...all MSR all the time..
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Chapter 1
"Here, Mulder?" Scully's voice rose when we pulled into the parking lot.
"We can hardly go to a reputable establishment," I reminded her.
"Well, I know that," she huffed. "But still..."
"I'm counting on the fact that the people here make a habit of not paying very close attention," I explained.
"Yeah, but will they want a truck?" she sounded skeptical.
"I think we might be able to convince someone to take it in trade for something worth a lot less," I shrugged.
"I thought that went without saying," she began to fuss with her hair in the mirror. "We're talking about a motorcycle, right?"
"Some of these bikes are worth way more than this SUV," I told her as I put the Expedition into park.
"And you don't think it will be a problem that we don't have the registration?" Scully looked worried as she unbuckled her seat belt.
"I doubt it," I shook my head. "But if we can't trade it we'll have to ditch it. Then what? We could never get a vehicle the way most people do. It would look --"
"I know, we'd be drawing attention to ourselves," she interrupted me. "That doesn't mean I'm happy about it."
"C'mon," I squeezed her hand. "Let's go make a deal."
It wasn't the first time Scully and I had been in a biker bar, and somehow, I doubted it would be the last. Even though we'd dressed down, both of us were in jeans and tees, we still turned heads when we walked in. Scully went straight up to the bar.
"Whatever's cold," she told the bartender.
"I'm good," I smiled when he looked at me for my order. "But I was wondering if you know who I could talk to about trading my SUV for a bike."
After looking at me like I'd sprouted wings, he moved over to the tap and began to pull a draft for Scully.
"Perfect," she sighed after her first sip. "Cigarettes?" she looked around.
"Machine's in the back with the pool tables," he nodded toward a beaded curtain. "Do you need change?"
"I think I have enough, thanks," she smiled warmly at him.
I tried not to let my mouth hang open as she picked up her beer and began to sway in the direction the bartender had pointed.
"Hot little number," he noted.
When I looked back at him, he was still watching her walk toward the back.
"That she is," I thought it was best to agree with him. "So," I paused, "What'll it take?" I laid a twenty on the bar.
He picked it up and slipped it into his pocket.
"So?" I smiled at him.
"Thanks for the tip, but you got another thing coming if you think I'm giving a cop any information," he moved down the bar to serve another customer.
"I'm not a --" I began to protest, but the customer cut me off with a snort. "Okay, I was. FBI, but not anymore," I tried to explain.
Looking almost amused, the bartender leaned against the back counter and lit a cigarette.
"Honestly," I wanted to explain, but I stopped when I heard Scully's laugh filter through from the back room.
"Maybe she doesn't like cops either," the customer snorted again.
Resisting the urge to stuff his snort back down his throat, I made my way quickly to the back. When I parted the beads, I heard Scully laugh again. It was her flirty laugh. Why was she laughing with her flirty laugh?
The back room was poorly lit except for the lights suspended over the pool tables. The thick smoke that hung in the air only added to the overall dimness. Every head in the room turned to look at me. Two men with bandannas on their heads stood up and started to walk toward me.
"He's with me," Scully smiled. "He's all right," she assured them.
"He looks like a cop," Bandanna number one looked at me through narrowed eyes.
"Probably because he used to be a cop," she paused to take a drag off her cigarette. "I was too," she added, making them all look at her instead. "But we pissed off the wrong people."
"And that's why you need to lose the truck?" Bandanna number two leaned against the wall again.
"What are you doing, Scully?" I watched as she chalked up her pool cue.
"I thought you said your name was Dana," a bearded man in a leather vest raised his eyebrows at her. He seemed to be who she was playing against.
"Dana Scully," she reached into her back pocket, pulled out her badge and placed it on the edge of the pool table.
While her opponent picked it up, Scully took another drink of her beer.
"FBI," he noted before he closed it up again and handed it to her.
"Thanks," she slipped it back into her pocket. "I'm going to have to get rid of this, too. It's only a liability to me now."
"Who'd you piss off?" Bandanna number one wanted to know.
"Ask who we didn't piss off," she laughed, "It'd be a shorter list."
"Is that who messed up pretty boy?" the vested man nodded at me.
"Yup," Scully nodded.
"Why didn't they just kill him when they had a chance?" Bandanna number one sounded like he wasn't sure if he believed Scully.
