Title: "A Rather Strange First Encounter"

Chapter 7 "A Locked Door and the Night Before"

Author: Jerome Mullins

Disclaimer, Summary and Rating: see previous chapters.

Author's Notes: The morning after and the week coming to a close. It's getting harder and harder for Dana to ignore her plane ticket home. But before she leaves, here's some mindless AU MSR fluff.

* * *

Dana Scully snuggled into his side and draped an arm over him possessively. Fox Mulder was fast asleep lying on his right side facing her. The alarm clock behind him read 2:23 in the morning, she had been able to get a couple hours worth of sleep in before she had woken up a few minutes before. She wasn't sure how long he had been asleep but he hadn't moved since before she fell asleep. He had been reading to her when she nodded off to the soothing sound of his voice. She moved and felt a gentle weight restraining her from moving; she lifted the covers slightly to see that his arms were locked around her. She wasn't the only one feeling a bit possessive.
She placed her palm on the side of his face and drew tiny circles over his cheek with her thumb. She leaned in and kissed his lips softly and he opened his eyes slightly and gave her a soft smile.
"Let me guess, I'm late for my English class." He closed his eyes again.
"Not unless your class started at two a.m.," she shook her head. "When does your first class start by the way?"
"Nine," He yawned. "We've got plenty of time for more sleep." He snuggled closer to her, resting his head over her t-shirt covered breasts.
"What are you studying in your class?"
"Shakespeare's _Henry V_." He yawned again. "We're in Act III."
"It's that the Saint Crispin's Day speech?"
"No, that's later." He said sleepily. "Why the sudden interest in my class work?"
"It's not your class work I'm interested in," she ran her fingers through his short brown hair. "I'm interested in you."
Fox smiled and hugged her tighter. "Too bad, I thought you might be another Harry fan."
"I'm familiar with the story, I haven't read it but I know that he makes a lot of great speeches. I've only read two Shakespearean plays."
"Which ones?" his breathing was becoming deeper, he was drifting off to sleep again.
"_Romeo and Juliet_ and _Othello_. Typical required reading for a high school English class."
"Did you like them?" he asked softly.
"I did," she nodded. "But something tells me that _Henry V_ is more interesting. Just like you." She kissed the top of his head.
"You're a smooth one, I'll give you that." He smiled against the fabric of her t-shirt.
"Did you have to memorize anything for your class? From the play I mean?" she rubbed the bare skin on his back as he continued to drift off to sleep, her lids too where becoming heavier and heavier.
"Mmm," he replied. "At least ten lines from any character in the play."
Dana rubbed the tiny hairs on the back of his neck with her nails as she closed her eyes. She kissed his shoulder and said, "Recite it to me?"
"How do you know I have it memorized now?" he smiled. "We're not due to recite until final exams."
"Just a feeling." She kissed him again. "You're hard working. Something tells me that you're an overachiever too."
She was right; he did have his entire speech completely memorized. Knowing full well that he had gone above and beyond the requirements of the assignment, he couldn't resist memorizing all of the words to his favorite speech.
He yawned before he began to recite in a deep, sleepy voice, "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more or close the walls up with our English dead." he yawned again. "In peace there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility. But when the blast of war blows in our ears, then imitate the actions of the tiger. Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. Disguise fair nature for hard-favored rage." he voice trailed off as his drifted into a deep sleep.
Dana smiled and hugged him more tightly which woke him and he continued from where he had left off without missing a beat, "Then lend the eye a terrible aspect, let it-" and he was out again.
Dana decided to join him in slumber. It was almost five when they woke up again. This time it was Dana who was greeted by an alert and awake Fox.
"Was the speech really that boring?" he asked with playful smile on his face.
"Extremely." She reached up to kiss his lips. "Did you memorize that from all the book cracking you do?"
"Don't be silly, I learned all that through osmosis. I would keep the book open to that speech under my pillow. I was able to learn the whole thing in my sleep in one week."
Dana laughed hysterically. "You're a very strange man," she shook her head.
"Would that make you a stranger woman since you decided to like me?"
"_Decided?_" she scoffed. "I had no say in this what so ever, don't you believe in fate? Circumstances beyond our control with a force that drives each of us on a course of unpredictable outcomes in which everything that we do, everyone that we meet, have all been selected and predestined to affect us?"
"As a science major and future doctor, I'm rather surprised that you believe in such things."
"Well, to be honest, I don't. It just something that my sister keeps telling me about."
Fox nodded. "I'm not sure about predestined arrangements in our lives, but I do believe there are reasons for things happening. There are sometimes when a coincidence feels a bit contrived."
"Does our meeting feel that way to you?"
"No." Fox shook his head. "No, but I do find it extremely fortunate that I've met you. I also find it somewhat hard to believe that I had to come all this way to England to fall in love with a beautiful woman who I would never have met back in the states."
"Do you think it was fate?" Dana looked up to the ceiling.
"I don't know," Fox shook his head and leaned closer to her and blazed a trail of kisses from the side of her neck down to her shoulder. "Whatever it is, it's the best thing that has ever happened to me."
Dana leaned her mouth down to capture his and they locked themselves in a tight embrace.
"What do we tell Grace and Maggie?" she asked between kisses. "They won't be leaving us alone."
"We'll tell them nothing." Fox grunted as he kissed her neck.

