From: Caroline Webb Date sent: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 14:57:46 -0000 TITLE: I.O.U's AUTHOR: Trustyone - Me (obviously)! RATING: PG (for the few bad words) CLASSIFICATION: SH SPOILERS: None (I don't think so...) KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully UST SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully do favours for one another and have to owe each other in return...Hmmm.... DISCLAIMER: Please notice that Mulder and Scully are not mine. They belong to The Creator of the X Files Universe (Chris Carter), Ten Thirteen Productions, and Fox Broadcasting. I am not using them for the intent of making money.... although it would come in handy as I am broke at the moment. Come on, I'm only 15!!!! The allowance I get from my Dad doesn't go that far! Author's Notes: Hello, yet again!!!!!! Here I am with another piece of fanfic. Yes, I have written others. 'Nuff said about that then! Please enjoy this. I must dedicate the idea to my friends Charlotte Bell and Sarah Blyth cos I said I would!! Anyway...hope you like this...I do!!!!!!! All comments to me at caroline@thewebbs.demon.co.uk Please.......nice thoughts and messages.......not flames....please... put the flame-throwers down!!!!!! No...guys, please!!!!!!!!! AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Anyway.....enjoy!!! :) ---------------------------------------------------------> IOU By Trustyone!!! ---------------------------------------------------------> Mulder's apartment. 2:03am Mulder sat huddled in the corner of the room. He kept his eye on it, never even giving himself the chance to blink. It moved across the bedside table. Slowly, carefully. Mulder's forehead was beaded with a fine veil of sweat. Sure he had been face to face with aliens, mutants, freaks, but spiders drove him crazy. He sat there, watching the tiny black spider creep over the lampshade and descend onto the top of the phone by a silk thread. he thought, he thought panicking. Suddenly he remembered, his mind had found salvation. he remembered as a wave of relief coming over him, . ---------------> Scully's apartment. 2:04am Scully was disturbed from a wonderful dream about her and Mulder on a beach, the gentle waves washing over them as they were... ......disturbed by the phone ringing loud and clear. She stirred with a grunt and contemplated whether to ignore it. She knew it was Mulder, it always was. her mind began to list through all the horrid possibilities that could only happen to Mulder as she reached for the phone. She was suprised to see how long the list was! "What is it", she groaned. "Scully! Thank God!" Mulder sighed with relief, "I was worried they had got you too!". "Mulder?", Scully shot up, panic all over her face, "Are you alright? Are you hurt? What is it? They? What do you mean?". She rattled off a few other questions, trying to find the problem, the she realised he hadn't told her because *she* was the problem! She had to shut up, and she did. "Finally! Anyway Scully, it's here! It's in my room, Scully! You have to help me!", he pleaded. "Who's in your room? Bambi? Detective White?" she teased, she realised nothing was seriously wrong. "Scully, this is *serious*!", he screamed, "I'm doomed, *DOOMED*!!!!", he yelled. "OK, Mulder. It's serious. What can I do to save you from being doomed..*DOOMED*" she said imitating Mulder's tone while trying to conceal the smile in her voice. "You have to kill it" "Kill it!!!!!!! Who?" she asked a bit worried, "Have you been drinking while watching old sci-fi movies again?" "No Scully. I decided to give that up after last time. This is real! You have to kill the spider!!!!!" "The spider?", she said trying to conceal the laugh. "Yes! It's here! Help me!!!!", he pleaded. "The *spider*?", she said again. "Yes!". Scully hung up the phone and collapsed on the bed laughing hysterically. ---------------> Mulder's apartment 2:11am Mulder looked despairingly at the phone, and tried not to cry. That had been cruel. Scully knew he had a fear of insects. Spider's included. He tried again. On her cell phone. "Scully" came the professional voice. She thought it was work. "Scully....the spider! It's still here!!!!" "Mulder go to sleep!" "But Scully, the spider!" He tried again. "Scully" "The spider is....." He left it for a while, hoping the spider would leave so he wouldn't have to bother his pissed off partner again. Three quarters of an hour slowly ticked by. Mulder sat in the corner of his bedroom, clutching the cell phone like there was no