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 Nine

Derelict Train Yard
Baltimore
Maryland


7:30pm


Scully saw Prebetich's car pull up to the fence. She watched as he 
got out and gave her a small wave of acknowledgement. He 
walked toward her, his face changing hues in time to the flashing 
cherry lights of the patrol cars.  
 
"What have you got for me, Agent Scully?" He was all business.

Scully reached into her coat pocket and produced an evidence 
bag. "I found this near the body."

As he looked at the matchbook a slow smile bloomed on his face. 
"You've found the first solid evidence of this case so far."

She was not looking forward to this bit at all. "I may also have 
lost the best piece of evidence in the case so far."

Prebetich shook his head. "You want to tell me about it?"
 
"There was a witness to last night's murder, a young woman 
called Lena. She did a runner before I could take her into 
protective custody." 

His eyes bored into hers. "You say she saw our guy? Did she give 
a description?" 

"Only a vague one. The warehouse was dark and she was behind 
them..."

"Them?"

"He had a woman with him. "

Prebetich put his hands on his hips. "Christ, don't tell me we have 
two murderers." 

Scully shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Lena said the 
woman was screaming, she didn't seem to be participating in the 
murder."

Prebetich scratch the stubble on his chin, it had been along day. 
"Let's hope so. What's the description on our guy?"

"Tall, dark hair, dark coat. That's it." Scully dropped her gaze to 
the floor. "She might know more, but she was strung out, jumpy 
and not exactly cooperative." She felt a hand on her arm and 
looked up.

"Dana it's okay, we'll find her." Prebetich looked down at her his 
eyes warm.

She straightened up and took a little comfort in his quiet 
confidence. "Sergeant Kritch put out an APB. You never know."

Prebetich dropped his hand from her arm. "Where is the 
Sergeant?"
  
Scully gestured over her shoulder. "He's supervising the taping 
off of the crime scene."

"I want to take a look."  

Scully led the way to the warehouse; the entrance of which was 
barred by bright yellow tape. Several police officers stood 
outside, some looking a little queasy. She saw Kritch talking on 
his radio. 

"Okay...I'll have an officer come over to collect it." Kritch 
looked at Scully. "I've finally managed to track down the keys for 
this yard. I'm going send an officer out to the Maryland depot to 
get them."

"Sergeant Kritch, this is SAC Prebetich."  Scully introduced the 
two men.

"Kritch gave Prebetich the once over. "I've called in our crime 
scene investigators, I'm assuming your own geeks will be along?" 

 Prebetich gave a good-natured laugh "Yeah, our geeks are on 
their way."

Kritch gave a brisk nod. "Nobody's been in there since the body 
was discovered, I've kept all my men out here.

"Good. Agent Scully, you want to show me this body?"

Scully ducked under the tape by the battered door holding it up 
for the much taller Prebetich.   

"Whew, that's some smell," Prebetich said as he waved a hand in 
front of his face.

Scully pointed towards the body with the beam of her flashlight. 
"Over there."

She watched as Prebetich approached the charred corpse. He 
carefully walked around it, viewing it from all angles. He turned 
to look at her.

"Where did you find the matchbook?"

She showed him.

"It's wet in here." He touched the damp floor with his fingers.

"Yes. The matchbook was wet, we won't find any prints even if 
he didn't wear gloves."

 Prebetich turned back to the body. "Do we know who this poor 
bastard is?"

"No, so far we have no ID. That's not surprising, we'll probably 
never know."

"You know this points to Stockton being our main suspect?"

Scully walked up to his side. "What if it was the mystery man 
who Jocelyn Mount said talked to Tessa outside the ladies room?"

Prebetich turned to her. "This mystery man who nobody's seen. It 
could have been Stockton and Tessa just didn't say." He sounded 
frustrated. "I want this bastard, Dana." 

"I know. Just keep your options open." 

Prebetich took a deep breath, letting go of some of his tension. 
"Come on, let's get out of here."

They walked back out into the cold night. Kritch had sent one of 
his officers on a coffee run and two paper cups were passed to 
them, steam rising from the cups in an aromatic cloud.

