From: "Amy McClure" Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 16:10:36 GMT Subject: xfc New: Another Stakeout Source: xfc Title: Another Stakeout Author: Amy McClure Rating: PG-13 - a couple of swear words Keywords: MS Friendship, maybe a little UST Spoilers: Small ones for Szycgy and Arcadia. Diana Fowley knowledge assumed Summary: Mulder & Scully are on yet another stakeout. Scully learns a little bit more about her partner than she had bargained for. (No don't get all excited - no naked pretzel action in this one.) Disclaimer: Yeah right. Not my characters - I'm just borrowing them from the almighty Chris Carter. Please don't sue me - all I own is a tv and a cat anyway. xxxxx Another stakeout. Beautiful. Instead of spending my night curled up in front of the fireplace reading a book before crawling into my wonderful bed and getting a good night's rest...yeah, another stakeout. In an uncomfortable car in the freezing cold DC winter weather. Beautiful. I expect stakeouts when we're on the road - when we're on an actual case. Leave it to my wonderful partner to find something strange going on right down the road from the damn Hoover Building. And do you think he bothered to tell me what that something strange is? No, of course not. My wonderful partner. Yeah, okay fine. That's the one thing that should make being cramped up against the leather upholstery all night at least bearable. My wonderful partner. But then again, who knows what he'll be like tonight. Sometimes I adore being with him and other times...let's just say the thought of shooting him again has crossed my mind on an occasion or two. He really can be a jerk. Selfish. Self-absorbed. Cocky. Arrogant. Stubborn. Pig-headed. Self-destructive. Lewd. Crude. Perverted. And did I mention arrogant? Those damn suggestive comments followed by the waggle of his eyebrows. He thinks he's so damn cute and irresistible. Yeah right. Whatever. 'Come on admit it. You just wanna play house.' 'Time to make that honeymoon video.' God I wanted to kill him on that case. I've resisted him for nearly seven years. It hasn't even been all that difficult - especially lately. Not even that patented puppy dog face gets to me much anymore. You really aren't so irresistible, Fox Mulder. Okay, that's another thing. Why, after all these years, am I still not allowed to call him by his god-forsakened first name? He thinks Fox sounds stupid? Yeah like Mulder is much better? Jesus Christ. I find myself standing by the window waiting for him. I've got my trusty thermos of coffee, a pillow and two blankets. Yes, TWO blankets. I know my idiot partner won't think to bring one for himself and then he'll whine incessantly about being cold, and I'll feel obligated to share. Either that, or he'd be getting hypothermia and not bother to tell me about it for fear of...what...not being macho enough to handle the cold? Macho. That's another word for my idiot, oh wait, I mean, wonderful partner. 'Why do you always have to drive Mulder? Is it because you're the man - the big macho man?' 'No, I just never thought your little feet could reach the pedals.' Asshole. A glance up at my clock tells me that yes, once again, he is late. Fifteen minutes late this time to be exact. It's seven years later and I still find myself ready ten minutes before he tells me to be ready, only to be made to wait until he shows up 15-20 minutes late. If he shows up at all. Screw this. I take my thermos and empty its contents back into the Mr. Coffee on my counter. The blankets are thrown back onto the floor of the closet where I first found them. My coat, gloves, shoes and socks are soon flying across the room to fall where they may. Soon I find myself dressed in my favorite silk pajamas and curled up on my couch. I hear a car pull up outside my building and choose to ignore it...for a few seconds anyway. Damn if I can't help running over to the window and peeking out. Yeah, it's him all right. He's just sitting there. Just waiting. Bastard doesn't even bother to come to the door and see if I need help carrying anything. "Screw him," I mumble as I curl up onto the couch and open my copy of What Dreams May Come. "'A love that transcends heaven and hell.' Yeah right. Whatever." Disgustedly, I flip the book open and begin reading. Ten minutes have gone by and I just now hear his car door open. I'm actually surprised he didn't just call