"Mulder," Scully persisted, "Skinner said that he won't be able to subsidize
your food stash anymore, not if you keep taking these long journeys."
"What? But he knows I have to investigate these rumors when they arise,"
Mulder protested. "He knows they exist, as I do. Dammit, he told me so
himself, not a few days ago!"
"You went all the way to Hoggett Farm, Mulder! It was wholly unauthorized
and—and placed yourself at great risk. Imagine if those dogs there had
caught you and—"
Mulder interrupted her. "But Babe had information! I had to follow up
that lead. The Lone Gophers said that there had been a sighting near the
Hoggett sheep fields, by a local sheep of a Little Gray Bunny by the fence
where she was eating. In broad daylight, no less!"
Unimpressed with the urgency or importance of this news, Scully sighed,
continuing, "Mulder, hardworking creatures laboring industriously to harvest
food are having to do more than their share, to keep you in a healthy enough
condition to be able to go on these wild goose chases in the first place.
Skinner has a point, you have to admit. You and I are supposed to be
assisting him with keeping order in the forest and maintaining the safety of
the folk who live here." She blinked her large blue eyes at him.
Unswayed by the fluttering blue pools of her squirrely-countenance, Mulder
raved on. "Scully, I think it's quite apparent that you've succumbed to the
usual springtime behavior that affects most unsuspecting folk around this
time of year. You're twitterpated." For it was true; Scully spent all her
time gathering nuts and padding the lining of her tree-top home.
Furthermore, she was pregnant.
"Don't start on that perverse train of thought, Mulder," Scully admonished
him, shaking her little claw at him. "I'm more than aware of your
fascination with those Disney cartoons. You've been watching Bambi again.
It's—it's sick! Bambi is just a baby! That whole film is sick. It
encourages people to believe in the existence of a non-existent creature,
and they created that film for their own unhealthy interests. You have no
idea how you are dancing to their tune. Admit it, you're infatuated with
it. Thumper, a gray rabbit creature, best friends with a little 'prince of
the forest'… You are identifying with an innocent deer who is led into
pranks and jests by a Little Gray Bunny—and besides, the reality of them
would be far more terrifying than the cute harmless Thumper! Being pregnant
is a far more normal expression of forest life."
Mulder looked down at her compassionately. "Scully, you realize that the
little 'bundle of joy' growing inside you right now, that 'miracle of life',
isn't all squirrel. You're a doctor and a healer, you know about the
birds and the bees! How can you so conveniently dismiss the truth,
especially as it pertains so obviously to your own condition?"
"What are you talking about?" She stared at him in consternation. "I'm
sorry, Mulder, but being pregnant is actually quite natural. It happens all
the time. I am a squirrel, and I shall have squirrel babies. Just because
you have issues about the, ah, birds and the bees, as you so delicately put
it, doesn't mean there is anything unnatural about my condition. It is
Spring!"
Mulder regarded her with pity. "You simply can't understand that I'm right,
can you? You don't want to believe."
"Believe what? What is there to believe?"
Mulder hesitated and spoke slowly, so as not to shock her. "That the babies
growing inside of you have Bunny DNA. That you were abducted by Little Gray
Bunnies when you were on the hilltop that night. You said it yourself, that
you have no clear recollection of what happened to you. This is a classic
abduction scenario. I've been doing my research. About half the female
population of young forest folk here in these very woods show the same
symptoms that you do. Pregnancy without fertilization. They can't remember
what happened—they don't know how it happened."
"That's ridiculous," she declared. "Being snatched away by—by—by Gray
Rabbits, and fucked in the night! It's crazy. The DNA wouldn't be
compatible."
"No? Then how do you explain the bitemarks, that scar, on the back of your
neck, exactly as it would appear if a male Gray Bunny had mounted you?
Identical, I might add, to the countless other pregnant females I have
interviewed."
"Mulder, that's crazy. Many males mount the females from behind and often
bite their necks."
"But you have no recollection of it! And neither do they."
Scully regarded him coolly. "This is absurd. I can't believe you expect me
to swallow this. You're saying that Little Gray Bunnies picked me off the
hillside, stole me away all night into their secret burrow—one that you
have never been able to find any physical evidence of, let alone prove it's
existence except through hearsay and wild rumors! Gang-raped by Little Gray
Bunnies. I find your theory entirely speculative and not a little insulting.
It's a fantasy, like you wish it would happen to you."
"Insulting?! Why is it insulting?" He didn't dare point out to her that she
was conveniently forgetting that she couldn't remember mating with anyone,
and this in itself was highly suspect. She was suppressing the disturbing
memories, he was certain.
"Because, Mulder, this is my time, my chance at fulfillment and happiness,
to join the circle of life in this joyous occasion of Spring and the mating
season and you're suffering from sour grapes. Just because you don't have a
mate. Just because that vixen, Diana, turned out to be an intruder from a
zoo—an outlaw—who betrayed you, and tried to have you taken to the zoo
instead of her—you think everyone else should have to suffer with you."
Scully looked hurt. She hated Diana. Evil vixen!
Mulder squirmed, uncomfortably. He hadn't meant to upset Scully so badly.
He sighed inaudibly to himself.
But she hadn't finished. "Admit it, Mulder, not only are you jealous
because you wish something like that would happen to you and you are
projecting it onto me, but you are feeling lonely because you don't have a
mate. People are starting to talk about you. They say things about you.
They say you'd rather mate with Little Gray Bunnies than a female. Mulder,
you don't even have any friends."
"I have friends," Mulder protested, grumbling. "The Lone Gophers—"
"Real friends, who you can hang out with and who will clean your fur for you
when you feel down. Friends who will actually support you and help you find
food. Who will put up with your wild theories."
"Well, the path of truth is a lonely one, not for the faint-hearted," Mulder
said, desperately squashing the ache that arose at her words. "It certainly
doesn't mean I'm going to sell-out and lose sight of my goals simply for the
sake of a mating ritual or a one—night-stand."
Scully turned up her nose at him and cocked her head to one side. "Mulder,
you used to be fun. Nowadays all you do is talk about Bunnies. It's Little
Gray Bunnies this, Little Gray Bunnies that. It's getting tiresome. No one
thinks its funny anymore. It used to be cute. Skinner the Eagle is simply
humoring you. He knows you have to get it out of your system. He thinks
you will see the light at some point and settle down. You're not happy, and
you're carrying on with this joke because you lack fulfillment."
"But it was never a joke. I'm a laughing-stock because of what actually
happened to me. They are real, Scully! What else am I supposed to
believe?! My mother and father are dead, and they knew what happened!
They knew that Samantha had been stolen out of our home that night, by a
gathering of large gray-colored rabbits! I don't care what anyone says
about me for thinking that; it's true!! I was there," he stated, petulantly.
