From: "Laura Sprys" <short_and_cute@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 09:59:31 PST
Subject: Miles To Go (story submission)

L. Sprys (a.k.a. short_and_cute@hotmail.com) 
                   previously ac4320@wayne.edu

Safe for all to read. Friendship with a good dose of romance hinted at.

They're Not Mine. Creative license is a beautiful thing. 

Summation: Enjoy this humorous and humidity-filled detour into the 
lives of the great Scully and Mulder as they attempt to sort through 
what's left of their basement world.  

Notes: This was actually written in August but leave it to school to interfere
with its posting. I was curious to see how many subtle (or not so subtle)
past show references I could make. I guess I found out. 

I miss the Canadian accents on the show. Oh well, I guess now I'll have
to trek the incredibly long ten minutes to the Ambassador Bridge so I
can hear them. [seeing as I live in Detroit, MI and all ;) ]

I also know a lot has happened since I finished this, namely the new season,
but bear with me because I really don't feel like revamping the entire thing. 
Thanks.


Miles To Go 


"Regressing back to your childhood Scully?"

Giving Mulder the eyebrow, "what makes you ask that?"

Attempting to suppress a grin and not succeeding, "because
I thought most people stopped dressing in cutoffs and 
sneakers without socks when they were twelve."

Glancing down at her wardrobe, Scully tilted her head and 
shrugged, "I guess old habits die hard. Besides, it's 
Monday, August and ninety-four degrees out. Socks would 
make my feet hot."

"You without socks is making me hot."

"Then get out of the line of fire. I figure we have two
weeks of vacation to get this office cleaned up and 
back in order," she picked up a trash bag stuffed with
burned papers and other charred articles, "I'm not 
about to dress FBI style to scrub floors and repaint
walls." After depositing the bag in the hall, Scully 
stood in the door for a moment, "shouldn't the janitors
or somebody be doing this anyway."

Mulder sat back on his heels, sweat dripping off his 
forehead, "I asked Skinner to leave everything alone until
the place calmed down a bit."

Wiping a blackened hand across her cheek, "they could 
have at least opened a window, maybe brought a fan down
here. It has been awhile."

"But Scully, that would have given the illusion that 
someone upstairs liked us. If that happened," putting 
his hands together, imitating a silent explosion, "chaos,
pure and utter chaos." Grinning in her direction, "frozen
a little too long weren't we?"

"You. You are going to get it." She whipped a black chunk
that used to be a stapler in his direction. "I never
want to be reminded of that again, thank you very much."

Mulder got up and went to stand in front of Scully, 
"I'm sorry. At least I got you warmed up again, didn't I?"

Scully let her head fall on Mulder's chest for just a 
moment, "well, we couldn't let them win, now could we." 
She butted her head against him, shoving him backwards, 
"get back to work you lazy bum, before I have to do
something drastic."

He leered at her, "like what?"

Handing him an empty trash bag, "put my socks back on."

Mulder immediately began shoving things into the bag, 
"perish the thought."

***********

"Mulder, we've been at this all day." Scully slouched 
against the door jamb, "I say we get out of here and go
find a giant double dipped chocolate mint ice cream 
waffle cone."

He looked up from the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet
he was sifting through, "you make my mouth water but I'd 
like to finish this drawer first."

She came over to stand next to him, "is there anything 
worth saving?"

"Well, there's some stuff that's only burned around the
edges and still readable while other chunks disintegrate
at my touch." He held up a portion to demonstrate, "I
know it's slow going page by page, but I'd like to get
what I can before we leave."

Scully looked around at the now bare walls, stripped of 
their posters, clippings, photos and other assorted Mulder 
junk. Her eyes fell to the place of honor that had once 
held Mulder's mantra, 'I Want To Believe'. It's remains, 
along with the contents of his desk and a few other 
salvageable things, were now sitting quietly in cardboard
boxes by the door, waiting to be taken home. "Why don't we
pack up this cabinet and take it with us.  We can sort 
through it back at my house after we get something to eat."

Mulder followed her gaze to the bare spot on the wall, 
pausing for a moment, then nodding slowly, "I could go
for that ice cream." Holding out his hand toward Scully,
"hand me that other box will you?"

Slowly they placed the remains of their work into two
packing crates, carefully trying not to jostle anything
in the process. With that done, they began loading up 
the dolly they had borrowed from the broom closet down
the hall. Along with the two crates of files and the 
boxes of personal things, they also had two cartons of 
books from the shelves and the contents of the card 
catalogue whose exterior had been burned but the 
precious cross referencing inside had remained intact.

When finished with that, Mulder pushed the cart out into
the hall, closing and locking the door behind him. "At
least Skinner was kind enough to get us a new door. 
Granted that doesn't seem to have stopped them before 
but for some reason it still makes me feel better."

Scully reached out and took Mulder's hand gently, "come
on. I need ice cream and I need it now."

Mulder grinned back, squeezing her hand, "now if I recall
correctly, it's your treat, yes?"

Heaving an exaggerated sigh, "fine. But if this breaks me
Mulder, you get to pay my rent."

"I can deal with that." He pulled both her and the cart
onto the elevator, "although you do know I'm a pig when
it comes to ice cream."

Scully stared him straight in the eye and in a deadpan 
voice, "I know."

Both burst out laughing simultaneously as the door opened 
onto the main floor, revealing a surprised looking Skinner.
Scully saw him first and tried to hide her laughter but 
only succeeded in producing a snort that echoed off the walls 
of the elevator. "Glad to see you both in such a good mood."

Mulder glanced down at Scully's red face, "we're trying sir.
We thought we'd knock off for the day. It's really too hot 
to be working down there today."

Scully cut in, "we figured we'd take some of the stuff home 
and weed through it there. If that's alright?"

"That's fine Scully. Remember, you two don't have to stay 
down there. I've got a perfectly good office waiting for 
you upstairs."

Mulder smiled but shook his head, "thanks, but I feel more
comfortable downstairs. We couldn't keep up our reputations
as 'Spooky' if we actually had an office above ground."

Scully nodded in agreement, "that's right sir. Plus, with us
so near to civilization, the gossip mongerers wouldn't be 
allowed to talk about us so freely. We couldn't take their 
entertainment away, now could we?"

"No, I guess you couldn't." Skinner shook his head in their
direction but amusement glimmered in his eyes, "you two 
never cease to amaze me. Sometimes I think you actually
enjoy stirring up things for the typing pool to talk about."

Mulder pulled the cart past his boss, still grinning, "well
you know sir, gossip makes the world go 'round."

While Skinner waited for the doors of the elevator to close,
he saw and heard the final exchange as Mulder and Scully 
walked down the hall, causing him to laugh out loud.

"Nice snort Scully."

After cuffing her partner on the back of the head, "see if 
I ever buy you ice cream again."

!@#!@#!@#!@#!@#

Once they had loaded everything into their cars, Scully's
hair was lying in wet tendrils across her forehead and
Mulder's shirt was sticking to his back. Leaning across 
the top of Scully's car, he asked, "I know a person can 
spontaneously combust but is it possible for one to melt?"

She threw a lopsided grin at him, "there's always a first 
for everything." She motioned for him to get in his car, 
"follow me to the Dairy Queen. It's right around the corner
from my house. If you get lost," sticking her tongue out 
at him, "I'll come looking for you after I finish my cone."

Opening his car door and waving goodbye, "just tell them to
look for the car with the puddle of Mulder in the driver's
seat. See you in a few minutes." Driving on the beltway and
fighting tourists on all sides, he managed to make it to
the DQ just after Scully, who was already waiting in the 
line. He parked and ambled up next to her, moving as slow 
as humanly possible as not to make himself more hot. In a 
low voice, "can't you whip out that badge of yours and 
demand the front of the line?"

"I could, but I'm too hot to pull it out of my pocket." 
Suddenly she felt his hand reach around her and slip his 
fingers into her side pocket. 

Mulder stopped once his fingers were on the wallet, curious
as to just what she was going to do to him. He never 
thought she'd let him get this far. Since she didn't seem 
to be reacting, he realized he was stuck between a rock 
and a hard place. If he actually took out the ID, he'd feel
silly; if he removed his hand empty, he'd be beyond embarrassed
and if he left it there, he'd end up drawing back a bloody
stump. While contemplating his choices, Scully turned
slowly around with a twinkle in her eye and whispered softly, 

"I realize you're living in fear at the next move you make. 
Either you'll feel stupid, embarrassed or excruciating pain 
because you think I'll rip your arm off. Allow me to 
alleviate your fears. Reach around the ID and pull out the
money. It'll look like that's what you were going to do 
in the first place. Fair enough."

