Chapter 16.

When she woke the next morning, Doggett had rolled off her and was 
lying on his back almost in the centre of the bed, arms outstretched, 
looking like the male lead in a debauched crucifixion fantasy. His 
head was turned away from her, hair mussed up appealingly and he'd 
pushed the covers down far enough for her to see the top band of his 
boxer elastic.
His chest rose and fell rhythmically, the sunlight shining through 
the hairs, beckoning her.
She grinned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. 
Maybe she could just...
She poked her hand out from under the blanket and stretched across to 
hover above his sternum.
With every breath, her palm was tickled by the fine hairs. It made 
her smile.

"Havin' fun?"
She jumped guiltily, bouncing her hand on his chest.
"Sorry."
"Please don't apologise," he smiled. "And don't feel you have to 
stop."
Scully laughed taking her hand away. "I was just..." She felt herself 
blushing. "Playing, I suppose."
He spread his arms out further. "I'm all yours, Agent Scully. Play 
away."

The temptation to take him up on that was almost overwhelming, but 
she had heard the toilet flush not long ago, which meant Tor was up. 
And no way could she relax and do what she wanted while wondering if 
the wretched child might come bursting in.
"I'll take a raincheck on that, Agent Doggett," she said, levering 
herself up on one elbow to peer down at him. 
"Pity."
"Maybe if you're good, later..."She bent her head to place a chaste 
kiss on his lips. "We shall see."
"Oh... I'll be good," he grinned.

Pulling her nightshirt down over her rear end, she got out of bed.
"Nice view," came the chuckle from behind her.
She glanced back, smiling and frowning. 
He held up his hands. "I was only sayin'."
"Hhhhmmmm." She gave him a mock stare. "You stay. My turn to get 
breakfast." She tied her robe around her. "What'll you have? Eggs and 
bacon as usual?"
He shook his head. "Nah. Think I'll go the English muffin and cereal 
way, this morning."
"Coming up." She tossed a grin over her shoulders at the sight of 
him, propped up on the pillows and wandered through to the kitchen, 
already racing ahead to the evening.

"You look pleased with yourself." Tor sat on the table, hand deep in 
the cereal box. "He finally slip you one?"
Scully's mouth dropped open and a furious blush ran over her entire 
body.
"Tor!"
"Oh, chill. S'not like it's any great secret." Her legs swung against 
the table leg. "You like him." She rolled her eyes.
"No, I..."
"God! Do you think I'm totally dense or what?" She pointed at 
Scully, a pink cereal stuck to her finger. "You can't keep your eyes 
off him. He may be blind to it, but I'm not." 
Scully scowled. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Yeah, right."

Bluff it out, she told herself. The little mix had absolutely no 
proof. None whatsoever.
"You have an overactive imagination, Victoria."
A sticky hand pointed. "Ah! Busted."
She frowned. "What?"
"You called me `Victoria'. You only do that when you're mad at me."

Scully tightened her jaw. Out-flanked by a teenager. She must be 
losing her touch.
"I'm mad at you because you used a vulgar phrase."
"Uh-huh. Course." Tor gave her a knowing look and slid down off the 
table. "So what's for breakfast?"

Scully went to the fridge, hoping that was the end of the debate over 
her and Doggett.
"Muffins. But you get cereal. Remember?"
Tor laughed and tipped the box up, a sprinkle of dust falling to the 
floor.
"This mean I get muffins, too?"
Scully gazed at the floor and sighed. Parenthood really, really sank.




*



The adventure had begun after breakfast, when Tor threw herself on 
the grass and announced:
"If we don't do something, I'm going to scream."
Scully had glanced at Doggett. "Well?" 
He looked back at her. "Well what?" 
"She's your daughter."
That'd made him laugh. "Oh, no. I think there are adoption papers 
around somewhere."

"You won't be able to argue about whose child I am, if I die of 
boredom, will you?" The sprawled figure on the grass rolled over.
"Oh, I don't know. We could give it a shot."
That got Scully a tongue. 
Better than a finger, she supposed. Perhaps they were making 
progress. 

Unfortunately, it also meant that she had spent the next hour 
packing various cool boxes full of picnic stuff, and then sitting in 
a hot car while an argument over the best place to go, ensued.
Doggett and Tor had got it into their heads that the cure for boredom 
was to charge about in a field, throwing balls at one another, while 
Scully sat on a blanket and tried to read her book.

She had actually given up on reading, there was too much going on to 
bother with a paperback.
She stretched out and grinned. 
This wasn't so bad, after all. The weather had been so good, it 
demanded shorts from both her and Doggett. And the sight of his 
strong legs running about on the field was doing wonders for her 
state of mind.
Who'd have thought he's look so good in short trousers? She mentally 
forgave that grade school hussy. She couldn't have resisted kissing 
him at any age. Probably have punched him, first, too.
Just for being so damned handsome.

"Hey!" she shouted. "Come eat. I'm starving!"
Grabbing the football, Doggett jogged up the slight incline. "At 
last!" he said, collapsing on the blanket. "I thought you'd never 
call time-out."
"Wuss," Tor told him, as she flopped down in front of the cool box 
and proceeded to root around inside. She produced a cool can and 
threw it at him. "Here." She jerked her head at Scully. 
"You want one?"
"Got one," she replied, holding it up. 

They sat quietly and ate, salad, chicken and french bread. Not an 
elaborate meal, but it was one of the most memorable Scully could 
recall. Hot sunshine, the smell of freshly-cut grass and good company.
Even Tor was in a mellow mood, telling jokes that didn't make them 
yell at her. Scully dug out a few from her own childhood that went 
down quite well. Some humour never aged. Toilet humour, mainly, she 
thought, mentally thanking her brothers as Tor fell over backwards 
laughing at one of the riper ones.

"I'm shocked," Doggett laughed, flicking a piece of bread across the 
blanket.
She picked it up and popped it in her mouth. "Of course you are."
"Can I go see if I can play soccer with that lot?" Tor asked, turning 
to point at a couple of boys further down the field.
Scully looked. They were about Tor's age, the other family sitting a 
way down.
"Sure," she said. "Just don't wander out of sight, okay?"
"Yes, *mom*," Tor smiled. She jumped up and regardless to having just 
eaten and drunk enough to make a Labrador puke, raced off to play 
ball.

"She makes me tired, just watching," Doggett said as he gathered up 
the remains of the meal.
"Energy of the young. How soon you forget."
He looked at her. "How old d'you think I am?" 
She grinned. "Old enough." 
He lifted an eyebrow. "You got that right."

He shifted the cool box to the other side of him and shuffled up to 
sit next to her.
"Do you mind?" he asked.
"Not at all," she replied, patting the blanket. "Be my guest."
Smiling, he settled himself back on his elbows to look out across the 
grass.

