Scully awoke to birds singing outside her window. She must have forgotten to set her alarm. Saturday morning she almost always went for a run. Now she quickly got dressed in sweat pants and a tank. She clipped her cell phone on her waist and as always on her runs she left her gun at home.
Washington was beautiful in the spring. Made more so by the few people who were out at this time of morning. The congress was shut down for the weekend, the only people around were tourist. She jogged past a few people taking pictures with their fancy digital SLR cameras and smiled. The trees were starting to bloom, creating an aroma to the air. For people with allergies this time of year was torture, for Scully who had never suffered from this particular problem it was heaven. The national monument park loomed up in front of her and she decided to take a break on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
The water was calm today, the wind barley touching the surface in a lover's kiss. Suddenly Scully was not alone on the step. Her mood suddenly solemn as she turned to face the man who wore the trench coat that hid most of his profile from view.
"Agent Scully" the figure acknowledged her and told her everything she wanted to know. This had to be another member of the group who Mulder was constantly in and out of contact with. She replied curtly, "What do you want?" the man chuckled, a humorless sound she didn't like. "No Agent, it's not what I want. It's what you want." Long pause "You do want him don't you?" the tone mocking.
"Mulder" she breathed his name. "you know where Mulder is? Tell me, or I will hunt you down and murder you in your sleep." The threat was barley more than a whisper, but was all the more deadly for that. Again; that laugh. How she wished she hadn't left her firearm at home.
"You of all people should know Agent, that nothing is that simple. I was told to tell you that the information exists. I do not have it. This, however, is for you." He slipped an envelope into her hand and departed as quickly as he had come.
Scully ran her finger under the sealed lip of the envelope and was rewarded by a pop as the glue gave way. She pulled out a piece of paper and quickly unfolded it. There was nothing. Blank paper.
"Damn it. Damn it." Scully yelled at the sky. She had to remind herself to breathe. She had to get this processed by the labs at work. Could she trust anyone at the labs? She thought so, but hadn't she learned that no one could be trusted?
It was late. Saturday night, Dana Scully sat at her kitchen table contemplating the blank piece of paper that sat before her. And it was blank. She had taken the bullet and giving it to the lab had recovered nothing other than the fact that this was a clean white sheet of paper. There was no hidden message, there was no clue of any kind that she or the FBI could find.
Why would they give her a blank piece of paper? To torment her, they might be watching her from outside her window even now. Laughing that horrible laugh because she sat here crying over a blank sheet of paper. She got up and closed the blinds. Maybe watching a movie would make her feel better. She popped in her Top Gun DVD. Nothing better than young hunky tom cruise to help her feel better. As long as it got her job and her loss off her mind.
She looked up just in time to see the "FBI warning". This was insane. She couldn't even watch a movie without undue stress. Finally the movie started and she was able to relax.
"Good Movie Scully. Maverick was always my hero. My favorite part is coming up soon." He sat down on the couch next to her and stole a handful of her raisinetts that were already melting in her hand , raptly intent on the movie playing on the tv. Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis were about to have passionate sex. "God Mulder, when did you hit puberty? 6?." She turned to look at him, always feeling slightly embarrassed at this point. She had always felt that making love was a private, personal thing. Mulder on the other hand had no such problem. His eyes remained fixed on the television.
"Mulder, I want you to take a look at something for me." Scully got up and retrieved that blank piece of paper. "I was given this today, but it seems to be blank. I'm afraid I'm missing something extremely important." Mulder gulped the rest of his raisins and did his best to lick his fingers clean of the chocolate on them before he took the paper and turned it over a few times, ran his hands over it. "Ah, yes, of course!" a look of joy lit up his face. "you know what it means?" Scully asked hopefully.
"Of course Scully. It's one of the first things I learned in school. it's printer paper" Mulder replied and chuckled. "Don't worry Scully. They just like to feel powerful. They don't have the information they claim. Don't let them get to you, or else they win." He put the letter on the table near her couch and went back to watching the movie. She used his shoulder as a pillow as she had done so many times in the past but this was different.
This is only a dream, she told herself. Just a dream, nothing more, nothing less. Right? She wanted to kiss him again. But what would that mean? Nothing. It would mean nothing, she told herself but she wasn't so sure. These dreams were just too real. To heck with it. She had to know something.
"Mulder, why did you leave me?" the pain in her eyes broke his heart.
"I had to. I had to find the truth. Not only for me, but for us. For our child." He took his eyes away from the TV. "I never wanted to leave you Dana. Never. No matter how many times you shoot holes in my theories, no matter how many times I wanted to shoot you. I would never leave you. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me Special Agent Dana Scully." He wrapped his arm around her tiny shoulders. "Go to sleep Scully. I'll see you tomorrow." She fought it, but she was sleepy and the power of suggestion was great. Soon she was asleep resting against him. Mulder smiled and picked her up, she was incredibly light. He loved her so much, he hated being away from her like this, but as he told her he had no choice in the matter.
The walk to her bedroom was a short one. Once her covers were pulled back he tucked her in like a child. Lightly he brushed his lips across her forehead and gently stroked her cheek with a single finger. Soon he would return to her in reality, and not just in this sate of half consciousness, but this, he told himself was better than nothing.
He hadn't figured out how this was possible. When he returned he fully expected to make an x-file of it. The only thing he could think of was that two people who had undergone so many trials and stresses together formed a special bond. Perhaps their un-announced but well known affection had something to do with it. He fervently hoped that he wasn't hallucinating this. He was sure that he couldn't be, it was too real. Scully was too real.
Mulder perched on her bedside. She looked so sweet when she slept. She was so relaxed and the splash of red hair spilled over her pillow. It was dark in her room, but Mulder could clearly see the slight smile on her lips. That, in turn, made him smile.