Author: Phileyx

E-Mail: phileyxback@yahoo.com

Rating: Mild swears

Category: UST

Spoilers: After Season 5, Fight the future & a little from The Beginning

Intro: Right after Mulder and Scully recover from their Antarctica trip, they are reviewed before a panel.

XXXXXXXXXXX

FBI Headquarters DC

11.30 am

"Next time I’ll wear a clown suite and do balloon tricks." Mulder growled as he walked briskly out of the conference room.

Dana was just behind him, struggling to keep up with his long strides. "Mulder, I was hoping it wouldn’t come up."

He stopped and faced her. "The only reason I was in there was because you assured me there was a scientific basis for what we saw."

She almost sighed, knowing that he would not like what she was about to say. "Let me remind you once again that what I saw was very little."

"Scully, that excuse is not gonna work this time. You were there and you were infected with that virus."

‘I was right.’ She groaned inside and took a deep breath to explain. "There is scientific explanation of what happened to me. I was exposed to a virus. But as it turns out that virus is not what you thought. I can’t identify it, Mulder. I’ve run three separate tests but I can tell you without a doubt the virus DNA and proteins are very much of this world."

The frustration in his voice grew. "I saw what that virus did. I saw it generate a new being, an alien being inside a human body."

"It attacks and destroys human cells but that’s all it does, Mulder. It creates nothing. Heck I don’t like telling you this and I know that you don’t wanna hear it. You can question me on what I saw but what you can’t question is the science."

Mulder closed his eyes for a second and strode off angrily, leaving his partner alone in the hallway. This time, she let out a sigh. He was mad at her and she didn’t blame him. OPR wasn’t happy with the their whole escapade at all, and with her ‘scientific proof’ that she provided, things got worse for Mulder. She turned to follow her partner to their temporary office in one of the unused laboratories on the second floor.

"Agent Scully!" Assistant Director Walter Skinner stopped her.

She turned. "Yes sir?"

"Could I have a word with you?"

She frowned slightly because she was hoping to clear thing up with Mulder. But, Skinner had the look that meant it was important. "Of course."

XXXXXXXXXXX

She sat down facing him. He took a minute to arrange a few items on his desk. Dana frowned, recognizing the gesture. He was stalling. The question was, why?

"Agent Scully, your partner will have to face OPR alone tomorrow."

"I know, it’s just as well. I wasn’t much help to him today."

"It wasn’t your fault. You just reported what you found out."

"How bad is it, sir?"

Skinner paused and answered carefully. "It depends on Agent Mulder’s performance tomorrow."

She decided to cut to the chase so that she could talk to get to Mulder as soon as possible. "You wanted to see me about something?"

"Yes. Assistant Director Matheson called me. He’s looking for someone to set up the FBI laboratory facility in his division. He asked me if I could recommend somebody."

Dana raised an eyebrow. "And you recommended me?"

"You’re the best I’ve got."

"What about Mulder?"

"What about him?"

"What happens to him if I take this offer?"

"Nothing. He still has to go for the OPR review to find out."

Dana gave a half-laugh and asked him incredulously. "Sir, why did you bother to offer me this job when you know I won’t take it?"

"You’ll be in charge of the whole ad-hoc operation, Agent Scully. And it’s common practice that Directors of such special teams get promoted within a year of good performance. You should think about it."

She shook her head in disbelief. After all these years, Skinner dared question her loyalty towards Mulder. ‘No, he wouldn’t.’ She sensed that Skinner had other motives for bringing this up. "At a time like this, you know I won’t leave Mulder. There’s something else, isn’t there?"

Skinner’s hesitation confirmed her suspicions. "Agent Fowley has been making a few calls."

She should have known it would have something to do with that bitch. Calmly, she encouraged her boss. "About?"

"She’s for the X-files being reopened."

Dana waited for her superior to continue.

He sighed and gave in to her unspoken request. "She’s asking to lead it."

"What?" Dana almost shouted.

"The Bureau can only afford to waste two agents in this division so…"

"I’ll be assigned somewhere else." She finished his sentence.

"Yes."

