"i love the time and inbetween · "i love the time and inbetween the calm inside me in the space where I can breathe i believe there is a distance i have wandered to touch upon the years of reaching out and reaching in holding out holding in i believe this is heaven to no one else but me and i'll defend it as long as i can be left here to linger in silence if i choose to would you try to understand? i know this love is passing time passing through like liquid i am drunk in my desire and i love the way you smile at me i love the way your hands reach out and hold me near..." --Sarah McLachlan, "ElseWhere" from the album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (Arista Records-1993) Legal Thingies are needed here so that I can't be taken to court and other bad stuff like that. Okay, so the X-Files stuff belongs to other people like Chris Carter (who, by the way, is a much cooler person than I) and all those other companies that have copyrights (those lucky people) and crud like that. There, now no one can take me to jail (that's supposed to be a good thing). Oh wait, I used swear words in this, I guess I can go to jail according to Clinton. Well, all I can say Mr. President is BITE ME! I've got my first amendment rights and stick my toungue out at your stupid telecommunications bill. Now go ruin the senator's lives like a good boy. Else Where By Amber Kelsall (EnglshYew@aol.com) Washington, DC Pine Street 9:24 pm Special Agent Dana Scully was tired. Her soft features of auburn hair and blue eyes were flying the flags of a hard days' work against her cream colored skin. 'How long does this damn light have to be red?' She silently cursed the road ahead of her. All she wanted was to get home and be able to acquire a decent amount of sleep. The light turned green and Scully coaxed the blue Taurus into drive. The street streched on like the scenery of a bad video game. There were junked cars being hauled away, people hanging out in groups on the sidewalks in front of bars, and the street lights caused more glare on her windshield than light to guide her way. As she came to another stop light, she caught the sight of a woman walking her dog. She checked the clock on the dashboard and silently wondered why someone would walk their dog at such a late hour. A honk from the car behind her told Scully that she needed to be paying more attention to the road. She pulled through the intersection and headed for the freeway. 'Dammit,' Scully thought as she pulled off to her exit, 'I forgot food for Clyde.' Clyde, her dog of about six months, had a tendency to be in a foul mood when she returned from her long investigation trips with no treats. She didn't feel like losing another pair of socks to his anger, so he looked around for a solution to her predicament. Luckily, she spotted a supermarket and set course for the parking lot. The aisles in the store were fairly small for a market of its size, but Scully didn't mind. All she needed was a doggy toy and she'd be on her way. 'Well,' she thought to herself as she passed the candy section, 'maybe I'll get some chocolate, too.' Scully reached the pet aisle with ease and began to sort through the toys, thinking which of them would suit Clyde's personality the best. She settled on an obnoxious clown doll and moved to stand up. "Attention customers, we are currently experiencing an electrical storm and the police have asked everyone to stay inside the building until it passes. Thank you for your time and your patroniage; have a good evening." A male voice came over the intercom system. Scully sighed and set her hand on the cooling shelves. Just as she stood up, a shock went through her system. "Ow." Her vision blurred for a moment, then returned to normal. It seemed that all she had gotten out of this little shopping trip so far was a hell of a headache. Dana took her items to the check-out counter and waited for the storm to pass. It was quite a sight to see, the blue streaks crackled through the sky like children playing hide and seek. Scully smiled to herself for a moment, remembering when her brothers and sister had played that childhood game; for a moment, she could hear their laughter tingle her earlobes. "All right folks, storm's over. Have a great night and shop with us again soon." The same voice announced. Scully made her way to her car and quickly pulled out of the lot, hoping that there might still be enough hours left to get the proper rest that she needed before returning to the office in the morning. It seemed as though it took an hour to get home, but Scully had only been driving for fifteen minutes. She quickly parked, then headed into her building. She stopped in front of her door, number 402, and inserted the key into the dead bolt. It wouldn't turn. "Damn it, come on door, this is not the night to stick up on me." She tried the lock again, but only yielded the same result. As she moved to try the handle lock, the door opened. Scully grabbed her gun and shoved it into a young man's face. "What the hell are you doing in my apartment, and why have my locks been changed?" The man backed up, obviously afraid of her, and attempted to answer. "Look lady, I don't know who