Oxford Reunion
By Starbuck_Jayne and Chessity
Starbuck_Jayne@mulderandscully.co.uk
Rating: PG13 (Violence but not much)
Spoilers: None
Keywords: MSR, KidFic
Disclaimer: None of the characters in this
story belong to us we are just borrowing
them for a while. They belong to Chris
Carter, 1013 and Fox.
Archive: Anywhere at all just please keep
names and e-mail attached, but no flames
please!
Summary: A university reunion takes an
unexpected twist
Feedback: Pleeeeeease.
Author's Notes: Ok, this was written last
year so is post season 8, rather than post
season 9, and is set in the future where
Mulder, Scully and William are a family.
Oxford Reunion
Starbuck_Jayne and Chessity
The elevator drew to a shuddering halt on
the floor of the J. Edgar Hoover building.
Fox Mulder tapped his foot impatiently as he
waited for the doors to open, but as they
did he was not impressed to discover that
inside were three other agents, including
one James Hartinger - not exactly one of
Mulder's best friends. He sucked in his
breath through a forced smile as he was
greeted with:
"Hey! Spooky Mulder! Long time no see, how's
it going down in the basement? Ohhhhhh
that's right! You don't work there anymore!"
Mulder chose to ignore the agent's comments
and instead selected the button on the
elevator's control that would take him down
to the building's lowest level. To his great
relief his three co-workers disembarked on
the first floor and he continued the trip
alone.
The agent knocked lightly on the door of his
old office, but entered before receiving an
invitation. He found Agent Doggett and
Scully to be behind their separate desks,
and seemingly engrossed in their work as
there was no conversation. The office,
although no longer his, was strangely
comforting. He and Scully had experienced
many of life's ups and downs in that very
room, and the memories were still there.
His former partner looked up from the
computer screen and he saw the panic in her
face when she saw him standing there.
Doggett suddenly looked uncomfortable and
checked his watch, mumbling something about
a coffee break. Mulder smiled as the agent
left the room, and looked at Scully, "Isn't
that a nice effect to have on people?" he
laughed. Scully seemed to lighten up a
little as she realised that Mulder obviously
wasn't here with bad news.
"What's up, Mulder, is it William?" She
rose from her chair and the panic face
returned for a moment.
"Relax, Scully, everything is fine," he
moved towards her and placed a gentle kiss
upon her lips. She smiled.
"Don't you have work to do?" She knew he
was bored back in violent crimes, but he was
lucky to even have a job with the FBI at
all; he really shouldn't abuse his duties in
this way.
"Define work," Mulder grinned. "No,
seriously, Scully, can't a guy come down to
visit his wife without getting the third
degree?"
"Mulder, we have been here ten minutes."
The problem with the FBI was that marital
partnerships were not exactly encouraged,
and so after Kersh had left the bureau,
following a nervous breakdown, and Skinner
had given Mulder his job back, he had still
been advised to take a job outside of the X-
Files division.
"This arrived this morning," Mulder tossed a
slim envelope onto Scully's desk, which she
regarded suspiciously.
"What is it?" She asked, "this better not
be an X-File that you want to pursue
Mulder."
He laughed at her, thinking how well she
knew him. But this time, however, she was
wrong. He watched as she turned the
envelope over in her hand, and came across
the British postal stamp.
"Oxford University, Mulder?"
"Yeah, a reunion actually. I was thinking
we could leave William with your Mom and
take a few days off," he asked tentatively,
fairly sure she would be unwilling to leave
their son alone for anything longer than a
few hours. He was, of course, right.
"Mulder, we hardly get to see Will enough as
it is, what with both of us working. If you
think we're gonna ditch him in our vacation
time as well..."
Mulder cut her off, "Ok, ok, we can take him
with us! Just make sure it isn't me who has
to keep a three year old child entertained
during a nine hour flight to Europe."
XXXXXXX
The plane to London was more than crowded.