Mulder let out a sigh of relief and Scully had to struggle 
to hold in her laughter. He withdrew his hand, giving the 
money over to Scully with a sheepish smile, "thanks. Sorry,
I just didn't think any further than the actual idea. I 
figured you would have turned around and clocked me a good one."

Raising an eyebrow, "do you still want me to?"

Scrunching his eyes shut, waiting for the blow, "no, but I 
probably deserve it."

Shaking her head at him in amusement, she took his hand and 
pulled him forward, "do you want your usual?"

Still expecting to be pounded by Scully, he continued to cringe,
wondering how many times she had hit him and if he really 
did have a usual way. He hesitatingly answered, "okay."

Turning to the woman behind the counter, "he wants a banana 
split with vanilla and jamocha, topped with M&M's and walnuts,
and I'll have a double dipped chocolate mint waffle cone." 
She looked back at Mulder, who was now regarding her with big 
eyes, "what, did you think I had a favorite way of hitting you?"

Mulder shook his head slowly and shrugged his shoulders, 
"I mean, we have been together for six years."

Scully laughed, "which is the exact reason I know your 
favorite dessert. Besides, you didn't do anything to provoke
a hitting." Handing him his dish of ice cream, "at least 
nothing I didn't enjoy." She paid the woman and walked toward
the car, climbing onto the shaded hood. 

He walked just behind her, thinking of a few other things she
might enjoy. Mulder stood in front of her, regarding her 
over his quickly melting treat, "truth or heatstroke?"

Scully continued to lick her cone, a look of contentment on 
her face, "the truth is out there Mulder, remember. You just
have to know where to look."

Taking a giant spoonful of his dessert, "now where have
I heard that before?"

"If I recall correctly, it was about two days before I came
busting into your hotel room asking if I had been abducted."

Mulder smiled at this and held out a spoonful to Scully, who
swallowed it hungrily. "You know Mulder," holding out her
cone to him, "we're defying convention by eating dessert
before dinner. My mother'd scream at me if she were here."

Taking a giant slurp off the top, "yeah, I know. But we 
deserve to stray from the beaten path every once in awhile."

She regarded him with a critical eye, "our entire lives are 
off the beaten path. Technically, we're just doing what we 
normally would have anyway."

"Exactly."

"You know what. Conversations with you tend to resemble a 
merry-go-round. Taking me in circles until we've arrived at 
the same point we started. Only you end up grinning because
you've gotten me to agree and I have a pounding headache 
from the circuitous logic. It almost doesn't seem fair."

"Then why are you smiling?"

Taking a bite of her ice cream, "because you are."

Mulder reached over and wiped a drip off her chin, "just
like a little kid."

"According to you, I am dressed for the part."

"And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way." He
climbed up onto the hood next to her, "do you think we'll
be able to salvage anything from the files we brought 
with us?"

"I really have no idea." Her eyes focused on some unseen 
object off in the distance, "We can still run them through 
imaging, see if they can be pieced together that way. Plus,
there're the reports on my computer at home," turning her 
head slowly and looking at him out of the corner of her eye,
"along with all the little bits of evidence you pilfer from 
the files and hide in unknown corners of your desk."

Pausing from his inhalation of ice cream, "you weren't 
supposed to know about those corners."

"Just like I wasn't supposed to know about all those videos
in the drawer that weren't yours," raising an eyebrow at him.

"I respectfully decline from comment to that statement." 
Scraping the bottom of his plastic dish, "moving onto bigger
and less embarrassing things, do you think I should go home and
see what I can dig up there?"

Offering her last bite of cone to Mulder, "I'd say, in the 
interest of space and confusion, we wait until we've 
sifted through what we have with us, then move on from there."

Mulder opened his mouth and she tossed the bottom of the 
cone in. Chewing thoughtfully for a moment, then swallowing
and hopping off the hood, he held out his hand to Scully,
"then I say, let the sifting begin." He helped her to the
ground and she suddenly leaned toward him, telling him in
a quiet voice,

"There's two older people sitting over on that bench who 
have been watching us since we came over here. What do 
you think?"

Mulder looked over his shoulder and turned back with a boyish
grin on his face, "I'd say they think we make a very nice 
couple who decided to go out for ice cream because it's 214 
degrees in this fine city of ours."

Still rather skeptical, "and how would you know something
like that?"

"Because when we walked by I heard the woman say to her
husband, 'my, what a lovely young couple'."

She swatted him on the shoulder, "you rotten piece of 
. . . stuff."

He burst out laughing, "stuff, Scully. Trying to give 
up swearing?"

Scully pointed at his car, "it's entirely too humid to swear.
Now go. See you in a minute."

As she closed her door, she could still hear him muttering 
'stuff. That's a good one'.

@#@$#%##$##%#

As Scully was pulling out of the DQ, her cell phone rang. 
Looking over her shoulder, she saw Mulder behind her with 
his phone at his ear. Shaking her head, she pushed the on 
button to her phone, "yeah."

"Didn't anybody ever teach you to say hello?"

"Only when it wasn't you. Did you forget how to get to my
house already?"

Laughing, "no, I could get there with my eyes shut. I was 
just wondering if you wanted me to stop and pick up some 
subs. It'll be a hell of a lot easier and cooler than 
making actual food."

"Ohhh, good idea."

"Alrighty. See you in a little while. Bye." Mulder drove 
past Scully, making the Vulcan symbol with his hand in 
salute.

She couldn't help but smile. As she turned the corner 
onto her street, Scully could only hope that he would 
remember not to get turkey on her sandwich. 

#@^$#@$#%$

Fifteen minutes later, Mulder pulled up in front of the
complex. He struggled toward the front door with the bag
of sandwiches as well as a two-liter of ice tea and a 
bulk bag of Ruffles potato chips. Scully opened the door
just as he reached the stoop, the first thing out of 
her mouth being, "no turkey?"

"No, no turkey. Will you grab this ice tea before it hits
the ground? I don't think my heart could take such a 
tragedy."

Scully reached out to take the bottle as well as the 
sandwiches, "let me just dump these in the fridge and we
can bring in the boxes from the cars."

When she re-emerged from the apartment, Mulder was 
already trudging back with two of the crates. As he walked
by, "if there's air conditioning in that house, it 
could be love."

After carting everything in, Scully was roasting and Mulder,
well, Mulder shut the door with his foot and immediately 
laid down in front of the air conditioning vent, kicking 
off his shoes on his way to the floor. Scully stood 
looking down at him, "do you feel like eating?"

A mumbled reply came from the relaxed figure, "too hot, 
inards have boiled away, can't digest, much heat created,
need to stay still, must soak up all cold air available."

Scully reached over, turning off the light, creating a 
cave of semi-darkness. She pulled her shoes off as well,
dropping down next to Mulder. Before she fell asleep, 
"thank you for getting dinner."

As he drifted off next to her, "anything for air 
conditioning . . . and for you."

%$@^$%#@#@@

A little over an hour later, Scully was hovering in that 
stage between 'I'm asleep' and 'I have to go to the bathroom'.
Debating whether she really wanted to move from her position
on the floor, Mulder decided for her. He suddenly flung his
arm over her back, startling her. She picked her head up, 
about to holler at him, when she realized he was still asleep.
Scully had to smile, seeing that sometime in the last hour,
Mulder had turned from his stomach and was now laying 
spread eagle on his back, arms and legs sprawled in every 
direction. Slipping quietly from under his arm, Scully made
her way to the bathroom. When she re-emerged a minute 
later, she went directly to her closet and grabbed her 
Polaroid camera. Feeling rather sneaky and loving every 
minute of it, she stood at Mulder's feet, turning the 
camera in order to get the best angle. A moment later, she
snapped the picture, waking Mulder up with the flash.

"What the hell?" He focused his bleary eyes on Scully, then
he shouted, "no, not without my make up on. I must look 
hideous." He shielded his face with his hands, pretending
to sob, "now my career is ruined."

By now, Scully was forced to stop taking the photos, 
laughter causing the camera to shake, although she did 
manage to get in four or five priceless shots. 
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist."

Mulder picked up the pictures off the floor, "well, you know
what they say, resistance is futile. And where do you plan
on hanging these disgustingly real and unedited shots of 
me? In that secret shrine I just know you have under your
bed."

Walking into the kitchen, she glanced over her shoulder, 
"you mean the one I refer to as Mulderland. You're wrong,
that one's in the closet. My shrine to Leonard Nimoy 
and William Shatner is under my bed."

Following her into the kitchen to get the sandwiches, 
"there's no denying it. You have just become, with that 
statement, Mrs. Spooky."

Handing him a plate, "I will deny nothing."

Mulder poured himself a tall glass of ice tea and handed
Scully hers, "so, what do you really plan on doing with 
those pictures."