tomorrow. The spider still had its 'rule' over the room, not letting Mulder have the room back. Mulder had to kill it. Mulder had to get Scully to kill it. He tried once more on her cell phone. There was a knock at the door. , he thought, . Another knock. Mulder decided to answer the door without handing up the phone. When he answered the door he found a discrumpled Scully standing there holding her cell phone. She looked really angry. "Where is it!", she demanded through gritted teeth. She wanted sleep, she needed it. She spent enough time with this paranoid man as it was. Mulder pointed to the bedroom. He was every frightened of Scully when she was angry. She stormed into the bedroom, picked up an X file that Mulder was studying for their latest case and brought the folder crashing down on the unsuspecting spider. Mulder sighed with relief. His home was his again. Scully wiped the dead spider off the folder with a tissue, shoved the folder into Mulder's hands and walked out the apartment. "You owe me!" she said over her shoulder. ---------------> FBI headquarters. 10:03am Scully stumbled through the door to the basement office late. She had two cups of strong coffee in her hands. She dropped her briefcase and coat on the nearest chair and gulped down the two cups one after the other. Then she spoke. "Mulder, I've been thinking about what you could do for me", she said bitter sweetly. "Ooh, Scully. I never realised you thought of me in that way!". He wiggled his eyebrows. "Don't get any ideas!", the hard, cold voice of Scully replaced the coyly, sweet, soft voice. Mulder threw his hands up in surrender. "What? It was a joke!" "That was a joke!!!!! Well your jokes aren't really that funny!" "Hey! I can't help it if I don't like spiders!" "Mulder, you battle with the dark forces of the government, aliens, freaks, and God knows what else. Why the Hell do spiders frighten you!?!" "Well, they have eight legs" "Mulder, spiders have to have eight legs. It's normal for spiders. Tooms ate livers! That ain't normal for humans!" "Tooms was a mutant. Normal for them!", he said triumphantly. His face was greeted with her coat flung at it. "Anyway, I know what you can do for me" she said, returning to the original topic. "What?", came his muffled voice from beneath the thick, navy material. "Baby-sit my nephew", she said, turning on the computer. "What!!!!!", Mulder exclaimed, finally re-emerging from the coat. "Baby-sit. I was going to visit Mom, but my brother phoned this morning asking to baby-sit. He's gonna be outta town for a few days and his wife has a broken leg, so she can't do much." "Scully, you *know* I can't handle kids!", he moaned. "Mulder, anyone who has faked his death numerous times can sit and watch a kid". "Easier said than done!", he mumbled secretly wishing the spider hadn't ruined his life. "Don't worry, you can watch him at my place. I don't trust a five-year-old in an apartment filled with porn videos. He won't be a problem, he just likes Babe. You know, the pig! And you'll have the morning free, after all it is our week off starting tomorrow.", she said starting to type up her autopsy notes. "Well, I guess I have no choice" "That's right!" "When?", he groaned. "Tomorrow afternoon, 5 o' clock" "Right". He made a mental note of the task ahead. He turned back to folder that had spider entrails on it and got back to work. Scully did the same. ------------------------------> The Next Day Scully's apartment 6:37pm "But, I wanna play horsies!", screamed the seven year old. "Don't ya wanna watch the pig?", Mulder suggested. "Don't you mean Babe?". Mulder nodded enthusiastically. "No!!!! I wanna play horsies!!!" he screamed. "If ya don't play with me, I'll tell auntie Dana you were mean to me!". Mulder certainly didn't want another day of an angry Scully, but, at the same time he was amazed at the power this annoying seven year old had over him, . Mulder brought himself back from thought and reluctantly agreed. The child jumped up and down excitedly. Mulder got down on all fours and let the heavy lump of a kid jump on his back. The kid yelled "Giddy up" hundreds of times as Mulder slowly circled around the coffee table and around the sitting room into the kitchen, around the kitchen table and back into the sitting room. After fifteen minutes of 'horsies' the child decided to watch Babe. Mulder collapsed on the sofa, his back completely useless for the time being. A while later, the kid (Mulder had forgotten his name as soon as Scully had left) decided he was hungry. Mulder