Title: Unbreak My Heart - Excluded

Author: Melpomene

Email: melpomene1013yahoo.com

Rating: R

Spoilers: Season 3

Keywords: M/O, MSR, maybe S/O, Angst

Summary: What happens when you fall in

love with someone who doesn't love you back.

Author's Notes: Unbreak My Heart is a series

that will probably be 4 or 5 parts long. Thanks

to everyone for their kind words on Unbreak

My Heart.

Part 2 - Excluded

It had been three months since Mulder met Veronica

Alain on a case in New Jersey. Three miserable,

lonely months. Scully checked her watch. 2:14

and Mulder wasn't back from lunch yet.

This was getting to be an everyday occurance--

Mulder left for lunch at 12:30 and returned well

after two o'clock. Scully was pretty sure he had a

nooner with Ronni every day and it was beginning to

piss her off. Mulder could do whatever he wanted on

his lunch hour--he could skydive or wrestle alligators

if he wanted. But taking a two hour lunch every day

was inconsiderate and unprofessional.

Mulder, who pre-Ronni had seemed to live at the office--

arriving before eight a.m. and working twelve hour days,

was a thing of the past. Now, he got to work well

after nine and left earlier and earlier--mostly after

a phone call from Ronni. With a two hour lunch in

the middle of the day, it was pretty clear that work

was no longer important to Mulder.

Several times Scully had been forced to cover for

her partner when Skinner called looking for him. She

hated lying to her boss, telling him that Mulder was

chasing down evidence in the fingerprint labs, or

hadn't been feeling well and left a few minutes early.

She'd had to make fib today, telling Skinner that

Mulder was held up in traffic on his way back from

lunch. She vowed to lay the law down to her

partner--no more covering for him with the boss.

Scully missed her partner. Before Ronni, Mulder

would have lunch with Scully. They'd buy sandwiches

from the lunch cart and eat as they worked. When the

weather was nice, they'd walk to the mall and eat on

a park bench.

These days, with Scully so depressed, lunch was a Diet

Coke at her desk, where she'd try her best not to

look at the clock and wonder where Mulder was and

what he was doing. Some days, she put on her track

shoes and walked four or five miles in an effort to

release some of her anger.

To reduce some of her stress, she'd joined a

kick-boxing class that met after work. It wasn't

as if she had anything else to do with her

evenings--no one called her and she rarely had

plans. Hell, Mulder had been the only one

who'd phoned or visited in the evenings--usually

bouncing ideas off her. Now his nights were

occupied with Ronni Alain.

The only bright spot was, with all the missed lunches,

and marathon walks, she was losing a lot of weight. After

her kick-boxing class, she rarely had much of an appetite,

so she barely ate dinner. Not that heartache and stress

was the weight loss program she would have chosen.

The truth was, Scully was worried about Mulder. He

was neglecting his work as much as he was neglecting his

partner. Scully hadn't liked Veronica Alain from the very

first, but she'd chalked it up to jealousy. It was only

when she overheard AD Skinner's assistant in the ladies

room talking to one of the other admins that she realized

how serious the problem was.

"So, did you hear who Veronica Alain has her hooks into

now?" Skinner's assistant had asked. "Agent Mulder."

"You're kidding. Old Spooky is getting some? I guess

it's not hard to believe, really. They don't seem to

be able to resist her."

"I know. But that woman's a man-eater. Did you know she

broke up Agent Finsterbusch's marriage? And Bill O'Malley

got tossed off the Wilson case because he missed so much

time--he was off doing the nasty with that she-devil."

"I could swear I saw her cuddling up to her boss in the

parking garage one night."

"She's an alley-cat, all right. Probably sleeping with

the both of them."

Scully had waited until the two women left before coming

out of her stall. If she thought it would do any good, she'd

have talked to Mulder about Ronni. With her luck, Mulder

would not only assume she was jealous, but he'd think her

complaining pathetic. After all, it wasn't as if he'd

ever look Scully's way. She sighed and looked at her

watch again. 2:35.

"Hey Scully," Mulder said, bursting into the room. He

hung his jacket up. "Sorry I'm late."

Scully bit the inside of her cheek to keep from

screaming and kept her eyes on her computer screen.

Mulder got comfortable behind his desk, flipping

through a stack of papers. The bastard had the

audacity to be humming.

Something inside her snapped. Pushing herself

away from the desk, she grabbed the report she

owed Skinner.

"Spare me the apologies, okay, Mulder? Either

get back from lunch at a reasonable time, or take

two hours, but don't waist my time and yours with

an apology for something you have no intention of

changing. And by the way--I've covered your ass

for the last time with Skinner. After this, you're

on your own."

Scully stalked out of the office, slamming the door

behind her.

Mulder felt his face redden. He stared at the

closed door, as if he could still see Scully.

She had every right to be angry. Every day,

he told Ronni they'd have to have a quick lunch

and every damn day, they ended up at her

apartment, in her bed.

