***************

Twenty minutes later, she was standing in-line at the US Airways booth along with all of the other frustrated passengers. Within moments, it was her turn to get some more information.

"You're telling me the planes are grounded," she said walking up to the US Airways booth once again.

"Yes ma'am," the flustered employee verified.

"Why? Explain to me why. I have flown out in much worse weather conditions than this," she said.

"I don't know, ma'am. We've been told that it is blizzard conditions and…"

"Blizzard conditions my ass. I can show you some blizzard conditions, and this… This… Ugh!" she huffed again in frustration.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but…"

"Look. Do they have any idea when they will lift the grounded status?"

The employee punched a few keys on his computer keyboard, read through the latest reports, then began to shake his head, "No ma'am. But another front is predicted to move in later this afternoon, so…"

"Oh Christ!" Scully fussed again. "Well, what about a transfer? What about Dulles?"

"No ma'am. Dulles is grounded, too."

"And Baltimore?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Richmond?"

The employee punched a few keys yet again on the keyboard. "Yes ma'am. Grounded, and booked solid."

"Okay. Then how far south are we talking?"

The employee punched in a few more keys. He shook his head then punched in a few more keys. "Hum. Looks like Roanoke, or maybe Raleigh-Durham, ma'am. But they've got another front moving in, too, so..."

"Oh crap! Well can I get a transfer? Or a credit?"

"Yes ma'am. You may get a credit for your next flight. And if there is an opening, we can give you a transfer. But we cannot give a full refund on any ticket, only a credit, or a transfer, for your next flight."

"Right," the redhead huffed expecting to hear that. "Okay. I'll wait it out. For now," she huffed again then headed for the nearest area to sit and call her baby.

…Ring…Ring…

The brunette rolled over onto her stomach ignoring the frustrating chime of the bedside table phone.

…Ring…Ring…

"Oh frig," she fussed then rolled back over looking at the clock. 6:29 AM. …Shee-at…

…Ring…Ring…

Surely, Eric would have more decency than this to call her this early in the morning on her first day off in several weeks. She then reached over to answer the annoying thing.

…Ring…Ri…

"Hello?"

"Monica!" Scully said flustered.

"Dana? What's wrong?" The sleepy brunette instantly sat up in the bed.

"Oh God. I don't even. The planes are grounded and…"

"What?"

"Yep. Planes are grounded. And I can't get out."

"What? Oh my God. How? Why?"

"Guess all that rain you were getting the other day is creating a blizzard up here."

"Oh, for Godsakes. Well, are any planes landing? I mean I can try to catch a quick flight up there from here."

"Nope. Nothing in or out."

"For Godsakes."

"I know."

"Oh Dana. God."

"I know."

"Jeez."

"I know."

"Dana?"

"I know, baby, believe me."

"God. I don’t even know what to... How long? When will they lift the mandate?"

"I don't know. They don't know. But another front is predicted for mid to late afternoon."

"Oh for… Dana? Gosh. Is it really that bad?"

"No, damn it. That's what frustrates me so much. It's not that bad. I've flown out in much worse weather than this, so… Damn!" the redhead said again.

"Okay, well, let's think about this. What about tomorrow? You think they'll still be grounded by tomorrow morning?"

"I just don't know. But if another front is moving in then… You know?"

"Oooh, yeah, gosh. Doesn't sound very good."

"Nope."

"Well, where are you now?"

"At the airport. I got here early, just in case."

"Oh baby. You're already there?"

"Yep. I tried to beat the weather and get one of the earlier flights out, but everything was already grounded, so…"

"Oh Dana."

"Yep. The only thing I know to do is wait it out, see what happens."

"Yeah, but you can’t keep waiting at the airport."

"Well? I can for the next few hours at least."

"Dana? No, I don't want you to do that."

"Well what the hell else am I supposed to do? I don't see any other choice."

Both women were silent for a few moments.

Reyes then spoke again, "Well. I guess we wait. You go home, get a refund, or a credit from the airlines or something, and then go home, and we try again as soon as the weather breaks."

"You really want me to do that?"

"Yes."

"You want me to go home and not even try for another flight out later this afternoon," the redhead questioned, very frustrated indeed with the situation.

"Well? No. But what other choice do we have?"

Both women were silent again for a few moments.

"Monica? I need to see you," the redhead said.

"Oh God, honey. And I need to see you, too. It's breaking my heart knowing that you aren’t going to be able to make it in tonight, but we're just going to have to wait it out, right? I don’t see any other choice."

Scully closed her eyes yet again in rising frustration. God, she needed to see this woman, be with this woman, and just luxuriate in this woman's arms and company for a little while. Actually, they both needed to see each other, and just luxuriate in each other's arms and company for a little while, after everything they had both been going through over the last week and a half.

"Mon? I really need to see you, somehow."

"Oh Dana, God. And I really need to see you, too, honey. But I don't know what else to do."

Both women closed their eyes yet again in mounting frustration.

"Well. I guess we just wait it out," the redhead said reluctantly agreeing with the tall brunette.

"Yeah. Guess so. Wow. And I had dinner reservations planned for tonight. But I can always change them. I'll make them for Thursday night. How's that? Me taking you out on the town Thursday, Friday and Saturday?"

"Sounds great, but I want to spend a lot of time with you alone, too."

"Oh really," Reyes chuckled.

"Oh yeah. Really."

"Mmm. Well. I think that can be arranged."

Scully chuckled then the two frustrated agents talked a few extra minutes, making a second set of plans, then planned on sometime later tomorrow afternoon on Wednesday for Scully to fly in. Surely, the planes would be up and flying by mid Wednesday afternoon, which meant Scully could get a mid-afternoon flight out and be there by late afternoon or early evening at the latest. That could work. That would work. Because Pierce's funeral was set for Wednesday mid-morning anyway; and Reyes did not really want to give up any valuable, quality time with Scully to attend his funeral anyway. And she certainly did not want the little redhead to be attending it with her either. No way would she have Scully going to two different funerals in less than a week, even though the little redhead had offered to go with her earlier yesterday afternoon when she had first told her about the funeral service.

They quickly made their plans, hung up, then Scully went back to stand in-line and get her ticket transferred to one of the later flights leaving for New Orleans some time tomorrow mid-morning.

Reyes then rolled back over in the bed frustrated as hell. ...God!... She needed to see and be with Scully tonight as much as Scully needed to see and be with her. ...God! Crock! What a crock!... This long-distance-relationship kind of thing was really beginning to be a pain in the ass. She needed to start checking on some job-assignments up in the Baltimore area, or the DC office, or maybe even the Training Academy, or the Behavioral Sciences Unit at Quantico again or – something – pronto! Because this long-distance-relationship kind of thing could really begin to wear on one's soul.

"Thank you," the little redhead said as she grabbed the transfer documents from the airlines employee's hand then walked over to the nearest bench and sat back down. She pulled her cell-phone out once again and began to call the waiting brunette.

…Ring…Ri…

"Hey. Did you get it?" Reyes answered instantly.

Scully smirked. "Yes. Glad you knew it was me."

Reyes chuckled. "Well? What time?"

"10:15. I'll be leaving out at 10:15 AM and landing at 11:54 tomorrow, your time."

"Awesome! US Airways?"

"Yep."

"Okay. I know the gate. And Brian's funeral is set for 11:00, so that works out perfectly. I can go to that, then swing by and pick you up."

"No. That is not what we agreed upon."

"What do you mean?"

"We had agreed that you would not go unless I was there to go with you."

"No. That was what you had agreed upon, not me. I never agreed to that."

"Monica?"

"No, honey."

"Monica?"

"No."

"Moni?"

"Dana?" Reyes teased the little redhead.

"No! I do not want you attending the funeral of the man who tried to kill you without me being there to… to…"

"To what?"

"Hah! I don't know. But you are not going to go to that funeral!"

"Well my goodness," Reyes yelped in response to Scully's sudden change in tone. "Dana?"

"Monica? No! You have been through way too much this week to have to go to that! And…"

"And what?"

"Hah! I don't know, but I know that I don't want you going, not without me there to watch over you or something."

"Ohh," Reyes grinned as her whole body tingled with warm sensations. "Honey, I'll be fine. Don't worry. I'll be fine. Besides, I think I need to go. It won't look right if I don't. And he was my partner. I don't understand what happened out there the other night. But he was my partner. And I loved him in a goofy sort of way. We covered for each other all the time."

Scully inhaled deeply then sighed, "Oh gosh. Well, I don’t want you to go. But I guess it doesn’t matter what I want or think."

…Oh my goodness. Dana?… Reyes thought surprised at Scully's stern reactions to the situation. Actually, they were experiencing their first little argument. "Dana? Honey, of course it matters what you want, or think, but I'll be fine. Baby, I'll be just fine. And if you were here, I wouldn't let you go anyway. I…"

"Hah! You wouldn't?!"

"No. I wouldn't. You don't need to be going to two funerals in less than a week. My God!"

"Monica?"

"Honey?"

"Hah!"

They continued to argue about Pierce's funeral over the next ten minutes, and whether Reyes should, could or would attend it or not, and the pros and cons of whether Scully should be with her or not, although it was a rather mute point by now, because Scully was not goint to be there in time to attend it with her anyway, no matter what their final resolution.

"Sweetie?" Reyes said again trying to soothe the ruffled little redhead's feathers once more. "Honey, let's not argue over this. It's not worth it."

Scully sighed heavily. "I know. I'm just so frustrated! God! I wanted to be there tonight."

"I know. Me, too. But it's out of our control. There's nothing we can do about it."

"Hum," Scully sighed frustratedly yet again.

"See you tomorrow? At a quarter to 1:00?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow. Quarter 'til 1:00."

"Okay. I love you, baby."

Scully smirked then chuckled.

"Dana, you go home now and get some rest."

"Rest?"

"Yes. You're carrying a baby now, and you need to take care of him as much as yourself."

Scully grinned then chuckled again. That was true. She then glanced back out the window. The snow was coming down so fast and thick it was almost blinding. …Hum… She cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh," the lonely brunette sighed again as she took another long drag off her Morley Light. Soon, it would be dark, and past dinnertime, which meant the neighborhood kids would be out in full force in their cute little Halloween outfits, running up and down the neighborhood streets, trick-or-treating and coming to her door, ringing the doorbell incessantly, just in case she could not hear them. She smirked. She certainly had not planned on being home tonight, this particular Halloween night. She had planned on being in New Orleans, downtown, in the heart of the French Quarter with her baby tonight celebrating the remnants of the Halloween party weekend. The biggest celebration had already occurred over the weekend with the Bourbon Blues Parade, the Voodoo Tribe participants, and all the other happy-go-lucky partygoers parading down the streets of downtown New Orleans donning their wildly fabulous, brightly colorful and quite creative Halloween outfits. It was almost as fun and wild as Mardi Gras, at least for the Gay Community of New Orleans. People came from all over the United States to celebrate Halloween in the big city. "Oh well," she sighed as she took another long drag off her cigarette. Scully would be here by tomorrow afternoon, midday, and that was all that really mattered.

"Oh," the lonely redhead sighed again as she heard more little footsteps running up and down the hallway just outside her apartment door. Soon, the little children would be knocking on her door, in their cute little Halloween outfits, running up and down the hallways, trick-or-treating and coming to her door, knocking incessantly, just in case she could not hear them. She smirked. She certainly had not planned on being home tonight, this particular Halloween night. She had planned on being in Southern Louisiana, in Slidell, or possibly even in New Orleans, with her baby, in the heart of wherever her baby wanted to be, celebrating the remnants of this Halloween party weekend. She reached down and stroked her abdomen as she felt her little son move and kick, performing a summersault or two inside her womb. She smiled. One day she would be taking her little son out trick-or-treating, too, and enjoying watching him laugh, giggle and delight in the simpler things of life. "Oh well," she sighed as she thought about her lover and wondered what she was doing on this lonely Halloween night. Maybe she would call her later, when all the trick-or-treaters had gone home for the night. But then, maybe she would not, for she would be there by tomorrow afternoon, midday, and that was all that really mattered.

