Wednesday
By Sandee jellybean5000@hotmail.com
DISCLAIMER: They *so* do not belong to me. And it hurts so much... :*(
SUMMARY: Scully finds something of Mulder's. And it reeks.
RATING: PG? I think it's PG.
SPOILERS: Post-Post-Modern Prometheus. God, that sounds so weird. Post-post...
(Hehehe. See, that's why I need a beta-reader. These things get edited out.)
CLASSIFICATION: M/S Friendship
NOTES: See, this what happens when I get too much thinking during my
Physics. (We have school in the Philippines. It starts in June) And I have
this little crush on a professor's ties because they often depict
Roadrunner. And I love Roadrunner. Also, I went scent-shopping the other day,
so this is the result. Hope you like it.
Also, my beta-reader, Cammie, quit on me. We had a little misunderstanding.
No, it doesn't involve the fanfic-writing scene. Just... a clashing of
different worlds is all. So what I mean to say is that I have an opening for
a beta-reader. This piece of work was beta-ed only by me, so you can e-mail
me and tell me if I committed any errors. And f you feel you
want/need/whatever the job, please feel free to e-mail me
at jellybean5000@hotmail.com Thanks!
*****
Wednesday
By Sandee
*****
It was Wednesday again. And, according to Mulder's watch, it was time to go.
*****
Her partner's back disappeared behind the door, and Scully looked
disappointedly at Mulder's desk. Another Wednesday, another disappearance.
It was getting to her. And not in a good way.
If memory served her right, the Wednesdays had began about a week after
the dancing mutant case.
It was getting really irritating, the way he fled on Wednesdays during lunch.
It was turning into a routine. First, he'd excuse himself to go to the
restroom. When he came back, he was always wearing this tie: a bright blue
one, with little swirls all over it. Then, he'd tell her he had to go
somewhere and leave for about an hour and a half without telling her where
he was going. And when he returned... Scully sighed. When he returned, he
was always flushed and grinning. Then he would turn to her, flash her such
a brilliant smile she wanted to faint, slide his blue swirly tie off, shove
it into a desk drawer and put his old one back on.
It was driving her insane.
Slowly.
And painfully.
With that in mind, Scully turned back to the computer screen and shoved the
rest of her BLT sandwich into her mouth. Let the wait for Mulder begin.
*****
ONE HOUR AND
THIRTY MINUTES
LATER
Three knocks on the office door. He was back.
Scully looked up from her computer to get a glimpse of the look he threw
her every time he came back from all these strange... meetings. Whatever.
She had to admit, even though these looks drove her insane, they were
pretty nice to look at.
He stepped in from behind the door and... there it was. The look of
astounding brilliance. Made her want to smile, too. It was infectious.
And dangerous. Could be an X-File.
"Hey, Mulder. Welcome back."
Proud to say the smile directed at her was for her eyes only. "Hey." He
mumbled as a greeting. "Anything happen while I was gone?"
Um, actually, something had happened. Someone had called. A woman. Felicity.
She decided to report it to him in the calmest known tone in the history of
the planet.
"She did?"
Scully nodded.
"Oh."
The rest of the day was uneventful.
And that scared her, to an extent. Usually, days weren't uneventful, they
were just quiet. Quiet days were days filled with silent communication. No
less, a little bit more. Uneventful days were days when they ignored each
other. Blatantly.
This was one of those days.
She didn't know what the matter was. Maybe they'd grown distant the past
few months. The last time she remembers having contact with him was the
slow dance they'd shared a few weeks ago, and that was a few weeks ago too
long. It saddened her to realize that Mulder, her Mulder was growing apart
from her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him donning his heavy coat and heading
for the door. "Hey, aren't you gonna say goodbye?" she sounded a little
too whiny for a Scully, but dammit, she needed some attention.
He looked down at himself. He was dressed. She got the point. He didn't need
to press it. "Uhh... nope." Was his response.
She almost broke her neck craning over her shoulder so sharply.
"Why?"
But he was already out the door.
There. There it was. The ignorance. That was probably the longest
conversation they'd had all day.
What is going on, Mulder, what's going on within your mind? Why do you insist
on undermining me at every opportunity you get? It was sick. It was sad.
Her poor mind was being overworked by useless thoughts.
She looked around the office and sighed.
I guess this is how it'll end. We'll probably forget we both exist and then
fade into the blackness alone. Not a good thought, but one which she
couldn't help but think.
She looked around the office.
And that's when she saw it.
In the corner of the room. There it was, curled up into a ball. Lying
there. Mulder probably dropped it on the way out. The tie. The blue tie.
Now, she had several avenues to consider here. She could take it, but then
she knew he'd miss it because he neeed it for his Wednesday rendezvous and
she was the only suspect. She could leave it there, and nothing would
happen, but she'd be stuck with the never-ending battle with her psyche as
to what Mulder's tie smelled like. Damn. She sounded like a nymph with a
fetish.
Oh, what the hell.
Maybe she had a little tie-fetish. But it was just for Mulderties. They
were addictive; or at least she suspected them to be.
She stood. She stepped. She attacked.
The silky satin tie slid delicately under her fingers. The last time
she remembers holding Mulder's tie was... well, never, actually. She enjoyed
the sensation so much, she pressed it to her cheek. And got a whiff of
something so unexpected that she dropped the tie.
She picked it up again and poked her nose into it.
Yup, she was right.
Perfume. Tommy Girl, to be exact. Wasn't hers. She used... well, she used
baby cologne. The apple-scented baby cologne. Which was far, far, far from
the childish-yet-mature scent his tie was emitting. It was probably something
a highschool student or a college student would wear.
Was Mulder seeing a younger woman?
Wait, wait, wait. Just because Mulder's tie reeked of a student didn't mean
he was seeing one, did it? She tried to rationalize. He would never be
that rational.
But the evidence was there. She was never one to deny evidence. He was only
out during lunch time, and on Wednesdays. Probably so their schedules
coincided. Also, there was the fact that he always came back wearing this
big, satisfied, cat-got-the-canary, decidedly evil look on his face. But then
he would smile, so sweetly...
There was a difference between Mulder smiling and Mulder grinning.
Grinning Mulder was someone who was just happy on the outside. You'd get it
if you were dying of cancer, lost in space, whenever. But a smiling Mulder...
a smile like that was one that radiated from within, a heart-melting galaxy
of stars would descend upon you and just *make* you want to curve your
lips, too.
