From: "Khyber" Date sent: Tue, 16 Jun 1998 20:45:15 -0600 Subject: "Day 19" by Khyber by Khyber khyberpass@geocities.com CLASSIFICATION: SR (Mulder/Scully) RATING: PG13 for language and mature situations SYNOPSIS: Skinner discovers the agents' relationship through a mysterious package. KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully romance TIME/SPOILERS: Really, really small cancer arc spoiler. Takes place 19 days after the events described in "Reach" by the same author, in an alternate timeline beginning after "The Red and the Black." DISCLAIMER: None of these characters belong to me, but they never get to go out for a intimate drink or make dinner together or do anything even remotely normal with you, Carter. Whyn'cha ask them sometime who they want writing? *grin* "Day 19" by Khyber The feelings, the memories, lay in rich array that she had only to pick from and apply to her body and mind wherever they were most desired. Fox Mulder's lips... on her belly. Yes. Standing beside her bed this morning, naked, at that time considering yet another small aspect of her suddenly changed life. Feeling his presence, turning, finding him on his knees, his arms moving to encircle her hips. His rough cheek against her abdomen, abrading as he turned his head to place a kiss just above her navel, then simply staying there, embracing her in this submissive fashion. Curious but very Mulder, her fingers gently tangling his hair. He would be there now, she thought. I feel nineteen, she thought. Young and in love, beautiful. Yes, I feel beautiful. Dana Scully returned from the gym Sunday evening with a distinct spring in her step that had nothing to do with the Stairmaster. Mulder was there, as she had hoped. She wasn't certain what to expect. His newly developed desire to please her in even the most shallow ways was insatiable, and sometimes inconvenient. He had, last week, talked Scully into a bizarre series of errands that had her driving all over Arlington, returning confused and irritated. She found that he had been trying to keep her away whilst he set up some hundred and fifty white candles all over her apartment, and completely rearranged the living room. A meal from a ridiculously expensive Japanese caterer lay, tatami mats and all, in the centre. After two small glasses of sake, she had begun to forgive him, and two hours later Scully was naked, flushed, and very pleased indeed. This evening, he was just seated on the couch, his fingers steepled in front of his face, his eyes with the brittle covering over their depths that showed his mind was working frantically and unproductively. The more concerned Mulder was, the less space he took up. Watching a movie, he was a gangly giant splayed across couch and floor, and she could curl up on top of him like a kitten. Now he seemed almost invisible. "Mulder, what's... " "Phone. S' a... message. Skinner called." He didn't get up. It was difficult to tell sometimes what Mulder would take seriously from day to day. Skinner might have something to do with it, Dana thought as she walked over to the phone, pressing the replay button. Or he might have seen a disturbing episode of Looney Tunes. Again, very Mulder. "Agent Scully, this is Assistant Director Skinner, I need to see you in my office at eight tomorrow morning. Please pass this message on to Special Agent Mulder, I want him here as well. Thank you." Click. Scully rewound the tape, biting her lip gently. Damn. Skinner's intentional transparence lashed at her. Why don't you two drop by when you're done getting it on in Bureau elevators? Not that they had. "I, uh, checked my voice mail too. He didn't call my place." Dana let her gym bag slip to the floor, and moved to the couch. She leaned sideways against Mulder, not reaching around him. Mulder's spirits improved later that night, Scully remembered as she pulled into her parking space. They generally drove to work in their own cars, keeping up appearances, but not always. Last week, they had clambered blearily out of his bed at a late hour, scrambling to dress, and both leapt in her car. She warmed at the remembrance of trying to do her makeup while Mulder drove. The moments, Scully knew, that she would never trade were the ones of pristine normalcy. Last night, Mulder had retired early, doing the distracted page-fluttering that he passed for reading when he was unable to concentrate. A self- centred part of Scully liked the challenge he presented at these times, and she turned out the lights, doffed her nightshirt in the hall, and slipped into bed naked. It had the desired effect, both in the sense of satisfying her near-constant hunger for him and in bringing Mulder back to earth afterwards. His humour returned, and she giggled herself into a near- convulsion as he described their future life "gettin' outa the gawl-danged FBI and raising pigs back down in Kentucky. Or maybe llamas." "Why llamas, Paw?" she tried to drawl through her laughter. "Well, ah jes' likes sayin' it. Llama llama llaaaaaamaaaaaa." For her part, Dana was mostly unwilling to consider the possibility, really, of Skinner knowing she and Mulder had become lovers. The initial drop in her stomach the past evening was just nerves, fear of getting caught. They had been careful, she thought as the elevator opened on the