"Mulder," Scully sighed, placing her paws on both his shoulders in a
sisterly fashion, for she had indeed taken the place of his long-lost sister
for so many years, despite her fuzzy crush on Mulder in the beginning. He
had been in need of solace and companionship, not sex. "I don't doubt that
you think you saw them. That you believe what you are saying. But maybe
you should think about getting on with your life. Otherwise it's always
going to be just you against the world, running after Spender the Snake and
Alex the Rat in a hopeless merry chase through the woods, playing their
games according to their rules—"
Mulder growled at the mention of the Snake and the Rat.
"They have their own reasons for keeping you hooked on this warren theory,
and I don't think they have your best interests in mind. You should live
now, and make the most of it. That's all I'm saying. And don't keep
faulting others for not joining you in your obsession… yes, obsession,
don't give me that look. Mulder," Scully was shaking her head, "I have to
go. I'm going to be late back home. The woods aren't safe after dark. You
know that."
"I'll walk you home," Mulder began.
But Scully stopped him. "It's still light. I'll be fine. Now just—think
about what I've said, okay?" She leaned over and kissed him on the
forehead, and then turned to go, the tip of her long, bushy red tail
brushing his nose and tickling it. He managed to control his sneeze and not
let loose until she had stepped out of his burrow.
He threw himself down into his padding and sighed. He picked up the large,
well-worn copy of Watership Down and then threw it back down again. He'd
read it so many times. But it was fantasy. Just a fantasy. He wished he
could meet real beings like the ones portrayed in that book. He surveyed
his rather large and extensive collection of Looney Toones and Walt Disney
films. The words 'crackpot', 'Looney Mulder', and 'laughing-stock' swirled
scathingly in his mind. It just wasn't fair! Scully knew about his stash
of 'toones and didn't always judge him for it, but he knew he already had a
reputation. Some considered it indeed quite perverse that he should collect
and pore over the Bugs Bunny and Thumper the Rabbit adventures. But it was
living, documented proof that others knew and were deliberately releasing
information about the existence of the Little Gray Bunnies. It was all part
of a huge plot to lull the forest into a false sense of security. And then,
BAM, before they knew it, they'd be overrun with rabbits and the forest
would no longer be theirs. Hell, if the Little Gray Bunnies actually
invaded, it would bring him no pleasure to know he'd been right. Especially
as the food ran out and the Forest Bureau lost what hold it had on the
economic and political stability of the woods… And he knew beyond the
shadow of a doubt that They were out there, somewhere. Perhaps underground
in the abandoned wilderness of the dead trees in the northern side of the
woods, in the old part of the countryside, beyond the edges of the living
forest. Biding their time.
A huge warren, of large inscrutable gray rabbits that spoke in a tongue
known only amongst themselves and the few who encountered them, and those
who brought back tales of their strange appearance... He smiled grimly to
himself. He knew that pursuing accounts of others, and listening to those
who claimed to have seen them only fuelled his search even more. He
couldn't stop now. But Scully was right. It was lonely, being the only
one who carried on the quest. And damn and blast that Rat, too! The
Rat-bastard knew where the secret warren was. He had been working for the
Warner Brothers, for sure, and for the Snake Spender. And yet the Rat
always danced around the subject, never told him anything, led him down old
paths leading to dead ends and old tree stumps. The most the Rat had ever
led him to, had been to recover a few strange Little Gray Bunny droppings,
proof that they had been there. But a passing large elk had eaten them
accidentally with the grass they lay in, and had moved on stripping tender
shoots from the trees before Mulder'd had a chance to stop him.
Mulder had laughed with delight when he'd heard that Alex the Rat had lost a
foreleg in a trap that Spender the Snake had set. He wished that the two
would destroy each other. But he would give almost anything to corner the
Rat-bastard and pound a few answers out of him first. That Rat irritated
nearly as much as having proof of the Little Gray Bunnies constantly elude
him. Come to think of it, he'd experienced more grief because that damned
Rat than anyone else, beside Spender Snake.
Come to think of it, there was something about the smell of the Rat's fur
that made his own hairs stand on end and quiver, and made him feel itchy and
hot under his coat of fine red fur. The few times that he'd managed to get
his paws on the Rat, and made him squirm and wriggle under him, he'd had to
force himself to ignore how soft and velvety that silky brown coat of Alex's
was… Or how gratifying it was to make him squeal. Chasing the Rat was
almost as exciting as catching him, although he had to admit in his secret
heart of himself that what he really wanted was to hold down the Rat and
lick him all over.
Mulder shook his head violently, to clear thoughts of the Rat from his head.
He munched on a few solitary sunflower seeds. They were going stale. He
dragged himself up on boneless legs and went to see how much he had left.
Hardly any. Not many seeds at all. His stash was getting bare. Dammit,
and Skinner was going to cut off his supply?! It just wasn't fair. He
sighed loudly and flopped back down apathetically.
He was tired, and hungry, but he couldn't be bothered to get up, or do
anything. He lay there, feeling sorry for himself. The thought roused him;
he could go out to the some of the known forest clearings at midnight,
hopefully to catch a glimpse of one of the famed Little Gray Bunny
gatherings that abductees sometimes talked about. It was said that the
Bunnies would gather in the forest in circles and have strange discussions.
He fell asleep, thinking about the gatherings. He was dreaming. His cute,
fuzzy, harmless and helpless younger sister was in their burrow, laughing
and giggling, playing a game. Their parents were out. It happened again,
just like it did every night. The strange scents and the feeling of terror
swamping his senses as the Gray Bunnies swarmed into their very den and
grabbed his sister. He, unable to move, paralyzed with fright, as their
strange chittering noises filled his ears. Afterwards, horrified at his
terror and inaction, his father's admonishments that he hadn't done more to
stop their strange, overwhelming visitors. Why had they taken her? Why?!
And his mother's face afterwards, closed and strangely ashamed, as though
she understood far more than she let on but was unable to go up against his
father about it. And Spender the Snake's early visits to their burrow,
immediately after the incident. Hating and fearing them, Mulder would spend
the duration of the Snake's visits to his parents late at night shaking in
his little hole at the back of their den, not emerging until he'd gone.
Spender was a large snake, and far too experienced for a young fox to go up
against.
Mulder awoke, the early morning sunlight shifting and unsettling the dust in
his burrow. He sneezed. And groaned aloud. Not those awful dreams again!
He hated them. But it happened every night. He stretched, feeling stiff,
and left his burrow to lope off for his early morning run.
Alex the Rat was sitting and surveilling Spender the Snake from above, in
the morning light, as the great snake sat sunning himself in his great coils
on a flat rock that overlooked the greater hillside that led down into the
forest proper. Alex was biding his time. Nibbling on a long blade of
grass, he watched as Spender twitched in his sleepy state, no doubt
daydreaming about getting his coils around Mulder's little friend, Scully
the red Squirrel. He knew Spender had long thoughts and dreams of nabbing
that innocent creature. Hmph. Not as long as Alex was around. Because he
knew that Mulder the Fox would be devastated if anything happened to his
beloved little friend; particularly in her pregnant state.
