From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: 26 Jan 2007 11:28:38 -0000
Subject: Parallels by Starbuck_Jayne
Source: direct

Reply To: Starbuck_Jayne@hotmail.com


Parallels
By Starbuck_Jayne
Starbuck_Jayne@hotmail.com

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Vague references to Millennium and Triangle

Keywords:  X, MSR

Disclaimer:  None of the characters in this story belong to 
me.  I am merely allowing them out to play.  They belong to 
Chris Carter, 1013 and Fox.

Archive:  Anywhere at all just please keep my name and e-
mail attached, but no flames please, I'm way too delicate!

Summary:  A church that hides the gateway to a parallel 
universe, parallel lives that become entwined...what could 
possibly go wrong?

Feedback:  On my knees and begging for it.

Author's Notes: Just a little something, really hope it 
hasn't been done loads before!  This is set in season 6 but 
pre-All Things, and at this stage Mulder and Scully are in 
a completely platonic relationship (yeah, right ;-)).  
Also, I haven't posted anything for about 4 years so 
apologies for anything I may have done wrong!  


Parallels

Starbuck_Jayne


Dana Scully sipped apathetically at her over-brewed airline 
coffee, skim reading the brief for their latest case.  
Beside her, her partner slept, sprawled across two seats 
and apparently just as comfortable as he would have been at 
home on his sofa.  Scully smiled, laying down the X-File 
and finishing the dregs of her coffee.  Outside, the world 
sped past, cloaked in darkness, and she sighed heavily, 
bringing her chin to rest on her fist as she watched her 
sleeping partner.  She envied his unconscious state - the 
fact that it was dreams rather than reality that currently 
occupied his exceptional mind...not to mention his ability to 
become unconscious on an aeroplane in the first place.

She turned her attention back to the case, stretching her 
aching legs as best she could in the limited space 
available to those travelling economy class.  Picking up 
the standard issue, taupe coloured folder she flicked 
listlessly through the notes.  It was a missing person's 
case.  Suspicious circumstances, naturally, yet she was 
still unclear as to why the assignment was of such great 
interest to her partner.  

Upon returning from lunch earlier that day she'd barely 
entered their office when he'd bounded towards her, 
brandishing the plane tickets like a prize-winning scratch 
card, and bundled her off to the airport.  He'd given her 
some typically vague explanation about time skips and then 
conveniently fallen asleep.  She didn't even know where 
he'd got the case from let alone what he was expecting to 
find.     
 
The memory of the day's events stirred feelings of mild 
resentment, and she questioned for the millionth time how 
exactly her life had come to this.  

What had happened to the bright eyed young agent who had 
left Quantico on a mission to change the world?  Where was 
the Dana Scully who had slaved over lab reports and physics 
papers in pursuit of some great future?  On a plane to 
Nowhere, USA chasing a fantasy.  Scully could quite 
probably be considered, to the outside observer, to be a 
completely selfless person.  She spent roughly 99.9% of her 
entire life following her partner on wild goose chases 
after ghosts and goblins and whatever other semi-
supernatural entity popped into his head.  She'd been shot 
at, drugged and high on magic mushrooms.  She'd been deep 
frozen, crossed continents and nearly lost her job more 
times than she could count in pursuit of the truth; and the 
amazing thing was that she didn't even care.  Dana Scully 
could not give a flying flukeworm about genies or little 
green men...and yet here she was: a co-star in "The 
Adventures of Spooky Mulder".

She closed the file, none the wiser, and ran the back of 
her hand across tired eyes.  Beside her, Mulder stirred.

"Are we there yet?"  He asked, stretching his arms and then 
folding them behind his head.

"Almost," Scully nodded to the window where the twinkling 
lights of the city below were growing closer.  "So, Mulder, 
how about you tell me a little bit more about this case?"

Mulder nodded and began his story.  "Several people were 
reported missing after going into this church," he 
indicated the file on Scully's lap, "St Mary the Virgin, I 
think it's called.  The cops did a thorough search but 
found nothing.  No evidence of a struggle, no damage to the 
building, nothing.  Anyway, since then reports have emerged 
of people going into the church and re-appearing just 
minutes later looking completely different."

"Completely different how?"  Scully frowned, not convinced.

"Different clothes, different hair, different opinions.  
Scully, these people even had different memories of events 
in their lives.  They had recollections of things that 
hadn't even happened."