made him a sandwich. He didn't want the sandwich. Mulder made him a burger and fries. He didn't want the burger and fries. Mulder made him spaghetti. The kid didn't want the spaghetti. "I want ice cream! I want ice cream! If you don't get me ice cream, I'll tell auntie Dana you were mean to me!". Mulder dished up some chocolate ice cream into a bowl and plopped it in front of the whining kid. "Spoilt navy brat", Mulder muttered under his breath as the kid started shovelling the ice cream into his all ready far too big mouth. Mulder mused to himself, smiling. He suddenly wiped the smirk from his face when he remembered he had just insulted a relation of Scully 'The Sceptic'. His mouth curved into a frown as he felt a cold, gooey substance hit his back and soak through his T-shirt. He heard the kid laugh and Mulder got really pissed off. He went across to the kid after removing his dirty T-shirt and hoisted the kid into the air, flipped him over so Mulder had hold of his ankles and began to shake him, the kid thought it was hilarious. Suddenly, Scully opened the front door to the sight of a shirtless Mulder, she thought, and an up side down nephew with a face covered in chocolate. When she saw the pissed off look on her partner's face, she collapsed into laughter. "Now you know how I felt!", she said between laughing. Mulder placed the kid headfirst on the sofa and let go of his ankles. The kid tumbled the rest of the way. "Not funny!" was all Mulder could say. "What happened?" Scully asked pointing to the discarded shirt while regaining her self-control. "The kid threw ice cream at me!", Mulder said annoyed. "What! Is that true?!" she asked sternly to her innocent looking nephew. He just shook his head, giving her the puppy dog eyes that Mulder often gave her. She shrugged in acknowledgement, forgiving the child. "OK. Mulder I think you better go", she smiled sympathetically picking up his dirty T-shirt. "I'll wash it". "Thanks!" he said. "Mulder.....I'm really sorry. I didn't think he would be *that* bad!", Scully said sincerely. Mulder shrugged a well-what's-happened- has-happened. Scully grinned in agreement. "Well, seeing as though you didn't anticipate me having *so* much of a hard time. Now it's *my* turn!", he said mischievously. "Huh?", Scully said. She looked at him totally confused. "You owe me", he echoed her words. She grimaced a little, knowing how unpredictable he could be. Mulder smiled and picked up his jacket and walked out. Scully couldn't help smile at the thought of Mulder giving Ben a 'horsies' ride. She pushed the 'I.O.U' thought to the back of her mind as she went to find her nephew, who had run off, and clean him up before she took him to her sister-in-law's house. ********************************************************************* --------------------------------------------------------------------- End 1/ All comments to caroline@thewebbs.demon.co.uk --------------------------------------------------------------------- ********************************************************************* The Next, Next Day FBI Headquarters 9:01am Scully briskly walked in, hanging her coat up and cleared the junk off on of the chairs so she could sit down. Her partner was busy working on a profile. He acted like he hadn't notice her breeze in. She could tell he was still pissed at her for leaving him under the influence of a five-year-old, but, she also knew he was cooking up an idea of how she could repay him. She didn't like it one bit. "Mulder?" she asked tentatively "Hmm" he didn't even look up. "Have you forgiven me yet?" she asked in her no-nonsense voice. "Nope. Not until you have paid me back." "Mulder. He's just a kid, a harmless five-year-old. Come on, it wasn't that bad. You survived!", she really didn't want to be humiliated. "Barely. My T-shirt got the chop!" he said in mock hurt, totally over the top. Scully remembered about the garment, reached into her briefcase and threw the Knicks T-shirt at him. "Don't worry, it's stain-free now. I'll think it survived". Mulder replied in an unexpected way. He reached into his desk draw and pulled out two tickets. Scully stared at him quizzically again, raising her eyebrow in question. "Mulder, what are those?", she said fearfully. She was beginning to regret starting this whole I.O.U thing. "Why Scully, they are tickets to a UFO convention of course. Byers, Langley and good 'ol Frohicke will be there, so we'll have company.", Mulder said so enthusiastically that she wanted to slap him. She laughed nervously. "Great" she