SAVE ME By Foxfire. (NC17)

Title: Save Me
Author: FoxfireX
Classification: MSR
Rating: NC-17. Gratuitous sex disguised
as a casefile
Spoilers: Sometime post Grotesque, way before this current mess.
Disclaimer: They would smile much more if they were mine. I have a horse named Scully, a dog named Titus and three kids. Sue me, you get the kids. Be warned.
Archive: I sob effusively everytime someone is kind enough to ask Author's notes: For all the sexy chickies at
the Mulder chat; GirlieGirl, Mulderpause, Petal,
Beckysrose (but don't read it Becks, you're too young still ;) You guys are my inspiration. Thanks for being my friends. Oh, and Spooky, wherever you are, we miss you.

Fox Mulder had been loaned out. Like a hammer.
Like a library book. Loaned out like so many other
inanimate objects that he could think of. Was he angry?
Not really. But he didn't like leaving the X Files for any
amount of time. He had work of his own to do. Ok, truth be told, he didn't like leaving his partner for any length of time. But it wasn't safe to think about that right now.

He was a profiler. Emphasis on the WAS. Sometimes,
when it was convenient for the Bureau, they forgot the past tense. That was why he found himself in this dead-end town in rural east Texas, attempting to aide in the capture of a serial killer. He was good at this. He was very, very good at this, the problem was in order to do his best, he had to get into the mind of the killer. 'If you want to know an artist, you have to look at his art'.

He was not looking to walk that edge again. This time he might not be able to come back. He had been staying in a cabin on Caddo lake. The lake was large and heavily wooded, extending into parts of Louisiana, turning into swamp in some areas. Bodies of young women had been dumped here, around the lake presumably murdered
elsewhere first.

This had been going on for six months now, and no one had been able to put together a definitive profile of the perpetrator. His cabin was located in a State Park, equipped with phone and television, comfortable enough, but isolated.

He had narrowed down a description of the sick and twisted mind that could commit these crimes. They did not, however, have an actual suspect yet. The number of murders were increasing, and they were facing a high fatality rate if they didn't come up with a name soon.

--
This one was like the rest. Young, female, pretty, and dead. Her throat had been cut, and he knew that the medical examiner on the case would find several cuts.
Some shallow, then progressively deeper, as he had let
her slowly bleed to death. By degrees. He was sure they
were conscious for most of it, he could see them in his
minds eye, crying and frightened, he could hear them begging for their lives, as he laughed. He could *almost*
see his face. He wanted desperately to be able to see his
face, to put this bastard out of business once and for all.

He leaned over the body, touching her shoulder lightly,
frowning in concentration as he tried to focus on her,
imprinting her image on his tired memory that could never let go of what it had seen. His shoulders shuddered slightly, his forehead broke out in a fine sheen of sweat, brow wrinkled in concentration. No one understood what this did to him, no one really cared. Well, that was unfair. Scully cared, just as she had cared during the John Mostow case. She called him frequently, and he could tell she was getting worried at his increasingly distant tone. She knew where he was going, and she was too far away to pull him back.

"Yeah, let's get her in." He turned to the sheriff. "He's watching us. He knows we're looking for him. He stays close by, so he can watch our progress. He's getting bolder, though, and now is the time he'll be apt to slip. He thinks we're too stupid to catch him, he thinks he's the criminal mastermind of all time. He doesn't understand the process of crime solving, he doesn't understand much beyond these woods. He'll be near here, he'll get too close, and that's when we'll catch him."

"Uh, no, sir, thank you." Scully hung up the phone, staring at the wall for a moment, she had not anticipated that call to go so well. She knew she had to get to Mulder. He needed her. She was packed and ready, and prepared to do battle with Skinner, if necessary to get there as quickly as she could. Now she was a little off balance that he didn't question or resist her request.

Scully pulled her bag from the back of the pickup that had stopped in front of a cabin. She called a 'thank you' over her shoulder to the park ranger that had driven her in, and crossed the porch to unlock the door. It had not been difficult to get an extra key for Mulder's cabin, and as the cabins were so far apart, it would defeat her purpose to rent another. She hoped he wouldn't be uncomfortable with her assuming she could stay with him, but the ranger assured her that the sofa pulled into a bed. She put her bag down, grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the shower. She had make her plans in such haste, that she didn't take time to change.

