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House of Cards by Jennifer T. Brooks
E-mail: Jenntou@excite.com

Synopsis: This story picks up where the movie left off, but it is not a flick fic. Mulder and Scully are still assigned to the X-Files under Kersh and have been given a new office. Scully tries to cope with her changing relationship with Mulder with the help of her friends. As the house of cards that she has made her life out of starts to fall down around her she must come to terms with her changing relationships with everyone around her. A disturbing family secret is brought to light with leaves her devastated. Spoilers: "Fight the Future" and all of seasons 1-5. Assume that the 6th season has not taken place (the shows don't fit into my time line)
Rating: NC-17 for sexual situations and language.
Keywords: Scully angst, Mulder angst, Skinner angst, Scully torture, Skinner torture, Mulder/other, Scully/other, Scully and Mulder UST/MSR. Hell this has a little bit of everything in it..
Disclaimer: All characters in this story except for Blake and Claire belong to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen productions and Fox. No harm is intended and no profit is being made. Dr Susan Lowenstein is borrowed from Pat Conroy's brilliant novel "The Prince of Tides". My Dr. Susan Lowenstein is still played by Barbra Steisand and her office is now in Washington DC. Marriage vows are courtesy of the marriage ceremony performed by District Court Magistrate Deborah L. Clanton in Kentwood, Michigan. They are used without permission. Ike's E Street Bar and the Lasertaruim are figment's of my imagination. If these places actually exist, it is purely coincidental.
I have been a lurker for years and now have the courage to write, please be kind but honest in feedback. I'm taking liberties with locations, and character histories so don't write me telling me that I've gotten facts wrong..
Special thanks to Rad for her early cements and to Zoe J. my wonderful beta reader/editor extraordinaire. Her input made what you are reading possible, without her it would have been much different and not as good. Thanks Zoe.

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"It's a troublesome world. All the people who are in it
are troubled with troubles almost every minute.
You ought to be thankful a whole heaping lot,
for the places and people you're lucky you're not."
            Dr. Seuss
            "Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky you are"

******************************************
Chapter 1
*******************************************

FBI Headquarters
June 22, 1998
8:00 a.m.

Dana Scully walked quietly into the office expecting to see her partner of five years, Fox Mulder.

<Five year's,> she thought to herself. How had she managed to stay sane?

She thought back to their first case in Oregon and how naive she had been about the job, the FBI and life overall. Sometimes she wished that she could go back to the days when she was a carefree skeptic, when life was simpler. When had the world become so complicated? When had everything changed or started to change for her? When had life become so difficult?

To make matters worse there was the issue of Diana Fowley. What was she to Mulder? Although Scully had no right to know what the nature of the relationship was, she felt a slight tinge of betrayal that Mulder had never mentioned her to him. He seemed entirely too nonchalant about the whole matter.

"I can't let this bother me," Dana thought to herself as she sorted through the morning mail.

A half hour later Mulder came into the office accompanied by Diana Fowley.

"Good morning, Scully," Fox Mulder said to his partner, greeting her with a smile. "Nice job they've done with our new office."

"Good morning Mulder, good morning Agent Fowley," Scully replied in return.

"You can call me Diana, Dana. It's only appropriate if we are going to work closely together." Diana made her way over to Fox Mulder's desk and sat down in the chair in front of it. Dana was glad that office requisition gave her a desk this time. Sitting behind her own desk gave her some personal distance from Mulder and didn't make her feel quite so exposed. She felt a tinge of guilt at wanting to distance herself from Mulder but after everything they had been through in last month she needed to gain control over her feelings for him. She felt like she grown close to him over the past month, too close for her, and she needed to stop things and regain some of that distance between them.

She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't even register that Agent Fowley was speaking to her.

"Earth to Scully," Mulder said while gently waving his hands in front of her face.

"What," Scully stammered surprised by Mulder's motions.

"Diana was stating that she's going to be working closely with us now."

"In what capacity?" Scully asked as she looked at Diana.

"I've been assigned as your supervisor for the time being."

"I wasn't aware that we needed supervision," Scully responded coldly. Mulder saw the expression on her face and knew what she must be thinking and feeling. He knew that she'd never express those feelings. It was one of the reasons he was attracted to her, but also found her refusal to show her feelings annoying at times.

"Scully, the X-files division is being opened under violent crimes. Skinner seemed to think that the unit would have a better chance at long time survival if it was embedded in an existing division. Since Diana is already a VC supervisor and worked on the X-Files in the past, Skinner found her to be the natural choice to head the unit."

"Great, Welcome to the X-Files Agent Fowley," Scully responded coolly.

*******************************************

FBI Headquarters
June 22, 1998
8:20 a.m.

Mulder and Scully spent the next hour working in complete silence. Mulder didn't like their new office. It was fine as far as offices went but he found it to be a little sterile looking.

Mulder and Scully had each been given their own desk in a small office that was half the size of his former office. He was glad that they did have a window, which he saw as the only perk of the job.

The office was located in the violent crimes section of the building, most agents were assigned to individual cubicles in a large room, with senior agents sharing offices. He was thankful that if he had to share an office this small, that it was with Scully. He was also grateful that she had a desk, although he did take pleasure in being able to look at her shapely legs whenever he wanted with their former arrangement.

"Scully, what do you really think of Diana being our supervisor?" Mulder asked.

"It's fine," Scully replied as Mulder rolled his eyes.

"Is anything not 'fine' with you?" Mulder asked and then regretted as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Not everything is *fine* with me. However, regarding the matter of our new supervisor, I have no opinion."

"Everyone has an opinion on everything Scully. People have toilet paper preferences for God's sake. This is me you're talking to, you don't have to keep the claws in check. If you hate Diana and want her dead, I would understand it. I'm not going to tell anyone what you say to me in confidence. You should know that. I just want to honestly know what you feel." Mulder looked at her tenderly hoping that she would open up to him. She had been acting very distant ever since they returned from Antarctica. He thought the whole experience had brought them closer together and now she was acting as if the past five years had never occurred.

"Mulder, I'm indifferent about the whole matter. Who the supervisor is does not matter to me, what I find hard to take is the insinuation that we need supervision," Scully replied.

"You sound so clinical about it. I hate Kersh and you know that if I knew that there was no way that my actions could be traced back, I would have the gunmen doctor a picture of him in women's lingerie and post it all over the building." Mulder was particularly proud of this remark because it garnered a raised eyebrow and a partial smile.

"Mulder, I don't hate Diana and I really don't like her either. I guess I'm just neutral on the subject."

"Finally an honest answer from the elusive Agent Scully. Do you want to get some lunch?".

"Mulder it is only 8:30 am, don't you think it is a little early for lunch?"

"It's never too early to eat. We'll make it a brunch. You chose the restaurant."

"Mulder I'm not hungry, besides I have things to do on my lunch hour."

"Like what?"

"Personal things, Mulder."

"Scully, you aren't sick again?" Mulder asked looking worried.

"No Mulder, I'm fine."

"If you are going to the gynecologist, I suppose I could sacrifice some time and go with you to hold your hand."

"I'm sure you would, but that's not where I'm going. You honestly aren't going to take your lunch hour at 9:00 am are you? We've only been working for an hour."

"I need food to fuel my creativity."

"So that's what you call your neurotic obsessive behavior? Creativity?"

"You wound me Scully."

"Mulder, do your work and stop trying to delay the inevitable."

"Yes mom," Mulder replied.

They soon settled into a comfortable silence and continued to work.

*******************************************

FBI Headquarters
June 22, 1998
12:30 pm

At 12:30 pm Diana Fowley walked into their office and asked to speak with Scully privately. Dana followed Diana into her office and noticed that her personnel folder was sitting on Diana's desk.

"Please have a seat Dana. Since I'm now your supervisor I'm required to go over your personnel file with you and your job description. It also gives me a chance to get to know you a little better. I'm sorry that didn't come out right," Diana Fowley said blushing.

"What I meant was that these required reviews give me a chance to get to know all the agents under my charge a little better."

"I understood what you meant Agent Fowley," Dana Scully replied.

"Hmmmmmmm......" Diana kept muttering while looking through her file.

"Everything looks good so far. You have an exemplary record Dana. I didn't know that you went to Stanford and the University of Maryland. And to graduate Magna Cum Laude, none the less. Quite impressive. You also graduated Magna Cum Laude from medical school. You were offered a residency in pediatric surgery at Johns Hopkins which you turned down to join the FBI. We were lucky to get a talent such as yourself, Dana. These files appear to tell a lot about a person on the surface but they wind up creating more questions than answers about the person contained within. Dana, why the FBI and not a lucrative career in surgery?"

"Agent Fow..." Dana started.

"Please call me Diana."

"Okay Diana, I could have had a lucrative career in surgery but I didn't feel that it was the correct career choice for me at the time. I would not have been professionally satisfied with was I was doing."

"Are you professionally satisfied with your career with the FBI? Are you happy here Dana?" Diana asked the younger woman.

"Working for the FBI has challenged me."

"That's not what I asked Dana. Does it make you happy?"

"No," was Dana's simple answer. Diana looked at the agent across from her with concern. Here was a bright agent who had everything going in the world for her but happiness.

"What would it take professionally to make you happy?" Diana asked.

"I'm not miserable by any means Diana..," Scully hesitated. She hadn't ever expressed her dissatisfaction with her job before. Opening up to people was not something that she did well or wanted to do. It made her uncomfortable thinking that this woman sitting across from her, her new supervisor, could see through her so clearly. She would have to build up that wall a little better to keep Diana Fowley out.

"Dana, I want all agents in my change to be happy with their jobs and careers in the FBI. An unhappy agent does not make a good one."

"Diana I didn't mean to give you the impression that I'm unhappy with the FBI or the direction my career has taken. I also didn't know that career counseling was in your job description. I have a lot of work to do getting the X-files reorganized. Are you finished?" Dana looked coldly at her supervisor sitting across from her.

"Dana, I didn't mean to be intrusive or offer you career counseling. I was just trying to understand you a little better. I apologize if you have been offended."

"Apology accepted. Agent Fowley I know that you were not purposely being intrusive, I just feel that some things are no ones business. I'm paid to do a job by the citizens of this country. My job satisfaction has no bearing on this at all. As long as I'm doing my job, as long as I continue to receive superior annual reviews I should be allowed to remain an agent. Never once in my 8 years with the bureau has anyone questioned my happiness or job satisfaction. I find it a little odd that now someone wants to know wether or not I like my job a little circumspect. If you want to question me or offer me advice keep it to my professional life, not my personal. May I be excused? I have work to do," Dana responded to Diana Fowley as she stood up from her chair.

"Yes, you may leave now. I do look forward working with you. I have heard a lot about you. If you ever need anything or just want to talk please don't hesitate to come to me. It is what I'm here for. Please send Agent Mulder in."

As Agent Scully left her office Diana Fowley wondered what the hell she had gotten herself into by agreeing to head the X-Files supervision. Working with Fox Mulder was one thing but his partner Dana Scully was going to be a whole other ball game. Who made Dana Scully so distrusting and paranoid? Surely working with Fox hadn't done that.

*******************************************

FBI Headquarters
June 22, 1998
1:00 p.m.

Dana walked down the short corridor to her office. Mulder was sitting at his desk looking through case files. He looked up when he noticed Dana Scully standing before him.

"Agent Fowley would like to meet with you now, Mulder."

"How did your meeting go with the boss?" Mulder asked.

"It went fine." Fine, there was that word again. The one word in the English language he despised. He knew that she was an intelligent woman and he thought many a time that she could come up with a better acronym to describe how she felt. He was thinking that for Christmas he would get her the book '1000 Synonyms For Fine'.

"Would you care to elaborate on that a little more?"

"I don't trust her Mulder. The questions she asked were less than appropriate. She was essentially on a fishing expedition and I wasn't going to let her hook me," Scully said as she sat down behind her desk.

"What kinds of things did she ask you?"

"You'll see for yourself now Mulder. It's your turn. She wants you in her office right now."

"I'm scared. Can't you see the fear in my eyes and the tremble of my hands? I'll be back in a few. Do you still want to go to lunch when I'm through?"

"I'm not really hungry, Mulder."

"Suit yourself. I for one am starving."

