From: Sara Bowen Date: 10 Feb 2007 20:15:35 -0800 Subject: [all-xf] New: The Circle Ends Source: atxc Title: The Circle Ends Author: Sara B. E-mail: sabo727@tampabay.rr.com URL: http://sabo727.tripod.com/ Rating: Over sixteen Category: UA, S/A, M/A, M/O (not descriptive), MSR (all the usual suspects) Spoilers: Biogenesis Summary: Mulder and Scully finally start getting somewhere in the romantic area and Mulder freaks and bolts. They are separated and miserable. Fate causes them to work together again but not as Field Agents. It doesn't take long for old emotions to reappear and wounds to get heeled. Oh, and Mulder decides to move from his beloved dumpy apartment. Feedback: Like ambrosia to the Gods. Archive: I would be honored, just let me know. Disclaimer: The recognized characters are used Without Prejudice and are the property of C. Carter, Fox and the wonderful actors who breathed life into written words, most notably G. Anderson and D. Duchovny who were able to make us believe in the improbable. No Infringements of these copyrights are intended, and are used here without permission. The story and before unknown characters belongs to me. Gratitude: To Kim Knight, you are the best, thank you. To my Dennis, enough said. To CC and Company, who created the X-Files. Lastly, but my no means least, to the readers, you make this hobby of mine have meaning. Author's Notes: I'm in a pithy mood right now. This story helped me get it together. The Circle Ends Sara B. 02/07 Dana Scully hated this part of the job; it was time to weed through the recruits for the first eliminations. She'd been back at Quantico for thirteen months and she still couldn't get used to this aspect of her job. Eliminations happened several times during training. It was never easy to dash people's dreams of being an FBI Agent, but it was very necessary. Only the best graduated from Quantico. Unlike corporate America, the FBI couldn't afford to have the wrong people and the instructors took this elimination process extremely serious. A mistake here could cost lives in the field. Today her mind was having difficulties concentrating on the task. She'd been distracted since she'd been told 'he' was transferring to Quantico. It had been over four years and the pain burned as hot as it did the day Mulder transferred her to Seattle Washington. ~ They'd been partners for five years and had been through so much together. Things were starting to level out after her recovery and the horrors of that Christmas with finding and losing little Emily, her daughter by genetics but not by birth. She knew Mulder's pain had been nearly as agonizing as hers but they were healing, or so she thought. First they suffered separately, but one harrowing January night she called him and they spent the night talking on the phone. Not being in the same room had somehow made opening up easier. It was the start of a new closeness between them. Months later, Mulder had come to her apartment on a Friday night so they could finish off the department's annual budget. They indulged in take-out Chinese while finishing the reports. When the paperwork was completed, they sat back and just enjoyed being together. Without preamble, and completely unexpected, they found themselves in each other's arms sharing searing kisses and clothing was removed; almost torn from their bodies. She still had no idea who started it but neither was complaining or slowing down. Mulder was reclined on the couch and she was straddling him, kissing her way down his chest and being rewarded with the most delicious guttural sounds coming from him. Abruptly, Mulder pushed her away, grabbed his strewn clothing and ran for the bathroom. He emerged ten minutes later fully clothed and ran out the door before she had a chance to say anything. Scully had never felt so dirty in all her life. Her disgust turned the food in her stomach to lead and she almost didn't make it to the toilet before purging. Scully sat on her cold bathroom floor there feeling confused and disillusioned. She didn't know what started their actions and she had no idea why Mulder reacted as if he was repulsed by her. Was she really that unattractive? She began to hear loud sobs and it took a moment for her to realize they were coming from her. She was disgusted by her vulnerability. All weekend Scully tried reaching Mulder, even going to his apartment several times but he eluded all of her attempts. She called Gunmen but they pleaded ignorance as to Mulder's whereabouts. By Sunday night she was emotionally drained and hurt. She was also incredibly angry but she wasn't sure if it was aimed at Mulder or herself. Monday, Scully walked into the empty X-Files office and found two memos waiting for her. The first one said that Mulder was taking time off and the second said that Skinner needed to see her immediately. Her meeting with Skinner was quick and brutal. Mulder demanded her immediate transfer. She was given two options Chicago or Seattle. Scully chose the latter and was given a week to make her arrangement and report to her new post. Mulder wanted her gone and gone quickly it seemed. If Skinner had been surprised he hid it well. He had expressed that he was sorry to have to lose a fine agent but he understood both Mulder's and her position. Scully never knew what Mulder had told him, she couldn't humble herself to ask