"Such as what?"

"Well, one man, an Anthony King, swore blind that he was 
married to a woman called Marianne Bates.  He recalled the 
entire wedding ceremony, right down to the cake.  Thing 
was, the couple had split up two years earlier having only 
been on a couple of dates.  At the time, marriage to 
Anthony couldn't have been further from Ms Bates' mind."

"Mulder, you know yourself that there are all kinds of 
neurological conditions that could have provoked such a 
reaction.  There is a psychogenic disorder, a psychogenic 
fugue, where for no apparent reason people will just walk 
out of the lives they have been living and start a new life 
with no memory of the last." Scully began to explain but 
Mulder cut her off.

"As true as that may be these people hadn't *forgotten* 
about their past lives," he said, "on the contrary they 
very often had additional memories of the same things - 
places, people, family parties.  And even if a psychogenic 
fugue was the explanation here, surely the very fact that 
this condition befell everyone who entered the church would 
be worth investigating in itself."  He waggled his eyebrows 
at her, challenging her to disagree with him.  When she 
said nothing, he took the case file from her, flicking 
through sheets of paper until he found the one he wanted.  
"And here's the killer," he said, stabbing the page with 
his index finger, "Anthony King, when describing his 
wedding ceremony, had mentioned a freak rainstorm right at 
the end that had washed away most of the gifts.  Twelve 
months later, the couple married for real and guess what?  
The ceremony was exactly as King had described it, 
including the loss of ninety per cent of the wedding 
presents."

"Ok" Scully pressed a hand to her forehead, summoning the 
frame of mind she used purely for dealing with Mulder, 
"just for the sake of argument here, why do you think that 
this has anything to do with skips in time?  Why not 
psychic ability or, your personal favourite, alien 
abduction?"

"Scully, I'm impressed," Mulder grinned, "but these reports 
are full of coincidences such as Anthony King's story.  
Although I must admit psychic ability crossed my mind, that 
wouldn't explain the changes in the victims' appearance or 
attitudes.  I think what we're looking at here is a shift 
in the fabric of time, maybe even a gateway to a parallel 
universe."

"Please tell me you're not serious."

"Think about it, Scully, all the signs are there."  The 
plane touched down and skidded to a halt on the moonlit 
runway.  "Anyway, we'll talk about it more in the morning."

"Fine, Mulder," Scully's tone was non-committal but, as she 
unfastened her seatbelt, she was fully aware that this time 
tomorrow night she'd be in the crypt of some decrepit 
church, freezing her ass off.

XXXXXXX

Scully suppressed a yawn as she watched her partner use a 
completely inadequate piece of metal to try and prise open 
a crack in the ancient stone wall.

"Scully?  Flashlight?"  Mulder nodded towards the crack he 
was working on.  Scully's wrist had grown limp with boredom 
and the beam of light from the torch she was holding had 
shifted.

"Mulder, what exactly are you expecting to find?"  The yawn 
got the better of her and she raised her free hand to cover 
her mouth.

"Don't know yet," Mulder spoke through clenched teeth, all 
his strength focussed on widening the gap in the church 
wall.

"What makes you so sure that this church hides the doorway 
to some mystical realm that you're willing to sacrifice 
your Saturday night, not to mention food and sleep, to find 
it?"

Mulder grinned, levering the metal bar.

"First thing in the morning I'll take you out for hotdogs," 
he promised.

"Great," Scully deadpanned as she watched the bar snap, 
clatter to the ground and roll off into the dark.  "Makes 
it all worthwhile."

"Scully, you don't have to be here."  Mulder began groping 
around for the lost tool, cursing loudly as he stubbed his 
foot against a slab of rock.

"Come on, Mulder, let's just go.  Before you cripple 
yourself."  Scully began to get up, testing the aching 
muscles that had been cramped into a crouching position for 
the past hour. 

Her partner turned reluctantly to face her and, as he did 
so, a flash of light ripped through the crypt.  The beam 
was so intense that it appeared to originate from within 
the church's very walls, shattering the ancient rock and 
filling the vault with a thick cloud of dust.  The agents 
were left with little option but to attempt to shield their 
eyes, before collapsing unceremoniously to the floor.

