TITLE:      MATCHMAKER
AUTHOR:     Pacquin
E-MAIL:     pjtdjt@stellarnet.com
CATEGORY:   MSR, H
RATING:     R
SPOILERS:   None; post-Avatar for plot purposes only

DISCLAIMER:  The X-Files and its characters are the
property of Fox Television and 1013 Productions and
are used without permission.

SUMMARY:   Mulder tries his hand at matchmaking and
starts a fire; Scully puts it out.

TO THE READER:  Your feedback and comments are very
much appreciated by this beginning writer, and
thanks to everyone who has e-mailed me--I enjoy
hearing from you.      

******************************************
******************************************

     Mulder had decided to do something.  

    Assistant Director Skinner had been making his
and Scully's lives a living hell for weeks now, and
Mulder was sick of it.  Skinner was a tough boss,
demanding, never letting them get away with much,
but this was beyond anything they'd seen from him
before.  It seemed as if he were angry with them all
the time, and over the smallest, most
inconsequential things.  Scully was up in Skinner's
office right now, going over the results of an
autopsy with him.  Just routine, Skinner had growled
at her, but Scully was furious because she was
meticulous about her work; usually she submitted her
reports and Skinner just signed off on them.  But
not this time.

    Scully came into the office and slammed the
door, collapsing into her chair.  She looked at
Mulder.

    "Well?" he said.  "How was the routine autopsy
report?"

    She shook her head.  "Mulder, he was just
terrible. I had to go over the entire autopsy line
by line--as if he even understood half of the medical
terms; I was up there all morning long."

     Mulder puffed out his cheeks and exhaled. "I
hear you, Scully.  He reamed me out over my expense
report yesterday.  I have to redo the entire thing."

    Scully continued.  "And his assistant.  She
looked like she'd been crying again.  I don't know
how she can stand him."

    What was his problem? thought Mulder.  He'd
known Skinner a long time and he'd never known him
to be so harsh and dictatorial.  Something must be
up with him, and Mulder wished he knew what it was. 
"Well, Scully, Skinner likes you"--she rolled her
eyes--"well, at least better than he likes me, which
isn't saying much, I know."  He mock-leered at her. 
"Maybe you should wear a really short skirt tomorrow
to put him in a better mood."

    She smiled. "God, I'd put on a pair of black
stiletto heels and carry a whip if I thought it'd
put him in a better mood."

    Mulder felt a not unpleasant warm sensation in
his groin at the thought of Scully in a short skirt,
black stiletto heels, carrying a whip; really, just
thinking about Scully in anything gave him that
sensation.  Knock it off, Mulder, he told himself. 
She's your partner.

    Yeah, she was his partner, and that was almost a
sacred relationship; that you would put your trust
and your life in another person's hands, literally. 
But it had been a long, long time since he'd thought
about her as only a partner.  He was in love with
her. He wanted her.  But he didn't have many
relationships---okay, he had *no* relationships,
pretty much---and he really didn't want to screw up
the one good thing in his life, his connection with
Scully, by pursuing her that way.  She was really a
by-the-book kind of person, and to have a sexual
relationship with your partner was strictly
forbidden.  Even though sometimes sometimes he'd
gotten the impression that she might be just a
little bit interested in him.  But he was so lucky
to have her in his life, even if she only looked
upon him as a friend.  Skinner didn't even have
that.

    Maybe that was it, thought Mulder.  Maybe
Skinner was lonely and frustrated and was taking it
out on everyone around him.  If Skinner could find
someone, even for a little while, maybe he'd get his
perspective back.

    Mulder thought about his theory all morning
long.  And the more he thought about it, the more
certain he was that he had guessed correctly about
Skinner.  After all, Mulder had a degree in
psychology from Oxford, and it didn't mean he could
only figure out the minds of serial killers; he
thought he had a pretty good handle on human nature
as well.  Okay, so he didn't have much of a handle
on romantic relationships anymore, but if he
searched the dim recesses of his mind, he could
remember a thing or two about asking a woman out,
taking her to dinner, getting her into bed.  Hell,
forget about a relationship; if he could just manage
to get Skinner laid that would probably buy him and
Scully a couple of weeks of peace and quiet.

    But who?

    It would have to be someone at the Bureau, he
thought, because he had very little idea of what
Skinner's life was like outside of work.  He knew he
worked out a lot, liked to box, but Mulder could
hardly start hanging around Skinner's gym to find a
likely candidate for him to start dating.  So, yeah,
it would have to be someone who worked at the
Bureau.  He glanced at his watch and saw that he was
late to meet Scully for lunch.  He grabbed his suit
jacket, hit the lights, and locked the office door,
heading for the elevators.  

    He thought she might be mad at him for being
late, but fortunately she was standing by the
ladies' room door near the elevator talking to
someone.  He thought it was Holly, the girl from the
switchboard; she and Scully were friends, although
Scully really didn't do much with her anymore.  But
once upon a time they had gone out to lunch
occasionally, probably talking about girl things,
Mulder thought.  And even though the X-Files took up
pretty much all of Scully's time now, she and Holly
still talked when they ran into each other.  Like
today.  Holly had helped Scully out a few times,
gotten her some phone numbers when they needed them. 
Scully trusted her so she must be okay.

     He walked up to them.  "Hey, there," he said.

    "Mulder, you're late," said Scully crossly,
looking at her watch.

    "Hey, Agent Mulder," Holly smiled up at him.

    "Hey, Holly. How are you doing?" he smiled back. 
Holly seemed to be an attractive girl. "Are you
coming to lunch with us?"

    "No," she said. "I'm just getting back from my
lunch break. Maybe another time?" 

    "Sure.  Sounds good."  Mulder looked at Holly
covertly until he felt Scully staring at him.  The
problem with finding Skinner a date at the FBI was
that Mulder knew so few people, really.  Maybe just
to talk to, or nod at in the halls, but he didn't
know anyone that well.  Except Scully.  He didn't
really need anyone else because he had her.  Maybe
Holly would have to be it for Skinner.  He'd ask
Scully a few questions about her later, check out if
she was seeing anyone or not.  Holly gave them a
little wave and headed back to work.

    It was Tuesday, and he and Scully headed out of
the Hoover building to the sandwich shop just down
the street.  Tuesday was sandwich day. Scully
glanced at him a moment, and then said, "What was
that all about, Mulder?"

    He looked at her.  "What was what all about?"

    They placed their sandwich orders and sat down. 
"The way you were staring at Holly just now. God,
Mulder, you looked like a cat in a fish market."

    He shrugged.  "I just hadn't seen her in a
while. Do you two talk much?"

    "No," said Scully. "We don't. I should make some
time to do something with her.  She's a fun person,
really nice."

    "Yeah, she seems nice." The server brought their
orders, and Mulder handed Scully his extra mustard
and mayonnaise packages. She set her pickle on his
tray. "So," said Mulder, taking the plastic lid off
his iced tea, "do you know if she's seeing anybody
or not?"

    Scully looked at him quickly. "Do I know if
she's seeing anybody?" She took a bite of her
sandwich and patted her lips with her napkin. "No, I
don't know if she's seeing anybody.  Do you want me
to find out?" she asked, sipping her iced tea,
watching him from under her lashes.

    "Could you? That would be great."

    "Sure. No problem," she said slowly.

    "And Scully?"

    "Uh-huh?"

    "The sooner the better."

****************************

    Maybe Skinner's bad mood was contagious, because
Scully didn't seem like herself the next few days,
either, thought Mulder.  She was very quiet and
seemed distracted; she didn't laugh at his little
jokes and he thought she seemed a little down, a
little tired.  He'd attempted to make conversation
with her, tried to see what was bothering her, but
she had brushed him off. It worried him, because if
Scully wasn't happy, then he wasn't happy either.
Well, he'd ask her a direct question. She'd have to
talk to him then.

    "So, Scully, did you ever find out if Holly was
seeing anyone?"

    Scully looked at him.  "Yes, I did.  And no, she
isn't seeing anyone."

    Mulder grinned.  "That is good news."  He had
decided not to share his theory with Scully, or his
plan about getting Skinner laid.  He'd wait until
he'd accomplished his goal and then tell her what
he'd done.  He would impress her with his remarkable
insight and planning.  He wanted to impress Scully--
she was pretty tough to impress--and he really
didn't have that many opportunities.  "So she's not
a psycho or anything, right, Scully?"

    "No, Mulder," she sighed heavily. "She's not a
psycho or anything."  Although why that should be a
criteria with you, Mulder, I have no idea, thought
Scully rudely.

    "Okay, great," Mulder said happily.

    Scully turned away from him in her chair and
rubbed the back of her neck.  "You know, Mulder,
I've got a little headache.  I think I might take
off early today, if that's okay with you."

    "Fine with me, Scully, but you know we've got
that inservice today after work."

    "Damn it. I forgot all about it. How long do you
think it will last?"