"This is nice. Beats basement work."
"Sure does."
"But you'd miss it, eventually."
She snorted gently. "Maybe in a few hundred years."
He glanced at her. "You ever tempted?"
"By?"
"This kinda life?"
Scully sighed. "I don't know. Maybe..." she shrugged. "Sometimes."

"Me too." He didn't say anything more, just squinted across the park.
Scully was tempted to ask what he meant, but she had a feeling he was 
talking about his previous life, with a wife and son, an she wasn't 
in a rush to bring that up.
They sat and enjoyed the sun, warming their bodies. 

She was just about to concede to the warmth and the food by closing 
her eyes for a moment, when she heard Doggett speak.
"Wonder what she's after?"
"Huh?" Dragging her lids back up, Scully watched Tor haring back 
towards them.
She crashed to her knees, gasping, attacking the cool box.
"Whassup?" Doggett asked her.
"Drink.." she panted. "Need drink.."

Grabbing a can, she popped the tab and chugged back a good three-
quarters of it without pausing for breath. Then she wiped her arm 
across her mouth and let out a gut-ripping belch.
"God, Tor!" Scully pulled a face. 
"What?!"
"You're not very lady-like, are you?" Doggett nudged her with his 
boot.
Shrugging, Tor tipped the rest of the soda down her throat. "Who 
wants to be a `lady'?"
Her tone left no confusion over her opinion on that.

"Doesn't your mother complain about your..." Scully pulled a 
face. "This unfortunate `gas' issue?"
Tor laughed. "Nah. She's cool about it. `Better out than in', she 
says." She waved her hand.
"`Better up than down'."
Scully winced. 
Tor grinned. "She says if I get good grades in school, she'll take me 
to get my belly-button pierced."
"That's nice," Doggett said, his tone giving away that he thought it 
was anything but.
"Hey..." She did another small belch. Least this way I don't get it 
done at school, with a compass."
Scully exchanged a look with Doggett. They must either be very old, 
or incredibly out of touch.

Clearing his throat, unsure of what to say to the last comment, 
Doggett pointed down the hill.
"They playing nice with you?"
Tor grinned. "Yes, daddy."
"And are you playing nice with them?" Scully added, thinking that was 
the more relevant question.
"For the time being," she replied with a wink. "Hey... aren't you two 
supposed to be doing the undercover thing, here?"

Scully raised her eyebrow. "We've brought you to the park with a 
picnic. I think that `s pretty good, don't you?"
"Nah." Tor sat back on her heels. "I could see that, from way over 
there." She waved her hand. "You're supposed to be married. You're 
hardly even talking to each other." 
Doggett chuckled. "Sounds like a perfect imitation of married life."

Scully bit back a comment about that, wondering if it was an 
unintentional indication of his relationship with his ex-wife. She 
found she didn't want to know if it was or not.
"Very funny." Tor slapped her hand against his leg. "You know what I 
mean."
"Do I?"
"Yeah." She leaned forward and pulled a face at him. "You could at 
least hold hands."

Scully could have sworn she saw Doggett blush a little at that. 
"You think that'd help the illusion?" he asked.
"You're makin' fun of me," Tor accused, pouting.
Not at all..."
Tor stood up and folded her arms."Well, if you ask me, your non-
tactile behaviour is severely damaging my sexual development. As my 
parents you should be setting a positive example of normal 
heterosexual contact within a stable relationship."
She paused, glaring at Doggett. "If I grow up to be a lesbian, it'll 
be all *your* fault!"
And then she was off, running over the grass towards the soccer game.

Scully looked slowly and unbelievingly at Doggett, then burst out 
laughing.
"Oh, John... Your face!"
He stared at her, mouth still unhinged, eyes wide.
Scully gave in to a fresh wave of giggles.
"What the hell was that?" he asked, shaking his head.
"Wiping her eyes and sitting back up, Scully smiled. "I think that 
was permission."
"Permission..." He eyes widened even more. "You been talkin' to her 
about..."
"No, John. I haven't. Credit me with a little discretion. But she's a 
girl. We notice things."

He stared at her, his blue eyes catching the sun. "Notice things?"
She shrugged. "My interest in you. Your lack of response."
He looked amazed. "My lack of...?"
Grinning, Scully took his hand. "Look... It's taken us how long to 
get this far?"
He sighed. "Too long."
"Exactly. She just saw what I was ignoring. And what you weren't 
allowing yourself to see."
"Which was?"
"My interest."
"Ah."
She nodded. "Ah."
"Maybe I should do something to rectify that then," he said, leaning 
closer.
"Maybe you should." She smiled, watching those sparkling eyes 
getting closer and closer.

The first tentative touch of his mouth sent a shiver of excitement 
down her back. She pressed closer, anxious to deepen it. 
Angling his head, he put a hand to the back of her neck and holding 
her still, pressed his tongue against her lips.
Grinning, she opened up and let him slide in. Once inside, she sucked 
on him, running her tongue on the underside of his, thrilled to feel 
a low growl bubble out of his throat.

God, this was good. How many fantasies did this cover? Lying in the 
sunshine, kissing this man.
She pressed harder, against him, thrilled to feel him pushing back, 
deepening the kiss.

Pulling back slightly, Scully pulled in a breath, but stayed close to 
him, pecking small kisses to his face, over his mouth and nose.
"That was nice," he said softly.
"Certainly was," she sighed, nibbling his bottom lip between her 
teeth. He pushed into another kiss, this time opening his mouth and 
waiting for her to fill it with her tongue.
She did, stroking him gently.

"Harder," he breathed into her mouth.
She kissed him more forcefully, scooping up his tongue and pulling it 
between her lips, encouraging him to play.
She nipped at him, pretending to bite him, holding off at the last 
second.
He was laughing, his breath huffing into her mouth as he fought her 
teeth.

"No fair," he complained, pulling away at last.
"Why's that?" she smirked, wiping a wet bottom lip.
"You never said anything about biting."
"Did you ask?"
He pouted, trying not to smile. "You play dirty," he grumbled.
A shot of lust stabbed her in the groin. 
"Oh, you have no idea..." she purred, leaning forward to run her 
tongue over the ridge of his ear, darting inside with a lick.
"Shit!" He jerked, his hand flying to her head, taken aback at the 
sudden wetness.

Scully grinned. "You were saying?"
"Oh, woman. You are in soooo much trouble," he growled, grabbing her 
shoulders and pinning her to the blanket.
She yelped, delighted and shocked to be held down like this. She felt 
his leg hook over, forcing its way between hers, a rush of desire 
making her sure she'd find her undergarments very damp when she got 
back to the cabin.
"Bad mommy," he told her, bending to kiss her neck. He kissed her all 
the way up to her chin, pausing between kisses to nibble her skin, 
then with a grim stare at her, swooped down to her mouth to give her 
the wettest, hardest kiss they'd shared so far.
Life was good, Scully thought, closing her eyes and letting him kiss 
her stupid.






chapter 17.