me from his nice cozy spot in the car and tell me to 'get those little legs moving.' Asshole. Oh wait, did I say that already? Five loud raps on the door. "Scully?" "Keep knocking pretty-boy," I mumble as I continue to stare at the words in front of me. Six loud raps on the door this time. "Scully! I know you're here! Let's go!!" Thoughts swirl around my head, and God help me, I can actually FEEL my blood pressure rising past the point of being dangerous. The book I'm holding is suddenly catapulting across the room before it meets its demise against the far wall in my living room. I march over to the door and throw it open. The fury in my eyes and my demeanor must be apparent, because he actually takes a step back. Good. "Mulder. What do you want." "Stakeout Scully. Remember?" "Yeah, I seem to remember you telling me you'd be here at 8:00 sharp." "Yeah so?" "What time is it Mulder?" "8:00?" "It's 8:30. I was ready at 8:00. Actually I was ready at 7:50 because, unlike you, I don't like to make people wait for me. It is now 8:30, and my only plans for the evening involve reading in front of the fire, taking a nice warm bubble bath and going to bed. Have fun on your stakeout." I go to slam the door in his face only to have him push his weight against the door and keep it open so he can weasel his way in. Man, I've got to start lifting weights or something. "Get out Mulder." "What is with you Scully? I've got a good two weeks left before I have to deal with your PMS kicking in, so that can't be it." Son of a bitch! "Mulder. You are...I can't believe...how arrogant...I just can't..." "Spit it out Scully. Come on, concentrate. You can do it." Oh I'll spit it out all right, you cocky, arrogant... "Son of a bitch!" A ha! Obviously he wasn't expecting that one. "PMS? You think I have PMS? Pre-Mulder Syndrome is more like it! I'll take cramps and water-weight gain over sitting in a car with you all night any day Mulder!" Okay, the calm, cool Dr. Scully is in here somewhere, but I can't seem to find her at the moment. "Scully, I..." "You what Mulder? You're sorry? Is that what you were going to say? What are you sorry for this time? For dragging me out of my home to, yet again, go spend my night freezing my ass off on a stakeout? For being an insensitive jerk? For showing up a half an hour late? For expecting me to follow you on whatever your quest of the day is? Pick one and apologize for it then!" "Look Scully, I'm sorry if I upset you. I just..." "What? You just what?" "I promised someone that I would keep an eye out for something tonight, and I very mistakenly thought you might want to help me out." "What exactly are we keeping an eye out for Mulder? A giant flukeworm? A liver-eating maniac? The second coming of the Great Mutato? Kling-Ons? Alf? What?" "If I remember correctly, Alf was able to make it back to his home planet a number of years ago Scully." "Cut the crap Mulder. What exactly are we staking out?" "Someone at the Bureau has been getting threatening calls and letters at home. She came to me very scared and upset, and I told her we would keep an eye on her home tonight. I'm sorry I bothered you or thought you might want to help. I'll go take care of it myself. Enjoy your bubble bath." "Who is getting these threats Mulder?" "Holly." I feel the wind being knocked out of me and suddenly the term Queen Bitch seems to fit me well. "Holly?" "Yes. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this afternoon. I should have." "Hold on. I'll go get dressed." xxxxx It's now midnight and all is still calm at Holly's home. Well, the world surrounding the car we're sitting in is calm anyway. The tension in here is unreal. Neither of us has spoken a word in nearly four hours. Time to try and rebuild something here Dana. "Coffee?" "No. Fine. Thanks." Okay, this is going well. "Mulder." "You really think I'm arrogant Scully?" Ouch. "Honestly?" "I wouldn't want anything less." "Then, yes, sometimes I think you are." "Anything else you want to share?" "What do you mean?" "I mean I'm not stupid Scully. I can see that I'm irritating the hell out of you, and I have been for the last few weeks. Is it something specific that I did, or is it that good old seven year itch kicking in?" God help me, I couldn't help but let a small smile cross my lips at that comment. "It's nothing like that Mulder." "What then? Tell me Scully, talk to me. I need to know