Solo
By: afg
Rating: NC17 for graphic violence, sex and expletives. 
Category: Casefile, Scully/other, MSR 
Disclaimer: Not mine and no money is being made.
Summary: While Mulder is suspended and on medical leave, 
Scully gets assigned to Violent Crimes.
Thanks: To audu2, for giving her time and much needed skill,
also to Xangel for help and encouragement
For: The delightful AnubisKV5.  See what your simple 
request has unleashed! Bet you're sorry now.
Feedback: Would be lovely. siggy.63@btinternet.com
Website: www.ofnoconsequence.com
Note: This story is set season 5 before 'Travellers' but it 
doesn't follow canon.


~oOo~


Chapter Four

Mulder's Apartment.
Alexandria
Washington DC
21:15

Maggie Scully stood at the kitchen counter cleaning up the remnants of dinner. She 
looked at the clock on the wall, and thought that it was no wonder her daughter had no 
social life if these were the hours she kept.  She heard the apartment door open and 
walked into the living room.

"Speak of the Devil."

"Hi mom...sorry, did I miss something?" Scully slipped off her coat and hung it up 
before removing her shoes with a heartfelt sigh of relief.

No...I was just thinking about you."

"Sorry mom. It's been a hectic day. Did you save me anything to eat?" She walked 
into the little kitchen and snagged a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Of course. I made lasagne. It's keeping warm in the oven." 

"I thought I smelled something good, thanks mom." She smiled and took a long drink 
from the bottle.
 
"Okay honey, I'm going to leave now. I promised Jean I'd be over for a game of gin 
rummy this evening

"I didn't think I'd be so late, I got caught up in things. I'll phone to warn you next 
time"

"It's alright. I'll be around in the morning, about seven thirty." Maggie walked to the 
door picking up her coat and bag along the way. "Bye, honey." She kissed her 
daughter. "Try and cheer up that partner of yours, he's been moping all day."

"Bye mom, see you in the morning." As she shut the door behind her, she took a deep 
breath. It was time to face the music. She walked to the bedroom door and knocked 
quietly. "Mulder it's me." She went in to find him propped up in bed with his laptop, 
cell phone and several sheets of paper scattered all over. "You've been keeping busy?"

"Not as busy as you, apparently." he said, still looking at something on his computer 
screen.

Scully folded her arms, already feeling defensive. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Mulder looked up at her, his face expressionless. "The camera got your good side."

She realized that he must have seen her on the news. "Yes, I was glad I was wearing 
my good suit." She tried to lighten the mood a little.

"You're late."

Obviously Mulder was determined to brood. "You know what it's like, I had to 
autopsy the body and do a detailed study of the previous autopsies on the other 
victims, and then there were the meetings to go over the evidence so far." 

"Is there any evidence so far?" He was chewing the end of a pencil and staring at her 
with flat dead eyes.

"Not much." 

"Didn't think so. He's a clever little psychopath."

It suddenly dawned on Scully what he had been doing. "Mulder, have you been 
drawing up a profile?" It would explain his slightly detached moodiness.

"Might as well, I'd begun to develop an unhealthy dislike for Dr. Ruth." He looked at 
her for a beat before giving a smile devoid of any hint of warmth. "Or don't you want 
me to Scully; has Skinner been putting on the thumb screws?"

She dropped her gaze from his and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 
"Mulder, I..."

"It's okay, I get it. The bosses don't want me to mess this one up, right?"

"You didn't mess up the last case, Mulder. You saved a child's life."  She walked over 
to the bed, she would have sat down but there were so many papers strewn about that 
there was no room. "I think Skinner was being leaned on."

His eyes seemed to come into full focus for the first time since she'd entered the room.

"I'm sorry about this morning." 

Scully was used to Mulder's mercurial personality shifts; they no longer intimidated 
her. "Yeah, me too." 

"I still stand by my reasons for leaving you behind when I went for Doran."

Scully took a step back. "Mulder, I don't want to talk about this now." She was too 
tired after a long day to want to rehash this morning's argument.

"You wanted to talk about it this morning."

I know, and we will talk, but I'm tired, I just want a shower and something to eat, then 
I've got some work to do before I can get some sleep."

"Okay." His tone suggested that it was anything but.

"Did you take your meds?"