you are, but I've been living here for a year now..." "What?" She walked into the apartment. The lights were on and she could see that the furninshings were not her own. "Isn't this apartment 402?" "Yeah." He answered, hands in the air. "All I know is that a lady used to live here a year ago. Please, don't hurt me." "I don't understand." Scully lowered her gun, then thought about what might have happened. "Who sent you?" "Sent me to do what?" He asked. "Who told you to tell me this story?" She asked, gun poised at him again. "Who moved you in here and why?" "I'm telling the truth lady." He answered moving toward the phone. "Why don't I just call the landlord and have him fix this for us? What do you say?" "Yeah," Scully nodded her head, "you do that." The young man picked the receiver and turned toward Scully. She was looking out the window. He embraced the moment and attacked her. He knocked her down with a light force, her gun went flying across the room. Scully grasped to regain possession of her weapon, but found herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun. "Kenny, are you all right?" The woman asked. Scully stared at the woman in amazement. She hadn't expected this, all she wanted was a good night's sleep. "Lady, I suggest you leave--RIGHT NOW." The shotgun woman said. Scully didn't waste her time, she figured she could crash at Mulder's for the night, then straighten everything out in the morning. She managed to reclaim her gun on her way out the door. Scully slumped back into her car and let out a deep breath. The drive to Mulder's was a short one, but she found herself replaying the night's events in her head over and over until they seemed to consume her. She was shaken by the experiences, but was too tired to deal with it at the moment. As she pulled up to his building, fear gripped her. What if he wasn't home? She'd have a place to sleep, but she wouldn't have anyone to talk to about her crazy experience. And what happened to her dog? She grabbed the shopping bag, ready to pig out on the chocolate, and headed into Mulder's building. Scully rapped her knuckles on the door, hoping that her partner would answer. He pulled open the door after her second time knocking. "Mulder, thank god you're home." She breathed a sigh of relief. "You won't believe the night I've had." "Dana, are you okay?" Fox asked, ushering her into the apartment. "Where have you been? I've been worried sick." She took off her coat and threw it onto the couch, then opened the bag of chocolate and popped a piece into her mouth. After glancing around, she realized that her partner's house had an air of organization to it for once. There were several framed pictures on the walls, though what they were she didn't really stop to discern. The floors were clean and the only thing on his coffee table were two coffee mugs and the latest copy of Sky and Telescope. "Well, I was on my way home from the office and I stopped at the market because I hadn't gotten anything for Clyde," she tried to explain, "and the next thing I know some stranger is living in my apartment, his girlfriend shoves a shotgun in my face and my keys don't work in the locks anymore! What the hell is going on here, Mulder?" "Dana did you hit your head or something?" He ran his hands through her hair to check for signs of injury. "I don't know." She set her hands on his arm, just wanting to feel the strength and security of his presence in her world. He took her hands in his. "Well, there doesn't appear to be any injury, but you're still acting awfully strange." Scully closed her eyes, still relying on her partner to help her keep steady. She wished that when she opened her lids that she would be at home, waking from a terrible nightmare, knowing that it would all be over. "Wait a minute; where's your ring?" Mulder held her right hand up to her face. "Dana were you robbed? Where's your ring?" She opened her eyes and took in the sight of her hand. It was bare as it always had been. The urgency in his voice put her ill at ease. "Mulder, I don't wear rings, you know that." She ripped herself from his grip and sank into a black leather chair. She felt stress mounting up quickly. "I just want to go home." "Dana, you ARE home." He knelt beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder. Scully's eyes widened. "Is this some sort of joke? Mulder, this is YOUR apartment, not MINE. I DON'T wear rings; I told you once that I would only wear a ring when I got married, and we both know that I am NOT married. All I want is to go home to my dog and then get a well deserved night of uninterrupted sleep." "Dana, honey--we don't have a dog. You got rid of Clyde when you moved in with me last year." Mulder became tense. "Are you sure nothing happened? Your wedding ring is missing and you're acting like you don't remember anything that has happened in the past year." "Wedding ring? What the hell are you talking about?" Scully stood up and began to pace the length of the room. "And what do you mean I moved in with you? I think you have A LOT of explaining to do, *mister*." "Dana, I want to take you to the hospital." He stopped her. "I want to make sure that you're okay." "I'm