Hey, look! It's another chapter that has spoilers for Small Potatoes. So, you've been warned. Also, all mistakes are mine.
Dislcaimer: I don't own Friends or Fools Rush In.
Enjoy!
A couple weeks later, the agents return from their case and Scully soon finds herself opening up to her partner about her past over a glass of of wine. Leaning in for a kiss, the woman is shocked when her front door opens revealing a rather distraught Mulder. Jumping back, Scully is mortified when the Mulder on her couch turns into their suspect in the case they work on hours earlier. Turning to the door again, she is doubly shocked seeing Chloe behind her father staring at the agents quizzically. Ignoring the false Mulder, the red head says, "Chloe, why don't you try to get some sleep, okay? You look tired."
Nodding, Chloe obeys, but keeps her eye on the stranger as she leaves the room by way of the kitchen. Neither adult is comfortable with the man in Scully's living room, and decide to arrest him. Before leaving, Mulder asks his partner, "Are you sure it's okay that she stays here tonight?"
"Yeah. Are you fine with her staying by herself?" Scully questions feeling a little selfish for wanting to see Van Blundht behind bars.
Escorting the man into custody, the agents sit quietly in the car as Eddie asks questions about Scully's arrest. Intrigued, Mulder asks, "You got arrested? What'd you do?"
When the red head says nothing hoping Blundht will stay quiet, her partner redirects the conversation. Dismissing their suspect, Mulder says, "Thanks for letting Chloe sleep at the apartment."
"She has her own room there anyway. Besides, she looked dead on her feet," Scully answers with concern.
"Yeah, she had a project due today and decided to wait until the last minute to finish her essay for it."
Scully nods in understanding adding, "I did that a few times."
"You? Dana Katherine Scully? Never!" Mulder teases pulling into the station.
"Wait, you two have a kid?" Eddie interrupts not quite following the agents' conversation. Scully merely rolls her eyes as she opens the passenger side door.
After taking Van Blundht into custody, the agents head back to their vehicle. When her partner snickers a little, Scully asks, "What?"
"You could've had a baby with a monkey tail."
Rolling her eyes, Scully says, "It was not a monkey tail."
"Says the woman who almost slept with a different me. You been fantasizing about me long, Agent Scully?" Mulder teases as he and his partner get in the car.
"I'm not even gonna answer that," Scully states as she buckles her seat belt. Smirking, the man replies, "How are you going to explain that to Chloe?"
"Explain what? All she is aware of is I almost kissed a man who looked like you."
"Scully, she saw him when he shifted back to himself," Mulder stresses. Shaking her head, the woman answers, "I guess we'll have to explain that we don't just search for aliens. Why was Chloe with you anyway?"
"We were gonna take you out to eat as a surprise," Mulder answers, "Guess you beat us to it."
"Very funny," Scully states
The next morning, Chloe wakes up to silence. Curious to see who is actually in the apartment, the twelve year old peeks in to Scully's room and finds her asleep. Tiptoeing to the living room, Chloe finds her dad asleep on the couch. Debating on making breakfast, the twelve year old shrugs before heading back to her room to get dressed. Hearing a noise on her way back to her room, the preteen thinks her surrogate mother is awake. Looking in, Chloe tiptoes to the woman's bed and crawls in.
Stirring a little, the red head wonders who is beside her. Opening her eyes slightly, the red head smiles saying, "Hi, Sweetie."
"Hi. Sorry if I woke you," Chloe whispers snuggling into the sheets.
"You didn't. What made you come in here?" Scully asks hoping the girl is okay.
"I wanted to," Chloe replies as they stay silent. After a moment the girl asks, "Do you like my dad?"
Taken back by the question, Scully furrows her eyebrows before answering, "Sure,"
"Like or like like?" Chloe clarifies with a small grin. Keeping a poker face, Scully asks, "Why do you ask?"
"Cause you almost kissed him last night. Well, fake him."
Sitting up, Scully tries to explain, "Chloe about that–"
Hearing a noise, the woman and preteen look over to the door as Mulder walks by heading toward the bathroom. Realizing he does not notice them, the woman and child start to smile.
Coming out of the bathroom, Mulder hears the whispering and small bits of laughter coming from his partner's bedroom. Letting the woman and his daughter talk a little more, Mulder decides to make breakfast.
"Sleep well?" The man asks thinking both his daughter and partner enter the kitchen.
"Sure did," Scully replies with a yawn before pouring a cup of coffee. The woman cradles the cup in her hands before looking to see what is on the stove.
"Is that all you can make?" She asks with a raised eyebrow. Taking offense, Mulder replies, "That's what was in your fridge."
Scully merely nods happy he does not comment on the pint of ice cream stashed in her freezer. Turning to leave, she hears him ask, "How do you want your eggs?"
The red head almost does a double take before she remembers what the man is talking about.
"However you cook them is fine," She affirms before sitting down at the table waiting for Chloe to come out of the bathroom. Seeing the twelve year old exit the bathroom, the red head stands and walks into the small hallway.
"Hi, Dad," The twelve year old says with a yawn.
"Hey, Kiddo. You want any eggs?"
Chloe nods before placing her order. Sitting at the table, the girl makes sure Scully is not in earshot before asking, "Dad, why did that guy last night look like you?"