Twenty minutes later, she was dressed in jeans, white t-shirt under a flannel shirt, and was walking up the trail toward the lodge, deciding to start there for her search for
Mulder. The walking trail took her straight to the lodge, and she made it as the sun disappeared from the sky.

At the same time, Mulder was returning from the crime scene, and was standing in the front yard of the lodge sharing a cup of coffee with the Sheriff and two park
rangers. One of the rangers looked up at the trail head,
in time to see a very attractive woman materialize out of the forest.

"She's much to pretty to be wandering out here alone,
think I'll go offer my services as guide." Matt Rodriguez, the youngest of the group stepped out of the circle of men, and took a step toward Scully. At the same moment, all heads turned, and Mulder saw her. Coming toward them, slight smile on her face, looking like a vision from a dream in her casual clothes.

"She is pretty, and she's my partner." Mulder passed the
confused looking man, and walked toward Scully. Something in his eyes told her that she had come just in time. He was an emotional mess, and physically exhausted. There were dark circles under his eyes, as he drew nearer, her eyes blurred with tears for the pain she saw there.

They stopped toe to toe, he looking questionably into her
eyes, she trying to smile through her tears, tilting her head in that way she had. She moved first, reaching up to cup
the side of his face. A single tear ran down her face. He closed his eyes briefly and tilted his own head, into her
palm. It felt so cool and soothing, his head felt so sick
and hot.

"I just did. I felt it, I heard it in your voice. I knew you
needed me here, so I made it happen." He pulled her into his embrace. This was it, they had officially crossed the line. She had crossed it by simply being there, he by acknowledging he needed her.

"I'm close, Scully. I feel it, I was never afraid of it before, but I am now. I don't want to go over that edge.
I don't want not to be able to shake this guy from my head. I see him, what he does to those women, how
he enjoys it, and I can't stop looking, I can't turn away or turn it off." His arms tightened around her, as if she were his anchor on his emotions.

"Shhh, Mulder, not here, let's go back to the cabin and
talk about it." Her small hands smoothed the back of his
hair, giving what comfort she could while their audience
looked on. He turned, pulling her against his side and steered her toward the trail head that would take them to the cabin. He curled over her, almost sheltering her from the prying eyes that he knew were following them. He would introduce her to them, later. Right now he needed to be alone with her, he didn't want to share.

It was dark, as they descended the trail, but the moon was
full and they found their way easily enough, still wrapped in each other's arms. At the door, he hesitated, she looked questioningly up at him, wondering if he was having second thoughts about so much alone time with her. They were, after all, fairly isolated.

She turned toward him, mouth opening to speak as he bent down, catching the backs of her knees with his arm, and lifting her from her feet. Involuntarily, she moaned at the intimate gesture, her arms coming to rest naturally around his shoulders. He took her moan to be an assent to his actions, and carried her through the doorway, past the living room, into the bedroom, tossing her lightly on the bed.

Before she had a chance to react, or she suspected, chicken out, he was stripping his clothes. His dark eyes pinned her down not allowing her to move or think about anything but what was happening in the moment.

She raised up on her elbows, watching him. His clothes were dropping slowly, naked skin being slowly and methodically revealed for her eyes. She couldn't help the shiver that overtook her, he was that beautiful. She had spent much of the last few years perfecting her "death stare" to stop other women from ogling him like they wanted to take him home. Most of the time it worked, every once in a while (Det. White coming to mind) it
didn't. Unconsciously she licked her lips in anticipation.

He froze. The sight of her reclining on her elbows on the bed, staring up at him with bright eyes was almost more than he could be expected to rationally take. Then she licked her lips. Like a cat savoring the last drops of cream. All the sickness running through his brain began to recede.

Just by being here, she was healing him. In a way that only she could. Only she had that power. She had pulled him, yet again from the edges of insanity. He resumed his task, disrobing in front of her, now finding a intensity in his purpose. He wanted to be inside her, to bury himself in her softness, in her love, to make all that was hurting him and tearing at his hold on reality go away.

When at last he was naked, he crawled up the bed, toward her. The tenseness around his eyes told her he was having difficulty keeping his emotions in check. She saw the desperation in his movements, and for a fleeting moment, she questioned the wisdom of following him to this end. No one knew better than her how completely he could lose himself in the evil that surrounded him. As crept up her body, their eyes locked. He caught the look there, and hesitated. He was not so far gone in his own pain that he failed to miss the momentary look of hesitation in her eyes.

