Part 2 of 3

After several more hours of Mulder working up a
profile and Scully reading over the autopsies - and a
quick trip to the hotel coffee shop for sandwiches at
lunch - the agents were interrupted by a knock on the
door. It was Jake.

As Jake shared the information on his life that Mulder would need to know, the agents shared their theory as to who the killer might possibly be.

"Does it ring any bells at all?" Mulder asked.
"Understand that just because you give us a name, it
doesn't mean you're accusing anyone. There may be
several women you know who fit the general
description."

"Go over it again."

"A woman aged anywhere from mid-thirties to late
forties. Reasonably tall, in fairly good shape. We're
not talking Xena, Warrior Princess here necessarily,
but definitely not five foot two and 98 pounds,
either. Either divorced or never married. Someone you
work with, maybe. A woman who was a close friend or
sister of either Alexis or Kate. Somebody you grew up
with and still talk to occasionally. A neighbor."

"I'm sorry, but no. There are only three women in the
office where I work; one is an attractive 25-year-old
who's recently gotten engaged, the second is about my
age and happily married with two children in
elementary school, the third is a 60-year-old widowed
Grandma. Alexis was an only child and her best friend
- her only really close friend - was tiny; she kind of looked like you, actually, Agent Scully - a petite
redhead."

"How about Kate?"

"I never met any of Kate's friends or relations. Our
relationship kind of existed in its own little bubble, so to speak. And no, I can't think of any neighbors or childhood friends who fit the description, either."

"Why don't you ever pick up tall women?" Mulder asked. "You're nearly six feet yourself, but none of the victims was taller than five five."

Jake was silent for a moment. "I guess because Alexis
was tall. Five eight. When she wore really high heels, we were the same height. It's. . .easier, somehow, to be with women who don't remind me quite so much of her. That's the same reason I only pick up blondes or redheads. Because Alexis was a brunette."

"Okay," Mulder said. "I guess we're about done here.
You've give the story at your office?"

"Yeah, I'm taking a week or so ff. I may bum around
home, I may take off to the mountains for a few days.
This way, if someone sees you being "me" around town,
it doesn't arouse suspicions."

"Since we don't know exactly how the killer tracks
you, it's important to play our cards close to our
vest," Mulder said.

"We DO know there's no kind of bug or tracking device
in your home, vehicle or office; the local agents
swept all three locations yesterday," Scully said.

"I need to know exactly what you do in public with
these women," Mulder said. "Do you buy them a drink
first or ask them to dance first? Are you all over
them or are you relatively restrained? Do you ask them to leave with you within twenty minutes, or do you spend a couple of hours at the club first? What do you wear? Do they stay on 'til morning at your place or leave in the middle of the night?"

"Want to know how much foreplay and what positions,
too?" snapped Jake.

"Listen, Jake, I don't give a damn about your private
life!" Mulder replied. "All I want to know is the
information I need not to screw up this
investigation!"

"Fine," Jake said. running a hand through his hair.
"You're welcome to wear my clothes, if you want, since you're taking over my life! But if you'd rather choose your own - California Clubbin' Casual. A T-shirt, but a nice one. Dark, solid colors like black, navy blue or dark green. Jeans. Boots. A tweed or leather jacket. My sunglasses. Generally, I ask them to dance first, then after a couple of songs we stop and drink. The drinking and dancing usually go on for two or three hours. I may be a pig, but even I draw the line at saying "Want to go to my place and fuck?" five minutes after I first meet a woman. During the first hour or so, I'm a perfect gentleman. After that, I tend to get a little. . .friendlier, but not so much that it's physically impossible for me to walk out of the club. Generally speaking, they sleep over at my place 'til morning, but a couple of them have left in the middle of the night. I don't get lucky every time, you know. Sometimes, when I make my suggestion, the woman in question is insulted. One woman even threw a drink in my face. Several others have simply suggested that we trade phone numbers, go out to dinner the next night, get to know each other a little better before we hit the sheets. Since that's not what I'm interested in, I decline such offers and go home alone."

"Look, Jake, I know this is embarrassing for you,"
Scully said. "Agent Mulder and I aren't exactly in an
easy situation either; we have to pretend to pick each other up, knowing that three or four other agents will be lurking in the shadows of the club, watching our every move."

