Work Text:
Muder POV set during “The End”
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Wednesday morning.
I struggle with the coffees and breakfast muffins. I knock/ bump against our office door.
“Hey Scully can you open the door, I got my hands full.”
I wait and hear the soft tapping of my partners heels through the door. She pulls it open as I move the bag out of arms to hand to her. Her favorite coffee in my hands and her favorite muffin from a completely different coffee shop are my presents for her. It’s only 2 days away from being cancer free for 1 year. I’m hoping to butter her up a bit so that I can ask her out. I want to celebrate properly a nice dinner, maybe that Italian place on the Potomac. She reaches up her fingers brushing mine as she takes the coffees and small bag. She gives me a soft smile, she has yet to have her second cup of coffee.
“Hi,” I say because she looks amazing.
The first few months after her cancer remission her skin was still pale, her suits falling off her thin frame. But now my partner is fully recovered, her hair and skin shiny. Her compacted body at full strength. She’s been doing kick boxing at the fbi gym and even though I prefer to swim watching her kick some newbies ass is more than enough reason to run on the treadmill instead.
“Mulder, this coffee cup says Cafe au lait but this muffin is from St. Barts on 7th.” she is looking mildly confused.
“What an astute observation Dr. Scully, have you thought about using those impressive deduction skills in law enforcement?” I grin so that she knows I’m joking.
“Mulder, what did you do?” I feign innocence.
“Mulder you went to two different coffee shops, to get my favorite coffee and my favorite muffin, which means you did something, something bad, you didn’t find another Flukeman did you?”
“Scully you wound me.”
I should really work on treating her a bit better to be honest.
“Mulder.” she has the cut the crap tone, that I dream about sometimes when I'm thinking about her tying me up in bed.
In truth I just want to ask her out. I want to celebrate her being cancer free, we’ve had a rough year and with all the stuff with Samantha, Ruskin Dam, Emily my partner deserves a nice dinner out.
“Ok Scully, I know I can’t fool you. Do you have any plans on Friday evening?”
Because as much as I know I don’t have a life and haven’t dated in years, my partner is much more normal than I.
“Why?” ever the skeptic and suspicious.
I may say “trust no one” but Dana Scully is a die hard rule follower of that motto.
“Do you have a case Mulder?”
We’ve been wrapping up the drama from the Lambart case and both of us could use a break from the paperwork, but unfortunately nothing interesting enough has crossed my desk. Well nothing worth going out of town and missing out on a celebration dinner to be honest.
“I’m hoping you can help me investigate the claim that Messina has the best pasta in Washington.”
I state looking through some mail on my desk, because while I’m a moderately confident man, Dana Scully scares the shit out of me. She says nothing and I’m a bit worried that I’ve really over estimated her interest. I look up my eyes locking with hers. She looks confused and a bit bemused as well.
“Do you think they have a ghost Italian nana in the kitchen?” she says with a shy smile.
Perhaps my confidence is growing because I walk towards her, challenging her with my eyes to remember why Friday might be important.
“I’m thinking perhaps we should celebrate our anniversary of working together.”
Her eyes narrow a bit, “It’s May, we started working together in March Mulder 5 years ago...” my girl doesn’t back down.
She is going to make me say it, and I love her for it. I will never be able to get away with anything it terrifies and excites me in a way no other woman has ever come close too.
“But it is almost 1 year of you being cancer free.” I say smile on my lips.
Sure I can play it up as a platonic sort of thing. Her face falls a bit and I wonder if I’ve missed something.
“That’s very sweet Mulder but you don’t have too.” her voice soft almost dismissive.
“Oh, we are going Scully, if you don’t have plans that is. I would love for you to dress up. I’ll even wear a solid color tie.” I bump my shoulder against her.
“You want me to dress up?”
I want it to be a date without sounding like a date, but in the past when I’ve tried that a case has popped up and it doesn’t work out well.
“Scully, I don’t think I’m conveying this as well as I mean too. I would love to take you out on a romantic date to celebrate you being cancer free our partnership and you being my one in 5 billion.”
She looks up her eyes shining and smile lights up her face.