"Scully?" His voiced rasped, the hesitation there brought her back to reality. This was Mulder. No matter what was going on in his complex mind, he would never harm her. She smiled, her tongue flicking out to moisten
her bottom lip.

"Kiss me, Mulder." She barely completed his name when his attack began. The initial contact of their lips sent them both reeling. This first kiss, this culmination of almost four years of wanting shocked them both. A current, almost electrical and tangible rocketed between them.

His hands locked around her tiny waist, causing her to arch her back, pushing up against him, searching for the contact that was being denied to her as she was still fully
clothed. Sensing her frustration, Mulder rocked back, coming to his knees, bringing her with him to a sitting position. She barely recognized him, so strange was this fierce looking man before her. He pushed her flannel shirt from her shoulders, pulled her t-shirt over her head, pausing a moment to run a reckless hand through her tousled hair before disposing of her bra and starting on the button of her jeans. Scully lifted her hips to allow the material to pass, her panties going along for the ride.

When she lay naked before him, his eyes went black with lust and he slammed his lips onto hers again, pushing her back onto the bed. The feel of her warm satiny skin beneath him was the ultimate in sensuous. He was moaning constantly, almost keening his need for her. She recognized his need for what it was. She new he loved her, had loved her for so long. But, this was not about
love, this was about anchoring him to reality. Saving him.

As noble as it sounded in her head, the sensation of his lips sliding along her jaw line, down the arch of her throat gave her the distinct impression that she was ultimately going to get the better end of the bargain. All of the intensity he possessed was now focused on her, both frightening and thrilling at the same time.

When Fox Mulder focused, he focused. His warm mouth latched on her right nipple. She gasped his name, ending on a throaty moan that made his toes curl. He had done that. He had made her moan like a woman begging to be fucked. He intended to do just that. He did not know, however, how long he could hold back. He was fast
loosing his control over his own responses. His hand traced the curve of her left breast, down her sternum, over the slight roundness of her stomach, sinking his
fingers in the curls of her sex. His palm pressed hard
against her pubic ridge, allowing his fingers to slip into
her wet folds.

She moaned again, as his middle finger slipped inside her
body, arching her hips toward him. He shifted his weight above her, positioning his swollen shaft in the apex of her legs. He wasn't slowing down, wasn't sure he could, and wasn't sure she was ready for the onslaught.

"Please, Mulderrrrr....now, I'm ready for you....please."
Her voice faded out in a strangled whisper. She read his mind and gave him his answer. Of course she read his
mind, she always could. He was beyond words, beyond the edge of reason. He did what she asked, knowing he would have anyway because, Scully forgive him, he needed her to make it better.

"Scully......" his eyes closed involuntarily as he slid into
her. So hot and wet, so soothing and maddening at the same time. He had achieved nirvana, where he was saved from the evil that haunted him, saved even from himself. He had found it in her. It didn't surprise him, that he found what he needed inside her body, in this connection.
It did, though, shock the hell out of Scully. As he entered her, she felt the long forgotten muscles stretch to accommodate him. She felt a new rush of wetness as his throbbing dick bumped her cervix and his pubic ridge pressed into her clit. After the initial gasp of pressure and pleasure, she raised her eyes from his pulse pounding in his throat to his face. The look she found there was one she never expected.

She knew she loved him, had for so very long. Maybe
starting with that first night in Oregon, but definite in her mind by the time they had finished their interview with Tooms. After the scene with Agent Colton, she had accused Mulder of sounding territorial, which he assured her he was.

She wouldn't dare let him know at that time the thrill that ran through her at his words, and his light brush against her breast with his fingertips as he searched out her necklace that day, but that cemented in her mind that she was falling for him. Now looking at him, his glorious nude body above her, in her, surrounding her she focused on his face, and knew she was his. She knew that despite her need for independence and control, she would lie herself at his feet whenever he called.

She would travel half a country away just to be his release, to hold and love him back to reality. Just as she was now doing. She would do this because he would do it for her. Her reverie and self discovery was interrupted by the increase in the tempo of Mulder's thrusts. His silent chants became verbal pleas for release. She tilted
her hips up even further to meet him, allowing that perfect, delicious, rhythmic contact on her clit. He was ready for release, he needed it and she knew it. She reached up, taking his face in her hands and began
to talk to him.

