OK so this is my very first piece of fanfic. It's short and *hopefully* sweet. Believe me I can take criticism so all take any kind of feedback! ::takes a deep breath:: So here goes...

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After another oh so exciting day of fertilizer background checks :insert phony tooth-bared grin here: I retired to my office. Slouched in my chair, I propped my elbows on the desk and rested my chin on my hands. It was a little late and the building was all but empty. I stared off into space......silence......then more silence. I sighed and began to think.

*Hmmmmm, everyone seems to have rushed out of here in a hurry today. Am I missing something?*

I glanced at the calendar resting haphazardly on the edge of the desk.

*Ah ha. There's your answer. February 14th. Happy Valentine's Day Spooky.*

I rolled my eyes. I was even beginning to refer to myself as Spooky!

*Well maybe I am crazy.*

*Yep, you got that right.*

*Oh good, now I'm talking to myself.*

*Yep, that's a sane mind for ya.*

I picked up a red marker, which had rested among a clutter of files, and absently started doodling on a piece of scrap paper.

*Another holiday alone?*

*What did you expect?*

*Well...I thought, you know....a date once in a while...*

*HAHAHAHA!*

*Ya, you're right...I could just see it now. A fancy dinner of hamburgers and fries at the "Flying Saucer" and then, hey, maybe we could spend a romantic evening checking each others apartment for electronic listening devices.*

*There's only one woman I would feel comfortable going anywhere with.*

I hesitated...

*And who might that be?*

*Oh please! I'm not that stupid!*

*Yes, yes, of course I know who..."

As if right on cue, I spotted the glossy edge of a photograph sticking out from underneath the paper I had been scribbling on. I pulled it out from my now perfectly useless piece of spontaneous artwork. It was a picture of *her*.

I had first found it within a pile of evidence photos. Apparently the guy snapping the pictures had gotten a little sloppy. Must have been from the good ol' days because certainly none of our current cases were worth documenting.

Two ends of the photograph were a bit ragged because I had torn the part with Scully's face on it away from whatever had been beside her so the picture was only of her. It showed her staring at something to her right.

*I kept it because...you know...I want to always remember our friendship*

*Yeah, sure. But also because she looks damn good in that photo.*

*Geez! So you're saying our friendship means nothing?!*

*No! Of course not! It's just that I sometimes wish it were a little more...*

*No I don't.*

*Sure, fine, whatever. Lie to yourself Agent Mulder.*

Now I was getting a little frustrated. Without thinking, I took the red marker and started to draw on the photo.

*I just care very strongly about her.*

*Yes, I do, but I sometimes want to...*

*OK! Stop! Hold it right there!*

*What?!*

*My relationship with Scully is going to stay purely professional!*

*Why?*

*Well...we're partners...and...*

Suddenly my brain registered what I had just drawn on the picture and my eyes widened...

*I love her.*

*Of course you do.*

*No, I mean I really really love her.*

*That's going a little far too fast isn't it? You sit here for about ten minutes and suddenly love her like that?*

*It true cause I...*

*Oh man, I'm starting to sound like a cheesy soap opera!*

*So what?*

*What's happening to me?*

I started at the picture. I knew what was happening. I'd fallen for Dana Katherine Scully. It hadn't just happened over those last couple minutes. It had developed over those long years together. I think that perhaps I just realized it to it's full extent at this moment...

*Why at this particular moment though?*

*Why not?*

Oh great, I felt like I was back in high school crushing on the girl that sat in front of me! Dazed, confused, and I had that fluttery feeling in my stomach.

*But Scully's a lot different than the head cheerleader isn't she?*

*Yes she certainly is...*

*Maybe that's all it is. A simple crush that fades away over time.*

*No, it's not.*

*And how do I know that?*

*I just know. This won't fade away, only get stronger.*

OK, no more. I was tired, frustrated, and arguing with *of all people* myself. I left the building and headed toward my car. I drove home, trying in vain to stop my thoughts from drifting to my compassionate, beautiful, intelligent partner, Dana Scully.

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Scully had gone home that night and started to finish the paperwork left from their last assignment. It had to be handed in to A.D. Kersh the next morning and she wasn't about to disobey him yet again.

After completing four forms, Scully realized with dismay that there was a paper missing. So wearily, she had climbed in her car and drove reluctantly back to the FBI.

As she walked through the halls on her way to the office she shared with Mulder, she briefly hoped that he had chosen to stay a little late. But unbeknownst to her, Mulder's car had at that very moment left the parking lot.

And why exactly did she hope he had stayed? So he could help with the forms of course. And maybe because... Scully caught herself in mid-thought. Forms! That's what she was here for and she kept her mind focused on that.

She tried the door knob. The office was locked. Scully sighed as she dug in her pocket for her key. Well it was Valentine's Day. Perhaps Mulder had a date...

Scully entered the dark room feeling worse than she had a minute ago. He probably has a date, she thought as she flipped the light on.

She sifted through the mess piled upon Mulder's desk and finally found the paper she needed. Scully was about to turn and leave when something caught her eye. It was a photograph. She picked it up and examined it more closely. She stared down at her own face. It was a picture of her.

The thing that had caught her eye was the red shape drawn around the head of her image. A heart. A slightly crooked one, but still clearly a heart. Must have been Mulder's somewhat sloppy penmanship.

A small smile played across her lips as she whispered, "I love you too, Mulder."

She slowly returned the photo back to it's place, flipped off the light, and left the office, now feeling much happier than when she had entered it.

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So? What do you think? Should I just stick to reading them?