From: X phelia  

                 Title: A Good Sign 
                 Author: Xphelia (Xphelia@hotmail.com) 
                 Rating: PG 
                 Classification: H 
                 Keywords: M/S friend/ smidge of UST 
                 Spoilers: One Son 
                 Timeline: A while after One Son, but nothing after it. 
                 Summary:  M&S , a deal, a movie, and some furniture. 
                 Disclaimer: yada yada yoda 
                 Author's Notes: Okay, this is my second story, and it doesn't 
                 even shift tense, unlike the first story in which I had lost 
                 three times in a row and was determined to post it despite what 
                 edits I missed, spelling errors and all.  
                 Okay, so I should have waited, ah well -- hindsight and 
                 all that. But  now, for something completely different.. well, 
                 not really but on with,  "A Good Sign". 

                 FEEDBACK: YES, PLeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaze!!! 

                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
                 A Good Sign 
                 by 
                 Xphelia 

                 There are times in a man's life when one has to 
                 take a stand... and place it before the window - now 
                 to the right. No wait, move it to the left... a little 
                 more... a little more. There. 

                 "I don't know, maybe it should go back to the right 
                 again," Scully said, surveying her living room while 
                 tapping her lip with a finger nail. 

                 I straightened my back, reaching for the ceiling. Twisting 
                 my neck, I ended the 360 degree circle to face my 
                 partner.  "Scully, if I have to move this thing 
                 one more time...." 

                 A person only has so much patience. 

                 "I guess it's fine where it is," Scully conceded, still 
                 studying it. 

                 Good, because I was seriously worried that I'd be 
                 sportin' a Quasimodo stance for the rest of my 
                 natural life.  That stereo stand was heavy!  And being 
                 macho only went so far, despite how lovely the 
                 person you were trying to make happy, was. 

                 I crossed her living room and came over to her, wrapping 
                 an arm about her shoulders and staring at my handy work. 

                 Crap. 

                 "Maybe it could go to the left, a bit," I realized, 
                 looking at the lack of symmetry. 

                 "No, no, it's fine, Mulder,"Scully said, pulling from 
                 my arm. Well, okay then... no touchy-feely today it 
                 seemed -- not the best of signs, there. 

                 I don't know if it was the slight chill I picked up 
                 from Scully or not, but I grabbed my sweater 
                 off her chair and pulled over my t-shirt. I decided 
                 to let the chill be from the winter wind that was 
                 trying to break into the apartment building. 

                 "Well, now that that is finally done, how bout you pay 
                 the piper, partner. Yeah, that's right; I do believe it's 
                 time to settle up," I said to her, plopping down upon 
                 her sofa and giving her a wink. 

                 She rolled her eyes.  Typical, but I was not to 
                 be daunted. 

                 "Mulder, I... I don't think that's a good idea," Scully 
                 hedged, biting her lip.  She must have been kidding. 

                 "Ah, see, but that's where you're wrong," I replied, 
                 getting up and pulling my leather jacket off the coat 
                 rack.  I rooted around in the pocket, grabbing the video 
                 tape I'd made sure to bring with me. 

                 As gallant as I could sometimes be... okay, as gallant as 
                 I can sometimes be when I wanted to, whatever, I really hadn't 
                 relished the idea of carting that stereo stand around 
                 today.  I mean, I knew Scully, and Scully was worse than 
                 my mother (which was saying a-lot!) when it came to creating 
                 spatial relations in the, uh, humble abode. So, I made a 
                 deal, a deal that gave me the excuse to stay on at Scully's 
                 after my manly prowess with furniture arrangement 
                 had been displayed. 

                 "Ah, here it is," I said, successful. I rummaged through 
                 the other pocket, having to pull my gloves out before finding 
                 my glasses.  Slipping the frames on, and armed with tape in 
                 hand, I took up residence upon the couch again. 

                 "It is imperative that when viewing this tape, one doesn't 
                 miss a moment of the action," I informed her, smiling 
                 smugly and tapping the side of my glasses. 

                 "Mulder, it's Saturday and, really, I don't want to take 
                 up your day or anything.  We can do this later," Scully 
                 offered. 