XXXXXXX

By the time Scully regained consciousness, the dust had 
settled and the first strains of daylight were filtering 
down the stone steps.  Gingerly, she raised a hand to her 
throbbing temple, checking for any cuts or bruising.  
Satisfied that she had suffered no major damage, she forced 
herself to her feet and set about the obligatory Mulder 
hunt.

"Mulder?"  Her enquiry yielded no response and she tried 
again, moving further into the crypt as she called his 
name.  It took two more attempts before her partner 
identified himself with a low groan.  Scully walked towards 
the noise, stumbling occasionally into tomb stones that 
were concealed by the darkness.

"Mulder?"  She tried again.

"Down here," came the hoarse reply.

"You ok, Mulder?" Scully picked her way through the rocks 
towards her partner.  Mulder was attempting to get up, 
leaning on his elbow and shielding his eyes from a solitary 
ray of light that shone directly on him.  A quick 
examination revealed no major injuries, although he 
insisted that he had twisted his ankle when he fell.  
Scully slipped an arm around his waist, allowing him to use 
her as a support to heave himself up off the ground.

"Scully?"

"Yes?"

"This is the last time I let you bring me on one of these 
midnight stakeouts."

XXXXXXX

Meanwhile...

Mulder knocked again on the door of Scully's motel room, 
certain he could hear her moving around inside and yet 
unsure of how exactly she had made it back from the crypt 
so quickly; not to mention why she had just left him alone 
down there in the first place.  After seven years together 
he had understandably come to expect a certain level of 
loyalty from his partner and she had thus far more than 
exceeded his expectations.  He was beginning to wonder if 
this was some sort of punishment for dragging her out of 
bed on a Saturday night when suddenly, the door flew open 
and Mulder's jaw dropped to the floor.

"Where the hell have you been?  I've been worried sick!"

The ability to form sentences had suddenly deserted him.  
In fact, the ability to form any kind of noise resembling a 
word had deserted him; and the best that Fox Mulder's mush 
of a brain could manage was a decidedly uncharacteristic 
"emumhr".

Scully, who it should probably noted was standing in the 
doorway of her motel room wearing nothing more than a black 
satin negligee, raised an eyebrow.

"You ok?  Where have you been?"

"X-File," Mulder stated feebly, before clearing his throat 
and averting his eyes.

"An X-File?  What on earth for?"

Mulder's surprise at his partner's question overruled his 
surprise at her state of undress.  "Is that not something I 
would normally do?"  He tested, obviously already aware 
that something was going on.  He'd have to be comatose not 
to notice that Scully had just answered the door to him in 
her underwear.  

"Fox, you haven't been anywhere near an X-File for seven 
years."

"Seven years?"

"Yes," Scully spoke slowly, as if addressing a child.  
"Since Oregon."

Mulder nodded, pretending he fully understood.

"Has it really been that long?"

"Since you worked on the X-Files or since we got together?"  

XXXXXXX

Parallel Universe #1

Scully stared at her retreating partner incredulously.

"What do you mean we're going back to D.C?  What about your 
theory?"

"*My* theory?"  Mulder spun around to face her.  "Scully, 
the way I see it is that, as per usual, you continue to tug 
at threads that would be better being cut off.  This should 
never have been a case for the FBI, let alone the X-Files."  
He touched his forehead gingerly, wincing as his fingers 
made contact with a fresh bruise.

"What changed your mind?"  

"Scully, there's nothing here.  As I said, there are many 
neurological conditions that can account for the behaviour 
exhibited by Anthony King."

"As *you* said?"  

Mulder was on the move again, striding towards their rental 
car and forcing Scully into a gentle jog in order to keep 
up with him. 

"Mulder," she repeated, "what the hell are you talking 
about?"

Mulder opened the car door, pausing to look at her over the 
top of the vehicle.  

"Scully, I don't know how hard you hit your head last night 
but I think it might be best if you got checked over at the 
hospital."  Mulder's earlier annoyance had been replaced by 
a familiar look of concern and Scully felt mildly 
comforted.  

"It's not me who needs to be checked for head trauma," she 
muttered, slipping into the car beside her partner.  

"I'm just going to call Phoebe," Mulder said, fishing his 
cell phone out of his suit jacket.

"Phoebe?!"  Scully had been fastening her seatbelt but her 
head snapped up at the mention of the British detective's 
name.

