From raquelm@urjwc.ucla.edu Mon Mar 03 18:51:50 1997
Subject: EP> SR - If I Were You (1/2)
From: Raquel Montoya <raquelm@urjwc.ucla.edu>
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 16:51:50 -0800
--------
Title: Celine Series - "If I Were You"

Author: CC Decker 

email feedback, good, bad, and everything in between to :
danabryant@earthlink.net

Category: SR

Rated: PG-13

Summary: A new partner is added to the X-Files division, and she really
stirs things up.  Sort of a Mulder/Other story, but with an ending that will
satisfy any 'shipper.  (What, are you crazy?!  Give
Mulder a girlfriend other than Scully?!)

Timespan: Nothing's given away here . . . but there might be a few jokes
not understood if you haven't seen the third season yet.

Keywords: Mulder/Other romance, Mulder/Scully romance, jealousy 

              "If I Were You"
                      
     She can feel you 
     Drifting far away
     But she can't see through
     What you do not say

     Maybe she'll go
     Maybe she'll stay
     But she'd rather go than fade away
     Sometimes the sweetest sorrow
     is the saddest fate
     If I Were You, Celine Dion

FBI Headquarters
10:13 AM

     Special Agent Vivian Vance hesitated by the door, a slightly worried
expression on her face.  She reached for the doorknob but stopped
again, hastily pulling a compact out of her purse.  She gave herself a
cursory glance, making sure her hair and makeup were decent.  She ran
her fingers through her long blond curls, tossing her hair over her
shoulders.  For the briefest of seconds she suddenly wished she had
cut her hair, at least to a non- cheerleader length.  She looked like a
Panteen model, not an FBI agent.  But it was too late for that now.  She
would make her first impression with her new partners and that would
be it.  Show no fear.  She could handle whatever waited inside.  Even . .
.

     Special Agent Fox Mulder.

     The nameplate on the door was completely unnessacary.  Mulder, as
she had heard he liked to be called, had a reputation.  And so did his
partner, Dana Scully.  Though Vivian had never met either of them, water
cooler breaks made her well acquainted with the stories surrounding
both of them.

     He, the driven, intense, and incredibly paranoid G-man, convinced
there was a dark force lurking in every shadow, governments within
governments within governments.

     She, the once promising young doctor that had gotten sucked into his
paranormal world of pathological delusions.  He had practically
destroyed her as an agent.

     And there were aliens flying around, or being cloned, or dangerous
mutants were attacking people, or whatever.  Vivian was extraordinarily
skeptical.  It might make for good TV, but not spending taxpayer dollars.

     And now she, like Scully three years before, was being jettisoned
into the black hole of the X-Flies division.  As a babysitter, no less!  To
make sure the two partners were not breaking any more rules.  Vivian
was still trying to figure out who she pissed off to get this detail.

     Vivian stopped stalling, lifted her hand to the door, and knocked.

     "Nobody down here but the FBI's most unwanted," came the reply
from inside.  She heard a feminine snicker as she opened the door.

     The woman leaning against the desk struck her first . . .
Dana Scully, obviously . . . and for a moment Vivian couldn't puller her
gaze away.  Scully's brilliant eyes met Vivian's with a cool gaze that
could only come from life experience, the vivid blue a startling contrast
against her clear, creamy skin.  Her bone structure was flawless, her
lips generous, yet somehow she didn't fit into the perfect class of a
super model.  And she was tiny, not more than 5'3, her suit tailored
against her thin frame.

     Vivian instantly felt like the too-tall long-limbed teenager of a few
years past, especially when the woman arched one sophisticated
eyebrow at her inquiry.

     Vivian decided to deal with her later.

     She turned her attention to the man sitting behind the desk.

     He was surprisingly handsome.  His hazel eyes actively sought her's
as she turned to him, a warm, sexy smile animating itself across her
face.  His chocolate brow hair was beautifully styled in a classical but
not over-primped look.  His bone structure was also amazing, although
his nose was endearingly just a tiny little bit too big for the rest of his
face.  The business shirt fit perfectly across his chest, showing he was
slim and fit.

     Vivian suddenly realized her stare had gone on for a few
embarrassing seconds too long, and she managed to shake herself out
of it.

     "Hi," she said, stepping into the room, offering her hand first to Scully. 
"I'm . . ."

     "Special Agent Vivian Vance," Mulder said, cutting her off as he rose
from the desk.  "I know.  I read about your coming in to spy on us."

     The blunt comment threw her, and she found herself drawing her
hand away from Scully.

     "I wasn't sent to spy on you," Vivian said.  Scully, who had reached
to take her hand, withdrew, an unreadable expression on her face.

     "Really," Mulder said, arching a suddenly playful eyebrow.  "So, then,
how did you end up getting stuck down here?  The FBI doesn't tend to
work in threes."

     Vivian got the hint but ignored it.  This was a nightmare.  She had to
get out of here.

     "I was sent to work with you," she said stiffly.  "Maybe to evaluate
you as well, but mainly to work with you."  Mulder's sexy smile was
tearing her composure apart.  And his partner's cool silence was
sending chills through her body.  Vivian knew without a doubt that she
was an outsider here and always would be.

********************

     Special Agent Dana Scully watched as the tall, lithe, thin blond woman
strolled around their office, riveting Mulder's attention away from their
previous conversation.  She was shocked.  The woman looked as if she
had walked off a super model runway, with long thick blond hair, a
Barbie-perfect figure, and a sultry expression that could only mean
hopeless entrancement for men, and trouble for women.  Scully stole a
tiny peak at Mulder's reaction to the entrance of their leggy intruder and
was unusually disgusted to find him staring in glassy-eyed wonder.  He
recovered quickly enough, however, to make one of his patented
remarks.