* * *

Grace and Maggie, despite being excluded from their own room for the night, had a great time with their friends down the hall. They stayed up late, chatting and eating while watching television and movies into the early hours of the morning. After getting a few hours of sleep, they were able to slip into the bathroom to shower and prepare for the day. Clad only in borrowed bath robes and with towels wrapped around their heads, they ventured back to their dorm room. Before they reached the door, Fox come out of the room and gave Dana one more embrace and kiss before heading back to his own room.
Dana seemed as if she were in a blissful trance as she watched him head down the hall to the stairwell. Grace immediately rushed to Dana and pushed her back into the room; Maggie followed them inside and quickly closed the door. The interrogation began. Questions spewed from both girls and hit Dana like machine-gun fire, she hardly had time to catch her breath much less answer each question as Grace and Maggie rattled them off.
"What happened last night?"
"What did you do?"
"What did he say?"
"What did _you_ say?"
"Did you kiss?"
"Are you back together?"
"_Are_ you together?"
"How was it?"
"Did you know you've been here the entire night?"
"Did both of you share a bed?"
"This is going to get around campus quick."
"By lunch Phoebe is going to find out."
"How are you going to keep this up?"
"Don't you have two more days?"
"What time is your flight?"
The questions kept coming at her until Dana could take no more and suddenly stopped her by holding up her hands, commanding their silence.
"What happened last night, between Fox and I, will _remain_ between the two of us. What we did is nothing that you need to know about. We both said things that put everything into perspective and yes, we are together. I'm sorry that we kicked you out last night, but we needed to be alone. That's all I'm going to say about it. I wouldn't be surprised if word about this gets around quickly and Phoebe will probably know about this by breakfast and she'll just have to deal with this on her own. I know that time is short, and I do leave very soon, but I'm still here." Dana took a deep breath and looked at both of them calmly. "Anything else?"
Grace and Maggie looked at each other and then back to Dana.
"You're right. This isn't any of our business."
"Forgive us, Dana, but we just had to ask."
"A lot of people will be talking about this you know."
"Even last night they were talking about this."
"Fox's roommate came up looking for him too."
"They're probably hassling him about it right now down stairs."
"I know-I know," Dana calmed them to silence again. "But this is really between Fox and me, and there's nothing more that either of us are going to say."
Grace nodded and moved to the closet and pulled out an outfit to wear. Maggie too went on with her morning ritual of hunting for clean clothing to wear and they seemed to have completely dropped the subject.
Dana was pleased with the idea that her privacy was going to be respected and she gathered some things to take with her to the showers. She was almost out the door when Grace looked over her shoulder.

"Wore you out, didn't he?"
Dana sighed angrily and ignored her as she walked out of the room.
Maggie giggled slightly and continued to get dressed.

