******************************************************

                       The Spell Series - Compiled
 
                             By Kelli Rocherolle
                                kelli@edgenet.net

******************************************************


Somebody told me
that this is the place,
where everything's better
and everything's safe...
            -Toad the Wet Sprocket

Spell 6:  New

They had spent an uncomfortable night on Mulder's leather couch.  
The fact that it was small was bad enough, but the damned thing was 
noisy.  Every move they made was an exercise in discretion.  But 
neither of them  wouldn't have changed a thing;  they would gladly 
have slept on a bed of nails if it meant being together.  Sometime 
during the night Scully had slipped on Mulder's t-shirt and he had 
recovered his boxers off the floor; a throw blanket kept them warm 
as they slept.  And as strange as it was, they felt like they'd never 
been apart.  From the moment they'd kissed last night, it was as if 
Mulder had never left her sleeping on that floor to go out for 
Chinese food; that every thought and feeling and memory had come 
flooding back like a wave and drown them in their past.  And after it 
had washed away, everything was the same... but new.  

Exhausted after talking well into the night, they had both decided to 
go in to work late.  It turned out to be a bad idea...

A loud, sharp knock jolted them from sleep and sent Mulder sitting 
upright.  They looked around, disoriented.  More loud pounding, 
this time accompanied by an angry male voice.  "Mulder!"

They looked at each other:  Joel.

"Mulder answer the door!  Is Dana in there?"  He pounded on the 
door so furiously that Scully feared he would break right through.  
Mulder started to get up.

"Mulder don't !" Scully whispered fiercely as she grabbed his arm.  
"Don't answer it..." 

The door continued to rattle.  "Damn it answer the door!!"

They sat staring at each other until the banging stopped and the 
hallway turned quiet.  Scully got up and padded to the door.  She 
listened intently... he was gone.  She turned around and looked at 
Mulder:  this was not good.

Mulder sat forward on the couch, his hands clasped in front of him.  
"What are you going to do, Scully?"

She sighed heavily.  "I have to talk to him.  Today."  She scooped up 
her jeans off the floor and slipped them on, then reached for her 
shoes.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"NO," she said emphatically.  "It's all right, I have to do this myself."  
She walked over and ran a hand through his disheveled hair.  "We'll 
meet for lunch a little later, OK?"

She turned and started to leave but Mulder reached out and took 
hold of her arm.  "Wait a minute," he said softly, pulling her to him.  
He embraced her mid-section and nuzzled her stomach.  She smiled 
as she looked down at the top of his head.  <God how I missed you> 
she thought with sadness in her heart.  She had missed his sweet, 
affectionate nature; his gentle touch.  She slipped through his hold 
to kneel in front of him.  Wrapping her arms around his neck, she 
hugged him tightly.  "Mulder.." she started, but the words choked in 
her throat.

"Sh-sh," he whispered into her hair as he caressed her back, "I 
know."  He tightened his hold on her.  "I know."

She pulled from his embrace and kissed him lightly, the unshed tears 
still glistening in her eyes.  "I'll see you later?"

Mulder nodded and watched her go, concern drawing his eyebrows 
together.  Obviously, Scully knew Joel better than he did, but the 
incident at the Bureau reception, then this morning;  Joel had a right 
to be angry, but he seemed to have a dangerous temper.  Mulder 
smiled to himself, thinking what Scully would say to him right now:  
"Mulder I can take care of myself."  <Yes,> he thought, <yes you 
can.  But you'll never get me to stop worrying about you, Dana 
Scully.>
**************************************

Scully sat on the couch waiting for Joel to show up.  She had left a 
message with his voice mail to meet her at her apartment.  He had to 
have some idea what this was about.  She'd been unconsciously 
distancing herself from him since that night with Mulder, 
withdrawing from him more with each passing day this last week.  
Scully flopped her head back on the couch.  What a mess.  She'd 
been so unfair to Joel.  She'd put him off for so long; if only she'd 
waited a few months longer, this might never have happened.  And 
then to agree to *marry* him?? What had she been thinking?  She 
hardly knew him.  Objectively, she knew she had not been thinking 
clearly;  that she had without a doubt still been rebounding from her 
break with Mulder, her miscarriage.  But it didn't help her feel any 
less guilty.  Her thoughts turned to Mulder.  She'd been the most 
unfair to him.  How could she have blamed him?  To shut him out 
like that--

A sudden knocking at the door pulled her from her thoughts.  She 
went over to the door, took a deep breath, and swung it open.

Joel stalked into the middle of the room and turned to face her.  His 
black hair was soaked with rain, his blue eyes were dark with anger.  
There was no kindness in those eyes today.

"Joel..."

He was silent, unmoving.

"I asked you to come here because I needed to talk to you."

"Where were you this morning? I came by but you didn't answer."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, I--"

"Where's my ring?"

"What?"  Scully followed his eyes down to her naked finger.  She'd 
had sense enough to take Mulder's engagement ring off, but she'd 
forgotten to put Joel's back on until she could tell him.

"What's this about, Dana?"   But he knew.  It was so clearly there in 
her eyes.

"Joel, I'm sorry..."  She pulled his ring from her pocket and placed it 
on the coffee table in front of him.

He picked it up and stared at it, still unwilling to believe.  He shook 
his head and started pacing.  

"I'm so sorry, Joel."  Her voice was slow and deliberate.  "I know it 
sounds like a clich‚ but you've got to believe me,  I never wanted to 
hurt you..."

"This is about Mulder, right?"

"Joel..."

"ISN'T IT?" he yelled.  He paused, then taking a deep breath to calm 
himself, brought his voice back down and continued.  "Isn't it?  God, 
Dana, after all he's put you through...  You just go back to him like 
nothing ever happened?"

"It's not as simple as that--"

"Oh it's not?  He shows up at some function one night, shares a 
dance with you and that's all it took?"  His voice was steadily rising 
back to a loud yell.  "A few seconds alone in the lobby and 
everything's fine?  What did he say to you?"

"He didn't say anything--"

"Did he tell you he was sorry, that you meant everything to him, that 
he couldn't live without you?  What line did he feed you, Dana?"

Now her voice was rising to match his.  "He didn't feed me any line!"

"And then you fall for it??  How could you be that stupid?!"

"Excuse me?"  

"Oh no, wait, I'm sorry, it wasn't that," he continued, his voice filled 
with venom, "you just couldn't wait to get back in his bed, right?"

She stared at him incredulously.  She knew he was hurting but he'd 
gone too far.  And it seemed she knew him even less than she had 
thought.

"Is that why you never let me get that close, Dana?  Because you 
were waiting to crawl back into bed with Mulder?  And here I was 
thinking you just wanted to take things slow, maybe wait until we 
were married...  If I had known being an ass was all it took to get you 
into bed well I wouldn't have wasted two years playing the nice guy--
"

"Get out of here!" she hissed, approaching him slowly with her hands 
on her hips.  Her eyes burned with outrage.  "Get out!"

"We're not finished."

"Oh yes we are.  Get out of here Joel."

"You're going to make me the laughing stock of the Bureau, you 
realize.  Dumped for Spooky Mulder--"

"Is *that* what you're worried about?? I don't care what those pencil 
pushing Neanderthals at the Bureau think.  Mulder is a better agent 
and probably has a higher IQ then all of them put together.  And I 
don't give a damn about your bruised ego."  

Something snapped in Joel's eyes.

She never saw it coming.

************************************************

Mulder was elated.  He went through the morning feeling that at any 
moment he would wake up and he'd be lying on his couch in that 
dark apartment... alone.  But no, it was real:  she had come back to 
him.  As difficult as it was for his mind to accept, she had come 
home.  He smiled to himself and thought of calling to see if she'd left 
yet; he couldn't wait to see her again.  But he decided against it; if 
she was still with Joel, the last thing she needed was him phoning in 
the middle of it all.   As if reading his mind, the phone suddenly rang 
out, startling him.  He reached for the receiver.  "Mulder."

"Hi it's me."

"How'd it go Scully?"

"Fine.  It went fine.  But I'm feeling a little emotionally exhausted at 
this point.  I don't think I'm going to come in today."

"Are you all right?"

"Yes I'm fine... you know.  It was... hard."

Mulder nodded into the phone.

"I'll see you at my place after work?  You have the new key, right?"

"Yeah."  He paused, tapping his pencil against the desk.  "OK, I'll see 
you later then."

The line was silent for a moment, then clicked and went dead as she 
hung up.  Mulder held the receiver at his neck as he chewed the 
inside of his bottom lip.  Then, he reached for his jacket.

*************************************
The rain had dried up and now bright rays of sunshine poured 
through the dissipating clouds and warmed the pavement of 
Wisconsin Avenue.  Mulder cracked the window and let the breeze 
blow in and ruffle his hair as he turned onto M Street and headed 
towards Scully's apartment.  He fiddled with the radio dial as he 
turned off and started into the maze of side streets.  He hadn't liked 
the way she'd sounded on the phone.  Something in her voice wasn't 
right; he was concerned that it hadn't gone well with Joel.  But that 
wasn't the only thing that was bothering him.  Some small, insecure 
part of him worried that maybe she was planning on leaving again;  
that maybe she'd changed her mind.  A swarm of butterflies fluttered 
in his stomach and the radio seemed to echo his thoughts...

{If you go a million miles away
{ I'll track you down, girl.
{Trust me when I say I know 
{the pathway to your heart...

He pulled up to the curb in front of Scully's apartment.

****************************************

Scully stood in front of the mirror examining her slightly swollen, 
bright red cheek.  She'd spent the last hour putting ice on it, but it 
would probably take some time for the swelling to go completely 
down.  By that time she would no doubt have a nice big black and 
blue mark, but she could probably cover that up with make-up.  
<Who am I kidding> she thought to herself, <I'm not going to be 
able to hide this from Mulder>.  The least she could hope for was 
that it wouldn't look *as* bad by the time he saw it tonight.  She 
hadn't even seen it coming.  Evidently, Joel hadn't either; the look of 
shock on his face after the impact seemed to indicate that.  Scully 
had been sent to the couch with the blow, and had reached up and 
touched a hand to her cheek to see if it was bleeding-- it wasn't.  She 
looked up at him, stunned... then furious.  

"Oh my God, Dana, I'm sorry--" He'd started to reach for her to help 
her up.  The danger had passed,  but pure instinct drove her to the 
other end of the couch where she grabbed her weapon off the side 
table.  She cranked back the hammer and steadied her trembling 
hands.  "Stop!"

He took another step closer.  "Dana--"

"*Don't* make the mistake of thinking I'll let you get away with that 
again you son of a bitch."

"I'm sorry--"

"Get out of here,"  she had said evenly, "NOW."

