Chapter 3
Title: Strangers in a Bar (...still working on it....)
Author: Gillian Leigh
Disclaimer: Anything X-Files related belongs to Chris Carter, Fox and 1013. The song "Here I Go Again" belongs to White Snake. Any references to people living or dead were not meant as anything other than homage. Please don't sue me. If you saw where I live, you'd understand my need to write.
~(X)~
It was Mulder who saw her first, and he flashed her a sheepish grin, knowing the situation was a little awkward. Her grin showed the same hesitation, but Mulder knew he had done nothing wrong in coming to see her. She had, after all, given him her number, and he did, after all, call and fully intend to leave a message. He couldn't help it if Mrs. Scully picked up the phone and insisted that he come over. He would have been fine returning Dana's mobile at a later time, especially if she had agreed to meet him for dinner later that day, but Mrs. Scully insisted, and Mulder knew from dealing with his own mother, that it was best to do as she wished.
He stood, and walked to Dana, giving her a hug. As they held each other in a rather informal hug, Mulder thought to himself,
'God, she smells good.' he could smell what was a mixture of her shampoo, and perfume. They pulled apart, and it was she who sat down first, and Mulder didn't hesitate to plop down right next to her. They looked at each other, and then turned to Maggie, who had been so happy she could hardly contain herself. Dana shot her mother a look,
'Mom, stop that now.' The glance returned to her clearly said,
'Stop what?'
'You know exactly what I want you to stop.' Maggie looked at her daughter, smiled, and returned a glance that said,
'Dana, I have no idea what you are talking about.' Exasperated, Dana gave up.
"What is it that brings you by, Mulder?" Dana asked, settling back into the couch. Mulder pulled Dana's mobile out of his pocket, saying,
"You, umm, left this at my apartment." He handed it to her. Dana turned six shades of red, and pocketed the cell phone.
"Thanks," she mumbled. An uncomfortable silence had settled over the group, when Mulder said,
"So, Dana, I was wondering if you would take me up on that offer for dinner, tonight?" Dana looked past Mulder, to her mother who was nodding so hard Dana feared her head would fall off. Dana looked at Mulder and said,
"What time?"
"6:00?"
"It's a date," Dana said, smiling at him.
That evening, Mulder stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom, trying on shirt after shirt, after shirt. He hadn't been on a date, an official date, one that actually received the label of "date", since college. He finally settled on a navy blue wool sweater with a lighter blue button down underneath. He pulled on a pair of loose-fitting dark blue jeans and his brown shoes. As he hurried into the bathroom to check his hair and put on some cologne, Dana was facing the same dilemma. She stood in her bedroom in front of the full length mirror, wearing one sweater, and holding two others in front of her, trying to decide which to wear. She eventually settled on a black turtleneck sweater, dark blue jeans, and her black boots with the slight heel. She resolved to put the sweaters away when she returned home that evening, because she was running out of time. As she hurried into the bathroom to do her hair and make up, Mulder was searching for his keys. He looked everywhere, except for the place-he-had- put-them-so he-wouldn't-forget-them, his coat pocket. Throwing on his jacket, he turned off the lights and closed the door, double-checking the lock. By the time he got to the elevator at the end of the hall, he stopped himself, patted his pocket and discovered his keys were missing.
"Shit!" he exclaimed, checking and re-checking all of his pockets. He raced back down the hall to find his keys still in the lock on his door. He shook his head, and removed the keys, saying, "If I don't get control over my nerves pretty soon..." he jogged back to the elevator, hopped in and pushed the button for the main floor of his building. As he unlocked his Taurus and started the engine, Dana was bounding down the steps to her living room in search of her beeper. She found it, just where she had left it, on the coffee table, and clipped it to her waist. She put her cell phone in her jacket pocket, turning out the multitude of lights that were on throughout the house. She stopped in the bathroom on the way out, checking her appearance once more, satisfied with what she saw, she dashed down the steps, picked up her coat and opened the door to find Mulder, right hand raised, ready to knock. The two startled each other, but laughed.
"Great timing," Mulder quipped.
"Mmhmm," Dana mumbled, closing the door and locking it behind her. Mulder noticed that she didn't forget her keys in the lock. He led her to his car and opened the passenger side door; she sat down inside, smiling nervously at him.
'Butterflies,' she thought to herself. 'I haven't had butterflies since, well, a long time ago...' She smiled, oddly enough it felt good to have butterflies. Mulder was something special if he was enough to make her nervous.
