disclaimer: not mine, don't sue


He knew to go down to the lake.

She didn't know, but he knew.

He knew that she'd be at the lake.

With him.

Her partner.

In a little over a year, Mark had yet to ditch her. He had yet to leave her out. How could she leave him so suddenly?

For a guy she supposedly ran away from.

Yeah, he had put the pieces together.

He found them.

In the playful lake.

Sharing a forehead.

And something in him snapped.

"Dana!" he called out, sounding mean and feral. All he really wanted to do was ask her what the hell she was doing, but he had been abandoned by her.

His partner.

When he couldn't find her in the seminar, she had made him look like a fool.

And

Nobody

Made

Mark

Sloveny

Look

Like

A

Fool.

Ever.

She heard him call her, but at first she thought it was a bad dream. She had always had dreams about being taken away from Mulder, but they were rarely because of an outside force.

But when they were, they were terrible.

Even though she was still safe in his arms, she felt like she was being ripped away from him.

"That's Mark," she said into his shoulder, hiding her face and real emotions for the man. In reality, he scared her. She knew he would do anything for the glory… anything to make himself look good.

By not showing up at the seminar she had probably made him look like a fool.

And

Nobody

Makes

Mark

Sloveny

Look

Like

A

Fool.

Even if he was one.

"Scully, how did he know we were here?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to go over there. Mulder, don't make me. I don't want to know what's going to happen," she panicked.

He reluctantly set her back on her own two feet.

"We can't run, Scully. We're standing in Lake Michigan, there's only one way we can run."

"I left him, Mulder! I left him for you. Mark hates that. I know he does," Scully's breathing became bated. Before long, she was full-out hyperventilating.

Right in the middle of the playful lake.

With the fates and the gods of love shooting their movie.

She didn't want to be seen hyperventilating on camera.

"Don't worry," Mulder said, putting their foreheads together once again to try to calm her down, "I'm not going to let anything happen. If he so much as touches you, I'll kill him."

"Promise you'll protect me?"

"I promise."

***

"Dana! Dana, what the hell were you thinking? What did you think we were doing out here? Did you think this was just some blow-off event that you didn't have to show up for? I waited, Dana, in that room for you. And when they said to find your partner, guess what? You're nowhere to be found. You're off with this nut! I've heard stories about this man, Dana! You can't just ditch me for him. I'm your partner!" he lectures once they get to shore. Mulder made sure that he was between them. He had to be ready to twist that over-inflated man's neck if he touched her. He had to be ready to restrain himself from doing it anyway.

"Okay, okay. Let's just calm down here," Mulder tells him, extending his hand out in front of him as he slowly moves closer, never letting go of her hand. He's done this before. In hostage situations.

This is not a hostage situation.

This is a confrontation at the beach.

If it were a movie, it would turn into something more.

But

Real

Life

Is

Not

Like

The

Movies.

So it would be best to remain rational.

"Oh why don't you shut up, Spooky? She's here with me!"

"Mark, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ditch you. It's just… I haven't seen Mulder in a long time. I missed him. I just wanted to catch up with him."

"Well catch up with him on your own time! There's a whole roomful of agents in there that think that I'm some kind of bad partner now all because of you. I can't believe you, Dana! I thought you had a head on your shoulders!"

"You'd better watch it, Bud, this is the smartest woman you will ever meet."

"I thought I told you to shut up!"

"I won't just stand here while you yell at her!"

He wouldn't.

"Look, you're little reunion has lasted long enough. Time to come back to the seminar…"

"I think I'd like to go back with Mulder."

"Dana, quit being an unruly bitch and come with me!" And that's when the line between real life and movie became blurred.

Because Mulder hit that man as hard as he could.

He would not just stand there while he yelled at her.

He would not just stand there while his partner was called a bitch.

Mark went down with a thud. Right into the wet sand, face-down.

Even though he was face-down, Mulder knew he was bleeding.

Scully knew it to, when she bent down to help him.

That's when the movie went into slow motion, much like the tapes he reviewed.

"Mulder!" he heard her scream when she turned Mark over. His nose was spewing blood. Mulder had knocked him unconscious. But he couldn't have helped himself. He wasn't thinking with his head.

He was thinking with his heart.

Little did he know that hearts can't think.

"I…" he started but couldn't finish. There were too many things to finish that with.

I'm sorry.

I was just trying to protect you.

I can't believe he said that.

This is not about you.

Scully tried desperately to wake Mark up, but Mulder had done him in. His hand was probably hurting, something deep in his brain was probably registering that. But Mulder couldn't feel anything.

He was numb.

He was numb after she left.

He was numb once more even though she was standing in front of him.

Sometimes he couldn't control where or when he was numb.

In the midst of their shuffle, she had managed to get somebody to call an ambulance. It killed her to call an ambulance, but her partner was not waking up. From the looks of it he had a broken nose and a concussion.

Mulder had done that for her.

How do you thank somebody for doing that?

"Mulder, you need to get out of here," she told him, smearing her knuckles in Mark's blood.

"What?" Mulder asked, looking barely awake.

"Get out of here," she said again.

"Why?"

"Because you hit him, Mulder! You broke his nose! He's unconscious! Mulder, if you don't leave… if you don't leave I will never get to see you again. There will be serious repercussions for this. I'd rather face them…"

"Oh no," Mulder was alert enough to comprehend. Take the fall for him. If he let her do that, how was he any better than Mark-on-the-ground?

"Please," she begged him, tears starting to wet her cheeks and fall on her already-wet pants.

She found her shoes and put them on.

"No, Scully!" he shouted, wanting so badly to come back to his body.

"You can't let them know it was you."

"You didn't do anything. I hit him."

"You hit him for me, Mulder, and that's the nicest thing I believe any man has ever done for me. You protected me like I asked you to."

"There is no way in hell I am letting you take the fall for this. You don't deserve it."

"Mulder…"

"No. Don't even ask me to leave. I'm not leaving."

A small pause.

A moment of quiet.

The symphony only got louder, though.

"Not like I left, huh Mulder?"

"This has nothing to do with that."

This isn't about you.

"It's got everything to do with that. The whole time we've spent together has been spent trying to make up for that. But you don't understand, Mulder. Either we can be with each other or we cannot. There is no middle ground. Otherwise, things like this happen."

The ambulance pulled up to them, a team jumping out of the back and attending to Mark-on-the-ground. Attending to her partner.

"What happened, ma'am?" one of them asked her. She looked at Mulder, who didn't say anything. This was the ultimate test. This was what she had forgotten to study for.

"Ma'am?"

"He hit him," she says to her partner.