My first fanfic!  :)

TITLE:  End Detour 
AUTHOR:  Susanne Barringer
E-MAIL: sbarringer@usa.net
ARCHIVE:  Anywhere okay, with these headers intact.  
SPOILER WARNINGS:  Up to "Detour" (5th season)
RATING:  PG for language. 
CONTENT WARNING:  the beginnings of MSR
CLASSIFICATION:  SR 
SUMMARY:  An alternative "Detour" episode.  Mulder and Scully are not 
detoured on their way to the team seminar.
DISCLAIMER:  These characters belong to Chris Carter, 1013, and Fox.  
No infringement is intended.

**********

End Detour 
by Susanne Barringer

Fox Mulder had not been pleased about having to attend the team seminar.  
Assistant Director Skinner hadn't given them much of a choice.  He called 
the agents into his office just after Scully returned to work after her cancer 
went into remission.  The new Section Chief, who'd replaced Blevins, 
apparently had been scrutinizing Mulder's employment file.

"Mulder, you haven't had any in-service training in five years," Skinner 
explained.  "You're up for review next year.  I suggest you bulk up that 
personnel file.  Don't give them an easy reason to challenge you."

Scully glanced at Mulder in time to see his look of disdain, but she knew he 
couldn't argue with Skinner's point.   In-service was a requirement of 
agents, to keep them up to date, and Mulder had avoided it like the 
proverbial plague.

"But sir," Mulder complained, "Do we have to go to THIS seminar?  I 
mean, Scully and I, well, you know, we don't really need to work on our 
partnership."  He turned and caught Scully's eye and flashed a half-grin, as 
if to assure her it was nothing personal.

"I know, Agent Mulder, but I'm doing you a favor.  This conference is only 
a day and a half, not three or four days like some of them."  Skinner stood 
from behind the desk and approached the two agents.  "Besides, there 
aren't any 'How to Take Down an Alien' seminars this year."  Skinner's 
mouth turned up in a wide smile.  Scully struggled to keep from laughing at 
Skinner's attempt at a lame joke.  She wasn't sure she'd ever even heard 
him make a joke.  Ever.  Even Mulder couldn't stop the smile forming in his 
eyes.

"Okay, okay," Mulder held his hands up in surrender.  "We'll go."

"It could be good for us, Mulder," Scully piped up.  Mulder glared at her.  
Nope, they didn't need to practice communication.  She knew exactly what 
he was thinking: 

Skinner interrupted Mulder's silent condemnation.  "Try to have an open 
mind toward this, Agent Mulder.  I know you have that capability."  He 
almost smiled again.

After Skinner closed the door behind them, Scully commented, "Wow, 
now *that* was spooky."

"What?  Skinner cracking jokes?  He's really fond of you, Scully.  I could 
see that when you were in the hospital.  I think he's just glad you're back."  
Mulder turned toward her and placed his hand at that comfortable place at 
the small of her back. "I'm glad you're back, too."  Mulder's small gesture 
reminded her how much she had missed work, or rather how much she 
missed working with Mulder.  It was really the same thing, she decided.

**********

The ride from the Tallahassee airport to the resort where the seminar was 
to be held was excruciating.  The two agents with whom they were 
carpooling were far too perky, and their story of building a tower out of 
office furniture was pathetically enthusiastic.  Scully knew Mulder was near 
the end of his rope; it was all she could do not to laugh out loud at his not-
so-subtle slams of the vivacious agents, but she didn't want to encourage 
him.

"Communication, that's the key," explained Agent Stonecypher, turning 
toward Scully and Mulder in the back seat.  Scully faked a smile of pleased 
agreement and thanked her lucky stars for about the hundredth time that 
she had Mulder as her partner and not some annoying optimist.  Sure, 
Mulder was annoying, but only sometimes.  And he made up for it in so 
many other ways that she couldn't even begin to count.  

The truth was, Scully was actually looking forward to the seminar a tiny 
bit, though she would never admit that to Mulder.  Things between them 
had been slightly awkward since she'd returned to work.  It wasn't that 
things were uncomfortable, really, just that they were having to readjust to 
being partners again.  It had been awkward because . . .  well, because she 
hadn't died.

When she was in the hospital, and after Mulder had returned from the dead, 
all their emotions and feelings for each other had been laid bare.  They 
hadn't talked about it (they never did), but her impending death allowed 
both of them to express, indirectly, what they felt for each other.  It wasn't 
a surprise of course.  She had always known that she loved Mulder and 
that he loved her.  What KIND of love it was, exactly, she was only just 
now beginning to contemplate.  The fact that she was dying had allowed 
them to act on the affection they'd always felt but which had not been 
"proper" in their relationship as partners.  Mulder had started kissing her 
hello and goodbye, and they'd gotten in the habit of holding hands during 
the time she was in the hospital.  None of it was sexual, though she knew 
she had those feelings too.  She had always been able to keep her physical 
attraction to Mulder at bay.  She was used to holding back such feelings; 
she'd done it her whole life.  Besides, the kisses and hand-holding between 
them were just natural actions that sprang out of their deep affection for 
each other and the fact that her illness allowed them to express it.  Nothing 
more.  At least she was pretty sure it was nothing more.

