From GHill52695@aol.com Wed Feb 05 23:55:35 1997 I am posting this for the author, Danielle Culverson, who does not have access right now. Any comments should go to her at smythja@aston.ac.uk. This is a fiction story based on the characters created by Chris Carter. No infringement of copyrights held by 10/13 Productions, Twentieth Century Productions, or Fox Broadcasting is intended. All unrecognised characters and plot-lines belong to me. Names, characters, and places exist solely within my imagination, or are used fictitiously. No connection to any person, living or dead, is intended, and any resemblance is entirely coincidental. Feel free to distribute, but please keep me as the author. Rated - PG-13 (for UST). "Duane Barry" plotline mentioned. Classification - X, S, R. Summary - Mulder and Scully are taken hostage while working undercover investigating a cult who believe they have the ability to rise to the next dimension. Thanks yet again to Gerry Hill, - Gerry's story "Honeymoon from Hell" inspired this piece, as Gerry's work has inspired so many of my recent stories. Danielle Culverson. "Hostages." Part 1/2. Two figures dressed in black moved through the shadows in the Pentingham museum, keeping close to the walls. The rubber-soled shoes on their feet squeaked slightly on the highly polished wooden floors, but there was nobody else in the museum to hear them. Surreal paintings hung on the walls, alongside portraits of upper-class people, who sat stiffly on uncomfortable-looking chairs and frowned down on the passers-by. Armless statues stood in the galleries and corridors, thin pieces of floating material and oak leaves covering what the artist had thought best left hidden. Naked nymphs and gauzily-clothed angels filled biblical images. The eyes of every image seemed to watch and mark the progress of the two people who moved quickly down the halls, and paused before a great oak doorway. The first figure turned to whisper to the one behind. He was a young man of about 29, who had short blond hair, and wore black jeans and a black sweater. Behind him was a woman, maybe a year younger than him, with long dark hair, wearing black trousers and a polo-neck jumper. "It's just through here, Terry." the young man told the woman, "I saw it on the tour. We should be able to get it without any problem. - They don't see it as being valuable." "It isn't to them." Terry Newman replied, "Only to us, because only we can use it." "Are you ready?" Sam Gibson asked. Terry nodded. "Let's do it." They hurried into the room, and went to one of the glass cabinets where ancient artifacts were displayed. They stopped by a strangely coloured stone. The label with it described it as being of unknown origin. - It had been found on the shore of Lake Michigan, and no-one knew what it was, or where it had come from. - But the two people currently looking at it had a good idea. "I can feel it!" Terry exclaimed, "This is the one. - This will lift us up." Sam nodded, and produced a small hammer from inside his jeans pocket. He tapped the glass sharply, and it shattered. He grabbed up the rock. "Let's get out of here." he said urgently. They turned, and ran back the way they had come as a clanging alarm broke out. Emerging from the museum at the side entrance through which they had entered, they thought for a moment that they had got away with their crime. But only for a moment. A searchlight went on, pinning them against the wall in full view of the police officers gathered outside. Guns were trained on them from all around. A man with a megaphone addressed them from behind one of the squad cars. "Put your hands above your heads, and don't make any sudden moves!" Sam and Terry looked at each other, their eyes filled with despair, and slowly lifted their hands. Sam still clutched the strange rock in one hand. * * * A man with dark brown hair sat at a desk in the basement office of FBI Headquarters in Washington DC. He leaned back in the imitation leather swivel chair, his hands behind his head, one leg crossed over the other, and stared up at the ceiling, his eyes unfocused. The office was stuffy and warm, although it was only 7.53am. The air-conditioning didn't work properly, and hadn't for a long time. The room was crowded, being quite small. - It contained three desks, a photocopier, a projector, three filing cabinets, a coat-tree, and a waste paper basket, plus lots of small cupboards and shelves, all covered with papers and photographs. The walls too were decorated with photographs of crime scenes, America's most wanted posters, pictures of UFOs and crop circles, and a large poster of a flying saucer hovering above a forest, with the words, "I want to believe." written on the bottom. The desk the man sat at was a mess. An empty polystyrene coffee cup stood on top of a document marked "Level three security clearance", a few empty sunflower seed shells were scattered around the phone, which was mostly covered by an old newspaper that was evidence for one of the cases. A packet of pre-packed sandwiches lay on top of the "In" tray. A pair of tickets for the Washington Redskins game coming up lay