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Rated: PG-13 (Adult themes and violence.)
Category: Angst, Case File, Scully/Other. (Temporarily. Don't
worry!)
Spoilers: None, but it takes place sometime in the middle of
mid-Season
1.
Archive: Gossamer. I do the rest of the posting. Anyone who
wants
it, please ask me first, okay?
Why hadn't he seen this coming? A good profiler has
an instinct for the "bad guys" in the population. This
time
he had missed that "something" he usually sensed
immediately when he met someone who was an untrust-
worthy son of
a bitch who had no redeeming qualities,
had a lifetime membership in the scum-sucking,
misogynistic bastard men's
club. As Mulder wrote up
the final case notes on their latest investigation,
he took a few minutes to reflect on all
the events of
the previous seven days, while Scully recovered at her
mother's place.
For both agents, this had been personal for many
reasons.
It had all begun so nicely on a fresh spring day in
Washington,
his new partner was about a year out of The
Academy and, in Mulder's opinion, was one of the most
attractive females
he had seen come into his life.
After the case in Aubrey, that maudlin case, Mulder
and Scully
were walking down from the Hoover Building to
get out into the sunshine for once, have lunch and
return to filling
out that backlog of reports. Scully
espied a quite handsome male specimen in a business suit
with a smile on his lips
that just oozed sensuality. He
looked at her, and that was that. Eyes met eyes, and it
was a mutual recognition of
that springtime attraction.
He was as tall as Mulder, with jet black hair and deep
brown eyes. Mulder thought that
had been just a random,
fleeting moment and thought they would never meet up
with the man again. He was wrong.
A week later, Scully was walking down that same street
to go for
some specialty coffee: the new flavoured coffees
that had become so popular in the early nineties. She saw
him at the
counter and decided to make small talk. "Hi, I
hear the hazelnut caramel is to die for." There. That
wasn't so bad.
The object of her interest flashed his smile and introduced
himself.
"Jack Thornby. Nice to see a pretty woman like you
a second time. Where's your friend?"
"My colleague is at work." She found herself struggling
for
things to say. There was no way to describe the
feelings running through her mind and body. "I'm Dana
Scully."
Jack shook her hand and held on a bit longer than just the
casual
handshake permitted. "I have an idea. How would you
like to have dinner with me tonight? I'm new to Washington,
just
decided I need to make new friends, and I haven't
crossed women off my list."
Scully thought a moment, staring at the price display
behind the
counter, then said, "Why not?" She was smiling.
She was glowing and she knew it. She took a napkin and
wrote her phone
number down for the man. "Call me around
six and I'll give you my address."
The server was becoming impatient. "May I have your order,
please?"
"One large Irish cream, no sugar, and one large hazelnut
caramel,
double cream and no sugar."
"Got to get back to work, Dana. Bean counters are never
out of
things to do, at least not with my firm. I'll see
you later."
*Hmm. An accountant. A sexy one at that.* "Yeah. Later."
Why did she feel like such a school girl? She hadn't felt
that way with Tom Colton. Maybe it was just the warm
spring air, sunshine and blooming bulbs. Maybe it was
something more.
***
DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
GEORGETOWN, DC
7:15 PM
Scully made sure she was home in time for a quick shower,
fresh
make-up and semi-casual soft sweater with black
slacks. Jack Thornby had called at six-thirty and invited
her to a
quiet dinner in a nearby restaurant.
Why was she feeling anticipatory anxiety? After all, this
wasn't
a "date" date. It was a shared meal with an
acquaintance. Still, she had jumped when the phone rang
and looked so
forward to the time that handsome man showed
up, the minutes seemed like an eternity until she heard the
knock at
the door.
She greeted Jack with a smile. "Hi. C'mon in. I just need
to get
my coat."
Jack seemed equally pleased to see her. "You look hot," he
said
softly.
"Thank you," she replied, conscious of that nervousness the
remark
had summoned. She reached for her coat and made sure
her answering machine was activated. *I hope Mulder doesn't
call
with another outlandish idea he wants me to help
with,* she told herself.
The evening had gone pretty well in her estimation. She
arrived
home by eleven and was ready to wash up and head for
bed. If not for the flashing light on her answering machine,
she
would have done so. Reluctantly, she played the only
message it had recorded.
