FBI Headquarters

8:45am

Mulder walked into the FBI headquarters and saw Scully standing alone among the crowd of FBI agents rushing from here to there. He approached her, "Hey, Scully. Who are you waiting for?"

"Mulder, Kersh wants to see us."

"What have you done now, Scully," he said smiling.

"Mulder, I think it’s serious."

"When?"

"Now, let’s go."

They took the elevator to Kersh’s office. Scully looked more nervous than Mulder. "What do you think it’s about," Mulder asked.

Scully shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows."

"It’s at times like these when I wish we still had Skinner."

"Only at times like these!" Scully said.

The elevator arrived on Kersh’s floor. The pair walked to his office, a place to which they had been summoned many times before. They walked into the waiting area when his secretary said, "You can walk right in."

Mulder opened the door and walked in. He could smell the smoke from the ashtray in the corner of the room. "Bastard," he murmured to himself.

"Ah, Agents Mulder and Scully. Please take a seat," Kersh said inviting them to the dreaded chairs facing his desk. "Let’s get straight to the point, shall we? You’ve wasted enough of my time in the past," he said aggressively. "Your, say…antics, have proven far too difficult to cope with ever since I became your superior. Whether it’s you, Agent Mulder lost at sea and you, Scully, running to me for help, everything. I’m afraid, it’s gone over the top." The agents could sense something coming. "For a period of time, I don’t know how long, it could be permanent or on the other hand it could just be temporary, I have decided to separate you…completely."

Nothing could separate Mulder and Scully. Nothing. Or could it? There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Kersh shouted.

A woman entered. She was in her late twenties. She had long, auburn hair and wore a blue jacket and long trousers. She wore a beautiful smile and Mulder immediately felt a sense of attraction towards her. "Sorry I’m late, sir," she said, in a soft, gentle voice.

"That’s all right, Agent Jordan, take a seat."

She sat down on the empty chair next to Mulder. "Agents Mulder and Scully, meet Agent Jordan." Mulder and Scully shook her hand. "Where were we? Yes. Agent Scully, I have assigned you to the forensics team."

"You what!" Mulder jumped out of his seat angrily. "You can’t do that!"

"I’m afraid I can, and I have, so Agent Mulder, if you’ll just sit down…"

"You son of a bitch. You and your cigarette-smoking friend."

"Agent Mulder, sit down!" he shouted. "Right, Agent Mulder, I have decided to keep you in this department, but you’ll have Agent Jordan, as your partner."

"You see what he’s done, Scully, he’s screwed us. He’s screwed us!"

"Agent Mulder, that’s enough! Now shut up!"

"No. The only reason you want Scully and me out is because of what we know."

"Agent Mulder, do you want me to suspend you?"

The room went silent.

"As of when," Scully asked.

"This afternoon," Kersh told her.

"I don’t believe this!"

"Agent Mulder!"

Mulder looked over at Jordan. She looked nervous.

"Lister, sir, I don’t think you understand…"

"Agent Mulder, I understand perfectly well, and I also understand that you and Agent Scully aren’t helping the bureau or anyone else!"

"No, sir, we’re not helping the conspiracy."

"What conspiracy?" Jordan asked.

The room went silent. "Agent Scully, clear your desk."

"Sir." Scully said.

"I want you working after lunch. And I want you to show Agent Jordan the ropes. I have the feeling it’s something I may regret, but do it with no fuss, Agent Mulder," Kersh told Mulder.

They all got up and left the office.

"Bastard!" Mulder whispered to Scully. "You could’ve helped me there!"

"Mulder, how could I? What could I say?"

"They’ve done us. How are we going to get out of this one."

"Mulder, we can’t. Not now. I’ve got stuff to do," she said and walked away.

Mulder had barely noticed Jordan walking beside him. He felt almost embarrassed after his performance in Kersh’s office. "I take it you and Scully been working for a long time together?" she said.

