46 days A.H.

2.56 pm

FBI Headquarters DC

They walked into the conference room together. With their entrance, 25 agents stood up and applauded, taking them by surprise.

"Mulder?" Dana asked uncertainly.

"Didn't you watch the noon news, Scully?" He confirmed her fears. Their arrest made it to national TV!

When the whistles and wolf cries began. Mulder felt he had to do something before Scully used her ‘Death Glare’ and shrivel them all into dust. 18 counts of murder would not look good in her FBI profile. "Thanks a lot guys. I think that’s enough," he waved his hands at them, trying to get them to shut up.

Unwilling to let such an opportunity to pass him by, Agent Spender spoke loudly, "Hey aren’t they cute? They’re wearing matching gray color suits." The room burst into laughter.

Dana’s not-so-powerful-glare turned into a scowl. She wished she saw the news coverage, at least she knew what was she up against. ‘Did they zoom down to my legs?’ she wondered. ‘It’s all Mulder’s fault!’

Mulder glanced at his partner’s face. He knew the look too well. ‘Now, what did **I** do?’ he frowned. He turned his attentions back to the noisy FEDS. "Very funny guys. Don’t we have better things to talk about? Let’s get on with the meeting." He walked towards the only two empty seats, obviously reserved for them. There was a note on the table.

"Spooky and Skully in a motel room

K-I-S-S-I-N-G…..."

Mulder did not bother to read the rest. He snatched the note from the table and thrust it into his coat pocket before Scully saw it.

She didn’t notice, she was too busy ignoring more irritating innuendoes from the other agents. "So Agent Scully, will you free tonight or are you booked the entire week?" Agent Skyler leaned forward as she walked by.

Agent Zackermain beside him added, "Yeah Mulder may be ‘Spoooo-ky’ but Skyler can be downright scary, if you’re into that sort of thing."

"Will you guys just shut up!" she yelled finally.

Skinner was just about to enter the conference room when a familiar voice took command. He rarely saw such a fierce show of emotion from his normally cool subordinate. But it did the trick, every agent was back in their seats, silent.

"Thank you, Agent Scully," Skinner finished his walk to the front of the room. Dana blushed. He gave out the files he was holding. "Now that you’re all done harassing Agents Mulder and Scully, I’d like you to concentrate on today’s briefing. Agent Spender will be in charge of this case. Agent Spencer, would you do us the honor and give us an introduction."

"Yes, sir."

Mulder rolled his eyes. "What a dweep," he muttered loud enough for Scully to hear. She nudged him to shut up.

Agent Spender began his briefing. Five minutes later, Mulder began fidgeting. ‘Well, at least he broke his last record of sitting still of 3 minutes and 28 seconds,’ Dana bit her lip, irritated.

‘This is boooriiiing!’ Mulder sighed. He couldn’t understand how Scully could actually keep her eyes glued to that young, bright-eyed, sucking-up piece of white-collar trash. The worst kind of agent the FBI could produce. He stifled a yawn. Too videos last night. It was a good one. Frohike got it specially for him- a redhead, about 5 foot 3’, creamy white body, didn’t get to see much of her face though. Not that it mattered.

He fumbled for a pen in his coat pocket. Wanting to do something before he fell asleep. ‘Damn!’ He must have taken the fountain pen by mistake. He slowly removed his hand from his pocket, afraid of what he might see.

Dana glanced at her partner, he was staring at his hand. And no wonder too, it was blue! She nudged him again.

"Fountain pen," he whispered in reply.

She rolled her eyes, caught Spender frowning at them and immediately paid more attention to his presentation.

It was Mulder’s turn to nudge his partner. "Tissue?"

Dana was determined not to get called out by Spender for not paying attention. She shook her head quickly, never taking her eyes off the overhead projector in front.

"Come on, Scully. I know you have at least a packet in that little handbag of yours," Mulder leaned closer to whisper in her ear.

Dana sighed and decided to shut Mulder up once and for all. "Mulder, my handbag is on the floor. Get it yourself," she hissed.

Mulder frowned. He shifted his chair slightly, causing a loud screeching sound. Dana grimaced and lifted the file on the table to cover her face, a vain attempt to disassociate her from her partner.

"Mr. Mulder, is there a problem?" Spender asked amidst the smiling room.

"No….er… dropped something." Mulder sheepishly replied and disappeared under the table. Agent Spender looked disgusted but went back to his topic.

