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Disclaimer: "The X-Files" and the characters of Mulder and Scully are not mine. They belong to Chris Carter, Ten-Thirteen and Fox Television. I'm just borrowing them for the fun of it. No copyright infringement intended.
Summary: Mulder has a rare Saturday night off and listens in on a radio talk show that personally affects him. MSR aplenty, so avoid this if you hate that kind of stuff.
Spoilers: Events prior to the sixth season episode, "Drive."
****************************
Fox Mulder's Apartment
August 7
10:15 p.m.
Mulder surfed through every cable channel on his TV and found nothing remotely interesting to watch. He looked at his box full of video cassettes he had next to the TV. Nah, he thought. I've watched Miss Triple D more than I care to remember. Disgusted, Mulder threw the remote on his coffee table.
The phone rang.
"Mulder," he answered.
"Hey, Mulder, it's Langley. Want to come over and view some video images of the UFO sightings in Denmark last month?"
"No, thanks. I'm busy reorganizing my beanie babies collection tonight. Another time, Langley."
"Suit yourself. Later."
Mulder put the phone down and thought about calling Scully. Nah, he thought. This is the first Saturday night in a long while that we're not together on a case. She deserves a break.
So he got up and went to the fridge to get something to eat. He wasn't surprised to find nothing but a used and moldy head of lettuce. "I can see that I've been away much too long," he said to himself. It looks like pizza night, he thought.
**************************
11:28 p.m.
"I've been waiting for over an hour for this pizza," Mulder said with just a hint of irritation.
"Sorry, dude," the pizza delivery guy said. "We don't normally make deliveries to this building, so I got lost. It's $11.90."
"Here's $12," Mulder said as he gave the money.
"Big spender."
Mulder closed the door and looked inside the pizza box at his pepperoni, mushrooms, and....anchovies?
"Hey!" Mulder shouted as he opened the door to see that the elevator doors closed. Great, he thought.
He went back inside his apartment and got his phone.
"Hello? Yes, I ordered a pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and green peppers and....What do you mean you're closed? I didn't order anchovies! I just want the pizza I ordered....No, I can't wait until tomorrow.....Look, I'm a federal agent, and....Hello? Hello?" Great, he thought as he threw his phone on his coffee table. Anchovies. Yuck!
Mulder turned on his radio. Since there was nothing on TV he was interested in watching, at least he can find a good rock station while eating his pizza. Mulder started turning the dial:
"(shweee)...that's right! 2.5% financing if you come in before Sunday....(shweee)....Don't say it, don't say it, you can say anything tonight....(shweee)....shut the door, baby, don't say a word....(shweee)...."
Frustrated, Mulder flicked off an anchovy reaching for a slice of pizza. Are overplayed Top 40 songs and commercials all that's on the radio these days, he thought while turning the dial:
"(schwee)...in love with your co-worker...."
Whoa, what's this?
"You're listening to National Loveline with Whitney Frost and if you are in love with your co-worker and they don't know it, get it off your chest and give us a call at 1-800-555-0628. Our next caller is 'Frustrated in Newport News.' Hello? You're on the air..."
Well this isn't exactly what I had in mind, Mulder thought. But it kind of makes up for missing those Jerry Springer shows I've heard so much about.
"...and he acts as though he's God's gift to women, but he is sooooooo sexy. Sometimes, I fantasize what it's like to have his body next to mine and....(click)"
Oh come on! It was starting to sound good, Mulder thought as he bit into another slice of pizza. "Ugh! Anchovy!" he shouted as he spit out a piece of the dreaded fish.
"...Okay, well thank you for that rather graphic detail Frustrated in Newport News, but we are talking romance, not sex so we'll go to another caller. The topic tonight is being in love with your co-worker and they don't know it...Yes, we have 'Dreary in D.C.' on the line. Hello? You're on the air with Whitney Frost...."
"Hello? Am I on the air?" asked a female voice.
"Yes, you are on the air and live with Whitney Frost. So why don't you tell me why you are dreary?"
"Well, I am probably more frustrated, confused and lonely, but dreary is definitely the way I've been feeling lately."
"All because you are in love with your co-worker?"
"I...I'm not sure. Maybe? I don't know. It just seems that for every step forward, there are two steps back."
