Author: Jemirah Archive: You want it-you got it. Just please let me know! Spoilers: Nope, nada. Rating: G (major sap alert!) Category: Uh, ok. Lemme see. How 'bout F for Fluff, and MS friendship/UST. Oh, and sappy, definitely sappy. Summary: What I've always thought Mulder needed, other than to profess his undying devotion to Scully again... LOL Feedback: jemirah@hotmail.com Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Author's Note: Uh, ok, this is another weird idea dropped in my lap while I am working on a larger project. It just wouldn't leave me alone, so, here ya go... Special Thanks: To Char for the beta, to Kell for reading it, and both of them for saying this isn't crap! Oh, and to *my* Buffy. Dedication: To Sonia, for being the only person (so far! LOL) brave enough to call herself my fan, and to TJ for just being her sweet self! Thank you both for everything! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Damsel in Distress ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It had started slowly, she realized. He had started skipping out of work early every other day or so, then it had escalated, with him slipping out of the office every few hours. She really started to worry though, when he started turning down cases that seemed interesting even to her, if they involved travel. She wasn't worried that he was sick, that he had lost interest in their quest--none of that. She was worried that he had found someone finally. They had spent so much time together over the last few years, she couldn't imagine ever finding another man she cared as much about as she did Mulder. Or found as interesting, stimulating, attractive. Hell, she might as well admit it. He was her dream-man. She chuckled out loud at the absurdity of that thought. She felt like the 9-year-old she'd once been, playing bride with the old, yellowed scarf she'd found in the attic. If he'd been here he'd have asked her what was funny. God, she really needed to find something better to devote her efforts to. But then, maybe that was totally unnecessary. She was accustomed to the turns her life had taken. She didn't want anything to change. Different was not always good. Maybe that was why his whole 'get away from the office as much as possible' thing was bothering her. He had decided to change their routine (whether he realized they shared the same one or not...) without consulting her. And she was not going to put up with it anymore. She gathered her things up before she had a chance to think about it and locked up the too-quiet-without-him- office and headed to her car. She had only the tiniest qualm at entering his home without invitation, but she had knocked. Not very loudly, granted, but she didn't want to disturb him if he was sick or resting, or occupied... She sighed as she forced herself to be honest to herself at the very least. She was totally wiped out by jealousy--of something she wasn't even sure of-- nonetheless. The door opened easily as usual, and she tried to suppress her natural instinct to sneak in, remembering the last time that had happened. She shut the door behind her quietly and proceeded into his living room. He was just where she'd half expected (and all the way hoped) to find him, on his couch asleep. She felt all the anger leak out of her, replaced by the relief she felt at seeing him resting, alone. Then a terrible sound startled her, enough to make her drop the keys she'd just used to gain entrance. It was low and unidentifiable at first, but she then recognized it as growling. A dog, growling. She suddenly saw it, curled up behind Mulder's bent knees, with its head resting on his legs. It was so black it blended into the dark leather of his couch, and it was looking right at her, with a not terribly friendly expression on its face. As the growl became louder and more serious sounding, Mulder started awake. He looked at the dog immediately then followed its gaze to see Scully, where she stood frozen in the arch between his dining and living rooms. He raised up and patted the dog's head, which caused it to look at him, with a look of pure adoration on its face, Scully was pleased to notice. He made some kind of sign, apparently at the dog and got off the couch to make his way across the living room. When he reached Scully, he took her totally by surprise by halfway engulfing her in a hug, and turning to face the dog again. She couldn't stand it any longer, she had to have an explanation, and she had to have it now. Immediately. Without further delay. "Mulder, what is going on here... ?" She hated the little whiny note her voice had picked up somewhere between her brain and her mouth, but she couldn't help it. This was like a weird dream, usually the kind that wasn't remembered in the morning. But he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at the little black dog, now sitting up on the couch, its little feet sliding out from under it on the slippery surface of the leather. He was also making the signs again, which looked to her like some kind of simplified sign language. Maybe this was one of those weird dreams, she thought as she stood still being clutched by Mulder as he carried on a conversation of some kind with a dog. He finally turned back to her and, finally meeting her gaze, drew her to the couch, to the little dog that was now waggling its bushy tail furiously against the back of the couch. "Pet her, she won't bite, I promise," he finally spoke as he urged her to sit by the dog. "Her name is Buffy." She couldn't help it, she laughed. "Buffy?" He looked slightly hurt, but went on, motioned for her to pet the dog, now slightly cowering as it looked from him to her, that look of adoration still written on its every feature. "Yeah, that's the name she came with." This was getting more and more confusing by the second. "Came with?" "Yeah, when she was dropped off at the pound, she had a tag on. Buffy." He looked at the dog and, she was sure quite unconsciously, mocked its loving gaze perfectly. "Well, wonders never cease I guess. Are you gonna explain, or do I have to ask the dog?" "Yeah, I guess I should. Well, it started like this. Frohike got her at the pound, but Byers is allergic. So they brought her to me, they didn't want to have to take her back to the pound. She'd already been brought back twice. They were afraid she'd be put down..." He trailed off as a look of abject terror crossed his features. "Why was she taken to the pound in the first place, Mulder? She seems like a sweet, well-mannered little dog." "Because of this," he said as he patted the dog's head, gaining its attention again. When it looked at him he made a little motion towards his body and was suddenly covered by the wriggling little body. Scully finally understood. The dog was deaf. She couldn't quite control the wave of tenderness that washed over her then, not only for the dog, but for the man that had obviously fallen in love with it. "So that's where you've been going lately...," she knew he had seen the tears she was trying to inconspicuously wipe from her eyes, but she ignored them anyway. "Yeah. She needed special classes, and so did I, to learn the signs." He signed for the dog to get in Scully's lap and she immediately understood, remembering the special, unique unconditional love only given by dogs. "Mulder, how *do* you get yourself into these situations?" Her tone was light as she admonished him though, and he responded in kind. "I don't know, Scully. I guess I'm just a sucker for a damsel in distress." ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~! Ok, send me feedback that will keep me awake tonight! jemirah@hotmail.com !~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~ http://www.angelfire.com/ms2/XFGoddess/j.html ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!