TITLE:  "I See Red"


BY: Ten


E-MAIL ADDRESS: kristena@ocean.com.au





CATEGORY: V, a bit of Mulder-angst, friendship (Yes, I


can do friendship, but the further along I set them in


the series, the harder it becomes to keep it that way!)


RATING: PG for suggestion and suggested violence


SUMMARY: Mulder makes a startling discovery at Scully's


apartment after "Squeeze".


TIMESPAN/SPOILER WARNING: Set a week after "Squeeze",


minor "Pilot" references.





DISCLAIMER: The X-Files and the characters of Mulder and


Scully belong to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions


and Fox Broadcasting, and are used without permission. No


copyright infringement is intended, no profit will be


gained.





THANKS: To Vickie and Debbie for the beta-reading, very


helpful suggestions and a few lines.








The X-Files: "I See Red"


By Ten, September 1997








Mulder approached the door of Scully's apartment. Unlike


this time last week, he wasn't frantically racing to save


her from Tooms. His steps were unhurried, he wasn't going


to pound on the door, he was not going to nearly


dislocate his shoulder to break it open.





/Would've been so much easier if I had her key... Drop


that thought! There are extreme possibilities and there


are extreme *impossibilities*!/





He didn't know if she'd appreciate him dropping by; after


all she might assume it was in protectiveness after


Tooms' attack. But there was this 302 he'd just submitted


to Blevin's secretary and it occurred to him he hadn't


exactly mentioned it to his partner. So he would explain


tonight before she got the surprise in the morning.





Since when had he become so considerate?





Since she'd nearly been killed? Or since she'd walked


into his office that first day?





Curse them for sending such a wonderful spy.





He knocked. As soon as his fist hit the wood, it swung


open by itself. Mulder's mouth went dry. It hadn't been


locked. It hadn't even been shut. There was no Scully


standing in the gap.





He pushed the door completely open and walked into the


sitting room, trying not to panic. "Scully?"





No answer. /Don't panic. She's probably in the shower or


in her bedroom and can't hear./ He called louder, moving


towards the ajar bathroom door. No sounds of a shower or


any splashings from that lovely deep bath that had given


him some rather lurid dreams.





He called once more, gun drawn, and shoved it open.


Nothing. Noth-





Red. Red stains on the floor just in front of his feet.


Blood.





Oh God, not again. He knew he should go check the


bedroom, the rest of the house, call the police, but his


brain was shutting down and he couldn't move. Tooms must


have broken out of the jail. This could not have been


left from the last attack. Not after a week and with


Scully's obvious cleaning standards. The night they


captured him, Mulder had gone home and tried to sleep,


then had a feeling and rung the facility to warn them to


check the food slot. It wasn't secured properly. Tooms


was caught with his arm reaching out of it and they


assured from now on they would double check the catch.





They must have forgotten and now she was his fifth victim


and he'd have to find her sweet body with the liver


ripped out and her horror-mask expression forever asking


why he didn't save her.





"Mulder?!"





He whirled round. Scully was standing in the front


doorway, gun in hand.





Mulder stared from her to the stain and back again. He


slumped against the door as the fright left him and the


relief hit. She was looking puzzled and startled and


whole and alive. Wonderful in fact. In his happiness even


her hair seemed to glow with more fire.





"Mulder, what is it? How'd you get in here?" Scully came


into the sitting room, moving towards him.





He shakily put a hand on the doorsill to steady himself


and straighten up. Mutely he pointed to the bathroom


floor.





She came and looked. "Oh... Oh, Mulder, I'm sorry. You


must have..." She gently took his upper arm, just like


she had at the holding facility. "Come on, sit down. I'll


make you some coffee, okay?"





He nodded and let her guide him to the sofa, watching as


she continued to the front door, where she brought in a


grocery bag from around the corner, then shut it after


two attempts. She gave him a reassuring smile and hurried


into the kitchen. Once she was in there he dropped his


face into his hands for a few seconds, then leaned back


against the cushions to collect his wits.





When Scully handed him the mug and sat as he took a deep


mouthful, he felt ready to get to the bottom of things.


"Your door just opened when I knocked. That wasn't like


you. Then I saw the blood..." He hastily took another


mouthful. "Thought it was Tooms."





"No, the carpenter didn't do a good repair job. He said


that I wouldn't need a new door, but I guess he didn't


fix the lock properly. I'm getting him back tomorrow. I


was going to push something up against it tonight."





"Oh." Mulder looked down at her hands. Not to avoid her


intense, apologetic gaze, but to check for bandaids. He


couldn't see any.





She seemed very uncomfortable. "I didn't cut myself. That


stain isn't blood, Mulder. It's hair dye." His head shot


up and he stared at the fiery waves that definitely did


seem brighter than yesterday. "I did it a few hours ago


and I guess I didn't notice I'd spilled some..." It was


her turn to search the depths of her coffee.





Mulder mentally kicked himself. /Of course - blood dries


rusty brown, not dark red, you idiot! You've been to


countless crime scenes! You *know* that! How the hell


could you mistake...?/ He eased up on himself, knowing


the answer. /Because I was afraid. This wasn't some


unknown victim I could stay detached from./ He swallowed,


and tried to work out whether she was embarrassed over


his error or her revelation.





