From: K Daniels <krdaniels@earthlink.net>

TITLE: The Color of Midnight ö Chapter Ten
AUTHOR: K. Daniels
FEEDBACK TO:krdaniels@earthlink.net (public discussion okay)
ARCHIVING: Fine, please tell me where
SPOILERS: None
KEYWORDS: Scully/Other; ScullySlash
RATING: PG ö NC-17
SUMMARY: Scully's past catches up to her, and turns out to be
dangerously tangled with an X File.
DISCLAIMER: Scully, Mulder, Skinner, etc. etc. all belong to Chris
Carter and 1013, except for Jane, she belongs to me. Please do not sue
me, I am making no financial profit from the unauthorized use of these
characters.
SPECIAL THANKS: To Shadow.


The Color of Midnight

CHAPTER TEN

*11:58 p.m., Outside Scully's apartment*

They sat in the car; each lost in their own thoughts. She still unable
to think clearly; he growing angrier by the minute. Mulder wondered who
the hell Jane thought she was. He was furious that she had taken
advantage of Scully, and had put both of their lives in jeopardy.

After Scully had accepted the possibility that Jane may have set her up,
she'd told Mulder about their history together. She didn't mention the
video, but talked about how her father had not approved, and that was
part of why she'd been so gun shy when Jane had shown up in their office
just a few short days ago. Had it really only been a few days? It was
hard to believe that, given the emotional roller coaster ride she'd been
on. She was normally so even-keeled. She wasn't sure she could take much
more.

The fact that Scully had been in love with Jane for all of these years,
but had been unable to express it, spoke volumes to Mulder about her
lack of a social life. Mulder knew why *he* was unwilling to pair off,
but he had often wondered what Scully's motivations were. Now that he
knew, he was livid. The one time Scully had decided to take a risk she
got burned. Mulder was determined to make Jane pay for that. He was
going to make damn sure.

They finally looked at each other and Mulder reached for Scully's hand,
squeezing it. "You ready?" he asked.

"I guess so," she replied.

They got out of the car and walked up to the apartment building
together. Once inside, Scully took off her coat and hung it in the
wardrobe.

"Is she still here?" Mulder asked, taking off his coat and tossing it in
the chair by the window.

"I think so," Scully replied, not wanting to go to the bedroom to find
out. "Her briefcase is still sitting on the table."

"How do you want to do this, Scully?" Mulder asked, crossing the room to
stand in front of his partner. They were both just outside of the
bedroom door.

"I don't know," Scully said, feeling the tears well up.

Mulder couldn't stand seeing Scully so vulnerable. Determined, he walked
past her and opened the door that led to the bedroom. "I'll get her," he
said.

Scully just nodded and turned back to the living room and sat on the
sofa. She was going to let Mulder take the lead on this one. She didn't
have the energy for it. She was surprised by her lack of anger, at least
her lack of anger towards Jane. She was still in a state of shock and
the only feeling that she *could* identify was profound sadness. And, in
spite of the evidence, Scully was not ready to maintain that Jane could
have done this.

He could see Jane's shape in the bed and walked around to her side until
he was standing directly over her.

"Jane," He barked.

She didn't wake up.

"Jane!" he said again, more forcefully, "get up."

She stirred in the bed and rolled onto her back, she squinted her eyes
at the figure standing before her.

"Agent Mulder?" Jane asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Get up, Jane, and meet me in the living room," Mulder ordered, already
walking out of the room.

"What?" Janie croaked, her voice gravelly with sleep "Mulder, is
something wrong?" She glanced over at Scully's side of the bed and
realized Dana wasn't there, she started to panic. "Is Dana okay? What's
going on?"

"That's what we need you to tell us," Mulder said, pausing at the door,
"get dressed and come out here." The venom in his voice was
unmistakable.

Jane waited for Mulder to close the door and then she got up and pulled
on her skirt and sweater that were lying in a heap on the floor beside
the bed. With a cursory glance in the mirror she walked to the bedroom
door and opened it. Taking a deep breath she stepped into the hallway
and into the living room. Scully was sitting on the sofa, her arms and
legs crossed, her eyes fixated on the floor. Mulder was pacing back and
forth behind her. When he saw Jane he stopped and placed his hand on
Scully's shoulder.

"Take a seat Jane," he said.

