All those same old disclaimers still apply.  The X-Files belong to
Chris Carter, Fox and a bunch of others that I don't know about.
I'm just borrowing and am as poor as ever.   I'm not trying to step
on anyone's toes here.

This is a little sequel to my story "Unfinished Business." It would
probably be better if you read it first, but this one would be okay
on it's own provided you understand that Mulder and Scully had
tried to go back and finish up the kiss they started in the film.

Summary: Mulder and Scully really want to kiss in the hallway.
No Ros bail now.

Rating: R

Finished August 22, 1998

I don't care who posts it where as long as my name is attached.

Spoilers: The Flick, Lazarus, Small Potatoes, Tooms

"Finishing Up Business" by Macspooky@erols.com

"How the hell can a dog have ears like that anyway?" complained
Fox Mulder loudly while standing on one foot as his partner leaned
on him laughing hysterically.  Goddam Mrs. Schwartz and her
stupid mutt.  She'd been a pain in the ass since the moment she had
moved into the building six months ago.  He hated neighbors.  He
hated dogs.  At that moment, he hated the world.

"Maybe it isn't really a dog," Scully postulated.  "Maybe it's
really an alien life form sent to rescue us from the pod
people."

"Yeah, and just like everything else, it's gotta piss on Fox
Mulder," he grumbled.  Dana was laughing so hard she could
barely stand up. Suddenly, he forgot his discomfort and saw the
humor of the situation.  He had been really angry since Mrs.
Schwartz's Chihuahua, who went by the ridiculous name of ET,
had lifted its leg on his expensive suit right in the middle of
kissing Scully in his hallway.  Then he realized that it was
really wonderful to hear Dana laugh and giggle, almost as good
as kissing her, almost worth getting pissed on.yeah, by a
Chihuahua even.  He let out a chuckle, and then a deep belly
laugh and sort of hopped on one foot to his apartment.

"Drop your draws," Scully ordered firmly as she closed the door.
He looked at her dumbfounded.  Boy had he ever had fantasies about
his partner telling him to do that.  Somehow he hadn't expected it
just then.

"I'm going to run that suit right to the dry cleaner's while you
take a shower," she said.  "Um I think I might just throw away
the socks," added the ever pragmatic member of the team.

"Oh," he said trying to hide his disappointment.  A trip to the
dry cleaners wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind in his
fantasies about dropping his draws in front of Dana Scully.  On
the other hand, he hadn't gotten pissed on by a Chihuahua in his
fantasies either.  He supposed under the circumstances she
wouldn't exactly want to get naked with him and make love.

Scully deposited the pants in a plastic bag and collected the
jacket thinking it best to get the whole suit cleaned at once and
tried not to ogle too obviously as her partner hopped off to the
shower in his red silk boxers.

Mulder let the hot water pour down on him, a chuckle breaking out
every now and then.  When you thought about it, it was
really funny.really really funny.

She went to the dry cleaners she knew he frequented and decided
on the way back that she was hungry and that he probably
wouldn't have any food in the house.  Hell, he never did.  At times
she had found herself wondering if he even knew what the inside of
a grocery store looked like.  She stopped at their favorite Chinese
takeout and ordered what they both liked and  then returned to his
apartment.  He had finished his shower  and was sitting in front of
the TV in a pair of sweats.  He was bare chested.  She swallowed.
She had always liked the way he looked bare chested, although she
had been very careful not to reveal this fact to her partner.

"Hey, Scully, I didn't think you were coming back," he said.

"Well, I had to bring you this dry cleaning ticket.  I sure
wasn't going to pay for the suit.  Besides, I was hungry."  She
set the bag down on the coffee table and went to his kitchen
where she washed some plates.  Mulder had never been big on
washing dishes either.  He had flipped on the TV while she was
gone, a film about giant insects.

"Oh, cool," she said.  "Them."

"You know about 'Them'," he said surprised.

