From: taffyxf@yahoo.com   
      
   Title: Shadows in the Starlight   
   Author: Taffy Northwood   
   E-Mail: taffyxf@yahoo.com   
   Summary:  Getting together was the easy part. Making   
   it work was harder than either of them imagined.   
   Spoilers:  Season 6   
   Rating:  NC17   
   Category:  MT, MSR   
   Archives:  I'd be honored.   
   Feedback: Please?  With a cherry on top?   
   Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, Skinner and any   
   other XF characters are on loan only.   
   Author Notes:  "Shadows in the Starlight" is a   
   sequel to "Let No Star Shine."  It isn't necessary   
   to read that story first--you just need to know that   
   after a wild weekend at a FBI seminar, Mulder and   
   Scully are now in a romantic relationship. Hugh Davis   
   is a world famous forensic expert and friend of   
   Scully's from college who was at the seminar where   
   he met Tim McCloskey, an idealistic young FBI   
   agent.   
      
   This isn't a WIP--the story will be posted as   
   parts are edited. I'll try and post every day or so--   
   depending on how RL goes   
      
   Shadows in the Starlight (part 3)   
      
   Scully arrived at work around 11:00.  She didn't   
   feel exactly chipper, but she'd slept enough   
   that she knew she would make it through the day.   
      
   She'd given a lot of thought to Mulder's complaint.   
   He didn't like sneaking around as if their   
   relationship was a dirty secret.  She'd tried   
   to explain that a workplace relationship didn't   
   hurt a man's career the way it did a woman's.   
      
   Now she realized there was more to it than that.   
   Mulder was simply a more open person than she   
   was.  He didn't mind answering questions about   
   his finances, his rent, what he paid for his   
   car. Even his bathroom habits were an open book.   
   He'd say, "See you later, Scully," as he headed   
   out the door with the sports section in his hand.   
      
   Scully was a private person.  It didn't make   
   her better or worse, just different.   
      
   She unlocked the office door, surprised that   
   Mulder wasn't at his desk.  He never seemed   
   to need much sleep, and she'd half-expected   
   him to change his clothes and go directly   
   to work, after she dropped him off.   
      
   The phone rang.  Probably Mulder.   
      
   But it was Danny.  He started right in, as   
   if she would know what he was talking about.   
      
   "Okay, the call definitely came from   
   southwest DC.  I can't pin it down closer   
   than that, but I figure your guy was where   
   he said he was."   
      
   "Thanks.  And, uh, who is my guy?"   
      
   "James Leffert, the guy Mulder was asking about."   
      
   "Thanks, Danny."   
      
   Her jaw tightened as she hung up the phone. James   
   "Dime" Leffert was a psychotic junkie.   
      
   She could hear Mulder's voice in her head, as he   
   explained it once again:   
      
   "It's natural for abductees to appear strange to   
   us, or for them to use drugs to help them cope with   
   their trauma."   
      
   What was even more natural was for Dime to   
   recognize an easy mark.  She didn't want to know   
   how much money Mulder had handed over, from a   
   mixture of gullibility and pity.  She couldn't   
   count how many times Mulder had been stranded   
   at street corners or seedy bars waiting for   
   information and evidence that never seemed   
   to materialize.   
      
   "Dime's harmless," Mulder would mutter   
   in his defense.   
      
   Scully disagreed.  Dime was a drug addict,   
   and that made him dangerous.   
      
   But Mulder saw a damaged spirit where Scully   
   saw a con artist.  She'd fully admit that Mulder   
   had been right about some of the lost souls that   
   had drifted into their lives over the years.   
   He'd believed in Lucy Householder even when all   
   the evidence had been against her.   
      
   But Dime was different.  There was something   
   about him that set off all Scully's alarms.  For   
   one thing, on the rare occasions that Mulder had   
   dragged her along to one of their meetings,   
   Dime had looked at her as if he could see right   
   through her clothes.   
      
   There was nothing to do but wait until Mulder arrived   
   at work.  If events followed their normal course,   
   a sheepish Mulder would arrive in a few hours,   
   making excuses for why Dime didn't show.  If   
   she was really lucky, he'd try to get on her good   
   side and bring her favorite Starbucks Caramel   
   Frappucino.  It had a hideous amount of calories,   
   but she was really in the mood for something sweet.   
      
   Scully dropped into her desk chair and sighed   
   deeply as she opened an autopsy report from a   
   case on which she'd been asked to consult.   
   A broken night's sleep had taken a toll on her,   
   and she had to force her eyes to stay open.   
      
   Her cell phone rang, offering a blessed reprieve   
   from the report.  With a quick glance at the   
   number displayed in the window, she answered   
   the call.   
      
   "Scully?" Mulder's voice sounded oddly hollow.   
      
   "Mulder, what's going on?" she asked, annoyance   
   creeping into her tone.  "I told you I wasn't   
   making excuses to Skinner anymore."   
      
   "You were right," he said, so softly she barely   
   heard him.   
      
   Something had to be seriously wrong for Mulder   
   to admit that.  She sat forward in her chair as   
   if that would help her hear Mulder better.   
      
   "I was right about what?"   
      
   "About Dime.  He was a no show.  Uh, Scully   
   can you come pick me up?"   
      
   "I have to run up to the lab for the Carrington   
   case, Mulder.  Can't you take a cab?"   
      
   Something that sounded almost like a moan came   
   through the phone.  Worry prickled at Scully's   
   nerves.   
      
   "I...uh...I'm kind of bleeding here, Scully."   
      
   "Oh my God, Mulder.  Why didn't you say that   
   before?  I'm going to call the paramedics--"   
      
   "NO!" Mulder would have been more convincing   
   if he wasn't groaning.  "It's not bad.  Only   
   a little blood, really.  Just come get me."   
      
   Against her better judgement, Scully agreed   
   to forego the ambulance.  Mulder gave her his   
   location, an alley between a seedy bar and a   
   bodega.   
      
   Traffic was light in the early afternoon, and   
   Scully was able to make excellent time.  She   
   found Curley's Tavern and thought this   
   was typical Dime--the rankest dive in   
   town was his favorite kind of rendezvous.   
      
   Scully parked the car, hoping it would still   
   be there in this lousy neighborhood.  A   
   vehicle could be stripped in the time it   
   took the owner to buy a newspaper.   
      
   She peered into the dim alleyway, picking   
   Mulder out quickly.  He was sitting on a box,   
   his back against a brick wall.  He'd taken   
   off his coat and was using the bunched up   
   material to stanch the blood that was   
   soaking the upper arm of his white shirt.   
      
   "Oh my God, Mulder," she said as she rushed   
   over to him.  "What happened?"   
      
   "Dime never showed," he answered.  "Big   
   surprise, huh?"   
      
   She crouched next to him, touching his face   
   so she could get a look into his eyes.   
      
   "Nothing surprises me these days," she said,   
   pulling Mulder's jacket away to inspect the   
   source of the blood.  "So what happened."   
      
   "I was supposed to meet Dime in the bar at   
   11:00.  When he didn't show by noon, I thought   
   he might have gotten spooked, so I came outside   
   to look around."   
      
   Mulder hissed in pain as she tore the fabric   
   of his shirt to get a look at the injury.   
      
   "Sorry," she said as she pressed the jacket   
   back over the wound.  "Go on."   
      
   "I interrupted a knife fight back here.  I got   
   sliced when I tried to break it up."   
      
   Mulder's head dropped back against the brick wall   
   as his eyes squeezed shut in pain.  Scully applied   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)