"Yeah," Mulder was already dialling the number, "we were 
meant to be going out tonight but it'll probably be too 
late now."  He brought the phone to his ear, not noticing 
the look of disbelief on his partner's face.

"You're going out with Phoebe?"

"Erm, yes," Mulder shot her a quizzical look.

"Well, Mulder, I have to say I'm surprised."

Her partner misunderstood the comment and sighed 
dejectedly.  "I know, I know.  Work's been so crazy lately 
I've not been making enough time for her."

Scully started to protest that that wasn't what she meant, 
but Phoebe had apparently picked up the phone and Mulder 
had started speaking.  She listened, aghast, as he offered 
profuse apologies for having to cancel their arrangements 
and promises to make amends as soon as he got home.  

In spite of herself Scully felt a flush of anger.  After 
everything she'd been through with her partner she thought 
he'd at least have mentioned Phoebe to her.  They spent 
every damn day together for crying out loud, how could the 
fact that his ex-girlfriend was suddenly back in his life 
not have come up in conversation?  Why, when they were all 
alone in their basement office until all hours of the night 
had the elusive Ms Green not felt the need to call him 
then?  From what she could remember from their last 
encounter it would be most unlike Phoebe to be discreet; to 
hide the fact that she had somehow wheedled her way back 
into Mulder's bed.  Or onto his sofa, whatever.

It was only then, as her silent fury grew, that the 
realisation hit her.  She was jealous.  Stomach churningly, 
heart wrenchingly, head spinningly jealous.

Scully started, as if suddenly afraid that her new found 
emotion was somehow visible to her partner.  She cleared 
her throat, brushing flecks of church dust from her 
trousers.  Mulder glanced at her, misinterpreting her 
restlessness as a sign that she wanted to get going.

"Listen, Phoebe, I've gotta go.  I'll call you when we land 
in D.C.  Ok, you too.  Bye."

"How is she?"  Scully just about managed nonchalance.

"Fine," Mulder nodded.  "A little bit of morning sickness 
but basically ok."

"Morning sickness?"  Scully blurted.

"Yeah.  Scully, look, are you ok?"

"Yeah," his partner shifted, uncomfortable under his 
penetrating gaze, "I'm just surprised, Mulder, that with 
all the time we spend together you've never mentioned that 
you're seeing Phoebe again."

"Again?"  Mulder's brow knitted and Scully was suddenly 
very aware that he appeared to be checking her head for 
signs of injury.  "Scully, you know that we've been married 
for five years now."

Scully's breath caught in her throat and she realised 
suddenly that she was out of her league.  Whatever was 
happening here, she needed help and she hadn't quite 
decided yet if it was psychological or paranormal.


XXXXXXX

Parallel Universe #2

Mulder was sitting on the edge of the motel bed, watching 
the woman who was, undeniably, Dana Scully pack their 
things into the same suitcase.  She had Scully's sharp 
intelligence, her stance, her walk, the same twinkle in her 
eye when she thought she'd proved him wrong; she even 
cracked the same lame jokes.  Yet, other than the obvious 
fact that this Scully seemed perfectly comfortable with him 
seeing her in her underwear, there was something incredibly 
different about her.  She had quite obviously never endured 
the pain that his Scully had.  This Scully was content, 
this Scully was openly in love and, according to a 
laminated conference pass propped up against the dresser, 
this Scully was no longer a Scully at all.  Mulder fingered 
the lettering on the ID badge: Dr Dana Katherine Mulder.  
It sent a strange shiver down his spine to see it printed 
there in black and white.  From one chaste kiss on New 
Year's Eve to married life in the space of a few weeks - 
their relationship was certainly hotting up.

"I wish you'd tell me what's going on with you, Fox," 
Scully (or perhaps Mrs Mulder?) sighed, folding clothes 
into a neat pile beside him.  He noted the rings sparkling 
on her left hand - a solitaire diamond and a gold wedding 
band.  "You've been acting strangely ever since last night.  
We didn't come all the way out here so you could go chasing 
paranormal phenomena you know."  Her tone was light and she 
smiled at him, placing a thumb under his chin and turning 
his face towards her in an attempt to read his expression.

"I'm starting to forget why we did come out here," Mulder 
fished subtly for information.

