From: "dable" Subject: Voyeur Date sent: Mon, 28 Jul 1997 22:10:12 -0400 Voyeur By Laura Abel dable@iglou.com DISCLAIMER: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Danny, Langley, Frohike, Byers and Skinner are characters created by Chris Carter. They remain his copyrighted property, the property of 1013 Productions and the property of FOX Television, a unit of 20th Century Fox, Inc. No infringement of any copyright is intended. The characters of Sarah, Shelley, Rick Serley and Mr. Wilcox were created by the author and remain her property. ARCHIVISTS: Please archive to Gossamer. CLASSIFICATION: S, R, H - Mulder/Scully Romance with Humor. SUMMARY: Danny convinces Mulder to take up Voyeurism, with Dana as the object of observation. RATING: R - for some adult language and mild sexual content. SPOILERS: A few for "Little Green Men", "Red Museum", "One Breath", "Quagmire" and "Anasazi". Several others are mentioned in passing but nothing recent. Timeline: Fourth season pre- "Leonard Betts". KEYWORDS: Voyeurism. FEEDBACK: Please! All comments gratefully accepted. Email address is: dable@iglou.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Greenbelt Park Alexandria, VA Saturday, 12:15 PM Sarah sat on a park bench and watched the one-on-one basketball game being played on the court in front of her. She'd seen the two men playing at 9:30 this morning when she jogged through the park. After returning home to change, she'd decided to come back and see if they were still here. Now she sat on the bench enjoying the sun, wearing a pair of sunglasses and her portable radio with headphones playing her favorite classical music. She was sitting in such a position so as not to make it obvious that her full and undivided attention was on the two handsome men playing b-ball. She sighed, running her hand through her dark hair. She loved this park. It was very close to her apartment and it was often frequented by single men. That was its best feature, and today was no exception. Of the two men she was discretely observing today, only one was wearing a wedding ring. The taller, really cute one was not. Now, if the two of them would just cooperate... yes. Right on queue the married one called for a time out. Perfect. Grabbing their water bottles and sitting down next to the court fencing, the two sweaty observees were directly in her line of sight, not thirty yards away. After a moment, Sarah stood up and removed her head phones. She reached down and pulled off her T- shirt revealing her best bikini top, the one that lifted in all the right places. She draped the shirt over the park bench and sat down again, repositioning herself in the sun. She put her head phones back on and then casually made a few adjustments to the placement of her skimpy top. Now, Sarah thought, lets see what you think about that. "Hey, Mulder. Check her out." Danny elbowed him and then nodded toward the beautiful young woman on the park bench in front of them. "Yeah, so?" Special Agent Fox Mulder said after glancing her way. He took a long drink of his water bottle. "SO? She's gorgeous. And she's been watching us for the last half hour." "That's nice. Maybe she's a scout for the Knicks." "Oh, she's scouting, all right. You should go talk to her." Danny said, elbowing him again. Mulder glanced up at her again and watched as she stretched her long legs out in the sun. "Not interested, Danny." He reached down and tightened his shoelaces. "Jesus, Mulder. How the hell can you live like that?" "Like what?" "Are you ever going to ask out Agent Scully?" "Commercial's over. Let's play." Mulder stood and picked up the basketball. Danny scrambled to his feet. "You don't honestly think she'd say no." Danny stated, holding up his hands and stepping out-of-bounds. Mulder shot him the ball so hard it stung Danny's hands. "Don't start with me." Mulder grumbled. Danny in-bounded the ball to him and they resumed the game. "Answer the question, then." Danny took up Defense and watched as Mulder made his first move toward the basket. His fake left was as predictable as his avoidance of the question. Danny batted the ball away from him and spun, using a perfect hook-shot to put the ball up and over Mulder's head. The ball bounced off the backboard and dropped through the hoop. Mulder snatched it. "16-14" Mulder said, stepping out. "I know exactly what you need." Danny said, catching the ball and dribbling it out to center court. "What?" Mulder asked, taking up Defense. "A less talkative b-ball partner?" Mulder reached in for the ball and Danny bounced it behind him out of Mulder's reach. He continued dribbling. "No, you need some down time with her." Danny smiled, then faked left just as Mulder had before. Mulder went left and Danny went right, letting loose a jump-shot from the free throw line that swooshed through the net. Danny fielded the ball and turned back to Mulder. "18-14." Mulder said and raised his hands for the ball. "Think about it, Mulder. Just you and Agent Scully, no work, no FBI, no business clothes. Damn, a week on the beach with her in that top." Danny pointed back toward the young woman sitting on the bench. "You'd be surprised what might come of that!" Mulder indicated he wanted the ball. "I'm not interested. Neither is she." "Ha! Liar. Your ability to deny to yourself your feelings for her is only exceeded by your failure to deny those feelings to the eyes of everyone who sees you two together." "You lost me on that one, Dan-o." Mulder said, walking off the court to get his water bottle. Danny followed him. "Not likely. Very few people have the where-with-all to think circles around you. Except maybe her." "It's more complicated than that." Mulder said, drying off with a towel. He glanced up and noticed a blonde man in running shorts had walked up and started talking to the pretty brunette on the bench. She seemed to be enjoying the attention and no longer interested in the basketball game she'd been so closely observing for almost an hour. Nothing complicated about that, Mulder thought. See a pretty woman in the park, walk over and start a conversation. Six months later you're picking out rings and considering what part of town to live in. Easy as pie. After the kid is born, she takes a few years off work and you come home to the perfect family. The perfect life. Twenty years later, when the kid graduates college, you plan the perfect trip to the Mediterranean and rediscover each other. Twenty years after that, you retire and buy a motor home, spending the rest of your retirement traveling around the country without a commitment to anyone or anything except the pretty red-head who still makes your heart skip a beat every time she says your name. Mulder shook his head, dissolving the fantasy that had somehow become too personal and familiar. Danny noticed the look on Mulder's face and decided his luck was two-fold this morning. Not only was he beating Mulder at basketball for a change, but his inquiries into Agent Scully were striking a nerve. "Complicated? Mulder, your life is so complicated, I really have no idea how you survive day-to-day. You thrive on complicated. And I doubt that anything as simple as love will be the one thing to finally upset your apple-cart." Mulder pointed to the brunette on the bench. She was standing up and walking off with the blonde guy. "Looks like you're right about one thing. The scout just signed her first round draft pick." Danny glanced up and smiled as he watched the brunette laughing and flashing her sexiest smile at her new friend. "I'm right about Agent Scully, too. The two of you belong together, Mulder. So why don't you do something about it?" Mulder looked at his friend for a long moment. Why is it, he thought, that every married person feels it is their personal quest to find all of their unmarried friends a mate? Was it some kind of syndrome that married people developed after the wedding ceremony? Did they sit around with their new spouses every weekend and make lists of all their friends who they thought would be perfect for each other? Mulder decided not even an Oxford educated psychologist could answer those questions. "All right," Mulder said to Danny. "Since you're so wise on this subject, tell me. How could two people start a personal relationship and not screw up their professional one?" Danny nearly let his mouth drop open in surprise. I'll be damned, he thought, he *does* have feelings for Agent Scully. I better tread carefully here, or else he'll clam up again and this entire morning will have been for nothing. "Well, old friend," Danny said, picking up his towel and water bottle, "let's go get some lunch and I'll tell you how you do just that." *************** Rooftop of the Evergreen Apartments Saturday, 8:45 PM "Wanna look?" Danny whispered, holding the binoculars over toward Mulder. "No." "Liar." Danny said with a smile Mulder didn't see in the darkness. "Danny, isn't your wife annoyed that you are spending a Saturday evening with me on a rooftop across the street from my partner's apartment?" "Nope. She's on the internet checking all her favorite news groups. I quickly learned to disappear when she gets involved with her online friends. The men bashing can get extremely unpleasant!" "How very 'married' of you." Mulder snorted under his breath. "Okay, lights just went out in the living room. And. . .the blinds in the bedroom window are angled. . .just about right. Here she comes." Danny handed Mulder the binoculars. "I don't want them." Mulder whispered, checking the street to see if any neighbors might be out walking their dog on this warm night. The idea of someone calling the police to report two peeping-toms had crossed his mind several times. Danny continued to hold the binocs out and remained silent. "Danny, what exactly is the point of this?" "You want the truth of it?" "It *would* be nice." Mulder hissed. "All I'm trying to do here tonight is to show you that you may not know Dana Scully as well as you think you do. Sure, Agent Mulder and Agent Scully know each other inside and out. You start a sentence and she finishes it. The two of you have a case solution rate that is the envy of every division in the Bureau. But what if...what *if* you could have something more? There's some kind of bond between you and Scully that goes far beyond professional. Wouldn't you like to investigate that?" "But this *investigation* is illegal, Danny, not to mention morally wrong. And if there was any chance of us having a personal relationship, it would have happened a long time before now. Scully and I are professional partners and that's it." "Damn it, Mulder." Danny said a little too loudly. They both ducked further down behind the low wall of the roof top. "Think about that for a moment. I mean really think about it! Do you think you are such an easy person to get close to? Tell me one time when you and Agent Scully talked about anything that wasn't work related." Mulder looked away, his face answering the question for him. "Exactly. Never. The two of you have managed to avoid this by convincing yourselves that the other isn't interested. But, you see, I know you very well, my friend. I know what you were like before Agent Scully was assigned to The X-Files." Danny saw Mulder begin to fidget and he smiled, turning the screw a little tighter. "You were Don Juan incarnate." Mulder softly chuckled. "And you were jealous." "Hell yes I was jealous! But then I met Shelley and every thought of any other woman just never measured up after that. I watched you dating a different beautiful woman every weekend and I realized how lonely that game is. But then when that red-headed partner of yours showed up, I watched you change, man. You stopped dating and Don Juan died a quick death." "I stopped dating because our work load increased and we were spending a lot of time out of town." Mulder said, knowing it was a lame thing to say even as it came out of his mouth. Danny laughed then took a deep breath and exhaled. "Mulder, just be honest about her for once, will you? The two of you have got that *connection*. So what is the harm in exploring it? And don't give me that bullshit about the Bureau frowning on partners becoming involved. Just because they don't like the idea doesn't mean they can stop it." "Yeah, well, where the X-Files are concerned, the unwritten rules are the ones that Scully and I have to be the most careful of." Mulder said spitefully. If the Cigarette Smoking Man came looking for a reason to shut down the X-Files again, a sexual relationship between he and Scully would just be icing on the cake for him. "Maybe so, but think about this. On the day you die, what is going to be your most treasured memory? All the cases you've solved and the bad guys you've put away? Or will there be a certain person who you will be thinking of on that day? Which memory do you think will matter the most to you then?" Danny stopped when he saw the pained look on his friend's face. Shit, he thought. I went too far. He's going to bolt on me. Mulder couldn't look at Danny. Memories of his lost sister, Samantha, flooded his mind. He believed in his heart that on the day he died, Samantha would be there, long since returned from her abduction and once again a part of his life. He'd told himself long ago that when she was finally home again, his life would be complete. But tonight, after listening to Danny talk to him about Scully and about the feelings he had for her--yes, Mulder admitted to himself, he did have feelings for Scully--he wondered now if his life would be complete without Scully in it. She was in it now and