From: Katelyn Krueger Date: Sat, 26 Jun 1999 18:57:31 -0700 (PDT) Subject: My Fanfic Hi, I recently submitted my story One Step at a Time, I just got an e-mail saying I needed it in text form so here it is. DISCLAIMER: Mulder and Scully are not mine. I am just borrowing them for entertainment purposes. I mean no copyright infringements of The X-files, Fox Network, or Ten Thirteen. As I said before this is just my way of sharing shipper stories that Chris Carter doesn't do because M&S are Platonic. Sorry, once again, I mean not harm. Mulder walked across the parking lot of the "Dane Country Club" over to the tennis courts. I can get used to this country stuff, he thought as he saw Scully in a short pink tennis skirt. He quickly banished the thought. It was completely inappropriate for two partners to get involved, but? he thought, I could still admire her from a distance. He watched her auburn-red hair blow in the breeze as she effortlessly hit the ball over the net as a tennis ball thrower shagged balls to her. Mulder, watched her for awhile, the whole time pondering the question, "Why haven't I seen her play tennis before? She is really good, she must play often." He walked over to the court. Scully glanced at him and motioned for him to enter the courts. The courts were empty except for Scully. Each time Mulder heard the thump of the ball his heart jumped up into his throat. The gate made a horrible squeak but the sudden noise didn't cause Scully to miss. "You play where you were a kid?" Mulder asked. "Yeah where I was 14." Scully said, but she was still concentrating on the ball. Mulder pictured Scully at age 14. In his mind he pictured two girls playing tennis. They were both blonde. Blonde?!? Is that?no, oh my gosh, it's Scully! A boy sat on the opposite side of the tennis court and he cheered. When ever she had a break, Scully went over to the boy to flirt. She giggled and said, "Oh Nicolas, you are so funny!" It was game point and Scully had the serve. She raised it high and hit hard, but Scully was distracted?looking at Nicolas. The ball soared over the net, a little to high, a little to fast, and it hit her opponent in the head. The girl dropped to the ground in pain. Nicolas stood up and ran to the girl. He called out to Scully, "Dana! You hit her! You are a Bitch!" Scully ran into the locker room crying. She was disqualified because the judges thought she did it on purpose. Mulder snapped out of his daydream, how real it had seamed. Then Mulder asked the question that was in his head. "Scully, did you ever dye your hair blonde?" The question stabbed the air like a shot of ice. The tension mounted as Scully kept her calm. Did he know? Does he know what I was just thinking about? It wouldn't have been the first time. They spent some much time together, reading each other's mind came naturally. After what seem like an eternity, Scully said, "Yes, how'd you know" "I don't know, just a guess." "Yeah, I had a crush on a guy that went for blondes, it was only a one day color thing." "Was his name Nicolas?" Scully stopped hitting the ball. She stood there in absolute horror. How did he know? The balls kept flying but Scully didn't care. She walked over to Mulder and said, "Yeah, he's the reason you never see me play tennis." Mulder looked down at his hands. They were big. How had he known? Mulder slipped back into his daydream and looked down. There he was. The body of a scrawny 18 year old with his arm around a 17 year old blonde cutie. I was there? He thought. Hundreds of questions whirred through his head as Scully asked, "How did you know, Mulder" He ignored the question. But he asked one of his. "What was her name?" At this point, Scully knew that Mulder knew. And Mulder knew that Scully knew that he knew. "Allyanna, Her sister was Melissa's best friend" "I remember now. My girlfriend was Nicole and her brother was Nicolas. Some girl named Dana was his best friend, but Allyanna was his secret girlfriend." A look of sadness appeared on Scully's face. She bit her lip trying to hide her tears, but it was no use. Through her sobs she confided in Mulder. "Secret Girlfriend? He lied. He lied to me. She was unconscious and he called me names?" She stopped for a second, her sobs had stopped, but her cheeks were streaked with tears. "Mulder, how do you know?" He looked at her. He looked at her for a long time. He was trying to decide how to begin. Then Scully figured it out. "You had everyone call you Billy, didn't you?" The look Mulder gave her said the answer but she continued on. "You hated your name, so you used your middle name and then changed it a little to be Billy." It came out flat. Like week old soda pop. "Bill" Mulder said annoyed at the use of his nickname. Scully understood her mistake. She stopped talking. An icy silence rested between them until Mulder spoke. "Jenna Farrow disappeared mysteriously 3 days ago and we got called out to look for her." Though Scully was happy for the break in the silence, she was disappointed that it had to do with work. "Farrow? Jenna Farrow? That was Allyanna's sister, Melissa's best friend." Scully looked unstable. In a quick movement Mulder grabbed her shoulders to keep her up. Scully looked paler than normal. Now was not the time to tell her that Allyanna never woke up from the coma. The doctors thought it was best to pull the plug after 5 years on life support. After another silence started, Scully spoke. "So, is there any suspects? Witnesses?" "Jeremy, Jenna's brother was?ummm?visiting Allyanna's grave with Jenna and he saw a flash of light and Jenna was gone." He had tried to break the thing about the grave the best he could, but it was no use. "She died?" Her voice quivered. But her question sounded strong. Mulder searched his head for the best answer he could up with. All he could think of was the truth. "Allyanna never woke up." The sympathy in his voice was unusual, but