Socks

by Abree, CiCi Lean, Trillian, Odie and Shan Krug

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Chapter Seven: Hey, Jealousy
by Trillian
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Brian Pendrell was dreaming of cashmere.

Ivory-colored cashmere, to be precise; with a fine rib and delicate navy stitching along the toe. Cashmere that felt so soft on the soles, and slid so smoothly off when pulled by his teeth, revealing....

<knock>

<thud>

"Agent Pendrell? Are you in here?" called a crystalline female voice.

Brian quickly righted himself and his chair, and tightened his tie. "Come in" he croaked.

The door swung open to reveal Agent Scully, businesslike and beautiful in a wine-colored pantsuit. "I was wondering if you could run an analysis on this." Scully handed him a plastic baggie filled with a rather disgusting green ooze. In the hall behind her, a man strode by. The back of his neck looked rather familiar to Pendrell.

"Alex?" he cried out plaintively. But the man kept walking. Pendrell accepted the baggie from Scully with a small whimper.

"Right away, Agent Scully."

"Thanks, Agent Pendrell. Keep up the good work."

"Yeah, whatever."

* * * * *

Special Agent Dana Scully left the laboratory in a frenzy. Who was Alex? And why had Pendrell called out her name?

<I always thought he loved *me*> she thought to herself, and pouted.

But the pout quickly turned to a frown. And the frown to a manipulative grin. Scully's stride became quicker, more powerful, as she headed to her office. She was a woman with a mission. No "Alex" was going to take away her Pendrell so easily.

* * * * *

Mulder looked up, startled, as his partner stormed into their office. She sat down at her computer and began typing furiously. Quietly, he crept behind her. She was running the names "Alexa", "Alexis", and "Alexandra" through the personnel search engine.

<Odd> he thought, and returned to his desk and the far more intriguing conundrum of October's "Adult Video News."

"Found her!"

Scully's shout rang across the office, rapidly bringing Mulder out of his Deep-Throat-XVII-induced thoughts.

Special Agent Alexandra Creel. Working in the insurance fraud division. <Must be a boring little skank> thought Scully with a snicker.

"Um, Mulder, I've got some business to take care of. I'll be back in a bit." Scully shut off her computer and left the office. Mulder noticed a slightly maniacal gleam in her eyes, but decided that the interview with Kate Rane, self-proclaimed Queen of Slash, was more worthy of his attentions.

* * * * *

Alexandra Creel was hard at work when she heard the knock on her office door. Before she could answer, the door swung open to reveal a petite redhead wearing a pantsuit and a deranged expression.

"How *dare* you?!?" screamed the redhead, launching herself at Creel. "Don't you know that Brian loves ME???"

The two women fell to the floor, struggling. Creel quickly flipped the other woman on to her back and socked her with a stapler. She stopped moving and began to cry softly.

"He...he..." was all the redhead could manage before her sobs overtook her.

Creel looked at her with a mixture of awe and pity. "I don't know any Brian," she said, "but he's lucky to have someone care about him as much as you do."

<Lucky. Right. What he needs is a restraining order. I've got to get this psychopath out of my office before A.D. Brinson walks in.>

The redhead looked up in dismay. "You don't know Brian?"

Slowly, she began to blush a deep, dark, red. Rising to her feet, she stammered "You never saw this. This didn't happen. You tell anyone, you're a dead man. Er, woman." Creel watched in amazement as the woman ran out the door.

* * * * *

Dana Scully was dressed to kill. Her broken-in jeans hugged her curves and accentuated her small waist. The blue silk sweater she wore was close-fitting with a neckline low enough to send any man into anapylectic shock. Black shoes with a chunky heel over matching blue silk socks completed the ensemble. She sprayed her wrists with an ample dose of Obsession and grabbed her car keys.

* * * * *

<ding>

Scully tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Pendrell to open the door. He was *hers*, dammit, and she wasn't going to let him go to some Alex chick. It was time for a full-scale seduction.

After a few minutes, the door slowly opened.

"Briiiiii..." she began, but the purr caught in her throat. Brian Pendrell was covered from head to toe in shreds of a shiny silver material. At first glance it looked to be--yes, it was--

Duct tape.

"Um, well, it seems you're kind of..." Scully shifted uncomfortably on the step.

"Brian? Who is it?" a distinctly masculine voice demanded. Scully's head jerked up from examining the duct tape wrapped around Pendrell's baby toe. The voice was familiar. Too familiar.

"Alex *Krycek*???" she screamed in horror.

"None other," he replied with a chuckle. Krycek's outfit matched Pendrell's, except that his duct tape was the dull grey variety.

Scully turned with a scream, jumped in her car, and sped away. Pendrell and Krycek watched amusedly.

"Now, Brian, shall we get back to business?"

"Of course, Alex." he answered with a sly grin.

But as Alex led Pendrell back to the closet, he noticed a dazed expression on his face.

"What is it, Brian?"

Pendrell sighed, then answered dreamily "Did you see her *socks*?"

* * * * *

Mulder had always considered himself a film connoisseur, and tonight's viewing was exceptionally brilliant.

<How do they *do* that?> he wondered, open-mouthed in awe.

<knock, knock>

Mulder sighed and eased himself off the couch. He opened the door angrily. "What is it? I'm in the middle of Exit to Eden and...oh, Scully. What's wrong?"

Scully threw herself into his arms, sobbing. He led her to the couch, stopping to flip off the VCR, where she poured out the whole saga. Mulder smoothed her hair and whispered soothingly "It's okay, Scully. I'm here. I'm here."

Slowly, Scully lifted her head from his chest. "Yes. You're here. And you always have been...I should have known all along." With that she kissed him soundly.

Mulder cheerfully deepened the kiss. As he led Scully to the bedroom for a homecoming, he said a quick prayer under his breath.

"Thank you, St. Vince."

****