Mulder. Alex sighed to himself, as he did whenever thoughts of that
handsome fox crossed his mind. Which they often did. It had started off so
well; Spender had told him to befriend the Fox and play along with his
fascination, lead him towards the Warren. But it had all been a ruse, and
Spender hadn't even told Alex that it was just to get Scully taken by the
Little Gray Bunnies. Oh, they existed alright. But Alex knew he couldn't
tell Mulder exactly where, or he'd have endangered Mulder. This was
something that Mulder absolutely refused to understand. Indeed, every time
their paths crossed these days, Mulder would beat him up. Actually, Alex
had been avoiding direct confrontations with him. He had no wish to hurt
Mulder, but Mulder always wanted to fight. He hadn't actually met up with
Mulder in several weeks. It felt like a lifetime.
If only, he sighed to himself. If only Mulder would like him again. He'd
known Mulder's friendship and trust for only a few days, and yet he spent
all his time dreaming of somehow earning it back again. Of being forgiven.
He shook himself. He couldn't afford to linger on thoughts like those.
Mulder only wanted to shake him until he was dead, to scratch him and bite
him and…Mulder had no idea that no pain he inflicted on Alex could ever
match the agony that Alex spent when not in his company.
How apt, Alex thought to himself. He dreamed of a red fox, while Spender
dreamed of a red squirrel. But whereas Spender would probably end up
squeezing Scully to death in his coils, Alex wanted only to keep Mulder warm
on cold nights. To comfort Mulder when he was sad, and to groom him. Oh,
the bliss of that thought! To card his little claws carefully through that
long red fur, to stroke that tail, to nibble on those cute, plush ears… A
little shiver went through Alex, and he shook himself, forcing himself to
watch Spender dozing on the stone below.
Alex knew that Mulder could never allow himself to like Alex again, let
alone admit that it had hurt to discover that Alex had been working for the
Snake. And Alex was biding his time, waiting for Spender to make a mistake
so that he could capitalize on it, and get the Snake in one of his own
traps. And leave him for Mulder. He hated Spender as much as Mulder did.
Spender had tried to eat him no less than five times since the Little Gray
Bunnies had taken Scully.
Aha. He caught sight of a strange gray shape creeping from rock to rock,
slowly closing on the Snake. It was a Little Gray Bunny. It approached the
Snake and began to converse with him. Alex wished his hearing was sharper.
But he got the words 'Large Forest Clearing, at midnight'.
He waited until the Gray Bunny had gone and then he crept away himself, to
think. And plan. He stole away quietly down a seldom—used forest path.
Mulder. Mulder the Fox. Samantha Fox. He snickered to himself and then
began to quietly hum under his breath, "Touch me, touch me, I want to feel
your body… Your. Heart. Beat. Next. To. Mine…" as he ran along, letting his
feet hit the ground in time with the words, grinning, making his way to the
meadow where the Lone Gophers lived.
Mulder was puffing, his trim chest heaving with the exertion of running so
hard. He'd run in a large circuit, his usual morning route, and was nearly
at the entrance to his den once more. Suddenly, he stopped, panting,
catching a familiar scent in his nostrils. It was coming downwind, very
faint. He growled in his throat. It was Alex the Rat, he was sure of it.
Sure enough, sitting beside a carefully selected pile of boulders that he
could dash into and remain hidden in for as long as necessary, the damned
Rat sat, well-screened behind a tangled scrub of thorny bushes, regarding
Mulder with a smirking grin. "Hey, Mulder; looking good. You know, people
are talking about you. They say you're starting to lose it."
Mulder growled more menacingly and then pounced, coming to a halt just a
bare inch away from the thorns, enjoying the way the Rat—bastard flinched
slightly. To his credit, the Rat didn't move away, however, but remained
sitting where he was. "You've got some nerve, to come spreading your lies
around here again."
"Still chasing after Gray Bunnies, Mulder?"
Mulder drawled, "So what if I am? Don't tell me you're surprised."
Alex blinked his eyes a few times, innocently. "Maybe I can help you with
that."
Mulder snorted, disbelieving him. "I somehow doubt that."
"It's up to you. But if you want to know what's going down, I suggest you
haul your ass over to the Lone Gophers—they've got the dirt."
"And just how did they come by it?" Mulder regarded him with suspicion.
"Let's just say, I have as much a vested interest in watching that Snake
burn in hell as you do, Mulder. Well, nice chatting to you and everything.
Got to go, you know. Plans to lay. Bunnies to meet."
"And food to steal," Mulder accused.
Alex looked taken aback. "I wouldn't steal your food. Of course, a guy's
gotta eat. But I'm kind of surprised you think I would steal from you."
The Rat began to sidle away, backing towards the rocks. "Well, give my
regards to Scully. She must be getting close, yeah?"
With a snarl of rage at the reminder of his squirrel-friend's condition, all
the fault of that damned Rat, too… Mulder launched himself at the thorny
bushes, trying to tear a way through. But Alex had gone.
Nursing a bleeding paw for his troubles, Mulder limped home, muttering dire
threats and promises should he ever have the opportunity to get his paws on
that Rat again.
Later, Mulder went to go check in at the Forest Bureau. Scully caught sight
of him. "Mulder, good morning. Why, you're limping! What happened?" She
gasped somewhat at the tear in his little toe—pad and immediately began to
gather her medical things. Taking up a little leaf binding and some herbal
salve, she quickly bandaged him up. Nearby, Pendrell the Chipmunk gazed
adoringly at Scully and mindlessly, wordlessly assisted her where he could.
"It was that Rat-bastard Alex, again," Mulder complained bitterly. "He was
taunting me with snippets. Said I should go see the Lone Gophers, that they
might have news for me."
"Mulder," Scully declared, not seeing what Mulder was watching over her
shoulder… Pendrell was drooling and bug-eyed as he watched her tail fluff
out at the mention of the Rat. "You should ignore what Alex tells you.
He's a liar and a thief, and you already know that he cannot be trusted.
Now, Skinner wants us to go investigate a report of a missing litter. Some
new mother on the South Side of the woods is apparently missing her new
babies. They've gone missing without a trace. Fowl play is suspected; they
think maybe a maverick owl is responsible."
"Owl," grumbled Mulder under his breath, "I'd lay odds ten to one that it
was Little Gray Bunnies. Come to collect their own."
"What, Mulder?" Scully turned, not having quite heard him, giving Pendrell
instructions during her absence. The young starstruck Chimpmunk nodded, his
eyes glazed over with an expression of devoted adoration.
"Nothing." He limped off, leaving Scully to scurry to catch up with him.
He often found himself impatient with her slow pace and her little legs. He
wondered why Skinner hadn't forced her to stay at home until she came to
term, considering her ripe condition.
