I made this a separate story instead of another chapter because I think the tone changes in this one. Anyway, I hope it satisfies everyone who wanted more. Thanks for reading, and reviews are always appreciated!
Mulder stood with his head hanging toward the ground, and a bag of sunflower seeds dangling dejectedly in one hand. Scully was in front of him, her eyebrows undoubtedly knit, lips pursed, waiting on his explanation. As if he could give her one.
But, he had options. There was always options.
He could flat out lie. But, she'd see through it, she always did. Well, they did that to each other. He could start babbling incoherently about a new x file. Or at least, he could if they had a new x file. He could say he wasn't feeling well...but if he did that, she'd spring into doctor mode, and get all worried, and he'd just feel bad for making her worry.
So, maybe he didn't have so many options.
He chose the one option that always worked without a doubt, even if it was just a temporary fix.
Delay.
Eventually, he'd have to think of something, but delaying was the best option for the moment. And, he worked for the government, he was trained to delay.
"Mulder, really, what's wrong?" She took one of his hands in hers.
Great, you idiot, you made her worry. He plastered on the biggest real smile (she always knew the fake ones) he could muster, as he pulled his face from the ground.
"Grab your jacket, Scully. Work's dead."
She offered an amused sort of smirk. "And, where are we going?"
He showed half his pearly whites. "It's a surprise." Cause, I'm a sorry SOB, as your brother so accurately deduced, and need time to think of a plausible lie. Gazing at Scully, oh if Bill Jr. ever heard that...Scully, promise you'll protect my balls from your brother?
She arched an eyebrow, but still turned and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair. Mulder sighed in relief, and poked his head among the clutter on the right side of their office, and came up with two items. He hid the box with the blanket.
"What's that?" She eyed his unburied treasures.
"Part of the surprise. Come on." He gestured her toward the door, and one hand held gently on her back, he guided her out of their office. Please be a little stupid for once Scully.
--
"Mulder, we've been driving for nearly an hour. I thought you said this wasn't about an x file?" Her voice took on a hint of impatience.
But...she hadn't asked him why he'd been behaving like a nutjob, so he didn't care.
"Five more minutes, Scully, and we'll be there." They'd crossed over into Maryland before she'd started demanding answers, which of course, he didn't give. Still, it was going well, all things considered; the drive was keeping him from looking at her.
"Rosaryville State Park?" She asked as they passed the posted sign and pulled along the ranger's station.
"Park closes at seven," a rather bored ranger informed them.
It wasn't quite four-thirty.
"Just taking the Misses for some fresh air." Mulder offered his best 'stupid and innocent' grin. That was so not going to escape her attention.
The ranger didn't care, but took his ten dollars and waved him into the park.
"The Misses, Mulder?" Eyebrow arched, jaw tight, his partner regarded him unhappily from the passenger seat.
"It was that, or tell him I kidnapped my partner for the evening. I figured the former would garner fewer questions." He grinned, and parked the car.
He hopped out of the car, grabbed the box and blanket, and once again, guided his partner with a hand on her back. They walked along the path, up several small hills, and through a patch of woods, which Scully insisted wasn't part of the path. He agreed. It wasn't, and neither was the second patch of woods he took them through, but they were shortcuts.
He finally stopped their journey at the top of a large hill, the area clear for a distance. He laid the blanket out on the ground, and began unpacking the box.
Scully saw the small telescope come out of the box, and almost involuntarily her eyes widened and her head whipped back and forth. "Uh uh, Mulder please tell me we aren't actually out here looking for aliens with that thing?"
He chuckled. "No Scully, not even I use a low-powered telescope to look for UFOs."
"Oh, but you'll use a high-powered one?"
"Sure, why not?" He turned and grinned at her.
Jaw tense, hand on her hip. "I'm going to take that as a rhetorical question, Mulder."
"Come here, Scully." He motioned her down beside him.
Mulder was on his stomach, the red telescope coming barely a foot off the ground. It was plastic, more or less a kid's toy, useless for serious astronomy.
"Mulder, it's January," she reminded him. When he simply smiled, she tried again, "In Washington D.C."
