Beginner's Luck Chapter 1: Part I, a x-files fanfic

A/N
I don't know if Leyla Harrison was in previous episodes, but when she appeared in "Scary Monsters", it got me thinking. Since, she was so obsessed with Mulder, I thought it would be kind of fun to actually see what would happen if she was in the same room as him. So, this is my version and I hope you enjoy it.

Beginner's Luck
Part I
Lady Sanna

FBI HEADQUARTERS
9:20 AM
WASHINGTON DC

"Sir, I just want to thank you again for putting me on this case," the wide-eyed blond said as she bobbed her head up and down in gratitude.

Skinner gave her a small, awkward smile. "Sure, Agent Harrison."

He knew that Mulder and Scully were going to feel just as awkward as he was feeling with Agent Leyla Harrison on their tails. She was a new agent and she had always requested to be out in the field instead of in a stuffy office. So, he gave her a case, but he wanted to give her one that'll give her a heads up on what is really out there.

Leaning forward, Harrison asked, "Assistant Director Skinner, may I ask you something?"

He shrugged. "Of course."

"What is Agent Mulder really like?" she started. "Is he like what everyone says? Because when I was in the academy, I always heard that he was sort of, well, spooky. He had an obsession with..." Her eyes turned up to the ceiling as she was trying to find the word in her head. "Aliens was it?"

Skinner mentally groaned. Before an agent was going to work a case in the X-Files, this question about Mulder was always brought up. It was like a broken record and it was tiring answering it over and over again.

With a deep breath he answered, "The X-Files is his life's work. Sure, it involves aliens, but there is much more to it than that. Besides, the opinions of others aren't going to affect your work on this case and on Mulder's character, is it, Agent Harrison?"

She shook her head. "No, sir. I was just curious is all."

Skinner's secretary suddenly opened the door and announced that the agents they were waiting for were here. He told her to let them in and they walked in casually with Mulder behind Scully as usual.

"Good morning, Agents," Skinner said, standing up. "This is Agent Leyla Harrison. She'll be joining you two out in the field."

Harrison also stood up, amazed at the man that stood before her. He was absolutely the opposite of what she had heard when they described him. Agent Mulder was tall, attractive, and had a look in his eyes that made her want to melt. When her eyes turned to his partner, she was also surprised. She was expecting a plain redhead that was pretty much a science nerd. But the woman that was standing there was well-poised, professional, and had beautiful features that could stop a man dead in his tracks.

"Agent Mulder. Agent Scully." She shook both of their hands nervously. "I hadn't really been on too many cases since I just graduated a year ago. I'm really looking forward to working with you two. I just hope I won't screw anything up."

They both nodded with a nice smile plastered on their faces. Working on the X-Files could scare any inexperienced agent to quit the FBI and stay at home with a shotgun at their side. Both felt uneasy, not wanting for that to happen to this bright, young woman.

"Well, I'm sure that you'll do fine," Scully assured her.

They all took their seats and Skinner took out the case file and flipped it open.

"You three will be heading to Santa Barbara, California. There has been unusual murders in the past 6 weeks involving these four women." He splayed out four, large photos on his desk of gruesomely, beaten bodies. "The coroner reported that the injuries were all self-inflicted. All of the families stated the same thing. There were no signs of depression, self-mutilation, or anything that would make them suspect that something was wrong. Overall, the four women were healthy mothers who lead happy lives."

"These women weren't in any debt or financial trouble?" Mulder asked.

"We did a background check and nothing came up. There wasn't anything significant on their medical records, they had no criminal records, and they had no disputes with co-workers or anyone else for that matter. It's like they were leading perfect lives."

"A little too perfect, I guess," Harrison added.

Scully's brow furrowed. "So, wait, let me clear this up. All this mutilation happened overnight? By looking at some of these wounds, it seems that a few of them have healed and left a scar." She closed in on one of the photos. "It almost seems like the cuts and bruises are layered on top of the other."

"Let me see." Mulder leaned over and scrutinized it. Sure enough, Scully was right. As soon as he was finished, he passed it over to Harrison.

She took it and a complete look of disgust crossed her face. "Oh my-" She gagged and quickly handed it back to Skinner.

"Leyla, are you sure you still want to be on this case?" Skinner asked, worried that she might faint.

She nodded furiously. "Of course! I just lost control for a moment. Sorry." She smiled weakly.

SCULLY'S APARTMENT
6:38 PM
GEORGETOWN, MD

Scully opened her drawers and pulled out some clothes that she was going to be needing on her trip to California. Digging through her pajamas, her fingers felt something smooth and silky. She carefully pulled it out and hung it before her. It was a vibrant red, silk gown with lace on the bottom and a little at the top. It was obviously something that you could easily find in a store like Victoria's Secret. Her eyebrow quirked up as she wondered when she had bought it. Perhaps it was a gift, she thought.

"Wow," she said after a long pause.

Mulder looked over and his jaw dropped, but only for a second. The corner of his lips then turned upward into a sly grin. He got up from the bed and walked toward his partner, stopping right behind her. Slowly, he leaned in towards her ear as she kept on staring at the silk gown.

"So... Is that supposed to be a hint of what I get on my next birthday?" he asked with a boyish grin.

She looked at him with a look of repulse. "In your dreams, Mulder."

Scully rolled up the gown and threw it at his face before heading to the bathroom to pack her toiletries. He chuckled as he caught it before it fell to the floor. Just as Scully had done earlier, he held it up before him and stared at it, thinking God knows what.

