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iamprchung · 15 days

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Wild Horses (The In-Betweens)

Comp Mints: The In-betweens

All those plot bunnies that proliferated in between ‘The Spider and the FBI’ and ‘Incognito’. In that original series, no sooner were Skinner and Scully an item and then, wham, they’re on the rocks.

There were other stories of course, full of romance and angst, but nothing that flowed through this series, the wild and wacky fun series, where Mulder was totally okay with his partner and boss having an illicit romance that put all of his serious work on the X-Files at risk… Yeah, there was that entire part of it that I glossed over. However, let us continue to suspend reality and just have some good wholesome shippy fun.

Post Episode: Tithonus

Haunted by Scully's hospitalization, Assistant Director Skinner travels to New York. As he watches over her from afar, the memory of his own past vulnerability surfaces. A stolen moment of connection reveals the depth of their relationship and the weight of their secret. Despite unspoken anxieties, Scully reassures Skinner, offering a promise of a future together.

Wild Horses

By PR Chung

Walter Skinner stood outside the ICU bay, looking through the blinds in the window, watching Scully sleep, her shape cast in the indigo glow of monitors. It was far past visiting hours. It had taken what seemed like an eternity to get from D.C. to New York. Mulder had kept him apprised of her condition, assuring him she was stabilizing as he stepped onto the Amtrak in DC. It was a commuter express, but stops were frequent despite its moniker.

NYU Medical Center

11:15 pm

Mulder was in the waiting area, dozing on an uncomfortable bench seat laughably padded with warn thin cushions. Skinner would coax him to go back to his hotel room soon. They both needed rest, the same as she did.

He reached out, touching his fingertips to the glass, placing them over her figure on the other side. He closed his eyes. This wasn’t supposed to be her. This should never be her burden. He would change places with her, he would make that deal with heaven or hell.

Skinner waited, hovering outside Scully’s room, giving her and Mulder time to visit. He was on the phone, barely listening to voice mails, his mind elsewhere. Her doctor said she was recovering quickly. She could be back home in DC in a few days even.

NYU Medical Center

One Week Later

9:30 am

He glanced toward the room, seeing her and Mulder clasping hands, talking. He was grateful for Mulder being there for her. Skinner didn’t want to consider her having been by herself during this. It was difficult enough when he’d heard the news that she’d been shot. The circumstances, mistakenly shot by a fellow agent, were overwhelming for everyone to comprehend. The severity of her injuries, her condition in post-op and then ICU. Skinner took the phone from his ear and terminated the connection to his voice mail.

If he’d been there, could he have changed the outcome? Could have he prevented it? Could he have blocked--?

He turned to see Mulder stepping toward him, “everything all right?”

“Yeah,” Skinner answered, pocketing his phone with a glance toward Scully's room. Through the window he saw her looking back at him, her face winsome and pale. “Just catching up on voice mails. How’s she doing?”

“Considering,” Mulder said, “she’s doing great.” He offered Skinner a thin smile, encouraging him, “go see for yourself.”

Without hesitation, Skinner nodded and headed toward the door of her room.

"Hey, you," he greeted her, settling on the bed next to her carefully.

"Hey, you," she smiled, taking his hand. "Don't you have a job anymore?"

"Seems like hospitals are becoming our new vacation spots, huh?" The memory of his own time spent by her bedside, the worry a constant weight in his chest, tightened his throat for a moment.

Scully shook her head, “We both need to stop doing this.”

Skinner offered a thin knowing smile.

“So, you and Mulder have been shacking up again?”

He chuckled. “He told you.”

“Oh yeah,” she smiled.

“It’s not so bad this time. The room has two beds.”

Scully laughed, then grimaced. “Oh, ouch.”

“Sorry,” Skinner apologized realizing the joke had caused her to hurt herself laughing.

“It’s okay, it was funny.”

He glanced toward the window in her room that faced the hall, checking the hall. Mulder had gone, and no one else was in sight, offering him an opportunity.

He leaned over her, kissing her earnestly, inhaling her scent he had missed so dearly, relishing the tender touch of her mouth. Straightening, watching her open her eyes, a pleased smile across her mouth, he was never more thankful. “When you come home— to DC, when you’re better,” he began, searching for what he was trying to express.”

