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Break RoomSara and Mulder were sitting at the break room table, a cup of coffee sitting in front of each of them. She was trying to do paperwork while chatting with the FBI agent.
"…I'm telling you, it was one of the most horrible, creepiest cases ever," Mulder was saying.
With a disgusted look on her face Sara said, "Remind me never to go there."
"They're not there anymore. I presume they skipped town. They could be anywhere."
"You're gonna make me never want to leave my apartment."
"The one funny thing about that case was the sheriff—his name was Andy Taylor."
Sara looked up from her paperwork and grinned. "No way."
"It's the truth," Mulder declared. "And he didn't carry a gun. His deputy was named Barney, too."
"Fife?"
Mulder chuckled. "No. I don't remember his last name, but I know it wasn't Fife. I asked the same question you did. From the guy's reaction, he probably got that question a lot."
"What are the odds that a sheriff named Andy Taylor would live in this Mayberry-like town, not carry a gun and have a deputy named Barney?"
"It was a bit strange," Mulder replied.
Sara couldn't hide her amusement when she asked, "Did Deputy Barney carry his bullet in his pocket?"
Mulder laughed at her question and said, "I believe he kept his bullets in his gun."
Catherine strolled in at that moment making a beeline for the coffee pot. She didn't acknowledge the pair sitting at the table. Sara looked up and watched her as she breezed in and poured herself a cup of coffee. "Hey, Cath, working hard or hardly working?" Sara asked.
"Working hard. Is it just me or has this been a long night?" she responded without turning to face her colleague.
"It does seem like it's dragging along," Sara agreed.
"What are you up to, Sara?" Catherine asked while turning around.
"Just paperwork." Sara noticed Catherine looking back and forth between her and Mulder, trying to figure out who he was. Sara figured she should introduce them. "Catherine Willows, this is Fox Mulder. He's a friend of mine."
Mulder stood to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Willows."
"Please, call me Catherine," she said joining them at the table. Catherine discreetly checked Mulder out and then looked at Sara, giving her a look that said 'way to go, girl'. Sara gave her a small smile.
Catherine was about to start asking questions about Sara's 'friend', when Nick and Warrick entered the room. Like Catherine, both men headed straight for the coffee pot.
"Hey, Sara. Who's that woman with Greg and Grissom?" Warrick asked, glancing at her over his shoulder.
"Yeah. Please tell me she's single—she's hot," Nick put in.
"There's a hot woman with Greg and Grissom? No wonder I haven't seen Greg in a while," Catherine said.
"Come on, Sara. Do you know who she is?" Nick asked.
Sara looked at Mulder who just grinned at her and nodded. She answered her colleagues, "Her name is Dana Scully. She's a friend of Grissom and me. She needed a favor, so Grissom's helping her out."
"Is she single?" Nick asked hopeful.
"I really don't know," she responded, glancing at Mulder.
Warrick took a seat to the left of Sara, while Nick took the seat at the head of the table. Warrick leaned into Sara, whispering in her ear, "I don't mean to be rude, but who the hell is this guy?"
"Oh, sorry. Guys, this is my friend Fox Mulder. Mulder, this is Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes."
The three men stood and shook hands and returned to their seats. Nick leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked back and forth between Sara and Mulder. He eyed Sara suspiciously and asked, "So, Sara, is Mr. Mulder here just a friend or something more?"
Mulder grinned and Sara glared at Nick. "That's really none of your business, is it, Nicky?"
"What do you think, Warrick?" Nick asked his friend.
Warrick shook his head saying, "Hey, man, don't drag me into this. I don't want Sara Sidle mad at me."
Nick wasn't deterred. "Catherine?"
"Nicky, sometimes it's good to just keep your mouth shut," Catherine said in a motherly tone.
Standing up, Nick said, "You guys are no fun. I'll see y'all later. I have evidence to process." Nick grabbed his coffee and left the room.
Downing the liquid that was left in his cup, Warrick stood and made his way to the door saying, "I better go keep an eye on him."
Catherine sighed and said, "I should get back to work, too." Catherine lazily walked out of the break room. She seemed to be in no hurry to get back to work.
When Catherine disappeared in the hall, Mulder looked at Sara and said, "Wow! I didn't mean to scare off your friends."
"You didn't. They were just disappointed that they couldn't get any personal information out of me."
"Mysteriously private, are we?"
"No mystery. I just like to keep my personal and professional lives somewhat apart. My personal life is my business and if I want to share it I will."
"I know what you mean. Sometimes, though, it's hard to separate the two. Especially if you're very close to one of your co-workers."
"You mean Agent Scully?" Sara asked.
Mulder smirked. "Actually, I was thinking about you and Grissom."
"There is no me and Grissom. He's my boss, nothing more." Sara stated.
"I don't know about that, Sidle. I've seen the way he looks at you. I saw how worried he was about you the other night. He cares a lot about you." Mulder's voice had taken on a softer tone.
"I'm sure he cares about me as an employee. Just like he cares about everyone here. He wouldn't want to lose a good CSI…that's why he was worried."
Mulder noticed a hint of sadness in her voice as she spoke. He had a gut feeling that he was right. He would bet money on the fact that Grissom cared about her a whole lot more than just an employee. "I think you're wrong. Sure he cares about you for the reasons you said. But you didn't see the look on his face when we couldn't find you. As an outsider, I can assure you he has feelings for you."
"As an insider, I can assure you he doesn't," Sara huffed.
"You care a lot about him, too," Mulder noted.
Sara shook her head in disbelief of this conversation. "What are you now, Oprah or something?"
