Frustration Hey guys! Well, I got another idea while I was TV on Sunday night. This one's from "Mad About You." I thought, what if we could apply that story to our favorite characters? It's not quite the same, but I'm pretty happy with it. I'm thinking of doing a sequel, so tell me what you think. Comments go to Mulderhair@aol.com. Disclaimer: Fox Mulder and Dana Scully belong to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions, and Fox Broadcasting, they are used without permission and no copyright infringement is intended. The character of Bryan Terzy is mine, with many thanks to Bryan for letting me "borrow" his name. This story is for the entertainment of EMXC members only. This story is dedicated to my best friend Jen, one of the newest members of EMXC, at least as of May 6. Thanks Jens, for the support! Love ya lots, hon! Frustration by Kate Knighten (Mulderhair@aol.com) A tall, handsome man walked purposefully down the halls of the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building. He ran down the stairs and stepped into the basement office that belonged to the main goal of his mission. "Hey Mulder! Is Dana around?" he asked amiably. Fox Mulder looked up from the papers he was reading and saw a man with dark hair and surprisingly light blue eyes. His nose was a tiny bit too big for his face, but it gave him a distinguished look, and his slightly protruding chin gave him an air of refinement. Mulder smiled as he looked around and replied, "Oh hi, Bryan. Umm...I think Scully went to see Skinner, but she should be back any minute and you're welcome to stick around," he was genuinely pleased to see this man. "Thanks, I think I will," he replied as he easily sat down in the chair behind Scully's desk, as if he had been here many times, which, in fact, he had been. Mulder put down the paper he'd been holding and swiveled his chair around towards Bryan. Bryan Terzy was a man in his early thirties. He worked at George Washington Memorial Hospital, surgery. He was any woman's dream, sensitive, yet not overly so, romantic and loving and he wrote poetry. The best thing about him, though, was that he was head over heels for Dana Scully. They had been seeing each other for six months before she'd told anyone at work, even Mulder. Since then, Mulder and Bryan had become friends. Nothing really deep, but they genuinely liked each other, despite the awkwardness they sometimes felt, considering that Mulder knew Scully better and more intimately than Bryan ever could. "So, how's the hospital been lately?" Mulder started to make small talk. "Really busy, everyone seems to need an appendix removed or a heart put back together," Bryan returned. "Yeah, I know what you mean, there are times when it seems as though someone is always getting abducted, or chased down by a mutant sewer monster," Mulder grinned. Whatever his personal opinion was on the validity of Mulder's work, Bryan kept it to himself. That was one of the reasons they got along so well, Mulder minded his own business and Bryan minded his own, too. They were laughing over some surgeon joke Mulder had told when Scully walked in. "I'm glad you two are having a good time," she entered, rather tritely, but the truth was she was happy they were having a good time. Fox Mulder laughing, really laughing, was something she hadn't seen in a long time. "Hey, hon, I just came by to see if I could take you out to lunch," Bryan got up to kiss Scully hello. "Why, certainly sir, just give me five minutes," she gave him a "how-did-you-know" smile because she had just finished a very unpleasant meeting with the A.D. As Mulder watched them walked out the door five minutes later he was thinking how perfect for each other they were. ********************************************* A Week Later Bryan got out of the car very reluctantly. Dana was out of town on a case and he had to attend a hospital banquet. He could've stood the bureaucratic affair if Dana had been with him, but now he was just dreading it. When he took his seat he found himself sitting among a group of surgeons he knew and had worked with and one intriguing woman sitting next to him. He smiled at her as he half-listened to the talk of the other surgeons. After a few minutes, he slipped away and decided to try and make a phone call. He dialed Dana's cell phone number, but no one answered. He wondered what she was doing. He looked at his watch. Maybe she was in the shower, he told himself. No need to be worried. He went back to his seat and managed to sit through another half an hour