The Protective Agent cont

      Mulder stared at the thermometer in disbelief.  "Wow, Scully, I
guess you were right.  Your temperature's down to 99.8."  He checked
the thermometer again just to make sure.  "You sure you're feeling
better?"
         "Mulder, I told you, I'm fine.  I might be coming down with a little
 cold, but that's all.  Now, I'm going to go get us some coffee, why don't
you take a shower and get ready.  We've got a busy day ahead of us." 
Mulder watched as his delicate but determined partner walked across the
parking lot to their rental car.  She did appear to be feeling better this
morning, but Mulder was still concerned.  She had had a fever of almost
103 the night before, and he was debating brigning her to the hospital
this morning if her fever didn't break.  But apparently it had, so he
dismissed his worries as best as he could and got into the shower.
         Scully returned with two cups of steaming hot coffee to find Mulder
still in the shower.  She tapped lightly on the bathroom door.
         "Mulder?  I'm leaving your coffee on the nighttable."
         "Thanks.  I'll be out in a few minutes."  Scully sat in a chair by the
bed to wait for her partner.  She savored the warmth of her coffee as it
warmed her insides and suddenly realized that the chair she was sitting
in was where Mulder had spent the night.  She had woken up to find him
slumped in the chair; a damp washcloth had left a dark stain of water on
his pant leg.  She was touched by his caring, but at the same time a little
embarassed tht he had seen her in such an unprofessional state.
         But then again, she had taken care of him several times, in
situations that could certainly be called somewhat less than professional. 
She decided to put the whole experience out of her mind and focus on
her work instead.  She was just about to go get her briefcase from the
car when she felt the beginnigs of a sneeze deep within her nose.
         "Oh great," she thought.  "Just what I need now."  She couldn't
hear the shower anymore and realized that Mulder must be almost ready.
Trying to dismiss the feleing, she lightly rubbed a finger under her
nose, but that only increased the sensation.  She tried biting her upper
lip, which usually worked when she had to hold back a sneeze in the
middle of a meeting.  This seemed to at least keep the sneeze from
growing any stronger, although the feeling didn't disappear.
         Just then, Mulder appeared from the bathroom, looking clean and
refreshed.  His hair was still wet from the shower as we walked to the bed
to retreive his coffee.  "What, no donuts?" he quipped, casting a grin at
Scully.  When he saw the expression on her face, however, his own
changed as well.  "What is it, Scully?"
         "Nothing's wrong."  She relized the look she must have on her face
and added, "I have to sneeze, that's all."  Mulder watched as a
transformation began to come over his partner.  Her tiny nose began to
twitch slightly as her nostrils flared.  Her eyes were beginning to water
as they hovered between open and closed.  Her breathing was shallow
and measured through her half-open mouth.  Suddenly he could see the
sneeze take over.  "Ahhh... ahh...."  She inhaled more deeply now, and
brought her right hand in a loose fist to her mouth.  But at that moment,
the sneeze left her, and she sighed and cleared her throat. "Drat.  I hate
it when that happens."
         "You still have to sneeze?"  She nodded, a finger under her nose. 
"I know just the trick."  Mulder disappeared into the bathroom and
returned a moment later with a feather from the feather duster Scully
had seen there earlier that morning.  Before she could say anything,
Mulder was holding the feather under her nose.  "Now, breath in slowly,"
he instructed.  She did so, and immediately felt the feeling return in full
force, and tried to warn him.
         "Mulder, I... have... to..."  He saw the look on her face as the sneeze
built rapidly, and took a step back.  She paused for a moment, right at
the climax, head tilted back, eyes squinched shut, before releaseing a
powerful, high-pitched sneeze.  "Ahhh-CHOO!"
         "Bless you."
         "Thanks."  Her free left hand went to her chest as her right
hovered near her mouth, anticipating a second sneeze.  "Wow, that hurt." 
Mulder smiled.
         "The feather trick-- works every time."  He paused, thinking, then
smiled.  "Samantha had horrible allergies when we were kids. 
Everything made her sneeze.  Sometimes something would irritate her,
but she couldn't make herself sneeze, and it would drive her crazy. 
Idiscovered that a feather under the nose would make her sneeze, so
every time she had to sneeze she'd come running to me and beg me to 'do
the feather thing'."  He smiled at the memory, even though the pain of
his sister's abduction had never left him.
         "Thanks, Mulder."  Her words had more than one meaning, and she
knew he understood them as he gently put his right arm around her
back and stepped with her out into the morning sunshine.