But it turned out to simply be a case of mistaken identity. The heartbroken
mother was merely a robin whose oversized eggs had turned out to be cuckoos.
Still, Mulder considered it a sign, an omen, and managed to convince Scully
that it would be worth dropping by the meadow on their way back. Scully
pointed out the meadow was quite a bit out of their way, but she agreed.
When they arrived at the meadow however, Langly was already tinkering with
strange objects and Frohike and Byers regarded him solemnly before
announcing, "We were expecting you."
Frohike stared at Mulder with his little black eyes. "We had a visitor."
"Someone you know," added Byers.
"Who?" asked Mulder. "He didn't happen to look like a rat, did he?"
"It was his Ratness, man. But he left us some cool dirt. Like, check this
out, fox." And Langly held up a specimen bottle containing a Little Gray
Bunny pellet.
Byers solemnly said, "We've analyzed the components of the pellet and it
appears that the Bunnies eat grass, leafy vegetation and even their own
pellets. Some of it is reconstituted."
Scully shot them a hard look. "You're encouraging him, guys."
Frohike gulped, looking longingly at the petite little Squirrel…
Mulder turned to Byers. "What can you tell me about Little Gray Bunnies?"
Langly, Byers and Frohike exchanged a glance. Frohike said, "Mulder, are
you aware that several years ago a distant country called Australia was
invaded and completely overrun with large gray rabbits? They have been
fighting to keep them at bay, apparently, with little success since."
"Not to mention the hare sighting," Byers said, seriously.
"Hair sighting?" Mulder was nonplussed.
"No, no. H-a-r-e. A giant rabbit creature who apparently haunts one of the
old caves in the mountains several miles from here." Byers ignored Scully's
flashing eyes and dirty looks. "From all reports, the thing is huge. Big
enough to take on a dog. I wouldn't suggest going up there alone."
Langly thrust the specimen bottle into a hole in the ground and turned to
Mulder. "Fox-dude, the Rat says there's a big thing coming down tonight.
Says that you should be there. He says the Snake is going to be there too.
Suggests you get the Forest Bureau involved."
"You can bet on it. I'll have the Snake arrested—and I'll have that Rat's
ass hauled away as well," Mulder grimly promised.
"No, he specifically said that there were going to be Little Gray Bunnies
gathering. At midnight." Langly spoke up, cutting through Scully's glare
at Mulder.
"At a specific time." Frohike put in his two cents' worth.
"At a specific clearing," put in Byers.
Scully threw up her paws. "I can't believe you're going to go along with
this," she said. Whirling around, she pinned Mulder with the force of her
blue eyes, her red fur crackling with righteous indignation. "That Rat
knows you can't help yourself when anyone mentions those Bunnies, Mulder!
He's playing you for a fool!"
"Thanks, guys," Mulder said, absently taking note of the clearing as Byers
pointed it out on a map.
"No problemo," Langly said.
"Catch you later," Frohike called after him.
"We'll keep our ears to the ground," Byers added.
Scully was fuming all the way back to the Bureau. It was a large, empty
cabinet that stood in the middle of the forest. The perch on top was often
occupied by Skinner the Eagle. Today he was notably absent. It was already
late afternoon. They looked about them but there were no other animals to be
seen. Then, a panting sound was heard. A large hound bounded up to them.
Mulder stifled a groan. It was Doggett.
The hound skidded to a halt and stiffly held himself before them. "Scully,
Mulder," he nodded at them.
"Where's Skinner?" Mulder demanded.
"And a good day to you, too, Doggett," Scully put in blandly, giving Mulder
a look at his pointed discourtesy.
Doggett regarded Mulder with a slight smile. "I don't know. He said I
should guard this meeting place and that's what I'm going to do. I don't
know what's going on and I don't know where he's gone. But I know my duty
and I'm going to fulfill those obligations to the fullest extent of my
power. Miss Scully, you really should be sitting down."
"I'm fine, Doggett," Scully said, patiently. "Did Skinner say when he'd be
back?"
"Nope. But my contact, a magpie called Zeus, met with me by the pond not
fifteen minutes ago. He said that there may or may not be such a thing as
Little Gray Bunnies, that there may or may not be a meeting of them in a
certain clearing at midnight tonight, and that he couldn't be more specific
but that there was always danger involved. That it comes with the territory.
I suspect he might be trying to set me up." Doggett held himself with
dignity but they could tell he was attempting to restrain himself from
growling at the thought of the magpie.
"Nice work, Dog-boy," Mulder commented. "Did he promise to get you a nice
new leash and collar, too?" With that remark tossed over his shoulder,
Mulder walked off.
Doggett stared after him. "What's eating him?"
Scully sighed. "He has issues about Alex the Rat. He believes the Rat is
trying to set him up, and he probably is."
"So eat the Rat," suggested Doggett, as if they were stupid for not thinking
about it sooner.
"It—it isn't that simple," Scully explained. "He and the Rat were friends,
before."
Mulder was stalking off, going back home. He was sick and tired of the
crap, of the games, of the politics. He was going to go home and
painstakingly go over every single piece of data he'd received to date and
then get ready for this rendezvous at midnight. He was certain that Scully
would be there, despite her complaints. She never let him down. And
besides, she was worried about him. No doubt Doggett and Skinner and the
others would arrive too. It would do well for him to arrive at the clearing
with plenty of time, in case of an ambush.
As he made his way home however, a shadow fell over him and with a heavy
thump, Skinner the Eagle landed beside him. "Going somewhere, Mulder?"
asked Skinner, dryly.
"Yeah, home. I'm taking up my little kit bag and returning home, seeing as
I'm not wanted in these parts. Oh, and Skinner? You don't have to worry
about placing any more orders with the chipmunks for those sunflower seeds,
either. I'll find an alternative source." Mulder turned and continued to
walk away.
Skinner kept up beside him though. "Look, Mulder," he sighed. "You know I
can't officially endorse this—this pursuit of yours. But I'm backing
you as best I can. I know the Snake will try something tonight. I know
that he is going to set up a meeting with the Gray Bunnies later in the
clearing by the lake."
"How do you know this?" Mulder stared at him. Evening was falling rapidly
now.
"I can't tell you that. It's best you don't know. But I'll be there, with
the others. Just make sure you get there too." Skinner flapped away.
"Count on it," Mulder said, sardonically. "As if I would miss this for
anything." Muttering under his breath, he went home. Stepping into his
burrow in the dark, he sighed. And tripped over something in the tunnel
that led into the main part of his den.
"What the hell?!" he exclaimed, picking himself up in the dark. Something
furry and strong bowled him over. Nervously, he scrabbled to right himself
and then there was a flicker of light.
There stood Alex the Rat, looming over him. Grinning. "Jeez, you really
are losing it, aren't you?"
