Author's note: there is no X-file in this story...maybe.  It's just a
little story about Mulder and Scully having lunch with an old friend of
Mulder's.  The friend is more than a little strange... but, then again, so
am I...  *grin* This is the first fan-fic I've posted... though it's
actually second written...  Also, there is no romance in this story... I
don't have the guts to write one. 

Revision note:  I have since revised this since last posting because I
looked at the date and realized that "Anasazi" would have interfered with
this story because I'm not sure when the season finale took place. 

Disclaimer:  Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, and associated characters are
property of Ten-Thirteen Productions and Fox Broadcasting Co. and are used
without permission 'cause I don't have the money to get permission... 
Victoria Jensen, on the other hand, is mine. =)

Old Friends
By Christina Shuy.
cshuy@netcom.com

11:21am EDT
22 March 1995
Washington D.C.

	Mulder picked up the phone on the second ring.  "Mulder."
	"Hello, Mulder!  It's me.  Do you have time to have lunch or
something?" answered a classically British voice on the other end of the
line.  For a single solitary _split_ second, Mulder was afraid it was
Phoebe Green... before he realised it was not her style to use the phone
for something like asking for a lunch date.  Not only that, he could hear
the amusement in his old friend's voice.  "I'm in town for a few days and
thought I'd give you a ring.  And aren't you just so relieved I'm not
Phoebe." There was a teasing tone to her voice.
	He laughed.  "Hi, Victoria.  Sure.  Lunch sounds like a wonderful
idea." he said, just as Scully walked into the office, coffee and
briefcase in hand.  She had left a message earlier that she'd had some
other business to take care of and would therefore be late to the office. 
"Do you mind if I bring company?"  At that, Scully raised her eyebrows,
questioningly.
	"No, not at all.  I'd like to meet your partner."
	"Hang on a sec." Mulder put his hand over the mouthpiece. "Hey, 
Scully, want to meet an old friend of mine?  She said it's ok if I bring 
company when I meet her for lunch.  She says that she'd like to meet MY 
partner."  He grinned at her.
	Scully smiled and walked to her desk, putting down the stuff in 
her hands.  "Okay, Mulder.  Any old friends of yours should be interesting, 
especially if Phoebe Green is any indication."
	Mulder listened on the phone for a moment, all serious, then he 
smiled brightly.  "She says to tell you that she's nothing like Phoebe 
Green, and that she doesn't bite... often.  In fact, she and Phoebe 
despised each other when we were all at Oxford."
	Raising an eyebrow, Scully nodded at Mulder.  "I said I'd go, 
Mulder." she smiled.
	"Victoria?  She said she'd join us.  Where do you want to meet 
for lunch?"

