Life With My Girl, Reyes

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Rescue Me: Chapter 9

Rescue Me
Chapter 9





Just In Front of the Nurse's Station Near Brian Pierce's Hospital Room
Louisiana Medical Center - New Orleans, LA
Thirty Minutes Later - 11:45 AM (CT):


Reyes gazed up the long corridor towards her comatose partner's room. Her heart ached. Her tummy hurt. The elevator door shut just by the side of her. She could burst into a fit of tears again. But she knew that she couldn't. Not here, not now, not in front of Pierce's ex-wife and two young sons.

She then began to walk up the long corridor towards his family sitting quietly outside of his room and in the hallway. Mrs. Pierce glanced up towards her, barely cracked a smile and then nodded, just as her younger son, Tommy, spotted the tall brunette, too, then took off running down the hallway towards her with his little arms outstretched.

"Monica! Monica!" he yelled running towards her.

"Oh Tommy," Reyes whispered, quickly preparing herself, then knelt down and grabbed onto him, too, as he threw his little arms around her neck.

"Monica! It's daddy! It's my daddy! He's hurt!" he rambled into her ear then began to cry all over again.

"Oh, shhh, I know. I know, sweetheart."

"How come you couldn't save him? How come, Monica? How come?" the little boy rambled again.

"Oh sweetheart," she choked. …God…

She would never tell this little boy that his daddy had brought this situation entire upon himself as he had tried to kill her – murder her, in cold blood – last night. Moreover, she hoped that no one else would tell him either, at least not until he was quite a bit older - a young adult or something - and then maybe his mother, or another in the Bureau, could tell this little eight-year-old boy what had happened to his daddy, and the cold, hard truth about the man.

"Monica! Mommy said he's gonna die! My daddy's gonna die!" he rambled again.

"Oh, shhh, I know sweetie, I know. And I can't fix that. I can't fix it and make it all go away, sweetheart," she whispered rising him up from her shoulder for a moment so she could look into his tearstained eyes, then wipe away some of his tears, then hold him tight and rock him back and forth in her arms. "Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry about your daddy. He loves you so much. Do you know that? Hum?"

He nodded as he sobbed into her shoulder holding on and crying against her neck.

"Shhh, how about I just hold you for a little while, hum? Is that okay? If I just hold you for a little while?" she whispered, kissing him and then picking him up in her arms as he nodded content for her to just hold him for a little while. She then glanced down the hallway towards his grief-stricken mother.

Mrs. Pierce nodded, very thankful to the tall agent for taking care of her little son for a few minutes, while she and her older son listened more intently to the doctor who had just come out of Pierce's room.

Reyes watched, as their sad expressions grew even graver. …Ohhh… Her heart ached so as she held her partner's weeping little son in her arms.

"Agent Reyes?" a familiar man's voice beckoned from behind.

She turned. "Jim. What are they saying?"

Young Agent Brown glanced at the sobbing little boy in her arms then whispered, "Within the hour. Maybe less."

She nodded understanding exactly what he meant without saying another word.

****************

Thirty minutes later, Reyes glanced at her watch as she held little Tommy Pierce close to her side. They were watching TV together inside the Visitor's Lounge waiting for any word from his mother or the doctor. Agents Brown, Gordon and Bailey were all sitting there quietly in the room, too, waiting, watching, and giving of their support to the heartbroken little boy and their extremely-distressed, almost-to-the-breaking-point, comrade. None of the agents wanted to talk about what had happened last night, especially with the deranged man's own little son sitting there in the room with them, all leaned up against their distressed comrade, finally distracted somewhat with the latest TV show on the tube.

Mrs. Pierce then walked into the room along with her older son. He then sat down next to his little brother. She then cast her gaze on Reyes. "Agent Reyes? May I speak to you for a moment?" she said.

…Oh God… Reyes cocked an eyebrow as she felt her tightly-knotted stomach clench into overdrive. "Of course," she said inhaling a deep, controlled breath. …Oh Christ… She felt nauseated yet again. Her tummy was going into conniption fits from all the inner turmoil raging uncontrollably inside of her and surrounding her inside of this hospital as well. Luckily, she had taken a very strong dose of Prevacid before leaving for the hospital earlier.

She then got up and followed Mrs. Pierce out of the lounge and into the main hallway closing the door behind them.

"Agent Reyes. I heard about, I mean I, I know what happened last night, and I, I don't—"

"No. There's nothing left to say, okay?"

The woman nodded as her eyes watered up. "Well. He's close. Very close."

The brunette nodded.

"And, if you don't mind, I would like for you to be the one to come and sit with me, over the next hour or so, or at least until..." she hesitated.

"You want me to come sit with you in the room?" Reyes asked quite surprised indeed.

"Yes, if you don't mind. I would really like that a lot, and I, I think that Brian would, too."

"Oh Christ," Reyes gasped lightly. She had not been able to control that slight verbal gasp of surprise and hesitation from the distraught woman.

"Or, or maybe I shouldn't have asked that of you, I. Maybe I should've, I'm sorry, I…" the sorrowful woman stuttered around suddenly feeling rather awkward about the situation.

"I, um, no. I can do that. I can watch over him with you, Mrs. Pierce. It's just that, I'm not sure if he—"

"He wants you there. I know he does. He would want you with him right now, Agent Reyes."

Reyes cocked an eyebrow. …Right. The man who tried to kill me last night wants me with him now, to watch over him as he dies. Jeezus! My own partner… A sudden feeling of anger towards him coursed through her for a few seconds, for the first time since the incident had happened.

"Please, I, I don’t want to go through this alone," Mrs. Pierce pleaded.

…Ohhh Christ… Reyes closed her eyes in frustration and sadness. Of course, the poor woman did not want to go through this alone. It was hard enough to do in a room full of family and friends. But alone? Poor woman. "So, Brian's parents are not here yet?" she asked just to be sure.

"No," the woman choked. "Not yet. They're on their way, but—"

"Oh. Gosh. Okay," Reyes said. …Jeez… No wonder the sorrowful woman had asked her if she would mind doing it. No one else in this great big city of New Orleans had known him any better than she had, or had been any closer to him than she, his own partner. So, it made sense, in a weirdly bizarre sort of way, that this woman would ask her, and want her there, as the man approached his final breaths.

Reyes nibbled on her lower lip for a moment, regaining control of her own raging emotions, then pulled the slightly shorter woman into a warm embrace for a few seconds. "Mrs. Pierce, I would be glad to. So lead the way, okay?" she said, letting go of the sorrowful woman and sucking in her own gut-wrenching emotions, then followed the woman down the long corridor.

Within moments, they were standing in front of Pierce's room. Reyes then reached down and opened the door. Both women then quietly stepped inside.