An officer came over. "It's going to be about an hour before we 
get those keys." When the forensic guys arrive they're going to 
have to park their vans by the fence. There's an officer there to 
show them the way."

Prebetich took a sip of his coffee "Thank you." 

Scully walked over to Kritch.  "Do you think Cora will let you 
know if Lena comes back?"   
   
"I should think so. You made it pretty clear what might happen if 
your killer finds out he's been seen. She's real protective of her 
little world." He looked closely at her. "You okay?" 

Scully smiled up at him, she genuinely liked this man. "I'm a 
little tired. I've been sleeping on Mulder's sofa and it's not the 
most comfortable thing I've ever slept on."

"You should get the little bastard to buy a new one if he insists on 
getting the shit kicked out of him so damned often." Kritch 
grinned at her. "So, who's looking after him while you're running 
around after serial killers?"

"My mother."

"Christ that man is one lucky bastard. He always did have the 
girls falling at his feet." Kritch immediately knew he'd said the 
wrong thing when he saw Scully's eyes flick away from his and 
her body tense. He understood then that the feelings he knew his 
old friend held for his partner were not one sided. He wondered if 
they had ever considered telling each other what was so obvious 
to anybody that knew them. "Not that he ever noticed of course." 
Kritch attempted to ease the woman's heart. It was the least he 
could do. He thought that she looked as though she'd taken a few 
too many blows of late.

Scully looked at him "Smooth move, Sergeant Kritch."

"Saw me comin', eh?"

"You were a little obvious, yes."

"You should tell him, you know."

"It's complicated."

With those words he saw her steel her face, she was back to being 
all cool FBI, the warm woman he had just bantered with was 
gone. He watched as her eyes looked everywhere but at him. He 
took a physical step back from her to indicate he understood that 
he had intruded into her personal life a step too far. Prebetich, 
striding over to them and tapping Scully on the shoulder, 
interrupted what was starting to become a very uncomfortable 
silence.

"The forensics team has arrived." Prebetich pointed to three men 
in coveralls approaching them. "Let's get this show on the road.

~oOo~


  
Trebichaux Street
Baltimore

9:00pm

Lena had made it to Sid's place before the rain started. She 
pushed past the big ugly looking skinhead by the door. 

"Hey, you little bitch, hold up." The big man bellowed at her as 
she ran up the half rotted staircase.

She turned to face him and casually gave him the finger, knowing 
that he wouldn't touch her, she was one of the best thieves around 
and had Sid's protection. "Fuck you," she added, just because she 
liked to see him turn a really impressive shade of purple.

"Fucking cunt." 

She heard him muttering as she continued up the stairs. She 
walked down a hallway and into one of the rooms from which she 
could hear music blaring. Sid was on one of the many bare 
mattresses that littered the floor. He was wearing his usual baggy 
jeans and T-shirt, his greasy blond hair slicked back, exposing a 
high, pale forehead and a sharp face with sunken cheeks. He was 
currently engaged in trying to remove the tonsils of the girl sitting 
on his lap with his tongue. 

Lena walked over and sat down next to the couple on the 
mattress. "Hey Sid, I need some stuff." She skipped past the 
social niceties and got straight down to business.

Sid removed his tongue from the girl's mouth and swivelled his 
head in Lena's direction. "Fuck off, Lena, I'm busy." He turned 
back to his companion.   

"Come on Sid, you owe me." 

Sid pushed the girl off his lap with a forceful shove. She landed 
on her ass on the bare floorboards and gave Sid a sulky look.

He turned to Lena and got up on his knees. "The fuck I owe you, 
Lena. You've brought me shit this last two weeks and you've had 
two fucking freebies. Bring me something I can use and then 
we'll talk about it." 

Lena looked pleadingly at Sid, she needed him and he knew it. 
"I've got the fucking Feds on my back. I need somewhere to hang 
for a while."

"Jesus H. Christ. Don't come round here then you stupid bitch. 
How the fuck did you get on the wrong side of the fucking FBI?"

"I saw some wino get torched down by the old train yard."

