October 1999

"Last thing… expense reports," Skinner said with a sigh as he shook his head, picking up the papers in front of him. "You are a two person department and yet you rack up the most expenses. It's… what… what is this?" He held a small metal object in between his fingers and Scully's eyes widened, turning her head to give Mulder a look.

"Oh!" Mulder said, rising from his seat and taking it from him. "Thanks. Don't want to lose any more of those." He grinned and slid it into his pocket as Skinner glanced at Scully.

"Was that a… a cow shaped paper clip?" he asked and Scully looked down at her clasped hands, not answering his question. She heard him sigh and she looked up from under her lashes, finding him shaking his head before he continued.

She knew without looking at Mulder that he was smirking and trying to hold back his smile. Sighing, she kept her head down and her eyes on her lap for the remainder of the meeting.

When they were finished, she stood quickly and walked out ahead of Mulder. She was at the elevator, the button pushed, when he joined her. She could feel the words he wanted to say, but he wisely kept them to himself.

The doors opened, the car full, half the people exiting before they stepped inside, Mulder's hand resting lightly on her lower back. In the back of the elevator, his hand still touching her, they stood quietly as they stopped on two floors before reaching their basement destination.

Again she stepped out first and heard him chuckle softly as the doors closed and she turned to look at him. Crossing her arms, she raised her eyebrows and he shrugged.

"How did that happen?"

"I was out of paper clips and…" He shrugged with a smile.

"So on an expense report, which we had to turn in to our boss, you used one of the cow paper clips?"

"Obviously," he said, taking it from his pocket and holding it up with a grin.

"Mulder," she said, taking it from him. "There aren't many left and they are not for everyone to…. know about."

"I am aware of the diminished amount. And even if Skinner had the rest of the supply, he doesn't know about their significance," he said in his low voice that made her throat dry and her insides quiver.

"Stop…"

"Mmm, you started it," he said, pumping his eyebrows.

He took the paper clip back and whistled as he continued walking to their office, leaving her behind, breathing hard as she closed her eyes and tried to calm her racing heart.

He was right, though the result of the purchase of the paper clips, had not been what she anticipated….

She had gone to her mother's house for Sunday lunch a few weeks ago. Stopping to get her some flowers on the way, she had passed a stationery store. Something caught her eye and she had backtracked, smiling as she stared at it.

Knowing she had to buy it, she had stepped into the store, walked straight to it and picked it up, bringing it to the register.

"Oh, we just got these. Aren't they a hoot?" The cashier had asked with a smile.

"They are," Scully had agreed with a smile. "I know someone who will get a real kick out of it."

"I had my doubts when my daughter suggested we sell them, but we've sold quite a few already."

"Yeah." She had chuckled softly, imagining Mulder's face when she gave it to him. Shaking her head, she had paid for the gift, thanking the woman as she had placed it into a bag.

She had walked out the door and to the flower shop. Taking her time, she found a beautiful bouquet of mixed colors and headed back to the car with a grin.

The afternoon had been spent with her mother and a couple of her close friends, laughing and catching up. Louise, a longtime friend, had inquired after her "handsome partner" with a knowing smile. Scully had cut her eyes to her mother who had the decency to look uncomfortable.

Or pretended to anyway.

"Fox is always handsome," she had stated, staring at Scully, almost daring her to say otherwise. Scully had exhaled through her nose as the other ladies laughed and agreed.

"He is my partner."

"Oh, really?"

"Work partner," she had stressed, raising her eyebrows at them and then her mother. "He is my work partner and friend. We are not… not anything aside from that."

"Oh, way to stop the fun," Louise had said, waving her hand dismissively as the others laughed again, and Scully had felt her cheeks betray her as she blushed.

The other woman had left after eating and Scully had stayed to help clean up, planning to say something to her mother about the comments made during their meal. Bringing another stack of dishes into the kitchen, she had set them beside the sink, the water running as her mother washed tea cups with gloved hands.