She stared at the top of the desk for a few seconds before she looked up at him. His face showed concern, perhaps even pity. Suddenly, it all fell into place. She knew now that Matheson never made the call and she hated the fact that Skinner actually went out of the way to find her another job so that when Mulder accepts the X-files, she wouldn’t be tossed aside, waiting in limbo for her next assignment.

"Take the offer, Agent Scully."

She swallowed hard and asked the questioned that mattered most to her. "Sir, are you so sure that he’ll take the offer?"

"If he doesn’t, I’ll kick his ass. He’s worked too hard for this." He paused and continued gently. "And you Agent Scully, it’s time for you to move on."

‘Move on…. If only it was that easy.’ She thought. Slowly, she nodded her head. "Thank you, sir."

His eyes brightened with hope but he was clearly surprised. "Does that mean I can make the arrangements?"

She shook her head. "No sir. I’m just thanking you for taking the trouble. But I can’t leave him now."

"Scully…" He groaned.

She firmly stood her ground. "I just can’t, not now."

Skinner sighed and watched her leave the room.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Mulder's apartment 

8.11 pm

Dana’s heels clicked noisily as she walked down Mulder’s hallway. She was worried for him. He wasn’t answering his cell-phone and she kept getting his machine. He didn’t even leave a note in the office when he left. But what else is new? Dana was used to tracking him down. It was almost a hobby for her, not that she enjoyed it.

Standing in front of room number 42, she knocked on the door. To her surprise he was in.

"Mulder, why aren’t you answering your phone?"

He wasn’t exactly pleased to see her. "What are you doing here, Scully?"

"I came to talk to you." Knowing that he was still angry and would probably shut her out, she pushed him aside and walked into his apartment. What she wasn’t prepared for was Diana. She was sitting on his couch with a glass of wine.

"Agent Scully." Diana acknowledged her.

Dana ignored her, walked towards Mulder and practically pushed him into his bedroom.

"What?" He asked exasperated.

"What is she doing here?"

"What is it to you?"

She glared at him. "Where did you go today?"

"Oh I was just trying to figure out the mess I’m in."

"You mean, the mess **we’re** in?"

"If it’s **our** mess, then why am I the only one facing OPR tomorrow?"

"Maybe because I was too frozen to remember any details of what happened?"

"Or maybe your statement this morning might have cost me my job."

"Mulder, whatever happens to you tomorrow will affect me too. I’m your partner."

"And is that why you’re here, Scully? To make sure I don’t screw up."

She shook her head in disgust. "I guess I’m too late Mulder. You’re already screwing up, big time."

He frowned and it dawned on him that she was talking about Diana.

"Diana’s on our side Scully. She’s trying to keep the X-files open too."

"No Mulder, she’s not on **our** side. She’s on **yours**." Not trusting herself in his presence any longer, Dana walked out of the room, glared at Diana and briskly made her way out.

XXXXXXXXXXX

FBI Headquarters DC

8.53 am

Mulder leaned against the wall and checked his watch for the millionth time. She was late, in fact very late. He tugged at his tie and tapped his shoe on the floor in impatience. If she didn’t get here soon, he’d be late for OPR.

"Mulder?"

Mulder whisked around to find his superior glowering angrily at him. "What are you doing here. OPR is about to start their session in five minutes. And being late is not an option at this point of your career."

"I’ll be right there, sir."

Skinner’s voice was threatening now. "Mulder."

"I won’t be late, sir." He assured him.

Skinner sighed and walked towards the conference room. Just after taking the turn at the corridor, he couldn’t help himself but to satisfy his curiosity and turned to watch his subordinate. He was still standing at the same spot looking ferociously at the coffee vending machine. He was just about to declare the man insane when it soon made perfect sense.

Mulder swiftly stepped out of sight as the person that he was waiting for came into sight. Scully walked towards the vending machine, slid in a dollar coin and punched her choice of coffee. Mulder watched her for a while. He was sorry that he had let her go last night without making things right. He knew it wasn’t her fault but for once he wished she would believe in his beliefs. The irony was, all the things that he hated about her were the very same reasons he fell in love with her.

Watching the two, Skinner shook his head sadly and said a silent prayer that everything would work out for them. As Mulder turned to leave in his direction, he too started walking towards the conference room.