"Because we didn't give them a chance," she took another long drag off her cigarette. "We broke him out of a military prison before they could execute him," she told them matter-of-factly.
"By yourself?" Bandanna number two looked at her in disbelief.
"We had help," she explained, "But none of that really matters. All that matters is we need to lose that truck. There's no way we can hide driving around in that thing. Do we still have a deal?"
"Sure," the vested man leered at her.
"What deal?" I suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"If I win, they'll help us with the truck," she smiled at me.
"And if you lose?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
"If I lose, I'm Mike's girlfriend for the night," she winked at the vested man.
"What?" my voice cracked as I took a step toward her.
"Back off, pretty boy. A deal's a deal," Bandanna number one tried to look me back.
"Scully, what are you doing?" I ignored him and kept walking.
"How hard could it be to put some colored balls into some pockets?" she giggled.
"Scully," I couldn't believe she'd made a deal like this.
"Sit down, Mulder, I'll be fine," Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were deadly serious.
"But, Scully," I protested.
"Sit!" she said firmly, making the bikers chuckle.
It appeared I had no choice. I couldn't very well take on the whole bar. As I sat down I tried to push away the images of Mike's hairy body on top of Scully.
"Ladies first?" she smiled sweetly at Mike as he racked the balls.
"Sure," he chuckled, winking at his buddies.
The men were talking and chuckling as Scully butted out her cigarette and then bent over to line up her shot. I tried to convince myself that they were admiring the turquoise choker I'd bought for her at the motel in Roswell, but I had a feeling it had more to do with the scoop neck tee she was wearing. The room went deathly silent when she broke with a crash and a red ball rolled into a corner pocket.
"Guess I'm solids," she smiled.
For the next ten minutes we all watched as Scully sank ball after ball. With each shot, I held my breath and prayed, but each time the ball rolled smoothly into the pocket she'd called. I had no idea that my Scully was a pool shark. Now I only hoped that these men wouldn't think they'd been conned.
When the eight ball rolled into the side pocket, I couldn't stop myself from whooping.
"Where did you learn to play pool like that?" I asked in amazement.
"Pool is just physics," she shrugged. "So, Mike, are you going to help us?"
Mike was good to his word. In less than half an hour, we'd handed over the truck and were the proud owners of a '98 Harley Road King, complete with two helmets. Mike was quick to point out that he'd added the optional backrest for his former old lady. It also featured additional storage behind the backrest. It was exactly what Scully and I needed since we'd probably be living out of this bike for a while.
"Have you ever driven a hog, pretty boy?" Mike asked me when he took us to the bike.
"How hard can it be?" I smiled.
"Dana, your ass is too nice for road rash," he swatted Scully as he walked by. "Let me give pretty boy a lesson."
It didn't take Mike long to teach me how to ride and how to lay the bike down if I needed to. When we were done, Scully and I went back to the truck to get the few things we'd brought in two small duffel bags. If we hadn't met up with Doggett and Reyes after we left the pueblo, we wouldn't have had much more than the clothes on our backs. We'd left almost everything at the motel room. Mike's expression didn't change when I took our guns out of the glove compartment. I slipped mine back into my ankle holster and Scully put hers in one of the saddlebags on the bike, after she stashed the duffel bags.
"You think that's a good idea?" Mike was watching me.
"Yes, I think a gun is very good idea." There was no doubt in my mind.
"And if you do have to use it, they'll be able to trace it to you -- know where you are," he pointed out.
"I'll take that risk," I informed him tersely. "I'm not doing this without my gun."
"I could get you a couple of pieces that aren't traceable," he shrugged.
"Thanks, Mike, but we don't want to hang around here too long," Scully smiled at him.
"It'll only take a couple of minutes," he nodded back toward the bar.
"But then they'll be able to trace our guns to you," Scully pointed out.
"Not for long, we'll make sure of that. Just like the truck -- it won't be here for long," he chuckled.
"I dunno," Scully hesitated.
"What's the matter, Scully?" I wasn't sure why she was hesitating. Mike was right about them tracing our guns.
"Trading the truck was one thing, Mulder, but doing this with our guns? Whose hands would they end up in?"
"The same people who would get the two guns that Mike is swapping for," I reminded her. "What are you going to do? Bust him for gun dealing after he helped us with the truck?"
Mike was standing a few feet away listening to our debate, apparently unfazed.
"Of course not," she sighed. "And I know you're right; it's a straight swap."