"Mom," she had begun and her mother sighed.

"Dana, I know what you're going to say. I was just teasing."

"But, I…"

"I don't mean anything by it." She had looked at her and smiled kindly, shaking her head

"I know but, they believe you."

"Dana, they are women with not much going on and they enjoy a good bit of gossip. And…" she had said with a smile, her eyes twinkling. "It's fun to watch you blush and get flustered."

"I didn't blush," she had said, although she knew it was a lie.

"Mmm," her mother had hummed and raised an eyebrow.

"Mom," she had warned and her mother laughed, reaching for the dishes and placing them in the sink. Scully had sighed and reached for a towel to dry the dishes, the conversation over.

When she had left and got into the car, she had looked at the gift she had bought for Mulder, forgotten during the course of the afternoon, and she had smiled. Glancing over, she had seen her mother in the doorway, a knowing smile on her face. Scully had shaken her head and her mother waved goodbye. With a sigh, Scully had turned on the car and driven away.

As she drove, she had thought about their recent case in Kroner, Kansas. She had rolled her eyes at the thought of Daryl Mootz and his "ability" to control the rain.

"Such a cheesy production," she had murmured, remembering his rain dance. "1/64 Cherokee, my ass." She had snorted out a laugh and shaken her head.

But, Daryl and his ineptitude was not where her thoughts were lying recently. No, she had been thinking of the two nights she and Mulder had been forced to spend together in her motel room after a cow had been lifted off the ground and crashed through his ceiling.

They had shared rooms before, necessity forcing it upon them sometimes, but… recently things had changed.

There were areas between them they did not visit anymore. Places where jokes did not land and thoughts were not expressed. Almost as though they kept things just at the surface, not wanting to dive too deep.

But… those nights they had slept beside each other, the walls had become nearly nonexistent. She had sought him out in her sleep, dreaming of tornadoes, rainbows, and cows mooing as heels clicked together loudly, the sound of it hurting her ears.

Dorothy had gone over the rainbow, but Scully's dreams were in black-and-white, searching for Mulder as cows mooed quietly. She had found him standing frozen in place in an open field, a newspaper in his hands, only becoming animated under her touch, and reading the words of the paper excitedly.

His words were fast, and she could see them falling to the ground, as though the printed words in the newspaper were alive. They gathered together, nearly swallowing her legs, the black ink swirling almost angrily, rose petals then springing from the mini tornado.

She had woken up, her heart racing, arms thrashing, before she felt his hands on her and his voice calling her name gently. She had clung to him, her eyes closed as she calmed, remembering the dark of the ink swirling around her.

"Okay?" he had asked in a tired voice and she had nodded, his arms still holding her, feeling him already falling back to sleep. Her grip relaxed, but she had not moved, finding comfort in his nearness.

When he had begun to snore softly, she had taken a deep breath and tried to forget the confusing dream. He had snorted, hummed, and pulled her closer, breathing her name. Moving closer to him, she had fallen asleep, no more dreams that night.

After they had come home, of course they never spoke of it, just as they always seemed to do. But still, things had lingered, their feelings different.

Or hers at least anyway.

She had not forgotten her words to Sheila, how the best relationships were the ones rooted in friendship. She had meant to encourage her to see Holman differently, see how he loved her, but then… she had thought of Mulder and the words tumbled out, unable to be stopped.

Agent Scully is already in love.

The words Padgett had said rang in her head for months. They never discussed it. Mulder had never brought it up, and she had never offered any information of what it might mean.

Tell him she was in love with him? Admit how she felt, after a year of uncertainty between them, and possibly be the only one feeling the same? No. No she would not.

But, she had been noticing subtle things he did, ones that a casual observer would fail to notice. She felt it, and yet they said nothing.

That is, until she had brought in the gift, laughing silently to herself as she walked to the office. Not finding him inside, she had quickly opened it and set it up on his desk. Giggling, she had shaken her head and sat down to await his arrival.