"Come for me, Mulder, let me feel it, let me drown in it, please come for me.." She trailed off, his sharp, loud moan causing her orgasm to begin. Her walls contracted, her womb contracted, her nipples tightened into painful pinpoints and her skin rippled with electricity. She
couldn't help herself, she screamed when the pressure in her body became too much. Damn. She had never screamed during sex before. As her screams trailed off, she opened her eyes to see his look of wild ferocity.

He had no idea this kind of passion in her and it was momentarily stunning him. Only momentarily. His eyes shut tight again, as the fading contractions of her vagina continued to pull at him. His balls tightened, the
electricity that singed her nerve endings snapping along his. His grip tightened on her arching hips, as he lost his rhythm and emptied himself into her.

"Mmmmm, you could have asked, I would have been glad to tell you long before now. I was just too fond of my testicles to make a move until you were ready." He
yawned, his eyes fluttered shut and he tugged the blanket up to cover them.

"Agent Mulder, there you are. We had a report from one of the residents in town that she thought she saw someone outside her window last night. We checked the premises, and there do seem to be footprints outside her bedroom window that are too large to be the resident's.
She called her brother who lives across the street and he came over last night. She didn't report it to the sheriff's office until this morning." Sheriff Thomas came around his desk to greet Mulder. The news, as always, we not
good.

"Unfortunately that makes the trail a little cold. But, we may be able to set up a net, if he's stalking in the area." Mulder sipped from his coffee, looking at the map of the area of town the woman lived. He felt better than he had in a long time, and that spelled doom for this asshole getting off on hurting these women.

"No. He knows we were out there looking. He's going
to move a bit, thinking to throw us off. Tell me where another neighborhood is where the rent is lower and there might be a bigger population of young single women." Mulder's mind was working overtime, seeing things so clearly he could almost feel the intentions of the killer. Sex was good for him. Hell, Scully was good for him.

He smiled a bit, thinking of her sleeping soundly in the bed when he left this morning. She had pulled on his
t-shirt during the night and she had never looked more
alluring to him, rumpled in his bed. Sheriff Thomas continued.

"Here, there are a number of rental houses here, cheap and neat, attract a lot of single women working at the hospital. Nurses, housekeepers and such." He pointed to
a row of streets on the map. Mulder studied the map for a moment.

--
"This is it, Mulder, turn here." Scully, back on familiar ground, was navigating with map in hand. Mulder guided the car down the quiet street. Deep in thought, he stared at each house as they passed by. Scully, with the list of
renters provided by the Sheriff's office, pointed out the houses with a female name listed at the occupant. They drove three streets before Mulder stopped the car.

"This is the street, Scully. He's been here, today, watching everyone leave for work, picking her out." He pulled out his cell, asking Sheriff Thomas to assign surveillance to this street. "Well, Scully, the only thing we can do now is wait for dark. You wanna go back to the cabin to rest? Might be a long night." Resting wasn't
exactly on his mind, but it sounded good.

"Sure, I want to be with you tonight, so that will be okay." Scully wasn't planning on resting, either, and let him know idly resting her hand on knee, sliding it up his thigh to brush his crotch. She smiled when she felt his cock twitch and begin to come to life.

"I'm counting on it, Mulder." She smiled sweetly at him, and pressed her hand against his rising erection.
--
The door slammed open, then shut violently as Mulder
kicked it shut. His hands were occupied, roaming the small, sexy body of his partner, as he kissed her senseless. They had barely made it out of the car before the began to work on each others clothes. In the center of the front room of the cabin, Mulder pulled her shirt off, unbuttoning her slacks and pushing them and her panties
down. She balanced, first on one foot then the other to shed them and her shoes. She pushed his shirt, she had managed to unbutton without destroying off of his shoulders, pulling his tie over his head since she didn't
take the time to do any more than loosen it. Naked to the waist, Mulder unclasped Scully's bra, let it fall to the ground then stood back.

"You are so beautiful. I didn't take the time to appreciate it last night. You are perfect for me." His hands spanned her waist, he studied the contrast of his darker skin against the pale luminescence of her abdomen. She flushed at his admiration. But her old insecurities won out.