    "Let's see ... I remember the last one took a
couple of hours. At least it's a free meal on the
Bureau. Scully," he said, "please don't ask Skinner
to get out of it. I'll take you home afterward if
you don't feel like driving, but I'm afraid the
least little thing will set him off again. Do you
think you can tough it out?"

    She sighed again.  "Yeah, I can tough it out. 
But I don't want to stay here in the office until it
starts.  We've got--what--God, almost two hours to
kill?"

    "Yeah," he said. "Let's grab a drink or
something, then we'll head back here for the
inservice.  Sound okay?"

    "Sure."

    They were headed for the west exit when Mulder
put his hand on her arm, stopping her.  "Hang on a
second, Scully, I think I see Holly over there. 
I'll be right back, okay?"  He went quickly down the
hall, not waiting for her reply.

    Scully pursed her lips. "Whatever you say,
Mulder."

    Well, it had finally happened, much to her
amazement, she thought. Mulder was actually
interested in someone--someone from this planet,
that is. She felt depressed and kind of let down.
She was so used to having Mulder all to herself;
even if the status of their working relationship
wouldn't change, she knew that things would change
between them if Mulder had a girlfriend. He wouldn't
confide in her anymore, they wouldn't share things
the way they did now.  She felt a lump in her
throat.  It was hard enough suppressing her feelings
for Mulder, and if he had a girlfriend it would just
make it that much worse. Get over yourself, Scully,
she thought. He's your partner....

    "You're not leaving, are you, Agent Scully? You
haven't forgotten that we have an inservice tonight,
right?" She jumped.  Shit.  It was Skinner.  He had
come up behind her, and there he was, wearing his
trademark frown. Stupid Mulder. They could have been
out of here and practically at the bar by now if he
hadn't wanted to go talk to Holly. Now she was going
to get the third degree from Skinner.

    "No, sir, I haven't forgotten.  It's just that
we have almost two hours before the inservice
starts."

    "You mean to tell me that you and Agent Mulder
don't have something to do in your office to occupy
your time until the meeting starts?"

    "Well," she said falteringly, "yes, we do, sir,
but it *is* Friday, and we thought we might get a
drink or something before it started.  I was just
waiting here for Mulder, but he's...occupied," she
said flatly, looking down the hall.

    Skinner followed her gaze to where Mulder was
standing; he was talking to an attractive young
woman, nodding and smiling at her.  Hmm, thought
Skinner.  What was going on here?  Was Mulder
interested in this young woman?  He'd have bet his
life that Mulder was really interested in his
partner, in Scully, although Mulder probably thought
that he was being very careful not to let anyone see
this, even Scully herself--particularly Scully.  But
Skinner hadn't gotten where he was today by not
being alert and observant, especially with the
agents who worked for him. Could it be that he'd
misread Mulder? Because he did seem to be paying a
lot of attention to this dark-haired, long-legged
girl. Holly Something, he thought her name was.

    "Where were you going?"

    "Um...just down to the street, to Portia's,"
Scully said nervously.

    Skinner looked at her a moment. "Well, why don't
the two of us head out that way, and Mulder can
catch up?"

    "Uh...yeah, that would be great, sir," said
Scully.  Fuck.  Now she wouldn't even be able to
drink as much as she wanted, not with Skinner there. 
She saw Mulder put his arm against the wall and lean
toward Holly.  God, what was with Mulder?  Was he
back in high school again?  Now she really, really
felt like getting drunk. She sighed. "I'll just let
Mulder know that we're leaving."  She walked part of
the way down the hall and called out to him, but of
course he was too immersed in his conversation with
*Holly* to notice.  Fine, she thought, pulling a
Post-It notepad and pen out of her briefcase. *Gone
to Portia's,* she wrote.  She wouldn't mention in
the note that Skinner was going to be there because
she suspected Mulder would just not show up, leaving
her to deal with him on her own.  She walked up to
Mulder and slapped the sticky note on his back.  

    Hard.

    "Ow!" said Mulder, turning around.  "Scully... 
what was that for?" he raised his eyebrow.  He
turned back to Holly.  "My partner," he shrugged and
grinned at her, grasping at his back.  "Quite the
kidder...."

    Scully ignored him and stalked off toward
Skinner who was waiting for her and they headed out. 

                                                     
                                                     
                         
******************************

    Every bar in DC was crowded on Friday afternoon,
but Skinner managed to find them a table in the
corner, and he and Scully sat down and ordered a
drink.  Well, at least they were in a public place,
thought Scully, and Skinner probably wouldn't make a
scene by chewing her out about something or other
while they were there.  The cocktail waitress
brought their drinks and Scully reached into her
briefcase and pulled out her wallet.

    "Put this on my tab, Angela," said Skinner to
the cocktail waitress.

    "Yes, sir," the woman smiled.

    Scully was surprised.  Skinner knew the waitress
by name?  Her *first* name?  She must have looked
surprised because Skinner said, "It's the closest
bar to the Bureau, Agent Scully, I've been coming
here for years...not that I come here that often,"
he added.

    "Oh, no, sir," Scully said, blushing.  "I didn't
mean to...I just thought.... "  She was babbling now;
she'd probably offended him, inferring that he was
an alcoholic or something.  "Here, sir, let me pay
for my drink...."

    He waved her away.  "No, I'll get this.  When
was the last time I bought you a drink, Agent
Scully?"

    She tilted her head at him.  "That would
be...never, sir."

    "Then it's long overdue."  He smiled at her.

    Scully laughed and smiled back. "Well, thank
you, sir."

    He held his glass up to hers. "What do you want
to drink to?"

    "I...I don't know," she said.

    He thought a moment.  "How about to another year
between inservices."

    "Sounds good."  He clinked her glass and they
sipped their drinks.

    They sat in companionable silence for a few
moments, then Skinner asked, "Your brother, Scully? 
Is he still in the navy?  Stationed at---where San
Diego?"

    "Uh...yeah," Scully said, surprised.  She didn't
think Skinner knew much about her personal life at
all, and cared less.  God, this was certainly a
change from the man who had been on her back over
something or other for the last two weeks.  They
ordered another drink and Scully began to relax.
They chatted a little bit about people they knew in
common at Quantico.  Skinner was really pretty
interesting, once you got him out of the office.  

    Dana Scully, he thought.  Dana Scully was
sitting at Portia's with him, letting him buy her a
drink.  What a great day.  She was by far the most
beautiful woman in the bar hell, the most beautiful
woman he knew, and Skinner had known his share of
women.  She was everything he admired in a woman: 
she was beautiful, smart, elegant; she had
integrity.  He'd heard Scully discussed favorably by
others in the Bureau--one of the other ADs had
described her as classy--but Skinner knew that there
was a lot more to Scully than what appeared on the
surface.  He thought she had a kind heart and a
sweet nature that she hid behind a pretty icy
exterior.  But he even admired that about her.  She
wasn't overly friendly and familiar with people; she
reserved her judgment, she didn't give herself away. 
She didn't cast her pearls before swine.  Except
with Mulder, he thought.  Not that Mulder was swine,
really; he just wasn't in her league and was too
stupid to know it.  Fox Mulder should spend every
night of his life down on his knees thanking God
that he was partnered with a woman like Scully, but
instead Skinner thought he took her for granted.  He
still couldn't believe that Mulder hadn't tried
something sexual with her, but maybe he wasn't as
stupid as Skinner thought.  And speaking of Mulder,
here he was....

*******************************

    Mulder had seen them and was walking toward
their table, his arm around Holly's shoulders,
guiding her through the crush of people.

    He smiled his lopsided grin at Scully and
Skinner.  "Hey, look who I convinced to come have a
drink with us."

    "Hi, Holly," said Scully flatly.

    Mulder settled Holly in the chair between
himself and Skinner with Scully to his left. 
"Holly, you know our boss, right?  Assistant
Director Walter Skinner?"

    "Sure I do," Holly smiled at him.  "It's nice to
see you."

    "Nice to see you, too, Holly."  Skinner gave her
a brief smile.  Skinner was in a good mood.  He
could afford to be pleasant, magnanimous to Mulder
and his hopefully--girlfriend.

    "What do you have to do to get a drink in this
place?" asked Mulder, looking around.  "They're
really busy this afternoon."

    Skinner raised his eyebrow in Angela's direction
and she came right over.  "What'll it be?" she said. 
Mulder and Holly ordered their drinks; Mulder looked
impressed.

    "Jesus, sir, you got us drinks that fast on a
busy Friday at one of the most popular bars in DC. 
And I thought your Vietnam experience--say, Holly,
did you know that Assistant Director Skinner was
decorated for bravery during Vietnam?"

    "No, I didn't," said Holly politely.  There was
a sweetness about Fox Mulder, she thought.  He
wasn't like a lot of other guys she knew, guys who
when they were interested in a woman did nothing but
badmouth other men to make themselves look better to
her.  Agent Mulder was really generous with his
praise of his boss; he had certainly given her a lot
of information about his him, lots more than she
wanted to know.  He must have a major case of hero
worship for Assistant Director Skinner, who seemed
like an okay guy, but Holly knew about some of the
phone calls he got, and where they came from; and
that, coupled with the fact that he directed the X-
Files, which really was kind of a creepy division,
even if Dana and her partner were nice people, made
her think that the less contact with Walter S.
Skinner, the better.