Cracking the last egg, Mulder lets the food begin cooking before saying, "Because he's a shape shifter."
"But he turned into someone else," Chloe replies confused. He smiles thinking of the time his daughter questions him about aliens at four years old. Happily for her father, the girl's curiosity only grows as she gets older.
"Yeah, shape shifters change into other people. This one happened to turn into me," Mulder answers turning back to the stove.
"And almost kiss Scully," The twelve year old points out matter of factly. "Yeah, and that," The father mumbles. Teasing, Chloe asks, "Because she likes you?"
Mulder almost turns back to his daughter to say something when Scully says, "Chloe, I think we need to talk about your need to get us together."
"Well, why won't you?" The preteen questions. Sighing, Mulder places the last egg on a plate, turns the burner off, then looks at his daughter.
"The Bureau has a strict policy about co- workers dating. Besides, I'm her boss," The man explains.
"It didn't stop Rachel in Friends," Chloe grumbles.
"This isn't a TV show, Chloe," Mulder replies as he sets a plate in front of his daughter. Sitting down and placing the other two plates on the table, Mulder shares a look with his partner as if asking to sit down and talk with the twelve year old. Scully nods slightly before eating her food.
"Dad, can Amanda, Anna, and I go to the movies today? There's a new movie out that we want to see."
"What movie?" Mulder asks. Chloe suddenly becomes more interested in her food. He asks the question again with a little more force. Finally, the twelve year old mumbles, "Fools Rush In."
"What?" Mulder asks not updated on popular films.
"Fools Rush In. It's got Chandler from Friends!" Chloe cries. Scully raises an eyebrow at the girl's outburst before saying, "What's it rated?"
"PG," The girl lies. Knowing the twelve year old is lying,the red head keeps her eyebrow raised as she responds, "I know on a movie theater marquee I saw it said it's PG- 13."
Hurt that his daughter lies to him, Mulder says, "In no way are you going to that film with your friends, Chloe Samantha. You lied to us and I hope you know I'm disappointed in you. Clean up the breakfast dishes and we'll get ready to go."
"Mulder," Scully says softly following her partner into the living room where he goes to clean up his belongings. Nodding toward his partner's bedroom, Mulder leads his partner inside the room and shuts the door.
"Are you endorsing her seeing that film?" He asks. Shaking her head, Scully replies, "No! I saw a preview for it the other night. I would never let her see that, but do you two have to leave? She can be punished just as well here."
Mulder thinks over the proposition before relenting and saying, "I just hate that she lied to me! What did she think she could get away with?"
Touching his arm, Scully says, "I know. It's not like her, but Mulder, this may mean we should be here more. I don't see us parenting very well while we're always gone."
Mulder smiles at his partner's use of the word us, but decides to change the topic instead of tease the woman.
"I think we need to talk to her about her obsession with our becoming a couple. It was cute for a while, but psychiatrically it concerns me."
"What do you propose? Isn't it only natural to want two parental figures?" Scully questions. Her partner nods, but knows his daughter is living in a fantasy world that he may perpetuate. Scully can see the man's thoughts racing before she offers, "Do you think we should just ask her? Mulder, you may need to stop thinking psychiatrically on this one."
Sighing, Mulder nods before leaving the room. Seeing his daughter finishing the dishes, the father tells her they are not leaving. Smiling, the girl hugs her father.
"However," He adds, "You have to call your friends and tell them you can't go and Scully and I have to talk to you. Okay?"
Looking at the adults questioningly, Chloe nods before calling her friends. Hanging up the phone one last time, Chloe turns in the chair she sits in to see the adults sitting on the couch.
"Remember your comment earlier about us liking each other?" Scully asks soothingly. Nodding, the twelve year old hopefully answers, "Yeah."
"Well, your Dad and I were wondering why you asked. We know you've been saying that we're together for years, but Chloe–"
"We think it's a good idea for you tell us why you actually want us together. You can't keep telling people we're a couple forever," Mulder answers. Chloe looks between the two adults thinking she can tell whoever she wants that they are a couple. The way the adults act, no one will want to disprove her lie. Instead, the twelve year old is silent for a moment until she reluctantly admits, "All my friends have both parents, and you're the closest thing to a mom I have, Scully. I just want to be like the rest of my friends."
The adults have no idea how hard the twelve year old tries to participate in her social circle regarding her lack of a mother. Nodding, Scully and Mulder let the girl leave the living room with strict orders not to watch television for a week. With a huff, Chloe goes to her room.
"Do you think she is telling the truth?" Scully asks turning to her partner. Mulder nods remembering how bad his daughter felt not getting a response from Pheobe after sending the woman a Mother's Day card in first grade.
"Yeah," Mulder answers, "I just didn't know she still felt that way."
"What way?" Scully asks needing a small bit of insight on the eight years she misses by not working with her partner.
"Rejected. Pheobe is in no way the motherly type," Mulder replies. The agents sit in silence before Scully muses, "Maybe I could take off on her Spring Break and we can do something together. That is, if I can get the time off."
"Done," The man replies with a grin before joking, "Who knows? Maybe the Skinman will help me with a case?"
The red head merely rolls her eyes knowing the chance of Mulder working with Skinner is rather slim.
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