"You want my advice, you two feel free to take full
advantage of my place. I have never met two such
uptight individuals! Are we done?"

"Yeah, I think so," Mulder replied. "I've got your
cell phone number, in case we need to get hold of
you, and you've got mine in case something comes up,
right?"

"Right," Jake confirmed.

"Goodbye, then. You and your dog enjoy the mountains."

As soon as Jake had left, Mulder turned to Scully
with a smile on his face. "You think we're uptight,
Scully?"

"Mmm, well, combined we are."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you're up, I'm tight."

"Scully!" Mulder said, then laughed. He was surprised
that his usually rather reserved wife had come up with such a sexy play on words; and on the spur of the moment, too. Moving toward her, he backed her up until her knees hit the edge of the bed and she fell onto it, smiling up at him. He let himself fall on top of her, grabbing her hands and holding them on either side of her face while he kissed her. Finally, he came up for air and buried his face in her hair, outlining the edge of her ear with his tongue.

"Mulder, we have work to do," Scully moaned. He
grinned. This was a tone he recognized. On the
extremely rare occasions when his wife actually didn't want to do anything sexual with him, her tone was quiet and serious. This was breathy and teasing. It was her I-know-we-shouldn't-but-I-really-want-to- so-go-ahead-and-persuade-me tone.

Mulder kissed her again and moved his lower body
against hers, so she could feel how turned on he was.
He'd finally come up for air again, grinned, and was
in the process of removing his tie when there was a
knock on the door.

"Agents?" it was Jake's voice. "I remembered one more
thing you might need to know."

"Shit," Mulder muttered in Scully's ear. "You're going to have to deal with him, Dana. I'm going to go to the bathroom and dump a couple of ice cubes down my pants or something."

Scully giggled and waited until Mulder had shut the
bathroom door before she opened the one leading to the corridor.

Jake was surprised at the picture Scully made as she
stood in the doorway. A few minutes ago, she had
seemed a consumate professional and about as sexy as
his grandmother. Now, although she was still fully
dressed, her hair was mussed and her lips was swollen. She seemed. . .softer, more womanly. Jake made a quick mental revision of Agent Mulder; obviously he was responsible for his partner's condition. Maybe these two weren't so uptight, after all.

Unfortunately, just as Jake was leaving, the local
field agents called to discuss the case. By the time
the conversation was over, there really wasn't time
for indulgence in any marital relations. Mulder took
Scully and her suitcases to the federal building,
where they met Agent Li in the parking lot, so Scully
could go home with her. Then Mulder headed over to the other side of town to begin acting out his role as Jake.

Around nine p.m., Mulder arrived at the club. He
grinned at one of the cocktail waitresses, sat down at the bar, traded quips with the bartender and ordered a beer. He'd been there only a few minutes when Scully and Li walked in.

Damn! Mulder thought. He'd never seen Scully dressed
like this before. She was wearing a black skintight
mini-dress witha matching jacket, black hose and heels so high he didn't see how she could walk. Within thirty seconds of the time she and Li had walked in, Mulder was asking her to dance.

As he led her onto the dance floor and pulled her into his arms, Mulder murmured, "Let me guess. Missy made you buy the dress years ago, but you never had any place to wear it before now."

Scully giggled. "Is it that obvious?"

"Let's just say, you and your sister had radically
different tastes. By this time, I've learned to
differentiate between the things you pick out for
yourself and the items Missy made you buy. Like the
bikini you wore when we were in Hawaii."

"Mmm, well, you look great, too, um, 'Jake'. Do I even want to know the last time you were in a club?"

"Probably not. Actually, I can't even remember. Know
what bums me?"

"What?"

"That we never got assignments like this before we were married."

Scully giggled again and snuggled tighter against him
as the music changed from bouncy pop-rock to a slow,
seductive ballad.

"Scul-lee," Mulder moaned in her ear.

"Mmm?"

"This is going to be the longest three hours of my
life!"

It was. Mulder was on the verge of dragging Scully
into a dimly lit corner and having his way with her
right there at the club when his watch finally showed
it was midnight and he could reasonably ask Scully to
go back to Jake's place with him without blowing their cover.