Mulder's butterflies, however, felt more like baby dragons, as he seated himself in the car and started the engine. He was determined, however, not to let on how nervous he actually was. Dana drummed on the arm rest, and to ease some of the stress of trying to make small talk, Mulder turned on the radio. When the first bars of "Here I Go Again.." began playing, Mulder and Dana looked at each other and said, emphatically,
"I love this song!!"
"Want me to turn it up?" Mulder asked. Dana grinned at him, feeling the butterflies beginning to dissipate and said,
"Yeah! I need to drown out my singing." Mulder cranked up the volume, and hummed along with the music, playing air guitar at every red light. The two simultaneously relaxed, and Dana asked, over the music,
"Who sings this, again?" Mulder thought on it a moment before answering,
"White Snakes?"
"Yeah, that's it," Dana said. By the time they reached the diner, the song was over, but Mulder still sung it under his breath and Dana hummed the tune. As they got out of the car, Dana looked over the charming roadside diner she had so often passed on her way to work, but never stopped at. McDonald's was on the way, easier, and quicker than stopping to have a sit in breakfast after working the 11-7.
"I know it's a little, well, humble, but it's not pay week this week..." Mulder said, feeling embarrassed at his lack of financial stability. He knew that because Dana and her husband were both physicians, and he had no doubt possessed a good life insurance policy, that she was well off. Far better off than he, no doubt. He was also sure that she would have expected more, but he was quite wrong; Dana was overly pleased with his choice.
"It's perfect. I hate those big restaurants anyways," she said, catching up to him at the door. She took his hand, and said, "I never did know which fork to use, and I'd rather have a burger than a fillet mignon any day." She laced her fingers with his, and they entered the diner together, and chose a quiet table in the corner.
They first sat down and Mulder happened to look down at Dana's hand, and saw that she no longer wore her wedding band or engagement ring. He held her left hand in his right atop the table while she flipped through a menu.
"Aren't you going to at least look at a menu?" Dana asked him. Mulder shook his head.
"Nah. I've been here so many times, I've got it down to a science what I'm going to order." She had selected what she wanted to eat and closed the menu, leaving her free to take his other hand.
The two were deep in conversation and didn't notice when a waitress approached them moments later.
"Ah-hem," the waitress said, clearing her throat. "Ready to order, folks?" Mulder nodded to Dana to order first, and she said,
"I'll have the cheeseburger, medium-rare, if you could, a medium Diet Coke, and an order of curly fries, please," Dana said, and then looked at Mulder, who then rattled off his order.
"I'll have the double bacon cheeseburger, rare, a large Sprite, and the steak fries, please," he said, gathering their menus and handing them to the waitress.
While they waited for their food to come, Mulder talked to Dana about his family, something he rarely did with anyone. He had told Dana about his sister's abduction the first night that they spent together. He had also talked briefly about his search for her, and for proof of something greater than himself, but he couldn't bring himself to talk about the X-Files to her. He feared she would see it only as a hollow, personal crusade. 'Another day, another time,' he had thought to himself, 'I will tell her some other time, just not now.'
"My mom and dad split up not too long after my sister, Samantha went missing. I guess something like that puts too much stress on a relationship. They decided that their differences were 'irreconcilable'. I was twelve years old, and I had not a freaking clue what they were talking about, but I was sure that it had to do with Samantha. I harbored guilt about that for so long," he paused. I still do. And I'll tell her that too, someday, just not now. Dana nodded as he talked, occasionally rubbing his thumb with hers, showing that though she couldn't relate, she was trying to understand.
The conversation turned shortly thereafter to lighter subject matter, and the two were soon laughing at one another, and they failed to notice that they had attracted the attention of the entire wait staff, who stood, hunched over the counter, giggling as watched these two people, who to them, seemed so evidently in love. When their food arrived, Dana noticed that their waitress, Betty, had a newly formed entourage.
After placing their plates on the table, Betty stood, hands on her hips, and asked,
"Anything else I can get you?" When both responded 'no', she turned to walk away but then faced them again, and Mulder looked up at her.
"Yes?" he asked, this got Dana's attention, and she stopped untangling her curly fries and looked up at Betty as well, drinking her soda.
"How long you two been married?" This statement caused Dana to choke on her Diet Coke. She and Mulder found themselves both laughing, though Dana at least tried to hide it. Betty turned a shade of crimson and her face dropped a little.
