chapter 4.


"I told you, I don't need no new clothes."  That sulky bottom lip 
pooched out again.
Scully plucked at the stained teeshirt. "Yes, you do. These stink." 
"Do not!" Tor managed to look both defiant and offended at the same 
time.
"Don't argue with me, Tor. We're going to get new stuff, and we're 
going to do it with or without your input."
Scully dragged the girl between the racks of clothes, fighting the 
urge to strangle the teenager. The unrelenting hostilities were 
wearing her down. How did other people cope with teens?

"How `bout this?" Doggett called from behind a colourful rail. He 
held up a summer dress, a huge grin on his face.
Scully bit down on a laugh.
Tor exploded. "No way! Absolutely no f..." She got no further with 
her protests, because Scully whipped around and clamped a hand over 
her mouth. Big surprised eyes looked at her over her  hand.
"Ah-ah. No. We will not be using any more words like that." She 
glared down. "I am not having any daughter of mine shocking an entire 
department store with foul language. Understood?"
She was tired of listening to the filth that came out of this kid's 
mouth. She could only imagine what her own parents would have done if 
she'd have come out with half of what Tor used, casually.

She took her hand away slowly. "Okay?"
"You can't tell me what to do. You're not...!"
Scully clamped her hand over the mouth again and smiled grimly. "Two 
things. One: you will not mention the `We Are Not' phrase again. And 
two: I think you'll find I most certainly can, Victoria."
She lowered her hand, wiping it on her jeans. It was more than a 
little wet.
Tor licked her lips. "Don't use that name. I hate it."
"Then behave. Earn the right to have the other name."
Tor pouted again and shot Scully a vicious look.
Scully ignored her. "Deal?"
"Huhm."

"That a `yes', mom?" Doggett asked, wandering over, still clutching 
the dress.
He leaned on a shelf, dangling the flowery item between two fingers. 
His good humour seemed to have returned after the incident in the 
field.
"I think so," she replied, looking sideways at him and then back at 
Tor's angry face. 
"And what a lovely dress, Michael. I think it would suit our little 
girl down to the ground!"
"I don't think so!" 
"Aw, I don't know..." Doggett stepped over and held the dress up to 
her. "I think you'd look kinda sweet in it."
Stepping back as if burned, Tor snarled at him. 
"Get..." Snatching a glance at Scully's face, she re-thought her 
vocabulary and finished rather lamely: "Lost."

Sensing a not inconsiderable victory, Scully felt magnanimous enough 
to offer an olive branch.
"So, tell us, Tor. What would you prefer to wear?"
A sideways glance and narrowed eyes.
"You mean it?"
Scully nodded. "Uh-huh. What would you pick?"
Frowning, the girl looked around and finally settled her gaze in the 
teenager section. Scully watched a smile spread over her face.
"Those," she said, pointing.

Turning to where she indicated, the agents were greeted with a 
collection of denim dungarees.
"Those?" Scully echoed.
"Yeah. They're cool." Slipping her hand free, Tor dashed between the 
rails to stand at the denim section, running her hand over the shiny 
brass buttons and hooks on the front.
Scully looked at Doggett and raised her eyebrows. 
What d'you think? She asked silently.
Doggett shrugged amiably. Why not?
They were getting good at this non-verbal stuff, she thought as she 
made her way over to Tor.
Maybe they were finally getting on the same wavelength.
That was dangerous.

"These are boys' clothes, Tor," Scully began, knowing she'd never be 
caught dead in boys' stuff at Tor's age.
"So?" A hint of the earlier aggression filtered back.
Scully shrugged. Raw nerve, there, apparently.
"Okay, okay. Dungarees it is. And how about a couple of fresh tee 
shirts to go with them?"

Hell, the US Government could afford to splash out a little on one 
young girl in danger.
"You mean it?" Tor's face was a picture. 
Scully wondered how often she got any new clothes.
"Sure," she said, smiling. "Why not? A girl's got to look good, don't 
you think?"
Eyes wide, Tor turned back to the rail, trying to find her size. She 
fished out a pair.
"Cool," she muttered to herself, turning the clothes around in her 
hands.

"These would look good," Doggett said, handing over four baggy tee 
shirts. Again from the boys' section, one of each in red, green, blue 
and white.
Tor nodded and took the shirts, her gaze flicking to Doggett as if 
unsure about taking them
"And you gotta have boots, too," Doggett said, getting into the whole 
shopping-thing in a big way.
Scully watched in amusement as he gathered a pair of tan ankle boots 
up, along with several pairs of gym socks and boxer shorts.
"These about your size?" he asked, showing the boots to Tor, who 
nodded, dumbly.