When the three of them headed down to breakfast, Dana could immediately hear the whispers and feel the eyes upon her. She was starting to feel a bit self-conscious at all the stares and whispers. Fox was already at a table and reading through one of his retrieved textbooks. The cover was mud stained and appeared as if he had made some attempt at cleaning it. She smiled to herself and quickened pace. She reached the table before the others and bent down to make contact with his lips just as he was raising his head. He was surprised at first but instantly accepted the affectionate embrace and pulled her closer. They released and the entire dining hall erupted into a sea of applause. Grace and Maggie reached the table and sat in front of the two of them.
"They're happy to see that you're happy." Maggie smiled.
"I'm sure," Fox said looking around. "I'm just waiting for Phoebe and her minions to arrive."
"Minions?" Dana asked.
"Dante's _Inferno_ reference. Phoebe's the devil incarnate and her cronies are members of the demonic legions from Hell." Maggie explained.
"No, no," Fox corrected her. "Phoebe is the devil's plaything."
"Speaking of playthings," Grace interjected. "Last night-"
Maggie slapped the side of her arm quickly and Dana groaned.
"No comment." Fox shook his head and looked over to Dana. "Has she been bugging you all morning?"
"It's been like the Spanish Inquisition." Dana nodded. "Even after I told them that it's none of their business. They just won't leave me alone. I told you this would happen."
"_I've_ been good." Maggie protested. "It's her that's being the pain in the ass."
"You're dying of curiosity." Fox said as he ate a strip of bacon. "I can see it in your eyes. You're more desperate to know than Grace over there."
"We'll stop if you tell us." Grace vowed.
"There wouldn't be any reason to bug us if we told." Dana said.
Maggie shook her head and said, "We could always bug you for details. But if you just told us one or two things about last night, I will promise to leave you alone."
"No." Dana said strongly.
Grace turned to Fox who shook his head.
"No comment. Not without Dana's permission."
"We could pry it out of you, both of you." Grace warned. "I'm an expert in torture."
"You tickle people until they give up." Maggie said coarsely. "It's not that we mean you any disrespect, we're just curious. You know us."
"Yes, I do." Fox nodded. "And as soon as we tell you, you'll spread it everywhere on campus."
"What can we say for ourselves?" Grace shrugged and added proudly, "We're flirts."
"Talk about me all you want, but what about Dana? She's going to be leaving for home soon and she'll have no way to defend herself." Fox slumped his shoulders at the mentioning of the fact that Dana would be leaving soon. "It wouldn't be fair." He concluded.
Maggie leaned back in her chair and stared at them for a moment.
"How are you going to handle Dana's return back home?"
The discomfort was apparent on both of their faces and they were unable to give a straight answer. Grace and Maggie decided to leave them alone for a while as they ate and then separated to go to their classes.
Fox and Dana walked hand in hand as they headed off to his English class. He was able to get her into the lecture without questions from the professor. Fox simply explained that she was from the States and was here for a college tour of Oxford. Fox lead her to a seat next to his and she was received warmly by Fox's classmates, although she recognized many of them as the whisperers from the dining hall. She could even hear a few of them behind her whisper about the both of them.
For the first time Dana felt somewhat glad about returning home, she wouldn't have to deal with the student rumor-mill. Then she felt guilty for leaving Fox behind to deal with it by himself and that's when she noticed that he wasn't at all bothered. It was if he carried himself on a higher plain than those around him. Those whispers and stares were on a completely different frequency for his senses to detect. Fox Mulder didn't give a rat's ass about what others thought of him.
And she loved him all the more for it.
Following his example, Dana turned a deaf ear to the whispers around her and concentrated more and more on him.

