TITLE:   Conhouse - Chapter Three
e-mail Address:  ErinStone1@aol.com
RATING:  PG-13
CATEGORY:  Scully/Slash
SPOILERS: None
Keywords:  Scully Slash/Other Romance
Summary:  none

Disclaimer: Fox, Chris Carter and 1013 own them ALL, except Lena Conhouse,
she's mine. I'll say it again - please don't hurt me.

Comments are welcomed. Please send them to ErinStone1@AOL.com
________________________________________

The first light of day streamed through the windows of the guest bedroom.
Mulder got up and pulled on his pants, zipping them up, then grabbed his shirt
and pulled it on. He slipped his shoes on and walked out the door.

Wanda followed Mulder up the steps. She watched him with the careful eyes of a
dog that needs to go outside. He wasn't noticing. She walked to the door of
the deck, sat down, and looked at him. She snorted. He was writing on a pad of
paper by the phone, ignoring her.

She padded softly down the steps and to the end of the hallway. Silently, she
used her nose to nudge the door of the room open.

Her ears perked up and she stood still briefly as she heard the front door
upstairs open and close.

She continued on into the room and sat down as close to the bed as she could.
She rested her chin on the comforter and again, snorted.  A hand reached out
and stroked her head. Then, legs swung over and Wanda skittered out of the
way. She wagged her tail, happy to be noticed and ran to the bedroom door.

Lena whispered, "Ok, I'm coming, I'm coming. Hold on."

Lena went to the outside door downstairs and opened it. Wanda shot out toward
the lake. Lena walked back to her bedroom, back to the bed, and looked down at
Dana. The red head was sound asleep. Her arms in the same position Lena had
left them moments ago, when she maneuvered herself out of Scully's embrace to
tend to Wanda. 

She wasn't sure exactly what had taken place, and she couldn't read anything
from Dana as she slept.  There was also a good chance that Dana would block
the events of last night upon waking. Maybe she could just ask her what
happened. Now there was a new concept. Lena sighed and left the bedroom.

On her way to the coffee machine she noticed Mulder's note on the countertop
upstairs:

Ladies - 
I'm going to take a run. Then I plan to go into the office to round up some
files. I'd like Lena to take a look at them. Should be back in a few hours. I
hope you two don't have other plans for you weekend... you can call my
cellular if you plan on dissing me. 
Thx - M.


Lena smiled. 'Guess I'm Mulder's newest toy.' She turned her attention to the
coffee machine.

A couple minutes later she let Wanda back in and gave her some kibble.  The
coffee was done and Lena considered taking some down to the woman asleep in
her bed, but thought better of it. There was no good reason to wake her, short
of Lena missing her company. 

She walked into her living room and put on her favorite CD. Soft music filled
the room. She sat on the couch, sipping coffee and running her hand through
her hair. An internal dialogue started:

'God, I hope I didn't start that.' She flushed with embarrassment. 'I was
crying, my eyes feel like they were strapped to a belt sander... shit...
shoulda slept on the couch...'

"Good morning."

Lena turned to see Scully at the top of the steps. She was wearing the sweats
she had on from the night before. She looked woozy.

"Well hi. There's coffee in the kitchen with your name on it."

Scully was using both hands to rub her head. "Oh good." Wanda got up and
followed her into the kitchen. "Good morning blondie." Scully leaned over and
kissed Wanda on the top of her head. "You are so sweet." She rubbed the dog's
neck. "I used to have a doggie too Wanda, but Mulder killed it." Scully could
hear Lena gasp from her place on the couch.

"Just kidding." She paused. "An alligator killed it, actually."

Lena just stared at her, stunned.

"Remind me to tell you the story sometime when I'm more awake."

"I'm not sure I want to hear it." 

"Where do you keep her treats?"

"In the cabinet under the coffee maker."  

Scully fished around and pulled out a dog biscuit. "Does she do any tricks?"

