Chapter 14 (Mulder)
I hated parties, and Scully knew that. I had a feeling she was receiving some form of perverse pleasure by making me attend this party though she had insisted numerous times that her mother was the one who had decided we would all go. I could not help but think that Scully had somehow talked her mother into forcing my attendance, however.
As we walked in the door, I glanced at my surroundings, the feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach growing stronger as I saw the crowd surrounding me. I felt no particular desire to speak with any of them; the few who were around my age had already sectioned themselves off into their respective groups, and it did not look as if I would be welcome in any of them. Maggie was pulled away by another neighbor, and her husband reluctantly followed her. Bill and Missy both joined one of the surrounding groups of younger guests, leaving Charlie, Scully, and I standing awkwardly on one side of the room.
"Aren't we Mr. and Mrs. Popularity," I remarked.
"We could make an effort," Scully said.
"We could," I agreed though I made no move to do so.
"It would probably be the right thing to do in these circumstances."
"I'm not so sure about that one."
"Why did we have to come to this stupid party anyway?" Charlie questioned, his voice rising higher than normal in a whine.
"Because Mom told us we had to," Scully answered.
"Mulder, can we go play basketball or go exploring or something?"
Mulder laughed. "I'm not sure if your mom would approve of that."
"But I'm bored."
"That makes two of us." I turned to Scully. "Scully, we're bored!" I complained in the whiniest voice I could manage. She responded by rolling her eyes.
"Go talk to people," she suggested.
"But we don't wanna!" I said, stomping my foot slightly theatrically.
"Yeah, we don't wanna!" Charlie agreed, mimicking my actions.
Scully shook her finger at me. "You are a bad influence on him."
"Me? Never!" I exclaimed in mock horror.
Eventually, a woman in her late thirties came over and attempted to draw us into conversation. Scully immediately began to talk, but Charlie and I were much more reluctant. We spent much of the conversation making strange hand signals to each other whenever we believed neither Scully nor the other woman was looking.
An hour later, I finally managed to escape outside. After the first lady who started up a conversation with us, everyone seemed to decide that it would be the perfect time to engage us in a conversation. I finally decided that I could no longer take the inane conversation, so I excused myself to use the restroom. Once on the porch in the front of the house, I took a deep breath of fresh air, leaning against the railing as I stared out into the night. It was cool, but I was accustomed to the cold, and the slight chill did not bother me in the least.
I saw a figure trudging up the driveway, also seemingly unbothered by the cold though he wore no coat. I could not make out the details of his face from where I was standing, but it did not really matter. It was unlikely that I knew the person; he was probably just another party guest. Still, my eyes were drawn to him, and I watched as a puff of smoke emerged from the approximate location of his mouth. At first, I thought it might be the moisture from his breath condensing in the cool weather, but I soon noticed the faint smell of nicotine on the air.
I could not believe that Cancer Man had found us here, but the closer he came, the more features of his face I could make out, and the more sure I was that our nemesis was approaching. I felt fury watch over me; could he not ever just leave us alone? Even thirty-three years in the past, he was still there, waiting in the shadows just around the corner, waiting for us to let our guard down and give him an advantage.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I questioned, pushing myself straighter so that I stood above him on the porch.
"I hear congratulations are in order," he remarked casually.
"You son of a bitch, if you lay a finger on Scully or that baby, I swear to God I will hunt you down and kill you slowly." I approached him, but he held up a hand. I stopped before reaching the steps, still fuming. My fingers itched to grab his neck, for I wanted to wipe that smug smile off his lips once and for all. But I knew Scully's friends and family were just inside the door, and I was still trying to remain in their good graces, so I held myself back.
"I am not here to harm Scully or the baby, Agent Mulder. Can a grandfather not be proud of his first grandchild?"
"You are not this baby's grandfather."
"Genetics disagree with you."
"Genetics aren't everything."
"Well, at any rate, I thought I'd offer a present." He reached into his inner coat pocket, and I stiffened, half-expecting his hand to emerge gripping a .45. My own hand fell to my waist where I was once again disappointed by the lack of a weapon. Fortunately, when he removed his hand from his coat, he held only a few sheets of paper which he held out to me. Cautiously, I walked closer and took them from his hand. I unfolded the top one, squinting in the dim light of the moon.
"It's a birth certificate," I finally realized.
