Title: A Simple Kiss: Before: William and Katherine. Author: Jaime Lyn Email: Leiaj@bellsouth.net Rated: “G” (mostly, I don’t think there’s any bad language) Spoilers: None for this installment. Category: S, R, A, H, (and X too---It’s got everything, LOL) Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance Disclaimer: Well, actually, I own everyone in here EXCEPT for Mulder and Scully. (You mean there are people in fanfics BESIDES Mulder and Scully??? LOL) So please Mr. Carter, don’t sue. You won’t get anything. Summary: How it all started, one fateful night in 1978. ~x~ Authors note: OK, folks. This is the PROLOUG, meaning that this is the chapter I SHOULD’VE written first, (before the last 7) but didn’t (stupid me, right?). Well, at any rate, here it is (albeit late) but here just the same. This is mostly about what happened to the two agents mentioned in parts 5 and 6- -- William Harrison and Katherine Simmons. It should clear up some confusion though, as well as give you an idea of what’s going to happen in part 8. Mulder and Scully are also here as well, but you won’t see them till the end. (You can make it that far though---I believe in you.) Ok, keep going… ~x~ And I forgot to tell you I love you. And the night’s too long and cold here, without you. I grieve in my condition. For I cannot fond the words to say “I need you so.”---------- Sarah McLachlan A SIMPLE KISS: BEFORE: WILLIAM AND KATHERINE By Jaime Lyn XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PURPLE MOON MOTOR COURT: NOW: 1998 Edina Carson ran her wet rag along the faux wooden counter top. The air had a fine hum in it today, an almost melodic quality, and so she had left the screen door open to let it in. The breeze that wafted through was extremely comforting, not to mention refreshing. <Today is special,> she thought. <The chosen ones will come today. It has been too long… The stars---they have mapped it out. Today. It will be today. I know it. I can feel it.> She began to hum to herself, reaching up to dust the old glass encased article on the wall. 1978, she thought wistfully. So very long ago, and yet at times it was almost like yesterday. Frowning to herself, she re-read the headline, re-reading it again and again, and then looked up at the ceiling, as if checking for something. <The chosen ones, yes,> she thought, remembering all her hard work. The energy it took to create chaos; the exhausting and tiring aspects of it. All the trouble she had gone through to ensure that she would be having company today; to ensure that her company would be the ones she had been seeking. It had taken her 20 years to perfect a talent she hadn’t thought to fine tune all those years ago, and now that her husband had passed on… <God, what is it that they call people like me?> she wondered for a moment, and then dropped her rag. It fell with a “plop” onto the counter. She thought back to a movie that she had seen just the other night on TV---A Stephen King movie that had absolutely fascinated her to no end. <Oh yeah! Telekenesis,> she decided with a smile. She nodded to nobody in particular and picked the rag back up. <Like that girl, what’s her face---that flipped out and burned those kids to death.> Her mind wandered for a moment, and she frowned again, remembering how long it had been since she’d had any fun at all. <Well, I’m going to have some fun again, finally> she said to herself, and hoped that the next visitors to waltz into her motel wouldn’t disappoint her. After all, she hadn’t had any worthwhile company in years. Or at least, not since… She smiled again at the article on the wall. <20 years ago,> she mused. <20 years ago and now the time is right again.> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX THEN: 1978 Katherine Simmons stared at her partner in disbelief. Her “always too loose for her face” glasses slid farther off her nose, and she distractedly shoved them back into place with two fingers. One eyebrow raised at William’s almost total suspension of common sense, and her arms folded across her chest. They had had fights before, real doozies as a matter of fact, and somehow, she could sense one about to escalate quickly. “Run that one by me again,” she stated dryly. Special agent William Harrison sighed and ran fingers through his dark hair. They had been in Guinisville for only 3 days, and thus far, they had found no cause for the 5 deaths they had been sent in to investigate. There were no leads, no discernable cause of death, and therefore, things were moving