Title: A Matter of Proportion.
Author: Mattress (Dana@platonic.co.uk)
Rating: NC-17 for sex.
Classification:  Mulder/Scully Romance, Angst, X-file, what else does anyone need?

Disclaimer:  Well, they're not mine. Wish they were, though.  Their lives would be a LOT more fun!

Summary:  Someone casts a spell on our favorite agents...what will happen to them?


A Matter of Proportion

Scully shifted under the sheets in the nicely warm motel room.  As usual, they were investigating an X-file and their chosen destination this time was New York City, place of gigantic fruit.  Or as most people called it, the Big Apple.

The night was the perfect temperature, and both their air conditioning has started working without any inconvenient breakage.  But Scully still couldn't sleep.  She didn't really know why, but the case was starting to bother her.  Whole families had been disappearing in a certain street for the past month, and no-one seemed to know where they had gone.  Mulder, as usual, was suggesting alien abduction, but she just didn't know what to think.

He could be so one-track minded at times.

She closed her eyes and stretched, pulling her arms out from under the sheets and laying them atop.  She'd been feeling weird since this morning.  But that could have been because she hadn't eaten anything, except a Mars bar which Mulder had bought from the small corner shop they'd stopped at to ask directions to the street.  It turned out they were on the right street anyway.  It was a good job the hotel they were staying at was so close to the actual street.

Scully sighed, turning to lie on her front, her arms cradling her head.  She closed her eyes and smiled.  They'd kissed a few weeks ago.  She could remember it vividly.  The TV announcer, the ball dropping.  The strange feeling that Mulder was looking at her.  And then turning and pressing her lips against his.  It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to do.  Gazing through the slightly open door, connecting their bedroom, she remembered how embarrassed he'd looked that night.  He could be so sweet at times.

With this lovely thought she yawned deeply, as sleep finally began to drag her down into nothingness.  Burying her head into the pillow she murmured a sigh and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * * * * *
Scully woke that morning to the sound of her alarm-clock going off.  She groaned and reached over, her eyes still closed, to tap it off, but found that her hand hit the headboard with a bang.

"Ouch!"  She rubbed the back of her hand and frowned, wondering why she was curled up, facing the wrong way on her bed.  She turned around in the direction of the noise and scooted across the soft, deep pillow a little, reaching for the clock again.

Wait a second.

Her eyes flicked open and she stared at the sight before her.  Her mouth opened in a mute cry of shock as she realized where she was. 

She was lying in the middle of a giant pillow.

She blinked a few times, trying to focus her eyes, but all she could see was white, stretching for what seemed like a mile.  She swallowed again, turning her head this way and that, trying to work out where she was.  This had to be a dream.  On her right, the headboard loomed dangerously above her, on her left, the bed spread like a baseball pitch, the yellow sheets like voluminous fields of corn.  The room she was in looked immense.  Like one of the cathedrals her mother took her to when she was five or six.

She crouched, a quivering mass atop the pillow and stared.  Reaching up to pass a hand over her hair, she let out a short gasp.  Someone had cut her hair.  Her beautiful hair, that she'd only just had shaped at the hairdressers a few weeks before, had been savaged into a soft bristle on the top of her head.  She felt around a little and realized that her ears had grown, higher up and where also covered in the strange hair.

And as she ran a hand down her face, she realized it wasn't just the top of her head.  Her face, her neck, her shoulders and her arms were coated in a thin layer of auburn hair.  And lighter spikes had sprouted from her cheeks.  She looked down, slowly, fearing the inevitable.

She was naked.  She could see her pajamas bunched up off the edge of the pillow, and they too looked immense.  And it wasn't just her face, neck and arms that were covered in hair.  Her whole body was, save for the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet.

She sat down and immediately jumped back up again.  She'd sat on something.  Something long and snake-like.  Grimacing, she reached under her ass and touched the thing.  She felt it.  In two places.  She looked behind her, dreading the sight that she could hardly believe. 

She had a tail.  A long, slightly hairy tail.  Trailing her eyes down it, she noticed that it started out at the base, quite thick and reddish with hair and tapered down into just a tiny flick at the end.

"Oh my God," she whispered, finally finding her voice, her throat tightening in despair.  "I'm a mouse."

She stayed for a long while, frozen to the spot.  The trembles racketing throughout her body had turned into violent shakes and she could hardly think straight.  The alarm had long since died and the only sound in the room was her rapid breathing.

After a few minutes of repeatedly pinching herself to make sure she was awake, the tiny claws on her hands no, paws, sharp and scratching her skin, she awkwardly slid down the pillow and landed on the hard mattress.  Bracing her feet on the under-sheets, she rose onto all fours and tried to stand upright.  After the ninth fall, she decided that she might as well stay with her nose buried in the mattress. 

Touching her tongue to her front teeth, she noted the sharp, rodents incisors and quickly reminded herself not to chew her bottom lip for fear of blood loss.  Trying it out anyway, she found that she couldn't reach.  The long, almost overlapping teeth made it impossible to chew anything that wasn't actually in her mouth.  She sighed with relief.  There was one thing at least that she wouldn't have to worry about.

Next, she turned again to her rear end and studied her tail.  Taking a deep breath, she rose onto her feet and flicked it a little.  It danced before her eyes and she found herself smiling as she lifted her hind leg and made it wind around her dainty, three-toed foot.  Untangling it proved to be more difficult.  She eventually lay on her back and reached down a paw to free her foot, sighing with relief when she *could* use her paw as an actual hand.

Rolling over again and getting to her (four) feet, she surveyed the scene.  She walked timidly to the edge of the bed, getting used to her head being so close to what she was standing on and her back legs being so short and peered timidly over.

It was a million miles to the floor.  Her head span and she swallowed, cowering away from the edge, tripping over her tail and tangling a claw in the sheet.  She panicked and scrabbled to get herself free, rolling onto her back a few times, ripping a tiny hole in the sheet as she did.  Crouching for a while, she calmed herself and stood again.  A sudden, muffled cry caught her ears from the next room.

"Aaaah!  Oh my Lord!"  She grinned as she realized that Mulder had either wet the bed, or found out that his proportions weren't what they used to be. 

"Mulder!" she called, her voice sounding exactly the same as before, just a little quieter.  "What's wrong?"

"I...I think I'm in a very bad dream."  She chuckled to herself and climbed up the pillow again, leaping over the side onto the bedside table.  Looking for a way down, she caught sight of the phone cord.  Skimming down it in a flash, she landed on the floor and made towards the door, thanking herself for leaving it open the night before.  The carpet felt clammy under her feet and her claws caught quite a few times before she reached the door.

She poked her nose around it and entered Mulder's bedroom, tail whipping, nose held high.  The bed loomed above her so tall that she couldn't see whether Mulder was lying on it or not.  "Mulder?"

Mulder stared at his hands, at the end of his tail, which was lying on the mattress beside him, and back again, mouth agape, leaning back against the full pillow.  This was *not* happening.  It had to be a twisted sort of dream.  It just *had* to be.  Then he heard Scully's voice to his right and relaxed slightly.

"Scully?"  He began towards the edge of the bed.

"Mulder.  Are you okay?"  Her voice was so caring, so sweet, so gentle.

"I'm not sure," he said as he reached his destination.  Looking over the side, he spotted her, a small ball of fur on the carpet.  Gripping onto the sheets tightly, he raked his gaze over her. 

Her fur was glossy, dark auburn in color and it seemed to shimmer in the darkness of his bedroom.  Big blue eyes shined up at him under dark, tiny lashes.  She blinked and he almost lost his balance.  Her tiny nose was sprinkled with dainty whiskers and, on the insides of her large ears, he spotted microscopic freckles the same color as her hair.

She was beautiful.

"Mulder."  He watched her sit up on her haunches, her left paw keeping her balance.  She flicked her tail and he grinned.  She caught his amused gaze and looked behind her, smiling also.  She looked back up at him. "Get down here."  A tilt of her head and he was climbing head-first down the side of the bed, claws gripping helplessly for the sheets.  He slipped down the rest of the way, landing in the folds of the sheet in front of her.  "Wow, Mulder.  Careful!"

"Hey, G-mouse.  What's up?"  She grinned and rolled her eyes at his humor.

"You okay?" She scampered over to him, a worried look on her face.

"Yep.  Good job I'm a restless sleeper," he said, indicating the discarded sheets around him.  He climbed out of them and scratched his ear, thoughtfully.

Scully looked him up and down.  Musty-brown fur covered his body and the large, Jewish nose reminded her of the Mulder she knew well.  The mouse before her looked a little ruffled, even ignoring the fact that he'd just fallen a whole foot (which is a lot for a mouse).  He looked to her just like a rough school boy.  His fur ran every which way and his whiskers were in a mess.  Without thinking, she reached forward a paw and smoothed them straight.

He grinned, the image of her smoothing down his tie on numerous occasions flashing into his mind.  He wiggled his nose and she hid her face behind her elbow, trying not to laugh as his whiskers waved around at her.

"Mulder, what the hell happened?"  She sat back on her hind feet and curled her tail around her toes.  Pretty and perfectly placed as always.  Mulder thought for a moment.

"I have a theory..."  He watched her roll her eyes and he grinned.  Same Scully as always. "I think this is some sort of magic, or witchcraft."  She sighed.  Right now, she would believe anything.  "I'm not even sure whether I'm in a dream or not," he mused, winking at her.

"You're not.  And don't try to pinch yourself," she added as he made to. "I tried that and it hurts."  He grinned.  "If this is witchcraft, who in the world cast a spell on us?"  He shrugged.

"I dunno.  Perhaps it's something to do with the case.  Who ever the kidnapper is, maybe they don't want us to solve the case.  Maybe they're the one, or ones, that turned us into mice." 

"What do you think caused it?"

"I dunno.  I mean, it could have been anything."  She winced.  This wasn't nice.

"Oh Mulder," she moved next to him and sat. "What the hell are we gonna do?"  He turned to her and lay a paw on her tiny shoulder.

"I don't know.  But everything's gonna be all right."  She looked up at him with large, sad eyes.  "I promise." 

She tried to smile.  So long as Mulder was there, she knew she'd be okay.  Their eyes locked and she sighed, reaching to place her own hand over his, on her shoulder.  Her thumb smoothed the thin fur on his knuckles.  Suddenly, her tummy gave a gigantic groan, breaking the moment, and Mulder sighed, secretly annoyed.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked her, frowning at her worriedly.

"I dunno...this morning.  The last thing I ate was that Mars bar you bought me..."  She stopped dead.  "You ate one too, right?"  He nodded.  Then he realized what she was getting at.

"You're saying it was something in the chocolate?"  She shrugged.

"You said yourself it could have been anything.  And it's quite simple to poison chocolate because the sweet taste overpowers anything foreign in the food." 

"What do you think we should do?"

"I think we should get some help.  We can't do much like this, can we?"  She swished her tail a little for emphasis.

"I think we should go and take a look around that shop.  It would be easier to investigate.  No-one would see us.  We can hide." She smiled.

"True.  We're a good team.  We can do this."  He nodded and furrowed his brow in thought.  She burst out laughing.

"What?"  She took a deep breath, trying not to smile.

"You look funny doing that."  He wiggled his eyebrows and she giggled some more.  He felt his heart start to warm at the foreign sound of her laughter.  Her stomach let out another moan and she rubbed it, unhappily.  "I'm hungry."

"What do mice eat?"

"Worms, bugs.  Creepy-crawly things."  She pulled a face.  He got an idea.

"And seeds, right?"  She nodded.  "Aaaah.  I can help you there."  He glanced up at his bedside table and caught sight of the phone cord.  Skimming up it, he reached his sacred sunflower seeds. 

"What're you doing, Mulder?"  Peering over the side, he gripped the edge of the heavy packet of seeds in his teeth and pulled it to the edge.

"LOOK OUT BELOW, SCULLY!" A shower of sunflower seeds came raining down on top of her.  Covering her head with her paws, she curled up on the floor.  The grains felt like large hailstones against her back and they hurt.

"OW!  MULDER!"  He grinned and shimmied down the cord again.  The moment his feet  touched the floor, she was on him, roughly pinning him against the hard side of the table, her strong paws holding his.  "That wasn't funny, Fox Mulder."  He pretended to look hurt and she grabbed his whiskers in one paw.  Her sharp eyes bore into his.

"Do something like that one more time and you'll never see these again."  She tugged on them a little, for emphasis and gave him a Look.  He grimaced and shook a hand free of her grasp.  On an impulse he reached up and rubbed the patch of skin behind her ear lightly with the back of his knuckles.  She closed her eyes and stretched her neck out.  She allowed herself to smile a little.

"That good?" he asked, continuing to touch her and feeling her body soften against him.

"Yeah," she breathed, sighing.  Her eyes opened, groggily.  "Feels weird."  Their eyes locked again and Scully felt herself warm at his soft gaze.  When he stopped his caresses, she had to stop herself from grabbed his hand and put it back behind her head. 

"Anyway," he remarked as she rose off him.  "I got you some food."  She grinned despite herself and stepped over to where most of the seeds had landed.

Picking one up, she sat on her haunches and held it in her paws.  She stared at the seed for a while.  Finally she looked over at Mulder, her eyes questioning.  Selecting a large seed and carrying it in his teeth, he sat beside her and held the seed out for inspection.

Carefully breaking off the top of the seed with his sharp teeth, he cracked the rest in half and took out the middle to taste and chew.  "Mmmm...perfect," he noted, taking another seed and repeating the procedure.  Scully rested her teeth against the top of the seed and bit, hard.  It snapped off easily and she smiled.  This being a mouse lark wasn't so difficult after all.

"I'll never be annoyed at you leaving seed shells around the office in little piles again," she remarked and he grinned.

