Changes 5
By  MaryAnn (MAPBISAC) (5/?)

Mulder involuntarily glanced at Scully. She was blushing. What was she feeling? Anger? Embarrassment? Damn it! She made it so clear to me that her career, such that it is now, was paramount. I should have respected her decision. Put some distance between us....

Skinner made eye contact with Mulder and held his gaze for several long seconds. "You two know the protocol," Skinner continued. "If your working relationship goes beyond the limits of professional respect, you're putting yourselves in jeopardy. Your judgement may no longer be objective at a critical point..."

Mulder stood and raised his hand slightly, signaling for Skinner to pause. Skinner exhaled, exasperated. "What? What can you tell me, Agent Mulder, that will shed some light on this indiscretion?"

"This indiscretion you're referring to. It was my fault. If an official reprimand is to be handed down, then it should go in my file, not Agent Scully's. She has always respected FBI protocol."

Scully looked down at her hands. She recalled waking up beside Mulder earlier that morning. She had asked him to stay with her last night. He complied, as any good friend would. Granted, although circumstances didn't allow her the time to act on her impulses, she was a hair's breadth away from succumbing to her body's silent but persistent urge to pull his body towards hers and give a new definition to Skinner's euphemism, "indiscretion."

"That's not true, sir," Scully interrupted. "It was I that was indiscreet." She also stood up and met Skinner's gaze.

Skinner shook his head and snarled, "Fine. You were both indiscreet. You'll both receive a reprimand. I'm hedging a bet that you'll both be assigned to work with different partners, too, although that's Assistant Director Kersch's call now. I was hoping you'd give me some kind of scenario of plausible denial. Since that's not the case, you're dismissed."

Scully, understanding the gravity of the situation, picked up her briefcase and proceeded to move towards the door. Mulder rose to follow her. He touched her shoulder lightly and held up one finger, signaling to her to wait. They both paused by the doorway. Skinner glanced up, questioning.

"I guess it doesn't matter, now, does it?" Mulder remarked.

"Agent Mulder, don't be so confident that your actions aren't being monitored. The same goes for you, Agent Scully. That will be all." Skinner sat down at his desk and immersed himself in a pile of paperwork. The discussion, which was more difficult for him personally than he let himself reveal, was over and judgement rested in the hands of the politically well-connected and professionally rigid A.D. Kersch.

************************

Mulder and Scully proceeded down the hallway towards the temporary office they shared. Their pace was tentative, each step mired in awkwardness and tension. Scully spoke first.

"What did you mean when you said, "I guess it doesn't matter?" Scully's voice was reserved and quiet.

Mulder stopped, and gently steered Scully towards a small empty room that contained a copying machine and a variety of office supplies. After confirming that the room was unoccupied, he closed the door and looked directly at Scully for the first time all morning.

"It means a lot of things, Scully," he said gently but urgently. "It means that our partnership is history, regardless of the fact that we've always conducted ourselves professionally on the job. It's obvious that someone was looking for a way to divide us."

Scully swallowed and looked away. It was their professional partnership Mulder was trying to save, nothing more. It was what she wanted too, wasn't it? No, she told herself, she wanted more. She'd wanted more of Mulder on a certain level for years, now. It was bound to come out sooner or later. She blinked back tears as she faced her partner, still strong and stoic despite their most recent setback.

"I'm sorry, Mulder." The words seemed to hang in the air heavily. She turned her head away, feeling that her tears would betray her emotions.

Mulder gently nudged her chin so that Scully still faced him. "I'm the one who should be apologizing, Scully," he said softly. "I've ruined your career. God, I'm even giving you nightmares."

Scully looked at him earnestly, indicating her disagreement with a vigorous shake of her head. "But it wasn't you..."

Mulder looked at Scully intensely. This woman standing before him, his partner, colleague, and one in five billion best friend, was ready to break down. His own emotions were overriding his common sense, and he no longer cared who was watching. He gently reached up and ran his fingers lightly through her freshly washed hair, letting them rest on her neck. He looked into her eyes, blue kaleidoscopes of rapidly changing emotion, and pulled her face towards his own. To his complete surprise, she didn't resist. Instead, she slowly moved her hands along his strong arms, and took a tentative step towards him. Their lips met warmly, softly, gently. Mulder's hands gently caressed his partner's face, amazed but thankful that she did not step back, instead drawing his body even closer to her own, as if their kiss could inject them both with a fortitude that neither of them was capable of on their own. The kiss was not a question; nor was it an answer. It was a promise.

********************************

"Jeffrey, what did you do with my paperweight?" Diana asked. "I left it here on top of these office supply requisition forms yesterday."