"Well, there's the pooping trick, but she does that one outside."

Scully gave her a slight scowl.

"Oh... you want her indoor trick. Hold the biscuit between your teeth and
Wanda will take from you."

Scully scowled more. Lena laughed, "really!"

She put the biscuit between her teeth and bent down. Wanda very carefully
removed it and padded off to a small carpet to chew it up.

"We've really got to work on her trick repertoire." Scully stated as she stood
up, reaching for a coffee cup.

"You're welcome to try, but keep in mind that she's got a brain the size of a
walnut."

Scully shot a look in Lena's direction and poured herself some coffee. She
noticed the note that Mulder had left and stood at the counter for a second to
read it. She walked to the couch and sat down next to Lena. "I can't believe
this view." Steam was rising off the lake. "All I can see from my front window
is another apartment building."

They sat quietly looking out the window.

"Is this Luther Vandross?"

"Yeah. I bought this CD a couple weeks ago. I'm wearing it out."

"He's got such a smooth voice."

"Doesn't he? He's my favorite. I just love his smarmy backup singers. I love
all backup singers, frankly. Patti LaBelle's got some great ones, so does
Chaka Kahn."

"Doesn't Patti LaBelle sing that French sex song?" Scully asked. Lena turned
toward her in surprise. Scully looked serious.

Lena cracked up, Scully just sat, looking puzzled.

"Oh my god Scully, are you always like this when you wake up?"

Scully looked hurt. "Like what?"

"Well... goofy ... in an adorable way."

"I was serious. There's a song, I think Patti LaBelle sings it, voo-lay-voo
something something." 

Lena smiled, "I have that one on an old LaBelle CD somewhere. It's called
'That French Sex Song.' I'll dig it out and play it for you sometime." 

Scully was smiling vaguely, looking a little pouty. "Thank you." She chuckled
a little and sipped some coffee. Pulling her legs up under her on the couch
she turned to face Lena directly. Her smile faded into a look of concern.

"Can you tell me what you dreamed about?"

"My parents... having sex." It was all she could think of to say.

"Let's try that again."

"I can't honestly remember."

"You were sobbing."

"I'm sorry Dana, I hope I didn't frighten you."

"I'm not looking for an apology."

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"Lena, do you sleep at all when you're alone?"

"Rarely."

"Do you remember what happened last night?"

"No."

Lena looked... pained ... embarrassed. 

Scully put her cup down on the coffee table and held both of Lena's hands in
her own. She closed her eyes and recalled, in her mind, the events of the
night before. She could again feel Lena's back... feel Lena turning into her.
She relived the feel of Lena's arm across her body... her touch... the way she
smelled... the incredible softness of her hair. She wondered if her feelings
were translating to the other woman along with the physical aspects of her
memories.

"Yes..." Lena said aloud, softly, "they are."

Butterflies floated through Scully's stomach.

Lena gently pulled her hands away. Scully opened her eyes and sat back a
little. 

Scully said, "Could you feel that too?"

"The butterflies?"

Scully nodded.

"I thought they were mine."

Scully's breath hitched in her throat and she let out an involuntary 'oh...'

Somewhere a muffled ringing started.

She stared into Lena's eyes a moment longer. "That's my phone."

Lena smiled. "What a relief. I thought you were making me hear bells." 

Her comment made the butterflies in Scully's stomach flutter a little faster.
She reluctantly got up from the couch and rifled through her bag and pulled
out her phone.

"Scully." She watched Lena as she listened to the caller. Her face suddenly
molded into a look of mock surprise, she held the phone away from her mouth
for a second, "It's Mulder!"

Lena returned her look, "No way!"

She returned her attention to the call. "Yes, we're up, barely."

Lena was half listening to Scully's side of the call as she sipped her coffee,
staring out the window. She found that her mind was drifting to the visions of
Scully's hand running through her hair... 

"I haven't asked her Mulder. Hang on."

