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Truckin’ I &
Truckin’ II: Keep on Truckin’
by FatCat & Donnilee
Skip to Truckin’ II
TRUCKIN’
TITLE: TRUCKIN’
AUTHOR: FATCAT & DONNILEE
E-MAIL: [email protected] / [email protected]
RATING: NC-17
SPOILERS: Pilot, Pine Bluff Variant, Millennium, Closure, Talitha Cumi, 3, Triangle, Per Manum, Tooms, Momento Mori, Milagro, First Person Shooter.
DISCLAIMER: Sometimes the urge just hits you take a ROAD TRIP! Oh, you mean the story? The characters aren’t ours unfortunately. Frankly, I think we do better with them than their owners. But alas, they belong to their creator, Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions and Fox Broadcasting. We’re both poor as church mice. Don’t sue.
SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully go undercover as an over the road, married driving team to break up a hijacking ring.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is FatCat’s and my first attempt at writing as a team. We had great fun! Hope you enjoy the spewing of our combined imaginations. She wrote Scully, I wrote Mulder and away we went.
THANKS: To our beta reader extraordinaire, Fran Hartman for doing her usual bang up job. When she’s not looking, we call her “grammar nazi.” Affectionately, of course!
DEDICATION: I think this has to be dedicated to Mimic117, who caterwauled the longest and loudest for the completion of this fic. And I mean that in the nicest way, darling! This one’s for you!
PART 1 (PG)
FBI HEADQUARTERS HOOVER BUILDING THIRD FLOOR – A.D. SKINNER’S OFFICE 3:00 PM – THURSDAY
“Come in, Agents. Have a seat.” A.D. Skinner gestured toward his conference table. I exchanged a glance with Mulder before we moved as one to take seats opposite Skinner and the two unidentified men.
“Agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. These gentlemen are Mr. Franklin Thomas and Mr. Dennis McMahon of the Morehead Insurance Company.” Skinner made short work of the introductions.
“Mr. Thomas and Mr. McMahon have been investigating a number of hijackings and murders that have occurred involving a trucking company covered by Morehead.”
“Excuse me, Sir, but exactly what does that have to do with Agent Mulder and me, or the FBI for that matter?” I asked politely before Mulder could insult everyone present asking the same question in that insolent, scathing way of his.
“The Director has approved the investigation into these incidents because the victims have been transported across state lines before being killed, and because the cargos that have been hijacked have all been federal property.”
Again I exchanged glances with Mulder.
“Isn’t that handled by the Department of Transportation, Sir?” he asked.
“Normally, Agent Mulder, that would be the usual agency to handle this case, but there are extenuating circumstances that exclude pursuit of the investigation through the DOT. Mr. Thomas, if you would,” Skinner indicated the man on his left.
“Agents, I have been in charge of this investigation for several months. It has come to my attention during this time that there are possible links to the DOT and several other governmental agencies; links that seem to indicate a large number of federal employees are involved in these crimes.” He looked from one agent to the other, trying to make sure they understood the gravity and scope of this investigation.
“Those are serious charges, Mr. Thomas,” I said. “Do you have the kind of proof you will need to bring this operation down?”
Mr. McMahon broke in with, “No, and that’s where you two come in.”
“What the Director wants is an undercover operation, using FBI personnel. When the task force asked for a few of our best teams to be considered for the job, your names were mentioned by the Director himself,” Skinner interjected.
“That’s very flattering, Sir, but we’re not a trained part of the undercover task force. Mulder and I have only gone undercover a few times; once with near disastrous results,” I shot back.
Mulder interjected, “The director probably just wants us off the X- Files.”
“We’re aware of your lack of undercover training, Agent Mulder, but you and Agent Scully have a partnership that is known to be out of the ordinary,” Thomas said. “Your solve rate is statistical proof of that.”
Skinner added, “You are close and work well together. You both know that agents are closer with their partner than their spouse sometimes, and that’s especially evident with you two. I don’t have to tell you that your partnership is nearly legendary in the Bureau. And yes, your solve rate has a lot do with you being selected by the Director. He may not know you personally, but he knows the numbers, and he knows your solve rate, even if he’s not always impressed with your methods.”
“Just what kind of operation are you looking to run, Mr. Thomas?” I asked, secretly pleased at Skinner’s praise as well as slightly uncomfortable with the comments about being so close. I was getting a bad feeling about this whole conversation.
Skinner looked at us for a moment and then said, “This will be a deep-cover operation. You will not be able to contact your families or friends. You will be given a cover story for your absence. You will not be able to surface until the hijacking ring has been completely eliminated, or heaven forbid, your cover is blown.”
Mulder and I exchanged glances again.
“What…” I cleared my throat. “What would our cover be?”
Skinner picked up the conversation at this point, “You will be working as an over-the-road driving team for one of Morehead’s clients, Global-Tech Express.”
My eyebrow shot toward my hairline. “With all due respect, sir, this is ludicrous. Neither Agent Mulder nor I have ever driven a semi and now you expect us to pass ourselves off as professional truck drivers?”
Skinner held back the smile that threatened to crack his face. “Agent Mulder? Would you like to handle this?”
Mulder turned to face me, squirming in his chair.
“Scully, I do have truck driving experience. The summer before I went to Oxford, I worked at a logging camp in Maine. I wasn’t a lumber jack. I was actually the cook’s help until one of the regular drivers broke his arm unloading logs at the paper mill. They sent me to school and I drove for them for quite a while.”
“So you learned to drive a semi?” I was incredulous.
“Yeah, I learned,” he smirked.
—X—
“By the end of summer I was the top driver. Not needing much sleep gave me an edge on the other guys. Oh, and by the way, if you want to sound like a truck driver, call it a ‘big rig’. No self- respecting truck driver ever says ‘semi’. They say ‘rig’ or ‘big rig’, or maybe ‘big truck.’”
“Thanks for the vocabulary lesson,” she said sarcastically, unable to keep her annoyance out of her voice. “That’s all well and good, but what about me? I don’t know how to drive a … big rig. I don’t have my Class A driver’s license and neither do you anymore, for that matter. What would be my role in this operation?”
She sounded as if she definitely wasn’t going to enjoy this. Knowing Scully as I do, I could almost see the dread in her eyes as she got a mental picture of herself in a short, pink waitress uniform.
“Well, Agent Scully…” Mr. Thomas began.
I interrupted, “Scully, you can be my ‘better half’ and take care of all the paperwork, etc.” I began to grin and added, “I’m sure the idea of you doing all the paperwork appeals to you immensely. You know, finding ways to weasel out of filling out expense reports and case reports on concluded X-Files is my specialty. Just think of it, you can have complete control of the paper trail from day one.”
“Why don’t I like the way you said that, Mulder?” she growled. I knew she felt like she was being ganged up on. I’d accepted this easily and it began to bother her. Suspicion of the true meaning of ‘better half’ began to dawn on her. As soon as it hit me what they were proposing, I liked the idea of this assignment even more.
“Just what is a ‘better half’, Mulder?” she glared at me.
Skinner interjected, “You’d be posing as man and wife, Agent Scully.”
That was it. Her jaw dropped. “That’s preposterous!” she nearly shouted. I didn’t miss the two insurance investigators’ smirks over her indignation.
Scully was not amused. She turned to give them her death stare, making it clear that she was anything but amused. Scully in full chill mode made their mirth disappear immediately. That however, made me smile softly at her. “It wouldn’t be so bad, Scully.”
In a calm voice, she asked, “Mulder, do you know how small those sleepers must be?” She made a sound of disgust with her tongue.
I frowned. Before I could respond, Mr. Thomas said, “We had anticipated an objection on those grounds, Agent Scully, and we’ve arranged for you to have one of our newest trucks with the largest sleeper compartment available. That’s an optional feature we don’t usually indulge in. The bed is nearly a double bed. You normally won’t be sleeping at the same time anyway. Even though it is close quarters, A.D. Skinner has assured us that it should be adequate for two professionals such as you and Agent Mulder.”
“What about bunk beds?” I asked.
“I can look into that,” McMahon replied.
Thomas continued. “It comes with a small refrigerator, microwave, stereo, headphones, sizeable clothing compartments and a small sink with a vanity mirror.”
“What? No TV?” I grinned at him.
“Of course, I forgot to mention the television-vcr-dvd combination mounted in the sleeping area,” Thomas assured me.
“Lucky me,” Scully muttered.
“Hey, I was only kidding.” I was impressed.
Skinner was regarding me thoughtfully. “We’ve also consulted with a driving school in Somers, CT. We can send you there for a private crash course for your Class A license. Mulder will probably do most of the driving.”
“I don’t know, Sir,” Scully said.
“Agent Scully, I know it sounds daunting, but the only real reason for you to have your license is in case of emergency.”
McMahon again contributed to the conversation, “DOT regulations are a lot stricter than when you drove, Agent Mulder. Long haul truckers are no longer allowed to drive for twenty-fours straight like in the old days.”
“What are the rules now?” I asked.
“I have a whole list of them here,” he said as he slid a file across the table towards me.
I put my hand on it but didn’t open it. “Summarize for me,” I requested.
McMahon nodded. “Well, drivers are cut off at ten hours. After that, they have to take an eight hour break. A lone driver will often drive for five, sleep for four, drive five, sleep four. This enables him to make better time than shutting down for an entire eight hours and allows him to take advantage of the low traffic times on the highways.”
“The dead of night was usually best,” I commented.
Scully was glaring at us again. I knew it seemed as if we had completely skipped over her objections.
“That’s still true. However, when you have a team, they usually drive straight through; eight hour shifts, alternating drivers. One drives, one sleeps and then they switch. In your case, if you felt the need to do most of the driving, you could drive like a lone driver, or you could just fudge the books to make it look like Agent Scully took over when she didn’t. Because of the delicate nature of the operation, we are willing to bend the rules here a little and take a chance on circumventing the DOT regulations. We want these people caught.”
I looked at Scully who was still frowning fiercely. “Scully, the backing up, docking, and parking are the hard parts and I could always do those. Driving on the open highway is easy. As long as you learn to shift properly, and I’ve every confidence you can do that, you wouldn’t have a problem. I’ve seen some of these new trucks. They’re fabulous.”
“It’s still a truck,” Scully said under her breath.
Thomas added, “They are. Not like the old days when you needed muscle. Power steering, power brakes, and air ride are all standard on our trucks. Oh, and I almost forgot, adjustable seats.”
“So the little women can drive?” she asked sarcastically.
“Agent Scully …” Skinner said softly, his voice a warning growl. She frowned heavily, embarrassed at the subtle reprimand. This sort of attitude and objections were usually coming from me. She knew Skinner was surprised that she was protesting so much.
Thomas answered her as if she hadn’t been hostile. “Not at all. It cuts down on fatigue for the drivers. The less physical it is, the more alert they remain. Cuts down on accidents. Air ride seats are great not only for fatigue, but it cuts down on back and kidney problems that used to be a chronic health issue for a lot of old time drivers. All that vibrating beats up the body after a few years.”
She looked down, suddenly ashamed of her outburst. It wasn’t like her to be so defensive. I could tell she needed to get a grip and think this out after we left the meeting.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Thomas. I didn’t mean to sound nasty,” she said quietly.
“Not a problem. You have a right to have all your questions answered and I’d be happy to do that. If I can’t, I’ll find someone who can. I’m not a trucker myself, although I used to be before I went to work for Morehead. However, I’ve had to familiarize myself with all aspects of the industry in this line of work and keep up with all the changes in laws. They vary from state to state as well, concerning permits and such, which frankly, is a pain in the ass,” he ended, his lips curling into an exasperated smile.
She looked at him and then turned to Skinner again. “Sir, aren’t there partners more qualified than Mulder and I?” It was her last effort.
He frowned. “Not really. Mulder has the background, even if it was a while ago, so he will have the easiest time relearning. Plus, you two are close, one of our best teams. If anyone can pull off acting like a married couple, it’s you. You don’t have to smooch for the public, Agent Scully, just work as a team … which is what you do best.” He said quietly, “You two are best friends.”
Skinner’s remark shocked her into saying a curt, “So what?”
Mr. Thomas answered for him with a question, “How do most old, married couples act?”
I answered him, “Like best friends.”
Thomas smiled broadly. “Exactly. You two can pull it off because you do know each other so well. Most people in the industry are uncomplicated folk, but they aren’t stupid. And you’d be surprised at how well they read people. They see a couple that looks uncomfortable with each other, doesn’t know anything about each other on a personal level … well, they aren’t going to buy it.”
McMahon added, “Even same sex teams are close. It’s a tight environment to live in, for sure. I won’t lie to you about that. But that’s exactly why we need a couple of agents that can stand being around each other that much. Plus, in some of the other male/female agent teams, one or the other is married and their spouses would never… consent to let them go on the road with their opposite-sex work partners.”
She looked at her lap, seeing that her arguments were being ditched neatly, one by one. She sighed loudly, “I don’t like that I won’t be able to contact my family. What if there was an emergency? For that matter, what about my financial obligations?”
Skinner said, “Kimberly will personally take care of paying all your bills. You can make arrangements with her tomorrow. And in case of a family emergency, you may give them my direct line number here and my personal home number when you inform them of your ‘assignment’. If anything happens, we can pull you off the road immediately.”
“How will you find us?” she asked.
Thomas said, “All the trucks are equipped with a computer with a satellite link over which you receive your routing instructions.”
“Satellites?” she asked.
“Yes, we track our trucks wherever they go. We can find you in a heartbeat if a call comes in that you’re needed or there is an emergency. We can locate you with no problem and send a message over the satellite.”
“Wow,” I said. “Times have changed for sure.”
Thomas smiled. “All for the better, mostly. I can’t say that I enjoy all of the regulations placed on the industry but a large number of them are beneficial to the drivers and the industry. Most changes deal with safety for the drivers and the public. The rest deal with protecting the companies from legalities.”
“People can be stupid near big trucks,” I said, easily sliding back into the lingo.
“Yes, they can. They don’t understand how powerful the vehicle is. They cut in front of them not realizing that a fully loaded tractor trailer, going fifty-five miles an hour, can take nearly a quarter mile to come to a complete stop.”
Scully’s eyes widened at this piece of information.
I replied, “And it doesn’t matter that the four wheeler was at fault most times.”
“No, because the other party IS usually the one that gets hurt and ‘YOU’ are the professional driver,” McMahon agreed with me.
“So you get bagged with the responsibility,” I replied.
“Exactly. As a professional, you’re supposed to be better than the average driver … drive defensively … take evasive actions … follow the rules of the road, know your truck and your load and drive accordingly.”
“What would we be hauling?” I asked.
Thomas said, “It would vary. Really, that would be up to the trucking company. I have requested that you not have to pull any dual trailers or haul any hazardous materials. Other than that, it could be anything. You would actually be doing the job for real. Some of your loads might involve supplies for the military, computers for the government, metal for the ship building yards. It could be anything. But since the hijackers are targeting government loads, you’d be hauling almost exclusively government facility loads.”
I nodded, nonplussed by this. I said, “Trailers are easier than the flat beds used for logging. If I could flatbed a logger, I’m sure I can get the hang of a trailer.”
“They are bigger than they used to be,” he warned.
“Forty-three and forty-eight footers used to be the standard,” I commented.
“We have fifty-three foot trailers now. That’s the largest and probably what you would be driving most of the time. You’ll be hauling heavy loads.”
“Which means stopping at weigh stations throughout the country,” Scully chimed in.
“Exactly, and checking them out while you’re there, seeing if you spot any suspicious activity by the DOT employees, anyone hassling you unnecessarily.”
“I imagine the paperwork is monstrous,” she sighed.
“Yes, unfortunately, you have to keep careful logs of your time driving, your distances, etc. Your average speeds are calculated from that so the companies can detect anyone racing on the roads out there. They know exactly how long it should take you to get from point A to point B going the speed limit. If you make it in half the time, there’s a problem. Most of the trucks have governors on them anyway.”
“Governors?” she asked.
“Devices that don’t allow the truck to go over 65 miles an hour,” Mr. Franklin supplied.
“Don’t be a cowboy, in other words,” I joked.
“Right. But they give you plenty of time usually. It’s rare with the government that there is a rush job. You usually have a couple DAYS wiggle room to account for any mechanical problems or detours, etc. So you may actually find yourself with down time in some interesting places.”
“See that, Scully?” I teased. “You don’t need to join the Army to see the world. Just become a long-haul truck driver.”
I smiled gently at her in spite of her misgivings. I was trying to lighten the mood and make her feel better about it. I actually felt excited about this assignment. Of course, I have no family to worry about. I was instantly stabbed with a dart of guilt for thinking that way. Lord knows, I have been responsible for enough pain in her life, and the lives of her family members. I knew she wouldn’t trade places with me for the world. She loved her family and I knew she couldn’t imagine what it was like to the be the last one in your immediate family. I hoped she’d never have to find out, never have to know that kind of loneliness. Quietly, a wave of affection stole over me for my partner. We were close, best friends. I knew she trusted me like I trusted her, but why did this assignment make her so nervous?
She gazed up at me and sighed again, turning to Skinner. “We’re not getting out of this, are we, Sir?” she asked, realizing that her arguments never stood a chance from the beginning.
He shook his head slowly. “Afraid not, Agent Scully, unless there are some extenuating circumstances.”
“What about the X-Files?” Scully asked.
“We do have other agents who could be trusted to handle a case or two if something urgent comes up. But I don’t anticipate anything that can’t be set aside until you return.” Skinner was trying to assure her that they would be back on the X-Files when we returned.
“What will our cover story be to our families and others?” she asked.
“That we’re sending you out of the country to work with Interpol on a classified basis,” Skinner answered right away.
Scully swallowed and nodded.
Skinner wrapped up the meeting. “We’ll meet again tomorrow to go over details, such as contacting the trucking company, who your contacts will be, reporting, etc. We’ll meet here at 8:00 AM. We could be here all day. I have a representative from the trucking company coming in to talk with you. Then, you’ll be leaving Sunday night and flying into Bradley International Airport in Hartford, CT. You start school Monday morning.”
“Oh, goody,” she said, seemingly unable to help this last bit of sarcasm. It wasn’t like Scully not to be able to control herself, or act in a professional manner.
The men chuckled and they all stood. Mr. Thomas said, “Agent Scully?”
“Yes?”
“I know you’re not … happy about this, but you are our last hope, the FBI I mean, the undercover operation. We’ve been at this for months … I’ve lost a couple of good friends to these guys … we don’t want more lives lost … and we have no solid leads.” He paused, “We need you.”
She nodded. I wondered again why she was so reluctant and being so contrary about this. This was what we signed on for. We were Special Agents of the FBI. And if I could do this, then so could she. This wasn’t about whether she could fit in or drive a rig. I knew that she could learn anything if she put her mind to it. I think I’d been on the X-files too long… even my partner’s thoughts were becoming a mystery to solve.
I had a feeling I knew exactly what this was about. The challenge of playing at being married again was making Scully remember how difficult it had been during our case at the Falls of Arcadia.
Being assigned to play house with Scully brought up feelings that I kept carefully locked away most of the time. Close quarters with her would be difficult at best, but I had kept my feelings under wraps for several years and I felt confident that I would be able to handle this assignment. Then again, it would certainly be a break in routine for us and maybe just what we needed. We were getting stale and cranky running over the same old ground. Maybe it would be good for us to do something different, remember what it used to be like to be ‘normal agents’.
Scully smiled at Thomas and McMahon. “I’m sorry. I was just taken by surprise. I’ll get used to the idea.”
“We heard you always give your best, Agents.”
“Thank you. We’ll talk tomorrow,” I said as Scully nodded at them.
Skinner said, “Agents, take off for the day, discuss what you need to. When you come in tomorrow morning, be prepared to give Kimberly all your financial information so that she can arrange to pay your bills while you’re gone. We’ll begin at 8:00 AM, sharp.”
“You got it, Chief,” I spouted, saluting him crisply. The investigators laughed, Skinner scowled and Scully grinned.
“Come on, wise guy, we have plans to make,” Scully said as she walked out the door.
—X—
PART 2 (PG)
DANA SCULLY’S APARTMENT GEORGETOWN 7:14 PM – THURSDAY
“Mom, I know. We’ve rarely been assigned outside the U.S. before so I am excited. It’s not really a case. We’re going as advisors, helping set up an X-Files department at Interpol.” I was pacing while talking to my mother. I hated to lie to her, but I had my orders.
“Mom, we will not be in danger…. Just because I can’t get calls does not mean that I am working on something dangerous.” I was running out of lies. “No, Mulder and I are going there to set up a new and highly controversial department for Interpol. They asked for us, they just don’t want to let anyone know we’re there so they’ve slapped a high level classification on it,” I sighed. “They don’t want the whole world to know what we’re doing. I’ll try to call or at least send you a postcard or two.” I sighed with relief. She was finally buying it. “We are NOT going to be living it up on the government dime in Europe. We’ll be working, I assure you. There’s nothing to tell. Mulder is my partner, that’s it.” I sighed again. “I’m not having this conversation with you again, Mom. You’re starting to sound like Charlie now.
I listened as my mother continued to speak her mind, trying to soothe her and keep her from becoming suspicious. Finally I interjected, “Listen Mom, I have a lot to do before our meeting tomorrow. I’ll see you on Saturday for lunch. I’ll bring over my plants then.” I smiled as she replied and then said, “I love you too, Mom.”
I hated to lie to her, but I knew it was important. I knew she would understand the need for secrecy if I could have explained it to her. After all, I was sure that my father had not given her the entire truth about some of the missions that he was ordered on during his years at sea, and that she knew it. But I still felt bad about lying.
I walked back into my room and stared at my clothes. ‘What does one wear to drive an 18 wheeler 24/7?’ I asked myself. I looked at my rack of Donna Karan and Armani suits and knew what I wasn’t going to pack. But I knew that if I didn’t get them out of the closet and Mom came over to check things out, they would reveal my duplicity.
I decided to store them while we were gone. My mother would never think to go to Mulder’s apartment. I picked up my cell phone and hit speed dial number one. On the third ring Mulder answered.
[Mulder.]
“Mulder, it’s me.”
[Hey Scully, what’s up?]
“Mulder, I need to bring over some of my better suits and shoes to your apartment…” I began.
Mulder’s quick intake of breath and teasing, [Are you asking to move in with me, Scully?] surprised me.
“Mulder, if I did, you would run like a scalded dog!” I laughed.
[Don’t be so sure, Scully,] he said quietly.
I smiled as said, “Mulder, I need to make sure my mother doesn’t know we’re not in Europe when she checks out my apartment while we’re gone. She’s a master at putting two and two together after raising four navy brats.”
[Okay. Sure, but I’m not home right now. Could we do it tomorrow night?] Mulder said. [I just took my fish over to the guys and I was doing a little shopping.]
“That’s fine, Mulder. I just wanted to make sure it would be okay.” I heard a knock at my door and said, “Someone’s here, hold on just a minute.”
I walked to the door and peeked out. Mulder stood there with a huge grin on his face. I shook my head and opened the door. He had his phone in one hand and a large bag in another.
“Bye, Scully,” he teased as he closed the phone.
I sighed and smiled at him. “Come on in, Mulder.” I switched off my phone and put it back on the charger.
Mulder walked into the living room and sat on the couch. “You got any tea, Scully? Shopping works up a thirst for me.”
—X—
Scully always has tea on hand. If she doesn’t have freshly made iced tea in the fridge, she keeps a supply of my favorite brand of canned iced tea. She grabbed two and came back to the living room.
“Thanks, Scully,” I gulped half the can down right away.
“Boy, you weren’t kidding about shopping making you thirsty, were you?” she teased.
“Well, I put it off as long as I can then I have to do a lot. It’s not my favorite thing, you know?”
“I couldn’t tell by the way you dress, Mulder,” she continued to tease.
“Is that a remark about my ties, Scully? I’ll have you know that I get them from the best on-line shopping source available,” I said with a straight face. “Ties R Us, a subsidiary of McDonald’s and Toys R Us.”
Her peal of laughter over my ridiculous remark made me smile back at her. I loved it when I could make her laugh. She didn’t do it nearly enough to suit me. “You really are beautiful when you laugh, Scully,” I said softly, before I could stop myself.
Her laughter faded to a gentle smile and a blush. “Thank you, Mulder. That’s the nicest compliment I’ve had in ages.”
I didn’t know what to say to that so I changed the subject. “I… umm… did a little shopping for you too, Scully,” For some reason I couldn’t look at her right now.
“Mulder….” she said warily.
“I knew you probably didn’t know what to wear so I drove out and cased the truck stop on I66. I didn’t really see too many women like you there Scully, but there were one or two, so I used them as a guide for shopping.”
“Mulder,” she growled. “If the women you saw were the ones going from truck to truck and knocking on the door, you’re in big trouble.”
“Scully,” I feigned surprise. “Would I do that to you? By the way, the proper term for those ladies of the evening is lot lizards.”
“I don’t know, Mulder. If I base my response on the quality level of your video collection, I think you may be wiser to leave now while you have both kneecaps.” Her harsh words were spoiled by the smile that wiped the frown off her face.
“I’ll need those for this assignment, Scully. No physical abuse allowed,” I teased back.
“So, you really bought me clothes, Mulder?”
“Uh, yeah. I know you’re not happy about this assignment, so you don’t need to be spending money on a new wardrobe on top of it. I know you only own two pairs of jeans and that’s not nearly enough. And the ones you do own are too ‘dressy’ for what we need here,” I prattled on, wondering why I was babbling.
“I appreciate it, Mulder,” she said quietly. “Let’s see what you got.”
I opened the bag and pulled out three pairs of stone washed jeans, two blue and one black, and four chamois shirts, tan, black, red and green, and laid them on the coffee table. Then I pulled out matching turtlenecks to go under them.
She stood with her mouth slightly open. “Mulder, that’s too much.”
“Too late now, Scully. Try one of each on and make sure they fit. I got them all the same size.”
“How did you know my size?”
“Do you really want me to answer that?” I teased.
“Uh, I guess not,” she replied, reaching for the green chamois, turtleneck and the black jeans. She picked them up and held them to her chest. “Thanks, Mulder. I’ll be right back.”
She disappeared into the bedroom and I finished my iced tea while I waited.
She reemerged wearing the soft, tight turtleneck with the chamois shirt over it, buttoned up only half way so it framed the generous breasts that rode high on her chest. The jeans fit her perfectly, except that they were a little long, but she wasn’t wearing any shoes.
She smiled. “Can I pass for a trucker chick?” she asked, clearly amused with her new look.
“A pair of boots and some work gloves and you’re golden, Scully,” I said, nodding my head and smiling.
She beamed me a smile and twirled around. I chuckled and stood up, walking over to her and placing my hands on her shoulders. She looked up at me and I said, “It’s going to be all right, Scully. I promise. I know it won’t be easy, but when is anything we ever do easy?”
She swallowed hard and her smile faded. “We’re going to need some ground rules, Mulder.”
I nodded, having expected this. “I know, whatever you want, Scully.”
She must have detected the note of resignation in my voice. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Mulder, come on.”
I turned from her and returned to the couch, sitting down. She came over and sat on the opposite end of the couch. “Do you have cowboy boots or work boots, Scully?”
“I have hiking boots and I can pick up some work boots. Don’t change the subject, Mulder. Nice try.”
I smiled sadly. “Can’t blame me for trying,” I quipped.
She just stared at me, giving me the look that said I wasn’t getting out of this. “Spill, Mulder.”
I sighed deeply. “Nothing, really. I just expected you to have a whole laundry list of rules and regulations that I’ll have to follow. It’s not really a surprise.”
She frowned now. “You expected it, why?”
I smiled softly at her now. “Because I know you, Scully.”
She seemed to contemplate this statement for a minute trying to figure if there was hidden meaning in it. Then she said, “I don’t know if I’m happy you know me so well, or bothered that I’m so predictable.”
I gazed at her for a moment, seeing an opportunity to talk to her. We rarely had conversations like this. Normally, we could retreat into our neutral corners if we got on each other’s nerves. We weren’t going to be able to do that on this assignment. If this was going to work, then we needed to talk more.
“Look, Scully. You trust me, right?”
“Of course I do,” she quickly replied.
“And I trust you. But we don’t talk enough, Scully. I mean, we know a lot about each other, but we’re going to be working in close quarters, closer than ever before, and we won’t be able to retreat to separate hotel rooms or our respective apartments when we piss each other off.”
“And you’re sure we’ll piss each other off?” she asked wryly.
“Don’t we always?” I asked, with another note of resignation.
She frowned again. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying we’re going to need to talk more than we normally do. If we do something that bothers the other one, we need to talk about it before it festers into a boil and we end up fighting over it. We’re not going to be able to afford that on this assignment.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Can you do it, Scully?”
“Do what? Talk to you more? Sure.”
I shook my head, thinking that she was taking this too easily, not putting enough importance on what I was saying. “Our partnership, our friendship is precious to me, Scully. I don’t want to damage it for anything, and certainly not for this assignment. But this will be something completely different for us and we need to be able to communicate … and not just silently like we usually do. We’re going to be pretending we’re married …”
I broke off and swallowed. Being married to Scully was one of those furtive dreams that I squashed into the back of my mind whenever it reared its ugly head. It was one of those fantasies that would bring more pain than pleasure because I knew it would never happen. This assignment was going to be rough on me for that reason. I would be living out that fantasy in one respect.
I was quite certain Scully would approach this with her usual logic and stoicism. She would trudge through, doing what she had to do and concentrating on the case because she would want it over as soon as possible. I, on the other hand, was going to have trouble not paying attention to the roles we were playing. It hit too close to home. So this assignment was a double edged sword.
“Scully …”
“Why are you shaking your head at me?” she asked, sounding annoyed. “I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our relationship either.”
“Relationship or partnership, Scully?”
She looked confused for a second. Then said, “We’re friends, that’s a relationship, Mulder. And I meant both, partnership, friendship, whatever you want to call it.”
“That’s just it, Scully. What would you call it? If someone were to ask, I mean.”
She looked confused again. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“If someone came up to you and asked, ‘What’s your relationship with Fox Mulder?’ What would you say?”
I held her with my gaze and she swallowed hard. “I would say … he’s my partner at work, my friend, my … confidante. He’s my best friend.”
I nodded. “Same here, Scully.” I looked at my lap, wondering if that was all we’d ever be.
She seemed to sense that I wasn’t entirely satisfied with her answer and I wasn’t going to give up anything more than she was. She added, “Maybe what’s important here is what I ‘wouldn’t’ tell them.”
“What’s that, Scully?”
She cleared her throat then met my gaze. “That you’re the most important person in my life, Mulder. You have to know that.”
“No,” I whispered. “I didn’t know that.”
Her eyes widened slightly and one eyebrow went up as if to say, ‘How could you not know?’ “Well, you are,” she said briskly. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Mulder. I mean that.”
She stood up, suddenly fidgety, which wasn’t like her at all. I stood too and took her shoulders in my hands again. I was wearing my black boots with the inch and half heel and I towered over her, especially since she wasn’t wearing any shoes. Her cute red toenails peeked out from beneath the legs of her jeans. She looked up at me and I said, “Same here, Scully.”
She chuffed a breath out and said, “You don’t need to say it just because I did.”
I placed two fingers under her chin and tipped her face up further. I stared into her eyes and said, “I’m not. You’re all I have left, Scully. I’d be lost without you. So no matter what happens on this assignment, please remember that.”
She nodded and her hand came up to cup my cheek. I shivered slightly and she smiled. “We’ll be okay, Mulder. We always are. I care for you … so much. I know I don’t say it often enough.”
I looked hard at her now. “Scully …”
“Yeah?”
I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. I wasn’t sure, but I thought she shivered slightly. I smiled, letting her feel my lips move against her forehead. “Mulder?”
I pulled back to look at her face. “I need you to know …”
Could I say it?
“What Mulder? Tell me.”
I met her gaze for a long moment. “I love you, Scully.”
She gasped and her mouth opened. I placed two fingers over her soft lips and her mouth closed. “Don’t say anything. Just … know it. Don’t forget it. I’d do anything for you … anything.”
I brushed another quick kiss on her forehead and turned on my heel. I strode to the door and yanked it open. I looked over my shoulder and she was staring at me with a stunned expression on her face. I said, “Doesn’t mean I won’t still be the pain in the ass you’re used to, though.”
She smiled tremulously at that and I turned and walked out, closing the door behind me with a soft click. I took a deep breath and nearly jogged to my car, needing air and to get away from her before the import of what I’d said sunk in. It had been surprisingly easy to tell her. She knew I loved her, but I knew it would jar her hearing it from me out loud. And I hadn’t said I was in love with her, just that I loved her. It gave her an out, a way to interpret it that would be palatable for her. But it needed to be said, and I’d said it. I felt lighter somehow.
I hadn’t expected a tearful reciprocation or declaration of undying love from her. I never expected to get that. It wasn’t ‘Scully’s way’. She held her cards very close to the chest. But that didn’t mean I had to. I was going to be able to pretend Scully was my wife. I smiled evilly at the thought. Maybe I could get away with a few more touches than normal, a few more liberties. I’d have to be careful, though. If I made her angry, all bets would be off.
‘You’re a big boy, Mulder. You can handle this,’ I said to myself. Too bad I didn’t believe it.
—X—
I stood staring at Mulder’s back as he walked out of my apartment. What the hell had he just done? How could he tell me he loved me and leave like that? What did he think I would do if he stayed, shoot him again?
I stalked over to my window and watched him drive away. I stood staring off into the distance, trying to grasp the implications of what he had just said.
‘He loves me. He said it again and this time, there were no injuries or drugs to blame. He loves me. He would do anything for me,’ I thought. Why didn’t his words make me feel better about this assignment?
I sat down on the couch and tried to think this through logically. What exactly was it about this assignment that bothered me? I began to list the positives first.
We would be saving lives. We would be saving the government untold millions of dollars. We would be able to put a stop to corruption in the DOT. We were being recognized by the Director of the FBI as the best qualified team for this job. Okay… the positives were not the problem.
I pulled the afghan down off the back of the sofa and began the list for the negatives.
I’d never been inside a ‘big rig’, let alone driven one. I didn’t feel comfortable in an undercover operation. We were being taken away from the X-Files and somehow I felt that it was a set up. The last time we were undercover as a married couple, our partnership was strained. Mulder just told me he loves me. Mulder didn’t tell me he’s in love with me.
“Oh, my God!” I said aloud. That was the problem. I just recently accepted that I was ‘in love’ with Mulder, but he… he just loved me. How would I ever survive being cooped up in the cab of a truck with Mulder for an undetermined length of time without acting on my feelings?
The sound of the phone ringing startled me out of the deep funk I had sunk into. I didn’t want to concern my mother if it was her calling back so I sighed and thrust myself up to get it before the machine kicked in.
“Scully.”
[Hey, Scully, it’s me.]
“Mulder, you can’t be home yet,” I said automatically.
[No, I’m not. I forgot to tell you while I was there…] he hesitated for a moment. [Shit. Some drivers should be taken off the road!]
“Mulder, are you okay?”
[Yeah, just a near miss.] I could picture him grinning as he spoke.
“What do you need, Mulder? I want to get to bed so that I make sure I’m on time for our meeting tomorrow.”
[Scully, I forgot to tell you that I have a theory about the hijackings,] he started.
“Mulder, can’t you tell me tomorrow?” I yawned.
[Why don’t you wear some of your new clothes to the meeting tomorrow, Scully? I’m going to.]
“Mulder, you know you won’t come to the meeting wearing jeans,” I laughed.
[You won’t know till you get there, will you?]
“Mulder!” I laughed again. It seemed like he always knew when I needed cheering up.
[Scully, have you considered what our undercover names should be?]
“No, I haven’t given it any thought at all,” I said as I walked into the bathroom and started the water for a bath.
[I have some ideas…] he started.
“Mulder, you always have ideas. That doesn’t mean I agree with them,” I teased.
[Yeah, well, I was thinking your name could be Jane. That way you could use Calamity Jane as your handle.]
“My what?”
[Your CB handle,] he said.
“Oh, no, we agreed that I could pick the names next time we went under cover. Besides, why ever did you pick Jane?” I was curious about it, but not agreeable to the name.
[If you remember your western history, Calamity Jane was a crack shot, and I thought that really would be an appropriate name for you, partner.]
“Thanks, but I WILL pick out the names this time, Mulder.”
[Okay, but let me tell you my theory…]
I sighed, “Mulder, you can tell me your theory tomorrow. Besides, Skinner may have already chosen our names. Who knows, he may have used our real names, and you can use Foxy Loxey as your handle,” I couldn’t resist.
[Cruel, Dana.]
“Goodnight, Fox.”
We both snickered at the same time, “Let’s stick with what works, okay, Mulder?”
[‘Nite Scully.]
Once again we refused to say goodbye.
—X—
PART 3 (PG-13)
FBI HEADQUARTERS HOOVER BUILDING THIRD FLOOR – A.D. SKINNER’S OFFICE 11:00 AM – FRIDAY
I convinced Scully to dress for our roles for our meeting the next day. Skinner’s eyebrows rose when we marched in, Scully wearing one of the new outfits I’d purchased for her and me wearing a flannel shirt, jeans and work boots with the laces half undone.
After a quick appraisal, he’d smiled, realizing this move was our acceptance and resignation to the assignment. We weren’t going to fight him anymore.
Mr. Ken Casey, Manager of Operations for Global-Tech Trucking, had been talking for over two hours and he was still going.
“You should have some background information on the industry as well. Most truckers keep up with this stuff and it can’t hurt to know it. There are approximately 2.3 million trucks on the road in the United States and approximately 3.12 million drivers nationwide. The country boasts around 500,000 trucking companies. Eighty percent of those have twenty or fewer trucks, small independent outfits. Those statistics come from the American Trucking Association, which keeps track of these things. Global-Tech is in the other twenty percent, having a fleet of 100 trucks.
“A lot of people criticize the trucking industry, but never think about what they would do if they had to operate without it. They go into the store and buy all the products, never wondering how they got there.”
The guy was obviously passionate about his work, I thought with a smirk. I glanced at Scully and saw she was wearing the same amused look of interest as he rattled on. “And 9.3 billion tons of freight. That’s over sixty-four percent of the total U.S. freight in the nation — is moved by truck. Seventy percent of U.S. communities depend solely on the trucking industry to deliver their goods. Seventy percent, think about that.”
The number was impressive. “A new tractor costs between $70,000 and $115,000, depending on the model, not to mention the cost of the trailer.”
A low whistle escaped Scully at that little tidbit. He nodded sagely. “Yeah, that’s a lot of beans. So losing a truck, just one, to an accident, or in this case, a hijacking, is a major set back for any company, even one as big as Global-Tech. A set back of about $150,000, to be exact. Because not only are these loads being hijacked and unloaded somewhere, the rigs have completely disappeared.”
“Couldn’t you track them by satellite?” Scully asked.
He made a face. “I wish, but they know about the satellites and always disable them. It’s the first thing they do when they hijack a truck. All we know is that the truck has dropped off our radar. We’ve rushed to the area, and notified police in whatever area the truck was last tracked. Unfortunately, by the time the cops get there, the hijackers are long gone, and so are the rigs. We have no idea where they are storing these loads. The trailers are not turning up later, so they may not even be unloading them, but storing them somewhere in a drop and hook yard or a warehouse and selling them later. Who knows?”
“I have a question for you,” Scully asked.
“Shoot,” Ken replied, holding up his finger and thumb like a gun and pointing at her, lowering his thumb as though firing.
It took all my effort not to roll my eyes. Scully seemed to take it in stride. “How many women are there in the industry?”
He smiled. “Numbers are going up, ma’am. Among owner/operators, independent truckers, that is, about 12% are female.”
“And companies?”
“About 10%.”
“Just 10%?”
“Afraid so. It’s not a job that attracts most women.”
“Why not?”
“If they want to have a family, they simply can’t be away from home for long stretches at a time. Not unless they have a house husband to take care of the chicklets.”
“Chicklets?” Scully questioned, her scowl telegraphing her displeasure at the derogatory terms he was using. To his credit, he caught on.
“I didn’t mean to be insulting, ma’am …”
“Agent Scully,” she reminded him pointedly.
He cleared his throat, “Yes, sorry, Agent Scully. I didn’t mean to be insulting, but … it’s true. Most women, IF they have children, want to stay home with them.”
“And men don’t?”
He sighed. “Some men do, yes, and they end up quitting the job once they start a family. That’s why so many truckers are single men. The wives don’t generally like their absences either, so they end up quitting to stay home with the wives, or looking for local driving jobs rather than long haul. Most, NOT ALL, but MOST of the women in the industry are one half of a married, driving team. In other words, there are enough women that it won’t seem unusual for you to be on the road, especially since you’re posing as a married couple.”
The rest of meeting went smoothly. We were briefed on the trucks that had been hijacked and the contents of their loads. We went over the files and asked our questions. I think Ken Casey’s admiration of Scully grew by the minute once we were into examining the evidence and operating techniques of the hijackers. Her questions were pointed, insightful and she scribbled furiously, making notes and writing questions that needed to be answered. He soon saw that she was not be trifled with and her mind was sharp as a tack. I caught him looking at her with open admiration a few times. It was starting to annoy me, but I reminded myself that we probably wouldn’t see him again after today until the case was over.
We were to go to Somers for a one week crash coarse in training, eight hours a day and then we would report to Global-Tech’s main hub in Nashville to get our new truck and be briefed on our first set of loads and trips at that time. I had a feeling that by the time this was over, both Scully and I would know more about the trucking industry than we ever cared to know.
Finally, the day was over, and we broke a bit early, at 4:00 PM. Skinner told us to go home and we wasted no time. I drove us straight to Scully’s apartment where I helped her load several garment bags full of suits and shoes into the trunk. She cleaned out most of her underwear drawer. I won’t even go into how exciting it was for me to handle her silky stockings as I tossed them into a grocery bag. It was quite the adolescent thrill for me. No silk stockings on this trip. Too bad, I thought ruefully. Then again, there was something to be said for Scully in casual clothes. I was wishing I’d bought shells for her rather than turtlenecks by the end of the evening. God, I could be such a pig.
—X—
Sunday evening saw Mulder and I on a flight to Bradley International Airport.
We were booked into the Sheraton Hotel in Somers near the driving school. Tomorrow was a school day and we decided to get in bed early. But throughout dinner we tossed around our ideas so far. It was nice to fall into the comfortable mode of examining the facts of a case. We threw ideas back and forth. Our conversation from Thursday evening had yet to be discussed. I was just as glad, I thought. Wasn’t I?
—X—
SHERATON HOTEL MAPLE LEAF RESTAURANT SOMERS, CT
Sitting across the table from Fox Mulder in a motel coffee shop was not a new experience for me. But for some reason, tonight it felt… strange. Perhaps it was the diamond wedding band on my left hand that skewed my perception of reality.
At first, Mulder and I talked about the case and his theory that connected the hijackings to the Consortium. But as the meal continued and I grew tired, I found myself staring into the sparkling diamonds and zoning out, rehashing memories of the last few days.
Skinner had dismissed us early on Friday, well, early for us. We made arrangements to leave my car in the long-term underground parking area at the Bureau the next day and straightened up the office. Mulder drove me home, since he had picked me up that morning. I needed his help loading up the garment bags of suits and blouses I didn’t want my Mother to see while I was gone. He reminded me that if I were actually going to Europe, I would also be taking several pairs of shoes and of course, lingerie and stockings.
What is it about lingerie that makes a grown man respond like he has turned into a Bevis or Butthead clone? I swear I heard him snort and give a dirty little chuckle as he loaded my stockings into a grocery bag for storage. But as heavy as the garment bags were, I wasn’t about to reject his help, especially since he would be carrying them upstairs to his apartment alone.
Saturday seemed endless. I pulled several boxes of summer clothes out to choose what I wanted to take to complete my wardrobe. I had the new jeans, shirts and turtlenecks Mulder bought for me, but I wanted a few cooler outfits to wear. I selected a few pairs of shorts, tanks and tee shirts and returned the rest to storage. I would deal with changing over to my summer suits if I got home before the summer was over.
As I did laundry, I cleaned my refrigerator and took out the trash. By the time all that was done, it was time to go to my mother’s house and drop off my plants. Thank goodness the weather was mild and Mulder had helped me load them into my car the night before. He was going to meet me at the Hoover building to give me a ride after lunch, but Mom had blindsided me and invited him to lunch with us.
I filled Mulder in on my cover story with Mom on Friday, so I was not worried about what he would say. I was, however, very worried about what Mom would say while she had us both as a captive audience.
I had every reason to worry, as it turned out.
“Fox, have you ever been to Europe?” she started innocently.
I was as interested in Mulder’s answer as she was. It surprised me to find out that he had traveled extensively in Europe while going to school at Oxford.
“I really didn’t have a good reason to go back to the States during the summer. Mom and Dad had already divorced and I didn’t have a home to go back to,” Mulder started.
I could see my mother cringe at the life Mulder had led as a young man.
“I was smart enough to save my money during the school year and was able to travel from hostel to hostel during the summer.”
“Have you every been to Paris, Fox? I hear it’s one of Europe’s most romantic cities. Do you think you’ll go there on your assignment?”
“We really don’t know where we’ll wind up until we get there, Mom,” I said truthfully. I didn’t want her to push either of us into lying to her again.
“Well, if I were one of two young, unmarried people who were treated to a tour of Europe on business, I would make sure there was some pleasure involved as well,” she continued innocently.
“Mom! Mulder and I are going on assignment, not vacation.” I blushed as I spoke. A quick glance at Mulder confirmed my worst fear. He was enjoying this banter.
“I’m sure we’ll have some down time to rest and do a little sight seeing,” Mulder agreed.
I glared at him and silently told him to change the subject. For once Mulder did as I asked, and steered the conversation into other family news. After that, I actually enjoyed my lunch. Mom didn’t strike again until we were standing outside after unloading the plants from my car.
“Remember, Dana, you can call and ask for anything that you can’t find in Europe. I have years of experience in sending care packages. Just please don’t ask me to send you condoms like Charlie did.”
“Mom…” I began but stopped. Mulder’s face was flushed an attractive pink and I realized that he knew she was hinting to both of us.
“I don’t think that will be a problem, Mother. We have to go. I’m storing my car at work and Mulder is going to give me a ride home. I still have lots to do before tomorrow afternoon.”
My mother took the hint and dropped the subject. She kissed Mulder and bid him a safe and successful trip. He gave her a big hug and a kiss and left us alone to say our goodbyes.
“Mom, I’m going to miss you. I’ll get in touch as often as possible. Don’t forget, I left A.D. Skinner’s card by the phone. If there is an emergency, I’m sure I can be here by the next day.”
“Bye, darling. Good luck and for goodness sake, have some fun while you and Fox are in Europe.” She teased, “You know, I wouldn’t be too upset if you came home married.”
I teased back, “Mom, you know the chances of that happening are infinitesimal. I would probably have a better chance of coming home pregnant, and we both know that won’t happen.” At her raised brow, I continued, “For two reasons. First, Lourdes is not on our itinerary,” I grinned to lighten the conversation.
“Second?” she asked smiling back.
“Second, I would have to have sex before I could conceive. That would mean finding a man between now and then,” I couldn’t help saying.
“Dana Katherine Scully! What’s wrong with the perfectly good man that’s going to Europe with you? When will you two come to your senses…” she scolded, and then stopped, realizing that I had suckered her into declaring her real thoughts. “I’ll see you when you get back, dear. Try to call when you get there at least.” She hugged me tightly. “I love you Dana. Tell Fox I love him, too.”
“Love you too, Mom. I’ll tell him.” I had to kiss her quickly and run down the sidewalk to my car before I started crying. I really hated lying to her.
Mulder beeped the horn and waved as he drove away from Mom’s house.
I cried all the way to the Hoover Building. I parked my car and turned the keys into the guard on duty. I found Mulder’s car and climbed in. He wasn’t there, but I knew he would be back soon. He probably forgot something he wanted to take on the assignment.
He returned in a few minutes and we started back to my place.
“Are you going to be all right, Scully?” he asked a few minutes later.
“Yeah. It just hit me that it could be weeks or months until I see her again,” I sniffed as I stared out the side window. I didn’t want to start crying again and I especially didn’t want Mulder to see my tears.
After a few minutes of companionable silence he said, “Are you ready now to listen to my theory on this case?”
The balance of the ride was taken up by Mulder giving me his opinion of what was going on. I wasn’t really listening, and Mulder didn’t seem to expect me to reply. I was grateful for his understanding.
I should have realized his non-stop dissertation on his ‘theory’ was a cover for his fear of what he was going to do next.
We pulled up to my apartment and I got out. I was surprised to see Mulder getting out to go up with me. I had a lot to do before the next day.
He followed me in and sat down on the couch, glancing nervously at me. I began to get suspicious after the third covert glance he gave me.
“Okay, Mulder, what’s up?” I said and sat down facing him on the other end of the couch.
“Skinner stopped me when I ran in to the office while we were parking your car,” he started. “He gave me our undercover identities and paperwork.”
“Mulder, you promised I could pick out our names this time,” I said automatically. I really hadn’t given it any thought. I just knew I didn’t want to be Laura Hale or Laura Petrie.
“Yeah, I tried to tell him that, but he said he already had the papers drawn up.”
“Well, what are our names this time?” I sighed.
“You’re Dana Tanner and I’m Martin Tanner,” he said.
“You’re Marty? Marty Tanner?” I couldn’t help but grin.
“Yeah, I guess Fox is too distinctive and Mulder would never do as a first name,” he smiled back and handed me my papers.
I sorted through them, surprised that there was a Class A driver’s license in the group. “Skinner must have pulled some strings to get these before we even attended the driving school.”
“Yeah, he wanted to make sure we weren’t spotted by a spy at the school.” Mulder was not as relieved as I thought he should be. After all, I didn’t really put up much of a fuss about my new name. At least we didn’t have to remember something new for me and Mulder’s new name at least started with an ‘M’. It shouldn’t be too hard to remember.
“Uh, Scully. I picked this up too.”
I looked up at Mulder and saw fear in his eyes. I followed his glance downwards toward his hand. He opened his fist and I gasped. He was holding a diamond band that looked to be just my size. It was exactly what I would pick out for myself. There were three perfect diamonds, channel set with an invisible mounting into the heavy platinum of the band. With a ring like this I would never have to risk losing it by removing it to ‘snap on the latex’ while doing an autopsy.
It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. It was also scarier than my first glimpse of the fluke man. I knew that this gorgeous ring did not come from the Confiscated Properties Unit.
I reached tentatively to touch it, but when he moved it closer to me, I snatched my hand back as if I were afraid to be burned.
“Don’t you like it, Scully?” Mulder asked.
“It’s… It’s beautiful. Where did you get it?”
“You like it?” he repeated.
“Well, yes, Mulder. What’s not to like? It’s beautiful.” I brought my face down to look at it closely, but held my hands behind my back.
“It won’t bite you, you know,” he chuckled. He held the ring in his left hand and placed his right hand on my left shoulder. He let his hand slide down my arm until he captured my left hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed the back of my hand.
He squeezed my finger gently and said, “Dana, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” His voice was teasing, but there was a gleam in his eyes that I had never seen before.
“Oh, Marty, it’s so sudden,” I tried to joke my way around his suddenly serious words.
His eyes darkened, “Answer me, Scully,” he said.
As I gazed into his eyes, I saw the sincerity of his question. This was Mulder asking me, not Marty. I had to wear this ring for the assignment. But I heard the unspoken question. If it was really him asking, what would I say? He wanted to know. He told me he loved me the night before and I was terrified that he hadn’t meant it in the same context that I loved him.
I had many doubts and fears but being rejected was one that was laid to rest while I stared into his beautiful eyes. He loved me. He was in love with me. But for right now, our assigned ‘marriage’ would be as close as we could get to expressing our real feelings aloud.
What else could I do? I said, “Yes, Marty. I would be honored to have you as my husband.”
As I spoke I saw his face melt into a soft smile. The look of love in his eyes was clear and I knew that we had just taken another baby step toward an honest to goodness romantic relationship. He slid the ring on my finger and grinned his loopy smile at me as he bent down.
“Can Marty give his wife a kiss?” he asked quietly, playing along with the name swap. “We might need some practice to pull off this married act,” he joked. We both knew it was a cover. I didn’t answer right away and he sighed, bending down to kiss my cheek.
I turned my face quickly and captured his lips with mine. He wasn’t the only one that had suffered from a fear of rejection. I now knew that he was in love with me and I wanted to let him know that I was ‘in love’ with him too. He grunted softly in surprise but didn’t hesitate when our mouths came together.
Our second kiss was everything our first kiss had not been. On New Year’s our kiss was gentle and warm and loving, but tentative. This kiss was still gentle, but heat was there, and love, and with only a small stroke of his tongue against my lips, passion took over.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. Our lips kissed. Our tongues dueled, and yes, our breath mingled. Every cliché from the hysterical romance novels Melissa used to read became God’s truth. It took every particle of strength in my entire body to break the kiss.
When I pulled away from his lips, he groaned. I drew in a deep breath and hugged him. We couldn’t take this farther tonight, nor for the next few weeks or months. We had an assignment ahead of us and we needed to complete it before we could explore our personal relationship.
“Mulder, we can’t allow our feelings to get in the way of this assignment…” I began.
“Shhhh…. Dana… Scully, I know. I just want to hold you for a moment and then I’ll go,” he said as his warmth enveloped me and we stood rocking gently back and forth for too few precious moments.
“Kiss me goodnight, Scully. Just once before I leave,” he murmured in my ear as he slid his hands up to stroke my hair. Scully now. No more playing. His kiss was so sweet and exciting, all thoughts of letting him go home left my mind.
When he pulled away, I was stunned. “I better get out of here while I still can,” he said. He turned around and walked out my door, pausing to lock it before striding down the hall.
I was thankful that he was strong enough to leave, because I knew I didn’t have the strength to ask him to go.
I had started a bath and spent the entire time staring at the diamonds in my ring, too stunned to even try to sort out my thoughts. I realized I had forgotten to ask him where the ring came from.
—X—
That was very much how I still felt as I came back to the present and realized that Mulder was waiting for a response from me. I found myself back in the restaurant again.
“I’m sorry, Mul… Marty. I was zoning out. What did you say?” I decided to be honest.
Mulder chuckled and said, “I said, you must be tired. Are you ready to go back to our room? We start our new career tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM and we need to be rested.”
I could feel my face flush in embarrassment. It was only 7:30 PM and Mulder knew anyone who heard us would think we were going back to our room to make love. The fact that we both wanted to do just that but had more or less silently agreed to hold off on a physical relationship until after this assignment was over made it all the more difficult.
I glared at him, but said out loud, “Come on, Stud.” I walked away from him without looking back to see if he was following. I knew he was. Several of the men that had been eating near us were giving him male bonding grunts of approval as he moved to follow me.
Tomorrow should prove to be an interesting day.
—X—
I wondered what was going through her mind as she stared at the ring on her finger. Our little subterfuge in her apartment last night had been a big step forward for us. We’d couched our answers behind the assignment and the names we were given to play, but we’d both known what I was really asking her. I was afraid to put it all out there. I needed to know what she would say if I ever really asked her to marry me. My heart nearly spun out of my chest when she said yes. I’d imagined that I was really asking her and she was really saying yes.
I swallowed harshly, already wanting this assignment to be over. Maybe I could get another kiss good night. It was worth a try. I nudged her out of her trance and said we needed to get some sleep to be fresh for the morning. She’d given me an odd look I couldn’t interpret, but then she said, “Come on, Stud.”
I’d grinned so hard I thought my face would crack and secretly reveled in the sly looks given to me by the guys sitting at the next table. They were envious, and who could blame them?
—X—
PART 4 (NC-17)
HOTEL ROOMS SOMERS, CT
We made our way upstairs to our rooms. We said our awkward good nights and went into our separate rooms. I undressed, leaving my boxers on and knocked on our connecting doors. She opened it a minute later wearing a baby doll nightie and tap pants. My knees nearly buckled, seeing all that Scully leg.
I just stared at her, sweeping her from head to toe with my eyes. When I reached her face again it was turning a nice shade of pink and I couldn’t help the grin that graced my lips. “God, you’re hot,” I breathed out, nearly under my breath.
She blushed a brighter shade of pink and I took a step toward her. “What do you want, Mulder?” she asked, her voice uncharacteristic- ally shaky.
I let my fingers slide over her cheeks and into her silky hair. She shivered at my touch and I secretly cheered that I could make her react at all. I stared at her for a second.
“What, Mulder?” she asked again, her voice stronger this time.
I whispered, “I want a kiss good night.”
“Mulder, we really shouldn’t do this. It’ll just make it harder … make the wait harder …”
I didn’t let her finish. “Got to,” I mumbled and bent down and covered her mouth with mine. Her lips were warm and soft and she let out a little adorable squeak of surprise as I touched down. I tugged gently on her bottom lip, gripping it between mine.
“Mul …” she tried to protest and I pressed in, opening her mouth under mine with the force of my kiss.
She moaned gently and I slipped my tongue inside. She was hot and damp inside as I explored her mouth and then teased her tongue with mine. She moaned a little harder and I deepened the kiss again. Unable to resist, I momentarily broke the kiss and slid my arms down her back and cupped her dainty rear end. I could nearly fit her whole cheek in my palm.
“Oh God,” she murmured.
Then I pulled her up and toward me, nearly taking her feet off the floor and pressed my now aching shaft into her tummy, kissing her again. My lust was going to take over any minute now, but I couldn’t seem to let go. I squeezed her ass cheeks, kneading gently. I tried to kiss her again.
She finally made a token struggle, her hands pushing on my chest and I let her pull her mouth from mine. “Please, Mulder, don’t make this hard …”
I was hard all right — “Too late.” But I took a deep breath to steady myself and slowly let her sink down, her tummy rubbing on my dick as she lowered herself to the floor. I groaned. “Jesus, Scully. What you do to me.”
“Go to bed, Mulder,” she said abruptly.
I didn’t want to leave, but I knew she was right. We couldn’t keep doing this. “Sorry,” I muttered as I turned around. Her hand landed on my forearm and I stopped, turning back to look at her.
“Nothing to be sorry for, Mulder. I just … we have to be reasonable about this. This could be so distracting. I think we need to …keep our distance until this case is over, so we don’t … lose our heads here, you know?”
I swallowed harshly, my dick still throbbing, not responding to her words at all, still feeling the phantom press of her tiny body. “I think it’s already too late for that, Scully. I lost my head over you a long time ago.”
With that, I turned and walked back into my room, gently closing the door between us. Its soft click sounded like a resounding boom, separating us from one another. I wanted nothing more than to march back in there and toss her on the bed. She was right, but that didn’t make it any easier. I honestly didn’t know how long I could hold out. It would depend on how long this case lasted. If it lasted more than a few days, and it surely would, I was in big trouble. I’d just have to find a way to convince her that we could handle both. There had to be a way.
My personal thought was that it would relieve the distraction. Waiting was the worst part. Knowing that she was willing to be intimate with me was going to drive me insane – until it happened. Kissing her wouldn’t be enough for long, as wonderful as it was. I stripped off my boxers and laid down on the bed, not bothering with the covers.
– NC-17 PORTION –
I was so hot I might light the damn things on fire. I grasped my cock and began stroking slowly. I licked my palm and stroked again, closing my eyes and imagining her mouth pouting around the head of my shaft. I groaned loudly, not even trying to be quiet.
Let her hear me. Fuck it. Let her hear what she did to me. I reached down with my left hand and cupped my balls, rolling them gently and stroking faster, feeling my orgasm coil at the base of my spine. The backs of my legs began tingling and I wailed as I climaxed, “Ssscccuuulllyyy. Oh God!”
I laid there quivering with aftershocks. I reached for the tissues on the nightstand and then decided to take a quick shower instead. I hopped in, soaped up and rinsed off and crawled back into bed, under the covers this time. I sighed and then smiled. At least I could kiss her now. If I was persistent, I knew I could break her down. Plus, we were supposed to be married, no one would think anything of it once we were on the road. If I could hold out until school was over, and that was just one week, then maybe I could convince her it was silly to wait. It wouldn’t blow our cover, that was for sure.
I heard a soft moan from next door and knew that she was doing what I’d just finished doing. It struck me as ridiculous that we were in separate beds relieving our needs separately, needs caused by one another. This was the way it had to be for now. I sighed, closing my eyes and hoping that sleep would come quickly.
It was just so hard to wait. It felt like I’d been waiting for years. I should be grateful and doing cartwheels over the fact that I could kiss her now. But all I could think was, ‘I want more’. I loved the woman. Frankly, I thought waiting was stupid. She’d never know I felt that way. And I would wait, not because I agreed with her, but because I respected her feelings.
I heard another soft groan and gritted my teeth. I reached down, surprised at the speed of my reload, and grasped my cock. The soft moans I could hear through the wall made my balls ache. It was going to be a long night.
– END OF NC-17 PORTION –
We parted at our room doors. I had insisted on separate, but connected rooms while we were here at the driving school. It was possible that we were being watched by one or more members of the hijacking group, but I knew for sure that our progress was being monitored by Skinner. It was appropriate for Marty and Dana Tanner to share a room on the road. But for Dana Scully and Fox Mulder the assignment was just beginning, and it was still inappropriate.
Our goodnight was strained. I was beginning to regret letting Mulder know just how I felt about him. This undercover assignment was no more and no less dangerous than the infiltration of the militia group Mulder was assigned to a few years back. These men had killed before and if we weren’t focused, we could be next.
I heard him moving around and pictured him stripping down for bed in my mind. I was suddenly wet. How could he do that to me with just a thought?
I changed into my pajamas. The warmer weather called for cooler pajamas and I had brought my favorites for this trip. A baby doll top and tap pants were my sleepwear of choice. I had decided to wear one of Mulder’s old tee shirts and sweat shorts on the road. But tonight I felt…sexy and desirable…even if Mulder wasn’t going to see me in these. I wanted to hold on to the feeling of being a desirable woman I felt every time I looked into his eyes.
His knock on the connecting door surprised me. I started to pull on my robe but hesitated. Damn him. Two could play at this game. I pulled open the door and forgot how to speak.
He stood there, dressed only in his boxers. His eyes widened and his breathing quickened as he caressed me with his eyes. “God, you’re hot,” he said. His voice was honey over velvet.
I couldn’t stop my blush as I managed to say, “What do you want, Mulder?”
He stroked my cheek with his fingertips and then began to slide those long, sexy fingers through my hair. His smug look of satisfaction helped me regain my voice and I said, “What, Mulder?” with more strength this time.
He growled, “I want a kiss good night.”
I began to speak, giving him good, solid reasons why we should not take this any further until after our assignment when he lowered those sexy lips to mine and kissed me senseless. His lips nibbled and sucked mine, and I heard a disgusting girly squeak come from my throat. I couldn’t help it. As he deepened the kiss, the hands that had been stroking my face and hair and caressing my neck slid around me and down my body.
One hand encircled my waist then moved down to cup the cheeks of my ass. “Oh God,” I murmured. How did he do that? How could he know that I am sensitive on my derriere? It was as if God had given him a roadmap and said, ‘Touch her here, touch her here, and here.’
My tap pants were immediately as soaked as my panties had been. If this didn’t stop soon I wasn’t going to have any clean underwear left.
I moaned harder as his lips deepened the kiss. He pulled me up against his body and I was standing on the precipice of total meltdown. I could feel the heat of his shaft against my stomach as he forcefully pulled me against his body. Oh, Mulder, I want this…I kissed him back and debated about giving in and dragging him back to my bed. I groaned, feeling him squeeze my ass. I felt my insides tighten up and knew I had to stop this now. I wanted to kiss him and touch him and have my way with him for the rest of my life.
That’s what I wanted to do, but I knew I couldn’t. I had to try one more time to be the voice of reason. I pushed against his chest while still letting my fingers stroke against his golden skin. “Please, Mulder, don’t make this hard…”
He let me slide down his body, rubbing his incredible erection down the length of my stomach. What the hell was I thinking? I was so wet, I could smell my arousal. I knew that his control was stretched to the limit.
He mumbled an apology and I tried to smooth things over. I could tell that he wasn’t listening as I babbled some rhetoric about why we should wait, why we shouldn’t lose our heads now, when his words stopped me cold.
“I think it’s already too late for that, Scully. I lost my head over you a long time ago.”
He turned and walked back into his room, gently closing the door. I covered my mouth with both hands to keep from calling him back. I could feel the wet heat between my legs and tried to tamp down the throbbing with thoughts of duty and honor and safety.
It was no good. I returned to the bathroom after I felt my juices running down my leg. I needed a shower, but I would wait until morning. I cleaned up quickly and changed into yet another pair of tap pants.
The rough washcloth had taken the edge off the throbbing of my sex, but I knew it was going to be a long time before I could relax enough to go to sleep.
I toyed with the idea of masturbation, but somehow, it didn’t sound right tonight. That is, until I heard the soft grunts and groans start from Mulder’s room. I could picture him in my mind. Lying in the middle of the bed, naked. His golden skin glowing in the low light coming from the bathroom. The muscles of his abdomen would be working as he stroked his big, strong hands down his own body.
Oh, God, there went another pair of pants. I practically ripped them off me. I had to sleep naked or I would go through every pair of underwear I brought with me. I didn’t want to explain why I had to do laundry tomorrow to Mulder.
The small breeze from the room heater flowed over my body and I began to fantasize that it was Mulder’s hands and lips and breath on me. I let my hands begin to wander over my body.
The sounds from his room increased and I knew he had taken his thick, hot cock into his hand and was working it towards an orgasm. No, women called them orgasms, what did men usually call them? Did he think of it as coming or as cum? Did he lick his palm to smooth the friction, or did he spread his pre-cum over his cock? Did he like to play with his balls as he masturbated? Did he like a gentle stroke, pretending that it was me, or was he rough with his strokes, pretending he was pounding into me as he came?
I realized that the sounds were getting harsher and I heard a strangled, “Sssccccuuuulllyyy. Oh God!” And then silence. I could feel my breath coming in short pants and gasps. I tried to calm myself down. This would never do. How was I going to survive until this damn assignment was done?
I heard the shower go on in his bathroom and a visual of him lying on his bed with his ejaculate all over his stomach and chest made me groan. I began to stroke my sex with one hand and my breasts with my other. I let my mind wonder over the way Mulder would make love. Would he be sweet and gentle or would he be a demanding lover? Would he want to mount me and surround me with his essence or would he want to watch me ride him? With every thought I came closer to reaching my orgasm, but was not quite able to reach it before his shower turned off.
– NC-17 PORTION –
I rolled over and buried my face in my pillow. The grunts and groans that I had been subduing poured into the muffling depths of the pillow. I pulled my knees up under me and began to fantasize that Mulder was taking me from behind. My fingers were flying over my clit and I pictured his turgid balls rhythmically striking my clit as his huge cock stroked into me. His hands would be stroking my ass and I would be begging him to ‘fuck me harder, Mulder… fuck me…’
Oh, fuck me! My orgasm swept over me and nearly made me faint. I groaned and tried to stifle the sound in my pillow, but the need for air was overwhelming. I moaned as I rolled onto my back again. I was panting hard. My heart was beating out of my chest and I realized that I had the biggest, silliest grin on my face I had ever had.
– END OF NC-17 PORTION –
I was well and truly screwed. Well, not literally, yet, but figuratively. How was I going to survive this case with any sanity? How was I going to be able to protect Mulder’s back when all I could think of was getting him on it?
This was going to be a long, hard case. I fell asleep grinning.
—X—
SOMERS CLASS A DRIVING SCHOOL SOMERS, CT
The next day found us sitting behind the wheel of a big rig. God, it had been a long time and I’d forgotten how powerful these things were. I’d also forgotten how empowering it was to handle one of these awesome machines. It made you feel like Hercules.
Scully was surprised at the ease with which she was able to adjust the seats and reach the pedals. Her spatial geometry was even better than mine and she had no problem using the mirrors. She didn’t get confused and was able to back up using the mirrors, knowing instinctively which way to turn to cause the mirror image to straighten out.
I know she’d been nervous at first but as the day went on, she relaxed. After driving through her first obstacle course of orange cones and backing into a dock for the first time, she set the brakes and let out a whoop, raising her fists in the air and pumping her arms once in a victory signal.
I was laughing broadly as she climbed out of the cab and started toward me at the edge of the huge paved lot in front of the main building where I’d stood watching her progress. She was intercepted by Dean Blackwell, the instructor. “Excellent work, Dana. Most people don’t do this well on their first day.”
“Thank you,” she replied, grinning up at him and obviously pleased with herself. Morehead Insurance had hired this guy privately from a school in Tennessee. He’d come up here to teach us after the school agreed to let us use their facilities. They didn’t have a class scheduled to start for another two weeks. I sauntered over to her as I saw him reach out to put his hand on her shoulder in a gesture of camaraderie.
‘Oh, no, we’ll be having none of that,’ I thought. No one was going to be touching her, except me. I lengthened my stride and arrived just as his hand landed on her shoulder. She was frowning and I knew she didn’t like it, but was too polite to say anything at this point.
I slid my right arm around her shoulder and casually knocked his hand off with my left. I glared at him, the alpha male in me coming out big time. He smirked, but upon meeting my eyes, his smile died and he recognized the challenge in mine.
I looked down at Scully and she said, “It’s all right, Mu…Marty.”
I looked from her to him again and then said softly. “Yeah. Everything will be just fine as long as he keeps his hands to himself.” I made no attempt to lower my voice so he couldn’t hear. I wanted him to hear.
Then I abruptly changed the subject, “Good job, Honey.” She scowled briefly at the endearment and I said, “My turn, I guess.”
I hated to leave her there with him while I drove, but there was no choice. I had to concentrate too and worrying about his advances, if indeed that’s what they were, would be a big distraction. I knew Scully could take care of herself and didn’t need me to protect her, but damn it. I hoped every man we encountered on this assignment wasn’t going to drool over her. I hoped they would have more respect for her and me than to openly do that. Because if they didn’t, I honestly couldn’t say whether I’d be able to hold onto my temper.
Scully touched my forearm as I glared at the instructor. I turned back to her and she whispered, “I’m fine. I can handle this M… Marty.”
I bent down so my lips were close to her ear. “He touches you again I want you put his balls in his throat. You understand?”
She threw her head back and laughed and I straightened up, smiling down at her and glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. Her easy laughter was intimate and he probably thought we were making fun of him. He scowled and I didn’t give a damn.
He did finally speak up though, “Your turn, Mr. Tanner. Days a wastin’.” He turned and walked towards the rig with me.
I nodded, smiling at him. “No hard feelings, man. Sorry about that,” I said casually as I could. I didn’t need to alienate this guy on the first day of class. He nodded his head in grudging acceptance. “I’m a little sensitive about her,” I added, now that we were out of Scully’s hearing.
“I didn’t mean nothin’ by it,” he drawled.
“I know.” No, I didn’t. “Forget it.”
He nodded again and I headed for the driver’s side of the rig. I jumped in and released the brake. I put it in gear and slowly pulled out of the bay and headed for the other side of the parking lot where the cones were set up. I forced myself to concentrate and took the truck through the obstacle course. At this point, it was only hauling a 38 foot trailer. As the week went on, Dean had said he would increase the size of the trailer. We needed to be hauling a 53 foot trailer by the end of the week.
I went through the course, turned and went back through before docking the truck. I was secretly pleased with myself and grateful that it was all coming back to me so quickly.
—X—
Our first day of school hadn’t been the disaster I had foreseen. We were given a few hours of classroom information and study time and then taken right out to the obstacle course after lunch.
I was surprised that I did as well as I did. I guess being a math geek when I was younger finally paid off. The rig, though intimidating upon first approach, was not the horror I thought it would be. The driver’s seat was very comfortable and after adjusting everything to fit me just right, I found that my geometry classes were finally being put to use. The same rules of mathematics that had attracted me by their order and scientific basis now transferred to driving a big rig, of all things.
The only glitch in the day was Mulder’s run in with Dean Blackwell, our instructor.
I knew it was going to happen the moment we had stepped through the front door of the main building and Dean had introduced himself to us.
He was a man about the size of Mulder, but that’s where the comparison stopped. Mulder was a tall man, but he was graceful as a big cat. His incredible intelligence made him sensitive to others, a trait that attracted every woman he met. Unfortunately, it gave the wrong impression to other men.
Dean Blackwell was more like a bull, intelligent, but depending heavily on his strength and size to get him what he wanted in life. I’m sure that there were many women who found his type attractive. I’m not one of them.
He was an excellent teacher. He had been a driver since he was in his teens and started teaching after an accident injured his back badly enough that he was no longer capable of long-haul trucking. He had a feeling for the rig, and was able to verbalize it in a way that made it easy to learn.
He was also a touchie-feelie son-of-a-gun. I am not a person who has ever allowed my personal space to be invaded, that is, until Mulder came along. I didn’t mention all the little encroachments to him or to Mulder, at first. A few times he had gotten too close and I had backed him off with a glance.
But towards the end of the day I had just completed the obstacle course and backed the rig and a 38 foot trailer up to the dock. I was pretty proud of myself for doing it on the first try.
I jumped out of the truck and looked for Mulder. He was standing over by the main building and I couldn’t resist a victory dance. I raised my fists into the air and gave out a whoop as I walked towards him. He was grinning widely, enjoying my success as much as I was.
Dean approached me from the other side of the rig and congratulated me. He put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. I could see the expression on Mulder’s face change from one of happiness to one of danger.
Most men dismiss Mulder as a threat. He is most likely to use his intelligence and his dry sense of humor to defuse a situation. What most people don’t know about Mulder is that there is a dark side to his personality. He is a trained agent of the FBI and his understanding of the havoc that violence can wreak on the human body usually keeps him on an even keel. But he is possessive and protective of those he loves. I needed to act fast or Dean Blackwell was going to be of no further use to us.
I frowned at him to let him know that I was aware of his feelings and to back off. He stepped to my side and slid his arm around my shoulders, blatantly pushing Dean’s hand away. He glared at him and I sucked in my breath as Dean smirked back at him…that is, until he met Mulder’s eyes.
Mulder finally broke the glare and looked down at me. I could see the remnants of his alpha male dominance in his eyes soften as they searched my face.
I whispered, “I’m fine. I can handle this M… Marty.” I was relieved when he bent down and placed his lips close to my ear.
“He touches you again I want you to put his balls in his throat. You understand?” He wanted me to use my training to protect myself and his belief in my abilities made me laugh aloud. I changed my mind about the lecture I was planning to give him tonight.
Dean probably thought we were making fun of him, but I didn’t care…not even when he scowled.
He and Mulder moved back towards the rig and I could tell they exchanged words, but everything seemed to be back on an even keel.
Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
—X—
SOMERS CLASS A DRIVING SCHOOL SOMERS, CT TUESDAY AFTERNOON
The next day didn’t go as well for Scully. We’d pretty much been in low gear around the parking lot, but today he took us out on the road to drive around the block.
She had a hard time shifting, got frustrated and stalled the truck when she tried to double clutch, bucking the cab and making it whine.
At one point, she pounded the steering wheel as if to make the beast do what she wanted. It was NOT like Scully to lose her cool like this. I was sitting in the sleeper, which was small, and I had to duck to not hit my head. I hoped ours was going to be bigger than this.
Dean sat in the passenger seat as we idled along side the road. “O.K., you can do this,” he spoke calmly to her and I had to give him credit. He’d kept his hands to himself today but I’d watched him closely.
“Take a deep breath, let it out slow,” he drawled. Christ, his voice was going to put me to sleep. These southerners took an hour to say ‘shit.’ It was only day two and already I wanted to scream at him, ‘Get to the fucking point!’ He didn’t hurry, no matter what. I surmised that this must be because if they moved like we did, the heat would kill them.
I smiled internally at this thought as he continued to drone.
Scully was listening intently though, having regained her composure. “All riight, now. I’m going to walk you through thiiss, step by step.” He sounded like a demented cowboy. “We’re gonna take thiiss, realll slow.”
Scully smiled, then bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing at the way he talked. We’d better get used to it. I had a feeling we’d be spending a lot of time in the south and mid-west where most of these hijackings were occurring. That’s one of the reasons they wanted us to come here, up north to Connecticut. The hijackers hadn’t hit New England yet, so it was safest place for us to learn undetected.
“Now push in the cluuutch,” Dean said.
She did. “Hoed it,” he said with his peculiar accent, instead of ‘hold’ it. He glanced at me. “I gotta touch her, Mr. Tanner.”
I raised my eyebrows and so did Scully. “How so?” I asked.
“I wanna to put my haand on hers and shift with her. That be awlright?”
I nodded, smiling. Scully gave me the eyebrow, but said nothing. He placed his hand on hers. “Now, push all the way to the left, and gently sliiide that baaby up thare till you feel it catch on that nottch, in there. Feel it?” Scully nodded. “Then you gohead and push it straaiight up.” The truck slid into gear. “Goood, now let up slowly on the cluuttch, just like in a caarr.” She began lifting off the clutch. “Let her start to rowl, and then press gently on the gaasss, jest feather that puppy.”
I was biting the inside of my cheek now. I tuned him out as he continued and the truck began to roll forward.
“Nooowww, the important ppaaart. Listen to the engiine. Hear it? Hear it start to strain? That soouwnd, lit’l higher pitched?”
Scully nodded.
“Now you shiift.”
He pulled down on her hand and slid it into second. She gained confidence as we tooled down the road. “Keep going straaight. I’ll take ya up through the geears.”
Rather than turn back to go around the block, she continued on. The streets were nearly deserted at 10:00 AM and he continued to shift her up until we were tooling along at 45 miles an hour. He had her slow down for a light and shift down and then pull onto the highway. He took her up to 45 and then flipped toggle button on her gear shift to bring us up into the high gears. She sailed along as I suspected, having no trouble with the open highway. We went back into town, his hand still firmly on top of hers and guiding her through the gears as she double clutched and slowed down.
“Hit the cluutch, tap the gas and spin those gears, and slliiiddeee her home,” he continued his non-stop commentary as he talked her through double clutching. “Hit that clutch once more and release it slooowww.”
We finally made it back to the yard 40 minutes later. Scully slumped in the seat and turned to Dean as he released her hand, glancing at me once with a slightly nervous expression. I smiled at him and at Scully.
“Damn,” she muttered, embarrassed that he’d had to coach her through all that.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Dana. It’s only day two and this a crash course,” I reminded her.
Dean nodded, “For sure, buuddy. Norm’ly you’d have a couple of weeks ‘fore you went on the rowd.”
I said to Dean. “She’s used to things coming easy to her. She’s very smart.”
“I know she is,” he said with a firm nod. “But this issn’t liike ani’thin’ else. Youse got ta get a feeelll for it, smart or nooot.”
We both smiled now, unable to help it.
—X—
The week flew by and somehow we managed to keep our hands off one another. I never missed my good night kiss though. I didn’t want her to forget what was waiting for her whenever she was ready. There was no freakin’ way I was lasting until the end of the assignment. If I wasn’t boffing her inside of a week, I was going to explode. I figured she didn’t need to know that, though.
I wish we had another week for Scully to get used to things and for me to brush up, for that matter, but our week ended and we thanked Dean and hopped a flight to Tennessee. First stop … Nashville.
—X—
PART 5 (PG-13)
CRICKET MOTEL NASHVILLE, TN
Nashville is a hole. I never knew that. There are some nice sections, but for the most part, it’s a city like any other. Trash and dirt lined the streets. There was corruption, crime and seedy bars. More than the average city, Nashville was filled with little juke joints with low lighting, smoke-filled rooms and stages for amateur musician wannabes to try out their stuff. I was a little surprised at the dilapidated look of many of the buildings and streets. Being such a tourist attraction, I’d expected a better infrastructure and upkeep of the streets and buildings.
Global-Tech had a contract with the Cricket Motel, a no-tell motel downtown with Spartan rooms featuring the TV and chairs bolted to the floor. The mattress was hard and the floors and bathroom were clean. I guess that’s about as much as we could hope for. They told us it would look funny if we signed into the Regency or the Sheraton. This was the ‘trucker’s motel’ and that’s where we would stay.
We showed up at headquarters and a dispatcher named Cole led us to our rig. He knew nothing of our new identities, only that we were a newly hired driving team. His eyes seemed permanently attached to Scully’s ass until I glared him down, too. This was going to be a long assignment.
Scully pulled in a gasp as we climbed into the rig. The sleeper was spacious, the bed folded out into a mattress almost as big as a double bed, but not quite, and was able to fold up into a single bed during travel. There was a small dormitory size fridge and a small sink. Every available corner was a cubby hole to store things. Under the bunk was a large space to store suitcases or larger items. All around the ceiling were hanging cupboards for storage. The dashboard looked like a cockpit of a jet fighter. Even I was impressed.
Cole showed us how to use the satellite, receive, and send messages. This was how dispatch would contact us 99% of the time. He gave us a schedule for truck maintenance and a list of authorized garages throughout the continental US should we experience any mechanical trouble. He droned on through our orientation as I tried to pay attention. Scully took a few notes and it was a good thing, because I missed half of what he said. I was too busy planning where to put things and deciding the best place to store weapons.
I’d contacted the Lone Gunmen and they were meeting us at the hotel tonight with some back up weapons and extra ammunition. We were trying to lure killers and I was going to be prepared. We would be a moving armory by the time I was done. All the weapons were magically registered in our fake names through the miracle of technology … and some fancy hacking by Langly.
I drove the tractor back to the hotel, explaining to Scully that driving without a trailer was called, ‘bobtailing’. We immediately moved everything but essential toiletries and a change of clothes for morning into the truck, spending a good deal of time divvying up the space and deciding what was going where.
We went to Denny’s for dinner, which was within walking distance about four blocks away. We returned to find the Gunmen in the parking lot, their rental car parked in front of our door. I’d called to give them the number earlier.
We walked up to them and Frohike started in immediately. “Christ, Mulder. We come all this way and you couldn’t even be here to greet us.”
“He’s Marty now,” Scully said with a smirk in her voice.
“I thought you only used that name for 1-900 calls,” Langly cracked, earning him a glare from me. I groaned internally as I saw the look of amusement on Scully’s face. That was definitely in the ‘Scully doesn’t need to know’ column.
Changing the subject abruptly, I asked, “What have you got for us?”
“Pushy, pushy. The gratitude is overwhelming,” Frohike mumbled as he opened the trunk of their rental car and they started pulling cases out of the trunk.
Scully unlocked the door and we traipsed inside. They laid the cases out on the bed and began opening them.
There were some interesting items in their collection. Scully was particularly impressed with the Ares Defense Mini Mag flashlight that would fire a .380 and still operate as a flashlight. There was also the Ares Defense Companion, a big 3-cell mag lite with a single shot .410 shotgun built in. The rest of the grocery list included a Glock with gunpower foldable stocks, a Berreta 92 Bigadier, two Sig Sauer P229 – 357, and a Para Ordnance Full Auto 85. Those things could fire 800-900 rounds a minute. They also threw in a Beretta Mag light shot gun. I was glad to see the Sigs. They had a safety, which our government issue ones didn’t, but otherwise it was a familiar gun.
But my personal favorite was a Sig77 with a M203 grenade launcher. I felt like James Bond preparing to go to war.
“Holy shit, Batman,” Scully muttered after they were all laid out on the bed in my room.
The Gunmen chuckled as Scully shook her head. “What’d you think, guys? We were going to be playing Mad Max?”
I laughed at her Thunderdome reference, silently impressed that she’d seen that movie at all. Didn’t seem like her type of fare.
In his calm, unruffled way, Byers said, “We wanted you to be prepared for any eventuality.”
“No doubt about that,” I commented. “How much do I owe you?”
Frohike was shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Yes, worry about it. These guns cost a fortune.”
“There’s ammo for them all in the car too. I’ll go get that,” Langly announced and disappeared through the door.
“Frohike, I have the money. How much?”
He sighed, “A lot.”
I nodded. “Send me a bill. I’m serious. Total it all up and let me know. I’ll be in touch with you guys in a few days and I’ll wire you the money. I don’t want you to sit on this type of bill.”
He nodded. I knew the price tag was in thousands. There had to be $10,000 worth of firepower here. We carefully put the guns back in the cases and thanked the guys. We walked them out to the parking lot. Byers pulled a small canvas bag from the trunk of the car and handed it to me. I didn’t want to discuss the contents of the bag with Scully until later on the road.
Frohike stared unabashedly at Scully as she stood with her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, pushing her chest out unconsciously and stretching the material of her snug fitting tee shirt.
He glanced at the hiking boots that she was wearing until we picked her up some work boots, and he scanned her from toe to head. She took her hands out of her back pockets and scrunched her shoulders slightly as she realized the effect she was presenting.
“You make a hot trucker momma,” Frohike blurted out, unable to help himself.
Scully scowled and I grinned. “Shut up, Frohike,” she responded.
“Mmm, mmm, mmm, definitely an improvement on those schoolmarm suits you wear to work.”
“Hey, those suits cost a lot of money,” she exclaimed, totally missing the point. Or maybe she wasn’t and was trying to change the subject.
He grinned. “Yeah, but they cover you up too much.”
“She doesn’t dress for you, Frohike,” I said, figuring I better step in before this got ugly.
He grinned unrepentant. “Don’t I know it.”
“Good bye, guys,” she said curtly and they turned and piled into the car with Byers behind the wheel, Frohike in the passenger seat and Langly in the back. They backed out of their parking space and we waved. Frohike peeled out a wolf whistle as they drove out of the driveway.
I couldn’t help laughing and looked down to see Scully scowling. “Better get used to it,” I said in between chuckles.
“Get used to it? What’s that supposed to mean? I’m not becoming the little woman, so just get that out of your head right now.”
I smiled at her. “I meant that men are going to be checking you out, Scully. You’re a beautiful woman, it’s just a fact. They aren’t all mature and respectful like me,” I teased.
That made her chuckle. “Yeah, right. You’re soooo mature,” she teased back.
I put my hands over my heart and said, “Moi? You wound me, Scully.”
“I’ll wound you all right, if I hear any sexist comments in front of anyone. So help me Mulder, you embarrass me and there will be hell to pay.”
She turned on her heel and headed for the door to her room. “I don’t doubt it,” I muttered as I followed her. “Help me get these into the truck?” I asked.
She sighed. “Yeah, we better in case we have to roll out early in the AM.”
I smiled at her choice of words. I didn’t even think she realized she was already starting to talk the lingo. “Let’s roll, baby,” I teased, unable to stop myself from getting in one last jab.
She scowled, “Go ahead and push it, Mulder. I’ll make you sorry.”
“Oh, I hope so!” I replied. She chuckled and we began taking the cases out to the truck. We had to find a place to hide them all. The pistols were put under the seats, the Mag Lites in the glove box. At least we would have those within easy reach. The rifles and larger guns were stored in the overhead compartments situated over the bunk. Finally, we were done and ready for bed. I checked the locks on the cab door and exterior compartments and turned to follow her back to the sidewalk.
Before leaving her, I pulled her to me outside our motel room doors. She smiled up at me. “What?”
“You know what. Where’s my good night kiss, Mrs. Tanner?” I teased.
She sighed a long suffering sigh, still not liking being called Mrs. Tanner. “Mulder …”
“Kiss me,” I whispered, leaning down and capturing her lips before she could lodge any protests.
Her hands came up around my neck and I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her up tight against me. I deepened the kiss and felt my groin tingle as I started to harden.
I felt daring and moved away from her mouth, tracing a path to her neck and sucking gently on her pulse at the base of her neck. She moaned and I gripped her tighter, swirling my tongue on the skin and tasting her. She pushed gently on my shoulder. “Mulder, stop.”
I moved back up to her lips, ignoring her command and took her mouth under mine again, slipping my tongue between her swollen lips and teasing her tongue. She mewled into my mouth, a sound that made me harden fully and I pressed into her soft belly, her jeans and mine doing nothing to block the heat coming off my dick.
Just then, a trucker I recognized from the headquarters walked past and grumbled, “Geez, get a room, you two.”
I chuckled and released Scully as she flushed bright red. “Jesus, Mul… Marty, we’re right out in the open.”
I smiled softly, “So what? We’re supposed to be married, remember?”
“That’s not the point …” she trailed off. “Forget it. Good night, Marty.”
“Good night … Dana.”
I reluctantly watched her disappear through her door and put the key into mine. Another lonely night with a hard on to relieve. I couldn’t go on like this. I told myself I should be happy with what we had. I should be doing thrilled just over the fact that she allowed me to touch her at all. I should be ecstatic that she was giving me good night kisses.
But I’m a pig. All I could think was, ‘I want more.’ I was a greedy bastard and now that I’d tasted her, nothing but the whole enchilada was going to satisfy me. I was tired of pussy footin’ around. I wanted IN, and I wanted IN NOW.
I stripped and lay down on the bed to complete my nightly ritual. I gripped myself and gasped, closing my eyes and picturing her swollen lips in my mind’s eye and replaying the mewling whimper that I swallowed just minutes before. I wasn’t going to last long tonight.
Didn’t matter, it was just a means to an end, anyway. I wanted the real thing and I was going to have it … soon … even if I had to push.
—X—
ROUTE 65 NORTH TENNESSEE
Our first assignment came in the morning. We were to go to a drop and hook warehouse in Portland, Tennessee on the Kentucky border. There we would pick up a trailer full of old computers and bring them to a business named Computer Solutions in Louisville, Kentucky. These were all outdated computers that were being turned in for overhaul or being sold for parts to this business. Computer Solutions had a government contract to upgrade hardware throughout the mid-west for most government installations.
It was no coincidence that we were hauling government computers. This would be a prime target for the hijackers as their previous heists had targeted technology type loads. Once there, we were to pick up newly reconditioned computers and deliver them to various government agencies roughly along a path toward Nevada.
We rose and dressed after the phone call that awoke us with our assignment and we headed out. I chose to drive the first leg and headed north on Route 65.
Scully chattered about the significance of the load we were hauling as we tooled up the highway. “Do you think they’d hit us so soon?”
“You mean on this first run?” I asked for clarification.
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know. We have no idea if there’s someone inside the company that’s arranging these loads and tipping off the hijackers, or how they are getting their information on the loads. It could be an inside job at Global-Tech, or it could be DOT workers that inspect the trailers and loads at weigh stations. We have no way of knowing. That’s what we need to find out.”
“I think when we hit the DOT weigh stations, we should work out a plan.”
“What kind of plan?”
“Well, I was thinking one of us should stay with the inspectors while they go over the truck and the other one should wander around and observe any others that may be there, see if anything pops up.”
“You mean split up?” I asked with a note of anxiety in my voice.
“Not really split up, per se. But we want to watch the inspectors to see if we notice anyone taking undue interest in the content of our load. On the other hand, if there’s some stoolie in the weigh station picking up the phone as soon as he knows what we’re hauling, I want to know about that too and we can’t be in two places at the same time unless we split up. It’s just while we’re at the weigh stations.”
“What excuse could we have for wandering inside? Most of these places are little more than huts, some have a building, but even those aren’t usually large. Others are located in a space that has more of a rest area with a convenience store or whatever.”
“I can always ask to use the bathroom. Women always have to pee.”
I chuckled at that. “Most of the bathrooms are located in the rear of the buildings.”
“Right next to the offices. Just a thought,” she tossed out.
I sighed, knowing her plan was sound but always hating it when we split up. I would never admit to her my niggling concern about her being a woman in this environment. I’d meant what I said about a lot of men not respecting women. I knew, intellectually, that Scully could take care of herself. That didn’t mean that I could stop myself from worrying. I had to keep reminding myself that she was a fully trained FBI agent and she’d be insulted if I told her the real reason I didn’t want us to split up.
“Just be careful if we do that. I don’t like the idea of splitting up.”
“Afraid I’ll get in a jam?” she asked, zeroing in on my concern without even trying.
I sighed. “No, I’m afraid I will,” I answered, which was also true.
She chuckled. “I won’t ever be far away and we both know how to yell for help, Mulder.”
“Marty.”
“Huh?”
“We need to start calling each other Dana and Marty, or we’re going to mess up at some critical point. I know it’s hard, Dana, but we have to try and get into our ‘roles.’ If we don’t, we’ll never pull this off.”
“You just want to play house,” she teased.
“Well, that is a side benefit,” I said in a cavalier tone. “I’m serious, though,” I added, growing more somber.
“You’re right. It’s hard, though.”
“Hard how? To remember to call me Marty?”
She swallowed. “No, it’s just … hard to pretend we’re married,” she said finally.
I concentrated on the road for a few seconds while I took a particularly sharp corner on the highway, my eyes darting to all the mirrors to check for traffic as I changed lanes. Like riding a bike, I thought. This was something that you never forgot once you’d done it. I found the mindless activity of driving soothing. I would often go driving when I needed to think or relax. It was a secret of mine that not many people knew. That summer, driving for the loggers, I’d discovered the peace that there was to be found on the open road with nothing but the moon and stars for company. I still had some of that in me. Maybe it was why I loved traveling so much. There really wasn’t much waiting for me at home. I never minded being on the road, although I knew Scully longed often to be more stationary.
I didn’t quite know what to make of her comment. Finally I answered, “Why? Can’t picture it, can you?”
She must have detected the note of hurt in my voice that I was trying to hide. Her next words were, “What are you saying? It’s easy for you to picture us married? Come on, Mulder. This is US we’re talking about.”
My thumb moved up to finger the wedding band on my left ring finger. I twirled it around and swallowed around the lump in my throat. “What do you mean, it’s US we’re talking about? What’s so fucked up about me that you can’t even imagine being married to me?”
I glanced at her and she looked puzzled. “It’s not YOU, Mulder. It’s US, who we are, Federal Agents, on the road all the time.”
“Who said marriage has to include the farm house with the white picket fence and 2.5 kids? There are lots of ways to have a marriage, Scully. Granted, not all of them are ideal. But if two people love each other and they work well together, it doesn’t matter where they are, where they roost at night.”
“Roost?”
“You know what I mean. There are couples that work on opposite coasts and maintain marriages. There are couples that travel for their work and make a go of marriage.” I paused. “And there are FBI agents who make marriage work.”
She was silent for so long that I was afraid I’d said too much. At long last, she spoke quietly. “Are you saying you can picture it?”
An instinct told me to go for broke. “I picture it all the time, Scully. It’s one of my favorite fantasies.” I glanced at her again and she looked startled.
“You mean your fantasies don’t include sexy lingerie and lap dances?” she tried to tease, but her voice came out breathy.
I chuckled. Gee, thanks for that visual, Scully. I felt my groin tingle and ruthlessly suppressed it. This was serious. She rarely opened up to me, and her questions indicated that she wanted to clarify some things, too. Maybe answers to these questions were what she needed to finally make the decision to move this gravy train forward. I felt like we were standing on a precipice. How I answered her questions would determine the fate of our relationship. I was scared and exhilarated at the same time. “I have some of those too, but mostly, I just dream of what it would be like.”
“What it would be like? What’s IT, Mulder?”
I swallowed hard, keeping my eyes on the road. I needed to, but it was also a good excuse not to have to look at her. I was suddenly sweating for no apparent reason. We didn’t talk like this often and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to get some things out in the open. On the other hand, I didn’t want to blow it by saying too much and scaring her off. She was softening toward me and I didn’t want to send her scurrying for cover again. I needed to be honest with her.
I said, “Just … being with you, Scully.”
“You mean sex?”
I sighed. “No, you’re missing the whole point.”
“Which is?” she asked, sounding a bit testy.
I risked glancing at her again and realized she was staring at me. I squirmed in the seat a bit and then said, “The point is, Scully, that I want to be with you and not just as your work partner or your best friend. I thought I’d made that clear.”
“Yeah, but wanting to advance our relationship into the physical realm doesn’t mean you want all the baggage of a committed relationship,” she responded.
I scowled. “We really aren’t on the same page sometimes, you know that?”
She clucked her tongue. “I don’t know where you’re going with this, Mulder.”
“Marty.”
“Marty, whatever. What are you trying to say … exactly?”
“I’m saying I want it all, Scully.”
“Dana,” she corrected.
“Right, Dana. Hello pot this is the kettle,” I quipped but then got serious again. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve been committed for a long time already.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning … you’re the ONE, Scully. I’ve known it for a long time. We’ve already been sharing each other’s baggage for years and it hasn’t sent either one of us screaming for the hills. We’re as close as two people can be without making love. Hell, yes, I can picture us married. We’re already closer than most married couples. We just don’t have that little piece of paper that makes it legal … well, that, and we don’t sleep together.”
“Elaborate on what you mean by you’ve already been committed.’”
“That didn’t make sense? I love you, Scully. I told you that. I want to be your man, in every way. I want to have sex, yes, but it goes WAY beyond that.” At that very moment, I realized it for myself. It did go way beyond that. For all my frustration and vows to push a physical relationship, that wasn’t what it was about for me.
“I want to be THE man in your life, Dana. I want to have the right to knock some asshole’s hand off your shoulder. I want to be able to kiss you in public. I want to come home to you every night and eat dinner together and watch TV.”
“You don’t get enough of me during the week?” she tried for another half hearted tease.
“I never get enough of you, Dana.”
I heard her huff out a breath and glanced at her again, surprised to see wetness pooling in her baby blues. “You’ve been the only woman for me for … a long time. There’s a reason why I don’t date. That reason is YOU. Nobody measures up to you, Dana. Nobody even comes close … not for me. It’s you or nobody.”
“God, Mulder. How can you say that? You don’t know who you might meet down the road.”
“No, I don’t, and it doesn’t matter. In my heart, I committed to you a long time ago. Don’t you get it? I want it all. I would never push you, but I want to be intimate with you. I want to share everything with you. And yes, damn it; someday, I want to be married to you.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything. Just think about it. I know you’re not ready for that yet … but know that it’s there waiting for you … whenever you are ready … if you’re ever ready. I’ll still be here waiting.”
She didn’t say anything and I watched the road again, concentrating harder than I had to. Traffic was light. I stole glances at her as she stared out the window, avoiding looking at me. I decided some levity was needed here.
“Besides, you should know by now that I’m like a burr under a saddle. I’m very hard to get rid of and I’ll keep poking you until you give in. I can be very persistent when I want to be.”
“Don’t I know it,” she muttered.
I turned and she was smiling at me. I returned the smile and said, “Just think about it.”
She nodded and turned away again.
“You know what?”
“What?”
“Screw this name thing. Just be careful to call me Marty in public or if someone else is around. When we’re alone, we’re Mulder and Scully, that’s who we are. I’m not going to drive myself crazy with it.”
“O.K.,” she said softly.
After a minute, I asked, “Just tell me one thing.”
“What?”
“You do love me, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she said softly.