"Like a man. Like the big strong tough guy I always
wanted to be, but never quite pulled off. You make
me feel strong. Not just your size, Scully, I know
you can toss me on my ass if you really wanted to,
but your trust in me, your belief. If not in the
unexplained, your belief in me. No one has ever
believed in ME, in the person I could be." His
voiced trailed off, not sure if he was getting his
point across.

"I make you feel all that? Mulder that is the most
beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me. I have
never been good at the whole feminine mystique thing,
it was never me. I have spent most of my life being
treated like 'one of the guys', because I wanted it
that way." She stepped into his embrace, her breasts
crushing against his chest, his hairs causing a wonderful friction against her nipples.

"Probably a wise move, my love. I don't know that I would have taken that statement in the spirit it was
intended before now." She scraped her nails lightly over his pectoral muscles, his nipples and down this back. He did have a strong, sexy back.

"If you liked that, Agent, you're going to love this." She unhooked his belt, unfastened his slacks and slid them down, along with his boxers, smiling as his erection sprang free. She moved back long enough for him to work his clothes the rest of the way off, then sank to her knees in front of him.

His eyes widened, seeing her intent, he held his breath, unable to move. Like a deer in headlights. He was frozen. She smiled up at him, and slid her lips over his cock. His knees threatened to unlock at the sight and the
sensation. She hummed in the back of her throat, as she slid him in as far as she could take him. She slid him in and out, the silky skin over the hard steel of his erection felt like heaven in her mouth.

He couldn't speak to stop her before he came in her mouth. He wanted to come in her mouth, after all, he was a man and he was pretty sure any man on the planet would love to come in that pretty mouth, but he wanted to make love to her again.

He reached down, grasping her under her arms and
pulled her to her feet. Her lips were moist, her eyes full of sensual longing. She knew what he wanted, and was ready to oblige. She pushed him down on the sofa, and followed him, positioning herself across his lap. She immediately rocked her hips up, ready to take him but his hands stilled her movements.

He smiled lazily up at her. In her position, straddling his lap, her breasts were right where he wanted them to be. He nuzzled the valley between them, alternately flicking
her nipples with his tongue. His hand found its way through her dripping curls, spreading her labial folds open and finding her hooded clit.

"Oh Mulder....yes, right there, don't stop.."
She began to rock her hips in time with the strokes of his fingers, gasping and panting, coming closer to the edge.
Mulder watched her face, changing as she spiraled toward completion. She was amazing. She literally took his breath away. He began to talk to her, encouraging
her.

"So beautiful, Scully, want you always, only you, forever..." His words had always had an effect on her,
and in this context, it was too much. She came, shuddering her bare shoulders, muffling her cries in his neck. He was ready now, he lifted her hips and impaled her still pulsing cunt on his cock that was straining for her. She was boneless, and thankful for his upper body strength to lift her up and down his body, his mouth open in rasping moaning breaths. He was hitting her so deeply in this position, she felt like he would split her in half.

She planted her hands on his shoulders, adjusting her knees to provide the leverage she needed on either side of his thighs on the couch and took over the rhythm from him. She rose up, until just the tip of his penis lie inside of her, then slammed down on him, impaling herself with
enough force to cause both of them to moan incoherently in their wordless ecstasy.

"Mulderrrr....I'm coming, ah yes, yes, YES!" She thrust harder, faster, grinding her clit against him when she hit the cradle of his lap. He followed her, hips bucking up against her, trying to go deeper still. His hands moving from her waist to her buttocks, squeezing and releasing, causing the walls of her vagina to create an amazing vice grip on him. He yelled her name, or some near facsimile and emptied his seed into her once more. She fell against his chest, resting there to catch her breath. "Mulder, that was wonderful."

"No, I understand the feeling. When we're together it just feels right. I feel like I'm where I belong. Maybe it's a touch of 'you and me against the world', since we spend so much time defending ourselves against the establishment. The wall that I had erected between me and everyone else expanded to include you, and I'm not even sure when it happened."

"Wow, being refereed to as Mrs. Spooky really got to you, didn't it?" He smiled ruefully. He always hated that
she took so much shit, just for being his partner and backing him up. He didn't mind when the assholes of the mainstream FBI game giving him flack. He was used to it.

