To: Trelawney Subject: SIAF Date: Saturday, June 26, 1999 2:41 PM Title: Swimming In A Fishbowl Author: Trelawney Classification: MSR, S, H Rating: NC17 Archive: Yes, Just let me know where to find it. Spoilers: Arcadia, Triangle, Ghosts, Redux II (Only a touch) Disclaimer: How much you wanna give me for 'em? Right, like they're mine to give. As you know they belong to someone else. I'm just knocking some dust off. Summary: Mulder and Scully visit Vegas under crazy circumstances and must deal with the aftermath of a very wild ride. Authors Notes: I'm going crazy waiting for Three of A Kind. I've been waiting for Xfiles in Vegas for a long time. The drugged Scully rumor that was circulating is what led me to these events. Personally, any fic with Vegas, The Lone Gunmen and Mulder licking Scully's thigh in an elevator sounds pretty good to me. We all know there is no such thing as a truth serum, but the CIA in the 50's and 60's did experiment with sodium amytal. This was thought to be the "truth serum" for many years. Enjoy Feedback: I'm on my knees here. frohicke@texas.net Swimming In A Fishbowl Las Vegas, NV Saturday, May 15, 1999 12:23 pm Scully awoke slowly. Her eyes were sealed shut and her mouth was dry and sticky. As she cracked open her gummy eyes, her head began to throb with pain. Scully lay back and stared at the ceiling. It was pink. In fact the whole room was pink. Very slowly, Scully raised her head and took in her surroundings, the room looked like vomited pink cotton candy. Every shade of pink imaginable had been crammed into the decor. Where the hell was she? Scully took in the noise of a soft snore, next to her and realized Mulder was sleeping face down on the king sized bed beside her. He was naked. Completely naked. She took in the smooth skin of his back, the curve of his naked buttocks, and one long leg that wasn't covered by the pale pink sheet. She sat up and paid for it when her head began to shriek with a pain embedded deep within her skull. She realized she was almost naked, her body only covered by a very short deep purple silk gown, with a plunging V neck and trimmed in delicate black lace. She rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands and again surveyed the room. The room, wherever they were, was trashed. It was a larger than average room with pale pink carpet and a step about five feet from the door. She counted two empty champagne bottles and what appeared to be a quarter-eaten white cake on the dresser. One sheer white stocking was draped over the TV. The TV was still on, muted, but showing the credits to a movie. Clothes and shoes were scattered around the room along with the remains of a large room service dinner. Her laptop was on the table near the window and she spotted Mulder's and her own suitcases near the door. Hers had been opened and the contents spewed out. She fumbled at the inn table next to the bed and found a notepad. The Flamingo Hilton, Las Vegas, NV, it read. She narrowed her eyes and looked around. Scully reached over and touched the bare skin of Mulder's shoulder. He did not move and she shook him harder. All she got was a loud groan and then he fell back into the sleep of the dead. Carefully, she rose and picked her way into the bathroom. It was large with a sunken whirlpool tub, vanity for two, and a separate shower. The tub had been used recently, there was still some water in it and she found another champagne bottle but this one had not been uncorked. Scully leaned down and pulled the lever on the tub to drain the water. She pulled a clean towel off the rack and turned on the shower. Gradually, Mulder heard the shower in the background of his subconcious. He lifted his head and immediately regretted the action. He lay still for minutes and heard the shower cut off. When he heard the door open, he opened his eyes. Immediately, he knew he was in an unfamiliar place. Pink. Pink was everywhere. He rolled over on the bed, belatedly realizing he was naked beneath the sheet. Luckily the sheet still covered the vital parts, but it did not conceal the urgent morning erection he was sporting. It was Scully. He moved as quick as he could and pulled the sheet around him as much as possible. She crossed the room and held out her palm. Four white capsules. He looked at her questioningly. "Tylenol." She said, her voice was rough and strained to his ears. He took the pills and the plastic cup of water from her. "Thanks." Scully nodded and sat on the edge of the bed. Her hair was wet and wrapped turban-style in a pink towel. Her body was swathed in a complimentary white terry cloth bathrobe. He thought she looked cute. He looked over at her and attempted a smile. "I feel like shit." She nodded again and her blue eyes swept the room. Mulder took the opportunity to do his own surveying. He took in the details in one glance and then asked the question on everybody's mind. "Where are we?" Scully answered. "Las Vegas. At the Flamingo Hilton, but I think the question you really mean is: what happened?" Mulder nodded. He stood slowly gathering the pink sheet around his waist. He walked over to the dresser and turned to face Scully. Her face was pale and she looked like she wanted to throw up. The bed was covered only by the bottom sheet. A large bulky pink and green comforter had been shoved to the floor at the foot of the bed. "Do you remember anything?" He asked. Scully looked even paler. "No." She wrinkled her forehead. "Only some strange memories. I remember Elvis and a blue light." Mulder had to smile at that. "I think we got here in a convertible." She looked interested at that. "What? How?" He shrugged. "I can remember a red car and wind in my hair. If we're really in Vegas then at least I can understand the memories of bright lights." "I remember a bit of that. Mulder, why would we drive to Vegas and why can't we remember?" He shook his dark head. "Take a shower, Mulder. You'll feel better, I'm going to look around and see what I can find." she said rising from the bed. He nodded and clutching the sheet around his waist, he crossed the room to pick up his suitcase. He almost tripped on the step going down near the door and as he entered the bathroom he shut the door firmly. Scully moved over to the dresser. In a matter of moments she found a few papers that were receipts. She found a tuxedo jacket on a chair and went through it, finding some papers in the