From: Amy McClure <mulder89@hotmail.com>
Date: 25 May 1999 11:42:20 -0700
Subject: [xfcreative] (no subject)

My second fanfic - inspired by the baseball scene in the Unnatural.


Title: Baseball
Author: Amy McClure
E-Mail: mulder89@hotmail.com
Distribution: Wherever, just leave my name and e-mail on it & let me know so 
I can visit. ;)
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: X-Files Movie (hallway), The Unnatural
Disclaimer: Very unfortunately for me, Fox Mulder is not mine. Neither is 
Dana Scully. I'm just borrowing them. They belong to Chris Carter and Ten 
Thirteen Productions. The songs quoted are not mine either - I just borrowed 
them and I hope I quoted them correctly ;)
Classification: MSR, Mulder Angst, Character Death
Keywords: Character Death, Mulder, Scully, Romance
Summary: What happened after that fateful baseball scene (hips before
hands)?? Mulder and Scully both begin to realize just how strong their
feelings are for each other. But is it too late????


Mulder handed $40 to the young boy, thanked him for shagging balls for them 
and watched him run over to his waiting father. It didn't seem like they had 
been there for 4 hours, but apparently they had.

He looked over at his partner who was watching him from behind home plate. 
He could see the twinkle in her eyes and the smile on her lips all the way 
from second base where he was standing. God, she was beautiful. Sometimes he 
could barely stand to look at her she was so amazing. He strode over to her.

"Well Mulder, you missed my birthday by quite a bit, but I guess it's the 
thought that counts, right?"

Mulder smiled that oh-so-Mulder-smile. "Happy birthday, Scully."

They stood on the diamond silently, just smiling at each other for what 
seemed like an eternity. Mulder noticed her shiver a little bit.

"Cold?"

"Yeah, I guess it's getting a little chilly out here."

Mulder walked over to the bench where he had put down his trenchcoat.
"Here," he said as he draped the coat over his partner's shoulders.

"Thanks."

She noticed his hands had lingered on her shoulders a little longer than 
they needed to.

"Well Mr. Mantle, it's getting kind of late. We should probably go."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

The walk to their cars was done in silence. They both wanted to say
something, but neither knew what to say.

"Thanks for the jacket," Scully said as she handed his trenchcoat back to 
him.

"Anytime, G-woman."

Scully smiled warmly up at her partner. God, he wanted to kiss her. He 
wanted to hold her, to kiss her, to feel her close to him, to sweep her off 
her feet and make love to her right there.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Mulder. Thanks again. I never would 
have even attempted to hit a baseball if it weren't for you."

He tried desperately to think of something that was clever, witty and
romantic all in one.  "Goodnight Scully." Gee, how much more clever, witty 
and romantic could you get?

Scully didn't know what to think anymore. The drive back to Georgetown was 
filled with thoughts of Mulder. She didn't even know how she felt about him 
anymore. Was it friendship? Was it love? Was it somewhere in between? Things 
had been hard for her ever since Diana Fowley had appeared back into his 
life again. She didn't know where she stood anymore. She was pretty sure 
there were still some mutual romantic feelings between the two of them. She 
had tried to ask Mulder about it more times than she could even count, but
always ended up chickening out. What business was it of hers anyway? Well, 
she was his friend, but they didn't usually talk about their personal lives.

Personal lives. That was kind of a joke, wasn't it. What personal life? When 
was the last time she had gone on a date? Hmmm...east coast, the tattoo that 
Mulder had made fun of when she got back. That was about two years ago - 
God, had it really been that long?

Why? She considered herself to be a pretty attractive woman - not the
prettiest woman ever, but not bad either. Did he think so? Did he even 
consider her to be a woman, or had their friendship blinded him to her 
sexual appeal? He said things to her sometimes, but it never amounted to 
anything. It was typical Mulder...

"Scully...marry me."
"Hey Scully, should we be picking out china patterns or what?"
"Keep goin' FBI woman"
"Is this display of boyish agility turning you on at all Scully?"
"As difficult and frustrating as it's been sometimes, your strict
rationalism and science have saved me a thousand times. You kept me honest. 
You made me a whole person. I owe you everything and Scully, you owe me 
nothing. I don't know if I want to do this alone. I don't even know if I 
can. And if I quit now, they win."

What had followed that last statement haunted her. He was going to kiss her. 
She could see it in his eyes, she could feel it in the way he was touching 
her. He leaned in to kiss her, but it had been interrupted. What if that bee 
wouldn't have stung her? That was a thought that swirled through her head 
almost every night as she was lying in bed trying to fall asleep.