Lena looked over at her.

"Mulder would like to know if we've seen his note, and if it's ok for him to
bring some files over later."

"That's fine."

"We saw your note Mulder, she says it's fine."

She addressed Lena again, "He would also like to know what you'd like for
dinner."

"Really? Hmmm, chinese I think, we can order out from here."

Dana turned back to the phone to relay the information, then listened for a
minute.

"Yes, I plan on being here. I have to run home and clean up, get some clothes,
maybe a bathing suit..." she paused. "Well, there's a first time for
everything Mulder." She paused again while he talked. "Hang on, I'll ask."

"How would you feel about having overnight guests again?"

Lena smiled at her. "I'd feel good about that."

Scully smiled, raising her eyebrow at Lena slightly. She tipped the phone back
to her mouth. "Yep, bring as much wine as you can carry Mulder, but remember,
you drink-you stay, got it?" He must have agreed to the terms, a moment later
she said, "Okay, see you later."

She rung off and put the phone back in her bag then reclaimed her spot on the
couch.

"You sure you want Mulder picking your brain all night?"

"I don't mind. I've got some picking of my own to do."

They were quiet for a minute.

"I should run home and get some things. Can I bring these clothes back to you
later?" Scully stood.

"Absolutely."

She walked to the staircase and stopped suddenly, turning back. "You know..."
she paused, regarding Lena with seriousness. "I haven't left yet, but I can't
wait to get back here."

Lena smiled at her. 

"I've known you for how long now? A week maybe, at most?" Scully looked
perplexed. She shook her head. "Are you even aware of what you do to me?" She
apparently didn't expect an answer. She turned slowly and walked down the
steps.

Lena sat on the couch, the wind knocked out of her. 





Scully made her way back to her apartment. Traffic was light at 8 a.m. on a
Saturday morning.

She thought about how her words must have affected Lena.  She wasn't sure why
she'd said that; 'do you even know what you do to me?'  Unless, of course, she
wanted Lena to know... what she was doing to her.

And what would that be?

'Making me come undone.' Dana thought.

And what had happened to being freaked out? That was gone, not even an option
now. There was no reason for it. She wasn't freaked out, worried, or anything
else even mildly uncomfortable for her. She wasn't even going to waste time
wondering =why= she wasn't, she knew in her heart that it wasn't important to
figure out the why.

She knew only this. Her words to Lena were true. She couldn't wait to get back
to her. She didn't know where they were headed together. She felt that it
would all work itself out.

Scully smiled to herself. She wasn't picturing how her furniture would look in
Lena's front room; she wasn't worrying about what Monday might bring, or even
what Mulder would think if he were to find out. She had gone through too much
in her relatively short lifetime to question the way she was feeling. 

What this was, whatever that turned out to be, was a gift. She decided simply
to take it and praise life's generosity.  

She pulled into her parking space, turned the car off and sat for a moment.
There was something she had wanted to imagine, but she was afraid. She wasn't
sure she could block it; thinking maybe it would be too, what?... emotional...
to keep blocked in Lena's presence.  She gathered her courage and closed her
eyes. In her mind, she saw Lena's face, as it had been, when they were
together on the couch. Her lips were a deep red color, as though they had been
stained with wine. They looked ... soft.  Scully had felt pulled toward them,
this morning, after letting Lena in to re-live the night before.  She took
that memory a step further now, imagining that she had leaned in. She felt her
lips meet Lena's, let herself smell her warm skin, she imagined running her
fingers over Lena's jaw... pulling back slightly to lick that dark bottom lip
slowly with the tip of her tongue...  


A shudder ran through her and she moaned softly.  

Oh my,

that felt... 

so good.  

She opened her eyes slowly and pushed her hips back into the seat. Another
shudder worked its way up from deep in her abdomen and fanned out, shimmering
across her back.

She inhaled deeply, blew the air out slowly, and opened her car door.

-end-