     "Well, I'm sure you'll find either that Scully and I are not as crazy as
we're rumored to be . . ." he smiled and didn't continue.

     "Or," the blond finally asked, taking the worm.

     "Or you'll become sucked into our madness," Mulder finished
flirtatiously.

     The blond . . . Vivian . . . took it well, though it was Dana's personal
opinion that Vivian wasn't quite handling him as well as
Dana first had.

     "I'm sorry, Mulder isn't very well trained," she said, making a rare joke.
 The long, helpless-teenagers-in-love gaze between Mulder and Vivian
had gone on long enough.  "All the rookies go through it."

     The blond drew herself up with cool indignance.

     "I am not a rookie.  I have been working with our special forces group
for the last three years."

     "Ah," Dana said, lifting her chin.

     There was an uncomfortable silence.

     "Well," Mulder said finally.  "As much as I would love to show you a
mutant turtle or a Bigfoot case, we really aren't doing anything but
paperwork for the next week or so.  We'll have some time to get to know
each other."

     There was a sudden sickening thud somewhere deep within
Scully's abdomen.

     "Well, that's okay.  We should get a good working relationship going
anyway," the blond said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.  Who the
hell did she think she was, Christie
Brinkley?  The woman was obviously a spy of some sort.  Scully tried to
squelch the scowl she felt on her face.  Mulder and she were already a
wonderful working pair.  There wasn't any reason for a new appendage
to be added to their perfect team.  And who was this creature?  She
looked like Barbie masquerading as one of the work force.

     "Excuse me," Scully said, standing.  "I am going to go get a cup of
coffee.  Do either of you want anything."

     "Huh?  Oh, no thanks, Scully," Mulder said, not even bothering to pull
his eyes away from the blond.

     "No thanks, Dana," the blond said, flashing her a Miss
America smile.  "I love coffee, but it causes teeth stains."

     "Ah," Scully said again, nodding briefly as she stepped out the door. 
"Well, I'll be right back."

     She couldn't believe it!  She just shook her head as she walked down
the hall.  How could a woman, even a leggy blond, intrude on another
woman's domain, and then insult her!  Did this woman have no
standards!  Coffee stains!  Dana didn't have coffee stains!

     Or did she . . .?

     Dana stopped dead in the hallway, dug into her purse, and pulled out
a compact, flipping it hastily open, examining her teeth.

     No, she didn't have coffee stains.

     This was too much.  She and Mulder were a perfect pair.  They didn't
need a spy, and they certainly didn't need the blond.  But Scully wouldn't
be as rude as Vivian was.  She would rise above it.  She was
determined to be freezingly polite but by no means to make the blond feel
welcome.  She could deal with this woman on a professional, adult level.
 She would not throw back her head and scream, no matter how
desperately she wanted to.  She retrieved her coffee and returned to the
room.  Scully straightened her shoulders and paused by the door to their
office, pushing away her helpless frustration.

     And then, just as she opened the door:

     "You know what, Vivian, I think you're wearing my favorite perfume."

***********************

     Special Agent Fox Mulder knew the FBI frowned down upon agents
dating each other, but he was seriously thinking about breaching
protocol.

     After all, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

     Vivian Vance was a gift from god.  She had to be.  He was certain
she had stepped from one of the pages of a magazine.  Real people, or
at least nobody he knew, looked like her.  He could barely keep his mind
on the conversation they had been having.

     "So, I like the excitement of doing the whole SWAT team thing, but I
suppose this will be fun," she said, sauntering over to his side of the
desk, leaning back against it as she looked down on him.  Mulder
swallowed and sent her what he hoped was a very suave smile.

     "I'm sure you'll be thoroughly entertained.  And we have great people
down here."

     Vivian's luscious lips turned down into a worried frown.

     "I don't know.  Dana seemed a little cold."

     "She just doesn't know you," Mulder said quickly.  God, legs like her's
had no origin on this earth.

     "Well, maybe you're right.  But I'm not here to spy on you.  I just want
to get along with you guys."

     Mulder saw his opportunity, and decided to go for it.  Sending her his
sexiest smile, he leaned forward and ever so briefly touched her knee.

     "I want to get along with you too," he said.  "How about if we get to
know each other better over dinner?  Maybe seven o' clock?"

     "Are you asking me out on a business dinner, Agent
Mulder?"   She teased, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

     "Of course.  I'll pay for it on my expense account."  Then he winked at
her.

     Vivian looked at him for a long moment, then leaned close.

     "Well," she said in a throaty voice right by his ear, "if you're taking me
out to dinner, you'd better buy me flowers on your expense account,
too."

     Mulder chuckled as she did, then almost fainted with pleasure as the
delicate scent of her perfume wafted into his nostrils.

     "You know Vivian, I think you're wearing my favorite perfume."

     And then, just as Vivian started to smile again, Scully walked back in.

     "Uh-oh," she said, suddenly freezing in the doorway.  "I didn't mean to
interrupt anything."

     Vivian abruptly straightened and strolled back around his desk.

     "You didn't, Dana.  Just dinner plans."

     Scully immediately shot him a look that would have sent a lesser man
into a coma.  Then she arched an eyebrow at Vivian.

     "'Scully', please, Agent Vance," she said in freezing tones.  "Mulder
and I try to keep an air of professionalism in our work."

     Vivian nodded, looking a little taken aback.  For a long moment Mulder
had no idea what to say.

     But he said it anyway.

