TITLE: Hero Worship AUTHOR: Elanor G RATING: PG CATEGORY: A little RetroX post-Space thingy. Believe it or not! DISCLAIMER: Don't own these characters. Doing this for fun, not money. XxXxXxXxX "So where were you all morning, Mulder?" asked Scully, studying him from across the booth. He was dipping his egg roll in a bizarre mixture of duck sauce and hot mustard, sunlight from the plate glass window turning his brown hair bright. "I was meeting with Senator Matheson," Mulder answered. He looked up at Scully and shoved the remaining egg roll in his mouth. He chewed very slowly and carefully, as if he enjoyed prolonging the suspense. Scully simply waited with her hands folded on the Formica and waited for him to swallow. "It's about our adventure in Houston." "What did he say?" "Basically that he's very grateful. Many, many people are grateful, as a matter of fact. We saved the space program a lot of embarrassment. The Senator thinks we can bank on that gratitude and he can trump more support in Congress to keep the X-Files open." His voice was surprisingly bitter. "You don't seem very happy about it." "Well, of course I'm not happy about it. It came at the price of a man's life. A *great* man's life." Mulder paused when the waitress came with their food - rice, orange beef, chicken and broccoli in garlic sauce. The dishes were dumped unceremoniously in front of them and the waitress left without a word. "I don't like it." Scully shook her head as she took the chopsticks out of their paper wrapper. Mulder's hero worship seemed so out of place with everything else she knew about him. Or did it? She still couldn't quite get a handle on his mixture of cynicism and credulity. "I know it's hard to accept, but Belt was a sick man. He wasn't responsible for his actions." "I know he wasn't responsible for his actions. But he wasn't sick. I *know* sick." Mulder stabbed at the deep fried beef. "You saw it, Scully. You felt it. Something was possessing him." "And we have exactly no evidence to back that up. None, Mulder." They ate the rest of their lunch in silence. XxXxXxXxXxX They walked back through Chinatown, among crowds of tourists and office workers on lunch break. The Hoover Building, several blocks away, loomed above the fading neighborhood. It was a beautiful afternoon, sunny with a sharply blue sky. It felt good to get out and eat a real lunch instead of the bland offerings at the Bureau cafeteria. Mulder's mood seemed to improve with a bellyful of Chinese food and Scully decided to try another conversational tactic. "So when did you develop your fascination with space travel? How old were you?" Mulder seemed startled out of some internal reverie. He was more closed lately - he had confided in her about his sister, and Scully thought that perhaps he regretted sharing a confidence with her when he barely knew her. Lately he avoided talking more about himself, his family and his childhood. "Pretty early on, Scully. I can't remember *not* being fascinated by space travel." He glanced sidelong at her. "Not as compelling as Black Beauty or Holly Hobby of course, but – " "Oh, Mulder, I remember watching the moon landing with my brothers. I had a Star Trek lunch box. We drove to Florida and toured the space center when I was in junior high school. Give me a *little* credit." "I have uncovered the secret geek that is Dana Scully. More layers than an onion." He grinned at her. "Come on, don't you still find the idea of space travel compelling? The lure of the unknown? Boldly going where no man has gone before?" "No *one*," said Scully with mock prissiness. "Fine, no *one*." "Of course I do, Mulder. I'm a scientist." They walked in silence for a few minutes. Mulder's smile turned a little wistful. "I suppose thinking about it reminds me of a good time in my life," he said slowly. "A nice, simple, good-and-bad, black-and-white time." "Talk about layers," murmured Scully. Simple, good-and-bad, black-and-white. That's what heroes are, aren't they, Mulder? But he had fallen far away again, his changing eyes lost in thought. And she wondered if she was ever going to make sense of him. She wondered if she wanted to. End XxXxXxXxXxX ElanorG@yahoo.com http://www.geocities.com/ElanorG