The previous flight had been delayed, and
many of the passengers had decided that
catching the next flight out was less hassle
than waiting the five hours remaining for
their own. As a result, the airline had
insisted that Mulder hold William on his
knee, rather than giving the toddler his own
seat. William was delighted for the first
few minutes, because he had a better view
out of the window, as well as of the TV
screen at the front of the plane. When he
realised, however, that outside there were
only clouds and the movie on TV was not too
interesting for a three year old, he began
to look for alternative entertainment. With
childish fingers he tried to grasp the glass
of orange juice resting on his mother's
table.
"You thirsty, sweetie?" Scully helped her
son to hold the glass as he squirmed in
Mulder's lap.
"Scully, would you just let him hold the
juice?" Mulder grumbled from beneath his
son. His wife reluctantly obliged, and let
go of the glass. In one swift movement,
William had grabbed hold of it, swivelled
round on his dad's knee and eagerly began
pouring the glass' contents over the
horrified woman in the white trouser suit to
his left. A satisfied grin spread across
William's face whilst Mulder hid his own
smirks behind his son's back. Scully, on
the other hand, was forced completely from
the light sleep she was trying to accomplish
by the woman's shrieks, as the juice began
to soak into her trousers in a very
conspicuous place.
"Jesus, Mulder!"
"Do you think this is funny?" The woman was
screaming at Mulder, who looked as if he was
about to say, yes, he did think it was
funny.
"Can you not even look after him for a few
minutes without him getting into trouble?"
"What kind of irresponsible parent are you?"
The woman and Scully appeared to have sided
in the battle against Mulder.
He looked from the woman to his left back to
Scully who was certainly not enjoying having
her skills as a mother questioned. She
lifted William onto her own lap and shot her
husband a glance that assured him that the
next few hours were not going to be
pleasant; not after the mortification she
had endured and seemingly now blamed him
for.
XXXXXXX
The plane touched down in London just as the
sun was setting. William began to fuss as
Scully awoke him and tried to get him to
stand up and walk. He would not move from
her lap, and Mulder picked him up and made
as if to carry him. Scully stopped him.
"How do you expect him to become independent
if you're always giving him his own way?
You're going to spoil him!"
"Oh yeah, *me* spoil him!" Mulder snapped
back. "I notice you made no attempt to
scold him after the little fiasco on the
plane!"
"That's because it was your fault!"
"Like hell it was my fault!"
"Mulder, people are staring," Scully hissed
before turning to her son. "Come on,
William, sweetie, let's go find a cab shall
we?"
Once at the hotel in Oxford, Mulder listened
in shock as his wife calmly requested two
rooms instead of one.
"Scully, what are you doing?" His question
was answered simply by one of her looks, at
which he snatched a very confused William
away from her and led him towards the
elevator, dragging his suitcase behind him.
He remained disturbed by Scully's sudden
outburst on the plane, and the fact that her
annoyance with him had lasted for so long.
He was smart enough to know, however, that
the look she had given him was a warning not
to bring up the subject until they were
alone. He sighed as he set the suitcase
down outside the room he intended to share
now with William only. This was supposed to
be a chance for them to spend time together
as a family, and already things had started
to go wrong. All over some stupid stunt
William had pulled, innocently enough? It
was so unlike Scully to lose her head over
something this trivial. No, this definitely
went deeper than a glass of spilt juice, and
Mulder had every intention of finding out
what it was.
XXXXXXX
The reunion was due to start in half an
hour, and Mulder tried desperately to find
his bow tie without having to ask Scully
where it was. As if the fact he had to be
out of the hotel in thirty minutes and still
wasn't dressed wasn't enough, throughout his
frantic search, he was also fielding
questions from William that consisted only
of his new favourite word: "why".
"William, can you see Daddy's tie?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to wear it."
"Why?"
"Because I have to look nice in front of all
the people at the big party."
"Why?"
"It's called making an impression, son, I'll
explain it when you're older."
"Why?"
"Would you please stop that?"
"Why?"