…Ohhh… There was nothing quite like the sound of a death-rattle, that slow, raspy, rattling sound that happens in the throat when one is dying and so close to death, as they struggle for every little breath. …Ohhh God… She walked over closer to her dying partner. …Oh Brian… He really did look a lot worse than he had even a few hours ago when she had first stopped by this morning on her way home. He was sinking fast; and almost instantly, those earlier swirling emotions of anger towards him had vanished, for this was her partner, her trusted partner, her friend; and she had loved him, and had been willing to take a bullet for him as they worked cases together if the situation had ever arisen. Why? Because he had a family, and two young sons depending on him to help support them, whereas she had no one left behind and depending on her to help support them in case of her untimely death. Yes. She had considered these noble possibilities before, on the various dangerous cases they had worked on together, and had decided a long time ago – before Agent Scully and her unborn son had entered into her life, that is – that she would do all that she could to protect him, and even take a bullet meant for him, if need be, to save him for his two young sons. How ironic, as she now stood there next to his deathbed.

She then glanced over to Cunningham and Reigel, nodded to both men, then sat down next to the bed, as Mrs. Pierce then eased herself in on the other side. Both men stood as Cunningham then came over and whispered something into the other woman's ear. She nodded then clasped his hand for a few moments. He squeezed it then let go and walked over to Reyes. He put his hand on her shoulder then leaned in, "You gonna be all right, staying in here with her?"

"Umhum, yeah," she replied.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Fine."

He looked at her closely. He could not imagine what she must be going through right now, being asked by her trusted partner's ex-wife to help watch over him as he took his last breaths, the man that had tried to kill her, the very man that was supposed to be her most trusted and loyal ally while out on a job. He shook his head slightly in concern then left the room with Reigel, leaving the two women alnoe, in privacy with Pierce, as they stepped out into the hallway.

Mrs. Pierce then took her ex-husband's cool, blotchy, pale-blue hand again inside her own. "Brian?" she said. "I'm back. I'm here. And Monica is, too. She's here, Brian. She's here with you now. Just as I am, okay? And we'll stay with you. Okay? We'll stay with you," she said as she began to cry again then glanced over at Reyes. Reyes nodded as she then took her partner's other cool, blotchy, pale-blue hand inside her own as well.

They sat there together as Mrs. Pierce began to talk to him about happier times, remembering when they had been happily married, and when their two sons had been born, and when they had each celebrated birthdays, Memorial Days, Labor Days, vacations, holidays, camping trips, fishing trips, Thanksgivings, Christmases, New Years, Halloweens, and funny times when they had all dressed up in Halloween outfits, taking their two young sons around in the neighborhood, trick-or-treating and playing, experiencing such good, happy, and joyful times together as a family. Monica smiled, occasionally chuckling and nodding to the other woman, grinning and happy to learn about happier times in her partner's life, then began to add her own happy memories, the first case they had ever worked on together, happy times when they had gone out on the town after work, bar-hopping, juke-joint-hopping, blues-bar-hopping, and then covering for each other the next day when one or the other had had a little too much to drink from the night before and had suffered from a hangover making it hard to make it to work on time, then one particular night when they had gone to several gay bars oot on-the-town and how she had "rescued" him from a couple of men at Oz, a couple of gorgeous gay men, whom he had been dancing with for most of the night when by the end of the night and the dance-bar was closing one of them wanted to take him home for the rest of the night.

Mrs. Pierce chuckled and laughed at the funny story.

"It's true. I'm not sure if he would have turned the man down either had I not been there. You were enjoying yourself Brian Pierce," she teased leaning in next to his ear. "Yep. I think you would have loved going home with that guy. I know I would have. He was adorable!" she teased as she slightly squeezed his hand.

His breathing had begun to slow, and the rattle in his throat had become softer, and not quite so intrusive and loud. He was dying. He was approaching his last breath. He was within a couple a minute or so of leaving this world and entering the next.

Reyes glanced up at the monitors. His vitals were slowing. His heartbeat was slowing. His respiration was barely detectable. His blood pressure was not even registering. Everything associated with his physical body was coming to an end. Her eyes began to water as tears threatened to roll down her cheeks. She then leaned in against the bed and near his cheek. "Brian? In spite of everything, you are my friend. And I love you, okay, alligator?" she teased him. "We love you, you're family and I. And we're gonna miss you," she whispered again glancing over to his ex-wife. "But there'll be plenty of other people waiting for you on the other side. And they love you, too. They are waiting right now to see you and greet you, okay? They love you, and want to see you, and greet you, so they can show you the way. So don’t be afraid, okay? Don't be afraid, Brian. You won't be alone. They'll be there on the other side, waiting. So don't be afraid. Just let go, and rise, and fly, and go rest high on that mountain," she whispered into his ear as she choked up with emotion and tears beginning to roll uncontrollably down her cheeks.

"Oh Brian," Mrs. Pierce choked up, too, taking over and talking to her ex-husband, talking him through his last journey on this earth, then leaned down against his chest, crying softly, as she began to say her last goodbyes to him as well.

Reyes sniffled and wiped more tears, then leaned over and placed her hand across the crying woman's back and shoulder-blades, giving of her support, as the sorrowful woman came to terms with the inevitable and said her last goodbyes, encouraging her ex-husband to not be afraid, but to just let go, and let his spirit fly and rise to that highest mountain and into the afterlife, leaving this world behind.

Reyes continued to rub and massage the other woman's shoulders, occasionally glancing up at the monitors and trying to prepare herself for that dreaded sound soon to come, indicating that a heart has stopped beating. She then glanced back down at her partner's face. Suddenly his eyes opened, for just an instant. …Oh! My God!… His eyes were focused up towards the corner of the room, past that earthly corner, and focused somewhere higher - much, much higher - and farther than anyone on this earth could see, for he was no longer seeing earthly things, he was seeing otherworldly things. His eyes were already set and glassy, then within an instant, he closed them, for the last time. …Oh! Brian! My God!... Within a second, that long, dreaded, constant beep of the heart monitor began to sound.

"Oh no, Brian, no," his ex-wife mumbled into his chest.

"Shhh, it's all right. He's gone now, and he left so peacefully," Reyes whispered as she instantly leaned over a little farther and put her arms around the distraught woman. Mrs. Pierce nodded then rose up as the brunette instantly came around to the other side of the bed and held her. "Shhh, it's all right. Everything is going to be all right. And I'll stay with you as long as you need," she soothed. Mrs. Pierce nodded again as she rested her head in against the tall agent's empathetic shoulder.

Within seconds, two nurses and a doctor were in the room to pronounce the man officially dead.

***************

Reyes continued to stand quietly in the hallway as Mrs. Pierce broke the news to her two young sons that their daddy was now gone for good, and that they would never be able to see him alive again. Little Tommy wailed against his mother's side and hip as his older brother of twelve just stood there, frozen, like a statue, without feeling, without thought. It did not mean that he did not care about his father or love him just as much as his little brother. He was just reacting in a very different way from his brother.

Cunningham then walked up. "So. How are you?"