She was now wondering if she was the only one who got to see that smile. Did
a leggy, busty young "chick" seeing it, too?
Was she getting that old? When she hit 30, she thought she'd hit the lowest
pit of doom. Now, it was like the lowest pit of doom, layers of
motherfucking shit, and then her. Well, the wrinkles that crinkled beside
her eyes were getting a little more evident now, and her eyebags were a bit
more pronounced due to lack of sleep. She was getting old, and she and
Mulder were getting nowhere. Maybe he just found some young thing that
could satisfy him when it came to both eyesight and desire.
'You don't fit the bill, woman' her mind commented 'give it up. You know
you aren't his type.'
So she let her hopes and dreams of ever being with Mulder slide to the
floor along with the tie.
*****
3 WEEKS LATER
Three long, languid, weary uneventful weeks. Hell. That's where she was.
She managed to block out thought of Mulder being with someone else for
about four days, but then he kept standing in her space, invading her
personal space smelling like heaven that she just felt like screaming
'SCREW YOUR LITTLE FRIEND, DO ME!!' for all to hear.
But she didn't, of course.
She just... watched the days go by, hoping like hell that Mulder wouldn't
go away on Wednesday.
To her dismay, he always did.
Damn.
It was Wednesday today, and she'd just about reached her boiling point.
Mulder had left thirteen seconds ago, after putting on his blue tie, which
he had came back for twenty seconds after she'd dropped it three weeks ago.
She gave it no second thought. Donning her trench, she followed him out the
door thirty second after he'd left. After all, she was just doing her
civil duty. It was immoral for a young woman to engage in sexual activities
with old, horny men. But the, she'd had Jack. But that was a different
story. Completely.
The elevator doors closed with a ding! Scully knew this was her chance.
She exited the office with stealth and speed, marching up the stairs.
She'd catch him out the elevator on the main level.
She did just that, and was on the main floor within three minutes, max.
She spotted him exiting through the main doors, and removing his ID.
Slipping quietly the same way he had, she also detached her ID and followed
him out. He wasn't heading for his car. Good. But she wasn't so sure
she wouldn't be seen tailing him... it was alright... it was
alright.
It was always a good idea to turn the collar up on your trench coat. It was
a chilly day, no one'd be suspicious. He wasn't turning or anything, his
blue tie was flapping in the wind. There were no mirrors or anything
reflective anywhere, she didn't expect to be spotted. He wasn't making any
sharp turns, she just ducked behind a telephone pole every now and then.
So, she quietly followed him through the busy streets of DC, until he came to
a stop in front of an apartment building. He was a bit more careful now;
he turned his head side-to-side to check for tails. She was a tail. She
ducked behind a tree on the sidewalk.
Seemingly satisfied, he rang a doorbell on the step.
Scully was close enough to hear the following exchange:
"Yeah?" woman's voice. Her voice was a little deep.
"It's me." It's me? But... that was her line. A line reserved for her. A pang
of jealousy twisted her gut instantly.
"Mulder? Oh, I'll be right down."
At least now she had her facts straight. She wasn't too young, she had her
own apartment. She probably wore the Tommy Girl to seem younger. Or whatever.
Exactly four minutes and thirty-three seconds later, a woman emerged from
the doors. What the-- she was wearing a long jacket (so Scully couldn't
say anything about her shape) and a big floppy summer hat. Scully couldn't
see her face. The woman wasn't too tall, she was pretty short, actually.
Mulder bent to kiss her. Cheek, lips, she didn't know.
Her arm slipped through Mulder's arm and they walked west. Scully followed
them about fifty feet behind, tailing like the tail on a kite.
Eventually, after ten minutes of walking undetected, she finally saw them
enter a large, red-bricked building, similar to her own apartment building.
They entered, presenting some sort of identification. She groaned softly
to herself she didn't have identification. Oh, she had her badge, she'd say
it was FBI business.
She wouldn't mention that it was official, of course. Because it wasn't.
Mulder and the unknown woman disappeared behind the tinted glass doors
and Scully picked up her courage from where it was on the ground and threw
it on. Using her patented Dana Scully gait, she stepped up to the front of
two guards on the front step.
"May I see some identification, ma'am?" one, nice-looking brown haired said.
"Of course," she said pulling her ID out of her jacket pocket. She opened it
for the guards.
"Omigod," the female one breathed. "FBI."
"Don't look so surprised, Mag." The man said. "There was a fed here before her."
So, Mulder flashed his badge, too.
"I know, but it just doesn't get any easier." Mag mumbled.
The man handed Scully back her badge. "I'm apologize for my partner's
behavior, ma'am. She's new on the force." Scully took the badge and replaced
it in her pocket.
"That's alright. I'm used to it."
She stepped into the doors and entered the building. It was a well-lit
place, with an elevator at the end of the hall. A few couches lined the
walls, with some geriatric folk sitting and chatting. She wondered if
they'd seen Mulder. She approached a pair of women professionally.
"Excuse me, miss." She said crisply.
The two women stopped mid-sentence and turned to her. "Yes?" the one with
dyed-blonde hair and deep green eyes, asked politely.
Time to pull out that badge again, she decided. She did just that. The women
got just one look at her ID, and they gasped. "Are we in some sort of trouble?"
Scully shook her head, shoving her ID back in her pocket. "No, no. I was
just wondering if you'd seen a man."
"What man?" the other one asked.
"He's about this tall," she motioned way above her head. "He has dark hair
and dark eyes. He was wearing a dark coat. Have you seen him?"
Imagine Scully's surprise when the two women's faces lit up. "Oh, June,
she's talking about Mulder!" she seemed to say it remarkably happily.
Scully's eyes widened at this statement. "You *know* him?"
June's eyes brightened. "Of *course* I know him? Who around here doesn't?
Hey fellas!" she called over to the trio of men talking at the corner of
the room. "This here lady's looking for Mulder!"
The round men laughed.
What was going on?
"He's known around here?" Scully inquired further.
June's friend smiled patiently at her. "Sure is."
"Do you know where I might find him?"
"In the ballroom on the sixth floor, dearie!" a man yelled from behind her.
She nodded simply and pressed the button for the elevator. She punched
the button for the sixth floor, noting that the old ladies began talking
loudly again. She smirked.
She was still confused as to what was going on. It was, she admitted
it, confusing. Mulder leaves work and meets with some strange lady, and then
he was popular with a bunch of old people, it didn't make any sense.