slowly. Witnesses stories were becoming tiresome, one blending into the other like molasses, autopsies were inconclusive, and to top it all off, the motel they were residing in was shabby—-cheap to say the least, and William knew that his partner was obviously NOT impressed with “small town life.” And besides that, William saw that Kathy was tired. The slight lines beneath her eyes made it blantantly obvious. She also looked annoyed. Very annoyed apparently, because William knew that every time his partner did the “eyebrow thing,” she was clearly saying, “Oh please Will, for the love of god.” William forced his partner a smile that she didn’t return. <Great,> he thought miserably. <She’s still mad at me.> But even still, he needed to press. He needed to make her hear him out… He also needed to do something about that eyebrow before it killed him... So ok, she was irritated, that much he knew, that much he realized, but he had also thought, (or at least, he had HOPED) that she would at least be willing to LISTEN to his theory. After all, she had yet to offer him one herself. “I think it’s plausible,” William replied calmly, and Katherine eyed him with doubt. “Don’t look at me like that,” he muttered, exasperated, and Katherine sighed. “You think it’s plausible,” she answered, and rolled her eyes. “That figures. You know, it really does.” “Why?” She slowly sat down on the bed, letting out a cleansing breath. “It COULD happen,” William reasoned, and his partner regarded him wearily. “In what universe?” She questioned dryly, pushing a lock of long red hair out of her face. It fell behind her shoulders in long, coppery waves, and William unconsciously twirled a strand of it around his finger as he sat down. Katherine’s eyes trailed him nervously. “Oh come on Kath,” he prodded, and she shrugged his hand away with a shake of her head. “Don’t you ‘Kath’ me,” she responded coldly, and he groaned. “Jesus Kathy, don’t tell me we’re back to this again,” William protested, and Katherine turned away from him, adjusting the straps of her nightgown appropriately. She avoided his eyes and rolled her tongue inside her cheek in irritation. “I don’t want to talk about this right now,” she insisted. William sighed. “Damn it Kathy, I told you. I never meant for that to happen, it just…” “What?” She suddenly turned on him angrily, sending a flare of copper into his face. He nearly coughed back in reaction, almost swallowing her hair, but somehow, he managed to hold it back. “What Will?” she intoned again, clearly annoyed. “Her lips just FELL on yours did they? Oh my, how clumsy of you, yeah. It just happens ALL the time, doesn’t it?” “Kath----“ “And tell me Will, last night, did your lips just ACCIDENTALLY fall on mine? Huh? What? Do you have muscle spasms or something, because you know, you should have it checked out if you do…” Agent Harrison touched her arm, but it was shrugged away. He pursed his lips and tried again, but once again he was rebuffed. “Look,” he sighed wearily. “Edina was confused, ok? She told me that her husband was going to attack her. She told me that he knew about the deaths----“ “Which is how you came to this wonderfully ridiculous conclusion,” Agent Simmons finished for him coldly, and her partner regarded her for a moment. “Well,” he started nervously, “not entirely.” Katherine stared at William with tired blue eyes. <Great> she thought. <Just great. This is how it always starts.> After having been partners with William Harrison for over 6 years, Katherine Simmons had gotten used to this. Or, at least, she thought she had. After all, he was always doing this. And not just the “have an affair with the local girl and then go and have another” thing either. It wasn’t just his sailing from one woman to the next that irritated her more than anything. It was his tendency to run blindly into things, his way of always being willing to believe in even the most ignorant of people that got to her. He was always sympathetic to their “plights,” as she liked to call them, because, for some reason, William Harrison had a hard time believing that someone would lie to him. And at times, it was even cutely innocent and naïve. It was the reason why he never gave homeless people money, but instead took them out of his way to nearest diner to buy them dinner. But then again, it was also the reason why he always fell for “sob” stories, no matter how extreme, no matter how smart he was or how much he knew better. It was how he got suckered and conned, even though he was the smartest man she