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. "Hercules" and bits of the dialogue are copyright Disney. No infringement is meant there either. 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: G, vignette Relationship: ummm... hints of MSR, though it should be nonshipper safe. Spoilers: Ummm... faint ones for "Anasazi" but that's all. Summary: Mulder and Scully take in a movie. Note: This is what I get for having seen "Hercules" for the first time on July 12, 1997. I got this idea into my head, and... voila! This is also part I of a proposed trilogy, the finale of which will address a challenge. Of course, this will require my having *seen* each of the movies in this series, of which I've only seen one of them as of 17 July 1997. Out to the Movies I : "From Zero to Hero" by Christina Shuy cshuy@netcom.com It was one of those Thursdays when all that was left after a case was the reporting of it. Dana Scully was tired. Tired of doing paperwork, and tired of loafing around at home on weekends with nothing to do. "Mulder, are you doing anything this weekend?" "You mean other than catching up on sleep and paperwork, Scully? No, not really." "Then how about going to the movies with me?" "Are you asking me out on a date, Scully?" Mulder's eyebrows rose, and there was a hint of a smirk on his face. "Mulder, does everything have to be a date to you? I'm asking if you want to go to the movies with me... I was planning on seeing "Hercules". It looks fun." Scully grinned. "Is that a comment on me?" "What do you mean?" "Zero to Hero. I watch the commercials for that movie too, you know." "You mean when you're not watching those videos that aren't yours?" "Sure. I watch other things. JAG for one. CNN for another. All that stuff on Mars is cool." "I would have thought you would have been disappointed, Mulder. No little green men. And as for JAG, don't you think you get into enough trouble with the military?" "Well, for one thing, JAG is kinda educational. This way I know what to do to outwit military lawyers. Even the smart, cute ones like Harmon Rabb." Mulder's eyes sparkled mischeviously, and Scully knew instantly that he was teasing her. "For another, LGMs are grey, you know that, Scully. And for another, I figured Mars Pathfinder would land in an empty spot. After all that bouncing around, anyone who lived there would have run for cover." She laughed. "If you say so, Mulder. You still haven't answered my question, though. Do you want to go see "Hercules" with me?" Mulder smiled. "Okay, Scully, you got yourself a date." * By the time the weekend rolled around, Mulder was getting excited. Honestly, he'd been wanting to go to see "Hercules" too, but was at a loss regarding whether he should go alone, or ask someone to go with him. The former he'd done on occasion, but it was the latter which had him stumped the most. Fortunately, Scully asking him solved that problem. There was a knock at his apartment door. Friendly. Familiar. Scully. "Come in! It's open!" he called, turning to the chair where his favourite leather jacket was tossed. "Mulder, are you ready?" Scully's voice came from the doorway and she shut the door behind her. Taking a look at her, he was almost struck breathless. Scully stood dressed in a forest green silk shirt... no, his mind corrected, it was a dress, cut in a casual style, which accentuated her eyes and hair, as well as her waist. Along with it was a white cartigan as the movie theatres were a little chilly. He smiled apprieciatively at her because she not only looked wonderful in casual clothes, she looked much more relaxed as well. "Sure, Scully... You look nice this afternoon." he grinned at her. In her own turn, Scully's eyes were not idle either. She studied her partner happily, noting that he looked so much more handsome out of a suit... with no sign of his horrendous ties. Mulder was wearing a white button-down shirt with some of the buttons undone, blue jeans, and the leather jacket he had just slung over his shoulder. "Thanks, Mulder." she answered. "You too." "Let's go, partner-" "Dana. We're not in the office, neither of us is even dressed for it, and I know I don't have either my gun or my celphone with me." "Ok, Dana... And you're right... I don't have my gun or celphone either. I figure my answering machine would be enough to hold the messages for me. As for my gun... well, I'm off duty. Besides, I'm always dropping it anyway." he joked. The smiles they traded would have melted most of the icepack