"It is," Cancer Man confirmed.
"For a Richard Lawerence Matthas," I read from the paper. I looked up at him, my fury slightly abated now and replaced by curiosity. "Why are you giving this to me?"
"Open the envelope." I did as he asked, and a social security card fell out closely followed by a driver's license. It took me a moment to make out the picture; when I did, I glanced back at Cancer Man with puzzlement all over my face.
"That's my picture on the driver's lisence."
"Exactly."
"What are you playing at?"
"If things are to remain as they were, which would be advisable, Fox Mulder cannot marry Dana Scully nor can he father her children. Richard Matthas, however, is free to do both." He took a long draw of his cigarette, blowing the smoke out slowly and watching as it rose slowly, billowing out slightly in the light wind.
"So you're saying that I should marry Scully but as this Richard Matthas guy?"
"I'm simply saying that any official connection you have to Agent Scully outside the FBI should not be under the name Fox Mulder."
I looked down at the papers again, hardly daring to believe what the man in front of me was telling me. We were sworn enemies and had been for years. It was inconceivable that he would suddenly decide to help me. He had to be playing at something; there was some catch to this deal. I was sure of it.
"What kind of name is Lawrence anyway?" I questioned, stalling as I attempted to think of a way to subtly discover Cancer Man's true motive.
"It was your father's name," he said, turning from me. "He died before you were born. Your mother named you in his honor. All the information is in there."
Screw subtly. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I have a vested interest in making sure things remain the same as before. That includes you and Agent Scully working on the X-files."
"What if we decide not to do that? What if I never even join the FBI?"
"You will, Agent Mulder. You both will."
"Why? It's still my choice, right? I still have free will. I can choose to do whatever I want. What if I choose to practice psychology?"
"You won't choose that because you, too, have a vested interest in making sure things remain the same as before."
"A vested interest? What exactly would I have a vested interest in? Armageddon? Because from the few seconds of it that I saw, it didn't appear too pleasant."
"Trust me, Agent Mulder, things could be much worse."
"Worse than the end of the world?" I looked at him skeptically.
"It's a dangerous game, Agent Mulder. Just remember what you're gambling with." And before I could question him further, he turned and disappeared, leaving me once more wondering if he was no more than a whiff of smoke.
The door opened behind me, and I turned to see Scully's small frame in the lit doorway. "My mother said you were talking to some older gentleman out here," she remarked, her eyes searching the shadows of the yard.
"I was."
"She mentioned that he was smoking almost constantly."
"He just left. You can still smell it."
"What did he want?" Wordlessly, I handed her the documents, and she glanced over them quickly. "A fake identity? Why would he give you that?"
"He wants us to join the X-files. So evidently I can be your husband and the father of our child but only as Richard Matthas. I don't think I look like a Rick, do I?" I was trying to lighten the moment with one of my typical jokes; unfortunately, the corners of her lips remained curved downward.
"Why would he want us on the X-files? Last time, he did everything he could to remove us from them."
"He said something about it being in his best interest for things to remain as they were. Said it would be in our best interests, too." Even in the dim light, I could see the skepticism on her face, and I knew it was mirrored on mine. "I'm wary, too, but I think we should at least take his advice about the X-files. It was too big of a part of our lives for us to just give up on it. Besides, I think that it might be the best means of stopping the upcoming invasion. And Cancer Man has certainly made it easier for us." She nodded, looking down at the papers in her hands.
"You should probably come back inside before my mother comes out to find you and then chastises you for not making an effort to meet people."
"Why do I have to meet people? I don't even live here."
"I don't know why, but it would probably be in your best interests to do as she asks. My parents still aren't completely happy with you," she pointed out. I grumbled a bit, but I knew she had a point, so I reluctantly followed her inside.
We finally escaped from the party just after midnight. Charlie looked as if he were about ready to fall over from exhaustion, and he fell asleep on the way back to the house. Missy was still bubbly and cheerful; evidently, she had been the life of the party. Bill was more subdued though I knew that he, too, had enjoyed the party, having found some people around his own age to talk to (including one girl who he seemed especially interested in). William had seemed less than thrilled about the party from the beginning, but it made Maggie happy, so he had gone. My reasons for going were similar—Scully had wanted me to go, so I went.
