TITLE: "Moments in Black and White and Gold"


BY: Ten


E-MAIL ADDRESS: kristena@ocean.com.au





CATEGORY: MSR, V


RATING: PG-13


SUMMARY: Colours define and capture what is important.


TIMESPAN/SPOILER WARNING: Moviefic. Set the night of the


day M&S reaffirm their commitment to the X-Files in the


park.





ARCHIVE INFO: Anywhere as long as my name & addy stay intact.


It goes to Gossamer via xff.





DISCLAIMER: The X-Files and the characters of Mulder and


Scully belong to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions


and Fox Broadcasting, and are used without permission. No


copyright infringement is intended, no profit will be


gained.





The X-Files: "Moments in Black and White and Gold"


by Ten, August 1998








Scully stood, uncertain, staring at the phone in her


hand.





/Just do it!/





She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and


took several deep breaths.





Remembering the intensity of Mulder's eyes. His head


dipping, coming in for the kiss. Her stunned surprise and


uncertainty - was he kissing her as a ploy to get her to


stay? - then acceptance. Desire. The sting from the bee.


From that point onwards she didn't remember much.


Mulder's voice, his hands holding hers, trembling. Voices


of the EMTs and a sleepy voice with an Australian accent


that she recognised as Kristie from apartment 40,


wondering what the hell was going on THIS time...





Then the Antarctic. Too dazed to feel fear, even when


that thing was being pulled out of her throat. An endless


time of Mulder carrying her, making her move, dragging,


hauling. His voice even more urgent than in the hallway.


Blackness, things exploding, shrieking...





From black to the endless white of the ice and snow.


Sitting there cradeling her unconscious partner, she


could feel them sliding permanently into the greyness


they'd always tried to explore. Her one comfort was


knowing that some important questions she'd had were now


indelibly answered. Black and white. Or in the hazel of


his eyes, his whole body; it gave her the truth. He


hadn't tried to kiss her as a manipulation. His presence


here was not because he felt obligated to find her as a


partner.





/If we die now.../





But they didn't.





The trip home was mainly spent sleeping. Back in D.C.


there were pressing answers to give to the authorities,


so their own realisations had to wait. And Dana received


a phone call from Bill, shipside.





"Just got Mom's letter - says you're resigning and going


back to being a doctor." There was relief


and...satisfaction?...in his voice.





"I guess Mom hasn't been able to reach you with an


update... I changed my mind. Well, not so much changed -"





"What did that guy say to change your mind?" he demanded.





She took a deep breath. "Bill, would you travel to the


ends of the earth for Tara?"





"What sort of question is that? Of course I would; I love


her. Wait a minute - did he say that to you? Make all


these pledges of devotion that mean nothing? He's just


saying that - he'll say anything to get what he wants."





"Bill, he -"





"Or do you think that's what you'd do for him? After all


he's put you -"





"He HAS gone to the ends of the world for me. I was


abducted again...last week. He came after me, even though


he was injured. He saved me. I was only quitting because


they were separating us, but now nothing can."





Silence on the other end of the line. Bill would never


understand. He didn't know all the facts. All he had were


the black facts - the death of one sister and all the


losses endured by his other one. How ironic - he was in


the defense force, but so were Scully and Mulder. They


were struggling to protect people on a global scale, not


just those of the United States. Their role was even more


vital, their sacrifices greater, but how could she tell


him? He didn't see greys.





"After all he's done..." Bill spluttered.





"Yes, exactly - after all he's done. Antarctica, no


less." /I make him a whole person. We save each other./





All she'd endured over the last few weeks - and now that


she looked back, the closest she'd come to losing it was


when she'd realised that Mulder was locked in with the


bomb. In a room she'd sent him to.





So many things were black and white now. It had been a


hell of a year: so many losses, but losing Mulder was


unthinkable - just like her cross, he kept coming back to


her. How many other people had the connection they were


blessed with?





She thought about A.D. Jana Cassidy at the hearing. /I


could have become just like her if I hadn't been assigned


to Mulder when I was./ She shuddered at the thought.


Losses and gains. Black and white. Things balanced out.





Mulder both wanted and needed her. Professionally and


personally. She was his saviour, and through their


ongoing work for the cure to the virus she had the chance


to save many lives. To make a difference and distinguish


herself, whether the public ever knew or not. Dana Scully


had her place, and it was not as the tagalong sceptic


debunker that her post-bombing disillusionment had seen


her reduce her role down to. Now her resignation was in


strips in Skinner's wastepaper basket.