"I figured they'd go on our new wall right underneath the
poster. I think I'll caption the spread eagle one with 
'I knew he slept' and maybe the others with 'fashion god' 
and 'damn!!!'."

"Just you wait. One day, I'll catch you and there will be
no stopping the flash bulb then, baby. Don't know where, 
don't know when, but I'll get you." Carrying his food to 
the coffee table and plunking down on the carpet, "maybe 
I'll immortalize your drooling on a stakeout or I'll just
wait until you're eating another bug."

Scully grinned and sat down next to him, "you're loving 
this aren't you?'

His emphatic 'Oh, yeah!!' was muffled by the sandwich in 
his mouth but the look on his face was priceless and Scully 
couldn't let such a photo op pass her by. 

@^%$^%@#^$^@

Awhile later, after he and Scully had cleaned up, Mulder 
stood at the kitchen table, admiring the pictures he had 
taken. One of Scully with lettuce in her hair after their
vegetable war had erupted. Another of her staring dead on 
at the camera with a green pepper on her nose. A third, taken in
the midst of the battle and at a dizzying angle, of Mulder's 
hand rubbing tomato into her cheek. The fourth, his
favorite by far, was of both of them in a heap on the 
floor, grinning and looking generally pleased with 
themselves, covered in the remains of their dinner. 

Scully walked up behind him, "you know. The wall may not 
be big enough. We just might have to expand. Have the 
'I Want To Believe' wall and a 'I Don't Believe This' wall,
dedicated to us not being typical us."

Mulder turned and cocked his head to one side, "I like
us."

"Good, 'cause I think you've realized that I'm not going 
anywhere."

He pulled the end of her ponytail as she walked back into
the living room, "you know, I think I just might be able
to wrangle us two desks."

"You'd better or I'll be forced to take over yours and 
make you work on the floor next to the rats."

Settling down next to the nearest box, Mulder made a 
horrible face, "why'd you have to bring Krychek into it." 

$@#^#$%#$%#%$

Pulling out another handful from the file box on the floor
next to him, Mulder set it gently on the table in front of
him. Glancing at his watch, he realized it was almost ten.
"Hey Scully, it's almost ten. Do you want me to get out 
of here?"

She looked up from the box of books she was rifling 
through, "why?"

"I don't know. I just don't want to keep you awake," 
dropping his head in embarrassment "or from anything else
you might maybe have planned for tonight."

Scully sat up, straightening her shoulders, "what? Like a 
date. Do you really think I would still be sitting on the 
floor, smelling like I do and covered in grime, if I had 
someplace else to be." She smiled in his direction, "besides,
if I actually had a date, I'd spend the entire time 
wondering about these," indicating the boxes around them, 
"so why not stay here with cool air, comfortable clothes 
and good company."

"So you think I'm good company?"

Throwing his old adage back at him, "it's plausible that 
someone thinks you're good company."

"Good, then I'm going to stretch out my welcome. Would you 
mind if I take a shower? The smell is starting to 
bother me."

"It is getting a little ripe in here, isn't it?"

"You don't exactly smell of greatness either Scully. Why 
don't you come in with me, conserve water, save the 
environment, that sort of thing? What do you think?"

She laughed and pushed past Mulder, grabbing some towels out 
of the linen closet, along with an old t-shirt and a pair 
of jean shorts he had left in her trunk awhile back, and handing 
them to him, "I think maybe the heat really did get to you.
Just make sure you rinse down the tub when you're done." 

Scully began walking down the hall back to the living room
when Mulder stuck his head out the door, "you'll miss me 
though, right?"

She turned, giving him one of those rare, relaxed grins that
he loved, "always Mulder. Always."

%^$#@%$#^

Scully stood listening to the splash of the shower for a 
moment. She hadn't realized just how comfortable they had 
become with each other until that moment. It was one thing 
to put your life in someone else's hands but it was quite 
another to have them using your shampoo and washcloth. She 
shook off the funky feelings that suddenly barreled into her 
head and stomach. Turning toward the living room again, it
occurred to her that she hadn't felt this calm in a long 
time. Maybe Mulder standing stark naked in her shower wasn't
such a bad thing after all. Agreeing with herself 
whole-heartedly, she sat down to begin filtering through the 
contents of the floppy disks that hadn't melted.

$@%^$#%$#

Mulder peeled off his clothes and automatically tossed them
into the hamper. He really did stink, how could Scully have 
wrestled with him without retching. Then again, that woman 
did have a stomach made of cast iron. Shaking his head in 
amusement, he glanced around the room. Bubble bath, shampoo,
Kleenex, bra, toilet paper -- Mulder's eyes swung back 
around, landing on a lace bra hanging from the shower rod, 
partially obscured by the curtain. He laughed silently, 
imagining her face if she knew it was in here. Not that he 
hadn't seen her completely naked but under those 
circumstances, he was too concerned to have paid any 
attention. Now he just reached up and removed the enticing 
object, placing it on top of the hamper. Climbing into the 
shower, he realized he was standing where Scully stood 
every morning. A contented feeling spread over him; he'd have
to shower here more often.

%#^%$$%&

About fifteen minutes later, Mulder came wandering into the 
living room, rubbing his head vigorously with a towel. 
Scully looked up in time to have a damp towel flung at her.
"You know, I could learn to love that bathroom. The grout
in your tile is actually white and there aren't any 
mysterious plants growing out of the wall."

Scully got up and paused in front of him, "since I don't
know whether to be flattered or disgusted, I'll just accept
it as fact and go clean myself up. I can't have you 
smelling better than me, now can I?"

Mulder leaned over and sniffed the air around her, "hurry 
please. I think my nose hairs are beginning to curl."

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

"You know it's true."

As Scully closed the bathroom door, "you're right."

%$#&$%$^

By ten-thirty, Scully had made her way back to the living 
room, combing her hair as she walked. She stopped short once
she walked around the couch. Without her there to control
the chaos Mulder had a tendency to create, he had managed
to spread things across her entire living room. "Good 
Lord Mulder, it's been fifteen minutes. How can you create
such havoc in fifteen minutes?"

He glanced up, "practice my dear, practice. By the way, 
can I borrow that comb?"

Scully regarded her partner's head, handing him the comb,
"why didn't you do that before. When it was still wet and
had some kind of chance of laying down."

Mulder patted his head, "it's sticking up isn't it?"

Smiling, "in every conceivable direction."

He handed the comb back to Scully, "then why even try." 
Standing up next to her, sniffing the air, "I think you're
wearing my favorite perfume."

"And what would that be, 'Ode to Clean'?"

"No," with a twinkle in his eye, "'Ode to Scully.'"

Turning red and ducking her head, "you have got to be the 
most exasperating person I know."

"I just call 'em as I see 'em. Or in this case, smell 'em."

"What am I going to do with you?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew what the 
response would be and she was right. "Scully, Scully, Scully,
you can do with me what ever your little heart desires."

"I have a habit of walking into these things, don't I?"

Sitting back down behind his numerous piles, "makes you all
the more fun to hang around with, doc. Come on, you smell 
wonderful, now sit and help me."

She sat as ordered, beginning her exploration of Mulder's
desk.

%$#%$#%$#

Mulder had finished the drawer he had been working on and
moved onto the next, only to discover that there was almost
nothing salvagable in this one. He laid his head back on 
the couch and sighed in a mixture of frustration and 
annoyance. Scully glanced over at him, "ran into some 
problems, huh?"

Looking at the black piles on the table, "you could say that.
The bottom drawer had some useful stuff in it but this one
is pretty much useless. Can't figure out a damn thing."

"Do you want to switch with me for a while? I'm mean, it is
your desk, you should probably be going through it."

Giving her a small smile, "no. I'm afraid to go through that
stuff. Who knows what could be living in there." Pulling 
himself onto the couch behind him, "I could go for a walk 
though."

"If you're tired, we can stop. We do have some time to do 
this."

Shaking his head, "not tired, just, I don't know, I can feel 
a depression slash paranoia attack coming on. I just need to
get away from this for a minute." Pointing to the pile, 
"this was Sam's drawer."

Shoving her feet into her sneakers, and holding out her hand
to Mulder, heaving him off the couch, "mind if I come along?"

Pulling his shoes on and opening the front door, "never. 
Just make sure to grab a key. I'd hate to have to break 
into your house."

"Good point," picking up her keys off the counter, "I don't
think the super will pay for any more damages to this
place."

%$#@%$#%$#%$

The two walked in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the 
not-so-sweltering night air. Mulder saw a flash in the sky 
and for a moment was extremely confused until Scully spoke,
"heat lightening. I haven't seen that in a long time."

"Lightening? There's no thunder though." Mulder stopped 
suddenly, spinning her around, "when does that Oswald kid
get out of the hospital again?"

