From: "Dolphin Girl" Subject: Together (1/1) Date sent: Sat, 13 Sep 1997 14:21:57 PDT TITLE: TOGETHER AUTHOR: DOLPHIN GIRL RATING: PG-13 (for minor bad language) CATEGORY: MSA SPOILERS: NONE Disclaimer: However sad this may be, Scully, Mulder, Skinner and 1013 do not belong to me. I wish they did! No fair! Anyway, they belong to the God of the Files, the oh-mighty Chris Carter and all his cronies. No infringement is intended. E-mail your comments to: dolphingirl8@hotmail.com On with the show!!! TOGETHER by Dolphin Girl "Send Agents Scully in Mulder in here, now!" boomed Assistant Director Skinner to his secretary. The woman nodded and paged the two agents, glancing at her superior. He was standing in his office, staring angrily at a piece of paper on his desk. A few minutes later, Scully and Mulder walked in, looking calm. They were dressed for a day in the office, wearing simple suits. The secretary looked up and gave a slow smile. "He's very angry," she whispered. "What have you done now?" she asked jokingly. Mulder shrugged and Scully followed him into the office, where Skinner was still standing. He looked up at the two agents. "Close the door!" he barked. Mulder complied. Skinner took a deep, angry breath, and picked up the piece of paper off his desk. "Do you two know what this is?" he growled. Scully glanced at the piece of paper. "It looks like wedding invitation, sir," she offered calmly, sitting down and crossing her legs. He frowned, waving the piece of paper in Mulder's face. The paper was beautifully embossed cream tag board, with pale blue and gold scripted lettering. Mulder sat down next to his partner and nodded. "That's what it looks like," Mulder agreed. Skinner threw the paper on his desk. Scully tucked a piece of red hair behind her ear, glancing at Mulder. Where was Skinner going with this? "That's what it looks like?!" Skinner replied, still standing. "That's what it is !" He paused. "Why didn't you just tell me yourselves, instead of waiting- of waiting for this -" He waved the invitation, "To be delivered in the mail?!" Scully and Mulder were baffled. "Sir, what are you talking about?" Skinner was furious as he shoved the invitation into Scully's hand. "I am talking about that, Agent Scully! Don't play dumb with me!" he hissed. Scully looked at the beautiful invitation, complete with pale pink and yellow roses embossed in the corners. She read the words... `You are cordially invited to the wedding of...' She gasped when she saw her name, Dana Katherine Scully, in pale blue script, with Fox William Mulder right below. In gold, it told the day and time the ceremony would occur, where the reception was and to RSVP by April. Scully stared at the paper, her mind blank. Who had sent this to Skinner? And why was she feeling so choked up about seeing her own name on a wedding invitation, instead of her brother's or her friend's? "What does it say?" asked Mulder, glancing at it. She handed it over with a shaking hand. "Sir..." she began, but her cut her off. "Agent Scully, I respect your personal and private lives, but this is unacceptable! Unacceptable! You should have come to me first!" He was interrupted by Mulder's laughter. Scully looked at her partner, who was holding the invitation in one hand and laughing hysterically. He wiped his eyes and placed the invitation on the desk. "Mulder!" she warned. He hiccuped and stopped laughing. He grinned at Scully. "Gee, Scully, why didn't you tell Skinner?" he asked. Scully felt her cheeks grow hot. What the hell was going on? "Yes, why didn't you tell me?" asked Skinner, sitting at his desk. Scully opened her mouth. "I cannot believe it. My two best agents! Secretly engaged! This is completely against bureau policy! I-" "IT'S NOT TRUE!" Scully finally blurted out. "We're not engaged and there is no wedding!" she cried. Mulder laughed again. "Aw, damn it, Scully, my mom would've been so proud!" Skinner's face went blank. "What?" he blinked. Scully swallowed and folded her hands. "There is no wedding, Agent Mulder and I are not engaged, that wedding invitation is false and I don't know who sent it." Skinner looked down at the invitation. "Who would pull something like this?" he asked. Scully shrugged and Skinner was about to thrown the invitation in the trash can when Mulder put a hand to stop him. "Wait," he said. "I want to keep that." Scully looked at him questioningly, raising an eyebrow. "We'll need it for evidence, to see who sent it." Scully nodded; he was right. "And," Mulder added, taking the piece of paper, "It's always good for blackmail, if I ever need it." Scully frowned at Mulder and narrowed her eyes. What did he mean? Skinner sighed and leaned back in his chair. "All right, you two can go. Mulder, please take that to the lab to have it analyzed." Scully and Mulder stood to go. "But, sir..." she started. He looked up at her. She blushed. "It's just that...I mean, if we have it analyzed...in the