From: TCrow75704 <tcrow75704@aol.com>
Date: 26 Jan 2000 21:34:01 GMT
Subject: NEW: Tragic Comity (1/1)

Tragic Comity by Taryn Crow (TCrow75704@aol.com)
Rated R for language
M/S Friendship
Spoilers for Syzygy
Takes place immediately after the episode.  It's very short.  
If you want to archive it, let me know.
No one in the story actually belongs to me, I just borrowed them from Chris
Carter's mind for awhile.

*************************************************************

"Scully you just ran another stop sign."

"Shut UP, Mulder!"  Scully banged her hand on the steering wheel and she pushed
on the pedal even harder.  She'd had enough of Mulder and his stupid mouth. 
Why couldn't he just shut up and leave her alone?  Why?  Was that so much to
ask?  Obviously, it was, because he was talking again.

"Sure.  Fine.  Whatever.  Nooooo problem, your highness."  Mulder threw up his
hands in disgust and clenched his jaw.  Why is it so damn hot in here, he
wondered.  The car seemed like it was a hundred degrees and he slammed his hand
down onto the power window control.  Nothing happened.  He pushed on it several
times, his frustration increasing and then he glanced towards Scully's side. 
The window lock was on.  Dammit, he thought.  Just...dammit.  Right now, he
would rather eat glass than ask Scully to turn the window lock off.  After
several minutes he couldn't take it anymore.  He leaned over and extended his
arm towards her door and she smacked his hand away.

"What are you doing?!"  She glared at him.

"Jesus Scully, I can't open the fucking window because the god damn power lock
is on and it's on the driver's side."  His tone turned sarcastic and he clasped
his hands together, pretending he was begging.  "Could you pretty please, with
sugar on top, turn the fucking window lock off?"

She ignored him, her anger rising with every word he uttered.

Mulder took a deep breath and pursed his lips.  "Pull over," he shouted and
grabbed the steering wheel, jerking it slightly.  She slammed on the brakes as
he began fumbling with his seatbelt.

Mulder yanked on the door handle and slammed it behind him as soon as he
stepped out of the car.  Scully shut off the engine and exited the car in the
same fashion.  Mulder was walking away from the car, back in the direction
where they just came from, hands on his hips.

It was close to midnight, so the moon was high and bright, lighting the road
enough to where you could see at least twenty feet in any direction.  The woods
on the sides of the road were quiet, even the crickets had stopped chirping,
probably afraid of the commotion the two lone people on the road were causing. 
The air was heavy with the beginning of an overnight fog, making Scully's skin
pebble with goosebumps when she stepped from the car.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?"  She yelled at him.  "Hey! 
Mulder?!" 
She trotted after him, quickening her pace to catch up with him.  When she was
close enough, she reached out and grabbed his arm.  He shook it out of her
grasp and kept walking, waving her away.  "Mulder!"  He ignored her still and
she stopped following him.  "Mulder get back in the car or I'm leaving!  I
swear to god, Mulder, I'll get in the car and you can walk back to Comity, see
if I care!"  When he still didn't answer she growled, low in her throat,
narrowing her eyes at his retreating figure.  "FINE!"  She kicked at the road
and turned around to head back to the car, mumbling to herself along the way.

Scully got back in the car and sat with her forehead resting on the steering
wheel. 
She checked her rearview mirror.  He was nowhere in sight and her stomach did a
flip flop.  She turned around in her seat, looking out the back window for any
sign of him.  There was nothing.  "Dammit," she said under her breath and
sighed.  She really couldn't leave him out there, but she was still pissed off
at him and...why was she pissed of at him?  Oh yeah, it's name was Detective
White.  Detective Angela White.  Well she was part of it at least...there was
him ditching her AGAIN, and that god damned horny beast thing and...stupid
Detective White!

She sat in the car for a long while, thinking.  He still hadn't come back, and
she still hadn't seen a sign of him in the mirror.  Finally, she started the
car and made a u-turn, going about a mile and a half down the road before she
spotted him.  He was sitting on the side staring off at the field in front of
him.  His knees were bent, feet on the ground, and he was resting his arms on
his thighs, hands hanging limply over his shins.  Scully got out
of the car slowly, her heels clicking on the gravel as she crossed the road to
him.

She stood behind him, her fingers laced together.  He didn't say anything, but
she
knew he knew she was there.  "I won't ask you to forgive me," she started,
"because you shouldn't.  My behavior was inexcusable and I have no explanation
for my actions.  But, I'm sorry.  Please, come back to the car."  She reached
into her pocket for the keys and set them next to him on the ground.

Mulder didn't say anything.  She stood silently, her head down and waiting for
the
backlash to start, but he said nothing.  He simply picked up the keys and
turned the ring over and over with his fingers.  He shifted them back and forth
from hand to hand and then closed them in his fist, shifting his body to look
over his shoulder at her.  He reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling her
forward and down to sit next to him.  She obliged his tugging and sat down a
bit awkwardly on the dry grass, brushing the area a little with her hand in a
futile attempt to make it less dirty.

She kept her eyes forward, looking out towards the field or at the formation of
redwood trees in the distance, anywhere but Mulder.  After a couple minutes, he
took her hand, turning it palm up and placed the keys in the center, bending
her fingers over the ring to secure them in her grip.  "Maybe you could drive
more often, now that I know your little legs can reach those pedals."  His
voice was low and he brushed his thumb over her knuckles.  She stood up
quickly, brushing the dirt off her skirt.  Mulder stood too and grabbed her arm
as she started to walk back towards the car.  "You don't need to apologize to
me, Scully.  We both said things...I'm sorry also."

"Mulder, what you said you said in retaliation to how I was treating you.  Like
I
said, my behavior was inexcusable and I never should have acted as I did."  She
shook her head.  "You had every right..."

"No, I didn't Scully.  Let's just agree that we were both wrong, for once, and
get
the hell out of here." 

She nodded in agreement.  "Sure."

"Fine," he nodded back and smiled.

"Whatever," they said in unison and walked back to the car.

THE END