Chapter Three

Snow White


Neighbours surrounded the murdered woman's house; some 
were in tears. Because it was early morning most were wearing 
their pajamas. 

Michael Camren was talking to another man in a suit when 
Mulder and Scully approached him. "Detective John Webber, 
these are Agents Mulder and Scully. They joined our 
investigating team yesterday."

Webber got down to business. "The victim is Laurie Gillum, 
age twenty-six. She lived here alone but was believed to 
be seeing several men. We've located two."

"What's the approximate time of death?" Mulder asked.

"Around midnight. A paperboy found her. He's told us that 
he always delivered Laurie's paper last, because he liked 
to sit and talk with her. When she wasn't out here, he 
decided to knock on the door. It was open and he found her."

"May I see the body?" Scully said.

Laurie Gillum's house was beautifully furnished with 
antiques. There was only a small sign of a struggle. 
Some lamps were on their sides but nothing had been 
broken. "This guy's good," Mulder said.

"We're looking for trace evidence," Webber told him. 
"Agent Scully, the body's over there."

Scully had already seen the body covered with a white 
sheet. She dug into her trench coat's pocket and pulled 
out a pair of latex gloves. She put them on slowly.

"Hey Scully, do you have an extra pair of those?" 
Mulder asked.

"Yeah." She grabbed two more rubber gloves and tossed 
them to her partner.

Mulder knelt down and pulled the sheet back. Laurie 
Gillum was strikingly beautiful, even in death. Her 
thick black hair was spread out beneath her. Her full 
red lips had a tinge of blue to them. Her skin was pale 
except for the bruises and cuts around her neck.

Laurie reminded Scully of Snow White, but this beauty 
wasn't going to be awakened by a kiss from Prince Charming. 
This wasn't a fairy tale. Her "Prince Charming" had 
murdered her. He'd given her the poisoned apple.

"Scully, it looks like Laurie Gillum didn't struggle." 
He pointed to the woman's hands. Her fingers were curled, 
as if she'd been clawing the ground.

"I think the killer had his knees pinning her arms down. 
There's some slight bruising on her arms." Scully carefully 
lifted Laurie's left arm. 

"Are you going to perform the autopsy?" Mulder asked.

"Um, I'd rather not. Besides, I'm sure Webber has a 
pathologist lined up."

"Well, do you want to come to my place tonight? We 
should see if there are any documented reports of 
physical abuse on file for Laurie. Webber's said he'd 
talk to her friends to see if they knew whether or not
Laurie's been abused."

"It would be so much easier if these reports weren't 
just hearsay."

Both agents were startled when Camren started talking 
from behind them. "We can't find the rope."

Scully took off her gloves. "As soon as the autopsy 
report is in, have a copy sent by courier to Mulder's 
apartment, preferably this evening."

Mulder smiled. "So you're coming over?"

"No. I have a date," she said quickly. Mulder's jaw 
dropped and Camren followed in suit.

"With who?" Camren asked.

"You don't know him. His name is Matt Davison. I met him 
yesterday." She frowned. "Mulder, don't look so surprised. 
If I want to go out, I can usually get a date."

"Don't get too busy, Scully. We need your attention on 
this case," Camren said in a serious tone.

 She crossed her arms. "Excuse me, Michael. I do not 
appreciate you telling me what to do. I know I am working 
on this case and I will give it my attention. Besides, what 
I do in my personal life is none of your business."

There was silence before Mulder ushered his angry partner 
away with, "Come on, Scully. I'll buy you breakfast."




Mulder watched as Scully shovelled scrambled eggs into 
her mouth. He guessed she was extremely hungry because 
she was nervous about her date.

"Scully, why'd you blow up at Camren?" He bit into a 
piece of toast.

She swallowed the food in her mouth. "For exactly the 
reasons I gave him. He actually told me what to do."

"Not exactly, Scully."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm sure you've noticed but Camren really likes you. He's 
probably jealous that you're dating Matt."

"Yeah, I have noticed how much Camren pays attention to me, 
but he has no right to give me orders. This is my life, 
not his."

"I don't think he gave you orders. He just told you to not 
get too busy."

"Mulder, you know me better than anyone else. Have I ever 
let my personal life get in the way of a case?"

He finished his cup of coffee. "No, you haven't."

Scully's voice became softer as she began talking about the 
tragedies she'd endured. "When my father died, I came into 
work. I came back quickly after being returned from 
my...abduction. My sister's death slowed me down but 
I never quit."

Mulder knew the rest. "And you never quit when you 
discovered your cancer, or after you lost Emily."

"Now, try to tell me that I could let anything come 
before work."

"I can't, Scully. You've never really let anything come 
before the career that you love."

"Exactly." She finished her eggs and started on her bacon.

"Scully, Camren doesn't know you as well as I do but if 
nothing comes about with this Matt Davison, give Michael 
a chance to apologize and perhaps take you out to dinner."

She could only nod in agreement. She was eating her 
bacon rapidly.

"Let me guess, Scully. You're nervous about your date tonight."

She finished her breakfast. "A little bit. It's been such a 
long time since I've gone out to dinner with somebody who 
doesn't work with us."

"Are you taking the rest of the day off?"

"I should since I came in yesterday, but I don't need too 
much time to get ready. I'll help around the office."

"No. Go home, have a nap. You might be up late."

She smirked. "Mulder, I don't think so."

