Kinesthesia by amy (spookey247) epilogue

Kinesthesia

by Amy

EPILOGUE

WASHINGTON DC THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 4:49 PM

They were creeping through Georgetown in rush hour traffic when Mulder's cell phone beeped, breaking the silence.

"Mulder," he said. "Agent Capocelli, hi. Oh, they did? Huh."

Scully checked Mulder's face for signs of bad news. There certainly shouldn't have been any at this point: the search warrants had been served; evidence bagged; witness statements duly recorded. The body of the perpetrator was in line for an autopsy at the Natrona county morgue and the possibility of any conspiracy had been thoroughly investigated and summarily dismissed. The wrap-up had gone so smoothly, in fact, that the SAC had sent both of them home ahead of schedule.

Cell phone pressed to his ear, Mulder moved the car forward, then hit the brakes with a grimace. "Yeah?" he said again, in response to whatever Capocelli was telling him. "Oh. Okay."

Scully kept her eyes on Mulder's face. She wasn't quite sure what to make of his behavior since they'd left the fairgrounds Monday morning. While he certainly hadn't been avoiding her, he'd seemed unusually quiet and reserved as they'd gone about their duties. They'd had no time alone, no opportunity to exchange more than a few words. Even the flight home had been spent in the company of two fellow agents.

Mulder thanked Capocelli for keeping them up-to-speed and set the phone on the dash. "Cap's back in Denver," he said.

"So I gathered." Scully suppressed a shiver. The sky outside was a misty gray. "Nothing left to do in Casper?"

"Nope. After he saw our statements the DA decided not to charge Rob Peake. Even let him leave town - by the way, the old man's expected to live."

Scully shook her head. "I still can't believe she was poisoning his Pepto right under my nose - "

"I hope you're not blaming yourself."

She shrugged. "No, but I feel just as stupid as everyone else who believed Mandy's act. She'd been working for the old man for almost seven years. Gives the word 'premeditation' a whole new meaning."

Mulder braked for a stoplight. "Cap said they finally got a match on the prints."

"Oh?"

"Her real name was Amanda Zinzer. She'd been arrested a few times under a couple different aliases - check fraud, some other scams, no convictions. Santa Fe PD confirmed she was James Smith's granddaughter. Her mother was one Hannah Zinzer, late of the state mental hospital outside Albuquerque. No word on a father. Seems Mandy was the last surviving member of the family."

Scully shook her head again. "The whole thing is just sad."

Mulder kept his eyes on the street. "Yeah."

"Tim told me he remembers sketching a rough diagram of a pipe bomb on a bar napkin one night. He thinks she palmed it when he wasn't looking and figured the rest out for herself. Imagine."

"Oh, Cap said they took Gwen off the critical list this afternoon."

Scully nodded. "I saw Tim at the hospital. He said things were looking up for Gwen."

"Did he?"

"It's going to be a long recovery period - they'll have to be off the road awhile. But I don't think that's an entirely bad thing for either one of them."

Mulder's brow creased.

"What?"

"Damned nice of you to stop by," Mulder muttered. "Bet Tim thinks you clean up pretty good, huh?"

"I suppose." She folded her arms across her chest to warm them. "I figured after everything the least I could do was say good-bye. And by the way, he told me to thank you for the card you left for Gwen."

Mulder looked over at her. "You warm enough?" His gaze lingered.

"Sure." She returned the look.

"Bet you're glad to be back," he said.

The way he was looking at her made her insides flutter. "Bet you are, too."

The driver behind them laid on his horn.

"Shit." Mulder glanced into the rearview, eased the Taurus through the light. A few minutes later, he pulled into a parking space half a block from her front door.

"You got an umbrella?" he asked.

Being a good urban dweller, of course the answer was 'yes.' She always carried one in her shoulder bag. After a moment's consideration, though, she shrugged and gave him a little smile. "No."

His eyebrows lifted. "I, um..." Rummaging in a side compartment, he produced a battered black collapsible. "I'll walk you in, then."

"Thanks."