“You’re IN love with me?” I pushed.
Her breath hitched in her throat and she whispered, “Yes.”
I smiled, feeling warmth steal through my chest, feeling tears sting my eyelids. I blinked rapidly and said in a husky voice, choked with emotion, “Then I can wait forever, as long as I know you love me.”
—X—
We made it. We both finished the driving course and made it through the introductions to our dispatcher at Global-Tech. We’d even picked up our truck…rig.
I have to admit, it hasn’t been the nightmare I thought it would be. Driving a big rig was just another skill I had to learn, like Mulder had tried to tell me. I thought he was just trying to talk me into taking the assignment and reassure me when he first promised me that I could do this, but he was right again. One more off-the-wall theory that proved to be true.
I’ve been puzzled by Mulder’s behavior during the entire first part of this assignment. Something about Mulder is different. I was trying to analyze exactly what and why, when it came to me out of the blue.
We were checking out our new rig and it hit me … Mulder was happy. The darkness that had been his constant companion for most of our partnership was missing. He told me he was free after his revelation about Samantha in starlight, but the grief over his mother’s death had still colored his world a deep shade of grey.
During the day to day routine of our lives, I somehow lost track of the precise moment that Mulder’s depression lifted. I tried to think back to a conversation or event that should have clued me in to his relief, but I couldn’t. I think it was a gradual adjustment that wasn’t obvious while we continued in our normal surroundings.
Then another revelation struck me. As soon as he was able to kiss me, touch me, the final veil had lifted from behind his eyes. While he had changed over the course of time, there was a hesitancy, a quality of indecision that permeated his interactions with me. By the simple act of allowing that first lover’s kiss, all his hesitation was gone. He was smiling more and he looked like a man … with a future … something to look forward to … like a man in love.
I was talking to Cole about the maintenance schedule for our rig while Mulder was climbing like a monkey all over it, inside and out. I turned toward his exuberant, “S…Dana! Check this out!”
He was hanging off the handle on the cab, grinning like a little kid. The sun was peeking through the clouds and took that exact moment to bathe him in a patch of gold. He was so brilliant and beautiful in the glare of the sunshine, I had to shade my eyes with my hand. The happiness in his smile was blinding.
The long, lean line of his body was highlighted against the black and chrome of the Kenworth we were given to drive. His blue chambray shirt molded to his body as if it were custom tailored and his jeans were like a second layer of skin on him. I gazed at the breadth of his shoulders and the ropey muscles in his arms. The muscles in his long legs flexed as he climbed over the back of the truck with amazing agility. When he jumped down and bent over to check the air lines, I knew I gasped. The worn denim of his jeans cupped his spectacular ass and left nothing to the imagination. I had never wanted him more than I did at that moment. Happy Mulder was a hard man to resist.
I must have stood there for several minutes, grinning like a fool. I would probably still be there if Cole hadn’t cleared his throat and said, “You two been married long?”
I blushed and looked down at the clipboard in my hand, “Not that long, two years.” Thank God I remembered the cover story Skinner had set up for us.
Cole laughed and shook his head. He continued with the orientation and I tried to pay attention. We drove, I mean, we bobtailed the rig back to the motel for a final night before hitting the road.
Mulder surprised me with the news that the Gunmen were meeting us at the motel later. When I asked him why, he gave me a secretive smile and told me that I would find out soon enough.
Find out I did. They brought enough armament to start a small war. We had not been allowed to bring our service weapons along, as they were too easily traced to our real names. Skinner had approved us purchasing, legally, a few guns and had even gotten permits for Marty and Dana Tanner to carry concealed weapons. I don’t think this arsenal was what he had in mind.
The guys dropped off the weapons and ammunition and then took off right away, but not before Frohike got in a few drooling remarks. If I didn’t know that he truly respected and liked Mulder and me, I would have taken the little troll out. As it was, Frohike was just being Frohike. Ya had to love him. The last thing the guys gave us was a small canvas bag that Mulder stored in the rig without opening. I assumed it was a ‘guy gift’ and didn’t question him. If he wanted to share, he would later.
The next morning, I was difficult. We were off on our first assignment and needed to be sharp. I felt like I needed at least a gallon of coffee before I could face the day. I didn’t get to sleep until after 4:00 AM. Mulder’s goodnight kiss had kept me awake until then. I knew I was being argumentative and purposely distant, but I couldn’t help it.
We discussed the possibility of an early attack and some ideas I had been thinking about to flush out our perps. Mulder was concerned, as usual, about us splitting up. Sometimes his protectiveness drove me crazy, but this time he did have a point.
When he cautioned me to call him Marty, I tried to lighten the subject by teasing him, “You just want to play house.”
His quick uptake on my tease surprised me.
“Well, that is a side benefit,” he said lightly. “I’m serious though,” he added somberly.
“You’re right. It’s hard, though,” I responded.
“Hard, how? To remember to call me Marty?”
I swallowed and decided to tell him the truth. “No, it’s just… hard to pretend we’re married,” I said.
A few moments later he said, “Why? Can’t picture it, can you?”
I could hear the pain in his voice. Could I tell him the truth? Could I tell him how dear the idea was to me? No, we had to keep this professional until the assignment was over. I answered his question with a question.
“What are you saying? It’s easy for you to picture us married? Come on, Mulder, this is US we’re talking about.”
He seemed taken aback by my words and replied, “What do you mean, it’s US we’re talking about? What’s so fucked up about me that you can’t even imagine being married to me?”
He shot a quick glance at me and I knew he could tell I was puzzled by his response. I added quickly, “It’s not YOU, Mulder. It’s US, who we are, Federal Agents, on the road all the time.” I purposely left out the unspoken reasons. We were in constant danger of being killed or separated by the vermin that hid in the shadows of the conspiracy we were trying to uncover. I didn’t want Mulder to even think about that aspect right now. We didn’t need to add his guilt over past happenings to this conversation.
I had obviously deflected his thinking when he responded, “Who said marriage has to include the farm house with the white picket fence and 2.5 kids? There are lots of ways to have a marriage, Scully. Granted, not all of them are ideal. But if two people love each other and they work well together, it doesn’t matter where they are, where they roost at night.”
“Roost?”
“You know what I mean. There are couples that work on opposite coasts and maintain marriages. There are couples that travel for their work and make a go of marriage.” Then he paused. “And there are FBI agents who make marriage work.”
I was silent for a long time. “Are you saying you can picture it?” I asked quietly.
“I picture it all the time, Scully. It’s one of my favorite fantasies.” He glanced at me again and could tell I was startled.
Once again he had managed to surprise me. “You mean your fantasies don’t include sexy lingerie and lap dances?” I teased, but my voice came out entirely too girlie for my comfort. It must have given him the go-ahead for the rest of the conversation.
He rocked my world. He loved me and wanted to be married to me. It wasn’t entirely about sex. It was about commitment and love and friendship and comfort. All the things I had been denying that I needed for years. All the things I wanted from Mulder and never believed that he would ever want from me.
All the things that I couldn’t allow him to feel for me. He deserved a whole woman. Someone that could give him children. Someone unlike me. But his words continued and he told me that he was committed to me.
To me. He really did want to be married to me. I realized suddenly how insulting it was for me to assume that this was purely about sex and intimacy, although that was a part of it. Mulder was not a shallow person in any other way; why had I assumed that he would be in this situation? But I had. I thought he wanted the sex without the marriage, the intimacy without the full commitment. It never occurred to me that he would want marriage. Guess I was wrong again.
Was this a real proposal? I was at a loss, so I said, “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything,” he responded. “Just think about it. I know you’re not ready for that yet … but know that it’s there waiting for you … whenever you are ready … if you’re ever ready. I’ll still be here waiting.”
When I didn’t reply, the Mulder self-deprecating sense of humor came out. “Besides, you should know by now that I’m like a burr under a saddle. I’m very hard to get rid of and I’ll keep poking you until you give in. I can be very persistent when I want to be.”
“Don’t I know it,” I grumbled, smiling at him.
“Just think about it,” he smiled back.
I nodded and turned away thinking of all he had just said.
After a minute, he asked, “Just tell me one thing.”
“What?” I couldn’t wait to hear what was coming next.
“You do love me, don’t you?”
I had to force a quiet “Yes,” from my lips. He was taking my breath away with his directness.
“You’re IN love with me, right?” he clarified.
“Yes,” I managed.
He smiled and said in a husky tone, “Then I can wait forever, as long as I know you love me.”
I looked away, trying to gain a little space to process all that had just been said. Being in constant contact with Mulder was driving me crazy and this conversation had not helped. Sure, we were together constantly in DC, but I had my apartment, my mother’s house, church… places I could relax and enjoy without the constant edge of sexual tension that haunted me every time I was around Mulder. I was a woman in the middle of my sexual peak and I had what most women would agree was one of the most desirable men in the western hemisphere as my constant companion and I couldn’t do a thing about it. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Or at least, I couldn’t before now.
I felt like I was going crazy. I’d masturbated more in the past ten days than I did all through high school, college and med school. I couldn’t stand it. I knew he was only a door away… an unlocked door away. No one would know. No one could prove anything. He was letting me know that he wanted me. He called out my name when he hit his orgasm. So what was stopping me? I’d asked myself that a hundred times last night alone. Each time it came down to one statement.
We needed to keep our professional lives and our personal lives separate so that we could survive to enjoy said personal lives.
That was it. The assignment came first. When this was all over, I had no doubt that we would take some time off and explore every aspect of our relationship. I knew I wanted to.
There were a lot of things I wanted to do with and to Mulder. I wanted to strip him and lick every inch of his beautiful body. I wanted to have sex with him everywhere and anywhere … every way and every position.
When I heard him moan and knew that he was yelling my name because he had jacked off again, I was jealous of his right hand. Was it his right hand or did he use his left? Does he switch hit? I wanted to know everything.
I wanted to know how he tasted and smelled and felt. I wanted to tease him with my tongue and draw him as far down my throat as I could. I wanted to taste him, every part of him. I wanted to run my teeth over his nipples and tease him with my tongue. I wanted to stroke my sex with his cock until I came. I wanted his tongue in my ear, my mouth, my sex. I wanted him.
I didn’t want to ever have to worry about another woman touching him. I was amazed to realize that I was jealous. I hated his clothes because they caressed him as I could not give myself permission to do. I hated every waitress, clerk, secretary, police woman, female agent and doctor we met that coveted him with their eyes, thought of him sexually, lusted after him.
And now that he had just laid it all on the line and told me how he felt, I was definitely going to be certifiable by the time this assignment was over. Why was I driving myself crazy?
Over and over I forced myself to think about all the good, sound reasons to hold off on this relationship. But every good reason was countermanded with a visual of Mulder lying naked under me, over me, oh my God, IN me.
Somewhere near Portland, I came to the conclusion that this must end. Tonight, after we dropped our load, I’d get Mulder to stop at a motel and we would take this final step in our relationship. Well, the second to the last step. We would have our consummation, tonight. Talk of marriage could wait until after the assignment.
If I didn’t get relief from the need for Mulder I was experiencing, I was going to be too distracted to do my job. We both had to be at the top of our game to catch these guys. This was a dangerous assignment. Besides, if I didn’t quit creaming my panties with flashes of fantasies about Mulder, I was going to get diaper rash.
We dropped the load and were immediately given another pick up. We had a load of refurbished computers to drop in Little Rock, Arkansas. I took my turn driving down I40 first and Mulder dozed in the seat beside me. I was somewhat tentative at first, but Mulder’s confidence in me helped settle my nerves down, at least about driving.
I was totally psyched about our evening together. I smiled to myself, thinking of the way things were going to proceed tonight.
—X—
PART 6 (PG-13)
I40 MEMPHIS, TN SUPER 8 MOTEL
I slammed the door of the motel room and threw myself down on the bed, tears beginning to fight their way past my resolve and stream down my face.
‘How could he do this to us?’ I asked myself.
Just when I was ready to take our relationship one step farther, Mulder killed it. I wasn’t sure I could even continue the assignment.
All the barriers I had built up around my heart that Mulder had so effectively torn down with his words of love and commitment earlier began to move back into place.
I could do this. I was a professional. We were on assignment and I could complete it. I’d get a transfer as soon as we solved this case.
The thought of living without Mulder caused a fresh spate of tears. I sobbed into my pillow, lying in the dark. What made a man do such things? Why did he have to turn out to be like all the others? I should have known better.
I could see it now in my mind, as if it were just happening.
We stopped for fuel about five hours down the road. I pulled into a decent looking truck stop and woke Mulder. I asked him if he wanted to stop at the motel across the parking lot for the night, but he said that after we got fueled and ate that we should go on.
He didn’t know what I had in mind. When I tried to coax him into staying, he was firm about continuing. After I pushed him about his reasoning he finally said, “I don’t think I can take another night of jacking off, Scully. I’ve had enough sleep. Let’s just keep going.”
“There are other things to do in a motel than masturbate, Mulder,” I said. I was losing my temper with this stubborn man. How could I convince him without telling him outright that I wanted tonight to be our first time and I didn’t want it to happen in a truck bunk.
He refused to see the need to stop.
Sure. Fine. Whatever. “Like I said, there are other things to do in a motel room than abuse yourself, Mulder,” I spat.
“Oh?” Suddenly he was interested. I wasn’t.
“I need a shower, Mulder.” I wasn’t in the mood to do anything but argue at this point.
“Well, you made a great choice of stops, then, Scully. Cole told me that all the AMERASTOP truck stops have great shower and laundry facilities. You can get your shower while I fuel up the rig.”
He was trying to be conciliatory, but I wanted nothing to do with it. HE didn’t know what HE was turning down. I did.
“Fine,” I said shortly. I climbed into the bunk and grabbed my duffle with a change of clothes and my toiletries. I slammed out of the truck and stormed into the shower facilities.
By the time I was through with my shower, I felt a lot calmer. I was anxious to make love to Mulder, but it shouldn’t get in the way of our assignment. I made the decision that it would happen, but I couldn’t dictate when and where without his agreement. I felt foolish that I had been so angry and sarcastic with him. I turned in the key to the shower stall and waited for my receipt.
“That your man out there by the black Kenworth?” the older man at the counter asked.
I looked out the window and saw Mulder standing with his back to me next to our rig.
“Yes,” I responded.
“Well, if I was you, I wouldn’t waste any time getting back out there. Chloe, the newest lot lizard, has got her eye on him. Some guys have all the luck. Don’t see why he’d be interested in a whore when he has a looker like you,” he leered.
I held out my hand for my receipt and he grinned. “You come on back now, ya hear? Ol’ Tom’ll let you plant your boots under my bunk any time, Red.”
I glared at him and his badge that said, “Hello, My name is Tom” and left without a word. Mulder was right. I was going to have to be careful.
I walked through the door to the parking lot and was bumped by a man coming in the building.
“Excuse me, ma’m,” he said politely. I was just about to tell him it was all right when I caught the gleam in his eye. He had brushed against me on purpose.
“No harm done,” I said and started to pick up my duffle.
“Let me,” he quickly said and swooped down to get it.
“Thanks,” I said as I pulled it from his hand, walking way.
He grabbed my arm and stopped me. “Would you like a cuppa joe?” he asked.
“Thanks, but my husband is waiting for me,” I said, grateful that I had Mulder as an excuse.
“Lucky man,” the guy said and tipped his cap.
I looked back toward the area that Mulder had parked the truck and my world came crashing down.
He was there, all right. And so was one of the lot lizards we had been warned about. They were talking seriously and I could see the look of adulation on this young girl’s face.
She was obviously taken with Mulder, and God help me, he seemed to be attracted to her. She was standing there, barely dressed for daylight, and everything I could never be.
She was young, fresh and beautiful. She was tall and slender with a set of breasts that would make a priest drool. The worst part of all was that under her makeup, she was a natural beauty. Her eyes were sparkling through her long black lashes. Her honey blond hair and tan complexion were also natural. And Mulder was eating it up.
He was on the phone and nodded to her. She squealed and threw herself into his arms. He seemed somewhat clumsy but put his arm around her and hugged her back. They didn’t see me. They didn’t even look around, as a cab pulled up. Mulder jumped into the rig for a few seconds. I didn’t even care what he was getting … probably a condom from the little bag the Gunmen had given him.
Then they got into the cab that Mulder had obviously called and took off. I stood there dumbfounded for a moment or two. I decided to get a room at the motel when the tears threatened to fall. Now I was here and he was there, wherever he was. Fucking a whore and destroying our chance at happiness. I cried myself to sleep.
—X—
Jesus, could my life get any more complicated? Why do these things always land in my lap?
I exited the truck, planning on going inside to grab a few sandwiches for the road and a salad for Scully. I slammed the door and turned, coming face to face with a young girl, a child really, dressed in a black leather mini skirt that barely covered the essentials, an exposed midriff and a pink spandex tube top that left nothing to the imagination. ‘She’s going to freeze to death in that outfit’, was my first thought.
She smiled and snapped her gum. “Hi, honey, you interested in a date?”
Oh, Christ, she was a prostitute, or a lot lizard, as they called them in the industry. “No, thanks,” I said and started to walk by her.
She grabbed my arm and I turned back to look at her. Black coal makeup was slightly smudged around her green eyes and they were pooling with wetness. “Mister, please. I haven’t eaten since yesterday,” she said softly.
Well, shit. Now what? “How about if I buy you some food?” I offered.
She smiled shyly and nodded her head. “I’d really ‘preciate it.”
“What do you want?”
“Anything, I like ham sandwiches.”
“Stay here. Don’t move,” I commanded when she started to follow me. She frowned but nodded her head.
I walked into the truck stop restaurant and looked in the display case that held ready-made sandwiches. I bought two ham sandwiches for her, two chicken salad for me and a garden salad for Scully. I bought three ice teas to go with it. I paid and the waitress behind the register said, “Look out for Chloe, she’s a wily one.”
“Just getting her some dinner,” I replied.
She smirked and I heard a huff of laughter behind me. “Sure you are, darlin’.”
She didn’t believe me and I didn’t really give a shit. I turned and walked out of the restaurant. ‘Chloe’ was waiting just where I’d left her. I handed her the two sandwiches and she smiled. “Thanks. Want to sit down over there?”
There were picnic benches off to the side on the lawn in front of the building. “It’s cold, get in the truck.”
She beamed a smile that told me she was expecting more. I sighed and climbed into the driver’s seat. As soon as the doors closed, she tore into the wrapper and extracted one of the sandwiches. She ate like she was starving and some of my apprehension died away. “How old are you?” I asked.
She stopped in mid-chew and looked at me. Then she finished chewing and swallowed. “Old enough.”
“I doubt it. How old are you?”
She looked at her lap. “Sixteen,” she said quietly.
“Jesus,” I muttered.
“Look, I can take care of myself. I ‘preciate the food. I don’t like charity, man, you know? You sure there ain’t somethin’ I can do for you? Pay you back, like?”
“No, nothing. Just eat the sandwich.”
“I’m serious, Mister. I ‘preciate this. I’ll give you a blow job for nothin’!” she said, as if this would be an enticing offer.
I stared at her slack jawed at her bold offer. Her long silky, blonde hair was beautiful. Her youthful breasts were high on her chest, the cold making her nipples poke through the spandex that barely contained them. She had a stud in her tongue and a belly ring in her navel that peeked out above the top of the leather mini- skirt. Most men would probably jump at the chance to plank a little hottie like this. Me … I felt … nothing. Not even a tingle.
I sighed. “Look, I appreciate the offer, but my wife is inside there taking a shower and she’ll be back any minute now.”
She smiled a sly smile that transformed her face from innocence to guile. “Bet she don’t do things I’d do. Anything you want mister. What doesn’t she do for you? Huh? She swallow?”
I grimaced. “Look, Chloe …”
“She doesn’t, does she? I swallow. I can even deep throat. She let you in the back door?” she asked quietly, leaning over and placing her hand on my thigh.
I slapped it away and said, “Christ!”
She giggled. “Come on, I don’t want to owe you.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“Your loss,” she drawled and opened the second sandwich, devouring it in about three minutes during which the silence grew and I wished Scully would return. She would know how to handle this.
The girl was brazen and bold, something that used to turn me on. Now, only Scully turned me on and I had to wonder just how truly screwed and whipped I was. “Chloe, where do you live?”
She laughed. “Here, there and everywhere.”
“You like this living?”
“I’m used to it.”
“How long have you been doing it?”
“Two years.”
“Two years! Jesus Christ! You’re just a kid!”
She frowned. “Mister, I’m probably older than you are … up here,” she added and tapped her temple.
“If you had someplace to go, would you do this?”
She looked at me oddly. “I do what I have to do, Mister.”
She was closing down. “I don’t ask that because I’m criticizing.”
“No, of course not,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m asking because I might be able to help you.”
“How? By buying me some food for the road?” she asked as she eyed my second sandwich. “You gonna eat that?”
“No,” I said as I handed her my other sandwich. “If … I could find you a shelter for teens or abused women … would you go there?”
“I ain’t got no money, Mister. I couldn’t even buy a fuckin’ sandwich. Remember?”
“You wouldn’t need money. They take you in, clothe and feed you and try to help you find a job, get back on your feet … so you don’t have to do … this.”
“Why would you do that? I’m just a another whore, another bozo on the black top, you know?”
“You’re a human being, Chloe, and a young one at that, with your whole life ahead of you. Where do you think you’ll end up if you keep doing this?”
She was silent as she chewed slowly, looking like she’d suddenly lost her appetite. “I don’t plan on doing this forever.”
“What do you plan on doing?”
“Saving my money … finding a room to rent, you know, normal stuff.”
“What would you do if you could do anything?”
“I learned to type in school. I always thought I’d be a secretary someday.”
I sighed. To her, that was a great aspiration, and I suppose it was. I’d love to see her be a secretary, anything but this. “Let me make a phone call.”
“Where?”
“To find the closest shelter in the area.”
“No! I don’t want you helpin’ me any more. I already owe you …”
“Shush,” I quieted her and pulled out my cell phone, dialing Skinner’s office. It was late but I’d bet he was still there.
He answered on the second ring. [Skinner.]
“Hi, it’s me.”
[Trouble already?] he asked, with concern in his voice.
“Not the kind you mean.”
[What’s up, Mulder?]
“Can you have Kimberly do a quick check and find the nearest women’s shelter to Memphis, Tennessee?”
[That where you are?]
“Yes.”
[Why?]
“I’m sitting in my truck with a 16 year old prostitute that I’d like to see if I can take off the streets.”
[Jesus, Mulder! How’d you get involved with that? Where the hell is Scully?]
“Taking a shower in the truck stop. Look, can you help me or not?”
[Hold on.] The phone clicked and he placed me on hold. I sat listening to the awful Muzak that the Bureau played on their hold system.
She asked, “Who you callin’?”
“My boss,” I answered evasively.
“You’re really gonna help me?” she asked softly, sounding astonished.
I nodded curtly. “I’m going to try. Look I gotta take a leak, get out of the truck,” I said abruptly, embarrassed by her look of admiration.
We climbed out and she circled around to stand in front of me by the driver’s side door. Skinner came back on the line. [You’re in luck, Mulder, there’s a shelter right there in Memphis. ‘Graceland Home for Girls’. It’s at 2360 Pine Street, across from the Warner Theater.]
“You’re the best,” I quipped.
[Just do it and get back there as quickly as possible, Mulder. You don’t need to be getting involved in this shit. Keep to yourself, for Christ’s sake. You might as well be wearing a neon sign. You don’t need to be calling attention to yourself.]
“Who’s gonna know?”
[Put her in a cab, Mulder. Don’t argue with me about this.]
“Thanks for the info,” I said, and hung up before he could argue with me some more.
“What’d he say? Who’s your boss, anyway?”
“Never mind. There’s a shelter here in Memphis.” I called information and got the number and dialed. I spoke to a Mrs. Pincher and she said they had beds available and to bring the girl down. They provided room, board, counseling and job placement. I thanked her and hung up, and then called a cab, 1-800-YELLOW, the universal number for Yellow Cab Co.
When I was finished, I looked at Chloe and said, “They have a bed for you.”
She squealed and launched herself into my arms, her arms going around my neck. She pressed her lithe, slender body up against mine. I tentatively put my left arm around her shoulders in a quick hug before I pushed her away as the taxi pulled up. That was quick, I thought. He must have just been around the corner.
I climbed into the rig and grabbed a pad from the glove box and scribbled Scully a note.
Dana, I’m taking a young girl to the women’s shelter at 2360 Pine Street in Memphis, The Graceland Home for Girls. Hope to help her get off the streets. I’ll be back in no time. I love you, – M.
I left it on her seat where she’d have to sit on it. She couldn’t miss it. I climbed down and locked the truck, knowing Scully had keys and turned to Chloe as the taxi pulled into the parking lot and stopped. “Ready to roll?” I asked her.
She threw herself at me again and whispered in my ear, “Thank you. I don’t know how to thank you … I don’t even know your name.”
“Marty,” I said.
“Thank you, Marty. My real name’s Meghan.”
“Come on. Let’s go. I need to get back and talk to my wife.”
She nodded, tears making her eyes bright and we crawled into the cab.
It was a quick trip and I dropped her off. I checked her in with Mrs. Pincher, and left and went back to the truck stop. I crawled wearily into the truck and saw that the note was still on the seat. I peered into the sleeper and Scully wasn’t there. What the fuck?
I felt panic surge through my veins and I leaped out the truck and ran inside. I frantically searched the restaurant booths for a flash of red hair. Turning to leave I heard the waitress drawl, “Lookin’ for someone, sugar?”
I turned. “My wife, Dana. Short, redhead, beautiful, have you seen her?”
She smiled a conspiratorial smile. “No, I haven’t. But since you ran off with Chloe, I don’t imagine you need to find her right now, do you?”
What is this? I stalked up to her and she cringed as I towered over her. “I’ve had just about enough of your innuendo. For your information, Ms. Know-It-All, I just took that girl to a shelter for girls to help get her off the streets,” I growled. “So you can shove your self-righteous attitude right up your ass, and TELL ME WHERE MY WIFE IS!” I shouted in her face.
She stepped back and stopped when she hit the counter. Her bottom lip was quivering and I felt guilty instantly. “I’m sorry …” I said, running anxious hands through my hair and trying to calm down.
“No, no. I’m sorry. I thought you was a typical trucker. Guess not. That’s a right-noble thing you did. But I swear, I haven’t seen your wife.”
I nodded. “Thank you.” I turned and surveyed the booths, seeing about six or seven truckers eating quietly. They were all trying not to look at me. I announced to whole room, “If I find out anyone here hurt my wife, you’re gonna wish you were never born.”
I turned on my heel and marched out, stomping out to the truck. The exercise did nothing to calm my mind. I was picturing her dragged off into some trucker’s rig, assaulted, or worse yet, … oh God, please … not the hijackers.
I climbed into the truck and realized I hadn’t tried to call her cell phone. I searched the bunk and it wasn’t there. She must have taken it with her. We’d agreed to always carry them, especially when we had to separate, even to shower. I quickly hit Speed Dial 1 on my cell phone and when she answered angrily, I felt all the tension drain out off my limbs and I slumped in the drivers seat.
—X—
The sound of my cell phone woke me up. The room was completely dark and I was disoriented. It only took a few seconds for all the pain to come crashing back down on my heart.
I fumbled in my coat pocket and pulled the offending noise maker out. It was Mulder.
“What?” I snapped.
“Scully! Where the hell are you?” He sounded scared. Scared and mad as I had ever heard him.
“What do you care, Mulder?”
“Scully, you know I always care. You disappeared. I didn’t know where you were,” he accused.
I couldn’t stand the act any longer, “Wasn’t your little friend enough for you, Mulder? Do you want to play lead-the-partner on some more?”
“Scully, what are you talking about?”
“You know very well, what I’m talking about, Mulder. I saw you leave with Chloe.” Let him wonder where I found out her name.
He sucked in his breath and groaned. “Her name isn’t really Chloe, Scully. It’s Meghan and she….”
“Thanks for the update, partner, but I really don’t need any more information,” I interrupted.
“Scully!” he seemed hurt. “Where are you? When are you coming back to the rig so we can roll? I just made a scene in the truck stop looking for you.”
“I’ll be there in the morning, Mulder,” I grated.
“Scully, what’s wrong?”
“Wrong? What could possibly be wrong Mulder? We aren’t married. You can sleep with whomever you choose. Just understand that by your actions this afternoon, you’re choices don’t include me any longer.” I was tired of his innocent act.
“Scully, I don’t understand. I didn’t sleep with anyone. Why would you think that after our conversation this afternoon?”
“Mulder, I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” I started to hang up.
“Wait, Dana! Just answer a few questions and I’ll leave you alone,” he begged.
It was against my better judgment, but I wanted to see what he would ask. After all, the last time he had used that line he got me to admit that I was in love with him. Mulder never failed to surprise me.
“All right.”
“Did you see me leave with Meghan earlier?”
“Yes,” I spat. “Right after I saw her wrap herself around you in a full body feel-up.”
He was quiet for a moment then asked, “Did you go back to the truck at all this afternoon?”
“No. I didn’t want to be there when you came back.” I said. The thought of Mulder climbing back into the cab with the smell of sex and another woman on him would have caused me to shoot him again, and this time I would aim to kill.
“So you didn’t see my note,” he said quietly.
Note? He left me a note? What did it say? I wondered. ‘Goin’ to get laid cause you won’t let me into your pants?’
“Are you in the motel, Scully?” he asked quietly but I could feel the anger building in him.
I thought a long time before I said, “If I tell you where I am, will you leave me alone until morning?” I didn’t want to see him tonight.
“I just want to know that you’re safe, Scully. Are you in the motel?” he pushed.
“Yeah, but I used another name, so you wouldn’t be able to find me,” I said spitefully. If he really wanted to he would find me. My description alone could lead him to this room.
“I won’t bother you tonight, Scully. But there’s something you should see in the rig.” I could tell that he was fighting to stay calm.
“There’s nothing you have to show me that could change my mind, Mulder. I’ll see you in the morning.” And I hung up.
I cried myself to sleep again. What was I going to do?
—X—
Shit. Damn. Fuck.
I should have known better. I should have found Scully first and told her what I was doing. Now she thought I’d slept with a prostitute. I didn’t even want to examine why it hurt so much that she would automatically assume the worst about me. Did she think I could so easily betray her after confessing my commitment to her? Did she think I was that much of a horn dog? Jesus.
No, we weren’t having sex. Yes, I wanted it more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life, but with HER. Just because I wasn’t getting any and I was frustrated over the state of our relationship didn’t mean that I was going to run off with the first piece of ass that crossed my path. How could she think that?
And why didn’t she go back to the truck? She would have gotten my note and all this could have been avoided. But no, she had to jump to conclusions and go disappear in a huff. Didn’t she know how dangerous it was to do that? To take off on her own? To not let me know where the FUCK she was! Jesus. I’d nearly had a heart attack.
Inanely, I thought I was good that I’d thought to get a second set of keys made or I would have been locked out.
Well, she wasn’t listening tonight and I knew there was no point in talking to her when she was in one of these moods. I looked at the note on the seat and left it right where it was. Guess we weren’t going any further tonight. I pulled out the log books and logged our time. I stripped down to my boxers and crawled into the bunk, shivering under the cool sheets. My concern was warring with my anger. God damn it, Scully. Don’t you have any more faith in me than that?
I felt tears in my eyes and I blinked them rapidly away. I laid there for an hour and sleep would not come. I wasn’t even horny. Jerking off wasn’t an option. I was too pissed off at her.
I got up and threw my jeans and a fresh tee shirt on. It was chilly, so I grabbed a sweatshirt and clipped on my Sig, covering it with the sweatshirt. I shoved my feet into my work boots without bothering to lace them up. I saw the neon glow of the Budweiser sign across the street and headed for it. Maybe a few beers would make me sleepy enough to drop off.
—X—
PART 7 (R)
FRIENDLY BILL’S TAVERN MEMPHIS, TN 01:00 AM
The bar was dimly lit and smoke-filled. The smoke burned my eyes as I entered and approached the bar. Several rough looking trucker types were sitting at the bar and grunted a greeting as I approached.
I was about to order a Heineken when I looked over and saw they were all drinking Miller. I ordered a Miller and sat down on the stool. No sense in standing out. The guy next to me stuck out his hand, “I’m Cooner.”
I took his hand in a firm grip shook it. “Marty.”
“What brings you here in the wee hours of the morning?”
“Couldn’t sleep. Fight with the Mrs.,” I muttered.
He clucked sympathetically. “Know all about that, partner,” he replied.
He was an enormous man with biceps like tree trunks. He was wearing a denim shirt with the sleeves cut off and jeans and cowboy boots. His longish, greasy, black hair was tied back at the nap of his neck with an elastic.
He downed his beer and ordered another. “What’d you fight about?”
‘None of your business’ sprang to mind, but I found myself curiously wanting to unload on this stranger as he sat looking at me placidly. “I got approached by a lot lizard.”
“Ooo, weee, yupper, that’ll do ‘er.”
“Huh?”
“That’s right plenty enough to piss off the little woman.”
I smiled internally, knowing what Scully’s reaction would be to being called the ‘little woman’. “I didn’t sleep with her,” I said defensively.
He raised his eyebrows, “Why not?”
“Why not? Are you nuts? All the diseases out there? My wife right inside in the shower? I’m not the brightest bulb on the tree, Cooner, but I’m not a fuckin’ idiot either. Besides, I wasn’t interested. She was just a kid, for Christ’s sake. And I love my wife. I couldn’t do that to her.”
He laughed then and said, “You’re all right, Marty. Most men’d sleep with ‘ol Chloe in a heartbeat.”
I turned quickly to look at him. The surprise must have registered on my face. “Ever’ body knows Chloe. Christ, most men who visit this stop regular have probably had her once or twice. She’s a hot little tamale.”
“You too?” I asked, unable to keep the disgust out of my voice entirely.
He grinned. “Naw, not me. I got my Alice at home and she’s all I’ll ever need.”
I smiled. “Good woman, huh?”
“The best. Don’t give me no reason to go anywhere else, you know what I’m saying?” he said with a conspiratorial wink.
“I don’t know. What do you mean?”
He grinned, showing surprisingly well kept teeth. “Meaning she’s a right hot roll in the hay all by herself, she is. I come home every two weeks and we rattle the walls, buddy. You can set your clock by it.” He cackled at my look of surprise and then I started laughing with him.
“Your lady give you what you need?”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, that’s why most of these losers shag a lot lizard, boy. Cause they ain’t getting’ it at home. The little wifeypoo holds out the poon tang thinking she be gettin’ her way by doing that, you know? Control the hubby syndrome. But she shootin’ herself in the foot cause they just leave and come here and shag some lizard like Chloe half of wifeypoo’s age and a body that’d wifey would kill for.”
“If they do that, then they don’t really love their wives in the first place,” I replied confidently. He nodded in agreement.
His crude language aside, I understood what he was saying. Men went to prostitutes because they weren’t getting intimacy at home, or the wife wouldn’t do something they liked … like say, oh, swallow their cum after a blow job. Chloe … Meghan’s astute offer came back to me in a flash. She might have been a young girl, but she knew her way around men and what they needed. She’d probably heard the complaints a million times about wives that wouldn’t do things for their husbands, or held out and used sex as a weapon. I hoped Scully and I would never come to that. Of course, this was assuming she ever talked to me again.
I sat there and we proceeded to drink and chat until closing time. As we went out in the parking lot, Cooner offered, “Hey, I know an after hours place. You interested?”
“Sure,” I said, without thinking. I knew that the prospect of returning to the empty truck didn’t appeal to me right now. I climbed into his truck and we bobtailed down the road about two miles and parked in the back of a pool hall. We entered a back door and went down into a basement.
Unconsciously I touched my Sig Sauer, hidden under my sweatshirt and hooked to my waist. There were only three other guys, plus the bartender sitting around a big round table and drinking beer and playing poker.
I hadn’t played poker since college but it all came back to me. Having an eidetic memory didn’t hurt. We split up into three teams of two. After asking me if I knew ‘shit’ about poker, Cooner consented to partner up with me. We kicked ass.
Every time I made a good play or advised him on a move, he would raise his eyebrows but take the chance I was right. We played five rounds and drank about ten beers each. At the end, Cooner and I were $600 richer.
We split it 50/50 and he gave me a high five, leaning back on the back legs of his chair and nearly tipping over until I caught him and righted the chair. We were laughing like idiots and the others were laughing at us, apparently unfazed that they’d lost about $150 each.
I stared at his biceps and said, “Nice tattoos. Where’d you get them?”
“Right here in Memphis. The Bug does right nice work, don’t you think?” he asked, flexing his gigantic biceps and making a mermaid on his arm belly dance. We all laughed.
“You got a tat?” he asked.
I shook my head. One of the other guys, Carl, asked “What the hell kind of trucker are you?”
I scowled at him. Cooner just said, “You ever want one?”
“I’ve thought about it.”
“What stopped you?”
“The wife. Don’t know how she’d react.”
“Fuck the wife,” Carl said.
I suppressed the frown and smiled instead. I hated when men talked like that. I was pretty buzzed, my head swimming and Cooner said, “Shit, it’s 6:30. The Bug opens at 7:00 AM and he’s just down the street. Why don’t I take you down there and you can look around?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Just look. Food for thought, buddy.”
“No harm in that, I guess.”
The bartender, Al, brought over a pot of coffee and six mugs and plunked them down on the table. “Drink up, you lushes. No driving till you’re a wide awake drunk.”
We all laughed and poured the coffee, waiting for 7:00 AM to come. Then we staggered unsteadily out of the bar into the breaking dawn, blinking like cave bats. We both groaned as we heaved ourselves into the rig.
Cooner leaned back and said, “I’m going home today. My little Alice is waiting in Sweetwater. But I wanted to tie one on first. Haven’t done it in a while. I think I’m gonna regret it.”
I laughed. “I KNOW I’m gonna regret it.”
He laughed and fired up the truck and we slowly pulled out onto the state road. Three blocks later, he parked the truck on the side of the road and left the flashers going. We climbed out and he banged on the window of the ‘Beauty Mark Tattoo Parlor’.
A skinny, little man about five foot, four inches tall, with a handle bar mustache and a bald pate unlocked the door, smiling from ear to ear. “Cooner, don’t tell me you want another one, buddy. You ain’t hardly got any room left.”
Cooner laughed jovially and clapped the man on the back, nearly sending him sprawling. “Naw, I brought a friend though to take a look-see at your incredible arteesstic talents.”
The man chuckled and backed up, letting us through the door. “This here’s Marty,” Cooner introduced us. I shook the man’s hand and my eyes began to wander around the walls. They were wallpapered with various designs, each one interesting in its own right. My eyes locked on one that said, “Born to Lose” below a tiger with a rabbit in it’s paws.
“Did you have anything in mind?” Bug asked.
“Not really. That one’s nice,” I pointed to the spot on the wall.
“The Born to Lose one?” he asked, puzzled.
“Yeah, I’m feeling like a loser,” I said, wondering why I said that.
He shook his head. “Naw, all wrong for you. Keep looking while Cooner and I have a chat.”
I nodded and they went into a back room and I continued to look around the store. There really was some amazing art work here. I thought of Scully and wondered if we would be able to work this out. We had to. There was no other option. I had to make her see that I wasn’t a man that would run off with the first piece of ass that came along. I thought about my track record and some of the bimbos I’d dated, and I supposed I couldn’t blame her entirely for her assumption. But it still hurt.
Scully and I were bound. I really believed some ethereal tether inextricably bound us. We were meant for each other and I had to make her see that, and somehow convince her to trust me, to not assume the worst when she saw me with another woman.
My eyes wandered over the walls and came to a sudden halt. I sucked in my breath as I stared at the picture. It was two Phoenix birds intertwined around each other as they rose from the ashes on the ground. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. It was perfect. It was everything Scully and I were. We had been burned, beaten, separated, you name it. But we always rose above it, to come back to fight another day; and we always did it together, wrapped around each other, compensating for each other’s weaknesses.
That’s where they found me five minutes later, still staring at the Phoenii. I had to believe that this was just one more bump in the road, and like all the times in the past, Scully and I would rise above this, get beyond it. We would always be together, no matter what. I couldn’t imagine my future any other way.
“You like that one son?” the Bug asked skeptically.
“I love it. It’s … exquisite.”
“Just how drunk are you boy?” His eyes flashed over to Cooner.
“I’m not that drunk,” I growled.
“Well, you must be if you’re contemplating getting a tattoo on your cock!” the Bug exclaimed.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I said as soon as his words soaked through my concentration.
“Aren’t you talking about Puff?” he asked.
I looked at him and shook my head to clear it even more. “Puff? The magic dragon?”
The Bug gawked at me and then began to emit a high pitched whiny laugh as he moved towards the display. He tapped the back of his hand against a display about a foot away from the phoenix and said, “Puff, the Flying Dragon. One of the best tats I ever did on one of the sickest bastards I ever met. He was so full of shit, his eyes were brown!”
Once again the Bug laughed at his own joke. “He called himself a mystic or doctor or somethin’, but I knew he wasn’t no doctor. He brought in the plan for that one. I wasn’t going to do it, seemed kinda sick, ya know?”
I leaned closer to the pictures he had indicated, admiring the colors and the intricacy of the tattoo until I focused well enough to realized that it was indeed a dragon, tattooed on a man’s penis, balls and abdomen. The work was fabulous, but the thoughts of a tattoo in that area made my stomach lurch. I jerked back far enough that the picture was out of focus again.
“What kind of man could get something like that done to himself?” I asked, knowing that he was probably going to end up as one of the three-named serial killers the VCU guys routinely tracked down.
“Don’t rightly know. He came into town with a circus. Said his name was Dr. something…” the Bug trailed off.
“Dr. Blockhead?” I asked incredulously.
“Yeah, that’s his name. You know him?” The Bug gave me a leery glare.
“Naw, I saw a flyer about his show at a truck stop once. I never forgot his name because of all the weird things he claimed he could do. Always thought it’d be cool to catch his show,” I lied.
“Well, he was in town just long enough to get that done and move on. He sent me the pictures to let me know how it turned out. Don’t know why I even display them. I wouldn’t do that again for any amount of money. Which one do you like if it’s not ol’ Puff?”
I pointed to the intertwined phoenix tat.
The Bug nodded and grinned, “I’m proud of that one.”
“I want it.”
“That’s not a cheap one, son.”
“I don’t care. I want it. Can you put the words, ‘I Believe’ below it?”
“No problem, come over here and pick out the type of font you want.”
“Font?”
“Well, lettering actually. What type of lettering for the words.”
I walked over to the counter and perused the letters, picking a simple, crisp looking design that would be easy to read. I tapped the book and he nodded.
“You drunk?”
“I’m buzzed,” I admitted.
“Let’s wait a bit. Cooner, you run over to the diner across the street and grab us all some coffee.”
“Bossy little fucker, ain’t he?” Cooner deadpanned.
I laughed. Bug said, “He’s rude, crude and socially unacceptable … my kinda guy.”
We laughed again as he pulled out a copy of the design that was on the wall, a stencil that he would use to outline it on my arm.
He pulled my arm over the counter and examined it. “You got a great canvas there, pal, no blemishes. This will look real nice. You want to go with mainly red and yellow like the picture or you want other colors?”
“Red and yellow will be fine, letters in blue though.”
“Sure thing. I’d do it now, but you bleed too much if you’re drunk. Blood’s too thin. More chance of infection.”
“I’m not that drunk.”
“We’ll wait a bit just to be sure. O.K.?”
“You’re the boss,” I replied.
“Damn straight. And don’t you forget it, son.”
An hour later I was tilted back in an adjustable chair with my arm propped on a device made to rest my arms. Bug shaved my arm, and coated it with alcohol swipes. He put on gloves and pulled out a pack of fresh needles. I watched fascinated as he made his preparations and got out the inks for the tat.
“Normally, I would do this in two stages, but Cooner tells me you’re pulling out today.”
“Yeah, and I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“Well, we’ll do it all, but that will make you a bit sore for a while.”
“I’ll live with it.”
He nodded and began, tracing the outlines first after tracing the ink onto my skin. Then he picked up his needles and began embedding the ink into skin. It hurt at first and I grimaced but then I got used to the steady stinging sensation and my arm went a little numb. I began to sweat and my legs quivered a bit and then I felt a rush to my groin. I hardened to an embarrassing point and bit down on a groan. What the hell?
Cooner chuckled from where he sat in a plastic chair across the room reading ‘Truck and Driver’ magazine. “Gets the old boxer snake jumpin’, don’t it?”
“Jesus!” I muttered.
He chuckled again. “No need to be embarrassed. It happens. All those endorphins releasing in the body, rushing to the site to kill the pain.”
“Perfectly natural,” Bug replied.
“Still embarrassing,” I muttered, squirming slightly in my seat.
“Stay still!” Bug barked, raising his needle gun.
“Sorry.”
“Let’s take a break.” He set down the needle gun and motioned me up.
“Go use the lav and get a drink of water, then we’ll continue.” He placed a piece of gauze on my tat and taped it down gently.
I nodded and walked awkwardly to the bathroom. Christ, I didn’t ever remember getting hard so fast. My balls ached for release and my erection pushed painfully on my zipper. I carefully unzipped my jeans and peeled them away from my front. I pulled my cock out and realized there was no way I was going to pee with a hard on like this. Gritting my teeth, I jerked myself hard, hoping I could get this over with quickly.
I pictured Scully’s berry red lips wrapping around the head of my cock, sucking. In my dreams … she always swallowed. I grunted, “Awww, Uggg!” and ejaculated into the toilet, spraying some on the lid as I pictured her swallowing as I sprayed into her mouth. “Shit,” I muttered and then relaxed, relieving myself finally. I wondered how Dr. Blockhead had been able to handle it all.
I cleaned up my mess with paper towels and splashed water on my face, using the plastic cup there to take a drink, wondering how many other mouths had used the cup. I shrugged and placed it back on the sink.
I rearranged my clothes, making sure my Sig was covered, and went back out into the main room and took my seat in the chair again. I was glad I’d worn the sweat shirt. I was baggy enough that I could pull the sleeve up and didn’t have to take it off. Another hour and we were finished. My skin was burning, I had another hard on, and I was gritting my teeth as he smeared antiseptic gel all over the tat and placed gauze on it. I paid with my credit card with the name of Marty Tanner. To do otherwise would be suspicious and I didn’t have the cash. I’d have to reimburse the Bureau, that’s all.
He droned on about care of the tat and handed me printed instructions on cleaning and caring for it and sent us on our way with a tube of antibiotic ointment.
I glanced at my watch and started. Geez, I’d been gone a lot longer than I realized. It was nearly 9:00 AM. Scully would probably be wondering where I was by now. I reached for my cell phone, hanging on the opposite side of my belt from my Sig and then stopped.
Screw it. Let her see how it feels, I thought. Let her wonder. I’ll be back in a few minutes. “Need to get back, Cooner. I appreciate this.”
“No problem, buddy. Maybe we’ll run across each other again sometime.”
“I hope so,” I said as he drove back toward the truck stop.
We pulled in and drove down the row of trucks till I pointed mine out.
Cooner stopped and peered out the window as I turned to him. “That your wife?” he asked.
“That’s her, looking madder than a hornet’s nest.”
“Damn, you’re a lucky man, Marty.”
I smiled. “Yeah, I am.” I paused and then looked down at her scowling at me. “I might not be feeling that way in another minute or so.”
He chuckled. “No matter what she says, whether it’s her fault or not … say you’re sorry.”
I glanced at him and realized you really couldn’t judge a book by its cover. He was a good man. I stuck out my hand and he shook it. I opened the door, taking a deep breath and climbed down onto the pavement to meet my fate.
The alcohol was purging itself from my system and my head felt wrapped in cotton wool. The pressure behind my eyes was tremendous and I needed to find my sunglasses. I really wasn’t up for this fight, but I knew we had to have it.
I wondered if she’d found the note.
—X—
“Damn, Damn, Double Damn, Triple Damn, HELL!” I cursed as I paced back and forth in front of our rig, waiting for Mulder. I was alternating between thoughts of killing him and thoughts of how I was going to handcuff him to me so that he never got out of my sight again.
The anger and pain that I felt last night was gone. Poof! One phone call and all that was left was regret, and fear.
I had cried myself to sleep twice last night, so sure that Mulder had betrayed me. Now I couldn’t believe my own actions. I alternated between anger at and fear for Mulder, and rage at myself for my foolish assumptions.
Mulder had never given me a reason to doubt his actions towards me before yesterday. Why did I pounce on the very first suspicious thing he did as proof that he was playing head games with me? I didn’t really want to examine my reasons for acting the way I had all night, but I was awake until 4:00 AM this morning, doing just that. Memories that I had tried successfully to suppress for years came crashing back.
Why did I believe my eyes, rather than asking Mulder what was going on? Why didn’t I give him a chance to explain? When have I ever accepted anything without hard proof before? I tried to call him and ask him to come up to the room so that we could talk about everything, but he wasn’t answering his phone. I was terrified that I would lose my courage and not be able to discuss this with him tomorrow.
‘He must really be upset with me,’ thought the rational side of my mind.
‘Or he was still screwing his little whore,’ said the green-eyed monster that had taken up residence in my brain.
I finally forced myself to fall asleep. Thinking about it any more would drive me crazy. I would talk to Mulder the next day and give him a chance to explain his actions and my reaction to the whole situation. That is, if he was still speaking to me.
I was pulled out of a sound sleep by the ringing of my cell phone. I grabbed it, “Sc… Dana Tanner.”
[Agent Scully?]
“Yes, sir?” I was immediately awake.
[What is going on out there? You two are on an undercover assignment. You’re supposed to be truck drivers. Why are you still in the same town this morning as you were yesterday?]
“Well, sir, our load is not scheduled to be dropped until day after tomorrow and we decided not to push it,” I tried to convince him as well as myself.
[That’s fine, Agent, but what is Mulder thinking? You are supposed to be regular truck drivers, not some evangelists cruising for lost souls to save. Did Mulder get that girl to the shelter?]
“Uh, yes sir, I believe so.” Oh no! Shelter? He’d said it wasn’t what I thought, didn’t he? No, I’d never given him a chance to explain anything. I’d just assumed the worst and cut him off at the knees. He did say he didn’t sleep with anyone and seemed puzzled as to why I would think that. I’d thought it was an act. He was telling the truth. Oh God, he took that girl to a shelter?
[What do you mean, you ‘believe so’?] The bite in his words made me want to say ouch.
“Well, I spent the night in a motel room at the truck stop, Sir, and Mulder didn’t.” That sounded great.
[Agent Scully, I agreed to allow you two to be recruited for this assignment because I was under the impression that you would stick together. I am counting on you to keep Mulder in line, is that clear? No more side trips to help wayward souls,] he said through clenched teeth.
“Yes, sir,” I said.
[Then maybe you can explain to me the meaning of the twelve hundred dollar charge that just rang up on his ‘Martin Tanner’ credit card from the ‘Beauty Mark Tattoo Parlor’!] Skinner was yelling now.
I held the phone away from my ear and replied, “Well, sir, since I’m not with Agent Mulder right now, I can’t give you a definitive answer on the charge, but if I were to make an educated guess, I would say that it was probably for an informant, sir.”
Skinner inhaled for so long, I thought his lungs would explode, [And you and Agent Mulder discussed approaching informants, Agent Scully?]
“No sir, we didn’t. But I know that Agent Mulder wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the operation this early in the assignment, sir. If he did approach an informant, he would do it without blowing his…our cover.”
[I want you two to quit fooling around and get on with this assignment. Is that clear, Agent Scully?] he barely waited for my affirmative answer before he continued. [And tell Agent Mulder that if he is not able to prove that the TWELVE HUNDRED DOLLARS he charged was a justifiable cost of solving this case, he will be paying it back to the Bureau out of his paycheck until he retires! Understood?]
“Yes, sir. I’ll make sure that he gets the message.” Skinner hung up before I could ask him how he knew we were still in the Memphis area and how he heard about the charge to the card so quickly.
I showered and rushed down to the truck, suddenly anxious about Mulder.
He wasn’t there.
As soon as I opened the door of the cab, I could smell the onions in the salad that sat wilting on the dash. Two cups of iced tea and the remains of his chicken salad sandwich added to the mess. I had climbed in on the driver’s side because it was closest to the door of the motel.
I knew without looking that Mulder wasn’t in the bunk, but I forced myself to check anyway.
He had been there. His dirty shirt was still on the top of the covers, but there was no sign of anyone else having been in there with him.
I glanced around the cab at the mess he had left and spotted a sheet of paper on the passenger side seat. I didn’t want to touch it. I knew what it would say.
I read the short note and accepted once again what a fool I had been yesterday. I thought about my actions all the time I was cleaning up the cab. Telling Mulder why I acted as I did was going to be harder than telling him I loved him for the first time. I took out the trash and made up the bunk. I checked the log book and saw Mulder’s entries.
I tried to keep myself busy so that I wouldn’t let my imagination take over and drive me crazy, but I ran out of things to do.
I climbed out of the cab and started pacing around the rig. I saw another driver pounding on his tires and remembered Dean’s training on checking the pressure of the tires, for both tractor and trailer. I got out the gauge from the maintenance kit and checked all the tires.
That was done too quickly. I was back to pacing. I heard another rig pull up and stop in front of ours. I looked up to see if it was another one of my brother-truckers stopping to ask if the ‘little lady’ needed any help. I plastered a frown on my face to discourage whoever it was and nearly froze in my tracks.
It was Mulder. I could see him nodding at the driver and grinning. As he climbed down, his grin faded and he got a pained expression on his face, squinting as the light hurt his eyes. He was drunk, or had been a short time ago.
I could smell him before he opened his mouth. The alcohol and cigarette smoke stench was clinging to his clothes and oozing from his pores.
He gave me a loopy smile and turned to wave at the driver who had dropped him off, nearly falling while trying to complete these two actions at the same time.
With the carefully exaggerated movements of the recently drunk, he walked the few feet between us, stopping when the toes of his boots were touching mine. He swayed back and forth, not speaking, just staring into my eyes.
“You still love me,” he finally said.
“Mulder,” I started.
“Don’t deny it. You love me and I love you,” his normally sweet breath had the sour odor of the numerous beers he’d consumed during the night.
I took two steps back from him, needing the fresh air. He crowded me back against the grill of the Kenworth, raising his arms to either side of my body to trap me.
“I love you and you love me, Dana. We have to work this out. You can’t leave me. I don’t know who I’d be without you.” His words were only slightly slow, not slurred. He wasn’t drunk after all. “I don’t know what you thought I was doing yesterday … but I would never hurt you. We have to talk. No running away from me.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Mulder, but you are.”
“Nope,” he said with a mulish look on his face. “Not leaving you either. Not letting you out of my sight again.”
Two fellow truckers, walking towards their rig, stopped and asked, “Need any help, ma’am?”
I smiled and shook my head no before Mulder could turn around and challenge them for interrupting us.
I touched his forearm to bring his attention back to me. I sighed. He didn’t seem to be this out of it when he first got here. Maybe he was just hung over and punch drunk from lack of sleep. I wondered if he’d slept at all. I decided that it was finally catching up with him.
“Mulder, you are going to march right into the trucker’s lounge and take a shower. I don’t want you to come out until you no longer stink.” I ordered as I ducked under his arm. “Stand right there while I get you some clean clothes and your kit,” I said in a softer tone of voice.
“Can you find my sunglasses too?” he asked feebly, shielding his eyes from the minimal glare of the morning. Oh yeah, this was going to be a doozie.
I quickly gathered his things and walked him towards the showers. I left him there and went to the coffee shop to get a supply of coffee, aspirin and bottled water. Between the headache he was going to have and the pain from the mysterious and expensive tattoo I was guessing he had somewhere under his clothing, he was going to need them.
I got the giant, economy sized bottle of aspirin and asked the waitress to fill the stainless steel thermos that I bought before I headed back out to the truck.
My old friend Tom called to me from the doorway of the trucker’s lounge.
“Hey, Red! I think your man’s sick. He’s pukin’ his guts out in the shower. You want me to call a doctor?”
“I am a …” I stopped just in time. “He doesn’t need a doctor. He’s just hung over. Thanks, Tom,” I said and dumped my purchases on his desk as I changed directions to go check on Mulder.
As quickly as I could, I got Mulder cleaned up and dragged him out to the rig. He was barely able to crawl up into the bunk with my help.
I got him to take a couple aspirins and drink an entire bottle of water to replace the fluids he’d lost. I tucked him into the bunk and put up the safety bar. I placed the trash basket, lined with plastic bags, beside his head. I closed the curtain after I turned on the vent for fresh air.
I climbed into the seat of the rig and drove down the ramp to the interstate after I logged my time of departure in the written log and on the satellite. We would talk when he felt better. Thank God he was all right and sporting nothing more than a hangover … oh, and a tattoo.
—X—
PART 8 (PG-13)
SOMEWHERE ON THE INTERSTATE 5 HOURS LATER
I woke up as I felt and heard the rig slowing down. Scully was driving. I struggled to sit up in the bunk and felt the contents of my skull swirl dangerously in a pirouette. I moaned and grabbed my head as though it would stop the movement.
Scully raised her voice above the roar of the engine as she downshifted. “Mandatory Weigh Station, Mulder. I have to stop. I need to pee anyway and I could use some lunch. How are you feeling?”
“Uhhhhhh,” was the most intelligent response I could muster.
“Look in the shaving kit on the sink. I put the bottle of aspirin in there. There’s bottled water in the fridge,” she added.
“Thanks,” I murmured, fumbling to retrieve the aspirin and spilling several when we hit a speed bump and the cap flew off as my thumb was jammed under the notch.
“Shit!” I grumbled. I looked at the three stray aspirin on the floor and kicked them to the side. I wasn’t about to bend over and get them. That would be a very bad idea right now. I shook four aspirin out and recapped the bottle, tossing it toward my shaving kit and succeeding only in slam dunking it into the little sink. I winced at the clatter it made. I shrugged, feeling the stiffness in my neck as I did and nearly moaned again.
I managed to get a bottle of water out and downed the aspirin. I saw my sunglasses hanging from a Velcro strap on the side of the wall and pulled them down. Scully parked near the gas pumps and I gingerly made my way up front, plopping formlessly into the passenger seat and moaning as the light sent daggers into my head even through the sunglasses. I pulled the sun visor down.
“Bad, huh?” she asked.
I figured it was a rhetorical question. “What now?” I asked.
“I’m going to get gas and then some food. Then I have to go over there and get weighed and checked in.”
“Right. Want me to get the food?”
“Can you walk?” she asked, a slightly sarcastic tone to her voice. I turned my head, slowly, and looked at her.
“I’m sorry, Scully.”
“For what?”
“For not finding you before I took that girl to the shelter. I assume you found my note … eventually.”
She sighed heavily. “Yeah, I’m sorry too, Mulder.”
“I should have found you … “
“It’s over.”
“I don’t think so.”
“We’ll talk later, O.K.? Let’s get this part over with. Skinner called this morning and he’s not a happy camper. We’ll talk about that too. He wants an explanation for the $1,200 charge on the credit card.”
“News travels fast,” I muttered.
She pulled some money out of her pocket.
“I have money.”
“Get me an egg and cheese sandwich and whatever you want.”
“Sure.”
I sighed as I opened the door and slid carefully to the ground, the landing alone jarring my muscles. God, everything ached, from the tip of my toes to the crown of my head. Even my freakin’ hair hurt. I walked gingerly into the little rest stop and went straight for the bathroom. I relieved myself and splashed some water on my face.
As I looked up and turned to get some paper towels my eyes met in the mirror. God, I was a sight. Five o’clock shadow covered my lower face, my eyelids were swollen and puffy, my hair was sticking up in about hundred different directions.
I wet my hands and ran them through my hair, letting the water trickle down my back, not caring that my tee shirt was getting wet. When I got my hair under some semblance of control, I walked out into the restaurant and ordered our sandwiches at the counter. The smell of egg and cheese hit my nose as I picked up the bag and my stomach rolled. I got toast and coffee for myself. I didn’t think my stomach could handle anything else at this point.
By the time I returned to the truck, Scully was in the driver’s seat and ready to pull into the weigh station portion of the rest area. I handed her the bag wordlessly after pulling out our coffees and she set it on the dash.
She pulled away from the pumps and expertly maneuvered the rig around the lane leading to the weigh station. She pulled onto the scale and jumped out, heading for the booth. ‘I should go with her,’ I thought, but couldn’t bring myself to move. Instead, I dug the toast out of the bag, wanting to eat it before it got cold.
I bit and chewed slowly, feeling my head tame down to a low roar. The aspirin must be taking effect. I chugged some more water, feeling completely dehydrated.
She returned and picked up the log book, making some notations, absently saying, “Everything’s fine. You want to keep going, or would you like to rest for a while? I’ve driven for five hours. We could take a four hour break and hit it for another five.”
“Sounds good. Hopefully, I’ll have this head under control by then and can drive.”
“If you can’t, I’ll drive again. I don’t mind.”
“Where are we headed?” I asked.
“After we drop this trailer, we’re picking up another load headed for Utah.”
“Utah?” I don’t know why that surprised me. All my synapses were not firing together this morning. The brain fuzzies, I called this type of hangover, where focus was nearly impossible for more than a few seconds. Self-induced ADHD.
“Yup. Home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,” she chirped, entirely too cheery for this time of day.
I attempted a smile, “Ever see them?”
“Once, on TV.”
“They really are amazing.”
“Let me park this thing so I can eat.”
I nodded and she pulled around in the back, finding a parking space near the end where she could pull in instead of backing up. She parked and grabbed her sandwich, ripping open the wrapper. She bit and chewed slowly, only I knew she didn’t have a hang over.
“What happened?” she asked between bites.
“Now you want to hear my explanation?” I asked, more testily than I intended.
“I said I was sorry, Mulder. I let past experiences color my judgment and I jumped to conclusions. It won’t happen again.” She paused, “Just tell me what happened.”
I stared at her for a moment, before starting, “I was heading inside to take a leak and this girl came up to me asking me for a date.”
She grimaced.
“I knew immediately she was a prostitute.”
“Lot lizard. Appropriate name.”
“I told her no, thank you.”
“What happened then?”
“She grabbed my arm and told me she hadn’t eaten since the day before, basically offering to … service me for food.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, I could blow off a little saucy tart, but I couldn’t see her go hungry, so I told her I would just get her some food. I went in and got her a couple of sandwiches. I told her to get in the truck, it was cold out.”
“Yeah, and she certainly wasn’t wearing much, was she?”
“No, she wasn’t.”
“Were you tempted?” she asked, her voice almost a whisper.
I waited until she raised her eyes to mine. “Not even a little,” I answered honestly. I realized I had my sun glasses on and she couldn’t see my eyes.
I took them off, squinting briefly but feeling my head getting better. I met her eyes again and repeated, “Not even a little, Scully.”
She hung her head, and took another bite of her egg sandwich, her eyes suspiciously wet. “She was a kid, for Christ’s sake, sixteen years old. Said she’d been doing this for two years. Two years! Can you imagine?” She didn’t say anything so I continued. “So I called Skinner and got the name and address of the nearest shelter for teens. As luck would have it, there was one right there in Memphis. I called them and they had a bed for her. So I … wrote you a note and took her there. And then I came back to find you gone.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again softly.
I felt a wave of anger purge my aching head and I nearly shouted, “You’re sorry? Jesus Christ, Scully. I came back and couldn’t find you. I nearly went ballistic. I screamed at those poor people in the coffee shop trying to find you. All these things went through my head. You’d gotten grabbed by one of these assholes … or heaven forbid…” I swallowed harshly. “The hijackers … God damn it!” I cried out, smashing my fist onto the console.
She jumped and said again, “I’m sorry.”
I turned sideways in the seat and leaned into her. She pressed herself into the back of the seat to get away from my prying eyes. “I… couldn’t … find … you. Do you know how FUCKING SCARED I WAS?” I shouted, wincing as my head reminded me that it was still quite delicate.
Her face crumpled like she was going to cry and I instantly regretted shouting at her. “I’m sorry, Scully. I didn’t mean to yell.”
“It won’t happen again, Mulder,” she said softly. “Is that the only thing you’re angry about?”
“Yes … no,” I admitted.
“Might as well get it all out,” she said, followed by a resigned sigh.
I stared at her and leaned back away from her, resting my head on the cool glass of the window. It actually felt good to my aching head. I’d hurt my own ears with my yelling. I rubbed my hands over my face. I cleared my throat, determined not to raise my voice. When I finally spoke, my voice was gravel toned but not loud. “How could you … “
She looked at me but said nothing.
I took a deep breath. “How could you think I’d sleep with a hooker?” I paused. “After all we’ve been through? After these last few weeks, telling you how I feel about you? How could you think I would …betray you like that?”
I was embarrassed to find my bottom lip quivering and I bit it with my upper teeth. She still hadn’t answered me. I added, “That hurt, Scully. That you would have so little faith in me …” I nearly whispered as my voice trailed off.
I felt the sting of tears and brushed them away angrily. I didn’t want to cry in front of her. Shit. I put my face in my hands and rested my elbows on my knees. A second later, I heard her wrapper rustling and she was holding my wrists, moving my hands away from my face. I looked down, not wanting to look at her right now, embarrassed that her opinion meant so much to me … embarrassed that I was so hurt by her actions.
She gently leaned me backwards and crawled into my lap right there in the seat, straddling my thighs. She cupped my face and made me look at her. “I thought about the same thing last night. I asked myself over and over how I could dismiss the trust and belief I have in you… in our partnership… our relationship,” she paused.
I grunted to let her know that I was waiting for her to continue.
“Mulder, did you know that my mother lost a baby after Charlie? It was a boy and it nearly tore my family apart.”
Her sudden change of subject was confusing, but I waited to hear her out.
“It was the summer I was thirteen. Mom was as surprised as the rest of us, but Dad had come home after a long time away and number five was soon on his way. The pregnancy was hard on Mom from the first. She was older and she had morning sickness for the first four months. Bill, Missy and I were shipped off to summer camp. Charlie couldn’t go because he had just broken his leg. We all thought he was the lucky one. Dad was home and he was going to have time with him all summer.” She paused and sighed.
“We weren’t called home when Mom lost the baby. Dad said that she needed to rest. By the time we got home, Dad was gone, his ship had left on maneuvers. Mom was sad, but seemed to be all right.”
I didn’t see what this had to do with her lack of trust, but I nodded to encourage her to continue.
“Like I said, Mom was all right, but Charlie wasn’t. He was sullen and withdrawn and had nightmares. I was always Charlie’s favorite and one night the dreams were so bad, he crawled into bed with me and cried like a baby. The whole story came out. I was shocked.”
Scully looked out the window and then back at me. I could see her pain and I wanted to tell her it was all right. She didn’t have to continue, but I knew she needed to make me understand her reaction.
“Mom had lost the baby because she had an infection. A STD that my father had given her. When she got home from the hospital, they had fought over my father’s betrayal. He volunteered to go out on maneuvers to get away from home. Charlie was the only one of us kids that knew that we might never be a family again,” her voice broke.
“Oh, God, Scully. I’m sorry. I never got to meet your father, but you and your mother always speak of him with so much love that it’s hard to believe that he ever betrayed your mother’s trust.”
“My mom does remember him with love, Mulder. She was able to forgive him, to work through the pain. She joined him in Hawaii for a two week vacation just before school started. They spent the time at a retreat for Catholics working on their relationship. She and my father came out of the tragedy stronger and more in love than ever.”
“How about Charlie?” I asked.
“Charlie never forgave my father. He left home as soon as he graduated high school, put himself through college and never came home when my dad was there again. He didn’t even come for Dad’s memorial service.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“And you?”
“I couldn’t accept the fact that my father had slept with another woman, and brought home an STD. I was shocked and couldn’t believe that my Ahab would do something like that. Just before Dad came home that Christmas, I confronted my mother and made her tell me the truth. She was so strong. She didn’t make excuses for my father. She told me the whole story. I was furious with Ahab. I raged at my mother. Unlike Charlie, I couldn’t hold back my disgust and anger.” Scully smiled at me. “When I called him a few choice names, she slapped my face. It was the first time that my mother had ever hit me.”
“Then what happened?”
Scully was quiet for a long moment before saying, “Oh, you know. She cried. I cried. We talked and when everything was settled, I was able to forgive him, but I never felt the respect for him that I had previously felt. He was no longer my knight in shining armor. He was just a man. A man in love with his wife but unable to resist temptation when he’d gone too long without sex.”
“Is that why you believed that I would sleep with a hooker?” I understood her pain, but not how she could think that about me.
“It’s not just you, Mulder. I think my fear and distrust in male monogamy has destroyed all the relationships I’ve had during my entire adult life.”
“You don’t trust men?” I asked stunned.
She contemplated my question for a moment and then replied, “It’s not that I don’t trust men, I just don’t trust them to be faithful to me.”
“Scully! This is you and me we’re talking about. We’ve been partners for over 6 years…”
“I don’t know if that is the whole answer, or if I even have a good answer, Mulder. Maybe it’s because … I thought it was all too good to be true. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop … to find out … it couldn’t be …”
“What couldn’t be?” I asked.
“You … in love with me. And I was putting you off, I wouldn’t have sex yet and I thought … I frustrated you and maybe in the back of my head I thought that … you needed relief … just like my … father…” I must have looked incredulous. “I guess it’s always been one of my fears.”
Now I was truly confused. “What do you mean?” I sounded as puzzled as I felt.
“Maybe … I’ve been putting you off because … I’m afraid.”
“Of me?” I asked, astonished.
“No … that I’ll disappoint you, I won’t be enough for you … enough to hold you.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her against me, feeling her soft breasts pillow up against my chest. I buried my nose in her hair and whispered in her ear. “Scully, you could never disappoint me. Jesus, woman. Have I not made it clear? How much I love you? How much … it’s a miracle to me that you’re even still with me, let alone … any of the rest. No matter how shy or clumsy we are the first time … it will be perfect, Scully.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because I’ll be with you.”
Tears did come now, streaking down her cheeks. I raised my hands and wiped them with my thumbs. “Believe in me, Scully.” I kissed her gently with no tongue and she kissed me softly in return. “I felt like such a loser. I went and got drunk … met this trucker … nice guy.”
Her hands slid up my arm and hit the bandage on my tattoo and I hissed in pain. She lurched back and I had to grab for her or she would have toppled over backwards off my lap. “Oh, I’m sorry!” she said.
I was wearing a long sleeve chamois shirt. “Get up for a sec.”
She frowned but backed off my lap and sat sideways in the driver’s seat. “Let’s get in the sleeper.”
Her eyebrows raised in question. I loved it when she did that. I felt myself smiling at her goofily. “No, I’m not propositioning you, Agent Scully. I want to show you something and I have to take my shirt off. Unless you’d like me to give the public a free show?” I teased.
She smiled then. “No way.”
We climbed into the back and flopped the bunk down into its double size, which was questionable at best. We perched on the edge as she closed the curtain and I took off my shirt. I turned and held my left bicep up to her. “Take it off.”
She gingerly reached out and pried up the edge of the tape with her fingernail. “Go ahead. I have more gauze and antibiotic ointment. I need to put some more on anyway and a fresh bandage.” There was blood dotting the gauze and she ripped it off in a quick movement, making me yelp.
“Sorry!” she hissed.
I nodded. Better quick than drawn out. She stared at the tattoo. It was very colorful and covered my entire bicep, leaving only my shoulder and elbow uncovered. There were little scabs dotting the surface of the tat but you could easily see what it was.
She sucked in a breath and leaned close, her breath stirring the hairs on my forearm and making me shiver. She smiled softly and then looked up at me, her blue eyes swimming with wetness again. “It’s beautiful, Mulder.” She paused and then said lightly, “Skinner is going to be so pissed.”
We both laughed then and I said, “I’ll wire the money to the Bureau. I intended to pay it back all along, but I didn’t have the cash and I couldn’t use my own credit card without blowing my cover. I didn’t think that would be wise.”
“I’m surprised you could think that straight.”
“Why?” I asked, immediately realizing how dumb that question was.
She raised one eyebrow again and said, “You really tied on one, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but I was relatively sober by the time I got this.” She looked at me again. “It’s us, Scully,” I said quietly. “It reminded me of us.”
She nodded and licked her lips, her expression so tender. She leaned in and kissed me gently and whispered, “I believe, Mulder. I believe.”
I smiled and then kissed her back, this time with more determination. She moaned into my mouth and I felt my groin stir. We reluctantly parted and she said, “Let me fix this up.”
She was quick and efficient as only a doctor can be as she carefully applied the antibiotic gel to the entire tattoo, obviously admiring it as she did, careful not to press and cause me pain. Then she securely taped more gauze all over it.
Satisfied she said, “O.K., put your shirt back on.”
I waggled my eyebrows at her. “I don’t want to.”
She looked at my chest and sighed. “You have a nice chest, Mulder.”
I felt warmth steal through said chest at her open admiration. I sat up a little straighter and said, “Let’s take a nap.”
“A nap?”
“Yeah, you remember those, don’t you? My head could use a couple more hours sleep. You’ve been driving for five hours and it’s tiring, especially since we’re not used to it yet.”
She blinked slowly. “I’m am a little tired, especially after eating.”
I stood up and shucked off my pants, leaving my boxers on. I didn’t want to push it. I crawled in and whipped the covers back, patting the bed. She chuckled and shed her flannel shirt and jeans. I sucked in a breath as she stood there in nothing but a bra and panties. She blushed and I murmured in a voice husky with arousal, “You are so beautiful.”
She swallowed. “We’re just going to sleep, right?” she asked tentatively.
I smiled at her. “Just sleep. Come on. I want to hold you, feel you against me. Get in here and we’ll snuggle up.”
She still looked tentative but she sat on the edge of the bed and slid under the covers with her back to me. I was on my right side which was convenient, because I didn’t think I could lay on the left side with the tattoo. It was still pretty sore and probably would be for several days.
The heat rose in the cocoon under the blanket and we both sighed as she relaxed and her body fell against mine. There wasn’t a lot of room despite it begin spacious for a sleeper, even lying on our sides. I spooned up behind her and tugged her into my body. She felt so small and warm and soft. I buried my nose in her hair again and kissed the nap of her neck.
She shivered, “Mmuullddeeerrr,” she murmured in that low alto that drove me nuts.
I felt my erection return, not quite full but definitely noticeable. She stiffened. “Ignore it, Scully,” I advised.
“Hard to ignore.”
“Try, we need the sleep. I just can’t control the little beast.”
She chuckled. “It doesn’t feel so little.”
I chuckled with her and snuggled deeper under the covers, hugging her tight. She reached up and set the alarm and we drifted off to sleep. I think we were both emotionally exhausted as well as physically tired.
I was almost asleep when I heard her whisper, “Feels good.”
I hummed in the back of my throat. “Yeah,” I whispered. “I love you, Sc … Dana.”
“Love you too,” she said softly, not bothering with the pesky name thing.
I smiled as she fell asleep, assured that we were going to be O.K. I still stung from her lack of faith in me, but I would get over it. I’d just have to prove myself. I was used to that.
Despite my self-righteous indignation at her lack of faith, her story explained a lot. Her father was her hero throughout her whole childhood. Finding out that he was human and capable of betrayal, even under the circumstances of separation, must have been an awful blow to her perceptions of relationships. If her father could weaken… any man could weaken. So she’d grown up believing that all men, if alone enough or denied relief of sexual release, would eventually turn elsewhere, despite being in love.
I understood it, but I was still hurt. Intellectually, I could understand her deep seated fear that no one was immune to the wiles of a sexy and willing woman, especially if they weren’t getting any, so to speak. I remembered Cooner saying that the reason most men slept with hookers was simply because they weren’t having sex at home. He’d also pointed out that the reason he was an exception was because his wife ‘didn’t give him a reason to go anywhere else’. This type of thinking was probably exactly what was going on with Scully, only in reverse.
She’d been postponing our intimacy, putting me off, exciting me and then putting an end to our petting sessions. While I did find that frustrating, I would simply wait until I was alone and jerk off to relieve the lingering tension from those encounters. Yes, it was becoming increasingly frustrating. However, I was simply incapable of betraying Scully. I didn’t want anyone else. I was so fixated on her that even a beautiful 16 year old in a skimpy outfit held no appeal for me. I hadn’t even felt a stirring of desire when I looked at that child. Because that’s what I had seen … a child. Not a whore, not an attractive young woman … I’d seen a child, and that held no appeal for me.
Scully was the only woman that lit my fire. I didn’t quite know how to make her believe that, but I had to try. For one thing, it wasn’t like we were separated for long periods of time like her mother and father were. That was one major difference right there that I would point out to her at the first opportunity. One week without Scully and I was climbing the walls. I could never endure a separation of months. I’d lose my mind. And this was before we had sex. After we had sex … forget it.
Despite my taste in videos, I was not a promiscuous person, and never had been. I didn’t have any sexual hang ups, but I’d never been one to enjoy a one-night stand. My one indiscretion during the vampire case had left me feeling ill and full of disgust for myself. Where most men might have felt the conquering hero, I’d felt only self-loathing and a sense of having betrayed the one I love … and she wasn’t even there.
At the time, I hadn’t known if she was ever coming back, and yet … I still couldn’t get over the feeling that I’d betrayed her. I vowed then that it would never happen again. I would find her and I would never touch another woman again. If she was dead, maybe I’d have to rethink that, but otherwise, I was going to remain loyal to my love for her … even if she didn’t return it.
—X—
PART 9 (R)
TWO WEEKS LATER I15, Between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas
I forgot how luxurious it felt to sleep in the arms of a man that loves you. Mulder’s warmth and scent and body surrounded me, making me feel cherished and completely boneless. When we slept together, I woke to the most wonderful feeling of completeness I had ever experienced in my life.
I had found my other half and he fit all my broken edges perfectly. He and I made one whole, seamless soul. His body was large and strong and almost overpowering in its raw sexual appeal. I knew that if he made one move towards consummating our relationship I would be lost.
But so far he hadn’t. And that was beginning to worry me. I must be going crazy. I worried when he tried to move our relationship along and I worried when he gave me the space I told him I needed. It didn’t help that I was in a constant state of arousal. Poor man couldn’t win. My breasts actually ached at times, needing his touch, his kiss, his tongue. I had taken to wearing a sports bra and panty liners all the time. A serious case of diaper rash was nothing to joke about when you drive a big rig for hours at a time.
He had made it a point for us to sleep together as often as possible, but had not interrupted our driving and delivery schedule to enforce it. Many mornings I woke up with the scent of Mulder covering my body, but no Mulder in sight. He had taken to working out in the mornings. If there was a public workout room where we were stopped, he would use the equipment and take a short run. If not, he would run for miles before I was even awake.
I knew he was doing this to work off the sexual tension he felt and I respected it. I also respected what the constant work outs and the demands of trucking had done for his body. What was absolutely making me crazy was that he always showered or cleaned up before he got back in the truck.
I had never been able to resist a clean, sexy Mulder. A sweat hog I could resist. But, he was just so… lickable, when he climbed into the cab all clean and still damp from his shower. I knew I was losing my mind. I needed to concentrate on this assignment. When the case was solved… well, work before pleasure.
We’d been on the road almost a month now. There had been another hijacking of a Global-Tech truck, but the drivers had not been found. Skinner thought that this one was an inside job. Mulder had his own ideas. We actually met the two guys that had disappeared at the Nashville yard, and we both agreed that they didn’t fit the profile of undercover operatives.
Mulder’s theory was that we were being watched. I agreed. I knew that he was the one with the ‘Spooky’ sense, but I had a feeling he was right. We knew that someone had been in our truck. That meant that there was a master B&E artist out there or someone from Global- Tech had passed along a duplicate set of the keys to our cab.
I believed we came back to the rig before the perp could search thoroughly. Mulder thought he saw a light in the cab and we ran back to the truck instead of going into the diner. The passenger side door was not shut all the way or locked. I had been driving and I know I heard Mulder slam and lock the door when we left for the facilities. The personal laptop we brought to use for case notes was on the console.
We both thought that it was a spy. A thief could have lifted the laptop and still gotten away. We decided that we needed to do more than encode and put a password on our files. After discussing it for a while, Mulder had the idea to use the guys. He called and asked them what they suggested.
We were both surprised when Byers came up with the idea of a diary.
He asked us to give them a few days and he and the guys would develop files that we could download into the computer that would make it look as if it were Dana Tanner’s personal diary. Our data about the case could be entered and encrypted by a special program that they would install that would turn our data into personal day to day facts. They would even post date it so that no one would ever be able to prove that it wasn’t at least two years old… the length of the Tanner marriage.
A couple days later we contacted them again and they said they were ready. They needed us to check into a motel and use the land line to make the connection instead of the wireless we were using.
Both Mulder and I were glad to comply. It had been ten days since we had done more than sleep in shifts and in the crowded bunk together. We both were looking forward to a night in a motel. We pulled off the interstate near San Antonio and drove to an area that was a mix of commercial and residential buildings. We didn’t want to stay at the truck stop motel, but we didn’t want to get too far out into the county and look conspicuous.
We drove by several ‘No Vacancy’ signs until we found a decent looking motel with rooms available. Mulder went in to register. While he was gone, I gathered up our overnight kits and fresh clothing.
When he came back out he had a little grin and I knew he was going to tease me.
“Bad luck, Dana,” he said as he grabbed the duffle I tossed down to him. “The only rooms they had left were singles.”
“Marty! We can’t sleep in a single bed together,” I stated flatly.
“What’s the matter, Dana, afraid I’ll jump your bones?” he said with a big grin.
I couldn’t tell him how good that sounded to me, so I said, “No, afraid you’ll hog the covers.”
“No sweat, Ladybird. It has one bed, but it’s a king. I meant single room, not single bed,” he grinned at me over his sunglasses. He was teasing me again and I decided to play.
“Phoenix, I asked you not to call me that name,” I shot back.
“Hey, I didn’t start it. You did. The first time you responded to Cooner on the CB when he shouted for you, it was official.” Mulder sounded pleased with himself.
“You responding to Cooner calling you Phoenix is your business. I only answered because he was so insistent,” I teased.
“But you did answer, Dana and now it’s too late. You’re stuck with the handle Ladybird for the rest of your days.”
“Whatever,” I threw down the overnight kit and started to climb down.
Mulder placed his hand on my ankle to stop me. “Jump,” he said.
His voice was low and sexy and entirely too enticing.
“I can climb down by myself.” I avoided looking into his eyes as I spoke.
“Jump, Dana. I’ll catch you.”
It was a test. Since our misunderstanding about Meghan, Mulder had been giving me space, but every once in a while he would throw me off balance with a word or demand that tested our…my trust in our relationship.
I stared at him for only a second before replying, “Here I come, ready or not.” And I jumped down into his arms.
“Oh, I’m ready Dana,” he whispered into my ear as his strong arms caught me. “I’ll always be there to catch you.”
He nuzzled my neck and placed a soft kiss on my cheek and then let me slide down his body to stand on my own two feet.
I didn’t know if my sigh was one of relief or dismay as he released me and turned to grab the bags.
“I forgot the laptop,” I said as I turned to climb back up for it.
“Forget it. I’m going to refuel before we settle in for the night. I’ll get it then and set the alarm at the same time.”
I shrugged and slammed the door, locking it with the special dead bolt lock we had installed after the break in. Global could remove it when they got the truck back, but for now, we had too much fire power stashed in the cab to let it go unprotected. The alarm system the guys had advised us on was also installed.
Mulder spread the word through our friend Cooner that all the special security on the rig was due to his desire to keep me safe. I had tried to look helpless as Mulder had gone on about keeping his lady safe, but the balance of the conversation was lost to me as I began to think of the ways I would punish him for using my gender as an excuse.
By the end of the meal, I was resigned to accepting the reasoning behind his story. While Mulder accepted me as his equal and a valuable partner, the majority of the men on the road would look at me as a woman who needs protection. This attitude made the cover story sound reasonable. No one said I had to like it, but I understood it. I surprised Mulder when he began to apologize to me after leaving the diner by kissing him and telling him that very thing. All he could do was grin.
We got to our room and decided to get cleaned up and walk over to the Chevy’s restaurant across the road. I was starving and took a quick shower while Mulder refueled and parked the rig in a line of others that were backed up against a concrete wall facing the motel room doors. He brought in the lap top and headed straight for the shower.
We were to contact the Guys at midnight Washington time, so we had plenty of time to eat. Chevy’s had several big-screen TV’s and the Yankees were playing. We decided to enjoy the evening off.
When we walked in, we saw a large group of fellow truckers. They waved us over and made room for us at their table. As big as our country was, you would think that the odds of meeting other drivers frequently enough to become friendly would be tremendous. But not true. Drivers you would meet once or twice face to face kept in contact through the CB. They were a close knit group and took care of their own.
Mulder had surprised me several times during this assignment, but one of the biggest surprises was how well my Oxford-educated, FBI- trained partner fit in with these men. I contemplated this incongruity for a long time until I at last realized why. These men were honest, open people. They were not competing with Mulder or trying to belittle him to make themselves look better. He was not held up as an example to ridicule or praise. He was just one of the guys and as long as he delivered his load on time and didn’t prevent them from delivering their loads, he was accepted. He wasn’t trying to prove anything to them.
How different from his position in the FBI. How sad that he found acceptance here, but not in the life he had chosen.
The evening was fun. Good food, good game, good conversation. We left for our room around eleven. Mulder had hung back to talk to a driver named Little John but quickly caught up to me.
“Hey, wait for me,” he said as he jogged up to a halt at my side.
I smiled at him and took his hand. “What were you and Little John talking about?”
“He asked if I could help him unload early tomorrow morning. The lumpers that normally hang around the warehouse where he has to unload tomorrow have been banned from the premises while a union dispute is settled, and I promised to help,” he said casually.
“Mulder, you promised to unload the whole truck?” I was shocked.
“Naw, just a couple hundred cases that are a special order. They can’t use the forklift or the pullpack on it, so it has to be done by hand. He doesn’t trust the personnel at this warehouse not to lift a few cases for themselves, so he can’t do it alone. It won’t take me but an hour or so and I can clean up again before we check out.” He suddenly looked into my eyes and asked, “Is that all right, Dana? I mean, I didn’t think to ask you if you had early plans for the morning.”
His concern for my wishes warmed my heart. “No, I think I’d like to sleep in tomorrow. That sounds fine.”
We had been gathering data during the entire month that we had been on the road. We had sent that information to the guys via e-mail and Byers and Langly had set up a program that we could use to hide our findings in plain sight.
They had us plug our laptop into the phone jack and log on to a site they had set up. Within in moments the screen came alive with encoded data and then shut down abruptly.
Mulder called them on the cell phone immediately to ask what happened and they explained that it was done. We needed to reboot the computer and go to a special file of instructions they had inserted. Once that file was accessed it would self destruct. Mulder read it carefully and committed it to his own memory bank for future reference. I read it until I felt comfortable with the program and we deleted it.
We had to reboot the computer once again and the Guys walked us through the many ways possible of trying to recover the file. It was gone. All that was left was the personal diary of Dana Tanner, nee Kelly, dating back two and a half years to her first meeting with Martin Tanner. If anyone tried to access the data base without the correct password, the encryption program would also self destruct, leaving only the personal thoughts of a Dana Tanner to be found.
Both Mulder and I were impressed. We thanked the Guys and said goodnight.
After the sounds of a small struggle, Frohike’s words came through loud and clear, “Hey, Marty, how is life with the Mrs.?”
“Hello, Fro, I didn’t know you were there,” Mulder said.
“Yeah, these two sent me on a wild goose chase while they talked to you. So, how’s married life treating you?”
Mulder smiled into my eyes and said, “It’s unbelievable, Frohike. Absolutely unbelievable.” He hung up the phone but not before we both could hear poor Frohike groaning.
“That was cruel,” I scolded.
“He deserves that and more for having the guts to ask something like that,” Mulder growled. He smiled and shook his head. He reached over and pulled me into his arms.
“It has been unbelievable, Scully. I don’t know if I’ll be able to ever sleep alone again. I can’t believe how well I sleep with you next to me.”
“What do you mean, Mulder? You sleep alone all the time when I’m driving.”
“Yeah, but I can still hear you and reach out and touch you.”
“I know what you mean,” I said snuggling against his chest. “I’m getting very used to being with you day and night, too. I thought it would be…”
“Impossible? Being around someone else night and day?” he finished for me. “Yeah, me too. I was worried that we would start to bicker and get on each other’s nerves. But we haven’t.” He wrapped his arms around me even tighter and kissed the top of my head.
I looked up and he said, “I need my goodnight kiss now, Dana. I’ve got to get up early to help Little John.”
I pulled away and I could tell he was disappointed. I just smiled and walked over to turn off the lights and check the lock on the door. “I’m turning in right now too. Get into bed and I’ll be out in just a moment.”
I hurriedly finished getting ready and crawled in on my side of the huge king sized bed.
Mulder pulled me into his arms and kissed me. We always called it a goodnight kiss when in fact it had worked up to a goodnight necking session. And this time we were horizontal in a huge bed while it happened.
I wanted him to push me a little, try to talk me into having sex with him but he stopped as usual. He was as aroused as I was but he stopped short once again.
“Oh, Mulder,” I whispered. “I don’t know how much longer we can go on like this.”
“As long as you need, Scully. I can wait as long as you need me to, but I have to tell you this is damn hard.”
I chuckled and brushed my hand against his pulsing erection, “I’ll say.”
He moaned and jerked back from my touch. “Scculllly! Damn it, don’t make this worse than it is.”
I was immediately contrite. “I’m sorry, Mulder. I want this case to be over too.”
He just nodded and pulled me closer, lifting me and flipping me so that we could spoon. “Do we have to wait until the case is over?”
I sighed, beginning to wonder what the hell I was waiting for. Would he push it? I sighed again, trying to think of an answer and then he gave up.
“Night, Scully.”
“Night, Mulder.”
—X—
BOEHM COMPANY (R) THE NEXT MORNING
I was so frustrated, I could scream. If I had one more unrelieved hard on, I was going combust. I’d woken up on my back, Scully snuggled into my side, a leg thrown over my thigh, her head on my shoulder and her tiny hand gently gripping my erection through my boxers.
The uncontrolled moan I’d let out the instant I realized it was her hand on my johnson had awakened her. A second was all it took for her to realize what she was doing and she jerked away like she’d been burned.
“I’m sorry!” she’d hissed.
I hadn’t even been able to answer her. If I opened my mouth or touched her at that moment, I would have ravished her. Instead, I heaved myself away from her and leaped out of bed, stomping off into the shower. I was too turned on to be embarrassed about the funny way I was walking. I’d locked the door, turned on the shower full blast and climbed in after shedding my underwear.
Before I even reached for a bar of soap, I’d been pumping my full blown erection hard and fast, feeling the ache rise up in my balls within seconds. In an embarrassingly short time, I was moaning like I was dying as hard, stinging ropes of cum shot out onto the walls of the shower as I climaxed, her name dying on my lips.
I couldn’t keep this up. I know I told her I would give her as much time as she needed. Jesus Christ, how long did she need?
If she was half as frustrated as I was, I hoped she would reconsider about waiting until the end of this case. If I knew it would only be a few more days, I could talk myself into waiting. The reality was, however, that this could go on for a long time, months even. We had no way of knowing.
I wouldn’t be an ass about it, but maybe I could slide those late night make out sessions into heavy petting. If I excited her enough, maybe she would decide not to wait as well. It was pointless as far as I was concerned. I knew it was inevitable that we’d be together.
I’d known it for a long time. At the same time, I needed for her to be sure. I also wanted her to be comfortable and not caving in out of some misguided notion that she would lose me if she didn’t fuck me. This being a gentleman could really suck big time, sometimes.
I’d emerged from the shower to see her watching me furtively. Despite the noise of the shower, there’s no way she could have missed me moaning and groaning in there like I was dying. She had to know what I was doing in there. She never mentioned it, so neither did I. I knew it made her uncomfortable. Well, shit. I couldn’t help it. It was that or walk around with blue balls all day and I wasn’t willing to do that.
—X—
‘Well, that could have gone better,’ I thought as Mulder slammed the door. I couldn’t help what I did in my sleep. I know this waiting was getting to him. What did he think it was doing to me? At least he could climb in the shower and jack off. Some of the women’s showers we’ve had to use are not exactly conducive to masturbatory fantasies. If they weren’t dirty, communal or sterile, they were downright dangerous. And I absolutely refused to masturbate in the bunk while Mulder was three feet away from me.
Speaking of which, I found that I was hot and needing release after waking with Mulder’s cock in my hand and being forced to listen to his cries of completion. I forced myself to ignore my need and snuggled back down to go to sleep. Even though the cab of the rig was luxurious, there still was no replacement for a bed that did not move.
I tried to think of the many reasons I had to keep our relationship on a professional basis on this case, but all I could remember was a kaleidoscope of mental snapshots of Mulder.
Mulder grinning in the sunshine… Mulder kissing me goodnight… Mulder’s long, thick cock twitching in my hand as I woke up…
And when I tried to block the thoughts of a very masculine Mulder, all those other traitorous thoughts would flood in.
Mulder giving me back my cross when I was returned, at my bedside, sporting a goofy grin and Super Stars of the Super Bowl tape in hand, Mulder holding me after Penny’s death, after Padgett’s fantasy killer trying to kill me, after the final IVF attempt failed.
I fell asleep thinking of how intertwined our lives are. There was never going to be another man for me. Why was I waiting? I couldn’t answer my own question. What did that mean?
—X—
I felt the sweat soaking my wife beater tee shirt as I lifted another box from the trailer and lumped it out onto the dock, stacking it neatly on the skids that were set up there. I welcomed the physical activity to burn off my frustration. It helped keep me tired enough not to blow up and say or do something stupid. I’d foregone my run this morning to do this, and it was a fine substitute.
“Only a few more,” Little John hollered from inside the cavernous fifty-three foot trailer.
I stood up straight and stretched my arms over my head, hearing my back decompress with a few loud pops. I bent at the waist, stretching my back muscles and groaned gently, feeling the muscles pull with a nice ache. The group of women on their break that had been watching Little John and I unload gave out a group moan, as a tease, trying to get my attention. I had to admit I enjoyed the attention. It was good for my ego. Why couldn’t Scully be affected that way?
I shot them a grin just as I heard a gasp. I looked off the edge of the dock, behind them and saw her.
There she stood, two plastic cups in her hand, wearing a blue tank top and khaki shorts with a cuffed hem, along with bulky socks and her work boots. She looked so cute I couldn’t help but smile.
She had an odd look on her face and I teasingly waved my hand up and down to get her attention. She blinked rapidly and then smiled, holding up one cup. “I brought you guys some ice tea. Thought you might want a drink by now.”
Little John emerged from the back of the trailer, dropped his box on the skid and twirled to greet her. “Hey there, little lady. Did I hear someone say iced tea?”
Scully smiled her tight lipped smile, obviously irritated at being called ‘little lady’. She refrained from a biting remark I knew was on the tip of her tongue and worked her way over to the cement steps on the side that led up to the dock. She gave the women there a glare and moved on up to join us.
“Thanks, honey,” I said, risking the endearment.
She didn’t cringe so that was a good sign. We each took a cup from her and gulped it down in a couple of long swallows. I coughed and wiped my mouth on the back of my hand.
When I looked up she was staring at me again, with that odd look again. I looked down at myself to make sure I didn’t have something smeared on my shirt. Only sweat, I noted, then looked up again. Then I realized what that look was. She was checking me out! She was liking what she saw. Her cheeks were slightly flushed and I couldn’t help but notice her nipples poking out through her shirt.
I also couldn’t help the slow, smug smile that spread across my face. She blushed and turned away, clearing her throat. “Well, uh, how much longer … honey?” she emphasized the last. Only I would have caught the censure in her voice and I grinned, unwilling to be chastened.
I stepped into her and raised her face to mine. I dipped down quickly for a quick kiss and then stood up. While she was making that adorable, surprised, guppy face she makes, I answered, “Just a few more minutes. We should be done in about ten, right, John?”
“You bet,” he said, saluting and returning to the trailer after handing Scully his empty cup. I handed her my cup and winked at her. “You want to wait for me or meet me back at the truck?”
“Umm, I’ll wait.”
“O.K., we’ll walk back together.”
—X—
True to Little John’s word, we were done ten minutes later. He suggested a shower and then breakfast at the diner just down the street. We accepted and met there a half hour later.
We were about half way through our breakfast when Little John asked, “So, you hit all the weigh stations up the interstate yet?”
“No, not yet. We’re headed that way, though.”
“How’s your load?”
“Meaning?” I asked, looking sideways at Scully who had stopped chewing and was suddenly very alert.
“Meaning, are you overweight or legal?”
“I think we’re legal,” I answered, remembering my bout in the rig with a hangover while Scully did all the work. I felt a quick spurt of guilt and resolved, like I do every time, never to drink again.
“We are, legal, that is. I checked last night,” Scully added.
“Oh, well, you’re set then,” Little John said, punctuating his comment with a sharp nod of his head.
“And if we weren’t?” I asked casually, spooning hash browns into my mouth to try and act like I wasn’t overly interested.
Little John put down his fork and carefully wiped his mouth. “Well, I guess my question for you is … are you by-the-book types?”
I saw the look of indignation cross Scully’s face and interrupted her before she could defend us and blow this for us. She didn’t see where he was headed, only that he was possibly insulting us.
“Not always,” I replied quickly. “We’ve risked running overweight a time or two,” I added, as though we were old hands at this.
Scully shot me a surprised look, but then schooled her features into her blank mask. I knew that look. It was the one that said, ‘I’m going to wait and see what you’re doing, but I don’t like it.’
“Well, there are certain stations where you can slip by … for a few bucks.”
“Oh yeah? Which ones would those be? That could come in handy in the future.”
Little John winked. “Now you’re talking. You know the PUC, Public Utility Commission Officers, they call ‘em?”
“Yup,” I said, keeping my responses short, not wanting to give anything away.
“Well, they ain’t all Abe Lincoln, you know what I mean?”
I smiled at him and gently nudged Scully when I saw her open her mouth. If she got righteous on this guy, he would shut down like a virgin in a locker room.
She shot me a dirty look this time, but leaned back in her seat, effectively removing herself from the conversation. I leaned toward him conspiratorially. “You wouldn’t want to help out a friend, now would you? And let me in on who might be willing to overlook a little oops?”
He smiled back at me, nodding. “Sure. There’s a station on I15 at the Utah/Arizona border and another one at the Cali border. There’s a guy, Brody, at the Utah one. He’s a slacker. For a Jackson, he’ll look the other way and write you up as pretty as you please.”
“Well, now,” I murmured. “That is valuable information, buddy. How about the other one? Where in Cali?”