Sid shrugged his bony shoulders. "So what. Why does that get the 
feds interested?"

"Shit, Sid. How the fuck should I know?" Lena sighed. "I think it 
has something to do with that serial killer who's been slicing 
women up. Come on baby, I need to get out of my head for a 
while." Lena stroked Sid's arm in an attempt at seduction. "I'll do 
anything you want baby, anything."

He gave her a look of undisguised disgust. "I wouldn't fuck you if 
you were the last little bitch on the planet." He reached his hand 
down the side of the mattress and inched his fingers into a small 
tear in the material. He tossed her a small roll of silver foil. 
"Here, if it'll get you to fuck off, have it, it's on me. Now run 
away back to Cora and her merry band. I don't want to see you 
back here until the heat's off. You understand?"

Lena swiftly pocketed the little packet and planted a sloppy kiss 
on Sid's cheek. "Thanks baby."

Sid scrubbed at his wet cheek with his hand. "Yeah, great. Now 
fuck off, will you."

Lena ran out of the room and down the stairs. Once again she 
skimmed past the tattooed lovely at the door. 

"See ya, fucker." She sketched a little wave at the now puce-faced 
man as she skipped out of his reach.

Back upstairs Sid fished his cell phone from the pocket of his 
jeans while patting the mattress beside him in an effort to 
encourage his disgruntled looking paramour to join him again. He 
dialed a number and put the phone to his ear. "Hey man, I've got 
something for you..."

~oOo~

Derelict Train Yard
Baltimore
Maryland

10:00pm

Scully watched as the gurney carrying the charred corpse was 
wheeled to the waiting van. The forensics teams had combed the 
warehouse and examined the body in situ but had not managed to 
find any more evidence.

"I'd like you to do the autopsy in the morning." 

Scully turned to see Prebetich standing behind her.

"All right, but the Pathologist on duty could do it just as well. I 
don't think we'll discover anything that we don't all ready know."

Prebetich nodded. "I still want you to do it. You're working the 
case, you have more incentive to be thorough."

She looked up at Prebetich. He looked tired. Dark stubble 
prickled his jaw and his eyes seemed devoid of their usual 
warmth. "You look like you could do with some sleep."

He rolled his head on his shoulders to relieve the tension. "Yeah, 
I could and so could you. You want me to give you a lift back?"

Scully gestured to Kritch who was talking to one of his officers. 
"My car's back at the station. Sergeant Kritch will give me a lift 
back there."

Prebetich smiled. "Okay, I'll see you in the morning."

"I'll get the autopsy done first thing."

"Thanks." He started to head to his car but stopped and turned 
back to her. "You did a good job tonight, Dana."

She held his gaze for a moment, before giving a little shrug. "See 
you in the morning." She watched him walk away. She shivered. 
The thin rain was cold and she longed for a long hot shower and a 
comfortable bed. Neither of which she'd be getting tonight. 

"You ready to go, Agent Scully?" Kritch appeared beside her.

"Yeah"

"Long day, huh?"

"Very long."

Kritch ushered her forward and they walked to his patrol car. 

"Thanks for your help tonight, Sergeant." Scully said as they both 
buckled up.

"I said you could call me Joey. Mulder does."

She smiled at him tiredly. "Okay Joey, you can drop the Agent. 
It's Scully or, if you prefer, Dana."

He grinned back at her and started the car, pulling away from the 
curb he headed off down the dark, empty street.

Scully was almost dozing off by the time Kritch pulled up by the 
police station. Her bones ached with fatigue, and the thought of 
driving back to the Hoover building was deeply unappealing.

"Thanks for the lift" She opened the door and made to climb out 
of the car but Kritch reached over and held her arm. 

"Look, Scully. Why don't you stay the night at my place?  It's not 
much but it's a damn sight better than some basement office. 
Don't worry I'll get you up good and early so you'll have plenty 
of time to get to work." He could see she was tempted. "I'll just 
park the patrol car in the lot. We'll take your car then you won't 
have to come back here to pick it up in the morning."    

"Okay but what about you?"

