*Chapter 2*
Oh, real smooth, Mulder thought. Yeah, she really bought that one. Thinking about the last case. Forgetting something. Geez, that excuse was absolutely pathetic. So now she thought that he was a liar trying to ditch her. A wonderful combination. Why didn't he just tell her that he was contemplating the idea that little gray men were controlling the government. Then she would just think that he was paranoid. That opinion he could handle.
Scully turned around in her seat. Mulder seemed to be having an internal argument, and she didn't want to intrude. Maybe he'd finally tell her what was going on. Meanwhile, she took the time to take in her surroundings. It was a huge, well-lit room. Chandeliers on the ceiling cast light that was reflected by every piece of glass that if turned the right way, could bathe the room in prisms. Numerous tables dotted the perimeter of the room. There must have been 75 tables, and they all seemed to be occupied. The dance floor that encompassed the middle of the room also was quite large. Although no one was out on it now, Scully could see how it could comfortably accommodate everyone attending tonight. She turned a bit more and her eye caught Agent Tyler McGadden who was, as usual, surrounded by beautiful women. McGadden was, as of now, the most eligible bachelor in the bureau. He knew it and used this knowledge to his advantage to get anything he wanted from his female coworkers. Except her. He knew that she was in a different league and that league was headed by Mulder. Mr. and Mrs. "Spooky" Mulder. She knew all about the rumors that circulated about her relationship with Mulder. She was constantly asked what they really did in that dark office downstairs. She usually just ignored them and walked away. Scully often wondered that when Mulder was asked these same questions, if he fueled their imaginations with some incredible story. It wouldn't surprise her. It would be just like him.
Mulder saw Scully staring off in a different direction and decided to find out what had grabbed his partner's attention. What he saw did not please him. McGadden: most eligible agent. He used to hold that title until Scully came into the picture. He wasn't upset about losing his position, though. He'd rather have Scully than ten women crawling all over him. He just didn't like the way she was looking at him. Jealousy? No, just general concern for his friend. McGadden wasn't the kind of guy a girl wanted to get involved with. He was all snake and no charm.
"He's not your type, Scully," Mulder said.
Startled at her partner's voice, Scully jumped and practically fell out of her seat. Mulder stifled a laugh. When she regained her composure, she said:
"Who? What are you talking about?"
"McGadden. He's all wrong for you."
"How do you know I..." Scully stopped. She knew she couldn't lie to Mulder. He could always tell. So she decided to try a different approach to this subject. "OK, since you know me so well, tell me what my type is."
"Alright. The guy has to be intelligent enough to hold an interesting conversation so that automatically puts McGadden out of the running."
"Mulder, that's rude and untrue. McGadden is a very intell-"
"No interruptions," he said putting up his hand. "He also has to have enough manners not to look at the other person's chestal area while he has this ever interesting conversation. That's two strikes against our friend McGadden."
Scully had to smile at that comment. She knew all about McGadden's wandering eyes.
"And, he would have to realize that public groping is a definite no. Look," Mulder said pointing to her left.
Scully turned and looked to where Mulder was pointing. McGadden was in the corner, obviously enjoying his female companion. Disgusted, she quickly turned away.
"Strike three," said Mulder.
"OK, so you've convinced me that McGadden isn't the one for me, not that I needed convincing. So tell me more about my dream man."
"Well, he would have to respect your independence and feel comfortable with the fact that you do autopsies on an unusual variety of corpses. So I suppose it wouldn't hurt if he understood the X-Files Division or maybe even knew a little something about the unusual himself."
"Why Mulder, if I didn't know any better, I would believe that you're telling me that my Prince Charming is you."
"You said it, not me. Besides, I was thinking more on the lines of Skinner," Mulder said with a grin.
"That's not even funny," Scully said but found herself grinning anyway. "OK, my turn."
"For what?"
"To find that perfect Mulder companion. Let's see, she has to be a tall buxom blonde with long legs and breasts out to the Great Wall of China. Is that about right?"
"That's only true when there are no beautiful, petite but fiery willed redheads around. And I don't think I'll ever be without one of them," Mulder said quite seriously.
Oh, God. Was he serious? Those expressive hazel eyes were looking straight into her blue ones, straight to her soul. This was crazy. He sometimes flirted with her, but always with a grin. There was nothing funny about what he said or how he said it. She should say something to break his intense stare. Maybe make her own little joke about his comment. Anything to get out of this situation. But her mind was a complete blank. The only thing that she could concentrate on was his eyes and the frantic beating of her heart. Then she felt someone tap her on the shoulder, and the spell was broken. She let out the breath that she didn't know she was holding and turned around.
It was Agent Justin Harris. "Dana, I was wondering if you would like to dance?"
Scully looked back at Mulder, saw that he was back in his little world and said, "Sure, I'd love to."
Juliet: Beginnings are never my strong point so I'm very happy that you liked it. As far as the timeline goes, there has been a lot of discussion over whether the end scene of PMP actually occurred in "real" life. If you are a believer, this story occurs before. If you are a skeptic, then any time during season 5.
NeverAgainSmallPotatoes: Thank you for your feedback. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the first.
