Disclaimer: naht mine… but I am trying.


Summary: Mulder meets Mr. scully, has a conflict with Bill and finds out about bill and Diana. Mulder and Doggett give their girlfriends a special gift and spender is showing his true colours.


A/note: ok time for some drama. Don't panic, the MSR storyline is still top priority, but I'll be introducing the DRR into the story too, that'll give me an excuse to write mushy romance bits :D oh yeah, last quote was from 'first person shooter.' Enjoy!!

'FOX!'

'HELP ME FOX!'

Samantha floated in front of me, she was scared. She reached out to me.

'FOX! FOX! HELP ME!'

I reach for her, but she moves away. I try to move forwards, but I am paralyzed. I call to her;

'SAMANTHA!'

She tries to reach for me again, I wave my arms; trying to get closer. She drifts further away. The white light is blinding, I squint my eyes to try and see her, the light engulfs her. She screams;

'FOOOXXXXXX!!'

Mulder gasped and awoke, sitting up in his bed as his sheets tried to strangle him. He panted and felt the burning tears roll down his cheek; it was dark; must be early in the morning. He leant forward and rested his elbows on his knees, weighing his temple in the palms of his hands.

He sat there for a few moments; trying to banish the dream from his memory, rather than relive it. He swallowed, with difficulty, and leant over to the side of his bed, reaching for his bed side lamp. He turned it on, screwing his eyes shut as the blinding light brought upon flashbacks of his dream. He opened his eyes carefully and picked up his watch from the bed stand; 04:18 AM.

He looked down at his shirtless body; it glistened in the thin layer of cold sweat that covered him. He slowed his breathing, but finding no comfort, he rolled out of bed and grabbed his cell phone from his desk as he stumbled wearily out of his room.

Scully was jolted awake at the sound of her cell phones muffled ring coming from under her bed. Damned be the fool who wakes a teenage girl at 4 in the morning. She quickly grabbed her cell before the ringing woke up the household; she hit the 'answer' button;

"What…" she mumbled grumpily into the phone.

"Scully? It's me. Sorry, I woke you up." Mulder replied sheepishly. She was annoyed, but knew Mulder wouldn't call without reason.

"No, it's okay Mulder. I was kinda awake anyway." She lied. She had been dead to the world; but she could hear the guilt in his voice.

"What?! It's four in the morning! Why weren't you asleep?" He enquired.

"Oh, my boyfriend decided to call me. That's why." She told him grumpily. She sighed; "What's wrong Mulder?"

He hesitated; "I had a pretty bad nightmare. I needed something to make me feel better… so I called you."

Aw. She couldn't stay mad at him now. "I'm here if you need me, but can this wait till school? Then I can be there in person to make you feel better."

She could feel him smiling on the other end of the phone. "Ok then Scully, thanks for not yelling at me. I feel better now." He said warmly.

"See you in the morning. Night Mulder."

"Night Scully." He hung up.

She sighed and flopped back into her pillow. She was sympathetic to him; with his memories and emotional neglect she knew he was a bit reliant on her. At the same time, she was reliant on him, she kept most feelings to herself. Monica and Melissa gave her a slight outlet, but Mulder was there to listen to her more personal troubles. But still, she hoped this late night phone call thing didn't happen too often.

It took Scully almost an hour to get back to sleep, but when she did, she slept till nearly 8AM. But when she woke up again, boy, did she wake up.

Mulder walked up to the front door of Scully's house at 07:50, he stopped at the door and hesitated before knocking; hoping anyone except Bill would answer. He took the risk and knocked. He waited with his hands in his jean pockets and bag on his back; the door finally opened, and there stood Mr. Scully. Mulder silently gulped;

"Hi… I'm Fox Mulder. I'm Dana's um…" he paused.

"Boyfriend?" Mr. Scully interjected. Mulder simply nodded nervously. "My wife already told me about you;" he stepped aside and gestured for Mulder to come in. Mulder raised his eyebrows in surprise, but entered. Mr. Scully shut the front door behind him, "…and Melissa, and Charlie, and of course Dana did too. I'm glad to actually meet you." He held out a hand to Mulder, who shook it stiffly.

"You too sir, Scu- um, I mean Dana, has talked about you." He said as he put his schoolbag on the floor near the door.

"I get called sir enough when I'm at work; call me William." Mr. Scully said as he beckoned Mulder into the lounge room. He sat in an old armchair and indicated for Mulder to sit in the seat across from him. Mrs. Scully came in with a tea towel in her hands.

"Good morning Fox! We didn't expect to see you here!" she didn't sound annoyed, but she was fishing for an explanation.

"Yeah, I, um, wanted to walk Dana to school this morning. I thought it would be a nice thing to do." He stuttered. God, he was nervous.

"Well you're always welcome Fox. Do you boys want a cup of coffee or tea?" Mr. Scully nodded and looked at Mulder inexpressively. So that's were Scully gets it from.