He had stared at her pleadingly for a few minutes, then lowered his 
eyes in defeat.  "This isn't over, Dana," he'd muttered on his way to 
the door.  He'd gone, leaving her there consumed with disbelief... and 
self-doubt.  She had always relied on her better judgment; of 
situations, of people.  But this whole thing with Mulder and Joel... 
and now this-- how could she ever trust her own judgment again?

Her thoughts turned to Joel's accusation.  Maybe he was right:  
maybe she'd never given that part of herself to him because she knew 
it still belonged to Mulder.  And it always would.  She continued to 
stare at her reflection for several minutes.  Finally, she went to the 
kitchen and took out an ice tray to refill her pack.  She was banging 
the ice tray on the counter when Mulder arrived and didn't hear his 
keys turning in the lock.  

Mulder opened the door, stuffing the keys into his trench coat 
pocket as he entered the apartment.  Scully was in the kitchen area 
making a racket with the ice cube trays.  He smiled and came up 
behind her.  He was only a few feet away when she turned around 
and faced him.

Mulder's smile faded as he caught sight of Joel's damage.  And the 
fury roared through him like a wild animal.

Scully could only stand there staring at him.

Without saying a word, he whirled around and headed for the door.  
Scully started after him.  "Mulder..."  She reached out to grab his 
arm, but it was like trying to stop a charging bull.  "Mulder don't!"  
She hurried around to try and stand in front of him.

But rage blinded him to her presence.

He continued to head for the door, backing Scully along with him in 
a scene that might have seemed comical to the unknowing observer.  
At the door she held her hands up against his chest.  "*Please* 
Mulder, don't do this!"  Her eyes pleaded with him.

She held him in her gaze for just a moment, then his eyes moved to 
the swollen area below her right eye.  He stepped quickly away from 
the door and with one swift movement of his arm swept everything 
off the side table.  "That SON OF A BITCH!!" he screamed.  He 
swung at a lamp and sent it careening to the floor.  "I'll kill him!"

Scully leaned back against the door and covered her ears with her 
hands as he continued to lash out at her furniture.  "Mulder stop it! 
Just stop it!" she yelled at him.  He paused, running both hands 
roughly through his hair and tried to regain himself.  He looked over 
at her.  Her voice dropped to little more than a whisper  "Please, just 
stop."

He walked over to her and pulled her against him.  He exhaled 
slowly.  "I'm sorry."

"No it's all right.  I took care of it, I'm OK," she said into his coat.

Mulder stepped back and, still holding her by the arms, examined 
her face.  Then, unable to tolerate the sight any longer, he closed his 
eyes and rested his forehead against hers.  "I'm sorry I wasn't here, 
Scully."

"It's all right, Mulder, I told you I'm fine.  I can take care of myself."

Remembering his earlier thought, he couldn't help but smile.  He 
hugged her close.

************************************

Later that night they sat watching television.  They both sat on the 
floor, Mulder leaning back against the couch.  Scully sat forward, a 
bowl of popcorn in front of her, as Mulder scratched her back.  The 
light from the television reflected brightly off her glasses.

"I never pegged you for a Trekkie, Scully."

"Trekker," she corrected him.

"My apologies." 

As his hand ceased it's motion on her back, she wriggled her 
shoulders.  "Keep scratching..."

He complied, reaching over and to collect a handful of popcorn for 
himself as he did.  He leaned back against the couch.  "You know.... 
the holodeck... now there's a place where we could boldly go where 
no two people have gone before..."  He smiled at her back.

She turned her head to smirk at him.  He raised and lowered his 
eyebrows at her, then pulled her back against his chest.  Even more 
so than he had before, Mulder cherished every moment of this quiet 
time with her.   She had been pretty silent all evening, and he knew 
she was thinking about Joel.  He sighed inwardly.  Things never 
seemed to be easy for them.  He decided he wanted to do something 
special for her.  What, he wasn't sure of yet; he'd never been very 
good at giving gifts-- God knows his sports videos hadn't gone over 
well.  But he'd give it some thought;  eliciting one of those coveted 
smiles had become his favorite pastime.  Mulder's thoughts turned 
once again to Joel and the anger settled in his stomach like burning 
lava.  This wasn't over yet.  <No,> he thought, <you and I are going 
to have ourselves a little chat, my friend.  Soon..>

***********************************

The next evening Mulder had gone to his place to get some of his 
things.  Scully surveyed the disaster in the kitchen and shook her 
head.  Oh yes, things were back to normal.  She sighed, rolling up 
her sleeves and started in on the pile of dishes.  Several minutes later 
she heard Mulder's keys turning in the lock.  She headed for the door 
to greet him, drying her hands with a dishtowel along the way.  She 
stopped in front of the door and waited.  But instead of coming in, 
he peeked his head around the door.  He smiled when he saw her.  
"Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close your eyes; I have a surprise for you."

She flung the dishtowel over her shoulder and, placing her hands on 
her hips, closed her eyes.  She wondered what he was up to... 
"Should I be scared?" she teased.

Mulder came in, both hands behind his back, and shut the door with 
his foot.  His face was filled with child-like excitement.  "Hold out 
your hands."

She complied and waited for Mulder to make his next move.  As he 
did she felt something wonderfully soft and warm in her hands.  She 
opened her eyes and saw it.  Right there, fitting quite comfortably in 
her two small hands, was the tiniest, fuzziest, grayest dust-bunny of 
a kitten she'd ever seen.  A bright wide smile spread slowly across 
her face.  "Oh Mulder," she said lowly,  "it's adorable..."  She looked 
up at him.  He was grinning from ear to ear, quite proud of himself.  
"Where did you get him? her?"

"Him.  A lady in my building was giving them away and I thought 
we'd take one."

She brought the tiny creature closer and held it against her chest.  
"We don't have anything to feed it."

Mulder held up a finger and opened the door.  He reached into the 
hall and pulled in a small bag of kitten food and an empty box.

Scully cradled the kitten against her with one hand as she stepped 
closer to Mulder.  Her other arm reached up and pulled him down 
into a hug.  "Thank you."  She released him with a smile.

He smiled back at her, delighted that his gift was a success.  "What 
are you going to call him?"

Scully moved to the couch and sat down, holding the kitten up to her 
face and thought for a minute.  "I don't know.  I want to call him 
something special... maybe after someone I know."

"We could shave him and call him Skinner."

"Mulder!"  She shook her head at him, he smiled in return.

"Frohike?"

She eyed him sideways.  "I think I'll sleep on it thank you."

Later that night they lay in bed in peaceful slumber.  But forever the 
light sleeper, Mulder was awakened by the cries of the small kitten 
in it's box in the kitchen.  He looked over at Scully; she appeared to 
be sleeping soundly.  He slipped out of bed and went into the 
kitchen.  He flipped on the light and approached the box, smiling 
down on the little creature.

Having joined the ranks of the light-sleepers since becoming 
involved with the X-Files, Scully stirred when she heard noises 
coming from the kitchen.  She looked over at the empty pillow next 
to her.  She got out of bed and headed to the kitchen.  She stopped 
in the living room and looked in on the scene in the kitchen area.  
Mulder was sitting at the table in his rumpled t-shirt and boxers, and 
there in front of him on the table was the kitten, devouring a big 
bowl of milk.    Next to Mulder the little guy really did look like a 
dust-ball.  Mulder gently stroked the top of it's head with a single 
finger.  The corners of her mouth turned up slightly as she watched 
him; his tenderness never ceased to amaze her; his tall, lanky frame 
mindfully tending to that small kitten.  He did like to take care of 
things.  She thought of how he'd been when she'd been in the 
hospital after her disappearance; according to her mom he'd kept a 
near constant vigil by her bedside and refused to give up on her when 
everyone else was ready to let her go.  Well almost everyone.  She 
thought of the kind, devoted nurse who's reassuring whispers had 
helped her through her darkest moments.  The nurse that she was 
told did not exist...

She walked up behind Mulder as he was crouching on the floor 
settling the kitten back into it's box.  She knelt down beside him and 
placed an arm across his back.  "I know what I want to name him."

Mulder looked over at her.

"Owen."

He gave her a her a slight smile as he nodded.  Then, he brought her 
to her feet and held her against him, remembering those grim, 
desperate days in the hospital.  During those days, he never would've 
imagined that he could be here like this with her now... and he was 
so very grateful.   He kissed her, gently at first, then with more 
purpose.  His hands moved over her back as he continued to seduce 
her with his kisses.  "Let's go back to bed," he whispered into her 
mouth.

"I'm not sleepy," she whispered hoarsely back to him.

"Neither am I."

His arms tightened their hold around her waist as he straightened and 
lifted her gently off the ground.  He walked back to the bedroom 
with her, lying her down on the bed and letting his hands move 
slowly over the silky fabric of her nightshirt.  His kisses were soft 
and undemanding, but quickly turned more hungry.  When he could 
feel the heat of her rising body temperature through the light fabric, 
he slid it over her head.   He pulled off his t-shirt and boxers, then 
moved back for her.  His body glistened with sweat as he kept 
rhythm on top of her;  she kept her arms loosely circled around his 
neck as he drove her further and further towards the finish line.  She 
opened her eyes to find him looking back at her, but he didn't appear 
to be seeing her;  his eyes were hazy and far away with the focus of 
intense desire.  It was at that moment that her own passion broke; her 
eyes closing as he felt her body arch up against his.  He kissed her 
neck, her ear, as she relaxed underneath him.  He moved his lips to 
hers and kissed her lightly.  "Flip over," he breathed into her open 
mouth.  He lifted himself slightly so that she could do so, then 
lowered himself back on top of her.  He whispered softly in her ear 
as he moved above her.  Then, his breath grew uneven against the 
back of her neck as his passion escalated...

They lay there afterwards holding each other in the silence of night.  
Mulder was on his back as Scully slept heavily against his chest.  
His arm curled around her, he gently caressed the skin along her 
upper arm.  Though exhausted with satisfaction, he could not find 
sleep.

And his thoughts were far away. 

******************************************

The following morning was another changeable day in the nation's 
capitol; the first rays of sunrise being consumed by threatening 
clouds.  A few fat raindrops started to sprinkle the windows of the J. 
Edgar Hoover building.  

Joel headed down the hallway towards Greyson's office, wondering 
what on earth the old guy could want now.  It seemed every week 
Greyson had some mess he needed help cleaning up, and this week 
was no different.  He opened the door and entered the office.  "I got 
your message Grey--"  Greyson was not at his desk.  Joel heard the 
door close behind him and turned around.

Mulder stood in the corner of the room, his hand still on the door 
he'd just closed, as their eyes met in mutual contempt.  The distant 
rumble of thunder echoed in the darkening sky.

End Part 6


*****************************************


Spell 7:  Safe

"Mulder."

