From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: 16 Feb 2004 12:32:00 -0000
Subject: Well Deserved Break (1/2) by Skinfull
Source: direct

Reply To: skin_full@yahoo.ie


TITLE: Well Deserved Break

Author: Skinfull

Rating: PG

Classification: PWP

Spoilers: None 

Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit, no harm.

Summary: In answer to the rugger fic challenge thought 
up by Lisa in another inane MR chat...Of course Mulder 
played rugby in oxford!

Feedback: skin_full@yahoo.ie Love all feedback. Thanks 
in 
Advance!

Author's notes: I've been playing Rugby for...hmmm...8 
years.  I played for my University, my local club and 
my province but through the years I managed to break 
several ribs, my collar bone, a scapula, fingers and 
toes on many occasions, my wrist and elbow in one bad 
tackle, I have a dislocatable left shoulder, punctured 
my left lung twice and recently broke my knee cap in 
half (currently wearing a cast for that one)...not bad 
considering that I am an asthmatic.  Anyhoo Lisa says 
I should use my recent hospitalisation for the good of 
the MT world and stick Mulder into the middle of a 
ruck and lets see how he makes out!  

* The RUCK, the MAUL, STAMPING, LINE OUT, SCRUM...are 
all legitimate rugby plays/moves.  For more 
information you can go to www.planetrugby.com or 
www.irishrugby.com or www.usarugby.org or...sheesh I 
dunno them all! Go to google and type in your country 
and Rugby...you cant go wrong!

*Thanks Lisa. This one is for you and your ability
too keep me sane, well relatively so anyway!

Well Deserved Break
By Skinfull


Marty's Deli
Washington DC
11 July 2001
12.45 PM
    
    Mulder stood in the queue anxiously fingering the 
change in his pocket.  The sandwiches he held would 
cost him five dollars and the drinks another four, but 
whether he'd have enough to surprise her with a muffin 
he wasn't sure.  Finally the person in front of him 
moved away and he stepped up to the counter, dropping 
the two salad sandwiches down.

"Can I get two OJ's as well please?" he asked pulling 
the cash out to count in the palm of his hand.
 

    The young server turned to the fridge and grabbed 
two bottles of orange juice out and quickly rang it up 
on the small till.

"Eight sixty please," she said with a grim expression.

"And a muffin too," he added gladly, seeing he had 
enough money.

    The server grunted as she stepped over to the 
display counter and pulled a blueberry muffin out with 
a pair of tongs.  She placed it uncaringly into a 
small brown paper bag and left it beside the rest of 
his order.

"Will that be all sir?" she asked gruffly, not meeting 
his eyes as she added the price of his muffin to the 
till.

"Yes thanks."

"Nine eighty."

    Mulder counted out the right change and passed it 
into her waiting hand.  She gave him a dirty look at 
the sight of the mixed coins she'd have to count, but 
he just smiled back at her placing the food into a 
bag.

"Have a nice day," he said as he turned to walk out 
but she mumbled a reply he didn't quite hear and he 
was almost sure she called him a pleb.

    The midday sun was beating down with a ferocity he 
didn't often see.  Usually being cooped down in the 
basement, they caught a few rays of delinquent light 
in the evening but not today.  Today he smiled as he 
strolled easily down the sidewalk in the midmorning 
sun to the grey non-descript car that was parked 
across from the National bank.

    From this short distance he could make Scully out, 
her head lolling back against the rest and the windows 
rolled down fully letting the warm breeze gently 
caress her small features.  Her red locks had blown 
into her face but she seemed content enough to let 
them lie there.  It hadn't been too hard to bargain 
with Agent Wicker to let them in on the stakeout duty.  
The sun was smiling down at them for once, only not 
through the dismal excuse they had for windows, and 
all because he pulled a few strings, sold a few game 
tickets and made a few promises.

    Carefully he sat into the car not wanting to wake 
her, but as soon as he closed the door her head 
whipped around in surprise.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked with a smile as she 
fixed her hair and eyed the brown bag he held on his 
lap.

"No.  Security is still up."

"Hungry?"

"Yes."

    He reached into the bag and pulled out a sandwich 
for her and an ice-cold bottle of juice.  Setting his 
own lunch on the dashboard he turned to her with a 
wicked smile.

"What is it Mulder?" she eyed her food suspiciously.  
"What did you do to my lunch?"

"Nothing but I got you a surprise."

"What?" a straightforward smile curved her lips and 
she couldn't help the small gurgle of excitement that 
bubbled within her.

    Diving into the bag again he rummaged around for a 
moment and she knew it was purely for show.  Whatever 
it was he was about to pull out, she knew he was 
simply trying to prolong the suspense.

"Ta daa!" he exclaimed displaying the muffin on the 
tips of his fingers and thumb, balancing it carefully 
and presenting it to her as if it were a treasure.  
She laughed in delight at his gesture and carefully 
took it from his hand.  

"Thanks Mulder." They started their lunch, Mulders 
eyes ever aware of the bank entrance as he bit into 
his sandwich.  He sipped his juice and replaced it 
back on the dashboard before resting back into his 
seat.

"Beats sitting in the basement eh Scully?"

"Yes it does.  Look at the sun, I haven't seen it in 
weeks!"

"Oh come on the weather wasn't that bad in Colorado."

    She seemed to take a moment to think about his 
statement but slowly she started to shake her head.  

"Mulder it was freezing."  It was a plain simple 
sentence that left no room for argument and he had to 
agree.  "How did you land this anyway?"

"I talked to Gerry yesterday...you know Gerry Wicker?"

"Yeah."

"He mentioned this new case they were working on.  A 
firm has opened up claiming to have uncrackable safes.  
They install the security system and test it, but then 
while the bank thinks it's money is safe in the vault 
they pull the old switch-a-roo."

"Switch-a-roo?" she repeated with another smile.

"Good money gone...bad money left.  Marked money.  
Cash whose serial numbers have been recorded from lost 
ransom fines and stuff."

"So the security team just walk out with the cash, 
leaving the wrong notes behind?"  She finished her 
juice and placed it into the empty paper bag.

"Yeah.  Gerry said that this bank and the one on 4th 
street are scheduled for installation today.  All we 
have to do is hang around and search them when they 
leave."

"We should be able to manage that."  She settled back 
into her chair stretching her legs out in front of her 
and Mulder noticed she'd taken her shoes off.
"I thought you'd like this case."

"No ghostly bank robbers?"

"Nope."

"No unexplainable attributes."

"Nope."

"No problem."  She smiled widely and pulled a piece 
off her muffin to eat.  He glanced over at her and 
watched her delicate movements.  

    Crumbs fell onto her top rolling partially down 
her chest but she didn't seem to realise or care.  
"Want some?" she held it out in front of him.

"Thought you'd never ask."  His voice held a lilt she 
recognised as his teasing tone, but she refused to 
rise to his bait as he took off a piece and ate it 
quickly.

"So why did you ask for this case?"

"I thought you could do with the down time after the 
goose chase in Colorado."

"Me?" she said loudly sitting up and letting the 
crumbs fall to her lap.  "I wasn't the one who got 
arrested and spent two nights in jail.  I wasn't the 
one who blamed the mayor for denying the ghost train 
existed?"

"Yeah I know but he was ignoring the facts?"

"What facts?" Her voice had taken on a new level, her 
blueberry muffin forgotten in her hand, as she turned 
to face him more.

"The train tracks."

"Mulder they weren't train tracks, they were from a 
horse and carriage..."

"Well they looked like train tracks."  He said 
indignantly waving his eyebrows a little and she knew 
then that he was distracting her, moving her away from 
her initial question.

"So tell me why we're really here."

"Really Scully.  I saw the beautiful day it was, I 
spoke to Gerry and I snapped up the opportunity..."

"That easy?"

"Well I had to pull a few strings and make a few deals 
but it's worth it!" He gestured at the sights around 
him of half clad young women displaying as much skin 
as was decent in the warm sun.

"What strings?" She sat back and settled down again 
biting into her muffin.

"I sold some game tickets."

"What game?"

"Wizards and Celtics.  And I agreed to play a game..." 
his voice trailed off to incomprehensible words.

"What Mulder? What did you agree to?"

"I agreed to play a game of rugby...next weekend for 
the UCR department."

"Rugby? Can you play rugby?" she said laughing around 
her muffin.