it felt nearly perfect, except for the fact Samantha was still missing. But that was just a matter of time. Given enough time, Mulder would find his sister. He knew that. But how much time did he have left with Scully? How long before she decided that her priorities included not just a career but also finding someone of her own to love and be loved in return? Mulder reached out and motioned toward the binoculars. "Give them to me." Danny looked up in surprise. "What?" "Give them to me." Mulder took the binocs and raised up to aim them over the low roof wall, right into his partner's bedroom window. "And tell me again how this is going to help Scully and me." ********************* 8:56 PM "So? What's she doing?" Danny asked. "Nothing. Just lying on her bed, looking through the newspaper." "Has she changed clothes yet?" "No." Mulder said, lowering the binocs. "Give it time. What are you doing?" Danny asked as Mulder laid the glasses down. Mulder dropped down behind the low wall of the roof. "This is wrong." Mulder said, picking up his flashlight and digging in his pocket for his keys. "We're stalking her." "But five minutes ago you were fine with that." "That was five minutes ago." Mulder said, standing up. "Where are you going?" Danny asked. "I'm leaving." Danny reached up and grabbed the sleeve of Mulder's shirt. "Get back down before somebody sees you." Danny jerked Mulder down beside him again. "This is NOT stalking. You have no 'intent to harm', do you?" "Of course not. But it is invasion of privacy." "Technically, yes. Except that you two agreed, when you became partners, to look out for one another, right? That's all you're doing tonight." Danny looked hopefully at Mulder. Mulder looked incredulously at Danny. Just as he was about to tell his friend that that was one of the lamest theories he'd ever heard, Mulder realized that one of his eyebrows was beginning to arch up slightly. The thought of unconsciously mimicking something he'd seen Scully do thousands of time, to know he'd begun to do it himself made Mulder pause. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he thought of the many different times he'd seen her right eyebrow go up at one of his wild theories. He suddenly wondered if there might be other ways of achieving that same result. Maybe Danny was right. Mulder thought about the very few times he and Scully had ever talked about anything that wasn't work related. An impromptu conversation on a rock came to his mind. Out of boredom, he'd asked her why she'd named that little mutt of hers Queequeg and she'd proceeded to compare him to Ahab from the book 'Moby Dick'. Being alone with her in the middle of that lake, Mulder remembered, he'd quickly become uncomfortable with the direction of the discussion. It was getting too personal, too far into uncharted territory for them. So, he'd used one of his flippant remarks and turned the conversation around so he had control of it again, watching as the unsettling aspect of it faded away. The ironic thing was that Mulder couldn't count the number of times since then that he wished he could recreate that moment of closeness. It was a favorite memory of his. But why? All at once, Mulder understood. For just a few minutes, he had been sitting there talking to Dana. Not Special Agent Scully, but Dana. And the unfamiliarity of that had scared him senseless because he didn't really know who that woman was. He didn't know the woman in that apartment across the street, who was actually capable of turning off the Special Agent mode and becoming a real person. But he wanted to know her. He wanted that very badly. Now Mulder knew why he had allowed Danny to talk him into this. It was exactly what he had to do. Mulder picked up the binoculars again and looked Danny straight in the eyes. "If you breathe a word of anything that has been said today or anything that we have done tonight, to anyone--even Shelley--I'll personally kill you." Danny held Mulder's hard stare and slowly nodded his head. "I know you will." Mulder nodded his head once, sealing their pact of silence. Mulder turned his attention back to the bedroom window of his partner. No, he thought, tonight she's Dana, not my partner Scully. And I'm going to sit here until I figure out the difference. Or until the police are called, whichever comes first. ********************** 9:13 PM "Okay, so now what is she doing?" Danny asked. "Standing by her dresser. Uh,. . .she's lighting candles." Mulder said absently. "Good." "She's taking them into the bathroom." "Can you see the tub?" Danny asked, just a bit hopefully. "No, if I could we'd be outta here." Mulder said firmly. "Agreed." Danny said. "Oh." "What?" "Nothing." Mulder said offhandedly. "No way, buddy. My rules. Whatever you see, you tell me." "You are a sick man, Danny." "No, it's just that tonight, I'm the AIC. And since you are the one actually doing the looking, I gotta be up-to-speed in case this op goes bad." Mulder chuckled, and lowered the lenses slightly to glance at his friend. "Whatever you say, Dan-o" He resumed his watch. "She changed clothes in the bathroom and now she's wearing an emerald green silk robe." "That's better." Danny said, settling back against the roof wall. Agent-In-Charge, he thought. It had a very nice ring to it. Yes, Mulder thought, taking another look at the shiny green robe. Yes, it certainly was better. *********************** 9:31 PM "Ohhhh-'kay." Mulder said, causing Danny to snap out of the half doze he was in. "Now what? Is she out of the tub?" "Oh, yeah. She's moved all of the candles back out into the bedroom. Now she's sitting on the edge of her bed and she just started brushing her hair." "Regular like or the 'before bedtime' brush where they throw their head over and show the back of their neck--" Danny trailed off as he saw Mulder shoot him a hard glance. "Yeah. That's the one." Mulder said, returning his attention to Scully. He just couldn't think of her as Dana. She had always been Scully and the few times he actually called her Dana out loud, had been rather awkward and unsettling. But then again, maybe that was part of the reason he was here tonight. "See?" Danny said, interrupting Mulder's thoughts. "I told you this would pay off." "Danny, I've seen many woman do their evening routines. It's not like I'm seeing anything new, here." Can't let the kid think this is working out too well, Mulder thought. Danny held up his hands, telling Mulder he wasn't arguing with him. Why should I, he thought. This latest protest of Mulder's held a different kind of condemnation than the last one. At least we are moving in the right direction, he thought. "Good God! What am I doing?" Mulder said and dropped down behind the low wall. Not again. "What happened?" Danny whispered, half frustrated with Mulder's reluctance to have fun with this situation and half with the fact he knew Mulder was leaving out all of the good parts of what he was seeing. "She's *naked*." Mulder whispered, with an embarrassed emphasis on the second word. Whoops! Danny thought. He hadn't expected Mulder to see *that* much of his partner. This might be too hard to get past. "How naked?" Danny hesitantly asked. "She walked across the bedroom, slipped out of her robe which fell to the floor, and suddenly I was looking at my partner's exposed backside!" Mulder said, covering his eyes with his hand and rubbing viciously. "And for some reason you think this is bad?" Danny grinned. Mulder dropped his hand. "No, I think this is bizarre. And do *not* try to stop me because now I have stepped so far over the line of my good conscious, I'll never be able to----what?" Danny was still grinning at him. "Mulder, you're blushing." "The only reason my face is turning red is because I am so mad at myself for letting you talk me into this betrayal of my partner. Look, I understand now what you're taking about. I know Scully but I don't know Dana. And if I ever want to have a relationship with her, I'm going to have to spend some time with her as a person and not just my partner. See? I got it, so now we can go." Danny watched as Mulder hunted for his keys again and knew that this was the end of the operation. He was just about to stand up when Mulder spoke. "Oh my God." he whispered. "What?" Danny asked, unable to read the tone of his voice. But Mulder didn't answer him, he just had the binoculars up to his eyes again. "What? Is something wrong?" Mulder couldn't believe what he was seeing. His attention had been drawn back to the bedroom window when he saw the lights go out and the shadows of flames dancing around the room. For a split second he thought the room was on fire. But then he raised the binocs again and saw Scully. She was now wearing a silk nightgown of emerald green, obviously it and the robe were a matched set. She was walking slowly around the room, lighting even more candles. The room was positively a glow with their warm and sensuous light. And the sight of Scully in that green gown, bathed in the soft candle light was almost more than Mulder could register. He actually felt like he couldn't breathe. Danny slugged Mulder on the shoulder, bringing him out of his stupefied silence. "What!?" Mulder asked, turning his attention away from the bedroom just long enough to rub his arm. "You tell me! What's going on? Are we leaving or not?" "You can do whatever the hell you want, but I'm staying right here." Mulder said, having already resumed his watch of the window. "Fine." Danny said and plopped down next to Mulder. "Then I'm staying, too. Besides, evidently you've lost the keys." *********************** 9:40 PM "Oh, wow." Mulder said quietly. "What's she doing now?" "She's rubbing lotion on her legs." "Oh, man. I love it when Shelley does that. She's got this kind that smells faintly of cocoa butter and when she climbs into bed, she still has some of that smell on her hands. God, I love that smell. She smelled like cocoa butter every night of our honeymoon. It got to the point where I had to go buy her a different kind of sun- block to wear on the beach because I couldn't stand to be around her smelling like cocoa butter and then not be able to--" "Yeah, I got the picture, Danny." Mulder interrupted. Danny's chatter was becoming a distraction for him. At the moment, he wanted to be able to concentrate completely on what Scully was doing. In fact, he was half tempted to toss Danny the keys and tell him to go home. That way, if Mulder's conscious got the better of him again, he could leave without being talked out of it. On the other hand, what was beginning to get the better of Mulder right now was not his conscious, but his libido. And as long as Danny was still around, Mulder felt like he could keep a certain measure of perspective in this situation. In other words, Mulder thought, I'm too chicken to be alone with my thoughts and a scantily-clad Scully just across the street. That and the fact that he was beginning to wonder if he had indeed lost the damn keys. "I'm getting hungry. Did you bring any snacks?" Danny asked, bringing Mulder out of his thoughts. Mulder produced a bag of sunflower seeds from out of his jeans pocket and handed them to Danny. "Figures." Danny ripped open the sunflower seeds. "How about your cell phone? We could order take-out." Mulder didn't answer. He couldn't. His entire being was focusing on the bedroom window of his partner. He was becoming enraptured by the radiance of Scully's skin in the delicate glow of the candle lit room. He felt his hands twitching with the desire to touch her skin, and he longed to feel her hair between his fingers. And more than anything else, he desperately wanted her to know he was there, watching her. Because then she would know how he felt. She would know what just looking at her was doing to him. That thought set off a mental alarm in Mulder's brain. Mulder lowered the binoculars. A huge grin spread over Mulder's face and he glanced over at Danny. "Wha-?" Danny asked, and tried to spit out a shell. Mulder didn't answer him. He just grinned even wider and turned back to look in the bedroom window again, a whole new set of fantasies high-balling it through his brain. But Scully was gone. She wasn't in her bedroom anymore. Mulder searched every inch of it anyway, then he scanned down the side of the building until he found one blind in the living room that was partially open. Through it he could see half of the front door and all of the couch. And what he saw sitting on the couch was a man. "Who the hell is that?!?!" Mulder said, loudly enough to make Danny jump. "Shhhhh!" Danny hissed. "Who is who?" He whispered, raising himself up so he could peek over the low roof wall. "There's a man in Scully's apartment!" "What!?" Danny asked, and spit out his mouth full of seeds. "There's a man in her apartment?" "Yeah. She just let him in." Mulder answered, his eyes locked on the blond man sitting on Scully's couch. "In her bedroom?!?" Suddenly, Danny felt like Operation Scully was spiraling out of his control. "No, I can see part of her living room." Mulder said quietly. "What's this guy doing?" "He's just sitting on the couch. I think Scully just walked into the kitchen." Mulder was relieved to see that Scully had put on her long white robe and not the one that matched the sexy emerald green silk gown that she was wearing. "Do you recognize him?" Danny whispered. Please, he thought, let this be one of Agent Scully's brothers. "No." Mulder answered. That was only a half lie. He thought he'd seen this guy around Scully's apartment building once or twice. He might be a fellow tenant, just dropping by to say