Changes 6
By Pamala (PamalaSt) and Mark (6/?) 

Mulder had no idea how much time had passed or even if it still moved. All he knew was this moment, this eternity.

Scully's head rested against his chest, her small, warm body pressed tightly against his. The scent of her, the feel of her permeated him. Smiling, he thought of other times had he held her like this. But always in the past, there had been some tragedy that had brought them together--pain seeking out a companion, trying to find some small measure of comfort.

This was different. Desire, not need, was the driving force now.

Mulder sighed with relief. Once and for all, he'd made his feelings clear. No more misunderstandings. But what was Scully feeling? She hadn't pushed him away. She'd welcomed his touch, his kiss. Whatever the future held, he would hold onto this memory for the rest of his life. But as strong as his desire was for her, his desire to know what she was feeling was even greater.

He pulled back just enough so he could look into those ever-changing eyes. Time to get down to business and find out. Simple investigative work. *Right.* "Was that wrong, Scully?"

She looked at him, her lips still parted, and he could see in her face a myriad of emotions. Which one would come out? Would it be the safe one, the one they had always chosen for the last five years? Or something else? There was no going back this time, was there?

"No," she said softly, hesitatingly, surprised more by how right the kiss had felt than the fact that it had happened. "It wasn't wrong. I just..." She stopped, unsure of what to say next. Instead, she slid her hand up to cradle the back of his neck.

"Scully, I need you to talk to me. There's no one else I trust and you have to trust me enough to tell me what you really want."

"I know," she whispered. "Mulder, I can't imagine being without you. And, even if it scares the hell out of me, I want to talk to you, tell you...." She trailed off. "But not here."

"Come by my apartment tonight, then," he said, caressing her hair, "7:30, Ok? We can talk more, away from here."

The closeness of his body, the feel of his touch, made her heart hammer as though it might burst and sent a surge of warmth flowing through her body. Her breathing quickened. Not trusting herself to speak, she simply nodded in agreement. Mulder brushed her hair aside and placed a gentle but decidedly less-than-chaste kiss on her neck.

He quickly moved to the door, giving her no chance to recover what little remained of her senses. For that she was almost grateful. The composed, confident Dana Scully had melted away just like the witch in the Wizard of Oz, leaving nothing behind but a heated cloud of steam.

"Scully, I'm taking the rest of the day off. If anyone asks, tell them you don't know where I am or when I'll be back."

"I don't think that's a good idea right now," she replied at last, finding the strength to speak coherently again.

"Story of my life, Scully," he answered, head cocked to one side, beaming that boyish Mulder grin that she had missed these last few weeks. That smile she had come to know and love....

Love?

"Besides, " he continued, "what are they going to do, take away the X-Files, give me a new partner, fire me?" His smile slowly faded as he measured the concern in her face over what he was intending to do. "I just need to get away from Kersch and Spender and everything else for a while. Don't worry. I'll be fine," he calmly reassured her. "I'll see you tonight. OK?" And with that he exited the copy room, the memory of their kiss emblazoned in his mind.

Yes, the kiss was a promise, one that he intended to keep.

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

Scully was simultaneously amazed and annoyed at how little she had accomplished in hours of moving papers around on her desk. Every time she tried to focus on the work in front of her, her thoughts would wander back to the delicious events of that morning, or anxiously confront the struggles of the last few days. Perhaps, she chuckled inwardly, she was merely overcome by the fact of having a desk after all these years.

The closed door to their office had warded off any visitors so far, but at the sound of a soft knock, she turned to find Special Agent Diana Fowley peering in.

"Oh, hello, Dana. I was just looking for Fox. Is he around?" Diana sounded more than a little disappointed at not finding him there.

Scully fought back the urge to correct the woman. *Mulder. His name is Mulder. Everyone calls him Mulder.* It bothered Scully when Diana called him Fox. Or was it the fact that he let her? "Sorry, Diana, he's not here." She gestured expansively toward his empty desk.

"Do you know where he is?"