"I used to play in Oxford." He was disgruntled at her 
laughter and squared his shoulders.  "I'll have you 
know I was quite good."

"Yeah?" Her laughter died and she turned to him 
smiling.  "I thought basketball was your game?"

"Yeah well it wasn't too big in England.  And when in 
Rome..."

"You just keep surprising me Mulder!"

"Wait till you see me play.  Then you'll be 
surprised."

"I don't doubt it."
 

    He glanced sideways at her, not sure how to take 
that last comment but before he could say anything 
movement from across the street caught his eye.  Four 
men carrying large duffel bags exited the bank and 
headed towards a large white van.

"Lets go."  Mulder jumped out of the car and made his 
way quickly across the street, pulling his badge out 
of his pocket.


Basement FBI Office
17 July 2001
4.30 PM

 
Dana Scully stretched her arms high above her head and 
leant back on the chair as far as she dared.  The 
kinks in her neck from sitting at the PC all day were 
rapidly turning from annoying to painful and she 
yearned for a hot bath.  Glancing at the clock, she 
saw it was half past and risked a quick peek up to her 
partner who had been studying his PC screen all day 
too.  Mulder frowned at the information in front of 
him and sighed not for the first time that day.

"Did you get Skinner's report finished?" she asked 
rolling her chair back and letting her hands drop onto 
her lap with a heavy slap.

"Skinners report? Eh no. Did you?"

"Mulder, I was working on the autopsy all morning.  
What have you been looking at anyway?"
 

    She pushed herself off the chair and walked around 
to his desk.  With one hand on his shoulder and the 
other resting beside his keyboard she looked down at 
the photos that were on his screen.

"What's this?" she asked looking closer to see a 
sports team posing and various actions in game 
pictures.

"See those legs?" he pointed to one photo of a pile up 
of men lying on top of each other.  The legs he asked 
her about were barely visible and sticking out from 
the bottom of the pile.

"Yeah."

"They are mine."

"You're legs?" she said incredulously.

"I told you I was on the rugby team."

"How did you get these photos?"

"I went to the oxford University web site and made a 
few calls.  The team secretary emailed them to me this 
morning,"
 

    She leaned in closer to the screen to get a better 
view, turning her head to the side as most of the 
pictures were of mid air collisions and jumps.

"Didn't that hurt?"

"No.  It's a ruck.  All part of the game."

"A ruck?"  He laughed at her sceptical face and sat 
back into his chair. "Are you nervous about tomorrow?" 
she asked sitting on the corner of the desk and facing 
him with a mischievous smile.

"Nervous? No." He turned off the PC and stood up from 
his chair trying to ignore the loud crack from his 
knee.  "More like terrified."

"Why don't you pull out?" At her desk now, she 
gathered her things and put them into her case.

"I can't.  I made a deal with Gerry.  And besides I'll 
have my own personal physician on the sidelines, wont 
I?"

"Oh Mulder I wouldn't miss this for the world."
 

She slipped on her coat and walked out the door with 
him.  Continuing to walk as he locked the door behind 
them he had to jog a little to catch up with her.

"You never know my show of male sporting prowess might 
turn you on!"

"More like your show of male sporting injuries will 
keep me busy."
 

    She chortled as they stepped out onto the garage 
floor.  Standing at the door to her car she afforded 
him another glance as he climbed into his own car.  He 
pulled out of the parking space deftly and drove over 
to where she stood.  His window was down and he was 
leaning out towards her.

"Coming over for dinner G Woman?"

"I got stuff to do Mulder.  Like stock up on first aid 
supplies for tomorrow, boil some water, get clean 
towels!"

"Supper then," he persisted.

"Alright see you later."

"Bring supper will you?" he yelled as he took off, 
leaving her no time to respond.  She watched after him 
shaking her head.  Having planned on a long soak in a 
steaming hot tub sipping wine she hadn't included 
Mulder in on the picture; at least not until she had a 
few glasses of wine.  

    Regardless, she made her way home and fixed a 
quick toasted sandwich while the bath filled.  Bubbles 
were shaken into the hot water and clothes were shed 
before she fetched her drink and sat carefully into 
the water. 


    Moment passed followed by hours, and she couldn't 
believe it when she heard the church down the block 
chiming at six.  Usually she was only leaving the 
office by now so she revelled in the lengthy soak even 
further.  But her mind niggled on Mulder's subtle 
request for her company.  He joked about it a lot, 
teasing her for always coming round when she rarely 
did without his invitation, but she knew better than 
to broach that subject.

    Loathing stepping out of her warm cocoon, she 
eventually bribed herself out with promises of rich 
food and wine and wrapped up in a white terry cloth 
robe that almost reached her ankles.  No matter how 
often she thought of getting rid of this robe she 
couldn't bring herself to do it.  Having spent so long 
wearing it while in the hospital, comforting Penny 
Northern, it meant more to her than just comfort.  A 
struggle won, a battle fought and survived. Clothing 
passed in and out of her wardrobe quicker than she'd 
like to admit, and it didn't take her long to discover 
that working on the Xfiles would destroy some of her 
favourite clothes, be it by bile, mud, mushroom 
excretion...that one took some explaining at the 
laundry she mused as she dried her hair with a towel.  
But her robe was comforting.  For all the bad memories 
it revived, it also instilled in her strength she 
rarely felt these days.

    Dressing with a wandering mind left her wearing a 
slim black skirt and a blue top that hugged her 
figure.  She glanced in the mirror and smiled at the 
mismatched clothing statement.  Pulling the skirt off 
she slipped into a pair of black slacks and grabbed 
her boots.

    In the living room she ordered food for collection 
from the Chinese near Mulder's as she tied her laces.  
With a final glance around the room she took her keys 
and cell phone from the table and left.


Arlington Apartment #42
17 July 2001 
6.25 PM

    Mulder sat on the floor in front of his couch and 
spread his legs out before him.  Stretching to reach 
his toes, he held the position for a few seconds 
before switching his stretch to his other foot.  
Letting out a deep breath as he sat back, he let his 
head rest on the couch seat behind him and closed his 
eyes.  There was no denying his apprehension over the 
game tomorrow but it was a friendly inter departmental 
game, no serious players.  Did Gerry say tag rugby or 
full contact?  he mused as he slowed his heart from 
his run with simple breathing exercises.  Surely it 
would be tag he thought, comforting his own worries.  
Full on body tackles shared between FBI agents wasn't 
something he'd relish.

    With a sigh he wondered why he let himself get 
talked into this again but his thoughts were disturbed 
by an instantly recognisable knock on the door.

"C'min Scully," he called out not moving from his 
sprawled position in the living room.  
He heard the door opening and her boot clad feet 
coming towards him.  Emitting a small groan at the 
effort, he turned to see her walking in.  She wasn't 
wearing a jacket and her top was slightly untucked at 
the side as if she'd dressed in a hurry.  Her face was 
red and fresh and he knew she must have had a bath.  
Oh yeah, he decided to himself smiling a little at the 
sight of her leaning down to put food on the coffee 
table.  That's why.

"What did you bring?" he asked managing to pull 
himself into a more flattering sitting position.

"Chinese.  And a couple of videos."

"Movies? Which movies?" he wasn't sure if he was 
exited at the thought that she would be here for 
longer than he expected, or wary of her choice of 
film. She tossed him the two cardboard slips 
containing the cassettes as she continued to pull the 
food out of the bag.

"Necessary Roughness and Any Given Sunday" she said 
laughing as she pulled the food containers out of the 
brown bag.

"So funny Scully."

"Life is a contact sport Mulder!" 

"That's why it hurts so much."

"Aww poor you."

    Mulder stood with an exaggerated groan and ambled 
into the kitchen to grab plates and forks.  He held 
his lower back with a hand pressed against it and 
winced as he sat next to her on the couch.

"Were you out running?"

"Yeah."

"Didn't take a shower yet?"

"No."

"Are you too hungry to take one now?"

"Yeah."

    He ignored her jibes and spooned some rice out 
onto his plate before topping it off with some chicken 
satay.  She nibbled on a spring roll as he sat back 
and started to eat.

"You know Scully," he said after swallowing the hot 
meat. "You should really be nicer to me."

"Nicer? Why?"

"This could be our last night together like this, I 
could be injured tomorrow! Wouldn't you be sorry 
then?"