Scully nodded, patiently listening to him uncharacteristically stammer. She couldn’t imagine what this had been like for him. Keeping so much hidden, the stress and worry. She didn’t want to do that to him, it wasn’t fair to do to anyone. He didn’t deserve that.

“…I’ll clear up my calendar.” He continued, making plans for them. He seemed penitent and it hurt her to hear that in his voice.

She squeezed his hand, drawing his eye to meet her gaze. She smiled. “There’s time.” She told him.

“Slow down.”

He looked at her, trying to understand.

“I’m here.” She assured him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He reacted, dipping his head to turn away from her, something affecting him that he had to control. Gathering himself he lifted his head, looking at her, nodding in agreement with what she’d conveyed.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

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End 'Wild Horses'

More to come.

#The In-Between Fics #xfiles #the xfiles #walter skinner #dana scully #fox mulder #skinner scully fanfic #skinner #scully #xfiles fanfic #Post Episode #XF Tithonus #complimentary mints

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goldenavenger02 · 6 months

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I keep hanging on

Arin learns just how much resilience his teacher has. Lloyd would rather no one worry, especially not his student

Takes place after The Battle of the Second Monastery

When they emerged into the winding hallway that led to the Monastery of Spinjitzu, the first thing Arin did was force himself to look over at his teacher who was pale and unconscious in Zane's arms.

It made his stomach twist uncomfortably; every time he had seen the ninja fight, they were always okay by the end.

He had heard about the fight against the former Jade princess Harumi where she had teamed up with Lord Garmadon and subsequently brought New Ninjago City to its knees, but he had been too young to remember the events and every fight after that had been successful. He had been given no reason to assume that this one would be no different.

And yet, the current events spiraling around him filled his thoughts with both worry and doubt that they had fully won. ‘You can’t win if not everyone is standing by your side.’

Arin didn’t understand why seeing his teacher so vulnerable and so hurt reminded him of the events of The Merge, specifically being swept away from his parents, but the emerging of that thought forced nausea down his throat with a sudden wave.

He was unable to shake the feeling even when Sora tapped his shoulder which effectively brought him to the task at hand, which happened to be figuring out what to do with several very large dragons.

“Maybe I should go make sure Lloyd is okay.” Arin suggested, only to be shot down quickly by his best friend.

“Nya, Kai and Zane know what to do. We have to make sure all of them,” she stopped to wave her hand in a gesture towards the dragons, “are okay.”

Even though Arin relented quickly, knowing that he would be more helpful with Sora and Wyldfire, he still couldn’t shake the sinking worry that filled his mind and his gut when he thought back to Lloyd’s nearly white face as he let out shallow breaths while being held onto tightly by Zane.

But all he could do was wait on answers.

One Week Later

“Zane, for the last time, I am fine.” Lloyd insisted as he sat on the end of his bed while Zane ran a vital check, “I just got a little dizzy, that’s all. That happens when you’re unconscious for six days.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Zane concluded as he finished running the diagnostic, “but making sure it wasn’t due to what happened before you collapsed is just a precaution.”

“I know,” Lloyd agreed with a nod and wishing that maybe, just maybe, he could go for the rest of his life without having another bone chilling vision like the one he had while freeing the dragons, “can you send Arin in here? I want to make sure he’s okay.”

“Of course,” Zane nodded and started to go to the door before stopping to look Lloyd in the eyes with a mix of admiration and pride, “you’re doing a good job with both of them.”

Lloyd couldn’t do anything but sit there in astonishment as Zane left the room; he knew that he was doing the same amount of teaching and guiding that he did for the other ninja when Krux and Acronix had become the center of their attention years ago, but hearing he was doing a good job, that was new.

He didn’t have a lot of time to focus on that, however, because Arin’s head poked through the door like a small child and he knew that he had to assure his student that he was fine in case they were attacked again before he really was one hundred percent.

“Arin, you can come in,” Lloyd insisted, waiting until the teenager closed the door behind him before asking, “are you okay?”

“Am I- I’m not the one who’s having dizzy spells and passing out because of dragon powers and having terrifying visions-”

“Okay, I get it, I get it,” Lloyd insisted, standing up and walking forward to place his hand on Arin’s shoulder, thankful that the dizziness had passed, at least for now, “take a deep breath, okay? I will be fine.”

“You don’t know that.” Arin protested, but Lloyd just shushed him until he calmed down some before leading him over to sit down on the bed beside him and pulling up his sleeves, hearing Arin gasp.