"Seven years."

"Are you…you know…an item?"

Mulder laughed. "No," he said, "but she’s the only one I trust."

"Listen, Mulder…Fox. I’ve learnt a lot about you. You’re famous around the FBI and I know about your past and well, I know your theories have been disregarded, but, I believe you."

"If that’s true, that’s good for you. But, no offence, but, I don’t believe you. I know who you work for, Jordan."

"Call me Carly, I don’t like this last name basis of address. I don’t understand what you’re talking about."

"Come on, didn’t you recognise the cigarette-butt in Kersh’s room."

"No, who’s is it?"

"Quit the act," he said and he walked away.

Jordan ran up behind him. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Look, they’ve done this to me before. And that man turned out to be one of the most dangerous men in the world. He killed my father. He tried to kill Scully. He helped her abduction. He killed her sister, I could go on. You probably know the guy, Alex Krycek? Ring a bell?"

"I’ve heard about Krycek at the academy. But I don’t know who he his. Fox…trust me."

"How do I know I can?"

"How long did it take you to trust Scully?"

"I don’t know."

"I know why Scully was assigned to partner you in the X-Files. She had to put you off the rails, disrupt you investigation, right?"

"Well, Kersh told me something when I spoke to him earlier. He told me to keep your two feet on the ground."

"Did he?"

"And Fox, I won’t do that. When Kersh came to me, and told me to partner you, I knew why. But I know about your work and I believe in your work, and, I want to know the truth. You don’t have to tell me anything. But, all I want is the truth, wherever it’s from."

"Why?"

"Because I need it."

"Do you trust her?" Scully asked Mulder, scooping up the yoghurt from the carton. "I don’t know, Scully."

"Well, she could be just as nuts as you."

Mulder laughed. "Yeah, right! What if she’s just another Krycek?"

"Look Mulder, keep away from her until you know what she’s about. I mean work with her, but don’t get too close."

"Where did you get that from?"

"Deep Throat must have said it!" she joked. They both laughed.

"What about us?"

"Mulder, they’ve done this before," she said. She gripped his arm tightly. "We’ll be back."

"I don’t know, Scully. They’ve played with your career, to change this. They can’t do that."

"But because of my field of study, I don’t think I’ll win my case. Mulder, come on."

"Yeah."

"So, you still want to work here," asked Mulder.

"Never did," said Jordan.

"So, what were you like in Virginia?"

"A real pain in the butt!"

"Something to look forward to!"

"That’s because no one understood me."

"Same."

"I know…Spooky!" They laughed.

Mulder’s mood had changed dramatically. He’d enjoyed the afternoon with Jordan. It was fun. And he’d ignored Scully’s advice to keep it…anti-social? But how could he? She was funny and shared his thoughts.

"Listen, Fox," she said, "I was wondering whether we could go out for some dinner or something and we could get to know each-other?"

"Don’t you know everything about Fox Mulder?" he asked.

"I know everything about the Agent, now I want to know about the Fox," she snarled.

"You’re asking me out on a date?"

"No, just a little…you know."

"When?"

"Tonight?"

"…sure."

"It’s a day…forget it!"

Mulder laughed. "Where."

"That Italian place down the road."

"Rizzo’s?"

"That’s the one."

"That’s a bit extravagant."

"My shout."

"How can I refuse an offer like that?"

"You can’t."

"Well, I’ll see you then, Jordan."

"Please call me Carly!"

"That dinner was quite lovely. Haven’t eaten like that for years," said Mulder, wiping his mouth.

"I’m glad you liked it."

"It’s getting late…"

"Yeah, are you driving me home or…?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I really enjoyed myself tonight," he told her.

"Me too."

They both got up and walked to the front desk. Jordan gave the man there few notes. "Keep the change," she told him.

They walked out of the restaurant and approached Mulder’s car. The chivalrous Mulder opened her door and let her in before getting in himself. All right, for a man who was on his first date in a while. The drive took ten minutes and they chattered more. "Do you want to come in for a coffee?" she asked when they came to her building.

