House of Cards - Chapter 6 By Jennifer T. Brooks E-Mail: Jenntou@excite.com ************************************************** Circle Centre Mall Indianapolis, Indiana December 16, 1998, 4:09 p.m. Scully paced back and forth in front of Parisians department store constantly checking her watch. "Where the hell is he?" She muttered to herself not fully realizing that other people could hear her. Dana Scully was beyond worried, she was royally pissed off. She hadn't even wanted to stop by the mall but Mulder pleaded and begged her to go on their way back from Chicago. He wanted to get a gift for someone even though he wouldn't tell her who. She knew that it had to be for Natasha. God, she was beginning to hate that woman. She didn't understand why they had to drive back from Chicago. They flew there, why couldn't they fly back. Mulder, as usual, fed her some crap about the FBI office in Indianapolis needing their help on a case. She was suspicious when he wouldn't tell her what the case involved. She was certain Mulder was keeping his mouth shut because it involved aliens or UFO's. At 4:30 Mulder chose to make an appearance. "Where the hell have you been Mulder?", Scully yelled at him as he approached her, "Your ass was supposed to have been here an hour ago." She said as she pointed at her watch face. "What do you mean an hour ago. I'm on time. You said to meet here at 3:30. It's 3:30 right now." He said while looking at his watch. "Mulder it is now 4:30. We're on Eastern time right now, not central like Chicago, and if you would have set your watch like I reminded you to on the way back from Chicago we wouldn't have had this problem. Furthermore this place has many clocks and you could have seen what time it was on any of them." She said gesturing to the large clock suspended from the ceiling that they could be easily see. "I truly am sorry Scully, don't get all bitchy about it. It was an honest mistake. I didn't do it on purposes to make you mad, I just lost track of time. Let me make it up to you. My treat for dinner." "First of all I wasn't bitchy and I'm not that hungry Mulder. I had a snack a little while ago," Scully replied defensively, not knowing why she lied to him about having eaten earlier. "Okay, I have an idea then." "Why do I feel like this is something I'm going to regret?" Scully said as she eyed him suspiciously. "Live a little Scully. Since you aren't hungry right now, what do you say about eating in a couple hours and going out and having some fun?" "Going out and having fun? Where? Here? In Indianapolis?" Scully said cynically. "Sure, here. One of the store clerks told me that there's some sort of entertainment complex on the fourth floor. She said that there are several nightclubs up there that are worth checking out. Care to join me for an evening of fun?" He knew that she would say no, but he felt like asking her anyway. He didn't know why he was even bothering with her in the first place. She was to morose and depressing to be around. All she ever wore was black clothes these days. She never wanted to have fun anymore. "What kind of mall has a nightclub Mulder? Besides, I don't have anything to wear to a nightclub. Somehow a regulation suit doesn't quit seem like party clothes," She said while gesturing at her clothing. "Scully, my dear, it is your lucky day. We're in a large mall with lots of stores and we have plenty of time to pick you out an outfit. Please, please say you'll go. It will be fun, just like old times." He was desperate. He decided that this trip was going to be the trip that either kept their partnership together or made him turn in her reassignment request. "I don't know why I even put up with you and your fun ideas. They always end up getting us into trouble. If you lead me anywhere near woods I will personally kill you Mulder. Consider it my gift to the cigarette smoking man," She said as she crossed her arms over her chest and continued to stare up at him. "No woods Scully, scouts honor. We can get an outfit for you," He said while crossing his fingers. He was surprised to see a glimpse of the old Scully coming out. "Don't you need one to?" "Why do you think I was late?" "What would you've done if I had said no?" She said as she arched her eyebrow. "I would have gone without you." He was totally honest with her. He decided that if she didn't want to go he would have left her in the hotel and gone himself. "Oh," was all Scully could respond. Mulder and Scully then set out to find something for her to wear. An hour later Fox Mulder found the perfect dress for Dana Scully in Victoria's Secret. "Please try it on Scully," Fox pleaded. He said as he picked it up off the rack and handed it to her. He knew that she would never wear something like this. It was so unlike her. His dowdy depressed partner would never try on something like this much less buy it. "Mulder, I'll look like a slut in it," She said emphatically. "Oh, a trashy Dana Scully. I'll have to get pictures for Melvin." "Melvin, who the hell is Melvin, Mulder?" "Melvin Frohicke" "Oh god he does look like a Melvin. And I'm not wearing that dress," She said as she put the dress back on the rack. "Scully it is just a dress, it can't hurt to try it in. You don't have to get it if you don't like it." He took the dress back off the rack and handed it to her. He was