Reyes shrugged, "Fine. I'm fine."

"Well. Pierce's parents have just landed at the airport. I sent Bailey over to pick them up."

She nodded.

"So. You sure you're okay?"

"Yep. Fine," she quipped. No. Actually, she was not. But she was very good at hiding her inner grief and turmoil.

Brown and Gordon then walked up.

She looked at Brown.

He then reached out to give her a hug.

She obliged him.

"Told ya I'd be here," he said.

"Yep."

"Is there anything you need?"

"Nope."

"You sure?"

"Yep. I'm fine," she said as she then rose back up from his arms.

Gordon then came up beside of her. He studied her revealing, pain-filled eyes for a few seconds. The depth of pain radiating from those dark-circled, dark-chocolate eyes tore at his heartstrings. "Come on," he said as soon as she rose up from Brown's shoulder and gently put his arm around her, then began to lead her down the hallway towards the Visitor's Lounge again.

Brown and Cunningham just watched, understanding that the two agents had been through one hell of a night together last night, and that Gordon had a better understanding of what their female counterpart needed than they did at the moment.

The two agents then entered the small room. Reyes then burst into a fit of tears as Gordon quickly shut the door and put his arms around her, comforting her, and holding her, as she cried and cried and cried on his shoulder, sobbing and mumbling all sorts of hurts, pain, sorrow and frustrations into his ear over what all had happened last night. He just listened and comforted her, understanding her pain and anguish better than most anyone else could at the moment, inside or outside of the Bureau. In some ways, he could understand her hurt, pain and frustrations even better than Scully would when Scully finally made it to town. But Scully would be the one that she would ultimately open up to – bearing her very soul - once the redhead made it to town. But for now, Gordon made a good second, to give of his support, friendship and comfort through this very difficult time.


Reyes' Home – Out On Her Screened-in Back Porch - Slidell, LA
Three hours later – 4:35 PM (CT):


Reyes leaned up, took one last drag off her cigarette, then snuffed it out in the ashtray. …Ohhh… It felt so good to just sit out on this nice, screened-in back porch of hers and relax. Her little kitty Xena had joined her and was now sitting in her lap. Hopefully, Eric would have calmed down by now and enough for them to talk more specifically about when he would come by and pick up his things. But she was going to leave it up to him as to when he wanted to talk to her again. She understood that he needed to lick his wounds and take his time about such things. Besides, they had not moved in together, but he did have a lot of clothes, shoes, underwear, musical CDs, DVDs, videos, books, a couple of duffle bags full of various items, camping equipment, fishing equipment, scuba-diving equipment, a beanbag chair, a few kitchen utensils and items, all sorts of things here at her house that he needed to sometime come and pick up. Leaving some of his items here, and several changes of clothes and briefs, had just made it easier for them than him going back and forth to his place all the time when he had chosen to stay the night. And lately, that had been every night. So in some ways, he had practically moved in.

"Oh," she sighed again, still somewhat tired, even after that short nap she had just taken a little while ago. But she was not quite as exhausted as she had been before. She had talked to Cunningham again and he had given her Tuesday off. He had originally planned to give her tomorrow off, but she had talked him into waiting until Tuesday, and then she could take the next three days off, for that was when Scully would be in town, flying in on Tuesday and then spending the next few days with her. She smiled. Scully would be in town by late Tuesday morning. She grinned as she thought about how wonderful that was going to be having Scully here with her to sit out on this nice, screened-in back porch. And now that the weather and rain had cleared, the temperature would be really nice, too. It probably would not drop down below 60, maybe 55 degrees Fahrenheit even during the night for the next few days. How wonderful. They could just sit out here together and watch the sun go down enjoying the fresh, clean southern air of Slidell, LA and the beautiful sunsets. Tomorrow she would go into the office, give her legal statement to SAC Reigel, file a preliminary report, then go back out to the crime-scene area, reassess the scene, then check on the little Chamberlain boy, and maybe set up a time with his family to visit him and get his little Spiderman toy back to him, then talk to Kemen Tavares and his older brother, Iván, then drop the charges on the younger Tavares boy. She very rarely dropped charges on one of her detainees. But she still had his switchblade upstairs in her coat pocket. Moreover, she had decided to drop the charges she held against him earlier this morning when she had first left the hospital to drive back home. After everything had gone down the way that it had last night she was not convinced that he would ever have run or pulled that weapon on her in the first place. He was afraid. That was all. And he had every reason to be afraid. Manning was one of the local uniforms chasing after him that night and had fired off those two warning shots over his head. …Damn mother fucker… Yep. She had made up her mind. She was not going to press charges against the young teen. And she would help lower the charges on his older brother, too. Because she was not convinced that he had been such a bad kid either, all caught up in Manning's and all his cronies, wicked, wild and crazy games together.

"Oh frig," she sighed again as she reached down to get another cigarette. One of these days, she really did need to try and make an effort to quit this habit. But not today. The last few days – more like a full week – had been one hell of a last few days.

…Ring…Ring…

She glanced at her phone. …God… She hoped it was not Eric, or Cunningham, or anyone else from work in general.

…Ring…Ri…

"Monica Reyes."

"Hi."

"Hey!" It was Scully.

"What are you doing?"

"Sitting out on my porch thinking about you."

"Umhum."

"Really. I was."

"Umhum."

"Really, Dana, I was. Honestly."

The little redhead began to chuckle. She believed her. She just liked to hear her squirm. "Well, guess what I found."

"What?"

"A note."

"A note?"

"Umhum."

"What kind of—? Oh! My note?"

"Umhum."

"You did?"

"Umhum. It was underneath the pot. I have no idea how it got there but…"

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Your mom didn’t see it, did she?"

"I don't know, actually. I don't think so, but—"

"Ohhh."

The redhead began to giggle again. What a wonderfully sweet and endearing, heartfelt note her lover had left for her with the plants. She just wondered what the florist must have thought as she wrote it out for her to send to the little redhead along with the two pretty plants.

SAC Reigel's Office - FBI New Orleans Field Office:

Reigel sat back in his chair frustrated. "I know that! I realize that! I know I sent her home earlier, but I need to talk to her again. I need to hear more of her side of the story before I can finish this Preliminary. Gordon? We're talking about a Federal Agent here! I've got to have more of the facts before I send this up to the AD."

"But, Sir?" Gordon argued. "Her bullet didn’t even hit him! She fired off a round, but she was already hit! She was on the ground, Sir! Damn! The impact knocked her up and then to the ground! Hell! I thought she was dead at first! Damn, Sir! I… I thought… It scared the hell out of me! I thought Pierce had killed her! Right there! In front of my own eyes! And I… I couldn't… Damn, Sir! I'm not going to call her. Not right now. She's been through enough already! Now if you want to charge me with insubordination, so be it, but damn! I'm not going to bother her on this again! She's been through enough already!" Gordon yelled angry that his SAC wanted to question Reyes even further on the events of last night after all that she had been through today, too, watching her own betraying partner die as she watched over his family as well.