"If you had more time, I could change the rifling for you and take care of the serial number, but that would cost you," he shrugged. "A trade would be much simpler."
"Fine," Scully sighed. "I don't like it, but you're right."
Mike brought us two Glocks, complete with holsters. Scully had to make her strap as small as possible, but it fit. When we both were holstered, we pulled on the denim jackets we'd brought. I got on the bike and started it up while Scully climbed up behind me.
"Dana," Mike spoke loudly to be heard over the engine.
"Yeah?" she had to raise her voice as well.
"I wouldn't recommend conning anybody else," he winked at her. "They might not be as sweet on you as I am."
"I didn't con you," she laughed. "You made an assumption."
"Thanks, Mike," I grinned at him. "I hope we can pay you back some day."
We drove north from El Paso on Interstate 10. It veered left at Las Cruces and began to head west. Scully and I had been up late the previous night formulating our plan. We decided it would be best to hide out in a large city. Someplace where newcomers wouldn't be noticed. Even so, we wouldn't be able to stay in one place for very long.
By the time we hit Deming my ass was sore and my stomach was rumbling. After eating at a small diner, Scully insisted that we drive to the Walmart we'd passed about a mile back.
"Walmart?" I wrinkled my nose as we got back on the bike.
"Low profile, Mulder," she reminded me. "Besides, we've got the cards. We might as well use them."
"Now?" I whined. "We have plenty of --"
"Shut up, Mulder," she glared at me. "Walmart."
When we'd first arrived at the motel in Roswell, Scully had began to pull money out of everywhere. She'd been wearing a money belt and she had another one in a small duffel bag for me, but that wasn't it. The duffel itself was filled with money. She said it was more than a hundred thousand dollars. She explained that as soon as she and Skinner had found me she'd started closing out her accounts. She'd suspected that we may end up in the predicament we were currently in. When I asked where she'd come up with that amount of money, she'd looked at me with a puzzled expression on her face.
"Don't you save ten percent of your salary?"
That was on top of my inheritance money that the Gunmen had helped me squirrel away. There were prepaid credit cards from numbered accounts in Luxembourg, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. There were the Walmart gift cards that Scully was using and, of course, some cash money that I had left with Gibson. He was free to use as much of it as he needed. Our last resort for cash was diamonds. Scully had a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of loose diamonds and we'd been advised to have them made into jewelry that looked like costume. Cheap settings would make people think they weren't worth stealing, but a jeweler would know what they were really worth. We planned to take care of that when we got to LA. Scully had more money locked in her retirement plan, but she hadn't had enough time to liquidate it. Still, we had enough money to be able to finance our fight and not have to worry about holding down jobs. I spent the next hour waiting by the bike while Scully shopped. We didn't want to risk leaving the money unattended and we couldn't carry it around Walmart with us. When I saw her coming out, I couldn't believe how much she'd bought. I couldn't see how we were going to fit it all onto the bike.
"A lot of it is packaging," Scully assured me when I expressed my concerns.
When she dumped a jumbo box of condoms in one of the duffel bags, I stopped worrying about how she was going to manage to fit everything in.
Lying next to Scully all night without being able to make love to her had been torture. We knew that we couldn't risk a pregnancy now, although neither of us spoke that thought aloud. We'd eased the months of sexual frustration in other ways, but nothing compares to the intimacy of making love. Seeing all of those condoms let me know that Scully felt the same way.
Naturally, Scully was right. When she'd gotten rid of most of the packaging her haul was significantly smaller, but she still needed the backpack she'd bought to hold the excess. She'd mostly purchased toiletries, underwear, and socks. She'd also picked up some rain coats, a new pair of jeans for each of us and some more t-shirts. We'd have to make do with a limited wardrobe for the time being.
"So?" she asked when she came back from throwing all of the garbage away. "How far are we going today?"
"There's a place called Lordsburg about an hour from here. It should have a motel. If not we should be able to make it to Willcox before dark," I wasn't crazy about the idea of driving the bike after dark the first day we had it.
"Let's get going," she smiled at me.
As I suspected, Lordsburg had a tiny motel, similar to the type we'd stayed in over the past nine years. In the motel office, I registered us as Mr. and Mrs. Rathburn. It was one of many alter egos the Gunmen had created for us. Using it was probably the only way I'd ever get to pay tribute to them.
After we brought everything into the hotel, Scully began to gather some of the toiletries she'd bought.