"Erm... Hello?" Scully began, hesitating to say anything to stem this 
touching enthusiasm.
"Huh?" He looked up from the armful of clothes, wide-eyed.
Oh, God... Those eyes...
She cleared her tight throat.
"I think you've gotten a bit carried away, there."
"What?" He looked at the clothes. "I think Uncle Sam can afford it, 
Kerry."

Shaking her head and frowning at the hated name, Scully indicated 
down at his handful.
"No... I mean, you're shopping for..." She glanced at Tor, wondering 
how she was going to take this. "You're supposed to be catering for a 
girl."
Doggett's gaze dropped to the boxers. He coloured up. "Oh."
Scully grinned. Sure didn't take much to turn those ears.

"That's okay," Tor reached over and snatched the underwear. "They're 
fine."
"But..." Doggett began. 
"They're okay, I tell you." 
Scully watched in amusement as Tor started to blush, too.
"Let's just get outta here, okay?"
"Okay," Scully nodded. "In a moment." She loaded the boxers back into 
Doggett's arms and gave him the dungarees, too. "Wait for us by the 
checkout, will you... Mike?"
She nodded over to the exit.
"Why?" Doggett looked blank above the clothes piled up to his chin.
Scully sighed. "Just go, okay?" She jerked her head and frowned. Get 
the picture, John... she thought to him.... Get the picture...
It took a good few seconds, but eventually, a look of dawning 
comprehension blossomed in his eyes.
"Oh," he said, turning pink again. "I'll just ... Go over there, 
then," he stammered, suddenly desperate to get away. He turned and 
all but ran for the checkout.

"What d'you do that for?" Tor asked.
"You want to talk `bras' in front of him?" Scully asked, watching as 
the girl turned the same shade as Doggett. 
She frowned.  "I don't..."
"Tor..."
"I don't need no stinking..."
Scully looked pointedly down at her chest. "Yes, you do," she said 
firmly. "Now come with me and we'll get you sorted out." And taking a 
clenched fist in her hand, Scully marched over to the  women's 
lingerie assistant, dragging a groaning teenager.




                                    * 





Using the mall's restrooms to change, Tor emerged after half an hour 
of irritated supervision, a different person, in her new outfit. 
They found Doggett slumped over a bench in resigned patience. It had 
taken him a bare ten minutes to wash and change into fresh tee shirt 
and jeans.
Scully had wanted to curl up on the floor when she saw what he 
changed into. 
Black.  All black.
Tight, stretched and black.
God, she wasn't going to be able to make it through the week. She'd 
had to look away.

"Well?" she asked, holding Tor's hand out. "What d'you think?"
Nodding, Doggett stood. "Not bad," he said. "The kid scrubs up okay." 
Scrubbed up okay, thought Scully, but looked like a boy. Short spiky 
hair, washed under the restroom faucet with howls of anguish added to 
the effect.
At least she had been able to persuade Tor that she really *did* need 
to wear a trainer bra.

Doggett glanced down the corridor. "You think we can eat, please? I'm 
dyin' here."
His statement of pathetic pleading made her smile.
"Sure." Scully risked letting go of Tor and shoved her hands in her 
pockets. "What d'you fancy?"
"Burger."

Both Doggett and Tor spoke together. They looked at each other and 
grinned.
This was progress, thought Scully, following them towards the car. 
Not actually holding a conversation, but at least communicating in a 
civilized fashion. 
Hope it lasts, she thought.


                                    * 


With drive-thro' on their laps, they began the last leg of the 
journey to the safe house.
Doggett had glanced at Tor. "Mind if I ride up front for a bit?"
Shrugging, she spoke to the window, without looking at him. "Suit 
yourself. I don't need a babysitter."
Easing himself into the seat, Scully watched him balance his food as 
he buckled up.
"Okay, partner," he said. "Let's rock and roll."

Risking the occasional glance across, Scully watched in fascination 
as Doggett inhaled his food. 
There was something compulsive in watching a man eat with gusto and 
such obvious enjoyment.
She gave herself a guilty shake when she found herself spending 
rather too much time watching as he sucked the fries' grease and salt 
from his fingers.
Not safe driving practise, she scolded herself. But deep down, she 
knew she was angry with herself for enjoying the sight of his fingers 
sliding into his mouth a little too much.
Hell - she shouldn't be enjoying that sight at all.
This was her work partner.
Was she mad?
Yes, said a little voice deep inside. 
Definitely.