Skinner and she would not ask Mulder even if she ever did see him again. Scully went home to start making all the necessary arrangements. She contacted movers and scheduled a pick-up date for shipping her furnishings. The management company would handle sub-letting her apartment and she called all her doctors to get recommendations for doctors in the Seattle area. Utilities, newspaper, phone and cable were cancelled. She even arranged to have her gym membership transferred. All the time she kept praying she'd wake up from the nightmare she was having. She'd been her usual stoic self until the talk with her mom; that was when the reality of it all kicked in. Maggie Scully was beside herself trying to understand the urgency of the reassignment but Scully couldn't tell her what she didn't understand herself. By Friday she, and everything she owned, was heading west. She almost laughed at the clich. Not once during the week had she tried to contact Mulder and he had not contacted her. Scully firmly closed the book on that part of her life. ~ Scully settled in to the Seattle office pathology department and soon she was recognized by her coworkers and superiors for her work ethics and mastery of her field. Her new colleagues were open with their praise and acknowledgements. Within six months she was promoted to head of the department. Never did she attempt to contact Fox Mulder and curtailed attempts made by friends and family to provide her any information regarding him. Skinner called occasionally and always managed to slip in a bit of news. Frohike had been the hardest to convince but eventually even he finally got the message. They did meet up once after her transfer. It was eight months after her promotion when a case came in that was out of the ordinary. It was late Friday and she was on her way out for the week when her secretary, Paula, came into her office and told her that she'd have to do another autopsy. The work order specifically requested that Dr. D. Scully perform the procedure. She looked at the signature and it explained everything; Mulder, himself, had asked for her. Initially she wanted to just ignore the request and assign it to one of the others, but she decided that was just cowardly, not to mention unprofessional. Also, if Mulder was involved the case would be 'hinky' and everyone knew she was the queen of hinky. Besides, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. The body came in and prepped; Mr. Jerry F. Calhoun, forty-five year old male in fair shape. Mr. Calhoun's body was covered with a series of animal bites that were suspected as the cause of death. Scully had just finished photographing and documenting the body and was poised to make the Y incision when the door to the room opened. Mulder walked in followed by a tall dark haired woman Scully assumed was his partner. She turned to Peter Drummond, her assistant, and told him, in a voice loud enough for the intruders to hear, "remove them." Peter moved to Mulder and the woman but before he could say anything Mulder said, "I used to always watch your autopsies, Scully." "That was a long time ago, Agent Mulder. Now remove yourself from this room. Leave your contact information with my secretary and you will be provided with the results later tonight. Goodbye." Her tone left no room for argument so Mulder turned and stormed out with the woman trailing behind. The cause of death turned out to have nothing to do with the bites but liver disease. The bites were all post mortem and, according to the expert in bite analysis, appeared to have been made by two bear cubs. She had no explanation why the animals did not destroy the corpse nor did she know what sparked Mulder's interest but those things were not her concern. She'd done her job and discerned the cause of death; there was nothing more she needed to provide. The autopsy transcripts and substantiating documentation were sent to Mulder and she closed the case. Scully decided to go back to her office and work on some things that she'd planned on taking home with her. She was finishing off her quarterly reports when the air in the office changed and she knew Mulder was back. "I figured I'd find you here." Mulder lowered his lanky body into her guest chair. "We sent you the results of the autopsy hours ago. I'll print you another copy if you didn't get that one," was all she said. "No, Scully, we got the file, thanks. That's why I'm here. I thought maybe I could take you to dinner as a thank you and maybe we could just catch up." "I don't need any thanks for doing my job and I see no reason to catch up." She finally looked up. Mulder was thinner than he'd been when she left and there were wisps of grey at his temples. "Scully, I really just want to spend some time with you. We left things so up in the air when you left." She only responded with a raised brow. Mulder gave her his famous puppy dog look and she was actually impressed with how little affect it had on her. Scully removed her glasses, "I didn't just leave; you had me transferred. I was never given a reason then and I'm not interested in one this late in the game. Now please, go have dinner with your partner, I have work to finish." "I sent Diana home earlier. I decided to spend the weekend here," Mulder explained. "Then I suggest you go out and play tourist." Scully put her glasses back on and