From: Leyla Harrison 

Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative

Subject: NEW: After All These Years 1/10

Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 15:06:27 -0700





After All These Years 1/10

by Leyla Harrison

I have a new addy!  (starbuck72@netaxis.ca)



Summary: Mulder and Scully have been fighting a physical attraction to 

each other for well, we all know, ages.  And in this story, in the 

alternate universe of my mind, they have given in to it.   Some of what 

happens in the rest of this story has been covered in other stories, to 

be sure, and I don't mean to step on anyone's toes here in that regard.  

I am trying to deal with it in a different manner, and take it in a 

different direction.  



WARNING: Mulder and Scully romance ahead!  Tons and tons of both Mulder 

and Scully angst in this story.  DOUBLE WARNING: All readers who are 

sensitive are advised to keep a box of tissues handy while reading.  A 

*big* box of tissue.  You have been warned.



Rating: Well, I can't imagine this one getting beyond a rating of R for a 

few bad words, some references to sexual situations, and lot of adult 

subject matter, but nothing graphic in any regard.  There's really no 

X-File here, just mindless Mulder and Scully romance abound.



Most of the story is told from different characters points of view, and 

is so marked by stating the name of the character at the top of each 

section.  The first and last section is told in third person.  Hope it's 

not too confusing for anyone.



All comments, praise and feedback would be greatly appreciated to 

starbuck72@netaxis.ca.  Flames that say "well, that really couldn't have 

happened because it's not possible..." will be ignored.  Comments saying 

that I have not stayed true to the characters will also be ignored.  I 

have written a lot of stories in which I have stayed true to the every 

personal trait, and this story is different.  I know there are some 

slightly implausible situations in this story.  I wrote them 

intentionally.  Remember, this is an alternate universe, where *anything* 

can happen.



Final disclaimer:  I've borrowed the characters of Dana Scully, Fox 

Mulder and Margaret Scully from Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and Fox 

Television without permission.  All other characters are creations of my 

own imagination.  I've also borrowed a line from the movie "Bridges of 

Madison County" without permission.  Please, don't anyone sue me...I 

*really* can't afford it!!!



Special thanks to Lea for editing help (I'm not good at that on my own).



Here we go....



*****



WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 1996

FBI HEADQUARTERS



Mulder strode into the office.  He was hoping that Scully would be there 

when he arrived.  Which she was.  But she didn't look nearly as happy to 

see him as he was to see her.



"Hi," he said to her as he came in and shut the door behind him.  He took 

in how she looked, as he always did.  Today she was wearing a slim black 

suit with a cream colored shell beneath it.  He took in the creamy ivory 

stockings she wore, the curve of her legs as she sat at her desk, her 

legs crossed.  The pumps she wore that he had never noticed, not really, 

until about six weeks ago.



That was when they had become lovers.



"Hi, yourself," Scully answered.  She was flipping through papers, and 

had looked up at him as he had entered, but had quickly returned to her 

work.



"Guess what?" Mulder asked.



"I don't know, Mulder, tell me."  He noticed immediately that her voice 

was weary.  He was hoping that what he had to say would help take care of 

that.



"I just got back the request I put in.  We have the rest of the week 

off."



Scully looked up at him.  "How can we have the rest of the week off, 

Mulder?" she asked.  She indicated the files on her desk.  "We have seven 

case reports to get into Skinner by the end of the week.  It's a mountain 

of paperwork."



Mulder came over to stand behind her and massaged the back of her neck 

gently.  "Come on, Scully, we can do them over the weekend and get them 

in on Monday.  We could spend the rest of the week enjoying each other's 

company."  His tone was suggestive.  "I can think of a few things we can 

do."  Scully carefully extracted herself from his hands and stood up, 

turning to face him.  She came face to face with his surprised 

expression.  "What's wrong?"



"Nothing."  Scully tucked her hair behind her ear.  "I'm just exhausted."



"Why don't we get out of here, get some lunch, go take it over to the 

reflecting pool and spend the rest of the afternoon there."



At the mention of lunch Scully wrinkled her nose.  "I'm not really 

hungry, Mulder."



Mulder came over to her and took her in his arms, kissing her.  She 

didn't respond with the usual intensity that she normally did.  "Dana," 

he said in a low tone, "what's going on with you?  You've been like this 

since the beginning of the week."



