fic, x-files, Weak in the Knees, chapter ten
Title: Weak in the Knees
Author: Dhamphir
Fandom: X-Files
Pairing: Scully/OFC
Rating: umm... NC-17 eventually
Please see previous posts for disclaimer/summary/notes. Thanks to
celievamp for the beta.
Chapter 10
After finishing up the autopsy Scully and Morgan went to lunch. They had to decide what their next move was going to be. They agreed that the best thing to do was head back to DC, so after lunch they packed up and drove out to the Philadelphia airport.
Back in Washington they returned to the Hoover building. At the end of the day they went their separate ways, Scully to her apartment and Morgan to her hotel room. But there was a surprise waiting for Morgan.
Morgan opened the door to her room and knew instantly that something was wrong. She didn’t need to look to know someone had been in her room while she’d been out of town, she could smell it - the blood. She dropped her bag and pulled her weapon. Not bothering to turn the light on she inched into the room, all her senses on high alert. Only after satisfying herself that there was no one present did Morgan put her weapon away. She stood and stared at the words on the wall, words written in blood.
Roses are red, violets are blue.
You don’t see me, but I see you!
Morgan pulled out her phone and called AD Ben Taylor. “Yes, it’s Morgan. I need a forensics team to come to my hotel room... Yeah, someone’s been here; left a message on the wall in blood... Alright. See you soon.” She hung up. She then called down to the front desk. She requested the on-duty manager come up right away. Morgan then left the room and waited in the hallway.
When the manager arrived Morgan explained that someone had been in her room. She wanted a list of all the employees who had access and who had been responsible for cleaning rooms on her floor that day. They were still talking when Ben Taylor arrived with some agents and technicians in tow.
An agent was sent down with the manager to get employee names, and talk to on-duty personnel. Morgan let the others into her room. The technicians got to work taking pictures, dusting for prints, and taking samples of the blood. Taylor asked Morgan if anything else in the room was disturbed or missing.
She went in and looked around. It didn’t look like anything was missing, but her things had definitely been rifled through. Morgan and Taylor went back into the hallway.
“I don’t like that this guy knows you’re working the case and now obviously knows where you’re staying. He’s making this personal.”
Morgan’s eyes flashed. “You think I do?! It’s my things he went through!” she snapped uncharacteristically. She lowered her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sorry.” She took a deep breath and let it out. Morgan looked at Taylor again. “But the on the up side, this could be a blessing in disguise.”
“How the hell do you figure that?”
“If he’s fixated on me, maybe he won’t go after another woman. Or maybe he’ll get sloppy.” She gestured towards the room door. “This goes beyond leaving misleading clues and sending us on wild goose chases. Leaving a message written in blood on my wall is a blatant ‘fuck you.’ It’s not at all subtle or nuanced. He could finally be so damn arrogant and full of himself he’ll be making some mistakes.”
“Or he could come after you.”
“Possibly,” she conceded.
At that moment Scully arrived. She was still in her car when Taylor had called her as soon as he’d gotten off the phone with Morgan. Heavy traffic had delayed her arrival at the hotel. “Are you alright, Jess?”
Morgan turned and saw her partner. She nodded. “Yeah. Just had a nice little present waiting for me when I got here.” Morgan nodded at the open door to the room. “Go on and take a look.”
Scully went into the hotel room and stopped when she saw the writing on the wall. She shook her head and stepped back out, out of the way of the people processing the room.
***
It had taken some convincing, but finally Scully, with the help of Taylor, convinced Morgan to go home with her for the night. Even though Morgan had been quiet on the way to her apartment, it was obvious to Scully that the woman was wound up tighter than a spring. She understood all too well the feeling of invasion and violation that came from someone breaking in and going through her things.
Once they arrived at Scully’s they went inside. Scully told Morgan to make herself at home as she went into her bedroom to change clothes. She checked her messages on the answering machine when she came back out. Morgan came out of the bathroom after having changed clothes as well.
“I don’t feel like cooking tonight but we can have something delivered. So what do you feel like having for dinner?”
“It doesn’t matter. Whatever you want is fine by me.”
Scully grabbed the menu from a Chinese place and joined Morgan on the couch. They made their selections and Scully called it in. 30 minutes later they were eating. After dinner they cleaned up and Scully opened a bottle of wine.
“Okay, Jess, what are you thinking? What’s going on with this guy?”
Morgan sighed. “As I told Taylor, he’s gone beyond leaving misleading clues. That message was a ‘fuck you.’”
“Not very subtle.”
“Nope. Hopefully it means he’ll be making some mistakes.”
“He knows who you are and where you were staying.”
“As far as him knowing I’m working the case, there are enough people who know that it could have gotten out without anyone realizing it. Something as simple as my name coming up in a conversation about the case. It’s even possible where I was staying got out the same way. Or someone could have hacked into a computer somewhere.”
“Possibly.” Scully paused. “But what I really want to know is how the hell did he know you would be there tonight? I mean he had to have done it today, after housecleaning had already been through, or else they would have seen it. And there was no point in taking the risk of being seen if you weren’t going to be there tonight. Because if you weren’t there, then the hotel could have possibly cleaned it up without you ever knowing.”
“They would have called the police,” Morgan pointed out.