The warmth of the car, the soft rock on the radio and the long, flat 
roads were hypnotic.
Conversation had dwindled, and checking the rear-view, Scully saw 
that Tor was fast asleep, head lolling to one side.
She smiled. Not so tough, after all.
Turning to whisper to Doggett, she was startled to see him sitting 
with his head back against the rest, eyes shut.
Sleeping, or just resting? She couldn't tell.
At the next straight bit of road, she took the opportunity to snatch 
long glances at him, enjoying the private moment.

Relaxed, his face was smoother than usual. The lines on his forehead 
eased out, that strange vee-shaped dent below his hairline invisible.
Even the worry-marks over his eyebrows were absent.
She kind of liked how he looked, like this.
Peaceful, younger, maybe.

She snatched her eyes back to the road.
Stop it!  This wasn't the time or the place to do this.
Shit - there was never going to be a time to do this. She couldn't 
allow herself to get in any further. It was crazy. He wasn't only her 
work partner, he was also totally unsuitable for her.
Probably too old. 
Probably too set in his ways.
Definitely too much history. 
And more importantly, he'd never given any indication that he like 
her `that' way.
Well, to be fair, she didn't think she'd given any, either, so that 
meant nothing.

But the question was - how did she feel about that? Was she relieved, 
or disappointed?
She shook her head, rolling her eyes at herself. This was ridiculous.
How could she contemplate holding this conversation with herself when 
the direct result of her acting on any feelings was probably instant 
dismissal or re-assignment to Alaska.
Not to mention rejection, if he wasn't interested.
She didn't think she could stand that.
No. Best left alone.

She snatched another glance.
Damn, but he looked good. That tee-shirt looked good, too. Black 
suited him.
Actually, white suited him, too.  In fact, apart from a particular 
nasty tie he'd worn once, she didn't think she'd seen him in anything 
that didn't suit him.
But, blue. She liked him best in blue.
Damn.
She sighed. Crazy, just absolutely crazy.
And if she survived this assignment, she was going to book time off 
and damn well go on holiday somewhere, see if she couldn't get laid.
She smiled to herself.
That sounded like a plan. 



chapter 5.


"I get this room," Tor called, throwing her rucksack through the 
door. And following it inside, she slammed the door shut.
"You checked it out?" Scully asked, nodding at the closed door.
"Uh-huh," he told her, unloading the heavier bags on the 
sofa. "Locked window. One door. One bed. It's kinda small. I don't 
think she can get up to any trouble in there."
"Okay."

Grabbing her bag, Scully shoved a lock of hair behind her ear. She 
was tired, out of sorts and cranky. She could do with a long bath, a 
cup of hot chocolate and an early night.
Several long hours spent in a warm car, in the twin company of her 
libido and Doggett's aftershave, had worn away at her nerves.
Never mind the argument they'd had with the caretaker of the place 
over the fact they were two hours past check-in time. She'd 
been `this' far off taking out her gun and shooting the miserable 
little pissant. Luckily, Doggett had intervened. 
Lucky too, that this place was warm, clean and attractive. The mood 
she was in, she'd have driven back to DC and shot the entire staff of 
Witness Protection.
Lucky for them, she liked rustic. 

She turned to tell him how close she'd come to murder at the gates , 
but found her mouth hanging open, unhinged and silenced by the sight 
of Agent Doggett with his back to her, bending over the arm of the 
sofa as he sorted through his bag.
Mother of God...
Those jeans.
What they did for his ass shouldn't be allowed. Tight, so very, very 
tight.
Scully dragged her mouth closed, her eyes wide and bulging, trying to 
commit to memory this sight. Damn him. 
Damn him for having a tight ass. Damn him for having large thighs.
Damn her, for enjoying every glorious, black inch.

Guilt, and a healthy dose of self-control forced her to rip her eyes 
away. She could imagine him feeling the heat of her stare on his 
butt. How embarrassing to get caught ogling her partner.
She cleared her throat. 
"I can't face unpacking tonight. I think I'm going to just get my 
stuff sorted and take a bath."
She glanced quickly over at him again. "That okay?"
Nodding, he was still rummaging in his bag. "Sure. I'll hit the 
shower after you." 

To her distress, her mind did a slow-motion video show in her head of 
Doggett, standing naked in the shower, soaking wet, dripping and hot.
Scully swallowed and tried to press the `stop' button in her head, 
but only succeeded in hitting `pause' as he was running a soapy hand 
over his chest.
Damn.