The connection just wasn't *there*.
The elevator chimed and she stepped off onto the sixth floor. The doors
opened to a small corridor, with only three rooms. One was labeled
WOMEN, another MEN (that of which was only hanging on one screw), the
two opposite each other and the last one at the end of the corridor
labeled BALLROOM. There was music playing and voices were filtering through
the air.
She had a choice. She could wait in the ladies' room until she heard
the ballroom open or the elevator, or she could enter the ballroom, which
was hopefully filled with enough people to conceal her, and try to see
what Mulder was doing.
Of course, now, she couldn't be afraid that Mulder and this woman
were... getting nasty. Unless they were getting nasty in a ballroom. Or
maybe this was a one-time thing. She really couldn't know until she checked
it out.
It was all a matter of fate, now.
Or maybe she was overreacting. Maybe... okay. Alright. No time to
reconsider, she was here already! If she even considered reconsidering,
she would...
That's enough, she scolded her conscience, who was inadvertently
already agreeing to what she was doing. I'm going in. if he sees me, he'll
kill me. If he doesn't see me, and I see whatever it is he's doing, I'll
kill me. And if he looks like he's enjoying whatever it is he's doing,
my soul'll die.
So, she had no way out. Going in there would be suicide. Emotional and physical.
But, hey. It's not the first time. She'd risk it. Curiosity was nagging,
and she'd rather die knowing than die without.
Step, step, step. That'd be her motto. Damn, she was even more nervous that
her prom. And we all know how *that* turned out. But beside the point, she
just wanted to step, step, step, out of here.
Finally, she reached to door. She put her hand on the bar that opened the
room, and pushed.
When the door opened wide enough for her to enter, she saw that the room, was
in fact, packed. At least from where she was standing. The heavy wooden
door shut behind her soundly.
Through a large throng of people, most of which she guessed were around 60
years old, an old man, turned around and spotted her. In fact, all of the
people were old. Well, in the physical sense. She was pretty sure most of them
had young hearts and souls.
The man approached her slowly, and took her hand. It was warm and friendly,
and he had a strange look on his face. Not scary or anything... but strange.
She stared at him blankly.
"Are you Dana?" he asked her a bit croakily. Scully guessed he'd worn his
voice out in his old age. He wasn't much taller than her, but from far away
he seemed shorter because of his slight heaviness. But in his eyes, there
was something to him, a sort of glimmer. The glimmer showed much knowledge
and wisdom and adventure, both of which Scully'd seen in Mulder's eyes.
She wondered if they were related.
"Yes."
The man smiled. He held out his hand. "Then I'm Lou. Nice to meet you,
Dana." Scully took his hand and shook it firmly. That proves it, she thought.
He and Mulder are related. That's the same handshake I got when I met
Mulder five years ago.
"How do you do, Lou? How do you know me?" she wondered aloud.
Lou merely smiled. "I've heard a lot about you, from Fox. He speaks of you
a lot. Tells me things."
Oh no. A blush formed on her cheeks faster than she could formulate a
response. "I was wondering about that. How exactly do you know Mulder?"
Lou smiled kindly at her. He seemed to be smiling a lot at her. Knowing
smiles, kind smiles, a bit of a mocking smile when he spoke of Mulder. "He's
my godson. He discovered I was here a few months ago and began visiting
me regularly."
"Here?" she inquired. "What is here, exactly?"
There was that smile again. "Fox was right. You are. This is a nursing
home, Dana."
I am what? She wondered. Okay, time to quickly assess what was going on. Lou
had said 'regularly', which probably meant Mulder was here all the time and
not sleeping with his bimbo. But it didn't explain the reeking tie. Or
the smiles.
"Would you mind telling me where he is, exactly?"
He pointed on to the middle of the room, where there were almost no people.
She didn't notice before then that there were people dancing...
ballroom dancing. But she didn't see Mulder. "He's dancing with Lizzy."
Lou offered.
Suddenly, she caught sight of him dancing with a woman, probably mid-
twenties, smiling and laughing. The woman had dark hair tied into a bun. A
few curly tendrils fell onto her shoulders. She'd obviously gotten rid of
that hat thing that'd prevented her from exposing her hair.
"Who is Lizzy?" she asked in a tight voice, trying not to betray her exterior.
Lou shook his head. "Indeed, you are." He said enigmatically. "Lizzy is
short for Felicity, my daughter, Fox' cousin. She and Fox arrange these
dances weekly. Never had parties like this in my day."
So. She was just his cousin. She probably wore that Tommy Girl stuff to
smell young or whatever. But still. It didn't explain his smiles and
the numerous uneventful days they'd shared. Made no sense, she'd say.
Lou left her after about five minutes of watching Mulder with her. She just
kept watching him. The music shifted to a slightly quick number and she
watched as Mulder gracefully dipped Lizzy, his psychedelic blue tie dangling
on her stomach. Was this really him? She didn't remember him dancing with
her like this when they'd danced together that one time.
His face... she could count the times on her fingers she'd seen him look
this relaxed in the five years she'd known him. Maybe he just needed a
break from it all. Maybe he just needed a break from her.
The thought made her a bit sad.
Watching his eyes could be both the most heartbreaking or most comforting
thing in the world.
And right now, they were quite intently focused on her.
Oops. Busted.
There were several avenues available, here. She could smile. She could wave.
She could put on a weird face. She could stride over there and drag him out
of there. She could blush. She could flush a deeper red than a fire engine.
She could run the hell out of here.
Instead of deciding, she was decidedly pushed onto the dance floor. By Lou
she guessed sourly.
Mulder seemed to chuckle a bit at this. He bent over a little and
whispered something into Lizzy's ear. Lizzy turned to look at he and
smiled warmly. Her smile sent a small shudder down Scully's spine. Eeeek.
Those smiles must be genetic.
To her gladness and surprise, Lizzy stepped away from Mulder and came
near Scully. Yoo-hoo. She did reek of that juvenile perfume. "Are you Dana?"
she asked. That question was becoming really annoying. She hadn't heard it
so much since her father came back from sea and some Navy guys had come
back with him.
"Depends. Are you Lizzy?" She answered back, eliciting a small smile from
her. "You're going to say that 'I am', aren't you?"
"I was planning on it. How did you know?"
"What did he say about me?"
Another spine-tingling smile was sent her way. "I think I'd leave that up to
him to answer. He's asking for you."