She didn't like his tone, or the fact that Dana had not even looked at
her. She crossed the room and sat in the chair opposite the sofa, the
same chair she had been sitting in earlier that evening. That fact was
not lost on either woman.

"Kate, what's·"

"Do not call me that," Scully stated, still staring at the floor.
"Mulder and I have some questions for you," she looked directly into
Jane's eyes, "and I need you to be honest with me."

Jane just nodded her head, not sure of what Agent Mulder had in store
for her. She was growing more nervous by the minute.

Mulder placed the file he'd brought with them on the coffee table in
front of Jane. He sat next to Scully and opened it. Placing each
photograph in front of the stunned officer, he asked, "please explain
this,"

Jane just stared at the photographs before her. She couldn't believe
this and grew incensed with the realization of what was happening. She
stood up, "I do not have to explain anything to you, Agent Mulder," she
glanced at Scully who returned her look with a blank stare, "and I
resent the hell out of this," she declared turning back to Mulder.

"You resent this," Mulder stated incredulously, "You resent this?" He
stated again, louder. "You don't have a right to be resentful," he
yelled at the officer as he stood up and pointed towards the seat she
had vacated. "Now sit the hell down, and start explaining to us exactly
when you decided to betray Agent Scully."

Jane felt like the wind had been knocked out of her and she sat down
with a thump.

"How much is he paying you?" Mulder asked, his hands on his hips.

Jane looked back and forth between Mulder and Scully. Mulder's eyes were
ice cold and filled with anger. Scully just looked sad. "Dana," she
started.

"No!" Mulder yelled walking towards the officer, "I will not give you an
opportunity to fuck with her mind," he declared, positioning himself
between Jane and Scully, "now start telling me what I want to hear. How
much is that rat bastard son of a bitch paying you?!" He stood over her,
lowering his voice, " I hope it was a hell of a lot if you were willing
to prostitute yourself for the cause."

Scully recoiled. His words were hurting her, yet she wanted to yell at
Jane too, to shake her and find out what the hell was happening. But she
felt paralyzed and all she could do was sit. She was unable to transcend
her sadness. The lump in her throat silencing any anger she might have
joined with Mulder in expressing.

Jane sat silently for a minute. Mulder was smoldering before her. She
didn't know what to say. Finally, she looked up, "I have no earthly
fucking idea what you are talking about."

Scully looked at Jane. She searched the officer's face for some hint
that she could be telling the truth. She didn't know anymore, she
couldn't judge. "Janie, I have to know the truth. I have to know if I've
lost it, if my judgment is totally fucked," she cleared her throat, "if
I was wrong abut you."

Mulder walked over to Scully and sat down beside her.

Jane looked at Dana, panicked,  "Kate," she started.

"I told you, it's Scully." Dana said, "please, Jane, just tell us the
truth."

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know, but first," she looked at
Mulder,  "please tell me why you were following me."

Mulder sighed, "That was never our intention."

"Oh?" Jane said jutting her jaw towards the photographs, "that's not the
impression I'm getting." She paused. "Am I not worthy enough for your
partner? Is that it Agent Mulder? You decided to do a background check
on me to appease your paranoia?"

Scully interjected, "We were tracking the man in those photographs,
Jane. We never expected to see you with him."

"He's my boss," Jane cried, "I see him every day!"

Mulder placed his hands like a steeple over his lips. "Tell us what you
do for him. Tell us why you set up Agent Scully."

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Jane exclaimed, raising her
hands. "Mr. Krycek is my boss, I report to him every night when I go on
duty. Sometimes he has special assignments for me." Jane looked at
Scully "Sometimes you have to jump through hoops to get what you want."

"And what hoops are Krycek making you jump through? Is seducing and then
betraying Scully one of them?"

"What?" Jane exclaimed, "Kate, he knows about us?"

Scully nodded.

"I love Dana, Agent Mulder, and I would never betray her. I have no clue
as to what you are trying to implicate me in, but I can assure you I've
done nothing to beguile Agent Scully."

"Then how the hell do you explain all of the evidence to the contrary?"
Mulder demanded.

Through clenched teeth, "Why don't you tell me what Îevidence' you have,
and I'll show you that I've done nothing wrong."

Scully interrupted, "Jane, what do you know about Krycek?"