managed. Mulder gave her sickly grin of satisfaction. He knew she was gonna hate it. he thought. Scully thought, already trying to figure out her revenge. She calmly picked up the ticket and read the information a Mulder picked up his and left for the cafeteria. ---------------> The Day After 'The Next, Next Day' UFO Convention Roswell Mexico People hustled and bustled everywhere, taking photos of the area 51 site and the supposed place where the UFO's had landed. People were dressed up in costumes that ranged from Star Trek Klingons to Elvis. Mulder was having the time of his life, sharing theories with other people who believed Elvis still lived. The Lone Gunmen were having a go at trying to hack into the Area 51 computer security system. Scully was bored. "Mulder, I hate you" Scully calmly said as a cool wind blew through her hair. "Why?" Mulder asked, taking samples of the ground where the supposed UFO had been. "Because we had a three hour flight with Byers, Langley and FROHICKE at the crack of dawn and now you are convinced that there is alien bacteria in the particles the ground we are standing on!!!" "Scully, don't you like Frohicke's attention towards you?!" "Mulder....attention is one thing. Drooling all over me and the floor of the plane, car, motel dining room, bedroom and even the desert is entirely another. You know, he could have slipped if he wasn't careful! "You saying you would have nursed his broken leg better if he did? I know he would love that" Mulder teased. "I'm certainly not saying that. I would probably strangle him to shut the whining fool up!!!!!" "Scully? Are you feeling alright?" Mulder asked slowly and calmly, which pissed Sully off, and he didn't even bother looking up at her, which again pissed her off even more. "No Mulder! I am NOT!!!! This was supposed to be my week off!" she fumed. "Scully, can't you see we are at the very heart of the conspiracy!" Mulder stood, pocketing a vial full of particles of mud. "Mulder, we are standing in the middle of a desert looking at sand. There is no water and no gas stations for four miles back there", she pointed vaguely in the direction of the lonely gas station. Mulder could tell she would never, ever make Mulder baby-sit again, or do anything else that would involve her having to pay him back. "I need to drink something!!", she begged. "Well, we can't leave yet. Frohicke, Byers and Langley aren't back yet. They are trying to find layout plans for alien technology. They won't be back for hours yet" Mulder said walking over to her while trying to keep his eyes open so he could see where he was going. Sand was blowing everywhere. "I hope you realise that it will take months for our bodies to get rid of these sand grains. My hair will be ruined". "Stop moaning Scully, you'll just have to put up with it. You never know, you may finally start to believe". "You never know, you just might lose a part of your anatomy. I'm very handy with a Swiss army *knife*!". Scully smiled bittersweetly at him, which made him flinch at the thought of his.... ... he thought. "Mulder, give me the keys to the car", she said holding out her hand. "Why? Don't you want to see the fireworks? They start in 3 hours". He dug around in his pockets for the keys. "I can see the from the car", which was parked about five miles away. It would take her three hours to get to the car, having to wind her way through the maze of metal constructions. Mulder shrugged and turned his attention back to the fifty five-year-old, 250-pound heavy Elvis impersonator. Scully sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and began the trek to the car. Three hours and twenty minutes later it was pitch black and only the bright pink fireworks lit the desert. Scully reached the car and got into the driver's side. She decided this was the worst 'party' she had ever been to. Then, the cell phone rang. "Yep" she said, a bored tone evident in her voice. "Sculleeeeee? Sculleeee? Can yoooou showt up?". She could hear the commotion in the background at Mulder's end on the phone. "YEP!" she screamed, the bored tone still there. "SCULLEEEEEEE! THE GUM NEN HAV DUN IT! THEY AV HAKED FRU DE SISSTEMMMM" "Mulder have you been drinking?" she said, still bored. "HELL! HAV I BEN DRINKIN'....*hick*..MEEEE? NOOOOOOOOO!" "MULDER!!!!!!!", she was very pissed off now. "SSCULLEEEEEE.....FRO*hick*EEE SAYZZZZ HE LUVZZZZ YOOOOU!" "Thanx" she moaned. "SSCULLEEEEEE.....*hick*...BYERZZZ AND LANGLEEEE LUV YOOOU!" "Thanks again" "SSCULLEEEEEE...