And tonight, after all these conclusions, Dana was still


holding the phone, indecisive. She traced her lip with


her teeth, and thought.





Holding hands with Mulder in the park this morning. As


they walked up the steps away from the bench and pond to


go back to work, she began to loosen her fingers, but his


tightened. "I don't want to let go just yet." His eyes


held hers.





So they didn't. They wandered in the opposite direction


to Headquarters for ten short minutes before reluctantly


turning around and letting go.





The Hoover Building was in sight when Mulder suddenly


stopped her. "Oh, I bought something for you...um...it


was going to be a goodbye gift, but now I guess it's a...


Close your eyes."





She did.





He took her hand again and placed something very very


small - two things? - into the middle of her palm. He


closed her fingers over his gift, squeezed gently, then


let go.





"Okay."





Gold earrings. In the shape of little bees.





"They're beautiful..." And thankfully not the real thing


dipped in gold. "The detail...it's so tiny. Thank you."


She saw he had the same look on his face as when he'd


returned her necklace and cross - both in 1994 and last


week.





Back to Headquarters. The corner of an office they'd been


lumped in while the brass worked out what to do with them


and shunted them out on other non-xf assignments. No time


for talking. Of that sort.





She was wearing the earrings now. Tonight. Well, 3am.





/Do it./





At last she dialled.





The phone rang.





He answered. "Mulder."





"Mulder, it's me."





"What's wrong?"





"Did I wake you?"





"No."





"Why not? It's 3 am."





"What's happened?"





"Um...I'm at my place, and I really want to see you. Talk


to you about...everything... Us. Can you come meet me?"





"On my way."





She hung up and tried to remember how to breathe. She


quashed the urge to pace the floorboards. /Have you no


patience?/ She promptly replied: /Yeah. It had a five


year warranty.../





She heard the noises within seconds. His feet hurrying -


must have crammed his sneakers on - the door of 42


opening, Mulder racing out, half in his leather jacket,


fumbling with keys.





He saw her standing in the hallway and stopped. Gaped.


"Scully?" Automatically he turned to look down the other


end of his hall, looking for the enemy as his hand went


to his hip, thinking she'd been forced to make the call.


Nothing.





"What? What's wrong?"





"I'm at my place," Dana repeated, red-flushed as she


indicated the spot she was standing on, the approximate


place where their kiss ended before it began.





"Oh," he said. Then, stronger, "Oh..." His eyes lit up


more than the hallway lights. He approached her. "Have


you checked your collar for bees?" His grin managed to


convey sexiness, humour, nervousness and hint of painful


memory all in one.





"The only Unfair Flying Obstructions around here are on


my earlobes. I think we're safe." She reached out and


within a second they were hugging tightly.





His voice eventually drifted over to her. "So much to


tell you...to talk about..."





"Not only talk about..."





They pulled back a little and his hands cupped and


caressed her face. Mouths about to kiss.





A noise. A door was opening. Scully jumped and went to


move away from him. Mulder held her gently but firmly in


place. He didn't bother seeing who it was. His eyes told


her: /I don't care who it is, I don't care who knows, no


one and nothing is going to stop this. Not after


everything we've been through./ Mulder's mouth came down


and everything else bled away.





She vaguely heard an Aussie-accented "About TIME!", then


a door closing.





But who the hell cared about that when there was more


kissing to concentrate on? To instigate. She went into it


with even more thoroughness and eagerness and dedication


than she put into her work.





"Now this is mouth to mouth..."





"I don't like how breathless you sound. My turn to give


you mouth to mouth. Of course, you'll have to be lying


down..."





"Should I carry you over the threshold?"





"Don't be so old-fashioned. I'll carry you."





"You always do, Dana."














Mulder woke up to golden sunlight bathing the room. Why


hadn't he closed the blinds? Come to think of it, why was


he in his bedroom...?





Images filled his mind.





"Whoah, what a dream..."





He rolled over onto his back, eyes closed, savouring it.


Then he realised that he'd just rolled away from


clutching a very warm and very naked Dana Scully. A Dana


Scully who was staring at him with her hair flopping


sexily over one eye and a bemused grin.





"A dream?" she repeated, and laughed.





"Scully?" he whispered, hoping for confirmation that this


wasn't a dream or a joke.





Her smile showed she understood that his fear was not


regret or alarm at what they'd done.





"I had you," she purred. "I had you big time!" She


crawled on top of him with an expression he'd never seen


before as her necklace and earrings glittered in the


light. Joy flooded his face and he reached for her


eagerly as she continued, "And you know what? I do


believe I'm going to have you again..."








THE END.