Rivalry
By Shoshana

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July 6th, 1999, 10:00 a.m.
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Mulder unlocked the door to the office and flipped the lights on.
He shucked his suit jacket off, hanging it on the coat rack near the
door. He sniffed the air, smelled familiar perfume, and immediately
stiffened. Diana. She had been here. Was she still here? Why the
hell hadn't they changed the locks on the door?

How predictable that she still wore Chanel No. 5 after all these
years. He knew it wasn't Scully's scent. He had inhaled that
earlier, for all he was worth. Their 'walk' had given him the
opportunity to gaze at her unabashedly and be close enough, long
enough to revel in her smell.

He wasn't familiar with the name of Scully's perfume, and he'd never
asked her what it was. He should know by now. He'd seen the bottle
countless times on the road. But the shape of it was unfamiliar, and
the name upon it was in an abstract cursive script that required
close observation. And he'd always been afraid she'd catch him
poking through her personal items. He made a solemn vow to discover
what it was as soon as possible, then rush out and buy her an ounce
or two.

He'd certainly felt like buying the world for her just twenty
minutes ago when they returned from their walk. 'If you're going to
stick around with me.' The words kept tumbling through his mind. He
had not mistaken their meaning, no doubt of that. We're going to
stay with each another, no matter what. She had invited him into the
rest of her life, in that offhand way she was so damn talented at.

Scully was still retrieving whatever she'd said she needed from the
third floor lab. Not much time to reflect on what the hell Diana was
doing in our office today. If it had been her. It had to be, unless
someone else had a key he didn't know about. They hadn't been absent
from the office all that long for their walk.

The scent was fresh, he knew that; his investigative abilities
weren't that rusty after the three day holiday weekend. He
remembered Diana's devotion to Chanel No. 5, that she never left the
apartment without a dab behind her ears. And he thanked whatever god
was listening that the fragrance held no attraction to his senses
anymore. None. Any lingering attraction to Diana, as a friend, a
woman, or a colleague, had been killed by her betrayal of his trust.

Scully arrived back at their office to find Mulder leaning back in
his chair, deep in thought. "Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey yourself. Did you get what you were after?"

"Oh yeah..., I think I did," she said cryptically.

She'd been able to think of nothing but Mulder the last half hour.
She'd sat in the laboratory, waiting for results from last week's
autopsies, musing about him, and his sweetly, stupefied reaction to
her statement, 'You really ought to spend more time with my Mom.'
Yep, nothing declares your love for a man more than suggesting that
he spend more leisure time with your mom.

But she did get through to him. Mulder didn't miss much. At least,
he hadn't this time around. They'd always had the oddest ways of
expressing affection for one another, obscuring their meaning in the
turn of a phrase, the movement of their eyes, the brushing of their
fingers against one another. She'd been so lonely this past weekend,
despite her mother's company, and she'd decided that they'd danced
around this bonfire for too many years.

Mulder's voice broke her reverie, "Scully, someone was here while we
took our stroll..."

"Who?!"

"I don't know for sure. I can't be sure. It might have been Diana,
Scully..."

"But, she hasn't been heard of since February."

"When I came in earlier, the place smelled of her perfume. Please,
don't quiz me on how I know that, I just do. She's worn Chanel her
whole life. It's distinctive, and she was here, I know it."

"She has a key?"

"We never changed the locks, Scully. I know it sounds idiotic, but
we didn't. I don't know where to find her. She's missing from work.
Her apartment was cleaned out from top to bottom. I would like to
find out how she had the temerity to waltz in here without our
knowledge, but I'm not confident I will."

"Tell Skinner."

Mulder laughed. "Based upon what? I smelled her perfume? He'll
have me in restraints before noon. No, I think I may call the guys
and have them do some detective work for us. Ahem,...you know that
kind of *illegal* stuff we were discussing earlier?" They smiled at
one other, the discussion fresh in their minds.

"Yeah, Mulder. I think I'll just see no evil, hear no evil if you
don't mind. What I don't know about their methodology can't hurt me.
So...what else do you want to tackle this morning?"