Holding hands, Mulder and Scully walked back over to
Li. Scully gave a very good impression of being
slightly inebriated - or maybe the three glasses of
wine she'd downed made it more than just an
impression. Li played the part of a concerned friend
trying to make sure that Scully knew what she was
doing.

Eventually, they made it out to the parking lot.
Mulder, who'd had only two beers the entire evening
and had a body weight nearly twice that of his wife,
was still completely sober.

They got into a vehicle that Mulder had requisitioned
earlier that day. It was the same make, model, color
and year as the one Jake drove. The license plates
were different, but that couldn't be helped and they
could only hope the killer wouldn't notice.

"How long 'til we get to your place 'Jake'?" Scully
asked with a smile.

"Not long. I hope you, uh, like it."

When they arrived at Jake's spacious loft apartment,
Scully was amazed. The place was large and neat, but
it was decorated like a "swinging single" bachelor pad from the 1960s or 70s.

"Mulder, is that a mirror over the bed?" she inquired.

"Mmmhmm," her husband replied with a grin.

"And leopard skin print sheets?"

"They're clean. I tossed them in the washing machine
and dryer, then remade the bed when I was here for a
couple of hours earlier this evening."

"You know, for all his good looks, I'm surprised Jake
ever gets lucky with ANY woman. I'd think they'd be
too busy laughing! I mean, this is like something out
of those movies I made you give to Frohike."

"You don't like the idea of the mirror?"

"I. . .don't know."

"We could always turn off the lights. That way, the
mirror wouldn't have anything to reflect."

"Yeah," Scully agreed. "But. . .maybe. . .we'll see."

"Jake's got all kind of, er, *interesting* things
around. I could work up a helluva profile on the guy
just from sticking my nose in his nightstand drawers
and stuff."

"Like what?"

"Let's see. Enough dirty videos and magazines to put
my own premarital collection to shame. He even has a
bunch of handwritten letters that women apparently
wrote to him, in which they share their most secret or shameful sexual escapades. A bunch of ties and
scarves. Three guesses what those are for. Let's see,
here's something I thought you might like."

"Mulder," Scully's voice came out as a sort of squeak.

"What, baby?"

"I can't. . .I mean. . .please don't tie me up."

"Dana, I would never do that! For one thing, I'd never do anything you don't want me to! For another, that's not my idea of fun; I enjoy your active
participation."

"What, then?" she whispered, wrapping her arms around
his neck burying her face in shoulder. Sitting down on the bed, Mulder held her on his lap and stroked her back.

"Sweetheart, we don't have to *ANYTHING* if you don't
want to. I'd be lying if I said this whole situation
isn't turning me on. It is. But I'm not going risk
ruining the best thing that's ever happened to me for
one night of rollicking sex. Do you want to just turn
out the lights and go to sleep?"

"No. I want you. I'm just. . .what was it you thought
I'd like?"

"This. It's some sort of lotion. I remember how much
you used to love having me put suntan lotion on you
when we were in Hawaii. I just thought you'd like
this. But if you don't want to. . ."

Scully smiled up at him. "Please. I'd like it. I want
to do you, too. Just let me take off my clothes first."

"I want to do that," Mulder said, his voice thick with desire.

Scully nodded. She moaned as he tossed off her jacket
and let his fingers dance tantalizingly over her
breasts. He slid his hands over her shoulders and down her back, unzipping the dress as he went. Then he pulled off her heels and the lacy, thigh high
stockings. Unable to resist, he dropped an
open-mouthed kiss on her through her panties. When she whimpered, he grinned and undid her bra and slid off the panties.

"Now my turn," Scully said with a smile. Mulder kicked off his boots, then let her pull the black T-shirt over his head. She made quick work of his jeans and briefs, pulling them off - along with his socks - in one quick movement. "Mmm," she said, running her hands up and down his chest, his belly, his arms, his thighs, his back - everywhere except where he most wanted her to touch him.

"Dana," he growled, guiding her hands to his throbbing arousal.

"You weren't kidding when you said this situation was
turning you on. Where's that lotion?"

"Here. Lie down."

Scully flopped onto the bed, then rolled over on her
stomach. Mulder began stroking her back with
lotion-slick hands, causing her to give out little
sighs of pleasure. When his hands moved lower - to her bottom and upper thighs - the sighs became full blown moans. "I want you," she murmured.

