Title: Think about it.
Author: Lisa Email: lc7685@hotmail.com Disclaimer: I don't own the show, characters, original idea etc. etc. Rating: PG (PG in Australia's probably the equivalent of PG-13) Category: D/R Setting: Post Scary Monsters, but no to only maybe tiny spoilers :) Notes: This is much longer than I intended. I thought it'd be a two pager. Try twenty. Meh :P I got myself drowned in fluff. Ahhhh the goodness! :D Thanks for the feedback! It's always greatly appreciated and is excellent encouragement! I wanted to look at what Monica and John would be like if they took a chance to relax a little and since I'm still getting to know the characters, they may not be as solid as some other fics, but meh, hope you enjoy nonetheless! :D FINAL PART
"So, what's it feel like to be surrounded by fire?"
"It was pretty cool actually. Cool as in, not hot." Monica rolled her eyes. "You would've liked it."
"Mm, I'm sure."
"Too bad you believe stuff too easily."
"Well John, like you said, it's your job to keep me grounded. What do you think Scully did for seven years?"
"Alien autopsies?" John asked, and they both laughed.
"Actually, since this past week has been about what Mulder and Scully have done in the past, I think she mentioned a couple of those once."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Were they real?"
"Now John, you don't really want to know, do you?"
"Yeah!" Monica started laughing.
"She told me that she was doing this autopsy once-"
"Of an alien."
"Ahuh. And she thought it was really interesting because it had two dermal layers or...whatever."
"Yeah...and..."
"Then she found a zipper." John chuckled.
"Was the alien still wearing his coat?"
"Well it was actually a serious case involving the Armed Forces and an apparent alien abduction hoax and hypnotism and all sorts-"
"Didn't I read that in a book somewhere? It's sitting in the office on Scully's shelf-"
"Yeah. In the book. Its Scully."
"What's Scully?"
"The scientist in the book. It's based on Scully. I was talking to her about it and she comes out with this story about the author and the case."
"Intriguing."
"So there's my Mulder and Scully story. No more Mulder and Scully stories, agreed? Especially not the mushroom story." John grinned.
"But I love that story! In the ambulance at the end where they-"
"How do you know that?"
"I have my sources."
"So come on John, what are we going to do now? You've really outdone yourself tonight."
"You expect me to keep going?"
"Uh...yeah!" Monica grinned. "I'm kidding, but." John wasn't sure and Monica laughed. "I promise I'm kidding."
"You forgive me?"
"I forgave you the moment I saw 'For Monica' written on the outside of that paper."
"How'd you know it was me?" Monica leant forward, looking into his eyes.
"Because you have the clearest eyes that matched the drawing... And of course the drawing was really crappy. Come on John, who else would it be?"
"William," John stated. Monica raised her brow. "Oh come on, you never know!" They shared another laugh. "Well, I should go." He went to stand but Monica grabbed his arm.
"Wait." She stood with him and raced back into her room, shutting the door behind her. John waited, wondering what on earth he was waiting for. Several minutes later Monica emerged with something hidden behind her back. She walked up to him and produced an envelope. "For later," she insisted, placing it in his hand. John didn't say anything and Monica leant forward, quickly kissing his cheek and pulling away. "I'll see you tomorrow?" John nodded.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Monica led him out and closed the door as he walked to his car. She walked over to her stereo and began fiddling with it, waiting, expecting...
Knock, knock.
She grinned, composing herself and walking back to the front door, opening it. John was grinning, holding up what had been in the envelope.
"Why does it say tomorrow night?" he asked. Monica pretended to think. "I should kick you back for that."
"Don't you want it to be tomorrow night?" He shook his head.
"No, I don't. I want it to be tonight." She looked at him carefully.
"Really? Because I take that very seriously."
"Oh yeah," John replied. "Is there any way?"
"I think we can manage something-" Monica replied, taking his hand and pulling him inside, before shutting the door once again. She was about to say more when he held up his hand.
"Wait." He walked into the kitchen and found a sleeping puppy magnet, using it to pin the drawing to the fridge. Monica had managed to locate a set of coloured pencils and a piece of paper and had set about the messiest, most rushed drawing of her life. All in all, she had to say it was better than John's, but art had never been his strong point. It was folded in four, and on the outside the paper read 'For John'. Opening it to full size, there was a picture of a stick figure in a skirt that resembled the ladies' room logo, and a man, in an embrace with musical notes all around it. Underneath, the caption read, 'Tomorrow Night'. John smiled as he looked it over again. Monica was waiting for him next to the stereo.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked again as he approached. "I was going to give you time to think about it." John reached out his hand as he walked to her and she took it, using her free hand to insert a CD.
