I still own nothing of this series, except this story ... but not the characters or anything else. And I'm still broke so if you want to sue me, you'll have to get in line behind the student loan people.
I forgot to put in my first post that this story is set before the syndicate gets burned.
Enjoy & review
Chapter 2
When Mulder came back to the bull pen thirty minutes later, he discovered Nester and Driscoll lounging at their desks.
"What are you guys doing back here?" He asked as he took his jacket off and laid it over the chair. "I thought you were working some big case in Iowa." He looked around the office, noting that Scully had not returned from her lunch date.
"It was a bust," replied Nester.
"What was, the case or the fact that you were assigned to it?" Mulder asked settling in his chair.
"The case is real," Driscoll commented taking a bite of a candy bar. "The suspect thefield office wanted us to investigate was a fake."
"I'm not following," Mulder replied looking at both quizzically.
Nester sat forward at his desk. "Oh, he was definitely guilty of something, just not kidnapping 13 year olds fromfarm fields. Of course, we'll never know what he was really into … there was a mix up at the police department and he was released."
"Why didn't you pick him back up? It wouldn't be the first time some bone head police department made a mistake with a prisoner." Mulder replied yawning at his desk.
"He is getting picked up alright," Nester continued with a cheesy grin on his face. "In a body bag. About an hour after he was released he stepped in front of a freight train."
"Ouch," Mulder grimaced.
"Oh, that reminds me," Driscoll mumbled. "I brought a copy of the file back. Could you take a look at it? I think it needs a fresh eye." He handed the file over to Mulder.
"You want me to look at your file?" Mulder said as he took the file from Driscoll. He placed his hand over his chest. "Sounds like you guys are getting fresh with me." He faked a surprised look.
The three men shared a quiet laugh in the corner of the office until Agent Fritz walked in and stared them down. Agent Fritz was one of AD Kersh's lackeys. He was like the ole crusty librarian in high school, been around for a hundred years never doing anythingimportant.His current assignment, it appeared, was hall monitor of the young agents in the bull pen. All three pretended to be busy until he walked away. Mulder stuck his head in the case file and was oblivious to the office chaos until he heard Driscoll mumbling in the corner.
"What is he doing down here?"
"Who, Fritz? He works down here." Mulder replied, not looking up.
"Not Fritz. The geek," Driscoll asked.
This garnered an upward look from Mulder. Agent Cramer was standing in the corridor outside the bullpen talking to Scully. He felt his face flush.
"Oh,ahhh they're dating," he commented and stuck his nose back into the case notes to hide his reaction.
"Who's dating?" asked Nester.
"Scully and the Geek."
"No fricken way man," Nester exclaimed from his corner. "Are you serious?"
"Yea, ahh, it's been going on for a couple of weeks now," Mulder replied shrugging his shoulders. He really didn't want to talk about it; just the thought of Scully in another man's arms made him a little nauseous.
"Is she seeing him because you are tappin the fowl?" Nester jeered leaning over his desk.
Mulder turned and looked at his cube-mates. "Excuse me?"
Both Nester and Driscoll were staring at him with that 'look' on their faces. Mulder shook his head. "I am not tapping ….. anything, except perhaps my hand. Diana and I are just friends."
"Oh, Diana." Nester said, mocking him slightly.
Driscoll smiled and shook his head. "First name basis Mulder, who are you trying to kid? If you aren't doing her now, you were at some point."
Mulder swiveled in his seat and chuckled. "Why do I feel interrogated?"
Nester starting laughing, "cuz you're guilty."
Mulder shrugged his shoulders and gave in to the questioning. "It was years ago." It was a true statement; the most he and Diana had shared recently was lunch, however, the temptation for something more still lingered, still taunted him like a naughty indulgence.
Driscoll turned back toward his computer when he saw Fritz circling the office. "Does Scully know?" he whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
Mulder was flipping through the case notes in the file and didn't answer for a moment, Fritz finally walked out of the bull pen and the three men finished their conversation.
"We haven't actually talked about it. However, I've been told that she is jealous." Mulder said with a grimace on his face.
Nester leaned over his desk again. "Of course she is jealous. That is the way women work. When their territory is threatened, they gather whatever information they can, and then form an opinion about it, whether it is valid or not."