     "I'll pick you up tonight at seven, Vivian," he said, nodding to the blond
woman.  He glanced back at Scully, and for the briefest of seconds he
thought he saw a flash of something . . .but he couldn't place it. Mulder
was suddenly very uncomfortable.

     "Yeah, seven," Vivian said, her eyes resting on his partner.  Mulder
had the sudden impression that Vivian knew exactly what it was that
had suddenly touched Scully's features, but she didn't react.

     There was another very long, award silence.  Mulder sat up
straighter in his chair, unnerved by the betrayed look Scully was now
sending him.  God, it was perfectly alright for him to go out with this
blond super model.  He couldn't see why Scully, who was usually fairly
warm towards her fellow workers, had taken such an immediate dislike
to Vivian.  Oh, that wasn't right.  Not Vivian.  Agent Vance.

     "I'm not feeling well," Scully suddenly said, looking a little pale.  "I'm
going to go home a little early, if it's alright."

     "Go ahead," Mulder said, relieved.  Obviously, Scully's weird mood
was just a result of her being ill.  Thank god.  And he had thought maybe
she was getting territorial.

     Though the idea of Scully being territorial over him was something to
be played with . . .

     Mulder suddenly shook his head.  What the hell was he thinking?!  He
was going out with Vivian.  Scully was just a friend.

     "She doesn't like me," Vivian said the second Scully had gathered her
things and left the office.  "She really, really doesn't like me."

     "She said she was feeling sick," Mulder said, suddenly defensive. 
"Scully's great.  She usually doesn't behave like this.  I'm sure she'll be
better after she gets some rest."

     Vivian looked skeptical.

     "I think it's deeper than that."

     Mulder was curious.

     "How so?"

     But Vivian just shook her head enigmatically.

     "Well," Mulder said, deciding not to pursue unpleasant conversation,
"what about you?  I couldn't glean a whole lot of information about you
from your report."

     "I'm a very mysterious person," she said absently, wandering over to
his file cabinet.  She studied some of the pictures on the wall and the
books and shook her head.

     "What?"  He finally asked.

     "All this stuff.  It's like an episode of 'Sightings'.  Don't get me wrong, I
have respect for the people that work so hard to try and get any type of
information, but . . ." she trailed off as a photograph off the 'Alien
Autopsy' video caught her attention.

     "What?"  He asked again.

     "This was proven false.  The whole alien thing.  A real military
instillation would have had a fixed camera during an autopsy, and a
better angle on the body.  And the film didn't date back to when it was
supposed to.  It was an elaborate hoax, just like the Lock Ness Monster
and those crop circles those two old guys in England messed with. 
What I mean is, yes, some of this seems real, once you get involved in it. 
But when you really step back and apply this to real life, and stop looking
through the lenses of science fiction, it just doesn't compare."

     Mulder wasn't quite sure how to take that.  Scully often complained
about his wild theories, but she respected the journey and at least
listened with a somewhat open mind.

     But, that didn't matter.  Vivian's perception of things would change. 
Just as Scully's had.

     "Well," he said.  "Scully and I have seen a lot of stuff.  Weird stuff.  If
you work for any length of time with us, you'll get to see it too."

     Vivian nodded, but it was obvious that she was just humoring him.  It
exasperated him, but he swallowed anything he might have said to her.

     "What were we talking about. . .?"  He muttered to himself.  "Oh, that's
right, your life."

     "Hm."

     "Well, are there any spouses, kids, or pets?"

     "Just fish," she said.  She paused.  "Well, not anymore.  They died
and I haven't had time to get new ones."

     Mulder snickered to himself about that he and Vivian apparently had a
lot in common.  Then he glanced at the clock.  Five o' clock.  He had some
papers to fill out and submit before he could leave.  He said as much to
Vivian.

     "I'll browse then," she said, wandering over to his file cabinet.  "See
what you and Scully have done in the last five years."

     Mulder went to work, but the temptation to watch her kept him steadily
distracted.  She was just thumbing through the folders, with her back to
him, but even that was a nice angle.  He was glad she had decided to go
out on a date with him.  Er. . . business dinner.

     It was going to be great.  A tall, blond model had been placed neatly
into his lap.  He was very lucky.

************************

     Vivian wasn't thinking that much about the folders she was browsing
through.  They looked like a collection of articles, official reports, and
evidence that some geeky teenage kid would have, not the FBI.  Mulder
was intense and sexy, yes, but she couldn't believe he swallowed some
of this stuff.

     What Vivian was really concerned about was Scully.  And the
working relationship they would be experiencing for God know's how
long.  Scully wasn't sick.  Only a man would be foolish enough to believe
that.  Vivian couldn't tell how deep it was, but Scully was not sick at all.

     She was jealous.  Really, really jealous.  More so than most agents
would be over their partners, less so than a lover.  Vivian placed herself
briefly in the woman's shoes, wondering what it would be like to share
Mulder with another woman after working with him for five years.  She
decided that even though she didn't know him yet, not like Scully
presumably did, she still wouldn't want to do it.

     Still though . . . there was something about the betrayed look that
Scully had sent Mulder that really bothered her.  Vivian knew she
shouldn't ask, but she couldn't help herself.  She turned around abruptly
and caught Mulder watching her.

     "What?" He asked, his cheeks suddenly flushing with embarrassment.
 Vivian ignored that.

     "You and Scully.  Were you ever . . . involved?"

     Mulder looked startled.

     "No, of course not.  Scully's just a friend.  A close friend, maybe, but
just a friend."

