All characters excepting Jack Kelley and Danny Claire are copyright 1995
Chris Carter and Co., no copyright infringement intended...Jack is out of
my own twisted mind, as is Danny. Story and aforementioned characters are
mine, copyright to Sarah(Ra) Johnson(namely, me=), but am I gonna sue you
if you take it? I don't think so. I'm too busy reading the other lovely
stories on this newsgroup that are all so much better than mine(humble
grin).Besides, why would you want to?

Basic Plot: Mulder meets an old high-school friend who brings back some
unpleasant memories. Not paranormal stuff, not(much) romance, just a little
food for thought(over lunch) about how he must have had it as a teenager. 
BTW...X-Contact is a little tipoff I got about a Files movie coming out in
96. (Guess I should have called him Jack Duchovny...)  Away we go!


Auld Acquaintance

     Mulder was in a nether region; feet up on his desk, he was *almost*
asleep, barely kept conscious by the clickings of Scully's keyboard.  He'd
just spent all morning cleaning out his desk drawers, and felt justified in
wanting to relax.  He almost didn't catch Scully's voice.
     "May I help you?"
     A deep bass voice answered.  "Ah...I'm looking for an Agent Fox
Mulder? Are you Mulder?"
     Mulder shook himself and opened his eyes.  "That would be me,
actually. What can I do for you?"  He let a note of irritation creep into
his voice, to let this guy know he had better things to do.  *Like sleep*
     He glared at the man standing in the middle of the office.  Dark suit,
tall, with a bushy black beard, beetled eyebrows, and an awful tie, the man
glared right back, his clear green eyes startling Mulder.
     "I was directed to you by a friend of mine.  He said you dealt in
special cases?"
     "It depends.  Do you have a special case?"
     "Well, it's actually more of a medical problem, but I thought you
might be interested. You see-" he reached up to his face, "I can't seem to
keep my skin on."  His voice turned to a higher pitch as beard, eyebrows,
and most of his cheeks fell away.
     Mulder's precarious position atop his chair slipped and he fell to the
floor.  Scully half-stood and stared.  Mulder was up again in an instant,
the slightly shocked expression on his face changing to one of surprised
recognition.
     "Jack Kelley!  What in hell are you doing here?"
     The tall man seemed to have lost twenty years along with his beard. 
"Looking for you, lamebrain."
     Mulder walked around his desk, taking his hand.  "You should have told
me you were coming, I would have taken the day off."
     "Ah, the artist in me demanded a grand entrance.  How are you?"
     "I'm fine.  And you?"
     Scully straightened and cleared her throat.  Mulder shot her an
apologetic look.  "Sorry.  Jack, this is Dr. Dana Scully, my partner. 
Scully, this is Jack Kelly, an old high school friend."
     "Pleased to meet you."  Scully extended her hand.
     "Charmed."  Jack grinned.  He turned back to Mulder, still smiling. 
Mulder gave a slight shake of his head in answer to Jack's unspoken
question.
     "So what brings you to DC?  Last I heard you were still in Los
Angeles."
     "You didn't hear?  I was shooting a new movie nearby and thought I'd
zoom down to visit."  Jack mimed steering a car.  Mulder smiled *Still the
actor*
     "Have you had lunch yet?  I know a great diner, down on Fifth."
     "Sounds terrific.  I'll treat."
     "Can't argue with that.  Scully, you in?"
     She had returned to her desk, holding up a file.  "Just let me tie
this up, and I'll meet you there.  Joe's, right?"
     "Yeah.  See you there."  Mulder picked up his coat and followed Jack
out.