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FBI Headquarters
June 22, 1998
1:15 pm

"Good afternoon Fox. Did Dana explain what the purpose of this meeting was?" Diana Fowley said to Fox Mulder as he sat down in the chair across from her desk.

"No. She just said that you wanted to meet with me," He said calmly remembering what Dana truly said about the purpose of the meeting.

"Yes, I'm meeting with all the agents under my charge going over job responsibilities and their personnel files hoping to understand the people that work under me better. Since I already know you well that's not necessary."

"Then why the meeting?" Mulder asked while reclining in his chair.

"It's imperative that I treat all agents the same. If I meet with one, I meet with all."

"That's fair," Mulder responded. "So what do you suppose we talk about. This is supposed to take an hour isn't it?"

"Fox, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"You can ask anything that you want. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to answer it," He said while reclining further and putting his feet up on her desk.

"Go ahead and make yourself comfortable, Fox."

"Go ahead and ask your question, Diana," Fox Mulder replied.

"Okay. Have you told Dana about our relationship?"

"No, why would I?" Mulder responded flabbergasted.

"Well, you've been partners with her for the 5 years and from rumors that I've heard it seems that you both are a little more than just friends. I have heard everything from you two having sex in the mens restroom to you taking her over your desk down in the basement office."

"Why Diana, you sound jealous."

"No, no, no," Diana stammered, "Okay, maybe I am."

"Diana there is no Scully and I. We lead separate lives outside of the bureau. I don't see her socially. We've never had and never will have a relationship. Why am I even telling you this?"

"Because you always did have a soft spot for your ex-wife."

"True. God, this is so weird talking to you about another woman."

"If she were just another woman I don't think you would have a problem talking to me about her."

"Okay, she's not just another woman. She's my partner and best friend. I honestly love working with her. She challenges me. She's one of the smartest people that I have ever known. But this is weird talking to you now about her because you are also our direct supervisor. How the hell did you manage to pull that one off? They don't usually let spouses or former spouses for that matter supervise or work with one another."

"Well since the marriage was annulled, officially there was no relationship."

"I hadn't thought about that. Did you want to come and supervise me or did they place you here?" He asked.

"Contrary to what you may believe Fox, I wanted to come here. I didn't seek out the position, but when it was offered to me I didn't turn it down. I missed you these few years that I was away. I always wondered what was going on in your life and if there was a special lady."

"Oh God, Diana, please tell me that you aren't going to ask about my sex life?"

"Foxy, you know that I'm curious and since you did bring it up -is there a special someone in your life?" Diana Fowley asked.

He rolled his eyes at her question. The way that she asked it reminded him of his mother. "I'm dating my job, I don't have time for personal relationships, Diana."

"Could the reason you are so involved with your job involve one Dana Scully?"

"Scully?"

"Yes Dana Scully. Why do you call her by her last name? Dana is such a beautiful name."

"Out of habit I guess. At first I called her Scully to distance myself from her because I didn't like her and thought she was a spy. By the time I realized that she wasn't a spy I was so used to calling her Scully, that it was too late to change and start calling her Dana."

"Nice avoidance of trying to answer my question Fox. Is she the reason why you don't date anymore?"

"You really get to the point, don't you Diana? Yes. She's the reason I don't date anymore. Now are you happy?"

"Finally some honesty here. Inquiring minds want to know more. What exactly are your feelings for her Foxy?"

"I don't know why I put up with you sometimes. You are the only person in the world that could get away with calling me Fox or Foxy for that matter. You're so lucky that you are my ex-wife."

"I would prefer to be know as your best and oldest friend in the world."

"Why don't you want to be associated as being my ex-wife Diana," Mulder responded acting hurt.

"Gee, could it be that the wife title connotes an understanding that I have performed my marital duties, if you get my drift."

"Don't act like the thought of sleeping with me disgusts you Diana," Fox teased back.

"As cute as your little ass is Fox, you simply weren't my type. Now back to my original question. What are your feelings for Dana?"

"Why, if I'm not interested are you going to go for her?" Mulder asked half jokingly.

"Maybe."

"What?" Fox asked incredulously.

"You heard what I said," Diana responded coyly.

"You aren't serious Diana, are you?"

"I'm totally serious, Fox. There's something about Dana that find extremely attractive."

"Diana, Dana isn't a lesbian."

"How do you know? Did this come up in conversation before between the two of you."

"Well no. But I just know that she couldn't be."

"Mulder, you can't just look at someone and know that they're gay."

"I knew that you were Diana."

"You did not. I had to tell you."

"I had a feeling like you might be, but I thought it would've been rude to ask you."

"You are such a liar, Fox. You were totally floored when I told you that I was gay."

"Well you didn't chose the best time to tell me Diana. Waiting until a man is drunk, barely standing, naked, and ready to perform isn't an opportune time to inform him of his partners sexual preference. Any man in my situation would have felt the same thing. You had several, no make that months, to tell me before things went that far."

"Fox...." Before Diana finished her sentence they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," Diana replied.

Dana Scully walked into the room "I'm sorry for interrupting your meeting, but I've been called down to do a priority autopsy and just wanted to let you know before I left."

"Are you going to come back after you're done?" Fox Mulder asked.

"I don't know at this time. It all depends on how long it takes me."

"Well I'll see you tomorrow then Scully."

"Bye Mulder."

Diana Fowley observed their interaction from behind her desk. When Dana closed the door behind her Diana whistled. "If you don't want her please let me know soon Fox, because I wouldn't mind getting to know her better."

"Oh god, why do these things have to happen to me? My ex-wife has a crush on my partner."

"How can you not be affected by her Fox. She's brilliant, opinionated, passionate about her work and not afraid to tell me where to shove my questioning."

"Not to mention that body," Mulder interjected.

"Exactly how well do you know that body Mulder? Have you seen her naked?"

"God, you always get right to the point don't you Diana?"

"You know me Fox, if I want to know something I'll ask it. Besides as close as we were before, you know that you can't keep a secret from me. All those women you dated while we were married, you always described them to me in detail after the dates and didn't seem apprehensive about it. Why now?"

"You know why. Those women didn't mean anything to me. I told you about them because you asked about them. With Scully it's different. I feel like if I get into a discussion about her bra size with you, it somewhat cheapens her."

"Cheapens her? I don't understand Fox," Diana replied.

"Maybe that wasn't the best choice of words. I guess it somehow reduces my feelings for her to mere sexual lusting, which mind you is accurate, but what I feel for her is so far beyond that."

"Sounds like love to me Fox."

"I don't know if I would call it love. Listen, can we keep this between ourselves? I don't want Dana to know how I feel. It might make her uncomfortable because she doesn't share these same feelings with me."

"Okay, that's fair. When did your feelings for her begin to change?"

"I really can't pinpoint it. We've always been just really good friends. We would hang out together on weekends, debate political ideologies, watch movies and run together. Over time she started occupying more and more of my free time. I didn't mind because she was my best friend. I could totally be myself around her, something I have only had with one other woman, which happens to be you. One day I just woke up and noticed that I saw her in a different light. She was still my best friend Scully, but she was also something more to me. It is really hard to explain this. I don't know when or how it happened or what she or I did to make it happen, but I do care more for her than just a friendly type of care."

"That was brutally honest Fox. You know that I'm here if you ever need to talk about Dana Scully or any other woman for that matter. Our hour is just about up. Get back to work Agent Mulder," Diana told Fox as she tried to sound like an authoritarian.

Mulder rose from his seat he embraced Diana tightly and whispered in her ear, "I'm glad you are here Diana. I really missed you."

-end-

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House of Cards - Chapter 2
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FBI Headquarters
July 23, 1998
10:48 a.m.

Fox Mulder was perplexed by his partners lack of interest in anything these day. She seemed to be distancing herself from him.

<Like you could tell in the first place> he thought to himself.

Ever since their little adventure in Antarctica he thought that they were closer than ever and he was finally going to get his chance with her. He cared very deeply for her, but he knew that it wasn't love. He didn't feel that he knew her well enough to love her, but yet in a way he did know her. How could he love her when he didn't know basic things about her like what her favorite color is, what animals she had as a child, etc. But yet in another sense he knew deeply personal things about her like what she feared most. When did his life become so complicated? Why couldn't he have normal relationships like most people. Why couldn't he have a normal functioning family? Why was his job so damned difficult? Why was the only woman in his life a five foot two inch pistol packing FBI babe who seemed to be devoid of emotion? He needed to change things and quick. He sure wasn't getting any younger, but the question was how? How was he going to change things? What did he want out of life? What did he want people to remember him for when he died? A paranoid man with no friends? He decided the best thing for him to do when he was in this kind of mood was to take a jog.

Since Dana Scully wasn't in the office this morning he didn't have to worry about changing in the men's restroom. He quickly put on a pair of black running shorts, a white tank top, a pair of white socks, and his running shoes and headed out the door.

Dana came back from her meeting at Quantico and was surprised to find an empty office. No note or anything explaining his absence. She decided that there was a lot of paperwork for her to catch up on. Minutes later she was interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

"Come in." she replied.

Agent Fowley slowly opened the door and entered the room, "Dana, I just got notice today that you and Fox are scheduled for annual physical training next week at Quantico. This year they aren't allowing participants the option of staying in local hotels or commuting. All field agents are to stay in the dormitories at Quantico for the first night and the remainder of the time will be spent in field training. You are to report there tonight at 12 am."

"Field training?" Dana asked.

"A nice word they have come up with for roughing it in the wild."

Dana thought for a minute before responding. "Why the change in protocol?"

"I was informed of the field training this morning in a meeting of Division heads. It seems that the training is warranted due to several incidents in the past six months of field agents not being able to survive in the field for more than two days at a time. It has been decided that all agents in the next year will need to re-qualify on their weapons, physical fitness skills, and outdoor survival skills. The complete training will last two weeks. Since you and Fox don't have any open cases, now would be the opportune time to do it. Think of this as a little camping trip."

"Does Mulder know?"

"I informed him earlier this morning when he came in. Why don't you take an early lunch and the rest of the afternoon off to pack."

"I think I will Agent Fowley."

"See you in two weeks, Dana. Just so you know, they are grading each participant and it will be part of your file. This is being done to discourage agents who don't realize the seriousness of this training. I'm sure that you will do fine and make this division proud."

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Later that evening
Apartment of Dana Scully
8:59 p.m.

Dana was trying to figure out what to pack when she heard a knock on the door. She went over to answer it without even looking in the peep hole, knowing that it had to be Mulder.

"Evening Scully, almost packed for our little trip into the forest, part two?'

"Very funny Mulder, and no. I hate these things. I don't like the short notice. I don't like not knowing what we're going to be doing, and most of all I don't like camping in the woods."

"Scully, it's not camping, it's survival training. Think of the adventure."

"Mulder, if I wanted adventure or survival training I would have joined the Navy."

"I'm really surprised that you don't like camping Scully. All these years I thought you were my model for nature woman."

"Think again, Mulder. I'm the model for modern convenience woman. I don't despise camping, I'd just rather have a warm bed, running water and air conditioning."

"Scully, say no more. You are ruining a long running fantasy I've had about you."

"Very funny, Mulder. Are you finished packing?" Dana Scully said as she swatted Mulder on the arm.

"Finished hours ago. I, for one, am looking forward to this little trip into the woods."

"At least one of us is. I still find it suspicious that they send the two of us there in the middle of a heat wave and give us a 10 hour notice. This reeks of a conspiracy."

"That's my line Scully, get your own. It won't be that bad. Two weeks of hell and then we get another year on easy street."

"Easy street? What are you high? You consider the constant threats to our lives and health, easy street. I think you need to get a new version of reality Mulder."

"Scully, shut up and pack or we'll be late."

"It's not like we are going to miss out on the best hotel room Mulder, they are making us sleep outside where it is hot and sweaty."

"Hot and sweaty, oh another fantasy about you is coming back."

"Mulder," Scully said while giving him the look that he had better keep his thoughts to himself or face grave bodily injury.

Mulder took the warning and chose to remain quiet while Scully finished packing her clothes. Mulder entertained her with camping stories of his youth. By 10 p.m. they were all packed in her car and off to Quantico.

