From: Megan Sullivan Date: 1 Jan 1999 17:09:09 -0800 Subject: NEW: Another Auld Lang Syne Title - Another Auld Lang Syne Author - Megan Sullivan E-Mail address - lessa1@geocities.com Rating - PG Category - V R H Spoilers - Up to and through 'The Ghosts Who Stole Christmas' Keywords - Mulder/Scully UST, Mulder/Scully/Skinner Friendship, Skinner/Mrs. Scully UST Summary - Skinner holds a New Year's Eve party. Archive - Ok to archive at Xemplary, Gossamer, and Ephemeral. Anywhere else, let me know. Disclaimer - Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, The X-Files, and everything pertaining to them are not mine. They are the property of Chris Carter, Fox, 1013 Productions, and others. The FBI is not mine either. I have no malicious intent when using these charact ers. Author's Notes - Happy 1999 everyone! I started out with a real idea for this story, lost it in the course of the day, but decided to finish the story anyway. With the 15 to 18 inches of snow they're predicting here, looks like I might be churning out a couple more stories in the next few days. Shippers, there's not a whole lot here. It's probably safe for all. But interpret it as you wish. :o) Another Auld Lang Syne by Megan Sullivan ***************** December 31, 1998 ***************** Mulder pulled his gloves off, shoved them in his coat pocket, and knocked on Scully's door. She pulled the door open and grinned at him. "Come on in, Mulder. I've just got to put on some shoes," she said, heading back towards her bedroom. He glanced at her sock feet and grinned before entering and closing the door behind him. He unbuttoned his coat as he looked around the apartment. Scully had begun to take down her Christmas decorations, and while the tree was still standing, ornaments were scattered across the living room tables. He picked up a small ornament and smiled. It was Marvin the Martian. "Hey Scully," he called. "I didn't know you were into little green men." She returned to the room wearing a pair of shoes and laughed, realizing what he was holding. "What can I say, Mulder. I bring my work home." She grabbed her coat off the back of the couch and put it on. "You ready to go to Skinner's New Year's Gala?" "I still can't believe we're going to Skinner's for a party. It just doesn't seem right," he said, opening the door for her. She shrugged. "Well, it's better than sitting at home watching Dick Clark." "That's yet to be seen." -~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~- They were not the first to arrive at the assistant director's party. When they arrived, cars were parked everywhere. Mulder found a free parking space, parked the car, and escorted Scully inside. Skinner answered the door when they knocked. "Agents Mulder and Scully!" he exclaimed. "Come in!" They entered and looked at each other in confusion and surprise. "Scully?" Mulder asked, offering his hand for her coat. "Was that Skinner?" "I think so," she grinned, handing over her coat. "Though I'm not commenting about the amount of alcohol in his system." "You think he's drunk?" Mulder asked, hanging up the coats. "No, not at all. I just think he's very relaxed. But then again, I could be wrong. Maybe he's just a party animal." Mulder laughed. "Skinner? A party animal? I think it's more likely that he hit his head against something." She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Mulder, let's socialize," she said, heading into the next room. Skinner had invited quite a few people to this party. Scully recognized about half of the people, the other half were strangers to her. Over in a corner she noticed the Lone Gunmen. She laughed and continued to scan the crowd. She did a double take wh en she saw a familiar looking woman. Mulder seemed to have noticed her too. "Hey Scully," he said, nudging her. "Is that your mom?" Scully nodded. "I think so. Why is she here?" "Skinner invited her?" "Well, they do know each other, but I didn't know they... socialized." As they watched, Skinner walked up to Maggie and took her hand, leading her to the part of the room designated as the 'dance floor'. Scully had trouble not gaping at the scene." Mulder grinned at her reaction. "Looks like they do more than just socialize, Scully," he said, his voice hinting at more. Scully's eyes widened. "Mulder! Don't say that about my mother!" "What? I didn't say anything... well, not really." "Agent Scully?" asked a voice behind them. Scully turned around to find herself face to face with Byers. "Would you care to dance?" Scully looked at Mulder who winked. She grinned at him and turned back to Byers. "I'd love to." -~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~- The evening had flown by quickly. Less than half an hour remained until the new year. Scully was amazed at how much fun she was having at Skinner's party. She never imagined that the AD could throw a good party. But now that she and Mulder worked for Kersh, she had begun to realize that there was more to Skinner than meets the eye. Not to mention he had been dancing on and off with her mother all evening. Mulder cut in on her and Langly. "Hey Scully, how's your evening going?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Not bad actually," she replied, taking his hand. Got to dance with all three of the Lone Gunmen. How many people can say that?" "Ahh, so you made Frohike's day." She laughed. "He did seem a bit excited. So where have you been?" "Socializing." He grinned evilly. "Talking Frohike into dancing with you. Danced with your mother for a while." "You danced with my mother?" "Until Skinner stole her away from me again." Scully looked over Mulder's shoulder, trying to spot her mother in the crowd. She was still dancing with Skinner. "Did you ask her why she was here?" "I didn't have to ask. She could tell I was curious. She says she and 'Walter' have been friends for a while. They even occasionally go out to dinner." "My mom goes out to dinner with Skinner? Why didn't she ever mention this to me?" "Maybe because he was our boss? I mean, having your mom dating the boss is worse than when your mom dates your high school biology teacher." "My high school biology teacher was a woman." "That would have been interesting." "Wait a minute, Mulder, did you say my mom was dating Skinner?" Mulder frowned. "I did. But I'm really not sure if she is. She didn't say anything specific." A cry from the other side of the room alerted everyone that the countdown was about to begin. Everyone made their way towards the television to watch the ball drop in Times Square. Someone in the group began the countdown and the rest joined in, grinnin g as they counted the seconds until the new year. "...10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." A general cheer of Happy New Year arose from the group. Scully gaped as she noticed Skinner chastely kiss her mother on the lips. Mulder noticed her reaction and laughed, kissing her in the same way. "Happy new year, Scully. Here's to a much better year." He pulled her into his arms to dance as a few peopl e sang along with the television. "We'll take a cup o' kindness yet, for auld lang syne." She blushed and grinned, wrapping her arms around him. "Happy New Year, Mulder." END And to quote a song used recently by a wonderful writer, We drank a toast to innocence We drank a toast to time Reliving in our eloquence Another 'auld lang syne'... - Dan Fogelberg, 'Same Old Lang Syne'