…Ring…Ring…

Reyes set her coffee cup down as she looked at her watch.

…Ring…Ri…

"Hey. Whatcha doin'?" she answered. She knew it was Scully by the sound of her cell-phone chime.

"Hi. I, um… Wow."

...Oh God... "Don't tell me."

"Yep."

"Oh God, Dana. How long?"

"They don't know. But we were hit pretty bad last night, and there's another good six inches on the ground, so..."

"I know. I saw the Weather Channel. It's all over the news."

Scully just sighed. Here she was at the airport again waiting for her plane to come in and yet all the planes were still grounded, nothing coming in, nothing going out. Talking about a madhouse at this point.

"Hum. Well. I don't know what to do," the brunette said. "I can’t fly in, and you can't fly out. So what the hell do we do?"

Scully sighed again. "I don’t know, but I'm not going to wait it out here, I know that."

"I don’t blame you. So, you gonna go back home now?"

"Possibly."

"Okay, well, honey, be careful, be very careful. The streets are bound to be slick."

Scully grinned. "Actually, they're not that bad. You're going to the funeral in a little bit?"

"Yeah. Made up my mind. I'm going."

Scully sighed again. "Okay. Well. Call me, or I'll call you when you get back home, okay?"

"Okay. Should be around 1:30, 2:00 your time. I imagine the guys will want to go and get a bite to eat afterwards."

"Okay. I'll call you, or you call me, either way."

"Okay. I will."

A very long pause lingered between the two lonely agents.

"Monica?"

"Yeah?"

"Never mind."

"What?" the brunette quipped. The little redhead drove her crazy sometimes with her sudden changes in conversation.

"Nothing. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay. Soon. I'll fly up as soon as the weather breaks."

"No. I'll come down."

Reyes chuckled. Either way, it did not matter, as long as they saw each other soon – very soon - and as soon as the weather broke. Maybe the perilous weather would show a little mercy on the two lonely and frustrated lovers by the weekend.

Scully collapsed her cell-phone then went to stand in-line yet again in hopes of getting another ticket-transfer. Surely, she would be able to get another transfer after going through the steps yesterday morning around this time. She glanced out the window again. The snow was still falling but not as heavily as it had been just minutes ago. …Hum… So there was a little ray of hope beginning to resurface in the frustrated little redhead's lonely heart once again. …Maybe, just maybe… She glanced at her watch as she set another plan into motion and began to discuss her options, available delayed-flight times and ticket-transfer locations with the ticket booth employee.

Reyes eased back in the driver's seat of her big vehicle, snuffed out her third cigarette, then pulled out her cell-phone. She really needed to talk to Scully right now, to the point that she had not even accepted the dinner invitation to go out with her co-workers after Pierce's funeral. She just really needed to talk to Scully and get home. Pierce's funeral had been harder on her than she had anticipated. She quickly wiped away a tear then hit the redial button.

It rang four times then…

"Monica?"

"Yeah. Hey."

"Hi! What are you doing calling me so soon?"

"I… I just… I needed to talk to you, hear your voice."

"Oh," Scully grinned, her heart fluttering inside her chest, as she reached down and turned off the car radio. She was on the road herself, driving through some thick, heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain but she could handle it, talking to her lover for the next few minutes at least, in spite of the perilous road conditions. She was used to it. After all, she lived in an area that got dumped on with snow, sleet and freezing rain all the time during this time of the year. "So... Did you go?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"Hard. Very hard," the brooding brunette replied.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Um, no, not really, I… I just… I want to hear your voice, hear you talking to me, but I don't want to talk about that right now, okay?"

"Okay. I understand. So, you decided not to go with your friends for dinner afterwards?"

"Yeah. I'm on my way home. What about you?"

"Umhum. I'm on the road, too."

"Really? Gosh," Reyes giggled. "What are the odds of that? And here we are talking on our cell-phones while we drive."

"Yep. But I'm used to it. What about you?"

"Oh yeah. Are you kidding? I don’t know how in the world the older agents ever did their jobs without their cell-phones."

"Um, me neither. I'd hate to even think about it, much less try it for a week."

They both laughed at that.

"Well. Get this," the brunette said.

"What?"

"Eric. He's coming by later to pick up his things."

"Oh really? Ugh," the redhead chirped.

"Yep."

"So how do you feel about that?"

"The sooner the better."

…Hum, well, well… the redhead smiled cocking an eyebrow. That sounded good to her. "So what time?"

"Early afternoon. Sometime around 2:30, 3:00. He's bringing his little brother."

"So what do you plan to do while he's there?"

"Get lost. Oh, I'll be here. But I'm going to try my best to stay clear and out of his way. He's so angry with me right now, Dana, and so hurt. And I don't even want to get into another argument with him until he calms back down."

"Hum," Scully groaned, understanding the man's frustrations, and yet slightly jealous, and yet. …Hum… She was not quite sure what she felt at the moment about the newly-developed ex-boyfriend coming over to her baby's house to pick up his things. It was something that needed to be done, him packing up his things – obviously - but she surely would prefer to be there to support her while he packed up his things than be stuck here inside of this vehicle.

They talked for several minutes then their cell-phone signals began to give them some problems fading in and out, losing the signals, causing them to need to call each other back, just to have the darn things fade in and out and lose their signals again, over and over and over. It was downright aggravating when one would be on the road driving and the phone kept losing its signal, but when both were on the road driving it could really be a frustrating problem trying to keep a signal. They both finally just gave into their fate and decided to talk to each other later in the afternoon when both were off the roads and at home, stationary, safe and sound.

"Ngh! Ngh! Ngh!" the panting brunette grunted as she gave another good solid left hook, and then another, and then another good solid right power-punch to the body bag then spun around and gave it another good, solid, fast sidekick, and then another, and then another. Ngh! Ngh! Nngh!" she grunted again as she attacked the big, black, heavy punching bag again and again and again. She had been treating herself to a hard, fast workout ever since talking to Eric earlier - about an hour ago - and then letting him back inside her house, then excusing herself yet again to her backyard, and her homebuilt dojo and workout room, punching, jumping, spinning and kicking, crescent-kicking, side-kicking, front-kicking and jump-spinning-heel-kicking, then punching, jabbing, slicing and uppercutting the body bag again and again and again, then moving into the other smaller workout bag, attacking, jumping, spinning and kicking the bag hard and fast, giving her legs an incredible, vigorous workout, then rotating again to the other, even smaller, speed bag, hitting, punching, slicing and uppercutting the small bag over and over and over, going through some of the most vigorous workout drills a skilled martial artist or trained kick-boxer could perform. "Ngh! Ngh! Ngh!" she grunted again and again and again hitting, punching, jabbing and slicing at the speed bag.

…Ohhh jeez… Surely, Eric and his little brother would be finished with their chore within the hour. Surely. She had not anticipated it taking them so long, but then they had only been there for about an hour and a half; and then there was that last big, explosive argument they had had just outside in her driveway, creating all kinds of ruckus and cheap entertainment for the neighbors to overhear. …Good grief… It had been downright embarrassing some of the things he had said to her about their wild, playful and adventurous relationship and sex life and every other thing that the neighbors had no business knowing about. …Mmm, Eric… "Ngh! Ngh! Nngh!" she continued to hit, punch, jab and slice at the speed bag taking her frustrations out on the bag instead of him.

…Argh!… He should be finished soon. Besides, he did not have that many items inside her house – she didn’t think – but she trusted him to not take anything that was not his. She trusted her former boyfriend to look through everything, be a man about it, and take only what was his to take. He was a good man, just very angry and hurt right now. Soon, he and his little brother would be finished and then she could go back inside her own house …Shit!… without having to deal with his hurt and anger towards her anymore today. She had had enough to deal with for several days and she did not want to have to deal with him anymore today either. So she was keeping herself busy, out of sight, and out of sound, inside her own workout room, giving him all the space he needed, to do what he needed to do, before leaving her house for good. Moreover, in many ways, she was actually glad about it. She had been afraid that he would call and ask her to come by and pick up his things while Scully was there, and would that not have been a disaster. So, actually, things had been working out quite well indeed for the knotty situation, as Scully was snowed-in up in Washington, DC, due to the deep snow and blizzard conditions, giving Eric the time he needed to come by and pick up his things, then Reyes time to clean up behind him and have everything ready for when Scully finally arrived later in the week.

But the knotty situation did not help Reyes' heart. Her heart was almost at the breaking point. She was so close to just losing it, breaking down, and finally giving into the emotional distress and strain she had been under for the last several days - if not several weeks - due to two of the most difficult cases she had worked on in quite some time: one finding the missing Mulder in Helena, Montana, and then the other being the continual battle with the juvenile court system in New Orleans over the last several months, searching out, apprehending and arresting the sadistic gang leaders and teen members of this sadistic cult just to have them be released back out onto the streets of New Orleans, and then ultimately for her to be called back in from DC – on Emergency/Critical Status - to work around the clock until she found the two little children gone missing that had been abducted by this same sadistic cult, and ultimately save them from their ultimate excruciating deaths. She had not had a day off in weeks! And she was so worn down to a frazzle, both physically and emotionally, and yet here she was punching, kicking, hitting and slicing these various bags of hers, as all the vigorous exercise did wonders for her physical frustrations.

"Ungh! Ungh! Unnghh!" she grunted and panted again switching to the big black punching bag once more and punching it even harder - and harder and harder - working out her frustrations, and causing the big black bag to swing more consistently back and forth in front of her.

***************

Scully pulled the champagne-colored sedan up next to the pretty wooden, cedar-enclosed mailbox then checked the address once again. She glanced at her watch then studied the two big vehicles parked inside the carport. One was a big, black Chevy truck, the other a big, navy, midnight blue Jeep SUV. She sat there nibbling on her lower lip for a moment. …Well. Okay. So. You're here. Now what are you gonna do?... she thought as her heart began to race more anxiously inside her chest. She quickly made up her mind, opened the car door, got out and stretched her back out somewhat, then slid off her heavy winter coat. It was most definitely much warmer down here in Slidell, Louisiana than in Roanoke, Virginia, where she had driven to from Washington DC, and then caught a quick flight down to New Orleans. She then reached inside the car and grabbed her other, lighter-weight leather jacket, quickly put it on, then shut the door.

She stood there in the front yard for a few moments trying to decide what to do next. She then glanced around the neighborhood for a few moments really liking what she was seeing. …Oh yes, nice, very nice… It was a very nice, quiet neighborhood. …Very nice indeed... She grinned, twisting her lower lip somewhat, then glanced around to the back of the yard to the beautiful lake bordering the backyard. …Oh my gosh. Wow!… She was really liking everything she was seeing already. …Oh yeah. Hum. Well. Okay, Dana. Time to move… she thought, nervous as hell, as she then began to move, and walk up the pebbled sidewalk, then walk up the few steps onto the front porch. …Oh my. What a house! Nice. Very nice… she mused as she stood there for a few seconds, admiring the almond-colored vinyl siding and dark forest green shutters and door, trying desperately to calm her nerves back down, then finally eased in and rang the doorbell.

No answer.

She rang it again.

No answer.

…Oh God… She rang it again.

No answer.

