The day i own them is the day Scully leaves mulder and runs off with Skinner. aka never

"mmm…Mulder, what time is it?" she murmured as she rolled over to hide her eyes from the sunlight. There was no one there. She sat up with a start and shook herself. Of course there is no one here.

Standing barefoot on the cold hardwood floor woke her up a little bit more. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she headed for her pantry. After a bowl of whole grain cereal she noticed that something was wrong. It took her another moment to figure out what was awry, The blank piece of paper was gone. She looked under her table, on the chairs, anywhere it could have fallen. That single sheet of white paper was possibly her only clue to finding Mulder.

Again the feeling of the answer being on the tip of her tongue, something she felt she should remember. She closed her eyes and tried to listen to what her mind was telling her. The only thing she heard was the Top Gun theme playing in the background. She must have been so tired last night she forgot to turn off the TV. Searching around for the remote she finally found it, and it was resting on the blank sheet of paper.

She knew that she had left it on the table the night before. There was no way that it could have gotten over here. She picked it up and saw a partial fingerprint in melted chocolate. Even though it was only a partial she knew there could be no way it was hers, it was far too large even to be her thumb print.

Another half remembered dream tickled the back of her mind. Something about this piece of paper. Something about them winning.

There could only be two explanations for the movement of the paper and the evidence of the fingerprint. Either she had a very quiet burglar who stopped to eat some chocolate covered raisins before taking nothing and leaving again, or something was going on that was worthy of being one of Mulder's famous "theories".

"It's Mulder's alright Dana, where did you find this?" Amber was a technician who Scully had befriended over her years at the x-files. It was to her that she had taken the letter, then brought it back again with the fingerprint partial to check it against Mulder's. Now she was happy that it was merely a sheet of white printer paper. This made it practically unrecognizable as the sheet of paper she had brought in yesterday.

"It was just in my apartment, I wanted to make sure it wasn't some important piece of evidence. Thanks for your time." She retrieved her paper and made a b-line to the basement. This means something. but what? What does this mean? "This means I'm going insane. That's what it means. Absolutely insane. Mulder would agree with me if he were here." She continued to talk to herself under her breath until she reached the office and swung the door open to find agent Doggett reclined in Mulder's chair reading an X-file.

When she opened the door he jerked in surprise and sat up in the chair. "Agent Scully. I wasn't expecting you in today. I figured it would be a good time to read up on old cases." He paused from his excuse and really looked at her. "Agent Scully, you look like you've seen a ghost." She looked uncertain as how to answer him. For a moment he thought that she was going to open up to him, to tell him what was going on, but then her wall of impassiveness came crashing down again and she looked like her normal self, albeit a little tired.

"It's nothing Agent Doggett, just a late night last night. Do you often come in on Sunday afternoons?" Agent Doggett noticed the change in topic but didn't call her on it. They were still getting to know one another and he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the growing respect between them.

"Lately I have been spending a lot of time reading old case files. I like to know what I'm dealing with. Why are you here today?" it seemed like a logical question when he had asked it, but as soon as it was out of his mouth Scully tensed up and he knew he had made another fatal mistake.

"I was…looking for some papers I left here, I still have that report to finish and couldn't find some of my field notes." It seemed like a logical response but the hesitation in her voice marked it as a lie.

Scully, now having to make good on her lie rooted around for one of her field notebooks. When she found one she quickly said good bye to agent Doggett and left as quickly as she had come. Scully didn't know what to do. She was so confused by the evidence of the fingerprint that her entire world seemed to be upside down.

"What would Mulder say in this situation?" she asked the air. Worse than that she answered herself. "The evidence points to something supernatural. Lets just say that Mulder was really here last night. What doest that mean? It means that I always see him in dreams. I have to fall asleep." That is how at 2:00 in the afternoon Agent Scully took a nap.

Ring. Ring.

"Scully" She said whipping her cell phone open.

"It's me. Where are you Scully?" Mulder's voice asked over the phone.

"It's Sunday afternoon Mulder, I'm at home." She sounded slightly annoyed

"Good. Open your door." A nock on the door and the click of Mulder hanging up his phone were instantaneous. His assumption made her smile. From anyone but Mulder, it would have been arrogance. He had his share of that, but never about her. Never about romance. Scully got up to answer the door and lo and behold there was Mulder holding a six-pack.

