A/N: Hey, anyone remember this story? I have a plethora of apologies ready, including many short stories for school and a lack of creative energy, but I won't waste time on them. I'm already working on a sequel to this, I've got the first two chapters and I already like it. Since this is the seventh chapter, I'm thinking that there will probably be 10 chapters.
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"....so, their plan is, if they can 'surveil' us enough, they can get a heads up on terrorism plans. But it never even occurs to them that they are completely trampling on basic human rights..."
Fin thumped his head again and again against his desk as he listened with half an ear to his partner ramble on and on in another one of his endless conspiracy theories. Mulder, however, was jumping right into Munch's tirade with his own conspiracy theories ("...the shadow operations, they'll do anything to protect it, they don't even care how many innocents they have to kill...")
Fin was starting to think maybe Mulder and Munch would be a better team than them, but their individual fights were very different, and he had been working with the older man so long that he had honed his ability to tone out the constant conspiracies, and truth be told, he respected Munch for his intelligence and skill.
The case had been coming along, so to speak, in the three days since the Lone Gunmen's visit. The three men had stayed for a day, and even Elliot had to admit, the men worked hard and knew what they were talking about. Munch was in heaven, having never been with so many conspiracy theorists, at one time.
They hadn't heard from Jennifer recently, which was really just as well, they weren't going to get any new details out of her. Mulder and Scully had told them everything they knew about the black oil, but they still had no suspects.
On Friday night, the squad wrapped up their work at 8 o'clock, a fairly early hour by normal standards. Olivia and Scully were going to go out, and Scully had asked Mulder to come along. Olivia had asked Elliot, but he had replied that he had better make an appearance at home or Kathy was going to be pretty steamed, so Munch and Fin were going along. Cragen had also decided to come, after some persuasion ("Captain, it's okay to go out once every twenty years or so!", a statement that had left Munch on the receiving end of a withering glare).
With the Lone Gunmen at their Dungeons and Dragons convention – this time, the laughter couldn't be kept back, especially at the Gunmen's proud tone – the six of them set out for the bar. Cragen trailed behind with Mulder, Munch and Fin walked in companionable silence, and Olivia and Scully talked quietly at the lead.
The dinner was packed with greasy food, little to no alcohol for Cragen's sake, and loud, overlapping conversations. Everyone talked to everyone; all having a good time, but Olivia couldn't help but wish Elliot was there. When the first and seconds of dinner had been eaten away, the group still lingered at their table, talking, escaping their work for a few hours. Music had been playing faintly in the background the whole time, but when the first few notes of a song floated over the dance floor, Mulder's head perked up.
"Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane.
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues, in the middle of the pouring rain."
Mulder smiled, slid out of the booth, and slid over to Scully in an Elvis-like move. He held his hand out to her as the notes floated out of the speakers. Scully smiled and took Mulder's offered hand, with a characteristic lift of her eyebrow and an "Again, Mulder?"
Mulder swept Scully into his arms and they swayed gently to the music, looking straight into each other's eyes. Olivia watched with a knowing smile. No matter what Dana said, there was clearly something between her and her partner.
"W.C. Handy, won't you look down over me?
Cause I've got a first class ticket, and I'm blue as a boy can be"
The group watched the pair in silence, but Mulder and Scully hardly seemed to notice. Scully laid her head down on Mulder's chest, and he held their joined hands close to him as the song played itself out.
"And they brought me down to see her,
And they asked me if I would do a little number
And I sang with all my might
She said "tell me, are you a Christian?" and I said
"Ma'am, I am tonight!"
The last soft piano notes of the song filtered through the speakers, and the spell was broken. Mulder and Scully broke apart awkwardly and looked at the SVU squad as if they had just noticed them. They started to head back to their table when the music started again.
"Jeremiah was a bullfrog,
Was a good friend of mine"
The agents looked at each other and burst into fits of laughter.
"It's a sign, Scully!" Mulder laughed. They turned and swept back onto the dance floor, this time in a fun, loose dance.
Fin laughed with them and slid out of the booth. He grabbed Olivia's hand and, in a rare burst of energy, shouted,
"C'mon, baby girl, let's join 'em!"
Olivia grinned broadly and allowed herself to be dragged out, joining Mulder and Scully on the dance floor, laughing delightedly as Fin dipped her close to the ground.
"Joy to the world, all the boys and girls,
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea,
Joy to you and me!"
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In the aftermath of their evening out, Mulder and Scully returned to their hotel rooms, still laughing and talking. Policy dictated they still were required to sleep in separate rooms, but Mulder pulled out Steel Magnolias, and successfully bribed Scully into his hotel room. They had just come through the doorway when Mulder stopped short. There was a figure sitting in the dark room, holding a cigarette to his lips.
Mulder grabbed his gun and pointed it at the man both of them knew.
"Get up!" Mulder barked, but the figure didn't move.
"Get up and get out, you black lunged son of a bitch, or I swear I'll shoot you!"
Cancer Man simply smiled and took a drag of his cigarette.
"Don't threaten me, Mulder, I've watched presidents die." His voice was cold, calm and absolutely chilling.
"What the hell do you want?!"
Another drag. "You've come far, in this investigation. Too far, I venture."
Mulder glared. "Afraid we're finally going to expose the truth? Who will you have to kill to keep it quiet this time?"
Cancer Man's expression never changed. "A man would be foolish, Agent Mulder, to press on this. I give you that you know this person you seek, from many times before. As a friend and as a foe." He stood, put out his cigarette, and promptly lit another with his 'Trust Nobody' lighter. The tall man strode for the door, but turned just long enough to add,
"Choose your victories carefully, Agent Mulder. Nothing comes without a sacrifice, and I would hope that should you pursue this, you'd be willing to sacrifice something very near and dear to you."
With that, the dark figure strode out the door, the only taste of his presence the lingering smell of Morley cigarettes.
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A/N#2: I just had to add that CSM line in, only because it's possibly his coolest line in the series! Reviews please!