Dana slowly pulled the folder down. Once satisfied that everyone had gone back to the projector, she took the chance to peep under the table, wondering what was taking him so long.

‘It’s too dark down here,’ Mulder cursed silently. He was about to take Scully’s purse out into the light when he miscalculated the height of the table and knocked his head beneath it. "Bloody…." he stopped himself before he got too creative but forgetting about the purse in his hand. It dropped to the floor, it’s contents rolling out to all directions.

Dana grimaced again as the commotion brought all eyes to their direction **again**.

Agent Spender looked pissed off this time. "Agent Mulder? Do you need medical help down there?"

"No!" Mulder yelled back, frantically picking up Scully’s stuff with his clean left hand before his partner bursts a vein finding her all personal belongings scattered about the conference room floor.

"How about professional help?" Spender asked again, igniting some laughs from his peers.

Dana had enough of Agent Spender. Mulder certainly did not deserve the humiliation Spender was putting him through. "Agent Mulder is fine. He’s just looking for something."

Spender grinned, "Something he couldn’t find the night before?"

The room erupted in laughter. Only Skinner remained grave.

Dana was a little confused at first. Then she considered what the situation must look like in their eyes - Mulder **did** have access to a great to a view down there. She almost groaned aloud, ‘And I just had to defend him with those lines!’ She quickly recovered and performed her best glare. It worked. Everyone began controlling themselves.

Skinner smiled slightly. ‘Well,well, looks like Mulder and I aren’t the only ones affected by her glares.’ He stood up and addressed the crowd. "Agents please, let’s just get on with this." He dismissed Spender with a wave of his hand and took his place beside the projector. "If you turn to page 51 of the file given out to you, you will notice that we have planned out an operation code-named ‘Kyle’. We will be sending a pair of agents into the house while the other 18 agents will be on surveillance nearby the premises." He looked over at Agent Scully, Mulder was still nowhere to be seen. "Agent Scully, what do you know about the term MPJB?"

"I believe it’s a medical herb, a highly experimented one."

"That’s right. A small dosage of this traditional drug causes a high increase in one’s adrenaline level. However, not that much to effect normal behavior"

"So why use it at all?" Spender asked.

"Good question. Agent Scully?" Skinner passed the question over.

"It is proven that by increasing the adrenaline level, the patient would be able to withstand a certain amount of pain. Much like in a crisis, man have been found to react sometimes almost superhumanly. By using MPJB, the doctors would be able to help their patients without getting them hooked on morphine or other dangerous substances."

Meanwhile, Mulder’s gaze swept the floor the last time, just in case he missed out anything. His eyes picked up a small piece of paper next to Scully’s right foot. Squinting, he realized it was photograph. The only photographs Scully carried around were pictures of her family and Emily. Both were equally important to her. He leaned forward and reached out with his left hand, trying his best not to touch Scully in the process.

A few meters up, Skinner took over from Dana, "Right. All of the five witnesses who withdrew their statements had higher levels of adrenaline than normal. What we can’t figure out was why MPJB was used on them and how it affected them to the stage that they would withdraw from testifying."

Scully frowned. "Sir?"

"Yes, Agent Scully?"

She hesitated. Where was Mulder when she needed him? "In some of the X-files, it was found that MPJB was one of the substances used in witchcraft." Just as she expected, several agents started snickering.

Under the table, Mulder was still straining to reach the picture. The tips of his finger were barely touching it. Realization dawned that he had to brush past Scully’s ankles if he wanted to pick it up. He straightened himself, taking a moment to rest his aching back and to decide whether to take the risk.

Above the table, Skinner encouraged Dana to go on. "For what purpose?"

"Well, mostly in concocting love potions. In some of the ancient literature……. Mulder’s books of witches….. the herb is believed to be a complying drug. It makes one more susceptible, generous, acceptable, amiable…… What the…!?!" something touched her. She looked down and found her partner looking up her skirt! "Mulder!?! Just what the hell do you think you’re doing? You’re tickling me!"

By that time, the other agents could not bare it any longer. They howled with laughter. Even Skinner had to smile, but only for a few seconds not wanting to incur the wrath of Special Agent Dana Scully directly onto himself.

Dana froze, realizing what she had just said. She groaned and leaned back in her chair, frustrated and humiliated.

Mulder heard the commotion. He didn’t dare come out from under the table. Scully was going to kill him.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Skinner called out. "…..please." He waited for them to calm down. When they did, he switched off the projector beside him. "I don’t think we’re gonna get anything done today so why don’t we stop here and pick up from we left off tomorrow. Good day." He dismissed them with a warning frown, which forbade them to tease his favorite duo any further. They obeyed, leaving the room as sober as they possibly can.

