From: DnaMulder@aol.com
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 17:27:38 EDT
Subject: "Changes"
Source: direct


Title: Changes
Author: Tracy Winston
Rating: Not Rated
Summary: After a tough week, Mulder
Spoilers: Not really, but you wouldn't really 
	understand it if you've never watched the 
	show ?
Keywords: Angst-and a lot of it!
Feedback: Yes, please do!  I'm here at 
	DnaMulder@aol.com
Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, and the characters of 
	The X-Files do not belong to me, they belong 
	to Chris Carter and those at FOX.


Sighing heavily, Scully put down her pen, stood up 
and started packing up her briefcase.

Trying to throw a pencil at the ceiling while 
looking over a paper, Mulder looked up.  "Where 
are you going?"

"Where do you think I'm going?  It's 6:30 on a 
Thursday evening-I'm going home."

"Well, have a good evening, Scully. I'll just be 
here a bit longer to finish this up."

"Oh, Mulder, shut up."  She didn't understand why 
he just couldn't let her go home.

"Shut up?  What the hell did I do to get on your 
bad side?  It's not my fault that the suspect in 
our last case tried to kill us both and that just 
opened up a whole new string of paperwork for us 
to do."

"And it's my fault?  Is that what you're saying?"

"I'm not the one that asked him about where he was 
at the time of the murder and then asked him two 
*more* times when his first response didn't was up 
to your standards."

"Well, I'm sorry if my interrogating skills aren't 
as mastered as yours, but I had a hunch about it, 
and we *did* get our killer-that *should* be all 
that matters."  She finished putting some of the 
papers in her briefcase and then looked back up at 
him.  "And as for what I'm trying to do, well, I'm 
*trying* to get the hell out of here so that I can 
go home.  What part of me packing up my stuff 
didn't understand?  When the clock hits five, by 
all rules of the bureau, everyone is able to go 
home.  But not for Agents Scully and Mulder-oh no, 
we stay in the basement and try to search the 
universe for *other* intelligent life forms.  Well 
I tell you what, Mulder, sometimes I can't find 
another intelligent life form in this office!"

Reeling from how immature she was being, Mulder 
took only a second before jumping back in.  "Oh, 
and who said you had to stay?  I know I certainly 
didn't."

"Don't give me that crap; you know just what 
you're doing when you do it.  You have that 
innocent tone down to an art, and the look you put 
on just finishes the deal.  Am I right?  'Yeah, 
put the old guilt trip on Scully, she'll just fall 
to her knees if I give her the puppy-dog face and 
do whatever I want.'  Well, it doesn't work that 
way Mulder.  Not anymore."  She picked up her 
trench coat and draped it over her left arm.  "My 
younger brother is in town, *has* been in town for 
a week, but I've been *too*busy* to go see him.  
And I *will* see him tonight-I don't care of ET 
personally comes to Earth just so that he can go 
on Dateline with you, I'm going to have a nice 
dinner with Charley *without*any* interruption 
that includes you!"  With that she went to the 
door, but Mulder beat her there.

"No you don't, Scully.  Just let me have one word 
in before you ride off into the sunset with your 
nose in the air."  The surprised look that she 
gave him through narrowed eyes wasn't lost on him, 
but he had to at least say something.  He took 
another second, and did so as to calm himself and 
prevent him from saying anything that could make 
things worse.   "I never asked for you stay here 
later than you kept yourself here, not 
intentionally, and I resent the fact that you 
would think I would do anything to disprove that.  
And I'm sorry that you haven't been able to see 
Charley, but Skinner really loaded us with this 
paperwork from our last case.  I haven't been 
especially happy about that, I know that, and I'm 
sorry it I have taken that out on you-but you've 
got to recognize that I'm not the only one at 
fault here."

"Now just one second!  I might be a little upset 
about having to do the paperwork, but I least I 
actually sit down and take it seriously.  All you 
do is recline back in your chair and throw pencils 
at the ceiling, and only after all of the pencils 
in the office are either stuck into the ceiling or 
broken into pieces, only *then* do you stop to do 
the work."

"Hey, if I want to keep myself here for hours 
after everyone else goes home, that's *my* 
business-but at least I don't run off in the 
middle of the day and be away for an hour or two."

'How *dare* he bring that up!' she thought angrily 
to herself.  "You want to know where I've been 
going, is that what you want?"  Not giving him a 
second to agree or change the subject, she 
continued.  "Well, let's see, which would you like 
to hear about first?  The fact that I've been 
taking care of my mom, who has been sick recently, 
or the fact that I've been having follow-up 
appointments on the chip in my neck?"

His face dropped at that last statement.  "Oh god, 
Scully, I had no idea."

"Of course you didn't.  The only way you would 
have known would be if you actually gave up a 
minute of your precious time to talk to me, and-I 
mean *really* talk-or if you sent the three 
stooges out to follow me around.  I'd be able to 
tell if you did the later of the two, and I *know* 
we never talk, so no, you didn't know."

They just stood there for a second, letting all of 
the information settle.

Scully was the first to break the silence.  "I 
won't be in tomorrow."  At his look and the 
opening of his mouth, she hastily continued, but 
cast her eyes toward the floor.  "Mulder, once you 
told me that the bureau had made you go on a 
vacation due to the fact that you had never been 
out since you started.  Now, I've never had that 
luxury due to the cancer and *many* other things," 
she paused for a moment of thought, "but I think 
that if I don't take a break it'll end up having a 
negative affect on our work."  With that said, she 
looked back up and into his eyes.  "I'll see you 
in a few days."

Then she was gone.