Title - Daniel Author - Miesje H. Email Address - miesjeh@yahoo.ca Rating - R Catrgory - SR Spoilers: Duane Barry, One Breath Keywords: Scully/other, Mulder/Scully romance. Summary: Scully meets Mulder's cousin and he's almost as cute as Mulder ... Originally Archived 95-06-08 This story was originally written in 1995. I revised it more recently, but kept the timeline the way it was, so it takes place late in season 3. This is a relationship story, eventually getting around to sex. Any hint of an actual x-file in the plot is just to further things along, so if that's primarily what you are looking for, bail now. I stole the characters from Chris Carter and Ten-Thirteen. Please do not sue. Any and all comments are welcome at miesjeh@yahoo.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel pt 1/6 First posted on Sun, 14 May 1995 21:21:49 Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Fox Mulder stepped off the elevator and started down the hall towards his apartment. It had been a long, tedious day, and he was looking forward to unwinding with a cool shower, and maybe a peaceful jog once the sun was down and the temperature had cooled. His head was down as he walked, flipping through his mail, so it took him a moment to notice that there was someone else in the hallway, a form lying prone in front of his door. He stuffed the mail into one pocket, instantly forgotten as he cautiously approached the figure. It was clearly a man, lying across from his apartment door. He didn't look threatening. In fact, he looked asleep. His ankles were crossed, and his arms were folded over his chest. A medium-sized backpack had been made into a pillow, and there was a well-loved baseball cap over the man's face. Mulder walked up to the figure and crouched down to get a better look. A broad smile suddenly creased his face. He leaned closer to the sleeping figure. "Daniel!" he shouted. The man's whole body jumped, his hat fell away from his face and he smashed his elbow against the wall. He sat up and rubbed his arm. "Well, you are still an asshole, Fox." Daniel smiled. "And you work late. I've been waiting here for..." he glanced at his watch, "almost two hours." Mulder stood up and unlocked his apartment door. Daniel got up behind him, picking up his things. "So can I crash here for a while? I need to until I find a place to stay." "Ever think of calling first?" Mulder asked as he walked into the apartment and dropped his briefcase on the table. "Yeah, well. It's a long story." "They always are," Mulder sighed. "But what are you doing here? Shouldn't school be starting soon?" "That's just it. I'm moving here. I'm teaching at the university. You are looking at the new assistant professor of Chinese History." Daniel puffed out his chest in mock pride. "Get outa here," said Mulder playfully, wandering into the kitchen to look in the fridge. He pulled out two apples and tossed one at Daniel. They both took a bite. "Really, that's great. And you know you can stay here as long as you need. I would never toss my favourite cousin out on the street." He shut the fridge door with a look of disgust. "But you are going to have to take me out to dinner tonight as payment. I have no food." --------- Mulder took Daniel to his favourite Vietnamese restaurant, where they caught up over rice paper roll-ups. The two had always had what could best be described as a 'close, long-distance relationship'. Only a year apart in age, they got along extremely well when they saw each other, but since they had never lived in the same city, that wasn't very often. Sometimes they would go a year of two without any real contact but when they did see each other again, it was as though the last time had been the day before. "Mom tells me you aren't in violent crimes any more," Daniel started, "She says you have your own department, or something." Mulder laughed. "Or something. Trust my mother to put it that way." It was Daniel's mother and Mulder's father who were siblings, but Mulder's mother had always stayed close to her sister-in- law, even after her marriage had broken up. "I go after weird stuff," explained Mulder. "Anything the Bureau can't pigeon-hole or figure out, they give to me." "Why the hell would you want to do that?" asked Daniel. Mulder looked slightly uncomfortable. "Oh wait. You're still on that paranormal bend, aren't you? Fox, are you sure this is healthy? I mean, it was bad enough when it was just your hobby, but you are saying you've made it your life's work." "Dan, if you could see the stuff I've seen ... there's more out there than you can possibly imagine." Something in Mulder's voice made Daniel stop eating and look up to consider his cousin's face. Mulder had a very old, very tired look in his eyes. He decided it was best to drop this line of discussion. "Well, I guess if the FBI lets you do it, they must think there is something to it," he said lightly. Mulder smiled wanly. "What about you?" Last I hear you are playing house with Elaine in San Francisco with a post-doc at the university. Now suddenly, you darken my doorstep alone." Daniel sighed. "Elaine and I have been deteriorating for the last year. We were both kind of denying it, though. She was going to come with me, and we would stay at her sister's while we looked for a place to live, but yesterday she said she couldn't go through with it. I can't say I was really surprised now that I think about it, but it did leave me in the lurch." "I liked Elaine," said Mulder sympathetically. "Yeah, well," sighed Daniel philosophically, "It had run its course." "So what's in the plans for tomorrow?" Mulder asked, changing the subject again. "House-hunting," answered Daniel, "Want to have lunch? You can show me your 'department'." "Sure, but when you get there, if the directions they give you appear to be leading to the janitor's office, don't be surprised. I'll take you to a great little diner my partner and I found." "Partner?" Daniel laughed. "You mean there is another person crazy enough to be assigned to the paranormal department?" It was Mulder's turn to laugh. "No, crazy isn't the word I'd use. Scully's job is to blow apart every wacky theory I get. Actually, Scully appears to enjoy destroying every theory I get no matter if it is wacky or not." "Sounds like a great team," said Daniel as they paid the bill and got up to leave. "Yup," agreed Mulder, and they walked out into the night. --------- Mulder and Scully spent the next morning in the office catching up on paperwork - the same way they had spent the day before. While Scully was usually meticulous about getting that sort of thing done on time, they had been unusually busy and were now taking advantage of a lull to finish things off. Daniel had managed to get himself into the basement and was just beginning to despair