Dana stared at the top of the table as the other agents passed by, she refused to look at any of them. Mulder bravely came out from under the table. He sat at on the floor, his left hand holding her purse, his right hand still stained from the blue ink. He obviously didn’t find the packet of tissue. He waited for her to look at him. When she did, her face remained expressionless. Which was worse, he felt. He’d rather if she yelled at him and get it over and done with.

He took a deep breath and started to explain, "I accidentally dropped your handbag and had to pick your things up. I’m sorry I startled you but I was reaching for this." He held the photograph of Emily out to her.

Dana stared at the picture of her daughter in her partner’s hand. Slowly, she took it from him. This time a frown escaped her calm façade.

"Agent Mulder, Agent Scully?" Skinner broke the awkwardness.

They stood up to face their superior who was heading towards them. Mulder pulled at his tie, forgetting about the blue ink and leaving marks all over it. Skinner frowned when he noticed but decided not to say anything. He cleared his throat, preparing the words in his head carefully.

"I received a report this morning regarding the event that took place the night before. There are several events that disturb me greatly. And before I send the report up to the higher authorities, I would like to clarify them with you both."

"Sure sir," Mudler managed to cough out.

"Firstly, why did you take a connecting flight with a stop-over instead of a direct flight back?"

Scully gave Mulder a look saying that it was his question. He frowned, "I was checking a lead sir. A lead to another X-file. And since we were in the area…."

Skinner frowned, knowing fully that he was lying. "The motel room? The pajamas? Both of you broke FBI protocol."

"There was only one room in that motel. We were really tired and soaking wet, plus the next motel was another half a mile away. So, we shared. We also shared the pajamas because we lost our luggage at the airport," Dana coolly answered.

"Okaaaaay. The release papers?" He arched his eyebrows.

Mulder squirmed and Dana’s face turned red.

"I can believe that there was a typo but Agent Scully’s signature….."

Dana crisply cut in. "I was very tired, sir. It was a long night and I just wanted to get out of there."

"I see. But I have to submit all the papers up, **they** might not ….understand."

Dana caught herself before she could roll her eyes. ‘In other words, **they** want to know if Mulder and I are sleeping together,’ she translated Skinner’s words in her head. As if it wasn’t enough that they constantly used the X-files against them, they wanted to control her relationship with her partner too? She took a second to check her rising temper before she clearly replied, "I assure you sir, Mulder and I are not married nor are we romantically involved. Please ask them not to worry too much, I don’t think we ever will be."

Mulder’s heart constricted. His jaw clenched in anger.

Skinner too was quite stunned at her last sentence. ‘There goes my fifty bucks,’ he groaned inwardly as he thought about the betting pool.

Dana saw their reactions. Immediately she wished she could take her words back. She didn’t mean it so literally. Just wanted Skinner to make things clear enough so that those SOBs would get off their backs.

Skinner recovered. "Good. Well, I suppose that will be all." He nodded his head at them and walked towards the door.

Dana took her bag from Mulder looking into his eyes. They were weary and sparked with anger. ‘Oh come on Mulder, you didn’t take me seriously did you?’ she asked him with her eyes.

He didn’t catch the question. He suddenly noticed his stained tie and cursed. "I need to go to the Men’s," he muttered and left, leaving Dana alone in the conference room. She sighed. ‘He took me seriously.’

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey Mulder, way to go man. Never thought you’d finally lick the Ice Maiden!"

"Yeah, go Spooky!"

"Mulder, you’re the man. You may be weird but you’re the man!"

Mulder slammed the door shut behind him. He finally unclenched his fists. If it weren’t for Scully, he would have broken a few noses by now. But noooo… he couldn’t do that. Scully would be mortified. Scully would yell at him for ‘being protective’ or ‘being macho’ or ‘being an immature child’. He slumped in his chair. ‘So what Mulder? So what if she’s mad? When is she not mad at you?’

The sound of the door opening distracted him. He turned towards it. There was no one there but a piece of paper was stuck onto the door. Curious, he left his chair to check it out.

It was a cartoon sketch. An alien, a skull and in between a heart with an arrow stuck through it. He scowled, ‘I wish!’ He kicked the door close and latched it. He had enough of those jerks. Eager to get his mind off his partner, he went back to his table and rummaged through the drawers.