Mulder scrambled away and picked himself up, dusting off his coat. "Damn
it! What the hell are you doing here?" he growled.
The Rat was standing in the entrance. He looked ready to run at the
slightest move. Mulder snarled at him, "What do you want? What are you
doing here?"
"Just wanted to make sure you got the message, oh-foxy-one."
Mulder didn't like the mocking tone in the Rat's voice. Nor did he like the
way he tingled and felt hot all over at the realization that the dirty Rat
was actually there in his own den, standing there cocksure and smirking as
if he wasn't in mortal danger.
"And just what is the message, oh-filthy-one?" Mulder gritted out.
The Rat's brilliant green eyes narrowed, looking as though they would have
been much better suited on a cat. Come to think of it, he was quite a large
rat, for his type. Alex replied, "If you're going to pretend you don't
know, then I don't have time for this. I'm not here to play games. Not
this time." He turned to go.
"Wait," said Mulder, scarcely able to believe what he was doing.
The Rat turned back to him. "Well? Are you going to be there?"
"Are you?" Mulder countered.
"You're so full of it, foxy. Didn't you ever figure out why you collect all
those chase movies? The Road-Runner, Bugs Bunny… The Greatest Chase Movie
Ever Made, cripes—it's obvious to everyone else already."
"Just what exactly are you implying?" Mulder demanded, stiffly.
"Oh, don't go getting your whiskers all twisted up about it. I just mean it
looks kind of suspect for you to be chasing me around and trying to bite me
all the time, is all."
"I chase you because you're a sniveling, cowardly, lying little thief who
deserves to be eaten," Mulder countered.
The Rat didn't respond for a moment, his whiskers drooping slightly. But
then his ears perked upwards again and it was as if nothing had happened.
"You've had so many chances and you've never done it yet," said the Rat,
sauntering over to Mulder's sunflower seed stash and lifting the lid. He
peered into it and then let the lid drop with a thud in disgust. "You're
out of food again. Doesn't that squirrel take care of you?"
"Scully takes better care of me than you ever did," Mulder retorted.
"Yeah, yeah," Alex replied, waving his paw about haphazardly. "Whatever.
Tending you when you're sick. Combing your tail for you when you get burrs
in it. You can tell me, does she keep you warm in winter, too? Must be
nice, that fluffy little tail all curled up around you and cozy when the
snow is falling outside," he taunted.
Now it was Mulder's turn to narrow his eyes. He bared his teeth. "You're
just trying to upset me."
"Is it working?" the Rat beamed at him, his eyes glistening happily as he
blinked innocently at Mulder.
Mulder sat down with dignity on his pad in the middle of the den. "I'm
going to ignore you until you go away," he said. "Scully and the others are
right; you are a no-good, lying, dirty rat and you deserve to get swallowed
up by Spender."
"It's amazing," observed the Rat, quietly.
The silence grew until Mulder could no longer stand it. "What is?" he
barked at Alex.
The sleek brown Rat drew himself up and replied, "You sit here feeling sorry
for yourself and continuously moaning about your long—lost sister when the
fate of the entire forest is at stake. I bring you grave intelligence about
Little Gray Bunny gatherings at midnight and all you can do is hurl insults
at me. Be warned, foxy, the Bunnies are coming, and it isn't going to be a
tea-party. I'm talking planned invasion by a rodent force. They're already
here among you, and you don't even know it."
"Give me one good reason why I should believe you," Mulder said, already
painfully aware that the Rat knew he would buy it completely, simply because
it was about Bunnies.
"Because I want to damn the soul of that serpentine son of a bitch,"
declared the Rat, coldly.
Mulder considered him. "Maybe so. But why come to me?"
The Rat tilted his head and regarded him. "Why do you think? Foxy, I can
give you the location of the Warren. You'll know what to do next. But this
information comes with a price."
"What?" sneered Mulder. "You want me to speak on your behalf and get you
reinstated with the Forest Bureau? You think anyone will trust you after
what you did?" Alex was leaving. "Wait, what price? What are you talking
about?"
"I'll let you know," said Alex. "The Warren is exactly where you guessed:
in the abandoned dead part of the woods where the people cut down the trees
all those years ago." Then, darting forward almost shyly, he brushed his
muzzle against Mulder's, turning to lick at his whiskers ever so briefly
before backing away. "Good luck, my friend." And then turning, he
nonchalantly walked out of the den.
Mulder was too surprised to chase after him. Besides, he knew the Rat would
be there at midnight. He sat there, thinking it over. Well, trying to
think. All he could really do was keep replaying over and over those few
heart-stopping moments when Alex had brushed the side of Mulder's face with
his. That warm little tongue. The way Alex had drooped momentarily at
Mulder's words. Trust? Friend? He shook himself, finally, and began to
prepare for what was to come.
The moon was shining through the trees and a cold wind had sprung up,
ruffling the fur on Mulder's haunches and making him shiver. The moonlight
was illuminating his path as he made his way down to the lake.
Dappled, silvery shadows moved before him through the trees and he sank down
to steal quietly forward. Sure enough, large, long-eared and
strangely-proportioned creatures were gathering in the mist in the clearing
ahead. Standing about looking a little lost and in shock were Cassandra and
Jeff Weasel, among others. The tall, strange gray rabbits were herding them
to the center of the clearing.
Mulder heard a twig rustle off to his left and saw Doggett slinking along,
belly to the ground. A shadow above him that crossed the moon could have
been a silent owl—or it could have been Skinner.
But nothing could have prepared anyone for what happened next. A giant
hare, completely white with large pink eyes, came loping into the clearing
from the western side of the lake, accompanied by smaller hares. They
joined the rabbits in the clearing as the confused gathering of chipmunks,
weasels and little birds all squealed with fright.
Spender the Snake was slithering around hissing to himself with pleasure.
The huge white hare then said loudly, "On this Easter night, in this chosen
forest, the time has come. We are gathered here to invade the woods and
claim our new home. The Forest Bureau has been unable to do anything about
our continued forays into their territory and we shall strike now while the
element of surprise is with us."
Mulder was quivering with anticipation. Crawling silently forward, he
gathered his energy for a quick sprint and with a push from the ground where
he sat, as the white hare continued to address them all.
A red streak in the night, Mulder darted into their midst and struck the
white hare with all his weight right on his chest. With a muffled squeak as
the white hare's wind was rushed out of his body, the hare rolled head over
heels, tangled up with Mulder.
Doggett happily bounded into the fray now, and Skinner dropped like a silent
stone atop Spender, and began picking him apart. Skinner had been waiting
for a chance to find a politically correct situation in which to eat
Spender, anyway.
The Little Gray Bunnies and the several other hares scattered in all
directions with shrieks of terror and panic. Together, a large contingent
of forest natives helped hustle the few gray rabbits they'd captured and the
white hare back to their Warren, where they discovered the Warner Brothers,
the old conspirators amongst their own kind, had already been eaten by
Spender, and their little regurgitated skeletons were laid to rest in new
graves dug alongside the few who had fallen during the fight.