"Besides my partner?" Scully threw daggers at him with her eyes.
"Hey, you left yourself open for that one! I couldn't resist that..."

His whole countenance bespoke an innocent joy; pestering her with
inane jokes was something he'd really missed last weekend. She
sighed, giving him her I'm-being-tolerant smile and sat down at her
desk, powering up her laptop. "O.K., Mulder, let's not waste the
entire morning. What's the agenda?"

"Expense reports, insurance papers, leftover mail, miscellaneous
research, just the usual. You tell me where to start...my mind is
still on a park bench, gazing into the Reflecting Pool..."

"I have a good idea where your mind is, Mulder, and it's not gazing
into that damn pool..."

"Ms. Scully! Now who's wasting time on innuendo?" He grabbed some
files from his desk. "Look, I'm going to the Archive and do a little
research. That way you can get started on whatever you like. I
don't think we're going to get anything done in the same room with
each other."

"Mulder...," she protested, rolling her eyes, then shaking her head.

"That's not to say you're not a pleasant distraction, Scully. I
just want to give you a chance to breathe..."

"My respiration is doing just fine, Mulder. Alright, O.K., as long
as you're going to abandon me to my own resources, why don't you run
over to 'Au Bon Pain' and buy us some lunch around one?"

He seemed pleased with this compromise and he grabbed his files,
placing them on her desk while he pulled his jacket off the coat
rack. By the time he turned back around, she was standing by the
desk, files in hand, mischief in her eyes.

"And don't forget my latte, O.K.?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Scully..." His hand brushed up against hers
as he retrieved the folders, and though what he really wanted to do
was take her in his arms and kiss her tenderly, all he really had the
nerve to do at the moment was throw her a goodbye smile and fly out
the door.

Scully sat back down in front of her laptop and started looking
through her E-Mail. She didn't get far before she heard a knock on
the door, which Mulder had closed behind him. Scully yelled "Come
in!" and resisted an audible gasp when she saw who it was.

"Hello Dana, is Fox here today?"

"Diana," was all Scully said, angry at the presumptuousness of this
woman.

"I'm really sorry to disturb you. I know you're probably curious
where I've been, Dana."

"Actually, I haven't given it much thought, Diana. We knew you were
still alive, and that was sufficient knowledge for me at the time."
Scully knew she sounded bitchy. She just didn't give a damn anymore.
This woman would never get the better of her again.

Diana tried to ignore her jab and said, "So, I guess it's obvious
that Fox is not around this morning. Could you please give him this
number to call me at?" She cautiously placed the piece of paper near
the laptop, and retreated to the door slowly, standing up to Scully's
now venomous gaze.

"Sure, Diana. I'll make sure he gets it this afternoon. Goodbye,
now." She dropped her eyes back down to her computer, avoiding
further conversation. Diana voiced a stiff goodbye and disappeared
through the door.

As soon as Scully was positive that she was long gone, she stopped
typing at her keyboard, slumped down in her chair, staring at the
phone number Diana had left. She grabbed her cell phone, dialed
Langley, and asked him to call her back as soon as he traced the
number to a residence. Within minutes, he called back with an
apartment address in D.C. proper, probably a condominium, in a
fashionable neighborhood near The Watergate, Diana's old building.
Scully asked him to find out anything else he could, if he could and
hung up the phone. It was going to be a long afternoon, she thought,
returning to her laptop and her E-Mail.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1:15 p.m., the office
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mulder arrived back at the office, lunch in hand, whistling to
himself some unknown tune. He deposited his packages on an empty
table, wondering where Scully had strayed off to, since her laptop
was still running, still logged onto her password. He'd just been
seeking a peek at what she had been working on when she returned,
ignoring him and her fragrant meal.

She resumed her seat in front of the laptop, taciturn, obviously
disturbed. Mulder stood in front of his desk, observing her peculiar
behavior, debating whether it was worth asking why she was so pissed
off at him, as he was fairly certain he was going to hear about it
soon. His curiosity got the better of him and he asked, "Um, Scully?
Did something happen while I was gone?"