Scully groaned, causing Mulder to stick his tongue out at
her, "you seem to have shed that potentially bad mood."

Both resumed their slow stroll down the street. "It wasn't 
a bad mood, just an odd moment I didn't feel like dwelling
on. I wouldn't even be going through all that crap but 
I want to know if he took any of the files. I need to know 
if he has yours or Sam's."

"Why is it so important? I mean, I know why your sister's
is but why mine. We have the copies."

By now, Mulder was walking so close to her that their
shadows, cast by the street lights, had merged into one. 
In trying to answer her question, his throat seemed to have
constricted and she had to strain to hear, "if yours is
missing, then they may be planning something else for you.
It may sound selfish but I couldn't go though that again."
He slipped his arm around Scully's shoulders and gave her 
a squeeze, releasing her a moment later. Glancing down, he 
noticed the single tear that had escaped and rolled down 
her cheek. This time he stopped her, staring straight into 
her eyes, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." 

"Well, Mulder, you did. But I know you didn't mean to." She
wiped away the tear, "oh, hell. It's a perfectly fine, if
not muggy, evening. I say we continue with our walk and 
ignore our lives for a few minutes. What do you think?"

Pushing the hair back from her forehead, Mulder winked at 
her, "me thinks that's a very good idea." Taking her hand, 
they continued to walk though the neighborhood. 

"Do you realize what time it is Mulder?"

"Ask me if it really matters."

"Does it really matter?"

"Not in the slightest. Because I am on vacation, you are 
on vacation, hopefully after the last few weeks, every bad
guy in our government is on vacation as well. Therefore,
it really doesn't matter if it's 11:30 in the morning or
11:30 at night because we are, say it with me now,"

Simultaneously, "on vacation."

"Very good Scully."

"How did you know it was 11:30?"

"I looked at my watch just before you asked."

"You know the meaning of the word incorrigible Mulder?"

#^%$%^$&

After circling a few blocks, they ended up back in front of
the house, sitting down on the front stoop. "Are you 
getting tired Scully?"

"Honestly Mulder, I feel more awake now than I did this 
morning. The same thing used to happen when I was a kid. 
I'd sleep during the afternoon when it was hot out, then 
I'd stay up late at night. I think I got a kick out of 
knowing I was one of the few people up, so I could pretty
much do what I wanted to. Control the remote, read, draw, 
sit on the back porch; summer nights were my favorite time 
of day."

Mulder kicked off his shoes and pulled off his socks, 
setting them on the step, "one of the best things about
summer at my house was mom never made me put shoes on," 
wriggling his toes at Scully, "my feet were meant to be 
free."

Scully yanked off her sneakers in response, "I couldn't 
have put it better myself." Looking over at him, "do you
find this relaxing?"

"What?"

"Sitting here, barefoot with me, on my front stoop at
midnight on a Monday night."

"Of the few times in my life that I have felt comfortable,
this is by far the best of them all." He paused for a 
moment, then, "can I tell you something else?"

Scully butted him with her shoulder, "why do I feel a huge
confession coming on?"

He laughed, "it's nothing like that. It's just that I feel
my best when I'm with you, regardless of if it's in some
roach infested warehouse or loitering on your front porch
at midnight."

"Thanks." Glancing around at the quiet buildings and houses,
"although from the sounds of it, we aren't the only ones up."

Mulder cocked his head, listening, "what is that anyway?"

"The kids in the house behind here have a trampoline. They 
have a tendency to stay up till all hours as well."

Mulder grimaced at the thought, "uugggh. Trampolines make 
me ill; they remind me too much of boats. I guess, along
with the need for eye glasses and the tendency to be abducted,
you'll have to add sea-sickness to my nearly flawless
genetic make-up."

Scully laughed when she saw her partner begin to turn 
green around the gills, "don't worry Mulder. At least you
can ride a merry-go-round, I could never manage that 
without throwing up." She stood up, grabbing both hers 
and Mulder's shoes, "come on, my green friend. I'm hungry
and I want to see what there is to eat."

He held the door for her, "it ain't easy bein' green, let 
me tell you."

%^#%$#%^^&

Mulder sat down in front of the table again with renewed 
energy, either from his walk with Scully or from the sugar
in the two pieces of sweet potato pie he had eaten. Either
way, he began digging through his pile again.

Scully sat as well, still savouring the taste of the pie 
in her mouth. Since the contents of the desk had essentially
been dumped into boxes, she wasn't sure what she was going
to find. The first desk box she had worked her way through 
didn't have much of anything important: just a few back 
issues of 'Lone Gunman', video catalogues, gnawed on 
pencils, pens, crayons (she had smiled when she found 
those - wondering just what Mulder did when she wasn't there)
and other non-pertinent stuff. Mulder had given her free
reign to do what she pleased, so most of this found its 
way into the trashcan next to her. 

The second, however, showed some improvement. Along with 
the chewed pencils and various computer manuals, she also 
found case notes that could prove useful. Putting them aside
to read later, she reached in and pulled out a blue book.
Opening it curiously, she was confronted with her own 
handwriting. It was the journal she had kept while her and 
Mulder were on the U.S.S.Ardent. Glancing through the pages, 
"Mulder. Why wasn't this in with the files?"

He glanced up and leaned over next to her, "what?" Holding 
it up for him to see, "oh. I don't know. It just landed 
there when we got back and I never got around to putting 
it away." He peered into the box, "anything else in there?"

Scully reached in again, pulling out a wad of old Kleenex. 
Wrinkling her nose, "Lord, Mulder. Use a trash can like the
rest of the free world." 

Taking it from her and dumping it into the wastebasket, 
"it's only snot Scully."

"It's only bile Mulder."

"But bile is disgusting."

Shaking her head, "I give up." Sticking her hand back in 
the box, "you've got to be kidding me."

She handed Mulder a videotape. He turned it over and began 
to laugh, "what, I told you I was watching 'The World's 
Deadliest Swarms'. Didn't you believe me?"

"In all honesty, no. I mean, if I were making sounds like
that,"

Mulder jumped in, "if you were making sounds like that 
what?"

"It would not be because I was being attacked by 
grasshoppers." 

This pretty much left Mulder speechless, unable to come back
with a good retort. Shrugging his shoulders, he abandoned
his side of the table, sidling up next to her, "what other 
goodies are in that hurricane of junk?"

"Let's see. How about a Japanese-English Dictionary that 
you were supposed to return two years ago? Research has 
been looking for this, you know."

"Damn. Guess I won't be brushing up on my Japanese."

"Mulder, you don't know any Japanese."

"I do too. I know three words."

"And if I recall, those three words almost got us killed
. . . twice."

Tossing the book onto the return pile, "good point. My yen
to learn Japanese has just disintegrated." Pointing back 
to the box, "let's see what else my supposedly flawless
mind has forgotten I hid in there."

She reached in again, "if I come across one article of Elvis
memorabilia, I may be forced to go postal."

"Don't worry, I keep all that stuff at home. Do you really 
think I'd bring my vintage velvet Elvis to the office?"

"Heaven forbid." Bringing her hand back out, she handed him 
an oblong gold metal object, "do I really want to know?"

Taking it from her, "well, this is the thingy I found in the
cable box that was driving everybody loopy."

"Would you care to explain the scientific nature of being
loopy," grinning in remembrance of such a question.

"I can't do it without the guys." He reached for the phone,
"why don't I call them up, get them over here. I'm sure
Frohike wouldn't mind."

Making a face, "I've already seen them in their pajamas.
I sure don't need that memory reawakened."

Puzzled, "when?"

"When we were with that Esther Nairn and you had already 
left. And then," she paused, not really knowing how to 
procede.

"Scully, you're turning red. Did you do something with 
Frohike that I should know about?"

"No." She wasn't sure if she should mention this but then 
she realized that Mulder was already curious and wouldn't
let the subject drop now. "I went back there again to 
ask about the brain scans of Gibson."

Mulder stared at her curiously, "why would that embarrass
you? I mean, look what you managed to uncover."

"That's not all I went over there for." Scully ducked her
head down, praying fervently that a hole would open in
the floor, "I went to ask about Diana Fowley."

Mulder's heart jumped but he asked in a calm, quiet voice,
"why?"

Still not looking up, "because I wanted to know her story 
and I figured the guys would know."

"How come you didn't ask me?"

She turned to look at him, "because I was afraid of what 
you might tell me and I couldn't bear to hear it from you."

Mulder slid up behind her, putting his arms around her, "and
what didn't you want to hear?"

"That you still loved her and wanted her back." By now, 
Scully's voice was beginning to crack and she wriggled 
forward out of Mulder's arms, still not turning around, 
"I didn't want the rug pulled out from under me without 
my knowledge. I didn't want to be relegated to some corner
somewhere, overshadowed by someone who makes your life 
easier."