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Quantico, Virginia
July 25, 1998
3 am

Dana Scully woke up to find her sleeping bag soaking wet. She looked around the tent to find the source of the water when she realized that it was pouring rain outside and what she thought was the sound of wind was actually the patter rain beating down on the sides of her tent. <Shit> She thought to herself wondering what time it was. A quick check of her watch revealed that it was 3:00 am. She knew that she didn't have to be ready until 7 am for the morning exercises but decided to get a head start. She quickly changed into her dry clothes, glad that she had spent the extra money and gotten an water proof knapsack. She wondered if Mulder was soaking wet in his tent.

Upon exiting the tent she found that the world was in a quiet slumber around her. She heard Mulder stirring in his sleep and quietly tiptoed around his tent to the clearing in the woods where the foot trail began. 5 miles later she felt exhilarated from her run and slightly sweaty. She knew that there was nothing that could be done about the wet conditions, for they were officially roughing it, which meant no showers for the week. Scully was glad that she brought her dry shampoo or else by the end of the week she would have looked positively awful, as if she didn't at that moment. Approaching the clearing where the tents located, she quietly tiptoed around the other tents toward hers. As she unzipped her tent she heard someone behind her. She turned to see that it was Mulder who was holding his index finger up to his lips to let her know not to speak. He motioned for her to follow him to the clearing in the woods were the trail was.

Once they reached the clearing he grabbed her arm to pull her closer to him so that he could talk to her without arousing attention.

"Scully. What the hell do you think you are doing at this time of the morning?" he asked harshly.

"I woke up to a wet bed and decided to go for a run to warm myself up."

"What did you wet the bed?"

"Very funny Mulder. No the monsoon left my tent in about 6 inches of water."

"We have physical training in a few hours Scully. You obviously look like you just ran quite a distance. How are you going to manage to complete the training without looking so exhausted that they wonder if you are capable for the job. You know that we're being graded on our performance."

"No Mulder, we're being evaluated separately. Don't worry I'm not going to ruin your perfect score. I'm going to do it like I normally do Mulder. This isn't an issue, stop trying to make it out to be. I went for a little jog. There was no harm done. I will be able to do my exercises and pass them without one person looking at me wondering what is wrong."

"If you say so. How was the trail at this time of the morning?" He asked changing the subject.

"It was fine Mulder. Nice and peaceful. Not too muddy."

Mulder and Scully sat down on a log in silence and watched the sun rise. About 10 minutes before the wake up bell they climbed back into their own tents so as to not arouse suspicion as to why two members of the opposite sex were out of their tents together.

*******************************************

Quantico, Virginia
July 25, 1998
7:30 am

The three mile jog was nothing, Scully thought as she mindlessly ran. I could go another 20 miles, she thought. Mulder ran beside her in silence wondering exactly how long of a jog she took this morning.

<Couldn't have been that long or else she would have been dragging,> Mulder thought.

He focused on the trees ahead wondering how old they were and if they contained any of the green larvae they founds in the trees in the pacific northwest. When they reached the end of the trail they were divided into teams of two for problem solving exercises.

Mulder remembered the warning that Diana gave him that they were being evaluated on all the exercises. Everyone received individual and team ratings on how well they had done and that information went into the employee's personnel file. Those that didn't take the training seriously often found themselves reprimanded. Mulder was secretly glad that he had been paired with Scully. He knew that she would take everything they did quite seriously and give it 100 percent. He didn't expect anything less from Miss Magna Cum Laude.

During the afternoon session they had firearm practice, and some classroom training on outdoor survival skills. Mulder knew that at the end of the week they would be dropped off in some location to find some suspect within a given amount of time. They had to use the skills they learned in the training sessions and their physical prowess to find the UNSUB. This exercise was the only reason that Mulder wanted to go to the training other than the fact that it was required and Diana and Skinner had ordered them to go. He found all the physical exercises and tests mundane, but playing in the woods was fun.

Mulder also hoped to use this training as a chance to get a little closer to Scully and find out what was going on in that red head of hers. She had been distant since they arrived at Quantico and he wanted to know why. He hoped that he wasn't the reason for her silence. He thought it was ironic that to most outsiders they seemed to have the perfect partnership, but that could not be further from the truth. Partners have open communication and share themselves. All Scully did was shut herself off emotionally and erect walls that he didn't think anyone was capable of climbing over.

*******************************************

Quantico, Virginia
July 27, 1998

For the next few days Mulder and Scully settled into a comfortable routine. Morning physical fitness training, firearms practice, lunch and afternoon survival skills practice followed by more physical fitness training. Mulder was secretly glad that he and Scully jogged together on a daily basis or else he would have been in big trouble. Several agents had already succumbed and had to be taken to the infirmary due to heat exhaustion. Mulder thought that they were being nice calling it heat exhaustion. He thought it was more like fat ass disease.

For all the meals they were given Meals Ready to Eat (MRE's) and water to drink. Scully would always pick through her MRE claiming that it was disgusting and that she was going to go for a walk. With all this exercise they were getting, Mulder was constantly hungry and eagerly ate whatever she didn't want. For this particular lunch she only ate a bit of the fruit salad and gave him the rest. She told him that she wanted to go for a walk to get away from the rest of the agents who were eating lunch around them. He saw her jog up to the start of the trail system and then disappear behind some trees. What he didn't realize was that she went running again. She kept a close eye on her watch so that she would be back in time for the firearm training.

At the firing range she effortlessly hit one shot after another. Mulder stood beside her amazed at her skill. Several other agents stopped to watch were wondering where she learned to shoot. To him Scully looked like she was staring off into the horizon shooting her gun. In reality Scully just numbly held her gun and fired. She saw the target in her mind and it wasn't a bulls-eye, it was the men that took her and did tests on her in the arctic. She hadn't told Mulder what had happened and that she remembered them and their "tests". Tests that they said were necessary to do, tests that would somehow help the human race. She didn't care about the human race at the time. All she cared about was saving herself from the pain and the embarrassment of what they were doing to her. Most of all she had wished that Mulder would find her and take her away from the awful place. When she ran, she was running away from them, from what they did to her, from what they took away from her. When Dana ran she felt that it was the only time that she had control over her life. For her not to run, was for her to die.

Running was her life. She needed to run. She had to run. To live. She knew that Mulder would not have been able to understand her or her needs at this point in time. When she looked at him she saw him and Diana Fowley. She didn't know why it bothered her so much that they were lovers in the past.

<It bothers me because I love him, > She thought to herself.

<But he doesn't feel the same way about me and never will. To him I'm just a substitute for his sister. He'll never see me as anything more than his faithful sidekick.>

<I'm not going to let him or anyone else hurt me again. I don't care if they think that I'm cold or a bitch. Let them say what they want. They'll never take my dignity or self respect away again.>

Somehow Mulder managed to get included in the group of people and emotions Scully wanted to shut herself off from.

There, she admitted it to herself but was unwilling to go any further in her self-analysis.

The next few days went by in silence for Mulder and Scully. Scully ran during all her free time and Mulder chose to relax and catch up on some reading. He was somewhat dismayed to find that she wanted little to do with him during the training. Sure she talked to him when necessary and gave everything to the training, but he still couldn't get over the fact that their friendship was breaking up in front of his eyes. Thursday morning they were to pick one person from each team to run a 10 km marathon with gear strapped to their back.

Mulder knew that he could probably do it but that it would be hard. Scully volunteered to go for their team and Mulder accepted. Bonus points were to be given by the team that finished first. Mulder really wanted those bonus points because they added up to extra time off with pay and allowed them more time to find the UNSUB in the woods.

Mulder walked Scully down to the starting line. There were about 25 other men competing with Scully. She was the only woman although about 25% of the field training participants were women. Scully started the race at the back of the pack. Mulder thought she looked quite sexy in her FBI T-shirt and shorts. They were a little big on her but Mulder knew that she was wearing the smallest size possible.

Mulder heard the gunfire and saw the racers take off and Scully start to run. They were quickly out of his view and he knew that it would be awhile before they would be back. He decided to take the time and get some pistol practice in since he would be representing their team later on that day. He knew that he was not nearly as good as shot as Scully was and wondered why she volunteered to do the running part instead of the firearms.

He assumed that it had to be because she knew that she would win the firearms competition hands down and needed a challenge. That was his Scully, always having to prove that she was the best.

Coming around the bushes Scully was in a trance like state as she followed the runners ahead of her. She heard people breathing heavily around her but didn't feel a thing. All she felt was numbness. She felt nothing.

<Is this what my life has been reduced to? > She thought.

She decided to pass a couple people as she ran and ran.

Mulder fired his gun at the target repeatedly. He found that it helped to think of the cigarette smoking man as he kept aim on the target. His accuracy rate was getting much better. Not as good as Scully's, but still an improvement.

He heard a commotion and knew that one of the runners was rumored to be close to finishing. He looked at his watched and calculated that the person must be doing a 5 minute mile, almost unheard of. He went with the rest of the agents down to the finish line in time to see none other than Dana Scully cross the line. Mulder thought at first that he wasn't seeing straight. His Scully finishing in that good of time? She received pats on the back and words of congratulations from all the agents. One of the trainers announced that she had broken the trail record by 4 minutes. She just shrugged her shoulders as if this were a common occurrence. Mulder just stared at her in amazement. When had she learned to run that fast. He was dismayed to realize that on their daily jogs she must have been holding back for him.

Mulder and Scully stayed as the other runners started coming in. Scully wouldn't leave until the last man passed the finish line and she offered him a word of congratulations for finishing. Eight men ended up not being able to finish. Not finishing was certainly a black mark in the personnel file. He knew that there were going to be 16 pissed off men that night, not only the ones that didn't finish but their partners as well. He was glad that he was paired with Miss Over Achiever.

They ate dinner that night in silence. Scully didn't have much to say to Mulder other than ask him how the pistol practice went. Mulder was too amazed by his partner who continued to astonish him daily to be much of a conversationalist.

*******************************************

Monongahela National Forest
July 30, 1998
7:30 am

Dana Scully and Fox Mulder were dropped off in the middle of Monongahela National Forest with a team of 6 other FBI agents. It was up to the team to agree on where to sleep, where to look and how to apprehend the suspect.

The FBI academy instructors had divided all the agents up into teams of six and dropped them all off in different parts of the forest. They were all the same distance from the UNSUB and all had an equal chance of finding him or her. The group that apprehended the suspect first got to sleep in the dormitories for the remainder of the training. The rest of the groups had to sleep in the tents and were subject to more physical exercise. There would only be one team that won.

Mulder's team, referred to as Team Alpha, was given one road map of the area and little more. Each agent was given a flashlight, unloaded weapon, compass and the clothing on their backs. They were told to be ready for all the elements and this exercise was designed to simulate the conditions upon which other agents found themselves unprepared. This was a test to see if they could find and apprehend a subject under rough conditions. They were given two days to find and apprehend the suspect.

They were dropped off on the main road leading to the park. Due to Scully winning the running competition and Mulder coming in third on the firearm competition, they were the agents in charge on Team Alpha. Mulder decided to let a cocky agent named Samuelson lead the group while Mulder and Scully lagged behind the rest of the group. Mulder was bored and tired from all the exercise and lack of sleep. He was looking forward to this little excursion but now only wanted to take a bath and have a nice long nap on his couch.

"At least at Quantico they gave us a tent and food," Mulder mumbled to Scully.

"But as I clearly recalled, you seldom slept in yours anyway Mulder," Scully said teasing him. She had heard him leave his tent in the middle of the night several times during basic training. She assumed that due to the length of his absence, and the rumors circulating, that he was paying a nightly visit to Natasha, an attractive blond that was a profiler in the VCS for the past 6 years. She liked Natasha and got a long well with her.

"And what are you insinuating, Agent Scully?" Mulder asked.

"Nothing. Just making an observation," Scully replied.

"Scully, how the hell did you manage to run that fast?"

"Mulder you sound surprised."

"I guess that I am," Mulder replied.

"Why because I'm a woman?" Scully asked sounding irritated.

"No, it has nothing to do with the fact that you are woman. Okay maybe it does. If a man cannot finish in that time, a man that's larger with longer legs, mind you, I don't see how you could."

"Maybe you'll never know Mulder."

"With the time that you made on that course you should be competing in the Olympics Scully, not working for the FBI," Mulder said sincerely.

"How do you know that I'm not training for the Olympics. I always wanted to see Sydney."