"I'm going to hit the shower, Mulder, and I might be a while. Do you need to use the bathroom first?" she was hovering near the door.
"Do you need to shower right away?" I dropped my voice and began to walk toward her.
"Well, I--" her eyes grew wide as I got closer.
"I thought we might do something else first," I was only inches away from her. "It's been too long already."
"But last night we --"
"It's not the same, Scully. Nothing else compares," I leaned in to let my lips hover right above hers.
Just as I'd hoped, Scully couldn't resist. Her mouth was open and her insistent little tongue was thrusting into my mouth. I was vaguely aware of the sound of whatever had been in Scully's hands crashing to the floor as her hands went to my hair. Standing in the middle of the room kissing Scully was exquisite, but it wasn't exactly what I had in mind. Letting my hands slide slowly over her ass, I bent my knees slightly and scooped her off of her feet.
She groaned into my mouth as I kicked her purchases out of the way to carry her to the bed. After I lay her gently across the bed, I straightened up to look at her. Her t-shirt had pulled out of her jeans revealing a tantalizing bit of her midriff. Her already taut nipples were pushing against the cotton of her shirt practically begging me to touch them. Her full lips were slightly parted and her blue eyes had grown dark. I knew what that meant. Scully needed this as much as I did.
"Mulder, we need --" she stopped me as I put one knee on the bed.
"Indian Guides were always prepared too," I pulled one thin package out of my pocket.
"When did you ..." her lips formed into a sly smile.
"When we were bringing everything in," I told her as she reached to take the condom from me. Suddenly the image of Scully slowly rolling a condom down the shaft of my cock invaded my brain. My plan had been to make slow gentle love to her, but that was out the window in an instant.
Practically diving on top of her, I began to devour her mouth while I tugged at her t-shirt. Satisfied with simply pushing it out of my way, I started to unhook her bra.
"Nnn," Scully shook her head, pulling out of our kiss. "I want to be naked. I need to feel you."
"Jesus, Scully," I breathed. Could she possibly want this more -- need this more?
"You, too," she nodded at me as she began to pull off her shirt.
"Let me help you first," I worked on unfastening her jeans.
"Always the gentleman," she chuckled huskily, watching as I slipped off her jeans and then her panties. I was thrilled to find them already damp.
While I was pulling my t-shirt over my head, I felt Scully's fingers at the waistband of my jeans. Before I could step out of them, her hand was stroking me through my boxers. Her touch made me dizzy. I had to close my eyes and take some deep breaths.
"Too much?" she asked, but she didn't stop.
"No," my voice quivered. "It feels great."
"Yeah?" she chuckled again and stopped her caresses briefly to remove the barrier between her hand and my cock.
"Fuck!" I gasped when her mouth closed over me. I'd been expecting her hand again. "That's definitely too much."
"Sorry, I couldn't resist," she apologized after my cock slid out of her mouth. Even the stale motel room air felt cool after the heat of her mouth.
"God, don't apologize. It felt fantastic, but that's not what I want right now," I explained as I gently stroked her hair.
"Then we should put this on," she began to open the condom wrapper.
I said nothing. Instead I watched in rapt silence as she set it on the head of my penis, then slowly and gently rolled it down to the base of my shaft. As I watched I drew a long slow breath.
"Mulder," Scully chuckled, looking up at me. "Most men usually don't enjoy this part."
"I enjoy it whenever you touch me, Scully," I tried to sound sexy, but my voice was shaking too much.
"C'mere," she held her arms open to me as she lay back on the bed.
In spite of the thin latex barrier between us, as soon as my cock pressed against her, the heat was almost overwhelming. Covering her mouth again, I kissed her deeply before I began to slide into her. I'd barely entered her when she began to moan into my mouth. I broke out of our kiss so I could look at her. My male ego loved to watch her reactions.
"Good?" I asked.
"God, yes," she panted, arching her breasts toward me.
Her taut nipples were still begging to be nibbled and sucked, but to do that I'd have to stop. Instead, I settled for watching her breasts move as I began to take long slow strokes.
"That feels so good, Mulder, but..."
"But?" I stopped instantly.
"Don't stop," she urged me with her legs. "I meant it feels good, but could you please go faster."
"Faster?" I asked smugly, beginning to move again. "Is that all?" I hadn't forgotten how Scully liked her sex.
"Mulder," she protested weakly.