"No problem, I'm on late shift tomorrow. I'll get one of the boys 
to swing by and pick me up."

"You're sure?"

"You bet. Come on, I promise my bathroom's clean."

Scully smiled. "Well you've got Mulder beat there." Scully 
thought about it for a moment. Exhaustion overwhelmed any 
sense of imposition or impropriety she might have normally felt. 
"Thanks Joey. I appreciate this."

~oOo~

Pier Street
Baltimore
Maryland

11:00pm

Lena waited at the top of the street long enough to make sure 
there were no cops hanging around. She wanted to get back to her 
old refrigerator carton down the alley with Cora. She felt safe 
there. She reached into her pocket for the foil packet, anticipating 
her imminent escape from reality. She kept to the shadows as she 
walked down the street, her sneakers making no noise at all on the 
wet sidewalk. The black windows of the empty storefronts caught 
the reflection of the few streetlights that were still working. She 
picked up the pace a little as the rain started to come down harder.  

The hand that shot out of the doorway of the boarded up hardware 
store grabbed her around the throat and slammed her against the 
rough wall. She made no noise, she couldn't. Strong, gloved 
fingers squeezed her throat so hard she could feel her eyes 
bulging. She tried to grab the hand, to claw at it with her ragged, 
bitten fingernails. She was lifted off her feet and pressed harder 
against the brick wall.  She looked at the man holding her, and 
saw dark empty eyes staring back. His face was devoid of 
expression as though nothing animate inhabited his body at all. 
She kicked out with her legs, but he just squeezed harder. Spots 
of dancing silver appeared as her vision began to grey. She 
struggled with all of her remaining strength, surprised at her own 
desperate desire to live. Her life had been full of running and 
hiding and joyless encounters with her fellow human beings. 
She'd spent most of it trying to escape it through any means 
possible.  Now it was all over and she found she loved it more 
than she had ever imagined. Her dimming eyes caught the light 
reflected off the raindrops that beaded like pearls on his dark coat. 
Then there was no light at all.   
 
He held Lena suspended against the wall like an oversized rag 
doll. Her head lolled to one side, her face suffused scarlet. He 
caught the sudden odor of urine and realized her jeans were wet 
with more than just rainwater. He dropped the body to the ground 
with a look of disgust.  It had been no fun at all. Too quick and 
she was a repulsive looking little creature. He took a quick look 
up and down the street and was unsurprised to see it still quiet and 
empty. Good, he still had a couple of things to do.

~oOo~


The bridge stretched on to eternity; the gunmetal grey, rippling 
with lights from the dark ships overhead as they circled like 
hungry sharks. The irresistible itch at the back of her neck was 
almost painful. Pulling her forward always forward. People 
milled about the bridge aimlessly, docile and stupid. She could 
see the faceless men waiting on the far side. Nobody else seemed 
to notice them, couldn't they see? She wanted to call out to the 
people to run to get away but her voice came out as a whisper and 
no one could hear. She wanted to run but her feet wouldn't stop 
walking towards the silent men. Why couldn't she stop? She 
wanted to stop. She turned her head at the sound of squeaking. 
Tessa Platt sat in a wheelchair, which seemed to move of its own 
volition. She looked up and smiled at Scully. Her intestines sat in 
a neat coil on her lap, steam rising gently from the glistening 
organs. 

"Why don't you stop?" Tessa asked
 
"I can't."

"Aren't you tired?"

"Yes, so tired."

"He killed me."

"Who?"

 "Him." Tessa pointed to a dark figure keeping pace with them by 
the side of the bridge. 

Scully watched as Tessa wriggled her fingers at him with a shy 
little wave. He waved back and she could see the knife in his 
hand catching the light.

Scully's attention was caught by the sight of Cassandra Spender, 
floating above the bridge in a dusty column of light, her arms 
raised as if she was born again.

"Do you feel it, Dana?" Cassandra looked down at her, her face 
avid with joy.

"Yes." Scully's hand went to the back of her neck.

"They want you, Dana." 

"I want to stop"

"You can't stop Dana, it never stops." Cassandra's eyes were 
transfixed to the night sky.

