"Okay, you're free to go," Mulder said and he reached over to stop the tape and bundled up his notes.
"That's it?"
Looking up Mulder saw James Banner sitting opposite him watching him carefully and throwing odd glances at the large one-way mirror on the other wall.
"We've offered you protection with the witness relocation programme which you flatly refused. There is nothing more we can do for you Mr. Banner. We will need you when the case goes to court but apart from that…"
"So in other words don't leave town?"
"Yeah, something like that."
Banner stood up from the table and put on his heavy trench coat, despite the warm weather. From the pockets he pulled a scarf and draped it loosely around his neck.
"Goodbye Mr Mulder," he said smiling and he left the room with a crooked smile.
Mulder pick up the rest of his notes and removed the tape from the spool before he went back to his office. Still smiling from the statement he'd just collected from Banner he didn't notice that the office door was ajar and the lights were on until he entered and crossed the room to his desk. Looking up at the lights in confusion wondering momentarily if he had left them on or not he glanced around and saw her sitting by her desk, immersed in whatever work her screen was displaying. She showed no sign of the drunken mess he had put to bed the night before and she was wearing that simple black skirt and jacket that she knew he liked. Her blouse was startlingly white and the contrast in colours really brought out the tone of her hair. But upon closer inspection he was sure he'd find a crack in her spectacular veneer. No body could have bounced back so quickly.
"Hey Scully," he said loudly and over enthusiastically, catching the wince that pierced her eyes.
"Good morning Mulder."
"I just finished with Banners statement," he continued as he approached her desk and perched himself onto the corner, swinging his leg from the ledge.
"I was...eh, up with Skinner," she said trying to ignore the blush she could feel creeping up her neck.
"Banner was asking for you."
Her eyes shot up to his meeting his amused gaze for the first time that morning and immediately she was bombarded with images of stumbling through her apartment with her arms around his neck, of undressing in her room with him…in front of him, she corrected herself. He saw right through the fragile shield she had erected and he witnessed the struggle she was undergoing to keep her composure when she'd obviously prefer to be anywhere else.
"Did they catch Dawson last night?" she asked hoping he would give her the grace of ignoring her delicate guard.
"Yeah. John Henderson's Team got him without incident."
"So that case is over?"
"Pretty much. I just have to transcribe the statement and send it out to the DA. But apart from that there is nothing else for us to do."
"Do you want me to type it up?" she asked part of her wanting to do it as she missed out on the actual taping and part of her not wanting to be staring at the swirling words on the screen for the next four hours.
He must have noticed her inner battle and he smiled a knowing smile of a man who had lived through more than one whiskey hangover.
"No Scully, I'll do it. Besides I'll type most of it out from memory anyway."
He stood away from her desk and finally she could breathe and concentrate on something other than his black trouser leg swinging lazily beside her, gently brushing her thigh with each sway. From his desk he got the earphones out and hung them around her neck, preparing the PC before he started the tape.
"What did Skinner want?"
"Skinner? He asked me to meet a pathologist from Milwaukee who's flying out on Monday."
"How come?"
"To be honest I'm not sure. Something about jurisdiction. Some new rules."
"Should be a hoot!" She couldn't help but smile and he returned it, glad to see the edge taken off her mood.
They day passed slowly in silence as Mulder typed out the statement and Scully busied herself with minimal paperwork, relaxing as the hours went by and her head stopped spinning. She glanced up to look at him once during the day but as her mind wandered back to the previous night she could feel the incriminating blush shroud her face in a cloth of colour and when she focused her eyes back on him he was watching her, his smile curved across his lips showing more teeth than she would have like to see.
At long last she spotted the clock as it crawled past five and decided that enough was enough. She switched off her PC and sat back with an undisguised sigh of relief.
"Tired Scully?" he said without looking up and she wondered how he could type out the statement and study her so intently at the same time. She was the woman, she was supposed to be able to multitask, not him. Although with the pounding in her head she was surprised she could manage a single task.
"A little. Been working too hard," she replied provoking him to retort with another smart comment.
"Yes you have Scully," he said simply, throwing her off guard. He pulled the earphones off his head and matched her position with one of his own. "Plans for the weekend?"
"My mum invited me over for dinner tomorrow. She said she has a surprise for me."
"Oh?"
"I have no idea. I just hope it's not a phone number," she muttered as she slipped on her light coat and gathered her briefcase.
" Phone number?"
"Blind date…you know what a date is Mulder, I know it's been a while for you but you still remember right?"
"Vaguely, cheap dinner, bad conversation and awkward kissing?"
"Something like that."
"Oh how I miss it so," he sat forward as she walked towards the door as if he needed to stay close to her for as long as he could before the vast expanse of the weekend came between them.
"See you Monday, Mulder."
She left the office to the sound of the tape whirring as she heard Mulder rewind it for parts he missed. The drive home was short and unconscious. Without thought she discarded her clothes and climbed straight into her bed, feeling like it had been years since she had seen it. Her slumber came fast and uninterrupted and she welcomed it like a warm blanket on a cold night.