Hi, Mulder thought. But at 10:00 PM on a Saturday night, Mulder knew no guy just *drop's by* to say Hi. Danny got up and started to pace. "This is not good. This was not supposed to happen." He mumbled. "Shelley didn't mention this, huh?" Mulder asked casually. "No, she didn't! And now I don't--" Danny's mouth slammed shut as he realized what Mulder had said. Mulder glanced over at him and chuckled. "Breathe, Danny. I figured out a few minutes ago that I'd been set up tonight." Danny stood there wide-eyed. He didn't know whether to deny everything or confess. He opted for the first. "You weren't set up, Mulder." He laughed nervously. "This was just a spur-of-the-moment idea of mine that occurred to me this morning." Another nervous laugh. Mulder looked over at him again, his face saying he wasn't buying it. Danny looked at him and smiled, nodding like a fool. Mulder smiled back. "No. I don't think so, Danny. This plan was too well thought out to be so spontaneous. You might as well admit to it, I know this wasn't *your* idea." Mulder continued to stare at him until Danny couldn't stand it any longer. "Oh, all right! I admit it!" Danny hissed. Mulder smiled and aimed his binoculars at the living room window again. Danny resumed his pacing. "Oh, man. Shelley is going to kill me. All I was supposed to do was bring you up here for an hour or so and then leave. That's it. I told her it wasn't going to work but no. . . she was so sure it would. She just knew you'd never catch on." "That's what she told you?" Mulder asked. "Yeah. Why?" "Then you've been set up, too." "I have? How was I set up?" Danny asked, coming to sit down next to Mulder again. Mulder lowered the binocs and settled down behind the wall further. "Because I was *supposed* to figure this out. The plan was for me to be up here a while, watching Scully, and you were to keep me here until I realized something, right?" "Right. That you and Agent Scully don't really know each other very well." Danny answered. "Wrong." Mulder smiled at Danny's confused look. Good thing this guy is so good at finding untraceable license plates and unlisted numbers, he thought, because he's not real good at profiling. "I was supposed to realize that somebody wanted me up here, other than you." "Really? You think so?" "Yeah, I do. The only question I've got now, is *who* set me up." Mulder said and peeked up over the roof wall. "Shelley did." "Are you so *sure*?" Mulder asked. "Who else could. . . .?" Danny paused. "You think Agent Scully did this?" His eyes widened at the thought. Mulder got back on his knees and resumed his watch of the living room window. "I don't know." Danny turned around and stretched his legs out in front of him. "I've been set up. I can't believe Shelley set me up!" He looked up at Mulder for some sympathy, but he saw that Mulder was lost in his own thoughts. Poor guy, Danny thought. His life really is way too complicated. Mulder watched Scully serve her guest coffee. He didn't realize he was holding his breath until he saw her sit down in the chair next to the couch. The air escaped his lungs in a rush of relief. Good. She was keeping a wide berth of personal space, letting the blond guy-- and, unintentionally Mulder--know that this late night visit was strictly platonic. At least, that's what Mulder hoped she was doing. Mulder lowered the binoculars and rubbed his tired eyes. He looked over at Danny for a second. Less than twelve hours ago, Mulder had finally admitted to someone that he wanted something he thought he could never have, a relationship with Dana Scully. But before he could make a decision about how to proceed, some stranger had walked into her apartment and taken over the game. Mulder felt like he was sitting on the bench watching some punk kid wow the crowd with three pointers. Danny looked up at Mulder for a moment, then got up on his knees and peered over the roof wall at the living room window. "What's going on?" Mulder looked back into the living room. "He and Scully are having coffee." Danny couldn't make out anything inside the apartment so he sat back down. "So, now what do we do?" "I guess we wait and see what happens next." Mulder whispered. "That's kind of sick, isn't it?" Danny asked. Mulder snorted. "It's what we've been doing all night." He said. "If you want to leave, you can take my car." "No way." Danny said. Then he had a thought. "Well, the first thing we've got to do is figure out who this bozo is and then we get rid of him." "I'm open to suggestions." Mulder said. Danny smiled. "Its time for a little Saturday night investigatin'." ******************* 10:23 PM During the last ten minutes, Mulder had watched as Scully and the blond guy sat in her living room and talked. Mulder cringed every time he saw Scully laugh at something the guy said. It was all he could do to keep from climbing down off the roof and letting himself into her apartment, barging in on their conversation and making as awkward a scene as he could, to get rid of the guy. But Danny had other plans. He'd spent the last ten minutes on Mulder's cell phone, talking to one of his coworkers back at the FBI. By the time he hung up, he had written a full page of things on Mulder's note pad. "Okay. Based on your idea that the guy lives here in Agent Scully's apartment building, I ran a check on all the tenants. Five came up as single and male. I ruled out two names after cross-checking their driver's license info, they were not Caucasian. Another as being too old and a fourth as being formerly a female." Danny said. "You got *that* from the DMV?" Mulder asked, looking over at him. "No, you don't want to know where I got *that*." Danny smiled. "Okay, so what's this guy's name?" Danny consulted his notes. "Rick Serley, aged 34, never married. Works at the World Bank, VP in charge of international accounts. Originally from Evanston, Illinois. No police record. But I got his cell phone number and his license plate number." Mulder filed all that information away in his memory. Now he had a name for the face. Serley. What kind of a goofy name was that? And a vice president with World Bank. That had *geek* written all over it, he thought. Scully couldn't really be interested in this guy, could she? He was just a boring banker. He might as well have been an accountant. "Mulder?" Danny asked, breaking Mulder's train of thought. "Yeah. Okay, so how can we get rid of him?" "Beats me. That's your department." Danny said. His stomach growled loudly just then. "I gotta eat. Come on, Mulder. Let me order some take-out." "And what? Have them deliver it to the roof?" "No, I'll meet them on the street." Danny said. "No. Too risky. Scully might see you." Danny moaned at the thought of going hungry. He was beginning to think he wasn't cut out for stake-outs. While Mulder once again checked on Agent Scully and the banker, Danny looked down the street and saw a kid on a bicycle, making his way slowly down the sidewalk with a large bag in his hand. "Mulder, look." Danny tapped him on the shoulder and pointed down toward the kid. "Let me run down there, give the kid some money and ask him to bring me something back." Mulder saw the kid and instantly recognized him as the stoner dude who ran deliveries for Mama's Chinese Restaurant, a place Mulder and Scully always ordered take-out from on the Saturday nights they spent going over case files in her apartment. "I've got a better idea, Dan-o. Run down there and get the food the kid is delivering." "What? But I may not like what he's got." Mulder dropped low behind the wall as the kid got closer. He looked straight at Danny. "I don't *care* what he's got, just get down there and take it from him. Steal it, buy it. . . . .I don't care! But don't let him make his delivery." "Why? What do you care--?" Mulder leaned over into Danny's face. "Get down there and get that food, now!" He ordered, his voice a harsh whisper. It worked. Danny scrambled over to the rear of the roof and dropped down the fire escape out of Mulder's sight. A few seconds later, as the stoner kid was rolling his bike up the stairs of Scully's apartment building, Danny came flying around the corner of the Evergreen Apartments and ran up behind the kid. Even though the street was deserted and this was a fairly quiet neighborhood, Mulder couldn't hear what Danny was saying to the kid. He watched as Stoner checked the receipt and then shook his head at Danny. Danny said something and then pulled out his wallet. Stoner shook his head again and turned to push the apartment buzzer. Danny snatched the bag from the kid and threw some money at him, then he turned and ran down the street. Stoner never made a move to run after him, he just picked up the money, rolled his bike down the stairs and peddled off in the direction he came from. After a few minutes, Mulder heard Danny climbing the fire escape. He popped over the low roof wall and walked across to Mulder, crouching down as he neared the edge of the building. "Good job. " Mulder said. "Was it for Scully's apartment?" Danny sat down next to Mulder and opened the bag. "Don't know. The kid wouldn't let me see the receipt." He pulled out a box and opened it. "Crap. I hate sweet and sour pork." He opened the other box. "Nothing else but plain rice. Wow, how yummy." Danny scooped out a hand full and started munching. Mulder picked up the familiar take-out box and took a whiff of the contents. "It was for her. Scully loves sweet and sour pork." Mulder set the box aside and realized he was disappointed. Scully had ordered her favorite take-out to eat with this Rick Serley. He looked back inside her apartment and saw Rick was standing in the middle of the living room, waving his arms around in the air. His mouth was moving quickly, as if he were describing something. Scully was sitting in her chair, rocking back and forth from laughter. That was it. Mulder had taken all he could of this guy. While Danny sat and ate the plain rice with his fingers, Mulder picked up his cell phone. "What are you doing?" Danny asked. "I'm calling Scully." Mulder said. He punched her number in and waited. He raised the binoculars again and saw that Scully was no longer in the room. "Mulder, what are you going to do?" Danny set aside his rice when he saw the look on his friend's face. Mulder ignored him. He was listening to the third ring when he saw Rick reach over the couch and pick up the receiver. "Scully residence." Mulder was speechless. That son-of-bitch answered her phone, just like he owned the place! A tight knot began to form in Mulder's stomach. "Are you Rick Serley?" Mulder asked. Without missing a beat, he answered. "Yes." Mulder watched as the punk looked toward Scully's kitchen and shrugged. Mulder continued. "I know what you're doing and you're wasting your time. Scully isn't the least bit interested in you." "You don't say." Rick answered, his voice light and innocent. Mulder knew Rick wasn't going to ask who was calling and risk having to turn the phone over to Scully. Nor was he going to ask how Mulder knew who he was. This was a pissing contest and both of them knew it. "That's right. How could she be? She's an FBI agent, her life is full of excitement and danger. You're nothing but a bean counter. She'd be bored to tears if she had to spend much time with you." Mulder smiled, enjoying the fact that Rick couldn't say anything in response to Mulder's insults. No doubt that Scully was standing just a few feet away, listening. "I don't think so." Rick said, his voice taking on a tone of authority. "But thank you for calling. I'll be sure to keep you in mind if I ever have a need for septic tank draining. Goodbye." The line went dead in Mulder's ear. He flipped his phone shut and kept his eyes on the window. Rick was smiling as he walked toward the kitchen and out of Mulder's sight. "Damn." Mulder said under his breath and sank down behind the wall. "What did he say?" Danny asked. "Basically, he said I was full of shit." "Think you spooked him enough that he'll leave?" "I probably just made him mad enough to find a way to spend the night." Mulder said. "Looks like we're back at square one." Both Danny and Mulder jumped when the cell phone rang. "Mulder." "Ah, so *you're* who I spoke to just a minute ago. This is Rick Serley, Agent Mulder." The knot in Mulder's stomach tripled in size. He grabbed the binoculars and spun around to look into the living room. Rick was standing by the couch, holding Scully's phone. Mulder glanced down the building and saw that Scully's bedroom light was on again. She was far enough away she wouldn't hear what Rick was about to say. "I'm very curious as to how you knew I was here but, given that the life of an FBI agent is so exciting and dangerous, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you'd have a way of knowing." Rick paused to see if Mulder would bite at the bait. When he didn't, Rick continued. "But the fact remains that I *am* here and you're not. That should tell you something right there." Rick's tone of voice changed from impertinent to sympathetic. "I can understand you being jealous, I mean who wouldn't be? Dana is a very beautiful and intelligent woman. Any man would be crazy not to want her undivided attention, right?" "What's your point, Serley?" Mulder could see the satisfied smile creeping across the man's face. "I think you know, Mulder." "You haven't got a chance." Mulder said. "I'm way ahead of *you*." Rick said and disconnected the line. Mulder slammed his phone shut by slapping it against his leg. Danny was dying to know what Rick had said to make Mulder so mad but he didn't think asking