The openness between them continued even after she got out of the 
hospital and returned home for her convalescence.  Mulder slept fourteen 
nights in a row on her sofa, just in case she had a "relapse."  She had 
laughed at Mulder's explanation for his needing to stay there.

"Mulder, I won't get an instantaneous 'relapse.'  That's not how cancer 
works."

"Just let me stay, Scully.  Please.  Just in case something happens."   He 
had begged her, making full use of the look he knew she couldn't resist.

So, she let him stay.  Every night, in fact.  She didn't want him to at first.  
The last thing she needed was anyone hovering over her constantly.  
Eventually, though, she guiltily ended up enjoying Mulder's constant 
companionship a little more than she should have.  They spent every 
evening watching movies or reading, curled up on the sofa, almost always 
either with Mulder's arm around her or holding hands.  Despite his protests 
that she shouldn't worry about work, he kept her up to date on the cases 
he'd been looking at and what was going on at the Bureau.  She was 
surprised to find herself anxiously waiting everyday for Mulder to come 
"home" from work.  She tried not to think too much about what that 
meant.

They played house until the night before she was to return to the Bureau.  
Then Mulder finally went home, realizing, as she did, that they had to go 
back to being professional partners again.  After he packed up all his stuff, 
he slipped out while she was in the bathtub, without so much as a goodbye.  
When she got out of the tub and realized he had gone, she sobbed for a 
straight hour.  She cried the next four nights too, when she came home 
from work to an empty house and an empty sofa.  It had been two weeks 
now, and she still wasn't used to it.  The absence of Mulder's constant 
presence had opened an empty hole in her home, and in her heart, that 
shocked her with its intensity.  Even though she spent all day at work with 
him, she missed him in a way she never expected.

It was all because she hadn't died.  They had to reverse the changes 
between them, forced to return to professionalism again.  They stopped 
virtually all the comfortable contact they'd had.  It was not something they 
talked about; they simply reestablished the distance needed to function as 
FBI partners.  After all, they certainly couldn't be so affectionate on the 
job!  She smiled at the thought of the look Skinner would get on his face if 
they held hands in mutual support during one of his royal reamings.  At 
first she had thought that maybe they would be professional at work but 
then have some leeway during their off hours to be close again, to spend 
time together in the way they had while she was sick, a way they never had 
before then.  But, it hadn't happened.  She hoped Mulder might come by 
after work one night, just to hang out again, but he never did.  She finally 
resigned herself to the fact that Mulder wanted it that way, that he wanted 
her as his partner and surely his friend also, but that their relationship had 
to return to the way it had been.  It disappointed her, but logically she 
knew it was the best alternative.  They were partners, after all, and that 
needed to be their first priority.

Still, she really missed that little bit of what she and Mulder shared.  She 
missed the closeness and the openness of being able to touch him when she 
needed to, without any fear of what the consequences might be or what he 
might think of it.  Now she was back to being afraid of reaching for his 
hand when she needed his reassurance because, in the context of being 
partners, it would mean something else.  She wasn't at death's door 
anymore, and that changed everything.  Now there was something to lose.

Scully's attention was drawn back to the conversation between Agents 
Kinsley and Stonecypher.  God, did those two ever shut up?  She could see 
that Mulder was now well past annoyance.  He'd quit his sarcastic 
comments and was simply staring dumbly out the window.

"So, how much further?"  Scully asked, hoping the torture would soon be 
over.

"Not too far, Agent Scully," piped up Stonecypher.  

"Another ten minutes or so," finished Agent Kinsley, as if on cue.  Scully 
saw Mulder roll his eyes toward heaven.

**********

They arrived in time for the wine and cheese reception, much to the 
pleasure of Agent Stonecypher who was worried they'd be late.  The relief 
of getting out of the car was plainly evident on Mulder's face. 

"Scully, if the rest of this weekend is like that car ride, you'll be checking 
me into that loony bin you're always promising," Mulder whispered to her 
as they entered the lodge.  

Scully dug her elbow into his side.  "Shhh.  They'll hear you," she 
murmured.

The seminar was being held at a retreat north of Tallahassee.  The retreat 
was in the woods, with small cabins surrounding a beautiful lake.  The main 
lodge was a rather large log cabin; smoke flowed invitingly out of the 
chimneys at either end.  Even though the weather was much warmer than it 
had been in D.C., there was still a nip in the air.  Scully thought sitting in 
front of a warm fire practicing communication with Mulder wasn't such a 
bad idea, then checked herself when she realized that wasn't a very 
professional thought.  Professional, she reminded herself.  She had a feeling 
it was something she would have to keep reminding herself, constantly.