half in and half out of an envelope marked "Danny". A photograph of a young girl of about eight stood next to the "Out" tray. She was smiling in the photograph, her hair tied back in pigtails. The mess on the desk didn't encroach too much on the space around the photograph, suggesting that it had been there for quite some time, and held the prime position. On the floor below the desk was a nameplate, which could be read by anyone willing to try and break their necks turning their heads around. It said "Fox Mulder". Special Agent Fox Mulder sat up from his early morning daydream, and shrugged off his navy blue jacket in concession to the growing heat. He stood up, and went around his desk to the smaller desk that stood a little way in front of it. This desk carried the computer Mulder shared with his partner, Dana Scully. He sat down at the computer console, and typed in a username and password. In a moment he had his Email account, and was checking the morning's messages. There were a couple of messages from people with minor questions about cases he had worked on, a few more asking if he would look at new cases, and one to say thank you for a case he had helped out on. Just one. Well, one was a start. Mulder worked on the X-files with his partner. The X-files were all the cases the FBI got involved with that didn't come under any other heading in the Bureau's investigations. Cases which seemed to have no rational explanation, or to involve paranormal phenomena. With Mulder's background in psychology, photographic memory, and his ability to leap apparently beyond logic from time to time in the pursuit of cases, - an ability which had earned him the nickname "Spooky" when he was at the academy, - plus Scully's medical knowledge, and the close relationship between them, they were the best investigative team the Bureau had had for a long time, and perfectly suited for such cases. When not involved with X-files, Scully helped with training at the FBI academy at Quantico, and at the forensics and pathlology labs. Mulder, on the other hand, put his "spooky" talents to use helping other agents with the cases they were working on which had come to apparent dead ends. More often than not he could set the cases moving again, with a new angle to work from. Often, he could solve the whole case by spotting a connection no-one else had seen. - This was what led to his strange collection of email. Mulder's attention fell on the last Email to arrive for him. He didn't recognise the sender's address, and was immediately wary. - His work on the X-files had made him a lot of enemies, and now he had very little trust for people he didn't know. - He opened the mail. The message was a copy of a newspaper report. The newspaper was the "Pentingham Post", and the article had apparently been published that morning. Mulder read it, his interest growing as his eyes flicked across the words on the screen. Behind him, the door to the office opened, and an auburn-haired woman came in. She wore a brown overcoat over her black trouser suit, carried a briefcase in one hand, and a handbag over her other shoulder. She stopped just inside the door to hang her overcoat on the coat-tree next to Mulder's larger black one. "Good morning, Mulder." Special Agent Dana Scully greeted her partner. He swiveled around to face her, and she saw the sparkle of anticipation in his eyes. "Morning Scully. - How do you fancy a trip to Pentingham, Michigan?" * * * The neat-looking flight attendant checked Scully's boarding pass, and pointed out her seat. Scully moved quickly along the aisle of the airplane, and sat down beside her partner. She put her handbag under her seat, and fastened her seat-belt. Then she turned to her partner. "So where exactly are we going to in Michigan?" she asked. "First, to Detroit, and from there by car to Pentingham." Mulder replied. "What's at Pentingham?" "Ever hear of the Torventi?" Mulder asked. Scully shook her head. "No, should I have?" "Not really. - The Torventi are a group of thirty-seven people in Michigan, who believe that they are able to rise to the next plane of reality. - To the next dimension." Mulder paused and smiled, as Scully raised a sceptical eyebrow. "They believe they have been given this ability in order to help people, but they are unable to do anything special until they have risen to the next level. - Last night, two of the leaders of the Torventi, - Samuel Gibson and Teresa Newman, - were caught breaking and entering at the Pentingham Museum. They took only one object, - an apparently worthless rock of unknown origin. The rock is now back in the possession of the museum, and Gibson and Newman are in the custody of the police." "And we're going up there...?" "Because I want to know more about the Torventi, and what they are planning to do when they rise." Mulder replied. Scully's other eyebrow rose, and she shook her head slightly. "Sounds fun." she commented dryly. Mulder grinned. "I never said you'd enjoy it." Scully looked out of the porthole window beyond her partner, and was pleased to see that their conversation had effectively kept her mind off the take-off. She