pleasantly surprised to see that she was actually considering buying it. "I'm glad that I have some control in what I wear. I'll try it on, but don't say that I never do anything for you. I want to make it clear that just because I'm trying it on doesn't mean that I'm going to buy it," She said as she slowly walked back to the dressing room. In the dressing room she picked up the skimpy black dress and looked at it. She couldn't believe that she was actually going to try something like this on for Mulder. She wore clothes made out of a lot less material for Claire and Blake all the time, but they were her best friends. Mulder was different. He was at one time her best friend, but he had never been the same type of friend that Blake and Claire were. She trusted him with her life, but not with her heart. She silently wondered what it would take to seduce Mulder. He wasn't the only one who deserved some happiness. The dress that Mulder picked out was a dress made for a 5"9 model who weighed 130 pounds and was curved in all the right places. This wasn't a dress for someone her height and weight. She did like the dress though. It was your basic black dress with spaghetti straps and a lowered back that came down to about an inch above her knees. The style of the dress was nice, but the fabric was divine. It was made of some silk blend and felt wonderful to the touch. She tried on the dress, but thought that it was a little lose in some areas. She wasn't sure that she was ready to do tight in front of Mulder. He had never see her like that. "Mulder," She called out hoping that he was standing outside of the dressing room stall. "Yeah Scully, need me to help you into the dress?" He said with a hint of flirtation as he tried to peek over the dressing room door. "No, this dress is a little loose, can you get me the next smaller size?" She figured if she were going to go tight she may as well go tight all the way. "Sure, the tighter the better. I like my women in tight clothes Scully." Mulder said envisioning what Scully must look like in the dress. "Well, I for one am not your woman or anyone else's' woman for that matter. Are you going to get me the dress or am I going to have to get it myself?" She said as she took off the dress she had on and placed it back on the padded hanger. Mulder thought about not responding so that he could see her in the dress but decided against it and went to get her another size "Scully, what size do you want?" Mulder asked. "Get me a 2/3 please." "G-man at your service." Minutes later Mulder returned carrying the desired size but only after he stopped to look at the bras and underwear. He picked up a pair of matching black lace underwear and bra for Natasha. He knew that she would look wonderful in it and he couldn't wait to give it to her. If only he could survive this trip to Indianapolis with Scully. He also saw a pair of leopard print ones and decided to buy them for Diana. He knew that she would get a big kick out of them. He supposed he got them out of habit. In the past whenever he went on a trip they always would bring each other the tackiest/smuttiest article of clothing they could find. He had the clerk ring up the purchase while Scully tried on the smaller size. Minutes later she joined him at the counter and noticed that he had just bought something. "What's in the bag Agent Mulder?" Scully asked. "Oh just a little something I picked up for myself," Mulder responded coyly. "I didn't realize that they carried your size or style in here Mulder. This is a woman's store." "Oh really, I didn't notice," Mulder said with a grin on his face. Scully rolled her eyes. Sometimes it was better to just ignore things that Mulder said than to get into it with him over such a juvenile issue. Dana Scully was beginning to feel like her friendship with Fox Mulder was back on track. He was once again joking around with her, something he hadn't done in months. The drive from the mall to their hotel, The Courtyard by Marriot, took roughly five minutes. Mulder was animated the whole time pointing out various tourist attractions. She silently wondered when he had time to visit the city in the last couple years and why he hadn't told her about it. Open their arrival at the hotel they got the keys to their customary adjoining rooms. Mulder then proceeded to open the connecting door on his room. Scully was surprised to see that Mulder opened his door at all. For the past 4 months he had shut himself off from her. She was starting to wonder about his change in behavior over this trip. She figured that he must have had a fight with Natasha and wanted her to cheer him up. she thought. Scully then proceeded to do her makeup and hair and put her dress on. Mulder was in his room watching television. He really could care less with Scully did tonight. He missed Natasha and was anxious to get back home to see her. They had been dating since August. He had never really thought that he might date her until Scully went Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde on him. He wondered if Scully was suffering from some mental illness. He hoped that was the excuse for her behavior as of late. It was hard for him to watch the woman that he loved more than anyone in the world disintegrate in front of his eyes and him not being able to do anything about it. He cared