From: PitaM13 <pitam13@cs.com>
Date: 22 Jan 2000 21:22:56 GMT
Subject: NEW: Resolutions (1/1)

Title: Resolutions
Author: Pita1013
Rating: PG for one angry fight.
Classifiaction: MSR, SA
Spoilers: Never Again, Millenium, Amor Fati, Irresistible,
Milagro.  *Most* of these are so tiny that you might miss them,
and it won't ruin anything if you haven't seen one.  
Summary: Scully's brother appears, which results in a confession
from Scully.

DISCLAIMER:  Not mine.  I am but a starving college student and
have no money, let alone a multi-million dollar TV/movie
franchise.  Chris Carter, you are the best, and I promise to
return all of your creations unharmed and much happier than you'd
probably like.

INTRODUCTION:  I just had to urge to fight with Bill Scully Jr. and this was my
best way to do it!!!  I have no illusions about the quality of this little fic,
because it was written in the  middle of the night during my finals week, but
let me know what you think. Any feedback, positive or negative, is welcome and
eagerly awaited at PitaM13@cs.com, but flames may be printed out and torched
along with my old homework.  FIRST ATTEMPT!!!  BE GENTLE!!!!  I would like to
know how I do, though, so even if you hate it, I want to know how to make it
better.

Resolutions

January 5, 2000
FBI Headquarters

Dana Scully felt like hell.

Aside from the usual stress of a tough case, she hadn't been
getting much sleep.  In fact, she hadn't had a full night's sleep
since New Year's Day.  Her mind felt detached, like a balloon
floating off into the night sky.

*He kissed me!*

Scully was not a romantic person, not really.  She didn't tend to
carry illusions or harbor unrealistic desires.  She was
scientific, down to earth.  Unrequited love was not practical,
therefore Scully didn't have a problem with it.

Usually, that is.  There usually was no problem with her
analytical mind.  In other words, she could squelch any
uncomfortable feelings with one small foot, and never reveal
anything less than professional.

*He kissed me!*

Not this time.

Ever since New Year's Eve, her mind was in an uproar.  

"Dana, stop it!" she said out loud as she approached the door to
Mulder's office.  *Her* office too, she reminded herself.  She
knew that she was never intruding on Mulder's space, that it was
as much hers as his now.  Especially now, with a sudded hint of
something more than professional partnership.  Even though they
hadn't spoken a word about the impulsive kiss as the new
millenium dawned on the East Coast. 

She resolved to stay silent on the matter unless *he* brought it
up.  She screwed up her courage and walked into the office,
prepared to meet her partner for the first time since that kiss.

Scully entered the office and ended up face to face with her
brother.

Well, maybe more like face to mid-abdomen, Scully thought
incoherently as she absorbed this new information.  After a
split-second of utter confusion, she found her voice.

"God, Bill, what are you doing in my office?" she choked out,
struggling to control her voice.  *Mustn't show weakness in front
of Bill.*

"My ship was in the area," he quipped.

Scully smiled in spite of herself.  "Well, in that case, make
yourself at home."

Bill lost his smile.  "Dana, you don't look good."

Scully's smile was more forced this time.  "You flatter me, as
usual."

"What did that partner of your do to you this time?" Bill
demanded.

*He kissed me,* Scully thought, wondering what Bill would say if
she told him.  Though she knew better, of course.  Bill would
probably try to kill him.

Instead, she snapped at him, "Why do you assume Mulder is the
cause of every one of my problems?"  *Although this time he is*
she added to herself.

"Because he always is!" Bill retorted, irritated.  What was with
his sister protecting the jerk?  "You always defend him, but I
know he must have something to do with this.  You look like you
haven't slept in a week."

*No, just 4 nights* she thought.  "I'm fine!"

"You're always fine," Bill sighed.  "Tell me what's wrong, Dana,
please?"

Scully groaned inwardly, wishing Mulder would appear to stop this
interrogation.  Then in the next moment she wished he wouldn't,
because then she'd have to deal with the kiss.

*He kissed me!*

*Stop it Dana, right now!*

"Bill, please don't worry about me," Scully said, trying to
soften her tone.

"I have to!  It's not like Mulder does," Bill retorted.  He
realized a split second too late that he may have crossed the
line.  A split-second too late to avoid what happened.

Dana Scully, barely more than five feet tall, punched her
much-larger brother.

Punched him so hard that he toppled over and landed on his ass on
the floor of the X-Files office, stunned.

*Damn* he thought, *Bad move, Billy-boy.*

"Don't you *ever* say anything like that again!" Dana snarled,
all professionalism vanished.  Her expression was pure rage. 
Bill was suddenly terrified of his little sister, for the first
time in his life.  

"He has been there for me more than anyone else, including you!
It was *him* that kept me sane when my world fell apart!  When
some psycho tried to rip my heart out, it was *him* that was my
comfort and my strength!  I couldn't function without him, and I
don't know what I'd do if the X-Files were shut down.  I'd
probably move in with him just to have him nearby!  I *love* him,
you fool!"  Dana was winded from yelling, and didn't hear the
door when it opened behind her. 

Fox Mulder walked into the oddest tableau he had ever seen, even
after seven years of bizarre cases.  Bill Scully sat on the
floor, bleeding from his nose and lip, looking shocked, as Dana
Scully stood over him, face red with anger and right fist marred
with blood.  She was shouting, and Mulder walked in right between
"comfort and strength" and "couldn't function."

Bill's jaw dropped as he noticed Mulder for the first time, and
Scully caught her brother's expression.

