From: k.morse@ntlworld.com   
      
   Posting for a friend. All feedback should go to skinful   
      
      
    Conundrum   
      
   Author: Skinfull   
   Rating: PG 13   
   Classification: Fluff City (But honestly...who wouldn't like to see Mulder   
   in nothing but a pair of leather chaps??? Oh...have I said too much? LOL)   
   Case file with a difference. Adult situations and some violence. Use reader   
   discretion.   
   Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit, no harm.   
   Summary: ST: TNG Season 5 episode 114 of the same name inspired this fic.   
   (Yes I am a Trek geek as well) What if something happened that cause partial   
   amnesia in Mulder and Scully?   
   Feedback: skinfull@undergroundtales.com Love all feedback. Thanks in   
   Advance!   
      
      
   Conundrum   
   By Skinfull   
   Callaghan Ranch   
   Rangeley   
   Colorado   
      
      
   "Look Mulder I don't like it anymore then you do, but we have a job to do so   
   just deal with it."   
      
   She was giving him a wickedly crooked smile as she gazed down at him; his   
   dusty shirt was tossed to the ground and his torso was gleaming, tauntingly   
   bare and covered with a sheen of sweat from his hard work in the relentless   
   sun. Before she changed her mind and got carried away with her scrutiny,   
   Agent Scully flicked the edge of her hat, kicked her heels into the side of   
   her horse and broke into a gallop.   
      
      
   As he watched her ride back towards the farmhouse, her figure outlined   
   beautifully in the tight denims and black leather chaps almost made Mulder   
   think this undercover gig was worth it.   
      
      
   Dropping the sledgehammer to the ground, he wiped his brow with his forearm   
   and blew a waft of cold air over his face. Two weeks they'd been working on   
   this ranch as help hands and still they had nothing to report. Having spoken   
   nightly to Skinner, who was adamant that they remain there until they had   
   something to call in, Mulder was now fully sure, as he glanced back over the   
   fifty back breaking fence posts he'd already planted, that it was an obscure   
   form of punishment, not an undercover case.   
      
      
   "Hey, Cody. You about done with them posts?" Mulder looked up to see, John   
   Callaghan, the Ranch owner approaching with two horses. Even after two weeks   
   working on the ranch, he still wasn't used to being called Cody.   
      
      
   "Just about." Mulder fitted the last one into the hole by his foot and   
   pounded it in securely. After securing the last of the wire around it, he   
   stood back to admire his work and couldn't help the smile of pride that   
   stretched over his tired face.   
      
      
   "Good," John drawled, holding out the reigns from one of the horses to   
   Mulder.   
      
   "I just heard Tom calling everyone for supper."   
   Mulder rolled the hammer and wire tools he'd been using into a blanket, then   
   slid them easily into a shoulder bag on the back of the saddle. The horse,   
   John was holding steady for him, looked around as he tied the latches, but   
   Mulder patted the animal's shoulder firmly in reassurance.   
      
      
   He reached for his shirt and pulled it on but left it open. Thankful for the   
   three-week horse-training course he'd taken with Scully before coming on   
   this case, he slipped his foot into the stirrup and hoisted himself onto the   
   horse easily.   
      
      
   With another firm pat to the horse's shoulder, Mulder flexed the reigns and   
   kicked the horse with his heels to catch up with John, who was cantering   
   ahead towards the ranch.   
      
      
      
      
   ***   
   Dana Scully walked away from the stables and followed the raucous voices   
   coming from the food hall. She had worked with horses before; in stables   
   during summer breaks, but never had she actually stayed on a ranch. She had   
   taken on the role of Ranch Doctor a week after Mulder joined. She slept at   
   the main house, sharing the space only with John Callaghan, who as far as   
   she could tell almost never slept. He was in the office working every night   
   when she bid him goodnight and went to her room, and still there in the   
   mornings when she rose for breakfast.   
      
      
   The other six men who worked the ranch shared a smaller 4-bedroom house that   
   boasted the largest kitchen she'd ever been in, and a great dining room that   
   reminded her of the dorm common rooms at college, only much more rustic. It   
   was filled with a large table surrounded by ten chairs at one end, and   
   scattered with couches and chairs at the other. Three guitars rested against   
   the wall next to the huge marble fireplace and pictures of various horses   
   and ranch workers past and present, lined the walls.   
      
      
   As she opened the door and walked in, the noise level paused for a second as   
   most of the men turned to see her and stood up from their seats. The rest   
   followed suit but they all cheered when she waved them down with smile and a   
   frown.   
      
      
   Mark walked over to her, taking her elbow to lead her to her usual space in   
   the middle of the table, then sat next to her, his smile wide and   
   undisguised.   
      
      
   "Thank you," she said as he poured her a glass of water and placed it next   
   to her plate.   
      
      
   "No problem Sarah. Anything else I can get you?" he asked eagerly, too   
   eagerly she thought.   
      
      
   "No thanks."   
      
      
   "If Cody sees you sidling up to the Doc like that I don't think he'd be   
   happy."   
   The voice was Tom's, the ranch's cook. An elderly man who had worked with   
   the animals in his younger days, but who's failing back had forced him into   
   the gentler work of feeding the hoard of ranch workers. Mark ignored him but   
   Scully couldn't help the retort.   
      
      
   "Cody? Why wouldn't he be happy?" she asked innocently.   
      
      
   "You know damn well why he wouldn't be, young lady! I've seen the way he   
   looks at you and I know you've seen it too!" She blushed under his watchful   
   gaze and turned away to concentrate on the floral pattern of the tablecloth,   
   giving him all the confirmation he needed.   
      
      
   "Well if Cody has something to say about it, Cody can say it to me," Mark   
   said full of gusto, the audience of the workers giving him the courage he   
   needed to speak his mind.   
      
      
   "Cody can say what to you?" Everyone turned to see Mulder and John walking   
   in. Mulder had donned a fresh shirt and raked his unruly hair away from his   
   face with his fingers. His cheeks were flushed from the brief ride in from   
   the field, and his lips were curved into a lopsided smile as he spotted   
   Mark's proximity to Scully.   
      
      
   Everyone turned back to Mark who was sitting a little straighter now, his   
   face also flushed, but his eyes darting around the room searching for   
   solace.   
      
      
   "Just about the fencing we need to do on the back yard," he muttered, much   
   to the amusement of the rest of them who promptly broke out into cheers and   
   laughter. "What's for dinner Tom?" Mark deftly changed the subject as he   
   stood up and walked to the fire to add more logs.   
      
      
   Mulder walked across the room and purposefully sat across from Scully,   
   leaving Mark's chair empty to show there were no hard feelings. Tom enlisted   
   the help of Jack, who was sitting by the fire strumming on a guitar, and   
   Mark to help him serve the food and soon the conversation was centered back   
   on the ranch; the duties that had been completed and the new ones that had   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)