"That is definitely not how Scully operates. She is fact oriented, driven by concrete media." Mulder replied defending his wom.. er partner.
"Ahh, see that is where you are wrong," Driscoll said typing on his keyboard in an attempt to look busy. "Love is not concrete. It's abstract, it's open to interpretation. Trust me, I'm married I know."
Mulder shook his head. "Well, you're wrong again. Scully and I aren't in love. We are just friends."
His statement resulted in Nester and Driscoll breaking out into loud obnoxious laughter. "Are you serious?" Driscoll snorted.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"If you looked up the phrase 'In Love' in the dictionary," Nester replied leaning back in his chair. "There would be a photo of you and Scully."
Mulder shook his head in denial. "That is the farthest thing from the truth."
"Oh really?" Driscoll asked standing up from his desk. "Well, lets just get a second opinion."
He looked around the office and spotted Agent Manders walking in the side door by the elevator. Manders was an unofficial member of the Flunky Corner, only by default because his desk was right next to the hall monitor's.
"Troy, got a minute?" Driscoll asked motioning him over.
Agent Manders walked over to the corner and sat on the edge of Scully's desk. "What's up?"
"Well, we just wanted your opinion about something … professionally speaking of course," Driscoll said.
"If you were going to make an assessment about Scully and her dateablilty," Nester started. "Besides that she is intelligent, professional…"
"Hot," Driscoll added nodding.
"Yeah, all that… what would it be?" Nester asked as he leaned forward on his chair. He downed a mischievous grin on his face and rubbed his hands together.
"My opinion, if I would ask her out?" Troy questioned. All three men nodded their heads in affirmation. "Well, she's unavailable," Manders replied quickly.
Mulder rolled his eyes and swiveled in his chair. He felt a set up coming on and wasn't going to fall for it. "And why would you say that, if you don't mind my asking?" he picked up a pencil and started playing with it.
Manders looked from Mulder, to Driscoll to Nester. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah, I want to know why you think she is unavailable." Mulder asked shrugging his shoulders. "Because she is dating Cramer?"
Manders mouth dropped open. "She's dating Cramer?" He retorted in complete astonishment. "No way. You guys are joking right?"
"No, we're not," Nester replied
"No, really ...Are you serious? That does not make any sense," Troy replied, totally confused.
"Well, why doesn't it make any sense?" Mulder asked turning his chair toward Scully's desk.
"Because she is in love with you," Manders replied laughing nervously.
Nester clapped his hands together and pointed at Mulder, then sat back in his chair with a smug grin on his face. 'Ha! Told you."
Mulder sat motionless in the chair, feeling the color drain from his face. Troy looked around at the three agents quizzically. Driscoll was stifling a laugh at his desk.
"Mulder don't act like you didn't know… You two should be the poster children for the 'I'm in love with my partner' campaign." Manders replied clapping Mulder on the back.
"Here she comes," Driscoll muttered as Scully walked in the side door.
She looked at the four men in her area with suspicion. Nester, Driscoll and Manders all were laughing, however, Mulder looked like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Manders looked up as Scully approached and quickly excused himself from the desk.
"Ahhh, I got some work to get done," he said getting up quickly. He stepped to the side and let Scully walk past. "Agent Scully," he said greeting her.
"Agent Manders," she replied eyeballing him suspiciously. When he walked away, Scully looked at her cube-mates. "Did I miss something?"
"No," Nester replied turning back to his computer. "Guy talk."
"Baseball," Driscoll added, his head bobbling nervously.
Scully wasn't buying it. It looked more like a meeting of the boys club. They all looked guilty, especially Mulder. She stared at him when she walked past his desk.
Mulder looked up as Scully passed and they made eye contact. She held his gaze for a moment searching his face for the reason of his embarrassment, which he attempted to mask. She set a white Styrofoam box on his desk and a satisfied smile crept across his face.
He opened the container and started to pick the onions off his sandwich, reflecting on his friends observations. Whatever his feelings were for Scully, she had made her intentions clear to him by pushing him away and choosing to date another. If she was truly in love with him, he would be hard pressed to get her to admit it.
TBC