FINE, Mulder." She insisted. "It's YOU who isn't making any sense." Frustrated and not quite sure how to explain himself, he pulled a photo album from underneath the coffee table and set it in her hands. "What's this?" She asked, heading back to the leather chair. He didn't answer, just took his place in a seat next to her and opened the album to the first page. "The Wedding Of Dana Katherine Scully and Fox William Mulder, March 11, 1995?" She read. She turned to the next page. It dazzled before her eyes. The picture was she and Mulder standing side by side in wedding attire, the wedding rings shone as bright as their smiles. They looked so damned happy. "Oh, this is a good one, Mulder. Tell Byers he did a hell of a job on this photo. It must have taken him forever to make it look this good." "You don't get it, do you?" He asked, showing her the other pages. "You really don't remember any of this?" Scully stared at him, almost sad that what he was trying to tell her wasn't the truth. She had feelings for him, that was definite. But she never had the guts to tell him. She felt that she would lose so much if she ever confessed that she loved him. "You don't remember Valentine's Day, 1994?" He asked, heart aching. "When neither one of us had dates we decided to spend the evening together watching old horror movies like Bela Lagosi's 'The Devil Bat', do you remember that? Do you remember halfway through that bottle of wine we started talking about past relationships? Then we confessed our real feelings for each other...Dana, do you remember when we made love that night?" "What?!?" She pulled back from him, shocked at his words. "I'm telling you, Mulder, I don't remember any of this. You're messing with my head right now and I really don't appreciate it. Now if you don't mind, I just want to crash on your couch and get everything straightened out in the morning." "You have to remember, honey." Fox moved toward her now, hoping that his touch might coax her memories back to life. "For us, for you, for me." Scully began to cry. This was all too much and she couldn't stand up to the pressure that had been eating away at her since she had been shocked in that market. "Mulder I don't know what's happening to me..." He took her into his arms instantly, wanting to take away her fears. She cried on his shoulder for a moment, then looked about the apartment. She now recognized several of the wedding photos from the album, a picture of Melissa next to a frame that held a photo of Mulder's sister. She looked back at the couch, noticing that it was hers. "Mulder, that's my couch." She whimpered. "I didn't really think that blue pinstripes would match with my black leather, but you didn't want to give it up. I didn't have the guts to say no to you." He told her. She stood and started to roam about the apartment. The living room was full of her things, even her answering machine lay next to the phone. She pushed the message button and listened as it played: "You've reached the home of Fox and Dana Mulder, leave a message please." It was her. It was her voice on the message testifying that everything he had been telling her was the truth. She didn't remember making that message, she didn't remember marrying her partner in the FBI, and she most certainly did not remember making love with him. "Mulder, I--" She turned to face him. "What? What is it Dana?" He asked, taking her back into his arms. It was in that moment that Dana thought she had lost her memory. He felt so good against her; holding her tight, calling her honey. The message on the machine seemed to bring it all home for her. Perhaps she did get injured somehow and the previous year had all been a dream. A nightmare that she had finally jumped out of. "What happened to me out there?" She asked him, staring into his eyes. "Why can't a remember this with you?" "I don't know." He set his chin on top of her head. "But I think you should get some sleep for now, and we'll try to figure it out tomorrow." "That sounds good." She smiled against his chest as he led her down the hall to the bedroom. Scully recognized her bed immediately, as well as other bedroom furniture. She moved toward the dresser to grab a pair of pijamas. "At least some things haven't changed." "What?" Mulder asked, trying to make sense of her mumblings. "Nothing, I was just glad to see that my bed clothes were still in the same place." "Ah." He acknowledged, then grabbed his night clothes from a dresser on the opposite end of the room. Scully took her pijamas into the bathroom and changed in there. Halfway through, there came a light knock on the door. "Dana what are you doing?" "I'm changing, Mulder." "I know that," he spoke into the door, "but why are you doing it in there? The only times you ever change in there are when you get new lingere and when you're mad at me." She opened the door to reveal that she had changed into a over-sized blue satin night shirt with matching shorts. "I'll keep that in mind." He watched as she climbed into bed and snuggled up to the soft down pillow. "Honey, you're on my side of the bed." He tried to moved her to the other side. She wouldn't budge. She had fallen asleep as soon as her