"Joel."  Mulder put his hands on his hips and approached Joel 
slowly.  Both men stood equal height, but Joel had at least 10 
pounds on Mulder.  Their eyes locked in fierce competition.

Mulder had promised Scully he wouldn't do this.  It took all his 
strength to keep the image of those beautiful blue eyes pleading with 
him in his mind as he regarded Joel, knowing what he had done to 
her. 

"I'm glad you're here, Mulder,  I've been wanting to have a word with 
you."

"Is that a fact."

"That's right."  He put his hands on his hips, mirroring Mulder's 
position, his voice steadily rising as he spoke.  "I want to know who 
the hell you think you are waltzing back into Dana's life after all this 
time; after all you put her through."

Mulder said nothing, he was concentrating all of his attention on not 
throttling the man before him.

"What did you say to her?  How did you convince her to do it?"  
Mulder's silence infuriated Joel further.  He stepped closer.  "You're 
not leaving until you tell me what you said to her!  We were perfectly 
happy--"

"Oh don't give me that crap!"  Mulder had struggled to keep his cool 
but Joel was pushing all the right buttons.   "She barely knew you.  
You moved in on her when you knew she was vulnerable."

Joel's fists clenched at his sides.

<Try it,> Mulder thought to himself, <go ahead, please, just give me 
an excuse...>

"Who the hell--"

Mulder could feel himself shaking badly with restraint, it was taking 
everything he had to maintain his self-control.  He waved his hand in 
the air.  "Look I only came here to make one thing perfectly clear to 
you--"

"No *you* look, if it wasn't for you Dana and I would be together 
right now.  I lost her because of you!"

"No *you* lost her on your own the moment you decided to talk to 
her with your fist!" Mulder yelled.

The room fell silent;  Joel could only look at him.  They were both 
breathing heavily now.

"I don't have to explain anything to you."

"No. No you don't; you just have to listen--"

"I'm not interested in anything you have to say.  You took her away 
from me, you--"

"She was never yours to have, Miner."

Joel's fist flew at him with surprising speed.  Mulder dodged the 
blow and twisted Joel's arm behind his back, putting him in a wrist 
hold.  He slammed him face-first up against the file cabinets, hard.  
"You listen to me if you *ever* so much as touch one hair on her 
head again, *nothing* will be able to stop me from coming after you 
and making sure you spend the rest of your life regretting it you 
sorry son of a bitch.  Not even Dana."  He released his hold and Joel 
turned to face him, his face furious with embarrassment.

They stared at each other.

Mulder turned and stormed out of the office, banging the door open 
on his way.

Joel massaged his aching jaw as he watched him go.  <Fire with fire, 
Mulder.  Fire with fire...>

**************************************
Later the following night they entered Scully's apartment still in their 
work clothes.  They had gone out to grab a bite to eat right after 
work, then on the spur of the moment decided to go to a movie.  
They came through the door still discussing the film, Mulder with 
the empty tub of popcorn cradled in his arm, picking at the popcorn 
seeds.  

Scully slipped her coat of and turned around.  "I'm not saying it was 
predictable... that's bad for your teeth...  just not that much of a 
surprise-- it really could've only ended one of two ways." She headed 
for the kitchen and called for Owen.  He emerged behind her from 
under the couch and she turned to pick him up.  Mulder passed by 
them loosening his tie, lightly tapping the kitten's head with a finger 
as he passed.  "He's low on water... I'll get it." 

Scully sat the kitten down as she moved for the couch and sat back 
heavily.  A few minutes later Mulder returned from the kitchen.  He 
knelt in front of her, putting his hands on her knees and gently 
pushing them apart.  He settled his hips in between them and leaned 
her against the back of the couch.  He kissed her lips softly, then 
again.  She reached up and slid his tie from the collar, then pushed 
his coat and jacket off his shoulders.  As they continued to kiss, he 
unfastened the buttons at his wrists and brought his hands up to hold 
her face.  His body slowly came alive at her warm, wet kisses.  
"What's wrong with me?" he whispered into her mouth  "I want you 
all the time."  She smiled into his kiss as he pulled her blouse from 
the skirt and let his hand creep up under her shirt. She unbuttoned 
his shirt and pulled him closer against her.  As things escalated, he 
slipped a hand behind her to the small of her back and pulled her to 
sit on the edge of the cushion.  Her face was flush with warmth and 
color, her eyes heavy with desire as she looked down at him.  "What 
are you doing?" she said thickly.

The corner of his mouth turned up slightly as he watched her, then 
his hands slowly slid around her back to the top of her skirt.  He 
unfastened the button and slid it down, taking everything underneath 
it with him.  He moved back to kiss her, then slid down to her 
stomach where he placed another kiss through the fabric of her shirt.  
He slid down a little further...

Her hands gently took hold of his face and guided him back up to 
her lips.

"Let me..." he whispered into her mouth.

She shook her head.  

"I *want* to..." he breathed, kissing her mouth, her chin.  He kissed 
the skin just above the opening of her blouse, then continued his 
descent of her midsection.  He placed a gentle kiss just inside her 
knee, then a little further.

She had no problems giving in this regard, but for whatever reason, 
in her admittedly limited sexual history, she'd always felt 
uncomfortable and had never conceded to receiving that kind of 
intimacy.  Maybe it was because she saw it as a complete 
submission, and never trusted anyone enough to let herself go like 
that... until now.

She propped herself back on her arms, weakened by the feel of his 
gentle kisses tickling the sensitive skin of her inner leg.  Her head 
fell back as his breath traveled further up her thigh.   And he took 
her to such places that she had never known...

**************************************

The following day Scully sat at her desk going over a file.  She could 
feel the eyes of the other agents on her all morning.  Obviously Joel 
had told a few of his buddies about their split.  They had been 
engaged no more than two weeks, yet the looks she was receiving 
made her felt like as if she'd committed the ultimate betrayal.  It had 
been extremely difficult for her when she'd started working in the 
VCS... Colton had made sure friends were scarce and that everyone 
knew she'd been "tainted" by working with "Spooky" Mulder.  She 
had worked hard to gain a few of the other Agent's respect, but now 
it seemed she was back to square one.  It was bad enough she had to 
avoid Joel, she couldn't avoid the whole Violent Crimes Section.  
She hoped Skinner would get back to her soon about the open 
position in the X-Files...

**************************************  
Mulder walked through the crowded bullpen of the VCS.  Scully 
looked up and her eyes brightened as she caught sight of him 
heading towards her.  They were oblivious to the stares of other 
agents.

His eyes smiled down at her as he arrived at the desk and crouched 
down beside her.  "Hi."

She smiled at him.  "Hi.  What's up?"

"Guess who wants to see us right away?"

She raised her eyebrows at him.

*************************************

Skinner eyed the two agents before him.  "Am I to understand, Agent 
Scully, that it is your intention to ping-pong back and forth between 
departments at your leisure?"

"No sir."

"Then it is your intention to remain with the X-Files if this request 
for transfer is approved?"

"Yes sir."

Skinner eyeballed them once more.  It had been a difficult decision 
and he had put off deliberating about it.  They were trouble, no 
doubt about that.  But he couldn't ignore the fact that they had also 
had one of the highest conviction rates in the Bureau.  And beyond 
that, he liked them.  He respected them.  As he sat there watching 
them now, he knew what his decision would be.  He nodded 
reluctantly.  "All right.... I'm approving the request."  He watched 
their eyes brighten.  "That is all."  They started to get up to leave.

"Agent Scully-- is that an engagement ring you're wearing?"

Mulder and Scully exchanged an uncomfortable look.  "Yes sir."  

"I had heard congratulations were in order.  Miner is a fine agent.  
Let me know if you'll be needing any time off."

Scully looked quickly at Mulder then nodded.  "Thank you, sir."

They got up to leave again.

"Agent Mulder can I have a word with you privately?"

Mulder looked at Scully, then back to Skinner and nodded.  She got 
up and left.

Skinner moved around the desk to sit in front of Mulder.  He took 
off his glasses.  "You all right with this Mulder?"

"With what, sir?"

"Agent Scully's engagement.  I know you two grew close during your 
previous work together on the X-Files, and I don't know what 
happened to initiate the initial request for transfer in the first 
place..."  he paused, giving Mulder the opportunity to offer more 
information on the topic.

Mulder stared back at him;  he wasn't about to.

Skinner cleared his throat and continued  "...but obviously you've 
patched things up.  I'm not asking as your superior, Mulder.  I'm just 
wondering if your OK with it."

"I appreciate the thought, sir.  But I can say with all honesty that I 
have no problem with Agent Scully's engagement."  Mulder could 
barely contain his smile.

Skinner sized him up.  "All right.  That's all."

Mulder got up and left the office.  Skinner looked after him and 
sighed inwardly, hoping he wasn't going to regret this decision.  It 
had been a quiet two years.

*********************************

Scully cornered him just outside the reception area to Skinner's 
office.  "So what did Skinner want to talk privately with you about?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."  He smiled at her annoyed expression.  
"He wanted to know if I was OK with your engagement."

Her expression turned amused.  "Your kidding."

He shook his head.

"What did you say?"

"I told him the truth:  that I have absolutely no problem with your 
engagement."  

Now they shared a smile as Mulder stepped closer.  He started to 
reach for her hand but a passing agent stopped him short and he 
brought the hand up to the back of his neck instead as Scully 
straightened uncomfortably.  He lowered his voice.  "So what do you 
say, Scully?  When are you gonna make an honorable man out of 
me?"  His grin taunted her.

"Mulder we've been through this.  What's the rush?"

He looked at her.  She was right, there was really no reason to rush 
things;  it was simply that more than anything he wanted to be 
married to her.  They'd already wasted too much time.

Her eyes softened at the disappointment in his face.  She knew she 
was putting him off, because she was so afraid of making the same 
mistakes again.  In the wake of her problems with Joel, her trust in 
her own judgment had been left badly bruised.  But every second she 
spent with Mulder, the more she began to regain that confidence in 
her decisions.  And as she looked into those eyes at that moment, she 
was sure of one thing:  she had no doubts about this.  She tilted her 
head to the side and smiled slyly at him.  "I think telling my mother 
might be a good place to start."

His face brightened.

"And Skinner..."

 He nodded.

"...and your mother."

He turned his head to the side.

"Mulder... you have to tell your mother."

He looked back at her.  Of course he'd have to tell his mother.  But it 
wasn't going to be easy.  Things had been so estranged between them 
for so long.  And seeing her would just bring about a lot of bad 
memories.  He finally nodded in response; she gave him a reassuring 
smile.

***************************************

"Dana?"

"Hi mom."  She stepped through the doorway and hugged the older 
woman before her.

Concern clouded Margaret Scully's face.  "Is everything OK?" 