A genuine Mulder smile reached his lips. "Scully, I think your mother may be related 
to Mussolini. The woman's a dictator." 

Scully breathed a sigh of relief that he was letting her off the hook, at least for now. 
"Sorry Mulder, we're Irish to the core. Has she been giving you a hard time?" 

"I've been coddled to the point of catatonia."

Scully gave him a sympathetic smile. "It was the only arrangement that I could come 
up with other than hiring a private nurse."

"You could just leave me on my own, you know, I'll manage."

"Mulder, if our positions were reversed would you leave me to cope alone?"

"In a heartbeat. I'd be off hitting the high spots and bestowing my many charms on the 
female population of this great city." Mulder said airily.

Scully gave him a deeply sceptical look. "Of course you would. In which case, you 
deserve to be coddled as only my mother can."

"It's hardly fair to bring logic into the argument." Mulder looked aggrieved

"Who ever said that life was fair?"

Mulder's expression darkened "No-one Scully, no-one at all."

Scully looked at him. "Mulder?"

"Life wasn't very fair to the woman you examined this morning, or to the other three 
women he slaughtered." 

She knew he was right, it would be ridiculous not to use his abilities. "Give me your 
profile Mulder; we need all the help we can get because so far, we haven't a clue." She 
held out her hand.

Mulder removed a disc from his laptop and handed it to her. "It's all on there, try and 
trickle it into the investigation so it doesn't look as though it's coming from me." He 
smiled at her "I don't want you to get into trouble." 

"I think it's way too late in our association to worry about that," she said slipping the 
disk into her jacket pocket. 

"I guess not, but promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"Promise me you'll take extra care with this one, it's very likely he'll be watching what 
the investigating officers do, he's probably among the onlookers at the sites. Check 
the shots of the crowds at the scenes. Just be careful, this guy is very nasty."  

"I know Mulder, I spent three hours on the autopsy. I know what he's capable of."

"I wasn't implying that you didn't, I just want you to be safe."

Scully felt her frustration rise; she seemed unable to control her seesawing emotions 
at the moment. "I'm a field agent, it's not exactly the safest job in the world, I'm a big 
girl I can take care of myself. Will you stop trying to protect me and just let me do my 
job."

Mulder sat up straighter in the bed, his own frustration giving him impetus. "Jesus 
Scully, what is so wrong in wanting to keep my partner safe?" 

"That's just it, we're supposed to be partners, we're supposed to watch each other's 
backs. You aren't supposed to go out there without me to back you up, but time and 
time again you push me aside when it suits your purpose. I'm not your damned 
sidekick, Mulder." Scully's voice was low and quiet with seething indignation.

He threw his hands up. "Oh, we're back to this again? I thought you didn't want to 
talk about it now." In contrast, Mulder's voice had risen in volume.

"You know, you're right. I don't. I'm going to take a shower." She turned sharply and 
headed for the door.

Fed up with watching her ramrod straight back receding from him, Mulder made a 
grab for his crutches. "Dammit Scully. Stop walking away from me." He managed 
only to knock his crutches to the floor.   

Scully turned at the noise. She walked back to the bed and picked up the crutches and 
placed them against the wall. "Now you know how it feels." She watched Mulder's 
anger slowly leak out of him. She put her hands over her face for a few seconds trying 
to calm down. "Mulder, I don't want to argue, I'm tired, you're tired, this is not a good 
time. Just let me get this case over with then, maybe, we can talk rationally about 
what's going on." 

"What is going on, Scully?" Mulder looked lost.

"Look, we'll talk later when we've got more time. I promise." Her eyes pleaded with 
him to let it go.

"Okay, we'll do it your way, but you're scaring me, Scully. I don't know what is going 
on with you at the moment. "

She knew that he wanted some reassurance, but she wasn't quite able to give it to him, 
she felt as lost and confused as he did. "Thank you." She gave him a little smile. "Do 
you want anything?"

Mulder looked as though he wanted a lot of things.  "No." He shook his head.

"Okay. I'll bring you a coffee in a while and you can take your meds. How are you 
feeling?" She dropped into the role of doctor, which seemed much safer territory.

"Stiff and sore, but okay."     

"That's to be expected. Just try to rest, okay?"

Mulder nodded. All the fight was drained out of him now.