     Vivian instinctively knew that was all she was going to get out of him,
but the tiniest shadow of doubt began to work itself into her mind.  She
didn't know why . . . but she couldn't but help suspect there was more
than friendship here.

     Vivian turned back around and suddenly found herself face-to-face
with a file.  It had Scully's name on it.

     Vivian had heard all the rumors, but had never had a confirmed
version of the whole story.  She briefly read over the bare-bones report
of Agent Scully's abduction, but it wasn't really anything she didn't
already know.  She turned back to Mulder again, who was writing.

     "Has there been any new information on Scully's case?"  She asked,
holding the file up for him to see.  "How is she doing now?"

     Mulder jerked his head up from his computer and in that instant, deep
inside, Vivian knew.  It was more than hopeless to go out on a date with
him, or hope for any sort of relationship.  The uncensored tender
expression on his face told her everything.  He cared very deeply for his
partner.  Far past the point of normal friendship.

     Vivian was profoundly disappointed.  For a long moment she just
watched him, wishing for the first time she had been
Scully.  She closed the folder and put it back.

     "There hasn't been any information," Mulder said.  "And she's doing
fine now."

     Vivian studied him closely.  He was hiding something, but she didn't
care enough to pursue it.  Maybe it was just friendship in Mulder's eyes,
especially when his expression changed to one of admiration as he
seemed to see her again.  Yes, that had to be it.

     Vivian began to riffle through the folder again.

     "Hey, let's just take the rest of the day off," Mulder said, startling her. 
"It's five thirty.  We can sneak out of here."

     Vivian nodded at him and shut up the cabinet.  It still bothered her, but
there wasn't anything she could do about him.   She would just go on her
date with him and see if his relationship with Scully was purely platonic. 
Besides, with the way Mulder looked at Vivian it was hard to believe he
had any sort of romantic attachment to his first partner.

*************************

Dana Scully's Apartment
12:27 PM

     Scully threw open the door to her apartment.

     It just enraged her.  Mulder was such a . . . playboy!  To date a fellow
partner!  Especially when she and him had already had plans to get
Chinese food for dinner together!

     She was not jealous!

     Scully slammed her keys to the coffee table and stalked into her
kitchen.  She stood still, furious, trying to decide precisely what she now
wanted to do with the rest of her day and her no empty evening.

     And it was suddenly like she had been removed from herself.  Dana
took a deep breath and slowly sank into one of her kitchen chairs.  Her
behavior was irrational and without any real cause.  Why?  Why was
she so upset about Vivian?

     Dana rose from her chair, almost as agitated about the whole situation
as she had been seconds earlier.  She felt so helpless!  So . . .
unwanted . . . so . . . pathetic.

     The small redheaded woman suddenly froze in the middle of her
kitchen.

     It was impossible.  Illogical.  Ridiculous.  Mulder was her friend.  She
wasn't jealous.  It was the blond . . . waltzing in and looking like a
bleeping super model.  Dana was suddenly possessed by the urgent
desire to scream loud and long, or to just tell somebody, anybody, about
what a terrible person Mulder was.  She sighed and reached for her
telephone, dialing her best friend's number by heart.

     "Hello?"

     "Hi, Ellen," Dana said, immensely relieved to hear her pick up.  "I'm glad
I caught you."

     "Dana? Are you alright?"  Ellen sounded more worried than she
should have been.  Scully wondered about her tone, but ignored it.

     "Yes, I'm fine.  I just wanted to chat."

     Ellen sounded delighted.

     "Well, you picked the perfect night.  My loving husband and son have
abandoned me to go to a ball game of some sort.  Do you want to meet
for dinner?"

     "Yes, definitely," Dana said, twisting the phone cord around her
fingers.  They settled on where, and precisely when, and got off.  She
felt a little better, but not much.  Damn Mulder!


END PART 1.




From raquelm@urjwc.ucla.edu Tue Mar 04 19:03:32 1997
Subject: EP> SR - If I Were You (2/2)
From: Raquel Montoya <raquelm@urjwc.ucla.edu>
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 17:03:32 -0800
--------
Title: Celine Series - "If I Were You"   (2/2)

Author: CC Decker 

email feedback, good, bad, and everything in between to :
danabryant@earthlink.net

Category: SR

Rated: PG-13

Summary: A new partner is added to the X-Files division, and she really
stirs things up.  Sort of a Mulder/Other story, but with an ending that will
satisfy any 'shipper.  (What, are you crazy?!  Give
Mulder a girlfriend other than Scully?!)

Timespan: Nothing's given away here . . . but there might be a few jokes
not understood if you haven't seen the third season yet.

Keywords: Mulder/Other romance, Mulder/Scully romance, jealousy 

Disclaimer: As much as I love Mulder and Scully, alas, they are not mine. 
I don't make any money off of them, 'cause the belong to Chris Carter,
Ten Thirteen Productions, and Fox
Broadcasting.  I'm sorry, sir.  Please don't sue me.  Also, I'm not Celine
Dion so I don't own her song.  That's her's, and, like Mulder and Scully,
are used without permission.  Special Agent
Vivian Vance belongs to on of my dearest friends, but I know SHE won't
sue me.

And on with the story!

*****************************

Finneli's Fine Italian Cuisine
8:46 PM

     Mulder looked at his wonderful date over the table as he talked and
praised God again.  Or Skinner.  Or whoever had sent this creature into
his division.

     " . . . so Scully and I managed to get out alive," he continued, "but just
barely.  And they never found the creatures again.  Scully almost died. 
She came a lot closer to it than me or the forest ranger.  She's so small . .
."

