Author's notes - Odysseus had a crazy life, and fate loved to mess
around with his head.  But when he eventually got home to Penelope,
they learned to trust each other even though they knew they were both
nuts.

I started wondering what it would have been like if Scully had never
joined the FBI, but my firm belief in fate led me to think about how
all these funny things would have turned out if Mulder and Scully were
not partners, but a couple.  I took liberties with the timeline,
wanting to cover those episodes with the most romantic tension, but not
wanting to be constrained by what was supposed to happen when.

This is the last part of this series for the time being.  I might be
persuaded to write a sequel...hint, hint.

***

"You're incredible."

They were laying in her bed, still breathing hard, Mulder's hand
clutching Scully's.  She looked at him.

"I've never felt this way before, Scully."

"Then why did you try to leave?"  She whispered.

He closed his eyes.  "Because I love you."

She sighed and sat up, rolling over to him.  "Mulder, you're not a
muddleheaded person, but that was a very muddleheaded thing to say."

"Scully, what happed with Duane Barry could happen again.  It probably
will.  When you were gone, it was like I was dying.  I slept on your
couch, Scully.  I couldn't stand being away from this place, from the
memory of you."

"Mulder," she said achingly, running her hand over his chest.  "What
we have here is not something that you can take or leave.  You belong
to me, no matter how many aliens or sewer monsters or Duane Barrys are
running around after you.  And even morphing guys who hit on me."

Mulder snorted.

"You never did tell me what was up with that guy."

"Let me make some dinner while I tell you.  I'm starving."

After he had explained his theories about the Van Blundht case, and
after Scully had stopped giggling, they ate scrambled eggs and
cinnamon toast together at her dining room table.

"This is what I want," she whispered, offering him a bit of toast,
which he ate from her fingers.  "I want to sit and eat with you every
day of my life.  I want to sit with my children and watch you try to
burp the baby.  How do you feel about that?"

Mulder looked away, suddenly cold.

"Mulder?"

"Scully, I'm sorry, but I have to work in the morning.  Would you be
upset if I left you now?"

"Will you be back?"  She asked in surprise.

"Yes.  Tomorrow."

"All right, then.  Drive carefully."  She kissed him sweetly, helped
him gather his clothes, and saw him out.  Once outside her door,
Mulder leaned his head against the wall and shut his eyes tight.

Children.  Oh, God, he'd forgotten about that.  What was he going to
tell her?

***

Walter Skinner hung up the phone, frustrated.  Mulder wasn't home.
Mulder was never home these days.  He suspected that his best agent
had found a girlfriend, which was disconcerting in a way.  He'd always
thought of Mulder as a Lonely Heart.

At any rate, he had to find Agent Mulder or there would be hell to
pay.  He made a few calls, pulled a few strings, and found out that
there had been a rather *heated* altercation between Mulder and a
woman named Scully earlier that week.  "Apparently they almost went at
it right there in his foyer," the surveillance techie told Skinner
with a gleeful laugh, "But I guess Mulder knows about the taps because
he got her out of there.  I hear she's a real hottie, too."

Twenty minutes later, Skinner was outside an apartment in Georgetown,
looking up at a softly lit window and wondering what the hell he was
going to be interrupting.  He sighed and walked inside, damning Mulder
and his sudden social life to hell.

He knocked sharply on the apartment door, and was surprised when it
was flung open almost immediately.  A fantastic-looking redhead stood
there, a big smile on her face, which collapsed instantly.

"Oh," she said, her hand going up to her throat.  "Hello.  Can I help
you?"

All in all, she was a great-looking woman.  She looked to be about
five feet tall, all soft curves and white skin, her eyes crystal blue
and wearing something soft that clung.  Mulder had good taste.
Skinner wondered how the big lanky lug had caught her.  He was
infuriated when he felt himself start to blush.

"Ma'am," he said, whipping out his ID in a properly authoritative
manner, "I'm Assistant Director Walter Skinner of the FBI.  I'm
looking for Agent Fox Mulder."

She blinked.  "Excuse me?"

"I'm looking for -"

"I heard what you said.  Why did you come here?"

"Are you not an acquaintance of Agent Mulder's?"

She blushed a little.  "I am, but I'm at a loss as to how you know it.
I was under the impression that the Right to Privacy was still a
sacrament in this country."

"Don't believe everything you hear," Skinner growled, further angered
by the guilt he was feeling.  "Is Agent Mulder here?"

"No, he's not," she said.  "But if you'd like to wait for him, he'll
be here soon."

She allowed him inside, and Skinner found himself right in the middle
of a scene of seduction.  Candles were lit on her shelves, Dave
Matthews played on the stereo, and something was cooking.  He
swallowed convulsively.

"I'm Dr. Dana Scully, but I suppose you already know that," she said.

"I hadn't known you were a doctor," he said.  "Where do you work?"