He regarded me for a moment, decided I wasn’t going to turn on him, and said, “Well, as you head south to Cali on fifteen you’ll hit one as you head through Stateline. At that one, there’s a PUC named Kara. She’s a ripe, cute, little thing too, but she’s affable.” He stressed ‘affable’ with special meaning.
“For a Jackson?” I said.
“No, she’s a little harder on the wallet, say … a Grant.”
“I read you,” I said and we casually went back to eating our breakfast. “Thanks for the info,” I mumbled around a mouthful of eggs.
He smiled. “Sure thing, buddy. Least I can do since you helped me lump that load. I gotta go now though, my time’s up. Maybe we’ll hook up again sometime.” He stood up and reached a hand out to me and then Scully, which we shook firmly and then he said, “Y’all take care now.”
And he was gone. I let out a deep sigh and turned to Scully. “Well, that was interesting, no?”
She pursed her lips but then said, “I almost blew it, didn’t I?”
I was silent a moment, not wanting to make her feel bad but not wanting to lie to her either. “You could have … but you didn’t, that’s what matters.”
“We have to go to these weigh stations, Mulder.”
“I know. They’re directly on our route anyway, so it won’t be out of the way, which is good. If we deviate a little off the plan it might go unnoticed, but a big detour would definitely draw too much attention. We need to remember that most of the people at Global- Tech don’t know what we’re up to.”
“Yeah, I know. They think we’re just another pair of drivers.”
“Right, so we luck out this time. That’s a major clue, Scully. If there is a string of dirty PUC Officers, that could be our link to the hijackers. Maybe they’re informants too … to the hijackers, reporting on loads.”
“That’s all speculation, Mulder,” she gently scolded me.
“I know, but speculation is all we have right now. We’ve been at this for weeks and so far, we have nothing. Zip, zero, zilch, nada, the big goose egg …” I went on.
“All right! I get the point,” she said as she chucked me in the arm. “And I’ve learned to follow your instincts, Mulder. They are usually good.”
I waggled my eyebrows at her. “I wish you would follow my instincts, Scully,” I teased.
She blushed to the roots of her hair and picked up her coffee cup, letting her hair swing forward to hide her face. I smirked, unable to help myself and tucked her hair behind her ear. She cringed and leaned her head down to dislodge my hand.
She peered up at me from under her long eyelashes and I nearly groaned at how sexy she looked. I loved it when she looked at me like that. She was embarrassed, but intrigued and aroused at the same time. I hoped this case ended soon, because I honestly didn’t know how long I could wait to be with her. I found myself fervently praying to a God I didn’t believe in that this clue led us somewhere.
“Let’s get going. We hit the Utah/Arizona border, bop down to Las Vegas and drop this load. Then we pick up another one there and head to San Diego, LA and San Francisco. Sunny California, here we come,” I joked.
She smiled. “Come on, Marty, let’s hit the bricks.”
—X—
I took first shift. Mulder had already had quite a workout this morning lumping for Little John. He didn’t climb up into the bunk, but dozed in his seat as soon as we hit the interstate.
I couldn’t keep from looking at him now and then. He looked so different when he slept. Peaceful, boyish, sexy.
Who was I kidding? Not myself, certainly. I want him. I thought I was going to melt this morning. I came up behind the women at the break area without them noticing me. I heard them talking about the men they were watching, but didn’t realize that Mulder was the one who held most of their interest until I stepped around the dumpster at the edge of the dock. I wanted to see this hunk they were talking about. When I realized that it was my partner, I was shocked.
I knew Mulder was a good looking man. I’d desired him off and on from the first time I laid eyes on him. I had seen him naked more than once and part of my mind always appreciated the view. But he was Mulder… the smartest man I had ever known, my partner, my friend, my best friend. I loved him for what was inside as much or more than the packaging. In fact, even though our close proximity had been driving me crazy, it was really just an extension of the desire that I’d felt for the inner man for years now.
But listening to them talk, the way they described his movements, their speculations on his abilities and attributes shocked me. Mulder? All this was about Mulder? Then I saw him. He had just finished stacking a box and stood up, stretching his arms over his head then bent over at the waist. They were right. Where had I been all this time? What was I thinking?
I guess I’d gotten too used to the sight of him to fully appreciate the packaging. The job had toned him even more than usual. His biceps were bigger, his pecs had more definition. The tight wife beater tee molded his chest and six pack abs like the skin on a grape.
I was mesmerized by the sheer beauty of his body and his grace. He made tossing heavy boxes around look sexy, but when he stopped and stretched, I was lost in a dream of a hot, sexy, Mulder, stretched out over me, touching me, kissing me, making love to me.
When he waved to get my attention, I was embarrassed. Caught staring at the merchandise. His smug little grin let me know that he was enjoying my discomfort. It was a good thing he was almost done. I gave the women at the break area one final glare and moved out of the way until they were done.
This case had to end soon or I’d be certifiable. I tried to think about the case to take my mind off Mulder. Little John had given us a couple of names to check out. Maybe things would break soon. It was my only hope.
—X—
PART 10 (R)
I15 UTAH/ARIZONA BORDER PUC WEIGH STATION
I’d left Scully sitting in the truck on the scale. I’d moved the load around at the last weigh station, so that we would be overweight on two axles. There was virtually no weight in the back of the trailer now, it was all in the front. “Hey there!” I grinned as I stepped up to the window.
“Hey yourself,” the frowning man behind the window replied.
“What’s your name?”
“Who wants to know?”
“I’m a friend of Little John’s. He said I should look for a guy named Brody.”
He looked at me suspiciously. “I might be Brody.”
“Might be?”
He just stared at me. I slipped a twenty dollar bill into the tray that sat below the Plexiglas window featuring a small grill that you could talk through. “I need your help, buddy,” I whispered, leaning in close. “I really need to get this load to San Diego … quick. And I’m behind schedule. It’s a government job and if I fuck it up, the boss is going to have a cow. I don’t have time to be fussing with the chassis and the fifth wheel, man. I have to keep moving. Can you understand that?”
“Yeah,” he said tentatively, weakening. He glanced at the twenty.
“That enough to snake on out of here?” I asked quietly.
He looked at the scales in front of him and back to me, then to the twenty. I pulled a ten out of my wallet. “How ‘bout a Hamilton to go with that, buddy. I’m a little short this week, one of the reasons I need to get this load through. I can do better for you next time,” I added, hoping his greed would push him to accept my offer. He was suspicious, but obviously, even thirty bucks was a nice little tip for the day.
He smiled suddenly, “You really know Little John?”
“Sure do, just left him at Boehm Company. Helped him lump a load cause the other boys weren’t there to help.”
“You’re all right, then,” he drawled. “Any friend of Little John’s is a friend of mine.”
I pushed the bills toward him. “You need me to sign that sheet?”
He pushed the clipboard into the tray and pushed it out to me. I glanced and saw the evenly distributed weights written on the sheet. I grinned and winked at him, signing my name … Marty Tanner. “I won’t forget this, man,” I assured him.
“No problem. Hey, how you like driving for Global?” he asked.
I detected more than casual interest but feigned indifference. “It’s all right, I guess. One outfit’s a lot like the next. ‘Cept I must say, these guys gave us a right nice rig,” I added, sliding into the lingo. I winked at him again, “Me and the Mrs. appreciate that bigger bunk, if you know what I mean.”
He laughed then. Ah, sex, the universal language of male bonding. “I sure do. Easier to rock the shocks when you have a little room, eh? Yeah, these mom and pop outfits can’t afford rigs like that with all the fixin’s, but RP Industries is fuckin’ loaded, you know?”
I had to stop myself from letting my head snap straight up. “RP Industries?”
“Yeah, they own Global-Tech, didn’t you know that?”
“Oh yeah, I guess I heard it mentioned, but I never gave it much thought.”
“Well, that’s where the money comes from and the government contracts. Those boys have contacts, if you know what I mean. They get all the good accounts.”
“How’s that?”
“Oh, well, that’s the latest gossip. Other companies hatin’ it, you know? But the VP of Fleet Services?” He ended with a question.
“Yeah?” I encouraged as I handed the clipboard back to him through the tray.
“He’s got some sort of government connections and he’s married to the VP of Logistics for Global Tech. She apparently, well, I think her Daddy is up to his neck in RP Industries stock. So between the two of them, they’re shoving other bidders right out of the picture for those government contracts.”
“That’s not very fair.”
“Dirty business for sure, buddy, but … hey, that’s what makes the world go ‘round, eh?” He looked at the money still lying in the tray.
“I guess.”
“We all do what we gotta do to get by, right?” he asked.
“We sure do, Brody. Big business is none of my concern, just so long as I get paid. Look, I gotta hit it. Thanks again, man.”
“Go on and git,” he said. “And hey, rock the shocks for me one time, huh? She’s a real looker.”
I forced a smile and walked away, leaving the bills in the tray and forced myself not to look back. I could see Scully peering at us from the passenger side of the truck as I crossed the pavement. I hopped into the truck and blew air out of pursed lips.
“Soon as you turned around, he snatched that money like it was the Holy Grail.”
“Definitely dirty. If he’d take money from me, a stranger for the most part, then he probably is on the take from a lot of truckers.”
“Other Global-Tech drivers?”
“Probably anyone that’s willing to pay and keep their mouth shut.”
“Well, we’ll send someone to check him out. Let’s roll. It’ll look funny if we sit here too long.”
“Yeah, I told him we were in a hurry.” I double clutched and slid the rig into gear and gently navigated off the scale and around the lane that led back out onto the Interstate.
Scully murmured, “One down, one to go.”
“We got bigger troubles, Scully.”
“What?”
“He told me Global-Tech is owned by RP Industries.”
“So?”
“Those initials don’t ring a bell?”
She scrunched her brow. “Should they?”
“Roush/Pinck Pharmaceuticals, Scully, also known as … RP Industries.”
“Oh my God!”
“Yeah, and wait, it gets better. Get on the horn to the Gunmen. We need to find out the names of the VP of Fleet Services and the VP of Logistics at Global-Tech.”
“What for?”
“The first has government connections, whatever that means, and the second is the daughter of some big deal in RP Industries. I’ll lay money down that those two are up to their necks in dirty business.”
Scully pulled out her cell phone. “I’m on it.”
—X—
The guys called us back nearly an hour later as we zoomed down the highway in the dead of night. I watched the street lights and the headlights flash by as Scully made sounds of interest into her cell phone, while scribbling onto a small pad she was resting on her thigh.
“Oh man,” she whispered, sounding distressed.
“What?”
She waved me to silence.
“O.K., no, I’ve got it. Damn, this could get ugly. Been a while since I heard either of those names. Hoped I’d never hear them again.”
I looked at her and frowned.
“Don’t get caught. Poke around if you must, but cover your tracks well. We’re not dealing with small timers here, I’m afraid.” She paused, “I can’t stop you, can I?” Another pause. “Cover your asses,” she said finally, and shut off her phone.
“What’s going on, Scully?”
“You’re not going to like it.”
“I didn’t figure I would. It’s bad, huh?”
“Worse.”
“Worse?”
“You’ll never guess who the VP of Fleet Services is for Global- Tech.”
“No, I probably won’t, so why don’t you tell me?” I said, more testily than I meant to, getting impatient with her stalling.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
“No, I’m sorry. I’m on edge. So who is he? A name you recognize, I take it?”
“Oh yeah, the name Thomas Strughold set your brain on fire?”
“No shit.”
“Yeah, the guys dug a little deeper and he’s THE Strughold’s grandson.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet he’s Consortium up to his arm pits.”
“Taking Daddy’s place?”
“You said he had government connections. What does that sound like to you? It’s too much of a coincidence, Mulder.”
“You think he’s in cahoots to move product for the Consortium business.”
“It has to be something like that.”
“Who’s the VP of Logistics? Who’s she? Brody said they were married.”
Scully looked at her lap and once again seemed reluctant to give me bad news. “This one’s going to be bigger shock.”
“Bigger than Strughold?”
She gave me a look of almost pity and I felt a cold chasm open up in my chest. “Who is it, Scully?”
She swallowed and whispered, “Her name is … Deirdre Fowley.”
“WHAT?” I nearly screamed.
Scully looked at her lap again. “Who is she?” she asked.
It was my turn to swallow. “She’s Diana’s little sister.”
“Oh shit,” she muttered.
“Oh shit doesn’t begin to cover it.”
“Who is the father?”
“Diana’s father’s name is Henry Fowley. He went by the nickname Butch. He’s a wealthy man, owns an import/export business, among other things. He has his hands in a lot of pies, but I never knew…”
“Never knew what?”
“I never heard him linked with Roush/Pinck Pharmaceuticals.”
“The guys are checking now. Brody said he owned stock. The guys are trying to find out just how much … or if it goes even further than that.”
“This is getting shitty in a hurry, huh?” I said. It was a rhetorical question.
“Yeah, it is,” she said as she began to put her notes into the encrypted ‘diary’ program.
—X—
The lights of Los Vegas were visible for miles. Contrary to popular belief, gambling was not the only business in town. Several major companies had manufacturing and warehousing facilities in and around Vegas proper. Our business in Vegas was with a facility that assembled computers. We were delivering a load of parts and picking up our first load of supercomputers to be delivered in San Diego for disbursement to the various government facilities there. Both Mulder and I knew that this could be it.
We pulled into the terminal around dawn and dropped our trailer. We were given an appointment to pick up our next load for two days later and directions to the warehouse. We had a two day layover in Vegas. Two days with nothing to do. Oh boy!
Mulder and I drove through the city, checking out the sights and trying to decide where to stay. The dispatcher had suggested The Voyeur Motel down the street from the terminal, but when we drove by, we both agreed that we wanted something better.
“We could always stay at the Palms, Dana,” Mulder teased.
“The Palms, Marty?” I knew I had heard of it, but couldn’t place the conversation.
“Yeah, it’s owned by the Maloofs, owners of the Sacramento Kings,” he grinned. “Maybe we could see Chris Webber or Vlade Divac or Doug Christie.”
“Mulder…” I warned him.
“I know, I know. No parking for the rig,” he grinned to let me know he had been teasing.
“Right. I want to go to a nicer place, too, but not quite that upscale. We don’t need to bring attention to ourselves while we’re here.”
He agreed and fell quiet as we searched for an acceptable motel. We finally agreed to try the Rising Star Motor Court. I had Mulder pull over and I ran in to ask about an available room. The attendant was a sweet little old lady type and she took me out to make sure the room was acceptable before I paid.
They didn’t have a double room available on the first floor, parking lot side. I wasn’t sure how Mulder would feel about being separated, but she promised to save the adjoining room for us for the next night, if we needed it. I was almost relieved that my room was on the other side of the motel and upstairs. My hormones were in overdrive already, and I didn’t think I could take one more night in Mulder’s arms without jumping him.
We needed to be on top of our game right now. We were getting close and things could be heating up any moment. I just hoped that Mulder understood that this wasn’t a personal rejection.
Mulder’s quick acceptance of the sleeping arrangements hurt my feelings at first, which was ridiculous since it was what I wanted. Right? It wasn’t until I looked into his eyes and saw the love and understanding there, that I realized that he was doing what he thought I needed. Space. Just a little breathing room to keep it together.
“This is good Scully. I can park the rig close enough that I can hear if anyone is messing with it. We can both use a good night’s sleep.” His smile eased my concern.
“Speaking of sleep, I think I’m going to go up to my room and grab a nap after I shower,” I said. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know, I think I might grab a shuttle and go look around downtown a little. Do you want to go?” he asked.
I assured him that I was in dire need of a shower and sleep and he grinned again. “I’ll call you when I get back. We can go get some dinner and a maybe catch a show or… something.”
I held my breath for a moment, then I had to ask, “Is this a date, Mr. Tanner?”
He stared at me and smiled. “Yeah. A date. I’ll call you later and let you know what time, Mrs. Tanner.”
I smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. “Later, handsome.” I knew he was watching me climb the stairs, eyes glued to my derriere. The extra wiggle in my walk extracted a small groan as he waited until I was out of sight. This could prove to be interesting.
—X—
I had a cab take me to a small plaza I’d seen on our ride in. As I walked the sidewalk and browsed the windows of the stores, my eyes were caught by one in particular, ‘The Cow’s Outside’. I wandered over and looked at the outfit on the mannequin in the window and instantly saw it on Scully. Oh Christ Almighty. She would be so hot in that. Before I could talk myself out of it, I went inside and looked around for a while, but I kept wandering back to the outfit in the window. A form fitting, waist-length jacket and a black leather skirt that would hang to mid thigh. The mannequin wore a white cropped tee underneath that barely hung below the bust line.
A saleswoman approached and said. “That’s a nice one. You interested?”
“Yes, do you have it other sizes?”
“Not ones that would fit you,” she teased.
I chuckled. “No, my … wife is a size six.”
“Top and bottom?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Let me take a look in the back.”
She disappeared and I stood my ground. She returned shortly with the skirt and jacket in her arms. “Here they are.”
I took them from her hands and examined the tags. Not cheap. But then again, Scully was worth it. At one of our layovers at a truck stop, I’d pocketed the personal ATM card that I’d had the guys set up for Marty Tanner that accessed my own funds, and withdrew three hundred in cash. I did it for the next couple days as well. I hadn’t told Scully. I’d wanted to have cash on me. And she would worry about us blowing us our cover.
“What would you recommend for footwear with this?”
The clerk gave me an assessing look and said, “Dressy cowboy boots would be perfect, the ankle height ones they make for women. I have just the thing. Do you know her shoe size?”
“Size five.”
“Tiny feet. You’ll want a size five and a half or six in a boot.”
“How come?” I asked as I followed her to the back of the store where the wall was covered with shoes, and boots on little shelves.
“Because boots run a about a half size smaller in comparison to shoes and it gives some wiggle room. Feet tend to swell slightly in boots because there isn’t a lot of air circulation, so you want to be sure you have room for that. Otherwise, they end up pinching your feet.”
“Don’t want that.”
“No you don’t,” she replied. “Here they are. They have that small cranberry stripe for color. What do you think?”
“Perfect. You have a size six?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I’ll take them, and the outfit.”
“Right on. I’ll get them for you.”
I paid for the outfit and the boots and exited the store. I figured I’d spent enough money for one day and hailed a cab to take me back to the hotel. I hoped Scully wouldn’t be offended that I’d bought her clothes again. I didn’t want to imply that her clothing choices were substandard. I just knew what she had in her suitcase. None of it was really appropriate for a night on the town. And I intended to show Scully a good time. I wasn’t going to let the chance go by. I was going to take her on a real date. I couldn’t wait.
Then I remembered the tracking device the guys had slipped in the bag with the ATM card and made a mental note not to forget to give it to Scully. She wouldn’t know what it was, but what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.
—X—
I thought I would be too excited to take a nap, but after a long, hot bath, I easily fell asleep and woke up rested and excited for our date to begin.
I searched through all my clothes and realized that I didn’t have anything to wear. I chuckled to myself at the girlie way I was thinking. This is Vegas; any way I dress will be acceptable, I finally decided as I picked a pair of jeans and the green tank and shirt that matched. This was a date, but it was with Mulder. There was nothing to be nervous about. Was there?
I almost called Mulder three times that afternoon before the phone rang.
[Hey, Dana. Did you have a good nap?] his voice was low and sexy.
“Yes, thanks. I feel rested and hungry. Have you picked somewhere to eat yet?”
[I got a few ideas while I was out. What do you feel like eating tonight? Italian, Chinese, Seafood? They have something for everyone here in Vegas.]
“Hummm… I’ll have to let you know when you come to pick me up,” I stalled.
[Scully, what are you wearing?] His words sent a jolt of desire through me.
“Mulder…”
[I got you something while I was out. I’d love to see you in it tonight.]
“Mulder, I can’t wear anything you would buy at an adult bookstore out in public,” I teased, suddenly even more nervous.
[You’ll like it, Dana, can I bring it up now?]
“Just give me a few minutes, Mulder, then come on up. And it better not be edible underwear!”
“Gee, thanks for that visual, Scully,” he reprimanded with mock sternness. I laughed as I hung up the phone and rushed into the bathroom to make sure my makeup was perfect. My hair had decided to take a vacation and was wildly curled. I hadn’t noticed how long it was getting while we were on the road. Maybe I should get it cut while I was here in Vegas.
Mulder’s knock on the door was expected, but it still made me startle.
“Coming…” I said as I walked across the room.
Mulder said something under his breath that I couldn’t quite catch through the door. I started to ask him what he said, when the look on his face stopped me cold. He was standing there dressed in a pair of his old jeans and a new shirt, staring at my hair as if he’d never seen it before.
“Scu…Dana! You’re hair is beautiful. It’s so curly and… long,” he reached out tentatively to touch my hair but drew his hand back quickly. “May I come in?” he asked almost sheepishly.
“Of course, I’m sorry,” I said as I stepped away from the door.
Mulder walked in carrying a large bag. He kept going until he reached the bed and sat down, not taking his eyes off my hair for a moment.
I laughed nervously, and asked “Is that for me?” I gestured towards the bag.
“Oh, yeah, the boots are from me. These and the outfit they match,” Mulder grinned. “I thought you might need some clothes for our down-time. Who knows? We may be able to have a little fun in this town.”
I opened the boot box and saw a pair of beautiful, handcrafted black leather boots with just a touch of cranberry trim. “Mulder. I don’t know what to say.” I was stunned. Mulder handed me a smaller bag and waited until I opened it.
“I saw these and I couldn’t resist. Happy Birthday, Scully.” Mulder said without a trace of a smile.
“Mulder, my birthday was months ago,” I said as I opened the bag and pulled out the contents. “Oh my, it’s beautiful!” I gasped. The skirt was black, short and straight. The jacket was buttery soft black leather with a touch of cranberry and white. It was short but had long sleeves. The outfit was extremely well made out of a superior cut of leather. I would never have spent this much on myself.
“Mulder…”
He held up his hand, stopping my words, “Think of this as a way to make up for all the birthdays I’ve forgotten in the past and the ones that I’ll probably forget in the future. Do you like it?”
I was nearly speechless. “Yes,” I managed, “But this must have cost a fortune.”
“Good, it’s worth twice the price if you like it and it fits. Try it on. The display had one of those tee shirts that look like it’s been torn off right in the middle of your stomach under the jacket.”
“You mean a cropped tee? I think I have something to put under it. I’ll be right back.”
Mulder settled back on the bed and watched me leave the room. I took the boots and leather outfit, and then came back to search through my suitcase for the rest of the clothes I would need.
Did I say I was stunned? The boots and the outfit had to have cost several hundred dollars. Why would Mulder spend that kind of money on me? And where did he get it? I hoped he hadn’t made another large charge on the Martin Tanner credit card. Skinner would have a cow. No pun intended.
I knew I should give it back, but… How did he know leather clothing was my secret weakness? I love the smell and feel of fine leather. I love how it molds to my body and makes every curve look sexy.
When Melissa and I were young, I could never wear the flowing long skirts and ‘Stevie Nicks’ outfits that made Melissa look like a fairy princess. But give me a black leather mini-skirt and a pair of high heels and I had my own pack of men falling all over themselves to ask me out.
I quickly pulled off my clothes and put the new outfit on. I slid the silky thigh-high stockings I brought with me on and then donned the skirt. I looked at myself in the mirror and frowned. The skirt hung low on my hips and fit just right, but it was so molded to my curves that my panty line showed. I quickly stepped out of my bikini panties and donned the pair of thong underwear I had brought, just in case. Problem solved.
I pulled on a white cropped silk tee and the boots. The fit was wonderful. They had a two and a half inch heel, high enough to showcase my legs, but low enough to dance in all night.
Last but not least was the jacket. It slid over my arms, and it molded to my breasts. It felt like it had been custom made just for me. I stood looking at myself in the mirror. I remembered this woman. It was Dana. I suddenly realized why Mulder had bought this outfit for me. He wanted me to know that he saw me, Dana Scully. He was giving me the sign I always told myself I was waiting for.
Mulder told me he wanted to deepen our relationship and this was his commitment. He wanted me to trust him, to know that he valued all of me, not just as his partner or his friend, but as his love, as a strong, independent woman.
Or maybe I was reading way too much into it. Maybe he thought if I looked and felt sexy, it would improve his chances. He didn’t need any help in the temptation department, but I didn’t need to let him know that.
I saw Mulder step up behind me in the mirror. I watched him inspect me from the rear, head to toe. His eyes widened as he spied my tattoo. He stepped forward to check out my reflection in the mirror. Finally his eyes met mine in the glass.
“Beautiful,” he said and slowly slid his arms around me from behind. “You look better than the mannequin did in that, Scully. It was made for you, I swear.”
“Thank you,” I said, my voice was low and sultry. “How can I ever let you know how much I love this outfit, Mulder?” I placed my hands on his strong forearms and leaned back into his embrace.
“I’m sure I can think of something, Scully.” His eyes glowed and his beautiful lips twitched as he fought the urge to accept the opening I had just given him to tease me.
I smiled back at him in the mirror and we stood quietly enjoying the feeling of our embrace. I watched as Mulder’s eyes darkened. I could feel the heat from his arousal through the soft leather, practically branding my skin. I casually wondered what he would do if he knew I had a thong on under the skirt. I was soon to find out.
Mulder slid his hands from around my waist. One went higher to caress the bare skin of my midriff, just skimming the undersides of my breasts. His other hand slid over my belly button to the leather clinging to my hip, on around to cup the cheek of my ass, and then on down my thigh. On his way back up he slid his hand under the edge of the skirt to stroke the silky stockings that clung to my thighs.
“Damn! Scully, warn a guy, will you?” he gasped.
“Hummm?” was all I could say.
“Stockings, Agent Scully? Do you have any idea how incredibly sexy I find stockings on a woman in a short skirt?” Mulder nuzzled my ear as he rasped out, “How incredibly sexy you are when you wear stockings?”
I remained silent, but it didn’t stop my mind from screaming, ‘If you think that’s something, keep going, G-Man!’
Mulder stroked up my thigh and when I didn’t stop him, let his hand roam a little higher, seeking at least a touch of my panties. His hand slid higher and higher until he was cupping my bare derriere in his large hand. The look on his face in the mirror was priceless…a mixture of shock, lust and curiosity.
“Scully? Are you naked under this skirt by any chance?” he finally asked.
“Of course not, Mulder. You know that I have my stockings on,” I replied calmly. My lips began to twitch at his continued look of bemusement.
“And?” Mulder coached.
“And my underwear, of course,” I wouldn’t give an inch.
“Sccuuullly,” he groaned as his hand explored more of my bare skin. “God help me, you’re wearing a thong.”
I merely gazed back at him in the mirror. If I tried to speak right now, I would lose it and start giggling.
Mulder’s expression darkened as he caught a glimpse of my tattoo between the jacket and the low riding skirt, “That’s it, take it off.” He pulled the jacket down off my arms and yanked it off me. He reached for the zipper to the skirt but I scooted out of his reach.
“What do you mean, take it off?”
“I have to take it back, Scully.” Mulder moved towards me again.
“No!” I slipped by him and moved into the bedroom. “Why? I thought you liked how it looks on me.”
“I LOVE how it looks on you, Scully. And so will every other tenth degree horn dog that walks by,” Mulder said with a growl. He pursed his lips until they were thin lines slashed across his face, “I fucking love how it looks on you, but I can’t stand the thought of you wearing it …” he stopped.
“Showing off my assets?” I whispered.
“Yeah,” Mulder spat, but said no more.
“Why? Why don’t you want me to wear it for everyone to see?” I pushed. I needed to hear him tell me what he was feeling.
“Because… Because I… I’m a selfish bastard, Scully. I don’t want you around any other men.”
“Let’s clarify this, shall we, Mulder?” I said. “You don’t want me to wear this when there are other men around or you don’t want me to wear this where anyone can see me in it, particularly men?”
“Yeah,” he growled.
“Mulder,” I grinned. “That means I could wear it to, oh, say, bed.”
At his surprised look, I burst into a deep belly laugh.
“That’s the only place I go that there’s no men around, Mulder.”
“You could fix that, Scully. Just say the word.” He made a quick move and grabbed me, pulling me up next to him and wrapping his arms around me. “Are you laughing at me, Scully?” His mood had lightened again.
“No, Mulder. I was trying to make you see how impossible it is to expect me to never go around other men,” I smiled as I spoke. “What makes you think I’d wear it for anyone but you, anyway?”
His expression softened. “Scully, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that I have the right to tell you what you can and can’t do. It just makes me crazy, thinking of you wearing that outfit, knowing what you’re wearing under it or not wearing under it,” Mulder sighed. “And when I think of another man touching you, I lose it.” He turned away, looking out the window.
I studied him for a long moment and then spoke, “What if I want you to feel that way, Mulder?”
He turned back to me, interest in his eyes.
“What if I want to wear this outfit for you and only you? What if I like the thought of everyone knowing that I’m with you and that it’s going to stay that way?” My voice lowered to a tiny whisper, “What if I want to wear this in front of other people and let them know that you’re the only one that will ever know what I actually wear under it, the only man that will ever take it off me? Yours is the only opinion that matters to me, Mulder.”
As I spoke, he drew closer to me as my words faded to a mere sigh. I wanted him and I was finally able to believe in his fidelity. I loved him and I was ready to commit to him.
“Scully,” he said quietly. “I can’t think of anything that would make me happier. I’ve known you were the woman for me for years. I feel like we’re finally on the same page. It’s time … it’s our time.” He slowly lowered his lips to mine. When I rose up to meet him he grasped me tightly, trying to draw me even closer.
Our lips barely touched, then drew apart. Touched again and slid across each other’s lips. And again apart. He pulled away, asking if I wanted to go farther, with a look.
I slid my hands up his chest and wrapped them around the back of his neck, pulling his lips down to mine again. Mulder groaned as I began to nip and suckle at his lips, ending with a series of small, passionate kisses.
He reached down and grasped my legs, bringing me up to his height. The supple leather skirt slid up as I wrapped my thighs around his waist and grabbed his shoulders for balance. I groaned at the feel of his big hands on my bare ass. He gave a squeeze and I moaned right into his mouth. That got a response.
He began to ravage my mouth, using his lips and tongue and teeth to let me know how much he loved me, needed me, wanted me.
I kissed him back with several years of desire unleashed. Moments passed and we finally pulled apart, panting and smiling and giving each other soft, parting kisses.
I rested my forehead against his, “Mulder, we have to stop.”
“I know, Scully. I understand. You need time to sort this out.”
“No, Mulder, you don’t understand. I know exactly what I want and who I want it with. You,” I said with a smile. “I just don’t want to rush anything. We have a number of people who are depending on us to solve this case. When we finally do this, and it will be soon, Mulder, I don’t want an hour or two. I don’t want even a day or a weekend. When we do this, Mulder, I want it to be all about us. No interruptions, no phone calls, no responsibilities. Just days and days of us. Do you understand?”
He let me slide down his body, giving a soft moan of desire as I rubbed against his erection on the way down. “Yeah, I understand, Scully. I can wait for that. Just don’t make me wait to hear you say…” He paused. “You admitted it. Can you say it?
I placed my fingertips on his lips, “I love you, Mulder. I’ve told you before and I’ll not stop saying it now. We’ll have our time together, I promise. Now, take me out, Handsome. This outfit is gorgeous and I want to strut my stuff.”
—X—
PART 11 (R)
RISING STAR MOTOR COURT SCULLY’S ROOM
“Oh, one more thing. I almost forgot.” I picked up the leather jacket that I planned on wearing tonight and had draped over the chair in her room. I pulled out the small black box, holding it out to her.
She stepped into me. “Mulder, you’ve spent way too much money here. Now jewelry? You already gave me the ring.”
“It’s not much, don’t get excited, but I thought they were nice. They just looked like you.”
She gingerly opened the box and smiled wide. Her eyes were a little wet but she plucked one out and set the box on the bed. She fumbled with her earlobe and the back to the earring, finally sliding the overlapping silver hearts into her ears. She did the same with the other one and then trotted into the bathroom to look at them.
I followed and stepped in to see her tucking her hair behind her ears as she looked in the mirror. They’re pretty, Mulder, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I knew you wouldn’t want something dangly or flashy.”
“No, not my style.”
“But I … wanted something that was just from me to you, you know, not government issue.”
She grinned. “I’ll never take them off.”
“Good. As long as you’re wearing them, I’ll know we’re still a team.”
She frowned slightly at that but said, “Of course.”
I smiled at her. “Now I would like to take my unbearably hot wife out on the town. You ready, Mrs. Tanner?”
“Ready or not, Las Vegas, here we come!” she cried with a little mocking jubilance.
I chuckled and followed her out of the bathroom and out into the hallway, grabbing my jacket on the way out.
—X—
SAM’S TOWN BAR AND DANCE HALL LAS VEGAS, NV
We ate a quick dinner of various appetizers, sampling the menu and then crossed over into the bar side of the establishment. A DJ was set up on the stage and couples gyrated to the sounds reverberating off the walls.
We found a small round table off the side of the dance floor and sat down. I went to the bar and ordered us two Heinekens. I returned and settled my chair close to hers and sat down, draping one arm over the back of her chair in a possessive move that didn’t go unnoticed. I was treated to the ‘eyebrow’, but she didn’t say a word. She just smiled and took a long swallow of her beer. I watched her throat as she swallowed, wishing I was the one sliding down her throat. I wondered if she could deep throat.
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair as I felt my groin tingle. I didn’t need to get excited right now. That wasn’t what this night was all about. I wanted Scully to have a good time. I wanted us to enjoy being normal people out for a night on the town. We didn’t get the chance very often and it was even rarer that we could enjoy an evening together.
Of course, knowing that I could touch her now, even in small ways, was driving me to distraction. My tattoo was healed now, and I was wearing a snug, white tank top and black jeans under my leather jacket that hung to mid thigh. I took off my jacket and hung it over the back of the chair.
A Judd tune, ‘Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain’ started to play and I stood up and grabbed Scully’s hand. “Come on, Mrs. Tanner, let’s dance.”
She grinned and stood, following me as I towed her out onto the dance floor.
**Sittin’ on the porch swing Listenin’ to the light rain Beatin’ on the tin roof Baby, just me and you Rockin’ with the rhythm of the rain**
I grasped Scully tightly around the waist with one arm, the other on the back of her neck and began swaying around the dance floor. She was light on her feet and followed my lead easily.
**Slide on over Baby hold me closer Movin’ to and fro Just swayin’ like a slow freight train Rockin’ with the rhythm of the rain**
She leaned back slightly to peer into my face and she was beaming from ear to ear. I smiled at her and then looked over her head to see several males with their eyes glued to her backside. I swung her around to lessen the view and put her butt facing the middle of the dance floor and I let my knees go loose and both hands slide down to cover said derriere. She gasped a little as I palmed her tight rear end cheeks, but didn’t protest. Her hands slid from my arms up around my neck and she pressed close as we two stepped slowly around the dance floor, my hands never leaving the soft buttery leather that covered her ass. As we did, the unearthly harmony of the Judds flooded the bar and I felt like we were dancing in a bubble, where no one else existed.
**So let the breeze keep blowin’ (Rockin with the rhythm of the rain) (Night birds a singin’ the crickets a callin’) Oh, my heart will never be the same Keep the sweet feelin’ flowin’ (Whisper in my ear baby) (Oh, feels so fine) (Nights like this come once in a lifetime) Me and my baby rockin’ with the rhythm of the rain
Oh baby, hold me tight Say you love me That’s all I wanna hear tonight
Sittin on the porch swing Listenin to the light rain Beatin’ on the tin roof Baby, just me and you Rockin’ with the rhythm of the rain
Slide on over Baby hold me closer Movin’ to and fro Just swayin’ like a slow freight train Rockin’ with the rhythm of the rain
So let the breeze keep blowin’ (Rockin with the rhythm of the rain) (Night birds a singin’ the crickets a callin’) Oh, my heart will never be the same Keep the sweet feelin’ flowin’ (Whisper in my ear baby) (Oh, feels so fine) (Nights like this come once in a lifetime) Me and my baby rockin’ with the rhythm of the rain
Me and my baby rockin with the rhythm of the rain**
That song segued into one by George Strait, singing about life and love and we slowed. My hands drifted up to clasp her around the waist. I dropped my nose into her hair and inhaled its citrus scent and swayed slowly, just enjoying the feel of her leather clad body pressed tightly to mine.
I felt twinges of sexual excitement and ruthlessly suppressed them. Her flushed cheeks and glowing face were enough of a reward. Scully was actually relaxing, a rare event indeed, and I didn’t want to blow it by coming on too strong and making her feel like she had to break out her defenses.
When the slow song ended, we returned to our seats and finished our beers. The evening went well, and several men came over and asked Scully to dance. She politely turned them down as I glowered from my chair, leaning over her possessively, and they backed off with looks that told me I was one lucky son-of-a-bitch.
Finally, it was getting late and we were tired, but still high on our evening on the town. We decided to go back to the hotel. When we got there, Scully spied the pool and took my hand, leading me through the fence and I settled on a padded chaise lounge chair, reclining my back. She straddled my thighs, causing her short skirt to ride up her thighs and expose the tops of her silky stockings. I sucked in my breath and stared at her legs.
She chucked my chin playfully and murmured, “Hey, my face is up here.”
I looked up to find her grinning at me and I yanked her into my chest. She landed with a soft thud and chuckled, raising her face. I kissed her, slowly and leisurely as she wiggled herself into a more comfortable position. This had the effect of making me start to harden and I bucked underneath her to let her know what she was doing to me.
She broke the kiss and looked into my eyes. My voice was gravel- toned as I stared into her baby blues. “Scully, I can’t wait much longer … case or not.”
She stared at me and knew I was dead serious. “I know. I feel bad now.”
“Bad?”
“Yeah, that I’m making you wait, exciting you and not following through.”
“It has gone beyond the playful teasing stage,” I admitted.
“You’ve been so patient with me and I love you for it. But I really think it’s important that we not be distracted while this case is going on.”
“I don’t know about you but … you don’t think I’m distracted now?” I asked, my voice incredulous.
She smiled softly. “I guess we are.”
“You guess? Scully, unlike you, I don’t believe it’s an either/or situation.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think we can be lovers and still work on a case. I think NOT being with you and knowing that I’m going to be ABLE to be with you is a hell of a lot more distracting than if we were doing the horizontal mambo.”
“Horizontal mambo?”
“You know what I mean. All I can think about every spare moment is WHEN? When can I hold you next, kiss you again? When can I make love to you?”
She sighed deeply and put her head on my shoulder. We sat that way, her sitting facing me in my lap for a long while, listening to the crickets and hearing the water lap gently against the sides of the pool. “I need to think about it a little more, Mulder. Maybe you’re right. Can you give me just a little more time?”
“Of course I can, Scully. I didn’t mean to imply that I WOULDN’T wait. I’ll wait as long as you need me to wait. You know that. Not like I have a choice in the matter,” I murmured, knowing I sounded slightly petulant.
She kissed the skin above my tank top and I swallowed heavily. “Let me think about it. And you do have a choice. You could be pushy and you’re not. You could get angry and you haven’t. I appreciate that, Mulder.”
“All right. Let’s go to bed. We have a day to sleep late and relax, but then we have to be moving again by tomorrow night.”
She extricated herself from my lap and we held hands as we walked to her room. I kissed her in the doorway and couldn’t help myself when I deepened the kiss, feeling myself become erect again. It seemed this was going to be a near perpetual state around Scully. My hands skimmed over her exposed midriff, reveling in the softness of her skin. She finally broke the kiss. “I had a wonderful time tonight, Mulder.”
“Me too. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
She nodded, smiling. “Are you tired?”
“Not yet, but I’ll get there.”
“You going to watch TV?”
“Maybe. I’ll probably just jerk off and go to sleep though,” I teased.
She gasped at my boldness and then slapped my chest playfully. “Geez, Mulder. Do you have to be so …”
“Crude?” I supplied. “Just being honest, Scully. Driving around with blue balls isn’t my idea of a fun day.”
She frowned, “I was going to say graphic.”
“I can only be hard so long before I give myself relief or it becomes painful.”
She bit her bit her bottom lip and whispered, “I’m sorry. Am I being too much of a tease?”
I smiled gently. “No, Scully. You can’t help it if the mere sight of your skin or brush of your arm or your smile makes me insta-hard. You could dress like a nun and you’d be a temptation to me. It doesn’t matter. I want you. That doesn’t go away. It’s just this … constant ache I have. I’ll have it until … well, until you let me make love to you. I’m kinda used to it. After all, I’ve wanted you for years. But knowing that being with you is so close …” I shrugged, not knowing what else to say. I kissed her forehead lightly. “Good night, Scully,” I whispered in her ear and then I backed away and made my way to my own room.
I felt the loss of her next to me like a severed limb and wondered if that sensation would ever go away. I doubted it. We were getting close. She’d admitted she wanted to be with me. She was no longer pondering the pros and cons. It was just a matter of timing for her. For me, I personally didn’t see what the fuck difference it made. I wanted her, she wanted me. Why the hell couldn’t we be together? I honestly didn’t think that I would be better or worse on this case because of it. It was one of those things that was a part of my life and it would always be slightly distracting. But I could concentrate when I needed to.
She didn’t know it but I did get angry occasionally. I was sick of this whole song and dance. I thought waiting was ridiculous. I wouldn’t tell her that, though. I respected her opinions and feelings, even if I didn’t share them. I respected her. And that was why I wasn’t being pushy or showing her my anger or the true level of my frustration.
I sighed and slipped the key into my lock, knowing it was going to be another lonely night in a long string of lonely nights. At least I knew there was an end in sight. She did want to be with me. God, I just hoped she didn’t make me wait too long. I was going insane.
—X—
The next day we slept late, had brunch and then went shopping to stock up the fridge and cooler in the truck. We packed up and checked out of the hotel and made our way over to Las Vegas Circuitry to pick up the load of computers that we were to take to their San Diego warehouse.
Scully was quiet but not sullen, and I knew she was thinking about our discussion from last night. True to my word, I’d stripped and jerked off before going to sleep. This time, though, I’d decided to masturbate in the shower and save myself the trouble of clean up. That ritual was getting old, fast. I drove in silence and turned on the radio to fill the dead air and let her think whatever she needed to think. I concentrated on the road, knowing we had another DOT weigh station to hit before crossing the border into California.
I fully expected that this load would attract the hijackers. If it didn’t, I didn’t know what would. I was going to make sure that the inspectors at the weigh station knew what our load was. If someone came after us shortly thereafter, we would know the likely source of the information leak, or one of them anyway.
—X—
We made it through the weigh station. I made up some bullshit excuse like I thought my load had shifted in the trailer. I opened up the back and hopped in while the inspector watched me. I moved a few pallets with a pallet jack and re-secured them even though they were fine, just to put on a show and make sure anyone interested could see that it was government computers we were hauling.
The name and city of the computers’ destination was written in big bold letters on the shrink wrap of each pallet. I hopped out, smiled at the man and closed the trailer, replacing the red seal on the handle as he watched.
I’d been driving about five hours, so we pulled into a truck stop a few miles up the road, refueled, got some supper and Scully took over.
We were in California and headed southwest. Two hours later, it happened. I heard Scully slowing the rig and pulling over. I sat up in my seat, having been dozing. “What’s up?”
She pointed and I saw a young girl standing beside a car with a smoking engine. She looked fairly distressed as Scully pulled to a stop several feet beyond her. “What are you going to do?” I asked.
“See if she needs a ride,” she said as she set the brakes. I looked around and saw that we were in the middle of nowhere. There were no rest stops, no truck stops, no weigh stations and no houses for as far as the eye could see. The road was a long ribbon of concrete between the rolling dunes and scrub that populated the desert all the way into the mountains. The solar emergency-call box located about fifty feet away was obviously out of commission. It looked like it had been hit by a truck.
“Scully, let me check on her.”
“Don’t be silly.” She jumped out of the rig and headed toward the girl.
I hopped out on my side and made my way toward the end of the trailer, thinking I was probably being paranoid.
The girl said, “Thank God you stopped. I don’t know what to do. I don’t have no cell phone and the call box has been damaged. I was afraid to walk to the next one alone.”
“You want a ride to the next exit?” I asked, seeing that she was really a young girl.
“That would be good, I guess. I need to find a phone.”
“We have cell phones,” I offered.
“What happened?” Scully asked, her voice suddenly a little harsh.
I turned to look at her. The girl answered, “I don’t know. I heard a knocking, then a bang and then it started smokin’. I figured I ought to pull over.”
“Did you open the hood?” Scully asked.
“No, it’s hot.”
I took a step toward the front of the car and Scully’s arm whipped out and shot in front of my stomach. “Don’t.”
“Dana, what’s the problem? I’m just gonna see if it’s something obvious. We probably shouldn’t be here anyway, it could blow up. We need to call the cops.”
“Oh, you don’t need to be doin’ that!” the girl drawled in a southern accent, her voice suddenly much more assured.
Scully said, “She has a phone, Marty.”
I glanced and saw the cell phone peeking out of her purse and it was lit up. The phone was on and someone was listening to this entire conversation. I stiffened and turned toward the manzanita scrub wood just in time to see two men emerge holding pistols. Bullets pinged off the hood of the car as I shoved Scully ahead of me and around to the driver side of the trailer. We raced for the door.
I turned to see the girl barreling after us with a pistol in her hand. I spun on my heel as Scully yanked the door open and climbed into the cab. I rushed the girl and she wasn’t expecting it.
Her arms went up in the air and I easily knocked the gun out of her hand. Not waiting to meet the welcoming committee, I spun back and hopped into the open door of the cab just in time to see Scully pointing one of the Mag flashlights out the open passenger side window. She took careful aim as I released the brakes and slid the truck into gear. She pushed the button and I heard a yelp and saw one man go down out of the corner of my eye.
“Move!” Scully shouted.
I popped the clutch and the truck leaped forward.
I heard what sounded like a mini explosion. “Shit!” Scully said, “They hit a tire on the trailer. Go, go, go!”
I up shifted as quickly as I could, checking my west coast mirrors and saw a small dirt turn around some distance behind. A four by four sped out onto the pavement with two men behind the wheel.
I gunned it, knowing the four by four would catch us in no time. Scully was on her feet and behind the curtain. She emerged, hauling fire power into the cab and putting it between the seats.
“Scully?”
“Just drive Mulder, they’re coming fast. Get in the fast lane.”
“Why?”
“So they come up on my side.”
“I don’t want them on your side,” I cried out.
“Damn it, Mulder. You need to drive. I need to shoot. I’m better at it anyway,” she threw out.
I felt a twinge at the minor insult but knew she was right. She was a better shot. I checked my mirrors. There was no traffic and I pulled quickly into the fast lane, ensuring they would have to pull up on the passenger side.
If I went all protective on her while we were ‘on the job’ and wanted to take all the risks myself, it would just be one more reason for her to stall a relationship with me, afraid that I would view her differently at work. I think this was one of the big reasons she’d held out this long. She was very sensitive about being treated as an equal on the job. My protective streak had nothing to do with my belief in her capabilities. I just couldn’t live without her. However, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t difficult to swallow that fear and let her take the bigger risk.
Scully had her Sig Sauer in one hand and her PPK Walther in the other. Both had clips for automatic rounds. She chambered the first round in each one and waited, the wind from her open window whipped her hair around her head. She turned sideways on the seat, pulled the seat belt out and wrapped the lap belt, loose, around her waist. This allowed her to leave one knee on the seat, her other leg standing on the floor and balance her guns on the sill of the window. The seat belt acted as a harness, so she wouldn’t move around too much. Man, this woman was unbelievable.
No sooner had I had that thought when I heard the first shot. I glanced at the slow lane and could see the four by four level with us and coming into the center lane. Scully began to fire. I heard the tat, tat, tat of the automatic pistol, the shattering of glass. At this point I heard a bullet hit the metal in the cab and she jerked back inside, twisting and pressing her back to the back rest. The seat belt prevented her from falling backwards. Clever woman.
I felt panic wash over me. “Are you hit?” I nearly screamed.
She shouted back, “No!”
Then she was swinging her body back into the window. “Mulder, hand me the grenade launcher.”
I reached down, tossing guns to the side and found the grenade launcher and hoisted it with one hand, my adrenaline pumping as I kept looking back at the road to make sure there was nothing in our way.
I heard another tire blow and watched in the mirror as rubber peeled away from the hub and left a strip on the pavement. The four by four had to swerve to miss it.
I could feel the load was unbalanced now with two tires blown but I kept my foot to floor and nudged the rig up to 75 miles an hour. Thank God they’d turned off the governor on this thing. If we’d only been able to do 55 or 65 miles an hour, we’d be toast.
We hit a small decline in the road and I kept my foot to the floor. We edged up to 80 miles an hour. I was frantically scanning the road ahead, waiting for the inevitable traffic that I knew we had to hit eventually. But they had chosen their spot well. There was nothing for miles on this stretch of road. I did see one exit sign ahead.
“Here comes the bastard, Mulder. Hold it steady!” Scully shouted.
I gripped the wheel so tight my knuckles turned white and I held my breath, slightly compensating as I felt the trailer sway under the uneven support of its tires.
The roar of the rig’s engine, the whine of the tires on the pavement and the wind whipping through the cab filled my ears as I felt the color drain from my face. Jesus Christ, I thought. We could die here. I said a silent prayer, ‘Please let us get out of this. Not yet, it can’t be our time yet.’
Then I concentrated on the road. Five seconds later I heard Scully’s voice. It was nearly lost in all the noise, but I could swear she said, “Hasta la vista, bastards.”
Her body jerked back in her makeshift seatbelt harness as the grenade launcher went off, firing its deadly load out the window. I cringed when I heard the explosion and the trailer began to fishtail. “Oh shit!” I shouted, and concentrated on getting the rig under control. I let off the gas I looked in the rear view and pulled into the center lane. The four by four was a huge fireball in the middle of the three lane highway.
I watched as it grew smaller in the mirrors and saw the car pull up beside it. Guess there was nothing wrong with it after all. I could see the figure of the girl and another man jump out of the car and then jump back as the four by four greeted them with another explosion.
Scully flopped boneless into the passenger seat and dropped her guns on the floor between her feet.
She gripped the dash and breathed heavily through her pursed lips. “You all right?” I asked.
“Yeah, just need to catch my breath. We need to call that in.”
“Yeah, I’m not in a hurry, though.”
She sat up and looked in the side mirror. “Shit!”
“What?” I asked.
“The car – it’s still coming!”
“Fuck!” I shouted. I scanned the road ahead.
“Yermo Road, take the Yermo Road exit,” she screamed and gestured frantically toward the exit at the bottom of the slight hill we were barreling down. She rolled up her window and braced herself for a bumpy ride.
I cut the wheel hard and felt the load shift again and the trailer fish tail as I slid off the exit, hitting the brakes. I pulled onto the state road, which was also deserted but thankfully populated by a cover of abandoned warehouses and businesses, and followed the signs. A half mile later I slowed to the speed limit and continued east.
“Get on the horn, Scully. Maybe the local police can stop that car.”
“Do you think they saw us take the exit?” she asked.
“I don’t know. No sign of them yet, but I’m not ready to stop and watch for them.”
I stepped on the gas again and shifted into the higher gears, edging the rig up as I watched the speedometer. “Careful, Mulder, we need to have those tires replaced. The last thing we need right now is to jackknife the trailer.”
“I know, but it’s straight road here, and as long as it is, I’m pushing it.”
“Got my vote,” she said as she leaned back and closed her eyes.
“You were great back there, Scully.”
“Thanks,” she said quietly.
“Glad you’re on my side,” I muttered. My protective streak had nothing to do with her prowess. She was probably more capable than I in many ways. It was my fear of losing her that made my jealousy and my protectiveness rear their ugly heads.
She laughed then and the sound was musical. We weren’t out of danger yet, we knew, but I felt relief that we had escaped death one more time. She reluctantly sat up and began to type on the satellite.
I pulled out my cell phone and called the local police, telling them to put out an APB on that red mustang and to clean up the four by four that had exploded on the highway. They wanted more answers than I could give them, so I gave them Skinner’s number and then I called him.
He riddled me with questions and I told him where we were and the alternate route we were taking at the moment. He said he would have unmarked CHPs in the vicinity monitor us until we reached our destination.
We kept driving until the satellite beeped and Ken Casey from Global-Tech sent a message that the girl, Cheryl Rainy, and a man, Nate Colder, had been picked up and taken into custody for questioning.
I breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Scully. She was booting up the computer the guys had given us.
—X—
“What are you doing, Scully?” Mulder asked as I waited for the computer to boot up.
“Looking for an alternate route for us, Mulder. I don’t want to get back on I15 and I seem to remember there was another interstate that fed into Barstow just south of here,” I said as I began to zoom in on the map I had pulled up.
Within moments I had a new route mapped out for us and logged in on the satellite router. We were going to follow Yermo Road as it ran parallel to the interstate for a few miles past Toomey. I shuddered as I thought of our own experience with Eugene Tooms, but didn’t mention it to Mulder. He would make the connection himself.
When we reached Minneola Road we would turn south through Minneola, CA and on down Hidden Springs Road to the I40 interchange, heading southwest again. Hopefully there would not be a problem with the local police about our rig on these back roads. As long as there were no low bridges, we should be fine.
I breathed a deep sigh of relief and got a snootful of Mulderscent. I knew I should be concentrating on our survival, but all I could think of was sex. Sex with Mulder. Mulder, naked and lying under me as I caressed him with my hands and my tongue. I wanted to rub my face all over him. I wanted to lick away the sweat that I could smell dripping down his chest.
I was trying not to let Mulder see my agitation. I was sitting absolutely still, concentrating on calming my need, my desire. I didn’t think I had ever felt this aggressive, this needy before. But even as I consciously thought that, I realized that I was wrong.
First Person Shooter. After our escape from the virtual bitch, Maitreya, I’d had this feeling. It had made me edgy, unsettled, horny. At that time I was afraid of it overpowering my control and exposing my emotions to Mulder.
I ran.
I hid behind my cool façade and disdain of male testosterone-driven bonding rituals and ran as fast and as far as I could. Right to my motel room. Right to the shower; the icy, cold shower. By morning, my emotions were well-buried. I was once again Special Agent Scully instead of Scully, Warrior Princess. I had run all the way back to myself.
I couldn’t run now. I was confined in the cab of an 80,000 pound rocket, two tires short of being safe. Held immobile by fear and a seatbelt that Mulder had tightened to the point of discomfort, without ever laying a hand on me. This had to end. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe normally.
I was beginning to think he might be right. Our lives were in danger and I wanted to get laid instead of figuring out what to do next. If that wasn’t distraction, I didn’t know what was.
—X—
As soon as we were back on I40, I decided to pull off at the first full-service truck stop I saw. Scully and I both needed showers and food and a minute to get our bearings. There was a garage there and I pulled up and asked the mechanic to replace the two blown tires on the trailer.
He raised an eyebrow, wondering, I’m sure what had shredded them so completely. I offered no answers and Scully appeared, plopping clean clothes and a towel along with a plastic case with soap into my hands.
We made our way to the showers without saying anything. Scully suggested that we eat dinner before we went back to the rig; who knew when we would have a chance again if there were others out there after us.
We needed to discuss what to do now. We decided to make some more phone calls and find out what was going on in the outside world. I didn’t want to stumble into anything unaware. We went back to the rig and paid for the new tires with the Global Tech credit card that was specifically for repairs.
We climbed into the cab and locked up carefully. We pulled away from the shop and into a sparsely populated section of the parking lot that had a direct exit nearby. We cleaned the guns and I put them away, leaving two out in cubby holes near the bunk for easy access. We cleaned up again. I stripped down to my boxers and crawled into the bunk after flipping it out.
Scully eyed me dubiously and I said, “I need to hold you, Scully.”
She nodded and gave no more protest as she shed her clothes, leaving on her camisole and panties and sliding under the covers with me. I pulled her against me and kissed her hair. “I was so scared, Scully. So scared we were gonna die.”
“I know,” she whispered. “But we didn’t.”
“No, but what if …”
“What if what?”
“I’m just wondering if … you died …” my voice broke off. “And we never got the chance to … be together. I’d regret that for the rest of my life.”
“You were thinking about sex at a time like that?” she asked, unsurprised at my train of thought.
I sighed. “It’s not about sex, Scully, not really. It’s about losing chances, about being as close to someone you love as you can be. I want that for us and I don’t ever want to have to say ‘it’s too late now’.”
She kissed my chest and snuggled closer. “I love you, Mulder.”
“I love you too, Scully. Today was too close. I was all ready to help that girl without asking questions. You were more suspicious and more observant. You saved our asses again. A few more seconds and one of us would have taken a bullet.”
She swallowed harshly. “Yeah, but I’m the one that stopped to help her. It was a classic ploy, damsel in distress. You fell for it like most guys would. I’m a woman. I wasn’t as quick to be lulled into a false sense of security. I wasn’t sure at first. She seemed legit, but something about the picture just didn’t ring true for me. I still stopped.”
“What do you think caused the smoke?” I asked idly as I ran my fingers through her hair.
“I don’t know. Could have been dry ice. Could have been anything. Good set-up, though.”
“At least we know how they lured the others. No more stopping for damsels in distress.”
“Yeah, one hooker and one hijacker is plenty for this trip, don’t you think?”
I chuckled then. “Sleep, Scully. We have a busy day tomorrow.”
—X—
PART 12 (NC-17)
AMERICAN EAGLE TRUCK STOP I40, NEAR BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA
Mulder pulled me closer and heaved a huge sigh. I could feel the fear and tension still controlling him. I thought about his words, and decided that he was right. It wasn’t just about sex. It was about losing chances, about being as close to someone you love as you can be.
I wanted that for us, too, I decided. I didn’t ever want to say it was too late. I kept thinking about it being too late, of never sharing my life with Mulder and I began to tremble. I was lying so close to him that I could feel the heat his fear generated, but I was suddenly as cold as ice. The stress of my earlier shoot out and close call was now catching up to me as I began to relax.
The trembling escalated to tremors and the tremors quickly turned into full body shuddering that identified the onset of shock.
“Hey,” Mulder said as he pulled me even closer to his heat. “Are you going to be all right, Scully?”
“Don’t know,” was all I could say between my clenched teeth.
“Scully, you’re scaring me. Are you going into shock?”
I nodded and he pulled me even closer.
“What can I do?”
“Blankets,” I managed to say. “Warm.”
Mulder reached into one of the bins above the bed and pulled out a few light blankets and started to wrap me up. I pulled away and stripped off my clothes, then pulled at his boxers. He got the hint right away. Skin contact under blankets was one of the quickest ways to generate body heat.
“Anything you say, Dr. Scully,” he grinned as he pulled the blankets around us and tucked me into the curve of his body. “Anything in the interest of science.”
I snuggled against his chest and raised the blanket so that it almost covered my entire head. I knew I had pulled them off Mulder’s feet, but didn’t think he would mind. He was going to be roasting in just a minute or two, but I was still shivering with delayed reaction.
I ran my icy hands over his body and even though he flinched and moved away a time or two, he let me do anything I needed to warm up.
I could feel the tremors lessening as my temperature rose. The skin under my fingertips became heated, and the heat seemed to flow from his body straight to my heart.
I found myself stroking him rather than rubbing him. I noticed the different textures of his skin. Here it was silky. Here it was still smooth, but the strength it covered gave it a different feel.
My breathing started to speed up again. I was naked in Mulder’s arms and the only danger of shock I was in now was the shock I would feel if I tried to move away from him.
My hands smoothed down his chest, past his ridged abdomen and further down, tracing the line of hair that began on his chest. My fingers brushed against his navel and he inhaled deeply and let out a moan of pleasure. My lips followed my hands.
“Scully? What’s…”
I slid back up his body quickly and placed my lips on his, effectively stopping his words.
“Shhhh,” I said. “Let me.”
Mulder groaned and let me continue my exploration.
I again traced the hair down his abdomen to his cock. I ran my fingers through the hair that surrounded it. It was as silky as the hair on his head. I kissed around his navel and turned to rest my cheek on him. I inhaled deeply and the musk of an aroused Mulder made me wet.
I lifted my head and rubbed my face against the length of his arousal. Mulder pulled me up to his eye level and shook his head.
“Scully, God, not here. I want you. I want you more than I want my next breath, but not here. Not in this truck surrounded by danger.”
I slid my hand down and wrapped my fingers around his pulsing cock.
“Scully…. please,” he groaned.
I didn’t know if he wanted me to continue or to stop. I didn’t care. Stopping was no longer an option. We were both in love with each other. The only time I can remember ever having an option to stop loving Mulder was right after our first case together. I could have run away then, if I had gone straight from the airport to Blevins’ office and turned in my request for transfer.
By the time I had arrived home and had to put up with Ethan for the evening, it was already too late.
Ethan was supposed to be perfect for me. My parents loved him, my brothers loved him, Melissa didn’t hate him, and he was Catholic. He was from an old Navy family, so he understood me like very few people ever would. I had enjoyed dating him and had eventually felt comfortable enough to share my body with him. He claimed he loved me and was ready for a commitment.
But at the end of the evening when we were making love, I knew that Ethan was not the man for me. I kept comparing him to Mulder. He wasn’t nearly as intriguing and he was blatantly predictable. He wasn’t as handsome as Mulder, he wasn’t as smart as Mulder. He was a chameleon, allowing the priorities and beliefs of others to drive his life, again, very unlike Mulder. He had a very comfortable way about him when we made love, but I didn’t want comfortable.
I wanted wild. I wanted passion to balance the prim and proper way I needed to act at work, to make it in a man’s world. I wanted Mulder.
I wanted Mulder then, before I even knew him as completely as I do now. I wanted him now, but I realized that he was right. I wanted our first time to be special. I wanted to be able to look back on our first night together and smile with happiness, not laugh at how typical it was for the agents on the X-Files.
I wanted him before I loved him and I waited. I loved him and I wanted him now, but I would still wait. At least, I’d wait for our first experience at intercourse. Nothing was going to stop me from a lot of heavy petting or maybe some mutual masturbation. There was more than way of making love.
I could have lost him today. Right now, I wanted to be as close to him as I could be without actually having intercourse.
I didn’t think I was going to have a problem making him see things my way.
– NC-17 PORTION –
“Mulder, I want to make love with you. I know we should wait, but I need to touch you, connect with you tonight. Please let me…” I lowered my mouth to his cock and kissed the entire length of it. I let my tongue swirl over the tip and back down to his balls. I wrapped my fingers around the base of his erection and slowly began to slide my hand up and down as I let my tongue lap at the precum that was leaking from the tip.
“Scully! Oh shit! Don’t… Stop… Don’t stop! Plea… ungh!”
I smiled as I wrapped my lips around the girth of him and slid down as far as I could. He was too large for me to deep throat, hell, for most women, but I knew from the moans of pleasure that he made that I was doing something right. God, he was thick, too.
My thighs were wet with the proof of my arousal. Giving head to Mulder was turning me on. The texture of the hairs on the tops of his legs was turning my nipples into sharp points of pleasure/pain as they jostled and bobbed against him with each nod of my head.
Mulder wrapped my hair around his hands and I was somewhat fearful that he was going to try to guide my motions. But what he did was so sensual, I almost came right then and there.
It felt like his fingers were worshipping me. Softly, slowly sliding through strands of my hair to my scalp and back. He was caressing each curl and strand as if it was precious and rare. Occasionally his fingertips would caress my cheek. Each touch was as thrilling as a kiss. Each moan or sigh from him excited me, drove me to a higher level of arousal.
I shifted my leg and straddled his. He lifted his knee enough to bring his leg into contact with my sex. I groaned my pleasure. I began to stroke his cock faster and let my tongue and lips tease his tip. My cheeks hollowed as I applied more suction.
Mulder curled up, flexing his abs and gasped, “Scully, I need to watch. I want to see your lips wrapped around me.” With that he scooted back to prop his shoulders against the side of the bunk and reached up to turn on one of the small map lamps on the wall.
I slowed my movements, but never let him leave my possession.
I looked up and saw everything I ever wanted in his eyes. Love, desire, respect, understanding, acceptance. It was all there. There in the eyes of the man I loved.
He gently slid his fingers into my hair again and soon was lost in the sensual rhythm of my assault. I had never enjoyed giving oral sex this much before. I knew that I had never initiated it, and I had never followed through to completion with any other man. But this wasn’t just a man. This was Mulder. My man.
I felt his body tense and his balls tightened in my grasp. I knew he was close. He tried to speak, but was beyond words.
“Sc… Scu… Dana, gonna… cum…!” he gasped.
I didn’t slow or stop to talk, all I did was match his moan with one of my own and he was lost.
The sound that roared from him made no sense to anyone but me. It was a sound of triumph, surrender and love. It was magnificent.
His cum shot into my mouth in fast spurts. I was amazed at how much there was. I knew he had been masturbating regularly so he wasn’t storing it up. It wasn’t hot like all the romance novels stated. It was, after all, 98.6 degrees, just like all normal body fluids. As a doctor I knew this, but it still was a surprise. It was salty and tangy, and not unpleasant tasting. It was proof of his desire for me. It was heavenly.
As I licked and nuzzled his cock, trying to extend his pleasure, I realized that I was rubbing my sex against his leg. I was so close to coming myself.
Mulder scooted back down and reached up to pull me over him, but I stroked my clit back down his leg, moving my body into position to take full advantage of his.
“Scully, baby, c’mer.” I could tell he was almost asleep, but was fighting to stay awake.
“Shhhh, Mulder. It’s okay, go to sleep.”
“Nuhuh. Wanna make you happy,” he slurred.
I began rubbing my clit against the top of his thigh, and leaned forward to lick the sweat on his chest as I did. He realized what I was doing then and brought both of his hands to my breasts. He began to stroke and rub, then pinch my nipples. In a matter of moments, I came.
“Mulllddderrrr,” I groaned.
“Jesus, Scully. Oh, baby,” he sighed.
– END OF NC-17 PORTION –
I climbed up his body and reached up to turn off the light. He caught my nipple with his lips and gave it a suck and a kiss. I could tell he was at the end of his endurance. Everything we had been through that day was draining us both. We needed to sleep.
So we did.
—X—
The next morning we pulled out early, but stopped in Barstow at a pay phone to call the guys. We had discussed it over breakfast and decided that we wanted them to bug some of the computers, if they could, so that we could track them after delivery.
Mulder gave them the okay to charge the plane reservations for all three of them on his charge account. They called back and let us know that they were all on different flights and would join us at the Super 8 Motel in Escondido. We would be near the delivery destination and they could converge from the various airports without the fear of being followed.
The rest of the day was easy. That is, if you called traffic in and around Los Angeles and San Diego easy.
We pulled into the Super 8 and checked in by dinner time. Byers was already there. His room was to be tech central. Langly showed up around 7:00PM and together they assembled some of the equipment they carried.
Frohike showed up after 10:00PM. His eyes were bloodshot and he had a silly grin on his face, but he had the supplies we needed to complete our little project.
“Damn, Frohike, what did you have to do? Drink somebody under the table to get this stuff?” Langly grimaced as he got a whiff of Frohike.
“Jus’ a few drinks with an ol’ bud to talk over ol’ times,” Frohike insisted, just before he passed out on the empty bed.
“Did he get the right stuff?” Mulder asked. “Why did he have to pick some of it up here? Didn’t you guys have what we needed?”
“Yeah, he got the rest of it,” Byers answered, “But we couldn’t get some of this stuff through airport security. We had to get the electronics locally.”
“Yeah,” Langly interjected. “And Frohike had the connections we needed.”
“Looks like they go way back,” Mulder grinned.
“What’s your time table, guys?” I asked. We were on a tight schedule to deliver on time, after stopping last night.
“We’ll be able to assemble the bugs and calibrate them in a couple hours. Frohike should be awake by then. He’s our B&E man.”
I must have looked lost to Byers because he said, “Breaking and Entering man, Agent Scully. Frohike was a truck driver years ago and knows how to open the trailer doors and seal them back up so that the official seals don’t look tampered with.”
“Why don’t you go on up to our room, Scully, and sleep. I’ll help the guys. I’ll be back to get you and you can drive us on in to San Diego.”
“Where do you think you’re going without me?” I asked, suddenly uncomfortable with being separated.
“Just down the road to a less trafficked area, Agent Scully. We don’t need an audience for our activities, do we?” Byers teased.
I blushed as I agreed. Mulder wrapped his arm around my shoulder and said, “I’ll walk with you.”
I said goodnight to the guys and turned to leave. Mulder did not release me from his embrace, walking beside me as we left.
The door was not entirely shut and both of us heard Langly’s next words.
“I told you they were doing it.”
“Shhhh, they’ll hear you,” Byers immediately replied. “If they are or they’re not is none of our business.”
“Yeah, but Frohike will be pissed.”
“Don’t you think he already knows? Have you ever seen him drink with a business contact before?”
Langly’s words were lost as the door shut and we moved on down the hall.
“Sorry, Scully,” Mulder whispered into my ear.
“It’s all right, Mulder. Even though they’re wrong about the actual happenings, the feelings are true,” I smiled up into his eyes.
“I love you, Scully. We’ve got to talk about what happened last night…” he started.
“Love. Love happened last night, Mulder. That’s all. I wanted to be as close to you as I could be and yet I agreed that I didn’t want our first time to be in the bunk. It was a simple choice. I chose love.”
We were at our door and Mulder leaned in to kiss me. “I can’t stay, or I’ll never get back to help the guys. Sleep well, Scully.”
“Hurry back, Phoenix,” I said.
“Why do you call me that so often?” he asked.
I stood up on my tiptoes and let my lips brush his ear as I whispered, “Because I really hate the name Marty. I’d rather think of the phoenix tattoo and remind you of how our lives are now intertwined.”
Mulder jerked me against him and buried his face in the curve of my neck. “I love the way you think, Scully. I can’t get used to calling you Dana, either. What’s wrong with that picture? But when it’s just us, we can use Mulder and Scully. Just be careful to call me Marty or by my handle in public where someone might overhear us.” He released me and opened the door. After he checked every room and made sure I would be safe while he was gone, he kissed me goodbye and left.
I normally would have been irritated at his display of protective behavior, but after almost being killed yesterday, I couldn’t find it in me to be angry.
—X—
Time was of the essence and I was anxious to get back to Scully. I wondered if we would have another session of oral sex tonight. I owed her more than a dry hump against my thigh. I groaned inwardly as I realized how out of it I’d been afterwards and how I may have seemed unappreciative. I’d been worried she would regret it, but at least that wasn’t the case. Fantasy No. 3 was complete, having seen her swollen red lips wrapped around my aching cock. Sure beat the hell out of whacking off. My palms were getting mighty hairy.
As I jogged back to Byers’ room, I realized I was grinning, remembering last night’s intimacy. I had always prided myself on seeking the truth, and now one of the biggest truths I had pondered for years had been revealed to me. Scully swallows. Fuck. Who’d of thought it? Did pondering such things make me a pig? It took a concerted effort for me to wipe the grin from my face before joining the guys, but I managed.
Once the bugs were assembled, we all boarded the truck and carefully disassembled the computer boxes one by one, and Langly and Byers went quickly and efficiently through them, placing bugs inside the computer towers near the mother boards. It was all beyond my comprehension. Although still tipsy, Frohike was the look out, not because he was the most alert at the moment, but because he wasn’t capable of much else.
Even with their expertise and efficiency, it took a few hours, and then we had to put each one carefully back into the box and re-tape it so it didn’t look like it had been disturbed.
I thanked the guys profusely as Frohike sealed up the trailer again with the red seals. We went to Byers’ room and I helped them pack up the equipment they were taking back with them.
As they were getting ready to leave, Frohike asked, “Mulder?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“I know it’s none of my business but …”
“What do you want to know, Frohike?” I asked with a resigned sigh, knowing what was coming. I wouldn’t lie to the guys but I wasn’t about to give any details that were none of their business either. Our relationship was at a very delicate stage right now.
“Are you two … together now?”
“Together?”
“You know what I mean, Mulder.”
“Are we a couple?”
“Yeah, I mean, I know you love her …”
“Yes, I do,” I admitted. I was surprised at how easy it was to say it and I could tell Langly and Byers were a little surprised at my easy admission as well.
Frohike swallowed. “I don’t even know what I’m asking,” he said finally.
We were all silent for a few minutes and finally, I said, “Frohike, I love her. She says she loves me. We’re together but … easing our way into it … the intimacy part.”
His face asked the question he really wanted to ask. I wasn’t sure if I should say anything. Technically, it was none of his business. On the other hand, I knew his asking had no malicious intent. I knew he wouldn’t use it against her or me later. I also knew that he loved her too.
“Forget it,” he said and turned toward the door. They all made moves to leave.
“This doesn’t go outside this room,” I said, stopping them all. They all turned to face me and nodded.
“I know what you’re asking Frohike. It’s none of your business.” He opened his mouth and I held up my hand to forestall his objections or denials. “I’ll tell you anyway, because I know you’re not asking to have fodder for gossip. I know you’re asking because you care about her.”
He nodded. I held his gaze for a few moments. “I haven’t slept with her yet,” I said softly.
He took a deep breath. I couldn’t tell if he was surprised or relieved by the news, or feeling something else entirely. His face gave away nothing.
I continued. “Will we be together that way?” I paused. “I think so, probably soon, but it’s her call. It’s always been her call.”
He nodded. “I care about you too, Mulder, you know that, it’s just…”
“I know,” I said, acknowledging what he wasn’t saying. He’d loved her for a long time. Everybody in the room knew it.
“You don’t deserve her, Mulder,” he said, and I knew he didn’t mean it as the insult that it sounded like.
“Frohike,” Byers said with a censure in his voice. I held up my hand to stall his comment.
“I know that too. Nobody knows it better than me, Frohike. But I do love her and I can’t just turn that off. You know that as well as I do. She’s the most important person in the world to me. You know that too.”
“Take good care of her, Mulder. I don’t mean just on the job.”
I nodded. After another pause I stared at him again. “I won’t hurt her, Frohike, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Not intentionally,” he murmured.
“What we do is dangerous, but it’s not my choice to have her do this job. It’s what she does. She’d do it whether I was in the picture or not. And I’d rather be here to watch her back … than have someone else doing it.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he said quietly.
I swallowed. “What did you mean?”
“I mean don’t break her heart.”
“You think I could break her heart?” I asked incredulously.
“I know you could,” he said with confidence. “I don’t think you realize how everything you do affects her. All the chances you take. It hits her deep, even if she doesn’t show it.”
I shook my head. “No, you’re wrong about that, Frohike. I’m incapable of hurting her that way. I would never do anything to hurt her like that. I would never … wander. And I stopped ditching her a long time ago. I don’t even want anyone else. I haven’t wanted anyone but her for so long … I don’t even remember what it was like to be attracted to someone else. No, if anyone’s heart gets broken, it’s going to be mine.”
“Promise?” he asked, a quirky, sad smile on his face.
“I promise,” I responded.
Frohike and Langly left to go to their respective rooms, and I hurried to Scully’s room, anxious to be with her again, to hold her and feel her next to me. I was so tired from moving all the boxes and pallets by myself, but realized I smelled. I would need a shower first.
—X—
It was after 2:00 AM when Mulder came back to the room. I was still sleeping soundly and didn’t hear him enter. I woke to the sound of the shower.
I was trying to decide whether to join him or to let him have his privacy when I realized I was naked and walking towards the bathroom door. Well, that was settled.
Mulder was tired, leaning against the shower wall, letting the hot water ease the aches in his muscles.
“Hey, need help?” I asked softly.
“Scully. Your help is always wanted,” he gave me a tired smile.
I washed his hair and helped him as he finished his shower. I quickly washed my hair and rinsed off with him. He was asleep on his feet. It made me smile to see him actually fighting sleep for a change.
“This isn’t funny, Scully. I’m never going to be able to sleep alone again,” he said as he draped his body over mine while I tried to dry him.
“Who said you had to?” My reply perked him up enough to make it to the bed. He crashed, naked, across the bed. I watched him while I dried off and contemplated what to do about asserting some sleeping space of my own. I was grinning again. I didn’t need a ‘side’ of the bed! I would sleep on Mulder.
—X—
We were up and out the door by 6:30 AM. I was amazed at what three hours sleep could do for Mulder.
“I’ve lived on three hours of sleep a night for years, Scully. It’s normal for me. All this sleeping I’ve been doing while traveling with you is abnormal.” Mulder finished his gargantuan breakfast and put the money down for the meal. I noticed this job had increased his appetite as well. Must be all the fresh air.
The waitress had just grabbed the money and the tab when the Gunmen joined us.
Byers and Langly looked sleepy but normal. Byers in his suit, Langly in his black Ramones tee shirt and jeans. Frohike looked like death warmed over.
Mulder’s cheerful greeting invoked dark looks from all three of our friends. I laughed. After the waitress brought them coffee and orange juice, they actually started to look human; well, Byers and Langly did.
Mulder and the guys filled me in on what they had done the night before. Not only had they bugged a sampling of all the computers, but they had altered our satellite responder to allow us to use the laptop to send out false readings. Now we could escape the hijackers if they were using their connection to Global-Tech to find us. No wonder Mulder was tired. His part had been to move all the pallets of computers so that the guys had access to the entire load.
I was dutifully impressed by their ingenuity and told them so. My words of praise seemed to do more for Frohike than the black coffee and toast he had been eating.
I picked up our receipt and stood up. It was time to go. We had a 10:00 AM appointment to deliver and we were going to be doing well to make it.
Mulder stood beside me as we told the guy thanks again. Byers stood up as his good manners demanded. Langly sprawled in his chair and gave us a, “Later, dudes.”
Frohike stood up and came around the table to say good bye. He picked up my hand and kissed the back of it before saying, “May I say that you are looking disgustingly perky and happy today, Dana?” His sharp little eyes sparkled behind his glasses, as he shot Mulder a glance I couldn’t quite read. Approval?
“That’s a compliment I would accept only from you, Frohike,” I said as I kissed him on the cheek. I knew he was trying to accept my newly defined relationship with Mulder and wanted to give me his somewhat strange blessing. He smiled and blushed at my words.
“You take care of her, or I’ll kick your ass,” was his remark to Mulder.
“With my life.” Mulder’s reply seemed to assure him.
As we turned to leave I heard Frohike telling the waitress to ‘get your pretty parts over here. What kind of breakfast is toast for a real man, anyway?’
—X—
I jumped out and got the bay number for our delivery. The dock manager was gruff but helpful, and I crossed him off the list of involved personnel.
Mulder had the rig backed up to the dock and the seals were broken without a question. The dock plate was already in place when the manager of the warehouse came charging up on a skateboard. I thought I had seen it all. Warehouses ranged from small to millions of square feet and we had seen every mode of transportation used from bicycles to golf carts. This was our first skateboard.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded. “I have a truck scheduled in from Seattle at this dock,” he informed us as he slid sideways to a stop, hopped off, tapped the board with his toe and flipped it upright neatly catching the opposite end in his hand. It was an impressive move. His manners, however, were decidedly less impressive.
The dock supervisor rode up on his bike and interceded. “I told them to use this dock. It’s on the schedule for them. They have the right papers. What’s going on, Dave?”
Dave backed off immediately. “Oh, I must have double booked. Sorry, Bud.” He started to retreat when Mulder spoke up.
“I’d better call my dispatch and confirm that I was supposed to drop this load here. Can I use the phone in your office? My cell seems to be in a dead zone here.”
“We have a pay phone by the break room you can use. No drivers in the office,” Dave said as he took off.
Mulder asked Bud where the break room was and we headed in that direction. “We’ve got to get in that office,” Mulder said quietly to me as we walked. “I need to find out the phone numbers in there so the guys can monitor all the calls out.”
“Let me see what I can do,” I said as I walked towards the ladies bathroom. Just as I suspected. It was filthy. I turned around and walked into the office as if I were invited.
There was an older red head sitting outside Dave’s office. I walked up to her, and smiled.
“Ms. Willis?” Her name was on her desk plate.
“Jeannine. What can I do for you?” Her smile was small but friendly.
“I’m here with my husband to unload, and I went into the restroom out by the break room. I was uh… wondering if I could use the staff facilities. That one is uh… kinda dirty. Men are such pigs, sometimes.” I put on my best clueless impersonation.
“Sure, honey, right back down that hall past the water cooler.”
“Thanks!” I grinned.
“Anything for a fellow red-head,” she smiled back.
I had to stifle the urge to laugh out loud. I’m sure her red came from a bottle, but I was in and I wasn’t going to insult her.
I used the facilities and walked back to thank her. I could hear Dave in his office yelling at some one. I glanced at the phone on Jeannine’s desk and saw the light lit under his name. The last four digits of the phone number were there and I committed them to memory.
“I was wondering if I could make a local call?” I said.
“We have a payphone for drivers out by the break room…” she started.
“I know. But… you see, I don’t really want Marty to know that I’m calling my brother’s house. They don’t get along and I try not to piss him off, but I need to see my family, ya know?”
I could see that she was wavering, and I pushed again. “I have the sweetest little nephew and I’m missing his entire childhood. Since I can’t have any of my own, he’s the closest thing I have to a baby in my life.”
Tears had sprung up in my eyes. I wasn’t acting; my words were true. I purposely used my emotions to sway her to let me use the phone.
“Sure, honey, I understand,” she said with a sigh. “You can use the phone over in the corner. Just don’t let Dave catch you. Although with the screaming match he’s having in there, I don’t think it will be a problem.”
I got Bill & Tara’s answering machine, as I knew I would at this time of day. I asked Jeannine what the area code and prefix for the number there was to leave on the message machine and she gave it to me.
I thanked her and asked her to please page me if Tara called in the next few minutes before we left. She patted my hand and said she would do what she could.
Mission accomplished. I went back to the truck and signaled Mulder. I got into the bunk and called the gunmen, giving them the number to check. I climbed down into the driver’s seat and finished our log and satellite information for the delivery. Just as I was getting ready to log off the satellite, a message came through for us to call Global-Tech Logistics and a number was given that I had never seen before. I wrote it down and climbed out to find Mulder.
“We have a message from Global-Tech,” I said as I handed him the number.
“Dispatch?” he glanced at the number.
“No, this is a new one. I’ve never seen it before. What do you want to bet that it’s the same number our friend Dave was calling a few minutes ago?”
Mulder smiled at me and jogged away to call the number. He looked upset when he came back. I had a feeling I knew why before he even spoke.
“It was Deirdre. She wants us to keep part of the load on and deliver it to San Francisco. She gave me specific instructions about our route. She will put the information through to dispatch right away.”
“Mul… Marty, I’m sorry,” I said. And I was. Mulder’s trust in Diana Fowley had been destroyed completely. The consortium was obviously a family business. She had to have been lying from the very beginning of their relationship. No one deserved that kind of betrayal.
“I’m okay, but it was close for a second there. She asked if we had ever met before. I sounded like an acquaintance of hers. I asked her if she had grown up in Ohio and made a pass at her. I think it threw her off the track. She obviously knew that we were a married team because she made a remark about giving her best to my wife before she hung up.”
“That was quick thinking, partner,” I grinned.
“Yeah, well, I’ve found most women will rebuff a man that they think is married, especially when he’s across the country from them and they’re planning to have him and his wife killed in the next couple of days.” Mulder said bitterly.
“I hope she really didn’t know it was us.”
“Me too,” he said.
Dave came rolling up on his skateboard. “Tanner, new information was just given to us by your dispatch from Logistics Department. You’re to take half of the load you brought in on up to San Francisco.”
“Yeah, I just got off the phone with Global-Tech. As soon as the paperwork is faxed, we’ll be on our way. Do you want me to pull away from the dock so your Seattle in-bound can get in?” Mulder was playing him like a fish.
“Yeah, he’s out in the lot right now. Bud will let you know when you’re unloaded and can pull away.” Dave hurried back to the office.
Mulder and I turned to go back to the rig. I glanced at him and saw the smile he was trying to hide. I gave him a quizzical look.
“There’s something basically wrong with a skateboarder running a warehouse, don’t you think, Dana?”
I just smiled and nodded. I wanted to get back to the truck to call Tara and Bill and let them know that we didn’t have time to visit. I also wanted to get back to the guys to see if the number Deirdre Fowley had given Mulder was the number Dave called earlier.
I also wondered if we could find out who the Seattle truck was driven by. But we’d already overstayed our welcome and I decided it wasn’t worth the risk to ask, lest it look suspicious that we were asking too many questions.
—X—
We were on the road again, I15 north towards I10 west and on up to I5 north. All interstates meant that the traffic was going to be bad until we got outside the Los Angeles metro area. Not exactly the type of place that a hijacking could take place. We were following the route given to Mulder by Fowley, but didn’t expect anything to happen until we were past Bakersfield.
They guys had confirmed that Dave had contacted Fowley directly. We now had the names of three of the players in the ring and called Skinner to have search warrants standing by for them. If our hunch played out, we were being set up again. This time we weren’t going to play.
We had been instructed to take I99 at the split of I5 and I99 after we passed the Grapevine. We had been driving ever since we left San Diego, stopping only for fuel and bathroom breaks. We traded off shifts, and kept on the road. I didn’t like falsifying our documents, but we needed to be ahead of where our satellite was telling them we were. It could mean the difference between life and death for us.
We were about a hundred miles beyond Grapevine Peak when the CB started squawking. Hundreds of drivers were sending out warnings about an explosion and rock slide on the Grapevine. Mulder and I knew that it had been planned for us. I prayed that no one was seriously hurt.
We kept going until we found an out of the way place to stop. We fueled up and ate dinner. We found a motel room and checked in. We contacted Skinner and had him set up a stakeout of the motel we were in. The local Feds were told that we had received a tip about our load being marked for hijacking. They were to watch and follow, but not to attempt an arrest. The ringleaders needed to be found. They weren’t happy, but they agreed.
When we got the word from Skinner that all the agents were in place, we reconfigured the satellite to our current location. About 2:00AM Mulder called into to dispatch and told them we were stopping for the night. The man on duty was new and he questioned us about how we had gotten around the mess on the Grapevine. He told him that we were past it when it happened, but that his wife had gotten sick and we had been resting until I felt better.
Mulder and I had picked this particular motel because it was out of the way and easy to access. He had parked the rig with the back of the trailer to an open service road. If anyone wanted to steal the load, all they had to do was break open the lock and it was theirs.
We showered and climbed into bed snuggled together. If anything happened before morning, Skinner would let us know.
—X—
PART 13 (R)
SOMEWHERE PAST GRAPEVINE PEAK CALIFORNIA
We were already up and dressed by the time Skinner called. The stakeout had been a success. The computers were snatched and on their way north on I99 with a team of agents in a helicopter following them. The thieves had relocked and sealed the door to our trailer, leaving no sign that they had unloaded the computers. The agents that remained after the hijackers left had gone over the trailer already. The fingerprints and fiber samples were on their way to the lab in Washington.
We decided to continue as if we didn’t know the load was gone. Of course, any experienced trucker would know as soon as he moved that the trailer was empty by the feel of the steering. We hoped no one at Global-Tech would pick up on our ruse later and ask why we didn’t suspect missing freight. Skinner had called, mad as a hornet. The helicopter tail had lost the truck in the mountains. We immediately called the guys and they were able to track the computers from San Diego. Since I5 and I99 converged in Sacramento, we decided to take I5 north instead of the route given us by Fowley. Once again we set up the satellite link to broadcast incorrect data.
We drove hard for the second day in a row. We made it to Sacramento in a little over six hours. Even the traffic around the junction of I405 didn’t slow us down. As we approached Sacramento from the south, I99 and I5 again merged. We knew that the truck with the stolen computers was behind us, so we pulled off in West Sacramento after we reached I80 to let them get ahead of us.
We made a quick pit stop and fueled up, not knowing when we would get a chance again. I was paying for some sunflower seeds and a few other snacks when a voice behind me called out, “Ladybird? Is that you?”
When I turned I spotted him immediately. Cooner was a hard man to miss, even if Mulder hadn’t described him to me in detail. We had yakked on the CB a time or two. He was the one that pasted Ladybird on me as a handle.
“Cooner? What are you doing here?” I smiled at the big man as he looked around for Mulder.
“Just a quick stop on the way to Frisco. Where’s that man of yours?” he grinned. “Or did you off him after your last fight and take over the rig?”
I had to laugh. When Mulder and I had gone through our hard time, I was grateful that Mulder had met a man like Cooner. So many of the drivers we came in contact with were good men like him, but there were always lowlifes that came with any profession.
“He’s out checking out the rig while we fuel up.” I couldn’t help myself when I said, “I let him live this time. I didn’t even shoot him again.” Let him wonder about that one.
Cooner’s eyes widened but he didn’t remark on my comment. “I got the wife with me and I want to introduce her to the both of you. I also want her to see his tat. I been trying to talk her into getting one, but she’s dead set against it.”
I could see Mulder coming in the door and knew by the look on his face he didn’t recognize Cooner from the back. I smiled to let him know that I was all right and didn’t notice the large woman that barreled up to me.
“Get lost, bitch. This one’s taken,” she glared at me and I took a step back, shifting my weight so that I would be ready for her if she actually attacked me. I realized in a flash that she probably thought I was a lot lizard despite my conservative clothes.
“Hey, sweet thing, I know this lady. She’s the wife of one of my buddies. It’s okay, honeybunch. You know you’re the only woman for me,” Cooner was soothing her.
Mulder strode up and wrapped his arm around me, sticking out his right hand to Cooner. “Hey, Cooner. Good to see you. Is this your lovely wife Alice that you told me so much about?”
I could see Alice relax as Mulder’s words sunk in. If she was this territorial about the big man next to her, I no longer doubted that he was faithful to her. She looked at her man with pride and love and acceptance. I hoped that was what she saw in my eyes for Mulder. That and more.
Cooner and Mulder talked for a few minutes and decided that we would get some dinner with them. Alice apologized to me again and I had to grin.
“I know how you feel, Alice. I don’t want Marty hanging around other women either. Thank goodness he feels the same way about me and other men.” I grinned at Mulder as we talked.
We drove our trucks up the road to a restaurant called Vince’s and had some of the best Italian food I ever ate. The minestrone soup was out of this world and it was served with fresh hot loaves of sour dough bread and butter. I could have eaten just that and been happy, but when I tasted the ravioli, I was in heaven.
Mulder ordered something called a Land, Sea and Italy. It was a small steak, done to perfection, a fried piece of cod and a healthy serving of pasta. I watched him eat every bite and start picking at my leftovers and just shook my head. He never gained an ounce.
“It kills me how these men can eat until they can’t move and not gain a pound, but let me even look at dessert and I’m up five pounds,” Alice said.
“I know. Marty can eat his own weight in fattening foods and still not gain a pound. Of course, he exercises a lot too.”
We talked about our men for a few minutes as the subjects of our conversation caught up. I couldn’t have guessed we’d make friends with an odder pair. Back in DC, we wouldn’t have traveled in the same circles at all. I was surprised at how much I was enjoying talking to another woman for a change. At work, other than a few lab people, most agents thought of me as Mrs. Spooky and avoided me like the plague, as though contact with me and the X-Files might somehow taint them. It was refreshing to gab with someone that had no preconceived idea of who you were.
I also realized how much I enjoyed being a couple and sharing friendships and other things with Mulder besides work. Socializing, for instance. It was rare we socialized with anyone other than each other or the Gunmen.
“So you think the rockslide on five was not an accident?” Mulder was asking Cooner.
“I know it wasn’t. I was just coming up an incline and at the top I looked across the next hill and saw the cloud from the explosion. That was as planned as a wedding day, if you ask me,” Cooner nodded to stress his point.
“What do you think they were trying to accomplish?” Mulder pumped.
Cooner took a drink of coffee and settled back in his chair. He looked around before he spoke, as if looking for an eavesdropper.
“I think it was that bunch of yeahoos that are hijacking loads of technical equipment. I don’t know who they are or why they’re doing it, but I’ve lost a couple good buddies lately. The last team they offed were both men I had worked with for years when I drove for Global-Tech.”
Neither of us could hide our surprise. “You drove for Global-Tech, Cooner?” I had to ask.
“Yeah, but they shorted me on a few loads and took it out of my pay, so I hooked up with Direct Transit. They’ve done good by me. I’ve not regretted switching over,” Cooner nodded to Alice. “‘Sides, I get home on a regular schedule now and they let Ali come with me whenever she wants.”
“Yeah, it saved our marriage,” Alice interjected.
“Say, they’re always looking for new driving teams, if you two are interested. Just mention my name and I get a bonus if you sign on,” Cooner informed us with a grin. “Gotta keep the money flowin’.”
I looked at Mulder. I knew he wanted to tell Cooner about our assignment. I wanted to trust this man, but I still felt a little uncomfortable about disclosing our assignment to him. I could tell Mulder was reading my hesitation and understood it.
He winked at me and touched his phone. I nodded back. He excused himself and I knew he was calling the guys to see if there were any surprises in Cooner’s past. He was back in a few minutes with a grin on his face.
Cooner had been telling Alice about Mulder’s tattoo and teasing her about getting one of her own.
“Now just what do you think my father the preacher would think about his only daughter getting a tattoo?” Alice laughed at him. “I’m sure Dana wouldn’t dream of getting a tattoo. Most women wouldn’t consider it.”
“Marty, show Ali your tat. Come on, no one’s watching,” Cooner insisted.
Mulder pulled his arm out of his shirt and leaned over so Alice could see his tattoo up close. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise as she studied his tattoo and then the rest of his gorgeous chest that was exposed.
“I can see why you wanted me to see this, Cooner. Beautiful,” she breathed.
“Yes, he is,” I said. She gave me a quick glance and backed off. I knew how she felt now when she had first seen me talking to Cooner. And I knew she wasn’t a real threat; just admiring the view because it was there. How would I react to someone that was really putting the make on Mulder? I shuddered to think. This was a new feeling for me, and I didn’t like it. Mulder seemed to pick up on it right away. He moved closer to me and pulled his shirt on quickly.
“Thanks,” he said, but he was looking at me with a silly grin on his face. It was reassuring. I realized that I trusted him. If I did, then I didn’t need to trust the women that flirted with him. I could hardly blame them. I knew Mulder wasn’t fickle and he had chosen me. I could thumb my nose at them and say, ‘I won.’
I’d jumped to the wrong conclusion about Chloe, or Meghan or whatever her name was. I realized that my jealousy said that I didn’t trust him. No wonder he’d been so hurt. But it was a deeply ingrained instinct in me to be suspicious of man’s ability to resist temptation. I would need to remind myself that Mulder wasn’t my father, he wasn’t Ethan or Jack or Daniel. He was his own man and he was unique. That was part of why I loved him in the first place, because he was different from every other man I’d ever been involved with. And here I was treating him like every other man … with suspicion and assumptions of the worst. It wasn’t fair to him. He’d done nothing to deserve that. I resolved to be better about this sort of thing in the future.
“What’d you think honeybunch? Wouldn’t you like a tat like that?” Cooner was clueless.
“I don’t know, big man. That would be too big and obvious on a woman’s arm. I don’t know any women with tattoos unless you count the parolees in Pa’s parish.”
“Dana has a tattoo.” Mulder said casually.
I wanted to kill him. I knew what was coming next.
“You do? Let’s see!” said Alice, right away. “Unless it’s in a private spot that is,” she amended.
“Yeah, Dana, let’s see.” Cooner was intrigued.
“Marty!” I growled. I didn’t want to play show and tell in a public restaurant. That’s why I hadn’t said anything when she first mentioned it.
“Come on Dana,” Mulder teased. “It’s a beaut.”
I slid onto my knees in the booth and turned so that they could see my tattoo. I pulled up my shirt and I could feel Mulder’s fingers pulling down the waistband of my shorts a little to uncover it completely.
“Wow! A snake eating its tail! That’s a strange one, Dana. What does it mean?” Alice was curious.
“It’s an Oroborus, a symbol of life’s eternal circle,” I said, hoping the subject could be dropped.
“What did you think about it when she first got it, Marty?” Cooner asked.
I looked into Mulder’s eyes, as anxious as Cooner and Alice to hear his answer.
“She got it at a time that was hard on both of us. It was a rebellion of sorts. We weren’t really together yet, but I knew she was the one for me. I think it was something she had to do, and it helped us in the end.”
“How?” was my one word question. Mulder was speaking directly to me now. Cooner and Alice might as well have not been there at all.
“Every time I put my hand on your back I thought about it being there under your clothes and it reminded me of the strong independent spirit you are under your public persona. It hurt to think about it when you first got it, but eventually, I realized that everything wasn’t about me,” he grinned as the private moment between us spun out and memories of a rose petal and a desk filled our minds.
“Umhhh. Well, I guess that’s clear as mud,” Cooner joked.
I could see Mulder shake off the old memories and come back to the present. “Cooner, Dana and I aren’t what you think we are.”
“You’re not married?” Alice asked.
“Well, no, not in the widely accepted terms of marriage. But we’re together,” I said.
“Cooner,” Mulder started again, looking around for listeners. “Dana and I are not professional truck drivers. We’re FBI and we’re undercover trying to bring down the hijackers that have been killing truckers and stealing loads.”
“FBI? What are you doing with that rig from Global-Tech then?” Cooner was suspicious. Mulder explained everything and Cooner and Alice listened, enthralled.
“So, you’re actually an FBI agent?” Alice asked me.
“Yes,” I replied.
“And a medical doctor,” Mulder interjected with pride. “She’s a brilliant pathologist.”
Cooner and Alice exchanged a glance and then stared at me again.
“So, what…” Cooner cleared his throat. “Why did you tell me this?”
“You don’t think he has something to do with the hijackers just because he used to drive for Global-Tech, do you?” Alice paled as she questioned Mulder.
“No, not at all!” Mulder quickly assured them. “We know that some of the higher ups in the ring are officials of Global-Tech. We’ve actually had a run in with them between Barstow and Vegas. If it hadn’t been for Dana’s quick thinking, we would be another set of statistics.”
“And we believe that the rockslide on I5 was aimed to stop or kill us,” I added. “Besides, if we suspected you were involved, you’d be the last people we’d blow our cover to. We’re telling you because we trust you and it can never hurt to have another set of eyes and ears out there. Plus, we want to know if you’ve heard anything.”
“How could they be so far off on your location?” Cooner asked.
“We have the technology to send a false signal through the satellite link,” Mulder answered simply. Neither of us saw a reason to let him in on the fact that the technology didn’t come from the FBI.
Mulder went on to answer Cooner’s other questions. Alice listened, interjecting a question once in a while.
“So, you know that the stolen computers are on a truck that’s probably passing us even as we speak?” Cooner was amazed.
“Yeah, we’ve got some people watching them. If they deviate from I80 west, they’ll call us. We don’t want to get too close to them. We can’t exactly hide in a crowd with that Kenworth out there, and we don’t know if they have others out there with them,” Mulder replied.