"Hi. It's Mulder. Just wondering if you have any plans
because
I do have a couple of forms I need you to initial.
Nothing that can't wait till tomorrow. Uh, wherever you are,
I
hope you're having fun. See you in the morning."
Why did she have the distinct impression he was checking
up on
her? Well, it really was nothing that couldn't wait
till morning. She ran a nice, hot bath and relaxed,
remembering
the wonderful dinner, soft music and a
discussion of how Jack Thornby had come to live in
Washington.
"It's not that I didn't like Galveston," he had said during
cocktails.
"When you work for a company and you get
transferred, you're transferred. So, Doctor Scully, where
are you practicing
medicine?"
"Well, I'm not," she had replied. She had been careful not to
mention
the FBI. "I run a lot of tests for the Federal
Government and it's all pretty much the same thing every day.
I earn
my paycheck."
Jack sipped his wine. "Well, if it has anything to do with
the
F.D.A. I don't want to know what could be in my bean
sprouts."
Scully's reverie was interrupted by the phone again. She
stepped
out of the tub, wrapped a towel around herself and
answered.
"It's me, Scully. Did I wake you?"
"No. I was just getting ready for bed. I'm sorry you
couldn't
reach me earlier, but I was out."
"Out. Like the 'out on a date' kind out out?"
"Well, I was out with a friend. Tell me you don't want me to
verify
that report now, Mulder, because you said yourself it
could wait till tomorrow." *Go ahead, Mulder. Pry.*
"No. I just wanted to remind you it's my turn to bring the
coffee
in the morning. Wow, a few months and a few cases out
of Quantico and already you're anticipating what I'm going
to
say."
"Thanks for reminding me, Mulder. I'm really tired. Good
night."
"I guess it was!"
She hung up before telling him to do something with himself
other
than call her for that small reason he gave. The clock
read 11:21 p.m., and that was the third time in several days
he
had called her to ask either silly questions, philosophical
questions or questions of motivation for ghosts haunting only
certain
family members or company employees.
THREE DAYS LATER
Scully had to admit that 'non-date' date had been nice. She
had
enjoyed Jack's company and while she didn't expect a call
the next day, she was beginning to worry that perhaps her
initial
feeling for the man had not been returned.
A couple of hours after an extremely tiresome meeting with the
A.D.
who was overseeing Mulder and Scully at the time, she
decided he wasn't going to call again, and left it at that.
She and her partner were in the elevator on the way back down
to
the office when she asked, "Anything new besides the latest
stats come across the desk?"
Mulder pressed the "stop" button on the elevator. "No. Why?
Don't
tell me you're bored, Agent Scully? Just because the
tabloids are obsessed with a rather messy Hollywood divorce
scandal
instead of some scary 'thing from the deep', and I
haven't had any tips about possessions, strange happenings
in the
woods or some UFO sightings doesn't mean we aren't
still needed. Any day now, we could be called in on a
mainstream
case. Frankly, I'd say you're restless."
"Well, not restless exactly. Just wondering." She didn't want
to
let on she was just dying for that man to call her again.
"Would you like to stand here all day or should I push the
button?"
Mulder let the elevator continue it's descent. As they exited,
he
just had to ask. Not that it was any of his business. "Are
you bored with my company? Or are you exhibiting some of the
same nesting behaviour I've been seeing in the birds this past
week?"
Scully laughed. "No. It's nothing." Okay. So it was nesting
behaviour.
She had been preening a bit more carefully lately
and wondering where that potential mate was. Especially one
potential
mate.
"You are restless, Scully. You want to see some action! Let's
see
if we can get called into a hostage taking... "
"No, no," she replied, as they reached the office. "I can
always
dig up something to read."
Mulder really didn't have a clue as to what was going on with
his
partner. He decided it really wasn't any of his business
and went on with his day.
Scully wondered why Mulder wasn't asking any further questions.
Perhaps
a lecture she had given him a month ago had been enough.
She recalled telling him in no uncertain terms that her godson's
birthday
party was none of his business, and that she really
didn't want to know what he did when he was 'out with the boys',
as
long as they maintained a reasonably protective,
professional relationship based on mutual trust and respect.
