Raspberry and Lace - Part 5/10
Summary and disclaimers in Part 1

*****

When Mulder had first looked out the peephole in Scully's
door, he had expected to see one of the Gunmen, or Skinner.
Even Doggett. Somebody who cared for Scully and was checking
up on her after her return home from the hospital. Instead,
he saw a face from his own past. Charlie.

His one word response to Scully after her worried inquiry
was meant to be comforting to her, but it didn't soothe his
nerves at all. Charlie was the kind of person who called
first before visiting, and he had not heard from her since
her last e-mail to him two nights ago. He opened the door
quickly and she stumbled inside, her eyes wide, her face
pale.

"Fox! He's back!"

Mulder knew immediately who she was talking about, but he
heard himself ask, "Who's back?" anyway.

"Wallace!" 

Mulder was trying to hold the young woman steady, but her
body was trembling outrageously. He shook his head, not
wanting to accept her answer. "No. He's dead. He has to be!"

Charlie was shaking her head right back at him. "No. He's
not. And he knows how to find me."

"How do you know?" Mulder asked. She seemed a bit steadier,
so he let go of her and moved back a bit.

"This." She pulled her purse off her shoulder and walked
further into the room, setting the bag on the table next to
the couch. It was then she noticed Scully, who hadn't moved
from her tense position on the far end of the sofa. "I'm so
sorry to barge in like this," Charlie said. She lowered her
eyes and took note of Scully's belly. "Oh!" She looked at
Mulder, and for a moment all the fear and anxiety fled from
her eyes and pure joy shone through. "Fox! Why didn't you
tell me?"

Scully's eyes had narrowed, but she didn't appear to be
angry. "You're..." she started, and her voice caused Charlie
to swing around and look at her again. "You were at..."

"The funeral," Charlie finished for her. "Yes. I went to
Fox's apartment, and when he wasn't there, I was pretty sure
I could find him here." She looked a little guilty. "I had
to ask his landlord for your address; you're not in the
phone book."

Mulder sighed heavily. "Charlie. In the last seven or eight
years, I've never known you to leave that house of yours
without a very good reason. But--"

Charlie interrupted him. "That's because I felt safe there.
But not anymore." She pulled out a cassette tape from her
bag. "It was on my answering machine this morning. It was
left late last night." She glanced at Scully. "I never
answer the phone at night."

Mulder took the tape and walked over to Scully's stereo. He
turned it on and pressed Play. 

Wallace had disappeared after eluding the cops back in '91.
For several months after Charlie got out of the hospital,
she had been kept under surveillance; the cops both feared
and hoped he would go after her again. But he never did. And
there were no more kidnappings or murders. Due to money
constraints and lack of manpower, the Wallace case was set
aside. Charlie was encouraged to leave the area and maybe
change her name and appearance. Other than cutting her long,
beautiful locks, Charlie had not done as asked. Instead of
leaving for another part of the country, she took a job in
the little town Wallace had come from: Bartow, West
Virginia. She still lived there today. 'Hiding in plain
sight,' she once told him. 

Mulder had always assumed Wallace had either died or been
sent to prison for an unrelated crime. Either way, he was
sure Charlie would never be physically bothered by him
again. But when he heard the voice playing over his
partner's stereo system, he realized he was wrong; Wallace
was after revenge. 

"I didn't see him as vengeful," Mulder said softly.

"Neither did I," Charlie answered back. "Looks like we both
got our profiles wrong."

"Would somebody please tell me what's going on?" Scully's
voice roused Mulder from his contemplation, and he turned to
face her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Kip Wallace was your average, everyday serial killer.
Typical history. Raised by a domineering mother. Abused.
Unloved. He liked women with long hair, but when one too
many turned him down when he asked them out, he decided to
go about enjoying their company another way." Mulder sighed
and shook his head. "He would kidnap them and hold them in
the basement of his West Virginia farmhouse. There, he would
rape them and beat them. And take pictures of them." He saw
Scully nod sadly and knew she was thinking of Karl Wade, the
madman they had helped find several years ago; he, too, took
pictures of his victims, but those victims had been little
girls.

Mulder continued, watching as Charlie stood still, her eyes
on the small fire in the fireplace. "When he tired of them,
he choked them to death, cut off their hair as a souvenir,
and dumped the bodies." He looked at Scully again and nodded
his head toward Charlie. "Charlie was the fourth woman he
took. She got away after three days."

