TITLE:   Conhouse - Chapter Seventeen


e-mail Address:  ErinStone1@aol.com
RATING: anywhere from PG to NC-17 - it's a crap shoot
CATEGORY:  Scully/Slash
SPOILERS: None
Keywords:  Scully Slash/Other Romance
Archiving:  You bet - just let me know where.

Disclaimer: Fox, Chris Carter and 1013 own them ALL, ***except Lena Conhouse,
she's mine, and of course, Wanda, who is mine in the literal sense.***

Comments are welcomed. Please send them to ErinStone1@AOL.com






The three made their way back to Scully's; Mulder in his car, the women in the
other. Lena lay across the back seat, every bump making the pain in her head
and stomach flair. Scully leaned to look back at her when traffic allowed,
taking in her injuries and making mental notes of what to check Lena for when
she got her home.

Scully pulled in beside Mulder in her parking lot and they both carefully
carried Lena inside. Scully unlocked her door as Mulder held Lena up, then
went quickly inside to drawl a bath for the beaten woman.

Fifteen minutes later Lena sat on the toilet slumped over as Scully tried to
pull her pants off.

"Lena, I've got to get these off if I'm going to get you in the tub. I know it
hurts but I need to see your injuries and get you cleaned up." She got no
response. Lena's face was terribly swollen, her left eye all but closed. The
ripped skin at her forehead was now blackened with bruises and dried blood.
She was bent over, holding her stomach. Scully gave up on the pants for a
second to dig through her medicine cabinet.

"Lena, here, take these." Scully handed her two pain killers. "I keep them
around for Mulder. Guess it never occurred to me that I'd have to use them for
anyone else." Scully smiled at her slightly. "How do you feel?"

"I feel... like I pissed off a cook and he beat the crap out of me." Lena's
head came up slightly and she tried to look at Scully, but she couldn't quite
make it. Scully went back to work on Lena's pants and underwear, finally
working them down her legs and off.

"Well, the cook will be charged with a double homicide and attempted murder.
Granted, you look worse, but I'd say overall that he lost the fight." Dana
carefully pulled Lena's jacket from her arms, then went to work on her
sweater. "What's the penalty for roughing up an angel? It's must be pretty
serious." She tried to look in her eyes, carefully lifting her chin.

"Mimes, an eternity of mimes and bagpipers." Lena winced as Scully pulled the
sweater over her head. "God is gonna be pissed..."

"Bagpipers?" Scully thought that maybe Lena did have a concussion after all.

"Yeah. Know why they walk around while they play?"

"No, why?" Dana carefully took off her bra.

"To get away from that noise."

Scully laughed and kissed Lena's hand. "Come on, can you climb in here?"  She
tried to pull her into a standing position and couldn't seem to get her to
stand. "Lena I'm going to call Mulder in, is that ok? I don't want to hurt you
any more than I have to, and I think he could help me lift you into the tub."

Lena nodded.

"Mulder!" Scully yelled over her shoulder and she heard him walk to the
bathroom.

"Yeah?" he called through the door.

"I need your help, can you come in here?"

He cautiously cracked the door open and saw Lena naked on the toilet. His
first instinct was to shut the door.

"Mulder? It's okay. I need you to help me lift her into the tub." Scully
appreciated his sense of honor, but she didn't have time for it.

He carefully opened the door again and stepped into the bathroom. Together
they lifted Lena into the tub. Scully gave him a grateful look, "Thanks." She
smiled slightly and Mulder left the bathroom.

Lena lay back in the tub, letting the warm water soak away some of the pain as
Scully gently washed her.

"This would be so erotic if I had all my piece parts working." Lena said as
she let her good eye close.

"Well, when you heal up you're fair game." Dana kissed her gently then washed
the blood from her forehead.

"It's good to be me." Lena tried to smile.

"Lena, can I ask what did you do to Ruth back in the basement?"

"Made her forget."

"All of it?"

"Most of it, the worst of it. What she does remember will be like a movie.
Like she's watching it happen to someone else."

"So you took the pain away?"

"Yeah."

"Why can't you do that for yourself?" It came out more harshly that Scully had
intended it to.

Lena's head rolled toward Scully and she opened her eyes. "I can't take away
bruises and blood."

"I'm sorry, that came out wrong. It's just hard to see you so battered."

"I understand." Lena held out her hand and Scully took it. "I seem to have a
better record with emotional scars and not so much the physical ones."

Scully nodded. "Let's get you dry."

Lena was feeling better, the drugs having set in, but she was suddenly aware
of how tired she was. Scully dried her off and put her in an old pair of her
flannel pajamas, then walked her into the bedroom and tucked her into bed.

"I love you."

Lena closed her eyes and smiled, "I love you too."

"Get some rest."

She turned off the lamp by the bed and went into the kitchen.

"Thanks for your help Mulder."

"Is she all right?"

"She's fine. Bruised and cut up, but fine."

"Surprising, really, considering what she went through." Mulder paused.
"Scully... what is she?"

Scully took a sudden interest in her feet, considering his question. "I
think·" She raised her eyes to look at him, "you should let her tell you that
when she can."