6:30 PM
No sooner had Scully kicked off her shoes and gone through the
mail
than Jack Thornby called, which elated her.
"Hungry?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. I just got home. So, what have you
been
up to?"
"Up to my neck in business and tax forms, and I'd really like to
just
have a nice dinner with a lovely lady who makes my cares
drift off into oblivion. How about eightish at Ramsey's? I can
pick
you up in half an hour."
She was tired. Then again, she was also hungry. "I'll be
waiting."
At that very moment, she could almost detect his
aftershave.
"See you then."
It felt so good to be looking forward to another evening with
the
man. She hadn't considered him a date until that moment.
After all, she was attracted to the man, and although she had
doubted his attraction to her in the past few days, she was
looking forward to seeing someone on a regular basis.
Sometime.
Someday. Maybe now was the time. Her FBI partner surely hadn't
seen her in the same light. Their dinners
together were always
during a case. His subtle remarks and sometimes outright
innuendo were just fun for him, and
she treated it all as his
fun. Maybe, just maybe, Jack Thornby was the real deal.
Scully decided to meet Jack in the lobby of her building, the
answering
machine was on, and there were no really urgent cases
just waiting to be solved. She was so confident in that, she
turned
her cell phone off, but carried it with her in case she
needed it.
RAMSEY'S SPORTS BAR
WASHINGTON, DC
8:45 PM
Over after dinner drinks, Jack Thornby clasped his hands in
rapt
agreement when Scully admitted the food had been less than
ideal. "You're right. Next time we want something with
more
taste, it won't be at a sports bar. The sports bars in Galveston
weren't that great for zesty meals, either."
"So tell me. What's it like to move all the way up from Texas
to
DC? I mean, the winter must have been quite a shock."
"Well, it's a challenge adjusting to the road conditions, and
actually
trudging along the sidewalk in boots isn't my idea of
a good walk, but I am adapting. Cromby and Cromby is a good firm
and
helped me adjust nicely. So, you're used to the Washington
winters?"
Scully smiled with free abandon. "I most certainly am. Actually,
it's
been quite a while since I lived in a state where winter
wasn't as cold and snowy. Have you been to any of the concerts
yet?"
"Well, I'm not what you'd call a fan of long-haired music. My...
the
woman I was dating last month was, and I nearly fell asleep
in the middle of some concerto. Somehow, I hadn't pegged you
for
the classical type, Dana. You surprise me every time I see
you!"
"I didn't say I was a fan, exactly. I just have a friend who
plays
in an orchestra. She occasionally does solos. I'm not
one for most of that, but I can't really say I'm impressed with
TV
that much." Scully was finished with her wine, and excused
herself to visit the Ladies' Room.
While she was away from the table, her date received a call.
"I told you, it's your word against mine. Nobody will believe
you. Don't ever call me again with your little threats,
missy."
Thornby pocketed his cell phone and looked at the screen above
the bar. St. Louis was ahead in the second period.
Scully soon returned to the table and noticed her dinner
partner
seemed steamed. "What is it?"
"Uh, nothing. Just something I should have taken care of.
Don't
worry about it. Some clients get a little... impatient.
In my kind of work, it all comes down to dollars and cents.
Guess
I'll have to get in some extra sleep tonight if I'm
going to be facing this one at the office tomorrow."
"Well, in that case, I'd usually say let's forget about work,
but
I have an early morning. Would you mind if we left now?"
"No. I'm a bit beat myself, and I have a lot to do before I
call
it a night. Little details I haven't taken care of. I'll
bring the car around. Someone mentioned it just started
raining.
Pouring."
"Sure."
Thornby walked Scully to her apartment door, and as Scully
reached
for her keys, she turned to the man. "I had a great
evening, Jack. Would you like to come in for a coffee?"
The man looked into her eyes passionately, almost hypnotically.
"I'd
better not. I have an early day, too. But I really enjoy
seeing you, Dana." Jack pulled her into an embrace and kissed
her briefly, yet with meaning. "More to look forward to."
"Yes. I agree." She was absolutely elated and looked radiant.
Normally
she wouldn't have expected a kiss like that from him
so soon. Hadn't she been burned before? Still, she was a
woman,
he was a very attractive, intelligent man, and while
Mulder was those things and maybe more, this man wasn't her
colleague
and she needed to get out of the constant agent mode.