"Stop doing that. I don't regret being assigned to you, I don't regret loving you, I don't even care that they call me Mrs. Spooky, except for the fact that they are trying to insult you in the process. Stop the self flagellation, stop the guilt. You make me happy, and the rest of the world can go to hell." She read his mind. Of course she did, she had been able to do that for a long time now. He sighed. There was no way he was ever going to be able to pull any shit over on her.

"Ok, Scully. You know, everyone assumes we're sleeping together already. I guess we really wouldn't shock anyone. Except maybe Skinner. If he finds out, he might be a problem." He put her on her feet, leading her to the bedroom.

"I don't think so. He's the one who got me here to be with you. He didn't even ask me any questions when I told him I needed to go to you. He's a smart man, after all." She made a quick trip to the bathroom, then settled with him under the covers.

"Well, if we're going to do this, Scully, I want to do it right. I know we won't be playing tonsil tag in the Hoover building, but I won't hide the fact that we care about each other." He wound an arm around her, snuggling her into his body.

"Maybe it won't come to that. After all, who else are
they going to get to take this assignment?" She yawned.
"If they do, Mulder, we'll figure it out then. I can always request to be assigned to Quantico again, then I won't be far. Or I can quit and practice medicine without the FBI. I'm not a bad forensic pathologist, after all."

"My career may take another fork in the road, but it will
still be something I can be proud of. What I will not do is give up on a relationship with you because of my job. You mean more to me than that. And, if reassigning me
means you can continue with your work, then I will still be there when you need me."

"I do love you, Scully." She kissed his chest and drifted off to sleep. He watched her for a while, contemplating their future. Maybe if they just played it cool in front of Skinner, they would be left alone. But, he was serious, he would not deny their relationship.
--

They were positioned up and down the street that Mulder had indicated to Sheriff Thomas. A small walking trail meandered through part of the neighborhood, complete with benches along the way. The Sheriff and his deputies were spread out. Some in unmarked cars, one hunkered down in the thick bushes in front of an empty house.

Mulder and Scully, dressed down in simple clothes were positioned on a bench, near the end of the street where the cemented trail led off into a small and largely
neglected park. Mulder sat with his arms around Scully, whispering into her ear and nuzzling her neck. They were just a couple out on a cheap date, kissing on a park bench. He was positioned, however, with the view of the street, and thankful that his woman was tiny. He could raise his eyes and have a clear shot over her head to keep an eye on the houses.

He could feel the resonance of the killer's evil on this street. It permeated the cool night air. It threatened to settle into his bones, his mind flipping through the photos
of dead women, and their agonizing last moments.

He feels so powerful when he kills. He shows them, he shows all of those pretty bitches that he is not to be laughed at. He watches their eyes. He can *see* the moment they realize that they are not getting away from him alive. He pauses in that moment, breathing deep, relishing the rush it gives him. Mulder's breathing is shallow, his eyes glassy. He's gone, she knows, to that place that he reaches when he touches the mind of a killer.

This is the place that he needs, and fears. She fears it, too. His complicated mind combined with his troubled psyche is a combustible pairing. It can consume him easily, scorching her in the process. She goes after him the only way she knows how. With her whole self.

"Mulder?" She murmurs into his neck, kissing the flesh covering the tight corded length. His breathing interrupts briefly, so she bites gently where his neck meets his shoulder, just inside his shirt collar. He closes his eyes, letting out a long breath through his nose. She feels him tremor, almost as if the connection to the mind of the psychopath is physical, and releasing it painful. He looks down at her, still unable to speak.

She swears that in his eyes, just for a second, there is no recognition. Like he doesn't really see her. This is why she's here with him now. He does this to himself without realizing its starting. She makes a promise to herself in this instant that if the bureau tries to do this to him again, they will have to contend with her first. He has enough problems with the cases he takes on as it is. He doesn't need this.

His arms tightened around her again. He trailed his lips down her chin, pressing them into her neck. She wasn't fooled thinking he was getting distracted from the task at hand, however, as his head remain tilted up enough that
he could still see the street over her shoulder that he was now nuzzling.

"Mmmmm, not yet." He pulled his head up a bit, for a better view, nuzzling her ear. His hand came up to stroke the column of her neck. "He'll be here, though, I feel it." His talented tongue made little circles in the shell of her ear while he spoke. She tried to pay attention, she really did, but this man had an amazing tongue.