…Oh God. Please, don't tell me you're not here. Please… Her heart jumped to her throat as she tried to peer inside the nice, big, two-story house through a window. "Hum." She could not see a thing through the thick curtains - so typical for an FBI Agent. …Please, please be here… she thought as she then rang the doorbell once more.

Suddenly, she heard someone unlatching all the locks then open the door.

…Oh my… She cocked an eyebrow at the handsome, young, male Brad-Pitt-look-a-like standing inside the doorway.

"Yeah? Whadiya want?" he mumbled through the screen door.

The redhead just stood there for a moment, speechless. "Oh! I um, I'm looking for Agent Reyes, Agent Monica Reyes," she said as she quickly pulled out her FBI Wallet ID and showed it to him.

"Ngh," he grunted, bored – he'd seen one before - then said, "She's around back."

"Around back?" the redhead said cocking that preverbal little eyebrow once again.

"Yeah. Just follow the path, can’t miss it," he said then basically slammed the door in her face.

…Hah… Scully stood there with her mouth hanging wide-open for a moment trying to decide whether to burst through the slammed-in-her-face door and punch the Brad-Pitt-look-a-like's lights out for being so rude, or just leave for the backyard and go on her treasure-hunt, hoping to find her hidden treasure.

It was a rather quick decision she made as she instantly turned and hopped back down the steps, then headed for the pebbled path leading into the backyard.

***************

"Ungh! Ungh! Unnghh!" the panting brunette punched, hooked, jabbed and uppercut at the speed bag, again and again and again, causing it to vibrate upwards on its hook from the vigorous onslaught, hitting, punching, hooking and jabbing, faster and faster and faster, as she worked more of her frustrations out - her anger, hurt, pain and somewhat disillusionment - out of her system.

She had had it with everything that had happened to her this last weekend as she punched, hit, jabbed and hooked, seeing Lt. Jerry Manning's face, and then the ringleader's face, and then Lt. Manning's face again, shooting him between the eyes as he taunted her with little Elisa, and then seeing the ringleader's face again scrambling to get away from her as she manhandled him down to the ground, threatening to take him out during his arrest as well.

"Ungh! Ungh! Unnghh!" she grunted again, hooking, jabbing, slicing and punching, faster and faster and faster - her arms beginning to burn and ache from the constant strain - and not giving herself, her arms, or her fists a break, as she punched, jabbed, hooked and sliced relentlessly then suddenly spun towards the big, black punching bag again and began to give her legs that same intense, concentrated workout, kicking the big bag harder and harder and harder, jump-spinning and spiraling, jump-spinning and spiraling, jump-spinning and spiraling, then kicking and kicking and kicking…

***************

Scully just stood there quietly in the doorframe, spellbound - utterly mesmerized - by the sleek and graceful vision before her. …Oh my God… She had never seen anything quite like it before in all her thirty-six-and-a-half years of life, the beauty, the grace, the elegance, the pure skill, the intense training and the perfect balance it took to do something so beautifully and so skillfully as that. Reyes was like a dancer, a ballerina, a tiger, a panther, a lion, and yet as graceful as a deer. She was as splendid and graceful as a deer - a dancer, a ballerina, a princess, like a warrior, and yet a princess.

"Oh," she heard herself slightly gasp as her warrior princess suddenly spun, then jumped and did the most beautiful, front jump-spinning-heel-kick to the top of the bag she had ever seen in her life. …Oh! My God!... It was beautiful! Simply beautiful! She was beautiful! The woman was simply beautiful! Truly! In her black skintight, body-hugging tank-top and her black skintight, body-hugging workout pants, perspiration rolling down her flushed cheeks, chest, neck, and hairline. …Oh my… This woman was truly a boxer, a fighter, a warrior, and yet she moved as effortlessly as a dancer, with every graceful, fluid move.

***************

Reyes then began to punch the bag more vigorously, leaning in closer to the big bag, and punching it faster and faster as visions of that 12-guage shotgun aimed directly at her chest began to wash over her. "No, no, no! No! NO! NO, BRIAN, NO!" she cried, as she punched the big bag faster and faster, horrific memories of that difficult night flooding throughout her senses, Pierce's face, Pierce's eyes, Pierce's voice, Elisa screaming for her. "NO! NO! NO! No! No, no, no, no," she began to whimper as her fast-punching began to slow down until finally – exhausted – she just stood there, perfectly still, then leaned into the swinging bag, halting its movement, then just held on, holding onto the big bag, and panting from her excersion.

***************

Scully continued to stand there quietly, just inside the doorframe, and maybe fifteen, eighteen feet at the most from the other woman, utterly fascinated with all that she had been witnessing, learning more and more about her baby, and what made her baby tick, and how her baby chose to relieve her pent-up stress and frustrations. She did not want to disturb her, or intrude on these very precious and private moments, as her baby worked her anger and frustrations out on the various punching bags. She would give her all the time and privacy she needed to do what she needed to do to rid her system of all the pent-up emotional distress and frustration she had been under over the last several days.

***************

Within moments, Reyes had begun to breathe normally again, catching her breath, and easing her arms down a little lower around the big full-body-sized bag. Her right side and shoulder were facing Scully, with her back slightly turned towards her as well; therefore, she had no idea that she had had a one-woman-audience watching her quietly for the last several minutes inside the doorway. All she knew was, she had needed to work it all out - all of her pent-up anger, stress and frustration - and that was what she had been doing, working it all out, punch by punch by punch, and kick by kick by kick.

She opened her eyes, then pulled off and dropped her leather workout gloves down to the ground, then wiped a few trickles of moisture from her temples and brow. Amazing. She had hardly even worked up much of a sweat compared to her other, more typical and rigorous workouts she had preformed in the past, even with all of the vigorous punching, kicking and uppercutting she had been doing over the last hour and a half. But then she was a highly-trained kick-boxer and a highly-skilled martial artist. Sometimes it took a lot of fast, rigorous, vigorous, grueling workouts before she would work up much of a sweat. Nice little trickles of moisture running down her temples, neck and chest were not really what she would consider signs of a fast, rigorous, grueling workout and breaking a sweat.

Scully continued to watch her quietly from the doorway not quite sure what to do. She did not want to startle her with her unexpected presence, not while she was still working out her frustrations inside that pretty little head of hers.

"Hum," Reyes sighed softly, inhaling deeply, then closing her eyes again, as she hugged the big bag against her body more securely. "Oh Dana... God," she whimpered softly.

...Whoa!... Scully cocked an eyebrow. Had she just heard her lover calling for her? …Oh God, baby… She quietly stepped inside a little closer allowing the door to gently, quietly close behind her.

"Oh, Dana... God, I need you. I need you here, with me. I'm not sure if I can make it until the weekend. I need you here, now, with me," she whimpered again.

…Oh my God… Dana's heart jumped to her throat. …Oh baby… "You've got me," she whispered softly in response.

Monica's eyes flew open. Had she just heard her lover's voice bouncing around inside her head again, or what? "Dana? I need you. Now," she whispered softly yet again.

...Oh Moni... "You've got me, baby. I'm right here, right now," Dana whispered again as her heart began to pound more excitedly inside her chest.

"Ah!" Reyes gasped in excitement, instantly letting go of the big bag, then spun around towards the ever-so-sweet and familiar low voice. "Oh! My God!" she gasped. "Dana!" she gasped again as her eyes watered-up and heart jumped to her throat.

"Yes baby. I'm here, right here," the little redhead grinned, cocking a gorgeous little red-auburn eyebrow at her, then began to lift her arms up in invitation.

"Oh! Dana!" the brunette gasped again sprinting towards her and then throwing her arms around her, pulling her in so close it almost took her breath away.

"Oh, Moni, yes, hold me, hold me forever," the little redhead said collapsing down into her arms and just holding on as if her life depended on it.

"Oh Dana, my God, how did, when did, when, how, how did…?" the rambling and giddy brunette continued then finally just gave it up trying to verbally communicate with her for a few minutes, as she continually feathered little baby-kisses all over the redhead's crown and temples, tussling her hair, and running her fingers through her thick auburn hair, breathing in her sweet, flowery scent and finally realizing that she was not dreaming, but really was standing there with Scully in her arms. Scully was here! She really was here! Standing inside her own workout room, and holding onto her with her arms wrapped up so tightly around her. She was here! She really was here! She didn’t know how, but somehow Scully was here! She really was here!

The redhead continued to luxuriate in the arms of her woman, basking in the feel and intensity as her lover continued to kiss her face, temples and crown, caressing and stroking her back and shoulder-blades, holding onto her so close, as if her life depended on it, too, whispering sweet nothings into her ear, then squeezing her a little tighter in her arms, ultimately breaking through the physical barriers of their bodies and blending them spiritually together as one once again, as she just basked in the private and precious moments, nuzzling her nose in against her lover's neck, breathing in that sweet, intoxicating scent, her slightly sweaty state just making her that much more alluring and intoxicating to the amorous little redhead.

***************

They stood there for several minutes wrapped up tightly in each other's arms, just holding on, and trying to fathom all that was happening to them and that this was not just some heavenly dream, but that they really were together again, in body and soul, standing inside Monica's workout room, wrapped up inseparably together.

"Mmm," the giddy brunette moaned again. "God, I can’t believe it, Dana, I can’t believe it, that you're really here," she whispered into the little redhead's ear then slightly let go and clasped her hand as she gently pulled her with her towards the door so that she could close it and lock it, quickly giving them instant secured privacy.

"Hum, I can hardly believe it either," Dana chuckled.

"But how? How Dana?"

"I drove to Roanoke, then caught a flight out from there, then rented another car, and, well, here I am."

"My God! You drove all the way to Roanoke, Virginia?!"

"Yep."

"Dana?"

"I used a rental, so I'll fly back into Reagan, or Dulles. It won't matter."

Monica stood there holding her baby in her arms as she studied her eyes. "But, honey? So you... When you were on the road earlier…"

"I really was on the road. I was driving south, baby, to be with you."

"Ohhh," Monica's eyes watered-up yet again with happy tears.

"Oh no, baby, don't cry, don't, oh Moni."

Monica chuckled as her happy tears began to roll down her cheeks anyway, in spite of the little redhead's requests.

"Oh baby, don't cry, no, shhh, sweetheart."

Monica choked up as she began to cry more happy tears into her lover's neck.

The little redhead just chuckled as she massaged and stroked her lover's back, giving her all of her love, and holding her so close and tight, basking in every single moment they had together tonight.

***************

After a couple of minutes, there was a light tapping on the doorframe.

Dana eased out of her lover's arms cocking an eyebrow.

"It's okay, probably Eric."

The redhead nodded. Monica then walked over to the locked door, unhooked the latch and then opened it. Another handsome young man stood outside the door. Dana just cocked an eyebrow at all the handsome young men hanging around Monica's house at the moment. …Oh my, my…

"I um, sorry ta bother ya Mon, but he's almost done."

"Okay," the brunette nodded. "Are you two about ready to leave?"

"Yeah, but he wants to talk to ya again."

"Umum, no, I don't think that's a good idea right now. Tell him later in the week."

The young man then stretched to the side and peered around her to get a better look at the little redhead standing behind her. Dana just smirked, quirked her lips, then turned around, beginning to grin. She did not want this man – presumably Eric's little brother - to see her reactions to this awkward situation, but her heart was jumping into exuberant summersaults listening to her woman calmly tell him it was time to take his brother and leave.

Monica saw what he was doing then said, "Kev, I've got company right now, okay? So it's not a good time."

"Well, can't ya just come out and say somethin' to him, tell him bye?"

…For Godsakes… "No. Not after the way he yelled at me earlier in the driveway. I'm not going to put up with that right now. He knows that."

The young man nodded then went on his way.

Within minutes, both women could hear the big black truck start up, back out from underneath the carport and driveway, and then leave for the night.

