Title: Nothing Else Matters Author: Devin Email: franny122004@yahoo.com Website: http://franny122004.tripod.com/ Rating: PG Category: SAR Keywords: Angst, MSR Spoilers: Beginning and FTF mainly, some little stuff from other eps Summary: Your basic fight and make up fic. Disclaimer: Not mine, belong to CC, yadda, yadda, yadda *** Hoover Building "So if that were true it would mean that Gibson is in some part extraterrestrial." "It would mean we all are." There was a long pause until Scully said, "I've got to go." Mulder had a sudden flash back to his apartment a couple of days ago. When she came to tell him that she was quitting. "Where are you going?" he tried to mask the panic in his voice but didn't succeed. Scully gave him a weird look but just said, "To my mom's. I told you I had to agree to stay with her because she wouldn't believe that I was fine after the whole Antarctica fiasco. Why? Did you need me to run some more?" Before he could answer she stormed out of the room. The only thought Mulder had was 'Oh shit.' *** Maggie Scully's House "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?" Maggie asked. "Nothing's wrong mom. I'm fine," was Scully's halfhearted reply. "Really? Because I haven't seen you this depressed since Jack proposed." Scully couldn't help it; she had to laugh at that. "Trust me mom, I didn't get proposed to." "What? Fox hasn't popped the question?" Maggie asked, trying to lighten the mood but saw Scully's expression close off even more. "Mulder not Fox. Mulder," was her only response before she went back to staring at her dinner. 'At least I know what's bothering her now.' *** The drill was coming closer and closer. Scully tried to move but found that she was paralyzed. "Help! Somebody help! Mulder!" Suddenly Mulder was there. "Shhh. It's okay. I'll come back for you in a little bit. I just have to check out this lead Diana gave me." "Mulder, please don't leave me here. I can't take this much more." "I have to go, it might help me get the X-Files back." "Take me with you then. Just don't leave me here." "Why would I take you with me? It's not like you could help me," and then he was gone and the drill was back inching closer. So she did the only thing left to do, she screamed. *** Scully woke with a start. She tried to go back to sleep but the nightmare wouldn't go away. No matter how much she tried those images were burned in her brain. Realizing she wasn't going to get any rest she went to make some tea. When she got to the kitchen though her mom was already there with two mugs of steaming tea. 'How does she do that?' "You going to tell me what happened now?" She didn't want to answer that yet so instead she asked, "Mom, how long did you wait for dad?" "What do you mean?" "I know that dad was always dedicated to his work but how long did you wait for him to make you just as high of a priority?" "Sweetie, men devoted to their jobs never give it up and it's not really fair to ask them to. So if you're waiting for Fox to..." "I didn't say anything about Mulder," Scully protested immediately, a little to quickly Maggie noticed. "I think we're well past pretending that you don't have feelings for Fox." Scully was about to protest again but realized the futility of it so didn't say anything. "Okay, will you tell me what the fight was about now?" Scully considered whether or not to tell her then finally said, "The problem is I fell in love with a man in love with his work and who can never truly trust me until I believe everything he does." *** Hoover Building Mulder had tried to keep working on the file but his eyes kept drifting to the folder with the connection in it. The connection Scully had assured him was there, the one he had asked her to find, the one that nearly had, and still could tear them apart. 'Forget this' he finally thought and packed up his briefcase. As he was heading towards the parking lot he couldn't help thinking that he really didn't want to go home. He had a few choices. He could go see Scully. 'Nah, she's pissed at me right now. Better not make it worse.' He could go hang out with the guys. 'They'd know something was wrong. Can't go there.' After going through at least a dozen more possibilities he finally decided to go back to Casey's. *** Casey's Bar and Grill "Spooky, you're becoming a regular. This place will never be boring again," the bartender commented as Mulder sat down at the bar. "The usual?" Mulder just nodded. When she came back with his drink she asked, "So, what's wrong this time? Or are you here for the pleasure of my company?" "You ever been married?" "Not really. Why? You need your Green Card?" Mulder laughed, "No." He paused for a minute then said, "I was married once. It was great for a while. The problem was we agreed on every little thing. All in all it lasted maybe three months. Once the annulment was signed by all the necessary parties she was on a plane to Europe." Mulder paused here to quickly gulp down his drink and signaled that he would have another. The bartender, who had heard many similar stories but was for some reason enthralled by this one, pored silently and waited for him to continue. "Then, not six months later, I met the most infuriating woman in my life. She lived by the motto: If science didn't say it existed it didn't. Of course I fell for her hard but she needs the one thing I can't give her, a normal life." He then downed his drink in a similar fashion and signaled for yet another one. *** Maggie Scully's House "You think Fox doesn't love you? Please tell me you're joking." "Mom would you please not use his first name! He even makes his parents call him Mulder," the last was said in a bitter tone. "Why do I get the feeling that there's a story behind that?" Scully sighed, "It doesn't matter. I'm going to bed. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep at least..." Scully didn't get to finish that thought because the doorbell rang. When she opened the door she was shocked by who was there. "Frohike? What's wrong? What are you doing here? What happened to Mulder?" Frohike silenced her endless line of questions with, "Shhh, Scully he's alright. We picked him up a couple hours ago; he was slobbering drunk so we took him home with us to keep an eye on him. Once he fell asleep though he kept mumbling things and we couldn't wake him or calm him down. So we figured if anyone could you could." "How did you know to come here though?" "I tried every place I could think of that you might be." "Yes but how did you know to come *here*? How'd you know where my mom lived?" Frohike gave her a 'you- have-to-ask-?' look. "Okay, stupid question." She grabbed her coat and shoes, not bothering to change clothes, and walked with him to the Gunmen's van. "It's a good thing you guys aren't stalkers. You'd be way to good at it." *** Gunmen HQ Once Scully reached the gunmen's place she was pointed immediately towards where they had put Mulder. He was just lying there peacefully asleep when she walked in and she was about to ask what they were talking about when she heard him say, "gotta find her" over and over again. She walked over to the bed and sat down next to him and lightly brushed back the hair from his head. 'This is our week for nightmares apparently.' She leaned a little closer so that he could hear her hushed tone in his REM state. "Mulder it's okay. You'll find her but right now you have to sleep. Go to sleep." As she got up to leave Mulder said one more thing before falling into a dreamless sleep, "Scully don't go." Scully couldn't move for a moment but finally she found her way into a chair near by. "I won't." Then she too dozed off. *** When Mulder woke up he had no clue where he was. His head was pounding and he had to close and open his eyes several times before they adjusted to the light. The first thing he noticed was a desk full of computer components. 'Okay, I guess that establishes where I am.' He turned to look at more of the room to get a better bearing on his surroundings and was surprised to see Scully asleep in a chair. Before he was able to process the situation there was a loud knock on the door and Scully bolted awake. "Hey G-people," Langly's voice rang through the door. "You guys up yet?" "We are now," Mulder yelled back. "Yeah, well we're going to Ihop. You guys want in?" Mulder looked questioningly at Scully who shrugged and nodded. "Sure we'll go." he called. "Cool." Langly then left to tell the others. "You don't have to go you know," Mulder told her. "Neither do you, I'm not the one with a hangover. I should call mom though and tell her I'll be back around lunch." "Yeah but I'm not in my pj's" "I'll button up my jacket." "You're sure?" he asked still looking doubtful. "You know skeptical's not a good look on you. You should stick to believing everything," then she added under her breath, "and everyone." Despite her efforts however he heard her. "Believe everyone? Is this still because I went with Diana? Scully, what do you want? Do I have to ask for permission when I go anywhere?" "No of course not. This is not because you went with her. This isn't even really about her. This is about... You know what? Never mind. Tell the Gunmen I changed my mind. I'll see you on Monday." "Oh there is no way we're leaving this unfinished." He then placed himself in front of the door to ensure that she wouldn't leave. "We are going to talk." "We never talk. Why start now?" "Damn it Scully. Just finish what you were going to say." "Fine! You want to know what I was going to say? You want to know what's wrong? What's wrong is I had to ask the Gunmen who... she was to you. It's about the fact that since she came back you've been following her around like a puppy. It's about that you stood in that hallway and told me you needed me but as soon as I told you I was staying you basically took it back!" She paused to catch her breath. "Can I go now?" "Wait, wait, wait. Let me get a chance here." Scully sighed but sat down on the cot. "Fine." Mulder opened his mouth to speak but there was another knock on the door. "What?" he yelled a little to harshly. The door opened and Byers was standing there. "Umm, we're ready to go." Mulder and Scully shared another look and then Scully nodded. "You should go without us," Mulder told him. Byers looked at both of them then said, "Okay, if you want to stay here you can but if you do leave lock up." He tossed some keys to Mulder then left. When they heard the door close they glanced at each other. "You actually asked the guys about Diana?" Scully bristled at this. "You weren't exactly forthcoming." Mulder held up his hands. "Okay, you're right. I should have told you. Do you want to know now?" Scully considered this. "Yes but not yet. We need to deal with other things before we even get to that." "Okay, I guess that leaves what happened outside my apartment." He paused again then said, "Do you really think I lied to you?" "I think... you wanted me to stay. I also think you did your best to convince yourself that it was true. Almost as much as I did." "Why would I lie about that? How can you not believe me?" "How? Because 'nothing else matters to you'!" "That is not fair. I didn't know you then. I didn't..." "You didn't what?" He couldn't look her in the eye. "You didn't what? Damn it Mulder. You made me stay here to talk so..." "I didn't love you then! Okay?" "You love me?" "Yeah. What? You think I convinced myself of that too?" "No." Mulder was shocked by how quickly she agreed with him. "Why do you believe me now?" She thought about this for a moment and then said, "Because in all the time I've known you I've never heard you say that to anyone else." Tentatively she reached up to stroke his cheek. They both moved closer to each other and just before they were about to kiss she whispered, "I believe you." Then they shared the sweetest kiss that quickly turned passionate. And then... "Hey G-people! You still here?" They both groaned. "We're cursed. You do know that right?" Mulder commented with a wry grin. "Why don't you go talk to them, I have to call mom." "Okay." He kissed her on the forehead and then left the room. Scully walked over to her coat, pulled out her cell phone, and dialed her mom's number. After a couple rings her mom picked up the phone. "Hello?" "Hey mom. Do you think we could finish our visit next weekend?" The End