“All of these, and the ones here,” Lloyd pointed to his torso, “and here,” pointing to his legs, “are all from being a ninja.” Lloyd pulled down his sleeves before looking back at Arin, “I am not saying that to scare you, or to make you more worried about me. I’m saying that because I have been doing this for a very long time and I am always okay.”

“What about when you aren’t?”

“Yeah, there have been some close calls,” Lloyd admitted, his hand subconsciously going to the back of his head and the fight in Kryptarium Prison, “but nothing has gotten me yet; a little bit of dizziness isn’t enough to stop me and it’s definitely not something that you need to worry about.”

“What if it is?”

“You’ll know if it is,” Lloyd insisted as they both stood up and started to head for the door, “but for now, you need to get back to training.”

“Are you training too?” Arin questioned with a raised eyebrow that reminded him of the many times when Nya was very disapproving of Lloyd’s actions after he had suffered some sort of trauma.

“No, I’ll just be observing. The others would kill me if I tried to train like this.”

“Is it bad that I’m grateful for that?” Arin questioned and Lloyd couldn’t help but smile when he gave his response while holding the door open for both of them to pass through.

“Not at all.”

#ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago: dragons rising #my writing #family #light whump #ninjago arin #ninjago sora #ninjago zane #lloyd garmadon #post episode #mild angst #friendship #team as family #Lloyd becoming a sensei and learning how to do what his uncle did for years is my new favorite trope

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mydetheturk · 1 year

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Trigun Stampede (Anime 2023) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Vash the Stampede & Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Meryl Stryfe & Vash the Stampede, Roberto & Meryl Stryfe & Vash the Stampede & Nicholas D. Wolfwood Characters: Meryl Stryfe, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Roberto (Trigun Stampede), Vash the Stampede (Trigun) Additional Tags: Post-Episode 7: Wolfwood, Roberto is the best, Minor Injuries, Alien Biology, Exhaustion, plant Vash Summary:

In hindsight, it's obvious what Vash is. Right here, right now, though, Vash is in danger. He is, however, heavy, and that means the others need to hunker down until its safe again.

My first trigun fic!

In the aftermath, Vash sleeps. Meryl and Wolfwood are reluctant to leave him alone and vulnerable on the Steamer, so Roberto finds the first set of bunks he can that will hold all four of them.

It’s not a big room.

None of them care.

Roberto had figured Vash isn’t human. He’s too fast, his reactions too sharp and eerie to be normal. His eyes are the same shade as a healthy plant, under the amber glasses that he wears.

The three of them finagle Vash’s prosthetic off first. It’s damaged, heavy, and will be in the way when they try to get off his coat.

Read the rest on AO3

#trigun stampede #trigun #vash the stampede #meryl strife #roberto de niro #nicholas d. wolfwood #post episode #myde writes #this is the roommate's fault i love them but god damn it

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missnancychavez · 1 year

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I had a thought for this and then I started writing. I don't know how much I actually like this, but if goes to my drafts, it's not coming out so, here.

Fandom: FBI

Pairing: OA Zidan x Maggie Bell

I Heard

She knew exactly who was at the door whe she heard the knock and she scoffed. She stormed over and opened it, rolling her eyes at her partner standing sheepishly on her stoop.

"You could've used your key" she spit out, spinning on her heel to pick up Elmo, her eight month old kitten that she had gotten, from OA no less, after the first stint where he couldn't get to her place for a few days due to a case.

"He'll keep you company when I can't " OA had reasoned at her eye roll

"Yes, but who will keep him company when I come back?" She had retorted,

"Well, then we'll get him a friend"

"I, um, I know you're mad, and I get it. But I brought you take out, and I hoped that maybe we could talk? I want to explain."

"Explain what, OA. I think you made yourself pretty damn clear earlier. You are supposed to trust me."

"I do trust you, you know I do. I'm just worried okay? You almost didn't make it, and it would have been my fault." His words enraged her even more, he wasn't her god damn protector. He was her partner, her equal.

"I'm not a child, you don't need to hold my hand" she fumed as he stood awkwardly in her living room, takeout in hand.