of boring speeches and such before he had to escape again. This time he ran for the bar and ordered wine, though he knew he really shouldn't be drinking. As he sat there and drank slowly, the intriguing woman he had been sitting next to came in and sat next to him at the bar. "Boring as hell, huh?" she asked. "Oh yeah," he replied emphatically. "I hate these things. I only wish..." Bryan had been about to say, "I only wish Dana were here," but had suddenly decided to stop. "I understand, I wish I weren't here either," the woman mistook his pause. "I'm Alexis Jolson." "He took her offered hand. "Bryan, Bryan Terzy, surgery. You?" "Emergency room resident, first year," "Nice to meet you...." They talked in the bar until the banquet was over, and even though Bryan knew he really shouldn't be feeling what he was feeling, he offered to give her a ride home. "No, that's all right. I think I'll walk, its such a lovely evening," she replied innocently. "Mind if I come with you? I think I'd rather enjoy a walk tonight," he got up to join her. As they walked, Bryan knew what he felt like doing was wrong. He had to forget about her, he had Dana, but he just couldn't. Suddenly they were at the door to her apartment building. They both realized what could happen, and they both realized that it shouldn't happen. "I would offer to walk you up, but I know I shouldn't" Bryan said to relieve the awkwardness. "Yes, I agree, you shouldn't," Alexis smiled. Then, as she leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek, she whispered, "You're a nice guy Bryan Terzy." Then she entered the apartment building and disappeared up the stairs. ********************************************* Two Weeks Later Scully ran into her office, plopped her stuff down on her desk and picked up the phone. "Mom! Its Dana..." "Oh, hi dear...uhh..hold on a second?" as Scully waited she could here her mother saying something to Bill Jr's son. Oh, man, she had her hands full! "Better yet sweetie, could I call you back? Bye!" "Great!" Dana thought, "Just great, just when I really needed to talk to someone no one's available," she sighed as Mulder entered the room. "Are you okay, Scully?" he asked, looking concerned. "No..yes...no, not really, its just that Bryan's been acting really strangely, and..no one seems to want to hear my problems, but..." "Look Scully...Dana, you know I'm always here for you if you want to talk," Mulder turned towards her. "Thanks Mulder, that's all I really needed to hear," she smiled and moved towards him to give him a hug. As they moved towards each other, they felt, "the pull." It was an odd feeling, the feeling no one was supposed to get unless they were on television, an incredible urge to move towards each other, to let their lips touch, so they did. As her lips pressed against Mulder's, Scully knew that she shouldn't be doing this, but it took her a little while longer before she was able to stop him. She pulled back, looked at him for a minute, and then quickly left the room. ********************************************* "Bryan?" "Oh, hi hon! Thought you were at work..." he stopped short as he saw the troubled look on her eyes. "We need to talk, Bry..." she said quietly. "Yeah, we do..." he agreed somberly. "There's something I've been trying to tell you since you went to Colorado." Scully suddenly got worried, what was he talking about? "Yes?" was all she managed to get out. "Well, when I went to that banquet, something happened, well, it didn't really happen, it almost happened...it could've happened...it really could've happened, but...but it didn't." He couldn't quite get through it, so she spoke up. "I kissed Mulder. Well, I didn't really kiss him, he kissed me, but to some extent I kissed him back..I mean, I didn't stop him right away. I did stop him, but not right away..." as she spoke, the expression on his face changed to mixture of conflicting emotions and overwhelming hurt. "This sounded a whole lot worse two minutes ago," he began after a long pause. "but at the banquet, I met a woman and we went for a walk. That's all, we went for a walk...." "Ohh.." she sighed, realizing how much she had hurt him. "Yeah, now what? I've gotta get out of her...I've gotta go...uh..later...we can talk later.." he quickly walked towards the door. As he put his hand on the knob, the doorbell rang and when Bryan walked out, Fox Mulder walked in.... --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- So, do you think it deserves a sequel? What do you think of Bryan? Send any comments to Mulderhair@aol.com