Chapter Two - It's Been A Long Time
Mulder blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He wasn't.
Dana Scully, whom he hadn't seen nor heard from in over four years, was walking down the hall towards him.
Mulder's first thought was that she had gotten even more beautiful. Her hair was a bit longer and her suit a bit more laid back.
If she was surprised to see him standing there, she didn't show it. Apparently Dana Scully was still a master at hiding her emotions.
She walked up to Skinner and Mulder but said nothing as District Attorney Blake spoke first.
"AD Skinner so nice to see you again." Blake said while pumping his hand in greeting.
Blake then turned to Mulder. "And you must be Agent Mulder. Thank you so much for coming down here on such short notice." Blake shook his hand and then motioned towards Scully.
"Of course you both know Dr. Scully." He said not noticing the tense way all three nodded their acknowledgements to each other. "She was kind enough to fly in this morning to help us out."
Blake then opened up the conference room door and motioned for them all to be seated at the large conference table.
Two people, the Assistant DA and Blake's secretary were already seated and Blake quickly introduced them.
Blake waited for his secretary to get ready and then started. "For the record, I would like to extend this office's thanks to Dr. Dana Scully for being here today."
He smiled at Scully and she smiled weakly back at him. "Dr. Scully has come as a special favor to this office to be a witness against the release of Robert Holton."
Blake then continued. "We would also like to thank Special Agent Fox Mulder for taking time out of his schedule to be here as well. He too will be a witness against Mr. Holton."
Blake then gave them the basic rundown of the events for the following day. The hearing was to begin at approximately 10am with both the prosecution and the defense calling witnesses. After explaining the procedure to everyone, Blake then turned to Scully.
"Dr. Scully, I just thought I should warn you that Mr. Holton will be in attendance tomorrow."
Scully cut him off before he could say anything more. "I will be fine Sir, don't worry."
Mulder couldn't help but smile to himself at her choice of words. He hadn't heard her speak in four years and the first thing out of her mouth was that she is fine.
"Okay, that about wraps it up for you Agent Mulder and you Dr. Scully. I have a few more things to go over with AD Skinner but you are both free to go. I will see you at the courthouse at 9:45"
Both Scully and Mulder rose and quietly left the room, neither noticing the subtle placement of Mulder's hand on her lower back.
They walked in silence to the elevator. Mulder pushed the down button and then looked at her.
"You didn't even say goodbye."
Scully turned and saw the deep pain in his hazel eyes. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and sighed.
She opened her mouth to answer when she heard someone calling her name.
"Dr. Scully!" It was Blake's secretary. "The District Attorney would like to speak to you."
Scully looked at her and then back at Mulder. She smiled weakly at him her eyes showing some of the same pain as his.
She nodded at him briefly and left to join Blake and Skinner.
A cemetery in Georgetown
Scully approached the grave carrying a small bouquet of flowers. It had been a long time since she had visited her sister's grave. She hoped it hadn't become too overgrown.
Scully mouth fell open in amazement as she looked down at the small plot. She could not believe her eyes and double checked the name on the tombstone just to be sure.
It was Melissa's grave but instead of being overgrown as she had feared, it was covered with beautiful flowers in a wide array of purples - Melissa's favorite color.
Scully kneeled down in front of the grave and gently placed her flowers next to the ones growing with such abandon. She stroked the delicate petals wondering who had planted them.
Surely it could not have been her mother. Maggie Scully had left the East Coast shortly after Scully had, opting to live in the San Diego area with Scully's brothers.
That left only one person. Mulder.
It was only upon this realization that Scully let the tears she had been holding back fall.
She cried for Melissa, her father and finally for what should have been with Mulder.
A half an hour later she rose feeling better knowing that it may be a very long time until she visited Melissa again. "At least I know you will be well taken care of" she said touching the stone lightly. "Goodbye Missy - I love you."
Mulder's Office
Mulder sat at his desk looking at his computer screen without even seeing the words on the screen. Seeing Scully that morning had been quite a shock. Realizing that he would actually have to face her and whatever his feelings for her may still be, scared him to death.
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the sound of footsteps approaching his office. Mulder practically jumped out of his seat at the sound of the knock on his door.
"Sorry" Scully said smiling at him. "I didn't mean to scare you"
Mulder looked at her a bit embarrassed and muttered something about concentrating on his work.
Scully raised an eyebrow at him and walked into the office. "I don't mean to take you from your work" she said "I just wanted to thank you."
"Thank me for what?" Mulder said not taking his eyes off of her. Now that he could get a better look at her he saw that his earlier observations were pretty much right on the money.
There were maybe a few small lines around her eyes and she had lost a few pounds but Dana Scully was definitely a full-fledged woman now. And a beautiful one at that.