Mulder had finished the transcription of the statement hours earlier but he wanted to see how long she would last. If it was him, he would have caved around lunchtime. And at one point when she went for coffee, she was gone for so long that he thought she went home. But sure enough she walked in carrying two cups of coffee and without a word she placed a donut onto the table in front of him and returned to her desk.
He waited until he imagined she had left the building and was on her way home before he placed the statement into a sealed envelope and left the office, dropping the envelope into Skinners office on the way. His Friday night was spend crouched in front of the VCR as he tried to figure out how to get the tape out. It had been lodged in there for over a month and tonight he decided was the night he would win. He would manage to force it out and get to watch something other than bad prime time shows. As the clock told him it was half two he gave up, leaving the video in the machine now accompanied by a spatula and a fork. He went to bed dejected and tired and lay awake foreseeing his Saturday of basketball and little else. He tried to think of some inane excuse to ring her but he knew she'd be asleep so he settle for lunch tomorrow. He'd call her about a case…
Crop circles, he thought, they are so last minute. Somebody somewhere must have a crop circle in their field.
***
Scully woke slowly and found her eyes seemed to be fused shut as she struggled to open them and swim through the fog in her brain. Eventually the power came to her and she blinked rapidly letting the sting settle as she rolled over in the bed with a deep moan, releasing some of the tension she could still feel in her muscles. Glancing at the clock she saw it was half past twelve and a luxurious smile crept across her lips with the knowledge that she'd had a great nights sleep. Stretching beneath the covers she kicked them off and made for the bathroom, letting the water run while she fixed some toast and coffee.
It all seemed to be timed so well she thought as she stirred the bubbles into the water and heard the toast pop. With the food and her cup balancing on the toilet she sank below the water dipping her head and holding it under for a moment. Her back rested comfortably against the bath and she bit into the toast relishing the peace and quiet, punctured only by the soft music she could hear coming from the stereo. She was looking forward to a free weekend with no cases. Time apart from Mulder would serve her well to get over her slight embarrassment at being caught in more than an uncompromising situation, but it wasn't a feeling she'd like to have linger between them.
The stillness seemed to last forever, time stopping in her bathroom as the water lapped against her skin, soothing the rough edges that had been left there by Johnny Walker and Paddy Power and she loved it. But the knocking that interrupted her illusion was loud and instantly recognisable. She sighed into the empty room and briefly entertained the thought of ignoring him but then she didn't want to go through getting another door fitted so she climbed from the bath. The shiver she emitted was quickly suppressed as she wrapped into the cotton robe and got to the door just as he knocked again.
"Okay Mulder," she called as she fastened her robe belt and opened the door.
"Hey Scully," he said his face animated with excitement.
"I don't care where you found the crop circles," she said walking back into the room and heading for the kitchen to switch on the kettle. "I'm not going."
"Crop circles?" he said flustered by her cognition.
"What ever it is…Shamans, spirits, E.B.E.'s, whatever I don't care."
"But Scully-," he began sitting into the table, already glad to be here and have the battle of words begin. He came for this; he lived for this he loved this.
"No Mulder. It's Saturday, I want to spend it in DC. I have to be at my mums in four hours."
"Oh right…the surprise."
"So whatever it is you came over for, forget it."
"Ok." She poured him his coffee and sat across from him letting the silence grow bigger and bigger until she could take it no more. His purposefully blank face giving away nothing for a change.
"So why did you come over?" she asked at last, trying not to sound too curious.
"Just to see you," he said plainly, scaring her with his frankness.
"Really?"
"Of course Scully. What else would I do with a Saturday? There is a lull in the Xfiles at the moment and the game was cancelled."
"Oh, so after work and sport you thought of me?" she asked pretending to be insulted.
"Naturally," he answered playing her game, "after I called the lone gunmen that is. But they were busy with an online hack or something equally boring."
"Gee Mulder thanks."
"Come on Scully, you know you come first," he said reaching across and taking her arm, squeezing it lightly. She looked at him sideways her smile broadening at the sight of his expression. "Come on, let's do something. Something so normal, something so pedestrian, touristy even," he almost begged her.
"What? Visit the FBI Building?"
"That's not even funny."
"Capitol Hill? Smithsonian?" she suggested half seriously not for a moment thinking he would take her up on the offer.
"Smithsonian lets go there."
"You've never been?"
"Of course I have, but never with you," he said adding a depth to his voice and words as he stared into her eyes and intensified his simple sentence.
"I have to be-."
"Don't worry we'll be back in time," he promised.
"But I…" her voice trailed off as she looked at him and her shoulders slumped with the resignation that she wouldn't get away. "Okay, let me grab some clothes and we'll go."
"Don't you know the song? Come as you are?"
"Yeah I'll look well driving around wearing nothing but a robe," she called over her shoulder as she stepped into her room to dress.
"I bet you would."
***
Scully kissed her mother goodbye and walked to her car, settling in and driving off without a conscious thought, not knowing where she was going, she just drove. Not wanting to stop driving she turned right when the light glared red at her and sped up when they shone green. It wasn't tears that she fought to see through, but the clouded debris of her mind as her thoughts swirled before her, dodging her grasp and avoiding her scrutiny. So she just drove. She didn't know how she got there, not the exact route, but she always knew she'd end up there. She knew he'd be there and she knew he'd answer so she stopped driving.