12:15pm EDT
Rose City Cafe

	The outdoor tables were still relatively empty at the start of the
lunch hour and there was really only one person seated under the large
umbrella'd tables, which were soft pastel in the noonday Washington sun. 
Mulder recognized her immediately, especially since she really hadn't
changed much since he'd last seen her a few years ago.  The maitre'd
quickly showed them to the table and left discreetly while old friends had
their reunion.
	"Hi, Victoria!" Mulder smiled.  "You're looking very well."
	"Mulder!" Victoria said, standing up and looking at him briefly
before giving him a friendly hug, though not bothering to take off the
dark sunglasses she was wearing.  He had managed to surprise her as she
had been looking though a travelguide with a highlighter when he'd arrived
and so had not been paying attention.
	"Victoria Jensen, meet my partner, Dana Scully.  Victoria and I
were good friends at Oxford." Mulder said, by way of introduction.
	"One of the few and the proud." Victoria joked. "Quite nice to meet
you, Agent Scully.  Please call me Victoria." she smiled at Scully,
extending her hand for a handshake.
	"Dana.  Nice to meet you too, Victoria." Scully smiled back,
shaking the offered hand warmly.
	"I told you I was different from Phoebe...  And I know exactly why
you wouldn't like her.  She is rather... abrasive." Victoria said,
cordially, gesturing for Mulder and Scully to sit down at the table she
had already been seated at for several minutes.  "Oh, I hope you don't
mind the fact that I've already ordered drinks for you.  Mulder, you get
your usual iced tea.  Dana, your root beer is also on the way."
	Scully blinked.  "Mulder, how much have you told her about me?"
	"Victoria, I told you not to do that." Mulder admonished, though 
rather playfully.  It seemed to be part of a running joke.
	"Sorry.  I was just trying to be nice.  Did I guess wrong?"
	"No, not at all." Dana said, feeling a touch unnerved.  "How 
often do you and Mulder get to communicate?"
	"Oh, I dunno.  Every two weeks or so, unless one of us is busy-" 
Mulder started.
	"Or ends up in quarantine." Victoria smiled. "You do seem to do 
that quite a lot."
	"Victoria..."
	"Oh, Mulder, lighten up.  I didn't do anything 'paranormal'.  
You've told me before how you hate being in quarantine and there have 
been times where I call you and you're not there, or I get a letter from 
you from parts unknown... smelling like solvent or something.  You don't 
get to be DCI at the Yard without having good observational skills."
	"That's an interesting occupation.  There aren't many women at 
that level, are there?" Dana asked.
	"No-"
	"I thought you were in Engineering at Oxford?" Mulder said.
	"I was.  Your memory has yet to let you down in that department.  
I decided to see what Scotland Yard was like and found that I liked being 
a Detective Chief Inspector better than being an Engineer." Victoria smiled.
	"Oh, but then you must know-"
	"Yes, I know all too well that Phoebe works at the Yard as well.  
I run into her about once every month or so on cases or functions or 
something like that.  She's as irritating as ever, and she still hates 
me, of course.  And, yes, Mulder, I know you were just trying to tell 
Scully what I had been up to in my, ah, madcap days at Oxford." the smile 
broadened into a grin as the server brought their drinks, setting the 
iced tea in front of Mulder and the root beer by Scully while Victoria 
had a glass of lemonade.
	Dana blinked again.  "Exactly how well do you know Mulder?"
	"Well, let's just say I showed him Stonehenge the way the Druids 
of Old Britain saw it." Victoria smiled.
	"Victoria's side interests include the occult and paranormal 
phenomenon, and she has this rather-"
	"And, according to you, Mulder, I have this irritating habit of
picking up people's thoughts and acting on them, occasionally even before
they are aware that they've HAD the thought.  ANd if you think THAT is
strange, I could tell you about some of my dreams, visions, and
nightmares.  Those are certainly... indescribable, at their best.  As for
what brings me to Washington DC and the Colonies, I'm on holiday."
Victoria beamed.  "I've been here before, mind you, but I was also
interested in perhaps seeing what work you both are working on lately."
	Before anything else could be said, they were interrupted by the 
server asking for their orders.

	"So, Dana, Mulder tells me that you both have been quite active 
on many types of strange cases." Victoria said, after their orders had 
been taken.
	"Some stranger than others." Dana replied.
	"Though none as strange as you." Mulder teased.
	Victoria looked sweetly over at Mulder.  "Mulder, be a dear and 
tone down your personality just a LITTLE... I would like to get to know 
your partner."
	Dana choked down a laugh and Victoria looked at her with a silly 
grin on her face.  Both women then began to laugh while Mulder put up a 
feigned pout.
	"And before you go classifying me for your files, might I remind 
you of a certain incident..."
	"Okay, okay!" Mulder laughed.

	The rest of the lunch continued with just as much humour.  Mulder
filled Victoria in on the X-Files he'd worked on, omitting certain things
which he'd been told not to talk about, Dana and Victoria occasionally
ganging up on Mulder and Dana being surprised as to the extent of
Victoria's 'gift', which she discovered was never used maliciously.  In
fact, she found out that it had come in handy more than once. 

A few weeks later...
	"You both are headed for London.  One of Scotland Yard's people 
has requested assistance with the people at the Embassy." Skinner said, 
after he had called them into his office.
	He handed over a thick file on the case they'd been assigned.  
Mulder flipped it open and Scully looked over his shoulder to find out 
what sort of case it was.  The name of the person who had requested their 
help had not been much of a surprise.
	"Victoria...!" 

The end... maybe...?
-- 
"The Truth is Out There.  Trust No One."- from "The X-Files"
"There's something about distance that gets to us all."-Latitudes(Elton John)
"You're not subtle, you're not politic, and sometimes, you're a pain in 
the ass!" Commander Jeffrey Sinclair ("The Gathering" - Babylon 5 season 1)
Pursuing a BS degree in Electrical Engineering-Nova Scotia, Canada anyone?