Mulder noticed something else as Scully made her way around the room looking to see what had changed at what had stayed the same. Her left hand was completely devoid of rings. Scully was still single and Mulder was surprised how happy that simple thought made him.
Scully stopped and picked up a small picture sitting on the corner of Mulder's desk before answering. It was a shot taken of the two of them at some work related outing - they were both laughing at something.
She shut her eyes briefly, swallowed hard and put the picture down forcing herself to regain her composure before turning back towards him.
"For Melissa" she said. "I am right that you are the one who planted all the beautiful flowers, aren't I?"
Mulder blushed a bit and nodded. "Since none of her family is here any more, I thought it was the least I could do."
Scully walked around until she stood directly in front of him. "I appreciate it Mulder more than you know - especially.." She let her voice trail off not wanting to get into a heavy conversation at the moment.
Mulder saw her discomfort and decided to change the subject. "How long are you here for Scully?"
Scully paused as if to think before answering. "I am not sure. It has been quite a while since I have been here and I was hoping to tie up a bunch of loose ends before heading home."
Mulder nodded wondering if he was one of the loose ends.
"I was out in California visiting Bill when I got word of the hearing" Scully said "I took the redeye here last night so I am pretty beat. I am looking forward to a nice long bath and a good night's sleep."
Mulder got the definite feeling that Scully was subtly telling him that she had no time for him and tried not to let his disappointment show.
As if she could read his mind, Scully smiled indulgently at him. "I thought that maybe tomorrow after the hearing you and I could go someplace, have a little wine and catch up. I would love to hear all about the X- files, the Gunmen and everything else."
She saw Mulder frown a bit at the suggestion and quickly added. "If that's okay. I don't want to interfere with your plans or cause you any problems."
Mulder smiled at her. "It will be no problem at all. I was supposed to go to a seminar on crop circles tomorrow evening, but I think they can manage without me."
"Crop circles? Surely you have found other things to occupy your time Agent Mulder?" Scully teased him.
Mulder shrugged and gestured to everything around him. "Scully, this is pretty much my whole life these days."
They chatted for a few more minutes until Scully let out an enormous yawn. She made her excuses and left for her hotel.
Mulder stared at the door after she left for a long, long time wondering how he would survive if he lost her a second time.
Scully's hotel room
Scully lay back in the tub enjoying the light scent of the bubbles that surrounded her. She had been incredibly apprehensive about making the trip back to DC.
She wasn't sure who she dreaded seeing more. Robert Holton or Fox Mulder.
She had survived her encounter with Mulder which gave her strength to believe she could survive seeing the other as well.
Scully's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the telephone. She answered it while still lounging in the tub.
She had thought briefly that it would be Mulder before remembering that she had yet to tell him where she was staying. It was her mother seeing how her trip went.
After the preliminaries were taken care of and Scully had convinced her mother that she had indeed arrived safe and sound in DC, Maggie Scully had begun her interrogation of her daughter in earnest.
"Have you seen him yet Dana?" Maggie said.
"Who Holton?" Scully said back dryly.
"You know perfectly well, who I am talking about." Maggie said "Fox. Have you seen him? Is he well?"
"Yes Mom, I saw him today. He looked fine to me."
"Is he still good looking Dana?"
Scully smiled at the question knowing that it has always been Maggie's dream to see the two of them together. "You know Mom, I think he is even better looking than before."
"No kidding" Maggie replied. "Perhaps I need to make a visit to DC myself."
"Don't you dare Mother" Scully retorted. "I have enough to worry about here without you playing matchmaker."
Scully then told her mother about Melissa's grave and smiled at the sound of Maggie's tears.
"I will have to drop him a line Dana" Maggie said sniffing slightly "to thank him myself."
She blew her nose and then continued. "But seriously Dana, what are you going to do about Fox?"
"As I have told you before Mom, I never had any sort of claim on him then and most certainly don't have one on him now."
"That may be dear, but I bet you dimes to dollars you two still have very strong feelings for each other. And even if you don't" she continued before Scully could interrupt her "you do owe him an explanation."
Scully sighed but let her mother finish. "I guess I will never really know what happened between you two that drove you away so quickly. But I do know how broken hearted he was when you left."
"I know Mom." Scully said quietly. "I will do my best to explain myself, but that doesn't mean that we are going to end up riding off into the sunset together."
Maggie sighed over the phone desperately wishing that she could give her daughter a hug. "You'll tell me what happens?"
"Do I have a choice?" Scully joked.
Still laughing, she hung up the phone. She settled back down into the tub and wondered for the thousandth time that day, exactly what she wanted from Fox Mulder.
End of chapter two. Comments anyone? I work much faster when I get reviews!