    Scully shook her head.  Mulder had been out of
circulation for a long, long time if he didn't
realize you weren't supposed to talk up another man
in front of a woman you wanted to take out.  She
glanced over at Skinner, who looked a little
embarrassed as Mulder was extolling his virtues to
Holly; she caught his eye and he gave her a brief
smile, then rolled his eyes at Mulder.  Scully
smiled back.  See what I have to put up with? She
raised her eyebrows.

    Truth be told, Skinner was getting irritated
with Mulder, telling his girlfriend about Skinner's
war record.  Why would she care about his war record
when she was interested in Mulder?  But then again,
if Holly was hearing it, then so was Scully.  And
Scully came from a military family so the fact that
he'd been decorated for bravery would be a plus with
her.  Of course, a lot of people had mixed feelings
about Vietnam.  He thought he had better change the
course of the conversation.

    Skinner leaned over to ask Holly a question,
hoping to get Mulder off the subject of his war
record and Vietnam, and Mulder turned to Scully. 
"I'm sorry, Scully.  How's it been going?" he
whispered.

    "Surprisingly, it's been okay.  You get a few
Tanqueray and tonics in him, and he's not half bad." 
She smiled at Mulder.

    Scully looked like she had relaxed a little,
too, thought Mulder.  She had such a beautiful
smile; her face was slightly flushed, her lips soft
and rose-colored; her bright auburn hair was curling
a little bit in the humidity of the DC afternoon. 
It was warm in the bar and she had taken off her
suit jacket.  Mulder could see the curve of her
breasts under her white silk blouse, and just a hint
of cleavage as she leaned over to pick up her drink.

   The cocktail waitress was there with their
drinks, his and Holly's, and Mulder was glad.  His
mouth felt kind of dry.  He forced his eyes away
from Scully and tried to listen to what Skinner and
Holly were talking about.

    They seemed to be getting along, and Mulder
leaned back in his chair, watching Scully through
half-lidded eyes.  This had worked out even better
than he had planned, with Skinner there.  He thought
he was going to have to convince Holly to go out
with Skinner sort of blindly, but it had really
worked out.  All four of them seemed to be having a
nice time.

    Skinner looked at his watch.  "Sorry to have to
end this, but we've got to be getting back to the
Bureau for that inservice.  Holly," he said, "it was
really nice seeing you."

    "You, too," she said, smiling.  She pulled her
cell phone out of her purse.  "I'm just going to see
if I have better luck calling a cab than flagging
one down on a Friday afternoon."

    "Do you need a ride home?" Mulder asked her. 
"We've got this inservice now, but if you can wait
until it's over...."

    "Thanks, Fox, but I should be getting home...."

   "Mulder, why don't you take Holly home now? 
Agent Scully can fill you in on what happens at the
inservice until you get there," suggested Skinner. 
If Mulder were even remotely interested in this
girl, he was certainly going to promote it.  Because
even though Mulder pretended not to be interested in
Scully, and maybe he really wasn't, he still took up
a lot of her time and attention.  But if he had a
girlfriend, then he wouldn't be able to monopolize
his partner; finally, finally leaving the way open
for him, Walter Skinner.

    Mulder leaned over to Scully.  "Take good notes,
partner, because I am taking the *long* way back." 
He grinned at her while he held Holly's chair for
her.

     Scully gave him a look and shrugged.  She
doubted Mulder would even show up for the inservice
at all.  With any luck, Mulder might be spending the
evening in bed with Holly.  She rubbed the back of
her neck again.

    "Oh, Scully," Mulder looked concerned.  "I was
going to drive you home after the inservice your
headache and all...."

    "I'm fine, Mulder," she said shortly.

    "Agent Scully?" said Skinner.

    "Oh, I took a couple of pain relievers for this
headache I had.  And Agent Mulder offered to drive
me home.  Which is totally unnecessary. I'm fine. 
Really."

    "I'll drive you home, Scully. It's no problem.
You really shouldn't be driving if you've got some
alcohol in your system along with the pain
relievers," Skinner told her.

    For Christ's sake, she thought.  I *am* a
doctor.  I think I know that I can take a couple of
Excedrin and have two drinks without freaking out
and crashing on the freeway. Scully glared at
Mulder.  Now she was going to have to ride home with
Skinner.

    "Okay, see you later," Mulder said, smiling at
her and raising his eyebrows; he and Holly left the
bar.

    "Ready to go, Agent Scully?" asked Skinner.

    "As ready as I'll ever be," she said.

************************

    "Well, it looks good, Mulder," said Skinner from
behind his desk, flipping the expense report file
closed.

    "Great.  I'm glad it meets with your approval,
sir," said Mulder, getting up to leave.  Yeah,
something had been up with Skinner, he thought,
since he'd just retyped the original report he'd
submitted, the one that Skinner had reamed him out
over and rejected, and now it "looked good."  Yeah,
those drinks Friday night with Holly and Scully had
put Skinner in a good mood and Mulder was anxious to
keep the momentum going.

    The two men walked out of Skinner's office
together, Mulder on his way back to the basement,
Skinner off to one of his many meetings.  

    "By the way, sir," said Mulder. "How was Scully
feeling after the meeting?  I didn't get back for
the inservice, and I couldn't get reach her all
weekend, so I've been trying to keep out of her way
today," he said sheepishly.

    Skinner grinned at him. Apparently, that Holly
woman had kept Mulder occupied for the rest of the
evening. "Agent Scully seemed fine; we grabbed a
quick bite to eat on the way home and then I dropped
her off.  She said she was feeling well enough to
drive herself, but...." he shrugged. "So I gave her a
ride to the office the next morning since her car
was still here; we worked a little, went out to
lunch. She looked great."  He kept himself from
saying "as usual" in front of Mulder.

    "Oh.  That was kind of ... above and beyond,
wasn't it, sir?"

    "Not really.  I don't punch a time clock, Agent
Mulder.  My time's my own.  I set my own schedule."

    Mulder caught a glimpse of Scully out of the
corner of his eye.  She was at the end of the hall,
talking to Holly again.  Wow, first she doesn't talk
to Holly for months, and now, every day. Of course,
Mulder hoped they would be seeing a lot of Holly in
the near future, if things worked out with Skinner.

    Mulder noticed that Skinner had his eyes on the
two women.  Okay, it was now or never, he thought.

    "Pretty nice, huh?" said Mulder.

    "What?"

    Mulder nodded toward Holly and Scully.  "Drinks
last Friday night?  You had a good time?"

    "Uh ... yeah, it was fine."

    "So. " he paused.  "You ever think about asking
her out?"

    Skinner did a double-take.  "Asking her out?"

    "Yeah."  Mulder nodded encouragingly.  "I
mean it's probably not Bureau policy or anything
but. "

    "Huh."  Skinner stared at Mulder.

    "I think she's interested in you, sir." God, you
really had to spell it out for Skinner, he thought.

    "Agent Mulder--"

    Mulder raised his hands and grinned at Skinner.
"Just making an observation, sir."

    "What makes you think she's interested?"

    "Well, we've talked about you quite a bit
lately. She hasn't come right out and said anything,
but I can tell."

    Skinner frowned.  Could this possibly be true? 
He'd never gotten any idea from Scully that she felt
anything other than respect for him, not even last
Friday night when he took her home.  She was very
pleasant but always deferential to him.  No flirting
or coming on to him---nothing that other women did. 
Of course, Scully wasn't "other women."   She was
special.  And who would know her better than her own
partner, than Mulder?  They probably did nothing but
talk down in that basement office of theirs--or he
hoped so, anyway.  Get a grip, he told himself, as
he felt his heart start to race.  He cleared his
throat.  "Thanks for the information."

    "Well, use it or not, but don't ever say I
didn't try to help you out, sir."

    Skinner looked reflectively at Scully and Holly.
"I'll give that some thought, Agent.  Thanks."

    "No problem."  Mulder could barely hide his
smirk of satisfaction as he headed back down to his
office.                                              
                                                    
********************************                     

    Scully had been trying unsuccessfully to get
some details out of Holly about what had happened
when Mulder took her home. He hadn't come back for
the inservice, not that she had expected him to or
anything. Holly was fairly noncommittal, so either
nothing had happened or she was keeping the details
to herself.  She wondered why she had ever thought
that Holly was a fun person.  In reality, Holly
seemed shallow and boring, with not a lot to say for
herself.  True, she was a tall, leggy brunette, the
"Mulder type," but that was about it.  And she
probably wasn't even that nice, really.

    "Well, Holly, we should have lunch sometime,"
said Scully stiffly.