of Antarctica. Then, Mulder offered Scully his arm. "Let's be off, then." she smiled, taking the proffered arm and both of them headed for the door. * They got to the movie theatre and noted a small problem when they arrived. "Oh, wow, look at those crowds! I hope "Hercules" isn't sold out." "Even if it is, we could probably see either "Men In Black" or "Contact"." "Scully, I didn't think you were interested in seeing "Men In Black"." "Even after dealing with you, you mean? Sure I am. It sounds funny... but lest we forget, we're here to see "Hercules"." "Ooh..." Mulder craned his neck to look. ""Men In Black" is sold out, as is "Contact"... guess we got lucky, huh, Scully?" Dana smiled. "Well, that's the advantage of not seeing the movie on opening weekend, or shortly thereafter... it's less likely to be sold out." "Ahhh... now we get the Practical *and* Enigmatic Doctor Scully." A smile danced on his lips. "Mulder..." Scully rolled her eyes, though she was smiling. The couple in front of them stepped away and they were at the ticket window. * "Wow... I can't believe the prices on popcorn... " "Don't complain. At least we're sharing the expense on that." Mulder said. "Me? Complain? Never." Dana grinned. They got the tray of sodas and the large tub of popcorn and headed for the theatre. * "Don't *ever* bring him back here again!" one of the on-screen characters declared, pointing an accusatory finger at Hercules who was standing with his adopted father among the ruins of the town square. Scully felt Mulder's hand take hers and she squeezed it in reassurance. Then, she leaned against his shoulder. * "I'm a damsel. I'm in distress. Now go away. I can handle this." said the newly-introduced, yet-unnamed, Megara on-screen. Dana laughed lightly and shook her head as she felt Mulder's other hand brush lightly across the back of hers. "Yeah, right, Meg, and I'm the tooth fairy." she heard Mulder mumble under his breath, though his tone seemed to hold a smirk and had the feeling of having been thought once too often to someone. Dana turned to Mulder. "I'm fine, Mulder." she whispered in his ear, and he turned to look at her, a knowing smile answering on his face. "Sure. Fine. Whatever." The words were said in a teasing tone. "Remember to use your head, kid!" Phil called out on-screen and both turned their attention back to the movie. * "He made me an offer I had to refuse." Megara turned to Hades on-screen. Mulder gasped, feeling a spike in his own paranoia. "Mulder, are you okay?" Scully's voice whispered into his ears. "I... I..." He turned to her and met her eyes. "Mulder, I may have started working out to discredit you, but I returned to the X-Files of my own free will. And I trust *you*." Mulder wrapped his arms around her and they both returned to watching the movie. * "You'll never get there in time!" Hades taunted Hercules as they both watched Megara's soul drifting away in the whirlpool of souls. Dana felt Mulder's arms tighten around her. He'd been holding her, not that she minded one iota, since Megara had been revealed to be working for Hades, albeit unwillingly. She'd even felt him plant a kiss in her hair when she'd admitted 'love makes a person do crazy things' after saving him from being hurt. As they both watched Hercules dive into the whirlpool after Megara, Scully wrapped her arms around Mulder's arms. * Finally, the movie was over and the houselights began to brighten. Mulder and Scully got up from the seats at the same time, though she'd been loathe to leave his arms. As they found their way out of the theatre, they both had to blink to readjust to the bright sunshine of the afternoon. "So, Mulder, what did you think?" "I liked it, Scully." he smiled at her. "Let's go. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry, and I think I want a nice, greasy hamburger." Mulder grinned. "Hey, Scully, don't you know those things are bad for you?" She laughed. "Mulder, I'm not a health food junkie." "True... and neither am I. In that case, I know the best place for one of those four alarm dinners. Guaranteed to give you heartburn." "Like you?" "Oh, you wound me!" "Not now, but you know I can." "Touche. Hey, Scully, how about we see "Men In Black" next weekend?" "Deal. Now let's go. I'm hungry." -The end- Next up: Out To The Movies II -- "The Truth is Out There. Trust No One."- from "The X-Files" Pursuing a BS degree(Electrical Engineering)-EE 332(Systems Analysis)-Su97 "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.