"Oh, God, we're not married," Dana said, managing to keep from laughing, "This is only our first date. What gave you that idea?"
"Oh," Betty said, regrouping from her momentary humiliation. "Well, the way you two carry on, making 'lovey' eyes at each other, holding hands and laughin' and all, you seem like a couple of newlyweds, is all," she said, turning to walk away. As soon as they were sure she was out of earshot, the two burst into peals of laughter again.
Dana stood at the counter as Fox paid their bill, and then led the way out the door. As they walked to the car, they stood closely, side by side, and Dana allowed her hand to brush up against Mulder's a few times and she felt his strong grasp as their fingers laced together. She looked up at him and smiled. He opened her car door for her, walked around to the other side and got in himself.
"I have a few places in mind that we could go. You want to go for a drink, first?" he asked as he started the engine. Dana shook her head after a moment of contemplation.
"I wish I could," she said, "but I've got work tomorrow, and drinking is a no-no." She sighed, and Mulder nodded,
"Oh yeah, I've got work tomorrow too, so alcohol is definitely out. How are you at bowling?" Dana just smiled at him,
"You'll have to wait and see..."
"Here are your bowling shoes, size 5 ½ for the lady, and an 11 for the gentleman," said Freddy, the manager of the Midnight Lanes Bowling Alley, flashing his dorky grin and handing Dana and Mulder their shoes. Mulder put their names in the score sheets, and after Dana set her shoes down next to the bench, she walked to the rack and picked up a 10 pound, hot pink bowling ball. Mulder set his shoes down next to hers, and picked up a 16 pound, black bowling ball, and joined Dana as she adjusted the laces on her shoes.
"How come you get the cool colored bowling ball? All the 16 pounders are either black or navy blue... what a variety!" Dana laughed at him, and straightened up. She stepped up to the line, brought back her arm, and let go of the ball with a force that Mulder didn't expect could come from someone so tiny. He couldn't help but smile as he noticed that she leaned the way she wanted the ball to go, all while standing on one foot, her other leg bent at the knee, foot out behind her. She jumped up and down and started yelling when she rolled a strike. She and Mulder exchanged high and low fives. He too bowled a strike, and the two seemed evenly matched for nearly five frames, but by the ninth, Dana was beating him badly, and their ending scores were 203 and 187 respectively.
"You cheated," Mulder said, as he handed his shoes back to Freddy.
"Did not. You're just jealous," Scully said, leaning on him to pull her left boot back on.
"You did so, and I am not jealous," Mulder retorted, continuing their childish argument as they stepped out into the lat October chill which had settled more deeply as the sun set.
"How would one cheat at bowling, Mr. Mulder? The machine keeps score, not the person," Dana spat back, playfully, crossing her arms and arching her right eyebrow.
"That, Ms. Scully, I cannot exactly be sure of, but there is one thing I know..."
"And what is that?"
"You cheated." Dana let out an exasperated sigh and gave up, knowing that there would be no end to this argument otherwise.
On the way back to her house, Dana was looking out the window, and said,
"It's beautiful out tonight." Mulder looked over at her, and slowed the car. "What're you doing?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but let's take a walk in the park. I'm not ready to head home yet, are you?" Surprised though she was, Dana liked a little spontaneity, and she agreed. Mulder parked the car, and Dana buttoned her coat and pulled on her gloves, and Mulder did the same. The two walked hand in hand, across the park, making use of the lighted walkways. When they tired of this, they found a bench near the small pond and sat down.
The conversation that ensued eventually settled on Dana's profession, a relief to Mulder, who was often reluctant to talk about his work, for fear that Dana wasn't the only one listening.
"I've worked at Northeast Georgetown for three years now, but I'm still in my residency. I'm an ER doctor, and a qualified surgeon, so I deal with all the trauma and everything that flies in through those doors, from 7-3 most days, some days from 3-11, some days from 11-7. Some days I work all three, or two out of three, depending on the need for a doctor with my qualifications. I've seen all the gruesome, grizzly, nasty stuff you can imagine," she said, glancing off across the pond.