of ever finding his way out when he heard Mulder's voice. "Scully, can't you just accept the possibility, just the possibility, that the guy could pick up on people's emotions and use that to his advantage? I'm not saying he could read minds..." He was cut off by a muffled voice for a minute. Daniel headed in the direction of the voices. "I know everyone can read body language and pick up on emotional reactions, but I'm talking more than just noting the expression on people's faces. What he knew was uncanny." Daniel reached a door and peered in to see his cousin in front of a filing cabinet, jamming files into it and facing around a corner. "Don't you ever quit?" he asked by way of a greeting. "Daniel!" said Mulder enthusiastically, happy to have an excuse to stop filing, "Come on in. It ain't pretty, but it's all ours." Daniel stepped inside and looked around. His eyes travelled around the room, taking in posters of UFOs, gruesome pictures tacked on the walls, the chaos that could only be Mulder's desk, and ... a petite, gorgeous, auburn-haired woman. He blinked in surprise. Mulder grinned at his reaction. "Daniel Ellison, this is my partner, Dana Scully. Scully, my cousin Daniel. He's just moved here from San Francisco and is staying with me for a couple of days." "You're Scully?" Daniel gaped stupidly. "Nice to meet you too," said Scully, smiling slightly and walking over to her desk. "No, it's just the name 'Scully' is so ... masculine, and you're so..." Scully leaned against her desk and raised an eyebrow at him. Mulder's grin widened. Daniel took a deep breath. "Open mouth, insert foot. I'm sorry, Dana. I just totally did not expect a woman. It is very nice to meet you." "We are going to lunch, Scully. Wanna come?" Scully dropped into her chair. "No, you boys go ahead. I brought lunch. I'll just settle for some peace and quiet instead." "Okay." "Uh, maybe I'll see you again," said Daniel. Scully just smiled again as she reached for her lunch bag and the two men left the room. When she was quite sure they were down the hall and out of hearing range, she sighed and muttered to herself, "Now he is cute. Just what I need, *two* Mulders." --------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel pt . 2/6 First posted on Mon May 15 09:12:49 EDT 1995 Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative When they were down the hall, Daniel turned to Mulder and said, "I cannot believe you have this hot little redhead all to yourself down here and all you tell me is that her name is Scully." Mulder cuffed the other man on the side of the head. "She's my partner, you jerk. Just what do you think we do down here?" "I know what *I'd* be doing, if I were you." "Scully and I are friends. Good friends. I'm not going to screw that up by getting involved romantically. Besides, it's against Bureau policy. If we did get involved and got found out, that would be it for our partnership. And I'm certainly not letting them take Scully away from me." Odd turn of phrase, thought Daniel. He looked at Mulder for a moment. "So there's nothing going on between you two?" "No." "Good. Then you won't mind if I ask her out." "On a date?" asked Mulder. "Yeah," said Daniel, "It isn't so strange, you know. Sometimes normal people do that." "No, no, go right ahead. But don't be surprised if she says no," said Mulder, not quite sure why he said that. Daniel followed Mulder back down to his office after lunch. Scully was still there, having finished her own lunch and gone back to work a while earlier. "Listen," said Daniel as an opener, "I wanted to apologise for being such a boob earlier." "No problem," said Scully. "Enjoy lunch?" She gave him a more thorough appraisal than before. The resemblance between the two men was quite marked. They looked alike enough to be brothers. Daniel was slightly shorter and stockier, and his hair was longer and darker, but he had the same chin and pouty lower lip as Mulder. As he walked over closer to her desk, she saw that he also had the same beautiful hazel eyes. Daniel flipped a quick look over his shoulder at Mulder, who was still standing near the door, showing no signs of making himself less obtrusive. Mulder knew his cousin wanted him to fade while he put the moves on his partner, but some part of him wanted to make this a difficult as possible. "Lunch was good," Daniel answered. "Fox said you found the place." "It is a nice out-of-the-way diner. I like those." "I was wondering, since I'm new in town, would you like to show me a good place for dinner? I'd love to take you out tonight." Scully glanced over at Mulder for his reaction. Then she mentally kicked herself that her first response should be to look at him, and quickly looked back to Daniel. Mulder wasn't looking at them anyway. "That would be lovely," she told him. "I'll pick you up around seven, how's that?" Daniel smiled broadly. "Great," he said. "I'll be at Fox's." With a cheerful good-bye, he left. Mulder walked over to his desk and sat down without saying anything. Scully was fighting the urge to feel guilty for saying yes. This is stupid, she thought. I have every right to go out with whomever I want. She looked up at Mulder, who was looking at her. "If your cousin turns out to be an axe murder, Mulder, I'm blaming you." He grinned. "He's a good guy." --------- When Scully picked up Daniel for their date, she did not go up to Mulder's apartment. Daniel was waiting outside for her when she arrived. They drove to her favourite Italian restaurant. The evening went well. They discussed how she had chosen to enter the FBI, and how he had gotten into Chinese history, and compared family histories - typical date conversation. Eventually, the discussion worked its way inevitably around to Fox Mulder. "How did you end up assigned to these x- files?" asked Daniel. "Basically," answered Scully, "the higher-ups put me there to spy on Mulder. They wanted me to come up with a good reason to shut the whole thing down." Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Mulder makes people nervous." "Yeah, well," said Daniel, "He's always been good at that. But he doesn't make you nervous?" "No. We turned out to be a good team." "That's good. Fox has always been kind of a loner, ever since ..." he trailed off. "I know about Samantha," said Scully. "He lets you call him Fox?" "'Let' probably isn't the right word. I've always called him that, and be damned if I'm going to start calling my own cousin by his last name." Scully laughed. To her surprise, she was enjoying herself enormously. Daniel was a nice, intelligent man. He didn't call her by her last name and he had no obvious hang-ups. And he had Mulder eyes. She realized that she was thinking of him as Mulder without the baggage and felt a twinge of guilt. "I've had a wonderful time, but I really should call it a night," she said. "Okay, but can we do this again?" "I'd love to." She drove him back to Mulder's apartment. There was an awkward moment in the car after she came to a stop before he leaned over quickly and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll call you," he said, and got out of the car. Mulder heard Scully's car pull up in front of the apartment building. He was unsuccessfully trying to concentrate on a lame TV program, jumping every time he heard a car drive by. He walked over to the window and peeked out. Daniel was already stepping out the car, which made Mulder feel better. He watched his cousin enter the building, then sat back down on the couch. "Have a good time?" he asked casually as he could when Daniel came through the door. "Marvellous," answered the other man, grinning widely. Not wanting to know the details, yet morbidly unable to stop himself, Mulder asked, "So, what did you do?" "Just went to dinner and talked. Dana is so interesting, not to mention beautiful. I could just fall into those eyes. I don't know how you stand it, working around her so much with that 'no touch' policy." Mulder winced almost imperceptibly. "I told you, we're just friends. Where'd you go for dinner?" "An Italian place called Georgio's. Know it?" "Yes," said Mulder, "Scully and I have gone there several times."Oh, that was mature, he told himself, angry at the competitive edge in his voice. But Daniel did not seem to notice. "She said she'd go out with me again," he said. "I thought I'd ask her to do something on the weekend. Listen, I'm going to bed. I'm bushed, and I'm house-hunting all tomorrow." He headed towards the bedroom. Mulder had insisted he take the bed, preferring to crash on the couch anyway. "Have a good night," said Mulder, flopping over on the couch and dropping his forearm over his eyes. Daniel slept like a child that night. Outside in the living room, Mulder stared at the ceiling. He was annoyed at his reaction to his partner's date with his cousin. Scully had gone out on dates with guys before, and it had never really bothered him. Of course, the date had not then come to his home and told him about it. This is not healthy, he told himself. What if it becomes a regular thing? What then? The though twisted his gut. He just hated the idea of someone else being closer to her than he was. "You are a selfish pig," he told himself out loud. He knew he relied on her too much, expected her to be there whenever he called, and that it wasn't fair to expect her not to have a life. Still. He needed her. This train of thought was getting into dangerous territory - territory he tried to avoid. For a psychologist, Mulder was remarkably successful at simply not acknowledging what was going on in his brain, and when his thoughts started to head towards his attraction to his partner, he shut them down. He sighed and flipped over on his side, reaching for the TV remote control. "You think too much," he muttered quietly. --------- Scully was also having trouble sleeping. She had long ago accepted that her feelings for Fox Mulder went way beyond friendship. Most of the time, she buried those emotions very successfully, not letting them affect how she conducted her life. It was stupid to be attracted to Mulder anyway. Not only was he moody and emotionally screwed- up, but he clearly was not interested. Mulder happily broke every rule the FBI managed to think up, but whenever the topic of partners getting romantically involved came up, under whatever circumstances, he started quoting the rule book. Her friendship was obviously all he wanted, and she knew that was reasonable. So why was she feeling guilty? Part of it clearly was that her attraction to Daniel was based on his similarity to his cousin. But there was more to it than that. She felt like she was betraying Mulder, and that bothered her, on more than one level. For one, she would never consciously betray Mulder, so she didn't like the feeling. For another, she shouldn't feel that way, plain and simple. She and Mulder weren't involved. Scully sighed and tried to turn her mind to other matters, or she'd never get any sleep. --------------------------------------------------------------------- part 3/6 First posted on Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 14:28:01 GMT When Scully arrived in the office the following Monday, Mulder wasn't there. He showed up a few minutes later, coming down from A.D. Skinner's office. "We're back in the saddle again, partner," he said. Inwardly, Scully sighed with relief at Mulder's normal behaviour. You think too much, she told herself. "What's up?" she asked. Mulder dropped a file on her desk. "This is murder number two," he said. "Janine Erics. She went missing a week ago and her body showed up last night." Scully flipped through the pictures of the body. The neck had been slashed, but according to the photographs there was no blood at the scene. "Note the lack of blood. She wasn't killed where she was found, and her body was effectively drained of its blood. Murder number one was exactly the same." "Exsanguination," said Scully. "Yup. I don't think this is an x-file, but they are using that as a reason to get us on the case." "They want your violent crime expertise." "I think so," agreed Mulder. "You know Williamson is always trying to talk me back onto the unit." The two spent the day learning the background of the case and interviewing anyone involved. There wasn't much to go on, and they feared there would be several more murders before they managed to track down the killer. Neither one mentioned the date. --------- That evening, Daniel called Scully and suggested that they go on a picnic and take in the busker festival that weekend. She hadn't done anything that frivolous in ages, and agreed readily. Scully wore a light summer dress for the occasion, and removed both her gun and her cell phone from her purse. For one Sunday afternoon, she wasn't an FBI agent. Mulder could handle anything that came up in those few hours. She and Daniel wandered around the park, taking in a variety of acts. At one point, he reached over and took her hand. She laced her fingers through his, relishing the feeling of casual intimacy with another human being. He was utterly charming. They stayed long past when they had intended to, finding a spot on the grass in the evening to watch the short fireworks display ending the festival. As the display came to a close, Daniel reached over and put his arm around Scully's shoulders, running his thumb along her neckline. She shivered. "Cold?" he asked. She turned and looked straight at him. "No." "I had a wonderful time today," he said, moving closer. "So did I," she agreed. He leaned over and kissed her gently, easing her slowly to the grass