pockets. She sat on the bed and smoothed out the papers. One was a bank receipt for the transfer of eighteen hundred dollars from Cradock Marine Bank in Washington, D.C. to Bank of America, Sands Ave., Las Vegas, NV. The amount was withdrawn from Fox W. Mulder's account no. 1526783. The second was a receipt from a second hand clothing shop for something that cost $379.67. The receipt was not specific. The third was a receipt for a black tuxedo that was rented for $45.99. The fourth was a whopping receipt from the Blue Light of Vegas Wedding Chapel. It was an itemized receipt listing: Chapel fee, organist, bouquet, boutonniere, portraits, wedding album, champagne toasting glasses, video, marriage certificate, limousine pickup, wedding cake, with additional amounts added for extra flowers and limousine drop off. The total amount was $856.33. There was one more thing to look at, it was a tri-folded legal size page, made of heavy white paper. She did not open it. Scully dropped her head into her hands as she rested her elbows on her knees. She sighed heavily. She stood and picked up the comforter and placed it on the bed. As she did so, her foot slipped and she stared down at a pile of white silk and tulle. Scully knew what it was, but was deathly afraid to lift it. She stared at the pile of exquisite material for a long moment and then lifted the dress. Although the dress had been crushed by the weight of the comforter it was still stunning. It was white silk tulle bodice embroidered with pearls, sleeveless scoop neckline, dropped waist with a white layered tulle skirt, and sweeping train. It was a totally gorgeous wedding dress, she checked the tag and noted that the designer was Jim Hjelm from New York, NY. She blinked tears away as she heard the shower in the bathroom turn off. Scully tossed the dress onto the bed and watched as Mulder opened the door. He was wearing black cotton boxers with TOMMY stitched into the waist band. He was towel drying his hair. "Hey Scully, that shower made me feel a lot better, did you see the size of that tub?" He noticed that she had sat down again on the bed and was very still. "What's wrong?" Scully didn't look at him. She merely picked up the folded white paper and handed it to him. Mulder took it with one hand and shook it open. He immediately dropped the towel to the floor and grasped the paper with both hands. It read: Certificate of Marriage Clark County Marriage Bureau Clark County Courthouse Fox William Mulder of Alexandria, VA Married On This Day of May 14, 1999 to Dana Katherine Scully of Georgetown, VA It was all Mulder needed to see. He felt sick and elated at the same time. He wasn't stupid, he'd wanted Scully for a long time, but at the same time he felt the loss of bachelorhood kick him right in the gut. The details of the room that he had tried in vain to ignore were spinning through his brain. The barely touched cake, champagne bottles, the white wedding dress...his brain lurched to a halt as his eyes took in the pile of white silk tulle on the garish bedspread. Scully? His Scully, had worn that voluminous dress and entered into the sanctity of marriage with him? Mulder watched as Scully disapeared back into the bathroom to finish getting dressed. He was pulling on jeans when he heard the knock at the door. It was a young black man dressed in the familiar purple FedEx uniform. He held out an envelope. Mulder took it. "What's this?" "Package for Fox W. Mulder, are you Fox?" The young man consulted his clipboard. "Mulder. Do I just need to sign?" Mulder was surprised that the FedEx guy had come all the way up to the hotel room, rather than leaving the package at the front desk. The man shook his head. "This package has a declared value. I need to see some id." Mulder turned and looked for his badge. He found it on the dresser near the cake. He flashed his badge and the guy surrendered the clipboard. Mulder scrawled his name across the page and returned it, taking the purple and orange envelope. As he closed the door, Scully came out of the bathroom. She had applied some makeup and pulled on black pants and grey scoop necked cotton blouse. "Who was at the door?" she asked crossing the room to put away her makeup bag. "FedEx guy." Mulder replied. The airbill showed the sender as a bank in Martha's Vineyard, RI. He tore away the strip and opened the cardboard envelope. A small brown envelope slid out and hit the floor, while a single sheet of stationary fell out onto his palm. Scully bent down to pick up the fallen envelope as Mulder opened the sheet of paper. His mother's familiar handwriting sloped across the page. Fox, Enclosed is the item you wanted. I hope this is what you think you need. Please call me soon. I would like an explanation for this behavior. Regards, Teena Mulder Mulder held out his hand for the small envelope and Scully handed it to him. He gave her the stationary and she quickly scanned the shaky handwriting. He slid the contents of the envelope out onto his palm and Scully gasped. It was a ring. A one carot diamond solitaire was set on a band of platinum, it was joined to the wedding ring, which was a narrow band with sixteen smaller diamonds set into the band. They both stared at it for a long moment until Scully turned away. "What have we done?" she whispered. Mulder approached and slowly embrased her, "It's okay, Scully, we'll figure it out. Okay?" She nodded into his chest and then pulled away. "I'm going downstairs to see if they can get ahold of the desk clerk that checked us in." "Wait." He grasped her left hand and slid the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. "Keep this for me. It was my grandmothers." Scully looked up at him with wide blue eyes. "Ok." Mulder nodded, but before she could take more than two steps there was another knock at the door. Scully opened the door to find three smiling faces staring at her. "Hey, guys." She said sourly and sent Mulder an unreadable look. Frohike, Langly, and Byers. The Lone Gunmen filed into the hotel room each with his own mischevious grin. They quickly took in the messiness of the room and Mulder standing with his jeans still unfastened. "I hear congratulations are in order." Frohicke said as he slinked across the room cutting his eyes at Scully. "How did you know we were here?" Mulder asked quickly buttoning up his jeans. Byers answered. "We recieved a call late last night," Langly