"In a minute," Mulder said, trying to ignore his own
need. "Tonight may have to last us awhile and I don't
want to rush things. Roll over."

She complied and he rubbed the lotion into her
breasts, fondling them until her nipples were tight
peaks. Then he moved lower, massaging it into her
sides and stomach. Then both feet and back up her
legs. She was writhing on the bed by this point, but
finally managed to get out, " My turn. I want to put
the lotion on you."

"Okay," Mulder said, lying down obediently. Scully
began working the lotion into his broad shoulders,
then down his back, his biceps, his thighs - finally
his rear.

"You can roll over now," she whispered in his ear.

He rolled over and reached for her, but she gently
swatted his hands away. "Not yet. I'm still doing
lotion on you."

"Scul-lee!" he moaned.

"Just a little bit more. Here," she said, running a
hand down his chest and belly. "And here," she touched his arousal and began stroking him, her hand gliding up and down silkily.

Mulder growled and grabbed her. This time she didn't
try to resist, only giving a breathy sound somewhere
between a gasp and a giggle when he latched onto one
nipple with his mouth. He pulled her up along his body for a kiss, then slid her back down. She reached
between her legs and guided him into her.

Mulder smiled up at his wife. He was enjoying both the view of her face - eyes dilated wide with passion, lips curving up into a loving smile - and the view reflected in the mirror, that gorgeous, sexy ass of hers moving atop him. He moved his hands down her back to her bottom, watching himself in the mirror. He'd never understand why some men had such an aversion to this position. Not only did he not have to worry about hurting his wife when she was the one on top, it gave him complete access to her whole body. It also totally eliminated any worries abut ending the festivities. . .prematurely, so to speak. And with the added bonus of the mirror. . .

"Enjoying the view?" Scully murmured in his ear.

"Yeah," he admitted. "I'm not saying I'd want our
bedroom at home to look like this, but it's kind of
fun for one night. Don't you think?"

"Oooh, Mulder! I just had the weirdest mental picture
flash across my brain. You and me, fully clothed,
lying on the bed in your old apartment, drinking wine
while we looked up at ourselves reflected in a mirror
above your bed. You never had a mirror in there, did
you?"

He laughed. "Dana, not only was there no mirror, for
most of our partnership I couldn't even get on the
bed! It was always piled high with papers and books
and laundry and stuff. That's why I always slept on
the couch. In any case, if we were ever on the bed
together drinking wine - fully clothed or not - it's
definitely something I would remember!"

"Guess it must have been a dream I had once or
something."

"Pretty tame dream. I mean, the mirror thing is
interesting and so is the wine, but fully clothed? I'd think you could do better than that!"

"Oh, yes, I can do MUCH better than that," she
murmured in his ear, before licking the outer rim and
blowing in it.

"Oh, yeah! Damn, sweetheart!"

After that there were no more words, just gasps and
sighs and moans. Then Scully screaming out her
pleasure as she rocked back on him, followed a while
later by Mulder's own groan of ecstasy as he climaxed.

Eventually Mulder shifted Scully's legs, so that she
was no longer sprawled on top of him, but was lying
beside him with her head pillowed on his shoulder. "I
love you," he murmured.

"Love you, too," she whispered sleepily.

The next morning Mulder awoke early, just as the
sunrise was beginning to send rays in through the
slatted blinds. He grinned. Sometime during the night, he and Scully had repositioned themselves. She was now lying spooned in his arms, her back to his chest and her luscious little bottom snuggled tight against his cock. And he was up, his erection so stiff it was practically throbbing against her.

Mulder allowed himself a moment of smug masculine
pride. It had been well after midnight when they'd
climaxed last night and it couldn't be any later than
seven now. So, twice in less than six hours was what
he was looking at. Pretty good for a man only a couple of years shy of forty, he thought.

He began kissing Scully's shoulder and neck, while
running his fingertips down her breasts, belly and
thighs.

Scully wasn't sure where her dreams ended and reality
began, they merged so effortlessly into each other.
She could feel Mulder surrounding her - touching her
lightly on the front and kissing her back - not to
mention the feel of his arousal.

"One for the road, sweetheart?" he asked, his voice
tickling her ear.