"Hey, don't knock Oprah. She's a great lady."
Abandoning her paperwork and giving Mulder her full attention she said, "Okay, then, Jerry Springer. Let's turn the tables here. What about you and Scully?"
"We're partners."
"Just partners?"
"We're also very good friends." Mulder realized he deserved the grilling. Turn about is fair play, he thought.
"Nothing more?"
He smiled. "Shouldn't we be in an interrogation room?"
"Someone prying into your life isn't that much fun, is it?" she teased.
"Okay, okay. No more insights into your non-existent relationship." He put his hands up in surrender.
"Thank you," she said, flashing him a smile. After a minute of silence she said, "You seem to be a very perceptive man."
"How do you figure?"
"You were right about one thing, but I'm not gonna tell you what it was. I'm sure you'll figure it out on your own."
They both were quiet for a while. Sara continued with her paperwork, while Mulder stared at the wall in thought. After several more minutes passed he looked at Sara. He let out a little sigh and quietly said, "Scully and I are close, very close. She's all I have. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her. She's the only person in this world who I really trust. I care very deeply for her."
Sara looked up at him a little shocked by his confession. "You didn't have to tell me all that."
"I know I didn't have to—I just felt like saying it to someone. I've never really told anyone that."
"Not even Scully?" she asked, abandoning her paperwork once again.
He looked down at the table slowly shaking his head. "Nope."
"Don't you think you should tell her?"
Looking back at her he said, "I'm sure she knows."
"Yeah, but it's always nice to hear from a person how much they care about you." Sara smiled at him sweetly.
"That's true. Maybe you should listen to yourself, Sidle." Mulder returned her smile.
"What do you mean?"
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He narrowed his eyes at her and said, "Tell Grissom how you feel about him."
"Yeah, like that would accomplish anything," she huffed. "He would totally freak out."
"He may freak out, but at least he'd know. You wouldn't have to carry it around anymore."
Sara shook her head. "It's not that easy."
"Why not?"
Sara sat for a minute trying to decide whether or not to tell Mulder anything. It seemed weird to her, but she felt like she could talk to him and trust that he would keep it to himself. She had never really felt that with a person she barely knew. Too bad he's in love with Scully, Sara thought. For a long time she had felt the need to talk about this with someone, but never had anyone who would just listen and not try to tell her what to do and how to feel. What the hell, she thought, and began her explanation.
"We used to be friends. We had a lot of fun working together. We'd tease each other and flirt. But then something changed. He started to push me away, treat me like shit. Every now and then he'd pull me back in and for a very little while it would be like old times. Then his other personality would show back up and he'd barely acknowledge my existence. He'd only speak to me when he absolutely had to. It's a horrible thing to be someone's personal yo-yo. One day I told myself, 'just go for it, Sidle. Ask him out.' So I did. I asked him if he'd like to have dinner with me. He said no. I persisted saying, 'let's have dinner, let's see what happens.' To which he responded, 'Sara…I don't know what to do about this.' So I was shot down and I never asked again. I've been nothing but professional towards him. The yo-yoing has continued and I've spent this past year trying my best to forget about him—to get over him. It's a hard thing to do when you care about someone so much."
"He's a damn fool, Sidle. I don't know him that well, but I think you may be too good for him," Mulder said with a teasing quality to his voice in an effort to lighten her mood.
"He is a fool," Sara agreed, "but I'm not too good for him. We're too much alike…maybe that's the problem."
"I think he's afraid of you." At Sara's questioning look he continued, "Afraid to let you in. He's probably afraid of getting hurt. Most guys would be with a smart, beautiful woman like you."
"If that's true, then it's just stupid. I have the same fears. I've been nothing but loyal to him from day one. He needed my help with an investigation and with one phone call I was here. He asked me to stay and I dropped everything—my whole life—to come work for him. I was going to leave once, but he managed to get me to stay. Now I wonder if it's worth it. Career-wise, I'm as far as I'm ever gonna go here. I have no life at all. Sometimes I feel like getting the hell out of this place and starting over somewhere new. But then I realize running away isn't going to make my feelings disappear. I'll still feel that pain and sadness. No amount of distance is gonna get him out of my heart. So I figure why not stay here. It may hurt like hell, but at least I get to see him every day. And I'm doing the work I love at one of the best labs in the country. So it seems misery will be my life for now."
"It doesn't take much to get you to open up," Mulder teased.
"It's weird. I usually wouldn't open up to anyone like that, let alone someone I hardly know. I just feel like I can trust you."
"You can trust me."
"It's also nice to be able to talk to someone without worrying about it becoming office gossip."
"I know what you mean. Hey, any time you feel the need to talk, give me a call. I'm a good listener."
"Same goes for you." They shared a smile.
Mulder looked down at his empty coffee cup. He grabbed it and stood and asked, "Need a refill?"
"Yes, please and thank you," Sara said, sliding her cup over to him. She grabbed her pen and got back to her paperwork, while Mulder went to refill their cups.
(Meanwhile, out in the hall, Grissom stood frozen with his mouth hanging slightly open. He had a look of shock on his face and had been in that position since he had overheard part of Sara and Mulder's conversation while walking down the hall. He had heard Mulder say, 'tell Grissom how you feel about him.' He had froze at that moment and hadn't moved since. He had heard everything that Sara had said and he didn't know what to think. Finally coming to his senses, he realized standing in the hall looking like an idiot wasn't a good idea. The sanctuary that was his office seemed to be calling him. He hurriedly made his way there.)