***************************************************************************** This author's email address has changed to: Caelura@aol.com ***************************************************************************** From: StevensToy@aol.com Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1998 15:13:16 EST Subject: All About Theatre (1/2) By Heather Scotland TITLE: All About Theatre(1/2) AUTHOR: Heather Scotland CONTENT: MSR, H RATING: PG-13 ARCHIVE: Ask first! Gossamer is fine, as is AXTC. DISCLAIMER: None of the characters portrayed are mine. Even Carol is a real person, kind of, so no one sue me please. Legal things bore me. SUMMARY: After getting in trouble with Skinner, Mulder and Scully are sent to community theatre to do a play about love. After a scripted kiss, and Mulder wearing tights, things get turbulent in their world. AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hope you like it, send some feedback! This was written over the course of a day or so, so forgive any errors. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* "God damn it, Mulder! I'm sick and tired of you always doubting me! Can't you get your ass back on the ground in reality for one minute? If you could, which I doubt, you'd see that there is nothing to this case, and no reason to fly all the way across the country again!" A.D. Skinner walked into the agent's office and ducked to avoid a flying plant which shattered on the doorframe behind him. "Scully...Mulder?" he said, as if oblivious to the uproar he had walked into, "I need to talk to you." Scully stopped screaming and turned around, letting go of Mulder's tie that she had been almost choking him with. Mulder's face was bright red from lack of oxygen and his embarrassment of having Skinner find them like this. "Yes, sir?" Scully said calmly, walking back to her desk and sitting down. Skinner bent and picked up the remains of the small leafy plant, now in tatters. "Poor Herb, I knew you well," he muttered to himself before turning back to the agents. "I've gotten several complaints during the course of the last few days about the noise level in this basement. Apparently, the other agents above you can't work with all the screaming." "I'm sorry, sir, but..." "Agent Scully, you don't have to explain yourselves. I know you both are under a lot of stress, so I came to tell you two that you're taking some time off." "But sir-" they both intoned, and Skinner held up his hand. "It's not really time off in the true sense, I've just found you a new assignment for a while. Something a little bit less, shall we say, stressful. You can pick up your assignment files in my office later today." Skinner turned around and left the office, carrying the plant which he was going to try and save from premature death. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Later that afternoon, Mulder and Scully went up to Skinner's office to get their new assignment. Skinner was out, and his secretary gave Mulder and Scully each a thin folder. They didn't bother to look at them until back at the office, and Scully's mouth gaped open as she read the enclosed papers. "Oh, no! I can't believe it!" "What?" Mulder said, pulling out his file and riffling through the sheets there. "Do your papers say what mine say, Scully?" "I'm afraid so, Mulder. Skinner's sending us to the community theatre." Mulder groaned. "I knew I should have shot him when I had the chance." *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- As the form directed, Mulder arrived at a small clean warehouse-type building in a rather upper-class section of town at precisely 7 o'clock. He read the brightly-lit sign on the glass door: Stage One Theatre. Mulder groaned, sure that his nightmares were coming true, and mentally cursed Skinner again. He walked into the atrium and up to the small ticket booth. A short, 50-ish blonde woman was sitting there, working on what looked like a budget report. "Hi, I'm Fox Mulder...Skinner sent me here, something about a part in a play?" The blonde looked up and smiled. "Oh! You mean Walter! He told me all about the handsome new lead we were getting for our new production! I'm glad you're here! Just go right on in and talk to the tall redhead. She'll tell you what to do." Mulder groaned to himself. And what was up with the `Walter' thing? Did Skinner come here regularly or something? As he walked into the small, dark lobby and saw the rows of seats, he was transported back to his Oxford days, where he had done a tiny bit of theatre to pass the time, when he wasn't playing basketball. He stopped suddenly when his eye caught a cast photo from a recent play hanging on the wall, and backed up to get a better glance. It was Skinner! In tights! He had, it seemed, been in a production of "I Hate Hamlet" earlier that year. And he actually looked good in the tights. But he snickered anyway, and moved on to the stage. There was a group of actors standing around