“So, what do you want us to do?” Cooner finally asked.
“Nothing overt,” Mulder said. “We wanted to tell you so that we could find out any information that you may remember or for that matter, not even know that you know.”
We discussed the hijackings until Mulder’s phone rang.
“Tanner,” he said automatically. It was the guys. The truck had driven past us and was heading up I80 about 5 miles ahead of us. They didn’t seem to be in any hurry, so either they didn’t know that we were near them, or they didn’t care. Mulder stood up, throwing down a wad of bills for our dinner.
“We need to get going,” he said as Cooner and Alice exchanged glances.
“Marty, let us go with you,” Cooner suggested. “We’re empty right now and it’ll be a couple days before we get another load. We could ride shotgun.”
“No, Cooner, I can’t ask you to risk your wife and rig to help us,” Mulder started.
“You’re not asking me, I’m asking you. I’ve lost some good friends to these creeps, and I don’t want to lose two more. I’m going to follow you whether you like it or not.”
I could tell that Mulder appreciated his thoughts, but didn’t want to be responsible for a civilian during a fight.
I placed my hand on Mulder’s forearm, “Alice, Cooner, we don’t want to put you in harm’s way. These guys tried to shoot us once already and obviously were trying to kill us again on the Grapevine. We think they’re part of a larger group of men who are using the government for their own agenda. If you do this, we can’t guarantee that we can protect you anymore than we are sure that we can defend ourselves.”
“We understand that, Dana. It’s a risk we’re willing to take to help stop these guys,” Alice said. “My daddy always told me that you have to work to keep the world safe for the good people. It’s the way I’ve always lived and it’s the way Cooner’s always lived. We’re not going to stop now.”
Mulder said, “You have to agree to do everything we say … without question. If an untrained civilian was injured because of our actions, it could mean our jobs,” he said. “Hell, if they knew we blew our cover to a pair of civilians, much less took them along during a pursuit, THAT would be enough to cost us our jobs, let alone if one of you got hurt.”
Cooner and Alice just nodded. Alice added, “You’re the professionals. We’ll follow your lead.”
We left it at that. We needed to get on the road.
—X—
An hour down the road, we got another call from the guys. The hijackers had turned northwest on Route 12. We signaled our turn and were not surprised to see Cooner and two other trucks follow us onto the exit ramp.
We weren’t exactly under cover, but at least we wouldn’t stand out as the only pursuer of the perps. I wondered who was in the other two trucks. I hoped Cooner hadn’t blown our cover with anyone else.
Twenty minutes later we got another call. They had turned off on Old Sonoma Road. The guys advised us to pull over and wait for a while to see where they were headed. Their destination could be just down the road and we didn’t want to over shoot them. We pulled over at a truck stop and we climbed out to talk to the other drivers.
We all convened in the coffee shop to wait for our next call. We were almost ready to take off when it came. The truck had stopped. Byers said that they were on Congress Valley Road, probably at one of the three vineyards that lined that road. The irony of the name did not escape Mulder or me.
Mulder asked the guys to get the names of the three vineyards and when they came back with the information, he knew right away which one to check first.
“Starlight Vineyards,” Mulder said to me. I agreed. It was too much of a coincidence to pass up. We decided to wait until dark and go in for a ‘look-see’, as Cooner called it.
Upon questioning, we found out that Cooner had simply said we were a couple of maverick drivers recruiting help to try and bust the hijackers since the authorities weren’t having much luck. He’d hinted that we’d gotten some information through bribes of Public Utility officers. Since they all knew how susceptible they were to bribes, no one questioned that. He immediately got volunteers. Drivers were mad about losing friends and scared of losing their own lives. They wanted it to end, for better or worse.
Mulder called Skinner and apprised him of the situation. He said he would have a team meet us at the truck stop with all the gear we would need. We didn’t tell him that we had all the fire power we needed.
We just needed transportation to get us in quietly.
—X—
Before the team from Sacramento got there it was fully dark. Mulder and Cooner took off to reconnoiter against my wishes. Cooner had sweet talked the use of a car from one of the waitresses, much to the amusement of Ali and me.
They were gone for over an hour and I was starting to get worried. I didn’t want the FBI team to get there before Mulder was back. I don’t think I’ve ever loved the sight of a Hyundai as much as I did the moment Mulder and Cooner pulled into the parking lot in the little red car.
“That’s the one. We checked out the other two vineyards while we were there. If it’s one of them, I’d be surprised.” Mulder said as he hugged me.
“Why?” I squeaked out. His embrace was so tight, I knew something was wrong.
“Because the Starlight Vineyard is locked up as securely as a federal prison. There are miles of razor wire surrounding fields of newly planted grapes. If that’s a producing vineyard, I’m a spook from the CIA.”
“Ooookay. Now, tell me the rest,” I looked deeply into his eyes until he dropped his glance. He took my hand and moved us away from the rest of the group.
“Mulder,” I whispered. “You’re scaring me.”
“Scully. We saw dogs and guards everywhere around the building. I had the night vision binoculars the guys left for me and I was checking out the doors. There’s only two that can be seen from the road.”
I didn’t reply. I knew he hadn’t come to the hard part yet. “One of the guards led a man out that looked familiar. He took him out into the field and shot him.”
“Oh my God! Mulder who was it?”
“It was one of the Kurt Crawfords, Scully. He melted away, just like the others when he was killed, only slower than a … pure breed. I had a hard time stopping Cooner from rushing the guard to stop the execution, but I knew what would happen. Cooner would have been shot or killed by the toxic fumes from the Kurt.”
“Mulder, if there was one Kurt Crawford, there’s probably more. Didn’t you say that they were the lab technicians at the tanks for the clones?”
“Yeah, they were at the fertility clinic where they were holding the ova of all the abductees.” He didn’t say any more, but I knew what he was thinking.
“There may be more of my ova stored there,” I said. We might still have a chance to have a child together, I thought, but didn’t say it. It was implied.
“Chances are slim, Scully. Even if there are labs there, chances that YOUR ova are there … chances are slim,” he repeated.
He was right; I didn’t want to get my hopes up, or his. It was a remote chance. Even if there were ova there, they might not be mine. And just because the other Kurts worked in a fertility clinic, didn’t mean that’s what this facility was doing. I’d used the ova Mulder had stolen. Another batch had blown up on a ship. That explosion had almost killed Agents Doggett, Reyes and me. Chances that any more of my ova existed anywhere were pretty low. I could hardly believe it, though. Even a slim chance was more than we’d had before. But I was getting ahead of myself.
“Yeah, we have to get into that facility before they destroy it when they’re attacked, but that place is like a fortress. Even if we got through the gates and up the drive without being noticed, I can’t believe that we could stop them from blowing up the entire facility, just to keep from being caught. That’s their usual M.O.”
“What are they using the computers for, Mulder?” I couldn’t quite figure that out.
Mulder’s eyes began to glow. I knew he had just had one of those great leaps of logic for which he was famous.
“The computers! If they’re using the computers, it’s a good bet that they’re accessing the net or at least using a T-1 line that the guys could trace. It’s worth a shot.”
“Yes!” I agreed. “If they can hack into the computers being used, maybe we can get some idea about what’s going on inside and we could have a better chance to get to the cryogenics area before they destroy it.” If there is one, I reminded myself.
Mulder was hitting the speed dial for the guys as I finished speaking. His conversation was short and I was disappointed until he said, “They’re on their way here, just about twenty miles away. They should be here in less than a half an hour.” He looked as surprised as I was.
“Did you ask them to follow us?”
“No, I told them to stay where they were and out of trouble,” Mulder smiled. “But I’m glad they’re almost here now.”
“Yeah, but what will the FBI team think of them?” I asked.
“We’ll just have to tell them they’re consultants sent in by Skinner. I doubt anyone will question that until it’s too late.”
I smiled back at Mulder and told him I was going to the truck to get changed into something basic and black. He waggled his eyebrows and offered to join me.
I think he was surprised when I said yes.
I went straight to the rig to change into a black outfit. Mulder gave the rest of the group an update on the guys and then joined me. I was up in the bunk in my bra and panties when he climbed in the cab.
“Scully!” He wolf whistled.
“C’mere,” I said and opened my arms to embrace him. “Mulder, we have to talk.”
“What?” He could tell I had something important to say.
“Mulder, I would rather never have a child if it meant that I lost you trying to claim my ova back or figure out if they are there. If we find out there are ova there, I don’t want you to do something rash and have to spend the rest of my life alone.”
“Scully,” he sighed.
“Please, Mulder, don’t take any unnecessary chances out there. I couldn’t take losing you now.”
“Right back at you Scully,” he hugged me tighter. “Live to fight another day and all that. You know, I’ve been so calm since we were together the other night. I know that we still haven’t consummated our relationship, but just sharing pleasure, being intimate, has made it easier for me to wait, and I hope for you.”
I nodded to let him know that I agreed.
“I would do anything to spend the rest of my life with you, Scully. Including backing off from trying to find your ova in there, if that’s what you want. But you gotta remember. We’re going in together.”
“I know Mulder. We’re always stronger together. Whatever happens, I will have your back, as I know you’ll have mine.” I answered.
“Damn straight!” he said with a smile. “Now, don’t you think you should put on a black bra and panties set before we go out to storm the fortress?” He waggled his eyebrows and I broke up laughing.
Mulder always knew when to interject a bit of humor to lighten the situation. I pulled him down with me as I laid back on the bunk. We had a few minutes and I didn’t want to waste a one of them.
—X—
The guys pulled up in a van with a sign, ‘The Computer Doctor’ on the side. When they opened the back door, everyone standing around gasped. It was full of electronic surveillance equipment and computer consoles.
“Someone call for a hacker?” Frohike said as he crawled out of the back.
“Please, Fro, you know I prefer Electronic Surveillance Systems Expert,” Byers laughed.
“I don’t care what you call it,” Langly interjected. “Just tell me that the coffee shop is still serving dinner.” He took off in the direction of food like a hound dog on a trail.
Mulder, Frohike, Byers and I climbed into the van and got to work. There were only three chairs, so I sat on Mulder’s lap. For some reason, it made me blush. We were so much closer now. But it would still take a while to get used to the public displays of affection or closeness.
Langly had been able to hack into the computers at the vineyard on the way up to meet us. They had already identified what needed to be done to disable the gate and alarm system, but nothing was found on the system that helped with the locks on the doors. Apparently they were all manual, or on a separate stand-alone system to prevent hacking.
The layout of the facility was printed out for Mulder and I. We found the cryogenic area at the same time. It was right in the middle of the building. Almost impervious to any kind of attack. But it was there, just as we suspected.
We asked the guys to work on getting the door locks open to that particular area and went out to discuss our findings with the rest of the group. Every one threw in ideas about how to get into the facility, until Mulder called a halt to the discussion.
“Guys, you get us in the gate and create a disturbance in the north west corner and I’ll get us into the facility. Watch out for the fucking dogs,” he warned.
“Mulder, shouldn’t we wait for the FBI Team?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“We’ll wait for another half hour, then we’re going in,” Mulder said. “Why don’t you call Skinner and find out what their ETA is?”
He was willing to wait for a half hour. At least it was something. I pulled out my phone and called Skinner.
When I hung up, I knew Mulder was going to be furious. The local ASAC had countermanded Skinner’s order to send a team. It seemed that there was a bomb scare called in at a rock concert in Sacramento and his guys had been pulled to assist there. We were on our own.
I had to wonder if that bomb scare was legitimate. Were they on to us? Now I was just being paranoid.
—X—
Forty-five minutes later, we were on the road about two hundred yards from the gates of the Starlight Vineyards. Skinner had pulled some strings and a CHP officer had delivered a search warrant to us to make our raid legal.
The guys followed Mulder and I in their van. We dropped our empty trailer and drove up to our current location without our lights on. The big diesel was not quiet, but certainly no louder than a car at the lower speeds. Mulder had pulled out the Para Ordnance Full Auto 85 and two hand guns. I tucked the Beretta in the back of my jeans and carried my trusty Sig Sauer. We were ready to roll.
The rest of the truckers were about a mile back down the road. Mulder had offered Cooner a weapon, but didn’t seem surprised when he pulled out a sawed off shotgun from under his truck seat. The rest of the truckers had a weapon of choice of their own also. I didn’t feel as uncomfortable about them being unarmed in a confrontation. Now, if I could just shake the unease I felt about them being armed, behind us and untrained. It was an accident waiting to happen. I guess you can’t have everything. Now that we wouldn’t have FBI back up, I was glad they were there nonetheless.
The gate lock clicked open and Byers shoved it out of the way. We drove the rig up the drive way, slowly and quietly. When Frohike gave the signal we knew the alarm system was off, and Mulder began speeding up the roadway, winding the truck into the higher gears as he went. I suddenly knew how he expected to get into the building. I looked over to make sure he had his seat belt on securely and tightened mine again. We were about to cost Global-Tech or the FBI a lot of money. Par for the course.
“Hold on Scully, we’re going in!” Mulder shouted as he drove the Kenworth straight into the side of the concrete block building at more than seventy miles per hour.
The rush of the impact was intoxicating. It was like driving a tank through butter. The Kenworth wound up halfway to the middle of the building, taking out several guards along with the walls and furniture that were in its way.
Mulder and I exited the cab before the cloud of dust settled and were able to work our way towards the doors of the cryogenics lab without firing a shot. Chaos reigned. No one knew what had happened and so they didn’t know how to react. The dust and debris were a perfect cover.
We arrived at the door of the lab only to find that it was still locked. The guys had not been able to hack into that particular system. It was either a stand alone or manual like the door locks.
“I’m going to try shooting it open, Scully. Stand back,” Mulder said as he pushed me behind him.
He aimed his gun but before he could fire we heard a loud voice right behind us say, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Agent Mulder.”
We turned to face our enemy, only to come face to face with one of the Kurt Crawfords.
“If you damage the scanner in any way, the door locks down for twenty-four hours. You need a card,” he said as he walked forward with one in his right hand. His left hand was out to the side and empty. He continued, “You took it from me when you jumped me by surprise,” he said, giving his own cover story in case we were caught.
“All right.” Mulder moved away from the door staying in front of me. The Kurt stopped.
“Agent Mulder, I wouldn’t hurt Agent Scully, ever. I would die to protect her.” His sad expression emphasized the truth of his statement.
“Why?” I asked as I moved from behind Mulder. “Why do you wish to help me… us?”
The Kurt looked at Mulder and then back to me. “Didn’t you tell her, Agent Mulder?”
“Tell her what?” he asked.
“Tell me what?” I repeated, wondering what else Mulder may have kept from me besides my ova. Kurt looked at me. “You’re our mother, or the closest thing to one we’ll ever have. I am made from your genetic material. We all are.”
I felt like I had been gut-shot again. All these clones were my sons? “How?” I was able to gasp out.
“We are all from the one fetus created by mixing the sperm of a man named Kurt Crawford, who was a brilliant bio-chemist and researcher and your ova, Agent Scully. We are all hybrid clones of your offspring. We are grateful and would do anything for you. We have protected you many times when you weren’t aware of it.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered. All the times I had heard of or saw one of the Kurts die, it was someone who shared my genetic make up. Two words he’d said stuck in my brain. “My offspring?” I whispered. “You were cloned from … my offspring? What offspring?” They were like Emily; mine but not mine. However, he said they were cloned from a fetus — my offspring — a real child.
“You have a son,” he said. And he didn’t mean himself and the other clones.
I felt the room sway and everything turned black.
—X—
I watched Scully blanch as the Kurt answered her questions and expected her to react strongly. I didn’t expect her to pass out.
I barely caught her as her gun slipped from her lifeless fingers and she pitched forward towards the floor. If the Kurt had meant any harm to either of us, he would have easily been able to kill us right then.
I glared at him and said sarcastically, “Why didn’t you give it to her straight?”
He gave me a puzzled look, “Should I have not told her the truth, Agent Mulder? Would you have me lie to her?”
“No, of course not,” I said in exasperation. “I wish…”
The lights suddenly dimmed to a faint amber glow and the sound of a woman’s voice counting down from 500 sounded over the intercom system.
“What the hell is that?” I demanded.
“You must go, Agent Mulder. You must get Agent Scully to safety.” The Kurt obviously knew what was happening.
“What do you mean, ‘Go’? I need to get in this room to get Scully’s ova,” I insisted, “If there’s any left.”
“No, we must leave. I will see what I can do. They have initiated the self-destruct system and we have less than five minutes to get away from here. You must take Agent Scully back to your vehicle and leave.” The Kurt turned to depart.
“Where the hell are you going?” I yelled after him.
“I must try to free my brothers. They are trapped on the level below and have no hope of escaping unless I can get to a computer terminal for access to the locks.”
Shit! I needed to get Scully to safety, but I knew that I needed to help the Kurt free all the others. It’s what Scully would want us to do. I remembered what she’d said. She’d rather not have a child than lose me. But we still had some time. Just then Byers appeared out of the dust and debris and skidded to a halt next to me.
“Mulder, they’ve initiated the self-destruct. You’ve got to get out of here. Oh, my God, was she shot?”
I shook my head as I handed Scully over to the shocked gunman. “Take her back to the rig, Byers. I’ll be back in two minutes. If I’m not, back that truck out of here and take off.” Byers stood there gaping at me. “Do you understand me, John? I’m trusting you to take care of Scully. Can you do this for me?”
“Sure, Mulder,” he said as he held Scully tightly in his arms. “You can count on me.” He knew how rare it was for me to trust anyone but myself with Scully’s well being. He took off towards the rig and I ran after the Kurt to help free his brothers.
In less than a minute, we reached the steel door that sealed the rest of the Kurts in the lab.
“When the self-destruct system is on, the lock is a combination of an encrypted password and a scan of an approved palm print. I have clearance to open the door normally but I need you at that terminal to enter the password,” he shouted over the droning countdown.
I nodded and moved to the terminal. He rattled off a series of alpha/numeric keystrokes that I entered as he moved his hand to the pad next to the lock. It opened almost immediately, and the Kurts began to pour out the door.
“Come on, we need to get out of here,” I shouted.
“Agent Mulder, you must go make sure Agent Scully is safely out of the building. We need to exit through the under ground passage to the supply area. We must not be seen leaving this facility or our lives will be worthless. They could still be hovering over the area in their helicopters waiting to shoot us,” the first Kurt quickly explained. “It will allow us to disperse through the fields of this vineyard and the surrounding vineyards to safety.”
“Not good enough,” I said, thinking hard. “Look, all of you head towards the diner at the truck stop down on Old Sonoma Road. You can hide in our trailer and we’ll get you to safety.”
One of the Kurts stepped forward and shoved a pile of papers into my hands. “Thanks, Agent Mulder,” said the first Kurt. “Now go!”
They turned and ran in all directions. They obviously had a plan. So did I. I wanted to get Scully to safety. I wanted us both to live to a ripe old age together. Even if there would be no little UberScully-Mulders, I wanted to spend a good part of my hopefully long life making love to my partner.
I got back just as the voice that sounded more and more like Diana Fowley counting, got to 90. Byers had the truck started and was grinding the gears, searching for reverse when I pulled the door open.
“Shit, Mulder, you scared me,” he spat.
“Move over!” I shouted.
“I’ve got to get back to the guys,” he said as he scrambled over the console and out the other door. “Move! Mulder!” he screamed as he headed out of the building to the waiting van.
I threw the rig into reverse and popped the clutch. We moved backwards through the rubble and I tried not to think about the bumps we ran over as bodies of the dead guards as we cleared the building.
I spun the wheel and screeched to a halt, ramming it into first gear. I took off as fast as I could without stalling out. We had to get away from there quickly, or the ensuing explosion would vaporize us, truck and all.
I heard Scully moving around in the bunk and started to yell at her to hold on, but a small explosion went off, and then another and another.
Scully opened the curtains yelled, “Mulder, what’s happening?”
—X—
When I came to, I was in the bunk of our rig, and we were moving swiftly back down the driveway towards the road.
“Mulder, what’s happening?” I yelled over the sound of the engine and the explosions behind us.
“We’ve got to get as far away as possible, Scully. They had the entire place rigged. They all got away in a couple of helicopters they had up on the top of the building, and they set off the self- destruct mechanism when they left.”
“Mulder,” I grabbed his shoulder as I climbed back down into my seat. “What about the Kurts? My… Did they get out?” I had to know. I realized they were mine biologically, not really ‘mine’ as in fostered in the womb – and they emerged full grown, never really having been children. Still it was my genetic material that formed them and I felt an uncanny connection to them.
“Yeah, Scully, they got out. At least all the ones who were viable and could walk. There was a room full of them in the tanks that were not done yet that didn’t make it, though.” Mulder was quiet for a moment.
“Scully, I didn’t know that they were made from … you. When he told me that ‘they’ were their mothers, I thought he was speaking of all the ova of all the women represented there in the storage area. I never thought that you were the mother of all the Kurt Crawfords. I swear. I wouldn’t have kept that from you. I didn’t know. You have to believe me.”
I couldn’t say anything. It was too much to assimilate under stress, but I wasn’t mad at Mulder. I believed him, I just couldn’t find the words to tell him.
Mulder babbled for a few more minutes, trying to find a way to make me believe that he hadn’t lied to me or hid another important detail until I finally found the words to stop him.
“Just drive, Mulder. I believe you, but put this sucker in gear and put the pedal to the metal before we’re blown to kingdom come.”
Mulder grinned at me and concentrated on driving. Another series of several small explosions went off behind us and then one mammoth explosion that left a huge crater in the earth and completely destroyed all evidence that a concrete structure had been there moments before.
The blast impact rocked our rig, but we had made it to safety. Ahead of us, I could see the Gunmen’s van and the other rigs retreating to the diner.
“We’re going to meet up with the others, then they’re going to move out before the cops get here,” Mulder said. “No need to bring any more people into the Consortium sights than necessary.”
I agreed and we fell silent again. I moved around in the seat and noticed a pile of papers on the floor at my feet. “Mulder, what’s all this stuff?”
“Just some papers one of the Kurts thrust at me on the way back to the rig. I thought that they might give us some clues as to the rest of the gang.”
I made a mental note to look through them before we entered them into evidence. I wanted to know what we had before it disappeared. I’d be making copies of it all for our files as soon as I was within spitting distance of a copier.
Mulder pulled up to the diner and backed up to our trailer. I thought it odd that he was going to make sure we were hooked up before the cops even got there, but I didn’t say anything. It was empty anyway. I was too tired and shook up to question it.
We met with Cooner and the others and sent them on their way. We tried, successfully, I hope, to dispel the impression that they saw a number of men with the same exact face. We told them it was a gang of brothers running the hijacking ring that looked similar, but not exactly the same. I think they bought it. The alternative was probably just too much for them to contemplate.
None of them wanted to stick around to be interrogated by the police, and the diner parking lot was soon deserted except for the guys’ van and our rig. It was a beautiful still night with only the faintest sounds of our friends driving away in the back ground.
Mulder and I crawled into the bunk and went through the documents he had rescued. We sent the guys ahead and told them we would meet them in Davis. It was right up I80 and close enough to the Sacramento Airport that we could all fly home if necessary. The guys were taking the van back to their friend in Woodland, so they agreed.
They hadn’t been gone long when I found pieces of information that made all the damage to the Kenworth worth it. There were manifestos stating which loads the stolen computers came from, their purpose and the serial number of each. Software licensing numbers for the bio-chemical programs needed for their research and a number of printouts of information gleaned from the stolen computers were all the proof we needed.
When I showed them to Mulder it cheered him some, but I could still tell that he didn’t think we had enough to close the case. One of the final pieces of paper that I found was a memo from T. Strughold to D. Fowley with all the VINs (Vehicle Identification Numbers) of the stolen rigs and trailer numbers listed and a corresponding number of an overseas freight container that the equipment was loaded into. All of it was on a dock in New York City waiting for a freighter from Germany to deliver it to an RP Industries site in Tunisia. We had them.
Several times while we were reading, I thought I heard someone behind us, but when I looked there was nothing moving. I decided I was just on edge after everything that happened this evening.
We finally heard the sirens in the distance, followed by a helicopter that landed in the field behind the diner. I wasn’t surprised when Skinner, Thomas and McMahon climbed out of it and hurried over to us.
Mulder and I glanced at each other and knew we had some ‘splainin’ to do.
We grinned.
—X—
It was dawn before we were ready to leave the site of the explosion. Skinner had a CSI crew there, checking the site with a fine-toothed comb. We knew that they would find the remains of a few of the guards, and just one other person. And they did. They just didn’t know how to explain why the volume of the remains seemed more appropriate for two dozen people, not one. Mulder and I let them try to figure it out and asked if we could leave.
That was the first time Mr. Thomas and Mr. McMahon actually noticed the state of the Kenworth. Even though the truck was built like a tank, it had taken a beating. It was still mechanically sound, but it sure looked like hell. They started to bitch poor Mulder out about the condition of their equipment and how much it was going to cost them to repair it.
“You two gentlemen were not so quick to reprimand Agent Mulder when you first got your hands on the memos about your stolen property and the employees in your own company and the DOT that were in on the hijacking ring,” I spat.
I had my dander up and nothing that Skinner or Mulder could say was going to keep me from giving them a piece of my mind. “Agent Mulder and I solved your case. Our east coast agents already have both Strughold and Fowley under arrest along with a number of lesser players in the ring that they squealed on.”
“See here, Agent Scully, we’ve already lost a considerable number of rigs during this entire fiasco, and now we have to repair a brand new Kenworth. It’s going to cost thousands…”
“I suppose you’re not interested in this last piece of information, then?” I acted as if I was going to tear it up.
“What information is that Agent Scully?” Skinner interjected.
I contemplated the two men and let them squirm for a moment. I sighed and handed the paper to Skinner. “The shipping manifesto for every one of the other rigs and their trailers that they were trying to smuggle out of the country.”
Skinner looked at me over his glasses and smiled a tight little smile of glee. “Good job, Agents. We’ll get right on this.”
I glanced at Mulder and we exchanged a wink and a grin. We owed it all to the Kurt that had retrieved this information for us. However, I didn’t think they’d mind if we took the credit for finding it.
“Now, if you gentlemen would excuse us, Agent Scully and I haven’t slept in over twenty-four hours,” Mulder said as he turned me towards the rig.
I shot him a questioning look and he let me know he would tell me what he was up to in a little while with his glance.
“Agents, where are you going?” Skinner called after us.
“We’re going to find a motel where we can park our rig and sleep for at least a full day. Then we’ll call dispatch and see about getting this baby back to the nearest repair center before we fly home.”
“You don’t have to do that Agent Mulder…” Mr. McMahon started.
“Yes, Mr. McMahon, we do. We always complete what we start and we ‘always give our best’, to paraphrase your own words,” Mulder said to the three stunned men.
We climbed into the rig and headed back towards Sacramento in silence.
When we hit I80 I turned to Mulder and asked, “Do you want to tell me what this is all about, Mulder?”
Mulder grinned at me and looked at his watch and then the odometer. “I didn’t think you could hold out that long, Scully.”
I gave him a sharp punch to the arm but couldn’t keep from smiling, “Shithead.”
“Ohhhh, Agent Scully, the potty mouth you have picked up on this assignment.” We both laughed.
“What’s up, Mulder?” I was serious now.
“Scully, all the Kurts that escaped are in our trailer,” he said calmly. “I didn’t know what else to do with them,” he said and shrugged.
“Are they okay?” I gasped.
“Yeah, I didn’t want them to go wandering around Napa without any help or anywhere to go, so I told them to climb into the trailer and we would take them to safety after we talked to the cops and our superiors.”
“Mulder…” I smiled. “Thank you.”
“What? They didn’t do anything but follow orders. The one that was killed when we were watching was an example to all the others as to how expendable they were to the consortium. They treated them like machines and they’re not, Scully. Each one may look like the other, and think like the others, but they’re individuals, too.”
“What are they going to do? Where can they go?” I was worried about these clones that thought of themselves as my sons. I realized that I felt the same way about them, or at least that they were my flesh and blood. It was hard to think of full grown men as my sons.
“They have somewhere to go, they just need transportation. I thought we could stop along the way back to the repair shop and drop them off at different bus and train terminals. It’s too difficult to fly these days with the picture ID’s required to get on the planes.”
“Good thinking, partner, but lets get them some water and food before it gets too hot. We should stop so that we can all get some rest before moving on.”
Mulder nodded his agreement and we began to look for a safe place to stop.
—X—
PART 14 (NC-17)
DAVIS, CA I80 TOWARDS RENO, NEVADA
We made our first stop at a bus station in Davis. The guys were waiting there in a rental car. Scully, Frohike, Byers, Langly and I climbed into the back of the trailer. There were twenty of them and it was more than a little disconcerting to see that many identical men at once.
We asked them what they wanted to do and the first Kurt explained that in moments when they could discuss things unobserved, they had made contingency plans in case they were ever able to escape. The Consortium had paid them a regular salary, and having nothing to really spend it on, they had been slowly buying up houses and properties all over the United States and Canada through a contact on the Internet.
They wanted to go to those predetermined destinations, places they considered their homes. They explained that it was probably better if we didn’t know where they all were. They had been called Kurt1, Kurt2, etc at the facility. However, amongst themselves, they had given each other different names to lend them individuality. I hadn’t noticed before but when they pointed it out, they all had a small number tattooed on their index finger to indicate which ‘clone’ they were.
Having photographic memories, they were able to remember which names were assigned to which numbers. This had been essential for the buying of properties and establishing identities in the outside world. Kurt1, who called himself Kevin Sorenson, was their appointed leader and spokesperson. He alone gave us his destination of Ontario, Canada, an address on Davis Drive East, and a telephone number where he could be reached should we ever need help. He could be in touch with the others very quickly and they would come to our aid.
Lots of ‘thank yous’ and hand shaking went on with me and the Gunmen. They all, though, hugged Scully individually and stared at her for a moment as if memorizing her face. Her face was streaming with tears by the time we were finished. Even the guys were sniffling.
“We’re headed to Reno, Nevada,” I informed them.
‘Kevin’ scribbled on a small notebook pad he’d had in his pocket. “Here’s some train and bus stations along the way. If you could drop a couple of us at each one that would be great,” he said.
“A couple?” Scully questioned.
“We can always pull off being twins for a few minutes in a terminal somewhere, but we’ll be going in different directions. More than two of us would attract undue attention, though. If you see any others en route that I haven’t listed here, feel free to stop. We can make our way from there. We all have wallets with IDs and ATM cards and bank accounts we can draw from. I created a small stash of cash by skimming their checks which I grabbed before we left. I gave each of them $100 for now to tide them over till they can find an ATM.”
“You had this pretty well thought out,” I commented.
He stared at me a moment and said, “We had a long time to think about it. We appreciate your help more than you know.” The others smiled their agreement. “We never hoped to actually see you again,” he said softly to Scully.
Scully murmured, “We know. God speed, all of you.”
They nodded as we left. We climbed out of the trailer with two of the Kurts and the guys. Scully hugged them again and gave them a kiss before they walked away to melt into the crowd.
“Well, Mulder, Scully, we had better get going too,” Byers said. “Our flight leaves in a little over two hours.”
“Yeah, you two drive safely,” Frohike said. “And take care of each other.”
Scully smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “We will, Melvin.”
Langly flashed us the peace sign and hurried to catch up with Byers. “Hey, do you think they’ll have any of those Cinnabuns at the Sacramento airport?” we heard him ask Byers.
Frohike just shook his head. “I swear he regresses into his preteen years more and more each day.” He waved and turned to follow his friends.
We were tired, but decided to proceed on for another hour or so since the next two stations on Kevin’s list were in Sacramento and not that far away. Scully watched until everyone was out of sight and then turned to me. “It’s like I’m living a dream or something. It’s almost too much to get my mind around.”
“I know. It’s so fantastic, no one would believe us, except the guys.”
“Let’s go, Mulder, before I get all blubbery again.”
“It’s O.K. to get blubbery, Scully. If you couldn’t do it now, when the hell could you?”
She gave me a sad smile and we climbed into the cab and hit the road again. In Sacramento we stopped at the train station and the bus terminal, dropping off four more of the Kurts.
We drove on to Roseville and stopped at a K-Mart that was just off I80. We bought pillows, blankets and food and returned to the trailer, doling out them out to our remaining passengers.
A few miles up I80 we stopped at the Marriott Courtyard and rented two rooms, one room for us and one for the Kurts to use. For the first time, ours was a single room with one queen bed.
We grabbed a change of clothes for morning and wearily made our way inside, showering and finally headed for bed. Scully was buck naked and headed under the sheets. I took my cue from her and climbed in next to her, spooning up behind her.
I thought I would sleep quickly, but found myself too wired up, my mind still spinning from the events of the day. Losing another chance to find Scully’s ova, killing members of the consortium in the crash into the building, escaping with the Kurts, ending the hijacking ring. It had been a busy day!
I snuggled tighter to Scully and hugged her tight. She hummed and pushed her naked butt against my hips. My dick responded immediately, beginning to rise up. I wondered if we were going to have another mutual heavy petting session, when she rolled over and faced me, kissing me hard. She made her way down my chest, kissing a trail over my skin that was beginning to burn with anticipation.
“Uh, Scully, I think it’s my turn to do that for you,” I reminded her.
“Nuh, uh,” she mumbled and her head disappeared under the covers as I flopped onto my back. I slid the covers down so I could see what was happening. Just in time too.
– NC-17 PORTION –
I looked down to see her lips stretched wide to wrap around the burning shaft that was now fully erect merely from anticipation. Her hands rubbed my hip bones and she hummed again as swirled her tongue over the sensitive head of my cock. I groaned as she took me in one hand and squeezed gently at the base, trapping the blood flow and making me throb incessantly as she bobbed her head up and down, sucking gently.
I ran my hands gently over her face, feeling her smooth skin and struggling to keep my eyes open. “Scully, let me touch you. I don’t want to come yet,” I managed to croak out.
She backed off slowly, as though reluctant and stretched herself over my body. I pulled her in for another kiss and we made out for some minutes, letting the passion rise slowly.
I flipped her onto her back and began to return the gift of the previous blow job I’d been treated to. I’d been pathetically ill equipped to return the favor at that time, but I intended to remedy the situation right now.
She pulled my head down and whispered in my ear. “I don’t want to stop there, Mulder.”
I pulled up suddenly and looked into her eyes. “What?”
“I’m ready. I want to make love to you.”
I swallowed, hoping I wasn’t misinterpreting this. “All the way?” I asked stupidly, sounding like a high school kid.
She smiled and nodded. “Yeah … all the way, baby.”
I grinned so hard it’s a wonder my face didn’t crack. I ducked down and latched onto her nipple without warning. She shouted and arched off the bed, pressing her flesh into my mouth as I suckled and laved her budded peak, delighting in the sounds she was uttering from the back of her throat. I swear her voice had already dropped an octave. It was sexy on a regular day, but this … this sound coming from her was intoxicating. I wanted more of it.
I assaulted the other breast, feeling a bit frantic and reminding myself to slow down. We did have all night, and I didn’t want to rush this first time. My cock felt dense and so hard, throbbing in time with every moan she uttered.
I kissed down her stomach and proceeded to dive into her jewel. She was moist, downy and so hot it blew me away. I lapped up her essence and hummed my own little tune of satisfaction as I drank her in, diving into every crevice and leaving no small cranny unmolested. She writhed on the bed under me and I gripped her hips to hold them still. I wanted to make her come this way. Then if I blew it later, it wouldn’t be a total loss for her. I had my doubts as to my endurance.
Finally, after another minute or so, she shouted my name and began to climax. “Ohhhh, Mmuullddeerr, yes!”
I lapped her gently as she came down and then crawled up over her, brushing her hair away from her face. I kissed her softly and she stared up at me like I was a dream come true. I was suddenly totally overwhelmed by what was happening here. Sure, we’d made out, we’d petted, she’d even given me a blow job, and now I’d gone down on her. In a minute, however, I was going to be inside the woman I had loved for so long, I couldn’t remember ever NOT loving her.
I stared at her for a moment and said, “I love you, Scully, so much.”
“I know.” Maybe she saw a question in my face because she said, “I’m ready, Mulder. Come to me.”
I settled into the cradle of her thighs, taking my weight on my elbows. I needed no hand assistance to find my goal. The tip of my cock was so sensitive and it was drawn straight to the heat I could feel emanating from between her legs. I brushed against the lips of her sex and she sucked in a small gasp.
I rubbed back and forth for a moment, letting her wetness coat me and just trying to slow down and revel in this first time. If I survived the first push inside without exploding, I would be all right.
I braced myself and slid gently into her cupped opening. I pushed gently, feeling my wide cock head begin to slide inside, stretching her lips to the side.
Her eyes got really big as my head slid inside and her nether lips surrounded it like a snug glove. I moaned, “Oh Jeezzuuuss,” feeling her heat surround my cock head. I pushed slowly, allowing her time to adjust to my size. She was so small, and it had been a long time for both of us.
I was about half way in when she whimpered, “Oh, Chriisstt Almighty, Mulder.”
“I know,” I croaked and pulled back a little and pressed forward again, watching her face closely for any signs of distress. Although the incredible tightness was a mixture of pleasure and near pain, I continued to press forward, rocking slightly and feeling my cock slide inch after inch deeper into her hot, little body.
Her voice was low and quivering when she said, “The deeper you go, the bigger you feel. Oh, Christ, Mulder. It feels so good.”
I was finally all the way in and I hitched up, pressing hard and embedding myself just that millimeter more, stretching the door to her womb and feeling my swollen balls press against her firm ass cheeks.
“Oh God!” she yelped as I filled her. We held still, both of us trembling slightly. Then she arched her back, pulling her hips back and pressing up hard against me.
I moaned and began to fill her with long, slow, steady strokes. My cock felt so hard and sensitive as I pressed inside, feeling her strong, tight walls part like a wave each time and surround me in incredible silky heat.
I didn’t want to leave her for a second but I knew I couldn’t stop the call of nature. I murmured, “So good, Scully. This feels so RIGHT. Oh fuck, you feel so incredible.” I felt like I’d reached her soul. She’d let me ALL the way in, and the final frontier was now wide open. I pressed my hips to her pelvis, grinding myself against her.
My head fell into the nook between her shoulder and neck and I kissed her there as I began to thrust again, keeping my pace fairly slow, but feeling the urge to speed up creep up on me quickly. She pulled her legs up higher and I felt myself sink even deeper into her tiny body. Her internal muscles began to quiver on my shaft and it was the most incredible sensation I think I’d ever felt. Her muscles were hugging my shaft as I tried to retreat.
I stopped to catch my breath and withdrew my aching shaft until just the tip remained stuffed between her swollen lips. Then I pressed back in quickly, feeling her vaginal muscles close tightly around me and massage me with small quivering waves. I bottomed out against her cervix with every stroke, stretching it taut in my effort to bury myself balls deep in her tiny channel.
In no time, my slow withdrawals and quick entrances were not enough for her, although it had helped me get things back under control. She began to heave her hips off the bed and impale herself on my shaft, silently begging me to take her faster.
I groaned quietly, angling my thrusts a little differently and causing the top of my cock to rub against her clitoris. I thrust as deep as I could go into her warmth, burying myself over and over and feeling her body shudder under mine each time I dragged my stomach over her pubic bone. I made sure I was dragging over her clitoris with every slow, hard thrust.
Her hands ran up and down my back as her eyes rolled back in her head. She had stretched to accommodate me and I was now sliding a bit more easily, but she was still incredibly snug. I ran one hand down her torso and back up to her breast, pinching her nipple gently. I felt her muscles suddenly clamp down, then she tensed and shouted, “I’m ccoommiinngg, Mulder!”
I kept up a steady rhythm, shortening my strokes and saw her face register surprise as I pushed her deeper into the climax and kept slamming inside. “Oh Goodd,” she shouted as I felt her walls convulse around me, squeezing tightly and rapidly as she rode out her climax. She arched her back to allow me to go even deeper into her body.
I could feel my own cum burning and coiling in my balls and I slowed down, not wanting to end it yet. I slowed to a glacial pace as she lay there panting. I was more rocking in and out of her than thrusting.
She opened her heavy lidded eyes and mumbled, “So good, Mulder. I can’t believe how good you make me feel.”
I smiled a lop sided grin at her and kept pressing deep inside, unable to give up reveling in the feeling of being inside her. “I never want to leave,” I said softly.
She began to chuckle. “You can stay as long as you like,” she teased.
“Good to know,” I grunted. I flexed my cock inside her and began to stroke her again, gently this time. She began swivel her hips like a belly dancer and I felt my own eyes roll back in my head at the change in pressure and angle. A fresh wave of arousal sped through me and I hardened further, not knowing that was even possible.
My balls were pulled up tight to the base of my cock and my toes were curling as the slow undulating waves of sensation coursed through my body. I lifted my body and looked down to watch my rigid cock sliding in and out of her. I looked so thick and heavy between her trim thighs. My stomach muscles clenching, driving my cock into her soft, bruised walls, my flared head feeling like it was scraping her as I plunged inside.
“So beautiful, look at us, Scully,” I choked out.
She looked down and moaned low in her throat. When she looked up, I leaned in and kissed her again, speeding up. Her hands slid down my back and gripped my ass cheeks and I groaned right into her mouth, feeling my orgasm becoming imminent.
She groaned, “Let go, Mulder. Come for me.”
I roared, no longer able to prolong the inevitable. I hitched up on my knees and began ramming into her, bouncing back from the impact. She hollered, “Yes! Harder, harder, Mulder! Let go! Come for me, baby.”
“Ahhhhhhhhhh, shiiiiiitt, Scully!” I shouted and felt the delicious friction as her muscles tried to hold me in as I backed away, only to sink deep again.
My cum shot up my shaft without warning, stiffening me to just this side of unbearable and then I was cumming, drenching her insides in a shower of powerful blasts that seemed to last forever. “Oh Jesus. Again!” she shouted and I felt her begin to quake around me again.
I was dizzy and crying out nonsense as my balls clenched and produced more sperm, emptying into her until I felt my own juices leaking out around our juncture. Her orgasm had prolonged mine.
– END OF NC-17 PORTION –
I sank down onto her chest, wanting contact but not wanting to crush her. Somehow she grasped the bedspread and pulled it up over our cooling bodies as I laid there trying to catch my breath. I realized I wanted this … forever. I wanted a commitment with her. I wanted the ultimate commitment with her. I wanted to be in her bed every night. I never wanted to sleep alone again. Some empty place in my soul had just been filled up, because Scully had let me in.
“I love you, Scully … just in case you forgot,” I added.
She chuckled again and it caused my flaccid penis to slide out of her.
We both moaned gently and she said, “I love you, too, Mulder. Always.”
After a moment of silence, I added, “Just thought I should share with you that was, bar none, the best sex I’ve ever had in my life.”
She lifted my face to hers and kissed me, grinning. “Sure,” she quipped.
I nodded. “It was, I’m not humoring you.”
She sobered. “I can’t even describe how good that was, Mulder.”
“You don’t have to. I was there, remember?”
She chuckled again. “I’m tired now.”
“Mmm, me too, big day tomorrow.”
“You mean dropping off the rest of the Kurts?”
“Mmm, yeah, that and finding an outfit for you to wear.”
“Outfit to wear? For what?”
“Our wedding,” I said softly as I kissed her neck.
“WHAT?” she shouted, and tried to sit up, but my big body was blocking that move.
I turned to face her again, totally serious. “Marry me, Scully,” I said quietly.
“Mulder, what are you thinking?”
I blinked. “I’m thinking I want you to be my wife. I’m thinking that I know I’m never going to love anyone else. I’m thinking that I want to wake up with you right next to me for the rest of my life. And I am tired of waiting. Tired of waiting to kiss, tired of waiting to touch, tired of waiting to make love. And now I’m tired of waiting to ask for what I want … what I’ve wanted for so long. I’m not going to be afraid anymore.”
“You’re serious,” she said, as she stared at me.
“As a heart attack. Will you marry me, Scully?”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah, just like that.”
“I don’t know …”
I frowned, feeling crushing disappointment and I knew it showed on my face. “Are you still not sure?” I asked, dreading the answer.
“No! It’s not that. I guess you just … surprised me. My brain hasn’t engaged yet.”
I kissed her softly. “Marry me, Scully. I have a ring at home that matches the one I already gave you. It’s a family ring, beautiful set, platinum and diamonds. You’d have to wait for that. Or we can go buy rings once we hit Nevada if you want a new set. We don’t need a blood test in Nevada, you know I’m clean anyway…”
I stopped, realizing I was babbling. She would know all this. I stared at her and cupped her face in my hands. Slowly, I said, “Say yes, Scully. Be. My. Wife. If you do, I promise you won’t regret it. Nobody will ever love you like I do.” I paused, “Just one word, Scully. Say it. Say. Yes.”
Her eyes were big as saucers and I saw them grow moist with tears. I held my breath waiting for her answer.
—X—
Emotions so sweet they made tears flood my eyes, flushed through me. Married. Mulder wanted to be married to me. Thoughts of the quasi marriage proposal he had given me at the beginning of our assignment flashed through my mind.
I knew then that I wanted to commit to Mulder, even though it was couched in terms of the aliases of the assignment. Our relationship had grown over the past weeks and now he was asking me the ‘big’ question. There was only one answer.
“Yes.”
Mulder expelled his breath with a loud whoosh, “Yes?”
I nodded and smiled, “Yes.”
“Holy shit, Scully! You said yes!” Mulder grinned back at me. He tightened his grasp and rolled us over so that I was lying atop his body.
I stared down into his kaleidoscope eyes and saw the mirror to all my feelings there. Fear, excitement, passion, commitment, love. We were so well matched, in so many ways. Why did we wait for so long?
– NC-17 PORTION –
I felt a surge of desire and possessiveness. It was just as quickly reflected back to me by Mulder. His erection was fast regaining its previous glory.
“I thought you said you were tired?” I wiggled against his cock, feeling it lengthen and grow harder as it slid in between my legs.
“Hey, I’m not that old. When a beautiful woman tells me she loves me and will marry me, it turns me on,” Mulder grinned up at me.
“What do you think we should do about this…?” I teased.
“I’d love to say we should make love until the dawn, but I really don’t think I have it in me…” Mulder started to say.
I moved my legs out to lie along the outside of his and slid onto his cock as if we had been lovers for years. “I think I have it in me, Mulder. Wouldn’t you agree?”
At his grunt of pleasure, I pushed up and began to gently slide his cock deeper into me. When I bottomed out, I leaned down and kissed every part of him I could reach.
“Mine,” was the only word that I could think to say. “Mine, mine, mine, mine.” Over and over I repeated it, following each possessive proclamation with a kiss or a suck or a nip. Mulder’s groans and gasps of pleasure drove me on. I began to move over him more forcefully, and started to tighten the muscles of my vagina around his cock when he was embedded deeply in me. He filled me so full I could feel every ridge on his gloriously thick shaft as it slid in and out of me.
His hands automatically rose to cup my breasts. His long fingers stroking and teasing and pinching my nipples into sharp points of pleasure that shot down and ended between my legs.
“Mulder, love you, oh don’t stop, love you…”
Mulder had allowed me to control our lovemaking up until now, but it became more than he could handle. He raised his knees and gently pushed me back against them, sitting up as he did. His lips covered my left nipple while his big hands began to roam all over my body.
I was incapable of doing anything but moaning and allowing him to take over. I dropped my head back and closed my eyes, letting my sense of touch control me. He pushed back with his heels and moved us up in the bed so that he was sitting against the back board. He had done much the same thing in the bunk of the truck, stating that he wanted to watch me, and earlier when he had watched as his cock had driven into me. Mulder’s voyeuristic tendencies, honed by those videos he didn’t own, were showing through. He was visual and he liked to watch.
“Scully, look at me,” he said.
I dropped my head forward and opened my eyes. “Mulder..” His quizzical look made me explain. “Just… Mulder. I said it so that I could believe it. I love you, Mulder. Love you so much.”
He pulled me down to kiss his lips and slid his hands to my hips, increasing the tempo of our lovemaking. Once he had the rhythm he wanted established, he let his hands begin to wander again. One went north towards my breasts and the other south towards my clit.
I always thought of Mulder as having an oral fixation, but he soon proved that his manual dexterity rivaled all his other talents.
I screamed his name as the walls of my vagina began to milk him, encouraging his climax. It was only a stroke or two later that he came, and the hands that had been playing me like an instrument slid around me and pulled me down to his chest as he twitched and jerked inside me, finally coming to a halt.
- – END OF NC-17 PORTION –
We were both breathless, unable to speak, but our hands were active. Fingers were stroking and touching with a tenderness only true love can bring.
When our bodies began to cool, Mulder slid me off him and over to the dry side of the bed. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered as he kissed me gently.
I smiled and stretched as he turned to walk to the bathroom. I closed my eyes and must have drifted off for a moment, because the next thing I was aware of was him gently cleaning me up with a warm washcloth. His eyes were green as grass, and the soft smile on his face was more precious to me than I would have ever believed possible just a few short months ago.
“Hey, sleepyhead. I didn’t mean to wake you up,” he said as he sat down next to me on the edge of the bed.
“No problem, Mulder. I’m sure I’ll fall right back to sleep.” I smiled at him. “You didn’t have to do this, you know. I could have gotten up and gone into the bathroom.”
“Sure I did, Scully. I wanted to,” he whispered as he began to dry me with a towel. He placed small kisses everywhere he patted with the towel, creating a feeling of languor in me that assured I was going to fall asleep any moment.
“Mulder, I love you…” I broke off and yawned.
“I love you too, Scully.” He bit his lip and I knew he had something important to say.
I forced myself to wake up enough to listen.
“Scully, if you don’t want to get married in Reno, we could wait and get married when we get home. I mean, I know you probably want your mother and brothers and other members of your family to be there. I can wait, if that’s what you want.”
Tears filled my eyes again, “Oh, Mulder.”
“Shit… Scully don’t cry. I’m sorry, baby. Please don’t cry,” he looked so sad that I had to laugh.
“Mulder, you goof. I’m not crying because I’m sad. I’m crying because I love you so much and you make me happier than I ever thought possible.”
His face cleared and he gave me a rueful grin. “Tears twice in one night is kind of hard to interpret, if you know what I mean, Scully.”
“I promise that I will get my emotions under control in the next month or two and you’ll have your old partner back, but until then…”
“Jesus! I hope not. I want you just like you are now, Scully. Naked and happy to be in my arms, I don’t ever want to have to wonder how you’re feeling again. If that means that I have to learn when you’re crying happy or when you’re crying sad, I will. Don’t shut me out, Scully. I think I could stand almost anything else before I could handle you shutting me out again.”
I scooted over and pulled him down to lie next to me. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
He smiled as I held him and thought for a moment.
“I don’t want to wait to get married, Mulder. I know Mom will want to give us a reception when we get home, but I don’t want to share our marriage with anyone but you. Oddly, I don’t want to deal with my family until it’s a done deal.”
Mulder was quiet for a moment and I knew he was fighting tears. He swallowed hard several times before he was able to say, “Well, we’ll at least have to share it with the official and a couple witnesses.”
I pinched his arm and said, “Smart ass. You know what I mean.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I do, but I think we should call your mom at least and tell her what we’re going to do.”
I was touched by his thoughtfulness and was fighting tears again.
“Don’t you, Scully?” he pulled back to look at me.
I smiled and nodded and pulled him closer to me again. For a man who was never given respect or love, he was amazing. “We can call her from Reno after we turn in the rig, okay?”
He kissed me softly, but with such passion, I felt a curl of desire warming me again. “Goodnight, Scully.”
“‘Night, Mulder.”
—X—
PART 15 (PG-13)
RENO, NEVADA
The next two days were spent driving from bus stop to train station in a roundabout route to take back the rig to a Kenworth service center in Reno.
We drove up I80 and stopped at Auburn, Colfax and Truckee. We doubled back towards Donner Pass and down Route 89 to South Lake Tahoe and back up the other side of the lake to Carson City, the capital of Nevada, and finally to Reno.
We had dropped off all the Kurts except Kevin Sorensen, Kurt1. He was going to check into a motel for a day or two and then leave by train so that he and the other Kurts we had dropped off at the Reno bus and train stations were not seen together.
We were pleasantly surprised when we pulled into the Kenworth dealer to find that Morehead Insurance had rented a car for our use while we were in Reno. It was a white Mustang convertible with a white interior. Mulder was practically salivating as he slid behind the wheel.
We checked into the Eldorado on Virginia Street in the early afternoon and decided to look for an acceptable place to get married right away. After a few discreet inquiries, we picked out a few of places to check out in person.
The first two establishments (I won’t dignify them by calling them chapels) were rejected with a drive by inspection. The third had potential and we actually went in to check out the arrangements, but were met by a minister wearing an Elvis impersonator’s outfit.
Both Mulder and I ran for the door. Not even the guys would believe the wedding pictures from this place.
The fourth place was a winner. Off on a side street, away from the main strip, it was as if we had walked into another dimension. The exterior was as sun-baked as the rest of the area, but the adobe fence hid a charming southwestern garden complete with fountains, cactus and a variety of blooming plants normally not found flourishing in the desert. The interior was cool and dark, but not a bit gloomy. The adobe walls looked to be original to the area and at least two feet thick. The reception area of the chapel was tastefully decorated with fresh flowers and the smiling woman who greeted us looked like everyone’s idea of the perfect grandma.
We told her what we wanted and she was able to assure us that everything we wanted would be available by the next day. As we were finishing with the arrangements, the doors of the chapel proper popped open and a young couple left, without a glance for anyone but each other.
The witness for the young couple followed them, giving their thanks to the Justice of the Peace that had married their friends. Mulder and I were amused to see a man that looked like Santa Claus dressed in a moderately expensive suit, accepting their thanks. We looked at one another and almost slipped out of the room ahead of the other guests, when Mrs. Claus grabbed our arms and guided us over to her husband. Her grip was surprisingly strong.
“George, we have a couple here that would like to speak to you. They’re interested in getting married tomorrow,” her voice was soft and loving.
“Hannah, my dear! What a fine looking couple you’ve brought me!” the little man said and he smiled at Mulder and me.
Mulder introduced us and let him know what we had discussed with Hannah.
He was all business as he directed us to join him in his office. The next few minutes were as bizarre as any OPR meeting or grilling by Skinner that we had ever sat through. He quizzed us on the length of our relationship, our previous relationships, marriages, religion, and our goals for the future. Did we want children? Had we discussed living arrangements? Were we aware of the pitfalls and hard work ahead of us to make our marriage work?
At the end of the interview, he sat back in his chair and pulled out a pipe. He gave us permission to smoke and lit it up, turning on an exhaust vent that cleared the air quietly and efficiently.
“Hannah is trying to make me quit,” he said with a sparkle in his eye. “You’re better off if you never start, but I’m too old now to give it up.” He nodded his approval at us when we rejected his offer.
The smoke from his pipe swirled around his head in a halo before being whisked away by the exhaust fan. He stared at us for a few minutes before speaking again, stroking his full white beard as he thought. Mulder and I were at a loss for words.
“Very well,” he said at last. “Does two o’clock tomorrow sound like a good time?”
“Excuse me, Mr…” I stopped. I didn’t feel comfortable calling him George.
“St. Nicholes. George St. Nicholes,” he said.
“Saint Nicholas?” Mulder blurted.
“No, no, St. Nicholes,” he repeated with a smile.
“Does anyone … remark . . about your resemblance to Santa Claus, Mr. St. Nicholes?” Mulder was fascinated by this old man.
“Of course they do, son. And I must say, it turns in a tidy profit around Christmas time for Hannah and I. We always go to Cancun right after Christmas on the money I make doing personal appearances.” He winked, “If you know what I mean?”
We laughed with him and relaxed. We were not going to be married by a man who thought he was Santa Claus. Our wedding wasn’t going to turn into an X-File, after all.
We discussed the service and decided to write our own vows. Mr. St. Nicholes was both an ordained minister in the Church of Christ and an official Justice of the Peace, and we decided that our ceremony would be a combination of civil and Christian ceremony.
When he asked if we had witnesses lined up we were once again at a loss. I looked at Mulder and he looked at me.
“We…” Mulder began again. “We do have someone here in town, if we can get in touch with him, but that’s all.”
I thought I would cry when Mulder thought to include Kevin in our plans. At least we could have one of the Kurts with us when we were married.
Mrs. St. Nicholes agreed to be our second witness and offered to arrange for the flowers. We left and drove directly to the motel where we had dropped Kevin. We needed to catch him before he left town.
He was surprised to see us at his door, but when we asked him to join us the next day for our marriage, he was shocked. He thanked us and said very solemnly that he would join us there tomorrow. He was still staring at the directions when we left.
We purchased our marriage license and realized the rest of the day was open. We spent it relaxing, sightseeing and shopping for the wedding. I picked out a cream-colored linen dress to wear. Neither Mulder nor I were interested in gambling, but we did catch a dinner show that night that featured a comedian. His show was hilarious, just what we needed after all the tension we had been under for the past months. The rest of the evening was quiet as we wrote our vows. We were both very emotional by the time we were done. All we wanted to do was snuggle, and we fell asleep spooned up and content.
—X—
The next day we met Kevin in front of the Chapel. He had on a new suit and carried a tastefully wrapped package. For the first time ever he was grinning and I was shocked by how much he looked like my brother Charlie.
Most of the ceremony performed by George St. Nicholes was a blur to me. I was glad we had requested a video tape of the ceremony. I actually had to look down to remember the dress I was wearing. Of course, I remember how handsome Mulder was in his dove grey Armani. Everything seemed to snap into focus when it was time for us to exchange our vows.
Mr. St. Nicholes gave us a short homily on marriage and then asked for the rings. We placed the plain platinum band we had purchased for Mulder and the diamond band I had been wearing for the past months on his bible and he said a prayer to bless them. He smiled and nodded at us. Mulder picked up my ring and clasped my left hand.
He gave me a beautiful smile and began the vows he had written…
“Dana Katherine Scully, I offer you my heart, my name, and my body in this uncertain world. If it’s for a day or a year or a century, I will remain faithful to you, bound by love and truth.
“I believe that our lives have been intertwined since the beginning of time. When I look into your eyes, I see my soul mate. We have been bound together in all our other lives but whether it has been by the Holy church, hand-fasting, jumping the broom or by civil law, it cannot be more binding than my pledge to you now.”
“I love you and will honor you above all others. I may not always agree with you or defer to you, but I will honor our marriage vows and I will forsake all others to walk with you.”
“Thank you for joining your life to mine. I pledge to cover your back and protect you with my life.”
“This ring is the symbol of our pledge. A circle, never ending, never broken. A symbol of my love for you. I love you, Scully.”
He held my hand for a moment, gazing deeply into my eyes as if to underscore the words he had just spoken so sweetly to me.
I turned and accepted his ring from atop Mr. St. Nicholes’ bible and picked up his left hand.
“Fox William Mulder, I accept your love, your name and your body, and I thank you for choosing me to share them with.”
“I cannot agree with all your theories about previous lives being intertwined for all eternity without proof, but I believe in God and his power on this earth. I believe in love. And most of all, I believe in you. I believe that God has bound me to you.”
“I offer my love and I promise to honor and love you until the end of our lives. I will not always agree with you, but I will never allow anger or mistrust to flourish in our marriage. I will cover your back and protect you with my life.”
“With this ring, I bind myself to you freely, accepting you to be my husband, my equal, my partner for life. I promise to always tell you the truth, and I promise to believe in you until our dying days.”
“I will love you forever, Mulder.” I slid the ring on his finger and held on for dear life.
The silence in the chapel was broken by a stifled sob from Hannah St. Nicholes. George smiled at her and continued.
“You have listened to my spiel on marriage and have exchanged vows. I don’t think I’ve ever met two people who belonged together more than you two.” He chucked, “Except maybe Hannah and me.”
His demeanor became more serious again as he said, “You have pledged your love to each other here in the sight of God, state and these witnesses and have exchanged rings as an earthly token of that pledge. By the powers vested in me by the sovereign state of Nevada and more importantly, by God Almighty, I pronounce you man and wife. May you live long and be fruitful in your union. You may kiss the bride.”
Mulder and I had been facing each other throughout his final decree. We had been holding hands during our vows, and now Mulder pulled me into his embrace and kissed me. It was a long, slow kiss with depth and passion but no lust, only commitment. I kissed him back with the same level of love, then deepened our kiss and threw in as much heat as I could in a public house of the Lord.
When we pulled apart, Kevin was blushing and the St. Nicholes were hugging one another.
We moved to the side of the altar and signed the marriage certificate, stepping aside for the signatures of our witnesses.
I hugged George and Hannah, as they insisted we call them, and thanked them again. We made arrangements to pick up the video of our wedding the next day and turned to leave.
Kevin was waiting at the back of the church, just out of range of the video camera, smiling nervously at us. We asked him to join us for dinner but he declined. He had a train to catch. He shook Mulder’s hand and looked at me. Mulder moved back to the St. Nicholes to thank them and I opened my arms to him for a hug.
I held him in my embrace for a long moment, trying to memorize the face that was already so familiar to me. I kissed him on the cheek and whispered to him, “I’m so glad you told me you are my offspring.” I couldn’t call them my sons yet. I didn’t know if I ever could. “I care for you all. I wish I had been able to know you when you were first… er… born. I’m so sorry you have been manipulated by fate and I wish you only happiness for the future.”
“Thank you … Mother,” he said quietly. He stepped over to bench next to the door and brought out the wedding present he had been holding when he arrived.
“This is for you from all of us. Please promise not to open it until you get back to your room.”
“If this is a gift from Victoria’s Secret, I’m going to have to have a talk with you and all your brothers,” I teased.
Once again the ‘Charlie smile’ flashed across his face and was gone. “No, Mother. It’s not a gag gift, but it is personal and I would never want to embarrass you.”
“Thank you, Kevin. Promise that you will keep in touch .. if it’s safe to do so. Tell all the others hello and that I’m glad they made it home safely.” My voice cracked as I began to cry again. “Let us know that they made it, all right?”
He nodded and walked back over to Mulder to shake his hand. Mulder shook his hand then pulled him into a manly embrace that embarrassed both of them. I could tell they were both pleased with the moment.
Kevin spoke quietly to Mulder and handed him an envelope. My curiosity was piqued, but I shrugged it off as Mulder’s wedding present from the ‘boys’.
Another quick hug and he was gone. I wondered if I would ever see him again. What a beautiful young man he was, so like Charlie and so unlike any other human on this earth. I felt like crying, and it wasn’t going to be tears of happiness this time.
Mulder’s embrace stopped me. He held me from behind and whispered into my ear, “How about we get out of here and finish that kiss somewhere more conducive to a honeymoon, Mrs. Mulder.” He turned me to face him and the sparkles in his eyes made me feel better right away.
“I don’t know, Mr. Scully, where did you have in mind?” I shot back.
Mulder let out a deep belly laugh and hugged me tighter. “Mr. Scully, huh?”
I just smiled up at him.
“Well, we’ll have to talk about that, but right now, I have a surprise for you.” He led me back over to the St. Nicholes and we thanked them again.
—X—
We left in the Mustang and drove straight back to our hotel. The concierge met us at the door and assured Mulder that he had handled all the arrangements as requested.
“Thanks, Hank.” Mulder said as he began pulling me towards the elevators. If I hadn’t been in as much of a hurry as he was, it would have either irritated me or embarrassed me.
We got onto the elevator and I pressed the button for our floor. Mulder stepped around me and slid a key card into the controls and pressed a higher number.
I looked at him, silently asking what he was doing, but he silenced any questions with a long, hot kiss that only ended when we got to the upper floor.
“I love you, Scully,” he said as he lifted me into his arms, present and all, and carried me to the bridal suite across from the elevator. The bellhop waiting there opened the door and Mulder carried me across the threshold and straight to the bedroom of the suite, without giving me a chance to look around.
He put me down and told me to stay right where I was, “I mean it, Scully. Don’t move.”
He rushed back to the front door and gave the bellhop a tip, putting the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the outside handle. He locked the door and turned back to me.
I was able to see everything from right where I was, so for once I did exactly as he requested and didn’t move.
The smile that he gave me was worth the aggravation of being told what to do. I smiled back.
Mulder kissed me and pulled me down to sit beside him on the bed. I stared at the room as he watched my reactions.
“Mulder, this is…”
“Too much? If you don’t like it, we can go back to our old room or even to another hotel,” he said nervously.
“No! It’s perfect. It’s just so… perfect.” And it was. Every- thing was tastefully decorated, from the linens gracing the bed to the fresh flowers on the dresser, I couldn’t have dictated a more perfect honeymoon location. We could have been anywhere, Paris, Rome, Hawaii, anywhere. And for all the time we were going to spend outside of these walls, it didn’t matter.
Everything I wanted was on the bed with me. Well, everything but a few bottles of fine wine and a dozen or so room service meals.
Oh, yeah, and whatever was in the gift wrapped box from Kevin that I still held in my arms.
“Don’t you want to put that over on the dresser, Scully, and get a little more comfortable?” Mulder began to slide the zipper in my dress down, but I pulled away.
“Wait, Mulder. We have to call my mother and I don’t want to do it in my birthday suit.”
He smirked and said, “Why? Of all people, she’s seen it more times than I have.”
“That’s just the point. She’ll know we’re on our honeymoon and that’s awkward enough without me being stark naked while I talk to her.”
“Ooooohhhh… Scully. Let’s talk more about mutual nakedness,” he said and kissed the top of my shoulder as he tried to sneak his other hand around to unzip me again.
I chuckled and moved up the bed towards my cell phone. He waggled his eyebrows at me and began to crawl forward, a beatific smile on his face.
I grabbed my cell phone and hit speed dial #3 with one hand, holding up a controlling forefinger to halt his approach. He grinned and flopped over on the bed behind me after he stripped off his suit coat and tie.
I had put off calling Mom until today because I was nervous. I had not told her where we were even though the undercover portion of the case was technically over. I knew she was going to be surprised by my news, so I didn’t actually, precisely, exactly tell her that we were in Reno not in Europe. I wanted to explain everything to her when we were together, not over the phone.
As I expected, Mom was happy for the both of us. She cried and I cried and then she talked to Mulder and darned if he didn’t cry too. The good part was that we were smiling as tears streamed down our faces.
Mulder and I snuggled together after the call and told each other what she said. We were both feeling the joy of finally being fully committed and not having to hide our feelings anymore; from each other or the outside world. There were going to be some shocked people when we returned to Washington DC.
A few moments later, Mulder kissed me on my forehead and rolled off the bed. He kicked off his shoes and pulled his shirt out of his pants. He unbuttoned it as he walked towards the wine chilling on the table by the window.
“Are you ready for some Asti?” Mulder asked.
“Asti?”
“Yes. Asti Spumonte. It’s a sparkling white wine that’s better than champagne and won’t give you a headache.”
Sometimes I forgot that Mulder was raised in an entirely different social atmosphere that I. Sometimes, it was all too evident.
“Yes, please. I’ll try a small glass. Then come on, let’s open our first wedding present.”
I was so engrossed in trying to guess what was in the package from Kevin that the pop of the cork startled me. Mulder joined me on the bed, handing me my glass.
“A toast,” he said. “To the Scully-Mulders! Long may we love.”
I smiled at him and said, “To us!”
We drank the Asti quickly. It was delicious. Once again Mulder was right, but I wasn’t afraid to tell him this time.
He poured us another drink and then we opened the present.
Under the wrapping paper was a heavy cardboard box that had been sealed and marked, ‘Danger, Bio-hazardous materials enclosed’.
I gawked at the box and then back at Mulder. “Do you think we should open it here, or should we wait for a level 4 clean room set up to open it?”
“I don’t think Kevin would do anything to hurt you, Scully. I think this is just to discourage others from messing with it if it got into the wrong hands.”
Did we really know them? Could we trust them? I looked at the box for a moment longer and realized that I agreed with Mulder. Kevin would not do anything harmful on purpose.
“Do you have a knife that we can use to open this, Mulder?” I asked.
He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a Swiss Army knife. He sliced open the tape and let me open the box.
I stared at the cylinder resting in the packaging and was just as confused as I had been moments before.
“What is it, Mulder?” I asked. I could tell that he thought he knew what was in the cylinder, but didn’t want to make a guess. I wondered if it was alien DNA or something, the proof we’d been seeking all along.
“Let’s read the letter Kevin gave me and see if it holds an explanation,” he answered. He retrieved the letter Kevin had given him and turned it over.
On the front of the envelope in large letters were the words: ‘TO BE READ BY MULDER-FIRST!’
I shrugged and he moved back to read the letter first before sharing the contents with me. I could tell by the look of shock on his face that this was big.
“Mulder?” I prodded him after watching him finish the letter and stare into space for a moment or two. “Mulder, say something! Is it good news? Bad news? Is it the evidence of their existence?” Curiosity was driving me crazy.
He looked at me as if coming out of a trance, “I’m sorry, Scully. It’s just… overwhelming.”
“What?” I was ready to explode with curiosity.
“It’s the best news possible, Scully. We might be able to have a family.”
“What?” I gasped, not willing to allow myself to believe that the cylinder contained what he was implying it contained.
“The cylinder is your ova. All of the rest of them. They’re clean and ready to fertilize. They haven’t been altered in any way. We could have children.” Mulder’s grin was now almost splitting his face in two.
“Oh, my God! I thought… I thought they blew up with all the others at the cryogenics lab,” I said. “A family?”
Mulder grinned he read me a paragraph from the letter.
“‘Mother’s, Agent Scully’s, ova were not stored with the others. We had replaced her ova with another specimen that proved inferior in a test run and hid Agent Scully’s ova in a secret vault in the kitchen of the facility. We figured the world didn’t need any more of us. When the bid for freedom came, we were going to take all of her ova away from our captors, and find a way to return them to her. Imagine our surprise when our saviors were you, Agent Mulder, and our Mother.’”
“Mulder, we have to get them to a laboratory, they mustn’t be allowed to spoil.” I jumped up from the bed and looked nervously around for my suitcase. We needed to protect our future children.
“Scully, it’s all right. Kevin says that the cylinder should not be opened and it will protect the eggs for up to one year. It’s filled with liquid nitrogen and the inner container is at absolute zero. It’s good for a year, Scully. A year.”
“A year?” I repeated to make sure there was no mistake.
“Yeah, a year.” Mulder took me into his arms and hugged me. He was trembling as hard as I was. A family. We might be able to have a family. In vitro fertilization was not always successful, but if the eggs had not been altered, and with this many, we would have a good chance.
“Scully,” he said softly.
A feeling of foreboding washed over me. “What’s the catch?”
“Oh, no catch, Scully, but there’s more.”
“More…?”
Mulder nodded and kissed me again. He pulled away and looked deeply into my eyes before speaking.
“There’s a child…”
“Like Emily?” I interrupted.
“No, not like Emily. Do you remember when Kevin was telling us about who he was-they are? He said, ‘We are all from the one fetus created by mixing the sperm of a man named Kurt Crawford, who was a brilliant bio-chemist and researcher and your ova, Agent Scully. We are all hybrid clones of your offspring.’” He grew silent again and let me absorb his words.
My brain went into overload, but his meaning became perfectly clear.
“There’s a little boy out there, isn’t there Mulder?”
“Yes. A normal little boy named Douglas Kurt Crawford. He’s in an orphanage in upper New York state.”
“Oh, my God!” I murmured. “Why… Why did he give you this information, Mulder? Why not just tell me directly?”
Mulder hesitated then said, “He didn’t know if I would want to raise a child that wasn’t mine. He was giving me the option of telling you about the ova, and not revealing the presence of the boy.”
“Why?” I whispered.
“Because he knew that when we married it was no longer a decision for you alone. I think it was a test,” he said finally.
“A test?” I seemed to be reduced to simple sentences.
“Yes, if we go to get him together, he’ll be there, but if I had made inquiries singly, my money says he would have been moved before I got there.”
I gazed deeply into his eyes, “What do you want to do, Mulder?”
“Scully!” he pulled me to him and said solemnly, “I told you before I was willing to adopt children born to strangers and raise them as our own. Why would you think I would hesitate to raise a child of yours, even one with another father?”
“Mulder, not every man is able to accept another man’s child into his home and his heart,” I began.
“I understand that, Scully. But this is a rather unique situation. The original Kurt Crawford is dead. You never met him, let alone had sex with him. Your ova and his sperm were combined in a Petri dish or however they do it. A child was born and from that, the clones were engineered.” He gave me a lopsided grin, “I might have some difficulties accepting the child of an old lover of yours, but not this innocent little boy. I’d be jealous of a dead man you never met, and that would be stupid.”
I hugged him as tightly as I could. We were going to have a family. It was overwhelming. Even if the in vitro didn’t work, we could have this little boy.
“Come on, Scully. Let’s call the guys and get them working on a place to store the ova and tracking down little DK.”
“DK?”
“Yeah, I really don’t like the name Douglas very much, and Kurt is out.”
“Okay, we’ll think of something other than DK later.” I agreed.
“Yeah, much later! Right now, I want to get these calls over with and get truckin’ back to the honeymoon!” he grinned.
“Truckin’? Isn’t that what got us into this in the first place?”
He gave me a big cheesy grin and said, “That’s a 10-4, good buddy. Over and out.”
THE END.
––
TRUCKIN’ 2: KEEP ON TRUCKIN’
TITLE: TRUCKIN’ 2: KEEP ON TRUCKIN’
AUTHORS: FATCAT & DONNILEE
E-MAIL: [email protected] / [email protected]
RATING: NC-17
SPOILERS: Movie: Fight the Future, Pilot, Erlenmeyer Flask, Duane Barry, Ascension, Per Manum, The Truth, Dreamland I & II
DISCLAIMER: It was evil gremlins that came up with this idea, I swear! Oh! You mean the story? The characters aren’t ours unfortunately. Frankly, I think we do better with them than their owners. But alas, they belong to their creator, Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions and Fox Broadcasting. We’re both poor as church mice. Don’t sue.
SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully’s adopted son discovers some startling information about his ‘square’ parents, changing the course of his life.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is a follow up to the first tale, “Truckin’” in which M&S went undercover to break up a hijacking ring in the trucking industry. All you really need to know is that they are a married couple with a son who is Scully’s by bioengineering and whom they adopted after finding out of his existence. He was seven at the time of the adoption. In the meantime, Scully has given birth to twins, thanks to the preserved ova the Kurt Crawfords saved for her. You don’t HAVE to have read the first story, but it would help your understanding of this one and we would love it if you did!
Oh, yeah, one scrunchie mention in honor of XL!
THANKS: To our beta reader Cratkinson—Thanks for taking on this beast!
DEDICATION: DONNI: I’d like to dedicate this one to my husband, Bruno, who puts up with me and my eccentricities. He taught me about implicit trust and unconditional love, something I can never repay him for. Also, to my co-writer, FatCat, who sets my brain on fire with her never-ending stream of ideas.
FATCAT: I would like to dedicate this one to my co- writer, Donnilee and Mr. Cat. One is a good friend and a great talent who makes it fun to write. The other is my best friend, lover and the only person in my RL who understands and supports my fanfiction addiction.
—X—
PROLOGUE (PG-13)
MAE’S TRUCK STOP MEMPHIS, TN JUNE, 2000
The voices of the newest customers entering the diner registered in my brain, but I was too engrossed in an article on post-partum depression to really give them any attention. Their words were quietly spoken, but in the silence of the near-empty diner, they were clear.
“I say we call. We’ve not left him with Mom before and I don’t want him to think we’ve forgotten him,” she said as she moved to an empty table at the rear of the diner.
“We just called this morning. If we call too often, he’ll think that we’re worried about him because there is something to worry about and it will probably scare him more than if we don’t,” the man replied as he pulled her chair out for her and then moved to sit across the table from her.
“You know how hard it’s been for him to feel secure after all he’s been through,” she insisted.
“I know and I don’t blame you for wanting to reassure him. Hell, I want the same thing, but I still feel he’ll be better off if we don’t call again until tonight. We need to do exactly what we told him we would do when we left.” The soft growl of his voice seemed to soothe her, and their conversation dipped too low to carry to the counter where I sat.
The Global-Tech driver sitting two seats down made a disgusted noise and said, “Suits! I hate Suits. Just fancy pencil pushers, if you ask me.”
Surprised by his words, I took a drink of my coffee and gave him an inquisitive look.
“Most of them don’t have good sense, like those two. Probably arguing over calling home and leaving a message for the Chihuahua, or something,” he continued, jerking his head towards the new arrivals. “Can’t get away from them on the road. Can’t get away from them at weigh stations or dispatch. Can’t even get away from them when you’re eating,” he growled.
I just smiled at his statement and went back to my paper.
“I especially hate their kind,” he muttered.
This guy wasn’t going to give up until someone responded to his one- man dissertation. I laid down my paper and took another sip of coffee before speaking, “What’s wrong with their kind?”
“Oh, you know. Government Suits,” he said as he chewed his dinner.
“How do you know that?” I was curious now.
“They got a government plate on their car. Their kind always drives like they own the road,” he continued. “Probably from the IRS, looking for some little old lady to kick out of her house.”
‘Bitter, are we?’ I thought sarcastically. I finally took a look at the two individuals in question and laughed. “Not all of them are bad,” I offered.
“Oh yeah?” asked the other driver. “I ain’t never met one of them worth their weight in sh … fertilizer.” He nodded as if to underline his words. “None of them has ever done anything for me.”
I laughed a full-winded belly laugh and said, “I know two government suits who probably saved your life, my friend.”
“What? I ain’t ever needed saving!” he sputtered.
“Didn’t you hear about the hijackings goin’ down with Global-Tech drivers last year? Several teams of drivers were killed and their rigs stolen, cargo and all.”
“Well, yeah, but I heard that the guys who masterminded it are in jail now,” he said with a smile.
“Who do you think investigated the killers? Who do you think put themselves on the line to solve the hijackings?” I waited for an answer.
“Suits?” he said incredulously. “You think it was Suits?” he laughed and shook his head. “Wasn’t no Suits that solved that crime. Was a drivin’ team called Phoenix and Lady Bird. Everyone’s heard of them. They’re folk heroes, practically a new urban legend.”
“You don’t say?” I smirked as I took a sip of my coffee.
“Sure! They appeared on the road in a big black Kenworth, all decked out. They solved the crime and then they disappeared. No one’s ever seen them again.”
I nodded, hoping to egg him on. “What else have you heard?” I asked, now enjoying myself.
“I heard they was loaded to the gills with weapons, even had a grenade launcher. Blew up some of the assholes who tried to stop ‘em.” A disbelieving snort from the waitress made him blush and say, “No offense meant, Mae.”
“None taken,” she replied casually. Mae ran a tight ship, no unnecessary swearing or rude behavior in her diner. She filled our cups and walked away.
“No Suits could have done that. It had to be one of our own,” he stated conclusively.
I didn’t reply. I just shook my head and took a sip of hot coffee.
“Are you sayin’ it was a pair of Suits that broke up the ring and blew up their hideout?” The Global-Tech driver’s tone made his disbelief evident.
“Naw, they weren’t wearing suits at the time.” I grinned at the look of surprise on the driver’s face.
“You was there? You know what happened?” His eyes were glowing with excitement.
“Yep, I was there.” I folded my paper and pulled a ten out of my pocket as I stood up.
“Where you going, man? I want to know all about it.” He reached out and grabbed my arm to stop me.
I glared down at the Global-Tech driver and said, “I was told to keep the details to myself.”
“No shit! They swore you to secrecy? Did they threaten you? Make you sign sumthin’?” he enthused.
I leaned forward and whispered, “If I told you the details …”
“Yeah?” said the big-eyed driver.
“I’d have to kill ya’,” I finished as I shook off his hand.
The smaller man blanched and swallowed hard, but then he decided my comment was a joke and laughed.
I frowned at him and said, “I probably should cut out your tongue for what you know already.”
The Global-Tech driver jumped to his feet and threw a twenty down. “You’re just funnin’ me, ain’t you?” he said as he backed away.
When I didn’t answer right away, he took off towards the door.
“Keep the change, Mae. I gotta hit the road,” he said hastily.
I stood there and watched him leave. The Global-Tech rig pulled out of the diner lot in a cloud of dust. I smiled as I walked towards the Suits at back of the diner.
“You scaring off the competition, Cooner?” Mulder stood up to shake my hand.
“Phoenix, uh, Marty and Ms. Scully. It’s good to see you again,” I said.
“Cooner! What a surprise. How are you? Is Alice with you?” Scully looked around.
“We’re good. She’s at home. We’re expecting our first in a couple months. How are you two?”
“Well,” Mulder said as he smiled at Scully.
“It’s Dana Scully-Mulder now, Cooner.” She smiled back at Mulder.
“Well, I’ll be. That’s really something. Wait until I tell Alice.” I patted Scully on the shoulder and punched Mulder in the arm.
Mulder faked a cringe and grabbed his arm, “Owww. Watch it big guy or I won’t tell you the rest of our news.”
“There’s more?” I looked at Scully and back to Mulder. “Well?”
“We’re not only married, but we have a seven year old son,” Mulder grinned.
“Oh, I didn’t know you had a kid, Mulder.”
“We have a son, Cooner. We adopted him right after we got back to Washington.”
The loving look that passed between the agents was obvious to anyone around them. There had to be a story behind this speedy adoption, but I assumed that the private details would not be discussed. “Wow! That’s great!” I said. “Maybe you can give me some tips for my upcoming bambino. What brings you to my neck of the woods?”
“We had a case in Memphis. We couldn’t pass up Mae’s coconut cream pie, though,” Mulder winked at me. “Even if it is a little out of the way.”
Scully blushed and smiled. “I’m the one who wanted the pie, Cooner. I’ve been craving it for so long, I couldn’t come this close and not have a piece.”
“You sound like my Alice. She’s got a thing for banana Popsicles. Have you ever heard of anything so bizarre? She just about rips me a new one if I go home with out a big box of them. But she’s preg … oh!” I sputtered to a halt and gawked at Scully. “Are you? Are you in the family way, Ms. Scully?”
“That’s Dana to you Cooner, and yes, we’re expecting in about four more months.”
“Well, I’ll be. You two don’t waste any time, do ya’?” I couldn’t help looking at her stomach. The clothes she was wearing hid any clue that she was pregnant. Thinking back to Alice at five months, she shouldn’t be that big anyway.
Mulder grinned and squeezed Scully’s hand. “This is the first time Scully’s been back out on the road with me since we adopted D.K. a while ago.”
“Mulder, we agreed to call him Devlin,” she sighed.
“I know, I know.” Mulder turned to me to explain. “His name was Douglas Kurt Crawford and so everyone called him D.K. He’s always hated his name and he asked us if we would change his first name as well as his last name when we adopted him. Now he’s Devlin Scully Mulder, but it’s hard to remember not to call him D.K.”
“I would think someone who hated their first name as much as you, Mulder, would find it easy to remember,” Scully teased.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked. “What’s wrong with Marty?”
Scully laughed and Mulder blushed. “Well, Marty’s not my real name, Cooner.” He hesitated.
“Well, come on man, what is it?”
“Fox,” Mulder muttered.
“What?”
“Fox.”
“Well, I can see why you might not like it, but it’s not exactly the worst I ever heard,” I tried to assure him.
Mulder gawked at me. “What’s worse than Fox?”
Now it was my turn to feel the heat creeping up into my face.
“I shared with you, Cooner, it’s only fair,” Mulder cajoled me.
I sighed and nodded. Fair was fair. “Well, my momma had me at home and when the doc got there he was ‘dead drunk and stunk like a whorehouse’. No offense, Ms. Scully, those were her words,” I hurried to explain.
Scully looked like she was trying not to laugh out loud, but couldn’t keep herself from giving me a little smile.
“My ma wanted to name me Conner after her brother and since I was the seventh boy, my dad let her have her way.”
“So your real name is Conner?” Mulder asked.
“That’s what it was supposed to be, but like I said, Doc was drunk and when he wrote it, he, uh, spelled it wrong.” I blushed. “I went through school with the name of Cummer. It wasn’t so bad until the guys started to give me nick names, but by that time I was growin’ faster than they were, so it didn’t last too long.”
Mulder laughed, “You got me beat, Cooner.”
“Why does everyone call you Cooner now, instead of Conner?” Scully asked.
“Well, when I got my first driver’s license, the clerk misspelled it to Cooner and I never asked for it to be changed. It was better than my real name and I didn’t see any use in spending good money just to change it to something else.”
They both laughed and agreed with my logic.
“What are you going to name this one?” I asked to change the subject.
“We don’t know yet. We have several names picked out, but we don’t know whether it’s boys, or girls or any mix there of,” Scully said as she rubbed her stomach.
“You mean there might be more than one?” My eyes bugged out. Thank God Alice was only having one baby.
“Yep,” Mulder’s eyes twinkled. “It could be triplets.”
“Twins,” Scully scowled.
“Whatever,” said Mulder. “We know it’s more than one.”
Just then, Mae walked up with a cooler in her hands. “Here you go, honey. Two pies, one coconut cream and one banana cream packed just right for traveling.”
“Thanks, Mae. I can’t wait to get home,” Scully said with a smile.
“Speaking of getting home, we have a plane to catch, Scully.” Mulder offered his hand to his partner. She squeezed it and stood up. My eyes probably bugged out of my head. She was as big as Alice and she still had four months to go.
“Cooner, it was really nice to see you again. If you’re ever in DC, give us a call.” She turned to Mulder and said, “I’ll be right back.”
Mulder rolled his eyes at me and muttered, “Like that’s a surprise.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Alice can’t seem to pass one of those things without running into it these days.” I laughed, looking towards the bathroom. “Better her than me.”
Mulder laughed with me, but shook his head. “Don’t let one of them hear you say that.”
I nodded in agreement. Scully rejoined us a couple of minutes later.
The two agents once again said goodbye to Mae and me and left the diner.
“So,” Mae said as she poured me another cup of coffee. “Those two your folk heroes you and our young friend was talking about?”
“Yep,” I sipped my coffee.
“Urban legends, huh?” Mae pumped.
“Yep.”
“Come on Cooner, you know I want to know the whole story,” she fussed.
“Well, Mae, you know I talk better when I’m eatin’ pie.”
She turned and marched into the kitchen to return with a large slice of apple pie with ice cream on top.
I took a big bite and winked at her. “Well, it all started at Friendly Bill’s Tavern across from the AMERASTOP truck stop,” I began.
—X—
PART 1 (PG-13)
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA 10 YEARS LATER JUNE 7, 2010 MONDAY – 3:00 PM
I watched my son, Devlin, sit at the computer, his fingers flying over the keyboard as if they had a mind of their own. The kid was a genius. Normally he was a good kid, star athlete, good scholar and well-liked by all his peers. Unfortunately, he had a crappy attitude lately, and I didn’t really know what to do about it.
Lord knows, Scully and I had tried everything we could think of to turn him around. If I heard one more teacher proclaim, ‘He’s so intelligent, he just doesn’t apply himself,’ I was going to scream. The kid pulled down straight A’s in all his classes, but those were accompanied by solid F’s in effort and attitude for every class except those in his programming block.
He wasn’t my son biologically, but I considered him mine in every way that counted. I loved him, and like any parent, I wanted to see him do well for himself. He’d grown into an extremely handsome young man.
Yesterday was his seventeenth birthday. He’d had some friends over for a swim party and then our family had joined us for dinner. He’d opened his gifts, being gracious for a change. All signs of his poor attitude disappeared during the party. As soon as the family left, however, he was back to where he always went with every free scrap of time, to the computer.
Tonight was no exception. He was playing some sort of on-line D&D game right now and I watched silently over his shoulder from a distance.
Scully had named him Devlin when we adopted him. He was thrilled that he was getting a new last name and asked us to change his first name, too. It meant ‘fierce’ in Gaelic and it fit him. He was Scully’s biological son, although he didn’t know that yet. I’d often thought we should tell him, but Scully kept hedging. Since I decided long ago these things would be her call, I deferred to her judgment. I’d have to talk to her about it again soon.
“Hey, Dev, take a break, huh?”
“Ahh, wait a minute, I’m at a good part,” he replied without even looking my way.
“Five minutes, in the kitchen, no excuses,” I intoned in my most fatherly way.
He saluted me with attitude and went back to playing his game. I sighed and made my way into the kitchen, started the coffee brewing and fixed our cups with sugar and cream waiting for it to finish.
Five minutes later, no surprise, no Devlin. I poured a cup of coffee from the still brewing pot and walked to the door between the kitchen and the den where his computer was set up.
“Now, Devlin,” I ordered.
He sighed dramatically, but hit a few keys to suspend his game and stood grudgingly, brushing past me with his head down. He went to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice, pouring himself a glass and then plopping down in the one of the kitchen chairs.
“We need to talk about college, stud,” I said lightly.
He immediately scowled and said, “Ah, come on, yesterday was my friggin’ birthday, for God’s sake. I’m only a junior in high school. I’ve got another whole year before I graduate. Can’t you even leave me alone for one day?”
I scowled back. “Watch your language,” I reprimanded as the twins came running down the stairs, squealing as they headed for the front door. “Hey, M&M? Where are you two demons going?”
They slid to a stop, Mackenzie’s hand on the doorknob. “We have soccer practice,” he said, as if I were the child.
“Oh, sorry,” I said. “I forgot. Is Mom picking you up?”
“Yup!” they said in unison, and flew out the door, slamming it behind them. I smiled at their backs, once again marveling at the miracle these two represented.
Mackenzie was placid and responsible. His sister, Mairin was always into mischief, but she was a good kid too. Mairin meant ‘bitterly wanted child’, in Gaelic, which she certainly was. Scully got into this Gaelic thing when it came to naming the kids. She still liked to tease me about Mackenzie’s name. In Gaelic it meant ‘son of a handsome man’. The twins were dark like me, but Devlin had red, curly hair and snapping blue eyes like Scully. He had a square jaw and at seventeen, stood almost six feet tall.
He was a wizard hacker and idolized Langly, the only one who could thus far out-hack him. There had been something dark lurking under the surface in him lately. It had worried me for months, but I could never put my finger on the source of it. Being a psychologist, this frustrated the hell out of me, but I also realized that it’s difficult to be objective about your own kids.
I turned to look at him again and he was scowling at the door to the den. “I’m sorry to bring this up again, but if I don’t, your mother will, and she’s a hell of lot more rigid than I am.”
“Tell me about it,” he groaned.
“You’re a bright kid, Devlin. There’s no reason you can’t do anything you want to do. But you have to have a game plan.”
“I don’t have a clue.”
“Well, you need to start thinking about it. In fact, you need to think hard, because your mother wants you to start applying to colleges before the end of the school year, which, by the way, is looming large.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Mom wants, Mom wants. What do YOU want?”
“I want the same thing,” I assured him.
“Whatever Mom wants,” he sneered.
“In this case, yes.”
“I’ll think about it,” he said with a shrug.
“See that you do. I know you think I’m a pain in the ass, Devlin, but I only want what’s best for you. I want what every father wants. I want you to find a career you like and be safe and reasonably happy.”
He stood up abruptly, starling me and yelled, “You’re not my God- damned father!”
Stunned silence vibrated throughout the kitchen as I stared up at him, feeling his accusation like a physical blow. I felt tears sting the backs of my eyelids and I blinked rapidly to prevent them from materializing.
He clucked his tongue in disgust and whispered, “Jesus!”
I took a deep breath, gathered my thoughts, and stood up. We stood eye to eye and I leaned into him, my nose an inch from his beautiful, arrogant face. My voice was a little rough but I said calmly, “I’m the only father you’ve ever known, Devlin. I’ve done my damnedest to make sure you had the love and support every kid needs. If it wasn’t for your mother and me, you might have grown up in a fucking orphanage. So don’t pull any righteous bullshit on me. I’ve loved you like you were my own. I still love you, I always will. But this attitude of yours has got to GO! I won’t tolerate any more of it. I’ve had it.”
He swallowed harshly but held my gaze, his jaw clenched. I won the staring contest and he finally looked to the side. “Sit down,” I commanded. He did, but wouldn’t look at me. “Is that what’s bothering you lately?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked with a hint of belligerence but it was tempered so I decided to let it go. He was so angry and I couldn’t figure out why.
“I mean, why are you so angry all the time? Did I or someone else do something that pissed you off so badly you can’t even be civil anymore?”
He shook his head, still staring at the cabinets like they were interesting.
“You want to tell me about it?”
“Don’t go all ‘therapist’ on me, Dad.”
“Oh, NOW I’m your dad, huh?”
He glanced at me and looked chagrined. “I’m sorry,” he said so quietly I almost missed it. “I didn’t mean it,” he said as his eyes slid down to stare at the table.
“Look at me,” I said.
He reluctantly raised his eyes to mine. “I love you, Devlin. That’s not going to change. I don’t like it when you are bothered or angry. But if you’re not willing to tell me what the problem is, then you have no right to take it out on me. Do you understand?”
“Yeah,” he said quietly.
“Now, I’m going to ask you one more time. What is bothering you?”
“You can’t help me.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but I can listen. I’m quite good at it as a matter of fact.”
One corner of his mouth twitched up and his eyebrow arched high over his blue eye. He reminded me so much of Scully at that moment, that I felt a lump form in my throat. How could I not love Scully’s son? He had to be told, and soon. I had a feeling his ancestry was what was at the root of all this brooding. He was entitled to know. He was old enough to handle the truth. I had to try and convince Scully to tell him. But now was not the time. It had to be Scully’s call.
“Don’t you get tired of listening to everyone’s bullshit all day long?” he asked, out of the blue.
I chuckled. “No, most of the time it makes me feel pretty good about my own life. I hear how screwed up their lives are and any problems I had in the past suddenly seems to be inconsequential.”
He chuckled now, warming up finally. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”
“Do some thinking and we’ll talk again after your mother gets home.”
He nodded and stood up. As he walked past me he said, “I really am sorry, Dad.”
I patted his shoulder and he stopped in mid-stride. I hugged him to me and said, “If you ever want to talk, I’m here. I might surprise you with the things I understand.”
He surprised me then by gasping and hugging me back tightly. It was just for a moment and then he let go and flashed me a grin, nodded, and went back to his computer. I decided to drop it for now. We ended on a good note and I didn’t want to upset the apple cart again, although I knew I was going to have to.
—X—
TWO HOURS LATER
Scully walked through the door with two sweaty, dirt-streaked kids behind her. She was juggling her pocketbook, briefcase and a bag of groceries. I rushed to take the groceries out of her arms and she smiled at me, kissing me on the cheek.
“Into the shower you two mud pies!” she pronounced. “And take off your cleats before you go tromping through the house!”
I listened to the sound of cleats hitting the hard wood floor in the foyer and then the patter of stocking feet, thumping up the stairs. The kids shared a bathroom upstairs, with double sinks, a toilet and a walk-in shower. In addition to our master bath upstairs, we had a half bath off the office and a full bath downstairs attached to a master guest suite. As was the usual routine, Mackenzie chose to use the bath upstairs and Mairin headed back down the hall with clean clothes to the downstairs bathroom to clean up.
I already had a ziti casserole in the oven. I unpacked the fixings for a salad and the ranch dressing from the bag onto the kitchen counter. Scully came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me from behind, laying her head between my shoulder blades. She’d shed her pumps by the front door. I was still periodically startled by how tiny she was without her shoes on. I was over a head taller so she came just to my armpit without her shoes on.
I hummed my approval and took a glass salad bowl out of the cabinet and started chopping up the tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots she’d shopped for on the way home.
She stayed where she was and whispered, “Did you talk to Devlin?”
“I tried. It didn’t go well at first, but we ended on a good note. I’ll tell you later. I don’t want him to overhear.”
“Okay,” she sighed. “I’m going to change out of this suit and I’ll be right back down to help.”
“Dinner in ten,” I replied. “No need to hurry.”
She squeezed me tight and then dropped her arms. She left the room, and five minutes later the timer went off and I took the huge pan of ziti casserole out of the oven.
Devlin appeared in the door to the kitchen. “Man that smells good. What is it?” he asked casually, once again trying to establish a rapport. He did this often. He had these outbursts of temper and then would return, acting as if nothing was wrong, nothing had happened, and testing the waters again.
“It’s a vegetarian ziti casserole,” I said.
“Vegetarian?” he replied with a comical grimace.
“Yeah, don’t squirm. It just has eggplant, corn and green beans in it instead of hamburger. But never fear, I used a Six Italian Grated Cheese mix in it.”
Just then his stomach growled loudly and we both grinned. “Guess my stomach doesn’t mind,” he replied.
“Have a seat,” I said. I began pulling glasses out of the cupboard and filling two smaller ones for the twins with milk. I poured iced tea for Scully and me and turned to Devlin. “What do you want to drink?”
“Gatorade.”
“With ziti?” I asked, making a face.
He smiled again. “Yup, I’ll get it.”
“To each his own,” I mumbled and carried the glasses to the table, which was already set. Since I worked from home and had my psych office right here in the house, I usually made dinner. I could prepare it and set it to cook and see more patients in the meantime. I had a separate entrance for the office at the back of the house. I only did it part time, about thirty hours a week. I also consulted with the Bureau on various cases, mostly VCS, assisting with profiles. I had one waiting for me on my desk at that very moment.
“Can I ask you a question?” Devlin asked cautiously.
“Sure, shoot,” I said, sitting down after placing the casserole on a trivet in the center of the table. I put the big salad bowl and tongs on the table next to it. I tasted my iced tea while we waited for everyone else to show up.
“Don’t you ever get tired of all this?”
“All what?”
“This. Life. Being a house-husband,” he said with a wave of his hand.
I looked up to read his face. His question wasn’t sarcastic. His interest seemed to be sincere. “No, actually I don’t. I know it’s not for everyone, but I enjoy it.”
He scrunched his brow and again reminded me of Scully. His facial features were not soft and rounded like hers. They were angled and masculine, but he made these faces now and then that were pure Scully, like cocking one eyebrow up or pursing his full lips. Then there was this expression when he was truly confused, scrunching his eyebrows down and forming a worry line above the bridge of his nose. “Why? I mean, I know that sounds dumb,” he hesitated and then continued. “You’ve got a doctorate from Oxford and were a Special Agent with the FBI before the twins came, but you gave it all up for this. How can you enjoy it?”
I smiled. “Because for years, Devlin, I had no family at all. I had an exciting, fulfilling career, albeit frustrating sometimes, I admit. I had a decent apartment, money in the bank, and a nice car, but,” I hesitated.
“But?” he urged.
“I had no one, Devlin. Everyone in my immediate family was dead. I was the last Mulder, and I went home to bed alone every night. I was very lonely. I don’t know if you can imagine how lonely I was,” I said.
