From: Kathy Date: Sat, March 6, 1999 Subject: NEW: TITLE: Wish Upon A Star AUTHOR: Kathy EMAIL ADDRESS: SADanaMldr@aol.com ARCHIVE: Anywhere, please keep my name and address attached and let me know where. SPOILER WARNING: EMILY, minor reference to HOST RATING: PG-13 language CLASSIFICATION: MSR/UST/ANGST SUMMARY: Scully and Mulder spend some away together, while Scully struggles to overcome the loss of her child. AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first fan fic. I know the story is a bit unrealistic, but that's the whole point of these things, right? Well, I hope you enjoy reading it. Let me know what you think. DISCLAIMER: Fox Mulder and Dana Scully belong to CHRIS CARTER, TEN THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS, and FOX TELEVISION...oh right so do Samantha Mulder Bill, Missy and Charlie Scully only used in minor reference... HR Pufnstuf belong to Sid and Marty Kroft... the Partridge Family and Family Affair probably belong to TVLand... okay that's all I think everyone else is original. PART 1/3 Wish Upon A Star By Kathy Swimming through an unimaginable amount of paperwork for the past few days Dana Scully was ready to tear all of her hair out... strand by strand. She hadn't even had time to go through her mail from home. So on her way out this morning she grabbed a handful of it from the growing pile in her living room. She decided to make it a point to go through it before she started off the day. Putting her suitcase beside her chair and leaning down to open the zipper, she sighed woefully, weariness bounding her soul. Just once she wished she could relax and have fun. Pulling out the mail, she shuffled through it looking for something other than a bill to catch her eye. She came across an envelope displaying her name in the most elegant form of calligraphy. Scully ripped open the bone white envelope and pulled out the first article of its contents. The small formal invitation read: DONALD and CAROLYN request the honor of your presence for a special weekend in honor of their 10 year anniversary on the 28th of May 1999 RSVP (212)555-1918 Along with the invitation, came a letter. Hey Miss Dana, How long has it been? Seven years? I'm sorry we haven't kept in touch. I've really missed you, ya know. I still can't believe it Donald and I have been married for ten years and I'm almost thirty-six years old. But that's still young, right? Donald will be forty in a couple of months, he's already showing signs of mid-life crisis. He's been taking up crazy hobbies and insists on challenging the young college guys down at the YMCA at basketball. Anyway, getting to the matter at hand. Donald and I have decided to celebrate our ten year anniversary by bringing together some of our closest friends for a weekend up at a sort of campsite in upstate New York, you know in the Catskills, complete with lake. Donald inherited it from his Uncle last year. I assure you that it's very nice; you won't have to worry about roughing it. It actually has a fabulous lodge, that's used during the winter season for skiing. I know it's been a while, but I'd love to see you, after all I still consider you my closest friend from our navy brat days. Hope you can make it. Love, Carrie P.S. You are welcome to bring a guest along with you. Upon refolding and depositing the letter on the top of her work area, the office door flew open. And, there stood her partner, complete with briefcase and an orange round object tucked under his arm. "Mulder, what are you doing with that basketball?" "I, uh, have a game later... After work." "A game, Mulder?" "Yeah, these guys challenged me and another guy about a week ago. I told them I'd be there if I were in town. Well, I'm in town, so..." "Whatever, Mulder." They both settled into their work. After about fifteen minutes of debating with herself Dana decided to take the plunge, so to speak. "Uh...Mulder?" "Yeah, Scully?" "I, uh..." "What is it Scully?" Mulder said with an edge of concern. "No, it's nothing bad..I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to this thing with me." "What kind of a thing?" "Well, it's a weekend actually, this weekend as a matter of fact." "Ooo, Scully a whole weekend with me, I never knew you felt this way." "Mulder.." "Sorry, sorry. So, what is this 'thing' you want me to go to?" "It's a friend's anniversary celebration. Actually, she was my best friend, when I was growing up. Anyway, she decided to make a weekend of it, by