This wasn't what he imagined when he had come over to apologise. He knew he was out of line, but he was just trying to help. He needed to keep her safe. She stormed into her kitchen, filling Elmo's food bowl as she tried to avoid her partner's gaze. OA followed her, looking at her every move. The small grey kitten, rubbed up against his ankle. He quickly kneeled down and gave him a scratch, breathing out before speaking quietly.

"Maggie, I was-"

"Trying to protect me, OA, I know! But that's not an excuse. This is my job! You are supposed to trust me and I told you that I didn't take anything. You didn't believe me. You haven't believed me all day when I've said I'm okay."

"Because I'm not okay!" He exploded and Maggie spun to look at him, astonished.

"What?" She spoke, her tone softer than it had been moments prior.

"I'm not okay Maggie! You almost died and I cant- okay, I can't lose you, I love you and I cannot lose you."

"I-what?"

"The last six and a half months, since you've come home, the only thing I've had to worry about is whether you'd trip over Elmo. And now you're back, and I've realised how I feel and I need to learn how to work next to you with those feelings, because you are my partner, first and foremost and I can't lose you. In any capacity-"

He was silenced as she looped her hands around his neck and pulled him down, her lips meeting his roughly. OA snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him. He moved her against her counter and hoisted her up so that she sat on her countertop. Her hands moved from his shoulders to his cheeks and she stroked her thumbs against his skin. She pulled back and rest her forehead against his, staying there until Elmo meowed from somewhere behind him.

"OA," she whispered and he opened his eyes to stare at her. When had he even closed them? "You aren't the only one who was scared. Who is scared. And you aren't the only one who has feelings."

"Maggie, I don't-"

"I love you too, I'm still furious, but you need to know that. And I heard you. At the hospital. I'm not going anywhere, okay? Regardless of what this becomes, you aren't getting rid of me that easy" she whispered. Maggie slid off the counter, and grabbed the food from where it has landed on the stool when she had kissed him. She pulled him to the living room couch, where Elmo was already curled up. She put the food the coffee tablee before turning back to OA, tucking her leg underneath her.

"I need to know that no matter what, I can trust you. That this" she gestured between the two of them "isn't going to affect how we work together. Because I can't lose you either. In any capacity. You are the best partner I could have ever asked for. And I want this, but I don't know if I can give up you as my partner."

"We have a lot to figure out still, don't we?" He asked, bringing his hand to her cheek. She nodded and he moved closer. "I'm sorry for making you think I didn't trust you, Maggie. I neeed you to know that I'm all in. This, this is what I want, Mags. At work, at home. All of it."

"I want it too" She whispered and this time he moved first, slanting his lips against hers in a chaste kiss. "I love you" He murmured against her mouth.

"I love you OA" she replied, before pulling back and turning to the food. "Now, let's eat before it gets cold."

End

#zibell #oa zidan #maggie bell #fbi cbs #oa zidan x maggie bell #maggie bell x oa zidan #post episode #Elmo the cat #zeeko zaki #missy peregrym

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dreamingofscully · 2 years

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5/c (Rx).

part 2 of written in the cards (read part 1: xvii. the star)

t / post-alpha / wc: 2930 / mourning, memories, friendship / no beta / ao3 / @today-in-fic

mulder remembers scully’s promise from the last time they were in california

***

As the ambulances drove away, their lights and sirens disappearing into the fog of a breaking dawn, Scully leaned against the hood of the car next to Mulder. It had been a long night. Making sure Karen’s body was in good hands. Making sure Mulder was okay. As much as he could be.

He was staring off into the distance, every bark and clang of fencing making him wince.

“What’s going to happen to them now?” he asked.

Scully tilted her head, knowing his question wasn’t about the dogs so much as the fact that Karen had loved them. “I’m sure they’ll be taken care of, Mulder. They’ll be placed into good homes. You weren’t her only ally, just the only one that came out to see her.” Laying her hand atop Mulder’s arm, she leaned forward. “She wouldn’t have done this if she didn’t know.”

Mulder stood up abruptly, wrenching open the driver’s side door of their car and slumping in his seat. It was the thing no one talked about. Karen led them astray, so she could what? Try to reason with the creature herself? Did she realize she’d be unsuccessful, forging ahead regardless of the risk? It reminded her of someone else. Someone sitting only a few feet away from her and yet miles away.

Mulder didn’t look at her as she got in and buckled her seat belt. He twisted the key in the ignition and drove away, leaving the calls of Karen’s orphaned dogs behind them.