"I'm sure," he stated, reaching over and pressing 'Play'. The introduction began and Monica moved with John into a wider space in the living room. They stood observing each other for only a moment, before Monica rested her hands on his shoulders, John's on her waist.
Oceans are parted day after day And I slowly go insane I hear your voice on the line But it doesn't stop the pain
If I see you next to never But how can we say forever
In anticipation of the chorus, John's arms tightened around Monica as they danced and she smiled, leaning closer to facilitate it.
Wherever you go Whatever you do I will be right here waiting for you Whatever it takes Or how my heart breaks I will be right here waiting for you
I took for granted all the times That I thought would last somehow I hear the laughter I taste the tears But I can't get near you now Oh can't you see it baby You've got me going crazy
Wherever you go Whatever you do I will be right here waiting for you Whatever it takes Or how my heart breaks I will be right here waiting for you
I wonder how I can survive this moment But in the end if I'm with you I'll take the chance
Oh can't you see it baby You got me going crazy
Wherever you go Whatever you do I will be right here waiting for you Whatever it takes Or how my heart breaks I will be right here waiting for you
As the song clicked over John realised it was a different artist.
"A friend burnt it for me in New Orleans," Monica explained without him having to ask. She pulled her head back from his shoulder. "Thanks for the dance."
"It was my pleasure." They locked eyes and after a while Monica realised they'd stopped moving completely. John reached out, touching her cheek with the back of his fingers briefly. Monica couldn't believe the sensation that flowed from her cheek at the contact. She involuntarily bit her lower lip.
"John, we have to take this slowly, because of work and...history." John nodded. He understood. Their history was complicated, and her history with relationships wasn't good. Neither was his, but he'd only ever had one long term. There were issues, but they were quickly paling in comparison as they stood watching each other. She's beautiful, John suddenly realised as he touched her cheek and saw them tinge pink. He could almost feel the added heat.
Monica couldn't remember but they somehow made it from staring at each other in the living room to staring at each other in the doorway.
"Goodnight, Monica," John stated. She nodded, smiling.
"G'night." Neither of them made an effort to go anywhere. John, finally, took a step forward.
"You know how you said there are two types of close. Are there two different types of slow?" he asked. Monica wet her lips briefly with her tongue without realising. John smiled. If that was any indication of what she was feeling...
"There's slow," she stated plainly. "Then there's sloooow," she drew it out. "And then there's, uh, not so slow." She looked up and he was still moving closer. She bridged the gap and he kissed her, his hand running up the back of her neck and resting in her hair, running it through his fingers as she kissed him back, one hand on his cheek, the other by her side. John pulled back for only a moment, and the next kiss was so soft Monica barely felt it - though she was still recovering from the first and probably couldn't tell. His lips brushed across hers and she smiled as he pulled back.
"Mon," he whispered as they watched each other. It was an acknowledgment that this was, in fact, Monica Reyes. It really was. His fingers left her hair and they stood opposite each other.
"I'll see you tomorrow John." It was Monica's turn to acknowledge that this really happened and that there were no regrets. There weren't.
"Bye Monica," John replied, walking to his car. This time she didn't close the door until he'd driven away.
* Scully cornered John before Monica arrived the next morning.
"So?" she asked. John looked up sharply. What did she know?
"So what?" was the obvious reply.
"Did you work it out with Monica? I don't want the two of you snapping at each other all day. Or worse, ignoring each other."
"No, we, uh, worked it out." Scully arched that eyebrow again.
"What did you do?"
"I just told her that I hadn't meant that I didn't like her as who she was, kinda thing..." Scully was looking at him suspiciously and he felt the need to cover. "You know, like you said. I told her that what and how I did it didn't matter because why I did it was for her. I told her if it would save her life, I'd believe and I'd do anything." Scully patted his shoulder.
"Good work. The two of you are best friends. I'd hate to see something like ideology come between you."
"I don't expect it to be a problem any longer," John replied as Monica breezed in. If she hadn't entered, Scully would have questioned John further. He seemed very certain all of a sudden...
"Good morning Dana. Morning John."
"Hi Monica," Scully began. "Nice to see you bright and early. Sleep in did we?"
"I got to sleep late."
"How come?"
"Coffee," she lied. Well, partly lied. She had been awake because of the coffee, which had given her time to think. Time to think about John. And that had kept her awake much longer than she had anticipated. She caught herself before smiling and put on a tired expression. "Bad late night choice." John stood.