* * *

The day slipped by too quickly. Fox took her along to all of his classes, each of his professors gave her a warm and receptive welcome into the class as well as a stern and disappointed look upon viewing the state of Fox's textbook. It wasn't until they reached his psychology class when one of his professors finally mentioned something.
"Fox? Your book seems a bit more. _muddier_ since last class."
Fox looked down to it and nodded, "It certainly does. Muddier." He agreed.
"I see," the professor nodded and then leaned in closer to him. "_Cracking_ the books or _flying_ them?"
"Does it matter?" Fox paused and cleared his throat, "Do you really want to know?"
His professor thought a moment and examined the textbook closer, he looked over to Dana's bright and cheerful face, it was obvious she was suppressing a fit of laughter, and he shook his head.
"No. I don't think I want to know."
Fox nodded and lead Dana to his seat. Dana giggled slightly and quieted down, suppressing it until it became too painful and she had to laugh out loud.
"I must remember to take this tradition back home with me." She whispered to him.
"I'm sure you'll find it useful in med school."
"Yes, but I might have to keep all of my textbooks for a while. I might be forced to actually keep good care of them."
"No one can force you to respect and care for a book. Like Confucius said, 'If book is to fly, it is to fly. But if book is to be kept, keep it away from Fox Mulder.'"
"Confucius, huh?"
"It was one of the last things he said." Fox nodded.