“You had Mom.”
I smiled again. “Yeah, eventually I had your mom, but we were just friends back then, and that wasn’t enough for me.”
“Not for her either, obviously,” he teased.
I grinned wider and nodded. “Lucky for me. I didn’t have the one thing I really wanted, love. I realized that I needed to be part of a family. There was a time when I didn’t think I’d ever have one. Then I finally finagled your mother into the sack,” I said, winking at him.
He laughed. “Thanks for that visual, Dad,” he replied cheekily. He paused and then asked, “How did you guys get together?”
“That’s a long story and one for another time. But we finally became intimate while we were on an undercover case posing as man and wife. We’d been partners for years but we waited until just a few days before we got married to explore a physical relationship.”
“No shit?” he said surprise evident in his voice.
I realized how truly little he knew of our past before he came along. We had in fact, gotten married mere months before we adopted him at the age of seven. When he was a child none of this history had mattered. Now it seemed to be important to him.
“No shit,” I replied. “Now WATCH your language. Here come the twins.”
They bounded into the kitchen, Scully trailing behind them, and took their regular seats at the table. “Mulder, that smells delicious,” she said, dropping another kiss on my lips before she sat down.
We all were silent for a while as we loaded up our plates. I took Scully’s hand on my right and Mairin’s on my left. “Mackenzie, why don’t you say Grace tonight?” I said.
He cleared his throat dramatically and we all smiled. “Lord, thank you for this food and this time together as a family. Bless this bounty in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
“Amen,” we all chorused.
For several minutes, the sound of silverware clinking on plates was all that was heard. When I took the edge off my hunger, I asked, “So besides soccer practice, what did you two do today?”
Mairin spoke up first. “Oh, it was cool. Mrs. Beasley let us sit outside for class today.”
“What class is that?” I asked.
“English. She had us go around in a circle and each read a paragraph of this story we’re reading.”
“What are you reading?”
“Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger,” she replied.
“Oh, that’s a good one. What about you, Mac?” I asked, using the derivative of his name that had long since become his nickname.
“Nothing much, the usual.” He shrugged. “There was one crowning moment,” he added with a mischievous gleam in his eye.
Scully and I both eyed him expectantly. He was so bright for his age, and his vocabulary was way above average. “I managed to crash the hard drive on the PC I was using in the computer lab,” he said proudly.
Scully and I both started laughing. Devlin groaned. “You’re hopeless, Mac!” he exclaimed. “What is this, the third one? What did you do this time?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been using that PC for a while now and haven’t had any trouble. Then I went to save something and everything went crazy. It froze up and I got the blue screen of death. Then I tried to reboot and it just went black. Nada. I killed it good.”
“I have to teach you some basics, dude. You can’t keep blowing up those computers.”
“I hate that class anyway. It’s dumb.”
“It’s only dumb ‘cause you don’t get it,” Mairin shot at him.
“Hey!” Scully responded. “That wasn’t nice. We all have our strong points, Mairin, and our weak points.”
“Yeah, you suck at math,” Mackenzie shot back.
“Stop it, right now,” I said, raising my voice. “Don’t start that crap at the dinner table. You are both intelligent; you just have different strengths and interests. This isn’t a contest.”
They both looked sorry and glanced at each other. Devlin said, “Where were you saving the document, Mac?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I clicked on the C-colon-back slash.”
Devlin groaned. “Mac! How many times do I have to tell you not to save things to the root directory?” He shrugged again, frowning.
“That’s enough, Devlin. You and Mac can discuss it later,” I said. Devlin sighed and nodded and returned to his plate. Mac was just staring at his plate. “It’s okay, buddy. You’ll get it eventually. I’m still struggling when it comes to computers. We can’t all be geniuses like Devlin here.”
He looked up and smiled and started eating again. Crises of self- esteem averted. This time, anyway. Score one for Dad, I thought to myself. Scully lifted a corner of her mouth, flashing me an approving smile for my handling of the situation.
I found myself smiling as I chewed. Despite all the ups and downs, I wouldn’t trade this life for anything. I looked at each of my kids and realized how truly blessed I was.
I set my fork down and cleared my throat. Everyone turned to look at me. “I know I don’t say it often,” I began. “But sometimes I look at you guys and it’s like a miracle. I can’t believe how blessed I am to have such an intelligent and beautiful wife, and such great kids. I don’t deserve you guys, but I’ll take you anyway. I love you guys.”
Scully smiled from ear to ear. The twins rolled their eyes, and Devlin snorted. Mackenzie laughed and said, “You’re so corny, Dad.”
That made us all laugh. Scully lifted her iced tea glass and I clinked mine against hers. “Here’s to being corny,” she replied.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 7, 2010 10:10 PM
I sat on the bed brushing my hair as I watched Mulder putter around our bedroom. He had something on his mind and was trying to find the right way to approach me. After all these years, I can read him like a book.
He leaned back against the corner of the closet and started scratching his back. “Why don’t you come over here and I’ll do that for you,” I offered.
He gave me a big smile and headed over to the bed. As he walked towards me, he pulled his tee shirt off over his head. I sat transfixed, watching him bare the golden skin of his stomach and chest. I realized that I had been holding my breath and that my mouth was watering. He still had a beautiful body for a man nudging fifty. I let my eyes slide up from his chest and knew that he had been watching me check him out. My eyes dipped down and confirmed that he was responding to me the same way. His pajama pants were low slung on his narrow hips and his erection was already at more than half-mast.
I grinned and shrugged, “Better cool your jets, buddy, or you’re going to be more than a little uncomfortable lying down on your stomach.”
“Who says I’m going to lie down?” he growled.
“I do, your back is itching and I need to give it a good scratch and put some lotion on it.” I pulled him down on the bed next to me.
“I don’t suppose you’d want to do a little massage while you’re back there, would you?” he groaned as he stretched out on the bed.
“I could be convinced to include a massage, for the right incentive,” I teased as I began to scratch his back all over.
“Ah, yeah, right there, over a little, towards you, up, that’s it,” he moaned as my nails moved across his broad back.
I started to massage his neck and shoulders, surprised at the tightness of the muscles there. “I see Mickey P. was here today,” I offered. Mulder didn’t get this tight anymore, unless there was an outside stressor involved.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “I don’t think I’m helping that child, Scully. He needs to be in a controlled environment for intensive therapy, if only for a short period of time.”
“You still think his step-father is the problem?” I often discussed Mulder’s caseload with him. He knew I would never reveal anything we discussed in our room. I reached for the lotion I kept by the bedside and began to rub it in as I massaged him.
“Yeah,” he groaned.
He tried to turn over, but I pushed him back down. I climbed on the bed and sat on his rear end while I continued to massage his back.
“The social worker from Children’s Services swears that he’s not the problem, but I just have a feeling about this. Mickey needs to be in a controlled environment where he can feel safe enough to talk about what happened and maybe even grow to trust someone enough to … but that’s not my job, is it?” He looked over his shoulder at me and grinned. “You always bring me back down to basics, Scully. It’s one of the reasons I love you so much.”
I leaned forward to kiss his cheek, “I love you right back.”
He settled back down on the bed and pumped his hips up and down enough that I had to hold on to his sides to keep from being tossed off. I slid up his body, covering him with mine, and whispered in his ear. “Feeling frisky tonight, Dr. Mulder?”
“I always feel ‘frisky’ when you’re touching me, Dr. Scully,” he growled.
“Mmmmm. You were feeling very mellow and emotional at dinner tonight, Mulder. Want to talk about why you felt that way?” I could tell from the way he grew very still that I had hit a nerve.
“Yes,” he said finally as he moved to turn over.
I let him change positions and spread out along the length of him, propping my chin on my stacked fists as I looked into his eyes.
“I talked to Devlin today.”
“And?” I waited.
He sighed and said, “He wasn’t exactly receptive to discussing colleges.”
The sad expression on his face told me that there was more than Devlin’s lack of interest in his higher education that had been discussed. I let him work through it on his own. He would tell me in his own time.
A few minutes later he said, “Scully, I think it’s time we told Devlin everything about his adoption.”
Now this really did surprise me. We had briefly touched on the subject previously, but Mulder knew that I wanted to wait until our son was eighteen to give him the details. “What brought this up?”
Mulder chewed on the inside of his cheek, a sure sign that he was upset about what he was going to tell me. Finally he said, “His attitude has taken a nosedive lately, I’m sure you’ve noticed. He’s getting straight A’s in school, but the guidance counselor and all his teachers still feel his attitude is poor. He’s been short- tempered with M&M and both of us.”
“Did he say something to you about his adoption?” I asked.
“No, not directly.” Mulder was sidestepping my question.
“What exactly did he say to you earlier that’s upset you?” I asked.
Mulder sighed. “We were talking about college and he blew me off. I told him that I just wanted what every father wants for their child, a good start through a good education.”
“And?”
“He got angry at me and told me I’m not his father.”
I slid off Mulder and sat up straight. “What? What did you say?” I was torn between my anger at Devlin for hurting this good man and my upset over our child’s angst caused by not knowing the facts about his ‘real parents’.
“I handled it, Scully. I told him that I loved him unconditionally and that as far as I was concerned he is my child. I asked him if that was why he had been acting so belligerent lately but he didn’t answer that one.”
“I’ll speak to him. He has no right to talk to you like that, Mulder!” I huffed.
“Scully, it’s okay.” Mulder soothed me with his voice and his touch as he drew me back down into the circle of his arms. “I told him that I would not put up with that kind of disrespect. He apologized, Scully. I think he was as surprised as I was to hear the words come out of his mouth.”
“It’s not okay, Mulder. You know I can’t stand anyone hurting you, not even our son.” I had promised myself years ago that no one would ever hurt this good, loving man again.
“Scully, I handled it. I only told you this because I believe it’s the basis for his rebellion. He needs to know who his biological parents were and why he was put up for adoption. It’s a normal response for someone like Devlin. Face it, the kid is a genius and we’ve done our best to educate him and keep him well balanced emotionally and spiritually. However, he is a teenager and pushing the boundaries of his environment is his job.”
I kissed him and sighed. “I know, Mulder.”
“I think you should consider telling him everything about his adoption,” Mulder urged.
I thought about this for a few minutes as Mulder’s fingers stroked up and down my body. The thought of trying to explain to our son the complexities of our life before our marriage was daunting. Even if he did believe me, how would he react to the knowledge that I was his biological mother? Also, now realizing how my decision to withhold the entire truth of his parentage was causing him to act out, what would be his reaction to my silence for the last ten years? I shivered and Mulder pulled me closer to his warm body.
“I should have told him when he was younger,” I said, “When you first suggested it.”
“It would have been easier to explain, but I think you were right to wait until he was older to tell him the entire truth,” Mulder said. “It’s never going to be easy. It’s a lot to accept for anyone. Remember Walt’s reaction?”
I smiled against his chest, remembering the conversation as if it were yesterday.
—X—
PART 2 (PG)
OFFICE OF A.D. WALTER SKINNER WASHINGTON, DC AUGUST 9, 2000, 10:30 AM
“Sit down, Agents,” Skinner said as soon as Kim led Mulder and me into the room.
‘Skinner looks relaxed, almost, can it be? Happy?’ I thought to myself.
“I just got out of a meeting with the Director. He’s very pleased. He and the Secretary of Transportation are working on commendations for you both.” Skinner almost smiled.
“Thank you, Sir,” I said. I looked at Mulder and he nodded. This was as good a time as any. “Sir, Agent Mulder and I completed our paperwork on the case would like to ask for a few days off.”
“Is there a problem, Agent Scully?” he asked. I could see his jaw tensing up.
“No, Sir, just the opposite.” I looked at Mulder wondering when he was going to jump into the conversation. I could tell by his smirk that I was on my own.
“Agent Mulder and I need a few days off to set our personal affairs in order after the long undercover assignment,” I hedged.
Skinner stared at me and then shifted his gaze to Mulder. Apparently something he saw in Mulder’s face hinted at our secret. “Very well, will a week be enough?”
“I don’t think we need a week right now, Sir, three days will do. But, we will need some time off later in the year,” Mulder said cryptically.
“Are you going to tell me what this is all about, Agents?” Skinner growled after staring at the two of us for a moment. “I can’t protect you if I don’t know what’s going on.”
I looked at Mulder and he shrugged. I pulled the chain that held my rings out from under my collar. “Agent Mulder and I got married in Reno, Nevada after the case was over.”
The look on Walter Skinner’s face was priceless. I don’t think either one of us has ever seen him speechless before. His eyes were huge behind his wire rims and his mouth opened and closed several times before he managed to actually make a sound.
“Married?” he croaked. “Is that—?” He cleared his throat before continuing. “Is that why you need some time off, a honeymoon?”
I glanced at Mulder and his expression told me that I should handle this as I saw fit. He would back me all the way, but it was my call.
“Something like that, Sir,” I said. “In fact, Mulder and I would like to invite you to dinner with us tonight, Sir. We consider you our friend and we’d like to share all the details of our marriage with you, off Bureau time, of course.”
Skinner took the hint that there was more to the conversation than could be said in his office, and accepted our invitation. We made arrangements to meet that evening at Duffy’s, a little seafood place on the river.
“Do you want to begin your time off right now?” he asked.
“No, thank you, Sir,” I said with a smile. “We have a few loose ends to tie up for the rest of the day. Tomorrow through Friday will be fine.”
He nodded and we took that as our dismissal. We rose to leave, but before we opened the door, he said, “Congratulations, Agents. You two deserve all the happiness this marriage will bring you.”
I was touched by his words and fought the tears that suddenly threatened to fall. Mulder placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. I smiled up at him briefly before looking back at our boss.
“Thank you, Sir,” we said in unison.
—X—
DUFFY’S SEAFOOD WISCONSIN AVENUE, NW GEORGETOWN, DC AUGUST 9, 2000 7:30 PM
We had met at Duffy’s after work. Mulder and I had gone back to my apartment to change, but I wondered if Skinner would show up in his suit, directly from work.
He surprised us both when he arrived dressed in a sharp pair of Dockers and a knit shirt. I must have telegraphed my approval to Mulder because his arm on my shoulder tightened. I smiled up at him and he grinned sheepishly. He knew I was aware of his need to play alpha male when we were out together. I wanted him to understand that I was totally committed to him. So far, I was letting him get away with it if we were not at work, until we were more comfortable with this new, intimate relationship.
“Scully, Mulder,” Skinner nodded at us. “This place is certainly popular.”
I smiled as Mulder explained to Skinner the reason for our choice of restaurants. “This place does have the best fresh seafood in the area, Sir,” he said. “But the real reason we wanted to meet here is that it’s owned by a friend of the Gunmen and we can meet in a private room.”
“Private?” Skinner questioned.
“Yes, the Gunmen have used it before. It’s soundproof and the owner has a scrambler installed in the walls that prohibits long range probing.” Mulder grinned.
“And just what kind of business does the owner of this restaurant conduct there that could possibly require that kind of security?” Skinner was intrigued.
“Industrial espionage,” Mulder said with a straight face. “This guy is famous for his crab cakes recipe and is totally paranoid that someone will steal his secret and put him out of business.”
“Well,” Skinner said with a grim look. “I guess I’ll have to try these fabulous crab cakes and judge for myself if they’re worthy of this level of protection.” His sudden smile, after his proclamation, made both of us grin in return.
“Mulder, party of three,” the hostess said.
We were guided through the restaurant to a hallway that led to the back. The hostess seated us in the private room that was a combination office and dining area.
“Duffy will be with you in just a moment,” she said.
“So, we’re going to meet the famous Duffy?” Skinner asked.
“It appears so, Sir,” Mulder answered.
“Please, tonight its just Walter, if you don’t mind,” he offered.
“All right, Walter,” I agreed. “Please, call me Dana.”
He nodded as Mulder passed the menus on the table to us. Moments later, Duffy appeared to take our order. He was delighted that Walter chose the crab cakes.
We ordered a bottle of wine and after it was delivered, we got down to discussing the real reason we wanted to meet away from the Hoover.
“Walter, thank you for meeting us here tonight,” I said. “We wanted to fill you in on the details of our marriage as well as let you know the facts that weren’t in the final report on the hijackings.”
“There’s more?”
Mulder and I exchanged glances and nodded. I let Mulder give him the details. It was still difficult for me to speak about the Kurts without becoming emotional. They were my offspring, but not of my body or my choice. I couldn’t help liking them, wishing the best for them, but at the same time their very existence was an affront to my privacy.
Walter took the entire story in, barely raising an eyebrow.
“So have you heard from Kurt #1 since you parted in Reno?”
“Yes,” Mulder said. “His name is Kevin Sorenson and he sent us a postcard as soon as he got over the border.”
“There’s more, Walter,” I said quietly. “The Kurts are clones created from human stem cells and alien DNA through genetic splicing. Their blood is green and toxic to humans. In order to create them, there had to be an original human specimen.”
Skinner started at me and then looked at Mulder. I could tell when he recognized the crux of my statement. “There’s a child? They created a child and used its genetic material to clone the Kurts?”
I nodded, unsure of my ability to speak. Mulder squeezed my hand and said, “There’s a little boy, just seven years old in an orphanage in upper New York.”
“That’s why you want the time off,” Walter stated. We nodded. “Is it yours, Mulder?”
“He will be now,” Mulder said. “Scully and I want to make sure that he is the original and that he is her biological child. If that’s true, and we have little reason to doubt it, we want to adopt him.”
Skinner leaned back and stared at us in stunned silence, trying to internalize all the information we had just given him. He was about to speak when the door opened and our food was delivered.
“Saved by the bell,” Mulder teased.
After the meal, we talked extensively about the case and our plans for the trip to New York.
Walter Skinner was surprisingly supportive. “Do you think that you will want to continue your work on the X-Files, Dana?” Walter asked.
“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “We really hadn’t discussed what changes this will create in our lives. We need to confirm this information before we make any decisions.”
“But, if he is your son?” Skinner prodded.
“We will decide what we’re going to do after we talk to the authorities at the orphanage,” Mulder said.
“Keep me informed,” Skinner asked just before Duffy came back into the room.
He left after praising Duffy’s crab cakes to high heavens, causing our host to blush with pleasure.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 7, 2010 10:30 P.M.
“Actually, Mulder, I think he took the news about Devlin fairly well,” I grinned. “After all, he did give us the time off and agreed to keep our marriage a secret until we decided what we wanted to do.”
Mulder hugged me tighter and grunted. “Yeah, but he forced the issue about our jobs before we were ready to make our own decision.”
“Mulder,” I said as I leaned up on my elbow to look at him. “He did what he felt was best. We were not emotionally ready to quit working together at that point, but it was necessary.”
He frowned but nodded his agreement. “I didn’t want to lose you as a partner, Scully. I don’t think I could have made that decision on my own.”
I nodded my agreement. “That’s why Walter took it out of our hands, Mulder. We weren’t thinking clearly back then. I know I was reacting too emotionally to the entire situation to decide.”
“You were upset the first time we saw Devlin,” Mulder mused.
I thought about our first visit with Devlin.
—X—
ST. BERNADETTE’S CHILDREN’S HOME WATKINS’ GLEN NEW YORK AUGUST 10, 2000 3:15 PM
The drive to Watkins’ Glen, New York, had been lovely, but we were both so tense that the beautiful countryside made little impact on us.
“Scully, do you think they placed him here in Watkins’ Glen because CSM is a fan of auto racing?” Mulder was munching sunflower seeds as he drove.
I gaped at him, finally realizing that he was trying to relieve some of the tension I was feeling. “Why, Mulder? Do you think they should have placed him nearer to Cooperstown?”
He gave me a lazy, devastating grin and nodded. “Yes. If he’s going to be our son, he’s going to have to learn to love baseball.”
I smiled at him and told him to turn right after glancing back down at the directions we had printed before leaving. We were only about two miles away from the orphanage, but our appointment was for 3:30 PM and I didn’t want to be late.
Mulder reached across the seat and slid my hand into his. “We’ll be on time, Scully. Don’t worry.”
—X—
Our meeting with Mrs. Jacqueline Arnold, Administrator of the orphanage was going very well. We had discussed our approach extensively and decided that we were going to identify ourselves as FBI Special Agents, but we were not going to disclose my exact connection to the child.
After a long discussion, Mulder and I had decided to fudge the truth. We were going to imply that the child known as Douglas K. Crawford was possibly my sister, Melissa’s child, a child that the family had only found out about recently. Since Melissa had been dead for some time, I felt guilty about lying about her, but it was the best and most logical explanation we could come up with. At least it didn’t sound a crazy as the truth did. We requested a meeting with the child before we went any further.
I’ll never forget our first glimpse of Devlin, or D.K., as he was called.
He was small for his age, but I could tell by his hands and feet that he was going to be tall when he grew up. He had bright, Scully-blue eyes and red hair. He looked so much like my brother Charlie did when he was a child that I was glad that I was sitting down when he came into the room.
Mulder realized that I was upset and took the lead with D.K. “Hi, D.K. My name is Fox Mulder and this is my partner, Dana Scully.”
“Hi,” he smiled. “Are you here to ‘dopt me?” he asked hopefully.
“We don’t know, D.K.,” he answered honestly. “Do you want to be adopted?” Mulder gently questioned.
“Yeah, but it’s all right if you don’t. Most people that come to talk to me decide they want a baby or a lit’ler kid. They like me, but somehow, I never get taken home.” The little boy shrugged his narrow shoulders in acceptance.
Tears sprang to my eyes as he spoke. He was so accepting of the facts of orphanage life. He was adorable, obviously highly intelligent, but he had little hope of finding a home.
“Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself, D.K.?” I asked. I scooted over and held out my hand to him. “What is your favorite subject in school? Mine was always reading.”
“I like to read, but I like math the best,” he replied earnestly.
I smiled at Mulder over the boy’s head and he smiled back. I prayed that this boy was mine. He had already grabbed my heart and I didn’t know what I would do if he wasn’t the right child.
Mrs. Arnold came back a few minutes later to collect D.K. “It’s almost suppertime, Douglas. You need to wash up before you eat.”
“Can Mr. Fox and Miss Dana eat supper with me?” D.K. asked hopefully.
“No, not today, Douglas. Mr. Mulder and Ms. Scully are only here for their first visit. I don’t think they’re quite ready for the dining room experience yet,” she said as she laughed good-naturedly. “Run along to your group now.”
“Bye Mr. Fox,” he said as he shook hands with Mulder. “Bye, Miss Dana.” He held out his hand to shake, but I couldn’t let him go like that. I opened my arms and he threw himself into my embrace.
I kissed the top of his head and whispered, “Bye, D.K. We’ll see you soon.”
He smiled sadly and nodded. He walked out the door and shut it quietly, but we could hear the pounding of his little feet as he ran down the hall.
Mulder spoke first. “He certainly is a charmer.” He smiled at me and squeezed my hand. “I can’t figure out why he’s not been adopted before now.”
“I have to tell you that I’m surprised,” Mrs. Arnold said. “D.K. is a charming, intelligent little boy, but he usually does not act as eager to impress the prospective parents as he did with you two.” She glanced at me and smiled. “Perhaps it’s your red hair.”
I looked at Mulder and he nodded. “Mrs. Arnold, do you think that we could have a PDR run on Douglas? He looks just like my younger brother did when he was D.K.‘s age. So much so, that I suspect he may very well be a Scully.”
“What if he is your sister’s child? What is your interest in D.K.?” Mrs. Arnold asked.
Once again, Mulder and I exchanged glances and he nodded. “If he is a blood relative of mine, we want to adopt him,” I said, suddenly sure of our path.
Mrs. Arnold was shocked. “Ms. Scully, it’s extremely difficult for a single woman to adopt a child, let alone two single people …”
“Mrs. Arnold,” Mulder interrupted her. “Dr. Scully and I were recently married.”
“Mr. Mulder, that only makes it more complicated. Very few organizations like to throw a child into a situation where the relationship is not a stable, long term one.”
“I know that you do not know us, Mrs. Arnold, but we would like you to consider us seriously as candidates for this adoption. If D.K. is Dana’s blood relative, we feel we are the best choice for parents for him. We have been partners for seven years and will be able to provide several references that will attest to the stability of our relationship,” Mulder said sincerely.
“Are there other couples interested in D.K.?” I asked, suddenly seized by the awful thought of losing my child just as I found him, like Emily.
“No, most couples who are looking to adopt are looking for a younger child,” she said sadly. She stared at us for a moment. “Let’s start at the beginning. I’ll arrange for a blood test to be done on D.K. Our house physician is going to be here tomorrow. Do you think that you could be here around 10:00 AM for a blood test?” she asked.
“Yes, that would be fine.” We said our goodbyes and left.
Three months later, we were granted custody of Douglas Kurt Crawford. Three months after that, the adoption became final.
—X—
PART 3 (NC-17)
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 7, 2010 10:45 PM
Scully was quiet for such a long time, I thought she had fallen asleep.
“Mulder,” she said, “I think you’re right. We should tell Devlin this weekend. Is that all right with you? We could ask Mom to take the twins for the night on Friday.”
I looked down at her and smiled. “I think that’s a great idea, unless Devlin has plans for Friday night.”
“We’ll talk to him tomorrow and make sure he keeps it open.”
I smiled at her again, nuzzling her ear. “I have plans for tonight. How about you, Scully?”
—X—
“I thought you’d never ask,” I sighed as I rolled over on top of him, straddling his thighs. I looked down at him and the magnitude of my love for this man once again swept through me, making me weak and giddy. I leaned down and kissed his lips gently, moving on to his cheeks and nose and eyelids. “I love you, Fox Mulder,” I said. I was as surprised as he was at the quivering of my voice.
“Hey, hey, hey, what brought this on?” he asked. He soothed me with the sound of his voice and the touch of his hands as he began to gently stroke my shoulders.
“I don’t know. Nothing. Everything.” I couldn’t tell him what I was feeling, because I didn’t know myself.
“Scully, I love you, too,” he assured me. He smiled into my eyes. “Are you still upset by Devlin’s remark?”
“No,” I denied immediately. “Yes,” I admitted. “I know that Devlin loves you, Mulder. You’ve been a fantastic father to him and to the twins. It’s just—” I broke off.
“Just?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I wailed. I threw myself down on his chest and sobbed. Everything was so confusing. My love for Mulder wasn’t a mournful thing. It was happiness and satisfaction and everything I had ever wanted in a relationship. Devlin and the twins were a blessing in my life. That left only one thing. “It’s … it’s,” I choked out, unable to say it.
“Scully, are you worried about what Dr. Gibson told you last week?”
Mulder’s gentle words clarified my thoughts. “Yes, I guess I am.”
He pulled me closer and kissed me, not gently this time. “I read the information that you brought home about pre-menopausal women and I know what you’re thinking.”
I gave him a startled look. “What do you mean?”
He sighed and stared at me for a moment before replying. “I know you are thinking that we put off having more children too long and that makes you sad because you feel it’s too late now.”
“Mulder, we have three wonderful children. I have a good job and a fantastic marriage. Why would you think I have unresolved regret over having more children?”
“Because I know you, Scully,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re not usually this emotional. You’ve been quiet and introspective since your appointment.”
I nodded and shrugged.
“Scully, it’s not too late to have another baby, you know?” he whispered.
“Mulder!” His statement surprised me. “You know that late in life pregnancies have many additional risk factors involved.”
“I read the information, Scully. I know that pre-menopausal women who chose pregnancy face health challenges and an increased risk of delivering children with Down’s Syndrome and other genetic problems, but that wouldn’t be a problem for us. You’ve kept yourself in shape. All your healthy ‘young’ eggs were inseminated with my healthy ‘young’ sperm and refrozen. They’re still viable. If you want another baby or two, we could still …”
I stared at this man I’ve loved for so long in wonder. He knew me so well, it was, downright spooky. That thought made me grin as I said, “Mulder, I won’t lie to you. I have thought about another baby, but realistically, I don’t think we should consider it. I think I’m more concerned about what to do with the fertilized eggs that are left than I am about having more children.” He nodded and I knew that he agreed with my decision. “Right now, however, I think we need to work through our problems with Devlin before we consider the entire issue.” I kissed him and smiled. “Besides, whatever made you think I would want to go through a pregnancy again, let alone have teenagers when I’m sixty?” I said teasingly.
He grinned up at me and said, “We are going to discuss it later though?”
I smiled back. “I think we should discuss it. But not tonight, okay?”
“All right by me,” he growled. “I’ve got other things on my mind right now.”
“Oh, is that what you call this?” I said as I wiggled my hips over his erection.
– NC-17 PORTION –
“Scully, have I told you yet tonight how much I love you?” Mulder gently slid me off him and rolled over on top of me. “How much I love to kiss you and hold you and sink my cock into your luscious, sexy little body?”
“Keep going, partner. You’re almost to the good part,” I whispered into his ear.
“You mean this?” he said as his lips kissed mine, “Or this?” He gently stroked my breasts, pinching the nipples with just enough pressure to send jolts of white-hot desire from their tips to my sex.
“Or were you referring to this?” He slid into me with a strong thrust of his hips. His erection was long and thick and hot and felt fantastic. His words had made me wet and needy and when he began to move, I knew it was not going to be long before I would find my release.
He moved against me, searching for the angle that he knew would drive me over the edge every time, even in this position. I gave myself up to pleasure as he began to surge up into me. Even after all these years, my passion for this man was unparalleled. We both experienced long, satisfying climaxes that exhausted us and we quickly fell asleep.
– END OF NC-17 PORTION –
I woke up with a start. Scully was draped over me like a blanket, her silky length of red hair tickling my nose. I lifted my hand from her waist and stroked through her hair, relieving the tickle in my nose, but reviving the need in my johnson.
If any one had told me before I met Scully that when I was almost fifty years old I would be married to a woman whom I loved and we would still be having incredible sex several times a week, I would have laughed in their faces.
If they had said that I was going to be part of a happy family with that woman, I would have tried to have them committed. In fact, before Scully, I didn’t really believe that I would live to be forty. I had accepted the fact that I would be killed in the line of duty or while I was off trying to find Samantha.
Then, into my life came this little spy, all spit and polish, piss and vinegar. I let the memories of our early years cascade through my mind. I was still amazed that we ever got to this point. I must have been very good in a previous life to be blessed with a woman like Dana Katherine Scully-Mulder. All the crap we had lived through, all the pain, had made us stronger and bound us together for eternity.
Scully wiggled and murmured, “Cold, Mulder, cold.”
I started to pull the cover over her when I heard a noise in the hall. Maybe it was the thoughts of our dangerous early years, or just my basic paranoia, but I could ‘feel’ something wasn’t right in the house. There wasn’t a definite threat that I could identify, or a noise that sounded out of place, just a sense of ‘wrongness’ about the night.
I slid Scully off me and covered her up. She softly grunted but snuggled down into the covers, never waking. Silently, I rose and pulled my gun from the lock box that was hidden in the wall next to the bed. Despite a lack of use, the hinges were silent and I grabbed the gun and cartridge, sliding it home with an almost imperceptible ‘snick’.
I stood by our bedroom door listening and I knew I was right. Someone was in our home, coming up the stairs, walking down the hall. I slid the door open to get a look at the invader and saw the outline of a tall man sneaking up the hall towards me. He drew even with the hall bathroom door and the faint glow from the nightlight slashed across his features. Devlin.
I pulled the door open silently and stepped into the hall. “What the hell are you doing up at this hour?” I hissed at him. I held the gun in my right hand, slightly back and out of sight. I knew I’d startled him, but he had scared me. Our kids were not night wanderers. Every one of them worked and played hard during the day and slept just as hard at night. I’d always been thankful that none of my children were plagued by insomnia or nightmares, though I had almost expected Devlin to have them.
“I had to go to the bathroom,” he said in a sleepy voice.
I stared at him for a few seconds. He was lying. He had been walking up the hall from the stairs. Devlin was definitely hiding something, but I decided to let it slide until tomorrow. I said, “Oh, all right. Try to be quiet. Don’t wake the twins.”
“Right-o,” Devlin whispered cheekily.
He was definitely hiding something. I nodded and then watched him move on down the hall to his room. I’d have to check it out tomorrow.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 8, 2010 1:00 AM
I waited for everyone to go to bed and snuck downstairs to my computer. It still aggravated me that Dad made me keep it in the den. He was adamant about keeping the family together as much as possible. He didn’t want me ‘hiding’ out in my room for hours on the computer or some crap like that. I thought of it as another way my parents wanted to control my life.
I wasn’t resuming my game now. Even Langly was in bed at this hour. I had bigger fish to fry. I had been working on my Dad’s computer last week and found a freaking huge block of data that I couldn’t access. That had put up a red flag for me. I actually had been looking around to see if I could find any information on my adoption when I ran into the firewall that protected the files. My time was limited on Dad’s machine so I knew I had some planning to do before I could break into it. I was finally ready to go.
I booted up the computer and got on the ‘net. I slipped the CD I’d written my program on into the drive and began hacking into my father’s computer in his office. I’d networked it to this one when he was at M&M’s soccer game last week. I had a wireless router modem in my room that connected the two. They never questioned the stuff I set up for the computer. It was way beyond them. Unless one of the uncles came over unexpectedly, it was way beyond most people.
I came upon the firewall, and easily guessed my Dad’s password, TwoM&Ms, and I was in! I started opening up his folders and looking at the files. I checked the Bureau files first. I came upon a folder marked, ‘Monty Propps’. I’d heard that name before and clicked on it.
I squinted at the screen, clicking on the first file. It was a scan of a newspaper article with the headline: ‘Mulder Outwits Monty’.
I read on:
* To those inside the FBI, it was no surprise that rookie, hot shot Special Agent Fox Mulder was instrumental in capturing the serial killer who has terrorized the DC area for months. Agent Mulder has only been with the Bureau’s Behavioral Science Unit as a profiler for one year, but he’s already made a name for himself as one of their top profilers. “He has a rare gift,” says Special Agent in Charge Reggie Purdue. “We’re lucky to have him. Agents with intuition and genius like Fox Mulder only come along once or so in a generation. I’m confident in saying the police would never have caught Propps without Agent Mulder’s monograph and profile,” Purdue said. *
The article went on to detail the months-long manhunt for the notorious serial killer who was raping and murdering prostitutes. Not until the Bureau was called in to assist, and my father put on the case, did they come up with any viable leads.
I closed the file and opened the next one, reading carefully. I heard a creak and jumped, looking toward the staircase. All was quiet. All I could hear was the snick of the clock on the mantle. I went back to reading. One was a case report, another police reports, another three were more newspaper articles. I wondered why he never told me about this.
When I got to the actual profile, it was password protected. I ran my program on it and it decoded it fairly quickly: ‘TrustNo1’. I opened it and read a detailed profile. Further down, in my father’s own words, he told how he had constructed it from a couple of crime scene visits and bits of information culled from the police case reports, articles in the media, autopsy reports on the victims and crime scene photos. I was truly impressed that he had been able to write this profile and be so on-the-money from such sketchy information. I knew almost nothing about profiling except that he still did it for a living, along with his psych practice. However, I thought these things were formula for the most part. After reading this profile and his explanation of how he came to his conclusions, I realized that, in my father’s case anyway, they were anything but formula. They were nothing less than brilliant.
I spent the next hour going through various VCS files. I knew they were confidential but I had no intentions of telling anyone. I wasn’t going to go into active patient files though. I knew if I were ever caught, he’d really blow his top over that. Frankly, I didn’t really think they would be that interesting anyway.
I moved on to his personal folders and cruised through boring accounting, mortgage, and bank account information. Then I came across a folder called ‘Journal’. My dad kept a journal? This could be interesting.
Of course it was password protected. I set about cracking the code and to my surprise, I was having trouble. I recognized immediately that this folder was protected with some program far more sophisticated than my father could ever have come up with. The Lone Gunmen must have helped him with this one. Damn, the whole thing was totally encrypted!
I whispered, “Okay, Langly, you’re on. Let’s see if I can get by you, dude. This is definitely your work. Devlin’s my name, hacking’s my game!”
I spent the better part of the next two hours and couldn’t get into it. Damn, they were good, or Langly was anyway. I wrote some more code and burned it onto a CD. I reinserted it and set it to run. I changed the settings to have the screen saver with a password come up in thirty seconds and left it to work overnight. I was yawning, and my folks would be up in three hours.
I went upstairs. I almost made it to my room, too. I jumped when my father stepped into the hallway and said, “What the hell are you doing up at this hour?” He stood there with his right hand slightly back and out of sight.
He seemed larger than life somehow, his shadow looming large behind him. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I had to go to the bathroom,” I said, faking a sleepy voice.
He stared at me for a few seconds as if trying to read my mind and then said, “Oh, all right. Try to be quiet. Don’t wake the twins.”
“Right-o,” I whispered, and slipped into my room. Whew. That was a close one. I wasn’t sure, but I could swear Dad had a gun in his hand. I didn’t even know he and Mom still had one in the house. There was a lot more to Fox Mulder than the easy-going house-husband that he had always appeared to be. He knew I was lying. I could feel it, and yet, he had let it go. Interesting.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 9, 2010 1:00 AM
Waiting all day was freaking torture, but it was finally time. I slinked out of my room in stocking feet and headed down the stairs, skipping over the fifth step that creaked. I nearly ran to the computer, and punched in my password to erase the screen saver.
God Bless America! My righteous code had done the trick. My mouth hung open though as I read that it took it seven hours to get through Langly’s walls and protections! ‘Holy Shit! I tip my hat to you, dude,’ I thought.
I actually felt my palms sweating as I carefully clicked on the file after memorizing the password. I took a deep breath and began to read, starting at the date of the first entry, May, 2000. Jesus, this was ten years worth of journaling. I checked the size of the file and it was enormous once it was unzipped and uncompressed. I had a lot of reading ahead of me. I set the alarm on my watch, knowing my tendency to get absorbed and lose track of time. I had about three hours before I had to hit the sack.
—X—
Journal – May 14, 2000
* Scully’s File: Well, we’re on the trail now. I’m undercover as Mulder’s wife, and I’ve never been so nervous in my entire life. Someone broke into the truck last night. I’m scared, but I know we’ll figure this out. Cooner has turned out to be a reliable friend and the Gunmen have come through with this fabulous encryption program so that anyone looking at these entries will find dull, daily journaling that means nothing to them.
Mulder and I are on the verge of many things, one of them being an intimate relationship. I’m more nervous about that than I am about the case. I’m excited too. I know this is inevitable. I know I love him. He breaks my heart every time he pouts when I push him away, but I really feel we should solve this case first. We need to be alert. Freshly showered Mulder is a hard thing to resist though. God, I hope I don’t blow it. We can concentrate on our relationship and all the implications later. Right now, we have hijackers to catch.
I really enjoyed the awe on Mulder’s face when I pulled a Rambo on the hijackers today. The grenade launcher stopped them when they tried to grab us but I was pretty tense when the bullets starting flying. We got away though, thanks to luck and some fancy driving on Mulder’s part, but for how long? I can tell Mulder admires my skills as an equal, but other times, his tendency toward protecting me is aggravating. I don’t want a romantic relationship to interfere with our working relationship. *
I quickly realized there were two folders, one for my mother, the other for my father. Under those, were two subfolders, one for the job and one for personal entries. I decided to read the personal folders first. I’d start with my mother’s and read a few days and then switch to my father’s and read his version of events. I smiled at some of the differences.
* Mulder’s File: I’m going absolutely nuts. She stopped our make out session again. I’m so agitated right now I could scream and I know I won’t sleep until I jerk off. Finding a place to do it is another thing entirely. I can’t exactly do it in the sleeper of the truck while she’s driving! I’m not going to do it in the truck stops we use. Some of those guys are damned scary.
She says we should wait until the case is over to cross the final line in our relationship and become intimate. She says it will be a distraction.
Well, that’s an understatement. I don’t think I could possibly be more distracted than I am now. It’s all I can think about. Then she has to tease me and wear those tight tank tops. Jesus, I’m only human. What the hell does she want from me? I don’t agree with her. I think being together would relieve a lot of my tension and anticipation and distraction, but I will wait. I’ve waited seven years. What are a few more weeks? Christ, though, knowing it’s going to happen is like an elephant in the middle of the room. We both know it’s there and we’re trying to ignore it.
I need to concentrate. Solve this fucking case and get on to the good stuff. The quicker I come up with a solution, the quicker we will be together. Think, Mulder, damn it! What are these guys hiding? Where are they hiding? Where will they strike next? Hopefully, we wiped out half their team this afternoon.
Scully was so unbelievably magnificent. I want to protect her but know I can’t. I have to restrain myself from taking on all the danger and chances so she doesn’t have to. That will never work with my Scully. She has to do things her way. Even though I was scared to death, it also turned me on to see her go postal on those bastards.
How sick am I? Scully gets aggressive and I get a boner. Scully fires a gun and I get a hard on. I’m pathetic. *
Whew! It squicked me out, a bit, to be reading about my father getting boners over my mother. Intellectually, I knew it must have happened, but I never really gave it much thought. She had the twins within a year after I came to live with them. They’d always been careful not to let us catch them or hear them having sex. My Dad wasn’t a bad looking man for his age. My mother wasn’t so bad either. I’d always wondered if they adopted me because of my red hair. Mom has red hair and that usually makes people assume that I am really their kid. I sometimes thought I might be a Scully, an illegitimate son of Uncle Bill’s or Uncle Charlie’s. Naw. Not Uncle Charlie’s. Maybe Bill’s or even Melissa’s? Hummm.
I raked my fingers through my curly hair and scratched my scalp. We all had blue eyes too. Although most redheads did have blue or green eyes as a rule, but I knew I wasn’t theirs. Look at M&M. They are both dead-on kids of my parents. You can see both of them in all their features. They’re dark like Dad, but Mairin looks exactly like pictures of my mom that Gramma has. It shouldn’t bug me, but it does. I’ve had dreams about my real parents, wondering what they looked like and why they gave me up. It must have been pretty bad because I couldn’t remember a lot from before the last orphanage I was dumped at.
I still felt guilty about yelling at Dad the other night. Shit, what made me say that? ‘You’re not my father!’ What was I thinking? He looked like I’d slapped him. Damn. I knew I shouldn’t have said it. I didn’t mean it the way it came out. It’s just been on my mind lately, and he pushed all my buttons. Shit. He seemed to have forgiven me, though. When he hugged me, I swear I could feel his pain and relief that we were okay. He hasn’t mentioned it since, and I know he didn’t tell my mother. Even though she’s been out of town, she would have been all over my ass if she knew. She doesn’t tolerate disrespect in any form.
He was right. He was the only father I’d ever known. He’d never favored the twins over me. He treated us all equally. If I thought about it, he really wasn’t a bad guy. So why did I resent his happiness so much? I looked at the twins and was jealous sometimes. They knew who their parents were. They looked so much like Dad that there was no mistaking the resemblance, especially Mac’s nose. They had no doubts about where they came from.
I remember when I first realized they were really going to take me home with them. I hadn’t believed it at first. People came, but they always wanted the younger kids. I didn’t remember any of my life before age five, before the orphanage in New York. I did, however, remember the two years in the orphanage and the agony of wondering if anyone would ever want me. When I met them, they seemed so cool. I wanted them to choose me, but I knew I was setting myself up for disappointment.
I didn’t believe it when they asked me if I wanted to go home with them. I wouldn’t allow myself to believe right up to the day when they finally came to take me home. I’d been astonished, so sure right up until the last minute that it wouldn’t come true. I’d been so happy then, and so eager to please them lest they send me back. It still surprised me to remember Dad telling me I didn’t have to be perfect for them to want me to stay. I just had to be me. I didn’t believe him for years. What a dork. At seven, though, I didn’t know that they couldn’t just send me back.
But where had I come from? That was the sixty-four thousand dollar question. I wasn’t going to find out tonight, that’s for sure. I read a couple more entries from each of them, morbidly repelled and fascinated at the same time as I read of their quandaries and emotional state over getting together. It was weird to think of them so nervous with one another. They were so comfortable now. I couldn’t imagine my mother ever having been unsure of anything.
She was certainly unsure of my father in the beginning, or at least unsure of what being involved with him would bring. Reading her descriptions of his sexy body I could have done without. I probably also didn’t need to know how terrific she was at blowjobs, according to my father.
On the other hand, reading about their mutual admiration for their skills and deductive thinking was rather fascinating. They truly were best friends and I felt jealousy rise up in me in like bile. Would I ever have that kind of relationship with anyone? I was a computer geek for God’s sake. I was six foot tall, and I worked out. I was athletic, but I was still a tech head. Most girls my age bored the hell out of me. We had nothing in common. On top of which, I couldn’t stand ‘gigglers’. God, I hated the sound of giggling. It was like finger nails on a chalkboard to me. One of the best things I could think to say about Mairin was that she didn’t giggle.
I realized I wanted someone more sophisticated, more mature. I didn’t want a giggling airhead for a girlfriend, and certainly not for a life mate, but I was lonely. It struck me when Dad and I were talking the other day. He’d said he wondered if I could imagine how lonely he was. Yes, I could. I was that lonely now, despite having my parents and the twins around. I felt like I had no one to talk to who understood me. I felt like the Lone Gunmen were the only ones who I didn’t bore and who didn’t bore me.
No girls wanted to talk about Virtual D&D and computer hardware or programming. They simply weren’t interested. They were still getting off on going to the mall, and spending an hour putting on make up. I knew in a peripheral sort of way that I was handsome. Enough people told me that. Enough girls flirted with me, and giggled around me. However, I simply had found no one that sparked my interest. There was no one I wanted to spend time with, no one I wanted to get to know better.
This was my life, sitting in front of my computer at 4:00 AM reading my parents private journal. ‘Pretty pathetic, huh?’ I thought to myself. Nonetheless, I knew that I would keep reading. I carefully closed everything down and shut down the computer. I crept up the stairs and managed to get in bed without alerting the press this time. I had a feeling by the time I was done reading I was going to know more than I ever wanted to know about my ‘parents’.
—X—
PART 4 (PG)
THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 9, 2010 7:30 AM
I stumbled through breakfast and got to school early enough to grab a coffee at Starbucks and spend some time in the gym before school began. M&M had to be at school early today of all days. I usually drove them when Mom was called out early, but I could have really used the extra hour of sleep after being up until after 4:00 AM reading my parents’ journals.
I still had a residual feeling of resentment. It was stupid to feel angry with your parents for loving each other like mine did. I mean, more than half my class came from divorced or one-parent homes and most of those kids would have thought I was crazy for resenting their love.
I decided to go to the gym and shoot some hoops before my first class. I entered the gym and dumped my backpack next to the door. There were several other guys there already, along with a group of giggling cheerleader-types at the other end of the room. I chose to ignore the others and began to work up a good sweat practicing my lay-ups and long shots.
I was feeling pretty good by the time I decided I needed to get to class. I pulled the towel I kept in my backpack out and wiped my face. My coffee was cold but I drank the rest of it anyway. I would need the caffeine before the morning was over.
I let my gaze wander down towards the far end of the gym and was surprised to see the cheerleaders still there. They usually left in plenty of time to fix their hair and makeup before class. God forbid that anyone saw them as less than perfect during school hours. They were talking to the new kid I noticed briefly last week and I was surprised. This guy was short and definitely not a jock. He was dressed in sturdy work boots, ill-fitting chinos about two sizes too big and a hooded sweatshirt. Not exactly a fashion statement, but I could tell from here that they were clean.
What were they up to now? I moved across the floor to go out the door nearest them. I was curious. Before I grew to my current height of six feet and out of a pubescent case of acne, I had been on the receiving end of the ‘popular girl’ treatment several times. I tuned into what they were saying and realized immediately that they weren’t playing nice. This kid didn’t act like he had what it took to fend them off. They had surrounded him and were taking turns making verbal jabs at him. According to them his clothes were wrong, his hair was wrong, his glasses were geeky. They were going in for the kill.
“So Quinci, you going to try out for cheerleader?” Mandy Jenkins said with a sneer.
The new kid mumbled something and tried to walk around the girls who had him surrounded. They closed in the circle and he stepped back into the center.
“What was that? I didn’t hear you,” Heather Long said aggressively.
“Yeah,” echoed the rest.
“I said, I have no interest in cheerleading,” the new kid said in a husky voice.
I’m no expert, but I do have a younger siblings and I could swear I heard tears in this kid’s voice. ‘Wait a minute,’ I thought. ‘Why are they asking this guy if he wants to be a cheerleader?’ Ah, shit! This poor sap was probably gay and someone had leaked it to one of the mindless wonders. They were not known for their kindness and charity with kids who were different.
“Who’d want to look at someone like you in a cheerleading outfit?” Mandy spoke up again. “You’d probably get a five o’clock shadow on your legs before the game was over!” She laughed heartily at her own joke. The others joined in.
“I SAID,” the new guy shouted. “I’m not interested in your shallow little clique and your mindless display of your ability to jump, scream, and preen at the same time. Now, let me go.”
“What’s the matter? Don’t we turn you on, IQ?” Sara Jones purred.
The new guy swore and tried to push through the group, but all of his antagonists were at least six inches taller than him. He was pushed back into the middle of the circle.
“Oh, not stimulating enough, huh?” Brittany Williams laughed.
“Stimulating? The Brain doesn’t need any stimulating, isn’t that right, IQ? According to Ms. Haynes, you are a smart one. I bet you figured out a long time ago that no one was ever going to want to give you a second look,” Alicia Andrews taunted.
The new guy looked down at his feet and didn’t reply.
“What’s the matter, IQ? Nothing to say?” Mandy asked sweetly.
The kid said something but I didn’t catch it.
“What!” Brittany shrieked. She obviously had heard the remark the first time.
“I said, at least my IQ is bigger than my bust size, you moron!” he bellowed.
I had to bit my lip to keep from laughing. This kid had more to him than I thought. However, from the looks of the rest of the pack, things were really going to get ugly now.
“Hey, IQ!” I yelled. “Mr. Hamilton wants to see you. Come on, I’ll show you where his office is.” Mr. Hamilton was the Vice-Principal of Discipline and not even the Witless Wonders would ignore his summons. I pushed into the circle of blondes and gave each of them a hard look. Not one of them was a bad person away from their clique, but together, they were total bitches.
I put my arm over the shoulder of the new guy and pulled him through the circle and out the door with me. He allowed me to pull him along until we were in the hall then he shrugged his shoulders and stepped away from me.
I told him Mr. Hamilton wasn’t really looking for him and said a couple of things to him, trying to break the ice. When I looked down into his face for the first time I was stunned. Whoever this IQ was, he wasn’t a guy.
—X—
Shit. Shit! SHIT! Of all days to have a run in with the most popular girls in school, The Cheerleaders, no less! Christos! Right in front of one of the best looking guys in school, Devlin Mulder. God! I saw him on my first day at school, last week. He’s in a lot of my advanced placement classes because, according to all the teachers, he’s the smartest kid in school. He’s a computer genius and a jock, not to mention so damn sexy he took my breath away. I didn’t know if I could speak.
“You okay?” he said as I pulled away from him.
I couldn’t stand to have his arm around me one more second. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate if I didn’t get away from him.
“Yeah,” I mumbled, still staring at the floor.
“IQ? Is that a nickname?” he asked. He looked down at me just as I looked up at him and the look on his face would have been comical if it hadn’t hurt me so much. “What the …? You’re a girl!”
I was getting hot so I pulled my hood off. I knew the heat was a combination of desire for him and anger over his words. “Yeah, so what?” I said automatically. ‘Good one Izz!’ I thought and had to stifle a groan.
He was obviously as embarrassed as I was by his words. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were a girl. I only saw you from the rear and didn’t realize, I mean,” he stuttered and trailed off again, blushing but there was a smile on his lips.
It began to be funny to me, too. Damn! Even when he blushed, he was gorgeous.
“I’m sorry. Could we start again? Hi, I’m Devlin Mulder,” he said and put out his hand to shake mine.
I looked up into his crystal blue eyes and knew I was in trouble. “I’m Isabella Quinci. I just transferred here from Pittsburgh, and I don’t like being called IQ.” I lifted my hand to shake with him, praying that the trembling I felt in my knees wasn’t affecting my hands, too. As our fingers met, I felt a shock of electricity shoot up my arm. I almost dropped his hand and jumped back but his grip tightened and he drew me closer.
—X—
‘Whoa! What the hell just happened?’ I thought. When our hands met, it was if a bolt of electricity had struck, and I instinctively pulled her closer to me. What did I think I was going to do? Protect her? Kiss her? Well, there was an idea.
I stood there gazing down into the most beautiful, intelligent pair of brown eyes I had ever seen. Thick black lashes about a mile long swept down to hide the emotions she was telegraphing and rested like thick, fuzzy, wooly-bugger caterpillars on her cheeks.
Okay, so I’m not a poet, but I know beauty when I see it. I stood there holding her hand and struggling to find something to say, something cool that would make her think I was dateable, when the first bell rang for period one.
We both jumped apart and laughed nervously. “I guess I better get going. I have American Democracy first period. What do you have?”
“I’m in Phys. Ed. class first period. That’s, um, why I was in the gym,” she said, blushing.
“Yeah, well, I’ll see you,” I grunted.
“Yeah,” she said and it sounded sad.
She turned to walk back into the gym and I turned to get to my class. She stopped and peeked in the window to the gym, making sure the wolf pack was gone just as I turned to get another look at her.
“Hey! Bella! What period do you have lunch?” I yelled.
She gave me a ‘who me?’ look. After looking around to make sure, again, that I was talking to her, she said, “I have B lunch period. How about you?”
“I have B lunch too. I’ll see you, okay?”
She nodded and slipped into the gym as the second bell rang.
Shit! I had two minutes to make it to class! I took off at a dead run. I slid into my seat, still smiling just before the final bell rang. There was no way I was going off campus to eat lunch today.
—X—
Bella. He called me Bella. No one but my Nana from Italy ever called me Bella. It means beautiful in Italian, and Devlin Mulder just called me Bella. I couldn’t stop thinking about the last few minutes of our conversation this morning. He called me IQ at first because that’s what the others had used. I hate IQ, but what was he supposed to yell? ‘Hey, new kid?’ Yeah, that would have been better. However, when he’d actually known my name, he didn’t call me Izzy or Quinci, like most kids did. He called me Bella.
I couldn’t wait until lunch. I wondered if he was in any of my Tuesday classes.
—X—
THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 9, 2010 ‘B’ Lunch, 12:15 PM
I hadn’t eaten lunch in the cafeteria since I got my driver’s license. Even when I brought my lunch, I usually left the school grounds and ate at the park down the road, especially after I got Dad’s old lap top rebuilt. I walked through the doors, and glanced over at the long, slow line. Once again, I was glad that my Mom and Dad insisted that we pack our own lunches every day.
I looked around, trying to act cool. All my buds had ‘A’ lunch this semester. I nodded to a couple of guys on my track team and kept looking. There she was, all alone in the corner. If I hadn’t been looking for her, I would have missed her. I walked over to the end of her table. She seemed to be engrossed in a book, but up close I could see that she had dual ear-buds in her ears.
“Bella,” I said, as I touched her arm. “Is this seat taken?”
Even though I tried not to startle her, she jumped and dropped her book. I had to laugh aloud. Behind the thick copy of Grey’s Anatomy was a small Palm Pilot. She had been playing a computer game!
“Devlin! I didn’t see you come in. Sure, have a seat.” She looked up at me and smiled. She tried to pull the ear-buds out discretely.
I was, once again, mesmerized by her eyes. Only this time she wasn’t wearing her glasses and I could see her entire face. Her skin was smooth and was a creamy, golden color like coffee with a lot of cream. Her velvety brown eyes were wide set and fringed with those incredible lashes. Her brows were like dark wings that framed her eyes. Her nose was perfect. Her smile was wide and her teeth were even and white.
I sat down right next to her instead of in the chair across the table. I leaned close to her and smiled. “What were you playing?”
She darted a sideways look at me from under her lashes, and I inhaled sharply. I closed my eyes. She smelled so damn good. It was like Christmas and the first day of spring wrapped up together. Or maybe, more like spring rain. No, more like a crisp autumn day. Hell! Maybe I’d never write a poem or be recognized for my verbal ability to sweep a woman off her feet, but I knew when I smelled heaven. I opened my eyes and caught her staring at me. I looked down at the game in her hand and gave her what my Dad calls ‘the Scully eyebrow’.
A dimple danced on her cheek for a moment before her smile swept it away. “It’s an old game called ‘XIII’. I found it and tweaked it a little to make it more exciting. Do you want to play?”
“Can I play and eat at the same time?” I asked with a grin.
“No, you really need to concentrate on it,” she said seriously.
“Bella!” I laughed and said, “I was just teasing. I’d love to play your game, but I need to eat and besides, I would like to talk to you for a while.”
She smiled and put the game away.
—X—
Was I ever going to quit being embarrassed by Devlin Mulder? We didn’t have any bread when I got up this morning so I hadn’t packed my lunch. By the time I got to the cafeteria, the line was so long, I decided not to try to eat. I grabbed an orange juice from the vending machines and moved towards a table in the corner.
I could hear the other kids laughing at me as I walked across the entire length of the room. I swore that this wasn’t an experience I would ever voluntarily undertake again. Not for every sweet smile Devlin Mulder had. I pulled my Grey’s Anatomy out and opened it, propped against my backpack. I slid a bud into each ear and plugged them into the Palm Pilot that I had souped up to play my favorite retro-game, XIII. The action in the game was mediocre compared to the virtual reality games of today, but the characters and the plot were still first class after all these years. The voice of the main character was so sexy, kind of like Devlin’s, when I thought about it.
I shook myself and got back into my game. If he was just playing with me and didn’t show up, I wasn’t going to be sitting here looking for him all lunch period. He probably was just playing with me and had some of his friends watching to see if I fell for the joke. Ha. Ha. Fucking HA! The new geek on campus got set up by a jock. Plus, it had to be a jock with a brain to make the joke work. I sat there trying not to cry, forcing myself deeper into the game to keep from weeping. When Devlin touched me on the arm and said my name, I almost screamed aloud.
“Is this seat taken?” he asked with a smile.
“Devlin! I didn’t see you come in. Sure, have a seat.” I scrambled to pull the ear-buds out of my ears and get the game put away before he realized what I was doing.
“What were you playing?” he asked as he leaned over to see the screen.
I quit breathing. I could swear he sniffed me, closed his eyes and hummed.
“It’s an old game called ‘XIII’,” I squeaked. I began to babble about the game and practically tried to force him to play it.
He said he needed to eat and he wanted to talk to … me. Me. Wow.
He started pulling out this huge lunch. Three sandwiches, cut up veggies, a single serving packet of ranch dressing, an apple, a bunch of grapes and cookies, homemade. I stared at his lunch and I could feel my mouth begin to water. I watched him open the first sandwich and the smell of the tuna salad made my stomach clench and grumble. He noticed my reaction and his good manners took over.
—X—
“Bella, would you like a tuna sandwich? Sorry it’s not roast beef or turkey, but my mother has this thing about us not eating heavy meals at lunch.” I suddenly felt embarrassed, but I couldn’t pinpoint the reason why.
“This isn’t a heavy meal?” she asked incredulously.
“Naw. This is what I always eat when I’m going to have practice after school. Hey, where’s your lunch?”
I thought about lying and saying that I already ate, but I couldn’t force the words through my lips for some reason. “I forgot to pack my lunch this morning and when I got here the line at the counter was too long to face.” Well, a half-truth was better than a full lie.
“No problem. Here,” he said as he pushed a sandwich over to me. “I’m only doing a 5k run tonight. I think I can share a little of the bounty.”
“Does your Mom always pack such a big lunch for you?” I asked as I tore into the sandwich. It was heavenly. Tuna, eggs, black olives, sweet pickles, celery, onion and just the right amount of mayo.
Devlin laughed and shook his head.
“My Mom? Pack my lunch? Nah! I pack my own lunch,” he said.
“So you made this great tuna salad? A man of many talents!” I teased.
“No, I pack it, but my Dad made the tuna. He always has a ton of food ready for us to use for lunch. He does most of the cooking and the grocery shopping.”
“Oh, your Dad’s out of work?” I asked. Suddenly, I wished I hadn’t taken his food.
“Not really. He works from home, so he can take care of the kids.”
“Aren’t you one of those ‘kids’,” I teased.
He grinned at me and offered me some grapes. “Yeah, I used to be. I’m pretty low maintenance now. I have a brother and sister, twins, Mairin and Mackenzie.”
“If your Dad works from home, what does your Mom do?”
For the first time since I spoke to him, he seemed uneasy. ‘Oh, yeah Izz, all four hours of your relationship and you know that he’s ‘uneasy’!’ I chided myself.
“She’s a, uh, teacher,” he finally said.
“And she’s not home as much as your dad?” I asked.
“She works down at Quantico so she has to commute. Sometimes she gets calls to work at other locations.” He immediately changed the subject by asking, “What do your parents do?”
I dreaded this question, but once again decided to be honest with him. “My mother is an Administrative Assistant to one of the Aides of Senator Musto. We’re from Pittsburgh.”
“And your father?” he asked around a huge bite of his sandwich.
“My Dad’s unemployed right now. He was ‘downsized’ from his job.” I took another bite to avoid talking about my father any more. “That’s why they accepted the transfer when it was offered to my mom.”
“Tough deal,” he said sympathetically. “It’s pretty easy to find work right now. What kind of job is he looking for?”
“Well, there’s not a lot of steel manufacturing plants in Falls Church, Virginia,” I snapped.
“Bella, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be nosey.”
He looked at me with such sweet concern, that my eyes welled up with tears. Devlin Mulder was really a nice guy.
“I’m sorry Devlin. He’s not having a very good time of it right now. He took some computer classes and he’s really good, but at his age, just starting out in the industry, employers won’t even look at his resume.”
He reached over and gave my hand a squeeze. The shot of electricity that had been there this morning hit us both again. He pulled away and blushed. “Is he into programming, like you?” he nodded towards my Palm Pilot.
He obviously didn’t want to talk about what happened each time we touched, so I shook my head and said, “No, hardware. He’s a wizard at building and repairing systems. He’s always been good with his hands. He even built our house in Pittsburgh,” I said with a sigh.
“What?” he asked.
“The bank took the house back after Dad lost his job.” I shrugged. “It’s not a good thing to remember.”
“Sorry,” he said quietly, then smiled. “But you’re here now.”
“Yeah,” I said as I smiled back. “I’m here now.”
—X—
I couldn’t believe how fast lunch period went. After upsetting Bella over her dad and the past, I wolfed down my food as we talked about our class schedules. I was thrilled to find that we had almost every class on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays together.
“Do you have to be home right after school?” I asked. “I have track practice, but it’s short. If you can stick around, I can drive you home.”
She looked at me for a long time and then nodded. “All right. I’ll wait for you in the library.”
We talked some more and were surprised when the first bell for our next period rang. She sighed and put her things away. She pulled her backpack up on her shoulder and put her glasses back on.
“Do you really need glasses?” I asked.
“Only if I want to see anything farther than three feet in front of me,” she joked. “I can see up close. I just have difficulty with depth perception and distances.” She frowned. “Why? Don’t you like girls who wear glasses?”
“Bella,” I said softly. “I think it’s a shame to hide your beautiful eyes behind glasses. Can you wear contacts?”
She nodded, curtly. “I could if we could afford them.” She pushed her way past me and walked toward the door of the cafeteria.
I stood there stunned. I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings. Damn! I was going to have to be more careful until we got to know each other better. “Bella!” I yelled. She stopped and looked back at me. Her beautiful expressive face was closed off again. She lifted her chin and answered.
“What?”
“Wait,” I said as I scrambled to get my lunch trash together. “I want to walk with you to class.”
She sighed and I could tell that she was sorry she had gotten angry so quickly. When I reached her, I said, “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I didn’t mean to ask why you didn’t buy contacts. I just wanted to know if you could. You know?”
She smiled her pixie smile at me again, “Yeah, I know. Okay, Mulder. You’re off the hook this time. We better get to class.”
—X—
The rest of the afternoon seemed to drag by. It was Wednesday and I didn’t have any classes scheduled with Bella. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow. Almost all our classes were either together or in the same wing of the building.
Finally the afternoon ended and I walked Bella to the library before I went to track practice. She assured me she would wait for me.
“Where am I going to go, Devlin? The busses all left and I’m new in town. I haven’t a clue how to get home unless you take the expressway.” She grinned at me.
I didn’t have a full workout today. I was practicing for a 10k cross-country run next weekend and an intramural meet tomorrow, so I was only going to do a 5k on the track today.
My coach was surprised at my time. I usually took it easy on the slow days, standing around and shooting the bull with some of my friends before I loped around the outside course. Today I clocked the fastest 5k I had ever run and hit the showers in record time.
I thundered down the hall, scared to death that Bella had gotten tired of waiting and left with someone else. Even as I thought it, I felt foolish. Duh! She was new. Who would she know that could give her a ride? Even as I laughed about my insecurities, new ones cropped up. Who wouldn’t want to get to know her?
I rushed into the library and Mrs. Grimes shot me a sour look. I grinned at her and she melted, just like always. It pays to be a top student who loves to read sometimes. I looked around and she wasn’t in the open reading area. I started to panic, but suddenly remembered that she seemed to like to stick to the corners of rooms, quiet and inconspicuous.
I looked over at the computer stations in the corner and saw her huge backpack on the floor. It was almost as big as she was. I tried to calm my breathing down and walked towards her. She heard me and peeked around the screen of the computer to smile at me as I approached her. She wasn’t wearing her glasses and I could see her beautiful brown eyes smiling at me.
Suddenly it struck me. What was going on? I never noticed these things about other girls. I never felt like I got hit by lightning every time I touched any other girl’s hand. I remembered something my Dad told Mackenzie about girls. Well, actually, it was about Mom. He said that the first time he shook hands with Mom he felt a connection. Was this feeling I had every time we touched the connection he was talking about?
I looked at Bella objectively for the first time. She was short, almost as small as my mother. Her hair was long, straight, but clean. I couldn’t tell anything about her body. Her clothes and shoes were colorful and huge on her, totally shapeless. In fact, they looked like they were her brothers or they were … donated to her. Oh brother! Suddenly I realized why she had been touchy about the contacts. Her mother was working, but with her dad unemployed, it must be tough on them.
Her hands were fine-boned and slender, but there were calluses there that said she did some type of manual labor. I tried to guess what activity could create calluses like these. I decided that was one more thing I wanted to talk to her about.
Objectively, she wasn’t the kind of a girl who would turn heads when she entered the room. She wasn’t tall, blonde and the Lord only knew if she even had boobs or a cute butt. She wore cast off clothes of mismatched colors and glasses that made her look like a nerd. She was extremely smart, and if our conversation today at lunch was any indication, had a rapier wit and a sharp tongue to match. She could wield sarcasm as well as my mom used her scalpels. Nope. She wasn’t going to be voted Prom Queen, that’s for sure, but there was something about Bella Quinci that I couldn’t resist. I was drawn to her in a way I couldn’t explain.
I didn’t care what she looked like. I didn’t care if she didn’t dress in the latest style. I wanted to know what it would feel like to kiss her. If we shot sparks when we touched, would we cause a power outage when we kissed? I must have had a goofy grin on my face when that last thought hit because she started frowning at me.
‘Bella, Bella, Bella, what are you thinking?’ I wondered.
—X—
PART 5 (PG)
THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL FALLS CHURCH, VA LIBRARY JUNE 9 – 3:45 PM
I was nervous waiting in the library for Devlin. The librarian, Mrs. Grimes, had been somewhat suspicious of me until I told her I was waiting for Devlin Mulder. She melted like butter in sunlight. She must be another of Devlin Mulder’s conquests. All the teachers liked him; most of the kids knew and liked him too! A lot of people who had avoided me for days, were now suddenly willing to be friendly because Devlin had had lunch with me today. Interesting.
Mrs. Grimes set me up with a sign-on and a password for one of the library computers so that I could do some research on college scholarships. It looked like my mom was going to be working in the Senator’s office for at least three more years. After that long, I doubt that they would move back to Pittsburgh. Hopefully, by that time my dad will be working steadily again, too. I decided to start my search with colleges in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. I was really getting into it when I heard someone barrel through the library doors.
I peeked around the computer screen and saw Devlin smiling at Mrs. Grimes. The stern look on her face melted away when she saw that the noisemaker was Devlin Mulder. What did this guy have that made all the women in this school crazy about him? He seemed to have the adult women wrapped around his little finger and the male teachers were all his best buds. Most of the guys in the school liked him, or at least respected him. The girls all talked about him and thought he was a hottie, but he treated them all like they were his little sisters. Unless he was going with someone from another school and no one had thought to tell me, I hadn’t heard his name connected to anyone, male or female here at TJ High School. Why was he going out of his way to be with me?
I watched him look around the main part of the library and he actually looked concerned that he couldn’t find me. He started to turn towards the computer area and I ducked back behind the screen, pretending to be totally engrossed in my on-line search.
I didn’t hear him approach and had to peek around the screen again to see where he was.
He was standing there staring at me, a contemplative look on his face. I suddenly felt very exposed and self-conscious. If he were just now comparing me to some of the other girls he knew, I was going to come up short. I groaned mentally. That was not intended to be a pun. He got this goofy grin on his face and it started to piss me off. What the hell was he thinking?
“There you are. Ready to go?” he asked as he strode over to me and flopped down in the chair next to me.
I shook my head and continued reading about grants and scholarships offered at Georgetown University. There were a lot of colleges to choose from in this area. I was surprised. However, Georgetown had a lot of grant monies available through their Alumni association.
“Georgetown? You’re going to go to Georgetown?” Devlin asked.
“I might,” I said and shrugged. “It’s close by and they have a lot of grants available right now.” The look on his face pushed me over the edge and I sneered, “I suppose you’re going to Harvard or Yale?”
“Well, actually, my father wants me to go to his alma mater, St. Alben’s, but my Mom is voting for the University of Maryland.”
“St. Alben’s? Is that a catholic school?” I asked. I had been looking up colleges for a long time and that was not a name I was familiar with.
“No.” He coughed and looked away.
“Devlin?”
“It’s one of the Universities at Oxford.”
“Oxford? In England?” I almost choked saying the name.
“Um, yeah.”
“You said your dad was out of work? How could someone who graduated from Oxford be out of work?”
“I didn’t say he was out of work. I said he stays at home. He has his office at home.”
“Oh, I thought you meant that he wasn’t working.” No wonder he wanted his son to go to Oxford. Suddenly I was suspicious of his answer. “He has his office at home? What does he do, sales?”
“No.” Devlin looked at me belligerently. “He’s a child psychologist now.”
“What was he before?” I was almost afraid to ask.
“He was a Special Agent for the FBI,” he said uneasily.
“Wow! Cool! What happened, did he get shot or something?”
“Something,” he said dismissively. “What other schools are you looking into?”
I stared at him speculatively for a moment before I said, “I just started looking around here. I had a full scholarship practically promised to me at my old school, but it’s not possible now.”
“Why?” he asked as he scooted his chair closer to mine to get a better look at the screen.
I turned my head to look at him and he was so close to me that I thought he was going to kiss me. “Why?” he whispered and I could feel his breath, spicy and sweet, puff against my lips.
“I,” I choked out, then swallowed hard and tried again. “I don’t live in Pittsburgh anymore. It was for a resident of Pennsylvania.” I looked back at the screen quickly. I knew I was blushing.
“If you could choose any school in the country, where would you go?”
I shrugged, unable to even say what I wanted out loud.
“Come on, Bella,” he teased. “Harvard? Yale?” he said in a very proper Bostonian accent.
I smiled but kept clicking through the screens at the various colleges.
“Brown? Vassar? UCLA? Texas A&M?” he asked.
“No,” I said. I clicked on the icon and nodded my head at the screen. “There.”
“M.I.T.? Wow! Bella. You want to go to M.I.T.?” There was a look of admiration in his eyes.
“Yes, but it will never happen,” I said softly.
“Why?” he asked innocently.
I glared at him and I could practically see the light go on inside his head. “Oh, your dad’s unemployment,” he said. What a genteel way of saying we were too poor. Devlin Mulder might have as well been from another planet. He and I were as different as Pittsburgh and Falls Church were. For some reason that made me very sad.
“Why would you want to torture yourself like that?” he teased. “I mean, you’re so smart, as soon as you get out of school you could get a job.”
“Oh, yeah, as if it’s that easy,” I snorted.
“What? You sound just like my parents. All they do is harp at me about ‘thinking’ about college. I don’t want to go to college just to get a piece of paper that says I can pass tests in a controlled environment. I want to go out and work in the real world and show them what I can do.”
“Devlin, you are such a rich kid!” I laughed as I shut down the computer.
“I think I’m insulted!” he laughingly said, but I could tell he was getting mad at me.
“What? Do you think one of your parent’s rich friends will just automatically take you into their company when you graduate? You’ll stun them with your SAT scores and they’ll jump at the chance to employ the great Devlin Mulder?” I was giggling now.
“Hey, I know some people who would help, sure, but I can do it on my own. I’m one of the best programmers around. I’ve already sold a few programs.”
“Mulder, you’re fooling yourself.” I knew what I was talking about here. My father had run into it time after time. No degree meant no job or an offer of an ‘internship’ where you did grunt work for minimum wage. “No piece of paper, no job offers. No job offers, no job. No job, no money. No money, no fun. Does that make it clear for you?”
“Thank you, Ms. Quinci, for the lesson in life,” he huffed.
“Hey, Dev, I’m not trying to be a bitch about this. I know what it can do to a man to be out of work. My dad’s heard it so many times. He’s able and qualified, but without that piece of paper, they have to hire someone else. I figure it’s worth the effort right now to get my degree. Who knows, I might have a family depending on me to support them sooner than I expected.”
His quizzical look prompted me to continue. “If something happens to my parents, I’ll be responsible for the younger kids. My baby sister is only two years old. A lot can happen in sixteen years. I love my family. I’m willing to do anything I have to in order to keep my little brothers and sisters from being split up. I saw that in too many families in Pittsburgh. It will not happen to us!” Tears of frustration splashed from my eyes.
“Hey, Bella, I understand. If something happened to Mom and Dad, I would want to take care of M&M.”
I gave him a watery smile and turned off the computer. “Let’s go.”
—X—
I drove Bella home and was surprised that she lived so far out towards DC until I remembered her mother worked there. It made sense. She had me let her out at the street, and I wasn’t sure if I was angry or sad that she didn’t want me to see her place. She had blushed and given me her personal e-mail address, and I felt like she had kissed me. I thought about her all the way home.
I decided to start checking into some of the colleges she had been looking at. If Mom and Dad were going to insist that I go to college, it couldn’t hurt to have at least one friend at school.
All day yesterday, I’d expected Mom to make a point of having a little ‘chat’ with me about Monday night. That’s what she’s always called it when she felt the need to discuss my behaviour. I usually felt like I’ve been run over by a Mack Truck when she was done. I knew I had been a shit to my Dad, throwing out the ‘you’re not my father’ line. Fox Mulder was my father. Objectively, I knew that, but sometimes the need to know why I was given up for adoption, why I wasn’t wanted, was so overpowering, I felt like I was going to explode. That time I had, and unfortunately, the man who has been there for me my whole life was on the receiving end of the explosion.
I had already apologized, but I knew my mother wasn’t going to be satisfied with my casual apology. I was prepared to defend my stance yesterday morning, but now, I was ready to grovel. I had been happy when I first heard that she had been detained overnight on a case, but my bubble soon burst when I realized that it just gave her an extra twenty-four hours to mull over my behavior.
I decided to forgo reading the journal tonight. I was tired and had a track meet the next day. Besides, I was going to need my strength by the time Mom got through with me.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 9, 2010 7:00 PM
I hadn’t gotten a chance to speak to Devlin yesterday about his hurtful remark to Mulder. Knowing my husband as I do, he had already forgiven him and moved on. I couldn’t let it go. Devlin needed to know how far out of line he had been with that ‘not my father’ remark.
I meant to talk to him right away yesterday morning, but the Bureau and a serial killer in Baltimore had gotten in the way. I hadn’t made it home last night. I had performed back-to-back autopsies on three of the five victims found at the latest crime scene. The SAC had rented a room at a nearby motel and I had stayed on for the briefing this morning.
I hated to be away from Mulder and the kids, but this time, it was worth it. The information I had uncovered during my autopsies pointed directly to a previous suspect. They had apprehended the suspect and by the time I started home, he was singing like a bird. This was the kind of results that made my time away from home worthwhile.
I was back early enough to eat with the family. We’d had a nice, leisurely dinner and then Mulder and I were finishing up the dishes.
“How did you and Devlin get along last night?”
Mulder shrugged and said, “Fine. He did his share with dinner last night and then spent the rest of the evening, after homework, on the computer.”
“Do you think it’s healthy for him to spend so much time playing that game of Langly’s?” I asked.
Mulder gave me a quizzical look and then shrugged again. “If he weren’t getting straight A’s and on the track team, I’d be worried. He does have other interests. It’s just his time at home that is taken up with the game.”
“I know, Mulder, but Mackenzie and Mairin both have top grades, are on the soccer team and still get three or four times the calls the Devlin gets.”
Mulder grinned. “Most of his friends are on-line, playing the same game he is.”
I smiled, “I hadn’t thought of that.” I kissed my husband and went upstairs to check on the twins before I talked to Devlin.
I had mulled over my approach during the commute to and from Baltimore. I had decided that Mulder was right. Devlin did need to know about his biological parents and why he was in an orphanage. As hard as it was for me to face some of our past, I felt it would be beneficial for Devlin to understand the commitment Mulder had made to him.
I was determined to discuss college applications with him tonight, too. He had put off his SAT’s until the last testing and seemed surprised when his scores came back almost perfect across the board. Now he was just as resistant about looking at the schools that had sent him information. That was going to change.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 9, 2010 9:00 PM
I had been gaming with the guys on-line when my e-mail icon flashed. I had mail. I quickly signed off the game and opened my e-mail. It was Bella. She was excited about some information Georgetown had sent through the snail mail. Apparently her SAT scores were almost as good as mine and they were trolling for her already. She sent me her IM name and we talked for about an hour. I sent her some addy’s for colleges that had interested me. One was Chico State in sunny California, Party Central. I could major in partying and get my piece of paper too.
She reminded me that California had the strictest legal level of alcohol allowable in the blood stream. I was never going to be able drive once I hit the campus, and their stance on underage drinking was militant.
I sent a frown emoticon back and told her to check her e-mail again. I’d sent some information for M.I.T. to her, hoping to encourage her and help her achieve her dream. I didn’t tell her that I’d already been contacted by M.I.T. as a potential candidate for a scholarship.
I also didn’t tell her that I had wanted to discuss her dad with Langly, Byers and Frohike—The Uncles, as we called them. To the rest of the world they were the Lone Gunmen, publishers of the Silver Bullet, a paranoia rag that was more accurate than anyone could have imagined when it first started. The Uncles would be the right ones to help Bella’s dad find a job.
Bella and I were perusing the information on Boston College when Mom came in to talk. I told Bella I had to go, told her I would see her tomorrow. She reminded me that she had a field trip the next day and probably wouldn’t see me until Friday. We signed off and I gave Mom my full attention.
—X—
I was surprised that Devlin wasn’t deep in the heart of Zendor or whatever the name of his gaming planet was, when I walked into the den. He looked up at me and smiled a weak ‘I-know-I’m-in-for-it’ smile and held up one finger to indicate he would be right with me.
I walked over behind him and glanced at the screen. The home page for Boston College was displayed there. I was shocked. He was looking up colleges on his own. Would wonders never cease?
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 10, 2010 2:00 AM
I slid into the desk chair as quietly as I could. I didn’t want to wake my parents up tonight. Especially after the ‘chat’ Mom and I’d had earlier. It hadn’t been as rough as I thought it would be, but I wasn’t ready for a re-enactment yet.
They wanted me home on Friday night. Mom said that Dad had arranged for Gramma to watch the twins so that we could ‘talk’.
I booted up the computer and worked my way through the files to their journal. I quickly glanced at the most current entry date and was surprised that both Mom and Dad had made an entry last night. I decided not to read it now. I could always check it out later. I had a feeling they were going to let me know just what was on their minds on Friday.
Crap. I wanted to ask Bella to the game on Friday night. I wasn’t interested in participating in organized baseball, but I liked to watch my friends play. Maybe it was for the best anyway. She wasn’t going to be at school tomorrow … er … today. She was going to a Career-Day Expo at the Seven Corners Community College. She was serious about this college thing. There were going to be several schools represented there and she was hoping to connect with someone who could help her get the best scholarships. I didn’t know what she was worried about. She’s brilliant.
I found the spot where I’d left off the other night and decided to skim through the earlier entries. I thought that I wasn’t really interested in the details of their sex life, or at least their almost-sex life, but I found that reading about them dancing around each other, trying to work out the details of their relationship was fascinating.
All my life they had presented a united front. They loved each other and were secure in their relationship. The security of their love had always made it easy for me and the twins to forget how tough some kids had it sometimes. No matter how rough life was, Mom and Dad were there supporting us with their unconditional love. Not that they let us get out of line. But even when we were punished, we always knew that they did it because they loved us.
I skimmed the entries that told about the beginning of the assignment and was almost ready to skip ahead to the entries I had read previously. I came to a screeching halt when I spied a reference to the tattoo that my Dad has on his shoulder.
Not many people would expect a guy like my dad to have a tattoo, let alone one as big and fantastic as the one he sported on his upper arm. I read several lines and decided to go back to the beginning of the entry and read the whole thing.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 10, 2010 4:20 AM
Holy Shit! I sat back, exhausted by the early hour and the words I had just read. My Dad, Fox ‘anything-you-want-honey’ Mulder had gotten in a fight with my Mom over a prostitute, a lot-lizard he was trying to help and had gotten ripping drunk and got the tattoo of the two phoenixes on his arm. Cooner! My Uncle Cooner was right there with him.
Uncle Cooner owned one of the largest trucking companies on the East Coast. He and Aunt Alice and Conner, their son, lived in Annandale. If anything, they were even more sedate than Mom and Dad.
The biggest surprise of all, though, was Mom. My mother had a CB handle of Lady Bird. She had driven the truck with my father. My mother has a freaking tattoo. According to my father she got it in Philadelphia while she was out drinking with some guy named Ed Jersey or Jerk or Jerse. Something like that. What the hell?
I sat there stunned for another few minutes. I wanted to download the entire journal and take off for a few days to read it all at once. What else would I find?
If I didn’t have a cross-country race today, I wouldn’t think twice about skipping school. I wasn’t going to get to see Bella today, after all. I sat there thinking of Bella for a few moments until I realized that I heard a noise upstairs.
Shit! Shit! Shit! I didn’t want to blow it now. I had a lot of reading ahead of me. I quickly closed down the program and deleted the history files and temporary files, emptied the cache and powered down the computer.
I waited until the noise came back and breathed a sigh of relief. It was Mairin going to the bathroom. I snuck up stairs to grab a few hours of sleep. I couldn’t wait until Friday.
—X—
PART 6 (PG-13)
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 10, 2010 7:45 PM
Dinner was over and my homework done. I was bushed. I had made it through the day, even finishing first in the 10k run, but I was thinking of turning in early tonight. I was still reeling from the information I had read about my Mom and Dad last night.
With all this new knowledge about my parents, I was almost afraid of what they were going to tell me tomorrow night.
The only reason I was still up was that Bella had e-mailed me earlier, telling me she was going to call around 8:00 PM. I wanted to tell her everything, about Mom and Dad, about the track meet, about how much I missed her. I was thinking about how hard it had been not to talk to her today when I realized that I had only known her for two days. I just met her on Wednesday. It was Thursday now. Damn!
How could I feel this way after only two days? Damn! Suddenly, I was scared. What did I really know about Isabella Quinci? I mean, could I even pick her out in a crowd? I grinned as I realized that I probably couldn’t, unless I touched her. Then I wouldn’t have a problem.
The phone rang and I lunged to get it. Of course, Mairin was there first. I laughed as her eyes got big and round and she turned to look at me.
“It’s for you, Devlin. It’s a girl!” she announced, sounding astonished.
Mackenzie’s head shot up and he looked from Mairin to me and back. “A girl? Are you sure it’s not for me?” he teased.
“Bite me, little bro,” I said as I reached for the phone. “Hello?”
“Devlin, hi, it’s me.” Bella’s voice was soft and husky. It sounded like she had been sleeping.
“Hey. How was the field trip?” I glared at my siblings, threatening bodily harm to both of them if they didn’t leave the room. Mackenzie shrugged and packed up his backpack. He stretched and went into the living room to tell Mom and Dad goodnight, but Mairin snuggled down like she was settled for the night and smiled at me.
Bella was talking about the amazing women she had heard speak today and I realized why I hadn’t signed up to go. This was an event for the female students of the school only. Supposedly there were going to be about a dozen women speaking from all kinds of careers and fields of interest.
I sat there listening to her voice, her enthusiasm, and supplied a grunt every so often to let her know I was listening. Mairin finally got tired of hanging around and packed up her backpack and left the room, stopping at the doorway of the den to stick her tongue out at me. I grinned at her and she blew me a kiss goodnight. She was a pain, but I loved the little squirt.
We talked for about an hour. I couldn’t remember anything we said, but I knew I didn’t want to hang up. I started yawning. My cross- country run and the lack of sleep from last night were catching up to me, big time.
“Am I boring you, Devlin?” she teased.
“No,” I said. “I’m tired but I don’t want to hang up.”
“I should go. I need to get some work done on my biology notebook before class tomorrow.” She hesitated before saying, “Are you going to the baseball game tomorrow night?”
“I wanted to go. I wanted to ask you to go with me, but my parents have asked me to stay home tomorrow night for a big family meeting.”
“Oh.”
“Bella, I really wanted to go to the game with you, you know that don’t you?”
“Yeah, thanks, Devlin. I’m, ummm, not sure I could go anyway. Friday’s are kind of crazy around here and this Friday will be especially crazy because my Nana is coming to visit from Italy.”
“Really? That’s cool. Does she come to visit often?”
“Yes, but she’s never been here in Virginia before. My Grandpa died last summer and she’s lonely. Grandpa hated to travel and never really forgave my mother for leaving Italy, but Gramma always wanted to keep in touch with all of us.”
“Well, you probably aren’t interested in going to a movie Saturday night, then, huh?” I was disappointed. I wanted to get to know Isabella Quinci better and I knew we’d never have enough time during the school week.
“I’d love to go to a movie, but I probably couldn’t go until late. I promised that I would watch the kids for Mom and Dad so that they could take Nana to see the Lincoln Memorial. Nana’s always wanted to see it for some reason.”
“Okay, I’ll call you around 5:00 PM tomorrow to see what time you can get away. It’s a date!” I couldn’t believe that I had actually asked her and she accepted.
“A date?” she squeaked.
“Yeah! We’ll go to the movies and get something to eat. I promise to have you home by midnight.” I didn’t want to tell her that my parents didn’t let me stay out much later than that. How humiliating for a guy who was seventeen? Come to think of it, maybe that was one thing we could negotiate tomorrow night after our ‘chat’.
We talked for a few minutes longer, but my yawns were so frequent and loud that she insisted that we hang up. We said good night and as soon as I hung up the phone, my Mom strolled into the room.
Before she could ask me anything, I took the offensive. “I’m tired tonight. Think I’ll turn in.” I kissed her and she gave me one of her knowing smiles before telling me goodnight.
“Devlin, you didn’t make any plans for tomorrow night did you?” she asked.
“Naw, you asked me to keep it free. I might go out to the movies on Saturday night with a friend. Is it okay if I use the car?”
“You don’t know for sure?” she asked with a wry smile.
“I asked but she had to ask her parents. I’ll let you know Saturday afternoon, okay?”
She hugged me and kissed me goodnight, an unexpected sheen of tears in her eyes. I’m getting too old for public affection, but I don’t ever want her to stop letting me know that she loves me. The only time I was ever been completely free of worry when I was a kid was when she held me. Dad too, but for some reason, my Mom could always make the bad stuff go away.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 11 – 3:45 PM
Friday flew by. Bella and I walked together from class to class. I introduced her to a lot of my friends and she seemed to like most of them. I got a few strange looks from my buddies until they actually started talking to her. She had a great sense of humor and was smarter than most of them, but she was also a good listener. We were surprised that her locker was close to mine. It seemed like we were being thrown together by fate.
What really killed me was how intelligent she was. I have always been the smartest student in all my classes, even the advanced placement ones, but Bella gave me a run for my money.
For the first time I felt challenged by one of my fellow students— hell, by anyone at school. The only people I ever thought were smarter than me were my mother and father, Langly, and sometimes Byers and Frohike. Okay, and maybe my Godfather, Walter Skinner. But Bella? She was something! She wasn’t just intelligent, she knew so much about stuff.
I mean, she told me she had been taking care of her younger brothers and sisters for years while her parents worked. She knew how to cook and she had always done the grocery shopping for the family. She had helped her Dad build their home and knew all there was to know about wiring a house. Now I knew what her calluses were from. Life. She loved to do everything. She was so aware of everything.
I started to feel like the protected little rich boy she was teasing me about being. Mom and Dad were not handy around the house. If something broke, they called Mr. Lee, the handyman in our neighborhood. He was a retired Navy officer who occasionally dated my Gramma Scully, and he always threatened to charge more for his services if one of us kids wanted to help.
I was thinking about her all the way home. I was surprised to see my Gramma Scully’s car in the driveway until I remembered that M&M were going to spend the night with her.
I suddenly got a bad feeling about tonight. What if I wasn’t ready to hear what they had to say? I shook off the feeling of apprehension and plastered a smile on my face for my Gramma.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 11 – 5:30 PM
Mom and Dad had ordered pizza after the twins left with Gramma. We ate in relative silence. The lack of conversation was starting to get on my nerves. It was like waiting for a bomb to drop. I threw the last half of my fourth slice of pizza down on the plate and sighed.
“What’s wrong, Devlin?” my mother asked.
I looked at her. “I can’t stand it. I’ve been waiting since the day before yesterday for this ‘talk’, and now we’ve been sitting here for a half an hour pretending we aren’t in the same room together. Whatever this is, can we get it over with, please?”
She nodded. “Are you finished, Mulder?”
“Yeah, Scully, let’s do it,” he said and gently squeezed her hand.
That damned united front again. For all its advantages, it could sometimes make me feel overwhelmed and certainly outnumbered. We threw away our paper plates and Dad wrapped up the two slices that were left and put them in the refrigerator.
I got up and silently followed them into the living room. They sat on the couch and I sat in the recliner opposite them. I watched my mother wring her hands in an uncharacteristic display of nervousness.
My father reached over and put his hands over hers. She looked at him and he said, “We agreed on tonight, Scully.”
I looked from one to the other as they stared at each other, seeming to communicate silently. It was one of the things that freaked me out about them periodically. Finally she nodded firmly and said, “I’m not sure where to begin, Devlin. We decided we needed to share some things with you about the past.”
I sat up straight in the chair and leaned forward, feeling my heartbeat accelerate. Were they going to tell me about my real parents? My mother swallowed harshly and said, “It’s complicated. I’ll try to keep it as simple as I can.”
I stared at her, waiting. When she didn’t begin right away, I said, “Is this about me, or about you?”
She gave me a sad smile. “It’s about all of us.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
She sighed and said, “A long time ago, when your father and I were field agents with the FBI, I was abducted by a former agent. I don’t remember much of my captivity, but I was missing for months. When I turned up at Georgetown Hospital, I was near death.”
“Mom!” I said in a surprised, breathy voice.
She held up her hand. “One of the worst parts about it was that whatever these men did to me, and I have no memory of it, they left me barren.”
“Barren?” I repeated, my confusion evident. “Then how did you have the twins?” That would explain why they wanted to adopt, I thought.
My father looked at me and said, “Give her a chance, Devlin. Let her tell the story.”
I nodded again and muttered, “Sorry.”
“It’s all right,” Mom said, smiling at me. “Without going into all the details, these men were conducting unsanctioned medical testing and had abducted quite a few women over a long period of time. Through a process that used radiation to stimulate the female body to hyper-ovulate, they were able to harvest the majority of the ova in my body. What was left was destroyed by the process itself. They stored my ova along with the ova of hundreds of other women for later use.”
I gasped, amazed and intrigued by this story and wondering if it was going where I thought it was going.
“Through illegal experimentation on others, they were able to perfect a technique of splicing and combining alien DNA with human DNA.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“After a while, they were successful in creating a test tube baby they could use to produce a clone whose DNA and genes were a combination of human and alien. These babies were used to clone, not other children, but men. The clones were somehow enhanced so that they grew at a rapid rate and became full grown men in the space of a year or so. They were all super-intelligent.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they chose genetic material from highly intelligent people to combine,” she stated.
I felt the color drain from my face. “Why are you telling me this?”
She blinked and a few stray tears welled up and fell off her lashes. “Some of these stolen ova and the sperm of the lead scientist who developed this process were combined and using invitro fertilization, a child was gestated in the womb of another woman. The clones were developed from the stem cells in the placenta and cord of the live birth of that baby.” She hesitated. “I never met your father, Devlin …”
“But you know who he was and who my mother was, or is?” I urged.
She nodded jerkily, swallowing harshly and audibly as my dad slid his arm around her again.
I clenched my jaw and felt the muscle jump. “Who?” I was sure I already knew part of the answer.
“I am your biological mother, Devlin. They used my ova to create … you.”
“And my father?” I whispered.
“His name was Kurt Crawford. He was a brilliant biochemist and geneticist,” she said with a sob. “You were named after him.”
“So is my father still—?” I halted, unable to finish my question.
“Alive?” my dad spoke up. “No. One of the things we do know is that he died during another experiment. We have no further information on him, but we trust the source who gave us this information.”
I felt the energy drain from my body and I fell back against the chair, feeling hot tears fall down my face. “What happened? I mean, this means that you didn’t give me up? It wasn’t because I was unwanted.”
“No!” she whispered. “I didn’t know you existed, Devlin, until you were seven years old.”
“How did you find out?” I asked before the next thought hit me. “Wait, I didn’t grow up in a year.”
She held my gaze as my mind finally processed what she’d said. “Oh my God!”
“You were the source of the human DNA for the gene splicing and cloning.”
I felt my face scrunch up in disbelief. “I was a fucking lab rat?” I shouted.
My mother was crying freely now. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I honestly don’t know anything about the process.”
My doubt must have shown on my face because my father spoke up again. “Devlin, neither one of us knew anything about you until you were seven years old. It almost killed your mother, finding out then. She had lost so much already.”
My eyes moved back to my mother and I asked, “How did you find out about me?”
“The clones who were made from your genetic material knew that I was their mother, that they were created from you. They hated their creators, those evil men who thought they could control the world.”
I scoffed and shook my head. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was so fantastic. I glanced at my father and saw the somber look on his face. As fantastic as it was, they were telling me the truth, or the truth as they knew it anyway.
“What did they do?”
“They stole my remaining ova so that no more of them could be made, and they hid it away from their creators. They were treated like slaves, forced to work in labs to create vaccines against the alien virus.”
My jaw dropped. “This has to do with the alien invasion, the one that the FBI thwarted years ago?”
They both stared at me and then my father said, “Yes.”
“This is … incredible.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in, Devlin,” my father said.
“That’s an understatement,” I said quietly. We were silent a few more moments and then I said, “What happened? Tell me from the beginning. How did you find me?”
My mother stood up and took a step toward me. I knew she wanted to hug me but I held up my hand and stopped her. “Don’t touch me right now,” I said.
She started crying harder and stepped back, sitting back down on the couch and staring at the carpet. She was clearly distraught, but I needed to hear this story and I simply couldn’t bear to have anyone touch me right now. I needed time to process this. Holy shit, my mother was my real mother all along. How could I have not known?
My father took up the tale. “Your mother and I were assigned to work undercover as a married truck driving team. We were after hijackers who were stealing Global-Tech rigs and their loads. The loads turned out to be government issued computers and software that were being delivered to these high-tech labs out in the middle of nowhere.”
I flushed when I realized the case I’d been reading about in their journal was the one he was talking about. He continued. “To make a long story short, we found them, and when they realized they’d been discovered, the building was triggered to self-destruct. We barely escaped. The place was full of Kurt Crawfords, the clones; we escaped with them in the back of an eighteen-wheeler and helped them flee to different parts of the U.S. and Canada where they had secretly made arrangements in the event of their rescue or escape.”
I found myself riveted and wondering that my parents had ever been these clever field agents who foiled plots like this. I couldn’t picture it and then again, I could. They were so sincere in the telling, I couldn’t help but believe them. It almost sounded like a bad science fiction movie though.
He went on. “When the case was over, your mother and I decided to get married, and we asked one of the Kurts to be a witness for us. That’s what they were all called, Kurt Crawford #1, #2, etc”
“Is this the good part?”
“For us it was,” he replied with a gentle smile for us both.
My mother took up the story. “The Kurt who stood up as a witness for us gave us a wedding present from all of them before fleeing himself.”
“What was it?”
“A perfectly preserved vial of my ova.” She paused. “With it was a letter to Mulder telling him of your existence and where you were. They were the ones who had somehow rescued you and had you placed in the orphanage. We don’t really know how they did it.”
“He gave the letter to you?” I asked, looking at the man I’d known as my father my whole life.
“Yes. I think they wanted to see how I would react. They wanted to protect you. They didn’t know if I could handle being the father to a child who wasn’t mine, biologically anyway. They wanted to see if I would tell your mother about you or hide it from her.”
“They were testing you?”
“Yes, I think they were. Apparently, I passed the test, because you were still there when we got to the orphanage. We were panicked that they would take you out of there before we could get to you.”
My mother looked at me then. “As soon as I knew you existed, Devlin, I wanted nothing else but to find you. I loved you before I even saw you,” she said as tears slid down her cheeks again.
I couldn’t stand her anguish anymore and I stood up and walked over to her. She looked up at me, tears streaming down her face. She held her arms out to me just like when I first came to her as a small child; I fell on my knees before her and buried my face in her stomach. My arms wrapped around her and I hugged her tightly as I hid my tears in her embrace. I could feel her pain over the entire subject, but right beside it there was joy and love. Finally, I loosened my grip and I moved up on the couch to sit next to her.
She held my hands in hers and rubbed her thumbs over the back of my hands. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner, Devlin, but frankly, we didn’t know how to at first. You were too young to understand the science, and everything that had happened. And then time went on, and we decided we would wait until you were old enough to understand it all. We had planned on telling you this on your eighteenth birthday, but you obviously needed to know it now.”
I looked over her shoulder at my father, and I did consider him my father, despite my outburst earlier in the week. I realized just how big a man he was to take me in without question. I was not his son, biologically. I was made from my mother and some unknown scientist. He had no idea who I would be, but I was another man’s son, in any event. “Why?” I asked.
