X-Files Anniversary

Special Agent Dana Scully awoke one Saturday morning to an answering machine message. It was from Mulder. "Hey Scully, please come to the X Files office today if you can. I know you said you wanted a day off, so I'm sorry to put this on you at the last minute. I forgot the date, please come if you can for a little while. Thanks, have a good Saturday," Mulder told her over through the answer machine.

She sighed as she sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep away from her eyes. What did he want now? she wondered as she got out of bed. The clock read 10am. She had a shower and got dressed into an casual but smart suit, as she wasn't going to go to any meetings today, just spend a while with Mulder.

She decided she would pay Mulder a visit now on her way to the mall, then head straight to the mall after lunch and buy a few new suits for herself.

Once she got dressed into a pencil skirt and a silk blouse, she had breakfast of light porridge, before leaving the house. She drove to the FBI building in DC, and parked her car in her usual parking space near the exit. She got out of the car and checked the time. 11am. She would spend an hour with Mulder, and that's it. She smoothed down her blouse before taking a deep breath and entering the elevator. The elevator took her down to the basement, and got off. She walked out and rounded the corner before knocking on the X-Files' office door.

"Mulder? It's me, Scully," she called. "Come in, it's open!" Mulder called back. Scully opened the door, and as soon as she entered the office she was taken by surprise. A load of confetti was thrown at her, from out of nowhere. She gasped, before gaping at her partner as she surveyed the scene.

Mulder was sitting at his desk, legs on the table and he had a big grin on his face. "Well, Scully? What do you think?" he asked her happily. Scully looked around the office. Above Mulder there were pencils thrown into the ceiling, like darts on a dartboard.

There were streamers and balloons surrounding hers and Mulder's desks, as well as a card that was placed on her desk from Mulder. She glanced above Mulder again and saw a huge sign that looked hand made. "Happy 14th Anniversary X-Files!" the banner read in black handwriting.

Mulder grinned at her from his desk as he drank from a plastic cup. "It's your anniversary?" she asked. Mulder nodded. "Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I forgot the date. Did you want a drink of non alcoholic wine?" he asked, handing her a plastic cup. She nodded. "Thanks," she replied as she took it from him and took a sip. "I opened this joint in 1991, with Special Agent Fowley. You remember her right?" he asked. She nodded. "Yes. How can I forget?" Scully asked, grimacing at the mention of that name. She and Fowley never saw eye to eye on anything, and Scully was relieved when Fowley left.

Mulder smiled playfully as he saw his partner grimace. This was why he wanted to see her today, to let her know she was important to him. He preferred her company to Fowley's now, and wouldn't want to work with anyone else but Scully, even though he liked Fowley a little.

Mulder gestured over to her desk. "There's a little something I got for you on your desk if you want to have a look," he told her. Scully smiled at him and walked over to her desk. "Uh, thank you, Agent Mulder, but you didn't really have to. I wasn't there when you opened the X Files, so I don't feel like I have any right to be here-," she protested. Mulder held up his hands. "Sssh, Agent Scully. Just read the card," he repeated.

With a shrug and a smile, Scully replied, "OK then," as she opened the envelope. "This won't have a joke item springing up at me, will it?" she asked Mulder with a raised eyebrow. Mulder grinned. "Just open it," he said.

Scully did so, and read the note out loud. "Dear Agent Scully," she began, and noticed Mulder seemed a little tense now. He wanted to see her reaction to the note. It was important to him. Scully studied him at the corner of her eye as she read the note.

"Thank you for helping me investigate 12 years' worth of X-Files. You never walked out on me or let me down. For this I am grateful that you are my partner. Here's to a next 12 years?" the letter finished hopefully. "From, your partner, Agent Mulder."

Scully smiled at Mulder. "This is actually really nice of you, Mulder," she said, and Mulder smiled in relief that she liked it. "I'm glad you like it, I just wanted to show you how much you mean to me and this department," Mulder said. "I guess you can see how stubborn you've been now for keeping the X-Files going for 14 years and managing to escape a stay overnight in the local loony bin," she teased.

Mulder rolled his eyes. Scully was being Scully. She protected herself from getting close to people, it was her way of not letting anyone let her down. Mulder smiled. "We're a team, right?" he asked, and they toasted their cups. "Yes, we're a team. To the X-Files," Scully toasted with a resigned but playful sigh. "To the X-Files," Mulder repeated.

They took a long gulp of the wine, before Scully placed her empty cup on her desk. "Well, I guess you can go now," Mulder said. "I do like your company you know, Agent Scully," he added, with a little tone of seriousness to his voice that time. Scully noticed this and looked him in the eye.

"I enjoy your company too, Agent Mulder," she replied. With a small smile, she checked her watch. 12pm. She better get going. She sighed. "I'm off to the mall. Do you need anything?" she asked as she made her way towards the door. "Only you," Mulder found himself saying, and waited, his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn't believe he just said that. What an idiot, he thought, mentally kicking himself.

But to his relief, Scully stopped and smiled as she turned back round to look at him. "I'll see what I can do," she said, and, after they smiled at each other for a moment, Scully left the office and closed the door to the X-Files office quietly behind her, leaving Mulder alone with his work.