"So you can pretty much handle all of it without getting all emotional.." Mulder said, and Dana looked at him,
"Right...most of the time. The only times it tends to get to me are when it's someone I know, or a child. I can't stand seeing children in pain. It's the worst when you lose them," she said, her voice quieting. Mulder couldn't tell if she was simply talking about her patients, or if her late husband was in these thoughts as well. She looked up, her eyes shining with still forming, and already flowing tears. "You hold their lives in your hands," she said. She took a deep breath, and talked, for the first time with anyone, about losing Daniel. "I came home from working the 7-3; Daniel had worked the 11-7. He had seemed fine when I saw him in the hospital that morning, maybe he looked a little tired, nothing more, nothing less. I would have been more worried if he didn't look tired after working all night. We said our good mornings; we had plans to go out to dinner that night after I got off work. When I got home that afternoon, I called out to him, but I-I got no response," she said, wiping away the tears that had been streaming steadily down her face. Mulder put his arm around her shoulder, and held her close. She whispered, "Thank you," before continuing. "I thought maybe he was still asleep, that shift can take a lot out of you, but when I went upstairs to our bedroom, he was lying on the bathroom floor, and the cordless phone lay about three feet away from him, shattered from hitting the floor when he did. He had a weak pulse, but I had no idea how long he'd been like that, I called 911, and they took him to the ER. I was still in my work clothes, and standing beside his gurney, telling them what had happened and giving the course of treatment I thought would be proportional. I had, after all seen hundreds of heart attack victims. I guess I was in shock, because it hadn't really hit me that it was my husband lying on that gurney. I was still spouting orders and being ignored when he flat-lined. I even went so far as to reach for the paddles, but Dr. Regenski stopped me. She made me leave and go to the waiting room, where I paced up and down until it finally hit me. I sat down in a chair and prayed for an hour before Dr. Regenski came out of the ER wearing the expression we wore when we delivered the bad news. Just like that, he was gone," she concluded, sighing, her sobs beginning to subside.
"I'm so sorry," Mulder said, being to stunned to say anything else. This woman had bared her soul to him, someone she had just met days ago. Dana was also surprised at herself. She wasn't the type to open up and show her weak side. She hadn't even cried to her mother over Daniel. There was something about Mulder that made her feel safe; she felt that he wouldn't judge her like so many other people tended to do.
After a subsequent silence occurred, it was Dana who changed the subject to lighter things. The two talked about their interests, their pasts, their faults, their hopes for the future.
"Did your life turn out anything like you'd imagined it would as a child?" Dana asked him, having cheered up. Mulder laughed,
"Not in the least." Dana looked at him with surprise.
"Really? What did you want as a little kid then?"
"I think, if I remember correctly, that at one point in time, I wanted to be a fireman, and there was another time when I wanted to be just like Walter Kronkite. But I never once said, 'Mommy, I wanna be an FBI Agent when I grow up'," he said, laughing. "What about you? Your life anything like you dreamt as a child?" Dana shrugged.
"I guess... kind of.... a little. I always dreamt of being a doctor, but I never thought that I would be a widow before I was thirty, or child- less for that matter. I always wanted a big family, but Daniel thought it best if we didn't have children until my residency was over and I had passed my Boards, because then life would be a little more predictable. But I guess it does bear some similarities to that dream I had," she said, smiling at Mulder. Dana jumped when I jogger passed them. Mulder thought it a little odd for a jogger to be passing them when it must be nearly midnight. Both had failed, until this incident, to notice that the sun was beginning to burn through the mist that formed over the pond every morning. Dana looked at her watch, and exclaimed,
"Oh, God, it's almost six in the morning!" Mulder checked his watch, and his eyebrows shot up to nearly the middle of his forehead.
"Jesus, we talked all night!" he laughed, and Dana did too. Because they both had to be at work in about an hour and a half, the pair ran hand in hand across the park, and jumped into Mulder's car, still laughing that they braved the cold all night, and talked for nearly seven hours.
When they pulled up outside Dana's large home, which looked oddly menacing in the dim morning light, Dana turned to Mulder, and after thanking him for a wonderful evening, jokingly said,
"That house is too big for a single woman; I need a dog." She gave him a kiss, and ran into the house, up the stairs, and turned on the shower. For now, her body was still running on the adrenaline from being up all night in the cold with someone she so enjoyed spending time with. She pulled out her pink scrubs, still feeling elated, and when she jumped in the shower, Dana could swear she felt as if her whole body was one big smile.
Mulder himself could not stop smiling the whole way home. He even found that he was smiling while he put on his suit to go to work, and lately he hated work. But the only thing that he could think of was her. He put some gel in his hair, and misted on some cologne. He looked himself over before darting out the door, pissed about work, but still unable to stop smiling.