for a replay of the conversation was a real good idea. Instead, he just watched as Mulder sat very still. He didn't even seem to be breathing. He wasn't looking through the binoculars, either. It occurred to Danny that they may go flying off the rooftop at any moment and, considering he--not Mulder--had checked them out of the FBI storage room, he had no desire to try to explain their destruction to his boss. He reached over and gently took them from Mulder, who didn't seem to notice. Danny took the cell phone, too. Then he just sat still and waited. After a few minutes, Mulder looked up at Danny. "What's this ass- hole's cell phone number?" Danny pulled the paper out of his pocket and handed it to Mulder. "What's the plan?" Mulder smiled at him and took back his phone. He punched in a number. "Langley, it's Mulder. Turn off the tape." "Machine's broken, Mulder. Frohike's fixing it now. What's up?" "I need a favor. I need you to set it up so that the next time I use my cell phone, a number other than my own will be encoded within the transmission. Can you do that in less than ten minutes?" Mulder held the phone away from his ear as Langley's expletive rich and long winded negative answer came across the line. "Langley. . . . .I know it's late but. . . . . .yes, but you owe me. . .I didn't know she was a cop. . . . .I'll buy you a new tape machine. . . . .okay, Frohike can have some of the old ones. . .great. Here's the number." **************** 11:03 PM Ten minutes later, Mulder was climbing down the fire escape of the Evergreen Apartments, the bag of sweet and sour pork in his left hand. When he hit the ground, he crept around the building and made his way to the street. He ran in the shadows up to the corner and crossed the street. Avoiding the street lights, he circled Scully's apartment building until he found the ladder to the roof. As he reached the top, he immediately saw what he needed. He crept over to a large air conditioning vent and looked down into it. Just as he'd hoped, the vent hood was larger than the hole it covered. The roof at the base of the vent was covered in the same sheet metal that the vent was constructed of, creating a wide ledge around the hole. And the hole itself was covered by wire mesh to keep birds from trying to nest in the vent pipe. Mulder slid the bag of take-out down the vent and placed it on the ledge in the corner of the vent. He'd smeared the bag in roof tar from a bucket on the other roof and when he lit the bag with his lighter, the smoke from the burning tar was thick and black. Mulder didn't hesitate to get off the roof. He took the ladder three rungs at a time and hit the ground running. He raced back to the Evergreen apartments using the same route as before. By the time he crouched down beside Danny again, the poor guy was beside himself. "Mulder, you set the roof on fire!" Danny whispered. "Calm down." Mulder looked over at the AC vent and saw that the exhaust it was releasing was fanning the fire nicely. Huge billows of black smoke were rising up from the roof. Mulder picked up his cell phone. "Come on, Langley. Don't let me down on this one." With a deep breath, he punched 911. "911. What is the nature of your emergency?" "I want to report a fire. It's at the apartment building on the corner of Georgetown and Maple." Mulder said quickly. "Are you in the building, Sir?" "No, I'm in my car. I just drove past there and saw the smoke. Hurry, there's lots of smoke." "We have fire trucks responding now, Sir. In what part of the building did you see the smoke?" "It's coming from the roof. Should I go back and try to warn the people inside?" Mulder asked. He was trying to judge how long he needed to stay on the line for the 911 computer to have enough time to translate his cell phone transmission and recover the encoded number. "No, Sir. Do not enter the building. The emergency vehicles will be there in just a few minutes. Do you have the exact address of the building?" "I don't know the number but it's right on the corner." Mulder heard a distant siren. "Here comes a truck, now. Thank you." "Sir, please stay on the line until the--" Mulder punched the end button on his phone. About that time, he heard the fire alarm go off in Scully's building. Lights flicked on in most of the windows and muted shouts rose from the stillness of the night. He picked up the binoculars and looked into Scully's living room window. He saw Scully and Rick react to the alarm bell. Rick jumped up and made two circles around the couch before Scully could grab his arm and restrain him. He was talking fast and looking around like he was in a panic. Mulder laughed at the site him. Scully shouted something at him and jerked him toward the door. "Get down. They're coming out." Mulder whispered to Danny. They both scrunched down as low as they could as people started to emerge from the building. Mulder laid aside the binoculars, not needing them to see Scully and Rick walk out into the grass next to the street. By the time the three fire trucks had arrived, the previously quiet street was as noisy as grand central station. Four police cars had also responded and the officers were busy roping off the entrances and setting up crowd barriers. As the firemen were entering the building, Mulder reached for his cell phone again. "Langley, it's Mulder. Is that false number still set up on my phone?" Mulder smiled at Danny's puzzled look. "Great. . . .yeah?. . . .Byers needs a what?. . . . All right, I'll find one. I gotta go." "The ass-hole's going down, isn't he?" Danny asked. "Oh, yeah!" Mulder said and punched 911 again. "911. What is the nature of your emergency?" "Yeah, um, you know that fire over here on Georgetown?" "We have units already responding to that fire, Sir." "I know. Look, I think I saw somebody on the roof of that building a few minutes ago." Mulder said, hoping he was disguising his voice a little. "Can you describe the person you saw?" "Yeah, it was a man. White guy, about 6 foot, blond hair." "Did you recall what type and color of clothes he was wearing?" "Uh," Mulder peeked over the roof wall and looked down at Rick. "Yeah, I think he had on khaki pants and a white shirt." "And you saw this man on the roof of the apartment building at the corner of Georgetown and Maple?" "Yeah, just like 5 minutes ago." Mulder said. Danny was laughing so hard Mulder had to turn away from him for fear of becoming hysterical himself. "Sir, may I have your name--" Mulder clicked off his phone again and turned to look at Danny. "Let the fireworks begin." He said. About four minutes later, Mulder and Danny watched as two police officers approached Scully and Rick. Scully answered a question and then Rick did. Then one of the officers led Scully away while the other led Rick to the back seat of a cruiser. "That's it. They're taking him in." Mulder said. "Let's get out of here, fast." ********************** 12:24 AM Danny made sure the garage light was off and the kitchen door was locked again. He walked past the counter and saw Shelley had left a sandwich on a plate for him. He inhaled half of it in two bites, flicking off the light she'd left on over the sink. He kicked his shoes off in the hall and stopped in the bathroom to change his clothes. By the time he slipped under the covers next to his sleeping wife, his belly was full and his cramped and sore legs were beginning to relax. He wrapped his arms around Shelley and nuzzled her neck. She smelled like cocoa butter. Danny inhaled deeply. "Mmmm, hi." She mumbled. "How did it go?" "That depends on who you ask." "I'm asking you." She said, scooting closer to him. "I'd say it went perfectly." Shelley rolled over to face her husband. "Really? The plan worked?" Danny nodded and kissed her lightly on her lips. "So is Mulder going to ask Dana out?" Danny smiled mischievously. "I'd say Mulder has several things he'd like to discuss with Agent Scully come Monday morning." And what I wouldn't give to be a fly on their office wall then, he thought. ************************************** Basement office of the X-Files Monday, 7:54 AM Agent Mulder sat behind his desk and tried to stop looking at the office door. He'd found himself unlocking that door before seven o'clock this morning and then had spent the next hour waiting, and watching. Two file folders worth of paperwork lay scattered about his desk but not a single form was filled out. He didn't care. The only thought occupying his mind this morning--the one that he'd been unable to stop obsessing over since late Saturday night--was what was going to happen when Scully walked into their office again. He'd imagined several different scenarios. Everything from Scully walking in, taking off her suit jacket and the both of them beginning their normal daily routine, to Scully walking in, taking off her suit jacket to reveal that amazing, emerald green nightgown and then walking over to Mulder, wrapping her arms around him and ----. Mulder never allowed himself to finish that thought. It threatened to be too intense an experience. So, there he sat. Waiting. Watching. Wondering. And agonizing. The sharp clomp, clomp of high heels on tile floor caused Mulder to half standup behind his desk. Then, just as quick, he sat down again. He grabbed a few forms and a pen, and tried to look as bored as he could. The door handle turned and as Agent Scully walked into their office, Mulder glanced up and saw her smile. "Good morning, Mulder." She walked to her desk and dropped her briefcase on top. "Morning, Scully." He said, not returning the smile. He hoped his expression was all professional, but he wasn't absolutely sure it was. Scully walked back toward the coat rack and slipped off one shoulder of her powder blue suit jacket. Mulder's breath caught in his throat. He forced himself to look down at the paperwork again and breathe. "How was your weekend?" She asked. Mulder's left hand closed involuntarily, wrinkling the form he was holding. Damn, he thought, even the innocent questions aren't safe now. "Fine." He answered. He risked a glance up and saw that the sexy green nightgown would not be making a repeat appearance today. She was wearing a white blouse and a powder blue skirt that matched the jacket. Mulder mentally scolded himself for even considering such a childish fantasy. Though he would love to see that gown draped over all her curves again, the office was not the place he'd pick for that to happen. He heard Scully take her seat at her desk and open a drawer. When he looked up he saw she was organizing her own paperwork piles. Quietly, he leaned back in his chair and studied her profile. From this angle, Mulder could watch Scully without her knowing it, which was something he'd done a lot. Sometimes he would just need to rest his eyes, tired from looking at so many case files, and there she would be. Right in his line of sight. He would look to see if she was wearing new earrings or a new blouse. Or he would try to guess whether she was in a good mood or not. When she was mad at something, she tended to make a bigger mess of her desk. When she was in a good mood, it stayed neat and tidy. After a few moments of this, he'd resume his work. Of course, there were other times when he'd sit and look at her on purpose. Times when he needed to refocus himself on whatever task was at hand. He would look at her and remember that moment when she'd walked into his office for the first time. How instantly the dreary darkness of the place had been banished by her light. He'd come to think of her as his beacon, showing him the way back when he ventured to close to the madness. But then there were still other moments when Mulder would discretely observe his partner -- when he fantasized about her. Without warning, a very erotic image of Scully would pop into his head and he would have to look up at her. The fantasy that followed was always the same. He'd get up from his desk and walk to her. She'd look up and meet his eyes, seeing the desire in them. She'd stand up and he would take her in his arms. As he bent his head to kiss her, she would whisper his name. Her lips were always like fire and she always ran her hands up his back, causing him to shiver with pleasure. But the woman in those fantasies was never Dana, it was always her alter ego, Special Agent Dr. Scully. A fiercely independent, stubbornly headstrong woman who did the job nobody else could, being Mulder's partner. He was attracted to that woman but he'd never really thought about acting on that attraction because she *was* his partner. They had already established a professional relationship together and to try to start a personal one would have conflicted with that. It would have blurred the lines along which they related to each other as partners. But then what the hell had happened Saturday night? He'd led Danny to believe that he was uncomfortable with the idea of watching Scully, but the truth was Mulder liked the idea of observing his partner without her knowledge. It was like a natural progression to his office fantasies. Like upping the stakes a bit. So when Mulder had found himself looking at Scully but seeing Dana, his whole perspective did a belly-flop off into the deep end. Watching Scully had always been harmless, just a way to pass the time in the office. It had never held any real opportunity. But watching Dana did. It was beyond fantasy, it was possible. It was real. And it was as confusing as hell. Another all too real reminder of what was possible was the physical reaction he'd suffered from for most of Saturday night. And all of Sunday. And right now. Every