* * * * * *
Full, but not so full that they couldn't walk, Mulder and Scully looked at the door helplessly.  It was closed and there was no way they could open it.  "Why don't we just wait for the maid to come in and rush out?" Mulder said, chewing the end of his tail.  Scully slapped his paw and his tail dropped to the floor.

"Don't bite your tail, Mulder."  He gave her a mock-hurt look and she grinned. "It's way too dangerous.  Maids have a tendency to scream and stamp on anything that moves.  She'd kill us as soon as look at us."  He nodded, sighing, and sat back on his haunches, his face contorted in concentration.  Finally, after many moments of silence, Scully got an idea.  She turned to him.  "It's a little risky, but it might work."

"If it involves me flying through the air after you've sat heavily on the other end of a book and pencil see-saw, I'm not doing it."  She laughed, the image of Mulder falling head over heels through the stained glass over the door dancing in front of her eyes. 

"Nnnnooo.  But that could be fun!" 

"Ha, ha.  You're funny." She grinned. "So what's your idea?" She started to walk back to the small pile of seeds they'd tidied under the bed, against one of the feet.

"We call up reception and complain that the door won't open.  Somebody comes up, unlocks and opens the door and we run out before they see us."

"Good plan.  Just hope there're no cats around downstairs."

They shimmied up the phone cord and Mulder helped Scully lift the receiver.  She put her ear to the phone and heard the familiar: "Hello.  Reception.  How can I help you?"

Scully cleared her throat. "We have a problem with the door in our room.  It doesn't seem to be opening."  Mulder grinned, impressed.

"What room is that?" She let out a silent sigh of relief that her voice hadn't changed.

"Room 109."

"Okay.  Somebody will be up in just a moment.  Sorry for the inconvenience."

"That's..." The phone clicked dead. "...okay."  They replaced the receiver and climbed down the cord.  "Right, Mulder.  Last one to the door is a furry rodent." He grinned and scampered after her to the side of the door.

A few moments later, they heard footsteps, then the key turning in the lock.  Scully turned to glance behind her and Mulder nodded, ready.  The door opened and Scully darted out.  Mulder followed her, ran straight over the stewardess' shoe and tripped.  Scully turned as she got to the wall and saw him, sprawled on his back, his feet waving around in the air as he tried to get up.  Her face turned to one of horror, as the woman above them turned and saw them.  The woman screamed and Scully ran to him in a fit of panic, pulling him up.  Off they raced, darting into a hole in the wall.

Breathing heavily, Scully sank down against the inside of the plaster and looked around in the darkness for her partner.  "Mulder?" she whispered.  "Are you okay?"  Her heart sped up when he didn't answer.  "Mulder?"  Then she felt him settle in beside her and let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm okay.  God, that was close."  She winced.  He turned to see her face in the dark.  "Scully?" he whispered.

"What?" Her voice was so quiet.  She sounded so frightened.  Mulder wrapped his arms around her tiny body and she buried her nose in his fury shoulder for a moment.

"It's okay."  She pulled back slightly and held his face in her paws.  She just looked at him through the darkness, for a long time.  He gazed right back at her, blinking green eyes locking with sky blue ones.  Sighing, she pulled away and shook her head a little.

"We have to find a way downstairs."  She turned away from him and he smiled, sadly.  One minute she was all over him, the next she was back down to business.  Oh well... "Mulder.  Come look at this."  He followed the sound of her voice, feeling along the wall with a paw until he touched the soft, furry expanse that was Scully's back.

"Look." She pointed a paw at a broken, wire mesh frame in the wall.  "Looks like we've found the air conditioning.  This should lead downstairs."  He nodded and watched her climb through, then let her help him over the metal into the duct.  It was pitch black.

"Scully.  I can't see you."  He felt a tiny paw grasping for his.

"Hold my hand."  He took it in his, but stopped short.

"We won't be able to walk like this."  She thought for a moment.

"Tails," she stated, entwining the end of hers with his.  He grinned and they stepped carefully together along the metal floor.

After about an hour of ambling along at their own pace, there was a huge rumbling from in front of them.  They tensed.  "Mulder..." Scully started but was cut short.  A sudden blast of cold air struck her in the face and toppled her backwards along the tunnel.  "Mulder!"

"Scully!"  He gripped the strong wall and grabbed her hind foot as she flew past him, pulling her up against him.  "Quick," he shouted above the hurricane, "hold onto the corrugated wall.  My hands are slipping."  He pushed her in front of him and braced her against his body.  She closed her eyes and flattened her ears at the sharp wind, reaching forward and hanging on for dear life.

The gale finally slowed, then stopped.  Scully sat, frozen.  "Mulder.  I wanna get out of here."

"So do I."  He sat by her side.

"I don't want that to happen again.  I don't wanna get split up." She paused and closed her eyes, trying to get her breathing back under control.  She swallowed.  "Mulder, did you ever read the book 'Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH'?"

"No, I didn't."

"The mice were killed in a shaft like this," she murmured, looking fearfully around her.  "Blown away like paper on a windy day."  She shivered.  "All except two."

"Scully."  She turned to him. "We're gonna get out of here."  He gently touched her whiskers in the blackness and felt her nod.  She turned back to the tunnel ahead of them and took a deep breath.

"Okay."  There was determination in her voice.  They carried on.

* * * * * *
Getting out of reception had been easier than they'd thought.  Two quick flashes of fur and they were gone, walking along the hedgerow, conscious of the passing traffic and people.  Luckily, the day was warm and sunny.  Birds sang in the trees and autumn leaves covered the ground, serving as great things to kick up at one's partner. 

"Mulder, would you stop that," said Scully, shaking another leaf from atop her ears.  He whipped his tail around, tossing up another pile of leaves to land on top of her and squeaked when she whacked him across the ear with her own tail.

"Oh come on, Scully.  Have a little fun."  She rolled her eyes at him and skittered out of his way a little. 

Mulder ambled along beside her, happily.  Her fur shone in the midday sun and all he could think about was how beautiful she looked.  His eyes grew soft as he remembered what she'd felt like when he'd kissed her.  A few words came into his head.  Perfect.  Glorious.  Amazing.  Lovely.

Arousing.

Yes.  That was why he'd had to break away so soon.  Any more of that luscious mouth on his and he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from taking her right there and then, in that hospital room. 

"Mulder." He blinked and realized he'd been staring.  And how did it grow so dark so quickly?

"Sorry.  What did you say?" She smiled, amused.

"I said, we've just walked past the shop."  He blinked and turned around, noticing the closed sign behind the glass.  Smiling broadly, he wiggled his ears.

"Whoops."  She giggled at his antics and followed him in through the tiny hole in the wall, by the door of the small, corner shop.  The hole led under the floorboards, then back up through the floor in the shop.

It was completely dark inside, save for a strip light under the window, used for display purposes.  Scully ran around behind the counter, while Mulder scouted the displays of chocolate. 

He licked his lips and wondered how much chocolate a mouse could eat in one night.  Probably not much, considering his size, but he could dream.  Sitting back on his haunches, he stared up at the rows and rows of chocolate.  They looked perfectly normal to him.  He shrugged and climbed up the side of the wooden stand to take a closer look.  He ran along the edge, using his tail for balance and reached the Mars bars.  A more detailed inspection showed him what he needed to know.  Pulling a candy bar down off the shelf and letting it fall, he whisked down the stand.

Scully, meanwhile, was poking her nose into every nook and cranny, trying to find something to give her a clue of what they'd eaten, if they'd eaten anything at all.  She looked under the counter, around the sides, even scooted up and over the top.  But she found nothing.  They, whoever they were, covered their tracks well.

She sighed and let out a tiny yawn.  She was tired.  They'd journeyed a long way for two mice and she needed to rest.  Her mind had been so caught up in the case she hadn't relaxed for what seemed like hours.

Turning the corner around the counter, wearily, she made her way to Mulder, who was sitting on the floor by a gigantic chocolate bar.  He smiled when she approached him and beckoned for her to see what he'd found.

"Look, Scully," he said as she sat down next to him and studied the Mars bar. "See this tiny hole here?" He indicated at the edge of the packet a minuscule hole, about the diameter of a pin.  "We got it right.  It was a poison."

"Looks like it was made by some sort of needle," she remarked, touching the hole with her forefinger.  "Too small for a human to see, perfect for us mice to notice easily." He nodded.  "It would be simple to mix the chemical, fill a syringe and inject it into the chocolate."

"What do you think's in the stuff?"  She shrugged.

"Must be something pretty powerful." He nodded.  Scully yawned again and sighed.  "I think we ought to sleep tonight.  We'll not get anything done until the morning." He smiled and looked around.

"Where are we gonna sleep?" She shrugged and yawned again.

"Under the floorboards is an obvious answer, but we'll have to find something soft to lie on."  Mulder looked around him and spotted an old rag on the counter.

"Wait a second." He clambered up the side and pulled the cloth down.  Between them, they dragged it to the hole in the floor.  They pulled it down and settled it on the dusty wood.  Scully grinned into the darkness and ruffled it up, making a neat little nest for them.  She sighed and climbed in, sinking down into the soft, bouncy material.  She turned to lie on her side and patted the cloth next to her.

"Come on Mulder.  We're married now." He grinned and lay down by her side, snuggling up into the cloth.  "Mulder," she whispered, reaching out a paw and tapping him on the shoulder.  He turned to her and their eyes locked in the darkness.  Hers seemed to plead with him.  He smiled and settled against her, curling his body around her and burying his nose into her soft fur.

"Mulder?" Her voice was only a breath and was muffled as her face pressed against his neck.

"What?"  There was a short silence.

"Do you think we'll ever get to be human again." He sighed against her, sadly.

"I hope so, Scully.  I hope so." He squeezed her tight and closed his eyes.  He heard her slight whimper, then felt her body soften against him.  Trailing a paw down the ridge of her spine to quieten her, he pressed his nose against her forehead.  He so much wanted to kiss her, in the hope that it would make everything all right.

And they slept.  A small bundle of fluff in the night, where no-one, not even the ciggarette-smoking man, could find them or harm them.  They were safe in one another's arms.

* * * * * *
Morning sunlight streamed down the hole in the floor and Scully blinked, burying her face in Mulder's neck again.  She sighed.  It was so nice and warm in their tiny bed that she just wanted to lie there forever.  Humming softly into his neck, she felt him stir, his whiskers tickling the insides of her ears.  She giggled quietly, raising her head a little to see his face.  He was still not properly awake, poor darling, his little eyes still half closed, sleepily.

"Hey, Mulder."  He smiled softly and looked up at her.  She lay her head on the side of the cloth-pillow they'd somehow made in the night and just gazed at him, affectionately.

"'Morning." He reached out a paw and she took it, squeezing it warmly.  He sighed as she snuggled up to him, lying in her front, her chin resting easily on her paws.  He reached a paw over and smoothed down the fur on her head, scratching the back of her ears like he had in his bedroom the day before.

"Mmmm...Mulder," she breathed, letting a slow smile spread over her face.  "I really like that."  She sighed and stretched out her body, groaning softly as he ran his fingers down the side of her neck, tickling and touching in an exquisite pattern from her ear to her shoulder.  She rolled onto her back, her front paws curled in the air.

"I like this too," he whispered, reveling in the fact that she was practically moaning out loud as he touched her.  He tickled the side of her face and she lifted her head so he could scratch under her chin.

Scully suddenly thought of something and grinned.  She snorted softly and Mulder looked down at her, a questioning look in his eye.  She opened her eyes and said, "You know, Skinner's gonna be really mad at us." He frowned.

"Why?"

"Because we slept together."

"So?  We've slept together before."  She nodded, remembering the time she sung to him in the woods.

"But not naked." He chuckled along with her and rubbed her stomach, almost unconsciously.  Scully sighed and closed her eyes again at the tender caress.

"We should get up," she murmured as he slowly turned the wonderful caresses into soft brushes against her fur.  She felt his caresses stop and reached down to hold his paw against her tummy.  Mulder nodded and sat up, rubbing his ear, thoughtfully.  Scully opened her eyes and looked at Mulder.  She smiled at him, her eyes glinting mischief.

"What?"

"Your fur's coated in mud." She beckoned for him to lean down and he tilted his head to her.  "That'll teach you to kick dirty leaves up at me."  He closed his eyes as she moved to sit behind him. "We might as well use the cleaning method of the mouse while we have the chance." And she began to lick his fur clean and tidy.  He grinned and shivered as her little tongue made it's way across his shoulders, tickling him slightly.

When she was through washing him, she sat up and looked at her handiwork.  Her face showed signs of satisfaction.  Tilting her head to the side, she gave him an affectionate look. "You look lovely, Mulder." As always, she thought to herself, sighing.  She took his paw in hers and tugged gently. "Come on.  Let's go see what we can find now it's light."

* * * * * *
Scully had her nose poked into a tiny hole in the side of a giant bag when she heard them.  Human footsteps getting nearer and nearer the other side of the door into the back of the shop.  She looked around for her partner, frozen to the spot.  She finally caught sight of him, sitting on top of a sack of potatoes and hissed for him to hide.  He whipped down another hole in the floorboards and she followed him close behind.

She felt around in the darkness and eventually touched his still slightly damp fur.  Lifting her ears, she listened carefully to the sounds overhead.  Poking her nose out of the hole just a little, she caught sight of an old woman crossing the floor, a limp in her step.  Beckoning for Mulder to come watch, she gripped the side of the hole and hung on.

"Dear, we can't open up yet.  I've not given the chocolate it's dosage."  Another pair of feet shuffled along the floor, quietly.

"Gran, I won't have you do this again.  It's not right.  I told you before, someone is going to find out."