continued. "that you were about to elope with Scully," Byers picked up again. "you wouldn't answer our questions and you sounded very incoherent." "So we came out on the first flight." Langly finished. Mulder's head had followed the exchange like a tennis match. He turned to Frohike across the room. "Why are you so quiet?" Frohike shrugged and glanced at Scully again. Langly interrupted. "So what's going on, Mulder? That phone call was way to weird for us not to follow up on." Scully strode forward and handed the marriage license and reciepts to Byers. He and Langly stood close together and scanned the documents. Byers looked up. "You really did it." Frohike stepped forward and grasped Scully's left hand. "How much you drop on this piece of ice, Mulder?" Mulder blushed slightly. "It arrived by Fed Ex this morning. My mother sent my grandmothers wedding ring." He walked over and took Scully's hand from Frohike and pulled her away. He did not release her hand. Scully spoke up. "Neither of us knows what happend. We only have very hazy memories of last night, I was just about to go downstairs to find the clerk who checked us in." Langly spoke up. "I can do better than that." Mulder looked over at him. "How?" Frohike flopped back onto the bed and propped his head up with one hand. "All Vegas hotels have serious surveilance equipment. Some of the most sophisticated equipment you will find." Byers continued. "Most of their equipment is used for the casinos, but I know they keep recorded film of the lobby and hallways." Mulder released Scully's hand and picked up a gray jersey pullover. His voice was muffled as he pulled it over his head. "Didn't I see that on a segment of 20/20?" Scully walked over and pulled out black pumps from her suitcase, she slid them on her feet. "You think the hotel will allow us access to their equipment?" Langly shrugged. "You guys are the fibbies, you can do anything." Scully nodded. "Let's go." "Wait. I can use your laptop and attempt to access the records for any phone calls you may have made from this number." Byers said walking over to the table and tapping the black case of Scully's laptop. Mulder said, "I already know I called you and my mom. Who else?" Scully suddenly looked worried. "I think that's a good idea." Byers nodded and sat down and unzipped the case. She walked out the door and Langly followed. Mulder finished tying his Nikes and watched Frohike roll off the bed. Frohike looked at him. "What are you going to do?" Mulder stared at him. "We're gonna find out what happend." Frohike shook his head. "No, I mean what are you going to do?" Mulder looked away towards the door. "I know what you meant." He quickly strode out and Frohike followed shaking his head. END 1/3 2/3 They found the hotel manager quickly enough, after a flash of Mulder and Scully's badge, and a brief explanation, he allowed them access to the closet sized room with the surveillance to the hotel. Because the hotel and casino were ran as two separate enterprises, they could have full access to the hotel tapes. He also sent up two VCRs and an extra TV with a bellhop to their room so they could watch the tapes. "Don't need you people ta feel like a bunch of sardines." He said and snapped his fingers to a lanky young man with a bright shock of carrot red hair. Scully and Mulder looked over the lobby while Langly gathered the tapes from the previous day. According to the manager the tapes would not have been taped over until Monday. While Mulder remembered nothing of the previous night as he looked over the lobby, Scully was having vivid memories of arguing with Mulder in the middle of a church-like room. She also had a brief flash of watching elevator doors closing as a young man struggled to carry their suitcases. She shrugged off the memories and turned to watch as Langly and Frohike came up carrying several tapes. "Why so many?" she asked and punched the button for the elevator. "Just want to be thorough." Langly said hiding a grin. She noticed Frohike was also acting weird. "What's going on?" she asked as Mulder joined them. "Nothing." Frohike mumbled and the doors to the elevator slid open. They entered the hotel room minutes later and both Frohike and Langly burst out with laughter as soon as Mulder closed the door. "What the hell is so funny!" Scully demanded and Byers looked up curiously from the laptop. "We ran into the bellhop that took your luggage up last night." Langly gasped and he crossed over to the TV and set the tapes down. A VCR was now hooked up to the TV. Another TV and VCR setup had also been rolled into the room. "Where was he, why didn't you let us question him?" Mulder asked. Frohike shook his head. "Because you wouldn't have liked what he said. He saw Agent Scully in the lobby and came over to enlighten us about her behavior from last night." Langly continued. "He said she was so drunk and after she checked in she slammed her hand down on the counter and said "I'm gonna go get laid by my partner and I think it's about damn time.". He said if you hadn't already paid for the room they would have thrown you out." Frohike grinned at Mulder. "He said he didn't think she would get laid at all because the guy she was with could barely stand up, much less get it up." he sniggered. Mulder bared his teeth. "Watch it, asshole." Langly was busy sorting through the tapes. "So you see? He wouldn't have volunteered that information if he had known you were FBI." Frohike began hooking up the second TV/VCR setup. "So we had to question him." Scully ignored them all and began straitening the room. She called out to Byers. "You find anything?" Byers shook his head. "I'm just now getting close to the system. Your computer locked up on me and I had to reboot." Scully didn't know what to do with the cake, so she asked if anyone wanted some. They all refused, but it started Mulder thinking about food so he suggested room service. While they waited for the room service Langly found the first video footage of Mulder and Scully in the hotel hallway. It was outside the elevator and Mulder had Scully's hand and was dragging her down the hallway. She had the cake balanced with her left hand. She was wearing the wedding dress and the short train dragged after her as she followed him to their room. They missed the room and had to backtrack by three doors. It appeared that Scully was laughing, but the angle from