DEDICATION: I dedicate this love story to my fellow x-phile and best friend, Annoria Shah. Love ya O'nesto. Memories (1/?) by Kim George PROLOGUE Aparment of Special Agent Dana Scully 3170 West 53 Road, Apt #35 Annapolis, Maryland January 18 10:23 AM It was a typical winter morning. Outside the temperature was about eleven degrees and the snow was coming down pretty hard. It had been an extremely white winter, the first snow being on Halloween night and not seeming to let up since. Inside Dana Scully had the heat cranked up and a fire in her fireplace. She grew up in San Francisco, so she wasn't used to the bitter cold. It was a war just trying to get into work everyday. It was Saturday, and she finally had a day off. It seemed like she only ever took off when she had a work related injury, but this time she just decided she needed a rest. She was a field agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, X-Files division. With degrees at both the University of Berkeley and Maryland. She was a forensic pathologist and an astronomer. After teaching at the FBI Academy, she was now working with Special Agent Fox Mulder and had been for the past three years. Mulder and his cases seemed like her whole life. That was all she did, all she wanted to do. No matter how much she disagreed with him or how much she thought and told him, he was down right nuts. He was still her best friend and the only person she could turn to with anything. Scully was sitting on her couch in sweat pants and a tee-shirt, with a big blanket around her. She was reading the latest Jose Chung novel, "Mayan Sunrise," and trying to relax a little. She was meeting Mulder at 1:00 for lunch, until then she could just lay around. At about eleven the phone rang. She was engulfed in her book, she nearly jumped off the couch. "Hello?" "Agent Dana Scully?" "Yes." "This is Georgetown General Hospital. What is your relation to an, Agent Mulder?" She stood up in a panic. "He's my partner. What's wrong? What happened? Is he hurt?" "Agent Scully. Agent Mulder has been in a car accident. He's stable but in critical condition." "I'll be right there." She hung up the phone and got dressed under two minutes. She pulled her coat on and drove as fast as she could to Georgetown without getting into a car accident herself. She was there in fifteen minutes and ran into the emergency room. She showed her badge to the receptionist. "Where's Fox Mulder at?" She scanned down a list of patients. "Trauma 12, ma'am." Scully shot down the hall. She went into a room with medical equipment cluttered around a bed. "Mulder." He was laying in the bed hooked up to IV's, a heart monitor, and respirators. He had bandages on his head and chest. The doctor was standing over him marking his chart. Scully just walked beside his bed and took his hand. "Agent Scully?" "Yes." "I'm going to be very frank, Miss Scully. Agent Mulder has a forty-sixty chance of pulling through, but his injuries are very severe and there is a chance he might not regain conciousness at all." She looked at him with her big azure eyes and tried to hold back tears. He squeezed his hand and sat down in the chair beside his bed. She felt scared and helpless. "Fight this Mulder. Please don't leave me." To be continued... From grady12@westol.com Wed Oct 16 16:39:05 1996 Once again I didn't write this, I'm posting it for an offline friend. Comments to her can be sent to me at grady12@westol.com and I'll pass them on to her. Memories by Kim George Chapter 1: The Promise FBI Headquarters Washington, DC January 20 Scully was walking down to Mulder's office when Assistant Director Walter S. Skinner stopped her. "Agent Scully." She passed him up without even seeing him. She turned around, "Yes Sir." She had only gotten about three hours of sleep in the past forty eight hours. She had been at the hospital before coming to work so she didn't have time to shower or change. Her hair was in a ponytail and she had on jeans, a mint green shirt, and brown hiking boots. It wasn't within the FBI dress code, but by that point she really didn't give a damn. "Could you come into my office for a second?" He held the door open for her as she sighed and walked in. "Please, have a seat. I realize its difficult knowing how close you and Agent Mulder have grown. Is he doing any better?" "Stable. They moved him into the Intensive Care Unit, but he hasn't come out of the coma yet. They operated and everything went as well as they expected it to. They expect him to regain consciousness, but they don't know how extensive his mental injuries are. He could be fine. On the other hand, he could be paralyzed for life. He did have an epideral hemotoma." "Agent Scully, until Agent Mulder can resume his position, there is a teaching opening at Quantico." "Are you saying you are shutting down the X-Files, Sir?" "Temporarily closing it Scully, until we can get a hold of things." "Yeah, whatever." She got up without being excused and began to leave. "Agent Scully." She looked at him. "What?" "Mulder will be back." She stared at him for a moment, then turned and left. When she got into the hall she stopped, closed her eyes, and leaned up against the wall to calm herself down. What if Mulder didn't come back? She had been with him for so long she could hardly even remember a time when they didn't work together. