Jerry frowned as he recognized the voice on the other end of the phone. He caught Carter's eye and nodded, but Carter shook his head. Jerry's frown deepened. He really didn't understand why the F.B.I. was hounding Carter this way, but he didn't think it was his place to say something to Agent Mulder. Now, if Weaver would happen to be around one of the times that the agent called...Jerry knew that she would put a stop to it.
"I'm sorry Agent Mulder, but Dr. Carter is in a trauma right now. Are you sure that I can't take a message?"
"No," the voice on the other end sounded defeated and Jerry began to rethink things as they stood between Carter and the G-man. An agent investigating a murder wouldn't sound like that just because he couldn't question someone. Would he? "I'll try to catch him later. Thanks, Jerry."
"Not a problem, Agent Mulder." Jerry hung the phone up and looked guiltily in Carter's direction. "That was Mulder again.
"So I heard. Thanks, Jerry. I'm really not up to talking to him again," Carter said. "I really appreciate all that you're doing to keep him away from me."
"Not a problem, Dr. C," Jerry replied. He watched as Carter went to the lounge, then he nodded. There was something interesting going on and he was sure it didn't have anything to do with the case. So what else could it be? Jerry liked mysteries and he smiled as he engaged his mental gears in an effort to figure out the latest.
*************************
Mulder slipped the receiver into the cradle of the phone. He knew John wasn't continually busy at the hospital. The man was ignoring him. And Mulder wasn't so dumb as to not get the message.
"Dammitt!" He hurled the phone across the room, taking some satisfaction in the way the various plastic pieces separated. It made him feel a little better, but not much. He wouldn't feel better until he could see John.
Mulder knew he had some options. He could keep calling John at work, sounding like a love sick fool. He could go to the hospital and look like a love sick fool. He could forget about trying to make things right and just go home and never see John Carter again.
Mulder didn't like any of those options. Which left one -- he could go to John's house and wait for him to come home. John would have to talk with him then.
Mulder grabbed his keys and went to Scully's room so he could find out if they had their extra day and to let her know where he was headed.
Scully was happy to see him up to the second she took in his sad expression. "I guess you haven't spoke with John yet?"
"He won't take my calls. I can't get past good ole Jerry, the desk clerk. I can hear it in his voice that John's there though." Mulder bitterly said.
Scully shook her head. "You don't know that for sure, Mulder. County General is an inner city hospital with a very busy emergency department. It's possible that John just can't take the time for a personal call."
"Possible but not likely." Mulder jingled the car keys. "I'm going over to his place to wait for him. One way or another he'll talk to me."
Scully grinned. "Just don't get yourself arrested for harassment, okay?"
Mulder smiled back. "I'll try my best to stay on the right side of the law, but I'm not making any guarantees. I've never met anyone quite like John and I don't want things to end this way. It's important that I tell him that I believe him, even if nothing else happens."
Scully nodded. "Good luck. And, Mulder, if something *does* happen, then you have a few extra days. We don't have to be back in DC until Friday."
"Friday?" Mulder was surprised at having the extra few days. "How'd you convince Skinner to go along with that?"
"Oh, I just told him that we couldn't possibly leave until you had made up with this incredible hunk of a doctor you had picked up in a gay bar. He said for you to take all the time you needed as long as we were back in town on Friday."
Mulder stared at his partner. "You didn't?"
Scully laughed. "I didn't. But it was tempting. Almost too tempting. But then I thought that news like that would be better to spring on him in person. That way I can see his face as he realizes what I'm saying."
"You wouldn't?" Mulder asked, a hint of warning in his voice.
"I might. It all depends on how you behave from now on, Mulder." Scully had a smirk on her face. "Do you know how good it feels to have something over on you? Something that can guarantee I don't have to stay in dumps when we travel? Something to make sure you don't run off on wild goose chases while we're in the field?"
Mulder sighed. "We'll talk about your blackmail plans later, Agent Scully. I can only worry about one thing at a time and right now John's the one thing."
"Good luck, Mulder," Scully said, serious once more. She gave him a quick hug and a light kiss on his cheek. "Don't let him get away."
"I'll do my best."
**************************
Mulder endured two hours of sitting on the front steps of Kerry Weaver's house before his patience was rewarded. He had just waved at yet another neighbor out walking a dog -- this man happened to be needing to walk his dog every thirty minutes, because he had passed Mulder at least four times since he had first decided to sit a vigil on the steps, when he heard a car door slam and a muttered curse from somewhere to his right. Looking in that direction, Mulder saw John approaching him, Kerry Weaver close behind and doing her best to keep up with the long strides of the angry young man who was now bearing down on Mulder.