when she responded. They lay together for a few moments, kissing slowly, until Scully broke the embrace. "I'm too old to be lying on the grass in the park kissing some guy," she smiled. Daniel brushed a lock of hair away from her face and sat up. "So maybe we should go back to you place?" he suggested slowly. Scully sat up too, and leaned over to give him another gentle kiss on the mouth. "I'm going back to my place, but first I am dropping you off at Mulder's. I had a great time, but it has been a while. I don't want to rush into anything." "I understand," said Daniel. "This doesn't have anything to do with Fox, does it?" Scully started guiltily, thankful she was faced away from him when he asked. "What do you mean?" she asked evenly. "Well, I don't know. I just thought it might be kind of weird if we got that involved while I was still staying with him. After all, you are partners at work, maybe you just don't want to know that much about each other's personal life." Scully smiled at the unknown irony in his statement and said, "I don't think you need to worry about that." They walked to Scully's car, where they kissed for a few moments longer. Daniel then moved his mouth down her neck nibbling and muttering, "Are you sure...?" In response, Scully placed a finger on his chest and pushed him away, "I'm sure." He sighed. "Well, I think I'll walk back to the apartment. It is a beautiful evening. Goodnight, Dana." --------- Scully walked into her apartment, dropped her purse and jabbed the message light on her answering machine. She kicked off her shoes and lay down on the couch. The first message was a hang up. The second was Mulder. "Scully, there's been another murder and the crime scene is relatively untouched. I need you to look at it. Why isn't your cell on? I'll try it again. Call me when you check your messages." Then another message: "Look, Scully, I'm documenting it, but I could really use your help. If you get this, the address is 147 Albert. It's 2:30." Scully sighed and said to the ceiling, "A few hours on a Sunday, was that too much to ask?" and picked up the phone. When Daniel walked into his cousin's apartment, he felt like he was floating on a cloud. "Is life great or wha--" He broke off when he noticed Mulder on the phone. "Listen, I understand everyone has to get away for a while, I just wish you'd brought your phone, that's all ... Well, maybe that wouldn't have been getting away, but you missed what could have been a big break ... What do you mean, you aren't important? ... Williamson may think he just needs me, but I need you ... yes, there was a forensic expert there, you know that ..." Mulder turned at that moment and saw Daniel. "Listen, Scully, can we talk about this tomorrow? ... Okay." He hung up. The two men looked at each other for a moment. "You know, Fox, just because you work all the time, doesn't mean everyone has to," said Daniel. Mulder gave him a 'what the hell do you know about it' look and answered, "It's our case. She's supposed to be available." "It was only a few hours," Daniel started, but Mulder cut him off. "Look, you may have taken her on a couple of dates, but she's *my* partner. I don't think you are qualified yet to give me advice on how to treat Scully, okay?" "Okay, okay. You're right. I'm sorry," Daniel backed off. Mulder's shoulders slumped. "Me too. I'm just on edge over these murders. The latest one yielded no further clues. I still haven't got a pattern, and I don't want to have to wait for more." --------- When Mulder got into work the next morning, there was a note from Scully saying that she was already autopsying the body. The preliminary autopsy had been performed by the coroner, of course, and now it was up to Scully to see if she could come up with anything unusual. There was also a message from Williamson, saying one of the other agents on the case had come across a potential witness while interviewing the other tenants in the apartment building where the latest body had been discovered. First Mulder headed up to see if Scully had made any progress. When he entered the autopsy room, it was clear that she had been working at it for quite some time, despite the earliness of the hour. He knew this was her way of atoning for not being available the day before, but he still couldn't shake his irritation. "Find anything?" he asked, foregoing any greeting. "Nothing beyond what we already knew," she answered. "It's obvioulsy the same guy. That's all I can say." "Okay," Mulder said. "I'm going with Agent Klein to talk to a potential witness." He started to leave the room. Scully snapped off her gloves. "If you wait five minutes for me to clean up, I can come with you. I'm finished here," she said. Mulder turned and looked at her for a moment, then looked at his watch. "Yeah, whatever," he said, coldly. Scully stared at him. "Listen, Mulder, don't give me this shit. I already apologized for yesterday. You've messed up way worse at times, running off like the Lone Ranger. Hell, I've screwed up way worse. What's going on here?" She pulled off her scrubs and hairnet and threw them in a bin. Then she walked over and looked right up at him. "Give." He stared down into her eyes. "You turned off your cell," he blurted out, surprising them both. "Yes?" "When you turned off your cell, it was like ... forget it. This is silly." He turned and started out of the room. Scully grabbed his arm. "No, tell me. It was like what? I didn't want to be disturbed by work for a few hours." "But it was my only way of reaching you. It wasn't just work, it was me. You blocked me out and that made me angry. There. Stupid, but the truth " Scully stared at him in silence. "What if I really needed you?" he said, in a much quieter voice, studying the floor. "I'm sorry," said Scully in an equally quiet voice. "I never thought of it that way. You are right. I won't do it again." She reached up and lightly touched his chin, causing him to look to her face again. He held her gaze solemnly for a second, acknowledging what she said, then turned and pushed open the door. "Let's go track down that witness," he said, putting a hand on her lower back to usher her through the doorway ahead of him. They walked into the hallway. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 4/6 First posted on Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Tue, 16 May 1995 14:50:11 GMT Classes started for Daniel that week. Between that, his continued search for a place to live and Mulder's caseload, the two hardly saw each other for the next couple of days. But he had time to take Scully out to dinner on Wednesday night. They were just finishing their coffee when Scully's phone rang. She fished it out of purse and answered it. "Listen, I've been mulling over the connections between these women," started Mulder. "Did you come up anything?" Scully asked. "You know how they all gave blood in the two weeks before their disappearance, but we couldn't find any common clinic or personnel? Maybe we are missing something obvious." "Like what?" "Like other donors." "Did you get the clinic's list of donors for the right time frames?" "Yes. I'm still at the office. Your computer expertise would be helpful in cross-referencing them." "I'll be right over," said Scully, hanging up. "Sorry," she said to Daniel. "Duty calls." He reached over and rubbed the back of her hand. "Last time we went out, you didn't bring your phone. Why the change?" "Last time was a special treat," Scully answered lightly. "Normally, it's attached to my hip." "You deserve time to yourself, you know," he said softly. "And I get it," she answered. "But I am an FBI agent, and I've always accepted that those aren't exactly 9 to 5 hours." "Fox couldn't find someone else to help him?" Daniel asked as they paid the bill and stood up to leave. "There's no reason why he should. I'm his partner," replied Scully. "Yes, so he keeps reminding me," said Daniel, half to himself. Scully glanced sharply at him, trying to crush the warm feeling his statement had sparked. Could Mulder be jealous? She immediately squashed that notion. They headed out to the car, and Scully dropped Daniel off at Mulder's apartment before heading over to the office. "Sorry to drag you in," said Mulder as Scully walked in, not looking up, "but I wanted to get on this as soon as possible." "Of course," said Scully reasonably, dropping into a chair beside him at the computer. He looked at her, taking in the dress and upswept hair. "You were on a date. Shit. I'm sorry, Scully. I really didn't think when you weren't at home. I figured laundry or something." That wasn't entirely true. When she didn't answer her phone, it did run through his mind that Scully and Daniel were out again, but it was a Wednesday night, so he dismissed that thought. He didn't like the idea that they had progressed beyond weekend dates. He was secretly happy he'd broken it up, also guilty for thinking that way. Well, at least she'd brought her cell along this time. "S'okay," said Scully, "We'd finished dinner anyway." --------- It was one of those parties it was de rigour to appear at. When such a senior member of the FBI retires, you show. Scully had decided to demonstrate to the world that she did in fact have a life, and brought Daniel as her date. Mulder attended alone. The three of them actually drove over together and hung out most of the evening. Daniel felt a little weird about the fact that he was dating Mulder's partner when he was together with the two of them, and so he resisted his urges to put his arm around Scully or kiss her. Mulder was hugely relieved that the two didn't hang all over each other, and felt almost comfortable. For her part, Scully felt downright strange about being at the party with both Daniel and Mulder. It brought out those feelings of guilt she'd been ignoring about just why she was seeing Daniel. So she drank a little more than she was used to, which helped in squashing the guilt. As the evening wore down and the music got slower, Daniel coaxed Scully out to dance. Mulder retired to a quiet corner and watched as his cousin and his partner moved in slow circles on the dance floor. He nursed a drink. No one talked to him. At the end of a song, Scully broke from Daniel. She had spotted Mulder sitting in the dim corner alone and she couldn't stand it. "I'm going to ask Mulder to dance once. He looks a little down." "Sure," said Daniel, "I'll get a drink." He headed for the bar and Scully headed for Mulder. "Come dance with me, Mulder," Scully said lightly as she reached her partner. Mulder looked up at her. She looked beautiful. She was wearing a long, deep blue evening gown that clung softly to her body. For some reason, the fact that she looked so gorgeous made him feel like even more of a loser. "No thanks, Scully. I'm not much of a dancer." Scully reached down and took his hands in hers, tugging on them. "I'm not taking no for an answer," she replied, and dragged him after her onto the dance floor. Drinking a club soda, Daniel watched Mulder and Scully dance. A man came and leaned on the wall next to him. "You Dana's date?" he asked. "Yeah," said Daniel. "John McGinn," the man said, sticking out a hand, "You're a brave man." Daniel shook the man's hand, noting that he was not just a little inebriated. "Daniel Ellison. What to you mean, brave?" "Not many men around here who will tackle that," the other man answered, indicating Mulder and Scully with his chin. Daniel waited for him to continue. "Guy I know, Eric, he and Dana had a couple of dates last year, but he got kinda pissed when she went running off every time Mulder called." Daniel felt a twinge of sympathy for this Eric fellow. "So he goes down to Mulder and says, can you give me a break and not call her tomorrow evening 'cause I have something special planned, and Mulder wouldn't agree. You'd think a guy would, you know, for another guy. Anyway, Eric gets kinda mad at him and Mulder says, get this, Mulder says, 'Don't make this a competition between me and you because you can take her out to the fanciest places and bring her roses every day and you will still lose, no matter what'. And he was right." "But they are just partners," said Daniel, "They aren't involved. I know that." "They aren't *just* partners, either," said McGinn. "They're like, weird. When she disappeared, he went nuttier than anybody I've seen." "Disappeared?" asked Daniel, confused, but McGinn didn't notice. "You know, other guys, their partners get grabbed, they go understandably a little psycho, but Mulder," McGinn shook his head. "Rumour has it he stopped sleeping. Entirely." He pushed himself away from the wall and started wandering off, muttering, "I wouldn't get in the middle of that for all the tea in India. China. Whatever." Daniel stared after him. Scully was trying not to think about how nice it felt to have Mulder's arms around her, how good he smelled. He had this unique, familiar, spicy smell that made her feel completely safe. She felt drop his face against her hair and tried not to melt. Pulling slightly away from him, she said, "I forgot to ask you, do they still have nothing on that last suspect donor we came up with?" She knew it was a lame question, but she needed some distraction. "They put out an APB this morning, Scully. They'll notify us the moment they hear something." Mulder also thought the question was somewhat odd. She knew they'd hear the moment there was any progress. But he also appreciated the distraction, anything to help him stop thinking about the way her body curved into his, how her back felt under his hand. Then, despite