"Sorry? I suppose...but think of all the free time 
I'll have."

"Free time you'll be spending weeping over my 
graveside."

"Weeping? Or dancing?"

"Oh Scully that hurt." He laughed, grasping his chest 
with a heavy slap over his heart.  As he bit into his 
food again she leaned back next to him and took a 
piece of chicken off his plate.

"If something does happen tomorrow I'll be there to 
look after you.  I wont let you die."

"Thanks," he smirked moving the plate closer to her to 
let her reach more of his dinner.

"No problem Mulder." Tucking her leg beneath her she 
faced him more fully and they both ate from the same 
plate in silence.  As the last of the rice was scooped 
up, Mulder put more on the plate this time covering it 
with sweet and sour chicken.  He enjoyed them eating 
so closely finding it intimate and somewhat strangely 
erotic.  Her hand held the plate steady as she 
struggled to get the chicken onto her fork.  He 
suggested she use the chopsticks but with grim 
determination she managed to traverse the expanse of 
the plate to her mouth without spilling any.

"So what position do you play?" she asked chasing 
another piece of meat around his plate.  A multitude 
of sordid remarks filtered through his brain before he 
shook them loose and gave her a straight answer.

"At Uni I played a winger but tomorrow...I have no 
idea."

"What's the game like anyway? How exactly do you play 
it?"

"Fifteen players on the team. The pitch is roughly the 
same size as a soccer pitch with try posts at the top 
of the final 10yds.  Five points for a try, two for a 
conversion and three for a penalty.  To score a try 
you need to get the ball down onto the ground in one 
fluid motion with at least one hand gripping the ball.  
You can't bounce it or anything.  The ball can only be 
passed sideways or backwards, no forward passes." He 
added more food to their plate, which she tucked into. 
"If you drop the ball you can't touch it until an 
opposite team member does or else it will be a knock 
on...forward pass."

"Sounds complicated."

"All rules sound complicated when you read them out 
but it's easier to explain when you're watching the 
game."

"Yeah but you'll be on the pitch...you wont be able to 
explain them to me."

"Well listen up then!" he bit into a big chunk of 
chicken and chewed it behind his smile.  "Okay you can 
kick the ball forward and race for it around the other 
team, that's called a Garryowen move after the rugby 
club that practically made it their calling card.  If 
you catch the ball from more than 15yards...could be 
25yards...of where it was thrown or kicked, you can 
call a mark and no one can tackle you before you make 
your move..."

"Mulder, stop." She dropped her fork onto the table 
and rolled her head back onto the couch.  "No more...I 
can't take any more rules!"

"You're a scientist Scully, I thought you'd enjoy the 
rules."

"I'm sure I'll pick it up as the game goes on."

"Maybe you'll be too distracted by my gorgeous legs to 
pay attention."

    She glanced down at his legs that were covered 
only in a flimsy pair of running shorts, shaking her 
head with a dismayed smiled.

"You know, I don't think that will be a problem."

"We'll see Scully."  He put one more piece of chicken 
into his mouth and left the plate on the table.  "Set 
up the video I'm going to grab a quick shower."

"Enjoy it Mulder, I don't think you can have showers 
while in traction."

"Does that mean you'll need to give me bed baths?" He 
called from within the bathroom over the running 
water.

"If you end up in body plaster Mulder, a bed bath will 
be the last thing on your mind."

"You know me too well Scully...just think of all those 
harnesses!"

    She allowed herself a little laugh at his lewd 
comment seeing as he was in his bedroom grabbing 
towels from his shower, but she swallowed it quickly 
and put the video into the player to rewind it.  While 
she was waiting, she cleared up the food and grabbed 
two bottles of beer from the fridge.  She had shut off 
the overhead light letting the lamp provide all the 
illumination, and had just opened the beer when he sat 
down next to her.  He filled the room with soap and 
deodorant as he moved through it and she loved the 
clean fresh smell he emanated.  Handing him the beer 
she smiled, holding her bottle out for him to clink 
to.

"Here's to a good game." The credits for Necessary 
Roughness started.

"And staying out of hospital!" he added as if it were 
an after thought.  They both sipped their beer and 
turned to the movie but Mulder found little comfort in 
it's scripted violence.  Knowing he would be wearing 
little protection save for the cup in his shorts, he 
shuddered at the rougher tackles on the screen and had 
to look away twice.  

    She seemed to notice his discomfort but he needed 
to see he wasn't the young man he was in Uni anymore.  
His body wouldn't take the beating it used to and 
bounce back so she left him to squirm.


The Park.
18th July 2001
11am

    Mulder took his gym bag out of the boot of his car 
and walked around to the front where Scully stood 
holding a first aid bag.  Looking out at the communal 
rugby pitch before them, he spotted Gerry standing on 
the edge with four other men tossing a ball between 
them.

"Are you ready?" she asked looking out at the other 
players.

"No.  But lets go anyway."

    He carried his bag over his shoulder and walked 
towards the small group.  Gerry noticed him as he got 
closer and walked over to him.

"Hey Mulder, you made it."

"Didn't think I was gonna back out did ya Gerry?"

"Well we need fifteen to play and so far we got 
six...Fancy a game Agent Scully?" he said looking down 
at the petite woman beside him.

"No thanks."

"We've got another hour before the game starts so 
we're still hopeful. Get changed and join us for a 
warm up.  I got jerseys over here too."

    Gerry ran back to the group and resumed throwing 
the ball while Mulder and Scully walked over to the 
small bench by the sidelines.

"Are you sure about this Mulder?"

    He pulled off his sweater and dropped it on top of 
his bag.  Kicking off his trainers, he peeled down his 
sweats to reveal a pair of shorts that were made of a 
stiff almost like denim material that just about 
covered his modesty and clung to his muscled thighs.  
From his bag he pulled out a pair of knee high thick 
socks and sat onto the bench to slip them onto his 
bare feet. "I'm looking forward to it actually."  His 
socks were pulled on tight and Scully noticed that 
they seemed to have padded soles.  He took his studs 
out of the bag and jabbed his feet in firmly tying the 
laces tight, wrapping them under the folded tongue to 
keep them from loosening.  "I really enjoyed the game 
at Uni and I think I'm going to enjoy it today."

"And I'm going to enjoy visiting you in hospital and 
feeding you liquidised food for the next three months 
because your body is in traction and your jaw is wired 
shut."

"Don't worry Scully, you can give me those bed baths 
we spoke about last night!"

    Standing up he took his tee shirt off over his 
head and she was somewhat pleased to see he was 
wearing some protection under his shorts as the seam 
of his jock strap stuck out above the shorts cuff. She 
couldn't help but notice the expanse of his bare chest 
as he stood directly in front of her but she held back 
the comment that sprang forth about shirts and skins. 

    Flexing his shoulders by stretching his arms over 
his head he ambled over to Gerry who gave him an upper 
chest support and a jersey.  Mulder pulled on the 
support first, running his finger beneath the rim to 
make it as comfortable as he could.  He rotated his 
shoulders again, swinging his arms around to loosen 
the material before donning his jersey.  It had a 
white ruffled collar and a green background, but had a 
blue stripe that was about 10cm wide running around 
the middle of his chest.  On the back Scully noticed 
the number 11 and she wondered briefly what position 
it corresponded to.

    Joining the circle of players, Mulder passed the 
ball too and soon there was four balls being thrown in 
the small group with running exercises and stretched 
going on too.  They seemed to be getting worked up and 
shouting at each other but Scully knew it was all part 
of the hype to getting psyched up for the game.  

    After half an hour other men had joined them; some 
she recognised from the bureau and others she had 
never seen before, but at last the full compliment of 
fifteen players were there all warming up in their own 
way.  She was startled the most by Skinner walking 
towards them from the car park, his gym bag held 
loosely in one hand. 

"Agent Scully."

"AD Skinner...I thought Boxing was your thing?" she 
jibed as he tore off his sweater and stepped out of 
his bottoms.

"As long as there's a game...I'm game."

    Mulder stepped away from the crowd and ambled over 
to them, Scully was surprised by the sheen of sweat 
that glistened on his face.  He poured himself cup of 
juice from the table next to her and sat down.

"Tired yet?" she asked.

"Wrecked!" he admitted letting his tongue fall out of 
his mouth to make sure she knew exactly how tired he 
was.  "I didn't realise you were playing today sir?"

