So sorry for how long it took to update this! Contrary to a review, I am not ending this. Writer's block is the worst. Yes, that's what I'm blaming this on. That and we get to see Diana (Please, note my sarcasm at the last comment. Who seriously likes Diana Fowley?)! Also, this marks the end of Season 5! One more season and I move on to the third and final installment on this. Also, if anyone catches on to certain names, I blame Ellie Sculder. For once Chris Carter cannot be blamed for absurdities.
Enjoy!
That week, Mulder and Scully sit in the office doing paperwork while Chloe does school work. Tapping her pencil on her homework paper, the teen asks her dad, "Can you teach me to play baseball? Kyle's having his birthday party at the batting cages and you only taught me how to play T-ball."
His eyes lighting up, Mulder answers, "Sure! How about after school for the next couple days."
"Really? Thanks, Dad!" Chloe exclaims before asking Scully if she wants to go. Shaking her head, Scully decides to take her mother's advice and keep some distance between her and Mulder for a while.
"I'll let you and your dad do this together, okay? Maybe another time," The red head explains. Smirking, Mulder states, "I'll hold you to that."
After school the next day, Chloe hops into her father's car eager to begin practice. Sharing sunflower seeds with his daughter, Mulder asks about her day as he drives to a baseball field near their apartment. Grabbing be the baseballs and a couple bats from the trunk of the car, the father leads his daughter to the field.
"Okay, now remember to adjust your stance and then swing!" Mulder calls from the pitcher's mound. Confused, Chloe yells, "What?"
"Hips before hands," Her father answers back hoping her daughter will understand the alliteration better. Nodding, Chloe watches her father throw her the ball before following through. Hitting the ball dead on, the teen exclaims, "Dad! I did it!"
After three hours of learning and practicing, she finally hits the ball and happily runs around the bases.
"I'm so ready for this party!" Chloe exclaims as she and her father head back to the car at the beginning of the evening.
"Yeah?" Mulder asks adding, "How do you feel about your old man tagging along?"
"Eh," Chloe replies with a shrug. "Just don't try to coach us like you did my T-ball team in kindergarten."
"Hey, I wasn't terrible!"
"Dad, you tried to get us all to wear your favorite baseball team's jersey."
"No I didn't," Mulder balks. Rolling her eyes, Chloe replies, "Yeah you did. Everyone is still talking about it."
"Yeah, well at least I wasn't obsessed with making daisy chains in the outfield," Mulder jokes. Sighing, Chloe replies, "That was once! You shouldn't have put me so close to Anna."
"Speaking of Anna, is she going to Kyle's party?"
Nodding, Chloe explains that it will be her, Anna, Kyle, and a couple of his guy friends. Nodding, Mulder decides the group is okay for his daughter before getting in the car. As soon as they come home for the night, Chloe places a call to Scully's to tell her about baseball practice.
"It was great! You should have seen me hit the second to last time! It wasn't a foul or anything!" Chloe exclaims when Scully asks her how she likes baseball.
"I'm glad you had fun," Scully replies from her end. Smiling, the red head wonders if spending time away from the teen is a good thing, but remembers how much she liked quality time with her father and dismisses the thought adding, "Did you run the bases?"
"Hit a home run!" Chloe replies happily as she sees her father tell her it's time to get off the phone. Sighing, the teen says, "I have to go. But, Dad wants to talk to you!"
Knowing full well she just lies to her guardian, the teen plays off the intended set up as completely unintentional. She has seen Sleepless in Seattle. Shrugging innocently, Chloe hands the phone off to her father just as Scully begins to protest.
"Hey," Mulder awkwardly states once he picks up the phone. His partner answers just as awkward before asking about batting practice. Laughing, the father proudly responds, "She's got a really good arm. I'm wondering if softball isn't in her future."
His comment elicits a small laugh from Scully who replies, "I don't know how you'd handle the softball moms Mulder. You barely escaped them when Chloe was in elementary school."
Shuddering at the women who still ogle him in the parking lot when he picks up his daughter, Mulder answers, "Good thing you're my buffer."
"Yeah," The red head replies picking at the fabric on her bedspread before replying, "It's late, Mulder. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, night," He replies before hearing the same from Scully and ending the phone call.
Saturday, Mulder parks the car at the batting cages before letting his daughter out.
"Now, remember not to show off your throw too much at first," The father coaches as they sit in the parked car. Rolling her eyes for the tenth time, Chloe wonders if having her father help her is actually a good thing or not. Sighing she says, "I know."
