Mulder hesitated before entering his office. He couldn't help but stare at the beautiful redhead seated in his chair. She seemed to be deep in thought as she chewed on the end of a pencil and flipped through the file on his desk. Scully didn't seem to notice him standing there. Surely she would have said something by now.
He had known from the moment he had seen her that she would be the one to change his life. He wasn't sure how at the time but in the past few years he had realized he was falling in love with her. He knew that she loved him as well yet, it was difficult for them to openly express their feelings. They were FBI agents and partners. That in itself strictly prohibited them from being together in a romantic sense. Mulder had toyed with the thought of a secret relationship but the way he kept things stirred up within the agency, he had pretty much sealed that up , too. He was constantly being watched and since Scully was his partner so was she. There could never be secrets.
"What? What are you staring at?" Scully asked, a little annoyed.
He smiled as the sound of her voice snapped him back to reality.
"You know," he began as he walked into the room.
"Sun flower seeds serve the same purpose. And they don't taste like eraser."
She looked at him with a confused and annoyed look on her face. He smiled and pointed to the pencil in her mouth. As if noticing it for the first time, she reached up, grabbed the pencil and tossed it onto the desk.
"So, what's up today?" Mulder asked trying to ignore the lipstick ring just below the eraser on his pencil.
Scully handed Mulder the file.
"Looks like a cut and dry murder case to me."
She stood and walked over to the coffee pot. As she poured a cup Mulder flipped through the file.
"So why is it a….." His voice trailed off.
Scully turned to face him, noticing that he had come to the photo's of the murder victims. She rolled her eyes and prepared herself for what she knew would be a somewhat convincing plea, on his part, that they should "check this out."