From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org Date: 5 Jan 2004 06:38:10 -0000 Subject: Practice Makes Perfect by Jenna Source: direct Reply To: jennasxffic@lycos.com TITLE: Practice Makes Perfect AUTHOR: Jenna (jennasxffic@lycos.com) FEEDBACK: Worshipped, adored and cuddled! SPOILERS: Small ones for "Two Fathers" CATEGORY: MT, MSR RATING: PG DISCLAIMER: No infringement intended. ARCHIVE: MiJ, ATF, Gossamer and Ephemeral. Anywhere else, please let me know first. SUMMARY: Mulder gets ready to teach Scully about the finer points of basketball, but then a small mishap occurs. AUTHOR'S NOTES: Written in response to a challenge by the fantastic Spock at MR. Here it is; although, I'm not sure you will learn anything from my writing! ;) CHALLENGE ELEMENT: Write a scene around the following sentences: Mulder and Scully are alone at the gym in the Hoover Building. Mulder's shorts get stuck on one of the contraptions there. WEBSITE: http://jennasxffic.tripod.com/ ----------------------------------------------------- All the guys had left an hour ago, but he felt the need to stay and work off some of his aggression. The X-Files had been taken away from him and his partner ten months before, and their current jobs of doing background checks was boring as hell. He had once thought about quitting, but Scully seemed too determined to let the FBI beat them at their own game, and who was he to argue with her. Dribbling the ball between his legs and around his back, he banked a shot off the back board, catching nothing but net. The bouncing basketball reverberated as she entered the dimmed gymnasium. Sweat running in rivulets down his back and onto the band of his shorts caused her to stop in her tracks and stare at his well- sculpted, muscular torso. Oblivious to her arrival, he continued shooting basket after basket from the free throw line, making each one perfectly. She admired his technique before announcing her presence. "Nice, Mulder. Wonder if you can teach me to shoot like that?" "Oh, hey, Scully. How long have you been here? I'm surprised you stayed so late." "Not long, Mulder. By all means, don't let me stop you. Please, keep playing. I'll just sit over here and watch." Moving to the retractable bleachers, she found a spot close to the end of the court he was using. "Oh, you like what you see, huh?" Mulder asked, smirking. "Well, I can teach you how to shoot a basketball." He ambled over to the bench and sat down close to her, continuing to bounce the ball between his legs. "Besides, practice makes perfect." He waggled his eyebrows at her and grinned. The smell of sweat, mixed with the cologne she had given him at Christmas last year, permeated her senses. She sighed audibly as she turned and found his lips so close to her own. The basketball was long forgotten, rolling across the gymnasium floor. It was inevitable, and they both knew it. Purposely, he grazed his lips against the softness of her own. Cradling her face between his hands, he deepened the kiss, and she followed. Feeling a sudden movement beneath, they realized the retractable bleachers had been set on an automatic timer and were about to close. As Scully snatched her purse, she bolted from the seat and grabbed Mulder's hand. She tried to pull him to safety, but was unable to do so. The rip of his shorts could be heard throughout the gym. "Oh, crap!" "Mulder, what is it?" Tears welled up in Mulder's eyes. He fell over and held onto his left upper thigh, writhing and moaning in excruciating pain. "Mulder, talk to me!" She tried to pull his hand away, but he wouldn't let go. Once she removed his hand, she gasped at the large circle of blood deep under the skin that had already started forming. She tried to release his grip to reach for her cell phone in her pocket, but he clung to her hand tightly. "Don't need a hospital, Scully. Just help me up and take me back home." "Mulder, you need to have that checked out. It could lead to something more serious otherwise. Now let me have a look." After prying his hand away, she took note that the area was quickly becoming ecchymotic. She grabbed his hand and helped him to stand. He hobbled his way back to the end of the court to gather his gym bag and the basketball. "Don't worry about the basketball, Mulder. It will keep. I'll have Agent Webster come in and put it away. I need to get you somewhere where your leg can be examined and elevated." He didn't argue any further as the pain in his leg continued to intensify. Surprisingly, she managed to get him back to the parking garage and to her car without any help. "How're you doing partner?" she asked, concern showing in her eyes. "I've been better." His clenching teeth told her otherwise. His eyes widened as she placed her hand on his thigh, until he realized her intentions. "Your leg is becoming warmer to the touch and pitting edema is already starting to take place. Mulder, I have to take you to the hospital. No arguments, please. Okay?" "Okay, you win. No arguments." She smiled at him, relieved that he had decided not to put up a fuss. ----------------------------------------------------- When they had arrived, she took one look around the waiting room of the crowded and busy ER and realized it would be a long wait. "Excuse me, Miss. Do you know how long it will be before my partner can be seen?" The triage nurse snapped a board with papers in front of her without even looking up. "Fill this out first, and when we call him, he will be seen." "But..." "But nothing, lady. I have a waiting room full of people who were here before your partner arrived. I'm sorry, but we're busy, and he will have to wait his turn." "Okay," she mumbled as she walked back toward the empty seat next to him. She tried to make him as comfortable as possible, considering the circumstances. "Oh, good grief, Scully. How much longer is it going to be?" Twisting and turning in his seat, the pain was becoming unbearable. She knew that she had to do something when she felt his leg again and it was even hotter to the touch than before. It had also started changing color and was extremely red. She felt him slump over in the seat and become dead weight. "Excuse me? I need some help, here!" "Oh, what the hell is it now?" the nurse muttered under her voice. Her eyes grew wide when she noticed him passed out in the chair and his swollen and red leg. "Oh my! Oh, I'm so sorry. Here, let me get a wheelchair and we will get him back to see Dr. McNamara right away." She scurried off behind the doors and returned within seconds with the promised wheelchair. Scully glared at her as they passed the desk. Clearing out a room in just minutes, the nurses and orderlies had Mulder on the gurney waiting for the doctor to arrive to determine the extent of his injury. The doctor arrived within 15 minutes, called for an Ultrasound, and gave Mulder a dose of heparin to thin out the clot which had begun to form in his upper left thigh. After the doctor was then called away to another emergency, Scully crawled up on the bed beside him and laid her head on his shoulder. She began to mouth the Hail Mary prayer against his neck and his smile widened despite his current pain. After a seemingly endless wait, the doctor returned, giving him an otherwise clean bill of health and directions to keep his leg elevated. He added orders to come back if any complications occurred. Scully stood beside the gurney, holding his hand against her cheek. "I knew you had to be okay, Mulder." He reached up and wiped the tear with his thumb that had slid down her cheek. "I told you I was going to be fine, Scully. It was nothing. I've been worse off before, right, Doc?" he asked, grinning. "Yes, you were right." She smiled softly down at him. "Besides, I still have to teach you how to shoot those free throws." Propping herself up on her elbow, she faced him. "Basketball, huh? Do you think I would be any good at it?" He looked into her deep blue eyes and was suddenly lost and confused. "At what, basketball?" "Yes, but specifically, what about one-on-one?" "Oh, Agent Scully, I think your one-on-one technique is already fine." "True, but as someone wise recently told me, practice makes perfect," she said and reached down to capture his lips in a kiss. -The End-