***************************************************************************
****

     "So what's the deal with the chick?"  Jack asked as they got into
Fox's car.
     "Scully?"  Fox gave him a startled look.
     "No, the other drop-dead redhead you work with.  Yes, Scully."
     "Hm..." he tried to think of how to describe her, and their
relationship.  He never could figure it out, even for himself.  "You know
that song, 'She's Too Good For Me?' "
     "Sting?"
     "Yeah.  That pretty much sums it up."
     "She's a bitch?" he sounded dubious.
     "Naw, she's great.  It's just...we're complete opposites."
     "And you aren't..."  Jack trailed off suggestively.
     "No."
     "Ah, a very emphatic no.  Although you'd like to, huh?"
     Fox just smiled.
     They slid into a booth at Joe's, Jack ordering a burger, Fox a corned
beef sandwich and a salad for Dana.  "So what's this big movie you're
doing?"  He settled back into the vinyl booth seat.
     "It's called X-Contact.  Strictly SciFi.  Pretty bizarre."
     "And you play..."
     "The co-main character, who's actually a CIA agent.  Fair part.  How
about you?"
     Fox waved his hands.  "The office pretty much speaks for itself.  Like
you said, we handle special cases."
     "Following the dream?"
     "Gets better every day."  Fox grinned.  Dana came up behind him. 
"Sorry about that. Just closing up the Cullogh case."  Jack looked up as
she slid in next to Fox.  "The Cullogh Case!"  he put as much melodrama
into it as possible.  "Sounds interesting.  What happened?"
     Fox grimaced.  "I got the crap kicked out of me is what happened."
     "No, that happens on every case."  Dana teased.  "You should have seen
him.  By the end he was flat on his back in the mud, trapped under a tree-"
     Fox cut her off.  "Jack, don't listen to her, she's...Jack?  Hello?" 
Jack was staring into space, a nostalgic look on his face.  He shook his
head.  "Sorry.  I was just thinking about the time Fox beat up Ben
Hatcher."
     Fox moaned, "Jack!" but Dana leaned forwards.  "Fox *Mulder*?  In a
high-school fistfight?  Tell me more."
     Jack laughed.  "You should have been there.  This guy Hatcher was
making jokes about...oh, sorry..." he bit his lip.
     Fox waved it aside.  "You've gone this far, you might as well
continue.  He was making jokes about Samantha."
     Seeing that Dana understood, Jack continued.  "Anyway, Fox ignored him
until he made a crack about a would-be girlfriend, and some other stuff. 
And Fox was so cool-just picked him up by his collar and said he wasn't
worth his time.  Threw him down and walked away-"
     "That's it?"
     "No, this is the best part.  Hatcher came at him from behind, one,
two, three and Pow!  Hatcher was back in the dirt where he started, with
Fox's boot firmly planted on his neck."
     Their food arrived, and Jack waved a fry.  "That wasn't the first time
he kicked ass, either.  You almost went looking for fights, you know,"  he
said to Fox.
     "That's me; the original Rebel Without A Clue,"  Fox bit into his
sandwich.
     "I don't believe it," Dana said.
     "That's nothing new.  But it really did happen.  Let's see...  There
were the captains of the football, basketball, and track teams..."  Fox
ticked them off on his fingers.  "Also Aaron Grant and Jeff Seibel...Les
and Gary Haldeman, but not at the same time-"
     "I guess Hatcher was about the last," Jack mused.  "I still can't
believe you beat up the captain of your own team."
     "Basketball," Fox said, before Dana could ask.
     "What was the name of that girl he cracked about?  D...Danny
something?"
     "Danny Claire," Mulder said shortly, and changed the subject.
     They talked and joked until Dana reminded them they should be getting
back, and Jack swore he *had* to be at the set in half an hour.  After
dropping him off at his car and promising to come see his new movie, Mulder
and Scully returned to the basement room they shared. Mulder seemed
preoccupied.  She shook his sleeve. "Mulder? What's going on in that
computer you call a brain?"
     "Oh, nothing.  Meeting Jack just brought back a lot of memories,
that's all."
     "Not all of them pleasant?" she asked softly.  He nodded.
     "Was it true what Jack said about that boy?  He was teasing you about
Samantha?"
     "Yeah. It was...common belief at my school, and even among some of the
teachers, that...I killed her. Killed her and...hid the body."  He turned
away, closing his eyes.
     Dana gently touched his shoulder. "They tormented you, didn't they?" 
She could see she was on the mark.  She was shocked.  What kind of
person...?
     "I had an attitude anyway, and-"
     "Nothing warrants that kind of torture.  People can be very cruel."
     He nodded again, unable to speak.  When he finally found words, his
voice was hoarse. "Up to that point, and after that, the divorce...I pretty
much try to forget my life.  But my wonderful eidetic memory-"  he tapped
his forehead, "-burned every second of it into me forever.  I wanted to
die."
     *Something must have happened though* she thought. "Danny?"
     He turned back to her, his eyes full of emotion.  "She was the only
one who cared, other than Jack. Suddenly, I had a girlfriend, and I was
popular."  He smiled through his pain.  "Kind of like now.  I'm the lucky
stiff who gets to work with Dana Scully."
     She smiled back.  If he could mask his hurt, she could mask her
sadness for the boy he used to be...
     "You better not forget it, either."

End
______________________________________________________________________
-A hundred years from now, 
it will not matter what my bank 
account was, the sort of house I 
lived in, or the kind of car I 
drove. But the world may be 
different because I was important 
in the life of a boy.-
               Forrest Whitcraft(used without permission)