"Bad late night choice, excellent early morning choice. Scully?"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna get us some coffee?" John asked, grinning. Scully looked up, surprised but laughed nonetheless.
"You're on lunches again."
"Sure. If Skinner doesn't have us on a plane before then."
"All right," Scully replied, standing and grabbing her purse as she disappeared outside the office.
"John, you could've gone to get the coffee," Monica stated light-heartedly as she took a seat at her desk, setting up for the day. There was a long reply as John fielded a telephone call from Skinner.
"No, I couldn't have. I had as little sleep as you, remember? Possibly less." They smiled at each other. "How about we eat in tonight? My place." Monica nodded, smiling.
"I'd like that," she replied. "What have we got today?"
"Well for the last half hour I've been staring at a file on a possessed dog in Connecticut."
"That could be interesting... Then again, it's probably just got rabies."
"Looks like we're stuck in Washington another day." John pretended to sigh and Monica smiled.
"What are you two so happy about?" Scully asked, returning with three coffees. "Lucky the line was short upstairs."
"No cases yet," John answered. "Thanks."
"There's always a case." Scully opened the filing cabinet and found a file. "See all these? Unsolved. That's why they're here." She threw one on John's desk. "Witches. Go see Skinner and solve it."
"Yes boss," John replied dryly. "Monica, wanna come?"
"Sure. I'll meet you in the lobby, k?" John left and Monica walked over to Scully. "Did you say anything to him yesterday?"
"Yeah," Scully replied. "I told him to think about it."
"About what?"
"Think about why he believed in what he did when he did." Monica's brow creased.
"Why's that?" Monica asked, pretending as though she didn't know. She had to find out how much Scully knew.
"Well I thought that answer would be obvious seeing as you're both okay." When Monica just kept looking at her Scully realised she'd have to spell it out. "You're why, Mon. You. You two are close." She paused, before smiling. "Think about it." Scully stood and left for Quantico, leaving Monica standing in the office, thinking about it. Close. Two types: close partners, close friends. Now they were both. Now they were just 'close'. She grinned to herself, glancing around the office and focussing on the 'I want to believe' poster, before turning and walking up to meet John outside Skinner's office.
The End
Author: Lisa Email: lc7685@hotmail.com Disclaimer: I don't own the show, characters, original idea etc. etc. Rating: PG (PG in Australia's probably the equivalent of PG-13) Category: D/R Setting: Post Scary Monsters, but no to only maybe tiny spoilers :) Notes: This is much longer than I intended. I thought it'd be a two pager. Try twenty. Meh :P I got myself drowned in fluff. Ahhhh the goodness! :D Thanks for the feedback! It's always greatly appreciated and is excellent encouragement! I wanted to look at what Monica and John would be like if they took a chance to relax a little and since I'm still getting to know the characters, they may not be as solid as some other fics, but meh, hope you enjoy nonetheless! :D FINAL PART
"So, what's it feel like to be surrounded by fire?"
"It was pretty cool actually. Cool as in, not hot." Monica rolled her eyes. "You would've liked it."
"Mm, I'm sure."
"Too bad you believe stuff too easily."
"Well John, like you said, it's your job to keep me grounded. What do you think Scully did for seven years?"
"Alien autopsies?" John asked, and they both laughed.
"Actually, since this past week has been about what Mulder and Scully have done in the past, I think she mentioned a couple of those once."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Were they real?"
"Now John, you don't really want to know, do you?"
"Yeah!" Monica started laughing.
"She told me that she was doing this autopsy once-"
"Of an alien."
"Ahuh. And she thought it was really interesting because it had two dermal layers or...whatever."
"Yeah...and..."
"Then she found a zipper." John chuckled.
"Was the alien still wearing his coat?"
"Well it was actually a serious case involving the Armed Forces and an apparent alien abduction hoax and hypnotism and all sorts-"
"Didn't I read that in a book somewhere? It's sitting in the office on Scully's shelf-"
"Yeah. In the book. Its Scully."
"What's Scully?"
"The scientist in the book. It's based on Scully. I was talking to her about it and she comes out with this story about the author and the case."
"Intriguing."
"So there's my Mulder and Scully story. No more Mulder and Scully stories, agreed? Especially not the mushroom story." John grinned.
"But I love that story! In the ambulance at the end where they-"
"How do you know that?"
"I have my sources."
"So come on John, what are we going to do now? You've really outdone yourself tonight."
