This story is based on the characters and situations created by Cris Carter,
Ten Thirteen Productions and Fox Broadcasting. Used without permission and
no infringement is intented.

This is the third part of a trilogy. The first two were called "Alone" and
"Running" respectively.  
-SciNut(O'tay!), Host of the America Online E-Mail X-creative Club(EMXC)

MONDAY
By Michele Blankenship
(aka Phenyx@aol.com)
01-07-95


9:45 am

  Dana Scully was trying to keep herself occupied by rearranging the papers
on one counter in Mulder's office. She had been in the room , arranging
these same papers, since 8:00AM. Scully didn't want to fool with any of the
other junk in Mulder's realm, he wouldn't be able to find anything if she
moved it. 
  The particular things that Scully was now moving about were actually
stacked on the small area of the counter that Mulder had cleared for Dana's
stuff. Not that Dana ever left anything in this office, but Mulder's
half-hearted attempt to make room for her had been touching. As a result,
Scully always made a point of puttering around in "her area".
  However, at this point in time, Scully had been messing around with the
same pile of garbage for nearly two hours and she was getting annoyed. Dana
had already made the decision to go out and hunt for Mulder if he didn't
show up by ten. He was rarely late for work. Scully was quickly alternating
from annoyance to worry.
  Granted, Mulder had taken off without notice before. But, for some reason,
Scully was still worried. He had left her apartment so suddenly yesterday
afternoon. He wouldn't even let Scully drive him to his destination.
  Scully shook her head in frustration. Mulder had probably just remembered
a date of some sort. He could still be with that date for all Scully knew.
She slammed a book down onto the counter, suddenly angry again. Mulder had
exactly eight minutes to show up, then Scully was going to form a search
party, regardless of where he was OR who he was with.
  Luckily, Mulder picked this exact moment to walk through the door.
  "Mulder!", Scully exclaimed. "Where have you been?"
  "Home." He mumbled. Without even glancing her way, Mulder went straight
to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup.
  "I've been waiting." she said lamely.
  Mulder sat down and pretended to search through his desk for something.
This was going to be harder than he he had anticipated. He had wanted to
just come in here, gather his courage with one deep breath, and come
straight out and ask Scully what had happened on Saturday night. But now,
he couldn't even meet her gaze. His stomach was doing crazy flips and he
was feeling nauseous.
  Mulder had been up all night, trying to remember what had happened after
Scully had driven him home from the bar. But all he could recall was a deep
gut-wrenching kiss. He knew that he had kissed her passionately. He knew
that he had responded physically to his arousal. But he simply couldn't
remember what had occured after that kiss.
  During the long hours of the night, Mulder's imagination had run rampant.
He had thought up all kinds of different scenarios and had played them all
out in his mind. He had finally decided on a few facts: first, he had wanted
Dana desperately; second, she would never have agreed to get intimate; and
third, whatever *had* happened, Scully was now hiding it from him.
  Worst of all, Mulder had, by now, convinced himself that he had gone
further than he could remember and that he had done it without Scully's
consent. Mulder felt like Hell.
  Dana watched Mulder in silence for several minutes, her anger gone. He
looked terrible. His hair was a mess, looking as though he had combed it
with his fingers. His eyes had a deep haunted look to them. His skin was so
pale that she wondered if he may be feverish or ill. He kept avoiding
Scully's gaze. Mulder only sat at his desk for a moment or two before he was
up pacing the length of the room like a caged panther.
  Dana had known Mulder long enough to realize that there was something that
he wanted to tell her. However, she had also known him long enough to know
that pushing him wouldn't help. Scully just had to wait for him to be ready
to talk.
  "Scully..." Mulder eventually began.
  Rather than continue, Mulder paced the room a few more times. He rubbed
his temples hard. Scully was really beginning to worry now.
  Finally, Mulder came over, grabbed Scully by both arms and said, "Scully,
I want you to be totally open and honest with me now, okay?" He still
wouldn't look her in the eye, but instead gazed intently at her neatly
trimmed fingernails.
  "Of course." She replied with concern.
  Mulder released her hands and paced across the room again, finally
