Title: Fais me Sourire-The World Is New
Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono
Rating: General. All fluff here;)
Category: SRH
Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance
Spoilers:none
Summary: Scully's having a very tiresome day when she gets an
uplifting phone call from Mulder while hearing a song blasted at a
too high volume.
I do like feedback, so please write me at RhiaRamsay@aol.com.
Flames can be stored and used in the winter for when my bedroom
becomes too damned cold.
The Flaming French-Fries and the rest of this story is dedicated
to my sister, Missy for always taking my Save Ferris CD and for
making me realize one of the other songs on the tape was perfect
to be from Mulder's point of view.
Fais me Sourire is French for 'make me smile' (or something
close to that). It's a happy series, I'm gonna give it
a happy title.
Eyh, my favorite part. The X-files are not mine. They belong to
SurferBoy Chris Carter. Vera is mine. The song 'The World Is New'
belongs to Save Ferris.
The World Is New
Elizabeth L. Iacono
March, 2015
Special Agent Dana Scully-Mulder unlocked the door to the
apartment and held it open for the nervous teenager standing behind
her in the hallway. When the teen didn't budge from studying the
pattern on the carpet, Scully sighed, exasperated, and spoke.
"Vera Katheryne Mulder, get in there now," she said with an ominous
tone.
Vera glanced up at her mother, and even though they were the
same height, Vera even slightly taller in her boots, Dana still
managed to look down at the recalcitrant teen. Her color changing
eyes she'd inherited from her father were darkened with
embarrassment. She slowly shuffled in and sat down on the couch in
front of the fireplace. Scully shut the door behind her and
walked over to stand in front of Vera.
Dana's blue eyes were hard as her and Vera looked at each
other. Vera started the conversation. "Now I know how Dad feels
when you chew him out." Dana's jaw tightened, and Vera winced.
<> she thought.
"What was out there that was so interesting that you and two
of your friends had to trespass on private property and get
arrested for it?" Dana said, in actuality trying not to laugh at
how much Vera looked like Fox. She saw Vera begin to chew on her
lower lip, a nervous trait she'd inherited from Dana, she got the
feeling this was going to be a doozy.
Vera sighed and said, "You better sit down for this one."
Dana half smiled. "Why? Afraid I'll faint from shock from
what you did?"
Vera ran a hand through her red-brown hair. "No. You'll
probably fall over laughing at the familiarity of the situation."
Dana sat down next to her. "Oh, great. Mom warned me you'd
turn out exactly like your father."
"Speaking of Dad, where is he? A flight from Chicago can't
take this long."
Dana leaned back against the arm of the couch. "Probably got
stuck in this rain we're having. Now stop stalling."
Vera grimaced. "Awright. But technically we weren't
trespassing. The house is on school grounds and the handbook says
students are allowed on the prop..."
"Get on with it Vera!" Dana cut her off.
"Well, see, there's a rumor going around the high school about
the old house on the far corner on the property."
"And this rumor is?" Dana prompted.
Vera held her head in her hands. "tsjd shfejfg jdf hsfjgjso
bs ajdf djsdj fhjrs," was the sound that came out of her mouth.
"Excuse me?" Dana asked.
Vera lifted her head. "The house is supposedly haunted by a
student who died there twenty years ago."
It was too much for Dana. The laughs started pouring out from
her lips. "This is what they called me out of an autopsy for?"
Vera lifted an eyebrow and grinned. "Yeah, and the next time
I see Director Skinner he'll bring up what a chip off the old block
I am."
Dana stopped laughing and smiled at Vera. "Don't worry, it
was just a boring old guy anyway. No X-File there. C'mon, let's
get dinner." Dana stood up and brushed off her pants.
Vera trailed Dana into the kitchen. "Y'know 7:30 is a little
late for dinner. How about we just order a pizza?" she asked
hopefully, not wanting to eat more leftovers.
"Nice try, Hon, but I need space in this freezer, and we're
cleaning it out." Scully pulled open the freezer and pulled out
some hamburgers and French fries. "But you did say my burgers
tasted better than McDonalds's."
"Good enough." Vera took the fries from her mom and started
putting them in the toaster oven to warm up, while Dana popped the
burger's in the broiler. "Hey Mom, how am I gonna explain to David
and Ben why I'm not getting into trouble for this?"
Dana straightened up and shut the oven door. "Because you
have a genetic predisposition for getting into trouble and landing
in jail. It wouldn't work to punish you because you'd go out and
get into trouble again-just like your Dad."
Vera gave off a Mulderish smirk. "Yeah, and anyway I know
they're not gonna be pressing charges against us because I, uh,
accidentally mentioned that my parents were SAC's at the FBI."
"You didn't!"
