March 10 2000 11:20 PM
As Mulder approached his front door he could hear laughter bubbling out, more specifically Scully's laughter. He smiled, glad the Gunmen had been able to distract her for a few hours. He opened the door.
"And it was a dog the whole time?" Laughed Scully.
"Yeah, Mulder had spent the better part of the day chasing after Sasquatch only to find out that instead of a hulking beast. A cute little Pomeranian had been the cause of the damage." Replied Frohike.
Mulder cursed internally, of course they were telling her stories about his stupid mistakes on early X Files. "All right enough of that." He said striding into the room.
Scully was in the middle of the couch wedged between Frohike and Byers, Langly had taken the office chair and was lazily swinging round on it. She looked up to see Mulder and promptly burst into another fit of laughter. "Oh Mulder, you were so cute back then." She said between bursts.
Mulder shrugged, pretending to be annoyed. "Okay boys, hit the road before you tell her all my embarrassing stories." He joked gesturing his thumb towards the door.
The Gunmen stood up to leave, saying their goodbyes to Scully. Frohike came to stand near Mulder. "Muldy, can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked quietly.
Mulder looked at the man and followed him out the front door. When the door was closed he turned to his friend. "What's up Hickey?"
"I'm not going to pretend to know what's going on between you and Agent Scully." He started.
Mulder opened his mouth to protest but Frohike waved him off. "Just listen. I don't know what's happening between you two, but its clear your more than just friends. Let me make this clear, Mulder you are one of my best friends. But if you hurt her, I will hunt you down and kill you. That beautiful young woman has been through enough pain already, so if you aren't serious about her stop now, before it gets too deep."
Mulder had listened carefully to his best friend and now he stared down at the smaller man intently. "I am more serious about her than I have ever been with anything in my life." He said simply.
Frohike nodded, and then broke into a large grin. He clapped Mulder on the back. "About time." He said and walked away.
Mulder stood in the hall watching him catch up with the other Gunmen in the elevator, thinking about what he had said. He was serious about Scully, and he would make it his mission to never let her get hurt as long as she kept him around. If only she was serious about him.
He opened the door to find Scully standing on the other side. "What was that about?" She asked putting her hands on her hips.
Mulder smiled and pulled her into a hug. "I think we are well and truly busted when it comes to the Gunmen. Hickey just gave me the big brother speech on hurting you."
She laughed. "Yeah that may have been my fault."
Mulder pulled back to look into her eyes. "How so?"
She broke eye contact looking down at her feet. "They told me that you gave them your porn collection. I may have reacted unexpectedly." She said slowly.
Mulder laughed. "What did you do?"
Scully sighed and moved over to the couch and sat down. Mulder followed and sat next to her, his hand resting on her thigh. "Well, Langly made a joke that he must have been seeing someone, and I went bright red and may have choked on my drink a little." Mulder let out a deep chuckle picturing Scully in that moment. "Shut up, it's hard to keep your cool when you're coughing up soda."
"It's fine Scully, that is, as long as it's okay with you?" He said trying to catch her eyes.
She thought for a moment, the Gunmen knowing about them wasn't too bad, after all Charlie and Ellen knew. It was only fair that Mulder's friends knew too. "I don't mind." She said finally, smiling up at him.
Baby steps, thought Mulder. He had already decided that there would never be anyone else for him except her. But with Scully finally acknowledging their relationship to others, he had hope that one day she would feel as much for him as he did for her.
Little did he know how much Scully care for him. It still frightened her, she genuinely though herself incapable of feeling love. At least in that way, but it scared her less every day. "Come on, it's late and I'm tired." She said standing up and pulling him into the bedroom.