Mulder stood up straight and sucked in his
breath, all in an attempt to control his
temper. He gave his son a look that was
universally understood to mean, "Stop it now
or else".
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"Can we go and see Mommy now?"
"No."
"Why?"
XXXXXXX
Mulder knocked hesitantly on the door of his
wife's room, hoping she had calmed down
enough for a rational conversation. He
prayed that when she opened the door he
would find her ready to leave, and not
having decided instead that she didn't want
to go. He was half right. She stood in the
doorway dressed in a black silk evening
gown. It reached her ankles and so revealed
her beautiful strappy sandals. The outfit
was stunning, but on her face she wore a
dark expression that Mulder was unable to
place. He thought that maybe she was also
confused by her anger, but was going to keep
up the charade of being annoyed with him
anyway. He groaned and pushed past her.
"You ready?"
"Yes."
"Good."
"Where's William?"
"Babysitter."
"Good. She's probably a more competent
parent." He just chose to let that one
slide.
"Scully, what's wrong with us?"
"There's nothing wrong with us, Mulder."
"Ok, so what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing."
"Oh! I get it! This is all my fault! Of
course! How could I have been so stupid as
to not realise that?"
"Can we just go and get this over with?"
"Oh so you don't want to go?"
"Did I say that?"
"You implied it, yes."
"Mulder, I am not one of your criminals to
be profiled."
"And so what's with all the separate room
crap anyway?"
"I just need to think about this."
"About what? Scully why can't we sort
things out together anymore? This is
insane!"
"Oh! So you're calling my feelings insane?"
"What feelings? Why have we suddenly
regressed back to this "I'm fine" routine?
Scully, we are supposed to be married."
"Let's just go, Mulder," she swished past
him, a black whirlwind of anger and
confusion.
"Dammit Scully, I love you!"
Scully paused to check her watch, "Mulder,
we're late."
XXXXXXX
"Spooky? Spooky Mulder?" A large man
dressed in a white tux said with a raucous
laugh, causing Mulder to cringe through a
fake smile. The man grabbed hold of
Mulder's arm and gestured to a nearby group
of people, in doing so splashing red wine
all over Mulder's shirt. "Hey! Everyone!
Look who's here!" He turned back to the two
FBI agents "hey Spooky, this the missus?"
"This is my wife, yes." Mulder introduced
Scully, who seemed sadistically amused by
the mess her husband had already managed to
make of his shirt.
"Scully, this is Rob Burke...my old room
mate."
"Scully?" Rob looked at Mulder as if he was
crazy. "Is that, like, a pet name or what?"
"No, it's just..." Mulder stopped mid-
sentence as he realised Rob had lost
interest and staggered off in another
direction. He turned round to face Scully
and realised that she too had disappeared.
Just about to leave in search of alcohol,
Mulder instead became aware of an
unpleasantly familiar presence. "This
evening just gets better and better," he
mumbled as he turned around to face Phoebe
Green.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" She
smiled thinly.
"A very stressed out guy looking for his
wife", was what Mulder wanted to say, but
instead he greeted the detective with a cool
"Phoebe".
"Well, I didn't expect to see *you* here.
But since you're alone, how about a drink?"
Mulder desperately didn't want to spend
another second with his ex-lover,
"Well, actually I was just..." But somehow a
dark side of him saw this as the perfect
opportunity to get back at his estranged
wife. "You know what, ok." He agreed,
putting on a wide, artificial grin. "We
haven't seen each other in ages. Any major
changes in your life I should know about?"
With these words he grabbed Phoebe's arm and
dragged her to the bar on the other side of
the ballroom.
Thirty minutes and four rounds later, Mulder
was feeling kind of the worse for wear.
"Hey, Mulder, isn't that your partner?"
Phoebe was decidedly more composed than her
drinking companion. She pointed to a far
corner of the room where Scully was
listening intently to a tall man with a
crisp business suit and rugged good looks.
Mulder looked up from his folded arms and
his face dropped.
"Yes, yes it is," he slurred only slightly
before heaving himself off his stool and
onto unsteady legs.