Before he can get in another word, Mulder watches his daughter open the passenger side door and meet up with her friends.
Walking up to William and Katherine, Mulder says, "This looks fun."
"Yeah, we figured this is the last time we'll get to do something planned for him, so this is what he came up with," William replies watching the kids hit the baseballs. Nodding, Mulder wishes for that luxury. The older Chloe gets the more elaborate her party. He sees Chloe at her turn to bat and smiles.
"She's got a good arm," William compliments.
"Thanks," Mulder replies before they start an actual game of baseball. "She heard about the party and decided to ask for my help."
"Feels nice when they still want you around, doesn't it?" The other man asks as his two year old runs toward him. Watching William pick up his youngest son, Mulder replies, "Yeah. Sometimes."
Fifteen minutes later, William and Mulder round up the teens and explain the rules of baseball. Chloe smirks as she notices Anna and Amanda not paying too much attention. Once everyone understands the rules, Mulder and William leave the dug out and watch the thirteen year olds play the game.
"Is Scully not coming?" Anna asks after she strikes out. Grabbing the bat, Chloe shrugs.
"I'm not sure. I may be seeing her after this though. Why?"
"Wanted to see if you could come over," Anna replies before her friend goes up to bat. Cheering on their small group, Anna and Amanda happily sit in the dug out. They really only come because of Kyle's friends.
"Isn't Josh really cute in that jersey?" Anna asks admiring the boy. When her friend does not answer, the teen turns to find Amanda staring at the adults.
"Amanda?" Anna asks. Brought from her thoughts, the other girl answers, "Yeah?"
"What are you staring at?"
"Mr. Mulder. Did you see the way he looks in those jeans?" Amanda asks. A look of disgust on her face, Anna states, "He's as old as your Dad, Amanda."
"And?" The teen asks dismissing the statement. Anna merely rolls her eyes and waits for cake. Fifteen minutes later, Chloe comes back to find Anna sitting alone.
"What's wrong?" She asks her friend. Anna merely nods toward Amanda and says, "She's got a thing for your Dad."
"Ew."
"Yeah," Anna replies thankful that no one she knows is obsessed with her own father. Chloe merely cringes before yelling out to her father, "Is Scully coming?"
Mulder shrugs but points to his phone that he will call. Getting voicemail, the man leaves a message before getting roped into playing a game of T-ball with William, Nathan, and Will while Katherine sets up for lunch and cake. Halfway through explaining the rules to two toddlers, Mulder spots Scully and waves. With the boys not paying attention anymore, William says, "I can watch these two. Go say hi to your partner."
Nodding, Mulder heads off to the picnic tables.
"Hey," The agent says to his partner a few minutes later as she helps fix up the table and uncover the food. Getting icing on her hand, the woman quickly licks it off causing Mulder to whisper in her ear.
"Sexy," He teases. Rolling her eyes, Scully replies, "Shut up."
The teens walk up just as the agents begin light teasing causing Anna to ask Chloe, "Are they finally together?"
Sighing, Chloe answers, "No, but hopefully that will change."
Smirking, Anna waits patiently for her friend to explain her plan.
"Later," Chloe whispers.
After the party, Mulder gets a call on his cell phone and sighs once he hangs up. Looking at Scully, he can tell she knows they have a case. Thankfully, Chloe and Anna are too busy asking Anna's dad if the brunette can spend the night to notice the agents are secretly hoping the man says yes. Fortunately, Anna's father agrees.
"Bye, Dad!" Chloe calls as she gets into the other car.
"Bye!" Mulder calls as he explains that he has a case and to call Maggie if something happens. Adam nods before heading off. "So, what's your plan?" Anna asks dragging her friend to her room. Taking a breath, Chloe answers, "I'm going to make sure they're alone together more–"
Unimpressed, Anna replies, "They're alone together all the time! If it'd worked out you'd have like two other siblings by now."
"Let me finish," The brunette adds. "I'm going to leave them alone after I get them to fight about something, and then yell at them and lock them in a room until they make up."
"Or make- out," Anna provides not too keen on the plan, but enjoying her friend's shocked face. Thinking it over, the teen plops on her bed and asks, "You could send them on an accidental date."
"How do you tell someone they're on an accidental date?" Chloe questions. Anna shrugs.
"Tell them you want to eat somewhere fancy for your birthday and ditch them."
"I could also say I don't have anything to wear causing Scully to take me shopping and I accidentally find a dress for her as well. I'm taller than her now, so I'd be shopping in that section anyway," Chloe replies with a smile.