Unfortunately, all his good intentions went right

out the window when Ronni talked dirty to him. It

was like he was powerless. Sometimes, it was

exciting--like skydiving or driving fast, but more

and more, it was feeling uncomfortable. The worst

part was feeling that he was losing Scully's

respect.

It was like his brain went on hiatus when Ronni

touched him and he ended up doing stupid thoughtless

things, mostly to Scully. He cringed when he thought

about forgetting Scully at the airport when he first

met Ronni. He'd been in such a heightened state of

arousal from Ronni's caresses under the blanket,

getting her somewhere private was all his mind

could fathom.

Shamefully, it wasn't until the next day that he'd

remembered Scully.

He didn't love Ronni--he knew that. She was fun and

lively and far too sexy for his sanity, but he knew

there was no deep connection. It was a case of out

of sight, out of mind. If she was near him, touching

him, slipping her tongue into his mouth, he was so

turned on he couldn't remember his own name, much

less his partner's. But if she wasn't with him, he

rarely thought about her; he'd forget to call her if

he was busy on a case.

Lucky for him, as an agent, Ronni knew all about the

work. That was probably the best part of dating her.

She understood when he was called out of town on a

moments notice. Hell, sometimes Ronni was the one

who got called out of town.

And Ronni understood the stress that came from

fighting monsters--at least the human ones. She

didn't entirely believe in the non-human ones, but

didn't tease him too much about it.

The only thing Ronni seemed to have a problem with

was Scully. Not that she believed for a second

that Mulder was interested in Scully. Ronni thought

Scully was unattractive and mousy. She'd gotten into

the habit of making disparaging comments about his

partner's weight until he finally asked her to stop.

The truth was, he thought his partner looked just fine:

natural and healthy. He didn't understand why women

wanted to look like skeltons anyway. Every time Mulder

saw Scully's dewy skin and blue eyes sparkling with

intelligence, he couldn't help but remember seeing her

near death in the hospital after her abduction. Every

time, he reveled in her health.

But he couldn't help but notice how unhappy she was

lately, and he wished he understood why. He may have

been preoccupied with Ronni these days, but he wasn't

totally oblivious. Something was wrong, and had been

wrong for months.

Scully walked back into the room, going straight to

her computer and getting back to work. She seemed to

have calmed down, or maybe it was just resignation that

her partner was a shit and there was nothing she could

do about it.

He decided that he had to do something to change her

opinion of him. Mulder needed to put his attention

where it should have been for months--on his work and

part of that was making peace with his beleaguered

partner.

"Scully?"

"Hmm."

"You free for dinner tonight?" he asked.

"Why?" she asked warily. She wondered if he was

teasing her. It wasn't as if she had dozens of

boyfriends waiting to take her out.

"I thought we could get something to eat--you

know--talk, laugh. You're my friend and I want

to spend time with you. Come on--for old times

sake, Scully."

She eyed him suspiciously, then looked down at her

hands. Old times sake. She fought to keep the

tears from coming. God, how she missed him.

"What about Ronni?" she asked. "Don't you have

plans with her?"

"Ronni and I aren't joined at the hip," he protested.

"Contrary to recent appearances." He smiled at her,

casually lounging back in his chair. "Besides, she

got called out of town on a case."

Scully laughed, but it wasn't a joyful sound. "Ah.

I guess that explains it." So, she was good enough

to spend time with when the main squeeze was out of

town. She ought to tell him to take a hike, but

it had been a long time since she ate dinner with a

man who wasn't a blood relation.

"Okay. Dinner it is."

Tension flowed out of Mulder. He vowed to use this

opportunity to spend time with Scully and mend their

frayed partnership. Scully deserved it. Hell, he

deserved it. He missed spending time with Scully--

it was as exhilirating as a dip in a pool of crystal

clear water.

Time flew by when they bantered and argued over

anything and everything. He'd never known someone

as mentally sharp as Scully.

The afternoon passed quietly as they finished their

work. They'd decided on Mario's, a casual, family

run restaurant that they both liked.

"How about I pick you up around seven?" he asked as

he slipped on his jacket.

"That's so far out of your way, Mulder. Why don't

I meet you there? 7:30?"

"7:30, it is," he replied.

Scully went home and tried to figure out what to

wear. She wasn't fooling herself that this was a

date, so she passed by her dressier things, Some of

her clothes had started to get loose on her, so she

moved them to the back of her closet. She finally

settled on a pair of black slacks she hadn't been

able to fit into for a year and a gray cashmere

sweater.

She took a quick shower and fussed with her hair. She

was getting tired of this hairstyle--it needed too much

attention with the curling iron to get it right, and

she rarely had time to spend on it.

Scully took a hard look at herself in the mirror.

She'd never been one to worry about her appearance.

Her education and then her work had always been the

main focus of her life. She could never hope to

compete with someone like Ronni Alain, so the chances

of Mulder ever noticing the sober little redhead at

his elbow were next to nil.