Stupid. 
They were both stupid.
Too wrapped up in what they were doing and neglecting their jobs. 
What they were paid for, what the were trained for.
A high-pitched scream brought the pair of them off the blanket as if 
electrocuted.
"Oh, shit," Doggett breathed. He whipped his head left and right, 
searching for her.
"Oh, no...oh, no..." Scully guts contracted in a tight 
ball. "Please, no..."
Where was she? Where was she?
"Where the hell is..."
Doggett pointed. "There!" he snapped. "By the trash bins!"

Scully looked, only realising she was running when she finally saw 
Tor and the girl was bobbing up and down in her sights as she charged 
down the grass towards her.
"TOR!" she yelled. 
Beside her, Doggett's longer legs ate up the ground faster and he 
began to pull away.
"TOR!" he shouted.

It took a moment, but Scully's panicked brain finally understood the 
scene in front of her.
Tor was in the middle of what looked like an out an out fist-fight, 
the two boys were going at her, a small circle of adults standing 
around looking shocked.
Okay - first thoughts.. Thank God. No men with guns, knives and the 
like.
Second thoughts - what the hell was going on?
Every know and then, Tor gave a sharp squeal, usually followed by a 
bellow from one of the boys in the fight.

Panic drove Scully's legs, and she arrived at the scene bare seconds 
after Doggett ploughed into the crowd, his hands reaching for random 
arms and legs.
"Hey! Get.... Quit it!" His shouts rose above the young voices.
Scully pushed her way between two large women.
"Excuse me," she gasped, using her elbows to get to the centre of the 
arena. "Let me through."

Doggett was hauling one of the boys off Tor, dragged him back by the 
arms and threw him to the ground, already reaching for the next one. 
"OW!" Tor let out a another squeal as the boy landed a nasty punch to 
her cheek. 
As Doggett reached her, she lashed out and smacked the kid in the 
face, a solid round-house punch that made Scully both wince and cheer 
inside.
Blood flowed. 
Swiftly followed by a scream and tears. 
None of them Tor's. 

Doggett stepped over the flattened boy and reached down for Tor, who 
grabbed his hand and pulled herself up.
"It's okay," he muttered, holding on to her hand, turning round to 
glare at the two boys.
"They started it," she raged, struggling to turn towards her 
attackers. "Two against one!"

"She punched Billy!" the first boy yelled, lunching forward. Scully 
grabbed him before he had a chance to jump back in.
"Hold it right there," she told him, glaring.
"Get off me!" the boy yelled, pulling at her hand. "DAD! Get her off!"
"Just stop it," Scully shouted. There was no way she was going to let 
this little thug go back to fighting a girl. Especially two on one.

"Hey!.." Scully felt a large hand descend on her shoulder and jerk 
her back. "Take your hands off my boy."
She turned around, outraged at being manhandled.
"Just what d'you think you're doing?" she began.
"Let him go," the man in front of her said, giving her a shake.
"No until he says he's not going to hit my daughter." The appellation 
came without thinking, indignation raising her maternal instincts.

"That little bitch is yours?" 
Scully's hackles rose. "How dare you!" She turned to face the man.
"She's a vicious little cat, that's how I dare," the man snarled at 
her, putting his face close.
Scully stared back at him, intimidated, but not willing to show 
it. "She is nothing of the sort. Now take your hand off me."

The man stared, she stared back, and she wondered if he was going to 
do as she asked, or if this was going to get even more ugly.
"Hey!" Doggett's voice rose above the muttering of the crowd. "Don't 
touch her!"
Suddenly, he was at her side, Tor by one hand, glaring at the man 
that pulled her back.
"Get your hands off her," he said, very quietly.
There was a moment of defiance, then perhaps taking a good look at 
Doggett's face, the man let his hand drop.
"If she's anything like her kid, she was probably going to hit him."
"I was not!" Scully was indignant at the suggestion.

The man snorted and Doggett took a step nearer.
"You will not touch my wife again, nor will you speak of my daughter 
in those terms. Is that understood?"
Scully felt a surge of pride at his words, undercover of not, he was 
still standing up for them, and that felt great.
"You should keep that kid on a leash," he said, glaring at Tor. "Look 
what she did." 
All eyes turned to the boy on the ground, bleeding and crying.

Doggett glanced down and then stared at the other man. "Seems to me 
like she defended herself pretty well."
"She needs a good whipping."
"Just you try it!" Tor shouted, pulling forward against Doggett's 
hand.
"Hush," he told her, pulling her back to his side.
The man sneered. "Little animal."
"I told you..." Doggett growled.

Scully stepped forward. "I think we need to establish what happened, 
here."
"She hit me!" the boy still standing held up his shirt. "Look at 
this!" There was a red mark on his belly, about the size of Tor's 
fist, Scully noted, with a sinking feeling.
"Hit me for no reason!"
"I did not!" Tor lunged towards him, reaching out.
"See what I mean!" he stepped back, cowering behind his father.

Scully held up her hand. "Tor. Why did you hit him?" 
"Because..." she pouted, wiping her hand under her nose.
"Because what?"
"Because he did something I didn't like." Tor turned her back.
Scully tried not to sigh. This didn't look good.
"What did he do, Tor? We need to know."
The girl kept her back to everyone. "Doesn't matter," she 
muttered. "Forget it."

"You gotta be kiddin'!" The boy on the floor scrambled up. "She broke 
my nose!"
The man grabbed the boy and shoved him forward. "See? See what she 
did?"
"I'm more interested in *why* she did it," Doggett stated.
"Cos she's a vicious little..."
Doggett held up a hand. "Don't. Just don't. Y'hear?"
"Who do you think you are?" the man demanded, stabbing his finger out.
"I'm the man telling you to leave well alone, that's who." Doggett 
didn't raise his voice, didn't appear to be angry. He spoke softly, 
keeping his eye on the other man the whole time.
"You don't frighten me," he said.
"I don't intend to frighten anyone," Doggett told him. "I'm just 
telling you the way it is."

Scully held out a hand to the bleeding boy. "Look. I'm a doctor. Let 
me see the damage."
"No way!"
"I won't hurt you."
"Get lost! You're not comin' near me!" He slid behind the man.
Scully rolled her eyes. "Suit yourself." She turned to Doggett. "This 
isn't getting us anywhere. I think we should go."
"Uh-huh." He nodded and took Tor's hand again. "C'mon."