for her enough to try to help her but she didn't want his help. After a while he just got sick and tired of trying to help her. She distanced herself from him every opportunity she got. She had done more medical consultations and autopsy's in the last 4 months than she did in the last two years combined. Scully always came up with excuses as to why she couldn't go on cases with him. The only reason why she was with him now was because Diana ordered her to go. She was still an excellent agent and was performing in her job wonderfully. But it was at the expense of her personality. The better she got at her job, the more attention she paid to it, the more that the person who made up Dana Scully was pushed to the back burner. The colder Scully got toward him the less he started caring about what she thought. He had Natasha now to fill his mind and bed. He no longer needed Scully like he once did. He didn't know who she was anymore and he no longer cared to find out. Mulder walked to the connective door and knocked on it. "You can come in Mulder," Scully called from somewhere inside the room. Mulder stepped inside the room and surmised that Scully must have been in the bathroom. "Are you almost ready?" He asked. "Yes," She said as she stepped out from the bathroom. He had never seen her look so nice. The dress fit her like a second skin and left nothing to the imagination. He felt a small tingling in his groin. When did she become so fit? He shook off the evil thoughts about his partner and what he would like to do to her in bed. The old Scully may have surfaced for one day but that still didn't excuse her behavior for the past 4 months. She had a lot of making up to do to him before he would ever trust her again. ******************************************* Courtyard by Marriot Indianapolis, Indiana December 16, 1998 7:30 p.m. "Hey Scully, you want to grab something to eat downstairs? I noticed that there's a TGI Friday's attached to the hotel," Mulder said as he escorted Scully to the elevator. "Sure Mulder, I'm kind of thirsty," Scully replied. "I figure after we eat we can go over to the mall at check out the club. Sound like a plan?" They made their way to the restaurant and proceeded to eat. Dinner was fairly uneventful. Mulder insisted that they sit in the bar section so that he could watch the Pacers and Nicks game on television. He ate a large steak and baked potato while Scully silently picked at her house salad with fat free French dressing. She wasn't even hungry. It was only after Mulder told her to order something because he didn't want to look like a loser and eat alone, that she got a salad to appease him. After dinner they took a cab to the mall. "I cannot believe you dragged me to a mall at night Mulder. No one goes to a mall at night. Dance clubs don't belong it malls Mulder. This is just too odd, what is even odder is the fact that I cannot believe you got me to go here with you," She said looking at him questioningly. "Well I'm happy that you could take time out of your busy little schedule Scully and humble me with your presence," Mulder said jokingly. He still couldn't believe that he had gotten her to go with him. "Hey, which club would you like to go to first Scully?" "Oh, I get a choice. Well, how about that club straight ahead called Flashbacks. It looks fairly normal as far as the people going into it," She said pointing at the neon sign that hung above the entrance. "Okay then Flashbacks it is," Mulder said taking her arm and escorting her into the nightclub. "Damn this place is small Scully," Mulder yelled above the music. "Lets get a table and then order some drinks." "Okay," Scully yelled back in Mulder's ear. They found a table for two near the back of the club next to the dance floor. From the table they could not only see the dance floor in front of them but also the city behind them through the large plate glass windows. "This is beautiful," Mulder yelled to Scully across the table as she nodded in return. "What can I get you two to drink?" Asked the blond haired waiter, "Beer is $1.00 a glass, special tonight." "We'll take two," Mulder answered as Scully looked at slightly irritated for ordering for her. Ten minutes after the delivery of the two glasses of beer the waiter brought Mulder a Long Island Iced Tea "courtesy of the bachelorette party in the corner." Scully was soon brought another beer "courtesy of that table of men near the bathroom. They said to tell you that they find you really hot and they want to know if that's your real color of hair." Scully murmured back, "There's only one way they will ever know." The beer was really impairing her senses fast due to the scant amount of food she had eaten. The waiter must have told the table of men what Scully had said because there was a loud eruption of cat calls from the table a couple of minutes later. "Scully, I can't believe you said that," Mulder said astonished. He was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol on his brain too. For once he didn't care how drunk he got. He was going to have fun with his partner tonight if it was the last thing he did. They deserved this night. This night might actually set their partnership back on track. "Mulder lets dance," Scully said unexpectedly. "Scully you know how I hate to dance," Mulder said still shocked for her