Mulder put both hands on her shoulders, "I'd never do that 
to you, do you understand. When Diana and I were together, 
I was just beginning with the X-files. We agreed on 
everything but I came to realize that she wasn't what I 
needed or wanted.  You make me work for my ideas and because
of that, I'm a better person than I ever could have been 
with her. In fighting me tooth and nail for the past six 
years, you've re-created me in countless ways. I owe you 
everything for that." He pulled gently on her shoulders and 
she leaned back on his chest. Looking down at her, he kissed
her forehead, "now, as long as we can keep you away from 
swarming insects, I think life can only get better from here."

Scully sat up, turning sheepishly, "thanks for letting me 
run my half mile of insecurity, paranoia and doubt. I 
feel better."

Mulder, grinning in his special Mulder way, "that half mile is 
nothing compared to the marathons I've taken you on and 
you know  I've still got miles to go. How the hell do you put up 
with me any way?"

Scully leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "it's not hard,
once you get the hang of it." She slid forward again and
Mulder went back to his spot on the floor, "you could even
call it entertaining at times. Although I still say we 
could have done without the flukeman thing. That still makes
me ill."

Mulder knew she was rambling, giving herself time to 
recollect her thoughts and he gave her that, going back 
to his files. They worked in silence for a few minutes,
then Scully broke it with, 

"You big fat liar."

Mulder looked up, shocked, "what? What did I do?"

"You stole my copy of 'The Caligarian Candidate'?"

Trying to come up with a good defense, "I did not."

Opening the cover, "then why does it say 'Happy Birthday 
Dana. Love always, Mom.'?"

"Couldn't tell you. How 'bout I file it next to the case on
the cockroach the ate Cincinatti?"

Unable to contain her smile, "just admit you enjoy Chung 
and I'll let this one slide."

"Sure. Fine. Whatever."

^#&$#$%

"Getting tired Mulder?"

Letting out a yawn that nearly split his head in two, 
"what makes you ask that?"

Scully walked into the kitchen and turned off the light 
over the sink, "lucky guess. You want to stay here for the
night?" Looking at the stove clock, seeing that it said 3:14,
"or should I say the morning."

Mulder crawled over near the air vent, shoving boxes aside
as he went. Laying down in the cleared area, "I'll stay 
regardless of what time it is."

"Get up. The bed in the spare room will be much more 
comfortable."

Without opening his eyes, "you're talking to a man who 
spends his nights on a lumpy couch with a spring digging 
into his spine. This is heaven compared. Care to join me?"

"And why would I do that?"

Grinning up at her, "because everybody loves a camp out."

Giving in to defeat, "at least let me get my pillow."  She
walked into the bedroom, grabbed her pillow and opened 
the closed door. 

Mulder bolted upright when he heard her yell. Tearing into
the bedroom, he stopped short when he saw Scully standing
in the closet, a stunned look on her face. "What happened,"
he demanded.

"It's raining sleeping bags Mulder. I opened the closet and
they fell out off the top shelf." After a minute of quiet,
Scully said in a small voice, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog."

He burst out laughing. Grabbing one of the sleeping bags
and walking out to the living room, "suddenly I'm 
feeling rather chilly."

#^@$#%^#$
Back in the living room, Scully opened both sleeping bags 
all the way, placing one on top of the other. She then flopped
down on the makeshift bed, closing her eyes immediately. 
"Oh, damn."

Mulder tossed her pillow next to her, "is this what you're 
'oh, damning' about?"

Curling up on her side, "bless you."

Turning off the remaining lights, "just remember to say those
Hail Mulders for me. They seem to be working." Laying down
on his side of the 'bed', he put the other pillow from the
bedroom under his head, "you know what Scully?"

"What Mulder?" came the muffled reply.

"You've got the softest pillows in the world."

Scully opened one eye in his direction, "excuse me?"

Mulder suddenly turned red, realizing what his statement 
implied, "I'm going to shut up now. Good night Scully."

She scooted a little closer to him, "'night Mulder."

%$#&#&^%$#

A sudden flash jolted Mulder awake for the second time. He 
sat upright, thinking he would be forced to wrestle the 
camera out of Scully's hands. Opening his eyes, he only 
saw a dark room and Scully still sound asleep next to him. 
Then he heard the thunder that rumbled in the distance, 
followed by more lightning. Scully stirred, rolling onto her
side and opening her eyes. In a still more than sleepy voice,
"is that thunder?"

Mulder looked down at his partner, "yeah. I guess it was more
than heat lighting we saw. At least this should get rid of 
some of the humidity." He lay back down, turning on his back,
"I figured you were taking more of those insidious pictures
of me."

"As much as I'd love to plaster that face of yours everywhere,
I would not be so evil as to wake you up after only,"
glancing at her watch, "an hour and a half of sleep."

Yawning again, "well, I say we ignore the storm and get some
more shut eye. Granted this is a camp out and we are on 
vacation but I still enjoy more than two hours sleep." 

Scully turned her head towards him, "although you know, we 
forgot to play Truth or Dare."

Without opening his eyes, "who gets to play Madonna? I think 
you'd look better in the Viking cones but I've always 
wanted to wear a metal breast plate."

Suddenly he was caught in the onslaught of Scully's pillow.
Quick as a flash, she had sat on Mulder's stomach and was 
pummeling his head with her pillow. Instead of retaliating
immediately, all he could do was laugh. She got in one 
more good wail, then set her pillow down and started to 
slide off. 

Seeing his opportunity, Mulder turned, dumping her 
unceremoniously onto the floor. Throwing the sleeping bag
over her, he sat on top of the wriggling heap, listening to
the muffled protests from below. After a second, he leaned 
over, lifting the corner of the bag and peering inside, 
"what was that? I didn't quite catch the last part."

This time it was his turn to be pitched to the floor. Both lay
there, trying to catch their breath when suddenly Scully 
snorted again. Mulder propped himself up on his elbows, "you
really have watched 'Babe' one too many times."

Scully grinned in his direction, "better than watching 
'Truth or Dare'."

Sticking his finger in Scully's face, "that is a fine piece 
of cinematic art and don't you forget it."

Taking a bite at the end of his finger, "pardon me. Madonna 
is queen."

Mulder took his finger back, "that's better."

"You realize I'm lying through my teeth right now, don't 
you?"

"Of course." He looked over toward the window, "thunder's 
getting closer. I'd say one hell of a storm is coming."

Scully got up, "come on. Help me straighten this out." A
minute later, the bed was back in order and the rain was 
just beginning to pound on the window. 

^%*$%^^%&%^$^%$%&^%*%&^%(%^&%&^%*&%*^

Both lay there, quietly listening to the rain grow heavier.
The thunder continued to get louder, causing Scully to 
shudder. Seeing the shiver out of the corner of his eye,
Mulder asked softly, "you okay?"

Instead of the typical 'I'm fine and dandy, quit asking'
answer that he usually got, Scully rolled away from him 
onto her side, whispering, "no."

Mulder scooted up behind her, "why? What's wrong?" Another
round of cracking thunder cut off her response, causing her to 
scrunch up her eyes and ball up her fists. Getting no response, he
tried one more time, "hey, help me out here. I can't fix it if I 
don't know what's wrong." Still not answering, Scully just lay with
her eyes closed, jumping slightly as the next bout of thunder 
crashed through the sky. Suddenly he understood and without a 
word, put his hand on her waist and his mouth next to her ear. When
lightning streaked across the sky a moment later, Mulder began
counting quietly in her ear, "one one thousand, two one thousand."
His counting broke off when the thunder came, crackling and 
obnoxious, causing Scully to press back against him. He began 
counting again, this time her quaking voice joined him. Together, 
they counted off the thunder and lightning until the storm had 
begun to move away and the thunder lessened its boom. They lay
there in silence for a few minutes, while the rain tapered off. 

Scully shifted slightly, causing Mulder's hand to slide from her 
waist down to rest on her stomach. Since she didn't make a move
to return it to its original position, he figured she was asleep. 
Being completely awake, however, he began to ponder Scully's 
terror at the thunderstorm. He didn't even have time to form
a crackpot hypothesis, before he heard a small voice, "I used
to like storms. Dad and I would run around the house, looking
out of all the windows, vying for the best view. Mom would yell
at us about how if a tornado came, they'd be safe in the 
basement while me and dad would be sucked out of the house. 
We'd count, just like now, tracking the storm in our heads 
and when the count got to around four, we'd go out on the 
screen porch and watch from there. I'd be dripping wet by the 
time we came in. Melissa would roll her eyes, Bill would 
snicker, but mom, she would hand us towels and grin while 
wringing my hair out in the sink."

He tightened his grip for a moment, "then he came to your window,
took you out in that storm, thunder blocking out your calls
for help."