inviting a few of her close friends to a campsite in upstate New York." "A campsite, Scully?" "She says it's very nice, I think it might be fun, Mulder." "I don't know, Scully." "Oh, please, Mulder. I don't wanna go by myself. I'll feel out of place with all of Carrie's new friends. At least with you there I won't feel so lonely." "I'll go with you Scully on one condition." "A condition, Mulder?" "Yes, a condition Scully." "What?" "You come and watch me play tonight." "Are you serious? You want me to come and watch you play basketball?" "Why not Scully? I've never had a cheering section before." "Okay, Mulder. I'll be there. What time?" "We're supposed to start at 7:00." "Good, that'll give me time to call Carrie and change." The day went by slowly and when 5:00 finally came, they both decided to head out, even if it was extremely uncharacteristic for either of them to leave at such an early hour. However, they were both burnt out and looking forward to some fun *and* sometime together. Though neither would admit the latter. ************************************************************************ 6:53PM The gym was filled with musty and sweaty men. Mulder wondered if Scully would be upset because there were no bleachers for her to sit on. But he thought of that before he left home, and went out and bought her a folding chair, he hoped it was comfortable enough for her. Scully, was stuck in traffic over the beltway from her apartment. Just her luck, a huge accident and nothing was moving. "Damn!" *********************************************************************** 7:14PM "Mulder...Mulder!" "Huh?" "I passed you the ball and you let it just fly right past you!" "Oh, I'm sorry." "You'd better be. Come on let's get it together, man." Mulder tried to refocus, but he was worried about Scully. She said she'd be here. "Mulder..." "Yeah, okay." The game continued. ************************************************************************ 7:21PM Dana Scully entered the gymnasium of the Arlington Park and Rec. She craned her neck to try and spot Mulder amongst the jungle of competitive testosterone. "Hey, you wanna play a little ball?" asked a big thick sweaty bald man weighing no less than 250lbs. "Uh, no thank you." She said looking past him trying to maneuver between the cluster of people standing in front of her. Mulder glanced over to the front of the gym for the hundredth time in twenty minutes. Then he spotted her, her hair anyway. It was bright and shiny and a lot lower than the two men she seemed to be stuck between. "Uh, time. TIME GUYS." "What for Mulder?" Before he had time to answer, he was jetting across the gym toward the patch of red. "Scully?!" Mulder shouted as his partner came into view. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a fitted Georgetown t-shirt and white gym shoes. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she was wearing less make up than she usually did. "Mulder!" she shouted towards him a huge grin spreading across her face. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show," he said looking more relieved than angry. "I'm sorry, there was this huge accident and...well any way I'm here now." "Yeah. Come on. I brought you a little folding chair." "A chair?" "Well, as you can see there are not too many places to sit in here. Um, there are not as many people standing around back here. I guess our game isn't very intriguing." Mulder shrugged guiding Scully over to 'her' chair. Upon reaching the area of play, Mulder was halted by three grinning idiots. "Aren't you going to introduce us Mulder?" "Huh?" "Oh, yeah. Guys, this is my partner, Dana Scully." "Your partner, huh?… Some partner...huh guys?" "Hey, watch it," Mulder said getting a little too defensive. "*Sorry*… jeez." "Forgive them Scully, their just one step above being Flukemen." They both chuckled at his comment. "What is that supposed to mean?" "Uh, it's…inside joke. Forget it." "Okay, so...um, can we get back to the game?" "Oh, yeah. Here Scully. Sit here." Scully moved to sit in the shortened forest green director's chair. "I brought you some juice, too. It's in that canister." "That was very sweet of you, Mulder." He blushed slightly. Clearing his throat, "You okay, now?" "Yes, I'm fine. I think you'd better get back to your game Mulder. The, uh, 'guys' don't look too happy." "Yeah, I'd better." He gave her one of his lopsided grins. , he mused and turned back to face both his teammate and his