"You dye your hair?" That wasn't like her - well, his


mental picture of her so far.





"Yes."





"You're not a natural redhead?"





"I am, actually. In my family...those of us with red hair


have it until we reach about 27, then it turns brown.


It's from my father's side."





"Oh." He hesitated. Only Scully would be dyeing her hair


not to *change* colour, but to *restore* it. He could see


how uncomfortable she was with the subject, so he didn't


probe or joke. This seemed to give her the confidence and


reassurance she needed to open up more.





"Yeah. When it went brown I wondered what to do. Spend


the rest of my life bending over the sink like Missy in


an effort to recapture the colour, or accept it as


natural." A grin crept over her face as he wondered who


Missy was. "I decided hair colour shouldn't stereotype


me. That it was just an old cliche no one followed. It


was strange not being red any more, but it was a change.


I was in my last year of Med school when it happened, and


then a friend went through the Academy. She was a blonde.


She told me what it was like for her; automatically


regarded as a bimbo. And then promptly disregarded."





"Or if she did get attention, it was the wrong sort


entirely."





"Exactly. Then the FBI approached in my internship year,


wanting to recruit me after I'd finished it. They said I


could do a pathology residency at Quantico. It was a


great opportunity, something I'd never considered, but


when they made the overture, it was so right."





/Just like me stumbling upon the X-Files,/ Mulder


thought, nodding in perfect understanding. /Knowing you'd


found your place in the universe. However, I don't think


I'm going to do much for your career advancement,


Scully./





"I knew I was capable and accepted the offer. Goodbye


practising Doctor, hello stunned parents. I had so many


choices. I could teach, become a field agent, do


pathology. There was just..." She twirled a strand of


hair. "I started feeling I would fade into the woodwork


as I was. Brown hair doesn't get half the attention that


red hair does."





Well, with him, neither had got much attention. Mulder


thought back to their first case; Scully's hair *had*


been more brownish then, come to think of it, with a glow


of red. He hadn't really taken much notice because he was


dealing with her as a new partner and potential threat.


There were the deaths to solve. Plus they'd spent so much


time tramping around the forest in the dark, it was a


wonder they could recognise each other in the daylight.


When the red became more pronounced a month or so later,


he hadn't twigged. "So you decided you'd rather risk


being stereotyped the fiery temperamental redhead than


the brainless blonde or dull brunette?"





"At least then they'd know I wasn't going to muck around!


That I meant business." The determined look softened in


consideration. "I know it was just replacing one image


with the other, that I should have stood proud as I was


and made them see the truth," she said, smiling at her


own words, "but I was younger and it seemed like a good


idea at the time; a way to turn myself into an FBI agent,


a way to mark my transition and not be the good little


doctor my dad wanted. And once I began dyeing it, how


could I just convert it back without it looking weird?"





"Scully, Scully, Scully...you don't have to explain it to


me. You don't have to apologise or rationalise it out.


It's none of my business. Though I admit it is


fascinating."





"Well, I did give you a bit of a scare, so it's only fair


that you now know my dark secret."





"I don't know what colour it is now, but it isn't dark!"


He laughed and she did too. No wonder she didn't have any


photos around of that period of her life. Or perhaps she


did and he just hadn't realised they were her. "It's safe


with me, Scully, I promise. But can I ask some questions


now; otherwise I might blurt them out in the cafeteria


and you'll kill me?"





"Uh oh... Okay, go ahead. Hang on - let me guess the


first. I'm not going to tell you if I dye other things,


like...my eyebrows! I'm just going to grin and let you


wonder! I will let you see photos of me as a brunette,


however."





He grinned, enjoying the banter. "That's one down. I'm


gonna keep an eye out for when your roots begin to show!"





And the hours slipped past easily without either partner


being aware of it.





Mulder forgot to tell her about the 302. Oh well, she'd


find out about it soon enough in the morning. Perhaps she


wouldn't be mad. After all, he would keep her secret and


he had been good about it. She might even be reasonable!





Now that would be an X-File...








THE END.








Author's Notes:  *This story does not mean to infer that


brown-haired people are dull - I HAVE brown hair myself!*





(Optional Read! I won't cry.) I had intended the 302 to


refer to "Conduit", but I was reading a timeline in one


of the XF books to check and it doesn't fit. But I needed


to keep this a week after "Squeeze". Ah well, let's just


say it was for a case we didn't get to see, or that


Blevins denied.





I know in "The Pilot" Scully said she was recruited into


the Academy out of med school, but Debbie gave me some


great arguments as to why it would have been a bit later


on, and besides the writers have been so inconsistent


with the amount of time Scully has been an agent that I


don't think THEY even know for sure!





In the original draft, I had Scully as the blonde,


because I thought I'd read somewhere that was Gillian


Anderson's natural hair colour - ash blonde. Having a


sheltered life, I didn't realise that ash wasn't BLONDE


blonde. Then Vickie Moseley gave me suggestions on the


issue which were a great help (including the red hair


that alters colour near the age of 30 - it may be an X-


File, but it can happen in real life, apparently!) and I


found a photo of a seven-year old Gillian in a magazine


with brown hair!





It would have been fun imagining Scully as a blonde, but


a bit improbable. Ah well...