He slipped the video into the VCR and pushed the play button. Then, he made himself comfortable as he took himself on another journey of ‘Sex Unlimited’.

Dana stretched herself. ‘Finally 5.30!’ She looked at the labeled bottles in front of her with satisfaction. ‘At least I managed to get this done today.’ She considered finishing the paperwork that went along with it, but her stomach was growling too loudly. Besides, Mulder would have cooled down by now. Maybe she could talk to him and clear things up. She switched off the lab lights and stepped out into the corridor. The reception she received from the agents she met along the way was the same as before. Irritating smiles and arched eyebrows, she ignored them all. She stepped into the Ladies and entered one of its cubicles. A few minutes later, she heard the door open and several voices enter. They were discussing about something. She did not pay any attention to them until she heard her name mentioned.

"I still don’t believe Dana and Spooky are together," the first voice exclaimed.

"Yeah, me neither. Kim actually won two hundred bucks," the second agreed.

"Oh come on Sharon, five years ago you told me it was just a matter of time before they hopped in the sack!" the third voice rebuked the second one.

"That was before I knew about Dana Scully. She’s different," **Sharon** defended.

"She’s right, **no** other girl I know could go through five years with a partner like that and not jump on him," the first chimed in.

"God, that woman must be devoid of any human emotion," Sharon added.

"True to her nick, I guess," first voice again.

In her cubicle, Dana decided it was time to unlatch her the door and stop their bitching.

"Dana?" Donna croaked. The other two were also clearly speechless. "I thought……"

The door of the Ladies’ interrupted her. Cynthia from the 1^st floor entered. She didn’t see Dana behind the cubicle door. "Hey did you hear the latest? I hear Spooky and Icy are at it in the basement. Some of the guys are actually downstairs right down with their heads to the door. Gary said that Spooky was actually moaning and ……. Oh my God. A.a..g..g..ent Scully?"

Dana cocked her head to one side and smiled sweetly. "I’d better go check on Spooky. We wouldn’t want Icy to hurt him, would we?" She took a moment to revel in their misery, washed her hands and strode out of the room.

Sharon spoke first. "I’m getting my money back from Kim."

"So am I!" Cynthia growled in agreement.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dana walked out of the elevator and frowned. There was a crowd in front of their office door. She frowned, Cynthia was right. But the moaning? She took a deep breath and headed towards them.

"Hear anything interesting?" she leaned close to Carrey from bio labs.

"Shhh! This is the great part. Madam Spooky’s talking dirty."

"Oh really? Do you want me to talk dirty to you Carrey?""

Carrey arched an eyebrow. ‘This voice is really familiar.’ He turned his head and froze.

Dana smiled at him sweetly. When he didn’t answer, she grabbed his shirt and pushed him against the wall behind him. By that time, the other agents had abandoned their surveillance stations and fled.

"A..a..gent Sc..cul..lly. We were just.."

"Who’s we, Carrey? I see only you." Dana cocked her head to one side.

Carrey looked around. ‘Bloody Chicken-Heads!’ He turned back to Scully. She was still waiting for him to say something. "I….I… em…. It was a joke."

"I’m not laughing, Carrey."

He looked into her blue eyes. He never realized they were so blue. "I’m sorry." And he meant it.

"I actually used to think you were a nice guy. Sorry, my mistake." She stepped back, allowing him his space.

Carrey looked embarrassed. "It won’t happen again," he muttered and walked away.

Dana watched him go. She took a deep breath. ‘Okay, time trash it out, Mulder. Whether you like it or not.’ She turned the doorknob. It was locked! She frowned. Mulder never locks the door when he’s in the office. Her head jerked slightly as she heard it. "Moaning?" she whispered to herself. She rested her left ear against the door. "Moaning," she muttered again. "That asshole!" She cursed softly and rapped hard on the door.

Mulder jumped from his chair. Scully’s back. He pressed the ‘Stop’ button on the remote, switched off the VCR and headed for the door. He took a deep breath, unlatched and opened it. Scully looked questioningly at him.

"The guys were bothering me so I locked the door," he half lied.

"Oh." She walked into the room and paused at the TV set. Mulder bit his lower lip. Dana debated with herself for a while, then decided to let it go. She wasn’t in the mood for a fight. Who cares if the whole FBI thought that they were ‘at it’ in the basement? Who cares if he wasn’t supposed to be watching porn during working hours while she was busting her butt off in the lab? She’ll trash it out with him another time. Not today. She sighed and stuffed a few files in her bag.