She paused, softening, "Not that much, really, I know that he just moved
here, that he was working in Korea for awhile and was then transferred
to DC. He supervises my corps, he has some special assignments with the
Embassy of Korea. Beyond that I don't know very much. I don't even know
if he's married or not"

Scully leaned forward, a twinge of hope coursed through her. She forced
it down. "Krycek is not what he appears to be," Scully started, "he's a
deceitful, murderous traitor. He is part of a larger conspiracy," Scully
glanced at Mulder, he was still staring at Jane, "of which we do not yet
know the entire purpose."

Jane leaned back in her chair, absorbing what Dana was telling her.

"He killed Mulder's father, I think he was involved in Melissa's murder,
and he's tried to eliminate us more times than I can count."

Jane let out a long sigh, "I didn't know, Dana, you have to believe me,
I didn't know this."

"Prove it," Mulder demanded.

"How?" Janie asked.

"You can start by explaining this," he shoved the photo of her handing
Krycek the package. "Tell us why you were giving this man a package that
was later found to have contained a lethal toxin that has already killed
two men," he paused, "and happened to have Agent Scully's name on it."

"And tell me what you did with my credit card," Dana said flatly.

Jane's mouth hung open, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"When I handed that package to Mr. Krycek, it contained a box of
chocolates shaped in little hearts," she looked at Scully, "and your
credit card."

"Oh, please, do you really expect us to believe that?" Mulder exploded.

"It's the truth!" Jane implored. She turned to Scully, "after you left
the restaurant on Friday, the waiter brought your credit card back. I
signed for you and took the credit card," looking at Mulder, "with the
intention of giving it back." She turned back to Scully, "you were so
nervous, Dana, I thought it might break the ice if I sent you the
chocolate, and put the card in there as an afterthought."  Jane
brightened and lifted her forefinger in the air, "I included a note, I
have the first draft in my briefcase." She jumped up and walked over to
the table, returning with the briefcase. She rummaged through it,
looking for the notepad she had used to write the rough draft of the
love note to Scully.

"That doesn't explain why you gave it to Krycek." Mulder accused.

Jane paused from her rummaging, "I had just finished stuffing thirty
manila envelopes with high-gloss invitations for some diplomatic event
at the Korean embassy." She paused, "I told you, hoops." She continued
to rummage through her briefcase, "I had addressed the envelopes and was
giving them to Mr. Krycek for his final perusal and distribution. He saw
the package addressed to Dana on the front seat of my car and said he
would mail it for me with the other envelopes. I didn't think anything
of it, I just thought he was being nice. So I gave it to him. Here it
is!" Jane pulled out a little notepad and flipped through the pages. She
put it on the table and looked at Scully, "read it. That's the note I
wrote and put in the package with the candy and your credit card."

Scully lifted the notepad and read the rough draft.

Kate,
ÎRoses are Red, Violets are Blue, I still love you red, I hope you do
too.' Sorry, I'm no poet. But I wanted to let you know how great it was
seeing you today and I hope that you will consider another Îouting'. In
the meantime enjoy these, you do know that chocolate releases the same
endorphins as sex, right?

Hopefully yours,  Janie

P.S. You were in such a hurry that you left your credit card. I hope you
don't mind but I added on a hefty tip. She was cute, what can I say, I'm
a sucker for lookers.

Scully handed the note to Mulder. She looked at Jane. She didn't know
what to think, but she could again feel the hope building inside of her.
"Krycek used my credit card to pay for two motel rooms in which he then
killed two homeless men," Scully let out a long breath, "using the toxin
that was proven to be in that package." She leaned over Mulder and
grabbed the file, she pulled out the autopsy photos of the first victim
and placed them on the table in front of Jane.

Jane looked at the picture and gasped, "Jesus Christ."

Mulder finished reading the note and tossed it on the table, "this still
doesn't explain why you were handing Krycek the second murder victim,"
he held up the photograph of Jane placing the man in Krycek's car.

"I had just arrested him," she looked at Mulder and then Scully, "are
you telling me that man is dead?"

Scully handed her the autopsy photos of the second man. "Yes, he's very
much dead."

Janie looked at the photograph, her brain was working overtime. How
could she have allowed herself to be used in that way?