"I'll call you tomorrow if you give me your work number."
"Well, I don't usually take personal calls at the office, but
I
DO check my emails around lunch time." She jotted it down.
"Here. I access it at work if it's priority."
"Anything for you, madame. You will have mail! Good night,
beautiful
lady."
"Good night, Jack."
***
OFFICE OF THE X-FILES
NEXT MORNING
10:35 AM
Mulder had just returned from a dental appointment and shone
Scully
a flirty smile. "I usually don't like going to the
dentist, but today's visit was really worthwhile. Anything new
yet,
besides my glistening white enamel?"
Scully stacked some papers together and stood. "No, and it's
another
slow day down in the bowels of the Hoover. Are you
expecting anything especially spooky, sensational or
conspiratorial?"
Mulder took his chair and glanced at the monitor. "Well, I did
catch
the early morning news on the drive into DC. Seems a
young woman was found dead in her apartment last night at
about
midnight. Really put up a fight. The neighbors called
police when they heard arguing, and the scene was rather
highly
charged until the yelling stopped."
"Local P.D., Mulder, unless he's interstate and has killed
before."
Mulder pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. "I believe you
are
psychic, Scully. He's a no name brand so far, but there
is a description of him and there have been a string of
similar killings in Kansas, Arkansas and Texas. Six one
Caucasian, black hair, brown eyes. No name, address or
identifying
marks. Police figure they might be able to get
some skin scrapings since she put up one heck of a fight, but
that's
not a 100% certainty. Apparently, our victim was a nail
biter. I already called upstairs and... "
"Naturally," Scully smiled and grabbed her coat.
"... offered our assistance. Hey. What's been happening with
you,
Scully? Are you... wait a minute, are you actually HAPPY
these days?"
"Let's just get going, Mulder." Well, was it really any of
his
business this early in the game?
***
PARKVIEW APARTMENTS
WASHINGTON, DC
11:45 AM
The police forensics team and homicide officers were going
over
the victim's apartment.
One of the detectives ventured over to Mulder.
"Well, Jim, what have we got?"
"Well, there were no signs of forced entry. Apparently, Ann
Milton
may have known her assailant. No blood. We're looking
for any hair fibers or anything else he may have left behind.
One
of the neighbours said she had been dating a man for
about three months, then he called it off, she apparently
wasn't
ready to end the relationship and tried to get him to
come back to her."
As Mulder was speaking to the detective, Scully was looking
for
letters, cellphones, anything that might have led to the
killer. "Mulder. No cell, older phone so no callers' lists or
last
call display, no mementos of any kind and he must have
really made an effort to cover his tracks." Scully glanced
at
the carpeting. Must have vacuumed as well."
"This guy knew what he was doing," Mulder conceded. "What about
prints?"
"Looks like the guy must have dusted the place before he left,"
one
of the CSI officers remarked. "I think you'll find he also
used a lot of this." He handed Mulder a bottle of all
purpose
cleaner. "However, then neighbors we spoke to said he was here
quite a bit, and both were rather thorough with
cleaning the
place."
"Neat freak."
"Why don't I go down to the morgue to view the autopsy," Scully
suggested.
"I'll call you if I find out anything."
As soon as Scully passed the couch, she sensed a familiar scent.
Somehow,
it reminded her of someone, but it was a bit too faint
for her to be certain it was the same fragrance. Still, it was
on
her mind. With the hyacinths in bloom and everything else
smelling wonderful these past few days, perhaps she was
just
a bit more aware of all these lovely aromas.
"Okay, Scully. I'll probably be finished here by the time you
call.
Looks like I'm going down to the station. This seems to
fit in with the other murders. Seems to take a while between
victims."
Scully was trying not to think of Jack as a possible threat and
was
anticipating her next date with the man at the same time.
She caught herself and returned to the matter at hand. "Maybe
he's bipolar?"
Mulder nodded. "That's a possibility, but then so is any other
psychiatric
problem."
"Just remember, Mulder: My place is thoroughly cleaned. When
we're
not in the field."
"Explains the pine cleaner fragrance on your person sometimes."
Scully shook her head and closed the door as she left.
