Monday, August 7

1000

Mulder and Scully's Office

Scully answered the phone on the first ring. "Mulder? Is that you?"

"Yeah. I need you to do me a huge favor."

"Are you ok? You sound kind of strange."

"I need you to do me a really really big favor."

"What?"

"I need you to call The Lone Gunmen right now and tell them that I was with them last night."

"Why?"

"Trust me."

Scully bit her lip in indecision.

"Please, Dana. I need you to do this for me."

"Ok. How can I reach you?"

"I'll call you later." He hung up.

Scully stared at the phone in confusion and worry for a few seconds before quickly calling The Lone Gunmen and relaying Mulder's message.

"Why?" Frohike asked. "Did he get himself into some sort of trouble?"

"I don't know. I think so. I hope not."

"Hang on a sec," Frohike said, yelled something to someone and then came back on. "I gotta go. The police are here and they want to know about Mulder. I'll call you back later."

"Shit," Scully swore quietly before hanging the phone back up.

A few minutes later Frohike called her back. "Does the name Jonah Black mean anything to you?"

Scull felt her breath quicken. "Yes. Why?"

"Because apparently Mulder beat him up pretty badly. Mulder will be ok, but Black is in critical condition. Is he a friend of yours?"

Scully laughed darkly. "No. So they let Jonah out of prison only to be beat up by Mulder? That has a certain irony to it."

"Prison? How do you know this guy?"

"It's not important. Did the police believe you that Mulder was there?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good. Will you let me know if they stop by again?"

"Yeah. Scully?"

"Yes?"

There were a few moments of silence before Frohike said, "Nevermind."

"What?"

"Just something that the police said."

Scully felt herself start to get nervous and willed herself to remain calm. "What? What did they say, Frohike?"

"They said that Black hurt someone close to Mulder and I couldn't think of anyone but you."

"Well he did, but that's in the past now."

"Ok. Well, I'll tell you if I find anything else out."

"Thanks, Frohike," Scully said and hung up, heart pounding. She couldn't believe that Mulder had done that. She just couldn't believe it. But maybe that was because she couldn't get her head around the fact that the prison had let him out. He had a five-year sentence and it had only been three years so far. And it was obvious that they had let him out; Mulder couldn't have just sauntered into the prison and beat him up, not badly enough that he was in critical condition.

But none of that was the worst part. The worst part was that she was glad. Glad that Mulder had done that for her, glad that Jonah was in critical condition, glad that he might die. And Scully felt horrible because she wasn't the kind of person who believes in revenge and takes pleasure in other people's pain.

Not, of course, that there was anything she could do at the moment other than wait for news about Mulder.

Monday, August 7

2300

Scully's Apartment

Scully was half-asleep when the doorbell rang. She was tempted to ignore it, but had a suspicion that it might be Mulder and she really couldn't ignore it. So she stumbled to her door and looked through the peephole. It was indeed Mulder.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I can't find my key to my apartment so can I borrow yours?" Mulder asked.

Scully blinked. Mulder had a black eye and one of his arms was in a cast. "Are you ok?"

Mulder sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine, but I need a key to my apartment."

"Did Jonah do that to you?" Scully asked.

"I need a key," he repeated.

Scully sighed. "Could you come in for a bit?"

"Why?"

"Because it's eleven o'clock and I can tell you've been through a lot today. I don't think you should be driving this late."

"I'm fine, Scully. I just need a key."

"Let me rephrase that. You shouldn't be driving this late. You can sleep in the guest room and tomorrow morning I'll give you the key and you can go home."

"Scully-"

"Please Mulder. For me. For my peace of mind."

He sighed. "Alright. But I'm really ok."

Scully stepped back to let Mulder into her apartment and locked the door behind him. "How did you find Jonah?"

"The phone book," Mulder replied.

"You know that he's in critical condition, don't you?"

Mulder looked surprised. "They didn't tell you?"

"Didn't tell me what?"

"He died, Scully. This evening, around six-thirty."

Scully stared at Mulder in disbelief. "He died?" she repeated. Mulder nodded. "You killed him." Mulder hesitated, then nodded again. "For me." Mulder nodded again. Scully walked over to Mulder and pulled him into a tight hug. "Never do that again. I can fend for myself. Promise me you'll never kill anyone like that again."

Mulder wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close against him. "You know as well as I do that I will probably have to kill people in work, sometimes so they won't hurt you."

"That's not what I meant. I meant not related to work. Do you promise me that?" Her words were muffled because she was pushed against Mulder's chest.

"I can't, Scully," Mulder replied honestly. "You know what I'm like."

"Please, Mulder. You said that you would do anything for me. Do this. Promise."

"I promise to try."

Scully sighed. "That's as good as I'm going to get, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. Thank you." Scully pulled away and kissed Mulder lightly on the forehead for the second time in the past few days. "I need to go to bed. I'm exhausted. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

She started to walk towards her room when Mulder grabbed her arm. "Scully?"