"Georgetown Memorial."

Skinner stood in front of her fireplace, staring at a picture of Dana
Scully along with what seemed to be her family.  She looked happy in
the picture.  Carefree.  He wouldn't have expected that from a woman
who was dating Fox Mulder.  He supposed he expected another Diana
Fowley.

"What are you looking for Mulder for?"  She asked.  "Is he in
trouble?"

"No," he said.  "I've got a tip on the case he's working on.  It needs
to be handled right away."

"Oh.  I suppose my evening is ruined then, isn't it?"

"More than likely."

"In that case, would you like some of this?  I won't be able to eat it
all myself."

He turned to find her taking a lasagna out of the oven.  Home-made.
He felt even more like a heel.  "No, thank you, Dr. Scully."

"Eat it or watch it go down the garbage disposal," she said brusquely,
in a voice he knew not to argue with.  Sharon knew how to use that
voice, too.  He took the plate meekly and, at her prodding, took the
seat across from her at the dining room table.

He looked around him, feeling vaguely surreal.  He was sitting with a
beautiful woman, eating a meal that she had cooked, surrounded by soft
light and her perfume.  He missed his wife.

"How long have you known Agent Mulder?"  Skinner asked, in a desperate
attempt to remember this woman as the girlfriend of one of his
subordinates.  He could not afford to get caught up in the lair she
had created.

"Only a few months," she said.  "Are you Mulder's direct superior?"

"Yes."

"You would have heard about the Edward Jerse case.  He was my fiance."

Skinner almost spit his lasagna across her fine linen tablecloth.
"You're the one he tried to kill?"

"Yes.  And don't look so panicked, Mr. Skinner.  Mulder and I knew
each other before that happened. We did not become involved in an
agent-witness capacity."

"Wait a minute," Skinner said suspiciously, dread rising in his
throat, "Scully.  That was the name on the Barry case file, too."

"Barry followed Mulder here and took me after he left," she said
placidly.

Skinner put down his fork, feeling ill.

"Don't even," she said sharply.  "I've gotten enough shit about this
from Mulder.  I have no intention of blaming him for that.  It wasn't
his fault."

"You're a witness," Skinner hissed.  "An *abductee.*  Mulder knows
enough not to get involved with you."

"She didn't give me a choice."

Skinner turned to see Mulder coming in the door, dressed to the nines
and holding a bunch of flowers.  He laid them carefully on the coffee
table.  "This is a cozy picture," he said, taking in Skinner and
Scully, sharing a meal in her blatantly seductive apartment.

"I figured that you wouldn't be able to enjoy it with me," Dr. Scully
said, standing to meet him.  "Apparently, you have other plans."

"Damn,"  he said. "That smells good, too."

"Agent Mulder," Skinner said carefully, his anger bubbling under the
surface, "Do you have any idea how many regulations you have broken by
getting involved with a witness -"

"He told you that I didn't give him a choice," Dr. Scully snapped.
"After I got out of the hospital, Mulder tried his best to break it
off with me.  I practically had to twist his arm to get him to come
over tonight.  Will you feddies *please* lay off the protocol and
regulations and the 'for your own good' nonsense?  I would just like
to spend a quiet evening at home with *Agent* Mulder, okay?"

Skinner sighed.  "Mulder, Modell has been located.  It's time to move.
We don't have time for this."

Mulder turned to Dr. Scully, who was a foot shorter than he was and
looking up at him with clear annoyance but not a little concern.
"Scully, this could take a while.  We should reschedule."

"Fine," she said wearily.  "Are you going to get yourself killed
tonight?"

"Not if I can possibly help it," he said.  "I'll call you when I can."

"Be careful," she whispered, and Skinner was unable to look away when
she got up on her tiptoes and kissed Agent "I-haven't-gotten-laid-
since-the-Reagan-administration" Mulder hotly on the mouth.  God, he
could see Mulder's knees weakening.  He was feeling warm.

Mulder and Skinner were silent until they got into the car.  "She's
certainly...forceful."

"Tell me about it."  Mulder leaned his head back against the headrest.
"I'm head over heels for her."

"You know that you're putting her in danger, don't you?"

"I told her that.  She very politely told me to go to hell."  Mulder
looked at his boss.  "What would you do?  I was in love with this
woman before I even knew what she did for a living.  Damn, I was
practically in love with her before I knew her name or that she was
engaged.  She knows it, too.  When I tried to break it off, she...
well, I won't get into that.  But she wouldn't stand for it."

"I suppose...there's nothing you can do, then," Skinner said
carefully.  "But what happened with Barry can happen again, Mulder.
And there's no way you can keep her safe all the time.  She's
vulnerable as long as you associate with her."

Mulder considered.  "She told me that I can't protect her from life.
That things happen and it's no one's fault.  I don't think she fully
understands what I'm up against."

"Maybe you should tell her."