"Yes, everything's fine."

And then she could see that Dana was indeed fine; her little girl was 
practically glowing.  She hadn't seen her like this in a long time.  
"What's going on?"

"Nothing, mom.  Can we sit and have some tea?"

She eyed her uncertainly, then nodded and headed for the kitchen...

Margaret placed a mug in front of her daughter and sat down across 
from her at the small table.  Dana asked about her brothers, her 
nieces and nephews, but she knew there was something else on her 
mind.  After several minutes of small talk, finally it came:

Scully adopted a casual expression.  "Oh, um... I'm going to be going 
back to work on the X-Files."

Margaret's heart sank.  Dana's work with the X-files had put her in 
great danger on many occasions, had almost taken her life once 
before.  And had succeeded in taking the life of her sister.  No doubt 
she would be facing such dangers again.  And of course working on 
the X-Files would also mean...  "And what about Fox?"

Her mother simply refused to call him Mulder, and Scully had long 
since given up trying to get her to do so.  She studied the table.  "Yes 
I'll be working with Mulder again."

Margaret studied her daughter's face.  "But that's not all..."

Scully looked up at her mother.  It was scary how she did that.  She 
raised her eyebrows and sighed.  "No.  No that's not all.  Mom...  
well let me start at the beginning."  She shifted in her seat.  "A few 
years ago, Mulder and I... we became... involved.  It didn't work out, 
and that was the reason I initially left the X-Files."

She nodded, remembering that conversation she'd had with Fox 
shortly after Dana had left to work with the VCS.  "What happened, 
Dana?"

Scully paused, examining her mug.  "He did something I never 
thought I'd be able to forgive him for..."  the words trailed off.

"What did he do?"

"I don't think I can talk about this..."  her voice choked with tears.

Margaret Scully reached across the table and took her daughter's 
hand.  Her tone was strong but compassionate.  "Dana Katherine I'm 
your mother... you can tell me anything."

Her voice was tight with emotion as she struggled to keep the tears 
down.  She had not planned on telling her mother about this, at least 
not now.  She didn't know how to begin.  Lowering her gaze, she 
started the best she could.  "I was... just after we became involved... 
we didn't plan it, we were careful..."  she sighed heavily and brought 
her voice down to little more than a whisper.  "I got pregnant."

Pregnant?  She certainly hadn't expected that.  Confusion filled her 
face.  "Dana...?"

"Oh mom..."  the tears welled in her eyes "I lost my baby..." She 
pulled her hand from her mother's and slumped forward on the table, 
burying her face in her folded arms.

Margaret got up quickly and went to her daughter's side.  
"Sweetheart, I'm so sorry."  She caressed her back soothingly.  "My 
God why didn't you tell me?"

She lifted her head, shaking it slowly as her mother pulled strands of 
hair from her tear-dampened cheeks.  "I thought you'd be 
disappointed in me... for acting irresponsibly, for getting involved 
with my partner, then getting pregnant..."

"Dana I know you better than to think you acted anything less than 
responsibly."  She ran a hand over her daughter's hair.  "But I don't 
understand; what did Fox have to do with you losing the baby?"

Scully stood and started pacing.  She wiped her hands over her face.  
"I had... complications.  I was rushed to the ER, I was losing a lot of 
blood, the doctors said I was dying but I knew... I told them not to 
take the baby, *don't* take the baby..."  she swallowed another lump 
of painful memories.  "Well they didn't think I was in any position to 
make that decision and in those cases they normally ask the father..."

"Fox told them to save you."

She stopped pacing and looked over at her  mother.  She brought her 
eyes to the floor and nodded.

"Of course..." Margaret said lowly, the conversation she'd had with 
Fox now becoming crystal clear.

"I blamed him."

"Honey that's a horrible position for anyone to be put in--"

"I know mom.  I know," she said as she returned to the table and sat 
back down in front of her mother, who was still crouching next to 
the chair.  "I wasn't thinking clearly, I shouldn't have blamed him... I 
don't blame him anymore.  We've moved past it."

Margaret put a hand over hers and smiled lightly.  "I could see that 
the moment you walked through the door."

A small, embarrassed smile appeared on her face as she suppressed a 
laugh.  She paused, then looked quickly up at her mother before 
returning her gaze to her lap.  "He's wonderful."  

Margaret nodded in response.  "He's loved you a long time."

Scully looked up at her, her expression curious.

"It was so obvious to me from that first time I met him--  In your 
apartment the night you disappeared.  And the way he was after you 
were found."

"Well of course, we were friends..."

She shook her head knowingly.  "The strongest marriages are built 
on friendships, Dana."

Scully stared at her mother, surprised, then followed her gaze down 
to her left hand.

"How long did you think it was going to take before I noticed that 
thing?"

A wide grin spread across Scully's face.

******************************************
The elevator doors slid open and Scully entered the crowded 
hallway.  She worked her way through the maze of desks in the 
bullpen and arrived at her desk.  Check that-- her old desk.  She 
placed a last few items in the box and hoisted it up off the surface.  
She turned around and headed for the elevator.  She gave a side ways 
glance to her left.  Joel was sitting at his desk a few rows over...  
watching her.  Her eyes returned to the front of the room as she 
picked up her pace and continued toward the elevator.

With a great sense of relief she exited the elevator and headed down 
the basement hallway.  She paused outside the door of Mulder's 
office... *their* office.  She smiled as she remembered that first time 
she had stood outside this door  {Sorry, nobody down here but the 
FBI's Most Unwanted}.  She opened the door and entered.  Mulder 
had cleared off her old desk.... recently she suspected, as she viewed 
the stacks of files on the floor in front of it.  She started to put down 
her box when something on the top of the desk caught her eye and 
she deposited the box on her chair instead.  Mulder had put a sticky-
note there on the surface of the desk.  It read, simply: "Welcome 
back.  I missed you."  And just above it, a freshly plucked dandelion 
flower.  She smiled as she tried to picture Mulder walking through 
the crowded hallways with that ridiculous weed in his hand.  And 
though she wouldn't have thought it possible... she loved him even 
more.

"Hi."

She turned around, startled to see Mulder standing in the doorway.  

"You know I'm not happy about having to find another place for 
these files," he teased as he entered the office.  "I was just beginning 
to get a system down."

"Somehow I doubt that."  The corner of her mouth turned up as he 
approached.  He smiled down on her.  Wrapping his arms around her 
waist, he pulled her up off the ground into a strong hug.

And they were safe.

End Part 7 

************************************

Spell 8:  Turbulence

Scully looked up from her paperwork to see Skinner standing in the 
doorway. 

"Agent Scully you requested a meeting with me this afternoon but 
something--"

Mulder appeared behind him and Skinner moved to let him pass.  
"--but something came up I'm going to have to postpone it." 

Mulder took a seat at his desk and pretended to read a case file.

"That isn't necessary, sir.  I just had some personal news to share 
with you."  

Skinner removed his glasses and approached the desk with a sudden 
look of concern that surprised her.  "What is it, Scully?"

"No it's nothing like that, sir.  I just wanted to tell you: my 
engagement with Agent Miner is off."  She glanced quickly over at 
Mulder.  "I thought you should hear it from me."

Skinner was silent as the pieces of puzzle slowly slid into place.  It 
didn't take him long to see the whole picture.  He hoped he was 
wrong, but if this had anything to do with Mulder...  He turned his 
head to look at him.  Mulder's head was down as he went over the 
file in front of him.  He raised his eyes to meet Skinners, and when 
he did, it was quite clear to Skinner that Mulder had *everything* to 
do with it.  The muscles along Skinner's jaw tensed.  He placed his 
hands on his hips.  "All right I want to see both of you up in my 
office right away."  He turned and started out of the office.

Scully shot Mulder a panicked look:  time we need more time.   At 
that moment she would've given anything  for even one minute alone 
with him *before* they got up to that office so that they could 
decide what they were going to tell him.  She knew they'd eventually 
have to tell Skinner, but this was way too early and they were 
completely unprepared. 

Mulder looked up at Skinner's back.  "We'll be right up."

Skinner stopped at the door and turned around.  "Right now."

Skinner moved down the hallway with the two agents trailing behind 
him like a couple of misbehaving kids being ushered to the 
principal's office.  Mulder and Scully looked at each other as they 
followed:  What do we do?  

Mulder nodded at her:  we should tell him.

Scully shook her head slowly at him.

Mulder raised his eyebrows at her as he motioned towards Skinner's 
back.

She responded with a sweeping gesture of her hand:  no way.

Skinner turned around at the elevator and caught her in mid-gesture.  
Scully thought suddenly that he looked like a microwaved potato 
that someone had forgotten to poke holes in; he was on the verge of 
exploding.

"Am I missing something here, Agent Scully?"

Her hand dropped to the side.  "No sir."

The three of them were silent as they entered Skinner's office.  
Mulder and Scully sat down.  

Skinner took his seat behind his desk.  "What the hell is going on 
here?"

They exchanged a look.  Mulder shifted in his chair.  "Sir?"

Skinner pushed his glasses back on his nose.  "Agent Mulder I get 
the impression that you have something to do with Agent Scully's... 
'dis-engagement'."

Mulder held his gaze.  "No sir."

"And I get the distinct impression that you're lying to me."

Silence.

Skinner moved to the front of his desk and leaned against its edge.  
He cleared his throat and continued.  "You're both aware of the 
Bureau's policy on such matters?"

Scully's voice interrupted another tense moment of silence.  
"Hypothetically speaking, sir, if two agents who worked together did 
get... involved... what would the consequences be?"

He studied them both before responding.  "In rare cases the agents 
would be allowed to continue working together, but typically policy 
would dictate that the agents involved be reassigned to separate 
sections."

"And so what would you suggest that agents who might find 
themselves in that position do, sir?"

Skinner took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.  "I would encourage 
said agents to give some serious consideration to continuing to work 
together, especially when other parties might see such a union as a 
weakness and decide to take advantage of the situation.  
Hypothetically speaking of course."

"Of course."  Scully looked back over at Mulder.

Skinner sighed in exasperation and moved to sit back in his chair.  
He eyed them both. "Well if you're sure there's nothing else you want 
to tell me, that will be all."

They rose from their chairs and left.

They stopped in the hallway just outside of  Skinner's office.  
Apparently Skinner had no intention of blowing the whistle on them; 
at least they had a little more time.  Now they had to decide what 
they were going to do.  Since they didn't believe the Bureau would 
let them continue working together, there were really only two 
options available to them:  one of them could leave the Bureau, or 
they could both leave.  At this point, neither option was appealing.  
The hallway started to fill with agents as the lunch hour approached.  
They straightened and headed back towards the elevator.  Once 
again, they would have to put off discussing it.  Mulder studied her 
profile as the elevator started its descent.  Maybe postponing it again 
wouldn't be such a bad idea; he had something else on his mind he'd 
been wanting to take care of for some time.