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind and continued to walk down to his office. It was as messed up as he left it, with videos, papers, books, and garbage thrown everywhere. The police said that the person who hit him ran a red light and collided with him straight on. What pissed Scully off was he got a $6000 fine, a night in lock-up, and a cut on his lip. She knew she was being as paranoid as she always accused Mulder of being, but she felt there was more to it than meets the eye. She was looking for something, something that could give her a clue to whether it was just an accident, or something a little more organized. She spent three hours going through practically every article in his office. She found absolutely nothing that could point her in any kind of direction. After she had gone home and gotten a shower, she went back up to the hospital. She felt so helpless, but she wanted to spend all the time she could with him, because she knew at any minute he could be gone. * * * One week later. "Agent Scully, you have a call." She was in the middle of her class at the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia. She had been teaching a cource on Forensic Science, since the day after Skinner called her into his office. The X-Files project had been temporarily shut down until further notice, and Mulder's condition had only slightly improved. "I'm in the middle of something, Davis. Take a message." "It's the hospital." Her eyes flashed, and she turned to her class. "Excuse me for a moment." She walked down to the main office. "Line two." To be continued... From grady12@westol.com Sun Nov 24 18:32:58 1996 Again, I didn't write this. I'm posting for an offline friend. Comments can be sent to her c/o grady12@westol.com. Memories (3/?) By Kim George Chapter 1 continued... "Thanks," she picked up the phone. "Scully." "Agent Scully. This is Dr. Koch. I think you should come down here as soon as possible." "What's wrong?!?" "I can't tell you over the phone, but don't worry. Fox has regained consciousness." She breathed a sigh of relief and bit her lip, "I'll be there in an hour." "Davis, could you cover my class? Thanks." She was out the door before he could even reply. She drove seventy the whole way there and didn't look back. She ran into the hospital and into Mulder's recovery room. He was sitting up in his bed eating sunflower seeds. "Mulder." She smiled at him in disbelief. "Hello?" He was looking straight at her but had no idea who she was. The smile was gone in a split second and the doctor came to the door. "Agent Scully, can I see you out here for a moment." She turned and walked out with Koch. "What the hell is going on here?" "Agent Mulder is suffering from acute amnesia." "What?" "He can't remember a damn thing past the age of eleven." "How long will he be like this?" "At this point it's impossible to tell. A couple of days, months, years. I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty convinced he will come out of it." "What do you mean you're pretty convinced? Are you saying there's a chance he could never regain his memory?" "Yes." Scully closed her eyes and fell against the wall before she fainted. She had put everything into perspective in the past week, but she never expected this. After a minute she came to her senses. "How much does he remember?" "We don't know yet. There hasn't been an official psychiatric evaluation yet, but he did ask where his parents and sister were." "Oh, God." "Do you want to talk to him?" "Uh, yeah." "Don't overwhelm him, but don't hide anything from him. If he asks tell him the truth." "I know doctor." They both walked into his room again. "Fox. This is Dana Scully." "Hi. I'm Fox Mulder. Nice to meet you, Miss Scully." Scully was almost blown away. She tried to hold back her tears as she tried to say his name but no sound came out. She tried to calm herself down as she sat down beside him. "Mulder," she began. "I know you feel extremely confused and maybe even a little scared, but I'm going to tell you a few things you may not like very much. You can ask me anything you want to know." "Okay. Who are you?" Her voice was shaky. "My name is Dana Scully as Dr. Koch told you. I work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation." "Wait. Am I in some kind of trouble? Did I do something or hurt someone?" "No, no. Not at all. Don't worry. You work with me. I'm your partner." He looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry, Dana. I just don't remember. How long have we been working together?" "About four years." "I have another question that's completely off the subject." She raised her eyebrows at him. "Where's my family?" She looked down at her hands. After a moment she looked him straight in the eye. "Mulder, your father died a year and a half ago. Your mother had a stroke and she can't leave her house, and Samantha has been missing for almost twenty-three years now. I'm sorry." He was suprised and hurt by her answer. He remembered playing with his sister in the backyard, his father's boat, his mom's chocolate pies. He remembered things about his family he had forgotten long ago, and couldn't remember things that should have been etched in his mind forever. He couldn't remember the woman he was talking to, and he couldn't even remember why he couldn't remember anything. "Dana?" "Yes." "Were we close?" "Mulder, our relationship was very close. We didn't always agree, but you're my best friend." He saw how upset she was and held out his hand. She took it and looked deep into his bright green eyes. "You will get better, Mulder. I promise." * * * * Three days later, he was released from the hospital. Except for his mental condition, Mulder was completely healed, other that a few scrapes and bruises. Scully came to take him home. He was going to stay at her house that night, and then try it on his own. He had told her the day before he didn't mind if she called him Fox. She told him she would try. Scully came in wearing tan khaki pants and a big green button down shirt. She had her glasses on and her hair pulled up in a ponytail. She had gotten off due to bad weather, but was planning to take off anyhow. She came in carrying a suitcase with some of his clothes and other things he needed, and in the other hand she had a big stuffed fox with a bag of sunflower seeds. "Morning Dana." "Hey. This is from me." She