"Woah!" Phoebe caught his arm as he
stumbled over her purse. "But I thought you
were here alone!" She blurted out,
tightening the grip on Mulder's arm.
"Well, no I'm not," Mulder told her without
looking at her, shaking her hand off he made
his way through dancing and chatting people
without taking his eyes off his, obviously
very preoccupied, wife. Mulder frowned when
he suddenly caught sight of that pseudo
gentleman taking her hand without Scully
complaining at all. Mulder was so engrossed
in watching the scenario, especially
Scully's gleaming face, that he didn't
notice the lights being dimmed and a
spotlight being switched on. The dance
floor suddenly cleared of people, and Mulder
realised he was alone in the middle of the
beam of light with everyone's eyes on him.
"Aww crap."
"And last, but definitely not least, Fox
Mulder! Seeing as you are so eager to take
the stage, why don't you come on up and tell
us a bit about yourself?" The evening's
host was asking.
"Erm, you know what? I'd just rather find
my wife first."
"She isn't going anywhere, Spooky, come on
up."
It wasn't as if he had a choice or anything,
two burly young men escorted the bemused FBI
agent onto the stage.
"Am I under arrest or something here?" He
wanted to know.
"Now, here we have five of our most
promising graduates at the time. What have
you been up to since you left Oxford?"
A small mousy woman stepped forwards and
announced she had since been promoted to
production manager at "British Biscuits".
Mulder managed to sit through peoples'
confessions of being tax inspectors,
married, and tree surgeons before deciding
he couldn't take anymore and lunging towards
the steps at the side of the stage. His
attempted escape was brought to a swift end
as he felt to strong arms on his shoulders.
"So Spooky, still after those little green
men?"
Mulder looked longingly towards the open
door, and decided to get the speech over as
quickly as possible. In a slightly dazed,
but nevertheless hurried, tone he proceeded
to enlighten the audience, telling them of
his career in the FBI and marriage to his
ex-partner; deliberately avoiding entering a
discussion on the X-Files.
"Way to go, Spooky! Finally settled down!"
"Yeah, about that, can I just say..."
"Hey, everybody, let's have a big hand for
Spooky!"
Mulder's intoxicated attempt to ask for his
wife's forgiveness was lost in a clamour of
applause. However, Scully seemed to have
understood and began making her way towards
the stage. At the same time Mulder caught a
sudden movement out of the corner of his
eye. It was a matter of seconds before the
realisation struck him, and he sobered up
almost instantly. His hand moved
automatically to the gun he kept in a
holster around his ankle, and he pointed the
weapon with excellent aim towards Phoebe
Green.
"I've waited for you for twenty years, Fox
Mulder! I'm not gonna let you just walk away
again! When I came to America all those
years ago and I found you with her," At this
point Phoebe swung her arm around Scully's
neck and gestured towards her with a gun
that hung loosely between her fingers. "How
do you think that made me feel? You just
don't get it, do you!? You were the only
man that ever loved me."
Mulder was tempted to say that the only
woman he had ever loved was Dana Scully, but
decided that it would not be wise to
antagonise the, seemingly insane, woman who
was more or less holding his wife hostage.
"Put the gun down, Phoebe!"
"What is it? Is it the red hair? Do you want
me to dye my hair? If I kill her you'll have
to love me!" She raised the gun to Scully's
head, but before she had chance to pull the
trigger, the bullet from Mulder's own gun
tore through her shoulder, causing her to
drop the weapon. As she fell to the floor
she dragged Scully with her and they hit the
ground together.
Mulder leapt from the stage and through the
stunned crowds, to where Scully was lying on
the floor, crying, and covered in Phoebe's
blood. Mulder was shocked by his wife's
tears, not understanding why she would be so
upset by all of this.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"Mulder, I need to go to the hospital."
"Why? You'll be okay! She didn't shoot you,
did she?" He wiped some of the blood away
from her cheek.
"No, I'm worried about the baby."
