Title: Safe Harbor XII Author: shawntaw Category: MSR, Mulder/Scully/Skinner friendship, ProfilingMulder Rating: PG Summary: Skinner and Scully are still scrambling to find Mulder in time. Mulder is trapped and trying to come to terms with his past and his impending death... Disclaimer: (clearing throat) I have a confession to make...I don't own the X-files characters. I, in fact, own very little outright. Maybe my kids...can the hospital repo my kids if I don't pay the hospital bill?!!!! Uh oh, maybe I don't own them either!!!!!! (*L*) Feedback makes me very happy at shawntaw@hotmail.com :) DEDICATION: To those who are still reading and have sent me such lovely feedback!:) AND, OF COURSE, TO DANI WHO HAS MADE A WEBSITE OF MY STORIES: www.geocities.com/corran_14776/shawntaw.html Thank you.:) On with the show... ****************************************************** *Ohhhhkaaaay...* Skinner blinked in disbelief. *Um, Mulder is definitely never hearing about this. Definitely* He almost laughed at himself. He sounded like Rainman. Even if it was only in his thoughts. Skinner lay very still, on his right side, facing his...problem..and wondering what he should do. Get up and make a run for it? Lay there and pretend to be asleep and let HER wake up and make a run for it? Pretend it was no big deal, get up and go back to his room and get ready for the day like a mature FIFTY year old adult? His inner child wanted to get up and run for it. *Mulder is going to either kill me or laugh himself into a seizure over this* Scully opened her eyes suddenly, saw him lying nose-to-nose with her, sparse inches separating them, and gasped. *Damn! Waited too long!* Skinner tried a tenative smile. "Um, good morning, Agent Scully?" He cursed himself mentally when it came out sounding like a question. She blinked rapidly as though trying to wake up. Scully must have decided this was really happening, because a smile then formed on her face. In fact, her smile was in serious danger of becoming a chuckle. "Good morning, sir," she choked out, successfully. They lay there regarding each other. A abrupt laugh puffed across Skinner's face. Scully couldn't help it. She rolled to her back and laughed. "I'm sorry, sir, but," she took a deep breath to stop the next chuckle, "the look on your face. And, for a moment, I was even, like, 'What the-', and then I remembered-" She interrupted herself with another chuckle. Skinner rolled to his back and sat up, slowly. He shook his head at Scully's blurrily laughing figure. "Oh, yeah, real funny. Do you have any idea what this would look like if someone were to walk in here?" He gestured to the door as someone knocked. The two of them jumped. Scully was startled into silence. Since it was her room, Scully answered, "Who is it?" "Maid service, ma'am." They relaxed and sighed. "Not today, thank you," Scully shouted to the door. "Yes ma'am," the maid could be heard shuffling away. Skinner reached up an pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think I'm getting a headache already, and the day has barely started." He looked around, but details of the room remained out of focus. "And where are my damn glasses?" Skinner felt his glasses placed in his hand. He put them on and the situation sharply came into focus. He and Scully sat side by side, on top of the covers, fully-clothed, a notebook, pen and a couple of files scattered between them. The rest of the files and the pizza debris were on the small table across the room. It would be obvious to anyone that the two had fallen asleep working on the case. His eyes rested again on Scully. She was looking at him with a smirk. "Feel better now, sir?" He blushed all the way to the top of his head. "I'll go to my room, clean up and meet you at the cafe' for breakfast in..say..30 minutes?" She nodded, becoming serious again. "I want to get right back to work on this, sir. I think I have an idea how to flush our killer out into the open." ******************************************************* Mulder awoke to the smell of woman's cologne. He hadn't even realized he'd slept again. And dreamless for a change. He'd slept the sleep of the weak and spent. Once more, the smell of perfume assailed his senses. It wasn't particularly strong, just obvious. *must have happened when she moved me* The beginning of the case came flooding back to him in technicolor detail. Scully had smelled women's cologne on the third victim's clothing before it had a chance to dissipate. He put two and two together. When the killer was herself, she dressed like a woman. That included the cologne. Mulder wished he could talk to Scully and Skinner. He wondered if they were even close to finding him. He wondered how Scully would handle it when he turned up dead. ******************************************************* Skinner and Scully sat across from one another, plates pushed aside, hunched over a small pile of files and papers. "So, your plan is standard police work?" Skinner said. Scully nodded. "I have here the addresses of our two main suspects. I also have addresses of close relatives," she shuffled through the papers,"What I am proposing we do is narrow down the list of residences to those with basements or cellars." "In this part of the country, that isn't going to narrow it down much, if at all," Skinner interjected. "I know, but its something," Scully continued impatiently,"Then, I want to show up at the remaining residences at random. I don't want there to be any warning to the residents themselves." "We don't have a search warrant," Skinner pointed out, "and we aren't likely to get one for so many residences at once. A judge won't sign off on a 'Hail Mary' shot, Scully." "It isn't just random residences," Scully protested, "These are suspects-" "The relatives aren't," Skinner interrupted, "and the judge may see it as a violation of their rights." "We're talking about a man's life here! October is day after tomorrow!" Several restaurant patrons looked up at Scully's raised voice. Skinner cleared his throat. "Scully, calm down. I think your plan is fine. I just want you to be aware that we won't be able to just bust down the door of each of these residences and search them without a search warrant or probable cause. Just being related to the suspect is not enough reason to be under suspicion." Scully's eyes held a desperate look. "Day after tomorrow," she repeated, "There isn't enough time for this." "We'll do the best we can. We'll get the locals to help," Skinner reassured her. Scully nodded and began to shove the mess on the table back into her briefcase. It was all they could do. ********************************************************************** * (Announcer voice) "Will Mulder be rescued in time?! Tune in next time..." Next part is coming pretty quickly....