They turned to go, but the man stepped in front of them. 
"Hang on just one damned minute. You can't just walk away from this. 
She probably broke my boy's nose. What're you gonna do about that? 
Doctors cost money." He looked Scully up and down. "*Real* doctors, 
that is."
They stood nose to nose.
"Or I might just have to call the cops. Yeah?"

Damn. That wouldn't do. The last thing they needed was official 
involvement. You never knew who was monitoring what, in the force.
With a small sigh, Doggett pulled Tor forward.
"I think you need to tell us why you hit him, Tor." He bent to look 
her in the eye. "We don't want to involve the cops, do we?"

Scully watched them stare at each other, a battle of wills that had 
more at stake than any normal teenager's sense of fair play. She felt 
a little sorry for the girl, forced into a corner by circumstance. 
She had no doubt that at any other time, she'd just say no way, and 
refuse to tell. But things weren't normal for Tor. And they wouldn't 
be ever again, thanks to what her mother was doing in the name of 
justice.

"No-one's gonna be mad at you, if you just tell the truth," Doggett 
said softly.
He ignored the snort that came from behind them. Tor looked up at the 
man, then over at the two boys standing at his side.
"C'mon," he urged. "What'd he do, that made you break his nose?" 
Tor smiled limply, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, clearly 
fighting tears.
"Think it's really broken?" she asked, with more pride than remorse.
"Oh... squished beyond reasonable repair," Doggett smiled. "Now. What 
did he do to you, sweetheart?"

That did it. Just one little word and the tears began to roll down 
her cheeks.
"He ... He pulled up my shirt," Tor took a breath and howled the rest 
out in one huge gulp.
"He pulled up my shirt and vest to look at my..." She didn't say any 
more, just dissolved and stood there in abject misery. 
Doggett knelt down quickly, took her in his arms and hugged her 
tight. "It's okay... it's okay...: he mumbled, turning his head to 
fix his eyes on the two boys.

Anger rose up in Scully's belly and she rounded on the boys. "Is 
this true?" she demanded, hands on hips. "You did that?"
The two boys shuffled. "It wasn't like that," the bleeding one began.
"And just how was it, that you pull up a young girls' shirt?" she 
asked loudly. 
"I just wanted to check..."
Scully's outraged boiled over.
"Check!?"

Two faces looked up at her, pale, worried.
"Hey.. Just a minute..." Their father put out a hand. 
"No. You wait a minute," Scully pointed at his sons. "This is a very 
serious matter. You *do* realise that your sons have committed a 
sexual assault?"
The man started to look worried. "Now look... it `s not like that."
"*How* is it not like that?" Scully demanded, shaking her head. "They 
violated her privacy, exposed her body - hello?" She pulled her cel 
phone from her back pocket. "You want to call the police, or shall I?"

The silence was deafening. The only thing Scully could hear over the 
blood pounding in her ears, was the steady sniffle Tor was making. 
The man stared, she just stared right back. 
"Look. They didn't mean it."
"I'm sure."
"It was just a game, right boys?" He glanced at his sons.
"Yeah," they agreed, miserably.

Doggett lifted his head up. "That's the kind of game that leads to 
something called rape, don't you think?" His voice was cold and hard. 
He looked at the family group, daring them to take issue with him.
"Didn't mean nothing by it, man." The cleaner of the two boys 
shrugged. "Sorry."
"I'm not the one that needs an apology," he snapped.
"Sorry," he muttered, not meeting her eye.
"Yeah. Sorry," the other one said, staring at his feet.
Tor sniffed and wiped her nose on her arm. 
"`Kay," she said, also refusing to look up.

Scully handed her a tissue and touched Doggett's arm. "Let's get out 
of here, okay?"
He nodded, holding the other father's eye. Without breaking eye 
contact, he reached down and swung Tor up under the arms. "Let's go, 
sweetheart." 
She settled her arms and legs around him and clung, like a tear-
dampened monkey, as they moved away from the group, walking briskly 
up the hill.

"Godamned little shits..." Doggett muttered. "I got a good mind to go 
back there and kick their asses."
Scully heard a wet sniff from where Tor's head was resting on his 
shoulder.
She shook her head. "Let's just go."
"Yeah," he agreed. 
Scully walked over to the blanket and quickly gathered up their stuff.
"I'll get this. You two get in the car. The quicker we get out of 
here..." The quicker we can help her get over this, she added, 
silently. 
Doggett nodded at her, and stepped over the low rail of the car park.
Stuffing all the stuff into the cooler, she draped the blanket over 
her shoulder and hurried to follow them.




*



When they got back to the cabin, Scully suggested Tor take a shower 
and to her huge surprise, she agreed without argument or complaint.
Scully fixed a hot drink while Doggett sorted out the picnic things 
and generally banged and crashed his way around.
Misplaced aggression, it was called, she thought as something else 
went flying out in the garage.
How male.
She paused stirring the drinks when that occurred to her. She looked 
down at the mugs and chuckled. Chocolate. 
How female.

She turned around as someone sat in a chair.
"Hi." She took two mugs over and sat opposite. "Good shower?"
Tor nodded, running her fingers through her wet hair. "S'okay, I 
guess."
"Put extra marshmallows in there," Scully said, pointing to the mug 
in front of her.
"Cool." Peering in, she poked the spongy mass with a finger.
"Here. Have a spoon." Passing over the teaspoon, Scully caught the 
girl's eye and smiled, getting a small one in return.

They sat companiably, while Tor fished out her mallows, dangling the 
long string into her mouth in a way that turned Scully's stomach 
over. Ordinarily she'd be moaning about that, but she really didn't 
feel like it, now.
"Thanks," Tor said finally, licking the spoon clean.
"For?"
"Not complaining about that." She grinned, looking more like 
herself. "I know it gets to you."
Scully laughed. "Make the most of it. I'm back on your case, 
tomorrow."
Tor sipped her drink, a slight frown on her face.

Eventually, she tilted her head towards the sounds of crashing 
outside.
"What's with him?"
"Frustration."
"Oh." She sipped her chocolate and then grinned over the rim of her 
mug. "Sexual frustration?" 
"Tor!" Scully rolled her eyes.
"Well. I saw you, y'know. On the field."

Scully buried her nose in the mug, determined not to blush. 
"Going' for it in a big way, huh?"
"Leave it," Scully told her, knowing damn well she was blushing, 
anyway. "Just... Leave it, okay?"
"If-you-say-so."
"I hate it when you say that."
"I know."
They looked at one another over their mugs like two alley cats.

Tor sighed. "I don't wanna fight with you, okay?"
Scully merely looked sceptical.
"I don't. Honest."
"Okay..."
"I'm glad you and him... y'know?"
Scully arched an eyebrow and smiled. "Thanks."
"Bout time."
"Hhhhmm." Scully finished her drink and put her mug down. She didn't 
feel inclined to discuss her `relationship' with the girl. She wasn't 
sure how much of a relationship it was, yet.
She pushed the mug away. "You want to talk about what happened?"
Tor shook her head, not looking up. "Not really."