"Hi, Scully. May I come in?" the phrasing was formal but with the quirk on his face he was as casual as she had ever seen him. She stepped away from the door and with an exaggerated motion waved him into the room. "Crack one of those open for me, I could use it." Referencing the chilled six pack while she straightened up he apartment. There was a crack and then a hiss from the general area of the kitchen. Mulder swaggered out of the kitchen with two beers in hand and plopped down on the sofa next to her.

After a few seconds of silence where they both sipped their beer. It was good and cold, fizzy and crisp. "Mulder, is this real?" She sat up straight and looked at him. She was expecting some wise crack about the "fresh and real new taste" of the beer, instead she got silence. Oddly, he averted his eyes. Mulder was normally really good at eye contact. After a moment of silence he replied..

"I don't know. I hope it is." He was studying his beer. An uneasy silence. "Scully… Dana…you have no idea how much I want this to be real. But I don't know how it can be. I have a theory…" for the first time he looked up at her and finally made eye contact. He looked like a school boy who had just put the whoopee cushion on the teacher's seat, as if he expected her to reprimand him at any moment.

"Well, are you going to tell me this Theory, or am I going to have to wait until the next time I take a nap?" Her query surprised him, having to always push his theories on her.

"I think that somewhere in the last eight years we found a connection. Something deeper than the regular FBI Partner connection. There have been x-files where dreams have been realities. I think we are just experiencing something like that." Unlike when Mulder normally explained one of his theories he remained calm, not getting animated or exciting his manner of speech.

"I was hoping you would say something like that." Scully said. It was so out of character for her that Mulder looked shocked, as if he had been smacked over the head with a two by four. Scully took another swig of her beer before continuing. "I couldn't deal with this being some elaborate dream I created in my own brain. I couldn't deal with this not being real. My dreams never work this way. They are random, unexplainable, and unremembered. They call up your deepest fears and desires. These are like actual life. These are neither fear or desire." She blushed and looked down at her beer. Not yet anyway. She said to herself.

Mulder set his own beer on the coaster on the coffee table, reached over and took hers and did the same to it. His eyes swept her body and rested on her face. Scully smiled a little smile for barley a second but Mulder's return smile lasted much longer. He reached over and caressed her face then traveled down her body to rest his hand on her waist. When he leaned in their eyes met and they both froze. If they continued they would break the barrier that had been solid for so many years. They had kissed before, but never more. Never.

She knew he was too much of a gentleman to take advantage of her, even when she didn't think she was being taken advantage of. So she made the choice for him. She leaned into him, placing one hand on each shoulder and kissing him squarely on the mouth. She pushed him back onto the couch, well, in reality he allowed himself to be pushed. She slid her hands up under his shirt, feeling his body smooth beneath her hands

For a few moments they explored each other, like high school students in the back seat of a car. Then Mulder stiffened and Scully backed off, afraid she had hut him in some way. More afraid he didnt want her. The look of uncertainty and fear in her eyes made Mulder's heart break. What he had to do next was nearly a fatal death blow to him. He smiled what he hoped was a happy smile but had a sinking suspicion it was a sad smile. "Not tonight…not now." Was all he said. He retrieved his beer and took another big swig carefully not looking at his partner. He couldn't stand to see her in this kind of pain.

Scully, at this point, decided she needed another beer. When she came back from the kitchen Mulder was gone. His beer glass was on the coaster sitting on her coffee table, but he was nowhere to be found. She didn't bother to check the rest of her apartment. He was gone for good.

Ring. Ring

She answered the phone but there was no one there.

Ring. Ring.

Scully was still on the couch. She was reaching for the phone and saw that it was only 3:00. she had slept for an hour. She groaned as she brought the phone to her ear. "Scully."

Agent Doggett's phone was on the other end. "Hi Agent Scully. Sorry to call you at home but you didn't pick up your cell phone. We just got some new information, I think you should get down here as soon as possible." He hung up the phone and the still groggy Agent Scully was left to sort out her brain and get dressed for work. Duty, the X-files, calls.

The next Chapter is actually the episode "This is not happening" so there may be some delay in writing it as i have to blend the episode and my view on it together. Thank you to the people who have read this and replied. it means alot to me.