    "Yes, let's do that.  Maybe on a day that you
don't have lunch plans with Fox, we could get
together like we used to, okay?" Holly smiled
brightly.  Inwardly she sighed.  Fox Mulder was
really attractive, but he hadn't picked up on any
hints she'd dropped last Friday night about him
staying over at her place, and if she had to hear
any more about Walter Skinner, she thought she'd
scream.  If he wasn't talking about how great Dana
was, then he was telling her about what a wonderful
guy his boss was, and either way it was just a
little too weird for Holly's tastes. She just wasn't
interested in a four-way with anybody from the X-
Files.  Maybe she should warn Dana so she that could
be prepared. Maybe she could maintain her friendship
with Dana without getting stuck with anything else.

    Well, thought Scully, Holly obviously wasn't
into sharing.  She didn't even want Scully to go to
lunch with them. Okay, fine. She started to walk
toward the elevator when she saw Skinner beckon at
her from down the hall.

    "Sir?"

    "Scully, do you think you could stop up in my
office sometime this afternoon?  I'd like a word
with you," he smiled at her to let her know that
nothing was wrong.

    Scully stood there and gaped at him. Skinner was
being so nice to her--buying her drinks Friday
night before the inservice, then something to eat
afterward, taking her home.  And then he had picked
her up on Saturday morning so that she could get her
car when she just as easily could have called Mulder
to come and get her, except that maybe Mulder wasn't
home, maybe he'd been at Holly's place for the
weekend.  She hadn't seen Mulder yet today.  "Uhh... 
certainly, sir.  Do you want to see Agent Mulder,
too?"

    "Uh...no.  Just you."

    "Okay, then.  I'll stop by later today."         
                                                     
***************************             

    Okay, thought Mulder, if Skinner asked Holly out
this weekend, or even next week, and it went well,
then he and Scully could almost count on being able
to go investigate that UFO activity in North Dakota
the Gunmen had told him about.  Skinner would be in
such a good mood that he would authorize travel for
them, no problem.  Please, please, please, he
thought.  It had been a while since he and Scully
had been out in the field together; he missed that
closeness the two of them had when they were off by
themselves.  It would be so incredible if something
that was good for Skinner wound up being good for
him, too.

    Scully came in the office and shut the door. She
didn't say anything to Mulder; in fact, she seemed
kind of dazed.

    Mulder's stomach knotted up. "Not another
autopsy report?  That's why he wanted you up there?"

    She was silent for a minute, then looked at him.
"No, nothing like that. He was still in a good mood,
Mulder."  A *really* good mood. Scully went over to
her computer station and clicked on a couple of
files, trying to calm down. What should she do? 
Skinner had asked her out.  She wanted some advice,
but she hated to talk to Mulder about something like
this; he would tease her mercilessly and she just
couldn't put up with it today.  Maybe if she
approached it in a roundabout way....

    "Mulder," she said slowly.  "What do you think
about people who work together seeing each other
socially?"

    "You mean, like a movie or a ball game?  Or
something more?"

     "Something more."

    Oh, God.  Mulder held his breath.  

    "I mean if someone you worked closely with were
interested in you, and approached you, what would
you do?"

    I'd lie down on the floor, prostrate myself, and
thank God that you were interested in me, Scully,
that's what I'd do, he thought. "Well," he said
carefully, "I'd say that life was short, Scully, and
that we need to grab what happiness we can, wherever
it comes from, even if it isn't by the book."

    She frowned.  "Really?  You really feel that
way?"

    "Damn right."  He stood up and walked over to
her chair, standing close behind her.  Oh, Scully,
he thought.  Just reach out and touch her, Mulder,
come on...come on.  She slid her chair away from her
computer and he jumped back.  She looked up at him;
Mulder tried to regain his composure and looked at
her.  "I think, Scully," he said slowly, "that you
need to open yourself to...extreme possibilities,"
he smiled at her gently.  She returned his smile,
then looked down. "Maybe something wonderful is
waiting for you, Scully, right in your own backyard.
You should think about it. I've been thinking about
it, too, lately, if you want to know the truth...."

    She tried to smile again, but her lips quivered
and she looked away quickly.  "Yeah, Mulder, I
thought that maybe you were thinking about something
like that."

    "Scully. " he said softly.

    The phone rang.  Scully sighed and answered it. 
"Scully.  Yeah, he's right here.  I'll let him
know."  She hung up.  "The travel office has your
requisition all ready to give to Skinner.  Where are
we going, Mulder?"

    "North Dakota, with any luck at all, Scully. 
Cross your fingers."

******************************
    It had been a couple of days since he'd talked
to Skinner, so he was anticipating Skinner's call
when it came for Mulder to stop by his office.

    "Well, Mulder, I just thought I'd let you know
that I took your advice and I'm going out with her
this weekend."

    "That's fantastic, sir."  Mulder grinned at him. 
"I'm really happy to hear it.  She's a great girl." 
He couldn't remember ever seeing Skinner in such a
great mood, not even when the Unabomber had been
apprehended.

    "Yeah, she is, isn't she?" Skinner returned his
smile. "And, really, Mulder, I owe all this to you.
I never would have done it if you hadn't encouraged
me. So thanks. I owe you one."

    "You don't owe me anything.  Except that you
show her a nice time.  I feel kind of...well,
responsible and all."

    "Oh, of course."  He hoped Mulder wasn't going
to be overly possessive about Scully, quizzing him
about his plans.  Mulder had done his part, and now
Skinner was in the driver's seat. But then again,
Mulder was understandably concerned for her well-
being.  He was her partner, after all, and they were
very close, even for partners.

    "Just one thing, sir. I don't think I have to
tell you this, but in this day and age...." Mulder
looked a little embarrassed, "...you probably might
want to be prepared...."

    Skinner raised his eyebrows.  "Oh?"

    "You know...*condoms,*" Mulder lowered his
voice, even though there was no one else in the
room.

    Skinner frowned.  Maybe they were close, even
for partners, but this was a little much. "Thanks
for your advice, Mulder, now let's get off the
subject."

    "Oh, right...right," said Mulder quickly.  He
didn't want to piss off Skinner by implying that he
was going to be jumping Holly's bones on date number
one.  Although that Holly was really flirtatious,
even with him, he'd thought, the night that he'd
taken her home.  Skinner could very easily get
lucky. 

    "Was there anything else, Agent?"

    "Yes, sir.  Could you sign off on this travel
requisition form?"

    "Where to?"

    "North Dakota.  UFO sighting."

    "No problem."  He signed the document with a
flourish.

    "See you, sir.  Oh, by the way, when's the big
date?"

    "Friday night, Mulder."

**********************************

    Mulder looked up from the desk and took off his
reading glasses, and then glanced at his watch. 
"God, it's 5:00 already."  He pinched the bridge of
his nose, then leaned back in his chair, putting his
feet up on the desk. He allowed himself to gaze at
his partner.  She looked really nice today; he
thought she was wearing a new suit, one that fit a
little more tightly than usual.  He reminded himself
to tell her how nice she looked later.  Scully had
opened her purse and was looking down into a small
mirror, applying fresh lipstick.  "So, Scully, do
you want to grab some dinner right away or should we
try to finish up these expense reports, and we can
eat later?  It's Friday, after all, my night to buy
Chinese.  Your place or mine?"

    "Can't tonight, Mulder," she said, checking her
teeth to make sure she hadn't gotten any lipstick on
them.

    "What?  We always get Chinese on Friday night. 
Why can't you?"

    Scully looked at him, then quickly looked away.
"Well, Mulder," she said, embarrassed, "I'm just
taking your advice, opening myself to...extreme 
possibilities, just like you said."  

    He could see that she was blushing, unable to
meet his eyes.  What in the hell was she talking
about?

    There was a hesitant knock at their door, and
Mulder looked up to see Skinner standing there,
seeming a little unsure of whether or not to come
in.

    Mulder frowned.  Had Skinner wanted those
expense reports right away?  He didn't think so;
Skinner certainly hadn't mentioned it to Mulder when
he'd spoken to him earlier in the day.  Although
Skinner had been so upbeat and excited about his big
date tonight that maybe it had slipped his mind.  He
had to smile.  Skinner and his date.  Well, they
bigger they are, the harder they fall, thought
Mulder, amused.  Skinner even looked different
tonight.  He was always well-dressed and groomed,
but there was something else.  Mulder wouldn't be a
bit surprised to find out that Skinner had taken the
afternoon off and gone for a massage or something,
just to get ready.  He could hardly wait to tell
Scully about it; it would be okay to tell her now,
now that the date was here.  He'd tried to respect
Skinner's privacy, but he just couldn't resist
sharing this news item with his partner.  Come to
think of it, he'd let Scully think that Skinner
wanted those expense reports right away; then maybe
she'd have Chinese with him, just like always.

    Scully was starting to put on her raincoat. 
"Just a minute," Skinner walked over to her. "Let me
help you with that."  He held her coat for her and
Scully slipped her arms into the sleeves, and waited
as Skinner gently lifted her hair out from under the
collar of her coat.