“I’d love that Mulder.”
“Yea?” because I’m so happy she is saying yes and that I had the guts to ask her out properly.
“Yea, umm but reservations might be tough.”
“Oh I already made them 2 months ago.” because I did call and put a credit card down for it.
“What if I was busy or we had a case?” I shrug.
“I guess I would have taken Frohike instead.”
“7pm I’ll pick you up ok Scully?”
“Ok,” our phone rings and both of us smile at the other as I answer.
“Mulder,”
“It’s Skinner put Scully on.” I smile handing the phone to Scully.
“Scully,” I love that she answers the phone like that.
“Yes sir, Mulder and I can be up there in 5 minutes...not Mulder? Can I ask why? Ok.”
My curiosity is at an all time high. She hangs up.
“Skinner wants to see just me. I’ll uh be back in a bit.”
She grabs her notebook and heads out. Normally I would be much more noisy and asking more questions but Scully agreed to go out with me and I have some paperwork to get done.
After an hour I go wondering around finding Skinner in the hallway.
“He asks that you specifically not be involved.”
I’m not sure who the hell Agent Spender is but I already don’t like him. I walk into the room my eyes almost instantly find Scully. Interesting that she has been asked on this but I’ve been told to stay away.
“I think the kid knew he was the target.” I argue because the small push back is very odd.
“I think Agent Mulder is right, and if you rewind the tape you will see it.” My eyes immediately meet with a woman I haven’t thought about in years.
Diana Fowley was an old colleague, I wouldn’t say a partner because that’s not exactly what she was. She is smart, capable and at the time I enjoyed working with her. Our brief working relationship was comfortable until it was clear we didn’t have similar feelings and she went her way and I went mine. I look to Scully who nods softly and turns back to the screen.
Spender does not like me being here, and his ineptitude for handing such a large case is telling. So in true Mulder fashion I steal the case from him.
Gibson might be the closest thing I’ve ever seen to a telepath.
“I know you’re thinking about one of the girls you brought with you.” he says.
While Diana is tagging along with Scully and I, I’m still thinking about our upcoming date. It’ll be nice to buy her flowers without getting them at the hospital giftshop.
“and one of them is thinking about you.”
I turn and see Scully's face, she isn’t the one who is thinking about me. I beg Gibson not to say anything. Scully doesn’t need to know how much I think about her. I ask Diana to run the tests. I want to be able to talk to Scully but first I have to talk to the shooter. I hear Scullys soft voice.
“So you two know each other.”
“It was a long time ago,”
I think I better hurry up before Diana gives Scully the wrong impression.
I head back to meet Diana for the 3rd round of tests that Gibson does. We chuckle lightly at the accuracy. I don’t tell her anything about Scully. Diana might pick up a bit, but until I've figured out why she is back I'm not going to be very forthcoming.
“I’ve done ok without you.”
I tell her, because Scully is the absolute best thing that could of happened to me. More than ok really. Diana holding my hand is weirdly off putting and I turn and see a flash of red through the window. Was that Scully? Did she just walk by? Why didn't she stop?
I give some half ass apology to Diana grabbing some of the paperwork to look over later. I want to see if that was really Scully walking by as I walk out of the building to the parking garage. I try to think of how to bring up Diana to Scully. Not that I need to, nothing with Diana has ever happened. I get to the garage and see Scully sitting in her car. There is a level of sadness in her frame.
“Fuck” I whisper.
My phone starts to ring. “Mulder,”
I pick up even though I see Scully calling me while sitting in the car.
“I’d prefer to review it at work.”
We will not be doing that Scully. I stroll forward and knock on her window. She jumps and I throw up my hands in surrender walking around the car to the passenger seat. I slide in. “Scully,” she licks her lips not yet meeting my eyes.
I sigh.
“I think out date will have to wait, Gibson is going to require around the clock protection.”
“Ok Mulder.”
“I can call the restaurant we can reschedule.”
“That is not necessary Mulder.”
What does that mean and I think for a second, she didn’t come in when she saw me with Diana and went to her car why? Diana was holding my hand. Oh...oh no. I reach over and grab her hand. She turns to me her mask sliding into place. Don’t do that Scully not to me. “Is this about Diana?” I ask.