After class they were able to meet with Grace and Maggie for lunch at the tavern before heading to their last class of the day, Properties of Physics.
Fox had warned her that this was an upper class Physics course, but Dana simply smiled and hugged on to his arm tighter. She just wanted to be near him, she wasn't expecting to take the final exam.
The lecture hall was a large auditorium with four doors to enter and exit. Two of them were at the front of the auditorium which lead into the class room which was arranged in a theater-style with a steep slope which housed fourteen rows of twenty seats, each with an aisle to the right or left of the row. At the bottom of the slope, the class leveled off where a large oak podium stood along side of a matching table. Behind them was a giant blackboard and two more entrances to the right and left. Dana was instantly reminded of her high school auditorium upon seeing the layout of the lecture hall.
The four of them chose to sit in the middle of the class, a spot suggested by Grace who claimed the professor, a highly intelligent, extreme charismatic and likable man with a Ph. D., was less likely to call on them. Around them the seats began to be filled with more and more students and it was then that she entered from the right bottom entrance.
Fox had been flipping through his notes from the previous chapter and passed his homework assignment towards the side aisle when Dana first saw her. She had never met her, nor gotten a clear look at her, but she knew. She could tell by the smug exterior and cold features that this was Phoebe Green.
Dana wasn't even sure Fox knew she was there until he turned and suddenly dropped his pen from his hand as he stared forward. Dana looked over to him and could have sworn that his face drained of all color.
"Is that her?" she asked already knowing full well who it was.
"Yeah," he nodded and swallowed deeply. "That's her. That's Phoebe."
"Not much to look at, is she?" Grace leaned over Fox and whispered to Dana. "She's a cold hearted bitch, but when you first meet her, you could swear that she's the nicest woman you'll ever meet."
Dana eyed her closely and watched as she scanned through the crowd and then laid eyes of Fox. He sat back in his chair and glared back at her, there was no fear in his face now, just pure anger. Phoebes' eyes continued to wander and then landed upon the young red-haired woman sitting to his right. She stared coldly back at her and their eyes locked. Phoebe smiled smugly and walked to the aisle and took a seat two rows in front of them to Dana's far right. Her eyes never once left Dana's; she was doing everything that she could to intimidate her. She would be watching them very closely through the entire class.
"You used to kiss _that_?" Dana said lightly, easing the tension. "What were you? Drunk?"
Fox smiled slightly, "She's extremely deceptive. On a good day I could say she was almost as sweet as you." Dana looked tenderly at him for a moment. "Almost."
Dana nodded and turned back to watch Phoebe who was still looking in their direction.
"I trusted her, I even gave her my heart. She took it and threw it away as if it were nothing. Until yesterday, I didn't think I could ever trust anyone ever again."
"What happened yesterday?" Dana said with her eyes still on Phoebe.
Fox gently placed a palm on his soft cheek and turned her head to meet his eyes.
"Yesterday, I met the most wonderful woman in the world. And I fell deeply in love with her."
Dana blushed at her forgetfulness and they kissed each other softly.
One of the bottom doors opened and the professor, Dr. Henry Blackner, entered the auditorium carrying a faded brown leather satchel and a large smile on his face.
"Good afternoon everyvone," he said cheerfully with a husky Austrian accent. "I trust everyvone is having a good day and that your homevork assignment is complete. If you vould be so kind as to pass it tovards se aisles."
His easy nature seemed to spread through the whole class and his smile was contagious. Dana leaned closer to Fox and asked, "Who's that?"
"Dr. Blackner, he's originally from Austria. Extremely bright, he teaches mostly graduate classes in chemistry and physics. He's teaching here for the semester for Dr. Kindle while she's out on maternity leave."
"Isn't his accent hysterical?" Grace asked quickly.
After collecting the homework that was waiting at the end of each aisle, he took out his textbook from his satchel and opened it on the podium before him.
"Ve left off vith our discussion vith motion last class and ve are no- w _moving_ on." He paused for the brief laughter from the students before he continued. "Today ve shall revie-w your reading assignment on New-ton's La-w of Motion."
The class began with a few brief readings from the book and then a few notes on the blackboard.
"And vhat is se first la-w Sir Isaac New-ton states on motion in se _Principia_?"
A student's hand caught Blackner's eye and he nodded to them to answer.
"'Every body perseveres in its state of rest of uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed thereon.'"
"Excellent job of quvoting from se book," the class laughed. "Vhat das it mean?"
There was silence for a bit before Maggie raised her hand.
"It means that an object perseveres, or remains, in a state of rest or uniformed speed until it is changed by an outside force. Whether it is a planet or a car."
"Interesting examples you have sere," Blackner smiled. "Vhy did you chose a planet and unt automobile?"
"Because a car is not in a constant state of motion, it stops and remains at rest until someone turns on the engine and drives away. A planet is in constant movement around the sun, it's a uniformed movement that doesn't change."
"Vill it change? Ever?" Blackner asked out loud. "Not unless se planet is knocked off its orbit, ya? In dat case, look out, especially if it's sis one, ya?" More laughter from the students. "But it is interesting szat you bring up se planets. Vhy? Because in sis la-w, New-ton is se first to recognize se importance of a concept Galileo introduced long before, se concept is known as inertia." Blackner wrote it on the board. "Vhat das it mean?"
Silence from the class and then Phoebe raised her hand.
"It's the tendency of an object to resist the change in its motion."
"Another fine quvoting from se book. Vhat's it mean?" he looked around and then settled on Dana. "You, se red-haired fraüleine sitting next to Herr Mulder."
Fox moved to lean forward and explain that she was just a visiting student when Dana suddenly answered back without hesitation.
"It means that any object, whether it is an atom, a car or a planet, carries on in a state of rest or uniformed motion, just as Newton says. But the difference is that these objects naturally resist a change in their current state of motion."
"Examples?" Blackner, along with Fox, Grace and Maggie were clearly impressed.
"Take a planet and a 10-ton truck for example. It is harder to slow down an entire planet while in its orbit and bring it to a complete stop than it is to stop a 10-ton truck. Easier still is stopping a small car than that 10-ton truck. The planet has a greater inertia than the truck and the truck has greater inertia than the small car."
"Vonderbar." Blackner nodded. "Can anyone give another example? Herr Mulder?"
Fox leaned back and laid his pen down on his notepad. "A bus or train. Passengers on board are going to be affected when the cabin comes to a halt or speeds off, it doesn't matter if they're sitting or standing."
"Precisely." Blackner nodded. "Se car accelerates but it is not se passengers semselves hoo are accelerating, sey are in se state of rest vheser sey are sitting or standing still. But as sey are moving for-vard, se force of se accelerating car causes sem to be unbalanced and pushes sem to se rear. Vhat do you do sen? Let se force take you and push you all the vay back until you smoosh into se back of se car like se accordion?" the class laughed again. "Nine. You take hold of se strap or se pole, something to help allow you to accelerate along vith se car as it speeds along. You must balance yourself so you go along vith se ride, you cannot remain in a state of rest. If you did, vhat vould happen? You fall face first into the ground vhen se car comes to a sudden stop, ya? Same sing vhen turning right or left. How dos sis apply in se car crash?"
Phoebe instantly shot up her hand before Dana could be called on again. "If a car crashes into a tree, the car immediately stops but the passengers continue forward."
"Vhy do sey go for-vard?"
Felling the competition between the two of them already starting to build, Dana instantly replied back, "Because the passengers have less inertia than the car, which has already been stopped, they push forward until a force stops them." Dana paused to look over to Phoebe. "Hopefully they were wearing seatbelts."
It was Blackner's turn to laugh. "Vithout sem, sey fly right into vindow, ya? Messy." He shook his head. "In sis situation, vhich object has se greatest inertia?"
"The car." Phoebe quickly shouted.
A wave of disappointment washed over Blackners face. He shook his head and looked over to Dana who was able to give him the correct answer.
"It would be the tree." Blackner pointed to her and nodded.
Phoebe fiercely turned to face her with piercing eyes. "What?" she demanded harshly.
"The tree has the greatest inertia. The car was stopped by the force of the tree, but the tree didn't move from its state of rest before or during the accident. The tree has the greatest inertia." Dana explained calmly. Competition over.
"Excellent." Blackner nodded. "Hoo fitting it is for se brightest one here to not be a student in my class. You are visiting, ya?"
"Yes, just for the week." Dana nodded shyly.
"Vonderbar to have you here."
Dana smiled brightly and Fox snaked his arm around her possessively and smiled brightly to the others around him.
"That's _my_ girl." He said proudly.

