Date: 13 Aug 1998 07:21:11 GMT
From: Ms Spookey 
Subject: Healing the Pain

Disclaimer:  Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, the X-Files, and associated
characters are property of David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Chris Carter,
Ten-Thirteen Productions and Fox Broadcasting Corporation.  They are used
without permission and no copyright infringement is meant.

Any elements not recognized as being taken from the show copyright
Christina Shuy. 

Comments and other things sent to cshuy@netcom.com are much appreciated. 

Rating: PG-13 for subject matter, Pre-XF, Mulder/Other (sort of)
Spoilers: Umm... that b*tch Phoebe Green, but that's it
Summary:  Mulder turns to a friend to help him heal after having his 
heart broken by Phoebe.

Author's note:  This story takes place in the referred 10 year span given 
in "Fire" since Mulder and Phoebe broke up (read: Phoebe dumped him).  It 
is long before Mulder met Scully, so please give it a chance.  Thank you.

Healing the Pain
by Christina Shuy
cshuy@netcom.com

      It was late.  Victoria Jensen was awake, and studying for the
abnormal psychology course which she'd decided upon shen she took on
psychology as a minor.  Her midterm in the class was the next morning. 



      She was supposed to have a had a friend over who was a psychology
major, helping her study.  Her own major was Electrical Engineering, and
she occasionally had difficulty shifting from technical to psychological
thinking. 

     There was a knock at the door.  She sat up from the couch.  She'd
dozed off and it was late.  She got the door wondering who it was at this
late hour. 

     When she saw who it was, she was relieved.  She hadn't seen her
friend Fox Mulder in several hours, and he'd not met her for the psych
study session they'd agreed to earlier.  However, she took a look and a
smell of him and knew immediately there was a problem. 

      "Mulder, where have you been?" she asked, opening the door.  her
friend shuffled in, his clothes reeking of smoke and alcohol.  "YOu were
supoosed to have been here 5 hours ago." 

      "Sorry, Victoria... got hung up where I was." He muttered.  "Where
is everyone else?" 

      "You're going to be hung*over* in a few hours.  As far as everyone
else, other plans came up.  Apparently, tonight seems to be the night for
personal crises.  They all called and cancelled." 

     Mulder was drunk.  He was *so* drunk, he reeked of the expensive
scotch he'd already consumed.  She gently manouvered him over to the couch
and he abruptly lost his balance, falling over and pulling Victoria with
him. 

     Before she had a chance to react, she found his mouth on hers, hard
and soft at the same time.  The smoky, familiar taste of scotch was on 
his mouth, and she could taste it.  Quickly, she pulled away. 

     "Mulder!  What are you *doing*?!" she asked, trying to get up but
finding that he had wrapped his arms around her waist. 

     "You kiss and taste better than Phoebe... y'know?" he slurred
slightly. 

     Victoria closed her eyes.  That explained why her head ached all day,
as well as the sense of dread which had followed her around.  The vision
of trouble she'd seen between her best friend and her worst enemy wasn't
immenent anymore.  It had already happened. 

     "That's no excuse for getting pissing drunk, Fox Mulder."

     "Oh, why not?" 

     "Because then you do stupid things like sleeping with someone you
don't know-" 

     "You wanna sleep with me, Victoria?"

     "No, Mulder, I don't."

     "Too bad.  I wouldn't mind sleeping with you.  I've been attracted to
you for a while now.  Y'know?" 

     "You're drunk, Mulder... You still haven't answered me.  Why did you
kiss me?" 

     "Wanted to for a while.  You know?  Actually, wanna do it again."  He
began to pull her closer again, and she pulled away, slightly more
successful this time. 

     "That's still no reason to do it."

     "Why not?"

     "Mulder, it isn't-"

     "Oh, come on, Victoria... live a little."

     She pulled his arms off her waist and pushed his head down onto the
pillow.  She got up and pulled the blanket over him, crooning softly in
Scots Gaelic before she ran a hand over his forehead. 

     "Good night, Mulder."

     He yawned.  "Good night, VC." he said, right before he passed out.

     Victoria shook her head, pulled off Mulder's shoes - he had 
apparently just come from a date with Phoebe... or something - and set 
them on the floor.

     Yawning, she decided it was probably best if she didn't stay up and 
study anymore, so she went into her bedroom and went to sleep.

-----

      Victoria woke up the next morning with a feeling of something off
kilter.  She remembered what had happened very early that morning and got
out of bed to check on Mulder. 