opponents. "Okay guys let's rock and roll." Mario's Pizza Palace 8:38PM "Ahh, pepperoni and olive my favorite." "I don't know why I've never brought you here, Scully. I'm telling you Mario's brings a whole new meaning to the word pizza." "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's dig in." They each grabbed a slice and placed the end into their mouths. "Good?" Mulder asked after swallowing. Scully took a savoring swallow and replied, "Mmm...heaven." Mulder thought as he stared at his partner slowly chewing her bite of pizza. Clearing his throat, he shifted his gaze down into his plate picking up his slice, trying his damnedest not to stare. As they gobbled up their pizza, they talked about their plans for tomorrow and Mulder's game; they'd only just left. He'd played better than he'd ever had before with Scully there. He wondered if it had been because knowing she was there just made him more confident, or if he was trying to show off in front of her. He agreed with himself, finally, that it was a little of both. ********************************************************************** 9:52PM "This was fun Mulder." "Yeah, it was," "Well, I'll guess I'll see you in the morning, Mulder." Scully wanted to get to bed, she was anxious about tomorrow. So, she figured the faster she was asleep the faster it would come. "Yeah, 7:30 right?" "Yes, for the ninetieth time tonight," she said in pure jest. "K, g'night Scully." "Good night Mulder, and please try and rest. I don't want you all grouchy when you meet Carrie." "I'm never grouchy, Scully." "Sure you're not." "Maybe a little anti-social, but never grouchy." "Okay, okay, Mulder. Go home now." "7:30?" "Yes, Mulder 7:30. *Good* night!" She instantly regretted speaking in such an exasperated tone, especially now that he was giving her that look. "Night, Scully." She gave him a big smile that seemed to light up his eyes back up. After a moment of mutual staring, she watched him turn and very slowly walk down the hall. "You know if you keep walking that slow, you might not need to pick me up in the morning." "Ha ha…" he picked up the pace and was out the door. ************************************************************************ Interstate 95 10:03AM Mulder told Scully he would wake her up once they were close to New York City, so that she could drive the rest of the trip. But, he couldn't, she looked so tired when he picked her up. Moreover, by the time they'd reached that point she was already engulfed in what looked like a peaceful slumber. Mulder had been stealing glances at her, a common practice for him on trips such as these. Well, not like this really. Things were different today they were not at work; there were no case files strewn across her lap; no hot, sweaty, easeless suits being worn. Nope, they were actually going on vacation. And, the last Mulder checked Scully had been grinning in her sleep. He stole another glance. This time her face was masked with a frown, covered in worry lines. Mulder's breath caught in his throat He kept driving, his side glancing nervously increasing. Tears streaked down Scully's painfully disturbed face. "Scully?" he spoke nudging her gently. "Scully, wake up. You're having a nightmare...Scully..." She just turned away as the silent tears continued to fall. Maneuvering the car onto the shoulder, he parked it. Pushing his door open, he ran around the front of the car to her door. Opening it quickly, he knelt down in front of his partner. "Scully? Please, wake up." He brushed the back of his fingers over the side of her face. "Oh, Scully, please don't cry... Wake up... wake up..." Scully opened her eyes slowly. "Mulder? Mulder, you're here?" A big smile spread across her face. He began lightly brushing his fingers through her hair. "Yes, I'm here, Scully. I'm here." "They told me you were... where's Emily?" Mulder didn't know what to say to her. At that moment, Scully seemed to realize where she was. "Mulder? What are you doing?" "You were crying in your sleep, I just..." "I'm sorry." "There's nothing to be sorry for." "I'm okay. I'm fine." "Are you sure Scully?" "Yes!" She spoke too harshly, but it was embarrassing as hell for him to see her like that, at her moment of weakness. "I'm sorry, Mulder. I'm okay really. Just a bad dream, okay." "Okay." Mulder stood up and walked back to his side of the car. He kicked the dirt in front of his car door. END OF PART 1/3 ********************PART 2/3***************** Wish