Title: Strangers in a Bar (...still working on it....)
Author: Gillian Leigh
Disclaimer: Anything X-Files related belongs to Chris Carter, Fox and 1013. The song "Here I Go Again" belongs to White Snake. Any references to people living or dead were not meant as anything other than homage. Please don't sue me. If you saw where I live, you'd understand my need to write.
~(X)~
It was Mulder who saw her first, and he flashed her a sheepish grin, knowing the situation was a little awkward. Her grin showed the same hesitation, but Mulder knew he had done nothing wrong in coming to see her. She had, after all, given him her number, and he did, after all, call and fully intend to leave a message. He couldn't help it if Mrs. Scully picked up the phone and insisted that he come over. He would have been fine returning Dana's mobile at a later time, especially if she had agreed to meet him for dinner later that day, but Mrs. Scully insisted, and Mulder knew from dealing with his own mother, that it was best to do as she wished.
He stood, and walked to Dana, giving her a hug. As they held each other in a rather informal hug, Mulder thought to himself,
'God, she smells good.' he could smell what was a mixture of her shampoo, and perfume. They pulled apart, and it was she who sat down first, and Mulder didn't hesitate to plop down right next to her. They looked at each other, and then turned to Maggie, who had been so happy she could hardly contain herself. Dana shot her mother a look,
'Mom, stop that now.' The glance returned to her clearly said,
'Stop what?'
'You know exactly what I want you to stop.' Maggie looked at her daughter, smiled, and returned a glance that said,
'Dana, I have no idea what you are talking about.' Exasperated, Dana gave up.
"What is it that brings you by, Mulder?" Dana asked, settling back into the couch. Mulder pulled Dana's mobile out of his pocket, saying,
"You, umm, left this at my apartment." He handed it to her. Dana turned six shades of red, and pocketed the cell phone.
"Thanks," she mumbled. An uncomfortable silence had settled over the group, when Mulder said,
"So, Dana, I was wondering if you would take me up on that offer for dinner, tonight?" Dana looked past Mulder, to her mother who was nodding so hard Dana feared her head would fall off. Dana looked at Mulder and said,
"What time?"
"6:00?"
"It's a date," Dana said, smiling at him.
That evening, Mulder stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom, trying on shirt after shirt, after shirt. He hadn't been on a date, an official date, one that actually received the label of "date", since college. He finally settled on a navy blue wool sweater with a lighter blue button down underneath. He pulled on a pair of loose-fitting dark blue jeans and his brown shoes. As he hurried into the bathroom to check his hair and put on some cologne, Dana was facing the same dilemma. She stood in her bedroom in front of the full length mirror, wearing one sweater, and holding two others in front of her, trying to decide which to wear. She eventually settled on a black turtleneck sweater, dark blue jeans, and her black boots with the slight heel. She resolved to put the sweaters away when she returned home that evening, because she was running out of time. As she hurried into the bathroom to do her hair and make up, Mulder was searching for his keys. He looked everywhere, except for the place-he-had- put-them-so he-wouldn't-forget-them, his coat pocket. Throwing on his jacket, he turned off the lights and closed the door, double-checking the lock. By the time he got to the elevator at the end of the hall, he stopped himself, patted his pocket and discovered his keys were missing.
"Shit!" he exclaimed, checking and re-checking all of his pockets. He raced back down the hall to find his keys still in the lock on his door. He shook his head, and removed the keys, saying, "If I don't get control over my nerves pretty soon..." he jogged back to the elevator, hopped in and pushed the button for the main floor of his building. As he unlocked his Taurus and started the engine, Dana was bounding down the steps to her living room in search of her beeper. She found it, just where she had left it, on the coffee table, and clipped it to her waist. She put her cell phone in her jacket pocket, turning out the multitude of lights that were on throughout the house. She stopped in the bathroom on the way out, checking her appearance once more, satisfied with what she saw, she dashed down the steps, picked up her coat and opened the door to find Mulder, right hand raised, ready to knock. The two startled each other, but laughed.
"Great timing," Mulder quipped.
"Mmhmm," Dana mumbled, closing the door and locking it behind her. Mulder noticed that she didn't forget her keys in the lock. He led her to his car and opened the passenger side door; she sat down inside, smiling nervously at him.
'Butterflies,' she thought to herself. 'I haven't had butterflies since, well, a long time ago...' She smiled, oddly enough it felt good to have butterflies. Mulder was something special if he was enough to make her nervous.