"Ah, cup of tea would be great, thanks. Oh, is Dana awake yet?" He asked as he sat down across from Mr. Scully. He preferred his tea cold; but wasn't going to risk being rude.

Mrs. Scully headed to the kitchen but called over her shoulder; "No, but if she isn't up in ten minutes, you can go wake her up."

Mulder stayed silent. Mr. Scully took a deep breath and repositioned himself in his chair. Mulder knew what was coming; the lecture.

"You must understand how I feel about Dana dating… after her relationship with Ethan." Mulder nodded. "But, at the other end of the stick, everyone in the family, except William Jr., has nothing but positive things to say about you." Mulder didn't move, he just titled his head in acknowledgement. "…and you where there for Dana when she got into that fight at school, and afterwards as well… that said, I have no problem with you seeing Dana."

Mulder smiled slightly and nodded his head. Inside he was bouncing for joy. "I care for Dana, a lot. I would never do anything to hurt her. You have my word."

"How old are you, son?" Mr. Scully said bluntly.

"Nearly seventeen. My birthday is in October."

"Dana turns seventeen in February, which means you're… what? Eight months older than her? I hope I can trust you to behave appropriately in that regard." He didn't need to specify. Mulder knew he was referring to sex; and to be honest, Mulder had thought about it, but he also knew the importance of it and wasn't going to push it.

"Yes, I will. I just hope I have the chance to earn your trust." He replied cautiously.

"You're doing an okay job so far." He stood up and Mulder did too, out of courtesy. Mr. Scully came forwards and stood in front of Mulder; even though they were the same height, Mulder still felt a bit intimidated. "Go wake up Dana and then you join us for breakfast." He patted Mulder's arm.

Mulder simply smiled and nodded, before bounding up the stairs in excitement. Scully's dad approved of him! Yay! He reached Scully's room and tapped lightly on it, no response, he smiled and carefully opened it just enough to poke his nose through. She was lying face down in her bed, dead to the world. He held back a laugh when he saw her yellow and pink pajamas.

He snuck carefully up to her bed and stood looking at her; considering the best way to wake her up. This was one temptation he couldn't resist; he jumped over her and strategically landed next to her on her bed.

"Morning gorgeous!" He said as he snuggled into her. She was a heavy sleeper, she turned her head to look at him through sleepy eyes.

Her eyes widened and so did her lips; into an all bearing smile. She squealed and wrapped her arms around him, half rolling onto him.

"What are you doing here?! I'm not complaining, but why are you here?" She said into his shoulder. He sat up, taking her with him;

"I was gonna walk you to school. Oh yeah, I met your dad;" her smile vanished; "It's okay though, I had the lecture, and he seems to like me." Her smile came back. He crawled off her bed and walked to the door. He looked back at her; "Come on, get dressed. I'm staying for breakfast and then we got to get to school." He shut the door and headed down the stairs. Scully had trouble containing her excitement.

Scully threw on a pair of jeans and converse. She found her clean school shirt and ducked into the bathroom on the way out. Her hair was fine, she was lucky that way, she often didn't get bed hair; it was the only thing she liked about it.

She fluttered down the stairs and skipped into the kitchen where she found Melissa, Charlie and her mum on one side of the table; chowing down on cereal and her dad and Mulder on the other side, both pointing and reading in the same newspaper; drinking occasionally from their coffee cups. Her heart melted, Mulder was fitting in. She went over and sat next to Mulder; he turned and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled and rubbed his back in thanks.

A grumble came from behind her and she turned and saw Bill wobble into the room; his hair all scruffy and still in his pajamas. Scully felt all the colour drain from her face.

Bill stopped when he saw Mulder sitting in the chair he normally occupied at the table. Everyone turned and looked at him. Oh god.

"What's he doing here?" He asked Scully. She had trouble answering him, he clenched his fists. Mulder spoke up;

"I'm walking Scully to school," Mulder turned in his seat.

"I didn't ask you, spooky…" he snarled. William Scully stood up and stood between him and Mulder;

"Junior. Outside, now." He commanded.

Bill went to speak, but broke his gaze with his father and nodded. He took one last look at Mulder before walking out to the back door. Mr. Scully followed him. Mulder was relieved; Bill still bowed down to at least one person. Luckily that one person was on his side.

Scully felt the tension in the room; she had to get out of there. She turned back to Mulder. "We better get going; there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

They walked together, down the road. Mulder could see Scully was troubled; he grabbed her hand and asked; "What's the matter? I'm over that thing with Bill if that's what you're worried about."

She squeezed his hand. "Mulder, it's not that. It's just that, I saw something last night after I got home and I need to tell you."

"Okay, I'm listening."

"I kinda saw Bill kissing a girl…"

"What? You mean you're brother found someone who will actually put up with him? Was she ugly" he asked cheekily.