handed him the stuffed animal. "It's adorable. Thank you." She smiled at him, "Why don't you go get changed so we can get you out of here." "All right," he took his clothes and went and changed in the bathroom. He came out wearing a black sweater over a gray tee-shirt and blue jeans. "I'm ready." "Okay then. Come on." She checked him out of the hospital and drove to her apartment. He kept looking out the window at all of the strange scenes that flew by them. She pulled into the parking lot and they walked into the building together. "Which one is yours?" "#35." She unlocked her door and led him into the living room. "You can have a seat on the couch. I'll put your bag in the bedroom." He looked around the room. There were pictures everywhere. On the mantel there was on of an older couple, one of a woman who resembled Dana, and one of four little children that looked like it was taken a long time ago. On her end table there were two pictures. One of Dana holding a little dog, and one of Mulder sitting in his office. There were also three picture frames on the wall full of collages. Some of the pictures had Dana in them, but most of them had people he didn't recognize. She came into her living room and saw him looking at her photographs. "Are you hungry?" "What?" He spun around. "Oh, no thank you. Dana, can we talk?" "Sure, sit down." She sat down in her chair and he sat on the couch facing her. "What do you want to talk about?" "Over the last few days, you've told me little things, but I still don't know so much. Please, tell me about myself, about you, about work, anything. Just tell me something." "All right. God, where do I start?" "At the beginning." "Okay. Do you remember your birthday?" "October 13, 1961." "That's right. Do you remember I told you your sister has been missing for almost twenty-three years now?" "Yes." "Well, that's not even an eighth of the story. When you were twelve, your sister was eight. You lived in Chilmark, Massachusetts. It was November 27, 1973. Your parents had left you to babysit, and they had gone to the neighbors. At about nine, she was taken from the house by what you have come to believe are extra-terrestrial forces, by means of deep regression hypnotherapy. You said you remembered a bright light and the silhouette of a man that was not "human". After months and months of searching and not a trace of evidence, your parents gave up. It broke the family apart. Your parents divorced and you lived with your mother. When you graduated from high school, you wanted to get as far away as you could, to help you forget, so you went to Oxford University in England. You studied criminal psychology and graduated with honors. After that, you were recruited by the FBI. Her disappearance gave you a passion for mysteries, first those of the mind, then mysteries of crime. When you joined the FBI, you were their star agent, on your way to the top. Until one day you stumbled upon the x-files. Cases so weird, nobody would touch them, and everyone labeled then unexplainable and ridiculous. Everyone except for you. You read every single one of then, and anything you could on the occult and paranormal phenomena. They were scared you would learn something you weren't supposed to, so they assigned me to assist, or rather debunk your work. But I saw too many things and witnessed what drove your passion on. I don't always agree with you and you're not always right, but I always respect your theories, and you do the same for me. The x-files are your passion, but Samantha is your obsession. Numerous times we have come so close to the answers we both want more than anything, but it always seems to end the same way. You and I against the world. About two years ago, I was kidnapped and gone for about three months. When everyone else had given up, even the doctors, you were always there by my side. We still don't know what happened to me while I was gone, and that frightens me. Before that, though, something else happened. You had an ally. A man whom you called Deep Throat. He gave you leads and clues and a lot of dead ends. You were kidnapped and in return for you, we were to give the men who were holding you a parcel that supposedly had an alien fetus in it. When Deep Throat made the trade, they shot him and took the evidence. The left you, but took your x-files. When the FBI found out that Deep Throat was dead, they closed us down and we were reassigned. I began to teach again at the academy and you were paired up with a man named Alex Krycek. After I was kidnapped, Krycek disappeared and AD Walter Skinner, our boss, reopened the x-files. Three months later I was found almost dead, but recovered beautifully. About a year ago, a man by the name of Kenneth Suna aka "The Thinker" hacked into the Defense Department files. He was one of the Lone Gunmen. They're a group of paranoid theorists that publish a newsletter. Personally, I think they're Fox Mulder FBI wanna-be's, but they've helped us a number of times and they're nice enough. Anyhow, the thinker got his hands in something sticky. The files allegedly had every UFO conspiracy from 1940 and beyond. He gave them to you and the government found out. They drugged your water with LSD. Because you were so high, you punched Skinner and were suspended. We found out the files were written in Navajo, so I found a native speaker. Your father called you up to his house on Martha's Vineyard. When you went, he was going to tell you something, but never had a chance to. He was shot in his bathroom, in the head. I was at your apartment, when someone shot through your window, and broke the skin on my forehead. You came to my apartment to rest and hide. I took your gun to get your name cleared. You thought I was turning against you and you flipped out. I went back to your apartment to pull the slug from the wall when I found out they were