The four agents entered the main lodge and received their room 
assignments.  Mulder was much relieved to find he would be sleeping in a 
single cabin; Scully, though, had to share with Agent Stonecypher.  "You 
could stay in my cabin," Mulder teased.  "We could *really* see what kind 
of team we make," he leered.  Scully prayed she wasn't blushing, and it 
only momentarily crossed the fringes of her mind that his innuendo had 
never elicited that type of involuntary reaction from her before.  She 
elbowed Mulder for the second time in ten minutes.  Communication at its 
best, she thought.

Scully and Mulder dumped their stuff in their respective cabins and then 
met up again to go to the wine and cheese reception.  

**********

The morning session the next day, as it turned out, had nothing to do with 
building a tower out of office furniture.  Scully was relieved if only to not 
have to listen to Mulder complain about it for the next two weeks.  Instead, 
they engaged first in those silly icebreaker games so that everyone on the 
retreat could get to know everyone else.  Scully looked around the room at 
all the partners.  Besides Stonecypher and Kinsley, she and Mulder were 
the only male/female team.  All the rest of the agents were men.  She 
wondered what they thought about all the mutual bonding and touchy-feely 
stuff that went on at these seminars.  She knew Mulder hated it.  Of course, 
Mulder was different.

After the icebreakers, Mel, one of the leaders of the seminar, took the 
floor.  "In order to be an effective team," he began, "you must be able to 
communicate with your partner, especially about your partnership.  This is 
an exercise to get you talking, to establish a dialogue between you which 
will, hopefully, continue throughout the weekend."  Mel passed a 
photocopy to each agent.  "Feel free to wander off; just find a place where 
you feel comfortable.  Think carefully about how you would finish these 
sentences about your partner, and write down your answers.  Don't be 
afraid to be honest and answer fully.  We'll meet back here in thirty 
minutes."  

Scully glanced over the handout and realized that they were going to 
engage in the type of exercise often used in couples and family counseling.  
She scanned down the list:  
I like being your partner because . . .
I don't like it when you  . . .
I trust you when  . . .
I get angry when you  . . .
We could be better partners if . . .
I wish . . .

This won't be so bad, Scully thought, but she knew Mulder would hate it.  
She sneaked a glance over at him and realized he had taken a seat on a 
comfortable looking chair near the fireplace and was already beginning to 
scribble down his answers.  Surprised at his involvement, Scully sat down 
on the other side of the room and started her answers.

Thirty minutes later, the agents gathered in the main room again.  Mel had 
placed the chairs in pairs so that partners would sit facing each other.  
"Now," Mel instructed, "you will read your answers to each other, one at a 
time.  The reader should read each answer.  The listener cannot interrupt.  
At the end, the listener can ask questions, but only questions.  No 
accusations or defenses, just questions."

Scully felt confident about what she had written about Mulder.  She had 
tried to be as honest as she could, but she had also tried not to be too hard 
on him.  She knew he would take what she said to heart, probably a little 
too much.  She was nervous, though, for some reason.  She and Mulder 
hardly ever talked about their partnership; it always seemed to be 
understood.  Mulder looked nervous too, she noted; his leg was bouncing 
up and down.  She noticed when she glanced at his sheet that he had 
written long paragraphs for some of the answers.  She'd only completed the 
one sentence for most of them.  She was shocked that he was taking this so 
seriously.

"You start,"  Mulder said.

Scully took a deep breath and plunged ahead.  "I like being your partner 
because you challenge me and make me a better agent and I trust you."  
She looked at Mulder and smiled.  He looked so serious.  "I don't like it 
when you . . ."  Scully paused because she thought this one might anger 
Mulder.  ". . . when we're working and you treat me like I'm sick."  Mulder 
hardly flinched.  He probably already knew that, she figured.  

"I trust you when . . . well, I trust you always."  She hurried onto the next 
one, a bit scared to look at Mulder directly.  "I get angry when you ditch 
me!"  she said emphatically.  Mulder rolled his eyes.   

"We could be better partners if . . . "  Scully hesitated again.  She hadn't 
been able to answer that one totally honestly.  What she had wanted to put 
on the paper wasn't appropriate for people who were only partners in the 
professional sense, yet it had been the first thing that crossed her mind.  So 
she'd gone with her second thought. "We could be better partners if you 
wouldn't worry so much about protecting me.  I'm in this with you, for 
better or for worse."  She looked up at him, but he was looking at his 
hands folded in his lap.  "Don't leave me behind."  The spoken words 
sounded more serious than she had intended them.  Mulder didn't move.

