From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:15:25 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Past The Wishing by Mack the Spoon
Source: direct

Reply To: glace_aux_fraises@hotmail.com


Title: Past The Wishing
Classification: VR
Keywords: Missing scene. Post-ep. Mulder/Scully romance
Spoilers: Je Souhaite
Rating: PG-13
Summary: "Skinner called me, Mulder. Is everything all right?"
Disclaimer: I don't own this show or any characters from it.
Feedback: I'd love some. You can leave some in the comments,
or send me an email at glace_aux_fraises AT hotmail DOT com.
Author's Note: Thanks to Miss Monkeh for the able beta.

~~~~~~
Scully had just gotten everything unpacked and put away from
their trip to Missouri when her cell phone started to ring.
She picked it up off her nightstand and flipped it open.
"Scully."

It was Skinner. "Scully, have you spoken to Agent Mulder
recently?"

"Not since the airport. Why, is something wrong, sir?" If
something had happened to her partner, she had a feeling it
would have to do with that irritating woman who claimed to be
a genie. It had seemed like she wasn't going to stop hanging
around Mulder any time soon.

"Not exactly." There was a pause. "Did something happen on
this case that was, uh, more stressful than usual?"

Her stomach twisted. Skinner sounded uncomfortably like he
wanted to ask if Mulder had finally gone nuts. "Not that I
know of. Sir, may I ask what happened?"

"He showed up suddenly in the middle of my meeting this
afternoon. He was... yelling something at someone, apparently,
except I didn't see anyone who that might be. And he wasn't
able to explain what he was doing in my office in the first
place."

Scully sighed mentally. She wondered if the fact that this
didn't sound as bad as what she had begun to imagine had
implications for her own sanity. "He didn't have an
explanation?" she hedged.

Skinner's sigh in response was audible. "He said something
about it being a long story, apologized for interrupting, and
left. It was like he was surprised to see us there, actually."

He didn't speak further, but she could hear his unspoken plea
for some kind of answers. Unfortunately, she had no idea - not
even a semi plausible one. She wasn't about to tell him that
it had something to do with a genie, that was for sure. "Uh,
sir, I will see if I can figure out what was happening."

"Thank you, Agent," was the reply. "And I anticipate your case
reports promptly, as well."

She hung up, and went to get her jacket again. Whatever Mulder
was up to with that woman, Scully hoped he wasn't going to end
up invisible, or blown up, or anything else she didn't want to
contemplate.

~~~~~~

Having no reason to assume that Mulder had left the Hoover
building, Scully went straight to the office. She could hear
two voices as she approached, which meant that she would in
fact still have to deal with this Jenn woman, but at least
Mulder was there. She entered to find Mulder at his computer,
and Jenn next to him. "Skinner called me, Mulder. Is
everything all right?"

Mulder had apparently gotten over any embarrassment he might
have felt, she noted. His only response was to ask, "You don't
remember disappearing off the face of the earth for about an
hour this morning?"

She raised an eyebrow. This was going to be good. "No."

"Well, I guess everything's okay." He went back to whatever he
was doing.

Of course, everything was definitely not okay. She started to
speak, but could feel Jenn watching them. Not bothering to
hide her annoyance, she asked for some privacy. She was even
more annoyed when, despite agreeing, Jenn did not move from
her spot. "Like, today?" Scully suggested, turning again -
only to see that she had vanished. "Where the hell did she
go?"

Mulder crossed his arms and made an 'I Dream Of Jeannie' sound
effect.

She scoffed. "No... It's got to be hypnotism or mesmerism
or... something." Much as she wouldn't admit it, the last
option, such as it was, seemed the best explanation for most
of the events of this case.

Naturally, Mulder disagreed with her ideas. "Scully, it is
what it is. You examined an invisible body, remember?"

She nearly winced. That fiasco was still too fresh in her
mind. "I thought I did."

Her partner groaned, leaning back in his chair, and she
relented. "Mulder, all right, say... say that you're right.
Say this is what it is. Then what you're doing is
extraordinarily dangerous. I mean, you even said that
yourself."

But Mulder was still sure that if only everyone could benefit,
and people could be safer and happier, then nothing could be
wrong. And she couldn't disagree with the idea, in principle,
and told him so.

"Then what's the problem?" he insisted.

