XXX-Files

After grabbing her trench coat off the concrete, Scully turned around to discover Mulder's body lying motionless on the ground. She was about to rush over to him when he was jerked up into the air at once. His chest area seemed to be hovering a few feet above the ground while his arms, legs, and head all dangled down. His eyes were still closed...he almost appeared to be sleeping. She watched intently as his seemingly lifeless frame was floating, suspended in air before her.

Only seconds had passed when, without warning, Scully watched as something ever so slowly appeared to begin exiting Mulder's chest area. It wasn't exactly visible, though. Not just because the area was only lit by the bluish glow of the moon, but because the "being" wasn't three dimensional. It looked like a large generation of heat rising into the shape of a man...it was almost like seeing a desert mirage. It slowly exited Mulder's chest, literally stepping out of his body, until finally it had completely removed itself from within him and was now standing mere feet away from her. It had no discernible face, but she still felt as though it were staring directly at her.

Out of nowhere, Mulder fell back to earth. Scully watched on, thankful that he was stirring and appeared to be waking up. Her attention was diverted, however, by the sound of rustling leaves. Her head jerked up, her eyes as big as (flying) saucers. She looked towards the trail that they'd come in on. She didn't see the shape, but she sensed it was running away from them as she heard a rustling of leaves that began to get fainter and fainter until they faded away completely. Silence once again overtook the forest.

Scully turned her attention back to Mulder. He was now sitting up, visibly shaken. "Mulder?" she asked.

He looked up at her and jumped to his feet. To her surprise, though, he ran past her and over to the other side of the concrete slab, bending down on his knees. "What are you doing?" she inquired.

"Scully, how many scratches were here at the bottom of the slab when we arrived?"

"Seven. Why? How many are there now?"

Without answering her, he marched over and scooped her up into his arms, then began carrying her down the trail, towards their parked rental car. She allowed her arms to rest lazily around his neck as she stared up at him. He had a look of fear in his eyes that she'd never seen before. "How many scratches are there now?" she asked him again.

After a long pause, he finally looked her in the eye and answered, "Eight." She could literally feel his arms shaking as he carried her.

"Are you ok?"

"I should be asking you that."

"I'm fine, really. I can walk."

"I don't want to waste any time. We've got to get you to a hospital immediately."

"I'm fineeeeee," she insisted. She wouldn't dare tell him that she was feeling REALLY fine right now after her first orgasm in months.

"Scully...that wasn't me back there."

"I realize that."

"I mean, I saw the whole thing happen and it was my body, but that wasn't me."

"Mulder, I know."

"It knew everything about me, about us. It used my thoughts, my memories against you."

"I know. I saw it."

"You saw it?!"

"Yes."

"What'd it look like?!"

"It didn't look like anything, really. It was practically invisible, but it had the shape of a tall man as it rose from your chest."

"You saw it exit my body?"

"Yes."

Mulder paused. "Scully, I made a terrible mistake."

"You didn't tell me all the facts of this case, did you?"

"How'd you know?"

"I know you, Mulder."

"The women that were raped here the past seven years in a row...they were all technically raped by someone they knew."

"Someone that they knew, but didn't know?"

"Yeah."

"Sounds familiar."

"I didn't intend for this to happen, though, I really didn't. I thought I could control the situation."

"I know. I'm fine though, Mulder, really."

Moments passed and nothing was said. They were both obviously deep in thought.

Finally, after rethinking the events of the evening, Scully had a few more questions. "So, I probably need to have a rape kit done at the hospital so we can have the DNA analyzed?"

"Yeah. If the DNA is nonhuman, then we can open an X-File."

"There's certainly a lot more left to discover about this case."

"Oh, so NOW you admit it's an X-File?!"

"I didn't say that exactly. It may not be. What if it isn't 'nonhuman DNA'? What if it just turns out to be your DNA?"

Mulder laughed. "You're still not willing to admit that this is definitely an X-File?! Even after what happened to you back there?! Even after what you saw?!"

"Well, it IS possible that I suddenly became irresistible to you and you HAD to have me right there and then." Scully said with a huge smile sweeping across her face.

"I guess that's true," he agreed, shaking his head.

"So what if it is just your DNA?"

"Well, you don't think William would mind being a big brother, do you?" he asked, winking at her.

Scully kissed him lightly on the lips, then settled into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder, and listened as the birds began singing again. "No, Fox, I don't think he'd mind at all."