the camera wasn't very good. Everyone ate expensive room service sandwiches and watched tape after tape of hallways. Frohike found the tape of Scully checking in to the hotel. It showed her fill out a form, hand over her credit card, drop her wallet, almost forget her credit card, drop her room key card, and finally slam her hand down on the counter and lean in to say something to the desk clerk. She then burst out laughing and moved off toward the elevators with a barely upright Mulder following. Scully was repacking her suitcases, which had suffered some serious damage the night before. She bent over to pick up the only white shoe she could find when she saw a video tape laying beneath the dresser. She had to get on all fours to reach it and then brought it up. "Mulder, look at this." She handed him the tape. It was a standard VHF video tape with a label for the Blue Light Las Vegas Wedding Chapel on the front. Mulder was about the pop it in one of the VCR's when Langly exclaimed, "Hey its you in the elevator!" They moved forward to look and Byers who was stretching, walked over as well. The footage was shot from the side so there was a much better view than the previous video feeds. Scully entered the elevator her left hand holding the cake up. Mulder entered and pushed to button for the twelfth floor. Then he approached Scully and leaned his head forward and pressed it against the tops of her breasts, which were exposed by the scoop neck of the dress. Mulder then got down on his knees and began pushing up the mass of tulle. He clumsily pushed it up to her waist and pressed his mouth against her inner thigh. Scully leaned back against the wall of the elevator and tossed her head back. She parted her legs, which were encased in thigh-high white stockings with a garter around her left leg. Mulder licked at her thigh with his tongue and Scully shook her head, her red hair sliding across mirrored wall. He grasped the garter with his teeth and slid it down her leg. He lifted her foot and slid her white pump off and tossed it behind him. He slid the garter down further and off and then raised his mouth to lick slowly at her thigh. He grasped the stocking with his fingers and slid it down and off as well. Scully pressed her hips forward and a shower of tulle fell, covering him from the camera. After a long minute he slipped out from beneath her dress. Scully was still holding the cake aloft as Mulder grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the elevator and down the hallway. The room was silent as the tape moved back to show an empty elevator take on two middle aged couples. Langly suddenly cried out "Go, Mulder!", he high-fived Frohike behind Scully's back. Scully had her eyes closed and she dropped her head into her hands. Mulder patted her on the shoulder and glared at the guys behind him. He snapped at Byers. "You have anything, yet?" Byers moved back to the lap top. "It's scanning the circuits right now." Scully suddenly stood up and walked quickly to the bed. She grasped the comforter and top sheet with one hand and threw them back so that only the bottom sheet was left. She crawled up onto the bed on her hands and knees and pushed her face into the sheet. She began to sniff. The guys all looked at Mulder, but he could only stare at her in confusion. "What are you doing?" He slowly approached the bed. Scully didn't look up. "My roommate in collage had a boyfriend she always suspected of cheating. So whenever she would go to his room she would sniff the sheets to see if he'd had sex the night before." She raised up on her knees. "I never understood how she could tell because I don't think he ever washed those sheets the whole time they were together." Mulder had had enough, he grabbed her wrist and helped her off the bed. "This is bullshit. We're going to the hospital. I want to see what the hell we took to make us so out of it yesterday." Scully nodded and moved off to fetch her jacket. They left the gunmen staring in amusement at one another. *** Mulder and Scully took a cab to the Desert Springs Hospital just down Flamingo Road from their hotel. After another badge flash in the emergency room, Scully found a lab tech who agreed to draw their blood. She disappeared with the vials leaving Mulder to cool his heels in the emergency room lobby. It was late afternoon and the waiting room was only half full. The TV was showing reruns of The Rockford Files and Mulder didn't feel like watching Jim get stuck in another bad situation because of Angel. He walked outside and pulled his cell phone from the pocket of his leather jacket. It had began to rain while they were inside. He dialed his mother's number. "Mom?" His voice was shaky. "Fox? Is that you? Your voice sounds funny?" "I'm on my cell phone. I got the package." "Good. I was afraid sending it overnight like that, but you were so insistent." Teena's voice was sharp. "Mom, I need you to tell me exactly what I told you last night." Mulder ducked beneath the covering of the small overhang in front of the emergency room doors. "Why? Fox, you really upset me." "Mom, please, it's important." he pleaded. "You were very rude. You insisted on using Nana's ring and you wouldn't tell me why until the very end." "What did I tell you, Mom?" he asked. "Fox I don't understand why you don't remember." She exhaled loudly into the phone. "What did I tell you?" he asked again. Again she sighed. "You said that your were marrying your partner, that girl, Scully, and you wouldn't listen to me at all." "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to be rude. I'll explain..." he trailed off. Teena interrupted. "Did you marry her?" "later. Yes, I did." This time her noise of annoyance was obvious. "Well, I hope she makes you happy, Fox. I don't understand any of this." "I know Mom. I'll talk to you when I get back to D.C." He clicked off the phone and looked over to his right. Two hookers were standing nearby. One, a blonde, in a tight shiny red dress that barely covered her ass and the other, a brunette with a blue streak in her hair, in velvet hot pants and a gold lame' crop top. The blonde approached him and asked for a cigarette. "I don't smoke." Mulder replied checking out the display. The dress was way too tight and her breasts were pushed up over the top of it. He was surprised he couldn't see her nipples. "That's okay. Looking for good times?" she asked