TITLE: The Color of Midnight - Chapter Two
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
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.
The Color Of Midnight

CHAPTER TWO
	
Scully ran out the front doors, scanning the area for her friend. There
were a lot of law enforcement officers milling about, and
differentiating between them wasn't easy. She walked a bit further out
the door and stood at the top of the steps,  she spotted her "Jane" she
yelled. Jane continued walking towards the curb, stretching her arm out
in the familiar cab-hailing gesture. "Jane!" She yelled again as she ran
towards the Secret Service officer. 

Jane turned, her eyes seeking out the voice that had called her name,
and then saw the running figure waving at her. A score of butterflies
took flight in her stomach.

Scully caught up to her friend and held up her index finger signaling
for Jane to allow her the time to catch her breath before speaking.
After a few good breaths she reached out for Jane's right hand with her
left, noticing the familiar sparks as their hands touched. She searched
the officer's eyes for the forgiveness she was about to request. "I'm
sorry." Dana offered "I was stupid"

Jane smiled and squeezed Scully's hand. With a nod of her head, she let
go and turned back to the traffic, again attempting to hail a cab.

Scully panicked, "Janie", and reached out to her friend, placing her
hand on the other woman's petite shoulder. Jane turned

"I heard you, Dana. And I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt my feelings.
But I could tell what was going on in there. For some reason, you don't
want your partner to know about us, not that there's even an 'us' to
speak of anymore." She glanced at the passing traffic,  "I could see the
shame on your face when I brought up the movie·"

"I just didn't want to have to explain it to Mulder, Jane, I'm not
ashamed of anything." Scully implored.

Jane mulled over the events of that morning. It suddenly occurred to
her. "You and your partner" She signaled towards the building with a nod
of her head "there's something going on between the two of you. You're
in love with him" She shook her head "I should have seen it." Jane said
more to herself than to her college friend.

"No, no·there's nothing going on between me and Mulder." Scully paused
as she looked down at her shifting feet,  "I mean, I care about him, and
he's one of the few people on this planet that I trust." She looked up
at Jane "But our relationship is not a romance·it's kind of in a class
of it's own and I don't think I could really explain it to you no matter
how I tried." 

"Oh" Jane muttered

"So, you see that's not it." Scully voiced. "I know that I was a bitch
back there, and I'm sorry, I really am. I am not ashamed of you, or me,
or us for that matter." Well, she was partly right.

"Then what is it?"

Scully shrugged "Fear, I guess" she suggested reluctantly.  "You just
caught me off guard."  This wasn't easy to admit.

"Dana, you were never afraid of things before" Jane stated "What
happened?"

"Not here" Dana stipulated. "Do you want to grab an early lunch? Or are
you on duty?"

"I got off this morning at eight" She glanced at her watch "The
graveyard shift"

"Oh, so you probably need to get home to sleep" 

"No" Jane grinned "I could go for a bite to eat. Besides, I'm hoping we
can do something about your cold feet." Dana must have looked alarmed
because Jane immediately put both of her hands up in a gesture of
surrender. "I promise, no movie jokes and I'll do my best to refrain
from calling you Kate, okay?"

Scully nodded and the two friends ambled towards the little cafˇ located
across the street. Scully completely forgot about Mulder, and his slide
show, and the werewolf boy, she was fully absorbed in the intoxicating
effects of being so close to her college lover.

********************

*Friday, 2:30 p.m. Cafˇ Tomate*

They'd been at the little cafˇ for over three hours. So lost in their
conversation, and each other, that Scully barely noticed when her cell
phone started screaming at her.

"You're pocket is ringing." Jane noticed, pointing to Dana's suit pocket

"Wha-?" Scully started and then realized it was her phone. She pulled
the compact Nokia out of her pocket and raised the antenna. "Scully."

"Thanks for ditching me."

"Oh, God, Mulder, I'm sorry." Scully glanced at her watch. She'd been so
wrapped up in her conversation and just being with Jane, that she'd
forgotten all about Mulder. It was kind of nice in a way, most of her
time was spent either with Mulder, working on a case with Mulder, or
thinking about Mulder. It was nice to get lost in her own world for a
change.

"Yeah, well, forget about the werewolf case, Scully."

"Why? Did you find out the kid just needed a electrolysis tech?" she
smirked

"No, he's still a werewolf, it's just that Skinner has something else
for us to do, and he's wondering where you are."

"Shit." Scully cursed "What did you tell him?"

"I told him you were out in the field, following a lead on the latest
Capitol Hill strangling" Mulder assured his partner

"Thanks, Mulder. I'll be there in a few minutes." Scully pushed the end
button on her phone, and lowered the antenna

"You have to go." Jane surmised

"Yeah, my old boss was asking for me." Scully answered, regretfully.
This get together with Jane was just what she needed. And the more she
spent with her the more comfortable she felt. Although, she still didn't
know what to do with all of the conflicting emotions inside of her. She
at least knew that she wanted to explore them. Especially if she was
ever going to see Jane again, of which she very much hoped she would.

"Dana, I·" Jane suddenly felt very self conscious and vulnerable. "I
want to see you again." She reached across the table and took the
redhead's hand. She could feel the heat between them; she was sure
Scully felt the same way.

Scully had the urge to pull her hand away, she was alarmed at the
electric effect Jane's touch had on her. But it *was* exciting, and
wonderful, and yet·she couldn't put her finger on what else she was
feeling.  "I don't know what Mulder has in store for me, it could be
nothing, it could be an assignment out of town, I just don't know right
now." Dana let go of Jane's hand and reached for her purse. She took out
her wallet and put a credit card on the table for the waiter to take.
"Why don't you give me a call in the next few days, and we'll try and do
this again?" She suggested, knowing how non-committal it sounded. She
was suddenly afraid of what could happen if she were alone with Jane,
and figured a public place provided the best security of that not
happening.

Jane couldn't hide her disappointment, she could tell Scully was
reluctant to continue their relationship. Yet she wasn't blind, she saw
the way Kate looked at her, the way her breath stopped whenever their
hands touched. She couldn't understand why she was holding back. Why she
couldn't allow herself to just let go and enjoy the moment? This wasn't
the Dana Scully she knew in college, and she was becoming determined to
know why, but not today. "Okay, Dana, I'll call you and we'll get
together for another three hour lunch." Jane smiled and pushed back her
chair.  Stiffly she said, "I'm looking forward to it."

Scully left her friend at the restaurant. Why had she pushed Jane away
like that? She had been doing fine at lunch, and then all of a sudden
she felt an overwhelming sense of·of·.what? She didn't know. She tried
to clear her thoughts as she crossed the street to the FBI building and
her appointment with AD Skinner.

********************
*Friday, 2:45 p.m. in the back of a yellow cab*

Jane held Scully's credit card in her hand and was tapping it against
her lips. She knew just how to find out where she could return it to her
friend, who had been in such a hurry to leave that she'd forgotten the
piece of plastic with the waiter. A slow grin crept on Janie's face as
she formulated a plan.  First, though, she had to make a phone call.
Krycek had wanted a report, and she was late in filing it. This guy was
a real pain in the ass, but Jane knew if she was ever going to get what
she wanted, she had to jump through his hoops. The ladder to the top was
long, and she wasn't above doing this kind of grunt work to reach the
top. In fact, Jane wasn't sure if there was anything she wouldn't do,
short of sleeping with him, to get to the top. She wasn't going to let
what happened in California happen here, she was going to make sure of
it.

End Chapter Two