The drizzle was turning into a shower. Mulder opened the umbrella and got her bag out of the trunk, then shielded her gallantly as she stepped out onto the curb. Huddling together, they hurried along the sidewalk.

The umbrella, as it turned out, was the size of a large-ish postage stamp. "It came with my 'Post' subscription," Mulder told her apologetically, slipping his arm around her waist and guiding her around a puddle. "It stubbornly refuses to be lost."

She laughed. "You're getting wet."

"We better hurry up before I melt, then."

Mulder set her suitcase down in the vestibule. Scully reached into her shoulder bag, searching for her keys. "God, I've been away so long..." She freed the ring from a tangle at the bottom of the bag.

"Dropped something." Mulder bent down and scooped the something up. "Hey, I never would have pegged you for a Scooby-Doo fan, Scully."

Scully smiled. "Saved it from my weight-guess joint."

"Souvenir of past glories, huh?"

She unlocked the front door. "You could say that."

"Nice to have a career to fall back on." Mulder shifted his weight from one foot to the other, echoed the motion with the stuffed dog in his hand.

Scully rattled her keys. "You're coming up, right?"

They stared at each other.

"Absolutely," he said.

"God, it's stuffy in here." Scully tossed her jacket over a chair and made for the nearest window. "You know," she said, as she threw it open to the rain, "I don't mind this weather at all. It's a nice change."

Mulder didn't answer.

"Not that it was really hot in Wyoming," she continued, heading across the room and opening a second window. "It's just I've been spending so much time outside that it's nice to have an excuse to just curl up on the sofa. And I'm starving. We could order something, if you want. Do you want something to drink? I probably have some sodas in the 'fridge, but they might all be diet..."

Suddenly aware that she was babbling, Scully turned away from the window and forced herself to pause.

Mulder was still standing by the door with his wet hair and his wet trench coat and the Scooby-Doo sitting on his open palm like he was preparing to release it back into the wild.

He was also, she noticed, making the panic face again.

She swallowed hard. "Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"Food?"

"Sure. Pizza, maybe?" God, he was gazing. At her. Again.

"Pizza sounds good," she said. "Whose pizza do you like best? I usually call Pizza King - they aren't the fastest, but they're a lot better than Dominoes."

"Sounds good."

"You're soaked. Here, let me hang up your coat."

Mulder put down the Scooby Doo and shrugged out of his trench coat. He handed it to her.

"Do you want a towel?"

He nodded.

"Come on." She headed down the hallway that led to her bedroom. Mulder followed her to the linen closet. She threw him a towel.

"Thanks." He rubbed his head vigorously. Emerging, he threw the towel over his shoulder.

"Nice hair." Scully grinned at him. "Looks like a chopper just flew over your head."

He chuckled. "This is something new?"

"Come here," she said, reaching out. He stepped closer, bent down. She smoothed his damp hair back into place. God, she'd give anything to have hair this thick.

She raked her fingers along his scalp.

"That feels good," he murmured.

Suddenly her insides were in an uproar. She lowered her hand. "That's better," she managed to say.

Mulder straightened. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Their eyes locked.

Then he spoke in a hush. "I've been thinking a lot about what happened out there, Scully."

The closet door was at her back. She steadied herself against it. "Me, too."

"I think we lost our heads a little."

She squeezed the doorknob. Please, not this again. "But - "

"But I'm not sorry," he said quickly. He took a step closer. He smelled like the rain.

"Me, either," she said.

"I mean, it's not - I loved it, Scully. Being with you, I mean. I just wish our first time together could have been - " His body was close now. It warmed her like a roaring fire. "Because I've been waiting so long, and - "

The depth of emotion in his voice surprised her. She reached out impulsively, took his hand. "You've been waiting for me?"

"A long time. A very long time."

She nodded, unable to speak.

"And since Sunday I've been so - " He squeezed her fingers and sighed, closing his eyes, " - so scared you don't want - "

"Mulder - "

His eyes flew open again. They were shining. "Do you, Scully?"

She answered without hesitation. "Yes."

His voice rose. "I've been trying to tell you for months now - "

"Mulder, yes," she said. She had a lump in her throat.

