TITLE: What Partnership is About AUTHOR: Anna Greenway EMAIL: a_greenway1318@yahoo.com.au CATEGORY: En Ami post ep. UST. RATING: PG DISCLAIMER: The X-Files isn't mine. SUMMARY: A post episode story for En Ami. Mulder and Scully play Monopoly. ARCHIVE: Please let me know. ************ Dana Scully slowly walked down the dimly lit hallway to Mulder's apartment door. There she hesitated. She knew why she had come over, but to explain it to Mulder was very different. After they visited the empty building, Mulder had shrugged before turning away and leaving. She knew that he understood what had happened, and why she had done it, but she was still unsure of where their partnership stood. Sighing and deciding she better get it over with, she raised her hand and knocked on the solid door. She then took a step back, hands at her sides, and waited. He opened it almost straightaway, but his face registered surprise at seeing her there, as if he had been expecting someone else. "Scully?" he asked. She gave him a small smile, and when she didn't answer, he stepped back and opened the door further. "Come in," he said. She walked in and he shut the door after her. "I thought you'd be at home relaxing." She raised her shoulder a little in a semi shrug and gave him another small smile before walking further in to the room. She stopped when she saw boxes covering the floor. She turned a little to look at him in confusion. "Should I ask what you're up to?" He leaned against the door frame and folded his arms across his chest. "I was cleaning out my mother's house. These are some of the things I wanted to keep." She nodded and gave him a small smile, remembering the moment only a few weeks ago when she had held him as he cried. She looked over the mess of boxes to one in the corner beside the fish tank that caught her eye. It was partly because of the fact that it was open that caught her attention, but it was also because of the contents sticking out the top. Smiling, she crossed the floor and reached over to pick up the ancient basketball from the top. It was covered in dirt, and desperately needed to be pumped up, and she held it in one hand and then turned to give him a look. "What?" he asked, looking innocent. "It's a family treasure. I won a lot of games with that ball." She tried not to smile as she silently put the ball back in the box. He crossed to her side as he saw her stare at what else was in the box. "Monopoly, Mulder?" she asked, this time unable to stop herself smiling. He reached over and pulled out the board game, which was covered in a thick layer of dust, revealing that it had been a long time since it was loved. "You've never played Monopoly?" he asked, searching her face. She eventually looked away and gave a little laugh. "I have, actually. We used to play it when we were kids." They both said nothing for a few seconds as Mulder pulled the lid off the box, looking at the forgotten contents inside. Whoever had last packed it up had done it in a hurry, as the faded money was everywhere, and a lot of it was creased. The corners of the board were starting to fall apart, but Mulder looked at it all as a thousand fond memories started to flow back to him. "I used to play with Samantha," he began. "She was very competitive. She used to get annoyed if I won." He smiled across at Scully, who was patiently letting him relive the moment. "Occasionally our parents played, but it was my mother more often than my father." Scully nodded, and then smirked a little. "Didn't you ever let her win?" "I didn't need to, Scully. She was good!" Mulder said. Scully took the box from him, staring down at the scattered money. "Think you can remember how to play?" He looked at her, not quite understanding. But then Scully turned around and went and sat on his leather couch, setting the box down on the coffee table and unfolding the board. She then looked up at him, and noticing his unsure face, she moved over, inviting him to sit beside her. "Come on, Mulder. It's been a long while since I last played, but I think I can still beat you." "You're challenging me?" he asked, quickly crossing to sit beside her. "Scully, I don't think you know what you're getting yourself in to." "Oh, really?" she asked, smiling at him as they both started counting out money. He matched her smile with his own, looking like an excited child. He found the dice and shook them in his hand. "You ready?" "Go ahead, Mulder," she said, moving to sit on the very edge of the chair, leaning forward. He shook his hand again and then opened his fingers, letting the dice roll out on to the board. ************ One Hour Later Scully stared at the long line of hotels covering Mulder's property. "Mulder, if you get any more hotels you'll end up in hospital from alcohol poisoning." "Jealousy's a sin, Scully," Mulder countered, watching with bubbling nerves as Scully's piece approached his side of the board. She had already landed on his most expensive hotel the last time she went around, and he knew that if she did it again, he would win. She picked up the dice and grinned at him, enjoying the look on his face. It was happy, excited, and all the things that she wished he would experience more often. She hadn't planned on playing Monopoly when she came over, but it had turned out well. She had planned to apologise verbally, and to sort things out with Mulder, but playing a simple board game had cheered them up in a much easier way. She rolled out the dice, and it was a seven. He grinned and leaned back in to the couch, folding his arms and watching with satisfaction as she approached her death. "I told you, Scully," Mulder said. She smiled at him before sighing and starting to put the money in to neat stacks to put back in the box. She put the money in and then put the board on top. "Congratulations, Mulder." She got to her feet and picked up her coat from she had placed it earlier in the afternoon. Sliding her arms in to the sleeves and picking up her keys, she waited for Mulder to turn around from where he was putting the game back in the large cardboard box. "I'd better be getting home," she said. "We've got work tomorrow." He nodded and put his hands on his hips. Suddenly there was a silence between