From: Amatia Hopefully this one will go thru.... Note: Here's my challenge story, finally. It was going to be longer, but it's 1:40 AM and I just want to check this one off the list. It's been plaguing me too much. I don't know what the title has to do with it, I just liked the phrase. :-) It's un-beta'd, I'll probably end up redoing it. So, tell me if you like or not. *** "Heroes and Demons" by Amatia A Spenderfic Challenge Story Place: Street Words: Devil lonely years Phrase: Trying to forget *** "Heroes and Demons" by Amatia * "Agent Spender?" "Mmm?" "Agent Spender?" A hand was shaking him. "Jeffrey?" He opened one eye, then another. Saw red hair, flashing blue eyes. "Agent Scully!" Then he winced. "I've got one devil of a headache." Scully offered him a hand, and he took it gladly. Once he was standing, she asked. "What are you doing, sitting out on the street?" "I got drunk, I think," he replied. "Lord, I haven't been drunk in years." "Well, come on," she said. "My apartment's just around the corner. I'll make you coffee." Spender followed her uncomplainingly into her car. "Thanks, Scully." "Dana." "Well, thanks, Dana." "So, uhm, can I ask why you got drunk?" "Trying to forget, I guess," Spender replied noncomittally. "Forget what?" Scully asked. He shrugged. "My life." She parked the car in front of her apartment building, and they got out of the car. "We'll get some coffee into you and then you can tell me more." Inside her apartment, Scully found a bottle of aspirin and set it in front of him as he sat at her kitchen table. She sat down across from him. "Hungry?" "Not particularily," Spender replied. "Well, coffee will take a few minutes. You want to wait until it's done to talk, or you want to start talking now?" She raised her eyebrow at him. He propped his head up on his hands. "I'm going to assume that you've never gotten drunk for the reason of wanting to forget." "Never assume," Scully said in reply. "Believe it or not, I've done it a couple times after particularily disturbing cases. In the privacy of my own home, of course." "But have you ever wanted to forget your entire life?" "Why would you want to do that?" she asked. Spender sighed, covering his eyes with his hands. "Because I'm a miserable lonely bastard who's spent his entire life wondering where his mother was and why she believed in aliens." From the position of his hands on his face, he didn't see Scully stand up and walk behind him. He jumped as her hands fell on his shoulders. He tried to twist around but she wouldn't let him. "Do you ever think that you're a miserable lonely bastard because you let yourself be that way?" She started massaging his shoulders. "Scully..." he said, then paused for a moment. "Why are you doing this?" "Because I'm lonely too," she said, and Spender felt her shrug. Her hands didn't stop moving on his shoulders, and he had to admit that it felt great. "Oh, coffee's done!" she exclaimed, and her touch was suddenly gone. Scully set two mugs down on the table and filled them with coffee from the Black and Decker pot. "Cream or sugar?" "Cream. And, Scully," he replied, feeling silly, "do you have any lemon?" "Lemon," she repeated, and retreated to the refridgerator. "I can do that. You know, I should probably make you drink something with bubbles." "I'd rather have coffee and aspirin." Scully sat down across from him again, a plate of lemon wedges in one hand and a handful of single-serving creamers in the other. "They go nice in the car," she explained at his inquisitive look. Spender squeezed lemon into his coffee and stirred in two creamers. "I know it sounds weird, but I think it tastes good," he told her, shaking two aspirin from the bottle. "You must like heartburn," Scully mused. She poured cream in her coffee as he downed the pills. "I'm going to be awake for the rest of the night on this, you know." "You offered," he replied with a grin. "Yeah. So, I want to know, why such a lonely and miserable life?" "Guess," he said wryly. "Look, while I was going through puberty, without a father, my mother was abducted eleven times. The shortest period that she was missing was a week. The longest, a month and a half. I lived by myself while I was fifteen for a month and a half. To be honest, Dana, that month and a half was the lonliest time in my life. Except now, now that my mother has been missing for over six months. Yes, I have work, but it's not enough. It doesn't take away the lonliness." Spender raised his mug and swallowed a large gulp of his lemon-flavored coffee. Scully looked him in the eye. "Jeff." "Dana." She stood up, and held out her hand. Puzzled, he took it, her fingers warm and strong in his. She led him into the bedroom, and he paused in the doorway. "You don't..." his voice trailed off. "Just lay down with me," she said softly. She dropped his hand, and unbuttoned her slacks. Spender watched them fall to the ground, and her step out of them. He raised his eyes to hers, and she smiled. "You might want to take your jacket and tie off." He smiled back, and untied his tie. Scully pulled the coverlet back on the bed as he tossed the tie, his belt, and his suit jacket over the chair in the corner. Spender turned as he felt her hand on his shoulder. She reached for the buttons on his shirt, and he didn't try to stop her. His shirt soon joined the other articles on the chair. Scully pulled him onto the bed with her, and he found himself looking down at a very beautiful woman. "Can I have a kiss?" she asked quietly, reaching up to run a hand down his face. Nodding, he bent his head to hers, and brushed his lips across the full mouth that offered itself to him. Her lips clung to his for a moment, then she relaxed against the pillow and turned onto her side. Spender spooned up against her back, feeling less alone than he had in years. Scully reached for his hand, and laid his arm over her side, his hand against her stomach. He could feel her breathe against his chest, and he stayed awake until she fell asleep, then drifted off to sleep himself.