Scully gently removed her arm from Mulder's grasp. "What?"

"Can I sleep with you?"

Scully sighed again. "Mulder, we've been through this. I can't-"

"Oh, no. I'm sorry Scully. I didn't mean like that. I just meant sharing a bed."

"Umm . . ." She was about to say no, but then she saw the look on Mulder's face. It wasn't the puppy dog face he usually used on her. It was a look of loneliness and unwantedness. Scully couldn't turn him down, not when he was feeling like this. "Ok," she finally said and walked into the bedroom with Mulder following. She climbed into one side of the bed and he went in on the other. Mulder wrapped on arm around her, pulling her close so they were spooning like they had been in his sleeping bag.

"Is this ok, Scully?" he whispered in her ear.

But she was already asleep.

Monday, August 7

0700

Scully's Apartment

"Scully, wake up. We have to get ready for work." Scully cracked her eyes open and saw Mulder leaning over her.

"What?" she asked groggily.

"You have to get ready for work."

"It's Monday?" Scully asked, sitting up and getting out of bed.

"Yeah. You aren't a morning person, are you?"

"Nope," Scully replied and went into her bathroom to take a shower. Mulder, who had already showered and dressed, went into her kitchen to make some breakfast.

Or, that's what he was planning on doing. The thought of Scully washing herself in the shower was proving to be a great distraction. Water running along her beautiful body, hands caressing herself as she spread soap around and then rinsed it off . . .

Mulder shook himself. This was not constructive. He was hungry and wanted to get some food.

Yeah, like Scully, a part of his mind said, but he immediately clamped down on that thought.

No, he silently argued as he got out the bread, food like toast.

Monday, August 7

1800

Mulder and Scully's Office

"I'm going home," Scully said suddenly, snapping her laptop shut and standing up.

Mulder looked up in surprise. "Already?"

"It's six o'clock, Mulder," Scully replied. "It's not that early."

"I know," Mulder answered. He quickly glanced at his computer and then back at Scully who was putting her coat on. "Do you want to go out to dinner?"

Sully turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised. "Dinner? Where?"

Mulder shrugged. "I dunno. McDonald's, Wendy's, New Asia. La Maison Rouge."

Scully's eyebrow went up higher. "You can't possibly mean that."

Mulder shrugged again. "Why not? I can get a bureau credit card from Skinner."

"He'll never give you one."

"He owes me a favor," Mulder explained. "Do you want to? I can pick you up around seven-thirty if you want . . ."

"Uhh . . . Alright," Scully replied and walked out of the room with a small smile on her face.

Mulder mentally pumped the air as he jogged upstairs to Skinner's office. He went straight in, ignoring Kim's protests.

Skinner looked up in surprise. "Agent Mulder, what are you doing here?"

"I need a bureau credit card," Mulder replied cheerily, holding out a hand.

Skinner leaned back in his chair. "And what makes you think I'll give you one?"

"Because you owe me a favor."

"Refresh my memory."

Mulder raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want me to?" he asked. "Because, if I remember correctly, when I helped you out, you told me never to repeat it, but if you really want me to . . ."

"No, no, that's ok," Skinner said hurriedly, sitting up and reaching into his desk to get Mulder a credit card. As he handed it to him, he asked, "What's it for?"

"I'm taking Scully out to La Maison Rouge!" Mulder called as he practically ran out of the office.

Monday, August 7

1930

Just Outside Scully's Apartment

Mulder bounced impatiently on the balls of his feet as he waited for Scully to answer the door. Even though some small, remote part of his brain new that this wasn't a date, he couldn't help but feel sixteen again, taking his date out to dinner and a movie.

Even though this isn't a date and even though we aren't going to a movie, Mulder reminded himself.

Even though you have the movie schedule memorized, that annoying part of his brain reminded him.

But he didn't have time to answer because Scully opened the door. And all rational thought left his head. Scully was wearing a small, skimpy, clingy black dress. It came down to just above her knees and hugged her curves (beautiful curves) in all the right places. The neckline came down low, much lower than anything he had ever seen her in, and showed off quite a bit of cleavage. Her hair was in a bun with two curled pieces hanging in her face, one on each side. She had a little make-up on, but not enough that he would be able to tell if he hadn't been looking. She was carrying a small black purse. Mulder had never seen her look more gorgeous.

Hot, the ever-present voice said.

Yeah, sure, Mulder replied.

"What?" Scully asked nervous, looking down at herself before returning her gaze to Mulder's face.

"You're beautiful," he said.

Scully blushed and looked down. "Thanks," she said. "Are we going to go to dinner, or are you just going to stare at me all night?"

Though quite a lot of his mind protested greatly, Mulder said, "Let's go," and took her hand. They didn't say anything until they got to his car.

"Mulder, is this a date?" Scully asked as she slid into the passenger seat

"If you want it to be," Mulder replied, driving out of the parking lot and going towards the highway.