"Finally, I wish . . ."  Scully looked at what she had written on the paper 
 and mentally kicked herself for being so 
adolescent.  She decided to ad lib something a little less honest.  "I wish 
you would quit feeling guilty about things over which you have no 
control."  Scully let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she'd been 
holding.

Mulder looked at her, the paper shaking slightly in his hands, but he didn't 
say anything.  Scully worried that he was upset and was getting ready to 
take his toys and go home.  "You're supposed to ask me questions, 
Mulder."  

He nodded but still didn't say anything.  Scully waited.  Finally, he spoke.  
"You're right, Scully.  You're right about everything."

Scully panicked; she had a feeling that Mulder was about to shut her out.  
"That's not a question, Mulder.  Don't tell me you're not even going to 
challenge any of what I said."  She raised her eyebrows at him.  He was 
inscrutable, his face a mask of seriousness that was beginning to raise her 
concern.

"Later.  Let me read mine now," Mulder finally replied looking down at his 
paper.  "It won't matter if we change the rules a little, will it?"

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Mulder," Scully smiled to take 
the edge off the comment.  Mulder just swallowed and looked down again 
at his paper.  She thought it was cute how nervous he was, how his usual 
cocky attitude and negative approach to exercises like these had gone 
straight out the window.  At the same time, she was curious to know what 
he had written--she could see, again, how much writing there was on the 
page.

"Okay,"  Mulder took a deep breath.  "I like being your partner because 
you listen to me, to my theories, and you don't always laugh, at least not 
right away.  And because you respect the journey."  Scully smiled 
remembering when he had said that to her early in their partnership.  "And 
because you're so *Scully* and you challenge me and make me a better 
agent--we both wrote that, spooky huh?--and because . . . "  He stopped.  
"I guess I was only supposed to write one thing.  I'll move on."  Scully was 
dying to know what he wasn't saying.

Mulder took another deep breath.  "I don't like it when you won't accept 
any help from me even when you need it."  He looked up at Scully's raised 
eyebrows.  She opened her mouth to say something but then remembered 
that Mulder had played by the rules, so she closed it again.

"I trust you when  . . .  well, I agree with you--I trust you always."  

Mulder paused for what seemed like a full minute before the next one, and 
Scully steeled herself.  "I get angry when you tell me you're fine when 
you're obviously not.  You don't have to tell me everything.  Just don't tell 
me you're fine when there's something wrong."  He looked up at her 
pleadingly.  "Don't be afraid to talk to me, Scully, about anything, or about 
nothing, or just to say 'I feel like shit' or whatever.  It doesn't matter.  Just 
talk to me.  Don't leave *me* behind."  His words had come out all in one 
burst and now he stopped to take a breath.  Scully felt tears welling up in 
her eyes, so she simply nodded.  She knew full well that her refusal to share 
with Mulder had always hurt him.

Mulder continued, "We could be even better partners if . . ."  He hesitated 
and looked at her.  He hesitated a long time.  Scully prompted him with her 
eyes.  "We could be better partners if you would trust me."  Scully's eyes 
widened as she looked at him.  "Completely," he added.  

She couldn't stay quiet any more.  "Mulder, I . . ."

"Don't speak, Scully," he interrupted.  "You know the rules."  She shut her 
mouth and glared at him.  How could he have said that about her?  She 
trusted him entirely, with her life, with her soul, with her heart.  How could 
he think that she didn't?  Her mind was spinning.  She trusted him, didn't 
she?  Didn't she?  

"I wish . . . you weren't sick," Mulder stated with finality.  Scully could see 
he had a lot more written on his paper, but she figured that from her 
reaction to his last comment he had decided he better take the easy way 
out.  

"Any questions?" he asked, grimacing like he knew he was about to feel the 
infamous Scully wrath.

Scully waited a few heartbeats to catch her breath.  "Mulder, you know I 
trust you," she finally blurted out.

"It's supposed to be a question, Scully."

Scully sighed with frustration.  Since when did Mulder insist on going by 
the book?  "Okay, *why* do you think I don't trust you?"  She tried to 
cover up the shaking in her voice but she was pretty sure Mulder had 
noticed it.  

"Look Scully, don't get me wrong.  I know you trust me as your partner.  I 
truly believe that.  But you don't trust me as more than that.  You hide 
everything.  You say you don't like it when I am too protective of you, but 
you try to protect ME all the time by not telling me how you are, how 
you're feeling, *what* you're feeling, when you're hurting, when you need 
me . . ."  He stopped, taking a breath, thinking maybe he had gone too far, 
but then added, "Especially now that we're working together again." 

Scully felt her eyes filling with unshed tears and cursed herself.  Why had 
she recently been such an emotional basket-case where Mulder was 
concerned?  "I'm trying, Mulder."  She said it so softly that he could hardly 
hear her.  That's all she said; the fight had suddenly gone out of her.  Just 
then Mel walked up, checking on the progress of the agents.