*hick*..I LUVZZZZZZ YOOOOU TOOOOO!" "Thanks for a third time". Now she sounded depressed. "SCCULLEEEEEE...*hick*..CAN..*hick*...YOOOU HELP MEEEEE. I CAN'T FIND THE CAAAARRRRR! I CAN'T SEEEEEEEE!!!! AND FRO*hick*EEEE HAZZZZ PAZZZZZED OUT" Scully became very angry, realising she had only been brought along to nurse their hangovers. "Mulder? I will get you all sorted out. OK?" "TTTHHHHHAAANNNNNKKKZZZZ, SSCULLEEEEEE!". They hung up the phone and Scully started the engine and drove off back to the motel. She wanted a good nights slep. She knew the others would be fine. Mulder stared glassy eyed up at the sky. He suddenly dropped his cell phone, which smashed into a thousand pieces, and Mulder started to cry. Byers grabbed Mulder by the shoulder and gave him a friendly hug. Mulder stopped crying and forgot about his woes and joined Frohicke, Langley, the Elvis impersonator and the Klingons in a conga around the perimeter of Area 51. They sang and danced the night away in the icy cold desert and no one realised Scully had gone. ---------------> The Morning After The Day After 'The Next, Next Day'. (can you follow that?) 7:25am Mulder stirred slightly to the sound of really loud snoring. He realised he was lying in a desert. But the desert's name, location and country had escaped his throbbing head. Frohicke was the snoring monster and Byers and Langley were awoken by the noise as well. They all had hangovers worse than an case of the F. Emasculata disease. Mulder was the first to realise that a suited man had wandered over to them. "You Agent Mulder with the FBI?" he said. "You a Man In Black?" Mulder retorted, he didn't want to have to deal with the authorities at the moment, no matter what obscenities he had done the previous night. "Yeah I'm Mulder. Why?", Mulder asked suddenly very suspicious. The one Gunmen huddled around Mulder to study the stranger. "I have been ordered to escort you and company back to your motel, and then to the airport". Mulder stood up slowly, his head swimming. "Who sent you?". "It doesn't really matter, I've only been told to escort you back to the motel. I work for the local FBI field office. I'm Agent Webb". Agent Webb gestured them to the forest green ford rental car. Mulder and the Gunmen followed suit. Suddenly, Mulder realised Scully was absent. "Where's Scully?" Mulder asked worried. "Agent Scully notified us of your whereabouts" "What a Doll" Frohicke muttered, a grin crossing his face as he fantasised about his favourite FBI redhead. "Where is she?" Mulder pressed on. "D.C." "D.C.?!?!?!". Both Mulder and the Gunmen stopped dead. Mulder was extremely angry. "Yes, she flew out last night. Told me where to find you all and ordered me to see you get to the airport". They all got into the car and drove back to the tiny motel room in silence. Mulder was fuming all the way there. He was not a happy chappy! He was gonna kill her. ---------------> The Day After The Morning After The Day After 'The Next, Next Day' (still following?) FBI Headquarters 10:03am Mulder stormed in an hour late. Scully was already there, busy typing up more autopsy notes. She was glad she had flown back when she did, she was able to get back on top of her work load, report files and paper work. Mulder made as much noise as possible, trying to get attention from Scully without going 'Hey Scully, notice I want your attention over here!'. He unsuccessfully clattered about the basement office for ten minutes. Scully didn't even flinch as Mulder smacked the back of her head with a big stack of files he was carrying to his desk. He dropped the files onto his desktop and sat down, staring at Scully. He knew it annoyed her. Scully didn't notice, she was busy typing. She didn't even say morning when she went to the coffee-pot to pour herself another drink. Mulder finally had to go about his quest the blunt way.... "Hey Scully!......", no reply in the slightest, "..and good morning to you too!" he said sarcastically. "Hmm" was all he got in reply "You know, I didn't think you would *ditch* me in the middle of a desert. I know I have ditched you on cases but you have always had a comfy, furnished motel room, where I had sand, and the Gunmen" "Hmm" she mumbled again. He knew she wasn't listening. "And you know, I gave Frohicke your e mail address, phone number and national security number!" "Uh-huh" she replied. he thought. "And Scully, Langley and Byers have manipulated a porn photo with your head on the body of Miss July of this year's swim suit calendar and I was thinking to get a hundred prints of them for Christmas