"Hum," Monica grinned, widening her eyes, then clasped both of her lover's hands. "Want to go see the rest of the place?"

"Yeah, but first I want to see the rest of this place. This is incredible."

"You like it?"

"Oh yes," the redhead said as she let go of one of her lover's hands and began to walk around the room to each workout station, pulling the happy brunette along with her, and utterly fascinated with all the workout equipment, the rowing machine, the stair-step machine, a treadmill, an aerodynamic exercise bike, and then all of the free weights, and other weightlifting equipment scattered around the room, besides the three different types of punching bags located in the front when one first walked into the room. "God, Monica, this is incredible," she said admiringly.

"Yeah, my brothers built it for me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I've got three brothers. Well. One brother and two… Mmm, long story."

Dana nodded. "So, basically, you've got your own gym."

"Yeah, basically. And sometimes I teach martial arts from this room, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And kick-boxing, too, if I can find the time."

"Oh my God! That’s fantastic, Monica!"

The brunette grinned again enjoying the little redhead's approval with the way she chose to spend her days off and weekends. "So. Come on. Let me show you the house."

Dana grinned as she tightened her grip on her lover's hand. Monica then led her out of the room, locked the door behind them, then began to lead the little redhead up the pebbled path. Dana "ooohed" and "aaahed" as they walked up the narrow path looking, and stopping occasionally, to touch and finger all the pretty shrubberies, plants, hostas and some few flowers still in bloom lining the pretty path. "God, Monica, this is like... Wow!" she gasped.

"You like?"

"Oh yes, my God, yes! Did you do all of this yourself?"

"Nope. Brothers."

Dana giggled, "I think I want to meet your brothers."

"You will. In time," the smiling brunette said as she then led the little redhead up onto her screened-in back porch.

"So was this where you were the other night when I called?"

"Yep. Sitting out here pining for you," she teased as she then leaned in and gave the little redhead another sugary sweet kiss. They kissed for several seconds before finally easing away from each other. "Wow," she panted as her heart and soul began to tingle with excitement.

Dana chuckled, too. "Yeah. Wow," she panted herself as her heart and soul began to do the very same thing.

The brunette smiled again then reached down and opened the back door to her home entering in through the den and kitchen area. Xena instantly came scampering into the room.

"Whoa! Who's this?" the redhead chirped cheerfully.

…Ohhh… Monica felt such a relief. Dana liked her cat; or at least she was pretending to like her cat. "Xena. Come here girl, come meet my woman," she said, grinning and winking at the other woman, as she reached down and picked up the beautiful little cat.

"Xena?" ...Hum...

"Yeah. Don't ask. No one ever believes me when I tell them how I came up with that name."

"Try me," the redhead said as she began to stroke the furry little kitty on her forehead.

"Dreams."

"Dreams?"

"Yeah. Sometimes, I... I dream about... Oh boy, never mind."

"Monica? Try me," the redhead coaxed her again.

"No. You'd think I'd gone completely bananas if I..."

"Moni? I doubt that. You'd be surprised at how open I can be," the redhead said, cocking that preverbial little eyebrow yet again.

"Oh really," the brunette grinned.

"Umhum. But you can tell me later. Right now I just want to pet her."

"Okay. Later," Monica chuckled as her thoughts began to swirl with the possibilities.

"Oh Moni, she's so beautiful! And look at those eyes!" the redhead said again as she leaned in, rubbing noses with the pretty little cat, then began to stroke her affectionately underneath her chin. Xena purred and purred, instantly adoring the little redhead. Dana then rubbed her hand through the little cat's thick, black fur, enjoying the kitten-like softness, then asked, "Is she a solid or a chocolate?"

…Whoa!… Monica cocked an eyebrow, impressed. "Um, wow! Most people don't even know there's a difference."

"You mean between a solid and a chocolate?"

"Yeah. But, you're right, she's actually a chocolate. See the stripes?" Monica said as she eased the chocolate little tabby cat's back and sides up closer to the light.

"Umhum. She's gorgeous. And has the prettiest eyes. Hey Xena, hey girl, you're so pretty," Dana began to baby-talk to the little kitty.

Xena chirped at the compliment then squeaked wanting to be let down. Both women chuckled, as Monica obliged her. She then clasped her woman's hand again as she began to lead her through the rest of the house, showing her the den, the family and entertainment room, the main bath and shower room, and then the kitchen again, then led her into the living room and towards the stairs that led up to the two bedrooms, and bath upstairs. It was a very nice house. Dana was impressed, very impressed. The place was absolutely stunning; and the backyard, with all of the professional landscaping, trees, shrubberies, flowers, birdbaths and birdfeeders scattered all about the backyard, was absolutely fabulous. It was quite obvious that Monica was a nature lover; and then to have a lake bordering her backyard, too. …Wow!… It was like walking into a little touch of heaven for Dana and her downtown hustle and bustle of the big city life and Georgetown.

"Oh frig," Monica fussed lightly as she glanced at her watch.

"What?"

"I um, believe it or not, I had had some dinner reservations for us set later tonight, too, but I changed them. And now, well, we might could have made them if I had…"

"Oh no, I don't want to go anywhere else tonight. Could we do some pizza, or takeout or something? I just want to relax, stay here, and be with you tonight, okay?"

"Okay, let me go and get your things out of the car then, and pull it in under the carport, okay?"

"Okay," the redhead smiled as she handed her lover the keys.

Monica then left to go move the car and pull it in underneath the carport out of the weather, and then gather her lover's things. Dana just walked around the hardwood-floor of the living room taking in everything she saw, all the rustic, oak, mahogany and cherry wood antiques, then the rustic, earthy modern furniture with a Mexican flare, along with the Spanish/American design to some of her paintings and other accessories. She then smiled and chuckled at some of the darling little family pictures she saw scattered about the room: pictures of a darling little dark-raven-haired boy, usually in the arms of the tall raven-haired beauty, with probably his mother and father standing beside them. She quickly guessed that the little boy was Monica's nephew, Jacob, whom she had already heard about; and the young man standing in several of the pictures was probably Monica's younger brother, the little boy's father. He looked stunningly like Monica, just younger. There was no doubt in her mind that the young man in the pictures was Monica's younger brother. Actually, the nice-looking young man could pass for the actor, Johnny Depp. He could easily be mistaken for the actor.

She picked up one of the close-up family pictures, studied the identifying features of both Monica and her younger brother, then began to think about the boyishly handsome actor again. …Hum… She grinned. Actually, her lover could pass for a very nice female version of the boyishly handsome actor, too. She chuckled. They could easily be related, the resemblance was so strong. …Hum… She grinned with a twinkle in her eye. She had always had a thing for Johnny Depp for some unexplainable reason. Little had she realized that he had the same dark brown eyes, dark complexion, boyishly handsome features, and ruggedly handsome sway with a strikingly similar resemblance to her long-lost soulmate; at least not until now. ...Hum... She grinned again. No wonder she had always had an unexplainable thing for Johnny Depp. He had reminded her – in a more masculine sort of way - of her long-lost soulmate all of these years since she had been a teenager watching him on the big screen.

***************

Monica quickly finished locking the door to the rental then entered in through the kitchen and utility area of her house again carrying her lover's suitcase with her. "Honey? You want me to go ahead and carry everything upstairs?"

"Oh my, no, I can get it," Dana answered walking into the kitchen to meet her.

"Oh no you don't. I'm not going to let you carry this thing up those stairs."

"What? Monica?" Dana said reaching for her suitcase.

"No Dana, no way."

"Why not?"

"Honey?" the dark-raven-haired beauty cocked a raven eyebrow. Shouldn't it be obvious?

"Oh my, Monica, yes, I know, I'm pregnant," the redhead grinned. "But I can still carry my own suitcase up the stairs."

"Oh no you're not. I'm not going to let you carry this heavy thing up those stairs right now. You're pregnant and you've just driven several hours in the snow, sleet and rain, and then rushed to catch a plane. No way, honey. I'm not going to have you doing anything else tonight. No way. I'm gonna be taking care of you for the rest of the night and the rest of the week."

"The rest of the week?" the redhead grinned, widening her eyes and enjoying the sound of that.

"Umhum. Anything you want. Your wish is my command, my lady," the brunette winked.

"My lady? I um… Wow! Am I your lady?"

"Yep."

"Well. Okay." What more could the gorgeous little redhead say to that?

Monica then carried her suitcase up the stairs for her with the little redhead just two steps behind her. She then stopped at the top, allowing Dana to move around in front of her. "To the left, then first room on the right," she instructed.

Dana then led the way to the master bedroom. "Oh my God. Holy cow!" she smiled grinning from ear-to-ear as she entered the nice, big bedroom. "Oooh Monica, this is nice. Very nice," she said as she began to look around the big, spacious room then walk over to the big picture window that overlooked her lover's backyard and lake.

Monica grinned with satisfaction, then quickly placed the small suitcase on the bed, then skipped over to her. "So what do you think? You like it?" she said all happy and giddy again.

"Oh wow, yes. Now don’t tell me your brothers did this, too," the redhead said eyeing all of the dark evergreen colors mixed in with the dark browns, medium rusts and taupes, light greys, a touch of mauve and forest greens, with the inner walls being made of logs and pine, which made the room look almost like a rustic cabin up in the hills of somewhere. …Wow!… Now all they needed was a fireplace and Dana could easily lose herself to the fantasy.

"So what do you think about the lake?" the brunette said clasping her hand and then moving them in closer to the picture window.

"Oh gosh! I love it! I know you told me about living close to the water, but, I never dreamed!"

Monica chuckled then eased in behind her wrapping her arms around her. "Told you I needed to be near the water to feel right with the world."

"Yeah, you told me," the giddy little redhead grunted leaning back into her lover's arms.

"So how's your baby?" Monica whispered into her ear as she eased her hand down then rested it atop her lover's growing abdomen.

"Oh, he's wonderful. He's been moving around some, doing little summersaults all day," the redhead said as she placed her palm over her lover's hand and squeezed it affectionately. Just then, her baby kicked towards the new sensations he felt along the walls of his temporary home.

"Ohhh, hey baby, I know you're in there," Monica teased as she rubbed her palm a little more intently over her lover's womb. He then kicked again in response.

Dana just laughed, enjoying all the precious moments and special attention her little unborn son was getting from her highly-affectionate lover.

"Oop! He kicked again," Monica giggled feeling his incredibly strong life-force and little movements inside her palm. "You think he knows something is up and different?"

"Oh yeah, I think he knew it this morning, when I made the decision to drive down," the redhead said just as he gave another swift little kick to the side of her womb.

"Oh my goodness," they both reacted to his strong little kick.

Monica chuckled, then turned her attention back to his mother, turning her around in her arms, and then hugging her more closely. "Oh baby, God. I love you, and I can't believe you're really here."

"Mmm, neither can I, it's like a dream," Dana said squeezing her tight in her arms as well.

The reunited lovers remained standing in front of the large picture window overlooking the lake for several more minutes, remaining in each other's arms for a while, before finally letting go and gathering more of Dana's things from the car.

Several minutes later, Monica walked back out from the kitchen into the main living room area carrying a nice, tall glass of sweetened iced tea for her lover. "Here honey," she grinned handing the large glass to her. "I um, I really need to take a quick shower and clean up before we do anything, or go anywhere. Is that okay? Think you can make yourself at home while I clean up?"

The redhead chuckled. …Oh yeah. Wow… She could easily make herself at home in this home. She already felt "at home" inside this home of Monica's. "Yes. Do whatever you need to do. I'll be fine."

"You sure? You hungry? Want anything to hold you over until I'm done?"

"Nope, I'm fine. I'll wait for you and then maybe we can get some takeout."