Scully raised an eyebrow. “That would have been the proper thing to do. But you and I both know that’s not always what’s done. There’s a real possibility someone at the hotel could have decided to cover it up, avoid any bad publicity. We didn’t decide to come back to DC until we were at lunch today. We could have gone back out west. So I ask you: How did he know you were going to be there?”
Somehow Morgan wasn’t surprised Scully caught that little tidbit. She was, after all, an excellent investigator. But no one else had thought to ask that particular question. She looked into those intelligent blue eyes. “I don’t know, Dana.”
***
After both women had taken a shower and changed into pajamas, Scully encouraged Morgan to have some wine. She got her talking - about anything but the case. She already knew Morgan well enough that she would not stop thinking about the case and what had happened unless she was distracted from it. Finally Scully saw Morgan’s eyes, and then head, begin to droop.
Scully grabbed Morgan’s hand and stood up. “Come on. No sleeping on the couch this time.”
Morgan’s head snapped up and she opened her eyes. “S’ry,” she mumbled and then yawned.
Scully urged her partner up from the couch and guided her to the bedroom. She got Morgan settled in one side of the bed then crawled in the other. She, too, was soon asleep.
***
She’d had a long day and was looking forward to getting home. Actually it had been a long month. And what she wanted more than anything was to go home, take hot a shower, and crawl into bed with her other half. She needed to feel Toni’s arms around her. She had told Toni she’d be home by 6:00, but then they got a possible lead on the killer they were after. And Jessica was the best interviewer of witnesses and suspects. Even the jerks who resented her presence in the division came to her for the really tough interrogations.
Anyway, after the interview of the reluctant witness she was finally able to call it a night at 10:30. Jessica had to stop and get gas on the way home. When she went inside to pay for it, she bought a small stuffed bear on impulse. She smiled at the little five-inch bear as she started the car and pulled away. Toni had a secret collection of the cute stuffed animals that she’d kill to keep a secret from her fellow FBI agents. It didn’t fit with her tough as nails, no nonsense image. Jessica’s smile widened. Settling down with one person for the last four and half years didn’t fit with Toni’s reputation either. It was the last thing anyone thought Toni would ever do. But that’s how long Jessica and Toni had been together.
Jessica parked the car and picked up the little bear with a smile. “Come on, buddy, let’s go make Toni smile.”
She rode the elevator up to their floor, and had her keys out before she got the door. With a heartfelt smile she unlocked the door and stepped inside, turning on the light in the hallway... and stopped. There was blood on the wall and floor. Her heart dropped like a stone. “Toni... Toni!” she called. She rushed into the living room. “TONI!!”
Jessica dropped to her knees and pulled the lifeless, bloody body of her lover into her arms. The stuffed bear forgotten in a pool of blood. “NOOO!!!”
“NOOO!!!” Morgan cried out and sat up in the bed. Tears rolled down her face and her whole body trembled.
Scully sat up next to her and put her arm around the trembling woman’s shoulders. “Shhh, it was just a dream. It’s okay, Jess.”
Morgan slumped, leaning into Scully, and broke down crying. Scully wrapped her other arm around Jess and held her close as she cried, her own heart hurting for her friend.
After a few minutes Morgan quieted. She wiped her face as she pulled out of Scully’s embrace. “Excuse me.” She got out of bed, left the bedroom, and went into the bathroom.
Morgan washed her face. She stared in the mirror and saw the shadows in her eyes. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Morgan stood there a few moments before turning off the light and returning to the bedroom. She silently slipped back into bed, lying on her back. After several seconds she finally spoke. “Sorry.”
Scully shifted to lie on her side, facing Morgan. She put her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “You don’t have anything to apologize for, Jess.” She paused. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
“I’m here if you ever do.”
***
Morgan woke up sometime later. She was on her right side... and Scully was spooning her from behind. Scully’s left arm was around her waist and her other arm under her neck. It felt so good to be held. She could feel Dana’s soft breath on her neck. Suddenly, parts of her body were wide awake and begging for attention - attention they weren’t going to get. She tensed, trying to get some control over her body and its reaction to the press of Dana’s breasts against her back.
In her sleep Scully felt Morgan tense up. She tightened her arm around Jess and murmured in her sleep. “It’s okay... just a dream...”
***
Scully woke up before the alarm was scheduled to go off. She was very surprised to find herself curled around the sleeping form of her partner - she was anything but a cuddler. However, she definitely liked the way Morgan felt in her arms. She really wouldn’t mind waking up like that on a regular basis. That thought brought her up short. What was she thinking?
Scully carefully eased her arm from around Morgan’s waist and then carefully withdrew her arm from under her neck. She laid on her back staring at the ceiling. She thought back over the last couple of weeks and how she’d felt drawn to the enigmatic agent. She thought about how much she liked spending time with Jess - both on duty and off.
She enjoyed their working relationship. They worked well together and so easily. There was no constant bickering and fighting; there was mutual respect and consideration. She felt treated as a true equal - it was so different from what she was used to. Of course, the only partner she’d had up until then was Mulder, and God knew what an insensitive, selfish bastard he was.
And she thoroughly enjoyed the time they spent together off duty. In fact, Dana had actually gone out of her way to spend time with Jess off duty. She found her funny, charming, smart, compassionate, and beautiful. It was no wonder she was so attracted to Jess...
“Oh shit,” she whispered.
Chapter 11...
prologue| ch 1| ch 2| ch 3| ch 4| ch 5| ch 6| ch 7| ch 8| ch 9|