himself, he slid his hand lower down her back, adding a little pressure to move her belly closer to his hips. Scully's heart sped up as she felt the heat of his body pressed into her and she curled her fingers into his hair at his neck. He felt so good. "Guys, I hate to break up this little party, but I have an early morning tutoring session and I'm getting a little tired. Want to head off?" Both started slightly as Daniel appeared beside them. Mulder dropped his arms quickly, stepping away from Scully. "No problem," Mulder said mildly. He turned away from the other two and headed off to get their coats. Scully shivered slightly, feeling cold from the sudden absence of Mulder's body heat. She sighed quietly. He seemed utter unaffected by her proximity and yet her whole body tingled from his touch. Mulder was not as unaffected as he appeared. In fact, the speed at which he went to get the coats allowed him the time he needed to get ahold of himself. If Daniel hadn't broken up the dance, he would have had to do it himself momentarily to hid the erection that had started to develop. Stop being an asshole, he told himself all the way to the coat room. By the time he returned, he'd pretty much convinced himself that his reaction was just a result of a lack of female contact lately, not anything do with Scully herself. Almost. They had taken Mulder's car to the party. Daniel drove the car back, dropping Scully off (too self-conscious to kiss her goodnight in front of Mulder, expecially after his odd conversation with the drunken agent) and heading back to Mulder's building. Mulder slumped silently in the back seat. Daniel let the silence reign for a few minutes after Scully got out, but soon his curiousity got the better of him. "While you guys were dancing, some drunken guy came over and said something really odd." "Uh huh?" came the tired mumble behind him. "He said when Dana disappeared, you went nuts." Mulder gave no response. "What happened to her? How come neither of you mentioned this to me?" Mulder sighed. "It's kind of a touchy subject. Scully was abducted and disappeared for almost 3 months last fall. She has no memory of the experience, which is why it is a touchy subject with her. And I have an all too vivid memory of it, which is why it is a touch subject with me." "How did you find her?" asked Daniel. "I didn't," replied Mulder in a hard voice. "She just appeared in intensive care in a coma. No one could figure out how she got there." "Jesus," said Daniel. "You never caught whoever did it?" "No." "How long was she in the coma?" he asked quietly. "Several days that we knew of. They thought she was going to die." Mulder's tone of voice made it clear that he did not want to discuss the topic any further, and Daniel could not think of anything else to say, so silence fell again between them as they reached Mulder's apartment. --------- Mulder was giving a guest lecture the next day on profiling serial killers, and Daniel came by to steal Scully away for lunch. As they walked through the park after they ate, he could not resist bringing up what he had heard the night before, although he thought it best to avoid the topic of the abduction. "Did you every go out with some guy in the Bureau named Eric?" he asked. "Yes," Scully responded. "How'd you know that?" "Some guy came up to me last night, drunk as a skunk, and told me." "Why would he do that?" "He said I was brave to go out with you, that Fox had scared the last guy off." Scully laughed. "Mulder had nothing to do with it. He just got really demanding of my time really quickly. He was a paper-pusher, couldn't understand that my hours had to be more flexible." "According to this guy, Fox and him butted heads and Fox told him that if he turned it into a competition between them, the other guy would lose." Daniel looked at her carefully, wondering if he should have kept his mouth shut. Fox was probably going to kill him. Scully looked a little perplexed. "First I've heard of it. Eric never said anything to me. Mulder neither. It's pretty stupid if it's true." Daniel agreed. Back in the office, Scully stewed over what Daniel had told her at lunch. Not getting involved themselves she could understand, but scaring off other men - how dare he? Who did he think he was? By the time Mulder returned, she was royally pissed at him. "Good news, Scully," Mulder said as he walked into the office. "I was just talking to Williamson and our local boys in blue picked up that last donor suspect. The moment they grabbed him, he sang like a canary, squealed like a pig, blabbed it all. He confessed to everything. Boy did that guy have some problems, he --" he broke off as he looked up and saw her expression. "What?" "Did you tell Eric Sims to stay away from me when we were dating last year?" Mulder couldn't shake off his good mood. "We didn't date last year, Scully." "Mulder, I'm serious." "No, I didn't tell him to stay away. What gave you that idea?" Mulder had the feeling he was in hot water. Scully continued to stare and him until he began to feel quite uncomfortable. "It wasn't like that," he started. She pounced. "So you did say something!" "No. Look, Scully, he started it. He was trying to get me to back off, getting all possessive. He was a jerk anyway, wasn't he?" Scully grabbed her purse and headed out the door. "I'm calling it a day," was all she said. Mulder watched her leave, unable to think of what else to do. The phone rang. "Mulder." "Hey Fox! You're free, free!" shouted Daniel exuberantly on the other end of the line. "You found a place?" "Yup. I signed a lease and everything. "Well, congratulations and good riddance," said Mulder. "Is Dana there? I want to tell her the good news, maybe ask her out to celebrate." Mulder looked up at the open door. "Nope, she left for the day." --------- Scully's phone was ringing as she walked into her apartment. It was Daniel, asking her out to dinner. She agreed, and then said, "Wait, in honour of the occasion, how about I cook you dinner here?" "Great," agreed Daniel enthusiastically. "I'll bring the wine. Red or white?" ------------------------------------------------------------------ 5/6 First posted on Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Wed, 17 May 1995 13:38:50 GMT Dinner was not a fancy affair, with Scully throwing something together with what she had in her cupboards, but Daniel was just happy to be let inside her apartment. He entertained her with stories of his students and didn't ask how her work was going, which suited her just fine. Afterward dinner, they moved into the living room with coffee and Bailey's. Scully sat on the couch and Daniel on the chair, talking easily and drinking. When he had finished his coffee, Daniel asked, "More Bailey's?" "Probably shouldn't," said Scully, slightly