Reigel then glanced over at Cunningham. "Well?"

"Well, Sir, I agree with Gordon here. You're pushing her. She's been through enough over these last few days to drive a person over the edge from all the strain. Personally, I don't think you need to talk to her again or even get a statement from her. She saw the least of any of them. Shit! Her back was turned and yet he held a gun on her back? Shit! He tried to kill her, Reigel! What more do you want?!"

Reigel smirked. None of them took too kindly to one of their own turning on another of their own. Talk about the ultimate of betrayal. He then looked at Gordon. "You agree with that?"

"Yes! Yes! How many times do I have to say it? Yes! I was there! I saw it! Clayton didn't have any other choice! He had to fire! He had to, Sir! Had he not fired, Pierce would have killed her! Right there! In cold blood!"

Reigel nodded then closed his notebook. In all of his years in the Bureau, he had never had to deal with anything quite as difficult as this, gathering evidence, legal statements, preliminary reports and facts that one of his own agents had tried to kill another. This situation was absolutely the hardest thing he had ever had to deal with in all of his years with the service.


Bessie and George Clayton's Home – Terrytown District – New Orleans:

"Aw Geowge, would ja look at dat?" Bessie said as she handed him the Sunday morning newspaper, even though it was quite late in the afternoon at this point. They had been to church, to Morning Mass, and then out with their children and grandchildren. They had not had the time to read the early-morning Sunday paper. But there it was – front page news – with a very nice arrangement of articles and pictures depicting their sweet young friend carrying the little Chamberlain boy to safety from the rescue chopper to the medical technician and to his parents, and then more pictures of the burning ExxonMobil building, with death-defying pictures of the rescue attempts from atop that burning building, and then one of the most tender pictures of all, a very nice candid of Reyes holding the little Garcia girl in her lap as the airboat George had been driving came ashore and to ultimate medical attention for the little girl and for Reyes. Then, as one turned the page, there were two more pages full of articles, candid shots, maps and all sorts of information related to the case, including mention of Pierce going down in the final moments on that last rescue attempt. FBI Leads Search and Rescue to Ultimate Success", "Two Missing Children and One Teen, Rescued From Fiery Death", "FBI Special Agent Monica Reyes, A Cajun City Hero, Cajun City Style", etc, etc, titled almost every article with Agent Reyes' name splashed all over most every article. She was truly the Cajun City Hero in most every sense of the word in practically every New Orleans residents' eyes today on this late Sunday afternoon.

"Aw, look at dat," he grinned proud to have been with her on that last rescue mission. Moreover, had he not been, he and his wife might be reading all about the Cajun City Hero's untimely death and her obituary, too.

"Whatcha think's gonna happen now, deah hawt?"

"We jus wait it out, Bes. Dey'll know what to do."

"Geowge?"

"Naw, now. Don't yow be a worryin' bout it, dawlin'. Dey'll know what to do. I didn't have no other choice. I had to shoot 'im, kill 'im, to powtect her. I didn't mean ta kill 'im. But I didn't have no other choice. I hads ta stop 'im."

"I know, and thank da Lawd yow was dere."

"Yep. Somehow I knowed she'd be a needin' me. I nevah expected dat! But I knowed."

Bessie then wrapped her arms around her sweet, charming, big-bellied husband, the other Cajun City Hero – her Cajun City Hero – and Reyes', too.


Reyes' Home – In the Bedroom - Slidell, LA
Five hours later – 9:47 PM (CT):


Reyes continued to twist and squirm in the bed, deep in sleep, and in the mist of a third horrific nightmare as flashes of her partner's face, his eyes, his angry voice, and his angry words echoed once again inside her head, then… POW!... Suddenly, she was shot and on the ground, bleeding out all over the place, gasping for air, grabbing at her chest, and calling out, "Dana... God... Dana... Dana... OH! Dana!" she jumped awake, then jerked up into a sitting position, trembling with fear and trepidation.

Her little kitty padded in next to her meowing and chirping in her little kitty-cat kind of way, trying so hard to communicate with her distraught tall, dark-raven-haired human companion and ask her what was wrong.

"Oh God, girl. What is wrong with me?" the weary and distressed brunette said as she reached down to stroke her empathetic little cat, then rolled back over in the bed and pulled her little feline friend in closer to her chest.

Xena chirped and squeaked, then began to purr and lick her hand and forefinger, comforting her in the only way that she knew how.

"Oh God, Xe. I can't keep going on like this," she said as she nuzzled her nose in closer to her little kitty then closed her eyes attempting to calm her fears and settle her emotions back down in hopes of dropping off into another deep sleep yet again.

The tired brunette desperately needed some more productive and uninterrupted sleep, instead of all these dreams – more like nightmares - and frustrating interruptions, unforeseen delays, needless phone-calls, a concerned neighbor banging on her front door earlier in the evening, just to make sure she was home for the night, and then these relentless horrific dreams she kept experiencing every time she dropped off into a deep sleep.


Scully's Apartment – In the Kitchen/Utility Area – Georgetown, Washington, DC:

Margaret continued to watch her troubled daughter.

Scully looked up from the stack of towels she was folding, catching her mother's discerning eye. "What?" she responded.

"Dana? Why don't you just call her if you're that concerned?" the older woman said, walking over and placing her arm around her daughter's waist.

"I—Mom, I, I don't want to—"

"Now, Dana. If you're feeling this much turmoil over it then you need to call her. How many times have we talked about a woman's intuition and listening to that intuition? Besides, she's been through a lot. She probably needs the support."

Scully smirked as she finished folding the last bath towel. "Well. You're probably right. Thanks, Mom. I think I'll—"

"No, I'm going to leave you alone for a little while. I'll drive down to Van Ness and pick up a half-gallon of ice-cream. How does Rocky Road sound?" her mother grinned.

Scully chuckled. She had a weakness for ice-cream, any flavor of ice-cream, but double-chocolate was the very best.

Margaret then grabbed her coat off the chair.

"But, Mom? Why don't you wait? It's almost 11:00. And…"

"No, dear. I'll be fine. The car's just outside the main entrance. I'll be fine, dear," the older woman reassured her.

"Okay. But I'll be watching out the window."

Margaret smiled as she finished slipping on her coat then headed out to go to the store.

Scully smiled again, then found her cell-phone, padded over towards the main window facing the street down below, then began to call her lover way down south in Southern Louisiana.

It ran three times, then…

"Hey," the tired brunette answered rather sleepily.

"Hey. Were you sleeping?"

"Um, no, I—No."

"You sure?" the concerned redhead replied noticing the sleepiness in her lover's voice.

"Yeah, I—Actually, I just woke up."

"Oh. Gosh. Did I wake you? Bad timing?"

"No. Oh no, honey, it's never bad timing."