                 Ah, not so quick, partner. 

                 "Oh no, Scully.  I've got nowhere special to be, except 
                 right here with you, sugar," I said, all sunshine and sweetness. 
                 I gave her my best come hither look while patting the couch cushion 
                 beside me. 

                 In return, she gave me the eye roll again. Which still 
                 meant I was in business, definitely a good sign.  I ran 
                 a hand through my hair, pushing it off my forehead. 

                 I needed another haircut, but maybe not so severe 
                 this time.  I will never go to that butcher again. 'A little 
                 off the top' apparently translates into 'buzz the top' at 
                 "Buddy's Barbary".  Guess that's what I get for a five 
                 buck job, but Byers had sworn by the old guy.  I gave my 
                 head a shake, refocusing my attention to the issue at hand. 

                 I really had to stop that wandering habit. 

                 "Come on, Scully, I guarantee you'll like this one, 
                 it's one of my favorites," I cajoled, shaking the video 
                 box and hearing the tape rattle against the plastic. 

                 "Mulder," she near whispered, And man alive, do I love it 
                 when her voice slips down to that register, very sexy. She 
                 made a clearing sound with her throat, her voice 
                 stronger. Damn. "Mulder, I've, uh... I've never seen one of 
                 these before." 

                 What? She had to be kidding. 

                 "You're kidding, right?" I asked, shaking my head in 
                 shock. "How is that possible, Scully? You've NEVER seen 
                 one of these, ever?" 

                 "No, all right! Never," she replied, crossing her arms against 
                 her chest and tapping her foot, daring me to comment further. 

                 Never let it be said that I don't pick up the gauntlet 
                 when thrown. 

                 I smiled, slyly, turning my gaze back at the video box within 
                 my hand. "Oh, Scully, you don't know what you've been missing." 

                 I looked back to her, catching her smirk. 

                 "I'm sure," she replied. 

                 I strung my arm across the back of her sofa, placing the 
                 video tape upon my lap.  I reached for the remote on the 
                 end table beside me. "Come on over here, Scully." 

                 I pressed the "on" button and her television flared to 
                 life. 

                 "Wait, here, would you?" I asked, handing her the tape, "Just 
                 slide it in, the VCR is ready for it." 

                 I wraggled my eyebrows. 

                 She shook her head, but grabbed the tape and inserted it into 
                 the VCR. 

                 "Mulder, I don't see the point of this little display," Scully 
                 said, clearly agitated and standing beside the TV, staring at 
                 the blue screen. "Besides, I could never get into 
                 these things." 

                 "Scully, you aren't going back on a deal, are you?" I asked, 
                 looking at her, wide-eyed. She quickly faced me again, gave 
                 an irritated huff, the color in her face rising. 

                 If I know one thing about Scully, it's that she would 
                 never be caught breaking her word.  What I think is that (well, 
                 what I know) is that she hadn't expected me to be serious 
                 about this when we struck the deal on the phone this morning. 
                 But, short of an alien sighting, I was completely serious and 
                 wasn't prepared to go anywhere else this afternoon. 

                 Besides which, it was freezing outside. 

                 "Well, Mulder, I didn't expect that you'd want us to.. to 
                 watch this together," Scully said, averting her eyes. 

                 As gratifying as watching the movie alone can be, it's 
                 always better to share it with someone, always. 

                 "What did you think, I'd quiz you on the plot come Monday," I 
                 asked, smirking. 

                 "No, well... maybe, I don't know," Scully stammered, flustered. 

                 "Scully, I want to share this with you, I think... I think 
                 we need this," I said, capturing her eyes with my own, my 
                 light tone disappearing. "Things have been way to serious 
                 lately." 

                 If that wasn't the understatement of the millennium, I couldn't 
                 tell what was.  We'd gotten the Xfiles back, great. But back at 
                 what price? Spender's life? 

                 Jeffrey Spender was found dead in our office and I know that 
                 affected Scully.  Hell, it affected me.  I'm not saying I 
                 was a fan of the weasel, but still, I mean, geez, dead? There 
                 was no leads and I had a feeling that there would never be. 