Fair enough. Scully didn't think she'd want to talk about it, either. 
They both jumped when something else met it's death in the yard.
"God! What's his problem?"
"You."
Tor stared. "How d'you mean?"
"He's mad about what happened."
The girl stared, that frown back again. "I don't understand."
Scully sighed. "Something bad happened to you, while he was supposed 
to be looking after you...."
"It wasn't his fault, or yours." She shrugged. "It just happened."
"I know. Nevertheless, he feels responsible. As do I."

That required some serious thought and Scully watched the girl 
wrestle with it, drawing little circles in the mug-rings on the table.
Scully wondered if having someone care about what happened to you, 
was a rare thing in Tor's life. It made her feel sad that it might be 
so.
"It's okay," she reassured her. "He'll get over it and be right as 
rain in a while." She smiled.
"Banging about is the guy-thing. Girls have chocolate."
Tor smiled and wiped her finger.

Long minute passed, and then Tor sighed, placing her hand flat on the 
table. 
"You wanna know why they did it?"
Scully nodded. Here it came.
"Those boys..." Tor blushed. "They didn't believe I was a girl. 
That's why they wanted to see my... " She bent her head. "You know." 
She didn't sound angry, just resigned.
Scully shook her head. "Why didn't they believe you? You're so 
pretty."
Tor snorted. "I play soccer like a boy. I swear like a boy..." She 
gave a hollow laugh. "Hell, I even look like one."
"You do not," Scully said, mentally crossing her fingers.
"Yeah, right." Tor sighed. 
"Tor..." she began.

The door slammed and they both turned as Doggett came into the 
kitchen and turned the faucet on so hard that water sprayed 
everywhere.
"Oh, Goddammit!" he yelled, jumping back, tee shirt soaked.
The two women at the table looked at one another and started to 
giggle.
"What's so funny?" Doggett grumbled, wiping at his chest with a 
dishcloth.
"Nothing, dear," Scully said, sending them both into fits again.

Rolling his eyes, Doggett threw the cloth down and sat at the table, 
grabbing the last mug.
"This mine?"
"Uh-huh."
"Thanks. He sipped, and finding it cool, gulped it down. "S'good," he 
said, banging the mug back and wiping his mouth with his hand.
Scully winced. "Did you even taste that?"
"Huh?"
She rolled her eyes at Tor. "Never mind."
"What did I do now?" he grumbled, looking at Tor. 
She smiled. "I think she was alluding to the fact that your drink 
didn't touch the sides of your throat."
He grinned. "Yeah, well. I tasted it, okay?" He cocked an eyebrow at 
her and tilted his head. "Alluding?"

Tor sat back and regarded him, archly. "You think I'm stupid?"
"Uh-uh. No." He shook his head. "Not at all. You just keep 
surprising me, is all."
"Yeah, well..." Her face contorted and she looked down at the table, 
going back to rubbing with her finger. "I'm a regular contradiction."
Doggett glanced over to Scully, confusion on his face. She shook her 
head at him, indicating they should wait for a moment.
He nodded and sat back.

"I asked for it, I suppose," she said, eventually. "I mean, I don't 
blame them for thinkin' it. I wouldn't believe me, either."
Scully saw Doggett frown, wondering what she was talking about and 
she reached over to lay a hand on his arm. As he looked up, she shook 
her head.
"Tor. Those boys probably just saw it as a perfect opportunity to 
take a peek, you know."
She shook her head. "Nah. They're right. I'm not a proper girl."
"What?" Doggett looked shocked.
"Doesn't matter." Tor shrugged and stood up. 

"Just a minute..." Doggett stood up. "Why would you think you're 
not..." He waved a hand. "Not, you know..."
Tor smiled grimly. "Take a look, Dogbreath. I'm not gonna win 
the `Miss Feminine' pageant any time soon." 
"But you're..." 
Tor held up her hand. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Heard it all before." She 
stuck her hands in her pockets. "You should grow your hair, 
Frankie... you're just too butch, Frankie. Go back to fighting with 
the boys, Frankie..."
"I wasn't gonna say that," Doggett told her.
"Sure you weren't."
"Now you're a mind-reader?"
Tor shrugged . "Not much of a challenge."
Doggett folded his arms. "Gee, thanks."
Laughing, Tor shook her head. "I meant, I know what people think when 
they look at me." She grunted. "Hell, I know what *I* think when I 
look at me.... You don't have to be a genius to know..."
"I think you're beautiful." Doggett said quietly.

Scully watched Tor register what he'd said, disbelief warring with 
something else.
"Don't patronise me," she snapped.
"I'm not."
"Yeah, right..." She was looking strangely at Doggett. 
Scully smiled. "He's right, Tor."
The girl frowned, looking from one to the other, unsure. "I look like 
a boy."
Doggett smiled. "You look like a girl that likes doing the same 
things a boy does... So what? I don't think you *look* like a boy."
"Pretty good liar," she told him, frowning.
Doggett sighed and pointed at her. "Stay there. Don't move."

Tor looked at Scully as he strode across the room, muttering to 
himself.
She shrugged. "What's with him?"
Scully shrugged back. "Beats me. Sunstroke, maybe?"
Tor laughed softly. "Perhaps we should put the hose on him in the 
yard."
Scully grinned. "Now there's a thought."
"Need to get rid of that shirt, first.
"You think?"
"Naturally. It's get ruined, otherwise."

Scully smiled. Inappropriate conversation or not, it was at least 
making the girl smile again.
"He might put up a fight," she said, trying to be serious.
Tor shrugged. "No problem. You kneel on his chest, I'll nail him to 
the ground by those ears."
Scully had to clamp her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter as 
Doggett came stomping back into the room.

He was clutching a store-bag.
"Here." He thrust the bag at Tor. "I got this `cos..." He scratched 
the back of his neck, ears turning an interesting shade of 
cerise. "Well. I just thought you might..."
"What is it?" she asked, making no effort to open the bag.
"Just..." He flapped a hand. "Just open it, okay."
"But what is it?"
"You'll see."
"Can't you just tell me..."
He threw up his hands. "Are you always this difficult!? Just open the 
damn thing, okay?"
"Okay, okay... Jeez! Don't have a cow." She plucked at the bag, 
frowning, then, peering in, lifted her eyes to stare at him.

Scully watched Doggett fidget, positively shuffling from one foot to 
the other, the colour in his ears bleeding across his face. He looked 
very uncomfortable.
Tor stared, making him wriggle more. He ran a hand through his hair.
"Why?" she said, eventually.
"I just thought. You might like it." He pulled a face and 
sighed. "Oh, hell, I thought it'd look nice on you, okay?"