Scully giggled. "Well that's debatable; um… he was kissing Diana"

Mulder froze and stared. He looked around him and her, searching for something, but Scully couldn't guess what. He bent down and placed his free hand on her shoulder; "You sure Scully? You sure it wasn't someone else?"

"No. I'm sure it was her."

Mulder looked away and sighed, shaking his head. He dropped the hand on her shoulder back down to his side. He looked back down at her, "Okay, then I reckon we should just leave them alone. But keep an eye on your brother."

"Why?"

"I dunno… just promise me you will." Scully nodded. She wasn't convinced he was so ignorant; but if he was willing to let the subject go, so was she.

They continued on till they got to school. They quickly forgot about Diana and Bill; or at least tried to by not talking about it.

The next day at lunch; Monica and Scully found their usual table empty.

"I haven't seen the guys since this morning, have you?" Scully asked Monica.

"Nup, I saw Mulder in maths and I came to school with John. But apart from that, no." She replied as they sat down at their table.

"Hey Mon, check this out!" She pointed to the corner of their table where, in blue white board marker, it was written;

To Monica and Dana,
Try the gym.
From Mulder and John.


Monica and Scully looked at each other, smiling like crazy. Scully grabbed Monica's hand and they ran together out of the cafeteria; leaving their lunches behind them on their graphitized table.

They burst through the gym doors and ran onto the court. They looked around and spotted Mulder and Doggett standing at the top of the bleachers; in their black and red basketball uniforms, hands behind their back; with the guiltiest smiles conceived by man. The girls stood in the middle of the court, panting from all the running they had done to get there so quickly.

The boys looked at each other; still grinning. They began walking down the steps; hands still behind their backs. The girl dropped their heavy school bags. The boys stopped in front of them, their shoes squeaking on the smooth court.

"Close your eyes" Mulder said.

"We got a surprise for you two." Doggett added.

Monica and Scully exchanged worried looks. They grabbed each other's hand for support and closed their eyes.

"Okay" said Mulder.

"Open" said Doggett.

The girls opened their eyes and were greeted by two black and red basketball singlets being held up in front of them. They weren't average shirts though. The one Mulder held up had 'my girl' in small writing, and 'DANA' printed underneath in big red letters. Monica's was the same except hers said 'MONICA' instead.

Both the girl squealed loudly and jumped into their boyfriends arms. Monica kissed John on the lips and Mulder pulled Scully off the ground and span her around. When he finally put her down she gave him a soft peck on his lips.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you guys! These are awesome!" Monica wiggled into hers over the top of her school shirt.

"Yes! Thank you! You guys are so sweet!" Mulder helped Scully into hers.

"Hey, you two don't mind if we go, um…" John tilted his head towards the door. It was pretty obvious what he meant: go make out in his truck. He didn't need to say it.

"Nah, go for it." Mulder said, waving his hand nonchalantly. John and Monica grabbed their bags and ran out of the gym. Leaving Mulder and Scully alone. Scully reached up and linked her hands behind Mulder's neck.

"This was really sweet of you." He held onto her hips. He leaned down and gave her another innocent kiss; it was just starting to get a bit more passionate when a voice called out to them.

"You two shouldn't be in here." They stopped and looked for the source of the intruding voice. They found it. Mr. Spender was standing in the shadows next to the bleachers.

Mulder and Scully broke apart quickly. The school didn't forbid it, but it did frown on public displays of affection. Scully wiped her mouth discreetly, Mulder spoke up; "Sorry Mr. Spender. I was just gonna teach Scully how to play ball one on one."

Spender didn't leave his spot. "I see that. Don't let me catch you in here again."

"Yes sir." They replied in unison. Mulder took Scully's bag in one hand and her shoulder in the other. They ran quickly out the gym doors into the hall.

'An unusual couple they make. Complete opposites. But at the same time, complete equals. He will be stabilized by her logic and independent mind. She, by his playfulness and optimism. They make a dangerous combination of personalities.' Spender thought as he watched them run. He took a puff from the cigarette he had been concealing behind his back.

He turned and looked into the darkness under the bleachers were three figures were crouching; trying to stay concealed. They stood.

"Hurry up." He mumbled to them. He looked back at the courts and took another puff of his cigarette.

"Okay, let's do this." Krycek said as he held out his hand to the two seniors before him. They pulled out 20 dollar notes from their pockets and handed them to him.

Spender watched them and dropped the half finished cigarette onto the floor. He stood and crushed it with his foot, before flicking it under the bleachers. It slid and came to rest next to many others.


Hmmm… Where to go from here. Ooh! I got it! Not telling though!! He he he! :p next chapter, more bill and Diana mischief, and Mulder and Scully go on a double date with Monica and Doggett … until something spoils the fun… OMG! X files is on!! Gotta go!