Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 13:42:49 -0000
Subject: xfc: New: A Little Help From My Friends (1/1)
Source: xfc

A Little Help From My Friends
By Sandee 

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. No way. Surfer Guy and Surfer Guy's Cronies own 
Mulder, Scully, the X-Files and Diana. Kay?
SUMMARY: Can Scully convince her to take him?
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: None, really. Maybe a minor thing, here and there...
ARCHIVE: Anywhere! Ask first, though...
NOTES: This story takes place in the sixth season universe, wherein Mulder 
and Scully are assigned to the X-Files and Diana Fowley is a sore spot. 
Great thanks to Andy and in the words of Larusso: tu seras toujours ma 
terre, tu seras ma seule lumière!

Also, I am in need of a beta reader, my current one seems to be mad at
me. Interested? 

I know that this isn't what people are going for, what with Mulder
returning, etc. but I just had to get something out there, because I
haven't seen any of those eps and I guess I was just feeling left out.
Hope you enjoy this. 

My other stories can be found at:
http://geocities.com/surefinewhatever00

And the Beatles rule! 
*****

Their fight was still vivid in her mind. The sounds, the smells, the
sights, the feelings. 

The sound of his voice, the words that sprouted from his mouth were
hurtful yet true. A cold, unfeeling wench, he's called her. That was a
half-truth!  And the sound of her voice, striking him back, calling
him names she hardly meant, much less believed. 

The smell of the pizza they'd just finished consuming, a painful
reminder that they had just concluded one of their rare, sociable, and
companionable evenings with a fight. A rather serious one, at that. 

The sight of him, red with anger. The sight of her reflection on his
aquarium, unmoving and firm. Her eyebrows were drawn into an almost-V,
and her nose was all scrunched up. Anger, pure and simple. 

The feeling of rage and fury towards that man: that man who challenged
her and dared her to believe. The pain that had shot through her when
he hurled cruel words at her, like well-aimed darts heading straight
for her heart. They had hit their intended target, and annihilated it. 

She had left him that evening with the strange feeling that it was
going to be their last. It was a pretty major fight, where they were
concerned. They hardly ever voiced their feelings, but when they did,
whoo boy, they'd better watch their backs. 

She'd stepped out of the door, feeling him hovering behind her, making
sure she left. She did so, but not without a definitive *bang*. 

"Hey, Ms. Scully," greeted Roger, the pizza kid. "Nice evening we're
having, aren't we?" and Scully grinned weakly. Yeah, she thought. If
nice was unbelievable pain. 

At home, she collapsed on her bed, exhausted and weak from fatigue.
Her kitty-clock was ticking away louder than normal, or maybe it was
just quieter than usual around her house. For almost an hour, she did
nothing but stare at her roof. Man, she thought, I have to repaint
that thing. 

This would blow over, right? she thought. Their fight wasn't going to
ruin anything, and come to think of it, it was pretty petty. And, you
know, all her fault. 

What business did she have, brining up the sore subject of Diana
Fowley? She knew they were headed for trouble the moment the words
left her lips. If there was only a way... to suck them back into her
mouth and make like she'd never said them, she'd have done anything. 

So of course, feelings were hurt and words were said and a fight
ensued. Her brain hurt too much to try to remember what Mulder had
said. But a few things kept popping back at her, even against her
will... 

"Ice queen. Bitch. Empty shell of a human being." 

That bastard. All this time, she'd assumed he was immune to all that
bureaucratic shit flying all around the FBI, particularly because he'd
been the butt of too many jokes too many times. How easy it was to
believe in something just because you want to. 

As it turned out, he wasn't immune, and more gullible than he appeared
to be... since he actually seemed to believe all that stuff about the
ice queen and the empty shell stuff. 

She then realized that she was more hurt than she was angry. He had
*hurt* her, dammit. And the pain just when through this large
processor that converted it into anger. Hence, she just felt mad. 

All this time, she thought. All this time, I trusted you wouldn't hurt
me.  And then, without that much provocation, you rip my insides into
shreds. How was *that* for loyalty? How was that for trust? How was
that for respect? 

He was going to get it. 

*****

The next morning, after the mother of all headaches had ceased to be,
Scully entered the office with a paper bag containing a bagel, a tiny
tub of cream cheese and a Starbucks cup of coffee: her breakfast. In
an act of rebellion against her partner, she didn't buy him breakfast
as she normally did. 

But as she entered their office, it was apparent that she didn't have
to. 

Oh my god, she thought. What the hell is going on here? 

Seated on *her* regular ergonomic guest chair was none other than the
subject of her and Mulder's argument: Ms. 'Kiss-my-ass' Diana Fowley.
And she wasted no time to make it clear that Dana Scully was
encroaching on *her* territory. 

As if! the fifteen-year-old in her head screeched loudly. Who does she
think she is? 

"Morning, Dana." Diana greeted her. Mulder's eyes persistently refused
to meet hers. So, she decided to reply in kind. 

"Nice to see you again, Diana," Scully said, approaching the desk and
taking the seat across the female intruder. "What brings you to this
corner of the FBI?" she asked, taking out the contents of her paper
bag. She began to sip from her coffee. 