***

Scully was emerging from the shower, steam billowing from the small room into the main space. Thoughts of Karen filled her head. Of Mulder. At the rage that boiled up when she’d met the woman and learned she’d lured him out here. The last thing he needed was another woman stringing him along. Using him. Her brilliant profiler, her friend, led astray so easily by the promise of companionship, of friendship, pulling him inevitably away from her.

Wasn’t I enough?

Scully ran the towel through her hair and tried not to think about what that meant. Karen was dead. She couldn’t manipulate him. Maybe Scully had been wrong to think that was her motivation. Mulder was allowed to have friends apart from herself. He should expand his horizons, instead of everything being about the X-Files. Isn’t that what she’d been telling him, to ‘get out of the car’? If that meant inviting other people into his life, so be it.

As she dressed, she didn’t look at herself in the mirror. In her reflection, she’d see the lie written across her face. She barely had him now, and wanted more. All she had to do was say something.

Impossible.

A knock on the door interrupted her reverie. She’d expected more time. A nap, at least, but she suppressed her flash of irritation with a sigh. It wasn’t perfect, this ‘sympatico’ that they’d found themselves in. After their trip to SeaWorld, it felt like the world started to right itself. Their relationship unsteadily making its way back to how it had always been.. before. A memory made itself unwelcome in the forefront of her mind, as it had many times in the past several months. Mulder’s hallway. His words. Everything else he couldn’t say blazing out from his eyes. The way his mouth opened as they leaned towards each other. Pulling her towards him like gravity. No, stronger than that. Like the force that kept neutrons and protons bound together in its nucleus. Fundamental. Necessary. Inescapable.

She shook her head to banish the images, back into the corner where they lurked.

When she opened the door, Mulder was leaning against the doorframe, hair damp from his own shower. The westward rising sun blazed behind him, turning him into a mere silhouette. Passing her, invading her room, she took a deep breath and wished for the courage to say what she wanted, despite knowing it wouldn’t come. It would remain there, locked beneath her throat. Until her deathbed, she thought.

He wore a light gray t-shirt and jeans. So damned good. It was unfair. Despite his lack of sleep the night before, same as herself, he seemed alert and ready for whatever the day threw at him. Instead of a smile and bright eyes, though, his face was drawn and his thoughts hidden.

“Ready?”

“Not even time for a quick nap, Mulder? What’s the rush?”

He smiled then, small and quiet. “You can sleep in the car.”

“A whole twenty minutes? Thanks.”

“We’re not going to the airport, Scully. Did you forget?”

Even though they went through this dance many times over their years together, Mulder challenging her about one extreme theory or another, he never made her feel stupid when he made her guess. That first time he wanted to stump her, but after responding with a quick riposte of her own, dredged up from some corner of her mind, it became a game. A duel. Like they’d finally found someone worthy of the wit and knowledge crammed inside their brains.

This time though, she couldn’t come up with an answer, so she stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You said next time we came back, you’d show me where you really went, instead of spending your summers with the dolphins.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she felt heat begin to rise on her chest. “I didn’t… uh…”

His face, animated for the first time since they’d learned about Karen, fell. “If you don’t want to show me, I can change the tickets. I got the red-eye again. But you’re tired, of course you’re–”

“Of course I want to show you, Mulder.” She reached forward, closing the gap between them. Taking his hand, she squeezed. He entwined his fingers within hers, and they held hands as they stood there. The room sunk in on all sides. It was just her and him. Why did touching him feel so natural, and yet it was only in the face of tragedy that she allowed herself to do it?

“Alright, Scully.” His mouth tilted up in a smile. “Well, you’re gonna have to tell me if what I’m wearing is appropriate. Or… you could just tell me where we’re going and I can decide for myself.” He winked, and let go of her hand, bouncing on his heels.

For someone who loved to keep every story he told, every mystery they investigated, a mystery until the very end, he was being very impatient when the situation was reversed. Well, she wasn’t about to miss this opportunity to make him squirm.

Taking a step backwards, Scully laid a finger at her lips and pretended to inspect Mulder from head to toe. Even she couldn’t deny the warmth that spread from her belly as she eyed him over. The hint of muscle through his t-shirt. The way his jeans hugged his hips. His toned arms spread outwards as he preened under her gaze. The cocky grin and uncertain eyes.