Scully's eyes had turned to Charlie, and the younger woman
looked at her with an almost defiant expression. But the
glare soon faded as she recognized the look in the pregnant
woman's eye. Mulder knew she had expected to find pity, but
instead, she had found empathy. 

Scully was also a survivor. 

"And he got away?" Scully's voice was soft.

Charlie nodded.

"Which means he's probably been too busy in the last several
years to worry about the one that got away from him." Mulder
felt his body tense as he saw his partner's eyes darken in
remembrance of a man who had thought of her in those terms:
the one that got away. "Or in prison."

"And now he's out," Mulder added. He looked at Charlie
again. "You made it too easy for him to find you, kiddo." He
uncrossed his arms and started pacing the floor. "Going back
to the place where he held you. Not changing your name. Your
appearance."

"I cut my hair!" Charlie said defensively.

"You think he cares about that now?" Mulder sneered,
stopping to glare at her.

"I had to go back there, Fox."

"Why?!"

"To face her demons," Scully answered for her. "You should
know all about that, Mulder."

Charlie nodded. "And I don't regret it. I love it there.
It's my home now." Tears began to form in her eyes. "I don't
want to leave Bartow. Raspberry and Lace is my life!"

"Some life," Mulder whispered harshly. 

Charlie's eyes widened. "And yours is so much better?" She
looked at Scully, then at her unborn child. Envy overtook
the anger. "Maybe it is," she whispered. "And maybe I
shouldn't have come here and upset it." She began to gather
up her purse to leave.

"Charlie," Scully said, then stood. Mulder felt his heart
swell in both amusement and tenderness as she rose, belly
first, trying to remain graceful; and not really succeeding.
"You did come to the right place," she continued. Her blue
eyes flashed his way. "Mulder is going to help catch this
guy."

"Oh, really?" Mulder asked. "It's not my jurisdiction."

"Since when has that ever stopped you?"

"I don't work without a partner," he countered smoothly. Of
course he wanted to help Charlie, but he intended to keep
her safe, not hunt for her stalker. The police could handle
that.

"Good," Scully said with a smirk as she walked to the phone.
"I was planning on giving Agent Reyes a call."

*****

Doggett's House
9:16 P.M.

Charlie stood shivering on the porch of the little brick
house in North Arlington, wondering why she was here.
Waiting with a woman she really didn't know, about to meet a
man she knew nothing about. She shook her head ruefully. It
had been a long time since she had put her faith in anyone
other than herself. But she wasn't about to let herself fall
back into Hell now. She knew she needed help, and Dana and
Fox were both people she instinctively trusted. So, here she
was.

Dana stood by her side, her huge belly almost hidden
underneath her coat. Charlie knew she was armed, but she
hardly looked dangerous now. She smiled, and the older woman
looked at her with her eyebrows raised. Charlie wasn't about
to admit that visions of the heroine in the movie 'Fargo'
had popped into her head, so she simply asked, "When are you
due?"

"Early April," the red-head said.

"Not long, then," Charlie commented, and Dana nodded her
head in reply. She had rung the doorbell a second time
already and still there was no answer. Charlie hoped they
hadn't caught this Doggett guy with his pants
down...literally. "Maybe you should have called first," she
said.

Dana cleared her throat. "I didn't even think that he might
be out... or busy." She sighed. "Maybe we should just go."
But before either of them could turn away from the door, it
opened.

Charlie couldn't help it when her mouth dropped open in
astonishment. The man who opened the door was tall and lean,
his body hard and wiry. She knew this because he was
shirtless, and his bronzed chest was bared for her
inspection. And inspect she did, all the way down to where
the skin ended and a pair of unbuttoned jeans started. She
felt herself swallow hard and she dropped her eyes to the
porch beneath her feet, knowing her perusal had been noticed
by both the man and Dana. With her eyes down, she couldn't
help but notice his feet were bare.

The silence was disturbed by the sound of a throat clearing.
"Agent Scully? What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, Agent Doggett. I know I should have called
first, but we were in kind of a rush." Charlie glanced at
Dana and noticed her cheeks were slightly more red than the
40 degree temperature would cause. "I hope we didn't
interrupt anything." Her voice held a forced cheerfulness
that made Charlie smile slightly.

