Weak in the Knees; chapter fourteen
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 14
Scully lay in bed, unable to sleep. Part of her was berating herself for doing something so stupid! How could she have kissed Jess?! Here she had been enjoying working with the other agent, and laying the foundation of a friendship... and she had to go and ruin it by kissing her.
But then the other part of her... The other part replayed the kiss over and over in her mind. Jess’s lips were so soft and warm. And it was hands down the best first kiss she’d ever had! The way Jess had so gently kissed her back... perhaps she hadn’t ruined anything.
And though the obsidian eyes in her dreams didn’t match Jess’s grey ones, she now knew those dream eyes belonged to the woman she’d kissed. Her dreams... perhaps she would dream of her again tonight... She held the other pillow tight against her body, imaging it was Jess she was curled around, as she had been two nights ago.
***
Morgan tossed and turned. She couldn’t get comfortable... or rather, she couldn’t quiet her mind, her imagination. Every time she closed her eyes she saw beautiful, sapphire blue eyes. Morgan had hardly even looked at another woman since Toni. Oh, she’d bedded a couple, but they’d never ‘touched’ her. She never gave them a second thought afterwards. However, Dana... well, Dana was different. For reasons she couldn’t fathom, Morgan had let Dana get close. She had spent time with the redhead away from work. She cared about Dana.
She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Her heart did a little flip as their kiss replayed in her mind. It had been exquisite. So soft and gentle... yet no less arousing for its tenderness. Morgan could have stood there and kissed Dana for hours. Even though Dana had initiated the kiss, Morgan was fearful of how it would change things. They’d had such a good working relationship. Scully was one of the best agents she’d ever worked with. And they had connected personally, becoming friends. Was all of that going to be ruined? Morgan sighed and turned over onto her other side again, in a vain attempt to get comfortable.
***
In the dark, a hand snaked out and grabbed offending noisemaker. “Yeah,” she answered laconically. Listening to voice on the other end, Morgan was suddenly wide awake. She sat up and turned on the light on the nightstand. “Where?” She found a pen and something to write on. “Left on Melvin Ave... left on Wardour Drive. Got it... Right. See you soon.” Morgan hung up her phone. “Damn.” She rubbed her face with her hands and then stood up.
Morgan walked down the hall to Scully’s door. She knocked. “Dana?”
“Yeah?”
“Get dressed - we’ve got another one.”
“Okay.”
Both women quickly dressed.
“Where to?” Scully asked as she started the car.
“Annapolis. Taylor said to take the Rowe Ave exit off 50. Then left onto Melvin Ave, following it until it ends, then left on Wardour.”
“I know it. That’s almost at the Naval Academy.” She glanced at Morgan. “Both my brothers went to the Academy.”
***
They made good time and arrived at the house in question in a little over 30 minutes. The sky was just beginning to lighten, though sunrise was still a bit off.
“Nice neighborhood,” Morgan observed.
“Very. These houses are all seven figures.”
They got out of the car and approached the front door of the house. A couple police officers were standing outside the door. Morgan and Scully flashed their badges. One of the officers opened the door for them. Once inside they were directed to a room on the second floor. They removed their overcoats, slipped on gloves and stepped into the bedroom.
***
Scully left the house with the body, taking it to Quantico. Morgan stayed behind and spoke with the distraught parents of the Reaper’s newest victim, Andrea Nicks.
“Can you tell me if Andrea was seeing anyone?”
“Andrea was too busy with her studies to date,” Mr. Nicks replied.
“Actually, she did tell me she’d met someone,” Mrs. Nicks said.
“When?” her husband asked, sounding upset.
Mrs. Nicks wiped her cheeks. “She said they met about a month ago. I think she said his name was Joe, or John... I’m not sure.”
“What did she tell you about him, Mrs. Nicks?”
“Not much. Just that they’d met and she liked him.”
“Did she meet him in school? Is he a student?”
“Oh, no. She did say he had his own business... on the internet or something like that. She really didn’t say much about him.”
“Why didn’t I know about this guy?!” Mr. Nicks exclaimed.
“Jeff... I don’t think it was serious. And besides, Andrea is- was 22 years old, a grown woman.” Mrs. Nicks broke down and couldn’t continue.
Mr. Nicks took his wife and went to a friend’s house.
***
After going through the house and the victim’s personal effects, Morgan left the house and drove to the home of the victim’s sister and brother-in-law, Linda and Gary Everson. Mr. Everson was out of town for work, but Linda was the one Morgan wanted to talk to anyway.
“I’m very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Everson. I appreciate you meeting with me.”
“Linda. I just can’t believe Andrea’s dead.”
“Your mother said Andrea mentioned someone she’d met, someone named Joe or John. Did she say anything to you about this guy?”
“Do you think he’s the one who killed her?”
“I don’t know, but we have to talk to all Andrea’s acquaintances, friends and family. The more we know about her, the better chance we have of finding who killed her.”