‘She’s pissed about something,’ he noticed. ‘Too bad, so am I,’ he scowled to himself. He grabbed his coat and keys and waited in the basement corridor. A few minutes later, she appeared. They walked silently out of the building. Thankfully by then most of the staff had already left.

Dana turned. Margaret Scully waved at her. Her brother Bill was beside her. Dana grimaced, ‘Housewarming. Oh no, not today…..’

Margaret walked over to her daughter and gave her a big hug. Mulder looked over her shoulder and caught Bill’s glare. He nodded at him politely, receiving an even colder glare. ‘What’s his problem?’ Mulder frowned.

"Hi, Mrs. Scully."

"Hello Fox." She hugged him too, surprising him.

"Mum, I’m sorry I forgot about the housewarming." Dana broke the awkwardness.

"We had a feeling. That’s we came to pick you up."

"Yeah, so you have no excuses." Bill leaned over to kiss his sister’s cheek.

"Funny Bill," she rolled her eyes at him.

"Anyway," Margaret cut in, "I just want to say that I’m really happy for you."

Dana arched her eyebrows. "You are?"

"There’s no need to be shy about it. Although I would prefer to find out about it in a less **public** way but I’m just really happy for both of you."

Mulder noticed that Bill’s glare had turned into a scowl now. "Both of us?" he asked.

Dana eyes opened wide. "Oh my God! Mum…" She gently grabbed her mother’s hand and led her aside. "Mum, it’s not what you think, "she hissed.

"What, honey?" Margaret looked bewildered.

"Mulder and I ….. That night we lost our luggage. Then there was only one room and we had to share a pair of pajamas. Then we accidentally got arrested for vice. What can I say? It was a really bad Mills and Boons plot but **not** a Mills and Boons ending."

Margaret looked crestfallen. "Oh."

Bill caught most of Dana’s explanation even from the distance and turned to Mulder, smiling. It was Mulder’s turn to glare at him.

Dana shook her head in disbelief. ‘And the polls say nobody watches the news anymore…’ she grumbled to herself.

Margaret took a deep breath. She knew she had just embarrassed her daughter in front of her partner and had to make amends fast. She turned to Mulder. "So Fox, you are coming along aren’t you?"

Mulder was caught off guard, he was still in the middle of a stare match with Bill. "Uh?" ‘Darn, I lost,’ he groaned inside. ‘Well, I was distracted!’ He comforted himself.

"Fox?"

"Sorry Mrs. Scully. I can’t. I have something on tonight."

Bill grinned and received a glare from his sister. He wiped the grin off immediately. "Okay, so shall we?"

"Yeah, let’s," Dana answered, suddenly very tired.

Mulder walked them to their car. A few steps from the car, Dana turned to her partner, careful enough not to meet his gaze. She handed him the car keys. "You need to fill her up. See you Monday."

"Yeah, Monday." He watched as she got into the car. Bill nodded his head at him with a smirk. He nodded back, resisting the urge to stick out his tongue at him. He then willed Scully to look at him. Wanting to know if she was all right. She seemed to hear his wishes. She turned around just when the car was driving off. It was a quick glance but Mulder caught it.

46 days A.H.

9.15 pm

Bill Scully's residence

Dana poured herself another shot of whiskey. Her stomach was already warm from the 3 glasses she sipped throughout the hour. She watched the candle flicker in the darkness. It reminded her of Carrington Base. Being close to the typhoon coast, Carrington was constantly plagued with strong winds, which caused frequent blackouts in the naval base areas. Dana spent a lot of time alone in her room trying to read in the candlelight while her brothers and sister tormented her with ghost stories. Not that she was afraid. She never believed in ghosts, until now. Too many ghosts, waiting to claim her insanity. She thought of her colleagues at work. ‘And so many people waiting for me to go insane……..’ She swallowed the glass of whiskey down at one go.

The attic trap door creaked open. Dana hid the whiskey bottle behind her back. She peered from behind the antique cupboard. ‘It was just Tara. Good, Bill hadn’t noticed I’m missing yet.’ She stayed silent and waited for her sister in law to leave the room.

"The idiot!" Tara muttered. "Bill forgot to take the candle down. Just wait I get my hands on him," she muttered. She headed towards the light and almost tripped over something. "Dana?"

Dana smiled sheepishly. "Hi!"

"I thought Bill forgot to take the candle down when he came up just now. What are you doing here?"

"I was tired of smiling. So, I bailed."

