TITLE: Dementia
AUTHOR: Denise Morgen
EMAIL: meadora@hotmail.com
SPOILERS: Biogenesis
FEEDBACK: The quick and easy way to have a shrine erected in your
honor!
RATING: PG-13 for the adult language in my summary.
SUMMARY: I simply refuse to believe that Mulder is, if you'll pardon
my French, that big a fucking moron as to sleep with that bitch or
even welcome her happily into his bed after everything that's
happened, regardless of how CC & Co made it look. So this is my
version of events after Diana got off the phone with CSM at Mulder's
apt.
DISCLAIMER: The characters of Mulder, Scully and the wicked Bitch of
the west, oops, I mean Diana Fowley are property of Fox, 1013
Productions and Chris Carter. I mean no infringement and I'm not
making any money from their use. If you're going to sue me than
so be it. I've come to terms with the fact that living on earth is
expensive but hey, at least we get that free trip around the sun!
NOTE: There is a companion piece to this story called 'Inside His
Delirium' that can be found on the My Fanfiction page of my website:
www.geocities.com/Area51/Nova/5635

Dementia
by Denise Morgen

Diana slipped her shirt over her head as she entered Fox's bedroom.
She draped her blouse over the chair by the door and began to remove
her remaining clothing as she neared his bed.  Moving over to his
side she kneeled before him and reached forward to brush a wayward
lock of hair from his closed eyes. She was surprised when he visibly
flinched at her tender touch and began tossing fitfully, mumbling
in his sleep.

Diana chewed her bottom lip and studied him thoughtfully. He was
burning up, the perspiration running down his face in little rivulets
and steady streams. She had to get that information from him; THEY
were expecting her to come through on this! She turned the problem
over and around in her head for a few minutes before coming to a
conclusion. Fox had always been a tactile man, especially when sick
he felt the need to physically connect with others. Maybe if she could
get close to him she could coax the data out of him through his
delirium. Thus decided, she rose and moved around to the opposite
side of the bed.

If she'd been paying proper attention she would've noticed that
Mulder's movements became markedly more vehement in the small space
of time it took her to lean closer to him on the bed and bring
herself to her feet, but dropped off decidedly when she move further
away from him. If she'd been paying any attention at all she would've
noticed this, but Diana was never much of an investigator.

She lifted the blankets and slid into bed beside him. Mulder's body
froze abruptly, locking into place at her sudden nearness. Foolishly,
she took this as a good sign and inched her way closer to him. Mulder
shuddered as she moved her hand up, intending to touch him.

"Scully..." Mulder whimpered pitifully as her fingers neared his
broiling flesh.

Diana froze, startled by the flash of searing jealousy that zapped
through her at his breathless exhilaration. So, she thought
hatefully, that red-headed little bitch had been poaching on her
territory, huh? We'll see about that! With a smug smile she quickly
contemplated the various methods at her disposal to put Fox Mulder
once again under her spell. Satisfied that she would quickly be able
to turn his thoughts forever away from one Dana Katherine Scully,
Diana continued her aborted forward move and wrapped her hand around
his shoulder.

Mulder leapt up from the bed with an incoherent roar, flinging her
completely out of the bed and onto the ground with the ferocity of his
movement. Diana looked up at him in shock as he pace the room like a
caged tiger, practically growling in disgust as he snuck wary peaks at
her from the corners of his eyes.

Diana stood up slowly, minimizing her movements as much as possible.
Mulder dropped into a suspicious crouch as soon as she moved. Coiled
and ready to strike, he watched her inch closer to him with a feral
glare.

Diana approached him with her hands raised soothingly, trying
desperately to make herself seem as non-threatening to him as
possible. She kept her chin lowered and her eyes downcast to
avoid provoking him. She managed to keep from looking for a while,
but when she was an arm's length away she raised her eyes
unconsciously to his and immediately wished she hadn't. Instead of
the mercurial hazel she was expecting her glance met with a seething
haze of rage and insanity so intense that it stained his usually
expressive orbs black. Meeting the depth and degree of viciousness
there she understood for the first time that her life might actually
be in danger; this was not the man she was used to dealing with.

She made her decision to retreat an instant too late for in the moment
of her uncertain pause Mulder pounced with arms wide knocking her
backwards into the wall and window sill painfully. She had time
enough only to register the biting pain of the sill jammed
unmercifully into her side before the crash of her head against the
wall slid her down into the darkness.

****

Diana crawled her way slowly back up to consciousness. The pounding
in her skull was a living thing and the world around her rocked on it's
axis when she attempted to open her eyes. Taking several deep,
calming breaths she slowly opened her eyes again and attempted to
concentrate on the world around her. Slowly the room stopped spinning
and slid into focus. Taking a minute to gather her scattered
thoughts, she used the window sill above her head to help wrestle
herself into a standing position. Leaning back heavily against the
wall, she winced at the tender pain in her head and the pulling
muscles of her side. She could already feel the bruises forming and
knew that by tomorrow her back would be an ugly mottled purple.

Surveying the area around her, she could see Fox curled up in fetal
position on his couch in the other room rocking back and forth and
muttering disjointedly to himself about the voices and the darkness.
Diana took a deep breath and drug herself along the wall until she
reached the cell phone beside Mulder's bed. Slumping gratefully to
the floor against the wall's welcome support she dialed a familiar
number. The ringing of the small phone was like an axe repeatedly
striking her brain, but she clung to it like a lifeline.

"It's me." She said quietly into the receiver. "He's worse than we
thought, I'm going to need some assistance...I understand. I'll be
here."

Wordlessly she terminated the call and set the cell on the ground by
her side. With one more quick glance at Fox she drew her knees up to
her chest. She briefly considered getting up to see if he had any
 aspirin, but tabled the thought of leaving the relative safety of
the bedroom and risking another attack by Fox. Instead, she
settled her head into her arms and concentrated on staying awake
while she waited for help to come.