Many of the forest folk were gratified to discover that long-lost relatives
they thought had died were in reality stuffed away in the strange Bunnies'
Warren. Regrettably, Samantha Fox was not among them. Mulder stifled a pang
of loss from crossing his face at this. He'd known it had been far too long
ago for her to be there. Still, he had been right; the Little Gray Bunnies
were real.
Mulder was the hero of the hour. Spender the Snake was eagle food, and the
white hare was taken back to the Bureau and kept in one of the lower
drawers, under constant guard. Alex the Rat had been sighted in the ruckus,
but had slipped off somehow after they made their way to the Warren to
release the prisoners. Mulder shrugged; if the Rat didn't want to claim any
recognition for the part he'd played in it all, so be it.
But Mulder was unhappy in the days that followed. Despite his new status
among the forest folk in the aftermath of the Easter Midnight Bunny Bust,
and Scully's delight with her new, completely healthy and normal litter of
squirrel kittens she'd given birth to the following day, he felt uneasy and
restless. It was as if the entire incident really hadn't happened. It was
all too quickly forgotten. The Bunnies weren't gone; not completely. Just
because the Warren had been found didn't mean there weren't others. And
just because they'd taken the white hare prisoner didn't mean there weren't
more of them. Most of the Gray Bunnies had actually escaped. Mulder was
sure they would regroup. It would take them a while, but he was certain of
it, considering what they had learned of their reproductive proclivities.
Mulder was shocked at the complacency and ignorance that settled so rapidly
over the forest. Angry, he found himself short of temper and finally
relieved of duty for several weeks' accumulated holiday by Skinner, who
claimed that Doggett could fill in for him more than adequately.
"Brown-noser," Mulder had said, and then promptly found himself landed with
a temporary suspension as well, for misconduct and insulting behavior
towards a fellow Bureau agent.
But Mulder wasn't going down without a fight. He knew he was on to
something. With the fur on the back of his neck prickling slightly, which
was when he always knew when to recognize he was onto something, Mulder made
his way over to the meadow.
The Lone Gophers were poring over something and he sneaked up on them. With
a jump and a gasp in unison, they settled back down.
"Mulder, don't do that!"
"You nearly gave us a heart-attack!"
"I almost swallowed my tongue there, man!"
"Sorry, sorry guys," Mulder smiled at them, happy to be in their company.
"Look, have you guys heard any rumblings? Anything at all? I don't trust
that the Bunnies have just disappeared. And where's Alex the Rat?"
They exchanged a mutual glance. "We haven't heard anything," Frohike said.
"Nothing at all," agreed Byers.
"Especially not about the Rat-boy," Langly said.
Mulder folded his paws before him resolutely and said, "I'm not leaving here
until you guys tell me what I need to know. I don't care what Scully has
said to you about me; I need to know!"
Frohike sighed. "Okay, okay. You're right, the Bunnies aren't out, just
down. They're regrouping. But I think we have enough time to plan
countermeasures. They won't try anything until next Easter."
"We're setting up a network of magpie couriers and swifts, just in case, so
we can monitor the situation," Byers put in. "Besides, we think they'll be
helpful in other ways, too."
"As for the Rat-dude," Langly said, and then fell quiet. He shrugged.
"He's kinda just disappeared, man."
"Why am I not surprised," muttered Mulder. "Okay, that's great. Thanks, you
guys. Let me know how it goes. I'll be in touch."
"Sure, sure," Byers said. "We'll let you know if we hear anything further."
Mulder wandered away, looking slightly downcast.
The three gophers watched him go, slightly guilty.
Wiggles the Black Pussycat detached herself from the shadow from where she'd
been watching the fox talk to the Lone Gophers. "That was smart," she said,
the lazy tip of her elegant black tail twitching coyly. "Now let's just
hope that Birdbrain here doesn't blow our cover." Her name was Eve, of
course, but her human staff and personnel didn't know that. She came from
the cottage on the far side of the lake and often had all the best news,
seeing as she lived with humans.
Jimmy the stray mutt wrinkled his forehead. "What do you mean? I'm not a
bird."
The gophers groaned.
"I mean," Wiggles said, with exaggerated patience, "that if the fox
discovers that we've lied to him, he won't be happy about it."
"You mean..." Jimmy stared off into space. "Wait a minute. I get it. You
mean you do know where the Rat is?" He stopped. A look of dismay filled
his eager brown eyes. "You—you did, you knew, and—you let him go,
thinking that you didn't.... you lied to him! That's—that's not only
dishonest, it's mean." And he gave them all a sorrowful and accusing stare,
one that begged them to do the right thing.
Frohike gave an incoherent little screech of impotent impatience in his
throat. Langly rolled his eyes and turned back to his latest project: a
flying contraption for wingless folk that would enable them to survey the
forest like bats at dusk. It even had a sonar emitter that Eve had brought
them strapped to the front of it.
Jimmy was still looking crushed. Byers turned to him and patted him on the
head. "There, there, Jimmy. Mulder will be fine. Let the Rat tell him in
his own time, okay?"
Wiggles sighed and shook her head, slinking off daintily in self—respective
elegance, hoping that the Gophers wouldn't end up smashing the sonar emitter
in a treetop somewhere.
A few days later, Mulder was sitting alone in his den, sighing to himself.
He was way past bored; he was sick and tired of waiting around with nothing
to do. Then it came to him. The idea. It was simple enough, really. He
would make a little side project for himself. Something to keep him busy.
Something to make him feel like he was still achieving something. If that
damned Rat wouldn't surface, then he would hunt him down.
Scully and Skinner and the Bureau need never know. The Gophers would most
likely tattle on him to Scully, so he decided to leave them out of it. And
that blasted magpie, Zeus, was such a gossipy creature; he couldn't trust
him. He could hear it getting back to Doggett even now: 'the fox may or may
not be hunting down the Rat, or some other animal, with or without anyone's
help, perhaps today, or tomorrow, or sometime in the future, perhaps'. No,
he would have to find that Rat—bastard all by himself.
A sudden noise in his entranceway made him perk up his ears. And then the
scent of—Could it be—?
Sure enough, there stood Alex, brushing the dust off his sleek, brown body
and standing silently awaiting Mulder's barrage of questions.
Mulder licked his lips. He didn't get up. Let the Rat be lulled into a
false sense of unwariness. He wouldn't pounce just yet. He forced himself
to quell the unreasonable wave of joy that washed over him at finally seeing
the Rat-bastard again. Or the fact that the temperature in his den had just
jumped up by several blistering degrees.
"So you finally decided to show your miserable little hide at last, huh?"
Mulder asked, nonchalantly.
But the fact that Mulder wasn't going for him just made Alex all the more
aware that something was different. He stayed by the hole in case Mulder
should spring suddenly in his direction.
