"Mulder, stop pouting," Dana Scully huffed, rolling her eyes at her partner. "It's only two days."
"Yes, Scully. Two days of us sitting around talking about our feelings. It's not like we have anything more productive we could be doing with our time," he replied as he turned off the car's engine, definitely still pouting.
"Honestly, I'm impressed we've managed to go six years without having to sit through one of these. I think most partners are sent every couple of years," she replied mildly, grabbing her own suitcase out of the trunk and starting towards the hotel.
"Well, most partners don't know each other as well as we do. Our partnership is perfect." He caught up to her quickly with his longer strides, falling into step beside her and completely ignoring the eyebrow she arched in his direction.
The two agents entered the lobby in companionable silence, heading directly to the registration table across the large room. A young agent with long black hair and a nametag that read 'Emma Dowler, Cybercrime Division, Chicago Field Office' sat behind the desk, smiling widely. "Welcome to the annual FBI Partnership Seminar! My name is Emma, and I'm one of the organizers of this year's event! Just tell me your name and department and I'll grab your name tag!"
Scully gave a polite, tight-lipped smile. She may have been defending this weekend to her partner, but in reality she had little patience for this level of enthusiasm, and she had already identified Emma as one of those people who seem to end every sentence with an exclamation point, even when speaking aloud.
"Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, X Files."
The girl's eyes widened slightly, and Scully didn't miss the expression that flashed across her face, a combination of curiosity, amusement, and condescension. Good to know we still have a reputation at the academy, she thought wryly as Emma handed over the name tag stickers without comment.
"Just head on into the conference center and take a seat with your partner." Scully peeled the backing off of the sticker of Mulder's name tag and pressed it firmly onto his shirt, not giving him a chance to object to being labeled as "Fox" for the weekend. She smoothed it over the fabric until she glanced up to see him smirking down at her. She quickly removed her hand from his chest and turned away, walking into the conference room without looking back to see if he was following.
The long rectangular tables in the room were arranged in a U-shape, with seats for around 40 agents, though most of them were standing clustered in small groups, talking and laughing. Scully selected a chair at random and took a seat. She was carefully securing her own name tag to her blouse when Mulder plopped down in the chair to her left, immediately shifting in his chair to face her.
"Did you see the clouds as we were driving in this morning? I think they looked a little greyer than normal. It's probably an X file; I think we should investigate." His expression was hopeful, but she glared in response.
"Two days. Forty-eight hours. That's all," she told him for probably the fifteenth time since she'd gotten into his car that morning. "If nothing else, at least enjoy the fact that the FBI sprung for much nicer accommodations than the crappy motels we're usually stuck with. I, for one, am looking forward to trying out the jacuzzi tub in my room when today's meetings are through."
"If you're looking for company, maybe we can salvage this weekend after all," he said, grinning at her and waggling his eyebrows.
Instead of rolling her eyes and turning away like she knew he expected her to do, she raised her eyebrows solemnly and said, "I guess we'll have to see if you're a good boy during the presentations," before turning to face the front, barely managing to suppress her self-satisfied smile at having left him speechless.
Mulder was still staring at the side of her head with an expression of pleasant surprise when a young blonde wearing a clean white polo clapped for attention at the front of the room. "Alright, everyone, please take your seats so that we can get started!"
The chatter in the room died down as the agents met back with their partners to find vacant chairs.
"As you all know, we're here to work on strengthening the bonds between you and your partner to help you cooperate more effectively! My name is Bethany, and my colleagues Brian and Joselyn are passing out some paper to get us started."
This time it was Mulder who rolled his eyes at his partner, in such an exaggerated movement that Scully had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing aloud. "We just got here and they're already giving us homework!"
"Mulder, shut up and listen to the directions," she said, but couldn't hide the amusement in her eyes.
The agent to Mulder's left passed him a stack of paper, and he took one for each of them before handing Scully the rest of the stack to pass along.
"The first thing I'd like you to do is write down the first five words that come to mind when you think of your partner. Try to be completely honest in your answers; don't analyze, just write down whatever pops into your head. And don't worry, we won't be collecting these, and I won't ask you to share what you wrote with the group. We do, however, ask you to take this seriously, as we've found that getting you thinking critically about your partnership from the get-go is beneficial to your progress during the seminar. You have two minutes," Bethany said, with such perky enthusiasm that Scully felt a headache developing.
She pulled out a pen and numbered her paper neatly from 1 to 5, following the directions and describing her partner without trying to filter her thoughts. She was done in approximately twenty-three seconds. A quick glance told her that Mulder had finished as well and was doodling with concentration in the corner of his paper. After a few moments of watching his UFO take shape – typical, she thought with a small smile – she tore her gaze from her partner to look around the room. She was surprised to find that most of the agents were still writing, or staring intently at the pages in front of them as they considered their answers. She sighed and leaned her head into her hand to wait.
After what felt like much longer than it probably ways, Bethany called the group to attention again. "Alright, everyone, it looks like most of us have finished answering the first question, so we're going to move on! If you'll turn over your papers, you'll see that there are a couple of additional questions for you to fill out. You can go ahead and get started on that now!"
Scully flipped her paper and scanned the questions, most of which were pretty much what she'd expected. She wrote down her answers swiftly and honestly, then noticed Mulder glancing curiously at her paper. She leaned forward, covering her answers with her arm, and he chuckled when he caught her eye before returning his attention to his own paper. He finished soon after, and they both sat quietly and surveyed the room, not quite understanding what was taking the other agents so long.
"You're paper only had five questions on it, right?" Mulder murmured, leaning so close she could feel his breath on her ear. Scully shivered involuntarily at the sensation and was sure he noticed. She nodded in response, only chancing a glance when she had felt his presence retreat. He was rolling his pen between his fingers absent-mindedly, staring into space. Scully watched him and found the movement to be almost hypnotic in its fluidity.