"You expect me to keep going?"
"Uh...yeah!" Monica grinned. "I'm kidding, but." John wasn't sure and Monica laughed. "I promise I'm kidding."
"You forgive me?"
"I forgave you the moment I saw 'For Monica' written on the outside of that paper."
"How'd you know it was me?" Monica leant forward, looking into his eyes.
"Because you have the clearest eyes that matched the drawing... And of course the drawing was really crappy. Come on John, who else would it be?"
"William," John stated. Monica raised her brow. "Oh come on, you never know!" They shared another laugh. "Well, I should go." He went to stand but Monica grabbed his arm.
"Wait." She stood with him and raced back into her room, shutting the door behind her. John waited, wondering what on earth he was waiting for. Several minutes later Monica emerged with something hidden behind her back. She walked up to him and produced an envelope. "For later," she insisted, placing it in his hand. John didn't say anything and Monica leant forward, quickly kissing his cheek and pulling away. "I'll see you tomorrow?" John nodded.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Monica led him out and closed the door as he walked to his car. She walked over to her stereo and began fiddling with it, waiting, expecting...
Knock, knock.
She grinned, composing herself and walking back to the front door, opening it. John was grinning, holding up what had been in the envelope.
"Why does it say tomorrow night?" he asked. Monica pretended to think. "I should kick you back for that."
"Don't you want it to be tomorrow night?" He shook his head.
"No, I don't. I want it to be tonight." She looked at him carefully.
"Really? Because I take that very seriously."
"Oh yeah," John replied. "Is there any way?"
"I think we can manage something-" Monica replied, taking his hand and pulling him inside, before shutting the door once again. She was about to say more when he held up his hand.
"Wait." He walked into the kitchen and found a sleeping puppy magnet, using it to pin the drawing to the fridge. Monica had managed to locate a set of coloured pencils and a piece of paper and had set about the messiest, most rushed drawing of her life. All in all, she had to say it was better than John's, but art had never been his strong point. It was folded in four, and on the outside the paper read 'For John'. Opening it to full size, there was a picture of a stick figure in a skirt that resembled the ladies' room logo, and a man, in an embrace with musical notes all around it. Underneath, the caption read, 'Tomorrow Night'. John smiled as he looked it over again. Monica was waiting for him next to the stereo.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked again as he approached. "I was going to give you time to think about it." John reached out his hand as he walked to her and she took it, using her free hand to insert a CD.
"I'm sure," he stated, reaching over and pressing 'Play'. The introduction began and Monica moved with John into a wider space in the living room. They stood observing each other for only a moment, before Monica rested her hands on his shoulders, John's on her waist.
Oceans are parted day after day And I slowly go insane I hear your voice on the line But it doesn't stop the pain
If I see you next to never But how can we say forever
In anticipation of the chorus, John's arms tightened around Monica as they danced and she smiled, leaning closer to facilitate it.
Wherever you go Whatever you do I will be right here waiting for you Whatever it takes Or how my heart breaks I will be right here waiting for you
I took for granted all the times That I thought would last somehow I hear the laughter I taste the tears But I can't get near you now Oh can't you see it baby You've got me going crazy
Wherever you go Whatever you do I will be right here waiting for you Whatever it takes Or how my heart breaks I will be right here waiting for you
I wonder how I can survive this moment But in the end if I'm with you I'll take the chance
Oh can't you see it baby You got me going crazy
Wherever you go Whatever you do I will be right here waiting for you Whatever it takes Or how my heart breaks I will be right here waiting for you
As the song clicked over John realised it was a different artist.
"A friend burnt it for me in New Orleans," Monica explained without him having to ask. She pulled her head back from his shoulder. "Thanks for the dance."
"It was my pleasure." They locked eyes and after a while Monica realised they'd stopped moving completely. John reached out, touching her cheek with the back of his fingers briefly. Monica couldn't believe the sensation that flowed from her cheek at the contact. She involuntarily bit her lower lip.
"John, we have to take this slowly, because of work and...history." John nodded. He understood. Their history was complicated, and her history with relationships wasn't good. Neither was his, but he'd only ever had one long term. There were issues, but they were quickly paling in comparison as they stood watching each other. She's beautiful, John suddenly realised as he touched her cheek and saw them tinge pink. He could almost feel the added heat.
Monica couldn't remember but they somehow made it from staring at each other in the living room to staring at each other in the doorway.
"Goodnight, Monica," John stated. She nodded, smiling.
"G'night." Neither of them made an effort to go anywhere. John, finally, took a step forward.