"Asking for me?"
"Yes. He wants you to dance."
Scully bent her head around Lizzy, towards Mulder, still in his dark suit
and blue tie and still on the dance floor. He was nervously kicking at
imaginary dirt balls.
"You should go," Lizzy suggested. "He's been dancing with me since... a
few months ago. I think he needs another partner."
"Alright." Scully's agreement was neither unwanted nor forced. Dancing
with Mulder was all she was able to think about the entire time since
the incident at the Mutant Man's Cher celebration.
Tentatively, she sidestepped Lizzy and felt Mulder's eyes on her, rather
than seeing them. Of course, seeing them would be pretty hard, considering
she was staring at the polished wood floor.
Suddenly, she felt a heavy weight pressing into her back, several actually,
and shoving her into Mulder's arms without her consent. She almost tripped
over, but as always, he was there to catch her. Immediately, he slipped her
hand into his and tucked his other hand around her waist, pulling her close
to him. Perfect match, she'd say. And just as immediately, the music shifted over to a slower number.
And he was smiling at her.
"Followed me, didn't you?"
Afraid that he might get angry at her, she dipped her head and gave him a
small nod. She looked back up at him. They began swaying.
He remained smiling at her. "I kinda figured you'd break sooner, though."
Her eyes shot up to his. "You expected this?" she asked quickly. "You
planned this? Me?"
It was his turn to do the dip-and-nod, as she like to call it.
"It's fine Mulder." She assured him. For a few minutes, they just danced
quietly to the number being played on the piano. If Scully's memory served
her right, she'd say that it was "Falling", from the "They're Playing Our Song" musical.
She hardly noticed that Mulder was spinning her and pulling her back to
him soundly, without her missing a beat. "You're pretty good at this,"
he murmured deeply into her ear. That, though, she noticed.
"Thank you."
"Anytime."
He spun her away from him and back again. "You know, I could get used to
this. Swaying with you and twirling you."
She was pulled back into his arms, her back to him. "Really?"
They began swaying again. "Oh, yeah. Not only is it fun but you and I
actually shut up for a few seconds."
Craning her neck behind her, she regarded him curiously. "Why would that be
a plus?"
As to help her avoid hurting her neck, Mulder turned her so that they
were front-to-front, face-to-face and eye-to-eye again. And instead of
answering her, he just swayed and twisted a bit with her.
The song ended. Hence, they stopped dancing. They simultaneously checked
their watches, eliciting a small giggle from Lizzy and Lou, who were
dancing just a few feet away.
Despite that, it was quarter to two.
Her new dance partner-- her old friend-- stepped around her and strode over
to where Lou and Lizzy were. They exchanged a few words (even once glancing
at Scully together and trading shy grins) and Mulder finally came back.
"They want to speak with you." He told her, taking her sweaty hand in his
warm one.
She was about to respond, but he was already tugging her over.
"Dana Scully," Lizzy breathed. "Nice to finally meet you."
Scully looked at her, puzzled. "I thought we'd already met a while ago."
"Yes, but not officially." Just as stubborn as ol' Fox. Her mind supplied.
Lizzy gracefully held out her hand. "I'm Felicity Mulder. I'm Fox's cousin."
Scully took her hand and began to wonder if there was a Mulder in the world
that didn't shake hands like that.
"Dana Scully."
"Nice to finally meet you."
"And you."
All the while, Mulder watched the exchange with a small smile on his face.
Scully let go of Lizzy's hand and took a look at her partner, who was
getting curiouser and curiouser. "Mulder?"
"Yes?" three voices replied in unison. Lizzy and Lou just smiled at each
other. The young woman looked down at the floor, revealing a beautiful
profile. "Fox, uh, Dad and I'll just um, you know. Finish up. Things."
"Alright. I'll be heading back to the office now. I think we'll both get an
ass-skinning if our boss gets wind that we aren't pushing papers."
Scully nodded in agreement.
"Okay then. See you next week?" Lou asked hopefully.
"Of course." Mulder answered.
"And you, Dana?"
Oh, so now she was invited. That was completely okay with her. Seeing
that Mulder had a family and had fun was fine with her. And if Mulder wanted
her to be there, it'd be fine, too. But if he didn't, that was... not
completely alright. But if it was made him happy...
"If it's alright with Mulder."
Imagine her surprise when a hand wound around her waist possessively.
"It's completely alright with me."
*****
They were back in the office again and a question was nagging at the back of
her head.
"Hey, I forgot to ask you a few things."
He spun away from his computer, a now-brown tie hanging over his shoulder.
"Like what, my fair Scully?"
Ignoring his fairly interesting comment, she cupped her chin in her
palm thoughtfully and looked at him. He was blinking back at her from his
desk. 'Well? What is it?' his eyes pleaded.
"I was just wondering why you always changed your ties."
Mulder glanced down at his muted brown one. Actually, he glanced up at it;
it was on his shoulder. And he smiled. Not a grin, a full-fledged smile like
he always gave her after these sessions. At least she had an explanation for
the flushness. Mulder and her had practically ran the entire way back like
they were in pursuit of a criminal.
He looked at her again, still smiling. "Oh, come on Scully. Don't tell me
you did not get a sniff of that woman. She smells like the scent section of
a department store. I know you're this... observant person. If you sniffed
me and smelled her... you might get... suspicious."
She almost choked on her own saliva. "You... you thought that I'd be jealous?"
Definitely embarrassed. That was the look on his face.
"I'm sorry." He immediately apologized. "I just assumed--"
She held up a hand to stop him from desecrating himself. And she shook her
head, smiling. Mulder looked down at his paperwork again, smiling a little.
He looked back up at her a few seconds later.
"You really planning on going?" he asked conversationally.
"Yes. I'd rather be with you, dancing, than cooped up here counting the
specks of dust on the back of my glasses."
He seemed to like her answer, though it was sort of an indirect insult.
Never mind. She didn't mean it to be an insult, anyway.
"Okay." And they both shut up for the rest of the evening.
*****
A WEEK LATER
It was Wednesday. And according to Scully's watch, it was time to go.
"Come on, Mulder. We're late."
*****
END
Ok, so the whole dancing-home thing was *sorta* taken from an ep of Ally
McBeal. Oh well. Tell me if you hated it or loved it or something: jellybean5000@hotmail.com
Visit me: http://www.geocities.com/surefinewhatever00
By Sandee jellybean5000@hotmail.com
DISCLAIMER: They *so* do not belong to me. And it hurts so much... :*(
SUMMARY: Scully finds something of Mulder's. And it reeks.