***
OFFICE OF THE X-FILES
3:25 PM
Mulder had already returned to the office by the time Scully
had
looked the body over and spoken to the medical examiner.
The lady was not a happy camper.
"What a vulgar, misogynous, arrogant bastard!" She muttered
while
hanging her coat as if it was the assailant.
"Are you referring to me, Scully?"
She took a seat in front of the desk. "No, no. Of course not!
Mulder,
the man who did this... there were so many bruises
setting in she was black and blue all over and the cause of
death
was a massive subdural hematoma. How could any man be so
violent?"
"Or woman, Scully. I've seen some extremely nauseating cases
in
the past. It's not necessarily peculiar to the male gender.
Anything else?"
Scully tried to calm herself with a deep breath, and that
seemed
to do it just a bit. "Her vital stats are in this
folder, and... and I'm sorry I went off on a tirade."
"No offense taken, Scully. It might interest you to know that
we
found a few matchbooks from several Washington restaurants,
and a sketch of our suspect resembles the ones from the three
other
P.D.'s."
Suddenly, Scully wasn't angry or business-like. She was more
shocked
than anything else. "This is our killer?"
"Yeah. Only he has several names, several occupations or
supposed
occupations. Apparently, one man in Kansas
said the guy had mentioned our suspect told him he worked
for a mortuary
that didn't exist."
"Obviously, he tried to avoid witnesses."
"Obviously. Scully, are you all right?"
"Yeah. I'm just... a little tired, that's all, and shaken up
a
bit. The way Ann Milton died got to me. I guess I should
remember not to let that affect my judgement. Would you
excuse
me for a few minutes?"
"Sure. Have a coffee and we'll close the office early after
we
get a couple of other things sorted through." Mulder didn't
know where Scully was going, but soon he would find
himself
wishing he had gone with his partner, even though she returned
about thirty minutes later seemingly refreshed.
Scully hated keeping secrets like this from her partner, but
this
one was crucial to the arrest of the murderer. After she
checked her email and there were no messages for her, she tried
to
focus on the work at hand, and they closed the office at
about 5:30.
***
DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
GEORGETOWN, DC
6:03 PM
All the way home, Scully was of two minds and it was troubling
that
someone she could be falling for just might be a serial
killer. It was always he who called for a date. She couldn't
get
him to give her his number, and it never came up on
her call display. Why not? Why would he want to email her
whenever
he chose and not let her in on his email address
first, since this was 1994?
She unlocked her door, looked around before entering, and why
was
that? Maybe her gut instincts were slowly telling her this
was a risky relationship, not to mention the suggestion
from
the man who supervised Mulder and herself. It was Scully who
suggested Mulder not be told about Scully's
new role in the
case.
As she took the recorder and microphone out of her purse, a
chill
ran down her spine. She knew this would be monitored, and
a little hopeful voice insider her cried out that she liked the
man
and that he could be trusted. He was most certainly always
polite and kind to her! Then again, it was a bigger
voice
inside her that told her this man met all the criteria of the
suspect. Damn. Blinded by the packaging.
Three days later, she was finding herself angry at the man not
only
for not having called, but also about the possibility he
could be a brutal murderer.
What now? Wait for him to call? Some nights he hadn't
called.
Some nights he called as promised, and the other nights were
left open because he was "working overtime to
get a client out
of debt" or "wrapping up an audit."
She decided by seven-thirty the third night to make some dinner
and
let the answering machine pick up any calls. She and Mulder
hadn't had much of anything new to go on, and this man had
no
criminal record. There was suspicion he was the one who had
committed the crimes, but no one actually came
out and said
they knew the man well in any of the other states.
It was a restless night for Scully. Nothing on TV interested
her,
she couldn't get involved in a book, and the evening news
was likely going to remind her of not only all the hell that
was
breaking out in the world, but some poor woman whose only
crime was to love the man who murdered her. He could even be
cheating
on her with his next victim right now. "Stop it!" she
told herself silently.
Sleep hadn't come easily, and any dreams she had in the four
hours
she did have were set in restaurants and movie theatres
with a man who was faceless, and once even without a voice.
How many days and night would this go on? She was hoping he
would
call that night, and not because she longed for a night
on the town with him. It was going to be risky wearing a wire
and
recorder with every encounter she had with him from now on.