time he remembered seeing her beautifully naked bottom, Mulder felt the blood drain from his head and rush to a place much lower on his anatomy. Mulder blinked away the memory and refocused his eyes to see that Scully was staring back at him. Their eyes met and for an instant Mulder had the impression that she knew exactly what he had been thinking about. He sat up straight and dropped his eyes back to his mountain of paperwork. He could feel a blush starting to work its way up his face and he cleared his throat. He heard what he thought was snickering coming from the direction of Scully's desk but he wasn't about to look up again to confirm it. The phone rang and Scully grabbed her extension on the first ring. "Scully." She paused a few moments. "Yes, Sir." She replaced the handset and turned her chair toward Mulder. "That was Skinner." She said. Mulder looked up and saw she was trying to restrain the smile that was threatening to take over her face. "He says he wants our expense reports, field notes and case synopsis on his desk before 11:00 AM today. Mine's almost done, how about yours, Mulder?" The smile slipped out for a moment, then was quickly replaced by her best straight face. Mulder nodded his head once and went back to filling out forms. "I need a few more minutes." He said and started filling out forms faster than he ever had before. ****************** Office of the X-Files 10:48 AM Mulder closed the last file folder of expense reports for the case they had finished last week in Tennessee. "Done." He said. "Mine, too. Here, I'll take them up to Skinner." Scully got up and walked over to Mulder's desk to retrieve his folders and add them to her own stack. She walked to the coat rack and put on her jacket, then picked up her purse and started toward the door. "I have a lunch date today so I'll drop these on my way out. See you this afternoon, Mulder." "Sure." He said, after the door closed behind her and he heard her footsteps fading down the hall. "Be sure to tell Rick I think he's an ass-hole." Mulder leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the corner of his desk. She was probably meeting Rick for lunch as an apology for what happened Saturday night. But Scully didn't owe him an apology, she didn't owe him anything! Mulder laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back even further. Then again, he thought, what if she's meeting Shelley for lunch? He still hadn't decided who had started this whole thing but he couldn't shake a tiny nagging feeling that Scully knew he had been watching her. And if that were true, then she would want to talk with Shelley as soon as she could, to find out what Danny had to say about what happened. Their office conversation this morning had been completely normal. Scully hadn't said anything whatsoever to implicate herself. And yet, there was one time when Mulder had seen something in her gaze that didn't quite fit. It was when he had realized that she'd caught him watching her, and it was the only time she hadn't reacted in the normal Scully way. He decided that she must have glanced over at him to say something and seen that he was watching her, his eyes unfocused and his thoughts miles away. But instead of calling his name to get his attention or just turning away and ignoring him, she had, in turn, watched him. A huge smile spread across Mulder's face. Now he knew what he would do next. **************** Zigatoni's Restaurant 11:16 AM Dana Scully followed the hostess to a table near the window. From behind her she heard her name being called out. Turning, she saw her lunch date. She waved and then turned and thanked the hostess. Before she sat down, she waited for her lunch partner. "Hi! I see I have perfect timing." Shelley said and hugged Dana. "As always." Dana said, returning the hug. As they sat down, their waiter walked up. "Good morning, ladies. My name is Paulo." He said in a think Italian accent. He set two glasses of water and two menus down for them. "May I get you something to drink?" "I'd like a glass of iced tea with lemon." Dana said. "Me, too." Shelley smiled at her. "And I'm going to have the special." "Me, too!" Dana smiled back. "Wonderful!" Paulo said, retrieving the menus. "Two beautiful ladies who know exactly what they want. I am a lucky man, today!" He winked at them and walked away. Shelley looked at Dana and let out a deep sigh. "So." "Yes?" Dana answered. "So tell me, already! If Danny's parents hadn't chosen yesterday to drop by unannounced I would have called you first thing Sunday morning!" Dana smiled. "I should be the one asking you what Danny had to say." "Well, I'll tell you. He said that at first Mulder didn't like the idea of watching you, which I find hard to believe. I would have thought that Mulder was a big fan of voyeurism!" "Oh, don't be so hard on him. His reputation isn't that bad." Dana said. "Yeah, right. Mulder earned that reputation long before he met you. Anyway, Danny says that Mulder almost bugged out of there three times, saying his conscience was bothering him. He said the thing that finally drove him over the edge was when Mulder saw your naked tushie! Dana! Did you really?" Dana laughed but before she could answer, Paulo walked up to their table. "Look at these beautiful smiles! The two of you are lighting up the room with them." He set their tea down for them. "Now, you must keep smiling. The boys in the kitchen are enjoying watching you." Paulo grinned at them and left again. Shelley looked over at the kitchen and saw two young men staring at her. They smiled and waved, one even blew her a kiss. "Geez, this voyeurism is spreading like the plague." She said and waved back. One of the men clutched his heart and faked a faint into the arms of the other. Shelley chuckled and turned back to Dana. "Maybe you've got the right idea here." "Shelley, you're married. Act like it." Dana scolded. "Now, go on." "That's it. That's all Danny told me. He said after Mulder saw you naked, he told Danny that he was going home. He dropped Danny off around midnight. But you didn't answer my question. Did you really let Mulder see you naked?!?!" "He probably caught a glimpse of my 'naked tushie', as you so eloquently put it, but that was all, just a quick glimpse." "Dana! I never would have thought you had it in you!" "Yes, well. You only heard half of the story." "What! What didn't my loving husband tell me!" Shelley asked. "For one thing, he left out the unexpected arrival of Rick, as well as the fire trucks." Shelley's eyes went wide as Paulo walked up with their food. "Here you are, my lovely ladies. Two specials." He set the food down in front of them. "Now, what else can I get you?" "I'm fine. Shelley?" Dana asked. "Fine. Thank you." She was still staring at Dana. "Very well. Enjoy!" With an exaggerated bow, Paulo left them alone. "Rick who?! What fire trucks?!?!" Shelley asked excitedly. Dana spent the next twenty minutes explaining what had happened once Rick had arrived. By the time they were finished eating and Paulo had cleared their plates, Dana was telling how she had to go down to the police station and personally vouch for Rick. "If I hadn't been an FBI agent, I'm sure they would have arrested him for arson." "And you think Mulder was responsible?" Shelley asked. "I *know* he was. I got a copy of the police report yesterday and it said that the fire was isolated to an air conditioning vent on the roof. Someone had set a bag of sweet and sour pork on fire and stuck it in there." "Sweet and sour pork?" Shelley asked. "Yeah. Now consider the fact that every time Mulder comes over to work on case files at my apartment, we order Chinese take- out. I always order sweet and sour pork and Mulder always makes a big deal about how he doesn't care for it." "Danny doesn't like it either." Shelley shrugged. "So, of all the things that someone could have stuck in an AC vent on my building's roof and set on fire, it just so happens to be a bag of sweet and sour pork?" Dana arched her skeptical eyebrow. "Good point." Shelley said. "Add to that, the building was never in any danger because of where the bag was placed. It would have burned itself out if the firemen hadn't found it. This has Mulder written all over it. He created the whole situation and then probably phoned in to 911 and reported it. The report also said an unidentified caller reported seeing a man matching Rick's description up on the roof of my building just before the fire started. I'll bet $100 that the caller was Mulder." "Hmm. No bet." Shelley said. "Well, what an interesting night you had! What kind of morning did you have?" "You mean what happened when I got to work this morning? Not much, really. We had some paperwork to finish and when we were done, I took it Skinner and came straight here. We hardly spoke to each other. But there was one thing." Dana said, her voice trailing off. "What? Tell me." "Right after I got there, I caught Mulder watching me." "Damn! He's addicted to it!" Shelley laughed. "No, I catch him doing that all the time. I've gotten used to glancing up and seeing him looking at me with his eyes unfocused. Usually, he's thinking about something dealing with a case and he just has a habit of looking at something when he thinks. Most of the time, I'm in his line of sight so he ends up staring at me. Usually I ignore it but this time it was different. This time I could tell he was thinking about me. About what happened Saturday night." "Really? What did you do?" "Nothing. I just sat there and stared back at him. It was kind of fun. Then he seemed to zone back in to the present and he caught me." Dana said with a grin. "No! And you liked it, didn't you!" Dana nodded slightly. "I think he realized that because he got very embarrassed and blushed." Dana smiled. "It was very cute." "Ha! How perfect!" Shelley said and reached over to take Dana's hand. "Now, Dana. You must tell me one more thing." "What?" "What happens next?" Dana squeezed Shelley's hand and took a deep breathe. "I think the next move is Mulder's." Shelley reached over and patted Dana's hand. "Don't you worry. This will all work out, I promise. I may joke about how little I think of Special Agent Fox Mulder but I know he cares for you." Shelley and Dana split the bill and tipped Paulo around twenty-five percent of the tab. As they were leaving, they heard the boys in the kitchen singing "Bella Notte" in Italian. Shelley looked back and blew them a kiss. A half-dozen voices hollered "Mama mia!" Shelley giggled and waved goodbye as she went out the door. *********************** Office of the X-Files 12:35 PM Scully walked in to an empty office. She set her purse down and stripped off her jacket. She hung it up and noticed Mulder's was gone. He must be at lunch, she thought. She walked over to her desk and saw a note written in Mulder's handwriting. I'M AT LUNCH. THEN I HAVE AN ERRAND. M. Typical Mulder vagueness, Dana thought. No estimate on when he'd be back. Guess I've got the rare opportunity to get some of my own work done. ********************* Scully glanced at her watch and saw it was twenty minutes to five. Mulder hadn't returned from his lunch and errand, so she saw no reason to stick around. If she left right now, she could beat the worst of the traffic. Scully gathered up her things and flipped off the light switch by the door. She was in her car and heading home by a quarter of five. ********************** Apartment of Dana Scully 5:18 PM Dana walked up to her apartment door and saw a box on her doorstep. She picked it up and looked it over. There was no card on the outside, nothing to indicate who it was from. She held it up to her ear. "I don't hear any ticking." She said, smiling to herself. She unlocked her door and walked inside, tossing her purse and jacket on the couch. She walked into the kitchen and set the box on the counter. Carefully, she pulled the top off the box and pulled back the tissue paper. "Oh!" She gasped. Inside was a pair of binoculars, tied with a huge emerald green satin bow. Next to them was a piece of paper. She picked it up and unfolded it, once again recognizing Mulder's familiar scrawl. ROOFTOP OF 2621 HEGAL PLACE 9:00 PM TONIGHT Dana knew that the address was that of the apartment building across the street from Mulder's apartment. She closed her eyes and smiled, thinking--hoping-- that Mulder wanted to treat her to a taste of her own devilish deeds. That idea caused her to laugh. She opened her eyes and picked up the binoculars. "Well, well. I hadn't expected this, Mulder. What other surprises do you have lined up for tonight?" ********************** Rooftop of 2621 Hegal Place 9:00 PM Dana settled in next to the elevator shaft access shed and looked over at Mulder's apartment windows. She recognized the window in the living room and she made a guess that the next one on the right was his bedroom window. Both of them were dark. Looks like he's not home, she thought. A moment of doubt ran through her mind. What if he's chickened out? Or worse yet, what if this is a joke. Maybe he was over at her apartment right now, sitting in her living room and laughing. Waiting to see how long she'd stay up here before she came home to find him enjoying the fact that he'd fooled her. No, she thought. Mulder would never be that cruel to her, would he? Just then, a light came on in his apartment. Dana grabbed the binoculars and aimed them at his living room window. She couldn't see the front door but she saw his fish tank, his desk and his couch. Next, the light went on in what she thought was his bedroom. She looked in that window and saw a