hadn't been keen on flying ever since her "abduction" by Duane Barry, although why that should be she wasn't sure. Scully reluctantly released her seat-belt, even less willing to have Mulder see her fear than she was to be without the small amount of security that it offered. - She was determined not to be a weakness to him, - even if he was determined that she would be. She knew he believed that if her welfare was threatened again it would put an end to his search for the truth, but she also knew that her presence was what had kept him together on many an occasion, and during the weeks they had been separated while the X-files had been closed, he'd come closer to falling apart than he ever had because of her. Scully picked up a magazine from the pocket on the back of the chair in front of her, and began to read. At her side, Mulder stared out of the porthole window, his thoughts on the case. * * * Scully knocked on the door to Mulder's hotel room, and went inside. The room was quite large, as was her own, with a double bed opposite the door, another door leading through to the bathroom on the right of the bed, a window in the wall on the right looking out over the street the hotel stood in, a fitted wardrobe against the wall on the left, and a low table with a television on it alongside the door. Mulder was hanging up his suit, - for once, - in the wardrobe when Scully entered. He was dressed only in his black boxer shorts, but neither of them really noticed. - It wasn't the first time. - Scully wore a white robe over her blue satin short pyjamas. "Mulder, I know we have an arrangement with Skinner regarding the X-files, but are you sure we should be getting involved with this?" Scully asked, "The crime committed has nothing to do with the Bureau, and nothing really to do with anything out of the ordinary." "Nothing to do with anything out of the ordinary?" Mulder's lips quirked up at the edges as he turned to face his partner, "The paper said Gibson and Newman were stealing that stone because it came from the next dimension, and they needed it in order to complete their transition. - That makes it pretty out of the ordinary." Scully said nothing as her partner disappeared into his bathroom. She heard the tap running as she wandered over to the window, and peered out through the curtains. What she saw made her draw her breath in sharply. There was a fairly large group of people gathering outside, all carrying weapons. It looked as though they were planning to raid the hotel. Looking closer, she recognised a few of the faces from photographs Mulder had shown her of members of the Torventi. She glanced around quickly, trying to decide what to do, and then heard Mulder whistling to himself in the bathroom. Scully smiled to herself, an idea forming. - She loved winding Mulder up. Mulder came out of the bathroom again, and looked around for his partner. Both his heart and his breathing seemed to stop when he saw her. She was sitting on the edge of his bed, the covers of which she had turned back on the side they were both on. The light in the room had been switched off. She had removed her white robe, and the top three buttons of her blue satin pyjama top were undone, giving her a startlingly sexy appearance. Her hair was loose and tousled around her shoulders. Scully rose to her feet when she saw Mulder come out of the bathroom, a faint smile on her face. Her right hand caught hold of his left wrist, and she stepped up close to him. She reached up quickly with her left hand, and pulled his head down to hers to kiss his lips. When she released him, she lifted his left hand up to stroke it against her face. She ran it down the side of her cheek, down her neck, and then down the front of her chest where the pyjama top was open, until his fingers rested between her breasts. "Scully..." he began in a low voice. "Shh." she put a slender finger to his lips, "Don't talk. - Just love me." Scully pulled his head down to hers with both her hands, and kissed him again. He began to respond to her, and with an increasing fervour. They intensified the kiss, and she drew him back towards the bed. Mulder was confused. He had never thought anything like this would happen between him and his partner. They had always got on well professionally, and he had thought she was happy to leave it at that. Now she was touching him with an urgent need he hadn't known existed within his fiery partner. He had never expected anything like this to happen between them, but if she wanted it, he wasn't about to turn her down. They fell onto the bed together, Mulder sprawled across Scully, who was still kissing him passionately. His hands ran across her body, exploring and caressing, as his tongue explored her delicate mouth. She arched her back as he undid the remaining buttons of her pyjama top, and stroked her creamy white skin. The door to the hotel room burst open, and the two agents broke apart in embarrassment, and delayed caution. Scully pulled the sheet over them, and they peered at the two figures silhouetted in the doorway. Both were clearly carrying weapons. Scully gave a nervous whimper Mulder