knew. William Harrison was just an enigma of a human being. William Harrison just, for whatever reason, even though he had more one night stands and could be more selfish than anything at times, had a heart of gold. Katherine sometimes attributed it to the death of his mother when he was only 6, and other times to the horrible abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. Whatever it was though, it had been one of the things that had prompted her to care about him so much----despite his penchant for trouble. To stay on as his partner, look after him at times, and most recently, to fall in love with him. (As if a woman in the bureau didn’t have enough problems already, right? She had to go and fall in love with her partner…) Of course though, being in love with William didn’t make him any less “imperfect” in Kathy’s eyes. He was stubborn, flighty, and irritatingly smug at the most inappropriate times. William was also quite capable of fallibility, and his inability to see deception only made him a miserable liar. And so, when he looked at her with that guilty expression, that look of “I’m sorry I kissed Edina, but what I don’t want to tell you is that I really wanted to,” Katherine’s heart had split in two. Because only minutes earlier, as much as she realized it could hurt her career, and she knew it very well could, mostly because she was only one of 3 women currently employed at the FBI, she had decided that, even so, she needed to tell him what she felt. Especially after he had kissed her only the night before--- and especially after she had enjoyed it-----immensely. She just needed to let him know, as much for her sake, as for his. And she had been so sure that he felt the same way, so positive that he would sweep her into his arms and kiss her, again, right then and there under the stars, that she had even put on a stupid nightgown to entice him… A shimmery seductive nightgown--- one that, under normal circumstances, she would NEVER have worn. Or at least--- not if she was in her right mind. Because Katherine Simmons, forensic psych major, Katherine Simmons, resident braniac and psychologist, Katherine Simmons, always practical and sensible, that Katherine Simmons NEVER wore nightgowns. Not Ever. She also NEVER enticed men, not because she wasn’t attractive, but because she usually had other things on her mind---like serial killers and expense accounts. But this time, she had gone and done it. This time she had relented and become Katherine Simmons, female, nightgowned, and in love with her partner. She did it because she knew it was his favorite color on her; because he had seen it in her apartment once and asked her to wear it; even if he HAD been only kidding at the time. She did it because he was there; because he was William, and she… Well, she had been stupid. So incredibly, ridiculously stupid to have believed in any of it. That any of it could have been true. <What would he want with me if he could have that tall blonde?> she thought miserably, and the thought of the inn keeper’s wife made her cringe. The memory of that woman kissing him, of her pawing all over will and then smiling coldly at Kathy, as if there were some giant secret afoot, made her cringe. Something about the whole motel made her cringe as a matter of fact. But even still, that didn’t mean… <DAMN IT! DAMN HIM!> With a deep breath, Katherine decided that she needed to change the subject— fast---before the two of them had yet ANOTHER fight. Almost always they did, the two of them being more than simply “hot tempered,” and Kathy just wasn’t in the mood----not for another screaming match at least. “So what EXACTLY gave you the idea that Mr. Whatever his name somehow has the power to…How did you put it?” William looked down, almost deflated, and then let out a breath before looking back up. “I think he has the ability to…” He ran fingers through his hair again, and Katherine fought the urge to shove an unruly lock out of his rich brown eyes. “I told you.” He gestured with a wave of his hand. “I think he has the ability to somehow… I dunno… force his will onto others. I think he scares people to death. People that he doesn’t like. I think that’s what he did to the owner of that competing inn the next town over----“ “Costas. Mark Costas… But why? Just because he hates the guy?” William nodded. “Yeah,” he intoned. “Yeah, I think this guy has some sort of enhanced, I dunno, some heightened ‘psychic’ ability to use upon people when he gets mad.” Katherine shook her head again in