Disclaimer: I do not own Mulder and Scully. I'm just excited about them again because of their 20th anniversary reunion. The comics look pretty good too. I'm in no way any kind of owner of The X-Files nor do I own any of the characters. I just enjoy casting them in alternative stories. I'm an avid reader of fanfiction and I enjoyed the show when it aired back in the day. Thanks!

Pillars of Sand Chapter 2

"Okay, the couch it is," Mulder said again as he tugged Scully towards his leather sofa, "and then the bedroom," he said under his breath.

Scully swatted Mulder as he tried to block her hand from connecting with his side as they both smirked at his incorrigible comment. They both sat down on the couch and Scully turned to face him as Mulder looked at her expectantly.

"Mulder," Scully said seriously as she grabbed his right hand, "I don't know if this is a good idea."

There it was, the words Mulder was afraid to hear and Scully had said them. It felt far worse than he even expected it to. Mulder opened his mouth to say something but squeezed her hand for a second instead as he gathered his thoughts. He looked at their hands and brought hers to his lips.

"No." Mulder said simply as he gazed at their entwined hands.

"No? Mulder?" Scully asked raising her eyebrows even more as she bent her head to catch his eyes, "It wasn't a question." She retracted her hands. She was having trouble concentrating with him kissing her no matter where he did it.

"I know that Scully but I'm saying no. No to your statement. I disagree. I'm scared too Scully but I'm not going to run away from this. I think it's been a long time coming and I'm ready." He was not sure where his boldness had come from but from the look on Scully's face he could tell that she needed him to say more, "What? I understand, you're afraid of what this would do to our working relationship to bring it to a personal level. But aren't we passed that point Scully? We pretty much crossed the line into the wee hours of the morning this morning don't you think?"

Scully was shocked. That's it? Just a no? A jack-ass comment and what? She was supposed to just walk into his bedroom with him and do the naked pretzel because he disagreed and had no credence to his answer? He wasn't offering any explanation and she was feeling rather indignant about it. He was looking at her with such a fierce belief in a relationship he had no way of knowing would work out. How could he be so sure when there was so much they had not resolved between them. Even before the bee stung her a year ago, before she was hauled off to Antartica by decoy alien EMTs, she knew in those seconds that even physically she may have been attracted to Mulder but she was afraid of losing herself to him completely. She didn't know if she could face the consequences. It would hurt worse if she lost him; but wasn't she losing him already? Isn't that how she had felt the a week ago when she was reveling in knowing that men were still attracted to her dispite the track marks of alien conspiracies? Mulder had to lay it all out on the table or it would never work. She wanted to know what he would do about Diana. And she would be damned if he chose Diana over her again.

With those thoughts fueling the fire, Scully spoke again.

"Mulder, you can't know this would work. What happens if work gets in the way? Are you going to tuck me away again? Stick me in another lab or make excuses for me to do an autopsy so you can galavant around with Diana somewhere while she encourages you to run into every adventure without questioning the consequences? We have too much that we haven't settled between us personally and professionally that I think we need to fix between us first. Otherwise, I stick by my statement. I don't know if," Scully waved a hand between the two of them, " this is a good idea."

Mulder's jaw clenched. Could he have expected it to go any other way? They were always at opposite ends of the spectrum. He was beginning to feel angered at himself for believing that he could expect her to be different just because he had given in to his physical attraction to her after so long.

"I never intended for you to work solely in the lab Scully. You've been making every excuse to stay there so I just assumed that's where you wanted to be. I thought it would be helpful to have more people covering all the bases. Diana has a background in this Scully. We worked these files together a long time ago. I don't know what else to tell you. You want me to hash out every single detail of every relationship I've ever had with a woman to make this work? Or maybe you're making something that is purely professional into something too personal. You're blurring the lines Scully."

"I'm making this personal?" Scully's voice was rising, "isn't Diana your ex-girlfriend?" Scully paused there waiting for Mulder to clarify but he sat there with a blank expression so she continued, "She is obviously and almost blatantly trying to come between us and you are the only one that doesn't see it. You are the one letting it happen. I'll tell you again I don't trust her. And besides, isn't that some kind of personal interest working with your ex-girlfriend on your cases anyways? Who are you to decide when the lines are being blurred? They're pretty blurred right now Mulder because I'm not sure if I"m more mad at you on a professional level or a personal one."

Scully stood, "Just forget it Mulder. I knew we would end up fighting about this anyways. The truth is that we don't trust each other with that part of our lives. I don't see how this would work. I want us to both go to work like this didn't happen and I don't want to talk about this again. I'll see you around. Call me when the next case comes up. Or don't. Whatever, " Defeated, Scully reached for the door and turned around, "I'll be making excuses to stay in the lab."

Mulder was stunned silent and did not move to stop her as she walked out. Why couldn't he just have kept his mouth shut? How did this escalate into a fight so quickly? He was sure he was ready to convince her to take the next step with him. But a part of him felt like she was right. He knew Diana's appearance was somewhat calculated and he was still unsure about her after she took the X-Files from him when she partnered up with Spender. But he had the X-Files back now and Diana was working along side him whenever he called her up. She was familiar. But so was Scully. And he did feel like something was missing with Diana. It was too easy with her. She agreed with him too easily and was too quick to give him encouragement even though in his head he could hear Scully's voice telling him he needed some concrete proof. And here he was at a crossroads within himself. Does he pick his past or his present? The answer should be clear but why was he having such a hard time deciding?

Sunday brought much more contemplation and resolve for Scully as she went to church with her brother, Charles and her mother. She spent time cleaning her apartment afterwards and she did laundry as was her routine. She called Ethan back from the day before and they decided to have an impromptu lunch at District Taco. She was still a woman after all and she wanted to keep some contact with her former friends in case Mulder angered her so much she would have to shoot him again.

Scully shook her head at her thoughts. Who was she kidding? She could pass the time spending with Ethan and other men but she knew she would always compare them to Mulder. She was even more upset and embarrassed that she had brought up Diana again for the hundredth time.

She hesitated on calling Lt. Turner though. He was good looking. He had a nice lean build that she knew was probably very toned but she feared calling him too. She knew on some level that Lt. Turner could possibly compete n her mind with Mulder. Am I afraid of commitment? Scully asked herself. No she answered in her head, you're just afraid of loving someone else because you're so used to waiting for Mulder to come around. And you're turning a perfectly good man down because you know deep down inside that Lt. Turner is a great catch but you still want Mulder.

Scully shook her head again...Mulder...again...all the time. She needed to get her head around staying away from him for a while on a personal basis. There was no way she would enter any relationship with him until he came clean about his intentions with Diana. Every time she asked about her he wouldn't give her a straight answer. He was hiding something. She wasn't going to wait around to find out what it was.

She picked up the phone and called Lt. Turner. Rebellion they name was Dana Katherine Scully.

More to come...need feedback!