Would it have been a short, sweet kiss that mainly symbolized friendship? 
Would it have started out sweet and turned into more? Would she have allowed 
that to happen? Would he? Would they have ended up in bed together?

Her thoughts turned to just that. She could envision Mulder taking her in 
his arms, holding her - touching her - their lips meet - he reaches out and 
starts undoing her blouse...

A car horn beeping startled her out of her current train of thought. She 
looked up and saw the red light that she was approaching way too quickly. 
She slammed on her brakes, but it was too late. The squealing tires didn't 
come to a stop quite in time. As she raced through the intersection, she 
braced herself for the worst. It wasn't until a few minutes passed before 
she realized what had happened. She had made it. The car coming at her from 
the left must have been able to swerve around her in time.

As she switched off the light in her bedroom, she realized she was still 
trembling with fright. She said a short prayer thanking God for watching 
over her and rolled over to face yet another sleepless night.

Mulder hadn't moved from his couch since he got home. He hadn't even
bothered to switch on any of the lights. The living room was illuminated 
somewhat by the streetlights, and he noticed his basketball lying on the 
floor next to his feet. He picked it up and started twirling it on one 
finger. As the basketball fell off his finger, careened across the  table 
and smashed into the wall, he realized his mind must be somewhere else. "Oh 
yeah, the neighbors must have just loved that."

He leaned over the edge of the table and switched on the tv. By this time it 
was midnight and the selection of shows wasn't exactly the best. A rerun of 
the night's earlier college hockey game, yet another installment of the 
endless diet fad infomercials, an old Happy Days rerun, an off-the-air 
signal. Then he remembered he had left one of his favorite movies in the 
vcr. He fumbled around for the remote control and finally found the play 
button. Kalifornia Screamin'...yeah, one of the finer porno flicks in his
collection.


And I don't want the world to see me
Cuz I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am.

The radio alarm was reminding her it was 6:00. Time to get up. Yeah, get up 
from what - yet another night of tossing and turning? It seemed like that 
song was always the first song she heard in the morning. "Well that's just 
perfect. I wake up yet again to the song that reminds me the most of him."

Scully continued to mumble to herself as she made her way to the shower. 
Something inside her made her switch on the radio in the bathroom.

At the same time, Mulder slammed his hand down on his alarm clock in an 
attempt to silence the incessant beeping coming from it. He flipped on his 
stereo on his way into the bathroom.

And I don't want the world to see me
Cuz I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

Mulder found himself softly singing along as he turned on the water in the 
shower and got undressed. He'd heard this song a million times, but never 
seemed to get sick of it. He usually got sick of these songs - especially 
the gushy romantic ones, but there was just something about this one.

Federal Building 7:30

"Good morning Sunshine."

Scully said nothing, but gave him her usual good morning smile.

"I'm going to get a cup of coffee. You want one?"

"No thanks, Scully. I'm still trying to pick the grounds out of my teeth 
from the first cup."

Oh great. Agent Jensen must have made it again. No wonder she couldn't sleep 
at night.

Halfway to the employee breakroom, she decided to pass on the coffee. No 
amount of cream or sugar could mask the horrible taste of Jensen's coffee.

As she walked back in the office, she noticed her rather startled partner 
switch off his computer monitor.

"That was quick."

"I decided to pass on the caffeine this morning. What are you doing?"

"Me? Oh, nothing really. Just checking my e-mail."

"Then why did you shut your monitor off?"

"I...I was finished reading it."

She gave him one of her patented Scully looks and, out of nowhere, lunged 
for his monitor. He caught her hand just in time. Normally he would have 
caught her a lot quicker than that, but that move was a little unexpected 
from his normally calm and cool partner.

"What's gotten into you?"

"What do you mean?"

Mulder took a good look at her. The usual cold look of concentration and 
seriousness had been replaced by a warm happy grin, and her eyes - if he 
didn't know better he'd say her eyes were dancing.

"Look at you."

She gave him a mischievous grin. "What?"

"You just seem...I don't know...overly happy this morning."

"Oh and I'm not allowed to be happy?"

"Well, no. Of course you're allowed to be happy. It's just not..."

"Not what? Not like me? Not like me to be happy?" The smile that was there a 
second ago had quickly faded.

Uh oh. "No, no that's not what I meant. You just..."

"Oh just forget it Mulder."

