Chapter Two

Strange Happening


Scully rubbed the bridge of her nose after removing 
her reading glasses. She reached into her purse and 
pulled out a rubber band. She smoothed her red hair 
into a ponytail.

Her eyes were getting tired from reading the files 
in front of her. They all said the same thing. The 
victims know their killer, probably a boyfriend. They 
also had displayed signs of physical abuse at some point 
in the year before their deaths. The abuse was alleged 
however, mostly from statement made by friends of the women.

Scully had cross-referenced the cases and all the 
boyfriends' names and found no similar ones.

"Hey, Scully, take a break." She looked up and saw 
Camren standing in the doorway. He held two white 
Styrofoam cups. "I brought you some coffee. Where's Mulder?"

"He's in the restroom." She covered her mouth and 
yawned. "I'm sorry." 

Camren moved into the office and set the cups on 
the desk. "This case is already boring you?"

"No, no. I just haven't found any correlation in these 
files that has to do with the victims' boyfriends. All 
the names are different."

"Don't get discouraged. You're new to this case."

"But we have to work quickly. I don't want any 
more deaths."

Camren sat in the chair in front of Mulder's desk. "I 
know. I don't either."

Scully closed a file folder. "Why'd you want us on the 
case?" she asked.

"Besides the fact that Mulder is a profiling genius and 
that you two have closed so many cases?"

"Despite them being X-files," she added.

"Yes. That's pretty amazing."

Scully picked up her cup of coffee. "How did you know 
I only use creamer?" she asked after taking a sip.

"I remember from the last time we went to lunch together."

She smiled. "Good memory."

Mulder came back into the office. "Hey, Agent Camren. 
What's up?"

"Nothing." He looked at the second cup of coffee on the 
desk. "I, um, brought you two coffee, but I have to go now. 
I have to call my mother." He stood up and left.

"He's in a hurry but it was nice of him to bring us 
coffee." Mulder picked up the full cup and looked at his 
partner. "Okay, now I get it. This coffee wasn't for you 
and me. It was for you and Camren. I'm sorry I interrupted, 
Scully."

"No problem."

"I'm going to work up a profile tonight while I'm at home 
by myself."

"Are you calling your mom?" Scully straightened the 
file folders.

"Yeah, as soon as I get home. The Bureau would be pissed if 
I charged personal long-distance calls to them."

Scully nodded and it became quiet. The ringing of her cell 
phone shattered the silence. She answered it quickly. "Scully."

"Dana? It's Matt, from lunch."

She propped her elbow on the arm of her chair and leaned 
back. "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to say hi and see if I scared you at all today."

"No, you didn't. I thought it was weird that someone was 
so eager to talk to me. You never gave up."

"My middle name is 'Persistent'. I keep trying."

"I'm glad you did." She chuckled after seeing Mulder's 
confused look. "You're really interesting."

"I'm just being impulsive but I was wondering if you'd 
like to join me for dinner one of these days."

"Give me your number and I'll get back to you. I'm leaving 
soon, for dinner with my mother and I don't know what I'm 
up to in the next few days."

She picked up a pen and jotted down Matt's number as he 
told her. She double-checked it. "555-0360, right?"

"Yeah. If I'm not home, just leave a message."

"Well, nice talking to you. I have to finish up my 
work and head out. 'Bye."

"Have a good night. Goodbye."

Scully hung up and Mulder asked immediately, "Who was that?"

"That man I met when I went for lunch."

"Oh, that's so nice." Mulder gave a cheesy smile. "You 
better get a move on. I don't want you to be late for supper."

"Yeah, I know." She handed him the folders. "Here. I 
hope you have better luck with these than I did."

She stood up and pulled her coat from the chair Mulder 
was sitting on. She slipped it on and bent down to grab 
her purse and shopping bag. "I'll see you later, Mulder."

"Do you need any help out to your car?"

"No. I'll be fine." She walked out the door.

She was halfway down the hall when she heard Mulder 
call, "Hey, Scully. You didn't get me anything from the 
cafeteria."




"Dana, this is wonderful," Margaret Scully told her 
daughter after they were seated at the restaurant she'd 
chosen, Melissis.