poisoning your water. In the meantime, you were outside. You found Alex Krycek sneaking around. He killed your father and he was coming to kill you. You got your hands on him and beat the shit out of him. When you were about to kill him with the same gun that killed your father, I had to stop you, so I shot you in the shoulder. Krycek got away and we went to New Mexico to get the files read. I left to go to a hearing about my part in the stoled files. You went to a quarry where there was a buried boxcar with dozens of bodies in it. The man we call Cancer Man found out your location and set the boxcar on fire, while you were in it. A man named Albert Hosteen found you a couple of days later and performed an ancient Indian healing ritual on you. On the brink of death, you got well again. When I was going back to Washington, I was stopped on the highway and they took the written files out of my trunk. They had enough evidence on me to take my badge and gun. I found something even more bizarre. There was a computer chip in the back of my neck. I still have no idea how it got there, but you had your feelings. Skinner ended up having the files and black-mailed them, in return for the tape, they would reinstate us. Krycek and another man by the name of Luis Cardinal broke into my apartment to shoot me. They shot my sister, Melissa, instead. She died. Both Krycek and Luis Cardinal are dead now. We found somethin else, too. Your father once worked with Deep Throat, Cancer Man, and a group of other men who had a part in UFO coverups and supposedly Samantha's disappearance. We don't know how involved he was, but we know like you, your father wanted to reveal what was really going on. When they found out that he was going to go public, they took your sister as insurance to make sure he didn't. We've been working since then, having a few more things revealed, but never anything tangible." "Wow," he was stunned by all of the trauma he endured, but couldn't remember. "I'm sorry I had to tell you all of that." "No, thank you. I wouldn't have wanted to find out any other way." She tried to smile at him. "I have a feeling that isn't even the whole story." "You're right. It's not. But I really don't want to go into it anymore right now." "That's fine. Why don't you tell me about something else, like you? Tell me a little about yourself now." "Okay. Well, my full name is Dana Katherine Scully. I'm 33, 34 on February 23. I'm 5'3", so I look like a smurf when I stand next to you. I grew up in San Francisco, where my father was in the Navy and I went to Berkley and got my Bachelors degree in science in astronomy. He was then transferred to Maryland and I have a Masters degree at the University of Maryland in Physics. I was going to work at the National Air and Space Institution in Washington, but I decided to become a doctor instead. After I became an MD, I decided I didn't want to practice either, so I joined the FBI. Needless to say, my parents weren't too pleased. I worked at the academy for two years before I met you. And now it seems like I'm doing that again." "Why aren't you working on the x-files?" "Skinner reassigned me until you get better. Even though we are equal, I was still assigned to assist you on the x-files. It's not my place." "I don't understand. If I would have died, all of those things you just told me would have been buried deeper into the government's little crap hole." "Yes." "Scully, promise me if I ever die, you won't let my work die with me." Her eyes got extremely wide. "Mulder, are you remembering?" "What?" It was like he snapped out of a trance. "I don't... Oh God. I don't know. It was like I remembered everything for a second, but now..." He put his hands through his hair impatiently. "It's alright Fox. Don't rush it. It will all come back to you soon enough. Then you will remember." End Chapter 1 From grady12@westol.com Sat Nov 16 17:14:24 1996 I didn't write this. I'm posting for an offline friend. Comments can be sent to her c/o grady12@westol.com Memories (4/?) By Kim George Chapter 2 Decisions January 31 Apartment of Dana Scully Annapolis, Maryland It was eight o'clock and Dana had been up since six. She ran her four miles for the day and was now at her kitchen table drinking a cup of warm coffee, cream no sugar. She had on blue sweat-pants and a University of Maryland sweatshirt. Hair was in a bun and she had her glasses on her face. Mulder hadn't woken up yet, and she wasn't about to wake him. She was going to make him pancakes for breakfast. Scully thought of herself as a nineties kind of woman, but she loved to cook, and since she lived alone, she didn't get to very often. As she started breakfast, Mulder was just waking up in her room. She left him sleep in the bed last night and she slept on the couch. He couldn't get those things she had told him out of his mind. How could so many awful things happen to him? Was it really as bad as it sounded? As he laid in his bed the night before, he racked his brain for something, anything that could help him remember his life. He could only remember one thing though. He saw himself holding Dana in his arms, she was crying and he kissed the top of her head. He couldn't remember what had happened or why she was crying, but he knew he felt something for her. A feeling of relief and security had come over him and he wanted to do everything he could possibly do to help her get over her fear. For the first time, he saw how vulnerable and frightened she was, and he wanted to show her that she could trust him with anything. He knew he had deep feelings for the woman who was caring for him, but he didn't know how deep his feeling flowed. He could tell she cared for him also, but what kind of relationship did they have? He didn't know how he felt towards her before he lost his memory, but he was afraid it wasn't what he was feeling now. Fox