She applied her makeup with a careful hand, applying

a little extra eye shadow to accentuate her eyes. Well,

this was as good as it was going to get, she thought,

washing the makeup from her hands. Time to get to Mario's.

Mulder's cell phone rang as he got into his car to

drive home from work.

"Fox, baby," Ronni purred through the phone. "Change

in plans--I don't have to leave until tomorrow. Baby,

I'm going to do things to you tonight that are illegal

in 3 states."

Damn. Damn, damn, damn. He was getting hard just

listening to her voice. Why did she have to finish

her case early? She wasn't going to like what he

had to tell her.

"That's nice, Ronni," he said. "Um, I sort of made

plans for dinner tonight though."

"Break them," she said, laughing. "You don't need

indigestion from greasy cheesestake sandwiches,

anyway. Tell those crazy friends of yours that

you have a better offer. I'm much hotter than

they are."

"I...uh...didn't make plans with the guys, Ronni.

I'm having dinner with Scully tonight. We have a

case to go over."

He hoped the last bit about a case would deflect

some of Ronni's jealousy, but wasn't at all happy.

He finally got her off the phone and Mulder drove home,

pondering friendship, loyalty and how he could balance

out his relationships.

By the time he arrived at his apartment, he was running

a little late. He'd have to hurry if he was going to

grab a shower. Mulder retrieved his mail from the mail

box and raced up the stairs, not wanting to take the time

waiting for the elevator.

This dinner was important, he thought, as he unlocked

the door and pushed it open. His relationship with Scully

was hanging by a tenuous thread. Any more stupidity on

his part and that thread might just snap.

His apartment was looking rather neglected these days.

Ronni preferred her own place. She didn't like making

love on his couch and really didn't understand why he

couldn't toss all the crap out of his bedroom.

Mulder turned on the shower and stripped off his clothes.

Stepping under the stream of water, he washed his hair

and body. He thought he heard a door close as he turned

off the water, but assumed it was his next door neighbor's

door. He wrapped a towel around his hips and left the

bathroom.

"Hey baby."

Oh. Shit. Ronni was stretched out on his sofa. She must have

come straight over.

"I'm on my way out, Ronni."

"Baby, I couldn't wait to see you," she said, ignoring his

words as she rose and stalked over to him, wearing skin-tight

leather slacks, a red halter top that bearly covered her full

breasts and strappy high-heeled sandals.

"I have to get dressed. Maybe I could come by your place for

a drink later," he suggested.

"I'd say you were wearing too much, baby," Ronni said as she

pulled the damp towel off him. His erection popped up between

them. "Looks like at least part of you is happy to see me."

Before he could protest, she had pulled off her top and

was on her knees sucking him. He should have pushed her

away--he knew this was wrong, but his hands wound their way

into her hair as she dug her fingers into his ass and

hollowed her cheeks.

Afterwords, as he lay spent on his couch with Ronni draped

over him, he felt anger rise in him. For a brief moment, he

was angry with Ronni for coming over when she knew he was

supposed to be meeting Scully. Scully. Damn it. He was a

pig to allow himself to be distracted this way. But all it

took was Ronni's mouth on his cock and he forgot his commitment

to his friend.

It was himself that he was angry with. Ronni wasn't to blame

here--he was. Ronni was what she was--a purely sexual being.

She breathed sex. She oozed it. And he was just the kind of

highly sexed man who couldn't resist a woman like her. She

was like crack cocaine and he was just a junkie.

"Get up," he said, pushing on Ronni's shoulder. "I have to

get dressed."

"You're angry," Ronni said, sliding off him. She sat on the

couch, feet up on the coffee table, completely at ease in

her nakedness. She pouted prettily. "Don't try to tell

me you didn't want that as much as I did, Fox."

"If I'm angry, it's only at myself," he replied as he retrieved

the clothes he'd took out earlier and started to dress. "No

matter how much I wanted you, I had a commitment tonight."

"Don't worry. I'm sure she's still there, waiting for you."

Her tone said she thought Scully had nothing better to do

than hang around and wait for someone else's man.

"I have to go," he said when he'd finished tying his shoes.

"I'll talk to you later."

As he grabbed his keys and ran out the door, he wasn't sure

if finding an angry Scully waiting at Mario's was better

than discovering that she'd left. He tried not to picture

the hurt in her eyes as he got into his car and backed it

out of the parking space.

Traffic did not cooperate as he headed over to Mario's. It

was nearly eight o'clock when he found a parking space and

trotted to the entrance. He nearly ran smack into Scully

as she walked out the door. Her face was a mask of anger

as she hugged her jacket around her.

"I'm sorry, Scully. I got hung up and lost track of time,"

he said, touching her arm.

She breathed in the scent of him, detecting his aftershave

and the musk of sex. Scully shrugged his hand away and

pushed past him. Raising her chin, she looked into

his eyes.

"Yeah. I'm sure something came up, Mulder. Something always

does."

She turned and walked away.

Continued in part 3....