OFFICE OF THE X-FILES
7:35 AM
Scully had driven to the office a half hour earlier than
Mulder,
and that surprised him. She had her head hung over his
desk and was going over the case notes.
"Hey, Scully! Early bird for a change. What's the occasion,
may
I ask? It's not my birthday... "
"MULDER... I mean, I didn't get much sleep last night. Guess
I'm
not in a very good mood."
Her partner hung his coat on the rack as he replied, "Forgiven.
Is
there anything new there?"
"No, no. I was just going through the autopsy reports from the
other
victims. Apparently, he was a real mover and shaker.
Shaking. Shaking one woman to death! Can you believe THAT!?"
Mulder sat on the side of the desk and caught her face to face,
taking
her hand. "Look, if this case is getting to you, maybe
you could... "
Scully removed her hand from under his and stood, pulling her
hair
off of her face. "No. I'm in this one to the end, Mulder.
We have a job to do. Let's just do it." She doubted he was
convinced
because she herself was not convinced.
"You're sure?" Mulder took his seat.
"I'm sure. Why don't I make some fresh coffee so we can get to
work."
Before she was able to stand, an email arrived. "Got
it, Mulder." She read 'Jack Thornby's' latest request for a
date,
sent from an Internet cafe of all places. His usual
charming self. 'Looking forward to an evening at Pupco's with a
lovely
redhead. Pick you up at your place at seven. Jack'
"Anything I should know about?"
Scully deleted the email and stood to leave the room. "No.
Just
an invitation to something from a friend. Nothing
unusual." She was going to have to do some fancy acting
tonight. Not
only was she the man's date, she was quite
possibly going to be involved in his arrest. She turned on her
heels. "Hey
Mulder? Mind if I make it decaff?"
"Any special reason?"
"No. Just thinking it's a good idea to wind down since it's
getting
close to the time the guys upstairs start bellowing
for action." Actually, she was slightly edgy.
"Yeah, it's slowing down where this guy is concerned. But I
think
things are about to move forward."
*Maybe more than you know,* Scully was thinking as she left
the
office. She quickly ran upstairs to tell their A.D. what
might transpire in the evening, and dashed back into the office
with the coffee.
Mulder removed his glasses and smiled. "You grew the beans
yourself,
right?"
"No. I had to borrow a can from Personnel. We owe them one
tomorrow.
Sorry." She couldn't let her own partner know that
she was the bait and the man they had met a few days ago on the
street
that sunny day was their likely perpetrator. All
at the Hoover knew he'd be on the guy's back before they had
any concrete
evidence to back up the case. Scully was feeling
like a heel, and it was beginning to show.
Mulder sensed his partner was withholding something, but he
wasn't
sure just what. "Are you okay, Scully?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing." Mulder slipped his glasses back on and sipped his
coffee,
intent on observing Scully a bit more closely. She was
showing signs of stress. Something was off, but what? Then he
recalled
the man they had met and looked over the sketches.
DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
GEORGETOWN, DC
6:03 PM
Traffic had been light, so Scully decided to run a quick bath
before
getting dressed for dinner. Just as she ran the faucets,
the phone rang.
"Scully."
"It's me," Mulder announced from his car. "What are you doing
tonight."
"Dinner. With a friend. Why?"
"Well, it's good to hear you're going to let your hair down. I
was
starting to worry, Scully."
"I've got the tub filling, Mulder. I don't have time for... "
"Whoa! Just asking about my partner. That's all. Have
fun."
"Yes. You have a good evening, Mulder." She hung up and
immediately
placed a call she knew was crucial to her
situation.
"Sir, we might have something tonight. Yes. I have the
equipment.
Better get them parked just around the block from
me. I'm out of here at seven. Good. Yes. I will. Bye."
The stage was set. This could be the night to get information,
maybe
even test Jack's boiling point. An unmarked van was
dispatched immediately and would be following Scully and Jack
Thornby
wherever they went this evening, and possibly another
evening if need be.
7:00 PM
Scully put the finishing touches to her make-up and made sure
the
wiring was securely in place. Three minutes later she
answered the knock at her door with a bit of hesitation.
"Hey, gorgeous."
"Hey yourself."