"I'll be back in a while."

Scully left the bedroom with more than a little relief and headed for the shower, 
fervently wishing that she could wash this day away.


~oOo~

Apartment 19 
Paxton Place
Julian Street
Baltimore
Maryland

22:00

Alice Hudson sat on her sofa, looking at the door to her small but well kept apartment. 
He was late, her skin had begun to itch and tingle as though an army of tiny ants were 
burrowing their way under her flesh. She'd turned the television off because the noise 
was making her jumpy.  She lit up a cigarette, and took a long shaky drag on the filter.
God, why wouldn't he come; she started to tear at her thumbnail with her teeth, 
ripping it off nearly to the quick. The rest of her nails were in much the same 
condition. Alice was a junkie and had been since she was fourteen. Vince, her then 
pimp, had introduced her to the needle and the bliss it contained after a customer had 
beaten her up, she'd been sore and skittish about going out on the street again. Vince 
had told her that it would make her feel better, and it had, for a while, until she 
realised that Vince used it to keep her tied to him; by then it was too late to stop.   

Alice had grown up in a small town in Louisiana. Her father had left when she was 
seven, leaving her mother to bring up Alice and her three brothers alone. There had 
been a succession of 'uncles' over the years, some of whom she'd quite liked and 
some she hadn't, although they'd liked her. They would tell her as they touched her, 
how pretty she was, how they couldn't resist such a sweet little thing, how she mustn't 
tell her mother; that it was their little secret. She'd kept a lot of those secrets over the 
years. The house became so full of them that there wasn't any room left for her, so 
she'd left. At the age of thirteen she packed a small rucksack with a few clothes and 
the necklace that her Grandma had given her and then ran, walked and hitched her 
way to Los Angeles.

LA had seemed like another planet compared to her little town. Even the air was 
different...hot, dry and energizing instead of the sultry stickiness that rotted 
everything organic. Back home there was always the faint odour of decay just 
underneath the sweet scent of jasmine. She'd very quickly discovered however, that 
the men in LA were no different than the ones in Louisiana, and had soon found 
herself in the company of Vince Crane, who took her under his protection, or more 
accurately kept a substantial cut of the money he made out of selling her to those who 
craved her youth and sweetness. She'd not been in LA a year when Vince had got 
himself in trouble with the wrong people and they'd upped stakes and high-tailed it to 
Baltimore, since Vince had cousins there.   It had been a warm summer night when 
she'd met the man that she now waited for. He'd come across her in an alley behind a 
theatre. Vince had been smacking her around for pissing off a potential customer. He 
had stepped in and punched Vince in the face. Alice remembered the satisfaction 
she'd felt at seeing Vince's blood dripping off his chin and down the front of his shirt. 
The man had taken Vince around the corner, he'd told her to wait there and she did, 
she had nowhere else to go anyway. The man returned, telling her that he'd paid Vince 
off and that he would look after her now.

That's how it had been for the last five years. He kept her in a decent apartment and 
she never had to fuck anybody but him. He'd taught her not to want anyone but him. 
He brought her syringes filled with dark amber fluid; he didn't even let her cook it up 
herself.  Over the years she'd learned to be a very good girl because the consequences 
of disappointing him were the stuff of nightmares. 

Alice jumped a little as a key turned in the door. She sat up straight, eager and 
expectant. He walked in and smiled at her. He had a beautiful smile. He was holding 
something behind his back.

"Hello Alice, have you been waiting for me?"

He always called her by her name she'd spent so many years being called 'baby' or 
'sugar' It was one of the first things she'd loved about him. "Yes." He knew she had 
been waiting but he always asked.

"Have you been a good girl today?" He walked slowly towards her.

"Yes." She nodded vigorously, looking at his coat pocket knowing what waited for 
her in its depths.

"Are you sure?" One eyebrow rose in a perfect arch.

"Yes." Please, please, please, please, she droned in her head.

"I don't think you're being honest with me Alice." His voice was still light but there 
was a note of censure in it.

Shit, she had done something wrong...think...what had she done today?...Watched 
the TV...read a romance novel... gone to the hallway outside her apartment to get a 
closer look at Mrs. Reynolds' little cat playing in the courtyard... she liked the cat. 

"You talked to Mr. Hernandez, didn't you?" He was standing in front of her now, still 
smiling.