Tor looked down and wordlessly pulled something bright out of the 
bag. As she unfolded it, Scully leaned over and looked.
It was the dress he'd picked out at the mall, the first day they `d 
been `parents'.
She stared at Doggett. He gone ahead and bought it while they were 
doing the underwear thing.
She shook her head slightly. Who's have thought?
Tor held the dress up to herself, staring down, speechless. It was 
hard to tell what was going on in her head.

"I... It doesn't matter," Doggett was saying. "I know you hate it. I 
just thought... You know."
He gave up in the face of silence and shoved his hands in his 
pockets, staring at the floor.
"Men, huh? What d'we know?"

Scully thought Tor was going to stuff the dress back into the bag, 
her face suddenly screwed up as if she had a bad attack of gas. And 
then she was launching herself at Doggett, sliding her arms round his 
waist, burying her head in his chest, holding on as if possessed.

The look on Doggett's face was priceless. He staggered back, unsure 
if he was going to get another bite, or knee in the genitals. Then he 
pulled his hands out of his pockets and rested them on Tor's back and 
patted.
"Hey... It's okay. It's just a stupid dress."
Tor said nothing, just clung. Doggett looked over her head to Scully. 
He looked more than a little startled. 
Scully winked. Nice one, she told him with a smile.

Eventually, Tor pushed herself away and wiped her arm under her nose, 
making both Scully and Doggett wince.
"It's great," she sniffed, looking at the dress in her hand. "Thanks, 
Dogbreath." 
"No problem," he shrugged. "You'll look great in it."
Tor looked at him. "Y'think?"
"Oh, yeah." He ducked his head to look at her. "Trust me. I used to 
be a boy."
"And there's me thinking you used to be a little girl," Scully 
laughed. 
Tor grinned. "With those muscles? I don't think so."
Scully nodded. "You may have a point, there."
"And that ass..."
"Oh, mustn't forget the ass," she laughed.

Doggett rolled his eyes, reddening. He grabbed the dish towel and 
threw it at Scully. "How did this suddenly become about me?"
"You're just lucky, I guess." Scully threw the cloth back at him.
"I'm gonna leave you two children to it. Call me for supper." Tor 
handed the bag to Doggett with a grin and wandered off to her room, 
inspecting her gift.

"Well..." Scully stood up. "You want to check the fridge, then, 
Martha. I'll peel and chop if you stir."
Sighing, he folded the towel up. "Fine. But I get to decide what 
we're having."
"No garlic," she told him, glancing over her shoulder.
"But I like..." His eyebrows rose and a grin spread over his 
face. "Oh. Yeah. Sure. No garlic."



chapter 18.


Scully fiddled with the cutlery, lost in thought.
Witness Protection had called an hour ago to tell them that Tor's 
mother had completed her testimony and would they had instructions to 
take Tor to a rendezvous point tomorrow, where she would be re-united 
with her mom. Then they would both disappear into Witness Protection.
A happy ending, sure. But Scully couldn't help feel a little pang of 
disappointment that the whole episode was coming to an end. 
She'd enjoyed `playing house' more than she'd ever imagined. Despite 
wandering over the line of `difficult', Tor had been good company. 
But the chance to be with Doggett on a whole new level had been 
nothing short of wonderful.
She had been thrilled to be able to get to know him, not just from 
the sexual attraction, although that was a definite plus, but from a 
purely platonic angle.

Finding out what food he liked, how he spent his downtime and what he 
liked to watch on tv.
Even crazy things, like watching how he peeled vegetables and knowing 
what brand of toothpaste he preferred. Her partner had gotten under 
her skin, she couldn't deny that. 
She smiled, putting the last of the cutlery on the table. And the way 
things were shaping up, tonight he'd be getting elsewhere, too.
They had prepared dinner in a slow burn of eroticism, hands brushing 
one another, small smiles and touches. Both of them mentally racing 
ahead, thinking about that night. It served to put her on a slow-heat 
setting for later, and by the look in Doggett's eyes, it was doing 
the same thing for him.
When most everything was done, she'd handed him a glass of wine and 
told him to watch the potatoes while she went to change her clothes.
No way did she want to spend their last meal here in cut-offs and tee 
shirt.

"Dinner's ready!" she called, turning off the cooker to save the 
salmon. She untied the apron from round her waist and smoothed her 
skirt down. She'd only brought the one with her, her favourite dark 
green, one she never wore to work because the slit up the back went 
way too far for the Bureau regs. 
The silk cream blouse was another indulgence. It was almost too much, 
silk and lace on the same garment, but was saved from tacky, by an 
elegant cut and the most gorgeous design. Too good for the FBI, but 
why she'd thought to bring it with her on this assignment, she didn't 
want to analyse. It looked good, that was all that mattered.

"Hi." Doggett appeared at the kitchen doorway. Scully did a double-
take as she put the salad on the table. He had disappeared nearly an 
hour ago, and now she saw what he'd been up to.
He, too had changed his clothes, in unspoken agreement.
She looked him up and down. "You look nice," she said, returning the 
compliment he'd paid her when she'd emerged from the bedroom.

He was wearing a powder blue, short-sleeved shirt that brought out 
the colour of his eyes and the shape of his arms. It was tucked into 
a pair of dark blue cargo pants. Almost as if he knew she liked him 
in that colour best.
As he walked over to her, she put out her hand to feel what she 
suspected, and what her nose was telling her. Her palm slid over the 
side of his face.
"You shaved." 
His cologne had drifted over with him, and she inhaled, taking the 
familiar scent deep inside.
"Uh-huh." He turned his head to kiss the palm of her hand.
Shivers ran up the backs of her legs, turning the skin goosey.
"Feels nice," she told him, smiling. "That for my benefit?"
"Could be." He smiled back at her and planted another quick kiss on 
her hand. "Anything I can do?"
"Nope. All ready." She turned to the cooker, putting it on a low 
heat. He was leaning against the units, smiling at her, arms folded.
"What're you looking so pleased about?" she demanded, smiling.
"Oh, nothing."
She snorted. "Looks like `nothing'." A thought occurred and she 
tossed the dish towel over at him, catching him in the chest. "And 
where did you disappear to?"
"When?"
"While I was slaving away, as if you didn't know!"
He grinned at her, plucking the towel from his front. "Out."
Scully frowned. "Out where?"
Tapping the side of his nose, he laughed. "Ah-ah." 
"You're very annoying, you know that?"
He shrugged. "It's been said."