This woman needs a counselor, Mulder thought. Ugh, another anchovy.
"How did you two meet?"
"I was transferred into his dept. He had a few people in upper management concerned that the company would look bad, because of his outlandish work habits. They asked me to settle him down, reign him in so to speak."
"And did you?"
"At first, I didn't know what to make of him. I can't get into specifics of what I do for a living, but it can be considered high profile. If you have a bad hair day, people notice. After a few months, I started to realize that he was misunderstood by everyone. Although his methods are unorthodox, he's a visionary with an uncanny insightfulness that borders on spooky..."
"Spooky?" Mulder stated. That's kind of odd, he thought.
"...but he has moments of impulsiveness where he doesn't tell me what's going on, and I end up having to figure out what he's doing so that I can save his butt from getting fired. And there are other times when he thinks my ideas are frivolous if they don't back up his."
"So why do you think you're in love with this guy?"
Yeah, Mulder thought. He sounds like a jerk.
"...On the surface, he can be this self-absorbed, obsessed, paranoid madman who thinks everyone is out to get him. But he also has a gentle, caring, passionate side that can be *so* irresistible. It's almost a Jeckyl-Hyde syndrome.
"Is he ugly?"
"No! He's far from it. I've seen how other women in the office look at him. He tries to act aloof, but I think he gets a small ego boost out of it."
"Has he shown you any signs that he might have the same feelings for you?"
"In little ways...He lost someone very close to him at a young age. So he can tend to be very protective over me. And there are times when I think that he wants to raise our relationship to another level..."
"Do you have any examples?"
"Well...not too long ago, management was going to transfer me to the other side of the country. I didn't want to do that, so I turned in my resignation..."
"Resignation?" Mulder stated out loud. That's funny, he thought, that kind of sounds like...
"He didn't want me to resign. He told me that he couldn't do it alone....that he didn't want to...that(silence)...t-that I made him a whole person..."
Scully?
"...(sob)he gently caressed my face and held me in the most loving embrace I've ever felt from him. I don't think that he initially intended to open up his emotions to me, but the idea of our forced separation affected him as much as it did me. I thought we were finally going to have *that moment* where our relationship would forever be changed. We were so close, but..."
"I'm sorry, Dreary in D.C. We're running out of time, but I have received many calls from listeners encouraging you to tell him how you feel, so that you might find peace from your dreariness. The way it sounds, I don't think that you will have any problems. In closing, if there was one thing that you wished he would do to confirm his feelings for you, what would it be?"
"I would just like to hear from him that he cares and appreciates me. I'll take it from there."
"Very hopeful words from a hopeful romantic. Well, folks, our time is up, so from the staff of National Loveline, I'm Whitney Frost and good night..."
Mulder turned off his radio and found his phone on the floor. He dialed the familiar number of his partner as he looked at the half-eaten slice of pizza in the box. He looked at the clock (12:02).
"Hello?" replied a sleepy voice.
"Scully, it's me."
"Mulder? It's past midnight. Is something wrong?"
"Um...no. I just wanted to call you and..."
"(Yawn)Yes, Mulder?"
"...tell you that I really appreciate your friendship and that I do care what happens to you."
Silence.
"Scully?"
"I'm here, Mulder. What brought this on?"
"Nothing brought this on. I just wanted you to know that."
"Um...okay. Was there anything else?"
"No. Sorry for waking you, Scully. I'll talk to you Monday."
"Okay, Mulder. Good night."
"Good night, Scully."
As Mulder put the phone down on his coffee table, he sat down, laid his head back and looked up at the ceiling. That was weird, he thought.
As Scully put her phone back on her night stand, she laid back on her pillow and looked up at the ceiling. That was weird, she thought.
**************************
Scully's Apartment
August 8
9:30a.m.
Scully was reading the paper when her phone rang.
"Scully."
"Hello, Dana," replied the familiar voice of Mrs. Scully.
"Hi, Mom. What's going on?"
"Just wanted to invite you out to lunch, today."
"Okay. I don't have any other plans, so it's not a problem."
"Oh, I thought you and Fox would be doing something."
"No, Mom. But it's funny you should mention him, because I received the strangest phone call from him last night."
"Really?" Mrs. Scully said as a smile formed on her lips. "Why don't you tell me what happened..."
The End.
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