"That thing was a paperweight?" Spender sneered. "I thought it was a leftover meteorite or something that was salvaged from Mulder's office. I took it with a box load of other junk to the dumpster."

"You took my Official Slice of the Berlin Wall souvenir to the dumpster?" Diana shrieked. "Thanks a lot! Which dumpster did you bring it to?"

"The one outside the cafeteria. "Gosh, I'm sorry, Diana," Spender said unconvincingly. "It looked like junk to me."

Diana glared at her new partner. "What else was in the box, Jeffrey?"

"Some old photographs, a little computer chess game...I figured it was Mulder's leftovers, since I saw him in some of the pictures. Pretty narcissistic guy, keeping photos of himself in a Speedo..."

"Damn it, Spender, will you check with me before you go throwing out boxes full of things?" Diana brushed her hair away from her face and sighed. "God, you'd think the new paint smell would have dissipated by now."

"What new paint smell?" Spender asked innocently.

"That sickening smell. I'm assuming they just painted the office before we moved in," Diana replied.

"The haven't painted this office yet. I requested 'Sea Sponge Green' for our color, and the people in the Purchasing Department had to special order it. It won't be in until next week."

"Then what the hell IS that odor, then?" Diana shrieked, flaring her nostrils and sniffing loudly. "And why did you request 'Sea Sponge Green,' of all colors?"

"I find it soothing. I thought it would provide an interesting contrast to the 'Guacamole Green' drapes I've ordered."

Diana just stared at Spender, trying to envision the very green decor she'd have to endure. Then it dawned on her that her new partner was the source of the intolerable smell. Could it actually be Aqua Velva? She moved quickly to the small window beside Spender's desk and cranked it open as far as it would allow. A sudden gust of wind blew a stack of papers off of Spenders desk, scattering them randomly around the room.

"Thanks a lot, Diana," Spender whined.

"I'm sorry, Jeffrey," Diana replied icily. "Here, let me help you..."

"Forget about it," Spender said quickly as he tried to move a packet of papers away from his partner's view.

Too late. "Viagra and You -- Things are Looking Up," Diana snorted incredulously. "May I ask what this has to do with the X Files?" She was cackling now.

"I was, um, opening a case file on the possible misappropriation of Pentagon Veterans' Benefit Funds," Spender muttered unconvincingly.

"Uh huh," Fowley nodded teasingly.

Spender glared at her. His face reddened with anger. "I was just about to file it next to the case file you opened on alien implants. I don't think silicone is classified as an alien substance."

Now Diana flushed. "Let's call it even, Jeffrey. If you and I are going to take the X Files in the direction we both want, we're going to have to learn to put our petty differences aside. Let's just finish unpacking."

Spender nodded and proceeded to quietly unpack boxes of miscellaneous office supplies. Yellow legal pads. Number two pencils. Post-it notes. A framed portrait of Janet Reno. The next box was marked "Fragile."

"What the hell do we need these infrared night-sight binoculars for, Diana?" Spender asked impatiently. "I thought you were merely interested in the psychological aspects of the X Files. Don't tell me you're going to be staking out UFOs, too."

Diana looked at Spender disdainfully. While there was no question that the man would be of great use to her, he was sometimes intolerably naive. "Do I need to remind you that investigating the psychological aspects of the X Files often involves night time surveillance of the study subjects?"

Spender frowned. Diana was right, of course. Their first objective as Special Agents in Charge of the X Files was to bring incontrovertible proof to Assistant Director Kersch that Mulder and Scully had their own "personal" agenda that transcended regular office hours. He realized that he had been fortunate, even lucky, when Skinner accepted his accusation of Mulder and Scully's affair without solid evidence. It was Kersch that demanded "something tangible" before he would issue them an official reprimand and order for reassignment.

"So, what's our plan?" Spender asked. "We know Mulder spent the entire evening at Scully's apartment yesterday. You think it's a safe bet that they'll be there again tonight?"

"How the hell do I know?" Diana snapped. Even though six years had passed, she still hated the thought of Fox Mulder with another woman. Of course, Spender wasn't aware of her personal history with Mulder. She softened her posture, and made an effort to make her voice congenial. "I'm sorry, Jeffrey. I'm just a little tense after all of this unpacking. It's a valid question. Yes, I think they will be over at Scully's apartment tonight. After their meetings today with Skinner and Kersch, they're not going to be able to discuss their situation here at work without drawing too much attention to themselves. I think that if we're a little creative, we can come away with the evidence Kersch is looking for."

Spender smiled. Even when he smiled, his face contained a hint of a sneer. "What do you mean by creative?" Spender asked menacingly.

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