DISCLAIMER: I do not own "The X-Files" or is characters.
Mulder and Scully left Skinner's office and proceeded to their basement office in silence. Mulder could sense that Scully was going to tell him off as soon as they reached the privacy of the office.
He was right.
"Mulder, why-"
He cut her off before she could begin the rant that she had been forming in her head since he opened his mouth to begin telling the story. "Scully, it is too late now, Skinner will want to know the rest of the story now. Anyway it was only a matter of time before the cat got out of the bag."
"Mulder, the cat stayed in the bag for the past nine years! Most likely it would have stayed that way."
"Ah well. Sorry Scully, I just wanted to reminisce with you." He said with his signature grin. "Speaking of bringing back old memories, how about we go out to dinner. It is a Friday night, we are young, let's go out on the Bureau credit card."
"What? Mulder!" Scully replied in the exasperated tone she saved especially for her eccentric but brilliant partner.
He simply smirked at her.
"Fine, you've won me over. But we are not going to use the Bureau's money, you're paying. And pick me up at 8:00."
"Fine, if that is the price I have to pay to have a quality evening with the only woman crazy enough to spend time with me."
Mulder run out of the office, chuckling before Scully could whack him with the case folders she was holding.
Before Mulder drove to Scully's apartment, he called her.
"Scully."
"Hey Scully, it's me."
"What is it, Mulder?"
"What are you wearing right now?"
"God Mulder, you perv."
He laughed, "No, I just wanted to take you some place really nice, so I wanted you to know so you could dress properly. See, I was just trying to be a gentleman."
"Ha ha, sure Mulder. Alright, I'll change into something more suitable. Thank you kind sir."
Scully hung up.
Unknown to each other, both of their hearts raced. Scully's at the idea of sitting with Mulder in a fancy restaurant, and Mulder's at the possibility of viewing the rare occasion of Scully in a dress.
At 8:00 sharp an anxious Mulder stood outside of Scully's apartment, and knocked on the all too familiar door. After a slight pause, Scully opened the door. Both parties gave a mental gasp. Mulder was clad in his best suit and a powder blue tie. Scully was dressed in her favorite little black dress that hugged her in all the right places, and in a moment of daring, had paired it with bright red pumps.
Coughing slightly Mulder said, "You look great, Scully."
"You too, Mulder."
Together they walked down the hall. After the few intense seconds in the elevator, the two headed to the car, with Mulder opening the door for Scully and helping into her seat.
"So, where are you taking me Mulder, and what is the occasion?"
"Oh, just the best seafood restaurant in D.C., I know how you love the bounties of our oceans."
Scully giggled at Mulder's weirdness. It was one of things that made him so endearing.
"And as for the occasion, we never get out enough together. Unless of course we are shoved into separate sketchy motel rooms. So I figured we deserved a night on the town."
Mulder and Scully conversed comfortably for the rest of the car journey. When they arrived at the restaurant, Mulder had called ahead to make reservations and had requested a table in a more private section of the spacious restaurant. Scully raised her eyebrows at their express treatment, but said nothing, secretly enjoying Mulder's thoughtfulness.
They sat, staring at each other for a moment. Then Mulder started the conversation he had been anxiously holding in all day.
"So what did you think of me, that first time we saw each other?"
Scully had been expecting the topic to turn to this eventually, but had not expected Mulder to be for forthright with it, or the earnestness in Mulder's eyes. He really wanted an honest answer.
"You mean when you ran up to me, all sweaty and gross?" Scully laughed, teasing him.
He laughed too, but his answer bared no hint of humor, "Yes."
Scully pondered it for a moment, "Well, at first I was shocked because I had not been paying attention. But I assumed that you were another student, and I wondered how I had never noticed you before. I mean, you are not particularly easy to miss in the crowd."
"Why is that, may I ask?"
"Because you are tall, duh."
Mulder chuckled, "You know Scully, I am not even that tall, you are just super short."
"Wow Mulder, was that you first opinion of me that I was 'super short'."
"That was part of it, I guess. But my initial reaction was that despite the fact that you were, what did you say, 'all sweaty and gross,' that you were extraordinarily beautiful."
Scully blushed. The fact that his words had that effect on his partner, made Mulder blush too.
They continued in that way, conversing of their favorite past and present memories with each other. The times they laughed together. The times they shared in perfect moments of happiness. Moments like this one.
Feeling stuffed, Mulder walked Scully to the door of her apartment building. She was just about to ask Mulder whether he would like to come up for coffee, when she caught him staring at her with a peculiar expression on his face. He looked as though he was trying to make a hard decision.
"Mulder-" Scully started, but for the second time this evening, was cut off by her partner.
"Scully, I really enjoy spending time with you like this."
"Me too, Mulder."
"Then why don't we do it more often?"
Mulder took a step closer to Scully, his eyes intense.
"Well, I mean we are usually so busy with tracking down aliens…"
Mulder had taken another step closer, Scully could feel his breath on her face.
"You look really beautiful tonight, Dana, just like you did the day I first met you."
"Mulder, I…" Scully drifted off again.
Mulder was looking so intently into her blue eyes with his green ones, that Scully could not think clearly. Her eyes were closing of their own accord, her head tilting to met his, until softly their lips touched. For a moment they both stayed their, perfectly still. Then their lips began to move together slowly. But when Mulder's hand reached up to cup Scully's cheek, his thumb tracing her cheek bone, Scully opened her eyes, and came to her senses.
"No." She said against his mouth, "no."
She stepped back, placing her hands on Mulder's chest pushing him away. "No, we can't do this. We agreed all those years ago that we can't do this."
Scully quickly turned and fled into her apartment, tears stinging in her eyes, before she could see the look of absolute rejection and hurt on Mulder's face.
Thanks for reading. How did you like Scully's hint that something had happened between the two of them in the past. Comment and thank you!
