From math.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!howland.erols.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.ycc.yale.edu!yale!news-mail-gateway!daemon Tue Aug 20 09:57:38 1996 Article: 23105 of alt.tv.x-files.creative Path: math.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!howland.erols.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.ycc.yale.edu!yale!news-mail-gateway!daemon From: Gil Trevizo Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: New: Reunited (fwd) by Wendy Sheppard Date: 19 Aug 1996 15:09:23 -0400 Organization: Yale CS Mail/News Gateway Lines: 254 Sender: daemon@cs.yale.edu Message-ID: <19960819150922.aaaa001Mv@babyblue.cs.yale.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: babyblue.cs.yale.edu Status: RO I DID NOT WRITE THIS - I am the administrator for the x-files-fanfic mailing list and am posting this story for a subscriber. For information on the mailing list, go to http://mail.utep.edu/~trevizo/x-files. Please do not send comments for the author to me -- send them to (wshapard@cris.com). You may direct requests for missing parts to me though. __________ / __ __ \ ( (__) (__) ) --------[[[---------]]]------------------------------------------------- REUNITED by Wendy Shapard (wshapard@concentric.net) This story takes place during the episode "Paperclip" (Yep, another elevator story, but who could resist?). This is PG, but it is definitely an M/S RELATIONSHIP story. There: you have been warned/ tempted, depending on your leanings. I write this story while worshiping at the lotus feet of Chris Carter, 1013, FOX, and all those other people who really own the characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so please don't sue me for expressing my love for "The X Files" this way. This is my first posting, so please e mail me to let me know 1. if it worked, 2. whether or not you liked the story, and 3. if you have any suggestions. If you like it enough to distribute it further (and wouldn't that make me happy!), please do, just don't take my name off it, okay? Summary: Under the influence of his experiences in the desert, Mulder confesses his feelings for Scully, while she struggles to reconcile her relief at his return and the need to preserve their partnership. REUNITED by Wendy Shapard Maybe it was the lingering effects of his near fatal experience in the desert of New Mexico. Or the sense of spiritual renewal that remained with him after the Blessing Way ceremony which had led him back from death. Or maybe it was just the look he saw in Scully's eyes when he burst, alive and whole, through the door to find her in an armed stand off with A.D. Skinner. Whatever the cause, nothing was more important in that moment to Fox Mulder than the joy that swelled in his heart upon seeing her again. Standing there in the hallway with her, he felt overwhelmed by an uncharacteristic optimism. So often his mind dwelt on the darkness that besieged his life: the loss, the lies, the conspiracies. But standing in front of her, devouring her face with his eyes, reveling in the way her eyes caressed him in return, Mulder felt a sense of surety that pervaded his bones. If he could return from death to be with her once again, then together they could do anything. Mulder let his eyes drink in the sight of her, wishing he could read the import of her intent gaze. Relief at seeing him alive, that was clear in her eyes, as was her lingering concern and the need to reassure herself that he was entirely all right. But what other emotions deepened her eyes? Did she feel the same surging joy that he did? If he gave in to the soul deep desire to wrap her in his arms and celebrate his renewed life in her embrace, would she respond in kind? Or would the professional personas they both wore still hold them apart, a mask that imprisoned as well as protected? Scully stared at her partner, data tapes and the battle of wills with Skinner just moments before forgotten, as she tried to absorb the truth of his presence. He was alive! Her knees were weak with relief. The stubborn kernel of hope that had refused to believe he could be dead, despite all evidence to the contrary, swelled painfully in her breast. She wanted to let the crumbling facade of professional detachment collapse around her feet, so that she could fling herself into his arms. She wanted to cry out all the tears she had refused to shed while he was gone, and when her tears were spent, she wanted him to drink the tears from her cheeks with soft kisses from his beautiful mouth. But none of that was possible. It would be too real. And who knew better than the two of them how dangerous the truth could be? The truth they searched for could kill them. The truth she hid in her heart could destroy their friendship. Scully let her eyes wander over him once more and let out her breath in a sigh, smiling with downcast eyes, as if she couldn't hide her relief from him, but couldn't show him the full extent of it either. "Mulder, I..." she began, her tone reluctant. His smile only increased in warmth as he interrupted her. "Scully, whatever you're going to say..." he began, sensing that she was about to dive into the troubles surrounding them, while he wanted to savor the sight of her for a moment longer. "I went to your father's funeral," she said, refusing to be interrupted That got his attention. "I told your mother that you were going to be okay." Mulder was stunned by the sweetness of her words. To know that she cared so much about him that she had taken it upon herself to comfort his mother while he had been gone. That she had believed he would come back, when even he had doubted his ability to do so. "How did you know?" he asked, his eye bright with the emotions she sparked in him. Scully's eyes stopped roaming his face and locked with his. Mulder couldn't breath. For one long moment, her eyes were perfectly clear, totally unguarded, as if she wanted him to see down to the depths of her soul. "I just knew," she told him, but she couldn't keep the sorrow she had felt during that time from coloring her voice. Mulder was in awe of her. That unshakable steel core in her that he had always admired, that