I didn’t need to elaborate. He knew what I was asking. He licked his lips and said, “You and your mother were just innocent victims of some men with evil agendas and I … I’d like to think that I am a good enough person that it wouldn’t have made a difference for any reason. How could I hold that against you or your mother?”
He was silent a moment, but I watched his face and knew there was more. His gaze met mine and he said, “I don’t think you can understand this yet, Devlin, but I hope someday you will. I loved your mother so much that I would do anything to make her happy. Anything. I knew how much her inability to have children had scarred her. I didn’t think I could ever do anything to mend that rift for her, but I loved her so much, and I wanted a family with her. We didn’t know then if her ova were viable. We didn’t know if she would ever be able to carry a baby to full term.”
He paused again and seemed to sink into the past, his eyes staring out into the room, focused on nothing in particular. “At the time, you were our one chance to have a family together. She may not have carried you, but you are her flesh and blood, regardless. There was never any question for me. As soon as we saw you, we both knew you were meant to be ours.”
He shook himself slightly and looked me in the eye again. “I never thought of you as ‘Scully’s son’. You were ‘OUR son’. You’ve always been our son. I never felt any different; I never wanted it any other way.”
I felt my eyes sting with a fresh batch of tears. I tried to hold them back but I couldn’t. They fell and I ignored them. “Thank you,” I whispered.
He merely nodded and I turned back to my mother who was still clutching my hands. I smiled and she gave me one of those endearing closed-lipped smiles that made me feel so cherished from the time I’d first been with them. “Thank you for telling me,” I said quietly. “I should be angry that you kept it from me this long.”
My mother glanced at my father and he raised his eyebrows. My mother said, “Your father wanted to tell you a long time ago. However, he’d also agreed that it would be my decision when to tell you. I’m the one who couldn’t bring myself to do it.” She paused. “I was so afraid you would hate me for keeping it from you,” she whispered.
I pulled her to me and she rested her head on my chest. “I could never hate you. You’re my mom,” I said softly, feeling warmth spread through my chest as she began to sob again and clutched at my sweater. I kissed the crown of her head and looked at my father. He was watching silently, a shy half-smile on his face.
He returned my look and I cleared my throat. “I owe you an apology.”
He shrugged. “You already apologized.”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t know why I even said it. I’ve never felt like you weren’t my father. I just knew—” I said, hesitating.
“That I wasn’t your biological father,” he finished for me. I wondered why he wasn’t angry.
I nodded. “You’ve been my father in every way that counts,” I said finally. “I’m sorry, Dad.”
He cleared his throat. “Apology accepted.”
“So you two were somehow involved in … the alien invasion? We learned about it in school, but they all just say ‘the FBI’. They never name the agents involved.”
My father said, “That’s a story for another time, Dev. I think we’ve revealed enough for one night.”
I nodded and we sat in silence for a long time. Finally my mother disengaged from me and sat back. She smiled all of a sudden and said, “Guess what, Mulder?”
“What?” he asked.
“Devlin has a date tomorrow night.”
I laughed, watching my father’s eyebrows go up to his hairline. “You don’t say?”
“Yes, and he’s asked to borrow your car,” Mom teased.
“My car?” Dad yelped. “What’s wrong with your mother’s car?”
“Nothing,” I said to play along. “I just want to make a good impression on this girl.”
“Oh, and you think you need a fancy car to do it?” he asked.
“Not really, but a little later curfew would go a long way toward improving my image,” I hinted.
“What is she, some older woman you need to impress?” he asked, trying subtly to pump me for information.
“Naw, just a new girl I met,” I replied, suddenly shy.
My mother wrapped her arm around Dad’s waist and smiled up at me as she said, “I think custody of the car can be arranged. I happen to know that your father will be home all night tomorrow, and busy. Very, very busy.” She moved her hand and I just knew that she was squeezing his butt.
It was incredible! My dad melted right before my eyes. I’d been reading about how much they loved each other and found each other sexually attractive. Hell, I’d lived with it for most of my life, but I finally witnessed my mother wrapping my father around her little finger with nothing more than a pat on the butt and a little sexual innuendo that she could have said in church.
“Thanks, Mom,” I smirked.
“Hey, why are you thanking her? It’s my car,” Dad sputtered. “Don’t forget be home on time and I don’t want to see a scratch on it, so you be sure to park away from the building and …” he rambled on as I tuned out the rest. I’d heard it all before.
Mom looked at him and shook her head. Dad shrugged and gave her a little grin. They were doing it again, having an entire conversation without a word.
“I get the drift,” I said. “I’m gonna go upstairs now.” Ignoring me, they continued to stare at each other; their looks had become increasingly intense.
“Earth to ‘rents!” I said finally. “Minor in the room!”
Then we all laughed.
—X—
PART 7 (NC-17)
QUINCI RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 12 – 5:20 AM
“Bella? What are you doing up?” My Nana was already at the table when I got up to get breakfast started for the family. It always took her a little time to make the adjustment from the Italian time zone to the U.S. time zone we lived in.
“Morning, Nana,” I replied, kissing her on the cheek. “I always get up at this time to get breakfast going.”
“That always your job?” she asked.
I nodded and said, “Yes.” I busied myself, extracting a frying pan and pulling eggs and bacon out of the refrigerator for a typical weekend breakfast.
“What are your plans for the day?” she asked, standing up and starting to make a pot of coffee.
I swallowed, suddenly feeling foolish about my plans. “I was going to see if I could go shopping.”
“Shopping? What for?”
“I have a date,” I said softly.
Her wrinkled face blossomed into a grin and she said, “Do you? Who is this young man of yours?”
I blushed. “A boy at school asked me out to dinner and a movie.”
“Ah ha! And what would this young man’s name be?”
“Devlin Mulder.”
“Interesting name, Devlin,” she said.
“Gaelic, I think.”
“What were you going to buy?”
“Not much, Nana. Mom can’t spare any money right now, but I have some saved for school and I thought I would use a little to buy a new blouse or something.”
“You should buy a dress and new shoes,” Nana said. “And get your hair cut too, in one of those wingie-swingie styles like the girls in the airport had.”
I frowned. “I can’t afford to do all that, Nana.”
“Of course you can, I’m-a going to give you the money,” she said.
“Nana! No! I don’t want you to do that.”
“I want to. Il buon Signore knows I don’t get the chance to do anything for this family anymore. And if my little Bella is going on a date then I want her look nice. Judging by the blush, you like this … giovane … young man.”
“Yeah,” I breathed out. “I like him a lot, Nana. But we’re just friends right now. He’s really popular, so I don’t think it will get serious. We’re just friends.”
“Tsk, tsk,” she clucked her tongue. “None of that. He asked you out, didn’t he? Not some other girl.”
“Well, yeah, but,” I said and shrugged. She would never understand.
“Then we must conclude that he likes you too.”
I fell silent, afraid to hope that she might be right. “I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment, Nana.”
“You’re a beautiful girl, my Bella, and sharp as a tack.”
I sighed. “You don’t get it, Nana. I’m not beautiful. I’m not tall and blonde. I’m not a cheerleader. Those are the kinds of girls the boys here like.”
“Nonsense! You’re like an Italian Rose. Your beauty is just a bud right now. You may bloom a little later, but you will be beautiful for your entire life, inside and out.”
“Just like you, huh, Nana?” I smiled. “I’m glad you think so.”
“I’m-a going to give you some money.”
I felt traitorous tears sting my eyelids and I blinked rapidly. I found myself admitting, “I want to look pretty for him, Nana.”
“Of course you do, my Bella,” she said softly, patting my hair. She pulled me into a hug and I hugged her tightly in return. Finally, I pulled away, sniffling and wiped my eyes on my sleeve. “I have to get going on breakfast here or the kids will be up and hungry as a pack of wild animals.”
She patted my hand and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “It will be our secret. I don’t think your parents need to know, do you?” she asked slyly.
I felt laughter bubble up inside me and she winked at me again and hobbled out of the kitchen on her cane.
—X—
TYSON’S CORNER SHOPPING MALL SEARS STORE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 12 – 12:45 PM
I stood by the rack of dresses and felt my frustration well up inside me. None of these were my size, and I didn’t even know what to buy, or how to find anything. I’d never been shopping here in Virginia. I knew exactly where I’d go in Pittsburg, but this was like a strange county. I’d been so happy when I’d rushed out of the house after breakfast with Nana’s gift of two-hundred dollars in my hands. It was like a miracle. But three stores later and I still couldn’t find anything that fitted me or that I could afford.
I decided to try Sears; at least we had one of these at home. Now I was here and thinking it had all been a mistake. I swallowed a sob as I felt my shoulders roll and took a deep breath. Just then I heard a soft alto next to me. “Are you all right?”
My head snapped up and I was looking at one of the ladies from the Career Day. She’d been one of the best speakers there. She’d given a talk about women in law enforcement. I’d been fascinated by all the options there were. I sniffed. “Yeah, I’m all right.”
She raised one auburn eyebrow and said, “Were you at Career Day earlier this week?”
“Yeah, I loved the talk you gave.”
“Thank you. I thought I recognized you. My name is Dr. Scully, by the way and you are?” She extended her hand as if she were genuinely glad to meet me.
“Most people call me Izzy.” Not many adults treat kids my age with respect. For some reason, I wanted her to call me by the beautiful name my Nana and Devlin used, but I was too shy.
“Izzy, what seems to be the problem?”
“Nothing. I was just hoping to buy an outfit or a dress, but … they don’t have anything that looks like it would fit me.”
“You’re in the Misses section.”
“Yeah, so?” I said.
She smiled. “You’re petite, like me. You should probably try the Junior Petite section. They are more likely to have something in your size. I’ll show you where it is.”
I nodded. “Oh, okay. Thanks.”
“Special event?” she asked we walked around racks of clothes into the aisle. I followed her sure step. She obviously knew right where she was going.
I shrugged again. “I have a date tonight. I’m new in town and I don’t have anything nice to wear. I’ve actually, um, never been out on a date before.”
The woman smiled at me and said, “Nice guy, huh?”
I blushed. “He’s fantastic. He’s so smart and nice and really popular too, that I keep wondering why he’s asked me out. I feel like a little mouse geek to tell the truth.”
She laughed. “I know the feeling.”
“I doubt it,” I mumbled.
She looked at me sharply, arching an eyebrow again. “I didn’t always look like this,” she said.
“Really?” I asked with skeptical tone.
“Really! I was a brain with long, stringy red hair, braces, and freckles who went to an all-girl’s Catholic High School.”
I found myself warming up to her in spite of my embarrassment. “I’m clueless,” I admitted. “I’m just realizing just how clueless I am. I’ve always let my mother pick out my clothes. As long as they were clean and fit reasonably well, I didn’t care.”
“And now, you want to dress to impress, huh?” she said teasing me. “Well, Izzy, maybe I can help. How much money can you spend?”
“My Nana gave me two-hundred dollars, but I need shoes and I have to save some to get my hair cut.”
She eyed me up and down. “Okay, let’s see what we can find.”
We ended up spending an hour together. She helped me pick out a nice simple lavender dress with a V neck that showed a little cleavage, but not much. It hugged my torso down to the waist and then flared out into a skirt. She showed me how to read the sizes on the pantyhose and told me how to match the color of my shoes and hose to the color of my outfit. She helped me pick out a pair of low heeled white pumps even though I wanted the lavender ones. She reminded me that the white would go with a lot of clothes, not just my dress. The best part was that everything was on sale so I saved enough money to buy a neat little white leather purse too!
I found myself liking her more and more. She asked me questions about my date and I ended up telling her how great he was, how he’d rescued me from the bitches in the gym and then had given me a ride home. I told her how smart, and handsome and charming he was. I told her how I couldn’t believe he was interested in me.
She laughed and gave me a few tips about walking in the heels, which I was not used to, even though they only raised me up an inch. I was only five foot, three inches tall. The shoes gave me an inch but he would still tower over me. I didn’t want to risk wearing anything higher though. I’d probably break an ankle and that would certainly put a damper on the evening.
She asked if I had a car and I told her I’d ridden the bus. She offered to give me a ride to get my hair cut. I explained that I didn’t know where I was going yet. She said she knew a good place; she had her hair done there and they usually had open appointments. It was odd how I trusted her instinctively. Maybe it was because she was a professional. Maybe it was because I recognized her from the college fair. Or maybe it was just because she was nice to me, and I wasn’t used to that either. I didn’t have any girlfriends here and I found myself enjoying her company.
She never asked the boy’s name and I never mentioned it. I never asked her exactly what she did for a living and she never volunteered it. Nonetheless, twenty minutes later we were at the beauty parlor.
The hairdresser left my hair long but cut it in layers so it fell down my back in tiers, and then she showed me how to blow dry it so it would flip back away from my face. I still had to wear my glasses, but some things couldn’t be helped. Overall, I was pleased with it. And I still had over fifty dollars in my pocket. She offered to give me a ride home, but I declined, telling her she’d been too generous already. I wanted to stop at the drug store near my house on the way home. Our neighbor, Mrs. Burk was working at the cosmetics counter today and I wanted to ask for her help buying some lip gloss.
She wished me luck and we parted ways. I wished I could be like her someday.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 12 – 7:00 PM
I watched Devlin come down the stairs. He looked so handsome. He was wearing tan chinos. He’d chosen a brown turtleneck with a blue sweater over it that made his eyes stand out. I could tell he’d taken care to comb his unruly red curls into some semblance of order. I looked down and saw he was wearing the loafers I’d bought him for his birthday.
“Hi, Mom,” he greeted me.
“Don’t you look handsome!” I exclaimed.
He smiled broadly and twirled around. I wolf whistled and he blushed. “Do I really look all right?” he asked with uncharacteristic nervousness.
“You look fabulous,” I said truthfully. “So who’s the lucky girl?”
“Isabella Quinci,” he said softly.
I could tell he was really into this girl. “Tell me about her.”
“She’s fantastic, Mom. She’s really smart. I enjoy talking to her a lot. Most of the girls bore me with their giggling, but Bella is different.”
“How so?”
“She’s more down to earth. She likes computers.”
“Ah ha!” I said. “So that’s her charm, right there!” I teased.
He chuckled. “It’s more than that.”
“Is she pretty?” I asked.
He sighed. “I think so. She’s not classic pretty, you know, pretty-pretty.”
“What’s pretty-pretty?” I asked, unable to keep the amusement out of my voice.
“Oh, you know. Most of the guys go for the tall, willowy blondes with long legs and big chests.”
“And what do you go for?”
He smiled. “Short, brown eyes, long, black hair, incredibly long eyelashes, olive skin.” He trailed off and then looked away, embarrassed. “Everything I’m not.”
“She sounds lovely,” I said, thinking of the young girl from the mall. I hoped she had a good date tonight too. I’d just stopped in the Sears to pick up some pantyhose and a new coffee pot because ours had broken. I’d ended up spending hours with the girl. Something about her drew me to her. She looked so forlorn and lost staring at the racks of clothes.
She reminded me of myself at that age, awkward, shy and nerdy, and new in town. When I’d gotten a look at her though, she’d been lovely. It was too bad she didn’t have a woman or mother in her life who could help her with those things.
I held up the car keys. “Well, have a good time, Devlin. Drive carefully. You put a scratch on your father’s car and he’ll kill you.”
He chuckled. “I’ll be careful,” he promised, taking the keys from me. He kissed me on the cheek and headed for the door.
“Hey, if there’s time, bring her home afterwards so we can meet her.”
“I’ll see how it works out.”
“Don’t forget, midnight.”
He stopped and looked back at me. “We discussed this last night. I thought I could stay out until 1:00 AM now as long as you and Dad know where I am.”
“All right, just thought I’d keep you on your toes,” I teased.
“‘Bye,” he tossed over his shoulder as he went out the door. I sighed. He really was almost all grown up. I was so glad he’d found someone who interested him. I didn’t think he was ever going to date. I wondered if he was still a virgin. I thought he was and I knew that was unusual for boys his age nowadays, but I was glad he hadn’t rushed into anything. There was a lot about Devlin that reminded me of myself and of the way Mulder might have been at this age if he’d had a better life.
I knew Mulder had given him the safe sex talk earlier. Devlin had assured him they were nowhere near that stage, this was their first real date. He’d teased Mulder about being corny again and told him he was about four years too late for the sex education talk.
Mulder came down the stairs and said, “Did he leave yet?”
“Just went out the door.”
He came over to me and put his arms around me, resting his chin on the top of my head. This was a familiar pose for us, a comfortable habit formed over the years. “Where are the twins? I’d thought they would be back by now.”
“Mom called and said they wanted to stay another night and could she keep them?”
He chuckled. “Gee, that’s too bad. We have the house all to ourselves ‘til later tonight. What shall we do?”
“Gee, I don’t know. Have any suggestions?”
“Well, you did promise me that I would be busy tonight. Very, very busy is the phrase you used, if I remember correctly.”
I whooped as he bent down suddenly and picked me up in a baby carry. My arms went around his neck and he grinned down at me. “I can think of something.”
Without another word, he headed for the stairs. We weren’t as young as we used to be though, and he was panting slightly as he reached the top of the staircase. “Put me down before you have a heart attack,” I teased.
He gave me an insulted look and kept walking. He made it to bed but then let go suddenly and I dropped like a stone onto the mattress, bouncing and laughing. “You almost dropped me, didn’t you?” I teased.
He grinned. “No way. I meant to do that.”
“Yeah, sure, right,” I returned.
He growled and jumped onto the bed, making the springs creak. He stalked over to me until he was straddling me where I lay on my back. We grinned at each other and then his smile faded. “You are so damn beautiful, Scully.”
“I think you need glasses,” I teased.
He smiled again. “Already have them.”
“You don’t have them on.”
“Don’t need them this close,” he said and lowered his mouth to mine. I felt arousal zip through me like it did every time he kissed me. I was amazed at the passion that still flared between us, despite our hectic lives and kids wearing us down.
After a short make out session, we both got up and shed our clothes, climbing back in under the covers.
– NC-17 PORTION –
Ten years together and she could still excite me like a teenager. I couldn’t believe it sometimes. Her skin was just as silky as it ever was. Her plump lips never failed to drive me to distraction.
I moved my hands up the outside of her thighs and around the side of her hips until I found her ass. She lifted her hips and I slid underneath, cupping her firmly and leaning down to kiss her again. I squeezed her ass cheeks and then rubbed them all over.
I could feel my cock pulsing as it rose to full bloom. I reached down to find her wet and ready for me. “Do you need me to go down on you?” There was a time when saying those things embarrassed us, but not any more. We had the advantage of long familiarity with each other’s likes and dislikes.
“No, come here.” She reached down and guided me into her.
I pushed into her in one long stroke and groaned, “Ohhh, God, Scully.” She was tight, but so relaxed and wet I slid right in with no trouble.
“I know,” she whispered. Then she gasped as I began to slide slowly in and out. “Jesus, how can it always be this good?” she mumbled.
“I don’t know,” I breathed out.
“It was a rhetorical question,” she joked.
I smiled and kept up my slow pace. I was past the ability to do it multiple times in one night, so I took my time, wanting to draw it out as long as possible. We rarely had the time to do that anymore.
I loved all the experimenting we did in our early time together, but I still enjoyed the good old missionary position. There was something about having her under me that thrilled me to no end. I loved to watch her face as we made love and watch her arousal grow with every stroke. I knew this wasn’t the best position for her, but we’d learned long ago to compensate and help each other and ourselves.
I leaned in to kiss her again and my one hand slid down to cup her breast and tweak her nipple. She moaned into my mouth and I sped up slightly, but still kept things languid and pretty relaxed. I grasped her behind one knee, raising her leg up and out. I sank deeper and she groaned, “Oh Jesus, Mulder.”
She reached between us when I lifted up slightly and began to rub her clitoris against our joining. I could feel her fingers sliding against my cock and it felt terrific. I moaned and covered her mouth again with mine. Her hand was crushed between us but still moving and she didn’t seem to mind.
She sucked on my lower lip and I thought I was going lose it. I moaned into her mouth and we continued to kiss. Her other hand came up to run through my hair, scratching my scalp lightly and I felt tingles race down my spine and curl in my balls.
I sped up, lifting myself off her to give her room. I felt the first tell tale signs of my impending orgasm. My balls tightened and I moaned again, speeding up again, unable to help myself. “Oh, baby, come for me,” I coaxed.
She moaned and her fingers sped up on her clitoris. Without warning, I felt her climax. She arched her back and cried out as her muscles milked my shaft.
I shouted and let myself go, emptying into her in several long, drawn out ejaculations that left my muscles quivering. I collapsed onto her small frame, and snuggled my nose into her neck.
-END OF NC-17 PORTION –
—X—
PART 8 (R)
CVS PHARMACY FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 12 – 7:20 PM
Bella had insisted that she needed to pick something up at the drug store and to pick her up there. I was getting the sinking feeling that she didn’t want me to see exactly where she lived. I really couldn’t have cared less. She’d made it obvious that she didn’t live in the lap of luxury. I didn’t know how to broach the subject, though, without hurting her or pissing her off again.
Things were too new and I knew that I had to tread lightly where her parents were concerned. She obviously was self-conscious about it. I probably should just tell her straight out that I didn’t care where she came from or where she lived. Afraid I would botch it up, being the real Romeo I was with words, however, I decided to put the subject on the back burner.
I pulled into the CVS parking lot and didn’t see her waiting on the sidewalk. I frowned but then saw a flash of tan coat as she emerged from the front door, holding a CVS bag. I smiled and popped the locks on the car. She opened it and slid into the passenger seat.
She was wearing a long tan rain coat so I couldn’t tell what she had on underneath, but I looked down and her legs were encased in stockings, and she was wearing white dress shoes. Just the sight of her slender ankles and shapely calves and I felt a stirring in my pants.
‘Down boy,’ I admonished. I yanked my eyes upward to meet her gaze and she smiled at me. All the air was suddenly sucked out of the car. She was gorgeous. Her long, black hair was floating around her head and falling in shining layers over her shoulders and down her back.
I saw her expression change to one of uncertainty and realized I was staring. She spoke first, “What’s wrong?” she said.
“Nothing,” I croaked out.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Should I have dressed casually?”
Without my permission my hand reached out and cupped the back of her neck. I tugged gently and she leaned closer her eyes widening. I looked down at her lips and she licked them in a nervous gesture, her pink tongue darting out to leave a glistening coat of saliva.
I nearly moaned, feeling my dick surge erect inside my pants. Instead I swallowed harshly and whispered, “Damn, you’re beautiful.”
Her surprised squeak was cut off as I tipped my head sideways and laid my mouth over hers. ‘Jesus Christ!’ A bolt of arousal so keen it ripped a moan from my mouth emerged and I emptied it into her mouth. “Ahhh.”
My free hand reached out and slid to her waist pulling her towards me. She was still for moment and then her mouth moved under mine and I snaked my tongue past her lips and into her mouth.
It was hot and wet and I shivered all over, feeling her tongue rasp against mine. She whimpered and it brought me back to reality. I broke the kiss and sat there panting, staring into her liquid brown eyes. They were still wide as saucers.
She was panting too and it gave me some measure of comfort that she was at least somewhat affected by the kiss. When I could talk again, I said softly, “What are you trying to do, kill me?”
A slow lopsided smile spread across her face. “What do you mean?”
“Your hair. I’ve never seen it down,” I said, realizing it was true. “It’s gorgeous.”
She blushed and sat back in her seat. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “Well, that was unexpected.”
I chuckled. “Sorry, I guess I should have warned you, huh?”
“No, it was nice. A big surprise, but nice.”
“Surprise?”
“I didn’t expect it. I didn’t think you looked at me that way.”
I raised my eyebrow at her and smiled. “You’ve got to be kidding,” I retorted. “Why do you think I asked you out?”
She shook her head. “I know we’re getting to be friends, but I … didn’t want to hope and set myself up for disappointment,” she trailed off, turning to look out her window.
I used two fingers to bring her chin back around. She faced me, looking down and I was startled again at how lush and thick her eyelashes were. “Look at me, Bella.”
She slowly raised her eyes and my breath caught in my throat. I locked my eyes with hers. “I don’t know what it is about you. I never felt this about a girl before. I can’t take my eyes off you.”
She blushed again and tried to look down. I wouldn’t let her. “Devlin, think about this. I’m not popular like you. I’m not a tall, blonde, lanky cheerleader. I’m small and far from voluptuous. I don’t belong in the same social group with someone like you no matter how much I might wish it. I’m not your type.”
I sat back dropping my hand, trying to decide whether to be insulted or not. “What do you mean, not my type?”
“Oh come on, Devlin!”
“Oh come on, what?” I said, hearing my voice rising in volume but unable to help it. “Don’t tell me who I belong with! Don’t tell me what my type is. How the hell would you know what my type is, anyway?” I asked. “Do you see me going out with someone else? No! I asked YOU out. I thought you liked me too.” I was furious now, and realizing belatedly that I was hurt and probably hurting her. I certainly no longer was aroused. I could tell that she was sorry about upsetting me but her insecurity was damned irritating.
“I’m sorry!” she blurted out, her hands covering her face. “I just don’t want to get my heart broken!” she sobbed.
All the fight went out of me. “Aw, Bella, I’m sorry.”
She shook her head and fumbled for the door handle frantically. I unlatched my seatbelt and lunged across the console for her.
“No, come here,” I coaxed, as I pulled her hands away from the handle. “I’m sorry I yelled,” I added. I spun sideways on the seat, pulling one leg up and scooting toward her. I was now between the seats, sitting on the console, and didn’t have the steering wheel in my way. I slid farther and bodily turned her back to the door, plunking her down on my thighs. Her short legs dangled over the side of my thighs. I scrunched down and pulled her toward me, banding my arms around her body.
She buried her face against my neck, her hands flat on my shoulders. She went limp, realizing she couldn’t overpower me. ‘How had this gotten so fucked up so quickly?’ I realized her self-esteem was much lower than I had originally thought. I vowed I was going to do something to change that.
I cupped the sides of her face gently and raised her face to mine. My thumbs brushed the tears off her cheeks and she sniffled. “Bella,” I whispered.
She just blinked rapidly at me, trying to keep the tears at bay. I realized she wasn’t wearing any make up and she was still one of the most beautiful girls I’d ever seen. She didn’t need it.
“Devlin, I’m sorry,” she squeaked.
“Shhh,” I cooed to her. “Let me tell you something.”
She nodded, avoiding my gaze. I lifted her chin again. “I know we’ve known each other less than a week.” I swallowed and continued, “So you don’t know me, and I don’t really know you either, but I want to, Bella. I want to know you. You … fascinate me.”
She blinked in confusion and I thought it was adorable.
“When I shook your hand that first time?” I began.
She sucked in a little gasp and I smiled.
“You felt it too, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I thought it was just me that felt it,” she added.
I shook my head. “Every time I touch you, it’s like I just got hit by lightning,” I whispered. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s driving me crazy.”
“Crazy how?” she asked sincerely.
I leaned in until my lips brushed hers. “It turns me on,” I husked out and I kissed her again. She made that adorable whimpering sound again and then began to kiss me back.
I let a soft moan escape and kissed her for what seemed like an eternity, her lips gliding back and forth over mine. Our tongues tangled once more and I was fully erect again. I shifted her, pressing my hips up. My shaft brushed her waist and she gasped.
She broke the kiss and stared at me. Barely audible she said, “I really turn you on?”
I chuckled, took her hand and gently pulled it down between my legs. I pushed her tiny hand against my throbbing shaft and pressed it against her. She gasped and pulled her fingers away but not before they curled around it through my pants for an instant. I moaned, “Aw, God. That isn’t a banana in my pocket, Bella.”
She barked out a chuff of laughter that made me smile and the next thing I knew we were laughing so hard we couldn’t catch our breath. “It felt … much bigger … than a … banana!” she chortled.
That started us off all over again and I was holding my sides and crying in an effort to breath by the time we were done. Our mirth finally died down and I ran my hands through her silky hair, loving the feel of the thick strands sliding through my fingers. She shivered and tipped her head. “Let’s make a deal. Let’s get to know each other with an open mind. Try not to make any assumptions about me, Bella, and I’ll try not to make any about you, all right?”
She nodded, swallowing hard. “I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing,” I scolded and then smiled at her. “Are you hungry?”
“I’m starved,” she said.
I chuckled and slid her off my lap, climbing awkwardly back into the driver’s seat. She rearranged her coat and I realized I still hadn’t seen what she was wearing underneath. I decided I would see soon enough when we got to the restaurant.
—X—
O’CONNOR’S RESTAURANT & PUB FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 12 – 8:00 PM
We were finally seated in the restaurant. I’d nearly tripped when she took her coat off at the door. The lavender dress she was wearing looked like it was made for her. It hugged her tiny body in all the right places. Her breasts were not large but they were plump and sat high on her chest. I estimated they were a B cup at least.
God, I could be pig. I could see just a hint of her cleavage and had to forcibly remind myself not to talk to her chest. We ordered dinner. She ordered corned beef and I ordered pasta.
“We’re in an Irish place and you’re not gonna order the corned beef?”
I smiled. “Nobody makes corned beef like my mother.”
She laughed. The sound was low and husky and even that turned me on. “Your Mom’s Irish? I never would have guessed,” she teased.
I laughed and shook my head, feeling the curls fly all over the place. If picking on myself would make her laugh, I’d do it all night.
“That’s me, Carrot Top, the real McCoy!” I felt a rush of warm feeling, realizing all over again that my mom was really my mom. All this time I’d spent losing sleep over who my real parents were. What a waste of time.
She graced me with a dazzling smile that showed her beautiful white teeth. Our food came and we ate in silence for a bit. Finally, she said, “Devlin, can I tell you something and not have you take it the wrong way?”
‘Uh oh,’ I thought but I didn’t say anything, just nodded.
She put down her fork. “Look, I want to apologize.”
I opened my mouth to cut her off, but she raised her hand, palm out to stop me.
“Let me finish,” she admonished lightly.
I nodded stupidly.
“I’ve never been a popular kid. Not in grammar school, not in middle school, and certainly not in high school. I’ve always been treated the same way by the popular kids.”
“Like those girls in the gym?”
She nodded, clearing her throat. “Yeah, I don’t know if it’s because I’m smart, or because I don’t join sports teams.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I’ve gotten used to it and normally I can brush it off ‘cause no one I care about is paying attention anyway.”
I reached across the table and took her hand, feeling sad for her. “Even when my Dad had a good job, with all the kids in the family, I never had money for nice clothes or any of that and honestly … usually, I don’t care.”
“You care now?” I asked quietly.
“I care now because you are watching.”
I felt my eyes widen and whispered, “Why?”
She smiled and said, “In the gym, I knew you were there, I’d been watching you. You were so handsome; I wasn’t being careful and I was embarrassed by the cheerleaders. I nearly died when you shouted out to me.”
I smiled. “I honestly couldn’t see your face, Bella. I thought you were just some new guy who they had chosen to harass. I didn’t think you were a guy because you’re unfeminine, quite the contrary. When I saw your face, Jesus, it was just a shock.”
She blushed slightly. “I know I was dressed like a hobo,” she admitted.
“You looked beautiful to me. I couldn’t get past your eyes. You have beautiful eyes, Bella.”
“Thanks. I was still dressed like a hobo though.”
I chuckled. “That stuff doesn’t matter to me, Bella.”
“I kind of assumed … that’s sort of reverse discrimination, isn’t it?” she asked with chagrin.
“Look, Bella, I know you think I’m a rich kid … and in a lot of ways I am, but let me tell you something. My folks are really down to earth. They don’t flaunt it, they both work hard for a living, and I never wanted for anything, not since I came to live with them anyway, but I was never spoiled, Bella, not in the way you think.”
“What do you mean? Since you came to live with them?”
I swallowed. “I’m adopted, Bella.”
“Oh Devlin, I’m sorry!”
“I’m not,” I replied. “My mother is my real mother. It’s a long story, but we were unable to be together until I was seven years old. Then she and her husband, Fox Mulder, adopted me from the orphanage where I’d lived for two years. Fox Mulder is the only father I’ve ever known. He’s a good man and I consider him my father in every way.”
She nodded. “You’re lucky, aren’t you?”
I smiled. “Yeah, I guess I am. If I show symptoms of being a spoiled rich kid, slap me upside the head, will ya?”
She laughed. “I don’t think I can reach that high,” she retorted.
I laughed with her and said, “I take my life for granted, Bella. In that way, I guess I am spoiled. But I don’t judge people by the way they look. That’s not the way I’ve been raised.”
“I should have known that. If you did you would have been right there with those girls picking on me. Instead, you rescued me. I don’t know why I thought you would be concerned with the same things or shallow. I’ve just been hurt so many times.”
“Forget it. Don’t worry about it. It’s behind us now, right?”
She nodded. She looked down at her plate and then blushed slightly. She looked up at me from underneath her lashes and I sucked in my breath. Jesus, this girl was going to be end of me. “You really like me … that way … I mean, as more than a friend?” she asked.
I wondered how she could still have any doubt but realized how inexperienced she really was when it came to men. My experience level wasn’t much higher when it came to women. I knew in a vague sort of way that all my parts were put together in a pleasing way, but I’d never been vain about my looks, or thought they were extraordinary. I hadn’t dated much, but that was because I hadn’t met anyone I wanted to date, not because I lacked for interest by the opposite sex.
I realized a lot of our problem was perception. I was popular and I was a jock, and I got good grades. She had ascribed certain characteristics to people in my position because that’s all she’d ever seen. I made up my mind right then to prove to her that I was different. “I want to be your friend too, Bella, but yes, I’m interested in more than friendship. Does that clear it up for you, or do I need to be more specific?” I teased.
She smiled again, blushing a deeper shade of pink under her olive skin and I continued to stare at her. “Feel free to go into detail,” she teased back.
I laughed and squeezed her hand. “I want to get to know you. I want to be your friend and I want to … kiss you all at the same time,” I admitted.
She turned beet red at that pronouncement and hung her head, her cascade of thick hair forming a shawl around her slender shoulders and face, “Oh boy,” she whispered.
I chuckled. “There’s no pressure, however.”
She looked up at that. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not assuming you feel the same way,” I admitted. “I’m hoping, but …”
“Now who’s got to be kidding?” she asked, referring to our conversation in the car.
I shrugged. “You didn’t seem too pleased with me earlier.”
She pressed her lips together and then took a deep breath. As she exhaled she said, “I’m crazy about you, Devlin.”
I thought my face would crack I smiled so hard. “I just want you to know, I’m not a pusher or anything. We can do this at whatever pace you want.”
“You mean sex?” she asked bluntly.
I nodded, feeling like a geek. “Whoa. Well, I wasn’t thinking that far ahead, but yeah, I meant the physical part.”
“Well, I’m sure you’re far more experienced than I am,” she said.
I mumbled, “Don’t count on it.”
“What?”
I looked up and met her gaze again. “I’m not that experienced.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
I shrugged again. “Believe what you want. I’m not.”
“Well, since I don’t really want to hear an accounting of your past exploits, I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”
I smiled and said, “Good. You want to have dessert?”
“I don’t know,” she hedged.
“Come on, live large!” I encouraged her.
“I’ll be large if I keep eating dessert.”
“Oh please, you can afford it. Besides, trust me, your figure’s fine.”
She blushed again as I flagged the waitress. We ordered German chocolate cake and tried to pretend we weren’t sneaking looks at each other for the rest of the time we were there.
—X—
Holy shit! This evening had been unbelievable. I’d almost ruined everything with my stupid mouth. I’d hurt him and insulted him without even trying. Fortunately for me, he recovered quickly. In addition to every other wonderful thing about him, he was apparently very forgiving.
My head was spinning. I couldn’t quite believe the most handsome guy in the school wanted to date me. He wanted to be more than my friend. God, my heart started racing just thinking about it.
The kiss, oh my God! The kiss was out of this world. I thought I was going to pass out when he first pulled me toward him in the car. I couldn’t believe he was actually going to kiss me. I’d always felt like an ugly duckling. Somehow, though, Devlin Mulder made me feel beautiful.
The dress didn’t hurt. I felt feminine in it. I sent a silent thank you to the pretty lady in Sears who had helped me out. I would be here in jeans and a sweater if she hadn’t. I wondered, only now, why she’d been so nice to me. There still were good people in the world.
I sighed in contentment as we drove through Falls Church, wondering where this relationship would go and if he would kiss me again before the night was over. I felt a warm tingle go down my spine remembering that first and second kiss. I thought the world tilted on its axis there for a minute. For God’s sake, what was it about this guy?
He stopped at a stoplight and I looked around the interior of the sleek, black Mercedes Benz. He said it was his father’s car. He was a rich kid, but he was also right, he didn’t act like any other rich kid I’d ever known. I was curious to meet these parents. Then I realized I wasn’t exactly being forthcoming about mine either. Perhaps that was why he was hedging about their careers and such. He might not want to make me think about how different our worlds really were.
I almost dipped back into depression, thinking that this could never work. We were so different and from such different backgrounds. Then I gave myself a mental slap. I was sabotaging it before it had even really begun. I was so used to guarding my heart. Could I take a chance with Devlin Mulder? He was certainly worth the risk. If I thought about it, nothing risked, nothing gained. He said he liked me … as more than a friend. He said I turned him on and I’d felt the hard evidence of that. I laughed internally at my unintentional pun. I’d have to play this one by ear.
He spoke suddenly and it startled me out of my reverie. “What do you think about going to my place and watching a movie instead of going to the theater?”
I swallowed. “Uh, sure, I guess.”
“If you’re not comfortable with that, we can go to the movie.”
“Naw, why spend the money. What have you got at home?”
“My parents have all kinds of old movies on DVDs and we have a new digi-disc system, too. I’m sure we can find something.”
“Yeah, all right,” I said. “You sure you want to introduce me to your parents already?”
He gave me a look that said, ‘Will you stop it?’
I sighed. “All right.”
“Cool,” he said and stepped on the accelerator.
—X—
PART 9 (PG-13)
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA SATURDAY EVENING JUNE 12 – 9:30 PM
We pulled up to the house and my mouth dropped open. It had a big circular driveway and pillars in front. It looked like a freaking mansion. “God, Devlin,” I said in a reverent voice.
“What?”
“It’s magnificent.”
“Come on,” he said, climbing out of the car after shutting off the engine.
I opened the door to find him there helping me out. I didn’t need the help, but it was chivalrous nonetheless. I glanced at the big wrap around porch and saw one of the curtains flutter.
A man’s face appeared in the window briefly and then disappeared. Devlin laced his fingers between mine and led me up the steps onto the massive porch. I had a sudden case of the jitters. I felt like Cinderella going to the ball. I felt like I had ‘hick’ written all over my forehead.
Devlin pulled his keys out of his pocket and was reaching for the door when it opened.
A tall man with brown hair, slightly gray at the temples, opened the door. He was wearing a gray Henley and blue jeans and wearing moccasins with no socks. He looked casual and friendly. Wire rims perched in the middle of a generous nose.
“Hi, Dad. Still busy?” Devlin teased his father.
He flashed a toothy smile at us and swung the door wide. Devlin towed me across the threshold as his father shut the door behind us. Then we all turned to face one another. “And who is this?” his father asked.
He had a great voice, smooth and low and totally unthreatening. Then I remembered he was a child psychologist. Probably came with the job.
Devlin introduced me. “Dad, this is Isabella Quinci or Bella for short. Bella, this is my Dad, Fox Mulder.”
He stuck out his hand and I met him half way, hoping my palms weren’t sweating. “Nice to meet you, sir,” I said.
He smiled, “Same here.” He glanced at his watch. “I thought you were going to the movies?” he asked.
“We were but decided to come back here and watch a movie. The twins are gone, right?”
“Yeah, they stayed another night at your grandmother’s.”
“Is it all right if we camp out in the living room?”
“Sure, go ahead. There’s food and drinks in the kitchen if you want them. Your mother and I will be upstairs. We’ll give you some privacy.” He winked and I felt the heat rush over my face as I blushed to the roots of my hair.
He chuckled, making it worse. “You’re a lovely young lady, Bella.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said quietly.
“This big oaf gets out of line, just give a holler and I’ll come to the rescue.”
Devlin laughed at the tease, but I was mortified. “I don’t think that will be necessary, sir.”
“Call me Mulder, please. It better not be necessary.” He winked at Devlin again. “I can still kick your ass,” he teased.
“You think so?” Devlin responded and took a boxing jab at his father.
Faster than I could blink, the man grabbed him, spun him, tripped him and had his hands yanked behind his back and his body bent over at the waist. “Yup,” he said. “I still got it.”
Devlin grunted. “Jesus, Dad. Go easy.” Mr. Mulder laughed and released Devlin. Devlin pulled his sweater down at the hem and shrugged his shoulders. “Thanks for embarrassing me, Dad. I appreciate that.”
“Sorry, kiddo, just keeping in practice for when Mairin starts bringing guys home,” he grinned.
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Dr. Mulder was not what I had expected. I was fast realizing that I had to put away some of my stereotypes and decide about people’s character on an individual basis. Not all rich people were assholes.
“Oh sure, laugh now,” Devlin said to me. It only made me laugh harder and Mr. Mulder laughed with me.
“I’ll be upstairs.”
“Where’s Mom?”
“She was taking a shower, but I think she’s done now.”
“I want her to meet Bella.”
“I’ll tell her,” he said, heading for the stairs.
Just then a woman wearing Capri pants, a baggy sweater and gigantic socks, bounded down the stairs saying, “Tell me what?”
She hit the bottom step and looked up. We both gasped.
“Oh damn,” I whispered.
She broke out into a smile. “Izzy!”
Devlin and Mr. Mulder looked totally confused. I was mortified. “Oh God, Mrs. … Scully, er … Mulder, I had no idea it was you!” I blurted out.
She was still smiling and said, “It looks great on you.”
I nodded, unable to look her in the eyes. “Thanks.”
“Bella, you two know each other?” Devlin asked.
“We just met today in Sears.”
“Sears? What were you doing in Sears?” he asked.
I swallowed and looked away. I didn’t want him to know I’d just bought this dress solely for him. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. I turned and sent a pleading look her way.
To my surprise, Mrs. Mulder spoke up. “She had this lovely dress and needed some shoes to match. We’d met at the college job fair. I gave a speech on women in law enforcement last week and Bella was there. I recognized her in Sears so we got chatting for a few minutes.”
I smiled a tentative smile at her, trying to say thank you with my eyes. She smiled softly and I knew she understood. I was frantically trying to remember if I said anything about Devlin that would come back to haunt me. I’d practically gushed to her about him. How embarrassing.
“Oh, okay,” Devlin said, visibly relaxing. “So you introduced yourselves,” he concluded.
“Yes, we did,” Mrs. Mulder said and smiled again. “Nice to see you again, though for some reason I thought your name was Izzy.”
“My full name is Isabella Quinci and most adults call me Izzy. It’s nice to see you, too. Uh, you introduced yourself as Dr. Scully though, so I didn’t put two and two together.”
“Ah!” she replied. “Yeah, I use my maiden name for work and lectures. It’s easier for me since I was known by Scully for so many years. Also keeps work separate from my private life,” she explained.
I nodded. “That makes sense.”
Mr. Mulder broke in. “Well, we’ll disappear and leave you kids alone. Devlin knows where everything is. Have fun.”
Mrs. Mulder grinned as he took her arm and they mounted the stairs together.
Devlin sighed like he was relieved and turned to me smiling. “Whew.”
I laughed. “They seem very nice.”
“They are, but they both have an uncanny knack for embarrassing the hell out of me,” he admitted, “Especially Dad. They were both FBI agents and I guess the training never goes away.”
“That’s a parent’s job, isn’t it?” I shot back.
He chuckled and led me into the living room. “Do you want something to drink? More iced tea?”
“Sure.”
He returned moments later with two glasses of iced tea. I was perusing the titles on the book shelves that lined one wall. “Good lord, it’s like a library in here.”
“That’s nothing. You should see my dad’s office. Wall to wall books, all four walls.”
I turned and took the glass from him. “I wish I had this many books,” I said wistfully.
“You can borrow anything you like, Bella. Most of the stuff out here is stuff we’ve read already.”
“Really?”
“Sure, later on you can pick out some and take them home with you.”
“That would be great. I’d take good care of them, I promise.”
“Oh, I know. I’m not worried about that. Come on, let’s pick out a movie.”
—X—
Even though we’d both seen it about a hundred times, we picked Top Gun and sat down to watch. When they got to the part where Tom Cruise was devouring Kelly McGillis in silhouette, I glanced at her and she was riveted, eyes wide and her beautiful lips partly open, panting lightly.
I had my arm draped over her shoulders and I leaned down close, slouching on the couch. ‘Did it just get hot in here?’ I thought. I sat up and took off my sweater, tossing it onto the arm of the sofa, leaving me in just my turtleneck.
The movement startled her and she turned towards me. The turtleneck was snug and I watched her eyes travel from my neck, down over my chest and abdomen. I gritted my teeth as I felt my dick stir in my pants again. Jesus, she wasn’t even touching me, just looking and my body was reacting like it had been poked with a cattle prod.
I slowly leaned back, never taking my eyes off her. “Are your parents going to suddenly surprise us by coming down those stairs?” she asked.
I felt my heart rate speed up. “Why? What did you have in mind?” I asked, trying to sound flirtatious while waggling my eyebrows at her.
She laughed. “Answer the question, Devlin.”
“No, they’ll stay put. If they come down, they’ll make enough noise to let us know they are coming. They aren’t the types to spy.”
“Oh, good. How do you know this? How many girls have you brought over to watch a movie at home with?” she teased.
“Why?” I asked again, totally ignoring the movie now as the song, “Highway to the Danger Zone,” blared out of the surround-sound speakers.
She hesitated and then said, “I was wondering something on the way over here,” she said, blushing prettily.
“Wondering what?”
“If you would kiss me again before the night was over,” she said softly as she turned to face me fully.
I turned towards her and reached out, letting my hands fall on her shoulders and slide up to caress her neck. “Thought you’d never ask,” I said.
She smiled and leaned up, taking the lead this time. We began to kiss and I felt every nerve ending in my body go on alert. Oh God, I’d never felt anything like this. I’d kissed girls before, here and there, over the last few years. I always had a date when I needed it. Nothing and no one had ever turned me on like this.
I knew somewhere in the back of my head that this was our first date. There was only so far we should go, but I couldn’t make myself stop touching her. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her towards me, but she would only go so far before beginning to pull back.
“Bella, don’t,” I groaned. “I just want to kiss you, I promise. I won’t do anything you’re not ready for.”
She searched my eyes for a moment and found something she could trust there. She nodded slightly and leaned in towards me again, and I moved to kiss her. This time I was careful to keep my hands where I knew they wouldn’t scare her. Our lips met over and over. Long, slow wet kisses and hot biting, needy kisses. We barely stopped to breathe.
Finally she began to pull away. She moaned as she broke the kiss. “Awww, God, Devlin.”
“You’re making me crazy, Bella,” I groaned as my lips moved to cover hers again. She met me half way and soon, we were leaning back against the back of the sofa, my hands in her hair and hers roaming up and down my arms. I was truly thankful that the room was somewhat dark. If she had looked down at all, she would have seen a boner in my pants that would have scared her right out the door.
Just because I was excited, just because I wanted to take this to the next level and strip that pretty lavender dress off her and sink my cock into her until I was sated, didn’t mean it was going to happen. Even if she was that kind of girl, and I knew she wasn’t, I wouldn’t make a move like that on our first date.
I groaned and pulled away, panting and trying to catch my breath. Her lips followed mine, not wanting to quit until I slid my head over to rest my forehead on her shoulder. It was the only position I could think of that would block her view of my lap.
She was panting and I knew, just knew in my heart, that if I pushed a little more, she would let me do anything I wanted tonight.
Sometimes I hated the way I was raised. My parents had always had an equal marriage. My mother was a strong woman and she and my father had taught us to respect people, especially women.
Hell, when I’d had the ‘talk’ with my parents, Dad was the one who brought up being chaste until you were sure you were really in love! Even my weird uncles had grunted and motioned through the beginnings of a ‘talk’ when I had unexpectedly found a copy of an old magazine called ‘Celebrity Skin’ in the bathroom last year. I let them continue until I couldn’t hold back the laughter any longer and then I had thanked them and told them I’d already had that talk with my mom and dad.
I thought Uncle Fro was going to swoon. “Ah Scully, always the woman!” he said before the other two had hushed him. Later, Langly had told me where I could find their lending library if I needed it, but even he had admonished me to hold off until I was sure. All these thoughts were enough to shrink my erection to a manageable size.
I knew Bella was the one I wanted to be my first sex partner, but respect for women had been so ingrained in my education and heart that I didn’t want to rush this.
“Bella,” I said as I pulled away to look in her eyes.
“I won’t kid you, I want more than kisses from you. I think you want more from me, too? Don’t you?” I had to lift her face back up to look at me when the gentle blush on her cheeks turned bright red and she dipped her head shyly.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I have to tell you, I’ve never felt this way about any of the other girls I’ve dated. You are special to me, and I want you to understand that.”
She nodded and waited for me to continue, staring at me with her big luminous brown eyes.
“God, Bella!” I said and groaned. “Don’t look at me like that or I won’t be able to keep from kissing you again.”
“So what’s stopping you?” she finally said in her husky, sexy voice.
I reached for her and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders again and we started kissing again. This time, it was pure hungry need and want. I shuddered when she let her tongue slide out to touch my lower lip, afraid to respond, afraid she would quit if I did.
We must have been kissing for an hour because when we came back down to earth, the movie was over. I laughed nervously, pulled away to get the controller, and turned off the equipment.
“Bella,” I breathed. “I’ve never felt like that before.”
“Neither have I,” she said and looked down. “God, I’ve never felt that bold before.”
I chuckled and rubbed my thumbs over her plump lower lip. “I’m glad you were.” We stared into each other’s eyes for a moment and then we were kissing again. I felt my dick twitch in my pants again and realized that if I were going to stand up and take her home anytime in the next hour, I had to stop touching her.
I reluctantly pushed her back. “Let’s not start that again,” I said.
She smiled and said, “Better not, huh? What time is it?”
“Almost midnight.”
“Oh brother, I have to get home, Devlin.”
“No problem.”
Just then I heard my father’s voice from upstairs. “Everything all right down there?”
I got up off the couch and walked to the foot of the stairs, looking up at him. “Yeah, Dad, the movie is over and I’m just getting ready to take Bella home.”
“Oh, all right. It’s getting late, Dev.”
“I know, we’re leaving now,” I said.
“Okay, drive carefully.”
“I will.”
He disappeared down the hall and out of sight. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Bella came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me from behind. Her head lay on my back between my shoulder blades. “He’s just trying to be nice,” she said.
I rolled my eyes and turned to hug her. God, she was short. I realized she didn’t have her shoes on. I said, “Where are your shoes?”
“By the couch,” she replied and quickly retrieved them.
“I guess we should go,” I said gruffly.
—X—
We made the trip in virtual silence. When she told me to pull over I kept driving and said, “No.”
“What?”
“I’m driving you to your door, Bella, and that’s all there is to it.”
“Devlin! This has been the most amazing night of my life. I mean that. Don’t ruin it now.”
“I’m not ruining it. I’m trying to tell you something.”
“And what’s that? You want to embarrass me.”
“No! I don’t care where you live, Bella! I don’t care that your house isn’t big, or you don’t have nice things. Don’t you fucking get it?” I asked testily.
“I guess not,” she said shortly, crossing her arms over her chest.
I pulled the car over, put it in park, and turned to face her on the seat. “I like YOU, Bella. For who you are. Not just for your gorgeous hair and your dainty little body.” She blushed and looked down. “I like what’s sitting on your shoulders too.”
She looked up tentatively and licked her lips. “I don’t want you to see,” she said quietly.
“It’s not going to change how I feel about you, Bella. I don’t care if you live in a tar paper shack.”
“It’s not that bad,” she said defensively.
I smiled at her. “Come on. Give me a chance, Bella. Don’t assume I’m that shallow, especially now.”
She knew what I meant. Especially now, after we’d had so much fun and just shared hours of incredible kisses. I didn’t want our relationship to be on pins and needles over an address. It was ridiculous.
“Okay. Go to the end of the road and turn left.”
I leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek and then put the car back in gear.
—X—
PART 10 (PG-13)
QUINCI RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 13 – 12:20 AM
It was the run-down side of town, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d anticipated actually. The way she’d acted, I expected squalor. Contrary to the impression she’d been giving me, it was a neat little split-level ranch. It could use a coat of paint and the lawn could use mowing, but there was nothing wrong with it.
I pulled into the driveway and parked behind an old pick up truck. She exited the car before I could say anything. I jumped out and she said, “No, you don’t have to walk me in.”
“I know. I want to. Hey, this is me. Take it or leave it,” I said halfway teasing.
She glanced at the house and back at me. The porch light came on as I approached her. “Devlin, I don’t know if this is a good idea.”
The door opened. “Bella, is that you?”
“Yes, Nana!” she said, a little louder than necessary.
I smiled and took her hand and started walking toward the door. She hesitated but then kept step with me.
The old lady was plump and bent over, walking with a cane. Her white hair was a cloud around her head with a neat bun at the back. Her face was weathered and wrinkled from too many years in the sun, but still beautiful. “Is this your young man?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I greeted her. “I’m Devlin Mulder,” I introduced myself and stuck out my hand.
She shook it briefly and stepped back. “Come in.”
Bella turned. “You don’t have to, Devlin. I’ll see you Monday.”
“Trying to get rid of me?” I teased.
She hung her head. Her Grandma said, “Stop being silly, Bella, and bring the boy in here so I can get a good look at him. My eyes aren’t what they used to be.”
I laughed softly and Bella shook her head, but turned and entered the house. I followed slightly behind her and stepped into the living room. Her grandmother flicked on the light and the living room lit up. The furniture was old but clean and well kept. There were pictures of Bella and her younger siblings on every available surface. I turned and looked at her Grandmother. “What should I call you, Ma’am?”
“Nana is fine,” she said, grinning. She looked me up and down. “Well, you’re certainly a big one, aren’t you?” she said in broken English.
“Nana!” Bella cried out, embarrassment evident in her voice.
I just chuckled again. “Compared to Bella, anyway,” I joked.
Her grandmother laughed and it sounded more like a cackle. “My Bella was more nervous than a hen in a wolves’ den about going out with you, son,” she stated.
“Nana! Please!” Bella hissed in humiliation.
I smiled and put my arm around her shoulders. I looked at her grandmother though. “I was a little nervous too,” I admitted, leaning toward her grandmother with a conspiratorial wink. “First dates are always tricky,” I added.
She nodded knowingly. “They can be,” she answered. I could tell I had her. She was amused and winked at me when Bella looked away.
“Well, I have to get my father’s car back home, or he’ll start to worry. It was nice meeting you, Nana.”
She stepped to me and patted my hand. “Nice meeting you too, Devlin.”
I turned and kissed Bella gently on the forehead. I wasn’t going to kiss her lips in front of her grandmother. “Good night. I had a great time.”
“Me too,” she whispered. “My parents are in bed, I think.”
“That’s okay. I’ll meet them next time.”
“Next time?”
“Yeah, next time.” I chucked her shoulder gently. “Good night. I’ll show myself out.”
“Okay. Devlin,” she called out, stopping me.
I turned in mid stride. “Yeah?”
“I meant it. This was the best night of my life.”
I smiled. “That’s probably an exaggeration, but I’m glad. I had a great time, too.”
We stared at each other for a moment and then I said, “Well, goodbye.” I finally went out the door. I still didn’t want the night to end, but I knew it had to sometime.
As I was closing the door behind me, I heard her grandmother say, “Cos?quello era il vostro giovane, Bella. ?molto handsome!”
I didn’t know what any of it meant except for the last word and I felt color flush my cheeks as I trotted to the car. It was a little embarrassing to have the old woman checking me out like I was a Chippendale dancer. Then again, if she approved, that couldn’t hurt where Bella was concerned. Maybe she could dispel some of this nonsense about coming from the wrong side of the tracks, and encourage Bella to believe in herself.
The house did need some work, but I’d meant what I said. I didn’t care where she lived, or how she lived as long as she had food and roof over her head. She wasn’t any worse off than a couple of my guy friends.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA SUNDAY MORNING JUNE 13 – 12:40 AM
As I drove home, I thought about how much I took for granted on a regular basis. I’d forgotten where I came from, an orphanage. I could have very well grown up there if my parents hadn’t come along, hadn’t taken the time to track me down and adopt me.
We lived in a very nice house and I’d never been needy since the day I’d gone home with them. I started reminiscing about the time when I first got there. I kept thinking they would change their minds and send me back. At the orphanage, sweets were like gold. You could trade them for almost anything you wanted. I also remember feeling like I never really got enough to eat. There were a couple of bullies that used to steal the younger kids’ desserts in the cafeteria.
I remembered the first time my mother found my stash under my bed. I had only been there about four months. She was cleaning and vacuuming and came across the pile of Ho-Ho’s and candy bars and Twinkies I’d stored under the bed. Whenever they’d given me a treat, which I could only have after having eaten my dinner, I’d run upstairs and hide it under my bed, just in case.
She’d been so surprised that she’d hollered at me. “Devlin, what are you doing putting these under here?”
I’d broken down crying, thinking she was mad at me. I was bawling like a baby and told her, “I was saving them for when I didn’t have anything to eat.”
She scooped me up into her arms and cried as she rocked me on the bed. Then she’d told me. “Oh no, Devlin, you don’t need to do that here, sweetie. We’ll always make sure you have enough to eat.”
I stared at her, not quite believing that the bounty wouldn’t run out someday. She was pregnant. There were more kids coming. I thought I’d have to compete, and I’d started saving up for a rainy day.
She’d hugged me and rocked me and said, “I promise, Devlin. I promise.”
I’d been afraid to believe her, but I’d given up my stash. She’d found a ceramic container and put it in the kitchen and told me I could save my treats there if I wanted if I didn’t want to eat them right away when I got them, but I couldn’t keep them in my room because they would attract ants.
I didn’t like the idea of keeping them in the kitchen where anyone could get at them, but I hadn’t had any choice. True to her word though, no one ever went into my treat jar. I started eating them. As long as I ate my dinner, I always found a treat in the jar afterwards.
I pulled into the driveway and realized tears were scudding unheeded down my cheeks. Jesus, if Bella ever knew where I really came from. Maybe that was the key. Maybe I should tell her. Then she might understand why I didn’t look down on her poverty.
I realized though that I’d quickly forgotten where I’d come from, what my live could have been. Instead, I lived in this gorgeous house, had parents and a brother and sister who loved me. God, I’d been such an ass lately—an ungrateful, forgetful ass.
I shut off the car and walked into the house. Everything was quiet. I was wide awake and cleaned up the glasses off the coffee table and poured myself a glass of milk. I leaned against the kitchen counter while I drank it, trying to decide whether to go on the computer or try to get some sleep.
My father rounded the corner from the living room and stood in the kitchen doorway. He was wearing his pajama bottoms, slung low on his hips. “Hi,” I said quietly.
“Hi. How’d it go?”
I felt a smile slide across my face. “I’m in trouble, Dad.”
“How so?” he asked casually.
“I’m falling for her … HARD,” I emphasized, my voice barely above a whisper.
He grinned. “And this is a bad thing?”
“I know she likes me too, but she’s got this hang up about us being rich.”
He nodded. “And she’s not, I take it.”
“Far from it. She keeps thinking I’m going to judge her, or her parents or something.”
“Do you?” he asked.
I snapped my head up to look at him but realized he wasn’t accusing, simply asking. “No, I don’t. I don’t give a damn where she lives or where she comes from.”
“Have you told her that?”
“Yes, but I don’t think she believed me. She didn’t want me to see where she lived, kept having me drop her a couple blocks away. She even had me pick her up at the CVS tonight, rather than at her house. Said she needed some things. I knew it wasn’t true.”
He poured himself a glass of milk and reclined against the adjacent counter. “That’s a tricky one. Her self-esteem must have taken some blows at some point.”
“Yeah, it has. She keeps comparing herself to those giggly airheads on the cheerleading squad.” I paused. “Like they’re all that and a bag of chips.”
He chuckled. “And you don’t think so?”
“I guess that’s the type most of the other jocks go for.”
“But not you,” he said. It was statement.
I smiled. “Nope. Not me, gotta be different.”
He smiled at me. “Let me guess. Smart, dark and petite is more your type.”
I grinned. “Yeah, I think so.”
He gulped his milk and put his glass in the sink after rinsing it out. “Give her some time, Devlin. Don’t push it. Show her you care about her. Let her get a little more comfortable with you and the idea of being with you. She’ll come around. I can tell by the way she looked at you.”
“How was that?” I asked, curious as to what he saw. He could be pretty perceptive when he wanted to be.
“She’s crazy about you. She couldn’t believe she was with you, Devlin. I don’t think you have any idea the kind of effect you have on women. You melt them like a snowball in hell.”
I laughed out loud then at his analogy. “I hardly think so.”
“Yes, you do. Adult women too, including your mother.”
“She doesn’t count.”
“I know, but I’ve seen it. You have a gift.”
“What do they like?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“I think it’s a lot of things. You like women. You treat them as equals. You seem to instinctively know how they feel and you don’t make them feel like you’d use their feelings against them,” he mused. “You respect them,” he said quietly.
I scrunched my brow, not really understanding.
He sighed. “You respect women, Devlin. It’s something we’ve tried to drill into all of you kids. It’s important to treat women with respect and not as objects to play with or discount.”
“I’d never do that!” I said, thinking of my decision about being with Bella earlier tonight.
“I know,” he said, a trace of pride in his voice. “That’s my point. Especially for someone as young as you, it’s a rare quality. Women respond to that. You respect their minds. You don’t just look at the packaging.”
“Bella’s got both, brains and a nice package,” I joked.
He laughed. “Yes, she does.”
“Dad!”
He chuckled. “Don’t worry, I still only have the hots for your mother.”
I groaned. “Geez, that’s enough information, Dad.”
He laughed and waved over his shoulder as he went out of the room. “Get some sleep, Romeo.”
—X—
PART 11 (NC-17)
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA SUNDAY MORNING JUNE 13 – 2:30 AM
Contrary to my dad’s orders and my own desires, I didn’t sleep. I was tired, but wired, jazzed up from being around Bella. Hell, face it. I was horny. I needed relief from the constant excitement and repression I’d experienced while out on our date.
I wasn’t sorry I had decided not to take our relationship to the level my hard-on had demanded. From the first moment I touched Isabella Quinci, I had been on edge. Tonight made it crystal clear that I was heavily in lust. Yet, I wasn’t sure that was true. I’d been in lust before and this felt different. I might be in love. And if that’s what this was all about, I was willing to wait until she made the next move. In the mean time, I needed to take my problem in hand, so I did.
Ever since I’d started having wet dreams, or night emissions, as my mother had tactfully called them, I’d done my own laundry. I didn’t feel uncomfortable in the least with my sexuality; I guess that’s something I could thank both my parents for. They had always been open, loving and accepting of me as their child and an individual. There was just something that squicked me out about having either one of them handle my bedding after I’d come, either from masturbation or from a wet dream.
A couple months ago I had brought home some of the old magazines that the Uncles had tactfully let me borrow. The first time I noticed my father’s name on the address label, I had seriously freaked. At least until I noticed the date on the magazine itself, way before he was married to my mother. I pulled my favorite one out, but after a few minutes of paging through it, I put it away.
For the first time, I was not interested in the women displayed to turn on any guy with ten dollars for the price of the book. All I could think about was two beautiful brown eyes, shadowed by the thickest, longest lashes I’ve ever seen in my life. Soft, creamy skin and white even teeth made it hard to concentrate on anyone or any thing else. Oh god, and that dress she wore, just enough of the slope of her breasts showing to make me crazy. The women in the books paled by comparison.
Her lips had been so soft, and when she opened her mouth for me, and tentatively darted her sweet tongue into my mouth, I thought I would explode.
– NC-17 PORTION –
I stripped my clothes off and began to stroke my cock, thinking of our kisses. I was almost ready to come just thinking about what had happened earlier. I slid my other hand down my body, stroking across my chest and belly before cupping my balls. Jesus! Thinking of Bella while doing this makes it feel even more intense than ever before. I could taste her on my lips, feel her silky skin under my finger tips, pretend it was her that was touching me, sliding her tiny hand up and down my cock.
I sped up my strokes, closing my eyes and thinking of all the things I’d like to be doing with her right now. I knew it was sexist of me, but I automatically assumed she was a virgin. How would it feel to be inside her? Would it hurt her? Would she bleed? Naw, don’t want to think of pain, gotta go somewhere else.
I suddenly thought of how it would feel to have her go down on me. I have been fascinated by this for a long time. Just the thoughts of a beautiful woman kissing and sucking me have gotten me off in the past.
This time I thought of Bella. I thought of her generous lips, barely colored by the lip gloss she was wearing. While I stoked my cock, I began to picture her luscious mouth kissing my shaft as I lay there naked before her. Her long, lustrous black hair would feel so soft on my belly as she leaned over to caress me. She would put her tiny hand out to touch me, stoking me with her fingertips, while she got familiar with my cock. Would she like what she saw? Had she ever thought about me like this?
I could see her leaning closer, almost feel her warm breath skittering across my cock and balls. My hand automatically sped up and I forced myself to slow down. I didn’t want to come yet. I wanted to play this out in my mind and think of how she would feel as she let her sexy lips open and her pink little tongue slide out to lick across them nervously before she darted forward to taste the pre-come on the end of my cock.
Shit! Gotta slow down! I tried to relax the cheeks of my ass, knowing I’m not going to last long if I don’t slow my body’s response to the pictures of my mind.
She would kiss me, and I automatically buck up into my grasp, just imagining the feeling of her lips on me. I slide my hand over the head of my cock and tease the underside of the hood just enough to make my balls clench.
She would let her lips and tongue move all over me, up and down and then she would place her lips of the tip of my rod and slide down as far as she could.
I could feel it, I started to stroke harder again.
She would put her tiny hands around the base and start to slide the part she couldn’t hold in her mouth up and down as she lifted her head and began to suck on me. It would be so sweet to feel her hair caress my body, her naked skin soft against me as she sat straddling across my upper thighs, bent over to … suck … me … off … Ahhhhhh!
I was gone. My hips snapped up again and again against the pressure of my fist as I spewed come everywhere. I pulled my pillow over to cram it in my mouth, afraid that my howls would wake up someone.
I slowed down, but didn’t stop stroking like I normally did. The warm come that slid back down my cock to my fist made me think about how hot and warm Bella would be. Thoughts of Bella made me hard again and I pounded my pud ‘til I came a second time.
– END OF NC-17 PORTION –
Shit. I had it bad. If I could do this with just my thoughts, what was actually having sex with Bella going to be like? Assuming of course, I thought, that we would eventually have sex. There was no guarantee of that. The ball was completely in her court on that subject.
I must have dozed for a little while because I woke up cold and sticky. I pulled the sheets off the bed and got a clean set of sweats to wear. I took a quick shower and re-made my bed. I lay there for a while, but I was still totally wired. I decided to go downstairs and read some more of the journal.
—X—
Footsteps on the stairs shocked me into action. I quickly closed out of the journal and deleted all the history files and caches, knowing my continued existence as a son in good standing in this household depended on my parents not finding me reading their private journals. Not to mention that I wanted to borrow the car to go see Bella later today and wouldn’t be able to do that if I were grounded.
“Devlin, what are you doing up so early on Sunday?” my mother came into the den from the hall off the kitchen.
“I couldn’t sleep, and I thought I’d might as well get up and get an early start on things,” I said. I really had to work on these excuses.
“What things?” she teased. “Your latest game?” She walked over to give me a good morning hug and glanced down at my screen in surprise.
I had pulled up the scholarship application to M.I.T. without thinking. I glanced down at it and blushed in mortification. Now she was going to get her hopes up and eventually find out that I lied to her.
“Dev, are you thinking of going to M.I.T. after all?” she said with a pleased note in her voice that twisted the knife in my gut.
“Uh, well, I dunno,” I stuttered. “I guess I was thinking about how Bella should get to try out for this scholarship instead of me.”
“Bella, hum?” she said with a smile. “So you think Bella is interested in M.I.T.?”
‘Ah, safe ground at last,’ I thought. “Yeah, Mom, she’s really interested in M.I.T.”
“Why do you think that’s what she wants?”
“Well, Bella is really smart,” I began. We talked about Bella and everything I found out about her up to our date the night before for a long time.
“You know, Devlin, you have the scores and the resources to get into M.I.T. without a scholarship. We can afford it. We’ve put aside money for all of you to go to any school you want. Why don’t you let Bella apply for the scholarship and you go through the regular enrollment process. Then you both could go.”
I stared at my mother for a moment and then started to smile. You had to give it to her, she was always thinking.
“That’s a good idea, Mom. I don’t know about Bella’s other school, but the teachers here all think that she’s really bright. She deserves to get into a good school. She had a full scholarship lined up but it was for residents of Pennsylvania and when her folks moved here she lost her chance for it.”
“What about her folks?” Mom asked. “Can they help her?”
“I don’t think so. Her mom has a good job but her dad is having a hard time finding something around here,” I told her.
“What does he do?” she asked.
That’s my mom, always interested in other people. I told her about the training he had and how he was finding it hard at his age to get his foot in the door of a new career.
My mom made the same suggestion I had thought of earlier. I should have him contact the Uncles. They might have some contacts that could help him. I agreed and logged on to see if anyone was up at that early hour but no sign of action at the Silver Bullet.
“I think I’ll go over there after church,” I said, closing down the computer and standing up. Man I was tired. I only had a few minutes of sleep last night. I couldn’t believe that I’d been reading their journal for hours. I glanced at my mother and tried to reconcile the sexually explicit, gun-toting FBI special agent with the woman who had always been, well … ‘Mom’ to me. I followed her into the kitchen.
The words that my dad used to describe her and the way she wrote about my dad were so at odds with the couple I knew. Well, I thought I knew them.
Dad walked into the room, scratching his head and yawning. “Mornin’ Dev,” he said to me as he walked directly to Mom and wrapped her up in his arms.
She smiled as he held her, placing her cheek against his bare chest. Sighing, she slid her arms around his waist. They stood there in the sunlight of the kitchen and rocked back and forth. My mother kissed him in the middle of his chest and I heard my dad groan, “Scully, what you do to me.”
I pulled some oranges from the refrigerator to squeeze and turned to place them on the counter. It was a tradition at our house to have fresh squeezed orange juice before church on Sundays.
I glanced at my parents and opened my mouth to ask if they wanted me to juice some for them too, but I stopped, transfixed. My mother had stepped back from Dad and was gazing up into his eyes as if there was no one else on earth. My father was staring down at my mother with this look on his face that I’ve never seen before.
Oh, I’ve seen milder versions of it and laughing, teasing takes on it, but they’d never before let themselves get lost in a look in front of one of us kids before.
“Scully,” my dad whispered.
That was all, but they didn’t need to say anything else. I was blushing, I could feel it. My mother stepped back from my dad far enough to turn towards the kitchen door.
“Devlin, I think I’m going to miss church this morning. Since you’ve already said you were going, would you bring M&M home with you?” Her smile was serene, but the slight flush to her cheeks let me know she was as affected by my father as he was by her. “You may use my car.”
Dad never took his eyes off her, following her as she picked up his hand and led him back towards the doorway.
That’s when I saw ‘IT’. Holy Shit! My dad had a huge boner that was tenting his pajama bottoms. Whoa! What the hell? Then unbidden, I remembered my mother’s words from the journal. ‘I smiled as I wrapped my lips around the girth of him and slid down as far as I could. He was too large for me to deep throat, hell, for most women, but I knew from the moans of pleasure that he made that I was doing something right. God, he was thick, too.’
UGH! Too much information. Thoughts that maybe this was why it was a private journal and they had taken such intricate measures to encrypt it ran through my head. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t read any more,’ I thought as I poured my cereal. Then I remembered my main goal. I needed to know as much as possible about me and my beginnings. Again, a flush of embarrassment swept over me. They already had told me a lot about my parentage, what did I think I would find out from their personal observations?
I glanced at the clock and realized that I was going to be late for Mass if I didn’t hurry. I wolfed down the rest of my breakfast and ran upstairs to get ready for church.
—X—
Damn, I was almost late to Mass. I had taken a shower and picked out my clothes quickly, but as I was getting dressed, the thoughts of the huge boner my old man had this morning made me hesitate. I walked over to the mirror on the back of my closet door and stood there naked, looking at my body. I was okay, probably a little better looking than a lot of guys my age because of the physical activity my parents had encouraged in all of us from the time we were young.
I thought again how huge Dad’s erection appeared to be this morning. I began to stroke my cock, self-consciously, feeling embarrassed but not enough to stop. I wasn’t anywhere near the size of my old man. Did that mean I was sub-normal? I pulled on my boxers and my jeans and arranged myself so that my erection was comfortable. I turned side-ways and studied my profile. Nope, I sure wasn’t a Mulder in the equipment department. I tucked in my shirt and wondered what Bella would think of my package. Would she laugh when she saw me? Hell! What was normal? I glanced at the clock and saw that I was really late. Crap. I had to go.
—X—
LONE GUNMEN LAIR ARLINGTON, VA SUNDAY JUNE 13 – 1:00 PM
Gramma told me that she would take M&M home after mass. She had promised them that they would go out to brunch and had called my parents to let them know already. She asked if I wanted to go but I told her that I was going over to the Uncles’ for a while.
By the time I got to Arlington and to their building, I was starving and sorry I’d turned down her offer of lunch. I could smell Uncle Frohike’s specialty as I walked up to the door. Huevos Rancheros had been a favorite of mine for years, and no one could make it like my Uncle Mel.
I knocked and Uncle John opened the door. He always looked so surprised to see me. I sometimes think he expected me to be about M&M’s age and have my parents with me. He waved me in and went back to his computer.
Langly grunted at me, deep in the process of monitoring ‘The Game’. I knew he would put it on hold and join us for food at the precise moment Uncle Mel dished it up.
I went into the kitchen to surprise him.
“Don’t even think about it punk,” he said without turning around.
I had to laugh. Uncle Melvin was secretly my favorite of the Uncles. I enjoyed the challenge of Langly’s mind and Uncle John was the most overtly affectionate of the three, but Uncle Mel had always been the one who I was closest to.
“What’s going on, Dev?” he asked, not turning around. “Everything all right with your mother?” he asked.
I laughed again. It was a well known secret that Uncle Melvin had a soft spot for my mom. Heck they all did really, but he was more vocal about his feelings. “Everything is okay,” I said.
He finally turned around to look at me. “Just okay, Devlin?” he said with concern.
“Yeah, I got some news and a favor I wanted to ask of you all, but I don’t want to repeat myself three times. How about we wait until we’re eating?”
I knew that if I hadn’t shown up they would have probably eaten in their individual areas, continuing with their work or whatever. They always made a point of stopping what they were doing to talk to me when I came over. It was just one of the things that made our relationship so special. They didn’t do that for anyone else, just me. Well, and maybe my folks and M&M.
When the food was ready, I helped carry it out to the work area. Uncle John had cleared off the small work table that they used in place of a dining room. We all dug in and the only sounds to be heard were the clinking of silverware and the soft hums and beeps from the various pieces of equipment running in the room.
“More coffee, anyone?” Uncle John asked as he poured some for himself.
I held out my cup and got another shot of coffee. I was getting really sleepy now that I’d eaten. I was going to need the caffeine.
“Well, Dev, you said that you had some news and a favor to ask,” Uncle Melvin finally said.
I looked at them and realized that my news was not going to be an earth-shattering revelation to them. I told them about the talk I’d had with Mom and Dad about my adoption. As I suspected, they knew all about it. They also knew about my folk’s role in the alien invasion, but wouldn’t discuss it. They wanted me to ask them about it.
I changed the subject and told them about Bella. I took a lot of ribbing and teasing from my three ‘old maid’ Uncles. I must have gone on a little long about how beautiful she was and how smart and how she had given me what-for when I tried to put down college. They were all supportive of my suggestions about M.I.T. Then I got to the point I wanted to discuss with them.
“I was hoping you guys could help Bella’s father. He was a steelworker in Pennsylvania, but he’s really good with computer hardware. He’s completed a couple tech courses, but at his age, with no experience and no degree, he’s having trouble finding a job that pays more than minimum wage. I was thinking maybe one of you knows someone who could give him a chance, a job and let him prove himself.”
“We’d like to help, Devlin, but all the help in the world won’t do him any good if he can’t produce once he has his foot in the door. Are you sure he’s qualified?” Uncle John said.
I grinned at him sheepishly. “Well, Bella said,” I stumbled to a halt. All three of them were grinning at me. “What?”
“You got it bad, Mini-Mulder,” Langly said as he shook his head. Of the three he was the only one who refused the respectful title of uncle.
“Devlin,” Uncle Mel said to get my attention. “He needs help, I’m sure and we’ll try to find something for him. Here,” he said as he crossed the room to rifle through a drawer that looked like it was full of junk. He pulled a business card out and handed it to me. “Tell him to call these people. They’re a respectable agency that helps older citizens.”
“He’s …”
“Not that he’s a senior citizen or anything, but they help people who are doers, not your basic college educated idiots that are given first priority for the high paying positions.”
I grinned and accepted the card, “Bella wonders where I get my lack of respect for a college education from.”
“Yeah, well, they’ll test him and give him some leads on positions. He should ask for a guy named Buzz. He’s a friend of mine and I’ll give him a heads-up about Bella’s dad. IF he can produce, Buzz will get him a job—a good-paying one at that.”
“Thanks, Uncle Mel. I appreciate it.”
“So you and the ‘ragazza bella’ are getting close, huh?” Langly asked.
“Ragazza Bella?” I asked.
“The ‘beautiful girl’” he said and waggled his eyebrows at me.
I know I must have blushed six shades of red because all three of them began to laugh at me.
“So the love bug has finally bitten our boy, huh?” Uncle John said with a smile. He suddenly became more serious and said, “Your folks did talk to you about … uh, things, didn’t they?”
“You mean safe sex?” I asked him.
“Yes, Devlin,” he said. “You are too young to be playing with your future by practicing unsafe sex,” he said definitely.
“Well, considering that Bella is way too important to me to try anything like that, I don’t think we have to worry,” I contended.
“Ah, Devlin, Devlin, Devlin,” Langly said with a shake of his head. “You always have to worry, boy! You can’t always count on roping the oompa loompa to relieve your problems. Sometimes a guy has to interact, ya’ know?”
I stared at him in disbelief. Langly? Giving advice on sex?
“Shut up dip-wad,” Uncle Mel said. “Devlin, as crass as Goldilocks put it, you do have to worry. You’re young, you have a lot of hormones flushing through your system, and so does she. You need to be prepared.”
“I … I don’t even know if she would want me,” I said quietly, thinking of the comparison between me and my father. “Maybe she could do better, you know?”
“Better than you?” Uncle John was shocked. “Devlin Mulder, there are no young men as intelligent and special as you. Your brother will be when he’s your age, but none of your peers even come close to being as great a kid as you are!” The other two uncles nodded their agreement.
I was really speechless now. They had never overtly stated their opinion of me before. I knew they liked me, even loved me as part of their family, but to be this vocal about their feelings was quite a surprise.
“Yeah, well …” I sputtered.
“Devlin, it’s not like you to be this unsure of yourself,” Uncle Melvin said. “What’s really bothering you?”
I suddenly felt very tired and kinda sad. “I don’t know, Uncle Mel,” I said untruthfully. I hesitated, wondering if I could ask them what was really on my mind.
“You can ask us anything, you know, Devlin,” Uncle John said quietly.
I looked at the three of them and shook my head, “I don’t know if I can.”
“Go ahead, little dude,” Langly said. “We’ll give you the straight dope.”
I was blushing again, but I decided I had to ask someone. “It’s just … well, this morning, I … my mom and dad were hugging and I … well, my dad got kinda …” I waggled my hand in the general area of my crotch. “You know.”
They all nodded, a varying degree of awareness dawning on their faces.
“Well, I … he’s … and I don’t know if Bella will want me because I’m nowhere … uh, as well equipped as my dad.” I hung my head, afraid of their responses. There, I said it. I finally looked up, waiting for their response.
All three sat there stunned.
Finally Uncle Mel swallowed hard and said, “Devlin, your father is a redwood among sprouts. He’s had a hard life … I mean a tough life. I think God gave him some extra compensation in the physical department to make up for other things.”
“If you’re worried that you don’t measure up to your father,” Uncle John said, “don’t feel alone. Few men on this earth have what it takes to compare themselves to Fox Mulder when it comes to integrity, strength of character or intelligence. But if it’s strictly the physical you’re worried about, don’t give it a second thought.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Men come in all sizes and shapes, Devlin. It isn’t what you’ve been given that makes a woman want you. It’s how you use it,” Langly said.
“Yeah, but how am I supposed to know what to do if I’ve never done it before?”
“Well, now that’s a question I’d prefer you ask your father,” Uncle Mel said. “Some things a guy should talk to his dad about. I’m sure there are books and er, internet sites that could help you, too, but try asking your dad. He’ll be straight with you.”
I thought over their words for a moment before becoming uncomfortable with the entire discussion. I picked up all the plates and took them back into the kitchen just to get away for a moment.
“Dev?” Uncle Mel said as he followed me into the room. “What you’re feeling is totally normal. Most guys go through this a lot younger and have a few years before they actually have someone they are dating to worry about. Talk to Mulder. He’ll help.”
I nodded and continued to scrape and rinse the dishes.
“Uncle Mel? What did you mean that my dad had a tough life?”
“That’s something else you need to discuss with your father. It’s his story to tell, Devlin, but I can tell you this. He’s not always had an easy time of it. His childhood was … rough and his ability as a father is a testament to his personal strength more than to any role model he had.”
I nodded. ‘More mysteries to uncover,’ I thought.
“You don’t have to do the dishes, you know. I’ll bet you wanted to go see Bella on your way home, right?”
“Yeah, I do and I got a lot of homework to finish.”
“Homework? How did your folks let you get all the way to Sunday before they made sure you had your homework done?”
We were back to the everyday and I was relieved. All this hard stuff was making me tired, and with the lack of sleep I had last night, I was dragging.
I called Bella before I left and she said I could stop by on my way home. I was anxious to give her the information for her dad, and I was excited about seeing her again.
—X—
PART 12 (PG-13)
QUINCI RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA SUNDAY JUNE 13 – 3:00 PM
I saw Devlin pull up in the driveway and rushed out to meet him. I looked back at the house and could see my father standing in the picture window in the front room, hands on hips, glaring out at us.
Dad was all set to dislike Dev just because he was a rich kid. We’d already had one family ‘discussion’ about it this morning. I tried to tell him that Devlin Mulder wasn’t like that. He might come from a rich family, but he definitely did not have a ‘rich kid’ attitude. Mom had promised to keep Dad from being alone with Devlin until he got to know him better.
I couldn’t blame my father. I’d been hurt by other kids before. Everything had been great when I was younger and Dad had his job. We weren’t rich, but money wasn’t a problem, even with all the kids we had in the family. However, when Dad had lost his job and we’d lost the house and had to move, some of the people I’d considered my good friends for years suddenly had no time for me. It was a reality check that had cut me to the quick. I wondered what they thought. Maybe they were just scared that if it happened to my dad, being around me could cause it to happen to theirs. Stupid, huh?
I was the oldest and I guess I experienced more of the separation of lifestyles than the younger kids. I was five years older than my oldest brother. Dad used to tease Mom that it took them a while but they finally got the hang of things and then couldn’t turn off the baby-making machine. I loved how my mom would blush and fuss at Dad, but I could tell that they were truly in love and that went a long way to making things better.
Dad was just being protective of me now. He would settle down once he got to know how wonderful Devlin really was.
True to her word, Mom stopped Dad from coming out to the front yard to talk to Devlin. I needed to warn him about my father, so I rushed out the front door and waited excitedly by his car, trying to think of what to say before they met.
“Dev! You made it!” I said brightly. I reached for his hand and twiddled with his fingers nervously.
He looked at me with a funny expression, “Yeah, I told you I would be over soon when we talked about half an hour ago. Is this not a good time?”
“Yeah, it’s great, fine,” I said. He continued to stare at me with his head cocked to the side as if trying to read my mind and find out what I was really thinking.
“Bella?” he asked.
“Damn, not working, huh?” I sighed. “It’s my dad, Dev. He’s not happy that I’m going out with you.”
“He doesn’t like me?” he asked, surprised. “He doesn’t even know me.”
I laughed and smiled up at him. His features smoothed into a happy grin to match mine. “He doesn’t have to know you, Mr. Mulder. You are a boy and I am his precious ‘baby girl’,” I said with a grin.
“Oh, I get it. I’m a guy, so I’m a threat, right?”
I smiled and nodded.
“I’m just a walking bundle of hormones waiting to ravish his baby girl?” he growled.
I nodded again, swallowing hard, thinking about our date last night and how good his hands and lips had felt on me.
“A walking dick without two brain cells to rub together?” he whispered.
“I didn’t say that,” I whispered back.
“No, I did. That’s how you make me feel, Bella. I’m so turned on by you that I don’t know if your father is wrong about you being around me.”
I blushed and looked into his eyes. “You are more than your body, Devlin Mulder and you know it. I wouldn’t be interested in you if you were just great looking.”
“Oh, so you think I’m cute?” he teased.
I could tell he was trying to get us back into safe territory, so I played along. “I wouldn’t go that far,” I teased. His face fell and I couldn’t stick to my tease. “But you do have a great butt,” I whispered. I turned and tugged him towards the house. Might as well get this over with and let him meet the parents. At least my mother was in the living room with Dad right now to help ease things.
As we approached the door, I turned back and stepped into his arms. “Oh, and don’t get upset if Dad is kinda touchy about you being rich and all,” I said.
“Bella!” he groaned. “I’m not rich, my parents are. I’m just a lucky kid.”
“I know, Devlin, I know. I believe you, but my Dad has issues, you know? Bear with him, okay? For me?” I pleaded.
Devlin nodded and then started digging in his front pocket. “Hey, I wanted to give this to you,” he said.
“What is it?” I asked as I turned it over. It was a business card with the name Buzz written on the back of it.
“It’s an agency that specializes in employment services for people like your dad,” he said.
“What?” I was surprised to find that I was a little defensive even now. “What do you mean, ‘like my dad?’,” I said.
“You know, guys who know how to do things but don’t have a degree— doers, not professional students. These guys are good, my Uncle Melvin is a friend of that guy Buzz. He said that they would test your father and hook him up with prospective employers.”
“Oh,” I said, suddenly feeling very small. I looked up at Devlin and saw the gentle smile on his lips.
“It’s okay, Bella. I understand,” he whispered.
I smiled at him and lifted up on my tiptoes to kiss him. How did this guy get to be this old and not have women hanging off him all the time?
“Thank you,” I said simply.
“You’re welcome.”
Suddenly the door opened behind me. “You two going to stand out on our front stoop and neck all day or are you coming in like two decent young people and introducing your young man to your parents?” my dad growled.
Devlin opened the storm door and waited until I entered before stepping into the entry himself. My father backed up and I threw a pleading look towards my mother, begging for help.
“I’m sorry, sir. It’s my fault. I’m kinda nervous about meeting you. She was reassuring me that everything would be all right.” Devlin stuck out his hand and looked my father in the eye. “Hi, I’m Devlin Mulder.”
My father was still frowning, but I could tell he appreciated Devlin’s straightforward apology and approach. “Vincent Quinci, and this is my wife, Sophia,” he said.
Devlin shook hands with my mother and smiled at her. “I can see where Bella gets her beauty.”
My father laughed out loud, “You better watch it, boy. She may be tiny and she’s beautiful, but she packs a mean wallop. She can spot a bull-shitter a mile away.”
My mother smacked my father on the arm and made a censuring noise. “Quiet Vince, you’ll give him the wrong impression.”
“Oh?” my dad said.
“You’ll make him think that I’m some sort of mind reader or something,” she teased. She looked directly at Devlin and asked seriously, “If I could read your mind, what would I find out about you, Devlin Mulder?”
Dad gave out a belly laugh and hugged her to his side. “See? Gotta watch her every minute.”
Devlin blushed and laughed with him. “I’ll remember that, sir.”
I was almost ready to sink into the floor in mortification when I saw my Nana walking into the room.
“Amperora, ?l giovane del Bella. Devlin, how are you?” Nana asked.
“You know this guy, Momma?” my father asked.
“Yes, I was up last night when he brought Bella home. He’s a nice young man, Vince. You could let him into the living room.”
She continued to walk into the room and sat in the rocking chair by the front window. “Well?”
My mother hurriedly asked Devlin to come on in and sit for a while. She asked if anyone wanted something to drink and then asked me to come to the kitchen to help. I threw her a pleading glance but she shook her head and nodded at Nana. I got up to go help. It wasn’t going to do any good to argue. I just hope that the thundering herd of my brothers and sisters didn’t choose to descend on the living room until I got back there.
I hurriedly helped Mom make tea and get the glasses of ice together on a tray. I was surprised when she put out some of the cookies that she had baked this morning. Mom wasn’t one to try to impress any of the kids I’d brought home before. I stared at her until she looked up and flushed lightly.
“What? You don’t want to make your young man comfortable?” she said.
“Yeah, I do, but I’m just surprised,” I responded without thinking.
“Why do you say that?” she asked.
I tried to think of a way to tell her what I was thinking without sounding like a brat when she continued. “If your Nana likes him, he’s must be all right,” she said with a shrug. “Nana is a very good judge of character.”
“He is a good guy, Mom,” I whispered. I shoved my hands in the front pockets of my jeans, feeling uncomfortable talking to her about Devlin before she got to know him. I felt the card in my pocket and pulled it out. “He gave me this for Dad. It’s an agency that will help him find a computer job.”
“Bella! You know your father is very touchy about anyone knowing about his business,” she scolded me.
“I know. I wasn’t talking about Dad’s private business. I just felt uncomfortable about his parents being so wealthy and I slipped and told him about Dad’s unemployment when we arguing about college.”
“Where did he get this?” she asked. “I’ve never heard of these people.”
“He got it from his Uncles. They are these really geeky techno nerds. One runs the on-line D&D game Devlin likes so much. They’ve got a lot of contacts in the computer business. He said that that guy, Buzz, would help Dad find something.” I pointed to the name written on the card. “It couldn’t hurt, Mom.”
My mother sighed, but I could tell she wanted to give it to Dad. “Maybe I should give it to him and not tell him it came from you until he contacts these people. If they help we’ll let him know where the information came from and if it’s a dead end, we’ll just let it drop.”
“Okay,” I said. I just wanted to help my father.
“Now, let’s get this tea out there before Devlin cuts and runs from your father’s inquisition,” she said with a smirk.
“Oh geez,” I blurted and I picked up the tray with glasses to return to the living room. I panicked when I got there and only Nana was sitting in her rocking chair.
“Where are Devlin and Dad?” I asked.
Nana just nodded towards the window. Devlin and my father were outside with the hood up on Devlin’s car. I relaxed. My father was a closet mechanic and loved to look at nice cars. He and Devlin were in a lively discussion and I could tell that everything was going to be all right. If he didn’t like Dev, he’d be sitting in here on the couch glaring at him and not saying a word.
Yep, everything was going just great.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA SUNDAY JUNE 13 – 5:00 PM
Dad emerged from his office and headed for the kitchen. “What are you doing now, Dad?”
He stopped and turned as he passed me in the living room. “I was going to start dinner. Wanna help?”
“Yeah.”
He smiled, looking surprised and said, “Well, come on, then.”
We entered the kitchen and he instructed me to cut up cucumbers and tomatoes and carrots for a salad. He turned on the oven to preheat and began laying out noodles and sauce and cheese in a pan for lasagna, one of his best dishes. I cut the vegetables, trying to think of a way to broach the subject I wanted to discuss.
Displaying that uncanny intuition of his, he asked, “So what’s on your mind, Dev? Spill it.”
I chuckled, no longer surprised at his ability to know when I wanted to ask him something. “It’s a little embarrassing.”
“Shoot,” he said calmly, not even looking up. I think he knew that when he looked me in the eye, I had a harder time talking about things.
“I have some questions about … sex,” I blurted out.
I glanced sideways and saw the edge of his lips turn up, but that was his only reaction. “What do you want to know?”
“Well, this may sound stupid but, does size matter?”
He couldn’t restrain a chuckle then. “No,” he said simply.
“You’re sure? ‘Cause I know that isn’t an issue for you.”
He did turn then, after finishing the top layer of cheese in the pan. He leaned casually on the counter. “Just how do you know it’s not an issue for me?” he teased.
I couldn’t help the slight heat I felt rise up in my cheeks. “I’ve … uh … seen you … excited,” I stuttered.
His eyebrows went up. “Really?” he answered slyly.
“Not what you think. I’ve never spied, but um, I’ve seen you a couple times when Mom got you going,” I said softly. “Like, uh, this morning.”
He chuckled again. “Well, thank you, Devlin,” he said, this time the tease was evident in his voice.
“Dad, please!”
He was suddenly somber, realizing I was really worried. He cleared his throat and I knew he was going into his Dr. Mulder mode. “It doesn’t matter, Devlin. It only matters to men and their egos. I’ll tell you why. For a woman, ninety-nine percent of the pleasure receptors are in the first three to four inches of their vaginas,” he stated in a very clinical voice.
Now my eyebrows went up. “Really?”
“Really,” he confirmed. “That’s where the majority of the nerve endings are. That’s where the G-spot is, that’s where the clitoris is. There are a very FEW, and I stress the word, FEW, women that respond to deep, pelvic pressure. That isn’t the rule though. Those women are rare. Even those women will also respond to regular stimulation of the clitoris or G-spot. That’s where ninety percent of their orgasms generate from on a physical level anyway.”
I sighed loudly, pushing air out of my lips. “Oh,” I said stupidly.
He smiled, but wasn’t mocking me when I raised my eyes to his. “Are you a virgin, Devlin?” he asked suddenly.
I startled but met his gaze. “Yes,” I said quietly.
That made him smile a bit wider. “Good,” he said.
“I don’t think so,” I muttered, looking down at the counter.
“Do you think things might go that far with Bella?” he asked gently.
I looked at him again and swallowed harshly. “I hope so,” I said.
“You know it’s important to use a condom, right?”
“Yes, of course,” I said.
“Even if she’s a virgin, Devlin, there are pregnancy and STD issues.”
“I know, Dad. I’m not stupid,” I said slightly defensive.
“I never said you were,” he answered mildly. “I just remember what it’s like to be a teenager. In the heat of the moment, it’s easy to forget, believe me.”
I remembered the rush of kissing Bella and feeling her tiny body against mine on that couch, and realized he was right. ‘I’d kept my head, but if she’d been naked, would I have?’ I wondered.
“What do you suggest?”
“Discuss it with her beforehand. That can be awkward, but let her know that you have protection for when and if the time comes. It will ease her fears that you will be irresponsible about it, show her you care about her future, not just getting off for the moment,” he said. “Of course, this predisposes that you are prepared,” he added with a little grin.
I smiled. “I can get prepared,” I responded.
“See that you do.” He turned and picked up the lasagna, putting it into the preheated oven. “Was there anything else?”
“I’m afraid I won’t know what I’m doing,” I admitted finally.
He straightened up and shut the oven door and motioned for us to sit down at the kitchen table. We did and he sighed again. “Is there something specific you want to know or just things in general?”
“I don’t know. I’m afraid I’ll be too eager.”
He smiled. “That’s normal and frankly, you might be. Condoms actually can help with that, believe it or not.”
“What do you mean?”
“It cuts down your sensitivity, which isn’t always a bad thing, if you know what I mean?”
“I want to make sure, if it happens, that I … that it’s … good for her,” I mumbled.
He took a deep breath. “Then I recommend a good deal of foreplay. Women aren’t like us, Devlin, as a rule. Meaning they don’t just get aroused instantly and they’re ready to go. They get just as excited as us, but it takes them a little longer to get there. Our biggest sex organ is between our legs. A women’s biggest sex organ is between her ears. You know what I’m saying?” he asked.
I nodded. “I think so.”
“They respond to physical stimulation. However, just the fact that you take the time to excite them, touch them, kiss them before you dive in goes a long way toward relaxing them and making them feel that you really care. They need to know that you care for their pleasure as well as your own. If you just dive in, it will seem like all you care about is getting your rocks off, even if that isn’t the case.”
“I get it,” I said, nodding. It made sense.
“Is she a virgin?” he asked.
“I think so. I’m ninety-nine percent sure,” I said.
“Then you will have to be careful. When the time comes, go as slow as you can until you feel some resistance and then stop and let her get adjusted. How do I say this?” he said, running his hand through his hair. “If she still has her hymen, then you want to go through it quickly. Once you’re through it, though, you want to hold still until she tells you that it’s all right to move. It will hurt her, Devlin. There’s no getting around that. If you’re careful and patient though, the pain won’t last very long.”
“I don’t want to hurt her,” I said.
“You might not. She might not have her hymen.”
“I know she’s a virgin,” I blurted out.
He smiled. “Sex isn’t the only thing that can rupture it, Devlin,” he replied. “If she’s gone for gynecological exams, she may have had her doctor break it. If she’s masturbated with toys, she could have broken it herself.”
I gasped, a sudden picture of Bella on a bed with a dildo between her legs flashed through my mind. I squeezed my legs together, willing my erection that was suddenly blooming to go back down.
Dad smiled, obviously knowing what was happening. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I don’t know how much to say,” he said.
“It’s all right. Just gave me a visual I hadn’t thought of before,” I admitted.
He chuckled, that infuriating, knowing chuckle of his. I couldn’t even be mad at him for it. He was being so forthcoming with me, and much better about this than I’d thought. I expected I might have to sit through a lecture first to get the answers to the questions I really wanted answered. So far, there had been no lecture.
Finally, after several moments of silence, he said, “Was there something else?”
“No, not really,” I said hesitantly.
“Do you want me to get you some pamphlets on the female anatomy?”
“No, I’ve pretty much know what’s down there,” I joked.
He laughed outright this time. “I’m sure you do,” he responded.
“Thanks Dad,” I said.
He looked at me inquiringly, “For what part?” He was teasing me again.
“For not going all ‘parent’ on me,” I said with a shrug.
He sighed and said, “You’re welcome, Devlin. I didn’t think that was what you needed.”
“But you really wanna, huh?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I do.”
“Go ahead, Dad. Lay it on me,” I said. I felt it was a magnanimous offer; after all, he’d been straight with me and I guess I owed him something.