XXXXXXXXXXX

11.53 am

The lift door opened and Diana walked in with Skinner. Dana resisted a scowl and was silent even though she was bursting with questions on how the OPR went. She guessed Mulder was still in the meeting room receiving the usual reprimands that follow the sessions.

The lift stopped at Diana’s floor. She took a step out, hesitated and turned to face Dana. It was a glare, not a very nice glare, as she said. "I hope you’re worth it." And with that, she walked out.

Slightly stunned, Dana waited until the lift door closed before she looked at Skinner. He smiled at her, another good sign, she thought.

"Mulder pulled through." He started.

Dana sighed in relief but held her breath for the rest of it.

"Diana offered him a place beside her. But he turned her down for medical reasons."

Dana raised an eyebrow. "Medical reasons?"

"Uh-huh." The lift now stopped at his floor. "He told her that couldn’t take the assignment because he needed constant supervision from his personal doctor."

Now she was confused. "Personal doctor?"

"That’s what he said." Skinner grinned and added just before he strode out of the lift. "I’ll see you tomorrow, Doctor Scully."

Dana widened her eyes. Why was Skinner calling her ‘docter’? A second later, she burst out laughing. And she wished to God she was there to see Diana’s face when Mulder turned her down.

XXXXXXXXXXX

1.30 pm

Dana knocked softly before entering. She found her partner in the painstaking task of piecing his precious burnt X-files together. Taking a moment to marvel at his determination, she stood at the open doorway.

"You might want to close the door, Scully. I'm in enough trouble already."

She bit her lip, remembering their argument the night before. "Only you, Mulder?"

He cocked his head slightly and turned to look at her. His eyes told her that he didn't mean it literally and she chided herself for being such a bitch. Offering a small smile as an apology, she closed the door behind her and walked towards the other side of the room.

Mulder went back to what he was doing. He was lucky enough to recover most of the files, from the accident. And putting them back together just took a little practice. ‘Damn! Maybe I still need more practice.’ He cursed silently as the fragment in his hand crumbled into pieces. He sighed. Or maybe he just wasn’t concentrating. But it’s hard to keep your mind focused when an impending life-shattering event is about to happen. ‘Might as well get it over and done with’, he thought and addressed his partner. "Oh yeah, AD Matheson dropped by. He left that for you." He nodded towards an envelope on table.

Dana frowned. Didn't she refuse the offer already? She reached for the envelope and found a yellow slip attached to it. It was an official transfer form and it had Mulder's handwriting on it. Her heart sank for a moment and then immediately began to swell in anger. Impulsively she strode towards him and thrust the form in his face. "What's this?"

"Your transfer form."

"You signed it."

He frowned. "Did you think I wouldn't?"

"I would appreciate it if you asked me first. After all, it's **my** request for transfer."

‘She’s angry?’ And he thought that she’d be touched by the gesture. Didn’t she know that he was a selfish son-of-a-bitch and the only reason why he signed the form was because he loved her too much. "Assistant Director of FBI laboratory set-up team, Scully. You’d be a consultant to all laboratory facilities. You'd be crazy not to take his offer."

Dana stopped. 'Assistant Director?’ Matheson must have found someone else to take the top position and then offered another just in case she changed her mind. Either that or Skinner must have bugged Matheson to keep another space open in case Mulder took Diana’s offer.

"Scully?"

She shook her head slightly and turned her attentions back to her partner. "Crazy huh? As crazy as you?"

He looked confused.

She explained. "You had the X-files and you refused it." The look he had quickly turned into embarrassment so she spared him further humiliation. "You should have taken it, Mulder. I would have helped you in the sidelines. I've done it before."

He looked thoughtful and shook his head. "No, you wouldn't."

Surprised, she shot back. "Are you questioning my loyalty?"

"You hate Diana."

"Oh so now you're questioning my professionalism."

"Scully, you wouldn't be able to be in the same room as Diana for more than ten minutes before wanting to scratch her eyes out."

"Mulder, you're exaggerating. I just don't ....."

"Don't even start with the **trust** thing. There's definitely something much more going on between you two. You wanna tell me about it?" He challenged.

She threw the challenge back. "You're the psychologist Mulder, you tell me."

"Okay..." He paused for a while. "You're like a lioness protecting her cubs."

She raised an eyebrow. "Cubs?"