The rest of the break passed fairly uneventfully. Christmas day with the Scully family was a huge ordeal involving more food than I typically ate in a week. Because of my frequent wanderings around town, I had managed to pick up a present for every member of the Scully family (even Bill—though I spent some time trying to decide whether or not it was worth it to give him something). They all seemed to enjoy the presents, or at least gave the pretense of enjoying them, so I felt that perhaps I was slowly ingratiating myself further.
On the last night I was staying, I was sitting at Scully's desk in her room, waiting on her to change. We had gone out to dinner that night to a nice restaurant (I was still attempting to make up for all the years without every actually going on a date). As soon as we had arrived back at the house, Scully had declared that she was going to change into something more comfortable. Without really thinking, I followed her up to her room. Over the years, I had seen her change plenty of times; after all, we had lived together for over a decade. And so it was perfectly natural for me to sit down at her desk to wait while she changed. Unfortunately, I forgot to account for the fact that we had been basically celibate for a couple weeks, and my body was itching for release. I happened to catch a glimpse of her as she removed her dress, and I felt my slacks grow tighter. Swallowing hard, I tried to concentrate on the stack of papers on the desk in front of me, but my eyes were continuously drawn to the mirror to my right which clearly revealed Scully's half-naked form.
Without truly processing what I was doing, I stood and crossed the room, placing my arms on either side of her to pin her against the nearest wall. My lips crashed down on hers as my body pressed hers tighter against the wall. I felt her relax into the kiss, opening her mouth to grant entrance to my probing tongue. "It's a good thing my parents took Charlie out to see a movie," Scully remarked breathlessly when I pulled away for a moment. I simply nodded, too intoxicated by desire to speak coherently. Of course, it didn't really matter. We had gone too far now to stop; as soon as I had pressed her against the wall, we had passed the point of no return. It turns out that once we let desire overtake us, we were never again very good at the whole self-control thing. I would blame it on teenage hormones, but the same had been true in our previous lives. I can vividly recall numerous occasions where we had made love in interesting locations simply because neither of us could wait any longer. And my desk was not even the strangest of them.
My lips were once more attached to hers, my hands seeking out the clasp to her bra. Her nimble fingers had already managed to undo the top two buttons of my dress shirt and were quickly moving to the third. Just as I discovered the elusive clasp, the door to the bedroom opened, and we jumped away from each other as if scorched. Luckily, it was only Missy who breezed over to her dresser. "I'm not going to look at you because I really don't want to know what you were doing," she announced, resolutely looking forward so that she could not see us. "I just need to get my purse which I left, and then I'll be out of your way." She grabbed a small black purse from the dresser before waving over her shoulder. "Carry on."
As the door shut behind her, I turned back to Scully. The interruption had lessened the urgency somewhat though the desire still remained. "It could've been worse," I pointed out. She smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I guess it could've been." I bent over to kiss her again, moving a bit slower now, but my pace quickly picked up as the passion roared to life in my chest once more, and the brief interruption was soon forgotten. Removing her bra was relatively easy since I had found the clasp, and I made quick work of the garment, tossing it to one side. I could tell she felt the same desire, for she pressed eagerly against me, her usually dexterous fingers fumbling now with the buttons.
I started to circle my hands to her breasts, but she pulled away, shaking her head. "We can go slow later," she told me. "Right now, I want you inside of me." Abandoning the buttons, she quickly unzipped my pants, pushing them and my boxers aside before reaching down to guide me inside her.
Taking Scully fast and hard against the wall of her childhood room was not something I ever imagined doing even in my wildest dreams (okay, I may have imagined it but only in a "wouldn't it be great if this would happen" sort-of way not a "this might happen in the future" sort-of way). But there we were. It did not take long for us both to topple over the cliff, and we spent a few seconds catching our breath before I guided both of us to the bed, determined to make Scully keep her promise about taking it slow. With the initial desire sated, I was able to think more clearly, and I began to kiss her long and deep, ensuring as I did so that the kisses were considerably less heated than before though still as passion-filled.
After a few minutes, I pulled back slightly, resting myself on one elbow so that I could reach up with my free hand to brush a few sweaty tendrils of hair from her forehead. "I love you," I told her matter-of-factly, letting my fingers lightly brush her skin. She pursed her lips, kissing my fingers as they passed.
"I love you, too," she answered.