Scully buried a small sob in the back of her throat but Mulder heard 
the quick intake of breath, "he took so much that night and left me 
shaking like a little kid, who once laughed at storms and now 
cowers from them."

Mulder, so close that his breath tickled her ear, "you don't have to
cower  anymore. If anything tries to get you again, I'll just have to
bust 'em up."

This elicited a smile from Scully, "bust 'em up, huh. Watching one 
to many gangster movies again, I see."

"One can only watch Madonna for so long." Sitting up behind her,
"well, now that we're both awake, I've got an idea."

Scully turned onto her back, staring up at Mulder, "why do I think
this is not such a good thing."

He took her hands, pulling her up next to him, "come on, we're 
leaving. The rain's almost stopped."

"What? It's almost five in the morning. Where are we going?"

Tossing her shoes at her, "go brush your teeth. We've got
business to take care off."

Realizing she wasn't going to work an answer out of him, Scully
headed for the bathroom. Opening the medicine cabinet, she 
called to Mulder, who stuck his head in the door. Handing him
a toothbrush, "pumpkin breath isn't very attractive on 
either of us."

Taking the brush and standing behind Scully, looking in the
mirror over her head, "the taste isn't something to brag 
about either."

*(&^%(*&%&^(

"If you're taking me back to Atlantic City, I may be forced to
kill you."

Mulder smiled, "no Jersey devils today, I promise. Although 
gambling may be involved."

Shaking her head, "I don't want to know, do I?"

"I think you can handle the truth."

"Oh lord."

"No, Mulder. But some have considered me a god."

"One of these days Mulder, you're going to give me a straight
answer and I'm going to fall over in shock."

"It's that whole circuitous logic thing going on, I can't help it."

"So where are we going?"

Mulder pulled the car to a stop, "here."

Scully peered out the window, "Denny's. You brought me to
a Denny's."

He walked around to open Scully's door for her, "at least 
we know you're literate. Come on, it'll be fun."

"People don't come to Denny's, Mulder. They end up there."

"Will you get out of the car if I tell you I'm buying?"

Scully immediately stood up next to him, "of course. 
I love Denny's"

He looked down at her confusedly, "then why did you give 
me such a hard time?"

"It's fun." She turned and began walking into the restaurant
with Mulder close behind. Holding the door open for him, 
"besides, how else can I get a free meal out of you?"

Seeing the sign telling them to seat themselves, they both
turned and headed for a corner booth. The waitress came by 
a moment later, handing them menus. Mulder skimmed his, 
finding his usual quickly. Looking up to see if Scully had
decided, he found her smiling at him. Wondering if he had 
something hanging out his nose, "what?"

"I won," she said quietly, savoring the words on her tongue.
"I beat you at your own game."

It suddenly dawned on him what was going on, "no. No you 
didn't, you couldn't have." He replayed the conversation 
in his head, "oooh, you did. But it doesn't count. I've 
only had two hours sleep. How can I be expected to come up
with a snappy retort when you kept me up all night?"

Scully opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again, "do
you ever concede defeat Mulder?"

Furrowing his brow, "just once. When I was seven, I told my
mom I wouldn't eat my lima beans for dinner. She made me 
sit alone at the table until almost ten. Finally I gave in, 
eating those horrible slimy things just so I could get my 
numb ass off the chair." He stared at Scully's pouting lip 
for a moment, knowing his resolve was cracking, "okay, okay.
I'll admit, you win."

Scully leaned over the table, kissing him on the cheek, 
"thank you." Settling back down on her side of the booth 
like nothing had happened, "so, how much do I get to spend?"

Breaking into a huge grin, "anything. Sky's the limit."

"Cute and generous. A deadly combination if not handled with
the proper care."

"I should be saying the same thing about you."

"Touché." Scully looked at the menu for a minute, "I can 
get anything I want, correct?"

"As long as it's not barbecued ribs, yes."

"And what's wrong with barbecued ribs?"

"Aside from harboring an unnamed alien growth agent, if I saw
you covered in barbecue sauce again, I don't think I could 
control myself."

Scully kicked  him lightly under the table, "I think we're 
both severely lacking in sleep because I have this sudden and
irrational urge to order ribs."

The waitress came to take their order then, confused by
Scully's request of barbecue sauce free pancakes and 
Mulder's order of waffles with extra. She decided she was
going to have to stop working the early morning shift.

%$^%$&(%^

About half way through the meal, Scully broke the comfortable
silence between them, "so what exactly possessed you to 
bring me here anyway? My cooking's not that bad."

Mulder pointed his syrupy fork at her, "would you like 
concocted answer A first or B?"

"Whichever doesn't involve twenty minutes of your talking and
another ten minutes of me refuting everything you told me 
in the previous twenty minutes."

"That would be answer B. Um, well, look around. The only
people here are a few truckers and waitresses who have 
learned to mind their own business. They look at us with 
passing interest and in a two second sizing up, they see a
nice couple who eats breakfast earlier than most."

Scully scrunched up her eyes in thought for a moment, "but
wasn't it Mr. Nutt who said assumptions are a bad thing."

Mulder offered her a bite of his strawberry Belgian waffle,
"not when they're true."

*&(^&%^&%(

Once they were back on the freeway, "I hope you don't mind
if we make a little detour. I want to grab some clothes
and see if anybody called."

Poking him in the ribs, "you've been with me the whole 
time. Who else calls you?"

Deciding to fight back with a little friendly fire, "well,
you know, Bambi may have decided she couldn't live 
without me. I am a rather good catch, you know?"

"Yeah, and Frohike is tall, handsome and tactful."

"If he heard you say that, I think his circuits would 
overload and he'd die on the spot."

Scully reached in her pocket and handed him her phone, 
"then you better keep this out of my reach."

"Jealousy is such an ugly and vengeful thing."

Scully looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "you 
jealous of Frohike wanting me?"

"No, you're jealous because Bambi wanted me."

The silence that descended on the car after that statement
was almost deafening. Mulder knew he had screwed up but
he wasn't quite sure how to proceed. She usually argued 
or walked away; she never sat there in stone silence.
Deciding to bite the bullet, "Scully, I .."

She cut him off, "it would be advisable that you keep your
mouth shut for the next few minutes."

Mulder did as ordered, pulling up to his apartment about 
five minutes later, the silence still ringing in his ears. 
He mumbled that he'd be back in a minute, making his escape
toward the front door.

Scully, her anger already fading, knew she had done right 
by keeping her mouth shut. This would have been no time to 
bring up VanBlundht, actually there was never a good time to
bring that cretin up. She'd rather have Mulder feel a 
little guilty for a while than have him get thoroughly pissed
off at the mention of tail-boy. Scully got out of the car 
and went to sit on the steps, waiting for Mulder to reemerge.

He saw her back through the windows by the door. Her hair 
was pulled into a mishappened pony-tail and she looked, for
all the world, like a little girl waiting for the mail
man. Hearing the door open behind her, Scully looked up 
at Mulder, who had a sheepish grin on his face. Settling 
in next to her, "I never should have brought that up." He 
bumped shoulders with her, "if you must know, she's married
with a couple of little buggers running around. 
Get it. Buggers."

Scully had to smile, "that's awful Mulder." 

Standing, he picked up his bag, "forgiven?"

Walking back to the car with him, "what do you think?"

"I think that the rain last night did nothing but push the
humidity up a couple of notches."

"Did you feed your fish?" Without answering, Mulder bolted
back into the house, leaving Scully in the middle of 
the sidewalk. Leaning back against the car, she spoke 
to no one in particular, "gotta love him."

&^$%^$*

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in the middle of rush
hour gridlock. "Well, what do you propose we do now Scully?"

Glancing out the window, "go to that little park over there 
and wait out the traffic." Craning her neck, "cause I don't
think we'll be moving anytime soon."

"I'm game." Mulder cranked the wheel and drove on the shoulder
until they came to a small parking lot. Turning the car 
off, Mulder popped the trunk and got out, followed by Scully.
He began digging through the multitudes of junk, finally 
finding what he was looking for. Triumphantly he held up a 
deck of cards and a tattered blanket, "know how to play 
Black Jack Scully?"

"Which one of us knew how to navigate Atlantic City?"

Making his way toward the park, "so that's where you go on
Tuesday nights, Gamblers' Anonymous."

"Actually, I go to 'Skeptics R Us', it's a support group 
for all those who have ever made the acquaintance of one 
Mr. Fox Mulder."

Stopping under a tree near the fountain, "this good?"

"Yup." Spreading the blanket out, "is it wrong to feel happy
 about the fact that all those people," pointing to the cars
 still back on the road, "have to go to work while I get
 to lounge and effectively play authorized hooky?"