bed. Yep, she had guessed right. She could also see his dresser and the door to his bathroom. The light was on in there, too. After a few minutes, she saw Mulder come out of his bathroom wearing a pair of dress pants but no shirt. Very nice, she thought. But I was braver than that! He walked to his dresser and pulled out a dark colored shirt. He slipped it on and Dana saw it was one of those low collared turtleneck shirts. "Ooh, good choice, Mulder. I've always liked you in that shirt." She said quietly. He walked out of her sight toward the living room. She swung the binoculars to that window but didn't see him. After a few minutes, she began to get curious. "What's up, Mulder? I'm getting a little bored out here." After another minute, he briefly passed in front of the living room window with something in his hand. She watched closely and began to notice that the room was getting brighter. Then the shadows in the room started to dance around the walls and Dana realized that he was lighting candles. The room was beginning to look very romantic. "Mulder, the Romantic. Who would ever believe that." She said quietly. The candlelight was warm and inviting, giving what little she could see of his apartment a whole new look. The dingy, dark and solitary feel of the inside of a cave was gone, replaced by a tempting atmosphere of peacefulness, contentment and promise. For several minutes now, Mulder had been out of sight and Dana was growing impatient. Self-doubt began to pick at the edges of her mind. Doubt said. "Shut up." She answered herself. Dana cut that thought off immediately. Mulder would never do that. He'd never invite her over to watch him entertain another woman. It wasn't his style. Dana squirmed at the thought of how she had let that part of Saturday night evolve. Maybe it had been wrong to mislead Rick. But more importantly, maybe it had been wrong to use Rick to make Mulder jealous. Ultimately, that was what had happened. So it was very possible that Mulder was about to inflict some pay back on her. As the minutes ticked away without another Mulder sighting, Dana seriously thought about leaving. Just about the time she was ready to admit defeat and go home, movement at the living room window caught her eye. Through the binoculars, Dana saw Mulder standing next to his desk. He reached down and turned on the lamp, angling the shade toward the window so the light shown through the glass. But there was no light. Dana looked twice to make sure. The shade was open toward the window, just like it always was when Mulder had used a masking tape letter X to signal his mysterious contact. Dana, herself, had used that trick once. Confused, she looked up at Mulder's face. He was staring straight at her, his face expressionless. After a long moment, he reached down and removed whatever had been blocking the light. There, on the lowest left-hand pane of glass, was a perfectly formed masking tape letter S. A huge smile split across Dana's face. She looked up at Mulder and saw that he was grinning, too. *********************************************** Apartment building of Fox Mulder 9:20 PM As she stepped off the elevator and walked down this familiar hallway toward Mulder's apartment, Dana's mind took a trip back through time. During the four plus years she and Mulder had worked together, their partnership had evolved slowly and silently into an intensely cohesive bond. They had endured many horrific cases, when the evil they chased came too close to one or both of them. Times like Missy's murder, Mulder's father's murder, during Dana's disappearance and near death, while the X-Files had been shut down, and thousands of less intense but no less trying times. Yet nothing had caused that bond to falter, rather it seemed to grow stronger with each demanding day. Although they had never spoken about it, Dana had no doubt about how much each of them valued this inexplicable link between them. So it was with deep regret that she had awoke from a disturbing dream a few weeks ago--what Missy would have called a vision--to realize that this link that Mulder shared with his partner Scully, did not include Dana. Before her work with the X-Files, the persona of Scully had not existed, rather she had been created as a result of Dana's involvement with Mulder's work. It was Scully's job to work with Mulder, to listen to his theories and find the plausibility among the chaos. It was also her job to shield Dana from the world in which Mulder lived. While it had amazed her to discover this about herself, the thing that most disturbed Dana was the fact that Scully also stood between her and any hope of having an intimate relationship with Mulder. Mulder knew none of this, so two nights ago, Dana had decided to set a plan into motion. One that gave Mulder a chance to see another side of her, the side of her that was Dana. Who she was when she went home, when she was alone, when she wasn't a tough-as-nails FBI Agent. Given that Mulder was always thinking three or four steps ahead of everyone else in the world, she knew that he would understand. Not only was this her way of giving him the opportunity to think about her in a non-professional way, it was also her way of asking him if he was ready to take those first shaky steps toward involvement with her. What she hadn't planned for was how hesitant she would feel, standing here in Mulder's hallway. Even with the knowledge that her initial invitation into a personal relationship had been accepted, Dana wasn't completely secure in the idea that Mulder understood exactly what it was she wanted from him. She wanted to share her entire life with him, not just the part of her that was Scully, and the only way she knew to get that was to give Mulder the chance to bond with her as Dana. Somehow, they had to find a way to incorporate what they had now with what could be. The only question that remained was, did Mulder want the same? Taking a deep breath she knocked on his door and heard him as he approached from the other side. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The air surrounding her grew thick, and every sound was magnified ten fold. The floorboards of his apartment creaked loudly as he crossed them. The door latch boomed as he turned the knob and then, he was standing before her. She could feel the link instantly reconnect between them and, as comforting as that was, Dana recognized it was with his partner and not her. Realizing that she hadn't prepared herself for how hard it would be not to become Scully-The-Partner around him, some of her father's sage advice came to mind. "Always remember, Starbuck, that you must commit to what you want in order to appreciate what you have." With the comforting voice of Ahab ringing in her ears, Dana met Mulder's eyes and waited for him to invite her inside. "Come in." He said, with a rare Mulder smile. Dana entered his foyer and felt her whole body stop. This apartment, that she'd been in many times before, always had the same feeling: that of a cold, empty void. Very much like a cave, it was nothing special, it just existed. So did it's owner, when he was here. However, that was not true tonight. The coldness was gone, banished by the candle light that bathed the apartment in its warmth and the soft music that drifted around the room. The emptiness was also gone. It was almost as if there was a presence here, now. Dana stood in awe of the vital feeling surrounding her. It resonated out from the walls, up through the floor and down from the ceiling; very much like a heart beat. Mulder. Dana could feel him standing behind her, silent and waiting. His presence felt different, as well. Like the apartment, he seemed to resonate. Dana's hopes inched upwards with the thought that Mulder might be willing to make this commitment to her. She glanced around to see him walk past her into the kitchen. "Have a seat in the living room. I'll bring us some wine." He called over his shoulder. Moving out of the foyer and into the living room, Dana walked around the dining table that was set up there near the doorway. She lightly ran two fingers over the beautiful linen tablecloth, noticing the intricate embroidery work at the edges. Two tall candles sat in silver holders, waiting to be lit and a pair of very attractive china and crystal glass place settings sat across from each other. Polished silver utensils and napkin rings sat gleaming in the warm candle light. Dana looked from the table to the rest of the living room. Lit candles seemed to be everywhere. One sat on each small table, two were on the desk, three in the shelving that held the fish tank, one atop the TV, three on the coffee table and several large ones sat in various corners around the room. They were giving off the most delicate of aromas, causing Dana to inhale deeply and let the scent invade her lungs. "It's lovely, Mulder." She said in the direction of his kitchen. "Thanks, but I doubt Better Homes & Gardens will be dropping by any time soon." He called to her. Retrieving the wine, he walked into the room with a bottle and two glasses. "Here we are." Dana took one delicate stem in her hand while he poured the dark red liquid. She swirled the contents of her glass, appreciating the rich hue of the vintage and also the crystal surrounding it. "Shall we toast?" She asked, after he'd finished pouring his own and set the bottle on the coffee table. Mulder got a twinkle in his eyes and held up his glass. "Over the teeth and past the gums, look out stomach 'cause here it comes?" She shouldn't have been disappointed in that remark, it was classic Mulder. However, it served as a reminder that just two days had passed since Mulder had learned of her ideas for them and it was entirely possible that he was not quite caught up with her yet. So, with a bemused look on her face, Dana raised her glass to touch his. Before she could, his other hand came up and stopped hers. "No." Mulder said gently. He looked into her eyes and held her glass in place. His fingers were wrapped around the opposite side of the crystal and over the top of hers. Where his skin touched hers, Dana felt a tingling begin that grew in intensity the longer he remained motionless and silent. Slowly, he released her hand, purposely letting his fingers brush across all of hers. Then he brought his glass up level with hers again. "To the possibilities." Dana kept her eyes on his face for a long moment, hoping she was understanding the look she saw there. She touched her glass to his and tasted the wine. "It's nice." She said, taking a seat on the couch. Mulder sat down at the other end. They sat quietly for a few moments, silent in their own thoughts. Dana knew the silence had to be broken or they would soon find themselves in a major discussion of their latest case. Taking another drink of wine, she settled back in the cushions. "Mulder, I don't know where to start. " "Start at the beginning." He said with a sly smile. "The beginning. Okay." Dana took a deep breath and released it. She glanced at him and tried to push down the urge to launch into her Scully tone of voice. No, she thought, this has to be from me if it's going to work. Deciding to get comfortable, she pulled her legs up on the couch cushion, tucking them under her. With her back against the armrest, she was facing him now. He, too, turned toward her, laying his arm across the back of the couch. "Saturday night. . ." she paused, ". . . did not go as I had planned." Mulder's eyes perked up. "No? What went wrong?" He asked with an innocent look coming over his face. Taking a drink of his wine, he avoided her eyes. He was trying very hard to act like he always did, tossing out his trademark flippant remarks in an attempt to keep a measure of familiarity between them. Dana looked at his profile, thinking seriously about encouraging him. She'd always found the sound of his voice comforting, and his unique sense of humor always made her smile, even if she rarely let him know it. "It was Shelley's idea, really." Dana continued. "Well, her idea but my--" "Your what?" Turning, his eyes locked on hers. Now he's flirting with me, Dana thought and was surprised by how much that delighted her. Normally, the part of her that was Scully would just ignore these comments, but not tonight. Tonight, Scully could go to hell. "My choice." She finished and boldly returned his flirtatious stare. Mulder held her eyes for a moment and then nodded for her to continue. "I had no idea that Rick would pick that night to come over, uninvited. I nearly sent him home twice. I had no intention of entertaining company." "I was extremely entertained." Mulder said. Before she could stop it, a blush came into Dana's face. It was another typical Mulder remark, but the tone in which it was said was that of complete honesty. A suspenseful moment of silence settled over them. Just then a buzzer went off in the kitchen and Mulder smiled slightly. "Sounds like dinner is ready." He stood and walked into the kitchen. "Good. I'm starving." Dana said, covering her disappointed that the buzzer had interrupted them. She got up from the couch and walked to the front door, picking up the back-pack she'd dropped there as she came in. Mulder exited the kitchen just in time to see her heading for the bathroom. "I'll just be a moment." Mulder gave her a puzzled look but said nothing. Five minutes later, as he stood in the living room lighting the candles on the table, Dana reappeared. She stood before him wearing a short, black dress and heels. "Scully, you look gorgeous." He said without even a hint of shyness. Dana felt a tingly