"Maybe it's the whole point of our lives here, Mulder - to
achieve that. Maybe it's a process that one man shouldn't try
and circumvent with a single wish." Although if it really were
possible to make the world better with a wish, Scully thought
fondly, it would be Mulder who could. But she thought he heard
and understood her point. In any case, she figured she could
now risk going back home, and hope that Mulder's next action
would not somehow come back to bite them both.

~~~~~~

His next action that did affect her, it turned out, was to
invite her over that evening for a movie. She was surprised
enough that it took her a few seconds to respond and accept.
It wasn't that Mulder never invited her over after work. In
fact, they had spent the evening together just before this
case, and had made tentative plans for him to come over to her
house for dinner tomorrow. But she definitely wasn't against
her partner's suggestion.

In fact, Mulder promised popcorn, drinks, and unwinding, and
that managed to sound like exactly what she wanted. She
changed out of work clothes and headed over. He opened the
door as soon as she knocked, and ushered her in with pleasure.
The apartment smelled like freshly popped popcorn. Mulder said
he'd go get it as he pushed a tape into his VCR.

When he came back, making a smart remark about her stipulation
against butter on the popcorn, Scully picked up the empty tape
case and suppressed a groan. " 'Caddyshack', Mulder?"

"It's a classic American movie," he said.

"That's what every guy says. It's a guy movie," she countered,
opening her beer and slumping back into the couch. She
shouldn't be surprised, she mused. This was Mulder who had
invited her over to see a movie, after all, and she knew his
taste in film.

Mulder gave her a sideways look. "Okay, when you invite me
over to your place we can watch 'Steel Magnolias,'" he said,
with an affected breathy tone on the last two words that she
assumed he thought sounded feminine or lovestruck.

Ignoring him, she tossed her bottle cap into his trash can,
and smirked when Mulder's own throw missed. Then, deciding to
continue with the theme of invitations and dates, she asked,
"So, uh... what's the occasion?"

He gave a small shrug. "I don't know. Just felt like the thing
to do. Cheers."

"Cheers," she said, and clinked her bottle with his. They took
a drink. But she resolved to get more of an explanation for
his actions today, even if he didn't feel like talking about
it right now.

Maybe he did, though. "I don't know if you noticed but, um, I
never made the world a happier place."

She faced him, considering. "Well, I'm fairly happy. That's
something."

His smile mirrored hers, as he clicked off the mute for the
end of the previews.

"So, what was your final wish, anyway?"

His only response was to look at her, then grin again and take
another sip of beer. The theme that matched the movie in its
inaneness started up.

"No, really, Mulder," she pressed. "What happened today?"

"Shh, you'll miss the movie, Scully," he said, eyes forward.

"Oh, that would be a tragedy," she muttered. "Where's... Jenn,
or whoever she was?"

Finally he tore his gaze away to meet hers. "She's free."

"Free?" she echoed. "You mean, like at the end of 'Aladdin'?"

He smiled again. "Yeah, like that. I thought you didn't
believe she was a genie."

"You did, and she seemed to," she said. "So. You found a truly
unselfish wish after all." She shifted closer to him.

He didn't reply, and seemed engrossed in the movie again, but
his arm slipped around her shoulder. The only problem with
that was that she couldn't lean forward to get the popcorn
without dislodging it. She finally went for it, anyway, but
was sure to end up close to him again.

She offered the bowl to him, and he took it, although he
grimaced slightly while chewing. "There's not much point,
without butter." He leaned forward in turn to put it back,
moving his feet from off the coffee table and pulling her with
him a bit since his arm had returned to her shoulders.

Caught off balance, she slid on the frictionless material of
the couch and grabbed at his left leg with her right hand to
steady herself. "Sorry, Scully," Mulder chuckled, shifting
back.

She raised an eyebrow, not moving her hand. "Smooth, Mulder."
Turning to face him, she added, "You know, if you wanted to
move on to another activity, there's no need to resort to such
tactics."

It was his turn to raise his eyebrows. "What? Tactics? I was
just putting the popcorn back." He tried to sound righteously
indignant, but the glint in his eyes said otherwise.

"Mmhmm," Scully said, and reached around him to pull his head
to hers. When they broke for air, she breathed, "And I don't
know what you're complaining about, Mulder. It tastes fine to
me."

He huffed out a laugh. "I hereby withdraw any complaint,
Scully."

"Noted," she said, capturing his mouth again and moving so
that she was almost entirely in his lap. "I guess everyone's
happy, then."

"Scully," Mulder panted, "I couldn't be happier."

She pulled away enough to grin at him. "I can tell. And we
didn't even need a genie."

"Nope," he agreed. "I think we've got all the magic we need."

Scully laughed. Only Mulder could say something like that at a
time like this and mean it, even though he made it sound
flippant. "So let's make the world better."


End

(ATTHS, obviously)