Upon A Star by Kathy 10:21AM ON THE ROAD AGAIN "Mulder. I thought you were gonna let me drive once we were in New York." "I'm sorry Scully, but I didn't want to wake you. You looked...Scully?" "Yeah?" "You wanna talk about it?" "Not really Mulder." "It might help." "I told you I'm fine, Mulder." "Scully..." "Look Mulder, I just wanna have a nice weekend, a weekend where I don't have to deal with any stress. So let's just drop it, alright?" "Alright, Scully we'll drop it." Silently staring out of the window, Scully forgot all about wanting to drive and began replaying the events of her dream in her head. ************************** I was so happy. In a house, a big beautiful house with Mulder and... MY little girl, Emily. Emily was laughing and dancing around the living room, telling us she was gonna be famous dancing star. "I'm gonna dance on TV, and in big plays and everywhere, Mommy. Watch this." She twirled and twirled. Mulder looked on laughing lovingly at her. "She's somethin' isn't she?" I smiled and nodded watching my perfect child enjoy her seemingly perfect existence. Suddenly, Mulder grabbed her and picked her up, flying her around the room, just like Ahab used to do with me. "Yea, daddy, yea..." She wasn't just my daughter, she was ours, our happy, healthy, perfect little girl. The two continued their flight, both making crazy airplane noises. "Guys," I sang teasingly, "I'm gonna order pizza." "Yippie..." Emily giggled as Mulder began tickling her. Suddenly, I was alone in the house and the doorbell rang. A man appeared in the doorway, he looked like Krycek, but he was a cop... He said, "I'm sorry, but your husband and little girl were killed in a car accident." That's when everything started to spin... I felt my soul being ripped out of me... I collapsed on my bed all of a sudden and I cried so hard clutching the pillow reaching for Mulder, for my baby. That's when I woke up to Mulder's beautiful face, I still thought the dream was my reality, when I first looked at him. It calmed me, I knew that the cop, the Krycek cop, had been lying. They weren't dead. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, it was a dream, I still had my Mulder, but my baby, my Emily was still gone. And, she'd never had that happiness with us; she'd never had a chance to be a normal little girl, like I did. And, Mulder, he was still just my partner, true he was my best friend, but not in the way I wanted. Not in the way, we could ever be. ************************************************************************ 11:22AM PRICEWOOD LODGE "That's Carrie." Scully pointed towards the tall olive skinned woman, with long curly dark hair, speaking very rapidly to a man a few inches taller than she, with a deeper skin tone and even curlier hair. Stopping mid-sentence, as she spotted her friend, Carrie broke into a huge smile and looked over her sunglasses. "Dana?" "Last time I checked," Scully quipped grinning, quickening her stride. "It's so good to see you." They embraced, as the men approached behind each of them. "I missed ya, girl." "Me too, shorty." As, they released each other, Carrie gestured to the man beside her, "Dana, you remember my brother, Robby." "Robby? Oh my God, I haven't seen you in what ten, eleven years?" "That's sounds about right." He said giving her a quick squeeze. Mulder, who had remained silent through the exchanged, decided it was time to clear his throat. "Oh, I'm sorry Mulder... Carrie, Robert, this is my...uh partner Fox Mulder." "Nice to meet you Fox." "Mulder." "Mulder," they spoke in unison. "What?" "He hates to be called by his first name." "Just call me Mulder." "Oh, okay." She wanted to ask him why, but she figured that it would be presumptuous of her so she kept her mouth shut. Afterall, she just met the man five seconds ago. What difference did it make anyway? She had sure got herself a fine one this time, she just hoped she could hang on to him. "Are those all of your bags?" She queried indicating the two bags they each carried respectively. "This is it," said Mulder. "Okay, then why don't we get you two settled? We've decided to set everyone up inside of the lodge, since we are such a small group. Donald didn't think it would be such a good idea to open the cabins right now." They chatted making their way up the small incline leading to the front of the lodge. "It's beautiful, Carrie!" Dana exclaimed, stepping inside of the massive building paneled in the most beautiful oak and