it helped her, a little. Of course with all of the death in Scully's life, sympathy was the last thing Scully needed, right now, she needed the truth. "I killed her?" She said lifelessly. If there was any color in her face, it would have drained onto the court and boiled like an egg. "No, you her in the head. It scared her. She dropped to the ground. She hit her head as she fell. They ran a cat scan to be sure she was okay. She wasn't. She had a tumor the size of Texas. It was inoperable and she went into a coma. After 5 years of no response, she was taken of life support. She died peacefully. If you wouldn't have hit her, the tumor wouldn't have been found, she would have lived even less." Mulder meant well. But it didn't help Scully. "So, lets go interview Jeremy." Scully tried her hardest to ignore the pain. Mulder was shocked at how quickly the subject had changed. "Okay, let's go." His heart wasn't there. His heart was in Scully's chest, keeping her own heart from breaking into a million pieces. ************************************************************ Mulder reached out his hand to Scully to keep her from falling off the rocks. A mist of cool sea spray stung their cheeks. The rocks were slippery but they both had fairly good balance. It was a private little place that appeared to be previously untouched by humanity. Perfect, Mulder thought to himself as he claimed the final rock to the bluff that overlooked the Gulf of Mexico. A smile crossed Mulder's face when he saw the look on Scully's face when she saw the picnic basket waiting for them on the cliff. He was nervous. Should he ask her the question today? He wanted to know but he didn't want to cross the line. Well, he did want to cross it, but did she? It would ruin everything if she didn't, but if she said yes, the possibilities were endless. His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Scully was looking through the picnic basket. "Where's the blanket Mulder?" Mulder's face fell. Damn, he thought. He quickly tried to think of something whitty to say. "You can always sit on my lap." He sat down on the rocks and patted his knee. Scully was silent as if she was seriously considering the offer, but answered, "I'll pass." She smiled and sat down on the rocks. A pack of sea gulls flew over their heads and Mulder pretended to dodge the bird poop. Scully cracked another smile. "Looks like rain." Scully peered at the sky. Mulder looked up at the sky; it did look like rain. Mulder didn't feel like small talk, but before he could get what he was thinking off his chest, Scully started talking about Jeremy. "He looked nervous." "His sister died." Mulder summed up. "So you don't think there was foul play? Something more paranormal?" Mulder shook his head as Scully stared at him. Silence stood between them. Then Mulder did the unthinkable. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. It was soft and gentle. It was more from love, partnership, and gratitude, rather than his growing attraction. There is a type of silence that is so calm and tranquil that even little noises sound peaceful. Waves crashed on the rocks and another pack of sea gulls flew over their heads. They sea gulls cawed away, to their hearts desire. Then, the silence became overwhelming and Mulder tried to speak. "I-I?Scully, I-I was?" "I know Mulder, I know." She had her way of understanding things like that. She knew the unspoken. Or did she? The rain came then, lightly at first. Then harder and harder until they were forced to retreat back to their car. ************************************************************************ Mulder straddled the desk chair and sat down. He told Scully about their latest case as Scully sat down Mulder's desk. She crossed her legs and played with her hair. Gosh! She is flirting! He thought. Mulder tried his hardest to resist the temptation to get up on top of her and clear off the desk? He started to shift his weight around from nervousness. Scully noticed. Scully seemed far away and thinking about something. She opened her mouth to speak, but then she stopped. Her face changed and she said. "Mulder, do you smell something?" Mulder took in a deep breath. Oh no! It was smoke! Scully saw Mulder's uneasiness and she was by his side in an instant. Then the fire alarm went off. "Go outside Mulder. I will close up the file cabinet. Hurry, don't worry about me I will be right out." Mulder looked at her with a face that said, I should stay. But he nodded and left. Mulder was safely outside when he looked back. Scully was no where in sight. The building was smoldering. Hundreds of government workers fled the building, but none of them were Scully. Then the building exploded with light. Time stopped. No one could have survived the blast. The building crumbled to the ground. For the first time in his life, he prayed. A silent prayer, but he prayed. Through all of the screams, tears, and orders, he prayed. Tears in his eyes, he repeated the words, "Let her be okay.' Until he couldn't control his emotions. He began screaming and he ran back over to the building. Police held him back. Feelings rushed at him. He was almost near collapsing. He wouldn't give up, she is not gone. His words did not comfort him. Then out of the smoke, walked a red head. Her skin was covered in soot. She limped, a little. He ran to her. She ran to him. They met in the middle and they embraced in a hug. They looked at each other tenderly. Love was in their eyes. Then, if front of everyone, they kissed. And they kissed? And they kissed? When they stopped everyone applauded and Skinner jumped up and said, "Yes, they finally did it. I won a hundred dollars in the pool!" (A happy little ending for a happy couple, with more romance to come) The Beginning of a new Step, just taking it one step at a time. Written by, Katelyn alienk8@yahoo.com _________________________________________________________