running her hand down her flat tummy and across to her hip. He was quick to notice the track marks on the inside of her elbow. Mulder smiled. "Are those plastic?" he asked nodding toward her chest. He noticed her friend was watching them intently. "Two grand worth." her red lipstick had smeared a little. "You interested?" "How much?" He leaned to the left, glanced out into the rain, looking for her pimp. "You're cute. Forty for me. Sixty for both." "A little steep. All I want is thirty bucks worth." he replied. She considered. "All you get for thirty is a blow." Mulder reached into his pocket like he was going for money. He flipped open his badge. "Get the fuck outta here." Her face turned red and she backed up on four inch stiletto heels. "Fuck you. Fucking Fed." She turned to her friend and they disappeared in the rain, around the corner. Mulder wandered back inside. Only a few people were left waiting in the room. A Hispanic couple was nursing a baby that was whimpering. The baby's face was flushed and the mother looked scared. He spotted Scully and headed her way. She looked anxious. "They found remains of the drug in our blood, or I should say drugs." "What kind?" he asked leaning down to her. She shook her head. "They are isolating them right now. It shouldn't be much longer." They began walking back to the waiting area. Mulder nodded. "Scully?" She looked up at him. "What?" He licked his lower lip. "I, um, I was wondering if you think you should be examined and use a rape kit?" Scully's face flamed red. "Mulder..." "I just think you would want to know, for sure." "Mulder, I'm not going to use a rape kit to find out if we had sex last night." She sat down on one of the ugly olive green chairs, Mulder sat beside her. "I just thought you wanted to know, that's all." She nodded and brought her hands up to cup her neck. "I'm sorry I acted that way at the hotel." "No, Scully, Don't be, you have every right..." She lowered her hands and turned to him, reaching out to clasp his hand in one of her own. "Mulder, It doesn't matter. I got upset at the video, but it's okay with me. Anything that may have happened last night was a result of some drug induced haze. It wasn't real. I'm not angry." Mulder nodded and sat back, although he still allowed her to hold his hand. He was about to ask what she wanted to do about the marriage, when a lab tech, a blonde woman, in peach scrubs approached them. "Dr. Scully?" The tech asked. Scully and Mulder stood. "Yes, do you have the results?" Scully asked. "Yes," the tech handed Scully a chart, "it appears to be a combination of chemicals. The first is lysergic acid diethylamide-25. Which I suspect caused the initial hallucinations. Second is a less common psychedelic commonly known as 2C-B, its an analogue of DOB, its a dimethoxyphenethylamine." She pointed out the carbon chain pictured on the chart. "The last one was harder to put my finger on but after looking at the tests again I think you will find the same results." She flipped a page on the chart. Scully squinted at the page, then looked up. "High doses of sodium amytal?" The tech nodded. "I was surprised to see it, myself. You both had triple doses of it. After reading your accounting of the events, I was surprised that the two of you didn't crash before you even made it into the city." Mulder looked at Scully and the Tech. "In English please." The tech laughed. "You're welcome to explain, Dr. Scully. You're both free to go." She walked away with the chart tucked under her arm. Scully said. "Lets go, I'll explain on the way." In the taxi, Scully explained that they had each been given doses of LSD, 2 C-B, and a high dose of sodium amytal. Mulder's forehead creased as his brain flipped to illegal drugs. "I know LSD. I'm assuming 2 C-B is similar. But why sodium amytal. I know that is the fabled truth serum from the 1960's." Scully agreed. "It was experimented by the CIA but it only enhanced a twilight sleep that was no different that giving the victim a six pack of beer." "I know it was used in conjunction with hypnosis, but the tests were only experimental at best." Mulder tapped his chin with his index finger. Scully shrugged. "Either way, that is what we were given. Now the only questions are how and why and by whom." Mulder grinned suddenly. "Either way, it was one hell of a trip. I hope it will come back to me someday." Scully gave him a hard look before turning to look out the window at the darkening sky. *** Mulder used the key card to open the door to their hotel room, but he was no sooner through it then there was a shout, he was pulled into the room, and slammed against the wall. Two pictures on the same wall fell and the glass shattered sending shards flying onto the carpet. "Hey, hey!" yelled Frohike. Mulder was knocked in the jaw before he had a chance to defend himself, his back teeth rattled and his vision dimmed. He shook his head to clear it and saw Bill Scully's ugly face baring his teeth less than two inches from his nose. "You son of a bitch. I outta slam your big fucking nose all the way to the back of your head." Bill breathed into Mulder's face. Mulder's hazel eyes focused on Bill's narrow blue mean ones, "Tic Tac?" Scully suddenly jumped between them and it gave Frohicke and Langly the leverage to pull Bill away from Mulder. "Dammit, Bill!" Scully yelled as she turned toward her brother. "What the hell are you doing?" "I should be asking you the same question! Getting Mom up at three in the morning to tell her you married this, this, this alien hunting jerk!" Bill yelled right back at her. Scully glared at him. "Fuck you, Bill, I hunt aliens too, y'know." she slammed her finger into his chest. "Don't you ever lay another finger on him again." She stood up to her full height, which was almost laughable except for the hard blue fire in her wide eyes, "He's my husband now, so you better get that straight in your thick head." Bill glared at her, then shook the gunmen off. He crossed to the other side of the room. "What the hell are you doing, Dana?" Scully sniffed and shook her head. She glanced at Byers. "I take it that I called my mom last night?" Byers nodded. "Five calls placed from this room." He handed a sheet of paper to Scully. After a quick glance at Bill, Mulder moved to look at it over her shoulder. 