got up and got his shower. He got dresses and made the bed before he went to eat breakfast. One thing he did remember was the smell of pancakes. "Morning Dana." She was standing at the stove flipping them. "Good morning. Do you want some coffee?" "Sure." She poured him a cup as he sat down at the table. "Mmmmm. Thanks." "How are you feeling?" "Better. My head doesn't hurt anymore." "Do you remember anything yet?" He sat for a moment, then answered. "No. Not a thing." He decided not to tell her. He wanted to find this out on his own. After all, he thought. He wasn't lying. He was just willfully participating in a campaign of misinformation. "That sounds strangely familiar," he said under his breath. "What?" Scully turned around. "Ah, nothing. Just thinking out loud. Are those pancakes done yet?" "Yes." She put six medium sized pancakes on a plate and oozed maple syrup all over them. "Here you go." "Thanks. My mom used to make these for me and Sam when we were little." "My mom can't cook. She tried, but she wasn't exactly Betty Crocker." "Betty who?" "Never mind. So what do you want to do today?" "Let's go into Washington, maybe if I see my office something will click." "All right," she sat down with her food. "We can go ast eleven. Work shouldn't be all that craved today." "Okay. There's a name that keeps popping into my head and I don't think you mentioned it." "What is it?" "Nathaniel Garret." She shook her head. "Sorry. It doesn't ring a bell." He thought about it for a minute and then dismissed the thought. "Oh well. It doesn't matter. Sooner or later it will come to me." When they were finished eating, Mulder helped Scully clean up. He watched TV for a while, as she got a shower and changed. At a quarter after ten, Dana came out wearing a red pants suit and an off white scarf. She had on her off white heels and was trying to put on her cross around her neck. "Do you need some help?" Fox asked as she came into the living room. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Sure." She handed him the necklace and he put it around her neck. As he fastened it, the scent of her hair lingered in his nose. It smelled like sweet roses on a warm summer day. At that moment, he remembered something else. He saw himself going into a hospital room. Scully was in the bed and two of the women in the pictures were sitting in chairs. He took the same cross that he was putting around her neck out of his pocket and handed it to her. He saw her smile and say something, but he couldn't make it out. "Mulder." He snapped out of his daydream when she spoke. "Mulder, did you get it?" "Oh yeah. It's on." "Are you all right?" she looked at his with a suspicious grin. "Yes. I'm fine. Are you ready?" "I am." Fox was wearing tan slacks and a large light blue button down polo shirt. The grabbed their jackets and ran through the bitter cold to her car. She started up the engine with Mulder in the passenger seat, and drove down the road. They got to the J. Edgar Hoover building at about ten till eleven. Scully parked in her usual place and clipped her ID to her lapel. Her gun was around her waist, so she made sure she had her badge before she got out of the car. They both walked through the long corridors of the FBI headquarters and took the elevator down to the basement. When they came to the door that said Fox Mulder/FBI Agent on it Mulder looked confused. "This is my office?" "Still is. Why?" "Why is it down here? Why isn't it with all of the other violent crime offices?" "Because we aren't violent crimes. This is the x-file division and it's just you and me. There aren't any other agents assigned to it." "Why not?" She opened the door and they both went into his still cluttered office. "The brass doesn't feel that this division is as important as the others. As a matter of fact they deny any knowledge of anything we have ever uncovered." "Then why do we go on and dedicate our lives to such a hopeless cause?" "Because you have never given up. You have told me before that no matter what they do to you or us or the x-files, all of the hidden truths and answers they're depriving us from now will someday come out and everyone will have their justice and you will still have yourself and me and your mind." "I was rather extreme." "Passionate is a better word." Mulder looked around the room. "I have a lot of UFO crap." "What can I say? You want to believe." She pointed to his poster and smiled. He looked through the whole office twice, but nothing he found made any sense. After they picked up a bit, it was almost three o'clock. Scully was faxing something to her brother when there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it." Mulder got up from his desk and opened the door. "Agent Mulder." "Hello." THe assistant director was standing in the doorway, a little surprised to see Mulder back at work. "How are you feeling?" he held his hand out to Mulder. He accepted having no idea who the man was," Just fine, and yourself?" "All right. Agent Scully?" "Yes sir." "Could I see you out here for a moment?" "Sure." She stepped outside with Skinner and shut the door. "Agent Scully, I have something to tell you that you aren't going to like." "What?" "I got news from the top that the FBI is discontinuing any funding for the x-file project effective immediately." "What? Who told you that?!" "I'm sorry." "No you're not sorry, but you will be." "Are you threatening me Agent Scully?" "Suit yourself. Those rat bastards tried to kill Agent Mulder and when they were sloppy they killed the one thing he loved most in the world. This isn't over. And when that man in there does remember, and when he finds out what they did to him and his work, it will probably kill him." She glared at Skinner and went back into Mulder's office. "Come on, let's go." "What happened out there? Who was that?" "That was AD Skinner, and don't