"Yeah, the X-files and ......" He stopped and cleared his throat.

She smiled seeing his discomfort. "Yes?"

He repeated firmly. "I meant the X-files, period."

Dana gave her partner a look. "You said cubs, Mulder. That’s **one** cub."

Mulder bit his lip. He couldn’t believe he was actually caught in this conversation. His voice lowered as he finally answered her question. "The X-files and your partner."

Dana was slightly taken aback. Not because he was right, but because he actually took the challenge instead of weaseling out the bad situation, like he usually does. Undaunted by his accusations, she hit the ball back into his court. "You think I’ll actually dare lay a claim on you, Mulder?"

He stepped closer and looked straight into her eyes. "After six years? I’d say you have every right to. I’d do the same."

Slightly breathless at his proximity and his confession, she quickly defended herself by whipping the transfer form right back in front of his face. "Oh I’ll say. You’re certainly fighting to keep me beside you."

He laughed and grabbed the form from her. "I’m also looking out for you."

"And so am I. You’ve fought so hard for the X-files all this time. Why did you give it up?"

"What about you, Scully? You’ve always been moaning and groaning about a normal life. Here’s your chance."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay. Let’s both do something good for ourselves." She picked up the telephone receiver next to her, dialed Diana Fowley’s extension and held it out to her partner. "I’ll take the Assistant Director job if you take Diana’s offer."

He just looked at her.

"Well?"

Mulder glanced at the receiver and then back at her. He could vaguely make out Diana’s voice from the ear-piece but all he could focus on was the redhead in front of him. She arched her eyebrows at him, daring him further to take the job, although knowing fully that he wouldn’t. And that thought drove him crazy. He glared at her ferociously and she glared back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Assistant Director Skinner knocked once and let himself in. He was startled to find his two agents looking at each other as if they were about to murder the other. Or was it just a huge invisible wall of sexual tension? It didn’t matter anymore because the moment he stepped in, Agent Scully snatched from what he guessed to be a transfer form from her partner, crumpled it and toss it into the wastepaper basket while the Agent Mulder was replacing the telephone back in it’s cradle. He decided to ask anyway. "What’s going on here?"

"Nothing sir." They both answered in unison.

He studied them for a while before he spoke. "I came by to ask if you two are really aware of what you gave up."

The two agents looked at each other for a while before Mulder took the initiative to answer. "Yes we do, sir."

"Are you sure?" He waved at Mulder, "I mean the X-files.." and then at Scully, "..Director of a special force team…"

Dana almost groaned aloud as Mulder interrupted his superior. "Wait a minute sir, **Director**?" he looked at his partner.

Skinner was clearly stunned and looked at his subordinate. "You didn’t tell him?"

"Well sir…"

Mulder interrupted again. "AD Matheson came by a few hours ago with an offer of Assistant Director."

Skinner added. "Well, he offered Agent Scully ‘Director’ yesterday."

Mulder was thoroughly stunned. ‘She was offered Directorship and she didn’t take it! Man, the woman **was** crazy!’

Meanwhile, Dana was shaking her head. She had to get out of the room before Mulder drilled her further and dragged a embarrassing confession out of her. "Director or assistant director, I’m not taking it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go fight for my parking space." She strode out the room leaving the two men deep in thought.

Skinner finally asked. "What happened to her parking space?"

"News travels fast. The moment that they heard that Agents Scully was missing and I was shot in the head, several idiots started applying for our parking spots."

Skinner rolled his eyes. "I guess they figured you two should have lived out your nine lives by now."

Mulder smiled.

Skinned walked towards the door and turned. "You know Mulder, you two **really** could have had it all."

Mulder caught his boss’s knowing tone in his voice and guessed what he was getting at. Being in different departments and not partners, the possibilities were ….. endless. "I know, sir. But don’t give up on us yet. We’ll get there, someday."

In response, the latter rolled his eyes. "At the rate the both of you are going, I might not be able to live that long.

Mulder grinned. "We’re only human, sir. It won’t be long before we give in to …well our humanness."

"I’ll believe it when I see it, Mulder." He grunted back and he left the room.

Mulder sat down, looked at the envelope that Scully left behind and smiled.

XXXXXXXXXXX

End of Partners

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phileyxback@yahoo.com