RATING: PG? I think it's PG.
SPOILERS: Post-Post-Modern Prometheus. God, that sounds so weird. Post-post...
(Hehehe. See, that's why I need a beta-reader. These things get edited out.)
CLASSIFICATION: M/S Friendship
NOTES: See, this what happens when I get too much thinking during my
Physics. (We have school in the Philippines. It starts in June) And I have
this little crush on a professor's ties because they often depict
Roadrunner. And I love Roadrunner. Also, I went scent-shopping the other day,
so this is the result. Hope you like it.
Also, my beta-reader, Cammie, quit on me. We had a little misunderstanding.
No, it doesn't involve the fanfic-writing scene. Just... a clashing of
different worlds is all. So what I mean to say is that I have an opening for
a beta-reader. This piece of work was beta-ed only by me, so you can e-mail
me and tell me if I committed any errors. And f you feel you
want/need/whatever the job, please feel free to e-mail me
at jellybean5000@hotmail.com Thanks!
*****
Wednesday
By Sandee
*****
It was Wednesday again. And, according to Mulder's watch, it was time to go.
*****
Her partner's back disappeared behind the door, and Scully looked
disappointedly at Mulder's desk. Another Wednesday, another disappearance.
It was getting to her. And not in a good way.
If memory served her right, the Wednesdays had began about a week after
the dancing mutant case.
It was getting really irritating, the way he fled on Wednesdays during lunch.
It was turning into a routine. First, he'd excuse himself to go to the
restroom. When he came back, he was always wearing this tie: a bright blue
one, with little swirls all over it. Then, he'd tell her he had to go
somewhere and leave for about an hour and a half without telling her where
he was going. And when he returned... Scully sighed. When he returned, he
was always flushed and grinning. Then he would turn to her, flash her such
a brilliant smile she wanted to faint, slide his blue swirly tie off, shove
it into a desk drawer and put his old one back on.
It was driving her insane.
Slowly.
And painfully.
With that in mind, Scully turned back to the computer screen and shoved the
rest of her BLT sandwich into her mouth. Let the wait for Mulder begin.
*****
ONE HOUR AND
THIRTY MINUTES
LATER
Three knocks on the office door. He was back.
Scully looked up from her computer to get a glimpse of the look he threw
her every time he came back from all these strange... meetings. Whatever.
She had to admit, even though these looks drove her insane, they were
pretty nice to look at.
He stepped in from behind the door and... there it was. The look of
astounding brilliance. Made her want to smile, too. It was infectious.
And dangerous. Could be an X-File.
"Hey, Mulder. Welcome back."
Proud to say the smile directed at her was for her eyes only. "Hey." He
mumbled as a greeting. "Anything happen while I was gone?"
Um, actually, something had happened. Someone had called. A woman. Felicity.
She decided to report it to him in the calmest known tone in the history of
the planet.
"She did?"
Scully nodded.
"Oh."
The rest of the day was uneventful.
And that scared her, to an extent. Usually, days weren't uneventful, they
were just quiet. Quiet days were days filled with silent communication. No
less, a little bit more. Uneventful days were days when they ignored each
other. Blatantly.
This was one of those days.
She didn't know what the matter was. Maybe they'd grown distant the past
few months. The last time she remembers having contact with him was the
slow dance they'd shared a few weeks ago, and that was a few weeks ago too
long. It saddened her to realize that Mulder, her Mulder was growing apart
from her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him donning his heavy coat and heading
for the door. "Hey, aren't you gonna say goodbye?" she sounded a little
too whiny for a Scully, but dammit, she needed some attention.
He looked down at himself. He was dressed. She got the point. He didn't need
to press it. "Uhh... nope." Was his response.
She almost broke her neck craning over her shoulder so sharply.
"Why?"
But he was already out the door.
There. There it was. The ignorance. That was probably the longest
conversation they'd had all day.
What is going on, Mulder, what's going on within your mind? Why do you insist
on undermining me at every opportunity you get? It was sick. It was sad.
Her poor mind was being overworked by useless thoughts.
She looked around the office and sighed.
I guess this is how it'll end. We'll probably forget we both exist and then
fade into the blackness alone. Not a good thought, but one which she
couldn't help but think.
She looked around the office.
And that's when she saw it.
In the corner of the room. There it was, curled up into a ball. Lying
there. Mulder probably dropped it on the way out. The tie. The blue tie.
Now, she had several avenues to consider here. She could take it, but then
she knew he'd miss it because he neeed it for his Wednesday rendezvous and
she was the only suspect. She could leave it there, and nothing would
happen, but she'd be stuck with the never-ending battle with her psyche as
to what Mulder's tie smelled like. Damn. She sounded like a nymph with a
fetish.
Oh, what the hell.
Maybe she had a little tie-fetish. But it was just for Mulderties. They
were addictive; or at least she suspected them to be.
She stood. She stepped. She attacked.
The silky satin tie slid delicately under her fingers. The last time
she remembers holding Mulder's tie was... well, never, actually. She enjoyed
the sensation so much, she pressed it to her cheek. And got a whiff of
something so unexpected that she dropped the tie.
She picked it up again and poked her nose into it.
Yup, she was right.
Perfume. Tommy Girl, to be exact. Wasn't hers. She used... well, she used
baby cologne. The apple-scented baby cologne. Which was far, far, far from
the childish-yet-mature scent his tie was emitting. It was probably something
a highschool student or a college student would wear.
Was Mulder seeing a younger woman?
Wait, wait, wait. Just because Mulder's tie reeked of a student didn't mean
he was seeing one, did it? She tried to rationalize. He would never be
that rational.
But the evidence was there. She was never one to deny evidence. He was only
out during lunch time, and on Wednesdays. Probably so their schedules
coincided. Also, there was the fact that he always came back wearing this
big, satisfied, cat-got-the-canary, decidedly evil look on his face. But then
he would smile, so sweetly...
There was a difference between Mulder smiling and Mulder grinning.
Grinning Mulder was someone who was just happy on the outside. You'd get it
if you were dying of cancer, lost in space, whenever. But a smiling Mulder...
a smile like that was one that radiated from within, a heart-melting galaxy
of stars would descend upon you and just *make* you want to curve your
lips, too.