"I just got out of the shower," Doggett said. "I wasn't
exactly expecting company." Good. His use of the 'I'
indicated that he was alone, which is what Charlie believed
Dana had been worrying about. She looked up and met Dana's
partner's eyes for the first time. For the second time in
less than five minutes, she felt shock pour through her. His
own eyes widened. 

"You!" They said in unison.

"You two know each other?" Dana asked with dry humor,
obviously amused by the comical expressions on their faces. 

Charlie had never forgotten the man with the ice eyes, and
it was apparent that he remembered her, too. "Mulder's
funeral," she said quietly.

"Yeah," Doggett responded. "You never introduced yourself."

Charlie could only shake her head and mumble, "Sorry."

"Agent Doggett, this is Charlie Taylor, an old friend of
Mulder's. She needs our help."

Doggett nodded. "Okay. What for?"

"Can we take this inside?" Charlie asked. She wasn't
desperate to get inside because she was cold, though she
was. Nor was she anxious for Dana's sake, though she knew
the woman most likely wanted to sit down. But she had seen
Doggett shiver, and she had noticed the droplets of water
slowly sliding down his neck from his short hair. As cold as
she was, he must be freezing.

"Where are my manners?" Doggett said with a grin. "Please,
come in." He stepped aside and let the women pass, then
directed their movement toward the living room off to the
right. "Please, make yourselves comfortable. I'll go get a
shirt."

Dana headed for the living room as Doggett headed up the
stairs. Charlie watched him for a moment, thinking what a
shame it was to cover that magnificent chest, before
following Dana.

They had seated themselves on the couch and removed their
coats when Doggett returned wearing an old NYPD sweatshirt
and tennis shoes. He sat down on a chair opposite them. "So,
what's up?"

Dana told him the bare facts, and Doggett listened intently,
his eyes straying toward Charlie every now and then. "So
you're protecting her until this guy is caught?" he asked
his partner.

"Yes, but obviously, I can't do it alone." She leaned back
in her seat and rubbed her belly. "Mulder is going up to
Charlie's place tomorrow morning to try and set a trap for
this guy."

"Alone?"

"No. He asked Monica Reyes to help him. Or, I did," she
amended. "She looks a bit like Charlie. Same height. Same
build. Hopefully, he won't get close enough to tell it isn't
her until Mulder is putting the handcuffs on him."

Doggett nodded his understanding with narrowed eyes. Charlie
imagined she could see his mind working behind the blue.
"Might work. Whose idea was this?"

"Dana's," Charlie said with a smile. "She had to talk Fox
into it, though."

"Why?" Doggett asked. "Sounds like a good plan."

"He didn't want to leave Dana, of course."

"Of course," Doggett said, smiling at Dana's blush. "But if
it works as planned, he shouldn't be gone long, right?"

Dana nodded. "If it works."

They sat silent for a while, all three of them going over
all the things that could possibly go wrong in their minds.

Doggett broke the silence. "I'll get the guest bedroom ready
for you, Scully. Charlie can have my room." He stood. "I'll
settle for the couch."

Charlie rose with him. "You don't have to do that," she
said. "I'll be fine on the couch."

Doggett grinned. "Now what kind of gentleman would I be if I
made one of my female guests sleep down here?" 

"Yeah, well, we weren't exactly invited," Charlie argued.

"Hey," Doggett said, his voice soft, his grin gone. "You're
here to be protected, and that's what we're gonna do. We
can't do that if we're upstairs and you're down here, can
we?"

Charlie sighed. "I guess not." 

"Good. Now, make yourselves at home. I'm assuming you
brought overnight bags?" At Dana's nod, he headed for the
door. "I'll grab 'em, then get the rooms ready." He opened
the door that lead outside and turned to look at them. "Does
this mean I have to remember to put the toliet seat down?"

Charlie glanced at Dana, and noticed how the agent gave
Doggett a solemn look and nodded. With a heavy sigh, he left
the house. 

Both Dana and Charlie started laughing.

*****

Raspberry and Lace
8:11 A.M.

When Mulder finally reached Bartow and the Raspberry and
Lace Bed and Breakfast, the sun had already been up for more
than an hour. He had slept little last night before waking
early in order to meet Reyes here at 8, and his body felt
sluggish and weak. Though all the physical scars had
disappeared, he still felt the effects of his months of
torture and 'stasis'. He tired much more easily and couldn't
get by on only a few hours of sleep anymore. He often woke
at nights with terrible cramps in his legs and arms, causing
him to rise and try to walk off the spasms of pain.
Headaches were frequent, but lessening. Of course, all this
could simply be because I'm getting old, he told himself,
grimacing at the idea. 