     "You don't have any non-case related stories, do you?"  Vivian
gracefully interrupted when he paused for a breath.  She sent him a very
gently smile.  "I kind of want to get to know you, not your work.  Beside,
this is the kind of stuff I would have to see."

     Mulder dropped his head, sending her an embarrassed look.

     "I'm sorry.  You should have shut me up earlier.  Scully usually just . .
."

     "Enough about Scully."  Vivian smiled gently at him and touched his
hand over the table.  "I want to hear about you."

     Mulder pushed aside his immediate irritation and reminded himself she
had a valid reasons for wanting to not talk shop.  They had talked their
way through appetizers, wine, and salad.  Or rather, he had.  Telling her
about cases and Scully.

     " . . . drives me nuts," she was saying.

     "Hm, what?"  He said, suddenly pulling himself back into the
conversation.

     "Science fiction.  It drives me nuts.  It's the most useless form of
literature.  If you can call it that."

     "Oh," Mulder said.  "What about sports?"

     "I love baseball," Vivian suddenly said, leaning over the table.  There
was a dull thunk beneath the long table cloth, and
Mulder suddenly felt a foot lightly touch his leg.

     "Baseball, huh?"  He said.  "I'm a basketball fan myself."

     "No," Vivian said, her eyes twinkling.  "I really love baseball."

     "That's interesting," Mulder said, wandering off.  Her stocking foot
kept rubbing his shin lightly, but she suddenly stopped.

     "Baseball, Fox.  Are you alright?  I don't think you've heard half of
what I've said tonight."

     "I have too," Mulder said, sitting up.  But then he realized he really
hadn't.  Vivian was gorgeous, yes, but she was also . . . 

     Boring.

     No, that wasn't fair, he suddenly thought a moment later.  She wasn't
boring, it was just that they had different tastes in almost everything.  But
that should be okay too.  Opposites attract.

     "Well," Mulder said, fumbling for a reply to her skeptical look, "maybe I
wasn't paying so much attention.  But it's just because you're so
beautiful, you kept distracting me from the conversation."

     Vivian blushed nicely at him and shook her head.

     "You're quick, Fox," she said.

     Mulder sent her what he prayed was a handsomely devilish grin.

     "I'm not too quick," he replied.  "I'm athletic, but I'm not quick."

     She got his hidden meaning.

     "Too bad you don't like baseball," she said slyly.
     Mulder wanted to bash his head through the wine glasses and plates
and maybe even the forks.  God, had he lost his touch.  Baseball.  It was
the oldest symbol in the book.  And it had blown past his head like a fast
ball.

     Then again, even as he began sparring with Vivian, he couldn't quite
keep his mind on her.  This whole, silly, indirect form of flirting used to be
very entertaining, but just bored him now.

     ". . . so that's why I go the sex change after my sister, she's a nun
you know, got pregnant and had her abortion.  I mean, after
Daddy got abducted by aliens, it was just all useless. . ."

     "What?"

     "I've been going on for thirty seconds like this.  Fox, you're not with
me.  What's bothering you?"

     "Nothing.  I'm sorry.  You were saying?"

     Vivian stared at him and slowly began shaking her head.  She quickly
retracted her foot.

     "What?"  He asked again.

     "You didn't really want to go out on a date with me.  I've seen that look
before."  She flipped her hair over her shoulder and gestured with her
hand to silence his protest in one movement.  "It happens.   I've seen that
look on other men's faces.  Maybe it's just my appearance."  She tilted
her head slightly, scrutinizing him.  "Yes, I've definitely seen that look
before."

     "What look?"

     Vivian slowly took a sip of wine and he could hear her slipping her
foot back into her shoe.

     "The look of a clueless man who is very much in love."

     "I'm not in love with anybody!"

     Vivian gave him a long, slow look, then tilted her head back and
laughed long and hard.

     "You're cute, you know that, Fox?"  She asked him when she finally
got over the hilarity of the matter.  Mulder was staring at her with a
completely straight expression.

     "Why am I so funny?"  He asked coldly.

     "You're in love with Dana."  She offered him her hand.  "Hi.  It's nice to
meet you.  I'm Vivian.  I'll be working with you."

     "Scully?!"

     "Yes, Dana.  It's very obvious.  Well, not that obvious, since it took me
all of today and most of dinner to figure it out."

     "Scully?!"

     "Yes, Dana.  Your beautiful petite partner of almost four years that
you can't stop talking about."

     "I'm not in love with Scully," he finally sputtered.

     Vivian fixed her blue eyes on him and stared hard.  Mulder began to
squirm.

     "Really, men are helpless," she said, shaking her head.  "I saw the
tender looks at her, the way you speak about her.  And I know your
type.  You think you love tall blond women like me, but . . ."

     "But I . . ."

     Shut up, Fox,"she interrupted.  "I'm not through yet.  You see, you
quietly and sweetly fall in love with the people that mean the most to you,
but you're too stupid to figure it out.  And then you end up miserable and
unhappy and bored."

     "You hardly know me," Mulder protested.  "You barely spoke to
Scully." 

     Vivian fixed him with an even stare.

     "And that leads me to another point.  She's obviously feeling
something for you."

     "You're crazy!"

     "I'm an outsider.  Check please," she said to the waiter, gesturing to
the man.  "Don't get me wrong, Mulder.  I didn't take offense to what
happened.  It think it's sweet.  And since we certainly have nothing
emotionally involved with each other, we can just be friends.  Which
works out, because I don't think we were very compatible to begin with."

     "Scully's not in love with me.  I'm not in love with her."

     Vivian snorted.