"Well, at least I didn't say what divisions you were in charge
of."
Dana looked at Vera. "If it's D.C. police they know
perfectly well Fox Mulder is the head of the Paranormal
Investigations division and that I run the Paranormal Pathologies."
"Well, it didn't hurt." Vera raised her head and sniffed the
air like a bloodhound. "What's that smell?"
Dana looked to the right where the toaster was now up in
flames. "Oh, crap!" She ran to get the fire extinguisher while
Vera went searching for baking soda or powder-whichever one you
use for it. By the time she'd found it Dana had the fire
extinguisher out from the pantry.
"Which one do we use Mom?"
Dana grabbed the box from Vera, opened the toaster oven door,
and tossed it over the fire. "That one. It'll be easier to clean
up." Dana gingerly prodded at the blackened French fries now
covered in white powder. "There goes dinner."
Vera dusted some of the powder off of her red T-shirt. "So
how does pizza sound now?"
"Better than this." Dana handed the tray with the burnt
fries on it to her. "Try and get these off of here. I'll scrap
the burgers and call for pizza." Vera grimaced and took the tray
from her with two fingers.
Dana walked over to the stove. "And don't worry about
getting into trouble," Dana continued her conversation from
before. "You're almost sixteen. Everyone's supposed to get
into trouble around this age."
"Did you?" Vera grinned knowing full well the answer would be
no.
"I'm talking about your father's side of the family."
"Yeah, I can just bet you were a little altar girl when you
were young."
Dana glanced at her from by the kitchen phone. "They didn't
have altar girls when I was young." She turned her attention to
the phone. "Hi. Yes I'd like two large pizza's..."
Vera finished cleaning the toaster tray and pushed it back
into the oven. She turned to her mother, just hanging up the
phone. "When's the pizza coming?"
"Half an hour."
"All right. I'm gonna go upstairs and finish that blasted
geometry homework." As she walked out of the kitchen Dana heard
her mutter "Whoever invented geometry ought to be dragged out
to the middle of the street and shot," quoting the old
Garfield cartoon.
Dana walked into the living room and collapsed on the couch.
This day just wasn't going right for her. Fox was away in Chicago,
she'd gotten a whole load of paperwork from one of the pairs of
agents under her because they'd messed up a case, and then got
stuck doing an autopsy that was sent to her because no one else
would do it. And that was before the call from D.C. police.
She glanced around the large apartment her and Fox had bought
when Vera was five. It was actually more like four houses in this
one old brick building that was in surprisingly good condition.
The two apartments on the lower levels had two floors each, a
basement, and a backyard. The upper apartments got two floors
also, but they had an attic and a rooftop garden.
Dana smiled as she looked out the sliders to the backyard.
Their half was pretty big, and surrounded by an eight foot tall
rock wall on all sides, with a door going out to the walkway that
separated the other yard. The backyard was what got Vera's
attention when they first moved there. She claimed it looked
like it was from 'The Secret Garden', her favorite movie. She'd
even made Fox put up a rope swing in a big tree in one corner.
And he certainly wasn't going to refuse her when she turned that
lost little puppy face on him. The only one who was seemingly
immune to it was Dana, who'd had enough experience from dealing
with the two of them.
Dana was startled out of her memory when she heard the phone
ring. She reached for the portable phone and pressed talk.
"Hello."
-It's great hearing your voice again- echoed over the phone
lines.
Dana grinned. "You just called me three hours ago, Fox. How
was the flight?"
She could practically see his slightly green face over the
line. -I didn't know it was possible to get seasick from a one
and 1/2 hour plane flight. At one point the plane had to have
dropped at least five feet.-
"That bad, Fox?"
-Yeah. I'm at Dulles now. I'll be home in about half an
hour. What's for dinner, Dana?"
"Pizza."
-I thought it was clean out the freezer week?-
"It was until the French fries caught fire."
-Oh. Well, I'll see you soon.-
"Okay. Love you."
-Love you too.- And with that Fox hung up.
Dana smiled and hung up her own end. Hearing from Fox always
made her smile. She found it hard to believe they'd been married
for over 16 years-and she still hadn't shot him again. Dana
picked up the newspaper from the coffee table and was ready to read
it when she heard the music come down through the ceiling.
"Can't she use her headphones?" Dana whined. Like any
teenager, Vera had a tendency to listen to music blasting at top
volume. Dana walked over to the intercom in the wall. "Vera, turn
it down a little, will, you, please?"
Dana waited for a minute, having not received a response.
The volume of the music didn't abate. It was time to go upstairs
and turn it down herself.
When Dana got to Vera's open door, she slowed down. Vera was
sitting with her feet propped up on her desk, and her room was
pretty clean for a time when there was no company over.