"Mmmhmm. You on top this time."

"Okay," he said, flipping her onto her back and
kneeling between her legs. "Any particular reason
why?"

"Yeah," Scully answered sleepily, pushing the sheet
down so that his body was exposed. "Maybe you're not
the only person in this bed who enjoys a nice rear
view of their spouse's, um, assets."

"Why Dana Katherine Scully! I'm shocked!"

"Right, Mulder. Sure you are."

Mulder thrust into her lazily and Scully smiled up at
him, first meeting his eyes then letting her glance
wander to the reflection of his backside in the
mirror. She could both feel it and see it when he
began to speed up.

"You go ahead and come, lover," she whispered.

"Ladies first," he answered back with a grin, then
snaked a hand between their bodies to tickle her a
bit.

Dana gave a long, shuddering sigh as she climaxed and
the feel of her internal muscles contracting around
him pushed Mulder over the edge as well.

After a few minutes of afterglow snuggling, Scully
reluctantly pushed herself away from her husband and
out of bed. "Guess I'd better go take a quick shower
and then hit the road," she said. "Jake told us most
of the women were out of here by nine, and it's almost that time now."

"Want me to join you?" he asked hopefully.

"Mulder, I think I am supposed to be able to WALK out
of here," she replied with a smile.

"What do you mean, I can't have any further contact
with her?" Mulder squawked into his cell phone. "She's my partner!"

"Nobody's trying to separate the two of you
permanently, Spooky!" Agent Landers replied testily.
"It's just that, after further review, the Special
Agent in Charge decided we better play it by the book. Jake only spent one night with the victims, then never saw them again. If the killer thinks 'Jake' is getting serious with one of these women he - or she - might not make a move. So, you continue to be Jake and Agent Scully continues to pretend to be a HUD secretary and Agent Li's roommate. As long as the two of you are in Los Angeles, you don't see each other. Feel free to call her on the phone."

Scully rolled over and picked up the phone. Between 11 and 11:30. Right around the time he always used to
call her.

"What is it, Mulder?" she asked.

"Did I wake you?"

"No, but we talked earlier this evening."

"That was business. This is pleasure."

"I miss you."

"I love you."

"I love you, too. I had fun last night," she said.

"Me, too. I hate us not being together. It feels
weird."

"I know. You didn't wake me up, even though it's the
middle of the night by Eastern time. I think I've
caught your insomnia."

"I don't have insomnia anymore, sweetheart. At least,
not under normal circumstances," Mulder replied.

"Meaning. . .?"

"Sleeping in the same bed with you."

"They say sex is the ultimate sleeping pill, lover."

"It's not that. I mean, oh hell, I suppose the sex
helps. It's beyond fantastic. But even on the nights
when we can't, or don't, I still sleep better with you than I did before our marriage. It's just. . ."

"What?" she whispered huskily.

"Knowing you're safe, feeling safe with you. You make
me feel protective and protected at the same time,
Scully."

"I know, Mulder. I feel the same way. I hate sleeping
alone now. It's funny, I did it for so many years,
you'd think it would have been sleeping with someone
that would have been hard to adjust to. But it wasn't. I just. . .don't do very well without you."

"Remember why you were assigned to work with me in the first place, Scully? To take care of me, watch out for me. You've certainly gone above and beyond the call of duty on that one, sweetheart!"

"I love you. I know it sounds really weird to say
this, but I hope I get attacked by that homicidal
maniac real soon, so we can quit playing this game and go home."

Mulder chuckled. "Have you stopped to think how
surreal this whole situation is? I mean, we're married for real, but we generally pretend we have nothing but a professional relationship when we're working with other agents, yet here we are, pretending to be lovers."

"I hadn't thought of it like that," she said, then
paused for a moment. "Mulder, I think you just gave me a headache."

"Well, if you're going to have a headache, I guess
it's better to have it on a night that we're apart."

"Oh, I don't know about that. Remember how you cured
my headache last month when we were in Mississippi?
You were better than the extra-strength Tylenol!"

"Scul-lee!" he moaned. "Are you TRYING to make it
impossible for me to sleep?"

"No, Mulder. I love you. Good night."

"Love you, too. Good night, sweetheart."