Scully gave a short laugh.  "Likewise.  I'm sorry, Fox, I 
know medical conferences are hardly your idea of a fun 
weekend.  I had every intention of making it up to you but 
you pulled a disappearing act on me."  She sighed and 
stroked his cheek briefly with her thumb.  Mulder looked up 
at her, every fibre of his being screaming for her touch, 
her kiss.  He honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd 
been with a woman.  He'd spent the best part of the last 
decade buried in his work, refusing to allow himself time 
to dwell on his romantic failings.  Now here he was, with a 
woman standing in front of him who it would be perfectly 
acceptable for him to make love to right there and then.  
And this wasn't any woman either, this was Dana Scully.  
This was the woman who he had to force himself not to 
fantasise about during the long nights alone on his sofa.  
This was the woman who he respected and cared so much for 
that he forbade himself to consider her in anything other 
than a platonic manner.  

Mulder steeled himself.  This wasn't right.  He'd already 
made out with one parallel universe Scully, he wasn't about 
to do it again.  He needed to focus his attention on 
getting back to his own world. 

XXXXXXX

Parallel Universe #1

Down in the basement of the J Edgar Hoover Building Dana 
Scully cast a critical eye over the familiar office.  
Basically, it was the same organised chaos that Fox Mulder 
still thought of as his territory.  Newspaper cuttings and 
magazine articles adorned any available wall space; 
battered green filing cabinets were overflowing with X-
Files; a photo of Samantha in a wooden frame was carefully 
positioned on the solitary desk.

It was only upon close inspection that Scully began to note 
the slight differences.  Mulder's love for Phoebe was 
subtle but evident - the wedding photo placed fondly next 
to the snap of his sister, her office number listed third 
on the agents' speed dial.  Scully noted with some interest 
that this Mulder, rather than having x-rated videos in the 
VCR, had a tape entitled "First Time Fatherhood" on pause.

It took her a moment to realise that something else was 
missing from all this - her partner's "I Want to Believe" 
poster.  In fact, there was nothing that even so much as 
hinted at this Mulder's belief in the paranormal.  With 
this in mind, Scully headed towards the filing cabinet and 
began flicking through the folders inside.  If this Mulder 
was indeed a non-believer then there had to have been 
something that changed his mind.  She skimmed through the 
files; cases that they had worked together that suddenly 
took on a whole different perspective.  A Texan vampire who 
really was just a crazy kid with a passion for horror 
movies; an Eddie Van Blundht who drugged and raped his 
victims; a Robert Modell who was apparently a registered 
hypnotherapist and case after case of alien abduction 
explained away as hoaxes.

As she scanned the files Scully came to realise that, as 
her partner's explanations became increasingly banal, her 
own theories became more and more far-fetched.  As Fox 
Mulder's faith in the paranormal dwindled, hers was 
apparently going from strength to strength.  Scully frowned 
as she noted phrases such as "telekinesis" and 
"parapsychology" in reports with her signature at the foot 
of them.

"Oh brother," she sighed, dropping the file back into the 
cabinet and closing the drawer.  She closed her eyes and 
began to massage her temples.  This was insane.  She didn't 
believe in parallel universes.  She couldn't accept that 
somehow she had slipped into another dimension.  She needed 
to think.  What would Mulder do?  She gave a short laugh, 
mentally admitting that by even considering what Mulder 
would do she was acting like a crazy person.  

This momentary cheer quickly gave way to a sudden feeling 
of emptiness.  Mulder wasn't here.  Worse.  Mulder was 
here, and, despite his typically chivalrous Mulder 
attributes, he cared no more for her than he did any other 
work colleague.  Sure, he respected her and no doubt 
trusted her with his life, but as far as he was concerned, 
their relationship was 100 per cent platonic.  Scully sat 
down heavily in her partner's chair, suddenly realising how 
much she missed something that she'd never even realised 
she had before.

"Scully?"

She looked up at the sound of her partner's voice and 
forced herself to smile.

"Hey, Mulder.  How's Phoebe?"

Something about the look of confusion that crossed his face 
caused Scully's heart to leap.

"Your wife?" She prompted, picking up her partner's wedding 
picture and turning it to show him.

"Jesus," Mulder took the photograph from her, eyes widening 
in genuine surprise.

"Mulder?"  Scully rose tentatively from the chair, 
supporting herself on the edge of the desk as she moved 
closer to this new Mulder. "Is that you?"