Scully passed beneath her, forwards always forwards.

A small hand gasped her fingers.

"Save us, mommy."

Her breath caught as she looked down at Emily. "I can't, I don't 
know how."

"Please mommy, they're hurting us."

Scully looked at her daughter's big serious eyes "I know." she 
whispered, tears streaming down her face.

Emily pointed ahead "Look mommy."

Scully looked up to see that the faceless men had started to walk 
toward them. "Run Emily, get away."

Emily slowly shook her head. "There's nowhere to go," she said 
sadly.

The strange batons that the faceless men carried came to life with 
bursts of flame. She watched as they thrust them at people as they 
passed by. The screaming was deafening and the smell of burning 
flesh was inescapable.  Scully tried to push Emily away to make 
her run but the little girl wouldn't let go of her hand. "Emily you 
have to get away or they'll kill you...please, just run."

"They're coming, mommy, you have to fight."

"I don't know what to do." Scully watched the men coming closer 
and closer.

"Fight mommy."

One of the men reached them and touched Emily with his baton. 
Scully watched as her almost child went up in a crimson blaze. 
Her cries shrill, she could hear her screaming for Mulder. Why 
was she screaming for Mulder? She was so loud. Scully could see 
her face being burnt away, skin falling off like melting wax; her 
jaw open impossibly wide, screaming, she was 
screaming...screaming, never to stop...she was...

"Scully!"  

The change from lying flat to sitting up made her head spin. The 
hand on her shoulder was heavy and unexpected and she pushed it 
off and pulled her arm back in readiness to deliver a punch.

"Whoa there Scully." 

A large warm hand grabbed her flying fist. Scully managed to 
focus her eyes on the figure holding her, and she finally took in 
the unfamiliar bedroom. Kritch sat on the edge of the bed in 
flannel boxers and a faded Baltimore PD T-shirt.

"You with me now, Scully?" He released her hand. 

Chest heaving, she nodded, her whole body feeling limp from the 
release of tension.

"That was a real doozy huh?" Kritch gently squeezed her 
shoulder. "You want me to get you some water?" 

"No, thanks. I'm fine." Scully winced at the fragile tone of her 
voice.

Kritch ducked his head down to catch her eye. "Yeah, sure you're 
fine. I always wake up swinging after an hours sleep."

Scully felt too exposed to meet his gaze. "It's nothing...it's just 
this case getting to me, that's all." She clasped her hands together, 
to keep them from shaking. "I'm fine, really. I'm sorry for 
waking you."

"You were screaming for Mulder."

Scully could feel her cheeks flush with humiliation. "Look, Joey, 
I'm tired and I'm embarrassed. I really don't want to discuss this 
with you. I'm sorry I disturbed you but I'd really like to go back 
to sleep now." She managed to look at him with a pale imitation 
of her usual intimidating scowl.

Kritch stood up and looked down at her "Lady, don't kid a kidder. 
You might not want to talk to me but you'd better talk to 
somebody real soon, because one day it's going to be more than 
you can keep in and then you'll have nowhere to hide."

Scully bristled with irritation. How dare this man, who knew 
nothing about her, presume to start playing amateur psychologist. 
The anger felt good after feeling so helpless. "What the hell do 
you know about it? You don't know me. Just leave it alone."

Kritch didn't seem fazed by her anger at all "It must be fucking 
exhausting to be you, Scully. You don't have to be such a damn 
tower of strength all the time."

She wondered how much Mulder had told Kritch about her over 
the years. She sighed, too tired to keep the anger going. "Joey, 
please..." Her voice hitched with a sob. 

Kritch almost flinched, at her obvious distress. "Shit, okay, I'm 
sorry. I'm a fucking busybody but I meant it. Talk to somebody, 
Scully." He walked to the door. "Sleep well."

Scully gave him a small smile. "Thanks. Good night." 

She watched him walk out and close the door quietly behind him. 
She lay back down on the pillows, knowing that sleep would be a 
long time coming.