“You’re fine,” she said, turning away to hide the heat in her face.

“Just fine?!”

Scully shrugged. “I have to change, though. I’ll be out in a few.”

Exactly ten minutes later, she joined him. He was leaning against the hood of the car, parked right in front of her room. She’d changed into a similar outfit, though had to make do with what she packed coming out here: jeans, tennis shoes, and a button down t-shirt. Thankfully, after working with Mulder long enough she knew to pack something that wouldn’t be ruined after tramping around in the woods or through a sewer. You would think she was wearing a negligee or a naughty nun costume by the way Mulder ogled her.

“What?”

“I like seeing you like this, Scully.”

“Well, if you didn’t invent an X-File every time we saw each other, maybe you’d get to see it more.” What possessed her to say it, she couldn’t be sure, but Mulder nodded at her over the roof of their rented Ford. And it was as if two tons of steel didn’t separate them. He didn’t smile, his face entirely serious.

“Noted.”

A shiver ran up her spine as she tucked into the passenger seat, though she didn’t think it was from the unusually chilly morning weather.

***

She didn’t nap. The prospect of visiting her past and sharing it with Mulder had energized her. But it had been a silent drive, Mulder’s melancholy preventing him from his usual endless chatter about one strange fact or another. It wasn’t uncomfortable, though, not like it had been for the past several months. He was content to exist in her space again. Wasn’t itching to run off and be anywhere she wasn’t. Perhaps that idea had all been in her head, but she didn’t think so. Whenever they talked, she’d have to ask him where his head went after Diana came back into his life, after Antarctica, but for now she’d settle for things resembling the rapport they’d always had. Before.

“This next exit, Scully?”

“Yup. Then keep on the road like you’re going to SeaWorld.”

Mulder fidgeted in his seat, taking a seed from the pile he’d placed into the empty ashtray at the beginning of their trip. After more than two hours, she’d refilled it about three times. They’d stopped for a late breakfast, but she’d learned by now his habit wasn’t about hunger. It was a way to fill the space. To help him think. To occupy that beautiful mouth when he couldn’t form words or use it for other purposes.

The wind from her cracked window wove through her hair, and she’d given up on taming the mass of curls. The chill gave way to the usual heat as mid-morning gave way to the cusp of afternoon, her jacket long-abandoned and hanging on the back of her seat. And like the flowers that dotted the highway, her face turned towards the sun. She closed her eyes, feeling the heat, knowing that too much of it was a bad thing. Needing it anyways.

With every mile they drove, memories kept popping up in her mind. Missy. Her mother and father. The other teenagers they’d hung out with. The feeling of freedom she learned to embrace after going against her parents. The shock of adrenaline at her tiny rebellions that summer. And even now, her mom didn't know she’d absconded from the safety of the theme park to hang out with her sister.

Most of her thoughts turned to 16-year old Missy. Carefree, even back then. Everything she thought she wanted to be, but knew she could never emulate. After the summer was over, Scully turned back to her responsibilities. Getting good grades. Pleasing her parents, especially her father. Doing what they expected. But the strongest memories were the ones where she acted most unlike herself. Or was that really who she was? It was fuzzy, especially now. Especially with Mulder sitting beside her in the car, the world whizzing by at 60 miles an hour. Their relationship as ill-defined as the scenery they drove past.

One thing was clear, though. Today, they would both mourn.

“Turn here, Mulder.”

He peered around, taking in everything around him as they drove past tourists turning into SeaWorld and residents with shaggy hair and towels under their arms heading to the beach. It was more of the latter that they drove past as she directed him forward. The path embedded in her brain, though she took it on foot two decades in the past, and the shops and details were different. And yet, the same. Girls with bikinis in packs of two or more, giggling as they played hooky from school and prepared to lie on the beach. Guys in their own groups, fooling around and racing each other for the same reason, on skateboards or running with surfboards tucked under their arms.

Mulder parked next to a line of desert broom, its spindly branches brown and leafless at this time of year. Unbuckling his seat belt, he turned towards Scully, his arm laid across their seats.

“I didn’t know you were a beach bunny, Scully.”

“For a summer I was.”

“Where’s your bikini?” He grinned. She gave him a look, and he hoisted his lanky frame from the car, stretching and looking around them as Scully got herself ready. Sunscreen. Her sunglasses. Her wallet and badge, just in case. And her courage.