      The blanket she'd coverened him with after he'd passed out on ther
sofa last night was crumpled on the floor.  His shoes were still where
she'd left them after pulling them off his feet. 

      Unfortunately, she could smell the odour of something she kept in
the flat, but only rarely used, and she kenw exactly what it was and whom
it was making use of it. 

      "Mulder, just what are you doing?" she asked, setting foot in her
kitchen. 

      "Mulder sat at the counter, feet having off the stool she usually
perched on to eat breakfast and check her herb garden growing in the
window. 

      "Trying to forget." he answered, downing another full glass of
scotch he'd poured from the bottle she usually kept for the odd occasion
she felt like having a shot.  The bottle stood on the counter mostly empty
even though she'd barely had a quarter of it in the year and a half since
she'd recieved it as a gift.  he held up the empty glass.  "Got any more?" 

      Victoria sighed.  "Mulder, it is not a good idea for you to be
drinking.  Remember, I have my abnormal psych exam in two hours... I was
trying to study last night, but I was also worried for you." 

     Mulder nodded, and slipped off the stool, headed for the front door.

     "Oh, no you don't, Mulder.  YOu're not going anywhere." She said, 
heading him off before he had a chance to get out.

     "Victoria, let me out!"

     "Not until you promise me you won't go and do anything foolish.  At
least not right away." 

     "Victoria, you know what is going to happen to me.  You know that if
I am let out of your apartment, nothing will happen." 

     "I know nothing of the sort, Mulder.  All I know is that my feeling
is telling me to keep you here as long as possible.  So I'm doing it." 

     "Stubborn Brit." Mulder muttered under his breath. 

     "Pot. Kettle. Black, except that you're an American, Fox William
Mulder." Victoria raised her eyebrows.  They glared at each other for a
moment. 

     "Let me out of this apartment NOW, Victoria.  You wouldn't want me
angry, would you?" 

     "Look, I don't know what would happen if I let you go.  You might end
up in jail, arrested for assault... or even murder." 

     "I won't!"

     "Mulder, you know as well as I do how badly Phoebe played with your
mind.  In fact, I think you know better than I do, but I know you...
you're liable to go off and do something you will most certainly regret
later.  And I don't want to take that chance.  You're too good a friend
for that." 

     "Yeah, right, whatever." he mumbled drunkenly.

     "Now, I have to go get dressed and write my midterm.  Promise me 
you'll stay here and not do anything foolish, or go out and try getting 
drunk again."

     "I promise." he muttered, resentful.  He lied.

-----

     Fox Mulder staggered back into Victoria's flat, having made the way 
back there afte rspedning most of the day in a local pub.  Victoria had 
opened the door and was now standing to one side of it.

     "Mulder, I thought you promised me you would stay here and stay out
of trouble.  Instead, I came back from Abnormal Psychology to find that
you'd drank all of the alcohol in my flat, and then gone out to get
pissed.  *Again*." 

     Mulder didn't answer, at least, not verbally.  He swept her into his 
arms and started towards the bedroom.

     "Mulder, what are you doing?" she asked.

     He didn't answer her until they were both sitting on her bed.  
Mulder reached out a hand and touched her cheek gently.  IT was a lover's 
caress.

     "YOu're my best friend, Victoria... did you know that?" he asked.

     "Mulder, you have more friends than only me, and I'm sure they are 
just as good a friend to you as I am." she began.

     Before she could say anything more, he leaned in and kissed her.

     "Make love with me... please..." he whispered, his fingertips 
brushing Victoria's cheek again.  "YOu're all I have left... please, 
Victoria..."

     She looked into his eyes and could see desire, despair, desparation, 
pain, and love.

     "Please..." he whispered again, tears starting to fill his eyes.

     It wasn't the coming together of two souls in harmony, love, and 
destiny, and it was by no means perfection.  Under the influence of 
alcohol, it seldom is, and the early stages of depression did nothing to 
aid it.  It was, however, an act of love for both involved.

     In the end, Mulder slept, aided by the healing energy Victoria had
used and transmutated during thie runion.  The pain he had clung to had
starting being changed into something which would help him heal.  It was
going to take a long time, since the wound ran quite deep.  And his life
had been forever changed because of his relationship with one Phoebe
Green. 

     After Victoria made certain Mulder was sound asleep, she slipped out 
of bed, and pulled on her clothes.  Gathering Mulder's clothing togheter, 
she walked quietly out of the bedroom, closing the door and turning off 
any sources of light as she left.