Tara looked at Dana for a while. She liked her husband’s sister and admired her. She was such a strong individual. Sometimes too strong for her own good. She shuts too many people out. Tara sat down beside Dana. "I’m sorry Fox couldn’t come."

Dana smirked.

"What?"

"It’s just weird how everyone in my family calls him Fox and I call him Mulder."

Tara smiled. "Yeah, I find that **very** weird."

"He doesn’t like me calling him Fox."

"Why not? You mum and I call him Fox."

"Melissa too."

"Did Melissa know him well?"

"I don’t think so. They knew each other only for a days when I was… never mind."

"After the abduction."

Dana looked at her. "How much do you know?"

"Just about as much as Bill knows. Which isn’t much…."

Dana laughed softly and Tara grinned. "So you mind sharing you whiskey with your sister-in-law?"

Dana arched an eyebrow at her. "As long as you don’t tell Bill I’m hiding out here."

"Deal."

Dana produced the bottle and poured a glass for Tara. "So now that you have your own house, you might be seeing more of our relatives," she grinned cheekily.

"Are you trying to cheer me up?" Tara groaned.

Dana laughed again. "They’re kinda weird, aren’t they?"

"You haven’t seen my side yet. Why do you think I married Bill? You want my advice, get hitched to a travelling man – no fixed postal address."

"Get hitched? That is definitely not on the list of things I want to do right now."

"Bill’s worried about you."

Dana closed her eyes. "So what’s new?"

"Dana, you’re his little sister. He’s just looking out for you."

"I’m not **little** anymore Tara. And he’s not protecting me. Not even close."

"You don’t give him a chance to."

"I don’t need him Tara."

"Sure, you don’t need anybody!"

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Dana, you’re acting like a spoilt brat. You think you’re the only around here that has problems? We have lives too Dana. And it isn’t all roses for us either. But you don’t care. Even though we do."

"I never asked you to care in the first place!" Dana bit her lip in regret the moment the words slipped out of her mouth. Tara stiffened in anger. Dana immediately apologized, "Tara, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I just had a long day."

Tara softened. "Something happened at work?"

"Not really. Just the **news** thing."

"Ah yes, you looked good on TV," she grinned.

"Ha ha, Tara." She sighed.

"The other agents giving a tough time?"

"It would be easier if it were true."

"What are you talking about? It is partly true. You do love him."

Dana hesitated. "He’s my partner."

"Yeah, yeah I know. Bureau policy right? Bill keeps rubbing that in my face with glee."

"What’s his problem with Mulder?"

"It’s a guy thing. Feels his territory being threatened that’s all."

"Territory?" Dana asked incredulously.

"Dana? Are you up there?" Bill called from below. Tara stifled a laugh when Dana moved quickly behind the cupboard. Bill held the trapdoor open, "Tara, what are you doing here?"

"Just getting some extra blankets."

"Did you see Dana?"

"No."

"She didn’t get any phone calls from Alien Boy and ran off, did she?"

"I don’t think so. She’s around somewhere. I saw her talking to Aunt Flora a minute ago. Why don’t you check with her?"

"Right." The trapdoor closed.

Dana sighed in relief. "Thank you. Thank God Bill married you and not Clara Fisher. She would have squealed on me."

"Who on earth is Clara Fisher?" Tara demanded to know.

"Don’t worry. He was Bill’s girl in college. He nearly married her, you know."

"Hmmm, remind me to ask Bill about her." Tara scowled. Then she heard her named being called and sighed. "Duty calls." She took the blankets from a wooden chest and braced herself for another run round the living room of relatives. "Don’t stay up there too long, okay?"

"’Kay." She settled her down on the floor again. Her mind randomly replayed her sister-in-law’s words. Maybe Tara was right. She hardly confided in her family as the years went by. There was reason for this. They wouldn’t understand. They wouldn’t believe. How could they when she hardly believed the things that she had seen with Mulder. All the lies, the truths and the thin gray line in between.

No, it would be impossible to let them in. It would be unfair. Her life was screwed up enough, she didn’t need to convert the others in her family as well. Let them believe in the future, whatever’s left of it.

Outside Bill Scully's residence

Mulder peered out of his car, an eye on the road and the other watching out for house No. 7. He sighed. ‘I am a total sucker for her.’ He was mad at her. And yet, here he was looking out for her big bad brother’s house. He couldn’t even figure out why.