5/1512:47 am Las Vegas, NV to Martha's Vineyard, RI 5/15 1:04 am Las Vegas, NV to Chinatown, Washington, D.C. 5/15 1:26 am Las Vegas, NV to Arlington, VA 5/15 3:09 am Las Vegas, NV to Glover Park, Washington, D.C. 5/15 3:17 am Las Vegas, NV to Arlington, VA "We called you guys twice?" Mulder asked over Scully's head. Byers nodded. "The first time was to let us know what happend, though you had already called when you were on your way to the wedding chapel, the second..." Langly jumped in, "was to tell us not to even think about coming up here." Frohike smiled, "So of course, we had to." Mulder mumbled into Scully's ear, "At least we didn't think to let Skinner know." She shook her head and red strands of hair ended up in his mouth. Bill Scully was looking from one geek to another. "Dana, why?" Scully handed the paper to Mulder and walked over to her brother she touched his arm and looked up at him with solemn blue eyes. "Please don't question my decision, Bill. I need you to accept it, go home, and please don't worry. I'll call mom. There are other things going on right now besides this wedding, okay? Please trust my judgement." Bill clenched his jaw and looked down at her, then glanced over at Mulder. Scully could sense his body tense for another fight. But he only moved past her towards the door, he opened the door and turned to look at her. "I trusted your judgement before and you lived because of that decision. I hope you don't die from this one." He left slamming the door behind him. Scully breathed a sigh of relief and Mulder glared at the gunmen. "How the hell did he get up here?" "He just showed up. He almost strangled Langly when he answered the door." Byers responded as he put away Scully's laptop. Frohike gave Mulder a grin. "He's a sneaky son of a bitch, just jumping your skinny ass like that." Mulder just shrugged and crossed the room to lean down close to Scully. "Are you okay?" She nodded. "I hope this mess doesn't kill my mother." She glanced at her watch and then the gunmen. "It's almost seven. Are any of you ready to eat?" The guys all nodded and they packed up their stuff. Langly handed Mulder one black video tape. "This is the wedding video. I hope you don't mind, but we took a look at it, and well, it's pretty entertaining." Frohike looked up from lacing his boots. "You two, make great drug-free poster children." he sniggered. Scully glanced away biting her lip and Mulder rolled his eyes. "Thanks, guys." END 2/3 3/3 They took the CAT down to Circus Circus where Frohike swore they had the best prime rib and lobster tails in all of Vegas, at the Circus Buffet. As they waited for the CAT two hookers approached Mulder. Scully and the Gunmen looked on in amusement. One, an Oriental, was precariously balanced on four inch heeled white plastic boots. The rest of her outfit included a white vinyl skirt and a tiny fringed vest that gave a tantalizing view of her braless breasts. The other was a brunette with a faux leopard print bra and black spandex mini skirt. Mulder turned them down. The taller of the two, the brunette, looked back over her shoulder as she walked away and called out, "You don't know what you're missing, baby." Langly laughed until he got the hiccups and the CAT arrived. On the bus, it was standing room only and Scully was pressed between Mulder, Byers, and a five foot tall neo nazi wanna-be. It was an adventure to look down at his shaved head. Mulder found his back pressed against the front of a six foot tall African American woman wearing five inch mules. Her thin body was wrapped in a long white gauzy gown and she had an afro with gold sequins pasted into it. He felt her run her hand down his side and she whispered a come-on into his ear. Scully turned her head, saw what was going on, and raised her left hand, the diamond flashed in the light. "Sorry, honey, he's taken." she said and the black woman pouted and moved a few inches back. As they exited the bus Frohike leaned in toward the woman. "How much?" She threw back her head and laughed. "Sugar, you couldn't pay me enough." She stalked off on her ridiculously high shoes. Frohike looked at Mulder slyly. "You got 'em creamin', Mulder." As they ate, Scully informed the gunmen of the drugs they had been slipped and Frohike whistled in amazement. He began singing the first few lines of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds until Langly threw a roll at him. Scully found herself enjoying their company and she was glad because it took her mind off the previous night. She didn't know what she and Mulder were going to do about tonight. Byers leaned in and surprised them all with the suggestion to go see Legends In Concert at the Imperial Palace. Mulder shook his head no, until Scully agreed. At this point she was willing to do anything to postpone being alone with Mulder. She was afraid of the conversation she knew was coming as soon as they were alone. They rode the CAT back down the strip to the Imperial Palace. Langly went off to buy the tickets and Scully sat down with Frohike to play Lucky Sevens dollar slots. She had won thirty-four dollars in dollar tokens when Langly returned. They made it to the 10:30 showing and sat back to watch an amazing impersonation performance. Cher, Diana Ross, The Blues Brothers, Elton John, Neil Diamond, and others with Elvis as the finale, it was the best time Mulder could remember having with Scully since she had shown up at his door before dawn Christmas morning. He loved to see her laugh and she appeared to be having a good time. After the show Mulder pushed his way through the crowd so Scully could have the Elvis Impersonator's autograph. They flowed with the crowd outside the casino and walked across to look at the fountains in front of Cesear's Palace. The whole strip was a sight to behold. Neon lights in every color reflected in the depths of the fountain. They said goodbye to Frohike who had gotten reservations at Tropicana. He claimed to never stay anywhere else unless he was working. So he boarded the CAT and Mulder called out as the doors slid shut. "Watch out for hookers!" Frohike gave him the thumbs-up sign as the bus pulled away. Langly and Byers had found a double room at Harrah's, which was just down a bit from The Flamingo, so they all walked together down the strip. They paused to watch the volcano at The Mirage erupt and then Mulder and Scully said their good-byes to the guys and continued down the strip. Mulder found himself watching the millions of lights