*****************************************
Margaret Scully opened the door to find herself looking up into the 
face of a man she hadn't seen in several years.  To say he looked 
better than the last time she saw him would have been a gross 
understatement.   A smile brightened her face.  "Fox."  Then, as 
suddenly as it had appeared, the smile faded from her face and a look 
of panic took its place.  "Where's Dana is Dana OK?"

"She's fine.  She's at home."  He shrugged at her.  "She doesn't know 
I'm here."

Relief drained the worry from her face.  "Come in, please."

Mulder passed through the doorway, standing uncomfortably in the 
middle of the foyer.

"Why don't you come into the kitchen I'll make us some--"

"No.  Thanks,  I can't stay."  He rubbed his jaw nervously, then 
dropped the hand back to his side.  "Mrs. Scully... I owe you an 
apology."

She looked at him in confusion.

"That night you came to see me..."

Her face softened with kindness and understanding.  She placed a 
hand on his arm.  "You don't owe me an explanation.  Dana told me 
what happened."

"I know.  I know she came to talk to you."

She stared at him, sensing that there was more.

"But I felt like I needed to tell you, to say I'm sorry about that night.  
I didn't mean to shut you out.   I didn't want to do anything that 
might exacerbate the problems Dana and I were having...   You've 
been so good to me--"

"It's all right, Fox."

He gave her an appreciative smile and nodded.  He stood awkwardly 
in the silence she seemed to be quite comfortable in.  "Well," he said 
finally, turning and opening the door, "I better go..."

"Fox?"

On the front step he turned around to look at her.

"Take good care of my little girl."

He gave her a small smile.  "I won't let you down Mrs. Scully."

"You never have Fox.  You never have."

***********************************

Scully rummaged in the cabinets for something to eat.  It was late 
morning the following day and they'd just returned from a walk.  She 
was still in her black leggings and baggy sweatshirt, her hair pulled 
back in a pony tail.  During their walk Mulder had told her about his 
conversation with her mom, and she was pleased he'd felt 
comfortable enough to go and talk to her like that on his own; she 
barely knew his mother...

Mulder came into the kitchen changed into jeans and a flannel shirt.  
He picked up his wallet off the kitchen table and stuffed it into his 
back pocket.

"Where are you going?"

"Down the street to grab a paper."

She nodded in response.

"Have you seen my keys?"

"Nope," she said absent-mindedly as she pulled a candy bar out of 
the fridge.

Her ambivalence annoyed him; a glimmer of mischief brightened his 
eyes.  He approached her, plucking the chocolate from her hand and 
placing it on the counter behind her.  He rested his hands on his 
hips.    "You're lying."

She smiled at him.  "What are you talking about--"

"All right:  assume the position."  

"What?"

He took hold of her upper arms and playfully turned her around.  
"Hands on the counter."  He kept a hand on her shoulder to keep her 
from turning around.

Now she was grinning from ear to ear.  "Mulder!"  

"Come on you know the drill.  Spread 'em."  He gently kicked her 
ankles apart.  

She laughed outright as his free hand tickled her with a mock 
frisking.

"Give 'em up I know you have them."

"Mulder stop it!" she cried through her laughter.

He stepped closer and she winced.

Mulder abruptly stepped back.

She turned around and faced him, a smile spreading slowly across 
her face.  "Sucker."

His eyes smiled back at her as he slowly approached.  

She backed up against the counter, her smile was wide, her eyes 
bright with child-like excitement.

He seized her waist and sat her up on the kitchen counter.

"Don't! Don't tickle me--Mulder please! My brothers used to tickle 
me I have a complex about it."

He smiled slightly at her lame excuse.  "I see.." he said, sliding her 
off the counter.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms embraced his neck 
as he carried her into the living area.  "What are you doing?"

"Agent Scully I can see you have some unresolved issues related to 
tickling in your childhood."  He kissed her lightly, suppressing his 
devilish smile.  "I want you to come lie down on my couch; I think 
we should explore this further."  

He collapsed onto the couch with her, kissing her deeply as her 
fingers toyed with the hair at the back of his head.

She broke from the kiss and smiled at him through half-closed eyes.  
"Is this a normal part of your therapy, Doctor?"

"Yes.  Yes it is."  He grinned back at her.  "And I also like to 
videotape my sessions;  I hope you don't have a problem with that."  
He brought his lips back to hers as his hands started their journey 
over precious familiar territory.

The door bell interrupted them;  Mulder pulled from her kisses and 
sighed heavily in irritation.  He got up off the couch and started to 
head for the door.  Scully sat up quickly, reaching out to take hold of 
his arm.  "Last time I checked this was still my apartment," she 
teased.

He put a hand over his heart.  "Ouch."

Scully got off the couch and moved to the door.  She stood on her 
tip-toes and peered through the peep-hole, then looked back at 
Mulder and raised her eyebrows at him.  She opened the door.

A delivery man passed through holding a bouquet of at least two 
dozen red roses.  "Miss Scully?"

Scully glanced questioningly over at Mulder-- this wasn't exactly his 
style...

He shrugged back at her.

The delivery man placed the flowers on the coffee table and turned to 
leave.

"Wait a minute I'll get my purse..."

"No that's all right, it's been taken care of."

"Oh."

He disappeared through the door.

Scully moved to the flowers and opened the accompanying card.  

I'M SO SORRY.  PLEASE TALK TO ME, I MISS YOU- JOEL.

She looked over at Mulder and swallowed, then her eyes returned to 
the card.  "It's from Joel."

The light left his eyes as a shadow of rage and disbelief passed over 
his face.  Joel??  How could he have the audacity to try and make 
contact with her after the conversation they'd had?  He walked over 
to Scully and took the card from her hand, reading the message for 
himself.  His breathing deepened and his jaw tightened as the anger 
seethed through him.  He looked back at Scully.  "What the hell does 
he think he's doing?"  He threw the card back to the table and started 
pacing as his he ran his hands through his hair.  "I can't believe this!"

Scully approached him and took hold of his arm.  "Mulder."  He 
looked at the floor, passing a hand over his face as he tried to regain 
his calm.  She squeezed his arm and waited for him to look at her.  
When she finally had him in her gaze, she shrugged her shoulders.  
"It's just flowers, Mulder.  I don't want them.  Especially not from 
him."

He stared at her, the anger slowly ebbing.

"And frankly I'm a little insulted you'd think I'd even give one 
second's thought to going back to him after what he did.  And with 
what we have."  

He continued to study her face.  The simple fact was, she *had* left 
him before, despite "what they had".  He was a trained psychologist; 
he understood what she had gone through, and that she'd been acting 
out of unbearable pain.  They'd worked through all that.  But he was also 
human, and his own pain over that whole mess had left him with a 
deep scar of insecurity.  "It's not that Scully.  I just don't trust him.  I 
want to know what he's up to."

"Who cares?"  She shook her head at him.  "Let him send all the 
flowers he wants."  

*************************************** 

And he did just that.  As the weeks turned into months, the flowers 
continued to come, along with the accompanying cards:

I DON'T EXPECT YOU TO FORGIVE ME, BUT PLEASE I JUST 
WANT TO TALK TO YOU.

PLEASE DANA,  DON'T SHUT ME OUT, I MISS YOU.

I DIDN'T MEAN WHAT I SAID, I WAS ANGRY.  PLEASE CALL 
ME.

I LOVE YOU.  PLEASE TALK TO ME.

Scully had left several messages with Joel's voice mail for him to 
stop sending the flowers, but to no avail.  And with each card, she 
had to watch as Mulder just barely succeeded in swallowing that 
bitter lump of jealousy.  The flowers always went directly into the 
trash, but Mulder insisted on torturing himself by reading the cards. 
He gave a valiant attempt at feigning indifference, but the clenched 
jaw, the darkening of his eyes,  revealed his emotions.

And as the weeks turned into months, their love blossomed, despite 
Joel's occasional reminders of a time that both of them wanted to 
forget.  Yet even as their love moved forward, the circumstances 
surrounding them remained the same.  It wasn't that they weren't 
willing to take the next steps, but more that they were reluctant to 
upset the status quo.  They were enjoying every minute of this 
tranquil time together, and they knew that these steps would only 
bring about more turbulence to their lives.  So they continued to 
struggle with what seemed like insuperable decisions; never making 
any headway, never moving any closer to viable solutions...  They 
still hadn't decided on what they were going to do about work.  And 
Mulder had yet to tell his mother that he and Scully were even seeing 
each other beyond friendship.  He knew that this was what he had to 
do next.  But as much as he wanted to move forward with Scully, he 
dreaded talking to his mother almost as much.

*********************************************

"Hi."  Scully entered the office and closed the door behind her.  
"What are you working on?"

"Skinner wants this report before the day's over."

Sensing his mood, Scully watched him.  She knew it wasn't that 
report that was bothering him.  This whole thing with Joel was 
wearing heavily on his mind.  Mulder never did anything half-
heartedly, and he loved no less completely;  when he fell, he fell 
hard.  This situation with Joel was tearing him up and he was barely 
coping.  A pang of guilt jabbed at her stomach and she went to him.  
She hugged him from behind as he sat at his desk.  She closed her 
eyes and turned her face into his neck.  "I love you."

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.  He turned around and 
pulled her down into his lap.  "Yeah... yeah I kind of suspected that 
when you started letting me sleep with you."

She smirked at him.  

His face turned serious and he ran a hand lightly over her hair.  "I 
love you too."  He studied her face.  "Are you OK?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

He stared at her, and thought how good she was at reading him.  He'd 
have thought that after all this time he would've come to expect it, 
but it still amazed him.  He pulled her close, resting his head against 
the warmth of her chest.  As he nuzzled closer, his cheek came 
against something hard underneath her shirt.  He reached up to undo 
her top button, then pulled her necklace up through the collar.  His 
engagement ring was hanging on the chain next to her cross.  He 
looked up at her, curious.   

She smiled at him. "I can' t wear it on my finger where it belongs, 
and I wanted to be able to wear is somewhere."    

Mulder smiled as he regarded the his ring resting against her cross.  
Somehow, it only seemed right that that was where it should be.  For 
now anyway.

"So when are you meeting Skinner?"

Mulder stood, bringing Scully to her feet as he did.  "Now.  I'm 
going to head out afterwards, will you be ready to go?"

"I have my own report to finish up, you can go ahead, I'll see you at 
my place a little later?"

He took her hand and smiled.  "OK.  But don't be too long."

She smiled back.

