Chapter Two:

Extra-Sensory Perception

August 7, 1998
Avalon, NJ
6:38 P.M.

	A dark blue ford rental car parked in front of the Avalon Inn, in the 
middle of the pouring rain. Two muddled forms exited the vehicle, 
huddled under a black umbrella, and headed for the door to the Inn. 
	The taller form, Agent Mulder, opened the door to the receptionists' 
office, shaking the  water off his umbrella. Scully, her red hair ruined 
by the rain, wrinkled her nose, squinting from the intense bright lights 
of the room. She glanced at the receptionist, who was glaring at Mulder 
for shaking water onto the furniture.
	"Sorry," Mulder told the receptionist. She was an elderly woman, with 
silvery hair tucked neatly into a bun on top of her head. 
	The receptionist nodded slightly, then asked Scully: "What can I do for 
you?"
	"We'd like two connected rooms, non-smoking area, please," Scully 
stated, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked at Mulder, 
who hair was sopping. He had given her her fair share and more of the 
umbrella. Truth be told, he actually looked kind of sexy, with his hair 
strewn every which-way. In a little boy sense. 'Yeah, Dana, you keep 
telling yourself that,' she scolded herself. The receptionist 
interrupted her reverie:
	"I'm sorry Miss, but we don't have any connected rooms available. There 
are two vacant rooms on either side of the hotel, but one of them is in 
the smoking area. If you wish, you  may share a room with two beds.
	Mulder looked at Scully, who shrugged.
	"We'll take the room with two beds," Mulder replied. 
	The receptionist typed a few things onto her computer, clicked the 
enter key, and began searching through the room keys. Scully took this 
oppurtunity to raise an eyebrow at Mulder, and say:
	"Mulder, you know that fraternizing with other agents in the same hotel 
room is against bureau protocol, let alone sharing one."
	"Since when do I follow protocol, Scully? And I seem to recall that the 
last time we had separate rooms, you almost got killed by invisible men 
with red eyes. I'll take my chances."
	"Sir, here is your key," the receptionist broke in. "Room 10 is on the 
first floor, left wing."
	Mulder took the key, nodded his thanks, and headed out the door. Scully 
followed him under his umbrella to the car, where she and Mulder 
retreived their bags from the trunk. They ran toward the room, and upon 
reaching it, Mulder put key in hole, and opened the door. Scully ducked 
under Mulder's arm into the hotel room, and dropped her bags on the far 
bed. Mulder followed suit with the other bed, and shut the door behind 
him. 
	"Rough out there, Ahab," Scully said.
	Mulder looked up from his bags at Scully, then said "We're hunting for 
Dolphins, not White Whales, Starbuck," he corrected. He lifted his 
clothes out of his suitcase, and piled them onto the bed. "I want to 
unpack, then we'll grab a bite to eat at a little restaurant down the 
street--look over the case file. I had decided on interviewing Sarah 
Carter first, but the police station is over the bridge, and I don't 
want to take a chance in this weather."
	"No accounting for a sense of adventure," Scully said. "Okay, the 
restaurant, but first I want to take a shower. I'm soaked. You unpack, 
and I'll be done in about 20 minutes."
	Mulder raised his eyebrows at her. "Ooh, Scully, you're yelling at me 
for sharing a room with you, and yet you're going to shower in front of 
me?"
	Scully's forehead wrinkled. "Mulder, I never said--"
	"Scully, look at the bathroom. The door to it is clear, as is the 
shower curtain."
	She looked at the room, then back at Mulder. "Mulder, we've been in 
here for about 30 seconds, and yet you've already got the blueprints of 
the place inside and out? I didn't know that the first place you look 
when you stay in a hotel was the toilet."
	Mulder shrugged. "I drank too much soda. Just drape a towel over the 
shower, and you should be okay until it fogs up. I won't peek."
	"You expect me to trust you not to peek, Mulder, when you sit in the 
office when I'm not there, watching the latest edition of 'Celebrity 
skin'?"
	"You wound me, Scully. That was a bee documentary. Just go take the 
shower. I won't peek, I promise."
	Scully shot him a look, then headed for the bathroom.
	'This could be better than I'd hoped,' thought Mulder, hiding a grin. 
Of course, he wouldn't peek. He respected Scully's privacy, though it 
wasn't anything he hadn't seen before. In that UFO in Antarctica, she 
had been buck naked, and freezing cold in a cryopod. He'd had to break 
through the ice, drag her nude body out, and wrap her in his jacket. Of 
course, he'd gotton an eyeful of Scully-flesh that he'd never imagined 
seeing. Not that he had minded... And then he'd had to give her 
mouth-to-mouth resucitation. Had it been under any other circumstances, 
things could have gotton--well, they would have gotton-- 'Bad thoughts, 
Mulder,' he chided himself.
	He tried to switch his mind into another topic, but his thoughts kept 
drifting back to Scully. As they had been, ever since--well, ever since 
Robert Patrick Modell. When he had held that gun to her head, seen the 
tears streaking down her face, he had overcome Modell's mind-game, and 
shot him. He had never forgiven himself for holding a gun on Scully, 
when she had trusted him so implicidly. She was the only one he trusted. 
And if something ever happened to her, he could never go on. He had told 
her that, or at least tried to, that night when she got stung....
	