"Okay, great. There's a great little place down the street that specializes in Po-Boys."

"Po-Boys?"

"Yeah, you wanna give a Po-Boy a try?"

"Hum, I don't know. What is it?"

"Well, it's a type of sandwich, similar to a Hoagie or Sub, that... hum, you'll just have to see one to appreciate it."

"Okay. I'm game. Hurry up and get that shower, then we'll go for a Po-Boy."

The brunette grinned then bound up the stairs to her master bedroom for a quick shower.

Monica had quickly taken a hot shower, washed up, cleaned up, redressed, and then had taken the little redhead with her down the street to the nearest restaurant specializing in the Southern New Orleans Specialty of Po-Boy Sandwiches, made with the one ingredient that made a Po-Boy so special from all the rest: a sliced nine-inch-cut, from a true three-foot-long, four-inch-wide New Orleans baked loaf of French bread; with a very crunchy crust and a very light center, with the choices of fillin's being Roast Beef, Shrimp, Oysters, or Catfish, or maybe a little Ham; and then the choices to "dress it" with either all the fixin's - lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayo, maybe a little gravy and Shrimp Creole, whatever one wanted - or to go with "nuttin' on it" but maybe a little gravy and Creole mustard; and then "stuff it" into a takeout sack and go home to enjoy it, with the light meal being Dana's first real experience to enjoy a true Southern Louisiana Cajun Po-Boy with her mate.

They had quickly eaten their nice, big, delicious sandwiches and sides - Dana loving every single bite, as Monica just giggled and delighted in that fact - and were now reclining comfortably on the big plush sofa in the entertainment room watching a little television and just reveling in each other's company, all wrapped up in each other's arms – Dana on the top, Monica on the bottom - talking, giggling, smooching, nuzzling, tickling and playing with each other, leaving all the cares of the world behind them for a little while, as they basked in each other's company again reigniting all the love, passion and adoration they had for each other.

Monica then reached up tucking a couple of stray locks of hair behind her lover's ear. "Honey, I know you're tired. I can see it in your eyes. Why don't we go to bed? It's not that early, especially since you're an hour ahead of me. It's after 8:00 your time."

"No, I'm fine. I am tired, but I'm alright."

"God. I still can’t believe you're really here. I think you need to pinch me again to make it real," she grinned.

The redhead giggled then reached down and pinched the giddy brunette once again on her tight little ass.

"Aowh! But you don't have to do it so hard!" she fussed playfully.

The redhead snorted then giggled again with giddy laughter herself just as the local news broadcaster caught her attention. She glanced up at hearing her lover's name being mentioned once again.

"Oh no, nonononono…" Monica began to reach for the remote.

"Oh yes, yesyesyesyesyes…" Dana teased as she got up, grabbing and taking the television remote with her, then eased in a little closer to the TV. "Cajun City Hero?" she gasped. "Is that what they're calling you? The Cajun City Hero?"

"Ugh, please, don't remind me."

"But Monica?"

"No."

"But…"

"No Dana."

"But Monica? Wow!"

"No, Dana, please. I don't want to see any of that right now, okay?"

The redhead studied her lover's dark, pensive eyes for a few seconds. She would love to hear all that the local news commentators had to say about all that had happened over the weekend, and how her Cajun City lover had become the Cajun City Hero over this last weekend. But, her lover's dark, pensive eyes were telling her everything she needed to know. Now, was not the time.

She sighed, then whispered, "Okay baby. I'll turn it off," then eased back down on the couch and turned the TV off. Her lover's eyes had water-up once again. "Oh Moni. Talk to me. Talk to me, baby. Tell me what you're feeling, thinking."

"Umum, not right now, not tonight. Maybe tomorrow, but not tonight. Tonight I just want to be with you, okay?"

"Okay, but usually you like to talk about things, right?"

The brunette snickered at the irony. "Yeah, usually. And I will when the time is right, but, right now, I just want to be with you, okay?"

"Okay. Well, you're with me, and I'm with you, and I guess that's all that really matters right now, huh?" Dana said as she leaned back down into her lover's arms.

"Yeah. That's all that really matters, you being here with me tonight, us being together. Mmm, God, come here. Hold me, hold me closer," the brunette breathed as she snuggled her lover in a little closer in her arms.

"Okay baby, I'll hold you close, so close, so tight," the redhead replied as she wrapped her lover up a little closer in her arms, too.

They lay there for several minutes on the couch in silence, neither needing to say another word to the other for those several minutes, as both understood the extreme difficulties, hurt, pain and sorrow one suffered when one lost a partner, a co-worker and trusted friend. Although, Monica's situation and reasons for losing her partner had been so different from Dana's; and Dana understood that, too, which made her even more frustrated with the brunette's continued silence over the situation. Dana remembered the sense of fear, loss and betrayal she had felt when Mulder had held a gun on her in the past, on two different occasions, ready to shoot her - kill her - in cold blood, confused and out of his mind, his eyes wild with madness, as she steadily talked him out of the grips of another's evil spell that was causing all the madness. She understood some of what her lover must have gone through the other night as the brunette gazed into her own partner's wild, confused and psychotic eyes, too. Moreover, she trusted Monica to know when the time would be right to open up and talk about it, and let loose all of her inner pain, hurt and sorrow, spilling it out so quickly that she would need to intently focus and concentrate her attentions on the sorrowful brunette, so that she could give her all the love and support that she needed to heal through such a difficult, gut-wrenching, yet cleansing time for the soul; and she was prepared to do that, give her lover everything she needed to mend and heal through the pain of these last few days over the next few weeks. Plus, she knew, too, that right now, Monica needed her as much as she needed Monica; and when the time was right, she would be there for the brooding brunette, just as the willing and compassionate brunette had been there for her all last week as she dealt with the loss of losing her own best friend, partner and closest ally, Fox Mulder.

Monica sighed heavily, closing her eyes for a moment, then reopened them, gazing back into the little redhead's beautiful, dark, sparkling blue eyes. She smiled.

Dana smiled.

"God, I love your eyes. I could gaze into your eyes forever."

"Oh yeah?" the redhead smiled even more enthusiastically, grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Oh yeah. They're so radiant, like a moonlit sky, at first-light, just before the sun comes up."

"Really? They're that dark?"

"No. Not dark. That color when the sun is first beginning to come up, and you look around and see that stunning, vibrant blue, full of life, hope, energy and power."

"Oh." …Wow!... "Guess I need to look a little more closely then when the sun is first coming up."

"At first-light."

"Okay. First-light."

"I'll show you tomorrow, when the sun first begins to peep up over the horizon."

"You're gonna get me up at daybreak?" the redhead teased.

"Maybe, so I can make-love to you."

"Oh," the redhead giggled.

"You think you'll be rested up enough by then?"

The redhead giggled again. "Oh yeah, I'm sure I will."

"Okay. Me, too."

Dana grinned again then said, "Come on, let's go to bed. I want to try out that shower first, but then let’s go to bed."

"Okay. Deal."

Thirty minutes later, Monica was lying in her bed, stark-naked, as her lover had requested her to do earlier, while she waited on the little redhead to finish up in the bathroom. She sighed then rolled over to her side thinking about her day, her extremely difficult morning, her almost as difficult afternoon, and now this incredibly wonderful night, having her lover here, in her town, in her house, in her home, in her bed, to share the next several days and nights together with her.

…Oh God… How could she be so lucky, to have a lover like Dana Scully, willing to drive down from Washington, DC to Roanoke, Virginia – a four hour drive, in the best of weather conditions – and then catch a plane from there and fly down to see her, determined to somehow make it down, in spite of the grounded status and weather conditions up in her own home-state region of Washington, DC? How could she be so lucky and so blessed?

She rolled over again thinking about the earlier agreement they had made – Dana being the primary one to request it – and both of them agreeing to not start anything that required a lot of physical exertion tonight, because the little redhead was just too tired due to her four-and-a-half-month pregnancy, her four-and-a-half-hour drive down to Roanoke, and then her rushed two-hour flight down to New Orleans. Monica understood her weariness. Besides, she was weary, too; and she really did understand Dana's hesitancy to start anything that required a lot of physical excursion tonight. Their spirits might be in the right frames-of-mind, but their physical bodies probably did not have the required physical strength, energy and stamina it would require to make-love, follow through and give each other what each other truly needed to have ultimate satisfaction tonight. So, they both were content to just wallow-up inside of this big, plush, soft bed, and these freshly-laundered sheets, and just be together; no pressure, no feelings of obligation to make-love, but just be together, and enjoy these precious moments they had back together again. Yes. They both were content to abide by their little arrangement and just be together and enjoy each other's company tonight.

Dana soon walked out of the bathroom carrying a little jar of Tiger Balm that she had found stored up inside of Monica's medicine cabinet with her, then grinned, cocking an eyebrow, as she ran her eyes down the length of her lover's dark, tanned, nude body sprawled out all over the bed. …Oh yeah… "Um, um, um... My, my, you drive me wild with lewd thoughts," she quipped. …Oops... Did I say that out loud?... Yep. She had.

The brunette giggled. "Oh, I do, huh? Well, you asked me to do this, come to bed nude."

"I know. Gosh, I know, but... God."

Monica giggled again. "Think you can handle it? Or do you want me to…?"

"Nope. Don't you dare cover up that gorgeous body. I want to see every inch of it."

…Oh. Okay… The sexy brunette giggled again. "Well, baby, you drive me totally insane, too, you know? But I can handle it. And I think our relationship is much more than just about the sex anyway, right?" she said as she eased over in the bed, making room for the still-terry-cloth-robed little redhead.

"Oh yeah. Much more," the redhead agreed as she eased down on the bed, set the little jar of Tiger Balm down, then eased out of her robe revealing her own gorgeously sexy, nude body as well.

"Oh," the brunette whimpered softly, her lower lip dropping a little at the sight. "God," she licked her lips. "I forgot how beautiful you are."

Dana grinned, feeling her cheeks grow a little warm. "Really? Even in my pregnant state?"

"Mmm, oh yeah, especially in your pregnant state," the brunette quipped giving the little redhead a once-over herself.

"Ohhh," the little redhead felt her cheeks growing even warmer.

"Oh Dana, come here, kiss me, quick."

The redhead then settled in between her lover's legs, resting her damp auburn curls in against her lover's soft midnight curls, their mounds rubbing in comfortably together, as she began to kiss the other woman gently, then a little more passionately, both maintaining control, and abiding by each other's wishes to wait until some time tomorrow morning before making love.

***************

After several minutes of gentle kissing, tonguing and just loving on each other, Dana rose back up starring into her lover's eyes.

"What?" she responded.

"I want to check on your bruises from... that shotgun blast," she stuttered. "And the ones from last week."

"Oh baby, I'm fine, really."

"I know, but I want to check on them anyway, okay? Humor me."

"Hum," Monica smirked. There was no use in even trying to argue with a medical doctor. She had already had enough experience with this little redheaded medical doctor to know that there was no use in even trying to argue with her when it came to anything that had to do with a bruise, an injury, or any other part of the physical body in general. "Okay. So what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to lie still, while I check these bruises, check for any internal bleeding, and…"

"Dana? They did that at the hospital."

"Humor me. Please?"

"Hum. Okay."

Then they both giggled as the little redhead began to move a little farther down in the bed, turn on the other lamp by the bed, then began to run her palms over the contusions along her lover's chest and breasts. …Oh my… The discolorations ran so deep into her lover's skin. "God, baby. It hit deep, didn't it?"

"Yep. Knocked the breath out of me for a good five minutes at least."

"No wonder," the redhead said as she ran her palm up along the deepest, most bruised-up and discolored area. …Oh Monica. God… She was so lucky to be alive. "Is it sore?"

