Residual Effect



Chapter Ten



As the elevator doors shushed open, Dana felt as if she had walked into a

storm. People rushed back and forth with hurried frenzy. Voices, loud and

brash, came from every corner of the hallway. She was brusquely pushed

aside by two DEA agents carrying some sort of device. It took only a

nanosecond to realize who all this chaos was for.



Abbie exited her office, followed by two men. All looking like someone had

just pissed in their beer.



"Abbie, what’s going on?"



"Someone just popped Carmichael’s cherry." The younger of the two men

snarked. He looked to be in his early thirties. Dirty blonde hair cut in

the standard brush cut. A football player’s build which probably explained

the frat-boy mentality.



"Shut up, Hanson." Abbie barked. "Don’t you have somewhere to be right

now?" She glared at the young man. He held up his hands apologetically

before padding off into the background.



"Abbie just received a death threat." The older man explained to Dana. She

recognized him as one of the men who watched her perform the autopsy.

Donaldson, she remembered. More than likely, he was Abbie’s direct

superior.

A grizzled man, in his late forties, who’s face was etched with the pain

and suffering that seemed such a by-product of "The Job".



"It’s nothing," Abbie scoffed, "Nothing I can’t handle."



"Bullshit, Carmichael," He pulled the younger woman by the corner of her

elbow. "I know you got your teeth into a big case, but this is snowballing

into a shitstorm. And the least you could do was recognize that you need an

umbrella."



Abbie folded her arms across her chest, leaning against the wall. Dana

could see the stubborn fire rising in her eyes. She could also see the

concern in Donaldson’s. The concern that Donaldson didn’t feel the need to

hide behind policy or decorum. Abbie was ‘one of them’. And if Donaldson

had to tear the city apart to protect one of his own, Dana didn’t doubt for

a moment that Manhattan would wake up to a new skyline by daybreak.



"I’m not some helpless waif who needs her hand held."



"Goddammit Carmichael, don’t give me any of that sexist bullshit." The skin

around his collar began turning a slight shade of red. "Someone just

threatened to kill you. This ain’t a joke and it ain’t something to be

taken lightly. The least you could do is let me do part of my job to keep

you in one piece."



Abbie held up her hand to protest. Donaldson didn’t wait for her to speak.



"Abbie, I’m old. Who needs to fight the dealers on the street when you kids

can bring my blood pressure to boil at the drop of a pin." He could see

Abbie trying to fight the smile forming at the corner of her mouth. "So

will you do this old man just one small favor?"



"You know I hate it when you do that whole Grandpa puppy dog eyes bit." She

ran a shaky hand through her hair. "Okay, okay, what is it?"



Donaldson pressed his hands together, pressing the fingertips against his

chin. He’d actually won one. "I don’t want you to stay at your place."



"What!?! No way, I am NOT staying in protective custody."



"It’s nothing like that Carmichael. Just, you know, find a hotel and lay

low for a couple days."



"A couple days, no, no way. Me lay low, while one of those asshole’s

upstairs gives my case to someone else. And where am I going to stay, huh?

Is the DA gonna foot the bill for that?"



"Carmichael.."



"I know a place?" Dana didn’t realize the words had poured out of her mouth

until she saw the shocked looks on their faces. She shrugged before

finishing her thought. "I know someone who owes me a favor. And you guys

won ’t have to pay for it."



"I’m liking this girl more and more." Donaldson smiled. "So Carmichael,

what ’d you say?"



"Okay, fine," Abbie resigned. "But, just for tonight. And I’m back here

tomorrow."



*****



William Scully Jr.’s home was a small two-story colonial nestled right off

the beach in South Hampton. Dana explained that her brother had taken his

wife to Hawaii for the week, hence the empty house. Abbie made a mental

note to ask Dana just what exactly it was her brother did for a living.



She noted the familiar tidings of the home, the family pictures, some with

Dana, the parents, William and his wife, and what, she suspected were

Dana’s other siblings. She wondered what such a family would feel like. How

safe it all must have felt. Even with a death threat against her, in this

house, surrounded by the accruements of someone else’s family, Abbie felt

as if she were some place she could be loved. Someplace she could belong.



"It’s like something out of a Rockwellian nightmare isn’t it?" Dana joked

as she joined Abbie on the couch. They’d both slipped into something more

comfortable. Dana, shorts and University of Maryland tee. Abbie, UT boxer

shorts with matching sports bra. Abbie noted how relaxed Dana looked.

Relaxed, except her Smith & Wesson which the agent kept at the ready and

now rested on the coffee table.



"I don’t know. I think it’s kinda sweet."



"Yeah right," Dana snorted, "You must not have the parental death watch

going for your biological clock."