"Neither did I until last night.  I played last year 
but Gerry called me last night...making up the numbers 
I think."

"I see you're number eleven Mulder...what position 
does that make you?"

"Winger."

"So you wont be in the scrum?"

"No but I'll be in more than a few mauls!"

"Who are we playing?" Skinner asked as he dropped his 
chest support onto the bench and just pulled on his 
jersey instead.  Scully noticed he had the number 3 on 
his top but she didn't know what position that would 
mean he had.  She watched as he put his glasses in a 
case, stuffing it onto his gym bag before sitting on 
the bench to put in a pair of contacts.  She marvelled 
at the thought of loosing one of them in a tackle, but 
turned back to Mulder who was waving a hand in front 
of her face to get her attention.

"A team from a construction company in town.  They 
call themselves the DC Dragons."

"The Dragons? So what's your team called?" she asked 
trying to hide her smile.

"I'm not sure...I heard some one mention Bureau 
Bulldogs but I dunno if they were joking or not."  He 
fished in his bag for his gum shield when he saw the 
referee call time for the game to start, so Skinner 
went over to Gerry and spoke for a few moments.

"Be careful Mulder."
 
    He winked at her as he put in his gum shield, 
offering her a gruesome smile when he had it fitted 
and finished his drink before running onto the pitch 
with the rest of the team.  Quite a crowd had gathered 
so Scully stepped off the bench and walked over to the 
sideline.  She spotted Mulder across the pitch 
stretching his thighs as the player from the opposite 
side kicked the ball up the pitch towards their try 
line.  Mulder yelled that he was going to catch it but 
two other players ran under it with him, covering him 
in case he dropped it or needed to pass it but as it 
happened, he didn't have enough time.

    The ball seemed to only be in his fingers for a 
second before the forwards from the Dragons impaled 
him to the ground forcing him to release the ball and 
all the air in his lungs.

    Scully gasped as the referee blew his whistle and 
all the players climbed off him.  He lay still for a 
moment but then rolled over onto his back and sat up.  
With help from a teammate he stood up and brushed 
himself off, tossing the ball to the other team who 
were rewarded a free kick.  He searched the sidelines 
for Scully and gave her a reassuring nod.  Shaking her 
head she glanced at her watch.  Only twelve seconds 
had passed but already her heart was bouncing.  
Another seventy-nine minutes to go, she thought with a 
sigh and briefly wondered if she could stay for the 
whole game.

    Mulder chased the play along with his team mates, 
running on the edge of the pitch making dummy runs 
into mauls and passing the ball to free team mates but 
they still couldn't seem to score.  The Dragons 
captain called for a scrum when their play was stopped 
and Mulder hung back waiting for his chance to run.  
He caught Gerry's eye and nodded in the direction to 
his left.  As the ball came out of the back of the 
scrum after they turned the ball over and regained 
control, Gerry tossed it with all of his might towards 
Mulder who caught it in the centre of his chest in mid 
stride and kept running.  

    His momentum and speed carried him through the 
first tackle, and with one hand out in front of him he 
palmed off another player dodging a last ditch attempt 
to grab his feet.  But as the try line loomed near 
from nowhere a large hooker from the Dragons team 
caught him off guard, tackling him to the ground and 
following through with a swift punch to the gut.  

    The Bulldogs yelled for fair play but their 
protests went unheard so one of them took a swing at 
the Dragons hooker, hammering his fist off the players 
face but seemingly having no effect. The hooker looked 
down at his attacker and smiled before slamming a hard 
punch onto his chin and knocking the smaller man down.  
Soon the whole squad was mixed up and Scully couldn't 
tell who was fighting and who was trying to break it 
up.  Beneath it all she could see Mulder lying on the 
ground unmoving with Skinner crouched over him 
beckoning for her to come over.

    She grabbed her medikit and raced over to him, 
pushing her way past all the players who didn't even 
seem to register her presence as they continued to 
swing punches over her head.

"Mulder, you ok?" she said as she knelt down beside 
him.  His eyes were open but they were wide with pain 
and watery with unshed tears of stress.

"Cant breathe..." he mumbled.

    She ran her medically trained hands over his torso 
feeling his ribs and coming in contact with the core 
of his discomfort when she pushed two of his lowest 
ribs.  He yelled out in agony and rolled away from her 
touch but it only caused him more pain.

"I think you've broken a rib...the wind's been knocked 
out of you.  Can you sit up?"  With some effort he 
managed to sit up and she pulled his jersey up to his 
shoulders. "We should get you to a hospital."

"No...just strap it up Scully," he rasped still 
struggling to get his breath back.  From her bag she 
grabbed the can of anaesthetic spray and covered his 
side with it.  With a little prodding she saw that it 
was slightly numbed and less painful so she took the 
strapping out and wrapped it tightly around him.  
Taping it in place she pulled his support down over 
the bandage and replaced his jersey.

"This is crazy Mulder."

"Thanks Doc."
 
    He struggled to his feet and she stood by him 
until the referee told her to either put on a jersey 
or get off the pitch.  She stepped off and over to the 
bench across from where she was standing before but 
closer to the action.  One member from each team had 
been sin binned for ten minutes and the Bulldogs had 
taken a penalty kick gaining a three-point lead to get 
them onto the scoreboard.  

    She noticed Mulder was running slower and straying 
away from the ball and she realised he was giving 
himself a bit of space to recuperate.  But all too 
soon the action found him and he held the ball against 
his chest.  He ran forward watching Gerry who ran 
behind and to the left of him.  Mulder tossed the ball 
with a rolling sideways throw to Gerry who caught it 
only to be tackled by a larger player from the 
opposite team.  

    The ball was loose so Mulder scrambled for it; 
clutching it tightly against him he went down under 
the pressure of two other players.  Curling up into 
the foetal position with the ball in his lap, he 
managed to roll his back to the attackers as they 
stamped down hard and fast trying to get him to 
release the ball in their direction, but he passed the 
ball out to one of his team-mates getting a few stamps 
on his arms for his troubles.

    Scully held her breath as the players followed the 
ball and climbed off of Mulder, letting him get up and 
stagger to his feet. He rubbed a spot on the side of 
his head and looked down at his hands.  She saw him 
rub his palm on his shorts and was sure he was 
bleeding but there was nothing she could do to stop 
him playing.

    He found the play and ran up the sideline watching 
as the ball progressed in his direction.  The hard 
slapping from the tackles as players went down did 
nothing to stop his run and soon he was running behind 
Gerry who had the ball in his arms.  Gerry reached the 
try line, slid to the ground to touch the ball down, 
but the Dragon team had all but boarded it up leaving 
Gerry mere inches away from scoring.  Skinner ran over 
and bent over Gerry with his legs spread out and his 
head tucked into Gerry's lap.  Mulder crouched behind 
Skinner and waited to grab the ball as it was 
released.  He glanced to his left and saw Rob, the 
small scrum half racing over who pushed Mulder aside 
and grabbed the ball.  Rob tossed the ball to another 
Bulldog that jumped for the try line only to be 
stopped again.  

    This time three then four then five, six, seven 
men piled behind the fallen player who was still 
holding the ball.  They pushed him forward and slowly 
they inched over the line, the pile up of bodies 
making it hard for the referee to see but as they 
moved away he blew his whistle and held his arm out 
awarding the score.

    Scully cheered with the other spectators as the 
Bulldogs regrouped at the other end of the field and 
the number 10 player lined up his shot for the 
conversion.  The kick was easy and they gained another 
two points bringing the score to nine nil at the end 
of the second half.

End of Part (1/2)
    
Well Deserved Break
By Skinfull


She crossed the field to the team where they stood 
eating orange segments and slurping juice. Scully 
looked for Mulder but he was sitting behind the bench 
stretching out his legs getting ready for the next 
half.

"How are you feeling?" She crouched down beside him 
and patted his thigh.

"Feeling...nothing...I feel no pain."  His bad Arnold 
Swartzeneggar accent only showed her how much pain he 
was really in. 

"That bad?"

"Agent Scully?" She looked up to see Gerry standing 
over her, a deep wound on his forehead pouring blood 
over his face and onto his eye.

"Oh, that looks like it hurts."

"More than you'd like to know.  I couldn't help but 
notice that you had a medikit."