immediately recognised as being part of an act. "Will, what's going on?" Taking her cue, and using their middle names as cover names, Mulder replied, "I don't know, Kathy. - What do you want?" he addressed the men. One of the men switched the light on, and the two agents squinted in the sudden light. "Umm... sorry to disturb you folks." the first man said, "You are now hostages of the Torventi." "What?" Mulder asked, feigning confusion. "We are taking all the guests of this hotel hostage to the release of two of our people. - If you would come with us now..." "I'm not dressed!" Scully squealed in anguish. "You can dress before we leave." the second man told her. "Will you get me some clothes from my room, Will? - I'm not decent." Scully asked. Mulder nodded. He got up slowly, and was allowed to go to Scully's room with the second man, and fetch a shirt and a pair of jeans. On his return, he passed them to Scully, who proceeded to dress beneath the covers as Mulder pulled on a pair of his own jeans, and a t-shirt. Once dressed, they were led out of the room by the two men. * * * Mulder and Scully were led with the other hostages in small groups to the old, disused jail half a mile from the hotel. They were taken down into the underground cells, where they were to be confined. Scully looked around in surprise at the apparently newly fitted closed-circuit t.v. cameras on the wall, which monitored each of the cells. - It looked like a lot of unauthorised work had been done to bring the old jail up to a usable standard. The two agents were given a cell together, as they had been "sharing a room". The two men of the Torventi with them apologised for the conditions, and then left them alone. Scully sat down on the ledge at the back of the cell. Mulder stood near the bars, and looked down the corridor past the other three cells in their section. The cells were designed so that none of them overlooked any of the others, giving a little privacy to the occupants. All had three stone walls, and one side of bars. There were no windows. Mulder went back over to his partner, and sat down alongside her on the ledge. She startled him by putting her arms around him, and drawing him close to her again, until he realised she just wanted to talk in privacy. "Looks like someone's been planning this for a while." Scully whispered in Mulder's ear, as her hands stroked his back. He tried to concentrate on what she was saying, but was finding it hard not to be distracted. "As far as I can tell, only two of the other three cells in this block are occupied. - There are two women in one, and a man in the other." he told her. "I er... I'm sorry about what happened back at the hotel," Scully began. Mulder raised his eyebrows, - he certainly wasn't sorry! "I saw the group massing outside, and I couldn't think of any other way of disguising who we are." Mulder was shocked, - she had been role-playing all that passion? Didn't she realise he had taken pleasure in every moment of what had happened between them? "You could have told me." he said mournfully. He felt quite hurt that what had happened had meant nothing to his partner, and a part of him wondered how she could not see what he secretly felt for her after that. - Oh well, two can play that game, he thought, if she wants to tease, I'll turn it my way, and enjoy it while I "have" it. "So what do we do now?" he asked. "I was hoping you would have a suggestion." Scully replied. Suggestion! - Certainly he had one, but he wasn't sure she would like it... "Well, regarding the Torventi, I guess we just sit tight, and see what we can find out about them while we're in here." "Regarding the Torventi!" Scully exclaimed quietly, one hand running through his hair now, "What else were you thinking about?" "Well..." Mulder smiled slightly, and pushed his unprofessional thoughts away, - his time would come. - He shook his head in dismissal, and wrapped one arm around his partner. Then a thought came to him. "Will?" "I thought better that than Fox." Scully smiled vaguely. Mulder nodded. "Mm, I guess so." He let his hand gently stroke her hair, and then slide down her back to rest comfortably at her waist again. - There certainly were advantages to being in a situation like this. End of part 1. I'd greatly appreciate any comments or constructive criticism from fellow X-Philes. Email me at . Danielle Culverson. From GHill52695@aol.com Wed Feb 05 22:22:47 1997 Again, the author is Danielle Culverson at smythja@aston.ac.uk, and she would appreciate any comments. This is a fiction story based on the characters created by Chris Carter. No infringement of copyrights held by 10/13 Productions, Twentieth Century Productions, or Fox Broadcasting is intended. All unrecognised characters and plot-lines belong to me. Names, characters, and places exist solely within my imagination, or are used fictitiously. No connection to any person, living or dead, is intended, and any resemblance is entirely coincidental. Feel free to distribute, but please keep me as the author. Danielle Culverson. Part 2/2. * * * Scully slept on the ledge at the back of the cell, lying on her side with