"You're training for the Olympics Scully? When do you find the time?" Mulder asked not sure of she was telling the truth or not. She had hidden so much of her private life from him that he did not find the idea of her training for the Olympics inconceivable.

"Calm down Mulder. I didn't say that I was training. I just thought it was rude for you to assume that because I'm a woman I wouldn't be able to run as fast as a man would. I find your caveman attitude less than endearing."

"It's not that you're a woman, it's just that you are short."

"Mulder, I cannot believe you just said that. Height doesn't matter in speed. What matters is the amount of fast twitch muscle fibers that you have. The more that you have, the faster oxygen goes to then, the faster that you run. It all has to do with genetics. Blame my parents."

"I think I just got very turned on," Mulder said as Scully swatted him on the arm.

"Hey Mulder and Scully, we need to formulate a plan for getting the perp," Samuelson called to them interrupting their conversation. They made their way to the rest of the group.

-END-

*******************************************
House of Cards - Chapter 3
*******************************************

Monongahela National Forest
July 30, 1998
Later in the day

Mulder decided that they needed to work up a profile on the perp before they went off in search of him. Samuelson was treating this whole activity as if it were nothing more than a game of hide and seek. Samuelson was annoyed that he was on a team with Spooky Mulder. He felt that they were being slowed down. The rest of the team quickly agreed with Bob Samuelson.

"Look Mulder. You have a half hour to inform the group of where you think he's hiding before the rest of the team does it my way and we go looking for him. You are wasting precious time. There are 9 other teams out there looking for him. I'm not going to lose this game."

"Samuelson, you know it isn't as simple as a game of hide and seek. The UNSUB isn't going to be sitting in a chair in the middle of the forest waiting to see who can run to him the fastest. He's hiding and the only way we're going to discover the hiding place is by working up a profile. I cannot do a good profile in 30 minutes. If you all want to leave, fine. Don't let me stop you. However, you aren't going to find him your way."

Mulder's last comment really pissed off the rest of the group. They were tired of his cocky attitude and his partners aloofness and decided as a group to go off on their own. Bob Samuelson decided to be the spokesman for the group. "Look this isn't working out. You obviously have your own weird ways of doing things in the X-Files. We're wasting valuable daylight sitting out here waiting for you to have a divine inspiration. We'll make a clean break. We go our way and you go yours."

"Fine, if that's the way you want it." Mulder responded coldly watching the four agents go off into the woods together. He was surprised that Scully had not said a thing during the whole altercation with Samuelson.

"Cat got your tongue Scully?" he asked.

"Mulder, what's the point in saying anything? It was obvious that there was a difference in philosophies. I really couldn't stand Bob Samuelson in the first place. He's a moron who isn't taking this exercise seriously. We're better off without them," Scully said giving Mulder her support.

"Thanks Scully. I'm glad to know that at least someone likes me and doesn't think that I'm crazy."

"Mulder, you know that working up a profile is the only way we are going to find him or her. The academy instructors aren't going to have him sitting in a chair in the middle of the forest as you so aptly put it. They're going to make sure that the suspect is so well hidden we could walk on top of him and not know it. We have a lot of work to do tonight on the profile. How about we set off on catching him tomorrow morning after we've gotten a good nights sleep. My bones are tired and need some rest."

"I'm surprised that super agent Scully needs rest. I thought you were my wonder woman."

"Even wonder woman needed her rest Mulder," Scully retorted.

"Point taken. How about we find ourselves some leaves to make a little nest out of tonight."

"Sounds like a plan G-Man."

They spent the next half-hour gathering brush and other debris to keep them warm during the night. A quick check of the compass on Scully's jacket showed that the temperature had dropped to 40 degrees and they had no tents or sleeping bags with them. Once they were comfortable they set out to work on a profile, "Scully have you noticed how similar the profile is to Eric Rudolph?" Mulder asked.

"The abortion bombing suspect?" she asked.

"The one and only. Look here at what information they have given us. Person is accused of bombing several abortion clinics. They don't know if it was a group effort. No notes sent claiming responsibility. All bombs were manufactured the same way indicating it is the same individual responsible. Bomb materials show an increase in violence. Hello, this smells to be Eric Rudolph to me."

"Smells like?" Scully asked.

"You know what I mean Scully. This doesn't smell good. So what do we know about the bomb suspect Scully," Mulder asked steering her back to the profile.

"Well looking at this material, I would have to say that it's the work of one man, not a group. The sophistication of the bombs and the increase in violence seem to indicate that this individual is somewhat intelligent and is growing more angry. He's obviously some type of pro-life militant. He refuses to see woman as equal. The fact that a woman should have a choice to do what she wants with her own body is lost on this sick individual. I'd say he was probably a conservative right wing republican," Scully said agitated as she was waving her arms around.

"Pro-life militant Scully? I'm surprised to find out that you're pro-choice. I always pegged you as a pro-lifer."

"Why, because I wear a cross? Just because I'm Catholic does not mean that I blindly follow the teachings of the church. I'm at odds with them over several issues, pro-choice being one of them."

"Stop Scully, you are ruining another fantasy that I have had of you."

"Which one. The one where I'm the obedient little Catholic who follows all the teachings of the church including the one where the man is the head of the household and woman's job is to stay home and procreate, obeying her man," Scully said.

"No, that wasn't it, but you've given me a new one. Thanks."

"Anything to help, Mulder."

"So Scully, if you ever got pregnant would you have an abortion?" Mulder asked her not quite believing that he had the nerve to ask her that.

"Mulder, I can't believe that you would ask me that after Emily. Don't you realize that I would do anything to have the ability to have a child?" She said as tears slowly formed in her eyes.

Mulder realized the implication of what he'd said and gave himself a mental kick in the ass. He gathered Scully in his arms as the tears trickled down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry Scully. I didn't mean to be insensitive. Please forgive me."

"You're forgiven," Scully responded as she leaned into his embrace.

After a few minutes of him holding her and enjoying the feel of how well she fit against him she made an effort to disentangle herself from his embrace. They still had a lot of work to do. The spent the next hour going over the profile and plan of where they thought the suspect might be.

"Scully, what do you say we call it a night?" He said as he lay down in the bed of leaves and gestured for her to join him.

"Okay. But let me make this very clear that I'm none to pleased to be sleeping in a bed of leaves where several thousand of species make their home."

"Don't even try to give me the girly girl act Scully. I have seen you eat a cricket, which mind you was one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen you do."

"Don't even start on disgusting behavior Mulder, you're the king."

"I'm a man, it is to be expected of me to act in a manly man sort of way. The whole crotch grabbing, burping and farting antics come with manhood. You however are a lady and are supposed to act accordingly."

"Okay, if you want to be manly man taking care of his girly girl, why the hell am I sleeping on the floor of a forest. Surely you could have rented a hotel room."

"Hey, a man only rents a lady a hotel room when he knows that he is going to get lucky."

"Whose to say that I wouldn't have put out for you tonight Mulder. But I don't see a hotel room anywhere around here so I guess we will never know." Scully then turned her back from Mulder and pulled more leaves over her to keep her warm. Mulder just stared at her with his mouth open not quite believing that she said what he thought she said.

*******************************************

Monongahela National Forest
July 31, 1998
4:00 am

"Wake up Scully. I know where he is," Mulder whispered to Scully while slowly shaking her upper torso.

"No. Sleep Scully," She responded.

"Wake up. Hurry, we've to get to him before the rest of the groups find him." Mulder continued to shake Scully lightly,

"Scully wants to sleep. Scully is tired. Leave Scully alone."

"Scully is going to lose and have to sleep out in a tent for the rest of the week unless she gets her lazy ass up off the forest floor."

"Okay. Scully is getting up." Mulder was amazed at the speed to which she woke herself up out of the deep slumber and was mentally ready to go. He wasn't sure which remark got to her, the remark about finishing last or having to sleep in a tent again.

"Okay Mulder. You woke me up, now tell me where he is so that I can go back to sleep."

"I've been studying this map," Mulder started before Scully interrupted him.

"You've been studying the map? It is 4 am! Why weren't you sleeping?" She asked.

"I was cold and couldn't sleep with all the tree roots poking into my back."

"I had the same problem but you didn't see me up working in the middle of the night."

"Well maybe some of us are more dedicated to the partnership and the goals than others."

"Whatever," Scully replied.

"I think that he's hiding along the river. Somewhere. If you look on the map here this area over here where Samuelson and Team Alpha were headed, there is a large clearing that extends for miles. No suspect is going to make himself a sitting duck out in a field like that. Where is a suspect who we know to be smart and resourceful going to hide? Somewhere were there is food to eat -berries and edible plants which could be in the meadow. But notice that the meadow has no visible sources of water around, and unless he's skilled in drilling for his own ground water and has the tools with him I don't think that he would be there. The most logical place for him to hide is along water. It also makes for an easier getaway if he's spotted."

"Mulder. That all makes sense. Furthermore if you look where the water is located it is an equal distance from all entrances to the park which means that all teams would have an equal chance of nabbing him. But, due to the fact that the water runs parallel to several roads in the area which lead to towns, it would make sense that no one would think he would be so naive as to hide out in plain site."

"I love the way your mind works G-Woman. Problem is which way do we head?"

"Do you think we can narrow down his location a little more?" Scully asked Mulder.

"I suppose so, but in the meantime we should be heading toward the water. Maybe when I see what the area looks like a little more I'll get an idea of where he can be hiding."

"Okay, but I really want to sleep in a bed tonight. The idea of wandering blindly through a forest for another day isn't my idea of fun."

"This comes from the woman who reads the American Journal of Medicine for fun? Like you are trustworthy in the fun department."

"You don't think I know how to have fun?" Scully asked Mulder as they continued to walk through the forest.

"No, I think that you think you are having fun, but whether or not what you are doing is what the rest of the population would consider fun is a whole other question."

"Just because I don't engage in juvenile antics doesn't mean that I don't know how to have a good time."

"Okay what do you do to have fun?"

"Well I do go out with my friends."

"And which friends would these be? Claire and Blake?" Blake and Claire where somewhat of a mystery to Mulder. He knew that she went regularly on vacation with them, but she never talked about them other than mentioning when she was doing something with one of them. He assumed that they were friends of hers from medical school.

"Yes, Claire and Blake."

"Scully you go to poetry readings with Claire and Blake is gay."

"So. Are you implying that because Blake is gay that he and I don't know how to have fun. I really never pegged you as homophobic before Mulder."

"Believe me I probably have the most open mind in the universe. Trust me. I have personal experience in this department."

"What you have a friend that's gay?"

"You could say that Scully."

"Is this anyone that I know. I know all your friends and none of them is gay to my knowledge. Who is it?"

"I plead the fifth."

"So, I do know this person? Who is it?" She was really curious now.

"Scully, I can't betray a confidence and tell you. I'm sorry."

"Okay. If you aren't going to tell, your best friend whom you know would never betray your confidence, then I'm just going to have to guess."

"Guess all you want Scully. I'm not going to tell you."

"Okay, lets start with the gunmen. It can't be Frohicke or Byers because he's married. Maybe Langly? No he doesn't look the part. But he could be. I've never heard him talk about any women or men for that matter. Is it Langly? You'd better tell me or the next time I'm over there I'm going to tell Langly that you told me that he's gay."

"You wouldn't Scully. Then again with that temper of yours you probably would. No, Langly to my knowledge isn't gay. If he is he hasn't told me about it."

"So if it isn't the gunmen that leaves Allan Shepard, Walter Skinner, Tom Morgan, Brad Pittmam, and Hank Siebsma."

"Why do you automatically assume that it has to be a guy?"

"It's a woman?"

"No, I didn't say that. I just found it was curious that you didn't mention any females on the list somehow implying that if a person was gay they had to be a male."

"It *is* a female. I can see it on your face Mulder."

"Can't we just drop this discussion Scully?"

"No, I want to know which person that I know is gay."

"Does it matter that they're gay Scully. Would you honestly feel any different about them if you knew their sexual orientation?"

"As much as I would like to say no, it does matter to me if they are female."

"Why? Are you worried that they're going to come onto you?"

"Well, yes."

"Sometimes you are so shallow, Scully. Does every man you meet try to get you into bed besides my circle of friends?"

"Well, no."

"Then why would you assume that every gay woman that you meet would want to have sex with you?"