disbelief, and another lock of shiny copper fell into her face. William resisted the urge to push it over her shoulder just like he always did, and instead stared at it in fascination. His Kathy always fascinated him with her infallible logic and reasoning, even if it wasn’t his own personal belief. She’d shake her head at him, try her best not to smile when he went and did something stupid or something that defied her sense of logic, but she’d always “rescue” him anyways. And usually, it WAS she who did the rescuing, when he, again, got himself into trouble by believing someone he shouldn’t. When he ran off and tried to play “hero,” as she so often put it, believing in “sob stories and nonsense,” when he should have kept a professional distance. And she was usually right as far as that went, was usually right as far as most things went, but as far as this went, he just felt that she was wrong. And he rarely ever found Kathy’s judgement to be wrong. Although he could see why she’d be angry, considering the scene she’d just witnessed outside the motel. <I should never have let that woman kiss me,> thought William sourly. He could recall the exact look of anguish on his Kathy’s face when he’d turned. Could see the look of betrayal. Becsuse just the night before, he had kissed his pretty, blue-eyed, red-headed partner, right in the middle of their paperwork; right in the middle of a conversation. There had been no reasoning behind it, besides the fact that he loved her hopelessly, and so it had taken her by complete surprise. There had been no words after it, no more paperwork accomplished, and right before he could explain, their motel phone rang with the news of another death----the motel clerk in the next town. Apparently, Mr. Mark Costas had decided to drop dead, screaming about fire but otherwise, surprisingly not burned or harmed in any way, RIGHT as William was going to sweep his long time partner into his arms. Talk about SUPREMELY good timing, right? So it took them most of the night to get there, and then most of the day and into the next night to finish up and get back, and when they had, Kathy excused herself to her room. And THAT, of course, had been when Edina Carson decided to bolt from the front desk, harried and petrified that her husband was a Cold blooded “psychic” murderer. And then Kathy had sauntered into his doorway wearing the most incredible nightgown he’d ever seen and… <Damn it Kathy, I didn’t mean for her to kiss me,> William thought again, and watched Katherine’s hands play with her nightgown. How he’d managed to get her to listen to him, to get her to sit and talk to him, embarrassed as she was after THAT horrendous fiasco, was beyond him. “So what EXACTLY made you suspect this…this… psychic, whatever?” Katherine asked dully, and William was tempted to grab her hands to keep them from fidgiting. “Edina knew who had been murdered Kath,” William tried to convince her. “She knew about the other motel owner, insisted that her husband had been on the phone with him the day before, and that he refused to let Mr. Carson buy him out. She said she saw weird books lying around, and that she heard him chanting something about fire. She said that when she had asked him about Mark Costas----our wonderful latest corpse, he replied. ‘Took care of it like the others. Made him see fire, like I told you before.’ She said Mr. Costas screamed ‘God help me’ as he died, and that matches the other witnesses’ description exactly. She basically accounted for the witness’ statement, word for word.” Katherine still didn’t look convinced, but this time she didn’t shrug away when William touched her arm. <Good sign> he thought hopefully. <Good sign…> “Kath, I think this is the guy. I think we should at least question him, I mean if nothing else, then just to-----“ “What?” she asked, blowing air through thinned lips. “None of what you said proves anything Will. It could all be coincidence. There’s no evidence, nothing to warrant questioning. What do you think? That Mr. Carlson’s just going to say, ‘Oh yeah, I mentally ‘pushed’ myself into his will---into all their wills and killed them. I know there’s no sign of foul play, but yeah it was me.’ Come on Will! You have to be more realistic about this!” William let out what sounded like a grunt of disgust and rose from the bed, crossing the room to grab his briefcase. “Alright look Kathy,” he intoned softly, “I wasn’t even going to show you this because I didn’t think you’d consider it evidence, but I’m going to anyway because I want you to see a history here.” Katherine rose from the bed. “A history of WHAT?” she groaned. William handed her a file. “Similar cases,” he answered simply. Katherine eyed him confused and weary, yanking the file from his hand. Her fingers, out of habit, rose to adjust the “Annie Hall” glasses she wore, and she squinted at the case file number. “ X?” she asked befuddled. “Why is this listed under ‘X’?” Agent Harrison shrugged. “William,” she sighed, “There is no such LISTING for ‘X’ ANYWHERE in the bureau filing system as far as I know. Where did you get this?” He shrugged again. “I was in the basement and it fell off an old shelf.” Katherine blinked dully. “You sure it didn’t hit you over the head?” she asked sarcastically, and Will smiled witheringly. “Funny,” he retorted. “Just read it. It’s actually pretty interesting.” He watched as Katherine’s eyes skimmed the sheet. “Ability to ‘push will onto others’” she muttered. “Unexplainable death…suspected form of psychic heightened awareness…reports of unsubstantiated…Telekinetic…” She frowned and looked up. “What the heck is a Japaneese ‘Budo’?” she asked, and her partner shrugged again. “Dunno,” he replied. “What the guy called himself I think… Who knows?” Katherine put the file down and folded her arms again, her eyebrow rising. “This Stuff is nonsense Will. Most of it is either blacked out or unsubstantiated, and that’s besides the point. None of it PROVES anything.” Will sighed. “But it says so right there Kath---- ‘X 176854.’ People have SEEN stuff like this before---even if it IS unsubstantiated. There’s a history here. I think it at least warrants SOME investigation, don’t you?” “Will,” she paused to let out a sigh, trying to look at her partner with a sympathetic eye. “I can see where you WANT to go with this,” she spoke, “But it still doesn’t prove anything, you know that. You can’t just run off blindly---just because ‘X 176 whatever’ says there have been other ‘proposed’ cases of the phenomena…” Agent Harrison blew air through thinned lips and waved his arms in the air briefly. “Damn it, why can’t you just GO with me on this one?” Will exploded, and Katherine’s posture adjusted stiffly. “Because it’s RIDICULOUS!” Katherine exploded back, and the two regarded each other for a small, silent moment. “Why is everything I do ridiculous?” Will questioned, angered. “Why the hell do you always treat me like a child? Like I can’t take care of myself?” “Because you’re acting like a child!” Kathy yelled in response. Her right arm gestured wildly towards him and then fell back down, her fists balling up in anger. Her snide reply was only mildly surprising. Katherine Simmons was definitely no angel. In fact, she was known---at least to Will and to anyone who ever had an office next to theirs---for her history of violent temper tantrums—-usually provoked by references to her abilities as a female agent, and/or most commonly, arguments with her partner. She DID sometimes yell---at length and with barely restrained fury---usually when prompted by frustration, and almost always, it was directed at him. Which didn’t mean that he wasn’t prepared to fight back… rather, Will began to condition himself for another one of their famous “knock down, drag out” fights. It was immature, yes, but it was their way of letting out steam----and expressing the desire to kill each other without actually committing the act. They were both miserably hot tempered-----to say the VERY least. “So is that what you think of me? Am I just not good enough for you and your ‘logic’ this time? Is that it?” he snarled at her, the air beginning to almost crackle with anger, and Kathy walked towards him. “Look,” Kathy growled, advancing on Will as she backed him flush up against the door, “Don’t you even START with that because you KNOW that’s not true. I ALWAYS back you up. Even when you breach protocol to rescue another one of your poor, starving, battered, not to mention LYING witnesses and/or suspects. Even when you fly off the handle and go on a wild goose chase so that you can ‘save the world.’ And when they screw you over, as they so often do, I ALWAYS cover your ass. I ALWAYS stick up for you and follow you wherever you go. I ALWAYS get the fallout and I NEVER get a thank you.” “Look, Kath---“ “Or WAIT! Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe kissing that woman after kissing me the night before was your way of saying ‘thank you.’ “ William cleared his throat and realized that he had nowhere else to go. “I don’t FEEL that way about her!” he blasted. “Then why the hell were you kissing her like you were trying to see if you could mold your bodies together?!” she blasted back. “I wasn’t!” She gritted her teeth. “Bullshit! I saw it!” “Damn it Kath, I told you----“ “It was a mistake?” she questioned icily. He nodded angrily. “You know it was Kathy! Jesus Christ, can’t you ever just----“ “So what about that other woman in Albany? Or the one in Syracuse? Or the one in Boston? Were they ALL mistakes?” Kathy grabbed his shirt collar and hissed in his ear. “Or me? What about me? Did you not mean to kiss ME either? Huh? Was I just the only available woman in the area? Is that it?” William’s voice came out almost hoarse. “Kath, you know I’ve been in a lot of relationships but it’s not like you and I were…I mean, we weren’t---“ “What?” she exploded in his ear, and he winced. “We weren’t what? Involved? Is it because I never catered to your---what do you call it? Your ‘will-the- thrill charm??’ because I wasn’t tall and blond, or tall and brunette? Because I wasn’t buffy or candi, or…” She began to fish for words, waving her arms and hitting him square in the chest. “Something else that ends in ‘eee’?” “That’s shallow Kathy,” Will retorted. “Is it?” she shot back. William retaliated by grabbing her arms and flipping their positions, slamming her back against the door----hard. She winced and let out a slight cry---one spaghetti strap falling off her shoulder. “Well I’m sorry for wanting something more than your goddamn coldness all the time,” he growled, and her eyes narrowed in response. “And I’m sorry for wanting to believe in the good in humanity----for wanting to help others. I’m sorry that I believe Edina---or that I believe in this ‘psychic business,’ because I do. And I’m sorry that what I say is never good enough for you, or ‘rational’ enough for you. I’m sorry for wanting something more than my face buried in some goddamn medical journal all the time, and I’m sorry for wanting you and not knowing how to show it alright? Ok?” Kathy seemed to be looking through him now, and 5 seconds after he had uttered his angry speech, William realized he had lost her after the first sentence. Her eyes were clouded over with hurt. “You think I’m cold?” She nearly whispered, as if undecided on whether to be upset or angry, and William immediately regretted his words. “No,” he sighed. “No, I didn’t mean---“ “Yes!” she cried. “Oh god, yes you did!” “Kath---“ “Jesus!” she exploded. “How could I have been so STUPID?!?!” William tightened his grip on Katherine’s arms and tried to make eye contact with her. Tears were spilling hotly over her cheeks and she refused to look up. He traced a finger to her chin. “Kathy---“ “NO!” She screamed. “NO! Don’t you dare! Cold, am I?” He sighed. Katherine was always the picture of calm, the portrait of stability- -- until worked up---when she would often blow things completely out of proportion, if given the ammunition. And he’d certainly given it to her this time, hadn’t he? “GET OFF ME!” She yelled, swatting at his hands angrily. “Kath, please—“ he protested. “There’s nothing to talk about!” she hurled back, and she could feel his breath, hot and erratic on her face. Her heart rate accelerated and her adrenaline rose. She was pressing his buttons and she knew it. She just didn’t care. “God Kath---there’s everything to talk about,” William tried, and he moved to press a kiss to her cheek, gentle and soft, as if to prove his point. “What the Hell are you doing?” She gasped, and her hands fell flat against his chest. He didn’t answer. “I said get off me!” she repeated, her voice rising as her blood pressure did at his touch; his lips; his kiss. <Oh god, I have to get him out of here,> she thought desperately. <But I…oh god…feels so good…> His lips trailed slowly to the corner of her mouth and her hands moved to cup his shoulder blades. Thoughts began to blur, one into the other, and she soon found herself not even recalling what it was that they were arguing about. Her eyes closed and her brain began to fuzz. “So… sorry…didn’t mean…Katherine…” His upper lip slipped gently over her bottom one, and she suddenly froze, remembering the argument. <He thinks I’m cold…Seeks affection from almost every woman he meets… Wants more than I can give…Feel like…Being used…> She shoved him away with a hard slap to the face. “Ow! Damn it! What the hell was that—---“ “Just go away,” she warned loudly and angrily, and his hand rose up to caress his own cheek in pain. “Kath---“ “I said, GO!” She