started working again. She found it ironic that she was working on a budget and the last time she'd seen Mulder they were working on the X-Files budget. "Scully, I'm sorry for the way things went. I overreacted and ruined everything. I just want to be friends again." "Not possible, and even if it were, I don't want it." Again she removed her glasses and then she put down her pen. "I gave you all of my friendship and then that night happened. You ran out of there and left me stripped of my clothes and my dignity. I was confused, hurt and humiliated." Scully tried to stop them but the tears wouldn't obey. "I watched you run from me like I was the ugliest person in the world. I tried to contact you all weekend and on Monday I found out you demanded that I be gone. So why would I risk that type of pain again? How could you have so little thought of me to want to inflict that on me again?" She watched his eyes and saw the arguments form and discarded before he stood to leave. "I am really sorry Scully and it wasn't because you were ugly but because you were too beautiful and I was afraid." The door closed behind him when she began to sob. ~ Now, Mulder was transferring to Quantico and she would have to see him everyday. Mulder had gone through some form of brain disorder and it was determined he was no longer qualified for field status. He'd been given the choice of early retirement for medical reasons or transferring to Quantico as a trainer. Her superior called her in that morning and told Scully that she would be responsible for helping him get settled in to the routine before he started his classes when the next group of recruits came in. Her supervisor figured that since they'd once been partners it would be good for both of them. Why did everyone think that partner was just another way to say friend? ~ Mulder stared at Scully through the door; God he'd missed her. Her hair was different but still styled in a no nonsense way; typical Scully. He'd really been a fool to think he would ever get over her. No one even came close, no one could. ~ That night it had been so wonderful but then he suddenly was terrified; so he ran. He called Skinner immediately and forced him to arrange a transfer for Scully. She was gone before he came to his senses. He tried to replace her by going on a binge of one night stands and drunkenness that lasted nearly a year. It ended when he woke up with a hangover and a woman who threatened to accuse him of rape if he didn't cough up five thousand. He made all the arrangements through his attorney who soundly lectured him on what a damned fool he was. "Fox, you are just lucky you didn't catch something. What the hell were you thinking? Tramps, every last one and they are an insult to Dana Scully's memory." He'd been sober and celibate from that moment on. The whole sordid affair was a dishonor to what they could have had. Thirteen months after Scully left, Diana Fowley, an old lover, returned from Europe and had herself assigned to the X-Files. It was during an investigation into a sniper killing at an international Chess demonstration between a Russian and a young boy named Gibson Praise. The boy was able to read minds. Mulder and Diana arranged for Gibson to be tested and he was off the charts. No one had ever seen scores close to that boy's. The government arranged for Gibson and his parents to be placed in a protection program. He was kept safe but they were able to monitor his progress and he grew up. Mulder wasn't allowed to interact with him but his keepers did provide him with monthly reports as a consolation. Diana made it clear from the very beginning that she wanted to return to being partners both at work and at home. She wanted to go back to the relationship they had before she'd transferred to Europe. Mulder admitted he was tempted and he almost succumbed. Then that case in Washington happened and he realized it would never work. The moment he walked into that autopsy bay and saw Scully standing there in her oversized scrubs that swallowed up her small body, it hit him like lightning. She was it for him and if he couldn't have her he didn't want anyone else. He nearly crumbled when she told her assistant to make them leave and then calling him Agent Mulder. It took all his resolve to walk out rather than collapse to the floor and ask forgiveness. Diana caught up with him in the hallway. She took one look and knew there would be no relationship beyond colleagues between them. Considering what she ended up doing to him, he wish he'd sent her packing right then. "She's the one, isn't she, Fox? The one who has your heart tied up so tight that you won't let anyone else in." Mulder only nodded. She grabbed his arm, "she left you for God's sake." Mulder just looked at her for a moment, "a bit hypocritical of you, don't you think, Diana? Besides, Scully didn't leave, I sent her away and my life will be damned forever because of it." He walked away and left her staring after him. True to her word, Scully had the transcripts sent to them and it turned out not to be an X-File, just as he'd suspected. He really only went along with Diana on this case because it gave him a chance to see Scully. He wanted her to see how well he was doing, talk about a plan backfiring. They were in Diana's motel room when the file came. A quick review of the findings and they