Scully rose. Moving over to Mulder's desk, she sat on its edge, confronting Diana like a wolf defending its territory against a hostile intruder. "I can't say."

"I'm worried about him, Dana. After that meeting with Kersch yesterday. I know how he gets. Perhaps I should try to find him."

"I'm sure he's fine, but if it will make you feel better, go ahead," Scully replied coolly. She refused to let this woman get under her skin, or let on that she cared. It was obvious the woman longed to reestablish herself in Mulder's life--either as a partner or a lover, Scully didn't know. A strong pang of feminine possessiveness swept through her, at odds with her rational view of herself. *He's mine.*

"Well, goodbye, then," said Diana, closing the door as she left.

First round to me, thought Scully.

Diana, at least, was someone whose motivations she could comprehend and deal with. Kersch, on the other hand... Well, he was no Skinner. Even if she had not always trusted Skinner, Mulder had complete faith in him. No matter what had or might happen, he could be counted on to support the two of them, officially and unofficially. Kersch, however, was uncharted territory. Then again, they had been spending a great deal of time in uncharted territory lately.

Scully settled back into her desk chair. Glancing at the clock, she suddenly felt very tired. It reminded her that even if it had been a long day, it was still a walk in the park compared to the prospect of talking about their changing relationship with Mulder. She watched the second hand ponderously sweep over the face of the generic government wall clock. She had handled everything fate had thrown at her--the deaths of her father and sister, her cancer, conspiracies, aliens, my god, being abducted to Antarctica. Yet she didn't have a clue how to tell Mulder just what he meant to her. Or even if she should.

With a deep sigh, she closed her eyes and laid her head down on the desk.

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

GEORGETOWN
7:28 p.m.

The glow from the streetlight cast an unearthly pallor over Spender's face. Diana glanced over at him as he peered through the night vision goggles from the passenger seat of the car. Sodium-vapor lighting, she smiled, could make anyone look like an X-File.

They had been camped outside of Scully's Georgetown apartment for an hour now, to see if she was going anywhere tonight. Or if he was coming to her place. If they really were lovers... Just the thought of such an outrageous possibility sent an involuntary shudder coursing through her body. She knew Fox, or at least she had. She knew what he liked, what he needed, what he wanted.

And Scully the Ice Queen wasn't it.
"How much longer do you think it will be?" whined Spender as he set the goggles down in his lap and reached for a bite of his egg salad sandwich.

"As long as it takes," she replied coldly, her face motionless, her eyes fixed on the steering wheel as if engaged in a battle of wills with this inanimate object. "You want to catch them at it as much as I do." Or, more accurately, prove that twit wrong, she silently added.

"Yeah, Skinner wasn't as concerned as I thought he'd be about those two boinking each other. Acted like I must have been mistaken in what I saw. He has his head up his ass if he can't see it. So we're going to make him see it." Spender chuckled, fondling the telescopic lens attached to the camera in his lap. "What's even better is how these two are making themselves vulnerable at just the right time..."

"That's right, Jeffrey. Always take advantage of opportunities which present themselves. I learned that in the Middle East." Diana only hoped that Scully didn't follow the same advice.

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

HEGAL PLACE
7:29 p.m.

Mulder stepped off the elevator and glanced at his watch. So, that was how normal people wasted a day, he thought. After frantically cleaning his apartment for tonight, he somehow found his way over to the Gunmen. And after hearing the latest government conspiracy regarding the replacement of the U.S. currency, they had even distracted him with a movie and a few beers. But he had just been killing time until tonight.

Scully had seen his apartment before, his rational mind told him. She knew he was no Martha Stewart. But tonight--tonight could be special, if he didn't screw it up. Maybe he shouldn't have tried for more. Had he completely ruined everything?

He'd had to get away. No way could he have acted as if everything was business-as-usual. Not around Scully. Anyone would have seen his emotions on his face. After that dressing down by Skinner, he knew enough to play it safe.