shrieked, and his eyes turned cold. “Fine,” he replied icily. “Fine then, I will.” “FINE!” Out of breath, they glared at each other through thinned slits of eyes. <We’re too different,> Katherine thought. <I should’ve…Should’ve seen this coming…> He left abruptly then, slamming the door without another word as Katherine blinked in reaction to the noise. Her eyes blurred over with tears, her fists still balled up at her sides, her arms slightly bruised from where he had grabbed her. Moving to the bed, Katherine collapsed upon it. She was in love with him, in love with him damn it, and she didn’t know what to do about it. <He’s promiscuous> A voice in her head told her. <Always with some woman. A heart of gold, but a ladies man to the hilt. He’s flighty. He runs off. Believes whatever anyone tells him----is that what you really want?> She banged her fists on the bed in anger. “I don’t care,” she said out loud, to no one in particular, and allowed her chest to heave in large hiccuping sobs. <I’m going after him,> she suddenly decided, and angrily wiped away her tears. <This is dumb. I’m going to apologize and explain myself to him. I’m going to fix this, to---- > A wave of coldness washed over her suddenly, and her thoughts stopped cold. Her body felt frozen in place. Her eyes felt hot. She was paralyzed. And then suddenly, laughter. Laughter in her head, all around her, and she wished she could put her hands over her ears. But she was frozen. <Does Agent Simmons like to play with fire?> she suddenly heard, and her eyes clouded with terror. That voice wasn’t her own. She knew who’s it was. She recognized it almost immediately. The door locked itself in place. <Let’s play… > Her breathing caught. <Oh god Will,> she thought in horror. <Oh God, you were right…I’m so sorry. You were right but… you’ve got the wrong ONE, oh god…Will! help me…You’ve got the wrong suspect!> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX NOW: 1998 Edina’s smile disappeared at the slight memory. <If only he hadn’t shot himself in that damned hospital…> She slammed her rag against the counter in slighted anger. <He was SUPPOSED to come for me. FOR ME!> she thought, enraged. <He was supposed to take me away from here! To kiss me again and… Damn it. All her fault. YOU HEAR ME KATHERINE!! IT’S YOUR FAULT!!> She paused to gaze at her older, more wrinkled reflection in the glass frame. <Now look at me…> Edina sighed. She had suffered through 20 years of lonliness because of what had happened; had waited 20 years for the right ones; years of homning abilities and tracking star charts. Years of putting up with her mistake and trying to live with it, trying to live with HER, and she was sick of it. She had created a monster, had created a ghost that night, and she had had to live that mistake for 20 years. But this time, she was going to get the chance to redo everything. A “do-over” as they often said in childhood. She didn’t know how or why, but all her charts told her that the time was right again. She could feel it in the air. <Today is the day---I know it. This time I will NOT fail,> she thought decisively. <I will NOT.> A nearby picture frame knocked itself over, slamming into the wooden counter, and Edina stared at it, groaning in agrivation. “Go away,” she ordered annoyed, and another object fell---this time, her guestbook. “I said, STOP!” she muttered angrily. “Stop that NOW.” The jingle of the chimes above the door knocked Edina out of her reverie. She had guests so infrequently, that her heart rate accelerated at the thought, at the sound. She looked up and her breath caught in her throat. <Well, if they ain’t the spittin’ image…> Edina’s mouth almost dropped open at the mere sight of them. <The chosen ones,> she thought. <I know it.> The man sighed and stopped in his tracks, pausing to speak to his companion. She was a pretty little red head who looked insanely familiar. She also looked ticked off, to say the least. “Scully---“ “Exit 22 Mulder. That’s all I’m saying. Exit 22.” Edina watched as the taller man dropped his duffel bag and stared irritatedly at the shorter red head. “Oh please. I’m sure that’s not ALL you have to say,” he told the woman sarcastically, and the woman parroted the man’s earlier motions, dropping her bag as well. She then folded her arms defensively. “Come on Scully. You’ve been waiting 4 exits and 3 off ramps to say it.” The petite red head he called “Scully” stared at him unflinchingly. “Mulder,” she sighed. “I’m not playing games with you.” “You KNOW you