Subject: NEW: Interim by D. Agnew (X, UST)
From: "Denise A. Agnew" <writer@agnewdt.demon.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 13:59:29 +0100


Okay to archive as long as my name remains on the story.

Disclaimer:  The characters and situations of the television program
"The X Files" are the creations and property of Chris Carter, Fox
Broadcasting, and Ten-Thirteen Productions, and have been used without
permission.  No copyright infringement is intended.

Spoilers:  Not really.

Rating:  PG

Classification:  Tad of X, Heavy UST.

Summary:  On Halloween Scully overhears a passionate exchange between
Mulder and another woman...or does she?

Author's Note:  My fascination with the curious relationship between
Mulder and Scully has me envisioning a possible scenario for some time
in Season 5.  Ignoring Mulder's apparent suicide, the fact that the
season doesn't start until after Halloween, and  also omitting Scully's
cancer, I offer you a little slice of EXTREME UST.  Constructive
criticism welcome.

Interim (1/1)
by Denise A. Agnew
writer@agnewdt.demon.co.uk

FBI Headquarters
Washingdon, D.C.
X-Files Basement Office
Halloween
Friday, 5:30pm

     Dana Katherine Scully felt the cold seep through the thin silk of
her blue blouse as she traversed the shadows that cloaked the hallway
leading to the office.  She wished she'd taken her suit jacket with her
to the forensics lab.  She wished she was home sitting next to a roaring
fire, her feet up on the couch, a good horror novel in hand.  And hot
cocoa.  Yeah.  Or maybe a shot of brandy.  She hadn't indulged in a
brandy in a long time. 

     Her cell phone rang, and she stopped in the corridor and answered.
It was her mother.  

     "Is everything all right?" Scully asked.  Her mother rarely called
her at work.

     "Everything's fine, Dana.  I'm just getting ready for the party."

     "Oh, no."  Dismayed at her forgetfulness, she sighed heavily.
"Mom, I almost forgot."

     Her mother chuckled.  "Thanks."

     "I'm sorry.  I was just thinking about how nice it would be to stay
inside with a good book and a brandy."

     "If you'd rather not come-"

     "No, Mom.  I won't renege on you.  I promised I'd help."

     "Are you sure?  It's going to be a lot of older people.  No one
young and exciting."

     Scully smiled.  "You mean no one young, exciting, and male."

     "Never could fool you."

     "I don't need anyone young and exciting, Mom.  I've got the X-
Files."

     Her mother laughed.  "Right.  Why is it I don't quite believe
that?"

     Scully felt a tingle of disappointment, of melancholy she couldn't
understand prickling at her brain and her heart.  "Because you're a
mother, and all mothers want their daughters to be happy."

     The silence at the other end didn't surprise her.  Her mother was
particularly good at long, guilt ridden pauses.  "Are you happy?"

     "As happy as I can be."  Another pause, but this time she was
certain it was consternation that kept her mother silent.  "I've got to
go, Mom."

     "All right.  But speaking of the X-Files, what has Fox got planned
for tonight?"

     Scully closed her eyes.  "God only knows."

     "You could invite him to the party."

     She hesitated.  "I...I don't think so."

     "Why not?"

     "He's not into social gatherings.  In fact, if I didn't know
better, I'd say he was phobic about it."

     "Okay, but if you change your mind and he wants to come along,
there's always room for another."

     Once she got off the phone, Scully pushed onward down the hall.
Fleetingly she wondered if Mulder had plans for Halloween this year.
Watching a repeat performance of Debbie Does Dallas on his VCR?  A small
grin turned up one corner of her mouth.  She remembered being in his
apartment once and accidentally coming upon his video collection.  He
had eclectic tastes, but when he'd seen her gazing in fascination at his
choices, he'd attempted to distract her.

     "I don't think you'll want to see those," he'd said, a look of
panic crossing his usually unflappable demeanor.

     "Mulder, my viewing preferences tend to run to something more
adventurous than Mary Poppins and Little Rascals." 