"I believe you." She would believe him if he told her the sky was pink and that aliens were landing right behind them, as long as he kept up this assault on her senses. His low rumbling laugh told her that he was on to her. Aw damn him anyway, she could never keep anything from him. His hand left her throat, trailing down to the valley between her breasts. He traced their rounded outline through her shirt. She shifted toward him a little more,
to encourage contact. Even with his mind occupied on work, Mulder could take a hint. He let his palm flatten and cover her left breast. She had the most beautifully
rounded breasts, in his opinion. He stoked and squeezed through her clothes until she was quietly moaning continuously.

They casually strolled down the path, letting the shadows overtake them. Once clear they ducked down behind a tree and Mulder pulled out the two way, contacting Sheriff Thomas and alerting him of their position.

"Bullshit. That's what this is. We're sitting here under this tree, hidden in the shadows because I am on your lap. If I were in DC, you would be out there with the rest of them. You're protecting me. You know that macho bull pisses me off." She took his face in both of her hands and softly kissed his lips to take the sting out of her words.

"Yeah. Ok, I can't lie to you, can I? I don't want to put you in the line of fire for a case that you weren't even assigned. You know our track record of staying out of hospitals isn't great, and I won't not take unnecessary chances with your life." His eyes were soft, shimmering with love and longing for her to understand his feelings.

"No way. That's even worse, you know he'll just somehow circle around and find you and there we'll be. Like I said Scully, we don't have the greatest track record." He leaned over to peer around the tree, wishing he could see what exactly was going on. That did it.

"Nope. I'm not convinced. Let's go, we'll take the back alley behind the houses, and we'll stick together. This is yours, lets at least be nearby when it's over." He smiled and shook his head, but he came to his feet and they took the grassy alley way behind the small chain link fences of the houses. Shrouded in darkness, they stayed low and prayed no one would have their dog out tonight to bark at them from the yards.

They continued down, until movement in a small pink painted house caught Mulder's eye. He stopped Scully with a wave of his hand, and pointed at the figure moving through the house in the dark. The street lights casting just enough light for them to see an outline. Mulder broke the silence by quietly giving the Sheriff their
location. The team had watched the suspect enter the house, and were positioned outside, on either side of the house and behind a car in the front. Ensconced in the rear, they waited. The Sheriff's team began closing in, they could take the suspect for breaking and entering, and hopefully match DNA to tie him to the killings. They could not wait until the occupant of the house returned. It would be too dangerous.

As they were closing in on the house, something happened. A light snapped on in the bedroom. Everyone froze. No on was supposed to be home, and now they had a civilian in the house with a suspected serial killer.

"Well, at least we're keeping up our perfect track record. Let's go." Mulder trotted through the back yard, gun drawn with Scully on his heels. With all three doors leading into the house simultaneously being broken in, they heard a startled scream. Mulder and Scully entered
through the small kitchen, joining up which the sheriff and his deputies for the short jog down the narrow hallway. The screaming continued, overshadowed by the cries of "police" and Mulder's "FBI". Mulder was the first to reach the room, he lunged across the room to halt the man from jumping out the window.

Mulder tackled him to the ground, wrestling with the suspect. A hand came free from Mulder's grip, a hand with a knife. Scully was second in the room, having ridden in on Mulder's tail. She was the first to see the knife. She felt the old familiar wave of nauseous panic seeing Mulder's immediate danger. She screamed his name, as she threw her foot foreword, trying to knock the suspect's arm away before he could deliver a blow.

Mulder using the momentary imbalance to flip himself on top of the suspect, pinned his wrist down. A deputy stepped on the suspect's hand, causing him to drop the knife. The occupant of the house was still on the bed, no longer screaming, but still whimpering in fear. She was not injured, just shaken.
--

"Yeah, you know Scully, Ms. Curry, the occupant of the house, she's a night nurse at the hospital. That's why she was still home. She was just about to get up for her
shift. We knew he was watching the houses, but we didn't watch close enough to know she'd be there. He was hoping he would catch her in the bed, make it easier to subdue her."

They passed through the door, into the cool morning air. The sun was coming up. Mulder put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his warmth. She could get used to this in a hurry. He opened the door to the rental car.