Scully smiled. "Well. Are you okay? I mean… I felt…" …Something… "Oh, I don't know, just wanted to call I guess."

"No, I'm, I—Hum," the brunette sighed. "Actually, I'm not doin' too good right now," she said telling her lover the truth of her emotions.

"Really? What's wrong?"

"I—I just—I can't seem to fall asleep. I mean I—I keep—dreaming and—God. It's horrible."

"Dreaming? You're having bad dreams?"

"Yeah."

"Well tell me about them, Moni. I'm here. You can talk to me," Scully surprised herself with that comment, as she felt such a deep, genuine, heartfelt love and concern for this woman, a feeling that she had not felt in years. She truly was in-love with this woman. She then glanced out the window, watching closely as her mother unlocked the door to her sedan then slid into the driver's seat. Within seconds, the older woman was safely on her way to the store. "Moni? Come on. Talk to me, baby," she encouraged, surprising herself yet again with such a comment. …God… She was beginning to sound like a therapist; and that was Reyes' job, not hers. She smirked.

The frustrated brunette then began to talk and open up, telling the little redhead all about her relentless nightmares over the last few hours, and how that she just could not seem to relax, settle down, and go to sleep. Her thoughts, memories and emotions just would not stop thinking, remembering and re-experiencing what all had happened last night; and every time she fell asleep and entered into a more restful, deep sleep the bad dreams would begin again, ultimately waking her back up slightly panicked.

The redhead listened and commented as needed giving of her love, encouragement and support as her lover just lost herself into the sounds of the little redhead's gentle, low and sexy voice. Scully's voice was always so low and sexy, even when she was not trying to seduce the brunette, and it drove Reyes wild with passion and desire.

They continued to talk for several more minutes as Scully glanced at the clock calculating how much longer she had inside her apartment, with the place all to herself, before her mother came back with the ice-cream. Her mother had offered to spend one more night with her earlier in the afternoon and she had accepted that offer. She had really not felt like spending a first night alone since finding Mulder dead in that field quite yet. It had been a very difficult week for her, too; and Reyes had been wonderful giving of her love, encouragement and support as well over the last several days. But now, Reyes was so far away. So it just made it easier for her to depend on her mother for al little while until they could be together again. And soon, she would be back in the arms of her lover, and she could hardly wait.

Reyes continued to tell the little redhead more about her day, then ask more about Scully's day, and Scully going over to Mulder's apartment, feeding his fish again, then cleaning up and doing some light vacuuming trying to keep the place up, then going through some more of his legal papers, looking over some of his Insurance claims and Life Insurance documents, then checking with his landlord on how many more months of rent she might need to pay until his yearly apartment lease was up, and trying to make important financial decisions on that, then Scully changing the subject back to Reyes' day, and little Elisa, and Reyes sleeping all night at the hospital with the little girl, then going by Pierce's room for a few minutes, then coming home to find Eric inside her home, in her bed, then breaking up with him, and all the difficult moments that had occurred during that explosive event, then going back to the hospital and sitting with Pierce's ex-wife as the dying man took his last breaths.

Scully was so upset over that. She felt that the last thing Reyes had needed, at this point, was to be reminded of all that had happened last night, and then to have to sit with his ex-wife and family as the man took his last breaths, watching the man that had tried to kill her die right before her eyes?

"God, Moni. Christ! You should not have had to do that! My God! No wonder you're having nightmares. Crap! I can't believe Cunningham allowed that!"

"But honey, it was my choice," Reyes countered.

"Yes, but, Monica? You should not have had to do that! Baby? God! After everything you’ve been through already?"

"Well, I've been through no more than you this week."

"Oh baby, yes you have. Yes, you have. My God, Mon. I knew the moment I touched ground in Helena what we might find. I didn’t want to face it, admit to it, but I knew what the possibilities were. And, besides, I had time to grow accustomed to Mulder not being here, not being in the office, not being around for me to call him, and—"

"Yes but, you still had that ray of hope. You still believed that we could find him alive."

"Yes, I did. But, Monica? I knew that the odds were slim, so remote, so—" the redhead trailed off.

"But that doesn't make it hurt any less," the brunette offered.

"No. But I knew that he loved me, cared about me, and trusted me as much as I trusted him; and that he was my partner, all the way to the end, and that he—that he would never—God!" the redhead choked up a little.

"Kill you? Turn on you and then try to kill you?" the brunette finished her thought.

"Yes. Oh Monica, God," Scully's heart ached for her so. "Yes, but, listen. When I get there, I want to talk to you about something, about another case Mulder and I worked on one time, okay?"

"Okay."

"And Monica? Now listen. Outside forces can sometimes make a person do things that they would never typically do. And I want to talk to you about that, okay? I want you to understand that."

"Yeah. Okay. Maybe."

"No baby, now listen to me. That is true. And you know that."

"Um, maybe," the brunette whimpered again.

"No Moni, it's true," Scully replied feeling her lover's deep hurt deep down inside her own heart. "Oh, baby, I am so sorry that he tried to hurt you."

"Kill me, Dana. Kill me," the brunette corrected her. "He tried to kill me, because of who I am, what I am."

"No. No, Monica. No."

"Yes," the clairvoyantly gifted brunette whimpered then began to cry a little yet again.

"Oh Monica, no, don't cry, don't, no baby, don't. God."

"But you don't understand. I've dealt with this all of my life. All of my life people have made fun of me, laughed at me, picked at me, made me the blunt of their silly jokes. I've most always been an outcast, a black-sheep, someone to either laugh at, be made fun of, or actually be afraid of. And why, I don't know. There's nothing about it to be afraid of, it's just part of who I am. All I know is, it's been there from the time I can remember, and I don't even understand it myself most of the time. But I don't know why some people have to be so afraid of it, or of me. And I, I've never had someone actually try to kill me before because of it," she choked. "And yet my own partner did, Dana. My own partner."

"Shhh, baby, I know, and it's okay. Now you listen to me. You are the most beautiful, sweet, loving and gentle person I have ever known in my life. And I can't imagine how anyone could be afraid of your gift or you. But people are afraid of what they don't understand, and maybe, maybe you should not be so open at times with what you can do, or see, or feel, or—"

"I know. My Grams has been trying to tell me that for years. But do I listen?" the brunette chuckled through her tears.

"Well sounds like a very wise woman with very good advice."

"Yeah. And you'd love her, too, Dana. I can't wait for you to meet her, and meet my family."

Scully grinned. …Wow... They were already talking about meeting each other's families? This budding new relationship was growing quite serious quite fast. Quite serious indeed. She then glanced out the window seeing her mother pull into the same empty parking space that she had left once again. "Baby. Mom's almost here, so—"

"Okay. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Umhum. First thing when I get up."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you."

"Good night."

"G'night. Think you'll sleep better now?"

"Yeah. I'm sure of it. I needed this. I needed to hear your voice. Thanks for calling, listening, talking to me."