"Be quiet child.  You do nothing but whine.  Now help me with the syringes, there's a good little girl."  There was a pause. "Sara.  I'm warning you."  Her tone sounded, for a reason Scully didn't want to acknowledge, incredibly frightening.  She shivered and Mulder rubbed her back a little.  He'd heard it too. 

It was plainly and strongly the voice of a madwoman.

"Gran.  Please."  The girl's voice was desperate.  A gigantic crash was heard, a soft cry.  Scully stiffened, held her breath.  The limping footsteps creaked the floorboards, weirdly and then...silence.

Scully ventured slowly out of the hole and scurried around the counter to the shop floor.  She poked her nose around it and saw a young girl, sat on the wooden boards.  There were tears running down her face and she was holding her knee and rubbing it, vigorously.  Dust filled Scully's nose and she sniffed quietly.  She tried to get rid of the tickle, but out it whooshed in an enormous sneeze that popped her ears and watered her eyes.

The girl sitting on the floor looked up and Scully found herself looking directly into the eyes of a tiny twenty-something year-old girl.  Her look of terror was replaced by one of sadness as she gazed at the tiny mouse sitting in front of her.  "Oh no," she whispered. "Not again."  She hid her face in her arms and let out a single sob.

Then she did the most extraordinary thing.  She knelt by Scully, who by this time was frozen with horror, and let a tear fall silently at the mouse's feet.  Scully looked from the droplet to her face in utter amazement.

"I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry."  Sara sighed deeply.  "I don't believe she did this to you."  She stared at the little mouse, shivering with fear and smiled a little as Mulder crept behind her, resting his paws on her shoulders.  "It's okay.  There's no need to be afraid.  You're safe with me."  She sat back on her haunches.  "So what are your names?" Mulder smiled a little as the girl shifted to sit, her legs pulled up by her side.  "It's okay," she said quietly.  "I know what happened to you."

Scully blinked. "You do?"  The girl nodded, solemnly, pushing a lock of golden hair behind her ear, not at all suprized that the mouse in front of her was talking. 

"We didn't even know *that* for certain, until we came in here," Mulder said, venturing out to stand in front of the girl.  He turned to Scully and held out his paw.  She crept towards him and took it, squeezing it warmly and she didn't let go when he expected her to.  The girl shrugged.

"It's my grandmother.  She used to be a psychic, but one morning she woke up and found that her powers had just flown out the window." She used an over enthusiastic arm gesture to emphasis her words.  "For a few years she did nothing but sulk.  She just sat and watched the news all day, looking at all the people dying of hunger and poverty.  Complaining all the time that the world was too populated.  Then one day she decided to do something about it.

"She always had such a strong view on murder, said it was all wrong, that God would punish for sins without others help, so killing people was out.  Then she met Arthur.  He got her into magic again.  Real magic this time.  Before it was just judging people and fooling them senseless, but when she met Arthur the power she began to gain grew dangerous.  One false move and she'd have pots flying through the air at you.  It was frightening."

She shivered slightly, closing her eyes and remembering the memories.  She went on.  "I asked her to stop so many times, but she wouldn't listen.  It was all, Arthur says this and, Arthur says that.  She didn't care about me anymore.  Even now Arthur's dead she still doesn't care."  Scully reached forward and placed a paw on the girl's knee.

"Where're your parents?" she asked, tentatively.  Sara sighed, sadly.

"They died when I was just a baby.  Gran brought me up and she was so kind to me.  But she's changed."

"Did she throw something at you a few minutes ago?" Mulder asked, remembering the crash they'd heard.  Sara nodded, indicating the saucepan a few feet away.

"She has arthritis, so she always threatens me with her magic."  Scully grew skeptic, but tried not to show it.  It was too much for her scientific mind to take in all at once.

"So she makes this magic potion that turns people into mice?" Sara nodded, sadly.

"She thought it was best.  Mice eat less food than humans and they don't need to live in houses to survive."  She grinned at the two mouse, sadly.  "What do I call you, by the way."

"I'm Dana and this is..." She looked at Mulder.

"Mulder." The girl nodded.

"Interesting names.  I love the name Dana.  And Mulder's kind of different."

"It's my last name." Scully grinned a him.

"So what's your first?"

"It's horrible." Sara smiled, amused.

"Doesn't matter.  I'm curious." Mulder sighed.

"Okay.  It's Fox."  She giggled a little.

"Fox.  Cute name.  I like it." Mulder smiled, sheepishly as Scully tried not to laugh.  He looked so sweet when he was embarrassed.

"He lives up to his name," she said quietly, rubbing his arm.  Mulder turned and locked her gaze with his.  Scully smiled softly.

Sara grinned from one to the other. "You two married?"  Mulder looked suprized and turned abruptly away from his partner.

"No.  What made you think that?" The girl shrugged.

"Oh, nothing.  You just seem so close."

"Best friends," Scully cut in before Mulder could let out that they were FBI agents.  She gave him a look and Mulder understood instantly.  "So what happened next?  After you found out she was into this magic?"

"I tried to get her to stop.  I knew it was unfair and wrong.  Not many people come to this shop, but the folk who live on the street opposite get everything from here."

"Which is why they've been disappearing," Mulder stated.  Scully shot him a desperate look.  *Blow our cover, why don't you!* the look said.  He cleared his throat and added, hastily, "Or so we keep hearing."

"People talk." The girl looked terrified for a moment.  "She threatened me with magic.  Said she'd turn me into a frog, or worse.  I can't stop her, but I am trying to make an antidote.  To change the mice back to humans again." Scully pricked up her ears.

"You made an antidote?"

"Yes.  But it doesn't work.  And I don't want to try it on anyone else." She sniffed. "The same dosage on different people seems to have different effects.  Some simply stay as mice and some..." She trailed off and looked down at her hands.  Mulder took a deep breath.

"And some die."  The girl's eyes filled up with tears.

"I don't mean them to, really I don't."

"Does your grandmother know about the antidote?"  Sara shook her head.

"I make it in the basement.  She never goes down there."  There was a long silence.

Scully looked at Mulder, her eyes completely void of any hope she'd had that morning.  She shook her head sadly and sat on the floor, curling her tail around her as if for protection.  "We're gonna be mice forever." Her voice was a mere whisper and so full of pain that Mulder felt his heart almost break.  He reached for her and she buried her nose in his shoulder, silently pushing away the tears that were threatening to roll down her face.

"We'll be okay," Mulder breathed into her ear, secretly wishing she'd never met him.  He was overcome with guilt.  She pulled away and gazed into his eyes.

"No, Mulder.  We know so much, but there's a lot that we don't know.  And we can hardly live like this and find out more about what the government is doing.  I don't want to be a mouse for the rest of my life."  He closed his eyes, bowing his head.  Opening his eyes again, he gazed deeply into hers.  A tear rolled down her cheek and Mulder reached up to rub the patch of skin behind her ear.

Scully closed her eyes at the sensations, but sighed, pitifully.  "That's not going to work, Mulder.  It doesn't take away the fact that we're never going to become humans again."  She shivered as he took his hand away and turned to Sara again, breaking the embrace.  Scully noticed the tears running down her face as she watched them and took a deep breath.

"I'm willing to take the risk with the antidote."  Mulder stared at her.

"Scully.  No."  She whipped around to face him.

"Yes, Mulder.  I'd rather be dead than stay a mouse all my life."  The look of determination was strong in her eyes.  Mulder stepped to her and took both her paws in his.

"In that case.  I'm willing to take the risk, too."  Scully swallowed and stood, her courage making her seem more lovely than ever to Mulder.  "Together.  As always." She gazed at him and nodded, a slight smile creeping onto her face.  They gazed at one another for what seemed like an eternity.  Then they both looked up at the girl sitting on the floor, a slightly amazed look on her face.

"You're so brave," she whispered, more to herself than to the mice at her feet.  She sighed.  "Are you sure?"  They both nodded.  "Right then.  You have to go to sleep for the antidote to take effect.  I'll take you home."  She held out her hand and they clambered on.

"We live in D.C.," Scully said.  "But you can take us back to the hotel we're staying in."  Sara nodded and placed them gently in her coat pocket.  Mulder and Scully curled up together and held one another tight as, possibly their last journey alive, began.

* * * * * *
"Hi.  I'm a friend of Dana Scully's.  I've just spoken to her on her cellular and she told me to come pick up her things.  She has to leave early for D.C."  Mulder heard the conversation a little muffled, partly because there was a thick piece of material between him and the talkers, and partly because his beautiful partner was pressed tightly against his side, her nose tickling his ear.  Her soft fur against his was almost a distraction.

"What room is that?"

"Room 108." Sara knew how they'd gotten out of Mulder's room and didn't want to bring up the subject for fear of getting asked unanswerable questions.

When they arrived at Scully's room, Sara lay the keys on the bedside table and took Mulder and Scully out of her pocket, placing them on the soft pillow at the head of the bed.  Mulder put his arm around Scully and she leaned against him, looking into his eyes.  He could see that she was afraid.  He tried to reassure her, his eyes almost pleading with her to believe him, just this once.  She smiled at him and took a deep breath.

"Ready?" Sara asked, sensing their fear.  Mulder nodded.  Scully gazed into his eyes for a long time and finally nodded.

"Ready." Her voice was so quiet.  Sara reached carefully into her jeans pocket and pulled out a tiny vial, filled with a green substance. 

"Open your mouth and I'll drop in the required amount."  Mulder tipped his head back and opened his mouth, bravely.  The antidote tasted sweet and sour, rather like one of the Chinese takeouts him and Scully got out occasionally on a Saturday evening.  Memories of their wonderful times together flashed before his eyes as the liquid slid down his throat and he swallowed the last of it.

"Dana.  Your turn."  Scully did not move.

"It...it won't start working until we're asleep, will it?"  Sara shook her head and Scully timidly let her pour the drop into her mouth.  Mulder took her paw as she swallowed and rolled onto her side.

"If it doesn't work...I'm sorry...with all my heart."  And she left, sobbing, closing the door behind her.

Scully turned back to him.  "I'm frightened, Mulder."  He cuddled up next to her and stroked her back, tenderly.

"I know you are.  So am I."  There was a silence for a few moments.

"We might not live."

"That's true." She smiled a little and touched his face.

"I'll look for you in heaven," she whispered.

"We'll be together again."  She let out a sob and closed her eyes for a moment.

"If..." She sniffed, opening her eyes. "If we don't...live...I want you to know..."  She looked into his eyes and moved so close to him that their noses touched.  He gazed back at her, so beautiful and strong willed, letting the feelings coursing through his body wash over him.  She pushed away the tears.  "I want you to know that...I love you." 

He stared at her, amazed.  After all this time, she loved him as he loved her.  And she had finally said it out loud.  He couldn't help it.  "I love you, too."  The look on her face was so amazingly beautiful that Mulder felt tears start to roll down his face.  He let his tongue venture out of his mouth to lick the tip of her nose, affectionately.  He sighed, sadly.

"I wanna kiss you again." She smiled a little and licked his nose, countering the affection.

"This is as good as any kiss, Mulder," she whispered, closing her eyes as his paw moved up her back to her ears.  The familiar caresses started up and she could feel his breath soft against her cheek.

"Sleep, dear Scully."

"I love you, Mulder."  Her body relaxed in his arms and she nuzzled her nose under his chin, as sleep began to weight her down.

"I love you, too...Dana." She smiled softly at his use of her first name and closed her eyes.

"Fox..." she whispered as she fell into a deep sleep.

Mulder licked her nose one last time and closed his eyes, sinking into the same ablivion, hoping against hope that he would see her beautiful face again.

* * * * * *
As the sun came up over the New York horizon, two shadows lay curled together and motionless.  There was a sense of death in the room, making the air around the lovers frosty with tension.  The window was open and the curtains blew around the wood, white and ghost-like in the darkness.

Dreams floated softly around the bedroom like flotsam and jetsam on a beach.  A figure entered the room.  She smiled as she saw the serene couple.  Reaching over to pull the covers over them both, she left, the door shutting quietly behind her.

* * * * * *
"Scully!"  Opening her eyes, groggily, she tried to focus on the face above her.  The one spreading huge kisses over her cheeks and forehead.  She took his arms and held him away from her.

"Mulder!  Stop that!"  Then she remembered.  The antidote.  She stopped and gazed around her.  The bright sunshine lit up the room and sparkled across the walls.  She closed her eyes and smiled, relief filling her body and mind.  She felt Mulder's lips softly tease hers and didn't push him away.  Sliding her arms around his neck, she pulled him down to her and pressed her lips to his.

There kiss was what fairy tales were made of.  It was flowers and bright mornings and lacy hearts.  It was full of sun beams and moonlight and perfection.  She felt his hands in her hair.  His tongue probed at her lips and she parted them, letting him inside.  Stroking, teasing, touching, their tongues met again and again in a battle of love that they could never control.

Finally, Mulder gained enough restraint to pull away from her.  He wrapped his arms around her and helped her sit up.  She smiled up at him and kissed him lightly on the bridge of his nose, wonder filling her face.

"I don't believe it, Mulder," she said, smiling as he trailed a hand across her jaw.  "It worked.  The antidote worked."

"I know." He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.  She obliged, relishing in the familiar slide of her hair across her cheeks once again.  He gazed deep into her eyes and watched them soften.  Mulder moved a hand to brush an auburn strand back behind her ear and that's all it took.

She buried her face in his shoulder.  "I thought we were gonna die, Mulder.  I thought I was never going to see you again."  He held her against him tightly, never wanting to let her go.