He stared at me for a moment before he quietly said, “Thanks, but no thanks, Devlin. Your mother and I have tried to teach you about things like responsibility and love and commitment your whole life. We’ve lived our lives by the same principles that we’ve preached. If it hasn’t sunk in by now, it’s too late. You seem to genuinely care for Bella. The fact that you are worried about her safety and her pleasure indicates to me that we’ve been successful.” He smiled at me and started cleaning up the kitchen mess from cooking.
I stared at him for a few minutes, thinking what a lucky bastard I was to have him and my mom. “I talked to the Gunmen today,” I said.
“Oh yeah?” he queried. “What about?”
“I wanted to know if they could help Bella’s father get a job. In the course of conversation, though, you came up.”
He went still and stared at me, not responding. He was waiting, but his stillness was unnerving. After a few moments, he asked, “How so?”
“I was gonna ask them about these things but they said I should ask you.”
“So you did.”
“Yeah, but while we were talking, Uncle Mel mentioned that you’ve had a tough life. I think it was a slip, but he refused to elaborate, and said I should ask you about that too. What did he mean?”
“I don’t know,” he said.
I stared at him and his eyes got a faraway look I had never seen. “Yes, you do,” I said plainly.
He jerked his eyes back to mine. “My childhood wasn’t pleasant, Devlin. That’s probably what he was referring to, although I’m not sure. He could have been referring to my time as a field agent.”
“Why wasn’t your childhood pleasant?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t going to make him angry. This was obviously a touchy subject. I knew that or Uncle Mel would have talked about it. The mere fact that he insisted I ask my father told me it was something important.
His jaw moved from side to side, something he did when he was thinking. He pursed his lips and took a deep breath through his nose. “I had a little sister. Did I ever tell you that?”
“No,” I said simply.
He smiled. “We were four years apart. She was a pain in the ass, but I loved her.”
I smiled. “Kind of like the twins,” I replied.
He nodded. “I’m sure. When I was twelve, and she was eight, something terrible happened,” he said slowly.
I swallowed. I’d never heard of this sister, an aunt in effect, so I assumed she must be dead. “Did she die?” I asked softly.
“Yes,” he said, obviously thinking about how much to say.
“How? A car accident or something?”
“No, Devlin. She was abducted.”
“Someone kidnapped her?” I asked.
“No, something abducted her. Later I found out she’d been experimented on.”
“What?”
“You know those experiments I told you that were done on your mother?”
“Yeah,” I said, getting a really bad feeling.
“Well, they weren’t the only experiments. Remember Mom telling you they cloned you but only to make adults?”
“Yeah,” I said again.
“Well, before that time, they cloned children too, and my sister was one of them.”
“They?” I asked.
“The aliens, the shadow government, both in league together. I was never sure, but I saw her clones. Later, some tips led me to April Air Force base and a hospital where she was taken, and I found her diary. It’s a long story, but I’d spent nearly twenty-six years at that point searching for her. Her diary told of how she was held and tortured by them under the guise of medical testing. She ran away from her captors to escape the pain. The account from the nurse Scully found that had worked at the hospital where she was last seen, confirmed that she died when she was fourteen years old.”
“Jesus Christ!” I whispered.
He blinked rapidly. “But that’s about her, not me, right?”
“Right, but I can see how that would screw up your childhood, for sure.”
“If only that were all of it,” he said wistfully.
I was continually amazed lately at this man I’d called my father for most of my life. I realized just how little I knew about him and his background. I had taken him for granted and I was feeling a twinge of guilt again. “What happened to you?”
“Well, after Samantha was taken—that was her name, Samantha—things were never the same. My parents fought. My father would get drunk and accuse me of ‘losing my sister’ because ‘I was supposed to be watching her’. They took her when we were home alone together.”
—X—
PART 13 (R)
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 13 – 5:30 PM
“What the fuck?” I hissed.
He looked at me. “Watch your mouth,” he said almost absently. He was still a father, even when relating things like this.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
He let it go. He took another deep breath and met my eyes again. “My father beat me, Devlin. He beat me and was verbally abusive to me until I was about fifteen years old. Then my parents divorced and he left. I left for college two years later and barely saw him after that.”
“God, I’m sorry!” I breathed out. “I had no idea!”
“I know you didn’t. It’s not something I like to spread around. I’d rather leave it in the past where it belongs,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Besides, kids don’t need to hear that stuff.”
“I’m not a kid anymore,” I reminded him.
He smiled softly. “No, you’re not. That’s why I chose to answer you. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything to the twins, though.”
“I won’t. I promise,” I said automatically.
“Good, I know I can trust you,” he said. He reached across the table and squeezed my hand. I felt a rush of emotion from him. There was a sadness so deep it nearly made me dizzy, followed quickly by a sense of relief, and followed again by a wave of affection and love.
I gasped, knowing the sadness was for his sister and the treatment he’d received from his father, the relief was for it being in the past and for having told me and gotten it off his chest again, and the affection and love was for me. How did I know this? I have no idea, but I did know. I just KNEW. I blinked, feeling tears sting my eyelids. A few seconds passed, and I felt an unfamiliar sensation coming from him. I looked into his eyes, his hand still lying on top of mine.
Trust. He trusted me. He said softly, “You’re a man now, Devlin.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing.
“You’ve grown into such a good man,” he continued. “I’m proud of you, you know?” he added, chewing on his bottom lip.
I cleared my throat. Fox Mulder trusted me. Again, for no reason at all, I just KNEW that this was a big deal and that he didn’t trust easily. I felt honored to have that trust and I felt good that he was proud of me. I made myself a promise to try never to let him down. I thought briefly about the journal and my sneaking around and reading it and dismissed it. I had a right to the information in there about me and I would never reveal any of their private information. “Thanks for telling me, Dad,” I said finally.
“Thanks for listening,” he said. He pulled his hand away and all the sensations stopped.
I nearly gasped again as they were suddenly cut off. What the fuck was going on here? This was happening more and more lately. I would just know what people were feeling when I was touching them. It was starting to unnerve me. Maybe there was something unique about me. I was an experiment after all. The idea frightened me, that maybe I wasn’t normal. That’s all I wanted, was to be normal. Something told me that I was never going to be normal, and that scared the shit out of me.
—X—
THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL FALLS CHURCH, VA MONDAY JUNE 14 – 10:00 AM
I sat down at my table in the lab. I liked my Biology class. Science was always a particular interest of mine. It used a lot of math, which I found came easy to me, so that made it even more enjoyable. I arranged my books on the table and looked at the beaker and Bunsen burner, wondering what we were going to do today.
I sat alone as usual, not having a lab partner for this class. About five minutes into the class, the door burst open and Kathy Thiebolt bounced into the room. “Sorry I’m late,” she giggled, addressing Mr. Parker, our teacher.
He frowned. “Who’s your partner?” he asked.
“Tommy Fisk, but he isn’t here today,” she answered, giving him a saccharine smile.
He frowned and pointed at me. “Then join Ms. Quinci for today, please, and be quiet.”
She frowned and so did I. Jesus, I didn’t need this. She bounced over and plopped her books on the table. We shot each other disgusted looks and then turned back to the teacher. The class seemed to take forever and I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Fortunately, we didn’t do any experiments and I didn’t have to work with her. The bell finally rang and I sighed with relief.
As I was picking up my books, she slammed into me and everything went flying—my papers, my books, my pencils. I yelped as one of my books smashed into my chin before falling loudly to the floor. All activity ceased and everyone turned to stare at us. “You did that on purpose,” I hissed.
She sneered at me. “You think you’re such hot shit, don’t you?”
“No, but apparently you do.” I stooped down to pick up my books.
She said, “What are you doing sniffing around Devlin Mulder?” she asked.
Ah, so that was what this was about. She had a boyfriend though, didn’t she? Tommy Fisk, captain of the football team, if I wasn’t mistaken. “Why should you care?”
“‘Cause he’s out of your league, mouse. No reason why some little jerk should come along and take him away from someone who deserves him.”
“Someone like you?” I asked, standing, once I had my books and papers gathered. ‘I will not let her get to me,’ I mentally chanted.
“Yes. Sara was making progress ‘til you came along,” she said, nearly spitting in my face. How attractive. Sara must be one of the little sycophants who followed her around all day.
“Did it ever occur to you that Devlin Mulder is interested in more than a nice set of boobs?” I asked sarcastically, no longer able to restrain myself.
“What would he want with a little plain Jane like you? Do you honestly think he’s genuinely interested in you? Dream on, IQ! He probably wants help with his homework, and at least I have boobs,” she spit out as an add-on, as if I should care.
“Yes, your daddy bought you a nice set, didn’t he?” I said in a sickly sweet tone of voice. Our entire audience started to laugh. “They match the nose he bought last year just fine.” I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing with them. I had seen her freshman picture on one of the cheerleading bulletin boards and knew that she’d had some surgery done there.
She turned ten shades of red and spat out me, “You little bitch!” That first part had been a guess, but from her reaction, I’d apparently hit the nail on the head. I couldn’t help the smile that tickled the corners of my mouth. She dropped her books and made to swing at me with her open hand. I backed up in time to see Mr. Parker grab her upraised hand from behind. She struggled briefly until she realized who it was. “Get your hands off me!” she shouted.
He dropped her hand and said, “That’s quite enough, Ms. Thiebolt. No bitch-slapping allowed in my classroom,” he intoned.
Everyone laughed again. I turned on my heel and left, glad to get out of there. Everything went fine until about two and half hours later when I was at my locker, looking forward to meeting Devlin for lunch period.
I’d just approached my locker and saw Tommy Fisk making a beeline for me across the hallway. ‘Uh oh, this can’t be good,’ I thought. Kathy had said he wasn’t in today. Well, well, she must have been covering for him skipping class. What a bunch of idiots.
“IQ!” he hollered.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and turned away from him to face my locker, hoping if I ignored him, he would go away. No such luck. He grabbed my left bicep and swung me around so forcefully that I lost my balance. Once again, my books tumbled from my right arm and as I overcorrected, I fell to the floor, landing hard on my knee and sliding a bit on the tile floor. “Owwwwwwwww, God!” I cried out, flopping over onto my ass and grabbing my knee as pain flowered underneath my kneecap.
“What the fuck are you doing messing with my girl?” he shouted down at me.
I just looked up at him, trying not to cry. My knee was killing me. “Go away, Tommy. Let your bubble-headed girlfriend fight her own battles!” I spit out. I knew this was the wrong thing to do. I shouldn’t let them get to me, but I couldn’t help it. I was sick of this shit already.
“You listen to me, you little brainy bitch. You better straighten up your attitude and stay the fuck away from the cool people or you’re going find yourself in a world of shit. No man is ever going to look at you twice. Stay away from Kathy and stay away from Devlin Mulder.”
I just stared at him, not knowing what to say.
“You leave Kathy alone. She told me what you said to her,” he said, losing steam now that I wasn’t responding.
“Was I right?” I asked.
This seemed to piss him off even more and he grabbed me by the arms and tried to haul me upright. As soon as I put weight on my leg, I nearly fainted from the pain. I cried out, “Aaahhhh, let go of me!” I sobbed out.
He shoved and I fell again, twisting to avoid my knee and fell on my hip this time. My hair had slipped almost completely out of its tie and was falling all over the place. I let it hide my face, ashamed of the tears that I could no longer hold back. ‘Were they right? Was I stepping where I didn’t belong? Should I just leave Devlin alone?’ I should have known this would never work. Was he friends with these idiots? I didn’t even know.
Just then, I heard I heard someone shout, “You fucking bastard!”
I peeked out from under my lashes and saw that a huge crowd had formed. I saw Devlin push about four people out of his way and break through the crowd. It only made me cry harder. What was he going to do? Now I’d humiliated him in front of everyone.
—X—
I came around the corner and heard Bella cry out in pain. I couldn’t see her because of the crowd that had formed, but I knew instinctively that it was her. Then I heard that asshole, Tommy Fisk, yelling at her.
“You listen to me, you little brainy bitch. You better straighten up your attitude and stay the fuck away from the cool people or you’re going find yourself in a world of shit. No man is ever going to look at you twice. Stay away from Kathy and stay away from Devlin Mulder.”
I began pushing my way through the crowd. Who the fuck was he to speak for me? God, was she going to think I put him up to it? What was going on?
Then I heard her cry out again, “Aaahhhh, let go of me!”
That mother-fucker had his hands on her. I saw red. In a rage, I elbowed and bullied my way through the crowd. I was tall, which helped. I burst through the front line of the crowd and saw her lying on the floor, hair hiding her face, her hands holding her knee. I heard her sob once and completely lost it.
I whirled and grabbed Tommy Fisk by the front of his shirt. He was a few inches shorter than me and I easily outweighed him by thirty pounds. I slammed his back into the lockers, hearing them reverberate from the impact. He gasped as I lifted him up on his toes and put my nose in his face. “Don’t you EVER SPEAK FOR ME!” I growled.
He paled. “Devlin, I was just …” he began.
“I don’t give a FUCK what you were doing. Don’t ever include me in your mindless little group and think you can speak for me. So help me God, Tommy, you ever touch her again and I’ll beat your sorry ass so bad your mother won’t even recognize you!” I spat. I heard hisses and exclamations of surprise ripple through the crowd. “What the fuck is wrong with you, picking on a girl, anyway? Pick on somebody your own size.”
“Hey, Dev, I was just trying to … she attacked Kathy!” he said in a desperate attempt to justify his actions.
“I fucking doubt it,” I said derisively.
I heard Bella swallow a sob again, trying to be quiet. I slammed him into the locker again, pulling him forward and jacking him backwards. I wanted to hit him so bad, but knew it wouldn’t do any good and probably make things worse. Besides, Bella needed me.
I pushed him hard sideways, away from me, and he staggered, a couple of his friends catching him and keeping him from falling. I turned and knelt down on one knee next to Bella. I brushed the hair away from her face, oblivious to the crowd. “Bella, you okay?” I asked.
Her face crumpled and she whispered. “I hurt my knee. Shit Dev, maybe they’re right,” she murmured.
“No!” I growled at her.
She stared at me and fresh tears filled her eyes. “They’re all staring at us,” she whispered, obviously embarrassed.
“Fuck ‘em,” I said.
She smiled through her tears. “How can you say that? You know you care what they think,” she said with conviction.
I felt a dart of anger that she still thought I was that shallow, but realized we hadn’t been together long enough for her to have real evidence to the contrary. Time to give her some, I thought. “No, I don’t,” I said with just as much conviction.
I slid my arms under her thighs and back and easily scooped her up off the floor. I turned with her in my arms to face the crowd that was still whispering behind their hands. “Would anyone else like to pick on my girlfriend?” I growled loudly and clearly.
More whispers and gasps of surprise. No responses, though.
“That’s what I thought,” I finished. “Anyone ever touches her again, they’ll answer to me,” I announced. I spotted Johnny Carter in the crowd, one of my friends, and nodded to her books on the floor. He pushed his way in and bent down to scoop them up. I faced the crowd again and hollered, “Out of my way, show’s over.”
They parted like the red sea and I strode down the hall towards the nurse’s office with Johnny trailing behind me carrying her books. The crowd closed behind us and I could hear them all whispering as they finally began to disperse, many of them headed for lunch in the cafeteria.
Bella was crying softly against me, her face buried in my chest. I carried her into the nurse’s office and set her on the padded bench. The nurse hurried over, fussing and cooing when she saw her. She shooed us out. I knew Bella would have to remove her jeans. I stood in the hallway and let her work.
“Impressive show, bud,” Johnny said in his understated way.
I smiled at him. “That was no show. I’m crazy about her, Johnny,” I admitted honestly.
He smirked at me then looked away. “I never would have guessed.” We chuckled together. “She’s special, huh?” he asked tentatively.
I nodded. “She might be the one, Johnny.”
“That serious, huh?” he said, still looking down the hall away from me.
“Yup,” I answered.
We stood waiting in silence for a few moments and then he said, “Good for you, bud. I hope I find someone before I lose the ability to get it up.”
I laughed again and answered, “I’m sure you will, Johnny.”
He sighed and looked at me with good-natured envy. “Some guys have all the luck.”
Just then Bella emerged. “What happened?” I asked.
“I just bruised my kneecap and skinned my knee. She cleaned the scrape, put iodine and gauze on it. Then she wrapped my knee for support. It’s a little swollen.”
It hurt, but she could walk on it. The nurse had given her a crutch, adjusted it to her petite stature and told her to use it for a couple days and see her own doctor. We left and I asked, “You want me to take you home?”
“How will that look?” she said.
I stopped her gently with my hands on her shoulders. “I don’t give a damn, Bella. You’re hurt. You should go home.”
“I don’t want them to think I can’t stand up to them,” she said.
“Did you tell her what happened?” Johnny asked.
Bella darted a glance at me and said, “No use in making things worse than they already are. I told her I fell.”
Johnny looked at her with admiration and I glared at him. I didn’t need my best friend falling for my girl before she even said she was my girl. “You shouldn’t have to stand up to 150 pound football players,” I said with disgust.
“Thank you for what you did back there,” she said quietly.
“Anytime.”
“They’re going to hate you now. They’re going to try to gang up on you.”
“Bring it on,” I teased.
She frowned. “I’m serious, Devlin. These people are nothing to mess with.”
I put my face down next to hers and stared into her eyes. “Neither am I, Bella.”
She looked like she was going to cry again. “I’m causing all this trouble for you. Now you’ve lost friends because of me,” she said in a halting voice.
“Bella, listen to me. First, you didn’t cause a thing. They caused their own trouble. Second, they were never my friends. They like to think they are, but they’re not. I have very few real friends.”
“Like Johnny?” she asked, looking at him standing a few feet away, waiting patiently.
I smiled. “Yeah, Johnny is really my best friend. As for Tommy Fisk, Kathy Thiebolt and that crew, if I never speak to them again, it’ll be too soon,” I informed her.
She smiled a rare wide smile at me and looked at me from under her lashes. I felt like I’d been gut punched again as her arms slipped up my chest and around my neck. She raised her head and said, “What’d I do to deserve you, Devlin Mulder?”
I glanced to the side and saw a couple of Tommy Fisk’s friends watching, trying to act like they weren’t scouting the situation. I decided to give them a show.
I stared at Bella a second and said, “I don’t know. What’d I do to deserve you?” I asked.
“You’re crazy, Devlin,” she whispered.
I bent down and touched her lips softly. I whispered, “I’m crazy about you, Bella.” Then I kissed her, laying my mouth over hers and sliding my tongue into her mouth. I felt her sore knee bob, and I picked her up easily with one arm around her waist and propped her gently against the wall, but kept kissing her deeply.
I felt an incredibly strong wave of love, infatuation, and sexual arousal fly through me. I knew it was coming from her. I crushed her to me, ever cognizant of her hurt knee. I felt her nipples harden through her flimsy tee shirt and bra and my cock hardened in response. A wave of desire made me groan right into her mouth. I was feeling what she felt. This was incredible.
She pushed feebly on my chest and I finally broke the kiss, putting my forehead on hers. I glanced sideways again and saw the two buffoons scuttle out of site into a classroom. I turned my attention back to her. “You’re mine, Isabella Quinci. Don’t forget it. No more nonsense about me ‘losing’ friends over you. If someone doesn’t want to hang out with me because of whom I choose for a girlfriend, then I don’t want them for a friend anyway.”
She smiled sadly. “Girlfriend,” she whispered. “I like the sound of that.”
I smiled at her and kissed her on the nose, willing my erection away, knowing if I kissed her again, I was going to end up masturbating in the bathroom. “Yes, and you tell anyone who asks that I’m your boyfriend. Got it?” I teased.
She smiled now, the sadness lifting, and nodded shyly. “Got it,” she said softly.
I turned to Johnny and said, “Help me get her books back to her locker.”
He was blushing but nodded, motioning to her books he held. “Hey, what did you say to Kathy that pissed her off so royally, anyway?” he teased.
—X—
This was unbelievable to me. I looked in the bathroom mirror and smiled at myself. I took a deep breath. Devlin Mulder was my boyfriend! He’d said it. He’d called me his girlfriend and said ‘You are MINE.’.
I splashed some cold water on my face and patted it dry with a paper towel. I took a brush out of my book bag, which I had retrieved from my locker after our little talk. I ran it through my hair, looking at the high color in my cheeks. I’d left it down. It had fallen out of my scrunchie during my struggle with Tommy anyway. Devlin had pulled it off the last two inches of my hair after getting to my locker and discreetly tucked it into his pocket. He’d said, “I love your hair down.”
That’s it, simple, direct, to the point. I put my brush back and ran my fingers through it. I had to admit the new cut was nice. It made it fall in big full layers. I’d never liked my hair. It had always been too dark and too thick and too ‘ethnic’ to be cool at my other school. Knowing Devlin did, though, somehow made me like it too. I fluffed it up a little with my fingers and sighed. The door opened and a girl came in. She was another one who looked like she belonged to the Blonde Squad, as I called them. I stiffened automatically and reached for my crutch that was leaning against the wall between the sinks. I hiked my backpack up higher on my shoulder ready to leave. I made to move around her when she said, “Isabella?”
I stopped and turned to look at her. I wasn’t sure which one this one was, but I did know she hadn’t been in the crowd that accosted me that time in the gym. “Yes?”
She stuck out her hand. “Jenny Quigley,” she introduced herself.
I shifted my bag again and held out my hand, shaking hers briefly. “To what do I owe the privilege?” I asked, sorry to hear the sarcasm in my voice, but unable to suppress it totally.
She frowned. “Look, I know what they did to you. Just for the record, I think it’s awful,” she said.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Why was she saying this? Because she knew I was with Devlin? If that was the only reason, I didn’t want her as a friend. Not that I could afford to be turning any away. I really hadn’t made any girlfriends since I’d been there. Finally I asked, “Are you a cheerleader?”
I tried to make it sound like an innocent question. She laughed. “No, as a matter of fact I’m not.”
“How come?” I asked.
“I’m not quite as short as you, but I’m not tall enough according to the unwritten code,” she said sarcastically.
I smiled. “What’s the code?” I asked.
“Oh, you know,” she began. “You have to be at least five feet, eight inches tall, have at least a C-cup on your chest, no visible scars, and look like you’re starving to death,” she rattled off.
I burst out laughing and she laughed with me. I might grow to like this girl. “Thanks, I needed that,” I murmured. “So you’re not one of Kathy’s friends?” I asked tentatively.
“Hardly,” she said with sarcasm. “I’ve had my own run-ins with those bitches. That was quite a dramatic entrance Devlin made though,” she commented.
I looked down. “He surprised me, that’s for sure.”
“It’s obvious he’s crazy about you.” I didn’t know what to say. “Where are you headed?” she said, changing the subject.
“Lunch, I didn’t get any yet. Ms. Poliquin said I could skip English Lit to get something to eat. I guess she heard what happened. I got there and she gave me my assignment and told me to go get lunch. Of course, Kathy’s in that class too. That might have something to do with it.”
Jenny giggled. “I have lunch now, too, C-period. Can I join you?”
“Sure, why not?” I asked.
We spent an amazingly fast half hour eating and talking. I realized that the reason I’d not met her before was that she was what was called an Arts major. I was heavy on science and math. She was scheduled with college prep courses too, but they were liberally sprinkled with art and English classes. After a few moments of silence she asked, “So do you know Johnny Carter?”
I grinned at her. “Not really. I just found out today that he’s one of Devlin’s best friends. Why?” I asked coyly.
Her cheeks turned pink. “God, I can’t even figure out how to talk to him. How did you approach Devlin?”
I laughed and told her I didn’t. I told her the story of him rescuing me in the gym. At the end, we exchanged phone numbers and headed to our next classes, promising to call each other and get together outside of school. She lived about a mile away from me. If it was warm, we could even walk to each other’s houses. My knee was killing me, my chin hurt, and my butt ached. I hadn’t felt this happy and content in years.
—X—
PART 14 (NC-17)
THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL FALLS CHURCH, VA MONDAY JUNE 14 – 3:00 PM
As promised, Devlin met me at the front doors of the school right at 3:00 PM. He asked if I’d like to come over for dinner at his house, saying he’d already called and asked his parents. I said yes, but I would have to ask my parents. He drove me home and waited while I checked with my father and changed into a soft pair of sweatpants. My jeans had been killing my knee. Then he helped me hobble back out his car. He was driving a beige Audi Quattro convertible. No one had to tell me it was a $44,000 car.
He saw me looking and said, “My mom’s car this time.”
“She lets you take this to school?” I asked.
He smiled. “They cancelled classes for some administrative meetings or something and she didn’t need to go in today.”
“Oh,” I said, sounding and feeling stupid, not knowing what to say.
We drove in silence all the way to his house. He got out and I remained sitting, staring at the gargantuan house in front of us. It looked even bigger and grander in the daylight. He came around to my side and opened the door. “You okay?” he asked, sounding concerned and anxious.
I smiled at him. “Yeah, just a little overwhelmed,” I said.
“It’s been a long day,” he said.
“One of the longest,” I replied. He helped hoist me to my feet and bent over to get my crutch out of the back seat and handed it to me.
We went into the house and I was smacked in the face with the smell of cooking pot roast and potatoes. My stomach growled and he laughed. “Oh, I’m sorry!” I gasped.
He grinned and said, “Guess we need to feed that thing, huh?”
We laughed together as he helped me to the couch in the living room. Memories of my last trip to this couch flitted across my mind and I blushed. I looked up to find him staring at me and I blushed harder. He smiled and waggled his eyebrows. “I’m always going to think of that when I sit on this couch now, you know?” he whispered.
I looked down. “Yeah,” I said softly.
We were interrupted by the whooping and shrieking of two children as they raced down the stairs and grabbed the end of the banister to jump the last couple of stairs to the hardwood floor. “Hey!” Devlin shouted. “Not in your stocking feet, you know the rules!” he barked, as I watched the boy skid across the floor like he was skating.
I looked up to find Devlin shaking his head and grinned. The kids, whom I guessed to be eleven or twelve had stopped dead and were staring at me. “Hi!” I said shyly, waving at them.
Devlin grinned again. “MacKenzie and Mairin, this is my girlfriend, Bella,” he introduced me. “Bella, these are the twin terrors, Mac and Mairin.”
I laughed as they walked over and said, “Nice to meet you,” in unison. I laughed again, taken off guard.
Devlin chuckled. “They do that a lot, you get used to it.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I said, smiling. They looked like Mr. Mulder. Both had olive colored skin, dark hair and green eyes. They were beautiful kids.
Mac, as Devlin had just called him, said, “It’s a bloomin’ miracle.”
Devlin shot him a look and said, “Watch it, little bro.”
Amused now I said, “What’s a miracle, Mac? May I call you Mac?”
“Yup, everyone does,” he said matter-of-factly. “It’s a miracle Devlin has a girlfriend.”
I laughed outright now. “Oh, I don’t know. Lots of girls like him, Mac. In fact, I was surprised he picked me,” I said seriously.
Mac furrowed his brows and said, “You’re kidding? He sucks with women. I keep trying to teach him, but he won’t listen.”
I burst out belly-laughing then. I couldn’t help it. Devlin barked, “You’re toast, MacIntosh!” He lunged for him. The twins both squealed and ran away, heading for the kitchen.
Devlin stopped by the door, hanging his head before turning back to me. After a deep breath he said, “See, I told you. Even my little brother thinks I’m a dud.”
I was still giggling and he smiled at me. I heard Mr. Mulder holler from the kitchen. “Soup’s on!”
He held out his hand and I took it. He hauled me upright and placed my crutch under my arm. He walked slowly beside me as we made our way to the kitchen. I frowned at the crutch as I hobbled clumsily into the kitchen. So much for making a good impression, I thought.
—X—
The next week was bizarre. All kinds of girls I didn’t know were suddenly coming up to me and trying to make friends. Everyone wanted to be friends with Devlin Mulder’s girlfriend, I guess. Underneath their simpering apologies, I knew they were all just jealous. None of them could figure out how I had snagged the enigmatic Devlin Mulder, whom none of them, with all their so-called charms, could snag.
They didn’t dare pick on me anymore. I guess Devlin’s threats had their desired effect. They would subtly try to ask me how I did it, and I would just smile and walk away. I’d only needed the crutch for two days. I limped slightly for two more, but then felt back to normal.
These bitches weren’t willing to be my friends before, and they weren’t going to be now. ‘Fuck ‘em,’ as Devlin had said. Jennifer Quigley was another matter. We quickly became recognized as best friends. Jen had started dating Johnny, Devlin’s best friend, after I arranged an introduction. She’d had a crush on him for over a year and didn’t know how to approach him. I told Dev and he laughed. Apparently Johnny was totally in lust with Jennifer and had been since fifth grade. It didn’t take too much for us to get those two together.
The school had dubbed us Q squared. Quigley and Quinci, get it? Ha fucking ha. That didn’t matter to me though. I was happier than I had ever been. I didn’t like it that Devlin had had to fight my battle for me. On the other hand, I was relieved that I no longer felt I had to walk around in fear of being accosted. That got tiring really fast. Now that I didn’t have to feel that fear, I realized how much it had consumed my life, inside and outside of school. Deep down I had believed what they said about me. Devlin was changing that. I wore my hair down all the time now, except when I had to be in physical education class, or it was a really hot day. Then I put it up in a ponytail and let the front bangs hang loose.
Devlin made me feel pretty for the first time in my life. For that alone, I loved him with a fierceness that was, at times, scary. Considering I hadn’t known him long, it was even scarier. True to his word, he didn’t hide the fact that he was with me. He thought nothing of sneaking up on me in the hallway in between classes, grabbing me and kissing me senseless. He never seemed to care who was watching, as long as we didn’t get in trouble with the teachers.
—X—
THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL FALLS CHURCH, VA FRIDAY JUNE 18 – 3:00 PM
“Devlin!” Bella shouted as I stood next to the car in the school parking lot waiting for her.
I turned and saw her trotting down the sidewalk toward me, her ponytail flopping behind her. I smiled, taking in her torn jeans and tight tee shirt. She had only recently started wearing these more revealing clothes and I wasn’t complaining at all. She’d really come out of her shell. I was glad. I also noticed that some of her former detractors were finally seeing what I saw in her. She wasn’t hiding her cute shape under bulky clothes anymore.
I braced myself as she launched herself into my arms. I easily lifted her into the air and she wound her legs around my waist. I groaned under my breath and leaned my ass on the hood of the car as I felt my cock start to harden. She was going to be the death of me. “Need a ride home?” I asked.
She stuck out her bottom lip. “I thought we were going out later tonight?”
“We are. Don’t pout,” I admonished and leaned forward to nip her bottom lip gently with my teeth.
She smiled. “Do I need to change?” she asked.
I leaned her away from me and scanned her chest, waggling my eyebrows. She blushed and leaned forward, burying her face in my neck. “Stop that!” she hissed.
I chuckled. “Why?” I asked innocently.
She mock-punched me in the arm. “They’re staring at you,” she said.
I shook my head and pulled back so she had to face me. “No, Bella. They’re staring at YOU. They’re all looking at your sexy little body and wondering how they missed it before. They’re all kicking themselves in the nuts, they’re so jealous of me right now.”
“You!” she said, obviously not believing me, but she laughed. “Put me down.”
I let her slid down my body slowly. She gasped when she felt my erection. “Stay there a minute,” I said with a straight face.
She pressed her lips together tightly, obviously amused. “Have a problem there, Mr. Mulder?” she asked.
“Why yes, Ms. Quinci. I have this gorgeous little nymph who likes to climb me like I’m some sort of monkey bars,” I said to tease her.
“This is a problem?” she teased right back.
Did I mention that I really liked this new Bella? I leaned down and whispered into her ear. “Only because she makes me so hard I ache,” I husked into her ear.
She gasped and pulled back, her cheeks flushing pink. “Let’s get out of here,” she said.
“Good plan,” I replied. She laughed and ran around to the passenger side of the car and slid in. I was driving Dad’s Mercedes today.
“So, where are we going tonight? Do I need to change?”
“Nope, you’re fine,” I said as I started the car and backed out of my parking space.
As I pulled out onto the street, she said, “Where are we going?”
“My place,” I said.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA FRIDAY JUNE 18 – 3:30 PM
Mom and Dad, as I suspected, were not home when we arrived. Mom had left work early and was going to meet Dad at the soccer field. Both the twins were playing in separate games. When they could, one of them went to each field to watch them play, so neither of the twins felt left out. The games always went for at least two hours each and then another half an hour to get home. So I knew we had until at least 6:00 PM before they got home.
“Where is everyone?” Bella asked when I unlocked the door and we went inside.
“The twins had soccer games. My parents went to watch,” I said.
“So we have the place to ourselves?” she asked.
I smiled and nodded. “Yes, and I’d like to show you something you missed on your last trip here,” I said.
“What’s that?” she asked coyly.
“My bedroom,” I said, surprised how husky my voice came out.
She licked her lips nervously. “Devlin, I don’t know,” she said tentatively.
I smiled and took her hand. “Don’t worry, it’s just my room. We won’t do anything you don’t want to do. Do you trust me?” I asked.
She smiled and nodded. “Yes,” she said softly.
“Then come on. I’ll give the dime tour of the second floor.”
I held her hand as we ascended the stairs. I showed her my parent’s room briefly, each of the twin’s rooms and the full bathroom with the Jacuzzi in the bathroom. I’d had fantasies about making love to her in that Jacuzzi. I saved my room for last. By then, she was more relaxed. I hadn’t simply dragged her into my room and thrown her on the bed, although the idea had merit.
I tried to remember what my dad had said about making sure the woman knew you cared about her and about taking your time. Damn, it was hard though, no pun intended.
I finally swung the door open to my room. “Ta da,” I said with mock enthusiasm. She walked in slowly and looked around, taking in the d?r, which included my Queen-sized bed, walk-in closet, desk and chair, a bureau and a nightstand, and a bookshelf.
“It’s nice and big,” she said.
I smiled and waved toward the bed. She sat on the edge of it and I didn’t sit yet, wanting her to relax. “It’s not fancy,” I said.
“Lots more than I have,” she said, sounding a bit sad.
“None of that, Ms. Quinci, we agreed. No more comparing, remember?”
She sighed and bit her bottom lip. She nodded and looked around.
“Did you really just want to show me your room?” she asked shyly.
“No. Yes. I guess,” I said. I wanted to talk to her about things, but I wasn’t sure how to start.
She looked worried, like she already knew what I was trying to find a way of saying, but didn’t leave.
“Bella, I want you to know that I respect you,” I said. “I’ve been brought up to respect all women.”
“You do?” she asked.
“Yeah, and I won’t do anything that can screw up our lives. After all, we’ve got years of school before us, don’t we?” I said with a nod.
“Yes, we do,” she said firmly, but smiled up at me with so much love in her eyes, she almost brought me to my knees. My expression must have become intense again because she was back to biting her lip.
I couldn’t resist anymore and took my thumb, worrying her lip until it slipped out of her teeth. I bent over and kissed her, easing her back onto the bed. I lifted up and said, “Lie back on the bed.” My voice was nearly a growl again.
She did as I asked, looking a little scared. She lay back on the pillows and looked up at me, still standing. “Do you know how many times I’ve fantasized in the last week about seeing you lying there on my bed?” I asked.
She smiled and blushed. “No.”
“Just about every day,” I admitted.
“Devlin, God, what are we doing?” she asked.
I crawled slowly onto the bed and stretched out beside her on my side, supporting my head on my hand and my weight on my elbow. I placed my hand on her stomach and she tensed, but then relaxed when I didn’t move it. “I don’t know, Bella, but it feels better all the time,” I said.
I rolled onto my back and motioned for her to come close to me. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.
“Don’t ask me that,” I teased.
She grinned and I took her hands, leading her until she hovered over me. “Tell me,” she said.
“Straddle me,” I managed to get out. We were still fully clothed, so I figured this was pretty safe.
She swung her leg over my waist and carefully lowered herself down. When her hot center made contact with my cock, it surged to life as blood rushed into it. I moaned, “Oh God, Bella. Do you know what you’re doing to me?”
She hummed in the back of her throat. I knew she felt it when she swiveled her hips in a small, delicate circle, making my cock harden fully and press into her. “Making you horny?” she suggested.
I grinned at her. “You always make me horny,” I admitted.
She leaned down and cupped my face in her tiny hands. “Good,” she said simply. Then she laid her mouth across mine.
– NC-17 PORTION –
My hands skimmed up and down her back as I kissed her. Then I slid them down to cup her rear end and pull her against my groin, grinding against her. She had kicked off her shoes and was laying her body across my torso. I gasped as I felt her breasts crushed against my chest. Her hips squirmed and tormented my now blazing erection that was so hard it was tight up against my stomach.
I slipped her sideways until she was lying on her side. I cradled her head on my biceps. My hand skimmed over her waist and up her ribs. I paused and looked at her. She didn’t stop me so I slid my hand up and gently cupped her breast through her tee shirt.
“Oh God,” she whimpered when I squeezed gently.
I leaned down to kiss her again, my thumb roving over her breast in a quest to find her nipple. She gasped loudly and I assumed I’d found it, so I rubbed my thumb back and forth over that spot. She arched her back, pushing her breast into my hand and I felt my blood begin to sing. I was losing myself in the touch and smell of her. She smelled like apples and cinnamon and I loved it. I hated those cloying perfumes that hung in the air around the girls in school, making them smell like a jar of vanilla extract.
I reluctantly let go of her mouth, but moved to kiss her eyelids, her cheeks, her nose, and then moved down to lick and kiss her long neck. She was squirming against me again. Her tee shirt had come untucked from her jeans and had hiked up around her torso, exposing her midriff. Before I knew what I was doing, my hand had unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. My hand was sliding into the waistband and then into her underwear to her treasure hidden underneath. My fingers felt the wiry curls between her legs and I paused, gazing into her eyes. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wide and she was panting gently. I’d gotten this far with a girl once before but I hadn’t been nearly this excited.
I’d never, however, gotten farther than this, never actually been able to feel below. My dick was hard as a rock. I’d told her I wouldn’t push. This was only our second time alone together, completely alone, for Christ’s sake. We’d been making out plenty in school and out, but this was different, really different. I panted and closed my eyes, trying to calm my libido. It was no use. Her hands slid over my nipples. Even through my polo shirt, bolts of electricity shot down my torso and lodged in my privates, making my balls coil and pull up tight. “God, Bella. Should I stop?” I managed to croak out.
She looked at me for several moments and then her hand slowly came down on top of mine and began pushing me deeper into her panties.
“Oh Je … sus,” I stuttered as my fingers curled under hers. She spread her legs, pulled her jeans down and off her legs. Then she guided my hand to her juncture. I felt giddy looking at her bare legs, muscular but trim.
I moaned softly when I felt the slick wetness of her folds. Technically, I knew this happened, but I’d never felt it and the feeling was overwhelming. It was like foamy silk and I rubbed gently. She hissed and I felt her lips open to each side of my finger.
I gently pressed my middle finger against her opening and felt my head spin as it slid around the edges, pausing before I continued back up to play with her clit. She groaned and I could tell that she had enjoyed the exploration of her nether lips. I moved back down and began to press into her, wanting to feel her heat all around my finger, but she tightened up her muscles and pulled her hips away from my hand.
“Bella?” I asked. “Are you afraid?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know,” she moaned.
“Do you want to wait?” I asked quietly, even as I was praying that she wouldn’t say yes.
“No, just … I don’t want to do that today, okay?” she said as she blushed.
“You want me to stop? Do you want us to go back downstairs and find something else to do?” I wanted to give her every opportunity to decide what was going on here. It was her body and if she wanted to share it with me, I was going to be the luckiest S.O.B. in the world. If she wanted to wait, I would. No matter how hard or how painful it would be, I would wait.
She buried her face in the corner on my shoulder and neck. I could feel the heat of her blush and the soft puffs of her breath as she tried to even out her breathing.
“I want you, Devlin, I just don’t know if I can go that far this soon. Does that make sense?” She looked up at me with her liquid brown eyes and I knew I was lost.
“Yeah, it does,” I said as I moved to pull away.
“No, don’t go,” she said as she grasped my hand and pulled me back over to her. She held my hand and slid it back into her panties.
I let my fingers play with her curls on the way down to touch her sex again. I could feel how wet she was for me and knew that as much as she wanted to go further, it was all new and scary to her. Little did she know what a new experience this was for me, too!
I gently pressed my middle finger against her opening and then slid it around her again. Seeing my hand move under her panties was unaccountably exciting to me. Her muscles tightened when I got too far in, but the shiver of excitement that raced through her body let me know she enjoyed it as much as she feared going forward.
“Bella?” I asked, not wanting to push too hard or too far and yet, never wanting anything this badly in my entire life.
“Wait,” she whispered, and I stilled my hand.
Next thing I knew she was undoing the clasp and unzipping the zipper of my tan khaki’s. I felt a wave of dizziness and thought I was going to pass out. Holy shit, I was hyperventilating! I held my breath as her tiny hand spread out the fabric of my pants, revealing my boxers to her gaze. Meanwhile, my finger lay motionless against her, itching to move.
Her tiny hand maneuvered the fly of my boxers with only a slight tremor and her fingers wrapped around my bulging shaft and pulled it out of the hole in front. I groaned out loud, “Oh fuucckk.”
She was touching me! Touching my cock! Her eyes got even bigger if that’s possible and she gently stroked my shaft. It was twitching and throbbing in her hand, so hard it was almost painful
I was on my side facing her, her head still on my biceps. Her other hand came up and slid inside my pants, cupping my balls through my boxers. I bucked involuntarily and my fingers pinched her clit.
She gave a little yip and began to stroke my cock as I began a steady stroking of her clit. After a minute or so, we were both moaning and gasping. We didn’t need to be quiet, as no one was here. I just had to keep an eye on the time. I simply couldn’t believe we were doing this right here on my bed. I was going to have enough memories to fill my nights away from her for many a week, or at least until we were together again.
Then I experienced that power outage I’d wondered about. Her body stiffened and her hand gripped my rock hard cock tighter and she stroked hard and firm from tip to base. White lights flashed behind my eyelids as I closed my eyes tight and went with the feeling.
It was all over. I found my voice at the last minute. “Oh Christ Almighty, Bella, you’re gonna make me come!”
I sped up my motions with my hand, feeling the waistline of her panties bite into my wrist. I didn’t care, there was no way I was removing my hand. A couple more strokes for both of us were all it took and I felt her legs clamp together at the same time she began to shake and quiver. All I could think about was how fantastic it would feel to have her clamping down on my cock with her heat. The sensation was unbelievable. She turned head and pressed her lips against my arm. She whimpered again and then I felt as much as heard her whispered “Oh God, Devlin! Yes! Yesss …”
I could feel her orgasm rip through her whole body as she rocked against my hand and the intensity of it drove me wild. My balls spasmed harshly and I bucked my hips. I knew nothing for next couple seconds as my cock throbbed and ejaculated all over her hand. “Belllaa! Oh God!” I hissed through clenched teeth.
We finally deflated against one another. I was stunned and sweating. She turned her face slowly up to meet mine as I carefully extracted my hand from her panties. My fingers were dripping wet. I briefly considered wiping them on my pants and then put them in my mouth instead.
She gasped as she watched me and I tasted her tangy flavor as it flowed off my fingers and into my mouth. I hummed over the taste and licked them clean. I looked down again to find her eyes riveted on my fingers and mouth. I buried my hands in her hair and pulled her against me. I kissed her tenderly, unwilling to let go of this contact just yet.
-END OF NC-17 PORTION –
I felt my cock slowly going soft and reached down to tuck it back into my pants. I was relieved she hadn’t laughed or seemed at all disappointed in what she saw. That’s when I noticed the glob of sperm on her tee shirt. “Oh geez, Bella.”
She looked down, following my line of sight and chuffed out a laugh. “Guess I better clean that up before I go home, huh?”
I kissed her again and then leaned back. “Yeah, I think most of it landed on the bedspread,” I said.
She held up her hand and I saw some there too. I gingerly extricated myself from the bed and helped her stand. She held her hand out and made a face. I laughed softly. I couldn’t help it. “Come on, bathroom’s over here.”
She followed me into the hall and on to the bathroom. I wet a washcloth with warm water and cleaned off her tee shirt and her hand. While she washed her hands, I pulled my shirt off, deciding not to bother. I would just change it. “Oh God!” I exclaimed when I saw a small blob in her hair. I picked up the lock of hair and carefully wiped it off with the washcloth.
She busted out laughing. I joined her and she said, “Oh God, if I had walked in my house … with that … in my hair!”
She couldn’t finish. Her laughter was slightly hysterical, and I pulled her into my arms, embracing her gently. Her arms went around my waist and we stood there like that for a bit. I turned and sat my butt against the counter, bringing me lower. I pulled her between my legs.
My hand cupped her neck and I pulled her in for another kiss. She returned it, gently nipping at my lips. “God, Bella. That was incredible,” I whispered.
“Yeah, it was. I didn’t mean to get that carried away.”
“Me neither.”
“We have to be careful. I’m not quite ready for … all the way yet.”
“I understand,” I replied. “I didn’t expect this.”
“I’m not on the pill, Devlin,” she said out of the blue.
“I know. I didn’t think you would even want to be,” I responded.
“You’ve thought about this?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said and hugged her. “Oh, yeah.”
“So,” she hesitated, “Exactly what did you think we would use if I’m not on the pill?”
I was surprised at her momentary boldness so I answered honestly, “When and if the time comes that we need to worry, Bella, I will take care of you. You mean too much to me to risk our future for a little pleasure.”
She sighed and then pulled away, I could see a teasing light in her eyes, “So it would be a ‘little’ pleasure?”
I growled at her and grinned. I knew that she was teasing me. Her response to my cock had left no residual concern about my size and had been very good for my ego. I pulled her to me for another long lingering kiss. We ended the kiss and stood there trying to catch our breaths.
Her hands unwound from my back and she began letting them roam over my bare chest. She panted softly as I tried to hold still, letting her explore. Her hands were small and warm and I felt my cock rising again. She sighed and ceased her movements. She looked at me from under her lashes. “Your body is gorgeous,” she said.
I smiled. “Thank you, yours isn’t so bad, either,” I said.
“So I was thinking,” she said.
“Yes?” I asked.
“Somehow I never thought about satisfying each other without having … intercourse,” she blurted out.
I smiled. “There is more than one way to skin a cat,” I said.
“Gross analogy, but I get your point,” she threw back.
“There’re lots of other things we can try,” I said.
“Like what?” she said.
I put a finger to my lips and slowly lowered it to her panties, tapping her mound. Her eyelids fluttered and she gasped out a small, “Oh!”
I grinned. I tapped her lips and tapped my groin. Her eyes got big. “Lots of things,” I repeated.
“You would do that to me?” she asked. “I thought guys hated that.”
“Only ‘cause they’re afraid they’ll suck at it, no pun intended.”
She laughed. “You, obviously, do not have this fear,” she stated.
“I didn’t say that,” I shot back.
“You would do it anyway?”
“For you, Bella, I’d risk it,” I said.
“What about me? What if I’m afraid I won’t be any good at it?” she asked softly.
“Bella, Bella, Bella,” I said, shaking my head. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “What?”
“There’s no such thing as a bad blowjob,” I informed her.
We both cracked up then and made our way back to the bedroom. She slipped her jeans back on. We had my room cleaned up and were in the living room drinking iced tea and playing Scrabble by the time my folks and the twins got home. She stayed for dinner again after calling her parents and then I drove her home.
—X—
PART 15 (PG-13)
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA TUESDAY JUNE 22 – 2:00 AM
That night’s reading gave me more information than I’d ever imagined stumbling onto when I began this little adventure. I knew my parents had their secrets, but what I was reading was unbelievable at first glance. The more I thought about it, though, it all made sense.
My father was infected with the dreaded black oil virus in a gulag in Russia! The vaccine they used caused him to develop an antibody to it. Previously, my mother was able to save him when he had been exposed to the toxic fumes of one of the aliens blood. She had kept him hypothermic and flooded him with experimental antivirals and blood transfusions. She had rushed to his side to save his life after he had been airlifted to a hospital in Alaska from somewhere in the Arctic Circle.
Further on, I found even weirder stuff than that. My mother had branched DNA in her system left over from her three-month abduction and it had almost killed her. Jesus! Years later, my father had actually rescued her from becoming an incubator for an alien in Antarctica after a bee sting! He said they were in a space ship; she said it was an illegal testing facility. They both agreed that it housed alien testing. He had given her a shot with a substance that one of the Consortium members told him was a weak vaccine. He had been so desperate to save her that he had trusted the enemy.
The combination of their blood antibodies and their consent to use the twins’ stem cells and my blood was a fulcrum upon which THE VACCINE was created that literally had saved the whole world from the alien invasion. It got more incredible still. They had both been granted the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor civilians could receive. Although FBI, their contribution of their children’s DNA was considered a personal sacrifice.
They never told me.
They never told anyone as far as I knew. I wondered if Gramma knew, or my uncles. I would bet money Uncle Bill and Uncle Charlie didn’t know. But they were all family. No one outside the family knew about this except for Kevin Sorensen.
Why? Why on earth had they been modest about it? Why had they felt they should keep something so wonderful a secret? More to the point, why weren’t they mentioned in the history books? They were certainly worthy of that accolade and recognition. I didn’t understand it. I knew there were no medals displayed in this house. However, I couldn’t believe they would throw them out either. I decided to bide my time.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA SATURDAY AFTERNOON JUNE 26 – 2:00 PM
The twins had an away soccer game today. My parents had dutifully taken off to join in the festivities. I’d begged off, saying I needed to get some homework done before my date with Bella tonight.
I snuck into their room and searched everywhere. I couldn’t find anything. Then I opened my father’s nightstand and while fishing through the meager contents, I found a depression in the wood. I pressed on it and the bottom of the drawer popped up. It had a false bottom! Under that was a key.
Earlier, I’d come across a small steel box in the closet, about two feet long and one foot wide. It was locked. I hoped this was the key. I went back to closet and pulled out the box, which was surprisingly heavy.
I inserted the key carefully, hoping if it didn’t fit, I wouldn’t get it stuck in there. That would be all I needed right now. It fit and I opened the lid.
There they were in plastic cases, pressed into foam; the two Presidential Medals of Freedom—one for my father and one for my mother. They were shiny and new as though they’d never been handled. I suspected that after receiving them, that was the case. They had never been touched again. Why hide them away in here?
I lifted them out and gasped again. Under them were two matching big-assed automatic handguns. Both were in holsters. I assumed one was my father’s and one was my mother’s, their old guns. I didn’t dare touch them. That was what made the box so heavy. There was no doubt in my mind now that the night my father had caught me lurking in the hallway, he’d had a gun in his hand. He must have thought I was an intruder. Jesus Christ, he could have shot me!
I dismissed the thought as easily as it came to me. He’d made sure he knew who I was first. He would never have fired not knowing who it was, not with kids in the house. The more I thought about it the more it seemed likely that there was another gun in the room. I had been quiet coming up the stairs that night. I hadn’t heard anyone moving around before the door opened.
There had to be another gun somewhere. I carefully put away the locked box and key, noting that I was getting good at this sneaking stuff. I stood in the doorway of their room, just letting my eyes wander over everything. I noted how orderly and neat everything was. I knew that was my mother’s doing. Dad didn’t care if things were a little messy, but he did care if Mom was upset and clutter and messiness upset my mom.
I noted how symmetrical everything on the wall by the bed was, while the rest of the room was more eclectic. They each had a night stand that matched and matching lamps and matching outlets on the wall between the bed and the nightstands. The only differences were the personal objects on top of the nightstands … wait. Something was bugging me and I couldn’t figure out what, until it came to me. If Mom and Dad had matching nightstands, did that mean Mom’s had a false bottom in hers too?
I quickly opened the top drawer and found the same depression in hers that was in Dad’s. When I lifted the fake bottom, all I found was her good jewelry. Well, that made sense. Dad didn’t wear jewelry so he kept the key to the box in his. I shut the drawer and stood up, bumping into her lamp. It careened crazily and started to fall. I did a bobbling act with it that would have been comical to watch if I hadn’t been so terrified of breaking it and blowing my cover. I caught it just in time but my forward momentum pulled the cord from the wall.
I sat back down on the bed, clinging to the lamp and trying to catch my breath. Man, that could have been really, really bad. I reached over to plug the lamp in the socket next to the bed and set it on the nightstand. I automatically turned it on, to make sure it was okay and it didn’t work. I started to unscrew the bulb to replace it when I stopped. Something again wasn’t kosher.
I sat back down, determined to figure this out. I held the plug end of the cord in my hand and looked at it for a moment. As I was studying it, the answer came to me. I leaned over towards the back of the nightstand and saw my answer. There was another socket behind the nightstand. I plugged the lamp into it and tried again.
The light worked. I had my answer. I started to study the outlet box on the wall beside the bed. At first glance it looked okay, a four-plug outlet, slightly bigger than a standard one. I ran my fingers over the edge of it and found a couple of faint ridges that fit my first two fingers perfectly. I tried to pry the socket cover off, but it didn’t work. I slid my fingers up and down, back and forth and nothing happened. I gave up and gave it a little punch. The socket plate popped open on silent hinges and a small dark cubbyhole was displayed.
I look inside, careful not to touch anything. Who knew what was in there. My eyes widened. A small, semi-automatic handgun and a bullet cartridge lay at the ready inside. I jumped back and pulled a tissue off the nightstand and using it as a barrier, pushed the fake door shut. It snicked back into place with just a tiny noise.
I sat there for a moment, trying to take in the picture I had in my mind of my mother holding a gun on someone. I quickly wiped off all fingerprints on the socket, remembering belatedly to do the same for the drawer front and the lamp. I walked over to my dad’s side of the bed and bumped open his socket/hidey-hole. Some perverse curiosity forced me to do it. There inside was a slightly bigger gun and cartridge. Holy Shit! My parents were turning out to be mysteries inside mysteries inside more mysteries.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA SUNDAY MORNING JUNE 27 – 2:00 AM
I stood in a huge room. I looked about and saw a man coming toward me. It looked like me at first only with short cropped hair. I thought it was a mirror but then realized he was moving and I wasn’t. He looked really tall. Then I looked down and realized I was just a kid, maybe five years old. ‘No wonder the room seemed so big,’ I thought. I was dressed in a hospital gown.
He looked down at me sadly and said, “I’m sorry, D.K., but we have to go to the lab again.”
“No!” I protested.
He took my hand. “I’m sorry,” the man said again. “Hopefully, this will be the last time.” He led me down the hall and into another room, towing me along behind him. We entered the new room together. I was frightened. There was a whole room full of men just like the one holding my hand. They all looked just like I looked now, only it wasn’t now. I was still a kid. They stood at individual lab stations. Some looked up as we entered, others ignored our entrance.
The man led me to a table and lifted me onto it. Two others approached and began tying my wrists and ankles down to the cold metal table. I began to struggle and scream. “NO!” I yelled before one of them placed a gag over my mouth.
“No, no, no, no, no!” I screamed and sat bolt upright in bed.
I panted, looking around my dark room and realizing I had been dreaming. What the hell was that all about? There was a sharp knock on my door and I croaked, “Come in.”
My father opened the door as I twisted to the side and turned on the lamp on my nightstand. “Everything all right?” he asked.
I looked up at him. “Yeah, bad dream, that’s all.”
He stared at me a minute. “You want to talk about it?”
“No, I don’t even really remember it, but it woke me up.”
“Yeah, I know. You were yelling ‘no’ over and over again.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up,” I said.
“Not a problem. Just wanted to make sure you were all right. You sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
“I’m sure.”
“You’re sweating like a pig, Devlin,” he commented calmly.
I shivered, realizing my torso was damp with cooling sweat. “I think I’ll take a quick shower,” I said.
“All right. If you change your mind, you know where to find me,” he said mildly. Then he turned and walked out, shutting the door quietly behind him.
“Shit,” I muttered into the silence.
I took a quick shower, rinsing off the sweat and returned to my room. I donned a fresh pair of boxers and crawled into bed again. The sheets were damp from my sweat. Yuck. I got up and changed the sheets, crawling in again. I sighed and closed my eyes, wanting to sleep. I’d lied. I did remember the dream, every detail. It played over and over in my head until I finally fell asleep again.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA SUNDAY EVENING JUNE 27 – 11:50 PM
I knew I was pushing my luck, but couldn’t resist reading the journal again. I sat down prepared with a bottle of soda and a bag of chips.
The surprises just didn’t stop coming. Come to find out my Uncle Cooner was instrumental in being a courier to the ‘Kurts’ as they called them. They were apparently the ones who developed the vaccine using my parents’ blood and DNA mixed with the twins stem cells and my blood, a mere two years after the twins were born. I would have been only nine years old.
I’d called Bella earlier and told her about my dream. I’d said that I didn’t remember anything about my life before the orphanage when we talked previously about my adoption. I explained the dream and told her the bizarre story my parents had related to me about my heritage. I left out the part that I had just found out about it recently. She was skeptical, but by the end I think she believed me. I told her the story about hiding my sweets when I first came to live with my parents. She cried for me and I told her how overwhelmed I was that they had taken me in. She comforted me and I felt better when I hung up. I think she understood me a little better now too.
I couldn’t resist the lure and I came back tonight to read again. If I’d had any doubts about my mother’s story, the next portion of the journal that I read erased them. There were newspaper articles on women’s stolen ova that had been scanned into the journal from various papers across the country. These things weren’t revealed until after the invasion was averted, and women were not named for the sake of their privacy, thank God, but it was all there in black and white.
I briefly entertained the idea of having my father hypnotize me. I knew he could do it and did it with some of his patients. He believed it was a valid psychological tool when conventional therapy failed. My mother thought it was hocus-pocus. I realized this wouldn’t work, because I would have to admit to reading this journal. I really didn’t think that would be in the best interest of my continued health. They would kill me. I was still having flashes of guilt about reading this. They obviously had it encrypted and protected for a reason. I could also tell that neither of them had accessed this stuff in years.
I had another nightmare that night—or should I say Monday morning. This time I was watching my blood feed out into a big tube. I was hot and scared and then I felt something … something being injected in the other arm and began to cry. “Why?” I kept asking the men. “Why are you doing this to me?”
They wouldn’t answer. I would just be given a fresh hospital gown and led back to a barren room with a cot and some toys. The dream changed scenes like dreams do but I was still in the room. I was still a little boy and I was remembering a dream I’d had of a woman with flame red hair. It was almost like a memory, but not quite. Maybe it was a dream inside a dream.
I remembered that I’d had the dream of the woman right after being brought back to my room by the man who always came to get me. I was sobbing quietly; the test had been very bad that time. He had hesitated over me after I crawled into bed. I had shut my eyes, my only weapon at the time, so I was startled when I felt his hand on my forehead. He stroked my head for a moment, a look of great sadness on his face. When he left, I fell asleep and had the dream. After I woke up, I got out a piece of paper and a crayon. When I got to her face though, I couldn’t remember what she looked like and I started to cry.
I woke up gasping, tears cascading down my face. At least this time I wasn’t screaming. Christ, what was happening to me?
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA MONDAY EVENING JUNE 28 – 11:45 PM
Like a bird to a snake, knowing its demise is imminent, I was nonetheless drawn back to the journal. This time I read about the fight against the aliens, their toxic blood and their attempts to create human/alien hybrids. The stories were horrific and sickening in some cases. I was riveted anyway and sat up for three hours, pushing the envelope of good sense, before I finally shut it down and crawled into bed for all of three hours of sleep.
I think I must have dreamed as soon as I fell asleep. This time it was same in the beginning, but the ending changed. The man came to get me. This time he handed me some corduroy pants and a tee shirt, and a button down the front sweater. He smiled as he handed me socks and a pair of sneakers.
As he did the other times, he held out his hand to me. I shook my head in the negative and said, “No, I won’t go again. I’d rather just die,” I admitted.
He’d said, “Not this time, D.K. I promise. I’m going to take you to your mommy.”
I didn’t trust him, but the word mommy brought a sudden vivid image of the redheaded woman. I knew I’d never met her before, and yet her picture was in my head.
The man took my hand and said, “Now you have to be really quiet. I’m sneaking you out. Do you understand?”
I’d nodded and practically held my breath. I had to take a chance. If this one could get me out, I had to try. I held out my hand. He’d smiled at my bravado, nodded, and wrapped his warm hand around mine. We’d gone out into the hallway in the opposite direction of the bad place.
We passed other men, who nodded at the man holding my hand. Some peeked around corners and motioned to us and we followed. We passed through a labyrinth of hallways and finally went into a room. There were more of the same men in here, but we didn’t stop this time like I thought we would. We kept walking. I looked up at the big tanks filled with green water and realized there were men in them, floating there like fish. They weren’t fish. I had a flash of understanding that they were more of him, like the man leading me, being grown in the tanks. I wondered if that’s how I was grown too.
We snuck out a back door and into a car. I was put in the back seat and the man got in the front seat. Another one just like him stuck his head in the back and before I could yell, he jabbed me with a needle and everything went black.
I woke up in the orphanage, confused, scared and utterly lost. I began to cry again. There was no mommy here. I’d been tricked again.
—X—
I gasped as I woke up, tears once again pouring down my face. Oh shit! I was remembering. Jesus Christ, I was remembering. All those years, I’d wanted to remember. What the fuck was I thinking? I wished I’d never opened the door. I knew it was my fault. Reading their journal had opened the door on my subconscious. It was all coming back to me now.
In vitro, that’s what they’d said. I wondered now if that were true. I believed that they believed it. What if they were wrong, though? The tanks, those awful tanks that grew the ‘Kurts’. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was grown in one of those tanks too. How could I not wonder? I had to know now. Come hell or high water, I had to find out where I came from. What was different about me?
Could I be harmful to others without even knowing it? What was in my body chemistry? Was that the reason my mother rarely took me to the doctor? Did she not want anyone to know who or what I was?
There was more. Why did I suddenly feel everything everyone else felt when they touched me? This was fucking insane. I could be some kind of freak and not even know it. My parents might not even know it. Jesus, I had to find out.
—X—
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA TUESDAY EVENING JUNE 29 – 12:00
I was anxious that day. I got up, exhausted, showered and went to school. I’d napped after school, exhausted after my whole three hours of sleep riddled with nightmares and then a full day of school. I’d told the coach I didn’t feel well and came home. I’d slept a couple hours, ate dinner and slept a couple more hours. Feigning not feeling well wasn’t a real stretch considering the way I truly did feel. I’d seen my father’s suspicious look as I’d climbed the stairs for the second time, but he seemed to be truly concerned when I ask him to tell Bella I wasn’t feeling good and needed to sleep.
Once again, I dozed until everyone was asleep. I had to find him, the Kurt, the one who gave my mother her ova. He would have answers for me, maybe even answers my parents didn’t have. I wanted a future with Bella, hell, with my family. Before I could do that with good conscience, I needed to find out if there was anything in my makeup that would make me dangerous, or a danger to any children I would have. What if my blood was infectious? I’d never really been injured, not enough to be hospitalized, so how would anyone know? My mother, being a doctor, tended to all our wounds. Only a very serious injury would have tempted her to take us to the hospital.
I opened the journal and did a search for the name Kurt. I read each passage and finally came to the part about their wedding. I found out that Kurt #1’s alias was Kevin Sorenson. He had gone to Canada after my parents rescued him. If he gave them her ova and the information on me in the orphanage, I could only conclude that he had been the one to take me there.
I did another search and got an address that appeared to be current. I scribbled it down on a pad I kept there on the desk. He lived in St. Catharine’s, just north of the Canadian border near Niagara Falls. I folded it up small and tucked it into my wallet. Then I shut the program down and crept back upstairs.
I closed my eyes saying one prayer, “God, please don’t let me dream tonight.”
Amazingly, I didn’t. I woke feeling decent, showered and took off for school. During lunch, Bella and I sat in my car and ate. I told her all about what I’d found out and the dreams that I thought were really memories. I told her of my plans to go see this Kevin as soon as school was out.
She begged me to ask my parents about it but I refused, saying that I didn’t think they had the answers. They weren’t there when I was young. Only this guy would have the answers about my life before the age of seven. I told her I wanted a future with her. Before I could commit to that, though, I needed to know about myself, my chemistry, my past and make sure that I was safe. I told her if I ever hurt her in any way, I would never forgive myself.
—X—
Over the next two weeks, I secretly made plans. I did wash and folded my clothes up carefully, slowly packing an old suitcase with various clothes. I hid it under my bed. I didn’t do a big shopping trip, but each day bought things I would need, one at a time, toothpaste, shampoo, razors, etc, and stowed them away in my case.
I was nervous and fidgety. I knew both my parents noticed. When they asked, I told them I was nervous about finals. I’d hardly had to study for them in the past, so this struck them as odd, but they bought it. They knew I had Bella in my life now and probably thought that I needed to study because of the time I spent with her.
At last finals were over and school was out for summer break. I went on the computer and booked e-tickets for a bus to Canada and a hotel room in Niagara Falls, New York near where Kevin was located. I used the debit card my parents had given me for ‘emergencies’. I considered this an emergency. I went to the bank and took out all but the fifty dollars that would keep my account open. I’d accumulated quite a bit from odd lawn-mowing jobs and stuff during the summers. I mostly just let it sit there getting interest. There was over five-thousand dollars. I hated lying, but I told the cashier that I was going to buy a car and she seemed to believe me.
It was Saturday and I was going to leave while my folks were gone to church with the twins the next day. I’d planned on just taking off while they were at church, but Johnny had called. He gave me the perfect alibi. He was going camping with his grandparent’s church group and he asked me if I wanted to go. I decided that this was my best opportunity to get away without the family realizing that I wasn’t coming back for a while. I thanked him and said no but quickly agreed to let him use my camping gear. I made arrangements with him to come by and pick it up while everyone was gone.
When I told my folks that I had accepted Johnny’s invitation and that they were going to pick me up while the family was at church, Dad offered to stay and help me load up my gear. I assured him I had everything covered, but I had a thousand doubts, wondering if I was doing the right thing. Then I would remember all the weird feelings and the dreams and I knew I HAD to do it, whether I wanted to or not.
I downloaded the journal into a hand-held Palm Pilot that I had assembled and packed it away with my backpack. I would read the rest of the journal on the trip north.
I had to know.
—X—
PART 16 (PG-13)
QUINCI RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JULY 10 – 10:45 PM
I had a decision to make. Devlin had just called and confided in me that he was leaving in the morning. I was afraid for him. I didn’t like to think of him on this trip alone. What if he found out bad news? Would he be able to handle it all by himself? Would he ever return home? He would be in a strange city—hell, a different country—with a man he didn’t know. None of this sounded like a good idea.
I had secretly found myself putting aside clothes in a soft-side carrying case I had. Jenny had given me lots of her old clothes that she didn’t wear anymore. I was so grateful. I’d been able to stop wearing clothes that looked like they were made for a color- blind gypsy, and wear tees and jeans that fit. I’d actually been able to dress normally.
I went to my grandmother, who hadn’t returned to Italy. I didn’t think that she was ever going to go back. I think she liked being here. She was lonely back home. What was left of her family was here. I had to tell someone that I was going and that they shouldn’t worry about me.
I knew my parents wouldn’t approve. I didn’t know if she would either, but I couldn’t just leave without telling anyone. Devlin didn’t even know it yet, but I’d made a decision. I was going with him. When he arrived at the bus station, I was going to be there to go with him.
I’d had fifty dollars left over from my original shopping spree and I had managed to save a few more from the odd jobs that I picked up around the neighborhood. I was going there tomorrow and buying a ticket. I knocked softly on Nana’s bedroom door. It was late and everyone was in bed. I knew she stayed up every night until midnight, at least, claiming she only needed about four hours of sleep a night.
She opened the door and ushered me in. I curled up on her bed and she sat next to me. We sat in comfortable silence for a while and then she asked, “So when are you leaving?”
I gasped and looked at her. “How did you know?”
She grinned. “Hmmm, maybe I’m psychic,” she teased.
I said, “Really, how’d you know?”
“Maybe it was that you were separating your wash, half your shirts in one pile, half in another. Maybe it was that your mother was upset when your tube of toothpaste disappeared. Or it might have been when I saw you shoving that carrying case under your bed,” she concluded.
I hung my head. “Geez, and I thought I was being so discreet.”
She chuckled. “You were. Your parents are blind. They don’t see things ‘cause they don’t look. They don’t want to know.”
I looked at her. “I gave Mom that card that Devlin got from his uncles. It’s the place that helped Dad get his new job.”
“She told me about it. They were very excited and very grateful that their little girl did something like that for him.”
I smiled. “I might have been the one who helped find the contact, but Poppa was the one with the ability to get and keep the job,” I said. “All he needed was an opportunity.”
“True,” she said. Then she clucked her tongue and said, “I reminded your father that you weren’t a little girl anymore. You would always be our little Bella, but you weren’t a child anymore.”
“What did he say?” I asked.
“He said he knew it and it scared the shit out of him,” she said point blank.
I laughed, not used to hearing my grandmother swear. “He knows I’m still seeing Devlin. He knows we’re exclusive.”
“Yes, he does. He asked your mother if she’d talked to you about sex.”
“Oh brother,” I said, burying my face in my hands.
“Did she?” my grandmother asked.
I looked up at her. “No, but she did try. She didn’t have to. They teach us in school now, Nana.”
“Ridiculous,” she clucked. “How can a school teach morals to young people? That should come from the family. Well, anyway, be careful. Where are you going?”
“I’m going on a trip with Devlin. He needs me.”
“A trip?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m not leaving for good, striking out on my own, if that’s what you thought,” I assured her.
She frowned. “It crossed my mind. I wasn’t really sure.”
“No, Nana. Devlin needs to visit someone up North, find out some things about his childhood.”
She frowned at me, not understanding.
“He’s adopted,” I told her, hoping she wouldn’t dig further.
“Ah,” she said with sudden understanding. “Is this man his real father?” she asked.
“He might be,” I said, knowing he wasn’t. “If he’s not, Devlin thinks he will know who is. He just wants to know, but he doesn’t want to hurt the Mulders. They’ve been really good to him. He’s upset now, though, and Nana, he needs me.”
She patted my back. “I know, little Bella, I know. You go with your handsome man. Just be careful. Don’t give him the flower if he doesn’t deserve it.”
“Grandma!” I chortled in surprise.
She grinned at me. “You forget, Bella. In my day, we were married and having babies by the time we were your age. I know you girls don’t do that now and I’m glad. I never got a chance to be a young girl. You do have the chance though and I don’t want to see you ruin it.”
“I won’t ruin it, Nana. I’ll be careful.” It was strange talking to her about these things. Somehow I knew she would understand better than my mother. It was kind of sad that my mother was so distant from me. “I know about safe sex,” I added. “We haven’t done that yet, though, Nana.”
“You haven’t?” she asked in surprise.
I shook my head. “No, Nana, Devlin is a gentleman.”
She smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. He seemed like a nice young man.”
“He is, Nana. He might be the one, you know?” I confided.
“Are you in love, little Bella?” she asked.
I blushed and said, “Yeah, Nana, I think I am.”
“Just his name makes you blush. That’s a sure sign, all right. You’ve been bitten by the Luuuvvv Bug,” she teased, poking me in the ribs. I laughed and fell over on the bed. “You are so like your momma, little Bella,” she said with a sad shake of her head.
“What do you mean?” I was curious. I always thought I was nothing like my mother and that was why we weren’t close.
“You are so sure of yourself, your likes and dislikes. You are a giver, Bella mia, as is your mother. You’ve never let her give to you so she has a hard time being close to you.”
“I don’t need anything,” I sputtered.
“See? Just like your momma. She fell in love with Vincenzo and nothing would do for her but to follow him to America. It broke your father’s heart, his little Sophia leaving not just her home but her country to follow her heart. Your mother got pregnant before they were married and delivered you before they were even settled here. It was a hard time. She had to go to work right away and leave you with her neighbor.”
I nodded, remembering back when Momma worked when I was young. I didn’t think it was so bad.
“By the time she was pregnant with your brother, you were old enough to be a big help. She had a hard time after that with the babies coming so close together. Money wasn’t so tight so she could stay home, but still you were more her helper than her little girl. I don’t think she’s ever forgiven herself for not being able to be close to you. And you, Bella! You don’t make it easy to give to you. That’s how I know your Devlin is the right young man for you.”
I was shocked. Nana never talked about the family like this. “What do you mean about Devlin?” I asked.
“He is the first person I have ever seen who you allow to come close to you. He treats you like an equal, don’t worry about that, but he also treats you like a beautiful, loving woman. I have eyes, Bella mia. I can see how he makes you feel. He gives you his attention, compliments and little gifts of words and love. He respects you and defers to your opinion often enough to make even your father notice. You are blossoming under his loving care, Bella and you are giving him the greatest gift of all, your permission to be close to you. You give him your love and your affection and have allowed him in your heart in a way that makes your mother’s heart ache. You are closer to this young man in six weeks than she will ever be to you. You might want to think about that while you are gone, Bella.”
We both sat there, silently contemplating her words for a few moments. I would think about what she said while I was gone. How could I not? It still didn’t change my need to go with Devlin.
“Good night, Nana. I can’t tell Mom and Dad. You know they won’t let me go, even though other kids my age take trips on their own all the time, but I have to go. I have to be there for him. He’s done so much for me, for us.”
She smiled. I’d told her about the incident in school and how bravely Devlin had come to my rescue and threatened my detractors. She’d thought it was high romance. My parents would have been running to the school to complain, making it all worse. Not Nana, she just said he sounded like a real man, one worth hanging onto. “I know, Bella. Like I said, I’ve seen you come out of your shell since you’ve been dating him. I was glad to see it. The little caterpillar has become a butterfly,” she said, smiling.
I kissed her on the cheek. I handed her an address on a piece of paper. I’d asked Devlin to tell me where he was staying in case of emergency and he had given me the name of his hotel. “This is where we’ll be just in case of emergency.”
“What do you want me to tell your parents?”
“I don’t know. Don’t lie for me, Nana, but try not to let them know where I am right away.”
She patted my shoulder as I stood up. “I’ll think of something. You be out of here before they get up at 7:00 AM.”
“I always am anyway,” I said.
She laughed in agreement and shooed me out the door.
—X—
Travelodge Fallsview Hotel 201 Rainbow Boulevard Niagara Falls, NY Monday JULY 12 – 8:30 AM
I set our bags down in front of the desk in the lobby of the Travelodge. I was exhausted. We had been traveling for over twenty-two hours on the bus from hell for a trip that would have taken us a little under eight hours in a car. Maybe I should have used my money to buy a car, I was thinking as I looked over at Bella, sound asleep in the chairs by the window.
She had surprised me when she popped into line as I waited to board the bus. She had timed it just right so that I couldn’t keep her off or force her to stay at home. We had argued over it for several hours as the bus headed north, argued until she started to cry. I could never stand seeing a woman cry. Shit. I was screwed. Royally screwed, I realized when she quit crying almost as soon as I agreed that she could stay with me.
“May I help you?” the clerk asked, giving me a thorough inspection. She couldn’t have been more than a couple years older than me and was obviously interested. I realized I must be pretty ratty looking after all that time on the bus but she didn’t seem to think it was a problem.
“Yes, I have a pre-paid single room reserved, Devlin Mulder. You should have the same for my sister Isabella, too.”
The clerk sniffed upon hearing that I was traveling with Bella, but checked the computer for my name, shaking her head in surprise when she actually found a reservation for me. Her brow wrinkled and I could tell the exact moment she realized that the other reservation wasn’t in the computer. “I have your reservation Mr. Mulder, but I don’t find anything for your ‘sister’,” she said. I could tell that she didn’t believe for a moment that the petite, dark-haired beauty with me was my sister. I prayed that the cover story we’d concocted would get us in the door. If not, we were going to have to find some place less … family oriented to stay.
“She’s my little sister, all right, even though we don’t look anything alike. We get this all the time. I’m adopted. I don’t look anything like any of the others in my family, except my mom.” I opened my wallet to pull out my debit card to confirm the reservation and let the picture I carried in my wallet of my mom and dad, M&M, and Bella and me at a family picnic fall out artlessly.
The clerk picked it up and studied it. “No, you don’t look a thing like the rest of them, except for your mother. Nice family,” she said.
I could tell the old Mulder charm was working again. “Yeah, I really lucked out when they adopted me. We’re here to meet our Uncle Kevin and Aunt Agnes. They’re going to take us up North to their cabin in the woods for a vacation. They won’t get here for a couple of days but Izzy and I couldn’t wait for them.” I smiled as I spun my tale.
She was searching the computer again for my sister’s reservation and came up blank. “I’m sorry Mr. Mulder—”
“Please, call me Devlin,” I said with a smile.
She smiled back and said, “Please call me Monica. I’m sorry Devlin, I have your reservation but I don’t have anything for your sister.”
“No!” I said in pretend shock. Maybe I should have been a theater major. “Could you look one more time, please Monica?”
She nodded and did another search. “I don’t have anything for her here. Maybe there was a mix up and she registered at a different hotel?”
“Hmmm,” I said. “Could be that. With MY little sister, it could be anything. Do you have another single room available?” I asked praying that it was tourist season and not going to happen.
“No, I’m sorry, we don’t. All I have are some double rooms and suites left,” she said brightly.
“Well, maybe I should take the suite, that way Uncle Kevin and Aunt Agnes will have a place to stay overnight if they want to rest before we take off. How much are they?”
She quoted me a price that was very reasonable according to the rates I’d seen listed on the ‘net for other hotels, but I couldn’t tell her that. I winced and said, “Whoa, Monica! Maybe not. They can afford their own room. Well, maybe we’ll just have to go somewhere else and try to get in touch with Uncle Kevin to let him know. Thank you for your assistance, Monica,” I said giving her my best smile.
She stood there as if in a daze for a moment, then shook her head as if coming out of a dream. “Wait, let me see what I can do for you.”
She obviously thought money was a problem as she pounded the keys of the computer for several minutes before smiling up at me. “I think I have it. It’s a double room with two queen beds for the price of your single. Do you think that your sister will be okay with sharing a room for a few nights?”
“Izzy? Sure, she should be glad I’ve managed to get anything for her after her screw up. I know Mom and Dad would rather we be here than at a less safe hotel. They were here on their honeymoon years ago,” I improvised.
“All right, Mr. … Devlin, your room will not be ready until after 1:00 PM, but I’d be happy to store your bags here for you while you go sightseeing. You have room 303, a non-smoking double.”
I smiled at her in thanks and signed the necessary paperwork and accepted the keys. I hated lying to anyone, but right now, what was one more lie? After all, hadn’t my life been one big lie for years? I was doing what I needed to do to find the truth. “Thanks again, Monica. I really appreciate your extra effort.”
I stopped by the display of tourist information in the lobby and pulled out a few listing transportation to the various hot spots and a few of the cities surrounding the area. St. Catharine’s had a folder of its own. I walked over to Bella and shook her awake. Under the watchful eye of the clerk, I couldn’t be too friendly so a brotherly shove was all she got to wake her up.
“Ow, cut it out,” she whispered. “Dev, everything okay, Bro?” she said a little louder.
“No, they didn’t have a reservation for you short stuff, but I took care of it.”
She glared up at me in a very convincing manner. “I’m sure you did, Bro,” she smirked. “I need a shower.”
“Not yet, Sis,” I said. We can’t get into the room until 1:00 PM. Let’s go get something to eat.” I pulled her up and she started to follow me.
“Hey, what about our bags?” she said.
“The hotel is holding them for us until we can check in. Come on, I’m starving. ‘Bye, Monica,” I said and waved to the helpful clerk.
We walked out of the lobby and hit the streets, looking for a good, inexpensive place to eat. I would have just kept walking until we found something, but not my Bella. She stopped a nice looking older couple and asked them where she and her brother could get a good meal and they were very helpful in giving us directions to a small place a few streets back off Rainbow Boulevard.
The place was clean and the food was good. The fact that it wasn’t glitzy didn’t seem to make a difference to the steady crowd that flowed in through the door. Carrie, our waitress, served our food quickly. She was smiling and friendly.
We ordered and ate in silence. I noticed that Bella had been silent since giving her order and was getting worried that she was sorry she came with me. I glanced up from my plate to see her studying me pensively.
“Does that always happen?” she asked cryptically.
“What? Me cleaning my plate?” I teased.
“No, women going out of their way to be nice to you,” she said.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said and squirmed in my seat. I still felt bad about lying to the clerk and chatting her up right in front of Bella. “Man, I was hungry,” I said, trying to change the subject.
“You aren’t the only one,” she huffed.
I looked at her plate and she had hardly touched a bite of her breakfast. “I don’t know what you mean,” I said, baffled. “Doesn’t your breakfast taste good?”
“No, I’m not hungry,” she said. She pushed her plate away and picked up her orange juice glass but didn’t drink any of it. She sat staring out the window for a moment as if considering her next words carefully.
I was getting a really bad feeling about this. I wanted to touch her, so that I could make sure everything was okay between us, but her body language didn’t invite my touch.
“Bella,” I said softly. “Talk to me.”
She looked at me and I could see tears in her eyes. She tried to speak and couldn’t seem to get the words she wanted to say out. She shook her head and looked away.
“Come on Bella, you’re scaring me,” I said. I reached for her hand and this time she didn’t pull away. I held her hand, silently begging her to talk to me and I felt a rush of emotions wash over me—fear, jealousy, insecurity, anger and lust. I pulled my hand back and stared at her. She looked at me in surprise and then tears filled her eyes.
“What the hell was that?” I said.
“What?” she said.
I couldn’t believe that she hadn’t felt what I did. “I’m not sure,” I said, stalling. “Bella, tell me.”
She played with her juice glass for a moment and then sighed, “Devlin, does every woman you come in contact with fall in love with you? Am I just another in a long line of foolish women?”
I stared at her for a long moment, stunned. What the hell? Where did this come from? “Bella, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Oh, come on, Devlin. Monica at the hotel more or less gave you a room upgrade just based on your smile. I’m sure she didn’t want a thing back for it. And the waitress, Carrie? I’ve seen her snap at two or three other customers, but for YOU she has a smile and a sweet word.”
“Bella, I was just trying to be nice,” I informed her.
“Devlin, it happens all the time! Even that horrible old woman on the bus was nice to you!”
I grinned, remembering the old lady she was talking about. “Bella, Margie was just alone and scared. Her husband had died recently and this was her first time to travel alone in forty-five years. She was afraid that you and I would hurt her or make fun of her.”
“How did you know that?” Bella asked, stunned.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Talked to her, I guess.” I was lying to her. I did know. When we had boarded the bus the old woman had been in front of us and had backed up in fear when the man in front of her had stumbled and fallen backwards towards her. When I touched her, I could feel her fear and her sadness and her aching desire for someone. How the hell could I know these things?
It was part of what was driving me to find Kevin Sorenson. I needed to know what the hell was going on with me. It had started right around the time I met Bella and now it was driving me crazy. If I touched a person, I could feel their emotions. It was strongest with women. I seemed to have a very easy bond with them, so even a casual touch left an impression. Women like my mom and Bella were clear as a bell to read.
Men were harder. Strangers were spotty. Sometimes I would pick something up and sometimes not. It reminded me of that crazy movie written years ago by M. Night Shyamalan, Unbreakable. I felt like the Bruce Willis character who could feel evil as he stood in a crowd and people brushed by him, touching him. My dad, Mac and Johnny were fairly easy to read.
I felt like I was going crazy until I started to figure it all out, and in truth, only with Margie on the bus did it congeal into a certainty.
I am different. I need to ask Kevin why, what was done to me so that I am like I am. I don’t want to scare Bella away while I try to find the truth. Hell, the truth alone might be enough to scare her away. I studied at her for a moment and tried to decide what to do.
“My dad says that I’ve always had a way with women. He thinks it started as a defensive measure when I was in the orphanage,” I offered, hoping that would be enough to soothe her.
She stared at me, waiting for a further explanation.
“Bella, tell me exactly why you’re upset, please?” I begged, trying to postpone the conversation about the whole truth until after our visit with Kevin.
She was silent for a long time before she whispered, “Why did you tell that woman that I was your little sister instead of your girlfriend?”
I stared at her in shock. “Bella! I had to tell her that. We’re both underage. If she had asked for any kind of identification, she’d have probably called the cops on us.”
She started at me and then laughed. “Oh, my gosh, Devlin, I thought … you … her later.” She was laughing in relief, I could tell, but her assumption did not amuse me.
“You thought I wanted to screw her? I haven’t even pushed you, and you’re my girlfriend, but you thought that I was going to do something like that with a stranger, while you were sleeping in our room?” I was suddenly furious with her. She was jealous! She thought I was just stringing her along! “How could you think so little of me?”
I stood up and threw down the money to cover our meal and a nice tip just like my mother always taught me to do. I glared at her and said, “I have to find Kevin Sorenson. Are you coming with me or not?” I turned to leave the diner and for the first time since meeting her, didn’t care if I was polite. I walked out in the sunshine, trying to cool my anger.
—X—
PART 17 (PG-13)
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA MONDAY JULY 12 – 10:00 AM
“So you work on that list this week, Tim, and when we meet next week, we’ll go over it together,” I said as I walked out the door with Timothy McLain. His mother was waiting in the car for him and I always walked Timmy back to her. One day I was going to lure Mrs. McLain into the office for a joint session and I had a feeling when I did I would start to make real progress with Tim.
I almost tripped over Mairin as she sat by the private door to the outside, waiting for me.
“Hey, Cookie, what’s up?” I asked.
“When you get back, can you come help me with the computer, Dad?” she said with her best smile.
“Sure, honey. Be right back.”
I walked Timmy to the car and chatted with Mrs. McLain a moment or two. She promised to work on Timmy’s list with him this week and that was a major step forward. ‘Maybe I am going to win with this one, yet,’ I thought as I walked back into the house.
I remembered Mairin’s request and went directly to the den. Marin sat at the computer desk and Mac sat in a chair across the room, looking down at the floor.
“What’s up M&M?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.
“Well, the computer won’t do anything and we think something’s wrong with it,” Mairin said innocently.
I looked at Mac and knew what was wrong. “Did you blow up the computer, Mac?” I asked softly.
He looked at me with these big soulful eyes and I knew I had guessed it in one.
“I didn’t mean to Dad, honest. I was just typing and all of a sudden it crashed. I don’t even know what I did!” He chewed his lower lip for a moment before he said, “Devlin’s going to kill me.”
I had to smile. As smart and capable as Mackenzie was about so many things, he was at a loss when it came to computers. His talent seemed to be languages. He was fluent in several already, but the language of machines escaped him.
“No one is going to kill anyone around here, Mac. I’ll see what I can do and if I can’t get it back up and running, your Uncle Langly will be able to take care of it,” I said as I ruffled his hair.
“Thanks Dad,” he smiled with true relief.
I quickly found that he had done more damage than my limited skills could undo so I lured the Gunmen over with the promise of Mulligan stew for dinner. Langly was glad to help cover for Mac. I had the stew going and the salad made by the time they showed up.
Langly and I were in the den with the computer when the phone rang. Mairin answered it and I could tell by her face that it was probably one of my professional calls. She was pale as she handed it to me.
“This is Dr. Mulder, may I help you?”
“You damn well better be able to help me, DOCTOR Mulder. You can tell me where that boy of yours is,” the man on the other end growled.
“My son isn’t here right now. He’s camping with friends. Who is this?”
“This is Vincent Quinci and your son has taken off with my daughter, Bella” he growled. “Where the hell are they?”
“Mr. Quinci, please calm down. As far as I know, Devlin is with his friend camping. How long has Bella been gone?”
“She wasn’t home yesterday morning when we got up but her mother thought she said something about a sleepover with her friend Jenny Quigley. We didn’t think anything about it until we got home tonight and my mother was exhausted from watching the younger kids all day.”
“Your daughter didn’t check in with you for over twenty-four hours and you’re just now trying to find her?” I ask incredulously. I had a bad feeling about this.
“Now see here, Dr. Mulder, my Bella has always been a very dependable girl. We didn’t think for a minute that she would let us down like this and put all this work on her grandmother.”
“What about Bella?” I asked. “Why should she have to take on the responsibility of raising your younger children?” I said before I thought about my words.
“Listen, Mister High-and-Mighty DOCTOR Mulder, not all of us are rich like you. We take care of our own. Bella knows that we need her and she wasn’t here. It’s not like her. She hasn’t been acting like herself since we moved here and she met that boy of yours.”
“Devlin is a very mature and responsible young man, Mr. Quinci,” I said, getting more than a little angry at this guy.
“Right. All I know is my girl is gone and so is your son. I’m going to call the police,” he said abruptly.
“Wait, please. Let me call the Carters and around to a few of Devlin’s friends to see if they know anything about Bella. Give me a half an hour and I’ll call you right back.”
“You got fifteen minutes, Mulder, and then I’m calling the cops on your boy.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Mr. Quinci. They might start asking why you waited almost thirty-six hours to look for your daughter. I am an ex-FBI Special Agent. I have some contacts left. For the sake of both of our children, let’s keep the law out of this until I see what I can do through my contacts. Have you called Jenny Quigley?”
“Yeah, but no one was home,” he admitted.
“I suggest you keep trying. If you know where she lives you might want to go over there and see if they’re just outside or something.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
“Mr. Quinci, I suggest that you don’t go over there and accuse Jenny of anything.”
“Yeah, I won’t,” he said. “Look, Dr. Mulder, I’m just scared because my baby isn’t home, okay?” He was suddenly backing down.
“Mr. Quinci, I know how you feel and I’ll do everything I can to help find your daughter. I’ll call back as quickly as possible.”
I hung up and stared off into space for a moment. I glanced down and saw Mairin standing there with a stricken look on her face. “Honey, why don’t you go get your mother?”
“Is Bella okay?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to do everything I can to find her,” I said as I gave her a kiss and a hug. “Now go get Mom.”
I walked into the living room and quickly flipped through the address book we kept by the phone, searching for Johnny Carter’s home phone number. I dialed and waited impatiently as the phone rang several times. When Mr. Carter answered he confirmed my worst suspicions. Devlin had not gone camping with Johnny and his grandparents. They hadn’t heard from him since the end of school.
I walked back into the den as Scully entered it from the other doorway.
“Mulder? What’s got Mairin so upset? She said something about Bella being missing?”
“It’s not only Bella that’s not where she’s supposed to be,” I said. “Devlin’s not with Johnny camping either.”
“Do you think they took off together?” she asked shaking her head.
“Yes, but the question now is where did they go?” I wondered, reaching out to pull her into my arms.
“What in the world are those two up to? Where could they be?” she asked.
Langly cleared his throat and said, “Maybe I can help.”
We both turned to look at him expectantly.
“The computer is up and running and I have bad news, dudes,” he said.
“Well?” Scully said impatiently.
“Devlin has managed to hack into your personal journals. The little shithead is better at cracking code than I thought—that was a righteous encryption on that program. The last entry he read was about Kevin Sorenson. Does that name ring a bell?”
“Oh my God! The Kurts!” I said. “I should have known.” I started to pace letting all the pieces of the puzzle that had been spinning in my mind since I hung up with Vince Quinci several minutes ago.
“What should you have known, Mulder?” Scully asked.
“Just give me a minute, I need to think this through,” I said.
She stood back and let me pace for a couple minutes as the picture began to fall into place. “Devlin’s gone up to Canada to talk to Kevin Sorenson; I should have seen this sooner. Bella must be with him,” I groaned.
“Mulder, why do you think that’s where he’s gone?” Scully asked. By this time both Byers and Frohike had joined us.
“We need to call Kevin right away and tell him that Devlin’s on his way up there,” I said.
Byers nodded his head pulled out his cell phone to call him. Since the advent of the eighth generation cell phones and the securities they had added, our paranoid friends preferred their cell phone to land lines.
“Mulder, start from the beginning. Tell me what you think is going on,” Scully encouraged me.
“I will, Scully, but hold on just a minute.” I looked at Langly, and said, “If I gave you a list of card numbers, do you think you could do a search from our computer to see if they had been used for transportation or lodging in the last week or two?”
Langly smirked and said, “You should be proud of your boy, Mulder. With this set up, I could access the President’s personal e-mail.”
I frowned at him and said, “I just want to find some trace of his movements, not hack into a national security computer.”
“Chill, chill,” Langly said. “I’ll take care of it, just get me the numbers.”
I retrieved the card numbers from my desk in my office and gave them to him. By the time I was back, both Byers and Frohike had fired up their laptops and were doing searches for the kids.
I gave the numbers to Langly and sat down next to Scully on the couch. Mairin and Mackenzie were standing by the doorway, trying to blend in with the woodwork. I motioned to them and patted the sofa next to me.
“Is Devlin in trouble, Dad?” Mac asked. “Is it my fault?”
“No, Buddy, it’s not your fault. We were lucky you bombed the computer so that Uncle Langly was here when we needed him. You do have to try harder in the future to not keep killing off computers, okay?” I said teasingly. “Maybe you should actually sit down with Devlin for a few basic lessons.”
“Sure Dad!” he grinned.
“Devlin had made a couple of bad choices lately and we need to figure out how to help him. I’m going to ask you two to go upstairs and wait until we call you down. Your mother, your uncles and I are going to be discussing some private information about Devlin that is his to share with you when he chooses. Do you understand?”
“Aw … we’re part of this family too!” Mairin said.
“I know you are, honey, and we’ll tell you everything we can as soon as we can.” I looked over at Scully for help.
She stood up and walked them upstairs, answering questions as well as she could. I was glad that she agreed with me and could help the kids understand the need for their cooperation.
I tried to call the Quincis’ house, but no one answered the phone. They must still be over at Jenny’s house asking questions.
“Byers, were you able to get in touch with Kevin?” I asked as Scully walked back into the room.
“No, but I left a message on his machine. He was probably still at work.”
I shook my head. What were we going to do?
“Mulder, tell me everything you think has happened,” Scully asked as she reentered the room.
So I did. I started with the poor attitude he’d had a few weeks ago. I told her about the night I caught him sneaking back upstairs. I told her how I’d felt that he’d taken the news about his adoption better than he should have. I mentioned the strange lethargy and extreme tiredness we’d noticed in him but shrugged off, believing that it was just the stress of dating and year-end tests. I laid it all out, ending with the nightmares he’d been having. I hadn’t mentioned the nightmares to Scully, respecting Devlin’s privacy. Now I was kicking myself.
I knew that the guys were listening as they worked their magic on their computers. When I was done with my tale I said, “I should have seen this coming. When he read about the Kurts, I’m sure it triggered something in his brain and he’s been remembering his years before the adoption. I should have confronted him.”
“Mulder, you have nothing to blame yourself for,” Scully scolded me. “You did everything a father could do. I saw some of the same behaviors and I let it go, too. We didn’t know that he would invade our privacy and read the journal.”
“Yeah, Mulder,” Langly interjected. “Don’t beat yourself up. Our little Dude has been reading this for some time. He’s dumped his history file and his cache every time he’s accessed the program. If I hadn’t been trying to resurrect the computer, even I wouldn’t have found it. He’s managed to hide it from both of you because he’s trying to act like a man and solve his own problems.”
“Is it acting like a man to snoop in your parents’ private journal?” I lurched to my feet. Passages that I had written, intending to share with Scully only, flashed through my mind. As I stared at her, a deep red blush swept up Scully cheeks. She was thinking of some of the love letters we had taken to leaving for each other in the Journal. All our most intimate feelings were there, laid bare. There was no telling how far Devlin read, unless …”
“How, uh … how far did he read in the journal before he left?” I asked.
“It looks like he left off right after the alien invasion was thwarted. He was just past the part about your medals,” Langly said.
“Thank God!” Scully said before she could help herself.
I grinned and nodded my agreement.
“So what do we do now?” I asked.
“Just a minute, Mulder, I think I have something,” Frohike said from across the room. “I checked the airlines and the train stations and found nothing. Now, I’ve hacked into the security camera data base for the bus line and I’m watching the departures for yesterday.”
Scully and I crowded around behind the chair he was in and watched with him.
“There! That’s Devlin,” Scully said. We watched him enter the line up of passengers to board the bus. “Oh no, Bella wasn’t with him!” she said. She turned to me and said, “What are we going to tell the Quincis?”
“Wait!” Frohike called out. “Look at this.” He scrolled the computer screen over as far as it would go and magnified as far as he could. “Is that her?” he asked. “We only met her that one time, so I can’t be sure.”
Scully and I studied the slightly blurry picture of the girl hiding in the shadows of the embarking area. Suddenly she walked out of the shadows and onto the same bus Devlin was boarding. “Yes, that’s her,” I said.
We watched as she tapped Devlin on the shoulder and though we couldn’t see his face, his entire body expressed surprise. They argued for several minutes and finally had to step out of line to continue their discussion as the rest of the passengers continued to board. They must have settled their argument because they held hands and stepped back into line behind an older woman, then handed their baggage over to the driver and climbed aboard the bus.
As the bus pulled away, its number was clear on the back upper left- hand side. “Where was Bus #1013 heading?” I asked.
“Niagara Falls,” Langly answered. “He’s definitely going to see Kevin Sorensen. He lives in St. Catharine, just a few miles away from the Falls.”
Byers picked up his cell phone again and dialed. Kevin was home. He asked him if the kids were there and then nodded with a smile. They were there! They were safe. They had shown up at his door just moments before. He was going to talk to them and then take them back to their hotel. He gave Byers the name of the hotel where the kids were staying on the United States side of the Falls. We asked Byers to ask him not to let them leave until we called back and talked to them and he agreed.
“Well, they’re there all right, safe and sound,” Byers said as he pocketed his phone.
“That may change if Mr. Quinci calls the police. Mulder, do you realize that Devlin and Bella are minors and have not only run away across the state line together, but have actually left the country?” Scully was furious.
“Scully, I do know what the possible implications of this whole fiasco are, but I don’t think either kid thought it through that far,” I said calmly. “Right now I think we need to go talk to the Quincis. Can you guys stay with M&M?”
The guys were more than willing to stay with the twins, especially since dinner was all ready to eat. Scully and I left right away, calling the Quincis on her cell phone as we drove towards their house.
—X—
QUINCI RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA MONDAY JULY 12 – 4:00 PM
We pulled up to Bella’s house and I remembered the talk Devlin and I had about her being worried about his impression of their home. It was in an older part of town and never going to be called attractive, but there were flowers planted outside and everything was neat and clean.
We walked to the door together, dreading the coming meeting with Bella’s parents. For some reason, Scully didn’t seem to be predisposed to liking the parents of the sweet girl who had claimed the heart of our son. We had discussed this before and she had no qualms about Bella it seems, just her parents.
The door was jerked open and a man who was obviously Bella’s father came charging out. “Where’s my girl?!” he bellowed before we could even introduce ourselves. “What has your son done with her?”
