Sun Apr 06 1997

--------

TITLE: Anyone 1/1 - Challenge Answered
AUTHOR: Rhiannon
E-MAIL (and I LOVE getting it): eroddv@planet.eon.net
CATEGORY: S/R/Mulder/other (did I really type that, die hard 'shipper that
I am?), implied MSR, angst
SUMMARY: Being a rebel, I'm turning Sophia and Sarah's challenge on its
head with Scully "rescuing" Mulder from an abusive relationship. The title
comes from something an intelligent, strong, professional woman friend once
said: "It can happen to anyone."
DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, the belong to HIM, THEM and THEM. Believe
me, if they were mine we'd see more smiles and fewer dark alleys. Kim
Wallace is mine though.
RATING: PG-13

******

It was the third morning in a row he was late. Scully glanced at the clock
and mumbled silent ephithets. It was his new girlfriend -- the word stuck
in her throat. Mulder with an actual girlfriend. Now there was something
she had not thought she would ever see.

It had all started three weeks earlier. They had just finished up a case.
One of the witnesses, a woman named Kim Wallace, had stopped by the office
to thank Mulder for finding the man who had killed her boss. She had
totally ignored Scully, who, sensing that there was a bit more to the visit
than a thank you call, slipped out of the office to deliver paperwork to
Skinner. It had not escaped her attention that the tall, leggy brunette was
dripping with sexual innuendo and energy -- all directed at her partner.
Scully just could not bear to watch.

The rest, as they say, was history. By the time Scully got back, both
Mulder and the woman were gone. A note announced that he had left early and
would see her in the morning.

"He heads off riding his hormones and leaves me to finish the paperwork,"
she said to no one in particular.

The next morning, he was late. Late and obviously still in the same suit
he'd worn the day before. She did not ask. She really did not want to
know. Mulder's love life was his business. He didn't ask about hers==not
that she had one==and she would leave his alone.

The relationship escalated fast. In fact, Scully was about to give Mulder
the standard lecture on taking things slowly when he came in an announced
that he and Kim were looking for an apartment together. Swallowing both her
pride and her heart, Scully congratulated him. This was going to be very,
very difficult. Mulder was obviously smitten and who was she to rain on his
parade.

Then it had started. One Monday morning Scully came in early and found
Mulder staring into space. He had a small bruise on his cheek.

"What on earth happened to you this weekend?" Turning on her doctor mode
she turned his face so that she could see the bruise better.

"Nothing," he mumbled. "Just wasn't paying attention when I got in my car
last night."

"Next time, watch where you're going instead of watching Kim's rearend." As
soon as the word left her lips, she was sorry. The look on Mulder's face
confirmed that Kim was involved in the bruise. Scully didn't push it any
further. <He'll tell me when he's ready.>

Over the next week, Mulder got more and more withdrawn. At first, Scully
chaulked it up to one of his dark phases. She had known him long enough to
have experienced first hand a Mulder mood. When he was still moping around
the next Monday, she decided to take action. Her pride and feelings
carefully stuffed inside a locked box in her soul, she picked up the phone
and called Kim Wallace's number.

"Kim?" She queried.

"Yes, who is this?" The sultry voice at the other end made Scully's blood
run cold.

"It's Dana Scully. Mulder's partner." There was a pause at the other end
of the line. "I was wondering if you'd noticed he's been out of sorts
lately. I'm getting kind of worried."

"No," the reply was ice cold. "Fox has been just wonderful. We're very
happy. I've got to go." Woven through the words was the message: Stay out
of this, woman. He's mine.

Scully shook her head and hung up.

The next morning, Mulder looked like he had been hit by a train. He clearly
had not slept and there were scratches on his neck.

"If you try to tell me you got into a fight with an army of cats, Mulder,
I'm going to handcuff you to your chair and call the psyche team." She
tried to keep the mood light and get some answers.

"Maybe you should just do that," Mulder sank into his chair.

"Huh?" This was not the reaction she had been expecting. "Mulder. What is
going on?"

"Things are really bad, Scully. Really bad." He was shaking his head.
Confusion and pain written in his eyes.

"Has this got something to do with Kim?" Scully was getting a sinking
feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Yes," he swallowed hard and continued. "You're the only one I trust with
this, Dana. I'm not sure what to do."

He had used her given name. This always meant that something serious was
going on. Something beyond their lives as Scully and Mulder.

"Tell me and I'll see if I can help," she knelt down in front of him, taking
his hands in hers. She noticed they were covered in scratches as well.

"It's embarassing," he said finally. "Kim has gotten, well, out of control."

"What do you mean," she could sense what was coming next. But she did not
have to like it.

"It started with little things. She would get really angry if I was 5
minutes late for a date." He looked up. "You know me, Scully, I'm not
really good at being on time."

"True."

"As things got more serious, she got more demanding. Two weeks ago, when I
told you I hit my head on the car. That's not what happened." His eyes
drilled into hers begging her not react badly. She just squeezed his hands
and let him continue. "I've never had a woman act that way before. So I
just wrote it off to exhaustion or nerves."

"But Mulder. . ." Scully thought of all the times she had seen her partner
intervene when someone was being abused. How his psychology training
allowed him to empathise with the victim and help them break out of a
destructive pattern.

"Yeah, I know, Dana." He looked up sheepishly. "Psychologist heal thyself.
I should have seen it coming. But I didn't want to look. Didn't want to
admit that I could put myself in that type of situation. You know, I always
said that it can happen to anyone. I just didn't think I was anyone."

"So," Scully started, "where's Kim now."

"I don't know. I don't care. Last night she went really crazy." He
gestured to the marks on his neck. "My back is even worse," a small grin
slipped on his face. "You know, I suddenly don't find long fingernails very
attractive."

"Let me see," Scully shifted carefully into doctor mode. "You probably need
to be cleaned up at the very least."

He unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off. As he turned around, Scully
stifled a gasp.

"Bad?" He said.

"Well, I've seen worse. But not recently."

"I couldn't even defend myself. All I wanted to do was get out." He winced
as the antiseptic Scully kept in her desk touched the welts on his back.
"I've told her its over and that I don't want to see her again."

Just then the door to the office flew open. Kim Wallace was standing in the
doorway. Clearly aggitated.

"Get away from my boyfried, Bitch," her comment was directed at Scully.
Mulder started to say something but he didn't get the chance. Scully was on
her feet and across the room in a matter of seconds. Moving into Kim's space.

"Okay," Scully said, collecting her rather scattered thoughts. "I'm only
going to say this once. GET OUT. Now. Mulder told me he's ended it with
you. What part of OVER didn't you understand?" The brunette looked across
the office at Mulder who was simply sitting and watching his partner at
work. God, she was amazing. And he definitely did not have the strength to
deal with Kim again. "I'm giving you exactly 10 seconds to be back down the
hallway and on the elevator. If you are not out of the building in five
minutes, I'm going to have security assist you. Now I'm going to start
counting. One. . . .Two. . . ."

The brunette looked pleadingly at Mulder, "Fox?" He just closed his eyes
and put his head down on his desk.

"Three. . . .Four. . . ." Kim turned on her heel and headed down the
hallway. As the elevator doors closed, Scully heard the sound of clapping
behind her. She turned around to see the first Muldersmile she'd seen in weeks.

"Have I ever told you how attractive you are when you get mad?" He grinned.
"Scully, let me see your fingernails?"

+++ end +++