her legs slightly bent, and one arm tucked under her head for a pillow. Mulder sat on the floor in front of the ledge, his legs bent up in front of him, thinking about the situation they were in. The situation he found himself in was uncomfortable, although pleasant to an extent. Before this night he had known of his feelings for his partner, but had never really let them surface, as he had known that nothing would ever happen between them. As far as he knew, apart from the occasional little bout of over-protectiveness, he hadn't revealed his emotions to anyone. At the hotel though, when Scully had kissed him, touched him, something dormant inside him had awoken. She had brought out a need he had been suppressing until that point. In the heat of the moment, he had allowed his hopes and fantasies to flourish, and accepted what was happening without questioning it. The thought that Scully might feel similarly for him as he did for her, - it was beyond his wildest dreams. During their... encounter, he had thought she felt the same things he did. He had delighted in just touching her, being close to her. Now, she said her part had been an act, - so what did she think he had been doing? - He hadn't known the Torventi were outside. He had reacted to her advances, and his own emotions. Surely she realised that? And if she did, and the feelings weren't returned, where did that leave him? He had given himself too completely, too quickly, and now he was afraid that he would lose her friendship and partnership, as well as the love he had briefly thought he had. One of the Torventi came to the door of their cell. He was a tall man, quite well built, with short dark hair, and small eyes. He carried a gun in one hand, although he didn't look thoroughly prepared to use it. Mulder suspected he could disarm the man easily enough, - but what was the point? "We want you to come upstairs for a few minutes." the man told Mulder. The agent nodded, and turned to his partner. "Kathy, wake up, - we've got something to do." "Ummm?" Scully stretched a little, unwilling to leave the arms of sleep. Mulder looked at her full lips, and couldn't resist kissing her awake. He leaned down to her, and pressed his lips gently to hers. - He immediately regretted the action, as it re-awoke the longing in his body. - Scully awoke. "Will?" "They want us to go upstairs for a few minutes, Kathy." Mulder told her, "Are you awake now?" She thought for a moment, and then nodded. He helped her to her feet, and took her right hand in his left as they went out of the cell. The man led them to what appeared to be one of the old interview rooms upstairs, where three more of the Torventi were waiting. Two men and one woman. One of the men had a camera. Mulder addressed the other man, who looked like he was in charge. "Look, what's going on?" "You are hostages of the Torventi." the man replied. "Yes, I've been told that already, but who are the Torventi, and why have we been taken hostage?" "The Torventi are a group of people designated to rise to the next dimension." the woman answered, "We will have abilities which will enable us to do good on this planet." "The next dimension?" Scully raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Yes. You are taken hostage because two of our number have been arrested. - We need them back. All thirty-seven of us must be present to rise up." the woman explained. "Why were they arrested? - There must have been a good reason." Mulder said. "They broke into the museum in order to obtain the only known artifact which can aid our ascent. - A rock from the next level." the man with the camera said. "They were arrested for stealing a rock?" Scully laughed. "What do you want from us now?" Mulder asked. "We need proof of having hostages. We are taking photographs of everyone in our custody, to be sent to the chief of police." the man without the camera replied. "And then what? - We return to our cell?" "I'm sorry about the conditions, - we've done the best we can to make your stay a pleasant one." "Our stay!" Scully exclaimed, "This was supposed to be our holiday!" "I'm sorry." the man with the camera replied, and ushered them to a pair of chairs behind the table, "Smile for the camera." he said, and the flashgun went off. "You can return to your cell now." the woman told them, and the man who had brought them up escorted them back to the cell. Mulder watched as the guard walked away after locking the door. He felt, rather than heard Scully come up behind him, and turned to face her. He took her hands in his, and led her away from the bars. She looked up at him with questions in her eyes, so he embraced her tightly, and whispered as he did so. "They'll be watching on the cameras, - we have to keep our cover up." Then he lifted his right hand to touch her face, gently stroking her skin, as she looked up into his eyes. He meant at first to do no more than that, knowing that she was only role-playing, but as he held her close to him, Mulder felt a longing rise within him. He battled it at first, but finally was swept along almost willingly in the tide of his feelings. He put one hand behind