overhead that set Scully's hair on fire. She looked beautiful as the pink glow from The Flamingo bathed her face. He opened the door to the casino, they entered the frigid air conditioned depths, and the pinging of hundreds of slot machines faded away as he led her toward the elevators. *** Mulder and Scully resumed their silence as they entered the hotel room. The maid had been in, while they were out and the room was once again presentable. Scully showered while Mulder flicked the remote, glancing at the numerous porno opportunities that Vegas offered. She came out of the bathroom her red hair pulled up in a clip and wearing navy silk pajamas. Mulder patted the bed beside him, breathing a sigh of relief that her green mask was nowhere to be seen. Scully ignored him and began folding her clothes and putting them away in her laundry bag. He decided to play one better and when she turned to face him, before she switched off the lights, he waggled his eyebrows and said, "Come on, Scully. We're really married now." "Mulder..." but she didn't elaborate and she crawled into the bed and propped herself against the headboard. "What's this?" she asked and waved her left hand toward the TV. "Nothing." Mulder was temporarily fascinated with his Nana's ring on her hand. He reached out and caught her hand, he wove his fingers through her own and then trailed them up her wrist. Scully snatched her hand away, "That tickles." They didn't say anything for a long while. Mulder caught himself watching the beginning of a porno and reached for the remote. Scully anticipated his action and grabbed it first. He looked at her in amazement. "What are you doing?" She ignored him and looked down at the remote in her hand. She was smiling. I've got the power, she thought and she finally glanced over at Mulder. "I want to watch this." He looked worried. Maybe she doesn't know what this is, he thought and he replied, "You should put it on the Nature Channel." She shook her head. The movie showed a convertible pull up to a hamburger stand, the two guys began catcalling two blonde girls wearing short-shorts. "I want to watch this. Isn't this what you wanted to watch?" Mulder became more nervous, his brows knit together, "You know there was a special on Fox called Major Medical Disasters. That could be interesting." He made a grab for the remote but she held it away, out of his reach. She was watching the TV with interest now. The girls had jumped into the convertible, one in the front and one in the back, and the guy in front's hand was creeping under the edge of one of the girl's top. Mulder knew what was about to happen, one of the classic "lets get a blow job in the car and have sex too" routines. He panicked and leapt up and as Scully twisted away he pinned her to the bed and grappled for the remote. He snatched it away just as the blonde, whichever one it was, pulled off her shirt exposing gravity defying breasts. Scully squealed as she got a small peek of the guy in the back seat unzipping his pants. Mulder clicked the remote and the channel changed to the Nature Channel. He raised off of her grinning with victory until he saw Scully glance at the TV and then look back at him with a satisfied expression. Mulder looked toward the TV and became aware that the two elephants on screen were engaged in intercourse. He gave a cry of annoyance and changed the channel again. This time the channel was CSPAN, he gave a sigh of relief as Scully bent over, her shoulders shaking with laughter. He clicked off the TV and watched as Scully scooted down the bed and lay back, she crossed her hands over her stomach. Mulder, suddenly leaned over her and reached out with his hand and stroked her hair away from her face. He smiled down at her, "You remember what I told you in Miami?" Her eyes grew wide and she remained quiet, her memories filled with his drugged confession that he loved her. Slowly she nodded. Mulder's smile grew wider. "I do love you." She watched him carefully and he leaned closer and pressed a kiss against her temple. She raised her hands and cupped his face, his five o'clock shadow scratching her palms, she pulled his face closer and allowed him to brush his lips across her own, softly and then more firm. Her mouth opened beneath his and his tongue slid into her mouth against her tongue. She nipped lightly at his bottom lip as he ran his tongue along the fullness of her upper lip. A low growl erupted from Mulder's chest and filled the silence of the room. Their mouths moved deeper into one another and finally Mulder raised his head. Scully lay beneath him gasping and she slowly opened her eyes. He looked at her and grinned. "Is this lingering effects from the LSD? 'Cause I don't want this trip to end." She smiled back at him and ran the fingers of her hand through his hair. She looked deep into his eyes. He grew nervous with her watching him. He suddenly blurted out, "I want to stay married." Her eyes grew very wide then, she opened her mouth to speak, but he covered it with a hand. "It's okay, I know you don't want to." When she shook her head beneath his hand he raised it. "You do?" "Mulder, we can't." He was hurt by her words and he moved away and flopped onto his back. "I know, Scully. I'm sorry for kissing you." She suddenly raised up to sit beside him, "I'm not. My God, Mulder, I've been waiting for you to kiss me since last summer." His eyebrows rose and he suddenly grinned. "What else have you been waiting for?" Scully looked at him for a long moment with an inscrutable expression, he began to curse himself for that hasty remark, when she rose up and straddled his hips. She leaned forward bracing herself on her hands, Mulder had to restrain himself from looking down into her gaping pajama top. Look at her eyes, look at her eyes, he repeated to his eyes, and to his suddenly surging erection he thought, think dead kittens, think dead kittens. His dick however, must have been listening to someone else, it rose up and pressed firmly against her buttocks. She moved back on it and he barely restrained himself from moaning. Her expression was still unreadable but she sat straight and her hands slid up and she unbuttoned the pajama top she was wearing. She reached out and took his hands and slid them up over her taunt belly and then up to cup her breasts. "I was waiting for this." "Y-You were?" he whispered and his voice sounded strained to