Amorem Animalem

Romeo and Juliet

Mulder kept his arm around Scully until they made it to their hotel room. The height difference was ridiculous, but Mulder walked slowly since Scully had such a small stride. He had a tender side to him, it was rare to see, but when it showed he was the most caring human you knew.

"How are you feeling, Scully?" He asked as he helped Dana take a seat on her bed.

"I'm fine Mulder, really. I'm a little shaken up but I'm okay." She said with a forced smile. He knelt down by her feet as they dangled off the bed, unable to reach the floor due to her small height.

"Did you get sunburned badly?" He asked with sincere eyes.

"My forehead and cheeks are a little warm, but I think I'll be alright." She said as she pressed her hand gently across her face. Mulder stood up, as an idea, which he deemed as brilliant, popped into his head.

"I'll be right back, Scully." He said sweetly as he left the room.

Scully sat on her bed, mentally distraught by the case, what she had seen in the water and the mixed signals that she constantly received from Mulder. He was either too caring or not enough. He hugged her sometimes when she was sad, and other times he was hands off and all business. She wished that she knew who his true match was. Maybe then, her heart could move forward.

Minutes later, Mulder came into the room holding a bucket of ice and two frozen treats that he had picked up in the hotel store near the lobby. One rootbeer popsicle for him and a non-fat-tofutti rice-dreamsicle for Scully. He went into the bathroom where he folded a couple of ice cubes in a damp washcloth, similar to what Scully had done for him only a few days ago.

"Here. Hopefully, this makes you feel better." He said sweetly as he set the makeshift ice pack on Scully's forehead and handed her the non-fat ice cream she loved.

"Mulder, how sweet of you." She said grinning.

"Well, I try. Do you need anything else?"

"I think I'm good for now, thank you."

Just as she began to unwrap her treat, Scully's cellular phone began to ring. She quickly answered it, hoping that it would be the toxicologist, with the test results back on the other, now six, victims.

"I appreciate your cooperation and willingness to help on this case. Your findings have taken us a step forward. Thank you so much. I'll be in to do a full body autopsy on the other victims soon." Scully said as she hung up.

"What'd they find?" Mulder asked as he took a seat on his bed, taking a bite out of the rootbeer popsicle.

"You were right, Mulder. Every single body had extremely high traces of ecstasy. It would appear that our victims were drugged and murdered." She said as she sat forward, holding the ice pack to her forehead.

"I can get on the phone with the PD and ask for records of every drug bust in the area," Mulder stated.

"Do you think we'd find our killer that way?" Scully asked, unsure.

"It's worth a shot."

"Mulder," Scully sighed,"I--I have this feeling like there's not just one murderer."

"What do you mean, Scully."

"What if... What if one of the bodies is the killer and the other the victim?" Scully said with her eyes straight ahead at her partner.

"That's an interesting theory," Mulder admitted,"But why would the killers drug themselves too?"

Scully sat in silence, trying to think it all through.