She grunted, biting her lip with the comments that she could have 
made, instead, pulling dishes out of the oven. She glanced over to 
Tor's room. "Give her a shout, will you. I think she's gone deaf."
Doggett put two fingers up to his mouth. "Cover your ears," he told 
her.
Scully was very grateful she obeyed, as he let loose with an 
outstandingly piercing whistle.
"TOR! DINNER!"
As the last of the noise died away, Scully took her hands away. "Good 
Lord. That was..." She shook her head. "Loud." 
He grinned. "Best way to get attention."
"I'll bet."

Tor walked into the kitchen, wearing the dress Doggett had bought.
"If either of you laugh, it's going in the trash," she told them, 
blushing.
No-one spoke for a minute. Then Doggett gave a completely different 
kind of whistle. 
"No-ones gonna laugh, sweetheart, you look..." He nodded. "Terrific."
She gave him a half-disbelieving, half-hopeful look. "Yeah?"
"Absolutely."

He wasn't exaggerating, she did.
The dress was a good fit, the colours suiting her, Scully made a 
mental note to take Doggett clothes shopping real soon. He had 
an `eye' . 
"He's right, Tor," she said moving to walk round her, admiring. "You 
look really great." 
"The boots are bit funny," she said, shuffling her feet. "But I 
didn't have anything else.
"I think they look just fine," Doggett told her.
"Adds your own personal touch to the whole thing," Scully 
smiled. "And I bet it makes you feel more comfortable.
Tor grinned. "Yeah, I couldn't do heels as well."
"You want to try working all day in them. They're murder." Scully 
winced. 
"I know what you mean," Doggett laughed. "I ruin my ankles chasing 
the bad guys in them."
The girls rolled their eyes. 
He winked. "C'mon. Let's eat, I'm starved."

*


Salmon poached in lemon and butter, new potatoes, salad and the last 
of the french bread all disappeared along with most of a bottle of 
wine. They laughed at jokes, told silly stories and generally enjoyed 
a relaxed and sociable meal. 
Scully admitted to peeing her panties at school, and spending the day 
underpantless, frightened to death of discovery. Closely followed by 
the tale of smoking her first cigarette and throwing her guts up at 
12.
Doggett confessed to letting down one tire on each of the entire 
faculty's vehicles, and of at age seventeen, riding ten miles home 
on a borrowed motorbike, stark naked.

"Without getting caught?" Tor's eyes widened.
Doggett nodded. "Uh-huh. Took the back streets and lanes." He shook 
his head. "Froze my ass off, but no-one saw."
"Wouldn't have been much *to* see, if you were cold," Scully leaned 
over and muttered, while Tor took the plates over to the sink.
His indignant gaze made her laugh.

"You think it'll take long to get to the airfield?" Tor asked, 
gathering the glasses.
"You looking forward to seeing your mom?" Scully asked.
"Yeah." Tor plucked at the dress and grinned. "She'll shit when she 
sees me in this."
"Language..."
"Sorry. But she will."
"Shouldn't take too long," Doggett told her. "They picked one half 
way between on purpose."
"Cool. So no early morning?"
He smiled. "No early morning."
"Good." 
Scully glanced over to him and winked. Just as well.



*

This time Scully joined in the board game. 
They all sat on the carpet and Doggett proceeded to beat both of them 
soundly.
"No fair!" complained Tor, handing over hundreds of dollars for the 
second time in five minutes.
"Hey... It's not my fault you both stink." Doggett counted the 
money. "You're fifty bucks short, madam." He held his hand out. "Hand 
it over."
Tor pulled a face and sighed. "You gotta be cheatin' somehow."
"Uh-uh." He tucked the cash away. "You're just a bad loser."

The three of them were sprawled on out comfortably, bowls of chips 
between them, sodas perched on the low table. Scully was surprised to 
find herself agreeing to the game, and even more surprised to find 
herself not caring in the least that she was scrunched up on the 
floor in an expensive outfit.
Wonders would never cease.

"Bet you're glad you didn't wanna play the other day," Doggett 
grinned, shaking the dice under her nose. 
She pushed his hand away. "Shut up and roll, Doggett. " 
"Temper, temper." He threw a three and landed on one of Tor's 
properties. "Oh, damn."
Laughing, Tor tapped the board. "Pay up. Loser."
"Peanuts!" He snorted.
"Just give me my money, or I'll..."
"Or you'll what? Lose the game?" He laughed, peeling two bills from 
his pile of money.
"Here y'go, buy yourself somethin' nice."

She reached over and dug a finger into his ribs. "Pig!""
Grunting, he wriggled away. "Hey! Don't mess with the man that owns 
more than half the board, woman!"
"Only through cheatin'!" she grumbled.
"Hey! Just because I prove men are better than you feeble females at 
*serious* business..."
He laughed at the looks on their faces and pointed. "Losers!"
"*Chauvinist* pig," Tor cried, stretching to poke him again.
He flinched. "I just tell it like it is, ladies... And just quit 
that, will you!"

A glimmer of reckless glee flickered in Tor's eyes. She flicked her 
gaze up to meet Scully's. 
Was he...?
She ran her fingers down his side again, just to check.
He flinched away. "Jeez, Tor! Quit it!"
Oh, yeah. She was right, he was.
Doggett was ticklish.

Scully leaned over the board and whispered in Tor's ear.
"Yeah?" she said, a grin spreading.
"Oh, definitely," Scully said, getting up to a sitting position. 
"You two planning the terms of your defeat?" he grinned.
"Not exactly..." Scully shook her head and looked at Tor. 
"So you think we should?..." Tor raised her eyebrows.
Scully glanced at Doggett's smug face. "Absolutely."
Payback.

"Oh, John," she said, nodding at Tor, who began to move silently 
around the board.
"What?"
"I think Tor just found out a secret about you."
He frowned, distracted, counting out handfuls of money. "Oh yeah? 
What's that?"

He was dead meat. He just didn't know it yet. Tor caught her eye and 
raised an eyebrow.
Scully nodded, grinning.
"Oh, just something that you should never, ever let women find out 
about."
He looked up, innocent and clueless. "Yeah? What?"
She knee-walked over to him, and gazed down, her guts positively 
squirming in anticipation.
On his other side, Tor crept up, grinning widely.

"That you..." She leaned closer. 
"Uh-huh?"
"Are..." She moved closer.
"Uh-huh?"
"Very..." Almost touching.
"What?"
"Very..." She grinned. "Ticklish!"
With a cries of triumph, they pounced, grabbing him, digging their 
fingers into his sides and under his arms. Yelling, he flipped 
over, trying to ward off the four hands relentlessly poking his ribs.

They poked, prodded and squeezed, Doggett wriggled, squirmed and 
shouted, but the two women ignored his breathless demands to stop 
and carried on tickling unmercifully. 
Tor took hold of his hands and held them down while Scully walked her 
fingers over his sides, chanting `Incy Wincy Spider', over and over.
He yelped and howled.
The two women just laughed and tickled harder.