his ears. She nodded and his hands gently kneaded her breasts, his thumbs involuntarily finding her nipples, and he grazed them lightly. She tossed her head back, much like she had done in the elevator video, and his hands and fingers became more bold. One hand pulled the waistband of her pajama shorts down and his fingers slid against the cotton of her panties until he felt the wetness of her seeping into the material. His thumb pushed forward, grazing her clitoris, and began a slow maddening circle that quickly had her feeling weak and boneless. She raised up and removed her shorts and panties as he pulled off his tee-shirt. He lay back and she climbed back on top of him. Only the thin material of his boxers was between them. His hands came back, slipping around her back, he crushed her to his chest, and he kissed her again. This time his mouth gave her everything. When she pulled away for air, he licked his way down her throat to her breasts and he took her nipple in his mouth. He bite lightly at the nipple and then laved it with his tongue, finally taking the whole of it into his mouth, suckling her. She cried out softly and pushed back onto his cock. He jerked his hips again and he moved for her other nipple. She pulled away and slid down until she grasped his boxers and tugged them down his hips. His erection bobbed against his stomach until Scully took him in her hand and swept her fingers down the length of it. Mulder arched his back and his body shuddered. Scully rose over him and after rubbing the head against her slick opening she moved her hips down, taking all of him on one stroke. Mulder hissed, "Yesss." as her body milked his cock. His mouth moved over her breasts again, capturing a nipple and sucking hard. He released her nipple and his dark head fell back onto the pillow. "Is this what you were waiting for, Scully?" Her dark blue eyes, crazed with passion, met his hazel ones. "What?" Her hips pumped again and he jerked against her, his hands held her hips, assisting her rhythm. "Yes, " she nodded, her red hair falling forward, then back, "Yes." Her back suddenly arched and he felt her vaginal muscles contract around his dick, over and over. She gasped something in the air, but he was past listening, the tiny contractions pushed him over the edge. He pushed further into her and the orgasm overtook him as he spilled deep into her body. She fell onto his chest and his hands moved from her hips to her back and he stroked her smooth back with long sweeping strokes. Scully raised her head, her face framed by wild red hair, "I love you." she whispered. She moved off him and curled up on her side facing him, in the fetal position. He rolled over and laid his hand on her thigh. Her eyes were drifting shut and he knew she was only moments away from sleep. He rolled back onto his back and stared in the dark at the pink ceiling until sleep came. *** The next morning, the Gunmen met them in the lobby, as Scully checked them out of the hotel. Mulder was relaxing on one of the pink couches trying to avoid Frohike's questioning gaze, when he saw a familiar figure step into the lobby of the hotel. He was only half listening to Langly's taunts that Frohike hadn't really gotten laid the night before. It was a teenage boy, the one who served them lunch at the diner in Carson City. The last town they remember being in before they woke up at the Flamingo yesterday morning. Mulder quickly rose from the couch and met them just as the boy and his companion reached Scully at the front desk. The boy was apologizing to Scully. "I didn't know she would do it." Scully glanced at Mulder over the boy's shoulder. "Who?" "My girlfriend. When I told her that he," the boy nodded at Mulder, "didn't tip me, she got pissed and said he'd pay." The boy looked worried. "I didn't know she was gonna put that stuff in your coffees, she got bumped when she was doing it and more went into the coffee than she realized, but she just sent them with you anyway." Mulder glanced at the boy, "You mean your girlfriend is the one who drugged us?" "Yes!" the boy scratched at his nose ring and looked imploringly at Scully. Scully, however, was pissed. "How did you find us?" "You left your card at the diner and I called where you work. I swear I didn't know you worked for the FBI, either." Scully was too furious to speak. She simply turned and walked away. Mulder grabbed the boy's arm and pushed him into the counter. The two clerks jumped and began to whisper together. Mulder leaned in, using his meanest voice, "I could have you and you're girlfriend's ass put away for years, for assaulting a federal agent." The boy's friend turned white, he looked like he was about to split and began to slowly step back. Just as he turned to run, Byers was behind him and reached out to hold his arm. Langly and Frohike moved in closer to hear Mulder finish telling the other boy, "But I'm in a good mood, so you and your friend should get the fuck out of here." Mulder roughly shoved the boy away. He stood with the gunmen watching as the two boys raced out the door of the hotel. Byers glanced over at him. "You didn't give him a tip?" Mulder shrugged. "I got three words for you, learn to fucking type." He strode past the gunmen outside, where Scully was waiting with a cab. Langly and Byers began to put the bags away and Mulder moved to help them. Scully was looking thoughtfully down the strip when she noticed Frohike was trying to get her attention. He had his hands behind his back and was rocking back and forth on his heels. "What's up Frohike?" she asked as she watched Langly and Byers squeeze into the front seat with the driver. Mulder was so tight with money, he didn't call two cabs. She shook her head, all this, because he refuses to leave a decent tip. She watched Mulder get in the back and he gestured for her to hurry up and get in the cab. Frohike, the little troll, smiled at her, "I got laid last night." She opened the door and glanced over her shoulder at Frohike. She smiled and replied, "So did I." Frohike was left standing with his mouth open until Mulder yelled for him to get in the fucking cab. END We're just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl, year after year, running over the same old ground..." Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd "I'm feeling lucky." Frohike - Three Of A Kind Remember Feedback frohicke@texas.net THANKS.