Mulder leaned back from his desk, exasperated. Why did women always have to 
turn a kind and innocent remark into something it wasn't?  Scully saw her 
opportunity.

"Scully, don't get mad. I just meant..."

She waited until he looked up at the ceiling and then she once again lunged 
for the power button on his monitor. It took him a second to realize what 
she was doing, and he pushed himself forward and reached out to grab her 
hand. His leg had bumped her and made her lose her balance right as she 
switched the monitor on. She fell into his lap and looked up to see what it 
was her partner was trying to hide from her.

"A naked picture of Shania Twain? That's what you were trying so desperately 
to hide from me?"

A sheepish grin and a pinkish hue began to cross Mulder's face.

"You don't have to hide this from me. I know you're a pervert. That's not 
even her, you know. It's someone else's body with her head pasted onto the 
top. What is this anyway?"

She noticed then it was an Internet page. "CelebritySkin.com. Interesting 
site to be visiting at work, Mulder."

"Yeah well, I had to do something to keep myself occupied while I waited for 
you to finally show up."

"What do you mean `finally show up?' I'm an hour early!" The mischevious 
grin on her face had resurfaced once again.

She felt herself suddenly falling toward the ground as he quickly bent 
forward. He put his arms around her just in time.

"Oh sorry. I hope I didn't startle you. I guess I forgot you were still 
sitting on my lap."

Scully laughed as she gazed up at her partner. He had a huge smile on his 
face. That was something she didn't see very often. He smiled, yes. But not 
like this. The smiles and laughter gradually began to die down, but Scully 
didn't move. She knew she probably should get off his lap, but she simply 
did not want to. His arms were still around her anyway.

Jesus, she's actually flirting with me. Yeah sure, they'd flirted before, 
but he couldn't recall a time in the last six years when she'd sat on his 
lap. She was making no move to go anywhere, either. The thoughts from last 
night started to resurface. He was overcome by the urge to finally taste 
those pouty lips of hers.

The ring of Mulder's phone suddenly snapped them both back into reality. 
Scully reluctantly got off his lap so he could reach the phone.

"Mulder...why what happened...okay, we'll be right there."

"What's going on?"

"That was Skinner. He wants us to head over to the White House. They've had 
shots fired."

There was obvious tension between the two of them as they stood in the 
elevator. Both of them were careful to not stand too close, but then again 
not too far away from each other. Not a word was spoken and no eye contact 
was made.

They pulled up to the White House and joined the cavalry of police officers 
and federal agents who were working the area.

"Why did Skinner want us here?"

"I don't know. It looks like they've got it pretty much in control. I don't 
know what he expects us to do here."

After showing the S.A.C. their identification, they were ushered into the 
building with an agent unknown to them.

"What's going on?" Mulder asked the agent.

"We don't know how it happened. Two guys came up and started shooting
everyone in sight. They shot down everyone who was in their way. They're 
still in the building somewhere and we've still been hearing gun fire every 
few minutes. We need you to help us find them."

Mulder and Scully were given orders to check the west wing of the upper 
level. They both moved cautiously and quietly - each with their guns drawn 
and each on alert for even the slightest noise. They alternated proceeding 
around corners and looking into doorways.

Mulder had taken the last one, so it was Scully's turn. He pressed himself 
close up against the wall and leaned his head to the left, straining to hear 
into the room. He heard nothing and motioned Scully to come around the 
corner. She passed by her partner and pointed her gun into the room.

Mulder heard one shot. Just one shot. He watched in disbelief as his partner 
crumpled into a heap on the floor. Blood was already staining her white 
shirt. Mulder heard footsteps coming toward the door and readied his gun. 
Adrenaline was coursing through his veins, sweat was seeping out of his 
forehead, and his heart was beating so fast he thought it might give out on 
him.

The gunman must have figured Scully was alone. He came out of the room with 
his gun pointing down at Scully's head. Mulder fired one shot. One shot to 
the perpetrator's temple, and that was it. He slumped to the floor on top of 
Agent Scully.

Mulder quickly bent down and threw the scum's lifeless body off that of his 
partner's. "Scully? Scully, can you hear me? Scully, please...please look at 
me. Talk to me."

Her eyes flickered and she looked up at him. "Mulder. What happened?" It was 
then she noticed the tears welling up in his eyes. "Mulder?"

"Oh God, Scully."

She looked down and saw the blood pouring out of her chest.

"We need some help in here!! Someone please call an ambulance - I have an 
Agent down!"

Mulder's cries were ignored. There were quite a few people in the building 
who needed medical attention and Scully was not the top priority right now.

