"Something the matter, Scully?" Mulder asked as he threw a paper ball up in the air.

Scully looked up at him and shook her head. "No, nothing. Why?"

"Well," Mulder said, catching the paper ball, "you've just been looking at the clock for the last half hour. Waiting for something?" He leaned dangerously far back in his chair, propping his feet on his desk.

Scully glanced at the clock again. It was almost five forty-five. She'd been sorting files with Mulder since two. And after waiting the whole weekend, her anxiety over her upcoming date was becoming almost unbearable. Mulder, on the other hand, knew nothing of Scully's dilemma.

She sighed and leaned forward. "Yeah, actually I am."

"What's that?"

"Six o'clock."

"Why? Got a date or something?" he asked sarcastically, tossing the ball back into the air.

"Actually, yes. I do," she answered, looking down at a file. A loud crash startled her, and she looked up to see Mulder sprawled out on his back, still in his chair. Obviously, he'd overbalanced and caused the chair to tilt, then fall. Scully suppressed a smile as she got up to help her embarrassed partner. He set his chair back up, then sank into it carefully. He looked up intently at Scully.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean what? I've got a date tonight, Mulder. Why? Is that so hard to believe?"

Mulder shook his head. "No, not at all. Well...um..." He struggled to find the words, waving his hand comically in the air. "Um...who is it?"

Scully looked down and smiled. "Marson."

Mulder's hands slapped down onto the desk, a look of confusion on his face. "Marson? Marson? Oh, c'mon, Scully. Even you could do much better than that."

She looked up at him fiercely. "And what is that supposed to mean, Mulder?"

He shut his mouth abruptly and shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing." He turned away. "Marson," Scully heard him say quietly as he shook his head again. He turned back to her. "That's funny. I ask you to get a file for me, and you come out with a date." He grabbed a pencil and held it by the eraser. "So...how'd it happen?"

Scully shook her head incredulously. "That, I believe, is none of your business." She reached over and pulled the pencil from his hand as he prepared to chunk it into the ceiling.

He shrugged. "Whatever. Just though maybe I could get some advice. You know, how to get the 'Ice Queen' to open up." Scully gave him a look and Mulder cringed. "Ouch," he said.

Scully opened her mouth to say something, but a knock startled both of them. Scully turned to see Marson standing in the doorway.

He looked from Mulder to Scully with a funny look on his face. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked, noticing Mulder's small smile and Scully's slightly angry look.

"No," Scully said, quickly standing up.

Marson smiled nervously and turned to Scully. "Well...uh...are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. I'm ready." Scully turned and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair. She glanced at Mulder. "See you later?"

Mulder nodded. "As always. Have fun."

Scully smiled and turned to Marson. "Ok, let's go." Marson nodded and stepped aside to let Scully pass. He glanced at Mulder, who smiled sarcastically and gave him a thumbs-up. Marson shook his head and followed Scully.

Scully managed to get halfway up the hall when she remembered that her cell phone was sitting on Mulder's desk. She told him to wait, then rushed back into Mulder's office. He was sitting in his chair, completely lost in thought. And if Scully didn't know better, she'd say that the expression on his face was one of longing. She shook the thought out her head and snatched up her phone, then rushed back through the hall to meet Marson.

"You don't find him weird?" Marson asked during dinner. They'd gone to see the play, which bored the hell out of Scully, and then decided to stop somewhere to eat.

"Who?" Scully asked, surprised by the sudden change in their conversation. Only a moment ago, they'd been talking about different places they'd been.

"Agent Mulder. You know, Spooky, your partner?"

"Don't call him Spooky. And, no, I don't think he's weird. He just finds these incredible cases and thinks up some of the wildest solutions for them. But all of his hypotheses, as extreme as some may be, all have merit in mythical ways. He does his research. He's actually quite smart."

"Yeah, I know he's smart. I mean, with a record like his, how can he not be? But I think he's kinda wasting his abilities with the X-Files and all. He could do much more if he'd go back to a normal assignment."

Scully sighed and looked down at her plate. How could she possibly explain to Marson why Mulder did what he did? It wasn't just Samantha, it was so much more. And she herself had seen so many things in the past few years. How could she herself doubt that there was more to the world that what people saw? Most didn't even look. Mulder had the courage to challenge authorities and look for the hidden. But no one would understand that. No one ever gave him a chance.

"He doesn't want a normal assignment. He wants to do his thing. I respect him for that."

Marson shrugged. "To each his own. If he wants the X-Files, he can have them. No one else has the patience to take them."

Scully nodded idly and poked at her food with her fork. "He has his own reasons for doing what he does. It's not my place to question him."

"But it is the FBI's. After all, it is the Bureau's money he's spending on all of these cases."

"He doesn't ask for every case he gets. Or every case we get, I should say. Sometimes the AD will give it to us because it's in our... 'jurisdiction'."

"Weird shit, you mean."

Scully shot him the same look she had given Mulder earlier. "Not weird, although most of it is. Just complicated. Things that just blow the minds of those who are used to simple crimes. Simple murders with gunshots and knives and stuff. Or terrorists. Those kinds of things."

"But you two deal with things like vampires and ghosts and little green men, right?"

Scully looked away from him and put down her fork. "If we're only here so that you can poke fun at me and my partner, I think you should take me home."

Marson held up his hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry or poke fun or anything. Sorry. I was just curious about your work. Most of the guys are. You two are kind of a mystery duo."

"We aren't there to be a form of entertainment."

"I know that. Trust me, you guys aren't. Though sometimes a dying conversation will turn to Mulder."

Scully shook her head and reached for her purse, one she owned but hardly ever carried. She pulled out a few dollars and put them on the table for the waiter. Marson stood up as she did. She turned to him. "I had a nice night. But I'm tired and I have to work tomorrow." She turned and began to walk towards the door.

"Wait, Dana," Marson called after her. She turned. "I'm sorry if anything I've said offended you. But I had a great time tonight. I was just wondering if...maybe...you'd want to do it again sometime? Without the play, of course. I almost fell asleep."

Scully studied him for a moment. "We'll see," she said before leaving the restaurant. Knowing that it would take Marson a few minutes to hail a waiter and pay the bill, she called for a taxi. One pulled over for her, and she practically jumped into it.

"Where to, ma'am?" the driver asked, turning to glance at her.

Scully thought for a moment, then sighed. "Arlington."