Title: Confusion Sets In (1/1) Author: RocketMan >lebontrager@iname.com< Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully belong to CC, 1013, and Fox. No fringe is intended. WARNING:::::SPOILER FOR DREAMLAND 2.........and the first one of course. POST-EP STORY ~~~~ Confusion Sets In ~~~~ Mulder walked slowly down the hall of his apartment, licking his lips anxiously as he neared his final destination. Seeing the piles of boxes and keepsakes and papers in his closet and kitchen pantry had alarmed him, and so, he had taken this perilous journey down his hall, bumping into pieces of furniture he didn't even know he had, and stubbing his toe on an art deco lawn chair somehow placed squarely against the wall. The door to his bedroom opened. He gaped. Leopard print and black and a . . . mirror? on the ceiling? What the hell? Backing out quickly, he ran for the door, pushed his way through the strange furniture and outside again. It said 42. It looked like some of his stuff even, and the piles of boxes were *his* files and *his* things. Licking his lips, Mulder pulled out his cell phone again. "Scully." came the voice as the call connected. "Scully! Don't go home. Come to my apartment." "Mulder?" "Come over. Right now." "Mulder, I want to go home. . ." "No! No, you can't. Something's happened while we were gone." He could hear her sigh through the line, and then her keys jangled. "Okay, Mulder. I'm taking your exit right now." "Good. Good," he muttered, and hung up. ~~~~ Scully could feel the tension of the day bear down on her as she pulled into his street. She only wanted a bath, with lots of bubbles and some classical music dancing from the speakers like ballerinas in "Swan Lake." But instead, she downshifted and turned into his lot and killed the engine. It was dark. None of his lights were on. It would be just like him to have fallen asleep in the fifteen minutes it took her to arrive. She pulled herself from the car and gathered her suit jacket about her, shivering in the sudden gust of wind and small rain drops. She glanced at the sky warily and was rewarded with a deluge of water, cascading suddenly from the sky like a waterfall of storm and wind. Lightning illuminated the buildings before her and in that instant, she saw his form in the rain, soaked and waiting. Running over to him, she became just as drenched, and the small overhang he stood under did nothing to stop the flow of water. "Scully." "Mulder," she said tenderly, and stood on her tiptoes to push away the bangs dripping water in his eyes. "Mulder, let's go inside." "No. It's . . . there's something wrong." Her eyebrow rose and she pushed through him to the landing, getting out of the rain. "It's raining, Mulder." He glanced up as if he had just then noticed. "So why'd you call me out here, Mulder?" She tended to repeat his name in an effort to draw him back to earth, to reality. "My apartment is . . changed." "How's that?" "It got redecorated." She was getting sick of his short, terse answers. "Well, let me see it." "What if someone's *in* there?" "Weren't you just up there?" He nodded gravely, but seemed to understand because he began leading her up the stairs. When his apartment door came in sight he stopped, and she had the distinct impression that he was afraid. "Scully, use your key, okay?" She shook her head but complied, pulling out the heavy brass key with his named carefully taped across it. The weight of it reminded her once again that he thought something was wrong, that somehow things had changed on him. She opened the door and understood immediately. "It's clean." He grimaced. "There's your couch. And a coffee table, as usual, Mulder. It's just clean." He shook his head. "No. Come see this." Taking by the hand possessively, Mulder proceeded down the hall, stopping at a door with a battered look to it, the wood scarred and battered. As if someone had knocked into it with furniture and boxes and moving things. He opened the door. She stared, her mouth open. "I didn't even know you *had* a bedroom." "I *didn't*," he said savagely, pushing her inside and pointing to the bed. She glanced at him warily and wondered if this was somehow Mulder's strange attempt to make the moves on her, so to speak. "Sit down, Scully." She shook her head and backed up. "Why?" "Just do it. You'll see what I mean." She hesitantly lowered her body to the bed, tensing as if she expected it to bite her. She sank into a waterbed, and found a sharp sense of deja vu overcome her. "Mulder?" "This isn't mine, Scully. I mean, come on! I get seasick just thinking about waves, so why in the world would I buy a waterbed?" "I have no idea, Mulder." She smoothed out the sheets and ran her fingers over the crushed velvet leopard print throw on the bed. At this, she glanced up at him with a look of disbelief. "Leopard?" He sighed. "I told you, it's not mine. I've never seen this stuff before in my life." "Uh-huh," she muttered and took his hand. "Sit down. I bet this will cure your seasickness." "No way," he said and pulled away from her. That ruled out making the moves, she realized wryly. Standing again, she moved back to the door. "I guess keep it all, Mulder. Maybe you won some free gift or something." "Right. Of decidedly tasteless furniture? Wonderful. They can have it all back." Scully's eyebrow rose. "It's not too bad." "Sure, Scully. If I were a pimp, it'd be perfect." Severely crushing a laugh, Scully headed out of the door, back through the hallway, peeking into his bathroom as she did. "Hey, look. You're bathroom is spotless," she breathed, moving into it with a slight shift of her body. He followed, his mouth opened wide as he saw the gleaming tile and shiny water faucets. "Scully, I think I've gone crazy." It slipped from his mouth before he had time to think, and she left him no mercy, pouncing on his statement. "Mulder, I could have told you that a long time ago." "Ha ha. Not funny, Scully," he whined, slumping against the threshold with a pout. She smoothed a finger along his chin and gave him a mock sorrowful look back. "Poor baby. You managed to clean up after yourself and you don't even remember it." Suddenly the phone rang once and the machine clicked on, its message blaring through the rooms and hallway like a bullhorn. ". . .entertaining a *very* special guest right now. . . " Scully turned to him, arched eyebrow, deadly look, and her eyes shining with something that could have been furious anger or laughter. "Mulder." she said, her voice like a snapping whip across his incredulity. "Scully! I did *not* leave that message there." He backed out of the bathroom as she walked toward him, those bright blue eyes like headlights. "Scully. . . ." She took both of his hands in hers and pulled him down close to her. "Mulder, if you wanted to get me over here, you could have come up with a better excuse." He grinned weakly and began to protest. Smiling softly, she moved her mouth to his, letting his lips fumble into silence as they kissed. He seemed to surge around her, snagging her into his arms and pulling her deep into him, quickly taking control of the touch, his fingers making erratic designs on her hips. Pulling away to catch her breath, she placed gentler kisses along his chin, then his neck and chest. He lowered his head to her shoulder, breathing shakily. "Whoever rearranged my apartment ought to get some kind of reward for this," he breathed, making her chuckle gently. "Still believe someone did this?" He glanced down at her and shrugged. "Who else?" Sighing, she moved forward, catching the last of his words with her mouth. He ignored the suspicion over his apartment and focused on her touch, concern out the window. ~~~~ Scully walked into her apartment with a sense of trepidation, despite the events of that night. Walking around her living room slowly, she noticed that small things were out of place, her cordless phone on the counter instead of near her bed, the shower curtain pulled aside, her table lamp on, and a bag of carrots in her fridge. Sitting down in shock, she reached for her phone. "Mulder." Hearing his voice made her remember what had happened. "Mulder, it's me. I guess. . .I beleive you." He chuckled. "Is your place all dirty or something?" "No. Just some things are misplaced." His voice came out at her rich and sensuous. "Scully, if you wanted me to come over, you could have come up with a better excuse." She opened her mouth to protest, but he had already hung up. She sighed and waited for him to arrive. ~~~~ end adios RM