As Dana was about to open her mouth she heard the words of
the song that had just started.
I was sitting and waiting
Just thinking, contemplating my life when I heard the phone
I picked up the receiver
And I did not believe her
When I heard a voice say you're not alone
When I down and I am blue
All I have to do
Is close my eyes and think of you
And the world is new.
Dana closed her eyes for a second and thought of Fox. Just a
simple, short phone call from him was still enough to make her
break out into a silly grin, like the one that was forming on her
face now. The song continued.
Life was getting hectic
And thing were unexpected
When I first received your call
But now it is the best thing
That filled up what was missing
And now my life is envied by all
<> Dana thought.
When I am down and I am blue
All I have to do
Is close my eyes and think of you
I was sitting and waiting
Just thinking, contemplating my life when I heard the phone
I picked up the receiver
And I did not believe her
When I heard a voice say you're not alone
When I am down and I am blue
All I have to do
Is close my eyes and think of you
And the world is new.
The song ended and Dana took her chance to speak. "Loud
enough?"
Vera startled at the question and jumped. Unfortunately,
when she jumped her foot caught the rung on the chair, taking the
chair and her geometry book along for the fall. They all ended
up in a pile on the floor. Vera looked up from the floor at her
mother's smile.
"Don't you listen to any music from this century, V?"
Vera smirked as she stood up and righted the chair. "Nope,"
she joked and paused the CD player. "If it's got a 2 in the
thousands spot I won't touch it." She glanced at Dana. "But if
you're in the market to hold a ninties party then talk to me."
Dana rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just turn it down a little,
okay? I can hear it through the floor."
"Gotcha."
Dana turned and walked out the door. As an afterthought she
turned back and said "Oh, and by the pizza ought to be here
in about 15 minutes so don't get too comfortable."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Dana exited the room once more. As she walked down the hall
she heard the tune of "Come On Eileen" come out of the door. "Hey,
V, this is '80's!" she called back.
"Remake!" was the yelled reply.
Downstairs, Dana finally had a chance to catch up on the
daily news and sat in peace to watch Eyewitness news on channel 7
(these are NY stations, I don't know the ones for D.C.). Twenty
minutes later Dana was close to falling asleep right there, when
she heard the doorbell ring.
"Took ya long enough," Dana grumbled as she walked to the
door to get the pizza. In a moment of forgetfulness, she forgot
to check the peephole, which worked to her advantage.
When she opened the door, she found a smiling Fox Mulder
there, holding their dinner in his right hand. "Miss me?" he
asked.
Dana smiled and grabbed his tie and pulled his mouth to
hers. "Very much. Now get in here and give me that pizza.
We're starving."
Fox laughed and walked in. "And who said just men are ruled
by their stomachs?" He threw his trenchcoat on the sofa, then
doubled back, picked up the coat and hung it in the closet.
Dana threw back over her shoulder "I see I've trained you well
over the years."
Fox faked a laugh as he walked into the kitchen where Dana
was quickly setting the table with paper plates, napkins, and
some glasses. "What's that smell?" he asked.
"Don't ask," Dana grumbled angrily.
Fox decided on a little harmless teasing to get her mind
off the subject. "And who ever said Dana Scully never loses her
cool?"
"Don't mock me Fox. I've had a rough day and I am still not
afraid to hurt you."
Fox's face grew concerned. "What happened?" he asked.
"Not much. Just a bunch of minor things that have a tendency
to catch up on you by the day's end. Call Vera down for me will
you, please?"
"Of course." Fox turned to the intercom. "Hey V, dinner's
here!"
This message got through quicker than the first one. Fox
immediately heard her shut the music off, and then the sound of
footsteps running down the upstairs hallway, and then taking the
stairs at least three at a time. The whirlwind called Vera ran
around the corner and barreled into Fox at top speed. "Hey, Dad!"
Even though Fox felt pretty much fine. the day had taken its toll
on Fox too and he had to remind himself that he wasn't that
young anymore.
"Hi to you too."
"How was Chicago?" she asked.
"Fine. Now sit down. Dinner's ready." Vera rolled her
eyes and went to the table, followed quickly by her parents. "So
what happened today?"
Dana smiled. "Well, for one, Vera got arrested."
Fox's eyes shot to her. "For what?"
Dana's grin turned evil. "Oh, no..." Vera said.
This was going to be a long night for her.
LE FIN
I'm thinking of bringing Vera back for another story. Should I or
shouldn't I? The song Come On Eileen, at least the version I
mentioned belongs to Save Ferris too.
"I was nothing before you but I became so strong"
Nobody But Me, Save Ferris (so sue me. I like the CD) This line
is them! At least from Mulder's POV.