cards for people at the bureau" "Ah-ha" came another mutter. he thought wickedly. "And Scully, I know what you can do to owe me" "Hmm" "You can just come over to my place we'd hang out". Scully finally raised her head in slight shock. He was planning something, something bad. She could tell. She suddenly became very scared. "What's the catch" "Hey, you *are* listening. Definitely a better reply than 'Hmm'!" he said sarcastically. She gave him a death stare that could freeze ice. "Well, I was not going to get you and 'Co.' onto a three hour plane flight, totally drunk to the eyeballs! I was gonna get you in the morning, but after the lousy day I had, I decided to let you suffer", she said smugly returning her blue eyes to the computer screen. "Thanks for the concern!" he said, the sarcastic tone still present. "Anytime partner" she said, still transfixed on the computer monitor. "Well, what are you gonna do to me to get back at me. Make me do a 'Watching-porn-marathon'? Cook your food and clean your place for the day? Or something more sinister and evil? I'm sure your twisted mind will be up to something" "Ah, Scully. What are you afraid of? I started this whole thing, so I think it is up to me to finish it. What's so wrong with that?". He gave her the oh-so-innocent-puppy-dog-eye look. She gave him a bittersweet smile. He grinned back. "Well, that's very 'gentlemanly' of you Mulder. What time should I be there?" "Huh?", he was suddenly brought back to reality from naughty thoughts about how his partner could 'repay' him. "What time? At your place? Tomorrow? To do whatever I have to do for you?......don't go there Fox William Mulder!!", she warned. He threw his arms up in mock surrender. "I wasn't....I didn't...." he trailed off. "OK Mulder! Don't get your mind any more twisted than it already is! I'll be there in the morning. But, please, let me know if you decide to go into work. OK?" "Sure. Fine. Whatever" he said, getting himself busy. "Hey that's my line!" "Says who?" "You know, The Creator" "God?" "No, Carter" "Ah.....but, Trustyone wrote....." "Who?" "You know, the crazy girl", he pointed vaguely up to the ceiling. "Ahh". Scully picked up her purse and went left to go to the cafeteria. "Scully?", Mulder called as she walked out the door. "Yeah!" she said, popping her head back into the office. "Get me a coffee, and something to eat.....but no healthy crap!" "Sure Mulder, I love the way you're *sooo* polite!". He shrugged in mock reluctance and she went to the cafeteria. he thought, a grin forming on his mouth. He knew waht he was gonna do and he was as sure about this a he is as sure about aliens that it would the crap out of her. ---------------> The Next Day After The Day After The Morning After The Day After The 'Next, Next Day' (I think........) Mulder's apartment 10:13am Scully knocked lightly on Mulder's door. He opened it swiftly and she didn't fail to notice the snugly fitting black jeans and black shirt he was wearing, and he didn't fail to notice that she had noticed. "OK, what do you want me to do" she stated, resting her hands on her hips. "So much to do, so little time!" he muttered. "Well......times 'a wastin'!" she stated, a little frustrated. "Well, just sit down, make yourself at home. Lunch is nearly ready", he gestured to the couch. Scully's eyebrows shot up a mile at the unsuspecting answer. Now, she knew he had something up his sleeve. She still stood near the door, hands still on hips, looking suspectingly at Mulder...... she mentally hit herself and continued to look at Mulder like he was a Russian spy on an American army base. Mulder knew that his clothing was affecting her, and he liked it. Her faded jeans and 'V' neck purple sweater looked good on her too. "What Scully?", he asked concerned. "Hmm..nothing. I was just expecting you to.....to..tell me to...do the laundry or something", she said weakly, still focused on the way the shirt Mulder was wearing sort of revealed the body underneath. she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and settled herself on the couch. Mulder smiled and went back into the hardly used kitchen. Half an hour went by and, finally, Scully and Mulder sat down to enjoy the suprisingly well-cooked meal Mulder had prepared. There was roasted chicken, several species of vegetable and a rather nice wine. Scully smiled as she served herself a heap of vegetables. "What!?!", Mulder asked, genuinely puzzled. "Nothing. I wouldn't expect this from you. I mean, a meal, a healthy, slave-in-the-kitchen-for-hours *meal*! I