    "Thanks," she said, smiling at him.

    Skinner was always so attentive to Scully.  It
wouldn't hurt him, Mulder, to be a little more
gentlemanly toward her, he thought.  After all, he
was her partner.  He should be the one helping her
on with her coat, fluffing up her hair.  Not
Skinner.  What was Skinner doing here anyway?

    "So," said Skinner to Scully.  "Are you ready to
go?"

    "Um...yes...I guess so," she said brightly.

    Mulder stood up, folding his arms in front of
him.  "Oh, Scully, did you need a ride or
something?" he asked.  "I can sure give you a ride
home if you need one." He smiled pleasantly at them
both.

    "Uh...no, Mulder," said Scully uncomfortably,
glancing quickly at Skinner. "That's okay.  I've...uh,
I've got a ride, thanks anyway."

    Mulder looked from Scully to Skinner.  "The
Assistant Director's giving you a ride home?" 
Again?  He was puzzled. Wouldn't that be cutting it
pretty close for Skinner to pick up his dinner date? 
After all, Scully lived way out in Georgetown. 
Mulder smiled at them, unfolding his arms, leaning
back on the desk.  "Sir, I can give Scully a ride
home.  I know you've got"--he smiled knowingly at
Skinner--"plans."

    Now Skinner looked uncomfortable.  "Agent
Mulder--"

    "You know," continued Mulder, with a
conspiratorial smile, "your date, sir," he whispered
loudly.

    Scully had turned completely red; he supposed
that she was embarrassed at finding out some
personal details of her boss's life, that he was
going out with a woman.  Grow up, Scully, thought
Mulder.  Skinner's a man, with a man's needs.  And
Scully was a doctor, for Christ's sake, she ought to
know that any man with normal hormones wanted to
have some kind of sex life, wanted to fuck his
brains out with an attractive woman.  Maybe this
would be Skinner's lucky night.  He'd have to have a
little talk with Scully about not being such a
prude.

    But why was Skinner giving him the evil eye? 
He, Mulder, had given Skinner some great advice over
the past week and a half; Skinner had gotten himself
a hot date with Holly, had stocked up on condoms at
Mulder's urging, and tonight was the night.  Skinner
really, really needed to get laid, Mulder thought;
he was almost as tense as Scully.

    "Agent Mulder," Skinner said through clenched
teeth.  "Agent Scully *is* my date.  I'm taking her
out to dinner."

    Mulder stood there and crossed his arms in front
of him.  "Scully's your date?" he shook his head.
"*Scully's* your date?"  He shook his head again;
his ears must be plugged.  Because he thought
Skinner had said that Scully was his date, and that
certainly couldn't be right. "Come again?"  He
looked back and forth at them, then smiled
nervously.  No way.  He must have heard wrong.  "I
don't think I heard you correctly, sir.  You're
going out with *Scully*?  You're going out together? 
Just the two of you?  By yourselves?"

    "You heard me, Mulder." Skinner flashed him a
look.  He turned to Scully.  "Are you ready, Dana?"

    Scully looked miserably at Mulder, then at
Skinner, then back at Mulder.

    "Do you want to go with us, Mulder?" she said in
a little voice.

    "No, he most certainly does not," said Skinner
stonily.  "I'm sure Agent Mulder has plans of his
own, don't you, Mulder?"

    Mulder stood and stared at them.  This was
impossible.  Skinner and Scully?  Impossible. 
Absolutely.  Impossible.  Jesus Christ, what was
going on here?  "Uh...Scully," he said, running his
index finger along his jaw nervously, "could I could
I talk to you," he gestured with his head to the far
back reaches of the office, "...could I talk to
you for a minute...*now*."  

    She glanced at Skinner apologetically as Mulder
pulled her back to the depths of the office.

    Mulder grabbed her roughly. "Are you crazy,
Scully!  What in the hell do you think you're
doing?" he hissed at her, grasping her coat sleeve. 
"You can't go out on a date with Skinner!"

    "Why the hell not, Mulder!" she whispered back
at him. "You're the one who kept talking about
opening up to extreme possibilities, you're the one
who told me that I didn't have to look any further
than my own backyard like something from the fucking
Wizard of Oz--"

    "But not Skinner, for Christ's sake!"

    "Yes, Skinner!  I asked you what you thought,
Mulder, but as usual, you weren't listening to me,
obviously."

    "Not Skinner!"  He was having a hard time
whispering.  He felt like screaming at Scully not to
be so stupid.  "Not Skinner, Scully, I didn't mean
Skinner!"

    "Well," she whispered loudly, "who did you mean,
then?"

    He stared at her.

    "Anyway, Scully, you cannot go on a date with
Skinner, you just can't.  Scully"--he dragged her
closer to him--"he bought"--Mulder jerked his head
toward Skinner in the outer office--"Scully, he
bought...*condoms*."

     Her mouth fell open and she stared at Mulder. 
"He didn't."

    "Yeah, Scully, I'm telling you, he did."

    Scully closed her mouth and shook her head. "He
did not."

    "Oh, yeah."  Mulder nodded.  "Yep, yep, yep.
*Condoms,* Scully." Mulder straightened up and gave
her a look. "Believe me, he did."

    "How could you possibly know that, Mulder?" she
hissed at him.

    "Because I told him to buy them."

    "*You* told him to."  Scully pulled back from
him, shaking her head in disbelief.  "I'm going out
with Skinner and you told him to buy condoms. That's
really sick, Mulder."  She tried to pull the sleeve
of her coat out of his hand.

    "Scully, I thought they were for Skinner's hot
date.  I didn't know he had asked *you* out!"

    "Well," Scully said huffily.  "Thank you very
much, Mulder.  Thank you and fuck you!"

    "Scully, you know I didn't mean it that way!"

    She bit her lip and looked away for a moment. 
"Well, now what am I going to do?" she said, looking
at Mulder.  "I'm going to have to go out with him! 
Oh, this is really, really bad."

    "Tell him you have a headache, Scully. Just get
out of it, somehow."

    "I can't, Mulder. He's standing right out there,
isn't he?"  Scully craned her neck up to see if
Skinner was still in the outer office.  "He's still
out there, Mulder. I'm going to have to go through
with this--well, not all of it, not the...the *condom*
part," she said, glaring at him. She straightened up
and squared her shoulders. "But I'm telling you,
Mulder, this is all your fault, and I am really,
really angry with you." She shook his hand off her
coat and went into the outer office.

    Skinner was still standing there. Mulder thought
he'd never seen Skinner look so angry; he thought it
might be best if he just hung back a little bit,
gave Scully a little room to work.

    "I'm ready to go, sir.  Agent Mulder just had a
few...questions for me...about the expense accounts
that he's going to be finishing up. *By himself*,"
she said loudly.

    Skinner looked significantly happier.  He held
the door for her as they left the office.  "Do you
like French food, Dana?  I know a great French
restaurant that I think you'll enjoy.  The food is
wonderful at this place; the service is kind of
slow, but we've got all night, right?"

    "Yeah.  All night."

***************************

    "FBI.  Official business," Mulder said shortly,
slipping his badge and ID back into his pocket.

    "Oh my," said Scully's landlord, unlocking her
door for him. "I hope nothing's wrong." He
straightened up, looking worriedly at Mulder. "We
all think the world of Ms. Scully in the building.
She's really a great gal. Really nice. And quiet."

    "Obviously, sir, I can't discuss the details of
an ongoing FBI investigation with you.  The Bureau
thanks you for your help in this matter. I am sure
that the knowledge that you've done your civic duty
will allay any misgivings you may have about
breaching the privacy of one of your tenants."

    "Well, you are her partner and all, right?"

    "Yeah, I'm her partner," Mulder said grimly.

    "Well, all right then," the man said, rubbing
the back of his neck.  "If you need anything else...." 
He shuffled back down the hallway.

    Mulder went into Scully's apartment quickly, and
headed for the bathroom. God, he really needed to go
to the bathroom. Thank God he'd made it. He'd been
sitting outside her apartment building in his car
for hours, waiting for her to get back from her  
date with Skinner.  Where in the hell was she,
anyway?  It was two-fucking-thirty in the morning! 
No French restaurant stayed open that long. He
sighed.  Figure it out, Mulder, he told himself. 
They must have gone somewhere after the restaurant. 
Like a bar.  Or a club.  Or his place.

    No.

    No, she wouldn't do that.

    She hadn't even wanted to go on the date.

    Then where was she?

    Mulder paced around the living room.  He tried
her cell phone again but she wasn't answering. 
Maybe she'd turned it off after she got to no, not
Skinner's apartment.  He was sure of it.  Because he
had called Skinner's apartment about ten times from
a pay phone---he was pretty sure that Skinner had
caller ID---but there was no answer there, either. 
God, he'd really made a mess of things this time.

    He was so tired.  He'd just lie down on Scully's
couch and rest his eyes for a minute.  He knew he
had a terrible reputation on stakeouts he was always
and forever falling asleep, but Scully wasn't too
great on stakeouts either, and....