fourth floor, but while he might suspect, he would not call them on the carpet like this unless he was absolutely certain. Skinner showed them in himself, his secretary curiously absent. He didn't invite them to sit down, nor did he, pacing from behind his desk to just beside it, once, twice. He pushed a piece of paper, intent on blank Bureau stationery, and Mulder caught her eye. There was a large manila envelope on Skinner's desk, and it wasn't a case file. "Mulder, Scully, I'm going to get right to the point here." He still had not made eye contact with either of them yet. "The exact nature of relationships between coassigned agents in the Bureau is not the subject of many regulations. We are professionals, and adults, the dedication of agents to the Bureau and the security of this country are assumed as priorities." He nailed Scully with a cold drill instructor's glare from eight inches above her. Oh, shit, here we go, Mulder thought. Skinner's playing us, talking down at her, seeing if he could get a rise out of me. The assistant director placed his hands firmly on his beltline. "What I have are guidelines, and a lot of discretion to make decisions that I feel need to be made. Thus far, I cannot say that any employee or agent of the Bureau has seriously discussed with me any negative effect on your recent case work caused by your personal relationship or any changes that may have occurred in it. Therefore, I have no reason to make any decisions at this point regarding assignments." Fuck this, Mulder thought. I don't like being trolled at eight on Monday morning. Scully saw Mulder's jaw set, and braced herself. "Then, sir, why are you bringing the issue up, if it's apparently not an issue?" That was about what she expected, Mulder's tone drenched with sarcasm. It was something Skinner didn't deserve, but by now, Scully thought, he's probably pretty used to that kind of thing from Mulder. He's never learned to play the game, even when it might help a little... "Because, Special Agent Mulder, I got this in my internal mail sometime this weekend. Unmarked." He handed Mulder the envelope that had been on his desk. It had been glued, Skinner had slit the end. Scully was glancing sideways. Mulder turned his eyes briefly to her, then tipped the envelope. "Scully..." She moved as soon as she heard the intake of breath. There were four photos inside, black and white, eight by eleven. The two of them just inside the door of Mulder's apartment block, Mulder pulling her close beside him, his arm inside her coat and around her waist. We didn't even make it to the bed that day, if she remembered correctly. Dark, sharp streetlight shadows in a quiet, rundown neighbourhood. Nice picture, Scully thought. The two of them, kissing sweetly, she nearly on tiptoes. It had been late at night, Mulder had driven her over an hour to a tiny, smoky café where they were the only people speaking a language not native to somewhere in the Caucasus. This looks pretty safe, he said. Hell, I don't even know how to get home from here. They had drank sweet, fiery plum brandy, and held hands on top of the table. Normal. Then in a car, she couldn't see clearly, but it was probably her leaning on his shoulder. My appointment with the oncologist, Monday. Mulder was supposed to be in the office that day. The previous week, a motel in Michigan. They had rented adjoining rooms, and gone so far as to mess up the other bed. Mulder had suggested making love in it too, for authenticity, but they hadn't. It had been shot through the window, through a long zoom judging from the inconvenient placement of the window frame. Mulder and Scully, standing, pressed together, she in a white T-shirt and jeans, he naked from the waist up, just breaking from a kiss. His hands looked gigantic on her waist. Mulder lingered on this one, and so did she. In the picture, Mulder had the falsely innocent expression that drove her absolutely mad with lust. It was certainly working there, she looked positively feral. Scully's eyes inadvertently flicked to Skinner. Oh, he knows everything now, doesn't he. Mulder's breath caught a few times. "Who... " "Like I said, Mulder, I don't know. Somebody with a lot of free time, and a real interest in you two. I have no reason to make official business out of anonymous tips that I have no corroborating evidence for, so I'm passing this on to you." "Sir, I..." Scully didn't know what she was going to say next, but it would probably be more politic than what Mulder was considering. "Agent Scully, no. This matter is closed, as far as I am concerned, for the time being and completely off the record. Knowing any more will make my job more difficult, and I don't want to do that. You're both dismissed." Mulder waved the folder slightly, and started to clear his throat again. Skinner sat down behind his desk, and began to shuffle intently through the morning's mail. "Keep them. The one in the street is nice, maybe you can frame it." "Sir?" "Dismissed, Agents Scully, Mulder." **finito** Comments to khyberpass@geocities.com Shipper Avenger vs. Chris Carter: SA: "Now, Mulder puts lilies on her desk at least once a week..." CC: "But, but, she doesn't HAVE a..." SA: "Cattle prod." BZZT! khyberpass@geocities.com http://www.geocities.com/athens/academy/8747/khybarchive.html