     "Yeah, right.  If I were you, I wouldn't let her slip away.  If
I were you, I'd go after her."

*************************

Mimi's Cafe
8:46 PM

     "And, she's just such a. . . a bitch!  Waltzing into our office as if she
had always been there, flipping her ridiculous blond hair over her
shoulders like Nikki Taylor or something!  And Mulder, with his eyes falling
out of his head, slobbering over his desk!  And then they went on a date!!
 A DATE!  When I already had plans with him!"

     Ellen looked at her steadily over the table.

     "What is your real problem?"  She finally asked.

     "This woman, the blond!"

     "Dana, I don't think I've seen you so upset about your partner before. 
You've been talking to me about this woman and
Fox for the last twenty minutes.  Listen to yourself.  You're practically
screaming."

     Dana stared at her, then complacently leaned back in her chain and
took a long, composed sip of coffee.  Ellen was right.  She was
overreacting.

     But it just enraged her!

     "I can't help it," she finally burst out.   "I don't even know why it makes
me so furious, but it does.  I just feel so. . ."

     "Helpless?"

     "Yes!"

     Ellen looked at her knowingly over the meal.  It gave Dana a sudden,
uncomfortable feeling, and she had to stop and examine her own
emotions.  Aside from the coffee stain thing, Vivian really hadn't said
anything that rude to her.

     "Can I say something, Dana?"

     "Sure."

     Ellen shifted and played with her wedding band, avoiding
Scully's eyes.

     "I'm not surprised you feel like this.  In fact, I've been waiting for it."

     "What?"

     "How do you feel about Mulder, Dana?"

     "He's my best friend."  Scully smiled softly to herself.  "I couldn't
imagine not working with him."

     "You know I wouldn't lie to you about anything."

     "Of course."

     "You're in love with him," Ellen said.

     "What?!"

     "You're in love with him."  Ellen looked at her over the table, a gently
scrutinizing look on her face.  "You've been working with him for five
years, and you've fallen in love with him.  These things happen.  You
have a very stressful, dangerous job, and you've had to trust him with
your life.  And that led to love."

     Dana felt her lips parting to deny it, but she couldn't force the words
out.

     "I don't want to be in love with Mulder," she finally blurted out.

     Ellen patted her hand companionably and shook her head.

     "Well, to borrow one of my son's terms, you're screwed."

     Dana just kept staring at her friend.  And, very slowly, a sick knot
began to twist in her stomach.

     "Even if I were in love with him, and that's not an admission, there's
nothing I could ever do about it."

     "Maybe not, but you'll be happier if you just admit it to yourself and get
over it.  It hasn't been that long since I was out there, you know."

     Dana could feel the blood draining from her face.  Little men were
pounding the inner lining of her stomach with little mallets.  She tried
desperately to pull Ellen's words from her mind, but it was just too late.

     Maybe she was in love with him.  Maybe she did love her partner. 
And the more she thought about it, the sicker she felt.

     And of course, feeling sick is always a sign of being in love.

     "Oh my God," she whispered.  What Ellen said was true.  She couldn't
even think about trying to deny it.  Imaging being without Mulder just plain
hurt now.  "I just had no idea.  I mean, I knew, but I didn't want to really
think about it or anything.  And
Mulder was always *mine*, because he was never going out on dates or
anything."

     "Still water run deep, Dana.  I know that usually applies to people, but
it applies to love, as well."

     Dana nodded and put her fork down.  She couldn't eat.

     "What are you going to do?"  Ellen asked.

     "Nothing."  Scully forced herself to not tremble.  "I can't do anything. 
He's on a date with our new partner."

     "That's rough."

     "I'm not . . . I can't be . . . I mean, it's Mulder . . ."

     "Who has saved your life and given you his trust and vice versa and
if I were you I would kill Vivian. You could make it look like an accident."

     Dana stared at her, then started laughing.

     "Well, thank god I at least have a few non-work related friends."

     "You'll do alright.  Things will work out."

     "Oh, I wish," Dana said, looking away.  "I wish this had come out
earlier, or that he cared at all . . ."

     "He will.  I have married woman's intuition about this.  Don't worry,
Dana, he will."

     Dana sent her best friend a very skeptical look.  She couldn't be in
love with her partner.  She wouldn't let herself be.

********************

Fox Mulder's Apartment
2:34 AM

     Mulder spent the entire night after his date with Vivian awake.  He did
absolutely everything he could to bore himself to sleep, but it wouldn't
happen.  Every time he closed his eyes he saw Vivian telling him again
that he was in love with Dana, and that she in turn cared about him.  But
he knew Vivian was wrong on that count.  Scully . . . not Scully!  Yes,
they were best of friends, and he didn't even trust his family the way he
trusted her, but she wasn't in love with him.

     So why couldn't he sleep?!

     Mulder suddenly jumped around his apartment, jogging in place,
banging his basketball against the floor, doing jumping jacks.  It only
served to stir him up more.

     "I'm not in love with Dana Scully," he said, aloud to his fish.  "I'm not in
love with Dana Scully.  I'm in love with Dana
Scully . . . damn it!"

     Even his subconscious was out to get him.  He sank to his sofa in
defeat.  The merest thought of Scully getting hurt made him sick.  And the
more he thought about it, the more he wanted to touch her face, run his
fingers through her hair, to slowly unbutton her ultra-conservative
jackets and caress her soft, vulnerable skin.  And he wanted to argue
with her.  And work with her.  And just . .
. do everything with her.

     "Damn," he said to himself again.

     This was going to be a very, very long night.