pine finishing she'd laid eyes on. "It is isn't it?" At that moment, a beautifully brown skinned man, with a deep red tone, approached. "Don, you remember Dana?" "How have you been?" He asked, giving her a peck on the cheek. "I've been okay. This is Fox Mulder." "But, just call him Mulder," Carrie piped in. Don shot his wife a quickly faded look of confusion, deciding not to ask. "I'm going to find Jessica," Robby piped up, as he made his escape. "Well, you two up to any activities? We were just about to go on a little nature hike." Don offered with a friendly grin. "Oh, um..." Mulder hesitated, not knowing what Scully wanted and at the same time wanting to say 'no'. "I think we'll pass on that, we're still kinda tired from the drive," Scully said reading Mulder's face, which mirrored her own thoughts exactly. "That's understandable," replied Don. "We'll give you some time to just relax and get situated. Why don't you meet us for dinner by the lake? We're going to have barbecue then take the boats out, it was my daughter's idea." "Mommy!" came an agitated voice from the back of the lobby. "Speak of the devil." In stormed in a beautiful raven-haired child of about six. Her hair was just like her mother's long, with beautiful black wavy curls, which had been tied into one long ponytail. Her skin tone was the most interesting shade of golden brown; she really was quite a lovely child. "Mommy! Jake and Mary won't let us do anything!" "Where are your manner's young lady?" "Oh, hi. I'm Elise." The little girl put out her hand to shake Scully's, then stepped over to take Mulder's already out stretched hand. "It's very nice to meet you Elise." "Yes, my name is Mulder and this is you mother's friend, Sc...Dana." "ScDana?" "No, just plain Dana," Scully offered with a warm smile, that left her with a dull ache in the corner of her heart. "I have a friend at school named Dana, I like that name." "Why, thank you Elise, you have a very pretty name, too." She smiled up at Scully. But, suddenly her smile turned into a frown and she turned back to her mother. "Mommy... Jake and Mary?" "I'm coming..." Carolyn sighed taking the child's hand. "I'll see you later, I've got a wrestling match to referee. Don, will you show them to their room." "Sure, honey. And, you stay out of trouble Elise," he said with an air of humor to his voice. As her mother began leading her away, she scrunched her nose up at her father, then smiled knowing he was only joking. "You two can share the same room right, we haven't got that many made up right now. We just assumed you two would share." The two men began making their way toward the large center staircase. "Yeah that'll be fine," Mulder answered for both of them. Scully lingered watching mother and daughter walk hand in hand toward their destination. "Scully?" Mulder stopped, noticing she wasn't by his side. Sighing, she wearily replied, "Coming, Mulder." 12:05pm MULDER and SCULLY'S ROOM "You don't mind, us sharing a room, do you Scully?" Mulder asked, swallowing a lump he didn't quite know why had formed. "No, it's fine Mulder, there are two beds in here, ya know. Unless you're planning on jumping me in my sleep," she grinned. Mulder waggled his eyebrows. "You never know Scully, you might get lucky." For that, he received a pillow square in the face. 8:30PM LAKE PRICE MULDER AND SCULLY'S ROW BOAT "It's beautiful isn't it, Mulder." "Sure is..." Mulder replied, looking up at the stars. They were relaxed and full from a delicious dinner. During the day they just rested and wandered around the grounds. Mulder even took a swim, while Scully sat next to the pool with her latest romance novel. They seemed to be happy. But, there was something still bothering Scully. She couldn't let herself forget. Mulder had long stopped staring at the stars and focused his attention on the waves of change in Scully's face. One moment content, the next distressed. He listened for a few more moments to the quiet swaying of the water and the laughing children in the distance. He suddenly felt a pang of sadness squeeze at his heart... EMILY. "Scully? You okay?" "Yeah," she said still gazing upward. After a few more quiet moments, "Mulder?" "Hmm?" "I didn't know... I didn't think that they'd all have their children here. I mean Carrie didn't say anything in her letter. I guess she didn't because she figured I didn't have any. But, why would she think that I haven't seen her in seven years. What does she know about my life?" "She probably thought you would have told her if you'd had a child." "But, I did have a child Mulder." "I know," he whispered faintly, studying his fingernails. "I don't know. I'm just being silly." "No, Scully you have a right to feel anyway you feel." "Robert and Jessica don't have any kids." "That's true, see Scully we're not the only outcasts," Mulder joked, drawing a smile from her lips. At that moment Mulder noticed Scully shivering, deciding to brave rejection, he opened his arms. "Scully?" Without reply, she moved over to him awkwardly placed herself in between his knees. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap. Shocked by the sudden closeness, Scully tensed. "You, okay, Scully?" Hearing the gentleness in his voice, she relaxed, resting the back of her head against his shoulder. "Yeah, I'm okay." Breathing in the cool crisp air of the night, they let the tenderness of the moment engulf them. Scully was the first to break silence. "You know where I want to go again one day?" she said turning her face side ways into his chest, then back up to the stars. "Where?" "Disneyland." "Disneyland?" Mulder asked in amusement. "Yes, my father, used to take us there when he was stationed in California. But, the time I remember most was when we did the whole cheesy tourist in LA thing. Took tour buses wore ugly shirts, we even went to a taping of H.R. Pufnstuf." She let out a short laugh in reminiscence. "Bill was mad the whole time, Missy wanted to see the Partridge Family, I wanted to see Buffy and Jody, but Charlie always got his way. Besides, I don't even think they would've let all us screaming brats into those regular shows. I had a good time though, I was only about 8, so I liked it anyway." She chuckled, "Bill was always in a huff. He grumbled the whole vacation. Except, at Disneyland... Don't get me wrong he argued with us the whole time, but he was having fun, I could tell." Mulder hugged Scully tighter, thinking back to when his childhood was filled with that kind of happiness, before Sam had been taken. "So, Disneyland, huh?" "I know what you're thinking, why would I want to go to a place that's filled with kids, if I'm so unhappy here... It's just that here everyone has a role to play, mother / daughter, father / son, there everyone is a kid, I don't know... I just wanna go someday again. Silly, huh?" "No, Scully, not silly at all." END OF PART 2/3 ********************PART 3/3******************* Wish Upon A Star by Kathy 1:32 AM MULDER and SCULLY'S ROOM "Mulder, please... please... Mulder..." Mulder awoke from his typically light sleep to Scully's anguished whimpers. "Mulder... Emily..." Mulder sprung to his feet, kneeling down in front of Scully's bed. "Scully, honey, wake up," using the endearment knowing she wouldn't really hear him, and if she did she would be too tired to remember. "Please, Scully..." he whispered close to her ear, wiping her tears away as they steadily fell beneath her lashes. Suddenly she grabbed him around the neck and kissed the side of his neck. Then, searched for his lips. Finding them, she kissed him with an eager desperation that practically left him winded. He pulled away from her, only to realize that she was still sleeping. "Mulder, Mulder," she muttered. He switched on the bed lamp. Holding her face between his hands. "Scully!" he spoke softly yet firm. "You have to wake up now." He caressed her cheeks as he spoke. "Come on, wake up." As she slowly came into awareness, Mulder jerked his hands away from her face. "You were having another dream... actually I'd call it a nightmare." "Mulder... I..." "What?" "I have to go to the bathroom," she said throwing back her sheets and whisking off through the door. After, ten minutes, Mulder ventured over to the door knocking softly. "You, okay in there?" Expecting the standard affirmation, he was surprised to see the door fly open and Scully fling herself into his arms. "Oh, Mulder... I keep dreaming that you die.. and.. and..." trailing off into strangled sobs. "I die? Oh, Scully... I'm not gonna die... I'm here with you.. I'll always be here, shhh." "You can't promise that, Mulder. You can't." "Even if I died I'd still be with you. I'd have to be Scully..." he decided not to elaborate on the reasons why. "But, Mulder, it's so awful..." she buried her nose in his chest. "Come on, let's sit on the bed." Mulder led her over to his bed, pulling her onto his lap once again. "This is okay isn't it?" Nodding, she