"I know that it isn't rational, maybe it goes back to my upbringing. Somehow being a man and gay is acceptable. I don't know Mulder. It's hard to explain."

"Try explaining it to me. Does it somehow relate to you being a women attracted to men. You see men as exquisite sexual creatures and the joining of two men as beautiful, but the joining of two women as somehow disgusting."

"That's it exactly Mulder. I know that I shouldn't feel any different as to who the gay person is. But lesbians and bi-sexual females do bother me. So whose the lesbian?"

"You know that I'm not going to tell you. You would act different around the person which not only is wrong, but the person would know that I told you."

"Well that narrows it down. It has to be someone I'm around a lot. I can eliminate Kimberly, Holly and Mary due to the fact that they are married to men. That leaves Diana, Shawn, Rebecca, Tracy and Rose. It can't be Diana due to her well-known history with men. The rest of the group are all regular daters. I give up. I must be forgetting someone."

Mulder was glad that she had dropped the topic for the time being. He wanted to ask her about what rumors he had heard about Diana's past history with men but didn't want to arouse her suspicion.

*******************************************

Monongahela National Forest
July 31, 1998
5:00 pm

Scully was hot, sweaty and tired. She wanted nothing more than to crawl under a big tree and take a nap. But Mulder thought that he was close to the suspect and wouldn't allow her to rest. She hadn't asked for a break, she just knew by the determined look in his eye that he didn't want to stop. So she kept up with his pace silently cursing his name for the blisters she was going to have on her toes when they were done. She knew that it wasn't his fault that she was wearing her new Gore-Tex boots that had not been adequately broken in. She really wanted to be in a comfortable pair of running shoes.

Mulder was hot, sweaty and tired also. He saw the look of determination on Scully's face and knew that they wouldn't stop until they found the guy. Miss Magna cum Laude expected nothing less than excellence. He knew that she had to be mad over him placing third in the firearms competition, although she hadn't said anything to him about it. She would have placed first if she competed. He wasn't sure that he would have even placed in the marathon. As his feet ached he silently cursed her for her physical endurance. He figured with the way that she ran she could probably go another 20 miles today before she would even begin to feel fatigued. He resolved to start running a longer course once they got back to DC. Next year he was going to do the marathon and win to prove to her that he was just as good as she was.

After 9 pm as the sun was beginning to set Scully grabbed Mulder's arm to slow him down. She motioned for him to be quiet and to lower his head so that she could whisper something in his ear.

"Mulder, I think he's somewhere in this vicinity."

"Why do you think that Scully?"

"Look at the river over there. The brush almost covers it. If he wants to make a quick get away it makes sense for him to be somewhere like that where he could float down the river without being visible. You would only be able to see him from in the river. So far all along the river it has been wide open. No one would be dumb enough to enter the river from there. They would be a sitting duck."

"You're right Scully. I've noticed that there seems to be more edible mushrooms and plants in this area than where we started out. Where do you think his hideout would be."

"Maybe a cave or a tree or a bush. The undergrowth in some areas is pretty thick around here. He could easily climb a tree which would make him extremely difficult to find if he had climbing gear with him. Are there any lakes or caves around this area on the map Mulder?"

Mulder got out the map to check. He knew that they had only minutes of daylight left to find the guy but was determined that they were close enough that they would look through the night if they had to.

"The Seneca Caverns are somewhere around this area Scully. Bet we'll find him hiding in one of them. Care to do a little spelunking Agent Scully?"

"Why I thought you'd never ask."

A half-hour later then came across the 12th cavern they had seen that night. Scully noticed that it was closer to the river than any other of the caverns. It was close enough that someone could easily get into the river from the cavern with minimal detection. She grabbed Mulder's arm.

"Mulder look how close it is to the river. He has to be there."

They both quietly crept to the entrance to the cave. Neither wanted to go first and were waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Fine, I'll go Mulder but if a bat even comes near me you owe me a month of paperwork."

"I'll protect you from the bats Scully," He teased her.

They slowly crept into the cave making a minimal amount of noise. Scully looked at her watch and say saw that it now was 10 pm. Quickly calculating the trip back to Quantico she realized that she wouldn't be in bed until at least 5 or 6 am. <So much for a good nights sleep> she thought. She continued to lead them through the cave. She had been spelunking with an ex-boyfriend in college and had even participated in the local search and rescue chapter. She liked being underground where there were things waiting to be discovered.

She made up the line about the bats because she knew that she would never hear the end of it if Mulder found out about her caving experience.

Mulder watched Scully make her way through the cave quickly. She was a little to quick moving around in near darkness to be an amateur.

<Is there anything that Scully doesn't know how to do? > Mulder thought.

He kept following her because he sure didn't know where he was or how they were going to get out. He hoped that she remembered the way back and wasn't relying on his eidetic memory.

Scully entered a room in the cavern and suddenly stopped. Mulder didn't see that she had stopped and ended up running right into her.

He looked up to see why she had stopped.

Walter Skinner sat against the wall of the cave wearing a pair of night vision goggles reading Tom Clancy's latest novel.

"Sir, I sure hope that you are the UNSUB we were hunting and not here camping out for fun," Mulder said dryly.

"Sitting in this cave for the past day has not been my idea of fun, although I have managed to catch up on my reading. I'm glad that I won't get stuck with this detail for another year. Congratulations on finding me. How did you manage? For the past 3 months they've been using this same hiding place and so far no one has managed to find it," Walter Skinner said as he slowly got up off the ground and shook his legs out.

"Call it beginners luck," Mulder responded.

"Where's the rest of Team Alpha? Are they waiting by the mouth of the cave for you?"

"No sir, we had differences in opinion and they chose to go their own way," Dana Scully responded.

"Agent Scully, I hear congratulations are in order for you setting the new course record for the marathon." She was wondering when he was going to acknowledge her presence in the cave.

"It was nothing sir," Dana responded quietly, "What are we to do now that we've found you?"

"Well since it is late," He said checking his watch, "The bureau will put you up in a local hotel for the night and we'll head back to Quantico tomorrow morning. I need to radio in that you found me so that they can call in the rest of the teams. The rest of the participants will be spending another cold night in the forest."

Scully and Mulder watched while Skinner pulled out some type of emergency locator system and activated it letting them know that he had been found. He packed up the rest of his gear and led them back to the cave entrance. He walked over to the stream and pulled an inflatable raft out of the bushes. It was so well hidden that it couldn't be seen unless someone pointed it out. Mulder and Scully helped Walter Skinner inflate it and put it into the water.

Ten minutes into the trip down stream Walter Skinner shut off the motor and motioned for them to help him deflate it and carry it to the road. The climbed up a steep embankment to a dirt road where Skinner told them to wait.

Skinner was still amazed that he'd been found. He was sure that even the best agent in the FBI couldn't find the hiding place. But he knew that if anyone was going to find it, it would be Fox Mulder.

"So Mulder, how did you find the place?" Skinner asked.

"Well, Scully and I did a profile last night and based on the profile we decided that he would be here," Mulder said while looking over at Scully. She nodded at him as if to say he could go on and tell the AD whatever he wanted and she wouldn't contradict him. He knew that she was the one totally responsible for them finding Skinner and he felt guilty at stealing the attention that should have solely been hers.

"Well Mulder, I want you to do a presentation to the group next week telling them how you found me."

"Sir, is Scully going to be assisting?"

"I don't think that will be necessary. Surely she has autopsies to do. Since you are the one that did the profile and found him, you should be the one to give the presentation."

<Shit. I'm in deep shit. Skinner thinks I did it all when I didn't, > Mulder thought as he looked over to Scully. She looked impassive to him as if she didn't care about Skinner's mistake. Mulder kept his mouth shut thinking that Scully would have said something if she was upset.

After sitting on the side of the road for twenty minutes a humvee picked them up and took them to the nearest town. Walter Skinner went into the Days Inn and reserved two rooms for them with instructions that someone would be around to get them the next morning at 11 am.

The desk clerk handed Mulder and Scully their keys and toiletries for the night. They were told that the FBI would be sending someone by their rooms tonight with a change of clothes. They got into the elevator and made it to their rooms without ever saying a word to each other. The rooms were not adjacent so there was no need to open the connecting door.

-end-

***************************************************
House of Cards - Chapter 4
***************************************************

Seneca Falls, West Virginia
Days Inn Hotel
August 1, 1998
12:05 am

Dana slowly sat on the bed of room 222. She wanted nothing more than to take a long bath and go to sleep. She decided that first she should call and see if she had any messages. She was certain that being away for almost two weeks she was bound to have a few calls.

<Who are you kidding. Who'd want to call you? You have no friends, > She thought to herself angrily.

<Well I have to check anyway in case mom, Bill or Charlie called and needed something.>

<But why would they need me. It's not like they can rely on me. I'm not a dependable person. I don't know where in the country I am going to be. My plans change at a moment's notice. >

Dana Scully called into her answering service to find that she had 10 calls. Three were from her mother wandering when she was going to come back. One was from Blake inviting her to the movies. Claire also called letting her know about a book she had read by Sebastien Japrisot entitled "A Very Long Engagement" which Dana just had to read. Four calls were telemarketers. The last call was from Dr. Susan Lowenstein telling Dana that she was concerned about her since she missed her last 3 appointments.

"I forgot to call her. She probably thinks that I'm dead," Dana said to herself aloud.

Dr Susan Lowenstein was a psychiatrist Dana had been seeing for over four years. She saw her twice a week and because of this Susan knew more about her than anyone in the world. Susan knew such intimate things about her, things that she never would and never would be able to share with anyone else, except for Blake and Claire. She knew that Susan was probably concerned that she had missed three appointments. She decided to call Susan at home to let her know that she was alright. The last thing that Dana needed was for her shrink to call her mom. Maggie Scully didn't know that Dana was receiving professional help on a regular basis.

"Hello," Susan answered her phone.

"Susan, this is Dana. I'm sorry to be calling you so late. I'm so sorry that I missed my appointments and forgot to call you to cancel."

"Is everything alright Dana?" Susan asked.

"Yes. I had do go to a last minute training exercise at Quantico. Basic, firearms and survival. I have been outside for the last two weeks and have not had access to a phone," Dana explained.

"It's alright. I just got a little concerned after you missed three appointments. It isn't like you and I was afraid something had happened."

"Afraid that something had happened to me or afraid that I had done something to myself?" Dana asked.

"A little of both."

"Susan, I told you that I'm not going to do anything to myself."

"I know that you may say that Dana, but with your past history, I can't put that thought totally out of my mind. You have a lot of issues to deal with, issues that would have broken the soul of a weaker woman."

"I'm fine no, Susan."

"Okay, you're fine then. How is your appetite?"

"Fine."

"Dana, would you stop using that goddamn word. You promised me last new years that you would come up with another word to describe how you are feeling or at least make an effort and admit your feelings."

"I'm trying Susan."

"Well try a little harder. It's annoying."

"Okay, how about I'm feeling just splendid."

"A little antiquated, but better. So how's your partner?"

"He's okay. I just left him for the night."

"You sound a little tense Dana. Anything happen between the two of you?"

"Anything sexual, or anything in general?"

"Which ever one you want to tell me about," Susan responded.

"Well there's no sexual us. Mulder just doesn't see me that way. Sure he teases me, but it is more like how my brothers tease me. I have tried giving him hints that I'm interested in more than friendship but he hasn't responded. As far as anything in general, he has truly managed to irritate me once again. We had a field exercise as part of training. I won't torture you with all the details. Anyway, I found the suspect and Mulder took all the credit. The AD just assumed that because Mulder was a man, that he had to have solved the puzzle."

"Ouch, that must have hurt. Which AD was it? Your new AD Kersh?"

"No, that's what made it hurt even more. It was Skinner," Dana said while her eyes started to tear up.

"Dana honey, I'm so sorry."

"I know. It was like he turned a knife in my gut assuming that I wasn't bright enough to solve the puzzle."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"What good would that have done. Mulder knew that I solved it. Who cares if Skinner knows."

"I think that you do care Dana, even though you act as if you don't. Deep down you still care for the man deeply. Calling him Skinner now instead of Walter as a means to depersonalize your relationship with him isn't going to change the past. You need to start dealing with your past Dana instead of running away from it."

"Easier said than done. I have tried so hard to put all this behind me but I can't seem to escape it. I just want the voices in my head to stop screaming at me and leave me alone."