**********************

FBI Headquarters
7:14 AM

     Special Agent Vivian Vance was sipping her bottled water at Mulder's
desk as Special Agent Dana Scully hummed her way into the office. 
Scully stopped dead and stared at her.

     "You're in early," she said.

     Vivian looked at the small redheaded woman and was surprised to
see the barely veiled hatred in her eyes.

     "Good morning, Scully,"she said cheerily.  "I brought bagels if you
want one."

     "No, thank you," Scully said freezingly.  Vivian could only chuckle
inside herself.  While for a few moments last night she might have
questioned whether her observations about Mulder and
Scully were accurate, there was no doubt now.

     "Aren't you hungry, Scully?"  Vivian asked innocently.

     "Nope," Dana said, coming in and doing her best to ignore
Vivian.  Vivian didn't feel even slightly rebuffed by the woman's
coldness.  She now understood it.

     "I was thinking, Dana," she said, rising, "that perhaps you would like
to go out to lunch, you know, just us girls.  I mean, I went out with Mulder
last night, and I need to get to know you as well."

     "I'm busy."

     "I didn't even tell you what time yet!"

     Scully fixed her furious blue eyes on Vivian's.

     "I know.  I'm busy."

     And then, Vivian lost it.  She was trying to be sweet, understanding,
a good agent, and she kept getting rebuffed.  She could understand and
take only so much.  In a single leap she was standing nose to nose,
looking down on the woman.  Scully looked none to thrilled with the
arrangement, but didn't back down.

     "Just what the hell is you problem with me?!"

     Scully's eyes blazed.

     "I don't think you're a professional, dating Mulder . . ."

     "Professional, bullshit!  You don't like me because you're in love with
him yourself!"

     "What?!  That's preposterous!  I . . ."

     Vivian slapped her.  Not hard enough to really hurt, but enough to
crack her face away and get her attention.  For a moment Scully looked
as if she was going to slap Vivian back, but
Vivian stepped into her, prepared for the attack.

     "Look at what you feel!"  She yelled when Scully went silent and
motionless in shock. "You can HAVE Mulder!  I certainly don't want him. 
He's in love with you!"

     Scully went deathly pale.  She took a step back and just plain stared
at her.

     Vivian then got the tiniest inkling of how deep this woman's love for
her partner was.  For a moment Vivian was envious, and very tempted
to just tell Scully it was a lie, but she knew it would be a tragedy to do
so.  She suddenly understood why
Scully was so territorial.

     "Mulder doesn't care for me," Scully said at last, retreating.  Vivian
sensed her advantage and pressed it.

     "He does," she said, taking a step closer.  "He couldn't stop talking
about you all through dinner.  He didn't listen to ten words
I said.  God, you both are so pathetic!  Just go talk to him!"

     "You don't know anything, Vivian," Scully suddenly said, regaining
some of her composure.  "The whole thing is ridiculous."

     "Do I have to slap you again?  I will, you know."

     Dana ducked back behind Mulder's desk.

     "Okay, hypothetically speaking, and this is not an admission, what
could I possibly do?"

     Vivian leaned over the desk.

     "Tell him.  You'll be so much happier if you just tell him.  And forgive
me for getting assigned to this division and going out one date with
Mulder."

     Scully went even paler, if it was possible.

     "Oh, God, I'm sorry," she said weakly, sinking into her chair.  "I have
been terrible to you."

     "I get it a lot."

     "But I'm not in love with Mulder.  And I don't want that getting passed
around to anybody, especially not him."

     Vivian sighed deeply.

     "What if I told you he said he was deeply in love with you?  That he
figured it out right in the middle of dinner?  That he said as much?"  Of
course, Mulder hadn't said any such thing, but it wasn't a statement, it
was a question.  It was close enough.

     Scully's eyes widened.

     "You should say something to him," Vivian said.  "Then you should go
out lunch with me.  You can pay."

     "I couldn't," Scully said, shaking her head.

     "Damn it, just do it!"

     "Do what?"  Mulder asked as he came into the office.

     Scully and Vivian froze, and Mulder suddenly looked a little
embarrassed.  Vivian watched as Scully literally plucked an expression
of professional composure out of the air and put it on her face.

     "Girl stuff," she told Mulder vaguely.

     "Ah," Mulder said.  Vivian watched as his eyes fell on
Scully, and the tenderness in his expression wasn't even thinly
disguised.  Vivian couldn't but help snicker to herself.  If these two
people refused to get into a relationship because they were both too
frightened, then they deserved to be miserable.

     "Well, good morning," Mulder finally said, breaking the silence.

     "Hi," Scully said.

     Yet another long silence.

     "You know what?"  Vivian asked.  "I have a piece of paperwork I still
have to deliver to my former department.  I'll go take it up to them.  And
you know those guys.  Don't expect to see me here again for at least an
hour.  I'm going to have to listen to all my buddies tell me their bloated
stories."

     Scully shot her a dirty look, as did Mulder.  Vivian smiled to herself
and walked out.

*************************

     Fox Mulder watched as Dana (no use trying to think of her as 'Scully'
now) worked silently at her desk.  After a few minutes she seemed to
realize she was being watched and she lifted her eyes to his.

     Scully wasn't like other women, he suddenly reflected.  He couldn't
just read her expression and body language like a billboard.  He couldn't
just feed her lines her picked up from GQ and some certain questionable
magazines.  He had to constantly stay on her toes with her, constantly
be thinking.  And when it really mattered, he could be refreshingly direct
with her and she wouldn't play games.

     Then he realized he was still staring at her.

     "How was you date?"  She asked, going back to her paper.

     "It was . . . well, Vivian and I just didn't seem to click."