Charlie had called her receptionist/friend Connie last night
before she and Scully had headed over to Doggett's, telling
her that he and a friend would be staying at the R&L
indefinitely, and that she herself was taking a break.
Mulder would explain to Connie who they were and why they
were there this morning, then let Connie have a few days
off. Charlie had said that the two couples staying at the
house were both scheduled to check-out today, and no one
else was expected until Friday, three days away. Mulder
hoped to have the situation concluded by then.

He had stopped by the local sheriff's office before coming
out to the house to update them on the situation, something
Scully had made him promise to do. He wanted them to stay
out of it for now, but he decided it would be nice to be
able to call for back up if needed. 

Now that he was at the old, stately farm house, he found
himself impressed. It was beautiful, and he could just
imagine how lovely the grounds were in the summer when all
the trees had leaves and the flowers were blooming. He knew
from past e-mails from Charlie that she did all the
groundskeeping herself; it looked like quite a chore. 

He then noticed that Reyes had yet to arrive. Parking in the
small lot next to the barn, he followed the brick walk up to
the porch and the front door. It opened before he reached
it, and a young woman with short, curly black hair smiled at
him from inside. "Hi!" she said brightly. "You must be Fox."
She stood aside and gestured inside. "Come in, come in!"

Giving her a polite smile, Mulder walked into the house,
impressed again by the beautiful foyer, with its polished
wood floors and antique furnishings. Connie, as she
introduced herself, lead him into the reception area, which
was actually a large oak desk and a few comfortable chairs.
"So, I understand you and Charlie grew up together," Connie
said, taking a seat behind the desk as he sat in front of
it. "And you work for the FBI."

"Yeah," Mulder said with a nod.

"And you need a vacation."

"Not exactly." Since Reyes wasn't here yet, Mulder decided
to go ahead without her. "Connie, Charlie is in trouble. I
don't know how much you know about her past, about an
incident that happened to her about ten years ago, but..."

"Wallace?" Connie interrupted, her smile long gone.
"Everyone here knows about that. We all knew him. He lived
just a few miles from here. My brother went to school with
him." She sighed. "That was him on the phone yesterday
morning, wasn't it?"

Mulder nodded. "She's safe right now with a couple of other
FBI agents. I'm meeting an agent named Monica Reyes here,
and we plan on setting a trap for him. We need your help and
the assistance of anyone else you trust to do this."

"What can I do?" The bubbly pep-squad leader was gone, and a
serious woman had taken her place.

"I need you to spread the news around town that Charlie's
old boyfriend is visiting her, and that you were given the
next several days off so they could be alone. Agent Reyes
looks enough like Charlie that she hopes to pass for her. If
Wallace thinks she's here alone with her distracted
boyfriend...he might just make a move."

"I don't know..." Connie hedged.

"What's wrong?"

"Since she's been here, Charlie's never had a boyfriend."

Mulder couldn't help but feel bad at her bald statement.
Charlie may have settled into a good life here at her Bed
and Breakfast, but she hadn't really been able to live. All
because of Wallace. "You've heard her talk about me before,
right?"

Connie nodded.

"And other people? Had she mentioned me to them?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"Well, if she has, that's good enough."

Mulder gave her a few more details, then she lead him up to
his room. "I'm assuming this Agent Reyes will be wanting a
separate room?"

Mulder just nodded, then disappeared behind his door. With a
sigh, he kicked off his shoes and lay down on the bed,
enjoying the gorgeous furnishings and masculine colors that
decorated the room. This was very unlike any motel he had
ever stayed at. He closed his eyes, hoping Reyes had a good
reason for being late.

Taking a deep breath, Mulder imagined he could smell
Scully's perfume. A smile touched the corners of his mouth
as he continued on with the idea that she was here with him;
that they were staying here as a couple on a romantic
vacation. Yeah, right. As if he could ever be romantic. He
had, in the past, tried making dinner for her, and she had
seemed to appreciate it, but it had been far from romantic.
The best he could do was hit on her while she was sleepy,
vulnerable. He had done it twice. The first time he had
succeeded, only to wake alone. The second...

*****

End 5/10

    Source: geocities.com/virtuesandvices