Arriving first at The Bureau after driving separately from his partner, Mulder goes down to the basement to find Skinner already inside the office.
"'Wow, you know you're going places in the Bureau when the Assistant Director tidies up your office for you. What's up?'" The younger man asks his boss. Flummoxed, Skinner replies, "'I was just, uh … looking.'"
Not fully believing the man, Mulder questions, "'For anything special?'"
"'I came down to ask you something. I, uh, I guess I was nosing around – wondering about you - your, uh, long-term plans.'"
"'My long term plans? You got them right there in your hands'," Mulder replies as he takes the files from his boss's hands and walking toward the filing cabinets. Rephrasing his question, Skinner asks, "'What do you hope to find? I mean, in the end.'"
"'Whatever I hope to find is in here. And maybe I'll know it when I find it. Is that what you came to ask me?'" The agent questions. Truthfully, the Assistant Director replies, "'No. There's a case – nothing I'd send you normally – a murder … an assassination of a Russian chess player. The shooter is former National Security Agency … one of ours. It's got a lot of people upset. This kid, Jeffery Spender – Special Agent Spender – he's been given the case. He's running it.'"
"'You give it to him?'" Mulder asks feeling slightly betrayed. Keeping his agent on his good side, Skinner answers, "'No. It came as an order from somewhere outside the Bureau. His team's assembled upstairs right now. He was very specific that you be excluded.'"
The X-Files head grins mischievously before following Skinner upstairs to the meeting. An hour later, the agent is confronted with former partner Diana Fowley. He tries not to show too much of a reaction despite their history and Scully's innocent interrogation in the car. With each question, Mulder and Diana will gloss over specifics hoping Scully will not catch on. Sadly for them, she does. She tries not to let their past bother her, but after they tell her nothing, she seeks out information from a trustworthy source. Leaving the boy in Diana's hands, Scully heads to the Lone Gunmen's hideout. After standing outside longer than she wants, the red head asks, "'Is somebody going to let me in?
Scully hears Frohike tell her he is coming as well as a series of locks being undone and soon enters the boys' lair.
"'Sorry. You caught me getting ready for bed. Come in. Come in'," Frohike apologizes as he shuts the door. The red head thanks the man before he asks, "'To what do we owe the pleasure at this late night hour?'"
"'I need your help'," Scully answers. Just as she asks, Langly comes in wearing pajamas and holding his toothbrush. When the blond asks what Scully needs help with the woman replies, "'You've all heard of Gibson Praise the chess wunderkind. These are a series of scans and neural electrical outputs of his brain and brain processes.'"
Placing pictures of the boy on a lit viewer, Scully adds, "'There seems to be some suspicion that he's a fraud.'"
"'Dorf on chess?'" Byers asks.
'"Well, apparently, he wins by reading his opponents' minds'," Scully replies.
"'I love that'," The oldest of the three answers. Confused by the woman's still being in their home, Langly asks, "'And you want us to what?'"
"'Analyze the data … with an eye to the parapsychological'," Scully explains.
"'Ooh …. A walk on the wild side'," Frohike teases.
Turning the viewer off, the red head bargains, "'First … I want you guys to tell me who Diana Fowley is.'"
Shocked, Byers asks, "'Diana Fowley? Geez, we haven't heard that name in a while.'"
"'Then you know her'," Scully states as Byers replies, "'Well … yeeaaah.'"
"'She was Mulder's chickadee when he just got out of the Academy. Good-looking'," Frohike supplies causing the red head to become jealous. Cooly, she states, "'Well, she claims to have worked closely with him for a while.'"
Unaware that the woman is fishing for information, Langly easily answers, "'She was there when he discovered the X-Files. She has a background of para-science.'"
"'She got a legat appointment a while back … in Berlin. I always wondered why they split up'," Byers answers oblivious to the red head's being uncomfortable reaction. With a tight smile, Scully turns the viewer on again and states, "'Well … Why don't you boys see what you can find?'"
Going back to the hospital where the staff run tests on the boy, Scully loses her resolve when she sees Diana and Mulder holding hands and laughing inside the observation room. Heading to her car, the red head gets in, shuts the door, and questions how Diana can destroy a relationships she and Mulder are finally starting to figure out. With a small sigh, Scully calls Mulder and tells him to meet her at The Bureau so she can give him Gibson's test results. Throughout the rest of the case, Scully tries to stay as professional as she can when babysitting an eleven year old telepathic chess player. However, leaving him with Diana for the night, Scully soon realizes the folly when the dark haired agent is taken to the hospital and the boy is kidnapped.