Oh, real smooth, Mulder thought. Yeah, she really bought that one. Thinking about the last case. Forgetting something. Geez, that excuse was absolutely pathetic. So now she thought that he was a liar trying to ditch her. A wonderful combination. Why didn't he just tell her that he was contemplating the idea that little gray men were controlling the government. Then she would just think that he was paranoid. That opinion he could handle.
Scully turned around in her seat. Mulder seemed to be having an internal argument, and she didn't want to intrude. Maybe he'd finally tell her what was going on. Meanwhile, she took the time to take in her surroundings. It was a huge, well-lit room. Chandeliers on the ceiling cast light that was reflected by every piece of glass that if turned the right way, could bathe the room in prisms. Numerous tables dotted the perimeter of the room. There must have been 75 tables, and they all seemed to be occupied. The dance floor that encompassed the middle of the room also was quite large. Although no one was out on it now, Scully could see how it could comfortably accommodate everyone attending tonight. She turned a bit more and her eye caught Agent Tyler McGadden who was, as usual, surrounded by beautiful women. McGadden was, as of now, the most eligible bachelor in the bureau. He knew it and used this knowledge to his advantage to get anything he wanted from his female coworkers. Except her. He knew that she was in a different league and that league was headed by Mulder. Mr. and Mrs. "Spooky" Mulder. She knew all about the rumors that circulated about her relationship with Mulder. She was constantly asked what they really did in that dark office downstairs. She usually just ignored them and walked away. Scully often wondered that when Mulder was asked these same questions, if he fueled their imaginations with some incredible story. It wouldn't surprise her. It would be just like him.
Mulder saw Scully staring off in a different direction and decided to find out what had grabbed his partner's attention. What he saw did not please him. McGadden: most eligible agent. He used to hold that title until Scully came into the picture. He wasn't upset about losing his position, though. He'd rather have Scully than ten women crawling all over him. He just didn't like the way she was looking at him. Jealousy? No, just general concern for his friend. McGadden wasn't the kind of guy a girl wanted to get involved with. He was all snake and no charm.
"He's not your type, Scully," Mulder said.
Startled at her partner's voice, Scully jumped and practically fell out of her seat. Mulder stifled a laugh. When she regained her composure, she said:
"Who? What are you talking about?"
"McGadden. He's all wrong for you."
"How do you know I..." Scully stopped. She knew she couldn't lie to Mulder. He could always tell. So she decided to try a different approach to this subject. "OK, since you know me so well, tell me what my type is."
"Alright. The guy has to be intelligent enough to hold an interesting conversation so that automatically puts McGadden out of the running."
"Mulder, that's rude and untrue. McGadden is a very intell-"
"No interruptions," he said putting up his hand. "He also has to have enough manners not to look at the other person's chestal area while he has this ever interesting conversation. That's two strikes against our friend McGadden."
Scully had to smile at that comment. She knew all about McGadden's wandering eyes.
"And, he would have to realize that public groping is a definite no. Look," Mulder said pointing to her left.
Scully turned and looked to where Mulder was pointing. McGadden was in the corner, obviously enjoying his female companion. Disgusted, she quickly turned away.
"Strike three," said Mulder.
"OK, so you've convinced me that McGadden isn't the one for me, not that I needed convincing. So tell me more about my dream man."
"Well, he would have to respect your independence and feel comfortable with the fact that you do autopsies on an unusual variety of corpses. So I suppose it wouldn't hurt if he understood the X-Files Division or maybe even knew a little something about the unusual himself."
"Why Mulder, if I didn't know any better, I would believe that you're telling me that my Prince Charming is you."
"You said it, not me. Besides, I was thinking more on the lines of Skinner," Mulder said with a grin.
"That's not even funny," Scully said but found herself grinning anyway. "OK, my turn."
"For what?"
"To find that perfect Mulder companion. Let's see, she has to be a tall buxom blonde with long legs and breasts out to the Great Wall of China. Is that about right?"
"That's only true when there are no beautiful, petite but fiery willed redheads around. And I don't think I'll ever be without one of them," Mulder said quite seriously.
Oh, God. Was he serious? Those expressive hazel eyes were looking straight into her blue ones, straight to her soul. This was crazy. He sometimes flirted with her, but always with a grin. There was nothing funny about what he said or how he said it. She should say something to break his intense stare. Maybe make her own little joke about his comment. Anything to get out of this situation. But her mind was a complete blank. The only thing that she could concentrate on was his eyes and the frantic beating of her heart. Then she felt someone tap her on the shoulder, and the spell was broken. She let out the breath that she didn't know she was holding and turned around.
It was Agent Justin Harris. "Dana, I was wondering if you would like to dance?"
Scully looked back at Mulder, saw that he was back in his little world and said, "Sure, I'd love to."
Juliet: Beginnings are never my strong point so I'm very happy that you liked it. As far as the timeline goes, there has been a lot of discussion over whether the end scene of PMP actually occurred in "real" life. If you are a believer, this story occurs before. If you are a skeptic, then any time during season 5.
NeverAgainSmallPotatoes: Thank you for your feedback. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the first.