Scully smiled again. She liked being needed by the other woman. "Any time, baby. I want to learn as much as I can about you."

"Really?" Reyes felt her cheeks grow a little warm from the comment.

"Yeah. Really."

"Ohhh," Reyes inhaled deeply and then sighed.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just, I really needed to hear that too, right now."

"Well, it's true. You have nothing to fear with me. I've seen many things that I cannot explain through the years, too. But Monica, whatever it is, it's a good thing."

"Oh," Reyes chirped again in response. "You really believe that?"

"Yes, I do. Your heart is pure, and that makes all the difference. Now, we need to get off of this phone so you can get some sleep, my sweet."

Reyes giggled, "Yep. Sleep."

"Right. Sleep, sleep, my sweet."

Reyes giggled again, her heart fluttering inside her chest, as she almost felt herself wrapped up in the little redhead's arms, resting her head comfortably in her lap and against her chest. "Okay, well… Buenos noches, mi querida."

"Yes. Goodnight, my love," Scully responded chuckling a little bit.

Reyes giggled again.

"One… Two…"

"Thr…" Then they both hung up grinning from ear-to-ear.

Scully continued to chuckle, satisfied that her lover was feeling much better indeed than she had been before the phone-call, then went to the door to watch for her mother.

Margaret was already walking down the hallway carrying the scrumptious little sack of goodies.

"Oh, yummy! Ice-cream!" she grinned.

"Mmm, Rocky Road," her mother teased as she entered the apartment.

Soon they were enjoying a late-night snack.


Reyes' Home – In the Bedroom - Slidell, LA

Reyes was smiling and still holding the phone in her hand. She then rolled over and placed it back on its cradle. Xena chirped then squeaked her opinion. "Yep. Come here, girl. That was Dana. And she just called me. Yep. That was Dana. And you're going to get to meet her in two days. What do ya think about that, girl? Hum?" she said rolling back over and snuggling up close next to her little kitty. Xena chirped in response, then quickly licked the tip of her nose, then snuggled in next to her neck and shoulder. "Hum," the brunette sighed then clutched her pillow, rolling to her stomach, then rolled in and began to concentrate her thoughts on the little redhead. Maybe if she just concentrated on the little redhead, and all the words she had just said to her, and all the sweet sentiments of support and encouragement she had just shared, then maybe those earlier thoughts and memories would not resurface anymore for the night. Within moments, she was sound asleep, dreaming about a little redhead back in DC.


Monday Morning - Seven Hours Later:

Reyes rolled to her back, lay still for a few seconds, then rolled farther over to her side. She began to slowly stir awake. She opened her eyes and glanced at her alarm clock just as it began to buzz to her that it was time to get up. "Oh," she sighed, quickly hit the silencer button, then rolled back over to her other side. She really did not feel like getting up. She was tired. She was sore. Her chest and ribs were aching from the powerful impact of the shotgun blast to her bulletproof-vest-covered chest. "Oh," she sighed again, opening her eyes and looking back at the clock. 5:45 AM. …Shit… Did she really have to get up? No. Cunningham had originally given her the day off. But she had changed dates with him so that she could stay home tomorrow and the next three days and enjoy the quality time with Scully. She grinned, thinking about the little redhead, then decided that she needed to do some housecleaning before the little redhead came to town. Although, she was a very neat person, and kept a very nice house, but she had not been in town for over a week. So it was time to do a little dusting, vacuuming, straightening up and whatever else she deemed necessary to make her home a little bit more presentable to her woman. She would call around and make some dinner reservations, too, at some of the finest restaurants in town, so she could treat her woman to some very nice, delicious, expensive dinners, cocktails and wine – or whatever she wanted – while in town. …Oh. Gosh. Wait a minute… Scully could not drink, not while she was pregnant. …Oh well… She could treat her to some very nice and tasty virgin drinks, virgin cocktails, and maybe some nice nonalcoholic wine coolers or something. She'd figure it out. She needed to go to the grocery store sometime today anyway, and stock the refrigerator and freezer back up with some scrumptious goodies. She wondered what Scully would like all stuffed away inside her cupboards, but then she had seen some of Scully's preferred foods, and possible favorites, while staying at her place for those couple of nights. She grinned remembering the different food items she had seen in Scully's cupboards, then chuckled at the fact that their tastes appeared to be very similar in the types of foods, snack foods, various meats and vegetables they both seemed to prefer.

She then rolled over, found the remote and turned the TV on. …Oh frig… The local news was still talking about all that had happened over the weekend, and she just did not feel like listening to all the commentary. She scanned through the channels finally stopping on the Weather Channel. …Wonderful… The local weather for New Orleans was predicted to have clear skies, middle to high 70's during the day, and lows of mid to high 50's at night throughout the rest of the week. …Wonderful… She grinned again. The weather would be practically perfect for this time of the year. The rainstorms had moved on, and were now crossing over the southeast, moving north as high as Tennessee and Kentucky. By Northern Kentucky and Ohio, the rain had turned into snow. …Lucky dogs… She loved the snow, as long as she was dressed warmly enough.

She continued to listen as the weather anchor talked of more predicted snow to fall around Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, farther east into Ripley and Charleston, West Virginia and finally making its way into Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC. She grinned again. …You lucky dog… she thought, thinking about Scully. Scully was going to be getting plenty of fresh, new-fallen snow tonight. …God… What Reyes would not give to be up there in DC with Scully tonight so she could watch, run and play in the beautiful new-fallen snow with her baby. She wondered if Scully loved the snow as much as she did. She might not since she had lived so long in the somewhat northern state, compared to the warm, sunny areas of Mexico, Southern California and Southern Louisiana.

The buzzer on the alarm clock began to go off again. She quickly rolled over, hit the silencer button one last time, then got up for the day.

***************

She spent the rest of the day somewhat in a daze. Fellow agents and co-workers bustled about all around her as she just tried to stay focused on whatever task her boss had given her to do on any given moment. She had intended to go back out to the crime-scene location and reassess the area, but she just could not find the emotional strength to do that today. Going back out to the area where her partner had tried to kill her, threatening to shoot her in the back, or in the chest, was just more than she wanted to deal with right now. So, Cunningham had sent Bailey and Brown back out there with another team of agents. Come to find out, the "stack of bones" that Gordon and Reyes had noticed out there on that little island in the swamps was stacked full of human bones as well as animal bones and carcasses. Reyes had been afraid of that. Her gut had told her that possibility Saturday night. But she had been too busy at the time trying to stay alive, keep little Elisa alive, and then get herself and little Elisa back to civilization and to a hospital, for her to take the time searching and gathering up evidence from the scene. But, as the CSI team and forensics pathologist began to study the recovered evidence from the area, many of the human remains belonged to small children or young teens. Most all of them were probably on the National Missing Person's list. And that thought just broke Reyes' heart. But most of the missing children and teens were probably from other states all together, not Louisiana, and had quite possibly been missing for many years. But that still did not help Reyes' feelings of failure and remorse. Even though she was not officially on the Missing Person's Taskforce, she was still a part of the FBI; and the FBI was supposed to be able to protect kids from this type of thing. But there was only so much the agency could do against pure evil.