She was now wondering if she was the only one who got to see that smile. Did
a leggy, busty young "chick" seeing it, too?
Was she getting that old? When she hit 30, she thought she'd hit the lowest
pit of doom. Now, it was like the lowest pit of doom, layers of
motherfucking shit, and then her. Well, the wrinkles that crinkled beside
her eyes were getting a little more evident now, and her eyebags were a bit
more pronounced due to lack of sleep. She was getting old, and she and
Mulder were getting nowhere. Maybe he just found some young thing that
could satisfy him when it came to both eyesight and desire.
'You don't fit the bill, woman' her mind commented 'give it up. You know
you aren't his type.'
So she let her hopes and dreams of ever being with Mulder slide to the
floor along with the tie.
*****
3 WEEKS LATER
Three long, languid, weary uneventful weeks. Hell. That's where she was.
She managed to block out thought of Mulder being with someone else for
about four days, but then he kept standing in her space, invading her
personal space smelling like heaven that she just felt like screaming
'SCREW YOUR LITTLE FRIEND, DO ME!!' for all to hear.
But she didn't, of course.
She just... watched the days go by, hoping like hell that Mulder wouldn't
go away on Wednesday.
To her dismay, he always did.
Damn.
It was Wednesday today, and she'd just about reached her boiling point.
Mulder had left thirteen seconds ago, after putting on his blue tie, which
he had came back for twenty seconds after she'd dropped it three weeks ago.
She gave it no second thought. Donning her trench, she followed him out the
door thirty second after he'd left. After all, she was just doing her
civil duty. It was immoral for a young woman to engage in sexual activities
with old, horny men. But the, she'd had Jack. But that was a different
story. Completely.
The elevator doors closed with a ding! Scully knew this was her chance.
She exited the office with stealth and speed, marching up the stairs.
She'd catch him out the elevator on the main level.
She did just that, and was on the main floor within three minutes, max.
She spotted him exiting through the main doors, and removing his ID.
Slipping quietly the same way he had, she also detached her ID and followed
him out. He wasn't heading for his car. Good. But she wasn't so sure
she wouldn't be seen tailing him... it was alright... it was
alright.
It was always a good idea to turn the collar up on your trench coat. It was
a chilly day, no one'd be suspicious. He wasn't turning or anything, his
blue tie was flapping in the wind. There were no mirrors or anything
reflective anywhere, she didn't expect to be spotted. He wasn't making any
sharp turns, she just ducked behind a telephone pole every now and then.
So, she quietly followed him through the busy streets of DC, until he came to
a stop in front of an apartment building. He was a bit more careful now;
he turned his head side-to-side to check for tails. She was a tail. She
ducked behind a tree on the sidewalk.
Seemingly satisfied, he rang a doorbell on the step.
Scully was close enough to hear the following exchange:
"Yeah?" woman's voice. Her voice was a little deep.
"It's me." It's me? But... that was her line. A line reserved for her. A pang
of jealousy twisted her gut instantly.
"Mulder? Oh, I'll be right down."
At least now she had her facts straight. She wasn't too young, she had her
own apartment. She probably wore the Tommy Girl to seem younger. Or whatever.
Exactly four minutes and thirty-three seconds later, a woman emerged from
the doors. What the-- she was wearing a long jacket (so Scully couldn't
say anything about her shape) and a big floppy summer hat. Scully couldn't
see her face. The woman wasn't too tall, she was pretty short, actually.
Mulder bent to kiss her. Cheek, lips, she didn't know.
Her arm slipped through Mulder's arm and they walked west. Scully followed
them about fifty feet behind, tailing like the tail on a kite.
Eventually, after ten minutes of walking undetected, she finally saw them
enter a large, red-bricked building, similar to her own apartment building.
They entered, presenting some sort of identification. She groaned softly
to herself she didn't have identification. Oh, she had her badge, she'd say
it was FBI business.
She wouldn't mention that it was official, of course. Because it wasn't.
Mulder and the unknown woman disappeared behind the tinted glass doors
and Scully picked up her courage from where it was on the ground and threw
it on. Using her patented Dana Scully gait, she stepped up to the front of
two guards on the front step.
"May I see some identification, ma'am?" one, nice-looking brown haired said.
"Of course," she said pulling her ID out of her jacket pocket. She opened it
for the guards.
"Omigod," the female one breathed. "FBI."
"Don't look so surprised, Mag." The man said. "There was a fed here before her."
So, Mulder flashed his badge, too.
"I know, but it just doesn't get any easier." Mag mumbled.
The man handed Scully back her badge. "I'm apologize for my partner's
behavior, ma'am. She's new on the force." Scully took the badge and replaced
it in her pocket.
"That's alright. I'm used to it."
She stepped into the doors and entered the building. It was a well-lit
place, with an elevator at the end of the hall. A few couches lined the
walls, with some geriatric folk sitting and chatting. She wondered if
they'd seen Mulder. She approached a pair of women professionally.
"Excuse me, miss." She said crisply.
The two women stopped mid-sentence and turned to her. "Yes?" the one with
dyed-blonde hair and deep green eyes, asked politely.
Time to pull out that badge again, she decided. She did just that. The women
got just one look at her ID, and they gasped. "Are we in some sort of trouble?"
Scully shook her head, shoving her ID back in her pocket. "No, no. I was
just wondering if you'd seen a man."
"What man?" the other one asked.
"He's about this tall," she motioned way above her head. "He has dark hair
and dark eyes. He was wearing a dark coat. Have you seen him?"
Imagine Scully's surprise when the two women's faces lit up. "Oh, June,
she's talking about Mulder!" she seemed to say it remarkably happily.
Scully's eyes widened at this statement. "You *know* him?"
June's eyes brightened. "Of *course* I know him? Who around here doesn't?
Hey fellas!" she called over to the trio of men talking at the corner of
the room. "This here lady's looking for Mulder!"
The round men laughed.
What was going on?
"He's known around here?" Scully inquired further.
June's friend smiled patiently at her. "Sure is."
"Do you know where I might find him?"
"In the ballroom on the sixth floor, dearie!" a man yelled from behind her.
She nodded simply and pressed the button for the elevator. She punched
the button for the sixth floor, noting that the old ladies began talking
loudly again. She smirked.
She was still confused as to what was going on. It was, she admitted
it, confusing. Mulder leaves work and meets with some strange lady, and then
he was popular with a bunch of old people, it didn't make any sense.