"Naw, they’re just happy I haven’t killed anyone." Abbie snorted leaning

back into the couch. She turned towards Dana. "So, when were you going to

tell me that we were followed?"



Dana’s eyes lit up for a second, filling with shock and a slight tinge of

embarrassment. "I was trying to keep that from you. How could you tell?"



"Dana, you took more side streets than a Congressman looking for a hooker."

She watched the agent as she chuckled lightly, her eyes practically glowing

in the soft light of the room.



"I’m sorry Abbie. I was going to tell you. I just wanted to wait until the

moment was right."



"God, you sound like a virgin on prom night." Abbie laughed. She shuddered

for a second realizing the callousness of her words. Her fears quickly

subsiding as she heard the familiar chuckling filling her ears.



"You certainly have a way with words." Dana leaned on her side, resting her

head on her hand. Abbie turned to look at her once more, noting the

apprehension in the redhead. Dana poked at the edge of her mouth with her

tongue, carefully forming her words. "And I’d be lying if I said if I

didn’t have an ulterior motive for bringing you here."



"Well, I checked the fridge and there’s no alcohol, so if you’re trying to

get me drunk."



"Are you always such a smart-ass?" Dana joked right back, nudging the

attorney with her hand.



"I thought it was part of my Southern charm. It only gets worse when I get

nervous or angry."



"We’re in the middle of the South Hampton’s. There’s nothing here for you

to get pissed about. And I couldn’t imagine what could possibly make you

nervous."



"You make me nervous, Dana Scully." The words fell out of Abbie’s mouth.

She could feel the heat of embarrassment rising into her cheeks, internally

chastising herself for making such a statement. Yet, as embarrassed as she

was, Abbie couldn’t pull her eyes away from Dana’s. Their eyes locked, even

as the tension in the room increased tenfold.



"Abbie." Dana’s mouth felt dry as she spoke, her heart suddenly taking the

cadence of a racehorse. "I think I want you to kiss me."



"I don’t think I should." A battle suddenly began to rage within Abbie. As

the words left her mouth, she could hear her subconscious screaming at the

cognitive side of her brain that had spoken.



"Why not?"



"If I kiss you I’m gonna want to touch you. And if I touch you, I’ll wanna

make love to you. And I don’t think either of us are ready for that."



"How will we know if we don’t try?"



Abbie’s brain suddenly froze. How could she argue with sound logic like

that? And yet, she couldn’t move. Her entire body had frozen except for her

heart, which felt like it would burst from her chest any moment. She’d even

forgotten to breathe. She felt as if she were clinging to the edge of a

precipice, desire asking to let go and fall into the abyss of the unknown.

Logic begging her to climb back up to reality.



Dana answered the question that hung in the air between them. She leaned

over to Abbie, her fingers reaching out to brush Abbie’s lips. She smiled

lightly as Abbie inhaled tentatively. Her fingers edged down resting on

Abbie’s collarbone just as their lips met. Tentative at first, both felt

their bodies boldening as the kiss deepened.



Dana opened her mouth slightly, her tongue flicking across Abbie’s lips

feeling the woman shudder as she accepted the invitation. They kissed this

way for what felt like an eternity. Their lips the only contact between

them and the fingers that lightly rested on Abbie’s shoulders, until their

lungs ached for oxygen and the kiss was broken.



Abbie only prayed that she didn’t look as dumb as she felt, staring at the

redhead’s lips waiting for the moment she’d feel them against her again.

She could feel Dana’s eyes on her, watching for her, waiting for some

reaction from the attorney. Truth be told, Abbie was scared shitless.

Scared that she ’d look up into those blue eyes and see regret,

embarrassment, all the negative reinforcement she could imagine telling

Dana to let her go. To drop the damaged attorney like the bad news she was

and send her off in a taxicab back to New York City.



She could feel Dana’s fingers cupping her chin, pulling her face up forcing

the eye contact.



"I think you’re right."



Abbie could feel the lump forming in her throat. At least she’d gotten this

far. The kisses she’d shared with Dana Scully, at this moment, could

probably last her lifetime.



"What?" Abbie mustered.



"I think I do want you to touch me."



Abbie thought she heard a loud crash inside her brain, the sound of her

subconscious giving her self-doubting cognitive brain a giant id-laden boot

in the ass. There was probably a ‘yee-haw’ in there somewhere, but Abbie

couldn’t tell. She’d lost all control over her body. Skin, hands, arms

supplanted compulsory control, all with the desire to touch Dana Scully.

Rising onto her knees, her hands cupped Dana’s face pulling the woman close

for another kiss. She felt Dana’s hands on her hips, caressing her stomach,

the swell of her hips.



