Title: Crooked '42' Author: Birdie (spookychic1@excite.com) Classification: MSR, a little angsty Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully are, regrettably, not mine. Because if they WERE mine, they would have been together long before…Anywho, Chris Carter, Fox, and 1013 are the lucky people who "own" my dear M & S. I'm not trying to steal them or anything, so please don't sue me! On the upside, the whole damn plot line is MINE (evil cackles)! Archiving: Put this anywhere you want, just tell me please! **** The sound of Mulder's door slamming was still reverberating in her ears. She was the one who had slammed it. They had been arguing, yelling really, about a case…about nothing…everything. Scully had screamed at him, < I really do believe him…why did I say I didn't? > Mulder had said things he didn't mean. < I'm not cold…am I? > Then, blinking back tears of both anger and hurt, she had stormed out. Her coppery red hair flying out behind her as she ran down the hall to the elevator. She wanted so badly to stay angry with him, but she never could. She thought of the look of hurt that had washed over his face at some of the things she had said. Those beautiful gray-hazel eyes shiny with tears, and even as she stalked out of the building the angry click of her heels on the pavement began to soften. As she got within sight of her car she realized it was blurry. She hated to cry, and she certainly didn't want to here. Valiantly fighting off the tears, Scully fumbled with her keys to start the engine. Then she came across the spare key she had to his apartment. 'Mulder' was written on it in her soft cursive. She had fought a good fight, but lost her battle, and ended up sobbing over the steering wheel. Try as she might, Scully couldn't bring herself to pull away from the curb, staring up at the ever-present blue light of the T.V coming from his window. It was late, and she was exhausted with the night's events. With a drowsy sigh, she slumped across the front seats, asleep. Mulder thought she must have knocked the tarnished '42' on his door crooked. After she had fled the apartment, slamming the door behind her, he just stood there blinking. Thinking, he supposed, that she might reappear with the opening of his eyes. She didn't. With a sudden cry of fury he picked up the nearest object, happening to be a cup on his coffee table, and hurled it against the wall. It broke into several white porcelain pieces that fell to the hardwood below. Mulder let out a sigh and followed suit, sinking to the floor on his knees. He hadn't meant any of what he'd said to her, and to be honest, didn't know why he had. Unconsciously, he rubbed roughly at his face with his hands, a habit of frustration he was pretty sure he'd inherited from his father. When Mulder removed his hands from their resting-place, over his eyes, he caught sight of his running shoes beside the door. Hoping a good run would clear the visions of tears filling her crystalline blue eyes, he pulled himself up from the cold comfort of the floor. After he donned his gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and Nikes he headed out the door. The same door Scully had walloped into it's frame only a half-hour before. Mulder's thoughts were only of Scully as his sneakers squeaked on the linolium of the hallway, brushed against the carpet of the elevator, and crunched the small pebbles outside the apartment building's door. < I should call her when-> "Oh God." His heart fell straight to his feet when he saw her car sitting several yards away, empty, at the curb. Any anger he might have still felt was completely dissolved into panic. He glanced at the watch on his wrist and mentally did the math. As Mulder realized that it had been over thirty minutes since she had left his apartment, plenty of time to get to her car and drive away, he began to run to where the vehicle stood. Horrible visions of muggers and consortium hit-men filled his mind as he closed in on his goal. < What if she's gone? I never told her…please, no…scullyscullyscully…> "Jesus." He let his breath out in one whooshing sigh of relief as he gazed through the window of the car. She was curled up asleep in the front seat, auburn hair mussed and messy. Mulder had never seen a more beautiful sight. Pulling out his keys, he found the spare to her car and opened the door as quietly as he could. He thought about waking her, for a split second. Then, after gazing at her angelic face, so innocent in sleep, he decided against it. Ever so gently he reached for her, gathering her small form into his arms. Shutting the car door with his hip, Mulder carried Scully back to his apartment, his eyes never once leaving her face. Pulling the covers of his bed up over her still sleeping form, he smiled. In her sleep she had, once again, murmered his name. The first time had been in the stairwell, and when he heard her calling to him in her slumber he had almost fallen down the last three stories. Now he was just standing over her, watching her face in the moonlight, her chest rising and falling with the deep breaths of sleep. He couldn't tear his eyes away. < What was it we were fighting about? > Scully opened her eyes to see Mulder's face inches above hers, he had this look on his face…"Mulder?" she mumbled, obviously confused. "Mulder, why the hell was I sleeping in your bed?" She wanted to say 'And WHY are you staring at me like that?!' but she bit her tongue at the look of intensity in his eyes. "You fell asleep in your car…I was going out for a run and…er..." He didn't want to tell her about how he'd flipped out in front of his building, so he just didn't mention it. "Oh, thanks for bringing me up here instead of letting me spend the night with my fuzzy dice." She said laughing softly. Surprising her, and abruptly ending her laughter, Mulder reached out a hand and placed it delicately on her cheek. "You know, I'm sorry about what I said, Scully." "I'm sorry too….but you did look so damn adorable waving your arms like a lunatic…" With that they both laughed and the air between them lightened. Once again, Mulder silenced her laughter. He leaned in and kissed her, the hand on her cheek moving to find a place on the back of her neck. Smiling into his lips, Scully broke away and said, "I'm tired, Mulder, sleep with me." Feigning shocked surprise he coyly replied, "Why Scully! I never even knew you cared!" She grinned at him as he crawled beneath the covers beside her and pulled her close. Her head resting beneath his chin, with her arms around his waist she said simply "Love you." With his arms encircling her, and his head resting upon hers he drowsily replied "Love you too." And they slept behind the door with the crooked '42'.