Title: Playground Author: shawntaw Rating: G Disclaimer: These awesome characters were written and conceived by Chris Carter but given life by DD and GA. I make no money here; My only intention is to compliment. Summary: With Mulder she can fly. ********************************************************************** ****************************** He knew exactly when it happened. They were checking out of another random circa 1950's roadside motel after a case when he caught her staring. She just stood there, bag dangling from her right hand, staring at the ancient playground in the dirt lot next to the motel and smiling with a certain understandable amount of melancholy. "My turn! My turn!" The girl yelled and the boy with her began to push the merry-go-round. It squeaked and wobbled, but the determined child managed to make it go. "Faster! Faster, Bobby!" The little girl encouraged and the boy's face turned red with effort - small, bare feet slapping the hard, dusty ground as he put all his strength into pushing the merry-go- round. "Wheeeee!" The girl smiled and threw her hands out, her scraped and dirty knees clasping one of the bars she straddled tightly for leverage, "I'm flying! I'm flying!" Her eyes were closed and her blond pigtails flapped in the breeze. Mulder stopped halfway between hefting his own luggage and throwing it in the trunk to watch Scully. She was thinking of Emily again. ********************************************************************** **************************** Mulder was right in a way. Scully had started out thinking of Emily, but now visions of Emily inevitably led to memories of her childhood with Melissa. "Come on, Dana! Come on!" "Its stupid! It just goes round and round!" "Chicken!" Gap-toothed smile as Melissa ran toward the merry-go- round. "Dana's a chicken..Dana's a chicken.." she chanted and stood in the middle of the metal contraption. Little Dana had stuck her chin out, "AM NOT!!" Later that day, scraped and dirty, red pigtails flapping, she thought, *Its like flying!* Scully smiled slightly at the memory and blinked away tears as they welled in her eyes. She would not cry. But sometimes she longed for that simplicity again. ********************************************************************** * Mulder wondered what to say or do as Scully turned slowly and with a soft faraway look on her face, tossed her bag into the open trunk. He slammed it, unintentionally making her jump a little as she focused again on the present. "Ready to go?" he asked, hunching over slightly in unconscious deference to her height as always. She almost smiled at that. "I'm ready to move on, Mulder," she swallowed her tears and pushed the pain away, answering his real question, "We're done here." He nodded and strode around to the driver's side. She silently got in on her side. ********************************************************************** ** She was so quiet. She seemed to be shrinking in her seat and it frightened him. Scully had lowered her window just enough for the sweet-smelling early spring breeze to blow the top of her hair. The dusk sun was burnishing it copper and bronze; the ends were snapping and tangling. Mulder almost swerved off the road watching her. Finally, she turned to look at him. He pretended to be concentrating on his driving. Scully turned back to the view outside the window. Mulder was wracking his brain for some way to break the silence, some words of wisdom to help her past this. He didn't want her to forget Emily, but he thought she needed to let go of the intense grief he could feel wafting off of her in waves. The deep sadness and resignation in her posture was almost more than he could bear sometimes. Then he saw it in the distance and his pulse quickened. This would either get him kissed or killed. ********************************************************************** *** "Mulder, what are you doing?" she finally spoke as they pulled off the road. He said nothing, but stopped in front of the small park. He smiled at it. It was a combination of old and new. A metal slide, swing set, and merry-go-round shared space with a huge, primary-colored plastic play area. Now practically grinning, he turned to her. She was giving him the "Mulder, you're crazy," look complete with eyebrow. If he gave her even a second, he knew she'd say it. "I'm gonna play," he said, quickly got out of the car, and loped toward the merry-go-round. ********************************************************************** * *He's nuts* she thought *Certifiable.* Then came the anger. *Does he really think this will make it all just go away?!