The End
By Starbuck_Jayne and Chessity
Starbuck_Jayne@mulderandscully.co.uk
Rating: PG13 (Violence but not much)
Spoilers: None
Keywords: MSR, KidFic
Disclaimer: None of the characters in this
story belong to us we are just borrowing
them for a while. They belong to Chris
Carter, 1013 and Fox.
Archive: Anywhere at all just please keep
names and e-mail attached, but no flames
please!
Summary: A university reunion takes an
unexpected twist
Feedback: Pleeeeeease.
Author's Notes: Ok, this was written last
year so is post season 8, rather than post
season 9, and is set in the future where
Mulder, Scully and William are a family.
Oxford Reunion
Starbuck_Jayne and Chessity
The elevator drew to a shuddering halt on
the floor of the J. Edgar Hoover building.
Fox Mulder tapped his foot impatiently as he
waited for the doors to open, but as they
did he was not impressed to discover that
inside were three other agents, including
one James Hartinger - not exactly one of
Mulder's best friends. He sucked in his
breath through a forced smile as he was
greeted with:
"Hey! Spooky Mulder! Long time no see, how's
it going down in the basement? Ohhhhhh
that's right! You don't work there anymore!"
Mulder chose to ignore the agent's comments
and instead selected the button on the
elevator's control that would take him down
to the building's lowest level. To his great
relief his three co-workers disembarked on
the first floor and he continued the trip
alone.
The agent knocked lightly on the door of his
old office, but entered before receiving an
invitation. He found Agent Doggett and
Scully to be behind their separate desks,
and seemingly engrossed in their work as
there was no conversation. The office,
although no longer his, was strangely
comforting. He and Scully had experienced
many of life's ups and downs in that very
room, and the memories were still there.
His former partner looked up from the
computer screen and he saw the panic in her
face when she saw him standing there.
Doggett suddenly looked uncomfortable and
checked his watch, mumbling something about
a coffee break. Mulder smiled as the agent
left the room, and looked at Scully, "Isn't
that a nice effect to have on people?" he
laughed. Scully seemed to lighten up a
little as she realised that Mulder obviously
wasn't here with bad news.
"What's up, Mulder, is it William?" She
rose from her chair and the panic face
returned for a moment.
"Relax, Scully, everything is fine," he
moved towards her and placed a gentle kiss
upon her lips. She smiled.
"Don't you have work to do?" She knew he
was bored back in violent crimes, but he was
lucky to even have a job with the FBI at
all; he really shouldn't abuse his duties in
this way.
"Define work," Mulder grinned. "No,
seriously, Scully, can't a guy come down to
visit his wife without getting the third
degree?"
"Mulder, we have been here ten minutes."
The problem with the FBI was that marital
partnerships were not exactly encouraged,
and so after Kersh had left the bureau,
following a nervous breakdown, and Skinner
had given Mulder his job back, he had still
been advised to take a job outside of the X-
Files division.
"This arrived this morning," Mulder tossed a
slim envelope onto Scully's desk, which she
regarded suspiciously.
"What is it?" She asked, "this better not
be an X-File that you want to pursue
Mulder."
He laughed at her, thinking how well she
knew him. But this time, however, she was
wrong. He watched as she turned the
envelope over in her hand, and came across
the British postal stamp.
"Oxford University, Mulder?"
"Yeah, a reunion actually. I was thinking
we could leave William with your Mom and
take a few days off," he asked tentatively,
fairly sure she would be unwilling to leave
their son alone for anything longer than a
few hours. He was, of course, right.
"Mulder, we hardly get to see Will enough as
it is, what with both of us working. If you
think we're gonna ditch him in our vacation
time as well..."
Mulder cut her off, "Ok, ok, we can take him
with us! Just make sure it isn't me who has
to keep a three year old child entertained
during a nine hour flight to Europe."
XXXXXXX
The plane to London was more than crowded.