Mulder's butterflies, however, felt more like baby dragons, as he seated himself in the car and started the engine. He was determined, however, not to let on how nervous he actually was. Dana drummed on the arm rest, and to ease some of the stress of trying to make small talk, Mulder turned on the radio. When the first bars of "Here I Go Again.." began playing, Mulder and Dana looked at each other and said, emphatically,
"I love this song!!"
"Want me to turn it up?" Mulder asked. Dana grinned at him, feeling the butterflies beginning to dissipate and said,
"Yeah! I need to drown out my singing." Mulder cranked up the volume, and hummed along with the music, playing air guitar at every red light. The two simultaneously relaxed, and Dana asked, over the music,
"Who sings this, again?" Mulder thought on it a moment before answering,
"White Snakes?"
"Yeah, that's it," Dana said. By the time they reached the diner, the song was over, but Mulder still sung it under his breath and Dana hummed the tune. As they got out of the car, Dana looked over the charming roadside diner she had so often passed on her way to work, but never stopped at. McDonald's was on the way, easier, and quicker than stopping to have a sit in breakfast after working the 11-7.
"I know it's a little, well, humble, but it's not pay week this week..." Mulder said, feeling embarrassed at his lack of financial stability. He knew that because Dana and her husband were both physicians, and he had no doubt possessed a good life insurance policy, that she was well off. Far better off than he, no doubt. He was also sure that she would have expected more, but he was quite wrong; Dana was overly pleased with his choice.
"It's perfect. I hate those big restaurants anyways," she said, catching up to him at the door. She took his hand, and said, "I never did know which fork to use, and I'd rather have a burger than a fillet mignon any day." She laced her fingers with his, and they entered the diner together, and chose a quiet table in the corner.
They first sat down and Mulder happened to look down at Dana's hand, and saw that she no longer wore her wedding band or engagement ring. He held her left hand in his right atop the table while she flipped through a menu.
"Aren't you going to at least look at a menu?" Dana asked him. Mulder shook his head.
"Nah. I've been here so many times, I've got it down to a science what I'm going to order." She had selected what she wanted to eat and closed the menu, leaving her free to take his other hand.
The two were deep in conversation and didn't notice when a waitress approached them moments later.
"Ah-hem," the waitress said, clearing her throat. "Ready to order, folks?" Mulder nodded to Dana to order first, and she said,
"I'll have the cheeseburger, medium-rare, if you could, a medium Diet Coke, and an order of curly fries, please," Dana said, and then looked at Mulder, who then rattled off his order.
"I'll have the double bacon cheeseburger, rare, a large Sprite, and the steak fries, please," he said, gathering their menus and handing them to the waitress.
While they waited for their food to come, Mulder talked to Dana about his family, something he rarely did with anyone. He had told Dana about his sister's abduction the first night that they spent together. He had also talked briefly about his search for her, and for proof of something greater than himself, but he couldn't bring himself to talk about the X-Files to her. He feared she would see it only as a hollow, personal crusade. 'Another day, another time,' he had thought to himself, 'I will tell her some other time, just not now.'
"My mom and dad split up not too long after my sister, Samantha went missing. I guess something like that puts too much stress on a relationship. They decided that their differences were 'irreconcilable'. I was twelve years old, and I had not a freaking clue what they were talking about, but I was sure that it had to do with Samantha. I harbored guilt about that for so long," he paused. I still do. And I'll tell her that too, someday, just not now. Dana nodded as he talked, occasionally rubbing his thumb with hers, showing that though she couldn't relate, she was trying to understand.
The conversation turned shortly thereafter to lighter subject matter, and the two were soon laughing at one another, and they failed to notice that they had attracted the attention of the entire wait staff, who stood, hunched over the counter, giggling as watched these two people, who to them, seemed so evidently in love. When their food arrived, Dana noticed that their waitress, Betty, had a newly formed entourage.
After placing their plates on the table, Betty stood, hands on her hips, and asked,
"Anything else I can get you?" When both responded 'no', she turned to walk away but then faced them again, and Mulder looked up at her.
"Yes?" he asked, this got Dana's attention, and she stopped untangling her curly fries and looked up at Betty as well, drinking her soda.
"How long you two been married?" This statement caused Dana to choke on her Diet Coke. She and Mulder found themselves both laughing, though Dana at least tried to hide it. Betty turned a shade of crimson and her face dropped a little.