The door opened as she had been reading a file and she had jumped, but quickly looked down, acting nonchalant.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late. My alarm didn't go off, though not because of my waterbed leaking as I no longer have that bed. The fire alarm for the floor below me however, decided to go off and wake everyone and it was a mess to say the least." He had spoken without stopping for breath, hanging his jacket on the coat rack. She had nodded, but said nothing, watching him out of the corner of her eye. "Anyway… I'm here now."

"Hmm," she had hummed with another nod, willing him to look at the desk before she could no longer hold back her laughter.

"What are you… what is… what is that?"

At those words, she had lifted her eyes and watched him walk closer to the desk. He had looked at it and then at her, a grin slowly spreading across his face.

"What?" he had asked and then laughed as he leaned closer for a better look.

It was a flying saucer, or to be more precise, a filing saucer. It was a neon green cup, on top of which sat a gray flying saucer. Inside of the cup were paper clips shaped like small cows, a few of them stuck to the magnet at the bottom of the flying saucer, the cows appearing to be pulled inside.

He had laughed as he took off the lid and held a paper clip in his fingers, grinning at her as he had.

"Thought that cow was better than a real one," she had said and he chuckled with a nod.

"Where did you find this?"

"A store by a flower shop I stopped at to get my mom some flowers." She had stood up and walked over to look at it with him. "These cows won't crash through the roof and nearly kill you." She had taken one out and smiled as she looked at it and he had nodded again, slowly turning the cow over in his fingers.

"True." He had smiled as she looked up at him, his eyes holding hers. "However, there is one problem with them."

"There is? I just opened it. I didn't notice anything." She had frowned as she looked down, wondering what she had missed. "Do they not actually clip?"

"No… I'm sure they will. It's more to do with their size."

"What do you mean?" She had frowned again, shaking her head in confusion.

"A cow of this size… couldn't cause any real damage."

"Riiiight…"

"Wouldn't create a need for us to have to share a room."

"Right. I don't… isn't that good?" She had laughed slightly and shrugged her shoulders.

"Is it?" He had stared into her eyes and her heart began to race.

Agent Scully is already in love.

Christ was she.

"But is it… is it not better if we aren't forced into situations because of a cow flying through the air?" she had asked somewhat teasingly, and he had nodded slowly, his eyes traveling her face and stopping at her lips.

"Being forced to do something is never ideal."

"No…"

"No," he agreed softly, stepping closer to her and her breath caught.

"Mulder," she had whispered, as his face began moving closer to hers. "What are you doing?"

"Trying something…" he breathed, and she had remembered Holman's words as he had passed them at the reunion.

You should try it sometime.

Mulder's lips had pressed to hers and all other thoughts had gone out of her head as she whimpered. Her mouth had opened and his tongue slid inside, causing her to pitch forward, grabbing handfuls of his shirt to steady herself.

Hitting the desk with force, she had heard the paper clips falling to the floor, neither of them caring as they had continued kissing. His arms had wrapped around her, pulling her flush against him, and she had moaned hungrily into his mouth.

The phone had rung and they broke apart quickly, both of them breathing hard as they had stared at each other.

"Mulder," he had said, answering the phone, his eyes still on her. "Yes. Yeah. We're on our way." He had hung up and cleared his throat. "That was Skinner. We have that meeting…"

"Right," she had said, stepping back, her cheeks warm. "I… I'll be right back." He had called after her as she left the room, but she had not answered him.

They had sat in the meeting room for hours that day, avoiding each other's eyes. When they had been able to leave, she had hurried out and to her car before he had a chance to speak to her.

She had paced her apartment, touching her lips as she had thought of his kiss and how it had made her feel and how she desperately wanted to do it again.

A knock at the door had made her jump and when she looked through the peephole, she pulled back before looking again.