*****************************

    He woke up. Jesus.  He must have left the TV on.
The voices were pretty muffled and oh, wow, he must
have fallen asleep.  He blinked his eyes and rubbed
his face with the back of his hand.

    No TV.

    He was at Scully's apartment.  And someone was
coming in the door.  That had been the voices, not
the TV.  Finally.  At five-fucking-o'clock-in-the-
morning.

    He struggled to sit up on the couch, grabbing
the back of it to pull himself up.  Scully was just
closing the door behind her.

    "Scully?" he said sleepily.  "Where have you
been?"

    "Mulder," she said dully.  "I should have known
you'd be here."

    "Scully?" he blinked, then stared at her. 
"Scully, what happened?"

    Her hair was tousled; her mouth looked slightly
swollen, the lipstick she'd carefully applied in the
office was worn off, although it had been what--
twelve hours ago, thought Mulder. She wasn't wearing
her coat, or her suit jacket, either; her shirttail
was sticking out of her skirt, which was on sideways
now, he noticed, and her stockings were torn.  And
she was wearing only one shoe.

    "Oh, Scully." He came over to her; his eyes were
wide with worry and dismay.  "What happened?  What
happened, Scully?"  His eyes traveled up and down
her body.  Oh, God, he thought.  "Scully," Mulder
said hesitantly.  "Please tell me.  Did Skinner  
did Skinner, did he...." he lowered his voice, "did 
he...rape you, Scully?"

    Scully pursed her lips, and then narrowed her
eyes at Mulder.  "Did Skinner rape me?  Did Skinner
rape me?  Hmm," she said thoughtfully.  She looked
away from him for a moment, then looked back at him.
She sighed deeply.  "No, Mulder, no, he didn't.  As
a matter of fact, everything that happened with
Skinner was pretty consensual."

    "What?"

    "Yeah," she continued.  "It was too bad that he
only had twelve condoms.  Because you can see what
happens when you go looking for an all-night
drugstore in DC at 2:00 in the morning."  She
gestured to her hair and clothing.  She shook her
head slowly.  "I never should have insisted that
he 'double up' in the condom department at the
beginning of the evening.  But you know Skinner you
can't be sure where he's been...."

    Mulder's mouth fell open.  "What are you talking
about, Scully?  Condoms?  Skinner?  No, Scully...
Scully, you didn't--please tell me you didn't...."

    "Of course I didn't!" she shouted, cuffing him
on the head.  "Mulder, you're such an idiot!"  Her
eyes were blazing with anger. "Of course I didn't
have sex with Skinner!  Jesus, Mulder, no wonder the
FBI is the laughingstock of the entire country if
every agent in it is as stupid as you are.  Come to
think of it, maybe every agent in the FBI is as
stupid as you are!  Well, at least in ATF."  She
limped over to the couch and sat down, taking off
her one shoe.

    "Where where have you been, Scully?" Mulder
said, dumbfounded.

    "Where have I been?  Well, let's see," she
sighed.  "Actually, I did get to see a lot of DC
that I'd never imagined even existed, Mulder."

     "I thought Skinner was taking you to some fancy
French restaurant?"

     "Oh, he did," she nodded, looking down at her
hands, which were stained with grease.  "He did. And
it would have been great, if we'd actually been able
to eat there. But unfortunately, there was some
trouble there with--you'll like this part, Mulder"--
she paused.  "Aliens."

    "Aliens?"

    "Yes, Mulder, aliens."  She laughed humorlessly. 
"Yes, escargot to go, that's what we had."  She
turned toward him.  "You see, Mulder, not all
illegal aliens are trying to slip over the border
from Mexico.  Apparently there are quite a few--quite
a few--illegal aliens from France, trying to live and
work in this country with no green cards.  And
apparently most of them worked at Le--whatever the
hell it was."  She looked down at her stained,
crumpled blouse.  "Anyway, tonight there was a sting
operation on this place, and the INS showed up and
raided it."  She sighed.  "Thank God Skinner had his
badge and ID or I'd have spent the night in jail
with a bunch of mean French people who didn't speak
English.  Which maybe wouldn't have been so bad. "

    "Well, then what happened?"

    "It was pretty late by then.  Skinner was right
about the service at Le--whatever the hell; it was
really slow.  Of course, part of it was that no one,
and I do mean no one, Mulder, spoke any English, so
it took forever to get waited on.  I thought they
were just being mean and French, but after the
raid--well, that explained a lot.  By this time we
were starving and everything nice was closed."

    "Where did you go?"
     
    "Denny's."  She looked at him coolly.  "Yes,
indeed, I got all dressed up to go to Denny's."

    "Denny's?"

    "Uh-huh.  Skinner took me to Denny's.  Which
actually wasn't so bad. Or it wouldn't have been bad
if I'd actually gotten to eat my Grand Slam
breakfast."

    "Why didn't you?" 

    "Why didn't I?  Well, Mulder, because there was
a big fight there among several patrons over whether
or not Denny's was racist, and of course Skinner had
to try to break up the fight, which was a big
mistake.  Thank God for that extra cardio work I did
at the gym this week because I had to run for my
life, Mulder."

    "Where was Skinner?"

    "Right behind me."

    "Jesus."

    "Uh-huh."

    "But... your clothes how'd you get so messed
up?"

    "Ohh, Mulder." She put her feet up on the coffee
table.  "Let me tell you, the Lexus automobile is
not all it's cracked up to be.  It breaks down.  A
lot.  At least Skinner's does."

    "Skinner drives a Lexus?"

    "Yeah, he does.  I was surprised, too.  I think
that he got it in a drug seizure sale or something. 
But I'll tell you, that is one cursed car.  Broke
down many times, as a matter of fact...flat tire  
although I did manage to change the tire...." she
glanced down at her stockings.  She shook her head. 
"So, yeah, my stockings kind of got the worst of
it," she said, "and my hands got a little greasy,
too." She looked down at her hands, then stood up
and went into the kitchen.

    "What about your shoe?"

    Scully finished washing and rinsing her hands,
then looked over her shoulder at Mulder. "I think
it's in the backseat of Skinner's car." She came
back into the living room and sat down.

    Mulder swallowed.  "What were you doing in the
backseat of Skinner's car, Scully?"

    "He told me to get in the backseat and lie down. 
So I did."  She shot Mulder a look.  "And no,
Mulder, there was nothing sexual about it.  I did
not get laid in the backseat of Skinner's car, if
that's what you're thinking.  He just thought that I
would be safer there when that gang showed up."

    "Gang?"

    "Yes, Mulder, I believe I mentioned to you that
the Lexus kept breaking down?  Well, regrettably, it
had its last gasp in a very, very bad part of our
nation's capital.  But Skinner, being the type of
man he is, and having a much larger weapon than any
of the gang members, drove them off.  He was pretty
worried that they might strip down the Lexus. And
me, too, presumably."  She sighed. "I guess he's
still kind of into that Vietnam thing because he was
pretty impressive, after all."

    Mulder put his head in his hands, then looked up
at Scully.  "Why the hell didn't he use his cell
phone?"

    "The French had it.  But he didn't realize that
at the time; I guess he thought he'd lost it when he
drove the gang off; so he told me to sit tight and
that he was going to walk back a block or so and see
if he could find it.  So I did.  I sat tight, in the
backseat of the Lexus.  And I guess I fell asleep,
because the next thing I knew, we were moving."

    "How did he get the Lexus fixed?"

    "He didn't. The police had driven by and tagged
it to be towed off the street."

    "While you were in it?"

    "Yes, Mulder, while I was in it.  So I wound up
in a dark, scary motor vehicle impound lot in the
backseat of a broken-down, drug-seizure sale Lexus. 
Oh, Skinner realized eventually what happened, so I
was only there for a couple of hours before he
showed up with the DC police.  At least I didn't
have to stay there all night."

    Mulder gestured slowly at her.  "Your suit
jacket?"

    "The gang has it.  Their colors.  Skinner pulled
it off me and threw it at them. I guess that was
sort of sexual, Mulder, if you're trying to feed
your prurient interests."

    "And your raincoat?"

    She shrugged.  "The French." 

    "How did you get home, Scully?"

    "The DC police gave us a ride here, and I guess
they're taking Skinner home, too.  Skinner offered
to call a cab seeing as how someone had thrown up
earlier in the evening in the back of the squad car,
but I just wanted to get home. Although I think I
will get out of this skirt...." She stood up. "So that
was my date with Skinner. It was no 'My Dinner with
Andre,'  but it had its moments.  And I'd like to
thank you, *partner*, for humiliating me, and
Skinner, too, by the way. I hope you're really
enjoying your joke, at our expense, although I don't
think it was too bright of you, Mulder.  I mean,
me...I can see you humiliating me with no
repercussions, but Skinner?  He's really pissed at
you, Mulder, really, really pissed," she said with a
certain relish. 