********************************************
Mulder entered the men's room a short time later and came face to 
face with Joel.  He was standing in front of one of the urinals 
finishing up his business.  Mulder approached him, glancing down 
briefly before bringing his eyes back up to Joel's.  "You know I think 
I saw one of those on an hors d'oeuvre tray once," he deadpanned.

Joel blinked, then scowled as he hiked up his zipper.  "If you came 
here to hassle me about the flowers forget it."

Mulder stared at him.

"You really didn't think I'd give up so easily did you?  Two can play 
this game you know."

"I'm not playing games here Miner."

"Like hell you aren't.  But that's all right.  We'll see who's the better 
player in the end."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Joel shook his head at him.  "Isn't it enough that you've blacklisted 
her in the Bureau, ruined her career?  In the end she *will* blame 
you for that.  And she'll regret the day she ever laid eyes on 'Spooky 
Mulder'."

Joel's words hit home; Mulder flinched inwardly.

"And when that happens and her world falls apart, I'll be there to 
pick up the pieces... just like I was before."

And suddenly it was very clear to Mulder what this was all about- a 
challenge; nothing more than a challenge.  It was about Joel wanting 
something he couldn't have, and his inability to handle what he saw 
as a defeat.

Joel straightened his tie in the mirror and turned back to face 
Mulder.  "Who knows?  Maybe I'll get a little piece of that ass after 
all..."

Mulder's self-control disintegrated with an explosion of rage as he 
grabbed Joel's collar roughly and forced him back into the wall.  

Two agents that were entering the bathroom saw what was going on 
and rushed over to pull Mulder off of Joel.  Mulder continued to 
lunge for him as the agents held him back.

Joel smiled at him.

Mulder shook the other agents off.  "Back off!  I said back off!"  
They released him and he stepped back, straightening his jacket. 

Agent Wills sneered at Mulder.  "What're you doing up here 
anyway?  Don't you belong down in the basement, Spooky?"

Mulder ignored Wills and kept his stare fixed on Joel, regarding him 
with a wolf's fierce protectiveness.  

Wills stepped in front of him.  "You listening, Mulder?"

Mulder gave Wills a quick shove back, then glanced once more at 
Joel before storming out of the bathroom.

********************************************

That evening Scully glanced at Mulder sitting on the couch as she 
came into the apartment and shut the door.  Keeping her hand on the 
door knob, she turned her head the slightest bit in his direction.  Her 
voice was low and even.  "What happened in the men's room today?"

Mulder stared at her.

She turned around to face him.  Her voice rose.  "What happened, 
Mulder?"

He turned his head to the side and started.  "Scully..."

"I asked you not to do it.  I *told* you I had--"

"It was an accident, Scully."  Mulder's voice rose to match hers; her 
tone putting him on the defensive.  "I ran in to him by accident, and 
he just started pushing all my buttons.  He thinks this is some kind 
of game! This guy is dangerous, I'm telling you;  dangerous or stupid.  
I had made it perfectly clear to him the last time..."  His voice trailed 
off.

Scully's eyes widened with anger.

Mulder leaned forward on the couch and took a deep breath.  He was 
silent a few seconds before continuing.  "All right.  I went to see him 
a few days after it happened."  He looked up at her.

She closed her eyes and shook her head at him. 

"Nothing happened.  We just talked."

"Right.  That's where you gave him the 'this town's not big enough 
for the two of us' speech?"

"That's when I made it perfectly clear to him that if it ever happened 
again..."

"What?  Did you threaten him, Mulder?  That's precisely what I 
asked you 
*not* to do.  I told you I took care of it."

"Well obviously you didn't."

A quick breath of indignation escaped her.  She approached the 
couch and took a deep breath.  "That's not the point;  you know 
that... you didn't know at the time--"

Mulder abruptly stood from the couch.  "I'm sorry Scully.  I couldn't 
just leave it alone.  But it's over and done with, I can't take it back 
now."

"No, but you can make sure it doesn't happen again."

He grabbed his coat of the chair.  "No, I can't."

"Damn it Mulder!"

He scooped his keys off the side table.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not going to stay here and let you force me into making another 
promise I can't keep.  I need to go."

"Mulder!"

The door slammed closed behind him.

**************************************************

A little over an hour later Mulder opened the door slowly and came 
into the apartment.  Scully was sitting on the couch in her pajamas, 
flipping through a magazine while the TV played an old rerun of 
"The Avengers".  Owen slept heavily on the cushion next to her.  She 
glanced at him briefly as he entered.  Mulder moved to the nearby 
chair and collapsed into it, his hands still stuffed into his jacket 
pockets.  He looked over at her as she studied her magazine, then 
brought his eyes back to his lap.

Scully eyed him sideways over her magazine and watched him 
sulking in the chair next to her, then returned her gaze to the 
magazine.  

Mulder looked back over at her.  He rose from the chair and 
approached the couch, depositing himself heavily next to Scully.  He 
was quiet for a minute.  "I don't like when we fight."

She dropped the magazine to her lap and looked at him.  "Neither do 
I."

They stared at each other.  

Mulder reached over and took her hand in his.  "Scully... I'm sorry.  I 
never should have made that promise in the first place."  His stare 
was intense; he spoke slowly, punctuating every word.  "And I can't 
make it again."

She studied his face as his eyes pleaded with her.  She squeezed his 
hand tightly.  "Then *please*, just promise me you'll try... *really* 
try."

He nodded slowly and pulled her to him.  He kissed the top of her 
head and closed his eyes.  They stayed silent like that for a minute, 
then Mulder reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small key 
chain.  A single key hung from its clasp.

Scully titled her head up to look at him.  "What's that?"

His eyes smiled back at her.  "Ever been to Martha's Vineyard?"

End Part 8

***********************************

Spell 9:  Outrunning Past 

Mulder was having the dream again.  He didn't have it every night, 
just once in a while- always when he was beginning to think he'd 
dreamt it for the last time.  It started well after that night: the night 
she'd been taken away.  Well after he'd stopped going to that 
mountain every night.  Well after he'd stopped staring into the starry 
sky, waiting for one of those stars to open up and send her back to 
him.  And in his dream, he got his wish...

A small figure lay huddled in the clearing below, deposited there by 
a beam of light that seemed to come directly from the sky itself.  He 
would tear down that hill, trench coat flying behind him like a 
witch's cape, hair forced straight back on his head from sheer force 
of speed.  Arriving a few feet in front of her, he would stop cold and 
stare at the figure before him, terrified of what he might find:  what 
had they done to her? Would she be the same Dana Scully?  Would 
she even remember him?  Coming within arm's reach of her, he 
would tentatively extend his hand to the small body quaking 
underneath the sheet, carefully sliding it back from her head.  Then 
the confusion would wash over him, his brows knitting together in 
disbelief as the woman turned her head to look at him.  "Kristen?  
What--  Where is she? Where did you take her? Answer me!"  But all 
she would do is stare back at him, her small smile sending a chill 
down his spine and turning his blood ice cold.  That's when he 
would see it:  the wolf.  A black wolf at the edge of the wood, barely 
perceptible in the murky darkness.  But the eyes, those yellow eyes, 
were clearly visible through the night.  It watched him: the untamed, 
the guardian, protector; mate for life.  Mulder stared back at his 
soul's reflection.  The creature looked back into the forest behind it, 
as if some silent sound had caught its attention.  Mulder could see, 
two by two, other pairs of eyes gleaming back at him from deeper in 
the woods.  He would watch, mesmerized, as the wolf turned and 
headed back into the forest, then, with a start, he would dash off 
after him.  For what seemed like endless minutes, he would blindly 
follow the pack deeper and deeper into the thick woods, knowing 
with a horrible sense of certainty where they were taking him:  
towards the smell of death... to her.  And yes, there she was, in a 
small circle of woods that wasn't woods at all, but an unnatural circle 
of man-made floor in the middle of the forest.  A single light 
suspended from nowhere cast light on the small body curled on her 
side with her back to him.  Patches of the white hospital gown she 
wore were smeared with blood -- fresh blood.  Her red hair hung 
longer down her back then when he had last seen her.  But the most 
horrifying thing, the most devastating, was that he was immediately 
aware that there was no movement from her.  None.  Not even the 
barely perceptible rise and fall of her side as her lungs took in air.  
She was still, too still... deathly still.  And he would know that he 
was too late; she was gone.  He would approach her, his knees 
weakening with every step, until he'd collapsed beside her.  Turning 
her towards him, he would gather her in his arms, taking small 
comfort in the smooth skin of her face against his cheek.  And the 
rage and despair and hatred would brew in his soul like a potent 
poison.  He would hold her, and even as her corpse grew cold in his 
embrace, he would not release her, because he didn't want her to 
think that she had died alone... that if some small part of her still 
remained, he wanted her to know that he was there.  Then he was 
furious with himself.  Furious for not paying more attention the last 
time he'd seen her.  But he had been annoyed with her;  had walked 
out on her, leaving her sitting there.  Why had he done that?  Why 
hadn't he taken that last precious moment to tell her?  To say I need 
you, my life hasn't been the same since I met you, I can't imagine it 
without you.  To say thank you for being my friend.  He buried his 
face in the tangled mop of her hair.  "Please don't go yet, Scully, you 
didn't say goodbye."  His voice would break as the sadness 
overwhelmed him and the tears burned in his eyes.  "You didn't say 
goodbye..." he would whisper through the strands of her hair.  Then 
she was fading slowly away, like a ghostly apparition, and he'd be 
left holding that small gown, keeping it tight against his face, still 
smelling of her... but then that was fading too...

Mulder woke with a start, then quickly turned his head to look at the 
other side of the bed.  She was lying there next to him, as always, 
warm and safe and ALIVE.  He stared at her for a second, the sweat 
gleaming on his brow.  He finally let out the breath he'd been 
holding, then turned on his side to pull her against his chest.  He 
held her, cherishing every warm breath that fell against his neck.   
"Dana..." he whispered softly in her ear as she slept,  "my life..."  He 
pulled the blankets up tighter around her.  She snuggled closer to 
him in her sleep, and soon he followed.

**********************************

The alarm went off early, well before daybreak, signaling that is was 
time for them to get up to start preparing for their drive to 
Massachusetts.  It was going to be a long trip.

Scully silenced the alarm and rolled back over to face Mulder as he 
stretched beside her in the gray dawn of morning.  She propped her 
head up on her hand and looked down at him.  

He opened his eyes to find her staring at him.  "What is it?"

She pulled her eyes from his and studied the sheet.  After a moment, 
she looked back at him.  "Who's Kristen?"

Mulder blinked at her.  "What?"

"Who's Kristen?  You were saying that name in your sleep."

He continued to stare at her, she stared back.  He sat up and looked 
back at her.  "It's not what you think, Scully."

Her stomach tightened.  "What am I thinking?"

