Well, being new Xfileless for the summer and bored to boot, I decided to rewatch my tape of "Fallen Angel" last night. Great ep. I'd also been promising Dean a story for the longest time, so I decided to go back and write one from the early days when Dana and Fox hardly knew each other and weren't sure they liked each other. Anyway, the show belongs to CC, Ten Thirteen, Fox, et. al. No toe stepping intended here...just fun. I wrote this on 6/17/96. A definite G folks. "After the Hearing" by Macspooky macspooky@erols.com Dana Scully picked up the newspaper and looked at the article in disgust. "Toxic spill cleared. People allowed to return home." Well, she supposed that the government had the right to protect people from panic, and she didn't really know what had been out there, but it sure as heck hadn't been a toxic spill. She was going to have nightmares about treating those burn victims. It had been a long time since med school where she had worked with live and suffering patients, and there was probably nothing worse on this earth than being a burn victim, or treating one.. Still, she had not been able to turn Dr. Oppenheim down. It had been an emergency and she had been needed. Rusty skills were better than no skills, and she had helped keep one man alive. Briefly she wondered if she had done him any favors. Dana sighed and waited patiently for the hearing to be over wondering how in God's name she had rated being given an assignment on the X-files and why it had been her good fortune get be saddled with a lunatic for a partner. Her career had been going just fine down at Quantico. It had been rather dull, but it had been peaceful. Mulder's leaps of logic never ceased to amaze her. It was almost as though Scotty could beam him from point A to point B with nothing in between, but she was damned if she could figure out where the hell, or what the hell his point B really was. More, she found herself wondering just why the heck she had been so eager to defend her partner in that hearing room before and why she felt so angry that they would not let her make a statement. He had been insubordinate. He never hesitated to work outside of normal channels. He had a real problem with authority figures and never hesitated to show his disrespect for any of them. Fox Mulder was the antithesis of what being an FBI agent was all about, a rebel with an imaginary cause...aliens. Mulder was an idiot....a complete jerk...and yet, well, there was something about him. He was dazzlingly handsome with a lost puppy like quality about him sometimes that was enough to bring out the maternal in any female. Yes, there was that, but that hadn't particularly phased her or impressed her. God only knew he had started out by being rude enough to her. She supposed that what got to her was that he was a man who was driven the pain of loss, but who had non the less retained a good heart. There was a kind of gentleness in him, a tenderness that she could sense beyond the deep sadness, the sarcastic facade or the self deprecating humor. He was also a man who stuck with his beliefs now matter how off the wall and couldn't be dissuaded by logic, fact or danger. As nutty as she found him, she had to respect his tenacity in the face of adversity. Working with him was always interesting, never dull. More excitement had been packed into the last three months than she had experienced in her entire life. With Fox Mulder for a partner, there was never a dull moment. Her only real regret was that inevitably and ultimately, the partnership was probably going to end with her getting nine yards of reprimands in her file and an assignment doing autopsies in Moose's Ass, Alaska or some such cold and dismal place. She stood when he limped out of the hearing room with a look of total disgust on his face. The envelope he carried slipped to the floor and she picked it up for him. "How did it go," she asked softly. "They lie, Scully. They lie and then they give it the official stamp of approval." "Come on," she said softly, "I'll drive you home." "That's okay, Scully. I'll take the bus." "Don't be ridiculous, Mulder. It's no trouble." He nodded with a sense of defeat. The crutches were difficult to maneuver and he felt tired...inexplicably tired and depressed. It looked as though he was going to lose his life's work and the resources he needed to look for his sister, and there was nothing he could do about it. The ankle had begun to throb terribly again. Dana had never been to his apartment before and as he collapsed on the couch, she looked around trying to keep the disgust off her face. It was old and small and cramped and dark. Well, that couldn't be helped. It was in a convenient neighborhood and sometimes one had to trade off modern conveniences in the house for proximity to work. What disgusted her however was the mess....files stacked everywhere, a good coat of dust, and sunflower seed shells on every surface. A laundry basket sat on the kitchen table full of clothes needing to be washed, and the place smelled like trash needing to be taken out. "Jeez, this would heal faster and hurt less if it was broken instead of sprained. Tried to warn you not to come up," he sighed collapsing on the couch. "It's usually not this bad." "I've seen your desk, Mulder," she reminded him dryly. It occurred to her then that his ankle was really paining him, and that he had no one. He'd been maneuvering around with the crutches, managing, but you couldn't exactly carry a laundry basket to the Laundromat with crutches. She sighed. She was a doctor, not a housekeeper.....did she want to get into this? But, he really had no one and he was injured. "Is there a Laundromat nearby?" she demanded. "In the basement..." he sighed. He was down to his last clean pair of underwear and couldn't navigate. "Come on," she said softly, "Let me get you one of your pain killers and make you a cup of tea. You really need to rest that foot." "That isn't necessary," he said. "I know that, Mulder," she snapped, "but I'm offering, so just say thank you and relax." Ja wohl mein fuhrer," he saluted with that silly lopsided grin. She gave him a dirty look in return and went into his tiny kitchen. He fell asleep on the couch, and Dana couldn't help but smile at him. One would think she had given him the world with a plate of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, about all she could find in his kitchen, and a cup of tea. In sleep he looked so peaceful, the worry lines smoothed, his face boyish. It was, she decided, a good thing her mother wasn't around. She might decide to adopt Fox Mulder and she already had something of a problem child in her daughter Melissa. Briefly, she wondered when had been the last time he had had a decent home cooked meal. Dana turned her attention to the apartment. Should she? Probably not. Mulder was her partner, nothing more. She couldn't even say that they were friends particularly. She didn't even think he liked her much and knew that he would be glad to be rid of her, but the temptation was too hard to resist. He looked just too sweet and helpless asleep on the couch. Fox Mulder woke up. Someone had loosened his tie and slipped off his shoes and socks. He felt refreshed and his foot was no longer throbbing. He looked around. The files were in neat stacks. The laundry was no longer spilling out of the basket, but was clean and folded and set out on the table top which had been wiped. The sun flower seeds had been swept up and disposed of. Getting to his feet, he reached for his crutches and went into the kitchen. All of the dishes had been washed and put away and the trash had been taken out. He opened the fridge and saw that the worst of his biological experiments had been tossed and replaced with fresh milk and cheese. A loaf of fresh bread sat on the one and only counter. There was a note propped next to it. "Mulder, you don't need the X-files. You are an X- file. Scully" For a moment he felt an angry pang of paranoia. Had she used his injury as an excuse to spy on him, to snoop through his things? That was supposed to be her function after all. Then his expression turned to one of bemused wonder. No.....she hadn't....he realized. She had simply acted as a caring human being, a friend. Funny, he had thought that she didn't like him. Actually, he was certain that she didn't. They never stopped arguing, and yet, he realized, she always went out of her way to be fair in her reports and had never badmouthed him in front of anyone. Maybe having a partner wasn't such a bad thing after all. He returned to the couch and picked up the phone. "Scully," "Yes, Mulder....." she said. "Uh....thanks...." "You're welcome, Mulder. I'll see you tomorrow at the office." The receiver clicked down in his ear. He picked up the remote and was soon engrossed in Star Trek the Next Generation. He found himself thinking that Dr. Crusher sure had pretty hair. That was odd. He had never found red heads particularly attractive before. The End All feedback welcome. I can be reached at macspooky@erols.com