    "Scully, I'm so sorry; this isn't what it looks
like."

    "No? We had a nice conversation in the police
car on the way home, Skinner and I.  It seems he got
the impression that I was interested in him. From
you, Mulder. And you were the one who hounded me
into going out with this person 'in my own
backyard.'  So what would you have me think?"  She
shook her head at him.  "I'm really tired, Mulder. 
I'm going to bed."  She started to walk toward her
bedroom, then turned back to him. "Oh, and Mulder?"
She smiled grimly at him.  "I think Skinner's going
to have a lot more 'flukeman' assignments for you. As
a matter of fact, I think you're going to see every
sewer system in every major city across the U.S.
over the next eighteen months. So enjoy what's left
of the weekend."

    "Scully, please let me explain what happened. I
was just---I was just--" Mulder grabbed her wrist.
"I just wanted Skinner to be in a good mood, and I
guess I thought if I could fix him up with someone,
so that he wouldn't be alone, he wouldn't be so
difficult to work with.  Remember what a bad mood
he'd been in for the last several weeks?  But I
didn't want him to go out with you, Scully. I wanted
him to go out with Holly."

    "Holly?  Holly from the switchboard?"

    "Yeah. I thought he seemed interested in her.
But I guess he wasn't. I guess he was interested
in you. Things just got all...fucked up. He was
supposed to ask Holly out, not you."

    She stared at him. "Aren't you the one who's
interested in Holly, Mulder?"

    "Me?"  Mulder was dumbfounded.  "Why would I be
interested in Holly?  I'm sure she's a nice person,
but I'm not interested in her."

    Scully looked confused.  "Well, you were asking
me so many questions about her.  And the way you
were talking, I thought that you were interested in
seeing her."

    "I asked about her, Scully, because I thought
she and Skinner...."

    Scully looked at him, weighing his words
carefully.  "So you were...what? Trying to do some
'matchmaking' for Skinner?"

    Mulder nodded miserably. "I guess."

    "Okay, Mulder," Scully said slowly. "But that's
Skinner.  What about me?  What was all this about
grabbing happiness where you could find it, even if
it wasn't by the book?  What about something
wonderful in my own backyard?"  She sat down on the
arm of the couch, Mulder's hand still around her
wrist.  She looked up at him through the dark.

    "Scully" he whispered, moving closer to her.

    She could hear his breathing, although she
couldn't see his face.  "Who is it, Mulder, who is
it in my own backyard...."  He moved still closer to
her, tightening his grip on her wrist, then reached
around her with his other hand, and Scully could
feel his arm around her, his hand on her back as he
pulled her closer to him.

    "Me," he said. 

    And then he leaned down and kissed her. 

    Her mouth was soft and warm under his, and his
heart began pounding in his chest as he realized
that this was happening--really happening--not just
in his mind. He parted her lips gently and slid his
tongue into her mouth; and Scully gently broke his
grasp on her wrist and reached up for him, putting
her arms around him, wanting him, opening her mouth
more fully to him, moaning softly as she felt his
mouth against hers as they kissed deeply,
erotically, there in the dark. 

    Mulder's lips left hers and he drew back,
looking deeply into her eyes. "*I* love you, Scully.
I'm what's in your own backyard."

    "Mulder," she breathed, and rested her forehead
against his lips for a few moments. Then she leaned
back and raised her eyes to his and smiled as he
held her.

    "Oh, Scully," he said softly. "This was the
longest night of my life.  When you left with
Skinner--even though I knew you didn't want to go--all
I could think of is what if he changes her mind
about him?  What if he takes her out and they have a
really nice time?  What if she looks at him
differently now?  Because I didn't know I wasn't
sure how you felt about me--if I had a chance with
you that way.  And then when you didn't come
home--God this was terrible."

    Scully laughed and wiped away a couple of tears
from under her eyes.  "Well, you couldn't have felt
as bad as I did when I thought you wanted Holly. 
And when you took her home, and didn't come back for
the inservice--actually none of that was as bad as
just watching you talk to her, hearing you ask
questions about her."

    "That bothered you?" he smiled down at her.

    "God, yes."

    He kissed the top of her head, and stroked her
hair as he held her for a few moments.  "So you love
me, Scully?  You haven't said it yet."

    "Yes, Mulder," she whispered.  "I love you."

    "How much?"

    "Hmm," she thought for a moment.  "As much as I
was angry with you this afternoon before I went on
my date with Skinner."

    "Jesus, Scully, that much?"  He laughed. 
"That's a lot."

    "Yeah, it is."  She rested her head against his
chest.  "So now what happens?"

     "What do you think is going to happen?" Mulder
said, sliding his hand down to her shirt, beginning
to unbutton it slowly, deliberately.  "I'm going to
make love to you, Scully."

    "Mulder," she said, putting her hand on his,
stopping him.  "I'm a mess."

    "No, you're not."

    "Yes, I am. I mean, look at me. I look like I've
been beaten up."

    "I like it, Scully.  You look...lived in."

    "Yeah, lived in by what?"

    He smiled and said nothing as he finished
unbuttoning her shirt, then slipped it off her
shoulders. "Come here," he whispered, and pulled her
close to him. "Didn't you say you wanted to get out
of that skirt?"

****************************

    They were naked in her bed, and whatever makeup
she'd had on when she got home was long gone,
thought Scully, as Mulder's lips moved over her.
They were facing each other, lying on their sides;
and Mulder was kissing her, stroking her breasts,
nuzzling her neck gently as his hands moved over her
body.  She felt him slip his hand between her
thighs, kissing her harder, and then his lips left
her mouth, seeking out the warm skin on her neck;
now Mulder was pushing her onto her back, one knee
between her thighs, and she opened her legs for him.
She moaned softly as he positioned himself between
her legs, hard against her, and it seemed as if it
was all happening in slow motion, not fast enough,
hurry up Mulder...and then...just right....

    Just right...just right...just right....

    "Oh...fuck...Scully, you feel so incredibly
good," he whispered against her neck as he thrust
inside her.

    "You've got that right, Mulder," she gasped. "I
*do* feel good...really, *really* good."

    He looked down at her and smiled. "Tell
me...what you like...." he whispered, "tell
me...what feels good...."

    "God, Mulder...." she pushed her body against
him.

    "Tell me, Scully...."

    "Mmmm...." she murmured, "...that feels
good...that feels good...that feels
...that...that...that...that...."

    "Okay...got the general idea there...." Mulder
was beginning to breathe hard.

    Scully rested her hands on Mulder's forearms,
then slid them up to his shoulders.  This
was...unbelievable.  Mulder really knew his way
around a woman's body...her body.  He leaned down to
kiss her, and she felt him slide his hand under her,
against her lower back...holding her close against
him...tilting her body...pressing her tightly
against him....

    Oh, God....

    She was making love with Mulder, and her
universe contracted around them as he moved on top
of her, and inside her; and her last coherent
thought was it was Mulder doing this to her before
she arched her body against him and held her breath,
feeling herself tighten around him as she came in a
series of soundless thunderclaps.

    "Mulder...." she moaned, gripping his shoulders
tightly, pressing her forehead against his chest.

   
    Unbelievable.

    He had made Scully come.

    Scully had come while he was making love to her,
and that really, really had to fall under the
category of impressing her, he thought, something he
hadn't been able to do all that often. Yeah, he had
really fucked up the matchmaking thing, but he
wasn't fucking this up...not this...his first time
with her, and it had happened. First time. He liked
the sound of that, "first time." He liked it because
it implied there would be other times--second time,
and third time, and three hundredth time...one-
thousandth time.... He loved Scully, and she loved
him, and she was so beautiful....

    Her skin seemed to glow as she lay under him,
her body moving with him as he thrust inside her.
Mulder brought his right hand up to touch her
breasts, feeling the slight pull of damp skin on his
fingers as he stroked her, heard her soft sighs of
pleasure as he made love to her; and then she was
breathing more quickly, and those sighs had become
moans, and she was arching her body against him, her
fingers gripping his shoulders...she was coming
again.... He thrust into her harder and faster. He
had wanted to make this last with her, as long as he
could, this first time;  but it was all
right...because there would be a second time, and a
third, and a thousandth....

    "Oh, God...Scully...." he moaned, holding her
tightly against him as he came inside her. 

*************************

    Mulder smiled contentedly as he held Scully in
his arms. "Long day, huh, Scully?"

    "Mmm," she said softly, her eyes closed, and
cuddled against him, resting her right hand on his
chest.

     He yawned. "Yeah, it was a pretty long day for
me, too. It takes a lot out of a person, being a
lover and a matchmaker." He looked down at Scully
and stroked her hair. "So how'd I do?"

    She blinked up at him. "Bad, Mulder.'

    "What?"  Mulder frowned and shifted slightly
away from her. "Jesus, Scully, you came twice. I
can't have been *that* bad."

    "Oh," she said sleepily, patting his chest. "I
thought you meant as a matchmaker."