"How's it going?  Are you communicating?"  he asked with a concerned 
smile.  Scully turned away, trying to hide her moist eyes from Mel.  Mulder 
saw this, so he took it upon himself to answer.  

"Yeah, we're doing great," he replied.  Mel didn't miss the sarcasm in 
Mulder's voice, but decided to move on anyway.

"Honesty can only help a partnership," Mel commented as he moved to the 
next pair of agents.  Scully indulged in a silent laugh as Mulder flipped a 
bird to Mel's back.

"Okay, Scully.  I know you're mad about what I said, but this has been 
hard, going back to being partners again after . . ."  He paused as she 
nodded.  ". . . well, after having the chance to be just friends for a while 
and not partners.  I miss . . ." He closed his eyes briefly, then reached out 
and took her hand, squeezed it, and let go before anyone saw.  She knew 
what he meant.  It was exactly what she'd been thinking in the car on the 
way here.  It relieved her to know that Mulder also realized that they had 
lost something.  At the same time, it scared the life out of her, though she 
wasn't entirely sure if she was scared that they would never have it again, 
or that they would.

Mel's voice roused them out of their absorption in each other.  Scully had 
been so tuned in to Mulder that she'd forgotten they were in the middle of a 
room full of people.

"Okay, people, let's break for lunch.  Meet back here at 1:00 and we'll do 
something a bit more physical."

Mulder groaned, no doubt thinking of office furniture.  "Let's blow this 
joint," he said to Scully as he snatched up his answers to the questions and 
ushered her out of the lodge.



**********



The tap on the door was light; Scully knew it would be Mulder.  She had 
gone back to her cabin to "freshen up" before lunch, thinking that Mulder 
probably needed some time to himself also.

Mulder entered and plopped down on her bed.  "Hey.  Whaddaya say we 
skip lunch and take off for a while?  I need to get out of here."

Scully was still a bit shaken from Mulder's comments during the exercise.  
She wasn't sure what he was up to, but she suspected he had an ulterior 
motive for wanting them to get away.  She decided to be practical.  
"Mulder, we only have an hour for lunch.  If we leave we might not get 
back in time for the afternoon sessions."

Mulder put on his trademark evil smile.  "My thoughts exactly."  He got up 
off Scully's bed and moved closer to her.  "C'mon Scully.  This thing is 
stupid.  It isn't helping us any; in fact, it seems to be making things worse.  
We need to talk, but we need to do it on our own time, not because we're 
forced to because of some silly exercise."  

Mulder had a good point there, Scully thought.  

He pressed on. "Why don't we go out and have some fun?  This is a 
beautiful area; there's a place I'd like to show you.  You'll love it.  I want to 
take you there."

Scully knew she was fighting a losing battle.  If Mulder had this attitude the 
sessions would be useless anyway.  He couldn't work on his team-building 
skills if he was sulking; anyway, she wasn't sure she wanted to take their 
"dialogue" any further than they had.  

"Please, Scully?  You only live once, right?"  As soon as the words were 
out of his mouth, he panicked.  She saw the look of guilt cross his face as 
he stumbled to cover up his verbal tactlessness.

She decided to relieve him fast from his inevitable guilt.  "Okay," she said 
quickly before she changed her mind.  "Let's go."  The surprise on Mulder's 
face was priceless.  "Just don't blame me when Skinner asks for your head 
on a platter for missing half the conference," she chided.

Mulder was halfway out the door before she'd even finished her sentence.  
"Change into some comfortable clothes and shoes.  I'll go borrow the keys 
from Kinsley," he shouted back at her.

**********

Mulder drove them south of the resort, into Tallahassee, and then back out 
the south side of town toward the coast.  Scully sat quietly, watching the 
scenery go by, until she couldn't stand it any more.

"Okay, Mulder, are you going to tell me where we're going?  Just what 
great place am I missing the conference for?"

"Give me a break, Scully.  I know you were dreading all that building 
communication crap as much as I was."  He looked over at her and winked.  
"I can communicate just fine.  With you, anyway, and that's all that 
matters."

"Yeah?  Prove it.  Tell me where we're going," she challenged.

"It's a surprise.  An incredible place.  You'll love it Scully, trust me.  But it's 
too early to go right now, so let's stop and eat something.  I know where 
the locals hang."

Scully stayed silent a while, figuring that she wouldn't get any more 
information out of Mulder anyway.  He obviously wanted to surprise her 
with whatever this place was.  Eventually, curiosity got the best of her 
again.

"Mulder, how do you know your way around here?"  She looked at him 
quizzically.

"I took a vacation here once."

"A vacation?"  Scully's voice sounded as surprised as she was.  "YOU took 
a vacation?  Why here?"

"Well, I did the Ted Bundy serial killer tour," Mulder joked.  "You know, I 
went to Lake City and Tallahassee, did some research in the state archives, 
talked to some of the people who'd met him, had a look at where he lived, 
where he worked, where he partied.  Usual stuff."