He didn't seem to have heard her. " - but I just keep screwing it up and - "

"Mulder!"

He stopped talking. Stared at her.

"I said 'yes'," she said softly.

"Oh," he said. His mouth twitched up in just a hint of a smile. "Oh. Okay."

She laid her palm against his cheek. "Show me, Mulder."

"Show you?"

"Show me how it should have been."

Mulder's eyes got much wider. He slipped his arm around her waist. "I've been waiting forever to show you," he rasped. "I don't think you know what you're asking, Scully."

"I - " Her voice caught in her throat. "I think I do."

Then an impish gleam came into his eye. "So you know I'm going to kiss you, right?"

"Mu - " His gaze made her ache. She could barely breathe.

"And I mean every bit of you, starting here," - he lifted her fingertips to his lips - "and working my way down." He lowered their joined hands. "How's that sound?"

"Good," she answered.

"And by the time I'm finished," he continued, pulling her closer, "you'll know exactly how I feel. What do you think?"

"Sounds like a plan," she answered, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing his mouth toward hers. "A really good plan."

"So we better get started right away?"

"Yeah," she murmured, kissing him softly. "There's not a moment to lose."

End 12/12 End 'Kinesthesia'

Feedback makes my day! spookey247@yahoo.com

Author's Notes:

I am astonished that this story is finally finished! When I started it, one year, one month, and nine days ago, all I knew was that I wanted to write an undercover casefile. Why, you may ask? I have no idea! One thing's for sure - I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This stuff is hard work! My hat is off to all those writers who make it look so easy.

There were many, many times when I almost shelved this story. That I'm finally posting it is almost entirely due to the work of one person, my way- beyond-amazing beta, Amanda. I am the kind of writer who always has too much going on - too many ideas, too many storylines, too many words. In the early stages she listened to lots of rants and read lots of drafts (many that were going nowhere) and helped me narrow my topic and organize my ideas. In later stages she slashed and hacked and re-worked and added and helped me make this mess into a story I could be happy with and that people might enjoy reading. She is a brilliant editor, brave enough to tell me 'these pages have to go!' even when she knows I'm going to pitch a tantrum. <g> In every way, this is her story as well as mine, and I will never be able to thank her enough for all her time and effort. Thanks, A. You're the best in the business.

And my bud Sybil stuck with me through this whole thing too, reading the same drafts and rewrites and cheering me on and poking me to finish both in public and in private. She has a great knack for seeing what I want to do with the plot even when I'm not aware myself! And there were times when poking from Sybil was the only thing keeping me writing.

Syntax and Leogirl were my test-drivers, who gave fresh brains and insights to the project as we got close to posting. I really appreciate the time these ladies spent on the story. I was getting tired and discouraged and they helped me make it to the finish line.

Thanks everybody! As Sybil would say, you're the bestest. <g>

Thanks to everyone who read along during posting and put comments up and Haven and sent me mail. I hope you've enjoyed!

To learn more about the story, try these URLs!

Photos of Carnival Workers by John Decker: http://www.intac.com/~jdeck/carnies/index.html

Glossary of Carny Lingo: http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/WYAN4220/mycustompage0003.htm

Amusement Ride Accidents and News: http://members.aol.com/rides911/accidents.htm

Amusement Link One Source: http://members.aol.com/parklinks/links.htm

To hear Conway Twitty sing "Hello Darlin'": http://www.conwaytwitty.net/

To see Mulder's truck: truck

To learn about the physics of Amusement Rides: http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/

To see a cool Dharmachakra: http://www.karmapa.org.nz/prayers/teach/symbols.html

A fascinating travelogue in rural China: http://www.cogsci.uiuc.edu/~daniel/china.htm

To see a really freaky Tantric Skull: http://www.tiger-tiger.com/catalog/ritualitems/ts102.jpg

Miscellaneous Human Interest Articles about Carnies:

http://www.freep.com/news/nw/ecarnies2_20020702.htm

http://www.ardemgaz.com/prev/fair/index.asp

http://www.pacificnews.org/jinn/stories/3.17/970814-carny.html