"Sure.  I used to love those movies as a kid.  You had to if you
wanted to keep up with the boys," she grinned opening
containers and dishing out food for them.  "Of course, I never
thought I'd actually be living the life if you know what I mean,
and in the films the guy and gal always used to get to kiss."

He chuckled muttering about those films not having peeing
Chihuahuas as she kicked off her shoes informing him that the
kissing part was considered the best time to go for popcorn.  Yeah,
their life was weird to put it mildly.  He supposed they ought to
talk about it, about what had happened recently, but he didn't feel
like it.  He needed normalcy for just a little while, a stupid
movie on the TV, a meal, company.

She held up a piece of chicken for him on her chopsticks and he
took it.  Funny, how well they knew each other, so many of the
little things that outsiders wouldn't pick up on, they just took for
granted about  each other.  Five years.  It had been five long years
during which he had probably spent more time with her than most
people spent with their spouse.  He fed her a shrimp.  She
licked her lower lip.  He found that to be a real turn on.  He had gone
>from thinking her rather plain, to finding her beautiful, and
now suddenly she seemed very very sexy.  How the hell had it
happened?  She looked the same as she always had except now
she was a bit worse for wear with the vestiges of the battering
she had recently taken on her face along with the after effects
of frostbite.   Still, she was incredibly beautiful to him.

He reached out and touched her cheek gently for an instant.  When their
plates were empty, she curled her legs beneath her, and he
slipped his arm around her shoulder.  She leaned on him, and
they sat quietly watching the film to its conclusion.

"What are you doing tomorrow, Scully?" he asked.

"Nothing really.  It's Saturday and I'm still on leave anyway.
You are too aren't you?"

"Yeahbut I'm going back on Monday."

"Me too," she said.

"I want to move out of here," he said.

"I can't say I blame you.  I'd kind of like to move too but I'd
never find anything as nice for the money." She smiled looking
up at him.

"Will you help me look for a place tomorrow?" he said.

"Okay," she replied gazing up at him.

"So, Scully, tell me about your senior prom."

She chuckled and did so telling him that if he came bursting in
the door this time, she would shoot both of him.  He smiled.
Too bad she had told Eddy van B about the prom first.  Good
thing he had burst into the door that day before the imposter
had seduced her.  Eddy had appeared well on his way to making
home base.  God, what a fool he had been at the time.  Dana
Scully had thought it was him.  He had forced that thought right
out of his mind.

"Would what's his name, the guy in the green tuxedo whatsis have
gotten lucky if your idiot friend hadn't started a forest fire?"
he asked.

"Back in those days no one got lucky with me," she sighed.  "I
was a good Catholic girl.  Can I tell you something, Mulder,
something I never told anyone?"

"Sure, what?"

"No one got lucky with me until Jack."

If the information surprised him, he didn't let on.  She had sat
up and was staring out his window.  It was incredible to him that
such a beautiful young woman could have gotten through college and
medical school without losing her virginity.

"I fell head over heels for him.  My daddy tried to tell me it
was wrong, that he was my instructor, that he was too old for
me and that he wasn't a very likeable person, but I wouldn't
listen.  It was like I rebelled against everything I'd ever been
taught and held dear, you know."

"I'm surprised you didn't rebel sooner." He forced his voice to
remain neutral.

"I was always working too hard.  I went to school on
scholarships, Mulder.  There wasn't much time to play.  And
then there was Jack."

"And it didn't last," he said softly.

"No.it didn't last.  I got pregnant," she said.

He had to force himself not to react to that.

"I knew it would be hard, I mean to mix a career with a baby at
that point, but I thought I could do it.  I thought I could do
anything if only we loved each other enough.  I thought we
would get married."

"What happened?" he asked softly.  Obviously there had been
no baby.

"Jack told me to have an abortion.  He said there was no room
in his life for a child, for a family."

"And did you, Dana?" he asked softly.

"No.  I refused.  I couldn't do that.  I am a Catholic.  I might
have been stupid and rebellious, but I am a Catholic.  He walked
out on me.  I was desperately trying to figure out how I would
tell my parents what I had done when I woke up with terrible
cramps one night.  I lost the baby, Mulder.  I never went to the
doctor and no one ever knew.  I was pretty lucky I didn't get
infected or anything."