lab...well..." Mulder knew what she was saying. "She means that people will see it and start to talk." Skinner shrugged and rubbed his forehead. "All right, then. Analyze it yourself. Have someone else do it. I don't care. Just get this matter cleared up!" Scully nodded and opened the door, and she and Mulder left. The agents were silent as they walked back to their basement office. Once inside the office, Mulder started to laugh again. Scully removed her suit coat and flung it over her chair and sat down. "I don't see what's so funny," she said icily. Mulder leaned back in his chair, with his feet up on his desk. "Aw, Scully...you don't think it's funny?" he said at last. "No," she mumbled. Mulder stopped laughing when he realized she was upset. "C'mon, Scully, it was just a joke played by somebody..." "A cruel joke," she added. He frowned. "What's wrong? What do you mean, cruel?" She opened her desk and took out some papers. "Nothing. Never mind." She clicked her pen open and began to turn the pages. "Tell me," he insisted. "What's wrong?" She dropped the pen angrily. "What the hell do you think is wrong?" she asked, her voice rising. "My older brother is married. My younger brother is married. My father's dead. My sister's dead. I'm not married. I have no children. There's no hope of getting married, and there's sure as hell no hope of having children!" she hissed. "That wedding invitation wasn't funny to me, Mulder. It hurt. Why don't you think of someone besides yourself for once, and your stupid search for the `truth'! This job isn't getting me anywhere in my life, and I'm sick of it!" she stood up abruptly, grabbing her suit coat and her trench coat, not meeting Mulder's surprised gaze. "I'm leaving," she said, and walked out of the office, tears blurring her eyes. Mulder sat at his desk, stunned. She had just walked out. Angry. Did she really feel like that? Was he only thinking of himself? He never thought... He never thought. Of course he had never really considered her feelings. He never knew she wanted to be married and have children, and maybe a `normal' job, and that she resented her brothers for being married. He had always taken her for granted, that Scully was content being partners with him, searching for the unknown...now he was seeing her emotional side and he didn't like it. He wasn't used to having her blow up is his face and storm out, but sit there calmly, putting up with his insane theories, stupid jokes and bad habits... He had to go after her. See what was really bothering her. But maybe she wanted to be left alone. Mulder got up and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him. Dana Scully drove her blue Pontiac Grand Am on the freeway. She had to go somewhere. Anyway. She had to get away from Mulder and that look on his face. She decided to go home and change. She entered the serene sanctuary of her apartment, where there were no ringing phones, yelling Assistant Directors, and no Mulder. She quickly changed into her jeans, a blue Navy sweatshirt and her sneakers, throwing her hair into a careless ponytail. If Mulder was going to find her to `talk', this would be the first place he'd look. She hurried outside to the car, throwing a blanket and a bottle of water in the backseat, next to her flashlight. She backed out of her parking space. Out of her rearview mirror she saw Mulder's car, speeding down the street. She took a left just as he pulled into the parking lot. Realizing it was her, he screeched to a halt and turned around, intent on following her. She pulled onto the highway and cranked up the radio, not knowing where she was headed. *Don't speak I know what you're saying Don't tell me `cause it hurts...* No Doubt. Oh great. Depressing music when she needed it the least. She looked in the rearview mirror. Mulder was two cars behind her. He honked the horn and she sped up, taking the next exit. She turned the car down a deserted road, and then took another left, screeching to a halt off the road by a large tree. She took a deep breath and turned off the engine. Mulder had not followed her. She stepped out of the car, looking around her. There were towering pine and maple trees, next to the deserted dirt road. She didn't know where she was, and she didn't care. She grabbed the thick blanket from the backseat, along with the water and the flashlight. She locked the door and headed into the woods, walking softly over the carpet of pine needles, twigs and leaves. She chose a spot about twenty yards in from the road next to a large maple tree and spread the blanket on the ground, and sat down. She took a long, deep breath of the clean forest air and was glad she had come here. She could think in peace. Why had she said those things to Mulder? It was true she felt that way, but he didn't deserve to be yelled at, as if her feelings were his fault. She had just gotten angry, seeing his laughing smug face, as if it was just a silly