what's been bothering you or I can't do anything to try and change it." "I'm not trying to change you Mulder." "I know. That's not what I mean though." Honest Dana. He said he wanted honest. "I guess after seven years of partnership I expect..." Yep, there it is. The puppy dog face has surfaced. "I expect you to give me the information and the respect I need to do my job." "Information? Respect?" "Yes Mulder. You never tell me the whole truth about anything we investigate. You just come up with a case out of nowhere, tell me to be on the next plane to Nowhere, Idaho with you and that's it." "If I told you what some of our cases entailed, you'd never agree to go with me. You'd say it was a waste of time and shoot down my theory within two minutes after I told you what I thought." "Mulder, I may not always buy into your theories." "May not?" "Yeah, may not. But when have I ever just flat out turned my back on you and refused to pursue a case with you?" "Never I guess." "That's right. Never. I've had more than my share of reservations about some of these cases, but I want to see them solved as much as you do. And I can't very well try to solve them unless I know exactly what we're dealing with." "So what other adjectives have you come up with to describe me Scully? I now know arrogant is one. What are the others?" "Mulder." "No Scully, I want to know. Arrogant. Selfish? Stubborn? Crass? Pig-headed? Egotistical?" "You forgot perverted." "Ah, my best feature." "Mulder, for every character flaw you have, there are two endearing ones. They may not come out all that often, but I know they're there. I've seen them on occasion." "What are those? Sensitive? Sweet? Caring? Understanding? Stunningly handsome?" "Handsome isn't a character trait." "Stunningly handsome is though." "And the ego comes out yet again." "I guess I really am arrogant, aren't I?" "Yeah, but that's not always a bad thing. Everyone has flaws, you wouldn't be human without them." "Aliens really are perfect then huh?" I'm just going to ignore that one. "Believe it or not, even I have my flaws." "Nothing about you is flawed Scully." My god. Was that actual tenderness lacing those words? "Oh really. I believe I've heard the term 'Ice Queen' and my name in the same sentence on quite a few occasions." "Anyone who would refer to you that way knows absolutely nothing about you." "Can I ask you something Mulder?" "Shoot." "Why don't you let me call you Fox?" "What?!" "Fox. That's your name remember?" "Yeah...I...why do you ask?" "Just curious - seeing as how we seem to be 'opening up' and all." "I...I don't like that name." "You let other people call you Fox." A grimace crosses his face. "Ugh. Stop saying it. You're making my stomach churn." "Well, you do." "Do you want to call me that?" "Not especially. I'm just asking." "I just don't like my name. That's all." "Your mother calls you Fox." "Well, she is my mother. She earned the right to call me anything she wanted when she gave birth to me." "My mother." "Yeah, she's your mother. No way I'm going to correct her on that." "Why?" "I guess it's a respect thing." "And she represents the mother figure you've been missing since you were twelve." "Hey, I'm the shrink here, not you. Quit stealing my thunder." "Well continue then." "That's it. No one else calls me that. The Gunmen know they'd get pummeled if they tried, everyone at the Bureau calls me Agent Mulder." "There is one other person." "Who?" "Agent Fowley." Mulder let out an exasperated sigh and rested his head against the headrest. "We're not going to get into this again, are we?" "Get into what?" "Look Scully, I told you there is nothing going on between me and Diana. It was a long time ago, and whatever we once had is long gone." "Mulder, I'm not asking you for a narrative on your past relationship with her. I'm asking you a very simple question - why do you let her call you Fox if you hate that name so much? Please don't tell me it's a respect thing with her too." "Not even close." "You don't have to answer me if you don't want to. We can drop it." "No, no. It's okay. I'll answer you. I guess it never really bothered me until she was gone. Don't get me wrong, I've never liked my name, but...after she left, it just hurt to hear it." "Mulder I'm sorry. We don't have to do this." "No Scully. I want to tell you this. I want you to understand this. It's just that every person in