decided to close the case. Diana got on the phone to make flight reservations when he told her to only book one seat. Mulder decided to stay for a couple of days. She was furious with him and they had a major row. He told her that he would accept her transfer as soon as it reached his desk. That night he tracked Scully down to her office. He knew the moment she realized he was there because her posture changed; she stiffened. He didn't exactly know what to say so naturally he said the wrong thing. "I figured I'd find you here," then seated himself in the guest chair. She waited a moment and he wondered if she would ever say anything. "We sent you the results of the autopsy hours ago. I'll print you another copy if you didn't get that one." He smiled at her, "no, Scully, we got the file, thanks. That's why I'm here. I thought maybe I could take you to dinner as a thank you and maybe we could just catch up." He held his breath hoping she'd grant him this indulgence. Her look changed to incredulity and he wasn't sure why. "I don't need any thanks for doing my job and I see no reason to catch up." Scully raised her head and he saw how the exchange pained her. He hated that he'd caused her to feel that way. "Scully, I really just want to spend some time with you. We left things so up in the air when you left," he implored. Mulder's mind screamed silently for her to let him back in. Mulder watched as Scully took off her glasses and he stared into the two blue orbs. "I didn't leave; you had me transferred. I was never given a reason then and I'm not interested in one this late in the game. Now please, go have dinner with your partner, I have work to finish." "I sent Diana home earlier. I decided to spend the weekend here," he told her. "Then I suggest you go out and play tourist." Scully dismissed him and she returned to her work. Mulder felt he had nothing to lose so, "Scully, I'm sorry for the way things went. I overreacted and ruined everything. I just want to be friends again." "Not possible, and even if it were, I don't want it." Again she removed her glasses and then she put down her pen. "I gave you all of my friendship and then that night happened. You ran out of there and left me stripped of my clothes and my dignity. I was confused, hurt and humiliated." Scully tried to stop them but the tears wouldn't be stilled. "I watched you run from me like I was the ugliest person in the world. I tried to contact you all weekend and on Monday I found out you demanded that I be gone. So why would I risk that type of pain again? How could you have so little thought of me to want to inflict that on me again?" He couldn't believe she thought he didn't find her beautiful. Scully was the most beautiful woman in the world as far as he was concerned and it went far beyond her looks. He wanted to argue but he had nothing he could say. Defeated, he started to leave. At the last moment he knew he had to tell her the truth. "I am really sorry Scully and it wasn't because you were ugly but because you were too beautiful and I was afraid." He closed the door behind him and he heard her begin to sob. He stood there until the custodian came. He returned to Washington on the next available flight. Monday he submitted a request for Diana Fowley to have a separate office and he resigned himself to a solo life. There had been no one since. He kept track of Scully and a little over a year ago he found out she'd transferred back to Quantico. Her Mom got quite ill so Scully wanted to be closer to her. Luckily, Mrs. Scully came through her ordeal but it left her a little fragile. He had just about convinced himself to try and contact Scully again when Skinner assigned him a case involving the murder of a well known archeologist and the theft of an artifact of unknown age or origin. Before he knew what was happening he was in the psych ward, reading minds, suffering seizures and nearly crazy. His memory was fuzzy on details, bits and pieces mostly. He remembered following Krycek at the university and suffering severe pain in his head. The next thing he recalled clearly was Diana removing her clothing in his bedroom. He lashed out at her and then he was in a padded room screaming for Scully. Scully was still listed as his emergency contact but somehow Diana Fowley had taken on that role and was acting as his agent. All the while he still screamed for Scully but she never came. Diana entered his room and above the cacophony of dissonance her thoughts became understandable and he learned the truth about her. She was not the woman he thought she was but an agent for the consortium and she'd set him up. Through her, and later the Smoking man, he learned truths he'd sought for so long. They were also the reason Scully wasn't there, they'd refused to allow her to be contacted. He now knew of Samantha's fate, or as much as the Smoking man knew. She was taken and returned but lived with his family until she disappeared at age fourteen. She'd been subjected to repeated tortuous tests until she finally ran away. She'd found her way to a hospital but when they'd gone to retrieve her she was missing. No one had seen her since. He knew that Diana Fowley was assigned to bring him down and discredit him. She was to use any means available to her that would keep him from making any real progress with the X-Files. They thought he'd follow