“His name was Joel; I don’t know his last name.”
“What did she tell you about him?”
“Not much. She said he had some online business. And that she really liked him.”
“Did she say what the name of the business was?”
“No. I’m sorry I don’t know more.”
“It’s alright, Linda. I checked your sister’s things but I didn’t find her cell phone. Do you know where it might be?”
“Oh. Yeah. She left it here by accident yesterday. She was watching my daughter for an hour or so while I ran some errands. I’ll get it for you.”
“Please.”
Linda got up and left the room. She returned moments later with the phone. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
***
Scully looked up when Morgan entered the autopsy bay. “Hey. I’m just finishing up.”
“Anything new?”
“Unfortunately no. What about you? How did it go with the parents?”
“Neither of them have any idea who would want to hurt Andrea. The mother did say that Andrea mentioned a new guy; someone she’d met about a month ago.”
Scully finished the last stitch, pulled her gloves off with a snap and stepped away from the table. “Did you get his name?”
“Mrs. Nicks thought it might be Joe or John. But I spoke to Andrea’s sister and she said his name was Joel. She didn’t know his last name though. Still, I’m going to have someone check the name against the purchase list for Joy perfume. It’s a long shot, but...” She shrugged her shoulders. “I also got Andrea’s phone. When we get back to headquarters I’ll have the techs dump everything on it and we can start talking to all her contacts. Maybe she confided in a friend about this new guy. Supposedly he has some kind of internet business.” She sighed. “It’s not a lot to go on.”
“It’s somewhere to start,” Scully pointed out. “And it’s more than we’ve had with some of the other victims.”
***
When Scully and Morgan got back to the Hoover building, a folder was waiting on Morgan’s desk. She picked it up and opened it.
“We’ve got the LUDs for the Nicks’ home phone and the line in Andrea’s room. Let me run her cell phone down to the techs and have them dump it. It should only take a couple of minutes.”
“Alright. Meet me in the cafeteria.”
Morgan, already halfway out the door, stopped and looked back at Scully.
“Don’t even try it, Jess,” Scully warned, but with a touch of amusement in her eyes. “Just be there.”
Morgan didn’t say anything. She simply continued on her way. Once she was in the elevator, she shook her head and chuckled.
***
After lunch in the cafeteria, Scully and Morgan started sifting through the information from Andrea’s cell phone. She had kept just about everything in her phone - text and voice message, contacts, schedules. They determined the most promising leads to follow. Everything else would be checked out by other agents on the taskforce.
They spent the rest of the day interviewing Andrea’s closest friends. None of whom knew any more about Joel than what the agents already knew. The more they investigated, the more interested they became in this mysterious new man in Andrea’s life. No one had met him. No one had seen him. No one knew the name of his alleged internet business. No one knew his last name. No one knew where he lived. No one knew how old he was. No one knew anything.
It was well after dinner time when they decided to call it a day.
Morgan sighed as she settled behind the steering wheel of the car. “It’s been a long day. What do you say we go out for dinner? No takeout, no pizza. A real nice dinner - my treat.”
Scully smiled. “Alright. What did you have in mind?”
“How do you feel about steak?”
“Sounds good.”
***
Scully and Morgan were seated at a table by one of the windows. After the waiter took their orders Scully kept staring out the window.
“Something interesting out there?” Morgan asked.
Scully frowned. Concern colored her voice when she replied. “I’m not sure, but I think someone’s been following us.”
“If you’re referring to the dark green Taurus, you’re right.”
Scully snapped her eyes back to her partner. “What-”
“Security detail. The Director assigned a team to you.”
Scully’s eyes flashed in anger. “What the hell for?” she ground out slowly.
Morgan took a slow breath as she nervously fingered her fork. “Because I asked him to, Dana.” Scully started to say something, but Morgan continued, cutting her off. “You have to understand - the last time a serial killer made things personal... Toni was killed because of me.” She looked up, finally meeting Scully’s gaze. “Your apartment was broken into and the same message written on your wall that was written on mine in Toni’s blood. This guy knows who you are, Dana, where you live. I can’t take the risk that he’ll go after you. I’m not going to let someone else get killed because of me.” She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “I couldn’t bear it,” she finished in a shaky whisper.
Scully’s ire had been set off by the knowledge that Morgan had gone behind her back and had a security detail put on her. But as she watched and listened to Jess, Scully found her anger dissipating and understanding taking its place. When Morgan finished, she reached across the table and placed her hand over Jess’s. “It’s okay, Jess. I understand. If our places were reversed I’d do the same thing.” She was glad to see the shadows behind Morgan’s eyes fade.
The waiter arrived with their salads.
Chapter 15...
prologue| ch 1| ch 2| ch 3| ch 4| ch 5| ch 6| ch 7| ch 8| ch 9| ch 10|
ch 11| ch 12| ch 13|