He emerged from his bag clutching a paperback, innocent of what was 
currently lodged on the screen of Scully's mind. "I'll make us a 
drink. What d'you fancy?"
*You*, Scully's libido shouted, but she just coughed and turned 
away. "Anything - chocolate would be good."
Oh, God. Make it stop.

"I'm going to..." she coughed again. "Put my things in my bedroom."
"You coming down with a cold?" he asked, frowning. "You're coughing 
an awful lot."
"No." She shook her head, erasing that soapy picture. "Just a dry 
throat, I guess."
She turned away, then stopped, standing in front of Tor's bedroom, 
gazing at the other door between that and the bathroom.
Oh... shit.
Scully looked at the door, back at Tor's door and then slowly turned 
back to look at Doggett, a single sentence screaming around in her 
mind.
There was only one other bedroom.

"What?" he asked, seeing her face.
She opened her mouth, hoping she could keep her voice 
steady. "There's only..."
Nope. It cracked. She coughed and tried again.
"There's only one bedroom."
"Yeah?" He moved over to stand by her, to her frustration, not 
sounding the least bit bothered.
He reached out and turned the handle. "Wonder if it's got twin beds?"

The door swung open to reveal... Oh, wouldn't you just know it?
One double bed.
Yep. She was right. 
God had a very twisted sense of humour.
"Oh, well," he said.  
She saw him shrug out of the corner of her eye. 
"I'll take the couch. No problem."
Scully watched as he moved into the lounge and looked down at the 
sofa. There was no way, with the best will in the world, that sofa 
was going to hold 6ft of Agent Doggett. It was all of four feet long, 
and not especially wide.
Damn.

"No. You can't fit on there." She bit back a sigh. "I'll take the 
couch. You have the bed."
He looked at her, shaking his head. "No. Can't do that, wouldn't be 
right."
She smiled at his chivalry. "Look at it. It's barely going to be big 
enough for me, let along a man of your size."
Her mind helped by providing her with measurements of his body, 
courtesy of the good old shower-scene.
Not helpful, at all.

Tor's door banged open. 
"There's a fuckin' big spider on the wall, and the closet smells like 
shit."
Both Agents stared at her.
"What?" She threw her hands up.  "You said no swearing in public. You 
never said anything about in private."
She had a point, Scully thought. Besides, she wasn't in the mood to 
argue the finer points of socially acceptable behaviour with her.
"Whatever," she snapped. "Throw the spider outside, it won't hurt 
you. And the closet will stop smelling if you leave the door open a 
while."
Stomping over to the minuscule couch, she tipped Doggett's bag off 
and glared down at it.
Behind her, Tor sighed. 
"What's with her? Time of the month?"  

Scully opened her mouth to let rip with another blistering attack on 
the girl, but stopped at a faint touch, looking down to see Doggett's 
hand on her arm.
Speech drained away.
He was touching her again.
Twice in one day.
She stared at the hand.
Then he was speaking. The words filtered into her brain.

"She's just not impressed by the sleeping arrangements. Leave her be."
Tor snorted. "I'm not surprised. She gets to sleep with you."
"What's wrong with that?" Doggett asked, sounding amused.
Nothing at all, thought Scully, closing her eyes. Nothing at all.
Tor snorted again. "You probably stink and snore like some big old 
pig."
Doggett laughed. "I do not."
"Yeah?"
He shook his head. "Never had any complaints."

Oh, god.
She couldn't do this. The double-meanings were killing her.
Now her mind had taken him out of the shower, and had slipped him 
into bed, complaint less.
Still wet, still hot.

"Yeah, well," Tor was relentless.  "She's prob'ly afraid you'll jump 
her bones in the middle of the night, or somethin'."
Scully's head jerked to look up. Shit, that was a bit too close for 
comfort. She looked from Tor's disgusted face to Doggett's pink one.
"Tor..." he began, the colour rising in his face. "We're Agents of 
the government. We don't do things like that. We have more self-
control."
Speak for yourself, Scully thought.
"It wouldn't be very professional," he finished, lamely.
"Whatever," Tor shrugged and wandered into the kitchen. "Don't know 
if I'd trust you enough to sleep next to you, though."