Scully's head, and lowered his mouth to hers. He kissed her lips briefly, barely brushing her skin, and then kissed her cheek, her ear, her neck. Her arms were around him as he kissed her neck, and buried his face in her shoulder so she couldn't see his emotions in his eyes. Then he lifted his head again, unable to ignore the pleadings of his heart. He touched his lips to Scully's again, first briefly, then more firmly. She began to respond to the kiss, and it deepened. Mulder clutched her close to him as his emotions swelled again. They broke apart after a few moments, and sat down on the ledge. Scully lay along it, resting her head on his legs. It was slightly uncomfortable for him, but he found he didn't mind. * * * Mulder lifted his head, realising he had been dozing. He started to sit up, and then realised that Scully was asleep, and still using him as a pillow. He grimly suspected that he would be in agony once his legs started to wake up. He looked down at the face of his sleeping partner, and smiled. He allowed his hand to gently caress her face as she slept, his fingers tracing lightly over her lips. Scully stirred in sleep, and smiled at her dreams. Then she started to awaken. Opening her eyes, she looked up into Mulder's, and for a moment he forgot to hide his feelings from her. She saw him looking down at her with something in his eyes that was almost adoration. Then the expression was gone, and she found herself wondering if it had ever been there. She sat up, wincing at stiff joints. Mulder swung his legs off the ledge, also wincing as the blood returned, giving him pins and needles. A short man wandered down the corridor between the cells, checking on all the hostages. When he saw the two agents were awake, he greeted them. "Hello. - It's Will and Kathy, isn't it?" "Umm... yes, that's right." Mulder got to his feet, despite the pain it caused him. "I'm Lucas Craven." the man told them, and smiled nervously. "You're one of the Torventi?" Scully asked, still sitting on the ledge at the back of the cell. Craven nodded. "Yes, I am. - I hope you haven't been too uncomfortable in here, - it was the only place we could find that we could convert fairly easily." "Yes, it looks like you were planning to do this for some time." Mulder said, a touch of anger in his voice. Craven shook his head. "I don't know. - I'm not one of the inner level, so I don't get told these things." "No? - I thought there were only thirty-seven of you? - Doesn't everyone know everything?" Mulder asked. Craven shook his head. "No. There's an inner level who know a bit more about it than the rest of us, but none of us really know much. Sam Gibson and Terry Newman knew the most, but they're gone now, and until they come back we can't go up. - That's why we need hostages." "To bargain for the release of Gibson and Newman with." Mulder nodded, "So how is that going? - The bargaining, I mean." "I haven't heard. - If there's been any contact, we haven't been told." Craven shrugged. "What exactly is it you think you can do, anyway?" Mulder persisted, "I mean, we've heard that you think you can go to the next dimension, but how are you going to do that, and why do you want to bother?" "I'm not sure how it happens, - we've drawn together because individually we can all rise a little way. Together we can rise further, and if we have an object of the other dimension to fix on, we can go all the way. Then we will have abilities that will allow us to help the world." "Abilities?" Scully asked, "What do you mean?" Craven looked at them suspiciously, "I don't know that I should be telling you all this. - I'm not really supposed to be talking to the hostages." "How can it hurt?" Mulder asked, "We can't rise to the next level. - Or can we?" "No, you can't, - but I really shouldn't be talking to you." Craven moved quickly away, and a moment later they heard the door at the end of the block close behind him. Mulder turned to his partner. She looked mildly concerned. She leaned close to him, and whispered, "He looked a bit suspicious of all our questions." Mulder nodded, "We'd better reaffirm our identities." Before Scully could protest, he took her hand, and pulled her over to the ledge. He didn't sit down, but touched her hair with his other hand, and delicately stroked her face. She took his hand in hers, and kissed each of his fingers in turn. He put a hand behind her head, tilting it to an angle that suited him, and kissed her. She responded carefully, and then pulled away a little. "I think you're enjoying this far too much, *Will*." she whispered in his ear. He smiled, and returned. "It was your idea in the first place, Kathy." He kissed her again, and again she responded, unable to draw back without destroying their guise. Mulder knew she was right, - he was taking advantage of the situation, - but with her so close... He lowered his hands to the top of her shirt, and undid the top buttons. Kissing her neck, he dropped to his knees in front of her, and kissed the skin between her breasts as he continued to undo the remaining buttons of her shirt. Scully sank to the floor next to her partner, and