Mulder blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He wasn't.
Dana Scully, whom he hadn't seen nor heard from in over four years, was walking down the hall towards him.
Mulder's first thought was that she had gotten even more beautiful. Her hair was a bit longer and her suit a bit more laid back.
If she was surprised to see him standing there, she didn't show it. Apparently Dana Scully was still a master at hiding her emotions.
She walked up to Skinner and Mulder but said nothing as District Attorney Blake spoke first.
"AD Skinner so nice to see you again." Blake said while pumping his hand in greeting.
Blake then turned to Mulder. "And you must be Agent Mulder. Thank you so much for coming down here on such short notice." Blake shook his hand and then motioned towards Scully.
"Of course you both know Dr. Scully." He said not noticing the tense way all three nodded their acknowledgements to each other. "She was kind enough to fly in this morning to help us out."
Blake then opened up the conference room door and motioned for them all to be seated at the large conference table.
Two people, the Assistant DA and Blake's secretary were already seated and Blake quickly introduced them.
Blake waited for his secretary to get ready and then started. "For the record, I would like to extend this office's thanks to Dr. Dana Scully for being here today."
He smiled at Scully and she smiled weakly back at him. "Dr. Scully has come as a special favor to this office to be a witness against the release of Robert Holton."
Blake then continued. "We would also like to thank Special Agent Fox Mulder for taking time out of his schedule to be here as well. He too will be a witness against Mr. Holton."
Blake then gave them the basic rundown of the events for the following day. The hearing was to begin at approximately 10am with both the prosecution and the defense calling witnesses. After explaining the procedure to everyone, Blake then turned to Scully.
"Dr. Scully, I just thought I should warn you that Mr. Holton will be in attendance tomorrow."
Scully cut him off before he could say anything more. "I will be fine Sir, don't worry."
Mulder couldn't help but smile to himself at her choice of words. He hadn't heard her speak in four years and the first thing out of her mouth was that she is fine.
"Okay, that about wraps it up for you Agent Mulder and you Dr. Scully. I have a few more things to go over with AD Skinner but you are both free to go. I will see you at the courthouse at 9:45"
Both Scully and Mulder rose and quietly left the room, neither noticing the subtle placement of Mulder's hand on her lower back.
They walked in silence to the elevator. Mulder pushed the down button and then looked at her.
"You didn't even say goodbye."
Scully turned and saw the deep pain in his hazel eyes. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and sighed.
She opened her mouth to answer when she heard someone calling her name.
"Dr. Scully!" It was Blake's secretary. "The District Attorney would like to speak to you."
Scully looked at her and then back at Mulder. She smiled weakly at him her eyes showing some of the same pain as his.
She nodded at him briefly and left to join Blake and Skinner.
A cemetery in Georgetown
Scully approached the grave carrying a small bouquet of flowers. It had been a long time since she had visited her sister's grave. She hoped it hadn't become too overgrown.
Scully mouth fell open in amazement as she looked down at the small plot. She could not believe her eyes and double checked the name on the tombstone just to be sure.
It was Melissa's grave but instead of being overgrown as she had feared, it was covered with beautiful flowers in a wide array of purples - Melissa's favorite color.
Scully kneeled down in front of the grave and gently placed her flowers next to the ones growing with such abandon. She stroked the delicate petals wondering who had planted them.
Surely it could not have been her mother. Maggie Scully had left the East Coast shortly after Scully had, opting to live in the San Diego area with Scully's brothers.
That left only one person. Mulder.
It was only upon this realization that Scully let the tears she had been holding back fall.
She cried for Melissa, her father and finally for what should have been with Mulder.
A half an hour later she rose feeling better knowing that it may be a very long time until she visited Melissa again. "At least I know you will be well taken care of" she said touching the stone lightly. "Goodbye Missy - I love you."
Mulder's Office
Mulder sat at his desk looking at his computer screen without even seeing the words on the screen. Seeing Scully that morning had been quite a shock. Realizing that he would actually have to face her and whatever his feelings for her may still be, scared him to death.
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the sound of footsteps approaching his office. Mulder practically jumped out of his seat at the sound of the knock on his door.
"Sorry" Scully said smiling at him. "I didn't mean to scare you"
Mulder looked at her a bit embarrassed and muttered something about concentrating on his work.
Scully raised an eyebrow at him and walked into the office. "I don't mean to take you from your work" she said "I just wanted to thank you."
"Thank me for what?" Mulder said not taking his eyes off of her. Now that he could get a better look at her he saw that his earlier observations were pretty much right on the money.
There were maybe a few small lines around her eyes and she had lost a few pounds but Dana Scully was definitely a full-fledged woman now. And a beautiful one at that.
