From: sgormle2@chat.carleton.ca (Siobhan Gormley) Subject: "Quarantine" Date: Sun, 14 May 1995 02:25:28 GMT I had always wondered what Scully and Mulder did during their quarantine times (and we all know how numerous *those* are ;), so I decided to come up with a story revolving around one of those times. As usual, copyrights belong to Ten Thirteen productions and I have no permission to use the characters (I only *wish* I did! ;). Here goes.... _Quarantine_ by Siobhan Gormley Mulder was having that dream again, the one he had had a thousand times before. He was looking after his sister when suddenly the room started shaking on its own. Mulder stared helplessly as his sister was being dragged out through the window, but suddenly the scene changed and Mulder was in Scully's apartment, watching as Duane Barry was dragging a protesting Scully out of her apartment. He could do nothing but stand there. He hadn't been there to protect her, but even though he had been there when his sister was abducted, he still had been unable to protect her. He heard both their voices calling out to him to help them, and he found himself crying, not in sadness, but in anger. He sat up quickly in his bed. Scully was in the bed next to his, sleeping peacefully. They had been quarantined again, this time only for a couple of weeks compared to the usual month. Mulder got up from his sweat soaked bed and walked to Scully's side, watching her sleep. A stray hair fell across her eyes and Mulder found himself brushing it back into place with his hand. Scully's eyes fluttered open. "Is everything alright Mulder?" she asked, tired but a little worried. "Everything's fine Scully. Go back to sleep," he told her. She nodded and drifted back to sleep. He watched her for a few more minutes and then headed back to his bed. He tried to get back to sleep, but to no avail. He ended up reading some more of the latest book on UFO abduction he had been trying to finish. ******* The next morning when Scully woke up, Mulder was still reading the book. She sat up in bed and gave him a worried look. "Mulder, did you get any sleep last night?" she questioned. He shrugged his shoulders and put the book on the table beside him. "I got some." "Some being..." "Maybe an hour, it's hard to tell around here," he finished for her. She gave him a disapproving look. "Did you have that dream again?" He looked at her, surprised. "Don't look so surprised Mulder. We have spent a lot of time together, I think I know most of your secrets by now." He smiled at this. "Oh do you now, Agent Scully?" He sounded like he was taunting her, but Scully knew he was trying to change the subject. She decided to indulge him though. "Yes, I believe I do," she replied confidently. He smiled again, this time he had a twinkle in his eye. "Let's play a game then, shall we?" "What kind of game?" Scully asked warily. "Nothing that will harm you. I just want to see how much you *think* you know about me." Scully eyed him with a practised eye of an observer and saw that he was serious, even though he was looking to have some fun. Scully decided to agree to it, there wasn't much to do here anyways. "Okay, but I get to test you on how well you think you know *me*." "It's a deal." He went to continue, but a doctor came in to do their morning tests. "It'll have to wait I suppose." ******* Later in the day, after several check ups and tests, Scully and Mulder were finally left alone again. Scully went to pick up her book but Mulder put his hand on top of it before she lifted it. "You're not forgetting about our little game, are you Scully?" he queried, a smile playing on his lips. She sighed quietly. "Alright Mulder. What's the rules to this *game*?" "Well if you're going to be that way about it..." Scully rolled her eyes at his childishness. He walked to a chair at the other end of the room and sat there, beginning to read a new book, this time on parapsychology. Scully walked over to him and sat on her haunches, trying to get him to look at her. "C'mon Mulder, stop being so childish. I agreed to play your little game and now you're acting like a five year old who isn't getting his way. I used to find this endearing at one time, but now it's getting a little annoying." When he didn't look up, she became even more exasperated and headed for the door. Before she reached it, she heard a chuckle coming from his end of the room. She spun around only to see him with a straight face, totally engrossed in his book. She slowly turned around, but kept her eyes focussed on him for as long as she could. Just before she turned her head entirely around again, she saw him begin to snicker again. She turned quickly and caught him before he could change his expression back. He attempted to look innocent, but was doing a poor job of it. "You know Mulder, sometimes I wonder if you don't need psychiatric help." "But I thought you liked me a little crazy, keeps you on your toes," he commented, smiling again. Scully just sighed. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately, she thought to herself. "Look Mulder, do you want to do this or not? If not, I can think of a number of things that I can do," she replied, beginning to get slightly aggravated. Mulder got up from his chair and walked over to her. He bodily moved her over to her bed and sat her on it. He sat on his, facing her. She wasn't sure what to expect, but she did trust this man with her life, or at least she did most of the time. "Since you're so impatient now Scully, I'll tell you exactly what this game is about. The rules are simple, you have to come up with the beginning of a sentence and I have to finish it. Whether or not it's the truth or not, that's for you to figure out," he explained. A look of recognition came across Scully's face. "I've played a game like this before, but with women. This could prove to be interesting," she said, a smile appearing on her face. "Okay, you start then." Scully sat for a minute, thinking up a sentence beginning. "The first person I ever fantasized about was..." she finally said. Mulder almost blushed. This must be a doozy, she thought. He cleared his throat. "The first person I ever fantasized about was my second grade teacher, Miss Doplin. She was a beautiful young woman and every boy in the class had a crush on her, but she seemed to pay special attention to me, or so I thought. I fantasized about us, being married that is, I hadn't hit *that* stage yet," he said, seeing the grin on Scully's face. It wasn't as bad as she thought as it was going to be. Actually, it was kind of cute. "So Scully? What do you think?" "Certainly not as shocking as I had originally thought. As for whether it's true or not...I'll go with true," she decided. He smiled broadly and she knew she had picked the wrong answer. "Nope. I had a male teacher in grade two. Miss Doplin wasn't until grade seven, when I *was* at that stage," he grinned slyly and Scully shook her head. "Okay then Scully, who was the first person you ever fantasized about?" She thought it over before answering him. "The first person I ever fantasized about was Jack Willis. I fell for him when I first saw him at the academy and I couldn't get him out of my mind. I almost failed that term, I was that engrossed in him." Mulder looked straight into her eyes, trying to see if she was telling the truth or not. She had no problem in looking into his eyes, so that made his decision. "You're lying," he stated plainly. It was her turn to smile broadly. She made a sound like the wrong buzzer on game shows. "Boy Mulder, you don't know me very well, do you?" she replied, slightly taunting him. "Alright, my turn," he said, eager to continue. ******* A couple of hours and a few dozen lies and truths later, Mulder and Scully were still playing. So far Scully was up on Mulder. "You know Mulder, I like this game. I'm glad you suggested it," she said, smiling. "Yeah. It's certainly taught me a thing or two about you," he replied. "And what's that?" "You'd be one hell of a poker player," he answered. She laughed at this. "What makes you think I'm not already?" He looked slightly surprised by this. "Maybe I should invite you along for a game with the Lone Gunmen." Scully wrinkled her nose. "That's okay Mulder. I have a feeling Frohike would suggest strip poker." "What's so bad about that?" he questioned. Scully was slightly surprised at his response, but not entirely, especially when she saw the sarcastic grin that spread across his face. "We're digressing from the game, Mulder." "Okay then, you're next." "My worst fear is..." He sat there, thinking hard. Before he could answer though, someone came into the room, this time to give them some more pills. "I guess you'll never know," he replied, grinning. Scully went to protest but didn't have the chance because the doctor shoved a thermometer in her mouth. THE END ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Siobhan Gormley Carleton University Scully: "I didn't think anything gave you nightmares Mulder." Email address: sgormle2@chat.carleton.ca ----------------------------------------------------------------------