From: "Ainslie Keith" Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 17:27:18 PDT Subject: umm... submission Title - So Close... (1/1) Author - Soxom E-Mail address - SOXOM@starplace.com Rating - PG Category - S (Story) Spoilers - None Keywords - Mulder/Scully UST Summary - Scully decides to go to Mulder's apartment and tell him her true feelings. Unfortuneately, showing up unannounced isn't a good idea... Intro Hi! This is Soxom. And this is my first submission, so apologies to the archivists if I screwed it up. This was also my first fanfic, so be kind. I don't know where it came from, it just appeared in my head, so it's kinda disjointed. If you like it, tell me - enough stuff didn't get worked in that I could do a sequel. But any comments welcomed at SOXOM@starplace.com **Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter, 1013 productions, and Fox. SO CLOSE... Dana Scully squinted through the rain at the tarnished brass numbers on the apartment building, then back down at the paper in her hand. This was the right building. She sat in her car a moment longer, working up her nerve. "If you don't do it now, you never will," a little voice inside her whispered. Taking a deep breath, she got out of her car and hurried up the steps and into the building. Fox Mulder wandered slowly along the hall to his apartment. When he reached it, he tried to unlock the door, but succeeded only in knocking his keys to the floor. His conscience kept telling him "This is a bad idea. You know it." but it was overpowered by the six beers he'd just had. Mulder wasn't exactly drunk, but he wasn't entirely sober either. When he finally succeeded in opening the door, he turned and ushered his guest inside. Scully stopped outside apartment 417. Three times she raised her hand to knock, and three times she brought it down again. "Come on," she told herself. "You have to do this. Things can't go on the way they've been." She knocked once, twice, three times. Just as she was turning to go, the door was opened abruptly. "Scully!" exclaimed Mulder. His ever present jacket and tie were gone and his shirt was untucked. He looked surprised and a little flustered. Ignoring her feelings of foreboding, Scully plunged ahead. "Mulder, could I come in for a few minutes?" she asked. "I need to talk to you." "Well, uh, actually..." Mulder began, then was interrupted. "Who is it Foxy?" asked a feminine voice. Mulder turned, allowing Scully to see past him into the room. Just outside the bedroom door stood a tall, slender woman. One hand was on her shoulder, obviously holding up that side of her dress. Scully felt a crushing disappointment descend on her. She forced her face to go blank. "You're obviously busy," she said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." She walked briskly down the hall until she turned a corner. Once she was sure Mulder couldn't see her anymore, she slumped against the wall with her face in her hand. Mulder watched as Scully walked away down the hall. He stayed at the door for several minutes after she'd vanished from view. "Foxyyyy," he felt Janey's hand on his shoulder and turned. "Aren't you coming back?" she giggled. She leaned forward to kiss his lips, but he turned away. He could smell the alcohol on her breath. He wanted her out. Now. "I'm not feeling so well," he lied. "Maybe you'd better go home." Ignoring her slurred protests he fixed her dress and practically pushed her out the door, coat in hand. Fixing himself some black coffee, he sat down at his kitchen table to sober up. "Why did Scully have to visit me tonight?" he moaned. It was strange to think that not so long ago he would have laughed away this very same situation, made it into a sort of inside joke. But not now. He recalled the time he'd jokingly told Scully that she seemed to attract all the losers. It seemed like he'd been more right than he knew. Looking back, he realized there was no one time when they had gone from being colleagues to friends, from friends to -- what? He didn't know. All he knew was that Scully was the most important person in his life. And that now he could never tell her. Scully heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Quickly she ducked into the stairway. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. She hurried down to the first floor, her brain in a turmoil. She kept coming back to the same question: Why? Why did she have to come tonight? Why did she have to find that woman? Then a new thought struck her. What if that woman hadn't been there? What if she'd gone ahead and told Mulder, the way she'd planned? She'd been so wrong about him. Oh, how could she have been so wrong? Scully pushed open the outer door and stepped into the rain. Maybe it was better this way. She couldn't bear the thought of losing Mulder, of having him reject her. His friendship meant so much to her. She just didn't know how much longer she could pretend.