong and although Mulder fought valiantly
Tony Rimmer was gaining the upper hand. He flipped Mulder over onto his
back, and slammed his wolf's skull repeatedly into the warehouse floor.
Mulder was knocked senseless. Tony was preparing to deliver a killing bite
to the throat when Sian Phillips slammed into him throwing him backwards as
she rode him down.

Sian knew she was in the fight for her life and Mulder's life and Frohike's
life and...." she clawed Rimmer violently across the face, deepening the
gashes all ready put there by Mulder's claws. She bit into his foreleg
driving her teeth to the bone.

Rimmer shrieked but the pain seemed to inflame him and he reared up,
pushing Sian backwards and slamming her into the floor with all his
strength. There was a sick snapping sound as one of Sian's legs broke. She
screamed in agony and rolled across the floor.

Mulder was just starting to come round and he was further jolted partially
back to himself by Sian's body thudding into his side as Rimmer threw her
over. Tony dragged her away from Mulder by her tail then and grabbing her
legs worked his way up her body. There was blood in Mulder's glowing hazel
eyes so he could barely see what was going on.

Rimmer had walked up Sian's body and stood on her chest now looking down
into her green glowing eyes. Her head lolled to the side and she gasped for
air, the pain from her leg and several broken ribs also making her dazed
and helpless. She looked up into Tony's face and she knew she was going to
die. Sian composed her mind. In the time honored tradition of her kind she
slowly bent her head to the side, exposing her throat to her victor for the
killing blow.

"Sorry, my sweet," Rimmer growled almost sadly and then he bit into the
flesh of her neck. Mulder howled out and the sound distracted Rimmer
slightly and he rose up and looked over towards Mulder. Sian was bleeding,
mortally wounded, as he shifted his knees on her chest.

"Come and try that with me you fucking bastard," Mulder hissed. But before
Tony Rimmer could spring for the kill there was an almost inhuman scream of
anger, fear and anguish.

Melvin Frohike stood at the end of one of the passages that lead into the
center of the maze. His face was twisted in rage and horror as he beheld
the dying body of Sian Phillips and he ran forward yelling, "Bastard,
Noooooooooo!..." and then he pulled the trigger of the sawed off shotgun at
almost point blank range. Both barrels blasted Tony Rimmer backwards
through the air and into the opposite warehouse wall.

Frohike threw the shotgun to the side and fell down on the floor next to
Sian. He picked up her body in his arms and pulled her into his lap. He was
keening ,and his cries galvanized Mulder. The Agent dashed over to the
prostrate Rimmer and he straddled his body.

It quickly became apparent that Rimmer was also done for. The shotgun blast
had torn through the middle of his body almost shattering his spinal column
and now he was struggling to breath, gurgling blood in his mouth. He was
trying to talk so Mulder bent down to listen.

"Congratulations, Mulder," he coughed blood. "May the best wolf win, even
if it was a malignant little dwarf," he tried to grin.

"Yeah, you rat bastard, I hope you choke!" Mulder sneered, "Die slow,
Tony," he said.

"Mulder?"

"What?"

"I just wanted to ask you a favor, you won, do me one last thing, all
right?"

"What, you fuck?"

"When you get back to DC, tell that cigarette smoking father of yours that
his son...Well, just tell him I hope he rots in hell," he lisped
sarcastically, and then Rimmer turned his head to the side so that Mulder
could deliver the coup de grace.

Mulder looked in shock at Rimmer as his words froze his guts, and then he
stared at his exposed throat. His wolfish face twisted in fury and he
shouted into his ear, "I wouldn't foul my mouth with your blood you God
damned son of a bitch," and then he stood up and brought one taloned foot
down to crash through Tony's shattered rib cage, severing his spine with a
loud crack.

Mulder stood there breathing heavily. He heard Frohike crying nearby and
then he heard Janet and Jim Rafferty running into the middle of the maze.

"Oh my God," Janet exclaimed. Mulder limped over to confront them. "Get out
of here,' he said bleakly, "it's over, go back to the vans and wait." He
didn't have any strength left to deal with them. They took one look at the
scene, turned around and walked back through the maze.

Mulder thought to look for Scully, but Sian and Frohike needed his
immediate attention. He could sense her presence and smell her scent now
more clearly and he could tell that she essentially all right and quite
close by. So, Mulder walked over to Frohike.

The photographer was sitting his back against the wall and cradling Sian's
head in his lap. Her blood was pooling over his jeans and he was stroking
her fur gently.

"Oh, God, Mulder, please, can't you do something, she, she's dying," he
whispered looking up into Mulder's muzzle. Frohike's face was stained with
tears, and dirt, and more of Sian's blood streaked the lenses of his
glasses.

Mulder bent closer to look at Sian's throat and he knew it was hopeless.
Tony's bite had damaged her spine it was more than likely a mortal wound.