Doggett stared after her, mouth open, ears red. "Damn..." he muttered.
Tell me about it, Scully thought. 
"Doggett..." she said, wondering what else she was going to say after 
that.
He reached up to rub the back of his neck.
"She's wrong, you know." 
He looked at her, dubiously. "How's that?"
Scully shrugged, screwing up her courage in a ball and throwing it 
out there.
"It's okay. I do trust you."  It was herself she didn't trust.
She sighed. "And you're right, too." Picking up his bag, she handed 
it over.  "We're professionals. We can share."

OH GOD! Her mind screamed at her as she walked towards the bedroom. 
What the hell are you doing!!? Forcing herself not to look back, and 
to keep her pace steady, she walked into the other room and placed 
her washbag on the bed.
The double bed. 
Oh, shit.
She was mad. Nuts. Absolutely certifiable. She couldn't do this!
Footsteps stopped at the door.

"You sure about this?" he asked.
She didn't dare turn around and look at him. "Yeas. It's not a 
problem."
LIAR! LIAR! PANTS ON FIRE!
"Well..." he stepped nearer. "If you're absolutely sure?"
No, she wanted to scream. I'm less than sure. In fact I'm so `not 
sure' that I think I'm gonna puke. Because if you lie down on this 
bed with me, I don't know if I can be trusted.
But she didn't say any of that. 
She forced her mouth to smile. "No problem, Agent Doggett. But I get 
the right hand side."
He smiled back, almost undoing her resolve. Those eyes...
"Fair enough. I promise not to snore."

And I promise to try not to grab you and run my tongue all over your 
face.
"I'll hold you to that," she replied, desperately trying to think of 
something other than holding him to anything. 
"So." He rubbed those large hands together and smiled again. "You go 
take that bath. I'll get busy in the kitchen."
Scully's eyes followed that black-clad ass as it moved to leave the 
room.
Oh, but this was going to be the longest week of her life.


Chapter 6.


The bath had been a great idea. Just what she needed.
She'd had the foresight to bring a few bubble-samples with her, and 
the scent of camomile had helped drive the need to scream from her 
body.
Sighing contentedly, she reached in to pull the plug out, helping the 
bubbles away with a swish of her hand.
Despite her tension, she had resisted the urge to relax herself 
further with a spot of self-abuse. The bath had been her favourite 
venue for masturbation for years - she supposed it was the  safety of 
the locked door. But tonight she just couldn't bring herself to even 
attempt it. 
Not with you-know-who puttering about on the other side of the wall.
Smiling ruefully, she admitted she hadn't been above using a bit of  
blue-eyed inspiration once or twice and it might be stupid, but she 
just couldn't do it with him in the same building.

A knock at the door made her jump guiltily. "You still alive in 
there?"
"Just coming," she yelled back, smiling hugely at her choice of 
words. She shook her hand off, then wiping it dry on a towel, 
gathered her clothes up and paused.
Shit. 
She was about to walk out of the bathroom in her robe, nightshirt, 
clutching her clothes.
God... This was as intimate moment as she could think of, never mind 
slugs in necks and hospital beds, he'd never seen her 
this `undressed' and vulnerable.
Damn it.

"Come on, fat-ass, get your wrinkled butt outta the tub - I need to 
piss!"
Scully's eyebrows shot up. Charming. That child's mouth needed a 
short, sharp visit from a bar of soap.
"Thank you for that, Tor," she said, unbolting the door and emerging 
into the living area.
"God! You took your own sweet fu..." 
The bathroom door banged shut on the rest of the sentence.
Scully stared at the door, wondering who they pissed off on the 6th 
floor to get this assignment.

"Chocolate's ready."
She turned to meet Doggett's eyes, trying not to blush. This robe 
didn't come down nearly as far down on her legs as she would have 
liked. 
An all-over body-bag was more what she had in mind.
"Thanks." Holding up her pile of clothes, she nodded at the 
bedroom. "Won't be a second."
She escaped through the other door and dumped the clothes down.
In the BEDROOM.
It deserved the capitals her mind gave it.
Their BEDROOM.
She ran a hot hand over her face. God. Not very long, and it would be 
BEDTIME, in their BEDROOM.
Just bring it on, God. I can take it, she lied to herself, going out 
into the other room with a sigh.

"I didn't do you a mallow one - I didn't know how you felt about it 
in cocoa."
She smiled, thinly. "Plain's fine. Thanks." She took the proffered 
mug, trying not to flinch as his fingertips touched hers.
"Looks like you're going to have to wait for your shower." She nodded 
at the locked bathroom.
He shrugged. "That's okay. I'm not sleepy, yet, anyway."
Thank god, Scully thought, trying not to re-wind over the best bits 
in the mental shower-scene that started up the instant she said the 
word, `shower'.
Maybe she could get asleep before he got into BED.