* She crossed her arms and sat resolutely. She would not follow him in this foolishness. ********************************************************************** ** Mulder knew she was probably sitting in the car right now debating with herself. He casually reached out a hand and spun the merry-go-round. This one didn't wobble, but it did squeak a little. He pushed it harder and it spun faster. Then he held onto a bar and ran. He ran as fast as he could and then jumped on. The merry-go-around slowed considerably when his weight hit it so he quickly lay on his back, limbs outstretched. Oh, he'd forgotten the head rush he got from these things!! Ten times worse initially than being on a boat. He swallowed convulsively thinking that puking would certainly get Scully out of the car, but was not perhaps the most mood-inducing thing he could do. He wanted to get that dizzy, giddy feeling from spinning, but he was hoping NOT to be sick. Mulder realized his eyes were squeezed shut and his stomach was rolling. Oh...He WAS going to puke...maybe this wasn't the best idea... "Mulder, open your eyes. Your doing it all wrong; you're going to make yourself sick." At her voice, his eyes popped open. The world was spinning at a much slower pace now with both of them sitting on the merry-go-round. Scully was leaning over him on her hands and knees. She had a hand on either side of his head, her hair hung down, and a crystal blue sky matching her eyes spun behind her. ********************************************************************** ** She had really meant it when she had decided to stay in the car. Scully had really, REALLY meant it. But then he started to run. He grabbed the merry-go-round with those long, graceful hands and gripped them tightly. And he ran. Time seemed to slip into slo-mo and become so very, very clear as she realized that his suit jacket was flapping. His tie flipped over one shoulder. His dress shoes pounded into the earth, kicking up a cloud of dust that stuck to the cuffs of his suit pants. He was biting his bottom lip in concentration. But the clincher - the impetus - for her departure from the car was the moment when in her mind's eye she saw the boy. The boy who must have been skinny and gangly. The boy with unruly chocolate hair and bright hazel eyes. Did he have braces? Knobby knees? Scully realized that she didn't even know if he had knobby knees now. She'd certainly seen them but had never noticed. Suddenly, she wanted to know. Did he still have the knobby knees of the boy he once was? She stared out the windshield and watched the tall, awkward boy pushing and running. He was beautiful. As she got out of the car, he jumped onto the merry-go-round and lay on his back. The closer she got to him, the less of the boy she saw. Finally she stood by the merry-go-round, watching Mulder - the man - lying dusty and smudged in his work suit. His arms were spread palms out. She realized he was trying to get dizzy. But his eyes were closed.... ********************************************************************** ***************************** "Doing it wrong?" He squinted up at her and swallowed the nauseous feeling down. "Yeah. If you shut your eyes while going round and round like this, Mulder - especially with your motion sickness - you're gonna screw up your inner ear. With your eyes shut you have no point of reference." He sat up and looked at her as they slowly rotated. "Push me." "Huh?" Mulder blinked at her, his stomach trying to settle as the merry-go-round slowed to a crawl. "I said 'push me,' Mulder," Scully shoved at him and he scooted on his rear to the edge of the merry-go-round and stopped it by dragging his feet. Before he could turn, two sky-high heels flew past him and skittered to a stop in the dirt. He turned to find a stocking-footed Scully sitting cross-legged in her suit pants. She shrugged out of her suit jacket and wedged it under one thigh so it wouldn't go anywhere and the sun beat down on her bare arms. The pearl shell she'd had on under the jacket was perfect for the warm weather. Mulder smiled and pulled off his own jacket. He held out his hand for hers and hung them both on the slide ladder. His tie was next. She watched him unbutton his cuffs and shirt and hang that with their jackets as well. She smiled at the sight of her partner, dusty and sweaty in his undershirt and suit pants. He grinned back. "Ready?" he said, pretending to crack his knuckles. "Always," she dared and reached out with both hands to grasp a bar. Mulder grabbed a bar and began to run. She watched him bite his bottom lip. His legs pumped. His feet stomped. Scully raised her eyes to the sky and watched the blue sky spin. She lowered her gaze and kept her eyes on Mulder. He was the constant. The background swings, slide and other playground paraphanelia along with trees and brush were spinning too fast to see clearly. But Mulder with both hands on the merry-go-round was clear and solid in her line of sight. And she began to cry. Scully thanked God that Mulder was too busy seeing how fast he could get the contraption to go to notice her tears. But she was also smiling. After a few seconds more, she stretched out and lay on her back. *I'm flying! I'm flying!* she thought and her smile grew. ********************************************************************** **************************** A small ways away, a park worker was emptying one of the public trash cans. At the sound of laughter his head came up and he shaded his eyes from the blaring sun with one gloved hand to peer through the sparse brush and see where the sound came from. He smiled at the sight of the tall, skinny-legged, brown-haired boy pushing the little red-headed, pig-tailed girl on the merry-go-round and went on his way, whistling and feeling younger and more light- hearted as he did. ********************************************************************** ***************************** Note: Hope you like it. The idea made me smile and I wanted to share the love! :P shawntaw@hotmail.com