Cunningham had then talked to her about who she would prefer for Pierce's replacement. Her stomach had tightened into gut-wrenching knots from that conversation. She did not want to even think about Pierce's replacement right now. She was having a hard enough time coming to terms with the fact that the man really was dead and gone, and everything else that had gone down over the last few days since she had flown back in from DC to think about that. If someone had told her three days ago that her own partner was a part of the deranged leadership controlling the sadistic teen gang, and would soon intend to kill her and "sacrifice" her, along with the other missing kids, to his "Master" she would have never believed it. Never. It was crazy what all had happened over the last few days - more like weeks, months - for she and Pierce had been working on this case together for months. But, as she thought about it, and skimmed over her notes from the last few weeks, pieces of the puzzle had begun to fit. Moreover, her first real gut instinct that something might be array with her partner had been the other night inside of that warehouse when she had almost walked into that booby-trap of flaying knives that would have flayed her chest wide-open killing her almost instantly. Pierce had lingered behind somewhat, and had been so amazed that she had jumped out of the way just in time to avoid severe injury and probable death. She still could not explain what had caused her to suddenly stop, and jump out of the way. But something in her gut had, right then, given her some type of extrasensory clue that things were not quite what they appeared to be with her trusted co-worker. But she had somewhat ignored that instinct and continued to work with him throughout the day. But by Saturday night, she instinctually followed her gut instincts and took Brown with her through the ExxonMobil Plant instead of Pierce, and then took Gordon with her on that last raid instead of Pierce, too. He was angry about that. But something in her gut was telling her that she could not trust him any more. When little Elisa had been kidnapped again, and under his watch and care, her gut began to scream at her that he was not who he appeared to be, and was possibly the missing link – the missing, unidentified fourth piece of the puzzle – that she knew her taskforce had been working against. She had not wanted to believe it, but it had all rung true in the end, and out there on that last raid when she had little Elisa safe and secure in her arms once again, and then he had made that one last ditch effort to carry out his final mission after all, attempting to kill them both in cold blood.

"Oh wow," she sighed, rolling her neck a little bit, and then reaching up and massaging some of those sore, bruised-up areas along her chest and breast areas where the shotgun blast had hit against her vest. …God… Was she ever lucky. Had she not been wearing her vest, it would all be over, and her family would be flying into town to arrange for her memorial service as well. Pierce's was tentatively scheduled for Wednesday morning. She still had not decided for sure what she was going to do about that. Not going would look bad, but then going would be very difficult to do, too, given the circumstances. She just did not know for sure what to do, but when the time came, she would just go with her gut, like she most always did.

She glanced at her watch. 4:53 PM. …Close enough… she thought as she rose from her desk, gathered her things, and began to leave for home and call it a day.


Scully's Apartment – In the Living Room – Georgetown, Washington, DC:
One hour later:


Doggett finished carrying the last of the two big boxes in from Mulder's apartment, then set them down on the kitchen table for the little redhead to finish sorting through. Scully grinned then thanked him for all of his trouble.

"Ain't no problem, Agent Scully. I told ya a long time ago I'd help ya out whenever ya needed me."

She grinned again. "Okay. Do you know anything about how to get this aquarium back together, up and running again?"

"Yep. Sure do. My son…" he paused for a moment. "Yep. I helped put one together one time."

Scully noticed the man's slight hesitation. "John. Tell me about Luke."

…Do what?... Doggett's eyes widened. "How'd ya know his name?"

"Monica."

"What'd she say?"

"Not much. She didn't break a trust if that is what you're concerned about."

"Aw naw, I just never talk about him."

"Well? Maybe you should," the redhead said as she walked over and put a hand on the rugged man's arm.

"Naw. That ain't my style. I ain't one for talkin'."

Scully chuckled. "Well, neither am I, Agent Doggett, but sometimes, maybe we should."

Doggett snorted then began to laugh, "You been hangin' around Reyes too long."

Then they both began to laugh.

…Ring…Ring…

Just then the phone began to chime.

Scully grinned again. She had a pretty good idea of who it was.

…Ri…

"Scully."

"Hey."

"Hi." Scully grinned again. She was right. It was Reyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to put Mulder's aquarium back together. Dog—John is here with me, so—"

"Really?''

"Umhum. You want to speak to him?"

"Yeah! If that's all right."

"Of course," Scully chuckled as she called Doggett over to the phone and handed it to him.

The two best friends then talked for what seemed like ages before Scully finally had a chance to talk to the brunette again. But she had not minded. Actually, it was quite intriguing to listen to this side of the conversation. Obviously, the two agents were extremely close, and must undoubtedly, enjoy teasing and playing with each other. She and Mulder had never really done that sort of thing on any type of regular basis. Their working relationship had just not gone in that direction. But then maybe it was partially because of her bisexuality and predominate preferences for women that she just did not care to tease and play with Mulder in any form of a sexual way. She just had no interest in it, in him, or males in general for the most part. She had had her male lovers on occasion, but women were her weakness.

"Da—? I mean, Agent Scully? She—"

"It's okay, John. I'm Dana tonight," she grinned as she took the phone from his hand.

He smiled, his pretty blue eyes sparkling the prettiest morning-sky-blue, as he then began to work more steadily on putting Mulder's aquarium back together for her. Mulder's poor little fish had already gone through enough shock, being moved from one apartment to another, so the sooner that he could get them back into an area and a water temperature that they were accustomed to the better.

Scully watched her words and her own end of the conversation, making sure that she did not say anything too revealing for her new working partner's ears to overhear. But she did not mind having him there. In some ways it made her feel closer to Reyes have Reyes' best friend there in the room with her.

She and the brunette filled each other in on their days, all that they had done, Scully going through a few of Mulder's things at his apartment and then deciding to bring some of those items home with her – including his fish and fish aquarium – instead of leaving the more valuable items over at his place. She had decided for now to just keep paying his rent instead of paying the penalty-fee for breaking the one-year-contract so soon. What would it matter in the long run? Besides, she was pregnant now, and she did not need to be lifting a lot of heavy furniture and heavy items around any time soon. Moreover, Doggett had been kind enough to go with her to the apartment and pack up the things for her, move the heavy items out and relocate them to her apartment. He was becoming a very close friend after all, even if they did share their differences in the ways that they each approached a case. Doggett had saved her life on one occasion, if not, arguably, on two, or quite possibly even three already, over these last few months that they had worked together. She had finally allowed herself to believe in him and trust him for her welfare whether they agreed on some things or not. He was a good man, a very good man, and very trustworthy.

"Is it still snowing up there?" the lonely brunette asked stuck down in New Orleans and not up in DC with her best friend and new lover.