Scully held back a laugh.  "Usual stuff?  Mulder, you have a really strange 
idea of a vacation!" she chided.  Somehow it made sense, though, for 
Mulder.  

"Anyway," he continued without her prompting, "while I was here, a 10-
year-old girl disappeared under mysterious circumstances from one of these 
small coastal towns.  I joined in the search, so I spent several days in the 
Apalachicola National Forest.  It's a beautiful place and not at all touristy.  
Just nature in her full glory."

"Did they find the girl?"

"Oh, yeah.  Turned out she'd just run away.  Nothing mysterious about it."

"No aliens?  No abduction?"  Scully turned toward Mulder and smiled.

He grinned.  "Nope.  Just a down-to-earth kind of case."  They both lapsed 
back into comfortable silence.  Just then, the road came to a dead end at an 
old, wooden building.  Around the building were run-down fishing boats 
and lots of boat parts, and there was a small crowd of men gathered 
outside the door.  Scully noticed the red lettering above the door, "Pauly's 
Oyster Bar."

"We're here!" Mulder said with excitement.  "We'll grab a bite and then I'll 
show you that place I mentioned."  Scully got out of the car a bit warily 
and followed Mulder into the bar.  The place definitely had atmosphere; the 
walls and floor were wood and there were long split-log benches and tables 
throughout the rooms.  There were quite a few people there, mostly 
drinking beer and eating oysters.  Mulder picked out a small bench in the 
corner and led Scully to it. 

"This place is awesome, Scully," he said.  "Best oysters around."  Scully sat 
on the bench facing toward the back wall which was opened wide onto a 
dock.  The restaurant overlooked a small swampy offshoot of the Gulf of 
Mexico, and the view was terrific.  It had a real "Florida" feel to it.  She 
expected a gator to pop up out of the water at any moment. 

"You have to have the smoked mullet," Mulder commented.  "It's 
unbelievable."  Scully perused the menu, but there wasn't much to choose 
from.  Mullet and oysters basically.  The waitress appeared and Mulder 
ordered two plates of mullet, a pitcher of beer, and a dozen steamed 
oysters with horseradish on the side.

**********

Mulder was right; the food was incredible.  The oysters were bigger than 
any Scully had seen before.  She wasn't really a big oyster fan, but she 
couldn't resist Mulder's enthusiasm over them.  She wasn't sure how he 
could even taste them with all the horseradish and cocktail sauce he piled 
on top of them.  They ate slowly, chatting about general things, both 
carefully avoiding the discussion from the seminar that morning.  Scully 
knew Mulder had been right earlier.  They needed to talk about dealing 
with what had happened between them when she was sick, but only when 
they were ready to.

Mulder told her about his last trip here, the search for the missing girl, and 
how he'd hung with the locals here at Pauly's after the search was over.  
Scully was amused by the way Mulder seemed to feel comfortable here, 
like he belonged in an old oyster bar with the local fishermen just back 
from a day of fishing on the Gulf.  

After lunch, Mulder challenged Scully to a game of pool on the rickety old 
table.  Scully mused about the circumstance--playing pool and drinking 
beer with Mulder.  It was definitely not a situation she'd ever expected to 
find herself in.  Scully had played a lot of pool in college and in med. 
school, and she was pretty good, if she did say so herself.  She kicked 
Mulder's butt, actually, but had a feeling he was letting her win.  They 
played pool and plugged quarters in the old jukebox.  And they laughed.  
Scully couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much.  Mulder 
kept her in stitches the whole time they played pool, mostly with his jokes 
about Agents Kinsley and Stonecypher.  He could do a wicked impression 
of Stonecypher.

"When I stood on Mike's shoulders and I put that electric pencil sharpener 
on top of the pile," Mulder drawled, flipping imaginary hair off the back of 
his neck, "we both kne-e-e-e-w , we could never have done it alone!"

Scully couldn't stop laughing.  Then, Mulder shocked the hell out of her by 
doing a dead-on impersonation of Skinner.

"Agent Mulder," Mulder began, imitating Skinner's infamous scowl, "try to 
approach this conference with an open mind.  I *know* you have that 
capability."  Mulder even had Skinner's mannerisms nailed.

Scully giggled, her whole body shaking with the laugher.  She wondered if 
Mulder practiced these imitations regularly.  "Hey, can you do Frohike?" 
she challenged.

Mulder laughed and scrunched up his face.  "That Agent Scully.  She's 
HOT!" he croaked.  Scully lost it.  The laughter overtook her and she had 
to sit down on a bench near the pool table.  Her stomach hurt from 
laughing so hard, and the tears flowed down her cheeks.  Mulder just kept 
grinning like an idiot at her and asking her if she was okay while helpfully 
reminding her to breathe.  She knew he was surprised to see her laugh like 
that.  They didn't laugh very often, especially recently.