Mulder got to his feet, glad to be standing on the bottom step as that gave him a height advantage over John. "We need to talk," Mulder said.
"We have nothing to say to each other. You know, just because you're an F.B.I. agent it doesn't give you the right to hound me at work and home. If you have a case against me, then arrest me. If you don't, then leave me the Hell alone," John angrily replied.
Mulder nodded at Kerry as she reached them, but his eyes quickly went back to John. The man's face was flushed from anger and his eyes were dark with emotion. The same color they turned when John was aroused, Mulder remembered. But a discreet glance at John's crotch told Mulder that arousal wasn't the cause of those dark eyes then.
"Well, I have something more to say to you and I'd prefer to do it inside where your neighbors can't overhear me." Mulder calmly said.
"That's an excellent idea, excuse me," Kerry said as she pushed her way past Mulder and began to unlock the door. "It's much cooler inside and Clark will be here soon."
Mulder didn't miss her emphasis on the fact that backup was on the way. It was good to know that John had people looking out for his welfare, but Mulder wasn't going to budge until he could get John to agree to listen to him.
The door opened and Mulder felt cool air hit his back as air conditioned air swept out toward the street. He looked at John, eyebrows raised. "Shall we go inside then?"
Silent, John walked past Mulder and into the house. Mulder followed quickly, relieved to see that Kerry was holding the door open for him. Once he was in, she quickly shut it. "I'll be upstairs if you need me," she said, directing her comment toward John.
"Okay." After depositing his bag by the door, John walked into the living room, knowing Mulder was close behind him. He turned around. "What do you have to say that was so important you kept calling me at work?"
"I believe you, John." Mulder put as much sincerity into that sentence as he could muster. John had to believe that he meant what he was saying. For one thing, it was true. He did believe John's story. But, Mulder also knew that while what Dennis Gant -- or would it be more correct to say the entity that had once been Dennis Gant -- had said was true, John needed to think that Mulder believed him and didn't know about Joseph Thielen's death just because a ghost convinced him of the truth.
The two men stared at each other for a few moments and then John nodded. "Are you going back to D.C. now? Without reopening the case?"
That wasn't quite what Mulder wanted to hear, but it was a start. "Yes. We've already told the local Bureau director that there isn't anything to investigate. It's over, John." Mulder hoped he wasn't lying. Scully was supposed to have made that call earlier in the day.
Again, John nodded, but when Mulder approached him, John backed away. "I think you should go now, Mulder."
"I can't leave you like this, John. The other night was wonderful and it isn't something that I want to ever forget. I know that yesterday was rough on you. It was rough for me, too. I didn't like having to question you."
"I'm sorry you had to do your job."
"And you're sorry about the other night, aren't you?"
John shook his head. "Not really. It was the first time that I've ever felt completely happy or satisfied. I guess that either I like guys more than I ever wanted to admit, or the damage done by Uncle Joe has made it so I can't really get close enough to a woman to feel satisfied."
Mulder reached out and gently laid his hand against John's cheek, half-afraid that John would pull away and relieved when that didn't happen. "You're not damaged, John. You gave yourself so freely, so totally, that I couldn't help but respond the same way. That's what made it satisfying. My ego tells me that I hope you never have that again with anyone, male or female. But, my heart tells me that you need a relationship like that. I hope you find someone who can be there for you all the time. God knows I can't. I was having some wild fantasies about trying to have a long distance affair with you, maybe even go on vacation with you to some exotic island, but I know in my head that those things can never happen. I can live my life like that, but you need so much more."
"I've been dumped in a lot of different ways, but never quite like this." John finally took Mulder's hand in his, but he didn't let go of it. He had known that there wouldn't be anything permanent between him and Mulder, but it still hurt to have Mulder actually say it.
"Oh, God, John, I am not dumping you. I wish with all my heart that I could be with you. But, my life; my career; things in my past; all of those get in the way. I don't work the so-called normal cases. I work the strange ones, the ones that no one else will touch. I've been bitten by a vampire, infected by an alien virus, probably spent more time in hospitals than you have. I can't expose you to all of that."
"Alien virus?" John was smiling now. "And you wouldn't believe me about a ghost?"
Mulder shrugged. "I'm sorry. I should have been the first person to believe you."