The elevator ride seemed to last an eternity and every step she took towards his door seemed to send it two steps away but eventually she made it. Turing on her heel she faced the covering of brown chipped paint and newly fixed numbers, holding her breath as her hand rose shakily to knock. Seconds later it swung open and he stood there fumbling with a bundle of notes not having seen her yet.
"Oh Scully, I thought you were my dinner," he said when he saw her and he held the door open wider to let her in.
As she grazed by him he noticed the faraway look in her eyes and the blank expression on her face as she hovered by the couch, unsure whether she would sit or not.
"I thought you were having dinner with your mum?" he said taking the collar of her coat in his hands and with a gentle tug she released it to him, so he draped it over a chair. "Wasn't there a surprise?"
Slowly she lowered herself onto the couch and he sat himself next to her, his mind reeling with the possibilities of what could have happened. After a wonderful day of shared memories and stolen glances she left, he thought in a beautiful mood. But this distressed Scully sitting beside him was starting to scare him.
"Yes…there was a surp-…surprise."
"Well what was it?" he asked needing to know what had gotten her so upset.
"She wanted me to…to…meet someone," she mumbled and Mulder's heart stopped at the image of a blind date. "A friend of hers," she added almost intelligibly.
"A friend?" he said confused.
"A friend, a male friend…a boyfriend."
"For you?" he spluttered.
"No, for...for her."
A smile began to spread across his face and he had to stifle a laugh but before she could tell him more a knock at the door cut into the room. Mulder stepped over her legs and returned shortly with a pizza and a big bottle of coke.
"Have you eaten?" he asked knowing how much trouble she had with food and tension.
"Not really," she admitted her voice sounding even distant to herself as she began to focus on his small movements in the kitchen where he searched for napkins and slowly the fog began to lift, penetrated by the sweet smell of pineapple on his large Hawaiian pizza.
"Well help yourself," he ordered as he stepped back over her legs and dropped to the couch beside her.
"Thanks," she said as she reached for a slice and leaning back next to him, her arm comfortably covered by his.
They stayed like that, shoulder-to-shoulder, crushed together as if there was no more room on the couch and the room filled with a pensive silence, pierced by satisfied chewing as they both ate the pizza. He opened the coke and swigged from the bottle. Offering her some he was surprised when she took it from his hands an lifted the hefty 2ltr bottle to her lips and took a long drink. She handed the coke back to him and claimed another slice al the while saying nothing but the edges of her lips curved into a smile.
The food was soon finished and Mulder discarded the box before settling back next to her; again their shoulders, arms and thighs meeting when he sat so close. The silence between them amplified for a moment and Mulder glanced over at her only to find her eyes withdrawn and unfocused.
"Scully? You wanna talk about it?" he asked carefully.
"I'm just a little shocked," she admitted.
"About your mum's…boyfriend?"
"Yeah. It's so out of the blue," she said looking up at him, for the first time catching them and their concerned spark.
"Aren't you…happy for her?"
"Happy?" she said as if the thought only occurred to her. "Yes I'm happy, but…" he voice trailed off.
"But what?"
"But it's so depressing," she admitted finally with a sigh.
"Why do you say that?" he asked her vague answers confusing him.
"God Mulder," she said, suddenly exasperated with his questions. "My mother has a better social life than me. I'm 38 years old and I haven't had a date since…since…since I cant remember. And then tonight I find out that my mum has a boyfriend!"
He wasn't sure how to answer her and he knew any way he did would be twisted into an argument. An argument he was sure he'd loose.
"They've been dating for over two months," she added as if it were salt to an open wound.
"What's he like?" he asked tentatively, his curiosity winning over his survival instincts.
"He seems nice. He works at the university. Department head of English Literature," she said.
"Sounds…good, doesn't it?" he admitted neutrally.
"Good Mulder? It sounds great! Why can't I meet someone like that?"
"Where did they meet?"
"At the library."
"Maybe you've been going to the wrong library?" he said trying to lightened her mood or see her smile.
"The only library I get to visit is the FBI reference or archive library. And the only person I meet in there is you."
"Expand your horizons, Scully," he argued ignoring the painful pang that spread across his chest.
"Yeah I intend to do that as soon as I solve all the worlds conspiracy's and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the existence of extra terrestrial life!"
"Hey Scully, we have the same life plan, it must be fate," he said nudging her with his arm and knee.
"Shut up Mulder."
He smiled a small smile and she reluctantly returned it, secretly delighted that he was letting her moan and partially embarrassed that she was sounding so blatantly female.
"Sorry Scully," he said looking away to hide the seriousness of the moment.
"It's not fair, is it?"
"Aww Scully," he said moving his arm to drape it over her shoulder and pull her closer. "You'll always have me!"
"That's what I'm afraid of Mulder."
** WOO HOO All fluff, all the time!! This is gonna get so bad. Yeah…I'm apologizing in advance for future fluff!!**