From: PamalaSt <pamalast@aol.com>
Date: 11 Dec 1998 19:36:23 GMT
Subject: Somethings Different (1/1) by PamalaSt ( Drmld fic)

Something's Different  By PamalaSt  ( 1/1)

I know I should be alarmed by what some unseen elves did to my apartment while
we were away on our little jaunt to Area 51.  But I'm not.  Even in the bizarre
surrounding of what I guess is my bedroom, all I can think about is Scully.  I
spoke to her on the phone just minutes ago, and yet I still can't shake the
feeling that she's gone. That something is tearing her away from me.

What do I do when I need my Scully?  I grab my phone and call her. As always
she answers right away.

"Scully."

"Yeah. Hi, Scully, it's me. You still at the office?"

"Well, actually, Mulder, I was just about to get in my car. Is something
wrong?"

What a relief to have a solid excuse to call her rather than having to dance
around the fact that I just needed to hear her voice.

"Wrong?  Well, something is sure not right here.  Scully, something really
strange happened in my apartment while I was gone. You mind stopping by to take
a look at this?"

She doesn't hesitate. Not for a moment.  Scully is the one thing in my life I
can always count on.

"Yeah, sure. I'll be right there, Mulder." 

I pass the time waiting for her arrival by trying to make sense of my new
surroundings. No real evidence of what happened here other than a stack of
credit card receipts from various stores and a storage company, with what
appears to be my signature on them, lying on a dresser I've never seen before.
I guess at least now I know where all my stuff went. But where on earth did all
this come from?

As I look through the receipts, adding up the damage, I can't help but chuckle
to myself. *I'm gonna have to start taking bribes to pay for all this stuff*. 
I look around a bit more before first sitting down, and then lying back, on the
bed.

OK. One thing for sure: I did not buy this bed. For a second let's overlook the
fact that, despite my taste in video entertainment, this is most definitely not
my style.  The real problem here is, I hate waterbeds. I get seasick if I watch
my fish swim around for too long.  I would never purchase a waterbed, tacky or
otherwise.

As I lie there as still as possible, trying to keep my stomach in check and
figure out what the hell is going on, I glance up.

Good God! There are mirrors on the ceiling over this bed.  Staring up at myself
I think, Frohike!  I don't know how, but Frohike had to have something to do
with all of this.  I start to turn away from the image of myself suspended
overhead, and then it comes to me. I  swear I  can see it, Scully lying there
on the bed next to me.  Now don't get me wrong. I have more than my share of
fantasies about Scully, but this is different.  I'm not asleep; my eyes are
wide open, but I can still see her body there next to mine reflected in the
mirror..

I close my eyes and roll away from the intimate picture above. But that doesn't
help. I swear I can smell her perfume on the animal print comforter. I think,
*What the hell,* and indulge myself for a moment.  Lying there face down on the
bed, breathing in her scent, I imagine her there in my arms, her warm soft body
pressed tightly against my own.

And then I hear it. Correction: I hear *her.* She had evidently let herself in
when I didn't answer and was now standing in the doorway, watching me make a
fool of myself.  I roll over and sit up, trying hard not to make waves on
several levels.  I watch her eyes as they silently sweep around the room.  The
bed, the candles, the mirrors, and... a bottle of champagne and glasses on the
night stand?  I hadn't noticed that little item before.  Where the hell did
that come from?  What must she be thinking right now?  First I call her late at
night and ask her to come over, and when she does, she finds me here like this.

She's watching me without a word, eyebrows raised and biting her lower lip.
"Mulder, if this is some grand attempt to seduce me, all you really had to do
was ask."

Her tone was playful; I know she was joking. I *think* she was joking. Any way
you look at it, it scares the hell out of me. I jump to my feet, jamming both
hands into my jeans pockets and standing there like an idiot fumbling for
something to say. 

"No! Really, Scully... I didn't do any of this. It was like this when I got
back." I push past her into the living room, feeling  like a jerk. *Smooth,
Mulder, really smooth. You can dish it out but you can't take it, can you, big
guy?*

She followed me into the living room, taking a seat on the couch next to me
just a little too close. "Mulder, what happened here? If you didn't do this,
then who did?"

I put my feet up on the coffee table, stretching out against the couch. It may
look relaxed, but don't let me fool you. For me this is a defensive posture. 
She is so close to me right now and I want to touch her too much to let my
guard down even for a second.

"I dont know, Scully.  But I haven't been able to shake the feeling ever since
I walked through that door that something happened to us out there. Something
neither one of us remembers, but has changed things just the same."

The way she is looking at me, I'm completely prepared for her to tell me I'm
crazy.  Instead she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a coin.  No, two
coins. "I think you're right, Mulder. Something did happen.  I've had the same
feeling since I found this in my desk at the office."

I take the coins from her hand, touching her just a little too much in the
process.  I can't help myself. I need to touch her right now and I'll use any
excuse.  It is two coins, a dime and a penny, but somehow they have been fused
together at the center of each coin. "Where did you get this?"

She gives me a look I know well and have seen each and every time we have come
up against the wall of the unexplained. "I don't know.  It was just there, in
my desk... but it means something, doesn't it, Mulder?"

I put the coins back in the palm of her hand, feeling as if I've touched her in
the same way recently.  Not here, not now, but I can feel it, almost see myself
brushing the tips of my fingers over the soft skin of her hand in another time
and place.  I draw back my hand, reeling form the intensity of emotion such a
simple gesture evokes in me. "Yeah, I think it does mean something.  I just
dont know what."

She takes my hand in hers, giving it a firm squeeze before giving me a smile
and heading for he door. "We'll figure it out together, Mulder."

I listen for sound of the door shutting behind her, and then close my eyes. I
run her words over and over again in my head.  *Thats right, Scully. TOGETHER.*