"I took a tour of the perimeter while you were soaking," he said, 
pausing to sip his drink.
Scully was instantly ashamed.
"Oh, god, I'm sorry - I didn't think. I left it all up to you, didn't 
I?" She clucked in her throat. "How selfish of me."
He rewarded  her with a wide-toothed grin, making her feel worse.
"No problem. You did all the driving. Fair's-fair."
Grinning sheepishly round her mug, Scully nodded. "Only `cause I 
didn't let you drive."
"Whatever." 
They drank their cocoa in companiable silence.

Once or twice, Scully risked a glance over at where he was sitting on 
the easy chair.
He had taken off those big boots he'd been wearing, revealing thick 
grey socks, that twitched as he wiggled his toes occasionally.
She wondered what his feet looked like. Then coloured up as she told 
herself it wouldn't be long before she found out.

She cleared her throat. 
"You sure your throat's okay?" he asked again. 
"Um... Fine, thank you."  God, what was she going to say?  "It's just 
a bad habit."
"Oh."  
That seemed to satisfy him and he went back to his drink.

As they sipped, a hundred panicky thoughts ran through her head. What 
should she say next?
Was she being too quiet? Maybe she should make conversation?
She shook her head at herself. 
She was acting like this was a date, or something. This was nothing 
of the sort. This was work.
Oh, yeah, a voice said. How many times at work do you get to sleep in 
the same bed as your partner?
Never, she admitted.
Yeah, the voice replied, sarcastically. Never at work... Only in your 
dreams.

"This is really good," she said to break the silence and shut up the 
voice in her head.
He nodded. "One of my specialities."
She wondered what the others were. "Oh yes," she said instead. "And 
how do you class hot chocolate as a speciality? `Just add hot milk'. 
How hard can that be?"
He grinned at her, shaking his head.
"Oh, but I have secret ingredients."
She snorted. "Like?"
"If I told you I'd have to kill you."

You're already killing me, she thought, as he put his mug down and 
stretched his arms backwards, yawning.
You and that goddamned black tee-shirt... I'm sorry Lord. 
She didn't take her eyes off it as it smeared itself over rather well-
defined pecs.
Help me...

"Thought you weren't tired?" she reminded him, half hoping he'd do 
the stretch-thing again.
"Guess I lied."
She nodded. "Long journeys do that to me, as well."
"I should be wide awake, though. I had a little nap."
"I noticed."
He grinned sheepishly. "I thought I got away with it."
"Uh-uh. Busted."
"Guess that's why you're a Special Agent."

Laughing softly, she shook her head and wondered if she could get 
away with teasing him a little.
Oh, why not, she thought.
"And I thought you said you didn't snore?"
He sat up, eyes wide. "I don't!"
Smiling, but admitting nothing, she merely looked at him. 
Yeah. He could stand a little teasing.
"No..." He frowned, looking vaguely embarrassed. "I didn't, did I?" 
His hand came up to scratch at an ear. "Damn. I'm sorry." Those baby 
blues wrinkled up adoringly.
"Was it bad? My ex-wife used to complain like crazy about it, 
whenever I dropped off on the sofa."

Shit, damn. 
That killed the moment. That was one word she didn't want to hear 
from him. The `w' one.
She shook her head. "You didn't snore, John. I was teasing."
He looked at her. "Yeah?"
"Sorry. Couldn't resist it."
He laughed, unexpectedly. 
Scully blinked. That wasn't the reaction she'd imagined. 
"You got me." He shook his head, still smiling. "Guess I'm just too 
touchy." He stretched again.
You certainly are, she thought, part of her mind 
contemplating `touching' him right now, while that tee shirt was 
being stretched to capacity.

The bathroom emptied noisily. Doggett looked up. "You want any more 
chocolate before you go to bed, Tor?"
Scully watched the look of disgust cross the girl's face.
"Bed? You gotta be kiddin'! It's early."
Doggett checked his watch. "I don't call half ten early."
"Well I do." She grunted and padded through to the lounge area. 
Jumping the back of the sofa, she landed beside Scully, almost 
tipping her drink over.
"Hey..." Scully scowled.
"Yeah?" Tor just stared, grinning. 

Doggett leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Bed."
Tor looked at him. "No."
"Yes."
"You're not..."
Doggett's finger came up. "What have you been told? You never know 
who's listening."
Tor rolled her eyes. "Oh, get bent! Who the hell's gonna be listening 
in here?"