"It's more than we thought isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Has she told you?"

"Yes."

"But you can't tell me?" Mulder was hurt, and it registered in his eyes
although he tried to hide it.

"It's not my place Mulder. It's· not like anything we've dealt with before.
Please, don't be angry, just know that I would tell you if I thought I could
make sense of it, but· I can't. I just don't know. I'm· I just don't know."

Mulder knew what it was. He wasn't sure he could ever fully comprehend it, but
he knew. "It's okay Scully. It's all right. I think I understand."

She let out a relieved sigh, grateful to be off the burner. "You want the
pillow?"

Mulder smiled at her. Regardless of the situation he could always count on her
to take care of him. "Yep, and my blanket?"

"Top shelf of the coat closet. I'm going to take a shower. Do me another favor
and check on Lena while I'm in there? I not convinced she doesn't have a
concussion and I'd like to keep an eye on her tonight."

"Sure."

"Thanks." Scully let her hand rest on his arm for a second and then walked
quietly into the bathroom. A minute later he heard the water start.

Mulder stood in the bedroom doorway and watched Lena sleep. He walked to the
bed and sat down on it's edge. Lena stirred slightly, looking up at him.

"Hi, you feel any better?"

"Define better."

"Less dead?"

Lena smiled, "Yes. Dr. Scully cleaned me up."

"She's done it for me more times than I can remember."

"Lay down with me?" Lena said.

Mulder hesitated for a split second, then lay down next to her on the bed.

She rolled toward him, laying her bruised head on his arm. "Much better."

Mulder smiled. "You scared us today."

"Don't you mean I scared =you=?"

"Okay, me. I thought we'd lost you when I saw you on the floor of that
basement."

"That guy was a bully."

Mulder laughed, "The king of the bullies."

"Thanks for saving my scrawny ass Mulder."

"Any time Conhouse, any time." He thought for a second, and decided to push
the envelope. "Thanks for showing me how people get to heaven."

Lena let his comment soak in, then said, "So you caught that huh?"

"Yeah, I caught that. It was hard to miss."

"Intense isn't it?" Lena cuddled up closer to Mulder and he let her form her
body around his. He felt warm. It had been years since he'd reveled in the
feel of another warm body. The brief times that Scully had allowed him to hold
her were few and far between. He let his lips close gently on Lena's bruised
forehead. He felt for a moment like he had Samantha back; that he had her
small warm body to keep safe. The feeling made his heart lurch in his chest.
The thought of Samantha made him... so sad, but strangely enough also·
incredibly happy.

That's absurd, he thought. I don't know what =happy= is.

"Oh but you do. At least, you're starting to figure it out." Lena whispered to
him.

Mulder wondered if he had said it aloud, then remembered...

"Is that why you're here?" He whispered back, pushing a little farther.

Lena smiled against his chest. "I'm here to make a family. That's how it works
Mulder. If you don't have a family to keep you safe, protect you from those
that would do you harm, then you make one ...out of the people you love."

A tear made it's way down Mulder's cheek.

"Mulder, my sweet man," Lena whispered, "you have too many tears stored up
inside of you. I've been counting since we've met and I've only seen you part
with 4 of them. You've got a lot left. If I were you, I'd let some of them go.
You'll never be safer than you are right now."

Her words had a deep impact and a sudden sob wracked his chest. Lena held him
tightly, ignoring the pain in her stomach, and wrapped her arms around him
like he was a child, letting him pour out the infection that had wormed its
way around his heart. She whispered to him as he cried, telling him that he
was loved, that he had sacrificed too much in his lifetime, and finally that
they would find her...

'they would find her...'

And when it registered to him... when the words repeated themselves in his
head and he realized what they meant, his crying stopped, and he pulled back
to look into her eyes.

Lena nodded at him.

And he smiled.

"You of all people are due for a little joy, don't you think?" Lena whispered,
squeezing him tightly.

Mulder put his head back down and Lena lay hers on top of his arm. He pulled
her closer to him and felt sleep caress the edges of his mind.

__________________________________________________________

Scully stood in the doorway of her bedroom where Mulder had stood a half hour
before. She looked at the two of them huddled in her bed and smiled. 'Like
puppies in a litter' she thought. Her two favorite people in this life,
clinging together in her bed· it was amazing.

She walked quietly to the side of the bed that appeared to have some room left
and pulled the covers back, carefully lying down next to Lena's warm body. She
cuddled up against the sleeping woman's back and felt a hand rub her leg
gently.

"You smell good." Lean whispered, leaving her hand on Scully's leg.

"I showered."

"Did you see what I found wandering around the bed a little while ago?"

"I noticed that. Does he snore?"

"Not sure. He hasn't yet."

"That's a blessing."

"I heard that." Mulder whispered from his spot on the bed.

Scully reached across Lena to squeeze his arm, "Night Mulder."

"Night Scully."

Lena wiggled in further to the warm spot between them and smiled to herself.
She thought of the words spoken to her some months ago, before she came here,
before she knew anything about these two, other than their names.

'Finally·' she thought to herself, 'We're getting somewhere.'

And she drifted off to sleep.



End - Chapter Seventeen