"Shush.  It's okay.  The antidote worked.  We're both safe.  And," He lifted her face to meet her eyes, brushing loose tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, "we're both human again."  He reached around her to rub her back and she was subtly reminded of him caressing her when they were mice.  Lifting her hand to his face, she looked into his eyes and saw all the love and trust he had for her in them.  Then she slowly looked down.  Her mouth opened as she realized where, and how, they were situated.

Mulder stopped rubbing her back and swallowed.  They were completely naked.  She was sitting on his lap, one leg either side of him, her whole body touching his.  He was instantly hard.  His heart gave a little leap of joy as he felt her hands tangling in his hair and pulling his lips down to hers.  He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her back.

Their kisses, this time, were like fire.  They sought fulfillment and got it, in more ways than one.  Mulder moaned softly as he felt her fingertips running down his chest, teasing and tickling around and in the soft, wiry hair they encounted.  He tore his mouth from hers and began to kiss the rest of her face.  Her cheeks, her neck and her shoulders, all earned his attention and caresses.  He bit the skin near her collarbone gently and soothed it with tiny sweeps of his tongue.

"Mulder," she breathed, arching back her head and gasping as he dropped his lips to the top of her breast.

"Please.  Don't say anything, Scully."  She nodded and closed her eyes as his warm mouth trailed down her front to her already hardened nipple and closed over it.  She held him to her and stroked his hair as he suckled her, softly.  Her breathing grew more ragged as he sucked harder and harder until she was gasping, clutching at the sheets near her knees, desperately.

"Jesus, Mulder," she breathed as he stabbed his tongue at the nub, making her jump.  He smiled against her, cherishing the thought that he could make her feel so good and lay her gently down into the pillows.

Moving over her with the utmost care, he rested his cheek against her flat stomach and waited for her to calm a little.  Finally, she relaxed and reached down to caress his cheek, tenderly.

"God, I don't believe this is happening," she whispered, gazing into his eyes and shaking her head a little in amazement.  He grinned and moved up her body to kiss her fully and sweetly, snaking his hands under her body to hold her close.

"Oh, Scully," he breathed against her, feeling her wrap her arms around his neck, "You're so beautiful."  She smiled and ran a hand over his face, pushing a small lock of hair back.

"Well, you're beautiful too," she whispered, cupping his chin and tilting her head at him.  He grinned and squeezed her, kissing the space between her breasts, warmly.  Scully sighed contentedly and lay back into the pillows as Mulder slipped his right hand between her legs and cupped her, gentle as always.  "Oh my..." she groaned as he slipped a finger between her heated lips, touching and testing her responses.  Spreading the moisture forward, but not quite touching her clit, he felt her hand on his left and weaved his fingers between hers by her side.

Mulder slid his finger inside her and felt her arch up beneath him.  "Yeah...like that," she moaned, as he moved his fingers forward and began to stroke her clitoris in tiny circles, building the pressure inside her higher and higher.  Looking down at her face, he felt himself harden even more.  The look in her eyes was beautiful, striking, gorgeous. 

"I love you so much, Scully.  You know that, don't you?"  She nodded, arching again at his words.

"Yesss!"  God.  She could feel it coming now, like a tidal wave of pure ecstasy, rumbling towards her faster and faster.  She cried out on his name and felt the tremors start deep in her soul, moving outwards to every part of her body.  She exploded with pleasure and h.  "Mulder...Oh my God!"  Her body tensed and she thrashed around unconsciously on the bed, gripping the sheets and moving reflexively against Mulder's hand.

He waited until she'd quietened before he removed his hand from her.  She lay, breathing heavily, her head spinning.  She opened her eyes to him and smiled, groggily. "Hey."

"Hey."  There was a small silence.

"God that was good," Scully breathed, closing her eyes and stretching her head back into the pillows.  Mulder smiled.

"Wanna do it again?"  She nodded and reached for him.

"Together?" she asked as he kissed her forehead, tenderly.  He nodded and lifted her a little, caressing her hips gently, ready to slide inside her.  Looking into her eyes, he asked for the permission he needed and she gave it willingly, with a small nod of her head.

And as he filled her, she felt all the barriers they'd carefully constructed come crashing down around them.  This was it.  The final surrender.  The one thing that they'd both been waiting for for so long.  This wasn't just sex.  This was completion.

She smiled and realized that this was the first time she'd ever felt really relaxed with a man.  And, as he began to move in and out of her, she groaned, stretching her head back into the pillows.  She felt so amazingly good that she wanted to scream.  She felt herself reaching the point of no return again and reached up to grasp the headboard.  She held on tight as he pound into her, matching him, thrust for thrust. 

Mulder snug his hands under her behind to bring her closer to him, to thrust deeper into her and claim her for his own.  His rhythm sped up and he moaned as she squeezed her inner muscles around him.  "Don't do that, Scully," he panted, dropping his lips to hers and kissing her hotly.

"I can't...help it," she groaned back, her hands leaving the headboard to hold him close to her.  Mulder knelt up and kept up the rhythm, pulling at her hips as he thrust into her.

"Open your eyes, Scully," he breathed, almost comandingly.  She did and smiled at his gorgeous look of concentration as he fought the urge to come.  "I love you."  Her eyes slipped shut as he reached between them and caressed her clit.

"Mulder...Oh my God."  She was gonna come again.  Soon.  Mulder felt her begin to tense and lay down against her, pushing and pushing and rubbing around where they were joined with his hand.  He snuggled his forehead between her breasts, affectionately.  Her body gave a final heave against his and she cried out, breaking into a million pieces as the orgasm shook her, mind and body alike.  "Yesss...."

Mulder tensed the moment he felt her inner muscles start to contract and flutter around him.  "Scully..." he groaned as he finally came, collapsing onto her and burying his face in her shoulder. 

When the tremors had settled between them, Scully opened her eyes and sighed, heavily.  Stretching her head back into the pillows, she felt Mulder start to get up, move out of her.  She stopped him.  "Mulder.  Stay inside me for a few more minutes." He nodded against her shoulder, completely understanding her reasons.  She wanted to commit this moment to memory.  To stop time for a moment and just lie with him.

"I love you," he said as she began to stroke his back with her fingertips.  She nodded and swallowed, fighting back tears of realization.  He nuzzled his cheek into her shoulder and closed his eyes.  When he felt the tiny, warm drops falling onto the side of his forehead, he lifted his head and gazed at her face.  "What is it?" he asked, fearing that he'd done something wrong.  "Am I hurting you?"

She shook her head and he rose up off her, pulling gently out of her and lying by her side.  She smiled through her tears as he gently tickled the spot behind her ear that felt so familiar.  "What's wrong, Scully?"  She sighed.

"If I had lost you, Mulder..."

"You mustn't think like that.  Everything's okay now." She nodded and closed her eyes, unconvinced.  "Scully." He touched her jaw, tenderly.  She looked up.  His eyes were so sincere.  "I'll never leave you.  I promise.  And we'll stick by one another, just like we always have done.  Nothing will ever come between us."  He leant over her and kissed her forehead, like she had done to him so many times before.  She swallowed and finally smiled a little.  "You look so pretty when you smile," he whispered against her ear.  "You should do it more often." She blushed, just a tiny pink on her cheeks, but he noticed it.

"We should get up," she breathed, running a gentle hand over the tiny hairs on his chest.  Mulder nodded, but did not move.

"In a few minutes, Scully.  Let me just recover from that amazing sex we just had."  She laughed and his heart warmed at the still unfamiliar sound.  She tapped his forehead with the back of her hand and he opened his eyes again.  She sat up, wrapping the sheets around the pale skin of her torso.

"Come on.  We have to go arrest Sara's grandmother.  However unfair it may sound."  Mulder leant up on an elbow and yawned, moving to sit behind her and wrap his arms around her.

"We should let Sara know that the antidote works, so she can turn the others back."  Scully nodded, leaning into him and closing her eyes.

* * * * * *
Having phoned Skinner and told their almost unbelievable story, Mulder and Scully walked side by side around the corner of the street they'd visited the day before.  Policemen and investigators flooded the sunny area like hyenas around a dead carcass, fussing with clipboards and cellulars.  Scully glanced at her partner, a tired look in her eyes and he sighed, feeling the same run-down feeling she was.

"Excuse me, are you the FBI Agents?"  I young mother carrying a tiny baby strode up to them, too few restful nights darkening her features.  Scully nodded and held out her badge, trying not to think about the child in her arms. "I have to ask you, is my husband alive?"  Scully looked down at her feet, chewing her lip.

"We're not sure.  The whereabouts of all the...missing people haven't been obtained.  We're working on it." She glanced behind the woman and caught sight of a bodybag being carried out the shop by two firemen.

"Thankyou.  I do appreciate your help." The girl trotted away, oblivious to the possibility that her husband might never come back. 

"I expect they've arrested the grandmother..."  Scully looked at Mulder and saw that he was staring at the door of the shop.  She frowned a little and followed the direction of his gaze.  Then she noticed that the shop was completely empty. "What the..."  They made their way to the door and entered the tiny establishment. 

No-one was in the shop, they were all taking notes and looking for evidence outside.  Gazing around the dark room, Mulder noticed the deserted shelves, the empty counter and the dusty windowsills.  It looked like there hadn't been anything sold there for years.

"Where is everything, Scully?" His voice seemed to echo across the room, eerily, almost as if...

"It's so cold in here," Scully whispered, shivering.  Mulder moved to her side, wrapping a loose arm around her.  She shrugged, trying to dislodge it and gave him a funny look.  "What if someone sees?"

"They won't," he murmured, but he saw how nervous she was and let her pull from his embrace anyway.  He heard her sigh and watched her pace the room a little, her eyes on the ceiling, lost in thought.  He saw her smile.  "What?"

She shook her head.  "It just looks so much smaller than it did before." He grinned at her, moving to stand by her side.

"Of course, the fact that we were only two inches tall at the time..." She laughed softly, leaning her cheek wearily on his shoulder and pushing her arm through his.  She turned to him and caught his gaze.  He smiled at her and slid his hand behind her head, moving slowly in to kiss her.  A slight noise behind them caused them to swiftly break away, embarrassed.  Luckily, the room was dark, so their blushes were invisible.  A stocky policeman entered the shop, a flashlight in his hand.  When he caught sight of the agents, he jumped.

"God, I didn't see you there.  You gave me a fright."  The strong English accent made him sound posh and straight jacketed.  He shone the beam into their faces and looked at Scully, winking at her.  "What are you doing here in the dark?  A little romantic moment in private?"  She hid her face behind her hand, blocking out not only the beam of the flashlight, but also hiding her face as she blushed even redder.  Mulder grinned.

"Something like that," he said, sarcasm ringing in his voice.  The man nodded, mock serious.  He pointed a thumb at Mulder.

"Just don't let him get carried away," he told Scully, grinning.  She smiled in what she hoped was a joking way and nodded.  The man turned to scan the shop and Scully took the opportunity to shoot Mulder a desperate look.  He shrugged, smiling sheepishly and turned to stand beside the policeman.

"Agent Mulder.  Pleased to meet you." 

"Sergeant Page."  They shook hands.  Then Page took a double take.  "Mulder?  Aren't you the guy who got turned into a mouse?"  He nodded, not quite knowing what to expect from the man.  "Sounds like you had an interesting adventure.  I say, good job for solving the case.  We were totally baffled."  He clapped him on the back.

"Well it wasn't just me.  My partner, Scully," He indicated the flash of auburn hair and brown trenchcoat, crouched down, studying the hole in the floor with which they'd entered the shop when they were mice.  She looked up at the sound of her name.  "She was the brains in it all.  I just followed her ideas."  She nodded her thanks to Mulder and leant on one arm over the hole again.

"Well done to both of you, then.  I say, you're a great team."  Page strode out of the shop, jangling his keys as he went.  Scully watched him go, then turned to Mulder, motioning for him to kneel beside her.

"Sorry about that."  She shook her head, accepting his apologies with her eyes and reaching into the hole to bring out a piece of paper.  Unfolding it carefully and turning it around in her hands, she dug in her coat pocket for her flashlight and shone it on the page.  Mulder leaned over her shoulder and read aloud what was written.

"Dear Dana and Fox.

There will be no more incidents.  My grandmother died of a heart attack last night.  She was sleeping peacefully in her bed and God decided that her time had come.  I burned her body in the back yard.  You can do what you want with her ashes.  I don't know whether she shall go to heaven, I doubt it, but I know she will be happy, knowing she has done something to help the world.  Even though I don't agree with her, so long as she's happy, I am too.

I saw you change.  It was the most fulfilling sight I've ever seen.  I hope you have a good life together, I'm sure you will.  The formula for the antidote is on the reverse of this paper.  Please put it to some good use.  There are 12 mice who need it.  Tell Maria, she will have her husband back.  She's the one you were talking to earlier.  The one with the baby."

Mulder looked at Scully, wonder filling his eyes.  He carried on reading.

"You won't find me, so don't try to look.  I'm sorry for all the people I couldn't save, I really am.  I hope there were no side effects to the antidote.
Yours truly and faithfully,

Sara."

Scully turned to Mulder as he turned over the paper to read the formula.  "How the hell did she know about the woman with the baby?  This is getting too weird, Mulder."

"Maybe she is psychic, like her Gran.  It has been known to be hereditary."

"But she said herself that it wasn't real.  That her Gran just tricked people."  Mulder shrugged.

"Maybe her powers were real."  Scully sighed and stood, folding the paper carefully and placing into her coat pocket.  Mulder rose beside her and touched her shoulder as she turned to the door.  She turned and smiled at him. 

"Let's go home, Mulder.  The case is over."  He nodded and they walked together into the open air, not quite holding hands.

From out of the hole, poked a tiny set of whiskers.  "Bye Dana and Fox," a little voice whispered. "And..."  Sara paused for a moment. "Thanks."

