From: msnsc21@yahoo.com   
      
   ok to send to newsgroup; I'll send to Gossamer and Ephemeral. Thanks!   
      
   Headers and disclaimers at beginning of story...   
   Land of the Living II   
   by ML   
      
   ~x~   
      
   Chapter Five   
      
   ~Greenwich, Connecticut~   
      
   Mulder checks his home phone's voice mail on the way to his   
   mother's house in the morning.  Scully sounds hesitant, as   
   if unsure of her reception.  A few days ago he'd been afraid   
   of losing her forever; now he's pushing her away.   
      
   When he dials, her cellphone voice mail picks up again.  "Hey   
   Scully, got your message.  I'm still going through stuff at   
   my mom's."  He chews his lip reflectively but only adds,  "I   
   guess I'll uh, I'll talk to you later."   
      
   He hopes she'll come down, but it should be her choice, not   
   because he urged her.   
      
   x-x-x   
      
   A little while later, Scully is lying to Skinner.  Or, more   
   specifically, to Skinner's assistant.   
      
   "I've got a family emergency," she tells Kimberly.  "I'll be   
   out of town for a couple of days."   
      
   "I hope everything's okay, Agent Scully," Kim says   
   sympathetically.   
      
   "I'm sure it will be," she says.  "I'll check in when I can."   
   She's more grateful than she can say that Skinner is tied up   
   in meetings.  It will be easier to ask forgiveness than   
   permission.  And if that isn't a Mulder tactic, she doesn't   
   know what is.  She seems to be becoming more like him all the   
   time.   
      
   Downstairs, she gathers some files to put into her briefbag   
   and locks up before Skinner gets the message and calls her   
   upstairs.   
      
   x-x-x   
      
   Mulder sits in the one chair still upright and surveys his   
   handiwork.  He's torn every room in the house apart and found   
   nothing.  No hidden cache in the air ducts, no false walls in   
   the closets, no key in the sugar bowl.  It's as if she wanted   
   to call attention to the fact that she had nothing to hide.   
      
   He knows damn good and well that this is not true, but he's   
   run out of ideas about where to find whatever it is.   
      
   When the phone rings, he assumes it's the real estate agent,   
   and he flips it open without even looking at the display.   
      
   "Mulder."   
      
   "Mulder, it's me."   
      
   He closes his eyes briefly, surprised at the welling of   
   emotion he feels at hearing her voice.  He clears his throat   
   and says as casually as he can, "Oh hey Scully, how are the   
   reports coming?"   
      
   "Where are you?"  Scully is not falling for his act.   
      
   "At my mom's house.  Is there something wrong?"   
      
   "No, but I'm on my way there.  Can I meet you there?"   
      
   "Why are you coming to Greenwich?"  he asks.   
      
   "To see you," she says.   
      
   "Why?  Have you found something?"   
      
   "I'll explain when I get there," she says.  "Can you hang out   
   there a while longer?"   
      
   "I'm not going anywhere," he says.  He's too spent to move,   
   anyway.   
      
   x-x-x   
      
   It's after dark when he sees headlights rake the front windows.   
   He stands up stiffly and goes to the door, turning on the porch   
   light.   
      
   As she comes to the door, he wordlessly stands aside to let her   
   in.  He hasn't bothered to turn on the inside lights.  Scully   
   flips the switch and recoils at what she sees.   
      
   "Mulder, who did this?"   
      
   "Thought I'd do a little redecorating," he says.   
      
   "You did this?  Why?"   
      
   "That's not the right tone to take at all, Scully.  You should   
   say something like, `I like what you've done with the place.'"   
   His face crumples and he braces himself against the wall, slipping   
   down to sit on the floor.   
      
   Without hesitation, Scully crouches beside him as she had the   
   night he learned about his mother, putting her arms around him   
   as best she can.  "Mulder, I'm so sorry.  You shouldn't have had   
   to do this alone."   
      
   Any urgency she felt to speak to him about her own discoveries   
   has faded in the face of his distress.  She eases him down to   
   lean against her.  After a little while, she speaks softly.  "We   
   need to get you out of here.  You're not staying at the house,   
   are you?"   
      
   Wordlessly he hands her his motel room key.   
      
   "The same fine accommodations as always," she says.  "And all   
   these years I thought it was the FBI who was cheap."  She stands   
   and holds her hand out to Mulder.  "Come on.  Have you eaten   
   today?"   
      
   "Not since this morning," his voice comes out rusty and indistinct.   
      
   "Me either," Scully says.  "Let's go."  She leads him out of the   
   house.   
      
   x-x-x   
      
   He hadn't realized how cold he'd gotten until they enter the   
   little cafe Scully has brought them to.  She has the waitress   
   bring coffee right away and he wraps his hands around the mug,   
   relishing the painful warmth.   
      
   "That house was freezing," Scully says, watching him.   
      
   "I guess they hadn't turned the gas back on," he replies.  "I   
   didn't notice yesterday."   
      
   "It looks like your activities kept you warm," she says.  "Mulder,   
   why?"   
      
   He shrugs.  "I guess I thought she was trying so hard to get me   
   to come see her, maybe there was something she wanted me to find.   
   That happened once before, you know."   
      
   "Did you find anything?"   
      
   He shakes his head.  "Either she destroyed it, or someone else   
   took it or destroyed it.  If anything was ever there.  Maybe she   
   just finally realized she couldn't control me any more."   
      
   "I don't know, Mulder," she says.  "Maybe she really was trying   
   to tell you something."   
      
   "That's a switch," Mulder says.  "I thought you believed she   
   wanted me to stop looking for Samantha."   
      
   "Maybe I was wrong," she says.  "I don't know what she was   
   trying to do.  I just wanted to help you.  It seems to me now   
   that she wanted -- maybe still wants -- to talk to you."   
      
   "So that means it's my fault," he says bitterly.  "Well, that's   
   my guilt to bear, I guess.  If that's what you came up here to   
   tell me, sorry you wasted a trip."   
      
   Scully frowns. "Stop it, Mulder."   
      
   He looks up at her sharp tone.   
      
   "What I didn't come here for is to watch you drown in self-pity.   
   You're stronger than that."   
      
   He stares at her, but she isn't saying any more.  The silence is   
   broken by the arrival of their food.   
      
   Scully releases him from her spell. "Let's just eat.  We will talk   
   about this later."   
      
   x-x-x   
      
   At least they both have healthy appetites, Mulder thinks as they   
   leave the cafe.  They'd eaten in almost complete silence.  He   
   could feel Scully watching him, though whenever he looked at her,   
   she seemed to be concentrating on her plate.   
      
   "Why don't you leave me off at my mom's house," Mulder suggests.   
   "I can drive myself to the motel, and we can talk in the morning.   
   If you're staying over, that is."   
      
   "I'm not staying where you are," Scully says.  "I booked a room at   
   the Courtyard.  I figured we'd be more comfortable there."   
      
   "*We'd* be more comfortable there?"  He sketches the ghost of a   
   leer.  "Are you coming on to me?"   
      
   "In your dreams, Mulder," she counters with a practiced air.  "I'm   
   not staying in a fleabag if I don't have to.  I have two beds; you   
   can stay or not as you choose.  But I think we need to talk   
   tonight."  Before I lose my nerve, she adds to herself.  "Would   
   you rather do that at your mother's house?"   
      
   He shudders.  "No."   
      
   "Well, let's get this show on the road," she says.   
      
   ~x~   
      
   Chapter Six   
      
   Teena Mulder's house is in the opposite direction from Mulder's   
   motel, so Scully drives him there to pick up his things.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)