"It was a long time ago, when you were gone... I was working on this 
case in L.A."

"Right, you told me about that--something about a trinity of 
'vampires'."

Mulder nodded and turned to better face her on the bed.  "Well what 
I didn't tell you... that woman who I was protecting..."

"The one who died in the fire?"

"Right-- Kristen.  Well... I became more... involved with her than I 
should have."

Scully was silent as she realized what he was saying.  "Oh..."  She 
pulled her eyes from his as she sorted out her emotions.  It had been 
a long time ago, to be sure, but she couldn't help it-- she was hurt.  
Hurt that while she had been taken and subjected to God knows 
what, that while she had been fighting for her life, her partner, her 
friend, had been...  

Mulder interrupted her thoughts.  "Scully,"  The disappointment in 
her eyes tore at his heart.  It was worse than he ever could've 
imagined.  He placed a hand over hers.  "There's no excuse for it; I 
know that.  But I need you to know what kind of state I was in."

Her eyes dropped to the bed as he continued.

"It nearly destroyed me, you being taken.  Not knowing what they 
were doing to you.  And that it was my fault--"

"Mulder--"

He silenced her with a hand.  "No.  That's the truth, Scully.  If you'd 
never met me or befriended me they never would've taken you.  That's 
just something I've had to learn to live with."

"You don't know that Mulder.  You said it yourself:  fate."

 Mulder considered this and nodded slowly.  "But at the time, I was 
devastated.  I wasn't eating or sleeping, or bathing for that matter.  
About the only thing I was doing was drinking a lot more than I 
should have.  Skinner had reopened the X-files but... it wasn't the 
same.  Then this case came along, and I was desperate to forget, and I 
let myself get caught up in it.  I wanted that darkness, Scully.  I put 
myself in danger, I slept with a suspect, because you were gone, and 
I didn't care if I died too.  I guess subconsciously I thought that at 
least then maybe the pain might stop."

As she listened to his words, the hurt subsided, because she 
understood.  Of all people, she knew first hand how pain could 
effect a person.  But her heart was sad.  Why were things always so 
complicated?  Why did it seem hurting each other was unavoidable?  
Would they spend the rest of their lives outrunning the past?  As she 
looked at him, she saw it didn't matter.  What was important was 
where they were now, and where they were headed, that in spite of 
everything they'd been through, they were together.  She reached over 
and squeezed his hand.  "Well that doesn't quite explain why you 
were dreaming about her," she teased.

Mulder smiled sheepishly and nodded, not meeting her eyes, then his 
face turned serious once more.  "Nightmares, Scully.  Just 
nightmares."

He looked up at her briefly, seeing that she understood, then both of 
their eyes returned to his hands.

"I said before it was no excuse.  I meant that professionally... and 
personally."

Scully looked up at him.  "Mulder, you don't need to apologize.  We 
weren't anything more than partners at the time--"

"Yes we were, Scully.  Yes we were."

Those blue eyes stared back at him.

"You know that.  Even then, as much as we pushed it away, we were 
more than partners.  At the very least we were friends, and I feel like 
I betrayed you."  His voice was low and tremulous, threatening to 
break as he finished.  "I'm so sorry."

"Mulder..."  she moved to him and encircled her arms around his 
neck.  "You don't have to apologize," she said into his neck.  "It's all 
right.  I understand."

He tightened his hold on her.

"I understand."

She pulled from his shoulder to look at him.  He kissed her softly, 
his hands gently caressing her back.  And he never had that 
nightmare again.

***********************

"You ready to go, Scully?!" Mulder called from the kitchen.

Her muffled response came from the bedroom.  "What?!"

Mulder gathered their breakfast dishes from the table.  He turned 
towards the sink to find the cat sitting on the counter in an outright 
breach of protocol.  Over the past few months, Owen had grown 
from dust-ball to full-blown tumbleweed.  "Owen get off the 
counter."  Mulder set the dishes in the sink.  

Owen blinked at him, then bunkered down on the counter until his 
front paws had disappeared under the long hair of his chest.  

"Scully you're raising an unruly child!" he called into the bedroom.

"Mulder I can't hear you!" she called back.

Mulder leaned against the counter with one hand, resting the other 
on his hip as he directed his conversation towards the cat.  "You 
know the rules:  no quadrupeds on the counter."

Scully breezed into the kitchen, glancing briefly at Mulder and 
Owen as she headed for the refrigerator.  "What were you saying?  
Owen get off the counter."  The cat promptly jumped down and 
trotted out of the kitchen area.  Mulder looked after him in 
exasperation.  Scully pulled some fruit from the crisper.  "I'm going 
to bring us something to eat for the trip.  How long will it take us do 
you think?"

"Well my mom's expecting us for a late lunch and I'm hoping to make 
that; depends on traffic.  Ready to go?"

"All set."

***********************

Mulder's mom had moved back to the Vineyard soon after his father's 
death.  Maybe out of some sense of obligation, or guilt, he had 
willed it to her, along with most of his estate.  Mulder had told his 
mother that they were going to be in the area for a case they were 
working on and wanted to stop by.  They had planned for a short 
visit-- a bite to eat, and then to head back to Washington.  Last 
minute planning meant that hadn't been able to get a flight, so they'd 
be pressed for time.  It would be very late by the time they got home, 
but they were both anxious to get back to the little niche of life 
they'd carved out for themselves; to their security blanket.

It was mid-spring and a beautiful day in the northeast.  The 
temperature slowly fell as they traveled;  by the time they got off the 
New Jersey Turnpike and pulled up to the toll on the George 
Washington Bridge, it was downright chilly.  As they idled in line at 
the toll, Mulder looked over at Scully sitting in the passenger seat 
next to him.  She'd been quiet the entire trip, and Mulder knew she 
was nervous about seeing his mom.  But he wasn't sure why.  He 
lowered the volume on the radio.  "What's on your mind, Scully?"

She shrugged in response.

"What are you so nervous about?"

She stared out over the rows of cars in front of them.  "I barely know 
your mother, Mulder.  I'm just concerned about how she's going to 
react to this."

"She likes you."

"As your *partner*, not as your wife--"  Scully stopped short, 
startled by her slip of the tongue.  They quickly turned their heads to 
look at each other.

Scully clamped a hand over her mouth, suppressing a laugh.

The corners of his mouth turned up the slightest bit.  "So is that how 
you think of yourself?" he teased.

She dropped her hand from her face, avoiding his gaze.  
"Apparently..."

He reached an arm across the seat and took her hand in his.  "Well 
good, 'cause it's only a matter of time."

**********************************

"Hi mom."

Mrs. Mulder smiled at her son as she pulled him into an embrace.  
"Fox."

"You've met my partner Dana Scully."

Scully extended her hand.  "Hello."

"Miss Scully, it's nice to see you again."

"Dana, please."

Mrs. Mulder gave a quick nod.  "Dana.  Come in, both of you."

"Sorry we're so late mom, there was traffic."

"That's all right, Fox."  She eyed them both in the uncomfortable 
silence.  "Well, you must be starving.  Excuse me."  She headed off 
into the kitchen.

Mulder put an arm around Scully as she stood awkwardly in the 
foyer and offered her a smile.

She smiled uneasily back at him.  She slowly took in her 
surroundings before looking back at Mulder.  "I think you should 
talk to her alone."

Mulder opened his mouth to protest, then stopped.  She was 
probably right:  he should do this alone.  He nodded at her.

"I'm going to take a walk."

"Come here," he said softly, pulling her into a hug.

*************************************

Scully sat on the shore with her elbows resting on her knees, looking 
out over the ocean.  Day was rapidly fading into night-- the sun had 
disappeared over the horizon and left the sky that violet gray that 
seemed to belong exclusively to dusk.  This talk with his mom was 
taking longer than she'd expected;  it was way past time for even a 
late lunch.  She hoped it was going well.  Ignoring her growling 
stomach, she took in a deep breath of the heavy salt air as the wind 
blew wisps of hair around her face.  Up and down the shore, she 
could see lights starting to come on as night started its descent.  
Scully watched the circling gulls and thought about her friend, her 
love, about what his childhood must have been like.  No, he hadn't 
spent all of it here.  There had been Chilmark-- with Samantha... the 
happier times.  Then, after her disappearance, his world had fallen 
apart.  Scully supposed that that was probably when he'd become the 
Fox Mulder she now knew:  determined, focused, driven.  He had 
grown up very early,  his sister's abduction being the catalyst, and 
had spent from that day forward in his relentless quest to find her.  It 
seemed that since they'd become more than partners, he'd been able 
to diffuse some of that intensity and focus.  Scully knew that his 
desire to find Samantha had not diminished, but that a kind of 
optimism had come over him; a certainty that he *would* find her, 
someday; that is was fate.  But she could still see the guilt there in 
his eyes, the pain, whenever they talked about it.  She was sure his 
parents had been loving in their own way--she knew they'd never 
been physically abusive; but in her eyes they were responsible for 
emotional torture.  Mulder had spent his life feeling like his sister's 
abduction had been his fault.  And they had let him shoulder that 
responsibility, knowing full well the culpability rested with them.

Mulder approached her from behind, startling her from her thoughts 
when he draped a heavy sweatshirt over her shoulders.  He sat behind 
her in the sand and pulled her back against his chest.  He pressed his 
cheek against hers, it was cool and soft.  He tightened his hold on 
her.  "You're cold."

She inhaled deeply.  "Feels good.  How'd it go?"

"Fine."  She could feel him shrug against her back.  "Mom never says 
much either way.  We got into talking about Samantha.  And Dad.  
She did invite us to have something to eat and stay the night, though.  
That OK with you?"

She smiled into the wind.  "I'd love to."

He nuzzled his face into the hair that fell against her neck.

She turned her face in his direction.  "What about Owen?"

"He's got plenty of dry food and water.  He can go without canned 
for one night."

"Yes but he'll be picketing when we get back."

Mulder smiled against her neck and rose to his feet.  He extended a 
hand to Scully, helping her to hers.  "Come on, let's go see if we can 
give her a hand with dinner."

*********************

Dinner came and went quickly.  Mrs. Mulder was a kind and 
hospitable woman, but had a certain formality about her that kept 
Scully from feeling completely comfortable in her presence.  When 
the last of the dishes had been stowed back in the cupboards, Mrs. 
Mulder turned to her son.  "I've prepared your rooms for you."

Scully smiled at her.  "Thank you, dinner was wonderful."

"Your very welcome."  She smiled awkwardly at the two.  "Now if 
you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to turn in."

The three exchanged good nights and Mrs. Mulder left them to 
themselves in the kitchen.  Scully turned around and raised her 
eyebrows at Mulder, giving him an unsure smile. 