Jack kissed her on the cheek and caressed her chin. "Ready for
Italian
tonight? Mamma Lorenzo's linguine is out of this
world!"
"Yeah. Let's get going, then." She was going to test the man
some way, but perhaps not until later in the evening, when he
was more relaxed, perhaps a little under the influence
of wine.
She made a mental note to ask him to order a strong wine.
MAMMA LORENZO'S RISTORANTE ITALIANO
7:45 PM
"So anyway, then he told me I was too young to know who Orville
Redenbacher
was!" Thornby laughed.
Scully managed a chuckle and sipped her Chianti. "So tell me,
do
they always mistake you for someone younger than you are?"
"Well, no. This guy was in his sixties and just about to
retire.
What a job, those income taxes of his. Damn tough to do
all those diversified funds."
"Yeah, I guess I'd get a little hot under the collar come April
if
I had your job." Scully decided to test the waters a bit.
Maybe she could jangle a nerve.
"Nah. It's their wives that make it hard. Know what I mean?
The
older women are used to balancing the household money, the
hubby makes it big, then 'Whammo'. They want a say in the
investments.
I thought the garden clubs were keeping them busy
enough." As he spoke, Scully was coming to a slow boil.
"Oh, God," Scully whispered.
"What was that?"
*Oops.* "I, uh, need to go freshen up. I won't be long." When
she
entered the ladies' room, there was no one else there, so
she managed to say, "This guy's starting to show his real side
on
women, I think. I'll just keep it on the mild side and maybe
kick it up a notch in another half hour. After desert should
be
a great time."
"That was fast," Jack said, as he devoured the last bread
stick.
"I already ordered desert."
"We usually talk about that, don't we?"
"Well yeah, but you were in the can and I thought... Okay look.
I
just wanted you to have a nice, relaxing evening. One less
decision to make at the end of a long day."
A waiter brought them chocolate mousse and asked, "Will there
be
anything else?
Jack shook his head and Scully announced, "Some more wine would
be
nice."
"No!" Jack shouted. "I mean, too much Chianti can cause
headaches."
"Too MUCH!?" Scully exclaimed. "I thought you said you wanted
me
to relax. We are in the late twentieth century, you know."
She knew the man was beginning to sweat.
"Okay, okay. Two more small Chianti. Satisfied, Dana?"
"Yes. I think I am," she said straight to the man's face.
"I hope so." The tone was not that of an eager to please date.
Unbeknownst to Scully. Mulder had sensed something was not
quite
as it should have been. He back-tracked to Georgetown,
and wherever the unmarked van was, he was only a few car
lengths
behind.
8:17 PM
Thornby escorted Scully to the car. Scully observed some signs
of
agitation in the man's walk and expression. "Jack, if I've
upset you, I'm sorry. I really didn't expect we'd have our
first
fight so soon!"
"It's not you. It's me. Let's get you home." He unlocked the
car doors and the unmarked van was observing their every move.
"Sure. Would you like to come in for a coffee?"
"Why not. It'll keep me alert on the drive home."
DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
8:46 PM
As soon as Thornby's car stopped, so did the surveillance
van and Mulder's car. At that point, as Scully and Thornby
entered the apartment building, Mulder approached the van.
"Hey, you weren't supposed to be in on this!" one of the
agents exclaimed.
"I am working on the case and have a perfect right to know
what's going on throughout the investigation. I'm the
profiler; you're the surveillance team. I don't know who
gave the word not to let me in on this. Somebody's put my
partner into a very explosive and potentially fatal situation,
given this man's personality."
Another man stood from a console. "Agent Mulder, we're only
following our instructions, and it was Agent Scully who
volunteered to keep her 'relationship' going as soon as she
suspected this man was involved in the beatings and murders,
She
is a perfectly capable agent and we are just picking up
on the guy's erratic behaviours. She knows what she's doing.
She's wearing a wire AND a tape recorder. Even if nothing but
a lot of arguing comes up, we'll all have more on him
than
just third party accounts."
Mulder wasn't going to be put off by the covert operation that
he hadn't been let in on, and he also wasn't going
to let
anyone, especially his partner, be victimized by Jack Thornby
again. "Fine. You're right. I'm going for a walk
around the
corner. Call me on my cell if you get lonely." His walk around
the corner was around the corner of Scully's
building and up
the back stairway.