worry about what happened. It's between him and I." "Whatever you say." They pulled their coats on and headed to get something to eat. Scully's mind was a blur. How could they do that, again? She knew she couldn't let them get away with that, but how was she going to stop them. The bureaucracy crap that had become so accepted in the United States justice system was going to brush this through the holes exactly the same way they did Watergate and Whitewater, no one really gets justice, because justice isn't definable anymore. It's just a word used for the screwed up way of handling the unacceptable, other thought perfectly all right. They stopped at the Olive Garden and then went back to Scully's house to pick up his suitcase. She took him home then, and got him settled into his apartment. She opened the door with her key and turned on the lights. He walked in front of her and looked around the apartment like he was lost. Scully walked into the living room. She started to pick up the dirty dished and glasses he had laying everywhere. "You don't have to do that," Mulder walked into the room. "It wasn't like you were going to do it anytime soon." "That's true." As she took all of his pizza leftovers into the kitchen, he looked around the room. There were two very odd things that stuck out. The first one was that there were no fish in the running aquarium, the other one was the masking tape on the window. He looked at his desk, his coffee table with all of "Lone Gunmen" magazines, and the pictures of his family on his wall. There was one of him and Samantha playing on the swingset. He remembered that swingset: "Fox, watch your sister out there." Fox couldn't have been anymore than nine. He was swinging back and forth on the wooden swing his dad had built. She was in the sandbox trying to build some kind of housething. His mom was in the kitchen making dinner, trying to keep an eye on her kids. Her husband was still at work and lork knows he couldn't spend a little time with his family. She didn't know what he did all day at the State Department, but she didn't like the men he worked with. He was always so secretive and withdrawn about his work. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Caroline Mulder dropped the dish she was carrying on the floor and ran outside. She ran over to her little girl who was laying, screaming on the ground, her head gushing blood. Her son was just standing over her shaking his head. "Samantha," she turned the girl's head to see how bad it was. "Fox, what happened?" He just stood in horror shaking his head. "Damn it Fox! Answer me!" "I was swinging. I didn't see her coming. It was an accident. I'm sorry Sam. I'm sorry." "I know it was an accident. Please go get me a wet dish cloth. Now!" The little boy ran and did as he was told, returning with a wet washcloth for his sister's head. He watched in horror as his mother tried to get the bleeding to stop. How could he do such and awful thing? All he wanted was for her to be okay. "Fox. Fox!" "Yeah." He turned from the picture to Dana. "What is it? What do you remember?" "Nothing. I was just thinking." "About what?" "About how wonderful you've been to me in the past week." He walked over and took her hand. "Thank you." He leaned close to her and touched the side of her face. At first she breathed in his sweet smell, and smiled into his eyes, and then reality set in. She realized who he was and where she was. She backed away from him and flinched. What was she doing? He didn't know what he was doing, then again he didn't know much of anything. Dana Scully knew what he was doing, she wasn't naive, she could tell. It wasn't like she had never felt anything in the past, how could you not. Sometimes the sexual tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, she made herself face it, he had a hot ass, and his face wasn't too bad either, but their relationship had to stay strictly business. Interoffice relationships just didn't work. She had to learn the hard way. "Fox, I ..." He turned away from her and turned around again with a smile on his face. "Well, I'm tired, and you have to go to work tomorrow. You better get going." "All right." As he closed the door, he breathed a huge sigh and slid down the wall onto the floor. What the hell was he thinking? He was so confused. He didn't even know who he was let alone what he was feeling. He just hoped he figured it out before he lost the only person he knew he cared about. End part 4/? From grady12@westol.com Sat Dec 07 17:14:46 1996 I didn't write this. I'm posting for an offline friend. Comments can be sent to her c/o grady12@westol.com Memories (5/?) By Kim George Chapter 3- Choices FBI Academy Quantico, Virginia March 9 "All right. Who can tell me what skin disease Mr. Lopez was subjected to?" Scully was standing in a lab room with twenty-five students standing around her. She had on blue scrubs and a white lab coat. Her hair was tucked behind her ears and she had latex gloves on. "Brad?" He was talking to another student when she looked up. "Mr. Scott, this is not high school. Pay attention or get out." She startled him. "Sorry Agent Scully." "Yeah well, someone who was paying attention. Ms. O'Brian?" "Ictheosis. It's a congenital skin disease also knows as fish skin disease. It's a dry, scaleness to the skin passed down in heredity." "Very good. I have seen it once before when I was working with an agent named Fox Mulder." "Fox Mulder?" a young man with wire rim glasses spoke up. "Yes, why?" "I've heard of him. He has quite a reputation. They say Spooky is a real psycho and you were assigned to spy on him." "Listen, Special Agent Mulder is the most intellegent man I have ever had the pleasure of working with, and you are a pimple face school boy, so unless you have something worth saying, shut up." "Yes, ma'am. I wouldn't want you to shoot me too." "Get