La fini.Title: A Matter of Proportion.
Author: Mattress (Dana@platonic.co.uk)
Rating: NC-17 for sex.
Classification:  Mulder/Scully Romance, Angst, X-file, what else does anyone need?

Disclaimer:  Well, they're not mine. Wish they were, though.  Their lives would be a LOT more fun!

Summary:  Someone casts a spell on our favorite agents...what will happen to them?


A Matter of Proportion

Scully shifted under the sheets in the nicely warm motel room.  As usual, they were investigating an X-file and their chosen destination this time was New York City, place of gigantic fruit.  Or as most people called it, the Big Apple.

The night was the perfect temperature, and both their air conditioning has started working without any inconvenient breakage.  But Scully still couldn't sleep.  She didn't really know why, but the case was starting to bother her.  Whole families had been disappearing in a certain street for the past month, and no-one seemed to know where they had gone.  Mulder, as usual, was suggesting alien abduction, but she just didn't know what to think.

He could be so one-track minded at times.

She closed her eyes and stretched, pulling her arms out from under the sheets and laying them atop.  She'd been feeling weird since this morning.  But that could have been because she hadn't eaten anything, except a Mars bar which Mulder had bought from the small corner shop they'd stopped at to ask directions to the street.  It turned out they were on the right street anyway.  It was a good job the hotel they were staying at was so close to the actual street.

Scully sighed, turning to lie on her front, her arms cradling her head.  She closed her eyes and smiled.  They'd kissed a few weeks ago.  She could remember it vividly.  The TV announcer, the ball dropping.  The strange feeling that Mulder was looking at her.  And then turning and pressing her lips against his.  It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to do.  Gazing through the slightly open door, connecting their bedroom, she remembered how embarrassed he'd looked that night.  He could be so sweet at times.

With this lovely thought she yawned deeply, as sleep finally began to drag her down into nothingness.  Burying her head into the pillow she murmured a sigh and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * * * * *
Scully woke that morning to the sound of her alarm-clock going off.  She groaned and reached over, her eyes still closed, to tap it off, but found that her hand hit the headboard with a bang.

"Ouch!"  She rubbed the back of her hand and frowned, wondering why she was curled up, facing the wrong way on her bed.  She turned around in the direction of the noise and scooted across the soft, deep pillow a little, reaching for the clock again.

Wait a second.

Her eyes flicked open and she stared at the sight before her.  Her mouth opened in a mute cry of shock as she realized where she was. 

She was lying in the middle of a giant pillow.

She blinked a few times, trying to focus her eyes, but all she could see was white, stretching for what seemed like a mile.  She swallowed again, turning her head this way and that, trying to work out where she was.  This had to be a dream.  On her right, the headboard loomed dangerously above her, on her left, the bed spread like a baseball pitch, the yellow sheets like voluminous fields of corn.  The room she was in looked immense.  Like one of the cathedrals her mother took her to when she was five or six.

She crouched, a quivering mass atop the pillow and stared.  Reaching up to pass a hand over her hair, she let out a short gasp.  Someone had cut her hair.  Her beautiful hair, that she'd only just had shaped at the hairdressers a few weeks before, had been savaged into a soft bristle on the top of her head.  She felt around a little and realized that her ears had grown, higher up and where also covered in the strange hair.

And as she ran a hand down her face, she realized it wasn't just the top of her head.  Her face, her neck, her shoulders and her arms were coated in a thin layer of auburn hair.  And lighter spikes had sprouted from her cheeks.  She looked down, slowly, fearing the inevitable.

She was naked.  She could see her pajamas bunched up off the edge of the pillow, and they too looked immense.  And it wasn't just her face, neck and arms that were covered in hair.  Her whole body was, save for the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet.

She sat down and immediately jumped back up again.  She'd sat on something.  Something long and snake-like.  Grimacing, she reached under her ass and touched the thing.  She felt it.  In two places.  She looked behind her, dreading the sight that she could hardly believe. 

She had a tail.  A long, slightly hairy tail.  Trailing her eyes down it, she noticed that it started out at the base, quite thick and reddish with hair and tapered down into just a tiny flick at the end.

"Oh my God," she whispered, finally finding her voice, her throat tightening in despair.  "I'm a mouse."

She stayed for a long while, frozen to the spot.  The trembles racketing throughout her body had turned into violent shakes and she could hardly think straight.  The alarm had long since died and the only sound in the room was her rapid breathing.

After a few minutes of repeatedly pinching herself to make sure she was awake, the tiny claws on her hands no, paws, sharp and scratching her skin, she awkwardly slid down the pillow and landed on the hard mattress.  Bracing her feet on the under-sheets, she rose onto all fours and tried to stand upright.  After the ninth fall, she decided that she might as well stay with her nose buried in the mattress. 

Touching her tongue to her front teeth, she noted the sharp, rodents incisors and quickly reminded herself not to chew her bottom lip for fear of blood loss.  Trying it out anyway, she found that she couldn't reach.  The long, almost overlapping teeth made it impossible to chew anything that wasn't actually in her mouth.  She sighed with relief.  There was one thing at least that she wouldn't have to worry about.

Next, she turned again to her rear end and studied her tail.  Taking a deep breath, she rose onto her feet and flicked it a little.  It danced before her eyes and she found herself smiling as she lifted her hind leg and made it wind around her dainty, three-toed foot.  Untangling it proved to be more difficult.  She eventually lay on her back and reached down a paw to free her foot, sighing with relief when she *could* use her paw as an actual hand.

Rolling over again and getting to her (four) feet, she surveyed the scene.  She walked timidly to the edge of the bed, getting used to her head being so close to what she was standing on and her back legs being so short and peered timidly over.

It was a million miles to the floor.  Her head span and she swallowed, cowering away from the edge, tripping over her tail and tangling a claw in the sheet.  She panicked and scrabbled to get herself free, rolling onto her back a few times, ripping a tiny hole in the sheet as she did.  Crouching for a while, she calmed herself and stood again.  A sudden, muffled cry caught her ears from the next room.

"Aaaah!  Oh my Lord!"  She grinned as she realized that Mulder had either wet the bed, or found out that his proportions weren't what they used to be. 

"Mulder!" she called, her voice sounding exactly the same as before, just a little quieter.  "What's wrong?"

"I...I think I'm in a very bad dream."  She chuckled to herself and climbed up the pillow again, leaping over the side onto the bedside table.  Looking for a way down, she caught sight of the phone cord.  Skimming down it in a flash, she landed on the floor and made towards the door, thanking herself for leaving it open the night before.  The carpet felt clammy under her feet and her claws caught quite a few times before she reached the door.

She poked her nose around it and entered Mulder's bedroom, tail whipping, nose held high.  The bed loomed above her so tall that she couldn't see whether Mulder was lying on it or not.  "Mulder?"

Mulder stared at his hands, at the end of his tail, which was lying on the mattress beside him, and back again, mouth agape, leaning back against the full pillow.  This was *not* happening.  It had to be a twisted sort of dream.  It just *had* to be.  Then he heard Scully's voice to his right and relaxed slightly.

"Scully?"  He began towards the edge of the bed.

"Mulder.  Are you okay?"  Her voice was so caring, so sweet, so gentle.

"I'm not sure," he said as he reached his destination.  Looking over the side, he spotted her, a small ball of fur on the carpet.  Gripping onto the sheets tightly, he raked his gaze over her. 

Her fur was glossy, dark auburn in color and it seemed to shimmer in the darkness of his bedroom.  Big blue eyes shined up at him under dark, tiny lashes.  She blinked and he almost lost his balance.  Her tiny nose was sprinkled with dainty whiskers and, on the insides of her large ears, he spotted microscopic freckles the same color as her hair.

She was beautiful.

"Mulder."  He watched her sit up on her haunches, her left paw keeping her balance.  She flicked her tail and he grinned.  She caught his amused gaze and looked behind her, smiling also.  She looked back up at him. "Get down here."  A tilt of her head and he was climbing head-first down the side of the bed, claws gripping helplessly for the sheets.  He slipped down the rest of the way, landing in the folds of the sheet in front of her.  "Wow, Mulder.  Careful!"

"Hey, G-mouse.  What's up?"  She grinned and rolled her eyes at his humor.

"You okay?" She scampered over to him, a worried look on her face.

"Yep.  Good job I'm a restless sleeper," he said, indicating the discarded sheets around him.  He climbed out of them and scratched his ear, thoughtfully.

Scully looked him up and down.  Musty-brown fur covered his body and the large, Jewish nose reminded her of the Mulder she knew well.  The mouse before her looked a little ruffled, even ignoring the fact that he'd just fallen a whole foot (which is a lot for a mouse).  He looked to her just like a rough school boy.  His fur ran every which way and his whiskers were in a mess.  Without thinking, she reached forward a paw and smoothed them straight.

He grinned, the image of her smoothing down his tie on numerous occasions flashing into his mind.  He wiggled his nose and she hid her face behind her elbow, trying not to laugh as his whiskers waved around at her.

"Mulder, what the hell happened?"  She sat back on her hind feet and curled her tail around her toes.  Pretty and perfectly placed as always.  Mulder thought for a moment.

"I have a theory..."  He watched her roll her eyes and he grinned.  Same Scully as always. "I think this is some sort of magic, or witchcraft."  She sighed.  Right now, she would believe anything.  "I'm not even sure whether I'm in a dream or not," he mused, winking at her.

"You're not.  And don't try to pinch yourself," she added as he made to. "I tried that and it hurts."  He grinned.  "If this is witchcraft, who in the world cast a spell on us?"  He shrugged.

"I dunno.  Perhaps it's something to do with the case.  Who ever the kidnapper is, maybe they don't want us to solve the case.  Maybe they're the one, or ones, that turned us into mice." 

"What do you think caused it?"

"I dunno.  I mean, it could have been anything."  She winced.  This wasn't nice.

"Oh Mulder," she moved next to him and sat. "What the hell are we gonna do?"  He turned to her and lay a paw on her tiny shoulder.

"I don't know.  But everything's gonna be all right."  She looked up at him with large, sad eyes.  "I promise." 

She tried to smile.  So long as Mulder was there, she knew she'd be okay.  Their eyes locked and she sighed, reaching to place her own hand over his, on her shoulder.  Her thumb smoothed the thin fur on his knuckles.  Suddenly, her tummy gave a gigantic groan, breaking the moment, and Mulder sighed, secretly annoyed.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked her, frowning at her worriedly.

"I dunno...this morning.  The last thing I ate was that Mars bar you bought me..."  She stopped dead.  "You ate one too, right?"  He nodded.  Then he realized what she was getting at.

"You're saying it was something in the chocolate?"  She shrugged.

"You said yourself it could have been anything.  And it's quite simple to poison chocolate because the sweet taste overpowers anything foreign in the food." 

"What do you think we should do?"

"I think we should get some help.  We can't do much like this, can we?"  She swished her tail a little for emphasis.

"I think we should go and take a look around that shop.  It would be easier to investigate.  No-one would see us.  We can hide." She smiled.

"True.  We're a good team.  We can do this."  He nodded and furrowed his brow in thought.  She burst out laughing.

"What?"  She took a deep breath, trying not to smile.

"You look funny doing that."  He wiggled his eyebrows and she giggled some more.  He felt his heart start to warm at the foreign sound of her laughter.  Her stomach let out another moan and she rubbed it, unhappily.  "I'm hungry."

"What do mice eat?"

"Worms, bugs.  Creepy-crawly things."  She pulled a face.  He got an idea.

"And seeds, right?"  She nodded.  "Aaaah.  I can help you there."  He glanced up at his bedside table and caught sight of the phone cord.  Skimming up it, he reached his sacred sunflower seeds. 

"What're you doing, Mulder?"  Peering over the side, he gripped the edge of the heavy packet of seeds in his teeth and pulled it to the edge.

"LOOK OUT BELOW, SCULLY!" A shower of sunflower seeds came raining down on top of her.  Covering her head with her paws, she curled up on the floor.  The grains felt like large hailstones against her back and they hurt.

"OW!  MULDER!"  He grinned and shimmied down the cord again.  The moment his feet  touched the floor, she was on him, roughly pinning him against the hard side of the table, her strong paws holding his.  "That wasn't funny, Fox Mulder."  He pretended to look hurt and she grabbed his whiskers in one paw.  Her sharp eyes bore into his.

"Do something like that one more time and you'll never see these again."  She tugged on them a little, for emphasis and gave him a Look.  He grimaced and shook a hand free of her grasp.  On an impulse he reached up and rubbed the patch of skin behind her ear lightly with the back of his knuckles.  She closed her eyes and stretched her neck out.  She allowed herself to smile a little.

"That good?" he asked, continuing to touch her and feeling her body soften against him.

"Yeah," she breathed, sighing.  Her eyes opened, groggily.  "Feels weird."  Their eyes locked again and Scully felt herself warm at his soft gaze.  When he stopped his caresses, she had to stop herself from grabbed his hand and put it back behind her head. 

"Anyway," he remarked as she rose off him.  "I got you some food."  She grinned despite herself and stepped over to where most of the seeds had landed.

Picking one up, she sat on her haunches and held it in her paws.  She stared at the seed for a while.  Finally she looked over at Mulder, her eyes questioning.  Selecting a large seed and carrying it in his teeth, he sat beside her and held the seed out for inspection.

Carefully breaking off the top of the seed with his sharp teeth, he cracked the rest in half and took out the middle to taste and chew.  "Mmmm...perfect," he noted, taking another seed and repeating the procedure.  Scully rested her teeth against the top of the seed and bit, hard.  It snapped off easily and she smiled.  This being a mouse lark wasn't so difficult after all.

"I'll never be annoyed at you leaving seed shells around the office in little piles again," she remarked and he grinned.