     Undaunted, he'd kept her away from his videos. Somehow she couldn't
see him spending his time this year watching tapes.  What then?

     She knew he kept a measly bag of candy handy at his apartment for
the trick or treat crowd, but he rarely got any visitors.  As she'd told
her mother he avoided large gatherings of people like they were plague.
He was NOT the life of the party.  Dressing in a costume or indulging in
punch and a party noisemaker just didn't fit the Mulder she knew.  She
sighed.  She'd seen Mulder happy, though not often, and she'd seen him
extremely angry.  What about the dark shadows between those two
extremes?  After four years she'd come to accept that he wasn't like any
man she'd ever known, nor would he ever be.  Changing Mulder wasn't on
her agenda, but it didn't stop her from speculating about his
personality, or trying to uncover the hidden sides of the spectrum.
Sometimes, when she thought far too long and far too hard about the
intricacies of Fox William Mulder's character, she wondered what it
would be like to see him lose control.  To take that hidden spark that
lingered in his eyes and pull the plug.

     But there were other things she'd learned over the years they'd
known each other.  Mulder didn't express his feelings.  Not where she
was concerned.  At least, not when she was within hearing distance. 

     What did it matter anyway?  He was her best friend, she could rely
on him, she could trust him with her life.  What more was there?

     A draft, as light as a whisper, caught her when she was almost to
the office door.  She looked around at the stairs behind her, assuming
someone had come down after her.  No one was there.  Only the silence
and the chill.

     She looked around again, her gaze tracing over the file boxes and
general disarray that marked this corner as a forgotten part of the
world. Where the draft could have originated didn't bear that much
concern.

     Then she heard the noise.  A laugh.  A female voice.  A whisper of
something that sounded breathy...and full of...passion.  

     She cocked her head to the side, trying to discern where the voices
were coming from.  Another voice chimed in, but this time it was
considerably deeper.  A man.

     A sigh echoed in her ears, distinct and close.  She stepped back,
enveloped by the sound...startled that it had come to her as if the
person stood at her shoulder.  A quick glance revealed, however, that no
one was there.

     "Mulder," she head a voice say again through the office door.
"Mulder, we have a friendship.  Something that is stronger than this."

     "What is...this?" he asked, his voice dropping deep, husky.

     How the hell was she hearing this?  The door was relatively thick.
She shouldn't be able to hear a word coming from the office.

     "Tell me you don't want this," she heard Mulder say, and her hand
stopped as she touched the cold metal of the doorknob.  "I need this.
You need this."

     Somewhere in her throat her breath caught.  Who was in the office
with Mulder, and what the hell was he doing WITH her?

     She heard a low moan of satisfaction, as if someone had just
discovered a G-Spot they hadn't know they possessed.  

     Feeling her insides tighten, her stomach clench, she hesitated to
go inside.  She had a sneaking suspicion she knew what was going on, but
confronting it and seeing what was happening with her own two eyes
wasn't exactly appetizing. 

     "Mulder." Another sigh.  A gentle sound of satisfaction, maybe even
desire.

     Scully felt heat suffuse her face.  Damn him for bringing a woman
into the office!  A riot of emotions bombarded her.  Anger.
Astonishment.  Shock. 

     He laughed again.  She would know that man's laugh anywhere,
anytime, anyplace.

     A sensation of pure resentment arced through her.  She opened the
door.  Mulder looked up as she came in, his smile breaking open so
freely that it took her by surprise.  She stopped in her tracks and
stared at him.  Not only was his smile wide, but his tie hung like a
loose lariat around his neck.  His hair was extraordinarily tousled, and
the expression on his face reminded her of a cat that had tasted a very
nice meal.  But contrary to what she'd expected, there was no one in the
office with him.

     She stood in the doorway, stunned, as if a bomb had gone off in the
room and left her shell shocked but in one piece.

     "Where have you been all afternoon?" he asked, turning his chair
completely toward her.  "I was about to call out the search party."  