want to say it Scully.” The little red head shifted her feet. “Mulder…” He was silent. “Mulder?” More silence. Edina watched, fascinated. “Damn it Mulder, If you would’ve just listened to me the first time I told you we passed the exit, then----“ “AHA!” The little red head named “Scully” clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes, picking up her bags as her companion smiled triumphantly. He grinned sadistically, and she shot him a look, walking away stiffly. Edina observed as their little “battle of wills” played out. It was almost like looking at a mirror image of 20 years ago---but even better. <Yes. He is perfect. Better than I could have hoped…> Edina thought, and felt a prickling of hairs on the back of her neck. <NO!> she heard in her head, as she had many times before, and she almost rolled her eyes. <NO Edina!! You leave them alone! I WON’T let you do that to them!> She sighed. <Go AWAY Katherine,> she ordered impatiently, <Go haunt something.> The red head approached the desk staunchly. “2 rooms please,” she said offhandedly, and began to dig into her purse. “Of course,” Edina said, smiling past the woman to her companion, who seemed to be sizing the place up. “I have just the thing…” Scully eyed her suspiciously, noticing the woman’s apparent “interest” in her partner, and rolled her tongue inside of her cheek. She was definitely NOT in the mood for a “Mulder-flirt-fest,” and she knew one was coming. “The keys?” she asked pointedly, and innkeeper shook her head, as if warding off an offhanded thought. “Right,” the woman answered her. “Right, sorry. Of course---here you are. It’s right down the walk.” Scully regarded her, then glanced towards Mulder with a bit of a possesive air. “I’m sure we’ll find it, thank you,” she replied curtly, and moved away from the desk, touching her partner’s arm. Edina watched as they eyed each other knowingly, communicating without words. They walked out of the lobby, and Edina felt jealousy course through her veins. <Well, I’ll have to get rid of HER, of course,> she thought irritated, and again, felt a voice in the back of her head. As always, it was Katherine Simmons'---her own 20 year old constant "motel guest," if you could even call it that. Moreso though, it was actually her own private haunting of sorts---An irritating 24 hour reminder of the one stupid mistake that Edina had made that fateful night, some 20 years ago, when she had ended the woman's life---a woman who turned out to be more annoying dead than alive. And what drove Edina really bonkers, was that it was a presence of her own making---a result of a careless error in killing the woman---an annoyance now, one that constantly sought to ruin all Edina's fun and get in her way. <Leave her ALONE Edina! You will NOT hurt them,> Katherine's voice floated into her mind. <I won’t let you! I won’t let you do to them what you did to--- > “Silence!” Edina ordered, annoyed, and looked up at the ceiling. “I’ve put up with you for 20 damn years, and now I’m going to FINALLY have someone who cares about me! I know how to get rid of you now! And I read up. I know my stuff now. I know how to get rid of her—-that---that “Scully” whatever woman too-- -and without making the same mistake that I made with you!” The air was silent, but inside Edina’s head she heard, <I WILL NOT LET YOU WIN. I SWEAR TO YOU--- I WILL SAVE THEM.> “You just try it,” Edina said out loud. “You try it and see what happens to that woman. After all, it’s like looking in a mirror, isn’t it, dear Katherine?” She grinned sadistically. “You see your precious William when you look at him. You see what might have been when you look at her. You’re pathetic!” Edina’s head was finally silent, and she triumphantly went back to her humming. <I’m going to get to play again,> she thought whimsically. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Ok, it is now safe to read all the other “Simple Kiss” chapters---LOL. At any rate, since there are already 7 of those, I can tell you that part 8 is coming soon to a theatre near you. And yes, Scully WILL meet her ahhh…shall we say… Mirror image from 1978. (Well, if there’s a “1939 Scully-alike in the REAL X Files universe, then SURELY, there can be one in my story, right??) If you like what you see, then PLEASE (I beg of you please) send me feedback. Parts come out faster that way---I swear!! I also reply to all feedback---since I’m a person who also sends it. (Well, of COURSE I read fanfic!) Hold onto your hats and wait for part 8----it’s coming soon.