"When was the last time you felt jealous? - Requested by Anonymous - October 29th, 2019

Season 7 - Opening Up

"I couldn't imagine being that jealous," Scully remarked, playing with the remnants of her food rather than eating it.

Mulder's head snapped up from the newspaper he'd been reading and looked around to see what it was that sparked the random comment, only to be directed with a head nod to the screen in the corner of the shitty restaurant.

MAURY: MY BOYFRIEND'S JEALOUS OF THE MAILMAN

"You've never felt envious of the power of the U.S. Postal Service?" Mulder teased, folding the newspaper up and setting it to the side.

Scully shook her head with a smile while sipping her Diet Coke. Releasing the lipstick stained straw, she explained, "This girl said her boyfriend saw her flirting with the mailman and he beat him up."

"Beat him up?" he repeated in surprise. She nodded to the TV which was now adorned with the multicolored face of a man in a tan uniform. "Huh," he mused.

"To be so jealous you lash out? Seems a little rash," she mused.

Images of the men who gave Scully a lingering glance during their last case flashed through his mind, followed by the charming young doctor that made her laugh, and the officers who tried harder to make her laugh than solve the case – a Viewmaster of all the men that made his jaw clench as they tested his patience over the course of this case. "I dunno," he mumbled, not offering an explanation.

He took a bite of his food and looked up in time to see a curious eyebrow cock up. "You don't agree?"

She ran a finger around the bow of her lip before tracing the bottom edge, intending only to fix her lipstick but ultimately focusing his attention on her mouth – her full lips. The same lips he'd kissed less than two weeks ago. The same lips his own ached for. "I'm not saying men should go around in demonstrations of brute masculinity in the name of pride, but I see the appeal of defending the honor of someone you love."

A familiar flicker of curiosity glimmered in Scully's eyes and she leaned forward; a lion setting her sight on prey. "When was the last time you felt jealous?" she asked, a suppressed smile threatening to break her mask of indifferent curiosity.

There was something in her tone that let him know she knew it had to do with her. She'd mentioned years ago that he sometimes acted territorial, and while he tried not to be, it was part of his nature. Even all the way back then, she'd always seen right through him. "This week," he answered honestly, testing her a little to see her reaction. She could take that information and say nothing more, simply absorbing the fact it was implicit he was jealous of one of the men who'd been unabashedly hitting on her, or she could press him and force him to say the words out loud. The latter would result in her having to react and it was that possibility that lead him to being so open in the first place. "Does it make you uncomfortable that I get jealous?"

"Why?" she asked, a pleased smile present in her eyes but masked everywhere else.

"Dr. Charming kept making you laugh," he replied, his eyes steady with hers to check her reaction to his bluntness.

"Dr. Campbell?" she laughed incredulously.

"Oh, was that his name?" Mulder joked childishly.

"Mulder, he was just being nice," she assured.

"No, Scully. He was flirting with you. Trust me, I've been doing it for years. I know it when I see it," he replied.

A pink hue tainted her cheeks and for a moment he feared he'd pushed their bantering too far. Then he saw her pursed lips twitch upward and he realized she was trying to suppress a smile. "You were jealous?" she repeated, not as much a question as a it was her testing the statement as a fact.

He put down enough money to cover both of their meals on the table and smiled at her. "I think you only have a certain threshold for corny jokes, Scully. If you laugh at another man's who will I have to laugh at mine?"