Scully wouldn't meet his eyes.  "I'm just feeling a little, I don't know, 

smothered."



Mulder immediately let go of her and took a few steps back.  He was 

surprised.  Ever since the first time they had made love six weeks ago, 

he and Scully had been practically joined at the hip.  Every free moment 

was spent making love, kissing, or gazing at each other in quiet, 

romantic places.  During work hours, they were very careful to act 

normal, afraid to let anyone at the Bureau know what had blossomed 

between them.  Mulder had to admit, they had been rushing things along a 

little quickly, but Scully had not given him any indication that she had 

minded.  Until her strange personality change two days before.  "I'm 

smothering you?" he asked.



"I don't know, Mulder.  I just feel like this is all moving a little too 

fast."  Scully had turned her face up to look at him, struggling to keep 

her eyes from darting around nervously.  But she seemed very sure of what 

she was saying.  "We still don't know what this will lead to.  I mean, 

we've been involved for a month and a half now.  Is it just going to be 

this way forever, or do you see anything more permanent happening between 

us?"  



Mulder stiffened.  "Permanent?"  He knew that he shouldn't react that 

way, but the thought of committing himself to anyone, even Scully, 

terrified him.  It meant that there was a likely chance of him losing 

her.  And he didn't deal well with loss.  He knew what she wanted.  He 

wanted it as well, but it terrified him.  Committing himself to her meant 

that if he lost her...and he had come so close to losing her before.  And 

they hadn't been involved back then, and look how he had reacted.



 "I guess I can take it that you don't want anything more permanent." 

Scully's voice trembled slightly, but Mulder didn't seem to notice it.



"Scully, I was hoping that we could discuss this later.  Away from work."



"Sure," she answered in what she hoped was a light tone.  "We can talk 

about it later.  It's no problem."



Mulder sighed with relief.  She understands, he thought.  "So what do you 

say to dinner, then?"



Scully returned to her desk and sat down, avoiding his eyes again.  

"Actually, Mulder, I was kind of thinking that maybe we should stop 

spending every waking moment together.  It can't be healthy."



"What about every sleeping moment?" he asked teasingly.



Scully looked up at him.  "Maybe we could just see each other tomorrow."



Her tone was clearly evident.  She wanted space.  It wiped the smile from 

Mulder's face quickly.  "Are you sure, Scully?"  Something was wrong.  He 

couldn't put his finger on what it was.



"Yes, I'm sure."



Mulder pondered this for a moment.  Scully was obviously upset about 

something, and he didn't want to push her.  He didn't want to upset her 

further when it was obvious that she didn't want to talk about whatever 

it was that was bothering her.  Still, he was nagged by the feeling that 

she should talk to him.  After all, it wasn't like they were just friends 

anymore.



"I just need some space, Mulder," she said, interrupting the silence.  

Her voice was pained.  Mulder studied her face.  She looked upset.  



"OK," Mulder replied, as calm as he could be.  He was right.  Something 

was terribly wrong.  "OK.  I'll give you some space.  But Scully, I need 

to ask you one thing."



"What?" she asked, looking up at him.  



"Did I do something, say something wrong?"



She looked down at the desk full of papers, closed her eyes, shook her 

head a bit, then opened her eyes again.  "No, Mulder.  It's nothing that 

you did."  Her voice was somewhat controlled, but he could still sense 

that she was keeping far too much from him.

There was silence in the office again.  Mulder shifted uncomfortably from 

one foot to the other.  He and Scully eyed each other for a few moments. 

 Then, Scully cleared her throat. "Can you finish this up for me?" she 

asked, standing up and pointing at the paperwork.  "I need to get out of 

here for a while."



"Sure," Mulder nodded, wishing that he could go to her, hold her.  He 

somehow sensed that she would not want that at this moment.  He felt 

distanced from her.  He couldn't recall feeling like this once since they 

were involved.  Mulder used to joke that there were two ways to determine 

time in his life - before they had gotten involved and after.  They had 

been like this before, but not now.



Scully gathered her things and headed for the door.  Mulder didn't turn 

to watch her go.  When she reached it, she paused.  She turned around to 

face him again.  "Mulder."



His back was still to her.  "Yes?"



"I love you," she said softly.  Without even seeing her face, her knew 

that she was crying.  Then he heard the door open and Scully was gone.  