"Sit down let me take a look."

    Mulder lay down on his back and poured a bottle of 
water over his face as Scully rummaged in her kit for 
some equipment.  Gerry was sitting still holding his 
head up to her at an awkward angle to give her the 
best access to his forehead.  The cut was deep and 
stretched from his eyebrow to his hairline.  She 
dabbed it with a towel only prompting more blood to 
flow, so she pressed it against the wound and told him 
to hold it tight.  From her bag she retrieved the 
sterilizer gauze and soaked it in antiseptic alcohol.  
Removing the towel, she pressed the clean gauze 
against it making him wince.

"This will need some stitches."

"I don't suppose you have a sewing kit in that magic 
bag of yours?" Gerry asked not wanting to leave the 
game.

"No.  But I do have some temporary butterfly stitches.  
They won't last long out on that pitch though."

    From his position on the grass Mulder saw as she 
applied the strip stitches across the wound and 
covered it with heavy white gauze.  Wrapping it around 
his head she taped it off at the base of his skull. 
Another player offered Gerry his scrumcap to help him 
keep the bandage in place, so he slipped it on and 
tied it under his chin.  

Scully turned to Mulder with an incredulous look on 
her face but as he was seeing her upside-down it had 
little effect on him.  He pushed himself up and 
struggled to his feet wavering for a moment before 
standing still.

"You okay?"

"Just a little shaken."  Now that he was standing 
again she could see the bruising and scrapes on his 
face from the game.

"Looks like a little more than that to me." 

    She reached up to his face and gently trailed her 
fingers over the swelling that was already coming 
through on his cheek.

"Ahh Scully...did I not mention it hurts like a 
bitch?"

"No."

"Well consider it mentioned."  AD Skinner sauntered 
over, his jersey dirty and a trail of mud on his cheek 
but otherwise unharmed.
"Are you up to field agent fitness Agent Mulder?" he 
said at the sight of the ragged breaths from the 
younger man.

"Yeah field Agent...but not rugby player." The referee 
blew the whistle sharply again and he sighed.  "Here 
we go again."

"You seem to have escaped the brunt of the injured 
list," Scully said looking Skinner up and down.  "And 
I have no idea how those contacts are staying in."

"It's a matter of decision Agent Scully. Deciding when 
to throw the ball and when to dodge the right tackle.  
Getting hit hurts, so I try to avoid it."

    He tied his scrumcap back on and jogged back to 
the pitch.  He was tall and well built, and she 
imagined that a lot of the players underestimated his 
speed and agility, but after his first half 
performance she thought he would be a better target 
now.

    Whatever the Dragons had been eating over the half 
time break Scully decided it must have been lased with 
steroids.  They poured onto the pitch screaming and 
yelling, slapping their chests and dropping shoulders 
into the player from the Bulldogs that came near.  In 
comparison she let her eyes wander over the bulldogs 
team and she smiled with a shake of her head.  FBI 
Field agents John Wilson and Mark Kingston from VCU, 
Mulder panting and holding his ribs across the pitch 
with Gerry and Skinner standing near the centre line.

    The ball was kicked high and far and the bulldogs 
charged after it tacking the player who caught it and 
pushing him out of bounds.  They gathered quickly 
seemingly not wanting to waste any time and stood in 
two parallel lines of six men while the hooker stood 
at the side line.  He held the ball over his head and 
shouted something she couldn't hear before throwing 
the ball over both lines.

    Scully gasped at the sight of Skinner bending low 
and hoisting up Gerry, holding him at the bottom of 
his pelvic bone and his upper thigh.  Gerry caught the 
ball and shoved the Dragons player who had also been 
lifted, away.  Before he landed onto the grass, he 
threw the ball to Rob who made a short dash before 
letting it fly towards Mulder.  
 
    Her breath caught in her chest as he caught the 
ball and ran with three other Bulldogs up the pitch.  
The three of them gained at least 30 yards, throwing 
the ball back and forth and making dummy runs before 
the Dragons winger grabbed one of them by the waist.  
Mulder ran over and pressed his shoulder into the 
stomach of his teammate, keeping him standing and 
pushing him forward.  Soon the forwards had gathered 
and Mulder found himself holding the ball, facing 
backwards and being pushed towards the try line.

    Scully could see the strain in his face and she 
thought of the fractured rib he had and winced.  She 
tried not to think of what might happen if it broke 
fully and watched the game more closely.

    Mulder was pushed further until finally the 
Dragons took him down, but he released the ball before 
they could grab it.  Skinner picked it up and tossed 
it to Rob who was waiting by.  The ball was thrown 
almost across the pitch doubling back over players who 
were running on after being knocked to the ground.

    Mulder was running alongside Skinner; one hand on 
his ribs but both eyes on the ball and wasn't 
surprised when Skinner turned to him pressing the oval 
ball into the younger man's stomach as a Dragon player 
pulled the AD down.  Mulder dashed the last five yards 
over the line with someone hanging off his waist. He 
landed between the posts with a yell only to have 
three Dragons landing on top of him.  Skinner rushed 
over to congratulate him and slapped his shoulder on 
one of the few places he could see, but Mulder didn't 
move.  Eventually the other men got off him and 
Skinner visibly winced at the angle of his Agent's 
left leg.

"Scully!" he yelled without looking up.  He tore off 
his scrumcap and knelt beside Mulders head but he 
still hadn't moved lying face down in the mud, his 
hand still clutching the ball beneath him.  Before 
Skinner could move him, Scully had appeared by his 
side and was quickly checking Mulder's vitals.

"Call an ambulance," she yelled as she counted his 
pulse and listened to his chest.  "I think he's 
punctured his left lung...don't move him, wait for the 
ambulance."
 
    The teams stood around him shifting their weight 
from foot to foot and crossing their bulky arms across 
broad chests.  Soon the ominous wail from the siren 
could be heard and two EMT's raced across the pitch 
carrying a stretcher.  They looked her partner over 
while Scully told them what had happened then 
carefully they pressed the backboard against him and 
rolled him onto the stretcher.  Scully frowned at the 
blood on his face and saw the dried blood caked around 
the wound just past his hairline.  The skin over his 
swollen cheek had broken and a trickle of blood 
escaped from the multiple cuts there.  Mulder was 
carried slowly to the waiting ambulance followed by 
Scully and Skinner.

"I'm going with him," Scully said to no one in 
particular and the EMT next to Mulder shoved up to 
give her room.  The other slammed the door shut and 
Skinner ran back to the pitch.  Scully glanced out the 
window in time to see the Bulldogs kicker slot the 
ball over the posts for the conversion points.  
Shaking her head she looked back to Mulder's unmoving 
body as the EMT slipped an oxygen mask over his mouth.

    He drew blood and attached an IV but there was no 
more time for anything else as they pulled up outside 
the Doyle Memorial Hospital.  They were met by a 
trauma team who pushed Scully aside and listened to 
the status of the patient from the EMT.

Mulder was wheeled into the ER and several members of 
staff surrounded him.  A young doctor listened to his 
chest and yelled for an x-ray.

"Pneumothorax of the left lung...I think it's 
collapsed."

"You think? C'mon Roger think isn't good enough!" the 
older doctor by Mulders head yelled back.

"No movement or sounds from the lower lobe."

"Get a tube in there."

    Roger turned and took the kit from the tray behind 
him.  With a small incision into Mulder's chest, he 
fed the sightline in and finally met the resistance of 
the lung muscle.  He inserted the tube and watched for 
a moment while the lung didn't move.  With his 
stethoscope he listened again and smiled at the sight 
of his chest moving and his lung inflating.

"Good work Rog, get the x-ray though."

    As if on cue, the x-ray machine bounded though the 
large swing doors. Two radiologists cleared the space 
around him and placed the machine over his chest.  But 
before they could clear away the doctor ordered leg 
and head x-rays too.  
 
With Mulders breathing stabilised, they went about 
cleaning his head wound and strapping his leg into a 
splint as they waited for the results of the x-ray.  

    Scully paced the small hall outside the ER anxious 
to get in to stand by him, comfort him while they 
poked and prodded him with all the medical instruments 
within their reach.  At the sound of the door 
squeaking open she whipped around and saw the doctor 
approaching her tentatively, a folder in his hand.

"Ms. Scully?"