"I did.  She doesn't believe."

"God, Mulder, you're in love with a *skeptic?*  I would never have
believed it."  Skinner's opinion of Dana Scully was rising with every
minute.

When he again looked at Mulder, the agent was staring at him.

"What's on your mind, agent?"

"Don't even think about it, sir.  Keep your hands off."

***

Upstairs, Scully irritably cleaned up her apartment.  She extinguished
her candles, turned on the lights, put her lasagna in the fridge,
changed into a pair of flannel pajamas.  With her luck, Mulder would
freak out again at this new development.  He would convince himself
that she shouldn't have to deal with a boyfriend who was on twenty-four
hour call.  Well, to hell with that.

She called her sister and vented, then called her mother and vented,
then flopped down on the couch to work on some papers that she'd been
ignoring for the past few days.  It wasn't like her to sulk when she
was angry, but then, it wasn't like her to go chasing after a guy with
the enthusiasm of a horny teenager.

What had come over her lately?  She mused dejectedly, and almost
ignored the phone when it rang...but for the hope that it would be him.

"Dr. Scully?"

Scully recognized the voice of Assistant Director Skinner on the other
end of the phone, but damn if she was going to let on.  "Yes?"

"This is AD Skinner.  Mulder's boss."

"Oh, yes.  What can I do for you, sir?"  She asked, looking at her
clock.  Mulder and Skinner had left three hours ago.

"I'm afraid Mulder is in the hospital, Dr. Scully.  He's been shot."

Scully felt her heart freeze up.  "What hospital?" She asked quietly.

*

Mulder was going to be fine, but he was unconscious.  Scully slowly sat
down next to his bed, taking in the readings on the monitors around
him.  He was going to be fine, she told herself.

"What happened?"  She demanded of Skinner in a quiet voice.

"That's classified."

"Bullshit.  You know.  Tell me what happened."

Skinner sighed.  "He shot himself."

Scully rounded on him.  "What!"

"We think that the suspect forced him to turn the gun on himself."

"How?  How can that be?"

"We don't know."  Skinner regarded her carefully.  She looked calm, but
her eyes were bright and she was breathing rather deeply.  He was
afraid she was going to pass out.  "Dr. Scully, this is what Mulder's
life is like.  This is the consequence of what he does for a living."

"I know that," she snapped irritably.  "I don't need you along with
everyone else telling me that Mulder's wrong for me."

He withdrew silently, strangely cowed by this tiny woman with the
determination of a bull.  He wondered what it was about Mulder that she
liked so much.  *Loved* so much.

When he came back about a half an hour later, Dr. Scully was sitting
next to him, holding his hand in his.  Mulder was awake, and they
seemed to be in the middle of a deep conversation.

Never one to pass up an opportunity to eavesdrop, Skinner loitered
outside the door and listened in.

"My brother will get over it, Mulder," Scully was saying patiently.
"He's overprotective, but he can be reasoned with.  I've got my mother
and my sister on our side."

"What about your dad?"  Mulder asked.

"He doesn't have much to say on the subject," she said.  "He's
generally not too intrusive into my life.  All he wants is for us to be
happy.  Granted, he sometimes has different ideas about what will make
us happy, but his intentions are pure.  My father will love you."

Skinner couldn't believe this.  Mulder was having trouble with the
in-laws.  It was enough to make him nauseous.

"I wouldn't care so much about them," Mulder said heavily, "If I didn't
think they were right.  You don't need this.  Go be a doctor.  Go be a
doctor, go find yourself another Ed Jerse to marry.  Not some guy who
tries to shoot himself in the head and misses."

"Ed Jerse, I will remind you," Scully said icily, "Tried to have a Dana
barbecue in the basement.  I will draw my own conclusions about
acceptable boyfriends, thank you very much."

Mulder laughed at that, then sighed and was quiet for a long while.
Skinner peeked around the corner and found that he was slowly kissing
Dr. Scully's hand, rubbing it between his own, and generally
worshipping her in the only way his wounded body and the hospital staff
would allow.

"I won't try to dissuade you again, Scully," he murmured, "But only out
of fear for my masculinity."

"Good."  Dana moved her chair closer to him and kissed him deeply.
"Now, why don't you tell me more about what happened tonight.  Is your
suspect in custody?"

"Well, in a manner of speaking.  When my own stupid bullet grazed my
temple, the pain woke me up enough to be able to turn the gun on him.
I'm not sure he's going to live."

"That's got to be hard, Mulder.  I'm sorry."

Mulder was silent.

"Was he really that hard to resist?"

"Let me put it this way, Scully.  If you had been there, it would have
been tough for me to resist if he told me to shoot *you.*"

Skinner laughed to himself at that, and retreated quietly.  He thought,
on the drive home, that Scully probably wouldn't have stood by and let
fate take Mulder for a ride.

Finis...for now.