* * * * * *
Full, but not so full that they couldn't walk, Mulder and Scully looked at the door helplessly.  It was closed and there was no way they could open it.  "Why don't we just wait for the maid to come in and rush out?" Mulder said, chewing the end of his tail.  Scully slapped his paw and his tail dropped to the floor.

"Don't bite your tail, Mulder."  He gave her a mock-hurt look and she grinned. "It's way too dangerous.  Maids have a tendency to scream and stamp on anything that moves.  She'd kill us as soon as look at us."  He nodded, sighing, and sat back on his haunches, his face contorted in concentration.  Finally, after many moments of silence, Scully got an idea.  She turned to him.  "It's a little risky, but it might work."

"If it involves me flying through the air after you've sat heavily on the other end of a book and pencil see-saw, I'm not doing it."  She laughed, the image of Mulder falling head over heels through the stained glass over the door dancing in front of her eyes. 

"Nnnnooo.  But that could be fun!" 

"Ha, ha.  You're funny." She grinned. "So what's your idea?" She started to walk back to the small pile of seeds they'd tidied under the bed, against one of the feet.

"We call up reception and complain that the door won't open.  Somebody comes up, unlocks and opens the door and we run out before they see us."

"Good plan.  Just hope there're no cats around downstairs."

They shimmied up the phone cord and Mulder helped Scully lift the receiver.  She put her ear to the phone and heard the familiar: "Hello.  Reception.  How can I help you?"

Scully cleared her throat. "We have a problem with the door in our room.  It doesn't seem to be opening."  Mulder grinned, impressed.

"What room is that?" She let out a silent sigh of relief that her voice hadn't changed.

"Room 109."

"Okay.  Somebody will be up in just a moment.  Sorry for the inconvenience."

"That's..." The phone clicked dead. "...okay."  They replaced the receiver and climbed down the cord.  "Right, Mulder.  Last one to the door is a furry rodent." He grinned and scampered after her to the side of the door.

A few moments later, they heard footsteps, then the key turning in the lock.  Scully turned to glance behind her and Mulder nodded, ready.  The door opened and Scully darted out.  Mulder followed her, ran straight over the stewardess' shoe and tripped.  Scully turned as she got to the wall and saw him, sprawled on his back, his feet waving around in the air as he tried to get up.  Her face turned to one of horror, as the woman above them turned and saw them.  The woman screamed and Scully ran to him in a fit of panic, pulling him up.  Off they raced, darting into a hole in the wall.

Breathing heavily, Scully sank down against the inside of the plaster and looked around in the darkness for her partner.  "Mulder?" she whispered.  "Are you okay?"  Her heart sped up when he didn't answer.  "Mulder?"  Then she felt him settle in beside her and let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm okay.  God, that was close."  She winced.  He turned to see her face in the dark.  "Scully?" he whispered.

"What?" Her voice was so quiet.  She sounded so frightened.  Mulder wrapped his arms around her tiny body and she buried her nose in his fury shoulder for a moment.

"It's okay."  She pulled back slightly and held his face in her paws.  She just looked at him through the darkness, for a long time.  He gazed right back at her, blinking green eyes locking with sky blue ones.  Sighing, she pulled away and shook her head a little.

"We have to find a way downstairs."  She turned away from him and he smiled, sadly.  One minute she was all over him, the next she was back down to business.  Oh well... "Mulder.  Come look at this."  He followed the sound of her voice, feeling along the wall with a paw until he touched the soft, furry expanse that was Scully's back.

"Look." She pointed a paw at a broken, wire mesh frame in the wall.  "Looks like we've found the air conditioning.  This should lead downstairs."  He nodded and watched her climb through, then let her help him over the metal into the duct.  It was pitch black.

"Scully.  I can't see you."  He felt a tiny paw grasping for his.

"Hold my hand."  He took it in his, but stopped short.

"We won't be able to walk like this."  She thought for a moment.

"Tails," she stated, entwining the end of hers with his.  He grinned and they stepped carefully together along the metal floor.

After about an hour of ambling along at their own pace, there was a huge rumbling from in front of them.  They tensed.  "Mulder..." Scully started but was cut short.  A sudden blast of cold air struck her in the face and toppled her backwards along the tunnel.  "Mulder!"

"Scully!"  He gripped the strong wall and grabbed her hind foot as she flew past him, pulling her up against him.  "Quick," he shouted above the hurricane, "hold onto the corrugated wall.  My hands are slipping."  He pushed her in front of him and braced her against his body.  She closed her eyes and flattened her ears at the sharp wind, reaching forward and hanging on for dear life.

The gale finally slowed, then stopped.  Scully sat, frozen.  "Mulder.  I wanna get out of here."

"So do I."  He sat by her side.

"I don't want that to happen again.  I don't wanna get split up." She paused and closed her eyes, trying to get her breathing back under control.  She swallowed.  "Mulder, did you ever read the book 'Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH'?"

"No, I didn't."

"The mice were killed in a shaft like this," she murmured, looking fearfully around her.  "Blown away like paper on a windy day."  She shivered.  "All except two."

"Scully."  She turned to him. "We're gonna get out of here."  He gently touched her whiskers in the blackness and felt her nod.  She turned back to the tunnel ahead of them and took a deep breath.

"Okay."  There was determination in her voice.  They carried on.

* * * * * *
Getting out of reception had been easier than they'd thought.  Two quick flashes of fur and they were gone, walking along the hedgerow, conscious of the passing traffic and people.  Luckily, the day was warm and sunny.  Birds sang in the trees and autumn leaves covered the ground, serving as great things to kick up at one's partner. 

"Mulder, would you stop that," said Scully, shaking another leaf from atop her ears.  He whipped his tail around, tossing up another pile of leaves to land on top of her and squeaked when she whacked him across the ear with her own tail.

"Oh come on, Scully.  Have a little fun."  She rolled her eyes at him and skittered out of his way a little. 

Mulder ambled along beside her, happily.  Her fur shone in the midday sun and all he could think about was how beautiful she looked.  His eyes grew soft as he remembered what she'd felt like when he'd kissed her.  A few words came into his head.  Perfect.  Glorious.  Amazing.  Lovely.

Arousing.

Yes.  That was why he'd had to break away so soon.  Any more of that luscious mouth on his and he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from taking her right there and then, in that hospital room. 

"Mulder." He blinked and realized he'd been staring.  And how did it grow so dark so quickly?

"Sorry.  What did you say?" She smiled, amused.

"I said, we've just walked past the shop."  He blinked and turned around, noticing the closed sign behind the glass.  Smiling broadly, he wiggled his ears.

"Whoops."  She giggled at his antics and followed him in through the tiny hole in the wall, by the door of the small, corner shop.  The hole led under the floorboards, then back up through the floor in the shop.

It was completely dark inside, save for a strip light under the window, used for display purposes.  Scully ran around behind the counter, while Mulder scouted the displays of chocolate. 

He licked his lips and wondered how much chocolate a mouse could eat in one night.  Probably not much, considering his size, but he could dream.  Sitting back on his haunches, he stared up at the rows and rows of chocolate.  They looked perfectly normal to him.  He shrugged and climbed up the side of the wooden stand to take a closer look.  He ran along the edge, using his tail for balance and reached the Mars bars.  A more detailed inspection showed him what he needed to know.  Pulling a candy bar down off the shelf and letting it fall, he whisked down the stand.

Scully, meanwhile, was poking her nose into every nook and cranny, trying to find something to give her a clue of what they'd eaten, if they'd eaten anything at all.  She looked under the counter, around the sides, even scooted up and over the top.  But she found nothing.  They, whoever they were, covered their tracks well.

She sighed and let out a tiny yawn.  She was tired.  They'd journeyed a long way for two mice and she needed to rest.  Her mind had been so caught up in the case she hadn't relaxed for what seemed like hours.

Turning the corner around the counter, wearily, she made her way to Mulder, who was sitting on the floor by a gigantic chocolate bar.  He smiled when she approached him and beckoned for her to see what he'd found.

"Look, Scully," he said as she sat down next to him and studied the Mars bar. "See this tiny hole here?" He indicated at the edge of the packet a minuscule hole, about the diameter of a pin.  "We got it right.  It was a poison."

"Looks like it was made by some sort of needle," she remarked, touching the hole with her forefinger.  "Too small for a human to see, perfect for us mice to notice easily." He nodded.  "It would be simple to mix the chemical, fill a syringe and inject it into the chocolate."

"What do you think's in the stuff?"  She shrugged.

"Must be something pretty powerful." He nodded.  Scully yawned again and sighed.  "I think we ought to sleep tonight.  We'll not get anything done until the morning." He smiled and looked around.

"Where are we gonna sleep?" She shrugged and yawned again.

"Under the floorboards is an obvious answer, but we'll have to find something soft to lie on."  Mulder looked around him and spotted an old rag on the counter.

"Wait a second." He clambered up the side and pulled the cloth down.  Between them, they dragged it to the hole in the floor.  They pulled it down and settled it on the dusty wood.  Scully grinned into the darkness and ruffled it up, making a neat little nest for them.  She sighed and climbed in, sinking down into the soft, bouncy material.  She turned to lie on her side and patted the cloth next to her.

"Come on Mulder.  We're married now." He grinned and lay down by her side, snuggling up into the cloth.  "Mulder," she whispered, reaching out a paw and tapping him on the shoulder.  He turned to her and their eyes locked in the darkness.  Hers seemed to plead with him.  He smiled and settled against her, curling his body around her and burying his nose into her soft fur.

"Mulder?" Her voice was only a breath and was muffled as her face pressed against his neck.

"What?"  There was a short silence.

"Do you think we'll ever get to be human again." He sighed against her, sadly.

"I hope so, Scully.  I hope so." He squeezed her tight and closed his eyes.  He heard her slight whimper, then felt her body soften against him.  Trailing a paw down the ridge of her spine to quieten her, he pressed his nose against her forehead.  He so much wanted to kiss her, in the hope that it would make everything all right.

And they slept.  A small bundle of fluff in the night, where no-one, not even the ciggarette-smoking man, could find them or harm them.  They were safe in one another's arms.

* * * * * *
Morning sunlight streamed down the hole in the floor and Scully blinked, burying her face in Mulder's neck again.  She sighed.  It was so nice and warm in their tiny bed that she just wanted to lie there forever.  Humming softly into his neck, she felt him stir, his whiskers tickling the insides of her ears.  She giggled quietly, raising her head a little to see his face.  He was still not properly awake, poor darling, his little eyes still half closed, sleepily.

"Hey, Mulder."  He smiled softly and looked up at her.  She lay her head on the side of the cloth-pillow they'd somehow made in the night and just gazed at him, affectionately.

"'Morning." He reached out a paw and she took it, squeezing it warmly.  He sighed as she snuggled up to him, lying in her front, her chin resting easily on her paws.  He reached a paw over and smoothed down the fur on her head, scratching the back of her ears like he had in his bedroom the day before.

"Mmmm...Mulder," she breathed, letting a slow smile spread over her face.  "I really like that."  She sighed and stretched out her body, groaning softly as he ran his fingers down the side of her neck, tickling and touching in an exquisite pattern from her ear to her shoulder.  She rolled onto her back, her front paws curled in the air.

"I like this too," he whispered, reveling in the fact that she was practically moaning out loud as he touched her.  He tickled the side of her face and she lifted her head so he could scratch under her chin.

Scully suddenly thought of something and grinned.  She snorted softly and Mulder looked down at her, a questioning look in his eye.  She opened her eyes and said, "You know, Skinner's gonna be really mad at us." He frowned.

"Why?"

"Because we slept together."

"So?  We've slept together before."  She nodded, remembering the time she sung to him in the woods.

"But not naked." He chuckled along with her and rubbed her stomach, almost unconsciously.  Scully sighed and closed her eyes again at the tender caress.

"We should get up," she murmured as he slowly turned the wonderful caresses into soft brushes against her fur.  She felt his caresses stop and reached down to hold his paw against her tummy.  Mulder nodded and sat up, rubbing his ear, thoughtfully.  Scully opened her eyes and looked at Mulder.  She smiled at him, her eyes glinting mischief.

"What?"

"Your fur's coated in mud." She beckoned for him to lean down and he tilted his head to her.  "That'll teach you to kick dirty leaves up at me."  He closed his eyes as she moved to sit behind him. "We might as well use the cleaning method of the mouse while we have the chance." And she began to lick his fur clean and tidy.  He grinned and shivered as her little tongue made it's way across his shoulders, tickling him slightly.

When she was through washing him, she sat up and looked at her handiwork.  Her face showed signs of satisfaction.  Tilting her head to the side, she gave him an affectionate look. "You look lovely, Mulder." As always, she thought to herself, sighing.  She took his paw in hers and tugged gently. "Come on.  Let's go see what we can find now it's light."

* * * * * *
Scully had her nose poked into a tiny hole in the side of a giant bag when she heard them.  Human footsteps getting nearer and nearer the other side of the door into the back of the shop.  She looked around for her partner, frozen to the spot.  She finally caught sight of him, sitting on top of a sack of potatoes and hissed for him to hide.  He whipped down another hole in the floorboards and she followed him close behind.

She felt around in the darkness and eventually touched his still slightly damp fur.  Lifting her ears, she listened carefully to the sounds overhead.  Poking her nose out of the hole just a little, she caught sight of an old woman crossing the floor, a limp in her step.  Beckoning for Mulder to come watch, she gripped the side of the hole and hung on.

"Dear, we can't open up yet.  I've not given the chocolate it's dosage."  Another pair of feet shuffled along the floor, quietly.

"Gran, I won't have you do this again.  It's not right.  I told you before, someone is going to find out."

