Basement FBI Office
17 July 2001 4.30 PM
Dana Scully stretched her arms high above her head and leaned back on the chair as far as she dared. The kinks in her neck from sitting at the PC all day were rapidly turning from annoying to painful and she yearned for a hot bath. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was half past and risked a quick peek at her partner who had been studying his PC monitor all day too. Mulder frowned at the information in front of him and sighed, not for the first time that day.
"Did you get Skinner's report finished?" she asked rolling her chair back and letting her hands drop onto her lap with a heavy slap.
"Skinners report? Eh no. Did you?"
"Mulder, I was working on the autopsy all morning. What have you been looking at anyway?"
She pushed herself off the chair and walked around to his desk. With one hand on his shoulder and the other resting beside his keyboard she looked down at the photos that were on his screen.
"What's this?" she asked looking closer to see a sports team posing and various actions in game pictures.
"See those legs?" he pointed to one photo of a pile up of men lying on top of each other. The legs he asked her about were barely visible and sticking out from the bottom of the pile.
"Yeah."
"They are mine."
"You're legs?" she said incredulously.
"I told you I was on the rugby team."
"How did you get these photos?"
"I went to the Oxford University web site and made a few calls. The team secretary emailed them to me this morning,"
She leaned in closer to the screen to get a better view, turning her head to the side as most of the pictures were of mid air collisions and jumps.
"Didn't that hurt?"
"No. It's a ruck. All part of the game."
"A ruck?" He laughed at her sceptical face and sat back into his chair. "Are you nervous about tomorrow?" she asked sitting on the corner of the desk and facing him with a mischievous smile.
"Nervous? No." He turned off the PC and stood up from his chair trying to ignore the loud crack from his knee. "More like terrified."
"Why don't you pull out?" At her desk now, she gathered her things and put them into her case.
"I can't. I made a deal with Gerry. And besides I'll have my own personal physician on the sidelines, wont I?"
"Oh yeah Mulder, I wouldn't miss this for the world."
She slipped on her coat and walked out the door with him. Continuing to walk as he locked the door behind them he had to jog a little to catch up with her.
"You never know my show of male sporting prowess might turn you on!"
"More like your show of male sporting injuries will keep me busy."
She chortled as they stepped out onto the garage floor. Standing at the door to her car she afforded him another glance as he climbed into his own car. He pulled out of the parking space deftly and drove over to where she stood. His window was down and he was leaning out towards her.
"Coming over for dinner G Woman?"
"I got stuff to do Mulder. Like stock up on first aid supplies for tomorrow, boil some water, get clean towels!"
"Supper then," he persisted.
"Alright see you later."
"Bring supper will you?" he yelled as he took off, leaving her no time to respond. She watched after him shaking her head. Having planned on a long soak in a steaming hot tub sipping wine she hadn't included Mulder in on the picture; at least not until she had a few glasses of wine.
Regardless, she made her way home and fixed a quick toasted sandwich while the bath filled. Bubbles were shaken into the hot water and clothes were shed before she fetched her drink and sat carefully into the water.
Moment passed followed by hours, and she couldn't believe it when she heard the church down the block chiming at six. Usually she was only leaving the office by now so she revelled in the lengthy soak even further. But her mind niggled on Mulder's subtle request for her company. He joked about it a lot, teasing her for always coming round when she rarely did without his invitation, but she knew better than to broach that subject.
Loathing stepping out of her warm cocoon, she eventually bribed herself out with promises of rich food and wine and wrapped herself in a white terry cloth robe that almost reached her ankles. No matter how often she thought of getting rid of this robe she couldn't bring herself to do it. Having spent so long wearing it while in the hospital, comforting Penny Northern, it meant more to her than just comfort. A struggle won, a battle fought and survived. Clothing passed in and out of her wardrobe quicker than she'd like to admit, and it didn't take her long to discover that working on the X-files would destroy some of her favourite clothes, be it by bile, mud, or mushroom excretion...that one took some explaining at the laundry she mused as she dried her hair with a towel. But her robe was comforting. For all the bad memories it revived, it also instilled in her strength she rarely felt these days.
Dressing with a wandering mind left her wearing a slim black skirt and a blue top that hugged her figure. She glanced in the mirror and smiled at the mismatched clothing statement. Pulling the skirt off she slipped into a pair of black slacks and grabbed her boots.
In the living room she ordered food for collection from the Chinese Takeaway near Mulder's as she tied her laces. With a final glance around the room she took her keys and cell phone from the table and left.
Arlington Apartment #42
17 July 2001 6.25 PM
Mulder sat on the floor in front of his couch and spread his legs out before him. Stretching to reach his toes, he held the position for a few seconds before switching his stretch to his other foot. Letting out a deep breath as he sat back, he let his head rest on the couch seat behind him and closed his eyes. There was no denying his apprehension over the game tomorrow but it was a friendly inter departmental game, no serious players. Did Gerry say tag rugby or full contact? he mused as he slowed his heart from his run with simple breathing exercises. Surely it would be tag he thought, comforting his own worries. Full on body tackles shared between FBI agents wasn't something he'd relish.
With a sigh he wondered why he let himself get talked into this again but his thoughts were disturbed by an instantly recognisable knock on the door.
"Come in Scully," he called out not moving from his sprawled position in the living room. He heard the door opening and her boot clad feet coming towards him. Emitting a small groan at the effort, he turned to see her walking in. She wasn't wearing a jacket and her top was slightly untucked at the side as if she'd dressed in a hurry. Her face was red and fresh and he knew she must have had a bath. Oh yeah, he decided to himself smiling a little at the sight of her leaning down to put food on the coffee table. That's why.