their lips touched again. Tired, they lay down on the floor in each other's embrace, and soon slept. * * * "Move out, - you check down there." Voices echoed through the old jail, and the sound of footsteps reverberated along the passages. The sound of excited chatter built in the corridors. Four FBI agents burst into the cell block where Mulder and Scully were being held. Releasing the three other hostages imprisoned there, they moved on to the agents' cell. "Hey, look at these two!" the first agent to arrive exclaimed. A second quickly joined him. "My God, that's "Spooky" and Agent Scully." he said, his mouth dropping open. "What?" The other two agents came over to look into the cell. "It is," one of them nodded, ""Spooky" and Agent Scully." "What are they doing in here?" the first agent asked. "What does it look like they're doing?" the third countered, and they all laughed. The fourth agent lifted a camera which was supposed to be for documenting evidence, and took a picture of the partners. Mulder and Scully were still lying on the floor of their cell. Scully lay on her back, her shirt open all the way down the front. Mulder lay on his front, his head resting on the bare skin between Scully's breasts. Her hands were in his hair, and both of them were smiling at their dreams. The agents at the door grinned at each other. "Shall we wake them?" the second agent asked. The others shook their heads. "No, don't disturb them, - they look like they're enjoying themselves." The four slipped away, laughing quietly amongst themselves, and planning the best use of the photograph they had just taken. * * * Mulder and Scully entered the outer office of Assistant Director Skinner, and approached the secretary. She looked up. "Go straight in." she told them, "He's expecting you." Mulder and Scully exchanged a glance, and went to the door to the inner office. Mulder knocked, and went in. The Assistant Director was sitting at his desk, apparently waiting for them to arrive. He motioned for them to sit down, but the look on his face suggested he was displeased. They sat in the two chairs in front of his desk. "Agent Scully," Skinner turned towards her, "perhaps you could explain to me how it was that you and Agent Mulder came to be taken hostage by the Torventi?" "Yes, sir." Scully nodded, "The Torventi took everyone in our hotel hostage. We thought it prudent not to reveal our identity, in order to get closer to the Torventi." "I presume you were in Michigan in the first place investigating the Torventi as a potential X-file?" Skinner asked. "Yes, sir." Scully replied. "Then why, when two of the Torventi entered Agent Mulder's hotel room, did they find the two of you in bed together?" "Ahh." Scully had suspected something of this nature. She glanced at Mulder for assistance, but he refused to lift his eyes. - She had got them into this, she could get them out. "Sir, I saw the Torventi gathering outside the hotel. I came to the conclusion that they were going to raid it. We merely took steps to hide our identity, - by pretending to be a couple on holiday." Skinner stared at Scully for a long time. Then he turned to Mulder. "What about you, Agent Mulder? - Do you stick to this story?" "Yes, sir." Mulder replied. Skinner shook his head. "I have seen evidence of what occurred during your imprisonment, which throws strong doubt on what you are saying." "Sir, may I ask what it is you think we *were* doing, if you don't believe what we have told you?" Mulder asked. "I think you went to Michigan at the Bureau's expense on a wild goose chase that you knew had nothing to do with the Bureau. I believe you went in order to spend the weekend together..." "Sir?" It was Scully. "Together?" "Do I have to spell it out for you, Agent Scully? - Sleeping together, okay? I think you then had the bad luck to be caught in the act, - literally, - and taken hostage by the Torventi, whereupon you didn't dare reveal your true identities because of what you had ben doing when they found you." "With respect, sir, that is the biggest pile of crap I've heard in a long time." Mulder exclaimed, "Agent Scully and I are thoroughly professional in every way. - We did a very good cover job, and that is all. So good, unfortunately, that even you believe it." "Oh yes?" Skinner asked, "Tell me, Agent Mulder, can you fake being asleep?" He tossed a photograph over the desk to the partners. Mulder glanced at it, and tried to hold back a laugh. It was of him and Scully sleeping on the floor of their cell, with his head on Scully's bare chest, and a faint smile on his face. He passed the photo to his partner. "So what were you doing there, Agents?" Skinner asked. "Just maintaining our cover, sir." Scully replied. Skinner sighed, and got to his feet. He walked around the desk, and came to stand behind the two agents. Looking over their shoulders at the photograph, he said, in a voice which told them immediately that he'd been having a little joke at their expense, "Are you smiling in that, Agent Mulder?" The End. I'd greatly appreciate any comments or constructive criticism from fellow X-Philes. Email me at . Danielle Culverson.