rested her head on his shoulder. "It's us and...and Emily. We're so happy and then, you're gone. You're both gone." The statement left Mulder in a constriction of feelings. He felt a burst of pride, knowing she included him in her happy thoughts, but also a complete and utter anguish in his heart, for he couldn't give her what she truly wanted. "I'm sorry, Scully," he kissed the top of her head. "So, so sorry." He was at a loss for words. All he could do was hold her and rock her back into what he hoped would be a peaceful sleep. He felt her yawn, as she closed her eyes and snuggled up to him. After delivering one more kiss to her forehead, he brought her body down next to his, pulled the comforter up over them and flicked off the light. They fell into a weary and exhausted slumber. 8:46AM DOCKS "You sure you don't wanna come Scully?" Mulder asked as he helped with the fishing gear. "No, I think I'll stay back with the rest of the girls. I haven't really had much time to talk with Carrie." "You sure?" "Come on Mulder, I'll be fine. It's not like you don't run off and leave me every five seconds when were working on a case." Mulder looked up with a painfully guilty expression. "I'm only kidding. Jeez Mulder, lighten up." "Hey, Mulder?!" called Robby. "Yeah?!" "Could you help Ted with the food, it's back up at the lodge?" "Sure," he said putting his gear aside. "I'll walk back up with you, I think Carrie and the girls are up at the pool with the kids." "'Kay." 9:08AM "Mommy watch this!" came an enthusiastic voice, followed by a loud plunge. "Elise! That girl is so wild." "Oh yeah, look at Jennifer," the slightly over weight woman, pointed to her daughter, who was spinning around in maddening circles splashing anyone whom crossed her path. "Well, at least she's keeping it inside of the pool," Carrie quipped, bringing laughter to five of the six women present. Noticing Dana's lack of enthusiasm Carrie decided she would try to include her in the conversation. "So Dana, are you and Mulder serious or anything?" blushing at the sudden change in topic, Dana shrugged her shoulders. "Come on Dana, it's just us girls here." "I don't know Carrie, we're just partners." Dana snapped out of embarrassment. "I'm sorry Dana, I didn't mean to upset you." "I'm not upset. It's okay." The other women exchanged polite looks of confusion, which made Dana feel even more uncomfortable. A short pale brown haired woman took it up on herself to offer her some of her worldly wisdom. "From what I've seen that man is catch, sweetheart. If I were you I'd tie him down and start makin' babies real quick." "Lola!" exclaimed Carrie, horrified with her usually soft-spoken friend's lack of decorum. "Well you do want to have kids don't you?" "What's with the third degree, Lola?" asked Jessica, whom Scully found out a few moments earlier was three months pregnant with her first baby. "It's not the third degree, I just can't understand people who don't want kids. I just wanna know if she's one of those people." "I..." Scully stood up tears glistening in her eyes, wanting to shout at the woman. Make her feel guilty about everything she had said. Tell her all the horrible details of what had happened to her. How she did have a child, and how she never got to know her, and how her eggs were stolen. That she was barren. She wanted to shout it at the top of her lungs and make the insensitive bitch regret ever word that came out of her, plastic suburban mouth. But, her voice caught, nothing would come out. All she could think of to do was to turn and run. "I can't believe you Lola," Carrie said jumping to her feet to go after her friend. Once she reached the lodge, she saw her friend in the arms of a man, a man with a tipped over cooler at his feet, ice around his ankles and a sandwich under his sneaker. However, he did not move he just held her tight cooing words of comfort, she could not decipher, softly into her ear. Turning around, she realized Dana was in good hands. 