Title: Walking in Sunlight Author: Summer M Category: Story, MSR Summary: Mulder and Scully go undercover as newlyweds, and new facts are brought to light. (Yes I know it's been done, at this point what hasn't. Work with me here.) Archive: Yes please. Disclaimer: I own all of these characters. I created every last one of them. Do you believe me?? I didn't think so. CC & Co own them, and I'm using them w/o permission I make no money from these stories, I actually LOSE money, seeing as how I should probably be working right now. Feedback: Greedily accepted at SMcVickers@webtv.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The sun had just come up as Dana Scully finished her morning routine and set out for work. She stifled a yawn as she grabbed her car keys and started out the door. Sure, she was used to early mornings, but this was earlier than usual. She had a flight to meet in little less than two hours. Mulder had called her late last night to brief her on the situation. They were headed to Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, where a serial killer had been murdering newlyweds. Supposedly they had plenty of information on the guy already, and just wanted some extra help from the big guns. Mulder knew there was more to their roll in this investigation, but for now he wasn't sharing. He had balked at the assignment when Skinner had asked him if they would be interested in taking it. After all, serial killer were not exactly X-file material. Mulder had tried his darndest to come up with some reason not to take the case. But truth be told, things were kind of slow in the basement office recently. Finally he had agreed. Then Skinner informed him they would be going in undercover as a happy newlywed couple. That was the part he neglected to tell Scully. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX They met at the Dulles Airport 45 minutes before the flight was to leave Scully looked less than awake so Mulder quickly made his way to an espresso cart, that sold overpriced, foul coffee. "Here," he said as he handed one cup to Scully, "they say it's coffee." She took a sip and grimaced at the taste, but continued to drink it anyway She needed the pick me up. She took another long drink of the dark liquid before setting her cup down on the plastic table next to her. "Thanks. So, Mulder, I know you know more about this case than you're telling me." For a minute Mulder thought her was busted, then Scully continued," These couples, what was it about this case that made you decide we should take it. I mean, it's hardly an x-file." Relief washed over him when he realized that she hadn't meant anything else by here previous comment. He wasn't looking forward to the confrontation that would surly arise when she found out the whole truth. Once they arrived he would tell her. But if she knew all of the details now, there was no way he would even get her on the plane. "Well, let me show you the file, and you can decide for yourself," he said as he made a big show of checking his carry on for the elusive file. "Damn," he said softly. "What is it?" she asked, the concern evident in her voice. "Nothing. I must have packed the file in my suitcase. It's already been checked in," he explained. " Don't worry about it. I'll just look over it when we get there." she replied, taking another deep drink of coffee. The remaining time passed quickly, and soon the boarding calls for their flight were being made. Mulder grabbed both their carry ons and they entered the plane. "Wow, first class. Who's idea was this, " Scully mused aloud as they settled into their seats. "Um, Skinner decided we should have a little extra comfort this time," he replied. Mulder was uncomfortable with all of the lies he was telling Scully. he tried to be as honest as possible with her. No matter that these were small lies. He was manipulating her, and she would be very angry when she found out. Scully seemed to accept his answer and settled more comfortably into the cushions of her chair. As tired as she was it wasn't long before she was asleep, her head resting on Mulder's shoulder. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Six hours later they arrived at the SeaTac Airport. When she had awoke, Scully had been embarrassed to find herself half draped over her partner. His arm was around her shoulders, her head on his chest, and one of her legs was across his. That wasn't the bad part. No, one of her hands was nestled snuggly between his legs. Scully had been absolutely mortified. Then she had felt the even rise and fall of his chest and realized that, he too was sleeping. Carefully she disengaged herself form him before waking him. "Wake up, Mulder," she said. When he didn't move she repeated herself, louder and closer to his ear. That got his attention. Almost as if the on switch was turned he automatically got to his feet and stretched his tall frame. He yawned once and reached for the overhead compartment for their bags. Off the plane, Mulder when to claim the rest of their luggage while Scully went to see about their car rental. When Mulder had claimed their bags he returned to Scully. As he approached an odd look spread across her face. "Mulder, the car that was reserved for us is a Mustang convertible. Tell me what's going on, and no more of this Skinner wanting us to be comfortable. When has he ever cared about our comfort." Mulder's mind was working a mile a minute, trying to think up something plausible to tell her. To put off the inevitable telling of the truth. Finally he decided to just tell her. She'd have to know soon anyway. "When we get in the car. OK?" "Ok, but I want the truth." Mulder steered her toward the rental car lot, his feeling of anxiety growing with each step. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Part 2 "Well," Scully said. They had been driving for about 15 minutes. Mulder hadn't spoken a word since they'd gotten into the car and she was beginning to get worried. It must be something really bad, she thought. "Scully, we're going in undercover as newlyweds." he began, then took a breath. Scully mistook his pause to mean he was done. "Is that all. Geez, Mulder, you had me worried for a minute there. Why couldn't you have told me this before?" "I'm not finished," he replied, "Apparently this guy not only enjoys killing couples, but he has a fetish for homemade porn." As Mulder trailer off, Scully's eyes grew wide at the implications of what he had said. "They found a collection of videos that the killer had apparently secretly made of each of the honeymooners. They checked each of the honeymoon suites and there are small holes in each of the ceilings, where the crawl space is located. Small, but large enough to accommodate a video camera. This information hasn't been released to anybody but the local law enforcement. They're hoping to use it to catch him. But it also means we have to pretend to be a happy honey moon couple all the time. Even in our room. So...." "I see. You didn't think that I'd come if all of these facts were available to me before we got here?" "Well......." "Mmmhmm," The remainder of the drive was passed in silence. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "So," Scully said as they pulled up to the Salish Lodge, "what are our names this time. No more Nick at Nite knock offs I hope." "No. Skinner wanted this kept as simple as possible. So we're Fox and Dana Mulder." "Dana Mulder" she repeated. She liked it. She liked the way his name fit with hers. Liked the way it rolled off her tongue. Mulder smiled at the expression on her face. When he managed to catch her eye he said, " I like it too." Scully immediately turned away from him, desperate to hid the flags of embarrassment burning on her cheeks. But it was too late, the damage was done. He knew. Messing with Scully was fun, but he didn't want to make her too self-conscious. So he kept his smile to himself and carried their bags up to their room. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX By the time they had reached their second floor room, Scully had managed to get herself under control. The view was absolutely breathtaking. Scully was transfixed by it. She heard Mulder approach and turned towards him. "Mul..."she began but stopped when she saw the barley perceptible shake of his head. "The camera," he mouthed silently, "behind me." Scully didn't look to confirm. If he said it was there, she believed him. "Fox, " she started again, the name sounding foreign to her, "did you see the view?" She turned again to face the window, and as she did she felt Mulder move closer behind her, one of his hands reaching around to rest on her stomach. "It's beautiful," he whispered into her hair before leaning slightly to kiss her temple. The brief touch of his lips, made a shudder course through her body, and her breath leave her in a rush. It's only an act, she thought as she tilted her head to look at him. On impulse Mulder leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her full lips, before pulling completely away. For a split second Scully's face showed her surprise. Need flickered swiftly over her features before she remembered where she was and smiled sweetly at Mulder. "Honey, " she said in her best newlywed voice, "why don't you relax and I'll get us unpacked." Mulder smiled at her and sank into a wonderfully overstuffed armchair. As Scully neatly fitted all of their belongings into the small two drawer bureau, and even smaller closet, her mind wandered. When she finished hanging up the last item, she realized how intimate it looked. Both of their clothes mixed together, looking cozy. Oh well, she thought, it's what the situation calls for. Scully lowered herself to the side of the bed and slowly felt the jet-lag catching up. Four hours time difference, combined with six hours of flight and another hour spent driving had left her exhausted. Now that she wasn't doing anything she felt it too. She looked over to where Mulder was sitting and noticed that he had drifted to sleep. Not wanting to miss her chance to change in private, she hurriedly shed her clothes and pulled on a fitted blue nightgown. When she was finished she walked over to were Mulder rested and tried to wake him. "Mulder, "she said as she gently shook his shoulder, "come to bed." Her woos drifted to him through the haze of sleep. Surly that wasn't Scully, who just said that, his sleepy mind reasoned. He was about to fall back into slumber, when the voice returned. "C'mon, let's go to bed." "Scul." her finger placed gently over his lips stopped her name before it left him. The light pressure was enough to remind him where they were. "Ready to get some sleep" she said with a gentle smile. "Oh yeah," he replied, stretching and yawning in a way only a man can do. Scully got into bed and closed her eyes, waiting to hear the scrap of the drawer for Mulder to get his pajamas. What pajamas, her mind asked, did you see any when you unpacked. Her eyes popped open just in time to see Mulder climbing into bed, stripped of everything but his boxers. For almost a minute they laid on separate sides of the bed. Until Mulder's greater weight caused the mattress to sag, and Scully to slide towards him. Her descent was suddenly sped up as Mulder anchored his arm around her waist. She felt herself pulled full against him. Calm down, she told herself, this is pretend. It's pretend. Just go to sleep. It's just Mulder after all. Just then Mulder put his face close to her ear and whispered, " Goodnight" and placed a kiss just below her ear. And her hopes of drifting quickly to sleep vanished. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Part 3 Scully awoke abruptly the next morning. Once again she was sprawled across Mulder. This time with her head pillowed on his chest and one of her legs firmly wedged between his. She was practically on top of him. Maybe I can pretend I'm still asleep and just roll away, she thought. But Mulder had known the second she had awaken. He'd be awake for sometime and had thought of getting up to spare Scully any more discomfort. But he was enjoying this way too much. He had slept soundly for once and he had a feeling it was because of the woman nestled in his arms. "Morning, Sunshine," he said. She turned her head to meet his gaze and returned his smile. "Comfy?" he asked, his eyebrows inched up just a bit and his voice dropped down a notch, making him utterly sexy. Scully suddenly felt very uncomfortable and pushed away from him. She rolled swiftly out of the bed and pulled open a drawer, searching for clothes to wear. "I'm going to go take a quick shower," she said as she finally pulled a pair of jeans and T- shirt from the drawer. Mulder said nothing as she entered the bathroom and pulled the door closed behind her. As soon as he heard the water start, he went to the bathroom and cautiously opened the door. A quick check confirmed that Scully was hidden safely from view behind the shower curtain. "Mulder?" the question in her voice was quite plain. What are you doing in here, it screamed. "We need to discuss our plans for today," he stated simply. "So what are our plans?" Scully asked. "Well, I talked to Snoqualime PD. They want us to be as visible as possible. And just play the happy couple. We're supposed to meet with an undercover cop to inform us of any progress tonight. So I guess until then, we go sightseeing." "Ok. Mulder, could you hand me a towel?" she said as she turned off the water. No more than five seconds later a hand popped through the shower curtain with a towel. Scully took it and wrapped herself securely in it. As she stepped out of the shower Mulder tried not to stare. He was not successful. Clad only in the bath towel, which barley came to mid-thigh, with droplets sparkling on h shoulders, she was a vision. The effect it had on him was swift, and he said a silent prayer that he'd had the presence of mind not to come in the bathroom wearing only his boxers. "Why don't you take a shower and I'll go get dressed," Scully said as she left him alone with his thoughts. As Mulder stepped into the small space that she had just vacated, his mind was going a mile a minute. You shouldn't be thinking about your partner like this, his mind yelled. You shouldn't be enjoying this assignment so much. You're enjoying it too much for your own good. Suddenly Mulder heard the door open again. He poked his head around the shower curtain and was surprised to see Scully standing before him wearing only her bra and panties. When he got over his initial shock he realized that seeing her undressed wasn't nearly as odd as the expression on her face. She was scared. Something that hardly ever happened, or if it did, she never let show. "What's wrong," Mulder asked. He almost stepped out of the shower, but remembered his state of undress and stayed where he was. "There's somebody in the ceiling," she whispered frantically. When he heard that he did step out of the shower. Scully quickly averted her eyes. Mulder grabbed a towel off the rack and wrapped it around his waist. "Look happy," he said as they prepared to exit the room. he placed his hand high on her back and felt the pounding of her heart. "Everything will be ok," he said reassuringly, his concern echoed in his voice. Scully almost laughed, but stopped herself short. He thinks I'm scared, she thought. Good thing he doesn't know it's because of him. If he knew the effect he has on me I'd never hear the end of it. As they exited the bathroom Scully slapped a smile on her face. Dropped his hand from her back to take her hand in his. He led her over to the bed and lay down, pulling her along with him, so she was laying atop him. When it felt as if she was about to struggle he put his lips close to her ear, "The camera's gone," he whispered, "I think he's watching us." She stilled instantly. A plan formed immediately in her head and without another thought she went into action. Shifting slightly she straddled him and leaned down, so her face was less than an inch from his. For a moment he thought she was going to kiss him, but instead she started speaking. Loudly. "Fox, if we don't hurry and get a move on we're going to miss breakfast, and be late for the nature hike." He smiled at the tone of voice she just used. He'd never heard it from her before. Scully had just whined. "OK" was his reply, before he closed the short distance between them and brushed a soft kiss across her lips. She rolled here eyes at him, thankful that her back was to their peeping tom and climbed off of him. As he too got off the bed, she reentered the bathroom to reclaim her clothes. Just as she started to pull on her jeans, she heard the unmistakable sound of his towel hitting the ground. Scully kept her gaze glued to her feet, and although she tried hard to fight it, she felt a blush creep up her face. By the time she had calmed herself down, Mulder was dressed and they left the room hand in hand. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Part 4 Breakfast proceeded uneventfully. But something wasn't right. Scully had the unnerving feeling that she was being watched. Whenever she glanced around nothing seemed amiss, but her mind filed each persons face for future reference. As soon as they finished their meals they walked outside. When Scully was sure no one was around she started to speak. "Mulder," "I know, he was there. I felt it too." They both fell silent as they walked o the viewpoint overlooking Snoqualmie Falls. They were to meet with three other couples, for what the hotel assured them was a romantic nature hike. Scully's mind drifted back to the last time she took a "nature hike" with Mulder, and hoped this time they wouldn't end up trying to escape a hole in the ground by stacking up bodies. As they approached the meeting place Mulder took Scully's hand. It still felt foreign to be so physical with Mulder, but Scully was shocked to find herself wishing it was real, not just for an assignment. And it didn't seem like Mulder was being affected by it at all. They were the last to arrive, but as soon as they did Scully got that feeling again. Somebody was watching them. Without conscious thought Scully's eyes shot to Mulder's. When they met, Mulder squeezed her hand in silent confirmation. As cautiously as they could , both glanced around. They didn't even notice when a man with an enormous camera stepped in front of them. "So, how long have you too been married?" he asked. "Two days," Mulder replied. "Well, looks like you're the only newlywed couple this time. Everybody else has been married for some time, all celebrating their anniversaries. The Jones' over there," he said, indicating an older couple, "have been together for 50 years." Scully looked up at Mulder and smiled. Maybe they'd only been pretending to be married for two days, but with as much as they saw each other they might as well have been married for seven years. There were days that Mulder drove here absolutely crazy, with his insane theories, but the thought of spending fifty years with him only made her smile. The sound of the camera clicking brought Scully out of her thoughts. She looked at the man, who was busy click pictures of them and the other couples. "I always photograph these things. The hotel pays me to and they you all get to take home lovely souvenirs of your trip here," he said with a shrug, then looked at Mulder, " why don't you give your pretty wife a kiss. Lord knows if my wife looked like yours, you'd never get me away from her." Mulder chuckled, but decided to humor the man, and brushed his lips softly against Scully's. When he looked back at the photographer he was surprised to see his hand on his hips and a rather disgusted look on his face. "That's the best you can do? You call that a kiss??" Mulder turned back to Scully, and an evil grin spread across his face. Before he could loose his nerve, he put his hand on the base of her neck and lean in. All the time thinking how she was going to kill him when they got out of this. For Scully it was de ja vu. Just like he had intended, not so long ago on that fateful day, he was going to kiss. Only this time there was nothing to stop them. But it wasn't real either. She kept reminding herself of that as their lips met. Had to chant it to herself when his tongue slipped between her teeth. But when his other hand came up to cup her cheek, and he angled her head to give him better access, the rational side of her mind gave up. How could this not be real, it said. With that final thought she relaxed, and let herself enjoy it. When Mulder felt her melt against him and actually started kissing him back, he knew he had to stop. He never expected her to respond like that. After the way she always made him keep his distance, he expected nothing more than to be rebuked. But here she was, kissing him of her own free will. And that was why he had to stop. Either that or he was going to drag her back up to the room, and they were going to be making that honeymoon video after all. To hell with the case. Reluctantly, he pulled away. Scully stumbled back a step, with out him to support her, and, he noted, she had a very bemused look on her face. "That was MUCH better." said the photographer as short woman stepped forward and began to speak. "Hello everybody, I'm Clara, I'm going to be your group leader. We're going to hike about a mile to a large clearing, where there are several clearly marked trails. At that time you are free to explore. We'll leave you to yourselves for about an hour and then start back. Any questions?? No? Well then lets get started." Mulder pulled Scully to his side and they quickly followed the rest of the group. When he put his arm around her, Scully was reminded of the time they spent at The Falls at Arcadia. She had been able to stay in control there, even thought Mulder had touched her and thrown out innuendoes every five minutes. So why was it different this time. Every time he touched her it sent shivers through her body and made butterflies dance in her stomach. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when they reached the clearing and everybody went their own ways. They walked for a few more minutes on one of the isolated paths before Mulder broke the silence. "Scully, hey Scully," he said shaking here from her thoughts. "What," she asked, only barley noticing her called her Scully instead of Dana. "What do you think of the photographer? Do you find anything strange about him" "Not really. Why?" "I don't know. Maybe nothing, it just--" A piercing scream stopped whatever he was going to say. Almost as if they shared one mind they turned together and ran in the direction the scream had come from. They had walked further than either had realized, and it took longer than either expected to make it back to the clearing. When they finally arrived, Clara was in hysterics. "I heard Mrs. Jones scream," she said between sobs, "but when I went to find them they were gone." While Scully crouched down beside her and tried to calm her enough to get any additional information from her, Mulder started in the direction he remembered seeing the missing couple go. He hadn't gotten more than a couple of steps onto the trail when he saw something out of his peripheral vision. He turned and stepped of the trail into the undergrowth, and saw the one thing he wished he hadn't. Mr. and Mrs. Jones lay on the ground in a pool of blood. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Part 5 Less than twenty minutes later, area police were canvassing the area, with K-9 units. The dogs had yet to find the person responsible, but everybody knew it was only a matter of time. "Hey, look at this" came a sudden shout. Five police officers, and Mulder rushed over to where the call had come from. Detective Andrews was hunched over the body of Mr. Jones. Clasped firmly in his hand was a roll of film. "The photographer." Mulder said. "Where did he go?" Scully asked as she joined him. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since when we split off onto separate trails." "Take that film and get it developed, and put an APB out on the photographer, Mr. Hollis." Andrews ordered, before turning to Mulder and Scully. "I'd like to thank you two for coming out here to help us, but I think we can handle it from here." "Are you ready then, Scully?" Mulder asked. "Actually, I think I'm going to stay here for a bit. Why don't you go get us packed and I'll meet you back at the room in an hour." she said, distracted. "Ok," he replied and headed off. Their charade was done. And although he was glad that they would catch this guy before he could hurt anyone else, He would miss being able to touch Scully. Without and excuse. Those same thoughts occupied him until he reached the lodge. Once there he packed, although probably not a neatly as Scully would have preferred. After he'd only been there for ten minutes, Mulder heard the door to the room creak open. "You're back early, Scully. I thought you said an hour," he said without turning. Loud steps grew closer, Too late Mulder realized the steps were too loud for Scully. Without warning something large and heavy crashed against his head. A million colors swam haphazardly through his vision before blackness settled in. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Scully had been talking with Det. Andrew for only a few minutes before she felt it. Someone was watching her again. And then just as suddenly as the feeling came it was gone. Another half hour passed, with the search not turning up a thing, when it returned. Only this time it was stronger. And then a second, more urgent feeling crept into her heart. Mulder was in trouble. Scully didn't know how she knew, but she did. "Detective Andrews, I've got to go. Call me if anything happens," she said as she turned and raced back in the direction of the lodge. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX When she threw the door open and saw Mulder, relatively unharmed, she nearly began to cry. When the hand reached from behind her and grabbed her by the throat she realized her mistake. "It's not nice to trick people," said the voice from behind her. "Why did you have to come here, pretending to be a couple, when all you are is partners. You ruined my game." Scully kept her eyes trained on Mulder and focused on breathing, which was nearly impossible with the hand wrapped around her neck. "Well, now were gonna play. I know they're looking for me. But they wont hurt me as long as I have you. So we can play as long as I want. And maybe, if you play nice, I'll let you go when this is done." His voice had an odd quality to it, and something told Scully that he had no plans to let them go. So this is how I'm going to die, she thought. "Why don't you let her go and I'll play whatever game you want to," Mulder said from across the room. "No." came the reply, "That's not how this game is played. When you have a couple you can hurt one, and if the other has to watch you hurt both." "But we're not a couple," Mulder said, being careful to keep his voice steady, "you said so yourself." "Oh, you may not label yourselves as such, but I saw you kiss her. I saw you looking at each other. I watched you sleep together. I know what you don't. I know you lo-" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The suddenness of it all had shocked Scully. One minute she could barley breathe and the next she was free, and her captor was slouched on the floor. The door flew open and half a dozen officers charged into the room. Mulder hadn't even seen it coming. If he hadn't been so focused on what Mr. Hollis had been saying, he would have notice the tiny red dot on his heart. Would have noticed the soft footsteps above them. And in an instant it was all over. The suspect was critically injured and their case was over. Now as they stood at the airport Mulder couldn't stop thinking about what Hollis had said. Or what he had started to say. Only Hollis was wrong. Mulder did know. He'd just never admitted it. Not even to himself. The final boarding call brought him back to reality, and without thinking he grabbed Scully's hand as they walked through the entry ramp to the plane. Scully smiled at him. and he decided it was time to be honest with himself. He was in love with Scully. He had though it would be scary. But instead it was refreshing. It opened his eyes. It was like walking in sunlight. Now he just had to tell her. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Authors Note: There was actually going to be one more part to this but I got another IDEA and decided to break it up into two separate stories. So stay tuned for the "SEQUEL" Please send feedback, I'm just starving for it. smcvickers@webtv.net