"Oh, God, we're not married," Dana said, managing to keep from laughing, "This is only our first date. What gave you that idea?"
"Oh," Betty said, regrouping from her momentary humiliation. "Well, the way you two carry on, making 'lovey' eyes at each other, holding hands and laughin' and all, you seem like a couple of newlyweds, is all," she said, turning to walk away. As soon as they were sure she was out of earshot, the two burst into peals of laughter again.
Dana stood at the counter as Fox paid their bill, and then led the way out the door. As they walked to the car, they stood closely, side by side, and Dana allowed her hand to brush up against Mulder's a few times and she felt his strong grasp as their fingers laced together. She looked up at him and smiled. He opened her car door for her, walked around to the other side and got in himself.
"I have a few places in mind that we could go. You want to go for a drink, first?" he asked as he started the engine. Dana shook her head after a moment of contemplation.
"I wish I could," she said, "but I've got work tomorrow, and drinking is a no-no." She sighed, and Mulder nodded,
"Oh yeah, I've got work tomorrow too, so alcohol is definitely out. How are you at bowling?" Dana just smiled at him,
"You'll have to wait and see..."
"Here are your bowling shoes, size 5 ½ for the lady, and an 11 for the gentleman," said Freddy, the manager of the Midnight Lanes Bowling Alley, flashing his dorky grin and handing Dana and Mulder their shoes. Mulder put their names in the score sheets, and after Dana set her shoes down next to the bench, she walked to the rack and picked up a 10 pound, hot pink bowling ball. Mulder set his shoes down next to hers, and picked up a 16 pound, black bowling ball, and joined Dana as she adjusted the laces on her shoes.
"How come you get the cool colored bowling ball? All the 16 pounders are either black or navy blue... what a variety!" Dana laughed at him, and straightened up. She stepped up to the line, brought back her arm, and let go of the ball with a force that Mulder didn't expect could come from someone so tiny. He couldn't help but smile as he noticed that she leaned the way she wanted the ball to go, all while standing on one foot, her other leg bent at the knee, foot out behind her. She jumped up and down and started yelling when she rolled a strike. She and Mulder exchanged high and low fives. He too bowled a strike, and the two seemed evenly matched for nearly five frames, but by the ninth, Dana was beating him badly, and their ending scores were 203 and 187 respectively.
"You cheated," Mulder said, as he handed his shoes back to Freddy.
"Did not. You're just jealous," Scully said, leaning on him to pull her left boot back on.
"You did so, and I am not jealous," Mulder retorted, continuing their childish argument as they stepped out into the lat October chill which had settled more deeply as the sun set.
"How would one cheat at bowling, Mr. Mulder? The machine keeps score, not the person," Dana spat back, playfully, crossing her arms and arching her right eyebrow.
"That, Ms. Scully, I cannot exactly be sure of, but there is one thing I know..."
"And what is that?"
"You cheated." Dana let out an exasperated sigh and gave up, knowing that there would be no end to this argument otherwise.
On the way back to her house, Dana was looking out the window, and said,
"It's beautiful out tonight." Mulder looked over at her, and slowed the car. "What're you doing?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but let's take a walk in the park. I'm not ready to head home yet, are you?" Surprised though she was, Dana liked a little spontaneity, and she agreed. Mulder parked the car, and Dana buttoned her coat and pulled on her gloves, and Mulder did the same. The two walked hand in hand, across the park, making use of the lighted walkways. When they tired of this, they found a bench near the small pond and sat down.
The conversation that ensued eventually settled on Dana's profession, a relief to Mulder, who was often reluctant to talk about his work, for fear that Dana wasn't the only one listening.
"I've worked at Northeast Georgetown for three years now, but I'm still in my residency. I'm an ER doctor, and a qualified surgeon, so I deal with all the trauma and everything that flies in through those doors, from 7-3 most days, some days from 3-11, some days from 11-7. Some days I work all three, or two out of three, depending on the need for a doctor with my qualifications. I've seen all the gruesome, grizzly, nasty stuff you can imagine," she said, glancing off across the pond.