"Only you can exorcize your demons. The less contact you have with Skinner the easier that it will be on you."

"I know that, but I can't escape him. He and Mulder are friends. They play basketball together in a league. Even though he isn't my AD, I still see him everyday."

"How does he react to you?" Susan Lowenstein asked.

"He seems to have no reaction. Why should he have a reaction. I'm just his ex-girlfriend, nothing more."

"Dana you know that you were much more to him than that."

"If I meant so much to him why didn't he leave his wife for me? Tell me that? He didn't leave his wife because he loved her more than he loved me and I never could compete with her. When I gave him the ultimatum, he chose her and not me. He didn't want me," Dana said while sobbing.

"You never gave him the chance to chose you. You could have told him about the bab.." Susan said before Dana angrily interrupted her.

"Don't say it. Don't say the word." Dana cried out.

"Why because if I don't say it, it doesn't mean it is real? Is it somehow going to change the fact that you were pregnant with Walter Skinners child and never told him."

"Don't do this Susan. It hurts too much." Dana cried.

"You need to get this out Dana. Thousands of women have abortions every year in this country. You chose what was best for the child."

"No, I didn't. I went against all the teachings of the church. I was selfish and chose what was best for me. Our baby was innocent. It didn't deserve to die because of me."

"Dana you were confused at the time. You should have told Walter that you were pregnant and carrying his child. He had the right to know. But you didn't and you can't change the past. You need to except it for what it is, learn from the experience, and move on. Dwelling on it isn't going to change anything."

"I couldn't have told him. He would have chosen me for the wrong reasons. He would have chosen me for the baby, not because he loved me enough to leave Sharon. I couldn't do that to him. He would have hated me for the rest of my life. It would have ruined his career and mine."

"What you did was for the best Dana. You shouldn't feel guilty for making a responsible decision, as hard as it may have been." Susan thought that Dana sounded tired and depressed. She was worried about her. "You sound tired. Why don't you get something to eat and then go to sleep. Call me as soon as you get back into town and we can set up another appointment. If you are going to be delayed there longer call and leave me the number. You've worked too hard to start relapsing into your old addictions. You know you can call me anytime of the day or night."

"Thanks Susan. I think I'll grab a bite to eat and then call it a night. Thanks for letting me use your shoulder once again to cry on."

"No problem Dana. You are like a daughter to me, you know that I care for you deeply and want to see you get well."

Susan and Dana said their goodbyes. Dana decided to skip the meal and opted for a hot shower instead.

**************************************

Seneca Falls, West Virginia
Days Inn Hotel
August 1, 1998
10:45 am

Mulder was on his way back from the complementary continental breakfast when he ran into Scully in the hall. He noticed that she was wearing exercise apparel.

"Where did you get the exercise clothes Scully? They only gave me a pair of jeans which mind you is a little too snug in the ass, some woman must have picked them out, and a FBI T-shirt. Where did you get the sweat pants from?"

"I asked for them nicely at the front desk."

"You aren't serious?"

"No. I got them from the gift shop this morning."

"The gift shop doesn't open until noon today."

"You'd be amazed at what people will do for you if you just ask nicely, Mulder."

"Didn't you like your FBI t-shirt and jeans?"

"I haven't tried them on yet. I was just out for a run. Oops, I need to run and take a shower before some the FBI academy gopher comes to get us. I'll meet you here in about 15 minutes," Scully said as she started to walk away.

"Need any help scrubbing your back Scully?" Mulder called out after her. She seemed to either not hear him or was ignoring his comment as she entered the stairwell and shut the door.

*******************************************

Somewhere in Virginia
August 1, 1998
Mid afternoon

The FBI academy gopher that came to pick up Scully and Mulder ended up being some 24 impressionable female with large breasts who was enraptured by Mulder. Scully knew from the moment that she saw her, Agent Candy Black, that it would be best for her to sit in the back seat and feign sleep. This was going to be a long ride.

<Candy! What the hell kind of name is Candy? > Dana thought.

<And not Candy as in Candace, but plain old Candy. >

<And to think that I thought that my name was bad. >

Dana listened to Mulder try to explain to Candy how they'd found the suspect in the cave, but she didn't seem to get it. Scully noticed that he conveniently left out the part about her being the one to solve the puzzle. Sometimes it was easier for her to keep her mouth shut and left him take the credit. If he wanted to impress this young agent, fine, she'd let him. It wasn't as if he were interested in her anyway. He deserved to have a stable relationship with a female. Maybe Candy was the one for him.

"Scully, what do you say we stop to get something to eat. I'm getting kind of hungry."

"Sure, that sounds fine Mulder. I'm kind of thirsty."

They ended up eating at the local Burger King. Scully really didn't like Burger King or fast food restaurants for that matter, because there was nothing healthy you could eat there. She opted for the salad with fat free dressing and a large diet coke. Agent Black ate a chicken sandwich and a side salad. Mulder ate the big King, king size fries and a chocolate milkshake. He ended up finishing his meal before the rest of them.

"Hurry up ladies, there's a game on tonight that I don't want to miss."

"Heavens forbid we interrupt your television watching. Call Byers and have him tape the game for you," Dana Scully suggested.

"Good idea once again Agent Scully. Let me call him while you finish up your meal."

Mulder left the two of them while he went into the men's restroom to call Byers on his cell phone. Meanwhile, Agent Candy Black took the opportunity to question Dana Scully.

"Agent Scully, how do you manage to work with Agent Mulder on a daily basis?"

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently. She knew damn well what *Candy* was getting at. All women asked her the same thing. She found it annoying that professional women, her peers, couldn't understand how it was possible to work with a man and not be sexually interested or involved with him. So much for the equal rights movement.

"He's so good looking, so smart," Candy gushed trying to contain her excitement.

She shrugged her shoulders, and her voice softened. "I've worked with him for the past five years and it hasn't been a problem."

"Are you two involved?"Candy asked as she leaned closer to Scully.

"No, not that it's any of your business. We're professionals who follow agency rules which prohibits a relationship between partners. There will never be a relationship between the two of us."

"That's good to know. So what's he like?" Dana Scully was getting nauseated by this line of questioning. Candy was acting more like a high schooler and less like an FBI agent very passing minute.

"What is he like?" Dana asked trying to clarify what Candy wanted to know.

"Yeah, what are his hobbies, favorite movies, favorite bands. Tell me all that you know about him."

"Agent Black." Scully started.

"Please call me Candy." Candy Black interrupted.

"Fine, Candy, if you want to know personal information about Agent Mulder you are going to have to ask him."

"Do you think he would answer me? Do you think that I have a chance with him? He's like 10 years older than me, which I normally don't do but in his case I would overlook his age because of his good looks. Am I his type?"

Scully looked at the younger well-endowed blond woman sitting across from her. If Mulder had a type that she was aware of she was sure that Candy Black had a shot. Sure, she asked Scully stupid questions and acted like a school girl with a crush, but she could be really intelligent. She didn't see why Mulder wouldn't go for the leggy blond.

"I don't see why not. Why don't you ask him."

"Okay, I think I will. You are really much cooler than what people told me about you. I expected you to be a arrogant and aloof. bitch."

"Candy sometime in this life you will realize that people are seldom what they appear to be. You really should judge people for what you think about them, not other peoples opinions." Scully said as she gathered up her trash and got up to throw it away. She saw that Mulder was coming back from the bathroom.

"Hey Scully, Byers said he would tape the game for me, but I owe him a favor to be repaid at a later date. Are you two ready to go?"

"Yeah, the academy gopher appears to have a crush on you. If you aren't interested please turn her down nicely because she seems like a nice girl."

"Thanks for the warning Scully."

They rode the rest of the way back in silence. After Scully's warning that Agent Black was interested in him he decided to play it safe and act like he was sleeping. Scully sat in the backseat and knew what he was doing. She wished that he would get the balls and just tell her that he wasn't interested or make up a mythical girlfriend. But no, Fox Mulder had to take the cowards way out and act like he was sleeping.

*******************************************

FBI Headquarters
Washington DC
August 15, 1998
3:30 p.m.

Time had passed pretty quickly between the agents since they got back from their little trip in the West Virginia countryside. Mulder had presented to the academy how he had solved the UNSUB exercise and had been given a commendation. All the top brass were there for the lecture and there was talk about Mulder joining the team that made up the exercises for next year. Mulder never once told anyone that it was Scully that solved the puzzle. She wondered if he truly believed that he solved it with all these awards and commendations coming his way. Since she was on this team she got to spend the rest of training in the barracks. However, there were no awards or commendations for her.

She continued to see Susan Lowenstein twice a week. She knew that she should probably be seeing her three times a week but she wasn't sure that her health insurance would pick up the extra weekly session. She had seen Walter Skinner a couple of times since they returned but he never really said much to her. She decided that she needed to get away from Washington, Mulder and Skinner for the weekend. She decided to call her friend Blake.

"Hi Blake, its Dana," She said into the phone.

"Darling, it is so good to hear your voice. I thought that you were ignoring me. Did you get my message?"

"Yes. I was in field training for a couple of weeks and didn't have access to a phone. I apologize for not phoning you sooner."

"It's okay. I realize what a busy and mysterious life you lead as an FBI agent. How is that delicious partner of yours?"

"He's fine. Listen, do you want go away this weekend?"

"I would love to. There's a little town in South Carolina that I have been wanting to visit. I'll make all the travel plans and be by to pick you up at 6:30."

"Great. Did I ever tell you how much I love you Blake? You're the greatest."

"Too bad that you aren't a man or I would be in heaven. As cute as your little red headed body is, you just aren't my type. See you tonight."

Scully was glad that she had maintained her friendship with Blake over the years. She met him when she was 16 at the clothing store where she worked. Blake was 20 years old and the department manager of the young mens section when Dana was hired. Claire was hired into their department a year later. She and Blake immediately hit it off. In the beginning she had a major crush on him. She had never met a man who understood women so well. He was almost too good to be true. She actually got up the nerve and asked him on a date when he had to turn her down gently and tell her that he was gay. From that moment on their friendship deepened.

Scully decided to leave Mulder a note and went to Diana Fowley's office to ask for a couple days off.

*******************************************

Dana Scully's apartment
August 15, 1998
7:00 pm

"God woman, would you hurry up. We're going to be late," Blake said to Scully as he grabbed her underwear out of her drawer and put it in her suitcase.

"I think that I'm perfectly capable of packing my own underwear, thank you very much." Dana said as she pulled the underwear out of her suitcase and put it back in her drawer.

"Dana, you need to bring underwear. So I put it in the suitcase! Who the hell cares? You're wasting time."

"Blake, sometimes you are a pain in the ass. You want to pack for me? Fine, pack my underwear, bras and socks for me while you are at it."

"I knew that you would come to your senses sooner or later. We should only be there for a couple of days so you don't need to bring everything you own."

Fifteen minutes later they were packed and headed for South Carolina in Blake's new BMW 325i convertible.

"I love this car Blake. I'm glad you came to your senses and picked this one over the Porsche," Dana said as the wind whipped through her hair.

"Sometimes I regret the decision but I do manage to get quite a few dates out of it."

"How's the store?" Dana asked him. Blake Maxwell owned a chain of trendy upscale boutiques along the east coast. One of the benefits of having Blake as a friend was that he was always giving her new outfits that he said she just had to have. Half of the stuff in her closet wasn't suitable to wear to work and she was sure that Mulder and the gunmen would pass out if they saw her in some of Blake's gifts.

"The store is fine. I got you two new Donna Karan suits that I thought would be just perfect for you. They are at my house, remind me to give them to you next time you are over. Oh, I also picked up a few things for you to wear on this vacation."

"Blake, you know that you don't have to buy me clothes."

"I know, but I love you Dana and love giving you beautiful things."

"I feel the same way about you. So where are we going?" Dana asked reclining the seat back a little more.

"Well I made reservations in Charleston but we can go to my beach house in Cape Fear if you would rather go there." Once Blake's chain had started to turn a profit he started investing in real estate. The house in Cape Fear was just one of many properties.

"You chose Blake . I'm just glad to get away from Mulder. Oh shit, I had an appointment with Susan this afternoon. She's going to get worried if I don't call her."