stopping in the corner next to the filing cabinet. Without turning, still
facing the wall he asked quietly "Scully, what happened the other night?
After you took me home on Saturday?"
  Scully frowned, what was he up to? she wondered.
  "Nothing." she said. "I took you back to your apartment, planted you on
your couch and left." she answered simply.
  Mulder folded his arms on top of the filing cabinet and leaned head
against the cold metal. "I remember, Scully. I remember that we kissed."
he whispered.
  An inkling of understanding began to dawn for Scully. "Oh." was all she
could think to say.
  "What else happened?" he demanded. Mulder's eyes felt hot and dry.
  "Nothing." she answered again.
  Mulder whirled around and wailed in anguish, "Dana! I need the truth from
you. What happened? Did we... did I...?"
  Scully stared across the room at her friend. He was leaning against the
wall in one corner, his head hanging low.
  "I swear, Mulder, on my father's grave, there was nothing else." she
crossed the room, placed one hand under his chin and forced him to look at
her. His hazel eyes shimmered.
  "We kissed..." his voice quavered.
  "Yes," Scully began, "And it was a very nice kiss too. But nothing more
than a kiss."
  Mulder closed his eyes and, sighing with relief, slid to a crouched
position on the floor.
  Upon seeing his reaction, Scully was suddenly incredibly angry. Why
should he be so relieved that they hadn't slept together? More importantly,
why did his relief actually cause her so much pain?
  Scully's anger vanished as quickly as it had come. She slumped her
shoulders and tried to swallow back a few bitter tears.
  Mulder was still sitting on the floor, his face buried in his hands. "I
thought..." he began.
  Scully sniffed. "You thought what, Mulder? You thought that we may have
slept together? Do you find that idea *so* abhorent?"
  "No." he answered in confusion as he looked up at her from his position on
the floor. "Dana, I thought that I had..." his voice dropped to little more
than a whisper. "had... forced you into something. Against your wishes,
I mean."
  Understanding suddenly flowed across Scully's face. She crouched down
beside him on the floor.
  "You're talking about rape?" Mulder flinched at her remark. "Mulder, I
don't think that would be possible."
  Mulder looked at her with misery in his eyes. "I'm capable of a lot of
terrible things, Scully. I even frighten myself sometimes."
  Scully nodded. "That may be true, but in order for such an action to be
considered rape," Scully paused, "I would have to say 'No'."
  Mulder's eyes grew wide. The room seemed to suddenly get very small and
Scully seemed to be sitting very close.
  Dana saw his reaction and began talking rapidly, "Come on, Mulder. Lets
be reasonable about this. You and I are two healthy, unattached adults who
happen to spend a great deal of time together." 
  Mulder continued to stare at her in stunned silence.
  Dana continued, "Well, it would only be normal if we should happen to
be...curious."
  Mulder rewarded her with a small smile. "Maybe a little more than
*curious*. After all, Scully, I have seen you in your underwear."
  She smiled back, "I've seen you in your underwear too, remember?"
  Mulder stood and walked to his desk to retrieve his coffee. He stirred
the brew thoughtfully.
  After a few moments he said, "So what do we do now?"
  Scully stood and brushed off the seat of her trousers, "What do you mean?"
  "Now that we've admitted a mutual attraction for each other."
  Dana smiled again. "Did you admit to something? Funny, I didn't quite hear
anyone admit to anything."
  "Dana," he complained. "You're my best friend. I don't want to screw
that up."
  "No one says that we have to." she said.
  Mulder's shoulders slumped again. "What if something happens again."
  Scully threw up her hands in mock horror. "God forbid!" After a moment
she continued, "Would it really be so bad, Mulder?"
  He stepped close to her and gripped Scully's chin with one hand. "If it
meant losing what we have now...yes, it would be bad. I don't want to risk
losing you."
  Scully nodded. "We should try not to worry about it. If it happens,
- it happens. Don't dwell on the subject."
  Mulder laughed. "Don't dwell on it she says." He glanced naughtily at Dana. 
"You know what they say men do every 30 seconds, don't you?"
  Scully smiled and answered knowingly, "Yes. Do men really think about sex
every thirty seconds?"
  "Yep." Mulder grinned.
  Scully leaned toward him conspiratorily. "Do you want to know a secret?"
she whispered. "Women think about it even more."
  They laughed. They both knew that they would someday have to resolve their
feelings for each other but, for now, they would remain friends.


END.