After a few minutes of rummaging around and packing, she emerged from the bathroom and saw that Mulder hadn't moved at all. She rolled her eyes and stuffed the extra items in her luggage along with some wash cloths. It was easy to know what to bring and what not to bring now that she had been working with Mulder for seven years. Before, it always seemed as if she forgot something that she needed later on.

She placed her hands on her hips and turned to her partner who was still in the same spot. "Mulder! You're still looking at that thing?"

He jumped. "Huh? Oh, sorry." He had obviously been daydreaming, but he didn't actually notice how long he had been daydreaming. "You know, Scully, I didn't think you would ever be the type to seduce someone with this." He wagged his eyebrows up and down.

"Shut up, Mulder." Scully shook her head and went over to her closet to pick out her suits. Sighing, she said, "I haven't been to the beach in a long while. Too bad we don't have any free time while we're there. I remember once.."

An idea suddenly popped into Mulder's head. He carefully folded the gown into a small rectangle and walked quietly over to Scully's luggage, slipping it underneath her other clothes while at the same time, pretending to listen to her story. Just as his hand was free, she turned around and stopped mid-sentence.

"Mulder? What were you doing?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing." He replied with a cheesy smile.

She gave him one of her trademark looks that said, "Tell me or else."

"Seriously! I was just, uh, checking to see if you had your flashlight."

Scully raised the flashlight in her hand to show him. "It's right here."

"Great! Now, you're prepared."

Her expression stayed the same as she placed the flashlight in the bag. "If I find something in this bag that has any relation to goo or to some kind of plastic bug, the next thing you'll see is my flashlight coming at your head."

Mulder put up his hands in defense. "Okay, okay, but I assure you that I didn't put anything like that in there."

"You better have not," she replied as she proceeded to get ready for bed.

He let out a breath of air and dropped his hands. He didn't think he was going to get out of that one so easily. Yawning, he moved over to the bed and made himself comfortable there. He then rested against the pillows with his arms behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankles.

"So, uh, what do you think about Agent Harrison?" he asked.

"I think she's nice, but one thing is for sure," she said as she closed the side cabinet and started brushing her teeth.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

She stopped brushing and tried to speak as comprehensible as she could with toothpaste in her mouth. "Well, she really comfidant abou thith cathe," was all she could muster out without swallowing the toothpaste.

Mulder let out a grunt and turned on his side. His eye caught sight of a picture with a dark cherry frame around the edges, sitting on the side table. He reached over and took it, looking at it with a raised eyebrow. It was a family photo taken a long time ago when Scully was probably about ten years old. They were all huddled together, smiling, on a dock with the wind whipping at their hair.

"What do you think about her?" Scully asked, now done with her oral hygiene routine.

He placed the picture back in its spot. "She's brave. I'll give her that much. I mean, just getting out of the academy and working on an X-File like this? I'm wondering why Skinner put her on it in the first place."

Once, Scully was done in the bathroom, she flipped the bathroom light switch off and walked back into the bedroom. She could see that Mulder was starting to doze off when his head started to fall to the side and his eyelids kept on fluttering shut.

"Mulder, you're not planning to spend the night, are you?" She asked as she zipped up her suitcase and dragged it to the door. "Mulder?" She walked back to the bed with her hands on her hips.

"Hm... What?" he said, sleepily.

"Did you even pack? Come on, we have to leave really early in the morning. So, I suggest that you get ready now, so that we're not late... Again."

"Aw, Scully, you're kicking me out?" He got up, lazily, and started making his way to the door with her following close behind.

"Yes, but only because you need to keep your job as much as I do."

"Fine, fine." Mulder opened the door and turned around to face her as she stood in the doorway. "...I love you," he said just as he did when he was in the hospital a year ago.

Scully smirked. "Goodnight, Mulder," she replied.

She then closed the door and let out a deep breath.

"Wait, I don't even get a goodnight kiss?" she heard him say behind the door.

LEYLA HARRISON'S APARTMENT
8:06 PM

Leyla practically squealed when she got home from work. She couldn't believe that she was just assigned out in the field with the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. Just thinking about him gave her butterflies. It was like she was back in high school, secretly obsessing about the cute quarterback on the football team. She let out a dreamy sigh and fell back onto her bed.

"If only," she said.

She turned her head to look at the clock and jumped up quickly seeing what time it was. Being late was not a very good impression, so she grabbed one of her large suitcases and started filling it with some of her belongings.

The phone rang suddenly and she rushed over to the side table to answer it. On the other end was her friend, Gabe Rotter.

"Hey, Leyla! Did you get the case?" he asked.

"Yes! I'm so excited! We're going out to California tomorrow to investigate."

"That's cool. So, who are you going with?"

"I'm going with Agents Mulder and Scully. They work down in the X-Files unit."

Gabe started cracking up. "The X-Files?"

"Why? What's wrong with the X-Files?" she asked with a hint of anger in her tone.

"Well, it's just that all I've heard about that unit is that they investigate sci-fi crap and that the agents that work there are, you know, cracked!" he explained. "Geez, I feel sorry that you even have to spend time with them under one roof."

"That's not true!" she said as her voice rose. "Have you even met them?"

"I think their reputations say enough."

"How could you say that? I thought you would be a little more considerate about it. Gosh, that's really low, Gabe."

"What?"

"And besides, I think Agent Mulder is very smart and he's a lot better looking than you'll ever be!" Leyla slammed down the phone and crossed her arms.

On the other side, Gabe sat there astounded that in just one day, this Agent Mulder stole Leyla's heart. How could she already like him in such a short amount of time when it took him more than a year for them to be just friends? Slowly, he put down the receiver and hung his head.

He had to win Leyla back.

TO BE CONTINUED