He didn't even have the chance to reply. 



*****



Mulder: 



Two days passed.  Scully didn't come into work for the rest of the week. 

 I called her once, on Thursday afternoon, but got her answering machine. 

 I'm sure my message sounded pretty pathetic.  As soon as I hung up, I 

wished that I could somehow erase what I had said.  



"Scully, I don't know what's gotten you so upset, but I was hoping we 

could just talk about it.  That's all I want, is to talk to you.  Please, 

Scully."



She didn't return my call.



I waited until Sunday.  I fought with myself internally.  She'll call you 

when she's ready, I told myself.  But I need to know what the hell is 

going on!



She didn't show up for work Monday.  Or Tuesday.  Or Wednesday.  Finally, 

Thursday morning, I called her house.  This time, I got a recorded 

message.  "We're sorry, but the number you have dialed has been 

disconnected.  No further information is available about that number.  

This is a recording."



I slammed the phone down.  Disconnected?  Fear coursed through my veins. 

 Had something happened to her?  I grabbed my coat and headed for her 

apartment.  Damn it, I shouldn't have waited so long.  What if...I 

stopped myself.  I knew that she wanted space, but I had to know that she 

was all right.



I didn't see her car on the street when I pulled up.  I headed into the 

building and went to Scully's apartment.  I stood outside the door for a 

moment, then finally took a deep breath and knocked.  



The door swung open slightly under the pressure of my hand knocking on 

it.  I cautiously drew my gun.  Oh, no, I thought.  Scully, we haven't 

had enough time together.  Please God, I prayed, don't let anything have 

happened to her.



I pushed the door open the rest of the way.  What I saw shocked me.



The apartment was empty.  It had been cleared out.  All of Scully's 

furniture was gone.  I quickly checked every room.  Nothing.  There was 

some leftover food in the refrigerator, baking soda and a stick of 

butter, but nothing else.  The closets were empty.  There was no phone 

plugged into the jack.  The pictures on the wall were gone.  No clothes 

in the closet.  Nothing in the medicine cabinet.  The apartment was 

completely empty.



I wandered through the apartment in a daze.  I didn't understand what had 

happened.  Finally, I made it back out to my car.  I had the sense to 

think to call Margaret Scully on my cel phone. Before I could dial her 

number the phone rang.  Scully, I thought, answering it immediately.  



"Mulder, this is Skinner.  I wanted to let you know that Agent Scully has 

resigned."



My hopes that it was Scully on the phone vanished.  "What?" I asked, 

incredulously.  "She's resigned?"



"I thought you knew, until I saw that the witness's signature on her 

resignation form wasn't yours."  Skinner's voice was calm, but I could 

tell that he was disappointed.  Of course he's going to be calm, I 

thought.  He's not me.  He has no clue that we got involved.  He's not in 

love with her like I am.



"I...didn't know."  I managed to get out.  "I'm at her apartment now, and 

apparently she's moved.  Her things are gone.  Did she leave a forwarding 

address on the resignation form?"



"Agent Mulder, I thought that you would have known more about this."



"No, sir," I answered.  I was hoping to get some answers from you, I 

thought.



"No forwarding address.  She put on the form that her Annapolis address 

would be invalid after yesterday."  Skinner paused.  I wanted to ask him 

if he had seen her, talked to her.  What her mental state had been like. 

 This had to be some terrible mistake.  "I spoke to her on the phone 

Monday after getting her resignation.  I asked her why she was leaving," 

Skinner informed me, his tone somewhat less formal than it usually was.  

"She said that she didn't feel comfortable discussing it with me."



Well, I thought, at least that makes two of us.  She obviously didn't 

feel comfortable discussing it with me, either.  "Thank you, sir."



"It's a great loss to the Bureau," Skinner said, back to his professional 

demeanor.  



"Yes," I choked out, suddenly feeling tears forming in my throat.  "Thank 

you, sir."



I ended the call and dialed Margaret Scully as I started the car.  She 

answered right away.  "Hello?"



"Mrs. Scully, it's Fox Mulder."  My tone was terse.  "I need to talk to 

you about Scully."



"I know, Fox," she answered.  "I was expecting you to call.  Can you stop 

by?"



"I'm on my way there now."


CONTINUED IN PART II...