Alex was casting little darting glances around them, about Mulder's den, and
finally inched a little closer into the room. "I was—injured," he said,
by way of quick explanation. But he said nothing more, volunteering no
other reason for his long disappearance.
"What's the matter?" Mulder asked, allowing his sharp teeth to show in an
evil smile. "Worried that I might just take you in for questioning? Or
maybe I shouldn't bother. Maybe I should just eat you right here."
"Same old, same old," commented Alex, noting Mulder's anxious tapping of his
paws. Mulder abruptly realized what he was doing and held his paws still.
A little smile crossed Alex's face. It made his eyes glitter and gleam.
Then it vanished. "Last time we talked, we mentioned a price, Mulder.
Remember?"
Mulder coughed. "Price? What, are you here to extort seeds from me, or
something equally vile and irritating?"
"Not at all. I want something far more distressing from you. In fact, I
fully expect you to refuse," Alex said.
Finally, Mulder made a little motion of impatience. "Well, get on with it.
I haven't got all day, you know; videos to watch, conspiracies to uncover.
Rats to eat."
Alex regarded the floor, his face unreadable. Then he looked back up at his
foxy hero and said quietly, "Your friendship. I want you to like me again.
We could be a great team. You know that I won't always be questioning your
every theory, and you know I already believe in the Bunnies, and besides, I
know where they are. I have information. I could help you. I want you to
forgive me for the past. Surely you can see that I've been working against
that Snake, Spender, and the Warner Brothers now, that I wasn't working for
them after what they did to you and Scully."
Mulder laughed out loud though. "What? You expect me to believe that I'll
trust you? You've got to be kidding. I'd sooner trust a snake—" he bit
off the words abruptly as he realized what he was saying.
But Alex didn't appear to have noticed. Looking crestfallen and
downtrodden, the Rat seemed to deflate and shrink several sizes smaller.
Then he sniffed, twitched his whiskers, and straightened. "You're right.
It's absurd; it wouldn't work. I knew it. I was right—you aren't capable
of forgiveness." And he turned away, to go.
But not before Mulder had noticed the over-brightness of his eyes or the
little hitch of the breath the Rat took as he began to leave. "Wait," he
called.
The Rat stopped, not turning around. He didn't say anything.
"What—what exactly do you have in mind?" Mulder asked slowly, getting up.
Alex shrugged. He still didn't speak. Just looked back and stared into
Mulder's eyes with an unfathomable gaze.
"Come on, spit it out." Mulder went over to his seed store and got out some
sunflower seeds. He placed them on the ground for the Rat and then got some
for himself and settled down in his bedding to munch on them. "I was just
coming to look for you anyway. Saves me the trouble of trying to find you."
The Rat blinked at him, regarded the pile of seeds with a frown, and then
directed his gaze back up at Mulder. "What's this?"
"What does it look like? Dig in. Come on, don't just leave them there. Not
only will they go stale, it's bad manners," Mulder mumbled, shoving a few
more seeds into his mouth and cracking them open expertly. "So, you know
where the Bunnies are regrouping, huh?"
The Rat sidled a little closer to the seeds. "Does this mean you accept?
My help, I mean? And you'll be my friend again?"
"Well, I don't know about friends, but you're right about us working
together. It seems stupid not to combine our resources and our talents.
Still, you're a rodent, yourself. How do we know you're not really working
for the Gray Bunnies?"
The Rat cast him a look as if to say, 'please'. "Don't be absurd. Why would
I help them take over the forest? Especially if it meant that you'd be
evicted, too?"
Mulder turned to look at him, searchingly. "Why should you care if I'm
evicted or not?"
The Rat winced and said, "Well, no reason, actually. Would be rather dull
without you around, you know. You're the only one who bothers to chase me,
you realize. Doggett tried it once. I led him right into a tree." An
inadvertent chuckle burst out at this. But it quickly died.
"Doggett," Mulder growled, and shook himself. "Don't talk about him to me.
So, you still haven't answered my question, Rat. Why should I trust you?"
The Rat was in the middle of chewing on a sunflower seed and he put it down.
His ears and his nose were turning pink. He mumbled something inaudible.
Mulder couldn't help leaning closer, straining to hear. "What? What are
you saying?"
Alex scattered the seeds with his paw and stood up. "This is stupid. I
can't believe I actually thought coming here would accomplish anything."
But this time Mulder was ready for him. In a flash, he was blocking the
hole out of the den. And he didn't think even Alex knew the backdoor. "Oh,
no you don't. You're not running out on me again."
Alex stiffened; worried that Mulder really would go for him this time. He
swallowed, his whiskers bristling. He was still a formidable foe, should
Mulder decide to tangle with him. And everyone knew he always pulled his
punches—this time he wouldn't hesitate to use his claws. He had no
intention of ending up as dinner, after all.
But Mulder didn't want a fight; he just wanted to stop him from going. He
let his body fill up the space where the hole was, to ensure Alex wouldn't
slip by him. The Rat would have to go through him to get away.
Alex snorted, disdainfully, and turned to go through Mulder's things.
Lifting up the worn copy of Watership Down, he raised a brow at him. "Bunny
erotica, Mulder? I knew you had strange tastes, but this beats it all."
Mulder flushed somewhat, but refused to budge. "Stop it. Stop going
through my things."
"What? Are you worried I'll find your illicit store of Jessica Rabbit
illustrations?" taunted Alex, leafing through a bunch of papers that seemed
to make Mulder steam more than the others.
Sure enough, a set of pictures fell on the floor. Incriminating evidence,
too, by the looks of them. Alex bent to pick them up. Then he turned with
an actual grin. He put them down. "Mulder, I didn't think you had it in
you. Beatrix Potter?! What would Scully and the others say, if they knew
that you had a thing for Peter Cottontail?" He shook his head and tutted.
"And here he is, without his little jacket or shoes, too." He whistled.
And looked back up at Mulder. "I knew it. I always knew you had a thing
for guys."
"You—you—you—That's it!" Mulder burst out, "You're going to get what
you deserve, you lying little Rat!" and launched himself at the annoying
Rat, but the Rat was ready for him and darted to the side. But Mulder
managed to get his paws on Alex's long tail and pulled. With a gasp, and a
swift kick with his back legs, Alex tried to scramble back up to his feet,
but Mulder wrestled him to the ground.
Mulder found himself laying atop the Rat, feeling his glossy fur under his
toes as Alex desperately wriggled to try to get away in rising panic. As
strong and sharp as he was, Alex was still disadvantaged by the loss of his
missing forepaw. And besides, Mulder was holding him down with his superior
weight.
Mulder could feel the Rat's heart pounding wildly under him, and could feel
his breaths coming quick. And still the Rat didn't attempt to bite him.
Interesting. In fact... He leaned down and—
And found himself nuzzling the Rat instead. "You're—so soft," he said,
wonderingly.
