From: "NynaeveSedai" Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 12:41:51 -0400 Subject: NEW: Queen of the World (1/1) Source: xff TITLE: Queen of the World by Nynaeve E-MAIL: scully@accessearth.net RATING: G CATEGORY: V, post-ep, implied MSR SPOILERS: Detour KEYWORDS: romance, possibly angst SUMMARY: A 'missing scene' from "Detour", in which Scully continues singing to Mulder. DISCLAIMER: Yes, I know, they belong to Chris Carter, 1013, and a bunch of other legal entities. DEDICATION: To J and A, as always. Thanks for always asking what I'm writing, even when the answer is "Nothing". You ask it enough and look what happens! DISTRIBUTION: anywhere, just let me know so I can arrange visitation. FEEDBACK: of course! I keep and respond to it all. Queen of the World Scully stared into the lightless night. The moon was cast into her cyclical dark and but few stars shone above. She felt Mulder's weight against her, not heavy, but solid and reassuring. She could feel the rise and fall of his chest against her encircling arms. Certain he slept, she could not say why the words of the song continued to trip gracelessly from her tongue. "... Joy to you and me." She paused, took a breath. The air was cool, but still heavy with Florida's trademark humidity. She should be afraid, her rational mind told her, but fear was as distant as civilization. She took joy in the life she had been given back, joy in the fact that, even facing danger, she was with Mulder. They were a team again and all was as it should be. Sighing lightly, shifting gently so as not to disturb the man resting in her arms, she gazed up at the black sky for a long moment. Then, softly, she began singing again. "If I were the king of the world, I tell you what I'd do: I'd throw away all the cars and the bars..." "Queen of the world," Mulder's strained voice interrupted her. "Mulder!" she exclaimed. "You need to get some sleep." "Queen of the world," he repeated. She sighed again. Mulder with an idea was a force with which to be reckoned, even injured and in shock. "What?" "You would be Queen of the world, Scully, not king," he explained gently. She nodded and smiled at him. Her fingers began tracing unconscious circles on his jacket. The sound was the merest whisper in the deep, penetrating dark. Mulder could not see her face, but he knew from the tilt of her head that she was smiling that luminous, rare smile of contentment and peace. She said nothing. Neither did he for a long time. "Why that song, Scully?" "Hmmm?" She asked absent-mindedly. "Oh, Melissa used to sing it all the time. It was one of her favorite songs. She even used to make up dance routines to it and make me learn them." Mulder chuckled a bit, then groaned as pain raced through him. "Did she really?" Scully giggled a bit and nodded. "Yeah, she did. Although I guess it's more accurate to say she *tried* to make me learn them. I wasn't a very good student, more interested in playing with Bill and Charlie," she paused. Her head sunk a bit. "Poor Missy." Mulder found one of her hands and gave it a gentle squeeze. He left her to her reverie. After a few moments she spoke again, her voice bearing the telltale hint of tears unshed. "Every time Missy got interested in a new boy, she came home singing that song." Scully giggled again. "Mom caught on pretty quickly, but I don't think Ahab ever did. Probably a good thing. They were always at loggerheads as it was." "What about you?" Mulder asked. "Mulder, you know I was very close to my father - ," she started. "No," he interrupted. "What song did you come home singing?" She gazed down at him and her hands stilled momentarily. Then she looked up at the sky again. "I can't sing, Mulder." Her fingers began moving on the cloth of his jacket again. "Yeats." "What?" "Yeats. William Butler Yeats. I came home reciting his poetry." Mulder chuckled again. They remained silent again for some time. It was Mulder who broke the light silence resting between them. "Would you, Scully?" "Would I what, Mulder?" Her voice was perplexed. "If you were Queen of the world, would you?" His voice was soft, gentle, insistent. He knew he was over the line. It wasn't the first time he'd crossed that line, but it was the first time he'd asked her to cross it with him. Now he waited to see if she *would* cross the line, or if he'd made a terrible mistake. For what seemed ages she said nothing at all. Mulder could tell from the angle of her hair, that she was gazing up at the sky. Her hands stopped moving across his jacket. He watched her head swing down slowly and knew she was staring at him. "Yes, Mulder, " she said at last. "I would." "Thank you, Scully," he said simply. "But, Mulder - " she began. "I know. You aren't the Queen of the world and I'm not the King. There's too much in our way. Aliens, conspiracies..." "Mothmen," she added lightly. He nodded a bit and smiled at her. "And mothmen," he agreed. "In a different world, Scully." It was not a question, but a statement. "Yes, Mulder, in a different world," she whispered. She raised one hand to his forehead, brushing aside a few strands of hair. He sighed and smiled again, leaned into her. They had crossed the line together and they had retreated the same way. He had nearly lost her, yet again. But he hadn't. She was still here, still his; now more so than ever before. It didn't really matter that the physical consummation of all that lay between them was not likely to occur any time soon. Some day they would have dealt with aliens, with conspiracies, with Mothmen even. Someday she would be Queen of the world.