"Nah."

"Come on, just five minutes?"

Mulder sighed. "All right." She could win him over. Bad sign.

They took the elevator to her floor. The building was new and was in good condition. She unlocked the door and turned the lights on. It was very tidy and neat compared to Mulder’s. They went to the small desk kitchen and she prepared everything in the coffee maker. "I’ll show you around," she said. She led him around the apartment, which was fairly big in comparison to most and was quite luxurious. She took him to her bedroom. This was again very big. Mulder examined her massive CD collection. "Wanna dance?"

Mulder looked away. "I can’t."

"Come on." She went to the Hi-fi system and pressed the "play" button.

"Okay," he said.

The song was mellow and romantic. Mulder didn’t recognise the singer. They danced intimately, arms around each other’s necks. As he looked into her eyes, he realised how beautiful she really was. He stared at her and she stared back and both couldn’t resist the temptation. He lowered his face and kissed her lips. She kissed back and they began to kiss more freely. Suddenly, Mulder thought of Scully. Why? He felt guilty. Why? He knew why. He loved Scully. Not Jordan. And he knew it. It was Scully’s lips to which his were so passionately affixed. And it was her body he was holding. This was wrong. But Mulder couldn’t resist. But to Jordan, it all seemed natural. She was in love with the older Fox Mulder, whom she had a crush on since she set eyes on him. She violently pushed him on the bed and flung herself on top of him.

Scully hated her work. She hated doing all the examinations and all the forensic stuff. Sure she didn’t mind on one of her investigations but this was doing everyone else’s dirty work and just doing this crap all day was driving her nuts. She decided to get up and go to the vending machine in the cafeteria and get one of those new flasks of coffee they sold. At first she thought they were a dumb idea, but now she understood why they were there. She took the elevator down to the bottom floor at which the cafeteria was located and bought the flask. She was on her short walk back to the lift when she saw Mulder and Jordan. Mulder had just kissed and walked away and was approaching the lift. Scully decided to ignore the thought and perhaps the hint of jealousy she felt. But she couldn’t and admitted to herself she couldn’t. She went into the elevator and saw Mulder running towards her. "Keep it open, Scully!" he was shouting. She pressed the "<<>>" button and waited for Mulder. Surprisingly, they were the only two on the elevator. The elevator went up and they shared greetings. It then came to a sudden halt. "Oh, shit!" Mulder said. He went toward the door and started thumping it. "Hello! Hello! Let us out!" He repeated this every few seconds.

Scully decided to lean against the wall of the elevator and sank down. Mulder did the same on the other side. He lowered his hands to his face. "I see that you and Jordan are getting on well," said Scully.

"What? Yeah, she’s great," he replied.

"But she may be a threat, Mulder."

"You’re just jealous aren’t you, Scully!" Mulder laughed.

"No! What have I got to be jealous for? I mean…"

"Scully, I was just kidding."

They gave up the conversation for a couple of minutes and Mulder resumed the banging.

"We’ll be all right," Scully told him.

"Sometime," he said. He sat back down again.

"When did this…relationship begin?"

"Last night, we went out to Rizzo’s."

"Rizzo’s? So you’re full on after a day?"

"No. We just wanted to get to know each other better and it just picked up from there," he told her.

Scully got up from the floor and looked away from Mulder. She put her hand on her face. She was in tears. Heartbroken. She sniffed.

Mulder got up. "Scully, are you crying?"

"No."

"What is it?" He approached her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"It’s nothing," she said. There was a long pause. "Actually, Mulder, there is something."

"What?"

She turned towards him. "I love you!" The words were crisp and were different. She didn’t sound like the Scully that Mulder had got to know over the years.

"Scully?"

She reached up and kissed him and he kissed back. Only this time, it really was Scully he was kissing.