"You know how you said there are two types of close. Are there two different types of slow?" he asked. Monica wet her lips briefly with her tongue without realising. John smiled. If that was any indication of what she was feeling...
"There's slow," she stated plainly. "Then there's sloooow," she drew it out. "And then there's, uh, not so slow." She looked up and he was still moving closer. She bridged the gap and he kissed her, his hand running up the back of her neck and resting in her hair, running it through his fingers as she kissed him back, one hand on his cheek, the other by her side. John pulled back for only a moment, and the next kiss was so soft Monica barely felt it - though she was still recovering from the first and probably couldn't tell. His lips brushed across hers and she smiled as he pulled back.
"Mon," he whispered as they watched each other. It was an acknowledgment that this was, in fact, Monica Reyes. It really was. His fingers left her hair and they stood opposite each other.
"I'll see you tomorrow John." It was Monica's turn to acknowledge that this really happened and that there were no regrets. There weren't.
"Bye Monica," John replied, walking to his car. This time she didn't close the door until he'd driven away.
* Scully cornered John before Monica arrived the next morning.
"So?" she asked. John looked up sharply. What did she know?
"So what?" was the obvious reply.
"Did you work it out with Monica? I don't want the two of you snapping at each other all day. Or worse, ignoring each other."
"No, we, uh, worked it out." Scully arched that eyebrow again.
"What did you do?"
"I just told her that I hadn't meant that I didn't like her as who she was, kinda thing..." Scully was looking at him suspiciously and he felt the need to cover. "You know, like you said. I told her that what and how I did it didn't matter because why I did it was for her. I told her if it would save her life, I'd believe and I'd do anything." Scully patted his shoulder.
"Good work. The two of you are best friends. I'd hate to see something like ideology come between you."
"I don't expect it to be a problem any longer," John replied as Monica breezed in. If she hadn't entered, Scully would have questioned John further. He seemed very certain all of a sudden...
"Good morning Dana. Morning John."
"Hi Monica," Scully began. "Nice to see you bright and early. Sleep in did we?"
"I got to sleep late."
"How come?"
"Coffee," she lied. Well, partly lied. She had been awake because of the coffee, which had given her time to think. Time to think about John. And that had kept her awake much longer than she had anticipated. She caught herself before smiling and put on a tired expression. "Bad late night choice." John stood.
"Bad late night choice, excellent early morning choice. Scully?"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna get us some coffee?" John asked, grinning. Scully looked up, surprised but laughed nonetheless.
"You're on lunches again."
"Sure. If Skinner doesn't have us on a plane before then."
"All right," Scully replied, standing and grabbing her purse as she disappeared outside the office.
"John, you could've gone to get the coffee," Monica stated light-heartedly as she took a seat at her desk, setting up for the day. There was a long reply as John fielded a telephone call from Skinner.
"No, I couldn't have. I had as little sleep as you, remember? Possibly less." They smiled at each other. "How about we eat in tonight? My place." Monica nodded, smiling.
"I'd like that," she replied. "What have we got today?"
"Well for the last half hour I've been staring at a file on a possessed dog in Connecticut."
"That could be interesting... Then again, it's probably just got rabies."
"Looks like we're stuck in Washington another day." John pretended to sigh and Monica smiled.
"What are you two so happy about?" Scully asked, returning with three coffees. "Lucky the line was short upstairs."
"No cases yet," John answered. "Thanks."
"There's always a case." Scully opened the filing cabinet and found a file. "See all these? Unsolved. That's why they're here." She threw one on John's desk. "Witches. Go see Skinner and solve it."
"Yes boss," John replied dryly. "Monica, wanna come?"
"Sure. I'll meet you in the lobby, k?" John left and Monica walked over to Scully. "Did you say anything to him yesterday?"
"Yeah," Scully replied. "I told him to think about it."
"About what?"
"Think about why he believed in what he did when he did." Monica's brow creased.
"Why's that?" Monica asked, pretending as though she didn't know. She had to find out how much Scully knew.
"Well I thought that answer would be obvious seeing as you're both okay." When Monica just kept looking at her Scully realised she'd have to spell it out. "You're why, Mon. You. You two are close." She paused, before smiling. "Think about it." Scully stood and left for Quantico, leaving Monica standing in the office, thinking about it. Close. Two types: close partners, close friends. Now they were both. Now they were just 'close'. She grinned to herself, glancing around the office and focussing on the 'I want to believe' poster, before turning and walking up to meet John outside Skinner's office.
The End