"I never knew you liked Greek food, Mom." Scully smiled as 
the waiter took her napkin and placed it on her lap. He did 
the same for Margaret before handing them both menus.

"I'll leave you ladies to decide," he said. He left to wait 
on another table.

Margaret responded to her daughter's earlier comment. "My 
friend Sophia recommended this place."

"How is Mrs. Thompson?" Scully drank some water from the 
glass on her place mat.

"She's fine. Her youngest daughter just got married in 
Toronto last month."

Scully's eyes widened. "Little Daphne is married? Where
has the time gone? I remember babysitting her when she 
was seven. The Thompsons said I was the most responsible 
fifteen-year-old. She's grown up."

"I said the same thing." Margaret glanced at the menu.

Scully was sure her mother had stopped doing this, telling 
her about everybody else getting married, hoping that her 
daughter would someday wed. She'd quit for a while after 
Scully had discovered a tumour in her body, a cancer that 
was now in remission. Scully was sure her mother knew that 
she had more important things on her mind, priorities that
 came before getting involved with a man.

"Mom, I met a man today." Scully looked up from her menu 
to see her mother's shocked look.

"Really? What's he like?"

"From what I know, he's great. His name is Matt and he 
returned my driver's license. I dropped it. We're going 
out soon."

Margaret smiled. "That's wonderful." She set her menu 
on the table. "So how's work?"

"I don't like discussing it over dinner."

"Oh, you're on a case, and a bad one, I'm guessing."

"You know me so well."

"Of course. You're my daughter."

The waiter returned and both Scully and her mother 
ordered Greek meatballs, chicken pilaf and a serving of 
dolmathes. Margaret requested two glasses of mineral water.

"Mom, I have your present." She reached under her chair 
and pulled out the large wrapped box.

"Dana, honey, you didn't have to." Margaret took the box 
from her daughter.

"Open it. You're going to like it."

Margaret pulled the wrapping paper off and opened it. 
She smiled when she saw the dress. "You remembered. Thank 
you, sweetie." She got up, hugged Scully, and returned to 
her seat.

They were silent after the food arrived. Scully was 
thinking about Matt. She was going to call him when 
she got home.




The entire bathroom smelled of apples. Scully breathed in 
deeply, enjoying the scent of the bubble bath. Baths in 
her white antique tub were a guilty pleasure she indulged 
it whenever she was tense and worn out.

She carefully stood her cordless phone beside the tub. 
She'd dropped her mother off and was expecting a call from her.

Scully pinned her thick red hair up and slipped off her 
white robe. She tested the water with her hand and after 
she ran some more warm water, she stepped into the bathtub. 
She carefully sat down.

She sighed and leaned back, putting her hands on the tub's 
edges. Her sore leg muscles felt like liquid. Her shoulders 
and neck became loose. She wanted to close off her mind 
from all distracting thoughts and enjoy some time to 
herself, with no interruptions. However, her new case 
needed to be solved before any more young women were killed.

Her phone rang and she reached down to grab it. She 
turned it on. "Hello?"

"Dana, I hope it's not too late." It was Matt. "Did I 
wake you?"

"Matt, it's only ten." She stretched out a leg, making 
a sloshing sound.

"Are you in the bath?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. What can I do for you?"

"Would you like to out tomorrow? To dinner? I'd also like 
to take you to my friend's dance club."

"Um, that sounds good but I must warn you now: I got a new 
assignment today at work and I need to play a lot of 
attention to it."

"You work on Sundays?"

"Not usually. Today was the first time in ages." 
She smiled.

"Well, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, Dana. 
Enjoy your night."

"Goodbye, Matt." Scully hung up her phone, put it on the 
floor and leaned her head back to think.

She never would have agreed to a date with a man she'd 
just met but she knew she'd need to relax. Perhaps a night 
out would help, but she didn't date often. She usually 
became wrapped up in a case but then again, men rarely 
asked her out.

Scully sighed and lowered her head underwater. She 
emerged and closed her eyes, determined to stay in 
the tub until she was totally relaxed.




Scully was rudely awakened from her wonderful sleep by 
the phone ringing. She groaned and reached to answer it.

It was Mulder. "Scully, I'm sorry for waking you so early 
but there's been another murder. I'm coming to get you."

She yawned. "Give me twenty minutes to get ready."