"Woman, I told you, it's called a vacation. Normal people
 take them all the time. They hang out in parks, at 
movies, malls, foreign countries, hell, some don't even
 leave the confines of their couch for the duration.
 Now you will sit on this blanket with me at seven 
forty-five in the morning and enjoy your vacation dammit, 
or else."

Scully put on her sultry voice, "or else what?"

"I will be forced to toss you into that fountain and may 
I remind you, you're wearing a white t-shirt." Thinking 
this over for a second, he made a grab for her waist, "on
 second thought, in you go."

Slipping out of his way, "play me one game. You win, you
 toss. I win, I toss."

Seeing the evil glint in her eye, he sat down, "why do I 
have this incredible feeling that in about two minutes, 
I'm going to be soaking wet?"

Scully rubbed her hands together, "let the fun begin."

^%$%$#%$&

Not twenty seconds later, "you were kidding weren't you?" 
Mulder backed away from Scully's hands, "come on, at least
 three hundred eyes can see us from here. Do you really 
want them to know I got beaten by a girl?"

"Uh-huh."

"I'm your boss. I order you not to throw me in the fountain."

Scully moved toward him slowly, "I'm on vacation remember.
 No bosses, no timecards, no rules."

"Why did you pick now to listen to me?"

"It's convenient and it serves my purpose."

Mulder gulped, "I'm not getting out of this one am I?"

Scully took him by the shoulders and turned him toward the
 water, "a bets a bet. Get moving g-man."

They reached the fountain a minute later, Mulder whining and
 dragged his feet the entire way, "so how do you plan on 
getting me into the water, Scully? I don't really think you
 can lift me."

Scully folded her arms in front of her, "I'm going to ask
 you to get in."

Dumbfounded, "what?"

"Mulder, will you please get into the fountain?"

"What?"

"Mulder, I would really like it if you got in the fountain."

Confusion circled Mulder, jamming its way in through his 
ear until his head began to swim, "you do understand how the
 whole betting process works right? You have to make me do
 this, you can't ask me to."

Scully walked up, stopping about an inch away, "if I tried 
to get you in that water by force, it would end badly for me 
because you'd turn, flip me over and I'd be the one soaking 
with you laughing. Then I'd be annoyed, which would set you 
on some whirlwind apologizing ramble that I'd have to ignore
 with pained silence. While I'm stewing and dripping all over
 the place, you would feel the usual guilt trip, which would 
culminate in your wishing that you had just gotten into the
 fountain in the first place. I'm just saving us the headache
 by asking you simply to get in the water."

Pondering this for a moment, Mulder turned and stepped into 
the pool, still shaking his head, "I think this a first Scully."

Allowing a small grin to form, "I'm not finished yet."

He turned to face her, "all right."

"Sit down, please."

Mulder stared for a moment, Scully raised her eyebrow and he
 immediately sat down in the water, the liquid coming up to
 mid-chest level. 

Scully calmly raised on finger in front of him, "wait one 
minute. Don't move, I'll be right back." Jogging back to
 the car, she returned with her camera she had tossed in 
there earlier, "smile."

Knowing the battle was long ago fought and lost, he gave 
her several of his goofiest grins, the camera catching all
 of them. Scully set the camera down on the bench nearby 
and walked over to the low wall, still grinning, "you can 
get up now, I've had my fun."

Mulder stood up, "now it's my turn." He grabbed her suddenly,
 flipped her over the side and dumped her in the water. 
Sitting down next to her, "that was entertaining."

"Then how's this?" with that she dunked his head under the
 water and a good old splashing war occurred, ending when 
they heard people laughing. Both stopped instantly to see 
two children and what had to be their grandmother standing
 by the bench. The woman had Scully's camera in her hand 
and between gulps of air, "I hope you don't mind. I saw 
these pictures and figured you might want shots of this too."

Both Mulder and Scully went to stand up but Mulder whispered,
 "I'd stay under the water for a minute. At least until our
 audience had disappeared."

Scully was about to protest when Mulder pointed, with red 
cheeks, at the white shirt she was wearing. She dropped down
 low in the water, trying not to laugh.

Mulder stepped out of the fountain and walked toward the
woman, looking at the  still developing pictures in her hand,
 "thank you. I think these pictures will be our best ones 
yet." He stuck out his dripping hand, "I'm Fox and this
 is Dana." 

Scully waved her hand in their direction, "hello."

The woman seemed to understand why she didn't come over, 
"well, it was nice to meet you both but as you can see, my
 grandkids seem to have left without me so I've got to run."

Scully called out from her position by the wall, "thank you
 for the pictures."

"Thank you for the laugh. It's nice to see such a carefree
 couple, most people nowadays are entirely too serious. 
Have a nice day." 

She went off in search of the kids before Mulder had a chance
 to get her name. He walked back and crouched by the wall,
 "now we're both nice and carefree." She looked up at him with
 amusement in her eyes, and he mirrored it back, "either way
 I see it, I really can't lose here, so, how would you like
 to handle this one?"

"By first telling you that you're a pig. Second, I'm going
 to walk to the blanket and you're going to get me your dry 
shirt which I am going to change into in that small, more 
than likely bug infested Porta-Potty over there."

He stood directly in front of her, feigning drool, "I still 
don't see how I can lose so be my guest." 

Scully got out of the water, her arms crossed firmly in front of  her 
chest, sticking her tongue out at Mulder as she walked by.

"Damn, damn, mother ... damn, son of a ... ugghhgg-hgheh."

Without turning around, "watch your language Mulder." She did
 however, start swinging her hips for him, for which Mulder
 was grateful and appreciative because it did create a
 wonderful dream-fulfilling photo opportunity.

&^%%^$(^&%(&^

"Feeling better Scully?"

She sat down on the blanket next to him, dropping the bundle 
of soaked clothing on the grass next to her, "other that the
 fact I could fit another person in this shirt with me, I 
feel pretty good."

"Am I allowed to field that comment or should I let this
one slide?"

Scully knotted the shirt in front to keep it from touching
 her still wet shorts, "it's your choice but let me remind
 you of whose apartment has the working air conditioning 
and whose is one step below a sweatbox."

Mulder flopped back on his stomach, "choice made, comment
 forgotten." 

"Hey, how did your wallet fare?"

His eyes suddenly flew open, "oh shit." He began frantically
 pulling things out of his pockets, paper clips and rubber
 bands scattered as he threw his wallet on the blanket but
 continued his search. "It's gone."

"What is? Your wallet's right there."

His eyes still wide, "not that, my badge and ID."

Scully smiled in relief, "no it's not." She reached under 
a fold in the blanket and revealed the thin black leather, 
"I put it there when I came by with the camera. I didn't 
think you'd want it laying out in the open."

Grabbing it from her hands, relief flooded his face, "I 
thought it had fallen in the water."

"Remember the drenching it got on our first case or how 
about our soak courtesy of Mrs. Paddock? It is water proof
 you know."

He reached behind the ID and pulled out a photo. Handing 
it to her, "but this isn't."

Scully expected to see a picture of Samantha but instead she
 saw a picture of herself with Emily on her lap. It had been
 taken at the police station just before Mulder had shown 
up. Emily had been scared and remained in Scully's arms until
 statements had been taken. Now she just looked up at Mulder,
 sadness and confusion in her eyes. "Why do you have this?"

Mulder cast his eyes down, "I wanted a picture of her and I
 found this one in the reports at the station."

"But why?"

"Because she was your daughter and ..."

Scully prodded gently, "and,"

"And I fell in love with her the moment I made my Mr. Potato
 Head face and she smiled." Looking over at her, he saw tears 
in her eyes as well as the beginnings of a tiny smile, "you'd 
have made a great mom."

She leaned over and hugged him tightly around the neck, 
pressing against his still damp t-shirt, "thank you."

Scully stayed in his arms for another minute then she slowly 
sat up straight. He searched her face intently, "you okay?"

She nodded her head, "yeah. Although I've managed to soak 
another shirt."

Mulder looked down, first at himself then at Scully, 
"haven't got anything that I ain't already seen." He laid
 down on his back, shutting his eyes and yawning, "I'm 
about ready for my mid-morning nap."

Laying down beside him, using his arm for a pillow, she 
shut her eyes, "can't argue with that kind of logic now 
can I."

"Nope."

^&%(^*%(*&

"Hey, wake up."

"Mummphpmmh."

Mulder gently began shaking her shoulder, "come on, wake up."

Without opening her eyes, "why?"

"Because if you don't wake up and we don't move, you're going
 to get a first rate sunburn."

Finally, Scully opened her eyes and sat up, "that's the 
last thing I need." She reached over and grabbed her bundle
 of clothes, "what time is it anyway?"