"Oh my, yes. It's coming down like—Gosh," Scully walked over to the window to peep out. "Look's like a blizzard out there."

"Really? You lucky dog. I love the snow. Frig, I wish I was up there."

"I don't know. It’s not much fun to drive in."

"Yeah, but it's so much fun to play in."

Scully giggled again at her lover's childlike ways in so many things. Reyes still had such an innocence and childlike way of enjoying the simplest things in life, like a blustery night of fresh, new-falling snow. And she could imagine bundling up, going to one of the local city parks in the area, and just walking, crunching and sloshing around through the fresh, new-fallen snow with Reyes at her side. What fun that could be! She grinned again, hoping that there would still be some snow on the ground for the next trip that Reyes made up to DC.


Reyes' Home – In the Family Room – Slidell, LA:
Four hours later - 9:53 PM (CT):


The happy brunette hung up the phone grinning from ear-to-ear. She had just managed to guarantee dinner reservations at four of the finest, best-loved, award-winning restaurants in town - one for Tuesday night, one for Wednesday night, one for Friday night and one for Saturday night - as she planned to cook dinner at home on Thursday and Sunday for the little redhead. She could cook an excellent dinner herself – one specializing in Cajun, and maybe the other in Mexican – if the little redhead liked that style of food. She already had a sneaking suspicion that Scully liked seafood - Cajun style – as one of her favorite foods. She might have to prepare some Cajun crawfish for the little redhead and see what she thought about that. She wondered if Scully had ever even tried crawfish before. Either way, she knew how to cook it; and her recipe was simply scrumptious.

She grinned as she got up and skipped into the kitchen, peering into her cupboards, refrigerator and freezer, making a mental note of anything she might have overlooked as she had shopped earlier in the day, restocking her cupboards and kitchen with delicious little goodies in preparation for the little redhead's first visit to her home. She wanted everything to be just right, just perfect, for the first time.

The buzzer to the clothes-dryer went off. She quickly padded to the utility room, pulled out the fresh, clean sheets and pillowcases, neatly folded everything up, then climbed up the stairs to the bedroom. Yes. Everything was going to be perfect, just perfect, for the little redhead's first visit to her home. All her candles, oil burners and incense burners were scattered about the room. Then, inside the bathroom, there were even more candles and oil burners placed in all the corners of the room. Even inside the tub and shower area, she had many of her favorite brands of soaps, creams, oils, bath oils, bath beads and bubble baths scattered around and waiting, just in case the little redhead would like to try any of her choices as she bathed or took a shower. She grinned again. Maybe this time when and if they took a shower together they would have enough time to make it really count. She began to giggle feeling her cheeks grow hot with her erotic thoughts.

She then padded back to her bedroom closet rummaging around inside the big area looking for any of her smaller clothes that Scully might want to change into, just in case the little redhead needed a change of lounging clothes, and needed to borrow an outfit or two from her. She then pulled out the underwear drawer to her wardrobe checking to make sure that everything was in order. She pulled a few of her most enticing pieces of underwear out. She wondered if Scully preferred feminine, very feminine, kinky, raw, slightly masculine, shamelessly sexy, or slightly conservative. It really did not matter for she had just about everything, and any style of under garment, tucked away inside her drawer. She then opened her sleepwear drawer. She smiled again then giggled as she began to finger some of the very sultry and seductive sleepwear garments she had collected over the years. …Hum… Maybe she would just let Scully decide. …Yeah... Maybe she would just let the little redhead rummage around in her drawers and pull out whatever she wanted to see her dressed in. She was game for anything Scully might have in mind.

She then lay down on the bed, placing the fresh, clean, folded sheets and pillowcases next to her bedside table, then leaned back against the headboard. She would wait until tomorrow morning before changing the bed sheets. She wanted everything to be just perfect, simply perfect, all the way down to the fresh, clean sheets that had not been slept in until Scully came to town.

Xena hopped up onto the bed purring and rubbing against her hip.

"Hey girl. What do you think? Did I miss anything?"

The little cat chirped her opinion then padded up next to her forearm. Reyes grinned then began to rub and caress her little cat. She loved this little cat dearly, and she surely hoped that Scully would take to the little cat, too. That could be a real problem if Scully did not take to her cat, or did not even like cats in the first place. …Oooh. Yikes… She had not even thought about that. But Scully would have probably said something by now if that had been the case. Besides, Scully had had a pet dog at one time, so she was okay with animals inside the house, obviously. Scully might have to get used to the cat sharing the bed though. Reyes chuckled. Xena knew to keep quiet, keep out of reach, and stay out of the way when the brunette was making-love to someone. But if Scully was really adamant about it, then she would come up with something to satisfy Xena's needs to sleep in the bed with them and yet satisfy Scully's needs for not sharing the bed with a cat. …Gosh… She hoped that that would not present a problem. She certainly hoped that Scully would be open-minded enough to at least consider sharing the bed with the little feline for a night and see what it was like if she were not sure about the idea, because Xena really was good about not bothering her human companion, especially if she was busily in the middle of doing something quite fun and energetic before finally dropping off to sleep.

She grinned again, rolling over in the bed and clutching her pillow, as her heart fluttered inside her chest from all the anticipation. She could hardly wait. Her lover would be here in a little over twelve hours, and she could hardly wait.


Scully's Apartment – In the Bedroom – Georgetown, Washington, DC:

Scully rolled over in the bed clutching her pillow, then clutched the little touchstone a little tighter in her palm. …Gosh… She just could not seem to go to sleep for thinking about flying into New Orleans tomorrow morning and soon being in the arms of her lover again for the first time in days. …Gosh… Her heart began to flutter and pound inside her chest from all the anticipation. She glanced at the clock. She smiled. In a little less than twelve hours, she would be touching down in New Orleans, walking up the corridor and into her lover's arms. She wondered if Reyes would be as open at the airport with their true relationship as she had been in DC. She grinned. The gorgeous brunette probably would be. And Scully had nothing to hide in New Orleans either. Talking about a fun town; and she was sure that Reyes would know all the best places to go where they could truly be themselves and not worry about what others might think or being caught by anyone inside the Bureau. She smiled and sighed, clutching her pillow a little tighter, then, soon, was sound asleep.




**********************************



Poor Moni. She's had one hell of a day, and she needs her Dana, to help her with all the struggles and watching her partner die. But, soon, they'll be together again. She's been fixing the house up, cleaning up, vacuuming, making dinner reservations and getting ready for her baby to come to town. Check out how in Chapter 10. And please send me some feedback at MyGirlReyes, and let me know what you think. Thanks! MGR

A Quick Note: I realize that Mulder's aquarium is in his apartment at the end of DeadaAlive. Don't worry. I'll get it back in there before Scully brings him home at the end of that ep. (wink, wink). But she doesn't need to be trapsing all over Georgetown, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC just to take care of his fish. She's pregnant for godsakes. LOL.