“Mr. Quinci, I presume,” Scully said in that cool, calming voice of hers. “May we come in?”
He stood there glaring at us for thirty seconds or so, then seemed to visibly wilt. “Yeah, sure, come on in. It’s bad news, isn’t it? She’s gone.”
We followed him into the living room and stopped when he approached a woman who was sitting on the couch, clasping and tearing at a handkerchief clutched in her hands. “Sophie, these are the Mulders,” he said soothingly to the distraught woman.
“Do you know where my girl is?” she asked us.
“Yes, Mrs. Quinci, we believe we know where both our children are,” Scully said. “May we sit down?”
“Yes, please, I’m sorry. I’m not really … .” She broke off and began to quietly sob.
“We think we’ve located our kids in Niagara Falls, New York,” Mulder said. “We have an associate, a friend who lives in St. Catharine’s just over the Canadian border and he’s going to see them tonight.”
“What the fuck? Er, sorry, Mrs. Mulder. What in hell are they doing in Canada?”
“We haven’t talked to the kids yet, but we think that Devlin went to ask about his father from a man who knows more about his biological father than we do,” I said. I squeezed Scully’s hand. I wasn’t going to tell them anymore than necessary about Devlin’s past.
“But why would he take my daughter with him?” Mrs. Quinci asked. “We need our Bella at home. Why would she let him lure her away?”
I could tell that Scully was getting her Irish up, and not just because this woman practically accused our son of kidnapping their daughter.
“What makes you think that Devlin coerced your daughter into leaving with him?” she asked coolly.
“Well, because, our Bella would never leave home without our permission,” she said haughtily. “She knows we depend on her to watch the younger children during the summer.”
“Do you mean she wouldn’t leave home without your permission, or that you would never give her permission to leave her position as your unpaid servant?” Scully’s words were so quiet and even that it took a moment for Mrs. Quinci to realize that she had been insulted.
“Scully,” I said quietly. I was shocked by the vehemence of her words.
“No, Mulder, this needs to be said.”
“How dare you?! What do you know about our daughter and our family?” she spat.
“Did you know that your daughter was actually crying in the Sears store at the mall because she didn’t know how to buy a dress for herself? What seventeen-year-old girl doesn’t know how to shop? The only time Devlin’s ever been able to take her out since school let out was after 8:00 PM at night. Why is that? Maybe after the younger children are in bed she can be allowed to have a few hours to herself?”
“Mrs. Mulder, you don’t have any right to come into my home and make comments about the way we raise our daughter,” Vince Quinci said, but I could tell that he did not totally disagree with Scully.
“No, you are right. I don’t, just as you don’t have the right to accuse my son of luring your daughter away either. We’ve seen film from the security cameras at the bus station. Devlin did not take Bella to the bus stop and if the big argument they had before they boarded the bus is any indication of what’s happened, he didn’t even know that she was planning on joining him.”
“That’s ridiculous. Our Izzy wouldn’t—”
“Enough! Sophia, that’s enough.” A small elderly woman walked slowly into the room.
I stood up and waited until she was seated before rejoining Scully on the couch.
“They are right. Bella did not tell Devlin that she was going to go with him. She planned it on her own. She wanted to go with him to make sure that he was all right when he heard what the man in Canada had to say about his father.”
“Momma! You knew? How could you know that she was gone and not tell us?” Sophia Quinci demanded.
“Because Mrs. Mulder is right. You do take advantage of Bella. She’s always taken care of the other children. She’s never gone to camp like the little ones. She’s never had the music lessons or the opportunity to participate in sports. She has always been the little momma of the house. It is her nature to want to give to others.
“I understood some of your need for her help when Vinnie wasn’t working, but that’s changed now. Vincenzo is working now, and thanks to Devlin Mulder, by the way. It was his uncles who put you in contact with the man who helped you get your job. Ah! I know you do the work, Vinnie, but you had to have help finding it and he gave it freely. You have enough now to hire a babysitter or to pay for the younger children to go to a church program at least two or three days a week. Bella deserves some free time too!
“I have watched her blossom and grow under the love of her young man. She needs to be young, carefree. She needs to be in love. She does not need to be a surrogate mother and housekeeper. I knew as well as she did that you wouldn’t have given her permission to go.”
“So you took it upon yourself to give her permission?” Vince asked in a surprised voice.
“But Momma, she’s never complained,” Sophia Quinci added.
“Of course not!” she chided her daughter. “She’s not the kind to complain, just as you are not. In fact she’s just like you. She’s stayed home and studied. She’s worked on her little bits of computers and her games and her homework. She’s worn the hand-me- downs and donated clothes you’ve given her to wear. She’s never asked for more because she didn’t think there was more to be had. Now she knows. She’s having fun and she’s in love. She cares deeply for Devlin. She’s followed her man to Canada, just like you, Sophia, followed yours to America.”
The room was silent when she paused to draw a deep breath before going on. “She will be back. She told me so, and Bella never lies.”
I decided that it was time to end this before it became ugly again.
“Sc … Dana and I are going to speak to the kids a little later tonight. When we do we will make arrangements to meet up there and pick them up and bring them home. We’ll tell Bella to call home,” I assured them.
“Thank you,” the elderly woman said to me. She turned to Scully and said, “You must be Dr. Scully, the woman who helped Bella when she was crying at the mall. She told me all about you. She will never forget your kindness, and I want to thank you for it too. Bella is a good girl, as is her mother. She may be a little headstrong, but she is pure of heart and spirit. She will make a good mate for your son.”
Scully sniffed, but smiled at the old woman, “Thank you,” she said quietly.
We left and drove home to start packing for the trip north. When we got there, Langly had printed directions to the hotel and to Kevin’s house from the Internet. Kevin had called back while we were gone but told Byers not to worry. The kids were there having dinner and they weren’t going anywhere until they spoke to us.
We quickly packed and said goodbye to M&M. Maggie had agreed to come over to the house and stay with them for a couple days. We had Frohike to thank for thinking of that. We were truly blessed with our friends and family. We just needed to make sure that Devlin understood how blessed he was—if we didn’t ground him until his graduation next year.
We called the kids and spoke to both of them, making sure that Bella would call her parents before they went back to the hotel. Kevin did not feel comfortable with them staying at his house. He promised to drive them to the bridge and give them cab fare back to the hotel. He was fearful of crossing the border with our son who looked so much like him. Scully had spoken to him and thanked him for helping with our son and Bella.
Kevin was cooperative with me, but when he spoke to Scully, the tone of his voice was loving, almost reverent. He apologized several times for not taking the kids directly to their hotel, and only Scully’s acceptance and thanks for the help he was giving them seemed to be enough.
She thanked him again and we hung up.
—X—
PART 18 (PG-13)
Rainbow Boulevard Niagara Falls, NY Monday JULY 12 – 10:30 AM
“Devlin, are you ever going to speak to me again?” Bella asked.
We had been walking for about a half an hour up Rainbow Boulevard toward the Rainbow Bridge. The sound of the Falls was growing louder and louder and the air was becoming more moist as we drew closer to them.
“I don’t know, I’m thinking about it,” I said testily.
“Oh, Devlin,” she said and she walked away to sit down on a bench in front of a candy store. She sighed and stared down at her feet.
I watched her for a few minutes and knew that she was sorry for her earlier actions, for her jealously. “Bella, how could you think of me like that? Why would you doubt me after making the commitment to come up here with me?”
“Devlin Mulder, I said I was sorry. I can’t help it. I have the proof of my own eyes to back up my suspicions. How can I help believing it when every woman who you talk to practically fondles you in front of me?”
I gaped at her for a moment. She was talking about me? Devlin Mulder, who had only gotten to second base one time before her? Was she really talking about me? “Have you ever seen me be anything but polite and kind to these ‘women’ who are throwing themselves at me?” I asked finally.
“No, but I know that they want you to be,” she said in a small voice.
“Why, Bella? How do you know that’s what they want?” I sat down next to her and picked up her hand.
She tried to pull away from me but then calmed down as I stroked her hand with my fingertips. I felt her anger give way and she melted against my shoulder. “Because I want you to be more than polite and kind, I guess,” she admitted with a sigh. “Devlin, you just don’t know what you do to women.” She looked away again.
“Bella, the only woman I’m interested in is you. Look at me,” I demanded. “Take a really good look at me. I’m tall and thin and got a head full of red hair and a face full of freckles. Women don’t exactly go through life looking for a man like me. How many redheaded movie stars are there out there who aren’t character actors or comedians? You’re wrong, Bella. They’re just responding because I’m being nice to them, because that’s how I was raised.”
“Yeah, well, I bet your mother has her hands full with your father, too!” she teased.
We sat there, not speaking. “What’s this really about?” I finally asked.
She studied the sky for a moment, as if noticing for the first time the plume of mist that the Falls ahead of us was shooting up into the air. Finally she turned to me and said, “It’s not you, Devlin. It’s me. I still don’t understand why a guy like you would be interested in me. I thought I was over this when you told everyone at school that I was your girl. I thought I could finally put my feelings of insecurity and inadequacy behind me, but I can’t. I can’t let go of my old self image that easily.” Tears clung to her beautiful lashes and made her big brown eyes shine.
“Oh, Bella,” I groaned. “No one makes me feel like you do. If I’m more attractive than I was before, and I’m just saying ‘if’ I am, it’s because of you. I’m happy because I found you.” I hesitated. “It’s you I’m in love with, Bella.”
She gasped and hid her face in her hands. I could tell she was crying and I didn’t know what to do to help her. I pulled her into my arms and I realized that she was crying because she was happy. Women? Go figure. They cry when they’re sad, they cry when they’re happy. Men gotta figure out the difference. That’s the real challenge of growing up. “Why are you crying, Bella?” I asked as I held her close, feeling relief wash through her.
“You never said you loved me before,” she whispered.
I was stunned. Of course I did. Didn’t I? She had told me a couple times that she loved me and it made me feel ten feet tall. I had to have told her. Yes … no, I hadn’t. I told my Dad I was falling in love with her, that she might be the one, but I’d never told her.
“Bella Quinci, I love you and I don’t want anyone else.”
She looked up at me and studied my face for a moment. “Okay,” she said with a shy smile. “Okay.”
I could feel the grin on my face as I said, “And?”
“And?” she asked.
I waited until she started laughing.
“And I love you too,” she said.
We sat on the bench for a few more minutes until a huge family group walked by. “Come on,” she said and tried to stand up but I pulled her back down.
“What’s the rush,” I asked as I nuzzled her ear.
“That family is so large no one will ask if we just get in the middle of the group and walk across the border with them,” she said.
“Good idea. Let’s go.”
Within another half an hour we were across the border and on a bus to St. Catharine’s.
—X—
We checked a map at the Visitor’s Center in St. Catharine’s and found out that Kevin Sorenson’s address was only about a ten minute cab ride from the Center. We decided to call his home number before we called a taxi. It was early but hopefully he would be home. I didn’t know what kind of job he had. He could be at work.
I didn’t want to wait any longer and I was irritated when there was no answer at his home. Bella tried to lift my spirits by claiming that she wanted to look around the small tourist area of St. Catharine’s while we waited. I grinned at her and agreed. What else could we do? Sit and pout until four or five this afternoon?
We were on a vacation of sorts and we needed to have a good time. I knew I would probably be grounded for the next year once I got home. We poked around and visited several scenic sights. We walked through an outdoor market, shopping and eating our way through a couple of hours.
We came across a vendor of Celtic jewelry. Bella was taken with some silver earrings, but gently deflected my offer to buy them for her. She had never had her ears pierced and was embarrassed by the surprised look the saleswoman gave her. She kept strolling on towards the next booth, but I had spied something that I wanted to buy for her. I pulled her back to the jewelry display with me. I pointed to the display of rings, to the gold claddagh specifically. The clerk was more than willing to show us the tray of rings, quickly finding one that fit Bella exactly right.
“I never know how to pronounce the name of these. Do you know?” I asked the saleswoman.
“Aye,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “You can say ‘clad-daw’, many people say ‘clad-ah’, and my husband says people down in New Jersey say ‘clay-day’. But my grandmother O’Brien seems to have the best handle on things and I listen to her. She says you now most generally hear ‘clad-ah,’ but both ring and town should be pronounced ‘clod-uh’. Gaelic never made the great vocalic shift, you know.”
Bella took the ring off and handed it back to her. “Devlin, it’s beautiful, but way too expensive,” she whispered.
I shook my head at her and asked the clerk to write it up. Bella turned her back, refusing to watch as I shelled out the money for my purchase. Didn’t she know that she was the most important person in the world to me and was worth everything I owned?
The clerk gave me my change and I was surprised. I forgot about the exchange rate. We continued on our tour of the market as I tried to think of how to give the ring to Bella. I finally saw the exact right location.
There was a courtyard in front of an old stone church. The huge trees that circled the property shaded the entire courtyard except for the very center where there was a beautiful old fountain.
I bought us a couple soft pretzels and a large soda to share. We sat on the edge of the fountain and ate and watched the other tourists walk around the church grounds.
“Are you mad at me Bella?” I finally asked. She had been silent since we left the market.
She stared at me for a moment before answering, “No, not mad.”
“What are you feeling then?”
“I guess, if I had to put a name to it, it’s sadness,” she said with a shrug.
“Are you lonely for home? Do you miss your family?” I asked as she shook her head.
“Oh, no, I’m not lonely. I’m never lonely when I’m with you, Devlin,” she assured me.
“Are you sorry you came with me?”
“No.”
“What then?” I asked growing a bit impatient with the guessing game.
“We are so different, Devlin,” she said.
“Damn straight, and I for one am REALLY glad of that,” I teased, waggling my eyebrows at her. I got a small smile for my efforts. “Just tell me what you’re thinking Isabella,” I said. “Is it the ring?”
She looked at me in surprise. I had never called her by her full name before. “Yes, it is, Devlin.”
I waited for her to continue.
“We are so far apart! You thought nothing of spending all that money for a piece of jewelry, but you don’t realize just how precious that money is! That was more money than I’ve spent on clothes in the last three years!” she cried. “You scare me.”
I sat there and thought about what she said for a few moments before I addressed her concern.
“Bella, the money I just spent was money I earned from the time I was ten, mowing lawns and shoveling snow in our neighborhood. I worked for that money just as hard as anyone could, but I spent it for something much more precious to me than a piece of jewelry.”
She tipped her head to the side as if listening harder would help her understand me.
I pulled the bag with the ring out of my pocket and opened the strings holding it closed. I slid the ring into my hand and held it out for to her see. “This isn’t just an ornament, a beautiful piece of gold jewelry. This is a promise.”
I picked up her right hand and held it in my left. I held the ring in my right hand and slid it on the tip of her ring finger. She looked down at the ring and then back up to me, tears in her eyes.
“There is a meaning to the Claddagh ring, in the way a woman wears it. If it is used as a wedding ring, it is to be worn on the left hand with the heart facing inwards towards her heart. But if it is worn on the right hand it can mean one of two things. It can be a lovely ring, a beautiful piece of friendship jewelry that a woman can wear with the heart facing outwards.”
“And the other way?” she whispered.
“Ah,” I said and kissed her beautiful lips. “If the woman wears the ring on her right hand with the heart facing inward it means that she is promised to the man who gave her the ring.”
She lifted her beautiful brown eyes to mine. I could see a sheen of tears waiting to fall, but there was a trembling smile on her lips.
“Will you be mine, Isabella Quinci? Will you wait for me until we are grown and marry me? Have a family with me?”
She smiled at me, showing the dimples that occasionally flashed in her cheeks. “I’ll be yours, Devlin, but if you think for one moment you’re ever going to leave me behind to wait, you have another think coming!”
I barked out a laugh, drawing the attention of several other tourists. I slid the ring down her finger and turned her hand over to kiss her palm. “I would never think of leaving you behind, Bella. I just hope that I can keep up with you!” She threw her arms around me and we hugged for a long, long time. I was not willing to let go of her, even long enough to kiss.
Finally we separated and she said, “Yes, Devlin, I’ll be yours if you will be mine.”
I kissed her there in the courtyard of the old church, by the fountain and wished for about the millionth time that I had my father’s photographic memory. I found a tourist with an instant camera and gave them five bucks for a picture of the two of us together. I didn’t want to forget anything about today—at least, not about this part of it.
—X—
312 Carlton Street St. Catharine’s Ontario, Canada Monday July 12 – 5:00 PM
Eventually it was five o’clock. I checked the local phone directory and found that Kevin’s number was still current. I called and hung up when he answered.
We made the cab ride in silence, Bella holding my hand tightly and I worked out what I was going to say. We were there before I had completely composed myself, but we exited and paid the cab driver. We stood on the sidewalk and I eyed the one-story ranch house. There was nothing distinctive about it, which I assumed was the point. These men would want anonymity at any cost. If not for my parents’ journals, I never would have found him.
I saw a curtain flutter in one of the front windows and a face appeared briefly but then disappeared. I hadn’t gotten a good look at it. Well, someone was home, I thought.
It took a deep breath and approached the front door. I looked at Bella and said, “Here we go.”
I raised my hand to knock when the door was whisked open. A man stood there staring at us. He was exactly my height and he had my face. I heard Bella gasp. The only difference was that he had green eyes and his hair was straight, only slightly longer than a crew cut, as opposed to my mop of curls. He was older and when you looked closely, you could see the web of wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. I knew this was what I’d look like in another twenty years.
He didn’t say a word but stepped back and waved us in. Once over the threshold, he stuck his head out the door and looked both ways. Seeming to be satisfied, he ducked back in and shut the door. I hadn’t really envisioned my greeting from this man. I don’t know what I expected, but it definitely wasn’t what I got.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled.
My eyes widened and Bella’s hand crushed mine with nervousness. I swallowed and said, “I need to talk to you. I need to ask you some questions. It’s important.”
“It better be,” he said and turned and headed down a hall. We followed without being asked and emerged in a kitchen. He started a pot of coffee and gestured for us to sit on the stools at the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from a small dining area.
While we waited for the coffee to brew, he extracted three mugs and turned to us. “Who are you?” he asked, looking at Bella.
Bella was slightly pale, but answered, “I’m Bella, Devlin’s girlfriend.”
He nodded as though that were significant, but didn’t say anything.
“Look,” I began. “I’m sorry to show up unannounced, but I didn’t know if you would see me and I really need to get some answers.”
“What happened?” he asked, staring into my eyes. I knew what he was asking. Something had provoked me to make this trip and he wanted to know what it was. I couldn’t very well tell him that I’d read my parents personal journal.
“My parents told me about who I was, that I was a test tube baby, for all intents and purposes, and that my DNA was used in cloning experiments mixed with alien DNA to create … you, and the others.”
He nodded. “What else?”
This one was sharp. I didn’t see any point in lying to him. “I’ve started to have nightmares. I’m remembering the time before I was in the orphanage. Until now, that time was blank. I didn’t remember anything before the orphanage. Now I do, but it’s in flashes, disjointed. In addition to that, some weird shit has been happening to me and I don’t understand it. I want to make sure I’m safe to be around.”
This garnered me a raised eyebrow that reminded me so much of Mom I almost gasped. He poured the coffee and walked it over. He fetched a quart of milk from the fridge, a bowl of sugar, some spoons, and then joined us at the bar. He sat down opposite us while we fixed our coffee. “Unfortunately, you were used by evil people. Some of us participated—not because we wanted to, but because we had no choice,” he admitted. “What do you remember?”
“I remember being locked in a small room with just a cot and a dresser and a toilet.”
He nodded and said, “Sounds right.”
“I remember wearing hospital gowns and being restrained on a table, getting injections and passing out.”
He nodded again and looked at Bella. She was wearing a look of horror on her face. He said, “I’m Kevin, by the way, but you knew that, didn’t you?” He stuck out his hand and Bella shook it. Then he turned to me. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
“Did you want to?”
He sighed. “I wanted to know you were all right,” he hedged. “I went through a lot of trouble and risk to make sure that you were taken care of properly.”
“Were you the one who got me out of there?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah, me and a couple of the others. They killed five of my brothers in cold blood because of your escape.” He sipped his coffee for a moment before continuing, “I was also the one who stole your mother’s ova and told your parents where they could find you.”
“I’m grateful for that,” I told him.
“Are you?” he asked skeptically. “I’m willing to bet Mulder and Scully didn’t know you were coming here until today.”
I hung my head. “No, they didn’t.” I hadn’t expected this hostility from him and I didn’t know how to take it.
He nodded as if this wasn’t news to him. “You shouldn’t have come here,” he said. “You should have asked your parents the questions you needed to ask.”
“They don’t have the answers.”
“How do you know if you don’t ask?”
“I did ask. They said they knew I was experimented on but none of the details. They really had no idea what had happened to me prior to me coming to live with them. They hadn’t even known I existed. I need answers, Kevin. Answers only YOU can give me,” I clarified.
He was silent for so long I thought he might throw us out. Finally he said, “What do you want to know?”
I stared at him. “Am I just human, or is there … other stuff in me.”
“You’re human.”
“What was so special about me then?”
“Your father’s parents were two of the originators of the hybrid technology. Kurt Crawford had undergone a series of tests that made him the perfect match for Agent Scully’s ova years before she was abducted and experimented on. You had some branched DNA from your mother in you. That combined with alien DNA was able to create us. We are human/alien hybrids. You have human blood that won’t harm or contaminate people, but we do not. Our blood is green and highly dangerous to humans. We are naturally immune to the virus, as are your twin siblings. We are also highly intelligent. So are you. We were unable to create an antidote to the virus or an inoculation however, from just your blood. You were given drugs so we could experiment on the effects they would have on your DNA. Nothing worked. Agent Mulder was the missing piece.”
“My dad was the missing piece? How so?”
“He had been exposed to the fumes of our blood previously and had survived it. Your mother had kept him hypothermic and pumped him full of antivirals. It allowed him to survive exposure and not die from the effects of the thickening of red cells in his blood responding to the virus. He’d also been exposed to the alien retro- virus, just about a year later. He was imprisoned in Tunguska, Russia and exposed to the black oil. He was given a weak vaccine at that time and due to the antibodies he had built up from his previous exposure, he was able to fight off the virus, which would have eventually turned him into an alien drone. Consequently, the virus was stopped, but it lay dormant in his blood. He built more antibodies to it. He was the one human on earth who was immune to the alien virus until your mother was given a different vaccine in Antarctica.”
“Holy shit,” I muttered.
“Yeah, so giving your mother her ova was a major step. We needed a child conceived of both your mother, with her antibodies and branched DNA, the same DNA you possess, and Fox Mulder’s antibodies.”
“Are you telling me that my parents are solely responsible for stopping the alien invasion threat?”
He nodded. “Pretty much, with one exception. The twins’ stem cells were used as the basis for the solution. The stem cells in their placenta and their umbilical cords contained the branched DNA and the antibodies passed on to them by both their parents. That, combined with the rest of the cocktail of DNA we had been working with that included your blood and the anti-virals was able to produce a viable inoculate against the virus. It took a lot of trial and error and failed attempts, but we finally got it.
“It all comes down to one simple fact. Your parents permitted us to use the twins’ stem cells and a small amount of your blood. These allowed us to create the vaccine that stopped the invasion as well as develop an entire array of antivirals that would stop them cold. It thwarted all their plans. They packed up and went home.”
“Wow. This couldn’t have happened very quickly.”
“No, it took two years after the twins were born before an antidote was developed. Then it took another three years for the population to become inoculated. That’s what took the most time.”
“Why did they come for me, though? You already knew I wasn’t the link you needed.”
Kevin stared at me with a look of disgust. “Coming for you had nothing to do with the experiments or the antidote. They adopted you because they loved you. Your mother was sterile due to her earlier abduction and they had no way to know if the invitro fertilization would work. Even if she did get pregnant, she wasn’t sure she would be able to carry a baby. Most women aren’t capable of a full-term pregnancy after having invasive cancer treatments. It destroys their ability to produce the hormones needed to sustain a pregnancy.
“You were a child of her flesh and blood, and even though she did not actually give birth to you she knew she loved you. Mulder knew you were hers and that was enough for him. You were their only sure chance to have a family.”
“I guess I never considered that aspect of it because the twins did come along. All I knew at the time was that life sucked in the orphanage and I was surprised when they adopted me. I was almost eight when the twins were born. I can remember worrying that they would send me back to the orphanage now that they had two of their own.”
“You’re an arrogant little fuck, you know that?”
“Hey! I don’t deserve that!” I said, automatically defending myself.
“Yeah, I think you do. You want to know why? ‘Cause you take EVERYTHING for granted,” he said heatedly. “As soon as they knew about you, your parents were desperate to find you and take care of you. They stepped in and saved me—us—from a lifetime of torture. You could have been nothing but a lab rat your entire life if they hadn’t stepped in.”
“You were the one that got me out of the lab, not them.”
He made a sound of frustration. “At worst, our creators could have found you and brought you back to the lab where we were condemned to spend the rest of our lives before Agents Mulder and Scully freed us. At BEST, you would have spent your life in an orphanage. What are you now? Seventeen years old? You could STILL be there, Devlin, if they hadn’t gone for you.
“Do you know how badly we all wished we had Dr. Scully for a mother to look after us—love us? We were created and kept in fucking cells like ANIMALS! WE never had a childhood! WE never had a mother! WE never had a man like Fox Mulder to care for us and be a father! We were denied all those things. All those things that you take for granted. Do you have any FUCKING IDEA what a noble man Fox Mulder is?”
I had tears in my eyes and was swallowing hard. I didn’t know how to respond. I’d never thought of my father as noble, just an average Joe trying to make a living. “They never told me this! How was I supposed to know?” I asked defensively.
I wiped my tears on the cuff of my shirt. Bella patted my back comfortingly.
He continued. “Well, then, I’ll tell you. They risked their LIVES to save us. They were FBI agents, but they broke laws to see that we were safely put into hiding. Then they adopted you, had children, and allowed those children to be used to develop an antidote that prevented the entire fucking alien invasion. They never took credit for it.”
“Why not? I’ve wondered about that.”
“How could you wonder if you didn’t know about it?” he asked slyly.
Shit, I’d just fucked up. He was peering at me suspiciously now. I decided that when caught, I should tell the truth. I wasn’t going to slip anything by this guy. This wasn’t going at all the way I had planned in my little fantasy. “I read some of their personal journals, recently,” I added.
“Oh great,” he said sarcastically. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, they didn’t want you to know for a reason?” he asked, as though I were totally stupid.
“What reason could they possibly have for keeping this from me and the twins? They were—are—heroes. Why wouldn’t they want us to know that?” I asked, truly puzzled.
He shook his head at me like I was the dunce of the century. Then he answered, “Because they wanted to protect YOU. They wanted you to have as close to a normal life as possible. They didn’t want you or your siblings to disappear, like Mulder’s sister—taken away in the middle of the night to be used for experiments. They didn’t even want scientists knocking on the door asking politely to do experiments on you. They especially didn’t want the press hounding you. They wanted to live quietly in a nice neighborhood and raise their kids, out of the spotlight. Making sure you were well cared- for was their priority. It overshadowed everything else in their lives. They made a normal, happy life for you and your siblings.”
He was silent for a few moments and I said, “I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.”
He laughed then, but it was not a laugh of mirth, it was sarcasm again. “I don’t give a fuck what you think of me. You can’t offend me. I’ve seen too much. You can offend them, though, and you have.”
“Is that why they want me to go to college so bad? So I’ll be normal? What if I’m not normal? What if I already know that? What if I can touch someone and feel what they feel? What if I touch someone in pain and I feel their pain? What then? That’s not NORMAL, Kevin. That’s God-damned freaky!” I shouted, my voice rising as I continued to rant about my biggest fear.
He stared at me and said, “Some of the drugs we gave you were engineered to develop unused parts of your brain. They may have made you sensitive.”
“Sensitive? What the fuck does that mean?” I asked. “Am I supposed to cry during Hallmark commercials and at weddings?” I said with more than a little sarcasm.
“Tell me exactly what happens,” he asked more gently.
I took a deep breath. “It used to just be that I could tell what people were feeling sometimes. The closer I was to them, the easier it was, like with my family. Lately though, it’s different. I touch someone and don’t just know what they feel, I FEEL what they feel.”
Kevin smiled. I didn’t think it was so funny. “You’re a touch- empath, Devlin. We suspected that might happen. Most of us are. It’s a product of the drug’s effect on the branched DNA.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that when you touch someone, their emotions are transmitted to you. You can interpret them accurately because you take on their emotions as though they were your own.”
“Jesus. It’s never been like this before. It just started recently and I gotta tell you, it scared me half to death the first time it happened with a stranger.”
He looked meaningfully at Bella, but asked me, “Have you had sex with her?”
Bella flared. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not in the damn room!”
He smiled. “Feisty. I like that. I’m sorry, you’re right. That was rude. Have you two had sex yet?”
Bella blushed but I shook my head. “No, but we’ve … fooled around.”
He nodded. “It’s always been there, but that’s what triggered it. Sexual urges release testosterone, and that triggers it for some reason. You’ve always had the ability but the sudden release of testosterone, like when you get sexually excited, triggers the ability, makes it … acute, for lack of a better word. Once it’s turned on by the testosterone, it remains active for the rest of your adult life.”
Bella looked extremely disturbed. “Are you trying to tell me he can read my mind? I’m not sure I like that idea. That’s a little scary.” She turned to me and said, “Is that how you’ve known what I was thinking? You’ve even finished my sentences occasionally. It freaks me out sometimes.”
Kevin answered, “He doesn’t know what you’re thinking. He feels what you’re feeling. From that, he can often take an educated guess at what people are thinking, but he can’t read minds. However, the more in tune you are with someone, the better you know them, the stronger the feelings are, and the more accurately you can intuitively figure out what they are probably thinking. I’m afraid that part will get worse before it gets better.”
She took a deep breath and visibly relaxed. “Weird.”
“Weird, but harmless, unless you run your mouth before your brain,” he commented.
“Why does that sound like an insult?” I asked.
“You obviously over-think some things and don’t think enough about other things. For instance, you’ve probably obsessed about this empathy thing and your girlfriend. You ran up here unannounced so you could ask ‘questions’. Did you take even two seconds to think about how upset or frantic your parents are going to be when they find you missing?”
“They think I’m on a camping trip with my friend, Johnny.”
Just then, the phone rang and he picked it up. “Sorenson,” he answered.
He was silent, his frown deepening and then he looked straight at us and said, “Yeah, they’re here.” He listened for a few moments and said, “Right, I’ll keep them here until you call back.” He hung up and looked at us again. “Hate to break it to you pal, but they know you’re not camping.”
—X—
He informed us that our parents knew where I was, knew I had read their journal and were furious that I’d left without permission. They also knew that Bella was with me. They were going over to Bella’s parent’s house to talk to them and would call back with more information later.
Kevin threw some steaks and baked potatoes on the grill and made a tossed salad. We all sat down to dinner and we continued talking. He told me a little more about the experiments done on me and them and the experiments for the antidote. He painted a picture of my parents as unsung heroes and as having made incredible sacrifices for the Kurts and for me, the twins and the world. I was feeling guilt build up in me by the minute.
“Many of us died, the victims of experiments gone wrong. Do you know how many of us died in that lab fire and explosion alone? If not for your parents, we all would have perished. Some of us who did escape died anyway. We died alone because we couldn’t allow ourselves the privilege of companionship for fear of being ‘found out’. Some, over the years, have killed themselves, not being able to adjust to being cut off from the rest of us. The loneliness killed them.
“Is this what your parents worked so hard for? So you could say screw it and go be a fucking two-bit hacker in danger of getting arrested every time you turn around? So you could rest on your laurels and expect the world to owe you a fucking living! Waste your 180 IQ because you don’t ‘feel like’ going to college? Wake up and smell the coffee, Devlin. You haven’t thrown it all away yet, but you are dangerously close to becoming a big time LOSER. If that happens, everything your parents have worked so hard for will have all been for NOTHING.”
—X—
312 Carlton Street St. Catharine’s Ontario, Canada Monday July 12 – 8:30 PM
After dinner, my parents called again. They had been over to Bella’s house and to say the least, they were not happy campers. They confirmed that they would be there around midnight. They already had rooms reserved in the same hotel where we were registered and would call us for breakfast after they got a few hours sleep. I know I blushed when my father told me to be very sure of any actions that I committed before they got there. I was really glad that he couldn’t read my mind and didn’t know about the box of condoms I had in the bag with the rest of our souvenir items.
They talked to Bella and told her a synopsis of what happened at her house. She was mortified that her parents had accused me of forcing her to come with me. She promised to call her folks as soon as she got off the phone.
Kevin spoke to Mom and Dad again and I was shocked at the love and reverence in his voice when he spoke to them, especially Mom. As I was standing there he put his hand on my shoulder while he talked to her. I got the shock of a lifetime.
Kevin considered my mother his mother. He, all the Kurt Crawford clones, considered my mom, Dana Scully Mulder, their true mother, and Fox Mulder as their what? Step-father? I was shocked and my face must have shown it. He frowned at me and something in his expression dared me to say a word about what I had discovered. I just knew this because of the love I felt from him, recognizing it as my own love feelings for my mother. No sexual undertones, just love and incredible respect.
After Bella called home, he told us that he would take us back to the bridge, but we would have to take a cab back to the hotel from there. He did not want to risk the exposure of crossing the border with an identical, underage person in his car with him. His paranoia had served him well for all these years and who was I to argue with him? Bella and I would be fine in a cab.
I had a lot to think about. Although offended by the way he’d presented things to me, I had to admit that he was right in many regards. I didn’t think I disrespected my parents the way he did. On the other hand, I realized I hadn’t given them nearly enough credit for what they had done for me or for the sacrifices they had made. My Dad had literally given up his career to be a house- husband and create a safe and happy environment for his kids. My mother had left the field and gone into teaching for the same reason. They’d left behind the careers that could have made them famous, if they’d chosen to take the credit, but they hadn’t.
My respect deepened for them and I could see why Kevin viewed them as heroes. If I thought about it, the simple fact that they adopted me should have made them my heroes. In the beginning, that had been true. Somewhere along the line, I’d lost sight of that and started to take my life for granted. I’d forgotten about how horrible the orphanage was. I’d forgotten about fighting bullies and hiding food, and the crushing disappointment every time someone said they didn’t want me.
I was fast realizing that whatever had happened in the past didn’t matter anymore. They had succeeded and I had a happy, normal life. I was relieved to find out my empathy thing was not a huge problem and it didn’t make me a freak. I was human. If I ever did settle down and have kids, they weren’t going to have two heads or anything like that. I knew that thought was ridiculous, but I had truly been scared. On the brighter side, I would never have to wonder about why my kids were crying. I could just pick them up and I would know what they needed.
Whoa! That was pretty far down the line for me to be considering now, I decided. I glanced over and looked at Kevin as he drove us back to the border.
Kevin Sorenson had not been what I expected. Despite his initial hostility and disdain for what he viewed as my lack of respect, he’d been forthcoming with the answers to all my questions. I guess I expected him to be less … human, somehow. The depth of his affection and respect for my parents shocked me at first but became more understandable the longer he talked about the past.
The best news was that I wasn’t a freak. I wasn’t normal, but I had a scientifically based reason for the gift that enhanced my normal abilities.
I shook his hand and consciously made an effort to read him. He grinned at me and knew what I was doing, but he didn’t pull away. I wasn’t startled to realize that he thought of himself as my relative, a brother or uncle of some sort. I felt mild affection, envy and a touch of condescending forbearance. I realized that he could feel my emotions and I pulled him into a hug. We parted on a good note.
Bella was exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel. I was weary but I was also wired and knew I wasn’t going to sleep for a long time. For some reason, I’d always admired my mother, understanding that she was something special. I was finally realizing what a big man my father was, not only for what he’d done as an FBI agent and in thwarting the alien invasion. He’d taken in a kid who wasn’t his and made me feel loved, cherished and yes, normal. I would remember to thank him the next time I saw him, right after he ripped me a new asshole for taking off.
—X—
PART 19 (R)
I-81 North Monday July 12 – 7:30 PM
Mulder and I were back in the car. I smiled as I thought of the thousands of miles we had driven together while we were partners. It had been years since we’d gone this far from home alone. We always included the children in our vacations. We’d only been on the road for two hours but it felt like old times.
I looked over at him and saw that he was munching sunflower seeds. A flash of desire rushed through me as I watched him worry the meat of the seed from the shell. I knew what those beautiful lips and tongue could do to a woman’s body. The evening sun was shining directly on him and cast his skin in a golden glow. He was wearing an old blue chambray shirt over a white tee. He still worked out and his chest had kept the definition that had always made my mouth water.
I followed the lean line of his body down and noticed the growing swell of his arousal. I looked back up at his eyes and caught him glancing at me over his sunglasses, smirk firmly in place.
“See anything you like, Scully?” he growled.
“The same thing I’ve liked for years, Mulder. You,” I teased.
He tossed the husk into the cup on the dash that he was using and grunted. “Keep looking at me like that and we’ll never get to Canada.”
I could feel myself becoming aroused. He still did it for me, and by the looks of his crotch, I did it for him, too. That thought made me happy. I laughed out loud.
“Am I amusing you?” he asked with a pout.
“Yes, just not the way you think,” I said. “I’m just happy, Mulder.”
He nodded and smiled. He knew what I was thinking.
“Did you ever think, all those years ago, that we would get out of the car and lead a normal life?” he asked.
I remembered the conversation he was referring to immediately. We had been on a weekend jaunt to meet one of his informants who said he had information about Area 51 and the alien technology being used there. I’d asked him if he ever wanted to get out of the car and have a normal life. I smiled at him and said, “I didn’t think that it would ever be possible back then. But who could have foretold the way things turned out?”
“Yeah,” he chuckled, deep in memories. “Who would have believed that we’d defeat the bad guys and wind up an old married couple with an errant teenager who’s run away to ‘find himself’.”
I laughed at his words. “Do you think that’s why Devlin is at Kevin’s house?”
“Yeah, I do, Scully. I should have put this together before,” he said quietly. He was beating himself up again, something he hadn’t done in years.
“Mulder, stop. Devlin is almost a full-grown man and he’s made his decisions based on his own choices. You are not responsible for those choices. You did not force him to hack into our journal. You didn’t tell him to go to see Kevin. You didn’t lie to him about anything he asked you directly. You have nothing to be guilty about,” I said.
He looked at me and smiled. “You’re so good for me, Scully.” He slid his hand across the console and enclosed my hand in his. “Hey, did I tell you I love you today?”
“Yes, but I’m always willing to listen to it again and again,” I said with a smile. “We seem to be making pretty good time,” I mentioned casually. “What time do you think we’ll get to Niagara tonight?”
“At this rate, I don’t think we’ll be in later than midnight, why?”
“Just wondering how tired we are going to be when we get to the motel,” I said innocently.
Mulder looked over at me and grinned, “I’ll never be too tired for what you have on your mind, Scully. Why don’t you take a nap while I drive for a while? If I get tired, I’ll let you know.”
I smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “All right, wake me up when you need me.”
“If I did that, I’d never let you sleep, baby,” he said as he pulled my hand up and kissed the back of it and of each finger.
I sighed and squirmed in the seat. “Mulder, I need my hand back so that I can get to sleep.”
At his questioning look I continued, “I think I’m going to need all the energy I can get for later on.”
He grinned and released my hand. I felt the car surge forward as he reset the cruise control. Maybe we’d get in before midnight.
—X—
Travelodge Fallsview Hotel Niagara Falls, NY Monday July 12 – 10:30 PM
Devlin has been too quiet since we left Kevin Sorensen’s house. He’s obviously got a lot to think about. So have I. It’s a little strange to think of someone being able to ‘read’ your emotions by touching you. Not that it weirded me out or anything, but it was a lot to accept.
I mean, how can I ever hold anything back from him if he can tell how I feel? Plus, how unfair was it that I couldn’t feel his emotions, couldn’t tell how he’s doing with a touch? Oh brother! Now I was jealous of his ability. Well, maybe I was, but I wasn’t sorry he had it. I’d never felt more in tune with another human being in my life. Only my Nana had ever made me feel this secure in her love before Devlin. If his gift had allowed him to make me feel this loved, then I never wanted it to go away.
When we got back to the room there was a light flashing on the phone. Devlin retrieved the message and told me that it was from his parents. Apparently they had called to confirm that they were on the road and would arrive sometime around midnight or 1:00 AM. We were to meet them in the lobby at 9:00 AM for breakfast.
I used the bathroom first, taking my shower and getting into my pajamas before going back out into the room. I was embarrassed by my pjs. They’re not exactly the kind of thing you would think about wearing on your first night sleeping with your boyfriend, but they were all I had. Devlin went into the bathroom as soon as I got out, barely giving me a glance. My heart sunk into my toes. I guess I didn’t know what to do to try to turn him on. I decided to climb into bed and let him make the first move. Maybe he’d know how nervous I was.
—X—
Hot water sluiced down my body, freeing my mind to think about everything that had happened today. I felt like a heel. I’d practically ignored Bella for the last couple hours, once again thinking only of myself. I had a good excuse, though. Kevin had given me a lot to think about.
My parents were on their way up to get us. At least we wouldn’t have to take the bus home. That was a relief, seven hours by car compared to twenty-two hours on the return bus trip.
I was such a shit.
I had so much to apologize for. I needed to apologize to my parents, Kevin, Bella’s parents and to Bella.
I felt as though I’d been such a self-centered child. I’d thought I was a man and deserved to know everything about my heritage. I was angry with my mother and father for keeping information away from me. I just knew that I was old enough to accept anything they could or would tell me about my ‘real’ parents. What a fool I was.
I was adopted, so what? I’d been lucky enough to have my birth mother as my adoptive Mom for all these years. Dana Scully Mulder loved me and wanted me as part of her family, since the day she knew I existed.
However, the reality of my fraternal heritage was more than I expected. Kurt Crawford, enemy of the human race or pawn of the consortium? From what Kevin said, he was just a researcher who worked for the family business. Could I believe that? He died when one of his experiments went awry and killed him. Who was he? What was he like inside? I knew what he looked like. Kevin had a picture of him that he’d stolen from the lab on his flight to freedom. We were not his exact image. The Scully genes are apparent in our countenance. However, whatever and whomever Kurt Crawford was, he did nothing for me other than pass along the Y chromosome.
Fox Mulder was my father. He was everything I aspired to be as a man, and I’d done nothing but insult, lie to, and hurt him in the past few weeks. I prayed that he would forgive me.
I had been thinking so hard while I got ready for bed that I all but forgot that Bella was here with me. I hadn’t known that she was going to be coming with me so I didn’t pack any pajamas. I pulled on a clean tee shirt, boxers, and jeans. That would have to do.
I groaned quietly as I thought, ‘How can she respect me now? She must see what a childish shit I’ve been.’ I walked back into the room and stood there looking at her, trying to figure out what to say. Finally it hit me. The truth, tell her the truth. I owe her nothing less.
“Bella, I’m sorry,” I said as I stood next to her as she lay under the covers of the bed.
“Dev? What for?” she asked.
“I’ve been such a kid about this whole thing. Kevin’s right. I did run off without thinking. I’ve let my parents down and I’ve let you down. Can you forgive me?” I asked as I sat down beside her.
“Devlin Mulder! Don’t be an ass. You’ve been confused and hurting over this entire mess and it’s driven you to do what you needed to do to find out what’s going on. Now, thanks to Kevin, you have a better idea of what’s happening to your body and about your heritage. Don’t confuse the need for information with acting selfishly in your mind. I agree that you owe your parents an apology, just as I do mine,” she said. “You’ve done nothing you need to apologize for to me, as far as I’m concerned.”
“No, you don’t understand. I did need to find Kevin, but I could have done that without invading my parent’s privacy as deeply as I have. I’ve been reading their private journal and I’ve found out things about them that are so incredible, so heroic, yet they’ve never stood up and taken the credit for any of it,” I said with a sad shake of my head. “And what makes me the biggest shit of all is that I didn’t understand why until Kevin explained it to me. They did it for me and my brother and sister. They did it all for us. That possibility never crossed my mind.”
Bella shook her head and sat up in bed. She put her arms around me and said, “I don’t know exactly what you’re talking about, Devlin, however, I do know that your parents love you and they will forgive you. They may still ground you until you go away to college, but at least they care. Maybe that caring is why you feel so bad.”
“Yeah, it is.” I sat there enveloped in her embrace for a moment, gathering my strength for the next apology.
“Bella, I do need to apologize to you, too,” I began.
“Devlin, no. I knew what I was doing when I decided to come along with you. You are very special to me. You are my friend and I wanted to be here for you. I know that I’ll have to face my parents’ wrath when I get back, but I came with you willingly. I love you, Devlin Mulder, warts and all.”
“Oh, God, Bella, I love you too!” I pulled her closer to me and began to kiss her. It started out as a kiss of love and friendship and quickly escalated into a kiss of passion. She squirmed around and before I knew what was going on, she was straddling my lap and we were both so turned on by just kissing that I was afraid I was going to come without even being touched.
“Bella,” I gasped as I pulled my lips from hers. She grunted in dissatisfaction and tried to kiss me again. I laughed and said against her lips, “Bella, please. I need to talk to you.”
She blushed as she pulled away from me, but looked directly into my eyes. I rubbed my hands up and down her sides and then slid them under the material of her cotton pajama top. She was wearing that and small powder blue panties. She gasped but let me do it. “Your skin is so soft,” I whispered.
When I lifted the shirt, she didn’t protest, so I pulled it over her head. Her long, dark hair fell like a waterfall around her shoulders and I swallowed a moan at the sight of her unfettered breasts. Maybe I didn’t need to talk after all.
Her skin was olive and sun kissed and so soft. I let my hands rise, feeling my breathing accelerate. When I feathered my thumbs over the bottom of her perky breasts, she sighed deeply and whispered, “Ahhh, Devlin.”
I smiled and moved up to cup her breasts, one in each hand. They spilled over the sides of my hands and I squeezed gently. She moaned gently and closed her eyes. I sat up slowly and she said, “Take off your tee shirt, Dev.”
I crossed my hands over the hem and ripped it off over my head. Her hands tentatively explored my chest, becoming bolder as I didn’t make any more moves, my hands resting lightly on her panty clad hips.
I couldn’t stand it and leaned down to take her hardened nub into my mouth. She groaned and arched her back as I did, causing lust to bolt through me and harden me fully. ‘Testosterone at its finest.’ As soon as I thought that, I felt a wash of something else—Bella’s emotions.
She was excited and frightened at the same time. I had to take this slow and try to put her at ease. I was wishing desperately that I had more experience. I moved to the other breast as her hands ran over my shoulders and down over my biceps. I broke off and kissed her lips again, our tongues dueling. When we needed air, we finally separated and I stood slowly, letting her slide down my torso until her feet touched the ground. Christ, she was small.
I held her gaze as I unbuttoned my jeans and slowly moved the zipper down, careful not to snag my erection that was now protesting loudly in the confines of my jeans.
She nearly stopped my breath when she hooked her hands in the elastic of her panties and slid them down over her hips and let them fall, pooling between her feet. She stepped out of them, fluttered her hands as if she didn’t know what to do with them. I yanked my jeans and boxer briefs down in one shove and took them off. I was already barefoot. We stood looking at each other. I had the sudden urge to cover my dick with my hands and then thought how stupid that would be.
– NC-17 PORTION –
The nervousness was coming off her in waves and I knew it was up to me to be the one to take the lead. I reached out for her hand and she met me half way. I towed her gently to the bed and laid her down on her back. I climbed on the bed and lay down next to her. We kissed some more, hissing with pleasure as our skin came together. My nerve endings pinged with electricity and I moaned into her mouth as I kissed her.
Our hands were a flurry all of a sudden, touching, squeezing, exploring. I slipped my hand down over the soft swell of her tummy and fingered her curls. She tensed but then relaxed and I felt the angle of her legs widen, inviting me in. I was so hard it almost hurt. My cock was pulled up tight to my stomach.
My fingers strummed her and she bucked slightly. I figured I must have hit her clitoris. From what I’d heard, it was notoriously hard to find. All the things my father had told me kept running through my mind. Talk to her about it, take your time.
She was literally quaking beside me. I realized that I was fighting her years of accrued disappointment. Everyone she’d ever let herself get close to had let her down. I was determined to break the chain. Her trust in me was not going to be misplaced.
I slid down carefully, suckling her breasts and listening to her moan, feeling her tremble. I moved down her stomach, whispering, “Shh, it’s all right. I won’t hurt you.”
“I know, oh God, it’s just so intense,” she squeaked.
I smiled and continued my journey. I finally levered up off my side and positioned myself kneeling between her legs. I scooted back and rested my ass on my heels. My hands skimmed up the insides of her legs, widening them and opening her sex to me.
It was pink and swollen and looked so soft. My fingers moved slowly and brushed her labia. She gasped and began to pant in cute little puffs.
I lowered myself onto my stomach and put my arms under her legs, hooking them up and placing my hands on her hips. “Oh God, Devlin,” she whimpered. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to,” I murmured and lowered my head. I took a tentative lick, not really knowing what to expect. I’d tasted her before and it wasn’t bad, but this close, she was musky and the smell made my penis harden to an unbearable state.
My first taste was small but heavenly. She was wet like sea foam and I licked again, while she bunched the bedspread in her fists. I looked up to find her eyes tightly clenched. I almost asked her to look at me but decided she needed to do this her way. I didn’t want her to feel that she had to do anything she didn’t want to do.
I lowered my head again and let my tongue explore the folds, hills and valleys of her juncture. She tasted tangy and I quite enjoyed the taste of her. She made my taste buds tingle in a delightful way.
Soon, she was leaking copious amounts of fluid and I lapped it up like a dog. I knew she was enjoying it, but it wasn’t getting her nearly as excited as I was. Then I remembered reading that most women needed clitoral stimulation of some kind to reach orgasm. As I quickly as that thought came, I remembered an entry in my father’s journal. He had written long pages about things he wanted to do to his ‘Scully’ as soon as they were together. One thing that had intrigued me was a mention of writing the alphabet on her clit with his tongue.
I carefully spread her lips with my thumbs and eyed her little bud of nerves. It was dark pink and swollen and peeking out from under the hood. My fingers, gently pried the hair away from it, exposing it. I blew gently on it and she yelped and bucked up, my hands pressing her hips back into the mattress.
That was the little bugger. I lapped it gently and she moaned, her hips twisting beneath my hands. I went at it in earnest, licking, sucking, swirling my tongue around the sides of it. It was spongy and wet and I felt my chin getting wet as I continued. I tried several times to actually follow his suggestion, but I kept losing myself in a pleasurable haze and forgetting what letter I was on. She began moan as I divided my brain between delight and disorientation. I felt like I was floating and dizzy.
I removed one hand from her hip, slid it between us and began running my fingers over her labia. I accidentally brushed the skin between her lips and anus and she moaned in a husky tone that made my cock throb. ‘Oh, I found a good spot,’ I thought. I resumed sliding her wetness around her lips down to brush her skin there and she suddenly stiffened up and arched her back.
I sucked on her clitoris and felt it vibrate between my pursed lips. She shouted, “Oh my God, DEVLIN!”
She writhed and her hands came down on the sides of my head, holding me in place. I rubbed gently at the skin below her lips and sucked harder on her clitoris. She wailed, shook and then went still, melting into the mattress.
My ego soared. I’d done it. I’d make her come. She was panting harshly as I slid up and lowered myself between her legs, my arms taking my weight on either side of her shoulders. I kissed her and she kissed me back.
XX END OF NC-17 PORTION XX
My dick felt like an iron pipe and when it brushed the silky skin of her upper thigh, I jumped, and clenched my teeth to keep from coming right there. It suddenly hit me how close we were to doing this. I began to feel shaky inside and wondered if it was the right thing to do. God, it seemed like it was too soon, and it seemed like I’d been waiting forever.
I lowered my head into the crook of her neck and breathed heavily until my body calmed down and I felt myself at least marginally in control again.
Her tiny hand wriggled between us and down between our legs. When she wrapped her hand around me, my mind lost all traction and slid into a space of pure feeling. It was so intense. I could still feel her nervousness but she was sated and content now and amazed at what she had felt when she climaxed. I felt her love and trust and her joy.
She stopped and pushed me on the chest. I fell to my side and watched her reach to the nightstand where I had put the package of condoms earlier. She opened the box and peeled one off the strip. Her hands shook as she brought it up to rip it open with her teeth.
I suddenly realized that we couldn’t do this. God, we couldn’t take the chance. I reached up and caught her wrist, gently drawing it away. “Bella,” I said softly. “You know I love you, don’t you?” I began.
She nodded and smiled.
“I love you and want you so much, Bella, but I’ve been thinking about my behavior in the past few weeks, and I think that …”
“You don’t want me, do you?” she said sadly.
“Hell yes, I want you. I ache for you. I want to lay you down kiss every inch of skin, and make love to you ‘til I don’t know my own name anymore, but I can’t. I want to make love to you, to be inside you so bad that it hurts to look at you. But WE can’t.” I looked deeply into her eyes, trying to see if she understood.
“You love me and you want to wait,” she said with a touch of awe. “You love me enough to wait until we’re older.”
“Yes,” I said simply.
She sat there and thought about things for a moment. I could feel the heat of her thighs. ‘Please, baby, understand. I don’t know how much of this I can take,’ I thought to myself.
“But the ring—” she began.
“The ring is a promise of a future together. I love you and I want you, but I don’t want you to have to go home and lie to your parents about our relationship. I don’t want to lie to mine. I don’t even want to have to offer an abbreviated version of the truth to either one. I’ve changed so much since we left Virginia, Bella, even in this short time. I thought I knew what I was doing. I thought I had life figured out. I was feeling pretty cocky about everything.
“But since we’ve talked to Kevin, I realize that I don’t really know jack-shit about anything. Sure I’m smart, and I’m learning, but I’m only seventeen years old and I have another whole year of high school to finish. So do you. If something happened and you would get pregnant, it could change everything for us. I don’t think it would make us love each other less, but it would take a lot of the fun out of life if we had to stop being what we are and suddenly change into parents. We’d use a condom, but we both know nothing is foolproof.
“My parents have morals and a depth that I KNOW they didn’t have when they were our ages. My dad went to England when he was eighteen and stayed at Oxford until he had his PhD. My mom worked and went to school for ten years after high school to become a medical doctor. That’s a lot of life to live before accepting the possible responsibility of being new parents. I don’t want to take a chance of losing all those precious years.
“I think we should wait. As hard as it’s going to be for both of us, I think we both should be old enough to face any consequences that come from having sex, in case something were to happen.” I paused. “What do you think?” I waited for her to think through all that I had said, praying that she wouldn’t find a reason in there to dump me.
“Okay,” she said quietly and slid over, placing the condom back on the nightstand. “Okay,” she repeated. She moved around the bed and pulled the covers up and slid between the sheets. She turned off the lamp on her side of the bed. “‘Night, Devlin.”
Shit! She didn’t understand. I jerked the spread down off the bed and climbed in between the covers. I turned off the light next to me and lay there staring up at the ceiling.
“You really don’t get it, do you?” I said. I was getting angry and I didn’t know at who or what I was angry about.
“Sure, Dev, I get it. You don’t want to have sex with me,” she said. “Not until we’re older. That way you won’t be forced into marrying me or anything if the condom failed.”
I jumped out of the bed and hit the switch for the lights. I had just about had it with her attitude.
“Dammit, Bella! That’s not what I said and it’s not what I meant,” I shouted. I paced back and forth at the end of the bed, trying to understand her. “I’m probably the only guy in our high school class that has to apologize to his girlfriend for NOT jumping her bones! Dammit, woman, what can I say that will let you know how much I love and respect you? How can I tell you how I ache for you? I can touch you, Bella, and I can feel your love. I can’t help it if I have that ability and you don’t!”
I marched into the bathroom and slammed the door. I turned around immediately and stalked back out into the room. “I love you,” I shouted. “I don’t know why, but I do. I know what I love ‘about’ you. I love your intelligence and your humor and your joy and your ability to cope with twenty things at one time.”
She sat up and stared at me as I ranted at her, but she still didn’t look like she understood me. I tried harder and said, “I love your smell and your beautiful brown eyes and your smile. I love your luscious curvy body and I even love your toes. I love all of you, Bella Quinci—every single morsel, every atom, ever sub-atomic particle that comes together to make you. But I respect you too much to chance taking away your future. I want to be with you for a long time.”
A look of understanding was beginning to dawn on her face. I had to make her accept my feelings completely or I was going to lose her.
“Even with all the love I have for you, Bella, it’s also about me,” I said and then sighed. “I thought I had it all together. I was going to float through senior year and write a few programs on the side and get a job right after school. I didn’t need college, I didn’t need anyone or anybody but myself to make it big in life. Then I found out about my parents, my biological parents, and I met you and I started having these feelings and this ability, and I was scared.
“Suddenly everything isn’t as clear cut as it was before. I love you, but I’m not ready to be married yet,” I said. She started to speak and I held my hand up to stop her. “And if something were to happen, I would want to marry you. You are so important to me, Bella, I don’t even want to think about living without you. Do you understand?”
She nodded and said, “I guess I’ve always looked at things a little differently than you, Devlin. My mother had me when she was my age, you know? My Nana had lost three babies before my mother was born and she was only seventeen, too. Things are different in my family, but that never was a concern for me. I never thought I would have to worry about any of that. No boy has ever been interested in me before. As smart as I am, I guess I was just listening to you say that you wanted to wait and heard that you didn’t want me.”
“Ah, Bella, nothing could be farther from the truth than that. I do want you and I’m probably going to want to kick myself in the butt next week, but right now, it’s not the time to take our relationship further. I gave you that ring as a promise. I want to make another to you. When the time is right, we’ll both know and nothing on this earth—not your parents or mine or fear of pregnancy—will keep us apart. Do you believe me?”
“I believe you, Devlin. I love you and I know that when the time is right, we’ll be together,” she said with a smile.
“Good,” I breathed out. I could hear the relief in my own voice.
“What about you?” she asked.
“What about me?” I asked, slightly confused. I approached the bed and slid under the covers.
She wriggled over to me and laid her head on my shoulder as I lay on my back. Her hands began to wander down my chest and over my abdomen, making my muscles roll and clench. “Bella, please. You’re not making this any easier.”
“More than one way to skin a cat,” she murmured.
“Excuse me?” I asked, looking down at the top of her head that was now lying on my pec.
“You said it, the last time. ‘More than one way to skin a cat.’ I believe you thought that it should be a two-way street.”
My cock twitched at the thought of it, as I realized what she was saying. “You don’t have to do that, Bella.”
“It would only be fair,” she said slyly.
– NC-17 PORTION –
His cock felt so smooth in my hand as I reached out and stroked it as I had done only one time before. His balls were large and seemed heavy and full. He was fully erect in seconds. I felt bad. I knew I’d left him hanging.
I let my head move down his torso toward my target, eyeing it carefully. Once close, my breath hit the sensitive head and it lurched upward as though it knew that attention was imminent. I almost giggled at that silly thought, as though it had a mind of its own. I supposed it did. Most young guys did think with the little head. He was right, and here I was, giving him hell because he was trying to be responsible.
I stroked him gently and leaned forward. I flicked out my tongue licked the smooth head. It was hot and I watched as I felt it grow even harder despite the frustration I knew he must be feeling. He moaned and said, “Bella, I could take care of this myself if it gets too bad.”
“No,” I said quietly. “I need to do this. I want to do this.”
I was embarrassed as I felt my hand begin to shake. I gripped him a little harder and came up on my knees next to his legs. I leaned forward again, stroking him a little harder, and drop of pre-come appeared.
A low, sexy growl came out of his throat. Encouraged, I leaned down and licked up the side of his shaft like a lollipop. I wasn’t quite ready to put him in my mouth yet. He probably figured I was going to give him a hand job again.
I hoped I’d have the courage to go through with it. He’d made me feel so good. I realized it was a bit silly to have wanted to have intercourse and now be hesitating at the thought of giving him a blowjob, but I’d never done it before. I had no idea what I was doing. However, I was going to take him at his word that there was no such thing as a bad blowjob. He’d probably had hundreds. I hoped I measured up.
—X—
I nearly came instantly when her tongue began to explore the length of my cock. Her tongue traced the bulging blood vessels and sometimes curled itself around my shaft. Her breathing was labored and her hands were trembling. One was holding the base of my shaft, the other was on my hip for balance.
I’d given her an out and she still wanted to do it. Who was I to argue? Her full, pouting lips finally slipped over the top of my shaft, and her hand stroked up and met her lips as she pushed her mouth down to meet her hand.
I could feel her fear of not being good enough, her insecurity about not knowing what she was doing. I gave up biting my lip and let the moans float out into the room, trying to let her know how good it felt. She seemed to respond to them, gaining rhythm and confidence as I continued to groan in pure ecstasy as she manipulated me with her mouth and her hand.
She began to suck and my cock jerked furiously. “Oh Jesus, Bella! It feels so good!”
My hands found her head and gently pulled her hair back so I could watch. The sight was exquisite. Her lush cupid bow mouth stretched over my cock. I gritted my teeth, wanting to hold out a little longer.
She lifted herself off and said, “I’m sorry, Dev. I can’t take it all. It’s too big.” She was nearly in tears.
“Aaahhh, baby, you don’t have to. What you’re doing feels better than anything I’ve ever felt. Just please don’t stop.”
She looked a little surprised, but nodded gamely and lowered her mouth to me again. I was leaking pre-come like sieve. She was bobbing her head, wrapping her tongue around the glans each time she came up. Her words about my size gave me incredible feeling of pride and satisfaction.
The sensations coming from my cock intensified as she continued to suck and stoke me with her strong little hand. Then she took her free hand and cupped my balls, gently worrying them in the palm of her hand. I was all done.
I shouted as I felt my orgasm surge through me. It felt like there were a thousand tiny fingers surrounding my cock as the texture of her tongue registered in my brain. I felt my back arch and sounds I’d never known I could make escaped from the back of my throat. With a roar, I shouted, “I’m com … ing, Bella! Oh God!”
All my muscles tightened and I felt a surge in my shaft as I came harder and more violently than I ever had in the past.
She lifted her head and my come arched into the air, hitting her in the chest. The next one flew up and hit her hair, and the final one hit her in the face. She seemed fascinated by it, rather than repulsed and she lowered her head and tentatively licked up a small drop of it from my stomach. If I’d had anything left in me, I would have come again right then.
– END OF NC-17 PORTION –
She looked at me and smiled and said, “It’s not bad.”
I threw my head back and laughed. I couldn’t help it. It was such a silly thing to say after what had just happened. She laughed with me, holding up a large hank of her hair that was striped with white. “We really have to stop washing my hair in this stuff.”
I began to laugh all over again and she fell onto the bed, laughing with me. We were slightly hysterical with relief. I was still floating in a post-coital endorphin haze. I pulled her on top of my chest and cupped the back of her head, pulling her down and kissing her soundly.
She kissed me back and we made out for several minutes. I finally let my head flop back on the bed and she collapsed on my chest. “Bella, that is the single most intense sexual experience of my entire life,” I admitted.
“Yeah, right,” she responded, sounding extremely skeptical.
I cupped her face and said, “I mean it, Bella. I’ve never wanted another girl as much as I want you. I’ve never even tried to get past kissing and maybe a little petting. You drive me crazy.”
Her eyes were suspiciously wet when she bent down to kiss me again and said, “Let’s take a shower.”
—X—
We showered together for the first time and I was surprised what a sensual experience it was to wash someone’s hair. We dried off quickly and slid back into bed. We hadn’t discussed it, but neither of us put clothes on.
I spooned up behind her and said, “Now let’s get to sleep. My folks are going to be in the coffee shop at 9:00 AM sharp. I don’t want to keep my Mom from her first cup of coffee in the morning, especially tomorrow.”
—X—
Devlin spooned up against me and went to sleep immediately. He once told me he got that ability from his mother; she can sleep anywhere.
I lay awake for a long time, thinking about what he said. I knew he’s right. We needed to wait. It was going to be hard, but I thought it was the right thing to do. If we were out of high school, it would be different, but we had another whole year to go.
I wished I had his ability to feel his emotions. I believed him, but it was so much easier for him to believe me. All he has to do was touch me and I knew he could feel all of the love in my heart for him.
I didn’t know what was going to happen with our parents and that was scaring me. I knew his parents will be reasonable and listen to him, but my emotional Italian family would yell first and think later. I’d probably be pulled out of public school and be sent to an all-girls parochial school. Maybe it was a good thing that Dad hasn’t had a job for a long time.
Well, at least I wouldn’t be lying when I told them that I nothing happened and I am still a virgin. Well, something happened, but my virtue was firmly intact. I wouldn’t be too embarrassed when I went to confession. After all, all I did was run away from home, leave the country, and oh yeah, gave my boyfriend a blowjob. God, I hope we don’t get in trouble with the law.
—X—
PART 20 (NC-17)
TRAVELODGE FALLSVIEW HOTEL NIAGARA FALLS, NY TUESDAY JULY 13 – 12:50 AM
We’d finally made it to the hotel and checked in. The clerk had advised us that Devlin and Bella Mulder had returned for the night. I was shocked at first but then realized he wouldn’t marry her without us. No way. Then the clerk said, “Your daughter is really cute.”
Scully gave him the death glare and he fumbled on the counter and practically shoved the keys to the room at us. I just smiled and put my hand on her lower back in its usual position, hoisting my suitcase in the other.
Scully picked up her own suitcase and we made our way to our room. As soon as the elevator door closed, Scully asked, “What did they do, Mulder?”
“He checked them in as brother and sister.”
“Ah, gave me a scare there for a second.”
“Me too, until I realized there would have been too many questions otherwise.”
We reached our room and I turned on the television as soon as we got inside. We pulled out some toiletries, took a shower and brushed our teeth.
I returned from the bathroom to find Scully standing naked by the bed. My body reacted instantly, as it always did to the sight of her nude body. All these years and I still reacted to her like I was sixteen sometimes. Amazing.
I walked up behind her and slipped my arms around her waist. She gasped slightly as she reached for the bedspread, but then stood up straight, leaning her nude body against my clothed one. I pressed my partial erection against her ass and she chuckled.
She spun around in my arms and said, “Lose the clothes, Mulder.”
I chuckled and obeyed her as she pulled down the bedspread and sheets. She walked around behind me after I shed my shirt and put her arms around me, her hands sliding up and down my torso. I hummed in the back of my throat, expressing my approval.
I had unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans, but hadn’t taken them off yet. I was barefoot and reaching for my waist, when her hand slid forward and into the front pocket of my well-worn jeans. I couldn’t hold back the moan when she slid her hand around until she found my cock, now growing rapidly and squeezed it gently through the fabric of my boxer briefs and the pocket. I bucked into her hands and she chuckled, letting me go.
I was naked in short order and followed her pert backside as it slid onto the bed. She flipped the covers over us and I fell into her embrace. I kissed her hard, then soft.
– NC-17 PORTION –
I slipped down to her neck and began my pilgrimage of worship as I kissed her neck, her pulse, her breasts, suckling on her nipples and sliding over her ribs to tongue her navel, kissing her pale flesh as I progressed.
Her nipples were so engorged, so sensitive, so hard. They always had been and I loved making her sing her sounds of arousal for me. Tonight was no exception as I pinched one lightly and suckled the other.
She reached down and grasped my now rigid cock, leading it to her entrance, where I found the slick entrance to her sex. Her look of languid arousal turned to one of triumph as her hands grabbed my ass cheeks and pulled me toward her.
I was drunk on the sensations and I groaned loudly and bucked my hips, sinking half way into her snug tunnel. She let out a moderate shriek at the speed of my entry. I gave her a second to adjust and then locked my gaze with hers and began sinking the rest of the way inside her. The soft satin feeling of her walls sliding over my dick was perfect.
Her face was flushed and I watched the pink creep down her neck and onto her chest as I began to pump gently in and out of her.
“Oh baby, yes!” I nearly shouted. No matter how many times we did this, it was always so good. My body was beginning to flood with a warm, delicious feeling of heightened arousal that said I wasn’t going to last much longer.
I slid all the way in and pressed my pubic hair against hers until I felt the hard bone of her pubis. Then I ground myself into her. She cried, “Oh! Yes! Just like that, lover!”
I obliged and began a series of deep, grinding thrusts that crushed her clitoris between us. I began kissing her again, never able to get enough of those soft, warm lips. Her tongue slid into my mouth and I moaned loudly, increasing my pace slightly.
I found myself breathing in shakily with every thrust. I buried my head in the space between her neck and shoulder and concentrated on the feelings washing over me. She began to chant, “Oh God, oh God, oh God.” I pulled back so that I could see her face as I stroked into her.
In no time, her muscles tightened on my shaft. She came with ragged, sobbing cries, her body clenching around mine. “I’m gonna … gonna … .” And then, she did. “Aaahhh, Aaawww, Ohhhh, Ohhhh Gaawwwddd!”
I watched with a mild sense of victory as her head thrashed from side to side on the pillow, her hair flying everywhere. She could still make me feel like that out-of-control teenager, but apparently, I could still do it for her too.
I felt the backs of my thighs tingle and my ball sack tighten and pull up against my shaft. I sank into her until I was totally immersed and held still. I didn’t want it to end. “Hold still, baby, I don’t want to come just yet,” I pleaded.
Scully looked up at me and smiled. Soft tremors still wracked her body as she stroked my chest, but I could tell that she was trying to hold still as I’d requested. Her eyes were slightly glazed and her lips were so soft and plump, they looked like they were bruised from our kisses.
I breathed deeply and fought for control. So often our love life has been confined or, should I say, dictated by time restraints. Our schedules include our children, work, home, social and church responsibilities. We have a wonderful group of friends and family and consequently, a busy social life. Everything we did involved interaction with others. Sometimes that meant we had very little private time for ourselves.
Scully and I wouldn’t give up our lives for anything. We’d been blessed a thousand times over what we’d ever expected when we first committed to one another, and we were grateful for our blessings. We wouldn’t change a thing about our lives, well, except maybe the last twenty-four hours of worry over Devlin and maybe the whole alien invasion thing. Out of this upheaval we’d been given a few precious hours alone, just Scully and me, alone for hours in the car and now in our room. I planned on making the most of our time together.
As I stared down at my wife, my partner, it hit me again how beautiful she still is, how much I love her. I slid from her body and moved to lie down next to her. I pulled her into my arms and hugged her close to my heart.
“I love you, Scully. I don’t think I say it often enough, but I do. I love you even more now than I did the day we married in Reno.”
“I love you, too, Mulder. I always thought that I would eventually find someone to marry, but I never dreamed that I would find a man who I would love as much as I do you.” She snuggled against me, pushing her nose into the side of my neck. “You are my heart.”
I felt tears of happiness form and threaten to fall. After all these years, she could still reduce me to a pile of mush. I lifted my hand to her face and brushed my fingertips down her cheek. She smiled up at me, her eyes shining with love and desire. I leaned down and kissed her. I teased her lips with mine for a moment, letting my tongue brush up against her full bottom lip and then slide up to caress her top lip. She growled and bit my bottom lip before sliding her tongue between my lips to stroke mine. Our kisses started out soft and slow but quickly escalated to hot, wet, open-mouthed kisses that brought my desire back up to desperation.
“Get on your knees and hold on to the headboard,” I growled as I broke our embrace and slid my body away from her. I sat up and rested my butt back on my heels as I waited for her to move.
—X—
I let my eyes wander down Mulder’s body from the top of his head to his knees as he sat back on the bed. His lips and hands on me had fueled my desire again. Our kisses had been hot and wild and I knew that I was in for quite a ride.
His eyes were black with passion and his beautiful lips full and inviting. He was still covered in a light sheen of perspiration that made his golden skin glow. His breathing was elevated and the way his muscles flexed as he moved made me want to kiss down his sculptured chest and abs. His cock was still slick with my juices and he was stroking it slowly with the beautiful long fingers of his right hand.
“Scully,” he growled.
I nodded and moved to the middle of the bed as I climbed up on my knees. I held on to the headboard for dear life.
He knee-walked across the mattress and moved his body up close behind mine. I could feel the hair on the front of his legs brush against the back of my thighs as he positioned himself behind me. I held my breath, waiting for him to slide into me, but long minutes passed and he didn’t move.
I looked over my shoulder to see what was happening. I gasped when I realized what he was doing. He was looking at me as if he had never seen me before—as if I were the most desirable, beautiful woman in the world. His hands were not touching me, but they hovered a few millimeters above my skin as he followed the curve of my back down to my waist. He hesitated for a moment and then continued down my hips to my derriere as he cupped his hands. His fingers never touched me, yet I felt every inch of my body tingle as if he had stroked over it lightly.
I felt a surge of lust rush through me and the moisture that had been slowly building in my vulva began to pour from me. My thighs were wet and I was aching for his touch. “Mulder?” I whispered.
His eyes met mine and I could see a sheen of tears there. “You are so damned beautiful,” he said. “After all these years, I can’t get enough of just looking at you.”
“Look all you want, Mulder, but if you don’t hurry up and touch me pretty soon I’m going to … ahhh!” As I spoke he slid his cupped hand onto my ass and began to gently squeeze and massage it. It felt so good. My anticipation of his touch had me so turned on I could have come from that alone if he had continued it for long enough. He let his hand slide up to the outside of my hips and on up to my waist. He lingered there for just a second or two and then continued up until he slid them over my shoulders and down my arms and around to cup my breasts.
The entire time he was stroking me, I was barely breathing. I felt everything turning black. “Breathe!” he said. “Don’t forget to breathe, baby.”
I laughed and took in a deep cleansing breath. As I did, I felt his cock glide between my legs and begin to slide against the folds of my labia. He stroked rhythmically until his cock was moving against my clit as he continued to stroke his hands over my body. I heard someone groan and realized that it was me. His movements had me in a trancelike state, waiting for him to enter me. Anticipation was killing me.
Moments passed and I teetered on the edge of orgasm. Finally I wailed, “Please. Now, please. I need you. I want you. Please don’t make me wait any longer,” I begged.
He grunted and moved back, angling his hips to his satisfaction and I waited for him to surge into me, filling me with his length. When I thought that I was going to implode with want, he surprised me once again.
I had braced myself for his thrust. I knew he was as on edge as I was. His desire was almost palatable. But instead of a hard thrust, a claiming, I felt him gently slide his cock into me. So slow, so easy, I could feel every ridge and vein down the entire length of him. Finally he was fully sheathed in me and I sobbed as a huge orgasm racked through my body. I was shocked. He slid out of me just as slowly and once again began to slide into me, this time giving his hips just a little twist as he slid home.
“Jesus!” I moaned. “Don’t stop, pleasepleasepleaseplease … .” I tightened my hold on him as the strong muscles of my vagina milked his shaft. ‘Thank God for kegels,’ I thought.
His breathing sped up and so did his strokes into me as I continued to squeeze against the length of him. I came again, but this time the orgasm didn’t end. I don’t know if it was a series of peaks or one incredibly long one, but I know that I was begging again.
“Love you, don’t stop, please, don’t stop, don’t stop don’t stopdon’tstopdon’t …” until words left me and all I was capable of was a high keening sound. I knew it was me because when I concentrated I could hear Mulder howling like a mad man.
“…loveyoubabyloveyouloveyou, Oh God, I love you!” The last was bellowed while he pistoned his hips into me as I held on to the headboard for dear life. The entire bed was thumping against the wall with each stroke as he leaned forward and covered me with his body just before he came.
His breathing finally slowed enough for him to utter one word. “Mine,” he said and then he collapsed down on the bed, falling onto his side, taking me with him. He kept his cock buried inside me as we lay there panting, trying to catch our breaths.
I could feel him shaking behind me and for just a minute was concerned that he was crying. He hadn’t done that since the first year we were married. He’d had such a hard time believing that we were together forever. We were married, the adoptive parents of a very special seven-year-old and had a baby on the way, but at times his dark past would still reach out and threaten his peace of mind.
I looked over my shoulder at him and saw that instead of insecurity or unhappiness, his body was shaking with silent waves of laughter. I smiled at him as I turned to snuggle into his arms.
He smirked as he looked down into my eyes and said, “We still got it, baby.”
I laughed but gave him a playful tap just to keep his ego in line. “I didn’t know we were in danger of losing ‘it’, Mulder.”
He grinned at my joke. “Love you, Scully. God, you’re amazing. I love you,” he whispered.
I smiled, kissed him gently, before whispering back, “Ditto.”
We were asleep within moments.
—X—
I was surprised when the sounds of guests arriving in the next room woke me up. In a hotel this nice, I didn’t expect the noise to travel that well. The rumble of their conversation, as they settled for the night, was surprising, but not invasive. It was weird, listening to strangers get settled in and prepared for bed. The low murmur of the television playing and the sound of the shower running seemed foreign, even though they were the same sounds I’d heard at home all my life.
When the television turned off and a new, more personal noise first began, I chuckled. Then Bella pulled away from me slightly and flopped onto her back. She was wearing a smirk when she looked up at me where I remained on my side. I was glad I’d just had an orgasm recently. Even so, the sounds were exciting me. Porn films, of which I’d seen a few thanks to the uncles, were good. However, hearing the real thing was even more exciting.
In no time, there was a slight rhythmic thump of the bed hitting the wall in the room next to ours. I hadn’t realized the walls were so thin. I wondered briefly if the people next to us had heard us and that was setting them off. What about the people on the other side? I looked down at Bella and she was blushing slightly, but was obviously amused.
“Oh baby, yes!” the man shouted in a voice hoarse with excitement.
A few thumps later and the woman shouted out, “Oh! Yes! Just like that, lover!” I guess the guy was doing something right.
I leaned into Bella and whispered, “Someday I’m gonna make you shout like that.”
She rolled her eyes at my seeming arrogance. Then her eyes went wide when we heard the woman sink into a warbling whimper that was the most profoundly exciting sound of pleasure. “Oh God, oh God, oh God…” She was obviously lost in whatever he was doing to her. I hoped one day I would be able to make Bella feel so good she lost herself, the way I seemed to lose myself in her.
Then a near shriek from the woman, “I’m gonna … gonna … .” A moment later, she lost it completely. “Aaahhh, Aaawww, Ohhhh, Ohhhh Gaawwwddd!”
“Were we that loud?” Bella asked shyly.
I grinned at her. “I don’t know, but I bet we were.”
“Oh shit,” she muttered.
I just chuckled, leaned down and kissed her soundly. “Go to sleep.”
“Now I can, as long as the show’s over,” she quipped.
I moved her onto her side again and slid up behind her, surrounding her with my body. She was asleep in minutes. I wasn’t so lucky. After a long silence the noise next door began again and I was hot and aroused by the sounds coming through the wall again. I moved my hips away from Bella slightly. Somehow she had managed to sleep through it all, and I didn’t want to wake her up.
My last conscious thought was ‘Must be newlyweds.’
—X—
Travelodge Fallsview Hotel Niagara Falls, NY Tuesday – Hotel Restaurant July 13 – 9:00 AM
Bella was dressed in almost new jeans she’d gotten from Jennifer, and a conservative button down white shirt. I was also in jeans and was glad that I’d brought a polo shirt. It never hurt to be dressed up a little with my mom. With all the serious apologizing I had to do, any little edge was helpful.
We left the room and made our way down to the hotel’s restaurant. I saw them the minute we entered. They were sitting at a table off to the left in the corner of the restaurant with their backs to the wall. My mother’s hair was like a beacon in the dimly lit room. I wondered if my hair showed up like that indoors.
I took a deep breath to swallow the nervous butterflies that were doing a happy dance in my stomach. Bella looked at me, noticed me swallowing hard and she reached out and clasped my fingers with hers. “It will be all right, Devlin. They’re just mad ‘cause they love you so much.”
“Yeah, let’s get it over with.”
My mother was dressed in green Capri pants and a lighter colored green blouse that complimented her hair. My father was in jeans and a green dress shirt that made his eyes nearly glow bright green. Their casual clothing was a sign that they weren’t as mad as I expected them to be. If they had been in more formal attire, I would have been scared spitless. Dad nodded calmly at us as we slid into chairs on the opposite side of the rectangular table.
Mom smiled at Bella and said, “Good morning, Bella. Morning, Dev.”
“Hi,” I said quickly, and proceeded to chew on my lower lip. I wasn’t sure but I think I saw a sly look slide between my parents. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Mom finally broke the tension, saying, “Let’s order our food first before we get into anything heavy. I’m starved.”
We picked up the menus left there on the table. A moment later a waitress appeared and took our orders for our eggs, home fries, toast and coffee.
She retreated with the menus and my father laced his fingers together and set his hands on top of the table. He looked at me from behind the silver wire-rims that were perched in the middle of his nose, making him look very much like a college professor.
He cleared his throat and then said, “Well, we’ve thought long and hard all the way up here about what to say to you, Devlin.”
I held up my hand. I needed to get this out of the way. Maybe I could prevent a full-blown scene if they realized I wasn’t going to be belligerent. My father nodded and I said, “I’m sorry, to both of you. I know I’ve screwed up worse than I ever have in my entire life, and I’m sorry. Before we got started, I just wanted to say that.”
He nodded again, and my mother raised her famous eyebrow toward her hairline. Then she said, “Well, that’s good to know. If you were a smart ass at this point … forget about your father, I’d kick your ass.”
That remark made Bella giggle a little in spite of the seriousness of the situation. Mom pinned Bella with her gaze and said, “Don’t think I can’t do it either, young lady.”
Bella swallowed her mirth. “I know you could, Ma’am,” she assured her.
I suddenly remembered Dad telling me the story of his sister and then asking that I not say anything to the twins. I remembered his vote of confidence. “Good, I know I can trust you,” he’d said. I realized that that was going to be the worst part. He might never trust me again.
—X—
I couldn’t help the small smile that escaped when Scully said she’d kick Devlin’s ass. I had no doubt that she could take him down in about ten seconds. He’d never seen his mother in a hand-to-hand fight but it was something glorious to see. Although I knew this situation wouldn’t come to that, it did give me a twinge of nostalgia for the old days. How many times had someone seriously underestimated Scully, only to find themselves lying flat on their back with her knee in their chest and her Sig to their head?
The waitress arrived with cups and a carafe of coffee. She must have noted our silence and understood that we wanted to be left alone. None of the tables around us were used to seat the guest arriving for breakfast and I was thankful for the privacy. I decided we needed to start the conversation so as I poured coffee for everyone I said, “Devlin, I don’t know if I can even tell you how disappointed I am in you.”
He hung his head, looking at the table.
I continued, “I don’t have a problem with your wanting to know more about your past, but you should have come to us, Devlin. We would have arranged for you to meet Kevin. Instead, you invaded our privacy, read things you had no right to read.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” he whispered again. He leaned over and pulled a small palm pilot out of the pocket of his pants. He handed it to Scully and said, “This has the entire journal downloaded on it. I haven’t read anything since I left home. I’m sorry, Mom and Dad.”
I ignored his whispered apology. He did sound contrite and I was glad of that. “You did that behind our backs and we raised you better than that, but at least you never lied to us about it—mainly because we didn’t know about it until yesterday, but still, at least you didn’t lie to me about that.” I paused, wondering if I could make him realize how serious this was. “What bothers me the most, Devlin, of all the things you have done in the last few weeks, is that you lied to me.”
I paused again. “I’ve always been straight with you. I may have omitted things, but I’ve never lied to your face. You stood there and told me you were going camping with Johnny and his grandparents. You looked me right in the eye and LIED TO ME!” I growled the last, losing my grip on my composure.
Scully saw my struggle and slid her hand over the tabletop and laid her small hand on top of my clenched fist. It wasn’t until then that I even realized my fists were clenched. She smoothly stepped in. “Devlin, we have always trusted you. You’ve had more freedom than a lot of kids have. You had those privileges because you’d proved to us that you were trustworthy, that you were a mature and reliable kid. Now you’ve broken that trust, Devlin. I don’t know if you can even comprehend how much that hurts.”
I looked up and saw the tears begin to streak down his cheeks. He was thus far silent, but our words were obviously hitting home. Scully continued. “I take some of the blame here.”
Devlin looked up and shook his head in the negative. He opened his mouth but Scully held up her hand to silence him. She continued, “I realize it was a mistake to keep your past from you. It was a mistake to not tell you that I was your real mother. In fact, Mulder tried to get me to tell you numerous times over the last few years and I refused. Your father respected my wishes because he felt it was my story to tell, not his.”
Devlin looked at me, eyes widening slightly. Scully’s voice was only slightly above a whisper. “I was afraid, Devlin. I know that now. I don’t even know if I realized it then, but looking back, I realize that was my main stumbling block. I was afraid to tell you, because … .” She choked up and swallowed, then continued. “I was afraid you’d hate me for it.”
“No!” he said forcefully, but still keeping his voice down. “Mom, I could never hate you, no matter what you did.”
She smiled that closed lipped smile of hers that made anyone in her radar feel cherished. I could tell it had the same effect on Devlin that it always had on me. “Well, that’s my confession, Devlin,” she confessed. “I was afraid and I should have told you sooner. However, that in no way excuses your behavior,” she added in a stronger voice.
He looked down again, wiping his tears with a napkin. Bella was quiet through this entire exchange. We were all silent for several minutes as our food arrived and we began to eat and sip coffee. No one seemed to have much of an appetite. When we all were finished, our plates cleared, and fresh coffee poured, I decided to get to the points that we had decided must be brought up.
“Devlin, there are going to be consequences for your actions,” I said sternly. He nodded, obviously having expected it. “First, when we get home, you are to call Johnny’s dad and apologize to him.”
He looked up, surprised at this. “How does he know?” he asked.
I smiled but there was no humor in it. “It wouldn’t matter if he did. You used Johnny and his father as an excuse to lie to me, involving people who had nothing to do with this. That’s unconscionable. In this case, he knows because I called him. When Bella’s father called me looking for Bella, I assured him that you were camping with your best friend and his grandparents. When I called to confirm that you were there, guess what he told me?”
Devlin hung his head again. “Shit,” he murmured.
“‘Shit’ doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Scully added. “Devlin, you will also apologize to Bella’s parents. They were absolutely frantic when they couldn’t find Bella.” She looked at Bella. “As for you, young lady, I will leave your punishment to your parents. It’s not my place, but the same goes for you. You should not have run off like this. You’re both minors, whether you feel like you are or not. Your parents accused Devlin of kidnapping you and were threatening to sue us. They wanted Devlin arrested.”
“Oh my God!” she breathed out, her hand covering her mouth. “No! Devlin didn’t ask me to go; it was all my own idea. I’ll explain that it was my decision.”
“They know that now. Your grandmother informed them that you discussed this little adventure with her. The point is that everything we do has consequences. Part of being an adult is being able to think things all the way through to the end, and realize that nothing happens in a vacuum. Every action you take impacts others; there are always more people involved than you think. In this case, Johnny and his father, your parents, your grandmother and we were all involved. We were all put in tenuous positions.”
She swallowed but nodded her head. “I understand, Mrs. Mulder. I’m very sorry if my parents were rude to you or threatened you.”
“That’s all right. I can handle my own on that count, but despite your problems with your parents, you should have told them you were going. Even if you defied them and went after they said no, at least they would have known where you were. They were ready to call the cops and send out search parties.”
Her hand snaked over to Devlin’s thigh and she grabbed his hand for support. He took it and squeezed. I took up the conversation again. “So, first apologize to Johnny and his father, second, apologize to Bella’s parents for not sending her back home when she followed you to the train station.” He nodded agreeably. “That’s for starters. Third, we exposed your nightly electronic excursions because Mac crashed the computer and we had Langly come over to fix it. He discovered, upon restoring the data, that you had broken his encryption program on our journal. He knew every passage you’d read and where you stopped. Even though you dumped your history and cache, he was able to retrieve the information. He also confiscated your little remote network set up. I don’t need to tell you how upset I was when I heard about all of that.”
“No, sir,” he said softly.
He was calling me sir. That meant he knew he was in a world of shit. “I don’t appreciate having my privacy invaded, Devlin. Have I ever invaded yours?”
He shook his head.
“Have I ever gone through your desk or your drawers? Have I ever listened in on your telephone conversations? Have I ever read your journal?”
He looked more contrite as I rattled off the possibilities. “No, you haven’t,” he said.
“Why do you think that is, Devlin?”
“Excuse me?” he asked.
“Why do you think I’ve never invaded your privacy?”
“I don’t understand what you’re asking,” he admitted.
I sighed and said, “Because I respect you, Devlin. I love you and I respect you.” I paused. “I thought I could trust you.”
He began to cry silently again. Scully said, “Part of your penance is going to be twice weekly sessions of at least an hour teaching Mac about computers. You’re right about one thing, he can’t keep crashing all our computers and the ones at school.”
He nodded, accepting that. She added, “And you’re forbidden to use your father’s computer anymore, in any way, shape or form. As for yours, lessons with Mac are to be your only use of the other computer for the rest of the summer.”
He looked up, startled at that. She held his gaze, daring him to challenge her pronouncement. He lost the staring contest and looked away. I knew that would probably bother him more than anything else. Aside from Bella, he lived on that computer. Scully continued, “No gaming with your friends, no e-mails with Bella, your friends, your uncles. Nothing, you understand me, Devlin? Lessons with Mac and that’s it!”
He nodded, “I understand.”
“I hope so,” she said curtly. “Because so help me God, if I catch you on any computer by yourself in the next month, make no mistake, there will be severe consequences. Then you’ll be wishing you never saw a computer. Do I make myself clear?”
He swallowed and answered, “Yes, Mom.”
“All right then. Anything else you want to say, Mulder?”
I looked at the two chastised and contrite teens sitting across from us. They were truly sorry. I could read it on both their faces. They had made some rotten decisions here, but I did feel slightly sorry for Devlin. I understood his urge to know about the unknown. Hadn’t I spent the better part of my youth chasing after the same thing? It was the way he had chosen to go after it that upset me. “Just this,” I said. “Look at me,” I commanded.
He raised his head and his blue eyes met mine, pooling with wetness. “I’m older now and it’s not as big a deal as it once was, but you know about my childhood because I told you. I grew up not being able to trust anyone. Because of my work, I grew even more cautious. Until your mother came along, I trusted no one. Through her, I learned what it was to trust someone, and that extended to you, Devlin. Trust is still not something I give away easily and it’s very important to me.”
Devlin nodded. “It hurts me to say this, but I mean it.” His head started to drop. “Look at me!” I said through clenched teeth. His head popped up again and I stared at him, holding his gaze. “If you EVER lie to my face again, you will not be welcome in my home. You will be kicked out and left on your own. I mean that, Devlin. I can’t make it any clearer. I can forgive almost any transgression. I understand your need to know, and I can even forgive your invading my privacy by reading my journal, but one thing I can’t abide is a liar. I WON’T abide a liar in my home. And I’m not just addressing this to you. I’ll make sure that Mac and Mairin understand the same thing when we get home. No matter how bad the truth is, it better be the only thing I hear from your mouth from here on out. Do you understand me?”
He swallowed hard and silent tears lost the battle again and coursed down his flushed cheeks. He whispered, “Yes, I understand. I’m so sorry, Dad. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
I nodded, holding back my own tears. Christ, it hurt to discipline him like this but he needed to understand how serious this was. I had to be able to trust my kids, and he was my kid, no matter what his background or biological origins. Devlin was my child, the child of my heart and I loved him like he was my own. I’d never had a moment’s qualm about taking him in and raising him as my son.
Everyone was silent for a long moment and then Scully said, “Do you want to tell us what Kevin told you?”
He cleared his throat. “Can I tell you on the ride home?” he asked.
“Yes,” Scully replied. “I’ll pay the bill,” she announced. “Let’s go pack. It’s almost check out time. We’ll meet back in the lobby of the hotel and head out. I would like to make a quick trip up to St. Catharine’s to say hello to Kevin before we leave, but I still want to make it home before dark if we can.”
We all stood and I kissed her forehead before following the kids back up to our room. I was surprised to find out we were on the same floor. I was even more surprised to find out that we were in the room right next to the kids. I wanted to ask if they had slept together, but this wasn’t the time. That was a question for when I was alone with Devlin. Something told me he wasn’t going to lie to me about it if I asked him.
When I slid my key card into the door, both his eyebrows rose up. He looked so much like Scully in that moment, I wanted to weep. “What?” I asked in response to the weird look he was giving me.
“Nuu … nothing!” he said quickly. “See you in a few. We didn’t really unpack much so it won’t take us long.”
“All right, we’ll catch up with you in the lobby,” I said, letting it go, knowing he wasn’t telling me something. At least he wasn’t lying.
I disappeared into my room. Just before our door shut I heard Bella exclaim, “Oh my God! It was your parents!”
I felt heat rise up my neck as I realized that they must have heard Scully and I going at it last night. Oh Jesus. I vividly remembered how loud we’d been, had even given a brief thought that we might disturb our temporary neighbors. Here I am disciplining the kids and they have the echoes of our lovemaking in their ears. I think this is one thing I’ll keep to myself, at least for now. Scully would be mortified. I smirked at the thought of it. There was still a little devil in me sometimes. Maybe I would tell her, just to watch her blush, tonight, after we get in bed. I loved to see her color up for me, in more ways than one. I’d definitely wait ‘til we were alone though.
—X—
EPILOGUE
MULDER RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA JUNE 20, 2015 1:00 PM
“Mom said I could go,” Mairin said as she tugged on the handle of the front passenger door of the car.
“She might have said you could go, but she didn’t say you could hog the front seat, Mare,” Mackenzie said and he kept his body between the door and his sister. “It’s my turn to sit in front. How will I ever learn how to drive if I don’t get to watch what Dad does?”
“You won’t get to drive one second before I do, Mac, so what difference does it make if I sit in front this time or not?” Mairin said logically.
By the sound of their voices, the argument was going to escalate until parental guidance was involved. Scully wanted me to get to the airport to pick up Devlin and Bella on time, but it didn’t look like it was going to happen. I made a quick decision.
“Hey, I’ve got news for you both,” I said. “Neither one of you can go. Your Mom needs your help in the house. Besides, there won’t be enough room in the car for Dev and Bella, their luggage, and you two.”
Both of the twins groaned and looked back at the house. “Sorry guys. I promise to take both of you, separately, out to the school parking lot and let you drive later on this week,” I promised. That put a smile on both their faces.
Fifteen. Our babies were almost ready to drive and our son, Devlin and his fiance, Bella were coming home from their college graduations today. I drove towards Dulles on the new interstate highway. Travel was certainly quicker now-a-days. I was really feeling old.
We had all gone up to Cambridge for their graduation ceremonies last week. When I say all, I mean all. The entire extended Scully- Mulder family, which included all the Gunmen, Walt, all the Scullys, Cooner, Alice and Conner, and of course, the Quincis. That was quite a bunch applauding and whistling for our two graduates. We were all so proud. It’s not every day that you have two kids in your family graduate Summa Cum Laude from two different major universities. Scully and I had rented one entire wing of the Marriott Courtyard for four days. It was almost as expensive as the cost of sending Devlin to Harvard for a year, but it was worth every cent.
It was quite a big deal but now they were on the plane home, at least for part of the summer. Both kids were going back in the fall for their master’s programs. What a surprise! Well, Bella’s wasn’t really a surprise. We knew that she had wanted to be a scientist for a long time. She had applied for and been awarded the scholarship to M.I.T. and had worked hard to achieve her goals. The fellowship for her master’s program was quite a feather in her cap.
Devlin was another story. Five years ago, I didn’t think our boy was even going to go to college. Scully and I were worried about him. He seemed to be drifting aimlessly. Then he met Bella and that little fireball had kept him on his toes ever since. She knew what she wanted and wasn’t going to be stopped until she got it. I guess Devlin was smart enough to realize that if he wanted Bella, he was going to have to keep up or be left in the dust.
I was so proud of my oldest son. He had thought about going to M.I.T. too, but at the last minute decided that he wanted to get a law degree and go into the FBI like his folks, after he passed the bar exam. He’s worked hard and I admire him for sticking to a difficult program of studies. He could have been a computer engineer and sailed through the courses with all his natural abilities, but he chose to stick to his goals.
Just a few months ago, he’d almost quit. Bella had been having a tough time of it and he wanted to drop out for a quarter and take care of her. Bella’s grandmother, Nana, had died and it was as if all the starch had been wrung out of her. Devlin was at his wits’ end. He knew that she had to keep her grades up in order to keep her scholarship, but she just didn’t seem to be able to cope at the time.
I was worried about both of them, but the semester ended and their grades came back as high as ever. I asked Devlin what had happened and he laughed and told me about his Uncle Cooner and Aunt Alice’s visit.
Cooner and Alice had attended Nana’s funeral. They had been close to her for years. Alice had taken a liking to both her and Bella at one of our parties while the kids were still in high school and had become one of Nana’s closest friends. When Alice heard that Bella was having a hard time coping with Nana’s death, she and Cooner had driven up to Cambridge immediately. It was probably quite a sight. They own the biggest diesel-pusher recreational vehicle on the market. I don’t think that there are too many of them out there that are more luxurious than theirs unless they’re owned by rock stars. They had stayed for a month and helped both of the kids cope with the loss of our sweet Nana.
I was pulling up to the front of the airport and saw the kids out front waiting for me. They looked happy and relaxed. Not like the last time I saw them, a few months before graduation. Back then, Devlin had dark circles under his eyes and Bella looked like she had lost every spare ounce of weight on her body. When I had asked Devlin at their graduation what had happened, I had been under the impression that Alice had been able to help Bella. He had just laughed and told me that I had the wrong helper. Apparently Cooner and Alice had done everything they could to help Bella but she just kept spiraling down into a slump and couldn’t seem to shake it.
One day, Cooner had decided that enough was enough and he took Bella in that huge RV to one of the area’s nursing homes. When he was done with Bella, she had her head back on straight. Devlin had asked her what he told her and she said that he had taken her to the nursing home during open visiting hours. Cooner had asked her if she saw anyone there like her Nana. Bella couldn’t find one of the residents that had been as sharp or happy as Nana had been until her dying day.
Devlin said his exact words to her were, “That, little girl, is because she had grit. She knew she was loved and enjoyed every minute that was given her in this life, the good as well as the bad. You have to be thankful for the blessings you are given and learn to accept the lumps. Nana knew that. You have to just keep going down the road of life. Keep living. That’s what Nana did. That’s what she’d want you to do. You can’t let your sorrow rule you. Just keep on truckin’.”
I was once again amazed at how my casual run-in with a big, mean- looking truck driver had changed my life. Cooner was a very wise man who gave out good advice and had been a good friend to Scully and me—to our entire family.
He had told Bella that we all need to keep on truckin’ down the road of life and he was absolutely right. You never know what happiness you will find.
THE END OF THE WHOLE RIDE
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