Scully bit her lip. "Do I have to make a decision?" she asked.

"Sort of," Mulder answered. "Because if we're going on a date, then I'll take you to a movie after dinner and if we're not, I probably will anyway."

Scully laughed. "So what movie we go to depends on if we're on a date or not? What are the choices?"

"If we're on a date, then we can go see Laws of Attraction or Something's Gotta Give and if we're not, then we can go see something else."

"Then I guess we'll have to go on a date," Scully answered, "because I really want to see Something's Gotta Give."

Mulder smiled widely. "Oh, good. There are showings at nine, nine forty-five and eleven -fifteen and Showcase Cinema and eight fifty-five and eleven fifty-five at Lows Theatre."

Scully looked at Mulder. "You really want to go on a date with me, don't you?" she asked softly.

"I don't think I'm allowed to answer that question," Mulder answered. "We're not allowed to talk about it, remember?"

Scully sat silently for about five minutes before saying, "I've been thinking. And I think that I'm being silly by not trusting you and not letting us be in a relationship when we're both in love. I'm still scared – I don't think that I'll stop being afraid for a while, but that's not going to stop me anymore. I've done things that I'm afraid of before, and I can do it again." She stopped.

Mulder looked at Scully for longer than he probably should've before turning back to the road. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Because I want to make sure that you're comfortable with this."

"I am."

"Are you sure?" Mulder asked again.

"Yes, Mulder, I'm sure."

Mulder's smile widened into an all-out grin. "That's great. That's really great, Scully. And not just for me. That's great that you feel you can trust me that much and that you've gotten over Jonah Black enough to be in another relationship."

"Thank you."

"You never have to thank me for the truth."

"And Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"It's Dana."

If possible, Mulder's grin widened. "Ok."

"I still don't understand why you started calling me Scully in the first place. You're the only person who calls me by my last name."

"What about Skinner? And The Lone Gunmen?" Mulder challenged.

"When we're working, then we use last names, but when we're just hanging out together, then first names," Scully answered.

"You hang out with Skinner and The Lone Gunmen?" Mulder asked in surprise.

"Yeah."

Mulder thought about this for a bit. "So two years ago when you said you were busy on New Year's Eve and you wouldn't tell me with who, were you with one of them?"

"You still remember that?" Scully asked, amazed. Mulder nodded slightly and she laughed. "Yes, actually. I was with Skinner."

"So you two were together and you never told me?" Mulder asked, slightly hurt.

"You never asked," Scully replied.

"How long?" Mulder asked angrily.

"Mulder, it doesn't matter. We're together now so why does the-"

"How long?"

Scully sighed. "I don't remember. Six months. A year."

"What?"

"Mulder, it's in the past. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Yes it does, Dana, because if it was around two years ago, then you were with him after your rape," Mulder replied. "Which means that you trust him more than me." Mulder actually had quite a bit more to say on the subject, but he didn't trust his voice.

Scully sighed. "Do you want me to tell you the full story?" Mulder nodded. "Ok. The day after I was raped, I cane into work, though you probably never saw me. I went directly to Skinner's office and told him what happened. He instantly went into action and arrested Jonah. He had given me a few days off, which I told you was because I had a bad cold, and the Sunday before I was going to come back to work, he came over to check on me.

"He was so unbelievably sweet to me. I had never seen that side of Skinner before. He had brought over a movie, a very silly one, I think it was A Night at the Opera and I ended up falling asleep during it. Skinner carried me into bed and as he was tucking me in, I woke up. I asked him to stay and he did. That's about it."

"How come you trusted him and not me? I tried to be sweet, Dana. I really did. I did everything I could think of for you."

"And we're together."

"You trust him more than me, don't you." It wasn't a question.

"No, of course not."

Mulder didn't say anything.

"Mulder, pull over."

"Why?"

"Please. Pull over."

Mulder did as she said, ignoring the screech from the breakdown lane. He turned to face her. "What is it?"

Scully leaned over and kissed him lightly. "Did you feel that?" she asked softly. "When I was with Skinner, it took most of our relationship for me to be able to kiss him, or be touched in any way."

"So you didn't sleep together that night?" Mulder asked in surprise.

"Less than a week after I was raped? No, of course not. We didn't once sleep together."

"Oh. Have you slept with anyone since you were raped?"

"No."

"So Black was the last time . . ." He trailed off, unsure of how to finish the sentence.

"Yes."

"Do . . . do you think I could be next?" Mulder asked, looking hopefully at Scully.

"I don't know," Scully answered honestly.

"Ok." They sat there for a few minutes before Scully broke the silence.

"Are we going to sit here until I get over my fear of sex or are we going to go to dinner and a movie?"

Mulder laughed and started driving back towards the restaurant.

A few minutes later, Scully's phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Agent Scully? This is Delore," the chief said.

"Have you found anything?"

"We have indeed. We have found the nest."