                 Then there was the Diana debacle.  When will I ever learn, 
                 or at least, stick to my tried and true adage of, "Trust No 
                 One."  Well, no one but Scully, that is. I know I needed to 
                 do some serious atoning for how I treated her. 

                 I know that. 

                 I was actually surprised and well, okay, elated, that she'd 
                 called me this morning.  It was the first time since, well, 
                 just "since". 

                 I gave a little shake, clearing that train of thought. I 
                 didn't particularly want to go there right now.  Suffice 
                 it to say, that a bit of maxin' and relaxin' was in order, 
                 otherwise one of us would explode, no doubt taking the 
                 other with them. Either way, not good. 

                 "Serious lately," Scully said, repeating part of my 
                 comment,"Yeah, you'll get no argument there." 

                 I can't help cringing at her word  choice, but I let 
                 it pass without remark. 

                 I know, amazing, isn't it? 

                 Instead, I patted the couch again, tilting my head 
                 and signaling for her to come sit beside me. 

                 "I... I...," she clamped her lips closed and sat on the 
                 couch at the far end from me, her arms still crossed and 
                 her face scrunched up. It was a start, I guessed. 

                 "Well, geez, Scully, if you're gonna be like that 
                 there's no way you'll like this flick, " I said, scooching 
                 over to sit beside her and successfully trapping her between 
                 me and the side of the couch. 

                 Daring, I know, but I didn't stop there. 

                 I strung my arm behind her. I was *all* about spatial 
                 relations... and I was wanting to demolish the chasm 
                 that had grown between us. Which, I was surprised to 
                 see, she hadn't shoved me away.  Perhaps she wanted the 
                 same thing too. 

                 I could only hope. It was, at least, a good sign, a very 
                 good sign. 

                 Well, though she allowed me to "snuggle up" as it were, 
                 she remained sitting stiff and unyielding. I slid my arm 
                 down to her shoulder and gave it a little rub, "Scully, 
                 relax, loosen up." 

                 I continued to rub her shoulder. I felt a bit of 
                 the anxiety releasing its grip upon her. Oh, and the 
                 sweater she was wearing -- I liked it. It was warm 
                 and soft to the touch, not to mention how well it 
                 played with the blue of her eyes... and man, she 
                 smelled good too. I gave myself a mental shake. 

                 It would probably be best if I stuck to re-affirming 
                 our friendship instead of letting my thoughts explore, 
                 um, other "avenues". 

                 "You okay?" I asked, cocking my head toward her, trying 
                 to capture her gaze with my own. 

                 She let out a long breath then turned to meet my 
                 stare, "Yeah." 

                 A "yeah" was definitely good, much better then the 
                 expected "Fine"... yet again, another good sign. 
                 Things were definitely looking up. 

                 I couldn't help but smile, as without looking, ( I think 
                 I've used her remote more than she has) I pressed play. 

                 I fast forwarded through the credits, because I knew I'd 
                 lose her right then and there if she had to listen to the 
                 beginning.  I was, after all, bringing a reluctant viewer 
                 to this. Best not to scare off the skittish. 

                 I pressed play again, just as the screen went black. 
                 Finally, the black lifted to reveal swirling mist with 
                 the following words overlaying the frame:"England AD 787". 

                 "Am I going crazy or did I see 142 Mexican whooping llamas 
                 flash across the screen?" Scully asked, turning a quick glance 
                 to me. Her face, grinning at the ludicrous idea. 

                 "Don't worry, Scully, the people responsible have been 
                 sacked," I assured her letting my attention be absorbed by the 
                 brilliance displayed upon the screen. 

                 If being at Oxford had given me anything, I could at least 
                 claim to have been given an unflappable devotion to Monty 
                 Python. 

                 Well, Python and BlackAdder... but I'll save that one for 
                 next weekend. 

                 I gave her shoulder another slight squeeze and was happy to 
                 feel her rest her weight against me -- a very good sign, 
                 indeed. 

                 ~finis~ 
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

                 FEEDBACK: Xphelia@hotmail.com 

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