"Be quiet child.  You do nothing but whine.  Now help me with the syringes, there's a good little girl."  There was a pause. "Sara.  I'm warning you."  Her tone sounded, for a reason Scully didn't want to acknowledge, incredibly frightening.  She shivered and Mulder rubbed her back a little.  He'd heard it too. 

It was plainly and strongly the voice of a madwoman.

"Gran.  Please."  The girl's voice was desperate.  A gigantic crash was heard, a soft cry.  Scully stiffened, held her breath.  The limping footsteps creaked the floorboards, weirdly and then...silence.

Scully ventured slowly out of the hole and scurried around the counter to the shop floor.  She poked her nose around it and saw a young girl, sat on the wooden boards.  There were tears running down her face and she was holding her knee and rubbing it, vigorously.  Dust filled Scully's nose and she sniffed quietly.  She tried to get rid of the tickle, but out it whooshed in an enormous sneeze that popped her ears and watered her eyes.

The girl sitting on the floor looked up and Scully found herself looking directly into the eyes of a tiny twenty-something year-old girl.  Her look of terror was replaced by one of sadness as she gazed at the tiny mouse sitting in front of her.  "Oh no," she whispered. "Not again."  She hid her face in her arms and let out a single sob.

Then she did the most extraordinary thing.  She knelt by Scully, who by this time was frozen with horror, and let a tear fall silently at the mouse's feet.  Scully looked from the droplet to her face in utter amazement.

"I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry."  Sara sighed deeply.  "I don't believe she did this to you."  She stared at the little mouse, shivering with fear and smiled a little as Mulder crept behind her, resting his paws on her shoulders.  "It's okay.  There's no need to be afraid.  You're safe with me."  She sat back on her haunches.  "So what are your names?" Mulder smiled a little as the girl shifted to sit, her legs pulled up by her side.  "It's okay," she said quietly.  "I know what happened to you."

Scully blinked. "You do?"  The girl nodded, solemnly, pushing a lock of golden hair behind her ear, not at all suprized that the mouse in front of her was talking. 

"We didn't even know *that* for certain, until we came in here," Mulder said, venturing out to stand in front of the girl.  He turned to Scully and held out his paw.  She crept towards him and took it, squeezing it warmly and she didn't let go when he expected her to.  The girl shrugged.

"It's my grandmother.  She used to be a psychic, but one morning she woke up and found that her powers had just flown out the window." She used an over enthusiastic arm gesture to emphasis her words.  "For a few years she did nothing but sulk.  She just sat and watched the news all day, looking at all the people dying of hunger and poverty.  Complaining all the time that the world was too populated.  Then one day she decided to do something about it.

"She always had such a strong view on murder, said it was all wrong, that God would punish for sins without others help, so killing people was out.  Then she met Arthur.  He got her into magic again.  Real magic this time.  Before it was just judging people and fooling them senseless, but when she met Arthur the power she began to gain grew dangerous.  One false move and she'd have pots flying through the air at you.  It was frightening."

She shivered slightly, closing her eyes and remembering the memories.  She went on.  "I asked her to stop so many times, but she wouldn't listen.  It was all, Arthur says this and, Arthur says that.  She didn't care about me anymore.  Even now Arthur's dead she still doesn't care."  Scully reached forward and placed a paw on the girl's knee.

"Where're your parents?" she asked, tentatively.  Sara sighed, sadly.

"They died when I was just a baby.  Gran brought me up and she was so kind to me.  But she's changed."

"Did she throw something at you a few minutes ago?" Mulder asked, remembering the crash they'd heard.  Sara nodded, indicating the saucepan a few feet away.

"She has arthritis, so she always threatens me with her magic."  Scully grew skeptic, but tried not to show it.  It was too much for her scientific mind to take in all at once.

"So she makes this magic potion that turns people into mice?" Sara nodded, sadly.

"She thought it was best.  Mice eat less food than humans and they don't need to live in houses to survive."  She grinned at the two mouse, sadly.  "What do I call you, by the way."

"I'm Dana and this is..." She looked at Mulder.

"Mulder." The girl nodded.

"Interesting names.  I love the name Dana.  And Mulder's kind of different."

"It's my last name." Scully grinned a him.

"So what's your first?"

"It's horrible." Sara smiled, amused.

"Doesn't matter.  I'm curious." Mulder sighed.

"Okay.  It's Fox."  She giggled a little.

"Fox.  Cute name.  I like it." Mulder smiled, sheepishly as Scully tried not to laugh.  He looked so sweet when he was embarrassed.

"He lives up to his name," she said quietly, rubbing his arm.  Mulder turned and locked her gaze with his.  Scully smiled softly.

Sara grinned from one to the other. "You two married?"  Mulder looked suprized and turned abruptly away from his partner.

"No.  What made you think that?" The girl shrugged.

"Oh, nothing.  You just seem so close."

"Best friends," Scully cut in before Mulder could let out that they were FBI agents.  She gave him a look and Mulder understood instantly.  "So what happened next?  After you found out she was into this magic?"

"I tried to get her to stop.  I knew it was unfair and wrong.  Not many people come to this shop, but the folk who live on the street opposite get everything from here."

"Which is why they've been disappearing," Mulder stated.  Scully shot him a desperate look.  *Blow our cover, why don't you!* the look said.  He cleared his throat and added, hastily, "Or so we keep hearing."

"People talk." The girl looked terrified for a moment.  "She threatened me with magic.  Said she'd turn me into a frog, or worse.  I can't stop her, but I am trying to make an antidote.  To change the mice back to humans again." Scully pricked up her ears.

"You made an antidote?"

"Yes.  But it doesn't work.  And I don't want to try it on anyone else." She sniffed. "The same dosage on different people seems to have different effects.  Some simply stay as mice and some..." She trailed off and looked down at her hands.  Mulder took a deep breath.

"And some die."  The girl's eyes filled up with tears.

"I don't mean them to, really I don't."

"Does your grandmother know about the antidote?"  Sara shook her head.

"I make it in the basement.  She never goes down there."  There was a long silence.

Scully looked at Mulder, her eyes completely void of any hope she'd had that morning.  She shook her head sadly and sat on the floor, curling her tail around her as if for protection.  "We're gonna be mice forever." Her voice was a mere whisper and so full of pain that Mulder felt his heart almost break.  He reached for her and she buried her nose in his shoulder, silently pushing away the tears that were threatening to roll down her face.

"We'll be okay," Mulder breathed into her ear, secretly wishing she'd never met him.  He was overcome with guilt.  She pulled away and gazed into his eyes.

"No, Mulder.  We know so much, but there's a lot that we don't know.  And we can hardly live like this and find out more about what the government is doing.  I don't want to be a mouse for the rest of my life."  He closed his eyes, bowing his head.  Opening his eyes again, he gazed deeply into hers.  A tear rolled down her cheek and Mulder reached up to rub the patch of skin behind her ear.

Scully closed her eyes at the sensations, but sighed, pitifully.  "That's not going to work, Mulder.  It doesn't take away the fact that we're never going to become humans again."  She shivered as he took his hand away and turned to Sara again, breaking the embrace.  Scully noticed the tears running down her face as she watched them and took a deep breath.

"I'm willing to take the risk with the antidote."  Mulder stared at her.

"Scully.  No."  She whipped around to face him.

"Yes, Mulder.  I'd rather be dead than stay a mouse all my life."  The look of determination was strong in her eyes.  Mulder stepped to her and took both her paws in his.

"In that case.  I'm willing to take the risk, too."  Scully swallowed and stood, her courage making her seem more lovely than ever to Mulder.  "Together.  As always." She gazed at him and nodded, a slight smile creeping onto her face.  They gazed at one another for what seemed like an eternity.  Then they both looked up at the girl sitting on the floor, a slightly amazed look on her face.

"You're so brave," she whispered, more to herself than to the mice at her feet.  She sighed.  "Are you sure?"  They both nodded.  "Right then.  You have to go to sleep for the antidote to take effect.  I'll take you home."  She held out her hand and they clambered on.

"We live in D.C.," Scully said.  "But you can take us back to the hotel we're staying in."  Sara nodded and placed them gently in her coat pocket.  Mulder and Scully curled up together and held one another tight as, possibly their last journey alive, began.

* * * * * *
"Hi.  I'm a friend of Dana Scully's.  I've just spoken to her on her cellular and she told me to come pick up her things.  She has to leave early for D.C."  Mulder heard the conversation a little muffled, partly because there was a thick piece of material between him and the talkers, and partly because his beautiful partner was pressed tightly against his side, her nose tickling his ear.  Her soft fur against his was almost a distraction.

"What room is that?"

"Room 108." Sara knew how they'd gotten out of Mulder's room and didn't want to bring up the subject for fear of getting asked unanswerable questions.

When they arrived at Scully's room, Sara lay the keys on the bedside table and took Mulder and Scully out of her pocket, placing them on the soft pillow at the head of the bed.  Mulder put his arm around Scully and she leaned against him, looking into his eyes.  He could see that she was afraid.  He tried to reassure her, his eyes almost pleading with her to believe him, just this once.  She smiled at him and took a deep breath.

"Ready?" Sara asked, sensing their fear.  Mulder nodded.  Scully gazed into his eyes for a long time and finally nodded.

"Ready." Her voice was so quiet.  Sara reached carefully into her jeans pocket and pulled out a tiny vial, filled with a green substance. 

"Open your mouth and I'll drop in the required amount."  Mulder tipped his head back and opened his mouth, bravely.  The antidote tasted sweet and sour, rather like one of the Chinese takeouts him and Scully got out occasionally on a Saturday evening.  Memories of their wonderful times together flashed before his eyes as the liquid slid down his throat and he swallowed the last of it.

"Dana.  Your turn."  Scully did not move.

"It...it won't start working until we're asleep, will it?"  Sara shook her head and Scully timidly let her pour the drop into her mouth.  Mulder took her paw as she swallowed and rolled onto her side.

"If it doesn't work...I'm sorry...with all my heart."  And she left, sobbing, closing the door behind her.

Scully turned back to him.  "I'm frightened, Mulder."  He cuddled up next to her and stroked her back, tenderly.

"I know you are.  So am I."  There was a silence for a few moments.

"We might not live."

"That's true." She smiled a little and touched his face.

"I'll look for you in heaven," she whispered.

"We'll be together again."  She let out a sob and closed her eyes for a moment.

"If..." She sniffed, opening her eyes. "If we don't...live...I want you to know..."  She looked into his eyes and moved so close to him that their noses touched.  He gazed back at her, so beautiful and strong willed, letting the feelings coursing through his body wash over him.  She pushed away the tears.  "I want you to know that...I love you." 

He stared at her, amazed.  After all this time, she loved him as he loved her.  And she had finally said it out loud.  He couldn't help it.  "I love you, too."  The look on her face was so amazingly beautiful that Mulder felt tears start to roll down his face.  He let his tongue venture out of his mouth to lick the tip of her nose, affectionately.  He sighed, sadly.

"I wanna kiss you again." She smiled a little and licked his nose, countering the affection.

"This is as good as any kiss, Mulder," she whispered, closing her eyes as his paw moved up her back to her ears.  The familiar caresses started up and she could feel his breath soft against her cheek.

"Sleep, dear Scully."

"I love you, Mulder."  Her body relaxed in his arms and she nuzzled her nose under his chin, as sleep began to weight her down.

"I love you, too...Dana." She smiled softly at his use of her first name and closed her eyes.

"Fox..." she whispered as she fell into a deep sleep.

Mulder licked her nose one last time and closed his eyes, sinking into the same ablivion, hoping against hope that he would see her beautiful face again.

* * * * * *
As the sun came up over the New York horizon, two shadows lay curled together and motionless.  There was a sense of death in the room, making the air around the lovers frosty with tension.  The window was open and the curtains blew around the wood, white and ghost-like in the darkness.

Dreams floated softly around the bedroom like flotsam and jetsam on a beach.  A figure entered the room.  She smiled as she saw the serene couple.  Reaching over to pull the covers over them both, she left, the door shutting quietly behind her.

* * * * * *
"Scully!"  Opening her eyes, groggily, she tried to focus on the face above her.  The one spreading huge kisses over her cheeks and forehead.  She took his arms and held him away from her.

"Mulder!  Stop that!"  Then she remembered.  The antidote.  She stopped and gazed around her.  The bright sunshine lit up the room and sparkled across the walls.  She closed her eyes and smiled, relief filling her body and mind.  She felt Mulder's lips softly tease hers and didn't push him away.  Sliding her arms around his neck, she pulled him down to her and pressed her lips to his.

There kiss was what fairy tales were made of.  It was flowers and bright mornings and lacy hearts.  It was full of sun beams and moonlight and perfection.  She felt his hands in her hair.  His tongue probed at her lips and she parted them, letting him inside.  Stroking, teasing, touching, their tongues met again and again in a battle of love that they could never control.

Finally, Mulder gained enough restraint to pull away from her.  He wrapped his arms around her and helped her sit up.  She smiled up at him and kissed him lightly on the bridge of his nose, wonder filling her face.

"I don't believe it, Mulder," she said, smiling as he trailed a hand across her jaw.  "It worked.  The antidote worked."

"I know." He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.  She obliged, relishing in the familiar slide of her hair across her cheeks once again.  He gazed deep into her eyes and watched them soften.  Mulder moved a hand to brush an auburn strand back behind her ear and that's all it took.

She buried her face in his shoulder.  "I thought we were gonna die, Mulder.  I thought I was never going to see you again."  He held her against him tightly, never wanting to let her go.