He shrugged at her, playing innocent.
"It's not stargazing weather."
"I'll take you for hot chocolate afterwards, I'll even get you mini marshmallows," he promised.
Stargazing...gazing...crap, don't think about that.
She stood above him, arms crossed just below her breasts, inadvertently pushing them up a little and said, "Whip cream."
She's talking about whip cream while her breasts are halfway to her chin. That's just not fair. He was staring, even gazing, but it sure wasn't into her eyes.
He swallowed and nodded. "Okay, whip cream."
Scully rolled her eyes heavenward, but nevertheless, pulled her coat tighter around her body, and got down on her stomach beside him. Mulder peeked through the telescope, getting a slightly closer view of the stars than he would have without it. He searched through the sky until he found the constellation he wanted.
The sky is good, the sky is not Scully.
"Here, look right up where I have pointed," he instructed, shifting so she could get closer to the telescope.
Scully moved closer, careful not to move the telescope, and peered in. While she was studying the sky, Mulder was cursing his lack of planning. Oh, he wasn't gazing at Scully anymore, rather he was trying desperately to visualize her last autopsy. Anything to keep his mind off the fact that, due to his own brilliant planning, she was pressed smack up against him.
Goddamnit. There you go Holman, I don't gaze at Scully, I just cuddle with her.
"Alright, Mulder, what am I looking at?" She suddenly asked.
"Huh, what?"
"What am I supposed to be seeing, Mulder?" She repeated impatiently.
Get it together, focus on the sky!
"Oh uh, here, look up here a minute," he gestured toward the naked view of the sky. "You see those stars there, the five of them, the back is sort of squarish, and then it sort of makes two triangles?"
"Okay, I can see that."
"It's a constellation called Reticulum."
She turned to him, dubious expression on her face. "Reticulum? Wait, like your aliens?"
He grinned. "Home of the liver-eating grays. Actually, this constellation was named after a little tool they use to measure star's positions, a reticle."
"And, this required us to take a trip to Maryland because...?"
"September of 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were your average American married couple, he was a Postal worker, she was a social worker, and they were active in their church. They were also involved with the NAACP and Civil Rights, as they were an interracial couple, she was white, he was black, quite risqué for the time. Anyway, Betty and Barney encountered a UFO while driving on Route 3, in New Hampshire--"
"They were abductees," Scully concluded.
"Yes, who could describe things in pretty significant detail. Betty suffered from reoccurring dreams of the events, and wrote her observations down the next morning. Eventually she came to draw a star map. This map was deciphered in 1968 by an elementary school teacher, and it was discovered that the home of their abductors was actually Zeta Reticuli, that double-star right their where it dips." He pointed it out.
Scully squinted and then looked at him. "So, you're telling me that we're looking at the far off home of some Alien society?"
"No, I'm saying..." he trailed off, looking down before abruptly turning back to her, alight with the passion for mysteries he wore on his sleeve. "I'm saying we could be. Scully, every time we look up at the sky we could be seeing something amazing and not even realize it, because we just don't think about it. I mean, that star, right there," he pointed to a particularly bright star, "that could have planets around it that we can't see, planets with real, intelligent life, but we'll never consider it, because it goes against conventions. Because we don't want to seem crazy."
She was watching him, all joking gone from her face as sure as it had disappeared from his. "Mulder, it's a fascinating story, but what does this have to do with you behaving like someone puts ants in your pants?"
Damn, so close.
He smiled. "Why Agent Scully, why the sudden interest in my pants?"
She smirked, but otherwise ignored his innuendo. "Really, what does this have to do with why you're acting so strange?"
Mulder sighed and rolled onto his back. "I guess, I'm just afraid we're missing something because we're afraid to look."
Okay, that sounds good. Please, please buy that.
"Mulder, do you know how unlikely that is?" She was laying on her side, head propped up by one arm, looking down at him. It was very intimate, and Mulder found himself staring.
Again.
"Just because you don't believe, doesn't mean there isn't something out there."
"That's not what I meant...Mulder, as long as I've known you, you've never been afraid to look for or at anything."
"Even I'm afraid of things, Scully."