Scully pored over the victim profiles Mulder had faxed to her at the office. As "Jake", he couldn't actually enter the federal building without arousing suspicion, so he was working out of the other man's apartment and communicating with Scully and the other agents by phone an fax.

Three of the victims had been found in parking lots.
One near the library of the college she attended, one
of the office where she worked and one of the
apartment complex where she lived. One had been found
in the dimly lit, seldom-used rear corridor of a club, albeit a different club than the one she had been at with Jake. Most intriguingly, two of the victims had been found at home.

As far as the agents investigating the case could
determine, none of the victims had been moved after
death. That mean that whoever the killer was, he - or
she - had been able to talk their way into the homes
of at least two women. The odds of the killer being
someone who was already personally known to both those victims were astronomical, so the killer had to be clever.

Later that evening, Scully was watching TV while Agent Li was taking a shower. A knock on the door alerted her, and she cross the room stealthily, making sure her gun was easily accessible, but out of sight, in the waistband of her jeans underneath the baggy sweatshirt she was wearing.

The peephole showed a woman in her 50s, perhaps a few
years younger than Scully's own mother. Scully had
noticed the woman around the apartment complex a time
or two in the past few days. Keeping the safety chain
in place, Scully opened the door. "Yes?"

"I'm so sorry to bother you, dear, but I've just
recently moved in and my phone hasn't been connected
yet. Would you mind if I came in, just for a moment,
to make a quick local call?"

"Well, my roommate is the one whose name the phone is
under, but I guess it would be okay," Scully said
slowly, sliding the chain off the door and backing
away a bit.

"I just want to wish my daughter a happy birthday.
Today's the actual date, although I'll see her on
Saturday to have dinner and give her the present I
got. Look, this is it, I just bought it today. A
necklace. Do you like it?"

"It's lovely," Scully agreed, looking at the heavy
gold chain. "The phone's right here."

As Scully turned her back, the other woman - who was
about five seven and towered over the petite agent
- whipped the necklace down and wound it around
Scully's neck. Scully's startled mind just had time to realize the trap had worked when she began to lose
consciousness.

A few minutes later, Scully came to with Agent Li
leaning over her and pounding on her chest.

"I'm. . .okay," Scully rasped out.

"Like hell," Li replied. "I've already called for an
ambulance and backup. I couldn't chase her - I had to
get this chain unwrapped from your throat so you could breathe -  but at least we know what the killer looks now. Did you get a good look at her, too?"

Scully nodded. Then she whispered, "Mulder. Call him.
If he hears from other agents that I was attacked
he'll be," she wanted to say "frantic", which was
true, but instead substituted "worried".

"I'll try to get a hold of him," Li said. "You need to rest."

"Speed dial. First button. My cell phone," Scully
whispered, before passing out again.

When Scully woke up again, she thought she was
suffering double vision as the effect of her attack.
Because there were not one, but two Mulders in the
room with her. The one nearest her leaned over and
brushed a light kiss against her cheek.

"How ya feelin', Scully?"

"I've been better. Of course, I've been worse, too.
Why are there two of you?"

Mulder laughed. "Look closer, Scully. There's only one ME."

Scully shifted her attention from the man sitting next to her on the hospital bed to the one across the room. It took her a moment, but then she began to notice the differences in the two men and realization hit her. "Jake," she said.

"Yeah," Jake agreed. "I'm sorry you were attacked. We
got a description from Agent Li and I feel like an
idiot. Because all those questions about Alexis'
relatives and the description of the height and
fitness level of the attacker, even the marital
status. And I never even came close to making the
connection. Although I've got to say, you were off a
bit on the age."

"Who?" Scully whispered.

"Alexis' mother," Jake answered.

"At least, we think so," Mulder added. "We had a
description from Agent Li and did a composite drawing. It fits, Scully. Alexis was her only child. She and her husband have been divorced for years. She's tall and in remarkably good shape for a woman in her 50s. I was on the right track, I just didn't take it far enough. Blinded by my own sexism and ageism,  guess. I've never heard of a post-menopausal woman being a serial killer before."

"You're right, I think," Scully whispered. "Before the attack, the woman was talking about her daughter but she had, I don't know, a weird look in her eyes. Get her?"

"No, not yet, but now that we know who we're looking
for it will just be a matter of time," Mulder replied.