A small silver shaped outline of a cow had been held up so she could see it, and she knew Mulder was standing just out of sight. Smiling, her stomach flip flopping, she had unlocked the door and he had smiled sheepishly as stood in the doorway, holding the cow paper clip in his fingers.

"I uh… these little guys, or girls," he had said as he looked down at the cow and then back at her. "I still think they might be problematic."

"Oh?" she had asked, staring at his lips as she swallowed hard. "Why is that?"

"Yeah. They uh…" he had started to say and then shook his head, abandoning any made up pretense of why he was there. Stepping across the threshold, he had grabbed her around the waist, lifted her off the ground, the door closing as he had pressed her against it.

Breathing hard, his head lying on her chest, she had closed her eyes with a smile as she ran her fingers through his impossibly soft hair.

"Who would have known…" he said, his voice gravelly and low, desire immediately stirring in her belly, regardless of the fact that her body had still been thrumming from pleasure.

"Known what?" she had responded, her nails scraping gently. He had moaned and she inhaled a sharp breath as he had taken a nipple into his mouth, laving it with his tongue and causing her to moan.

"Mmhmm… who would have known that it would be a paper clip cow that finally led us here."

"Finally?" she had asked with a smile, her eyes opening as he moved, looming over her.

"Finally," he had affirmed with a nod, nuzzling her face before kissing her deeply, as she had wrapped her legs around him, breathing his name.

After that, the cows had been used as a messaging device. He had put them on papers she needed to sign, stealing a kiss when she had brought them to him to do the same. She had put one on his desk and he had pulled her to the back of the annex in their office, his fingers creating a trail of fire on her skin as they had moved under her skirt. One in her blazer pocket had meant he would be over later and one in his jacket meant the same.

They sometimes had forgotten to put them back and now, of the original twenty, they only had ten.

Ten.

And one had been used and nearly lost on an expense report to Skinner.

"Unacceptable," she muttered and turned toward the office, set to tell him exactly that.

But when she walked into the office, he was standing by the small desk by the door, the one she had claimed as her own. The paper clip filing saucer was sitting upon it and she gave him a curious look.

"You're right. We don't need to lose any more of these cows." She raised her eyebrows with a small smile and he winked. "I think you should be in charge of them."

She eyed them again and then looked back at him as he smiled. Stepping closer, she reached to take off the flying saucer lid and take out one paper clip.

"And if you should want one?" she asked, turning hers around in her fingers.

"Well, you didn't seem to have a problem when it was on my desk."

"Hmm…" she hummed, nodding her head and lifting the paper clip to run down his tie, his breath quickening. "It would save them from getting lost considering I know better than to use them for non..."

"Non what?" he whispered, catching her wrist in his hand and rubbing his thumb gently along the inside.

"Non… rewarding things," she breathed, his touch causing her to shiver.

"Rewarding… how do you mean?" he asked with a slow smile.

She moved her hand to the side of his jacket, his hand still holding it lightly, and dropped the cow paper clip inside of it. He hummed as she licked her lips, biting the bottom one gently, and moving her hand back to his tie.

"I guess you'll find out later," she whispered and he nodded, staring at her lips.

"Later is a long time from now. We still have a few hours before we can leave."

She smiled as she raised up and he lowered his head, their lips meeting in the middle; his kiss tasting of coffee and salt from the sunflower seeds he had been eating earlier.

He threaded his fingers in her hair and their kiss deepened, until she pulled back, both of them out of breath. Resting his forehead against hers, he scratched lightly at the base of her neck.

"I think I need to call Holman and thank him for that flying cow," he whispered and she laughed softly.

"And the dating advice?" she teased.

"Hmm," he hummed with a nod and a soft chuckle, pulling back to look at her. "Especially for that."

"Blind leading the blind," she breathed with a grin and a shake of her head as he chuckled again.

Pulling her close, he began swaying and humming "The Things We Do For Love" as she closed her eyes and laughed softly.