Title: Valentine

Author: JayBee

Rating: PG

Category: M/S, UST

Distribution Statement: Yessum, please feel free (tell me where first), and keep all original headers attached

Feedback: Feed me at: jaybee_bug@yahoo.com

Spoilers: One small one for 'Never Again'.

Summary: Those little candy hearts have short, simple, messages, but often ring so true.

Author's Notes: Just picking through my candy hearts, thinking which ones would apply to my favorite TV show's 'couple' . . . nothin' but a lil' fan fic fluff!

Disclaimer: I think ya'll know the drill by now. They aint' mine and never were! No money is being made off of this, yadda yadda.

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She arrived at the little office like any other morning.

Oh, she knew it was Valentine's day today. She pretended to not really remember, but at the back of her mind, the fact played over and over again. She hadn't truly acknowledged the fact yet. She didn't want to face the stinging facts that she would yet again miss a chance . . . the fact that she could, but never would, be able to bring herself to- no, no. She wasn't supposed to think about it, remember?

When Scully arrived that morning, Mulder was already there at his desk. She gave him a glance as she moved to her own desk. The tiny office used to only contain one desk- Mulder's. In fact, it was like that for years. During a time when Scully was feeling really low about what her life had become, she had pointed the fact out, with much annoyance, to her partner. Later on he had surprised her by getting a second one, right down to the black plate inscribed with her name. She smiled at that memory. Mulder could be a jerk at times, but he could also accomplish the sweetest things. Sighing, Scully dug into the usual papers spread out on her desk. There had not been any new X-File case lately. The time in between was spent on the much duller work of the FBI- reports, background checks, usual things. How used to the exciting, run-off-right-this-moment cases Scully was. Wondering why Mulder hadn't even acknowledged her yet, she looked up at him. He was gazing down intently at a pile of candy valentine's hearts, the kind that have a little message on them. He slowly picked through them one at a time, studied the message, and either popped them into his mouth or put them aside in a tiny separate pile.

"Mulder," Scully said in her slightly scolding tone. "What are you doing? We're supposed to be working."

"Hmm." he dismissed her, refusing to break his concentration. She was about to pester him again when he added, quietly,

"I am working." Scully sighed, and studied him a moment longer.

"What are you doing?" She repeated. Mulder spoke still with his head down, so softly it was almost a whisper.

"Just . . . hang on." Scully recognized his tone as being something important. He often did that; but whenever he did, it was certainly something important, she just didn't always know what. So she left her partner in peace to work on her own things. After a few more minuets, Mulder completed his "work", and now had a neat, small pile of candy hearts on his desk. He then got out his own real work and acted as if nothing major was going on. The curiosity was killing Scully, but she kept quiet. They both continued their work in the silence. The mystery kept eating away at Scully, however. Bit by bit. Finally, an agonizing hour later, she asked him.

"What are the hearts for?" In a plain flat tone. As if frustrated that she had given up.

"What?" Mulder looked up from his work, as if he had totally forgotten his earlier activities.

"The candy hearts. Why were they so imperative?" She asked, nodding slightly to his desk.

"Oh!" Mulder said, a sheepish smile on his face. He glanced down at the floor, as if courage laid there.

"It's nothing. I was . . . I was just saving some for you."

"Oh, Mulder, that's sweet!" Scully said honestly. He gave her a warm smile, relieved at her reaction. She got up, gathering up some papers, some of which refused to be rounded up at the first attempt.

"How far have you gotten? The deadline is supposed to be tomorrow." she asked, switching to business again, as she walked over to his desk.

"Ah . . . I'm gonna need those background checks to finish my report." Scully carefully picked one of the candy hearts before continuing. An orange one that announced, "You're Special"

"Hang on. I got two of them . . ." she trailed of momentarily as she flicked through.

"Here we go! Mr. Gertrude and Peter Bosorri . . ." Mulder took the papers as she continued searching through. She selected a pink heart, that read "I'm Sure".

"Haven't gotten the other two yet." She muttered, more to herself than her partner. Inside, she wondered if Mulder had really meant something by the hearts. It had looked as if he had selected them very carefully. She sighed.

"Guess I'll work on those. I don't see how they expect us to finish this by tomorrow." Worn from the time spent in the dusty office, she rubbed her sore neck. Picked up another purple-colored heart. "Smile" it said, and she couldn't help but smile. It sure sounded like they had been carefully picked for her.

"Kind of a pointless holiday, huh? We still have to spend it in the office." she said, making light conversation as a break. Mulder smiled at her as if he knew something she didn't.

"Yeah. While all the young people run off and play, we get to sit here and do some serious work." Scully picked up the last heart, a white one. This one made her pause a moment. In it's usual pink lettering, it read "I hope". She couldn't help but glance up quickly at her partner in slight wonder. Wonder, if it meant more. She finished it off, stretched, and returned to her desk, a bit glum to return to work. But a small flicker of excitement was running through her. Leaned back in her chair, so her eyes were almost level with the desktop, she peered over at her partner. Mulder felt her eyes on him. A quick glance verified it. He had seen something in her eyes, though . . . a glint of something he had rarely seen . . . an excited, mischievous gaze . . . Mulder could not think of anything else but her while that gaze was on him.

Afterwards, when the day is almost done . . .

Scully stretched again. It had been a long day. Somehow, though, she got through it easily, with a peculiar good mood in tact. Maybe it had been the mystery of the heart candies Mulder had so carefully selected for her . . . she no longer had the quiet sting in the back of her mind whenever a holiday was about . . . glancing at the clock, she saw, with a pleasant surprise, that the day was through. No more sitting in the office. She sighed pleasantly, and gathered up her stuff to go. She looked over at Mulder's empty desk. He was off somewhere. Quite honestly, she had no idea were, but he'd be back, no doubt working a tad late . . . his report laid still incomplete. She hesitated a moment, before leaving the office. On her way out, passing the secretary's desk, she saw a small glass bowl filled with valentine candy hearts.

Something drew her to the bowl and made her poke around through the hearts. Maybe, she thought, not bothering to finish her line of thought. Mulder returned to his desk, plopping more papers onto it wearily. Looking over to his partner's desk, he saw she had already left. To his disappointment, without even saying goodbye. He sat down with a sigh. Then something caught his eye. A small, green candy heart in the middle of his desk. Giddy excitement surged through him, and he felt like a silly young schoolboy who had received a valentine from a secret admirer. He picked up the candy, relishing the suspense, and read the message, out loud.

"Me too." it read. He slowly smiled, holding the candy like a precious jewel. If only people could say things as simple and clear as a piece of candy, he mused.

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