"So you can pretty much handle all of it without getting all emotional.." Mulder said, and Dana looked at him,
"Right...most of the time. The only times it tends to get to me are when it's someone I know, or a child. I can't stand seeing children in pain. It's the worst when you lose them," she said, her voice quieting. Mulder couldn't tell if she was simply talking about her patients, or if her late husband was in these thoughts as well. She looked up, her eyes shining with still forming, and already flowing tears. "You hold their lives in your hands," she said. She took a deep breath, and talked, for the first time with anyone, about losing Daniel. "I came home from working the 7-3; Daniel had worked the 11-7. He had seemed fine when I saw him in the hospital that morning, maybe he looked a little tired, nothing more, nothing less. I would have been more worried if he didn't look tired after working all night. We said our good mornings; we had plans to go out to dinner that night after I got off work. When I got home that afternoon, I called out to him, but I-I got no response," she said, wiping away the tears that had been streaming steadily down her face. Mulder put his arm around her shoulder, and held her close. She whispered, "Thank you," before continuing. "I thought maybe he was still asleep, that shift can take a lot out of you, but when I went upstairs to our bedroom, he was lying on the bathroom floor, and the cordless phone lay about three feet away from him, shattered from hitting the floor when he did. He had a weak pulse, but I had no idea how long he'd been like that, I called 911, and they took him to the ER. I was still in my work clothes, and standing beside his gurney, telling them what had happened and giving the course of treatment I thought would be proportional. I had, after all seen hundreds of heart attack victims. I guess I was in shock, because it hadn't really hit me that it was my husband lying on that gurney. I was still spouting orders and being ignored when he flat-lined. I even went so far as to reach for the paddles, but Dr. Regenski stopped me. She made me leave and go to the waiting room, where I paced up and down until it finally hit me. I sat down in a chair and prayed for an hour before Dr. Regenski came out of the ER wearing the expression we wore when we delivered the bad news. Just like that, he was gone," she concluded, sighing, her sobs beginning to subside.
"I'm so sorry," Mulder said, being to stunned to say anything else. This woman had bared her soul to him, someone she had just met days ago. Dana was also surprised at herself. She wasn't the type to open up and show her weak side. She hadn't even cried to her mother over Daniel. There was something about Mulder that made her feel safe; she felt that he wouldn't judge her like so many other people tended to do.
After a subsequent silence occurred, it was Dana who changed the subject to lighter things. The two talked about their interests, their pasts, their faults, their hopes for the future.
"Did your life turn out anything like you'd imagined it would as a child?" Dana asked him, having cheered up. Mulder laughed,
"Not in the least." Dana looked at him with surprise.
"Really? What did you want as a little kid then?"
"I think, if I remember correctly, that at one point in time, I wanted to be a fireman, and there was another time when I wanted to be just like Walter Kronkite. But I never once said, 'Mommy, I wanna be an FBI Agent when I grow up'," he said, laughing. "What about you? Your life anything like you dreamt as a child?" Dana shrugged.
"I guess... kind of.... a little. I always dreamt of being a doctor, but I never thought that I would be a widow before I was thirty, or child- less for that matter. I always wanted a big family, but Daniel thought it best if we didn't have children until my residency was over and I had passed my Boards, because then life would be a little more predictable. But I guess it does bear some similarities to that dream I had," she said, smiling at Mulder. Dana jumped when I jogger passed them. Mulder thought it a little odd for a jogger to be passing them when it must be nearly midnight. Both had failed, until this incident, to notice that the sun was beginning to burn through the mist that formed over the pond every morning. Dana looked at her watch, and exclaimed,
"Oh, God, it's almost six in the morning!" Mulder checked his watch, and his eyebrows shot up to nearly the middle of his forehead.
"Jesus, we talked all night!" he laughed, and Dana did too. Because they both had to be at work in about an hour and a half, the pair ran hand in hand across the park, and jumped into Mulder's car, still laughing that they braved the cold all night, and talked for nearly seven hours.
When they pulled up outside Dana's large home, which looked oddly menacing in the dim morning light, Dana turned to Mulder, and after thanking him for a wonderful evening, jokingly said,
"That house is too big for a single woman; I need a dog." She gave him a kiss, and ran into the house, up the stairs, and turned on the shower. For now, her body was still running on the adrenaline from being up all night in the cold with someone she so enjoyed spending time with. She pulled out her pink scrubs, still feeling elated, and when she jumped in the shower, Dana could swear she felt as if her whole body was one big smile.
Mulder himself could not stop smiling the whole way home. He even found that he was smiling while he put on his suit to go to work, and lately he hated work. But the only thing that he could think of was her. He put some gel in his hair, and misted on some cologne. He looked himself over before darting out the door, pissed about work, but still unable to stop smiling.