"Yes, how is he?" she stepped over to him but he led 
her into a small room just off the hallway and 
switched on the lights for the x-ray's.  He slid them 
into place and Scully could see Mulders lung, the tube 
in place helping him breath.  His headshot was clear 
of any major trauma but the leg shot showed how much 
pain he was really in.

    His kneecap had been split straight down the 
middle from top to bottom, a clean break, looking like 
it had been done with a tool rather than a pair of 
cleats.  

"As you can see from this picture his lung had 
collapsed, there is still some air in there so we've 
fixed the tube and we'll leave it in over night.  His 
head although having taken a few bangs has sustained 
little or no damage."

"Some swelling over the left frontal lobe...I'm a 
doctor," she added quietly at his strange look.

"But his knee is what is worrying us.  The patella has 
been split completely in two.  We will have to 
operate."

"Replace it?"

"We are hoping to salvage it with metal plates but we 
won't know exactly how bad it is until we get in 
there."

"When?"

"Straight away.  We need your signature.  You're his 
next of kin?"

"Eh yeah of course."  She followed him out to the 
front desk where she signed the papers quickly.  "May 
I see him before you take him in."

"Certainly."

    In the ER room he was still being attended to, 
bandages covering his head and nurses cleaning his 
blood off his face and neck.

"Hey Mulder," she whispered, taking his hand and 
squeezing it hoping to get a reaction but he gave 
none. "Hold on Mulder...I'll be here when you get 
out."

    The work around him stopped and they disconnected 
what they could before pushing him out of the room and 
up to surgery.  Scully walked alongside the bed until 
they got to the operating room.  She kissed her 
fingers and pressed them to his temple, waiting back 
as they closed the doors behind them taking him out of 
her sight.

    He'd been in there for an hour when Skinner found 
her.  She was sitting in the waiting room on a large 
windowsill looking out at the busy roads below.

"How is he?"

"In surgery."  She spoke without looking up, her voice 
distant and low.

"His head?"

"No, his knee." Turning to face him she let her feet 
dangle over the edge not touching the floor.  "His 
kneecap was split in half.  They are going to try to 
repair it but they might need to replace it."

"Replace it?" Skinner was shocked as he crossed the 
room and stood before her.  "With what?" 

"An artificial patella.  It's a small bone but very 
thick and they are going to try to repair it with 
metal plates first."

"How are you?" he said suddenly a hand reaching out to 
her shoulder.

"Me...I'm fine."

    The doctor chose that moment to walk in and pulled 
a surgical mask off his face as he crossed the room.  
His smile was the first thing Scully noticed and she 
prayed he wasn't the type of man who walked around 
smiling, but instead it meant he had good news for 
her.

"Ms Scully...eh."

"This is Walter Skinner.  How is Mulder? How did the 
surgery go?"

"The patella was split right through.  He must have 
had a previous injury for it to be so weak...otherwise 
this wouldn't have happened.  We salvaged it by 
attaching two small plates across the cap at the top 
and bottom."  He moved a pen across his own knee 
showing them exactly what had been done.

"So it won't need to be replaced?" she said with some 
measure of relief.

"Not if this holds.  It could rupture and we'll need 
to go back in but there's a good chance it wont."

"What sort of recuperation are we looking at?" she 
asked stepping forward and Skinner noticed she had 
slipped of her shoes making her seem smaller than 
usual.

"With the plates holding in place he will be in a hip 
to ankle cast for eight weeks then the physio would 
begin.  This could vary a week or so but generally 
it's eight weeks.  We'll take x-rays to monitor his 
progress and make sure the plates are holding."

"And if you need to go back in?" Skinner asked 
stepping closer to Scully and pressing a hand onto her 
shoulder.

"We'll replace the patella in a fairly simple routine 
but the recuperation is a lot longer...a lot tougher.  
A fixator will be attached to his knee with a hip to 
ankle cast for six weeks.  After it's been removed 
he'll still need to be in a cast for another six to 
eight weeks.  The physio is harder for this operation 
but he should still make a full recovery."

"How is his lung?"

"It held out well.  The tube will come out in the 
morning barring any complications."

"When can I see him?"

"He's still in recovery at the moment but as soon as 
he's been transferred to his room I'll send one of the 
nurses to get you."

"Thank you."

    The surgeon smiled again and walked out of the 
room.  Skinners arm around her shoulder tightened and 
she took a few deep breaths.  They ambled down to the 
canteen and got cups of treacle coffee before 
returning to the waiting room.  They hadn't reclaimed 
their seats when a nurse knocked softly on the door.

"Ms. Scully, you can see him now if you want." Scully 
shot up and followed the nurse out of the door to the 
private room by the nurse's station.  "He's still 
unconscious but we're expecting him to wake up any 
minute.  I thought it would be nice if he saw a 
friendly face."

"Thank you."

    Scully approached him slowly almost creeping 
across the room.  Taking his hand she bent over him 
and pressed a soft kiss to his temple.  A large white 
bandage covered the wound on his head and his leg sat 
in plaster under the sheets, a frame holding them away 
from him.  

"Hey Mulder, this is taking it a bit far don't you 
think." 

   In his mouth, the large respirator tube sank down 
into his throat and Scully knew it was painful but 
helping.  She ran her hand over his face which was 
bruised and scraped from the game, his cheek swollen 
even more then before.  She squeezed his hand and was 
delighted to feel a small squeeze back.  

"Mulder? Can you hear me?"

    With some effort his blinking slowed down and he 
managed to hold his mouth open.  Scully immediately 
pressed the call button and placed a firm but gentle 
hand onto his chest to stop him from moving.  He 
struggled to breath around the respirator tube and 
coughed, panicky when he couldn't get a breath.

"Don't fight it Mulder, we'll get it out in a 
minute...look at me, listen to my voice." She turned 
his head to face her the panic in his eyes searching 
her as tears fell from the sides and rolled down to 
his ears.  "It's okay...it's coming out now."

    Two nurses rushed in and one of them fiddled with 
the breathing apparatus while the other removed the 
tape from the tube around his mouth.

"Hold on Mr. Mulder."

    Mulder hardly acknowledged her, staring only at 
Scully as she held his hand and rubbed his chest.  She 
smiled at him reassuringly but the panic in his eyes 
only increased as the tube moved.

"Ok Mr. Mulder...I want you to cough; cough and exhale 
really hard and we'll have this out in a minute."

    Scully squeezed his hand and breathed in time with 
him, pressing her palm against his chest as the nurse 
pulled the long thick tube out.  Mulder coughed and 
wheezed against the unnatural feeling of pressure that 
engulfed his throat.

"All done Mr. Mulder, all done," the nurse said as she 
got rid of the tube in a bin behind her.

    They measured his vitals again and soon left the 
room.  Scully sat on the edge of the bed still holding 
his hand and stroking the side of his face gently.

"Hey," he rasped.   
She poured a glass of water and held it up for him to 
sip it.

"Hey.  How do you feel?"

"Beat up."

"Well you're not wrong there."

"What happened?"

"You scored."

"I did?" A smile crossed his chapped lips.

"But then you passed out."

"I did."

"Your knee Mulder.  You broke your kneecap." A frown 
tainted his features and she imagined it was a painful 
expression as it tightened the skin around his wound. 
"They operated and fixed plates to it."

"To my knee?" He was about to sit up to take a look 
but the pain in his head forced him back down against 
the pillows. "What does that mean?"

"It means if it holds out you'll be in a cast for six 
weeks then have to go through physio to get it up to 
100%."

"If it holds out?"

"Well it was a complete split.  If it doesn't hold out 
you'll need another operation to replace it with an 
artificial patella."

    The severity of his injury seemed to hit home at 
her words and his face was filled with fear and worry.  

"You got a bang on your head and Pneumothorax in your 
left lung so you will be in here for a week or so."  
Her hand still holding his rubbed small circles into 
his palm but he didn't seem to notice, his head 
swimming with knees and injuries and operations and 
everything else he'd have to endure before getting 
back on his feet, both literally and proverbially.  He 
smiled at his own bad sense of humour and Scully 
looked up to him.

"What is it?"

"I can't believe this happened." He let out a chest 
chuckle that turned into a cough so she helped him 
take another drink.

"I know but it has so all you need to do is 
concentrate on getting better."

"I'm glad you're not he type of person who likes to 
say I told you so."