~oOo~

Mulder's Apartment
Alexandria
Washington DC

3:00am

Mulder lay on his bed, his faced shadowed blue by the flickering 
light from the TV. On the screen Sylvester and Tweety were 
engaged in yet another interminable battle of wits. It wasn't 
enough to distract Mulder from his thoughts, which seemed 
determined to stray to his partner. He knew what working a serial 
case was like and he'd spent many a night grabbing a couple 
hours of sleep with his head planted on his desk, but that wasn't 
how Scully worked. She always got home, no matter what the 
hour she never stayed at the office unless it was completely 
unavoidable.

He knew she was avoiding him but what he couldn't understand 
was why. She'd made it clear that his behaviour during their last 
case was unacceptable but it wasn't the first time and it probably 
wouldn't be the last. She'd gotten over it on previous occasions, 
what was so bad this time that she couldn't ignore? He was sure 
that their last case had very little to do with her erratic moods. 
They were desperately off kilter at the moment. He was so used to 
her being a solid presence beside him that he was finding it hard 
to think clearly. Even when he was out, following his own leads, 
he always knew she was there strong and indomitable but not 
now. Now she was out there on her own and lost to him. Their 
connection, if not broken, was severely fractured. He wanted it 
back, he needed her back and it wasn't just about the work, not 
anymore. It had stopped being about the work a long time ago. He 
just didn't think she knew it yet. He was more than willing to 
wait. The trouble was, he was beginning to think he might have 
waited too long. If he could only figure out what was happening 
in that stubborn head of hers. He could profile the most complex 
of criminals yet his own partner's heart was a mystery to him. 
Some fucking psychologist he was.

On the TV screen Sylvester was being battered over the head with 
an umbrella being wielded by Tweety's elderly owner. It was 
coming to something when he could sympathize with a cartoon 
cat. He hoped Scully was having a better night than he was, 
though by the looks of her these days, he suspected that she'd 
begun to develop a little insomnia of her own. Christ, he missed 
her. They needed to talk, to reconnect and they needed to do it 
soon before things became irreparable. He didn't want to lose her 
but what frightened him more was the thought that she might be 
losing herself.


~oOo~

Pier Street
Baltimore
Maryland

3:15am
 
The bottle flew through the air in a graceful parabolic arc to land 
on the concrete with a loud whump as it shattered and erupted in a 
ball of fire; it was soon joined by another. The hungry flames 
quickly caught the nearest cardboard structure and began to 
devour it. Its occupants, having no time to escape, screamed 
briefly before being silenced by the remorseless inferno. The 
other occupants of the neighbouring boxes were a little luckier. 
Those who were sober enough to have heard the screams soon 
emerged wide-eyed and terrified but those who were addle 
brained with booze or chemicals, failed to understand the danger 
quickly enough and burned where they lay.

Cora French awoke from a deep sleep and thought her nightmares 
had followed her into the waking world. The noise of the roaring 
flames and the screams of her companions had her crawling, 
dusty eyed, out of her box to stand uncomprehending as her world 
burned around her. Not five feet away she could see a large figure 
running blindly, bellowing and flapping madly at the flames as 
they danced up his shabby brown coat. It took her a minute to 
realise it was Mike. She looked for the way out but the yard was 
filled with thick oily smoke and she couldn't see the entrance to 
the alley. People ran past her in a panic trying desperately to get 
away from the awful heat and noise that was engulfing 
everything. Cora felt an answering heat of her own, a rage so 
potent that she could feel it rolling off her in waves. She was 
losing it all and as little as that was, it was hers goddammit and 
nobody had the right to take it away from her. She heard banshee 
screaming and realised it was coming from her own mouth. Her 
screams competed with the firestorm around her, until one was 
indistinguishable from the other.

~oOo~

    
Apartment 19 
Paxton Place
Julian Street
Baltimore
Maryland


Alice jerked awake at the sound of his key in the door. She'd 
been waiting for him, but had finally fallen into a fitful sleep. She 
heard the tinkle of glass in the kitchen and then the sound of the 
tap being turned on. Seconds later he came into the bedroom. The 
sounds of him undressing sounded so loud to her. She feigned 
sleep, desperately hoping he would just want to crash out but she 
knew she was fooling herself. He never came to her apartment 
just to sleep he had his own place for that. 