"Well," Diana said with a sideward glance at Mulder. "I came here to
meet with my soon-to-be partner." 

Scully's ears must have been clogged real bad because she wasn't sure
she heard what she just heard because if she did, her heart would stop
pounding completely; or it would beat so hard it would burst from her
chest. 

"What?!" she proclaimed loudly. "You... you..." her eyes darted from
Diana to Mulder and back to Diana. Mulder looked at her darkly. She
couldn't be sure... but was Mulder *leaving* her? 

She was unable to speak. So Diana filled in for her. "Yup," she said
in a tone saturated with conviction. "He's resigned from the X-Files
and joined me at the VCS! Isn't it great?" 

But Scully couldn't react. She was stunned; stunned silent. 

She knew Mulder would try to hurt her again after their fight the
night before... but this was ridiculous! He was going out of his way
to *punish* her. This wasn't revenge, this wasn't vengeance. He was
doing this for a thrill, nothing more than a cheap thrill. 

He wouldn't leave the X-Files, would he? They were his life, and that
whole thing with Samantha hadn't been resolved yet, and... well so
many reasons! But then, she'd said many years before that they
wouldn't last a week as partners. And look where they were now. 

It was sad. 

Hold it, her mind piped up. If you break down in front of Diana, then
she really would have won now. Don't... don't cry Scully. Don't act as
if the past six years have been the best of your life... that would
only make things worse. Be aloof, be aloof, be aloof. Her mind
chanted. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded instead, looking at Mulder with
accusing eyes. 

He just shrugged at her. The darkness that was in his eyes a few
moments before had dissipated completely and was refilled with the
same look she'd seen in his eyes less that 10 hours ago. Rage. Fury.
Hate. "Because I knew you would yell at me, just like you're yelling
now." 

"I am NOT YELLING!" she screeched, slamming down her cup of coffee and
nearly emptying its contents onto Mulder's desk. Diana and Mulder
jumped. Okay, that was wrong of her to do. So, in a clam voice she
said: "You are *so* doing this out of spite." she bit out. 

"No," he parried, with an intensity and calmness she'd only been
witness to in the past 10 hours. "I'm doing this because I don't like
being your partner. I don't appreciate being second-guessed all the
time. I don't enjoy your constant need to pick a fight with me. And,
God forbid, I even hate your craving for *sugar*. At least with Diana
here," he looked at her with sickeningly adoring eyes and she looked
back. "I can be myself *and* be appreciated at the same time." 

He... he... well, there you go, Dana. Her heart was crushed. He didn't
like being her partner? What was with all that "You made me a whole
person" stuff? He didn't like being second-guessed? Then why didn't he
quit a long time ago? He didn't enjoy fighting with her? When had they
fought, anyway? 

And that sugar thing? What the hell was that? 

I will not cry, she told herself calmly. He is just a *man* and
nothing less than an act of God will make me cry. Fight for your
pride, woman. her feministic side said. Don't let him get you down. 

He was a liar. For the past six years he lied to her about needing
her, about trusting her, about liking who she was as a person. An
that, she could not accept. 

I'm going to fight you, you... you... 

...you... 

YOU BASTARD! 

"You think I enjoy *your* presence?" she spat at him. Her breakfast
was forgotten. His eyes blazed at her. If she'd hit a nerve, he damn
well didn't show it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that
Diana's hand and Mulder's were intertwined. She wasn't going to let
that affect her, she wasn't going to let anything affect her. Not
here, not now. 

"You think I enjoy ruining all my clothes running after you? You think
I enjoy my cellphone bill skyrocketing every month? You think I enjoy
being dragged to Nevada in the middle of the night? You think I enjoy
your search for the stupid Truth?" She stood up and knocked her coffee
onto the carpet. Mulder stood, too, in an attempt to intimidate her
with her height. Won't work, G-Man. 

"You think I enjoy you and your messy office" she gestured around her
"and your bug-infested cabinets and coffee-stained request sheets and
mud-spattered casefiles and pencil-tiled ceilings?" 

After six years of keeping that to herself, it felt good to release. 

"Well, you'd better learn to," he replied sharply. "because it's all
yours now, Scully!" 

"Wait!" a voice said loudly. Mulder and Scully turned their icy gazes
away from each other and towards the woman to Scully's left. Diana had
stood, too, and her cheeks were red. 

"What is it?" Mulder asked her softly; and Scully's blood boiled. He
was being nice to Diana to hurt her. He knew perfectly well how she
felt about his ex. I guess I never stood a chance, anyway, Scully
thought bitterly. 

Maybe it's a good thing he's leaving, she thought sadly, her mood
softening surprisingly at the look of pure affection on Mulder's face.
Once, maybe, that look might have been directed at her. But now...
now, it wasn't. 

But he could be happy, she thought with dismay. Happier than he was
with me. At least I'll be able to give him that. 

"I think," Diana stated in a calm voice "that I don't want Mulder as
my partner anymore." 

"What?!" Mulder and Scully exclaimed indignantly. No, she thought.
You're his last chance for happiness, if he can't be happy with me he
will be with you. Please don't turn him down.... 