"I'm sorry," he said softly wrapping his arms around her.
"I'm really really sorry, Dana."  It must hurt her terribly, he
realized, especially now in light of her infertility.

"I've never trusted anyone enough to tell them before now,
ever.  Then I got involved in a rebound relationship just before
I joined the X-Files.  His name was Ethan, but he was more
interested in his career on Capitol Hill than in me.  It didn't
last long.  I didn't miss him when it was over.  It was another
mistake.  The closest I've come since then was Ed Jerse.  I sure
know how to pick em don't I?  Well, at least nothing happened
with him besides my getting the shit beat out of me.  I'm 35
years old, Mulder.  I've had sex, but I've never made love."

"Jack was a fool," he whispered.  "Oh God, Scully, if you had
fallen in love with me.."

She looked at him.  "But I did Fox Mulder.  I fell in love with
you a long time ago.  I'm not exactly sure when."

"I bet you aren't exactly sure why either?" he smiled.  His
heart sang with joy.  She loved him.  He had known it of course,
but it was so good to hear someone, to hear her say the words after
so many years of loneliness.

"Yeah, you're right," she quipped, "But I couldn't help myself."

"You know what?" he replied.

"What?"

"I fell in love with you too.  That night in the car when we were
staking out Tooms and I told you that if there was ice tea in the
bag it could be love..a part of me was really hoping it would
be ice tea.  I mean I was scared witless but." He shrugged.

"So, what have we been waiting for?" she asked him.

"For now," he replied reaching down and kissing her.  "For
tonight."  He broke away the kiss and getting up suddenly lifted
her into his arms.  She felt light as a feather.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Scully, I put clean sheets on my bed yesterday.  "I was bored,"
he explained quickly.  "I'm not going to let them go to waste.
Not now.  I think it's time you experienced another rebellious
phase and to hell with the rule book.  The difference is that I
won't leave you, ever.  Dana, I think it's time you made love."

He lifted her light body easily into her his arms and carried her to
his small dark bedroom.

"Before I put you down, I have to tell you that I lied about the
clean sheets," he said softly.

"I know," she replied.  "Men are incredible liars when they want
their way with a woman.  Besides, I know you.  So what are you
waiting for?"

He set her down and slowly began to remove her clothes.  In a
moment the sheets were irrelevant.

A long and wonderful time later, she lay curled up in his arms
more content than she could ever remember being.  For the first
time in a long time, she felt safe although she supposed this sense
of security was false.  She felt like she was where she belonged.
They had not had sex.  They had made love.  And, there was a
difference.  He had played  her body like a fine violin giving of
himself freely and  generously and she had responded accordingly.

She was just about to doze off when the phone rang.  He cursed
and pulling away from her reached for the nightstand.

"Mulder," he said.  Suddenly the most beautiful smile played
across his lips.  "No, no.  Let me tell Agent Scully.  I know
where to track her down.  Thank you."

He put the receiver back on the hook.  A beautiful smile lit his face
and she wondered if it was possible for her heart to melt anymore.

"That was Skinner," he said.  "The X-Files have been reopened.
We are getting our old office back, Scully, and get this.  Holly
was working in the file room looking for some old papers for
Agent Colton.  She came across a bunch of unmarked
microfiches and took a look at them.  They are X-Files, Scully.
It's all the old X-Files and Skinner has put them in his own
personal safe until we can get back to work."

"But Mulder," she said, "my resignation...."

"Skinner never submitted it.  You were abducted before he had the
chance.  He tore it up.  Told me to tell you that if you wanted to quit
you could damned well write another one," he grinned.  "Only he
didn't use the word damned."

"Oh my God," she squealed.  "Oh, my God.  Bless that wily bastard."
Her arms went around him, and they celebrated without ever
getting out of bed.  They would work out the logistics of having a
partnership and an affair later.  For now, they were still on leave,
and bed was the best place in the world to be.

The End