"So am I Mulder."

    A soft knock on the door drew their attention and 
they both turned to see Skinner stepping in.  He 
crossed the room with an agility that belied his size, 
and stood at the bottom of Mulder's bed.

"How are you holding up Mulder?"

"A bit of a shock but my doc here tells me it should 
all be fine...given time."  He glanced up at Scully 
and smiled before looking back to Skinner.  "How did 
the game go?"

"Bulldogs one by nine points.  Your try counted and we 
got another two after that."

"Good.  So it wasn't all in vain then."  His voice was 
dripping with sarcasm and a wicked smile curved his 
lips, but with swollen and scraped cheeks he couldn't 
hold the expression for long.

"I better go.  I'll see you soon Mulder."

"Good game Skin-man!" Mulder called after him getting 
rewarded with a blushing smile from his boss before he 
closed the door behind him.  Scully looked down at him 
and caught him yawning so she stood off the bed and 
turned to face him fully.

"I'm going to go and let you get some rest.  I could 
do with a change of clothes and a shower."

"Okay.  Thanks for staying with me."

"Anytime."

    She squeezed his hand and left the room.  After 
she shut the door, Mulder lifted up his sheet and 
glanced at his leg.  The plaster from the cast was 
still damp and stuck to his skin but he stared at his 
toes and tried to wiggle them.  Nothing moved. With a 
sigh he dropped the sheet over the frame again only to 
be surprised by the sight of a nurse standing by his 
bed.

"Sorry I didn't mean to frighten you."

"That's okay...I eh, I can't move my toes."

"Well you've just had knee surgery.  It'll be a few 
days before the feeling comes back. and when it 
does..."

"...I'll wish it didn't," he finished for her.

"Something like that.  So you're a rugby player?"

"No I'm an FBI Agent."  He held out his arm for her to 
measure his blood pressure.

"Oh your wife said you were playing rugby."

"I was, but not professionally."  He couldn't help the 
smile from her remark wondering why Scully hadn't 
corrected the assumption on their marital status. 

"I see."  She jotted down her findings in the chart 
and smiled at him again.  "Are you in any pain Mr 
Mulder?"

"Not at the moment."

"Well just holler if you need anything.  No point in 
suffering in silence."

"Yeah, I will."  Mulder let his head rest back onto 
the pillow and closed his eyes.  A dull throb emanated 
from his leg but it was a comforting pain letting him 
know his leg was there, still attached...just a little 
damaged.  His hand went down to his other leg and he 
pressed his palm to his thigh.  He took comfort from 
the flexing muscle under his hand and soon rolled into 
a fitful sleep.


Arlington Apartment #42
28th July 2001
4.15PM

    Scully pushed the door open and walked in.  The 
key was jammed in the lock and when she managed to 
force it out, her elbow flew back hitting him in the 
chest.  Mulder yelped and stumbled back on his 
crutches, catching himself against the doorframe 
before he fell or put any weight on his leg.

"Oh god sorry!" her hand covered her mouth disguising 
a small smile, but Mulder pushed himself off the frame 
and went past her into the living room.  He dropped 
onto the couch with a heavy whoosh, his leg sticking 
out in front.  With both hands under his knee, he 
lifted it onto the table and carefully sat back afraid 
to jostle it.

    Scully shut the door and walked in with his bag.  
She dropped it into the bedroom and came back to his 
side where she put a cushion under his foot.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little winded after that elbow to the chest but ok 
otherwise."

    His face had all but returned to normal except for 
the scraped lines on his cheek and the blue thread 
stitching peering out by his hairline.  The wound had 
been left open and the stitches would dissolve so his 
only worry was his knee.

"The surgeon said you should keep it elevated.  
Wouldn't you rather go to bed?  Lie down?"

"Scully I just spent the last 10 days in the 
hospital...lying down...I want to sit up, I want to 
watch TV, I want to get through one hour without 
anyone taking my blood pressure or drawing blood or 
asking for x-rays or asking how I'm feeling!"

"Okay, okay."

    She walked into the kitchen and he immediately 
regretted his outburst.  But when she came back with a 
glass of water for him he smiled at her and she 
couldn't help but return it. 

"I don't suppose you'd pass me the remote?" he asked 
sheepishly.

"Are you sure you want to stay here? Why don't you 
come back to my place?"

"No Scully I'm fine.  A bit of time on my own will be 
good."

"I'm going to my mom's this evening but I should be 
back at ten-ish.  I'll call in on my way home."

"Scully I'll be fine, you don't need to."

"I'll call in." she passed him the phone and the 
remote and walked to his bathroom making sure the path 
was clear for him.  She'd already been by during the 
week and changed his sheets and cleaned up a bit.  
"There are some sandwiches in the fridge and a flask 
of juice."

"Thanks Scully."

"I'll see you later."

    She left in a hurry before she could change her 
mind and talk him into staying at her place.  It was 
warm out and it made for a pleasant drive to her 
mother's house, while Mulder found it stuffy and stale 
in his apartment.  He thought of going to the window 
to let in some fresh air but thought better of it at 
the sight of the PC and phone cables adorning the 
floor.  With his remote he flicked through the endless 
cycles of channels, stopping only when something 
caught his eye but generally continuously flicking.  

    On the Sci-Fi Channel he saw that they were 
playing all four Planet of The Apes Movies and the 
first one was only about half way through.

"Get your filthy paws off me you ape!" he parroted 
with Charlton Heston, smiling as he snuggled deeper 
into the couch and settled in to watch them.  The day 
passed relatively quickly with one trip to the 
bathroom and two trips to the kitchen.  The flask 
Scully had left in the kitchen had a loop on it so he 
could carry it around his neck.  He smiled at her 
thoughtfulness and regretted not for the first time 
not taking her up on the offer to stay at her place.

    He suddenly realised that the room had fallen dark 
around him, the eerie glow of the television casting a 
dull shine on his living room.  Glancing at the clock 
he saw it was half past eight and as if his stomach 
could tell time it rumbled loudly and uncomfortably.  
He'd already eaten the sandwiches shortly after she 
left and he knew he wouldn't be able to cook anything.
 

    With a smile Mulder realised even without the 
crutches he probably wouldn't be able to cook 
anything.  Stretching out, he managed to get a take-
out menu from the table in front of him.  Flipping 
through the pages he couldn't decide on anything to 
eat, his mind reeled with ideas of what he'd really 
like to eat and pizza wasn't one of them.  But 
conceding to the state he was in, he called up and 
ordered a large New Yorker and a coke.  It would be 
another forty minutes before it got here and after 
thirty of those minutes had passed Mulder started to 
get up.  He was standing wobbly in the middle of his 
living room reaching for his crutches when there was a 
knock at the door.

"Coming!" he yelled as he crouched over and picked it 
up off the floor.  He hobbled over to the door and it 
took him another five minutes to open it and get out 
of the way to swing it open.  The deliveryman on the 
other side was surprised at the injured man who 
answered.

"$14.97," he said holding out the box and bottle of 
coke to Mulder.  Mulder looked up at him with a 
grimace and looked down to the crutches.

"Could you leave it on the table?"

    The young man carefully side stepped him and 
dropped it hastily on the table rushing back to the 
door to collect the money.

"$14.97," he said again.

"There ya go."

    Mulder handed him $15 and left him with the three 
cents. He closed the door and headed carefully over to 
the table.  Looking down at his cast and at the table, 
he decided he wouldn't be comfortable sitting there so 
he glanced up at the couch.  A room that once seemed 
cramped with a table and chairs now seemed to have a 
vast expanse looming over it. The distance would be 
too far to hop and besides, the jarring motion of the 
leaping shot pain up his leg to the core of his being 
where it burned with knowing justice.  Balancing on 
the chair, Mulder tossed the crutches over to the 
couch.  They hit the leather material and slid to the 
floor with a loud clatter.  

    For a moment he didn't move, not sure what he was 
about to do next but then he managed to sit himself 
into the chair, change his hand hold and slide to the 
floor, all without hitting his leg off anything.  
Smiling smugly, he felt a wave of pride wash over him 
at his small accomplishment only to realise he 
couldn't reach his food anymore.  