A concrete path winded through the sand towards the pier, and that’s where she led him. It was quieter here, just like it had been back then, though a few courageous surfers braved the undertow, heedless of the warning signs that told them of the dangers. Seagulls circled overhead, diving down into the sparkling blue-green ocean for food. Mulder tossed seeds retrieved from his pockets as they walked in a meandering path, testing the hot sand with bare feet, but Scully didn’t stray from the concrete, her arms crossed over her chest. It was hot, but the memories made her feel cold, vulnerable. The sea breeze fluttered their hair, and the familiar combination of scents - salt and sand and spicy plumeria flowers - made her want to sink inside herself.

Mulder’s gentle smile brought her forward.

They sat on the sand in the shade of the pier, heedless of dirtying their clothes. Shoes and socks discarded beside them, they dug their toes into the sand. Sitting here like this was normal for him, but for her, it was like visiting her past. Returning to someone she thought she lost, and someone she did. Herself, and her sister.

“So it was a boy, then.”

Scully gave him a noncommittal shrug, then continued watching the surfer that nearly crashed against the giant wooden posts jutting out of the water. At least she was a doctor and could intervene if he was hurt.

“How’d you find this place?”

“Missy.”

“Ah.”

“It took her about a week to convince me,” she smiled, remembering her fear about being caught, knowing it was all for nothing. Back then, though, it felt like the biggest thing in the world. “We hung out with her friends. Smoked a bit of pot, though Missy put a stop to that and I stuck to a puff or two of a cigarette instead. We ate junk food and drank soda and beer. It was all so daring and naughty back then, but so innocent now that I think back on it.”

“Did you meet a guy?”

She tilted her head to look at him. Sunglasses perched on his head, eyes squinting at her. “What is your obsession with teenage Dana and boys, Mulder?” she teased.

He had the grace to turn a bit red, though he leaned closer. “It’s a side of you I don’t know, yet.”

Yet, she thought. They looked at each other for a few long moments, flicking from one eye to another at this close distance. And she couldn’t help it, her eyes fell to his mouth. Wet and plush. She tore her gaze away, back to the water, feeling warm despite the cool shade sheltering them beneath the pier.

“There was a boy. Gerry. He was Missy’s age, and she wasn’t impressed. For good reason. We kissed. He tried to feel me up.” Her face burned. What possessed her to give him details, she’d never know. “But that’s it. I never saw him again. Next summer I went to science camp and after that I was too focused on the future. What I remember most isn’t him, though, it's being with her. Missy. Whispering to each other. Passing me her beer. The way she looked at me, seeming to know everything before I felt it. Her implicit approval of me, despite our differences.”

The silence hung heavy between them.

“I’m sorry, Scully.”

A lump formed in her throat, and she swallowed. “Me too.”

They sat there, underneath the pier, watching the waves and the birds and the other people in the water or walking past. Their hands found each other, and they held on, fingers intertwined, lying against the few inches of soft sand between them. The sun peeked over the corner of the pier, bathing Mulder’s feet in a triangle of light while she remained in shadow.

“I’m sorry about Karen. And…” Scully sighed. “I’m sorry for thinking she was bad for you, Mulder.”

“Maybe she was.”

“Not everyone–”

“I know,” he said harshly. He paused, then spoke again. “I’m sorry, too. It hasn’t been… easy.”

“Yeah.”

He squeezed her hand, but didn’t pull away, and neither did she. Her hand pale and his tanned. You couldn’t look at them and believe it was one person. They wouldn’t ever blend together seamlessly. But perhaps it was a good thing. She would always be herself, and he would always be Mulder. As much as he frustrated her sometimes, she wouldn’t want it to be different. Except for his penchant for sticking his fingers into mysterious substances - she’d had enough of that to last her several lifetimes.

As they sat together, lost in their own thoughts, she took comfort in the simple touch of his hand. She hoped it would stick. That he wouldn’t remember that he shouldn’t, and pull his hand away.

When the sun blazed at them, shining in their eyes as it moved westward into mid afternoon, they got up and made their way back to the car. In one hand her shoes dangled from her grasp, and in the other she held onto the hand of her partner. Her friend.

#xf fanfic #msr #mulder and scully #post episode #one of my favourite topics #missy #no beta #season 6 #making their way towards something

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