"Yes, you should have," John firmly said.
Again, the two stared at each other for a few moments, neither one knowing what to say to the other.
Mulder bravely closed the space between their bodies and kissed John. It was far from a chaste kiss and he was pleased when John responded.
"I want to get on that plane later this week with the smell of you on me, John. I want to feel your lips against mine, the touch of your fingers on my skin. I want to leave Chicago with you firmly implanted in my mind. Every inch of you so well known to me that I can close my eyes and see you at any time. Will you let me have that to take back with me?"
"Yes," John breathlessly said. "I want that, too."
"You live in the basement, right?"
"Yeah. The door's over here."
"Lead the way," Mulder said as he pulled away from John. "You know, I work in a basement."
"I guess we have a lot more in common that we thought," John smiled as he answered. He opened the door and turned on the light, then headed down the steps. Behind him, he could hear Mulder closing and locking the door, making sure there would be no interruptions from Kerry or from Clark once he arrived.
John stopped by his bed, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about why he had brought Mulder to his room. As he turned around to say something to Mulder about maybe changing his mind, he bumped into Mulder and quickly found himself being embraced by the handsome agent.
"Sorry. I didn't know you were right behind me," John said, looking down at Mulder's chest because he didn't trust himself to look into Mulder's eyes. Those eyes had been haunting him, as had the memory of how right it had felt to be with Mulder.
"I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. John, look at me," Mulder commanded. John was even more skittish tonight than he had been when Mulder had picked him up in the bar. Of course, it wasn't as if he didn't have a right to be that way. So much had happened in that short time. Mulder looked John directly in the eyes. "I won't do anything you don't want, John. I told you that before and I kept my word, right?"
"Right," John nodded as he remembered that night.
"You can trust me. I'm not here to take advantage of you or use you for any reason. I'm here to make love to you like it's never been done before. We'll probably never see each other again and I want to get enough of you to last me the rest of my life. Do you have a problem with that?"
"No." John shook his head, wanting the same thing.
"Good." Mulder leaned closer and let his lips softly touch John's, teasing his mouth. Mulder felt a thrill shoot through him when John threw himself into the kiss, making firm contact and slipping his tongue past Mulder's lips. Mulder could feel John's hands gripping his ass, squeezing urgently as the kiss deepened, and Mulder couldn't keep himself from moaning. He slid his hands to the front of John's body, pulling John's shirt from his pants and running his hands up John's belly and over his smooth chest. It excited him even more to find that John's nipples were already hard nubs, evidence of John's desire for him. But, he toyed with them anyway, eliciting moans from John as he did so.
John broke off the kiss and stepped back from Mulder, grinning as he began to undress. Mulder hurriedly did the same and soon they were once more embracing. To John, the feel of skin on skin, his hard penis against Mulder's, was intoxicating. He let Mulder push him backward onto the bed, covering his body with his own as his mouth and hands played over his sensitive skin. Feeling slightly wanton, John spread his legs and he felt Mulder settle his body between them, could feel his body pressing against his groin and the pressure aroused John even further.
Mulder sat back on his haunches and caressed John's thighs with both hands. "Do you have condoms?" Mulder asked. If John didn't, then Mulder would have to get up and find his pants. He had made sure he would be prepared if John had been receptive to him tonight.
"Night stand. Top drawer. No lube though."
"I have some in my pants. But, we don't have to worry about lube yet." Mulder leaned over John's hip and opened the drawer, easily finding the box of condoms. He didn't even try to open the box there instead he brought it with him as he resumed his position between John's legs. As he prepared John, he looked up and saw that John was braced on his elbows and watching him intently. Jesus, but he looked good that way.
Mulder slowly lowered his head, but instead of going directly for John's penis, he instead began to lick his way up John's thighs, first one and then the other. Then he slowly sucked on John's balls, smiling as he heard John's gasps of pleasures from that simple action. He abruptly let them go and took the tip of John's penis into his mouth, tightening his lips around John's erection as he lowered his mouth.
"God, Mulder, that feels so good," John moaned. "Don't stop. Don't ever stop."
Mulder's response was to concentrate more of his attention on John's perfect cock until he had John squirming on the bed, begging for release. Keeping one hand on John's body, playing with him, Mulder quickly opened the box of condoms with his free hand, withdrawing one and ripping open the foil with his teeth. He did have to stop touching John long enough to roll the latex over John's heated flesh, and then Mulder lowered his head once more, heeding John's pleas to let him come.
