From: taffyxf@yahoo.com   
      
   Title: Forgive Us Our Trespasses   
   Author: Taffy Northwood   
   E-Mail: taffyxf@yahoo.com   
   Rating:  NC17 (eventually)   
   Category:  AU, MSR   
   Archives:  Just ask.   
   Feedback: Never in bad taste    
   Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, Skinner and any   
   other XF characters are on loan only.   
   Summary:  In 1909 New York City, there were two   
   distinct and separate worlds: that of the very wealthy   
   and that of the very poor.  Could love bridge the   
   great divide between those worlds for two star-crossed   
   lovers?   
   Author Notes: Like a huge part of the fandom, I've   
   become absolutely dotty over AU fic.  This is my   
   modest attempt to put Mulder and Scully into another   
   time and place.  Please be aware, this is a   
   work-in-progress.   
      
   Forgive Us Our Trespasses - Fox Mulder's story.  Part 12   
      
   Fox trotted the two blocks from Mulder & Traut to   
   Leamus' office, leaving alarmed pedestrians in his   
   wake.  One particularly slow-moving woman called him   
   a ruffian as he shouldered past her.   
      
   As he ran, he tried to imagine what he'd say when   
   Katie was at last before him.  Truth was, there   
   was nothing he could say to her that he hadn't said   
   already.  Fox pictured himself falling to his knees   
   before her, throwing his arms around her waist and   
   hugging her to him until she accepted his apology   
   and allowed him back in her life.  His chuckle at   
   that thought sounded insane, even to him.   
      
   Pushing through the doors of the building, he   
   passed by the elevator.  He didn't have time for a   
   leisurely ride; Fox took the stairs two at a time.   
      
   He burst through the door of Leamus' outer office,   
   breathing hard.  Henry Weems, the attorney's   
   amanuensis, blinked at the sudden movement.   
      
   "Mr. Mulder," Weems said, "Attorney Leamus is   
   waiting for you."   
      
   Fox all but ignored him.   
      
   "Katie!" he shouted as he shoved open the door to   
   the inner office.   
      
   "I thank you for your prompt attention," Leamus said.   
      
   The sober, gray-haired man sat behind his large oak   
   desk.  There was no one else in the room.   
      
   "Where is she?" Fox asked in anguish.   
      
   "Fortunately, I have her waiting in our conference   
   room.  Mr. Mulder, if you can't maintain a cool   
   exterior, it would be best if you allow me to deal   
   with her alone."   
      
   "I don't want you to deal with her!  I want to see   
   her!"   
      
   "What kind of hold does she have on you?"   
      
   "I'm going to marry her," Fox answered impatiently.   
      
   Leamus sighed to himself and drummed his fingers on   
   his desktop.   
      
   "I'll see her now," Fox said firmly.   
      
   "She's hoping for an increase in her allocation.   
   I was going to advise you to extend it to her, in   
   exchange for a formal relinquishment of her claims.   
   Marriage isn't necessary, Mr. Mulder.  I urge you to   
   reconsider."   
      
   "I'll find her myself," said Fox.  He didn't know his   
   way around Leamus' office suite, but he could wait no   
   longer for his lawyer's cooperation.  Instead of   
   choosing the door that led outside where Henry Weems   
   sat waiting, Fox opened a second door.  It had to lead   
   somewhere.   
      
   "Have you ever seen this woman in the daylight?"   
   Leamus asked pointedly, following Fox into a hallway.   
      
   Fox would make him apologize, and then fire him   
   anyway.  But first he had to find Katie.   
      
   "Mr. Mulder, her claims are ludicrous.  Her virtue   
   was lost some time in the last century."   
      
   Fox would force him to apologize, fire him and then   
   beat him senseless.  But where was that conference   
   room?   
      
   Leamus managed to slip ahead of him and open a door.   
   Fox shoved him roughly in his hurry to enter the   
   room.   
      
   "Katie!"  The cry died in his throat as he recognized   
   the aging blonde chorine.   
      
   "Fox?  I knew you wanted to take care of me," said   
   Sheila Fontaine.   
      
   "What do you want, Sheila?" he asked roughly.   
      
   "Honey, that house you got me is so small, and the   
   Brooklyn Bridge is right outside my window . . ."   
      
   Fox turned his back and left the room, Leamus   
   trotting after him once again.   
      
   "How do you want me to handle this?" he asked.   
      
   "Any way you see fit."   
      
   "I believe an increase would be practical, in   
   exchange for her quitclaim--"   
      
   "I told you, Leamus.  I don't give a damn!"   
      
   Henry Weems smiled pleasantly as Fox hurried past him.   
      
   "Good evening to you," Weems called cheerfully after   
   him.   
      
   Fox stumbled down the stairs, unable to feel his feet   
   under him.  His heart was a lead weight in his chest   
   as disappointment blanketed him.  He'd been so sure   
   that the woman in Leamus' office was Katie.  He   
   should have known that she'd never accept a penny of   
   Mulder money.  His Katie was a proud woman.   
      
   Fox smiled at the thought.  His Katie.  Whether she   
   knew it or not, she was his and he was hers.  He only   
   had to find her and explain it to her.   
      
   A week ago, he'd have found the nearest tavern and   
   set about drowning his sorrows.  But that was no   
   longer an option for Fox Mulder.  Katie needed a   
   mature man and not a pathetic wretch who crawled   
   into a bottle.  With a deep sigh, Fox walked back   
   to the office.   
      
   "Mr. Byers said to tell you he couldn't wait,"   
   Fletcher said when Fox returned.   
      
   "I'll call him later," Fox muttered as he sat behind   
   his desk.  The pile of correspondence and files still   
   awaited his attention.   
      
   Over the next few days, Fox did his best to work hard.   
   His astute business sense enabled him to once again   
   guide Mulder & Traut to invest in several lucrative   
   ventures.   
      
   His father managed to be civil to him, which puzzled   
   Fox until DT explained that the Fowley Steamship Company   
   had not resurfaced after initially taking on water.   
   In Bill Mulder's eyes, Fox as well as the firm had   
   narrowly escaped a bad deal.   
      
   Teena Mulder returned from Maine as soon as she heard   
   that the gossip mills were painting the Mulders as the   
   injured parties in the Fowley debacle.  But with the   
   Newport season commencing soon, she was far too busy   
   to focus on her bachelor son.   Fox was enormously   
   relieved to be safe, at least for the moment, from the   
   parade of insipid debutantes.  He had plans for his   
   evenings that didn't include the New York City social   
   whirl.   
      
   Fox called John Byers, hoping to reschedule a meeting   
   with the elusive invention genius, but the man was in   
   Detroit for several weeks.  His instincts told him that   
   the deal was solid and had the potential to make him a   
   fortune.  Fox instructed Leamus to go ahead with the   
   dispersal of funds to the project.  The lawyer's amused   
   tone irritated him, but Fox couldn't fault the man.   
   Truly, he'd made a wretched mess of his life and only   
   time would allow the memories of that to fade from   
   people's minds.   
      
   He hadn't given up hope of finding Katie, but he was   
   rapidly running out of options.  He felt his best bet   
   was still back at the settlement house.  Fox made a pest   
   of himself with Shayna, visiting so often that she   
   finally put him to work helping her make knishes.  He   
   cut his thumb peeling potatoes and stiffling a curse,   
   bled all over his handkerchief.  Shayna bandaged his   
   hand, clucking to herself about useless rich boys.  She   
   must have felt sorry for him, though, as she let her   
   guard down and gave him a worthwhile tip.   
      
   Fox remembered Katie talking about her family and knew   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)