her when she left the first time. When it became apparent he wasn't going they picked Scully to partner him with in the belief that she would find legitimate means to bring him to his knees. They thought that when they assigned Dana Scully to work with him that she'd have him shut down and out of the FBI in less than a year. She was their biggest mistake. They tried to judge her by their standards but Dana Scully was out of their league. He also discovered that Diana Fowley was behind Scully's abduction and torture. Mulder vowed that if he survived he'd take Scully's revenge on the woman. It turned out that someone beat him to it. Skinner and the Gunmen rescued him from that hellhole he'd been left to die in. He was still recovering and planning what he would do to Diana Fowley when Skinner came to his apartment and told him she was dead. Her mutilated body was in her apartment. According to the ME's report to Skinner, it must have been a brutal and excruciatingly long pain filled death. Three weeks into his recovery, the doctors Skinner took him to determine what he'd been subjected to, were unable to figure out exactly what had been done. The brain surgery had eliminated the seizures and he no longer had the ability to read minds and it hadn't caused any diminishing of his mental prowess. Unfortunately, he was left with a slight weakening of his left side that restricted his movements. The injury was only marginal but he couldn't continue as a field agent. They gave him the choice of being put out to pasture or teach; Mulder decided to teach. ~ Mulder was brought back from his musings when Derrick Horn addressed him from the front of the room. "Agent Mulder, come in. I don't know if you know everyone but I do know you know Agent Scully. Take a seat next to her and you can watch us go through the second worst tasks we instructors have to endure. The first is kicking the attitude out of the new recruit's egos." Mulder moved toward Scully and he could tell she was surprised by the cane he now sported and his slight limp. He also saw something else but he was too nervous to hope. ~ Scully was taken aback by Mulder's condition. He looked even thinner than he had the last time she'd seen him. The gray was now peppered throughout his hair. Mulder used a cane and his gate was slower and much less sure with a slight limp. She was unprepared for this and she felt her resolve melting. The meeting broke two hours later; Scully and Mulder made their way to her office where she had his keys. His office was next to hers in the north wing. When they reached her office, Mulder took a seat and she could tell the walk had been hard on him. "I'm not quite up to my usual physical standards," he joked. Scully looked in his eyes and all the animosity drifted away. "I'm sorry, Mulder." Scully sat in the chair next to him, not at her desk. It tore at her to see his lack of vitality. The Mulder in her mind was always that over zealous man/child whose enthusiasm drew her into the most improbable investigations. This man, sitting in her office, was more mature and his passions, though still as great as always, were contained. Scully almost felt the walls around her crash. "What happened?" She surprised both of them when she took his hand in hers. Mulder told her about his ordeal, holding nothing back. He closed with, "I've been lost for a long time." Scully shook her head as she realized the connection, she long thought was severed, was still strong. "I know that feeling. I have not really functioned at all since then. It was like a part of me was missing all the time. I tried to replace what was missing by just shutting down." Scully was still holding Mulder's hand. "What a messed up pair. I tried to replace you with a string of one night stands and booze. The women were so beneath you that they shouldn't be on the same world." "Mulder, just tell me why. Why did you send me away?" Scully's voice was small and filled with hurt. "I was afraid. Look what had already been done to us. I never felt such a need for a woman before. We were there and I knew that if we really tasted each other's passion there would be no going back and I was fearful they'd use *us* to tear us apart." "So you did it for them?" "That part didn't hit me until you'd already left. I'd gone to my father's place for the week. It needed a lot of work so I was able to keep myself busy and not think about things. "I returned home on Sunday and my first instinct was to call you, I got the message that your phone was disconnected. I didn't understand. You see, I thought they'd send you to Quantico and even though we wouldn't be working together we could still be fiends. That's when reality came crashing down on me and I realized what had happened. I couldn't believe what I'd done or that I'd been so naive. I called Skinner to find out where you'd gone and he wouldn't tell me. "That night I went out and got roaring drunk. Monday morning I picked myself off of some strange woman's bed. Just looking at her made my skin crawl. She was cheap and coarse and she smelled of booze. I ran to the bathroom and threw up. Scully, the only thing in my stomach was scotch. Not even pretzels or peanuts. I looked in the mirror and I looked as cheap and coarse as that woman. "When I sent you away I lost all the best parts of Fox Mulder." "You cleaned up your act