"Shush.  It's okay.  The antidote worked.  We're both safe.  And," He lifted her face to meet her eyes, brushing loose tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, "we're both human again."  He reached around her to rub her back and she was subtly reminded of him caressing her when they were mice.  Lifting her hand to his face, she looked into his eyes and saw all the love and trust he had for her in them.  Then she slowly looked down.  Her mouth opened as she realized where, and how, they were situated.

Mulder stopped rubbing her back and swallowed.  They were completely naked.  She was sitting on his lap, one leg either side of him, her whole body touching his.  He was instantly hard.  His heart gave a little leap of joy as he felt her hands tangling in his hair and pulling his lips down to hers.  He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her back.

Their kisses, this time, were like fire.  They sought fulfillment and got it, in more ways than one.  Mulder moaned softly as he felt her fingertips running down his chest, teasing and tickling around and in the soft, wiry hair they encounted.  He tore his mouth from hers and began to kiss the rest of her face.  Her cheeks, her neck and her shoulders, all earned his attention and caresses.  He bit the skin near her collarbone gently and soothed it with tiny sweeps of his tongue.

"Mulder," she breathed, arching back her head and gasping as he dropped his lips to the top of her breast.

"Please.  Don't say anything, Scully."  She nodded and closed her eyes as his warm mouth trailed down her front to her already hardened nipple and closed over it.  She held him to her and stroked his hair as he suckled her, softly.  Her breathing grew more ragged as he sucked harder and harder until she was gasping, clutching at the sheets near her knees, desperately.

"Jesus, Mulder," she breathed as he stabbed his tongue at the nub, making her jump.  He smiled against her, cherishing the thought that he could make her feel so good and lay her gently down into the pillows.

Moving over her with the utmost care, he rested his cheek against her flat stomach and waited for her to calm a little.  Finally, she relaxed and reached down to caress his cheek, tenderly.

"God, I don't believe this is happening," she whispered, gazing into his eyes and shaking her head a little in amazement.  He grinned and moved up her body to kiss her fully and sweetly, snaking his hands under her body to hold her close.

"Oh, Scully," he breathed against her, feeling her wrap her arms around his neck, "You're so beautiful."  She smiled and ran a hand over his face, pushing a small lock of hair back.

"Well, you're beautiful too," she whispered, cupping his chin and tilting her head at him.  He grinned and squeezed her, kissing the space between her breasts, warmly.  Scully sighed contentedly and lay back into the pillows as Mulder slipped his right hand between her legs and cupped her, gentle as always.  "Oh my..." she groaned as he slipped a finger between her heated lips, touching and testing her responses.  Spreading the moisture forward, but not quite touching her clit, he felt her hand on his left and weaved his fingers between hers by her side.

Mulder slid his finger inside her and felt her arch up beneath him.  "Yeah...like that," she moaned, as he moved his fingers forward and began to stroke her clitoris in tiny circles, building the pressure inside her higher and higher.  Looking down at her face, he felt himself harden even more.  The look in her eyes was beautiful, striking, gorgeous. 

"I love you so much, Scully.  You know that, don't you?"  She nodded, arching again at his words.

"Yesss!"  God.  She could feel it coming now, like a tidal wave of pure ecstasy, rumbling towards her faster and faster.  She cried out on his name and felt the tremors start deep in her soul, moving outwards to every part of her body.  She exploded with pleasure and h.  "Mulder...Oh my God!"  Her body tensed and she thrashed around unconsciously on the bed, gripping the sheets and moving reflexively against Mulder's hand.

He waited until she'd quietened before he removed his hand from her.  She lay, breathing heavily, her head spinning.  She opened her eyes to him and smiled, groggily. "Hey."

"Hey."  There was a small silence.

"God that was good," Scully breathed, closing her eyes and stretching her head back into the pillows.  Mulder smiled.

"Wanna do it again?"  She nodded and reached for him.

"Together?" she asked as he kissed her forehead, tenderly.  He nodded and lifted her a little, caressing her hips gently, ready to slide inside her.  Looking into her eyes, he asked for the permission he needed and she gave it willingly, with a small nod of her head.

And as he filled her, she felt all the barriers they'd carefully constructed come crashing down around them.  This was it.  The final surrender.  The one thing that they'd both been waiting for for so long.  This wasn't just sex.  This was completion.

She smiled and realized that this was the first time she'd ever felt really relaxed with a man.  And, as he began to move in and out of her, she groaned, stretching her head back into the pillows.  She felt so amazingly good that she wanted to scream.  She felt herself reaching the point of no return again and reached up to grasp the headboard.  She held on tight as he pound into her, matching him, thrust for thrust. 

Mulder snug his hands under her behind to bring her closer to him, to thrust deeper into her and claim her for his own.  His rhythm sped up and he moaned as she squeezed her inner muscles around him.  "Don't do that, Scully," he panted, dropping his lips to hers and kissing her hotly.

"I can't...help it," she groaned back, her hands leaving the headboard to hold him close to her.  Mulder knelt up and kept up the rhythm, pulling at her hips as he thrust into her.

"Open your eyes, Scully," he breathed, almost comandingly.  She did and smiled at his gorgeous look of concentration as he fought the urge to come.  "I love you."  Her eyes slipped shut as he reached between them and caressed her clit.

"Mulder...Oh my God."  She was gonna come again.  Soon.  Mulder felt her begin to tense and lay down against her, pushing and pushing and rubbing around where they were joined with his hand.  He snuggled his forehead between her breasts, affectionately.  Her body gave a final heave against his and she cried out, breaking into a million pieces as the orgasm shook her, mind and body alike.  "Yesss...."

Mulder tensed the moment he felt her inner muscles start to contract and flutter around him.  "Scully..." he groaned as he finally came, collapsing onto her and burying his face in her shoulder. 

When the tremors had settled between them, Scully opened her eyes and sighed, heavily.  Stretching her head back into the pillows, she felt Mulder start to get up, move out of her.  She stopped him.  "Mulder.  Stay inside me for a few more minutes." He nodded against her shoulder, completely understanding her reasons.  She wanted to commit this moment to memory.  To stop time for a moment and just lie with him.

"I love you," he said as she began to stroke his back with her fingertips.  She nodded and swallowed, fighting back tears of realization.  He nuzzled his cheek into her shoulder and closed his eyes.  When he felt the tiny, warm drops falling onto the side of his forehead, he lifted his head and gazed at her face.  "What is it?" he asked, fearing that he'd done something wrong.  "Am I hurting you?"

She shook her head and he rose up off her, pulling gently out of her and lying by her side.  She smiled through her tears as he gently tickled the spot behind her ear that felt so familiar.  "What's wrong, Scully?"  She sighed.

"If I had lost you, Mulder..."

"You mustn't think like that.  Everything's okay now." She nodded and closed her eyes, unconvinced.  "Scully." He touched her jaw, tenderly.  She looked up.  His eyes were so sincere.  "I'll never leave you.  I promise.  And we'll stick by one another, just like we always have done.  Nothing will ever come between us."  He leant over her and kissed her forehead, like she had done to him so many times before.  She swallowed and finally smiled a little.  "You look so pretty when you smile," he whispered against her ear.  "You should do it more often." She blushed, just a tiny pink on her cheeks, but he noticed it.

"We should get up," she breathed, running a gentle hand over the tiny hairs on his chest.  Mulder nodded, but did not move.

"In a few minutes, Scully.  Let me just recover from that amazing sex we just had."  She laughed and his heart warmed at the still unfamiliar sound.  She tapped his forehead with the back of her hand and he opened his eyes again.  She sat up, wrapping the sheets around the pale skin of her torso.

"Come on.  We have to go arrest Sara's grandmother.  However unfair it may sound."  Mulder leant up on an elbow and yawned, moving to sit behind her and wrap his arms around her.

"We should let Sara know that the antidote works, so she can turn the others back."  Scully nodded, leaning into him and closing her eyes.

* * * * * *
Having phoned Skinner and told their almost unbelievable story, Mulder and Scully walked side by side around the corner of the street they'd visited the day before.  Policemen and investigators flooded the sunny area like hyenas around a dead carcass, fussing with clipboards and cellulars.  Scully glanced at her partner, a tired look in her eyes and he sighed, feeling the same run-down feeling she was.

"Excuse me, are you the FBI Agents?"  I young mother carrying a tiny baby strode up to them, too few restful nights darkening her features.  Scully nodded and held out her badge, trying not to think about the child in her arms. "I have to ask you, is my husband alive?"  Scully looked down at her feet, chewing her lip.

"We're not sure.  The whereabouts of all the...missing people haven't been obtained.  We're working on it." She glanced behind the woman and caught sight of a bodybag being carried out the shop by two firemen.

"Thankyou.  I do appreciate your help." The girl trotted away, oblivious to the possibility that her husband might never come back. 

"I expect they've arrested the grandmother..."  Scully looked at Mulder and saw that he was staring at the door of the shop.  She frowned a little and followed the direction of his gaze.  Then she noticed that the shop was completely empty. "What the..."  They made their way to the door and entered the tiny establishment. 

No-one was in the shop, they were all taking notes and looking for evidence outside.  Gazing around the dark room, Mulder noticed the deserted shelves, the empty counter and the dusty windowsills.  It looked like there hadn't been anything sold there for years.

"Where is everything, Scully?" His voice seemed to echo across the room, eerily, almost as if...

"It's so cold in here," Scully whispered, shivering.  Mulder moved to her side, wrapping a loose arm around her.  She shrugged, trying to dislodge it and gave him a funny look.  "What if someone sees?"

"They won't," he murmured, but he saw how nervous she was and let her pull from his embrace anyway.  He heard her sigh and watched her pace the room a little, her eyes on the ceiling, lost in thought.  He saw her smile.  "What?"

She shook her head.  "It just looks so much smaller than it did before." He grinned at her, moving to stand by her side.

"Of course, the fact that we were only two inches tall at the time..." She laughed softly, leaning her cheek wearily on his shoulder and pushing her arm through his.  She turned to him and caught his gaze.  He smiled at her and slid his hand behind her head, moving slowly in to kiss her.  A slight noise behind them caused them to swiftly break away, embarrassed.  Luckily, the room was dark, so their blushes were invisible.  A stocky policeman entered the shop, a flashlight in his hand.  When he caught sight of the agents, he jumped.

"God, I didn't see you there.  You gave me a fright."  The strong English accent made him sound posh and straight jacketed.  He shone the beam into their faces and looked at Scully, winking at her.  "What are you doing here in the dark?  A little romantic moment in private?"  She hid her face behind her hand, blocking out not only the beam of the flashlight, but also hiding her face as she blushed even redder.  Mulder grinned.

"Something like that," he said, sarcasm ringing in his voice.  The man nodded, mock serious.  He pointed a thumb at Mulder.

"Just don't let him get carried away," he told Scully, grinning.  She smiled in what she hoped was a joking way and nodded.  The man turned to scan the shop and Scully took the opportunity to shoot Mulder a desperate look.  He shrugged, smiling sheepishly and turned to stand beside the policeman.

"Agent Mulder.  Pleased to meet you." 

"Sergeant Page."  They shook hands.  Then Page took a double take.  "Mulder?  Aren't you the guy who got turned into a mouse?"  He nodded, not quite knowing what to expect from the man.  "Sounds like you had an interesting adventure.  I say, good job for solving the case.  We were totally baffled."  He clapped him on the back.

"Well it wasn't just me.  My partner, Scully," He indicated the flash of auburn hair and brown trenchcoat, crouched down, studying the hole in the floor with which they'd entered the shop when they were mice.  She looked up at the sound of her name.  "She was the brains in it all.  I just followed her ideas."  She nodded her thanks to Mulder and leant on one arm over the hole again.

"Well done to both of you, then.  I say, you're a great team."  Page strode out of the shop, jangling his keys as he went.  Scully watched him go, then turned to Mulder, motioning for him to kneel beside her.

"Sorry about that."  She shook her head, accepting his apologies with her eyes and reaching into the hole to bring out a piece of paper.  Unfolding it carefully and turning it around in her hands, she dug in her coat pocket for her flashlight and shone it on the page.  Mulder leaned over her shoulder and read aloud what was written.

"Dear Dana and Fox.

There will be no more incidents.  My grandmother died of a heart attack last night.  She was sleeping peacefully in her bed and God decided that her time had come.  I burned her body in the back yard.  You can do what you want with her ashes.  I don't know whether she shall go to heaven, I doubt it, but I know she will be happy, knowing she has done something to help the world.  Even though I don't agree with her, so long as she's happy, I am too.

I saw you change.  It was the most fulfilling sight I've ever seen.  I hope you have a good life together, I'm sure you will.  The formula for the antidote is on the reverse of this paper.  Please put it to some good use.  There are 12 mice who need it.  Tell Maria, she will have her husband back.  She's the one you were talking to earlier.  The one with the baby."

Mulder looked at Scully, wonder filling his eyes.  He carried on reading.

"You won't find me, so don't try to look.  I'm sorry for all the people I couldn't save, I really am.  I hope there were no side effects to the antidote.
Yours truly and faithfully,

Sara."

Scully turned to Mulder as he turned over the paper to read the formula.  "How the hell did she know about the woman with the baby?  This is getting too weird, Mulder."

"Maybe she is psychic, like her Gran.  It has been known to be hereditary."

"But she said herself that it wasn't real.  That her Gran just tricked people."  Mulder shrugged.

"Maybe her powers were real."  Scully sighed and stood, folding the paper carefully and placing into her coat pocket.  Mulder rose beside her and touched her shoulder as she turned to the door.  She turned and smiled at him. 

"Let's go home, Mulder.  The case is over."  He nodded and they walked together into the open air, not quite holding hands.

From out of the hole, poked a tiny set of whiskers.  "Bye Dana and Fox," a little voice whispered. "And..."  Sara paused for a moment. "Thanks."

La fini.