"It's a little after ten." Mulder stood up, grabbing the end
 of the blanket, "but I bet you an ice tea that it's at 
least ninety degrees already."

Scully wiped off the sweat that was already forming on her 
forehead, "I'll buy the ice tea regardless. Come on, I say
 we head back to my place and finish everything up." Getting up,
 she helped Mulder fold the blanket. 

He picked up the photos and the camera and began making his
 way back to the car. Once inside, he cranked up the air and
 they sat in the sweltering heat until it began to work. 
"Next time we do this, remind me to park under a tree."

"Park under a tree."

"Very funny." Pulling out onto the main road, "I could really
 go for a popsicle right now."

"If you want, there's a market about a mile from my house.
 We could stop and get a giant box of them; should last 
us through the day."

"I love how your mind works."

&^%$*%^%^&

"Thank God."

Scully looked up from her carton, a popsicle stick hanging 
out of her mouth, "what happened?"

Mulder waved a blackened file in front of her nose, "I found
 your file."

"Thank God."

"I already did."

"Well, it never hurts to thank him more than once. Is it
 all there?"

Flipping gingerly through the pages, "yup, looks that way.
 Have you come across Sam's yet?"

She shook her head, "no, I haven't. And I've gone through 
the entire pile."

Mulder shoved the stack of files in front of him back into
 the box, "it's not here. I know exactly where I put it and
 it isn't anywhere. He had to have taken it."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing. Besides, I think we 
both have it committed to memory."

"I know. Well, at least I found yours." He leaned across the
 coffee table, "find anything else useful in there?"

"Not a damn thing."

Piling Scully's stack in the box as well, "then I guess 
that parts done."

"We've still got a crate from your desk to go through."

"Hell, I didn't know I had so much shit." 

"I've been pointing it out for six years now, Mulder."

He scooted around the table so he was next to Scully again,
 "bah humbug. Just think, maybe we'll come across the Donner
 party or those poor slobs from Roanoke Island."

Laughing, "if we're really lucky, we just might find the 
ten or eleven cell phones you've lost or the guns you've 
managed to throw away."

"Hey woman, you jump onto a moving train and see how easy 
it is to hold onto a gun."

"Mulder 1, Scully 0." She pulled over the carton, "and the
 first item up for bids is ... ick, that tape that Phoebe
 gave you."

Taking it and tossing it directly into the trash, "do I 
sense some disdain?"

"Yes, yes you do." Next she pulled out a NICAP patch, "Max?"

Nodding his head, "him I miss. It was nice to know that 
there was at least one other person more paranoid than me."

"The guys don't count?"

"Scully, they're nuts. I can just imagine Langly running 
around in a diaper, his hair in a ponytail, yelling 'my 
rattle is bugged, my rattle is bugged'."

"So rude yet so true." She put it in the save pile, "next 
we have ... more handfuls of Kleenex and Bureau memos 
dating back to, oh, 1992. Don't you ever throw anything away?"

He grinned at her, "why would I? You never know when bits of
 junk might come in handy."

Holding up a crumpled flier, "and when is an ad for the 
Stupendous Yappi going to come in handy?"

"How else am I going to get in touch with Jimmy Hendrix? I 
never got to finish listening to 'All Along the Watchtower'."

Scully laid her head back on the couch, "intelligence tells
 me not to ask such questions but sometimes my mouth doesn't
 receive the message in time."

Mulder wiggled his eyebrows in her direction, "don't worry, 
my mouth never receives the message."

She laughed, "good call."

Awhile later, they reached the bottom of the box, "anything
 else down there?"

Tilting the box, "just one more thing." Scully held up a 
cloth heart still in its evidence bag, "I'm glad you didn't
 lose this."

Mulder took it from her carefully, "we still have to find 
out who this belongs to."

Putting her head briefly on his shoulder, "we will Mulder,
 we will."

"I know." He glanced over at the enormous trash pile they 
had created in the last two days, "we should probably clean 
this up, it's starting to look like my place."

"Perish the thought." She nodded toward the kitchen, "why 
don't you go get a couple of trash bags and we can take the
 stuff out to the dumpster."

Getting up, "at your service, ma'am."

"Would you mind grabbing me another popsicle while you're 
at it?" Flashing her smile when he turned around, "grape."

"The things I do for you Scully. I allow you to be in my 
presence, isn't that enough." He ducked into the kitchen 
just in time to avoid being pelted by the Legos they had
 found.

*%^%^&&^(*

"Hey, where's your remote?"

"You're probably sitting on it."

"Care to get it for me?"

"When pigs fly, Mulder."

He began digging around in the cushions, "well, it rained 
sleeping bags so I guess anything is possible." Triumphantly 
he held up the changer, "now if only I can find something 
other than soap operas, I'll be happy."

Scully walked back into the living room, "well, we can 
always watch Jerry Springer."

"I'd rather have the Mexican goat sucker attached to my ass."

The water that Scully had been drinking suddenly changed 
route and shot directly out of her nose. Between coughs, 
"I'd give a year's salary to see that and I know others 
who would pay even more."

"It's nice to know I'm loved."

She walked up behind him, "come on, I'll treat you to 
a movie."

Mulder looked up eagerly, "can we go to the IMAX at the 
Smithsonian?"

"What's playing?"

He stood up, pulling Scully toward the door, "I have no
idea. I just like the theater."

"Contumacious. Intractable. Psychotic. Any of these things 
ring a bell?"

Mulder closed the door behind them, patting her gently on 
the back, "of course. I have them tattooed on my chest and 
sewn into my underwear. I also have a cross-stitch on my 
wall that says 'A Contumacious and intractable psychotic 
lives here.' I'm surprised you haven't seen it before." 

"You know, I don't think I ever really lived before I met you."

He grabbed her in a quick hug, then leaned forward to open 
the door for her, "god knows I didn't have a life before you."
He arched an eyebrow in Scully's direction, "come on, an 
air conditioned theater awaits and I want to beat the 
popcorn line."

%$^%(%&*(

"And yet, a little itty-bitty boat makes you ill."

"Just remember who sank that little itty-bitty boat." 
He paused on the steps of the museum, "come on red, 
it was fun and you know it." 

"Do you know what happened to the last person who 
called me red?"

"Do you really want to tell me 'cause ten to one I'd 
enjoy it."

"Take me home or lose me forever."

Suddenly Mulder yelled at the top of his lungs, "I need a 
taxi, my kingdom for a cab. If I don't get my woman home now,
I lose her forever." Waving his arms in wide arcs, he 
attracted everyone and everything but a cab. People turned, 
children giggled, birds stopped mid-flight and hot dog vendors
stared while mustard dripped down their arms. In the midst of
this sudden stand still stood Scully, trying desperately to
look like she had no idea who the insane lunatic was. She
wasn't able to succeed however, because Mulder grinned in 
her direction and she melted on the spot. Cuffing him on the
back of the head, she took his hand and led him to one of the
vendors amidst the knowing glances and winks of passer-bys. 

"Would you really give up your kingdom for me Mulder?"

"Two dogs please. One only ketchup, the other with everything."
Turning back to Scully, "do you really think I'd broadcast it
to the entire downtown area if I didn't mean it?" He paid 
for the hot dogs, handing Scully the ketchup one, "besides, 
I really needed a cab 'cause I don't plan on losing you 
today or any other day for that matter."

"Since when am I your woman?"

"Since I just paid for your dinner."

"How cheap do you think I am?"

"At least $2.50 worth, although rumor has it that you're
 worth more than your weight in gold."

"Mulder ..."

"Yeah?"

"Smile." The camera flashed in his face, "I think this one 
should be labeled 'Before'."

Mulder gulped down the last of his hot dog, "before what?"

"Before I kissed you." With that said, Scully tilted her head 
upwards, gently pressing her lips to his. Standing back she 
shot the next picture, "and this will be the 'After'."

She barely got the words out before Mulder grabbed her around
the waist, swinging her up on the steps, "and this my friend,
is just the beginning."

Kissing him again, "and we've still got miles to go Mulder."

%^$#&^%$^

If you happened to sneeze during any part of this reading,  Gesundheit
Don't forget to clean the green goo off the screen when you're done. 


Pilot, Deep Throat, Squeeze, Jersey Devil, Fallen Angel, Fire, Beyond the Sea, 
The Host, Blood, Duane Barry, Red Museum, Die Hand Die Verletz,
Dod Kalm, Humbug, D.P.O., Clyde Bruckman, Nisei, War of the Coprophages,
Syzygy, Pusher, Jose Chung, Wet Wired, Home, The Field Where I Died,
Paper Hearts, El Mundo Gira, Never Again, Small Potatoes, Redux II, 
Detour, Post Modern Prometheus, Christmas Carol, Emily, Kitsunegari, 
Bad Blood, The End, Movie