on the stage, all dressed in rather Victorian-looking costumes. He noticed a tall, rather overweight redhead with a loud voice and walked over to her. She was talking to some girl in a short Victorian wig he couldn't see, and when he tapped her on the shoulder, he realized that she was talking to Scully, who was in full costume. "Um, uh..." he stuttered, staring at Scully, who seemed unaware of the beauteous sight she presented in her tight gown with large flares at the hips and her powdered blonde wig. "What do you need?" the tall redhead asked. "Are you looking for someone?" "Uh...I need..." "This is Fox Mulder," Scully supplied for him graciously, although she was still mad at him from this morning. The tall woman threw her arms around him, almost knocking him off his feet. "Well, here you are! We've al been waiting for you to arrive! HEY, everyone!" she shouted, piercing Mulder's eardrums with her vocal prowess, "Fox Mulder's here! We can start the rehearsal! Five minutes, then be ready to WORK!" She turned back to Mulder and said in a softer tone, "My name is Carol Wettering, and I run this theatre. Walter highly recommends you and your friend Dana here, Fox." "Call me Mulder," he muttered on instinct, shaking her proffered hand. Scully smirked at him, and he frowned. "Have you read over your character descriptions and the summary of the play yet? I wouldn't have expected you to have read the script, but we'll just do it cold for tonight. It's kind of an informal, get-to-know-each-other night tonight. We'll have lots of fun." Mulder shook his head. "I didn't get a chance to read it yet. Why don't I leave you two ladies alone and go do that right now?" He nodded at Scully and went to go sit down in the first row of seats to read. He pulled out the sheets that Skinner had given him and just as he started to read, a screwdriver fell onto his lap. "Hey, could you throw that back up here?" a voice shouted from above him. Mulder looked up to find a large black man hanging off of a huge ladder behind him, about 20 feet in the air, working on a light. "Here you go," he called, tossing it back up. The technician caught it with ease, and Mulder went back to reading, keeping his eyes peeled for any other flying tools. Scully walked over to him, free of the clutches of Carol, and sat down next to him with some difficulty in her large dress. "What does it say?" Mulder looked at the character description. "Lord David Britts, wealthy man of means, handsome and debonair, loves women and wine. He's searching the earth for his true love, but his father is trying to set him up with a woman he's never met, another one of the nobility. He is almost a snob, but down to earth in a poetic kind of way. He meets this woman and they--" Mulder stopped and turned the page. There was nothing else there. "Hey, where's the rest?" Scully sighed. "Mine was that way, too. Want to hear?" Mulder nodded, and Scully drew her papers out from somewhere in her voluminous dress. "Kate VonEspin is a beautiful young lady who loved to write poetry in the garden. She is upper class, but she doesn't enjoy the strictness of the nobility. She seems to love nothing but the novels she reads, and when she meets a handsome young man she knows that--" she turned the page. "That's all that mine had. I guess we have to read the script to find out how it ends." "Seems to be too much poetry and love in it for me, thank you very much. I wonder which one of these silly girls the woman of my dreams is supposed to be," he said, rising and walking onto the stage filled with laughing people as Scully trailed him in her long frock. "So do I have to wear tights or something?" As if on cue, a young, hyperactive brunette swept down on him holding an armful of clothing, clutching a pencil between her teeth. "Here, put this on, Fox. Everyone's waiting for you." Mulder looked puzzled. "Why does everyone keep waiting for me, anyhow?" "You're the STAR, silly," the girl giggled, running off to torture someone else with tights. Mulder sighed and found an empty room to change into his tights and ridiculous outfit. After shedding his street clothes, he stared at the tights in puzzlement. They looked way to small to fit his lanky figure, but he tried to pull them on anyway. Five minutes full of struggling and panting and straining, he had them on. And they were *way* too tight. The rest of the costume was very elaborate, with funny boots and a hot overcoat, and layers and layers of other clothing that Mulder didn't have a name for. He took one embarrassed glance in the mirror before walking out onto the stage to join the other actors. Scully did a double-take when she saw him, but refrained from smiling to broadly when he joined her near the down center stage. Mulder felt like a fool. "Don't say a word, Scully." "Who, me?" They fell silent as Carol walked onto the stage, carrying a clipboard. "I'd like to formally welcome you all to the first