would expect microwaveable TV dinners!", she said, taking a sip of wine. "What!? Me!? TV dinners?!?......you know me *too* well!", he said, taking a mouthful of food. "So......why am I here? What do I have to do?" she inquired, enjoying the fine food. "What? You still think you have to owe me? Thanks a bunch Scully!" "I'm sorry, but, it's....you! You always want to win!" "Why can't I just invite you round for dinner! You're my friend! Friends hang out!" "Yes, but, you...have never given up on our bets before!" "Well, you wanna know why", he paused for a mouthful of food. Scully nodded, "Well, it's because..I hate, and I mean *HATE* this stupid I.O.U thing. Something always goes wrong and seeing as though *I* started it, *I* should finish it!" "Right! And you have nothing, and I mean *NOTHING* up your sleeve?", she still wasn't convinced. "Seriously, Scully. Nothing at all. Calm down!" "OK then!" With that they continued to eat the wonderful dinner in a comfortable silence. When they had finished the wine and the dinner, Scully quickly offered to do the washing up. She really was worried about him. He never did this, anything like this. . Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Mulder's voice. "Scully?", he sounded really nervous. "Hmm" "Stop that a minute. This is really hard enough for me to say without you giving me your attention". His serious tone made Scully turn to him fully. She dried her hands and Mulder came up to her. "Scully?", he sounded more confident. Scully suddenly felt very, and I mean *VERY* uneasy. "Hmm" she managed weakly. "I..uh.....need to tell you something", he said gently grasping her hands. She gulped nervously, dreading the bad news that was to come. "What is it?" she gasped weakly. "Scully.....I..uh...love you" he said, looking at the floor. Scully nearly keeled over in shock horror. She stood, gaping open mouthed at him. . "Well Scully? What's wrong?" he asked concerned, gently touching her face with both hands. She tried to speak but all that came out was a whisper of a gasp of shock. Mulder pulled her closer to him. She knew he was going to kiss her. He slowly moved his head forward to hers, their lips barely millimetres away from each other. she mentally screamed to herself. She had to admit, she didn't want to stop him. But, at the same time, she knew that this may be a big mistake, their friendship and career partnership destroyed forever if it went wrong. Their lips were about to touch when Scully pulled his hands away from her face and stumbled backwards. She looked slightly startled and shocked as she looked at Mulder. she thought in horror. She had wanted to kiss Mulder then too, but, it turned out that it *wasn't* him! Mulder looked hurt and stared at the floor again. Scully bolted out of the kitchen, grabbed her coat that was draped over the couch and ran out of the door. She felt guilty for hurting him like that. Mulder looked ut of the window of his apartment as he saw a flustered, blushing Scully quickly walk to her car. He smiled to himself. THE END!........?! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Cast: Fox Mulder - David Duc-HOV-ny ('H' is silent) Dana Scully - Gillian Anderson (Not a real red head) Frohicke - Tom Braidwood (He's really not that paranoid) Langley - Dean Haglund (He's really might be that paranoid) Byers - Bruce Harwood (He's not that serious) The kid (also known as Ben) - A boy The spider - a house hold spider (I found under the computer desk) Writer - Me (Trustyone) Producer - Me (Trustyone) Director - Me (Trustyone) Warning: No spiders, children or Lone Gunmen were harmed or traumatised during the making of this fanfic. Stunt doubles were used at all times when nessicary. Dedication: To the house hold spider that passed away during the making of this fanfic after a fatal accident where David Duchovny accidentally stood on him. David is still coming to terms with the lose. They were dear friends. No characters were intentionally, in any shape or form, based on any person alive or dead. If your family and friends are this strange then I can only say "Sorry". MAIL ME! MAIL ME! MAIL ME! MAIL ME! MAIL ME! MAIL ME! MAIL ME! at........... caroline@thewebbs.demon.co.uk ------------------------------------ Mulder - "Scully, should we be pickin' out china or what!" - Small Potatoes Mulder - "I was once told that the best way to regenerate body heat is to crawl into a sleeping bag naked with somebody else who is already naked". Scully - "Maybe if it rains sleeping bags you'll get lucky!" - Detour