buzzed, "But what the hell." He got up and brought back the bottle. This time, he dropped down on the couch beside her, pouring them each a shot. He put the bottle down and slid his arm around her. She snuggled in, enjoying the warmth of his body beside hers. They sipped their drinks for a moment, then Daniel put his down. He reached over, took Scully's from her hand and put it on the table too. She let him. Then he leaned back over and kissed her. The kiss grew quickly more passionate. Daniel reached around and eased Dana's shirt from her jeans, his fingers touching skin. They slid sideways until they were reclined on the couch. After a few long moments, Daniel pulled his head up and looked down at Dana. She was looking back up into his beautiful hazel eyes. "Should we move this to the bedroom?" he asked tentatively. Dana hadn't felt this good, this appreciated, in a long time. She wanted it to continue. She wanted to be touched. To hell with Fox Mulder. "Yes." It felt warm and good. It had been a while since Scully had slept with anyone, and Daniel was attentive and considerate. There was momentary confusion when she realized she didn't have any condoms and Daniel was afraid he'd not brought his backpack, but he had, and he dug out a package. When it was over, he cuddled her as they dozed languidly. The buzz from the alcohol still hadn't worn off and Scully felt very peaceful. It was late, but not very late, when she nudged him. He was still staying at Mulder's and she did not want him to not come home after a date with her. She tried to tell herself it was because it was none of Mulder's damn business whether she slept with Daniel or not, but she couldn't quite pull it off. She was starting to feel guilty despite herself, and she hated it. "Daniel," she said, "Daniel, wake up." He groaned to indicate he was sort of conscious. "Daniel, it was wonderful but - and I really hope you don't take this the wrong way - but I'd rather you didn't stay over. Is that okay?" Daniel woke up the rest of the way. "What's up?" "I just sleep a lot better alone, and I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, so ..." He smiled understandingly at her. "And for some reason, it is more intimate to spend the night sleeping in the same bed with someone than it is to have sex. It's another step. I know." Scully smiled back. Daniel got up and found his clothes. "I'll call you in the morning," he said. Scully put on an oversized t-shirt and got up to let him out. As she shut the door behind her, she realized the buzz from the alcohol had worn off and she was feeling kind of hungry. She headed for the kitchen. --------- Daniel quietly opened the door to Mulder's apartment, but the caution wasn't necessary. He cousin was still up, working on a powerbook at the dining room table. He glanced up. "Late one, huh? Have fun?" Daniel sat down in a chair opposite Mulder. "Fox, that woman is amazing." "I never thought her cooking was that good," joked Mulder. "Maybe not in the kitchen," said Daniel, smiling widely, "But she can satiate a man's appetite, if you know what I mean." He wiggled his eyebrows. Mulder began to feel slighly sick. "Are you telling me ..." "Yup. We finally did the wild thing. She really is something, Fox. I am smitten." Mulder stopped moving. He stopped breathing. He felt as though someone had hit him in the chest, the pain spreading out to his stomach, arms, legs. All the barriers he'd carefully erected to avoid admitting how he felt about Dana Scully came crashing painfully down. In a fog of hurt, he stood up from the table and walked over to the door. Daniel had not stopped talking. He hadn't noticed the other man's reaction. "She's tough, you know that, but she can also be so sweet. I've never met anyone quite like her." All Mulder could think of was getting away from Daniel. He put on his shoes and opened the door. "Hey," his cousin interrupted himself, "Where are you going?" "Out," answered Mulder, and left. Daniel stared at the closed door in amazement. Mulder began to run as soon as he hit the street. His chest still hurt, a tight, squeezing pain. He could not believe how much it hurt. He went over and over the words in his mind, like poking a sore wound. He ran towards Scully's place. He didn't know what else to do. He stopped thinking and just let himself become absorbed in the rhythm of his pounding feet, until he found himself in front of her apartment building. He stopped and looked up. Her lights were still on. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 6/6 First posted on Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Thu, 18 May 1995 02:57:59 GMT Scully had finished a late night snack and watched the end of an old movie on TV. She was feeling relaxed and had managed thus far to avoid thinking of what the evening's events meant to her relationship with either Mulder or Daniel. She got up from the couch and headed for the bedroom. There was a knock at her door. Walking over to it, Scully tiptoed and looked through the peephole. She saw Mulder standing in the hall. His hair was damp with sweat and he looked agitated. Alarmed, she opened her door. "Mulder! Is there a problem?" He walked inside and shut the door behind him without saying a word. He didn't know what to say, now that he was here. He looked down at her, wearing the huge t-shirt that fell down to her mid- thighs, and nothing else. "Mulder? What's going on?" Scully asked again. "You slept with him." Scully blinked in surprise. "I can't believe he told you that." "I can't believe you slept with him!" replied Mulder, voice rising. Seeing her like this, the hurt only got worse, and the pain made his voice harsh. "Why did you do it?!" "None of your damn business!" snapped Scully, her own voice rising to meet his. "Mulder, you have no right to come over here at this time of night demanding --" He cut her off. "WHY?!" She looked at him towering over her, face darkened with anger, and something snapped inside her. "Because I can't have you!" she yelled back. And then, quieter, "Because he is like you." There was silence between them for a moment. Mulder stared at her and she stared at his hand on his hip. "He is like me," Mulder said in an incredulous voice. He lifted his hand and ran it through his hair. Her eyes followed the hand to his face. "He is like me," he said again, in a somewhat louder voice, and took a couple of steps towards her. Scully backed up until she was against the wall in the hallway, not quite sure what to expect from him. He was only inches away from her. Mulder reached up, and with his left hand, gently trailed the back of his fingers down her cheek, along her neckline and down over her right breast, stopping to lightly encircle her nipple. Scully was suddenly having trouble catching her breath. She