the hell out of my class!" He gave a little laugh as he left. Scully shot down the hall after him. "Who the hell do you think you are?" "The son of your superior." "Excuse me?" "I'm Michael Skinner. Skinner, sound familiar?" "I don't give a dams who your father is. You have no right saying anything about a man you have never met. And let me tell you something, Daddy's not always going to be there to bail your ass out of trouble." He just smiled at her and continued to walk down the hall. It had been two months since the accident and to the best of her knowledge he hadn't remembered anything significant. He had been working in violent crimes again, but just desk work. Nothing big. She dismissed her class at 4:00. She began to clean up when he came to the door. They were going out to eat. "Special Agent Scully." "Hi Mulder. I'll be done in a second." "No rush." He sat down in her chair. "I'll be right back." She went to change in the locker room. Mulder hadn't been completely honest with her. One by one all of his memories came sweeping back to him. Over the past few months, they had grown together in a way they never had before. There relationship was not only built on respect and trust now, they had developed a kind of love for each other, neither of them ever felt before. At least that's how Fox felt. He just wasn't so sure she felt the same way. He remembered the way he had felt before, and it definatly wasn't what he was feeling now. He was so sexually attracted to her he dreamt of her at night. He was planning to tell her how he felt that night at a little French cafe, "Rouge Amcur," in Georgetown. He knew he wasn't the same man he was before the accident; he just hoped he wasn't changed for the worse. Dana came up with a cashmire sweater on and black slacks. "I'm ready." She grabbed her briefcase. She looked up at him and smiled as she went past him. He followed her home, and they rode together to the restaurant. They were seated at a table by the window. Scully ordered a Swiss Mocha cappuccino and Mulder ordered an Irish Cream Latte. "How was your day?" "Long. Very long. I feel like I'm teaching third graders. I found out I have Skinner's kid and he's a power crazy snotball. I swear, and we think the country's in bad shape now." He smiled at her. He felt kind of awkward. Even though she had no idea what was coming to her, he was still scared she might not like it. "Dana. I..." "You know that kid's going to make his way up the corporate ladder, climbing higher and higher, even though there are plenty of men and women better for the job, just because his father is the Assistant Director of the FBI." She was really pissed off. He had his eyebrows raised at her. "I'm sorry. Were you trying to say something?" "As a matter of fact..." "Agent Mulder! Agent Scully!" This time they were interrupted by a short stubby man wearing a polyester suit and bow tie. "Frohike!" Mulder beamed as he saw his old friend. It was the first time they had met after the accident and Scully never mentioned his name. Dana looked at him with a confused expression, but let him proceed. "How are you doing man?" "Good. How are you?" "Better thanks." "Wow! It's been too long." "I know," he pulled up a chair, and the lone gunman sat between Mulder and Scully. "Agent Scully. Beautiful as always." "Frohike." The talked for a while and Frohike caught them up on the latest UFO/government conspiracies. He left about fifteen minutes later to take the other two stooges their take-out. "Well that was nice seeing him again." Mulder smiled at her. She just looked at him in disbelief. "I can't believe you." She got out and began to walk out. "Wait Dana! What's wrong?" he grabbed her shoulder as she walked past him. "Don't touch me," she pulled away. "Listen Mulder, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I think I've just heard enough." "What are you talking about?" She just shook her head and continued to walk. "Wait, I love you." Dana stopped dead in her tracks. She turned her head slightly to the right. He came up behind her and put his hands on her arms. "I love you." She stood there for a moment, took his sweet smell into her nose, swung her arms to get him off, and walked out the door. He was left standing in the restaurant with no idea what to do. What had he done? * * * The next day Dana was laying on her old couch in her old ouse. She was watching some stupid movie on TV and trying not to think about what's his name. It seemed like everytime she felt as depressed as she did then, the only place she felt any comfort at all was at her mom's house. "Dana, sweetie. Do you want something to eat?" "No." "You haven't eaten anything all day." "I don't care." Maggie walked into the living room to find her baby girl laying across the couch with her head on a pillow and her arm on the floor. "Do you feel like talking yet?" "Oh Mom," she sat up. "I don't know what I'm going to do." Tears swelled up in her eyes. "Come here." Her mom sat down on the couch and Dana put her head on her lap. She took the scrunchy out of her daughter's hair and begon to stroke it like she did when she was little. She was sobbing. "I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do. I mean. He lied to me. How am I ever going to trust him again?" "Are you sure he lied to you? Maybe he just had a memory lapse." "No he lied to me. Why didn't he just tell me? I'm his best friend, and after what he said yesterday, maybe even more than that. I don't know. He's such a jerk." "What exactly did he say?" "He said he loved me. Mom he told me he loved me, and I don't even know if I can believe him." "Do you love him back?" "I don't know. I love him. I hate him. I'm just so confused. I know I'll never feel the same way about him." "Why don't you talk to him?" "Because I don't want to talk to him. I just want my job, my best friend, and my sanity