"Why not?" Scully asked her angrily, wanting to make it seem like she
was disappointed she wouldn't be separated from that... thing. 

"Well," she began. "you're both so mean to each other! And I like Fox,
I like him a great deal, in fact." Mulder smiled at that. " I don't
want us to be fighting all the time. And if after six or seven years
together, we'll be hurling insults at each other like you are now,
then I don't want to go through with it." 

Oh no, Scully thought. Oh no. Please don't. 

"Diana, Diana," Scully told her colleague desperately. "You've got to
take him." 

"You just want me out of here," he barked at her. 

"Damn right, I do," she told him angrily. Then, she turned back to
Diana who was looking at her oddly. I must be losing my mind, she
thought. "You've got to take him." she said again. 

"Oh yeah?" Diana said in a disputable tone. "Give me a good reason
why." 

"Um," Scully said, pretending to think. She didn't have to think very
long.  "Like if you call in sick, he's going to handle all your
paperwork and then visit you after work to see if you're alright." 

"I worry," he muttered softly, his gaze drifting to Scully. 

"Keep going," Diana prodded, crossing her arms. 

"He flirts with the secretarial pool!" she exclaimed and Mulder
snorted. 

"Oh, that's nice." He muttered sourly, but she ignored him. Diana
looked like she was breaking because she was biting her bottom lip. 

"He flirts with the secretarial pool so that your mail gets delivered
in the morning instead of an hour before dinner." she finished. "He
always ends his memos with little smiley faces." 

Mulder said nothing to that. 

"He'll buy a pack of Tootsie Rolls," she continued, memories filling
her heart and mind with a profound sadness that he would be leaving
her and it was all her fault. "and then sneak it into your overnight
bag when you're out on a case." 

"You've always had a sweet tooth," he said and she looked at him. Oh
Mulder, she thought sadly. If you leave, I'd miss you so, so, so much. 

"You have been so great," she told him tearfully, sidestepping the
coffee, the desk and the chair so that they were face to face. "as a
partner and as a friend; and if you'd be happier away from me, I can
totally accept that." 

She was going to start crying and nothing she did could stop it. 

Maybe this is an act of God, she thought remorsefully, looking down at
her shoes. 

A single tear tracked down her cheek and his finger reached out to
wipe it away. When she looked up at him, his eyes registered all the
things she'd thought were lost: trust, friendship, affection and a
pure respect that made her want to start bawling. He took a step
forward and took her in his arms. She pressed her cheek to his chest.
Oh Mulder, she thought. No matter what, I'll always remember this. 

"I guess you aren't switching divisions then," Diana asked Mulder. For
some reason, her voice was slightly laced with pride and a sincerity
Scully'd never heard before. 

"Nope," Mulder replied softly. Scully felt him plant a tiny kiss in
her hair and her eyes watered up all over again. The day has just
begun, she thought. And already I'm being emotional. 

When she heard the office door shut softly, she leaned back to look at
her partner. He was a bit choked up, too, if she didn't say so
herself. "I don't know what to say," she told him, stroking his
forearms, which held her to him. "Except that I'm sorry about what I
said just now and last night." 

Mulder smiled at her and nodded. "Oh Scully," he told her quietly,
giving one of his patented Mulder-forehead-kisses. This one was a bit
different: it was longer, it was sweeter, and his hands were
trembling. "You know I didn't mean any of that, right?" 

Strangely enough, she did. She knew it in her heart. She nodded. "And
you know that I know that you set this whole thing up, right?" 

He shook his head and chuckled lowly, a sound that made her smile.
They were back. And strangely, she'd had Diana to thank for it. never
thought that anything quite like this would happen, she thought.
Especially not to me. 

"Even if I did quit," he murmured against her forehead. "I'd never be
able to do it without you." 

"Do what?" she asked him, sniffling. 

"Anything. Everything. Oh God, will I ever make it without you?"  that
was the second time he'd said it and Scully realized that it was all
she needed to hear. 

"Let's hope not," she replied. "because I need you, too." 

*****

Midway through the evening, he cellphone burred at her from her jacket
pocket. "Alright, alright..." she mumbled sourly. Gripping the Nokia
tightly in her fist, she punched the 'Answer' button and growled into
it. 

"Fowley," she muttered. 

"Uh, Diana?" the voice said insecurely. "Is it a bad time?" 

It's always a bad time... but instead she said "No, why?" 

"I just wanted to thank you for what you did for me today. You saved
my partnership. It was a big favor I asked of you and I just wanted to
say... thanks a lot." 

"Hey, I know." she replied sweetly. "Anything for you. Just holler if
you need any more favors, okay? I'll be right here for you." 

"Oh. Um, thanks." 

"Not a problem, Fox." And she terminated the call. "Looks like they
fell for it," she told the smoky room. 

"You've gained his friendship and trust, I see," a voice said. "That's
good. That's very good." 

"I know," she replied. "but I'm telling you, he isn't easily
manipulated. She's on to me. She knows who I'm with, she's just too
caught up in him to mention it." 

"Then," the man said, blowing a cloud of smoke in her face. "we just
have to make sure it stays that way, don't we?" 

***** 
the end