Chapter 2

They came back from their jog two hours later as the sun was coming up, tired, sweaty, but feeling good despite that.

Mulder looked over at the Captain who seemed more at peace than he had earlier in the day. Feeling the other man's gaze on him, he frowned.

"Yes?"

"Nothing, just wondering if you're feeling better?"

"Yes, I am." He drew in a deep lungful of air and released it, then offered his friend a smile.

"Running's good for that. Feel free to join me anytime."

"You run in the mornings?"

"Usually, sometimes with Scully, but more often not." He grinned at his friend. "She'd rather sleep in the morning and run in the evening. I sleep better than I used to but I'm still up before her so…"

"So you run."

"Yeah, gives me a chance to think and get myself in order for her."

"What does that mean?"

Mulder grinned at his friend. "That I'm a mess, or that I can be. Too much baggage, things…going through my head. I get myself in order while I run, she does it as she wakes up It seems to work well for us."

The Captain looked at Mulder as if he had suddenly turned into an elephant.

"Danny, what? Don't you and Carolyn have down time?"

"Well…that is…I've never thought about it."

"I find that hard to believe," Mulder said as he opened the gate and they entered his front yard. He began stretching out and nodded for the Captain to follow suit. "You need to stretch out or you'll regret it tomorrow."

The other man complied, and they stretched in silence for a while.

"What do you and Carolyn do?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"For down time? Separate time? I mean you've been together for a while now."

"I have never put thought into it. Except when we were fighting we have always been together."

"Always?" He stopped stretching and regarded his friend. "No one is always together."

"Always. It was different as a spirit, we were in many ways connected on a more spiritual and emotional level. Our hearts and minds were intertwined."

"Wow. That couldn't have left much room for privacy."

The older man frowned as he stood up and stopped stretching too. "No, but that worked for us." He flushed Mulder a smile that quickly faded. "But now…"

"Everything's different, yeah, I get it." He paused. "Danny, did you ever have a long-term relationship while you were alive?"

"Rather," he shifted his gaze to the ground.

"What does that mean?"

"I was engaged once, and she broke it off."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It wasn't right, and things worked out for the best."

"Was it physical?"

"Good Lord, no. In my day it would do the woman great dishonor to have pre-marital sex." He seemed offended.

"So, your physical relationships?"

"Were consensual affairs and nothing more."

"Which means that as a man you've never had a complete relationship, including sex, with your significant other."

The Captain looked like he was ready to punch Mulder but answered anyway. "No, I have not."

Mulder studied him until the Captain began to scowl while under his scrutiny.

"I need to think about this."

"What does that mean?"

"That I'll get back to you on this once I mull things over…"

"I didn't ask for help on this aspect of my life."

"You don't need to, and…you're welcome," Mulder smiled.

The Captain glared at the other man as he pulled himself up to his full height. "How dare you…" he began but stopped abruptly when Mulder's front door opened, and Scully stepped out looking entirely too cheerful.

The lady of the house couldn't contain her surprise as finding the Captain in her front yard along with her husband, both tired and sweaty, the Captain dressed in an old pair of Mulder's sweats and a grey T-shirt.

"Mulder," she said and walked down the steps and into his arms to place a happy good morning kiss on his lips.

"Mornin' Sunshine," he said, making a sound of pleased contentment before releasing her from his arms.

She patted his cheek as they exchanged a happy look and then she turned her attention to her guest who had discreetly turned away.

"Captain? What are you doing up and about so early? And in Mulder's clothes?"

The other man gave her a sheepish look. "He persuaded me to go running with him and I didn't have any appropriate clothing…"

"So, I loaned him some of mine," Mulder finished.

"For which I'm most appreciative."

Scully grinned at him. "Well they fit, sort of. You've definitely got a different build from Mulder though."

"We need to take him shopping."

"Fox, I hardly think that will be necessary."

"Nonsense, you need running, or exercise clothes that fit your right." He looked over at his wife. "Scully can help, she's great at picking clothes. She dresses me all the time," he exchanged a mischievous look with his wife.

"We could go shopping," Scully agreed, not quite sure what she was walking into.

"I need to clean up," the Captain said, looking for an out clause.

"You can shower here, your clothes are inside anyway," Mulder said with a head nod towards the house.

The Captain weighed his options and acquiesced after a few moments. "Very well," he said and walked past them into the house.

"What was that about?" Scully frowned at the doorway and then looked back at her husband who was chewing his lip, lost in thought.

"He's having a tough time adjusting to being human, I'm trying to help him."

"But that's what he wanted."

"Yes but think about it. He was a ghost, a spirit, for over one hundred and fifty years, that's a really long time. His original life span lasted almost forty years before that. He was a ghost for a lot longer than he was alive."

"Having is not as good as wanting?"

Mulder shrugged. "Something like that. But think about this, Scully, he was a powerful ghost, he could do some amazing things and now he's just…human."

Scully grimaced. "And very limited. I guess that could be a problem. And human senses must be very different from ghostly senses." She paused. "Why doesn't he tell Carolyn?'

"I don't know. Manly pride, maybe?" He shrugged. "I'm trying to help."

Scully laughed.

"I'll try not to take that personally," he gave her a worried look.

"Oh, poor baby." She inclined her head back at the house. "Think you can handle the shopping?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I haven't seen Carolyn since we were all given our lives back a week ago, and I think I should check in on her. Oh, and don't tell the Captain we talked. I think it would make him uncomfortable."

"Good point."

"We're meddling, you know?"

"Yeah, but for a good cause. Besides, they've meddled in our lives…"

Scully laughed. "Fair is fair, I guess." She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again. "I'm going to grab my purse and leave the two of you to your manly pursuits."

When she turned he slapped her on the butt which earned him an amused scowl.

He sat back on the porch to wait for the Captain.