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	"Scully, you've saved me. As difficult and frustrating as it's been 
sometimes, you're goddamn strict rationalism and science have saved me, 
a thousand times over. You've kept me honest, and made me a whole 
person." Pause. "I don't want to do this without you, Scully. I don't 
even know if I can. And if I quit now, they win."
	His hands were resting on her shoulders, and he had looked into heer 
deep blue eyes. She had leaned into his arms, then, after an expression 
of mingled relief and disbelief. Mulder had held her for a long time, 
thinking only of that moment. That he had Dana Scully in his arms, and 
she wasn't dying of cancer, or recovering from an alien abduction, or 
even, god forbid, even trying to hide her feelings from him about Donnie 
Pfaster. That one moment was so amazing, and he was as emotionally high 
as he had ever  been. But then she had leaned up on this ridiculous 
high-heels of hers, and kissed him on the forehead. That's what had done 
him in. She had rested his forehead against hers, and his hands were 
resting lightly on her waist. He had breathed in the smell of her, like 
seaspray,  felt her warmth, and he could no longer resist. He raised his 
hands up to her face, lifted his head, and looked into her eyes once 
more. Hoping to reveal for her in his own eyes, what he couldn't say in 
words. He had stroked her cheek, smoothed her hair back, caressed her 
neck. She looked into his eyes, and her own had widened with realization 
at what he was preparing himself to do. Her own again showed disbelief, 
but now, they held warmth also. For him, and Mulder could scarcely 
believe it. He had leaned in slowly, when--

	"Mulder!"
	He looked up, startled from sleep.
	"Mulder, you okay?" Scully stood in front of him, her hair wet, and 
neatly combed. Her forehead was creased into a frown. But all she wore 
were gray sweatpants, and a thin tan t-shirt. "I kept saying your name, 
and you didn't answer."
	Mulder's heart pounded hard, and he swallowed. "I was just thinking 
about the case." He glanced over at the clock. "8:00! Scully, why didn't 
you wake me up??"
	This time it was Scully who flushed. "Well, you looked tired, and I 
didn't want to wake you. We wouldn't have been able to get a lot done 
anyway, and at least this way we can sort through the file without 
staining it with food." 
	"But we still could have eaten something. My stomach is growling, and I 
haven't eaten since the plane food. All I had then were the in-flight 
peanuts." He was hoping that his complaining would mask his emotions.
	"And a nice view of the stewardess. Mulder, it's late. I have a 
nutra-grain bar in my purse. Do you want that? I ate some steak on the 
flight."
	Mulder grumbled. "Yeah, I guess. Nutra-grain, Scully, you still trying 
to lose weight? Because, let me assure you, all the guys in Violent 
Crimes would tell you otherwise..." He grinned.
	Scully almost smiled, and raised the traditional eyebrow. "Mulder, are 
you coming on to me?"
	Mulder raised his own eyebrow, but all he said was, "Where's that bar? 
I think I'm going to read a little, take some notes, then hit the sack. 
I'm beat from the flight." Although, he knew there was no way he'd be 
able to sleep that night. Not with Dana Scully next to him.