Scully walked into their basement office, trying hard to be concerned but mostly just feeling frustrated that she had been dragged in to 'sort him out' yet again. The Jen is in his office when she enters and he is sitting at his desk concentrating hard on something at his computer. She sighs why did she think he would let this 'Jen' thing go.
"Mulder Skinner called me is everything all right?"
As usual he seems to ignore her and continues to bang away at his computer. "You don't remember disappearing off the face of the earth for about an hour this morning?"
Pardon did I hear that correctly, who am I kidding of course I heard that correctly "No" she answers, trying to be optimistic about his state of mind.
"Well, I guess everything's okay."
She draws a deep breath and sighs, feeling the Jens presence lurking in the corner making this whole dialogue more complex than it needs to be. "Can you give us a minute please?" She says frankly to the Jen and turns to face Mulder. She was waiting to hear footsteps as the Jen turns to leave the office and when she doesn't she turns to face her head on. "Like today?!" To her amazement there is no one there. She takes a brief scan of the office but can't see her anywhere. "Where did she go?"
Her smug partner crosses his arms like a genie "boing."
"Nahahaha" she shakes her head in disbelief "It's got to be hypnotism or mesmerism or … something."
"Scully, it is what it is. You examined an invisible body, remember?" he gives up his task at the computer.
Did she? It had been a bazar week she had the body right there she thought she was going to be the next big feature article in Harvard pathologist monthly, but what she thought she saw, what she so carefully rationalised, categorised, labelled, documented and recorded had ironically disappeared altogether. The embarrassment had left her unsure of what to believe she saw. "I thought I did" she replied.
"oooohhhhh" he threw himself back against his chair in frustration.
"Mulder, all right, say... say that you're right. Say this is what it is. Then what you're doing is extraordinarily dangerous. I mean, you even said that yourself." She conceded.
"The trick is to be specific. To make the wish perfect. That way, everyone is going to benefit. It's going to be a safer world, a happier world. There's going to be food for everyone, freedom for everyone, the end of the tyranny of the powerful over the weak. Am I leaving anything out?"
He's got that look in his eye she thinks to herself. That I'm determined to get this right, solve it no matter what the cost. "It sounds wonderful." She replies wistfully not willing to burst his bubble just yet.
"Then what's the problem?"
Time to let him down gently "Maybe it's the whole point of our lives here, Mulder- to achieve that. Maybe it's a process that one man shouldn't try and circumvent with a single wish."
She smiles softly at him and leaves. Dam her rationality, she may be wrong about the Jen but dammit she may be right about this. Then the Jen appeared again. He had one more wish and now watching his partner walk out of the door, he was struck with regret. Her happiness, something he failed her over and over again. Her health, her career, the white picket fence and 2.4 children she would never have, he could never give her. He looked to the Jen if only the risk wasn't so great to wish for Scully's happiness. . . . at least he could offer the jen hers.
"You ready" Jen asks him.
"Yeah I'm ready."
She smiles at him "well don't leave me in suspense."
"Happiness." He replies
She rolls her eyes at him then notices he is starring at the door his partner had just walked through and realises what he means "hers?"
His gaze moves from the door to the Jen. "No I couldn't risk you stuffing that up too." He pauses "yours I want to grant your wish Jen set you free." He gets up and takes his coat from the rack and heads for the door.
"Enjoy your coffee, I recommend Casey's on main street they make a mean cappuccino. I have to get to the video shop before it closes lock up before you; you know 'boing' out of here. He flings his jacket over his shoulder and closes the office door behind him.
Jen stands shocked her facial expression hasn't changed since he spoke. The realization washing over her slowly, she is free, finally. She had been granting idiotic wish's for more years than she could count and she finally found someone who got it. To simply wish to be happy with what you have. Feeling grateful beyond words she decided she would grant his wish too.
XXXX
"I can't believe you don't want butter on your popcorn. Uggh. It's un- American." Mulder places the large bowl of popcorn down on the table handing Scully a beer as he does and takes his seat next to her on the couch.
She picks up his DVD, unimpressed at the choice. "Caddyshack Mulder."
"It's an American classic."
"Says the guy, it's a guy movie Mulder."
"Okay, well when you invite me over to your place we'll watch Steel Magnolias ok?"
Scully drinks from her beer, it's cold and fizzy and she feels it calming her as it falls down into her stomach. She flicks the cap into the bowl; it clinks on the edge then lands perfectly into the middle. Mulder follows suit, taking a long swig of beer and firing his cap at the bowl. It lands with a thud on the floor. Scully giggles quietly - she has to take each small victory regardless of how tiny it may be.
They sit back against the couch a comfortable distance apart. "So ah, what's the occasion?" She asks him shyly.
He shrugs "it just felt like the thing to do. Cheers" he lifts his bottle to hers.
She chinks her bottle against his "Cheers." then takes a hesitant sip. The volume on the T.V increases as the movie begins and both watch the screen briefly passing a quiet moment.
"I don't know if you noticed but, um, I never made the world a happier place." He says over the voice of the announcer.
She takes another sip of her beer so she doesn't have to meet his eyes. "Well I'm fairly happy, that's something." She swallows her mouth full "So what was your final wish anyway?"
She finally looks over at him and meets him face to face. "I gave Jen her cup of coffee."
Scully's expression takes on one of disbelief and her lips turn down absorbing completely what he just told her.
"What Scully?" He shuffles a little closer to face her directly.
"Nothing I'm just surprised is all. You still surprise me." She smiles shyly then starts to play with the label on her beer to avoid that blanket stare he gives her. These intimate moments were new to them. She always thought there would come a time where nothing he said would surprise her and then he manages to take her breath away again.
"Surprised I sacrificed my wish on her happiness and not my own or that I sacrificed your happiness yet again?" Now it was his turn to look at his lap.
There it is she realised that nagging guilt, that failure he always got caught up on. She looked over at his defeated stance she wouldn't let him blame himself yet again. She placed her beer on the table and cupped his cheek with her cold hand turning him to face her. "You don't need a Jen to make me happy Mulder."
He put his beer on the table then placed his hand on top of hers turning his face until his lips made contact with the centre of her palm. He kissed it softly before he spoke. "I could have wished you had never met me." He said into her hand. "I could have wished they never took you, you never had cancer, I could have given you a baby Scully." He turned to look at her again placing her hand back on his cheek.
She sat stunned for a few minutes then leant in to kiss him softly on the lips. "Stop." She whispered against his mouth then moved herself closer to him kissing him again. She paused again feeling drunk with his kisses "mmmm I'm definitely starting to feel happier." She smiled and opened her eyes to meet his.
He returned the smile then leant into her kissing her more passionately. She wound her hands around his neck as he pressed against her lowering her slowly down onto the couch beneath him. Their heads changed angles as their kiss deepened. He paused to pull her more directly beneath him. Then he kissed her chin, her lips in turn and then her nose until his line of sight was directly in front of hers. She opened her heavy lids at him and smiled.
"Does this make you happy Scully?"
She moved her hands from behind his neck to cup his cheeks with her hands. "MMMMM definitely feeling happier….. . .. . . ."