From: djmckent@neo.rr.com   
      
   Title:  Only Skin Deep  1 of 2   
      
   Author:  mimic117   
      
   Email:  mimic117@yahoo.com   
      
   Rating:  NC-17 with some very disturbing content   
      
   Category:  S, A, M/S established relationship   
      
   Setting:  Season 7-ish.  That always seemed like the best time   
   for them to get it on.  That's just mho, of course.   
      
   NOTE:  There's a vignette prequel to this story called "In   
   Sight."  You don't have to read it in order to understand this   
   story, but it does give some added insights into one character.   
      
   Summary:  "Squinting against the ache in his head, Mulder   
   tried to focus.  Waist-length blonde hair framed a lovely,   
   heart-shaped face.  Bright blue eyes were surrounded by thick,   
   black lashes.  A button nose perched above a full, cupid's-bow   
   mouth.  Her petite body was lushly curved and definitely not a   
   child's, in spite of the piping voice which made her sound like   
   one. Her voice was vaguely familiar although he was pretty   
   sure he'd never seen her face before.  He did recognize the   
   gun pointed at him, though.  It was his."   
      
   Archive: I'll send it to Gossamer and Ephemeral myself, but   
   anyone else who wants it, knock yourself out.  Just let me   
   know where so I can brag.   
      
   Disclaimer:  Any characters you recognize belong to 1013   
   Productions, Chris Carter, and FOX.  No money is being made   
   or anticipated from the posting of this story.   
      
   Beta Thanks:  To Obfusc8er for the medical and   
   MulderTorture advice, wickedly good suggestions and pointing   
   out the funny bits which weren't supposed to be.  To my   
   Twinsy, for beta which is second to none and more than I   
   deserve.  To mr. mims for handy-man type comments and   
   putting up with me all these years.  And apologies to all three   
   for enduring endless whining befitting a toddler.   
      
   Special Thanks:  To my own personal stalker for numerous   
   cups of restorative tea exactly when they were most required,   
   and for Agent Hatter.  To Tali for fixing one of the details I   
   kept getting stuck on.  And to Shelba, for the "beautiful"   
   picture that started it all.   
      
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
      
   Only Skin Deep   
   by mimic117   
      
   Location unknown   
   Sunday   
   9:43 PM   
      
   The smell was getting really bad.   
      
   Julie wrinkled her nose as she walked past the hallway to the   
   bedrooms.  She couldn't remember it ever being quite so   
   strong before.   
      
   She looked at the digital camera in her hands and smiled.   
   Dealing with it could wait for later.  She had a more enjoyable   
   task to think about.   
      
   When she reached her desk in one corner of the dining room,   
   the computer monitor sprang to life with a touch on the mouse.   
   She loved her new wallpaper.  He looked so beautiful in that   
   picture, she was tempted to kiss it, but she didn't want to   
   smear the screen.  Julie giggled at her own silliness and   
   glanced at the camera again.  Besides, she had lots more   
   pictures to download.   
      
   She pulled the memory card from the camera, sat down, then   
   slotted it into the computer port.  She loved the anticipation of   
   seeing what her lens had captured--zooming in, cropping,   
   fixing any fuzzy spots, printing out the best ones and sorting   
   the rest into the proper folders.  There were already hundreds   
   of pictures stored on her hard drive, but that didn't stop her   
   from taking more.  Opening a new thumbnail was every bit as   
   exciting as Christmas.  Or a new beauty pageant.   
      
   Julie frowned.  Those days were over.  Best not to think about   
   that anymore.   
      
   The computer dinged to let her know it was finished opening   
   all the new files.  She reached eagerly for the mouse.   
      
   The silence in the house was only broken by staccato clicks   
   followed by the whir of the printer.  Page after page of shiny   
   photographs spewed into the tray while she worked her way   
   through the new trove.  It didn't seem like two hours had   
   passed when she finally gathered up the stack of colorful   
   prints along with a roll of Scotch tape.   
      
   Walking toward the bedrooms, she hummed happily--until the   
   smell hit her again.  She clutched the pile of photos and glared   
   at the duct tape surrounding the bedroom door on the right.   
      
   Ron never should have called her crazy.  She'd really thought   
   he'd understood.  She was wrong.  A truly beautiful man   
   wouldn't have called her *that*.   
      
   At least he'd finally stopped yelling.  She really hated   
   listening to him every night.   
      
   She opened the door across the hall and turned on the light   
   inside.  Everything was ready, except for this finishing touch.   
   She added the pictures in her hands to the enormous stack   
   already resting on the chair near the door.   
      
   This was the best part.   
      
   Plucking a glossy photo from the top of the pile, she studied it   
   for a moment, then smiled and taped it to the wall.  Every   
   subsequent picture was given the same treatment, obscuring   
   the painted surface bit by bit as she slowly worked her way   
   around the room.  Her hair swung into her face each time she   
   bent over, but she didn't think about pulling it back.  Momma   
   always insisted that her thick, silver-blonde hair should be left   
   long and free, to dazzle the viewer.   
      
   She finally ran out of photos and surveyed the frieze that   
   circled the room.  This man was the right one.  Ron simply   
   wasn't beautiful enough.  She could see now that she hadn't   
   chosen very carefully.   
      
   Julie yawned and looked at her watch.  It was almost one in   
   the morning.  She was going to be so tired at work, but it   
   would be worth the loss of sleep.   
      
   Tomorrow, or rather later today, she'd deliver the envelope of   
   letters and pictures.  Then, after work, she'd bring him to his   
   new home and they'd be together.  Forever.   
      
   One more check to make sure the room was ready to receive   
   its new occupant.  She stuck the empty tape roll in her pocket   
   and picked up the chair.  After placing the chair against the   
   hallway wall, she flicked off the light and pushed the door shut.   
      
   There was that smell again.  She really needed to do   
   something about Ron.   
      
   Maybe if she duct-taped more plastic over the door...   
      
   She should have known not to buy the cheaper plastic.  Trying   
   to cut corners to save money usually ended up costing more in   
   the long run.  That's what her mother always said, and   
   Momma was usually right.   
      
   The thought of such an easy solution made Julie happy.  And   
   when she was happy, she liked to sing.   
      
   "You must have been a beautiful baby.  You must have been a   
   beautiful child," she warbled as she walked back to the   
   computer.   
      
   A jiggle of the mouse shut off the screensaver, revealing her   
   favorite picture of Fox Mulder.  Head thrown back, lips slightly   
   parted, eyes closed, his face filled the screen.  She   
   remembered taking that one while he was masturbating.   
   Soon, they'd be together and she could watch that expression   
   develop on his face up close instead of seeing it from across   
   the street.  The view from the roof of the building opposite   
   hadn't been the best.  Momma would say it was worth the   
   extra money for a good digital camera and telephoto lens.   
   Her close-up photos looked like she was really there with him.   
      
   A tingling started in her stomach that might have been   
   butterflies, but was probably anticipation.  She could hardly   
   wait until evening.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)