"I guess I was kind of snarky over desert. I'm sorry, Dana."
Scully unlocked her door. "All is forgiven. Besides, I make
the best cappuccino if you'd like that."
"Well, while the coffee's brewing, why don't we sit down
and let things warm up."
"Sure." Scully nervously filled the coffee maker with water
and scooped the grounds into the filter.
Impulsively, Thornby walked into the kitchen, put his arms
around her from behind and began to kiss her neck.
"That's... that's making me feel very good, Jack. But... "
He began to nuzzle her hair. "Don't you think it's time we
took this relationship to another level?"
Scully ducked under his arms and faced him. "Jack, you're
very attractive, fun to be around most times and extremely
charming, but I really feel it's a bit early to do that
just yet." She smiled, and caressed his chest with both
hands.
"Besides, I've found the best relationships start
out slowly and build momentum."
"Oh, you're no saint, are you? You did say this is 'the
late twentieth century'. All you have to do is let me take
the lead and it will be so good I'll leave you begging for
more. And let's get something straight, I won't take you
seeing anyone else. I can move in and we can... "
"Excuse me? Nobody has ever said that to me before, Jack.
It's still way too early to have that kind of intimacy
and
I... "
"And you NOTHING!" A sharp slap to her jaw began a series
of punches and shoves she hadn't counted on, and the agents
in the van were on their way and called Mulder to get into
the unit as soon as possible.
When he used his key to enter the place, he saw a bloodied
Scully on the kitchen floor and Thornby folding over from
what had obviously been a swift kick to the groin, not to
mention a few elbow jabs to the ribs.
As the other agents entered the apartment, Mulder bent over
to take a look at Scully. All he could do was hold her.
"You
need a doctor," he said, as he cradled her in his arms.
Thornby was handcuffed and read his rights as one of the
agents picked up the recorder and microphone.
And since it
was in his nature he just couldn't help looking back to
shout "BITCH!"
"I know, Mulder. We figured this was the only way we could
nail him without a civilian getting hurt. Bringing you
into
the picture would have been a bit problematic. He had
already met you."
"I looked at the sketches, remembered the day we met him,
and figured the way you were looking at him, you'd date
him
if you met him again. Considering some of the things you've
already suffered during your assignment to the X-Files,
you
have been through enough already. I was right about the
guy."
"Thank you, Mulder. Maybe the set up was wrong." She wiped
blood from the side of her mouth. "I'm kind of dizzy. Stop
spinning
around, Mulder. Call in the EMS."
He smiled, knowing that his partner could at least make a
smart remark. "Why don't we get you to the hospital. That's
quite a bump on your head."
"Counter... top," Scully whispered as she slowly lost
consciousness.
"Looks like you took him out and then some. Scully?"
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
TWO DAYS LATER
Mulder hadn't had any sleep in two days. He spent the entire
time at Scully's bedside until the medical
staff decided the
mild concussion was healing nicely. He felt that his instincts
about the man should have kicked in
the day they had met the
man, but nobody has the ability to read a complete stranger's
mind. Thornby had appeared
mannerly, normal and charming.
As Scully packed up the gifts and cards sent by her mother,
the Assistant Director, Mulder and a few other people,
she
glanced at Mulder, who was looking out the window. "Hey. You
couldn't have known, Mulder."
"No, I couldn't have. But usually I can spot them right away.
My instincts were off. Look at all the things you've
been
through in the past year working with me." He couldn't face
her at that moment. His eyes must have been a real
sight to
behold.
"Mulder, look at me. It could easily have been a very sweet,
attractive female with similar character traits. Sometimes
I
think it's incredible that societies have been developed,
good separated from the bad and laws set up to protect
the
very people we swore to protect. I like the fact that you
became slightly suspicious and failed to heed that because,
Mulder,
that's what makes you human. You're not perfect.
Nobody can be. I really respect and trust you, and you
were not responsible
for the many danger's we've encountered."
Mulder looked at her silently for a few seconds. "You're
right. My instincts tell me that. So does my training."
He
smiled and lifted some of Scully's belongings. Ready to go?"
"Ready. My kitchen's a mess, and I just have to get that
pine cleaner fragrance, you know."
END
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