Mulder quietly unlocked and opened the door at the top of the stairs, not wanting to awaken John. Their lovemaking had been energetic, to say the least, and it hadn't taken long for John to drift off to sleep once they were cuddled in each other's arms. Remembering John's appetite, Mulder decided to head upstairs to see what he could prepare for them to eat, so he pulled on his pants and headed to the kitchen, glad that Kerry Weaver had gone out for the evening.
That assumption had been one that Mulder shouldn't have made, he realized, as he stepped into the brightly lit kitchen and saw Kerry and Clark seated at the counter. The two grinned at him, but kept quiet, for which Mulder was grateful.
"I thought you were going out?" Mulder said as he stepped fully into the kitchen.
"I only said that Clark was coming over," Kerry replied, a knowing smile playing around her lips. "Is John asleep?"
"Yeah," Mulder nodded. "I thought he'd be hungry so I was going to raid your kitchen for something."
"There are some sandwiches in the refrigerator. We made extra when we had our dinner," Kerry told him, her cheeks growing warm as she remembered how long it had taken her and Clark to accomplish that feat. The noises from downstairs, coupled with knowing exactly what it was that was making John cry out that way, had been a big turn-on for both Kerry and Clark, and they had ended up having sex in the kitchen. Not that the agent needed to know that. But it wouldn't hurt for him to know that they knew exactly what had been going on.
"If you ever invite John to DC, you should keep in mind that he gets rather loud at times," Kerry said, not even trying to keep the grin off her face.
Clark snortled, but remained silent, and Mulder's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "I'll keep that in mind, thank you, Dr. Weaver."
"Please, call me Kerry," she evenly said. "You will be inviting him to visit you, won't you?" she then asked, all humor gone from her voice. She didn't want to see John hurt yet again.
"That's between John and I, Dr...Kerry," Mulder replied as he opened the door of the fridge and retrieved the sandwiches and two beers. "Thanks." And then he was back behind the safety of the closed door, unable to relock it though, as his hands were full. But he didn't think that Kerry and Clark were going to walk in on them.
As he headed back to John's bed, Mulder thought about Kerry's question. He had already told John that there could be nothing between them, but was that really true? Was he selling their potential relationship short by ending things before they began? Would John be willing to settle for a long distance love? Having John in Chicago would lend an added level of safety for John, Mulder thought.
He reached John's bed, glad to see that his lover was still asleep, looking even younger as he lay there stretched out on his back, one arm flung above his head, between the pillow and the headboard. Mulder put the food and beer on the nightstand, then carefully sat down on the side of the bed, his fingers going directly to John's face where they tenderly traced over his skin. John moved slightly, turning his head away from the irritation and Mulder smiled. There was more than one way to wake up a sleepy lover, he thought as his hands pulled down on the covers until John's entire body was exposed to him.
Torn between taking John's limp cock into his mouth so he could suck him into hardness and tormenting John into awakefulness, Mulder chose the torment. After all, tormenting John awake would most likely lead to some wonderful 'making it up to John' sex, and Mulder was definitely in the mood for something like that.
He picked up the neared can of beer, then eased the metal against John's skin, mentally counting until he heard "Sweet Jesus!" Mulder grinned down at John as he moved the can away. "Two seconds, that's pretty quick, John."
John glared up at Mulder, irritated at being abruptly awoken by a cold can of something against his skin. "Go away," he grumbled as he sat up, looking for the covers.
"Sorry," Mulder replied with a chuckle. "That's not going to happen any time soon. I don't have to be back to DC until Friday, and right now I'm planning on spending all my time with this handsome doctor who picked me up in a bar the other night."
"Really?" John asked, giving up on the covers and instead looking into Mulder's laughing eyes. "I'd say that doctor is one lucky guy."
"No," Mulder seriously replied as he leaned in close. "I'd say that I'm one lucky guy to have met him." And then their lips met, a kiss tender and loving, that told Mulder that he would be a fool to get on the plane Friday and never again see John. But there would be time to discuss things like that later. Right then, all Mulder wanted to do was to feed his doctor so the man would have enough energy for another round. Who knew? Maybe he could John to scream loud enough to disturb the neighbors? It was definitely a goal worth trying to reach.
To be continued...
Copyright Footer', 'This site is not affiliated in any way with "ER", its writers or production company, or NBC, and makes no profit from the show. The ERROS skin is by Brihana. The script is eFiction version 3.4.2© Tammy Keefer, http://efiction.org\r\n