sensation begin in her stomach as his eyes roamed over her. "Where..?" "I brought it with me, Mulder. Jeans and a tee-shirt may have been appropriate for the roof-top but my mother taught me to always dress for dinner." She walked toward the table, smiling at him. The dress made her feel a little more comfortable given the romantic surroundings. Still, she had never worn something this sexy in front of Mulder before and she had a mild case of butterflies in her stomach right now. Those butterflies turned into charging buffalo when Mulder's hand found the small of her back and guided her into her chair. It was the same touch she'd felt hundreds of times, but always on a case and always as Scully, never as Dana. To be honest, it was something she had always wondered about. Did Mulder do it unconsciously? Was it just an idle habit he'd always done or was it something he did only with her? So many questions. So many things they didn't know about each other. "This looks delicious, Mulder. I would never have guessed you could cook." Dana said, unfolding her napkin into her lap. Before them sat plates of roasted chicken, glazed carrots and spinach salad. Their dinner conversation was sparse, consisting mainly of small- talk about absolutely nothing of importance: the hot summer, recent local news events. It was what was going unsaid between them that held the most ramifications. Every topic seemed to have some relevance to the idea of starting a personal relationship with each other. Since neither of them knew whether the other might be thinking the same thoughts, each chose to remain silent. That was beginning to frustrate Dana. So when Mulder mentioned that he had recently considered taking a short vacation back to the Vineyard for some R&R on the beach, she decided to take a chance. "That sounds like a good idea, Mulder. You would probably enjoy a break from work, if you would actually take it. " She said lightly. "A vacation might do me some good, too." She added, raising her napkin to wipe her mouth but keeping her eyes on him. What she really wanted to tell him, what she hoped he could see in her gaze, was that she thought the both of them would enjoy the break, if they spent it together. It would give them a chance to explore this new relationship they were contemplating, away from the life they had as FBI agents. If Mulder understood the true meaning of her comment, he chose to keep quiet about it. Dana's disappointed in that caused her to look down at her plate. This time, an awkward silence settled over them. It was a frustrating game that everyone played when they fell in love. Who should say what, when and how? Who's turn is it to give and who's to take? How do you avoid looking needy or dependent but still show enough interest? Dana had wanted to avoid all of this nonsense with Mulder. They were both mature adults, both fully aware now that the other wanted to explore this type of relationship. It should be easy for them to communicate. But it wasn't. Dana looked up again and watched Mulder while he ate. How is it possible that this man is still so perplexing to me, she wondered. More importantly, why am I so determined to solve the riddle that is Fox Mulder? He must have felt the hard stare aimed across the table at him because, in the middle of cutting a piece of chicken, Mulder slowly raised his eyes to meet hers. "What?" Dana said nothing. She simply returned his gaze and smiled, then picked up her fork again to finish her dinner. She looks so beautiful, Mulder thought. He watched her in the candle light, and couldn't believe they had never done this before. Never sat down as friends, not partners, and shared a meal. The closest they'd come to it was a dinner of B-B-Q beef ribs in Wisconsin just a few weeks after Dana had awoke from her coma in Washington General Hospital. It had happened before either of them realized it. A simple touch, a polite gesture with a napkin and for a brief moment he was having dinner with Dana. Then the demands of their case returned and that stolen moment of sharing ended. Much too quickly for Mulder. He relished those rare moments when the rest of the world disappeared and it was just him and Dana. That's the way it had been during their first year together. The dynamic duo of Mulder and Scully hadn't been created yet and Dana was free to be herself. Mulder remembered, in perfect detail, each and every time back then that Dana had laughed. Or the many times she used to smile at him when she wasn't really sure that he wasn't as crazy as everyone said. She rarely did either of those things now, even though Mulder tried very hard every day to give her a reason to do so. After a while, their initial flirtations had matured into a perfect partnership. Scully, as it turned out, was the only partner of Mulder's that had ever managed to get inside his head and grasp how he understood things. Even though she seldom agreed with him, she still understood him. Mulder stole a look across the table at her, drinking in how the candle light made her skin glow. The memory of how he felt when he heard her voice for the first time washed over him. God, he loved this woman. He wanted to be able to open his mouth and say all the right things tonight, to give her everything that she wanted. The words just weren't coming to him and the awkwardness of the evening was rapidly becoming palpable. Something was going to have to be said or done to change that, and soon. This might be the only chance he ever had with Dana, and he wanted this to work. If it didn't, the alternative was a life without love, without trust and hope. And without those things, without her, his life was worthless. After they finished eating, Mulder cleared their plates and refilled their wine glasses. "You still haven't told me *why* you set me up." He said, moving the conversation back to the topic they were avoiding. He took a sip of wine and waited for Dana to answer. She looked at him for a long moment before she spoke. "To be perfectly honest with you, Mulder, I felt that you needed a chance to see me in a way that you might have forgotten about. We've spent so much time as Mulder and Scully that we've let who we really are as individuals fall to the side." "That's true, but this was hardly what I would have expected from you. Voyeurism?" "Come on, Mulder, don't act like it embarrassed you. You know as well as I, that you and I seem to excel at the unconventional." Dana said, unable to stop from blushing as she remembered what it felt like to know he was watching her. Quickly, she continued. "Would I really have gotten your attention if I'd shown up here with a bottle of wine and a movie?" Mulder laughed softly. "I guess not." "Besides," Dana's voice became serious, "haven't you ever wondered why we never--?" "Yes." He answered quickly, nodding. "Many times." Sensing that he was willing to be honest about this, Dana pushed on. "So? Why do you think it never happened?" "Well, we're partners, Scully. And we spend an enormous amount of time working together. I suppose I'd come to the conclusion that if you did choose to have a relationship with someone, you'd want a man who could stimulate the other aspects of your life. Your other interests." Dana smiled openly at that thoughtful remark. "You're absolutely right, Mulder. That's what I've always told myself." Mulder's expression revealed that he'd hoped he'd been wrong about that. "But then again. . ." she continued, leaning toward him slightly, "that is such a conventional way to think, isn't it?" Dana's comment brought a shy smile to Mulder's lips and he had to look away from her for a moment. When he looked back and saw the way she was smiling at him, the urge to touch her overtook him. He extended his left hand across the table and she placed hers in it. "Dance with me." He said. Without releasing her hand, Mulder stood and walked around the table to her. Dana let him lead her away from the table into the living room. Turning, he pulled her to him. As if they'd done this thousands of times before, Dana's feet found their place between his, and the length of her body pressed up against him. His right hand touched the small of her back--the same way it had when he'd guided her into her seat earlier--and applied just enough pressure to guide her this time into the dance. His left hand still held her right and Mulder pressed it to his chest, letting his long fingers stroke her palm. Dana's free hand came to rest on his right bicep. If this isn't Heaven, Mulder thought, it's damn close. Their bodies swayed gently to the music. Looking down into Dana's eyes, Mulder saw her desire to touch him and his eyes darkened with his answer. He watched her face as her eyes followed the path of her left hand. It moved up his arm to his shoulder then across to his neck, where one slim finger lightly stroked the skin just above his collar. "You know, Mulder. I've always liked you in this shirt." Dana whispered, keeping her eyes level with her hand. She was avoiding his gaze on purpose, not wanting him to look at her and see Scully right now. She intended to show him what Dana wanted. After a moment's pause, she spread her fingers and trailed them down his chest, stopping when she found the beating of his heart. She watched her fingers as they rose and fell with the rhythm of his breathing. Taking a deep breath, Mulder closed his eyes and raised his head in an effort to gather his thoughts. What she was doing to him seemed like a dream, like the beginning of one of his office fantasies, only much better because it was real. He felt his heart beating rapidly under her hand and knew that his breathing had quickened. Quickly, he let go of her right hand and moved his around to her back before, he hoped, she felt how it was trembling. Dana slid her now free hand across his chest, and waited until she felt his head bend down again to continue his watch of her movements. When she was sure she had his full attention again, she gently slid her hands down his chest, still following them with her eyes, and found the bottom of his rib cage. She lingered there a moment, smiling as she felt his stomach muscles tense under her hands. Slowly, drawing out the touch, she moved her arms around him, placing her ear against his chest and ran her fingers up his spine. His back muscles flexed immediately and Dana felt him shiver with pleasure. Mulder's left hand came up to cradle the back of her head, his fingers spreading out through her hair. "I've dreamt of you doing that." He said softly and Dana felt the warmth of his breath on the top of her head. "It's not a dream any longer, Mulder." Finally, she looked up into his eyes. "It never has to be again." Their mouths only inches apart now, Mulder leaned forward to close the distance remaining between them and their first kiss. Just before their lips touched, he whispered a single word. "Dana." It was the first time he'd said her name all night and he'd saved it for this moment. The combination of finally knowing what it felt like to have Fox Mulder's lips on hers and the idea that Mulder may very well be the world's most romantic man, was making Dana extremely lightheaded. She tried to focus on the feel of his kiss, on his full and sensuous lips but it was impossible. The sensation he was giving her didn't stop there. It spread down her neck and shot down her spine, causing her to tingle from head to toe. It was the most incredible and indefinable event she'd ever known. Dana moved her hands up to the base of his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Mulder's hands shifted position and pulled her body closer to him. Soft moans and gentle sounds of passion escaped both of them and Dana felt herself being enveloped by Mulder. It was that same presence of him that she'd felt when she came in, only now it was resonating through every nerve in her body. Just when she thought she might explode from the overwhelming feeling, the entire world slipped away and all that existed was Mulder. His touch, his heat and his desire were all becoming part of her. Suddenly, Mulder broke the kiss and pulled away from her slightly. Dana opened her eyes to find his full of fiery passion. For a long moment, the look held them spellbound, and Dana could feel their souls reaching out to each other. "Listen." He whispered, his voice ragged with passion. At first, Dana thought he meant for her to listen to what he was going to say but instead, he remained silent. She waited, unsure of what he wanted, then she became aware of the song that was playing softly around them. It was an old song, recorded long ago by Nat King Cole, called "When I Fall In Love". Mulder saw her recognize the song and tightened his arms around her. Dana rested her head against his chest again, and listened to the words. Suddenly, Mulder's lips were inches away from her ear. "Listen." He repeated, so softly that Dana actually felt what was said more than she heard it. As the second verse began, Mulder kept his lips right where they were and his warm breath fanned her cheek. Mulder raised his hand to her chin and turned her face toward him, locking his eyes with hers. The understanding came to Dana that these were the words that he wanted to say to her. "Such simple words and yet. . ." "I know, Mulder. I know." Normally, he kept his true feelings locked deep inside him, tucked away in that secure place that he hadn't let anyone into for years. Yet, tonight Dana had found that place, and she was waiting to be let in, if he was willing. Taking her hands, and avoiding the coffee table, Mulder took a few steps