     She walked up to his desk and handed him a file folder.  "Your
memory is abominable, Mulder.  You needed information on Mr.
Penningdon's autopsy, remember?  It took awhile to get the results."

     "Ah, right.  How could I forget?  Thanks."  He opened the file, his
glance perusing quickly over the contents. 

     She moved away, her gaze darting about the room in search of the
woman who'd excited so much of Mulder's passion.  There was no one.  "I
can't believe this."

     He looked up at her.  His brow wrinkled.  "Something wrong?"

     "Where did she go?"

     "Where did who go?"

     She swallowed hard, a sensation of discomfort and embarrassment
managing to wilt her previous determination into rancid lettuce.  

     Forcing herself to speak, she said, "You know who I'm talking
about, Mulder.  The woman who was just in here." 

     His mouth dropped open.  Obviously perplexed, he gave the room a
quick sweep and then shook his head.  "Scully, I don't have the faintest
idea what you're talking about."

     She took a deep breath.  "A few seconds before I opened the door I
heard a woman in here with you."

     "A woman."

     "Yes.  You know...the opposite sex.  Someone of the female
persuasion.  I heard you...and her...and you were..." Knowing she
couldn't say it out loud made her almost as angry at herself as she was
at him.  "I never thought you'd have a woman in the office where anyone
could walk in on you and-"

     "Wait."  Holding up a hand, he got up and walked toward her.  She
stood her ground and as he came to a halt within a couple inches of her,
she felt hear heart do a strange stutter, as if wasn't sure to stop or
to race.  "There hasn't been any woman in this office today but you."

     "Today."

     "For months."

     His assurances didn't make her feel better. "This is crazy Mulder.
I know what I heard."

     His expression was akin to that of a rooster in a hen house. "I was
doing something...presumably of an erotic nature, and I don't remember
it?  Now that'll be a first."  He paused for a moment, as if waiting for
her to reply. "You aren't making any sense, Scully."

     She made sound low in her throat that was something like disdain,
and she put down her purse and briefcase near her desk.  When he turned
her to face him, he gazed into her eyes intently, then took inventory of
her as if he might be memorizing every feature.  Suddenly he brushed her
hair away from the side of her face, cupping her cheek in the warmth of
his palm.  "Are you coming down with something?"

     She took a step back from him, a hot flush going through her body,
and a million danger signals ringing in her mind.  "Of course not."

     He looked up at the ceiling and then down at the floor before he
shook his head and looked at her again.  "You were outside the office
just now and heard me talking with a woman?"

     "That's right."

     "In the office.  Just now."

     She gritted her teeth.  "Mulder-"

     "Scully, you need a vacation."  He smiled and quickly turned away.
Strolling in a casual, insolent fashion to his desk, he pulled off his
tie and tossed it on the desk.  Then he turned around and put his hands
on his hips, regarding her with the forbearance of an indulgent parent.
"How could I have a woman in this office without you seeing her when you
came in?"  He put his hands out.  "Do you see anywhere she could hide?"

     In retrospect her assertion that he had a woman in the office made
about as much sense as her reaction to the idea of him being with a
woman.  It was his business, not hers, in any case.

     "No," she said.  "You're right.  She would have had to pass me on
the way out." 

     He gave her a suspicious glance.  "What were you doing skulking in
the hallway anyway?"

     "I wasn't skulking. I'd finished taking a call from my mother on my
cell phone and that's when I thought I heard you talking to a woman."
Trying to get her bearings, feeling like a total ignoramus, she gathered
up papers on her desk. 

     He sat back down at his desk and began stared at the floor, his
gaze thoughtful.  When he switched his gaze to her, she could feel it
burning a hole in her. 

She looked at him sharply.  "What?"

When he remained silent, the tension in her rose.  "What, Mulder?"

     "What did I say when you heard my voice in this room."  Mulder had
gotten out of his chair and was making his way back across the room to
her. 