     "That's a shame," she said without looking up.

     Mulder came over to the desk and moved some of the crap so he
could lean against it.  Scully kept her eyes on her work.

     "We actually talked about you," Mulder said carefully.

     "What did you say about ?"  She wouldn't look up.

     "Oh, I don't know," Mulder said.  "Vivian's just not my type.  And we
just happened to go ahead and talk, you know, about what we had in
common, which wasn't much."

     "Oh."

     Mulder fidgeted with a pen on his desk.

     "Yeah, she uh, has this weird, God, you're going to laugh, theory
about you."

     "What was that?"  Scully asked, turning the page.  Her pen moved
across the paper, taking meticulous notes.

     "That we really cared about each other."

     "Well, sure we care about each other.  We're partners."

     "No," he said, starting to get frustrated with her avoidance of eye
contact.  "She meant that we really care about each other."

     "Well, sure we do," Dana said amiably, switching the page again.

     "No.  I mean that we . . ." he leaned over the desk and took her chin in
her fingers, gently forcing it up, ". . . really care about each other."

     Dana finally looked up at him.

     The love in her eyes was so obvious he couldn't understand how he
had never seen it before.  She didn't say anything.  Neither did he.  He
slowly touched he cheek with the back of his hand, brushing her hair
away from her face.  For a long couple of seconds she didn't move. 
Then she closed her eyes, turned her head ever so slightly, and touched
her lips against the palm of his hand.  Then she looked back up into his
eyes.

     "Oh, God, why didn't we do this earlier?"  He asked her, moving to his
feet and circling the desk.  She rose gracefully and met him.

     "Because, we're idiots," she replied as he took her face in his hands. 
They smiled at each other for a long moment, then he bent down . . . or
she tilted up . . . and their lips softly brushed together.  He let go of her
face and pulled her into his arms, hesitantly touching her back, then her
hair, never breaking away.

     He pulled back first, kissing each cheek and her forehead before
looking down on her.

     "Oh, that was nice," she said softly, looking up at him from the circle
of his arms.

     "I can be nicer."

     He pulled her  in closer and this time he suddenly kissed her hard,
crushing her against his chest, his lips insistently prying her's apart.  She
gave in; what else could she do?  And explored him, tasting him, and he
wondered if this moment was really happening.  She was barely able to
pull away to gasp a breath when she remembered where they were. 
Mulder smiled down at her, enjoying her reaction to him.  He could read
her thoughts in her eyes.  She smiled gently, an expression meant only
for him, and laid her cheek against his chest.

     "I guess I really owe Vivian an apology," she said softly.

     "No apology needed," Vivian said from the door.  When they both
turned to her, startled, she smiled and shook her head.  "Don't worry, I
didn't see anything.  I just walked in now.  Really,
Mulder, I'm ashamed of you, asking me out when you obviously have
something invested in Scully."

     They both laughed and broke away from each other.  Mulder glanced
at the clock, sorely tempted to rotate the hand to five o' clock, when he
could take Scully out of the work environment and begin to really learn
about her.  He glanced at his partner and couldn't but help notice how
much more beautiful she looked now.  He reached for her hand, feeling
like a teenager but not caring.

     "Why don't you guys go ahead and sneak out?"  Vivian asked.  "I can
make an excuse for you."

     "Are you sure?"  Mulder asked her as Scully began to protest.

     "Absolutely.  I don't want to spend the day sick to my stomach
watching you two stare at each other.  I want you guys out of here.  In
fact, that's a command."

     Mulder looked down at the beautiful woman that seemed to have
fallen into his lap, suddenly, as if he had never known her before today. 
He already loved her.   It was as Vivian had said, he was just too stupid
to realize it.

     "Let's just go," Dana said suddenly, squeezing his hand.  "Let's take
the opportunity while we have one."

     "Well, I'm sold," Mulder said.  He pulled Scully's hand as she made a
grab for her purse, and Vivian practically had to leap out of their way.

     "I'll buy you lunch all next week," Scully suddenly said to
Vivian as they shut the door.

     "I'll remember that!"

*******************

Dana Scully's Apartment
11:21 am 

     "Well, so much for waiting and getting to know each other."

     "We know each other already," Mulder whispered softly in her ear. 
Dana snuggled into him for a long moment, then pulled away, grabbing
her robe off her chair as she slipped from her bed.

     "Damn," Mulder swore softly.  "Always prepared."

     She smiled at him as she tied a knot in the ribbon at her waist.  That
would always be Mulder.  Fox.

     "I'm not going to wander round naked," she chided him.

     "Why not?"

     She fixed him with a long, steady gaze.

     "I'll make us some coffee," she replied dryly.

     "Do you have a robe for me?"  Mulder cried as she walked out of her
bedroom.

     "Do you think I entertain so many men here I would have extra men's
robes lying around?"  She called to him.

     There was a long silence.

     "You'd better say 'no' soon, Fox,' she continued.

     Mulder wandered out of her bedroom, in the jeans he had changed
into last night to go out in.

     "No," he said impishly.  She paused by her coffee maker and was
struck by how incredibly happy she was to see him standing in her
kitchen, his hair uncombed, completely. . . normal.  He suddenly caught
her eye and chuckled.

     "And to think," he muttered as he walked into her kitchen and pulled
her into his arms again, "if Vivian hadn't been assigned to us we'd both
still be miserable and lonely."

     "I wasn't miserable and lonely."

     "All those men you were entertaining."

     She elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

     "I wouldn't go there if I were you . . ."

                  The End please, feedback!!!!!  danabryant@earthlink.net