"Scully, please hold on. Help is on the way, just hold on."

"I...I'm cold."

Mulder took off his jacket and draped it over her. He did his best to put 
pressure on her wound to keep the blood loss down, but it didn't seem to be 
helping. He looked down, but the tears were coming too fast now - his vision 
was too blurred to be able to tell if his hand was still on the wound or 
not.

"Scully, please hang on. I'm right here - I'll get you out of here. You'll 
be all right."

Scully knew those tears meant she wasn't going to be all right. Things were 
starting to go black. She couldn't make out anything but Mulder's face. She 
reached her hand up and touched his cheek.

"Mulder. It's okay. Calm down. Will you just hold me please?"

"Scully, I have to keep the pressure on your wound."

"Mulder, it's over. No one is going to get here in time. Please just hold 
me."

He laid down next to her on the floor and put his right arm around her. His 
left hand went to her face. He stroked her cheek and looked into her eyes.

"Hang on, Scully. Please. I can't..."

"You can, Mulder." Her voice was getting noticeably weaker.

"No, I can't. Please don't leave me. I can't go on without you." The tears 
were threatening to overtake him. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. 
"Scully, I...I"

"What Mulder?"

He kissed her forehead again and then looked into her eyes. "Scully, I love 
you. I've always loved you."

"I love you, Mulder. I'm sorry I never said it until now."

"I am too. I wish I would have said this years ago. Who knows how
differently things could have turned out."

She was getting weaker by the second. Things were getting darker and darker 
and each breath was getting slower and shallower.

"Scully, hang on. Please don't give up on me."

"I'll never give up on you Mulder." It came out as barely more than a
whisper. "I'll be with you always." Her eyes closed and she went limp in his 
embrace.

His heart jumped into his throat and he started trembling. "Scully? Scully?! 
Scully, please come back to me!! Please, God no!!"

He stroked her hair and her face as if his sheer will might bring her back. 
"Scully, please...please. I love you so much. Please open your eyes. 
Please."

His words were soon unrecognizable as the tears completely overtook him. He 
was sobbing uncontrollably while holding his partner so tight, he thought he 
might accidentally break every bone in her body.

An hour passed before anyone found them. A SWAT team started down the hall - 
they had gunned down one of the suspects, but were still scouring the 
building for the other one. They saw the masked gunman lying dead on the 
floor just past Mulder and Scully. The team relaxed and lowered their guns 
when they saw the second suspect was dead. They did not approach Mulder, 
however. He was still lying on the floor next to the lifeless redhead. Still 
holding her. Still sobbing - quieter and more controlled now - but the tears 
had not subsided.

The team leader motioned for the men to turn back. He'd
never seen this man on the floor before in his life, but sensed the
seriousness of his situation. He'd just lost the love of his life. Anyone 
looking at him for the first time could have seen that.

Another hour had passed when Mulder heard voices behind him. He looked up 
and saw the paramedics had come. They had come to take Scully away from him 
forever. His head was pounding and he was very weak. He'd spent the last 2 
hours in hell - or was this actually worse than hell?

Without words, the paramedics came over and pulled him up off the floor. The 
put the gurney down next to Scully, covered her body and face with a sheet, 
lifted her lifeless body up so they could take her away.

They got halfway down the hall when they heard him.

"No!!! Wait!!! Please, stop!!"

Tears were once again streaming down Mulder's face as he ran toward the 
departing paramedics. He pushed one of the men aside and lifted the sheet 
off of his partner's face. He leaned over and kissed her forehead, then her 
left cheek, then her right cheek. All the while whispering, "I love you."

The next few minutes were a blur. He suddenly found himself in the back of a 
squad car, with absolutely no recollection of how he got there. There were 
officers, ambulances and paramedics everywhere. The scene was still complete 
chaos, but Mulder felt nothing. He did not wonder what was happening - he 
didn't care. All he knew was that he had just lost the only person he had 
ever loved.

A uniformed officer got into the front of the squad car and asked Mulder 
where he lived - he had been instructed to take him home. After getting his 
answer, the officer switched on the radio in the squad car-

This glorious sadness
Brings me to my knees
In the arms of the angels
Far away from here
You're in the arms of the angels
Hope you find some comfort here-

Mulder couldn't help but let a tiny, momentary smile cross his face as he 
listened to the lyrics of the song. She was in the arms of the angels right 
now, and he knew he'd see her again-someday.

Feedback welcome at mulder89@hotmail.com