The bed bounced as he climbed in next to her. He grasped her 
shoulder and rolled her on to her back.

"I know you're awake, Alice."

She couldn't think of anything to say. She could sense that he was 
on edge and she didn't want to set him off by saying the wrong 
thing.

He fingered the soft cotton on the nightdress she was wearing. It 
was a silly thing with a big pink rabbit on the front with huge 
floppy ears. He'd bought it for her a few weeks ago.  His hand 
slipped under the hem and touched her panties, tracing the little 
band of lace around the top of her leg. With a sharp yank he tore 
them off. He pushed her nightdress up over her breasts and rolled 
on top of her. 

"You love me don't you Alice?"

"Yes." His bulk pressed her down on to the mattress, constricting 
her chest and making it an effort to breathe.

She felt him push her legs open with his knees and he fell 
between them. She could feel him hot and hard against her inner 
thigh. She almost flinched when his hand moved to her face, to 
brush the hair of her forehead. She managed to stop herself.

"You're so pretty...much prettier than her."

Alice wondered who he was talking about. She felt his hand trail 
over her cheek to her throat and down to her breasts. 
   
"She was disgusting. She smelled and her teeth were bad." 

His lips softly touched hers, as his hand caressed her breasts. He 
started to rub himself against her crotch. He bent his head and 
lightly bit her nipple. Alice tried to stay as relaxed as she could 
but couldn't help tensing up a little.

"Come on baby, you love this, don't you?"

"Yes."

He kissed her again, this time he thrust his tongue in her mouth. 
His hand moved back up to her throat to caress the smooth pale 
flesh.

"She wasn't like you at all."

Alice bit her lip to keep from crying out as he lined himself up 
and pushed himself inside her. She was not ready for him but he 
didn't mind. She ran her hand over his back as he began to move. 
He liked it when she did that. She could feel his muscles straining 
underneath his skin; she tried to concentrate on that rather than 
the burning pain in her groin.

"Her face looked so stupid...mmm, yeah...all red and 
puffy...fuck."

He was panting now and picking up speed. Grunting with every 
snap of his hips. His hand tightened on her throat, squeezing. 
Making the blood pound in her head.

"Her legs kicked...god...like a puppet...Oh, Christ...she looked 
so fucking funny."

Alice could barely hear him through the roaring in her ears. She 
couldn't breathe; he was squeezing her throat so hard. She could 
just make out the thump, thump, thump of the headboard as it 
knocked against the wall at every thrust of his body into hers, as 
if marking out the seconds until it would finally be over. 

Stupid cunt...Jesus, fuck...she pissed herself...shit, oh 
Christ...stupid, fucking bitch."

He wasn't stopping. Alice felt strangely peaceful. She'd 
anticipated this moment for years, fearing it. The pain. The 
violence but now it was here, she relaxed into it in glorious 
acceptance. She just wished he'd shut up. She felt his back arch 
beneath her hands, his fingers on her throat clutched even harder 
in spasm then he let go and slumped over her. His whole weight, 
panting and sweating, smothering her as she tried to heave air 
back into her starving lungs and each tortuous breath reminded 
her that she was still here and it was not over. Hot tears coursed 
down her face.

He rolled off her and onto his back.

"Stop crying."

Alice managed to pull herself together. She wiped her face on the 
sheet. 

"Your stuff is in my coat pocket, help yourself."

She shut her eyes for a moment shame oozing through her at how 
fucking grateful she was that he hadn't forgotten. She got up and 
pulled her nightdress down, her thighs were sticky with his 
semen.

"What do you say, Alice?"

"Thank you very much."

"Good girl. Now be quiet because I want to get some sleep."

She watch him roll onto his stomach, he was snoring before she 
got out of the bedroom door.

The syringe was just where he'd said it would be and she settled 
herself on the sofa. She began to cry again as she found a good 
spot between her toes. As the drug rushed through her veins, the 
tears became a river that carried her off to a gentler place from 
which she desperately longed never to return.