Scully could have frightened the child to death with tales of 
listening devices, bugs and blackmail, but just sighed instead. She 
didn't fancy getting up to deal with the nightmares.
She put her mug down. "Look. Just do as you're asked, will you? Go to 
bed."
Folding her arms over her small chest, Tor pouted. "No."
Doggett rolled his eyes and stood up.
"Tell you what, Tor. You can either go to your room and get into bed 
of your own volition, or you can be carried there and thrown in." He 
held his hands up. "Your choice."
"You wouldn't fuckin' dare," she snapped, glaring.
"Try me," he said, staring right back at her.
"I'll report you."
"Oh yeah? To the bedtime police?"

Scully tried to hide the smile. He was good at this.
"I'm not tired."
"I don't care. Go lie and stare at the ceiling."
"I hate you."
He shrugged. "Again. I don't care." He stepped closer to where she 
sat, cross-legged on the sofa.
"What's it gonna be?"

Scully wondered if he dared carry out his threat. He was on dodgy 
ground, really, threatening to  lay hands on a minor. And a girl, at 
that. Maybe she should say something.
"Well...?" He folded his arms too.
"Fuck off," Tor told him.
"Suit yourself," Doggett suddenly bent and grabbed her by the upper 
arms and heaved her up.

"HEY!" Legs dangling, Tor squealed and thrashed. "GET OFF ME!"
"Your choice, girl," Doggett gasped, walking over to the bedroom.
Tor wriggled and yelled as she found herself over a wide shoulder. 
Scully covered her mouth with a hand. Wouldn't go down well to be 
caught laughing at the whole thing. But, Lord help her - it  was 
funny. She got up from the sofa and wandered after the parade.
Maybe she should keep an eye on the pair of them, in case blood got 
spilled. Or in case a witness was needed.

"Get-your-stinkin'-hands-off..."  Each of Tor's words were cut off as 
Doggett took a step nearer the bedroom.
"Oh, quit your yappin'," Doggett grunted, trying to keep her legs 
from kickin him in the teeth.
"I'm-gonna-fuckin'-report-you..."
"Yeah... Yeah..." Pausing above her single bed, Doggett took her by 
the waist. "Tell it to the judge," he told her, then heaved her up 
and threw her bodily onto the bed.

Scully watched Tor's shocked face as she bounced several times, arms 
and legs in all directions.
Bet that knocked the wind out of her, she thought.
"You bastard!" she yelled, finally coming to rest.
Doggett stood, hands on his hips, looking amused. "If you say so," he 
said, shrugging and turning to Scully. "I think I made my point," he 
smiled. 

As he held his hand out to guide her from the room, Scully caught 
sight of a missile of fire-truck red flying through the air.
"Hey!" she began, but the moment was lost, as Tor landed smack 
between Doggett's shoulder blades and drove him to the floor.

"Bastard!" she yelled, pummelling his back with her fists, each blow 
making a dull thud as it landed. Losing the battle with gravity, 
Doggett toppled forward onto his stomach, grunting as the air was 
driven from him.
"Tor!" Scully shouted, stepping forward to try and grab a part of the 
thrashing child. "Stop it!"
"Pervert!" Tor screamed, flailing away furiously. "Goddamned, fuckin' 
perv!"
Trying to grab a flying fist, Scully got a wack in the cheek that 
made her eyes water. She stepped back, shaking her head.
Damn child. She had a good mind to...

Doggett was winning, he was wriggling over from his belly, fending 
off the small fists, making use of his greater body mass to dislodge 
Tor from his back.
"QUIT IT!" he bellowed, making Scully jump. She'd never heard him 
shout quite as loudly as that before.
Tor ignored him.
"I-hate-you-I-hate-you-I-hate-you!" she chanted, punctuating her 
words with a thump from her fists.
Scowling, his hands caught up in warding off the attack, Doggett 
gritted his teeth and growled.
"I ain't too fond of you, either!" 
And just as Scully reached out and grabbed a pulled-back fist, Tor 
managed to scramble her knees off Doggett's legs, and brought one of 
them up sharply to land smack on his crotch.
Tor stopped punching, Scully stopped yelling and Doggett just stopped 
breathing.