back." Just then the phone rang. "One second, hon." Dana sat up and pulled her hair back. "Hello." "Hi Mrs. Scully. Is Dana there?" "She doesn't want to talk to you Fox." "Please, I know she's mad but this is important." "Hold on." "Dana," her mom held up the phone. "No Mom. I don't want to talk to him." "Sooner or later you're going to have to face him. You can't lay around here for the rest of your life." "Why not?" "Dana come answer this phone." She grabbed the phone off her mother and rolled her eyes. "Cut it out." She cleared her throat and spoke to Mulder, "What?" "Scully, I'm sorry I lied to you. You just have to trust me." "Trust is a very fragile thing. You have to earn it." "I'm sorry. I'll explain later, but now you have to get down here." "What are you talking about?" "I'm in my office. I just got our X-Files back." "What?" "I can't explain over the phone. Just get down here, fast." "Okay. I'll be there in about an hour. I'm still pissed off though." "I understand. Just hurry." She hung up the phone. "I'll be back tonight Mom." She pulled on her shoes and coat. "Thank you." She drove home, changed her clothes, and took her time. She was still too mad to really care what he wanted. She got to his office at about 5:00. He was sitting at his desk. "What?" "Lock the door, Scully." She did as she was told and walked over to his desk. "Mulder, what do you want?" "Scully, they're reopening the X-Files." "How? Why?" "I just had to convince them if they didn't, I could incriminate every single one of those bastards that worked with my dad and Deep Throat." "How did you do that?" "Nathaniel Garret." "Who?" "You know him as the Cancer Man." "I'm not following you." "Scully, they think I know everything because I know his real name, and could put them all in prison at any time. To make sure I didn't talk, they gave me back the X-Files." "Can you?" "No. But they don't know that." "Oh my God." He was beaming from ear to ear and she couldn't help but smile. He put his hand on top of hers. This time she didn't move it. "I really did mean what I said at the restaurant." "I know. I know." She could tell in his eyes he meant what he said. They went back to his apartment. They needed to talk. "So you remembered everything?" "Little by little. Scully, you know I'm the same man I was before the accident." "No you're not. You're better." He smiled at his feet. "Do you love me back?" "I don't know. I need time. I still can't understand why you lied to me and acted like you needed me so bad." "Maybe because I do need you and it was the only way." "No it wasn't." "Yes it was. I remembered how it was before. You were my partner, my friend. I trusted you with my life. I just never considered you a part of it. After the accident I saw something I didn't before. I saw that I couldn't live without you. And now I blew it." "I'm sorry I was so mad at you. I was just so hurt you had been lying to me for so long. Right now I need some time to think." "I respect that. Will you do me the honor of going to the FBI Ball with me?" "You hate those things." "Please. I want to. Just as friends." "Alright. I'll go, but just as friends." "Thank you." She went back to her mom's house. "Hi Mom." "Dana. Is everything alright?" "Yep. We got the X-Files back, Mulder is almost completely forgiven and I'm going to the FBI Ball." "With who?" "Fox." Maggie raised her eyebrows." "Don't get too excited Mom. We'll just have to wait and see." * * * Three weeks later Scully was in front of her full length mirror. She was wearing a satin, black sleeveless Donna Karen gown. It went down to her ankles and had a slit up the back above her knee. Her hair was up in a French twist held in place with three bobby pins. She had on a thin gold rope bracelet, diamond earrings, and the amethist birthstone ring her fater had given her when she graduated from medical school. She had a feeling it was definately going to be a night to remember. The ball was being held at The Kennedy Center ball room. There was a knock at the door just as she was coming out of her bedroom. She was slipping on her black satin heels. "Come in." Mulder opened the door to find her standing there. He was almost speechless. "You look amazing." "Thank you. You don't look bad yourself Agent Mulder." He was wearing a black tuxedo. His hair looked great and he had on his glasses. "This is for you." He handed her a single long stem red rose. "It's beautiful." She kissed him softly on the cheek. "Shall we," he offered her his arm. They were off to the ball, like Cinderella and her prince. At least that's what it felt like. They walked arm in arm up the steps to the banquet hall. They sat down with Walter and Sharon Skinner and Danny and Jennifer Valodella. "Sir," Scully spoke first. "Agent Scully, Michael has told us you're one of his teachers at the Academy." "Not anymore. Now that the X-Files are reopened, your kid is somebody else's problem, Sir." They went out to dance at about eleven-thirty. The orchestra was playing, "I Want You." As they held hands and danced, Scully felt a tingling sensation down her spine. She laid her head on his shoulder, and all she could think about was how wonderful it was to be in his arms, and how wonderful he smelled. All Mulder could think about was how wondeful it felt to be holding her and how soft her skin felt. They danced until amost the very end and he whispered in her ear. "I love you. I've always loved you." And for the first time she answered back, "I love you too." They stopped dancing and she looked up into his big bright green eyes. She put her hand on his face and tilted her head. She kissed him gently until he returned it, and brought her closer to his body. Mulder would have given up all of the memories he regained just to have that single moment with her for the rest of his life. And Scully finally knew how she felt. THE END