Disclaimer: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, the X-Files, and associated characters are property of David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Chris Carter, Ten-Thirteen Productions and Fox Broadcasting Corporation. They are used without permission and no copyright infringement is meant. Any elements not recognized as being taken from the show copyright Christina Shuy. Comments and other things sent to cshuy@netcom.com are much appreciated. Rating: PG for language, hints of MSR, Spoilers: Kitsunegari mainly. Summary: Mulder gets a call from an old friend, who then gets a call from Scully. Author's Note: After Kitsunegari, this story had to be written. It begged and pleaded with me to be written. Because I could see it from both sides. Scully was worried, and I'm not sure what Mulder was feeling, or even if he was being pushed, though I think they both were. It's happened before. This series will wander a bit, but the parts will cover various episodes from various seasons and not in any particular order either. Conversations Between Old Friends: "Kitsunegari" by Christina Shuy cshuy@netcom.com "Mulder." His voice was tired, especially for the middle of the day. "Mulder, it's Victoria." Her voice was soft, and there was obvious concern in her voice. "How do you do that? How did you know?" "That you needed to talk? Mulder, you know me. I just know these things." "Yeah... and don't ask you how, right?" "Mulder..." "Well am I right?" "As always. It's taken you long enough to get that through you head. I've been saying it for at least twenty years." "It hasn't been that long... has it?" "It has. I've known you longer than Phoebe has." "Thank god." His answer was a groan. "Mulder... Something is bothering you. What is it?" "Do you really want to know?" "Mulder, I wouldn't ask if you I didn't want to know. Tell me or I'll have to scare you like I know I have before." "Victoria, I almost shot Dana... We had a confrontation, pulled guns, and I could have killed her." "But you didn't. Mulder, Walter said you had won. You may not feel like it but you did. And right now you are alive, and so is Dana. You and she are both alright. Even with the control being exerted over you by Pusher and his sister, especially this time. You are both still alive and unharmed." "Yeah, but for how much longer? I almost shot her. *Again!*: I can't believe I almost did that, especially considering... well..." His voice faltered. "Mulder, if I remember correctly, you've not shot her yet, but she's shot you once... so why would you be shooting her 'again'?" "Because I turned a gun on her... I nearly killed my own partner! And before that, she was acting against me! Skinner suspended me and she went right along with it!" "Mulder, she was not. You were too wrapped up in your analysis, profiling and all that to listen to her. And I'm still not certain you weren't under the influence of either Robert Modell or Linda Bowman. They already were, so what makes you so cer tain you weren't as well? This was all a game you were trapped in." "And what about Scully?" "Mulder, don't you think I know what 'kitsunegari' means? Especially given your first name? Linda Bowman was playing games with you. You were the Fox she was hunting. You and I both know what happens at the end of an actual fox hunt in England. The fox *dies*." "You know... I never quite thought of it that way..." "You never do, Mulder, you never do." "VC..." "Fox, listen to me, Linda Bowman would have probably gotten you to shoot who you thought was Linda Bowman but was actually Dana, and then you would have probably ended up with a bullet to your brain supplied by your own weapon. In the end, if she'd had her way, you both would have been *dead*. I know this was her intention as well as I know myself as well as you." "I still feel as though I've lost. I should have had more control." "Mulder, from what I remember when you talked to me about Modell, that will take some time to sort through. You have a lot of guilt to deal with, and Scully's older brother telling you that you were a... what was his term? " "Sorry son of a bitch. And I'm not sure he was wrong either." "A sorry son of a bitch. Right. His telling you that was not easy to take either. And as your father told you that all the time when you were younger, you find it far too easy to believe him." "I never told you that. How would you know?" "Mulder... remember... I just *know* things sometimes. I thought I told you already... I don't know how I know... I just *do*." "Oh... right." His voice intoned that he didn't quite believe her. There was a sigh and she decided to try a different approach. "Mulder, what did you and those others mean when you said 'he had to go' in reference to Modell? Where did he have to go? Did he have to go to the tailor to get a new set of clothes? The stylist for a new haircut? Something to eat? Meet up with a friend? The... what do you Americans call it? The bathroom?" "I... uh..." There was the sound of choked laughter. "You and a friend are of the same mind on that. Tell you the truth, I don't know." "That is at least something to go on." Victoria grinned back. "Mulder, are you feeling some what better right now?" "Yeah... I guess so." "Enough to go home and get some rest? You are on suspension so you might as well make the best of it, and stay out of trouble while you're at it." "Isn't that my line?" "Mulder...." "Okay, okay... I'm going." "Good." "Oh, and VC?" "Yes, Fox?" "Thanks... for being a wonderful friend." "You're quite welcome. And you both need to watch out for each other." "She's the only one I trust. Aside from you..." "I know. Take care, Mulder." "Bye, VC." The phone clicked, and she set it down with a grin. * Shortly after the phone was set back on the hook, it rang, this time an incoming call. "Victoria Jensen." "Victoria? It's Dana Scully." "Dana! Hello! It's good to hear from you. What can I help you with?" "Mulder. I was wondering if you might know what his mental state is right now?" "That's difficult to say." "You did just talk to him didn't you?" "How long have you been trying to call me?" "Not long. It's just... well-" "You're worried about him, aren't you." "Is it that obvious?" "Well, I just talked to him and when I called him, he sounded decidedly dismal." "At least he's talking to someone." "Dana, was it as bad as I've Seen?" "What have you seen?" "You and he had a confrontation involving firearms, and he thought you were the primary suspect because the said suspect had control of his mind... and quite possibly yours as well." "How much has Mulder told you?" "About what happened with your last case? Nothing. He was too busy with the guilt burden on himself over almost having shot you twice. I told him it wasn't his fault, and that Pusher and his sister were masters of mind control, but he wouldn't listen. It wasn't your fault either, Dana. To Linda Bowman, what she was doing was a game to get you both killed eventually... though she wanted it to be sooner rather than later. And her ideal circumstances would have been to have Mulder shoot you first and then shoot himself because he thought you'd killed yourself." "I've forgotten how you can do that." "Do what? Make a person's scalp prickle? I'm sorry, Dana... Mulder constantly tells me not to do that, and sometimes I forget not to and do it." "Actually, I was referring to how you pick things out of thin air, almost as though you'd been there too. That's all right. Mulder warned me about that... and besides, I remember when I met you, you were doing that sort of thing anyway. Sometimes, though it's a little..." "Spooky?" Victoria grinned into the phone. "Ummm... well... yeah." Dana Scully stifled a laugh. "Don't worry. I've been called worse. Mulder told me about his nickname when he first got it, and he also said he thought it applied better to me than to him." "Hey, Victoria?" "Yes?" "Thanks... for talking to me. I feel better, and I think I'm going to talk to Mulder next. He and I need to talk about this." "All right, Dana. Thank you for calling." "Thank you too." "Bye." Victoria hung up the phone and settled back to think about her friends and how things were going between them. She'd have to find a way to nudge them a little closer to admitting what they truly felt. She smiled as she started to formulate a plan. -The End, for now- "The Truth is Out There. Trust No One."- from "The X-Files" "I was told once that the best way to regenerate body heat is to crawl naked into a sleeping bag with someone else who's already naked."-Mulder "Maybe if it rains sleeping bags, you'll get lucky." Scully(tXF-"Detour") Pursuing a BS (Electrical Engineering)-Winter Quarter 1998(Phil380,EE210) "In the moment that you think you can't, you'll discover that you can." - Celine Dion - "Power of the Dream" "Let's get Dangerous!" - Darkwing Duck. Looking for work and a place to live... somewhere in the SanFran Bay Area.