The previous flight had been delayed, and
many of the passengers had decided that
catching the next flight out was less hassle
than waiting the five hours remaining for
their own. As a result, the airline had
insisted that Mulder hold William on his
knee, rather than giving the toddler his own
seat. William was delighted for the first
few minutes, because he had a better view
out of the window, as well as of the TV
screen at the front of the plane. When he
realised, however, that outside there were
only clouds and the movie on TV was not too
interesting for a three year old, he began
to look for alternative entertainment. With
childish fingers he tried to grasp the glass
of orange juice resting on his mother's
table.
"You thirsty, sweetie?" Scully helped her
son to hold the glass as he squirmed in
Mulder's lap.
"Scully, would you just let him hold the
juice?" Mulder grumbled from beneath his
son. His wife reluctantly obliged, and let
go of the glass. In one swift movement,
William had grabbed hold of it, swivelled
round on his dad's knee and eagerly began
pouring the glass' contents over the
horrified woman in the white trouser suit to
his left. A satisfied grin spread across
William's face whilst Mulder hid his own
smirks behind his son's back. Scully, on
the other hand, was forced completely from
the light sleep she was trying to accomplish
by the woman's shrieks, as the juice began
to soak into her trousers in a very
conspicuous place.
"Jesus, Mulder!"
"Do you think this is funny?" The woman was
screaming at Mulder, who looked as if he was
about to say, yes, he did think it was
funny.
"Can you not even look after him for a few
minutes without him getting into trouble?"
"What kind of irresponsible parent are you?"
The woman and Scully appeared to have sided
in the battle against Mulder.
He looked from the woman to his left back to
Scully who was certainly not enjoying having
her skills as a mother questioned. She
lifted William onto her own lap and shot her
husband a glance that assured him that the
next few hours were not going to be
pleasant; not after the mortification she
had endured and seemingly now blamed him
for.
XXXXXXX
The plane touched down in London just as the
sun was setting. William began to fuss as
Scully awoke him and tried to get him to
stand up and walk. He would not move from
her lap, and Mulder picked him up and made
as if to carry him. Scully stopped him.
"How do you expect him to become independent
if you're always giving him his own way?
You're going to spoil him!"
"Oh yeah, *me* spoil him!" Mulder snapped
back. "I notice you made no attempt to
scold him after the little fiasco on the
plane!"
"That's because it was your fault!"
"Like hell it was my fault!"
"Mulder, people are staring," Scully hissed
before turning to her son. "Come on,
William, sweetie, let's go find a cab shall
we?"
Once at the hotel in Oxford, Mulder listened
in shock as his wife calmly requested two
rooms instead of one.
"Scully, what are you doing?" His question
was answered simply by one of her looks, at
which he snatched a very confused William
away from her and led him towards the
elevator, dragging his suitcase behind him.
He remained disturbed by Scully's sudden
outburst on the plane, and the fact that her
annoyance with him had lasted for so long.
He was smart enough to know, however, that
the look she had given him was a warning not
to bring up the subject until they were
alone. He sighed as he set the suitcase
down outside the room he intended to share
now with William only. This was supposed to
be a chance for them to spend time together
as a family, and already things had started
to go wrong. All over some stupid stunt
William had pulled, innocently enough? It
was so unlike Scully to lose her head over
something this trivial. No, this definitely
went deeper than a glass of spilt juice, and
Mulder had every intention of finding out
what it was.
XXXXXXX
The reunion was due to start in half an
hour, and Mulder tried desperately to find
his bow tie without having to ask Scully
where it was. As if the fact he had to be
out of the hotel in thirty minutes and still
wasn't dressed wasn't enough, throughout his
frantic search, he was also fielding
questions from William that consisted only
of his new favourite word: "why".
"William, can you see Daddy's tie?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to wear it."
"Why?"
"Because I have to look nice in front of all
the people at the big party."
"Why?"
"It's called making an impression, son, I'll
explain it when you're older."
"Why?"
"Would you please stop that?"
"Why?"