‘No. 7.’ He parked his car on the opposite side of the road. There must be around 20 guests in there, judging from the cars parked outside. He glanced at his watch. ‘Okay, dinner is definitely over. You’re not really dressed for the occasion. You didn’t even bring a gift. Yeah Mulder, this sure as hell will impress the in-laws.’

He got out of the car and started walking across the street. He only made it halfway before he chickened out. ‘You’ll only be intruding in her family gathering, you ass,’ he abused himself. He retreated to his car and made himself comfortable on its hood. He leaned back and watched the stars. The thought of going home to his apartment irked him. He’d rather sit out here, with Scully nearby.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tara gave the okay signal when Bill wasn’t looking. Scully flashed her a grateful thank you and slipped into the kitchen and out the back door. ‘Fresh air at last.’ She closed her eyes and mentally promised her brother, ‘Ten minutes. Just ten minutes, then I’ll get back in there and be a good sister, okay Bill?’ She opened her eyes and frowned. ‘It couldn’t be!’ She peered harder. ‘It is him! And he’s sitting on his car and staring up into space.’ She took a few steps forward and leaned against the mailbox. He’s wearing her favorite shirt – the black tight one. The one that keeps reminding her that she isn’t ‘devoid from human emotions’…..

She smiled as Mulder brought out his packet of sunflower seeds. He is so predictable and yet sometimes so unpredictable. His mannerisms and weird preoccupations often left her baffled. He has the most brilliant mind and the most annoying habits. How on earth did she last five years with him? She figured it had to be because of nights like these when he wore that sexy black thing. Or maybe it was just the fact that she was in love with him? Maybe.

She had watched him for over five minutes now. Remembering the promise she made to her brother, she walked across the street. Maybe it was time to have that talk with him, she decided.

"Mulder?"

He jumped. "Darn it, Scully. You made me lose count."

"Lose count of what?"

"The stars."

"Ah." Realization dawned on her. It was his paranoia. No matter how weird things were in her life, he out-shadowed her.

Mulder sat up, noticing her silence. "Scully?"

She awoke with a slight start but resumed her cool manner. "I thought you had something on tonight Mulder."

"I do. I’m doing it right now."

"Sitting outside Bill’s house, counting stars?"

He grimaced a little. "Well sitting outside Bill’s house wasn’t in the original plan…."

She frowned.

He smiled at her reaction then looked down before he admitted. "I thought you might need a little company."

She smiled now, touched that he did catch her pathetic plea in the look she gave him at the Bureau car-park. "Yeah I do."

"That bad huh?"

"Worse. I actually hid in the attic for an hour before Tara ordered me down. Of course I then bargained for a little fresh air and surprisingly got it."

Mulder laughed. "Careful Scully, you’re becoming like me."

She grinned. "So, you wanna come in?"

"Depends, is Bill in there?"

"Mulder!"

"Your brother hates me Scully."

"He doesn’t hate you. He’s just….jealous."

Mulder arched his eyebrows. "Of what?"

Dana looked down. "Maybe it’s because you’ve become more apart of my life than he is."

Mulder stopped breathing. She slowly lifted her head and looked into his eyes. A few seconds later, he broke the contact and turned to look at the stars again. "Scully did you know that somewhere up there, there’s probably a star named Dana?"

Scully smiled. ‘Typical Mulderism. I get too intense, he backs away.’ She decided not to let him off so easy. "As a matter of fact I did know that Mulder. There’s probably a star out there named Fox too." She bit her lip to prevent a laugh when she heard him gasp slightly at her response. ‘Oh yeah, we Scullies are good,’ she reveled in glory for a few seconds. ‘Okay Scully, knock it off. Give the guy a break. He hasn’t even met your family yet. And he’s gonna need his strength for that.’ She took a step back. "Come on Mulder. Let’s go in." She gently took his hand in hers and tugged him towards the house.

Still a little distracted by the emotions his body was facing and a little unused being on the other side of the innuendoes, he muttered to himself. ‘Okay Mulder. Take control of the situation.’ "Scully, I’m sorry about what happened this afternoon."

"It’s okay Mulder. You know I don’t care what people think."

"From now on, I’ll promise not to look up your skirt," he leered.

"So that’s what you’ve been doing under that table," she teased him back. "See anything you like?"

Mulder shook his head in amazement. Since when did she get so good at this? His nose twitched and he frowned.

They were at the entrance when Mulder moved closer beside her. She held her breath as his nose gently nuzzled her hair, her right temple and then a little lower…..

"Scully?" he whispered, sending a shiver down her spine.