Sitting in Mulder's apartment, the adults are happy that Chloe is staying at Anna's for the night. There is too much pent up emotion between the partners to warrant a civil atmosphere. Scully is still angry over Diana and Mulder is still upset about the case. Hearing her phone ring, Scully goes to the desk to answer it while her partner stretches out on the couch. He listens every now and again regarding whenever he is sure his name comes up. With his eyes still closed, Mulder asks once Scully ends the call, "'Any news on Diana?'"
Pausing, the red head regroups not wanting to talk about the woman who happens to play an integral part in the creation of the X-files. With a sigh, she answers, "'They have her on maximum pressers but she's barely maintaining her pressure.'"
Nodding, the male agent soon changes the subject.
"'What did Skinner have to say?'" He asks. Knowing she has to tell him, Scully replies that Skinner is thinking of a reassignment.
Looking at his partner, Mulder questions, "'For who?'"
"'Both of us. These talks included instructions from the Justice Department to close down the X-Files'," The medical examiner answers wishing she did not have to tell him the news. Upset, Mulder replied, "'This was all strategized – every move. I just couldn't see it. It was all of a plan.'"
Saddened by an impending reassignment and exhausted from the case, the red head answers, "'Mulder, whatever you may believe, this time they may have won.'"
Mulder lets out a noncommittal hum before asking, "I'll let you take the couch if you want."
"No, l need to get home. I'll see you tomorrow," Scully answers. Walking out the apartment door moments later, the red head tries to dispel thoughts of Diana. Distance is just what she needs. Especially if she wants to figure out how to deal with her feelings toward her partner. She cannot live in denial. She knows she and Mulder do not behave like typical co-worker, but for tonight she wants to decompress from the day away from her friend.
Hours later, Scully enters her kitchen to make breakfast when her phone rings.
"Hello?" She asks.
"Scully, we need to get to the Bureau. Now," Mulder tells her. Nodding, Scully answers, "I'm on my way."
Entering the office, Scully stares incredulously at the charred remains of their office. She comes in a little after her partner so he can assess the damage without her, but soon finds herself gravitating toward him and places her hand on his upper arm. He is unresponsive to the touch. Knowing the office is his passion, the red head places her head on his chest and holds him. Neither says anything for a while until Skinner interrupts.
"I'll give you both clearance when you're able to go through whatever is left."
Scully nods before guiding her partner and friend out of the office.
"They did this," He seethes upon entering the hallway.
"Who?" Scully questions.
"Them! The one's who are after us, Scully."
The red head notices her partner's demeanor and knows he needs to get some fresh air. Dragging him from the basement onto the street, the woman rubs circles on her partner's back as he begins to suffer a panic attack.
"Let's go get Chloe," Scully whispers knowing they haven't seen her recently. Driving them back, Scully keeps her eyes on the road. For all that Diana does, Scully wants to believe she is the one who can pick up the pieces. With a sigh, she asks, "Do you want to tell Chloe about Diana?"
Shaking his head, Mulder replies, "No. She was never a fan of hers."
The red head decides that makes two against one on the Diana subject, but keeps the thought to herself. Instead, the agents drive in silence back to Mulder's apartment building.
Chloe and Anna wake up when they hear voices come from the living room. Still clad in her friend's pajamas, the brunette crawls out of bed and opens the door.
"Good morning," Mulder tells his daughter when he sees her. She groans asking what time it is. Finding out it is only eight o'clock in the morning, the teen turns back to the bedroom.
"Not so fast. I need you to come home," Mulder states adding, "Don't you have exams next week anyway?"
"Dad!" The girl groans.
"Chloe," Her father mimics. Rolling her eyes, Chloe goes to get her belongings before leaving her friend's place.
Coming back home the teen immediately heads toward her room when Scully calls, "Chloe, your dad and I need to talk to you."
Worried her guardian is sick again, Chloe immediately turns around.
"Your dad and I were reassigned," Scully tells the teen once they are all sitting in the living room. Curious, Chloe asks, "Like that time when I was ten?"
"Similar, but I don't have to hide my seeing you," Scully explains. She knows her partner is still shaken by the night's events. The red head takes a breath before explaining, "We don't know exactly what we'll be doing, but we'll still work together."
Chloe nods slowly as she wonders how her plan will work now.
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