Two women stared, both anticipating an explosion as Doggett lay on 
the floor, arms rigid, mouth open and face rapidly turning a nasty 
shade of puce.
That'd gotta hurt, Scully thought, wincing. Really, really, hurt.
"I... er..." Tor began, scrambling backwards and off splayed legs.
There was another moment of exquisite silence, and then a thin 
keening noise began somewhere in Doggett's throat. Keening turned 
into groaning, and finally, in a very slow and gentle rollover, 
Doggett curled into a fetal position, his hands between his legs.

Tor backed away, her face pale. Scully knelt down and touched a rigid 
shoulder.
"John..." she began, then stopped.  Are you okay? Seemed rather 
redundant, as he was clearly anything but.
The noise drained away, leaving a heavy silence, punctuated only by 
harsh breathing from the curled-up man on the floor.
"John..." Scully squeezed the shoulder. "Can I get you anything? 
Advil?"  She remembered long-since fights with her brothers and 
winced again. "Ice, maybe?" 
He shook his head, his face still tightly screwed up. No," he 
whispered. "Thank you."

After a few minutes of lying there with her hand on him, Doggett 
began to unfurl himself, very, very carefully. Scully let go and 
watched him gather himself up into a sitting position.
His eyes opened. They looked red and watery.
Scully peered into them. 
"The pain receding?" she asked gently, putting her hand to his back 
and rubbing slowly in small circles. 
He nodded. "A bit." Not his usual strong voice, but then a knee in 
the nuts would do that to a man.

She didn't know if her hand was making him feel any better, but I 
sure felt good from her point of view, so she continued rubbing. 
Perhaps strictly Hippocratically speaking, what she was doing might 
be a little dubious, but the strong muscles under the tee shirt felt 
just too good to leave well alone.
"Better?" she asked as he brought his hands out from where they'd 
been cupping his crotch.
"Yeah."  He took a deep breath and gingerly got to his knees, a harsh 
breath whistling out from between his teeth. "Man..."

Scully let him make his way out into the lounge at his own pace. Slow 
and careful.
Glancing behind to where Tor stood in a corner of the room, Scully 
gave the girl a `look'.
"Go to bed," she said, firmly.
Not waiting for a reply, she pulled the door shut behind her and went 
to join Doggett on the sofa.
"You want to throw up?" she asked, sitting carefully.
He laughed harshly. "Not any more, but it was a close thing, for a 
moment."
"I'll bet."

Scully watched a more normal colour return to his face. He'd gone 
from puce to ivory and was now hovering somewhere around oyster.
"I think it was an accident, you know," she said, eventually.
Doggett looked at her. "Yeah?"
"You didn't see the look on her face when she realized what she'd 
done."
"I was too busy lookin' at the inside of my eyelids."
"I should think so..." 
She trailed off as something outrageous occurred to her.

Oh, God. She was a doctor.  
And he was hurt. Oh....  
A wave of heat rushed up her body.
She met Doggett's eyes, wondering if he could hear how hard her heart 
was hammering in her chest.
"What?" he said, frowning.
"I... erm..." 
Oh, shit. How to say this?   "Um... You know, I am...um, a doctor."

Oh, way to go, Dana. Stumble like a dork over your words. Embarrass 
both of you.
"What I mean, is... If you think there might be some damage..."
Mother of God... This was horrible.
She watched him change colour again.
"No... it's okay!" he seemed to shrivel away from her. "I'm fine. 
It's just a little knock, that's all."
Those ears were positively glowing.

Scully couldn't help herself, she smiled. "It's okay," she said, 
smile widening as he flinched when she laid her hand briefly on his 
arm. 
"I won't insist. Honestly. As long as you're sure?"
"Oh, yeah... no problem." Nodding wildly, Doggett stood up. "Happened 
loads of times. You know how it is for guys." He laughed 
shakily. "I'll just go get that shower, I'll be fine."

He backed away from her, as if he expected her to pounce on him and 
drag his pants off.
Still smiling at both his behaviour and the fleeting thought of 
pouncing on him and dragging his pants off, Scully nodded.
"Okay, then. You go shower. I'll lock up and turn in."
"Sure."  Scuttling into the bathroom like a spider with broken legs, 
Doggett disappeared.

Scully shook her head, the smile turning into an evil grin and  
thinking of what was going on behind that locked bathroom door. Like 
old Faithful, the shower-scene popped up again, all hot, soapy and 
Doggetty.
Double-locking the front and  kitchen doors, she pulled the drapes 
across the door and wandered over to the bedroom.
Ah. 
The BEDROOM.
She pulled her lip between her teeth. 
Shit, she'd forgotten about this.