    Hoisting himself back onto the chair he got the 
pizza and coke and put them carefully onto the floor 
before joining them.  He hooked his good foot under 
his bad leg at the ankle, and lifted it off the ground 
to offer it that last piece of protection.  The pizza 
box he balanced on his lap and the bottle of coke he 
rolled over to the couch.  He realised he wouldn't be 
able to open it for a while without spraying the room 
but it was a small price to pay.

    With his hands on the floor and his legs hovering 
mere inches off the ground he slowly made his way 
across the floor on his ass; the short journey taking 
longer than he expected.  He reached the coffee table 
and put the food on it.  He found sweat pooling on his 
back, dampening his shirt and his face covered in a 
fine sheen.  

    Taking a few deep breaths, he settled his back 
against the couch, grabbing a cushion for his leg he 
settled down, resting a moment more before opening the 
food.  The cheese was piping hit and a lot of the 
ingredients had rolled about when he'd dragged it 
across the floor. But it smelt so good he didn't mind.  
Pulling out a slice he loosened it from the rest of 
the pie and held it up.  The narrow end was folded 
back and he bit it off revelling in the sweet taste of 
anything other than hospital rations, until the 
searing hot pain hit his leg.  He yelped and looked 
down only to see the rest of the topping had slid off 
the slice and was currently pooling against his leg on 
his upper thigh.

    He pulled it of quickly and dropped it onto the 
open box sucking his fingers to soothe the burn from 
the hot food.  Looking down at his leg he sighed at 
the red mark the hot food had left and he was all but 
ready to cry.  He winced at the stinging pain he could 
feel in his thigh and pulled at the wet material of 
his sweats to get it off his skin but it was no use.  
He would have to take them off he decided, and 
thinking of the effort at getting them on this morning 
he didn't relish the idea.  

    Moving the pizza away, he lifted his butt off the 
floor and carefully inched the sweats down to his 
thighs.  Managing to keep his boxers up he rested for 
a minute before getting them down his legs.  Bending 
his good leg up to his chest he freed it, managing to 
pull his sweats down his cast by dragging it with his 
good foot.  Relief came then with the cool air washing 
over his bared legs and he sighed loudly dropping his 
head onto the couch.  

    Carefully he managed to eat the rest of his pizza 
with the roof of his mouth only getting second-degree 
burns.  He wanted to get back onto the couch, stop the 
carpet from scratching his legs but his energy was 
gone so he lay where he was.

    And that was where she found him.  Slowly she 
opened the front door, trying to be quiet in case he 
was sleeping but was surprised and a tad alarmed to 
see him sprawled out on the floor by his couch.  His 
head was lying back and facing the window and for a 
moment she thought he had fallen until she spotted the 
bottle of coke and the empty pizza box.  His sweats 
piled up by his feet she couldn't explain, but she 
walked in and left her bag on the table.  He stirred 
at the presence in the room and rolled his head around 
lazily to look at her.  

"Scully?" Confusion soaked through his voice but he 
rubbed his eyes to get a better picture.  She sat on 
the couch beside him and leaned forward, lowering her 
head to his.

"What are you doing on the floor Mulder?"

"I had to get down to carry my dinner over here."

"Ok.  But why are your pants off?" Glancing down he 
blushed at the picture he presented.

"I spilled melted cheese on them and it was burning my 
leg...so I took them off."

    She looked down to the red patch on his upper 
thigh and suppressed her smile.  Walking into the 
kitchen she dampened the corner of a towel with cold 
water and brought it in to him.

"It probably won't do much good now but it couldn't 
hurt." He took the towel and pressed it to his still 
aching leg.  Grimacing he pressed it harder and looked 
up at her smiling face.

"I'm glad I could make you smile Scully."

"Sorry Mulder but just the thought of you dragging 
yourself across the floor..."

"Yeah yeah...so how is your Mom?"

"She's fine.  She sends her love and well wishes."

"With all these well wishes I should be right as rain 
in no time."

"Will you come and stay at my place Mulder, please? "

"I'm fine here Scully."

"Okay well why haven't you gotton back onto the couch 
yet? Or got a clean pair of sweats? Or water for he 
burn?"

"Scully-"

"No Mulder no excuses.  You're in no shape to look 
after yourself and the sooner you swallow that damned 
pride of yours and realise it the better."

    He had the grace to look a little admonished as 
she stood up and cleared away his mess from dinner.  
He knew she was right but he couldn't crawl to her 
place to lick his wounds every time he was hurt.  But 
it wasn't often he was this hurt.  He watched as she 
moved about the room picking up his sweats before 
disappearing into his bedroom to get him a fresh pair.

"Okay Scully," he said as she approached him again.  
"Okay I'll stay on one condition."

"Mulder it's an offer.  An offer to help you relax and 
recuperate in comfort.  It's not a sentence.  Stay 
here if you want."

    Dammit she was hurt.  Hurt by his simple brush off 
and all he had to do was admit he needed her.

"Scully sorry.  I do want to go stay with you, I just 
don't want to impose."

"If it were an imposition I wouldn't have made the 
offer."  Her voice softened and she smiled as she sat 
on the couch.  He let his head fall against her knee 
and smiled.

"Yeah you would."

"I know."  She laughed with him and stood again.  "But 
it's not an imposition."  She helped him get his pants 
on.

"Okay, lets go then. This room is starting to stink."

"Yeah...the room..." she went to his room and packed 
some belongings for him.

"Are you implying I stink Agent Scully?" he said when 
she handed him his crutches and helped him up.

"Friends tell friends when they smell."

"Well maybe that bed bath is long overdue."

"Maybe Mulder.  But I reckon you'll be stinking for 
another while to come."

"Are you reneging on your offer?"

"It wasn't my offer, if I recall correctly."

    She locked the door behind them and they slowly 
made their way down to the lift.  Waiting for it he 
leaned against the wall and looked down at her with a 
lazy smile.

"Your offer, my offer, does it really matter?"

"Depends on the offer." She let him into the elevator 
first and stepped in after him, hitting the button for 
the ground floor with her palm.

"Are you making an offer now?"

    He was standing behind her but he leaned forward 
and curled his head over her shoulder and whispered 
into her ear.

"Mulder, you're not fit enough to take up any offers."

"Aww Scully you wouldn't do that to an injured man, 
I'm not stable enough to take rejection." he said 
huskily.

    She ignored his bait and held the lift door open 
for him to step out.  It took some manoeuvring to get 
him into the car without hurting his leg, but finally 
they managed it and after the drive struggled all over 
again to get him out.  

    They bundled into her apartment and he made a 
direct line for her couch.  He collapsed with a soft 
moan that he hoped she didn't hear but she was by his 
side in seconds, a comforting a hand on his chest.

"You ok?"

"Yeah.  Trip took a lot out of me."

"You look exhausted," she let her hands play through 
his hair and he leaned into her touch. " I'll make us 
some tea and you can rest. We'll just have a quiet 
evening together, watch a movie or something if you 
like." 

"Hey that sounds great...but please no rough sports 
movies, I'd be happy to watch whatever girlie movie 
you have instead."

"Even Steel Magnolias?"  Mulder pursed his lips and 
stuck out his bottom lip.

"Yeah, even that one."

    Scully went to go into the kitchen but something 
made her turn around. Mulder was looking at her with a 
doe eyed expression. He looked adorable.

"Scully, I'm glad I came, really. And thanks for being 
there for me. I guess I should have left my male 
bravado on the rugby field huh."

"You're welcome, and yes you should have.  But I'll 
always be on the sidelines watching your back. 
Always." 

"I know." His words were low and she wasn't sure if 
they were meant for her ears but it was an honest 
statement she couldn't ignore.  Walking back to him 
she crouched by his head and gently touched his cheek.

"And you're watching mine."

"You know it Scully.  The next time you get injured 
for no good reason but to impress the women you can 
always recuperate at my place."

"Thanks." She patted his cheek as she stood to get the 
promised tea.  It was good to be here together. She 
could have easily lost him playing a silly 
testosterone fuelled game and not even in the line of 
FBI duty this time.

"So what did we decide on the bed bath situation?" She 
didn't answer until she returned with their drinks and 
gave him a kilowatt smile full of promise but by the 
time she came out again, Mulder was fast asleep. 

    Carefully she fetched a throw from her linen 
closet and stretched it over his sleeping form. "Sweet 
dreams." She whispered as she kissed her fingers and 
gently laid them on his cheek. 

The end.

Skinfull 2004