After class the four of them collected their notes and books and headed for the exit. Phoebe was already outside waiting for them when they came out into the cloudy and cold afternoon. Fox sighed heavily when he saw her first and looked over to Dana.
"Just walk on by, let her say whatever she needs to. Don't listen."
"Don't add fuel to the fire," Grace agreed with him. "She's failing anyway."
"This was actually the first class she's attended in two weeks. Dr. Blackner's sure to fail her, you did good showing her up like that." Maggie winked at her.
"Hopefully she's not a Physics major." Dana smiled.
"Criminal Justice," Fox rolled his eyes. "She's been applying to enter Scotland Yard after she finishes here. She's been turned down three times already because of her academics."
"If she keeps missing class, how does she except to get into Scotland Yard?" Dana asked.
Fox paused and blushed slightly, "Let's put it this way, she very morally _corrupt_." He winked at her.
Dana snorted slightly. "I'm not at all surprised."
They walked past Phoebe, a steady pace, expecting her to start with her verbal abuse at any moment; but there was nothing but silence. It was so strange to all of them, but Phoebe said nothing. Fox could tell from the look in her eyes that she was far from finished, she would strike, but not yet.
Fox decided that he would have to strike before she did. Dana had only one more day left before she flew back to the states. Why not give her one hell of a send-off?

* * *

Nearing the end now, only two more chapters (I think) to go now. The next chapter is something special I am writing for all of you who are like me and are very strong Phoebe Green haters. Make sure that you catch the next one which is already in the works.

Thank you to all you reviewers who have been there since the beginning, I love reading your reviews and insight. The latter part of this chapter is based upon a suggestion one of you gave me, forgive me for not remembering who you are; the idea was the Dana comes to a class and shows off her advanced knowledge. I really liked the idea but then thought I could tie that in with a "show-down" of sorts with Phoebe, and what better way to have Dana get back at Phoebe than through public humiliation? The Physics class setting was different than the class suggested due to the fact that I wanted Fox present to witness the humiliation, plus I didn't have a decent anatomy book at hand.

I should mention that all of the examples mentioned in the story came directly from my Physics textbook written by Henry O. Hooper and Peter Gwynne. Sirs, if you are reading this (probably not) I mean no offense in taking some of your words and examples. You should be proud to know that your textbook is one of my most frequent "flyers," next to Kessler's _Voices of Wisdom_.

Also I should thank everyone who pointed out the spelling error in the last chapter. It has been corrected, thank you for telling me.