little prank. A silly little prank intended at her, no doubt about it. Someone who was cruel and knew how she felt. Mulder's surprised expression was all she could think about. She opened the bottle of water and took a sip, picking a few stray flowers that grew near her. Was she really unhappy with her job, working for the FBI? Of course, it was never what she expected. She thought that by this time in her life, she'd be an accomplished doctor with a husband, two kids and a dog, living in some gorgeous house somewhere in Virginia. She dropped the flowers and sighed. They were dreams. That was all they were, those hopes and dreams people have for themselves that get shattered and dashed against walls. Dreams that turn out to be fake, and you end up doing something that, well, you're content with, but could have had something better. "I could have had something better," she said aloud to the trees. The trees rustled their leaves in response. She took another sip of the water and leaned her head back against the bark, sighing. There was the crunch of leaves and Scully's eyes flew open, her hand immediately reaching for her gun. It wasn't there. She looked around and saw someone coming towards her. She frowned when she it was Mulder, walking towards her from the road, where his car was parked behind hers. He was still in his working clothes, his shirt, tie and trench coat looking out of place in the serene environment. Scully silently brought her knees to her chest as Mulder came closer. She just looked at him. He stood in front of the blanket, looking down at her. "Go away, Mulder." She said the words clearly. "I want to be alone." He crouched down in front of her, his brown eyes compassionate. "I won't go away," he replied, "Until we talk." She sighed. "I told you, I want to be alone. I need to think." He shook his head. "Please, don't resign," he begged, sitting on the blanket in front of her, crossing his legs Indian-style. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the solid tree trunk. "I will if you don't go away." Mulder sighed. She opened her eyes. "Nice place you have here," he said, gesturing with a hand. She shrugged. "Please, Dana, tell me what's bothering you." She glanced at him critically; he had called her Dana but once. "I told you already. I..." she trailed off, shaking her head against tears that threatened to come. She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I yelled at you like that, Mulder. I shouldn't have said...I didn't mean those things. Not all of them." He tipped his head to one side. "But you meant some of them." She nodded. "Yes." He nodded. "Which ones?" She shrugged, pulling a corner of the blanket around her shoulders. "I...I, um..." She shook her head, smiling a little. "I was never good at talking about feelings, Mulder." "You seemed fine in the office." His words hurt her. She stood up, taking the stray flower. She looked at it, the tiny purple petals and the small green leaves. Mulder saw her face. "I'm sorry. Please, Scully, don't go. We need to talk. I'm sorry about what I said. Really. I never knew...maybe I only think of myself. I didn't know you felt like that. I thought...I thought you were happy working with the X-Files. I thought you were happy working with me." She turned her face, so he wouldn't see the tears. " Sit down, and we'll talk. Do you really want to resign?" She slowly sank down onto the blanket, removing the leaves from the flower and spreading them in front of her. She kept her head down and shrugged. "I don't know," she mumbled. "I just never pictured myself doing this now. I mean...I just thought I'd be married, with a baby..." she smiled at the word, picturing a tiny infant that would never be hers. " ...With a house, and a dog...a collie...or a golden retriever. Maybe a cat. I've never really liked cats, though...I had a kitten when I was little..." Scully looked up, realizing two things. One, that she was crying and rambling on, and two, that Mulder was smiling. She sniffed. "That sounds nice," Mulder said. She shrugged. "I guess that's what everyone wants out of life. Including me. I have a feeling that all of the population doesn't want to be a single FBI agent, fearing for their lives all the time, working with a man who thinks aliens abducted his little sister...working for a mean bald guy." She giggled as she said that, thinking of Skinner as a fat little man with a cigar. She wiped her tears and Mulder took her hand. She smiled and sighed as Mulder came and sat next to her against the tree. She leaned against his solid shoulder, wiping her eyes again. He brushed her hair back from her face. "It's all right," he murmured into her hair. She nodded and he wrapped his arms around her. "It'll be all right, Dana. We'll work through it." She sighed as he kissed her temple. "We'll work through it together." THE END Well? Like it? Or not? E-mail your comments to: dolphingirl8@hotmail.com Thanks!