rehearsal of the new play, "Games of Love and Laughter." Tonight is the start of something very special for all of us, and we will all have to work very hard to make this play great. Now I think we should start out with the first scene in the second act, where the Lord meets the woman of his dreams and finally realizes what he's been missing. I need the Lord, Winona, Charles, Sophie, Adelia, Gregory, and Kate center stage. The rest of you, take five." The actors assembled center stage as ordered and Mulder stood in the wings stupidly until one of the girls pulled him out. "Come on, Lord!" Mulder walked over to Scully, who had his script. "Gee, Scully, I finally get the title I deserve. Are you going to call me Your Lordship forever now?" Scully elbowed him in the ribs. "Ssh! Page 85, Mulder." Carol spoke up from the edge of the stage, where she had berthed herself. "Lord, I need you with Sophie, Charles with Kate, and Winona with Gregory. The scene is a ballroom, and you are talking and chatting amongst yourself. Let's her it from the top of page 85. Lord?" Mulder cleared his throat and let forth his lines, talking easily to Sophie about the other couples. It felt good to him to be on stage, other than the tights, but he lived in fear of the Gunmen finding out about this. He'd never live it down. The scene progressed, and Mulder read the part wonderfully, for a first reading. The scene called for the Lord to stop suddenly as he sees Kate, and walk over to her as if in a trance. All the other characters cleared the stage slowly as the lights dim to a more romantic hue, leaving Kate and the Lord alone. So Mulder followed the actions in the script and walked over to Scully as if in a trance. Scully was totally in character and gazed at him with luminous eyes as Kate found the man she had been pining for all of her life. END PART ONE *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* "May I have the honor of dancing with you?" the Lord asked, holding out his hand. Kate put her small gloved hand in his, and they mimed a dance until the choreography could be set later. "I feel as if I've met you somewhere before," Kate said Scully thought. "I've been looking for you everywhere, and at last I've found you. But, alas, I do not even know your name, beautiful doll. Mulder shouted to himself. "My name's Katherine, but you can call me Kate. My Lord." Scully flinched as she said it, and Carol grumbled something about staying in character. They stopped dancing and the Lord leaned closer to Kate, his script book in hand, in front of his face. "I hope I'm not being too forward, but would you mind if I were to--" he asked, pulling her closer and... "Hey, there's a page missing," Mulder said, drawing away from Scully and breaking the moment. Scully was slightly flushed, leaning back slightly in his arms, her heart racing as if she had just ran a marathon. she tried to qualify to herself. This would become a constant refrain for them both over the next few weeks. "Mine is missing a page too," she said, fanning herself. She wasn't going to let Mulder know how handsome he looked in his Victorian clothes, or how sensual he was when he acted, purring the words in a voice level that seemed for her alone, but reached out to the last row of seats. But somehow he wasn't quite sure that it would stay that way. Things never did in theatre. They spilled over into normal life and things got confused. "That's okay," Carol called. "It's just all action, anyway, no dialogue." "What happens?" Mulder asked, adjusting his tights with a grimace that brought stifled laughter from Scully and some of the other crew members in the wings. Mulder heard another tool drop. It sounded like the screwdriver again. Stupid techie. "The Lord pulls Kate closer, and looks at her for a long moment before he draws her into his arms and kisses her very passionately for a while," Carol said nonchalantly. "Then you two sink to the floor and stare into each other's eyes before the scene goes black." Mulder's jaw dropped. He had to kiss Scully! His own partner, and he had to kiss her! Not just once, but every night for at least a month! He groaned, and Scully turned to him, just as shocked. Scully counseled herself. Nothing works out right in the end, you know that! Another voice in Scully's head screamed. Scully cleared her throat nervously. "Um, well, the thing about that is..." "You see, there's something that I forgot to say..." Mulder said at the same time, frantically trying to find an excuse. Not that he didn't want to lip-wrestle with Scully, but he feared that once he got started, he wouldn't be able to stop, or have a normal relationship with hr after that. There was no way he could hide his attraction for her then, and their partnership would be ruined. All for a stupid kiss in a stupider play. Somehow, it just didn't seem worth it to Mulder. Carol held up her hand to stop their argument. "Walter told me that you two might