     "I don't think-"

     He invaded her space for the umpteenth time.  "This is important,
Scully.  What did I say?"

     "Why is it so important?" she asked impatiently.

     The intensity of gaze began to unnerve her.  "Humor me."

     She frowned and hit his gaze straight on.  "She sounded like she
was having a great time."  She took a deep breath.  "She said something
about your friendship.  That it was strong."

     "Kind of like you and I have a friendship?" he asked quietly.

     "Yes."

     His eyes widened.  He leaned forward, his lips parting slightly,
and for a wild moment she flashed back to Eddie Van Blundt with the
silent H.  His voice dropped to a seductive whisper she'd heard him use
on numerous occasions. "What did she need, Scully?" 

     Perplexed by the sudden emotions launching through her, she
couldn't say a thing.  She noticed, with startling clarity, the scent of
his after shave, the fact that she was definitely no longer cold.

     He grinned.  A silly, soft, amazed grin. "I think you were reading
my mind when you were out in the hallway.  I hate to admit it, but I was
taking nap. And I was having this great dream about a woman in my
office."

     She didn't want to hear this.  Not only was it crazy...she didn't
read minds, but that he was dreaming about making it with a
woman...well...that was more than she needed to know. In a sort of panic
she tried to move away again. "See you Monday, Mulder." 

     "Wait."  Mulder caught her arm in his big hand and pulled her back.
"Don't you even want to know who the woman was?"

     Her mouth dropped open.  She stared at him for several long
moments.  "I...no.  I don't read minds, Mulder.  It was obviously
something I made up in my imagination."

     She felt the tension start, build, bringing with it a curious
warmth.  A tremendous anticipation she'd experienced with him before.
Every time this sentiment came on her, she'd feel this odd desire to
lean forward, to experience something new, to bring their relationship
into a fresh dimension. 

     "Come to my place tonight, after your mother's party," he said
suddenly.

     "What?" He stood so close to her again she had to crane her neck up
to see him.  

     "Help me."  His tone was soft and determined.  "Help me pass out
candy to any unfortunate kids who happen to prowl my apartment complex.
I'll share my candy."

     "I think you just want me to watch the bowl so you don't eat all
the candy before the night is over.  Isn't that what you did last year?"

     "You're certainly obsessed with what I did last year."

     "Since you don't usually turn that particular shade of green, it
sticks out in my mind.  Too much candy, too much liquor, and-"

     "Too many women?"

     "Too much time on your hands."

     He laughed, and the sound took her off guard, so that she was
forced to laugh herself...something she hadn't done with Mulder in a
very, very long time.  When he stopped laughing his gaze was serious.
Probing.  Asking.

     Theoretically, Scully, would you slap me if I kissed you?"

     "What?" she asked, her voice going high with surprise.

     "You know.  Sexual harassment.  Unwanted advances."

     "Mulder, we have a friendship.  Something that is stronger than
this."

     When she heard herself repeating the words she'd heard coming from
the other woman's mouth, the force of what was happening hit her like a
sledge hammer.

     "That's what the woman in the dream said to me," he said.  "Don't
you see?  You've somehow tapped into the dream.  Practically at the same
time I was having it."

     "That's crazy, Mulder.  This-"

     "What is...this?" he asked, his voice dropping deep, husky.  And
then his head dipped, as if he was going to kiss her-

     The alarm clock went off, jarring Scully with unwelcome force out
of the dream.

     She rolled over and slammed the button on the clock radio.  Groggy,
she sat up slowly.  "God, what a dream." She swung her feet out of bed
and looked at the calendar on her desk.  It was Halloween today and her
mother was having a party.  She cursed.  But she wouldn't overhear
Mulder having a dream, and he sure as hell wouldn't kiss her-

     Her phone rang and she cursed.  "Hello?"

     "Scully?"

     "Mulder?  What's up?  It's only 5:30."

     "Scully...uh...I just had the strangest dream and I had to tell you
about it."

THE END. 

-- 
Denise A. Agnew