From: "orange_chameleon@excite.com" Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:27:05 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Umbrella by myblackrose Source: direct TITLE: Umbrella AUTHOR: myblackrose EMAIL: orange_chameleon@excite.com DISTRIBUTION: Please ask first. RATING: G CATEGORY: V KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully friendship/UST SUMMARY: Without the X-Files, what are they? DISCLAIMER: Mulder & Scully are the property of 1013 and FOX. I play with them in a strictly non-profit capacity. AUTHOR'S NOTES: For Zellie, who said it best: Mulder/Scully/Umbrella = OT3! Storms always brought the feeling of change. Such a violent upheaval in the heavens could only be reflected below. The precision of Scully's heels against the pavement seemed to defy Mother Nature's turbulence; a reminder that there would always be order in the world. Mulder loped after her in his inconsequential fashion. He always seemed to travel more as though he was carried by the eddies in the currents formed by those around him than by any specific purpose. Dark-suited federal employees splashed past them, eager to evade the downpour. Scully set their pace; deliberate and angry. A traffic light brought them to an abrupt stop. He stole a glance at his partner, angling the umbrella to shield them both from the deluge. She was resolute; the tips of her hair just beginning to curl in the damp. Shut down. Absorbing the gaping chasm that the X-Files would leave in his life - in theirs - seemed impossible. Scully simmered; a quiet indignance written on her porcelain features. Mulder imploded or exploded, or was numb; no more able to contain anger than joy or astonishment or any of the other myriad miracles he encountered in a given day. Her eyes met his hooded gaze. He could offer her nothing; emptiness, a lost cause, a lost sister. She offered only herself; science, trust, the perfect diametric contradiction to his every theory. They made promises with their eyes, with red eye flights and phonecalls answered irrespective of broken sleep. Somehow it was enough. For both of them. His hand found the small of her back. Her fingers brushed against his; a feather touch. The light changed and the crowd surged, urging them forwards into the unknown, cocooned by their standard issue umbrella. Just them. Together against the world.