Title: Strangers on a Train
Author: Katie Schmidt
Key Words: Pre-XF, Mulder/Other, Scully/Other, UST
Summary: A young Dana Scully sits on a train shocked at what passes between her and a train stranger.
Disclaimer: I do not own any character or have rights to the characters created by FOX, 1013, Chris Carter and various other creative minds. I also do not claim any rights to songs written or performed by David Nail.

Strangers on a Train

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She smoothed the way ward strands of her red hair behind her ear. Listening to the glide of the train car as it passed down the tracks. How had she gotten caught up in this mess?

Dana Scully did not get herself into messes. She simply blamed Marie. Her freshman roommate had been randomly assigned to her. They'd had nothing in common, from different countries even. But somehow magically they'd become good friends, best friends. Marie had convinced her to come over for two weeks during summer break. Marie's parents had rented her a flat for the summer, wanting her home but respecting her need for independence and space. It had taken every penny Dana had earned waitressing at the country club from Spring Break until June, to afford the airfare in July. She'd cried when she'd kissed her boyfriend good-bye, but he assured her he'd be standing in the same exact spot when shestepped out of the gate in 15 days.

There'd been plenty of adventures as the first week passed. And now it was a steamy Saturday evening in every sense of the word. It had rained for several hours that evening, ending a stifling heat wave that had stretched on far too long for anyone's comfort. The sidewalks and roadways had steamed when the rain first splattered down. It hadn't stopped the pair from going out to a few pubs in downtown Oxford. When the breezes shifted, the coolness had left Dana ready to go, but Marie was smitten with a man and had refused to leave. Reluctant to leave her friend alone, Dana had finally given up and decided to take the train back on her own. She planned to use the alone time to call home and update her travels to her mother.

A man sitting three seats ahead captured her attention. His nose was too big for his face, but there was something about the sparkle in his hazel eyes and the way the he briefly caught her gaze. He'd quickly glanced away and pretended not to notice her, whispering down to a woman he called Phoebe. But Dana was mesmerized.

Her mind ran away from her, as if the train car had escaped from the conductor. She saw him holding her, loving her. As the train passed a row of brick houses, she saw their own little brick house. His eyes looked over to hers again. Electricity sparked, it seemed thousands of words passed between them. Knowing everything, knowing nothing. Most of all, knowing what was there and what would never come to be. Why hadn't he come into her life a long time ago, before they'd both had someone else?

As her stop came into view, Dana shook her head trying to shake the vivid images of her stranger from her head. She picked up her coat and dusted off the bottom of her purse as the breaks screeched to a stop. As she passed him, glanced down at his face once more, she gave him a warm smile. She was deeply afraid that he'd stop her on her way out. Despite the fear, she wanted it more than anything.

Her feet felt numb as she stepped off the car and watched it pull away. As his window rolled by she could only stand there, starring, as he stared out at her. His palm pressed to the glass for just a moment, relaying his reluctance to let her go, as his eyes burned into hers. The trains lights flickering, off and on, on and off, like the guilt she felt just for imagining their life.

She told herself it didn't mean much. They never touched, talked, loved like she wanted, like she sensed he wanted as well.

Still it had meant something, they'd both felt it clearly. Turning on the sidewalk and heading towards Marie's flat, she forced herself not to feel guilty because after all, they were just two strangers on a train.

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Notes: I never wrote a song fic. I never wrote a pre-xf fic either. Both were things I usually skipped over when reading. Some how this song made me do it. David Nail is a newer artist in the music world; I found him on CMT and then discovered his song "Strangers on a Train".

You should look it up if you've bothered to read this fic.

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