them. She fiddled with the keys in her hand, sorting through them as if trying to find her car key, but she made no effort to head for the door. "Thanks for..." he started, and then took a breath. "Thanks for playing. I had fun." She looked up at him again and nodded. "It was good, Mulder." "Maybe we could uh... play again sometime. You were going good until you took that big risk and bought that useless property." "What's wrong with taking an occasional risk, Mulder?" He studied her face, suddenly aware that she was not just referring to the game. Not knowing what to say, though, he looked away. He knew the topic would come up between them eventually, but he hadn't prepared himself for it. "Risks are good as long as you choose the right one. The risk you took led to your death," he said, immediately regretting his words when he saw her blue eyes go from soft to fiery. "Mulder, how many risks have you taken? How many times have you run off without letting me know where?" As she continued speaking her voice grew stronger. "And a lot of those times I've had to hunt you down and save your life. You've been doing it for seven years, Mulder. And then when I make one mistake, it's suddenly a big deal. This is no different. All those times I haven't said anything. I've sat back, just glad that you're all right. But I don't understand you, Mulder. You have to let it go." "That was different," he said, a hint of frustration in his voice. "How?" she asked. There was a silence as he paused to think about it. "Exactly," she said. Her eyes fell to her keys again and she turned around, heading for the door. "I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow." He didn't come after her until she reached the door. She started to open it, but he came up behind her and put his hand out to force it shut. She turned around and looked up at him, waiting for him explain and willing herself to stay calm. He paused again as he struggled to find the words, and even more, the courage to say them. "It's different because we're partners. It's how we work. It's part of being a believer, Scully. I follow the leads and take risks. I make sacrifices to uncover the truth." She opened her mouth to interrupt, but he held his hand up to stop her. "But I value your partnership, Scully. I know that we work together, and that if I go too far, you'll be there to pull me back. And I don't think it would work any other way." He went on in a softer voice. "Scully, I think what we have is special. It works better than most of the FBI partnerships in the bureau. And that's because we balance each other out. We believe different things, and approach things differently, and that's why it works. If we both believed the same thing, then we wouldn't get anywhere because we wouldn't be questioning everything." "So that's how you see me?" she asked, hurt in her voice. "You think that only you should follow the dangerous leads, and I'm just there to haul you out of trouble?" "No," he said quickly. "You've taken a lot of risks, Scully. Just in different ways. I've seen you risk your career more times I want to remember, through your support for me. And I don't say anything against that. It's your choice. But I'm talking about a different kind of risk, here. It just... it scares me. It scares me because it's the type of risk I usually take. We know him. Spender. And we both know that he isn't to be trusted. I admire your guts for going after him, Scully. I value the fact that you aren't scared to do so. You had me worried not because I think you can't look after yourself, but because he is a master manipulator, and I don't want him to do anything to hurt our partnership." The angry look on her face soon disappeared and she looked away, shaking her head. She took a deep breath. "You are right, Mulder. I know we shouldn't be trusting him. But maybe we need to work together more. Every time you run off, Mulder, I worry for the same reason. But the truth is, we're partners. I think it's like the game of Monopoly we just played. The world is full of people who are struggling to get to the top, and are willing to defeat everyone else in the process. But it isn't a reflection at all of real life. There's no opportunity for teamwork, and to help each other in time of real need. It turns ordinary friends against each other." He stared at her, sensing something in her eyes, but not being able to pin down exactly what it was. She looked up at him and smiled softly, and he instantly knew what it was. "You let me win..." he said in wonder. Her smile grew wider and her eyes were shining again. "As I said before, I have years of childhood experience with that game. I could've put up a fair fight if I wanted to." "Scully..." he said, but broke off, shaking his head. "I can't believe you did that." "Can't believe what, Mulder? Isn't that what partnership is about? Making sacrifices for each other, and believing in each other. Trusting each other..." He nodded. "Partly, yeah. But you forgot honesty." His eyes weren't serious, and so she shrugged, still grinning at him. "Maybe another time I'll play you for real." "You'd better," he said. "I want a re-match." They continued smiling at each other for another minute before Scully pulled her coat up further around her shoulders and gripped her keys a little tighter. "I'll see you tomorrow," Scully said. Mulder stepped back to allow her to open the door. She was halfway out when he grabbed her elbow, pulling her around. Her eyes were questioning, but she didn't protest. "Thanks," he said, and he squeezed her arm. She pulled her arm back a little so that his hand trailed down to hers. She squeezed her fingers, and stood holding his hand for a moment. He looked down at their hands and then up at her face. "See you tomorrow, partner." She smiled before squeezing his hand one final time, and walked down his hallway to the elevator, knowing that their partnership was back on track. ************ The End. I love feedback. a_greenway1318@yahoo.com.au AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please ignore the technicality that in the episode, Mulder did not have boxes all over his floor as I have written here. I hope this doesn't annoy anyone too much.