*Oh, shit* she thought frantically.  She turned slowly, to see
her much-loved and much-abused partner standing just inside the
door.  His face was a mix of shock and confusion, with a touch of
concern mixed in for good measure.

Scully took one look at him and went shooting out of the room
like a high-powered bullet.  Mulder and the *other* Scully stood
staring at each other, at a complete loss.  Finally, Mulder
reached out a hand to help Bill up.

"Thanks," Bill mumbled, incredibly uncomfortable.  Mulder, as a
goodwill gesture, found a pocket-pack of Kleenex in his desk and
offered it to Bill.  The other man nodded gratitude as he dabbed
up the blood that was drying on his face.

"She has a mean right," Mulder said quietly.

Bill raised an eyebrow, looking too much like his sister for a
moment.  Slowly he nodded.  "Yeah, I noticed that."  Mulder shook
his head, smiling slightly at some memory, and Bill found himself
starting to smile along with the agent.  The two men stood
grinning at each other for a minute, then both remembered that
they were supposed to hate each other.

Mulder stood quickly and headed for the door.  "I assume you can
find your way back out?" he asked, not unkindly.

Bill nodded, still trying to stop the blood flow from his lip.  

Mulder started out, then turned back for a second.

"She's wrong, you know.  It's I that can't function without her."

Then he was gone, leaving Bill alone in the small office.  He
stared at the door.

*My New Year's Resolution is now "be nicer to that Mulder guy."*

January 6, 2000
Apartment of Dana Scully

Mulder felt like a schoolboy on his first date.  *Stop it, just
stop it, she's your best friend!* he told himself, uselessly.
Mustering his courage, he banged on Scully's door.

He heard footsteps inside, and watched as the light through the
peephole was blocked.  He knew she was watching him.  After what
seemed like an eternity, the door opened.  Scully stood there,
making no motion to let him in, and all the while blushing like a
teenager.

*Damn this redheaded complection* she thought, knowing she
probably looked like an over-ripe tomato.  

Mulder didn't really notice that.  He was more concerned with
other aspects of his parter's face.  "Can I come in?" he asked
meekly, as he took in the circles under her eyes, the unhealthy
pallor on the parts of her face that weren't turning beet red.

"Mulder, I--"

"Please, Scully, I need to talk to you," he added, trying not to
sound whiny.

Scully paused a moment, then opened the door wider.  In the
darkness of the apartment, he couldn't see her clearly, but he
knew she was upset.

"Scully, when was the last time you slept?" he asked, plunging
right in.

Scully sighed.  "Bill asked me that too."

"Don't hit me!"  Mulder yelled, sliding down the couch out of
arm's reach.

Scully smiled slightly.  "That's not what I hit him for."

"So what possessed you to knock your brother flat on his ass in
the middle of our office?" Mulder asked, trying to get her to
repeat what she had said the day before when he walked in.

Scully knew exactly what he was asking, too.  Swallowing all
pride, she told him exactly what happenned.  She omitted her last
outburst, knowing he heard some of it, but not wanting to deal
with it.

Mulder wasn't letting her off the hook.  Knowing she wouldn't
volunteer anything more, he asked the direct question that she
couldn't skate around.

"Did you mean what you said?"

Scully sat silently, wondering if there was any way to avoid
answering. 

Mulder slid back down the couch, a move eerily reminiscent of a
night two years earlier when she had gotten tipsy and poured out
her soul to an imposter.  He leaned in, stopping a mere foot from
her face.  With careful fingers he tipped her head up, forcing
her to look at him.  

"Tell me," he said, ever so quietly.

Scully let out a strangled sob and flung herself into her
partner's arms.  She laid her head in his shoulder and cried, as
she did when a madman tried to kill her many years ago.  Mulder
just held her, as he had done before.  He knew she couldn't
speak, so he spoke instead.

"I told you how I felt last year after Bermuda," he said.

"You were delirious," she sniffled into his shirt.

Mulder smiled.  "Not *that* much.  Do you think I would've said
that to anyone else?"

"I don't know, I don't know anything anymore," Scully whispered
through her tears.

"Listen to me, okay?" Mulder whispered straight into her ear.
"You are my best friend, and the closest person in the world to
me.  I love you, and I know you know that.  I think that you are
probably the best thing to ever happen in my life, better than
anything else.  I meant what I said after I got out of the
hospital.  You are my constant, and nothing will ever change
that.  I love you more than life, if you don't mind a cliche."

Scully just cried harder.

"Okay, now you're making me nervous," Mulder half-joked.

"I love you too," Scully cried, head still buried in his shoulder.

"That's better," Mulder said softly.

They seperated, staring at each other, one face inches from the other.  

"Things could get really interesting, couldn't they," Mulder grinned.

"Shut up, Mulder," Scully shushed him.  This time, she leaned in first.

Lips met for the second time, chaste but passionate at the same time.  In a
single second, volumes of love were spoken.  When they seperated again, both of
them were teary-eyed.

Content in each others' arms, the partners, settled back on the couch.

*New Year's Resolution,* Mulder thought. *Invite Bill over for a game of
basketball.  I could learn to like the guy.*

*New Year's Resolution," Scully thought.  *Never, ever underestimate the power
of a right hook.*

Mulder looked down into the peace-filled eyes of his love.  *I love you so
much* he thought to her, smiling placidly.

Scully looked back up at her newfound destiny and caught the unspoken words. 
*I love you too, twice as much* she thought back to him.

*We'll see about that,* he thought as sleep took him.

The two agents slipped into dreams as the new year marched onwards, filled with
the promise of the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~The End~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tell me what you think, even if you hated it.  Just don't rip me to pieces, OK?
 Email me at PitaM13@cs.com