    "No, I meant as a lover...."

    She smiled up at him, then closed her eyes. "You
said it yourself, Mulder. I came twice."

    "And...." he coaxed.

    Scully moaned and pressed her face against him.
"I'm so tired, Mulder...."

   "Come on," Mulder said, jiggling her arm. "Is it
so wrong to want a little feedback, Scully?"

    Scully opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"Not at all, Mulder. Feedback is essential. So I
will tell you now that you were the best lover I've
ever had," she said, kissing his chest lightly.
"Unbelievably good. And as soon as I get some sleep
and some food, I'll be able to think of some more
adjectives and go into this in greater detail with
you, Mulder."

    Mulder sighed happily. "You too, Scully," he
said generously, kissing the top of her head.
"You're a good lover, too."

    "Thanks."    

    He stroked her gently as they lay there. "And
you know what? I don't think I did so bad as a
matchmaker," he said, pulling her closer to
him. "After all, here we are in bed together."

    She made a contented little sound as she lay
there. "Yep, here we are in bed together. And you
didn't even have to buy me dinner," she smiled, her
eyes closed as she rested her head against his
chest.

    Mulder laughed. "See? Even better than I
thought. Another guy buys the dinner, and I get the
girl."

    Scully turned slightly in his arms. "Technically
nobody bought me dinner, Mulder. Skinner and I had
to flee Denny's before they brought the check--or the
food."

    "I'll buy you dinner, Scully," Mulder said
softly, kissing her hair. "I'll buy you the best
dinner in the state of North Dakota when we're there
checking out that UFO sighting."

    Scully shifted against him. "I wouldn't count on
going to North Dakota if I were you, Mulder. Skinner
was really mad."

    "He already approved the travel request."

    Scully sighed. "I'm just telling you, Mulder.
Skinner was really, really mad."

    "He was really mad?"

    "Mmm-hmm."

    Mulder thought a moment. "Well, just how mad was
he, exactly?"

***********************************

    Mulder pulled into the parking lot of the mom-
and-pop motel he'd been calling home for the last
six days. It was hotter than hell in Miami and his
air conditioner didn't work; but fortunately for him
there had been drug bust at the motel which freed up
a couple of rooms, and the manager said that he'd
move Mulder into a room where the air conditioner
was functional. Yeah, Skinner had been really
furious with him and must have told the Bureau
Travel Office to book him into the seediest motel
they could find.

     He opened the car door and recoiled as a wave
of hot, humid air wafted over him. After a long day
in the sewer all he wanted to do was take a cool
shower, stand in front of the air conditioner, and
pour down a couple of ice cold beers. And after he
did that, he was going to e-mail Scully and see what
was up with her. He'd tried to reach her on her cell
a couple of times, but hadn't had any luck; she was
in North Dakota on the UFO case and cell phones
didn't work too well there. What did you expect in a
state where there were only about two communications
towers?

    But her computer was working; that he knew for
sure, because she'd e-mailed a brief message and a
picture to him at work, and the guys at the Waste
Management Facility had cheerfully printed it out
for him. Yeah, there was Scully, wearing shorts and
a black halter top, perched on a fence between
two--well, he didn't know what he'd call them; some
kind of genetic mutants, he supposed. The guy on her
left looked like he was about six-five; he was
deeply tanned, wearing tight jeans, a white shirt
with the sleeves rolled up, and cowboy boots; and
each of his arms looked as big around as Scully's
waist. The guy on her right looked about the same,
except that Mulder couldn't tell about his arms,
because his shirt sleeves were only rolled up to his
elbows, displaying a lot of dark hair on his arms
and a gold Rolex. Both men were wearing white cowboy
hats and each man had an arm draped around Scully as
they flashed their toothy white grins into the
camera. Scully was smiling, too. Her cowboy hat was
black.

    "Wells County Rodeo, Wells County, North Dakota.
Attending the festivities with my new friends,
Taylor and Brett," Scully's e-mail message had said.
The guys at the sewer had teased him, said that it
didn't look like his girlfriend was missing him very
much;  Mulder had just shaken his head and smiled.
He'd have to ask her if they were helping her with
the UFO case since he hadn't gotten to go to North
Dakota after all, being as how the sewers of Miami
needed examining for flukemen, according to Skinner.

    The motel parking lot was almost full, and
Mulder was careful not to scrape the door of the car
parked in the space next to his as he got out of his
car. There were always a lot of cars; the motel did
a lot of its business "by the hour," so to speak.

    "Hey, Fox! How was your day?" It was Linda, an
attractive young woman who worked ... er ... stayed
in the room three doors down from his; she was
accompanied by an older man who was trying to
conceal his face as they walked toward one of the
cars; she waved to Mulder.

    "Hey, Linda," Mulder waved back at her. "How's
... er ... everything going?"

    "Pretty good," she said cheerfully.

    Mulder nodded at her, then turned and headed for
his new room; the manager had taped an envelope to
the door containing his new room key. So much for
security, thought Mulder. He opened the door,
closing his eyes briefly as he walked in, waiting
for the cold blast of air to hit him.

    "Ahhhh," he sighed. Yeah, Rico had come through
all right; the air conditioner in this room worked.
And thank God, because it was fucking hot. He opened
his eyes and stopped dead in his tracks.

    There was a woman in his bed.

    What the hell? Had Rico gotten mixed up and
given one of the working girls this room? He turned
quickly and checked the room number, his name on the
envelope, and then looked back at the key. Yeah, it
was right; this was his room, but what the....

   The woman in the bed gave a sleepy little sigh,
and Mulder started to smile. He closed the door
gently behind him, then set his briefcase on the
floor. Oh, yeah, she must have heard him come in,
because now she was sitting up in bed, the sheet
pulled up around her.

    "Well...." said Mulder softly as he walked
toward the bed, unbuttoning his shirt as he went,
"... if it isn't the Sweetheart of the Rodeo."

    "Mulder, it's me," she said, yawning and
stretching her arms over her head.

    "I know it's you, Scully." He grinned at her and
shook his head. "I *am* a highly trained FBI field
agent, after all."

    Scully rubbed her eyes with the back of her
hand. "Well, I know you weren't expecting me,
Mulder. Just wanted to make sure you knew it was
me."

    "How long have you been asleep? And when did you
get here?"

   "Not that long," she replied. "And I got here
about two this afternoon."

   "How'd you get out of North Dakota? They have
more than one plane serving the whole state now?"

    "I flew out of Minneapolis. Caught a ride to
Minnesota with Brett." She smiled up at Mulder as he
toed off his shoes and leaned down to pull off his
socks. "One of the guys from the rodeo."

    "The guy on the right?"

    "On the left."

    "Ah ... I see," Mulder said softly as he started
to take off his belt. "You must have made some
pretty good friends for one of them to tote you all
the way to Minneapolis."

    Scully smiled. "He lives there, Mulder. He works
at the Grain Exchange. And the other guy is a lawyer
in Seattle. They used to live in North Dakota, but
now they don't; they were just home visiting the
relatives." She stretched again, looking at Mulder,
who was starting to unzip his pants. "Yeah, my
hostess at the bed-and-breakfast introduced me to
them. Thought she'd do a little...matchmaking."

    "Matchmaking?" Mulder raised his eyebrows as he
finished unzipping his pants."That can be tricky,
you know, Scully." He sat down on the edge of the
bed and pulled off his pants and boxers.

    "So no one at the sewer tried to set you up with
anyone, Mulder?" Scully asked innocently.

    He turned toward her and started to pull the
sheet down over her body. "Waste Management
Facility, Scully, not 'the sewer.'" He shook his
head. "And no. Nobody there was my type." Scully was
naked under the sheet;  he gave a low moan as he put
his arms around her. "Jesus, Scully...."

    "And what is your type, Mulder?" she said
softly, her arms going around him as she began to
stroke his back as he brushed his lips against her
mouth.

    "Well," he said, "I'm partial to redheads...."
he kissed her neck, his right hand running down the
side of her body to her hip,
"...smart...opinionated...beautiful redheads...."
His mouth moved lower, and he grazed his lips
against her collarbone. "A woman who's open...to
extreme possibilities...." He raised his eyebrows as
he began to lower her to the bed. "She should be
kind-hearted...she should laugh at my jokes--that's
optional, actually... she should be a good
kisser...."

    Scully smiled up at him. "Anything else...." she
whispered.

    His hand was on her right breast, stroking her,
and his lips were on her other breast, his tongue
wet and hot on her nipple, and Scully moaned. Mulder
raised his head from her breasts. "Yeah...she should
want me to fuck her...hard...right now...and...."

    "And?" Scully was breathing hard, her eyes heavy
with desire.

    Mulder looked down at Scully. "She should love
me...."

    Scully reached up and put her arms around
Mulder's neck.  "Oh, Mulder...." she said softly,
pulling him down on top of her, "...have I got a
girl for you...."

********************************
********************************

Note: My first try at a "serious" Mulder-Scully
story. What did you think?