my life who has ever called me Fox has betrayed me in some way." Oh God. I wasn't expecting this. "My father. My mother. My father's old colleagues who were in on this conspiracy. My high school girlfriend who wished me a happy birthday by having sex with my best friend at the party. Phoebe. Diana. Karen." Karen? Who the hell is Karen? "I've never mentioned Karen to you before have I?" "No. Not that I recall." "Karen was a girl I dated after Phoebe, and that was part of the problem. My head was still so messed up from dealing with all of Phoebe's crap that I couldn't barely see straight. Things with Karen happened really quick - we had known each other for a while. Once she found out I wasn't with Phoebe anymore, she made her move and I went with it. After two months of dating, she told me she needed more from me, or she would have to leave me. At that point, I couldn't bear the thought of one more person leaving me, so I did what she asked me to do." A very long silence followed that declaration. He was drumming his fingers nervously on the steering wheel and looking intently at the fabric on the ceiling of the car. I was nearly ready to jump out of my skin in anticipation of what he was going to tell me when he finally spoke again. "I married her." "You did what?!!" Oh yeah, that was good Dana. The man is FINALLY opening up to you - that's not the reaction he needs to hear. "Sorry Mulder. I didn't mean to sound..." "It's all right Scully." "But your personnel file lists you as single, not divorced, not widowed..." "You been checking out my personnel file?" "When I found out I'd been assigned to work with you I did." "The marriage only lasted a couple of weeks. It was stupid - probably the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life. We had no money, no place to live, we'd only been dating for two months. Stupid." "Not if you loved her." "I didn't love her Scully. I knew at the time I didn't love her, but I just..." "What Mulder?" "I couldn't stand the thought of losing another person - no matter who it was or what they meant to me. I didn't want to be alone. She didn't even tell me she was leaving me. One day, some guy shows up with the annulment papers, and I'm just supposed to sign them like a good little boy and disappear into the shadows." "Oh Mulder." "I think she just wanted to see how far she could make some idiot go. I guess she got me pretty good." "The situation was probably far more complicated than that." "I don't think so, but it really doesn't matter anyway. After that fiasco and then Diana just up and leaving me with hardly more than a goodbye...I just didn't want anyone to call me that anymore. I was somehow looking for a new identity I guess - thinking my past would just disappear if I could wipe out that stupid name." "And Diana is from your past, so it's all right that she calls you that." "I'd never let her call me Mulder, and I sure as hell wouldn't want you calling me Fox." "So you really can say it without gagging." "Yeah I guess I can, Dana." I involuntarily scrunched up my face at the sound of that. "Please don't call me that. It just doesn't sound right coming from you." "My point exactly." xxxxx "Mulder?" "Hmm?" "Mulder, wake up. There's someone in Holly's yard." "Huh?" "Right over there behind that tree." The arrest of our suspect couldn't have gone smoother. In one deft movement, my partner moved from the car and came up behind this poor unsuspecting soul. He held him at gunpoint while I applied the handcuffs and phoned the local PD to take it from there. We stayed with Holly until the suspect was officially taken into custody. She had identified him as an ex-boyfriend who couldn't seem to take the hint to leave her alone. My partner, no wait, my wonderful partner drove me home and was even kind enough to carry my thermos and blankets into my apartment for me. "Thanks for coming with me again Scully. You can take tomorrow morning off if you want to - I'll cover for you if something comes up." "That's okay Mulder. You've gotten me used to going on one or two hours of sleep a night." "See you in the morning Scully." "Mulder?" "Yeah?" The words 'I'm sorry' seemed too hollow to say what I was trying to say at that point. I noticed him smile slightly as he looked into my eyes. "I know Scully. I know." "Yeah, I guess you do, don't you?" "Another stakeout tomorrow night Scully?" "Definitely." xxxxx