hesitate to do this, but he also told me that you two are under a direct order to follow the script. We can't have our two main characters *not* fall in love, can we? That wouldn't make for a very happy ending. Now, get ready to continue. Lord, I need you to face more towards Kate during this scene. It's supposed to be very tender and sweet. Come more downstage, you two. Now start from your last line, Lord." "It's cut off, remember?" Carol sighed in frustration. "That's where you kiss her...the line stops as you pull her closer and kiss her. Now let's get rehearsing!" Mulder sighed, squeezed his eyes tightly closed for a moment to summon up all his reserves of mental willpower, and spoke his line. "I hope I'm not being too forward, Kate, but would you mind if I were to--" Scully looked trustingly up into Mulder's face as he pulled her into his arms and lowered his head towards her. Her heart was going a mile a minute, and a secret thrill was running through her. The feel of his lips settling on hers was more than she could bear, so she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss, her tongue slipping into his mouth as she felt his seeking entrance to hers. She could feel Mulder's hardness pressing up against her stomach, and they kissed for what seemed like forever before they sank to the floor, Mulder cradling Scully in his lap and kissing her more as the stage went black. Mulder's pulse was throbbing in every part of his body as he felt the elusive Scully-lips under his mouth, and he lost all control of himself and forgot that they were supposed to be playing a part in a play, and this wasn't real life. He sank down to the floor and pulled Scully into his lap, reflecting that she fit perfectly in his arms as if she had been made for him. The lights came back up with a bright flash and Mulder was startled into breaking the kiss with Scully. A thunderous round of applause echoed through the theatre as the entire cast watched them. Carol grinned. she thought, looking at Mulder's tights, which revealed his state of mind to all present. Scully blushed with embarrassment and pulled away from Mulder. She was dizzy, and her head hurt. Mulder-overdose, she guessed, and felt a thrill run through her when she looked inadvertently down at Mulder's lap. Tights don't hide anything, and she was surprised that Mulder had become aroused by the kiss. "I don't feel well," she whispered, and got up without a word, going offstage and into the ladies dressing room. Mulder sat on-stage by himself like a fool while Carol smiled at him. She knew, no matter what Walter had told her about the platonic relationship of the two partners, that something was there between them. Something that neither of them could really understand as of yet. "Can I go now?" Mulder asked, not feeling that well himself. All the emotions that he had felt were exhausting him, and he no longer felt like rehearsing. He felt like going home and taking a cold shower, actually. Carol waved him offstage. "I guess we can do without you two for the rest of the night. We'll do some crowd scenes, then knock off early. It seems that your scene doesn't need much work, anyway. There's a lot of passion in your acting, you know." "Uh, thanks," Mulder said, stumbling off stage and to the dressing room to remove his tights, which had gotten tighter and tighter as the scene had progressed. He hoped that it hadn't been to obvious, but when he got to the dressing room and looked in the mirror, he realized that it was very conspicuous. Scully dressed hurriedly, struggling to get out of the elaborate wig and gown, and almost ran out of the dressing room. She encountered Mulder coming out of the men's dressing room and blushed, turning away from him and walking in the opposite direction. "See you tomorrow, Mulder," she called back, trying not to look at him. She trotted out of the stage door and encountered the cleansing night air with a sigh. "Scully, wait!" Mulder called, running after her and catching up with her in the dark parking lot as she fumbled for her keys. "What, Mulder?" Scully said resignedly. "Um...I just thought that I'd make sure you got out of here safely," he said lamely, avoiding the real reason he had chased after her. "The parking lot looks kind of dangerous, and someone could jump out at you from behind one of these hedges." Scully smiled at him, then got into her car tiredly. "Thanks for caring, Mulder, but I can take care of myself. See you in the morning." Mulder caught the car door as she closed it, and she looked up at him in surprise. "We need to talk, Scully," he blurted out, his face flushing. Scully saw the emotion in his eyes, and it mirrored that in her own. She knew that Mulder was having a difficult time with this, too, so she figured that talking about it might clear up things. "Follow me to my apartment," she said softly, closing the door and starting the car. Mulder got into his car, wincing at the odor of old socks and hamburgers, and drove slowly behind Scully to her place, apprehensive about sharing his feelings with her. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- "Do you want some white wine, Mulder? Or would you prefer tea?" Scully called from her immaculate kitchen. Mulder sat stiffly on her couch, staring out the window. "I think tea would be a better idea, Scully. What kind do you have?" Joining her in the kitchen, he peered over her shoulder at her tin container of tea. "I have Earl Grey, peppermint, chamomile, green tea, mango tea, raspberry, strawberry, orange, wild berry, and something called `Sensual Delights' that Mom gave me for Christmas. Which do you prefer?" Mulder stared at the tea, completely clueless. He thought tea was just one thing, not different kinds. It all tasted the same to him, unless there was lemon in it. he thought wryly. "It doesn't matter to me, Scully...whatever you're having." Scully thought for a moment, then pulled out some chamomile tea. It would do both their nerves some good. "Can you get the teapot, Mulder?" she asked, happy to have a male in her kitchen. It felt cozy and happy in the kitchen, and Scully forgot for a while the reason Mulder was there in the first place. It was enough that he was there, and it was peaceful and serene in the warm light of the small enclosure. As the water came to a boil, Scully prepared Mulder's tea just the way he liked it and carried both cups out to the living room. "Here you go, Mulder. Careful, it's hot." Mulder smiled at his partner's inherent motherliness as she instructed him not to burn himself. She seemed more at ease now, and Mulder was glad that he was there with her. They sat on the couch, side by side, for a mew moments in silence before Scully turned towards Mulder with a sigh. "Okay, Mulder, let's get down to business. I know that what I did was wrong, and I hope that you can forgive me for taking advantage of you like that. I don't know what came over me...maybe it was just something that I didn't feel myself capable of, or maybe it was just the spontaneity of the moment, but I'm sure that it won't happen again." She bowed her head in shame, and Mulder looked incredulous. *She* thought that she did something wrong?!?!? Mulder knew that it was all his fault, and Scully was probably just taking the blame on herself to make him feel better. Mulder took Scully's hand in his tenderly, and she looked up in surprise. "Scully," he whispered. "I was the one at fault here, I'm the one that took advantage of you. I think my hormones are just out of control, or just maybe the fact that you looked so beautiful standing there in the lights, I just couldn't control myself. Please don't blame yourself, because I know that I started it all. If you'd rather have me not play the part, we can find one of those other guys from the ensemble to take my place. They'd probably be nicer to you and not almost rape you right there on stage. Forgive me, Scully." He brought her hand to his face and rubbed it against his cheek, feeling the softness of her skin and letting the light vanilla scent of her perfume wash over him like a gentle breeze. Now it was Scully's turn to be shocked, and she thought for a moment. It seemed that they were both at fault for not controlling their hormonal reactions, but if it was something that both of them wanted, why not? Sure, it was against Bureau policy, but sometimes breaking the rules was the right thing to do. Especially in light of the fact that she finally knew that Mulder desired her as much as she had wanted him since the moment she saw him in his glasses. Her heart filled with elation, and she reached over to him and curled into his arms. Mulder was pleasantly surprised to find himself with an armful of Scully, but the surprise turned to delight as Scully turned her face up to his and kissed him, licking his lower lip slowly and driving him wild with desire. "Scully?" he questioned when her mouth stopped moving for a moment. "Mmmm?" she said, purring like a cat as she looked at him through half-lidded eyes. "I love you, too," he said with a grin, seeing the emotions written in her eyes and pulling her ever closer. "From here on, I don't think a simple on-stage kiss will be a problem." "I hope I can restrain myself from tearing off those tights," she whispered. "Do you think you could get a pair to wear around the house?" *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-- THE END Well, this was a piece of fluff that I wrote after having a really cool dream somewhat like this. Stage One is a real theatre that I know of, but I am not using their name for profit, so don't sue me. Carol and the ticket booth lady are based on people that I know in theatre, but since they don't read fanfic, it'll be our little secret. Send this poor actor/writer some feedback...I bust my behind to write for you people and my inbox remains almost empty! Help me out here!