"Get off me!" cried Alex, struggling.
But Mulder acted as if he hadn't even heard him. As if he wasn't even
really aware of what he was doing. He continued to nuzzle Alex, and
actually began lapping at his ears.
Surprised, Alex went still. "This had better not be some kind of sick
prelude to chewing on me," he growled, although his heart was still pounding
madly. He wasn't sure what Mulder would do. Mulder might still try to bite
him.
"Hm. Are you my rat, Alex? I hope you realize that if you decide to
stay, that you belong to me."
Alex stared up at Mulder, barely able to comprehend that what he thought
might be happening was actually really happening. "What—are you—why
are—Mulder, are you okay?"
"Actually, I think I might be better than okay, for the first time in a long
time," Mulder said, cryptically. He still didn't let Alex up.
Gulping, Alex took a breath. "Look, you're crushing me. I can hardly
breathe."
Mulder held onto him tighter. "No way. I get up and you'll be gone, I know
it."
"I—I won't," Alex promised. "I give you my word."
Mulder's eyes narrowed. "Why should I trust you?"
The Rat's ears and nose turned bright pink and he trembled harder under
Mulder's paws. He murmured something unintelligible.
Mulder grinned evilly and licked along his muzzle, along his whiskers,
enjoying the way it made the Rat shake under him even more. "I still can't
hear you, Ratboy. You'll have to speak up."
A big, glistening tear welled up in the corner of Alex's bright eye and
leaked into his fur, streaking over it with a wet trail. He didn't answer.
Mulder licked the tear away. "C'mon, Alex. You can tell me."
But it soon dawned on him that the Rat was shaking from fear, not
excitement. Or at least a combination of the two. Still, he didn't want to
terrorize him. "It's alright, I won't eat you. I won't bite you. I won't
hurt you," he added, with another soothing nuzzle of his nose into Alex's
neck.
"All I wanted was for us to be friends again. For us to be—close, again."
Alex whispered, sniffling.
"Seems we're pretty close right now," commented Mulder with a grin, enjoying
the warmth of the body beneath him.
"So, you trust me?" Alex's voice was going low and nearly inaudible again.
Mulder sighed. And gently bit at the fur at Alex's neck. The fragrance of
this Rat under him was driving him crazy. "Yes, I trust you. If you will
prove it to me. That I can."
"How?" Alex demanded, immediately.
Mulder slowly grinned. "You have to stay here, with me. For the rest of
the day, for the night."
Alex swallowed. And refused to meet Mulder's eyes, his gaze darting here
and there. "Fine. I'll stay."
"Good." Mulder couldn't help relaxing slightly at this.
"Um, you're still squashing me," Alex pointed out.
"Well, see, I'm kind of worried that if I let you go, you'll just run off
again. And besides, I'm not really that heavy, am I?"
But the shaking was getting worse again. The Rat was trembling in every
limb, every muscle. Even his tail was quivering. "Please, get off of me.
I won't run away. Believe me, I want to stay."
Mulder found himself wondering why the Rat was so eager to go, why he was so
afraid—and then it dawned on him. The Rat actually liked being pressed
so close to him, and was worried that Mulder would use it against him if he
knew it meant so much to him, that he wanted it... that he wanted Mulder. He
smiled, slowly, wickedly. And stared down at him with a knowing chuckle.
And then bucked his hips against him, slightly.
This caused an inadvertent gasp followed by an angry struggle. "Come on,
Mulder, let me go! My legs are falling asleep."
Mulder continued to gently rock against him. "Feels like some other parts
of you are wide awake though," he commented.
Alex closed his eyes and swallowed. "Please, please Mulder, just—get off
of me. Enough, already. I've already promised you I won't run. You don't
have to do this."
"Oh, but I want to. I've been chasing you for so long, this is an
opportunity I'm not going to let go of, believe me," Mulder promised, moving
steadily against the Rat's tender underbelly. And the Rat's hard member
that was exposed and trapped against both his own fur and Mulder's.
Alex's ears were hot against his nose and Mulder wanted to just bury himself
against the Rat's warm fur forever. But his own cock was hard and
insistently calling for attention. He began to rub it against Alex's little
bottom, that sleek set of haunches... Those glossy, silky hindquarters that
felt like the smoothest velvet against the tip of his organ.
And then quite suddenly, almost as if by accident, although Mulder was sure
that they were both somehow aware that it couldn't end any other way, his
cock found its way against the tight little hole of Alex's anus, and was
quite wonderfully sliding into him, and it was hot, tight and trembling
around him.
Alex couldn't help moaning, first with pain and then with delirium and fever
as Mulder finally came to a halt. They were both trembling now, and Mulder
quietly murmured, "You're my Rat, Alex."
Those sexy Rat paws clutching at him, and those little breathy moans, were
undoing Mulder's resolve and he finally began to move inside of him, feeling
that delicious ring of muscle, his knot, rising upwards to cleave them
together. Poor Alex struggled under him. Mulder found himself holding him
down harder. "Stop it, don't fight me. Just relax. You'll be okay."
The Rat was breathing hard, under him. "Damn it, next time I'm on top!" he
grumbled.
And then Mulder was humping against him, harder and faster. With a squeal
of liquid, aching relief and flooding fire as he emptied himself into his
sweet Rat, Mulder felt Alex shudder beneath him and an answering sticky
wetness shoot against the fur of his belly.
And then they were simply languidly slumped together. Mulder was absently
licking away the come from his stomach and Alex said tiredly, "Can we move
this over to the bedding, do you think?"
Chuckling, Mulder got up on shaky legs and wobbled over to it, where he sank
down on his side. Alex came and curled up against him, twining his tail
around his left leg. Pressing his paws against Mulder, the Rat said, "I
love you, you know. Why else do you think I follow you around all the
time?"
Mulder lifted his head and stared at him. "What? You—follow me around?"
Alex stopped, frozen. "You—didn't know? Oh, hell." And he blushed red
from the tip of his nose to his tail.
But Mulder chuckled again and merely kissed the pink little nose. "My
Rat," he said possessively, and snuggled in tighter.
Alex smiled to himself and breathed a deep sigh of contentment. Little Gray
Bunnies be damned; he had his fox and that was all that mattered. The rest
of the world could go to hell for all he cared. Come what may, at least they
would face it together.
The End
Easter Midnight Bunny Bust
by Jami Wilsen
Scully the Squirrel was in Mulder the Fox's burrow, trying to talk sense
into him. He'd recently returned from another one of his crazy adventures,
trying to acquire either proof or information about the elusive (and as most
forest folk claimed, 'non-existent') Little Gray Bunnies. At Skinner's
request, she had arrived that evening. Mulder was holding his head in his
front paws, beginning to wish she would just hurry up and leave. It was no
longer boring; it was tiresome and irritating. Her screechy voice was
hurting his ears.