Dana slowly turned, her eyes on his chest. Loving him more than ever for wearing this particular shirt. "Yeah?"

He bent lower, closer to her face, this time his nose touching her cheek. She felt slightly dizzy. She couldn’t figure out if it was the whiskey or just him. She leaned against the door behind her for support.

"Scully? Have you been drinking?"

‘Damn! He’s being protective, not seductive’ she frowned and looked into his eyes. "So **you** can drink but **I** can’t?"

"No, it’s just that I have more reason too," he whispered back.

"Really? You’ve lost a sister, I’ve lost a sister. You’ve lost a father, I’ve lost a father. You’ve lost a mother, I’ve lost a daughter. I think we’re even, don’t you?"

His eyes flickered with pain but only for a second. ‘To hell with John Cage!’ He had to kiss her. He had to make it all right.

Dana felt him lean closer and her irritation disappeared. He was only half an inch away. She lifted her chin to meet him. Then she felt the door behind her give way. She was too stunned to say anything as she clumsily fell into the arms of the man behind the door.

"Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise?" Ben’s face hovered above her with a grin.

"Ben?"

"Catch you at a bad time Dana?" He looked at a grim-faced Mulder in front of him and smiled sweetly at the woman in his arms.

Dana disentangled herself as elegantly as she could. She glanced at Mulder and was slightly pleased at his obvious jealous glare in the direction of Ben. "Ben, I’d like you to meet my partner. Mulder, this is Ben."

"How do you do?" Ben offered his hand.

"Fine, thanks." Mulder took it, his eyes still fixed on Ben’s possessive arm around Scully’s waist.

"Fox!" Margaret Scully appeared from behind and hugged Mulder. Bill just scowled as Tara greeted him warmly.

Dana took the opportunity to poke Ben in the rib amidst the distraction.

"Oww! What’s that for?" He hissed in her ear.

"For catching me at a bad time."

"Well, how the hell did I know that you two were playing kissy face behind that door? I was just on my way out."

"I thought you couldn’t come."

"My flight was delayed. So I took the chance to try to convince you that I can be just as spooky as that guy," he nodded towards Mulder.

"Oh God, Bill’s gonna bore him to death." Dana frowned as Bill took Mulder under his wing and introduced him to Uncle Frederick and Grandpa Marshall. "I gotta go save him, Ben."

"Hey, need my help? I still have about five minutes to spare before I have to rush off to the airport."

"Yeah, you can cancel your flight and spend the rest of the night keeping Bill busy."

His eyes widened in horror. "Opps, look at the time. Gotta go. Bye Dana." Ben kissed her on the cheek and headed out the door.

"There’s just no loyalty these days," she muttered and turned to Mulder. He was nodding enthusiastically as Grandpa Marshall started on his well-known story about the battle with the Turks centuries ago. As soon as he got the chance he shot Scully his puppy dog look, pleading her to come to his rescue. She grinned. This is one good time to make him pay for all the times he ditched her. So she mused around with the other guests as her partner tried means and ways to get her attention while pretending to be enamoured by the history of World War 1.

After twenty minutes, Margaret took pity on Mulder and pulled her daughter aside. "Dana, for heaven’s sake get him out of there. He can hardly keep his eyes open."

Dana smiled. "Don’t worry mom, he’s an insomniac. He’ll be fine." She caught his pathetic gaze and melted. "On second thoughts, I think it’s enough purgatory for one day."

"You mean hell." Margaret muttered as went back to attending her guests.

Dana walked towards Mulder. "Grandpa, I hope you don’t mind if I steal Mr. Mulder here for a few seconds."

"Of course not Dana dear. He’s such a strapping young man. Aye, he’d be a good breed to join the Scullies."

Knowing it would futile explaining that Mulder wasn’t her other half, she laughed. "Grandpa, you make him sound as if he’s a horse!"

"Horses! Men! What’s the difference? It’s the breed, I tell you. You need to find a good breed. And I can tell that he is, just by the fact that you have chosen him. Aye, you have your father’s keen eye, Dana. You pick the best."

Dana blushed. "Thank you. If you’d excuse us, I have to feed my stallion."

Grandpa guffawed in laughter as Mulder and Dana escaped. Her partner looked a little dazed.

"Mulder, are you all right?"

"I’m fine. So just when do we start breeding?" his eyes lit up mischievously.

Dana eyes widened, she hesitated then impulsively replied. "Soon Mulder. Very soon."

Mulder swallowed hard.

End of Spooky and Skully