"Tell me, Scully," my voice was raspy. "I love to hear you say it. You know I'll do it anyway. I can't help myself, but hearing you say it--"
"Please -- Mulder -- harder."
She had me with please. As soon as I began to thrust the way she wanted her back arched even more and she clenched her internal muscles around me.
"Scully," I groaned, trying to warn her that I was already very close.
"It's okay," she assured me breathily. "Feels so good."
Forcing myself to keep my eyes open, I watched as her face began to contort. It hadn't occurred to me that she was as close as I was. Her legs tightened around me as she began to quake. It was the last straw. Seeing her come was more than I could take. My thrusts became even harder as my climax ripped through me.
Unable to hold myself up any longer, I collapsed on top of Scully. I used to worry that I was to heavy for her, but she assured me repeatedly that she loved the feeling of my weight. As I tried to slow my breathing, she caressed my back and placed tender kisses on my ear and neck. I was about to return her kisses when I suddenly remembered my condom. Grudgingly, I reached down to hold it while I eased out of her.
"Have I ever mentioned that I hate condoms, Scully?" I sighed when I returned from flushing it.
"I know," she smiled sadly at me. "I do too," she patted the bed beside her. "When we get to LA, I'll get a prescription. We'll still have to use the condoms for awhile. It's the best I can do," she shrugged apologetically.
"It's hardly your fault or responsibility," I assured her. "I just miss --"
"What? The wet spot on the bed?" she laughed, obviously trying to lighten the mood.
"I guess there are advantages to everything," I granted, snuggling closer to her.
"Don't get too comfortable, Mulder," she warned. "I'm still planning to take that shower."
"Oh yeah," I rolled to my back again. "Well, if you are going to be that long, maybe I'll have a quick shower first."
I was in and out of the shower quickly. I couldn't figure out why Scully was going to be so long, but I was sure if she wanted to tell me, she would. I figured it was all of that shaving and conditioning and other crap that women did. It took her almost an hour to blow-dry her hair, so I was prepared for her to be gone for a while. Luckily for me, the motel had a satellite dish and I found a baseball game to help me pass the time.
Despite my best intentions, the baseball game didn't keep me awake. Before I knew it, I heard Scully's voice telling me to move over. She always complained that I took up more than my share of the bed. When I opened my eyes to ask her why such a small person needed so much room, I didn't recognize the person in front of me.
"What do you think?" Scully's voice asked me.
"I -- what? Scully?" I blinked my eyes rapidly, trying to focus.
It was Scully's face, but her hair was completely different. It was short and wavy and blonde!!
"I didn't recognize you," I shook my head.
"That's the general idea," she grinned. "Do you like it?"
"Um," I hesitated. "I'm sure I'll get used to it."
"You don't like it," her face fell.
"What do you want, Scully? It was a complete shock. It doesn't look bad, it just doesn't look like you," I tried to explain. "It makes your eyes look really blue."
"So I don't look awful?" Her blue eyes looked sad.
"Hardly," I laughed. "You just look like a different woman than the one I made love to a little while ago. That will make things kind of interesting," I waggled my eyebrows at her. "Almost like a bubblegum-pink wig."
"I thought you might think something like that," she laughed. "Now scoot over, I'm tired."
I spooned up to her as soon as she got settled. The smell of her hair dye was a bit stringent, but not enough to keep me away.
"Did you perm it too?" I asked as I played with a blonde curl.
"No, Mulder," she chuckled. "My hair is naturally curly."
"It is? But --"
"Why do you think it used to take me so long to dry it?"
"Why did you straighten it if it took so long?" I was confused.
"C'mon, Mulder. Curly red hair, freckles, how seriously would I have been taken?"
It was something I didn't often think about, what an uphill struggle it was for her, and all women in a career that was traditionally male dominated. And I'd always thought I'd had it hard in the Bureau.
"I love you no matter what your hair looks like," I pressed a kiss to her neck.
I was expecting her to thank me, or snuggle back against me, but instead I heard a small sniffle. I knew that sound. Scully was crying.
"I'm sorry, Scully," I began to apologize. "Your hair looks good. It really does. I was just taken aback when I woke up."
"It's not that, Mulder," she choked through her tears.
"Then what? What's wrong?" I pulled her onto her back.
"It still hurts so much," she sobbed. "I try to push it out of my mind, but I can't. I miss him constantly."
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