"Umhum, but not too bad."

"You've been using the Tiger Balm?"

"Umhum."

Dana then scooted down a little farther in the bed so she could examine last week's bruising more closely, too, the very bruising that she had inflicted on the empathetic brunette herself. "Oh gosh... God, I... Well... It looks better."

"Dana?" Monica whispered softly in concern.

"I'm alright, I... I just... I'm coming to terms with it."

"You better. No more blaming yourself over what happened last week."

"I know. I just... Oh Monica, God," the remorseful redhead whimpered softly easing down and kissing her lover so gently on her still quite discolored abdomen.

Monica just ran her fingers through her lover's auburn hair, remembering all of the difficult moments they had experienced together last week as well; but somehow, they had made it through, and had ended up falling even more deeply-in-love with each other after it was all said and done.

Dana then rose back up. "Okay. Mind if I do it tonight? Rub some Tiger Balm into these bruised areas tonight?"

Monica began to giggle, "No. You can do anything you want to, to me tonight."

"Anything?"

"Umhum."

"What about our agreement?"

Monica chuckled again. "It was your idea. Besides, I trust you."

Dana chuckled, too, then leaned over and clasped the small jar from the bedside table, opened it, then inhaled the fresh and all-too-familiar scent. …Oh gosh… A flood of bad memories washed over her yet again for a few seconds.

"Dana?" the empathetic brunette whispered once more.

"I know. I'm alright. I just... I want to take care of you tonight, okay?"

"Okay, but you just being here takes care of me."

"Ohh," the redhead responded. "God, what you say to me sometimes."

Monica smiled then closed her eyes for a moment double-winking at her.

"Oh God. And when you do that? Wow!"

The brunette grinned, curling her lower lip up into a mischievous little smile. "I know. Why do you think I do it so often?"

The redhead giggled again. "Well, I don't think I'll ever tire of it."

"Hum. And I don't think I'll ever tire of doing it either," the brunette teased her again.

"Just don't be doing it to anyone else."

"Well my goodness, you've got such a jealous streak."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do."

"Do not."

"Oh, yes you do," the brunette giggled again.

"Do not."

"Dana?"

"I don't."

"Right."

Then they both snorted with laughter. Seemed the little redhead had forgotten how well her lover could read a situation and one's emotions in most any given situation.

"Well? You gonna do it? Do me?" Monica teased her again.

"Oh yeah, I'm gonna do you, I'll do you baby, all night long."

"Mmm," Monica purred at the sound of that.

Dana then began to "do her baby" gently rubbing the Tiger Balm ointment in, all over her bruised-up gut and abdomen, carefully checking that everything was healing properly, and quite rapidly, given how deep the forceful blows had penetrated against her gut last week.

Monica just lay there, perfectly still and quiet, as her lover gently rubbed, massaged and worked the ointment into her skin and muscles, glancing down occasionally, but mainly just lying there, perfectly still and quiet, enjoying the relaxing sensations, massages and caresses along her tummy and lower abdomen.

Dana glanced up, smiling, and so happy to be able to do this for her baby. She loved taking care of someone else. That was one of the many reasons why she had chosen to go into the field of Medicine and become a medical doctor in the first place. But, unfortunately, her sudden change in career choices – choosing to become a special agent with the FBI – had made a drastic shift in her medical training to where she hardly ever had the chance to take care of someone else anymore, or use her medical skills in a positive, more instant-gratification sort of way. Sometimes she found that so frustrating, even though she enjoyed what she did for the FBI. But sometimes she did miss the hands-on positive strokes she could give to a live-and-still-breathing individual.

"Mmm," she sighed contentedly. She was enjoying these precious moments just as much as her baby was, taking care of her, her several deep contusions and bruises, rubbing and massaging the ointment into her soft, silken skin. Plus, she was taking full advantage of the opportunity to really examine her lover's nude body more closely, and really take notice to just how beautiful, perfectly-toned, finely-trimmed, and well-proportioned her body truly was with all its strong muscles, tendons and ligaments moving around and adjusting to her manipulations just underneath the skin.

…Oh yeah… She was thoroughly enjoying it, as she moved a palm down a little farther then combed her fingers through her lover's thick, dark-chocolate fur, thoroughly captivated by the thick, dark-as-midnight, slightly-curled fur. Her own pubic hair was rather thin and curly, but Monica's was so thick and furry, almost like a kitten's fur, only longer, like maybe an inch or so in length.

...Mmm... She smiled again then gently combed her fingers through the thick, dark-as-midnight hair again, then gently tucked her middle finger in against the hooded edge of her lover's most intimate of places.

"Oh! Honey?" Monica jumped suddenly glancing down.

"Hum?"

"What are you doing?" she said as she placed a palm over her lover's wandering hand.

"Just looking, feeling," Dana smiled. "Do you always keep it so neatly-trimmed?" she asked as she ran her other hand and fingers down through the dark-raven patch of neatly-trimmed hair as well.

…Oh!… "I um, yeah," the brunette responded, smiling and licking her lips. "You like that?" she grinned.

"Oh yeah," the redhead smiled twisting her lips up into the cutest little grin as well.

The brunette smiled again, then double-winked at her once more, reaching down and pulling her back up on top of her again. Playing, feeling, tucking and looking around down there was not going to help her in the least with her being able to keep her end of the little arrangement they had made, with all the gentle rubbing and massaging happening all over her tummy and lower abdomen. Going down below her pubic hair would never work in helping her to keep her libido batted-down and in-check.

Dana chuckled, understanding the situation, then eased back down somewhat, grabbing the little Tiger Balm jar off from the bedside table once again. "Okay baby, let me finish this, alright?" she said.

"Okay, but no going down there again."

The redhead giggled again. "Deal. But I’m gonna get a better look tomorrow."

…Ohhh… The brunette felt herself blush the brightest cherry-red with that little comment from her favorite little redhead.

Dana chuckled then scooped out another small dab of ointment into her palm, then began to rub it in, all over her lover's chest, and all over the second area of deep-bruising. Her baby was just so bruised-up, after everything that had happened to her last week, and now that darn shotgun blast to the chest that had happened this week. Poor baby. Her body had really paid the price with all of the rough treatment it had endured, and doing her job these last two weeks.

…God… Dana studied the deep-bruising a little more closely. Her baby was so lucky. Had her baby not been wearing that bulletproof vest? …God… She would be dead right now, pure and simple. …God… The thought of that hit her hard for a few moments as she leaned down and kissed her lover once again, gently, on the chest.

Monica opened her eyes again feeling her lover's uneasiness inside her heart. "Dana? What is it?"

"Nothing, I just… Whew… I almost lost you this weekend."

"Umhum, but you didn’t. I promised you I'd come back."

"Yes, you did. Thank God you did," the redhead said rising back up to give her lover another quick little kiss on the lips.

"Dana? I'll always come back to you. Always, even if I have to cheat fate, I'll always come back to you, even if it's only in spirit. Okay?"

"Oh God... Yes..." the redhead gasped with emotion. "Yes, Monica. And I'm gonna hold you to that, always, you hear me?" she said starring into her lover's eyes.

"Yes, I hear you," Monica nodded. "And I won't let you down. Ever."

The two lovers gazed into each other's eyes for a few moments letting the power of those promised words sink in. Monica then smiled reaching up and caressing her lover's cheek with a thumb. Dana grinned then kissed the tip.

"You okay?" she whispered caressing her lover's other cheek with her thumb.

"Yeah. Fine. Perfect," the redhead smiled then leaned in for another quick kiss before resuming her rubbing and massaging all over her lover's injured chest.

"Mmm," Monica grinned again, then sighed contentedly, closing her eyes once more, as she relaxed into the gentle and easy manipulations being done all over her chest again. "Mmm." ...God... It felt so good. ...Mmm... The way Dana touched her chest and gently caressed her breasts was like heaven itself. ...Oh baby... She began to concentrate even harder on keeping her end of the bargin and keeping her rising libido batted-back-down and in-check. "Mmm," she moaned again into Dana's gentle touch, then lifted her arms up, clasping her hands together, and then cradled her head back down inside her interlaced fingers and palms.

Dana just smiled as she scooped out another little dab of ointment into her palms, warmed it up, then gently began to rub it in along the inner swells of her lover's breasts, one and then the other, being ever-so-gentle and easy in her highly-skilled, highly-medical-doctor-trained manipulations.

Monica just lay there with her eyes closed, her lower lip dropping a little from the gentle and easy, yet highly-arousing sensations, as she continued to concentrate on her end of the bargin. …Oh God… Suddenly, she felt her nipples beginning to respond and rise up to the occasion. …Oh God, Dana… She opened her eyes then began to study the little redhead's concentrated gaze - that ever-familiar, concentrated medical-doctor's gaze - focusing in on her small bruises and light contusions all along her chest and inner swells of her breasts.

Dana then eased her warm palms down into the valley between her breasts, rotated her hands, and then began to gently squeeze and massage around each tender breast, gently cupping and rubbing them both with the healing ointment, massaging the warm healing lotion into the soft, cushiony flesh, then ease her thumbs and fingertips up towards the erect tips.

"Mm," Monica barely whimpered in response as her breathing caught in her throat for a moment. …Oh God, baby… She held her breath for a few seconds as a little trickle of moisture dribbled out between her legs. …Oh God, can’t you see what you're doing to me?... she mused, swallowing hard, and concentrating on keeping her respiration light and easy, as her nipples stiffened into rigid, aching, tingling little points of interest.

Dana then glanced up seeing the heated desire written all over her lover's face. "Monica? Now I want you to keep still, until I finish, okay?"

...What?!... The brunette cocked a dark-raven eyebrow. …My God!... "I… I am keeping still, I…"

"Shhh, no you're not. You're wanting me. And this isn’t about that right now, this is about you, and me taking care of these bruises right now."

"Hah," the aroused brunette huffed and then began to laugh at the situation. "Right, you're on top of me, touching me, feeling me up, and I'm not supposed to notice."

"Right."

"Dana?"

"Shhh, I'll be done in a minute."

"Hah! Dana? God!" the brunette began to laugh even more heartily at the situation.

"Shush, now be still."

"I can't! Besides, you're done," she said as she suddenly grabbed onto the busy little redhead's stimulating hands and moved them off her swelling breasts and aching nipples.

"Hah! Well…"

"Well, nothing, my God, woman! Do you always enjoy torturing me like this?" she said still holding onto her lover's hands as she then rolled them both over in the bed, using her strong hips and a couple of deep, quick, pelvic thrusts to make the move.

"Oh," the little redhead chirped, cocking an eyebrow, as she suddenly found herself on the bottom instead of the top, with her lover sprawled out all over the top of her. "Hum," she sighed then grinned.

"God, I swear. Do you have any idea what you do to me sometimes?"

"Oh, poor baby," Dana teased, beginning to laugh, as she reached up and feathered her still-somewhat-slick fingers through her lover's thick, dark-raven hair.

"Oh great. Now my hair will smell like Tiger Balm."

Then they both snorted with laughter for a few minutes, rolling each other back and forth, and over and over in the bed, playing and giggling and dominating and submitting to one another, making it nothing more than a game - a quick, fun and wondrous game – of playful dominance and submission.

***************

Ten minutes later, the brunette rolled to her side again, taking the little redhead right along with her. They lay there together quietly, gazing into each other's eyes and smiling, as Monica occasionally double-winked at her, then reached up and caressed her nose and cheeks with her fingertips, both being so very gentle and easy, and both being so utterly captivated by the other.