"Yes, just for a second. He wanted to talk about the weather, that's all." She'd 
forgotten about the brief conversation she'd had with the little man two doors down. 
Her skin had begun to prickle with need.

"You mentioned going on holiday I think." His smile widened to show a neat row of 
pearly teeth.

Alice desperately tried to remember the conversation." I might have, but it was just 
small talk, it didn't mean anything...it was nothing...really. I was just out there 
looking through the big window at the little cat."

"Calm down Alice, it's alright." He brought his hands from behind his back. He held a 
bag, one of those pretty little bags that stores put gifts in, he held it out to her, still 
smiling.

She took it from him, the thick glossy paper making a crinkling sound as she held it. 
"Thank you." She always remembered her manners with him.

"Open it." He gestured to the bag, his eyes warm and encouraging.

Alice carefully pulled the top of the bag open and looked inside...Very slowly, fat 
salty tears ran down her pale cheeks, they dripped off her chin and landed on the soft 
grey fur of Mrs. Reynolds' little cat.

"Now there's no reason for you to go into the hallway, is there, Alice?" 

 She kept silent, a tiny gesture of defiance as her fingers reached inside the bag to 
stroke the still little body.

"Alice, don't try my patience. You won't go into the hallway without me again."

"No, I won't go into the hallway without you again." She wiped her eyes with the 
sleeve of her sweater.

"Good, then that's all settled. I can't stay long tonight Alice." He sat back on the sofa 
and opened his coat.

Alice put the bag down on the coffee table and moved between his spread legs and 
knelt down. She slowly undid his pants, and reached into the fly of his dove grey 
boxers. He was very hard; she suspected he'd been excited for some time as fluid was 
already weeping from the glistening head of his penis.

"Tell me you love me." 

Alice knew the routine by rote. "I love you baby."
  
"I love you too Alice."

A long time ago she'd believed him, but she'd grown wiser over the years.

"Suck me"

Relieved that this was all that he wanted, she took him in her mouth and began to 
move up and down his rigid length working her tongue around the head just the way 
he liked it. He didn't last long and she felt his semen hit the back of her throat in rapid 
spurts. Her nose was stuffy from crying and she had to try very hard not to gag, he 
wouldn't like that at all.


"That was very nice Alice, thank you." He fastened his pants and sat up beaming at 
her, his cheeks slightly flushed.

She looked up at him expectantly, her smile fever bright.

"I suppose you want this." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a syringe, 
complete with a needle with its cap firmly on. He smiled and waved the syringe in 
front of Alice's pleading eyes.

Alice reached for it, but he snatched it back and giggled. He held it out to her again, 
she reached and again he pulled it back before she could grasp it.

"Please."  

"You know I shouldn't let you have this Alice, seeing how naughty you've been 
today." He smiled at her enjoying his little game.

"Please." Her skin burned now, she needed it, he had to let her have it. "Please."

"Alright, you're lucky that I'm in a good mood." He held it out to her.

Alice grasped it and held it to her chest. "Thank you." 

"You're welcome." He stood up from the sofa and patted her head. "I've got to go now 
Alice, but I'll be back tomorrow. You will be good while I'm gone, won't you?"

"Yes." 

He looked down at her for a long minute his eyes empty of anything remotely 
resembling human. "You won't like what I'll do if you're not."

"I'll be good, baby, I promise."

He gave a dazzling smile. "Good." He strode to the door and opened it. "Don't forget 
to lock up behind me." He turned to go but noticed the bag still on the coffee table. He 
walked back and picked it up. "I'd better take this with me; we don't want it to stink 
the place up." Giving her head one last pat he walked out of the apartment closing the 
door behind him.

Alice slowly stood up, still holding the syringe to her chest. She went to the door and 
slid the deadbolts. She walked across the living room and into her bedroom with its 
sugar-pink walls that he'd painted for her. She sat on the bed with its heavy quilt and 
reached into the nightstand for her length of soft rubber tubing which she wrapped 
around her ankle. Alice waited for a decent vein to pop up on her thin pale foot. She 
took the cap off the needle and slid it into a snaking thin blue blood vessel. She 
emptied the syringe then loosened the rubber tubing and with a sigh lay back on the 
bed and if only for a short while she was free.