Finally, she calmed down enough to speak.  "You're good, Mulder.  All 
these years, and I had no idea you did impersonations.  How could you 
have kept that a secret?"  She smiled unreservedly at him.  "You better not 
ever imitate me!" she teased.

"Mulder, you're crazy!" Mulder squeaked, rolling his eyes with exaggerated 
exasperation.  He burst out laughing in a thrilling, rolling laugh that Scully 
was sure she had never heard before.  She realized with a sudden shock 
that she and Mulder never had fun.  Sure they had had a few fun moments, 
but never an extended period of all-out fun like this.  There were always 
cases, or worries about conspiracy, or concern about threats to the X-files, 
or dead and missing family members lurking in their relationship.  Even in 
all the time they had spent together during her convalescence, things 
between them had usually been fairly serious.  She had never seen Mulder 
so giddy, so happy.  Nobody had ever made her laugh like this, and it 
wasn't just the beer.

Finally, Mulder racked the cue sticks and stated evenly, "We'd better go if 
we want to get there before dark."  He hustled Scully, who was growing 
increasingly curious about where "there" was, out of the bar and back into 
the car.

**********

After only a couple of miles from Pauly's, Mulder turned off the main 
highway onto a dirt road.  Scully was concerned that he might not know 
where he was going, but she decided to stay quiet.  As if reading her mind, 
Mulder commented, "It's been awhile since I've been here, but this is 
definitely the place."

Scully looked around at the thick foliage, totally nondescript.  "How can 
you tell?" she mumbled sarcastically.

"Scully, have a little faith, would ya?  I know what I'm doing."  He looked 
straight at her and said, "Trust me."  She knew that it was a challenge she 
had to meet.

After several minutes on the bumpy dirt road, Mulder stopped the car.  
"We'll have to walk the rest of the way."

"How far?"  Scully was trying her best to trust that Mulder was not going 
to unintentionally lead them into some mess.

"'Bout half a mile, maybe less than that."  He jumped out of the car and 
opened the trunk.  "Perfect!  I knew June and Ward would be the ever-
prepared agents," he said as he grabbed two flashlights from the trunk.  "It 
might be dark when we get back," he whispered to Scully very 
mysteriously.

Scully grabbed her jacket from the back seat of the car and set off down 
the barely distinguishable path.  Mulder followed right behind her.  Still 
feeling warm and fuzzy from the beer, Scully couldn't resist egging on 
Mulder just a little bit.

"Mulder, why do I get the feeling you're leading me into the deep, dark 
woods for some sinister purpose?"  she announced.  She heard Mulder 
laugh behind her.

"Better watch out for the Big Bad Wolf, Scully.  You never know where 
he might be lurking!"

"Hmmm.  Sounds like an X-File.  Little girl wearing little red hood and 
carrying basket of goodies gets eaten by sinister creature with lots of hair 
and very big teeth."

"All the better to eat you with, my dear!"  Mulder's chuckle rose up behind 
her and made her smile.  They walked on in silence until Scully heard 
running water.  A few seconds later, she broke into a clearing and came 
face to face with a spectacular waterfall.  Scully stopped in her tracks and 
looked at the clear water falling over the ledge into a clear, deep pool.  It 
wasn't a high waterfall, but it was wide.  The water fell over the side in a 
glass-like sheet smooth enough to nearly reflect the picture in front of it.  

Mulder didn't say anything but placed his hand on Scully's back and guided 
her over to a large flat rock that faced the falls.  They sat down and 
watched the water, the gentle sound of it lulling Scully's alcohol-influenced 
brain into total peacefulness and calm. 

Scully finally broke the silence.  "How did you find this place, Mulder?"

"Like I said, I came across it when I was involved in the search for that 
missing girl."

"And you remembered all this time where it was?" Scully asked, surprised 
that Mulder would like such a place that much.  He was surprising her a lot 
today.

"Yeah.  I was just waiting for a time when I might be able to come back."  
Then he added, "The right time."

They sat for a while, Scully admiring the waterfall and the scene that 
surrounded it.  "Mulder, you were right.  This place really is beautiful.  But 
it'll be dark soon.  We should probably head back to the car."  She stood up 
from the rock.

"No!"  Mulder grabbed her hand and pulled her back down onto the rock.  
"The best is yet to come," he said, looking straight into her eyes.  Her 
stomach flip-flopped at the momentary thought that his words might mean 
something more than the obvious.  "Be patient."

Scully relaxed next to Mulder.  He kept hold of her hand and scooted 
closer to her so that the sides of their legs were touching.  All of a sudden, 
Scully had no desire to leave.  She reveled in being able to be close to 
Mulder again, to hold his hand, to feel him next to her.  It had only been 
two weeks since they'd turned "professional" again, but it she felt like she 
had been starving for his touch, his closeness.  Now that she had been 
allowed it, she was not sure she could ever give it up again.  It was such a 
simple pleasure, but she felt it almost necessary to her very existence.  
Surprisingly, that didn't even worry her anymore.