"Dana, Mulder, I had nothing to do with those deaths. I had just
arrested that man after finding him trying to climb the fence at the
National Observatory. He was trying to get to the Vice President.
Something about a brain implant." She paused, returning the photos to
the table and sitting back, her arms crossed over her chest. "He was
clearly a White House case. Krycek showed up at the scene just as I was
calling for transport to EPRD. He told me that this guy was known to the
Service already and had just escaped from St. Elizabeth's. He had to go
there on the Hinkley case, so he said he would transport him."

"And you didn't think that was a bit odd?" Mulder asked.

"Yeah, I thought it was kind of weird that he would be going to St. E's
on a Saturday to address the Hinkley release, but I just figured that
the doctors worked crazy hours and Krycek was personally responsible to
the Reagans. He wanted to be thorough"

"The Reagans?" Scully asked.

"Yeah, Krycek said that the Korean Ambassador was a personal friend of
the Reagan family, and that he had a vested interest in whether this guy
ever got released. He'd apparently asked Krycek to follow the progress
of the release protocol. I just assumed that's what he was doing."

"I thought you only worked graveyard," Mulder stated suspiciously.

"I do, but I got called in on Saturday afternoon to cover. I wasn't
scheduled to work Saturday night, but I figured I could spare a couple
of hours to help out a colleague."

"What time did you get off?" Mulder asked.

"Seven," Jane answered.

"And then where did you go?"

"She has an alibi for the night of the second murder, Mulder." Scully
looked at Jane, "She was with me," she paused, "all night."

"Oh," Mulder replied. "I don't suppose you have any proof of the arrest
though, do you?" Mulder asked, still skeptical.

"Actually, I do. I was in such a hurry to see Dana for dinner that I
skipped submitting the 4L16 paperwork on the guy. I was going to file it
tomorrow night." Jane reached into her briefcase that was sitting on the
floor beside her and pulled out a thin file. She handed it to Mulder.

Mulder took the file and looked over it while Jane and Scully simply
looked at each other. When he was finished, he handed the file to
Scully, "Just like she said."

Scully took the file and read it. When she looked up, her eyes welled up
with tears. This confirmed for her what she'd really known all along.
That Jane was as much a victim in this as she and Mulder were.

Seeing Dana's tears, Jane leapt out of her chair and knelt in front of
Scully, "Honey, I swear on my mothers grave that I have done nothing to
betray you, or set you up, or God forbid commit murder."

Scully accepted Jane's hand. Mulder stood up and walked to the window.
He wasn't ready to trust Jane yet, but he could tell Scully was starting
to believe her.

"Jane, I·" She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "I don't know what
to say." She did believe Jane but remnants of the pain she'd felt at the
mere thought of her betrayal lingered.

"Listen to me, Kate, you know me, you've always known me. I couldn't do
this, I couldn't do this thing he says I did," she paused, quickly
glancing at Mulder and then back at Scully, "obviously Krycek is using
me to get to you. I didn't even know that he knew you."

"But he knows that you know Scully." Mulder interrupted, still looking
out the window. "In fact, if he replaced the note and chocolates, then
he knows how *much* you know Scully."

Jane thought about the implications of that. She wasn't afraid for
herself, but for Dana. How else was Krycek going to use her to get to
Scully? Although, now that she knew what he was up to, maybe she could
use that to their advantage. She looked at Mulder. "That's probably why
he decided to use me, he knew that I could get closer to her than he
could." She started to formulate a plan, "we can use this to fight him,
Mulder. But I have to know that you believe me." Jane stated, looking at
Mulder and then Scully.

Tears were streaming down Dana's face and Jane moved to sit next to her.
She placed her hand in Scully's and held it to her lips. "Kate, I love
you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. I would die for you."
And she meant it, she would do anything to protect Dana. That included
jeopardizing her job.

Scully wiped her eyes with her sleeve then looked into Jane's eyes. She
allowed herself a small smile, "I believe you."

Jane sighed with relief. "Tell me what I can do to brink Krycek in."

Mulder returned to where the two women sat and flopped down in the chair
Jane had been sitting in. He still wasn't ready to completely trust her,
but she did seem to be genuinely in the dark about everything, and her
story appeared to check out. He would make sure though, and have Langley
double check her account.

"There are some things you should know, " Mulder said and then he and
Scully proceeded to delve into a three-hour narrative of their very
complex relationship with Alex Krycek. Pausing only long enough to open
a bottle of wine. They all needed it.

End Chapter Ten