Mulder noticed something else as Scully made her way around the room looking to see what had changed at what had stayed the same. Her left hand was completely devoid of rings. Scully was still single and Mulder was surprised how happy that simple thought made him.
Scully stopped and picked up a small picture sitting on the corner of Mulder's desk before answering. It was a shot taken of the two of them at some work related outing - they were both laughing at something.
She shut her eyes briefly, swallowed hard and put the picture down forcing herself to regain her composure before turning back towards him.
"For Melissa" she said. "I am right that you are the one who planted all the beautiful flowers, aren't I?"
Mulder blushed a bit and nodded. "Since none of her family is here any more, I thought it was the least I could do."
Scully walked around until she stood directly in front of him. "I appreciate it Mulder more than you know - especially.." She let her voice trail off not wanting to get into a heavy conversation at the moment.
Mulder saw her discomfort and decided to change the subject. "How long are you here for Scully?"
Scully paused as if to think before answering. "I am not sure. It has been quite a while since I have been here and I was hoping to tie up a bunch of loose ends before heading home."
Mulder nodded wondering if he was one of the loose ends.
"I was out in California visiting Bill when I got word of the hearing" Scully said "I took the redeye here last night so I am pretty beat. I am looking forward to a nice long bath and a good night's sleep."
Mulder got the definite feeling that Scully was subtly telling him that she had no time for him and tried not to let his disappointment show.
As if she could read his mind, Scully smiled indulgently at him. "I thought that maybe tomorrow after the hearing you and I could go someplace, have a little wine and catch up. I would love to hear all about the X- files, the Gunmen and everything else."
She saw Mulder frown a bit at the suggestion and quickly added. "If that's okay. I don't want to interfere with your plans or cause you any problems."
Mulder smiled at her. "It will be no problem at all. I was supposed to go to a seminar on crop circles tomorrow evening, but I think they can manage without me."
"Crop circles? Surely you have found other things to occupy your time Agent Mulder?" Scully teased him.
Mulder shrugged and gestured to everything around him. "Scully, this is pretty much my whole life these days."
They chatted for a few more minutes until Scully let out an enormous yawn. She made her excuses and left for her hotel.
Mulder stared at the door after she left for a long, long time wondering how he would survive if he lost her a second time.
Scully's hotel room
Scully lay back in the tub enjoying the light scent of the bubbles that surrounded her. She had been incredibly apprehensive about making the trip back to DC.
She wasn't sure who she dreaded seeing more. Robert Holton or Fox Mulder.
She had survived her encounter with Mulder which gave her strength to believe she could survive seeing the other as well.
Scully's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the telephone. She answered it while still lounging in the tub.
She had thought briefly that it would be Mulder before remembering that she had yet to tell him where she was staying. It was her mother seeing how her trip went.
After the preliminaries were taken care of and Scully had convinced her mother that she had indeed arrived safe and sound in DC, Maggie Scully had begun her interrogation of her daughter in earnest.
"Have you seen him yet Dana?" Maggie said.
"Who Holton?" Scully said back dryly.
"You know perfectly well, who I am talking about." Maggie said "Fox. Have you seen him? Is he well?"
"Yes Mom, I saw him today. He looked fine to me."
"Is he still good looking Dana?"
Scully smiled at the question knowing that it has always been Maggie's dream to see the two of them together. "You know Mom, I think he is even better looking than before."
"No kidding" Maggie replied. "Perhaps I need to make a visit to DC myself."
"Don't you dare Mother" Scully retorted. "I have enough to worry about here without you playing matchmaker."
Scully then told her mother about Melissa's grave and smiled at the sound of Maggie's tears.
"I will have to drop him a line Dana" Maggie said sniffing slightly "to thank him myself."
She blew her nose and then continued. "But seriously Dana, what are you going to do about Fox?"
"As I have told you before Mom, I never had any sort of claim on him then and most certainly don't have one on him now."
"That may be dear, but I bet you dimes to dollars you two still have very strong feelings for each other. And even if you don't" she continued before Scully could interrupt her "you do owe him an explanation."
Scully sighed but let her mother finish. "I guess I will never really know what happened between you two that drove you away so quickly. But I do know how broken hearted he was when you left."
"I know Mom." Scully said quietly. "I will do my best to explain myself, but that doesn't mean that we are going to end up riding off into the sunset together."
Maggie sighed over the phone desperately wishing that she could give her daughter a hug. "You'll tell me what happens?"
"Do I have a choice?" Scully joked.
Still laughing, she hung up the phone. She settled back down into the tub and wondered for the thousandth time that day, exactly what she wanted from Fox Mulder.
End of chapter two. Comments anyone? I work much faster when I get reviews!