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.   
      
   Well, we've come to the end of the story.  Thank you to   
   anyone who read along--I had a wonderful time writing this   
   one.   
      
      
   Shadows in the Starlight (part 8)   
      
      
   "It's not that I mind going to the doctor," Mulder   
   began.   
      
   Scully sensed a rant coming on.  Mulder would say that   
   he was totally recovered.  That it was ridiculous for   
   the FBI to first challenge whether he was entitled to   
   time off for his injury, and then to challenge his   
   fitness for duty with equal vigor.  He would complain   
   about endless hours in the doctor's waiting room, all   
   for a 5-minute check-up to confirm what he already   
   knew.   
      
   "It's your last visit, Mulder.  Just suck it up and   
   get it over with," she said.   
      
   "Why can't *you* write me a note?" he asked as he put   
   on his jacket.   
      
   "I'm sorry, but I don't take your insurance."   
      
   Mulder's whining would have been more annoying if he   
   wasn't obviously preparing to leave.   
      
   "What about that annual QA summary of resources   
   utilization?  I really wanted to help you   
   with that."   
      
   "I won't touch it until you get back."   
      
   "It will be hours.  Hours and hours.  And dammit, I   
   was planning to take you to lunch at... What's it   
   called?  The Wet Hen?"   
      
   Mulder hated *The Green Finch,* and Scully liked it,   
   but that didn't mean she had a fanatic desire to make   
   him go there.   
      
   "I have a luncheon meeting at Quantico.  You can buy   
   me lunch tomorrow."   
      
   "Hours and hours in a waiting room that doesn't even   
   have any good magazines."   
      
   "Take a book.  Good-bye, Mulder."   
      
   Even though it would serve him right if she did set   
   aside the QA summary so that Mulder would have to work   
   on it with her, Scully decided to finish it.  It   
   didn't matter what you wrote as long as you created a   
   pretty spreadsheet.   
      
   She completed the task quickly, surprised how easy it   
   was without the accompaniment of Mulder's moaning and   
   groaning.  She even had time to return a few phone   
   calls before she had to head out to Quantico.   
      
   Her meeting there was as dreary and pointless as she   
   had expected, with the same people saying the same   
   things they said at every meeting.  The food was the   
   same too, although everyone pounced on it eagerly.   
   Somehow free food, no matter how mediocre, turned   
   otherwise civilized people into scavenging hyenas.   
      
   Even if Mulder was still stuck in the doctor's waiting   
   room, he couldn't be any more bored than she was.   
   Still, she hoped that he wasn't, or he'd wish he had   
   brought a sandwich instead of a book.   
      
   Scully's phone rang while she was chewing on her slice   
   of Italian 6-foot hero.   
      
   "Scully," she answered, gulping down her mouthful of   
   food.   
      
   "Hi, *Scully,* it's *Davis.*"   
      
   Hugh Davis was not in the habit of calling her cell   
   phone during working hours.   
      
   "Hugh.  Is everything all right?" she asked.   
      
   "I tried to call Agent Webster, but he's not in the   
   office.  Do you happen to have his cell number?"   
      
   She hesitated before asking the obvious question.   
      
   "Why don't you ask Tim?"   
      
   "He's not here," Hugh said flatly.   
      
   "Oh, Hugh... "   
      
   "His things are still here, but I came home for lunch   
   and he was gone.  I checked the rehab center, his   
   doctor... "   
      
   "Now don't panic," Scully told her old friend.   
      
   "He's not supposed to drive."   
      
   "Then maybe he took a cab, or somebody picked him up.   
   I'll give Webster a call, but I want you to get a   
   grip."   
      
   She ducked out of the meeting to go back to her   
   office.  She reached Webster on his cell phone, but he   
   wasn't with Tim and didn't know where he might be.   
   She called Mulder, to see how he fared at the doctor,   
   but he didn't answer.   
      
   Hugh called her again as she was pulling in to the   
   Hoover parking garage.   
      
   "You still couldn't find him?" he asked angrily.   
   "You're the goddamn FBI, Dana.  Do something!"   
      
   "He's a grown man, Hugh.  You don't have to   
   assume the worst."   
      
   "He could have passed out.  He could have been   
   mugged.  If you're not going to help me I'll   
   call Walter Skinner."   
      
   "Before you do that, I want you to picture Tim's   
   reaction when he finds out about it."   
      
   "I have to do something!"   
      
   "All right.  Meet me in my office and we'll   
   figure out a plan."   
      
   For the moment she was more concerned about Hugh   
   than about Tim.  Tim was merely unaccounted for,   
   but Hugh was going off the deep end.  Between   
   herself and Mulder, they would have to babysit   
   Hugh and somehow locate Tim--without creating   
   the kind of fuss that would turn the  young   
   agent's career into a farce.   
      
   She returned to a Mulder-less office, an   
   inconvenience that was magnified when she   
   couldn't reach him on his cellular.   
      
   Hugh had managed to pull himself together by the   
   time he arrived at Scully's office.  He looked   
   around the place with a shadow of his normal   
   curiosity, then took the visitor's chair, across   
   the desk from Scully.   
      
   "We are going to find him," he pronounced.   
      
   "Yes.  Even though he isn't lost," said Scully.   
      
   "Where do we start?"   
      
   Scully carefully avoided questions about "the last   
   time you saw him."   
      
   "Tell me about last night," she said.   
      
   "Perfectly ordinary night, Dana.  No clues there."   
      
   "Okay.  You got home from work... what was Tim doing?"   
      
   "Let's see.  I think he was on the phone, talking to   
   Agent Webster.  To Webster's son, actually.  The boy   
   needed help with his math homework."   
      
   Scully nodded for him to continue.   
      
   "He got off the phone.  I had a glass of wine.  He   
   had a beer.  We fixed dinner together."   
      
   "What did you talk about?"   
      
   "Nothing in particular.  Bibb lettuce versus redleaf.   
   Imported cheddar or Vermont.  I reminded him about   
   using the salad shears to trim the lettuce," Hugh   
   continued.   
      
   "Sounds pretty ordinary," said Scully.  It sounded   
   suffocating, but she withheld that opinion.   
      
   "Then we had dinner.  He told me he'd made   
   reservations for our kayaking trip."   
      
   "Kayaking?" she said.  "I thought you were going to   
   Hawaii."   
      
   For the first time, Hugh smiled.  "I...ah...I'm trying   
   to be more flexible.  Tim told me I would have to get   
   along without my salad shears, since all our gear   
   would have to fit into a couple of backpacks."   
      
   "I have a difficult time picturing you in the   
   wilderness," Scully said.   
      
   "But Tim loves the outdoors.  And... " Hugh's gaze   
   dropped to the floor, and his voice dropped as well.   
   "He's very concerned about who knows we're together.   
   A camping trip, a remote location... less chance of   
   being seen."   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)