"Yes, Mulder. Something most certainly did," she replied, her voice
barely qualifying as a whisper.

He advanced closer to her side of the room, worry overcoming any
fear of Scully reprimands. He leaned against the filing cabinet a
few feet away from her perch and looked down at her, trying to meet
her gaze. "So...what the hell happened?"

"Someone stopped by. They left you this." She handed him Diana's
telephone number and averted her gaze, staring vacantly at her laptop.

"Oh shit, Scully! Goddammit!" He knelt beside her, his face level
with hers, placing one gentle hand on her right shoulder, silently
encouraging her to look his way. "If I had known...I would have
never left you here to deal with this by yourself. What the hell did
she say to you to get you into this mood?"

Scully swiveled her head, rotating her torso so that she could
address him directly. Her head shook in denial as she said,
"Nothing, she said nothing. She was utterly polite. She didn't say
anything harsh or untoward. She just stated that she thought we were
probably curious where she'd been. She asked where you were and she
left her number. That's it, that's all."

Mulder sighed, balancing his hand on the back of her chair, as he
said, "That certainly can't be all, Scully. You're not the picture
of merriment here..."

She pursed her lips, debating her next words carefully. He wasn't
letting her off the hook easily; his presence beside her palpable
evidence of his concern. She couldn't help but fidget with her suit
jacket, aware of his intense gaze, his body beside her, sweaty from
his foray out into the D.C. humidity. She felt skittish as a pony,
unreasonably nervous this close to him, but unwilling to obscure her
feelings on this matter.

She finally broke the silence. "Diana was as cool as a cucumber. I
was not particularly civil, though not rude either. I just let her
know that we assumed she was alive somewhere."

"Oh, I bet you did!" he said with a hearty laugh, pulling himself
up from his crouching position and leaning against the wall near the
door. Scully couldn't resist a half-smile, her lips puckering,
stifling a full-fledged grin. Mulder might as well be a telepath,
the way he read her mind was uncanny, perturbing at times.

Mulder nonchalantly removed his jacket and threw it over a stray
chair. He was still chuckling, envisioning Scully and Diana, claws
extended, each attempting to maintain a sedate composure in the
presence of their rival. He'd never admit it to Scully, but he was
really getting turned on by this, his ex-girlfriend in thinly
disguised confrontation with his best friend, soon-to-be-something-
else partner.

"What's so funny, 'Chuckles'?" Scully inquired.

"Uh, nothing," he replied, stifling his laughter. Jeez, be careful
Mulder, she's going to see right through you one of these days and
kick your ass to Timbuctoo. But, God he was getting a charge out of
this...a jealous Dana Scully was sexy as hell, and he was counting on
prolonging the antipathy between the two of them till the cows came
home.

"Mulder, if I wasn't so otherwise trusting and confident in your own
moral rectitude, I'd say you were getting a real charge out of this,
in a depraved, Mulder kind of way..."

She was grinning from ear to ear now, watching the color rise in his
cheeks, overwhelming that flattering tan that he'd picked up last
weekend. Ha, ha, gotcha Mulder. Finally busted. Actually, he
appeared so mortified that she wanted to embrace him, tell him that
she secretly relished the interest he took in her fits of envy. Just
another sweet revelation of how much he did care for her...even
though she strongly suspected there was something kinky going on in
there somewhere that she could just as well do without.

"Scully, let's have lunch."

"Changing the subject, poopyhead?" she said, smiling broadly.

He closed his eyes, laughed and countered, "Yeah, honeybunch, I am!
Look, I'll have the Lone Gunmen find out everything about where's
she's residing, etc."

"Been there, done that."

"You have?" he said, a look of amused disbelief sweeping his face.

"Yeah, I've been nothing but efficient around the office today.
Anyhow, you did say earlier that you were going call the three
stooges sooner or later. Sooner definitely came when she strolled
through that door, Lazarus come back from the dead."

"Want to open an X-File on it, Scully?"

"Mulder, let's just have lunch."

fin

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