Title: Unexpected Gifts
Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono
Rating: PG
Category: Story, Romance
Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance
Spoilers: Chinga, slight for One Son, Alpha
Summary: How Mulder really got his 'I want to believe'
poster back.
Okay, let's face it, Alpha sucked. Especially the
ending. Getting the poster back should have been
something a little more special between Mulder and
Scully, not a gift from Karin the dog lady. So this
is my rewrite of how the ending should have been, with
a little extra shippiness tossed in. This is also a
sequel to the story 'Dreams'. You don't have to read
that story, though. The only holdovers from there that
are pertinent are that Mulder and Scully are involved
now, and Rhia McIntyre puts in her return appearance.
Disclaimer: As Suzanna Post said (go read her stuff,
it's incredible!), Mulder and Scully belong to each
other, but they are most definitely not mine. Please
don't sue. Rhia McIntyre is mine.
Unexpected Gifts
Elizabeth L. Iacono
April 1, 1999
Georgetown, MD (or is it VA? I don't know)
"So basically what you're saying, Dana, is that
Detweiler somehow physically transformed into this long
extinct Asian Dog?" Rhiannon McIntyre asked, pausing to
take a lick from her mint chocolate chip ice cream cone.
"Pretty much," I said in response, looking into yet
another swanky shop in the middle of Georgetown. This
last case Mulder and I were on was actually pretty
routine. It felt good to be slightly bored on a case
with the traditional weird elements. It was a sign that
things were truly getting back to normal.
"But what about this Dog Lady, as you call her. I
sense some sore points around there," Rhia said, shooting
me a sideways glance as we walked down the street.
I brushed a few stray locks of red hair out of my
face, all the while wincing at her question. "She was...hmmm.
Well, it seemed to me like she was trying to get her
claws into Mulder," I said more cattily than I meant to.
Rhia laughed. "Someone sounds territorial. The
alpha bitch watching out for her male."
I shot her a glance, but then rolled my eyes,
letting the comment slide off. "Can you blame me
for being territorial? Mulder's so sensitive, I
hate seeing him get hurt. He's so empathic and
gets so deeply involved with so many people on our
cases that more often than not he ends up hurting by
the time the case over," I explained, getting a somber
look on my face.
She placed a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. "But
at least he's got you there to protect him, right?" she
grinned.
"Right," I said back.
"But tell me, was this territorial feeling purely
for Mulder's well being, or because you were trying to
tell this other woman that Mulder is your man?" Rhia
grinned evilly. In response I stuck my tongue out at
her and swung at her with my pocketbook. Playfully she
jumped out of the way and spun around to look in yet
another storefront.
I heard her sigh wistfully as she stared at the
pair of strappy Manolo Blahnik stilettos. Then Rhia
turned to me. "Let's get out of here and go someplace
we can actually afford to buy things."
I nodded. "I think I gave up self torture for
Lent," I told her.
"Just a few more days," Rhia said as she walked
towards the street, "and then you can spend a whole day
mooning about around here staring at what you can't
have." With that Rhia stepped out into the street,
her blue-black hair streaming behind her, and flagged
down the first cab she saw, which came to a stop about
two inches from her shins. I rolled my eyes and followed
her into the back of the cab.
We sat down and the cabbie turned around. He seemed
to be a stereotypical cab driver, from the old cap he wore
to the cigar hanging out of his mouth. "And where are you
ladies headed today?" he asked. I have to say I was slightly
surprised he didn't have a Queens accent.
I looked over at Rhia. "It's up to you," I said. As
a college kid she knew more places for the bargain shopper
than I did, even though I was a very conscientious shopper.
Not cheap, but I knew what sales to shop at to get the best
deals and the best quality. And besides I'd rather spend my
money on music.
"Thanks," Rhia winced as I looked nonchalantly down at
my jeans. "Uh, head towards M Street," she told the cabbie.
"You got it," he said, and we drove off at a speed
that couldn't have been legal in this state.
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We got out of the cab struggling to breathe. Finally
the cab drove off and we both let out the coughs we'd been
holding in. "Oh, man," Rhia said gasping. "I could have
sworn the last thing I smelt like that died in the college
science lab."
"I've been through some bad shit, but nothing beat
that," I said, knowing there was a reason I didn't like cigars.
I'd forgotten how much they stank. "Where to first?" I asked,
taking in a deep breath of the relatively fresh D.C. air.
Rhia nodded in the direction of a small store.