"Hey, you never know what's going to happen. Be prepared. 
Expect the unexpected."

"Shut your mouth, Mulder," she added after the clichés. 
"But I will take a nap."

"I'll take you home then."




Scully hadn't a clue what to wear. She stood in front of her 
open closet, staring at the mass of outfits. She needed to 
find a dress she liked: one that was casual but could be worn 
on a date. "Nothing too revealing," she said aloud. "Not that 
I really have anything that is."

She pulled out suit after suit, hoping to find appropriate 
for a first date. "First date? Hmm, that sounds nice. I 
haven't used that term for a while."

She wanted it to move into more dates, not just one. She 
planned to tell Matt about her work that night. Perhaps 
if she were up front with what she did, he wouldn't be so 
scared.

Finally, she decided on a short navy blue dress with a 
matching cropped jacket. It was sleek and sensible. She 
even had navy heels. Everything was going perfectly. She 
just had to get dressed and do her hair and makeup.

She always felt odd dating. Most men she knew were her 
friends and her co-workers, and she knew that office 
relationships were tough. She had known that Camren liked 
her; Mulder didn't have to tell her. She saw Camren's 
glances and she was quite flattered. However, she would 
not tolerate it if he tried to complicate her relationship 
with Matt. She wouldn't let her possible relationship get 
in the way of the case either.




"What did you think about dinner?" Matt asked. He pulled 
up to a red light.

Scully smiled. "It was great. The restaurant was very elegant."

"You were dressed perfectly." The light changed to green 
and Matt started driving again. "So what do you do for a 
living?"

She sighed. "I was going to tell you but I don't want you 
to think I'm strange."

"Hit me, Dana. I'm prepared for anything."

"I work for the FBI, on its paranormal case files."

He nodded slowly. "Okay. How'd you come across those?"

"I didn't. My partner did, about seven years ago. I was 
assigned to him in 1992, to keep him in line."

"Well, what did you study at university?"

"Medicine. I am an MD. I just close not to practice. 
However, I do medical work in the FBI. I was a pathology 
teacher at the training academy before I was assigned to 
Mulder and the X-files."

Matt asked, "Mulder's your partner?"

"Yeah. He's also a good friend." She adjusted her seatbelt. 
"So is this club nice?"

"It's very nice. My friend Adam owns it. It has a large room 
for dancing and a bar as well."

"Sounds great."




The music was pulsing in the next room as Scully and Matt 
enjoyed some drinks at the bar. They'd just finished dancing.

"I can tell you haven't gone dancing in a long time," Matt 
commented as he sipped his soda.

"Why? Because I looked like a big goof?" She swirled the 
red wine in her glass. 

"You did seem awkward but not out of the unusual."

They both sipped at their drinks. "Matt, what do you do?"

"I'm a writer. I work for the Post sometimes. I usually 
do human interest stories."

"That's great." Scully finished her wine.

"Bartender!" Matt called. "Another red wine for my date."

Scully laughed. "'Date'. That's a funny word. I haven't 
been on one for a while."

"A lot of bad ones? It must be because I'm sure there are 
tons of men lining up to ask you out."

"No, not exactly. Most guys I see are at work, and most 
are afraid of me because I work with 'Spooky' Mulder."

Matt too the new glass of wine from the bartender and 
gave it to Scully. "Well, they're missing a lot. I've 
only known you for a whole and you're very interesting."

She smiled. "Is your friend here tonight? The owner, 
I mean."

Matt looked over his shoulder. "He should be. His name 
is Adam Francis."

"Well, if he isn't here, maybe we can come here again." 
She drank some wine, keeping her eyes on Matt. He looked 
surprised. "Yes," she said. "I'd like to go out again. I 
enjoyed myself."

"I guess I don't have to ask you then." He put his glass 
on the counter. "I'll drive you home." He took out his 
wallet and left several bills beside his empty glass. "Are 
you ready?"

"Yeah," she answered. They left the club, Matt's arm hooked 
through Scully's.




The drive to Scully's Georgetown apartment was peaceful. 
However, Matt put his hand on her knee and she wasn't sure 
how she felt about it. She reluctantly placed her hand 
atop his.

"Why don't we go out on Wednesday?" Scully said. 

"Sure. We'll go somewhere nice." He pulled the car to a 
stop near the curb. "Let me walk you in."

"No, it's fine."

"At least to the doors?" He smiled hopefully and gripped 
her knee with his fingers, his squeeze delicate.

Scully bit her lip. "Okay, but just to the doors. Really, 
I'll be fine."

Matt exited the car and walked around to let his date out. 
"You've got a really nice car," Scully said as he took her 
hand and helped her out. "A Mustang, right?"

"Yeah. I bought it two months ago." They strolled to the 
steps leading to the apartment building's doors. 

"Thanks for the great evening." She dug into her purse for 
her keys. "I'll see you Wednesday."

Matt reached out and traced her jawline with his index 
finger. She felt goosebumps spring up on her flesh. "Yes, 
on Wednesday." He lowered his head and brushed his lips 
over hers. "I'll call you."

Scully nodded. She was speechless. She hadn't been 
kissed like that in years, and that soft kiss had amazed 
her. She shivered slightly.

Matt started back to his car. "Have a good night, Dana."

"You too," she managed to say. Matt got in his car and 
she waved as he pulled away.

Scully let herself into the building and walked to her 
apartment, smiling to herself.