-----

     The next morning, Mulder awoke in a bed alone.  The first thing he
became aware of was that he had a *really* *BAD* hangover.  The second was
that, wherever it was he had ended up, though he didn't remember leaving
the pub he had been in ...two nights ago... he was now stark naked.

      Slowly, he opened his eyes and the first thing he realised was that
the room, bed, and scent of the usual occupant was very familiar. 

      'How did I end up at Victoria's?  And where the Hell are my
clothes?' he thought

      He sat up slowly and saw that his clothes were neatly folded on a
chair beside the bed.  Strangely, they looked cleaner than he remembered
them being when he'd worn them. 

      He got out of Victoria's bed... still also wondering how he had
managed to end up *IN* her bed, as well as wondering where she was.  When
he felt steady enough, he pulled on his clothes and stumbled out into the
rest of the flat. 

     He noticed the blanket draped over the back of the sofa, as well as 
the pillow, which looked to be slept on, as well as the books piled on 
the coffee table.

      Victoria was sitting in the kitchen, looking over a book and some
notes from a class.  Just looking at them made Mulder's head start to
hurt. 

      "Weren't you supposed to be studying for your abnormal psych exam
later today?" he asked, though he tried to keep it as close to a whisper
as possible.  Just *thinking* made his head ache. 

      "Hello, Mulder.  Sleep well?" Though she'd spoken softly, his head
pounded.  "Abnormal psych was *yesterday*." Though he was shocked by what 
he'd just been told, he tried not to show it.

      She got up from where she sat at the table, lead him over slowly,
and sat him down.  Then, she set down a cup of black liquid, what looked
like a sandwich, and a glass of what looked like orange juice. 

      "Eat." she said, softly.  "It'll make the headache go away that much
faster." 

      He looked at her.  "How did you know..." She gave him a look which
he was forced to smile at.  "Oh, right... you would always know,
Victoria..." 

     "That I do, Mulder.  Now, drink up." SHe answered, pushing the cup 
of black liquid over to him. He picked it up and sniffed at it 
cautiously. 

     "What is this stuff?"

     "Hangover remedy.  I looked it up in one of my herbals books.  I've 
even tasted it.  It's something like a mix of maple sugar, a hint of 
coffee, and strong black tea." she answered, pucking up a glass of clear 
green-brown liquid and taking a drink.

     "Mint iced tea for you?" Mulder asked, and she nodded, as well as 
gesturing for him to take a drink, which he did.

     "Not bad, Victoria, though I can taste the mint leaves." he said, 
taking a deep breath.  That action instantly cleared up his head, and got 
rid of the cottony-sandpapery taste in his mouth.  He took another drink, 
and finished the contents of the cup.  He heard victoria whispering 
something and when he looked over at her, she had her eyes closed, and 
was murmuring in Scots-Gaelic.  He recognised the language from having 
heard her speak it before.  The hangover remedy quickly took effect, and 
he felt as though he hadn't even been drinking.  Instead, it felt like 
he'd had his usual morning cup of coffee.  "WOw, that's some hangover 
remedy."

     Victoria grinned and opened her eyes.  "Unfortunately, I can't give 
you any more of it because the ingredients are things I've run out of and 
I don't have the money to get any more.  How's your heartache, by the way?"

     Mulder thought for a moment.  He deliberately thought about what had 
happened between himself and Phoebe.  He winced.  "It still hurts, but I 
don't want to either kill myself, or drink right now."

     "That's good.  However, I'm still a little concerned that you've 
blacked out a little over 36 hours." Victoria said.

     Mulder's jaw dropped, and he stood up, walking back over to her 
sofa.  Victoria followed, concerned, and watched as he folded himself 
onto the sofa, and pulled the blanket over his head.

     "Mulder?  Are you alright?"

     "I think I need a nap.  Wake me when you want to kick me out... or 
if you need me for anything." he said, his voice muffled by the blanket.

     Victoria nodded, then turned and went back to study.  She had more 
midterms in the coming week, and Mulder needed time to heal.

-End-


"The Truth is Out There.  Trust No One."- from "The X-Files"
Pursuing a BS (Electrical Engineering)-Summer Quarter 1998 (on hiatus)
Looking for work and a place to live... somewhere in the SanFran Bay Area.
"If his hand moves from the small of my back, shoot him." Anne Rooney(C-16)

    Source: geocities.com/earthworm1013/archive

               ( geocities.com/earthworm1013)