“Mulder it’s none of my business,”
Oh but I very much want it to be.
“What do you want to know about her?” I ask.
She swallows.
“We don’t need to do this, if you’re interested in getting back together with her, that’s not my business.” She states.
Getting back together, what the hell is she talking about.
“I mean Diana was there when I found the x-files and she went with me on some cases but we weren’t partners or anything.”
I say confused as to what she means.
“You are my partner Scully.”
I reach up with my left hand touching her cheek. Scully turns.
“I am just your work partner Mulder. You are free to date whomever you want.”
I sit back in my seat. I thought I explained myself at least somewhat that the dinner that we have to cancel was very much a date.
“I’m trying to date you.” I say because fuck whatever weird thing this is.
Scully eyebrow goes up.
“I asked you out tomorrow night and now because Spender is a fucking idiot we have to reschedule.” Scully sighs her eyes sliding close in defeat.
“Did you think I wanted to go out with Diana?” I ask dumbfounded at the question.
Diana and I were never anything but colleagues. She licks her lips.
“The Gunmen stated she was your chickadee.” I click my tongue those fucking morons.
I nod and decide that my Scully deserves more, she always has and if I want this to work if I want to make sure she stays my partner forever than I’m going to be really fucking clear about it.
“Alright, well Diana might have given that impression but there is nothing between us, never has been never will be.”
Scully watches me and I know I’m going to have to give her some more details, details I didn’t share with the gunmen because I didn’t want to embarrass Diana.
“She was there when I found the x-files, she does have some background in para-science. We went through some things, nowhere near what we have gone through clearly.”
Scully tilts her head toward me.
“She expressed having feelings for me. Feelings of a romantic nature, that I didn’t reciprocate, she left shortly after.” I look at Scully.
“I did care about her, but it was only ever platonic. The files were my passion, hell they still are after you. If Diana is here to try to rekindle something, that isn’t something plausible to me, because there would have to have been a kindle before and there wasn’t.”
I slump back into the chair hoping I’ve made my case.
“What do you mean, after me?” Scully's voice is soft in the car.
“Scully if you said that you had enough of the x-files and you wanted and needed to move on I would do everything I could to go with you.”
I love Scully, have loved her before her cancer, hell perhaps before Duane Barry. Scully's mind challenges me, she has given me legitimacy made me a better investigator a better person. She has given more to the x-files than any agent has ever given the FBI, the fact that she is breathtakingly beautiful, funny, and a bit scary are just bonuses.
“You wouldn’t leave the x-files.” she says. I laugh.
“You know how I know you are my person Scully?”
“How?”
“You would never ever ask me to leave the x-files. Just like you wouldn’t have let me trade my sister for you on that bridge, or where you begged me to let you take the blame for killing that guy in my apartment. You’ve broken into government buildings, lied to our superiors, been held in contempt for me. You’ve loved me in ways I didn’t know existed. Now that might be platonic love from you. But it has certainly developed into deep life altering romantic love for me.”
She seems a bit shocked at my statement. I reach up brushing a strand of her hair out of her face.
“Well,” she smiles and the relief I feel is instant. “We have about an hour and a half before we need to present all the findings. Are you hungry?” she asks.
I move closer because how could I not give her a soft kiss after all of this. My lips meet hers in a soft chaste kiss.
“Since we can’t make it to dinner, what if we grab some dogs and have a picnic on the mall before we get our asses chewed out?”
“Pretty low-key first date there Mulder,”
I chuckle, “Honey, I’ve been secretly trying to get you on a first date for years. This is not our first date.”
“It sounds date like Mulder.”
“Well Spender fucked up our first official date, so this is our pre-first-date-date.”
“Our pre-first-date-date? What does that even mean...”
“It means start the car Scully. I’ll even pay for the root beer.” She chuckles turning the key in the ignition.
“I think you mean iced tea.” she says with a coy look as she pulls out of the parking space.
“That I do Scully, that I do.”
Her soft chuckle beside me is yet another piece of proof of our growing arsenal of love.