backward, and pulled Dana down with him onto the couch. She came to rest on his lap with her back against the arm rest. He pulled her legs closer to him and wrapped an arm around her waist. "I do love you, I have for so long, now." He said softly, tracing lazy patterns on her thigh just below the hem of her dress. Dana let her eyes slide shut as the words drifted into her. She laid her head against his shoulder and let her body relax. "I love you, too. And this is right." She answered. Mulder smiled at how easily the words came to her. The hand he had behind her moved down from her waist and smoothed the silky material covering her hip. "When they closed down the X-Files was when I first realized it. I didn't care so much for the work they took away, I knew they could never completely stop me. What made me so angry was the idea that they could take you away from me. I tried to tell you that after the case in Puerto Rico but I didn't know. . . I wasn't sure you wanted this then." "I did. I just wasn't ready for it." Dana said. "But you are now?" Mulder said, flattening out the hand on her thigh and running it down the length of her leg. Dana took a shaky but controlled breath. "Yes." She felt herself being carried away by his soft and gentle touch. Here and there, never very bold, but always with the implication of what could be. What was to come. "Are you sure?" He asked again. His hand started back up her leg, slower than before. "I'm sure." She said softly, her head rolling back as the sensual touch continued. "Really sure? Really, really sure?" "Yes, Mulder!" She said, looking up at him. That's when she saw the devilish glint that had found its way into his eyes. "You're ready for Fox Mulder on a 24/7 basis? You know I don't sleep much. " His voice now low and sultry. Dana looked down and then back up through her eyelashes at him. "Perhaps I can be of some assistance with that." She said, picking up on the flirtation. She raised herself up and brought her knees down beside his legs, straddling him. Grasping both of his hands, she leaned forward, causing him to recline against the couch back until his head touched the wall. "Maybe you need that vacation more than you know." "Is that your medical opinion, Dr. Scully?" He said, bringing his head up to meet hers. "Yes, it is." Dana ran her tongue over his bottom lip and Mulder opened his mouth to her. The passion of this kiss was even more overwhelming than their first during the dance. So when Mulder abruptly stopped and pulled away from her, it took Dana a minute to register that he'd said something. "Wha-? I'm sorry, what did you say?" Shaking her head, she tried to catch up with his fast change in direction. "I said, let's go." "Go? Where?" She wasn't quite caught up yet. "To the Vineyard. On vacation. Together. Tonight!" He said, shoving her off his lap and leaping to his feet. Without waiting for her reply, Mulder headed for his bedroom. Dana sat in a daze on the couch. "Tonight? Mulder--" She jumped off the couch and went after him. She found him head first in his closet, struggling to remove a large suitcase. "Yeah, it'll be great. We can drive up there tonight, watch the sun come up over the ocean and then get a hotel." He threw the case on the bed and snapped it open. "Better yet, I know a great little bed and breakfast we can stay at. Met the owners a few years ago, they're both abductees. It's still early in the season, so they'll have plenty of rooms available, especially since it'll be Tuesday when we check in." As he rambled on, the suitcase began to fill up with clothes Dana had never seen him wear and really had no idea he even owned. A few pairs of Bermuda shorts and a couple of tee-shirts from places like Key West and Virginia Beach flew out of his dresser and into the pile. "Mulder. This is nuts. What will we tell Skinner? That the two of us just happened to decide to take spur-of-the-moment vacations at exactly the same time? Starting on a *Tuesday*? He's going to suspect something is up." Mulder finally stopped and turned toward her. "Dana, if you don't want to do this--" "No, I didn't say that. This *was* my idea, remember?" "Then forget about Skinner. Forget about everybody but us. You're right, Dana. We need some time alone together." He had understood what she meant during dinner. "Yes, we do." "So? Let's do this!" He said, getting that excited-twelve-year-old- boy look on his face. His enthusiasm quickly infected her and she gave in. "Okay." She said, giving him an unsure smile. Mulder moved to her and took hold of her arms. "Okay?" His own smile reassuring her. "Yes! Okay. Just let me--" Mulder whirled around and headed for his bathroom. "--go home and pack and I'll--" Dana was two steps ahead of him, grabbing her back-pack from the bathroom floor. "--pick me up in--" "--half an hour." They said together. Mulder reached for his shaving kit as Dana slipped past him into the hallway. "Wait. I almost forgot." He said, reaching out and snatching her arm. He joined her in the hall and began to pull her toward the living room again. Dana went a few steps before she registered what was happening. "Mulder, what now?" Mulder turned around and gave her a silly grin. "I might be wrong but I think we have a little matter to attend to before we go." Mulder saw her eyebrow arch up, demanding to know what he was talking about. "Just trust me on this one. It'll only take a minute." He gave her that look of his, the one he used when he really wanted something and it worked. Dana sighed and allowed him to pull her back into the living room. He walked up to his desk and pulled her up against him so she could look out the window. "What?" She asked him, looking out into the darkened street. Mulder chuckled and raised his hand to point to the roof-top across from them. Dana looked up and saw nothing, at first. Then, slowly, a figure rose up from behind the wall there. Mulder waved. The figure waved back, then it reached down and pulled another figure up beside it. "Mulder, who is that?" The two figures turned then, and the bright moonlight reflected off of their faces. "It's Shelley and Danny!" Dana said. She looked around at Mulder to see him grinning. "How did you know they were there?" "When you said this was Shelley's idea, I figured she'd want to follow through on her plan. Knowing Shelley, it makes sense, doesn't it? She'd want to be sure I didn't screw this up, right?" Dana looked at him in disbelief and then turned back toward the window. Shelley was yelling something that neither of them understood so Mulder reached down and cranked open the window. "What?" Dana called to her. "I said, is everything okay over there?" Dana looked up at Mulder, asking that same question with her eyes. He cupped her cheek with his hand and stroked her face tenderly. She raised her hand and took his, kissing his palm with the same tenderness. Then she turned back toward the window. "Everything is just perfect." Dana yelled back. "Everything? Are you sure?" Shelley asked. "Yes. I'll call you tomorrow." Dana answered her. "Why bother with that? Why don't the two of you just yell across the street again *tomorrow* night when I'm trying to sleep!" An unknown man's voice bellowed from somewhere below Mulder's apartment. Dana covered her mouth in horror at having disturbed one of Mulder's neighbors. She looked up at him with a guilty smile and then turned to see Danny grab Shelley and start to drag her toward the fire escape. Shelley waved one last time before they disappeared into the shadows. Dana waved back and then turned away from the window as Mulder leaned out. "Sorry about the noise, Mr. Wilcox. We'll try to keep it down." "I'll call the cops on you one of these days, Mr. Mulder! I swear I will!" With that, Mr. Wilcox slammed his window shut. "Mulder, I don't think he likes you." Dana said with a grin. "I'll send him a fruit basket from the Vineyard as an apology." Dana giggled and Mulder cranked the window shut. Then he turned and slipped into her arms again. "So? Are you ready for some rest and relaxation on the beach?" He asked, kissing the base of her throat. Dana leaned her head back, giving Mulder full access to the very sensitive spot he'd just found. "Oh, is *that* what the kids are calling it now?" She asked, the last word turning into a moan of pleasure. Mulder chuckled low in his throat and began to stumble toward the bedroom, lifting her up off the floor. Dana reached up and wrapped one arm around his neck while he gathered the rest of her up in his arms. Carefully, he began to walk across the living room toward the hall. Dana ran her hand through his hair. "Mulder, if we keep this up, we'll never get to the Vineyard before sunrise." "See? That's the great thing about this place, Dana." He said, bringing his head up to show her the renewed passion in his eyes. "They have one damn near every morning." She gave him a Ha-Ha-Very-Funny look and then quickly reached out to grab the corner of the hallway. "Nevertheless, Mulder." He didn't try to force her to let go. Instead, he stopped and set her feet down on the floor. Then he waited for her to continue. "We've decided to go, so we should go. And no matter how badly we both want to do that--" she pointed toward the bedroom, "first, if we do we'll never get there." Mulder slumped against the wall and hung his head in defeat. "You're right. Okay. But!" He said, snapping his head up to look at her. "I have a slight change in plans. There's no sense in you driving all the way home and then me coming to get you. I can be ready in like, five minutes. So, stay here, help me get the place ready to leave and then we'll head over to your house. Together." "Okay, but we're not going to do that--" she pointed toward the bedroom again, "when we get to my house, either. I kind of like the idea of getting some sun and relaxing before we. . ." Mulder nodded his understanding and agreement. "Deal. We've waited four years to get this far, there's no sense in trying to catch up all in one night." With a quick kiss, they each went their separate ways. Within five minutes, Mulder was completely packed and Dana had straightened up the rest of the apartment. Leftovers were in the fridge and all open flames had been extinguished. Dana turned toward the hall just as Mulder came into the foyer carrying his suitcase, overnight bag and her back-pack. "Ready?" She asked, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "Yep." He said, walking toward the door and snatching his keys off the table there. Dana took her bag from him and opened the door. Mulder followed her out and then turned around to pull it shut behind him. With a last glance back into his apartment, the magnitude of what had transpired over the last several hours occurred to him for the first time. His entire life had changed over the course of one evening, never to be the same again. The simple act of leaving his apartment became a statement for that change. He wasn't just leaving for a trip to the beach with Dana, he was leaving behind what he had become over the years since Samantha's abduction. The chains of loneliness and self-hatred that he always felt so strongly in these rooms were being broken, and an overwhelming sense of freedom and joy was replacing them. He turned to look at Dana, curious as to whether she had any knowledge of what was happening to him right now. The gentle smile of understanding on her face left no doubt. Never taking his eyes off of her, Mulder slammed his door shut. Dana's eyes widened in brief shock and then she laughed. "Mulder! You may come back from the beach and find that you've finally pissed off enough neighbors to get yourself evicted." She said, turning toward the elevator. "Then I'd just have to move in with you." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Oh, right. Wouldn't my mother love that! She'd be picking out wedding invitations by the end of the week." Mulder punched the down button. "I don't want a big wedding, I'd rather elope. Get a quickie in Vegas, maybe." Dana snorted. "Now, that you'll have to take up with her. My mother has grand plans of the world's largest wedding waiting for me. None of which involve the words 'quickie' or 'Vegas', I'm afraid." The doors opened and they stepped inside the lift. "Maybe so. But once I remind her of the fact that the quicker the wedding, the sooner the grandkids start to arrive, I'm sure she'll come around." "Grandkids!" Dana said, punching the level-one button. "That's her other favorite topic. She's already got several names picked out and I just know she's been in contact with the local pre-schools--" The elevator doors slid shut on their conversation just as Mr. Wilcox came charging out of the stairwell. He stomped up to door number 42 and began to pound on it. "That's IT, Mr. Mulder! I've had all of you I'm going to take! Slamming doors and yelling! Do you hear me?! I've already called the cops and when they get here I'm going to tell them everything! How you bounce that damn basketball over my head until all hours of the morning! Not to mention the drive-by shooting! Remember that?! Or that thing with the poisoned water? I had to miss a week of work because of that! I'll have them evict you, if it's the last thing I do! Are you listening to me, Mr. Mulder? Mr. Mulder! MISTER MULLLLL-DERRRRRRR!" ******************************************************** THE END. As always, feedback is highly appreciated! Good, bad, whatever. Thank you everyone, for making my first story post so damn much fun! Isn't this the greatest gig in the world?? Bye for now! Laura Abel dable@iglou.com