Dana purred as Abbie nibbled on her bottom lip. It hadn’t been that long

since the agent had been with another person, but she could never remember

feeling such desire, lust, for another person. Abbie seemed to reach into

Dana and pull forth feelings Dana never knew she had. Now, on her brother’s

couch, she was making out like a giddy teenager. Waiting for the next

moment when Abbie touched her, wondering *where* she would touch her.



Dana felt a moan emanating from her throat as Abbie broke their kiss. Part

exultation, part frustration from the reprieve on her lips, she could feel

Abbie’s eyes staring at her even before she opened her own. She stared back

at the brunette, eyes half closed.



"I want to see you." The attorney purred. Abbie’s hands slid to the hem of

Dana’s tee, pulling the shirt off in one fluid motion. Dana could feel her

skin tingling as the flush of excitement crept across her skin. There was

no hiding now, no holding back. She felt herself enveloped in the heat of

Abbie ’s gaze. Pushing back the feelings of embarrassment that reddened her

ears, Dana laid back on the couch offering herself to Abbie.



"God, you’re beautiful." Abbie breathed, bracing an arm on one side, she

touched Dana’s lips with her fingers. She could feel the slight trepidation

suddenly rising from the redhead. Abbie stopped her motions, a sense of

doubt creeping onto her face. She’d wanted this so much, ever since the

moment she saw the agent. But she knew there were always points of no

return. Dana had seemed so sure before, even more solid in her feelings

than Abbie. Yet there it was, the sense of doubt on Dana’s face looking

back at Abbie.



"Are you sure?"



"Yes." Dana quickly replied, then nervously poked at the corner of her

mouth with her tongue, doing it in that way that drove Abbie

abso-fucking-lutely crazy. "I..I just never. You know."



The biggest grin formed on Abbie Carmichael’s face, something akin to what

the cat who ate the canary wore. Only wider, and goofier. "You don’t mind

if I gloat for a second. I don’t think there’s a lesbian alive who doesn’t

want to hear those words."



"Okay," Dana chuckled, "But I swear, if I hear one ‘yee-haw’ you’re outta

here."



The thing about fantasies is no matter how elaborate, or fantastical, or

how they can leave skin tingling and a very real moistness between the

legs, they can never compare to the real thing. That’s how Abbie felt as

Dana lowered herself onto the couch. She’d imagined the feel, taste, smell

of Dana’s skin, and now, here she was before her and it blew away anything

and everything that were her wildest dreams.



Her fingers lightly grazed the agent’s skin, starting at the base of her

neck, gradually going down. Dana gasped as Abbie’s fingers lightly danced

across her breast, circling her areola. An image flashed into Abbie’s mind.



A thought more exactly, a thought that she should take a picture and send

it to the American Medical Association, one for the records books with the

caption "this is what a perfect pair of breasts looks like". Smooth, round,

delicate, with a perfect teardrop form that felt softer than silk and

tasted like perfection.



She kissed the delicate flesh on Dana’s collar bone tasting the sweet salt

of her sweat, mixed in with the soap, perfume and other sundries that Abbie

could only describe as the essence of Dana. Her fingers began a slow

kneading motion on Dana’s breast. The tiny nub becoming erect to her touch.



Dana moaned aloud. Her entire being focused on Abbie, her hands, her lips,

her body. All at once Dana felt alive, electricity coursing through her

body, rippling under her skin leaving a wake of goose pimples across her

flesh. It all felt so wondrous and yet alien. The sensations flowing

through her body, Dana knew were nothing more than autonomic responses.

Instinctual and synaptic signals sent to increase desire for sexual

copulation. But it was so much more than that, more than something she’d

read in a textbook and something she swore was never taught in ANY sex-ed

class.



Abbie slowly pushed her fingers under the waistband of Dana’s panties. The

agent jerked slightly, her body freezing at the contact. Abbie stilled her

motions, her cognitive brain making a comeback with new feelings of doubt

and anxiety.



"Dana, we can stop if you want." The agent answered Abbie’s question by

placing her hand on Abbie’s wrist, guiding her lower. Abbie watched as Dana

bit her bottom lip. She could feel her body under her, Dana’s legs

spreading slightly, another invitation.



Dana thought she would orgasm right there as Abbie’s fingers slid between

her legs. Her hips bucked lightly as Abbie found the tiny nub that seemed

to be the impetus of Dana’s desire. Another moan escaped Dana’s throat as

her arms wrapped around the attorney’s shoulders, drawing the woman closer.



A shudder ran down Abbie’s spine as Dana moaned in her ear, exhaling her

name in a way that made Abbie’s body shudder. It’d been so long since

someone had given themself to Abbie, heart, body and soul. As if she’d

forgotten that sex could be wonderful and didn’t have to be associated with

words like pain, sorrow or violence. Dana had been open with Abbie in ways

that the attorney felt that she’d forgotten. She’d locked her heart in the

same dark place that she kept the awful memories from long ago. When Abbie

opened up that dark place deep within her, she not only gave Dana those

painful memories, but her heart as well. Making love to Dana didn’t seem as

much an expression of love, more an expression of gratitude.