"There. They've usually got some pretty interesting
stuff, and it's pretty cheap." I looked up at the sign
that simply said 'Head Shop'. Something began to buzz
in the back of my memory, but I couldn't place it.
"What the hell," I said, and we began to walk
towards it.
I pushed open the door, setting the bells strung
there ringing. The inside of the shop was neater than
I'd expected it to be, the clutter neatly organized on
shelves, tables, and bins, and was well lit, no shady
characters lurking in the corners. Rhia and I began
to wander down separate aisles, just perusing the
assorted items.
I saw so much stuff, out of print books and old
glass bottles that resembled the ones bootleggers
used to use, statues of everything from ducks to
replicas of that statue from 'Midnight in the Garden
of Good and Evil'. "Hey Dana!" I heard Rhia's voice
call from behind me. I spun around to see her head and
hands poking over a shelf from the other aisle. In her
hands was a velvety light green Beanie Baby like frog.
"Isn't he cute?" she smiled like a little kid.
"Very," I said and walked around to her aisle. I
found her holding the frog up to her face and cooing to
it as if it were a puppy. "You do realize this is just
a stuffed animal," I said to her jokingly.
Rhia looked at me, mock pouting. "His name is
Warts. I'm gonna adopt him," she said with conviction.
"Warts?"
"It said it on the tag." Rhia held up a small piece
of cardboard attached to the frog's hind leg.
"Whatever," I grinned and turned to look at some
old fashioned jewelry. Out of the corner of my eye I
saw Rhia put the frog on her shoulder and say "Come on,
Warts, let's look at these posters over here." Less than
a minute later I hear her say "Coooool," in a very
uncharacteristic drawl.
"What is it?" I asked, turning to face her.
"I think I'm gonna get this poster. What a find.
I looks like it's the last one here." She unrolled it
and I saw a picture I hadn't seen in ages and wasn't
expecting to see again. Blue sky, dark green trees, a
distinct picture of a flying saucer, and bold white words
on the bottom proclaiming 'I WANT TO BELIEVE'. I suddenly
knew where I'd heard of this shop before, from a time I'd
asked Mulder where he'd gotten his poster so I could show
him (or prove to myself) I'd gotten a life away from him
and the X-Files by sending it to a guy I hardly knew. It
really proved to me that both our lives were intertwined
at that point, and that something that one did affected
the other.
What had that poster seen over the years? A fateful
meeting between two people destined to respect each other,
become friends, go through the wringer together, and
finally realize that they've been in love for what seemed
like forever. At that moment I realized what the "I WANT
TO BELIEVE' really stood for. I want to believe in love.
I want to believe in us. "Do you think I could have that
poster?" I asked hesitantly.
"Why?" Rhia asked, obviously puzzled.
I smiled a little. "Mulder and I used to have that
exact same poster in our office, but the original got
lost in the fire. Ever since we got the X-Files back
I could have sworn I saw him staring at where that poster
used to be with a morose look on his face."
Rhia's face broke out into a grin. "He's mourning a
poster? Y'know, I'm not surprised. It seems like
something he'd do."
"Yeah," I said, thinking of how, no matter what Mulder
felt about aliens now, I want to believe will always be
his motto.
"What the hell," Rhia said, handing me the poster.
I accepted it gratefully. "Who am I to stand in the way
of true love," she said dreamily.
I rolled my eyes and in a fit of childishness bopped
her over the head with the poster. "Y'know, I'm gonna pay
for this now and go give it to him," I said decisively.
"It'll soften the blow of trying to convince him to spend
Easter with my family." Mom is convinced that Mulder
needs more of a family life than what he gets from his
mother so she tries to invite him to most of our gatherings,
at least the ones where Bill Jr. isn't there.
"You gonna tell her about this new development between
the two of you?" Rhia asked. For the longest time my mom
has been dropping subtle hints to me and Mulder about
how our relationship should be. Now I can finally
tell her to stop with the hints.
"Maybe," I said. "There are a lot of things to
consider, the what could happen."
"Like Bill coming to Mulder's apartment in the
middle of the night and punching his lights out?"
she smirked.
"He wouldn't try it if I'm there with Mulder,"
I said as I walked off to pay for the poster.
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Mulder's Apartment
Alexandria, VA
I was really beginning to hate taxis. The second
one I took to get to Mulder's had a driver that kept
ogling me and asking questions that, if it wasn't illegal,
would have inspired me to shoot him. I got out of there
as fast as possible.