Mulder stood up straight and sucked in his
breath, all in an attempt to control his
temper. He gave his son a look that was
universally understood to mean, "Stop it now
or else".
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"Can we go and see Mommy now?"
"No."
"Why?"
XXXXXXX
Mulder knocked hesitantly on the door of his
wife's room, hoping she had calmed down
enough for a rational conversation. He
prayed that when she opened the door he
would find her ready to leave, and not
having decided instead that she didn't want
to go. He was half right. She stood in the
doorway dressed in a black silk evening
gown. It reached her ankles and so revealed
her beautiful strappy sandals. The outfit
was stunning, but on her face she wore a
dark expression that Mulder was unable to
place. He thought that maybe she was also
confused by her anger, but was going to keep
up the charade of being annoyed with him
anyway. He groaned and pushed past her.
"You ready?"
"Yes."
"Good."
"Where's William?"
"Babysitter."
"Good. She's probably a more competent
parent." He just chose to let that one
slide.
"Scully, what's wrong with us?"
"There's nothing wrong with us, Mulder."
"Ok, so what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing."
"Oh! I get it! This is all my fault! Of
course! How could I have been so stupid as
to not realise that?"
"Can we just go and get this over with?"
"Oh so you don't want to go?"
"Did I say that?"
"You implied it, yes."
"Mulder, I am not one of your criminals to
be profiled."
"And so what's with all the separate room
crap anyway?"
"I just need to think about this."
"About what? Scully why can't we sort
things out together anymore? This is
insane!"
"Oh! So you're calling my feelings insane?"
"What feelings? Why have we suddenly
regressed back to this "I'm fine" routine?
Scully, we are supposed to be married."
"Let's just go, Mulder," she swished past
him, a black whirlwind of anger and
confusion.
"Dammit Scully, I love you!"
Scully paused to check her watch, "Mulder,
we're late."
XXXXXXX
"Spooky? Spooky Mulder?" A large man
dressed in a white tux said with a raucous
laugh, causing Mulder to cringe through a
fake smile. The man grabbed hold of
Mulder's arm and gestured to a nearby group
of people, in doing so splashing red wine
all over Mulder's shirt. "Hey! Everyone!
Look who's here!" He turned back to the two
FBI agents "hey Spooky, this the missus?"
"This is my wife, yes." Mulder introduced
Scully, who seemed sadistically amused by
the mess her husband had already managed to
make of his shirt.
"Scully, this is Rob Burke...my old room
mate."
"Scully?" Rob looked at Mulder as if he was
crazy. "Is that, like, a pet name or what?"
"No, it's just..." Mulder stopped mid-
sentence as he realised Rob had lost
interest and staggered off in another
direction. He turned round to face Scully
and realised that she too had disappeared.
Just about to leave in search of alcohol,
Mulder instead became aware of an
unpleasantly familiar presence. "This
evening just gets better and better," he
mumbled as he turned around to face Phoebe
Green.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" She
smiled thinly.
"A very stressed out guy looking for his
wife", was what Mulder wanted to say, but
instead he greeted the detective with a cool
"Phoebe".
"Well, I didn't expect to see *you* here.
But since you're alone, how about a drink?"
Mulder desperately didn't want to spend
another second with his ex-lover,
"Well, actually I was just..." But somehow a
dark side of him saw this as the perfect
opportunity to get back at his estranged
wife. "You know what, ok." He agreed,
putting on a wide, artificial grin. "We
haven't seen each other in ages. Any major
changes in your life I should know about?"
With these words he grabbed Phoebe's arm and
dragged her to the bar on the other side of
the ballroom.
Thirty minutes and four rounds later, Mulder
was feeling kind of the worse for wear.
"Hey, Mulder, isn't that your partner?"
Phoebe was decidedly more composed than her
drinking companion. She pointed to a far
corner of the room where Scully was
listening intently to a tall man with a
crisp business suit and rugged good looks.
Mulder looked up from his folded arms and
his face dropped.
"Yes, yes it is," he slurred only slightly
before heaving himself off his stool and
onto unsteady legs.