The connection just wasn't *there*.
The elevator chimed and she stepped off onto the sixth floor. The doors
opened to a small corridor, with only three rooms. One was labeled
WOMEN, another MEN (that of which was only hanging on one screw), the
two opposite each other and the last one at the end of the corridor
labeled BALLROOM. There was music playing and voices were filtering through
the air.
She had a choice. She could wait in the ladies' room until she heard
the ballroom open or the elevator, or she could enter the ballroom, which
was hopefully filled with enough people to conceal her, and try to see
what Mulder was doing.
Of course, now, she couldn't be afraid that Mulder and this woman
were... getting nasty. Unless they were getting nasty in a ballroom. Or
maybe this was a one-time thing. She really couldn't know until she checked
it out.
It was all a matter of fate, now.
Or maybe she was overreacting. Maybe... okay. Alright. No time to
reconsider, she was here already! If she even considered reconsidering,
she would...
That's enough, she scolded her conscience, who was inadvertently
already agreeing to what she was doing. I'm going in. if he sees me, he'll
kill me. If he doesn't see me, and I see whatever it is he's doing, I'll
kill me. And if he looks like he's enjoying whatever it is he's doing,
my soul'll die.
So, she had no way out. Going in there would be suicide. Emotional and physical.
But, hey. It's not the first time. She'd risk it. Curiosity was nagging,
and she'd rather die knowing than die without.
Step, step, step. That'd be her motto. Damn, she was even more nervous that
her prom. And we all know how *that* turned out. But beside the point, she
just wanted to step, step, step, out of here.
Finally, she reached to door. She put her hand on the bar that opened the
room, and pushed.
When the door opened wide enough for her to enter, she saw that the room, was
in fact, packed. At least from where she was standing. The heavy wooden
door shut behind her soundly.
Through a large throng of people, most of which she guessed were around 60
years old, an old man, turned around and spotted her. In fact, all of the
people were old. Well, in the physical sense. She was pretty sure most of them
had young hearts and souls.
The man approached her slowly, and took her hand. It was warm and friendly,
and he had a strange look on his face. Not scary or anything... but strange.
She stared at him blankly.
"Are you Dana?" he asked her a bit croakily. Scully guessed he'd worn his
voice out in his old age. He wasn't much taller than her, but from far away
he seemed shorter because of his slight heaviness. But in his eyes, there
was something to him, a sort of glimmer. The glimmer showed much knowledge
and wisdom and adventure, both of which Scully'd seen in Mulder's eyes.
She wondered if they were related.
"Yes."
The man smiled. He held out his hand. "Then I'm Lou. Nice to meet you,
Dana." Scully took his hand and shook it firmly. That proves it, she thought.
He and Mulder are related. That's the same handshake I got when I met
Mulder five years ago.
"How do you do, Lou? How do you know me?" she wondered aloud.
Lou merely smiled. "I've heard a lot about you, from Fox. He speaks of you
a lot. Tells me things."
Oh no. A blush formed on her cheeks faster than she could formulate a
response. "I was wondering about that. How exactly do you know Mulder?"
Lou smiled kindly at her. He seemed to be smiling a lot at her. Knowing
smiles, kind smiles, a bit of a mocking smile when he spoke of Mulder. "He's
my godson. He discovered I was here a few months ago and began visiting
me regularly."
"Here?" she inquired. "What is here, exactly?"
There was that smile again. "Fox was right. You are. This is a nursing
home, Dana."
I am what? She wondered. Okay, time to quickly assess what was going on. Lou
had said 'regularly', which probably meant Mulder was here all the time and
not sleeping with his bimbo. But it didn't explain the reeking tie. Or
the smiles.
"Would you mind telling me where he is, exactly?"
He pointed on to the middle of the room, where there were almost no people.
She didn't notice before then that there were people dancing...
ballroom dancing. But she didn't see Mulder. "He's dancing with Lizzy."
Lou offered.
Suddenly, she caught sight of him dancing with a woman, probably mid-
twenties, smiling and laughing. The woman had dark hair tied into a bun. A
few curly tendrils fell onto her shoulders. She'd obviously gotten rid of
that hat thing that'd prevented her from exposing her hair.
"Who is Lizzy?" she asked in a tight voice, trying not to betray her exterior.
Lou shook his head. "Indeed, you are." He said enigmatically. "Lizzy is
short for Felicity, my daughter, Fox' cousin. She and Fox arrange these
dances weekly. Never had parties like this in my day."
So. She was just his cousin. She probably wore that Tommy Girl stuff to
smell young or whatever. But still. It didn't explain his smiles and
the numerous uneventful days they'd shared. Made no sense, she'd say.
Lou left her after about five minutes of watching Mulder with her. She just
kept watching him. The music shifted to a slightly quick number and she
watched as Mulder gracefully dipped Lizzy, his psychedelic blue tie dangling
on her stomach. Was this really him? She didn't remember him dancing with
her like this when they'd danced together that one time.
His face... she could count the times on her fingers she'd seen him look
this relaxed in the five years she'd known him. Maybe he just needed a
break from it all. Maybe he just needed a break from her.
The thought made her a bit sad.
Watching his eyes could be both the most heartbreaking or most comforting
thing in the world.
And right now, they were quite intently focused on her.
Oops. Busted.
There were several avenues available, here. She could smile. She could wave.
She could put on a weird face. She could stride over there and drag him out
of there. She could blush. She could flush a deeper red than a fire engine.
She could run the hell out of here.
Instead of deciding, she was decidedly pushed onto the dance floor. By Lou
she guessed sourly.
Mulder seemed to chuckle a bit at this. He bent over a little and
whispered something into Lizzy's ear. Lizzy turned to look at he and
smiled warmly. Her smile sent a small shudder down Scully's spine. Eeeek.
Those smiles must be genetic.
To her gladness and surprise, Lizzy stepped away from Mulder and came
near Scully. Yoo-hoo. She did reek of that juvenile perfume. "Are you Dana?"
she asked. That question was becoming really annoying. She hadn't heard it
so much since her father came back from sea and some Navy guys had come
back with him.
"Depends. Are you Lizzy?" She answered back, eliciting a small smile from
her. "You're going to say that 'I am', aren't you?"
"I was planning on it. How did you know?"
"What did he say about me?"
Another spine-tingling smile was sent her way. "I think I'd leave that up to
him to answer. He's asking for you."