"Mulder..." Sian struggled to speak. "Mulder, leave me with him for a
second," she said rolling her eyes up at Frohike.

"All right Sian," Mulder said and he walked over and sat down with his back
to them. He began to lick the fur on one leg to clean one of his wounds.

Sian looked up into Frohike's stricken eyes, "Mel, ddddon't cry for me.
Don't worry. I, I love you, I'll love you forever," she said gently.

"Oh, Sian, Oh God, Please, don't..., Oh, honey...I love you too, forever
too, Oh, Christ," he started to cry again as he stroked her white furred
head. Sian mustered every once of strength she had left, and she went into
his mind. She sent him all her healing and her love, she bolstered him and
strengthened his abilities to continue with the good fight, and then she
began to remove herself from Frohike's thoughts. She left just enough of
herself there to allow him to think he had met an attractive woman on the
trip, they had enjoyed each other during a fun and satisfying one night
stand, and then he had moved on with a pleasant memory of her arms around
him. As she finished the last of her erasure she sent him to sleep and
Frohike sagged back against the wall.

"Mulder," she gasped.

Mulder turned and hurried over. Seeing the sagging Frohike he gently
extricated him from Sian and carried him a short distance away. He placed
him gently down on the floor and returned to Sian's side.

Sian coughed, "I'm dead, Mulder," she sighed closing her eyes. But then she
opened them and looked into his haunted wolf face. "Mulder, I told you
there was a way I could return you your humanity didn't I?"

"Yes, you did," Mulder replied quietly.

"Well, then maybe this is for the best, Mulder. Because for me to give you
that gift I would have had to let you kill me anyway. Now, you'll just have
to finish what Tony so obligingly started," she wheezed.

Mulder looked at her in horror, "And you knew this ahead of time?"

She shook her head slightly and the movement caused her to mewl in pain,
"Please, Mulder, it's the only way," she hissed, "it hurts," and then she
exposed her throat to him.

Mulder looked down into her profile, and then he stroked her soft face. He
could feel a bit of the sixth sense welling up in his head, just enough he
thought...maybe enough, and he sent his thoughts into Sian's mind. He gave
her a vision of her and Frohike together again, they were hand in hand
walking in a forest somewhere, into a clearing, into the bright warm sun,
and as she smiled, he bent forward and bit into her neck, severing her head
from her body.

Dana Scully rolled over onto her side and sat up. She was still bound and
gagged but she was just working the gag from her face as Mulder approached
her across the cat walk. Her eyes went wide because he was quite naked. He
was covered in scratches and drying blood but no more the worse for wear.
He quickly covered the distance to her and knelt down beside her. He untied
her legs.

"Do you have the keys for the cuffs?" he asked.

"In my pocket," she said flinching from the pain that was still in her
arms.

Mulder gently retrieved the key and then unlocked the manacles. Scully
sagged against him, "Mulder what..."

"Rimmer's dead Scully, so's, Sian, come on, let's get the hell out of
here," he sighed, in exhaustion.

*The Whisper House* was quiet. Mulder, Scully, Frohike, Janet Price and Jim
Rafferty all slept the sleep of the totally exhausted.

Mulder had carried the unconsciousness Frohike back to the Dodge Caravans
and placed him carefully inside the more empty vehicle. Then Mulder had
redressed and he and Jim Rafferty had gone back inside the warehouse to
retrieve both Tony and Sian's bodies. The warehouse sat right on the
Milwaukee river so it was a simple enough job to wrap both their corpses
up, weight them down with things they found in *PaintBall Dave's* and then
consign them to the dark waters. Jim had said a prayer for Sian as Mulder
bowed his head. They had cleaned up the blood as best they could but Mulder
figured with the filth of the warehouse and the zillion paintball splatters
over every surface, no one was going to notice the blood that was left on
the floor.

The group had driven back to Shepard Avenue in silence. Mulder had wanted
Scully to go to St. Mary's hospital nearby but she had insisted it wasn't
necessary. Her arms and shoulders were sore and tingling but she thought
they would be all right in a couple of days. She took a hot shower before
going with Mulder into his room. He had given her a message and her arms
felt much better.

Janet and Jim saw to it that Frohike was cleaned up and then they had put
the still sleeping photographer to bed in his old room next to Mulder and
Scully. He was snoring and smiling now, in his boxers and tee shirt, over
the memory of the gorgeous blond he had been lucky to meet in Milwaukee.

"Mulder, are you all right?" Scully asked stroking his cheek.

"Yeah, I'm OK, Scully, I guess," he sighed.

"I'm so sorry about Sian," she said

"Yeah, me too," he replied with a far away look in his eyes.

"I'm just glad she had a chance to make sure Frohike wasn't going to
remember anything about her death. God, I can't imagine what that would
have done to him," Scully said.