"Woah!" Phoebe caught his arm as he
stumbled over her purse. "But I thought you
were here alone!" She blurted out,
tightening the grip on Mulder's arm.
"Well, no I'm not," Mulder told her without
looking at her, shaking her hand off he made
his way through dancing and chatting people
without taking his eyes off his, obviously
very preoccupied, wife. Mulder frowned when
he suddenly caught sight of that pseudo
gentleman taking her hand without Scully
complaining at all. Mulder was so engrossed
in watching the scenario, especially
Scully's gleaming face, that he didn't
notice the lights being dimmed and a
spotlight being switched on. The dance
floor suddenly cleared of people, and Mulder
realised he was alone in the middle of the
beam of light with everyone's eyes on him.
"Aww crap."
"And last, but definitely not least, Fox
Mulder! Seeing as you are so eager to take
the stage, why don't you come on up and tell
us a bit about yourself?" The evening's
host was asking.
"Erm, you know what? I'd just rather find
my wife first."
"She isn't going anywhere, Spooky, come on
up."
It wasn't as if he had a choice or anything,
two burly young men escorted the bemused FBI
agent onto the stage.
"Am I under arrest or something here?" He
wanted to know.
"Now, here we have five of our most
promising graduates at the time. What have
you been up to since you left Oxford?"
A small mousy woman stepped forwards and
announced she had since been promoted to
production manager at "British Biscuits".
Mulder managed to sit through peoples'
confessions of being tax inspectors,
married, and tree surgeons before deciding
he couldn't take anymore and lunging towards
the steps at the side of the stage. His
attempted escape was brought to a swift end
as he felt to strong arms on his shoulders.
"So Spooky, still after those little green
men?"
Mulder looked longingly towards the open
door, and decided to get the speech over as
quickly as possible. In a slightly dazed,
but nevertheless hurried, tone he proceeded
to enlighten the audience, telling them of
his career in the FBI and marriage to his
ex-partner; deliberately avoiding entering a
discussion on the X-Files.
"Way to go, Spooky! Finally settled down!"
"Yeah, about that, can I just say..."
"Hey, everybody, let's have a big hand for
Spooky!"
Mulder's intoxicated attempt to ask for his
wife's forgiveness was lost in a clamour of
applause. However, Scully seemed to have
understood and began making her way towards
the stage. At the same time Mulder caught a
sudden movement out of the corner of his
eye. It was a matter of seconds before the
realisation struck him, and he sobered up
almost instantly. His hand moved
automatically to the gun he kept in a
holster around his ankle, and he pointed the
weapon with excellent aim towards Phoebe
Green.
"I've waited for you for twenty years, Fox
Mulder! I'm not gonna let you just walk away
again! When I came to America all those
years ago and I found you with her," At this
point Phoebe swung her arm around Scully's
neck and gestured towards her with a gun
that hung loosely between her fingers. "How
do you think that made me feel? You just
don't get it, do you!? You were the only
man that ever loved me."
Mulder was tempted to say that the only
woman he had ever loved was Dana Scully, but
decided that it would not be wise to
antagonise the, seemingly insane, woman who
was more or less holding his wife hostage.
"Put the gun down, Phoebe!"
"What is it? Is it the red hair? Do you want
me to dye my hair? If I kill her you'll have
to love me!" She raised the gun to Scully's
head, but before she had chance to pull the
trigger, the bullet from Mulder's own gun
tore through her shoulder, causing her to
drop the weapon. As she fell to the floor
she dragged Scully with her and they hit the
ground together.
Mulder leapt from the stage and through the
stunned crowds, to where Scully was lying on
the floor, crying, and covered in Phoebe's
blood. Mulder was shocked by his wife's
tears, not understanding why she would be so
upset by all of this.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"Mulder, I need to go to the hospital."
"Why? You'll be okay! She didn't shoot you,
did she?" He wiped some of the blood away
from her cheek.
"No, I'm worried about the baby."
The End