"Asking for me?"
"Yes. He wants you to dance."
Scully bent her head around Lizzy, towards Mulder, still in his dark suit
and blue tie and still on the dance floor. He was nervously kicking at
imaginary dirt balls.
"You should go," Lizzy suggested. "He's been dancing with me since... a
few months ago. I think he needs another partner."
"Alright." Scully's agreement was neither unwanted nor forced. Dancing
with Mulder was all she was able to think about the entire time since
the incident at the Mutant Man's Cher celebration.
Tentatively, she sidestepped Lizzy and felt Mulder's eyes on her, rather
than seeing them. Of course, seeing them would be pretty hard, considering
she was staring at the polished wood floor.
Suddenly, she felt a heavy weight pressing into her back, several actually,
and shoving her into Mulder's arms without her consent. She almost tripped
over, but as always, he was there to catch her. Immediately, he slipped her
hand into his and tucked his other hand around her waist, pulling her close
to him. Perfect match, she'd say. And just as immediately, the music shifted over to a slower number.
And he was smiling at her.
"Followed me, didn't you?"
Afraid that he might get angry at her, she dipped her head and gave him a
small nod. She looked back up at him. They began swaying.
He remained smiling at her. "I kinda figured you'd break sooner, though."
Her eyes shot up to his. "You expected this?" she asked quickly. "You
planned this? Me?"
It was his turn to do the dip-and-nod, as she like to call it.
"It's fine Mulder." She assured him. For a few minutes, they just danced
quietly to the number being played on the piano. If Scully's memory served
her right, she'd say that it was "Falling", from the "They're Playing Our Song" musical.
She hardly noticed that Mulder was spinning her and pulling her back to
him soundly, without her missing a beat. "You're pretty good at this,"
he murmured deeply into her ear. That, though, she noticed.
"Thank you."
"Anytime."
He spun her away from him and back again. "You know, I could get used to
this. Swaying with you and twirling you."
She was pulled back into his arms, her back to him. "Really?"
They began swaying again. "Oh, yeah. Not only is it fun but you and I
actually shut up for a few seconds."
Craning her neck behind her, she regarded him curiously. "Why would that be
a plus?"
As to help her avoid hurting her neck, Mulder turned her so that they
were front-to-front, face-to-face and eye-to-eye again. And instead of
answering her, he just swayed and twisted a bit with her.
The song ended. Hence, they stopped dancing. They simultaneously checked
their watches, eliciting a small giggle from Lizzy and Lou, who were
dancing just a few feet away.
Despite that, it was quarter to two.
Her new dance partner-- her old friend-- stepped around her and strode over
to where Lou and Lizzy were. They exchanged a few words (even once glancing
at Scully together and trading shy grins) and Mulder finally came back.
"They want to speak with you." He told her, taking her sweaty hand in his
warm one.
She was about to respond, but he was already tugging her over.
"Dana Scully," Lizzy breathed. "Nice to finally meet you."
Scully looked at her, puzzled. "I thought we'd already met a while ago."
"Yes, but not officially." Just as stubborn as ol' Fox. Her mind supplied.
Lizzy gracefully held out her hand. "I'm Felicity Mulder. I'm Fox's cousin."
Scully took her hand and began to wonder if there was a Mulder in the world
that didn't shake hands like that.
"Dana Scully."
"Nice to finally meet you."
"And you."
All the while, Mulder watched the exchange with a small smile on his face.
Scully let go of Lizzy's hand and took a look at her partner, who was
getting curiouser and curiouser. "Mulder?"
"Yes?" three voices replied in unison. Lizzy and Lou just smiled at each
other. The young woman looked down at the floor, revealing a beautiful
profile. "Fox, uh, Dad and I'll just um, you know. Finish up. Things."
"Alright. I'll be heading back to the office now. I think we'll both get an
ass-skinning if our boss gets wind that we aren't pushing papers."
Scully nodded in agreement.
"Okay then. See you next week?" Lou asked hopefully.
"Of course." Mulder answered.
"And you, Dana?"
Oh, so now she was invited. That was completely okay with her. Seeing
that Mulder had a family and had fun was fine with her. And if Mulder wanted
her to be there, it'd be fine, too. But if he didn't, that was... not
completely alright. But if it was made him happy...
"If it's alright with Mulder."
Imagine her surprise when a hand wound around her waist possessively.
"It's completely alright with me."
*****
They were back in the office again and a question was nagging at the back of
her head.
"Hey, I forgot to ask you a few things."
He spun away from his computer, a now-brown tie hanging over his shoulder.
"Like what, my fair Scully?"
Ignoring his fairly interesting comment, she cupped her chin in her
palm thoughtfully and looked at him. He was blinking back at her from his
desk. 'Well? What is it?' his eyes pleaded.
"I was just wondering why you always changed your ties."
Mulder glanced down at his muted brown one. Actually, he glanced up at it;
it was on his shoulder. And he smiled. Not a grin, a full-fledged smile like
he always gave her after these sessions. At least she had an explanation for
the flushness. Mulder and her had practically ran the entire way back like
they were in pursuit of a criminal.
He looked at her again, still smiling. "Oh, come on Scully. Don't tell me
you did not get a sniff of that woman. She smells like the scent section of
a department store. I know you're this... observant person. If you sniffed
me and smelled her... you might get... suspicious."
She almost choked on her own saliva. "You... you thought that I'd be jealous?"
Definitely embarrassed. That was the look on his face.
"I'm sorry." He immediately apologized. "I just assumed--"
She held up a hand to stop him from desecrating himself. And she shook her
head, smiling. Mulder looked down at his paperwork again, smiling a little.
He looked back up at her a few seconds later.
"You really planning on going?" he asked conversationally.
"Yes. I'd rather be with you, dancing, than cooped up here counting the
specks of dust on the back of my glasses."
He seemed to like her answer, though it was sort of an indirect insult.
Never mind. She didn't mean it to be an insult, anyway.
"Okay." And they both shut up for the rest of the evening.
*****
A WEEK LATER
It was Wednesday. And according to Scully's watch, it was time to go.
"Come on, Mulder. We're late."
*****
END
Ok, so the whole dancing-home thing was *sorta* taken from an ep of Ally
McBeal. Oh well. Tell me if you hated it or loved it or something: jellybean5000@hotmail.com
Visit me: http://www.geocities.com/surefinewhatever00