As he walked down the corridor to his apartment, he recalled the two of them standing in this same place only, what, a few weeks ago? That night, when it seemed as if they were going to lose everything, he had reached out to her. With nothing left to lose, he had fought back the fear and uncertainty. The words had come from his heart, and her heart had answered. But then, as always, something had intruded to prevent the realization of what up until then had been their unspoken emotions.

Lost in thought, he almost made it to the door of his apartment before he realized that it was slightly ajar. Scully? He *was* running late. But the lock--it appeared to have been picked. He reached under his coat for his Sig. Weapon drawn, he positioned his foot against the door and kicked it open.

Instantly, he recognized the figure sitting on the sofa bathed in the cold light of the fish tank.

The man rose, hands in the air. "Don't shoot, Mulder. I'm unarmed."

"No, I won't shoot," Mulder angrily responded. " I might miss and hit the fish tank and that would make me feel sad, unlike killing you."

"I just need to talk to you," the man said.

Mulder took a step closer, keeping his Sig leveled at his visitor's chest. "I've got nothing to say to you, you son-of-a-bitch. Now, get out! Before I change my mind." Eyes afire, his finger tightening on the trigger, he issued a final warning. "I said get out now, Krycek!!"

As Krycek moved cautiously between the couch and table toward the door, the phone on the desk began to ring. Krycek and Mulder both stopped. Keeping his attention and his Sig centered on Krycek, he moved cautiously to pick up the phone.

"Mulder," he answered. "Yes, Scully, I'm fine. I've just got a visitor at the moment."

She sounded unusually hesitant. "Should I...not come over, then?"

Mulder couldn't abide spending another day not knowing. Five years, and suddenly he couldn't wait one more hour. "No, he was just leaving." He'd get rid of the rat somehow. With half an ear, he listened to Scully explain why she was late.

Meanwhile, Krycek remained motionless, listening silently to the conversation, a thin smile creasing his face.

"OK, I'll be here." He hung up the phone and moved toward Krycek.

"Hmm, the lovely Dr. Scully," said Krycek, appearing unfazed by the gun still pointed at him. "You know, Mulder, a beautiful woman like that must be getting tired of wasting her life on a sorry excuse of a man like you. Perhaps I should drop by Georgetown some evening and show her what it's like to have a man who's not so...conflicted?"

Mulder leapt toward him and cracked the side of his gun against Krycek's head, sending him to the floor. Kneeling down, Mulder shoved his knee into his chest and grabbed him by the shirt. He pulled Krycek's face close to his own, his gun shoved under the rat's chin.

"I should have killed you years ago when I had the chance, Krycek, but then I wouldn't have the pleasure of beating the crap out of you," Mulder hissed, rage pouring into every word. "Of course, that's a mistake that can be easily be corrected."

"Go ahead, Mulder. Shoot!" croaked Krycek, blood flowing from his lip. "But kill me and you'll never know what Spender and your dear Diana are really up to. And for whom."

Mulder yanked Krycek to his feet, his eyes filled with steely hatred. Krycek brushed off Mulder's loosened grasp, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Touched a nerve, eh Mulder?" He straightened his shirt in an effort to reclaim his dignity. "Remember, I'm not the only one who knows your weakness. I won't harm your precious partner. But they will kill her, Mulder. If for no other reason than to make you suffer."

Both men stood silently for a second until Krycek, running his hand through his tousled hair then down over his face and jaw, exhaled and turned to leave. At the door, he hesitated. "You let me know, Mulder, when you're ready to hear what I have to say."

"And just how am I supposed to find you? Look beneath the closest rock or check in the yellow pages under lying, murdering scum?"

Krycek reached into his pocket, and Mulder instinctively tightened his finger on the trigger of his sig. With a flick of his wrist, Krycek pulled a roll of masking tape from his back pocket and casually tossed it at Mulder's feet. "I think you know how to find me," he said and then he was gone. Mulder stared at the roll of tape for a moment, then picked it up and closed the door.

Next

Back to Chainfic

Home

Feedback