"So how is the lovely Dr. Lowenstein?" Blake asked. He had been the one to introduce and recommend Dana to Susan. He had been seeing Susan professionally for about 5 years at the time. He had not seen her for a six months due to a friendly argument they got into over who was the world's best soprano.

"She's fine."

"Dana Scully. You were supposed to work on not using the world fine. Chose another word," He said as he grabbed her small hand and playfully smacked it.

"Okay, she's how she always is."

"The intrusive proverbial Jewish mother."

"Exactly. Let me call her and let her know that I haven't committed suicide."

Dana pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number she knew by heart. Susan answered after two rings.

"Hello, this is Dr. Lowenstein."

"Susan, it's Dana."

"Dana, I was wondering what happened to you when you didn't make your appointment this afternoon. Is everything alright. You sound like you are calling on your cell phone."

"I'm fine. I just decided to go away for a long weekend."

"With Mulder?"

"No with Blake."

"Blake! How is he doing?"

Dana put her hand over the phone and told Blake, "She wants to know how you are doing. What should I tell her?"

"Tell her that I was perfectly normal heterosexual male until this kooky shrink with no taste in music messed with my head and made me like boys."

"Susan, Blake is distraught over your rift with him. He apologizes for his bad taste of music and is begging you to come back to him," Dana said as Blake grabbed the phone out of her hand.

"Dana is a liar. We all know that she cannot be trusted."

"Blake, it is good to hear your voice. How are you doing?" Susan Lowenstein asked her old friend.

"I'm fine. I thought I'd take Dana out of town for the weekend. She seems depressed."

"I'm really worried about her Blake. She doesn't take care of herself. Last time I saw her she looked like she wasn't eating again. I don't know if she's over exercising again or not, so you might need to watch her. She had a run in with Walter Skinner a couple of weeks ago," Susan told him in confidence. Blake had dragged Dana to Susan Lowenstein after she fell apart and tried to kill herself after having an abortion. Blake held her hand through all the counseling sessions for the first two years she saw Susan. Dana had signed a release letting Susan talk to Blake about her. Susan knew that if one person totally understood Dana and could reach her it was Blake .

"Thanks for letting me know. I'll call you later and give you an update. And by the way the worlds greatest soprano is Lesley Garrett," Blake said as he hung up the phone not giving Susan a chance to respond.

-end-

*******************************************
House of Cards - Chapter 5
*******************************************

Cape Fear, North Carolina
Blake Maxwell's Beach House
August 16, 1998
3:00 am

Blake Maxwell decided to cancel his reservations in Charleston and stay at the beach house in Cape Fear instead. Dana had been sleeping for several hours and he wasn't in the mood to drive 6 or more hours to get to their final destination.

The beach house was nothing elaborate. The house sat up on stilts due to the constant flooding. He was glad though, because it gave him a place to park the car. The house had three bedrooms, one bathroom, and a large airy kitchen that opened into the living room area. He knew that he could have afforded a mansion on the beach but didn't want to have to bother with hiring people to take care of it for him. He liked the cozy feel of the house and wished that he had more time to spend there. He bought the house specifically for him, Dana and Claire. They each had their own bedroom which was decorated to their tastes. Of course Blake had paid for everything, but if you can't share your wealth with your friends who can you share it with. Thinking of the house he was reminded that he needed to call Claire and see if she wanted to join them for the weekend.

Blake pulled into the garage under the house and woke Dana up.

"Dana, we're here. Time to get up. I really don't want to have to carry you into the house."

"Okay. Okay. I'm up." She said while rubbing her eyes.

Both were too tired to unpack the car and elected to go straight to sleep.

*******************************************

Cape Fear, North Carolina
Blake Maxwell's Beach House
August 16, 1998
7:00 am

Dana woke up to the smell of bacon. She didn't even bother to put on her robe as she wandered out into the kitchen. She saw that Blake was hard at work preparing breakfast.

"Sleeping beauty finally decided to join the living," Blake said as he saw Dana out of the corner of his eye. "I made some bacon and eggs if you are in the mood.

"Actually, I'm not really hungry right now. Maybe later," Dana said as she grabbed a coffee cup and proceeded to pour herself a cup.

"Dana you need to eat. Look at you. You are much too thin. We need to put some meat on your bones."

"I'm not too thin. I'm happy with my body size right now. I feel healthier now than I have been in a long time. I eat, but only when I'm hungry."

"If you say so," He said while turning his attention back to the stove. "I thought while we're here we should call Claire and see if she wants to join us."

"That's a great idea. She would've been really mad if we went away and didn't invite her."

Blake picked up the phone and hit the speed dial for Claire's cell phone.

"Hello, this is Claire Bradshaw. I'm not in right now, but please leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible," Her voice mail said.

"Shit, got the voice mail," Blake said to Dana.

"Yes, this is Lex, I'm on death row right now and I heard you were a mighty good attorney and I was wondering if you could represent me. They said I was an ax-murderer, but I don't own no axe. They set me up. Please say you'll be my attorney. You can reach me at the Cape Fear mental institution," Blake said imitating a 300 pound hillbilly named Lex.

"You're awful Blake."

"Yeah, but she'll know it's us," Blake laughed. Although they only worked together for a couple of years, the friendship they formed was deep and lasting. Claire was now a successful attorney in New York City and Dana and Blake didn't get to see her as often as they would have liked.

A half hour later Claire called them and told them that she was on her way down and that they needed to pick her up at the airport.

"Blake, I was here first. I'm not riding in the backseat," Dana said emphatically.

"You're the one that wanted me to get the car and you are really the only one that can fit back there. Claire and I are too large."

"No. I want to ride up front," Dana said as she started jumping up and down acting like a two year old who didn't get her way. They always made her ride in the back because she was short.

"Stop complaining and get in the back shorty," Blake said as he got in the drivers seat and started the engine.

*******************************************

Cape Fear, North Carolina
Blake Maxwell's Beach House
August 16, 1998
8:00 p.m.

They picked Claire up at the airport and drove to the house in silence. Dana was mad because she had to sit in the back. Claire was tired after the plane trip and Blake was trying to remember the words to The Artist Formerly Known As Prince's song "Lets Go Crazy". Dana was irritated at him for singing the lyrics over and over again.

"I know that I'm missing something. What comes after "When you call up your shrink in Beverly Hills, you know the one?", I can't remember the rest of the line. I need some help here."

"If I tell you will you shut up?" Claire asked.

"Yes, Claire."

"It goes 'Dr everything will be alright.' There are you happy?" Claire asked.

"But what comes after that?" Blake asked.

"Something like "instead of asking him how much of your mind is left ask him how much of your time." I don't know. You have money, buy the damn CD and listen to it," Dana said.

"Great idea. Lets go to the local K-Mart and pick it up."

"No Blake. I'm tired, lets just go to the CFMI and call it a night." Claire said. They had started calling the house the Cape Fear Mental Institution after he bought it. They noticed that when one of them had a major crisis in their life they sought refuge at the house.

"Claire it will just take a minute," Blake said as he pulled into the parking lot of the K-Mart. "You can wait in the car if you want. Come on Dana, lets go shopping."

Claire waited in the car while Blake and Scully went shopping. Dana secretly liked going shopping with Blake because he was very generous and always paid for everything. She knew that although she could afford to buy the items herself, Blake really enjoyed indulging her. He had a family of his own but they stopped speaking to him once he told them he was gay. The people he considered his family was Dana and Claire.

"Dana, lets go look at the lingerie. You need to wear something better to bed other than that ratty T-shirt you wore last night. If I had known that your sleep wear was in such disarray I would have brought you some from the store."

"Blake, I'm not getting lingerie from K-Mart."

"I supposed that would be a fashion faux-pas. Well lets at least see what they have. Look at this underwear. It's positively darling. Dana, you have to get this. Please, please. I won't make you try on any teddies."

"Okay. Fine. I'll get the underwear but nothing else. We're supposed to be here buying your CD."

"Oh that's right. Lead the way."

The trip for the one CD turned into 20 new CD's, new underwear for Dana, a new clock radio/CD player for each of their bedrooms, a new blender and new towels. Claire finally came into the store to join them after they had been gone for 20 minutes. The total purchase came to $800.

*******************************************

Cape Fear, North Carolina
Blake Maxwell's Beach House
August 17, 1998
11:00 am

"Wake up ladies. We're losing sunlight." Blake yelled into Claire's bedroom where Dana and Claire had spent the night. He noticed that Dana was wearing the new underwear.

"Okay. Give me a minute. I need to find where I put my swimsuit," Dana said.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I have new swimsuits for both of you in the trunk," He said as he hurried down the hall get the swimsuits and other goodies out of his car.

"God Claire. You know that he probably picked some totally slutty number out for us so that we would attract all kinds of men. Men which he is going to look up and down hiding behind his ray bans. It happens every year," Dana said.

"I heard that Dana." Blake yelled from the living room. "Here's your swim suit Dana and here's yours Claire," He said while handing them their suits.

Dana's was better than she expected. One year he got her a plastic suit which all three of them had to tug on to get her into it. They had a harder time getting her out of it and Blake elected to cut the suit off of her instead. The suit that Blake picked out for Dana was a plain iridescent electric blue bikini. He picked the same style out for Claire but in a iridescent red color. He reclined on Claire's bed and watched while Dana and Claire changed into their swimsuits. They had each seen each other nude so many times that they no longer felt uncomfortable being nude around each other.

Blake noticed that Claire appeared to have gained a little weight around her stomach. He bet with her busy schedule that she didn't have time to work out. He knew a nutritionist in NYC that he would offer to send her to. Dana on the other appeared to have lost a lot of weight.

"Dana, look at your ribs. They're sticking out," Blake said as he went over to her and traced her ribs with his fingers. Dana tried to brush his hands away.

"It's just the suit Blake."

"No, I saw you before you put the suit on and I could see your rib bones and hip bones clearly. You need to gain some weight," Blake said tenderly as he continued to run his hands along her ribs and hip bones.

"He's right," Claire said, "You've lost a lot a weight. You are almost too skinny now. Next to you I'm going to look like a beached whale."

"I doubt that Claire. You still look as beautiful as ever," Dana said to her.

The three friends made their way out to the beach and set up camp for the day. Blake bribed Dana and Claire to go down to the water and flaunt their bodies to bring men to him. Blake pretty much had a steady stream of men to look at for most of the afternoon. He noticed that Dana seemed attracted to one of the men and wasn't surprised to see her disappear into the beach house with him.

"She's doing it again. Must have been a bad couple of weeks," Claire said to Blake quietly.

"I hate when she gets like this Claire."

"I know. But what can we do about it? She needs to hit rock bottom before she will let us help her. She thinks that sleeping with someone is going to make her feel better and there isn't a damn thing we can do to stop her."

"What if we call Mulder?" Blake asked.

"No. We promised her that no matter how bad she got that we wouldn't call him."

"I know that we promised her, but look at her. She's destroying herself with this behavior," Blake pleaded with Claire.

"I'll tell you what. We won't call him but we can at least go and stop her."

"You aren't serious? I can't believe you are suggesting that we go in there an interrupt them?"

"Why not? We've done it once before," Claire said.

"Yeah and look where it got us. One very pissed off Dana Scully who wouldn't talk to either one of us for two months afterwards."

"I'm willing to take the risk. One of these days she's going to fuck the wrong guy and end up dead or with AIDS."

"Okay, I'm sold. Let's go save her from herself," Blake said as he got up and followed Claire into the house.

They walked quietly into the house and saw Dana lying on top of the coffee table while her fling of the week (FOTW) was going down on her. From the position Dana was lying she could not see them.

"Oh God yes," Dana screamed while clutching the FOTW's head between her thighs, "Fuck me now."

The FOTW licked his way up her body and entered her roughly before looking up to see Claire and Blake watching him.

"What is this a fucking peep show. Get the hell out," The FOTW yelled at them.

Dana looked up to see her best friends watching some guy whose name she didn't even know pound himself into her. She was going to kill them. Before she could tell them to get the hell out of the house Blake and Claire grabbed the man and pulled him out of her. Blake grabbed the guys clothes and pushed him out on the deck. "I never want to see you around here again. That's my wife," Blake told the man.

Dana laid motionless on the table, making no effort to cover herself. "I cannot believe that you just did that. You have no right," Dana yelled.