This love, closeness, and intense intimacy was so different from anything either one had ever experienced before. Dana had, ironically, typically been the one to be in a heated-rush herself with a one-night-stand, not allowing herself to get emotionally involved in the least with her quickie one-night-stand playmate for the night; whereas Monica, through the years, had never had a lover truly willing to get involved with her emotionally - in the truest sense of the word - no matter how much she tried for that intense level of intimacy. Bottom line, most all of her previous lovers had preferred to do just a quick fuck, with no real emotional intensity, or meeting of the minds, or combining of the spirits, but just do a quick fuck for the night and then roll over and go to sleep. She was good at doing quick fucks for the night, but she preferred to make-love all night long instead; and was there ever a difference in how to truly make-love to someone compared to just doing a quick fuck for the night. And tonight, it was simply intoxicating the way they both were approaching their first night of true, intimate lovemaking since being so abruptly separated last Friday morning, because tonight was only the beginning of ongoing gentle and easy foreplay, leading up to several days and nights of intense, heatedly-passionate, truly intimate lovemaking with each other, before Dana's quick visit was through. It was simply intoxicating, the amount of deep love, intense emotion and deep spiritual awareness it was bringing out in the both of them.

Yes. It was downright hypnotic. Neither had ever experienced anything quite like it before, or as spellbinding and intense as this in their lives, this meeting of the minds, meeting of the souls, and meeting of their very essences with each other. Moreover, Monica was not used to lying in bed with another woman anyway, and experiencing all of the gentle, tender and easy, intensely emotional and heartfelt moments with another woman, so typical of being in a relationship with another woman. She had always been in relationships with men - except for her first lover - and so that was all she knew, the almost constant feeling of urgency and pressure she would feel to have sex with him if he was awake, and as she lay in bed with him. She would also feel the pressure and urgency for her body to climax quickly, too, and somehow force her body to reach the pinnacle long before it was ready to, so that her partner did not have to strain and hold back his ejaculate, but spill his load inside of her as she tried to come, too. Typically, that was very hard for her to do. She was not one to come so quickly. She needed much more foreplay than most of her former lovers had been willing to give to her in the past; and was that not a crock? She needed much more emotional intensity, with a meeting of the minds, a meeting of the souls, a meeting of their very essences, before any physical climax could be achieved by her physical body. Hence, there had been many a time when she had just "faked it" with a former lover to get it over with. Actually, it had been quite easy for her to just "fake it" with a former lover. All she had to do was tighten her inner walls around his hardness, tug on his manliness a little bit with her muscles - as he emptied his ejaculate inside of her - then howl at the moon like a coyote or something, and then he would leave her, later on in the night, thinking that he was absolutely the grandest lover in the world, when actually he knew absolutely nothing about how to please her. Some might want to blame her for that, for not telling her previous lovers what she liked in bed, but it was not her fault that many of their fragile egos were so pathetically vulnerable that they could not handle hearing the truth, that their grand, hard penises were not God's gift to this particular woman's needs for complete satisfaction in bed.

Fast, hard and deep. That was what her typical male lover had seemed to want, and had assumed that she had wanted, too, thinking that that was all there was for her to get-off with him. But actually, that was quite far from the truth. What she really wanted and needed was some deep, emotional attachment at first, and then some slow, gentle and easy touches and caresses along her lips, mouth and tongue, and then some slow, gentle and easy touches and caresses along her chest, breasts, nipples and tummy, and then some slow, gentle and easy touches and caresses along her lower abdomen - slowly making their way down towards the ultimate goal - and then a very slow, gentle and easy penetration, barely penetrating her slick folds, before going in so deep with any hard thrusts, then some more slow, gentle touches and caresses, gently playing around just inside the rim, near her cleft most of the time. That was what she really liked, wanted, needed and missed.

Oh, she could do it without any real emotion, or any real build-up to the heat: fast, hard and deep. And sometimes she liked it that way, without any real emotion: fast, hard and deep. But what she really wanted and needed was some very deep, real, intense, and heartfelt emotion between herself and her lover. And she had it with Dana Scully. Oh yes, did she ever have it with Dana Scully. The deep, emotional, intense, spiritual connection she shared with Dana Scully was so magical and mesmerizing it was almost surreal, dreamlike, like living in another world, or another place in time. Dana was everything, everything she had ever wanted or needed in this world, or in any other world for that matter. Oh wow, how she had missed her - her long-lost soulmate - but now, they had found each other again and were together once more for another lifetime around.

She giggled again, then sighed contentedly, as her soulmate reached up and ran her fingertip across her lower lip again, playing with her, teasing her, and gently caressing her lips so tenderly with her warm, soft, petite little fingertip, as they both lay comfortably on their sides, facing each other, with their legs straddling each other's thighs and their mounds all snuggled in resting comfortably together. She giggled happily again.

"What?" the redhead finally responded, smiling at the happy and giddy brunette.

"Oh, it's just so... different."

"Different? What's so different?"

"Being with you, being with a woman."

"Oh. And how is it different?"

"Well. For one thing, you're not pressuring us to make-love tonight. You're just, you're allowing us to be, just be, and allowing me to set the pace if I want to, allowing me to go slow and easy if I want to, and not rushing me, or us, into something that we're not ready to do tonight, due to how exhausted we are and all that has happened to us this past week."

"Oh. And so you like that? Not being rushed?"

"Yeah. I like to take my time."

Dana chuckled. "But what about last week? I rather 'rushed' you then, didn't I? I got a little..."

"But that was different. We'd been making love for days inside our heads. And... Well..."

"Well what?"

Monica blushed slightly then shrugged.

"Well? Maybe, I had to come get you off the couch? Hum?"

The bashful brunette then blushed three shades-of-red.

"Well? Didn't I?"

"Yes. I um... Wow!"

Dana began to laugh. "Oh baby, God. I think I came just standing there watching you."

...Oh... "Shit," the brunette blushed again. "How long had you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know I couldn't take it any longer."

Monica then giggled with laughter.

"Oh Christ! That was the most amazing... Whew, baby..."

Monica continued to giggle with little fits of embarrassment, and yet little bits of satisfaction, too, in knowing how turned-on her lover had become just watching her as she relieved herself from some major sexual tension.

"Mmm. Okay. And so what else do you like?" the little redhead resumed the conversation.

"I like... the way you kiss me."

"The way I kiss you?"

"Umhum."

"You mean like this?" the redhead said as she then began to gently kiss the brunette just the way she had the very first time she had ever kissed her inside of that motel room back in Helena, Montana - very slow and gentle, and yet highly-erotic and seductive, all at the same time, barely flicking her tongue in and out of her mouth and across her lips.

"Mmm... Oh yeah..." ...God... "Just like that," the brunette panted through a slight little shiver.

Dana cocked an eyebrow. Her lover's slight little shiver had not gone unnoticed. "So. You like my kisses?" she whispered again as she eased in and began to kiss her again with that ever-so-seductive Dana Scully kiss.

"Mmm... Oh yeah..." the brunette moaned feeling more little trickles of moisture ooze out between her legs. ...Oh God, Dana... Geez...

"Mmm," Dana moaned herself reacting to the warm slippery sensations. Those little trickles of moisture warming her thigh had not gone unnoticed either. "So. What else do you like?" she purred as she ran a hand down and began to gently cup and squeeze on a warm, soft, cushiony breast again.

"Oh," Monica barely jumped closing her eyes into the gentle caresses. ...God... Another little trickle of moisture oozed out.

"Mmm, you like that?" Dana reacted again to the second little trickle of warmth wetting her thigh as she flicked then barely circled her fingertip around the brunette's tight taut nipple.

...Oh God... "Mm, umhum," the brunette whimpered, opening her eyes again and gazing into the mischievous little redhead's eyes, trying to decide what she was up to. Hadn't they just made an agreement before coming to bed tonight to wait until tomorrow morning sometime before making love? ...Oh God... What had happened to that little agreement she wondered as she felt another little trickle of moisture ooze out from between her legs and warm her lover's thigh. Her lover would never cease to amaze her with her sudden changes of mind. "Mmm," she moaned again into the highly-intoxicating sensations. ...God... She just could not help herself.

...Mmm... Dana felt her own heart skip a beat at the feel. ...Oh yeah... Her lover was getting so aroused from just a little playing with her nipple and breast. ...Oh yeah, baby... She then moved her hand over to her other breast and nipple and began to play and squeeze and tease it, rolling the tight tip between her fingers and thumb, giving it the same loving and gentle treatment as well.

"Oh!" Monica gasped arching her back up into the sensations.

"Mmm, you like that? Hum? You like me playing with your breasts?" Dana responded rolling on top of her and planting her wetted thigh more snuggly between her legs.

"Oh God... Yes..." Monica hissed as her hips bucked up into the extra pressure between her legs. ...Oh God, Dana... She began to pant more heavily gazing into her lover's eyes.

Dana cocked an eyebrow then eased up on her elbows and began to gently cup and squeeze both her lover's breasts and nipples with her hands and fingertips rolling her tightly-marbled nipples around and around and around.

"Oh... God... Dana..." Monica panted again closing her eyes as her body arched up once more, her back arching and shoving her breasts up into her lover's arousing caresses, yet again.

"Mmm, my, my... You're so... hot..." Dana panted herself then leaned in and began to flick her tongue and thumbs across her lover's jutting breasts and nipples a little faster.

"Oh!... God..." Monica jumped again opening her eyes and grabbing onto her lover's shoulders, gazing into her eyes with such raw hunger Dana felt her own body spurt a little love-cream out against her lover's thigh as well. Oh yes, was she ever hot. Actually, they both were very hot. "Oh!... Dana!..." she gasped again.

"Hum? What baby? What is it?"

"Oh!" Monica's body was beginning to tremble.

"Mmm, I think you want me, need me, don't you, Agent Reyes," the seductive little redhead purred again as she watched her lover's dark brown eyes grow even darker with arousal. "Hum? You want me? Need me, Agent Reyes?"

"Oh!... God!..." ...Yes... Monica gasped beginning to tremble more uncontrollably as her respiration grew even more labored with each passing second.

"Hum? You need me, baby? You need me?" Dana purred seductively yet again then leaned in and began to suck hard on a rigid, marbled nipple once more.

"Oh!... Yes!..." Monica gasped again as she arched her back up once more shoving her breasts and nipples up into Dana's mouth and cheeks. "Oh! But... I know you're tired... and..."

"But you need me, don't you," Dana purred again sucking even harder on her aching nipple then taking more of her swelling breast inside her mouth as she pinched and squeezed a little harder on the other.

"Oh God, honey..." ...Yes! Yes! Yes!... "But... Dana?"

"Hum?"

"You don't... have to... do that... I mean... Ohhh!" she gasped again into the newest sensations as Dana began to flick her thumbs and tongue so fast across her tingling nipples her libido began to spiral into overdrive towards the moon.

"I don't? Hum? You don't like this? You don't want me to play with your nipples?" the redhead purred again then leaned in and began to suck and flick her tongue even faster across a pulsating tip as she tugged and pinched on the other.

"Oh God!" Monica jumped, her whole body arching up yet again, as her legs instantly tightened around her lover's thigh, spilling more warm, wet liquids out from her insides.

"Mmm, baby, I think you need me. Yes, I think you need me. And I think you like this. Yes, I think you like this. And I think you could come with just your breasts, hum? Am I right? Can you come, with just your breasts?" Dana purred again adjusting her lower body and flicking her thumbs faster and faster across her lover's throbbing nipples.

"Oh God... Yes!" Monica jumped again, her legs tightening around her lover's thigh and her hips beginning to buck up against her groin seeking out the much-needed pressure against her clit. Oh yeah. She could come with just her breasts. Could she ever come with just her breasts. Dana was suddenly flicking, tugging and pinching on her nipples so hard she could hardly breathe anymore her heart and soul were burning with such need.

