From: k.morse@ntlworld.com   
      
   The Shadows have eyes   
      
   By Foxglove   
   Rating Strong R Adult situations , violence   
      
   Category MT Angst MSR   
      
   Spoilers Brand X   
      
   Disclaimer. Do we really need these. We know and love Cc for Inventing the X   
   files and giving us hours of fun and fanfic addictions. Fox also gets   
   royalties. No harm No foul.   
      
   Archive. Yeah wherever.   
      
   Feedback. I thrive on the kindness of others.   
   pjoz@hotmail.com   
      
      
      
      
   Scully's Apartment Complex.   
   5th June.   
   8 pm   
      
   Dana Scully tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and stared   
   unseeingly through the windshield of her car. Her hands clenched on the   
   steering wheel as her thoughts chased each other incessantly.   
      
   Stubborn, exasperating, opinionated, aggravating; her brain supplied a   
   non-stop list of adjectives that described her partner. Infuriating,   
   relentless, impatient, complicated. She recalled clearly the look on his   
   face as he tried to convince her of the authenticity of a new case. His   
   sleek silky hair with the single lock that kept falling over his forehead,   
   which made him look so much like a little boy. His expressive eyes gleaming   
   with a barely contained enthusiasm, the way the very corners of his pouty   
   mouth turned upward in an attempt to win her over. A pair of charcoal pants   
   riding low on his hips, his tie already askew this early in the morning,   
   shirtsleeves rolled to just above his elbows with the fine hair on his arms   
   quivering from the strong breeze of the air conditioner.   
      
   Scully blinked suddenly and shook her head, her focus shifting abruptly from   
   her inner musings and back to the realization that she was sitting behind   
   the wheel of her idling car, which was parked directly outside her apartment   
   building. She didn't consciously remember the majority of the drive from the   
   Hoover building and wondered at the level of her distraction. She turned off   
   the key in the ignition and removed it, holding it loosely in her hand.   
      
   Wearily, she exited her car, pausing to collect her briefcase, luggage and   
   laptop from the backseat. As she shut the rear door, her eyes alighted on   
   the left rear panel of the vehicle, which was now minus a taillight and the   
   bearer of an impressive dent.   
      
   She sighed deeply, mentally calculating how long repairs were liable to take   
   and the inconvenience of being without her vehicle for however long it took.   
   Her mind took her back three days previously, when she had walked into the   
   office to be confronted by her partner clutching a folder in his hand.   
      
      
      
   X-Files Basement Office.   
   2nd June.   
   7.30 am   
      
   "Hey Scully, whatcha know about Bigfoot?"   
      
   She had shrugged off her coat and placed her briefcase on a chair before   
   answering. "About as much as you can find out on the Discovery channel   
   Mulder, why?" She cringed inwardly at the final word of her reply as soon as   
   it was spoken, recognizing in her partner an almost childlike enthusiasm,   
   that she just knew was going to be focused in a lengthy explanation of all   
   the information that his incredible intellect had gathered on the subject.   
      
   She was not disappointed, nearly fifteen minutes later, he was still going   
   strong, stalking back and forth across their cramped office, regaling her   
   with a myriad of the most obscure details that she had ever heard. Finally   
   she interrupted. "I know I'm asking the obvious here Mulder, but I take it   
   this overabundance of information pertains to a case?" She regarded him from   
   her perch against his extraordinarily cluttered desk.   
      
   Mulder nodded eagerly. "Several sightings over the last few weeks have the   
   good people around Rainbow Falls State Park in Washington somewhat worried.   
   A few bodies have been found in a dilapidated and er... chewed state." He   
   slapped the file against his thigh. "Skinner signed off on the 302 and I've   
   booked us two tickets on this afternoon's flight to Chehalis."   
      
      
   "To where?"   
      
   "Chehalis, it's the nearest airport to the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest,   
   actually it's called the Chehalis-Centralia Airport."   
      
   Her head tipped to one side, Scully regarded her partner. "How in the world   
   did you convince Skinner to let you investigate a case about a mythical   
   creature?"   
      
   "Hardly mythical Scully." Mulder strode over to a filing cabinet and yanked   
   a drawer open. Rummaging though several files, he pulled out a bulging   
   folder. "Documented evidence, eyewitness reports, analysis of hair samples,   
   photographs of footprints."   
      
   Scully felt her eyebrow climbing with every word her partner offered.   
   "Mulder, Bigfoot is nothing more than an urban legend, I have no doubt that   
   if every piece of evidence you have presented was examined in a scientific   
   manner, a rational explanation would be found for each one that would have   
   nothing to do with a mythical creature, and more to do with varied   
   individuals desire for notoriety and their five minutes in the spotlight."   
      
   Mulder stood stock still, two spots of color high on his cheeks, one hand   
   splayed out across the top of the folder and the other hanging loosely at   
   his side. For several seconds as the excitement in his eyes slowly dulled,   
   he said nothing. Then clearing his throat, he pursed his sinfully full lips.   
   "Do you want me to cancel your ticket Scully?"   
      
   Pushing away from her perch against his desk, Scully flicked her eyes away   
   from his face, as she turned her glance settled on the poster on the wall.   
   'I WANT TO BELIEVE' it proclaimed in capital letters. Slowly she breathed in   
   and out several times before squaring her shoulders. "No Mulder." She   
   replied. "Let's go chase your wild goose...uh I mean Bigfoot."   
      
   Mulder's smile lit up his face and Scully wondered yet again, why it was   
   that she could never say no to this man.   
      
   They decided to meet each other at the airport, a decision that Scully   
   heartily regretted as she stood in the middle of the short-term parking lot,   
   exchanging names and insurance details with the driver of the car that had   
   ploughed into the rear of her vehicle. "I'm sorry, Mr...er Markham, I have a   
   flight to catch. I'm sure my insurance company will be in contact with you   
   regarding the repairs."   
      
   The slight bespectacled man standing in front of her nodded his agreement.   
   "Yes, yes, I'm sure that will be alright, I feel however that I should offer   
   my apologies for my lack of attention. Such an unfortunate way to meet,   
   don't you think?" A pudgy hand was thrust out in Scully's direction and she   
   had no choice but to grasp it, he wrapped his fingers tightly around hers,   
   keeping hold of her hand long past the point of being polite. Subtly, Scully   
   extracted her hand wishing she could wipe away the clammy sweat now coating   
   her palm.   
      
   Floyd Markham tightly clutched the paper with Scully's details in his other   
   hand as his eyes roamed over her dainty features, and he had to consciously   
   pull himself back from licking his lips. "Dana, may I call you that?"   
      
   Scully regarded the man warily, his bland face giving no hint of his   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)