stubborn streak that demanded proof before it believed, had taken the groundless position that he was still alive and clung to it, despite all evidence to the contrary. Scully heard the elevator ding and took refuge there from Mulder's stare. Had she said too much? She had wanted to show him how much she trusted him, trusted him even to come back from the dead as he said he had. But had he seen more in her eyes, heard more in her words? She tried to recapture the whirling thoughts his return had unleashed. Tried to lock them down and concentrate on the immediate future. Skinner had the digital tape. Mulder was back. Where did they go from here? Mulder managed to follow her into the elevator, his mind still whirling around her words as he punched the elevator button and turned his head to study Scully's profile. He didn't want to let go of the tender moment that had just passed between them, but he could see that her guard was back up, so he had to revert to plan B: teasing her. "So you just knew, huh? You been developing psychic tendencies without telling me, Scully?" "Nonsense, Mulder. I just know how stubborn you are," she tried to keep her tone light, but cringed as she heard the ring of truth in her words, hoping Mulder wouldn't heard it. Mulder did hear it, and rejoiced. He reached out and hit the emergency stop button, preparing to show her a bit of his own soul in return for her revelation of a few moments before. "Mulder?! What are you doing?" Now that sounded more like her, Scully thought. Nothing like a little outrage to get things back to normal with Mulder. But then he turned to her and she knew that things were not going to return to normal yet. "Scully, I want to say something," he said, his voice soft and intense. Oh my God, Mulder, this sounds dangerous, Scully thought, but she said: "What is it, Mulder?" "Thank you," he said simply, then waited to see if she would accept his overture. "For what?" she asked softly, accepting. "For saying those things to my mother. For believing them yourself." Scully stared up into his emotion darkened eyes and tried to breath. This was the real Fox Mulder, she thought. No jokes, no brash smiles. This was the little boy who was still searching for all he had lost. The little boy who had to believe, and to know that someone else did, too. "I had to believe it, Mulder," she said, reaching out and taking one of his hands in hers. When his hand was warm and solid in her own she breathed an other sigh of relief. "I know... You know when I was out there, I started hallucinating... Part of it was about you," his lips quirked up into a lopsided smile and his eyes sparkled, daring her to ask. Scully felt herself smiling in return. This was humor meant to share, not to shield, and she willingly took his bait. "And what did I do in these hallucinations of yours, dare I ask?" she said. "Well, mostly you just badgered me as usual. 'You have a job to do, Mulder.' 'Quit lying around doing nothing, Mulder.' 'The desert's just a figment of your imagination, Mulder.'" "And I'm sure you ignored my advice completely, as usual," Scully replied, her shoulders shaking with amusement. "Well, that part, sure," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "So what did you listen to?" she asked, and his casual demeanor fell from him, fluttering to the floor as he stepped towards her. "I listened when you pointed out that if I didn't come back I'd never be able to do this." And he wrapped his arms around her just as he had wanted to do since he saw the pain his disappearance had caused her reflected in her eyes. Scully tensed for a moment, but when he did nothing more than nuzzle his cheek in her hair, she relaxed in his embrace and let her arms entwine his waist. The long repressed tears pricked her eyes. Mulder felt her begin to tremble in his arms and held her tighter, willing her to let go of her control and share her emotions with him. When he felt her tears through his shirt, he pulled back his head enough to see her glistening eyes, and then, without thought, he dipped his mouth to each of her eyes and kissed the salt tears from her cheeks. "Missed me that much did you?" he said tenderly, feeling overpowered by the strength of his feelings for her. "Yes," she whispered. The tears were still leaking from her eyes, but she didn't try to hide them. If she couldn't trust Mulder with her tears, as with everything else, then she couldn't trust anyone. Mulder pressed her cheek back to his chest and lowered his lips to her ear. "Can I tell you one more thing?" he asked, his skin tingling with adrenalin as he contemplated the words he was about to unleash. She nodded. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and whispered. "I love you, Dana Scully." Scully froze, and ice gripped Mulder's heart. Had he finally gone too far? Had he come back to her and opened his heart only to lose her? Scully pulled out of his arms, unable to meet his eyes, although she knew he was staring at her. Her words rang in his head, echoing in time with her heartbeat. 'I love you. I love you. I love you.' Feeling like she was about to shatter, she pressed the button to start the elevator again. Mulder felt himself sinking into despair. This was it. It was the end of his partnership with Scully, of the closest friendship he had ever had. Why hadn't he died in the desert, if this was what was waiting for him? Then the elevator dinged, and in the heartbeat before the doors slid open, Scully finally met his eyes. "I love you, too, Fox Mulder," she said, and then fled out the doors. Mulder felt like he'd just been hit by a brick wall. But she had said it. She had. She loved him. But she couldn't handle it. Not yet. Mulder followed his partner out into the lobby, his long strides catching up with her easily. "We'll talk about it later, Scully?" he asked, his heart hanging on her next words. Scully continued walking forward, unable to look at him, but her features softened with relief, and she fumbled for his hand, giving it a quick, hard squeeze before letting go and answering him. "Yes, Mulder. We'll talk about it later." The End Thanks for reading! Let me know how you liked it!