"Of course it's me, Scully.  It just depends which me 
you're looking for."

"Ok, have you ever been married to, or impregnated, Phoebe 
Green?"

At this Mulder's eyes looked as though they may fall from 
their sockets.

"No," he stammered, swallowing heavily before clearing his 
throat in an attempt to regain his composure.  "Ok, Scully, 
have you ever allowed me to see you in a black satin 
negligee?"

"What?"  Scully subconsciously wrapped her jacket more 
tightly around her.

"I'll take that as a no," Mulder grinned impishly.  
"Although I won't say it's something I wouldn't want to see 
again."

"Uh-huh," Scully brushed the comment off.  "Ok, Mulder, 
would you say that most cases of alien abduction can be 
dismissed as hoaxes?"

"Conspiracies or hoaxes?"

"Hoaxes," Scully clarified, handing him one of the case 
files she had been studying earlier.  

"Well now that's just horrifying," he raised his eyes from 
the page to look at her.

"Mulder, what the hell's going on?"

"Well, Scully, it appears that we have slipped into an 
alternate universe."

"Well if that's the case, Mulder, then it would appear that 
there are two of you in this one."

"Surely that can't be possible."

"Mulder, exactly which part of this do you consider to be 
possible?"

"That aside, Scully, there are clearly at least three 
different realities in existence.  If I'm here, then Mr 
Phoebe Green is either running around here somewhere too...or 
he's been forced out into a different universe."

"Which one?"  Scully asked dubiously.

"The one where I'm married to you..."

Scully paused, unsure how to respond to that.  She decided 
on the safe option, avoiding any possible sentiment and 
tackling the matter as analytically as she could.  Given 
the circumstances.

"So we have a Mulder who thinks he's married to someone 
else coupled with a partner who thinks he's married to her.  
Then somewhere else we have a Mulder who thinks he's 
married to me but I think he's married to Phoebe Green."

"Scully, if these people really are our parallel selves, 
will they have worked all this out too?"

"Mulder, I don't think it's necessary for you to complicate 
this already unthinkable situation by asking questions that 
can have no possible logical answer."

"So that'd be a no then, huh Scully?"

"You know, I think I preferred the version of you that was 
married to Phoebe Green."  Scully stood up, dropping a 
handful of files back into the cabinet behind her.  Just as 
she did so, however, the phone on parallel Mulder #1's desk 
began to ring and both agents regarded it uncertainly.  In 
fairness, neither one of them had any right to answer it 
but Scully took the plunge, leaning forward and picking up 
the receiver.

"Scully," she said, unsurprised now to hear the clipped 
British tone of Mulder's former lover.  

"Oh, Dana, hello.  Is Fox there?"

"I'll put you through," Scully said, passing the telephone 
to her partner who looked decidedly unhappy with the 
arrangement.  

"Hey, Phoebe," he said, wincing as his "wife" enquired in 
breathy tones as to what time he would be returning home.  
"In about two hours," he replied, checking the clock and 
noting too late that it was already coming up to half past 
seven.

"Two hours, Fox?  Two hours?  You plan to leave you 
pregnant wife alone for another two hours whilst you mess 
about with some completely ridiculous case from The 
Twilight Zone?" 

By this point Mulder was holding the phone away from his 
ear, avoiding the shrill tones and additionally allowing 
Scully a clear insight into the call.  She looked decidedly 
amused by the whole thing and Mulder watched with some 
annoyance as she hid a smirk behind her hand.

"Fine, Phoebe, I'll be home as soon as I can."  He put the 
phone down, turning his attention back to Scully.  "We've 
gotta get the hell out of here."

"Oh, I don't know, Mulder.  Seems like a cushy situation 
you've got going on here - ready made family and 
everything!"

"Very amusing, Scully.  Now come on, we're going back to 
that church."

XXXXXXX

Back Home

"So," Skinner removed his glasses and massaged his temples.  
9am meetings with Mulder and Scully were getting too much 
for him these days.  "You're telling me that you somehow 
stumbled upon a gateway to a parallel universe,"

"Several parallel universes," Mulder interjected.  

Skinner's gaze was unfaltering.

"Several parallel universes," he repeated.  "And, not only 
did you somehow manage to cross over into these universes, 
but your presence in them forced your parallel forms into 
this universe."