Throughout the elevator ride I kept banging the poster
tube against my leg out of nervousness. I was praying that
Mulder would not get all angsty on me and start saying
something like how the phrase didn't apply to him anymore
because his great quest has been manipulated by so many
people blah blah blah. If he did that then I'd be the
one punching his lights out.
I opened his door with my own key. Since we've
become...involved, for lack of a more romantic word,
he's pretty much given me free reign with his place.
I found him sitting at his desk playing 'Doom'. "So
this is how you spend the FBI's equivalent of spring
break?" I asked from behind him.
He didn't turn around but I heard him say "Four
days off hardly qualifies as spring break," as his
eyes were still glued to the computer screen. Then,
a flash of light, a lot of blood, and Mulder's
character was dead. Mulder turned around with a
smile on his face. "I thought you and Rhia were
going shopping today?" he said as I walked over to
him and sat on his lap. He didn't notice the object
I had put on the floor by his door.
"I left early," I said as I put an arm around his
shoulders and he wrapped his arms around my waist. I
decided to bring up the topic of Easter first, then
soften the blow by giving him the poster after. "You
do know Mom invited you over for Easter, right?"
Mulder visibly winced and looked away. "Yeah..."
"You don't want to go, do you?" I said, fully
expecting this response.
"It's not that, I just don't want a repeat of
Christmas," he looked at me with those puppy dog eyes,
and remembered what happened at Christmas.
"Mulder, Bill won't show up for a surprise visit.
He talked to mom yesterday. Tara and Matthew both have
colds so he's not even going to chance traveling.
It'll just be me, you, Mom, Charlie, and his wife and
kids. They're not too bad, hmm?" I asked, rubbing his
back. I could see in his eyes he was beginning to
consider what I was saying.
"What the hell," he said decisively. "A day with
you, free food, and your mother's not so subtle hints
about our relationship, what else could a guy ask for?"
Mulder grinned at me. "Or maybe we should tell her
about our relationship?"
I shook my head from side to side. "Maybe. I
don't know, I'm just worried about certain enemies
finding out," I said, playing with a loose thread
on his t-shirt.
Mulder hugged my waist tighter. "I don't think
you have to really worry about that. Most of the
enemies are now shish-ka-bobs."
I laid my head against his. "Thanks," I said.
Then I remembered why I had came there in the first
place. "Oh, yeah, I got you something today," I said
as I jumped off his lap and went over to where I had
dropped the poster tube by the front door. I picked
it up and turned around to see Mulder still sitting in
the desk chair with a surprised and confused look on his
face. "I just saw it, and I thought of you," I said,
moving to sit back down in his lap.
He took the package and shook it around a little
bit. He opened the cap and slid the poster out. As
he unrolled it he smiled more brightly than I've seen
him smile in a long time. "Where'd you find this?"
he asked.
"Same place you did." He looked at me. "Remember
when I asked you last year where you got the poster? I
guess it was the same place. We went in there by chance."
"I thought you guys were going to Georgetown."
"We did, then we decided to go someplace we could
actually afford to shop."
Mulder pulled my head to his and whispered "Thank
you," against my lips. Then, naturally, he kissed me.
We kissed for a while when Mulder suddenly pulled away,
pushed me off his lap, stood up, grabbed my hand and the
poster, and headed for the door.
"Where are we going?" I managed to ask just as we got
into his car.
He held up the poster between our seats.
"Redecorating," was all he said, but I got the idea.
I smiled and leaned back in my seat as Mulder directed
the car onto the highway in the fading light of the sunset.
We made it to the Hoover building in record time.
Not many people were driving the opposite of rush hour
traffic. Inside the Hoover building hardly anyone was
there. We only saw a few security guards, although there
were probably some people there to prevent the FBI from
shutting down totally over vacation.
"Where are you going to put it?" I asked when we
were down in the office, even though deep inside I
already knew where.
"Same place as before," Mulder said, rummaging
in his desk for some thumbtacks. "Ow!" he muttered.
Then, "Found 'em," and he pulled four out. He turned
to the wall and quickly restored the poster to its former
glory. "There. How does it look?" he asked as he turned
to me and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind.
"It's perfect," I said. Mulder smiled down at me,
and I realized at that moment, things really couldn't
get any better than this.
The End!
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This story is dedicated to the real Warts the stuffed
frog who sits on my shoulder and keeps me company.
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"Men will fight
bravely and be heroes,
but for a last ditch
defense against any
odds, get a mother.
Lightbringer,
High Wizardry
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"True love, it's the
greatest thing in
the world."
Miracle Max
The Princess Bride
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