"I think I can," Mulder said looking into her eyes. She searched his face
and then she reached up and kissed him gently. Mulder smiled at her for the
first time that day and then he kissed the ring on her finger. Mulder
pulled her close, they snuggled together and fell fast asleep.

In a dreary apartment in Washington, DC a man woke from dreaming. He
reached over to the night stand and grabbed the pack of Morley cigarette's
that rested there. He lit one up and inhaled the smoke deeply into his
lungs. He coughed. 'God, what an idiotic dream,' he thought. 'Why the hell
would I be dreaming about Star Wars for Christ's sake? I am your father
Luke? How fucking asinine!' he mused. Still he vaguely remembered that he'd
liked wearing that Darth Vader outfit. But the fact that Mulder was dressed
as Luke Skywalker had disturbed him. He took another drag on the Morley and
swung his long legs over the bed's edge. He slipped his feet into his
slippers, and then he got up to take a piss. As he crossed the apartment he
stopped to listen. 'Oh, for God's sake who's dog is that howling?' he
thought. But then the hair on the back of his neck stood up because it
didn't really sound like a dog. It sounded more like a wolf and there
wasn't just one. The man threw down the cigarette and crushed it under
foot. Then he crossed to his dresser, opened the top drawer, and took out a
.44 caliber gun almost as long as his forearm. There was a scratching at
his door and the man turned and for the first time, in a long time, there
was fear in his eyes.

EPILOGUE

It had been a month since they had returned to DC and Mulder was standing
in Scully's kitchen making coffee on a Saturday afternoon. Sun from the
window over the sink was shining down onto his hands and the ring on his
left hand was sparkling in the light. Mulder smiled. Scully had given him
the ring a week ago. It was very masculine, and well designed, and Mulder
liked it immensely.

It was a gorgeous day, and Mulder didn't want anything to spoil it. He had
been thinking of the Cancer Man and the possibility that he was indeed his
father. It was something he had considered before, of course. But in the
long run there wasn't much he could do about the fact if it was true. He
wasn't sure even now whether it was true. He figured that Rimmer may have
lied about it in a sick attempt to get back at Mulder before he died. At
any rate, Mulder thought, he would deal with the bastard later and through
more official channels if he could. I wouldn't do to seek revenge and have
his efforts backfire against him or God forbid, against Scully. He decided
to let sleeping dogs lie for the moment. He could afford to wait and deal
with the problem later after he'd had time to plan a suitable course of
action.

Scully was on the phone to her Mother. Mulder was glad to hear that things
between Margaret Scully and Walter Skinner seemed to be moving along, but
at a nice slow pace. Both he and Scully were having enough time to get used
to the idea that Skinner might become one of the family, but at least it
wouldn't be in the immediate future. Still, they were spending a lot of
time together, dining out and visiting galleries and such, and Scully's
Mother seemed really happy. Mulder noticed the change in Skinner as well,
and he thought the guy was seriously in danger of being in love again as
well.

"So, Mom, say hello to Bill when you meet him at the airport. I suppose
we'll all need to get together while he's here," Scully was saying into the
phone. Then she laughed, "Yes, I guess that can wait until you've had your
little talk with him. All right, Mom, I love you, Uh, say hello to Walter,"
she said. Scully still wasn't quite used to referring to Skinner by
anything other then Sir. Mulder really grinned to think what it would be
like if she had to call him Dad.

Frohike had called earlier and Mulder thought he sounded pretty much like
his old self. He was a little wistful but not overly so. Mulder agreed to
go out with him, Langly and Byers for pizza and a movie that evening. Sian
Phillips seemed to be just a pleasant memory. Sian's death saddened Mulder
greatly because in a selfish way he knew it had been necessary for his own
salvation. He felt tremendous gratitude to Frohike for killing Rimmer, and
even though the guy would never know he had saved all their lives, Mulder
endeavored to show him the new respect he so justly deserved.

Scully walked into the kitchen.

"Coffee's almost ready," Mulder said turning to face her. She looked
radiant, all traces of the horrors that they had been through a month ago
had been erased from her.

"Uh, Scully, you know, I really like making coffee and stuff here, I mean,
I really like your place," Mulder said.

"I sort of got that idea, Mulder," she smiled at him, humor in her eyes.

"Well, I was thinking, you know, the lease on my apartment is up at the end
of next month. Uh, what would you say to my moving in here, permanently, I
mean?" he asked quietly.

Scully moved over to him and hugged him around the waist. "Yeah. I think
that could be arranged Agent Mulder," she said into his strong chest.

Mulder relaxed and wound his arms around her shoulders.

"But Mulder, you just have to promise me one thing, all right," she said
smirking into his t-shirt.

"Anything, Scully."

"Just don't leave the toilet seat up, ok?" Scully replied and they both
dissolved in joyous laughter.

THE END OF THE WHOLE STORY