Title: Fallout At Arcadia (1/1)
Author: RocketMan >lebontrager@iname.com<
Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully belong to CC, 1013, and Fox. No fringe is
intended.
SPOILERS::Arcadia, obviously. 

~~~~
Fallout At Arcadia
~~~~

His mind was numb.

The darkness leached into the house like a sinister spirit, the walls and
floor washed out by the night.

Mulder felt his heart cramp tightly in his chest, a shiver of desperation
crawled through him.

"Scully?"

Blood answered him in a collage of thick fear, and he dreaded each step up
the stairs.

At the top, it was smeared like a child's finger painting along the walls,
a riot of life and death in abstraction.

He was too afraid to know.

"Scully?" It came out a garbled whisper, the frightful certainty that he
would soon know the fate of the Klines, and his partner.

A faint, almost choking noise caught his attention, and he moved to the
bedroom.

"Scully?"

Her body was sprawled on the floor, in ribbons, blood coating her hair a
darker, unnatural red.

He slumped to her side, too stunned, too grieved to make sense of much
else.

Clutching her tightly to him, he made a panicked attempt to pull her
together, pushing her intestines back inside, tears of aching grief and
rage coursing down his cheeks.

As he rocked back and forth, her death came for him.

It found him willing.
~~~~

He found consciousness with a gasp of breath and a racing heart, his body
curled tightly into a corner of his couch.

Scully was walking in the door.

"I heard you outside the door, Mulder. Are you all right?" she said,
coming to him and placing a hand on his forehead.

He shook off her gentle touch and licked his lips, rubbing his eyes as he
pushed the nightmare away.

"Just a dream."

Her eyebrow rose, and her tongue came out to touch her upper lip, a
familiar gesture he found oddly reassuring.

"You were screaming," she said finally.

He shrugged.

She straightened and moved to sit beside him, pulling out a sheaf of
papers.

"I got the lab work back on that dirt," she said softly.

He nodded and managed to look her in the eyes, images of blood and death
imposed upon the dark outlines of her cheeks and chin.

"Give me the lowdown, Scully," he said, cocking his head and mocking
himself.

She looked away, breathing softly through her mouth, an almost sigh.

"They found the same landfill contents. Motor oil, egg shells, basically
trash, Mulder."

"That thing. . .it was created from the all the refuse beneath the
neighborhood. . .and it killed anyone who broke the rules."

"Talk about conformists," she said softly.

He gave her a surprised smile. "That sounds like something I'd say,
Scully. I think I'm rubbing off on you."

She raised her eyebrows.

He continued on. "You know they say that married couples act more like
each other-"

Scully snorted and stood up. "After I go the bathroom, we'll head on to
the office. We have to give a preliminary report to Skinner."

Mulder nodded and moved to his bedroom. "Let me get dressed."
~~~~

The car was silent as she drove them through the streets of DC, getting
closer and closer to the federal building.

Mulder was still caught up in his dream when she turned into the parking
garage.

"I think you're right," she said suddenly, unlocking the doors.

Mulder jumped at the sound of her voice, then looked to her.

"Right about what?"

He seemed surprised to be right.

"I think we do affect each other. . .but I think *I'm* rubbing off on
*you*."

He slammed his door shut and waited for her to catch up to him before
walking to the elevators, puzzling over her words.

"Why do you say that?" he finally said.

She smiled.

"Your toilet seat was down."
~~~~

end
adios
RM