"The hell I don't. You think I want to watch another friend die of AIDS. He wasn't even wearing a condom Dana. How stupid and irresponsible of you. I expected more of you," Blake said softly to her.

Claire got her comforter and wrapped it around Dana. "Come on Dana, lets get you into the shower and cleaned up. Then we can all talk."

Dana went with Claire willingly into the bathroom. While she took a shower Claire sat on the toilet and entertained her with stories about her co-workers at the law office where she worked. When Dana was done with her shower she did her hair and make up while Claire took a shower. They assumed that Blake was in the kitchen making dinner based on the smells.

"It's about time ladies," Blake said as they entered the living room in the new clothes he had given to them.

"Dana I know that you are probably furious that we interrupted your coitus this afternoon. But I didn't know what else to do. I was going to call Mulder but Claire stopped me. I can't sit by and watch you destroy your life like this. If you want to have sex with someone you just met, fine, but at least practice safe sex. You are a doctor. You should know better."

"I'm sorry that you had to see me doing that."

"It's not the first time," Claire replied.

"Well I intend it to be the last time."

"That's what you said the last time."

"This time it is going to be different," Dana assured them.

"Dana, what is causing this behavior?" Blake asked her. "Is it Mulder this time or Walter?"

"I don't know. I'm just so mad at both of them."

"Fine be mad at then but stop taking it out on yourself. You are a beautiful desirable woman who could have almost any man in the universe, gay men aside. You don't need to pick up one night stands to prove that you are desirable," Blake assured her.

"I know Blake. Susan tells me that same thing weekly. I just can't help how undesirable and ugly I feel that the two men that I want don't want me."

"So accept that and move on. There are plenty of men that do want you and want you for who you are, not for what you can do for them sexually."

"It is easier said than done."

"How are you going to know unless you try? Make me a promise Dana. Promise me that you will not sleep with a man until he has taken you out on a least three dates and you know his name."

"Okay. I guess I can promise you that for right now. I wasn't looking at getting laid today. Although I must admit I enjoyed that orgasm."

"We could tell that you were enjoying yourself. Hell I got an erection watching you, and you aren't my type."

"I'm glad that I could give you a lift," Dana said while winking at Blake .

"Well you sure as hell didn't do a thing for me," Claire chimed in.

"I'm glad Claire or that would qualify us for the most dysfunctional friendship. The homosexual, the lesbian and the slut. I think it would make for a good movie," Dana Scully said.

"One more thing and I'll shut up on the subject. It makes no sense to me how you can be mad at Mulder and distance yourself from him when you've never told him how you feel. That being said, it's getting late, lets go dancing," Blake said to his two friends.

"Okay, but we get to dress you," Claire said with a mischievous smile while looking at Scully.

*******************************************

FBI Headquarters
September 20, 1998
9:00 am

Dana Scully sat at her desk looking out of the window. The leaves were beginning to change and fall was on its way. Her thoughts took her back to what had happened to her over the summer. The best times that she had were the weekends she spent with Blake and Claire at the beach house. She had kept her word to them and had not had any one night stands. She hadn't seen much of Mulder outside of work. She knew that he was upset with her for not attending any of his basketball games. She just didn't want to be around Skinner and since he was a member of Mulder's team there would be no way that she could avoid him. She had grown more distant from Mulder over the past month. He refused to give her the recognition she deserved for finding the UNSUB in the cave. She knew that she was being petty in holding it against him, but she couldn't help herself. Dana was also irritated that Mulder was an hour late and had not called in.

"Sorry I'm late Scully," Mulder said as he walked into their office, "But I had a meeting with Skinner this morning." He said as he sat down behind his desk and started going through his mail.

"What was the meeting about? Why with Skinner? Kersh is our AD," Scully said.

"Just some things he wanted to talk to me about. It has nothing to do with the X-Files."

They soon settled into their comfortable morning routine, although Dana Scully could not stop wondering what Skinner and Mulder were talking about. She was certain that he would never tell Mulder about their affair.

Diana came into the office several times to ask them about their progress on several cases. She stood a little to close to Mulder and payed a little too much attention to him for Scully's liking. Around noon he excused himself for lunch.

"See you in an hour Scully. Got a lunch date." Mulder said as he got up from behind his desk and left their office.

Scully was stunned. Mulder had a lunch date and she had no one to eat with. Such was the price to pay for being arrogant and aloof. She wondered who Mulder was eating lunch with. After fifteen minutes of mentally torturing herself she decided to go the cafeteria and get something to drink. She noticed Mulder was eating lunch with Natasha.

<So that's who he's dating. > She thought to herself.

She left the cafeteria without getting anything to eat. She realized at that moment that Mulder never wanted to be anything more than friends with her. He didn't see her as a sexual being, and he never would. She needed to get on with her life like he had.

When Mulder returned from lunch with Natasha he noticed that Scully was even acting more withdrawn than she usually was.

"Have a nice lunch Mulder?" She asked him.

"As a matter of fact, I had a very nice lunch," He replied.

"Oh really, where did you go to eat?" She asked him.

"Oh, I just grabbed a bite to eat from one of the vendors down on the street," He told her not realizing that she saw him and Natasha together in the cafeteria.

"Who did you eat with?" Scully asked him.

"Oh, just an old friend from the academy. It was good to see him again."

"Well I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself," She told him seething. He was lying to her and she knew it. Not only did was he never going to love her for more than a friend, he obviously found that he couldn't trust her anymore or he would have told her the truth about lunch. Neither of them would realize it at the time but this was the beginning of the end of their friendship.

*******************************************

The fall went by quickly for Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. They each retreated into their own circle of friends. Mulder was dismayed to see his friendship with Scully ending for no apparent reason. He tried to engage her in conversations and invited her over to his apartment all the time. She always had excuses and couldn't make it. He knew that she was purposely avoiding him but there was nothing that he could do about it. He had talked to Diana about his problem with Scully because it was beginning to affect their partnership. She looked like the cancer had returned but each time he asked her about it she assured him that she was fine. Diana also told him on numerous occasions when he asked her that she had seen the results of Dana's latest physical and she didn't have cancer. As to whatever else health problems Dana had she wasn't allowed to discuss them with Fox Mulder noticed that Scully seemed to change into someone else. She was playing the part of the aloof arrogant bitch that people thought she was. She acted no differently to Mulder than she did to the rest of the agents she came across. Several people had stopped Mulder what had crawled up Scully's ass and died. At first he defended her, but he was now having a hard time making up excuses. The more withdrawn she became the less Mulder cared to draw her out of her shell. He was once attracted to her and wished that they could have been more than friends. Now, he was glad for the day to be over so that he could spend his free time with Natasha. Natasha was the one highlight in his life. He was glad that he found her. The thought of having to spend all his time with neurotic depressed Scully really made him even more thankful for Natasha. The fact that she was divine in bed didn't hurt either.

End of chapter 5

**************************************************
House of Cards - Chapter 6
**************************************************

Circle Centre Mall
Indianapolis, Indiana
December 16, 1998, 4:09 p.m.

Scully paced back and forth in front of Parisians department store constantly checking her watch.

"Where the hell is he?" She muttered to herself not fully realizing that other people could hear her.

<It is 4:09, correction it is now 4:10 p.m. and Mulder is nowhere in sight even though he promised me that he would be here at 3:30.> Dana Scully was beyond worried, she was royally pissed off. She hadn't even wanted to stop by the mall but Mulder pleaded and begged her to go on their way back from Chicago. He wanted to get a gift for someone even though he wouldn't tell her who. She knew that it had to be for Natasha. God, she was beginning to hate that woman. She didn't understand why they had to drive back from Chicago. They flew there, why couldn't they fly back. Mulder, as usual, fed her some crap about the FBI office in Indianapolis needing their help on a case. She was suspicious when he wouldn't tell her what the case involved. She was certain Mulder was keeping his mouth shut because it involved aliens or UFO's.

At 4:30 Mulder chose to make an appearance. "Where the hell have you been Mulder?", Scully yelled at him as he approached her, "Your ass was supposed to have been here an hour ago." She said as she pointed at her watch face.

"What do you mean an hour ago. I'm on time. You said to meet here at 3:30. It's 3:30 right now." He said while looking at his watch.

"Mulder it is now 4:30. We're on Eastern time right now, not central like Chicago, and if you would have set your watch like I reminded you to on the way back from Chicago we wouldn't have had this problem. Furthermore this place has many clocks and you could have seen what time it was on any of them." She said gesturing to the large clock suspended from the ceiling that they could be easily see.

"I truly am sorry Scully, don't get all bitchy about it. It was an honest mistake. I didn't do it on purposes to make you mad, I just lost track of time. Let me make it up to you. My treat for dinner."

"First of all I wasn't bitchy and I'm not that hungry Mulder. I had a snack a little while ago," Scully replied defensively, not knowing why she lied to him about having eaten earlier.

"Okay, I have an idea then."

"Why do I feel like this is something I'm going to regret?" Scully said as she eyed him suspiciously.

"Live a little Scully. Since you aren't hungry right now, what do you say about eating in a couple hours and going out and having some fun?"

"Going out and having fun? Where? Here? In Indianapolis?" Scully said cynically.

"Sure, here. One of the store clerks told me that there's some sort of entertainment complex on the fourth floor. She said that there are several nightclubs up there that are worth checking out. Care to join me for an evening of fun?" He knew that she would say no, but he felt like asking her anyway. He didn't know why he was even bothering with her in the first place. She was to morose and depressing to be around. All she ever wore was black clothes these days. She never wanted to have fun anymore.

"What kind of mall has a nightclub Mulder? Besides, I don't have anything to wear to a nightclub. Somehow a regulation suit doesn't quit seem like party clothes," She said while gesturing at her clothing.

"Scully, my dear, it is your lucky day. We're in a large mall with lots of stores and we have plenty of time to pick you out an outfit. Please, please say you'll go. It will be fun, just like old times." He was desperate. He decided that this trip was going to be the trip that either kept their partnership together or made him turn in her reassignment request.

"I don't know why I even put up with you and your fun ideas. They always end up getting us into trouble. If you lead me anywhere near woods I will personally kill you Mulder. Consider it my gift to the cigarette smoking man," She said as she crossed her arms over her chest and continued to stare up at him.

"No woods Scully, scouts honor. We can get an outfit for you," He said while crossing his fingers. He was surprised to see a glimpse of the old Scully coming out.

"Don't you need one to?"

"Why do you think I was late?"

"What would you've done if I had said no?" She said as she arched her eyebrow.

"I would have gone without you." He was totally honest with her. He decided that if she didn't want to go he would have left her in the hotel and gone himself.

"Oh," was all Scully could respond.

Mulder and Scully then set out to find something for her to wear. An hour later Fox Mulder found the perfect dress for Dana Scully in Victoria's Secret.

"Please try it on Scully," Fox pleaded. He said as he picked it up off the rack and handed it to her. He knew that she would never wear something like this. It was so unlike her. His dowdy depressed partner would never try on something like this much less buy it.

"Mulder, I'll look like a slut in it," She said emphatically.

"Oh, a trashy Dana Scully. I'll have to get pictures for Melvin."

"Melvin, who the hell is Melvin, Mulder?"

"Melvin Frohicke"

"Oh god he does look like a Melvin. And I'm not wearing that dress," She said as she put the dress back on the rack.

"Scully it is just a dress, it can't hurt to try it in. You don't have to get it if you don't like it." He took the dress back off the rack and handed it to her. He was pleasantly surprised to see that she was actually considering buying it.

"I'm glad that I have some control in what I wear. I'll try it on, but don't say that I never do anything for you. I want to make it clear that just because I'm trying it on doesn't mean that I'm going to buy it," She said as she slowly walked back to the dressing room.

In the dressing room she picked up the skimpy black dress and looked at it. She couldn't believe that she was actually going to try something like this on for Mulder. She wore clothes made out of a lot less material for Claire and Blake all the time, but they were her best friends. Mulder was different. He was at one time her best friend, but he had never been the same type of friend that Blake and Claire were. She trusted him with her life, but not with her heart. She silently wondered what it would take to seduce Mulder. He wasn't the only one who deserved some happiness.

The dress that Mulder picked out was a dress made for a 5"9 model who weighed 130 pounds and was curved in all the right places. This wasn't a dress for someone her height and weight. She did like the dress though. It was your basic black dress with spaghetti straps