Dana was panting just as heavily, too, as she quickly tucked her thigh and groin in even tighter, then began to match her lover's rhythm, rocking her hips in against her clit with every thrust.

"Oh... oh... oh..." Monica began to whimper into the sensations sliding her hands down and grabbing onto her lover's bucking hips as she bucked her own tingling clit in even harder against her lover's thigh. "Oh... oh... God... Dana..." She needed to come. She desperately needed to come. "Oh... honey..." She needed Dana's thigh. ...God!... How she needed Dana's thigh. And she needed Dana to suck on her breasts - hard - and lick them and squeeze them and... "Oh!... Yes!... Yes, baby, yes!..." she cried. Dana must have read her mind as she began to suck and pull and lick and squeeze - hard - on her breasts. "Oh... oh... oh..." She was going to come. No doubt about it. She was going to come from nothing more than a little breast-play and a little bucking of her hips against her lover's thigh.

"Mm... oh... yeah... That's it... That's it, baby..." Dana panted into every thrust. "Come on... Come on, baby..."

"Oh... oh... Dana..." ...God!... She was almost there.

"Mmm, Monica..." Dana growled, trembling, too. ...Oh God, yes... She knew her baby was about to come from just a little breast-play. ...Oh God, yes!... How she loved that. She was such a breast woman anyway, and to have her woman come with just her breasts? ...Oh yeah...

"Mm... mm... OH!" Monica suddenly cried out, her hips jerking up hard against Dana's thigh, as more warm wet liquid gushed out from between her legs signaling a beginning climax.

"Oh yes, baby... God, I love you..." Dana responded rising up on her palms and pressing her thigh and mound in even harder against her lover's bucking groin.

"Oh!... Oh!... OH!..." Monica cried out again grabbing on even tighter and curling up into her lover's arms as her hips jerked up even harder into climax. "Oh!... Oh!... Dana!..." she cried out again, arching up and reacting to the bursts of ecstasy happening between her legs.

"Hum? More? Need more?" Dana panted as she instantly pushed her mound in even harder, wrapping her arms tightly around her, as her lover bucked her hips faster and faster, holding on tight through the waves of orgasm. ...Oh God... She was going to come, too. If they didn't stop this fast rhythm soon, she was going to come, too. ...Oh God, yes... She was going to come, and she was really too tired to come. She was exhausted from her trip, but her body just could not help but react to her lover's blissful state.

"Mm... mm... oh... Dana... God... I love you, I love you, I love you..." Monica began to ramble through her kisses, slowing her bucking hips back down, and squeezing her lover so tight in her arms Dana could hardly breathe.

But the sultry little redhead knew exactly what to do as she quickly sucked in a couple of quick, deep breaths preparing for the anticipated orgasmic tight squeeze. ...Oh God... How she loved the way this woman got-off, and how she held onto her so tight when she came. She loved the raw passion and pure emotion she would feel when her lover came, and held onto her so tight in her arms, squeezing her legs around her thigh and pressing her groin in so tight against her mound. ...Oh yes... How she loved the way this woman got-off.

After several seconds of just holding onto her, Monica was still whimpering softly, holding on so tight and panting with every little orgasmic aftershock. "Mmm... Moni..." she moaned, in response to the sweet little whimpers and aftershocks, turning her head and lightly kissing her on her heaving chest.

"Hum?" the panting brunette responded.

"God... How I love the way you get off," she whispered tightening her own legs around her lover's thigh searching for the much-needed pressure against her own aching crotch.

"Mmm..." the panting brunette replied. "Really?" she said then began to giggle.

"Oh yeah... Really... You're so hot when you get off," the redhead purred again then laid her head back down against her lover's heaving chest.

"Mmm..." was all the recuperating brunette could respond.

***************

After a couple of minutes, the orgasmic brunette finally began to breathe more normally as her heartbeat began to slow back down to a more normal pace. "Mmm, Dana... Wow..." she sighed then eased up on her tight grip around her shoulder-blades and lowered her hands back down to around her lower back.

"Yes?" Dana teased then kissed her on the neck then down a little lower just above her collarbone.

"Oh God... I haven't done that... in years..."

"In years? Really? You mean get off with just your breasts?"

"Mmm... Umhum..." the brunette grinned then rose up to gently kiss the little redhead.

"Hum... Well... I wonder why not?" the redhead teased her again.

"Hum, probably because no one else knew what the hell they were doin'... until you," the brunette grinned again.

"Think so?"

"Know so."

"Oh," Dana chuckled. "Well, was it enough to hold you over, until sometime tomorrow morning? Hum?"

"Oh yeah... But you didn't have..."

"Oh yes I did."

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did. I wasn't playing fair earlier, and I..."

"What? You mean with the Tiger Balm?"

"Umhum."

The brunette chuckled again. "Yeah, but... you still didn't have..."

"Oh yes I did, Moni. I promised you I'd never do that to you again, what I did to you last week, deliberately turning you on just to leave you aching and needing me, and then for me to not follow through and give you what you needed. I promised you, baby. And I'll never do that to you again, okay? I promise."

"Oh Dana, honey, it's okay. And last week was so different anyway..."

"No. I knew what I was doing. I was deliberately turning you on, pushing you to your limits, just to see how much you could take, before..."

"I exploded? And you had to call 911?" the brunette giggled again.

Dana grinned sheepishly with a slight amount of embarrassment. "Well, yeah... Kind of..."

Monica burst into laughter. "Oh honey, I know, I knew that. I knew exactly what you were doing, you little minx. But listen, you can have all the fun you want turning me on and pushing me to my limits, baby, anytime you want to, okay? Arouse me, seduce me, have me, any way you want, as long as you follow through at some point during the night, okay?" the brunette said cupping the little redhead's cheeks and pulling her in for another kiss.

"Okay," Dana smiled through the gentle kiss. "But I shouldn't..."

"Hey. Enough," Monica said cocking an eyebrow.

Dana grinned sheepishly yet again. "Okay... Well... Besides... I didn't want to have to wake up in the middle of the night, holding onto just your pillow, and have to get up and go search for you inside this house, while you were somewhere on another couch, getting yourself off again without me."

Monica cocked an eyebrow yet again then guffawed with laughter.

"Well? Am I right?"

"No. I wasn't that hard up, not this time. My goodness."

Dana smirked. Then they both guffawed with more giddy laughter.

***************

After a couple of minutes of playful banter and laughter...

"Hum, well. I know one thing," Dana baited her.

"What's that?"

The redhead then reached up to her mouth and licked a fingertip. "Hum. That Tiger Balm tastes funny."

They both lay there for a few seconds in silence, thinking about that revelation, then cracked up laughing yet again at that thought.

***************

After another couple of minutes of playful banter and laughter...

The redhead eased back off her lover. "Oh my, you made a mess, Monica Reyes. A warm, slippery mess," she teased as the sudden coolness of the room cooled her warm, slippery thigh.

"Hah. Well so did you," Monica giggled as her own warm, wet and slippery thigh felt the sudden coolness of the room as well.

Then they both began to laugh at the warm, wet and slippery conditions of their thighs, as they began to wipe them dry with the corner of the bed sheet.

"Hum... Well... That was nice... Very nice..." the redhead said as she rolled to her back and just lay there side-by-side next to her lover.

"Mmm... Yes... Come here... I need to kiss you..." the brunette said as she then rolled to her side once more and began to shower the little redhead with warm, wet and juicy little kisses all over again.

***************

Fifteen minutes later, Dana eased in a little more cozily against the brunette, tucking her leg and upper thigh in snuggly between her legs, as Monica continued to caress her growing abdomen very gently saying goodnight to her little son. "Oop," she giggled as she felt another swift little kick against her womb coming from her unborn son as he responded to her lover's sweet and gentle touches meant only for him.

"Did you feel that? Feel him?" Monica whispered glancing back up to her.

"Yes honey, of course, I felt him. He's inside of me."

"Oh yeah, right. Gosh sometimes," Monica grinned slightly embarrassed. …Wow!... But she would get so excited at how she could make Dana's little unborn son respond to her gentle touches and kisses along the outer walls of his temporary home.

"Mon? You about ready to go to sleep?" Dana whispered exhausted.

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep you up so late."

"It's okay. I'm just afraid I might drop off on you. And I don't want to do that."

"Oh," Monica chuckled. "It'd be okay. Actually, I think I'd kinda like it if you did."

Dana smirked. "Drop off to sleep on you? And why would you like that?"

"Um, it'd be like old times." ...Oops... The brunette quickly glanced up monitoring her lover's reaction to that accidental slip-up.

"Old times?" Dana cocked an eyebrow. ...What in the hell is she talking about?...

"I, um, yeah. Old times, like last week," the brunette said hopefully covering up for her slip of the tongue.

"Last week? In one week we've got old times?" Dana chuckled.

"Yeah. One week. Ten Days." ...More like several centuries... The brunette grinned at her thoughts. Actually, she had just experienced another fleeting vision - more like a fleeting memory - from several years ago, several generations ago, or maybe even several centuries ago, but most definitely with this same soul.

Dana smiled then reached down and clasped her hand. "Oop! Gosh," she jumped as she felt another strong kick come from her little son inside her womb.

Monica giggled feeling his energetic movements, too.

"Wow, he gets so active around this time of night."

"Really?"

"Umhum. Mmm," the redhead moaned again into the sensations. It felt - weird - but nice, very nice.

"Well, you think he'll settle down for the night, after we do?" Monica said as she reached over and turned out the light.

"Umhum, yeah. He'll go to sleep soon. Or at least I will."

Monica giggled again. "So, how do you sleep with all of that action going on in there?" she grinned gently patting her lover's abdomen again.

"Oh, I don't know. It doesn't bother me. And we felt his first kick only last week."

"Yeah. First kick. Last week," Monica grinned again remembering that special moment.

"Yeah. Last week. Special moment. Very special," Dana grinned remembering that special moment, too, a moment she would never forget.

"Well, good night, honey," Monica whispered easing in a little more comfortably against her lover, wrapping her arms around her, and then giving her a quick little goodnight kiss before settling in for the night.

"Mmm, night," Dana mumbled, readjusting and crawling in a little more comfortably into her lover's arms herself before calling it a night as well.

"Mmm," Monica smiled leaning in and resting her cheek in against her lover's crown. Oh yes. She was beginning to understand more and more every day about the Great Mysteries of the Universe - Shamans, Healers and other Lifetimes - and what her Grams would soon be sharing with her. She had just begun to realize that she had loved this woman for centuries, not just a mere few days, but for centuries, maybe even a couple of millinneums, as they had always started out their lives separately, and painfully apart, but then had found each other again, she always finding the other, just in time, to save her from all the evil in the world that wanted to harm her. Oh yes. She was beginning to understand now. She was the Protector, the Healer, the Shaman. Wasn't that what little Elisa had said? The Healer? Protector? Princess? She had no idea what she meant by Princess, but she understood the other, the Protector, the Shaman, and Spiritual Healer of her lover's wounded soul.

She smiled as she felt her baby grow heavy against her body and begin to drift off to sleep. She recognized that feel and peaceful slumber. She had felt that peaceful slumber resting against her body for centuries. ...Mmm, God, we're home, you're home now, safe... Her heart fluttered inside her chest as she wrapped a protective arm more comfortably around her charge then feathered her fingers through her hair. ...Oh Dana. God. I love you. And I promise I'll always come back to you, always find you, and always love you, protect you, heal you, as much as I can, no matter what life we're in. I promise you that. Always, baby. Always... she mused as she began to drift off to sleep as well.

Within seconds, they both had drifted off into the most peaceful, restful night's sleep either had had in years.