though." Scully looked down at their entwined hands. "After an extortion attempt by some tramp. She threatened to tell the police I raped her if I didn't pay her off." "God, Mulder, what did you do?" "I arranged for my attorney to pay it and get a release from her." He saw the shock on her face. "If I hadn't paid and it ended up in the system I would have lost my job. It wouldn't have mattered that I was innocent of rape, I wasn't innocent of sleeping with her." Scully nodded, he was right. Even the hint of impropriety could have cost him his job. "So, Scully, anyone?" Scully smiled at Mulder's shyness in asking the question. She didn't even try to pretend not to know what he was really asking. "No, I dated a little, nothing serious, nothing not serious either. I guess even though you sent me away I still harbored feelings for you; I thought it was hate but maybe it was just the feeling of being rejected by love. It took a long time to get over the anger." "When'd that happen?" Mulder couldn't hide the hope in his voice. "About thirty minutes ago, walking back to this office." Scully replied solemnly. ~ It had been three months and Mulder was settled into academic life. The two of them settled into re-establishing their friendship. Mulder would have been happy to drag her off and force her to marry him but he understood her caution. They moved slowly, coffee in the mornings then they moved to lunches. First they only went to the cafeteria then later they visited a couple small restaurants in the area. After two and a half months Scully invited Mulder to join her for a Saturday outing visiting flea markets. It was now three months and they were going on a real date. Mulder hadn't been to her house before so he looked around while she got her coat. "I like this place, Scully." He told her when she walked into the room. "I got it once I realized I would be staying. It isn't too far from mom and it's a good commute to Quantico." They headed out toward Mulder's car. "To be honest, I was thinking of moving closer to work. It takes me more than an hour each way." "And give up your cave? I don't believe it," Scully teased. "We all have to grow up sometime. Most people manage it in their twenties; I just took a while longer." He opened the door and winked at her as she got in. "I'm slow, what can I say?" Mulder climbed into the driver seat. "So, what kind of place are you looking for? House, condo, townhouse, apartment, what?" "I'm leaning toward a townhouse or a condo. I want something more inviting than my apartment but I don't want to do a lot of maintenance." Scully seemed to be in thought for a moment like she was making a decision. When she began to speak she was a little hesitant. "There's a section in my development for townhouses. We're a deed restricted community and our lawns are part of the maintenance. I think the exterior or the townhouses are also maintained but I'm not sure. I'm responsible for the exterior of my house." She paused for a moment. "I'll go with you if you want to take a look. They're still under construction so you can pick your own layout from the models." "Could you make it tomorrow, Scully?" The night seemed to go by too quickly and soon they were back at Scully's door. "Do you want to come in for coffee?" "Love to but I have about an hour to get back to my place. What time should I pick you up tomorrow?" "Why don't you come by around nine? We'll go get breakfast then head to the realtor's office." "Sounds good, see you in the morning." Mulder turned to leave and Scully called him back. "What, Scully?" "You forgot this, Mulder." Scully leaned up and kissed him. Mulder never made it home that night. Scully steered Mulder up the stairs and to her bedroom. They divested each other of clothes but when Mulder moved to pull her to him she stopped him. He watched in astonishment as Scully gathered up his clothes and took them to another room. The look of bewilderment was still on his face when she returned. "We don't want a repeat of our last mistake, now do we?" Mulder started laughing so hard he didn't see Scully descend on him. His laughter was cut off by a guttural, "God, Scully," as she worked her magic on him. ~ Mulder woke when the sunlight broke into the room. Scully's warm naked body was snaked around him in a sensually possessive way and he couldn't be more happy. "Hey, gorgeous, time to wake up." Scully's eyes blinked open and she pulled him to her for a repeat of the previous night's performance for which Mulder was more than 'up' for. Mulder finished ordering his breakfast when he mentioned the realtor's office. "You know, Mulder, I thought of something else. I know of someone who has a good sized house. Three bedrooms, two and a half baths, den, large living room, dining room, basement, kitchen with a breakfast area, complete laundry and a two car garage. It's too big for one person and they were thinking of getting someone to share." "I don't think so..." "Hear me out, Mulder. You'd have full access, pay half the utilities and groceries, or you could each buy your own and you share the house work." "Still, Scully, you know me I'm..." Mulder began but Scully continued as if he hadn't spoken at all." "And half my bed." For the first time that she could recall, Dana Scully rendered Fox Mulder speechless. It didn't last long, "so, how's the closet space?" End