He begged.
Disregarding his pleas for mercy, Scully moved to sit on his legs to 
keep them still, while Tor squirrelled her fingers in his armpits.
"Ticky-wicky-wicky!" she sang, leaning over his red face, grinning 
insanely. "Now who's the loser, Dogbreath?!"
Pinned down on his back, Doggett howled.

Out of breath, Scully sat back, pausing for a moment. She pushed the 
hair from her face and held her hand up to Tor to stop. She looked 
down at a red-faced Doggett.
"Stop... " he gasped, pulling in a great lungful of air.
"Or else?" she asked, folding her arms.
"I'll let you live," he panted. 
She laughed. "You're hardly in a position to threaten anyone, Mister 
Tickly."
"Please, Scully.."
"Oh, so it's `please' now, is it?" She laughed, reaching down to 
slowly lift the hem of his shirt.
"Well. What do we have here?"

He pushed Scully's hands, trying to sit up. "Gimme a break!"
"Say please..." she told him, pausing.
"I already did," he frowned.
"Humour me."
He sighed and rolled his eyes. "*Please*. Okay?" 

She looked down at his face and briefly contemplated mercy.
"C'mon, woman," he complained. "This is killin' me."
Oh, that did it. 
"Sorry..." She swooped, redoubling her attack, yanking his shirt up 
to get at bare skin, reducing him to a wriggling mess, helpless with 
laughter.
"SCULLEeee!" he whined between gasps, pushing weakly at her 
hands. "Oh, God..." 

"Hey... Here y'go." 
Scully looked up to see Tor holding a wet hand out to her. Her fist 
unfolded to reveal a handful of ice cubes. "I think someone needs to 
be taught a lesson about the superiority of women, don't you?"
Scully laughed delightedly. The kid was more than okay.
"Thank you, Tor." She took the cubes. "Hang on to him, will you?"
Doggett's hands were grabbed and pinned down.
"What the hell?" He had enough self-preservation to look worried.

"Just relax, John. This won't hurt." 
Showing him her dripping hand, Scully grinned at the look on his face.
"Aw... no. Scully..." He shook his head, starting to 
struggle. "C'mon, Dana... I didn't mean it... honest."
She shook her head. "Too late, I'm afraid. You need a little lesson 
in manners."
The cubes dipped to his stomach and he let out a howl.
"JEEEEEZus!!"
Almost doubled over with laughter, Scully dragged her freezing hand 
from one side of his belly to the other, thoroughly enjoying the 
noises he made.
He struggled, lifting her up with his thighs. 

All of a sudden, the feel of his writhing body under hers became 
something else. 
She felt a blush rise, the sensation of his strong legs moving under 
her bottom, changing the agenda from fun, into something altogether 
more primitive. His firm stomach, glistening with water drew her 
eyes. She had an unbelievably strong urge to bend down and lick the 
drops of water from his skin.

Damn. 
This wasn't the time or the place, with Tor here. She'd better finish 
this before she got carried away. Besides, it was getting harder to 
hold him down. 
Tor's wet grip on his hands was slipping. 
"Hey, Tor.." she said, winking. "Get ready.." she warned, indicating 
her dripping handful and then Doggett's hands.
Tor nodded, understanding.
"And just so you don't forget this in a hurry, John Doggett..." 
She grinned naughtily, pulled up the waistband of his pants, shoved 
the melting cubes down inside
and leapt off him.

"AWWWWW!!!..." 
The two women circled the thrashing man on the floor and stood side 
by side, holding on to each other's hands, creased up with hysterical 
laughter as Doggett curled into a ball and jammed his hand down his 
pants, still yelling.
Ice cubes flew across the carpet as he frantically pulled them from 
his underwear.
"God!... Oh God..." 

Finally fishing the last one out, he collapsed on his back, arms out 
stretched, his eyes tightly shut, groaning. 
Scully had a wicked flashback to that morning in bed, him lying just 
like that. 
It suited him.
He moaned, rolled over and lay in the ice-puddles without realising. 
Scully opened her mouth to tell him he ws getting soaked, but he got 
to his knees, still face-down on the carpet, giving both women a 
wonderful view of his tight ass, and the words died in her throat.
She decided she'd rather stare instead, glancing at Tor to see if she 
was had noticed the view.
She had.
Scully grinned, she didn't blame her for staring, one bit.

Doggett pulled himself up to his knees and stared down at the front 
of his pants in dismay.
He plucked at the soggy material.
"You wet my pants," he complained, looking decidedly miserable.
"Oh, get over it!" Tor got up and went to stand in front of him, 
hands on hips. "It's only water. It won't kill you."
Doggett grunted and pulled at his crotch.

"Maybe you should change your pants," Scully suggested, her body half 
hoping he'd ask for a hand.
He pulled himself up on the sofa, sighing dramatically.
"Bullies..." he muttered, his hands going to his button.

Scully's guts leaped in shock and delight. He wouldn't, would he?
"Er... Doggett," she said, watching as he unzipped his pants and 
stood up.
"What?" He stood up with opened pants, fixing her with a puzzled 
statement.
Scully nodded to down below his waist.
"You think that's appropriate?"
He looked down. Then back up at her.
"I have shorts on," he pointed out, dropping his pants to prove his 
point. "Besides..."
He shoved them down and began to kick them off his socked feet. "I 
think you should be the one to put them in the drier, don't you?"
He bent over, picked them up and tossed them over to her. "As it was 
you that got them wet in the first place."

Scully caught an armful of warm Doggett-pants, one leg whipping her 
in the face.
"Hey!" 
She removed them from her head and glared at him. "You are such a 
baby, John Doggett."
He grinned at her, the bottom of his shirt barely covering his groin. 
She tried not to look, but she caught a tempting glimpse of the legs 
of his dark boxer shorts peeping out below the bottom of his shirt.

Sitting heavily on the sofa, he just crossed his feet on the table 
and folded his arms.
"Probably," he said, staring at her. "But I think you owe me."
Sighing, Scully screwed up the pants.
She supposed he was right and besides, she couldn't keep her eyes 
off those strong legs, endlessly stretched out in front of her. 
And if he stood up, she didn't think she'd be able to stop herself 
from going over there and lifting the hem of his shirt to see what 
else it was hiding.

"Okay, okay..." she muttered, moving over to the kitchen. "And I 
suppose I get to make the coffee, as well?"
"Uh-uh," Doggett called, glancing behind him. "Tor gets to do that. 
The ice cubes were her idea."
Tor snorted.
"Gee, thanks a bunch, Dogbreath." 
"Play dirty, get dirty."
Oh yes, Scully thought, smiling to herself as she stuffed his pants 
in the drier. She planned on playing dirty, all right.