"Sir, if I could say something," Scully cut in, "whilst I 
am naturally as unable to believe or explain any of this as 
you are, I do feel that that would explain the sexual 
harassment claim that was filed against Agent Mulder 
yesterday, allegedly by myself."

"Agent Scully, are you now saying that you wish to withdraw 
your complaint?"

"Sir, I never made such a complaint."  Scully clarified.

"Agent, I personally witnessed the security footage of 
Agent Mulder pinning you against his desk yesterday 
morning," at this Skinner's gaze fell uncomfortably to his 
desk, "and the subsequent events thereafter."

Mulder's eyes widened.  He glanced towards Scully, whose 
horrified expression conveyed her thoughts pretty clearly.

"Agents," Skinner pressed his fingers to his temples.  "I 
quite frankly have no idea what to make of this entire 
fiasco."  He looked up.  "I had every intention of 
assigning you both new partners.  But now, well, I think 
the best thing to do is to send you home.  Speak to 
Kimberley, arrange another meeting.  I want to see you 
again first thing tomorrow morning.  And I mean first 
thing, agents.  7am sharp, with a much better explanation 
than you've just given me now."

Both agents rose and walked silently to the door.  The 
second they stepped into the corridor, however, the peace 
was shattered.

"Security footage, Mulder?"  Scully was outraged, furious 
that her good reputation had been sullied in such a way.

"Hey!  Don't look at me!"  Mulder guided her towards the 
elevators, "it wasn't me, Scully!  I didn't try anything 
on, not even when you were meant to be my wife!"

At that Scully stopped.  Behind them the elevator doors 
slid open.

"What did you say?"

Aware that he had obviously said the wrong thing, Mulder 
tried a subject change.

"Scully, elevator?"  He indicated the open doors.

"You met the me who was married to you and you didn't even 
try to so much as kiss her?"  Her voice was strained, heavy 
with something that Mulder wanted to call disappointment.  
Surely not.

He was stumped.  Did she want him to want to kiss her?  Did 
she think that he didn't want to?  Hadn't imagined what 
that would be like since pretty much the moment he met her?  
He'd wanted her to know how much he respected her!  She'd 
looked mortified at the thought of being caught "in the 
act" with him before, why was she so pissed now?  

He stood and watched as she got into the waiting elevator, 
confused and unable to think straight, unable to move come 
to that.

"Mulder?"  She was saying, finger pressed against the "hold 
doors" button as she waited for him.

He furrowed his brow, stepping into the elevator.

"Scully," he began, "did you...did you *want* me to want to 
kiss you?"

Scully looked uncharacteristically flustered.  

"What?  Mulder, no, that's not what I..."

But Mulder had seen his chance.  In a rare moment of 
weakness, Scully had finally betrayed true emotion.  None 
of the typical "I'm fine crap"- she wanted him to want her 
and God help him he did.

In a split second he was in front of her, taking her face 
in his hands and pressing his lips to hers before she had 
any chance to object.  He kissed her with a passion born 
from seven years of pent up frustration and desire, and 
within seconds she was kissing him back.  He was almost 
surprised to feel her hands encircle his waist as she 
tasted him, unable to believe his luck that this venture 
had actually paid off.  He moved his hands, cradling her 
head with one as he gripped her arm with the other.

This was certainly no platonic New Year's Eve peck between 
friends.  He was unsure whether it was a result of strong 
feelings, what felt like decades of lack of practise or if 
Scully was just an extraordinarily good kisser, but Mulder 
was definitely enjoying himself.  

"Mulder," she broke away suddenly.

"What?"  Oh God, what was he doing?  He was going to get 
punched again.  He almost flinched in anticipation of what 
he knew to be a strong right hook, but instead Scully 
nodded towards a blinking light.

"Camera," she said, eyes dancing in a manner he had perhaps 
seen twice throughout the entire course of their 
partnership.

"Oh," Mulder understood, removing his jacket and throwing 
it over the device before resuming his earlier position.  
"Now, *this* will be something to explain to Skinner."


XXXXXXX

The End

Starbuck_jayne@hotmail.com

www.geocities.com/starbuck_jayne

If you like the idea, e-mail me!  I was thinking of playing 
around with the parallel Mulders and Scullys but didn't 
want this to be too long.  Could always be extended though 
;-)