"What did you bring?" he asked managing to pull himself into a more flattering sitting position.
"Chinese. And a couple of videos."
"Movies? Which movies?" he wasn't sure if he should be excited at the thought that she would be here for longer than he expected, or wary of her choice of film. She tossed him the bag containing the tapes as she continued to pull the food out of the bag.
"Necessary Roughness and Any Given Sunday" she said laughing as she pulled the food containers out of the brown bag.
"So funny Scully."
"Life is a contact sport Mulder!"
"That's why it hurts so much."
"Aww poor you."
Mulder stood with an exaggerated groan and ambled into the kitchen to grab plates and forks. He held his lower back with a hand pressed against it and winced as he sat next to her on the couch.
"Were you out running?"
"Yeah."
"Didn't take a shower yet?"
"No."
"Are you too hungry to take one now?"
"Yeah."
He ignored her jibes and spooned some rice out onto his plate before topping it off with some chicken satay. She nibbled on a spring roll as he sat back and started to eat.
"You know Scully," he said after swallowing the hot meat. "You should really be nicer to me."
"Nicer? Why?"
"This could be our last night together like this, I could be injured tomorrow! Wouldn't you be sorry then?"
"Sorry? I suppose...but think of all the free time I'll have."
"Free time you'll be spending weeping over my graveside."
"Weeping? Or dancing?"
"Oh Scully that hurt." He laughed, grasping his chest with a heavy slap over his heart. As he bit into his food again she leaned back next to him and took a piece of chicken off his plate.
"If something does happen tomorrow I'll be there to look after you. I wont let you die."
"Thanks," he smirked moving the plate closer to her to let her reach more of his dinner.
"No problem Mulder." Tucking her leg beneath her she faced him more fully and they both ate from the same plate in silence. As the last of the rice was scooped up, Mulder put more on the plate this time covering it with sweet and sour chicken. He enjoyed them eating so closely, finding it intimate and strangely erotic. Her hand held the plate steady as she struggled to grasp the chicken with her chopsticks. He suggested she use the fork but with grim determination she managed to traverse the expanse of the plate to her mouth without dropping any.
"So what position do you play?" she asked chasing another piece of meat around his plate. A multitude of sordid remarks filtered through his brain before he shook them loose and gave her a straight answer.
"At Uni I played a winger but tomorrow...I have no idea."
"What's the game like anyway? How exactly do you play it?"
"Fifteen players on the team. The pitch is roughly the same size as a soccer pitch with try posts at the top of the final 10yds. Five points for a try, two for a conversion and three for a penalty. To score a try you need to get the ball down onto the ground in one fluid motion with at least one hand gripping the ball. You can't bounce it or anything. The ball can only be passed sideways or backwards, no forward passes." He added more food to their plate, which she tucked into. "If you drop the ball you can't touch it until an opposite team member does or else it will be a knock on...forward pass."
"Sounds complicated."
"All rules sound complicated when you read them out but it's easier to explain when you're watching the game."
"Yeah but you'll be on the pitch...you wont be able to explain them to me."
"Well listen up then!" he bit into a big chunk of chicken and chewed it behind his smile. "Okay you can kick the ball forward and race for it around the other team, that's called a Garryowen move after the rugby club that practically made it their calling card. If you catch the ball from more than 15 be 25 yards...of where it was thrown or kicked, you can call a mark and no one can tackle you before you make your move..."
"Mulder, stop." She dropped her fork onto the table and rolled her head back onto the couch. "No more...I can't take any more rules!"
"You're a scientist Scully, I thought you'd enjoy the rules."
"I'm sure I'll pick it up as the game goes on."
"Maybe you'll be too distracted by my gorgeous legs to pay attention."
She glanced down at his legs that were covered only in a flimsy pair of running shorts, shaking her head with a dismayed smiled.
"You know, I don't think that will be a problem."
"We'll see Scully." He put one more piece of chicken into his mouth and left the plate on the table. "Set up the video I'm going to grab a quick shower."
"Enjoy it Mulder, I don't think you can have showers while in traction."
"Does that mean you'll need to give me bed baths?" He called from within the bathroom over the running water.
"If you end up in body plaster Mulder, a bed bath will be the last thing on your mind."
"You know me too well Scully...just think of all those harnesses!"
She allowed herself a little laugh at his lewd remark seeing as he was in his bedroom grabbing towels from his shower, but she swallowed it quickly and put the video into the player to set it at the start of the movie. While she was waiting, she cleared up the food and grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge. She had shut off the overhead light letting the lamp provide all the illumination, and had just opened the beer when he sat down next to her. He filled the room with soap and deodorant as he moved through it and she loved the clean fresh smell he emanated. Handing him the beer she smiled, holding her bottle out for him to clink to.
"Here's to a good game." The credits for Necessary Roughness started.
"And staying out of hospital!" he added as if it were an after thought. They both sipped their beer and turned to the movie but Mulder found little comfort in it's scripted violence. Knowing he would be wearing little protection save for the cup in his shorts, he shuddered at the rougher tackles on the screen and had to look away twice.
She seemed to notice his discomfort but he needed to see he wasn't the young man he was in Uni anymore. His body wouldn't take the beating it used to and bounce back so she left him to squirm.
Another chapter down onlly 4 or 5 more I think...