They sat, silently, holding hands and being together.  Mulder kept his eyes 
on the waterfall and so Scully did the same, still not sure exactly what they 
were waiting for.  As the sun set behind them, she could see the dusk 
growing and the pink and purple streaks stretching across the sky.  Then, 
gradually, the bright colors of the setting sun filtered through the trees 
behind them and were caught by the water falling over the rocks.  The 
droplets captured the reds, oranges, and purples and threw the light out in 
all directions, creating prisms of colors and brightening everything around 
them.  The waterfall looked brilliant with color, seeming almost to be the 
sunset itself.  The sight was unlike anything Scully had ever seen.  Mulder 
let go of Scully's hand and put his right arm around her, drawing her close; 
then he put his left hand on top of the hand he had just released.  Scully let 
her head rest on Mulder's shoulder and watched the light show presented 
for only them.

They sat like that a long time, watching the water dance with color, 
thousands of prisms colliding and waltzing.  They waited until the last light 
faded from the waterfall and began to leave the sky.  Darkness was setting 
in, but still they sat.  Mulder didn't want to move until Scully did.  She 
seemed to be so focused, so far away.  Her eyes kept scanning the falls for 
the last few glimpses of bright light, as if she never wanted it to end.

Finally, she shifted, looking up at Mulder, only to find him looking at her.

"God, that was so incredible!" she gasped, her voice breathy.

"So are you," he said solemnly and without hesitation, his voice quiet but 
strong.  He gave her hand a squeeze and flashed a smile at her that made 
her heart flutter.  She wondered just when his smile had started to do that 
to her.  Was it recently?  She hoped he wouldn't see her blushing in the low 
light of the dusk.  God, how he could do that to her twice in one day?

"Thank you," she stammered, "I mean for bringing me here.  I . . . "  She 
wasn't sure exactly how she could express her gratitude to Mulder, not just 
for this but for the whole day.  For everything.

"It's okay," he interrupted her unfinished thought and looked into her eyes 
with such earnestness and openness she couldn't breathe.  "I'd do anything 
to make you happy, Scully.  Anything.  I hope you know that.  Did this 
make you happy?"  The uncertainty in his voice broke her heart.

"Oh yes!" she assured him quickly so he wouldn't have time to doubt 
himself.  "This . . . you . . . being with you again like this. . . makes me very 
happy."

Mulder reached for Scully and wrapped his arms around her.  She returned 
the embrace, knowing there was no place she'd rather be.  Without 
warning, Mulder leaned down and kissed her cheek, close to her mouth, 
just as he had done on all his visits to her in the hospital.  Scully 
instinctively buried her face in his neck, loving this. 

"I miss you . . . this way," she murmured, not even sure she had said it loud 
enough for anyone but herself to hear.  It had taken every bit of emotional 
strength she had to admit it, to actually, for once, tell Mulder what she felt, 
to put it on the line, to not be afraid of the consequences.  Mulder heard.  
He pulled back, and then Scully felt his warm, beautiful lips brush hers for 
the first time, lingering just a fraction of a moment longer than his usual 
peck on the cheek.  It was definitely chaste, but it was a line they had never 
crossed, and Scully felt it through every part of her body and soul.  The 
intensity of that simple kiss shocked her and thrilled her and terrified her.  
Mulder pulled away, but his arms stayed around her and he studied her face 
carefully in the growing dusk.

"All I needed was to know, Scully."  

She noticed that he was about to say something else, but whatever it was 
died on his lips.  In a moment of sudden incredible clarity, she realized 
what he was about to say, what he had been trying to say to her that 
morning, what the whole day had been about.

"I have to trust you," she stated, surprising herself with how sure the words 
sounded and with how suddenly certain of them she was.  "I have to talk to 
you."  

Mulder nodded almost imperceptibly; his eyes told her what she needed to 
know.  "For better or for worse," he commented after a few moments, 
repeating what she had said to him during the exercise that morning.

Mulder stood and took Scully's hand, pulling her up beside him.  He 
wrapped his arms around her one more time.  This time she could feel his 
whole body pressed against hers, every incredible inch of it, and she thrilled 
at her awareness of him.

"Guess we missed the rest of the team-building," Mulder cracked as he 
finally released her.  

"Yeah.  Bummer,"  Scully said with a smile so bright Mulder could see it 
even in the near dark.  The sun had set completely now, and the only light 
was from the full moon that had risen over the horizon.

Mulder grabbed their flashlights and, without a word, he and Scully headed 
back to the car.  This time they walked side by side, hand in hand.

END
_______________

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