Her lips pursed slightly and her eyes went almost soft as she grew pensive. "So, what are you afraid of?"
Besides you, at this very moment?
Mulder sighed, his hands clasped over his stomach, and met her deep blue eyes. "I'm afraid I'll find the courage to look, only to discover that what I'm looking for is just a fantasy."
Something like recognition flicked briefly in her eyes, and then she said, with all the innocence of a child, "Mulder, did you know that there's a fish that lives in the sky?"
What?
He looked at her, holding back the smile from his face because she looked so serious. "I think you've gotten too much fresh air."
"It's the Guardian Goldfish, it watches over all the pet goldfish that have gone to Heaven. That's why it lives in the sky."
"Uh, Scully?"
Have I finally made you crazy?
But, she'd already turned to the telescope and was moving it gently across the sky, presumably looking for her sky-dwelling Goldfish. She settled on a spot, twisted on of the knobs on the telescope, and then looked at him again.
"Look over there, you see those five stars? They make a curved line, like the back of a fish?"
Like a fish, of course...
"I do, that's your goldfish?"
"Dorado. It literally translates to goldfish, but the guy was referring to a dolphinfish, like Mahi Mahi, not your standard pet fish. But, when I was six my pet goldfish died and I was inconsolable, until Missy took me outside and pointed out the Dorado constellation, and told me about the Guardian Goldfish. She promised that my fish would be protected forever by the Guardian, and that he was having a great time with all the other pet goldfish in heaven."
"Okay, that's sweet, but I feel like maybe I missed something?" He was smiling; Scully cried over her pet goldfish when she was a kid. That image will be in my brain forever.
"Yes..." She looked into his eyes, talking to him in a way only two people completely in tune with each other could manage. Her eyes said that she knew, and with a physical start, he realized that she'd seen through everything. His craziness, his dragging her out here, and the fear he'd confessed.
She offered a soft smile. "Mulder, most of the time a fish in the sky is a crazy idea, ludicrous and not even remotely plausible, but there's rare occasions, where if you know how to interpret what you see, a fish in the sky is just right."
He swallowed, rendered completely speechless. His throat seemed suddenly bone dry, and he wasn't sure if he was breathing.
"Hey there, you better be decent! This is a family park!" A ranger suddenly hollered, causing them both to jump.
It had gotten dark quick, and they both had to shield their sensitive eyes when his flashlight got them square in the face.
"We're just stargazing, sir," Scully explained.
Gazing.
Standing not three feet away from them, he swept the beam over them again, noting the cheap little telescope. "Park's about closed, you better hike back down to your car."
"We'll do that." Mulder nodded at the Park Ranger, and pulled himself up off the ground, helping Scully up as well. They began hurriedly packing up the telescope and blanket, while the Ranger watched, his flashlight still trained on them.
What's up Ranger Rick, you think we're going to steal some pinecones?
"Can you actually see the stars with that piddly little thing?" He nodded at the telescope Mulder was packing.
Not if I shove it up your ass.
"We were trying to find ET, " he said instead.
The Ranger frowned, looking suddenly very uncomfortable. "You folks have a good night."
When he was gone, Mulder turned to Scully, who held the folded blanket.
"Why ET? Why not Reticulans?" She asked.
"Less explanation. Maybe next time, I'll say Marvin."
"The Martian?"
"Yeah, we go way back."
Scully grinned. "Come on Mulder, I can't feel my toes anymore, and you owe me a hot chocolate."
And, whip cream.
Mulder watched her retreating back as she walked out the way they came, led by the mini flashlight, she'd taken to keeping in her pocket. She walked with absolute confidence, catching herself smoothly when one of her impractical heels got caught in the dirt.
"You coming, Mulder?" She called over her shoulder.
He'd been staring--gazing--again. He went to scold himself, but stopped. He admit it, he gazed at his partner, and it was neither partnerly, nor friendly. In fact, it probably bordered on voyeuristic. He wasn't worried anymore.
Mulder hurried to catch up with her, whipping out his own mini flashlight.
Yes. I see the fish in the sky, Scully. I just hope I have the courage to keep looking for it.