An expression that Dana returned tenfold as her body wracked with

convulsions, her orgasm coming to fruition. She held Abbie close as the

attorney brought her down. Stroked her tenderly, milking Dana for every

ounce.



"Yee haw." Dana exhaled, a slight giggle escaping her throat. She pulled

Abbie’s bangs from her face, noting the tears falling from the attorney’s

eyes. Cupping Abbie’s chin, she tilted Abbie’s brown eyes towards hers.

"Hey, Abbie what’s wrong?"



"Nothing," Abbie tried breaking the eye contact. Dana wouldn’t let her,

kept Abbie’s face close to hers. Abbie chuckled lightly, remembering the

phrase tears of joy as tiny drops fell onto Dana’s neck. "I’d just

forgotten how wonderful it could be."



"Yea," The agent muttered, "Me too. Abbie, I.." Dana paused on the words,

the air filling with tension as she tried to form her sentence.



"Listen Dana, I know this is weird for both of us. I’m not asking you for

forever, or next month, Hell, even next week. All I want, for tonight, is

now."



"Are you always this serious when having sex?" A small smile pulled across

Dana’s lips as she let out a soft sigh. "I was about to say if that’s all

there is to it, I was going to be severely disappointed."



"Oh no Dana Scully." Abbie lowered herself into Dana’s arms, nuzzling her

neck once more, "There’s much, much more."



*****



The old man was dead. Actually, he’d been dead the moment Ghost’s boot came

into contact with his skull. That didn’t matter, Ghost continued to take

his rage out on the homeless man’s corpse. Kicking the body with all his

might, feeling bones break and flesh collapse.



"Fucking bitch!" Ghost screamed as he went in for another kick. He knew

she’ d gotten his message. Watched as the agents ran around like chickens

with their heads cut off. All he had to do was wait and finish the job.

He’d been looking forward to that moment. The moment when they were alone

and he could watch her scream, watch her bleed. Watch her beg and plead for

her life as he stuck everything he had into her.



He had to get a grip. Ghost took his skull cap off, running a shaky hand

through pale white hair. Boucher had told Ghost that he was too violent,

that he liked the killing too much. Ghost couldn’t hold back his laughter

as he spat those words back into Boucher’s face. Ghost didn’t get where he

was by wearing Versace suits and sipping Chardonnay. Power for Ghost meant

respect, and you didn’t get respect until you saw fear in their eyes. The

old man respected Ghost. Respected him until his eyes rolled back into his

head and his lungs released his soul.



"Shit."



Ghost reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag. Five thousand dollars

worth of crystal meth filled his palm. The junk wasn’t for him. Just

another delivery for all the squids on the street. But he needed a hit.

Needed the clarity the drug gave him. To feel that white hot dragon riding

through his veins.



He pulled out two tabs and dry swallowed. The worst thing a dealer can do

is get hooked on his own junk. Ghost rarely took his own shit. He knew he

wasn’ t hooked. Not like those glassy-eyed zombies in the park. Ghost knew

his limits and how far to take them. And the two tabs dissolving in his

belly would be just what he needed.



Ghost inhaled deeply as he felt the drug taking hold. Felt the power

surging through his veins. The power that Abbie Carmichael would feel. Her

and that bitch redhead. If she hadn’t shaken his tail they’d be together

now. All of them. Ghost thought about the redhead. She'd be his dessert. An

after dinner mint he could pleasure himself with after he’d had his fill of

the attorney.



Abbie Carmichael. His mind had been filled with thoughts of the raven

haired attorney since the day she fucked up his life. Thoughts of her

filled his head as he unbuttoned his pants, wrapping a hand around his

manhood. It was always like this, before a kill, after a kill, thinking

about a kill. But Abbie was destiny. A dark contrast to his pale demeanor.

She’d feel the connection soon enough.



Ghost grunted aloud as he shot his seed onto the ground. He tucked himself

back into his pants, knowing full well that a solo endeavor wouldn’t be

enough to sate his need. Not until he and Abbie had fulfilled their roles

and done the dance. Ghost needed to teach that bitch Carmichael a lesson.

Needed to show her who had the power.



Ghost reached into his back pocket, pulling out his switchblade. As he

hovered over the body of the old man, a sadistic grin pulled across his

face. It was time to send Abbie another gift. He’d show her. Ghost was the

one in control. Ghost held all the power. And Ghost wouldn’t stop until he

saw his power reflected in Abbie Carmichael’s eyes.



End Chapter Ten