Mulder gently lay his hands on her shoulders.  "Come on, I'll show 
you upstairs."

Scully entered the guest room.  It was warm and cozy and Mulder's 
mother had laid out some towels and an extra blanket for her on the 
small twin bed.  Mulder went over to the bureau and opened the top 
drawer.  "There's some extra clothes in here.  Mom is nothing if not 
prepared."

She smiled and approached him, peering into the drawer.  "Is there a 
t-shirt or something in there that I can sleep in?"

He rummaged through the drawer, then tried the two below.  "No, 
just this," he said, holding up a simple white cotton nightgown that 
would probably hang to the floor on her.

Scully stood on her tip-toes and pulled at the v of his flannel shirt, 
attempting to look underneath it.  "You wear one?"

"No not today.  Is this OK?" he asked, displaying the gown.

"No it's fine," she said, taking it from his hands.  "It's just these 
things always wind up bunching up around my waist, but I can 
handle it for one night."

Mulder grinned at her.  "If you need help de-bunching in the night..."

She smiled back and stepped closer, wrapping her arms around his 
waist.  

He kissed the top of her head before she pulled away.
 
"Where's the bathroom?"

"Down the hall to the right."

Scully stepped closer.  She looked up at him, her tone was 
conspiratorial.  "Sure you can't sneak back here?"

He smiled at the mischief in her eyes.  "You know I'd love to.  But I'd 
rather not rock the boat... mom's old fashioned..."

Scully nodded.  "OK."  She looked at him for another moment, 
reluctant for him to leave.  Finally she offered him a small smile.  
"Goodnight." 

"'Night." He leaned down to kiss her gently, then brought his lips to 
her ear.  "Thank you," he whispered.

She squeezed his hand and watched him go.

************************

Later that night Mulder found himself tossing and turning restlessly.  
He'd grown used to sleeping next to that warm little body.  Maybe he 
would sneak down the hallway after all...

Mulder opened the door carefully and crept into Scully's room.  
Halfway into the room he realized that she wasn't there.  

He found her out on the rarely used back porch overlooking a small 
cove.  She was sitting up on the picnic table, her feet on the bench, 
staring out into the night sky.  Mulder watched her.  The moonglow 
caressed her hair, giving it the appearance of living fire, the white 
gown reflected the same soft light and created a shimmering haze 
around her.  A creaking board signaled his presence as he stepped 
out onto the porch.  Scully turned her head back to look at him.

Mulder approached her.  "Can't sleep?"

"Guess I've gotten too used to having you beside me."

He smiled and nodded in understanding. 

Her gaze passed over the cove.  "Mild night."

"Yeah, that's New England weather for you."  

 Mulder approached her and lightly touched her arm, running a 
finger down to her hand.  She closed her eyes as he did.  He lay a 
hand on her knee, turning her to face him as he stood at the end of 
the table.  With a single finger he traced the low collar of her 
nightgown and saw her skin immediately tighten into goose flesh.  
He moved his hands up her throat to lightly hold her neck, then 
started a gentle stream of kisses along her lips.  Her mouth opened to 
him and Mulder stepped closer, positioning himself in between her 
legs.  He slowly started drawing up the fabric of her nightgown until 
he could slide his hands underneath.  He caressed her outer thighs, 
then moved his hands to her waist to pull her to the end of the table.  
She titled her head back as his kisses moistened her neck.  He moved 
his hand to the front of his boxers...

"Mulder, not here... let's go back upstairs."

He shook his head at her.  "Those beds are old and noisy... and she's 
a light sleeper."  He leaned her back on the table.

"A light sleeper?!" she whispered fiercely against his lips.  "We can't 
stay here."

His kiss turned into a smile.  "She won't be able to hear us out 
here..."

She caught her breath as he found her, bringing her arms up around 
his neck as he started his movement on top of her.  She sighed softly 
in his ear, then inhaled quickly.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I'm getting splinters..."

Mulder smiled and slowly pulled from her.  He pulled her up to a 
sitting position and helped her off the table.

"What are you doing?"

He took her hand and moved to the side of the table, sitting himself 
on the bench.  "Come here."  He took her hands and guided her to 
him until she was kneeling over his lap.  With a single finger he 
drew down the strap of her nightgown, letting it fall loosely off her 
shoulder.  She held his face, her hair lightly tickling his face as she 
leaned down to kiss him.  He brought his hands up under her 
nightgown and guided her to him.  Her arms loosely circled his neck 
as he moved inside her, tightening his hold on her waist as the sweat 
gleamed on his forehead.  She broke from his kiss and exhaled 
sharply into his neck as a crest of pleasure swelled in her lower half.  
As her warm breath spread over the skin of his neck, a tightening 
sensation at the base of his stomach signaled his own release was 
eminent...

They sat there afterwards, Scully sitting in front him, her back 
against his chest, enjoying the gentle breeze of that calm night.  They 
were quiet for a long time, then Mulder's voice, low at her ear, broke 
the silence.  "My mom was wondering if we'd set a date."

"Was she surprised we hadn't?"

"No."  Mulder cleared his throat.  "But it has been a while since 
we've talked about it.  Have you given any more thought to it?"

"You mean have I changed my mind?" she taunted.

"No I meant...  have you?"

"Mulder."

"Well what I meant is have you thought any more about the 
wedding."

She knew exactly what he meant, but was having fun watching him 
squirm.  "Wedding?"

Mulder's voice indicated his exasperation.  "Yeah you know:  guests, 
invitations, flowers."

She could no longer contain her smile.  "Flowers?"

"Yes.  Have you thought about what you might want?  I don't even 
know your favorite kind."  Remembering Joel's gifts, he ventured a 
guess.  "Roses?"

She shook her head and turned it back in his direction.  She smiled 
widely.  "Dandelions."

"Seriously."

"I am serious."

Mulder sighed lightly against his ear.  "Come on, Scully, you know 
what I mean."

She took pity on him.  "I like daisies."

"Daises?"

She nodded.  "Ever since I was a little girl.  I always thought they 
were such... sunny, happy flowers."

"Then daisies you'll have."

She smiled slightly.  "I'm still disappointed about the dandelions, 
though."

He smiled back against her ear.  After a minute he continued.  "What 
are you going to do about your name?

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your last name, once we're married."

"Well I thought I'd be taking yours..."

Mulder smiled.  "Really?"

"Yes, why do you sound so surprised?"

"I didn't know if you'd want to."  He shrugged against her back.  
"You know..."

"Isn't that the point? You find someone you love enough to take their 
name?"

"Not necessarily  I know a lot of women keep their maiden names 
now.  You've established yourself professionally as Dana Scully,  
you don't have to change that; I don't want you to feel obligated to 
change that.  I wouldn't be hurt or insulted."

Scully was silent for a moment as she considered this.  She'd always 
been a little old-fashioned about this subject.  But she wondered 
where Mulder was coming from.  Was he afraid of her taking his 
name because of the stigma attached to it in the Bureau?  She had to 
admit that for part of her that was precisely the reason she *did* 
want to take it.

Mulder misinterpreted her silence and decided to break the moment 
with humor.  "Well you could always take my first name."

Scully turned her head slightly back at him, her eyebrows raised.  

"Then we could be Fox Mulder and Fox Scully.  It's not like we ever 
call each other by our first names anyway."

"Well sometimes we do..."  she teased.

"Mmm, I like those times" he said, nuzzling into her neck.

"What I'll probably do is keep my maiden name professionally, and 
socially I'll be 'Mrs. Fox Mulder'."

Mulder was grinning from ear to ear,  loving the sound of those 
words.  He never thought he'd find anyone who would want that, or 
that *he* would want to be that, and least of all that it would be 
Dana Scully.  He pulled her closer against him.

*****************************

At Scully's request, Mulder had gone to the store to pick up a few 
munchies for their trip back;  Scully had wanted a few minutes alone 
with his mother.  But as she stood there now helping the woman 
clear the breakfast dishes, Scully felt as if she was losing her nerve.  
So she decided to tackle it head-on...  "I was wondering... how you 
were feeling about all of this."

Mrs. Mulder stood at the sink washing the dishes with her back to 
Scully.  "What?  Oh... I, I think it's nice that Fox has found someone 
he wants to spend the rest of his life with."

Scully moved to the counter beside the sink and leaned against it.  
"But...?"

"Well I must admit this seems a little sudden to me."

"I can assure you it's not.  Mulder and I had been considering moving 
beyond partnership for a long time.  And we've been together for a 
while now."

"It just seems.... strange to me.  I worry that maybe the lines of your 
professional and personal feelings have just become... blurred.  You 
two spend a great deal of time together, and it's only natural you'd 
grow close."  She shrugged lightly as she scrubbed at a stubborn pan.  
"But I wonder how close...  you still call each other by your last 
names."

Scully stared at her.  She was unable to explain why they still called 
each other Mulder and Scully.  As partners, that's just what agents 
did, but once they'd moved beyond that, the use of last names 
continued.  He was just... *Mulder* to her.  And he always would 
be.  She supposed it was the same for him.  She was just Scully, and 
though he occasionally called her Dana, for the most part their first 
names were reserved for those special, intimate moments between 
them when it just felt right to do so.  In many ways it made sense:  
professionally, it was appropriate that they call each other by their 
last names.  But personally, since no one else in their respective 
families referred to them as Mulder and Scully, the fact that they did 
so held a certain intimacy about it.  But it was useless to try and 
explain it to anyone else, even his mother, so all she could do was 
continue to stare back at her.

Mrs. Mulder turned off the water, wiped her hands on the dishtowel 
and turned to face Scully.  She lay a hand on her arm.  "It's nothing 
personal, Dana.  I suppose I'm just being an overprotective mother.  
I'm very happy for you both."  She offered a thin, tight smile.  
"Really."

Scully returned a weak smile of her own.  And she didn't quite 
believe that that was true.

******************************

The months moved on.  As they prepared to officially notify the Bur 
eau of their "situation", they started to make plans for their possible 
departure from the X-files.  Chances were they'd be split up, but just 
in case they were both removed from the project they wanted to be 
able to keep as much access to the X-files data as possible.  So, in 
blatant disregard for rules or procedures, they spent long nights 
photocopying files, dubbing video and audio cassettes, 
photographing items in evidence bags.  They expected these things 
would never be missed, most likely the X-files would remain as they 
had been before Mulder stumbled across them: gathering dust under 
plastic sheets.  But they decided it was better to be cautious, so they 
didn't remove anything from the office.  

And as the months moved on, Joel's flowers arrived with dwindling 
frequency and, eventually, stopped coming altogether.

Things were quiet with their families, despite the occasional subtly 
dropped hint from Scully's mom at when they might set a date for the 
wedding.

But for them, things were never quiet for long.  And the past was 
never far.

End Part 9