9:34AM MULDER AND SCULLY'S ROOM "Well, I helped Ted get the coolers into the boat." "I thought you spilled everything." "They had another one, they'll just have to go one tuna sandwich short." Mulder let out a halfhearted chuckle. "I offered to clean it up, but Carrie said she'd have it taken care of. She wanted me to look after you." "Aren't you holding up the boat being up here with me, Mulder?" "No, not at all." She gave him a questioning look. "They already left." "Mulder..." "I didn't really want to go, Scully don't worry about it." He said sitting next to her on the bed. "Mulder?" she whispered. "Hmm?" "I don't want to be here anymore," she said practically under her breath. "You wanna go home?" "No, I just... I don't know. I can't be here right now, but I don't want to go back to Washington, not yet." "Okay, then, where do you wanna go?" he asked gently. "We could stop at one of those little inns we saw on the way up. I don't know, just anywhere, that's not here and not home." Suddenly realizing that she was asking too much of him she offered, "You don't have to stay with me or anything. I can make it someplace on my own, maybe relax for a few days." "No, Scully I wanna stay with you." Thinking that maybe she didn't really want his company he asked cautiously, "Unless you'd rather be alone?" "No," she whispered, looking down and her hands. Standing up Mulder spoke, "Okay why don't you go get ready and I'll tell Carrie." "Thanks Mulder." "Anytime, doll face," giving his best Bogie impression along with a stereotypical wink of the eye. Scully just laughed, as he closed to door with a soft click. 10:03AM "Where the hell is Mulder? I do not feel like going down stairs right now." Scully thought out loud to herself. "They probably all think I'm a basket case. And, they'd be right... Not to mention the fact that I'm talking to myself. Great you're really loosin' it now Dana." At that moment there came a loud knock on the door. Sighing loudly, she sauntered slowly towards the door, only to be hit in the foot by an envelope. Picking it up carefully off of the wooden surface, she noticed the familiar pencil scratch. It read simply 'Scully'. She removed the contents all at once. It was a series of what seemed to be pieces of paper from a hotel notepad. The first piece read: "TWO ROUND-TRIP TICKETS TO LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA" Scully wrinkled her brow in confusion. Slowly moving on to the next piece, she read the next message: "TWO ALL DAY PASSES TO DISNEYLAND". This time she smiled warmly. Moving onto the final note, Scully felt fresh tears sting the corner of her eyes. "A DOZEN RED ROSES FOR THE MOST ENCHANTINGLY BEAUTIFUL WOMAN ON THE PLANET... ON ANY PLANET FOR THAT MATTER" "Dana?" a frightened male voice floated through the door, followed by the softest of knocks. Slowly she opened the door with a teary smile on her face. "Hi." "Hi," he said looking at his shoes. "I... this is... thank you, Mulder." He smiled shyly, blushing a bit and cleared his throat. "I...uh called Skinner...and he said that we could have the week off if you want to... I mean you don't have to... We could just stay at one of those in..." "Shhh," she hushed, placing her finger on his lips. He reflexively kissed it, then drew away, eyes widened in fear. "Mulder," she spoke in a barely audible tone, bringing her hand up to his neck. Closing his eyes, he let his forehead rest on her own. "Thank you, so much," she whispered, moving her other hand into his hair. "Did you really get... what's on the notes?" she questioned her tone becoming huskier by the minute. "Mmm hmm, we can pick up the plane tickets at the airport." She kissed him lightly on the cheek. Closing his eyes, he continued on, "and the Disney passes at the hotel." She kissed his other cheek. Eyes remaining closed he continued, "and the flowers are going to be a surprise." Her lips closed over his in a slow intoxicating kiss. One like he'd never felt before, even better than the one she given him last night in her unconscious state. Oh, this was pure heaven. He drew her closer to him continuing the sweet passion, delicately, yet full of an eagerness he never knew could exsist inside of him. Parting for only a moment he whispered in desperation, "I love you," kiss "I love you," kiss "I love you so much, Scully, so so much." He finished with another assaulting kiss that made her weep in pure and utter happiness. Parting from him reluctantly, she framed his face between her hands. "I love you, Fox Mulder. I always have." For that, she received another kiss, quick, yet meaningful. "How 'bout that plane, doll face?" "I thought you'd never ask." THE END *****IF YOU'D LIKE TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS ON THEIR TRIP TO LA, PLEASE PLEASE E-MAIL ME AND I'LL WRITE ANOTHER INSTALLMENT FOR YA... SADanaMldr@aol.com Feedback is also much appreciated . . . keep in mind that this is my first fic, so please be kind.