didn't understand what he was doing. She was both afraid he would stop, and afraid he would not. "Did he do this like me?" Mulder asked quietly, his face close to hers. "No," she replied, not looking at him, unable to figure out if he was still angry. He continued to trail his hand downward, with the other joining it, until he reached the hem of her t-shirt. He slid his hands underneath and ran them up over her naked hips. Then he moved one hand in front, teasing her with his finger. He moved his head down until his mouth was very close to her ear. "Did he do this like me?" he asked quietly. "No." She could barely speak, his hands felt so good. She couldn't believe he was touching her this way. Not in her wildest dreams had she ever expected to have Fox Mulder touching her like this. She reached up and put her arms around his neck, tugging slightly to pull his mouth to hers. He lifted her easily and placed her on the small table in the hallway, knocking off keys and opened mail. He stared into her eyes for a moment, then leaned down and gently touched his mouth to hers. The kiss stayed gentle only for a second, until Scully pulled him harder against her and opened her mouth. He pressed his tongue between her lips and groaned. He hadn't realized how badly he had wanted to do this until this moment. He shoved against her and deepened the kiss for a moment. Then he pulled away. "Does he kiss like me?" he demanded. She didn't answer, trying to tug him mouth back to hers. More harshly this time, "Does he kiss like me?!" She looked straight into his darkened eyes. "No." she whispered. "No. He's nothing like you at all." He pushed her back against the wall and kissed her again, their mouths wide, his hands running under her shirt and up to her breasts. She moaned at the feel of his hands on her and reached down, ripping his t-shirt from his jeans and tugging and his fly. It popped open and he reached down and slid his pants hurriedly off. He shoved back against her, rubbing his erection between her legs as she wrapped them around his hips. She was so wet and hot. With an easy push he slid inside her, on the small table up against the wall in the hallway. Mulder buried his face in her hair and groaned Scully's name softly as he thrust into her. His movements were fast, with an edge of desperation, and she rode it with him. The intensity of the experience overwhelmed Scully. She clung to him, her face pressing into Mulder's neck. Within moments she felt herself lifting towards orgasm. She bit into his skin and moaned hard as she came. Mulder felt her muscles clench around his penis and teeth bite into his neck. The sensations sent him over the edge, and with one last hard thrust he felt himself explode into her. Mulder stopped moving but stayed pushed up against Scully, his arms holding her in place, her legs wrapped around him. He still had his face buried in her hair. After a few moments, Scully noticed that Mulder's upper body was shaking, and she heard a small intake of breath. She pushed at him to move back so she could see his face in the dim hall light. "Mulder?" she asked gently, "What's wrong?" He turned his face away from her, but not before she saw that he was crying. He tried to step away, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back against her. "I don't understand," she said softly. He touched her lips with his fingertips. "I was so angry," he said. "I never meant to do anything in anger. I hurt you." "You didn't hurt me, Mulder. Far from it." "I scared you," Mulder whispered. She gave him a light smile. "Maybe a little, but not seriously. I trust you. You could never hurt me." He looked down at her, the pain of his anger fading, and wiped his eyes with one hand. "It was like I wanted to just drive the memory of him away from your mind, your body. When you said you slept with him because he reminded you of me, it was like a slap in the face. I got so angry." "But Mulder," said Scully in a confused voice, "You never showed any interest in me. I thought someone *like* you was the most I could hope for. You are my partner, my friend, but I never thought there could be more. You were always dragging up that stupid 'no-involvement' rule." Mulder tenderly picked Scully up from the small table, causing her to smile, and brought her into the bedroom, where he lay her on the bed and dropped beside her. "But maybe for once the Bureau is making sense," Mulder said. "If partners are involved, and one of them is in danger, the other might go to irrational lengths to protect or save the other instead of doing a job that has to be done." "Well, if that is the logic, it is too late for us." Mulder looked sheepish as Scully continued. "You are already overprotective. And I would go to any lengths to protect or save you, whether I'm sleeping with you or not. So under that logic, they should break up any partnership where the partners become close friends." Mulder slung an arm and a leg over Scully, cuddling her body to his and relishing the feeling of her against him. "Okay, but how about the notion that if the bad guys know we are involved, not just working partners, they might use one of us to manipulate or get to the other. It is dangerous. I can't put you in more danger. I can't take the chance of losing you again." "But the bad guys already know that," Scully answered softly. "We weren't sleeping together last year and they tried it. Hell, most of the Bureau thinks we already are involved, apparently in part thanks to your reaction to my disappearance." Scully pushed Mulder on to his back and half straddled him, holding his arms out to the side. "You are the most important person in my life. If you are in danger, I will do anything to help you. I will always be there for you. Whether we are romantically involved or not." She leaned over and kissed him deeply. He looked up into her beautiful blue eyes, wondering how he could have resisted them for so long. "I love you, Dana Scully," he said simply. She smiled. "So if you love me and I love you..." she finished the thought by kissing and nibbling his neck, working her way up to his ear. He groaned at the sensation. "I don't think I have the capacity to fight logic like that," he said. He broke free of her hold and pulled her shirt over her head. "Another argument I lose," he said, grinning at the irony and pulling her to him. THE END -------------------------------------------------------- That's all I have for now. It feels slightly unfinished to me, since I left the whole issue of Daniel swinging in the breeze, but I've had the damn thing around for months now while I tried to come up with a satisfactory way to deal with him, and never could. So I gave up and decided to post as is. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. It's been fun ... M.