When Bethany spoke again, Scully startled slightly at the unexpected interruption of her thoughts. "If you're finished, I'd like you to go ahead and compare your answers with your partners," she said, still with that slightly-too-large smile on her face.
"Wait, I thought you said we wouldn't have to share our answers!" An agent called out from across the room, looking irritated. His partner, a larger, balding man, elbowed him, but Scully noticed that he too looked uncomfortably surprised.
"Actually, I said you wouldn't be asked to share your answers with the entire group," Bethany replied, completely undaunted. "We've found that beginning the seminar with complete honesty from both individuals is the most effective way to get started with communication. You can all go ahead and get started!"
Mulder cleared his throat. "So, um, you wanna go first?"
"Sure," she said with a shrug. She understood why some of the agents were nervous about sharing their responses, but she and Mulder already knew almost everything about each other – nothing she'd written would shock him. "The five words I used to describe you are passionate, dedicated, headstrong, intuitive, and compassionate." She looked up expectantly, only to find him regarding her curiously. "What?"
"Nothing. I just… Those were all positive!"
Scully didn't quite understand why her partner found this surprising. "Yes, well, I do keep you around for a reason," she said. "Believe it or not, I happen to like you, Fox Mulder." She felt her face start to get hot at the intensity of his gaze, and quickly added, "headstrong is just a polite way of saying pigheaded," which made him laugh. "Your turn."
"I said that you were strong, capable, logical, and empathetic."
"Mulder, that's only four."
He rubbed the back of his neck and avoided her gaze. "Um, yeah."
Scully frowned at him. "It's okay if you wrote something negative. The whole point of this is to be honest."
He spied the brief flash of hurt in her eyes, though she hid it determinedly, and sighed in resignation, sliding his paper towards her. "No, it's nothing like that. It just wasn't exactly… relevant. Or, um, professional."
She caught her breath when she saw the fifth word written on his page; beautiful.
"I didn't think anyone else was going to see it. I was just trying to follow directions and write whatever came to mind. I didn't mean to imply… anything," he explained, somewhat defensively. When Scully didn't speak, he continued with a more apologetic tone. "I'm sorry, I know that probably seems inappropriate, I know you're so much more than your looks, and I don't want you to think that I –"
Scully tapped his pinky lightly with hers where their hands lay next to one another on the table, and he looked up. "Mulder, it's fine. I was just surprised." She smiled slightly, letting him see in her eyes that it really was okay.
He laughed nervously, breaking eye contact again and flipping his paper over to see the other questions. She did the same, and he read aloud: "Question 1. What is your favorite thing about your relationship with your partner?"
"Trust," Scully said decisively.
Mulder nodded in agreement, and added, "I said that I like that you challenge me. You're not afraid to tell me off if you think my theory is batshit crazy, but you're also open minded enough to give me the chance to prove it. Most of the time, anyway."
"You do have a lot of batshit crazy ideas," Scully confirmed with a laugh.
"That's what you admire most about me, right? Question 2?" Mulder teased.
"Actually, I put down your dedication. You've spent so long searching for the truth, and no matter what's happened, you've never given up."
He nodded seriously. "I wrote that I admire your integrity. Even when you were first assigned to the X Files, you never lied to me, and your reports always reflected what actually happened, even though you knew it wasn't what they wanted to hear."
The serious moment was interrupted when a short woman wearing a white polo identical to Bethany's literally bounced in front of them. Scully recognized her as Joselyn, one of the employees who'd been passing out papers. "Hi guys! I've been going around to check on how everyone's doing," she said with a genuine smile.
"We're getting ready to move on to the third question," Scully told her.
"Question 3 – list a time that you felt secure in your partnership," Joselyn recited. "That's one of my favorites! So what did you say?"
Scully and Mulder exchanged a glance before Scully answered in just one word: "Antarctica."
"Antarctica?" Joselyn repeated, trying to decide if Scully was being serious.
"Well, it's when Mulder proved that he would literally go to the ends of the earth for me," Scully explained.
The woman nodded slowly, still looking as though she thought Scully might be joking. "And, what about you… Fox? When did you feel most secure in your partnership with Dana?"
"The time I taught her to play baseball," Mulder said, his expression completely serious. Scully couldn't hold in her broad smile at the memory.
Joselyn tilted her head in curiosity, but her enthusiastic smile persisted. Before she could ask for more information, Scully suggested they move on to the next question.
"Absolutely! Question 4 – list a time that you did not feel secure in your partnership. Dana, what did you say?" Joselyn asked.
"Diana Fowley," Scully answered immediately, and Mulder rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish.
"Could you elaborate on that?" Joselyn was still smiling brightly, and Scully found it more and more irritating.
"No, she doesn't have to," Mulder said quickly. "I know what she's talking about."
Scully took a deep breath, forcing herself to move on from the unpleasant memories. "So, Mulder, what did you say?"
"When you were first assigned to the X Files, and I thought you were there to spy on me."
Joselyn looked between the two, her smile wavering slightly as she excused herself to go check on the other pairs.
"So, should we move on to the last question?" Scully asked, with a hint of apprehension in her voice.
"Sure," Mulder agreed, and read aloud, "Question 5 – imagine you have the opportunity to work with anyone in the world, alive or dead; who would you choose?"
Mulder nodded at his partner to answer, and Scully looked down, struck by an uncharacteristic shyness, but not hesitating as she answered, "I said that I didn't want work with anyone else; I'd rather stay partners with you."
She was still looking down at her paper self-consciously when Mulder slid his in front of her, so that she could she could where he'd written his answer to question 5: Dana Katherine Scully.