even wanting to dance. The new anal retentive bitch from hell agent Scully would have never danced. He wasn't even sure that his old faithful partner Scully would have danced. This must be a new Scully emerging. He wondered if she had multiple personalities that he didn't know about. "Okay, then I'm going to dance alone," Scully said as she went to the dance floor. She couldn't believe that Mulder didn't want her. She was even wearing the padded seat and hip briefs from Victoria's Secret to give her more butt and hips. Here she was ready and available and Mulder wouldn't even look at her. He ogled every single woman in the place except for her. She was going to show him that if he didn't want her there were several available healthy males that did. Mulder had never really thought about Scully dancing, it just wasn't something he ever thought that she would do. He thought. He turned his attention to the dance floor where Scully seemed to have selected a partner for herself, a very preppy looking young man in his twenties, who was grinding his pelvis into her ass. This was something he definitely never saw her doing in his dreams, and it was something he didn't want to see her doing either. He got up from the table and quickly interrupted their 'dirty dancing'. "Excuse me, I'd like to dance with the lady," Mulder said to the young blond man. "Sure dude," The boy answered back after seeing that Mulder had a good five inches on him. Mulder proceeded to dance with Scully in a more respectable manner. Two minutes into the dance the DJ stopped the music and came on over the intercom announcing a dance contest. The winning couple would receive $100 in cash and some CD's. "Mulder I will not lose this contest," Scully said while trying to remain upright. The alcohol had really taken effect on her by this time. "Follow my lead, Mulder." A contest was a contest to her. If Mulder didn't want her she was going to show him that she really knew how to dance and for that reason alone he should want her. "Whatever you say Scully," He said not really even wanting to dance with her. Bizarre Love Triangle from New Order came on over the sound system and Scully started dancing to the beat gyrating against Mulder in an almost obscene manner. If he were not a participant in this act he would have sworn it was the start of a porno. He could not believe what a good dancer Scully was either. He never really thought her to be a night club kind of woman, but he was obviously wrong. Scully was so good at what she was doing, several of the participants stopped dancing to watch them. Soon everyone in the club was gathered around with their eyes on Mulder and Scully. Mulder had long since given up his hands off Scully pose and had his hands all over her dancing to the beat. As he was dancing he realized that he had never had this much fun at a nightclub. As expected Scully and Mulder won the contest and several beers were brought over to their table on the house. Scully pocketed the $100 cash and perused through the CD's. "Hey Scully," Mulder asked interrupting her drunken concentration. "What Mulder," Scully said without looking up. "Where the hell did you learn to dance like that." The alcohol was really beginning to impair his thought processes. "Blake taught me." "Gay Blake taught you how to dance? That figures. How often do you do this?" "Do what? Dance or go out and pick men up." Scully was too drunk to realize what she had said to Mulder but Mulder wasn't drunk enough and he understood the implications of what she was saying. "Well lets start with dancing." "Okay, I go out every Friday and Saturday night and sometimes on Tuesday," She said honestly. Maybe the thought of her having a social life would make him want her. "No really," He said not quite believing that conservative Agent Scully went dancing three nights a week. "I told you Muldy. Three nights a week," She said as her speech was beginning to become affected by her extreme alcohol consumption. "How often do you pick up men?" He asked bravely not knowing whether or not she was going to answer him. The fact that Scully led this secret life was fascinating to him. All thoughts about missing Natasha were pushed to the back of his mind as he questioned Scully. "All the time until Blake and Claire stopped me. They were mean and said I was a slut and needed help," She said sounding depressed. "Why did you go pick up men Scully?" Mulder asked still amazed at her honesty with him when she was drunk. He would have to remember from now on that if he wanted the truth out of her all he had to do was get her drunk. "Because he didn't want me." She said softly. "Who didn't want you?" Mulder asked. "Can't tell you. He made me promise to him that I would never tell anyone." "Why can't you tell me? You know that you can tell me anything," He said trying to gain her trust. "I used to trust you, but no more Mulder," Scully said sadly looking into the bottom of her beer bottle. "Why don't you trust me anymore Scully?" Mulder asked. "It hurts to much to trust," Scully said as she got up from her seat and staggered over to the dance floor. The young preppy blond was out on the dance floor and still looked interested in Scully. Mulder watched her go wondering what the hell had gone wrong in the last three months to make her distrust him. End chapter 6