Disclaimer:  The characters in this piece of
fiction are the property of Chris Carter, 1013
Productions and Fox Broadcasting.  No
infringement is intended.  Any other characters
are the property of the author, Diana Alexander.

Rating: PG

Classification: VRH

Timeline: Fourth Season

Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance

Summary:  Mulder discusses a woman and an event
with someone who insists on interrupting.

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I Have Been Blind
By: Diana Alexander
(dmulder@nettaxi.com)
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You know, sometimes something can be right in
front of you and things blind you to it until one
moment when you're struck with a sudden clarity.
For me, it was a woman.  A wonderfully
understanding, strong willed woman that I loved
for a long time without knowing it.

"Mulder, have you always been this dense?"

I'm not going to answer that.  I already know I'm
dense.  You've told me numerous times, Storm, as
has another friend of mine.

"Get on with the story, already."

I'm trying to!  When she was first assigned to
work with me, I knew with a shocking clarity that
she was sent to spy on me.  Don't ask me how I
knew this.  I just knew, and besides, I turned
out to be wrong anyway.  Yeah, I know, I know.
This is no big surprise for people who know me.

"Damn right, Foxie... continue."

I will, Stormie, if you'll just shut up...
Anyway, over time, we grew close, as partners
often do. Since it slowly came to be me and her
against the world, we were our only friends.
Especially since I noticed that most of her
friends either had their own lives and families
or had become jerks since she'd drifted away from
them.

"I resemble that remark, Mulder."

Maybe that's the problem, Storm.  I was the exact
opposite of my partner, though, since I've been a
loner my entire life.  What a pair we are, eh?

"Mulder, is there a point to this?"

Yes, Storm, there's a point to this.  Now shut
up.

"Don't you think they should know what her name
is, G-man?"

I didn't say what her name was?

"No, you didn't."

Well, like I was saying before I was interrupted,
I've been best friends with Dana Scully for six
years before we decided to change the nature of
our relationship.

"Oh, so there's a point to this story?  Shock,
shock."

Geez, I've known Storm Austin for about two years
now, and I have yet to get used to her.  I really
wish she'd shut up.

"Okay, G-man, I'll let you tell your cute little
story."

God, I hate when she smirks so knowingly like
that.  Anyway, it happened about a week ago.
There was some big FBI function, and Scully and I
had agreed to go to please the people who strive
to keep the X-Files open.

"Mulder, do the words 'slave to your work' mean
anything to you?"

Like I was saying, we had agreed to go to this
function.  I kept hoping that Scully would wear
that one red thing that she looked so good in.

"The lingerie, Mulder?"

The suit.  The dark red suit.  Storm, how the
hell am I supposed to know what Scully looks like
in red lingerie?

"Well, Mulder, the last time I heard, you had a
pretty active imagination."

I will not kill her... Dana would never forgive
me if I killed her.  Well, maybe she would if I
told her about that lingerie remark.

"Mulder, didn't you say you had a story to tell?

I would, if you'd just stop interrupting me.  I
thought you wanted to know about this.

"I do.  Go on, Mulder.  I'll shut up for a
moment."

Thank you.  Like I was saying, Scully and I were
due at a function for some important government
official.  I wasn't interested at all in going,
but Scully had told me that it would look better
for us if we did go.  I now suspect an ulterior
motive.

"Why would the Sainted Virginal Scully do
anything like that?"

Saint?  Virginal?  Scully???  I don't think so,
Storm.

"That's what she said when I told her that.
Besides, you'd know more about that than I
would.  Go on, Mulder."

I am.  Anyway, I went to pick her up at her
apartment, and she insisted upon making me wait on
her.  She who has never been late broke her rule.

"Which rule was this?"

She was late.  Horribly late.  She asked me if I
could possibly wait in the living room while she
finished getting ready, and what else could I say?
Of course I told her yes.  Then I saw her when she
finally appeared and I think my heart stopped.

"Was it worth the wait?"

Oh, was it ever... she was wearing this deep red
dress made in a teardrop design.  It shouldn't
have looked good on her, but it did.  It was as if
the dress had been specially designed for her.
And for a change, she was without those horrid
heels that hurt when I look at them.

"Why Dana wears them in the first place is beyond
me."

I don't understand it either, Storm, but she
looked stunning.  Her make up was perfect, her
hair was done in an elegant hairstyle.  I can't
think of what it's called.

"French twist?"

Maybe... but she was amazing.  It only took her
two seconds to smile and to tell me to close my
mouth before my jaw fell off.

"I'm surprised it took her that long, Mulder."

Truthfully, so am I.  Anyway, I escorted her out
to the car, and to the function, although I wish I
didn't have to.  With the way she looked tonight,
there would be no doubt that everyone would be
*all* over her, and I didn't really want to share
her.

"Mulder, you never want to share Dana with anyone,
why should now be any different?"

I guess you have a point, but still... all I
wanted to do was take the dress off a lot faster
than she got it on, and never leave the bedroom.
She hadn't looked that well since before she got
the cancer...

"Mulder, Dana's cancer was not your fault, and
it's in remission now.  Both of you have the right
to feel good, no matter what you think.  Continue,
please."

I spent the entire evening watching enviously as
men drooled over her.  Even Skinner was doing so,
but he wasn't as blantant about it as most of them
were.  I was grateful for that.  She saved the
last dance for me, though.  It was a slow song,
and the rest of the world seemed to disappear.

"It always does when it's just the two of you,
Mulder.  I'm surprised that you haven't noticed
that before now."

I have... just haven't thought about it much.  But
during that dance, she looked up at me, and I just
*knew*.  I knew how she felt.  I feel like I've
been so blind...

"That's because you have, Mulder.  Both of you
have.  Been blind, I mean.  She had the same
thoughts and worries about you feeling the same
way.  Trust me, Mulder; other than you, I know her
the best."

So anyway, I brought her back to her apartment,
and that's the end of the story.

"Oh, c'mon, Mulder, can't you give me a few little
details?"

Do the words "Too much information" mean anything
to you, Storm Austin?

"Have they ever?"

You do have a point.  However, Dana will kill me
if I give you details about that.  Better ask her
yourself.  Hell, she'll probably kill me anyway
once she finds out that I told you.

"You're probably right...."

*    *    *    *    *

Across town, the redheaded woman sitting in front
of the computer slid the huge headphones off her
head with a smirk, murmuring to herself. "No, I
wouldn't kill either of you... just make you think
I would.  The threat is worse than the action."

"Scully?" Frohike walked up behind her, and she
flashed him a smile.

"I'm glad you told me about this, Frohike.  And
made tapes of the conversation.  I'll have to get
them for this."

She smiled enigmatically and slipped out of the
Lone Gunmen's headquarters, leaving Frohike there
alone to set up the equipment again.  If Scully
was going to "get them for this", he wanted to
have the recordings of it.

*    *    *    *    *

-End-
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Diana Alexander                                 dmulder@polbox.com
   Visit the Movie Fic Archive: http://members.xoom.com/DiMulder

              "You made me a whole person."
             --Fox Mulder, Fight the Future
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