head had hit the pillow, he realized. Mulder smiled at the sight of his sleeping wife and crawled over her to settle onto her side of the bed. He gingerly draped his arm over her and set his head on her shoulder. There he fell asleep, listening to the sound of her heartbeat as if it were his lullabye. The next morning Dana awoke to find herself alone. She thought that she had finally ripped herself out of the dream. She stretched and yawned, finding that she had managed to get some rest, even after the events she thought she had gone through. As she breathed in, Dana could smell bacon and eggs in the air. She climbed out of bed and opened the bedroom door. When she entered the hallway, she realized that her mistake had been assuming that the dream would just go away. She knew that this wasn't her apartment and the events of last night came back to her in a flood of memory. "Mulder?" She walked toward the living room, hoping that he was still home. "Are you here?" "Yeah, I'm in the kitchen." He called back. It took her a few seconds, but Scully found the kitchen by following her nose to the sent of a great breakfast cooking. "Good morning." She greeted him, suprised at how well she was taking the situation. "What are you making for me?" "Bacon, eggs, and toast with the crusts cut off, just the way you like them." He flipped a few pieces of bacon with a fork. "How about some coffee?" She asked. "I think I've got a caffiene headache." "Yeah, I figured that you might. It's on the table by the cream pitcher." Scully set down at the table and fixed her mug of coffee. To her approval, it was still warm. "Oh, by the way, I found your ring this morning." He dug into his pocket and handed her a lovely ring of silver with a huge white diamond encircled by a strand of sapphires. "It seems you left it by the bathroom sink yesterday." "It's breathtaking, Mulder." He placed it on her finger. "Why can't I remember it?" The hint of sadness that was in his eyes the previous evening returned. "I hoped that you'd remember after a good night's sleep." She glanced at the ring for a moment then compared it to the one on his finger. His was a simple silver band with one sapphire set smack dab in the middle of the ring. "I did, too." She set down his hand and looked into his eyes. "The last thing that I remember was trying to fight that man who was so interested in gargoyles, feeling like I could never tell you how I felt relationship wise. I felt like I was holding you back personally and professionally." "To the contrary, you've never done anything for me but the opposite." He touched her face, outlining the curve of her jaw with his fingers. At that moment, Scully wanted him to kiss her. She wanted to find out what it was like to love him fully, without fear. If this was a dream, what would be the harm of indulging in her fantasies? She looked him over, trying to read his expression. When no message came to mind, she moved to kiss him. It was quite a new sensation, one that she could only describe as pure ecstasy. His lips were soft and full beneath hers. "Mulder." She spoke between kisses. "Shut down breakfast and help me remember what we have together." "I'd be more than happy to oblige." He kissed her softly again, then shut off the stove and oven. Scully held out her hand to him, scared of what she was about to do, but also wondering what it would be like to have a physical relationship with her partner. She hoped to god that this really was a dream, but at the same time wished it was reality. She supposed she would find out very soon which it would be. Washington, DC FBI Headquarters 11:05 am It had been three days since the electrial storm. Scully had fallen into a routine of playing wife, her emotions having gotten the better of her. She hated to admit it, but she enjoyed being married to Mulder. Their home life seemed to be a replication of dreams she had pictured a million times before she had been thrown into this crazy experience. At least one thing hadn't changed, they were still partners in the FBI's X-Files division and he was still presenting his outlandish cases and theories to her. Just as she finished her thought, Mulder walked through the door. "Guess what I've got for you today." "I don't know--mutant, ghost, or vampire?" She smiled, liking the way they were falling back into their professional relationship. "How about none of the above?" He answered. "I got Skinner to give us a week off so you can get start remembering your life again." "Mulder..." Her voice seemed to echo of a warning. "I know, I know," he sat on the edge of her desk, "you need to work." She nodded her head, glad that he still knew that she had to deal with her problems on her own time. "How about some coffee, maestro?" "You got it." He answered. "But you have to dig out our next case file." "Deal." She removed herself from her chair and headed toward a filing cabinet. "Shit." He muttered to himself then turned to his partner. "Dana, we're out of coffee." "That's okay." She assured him. "I'll just make a quick run to the market for more. It'll take less than fifteen minutes." "Okay, but if you're not back in fifteen, I'm gonna send a search party out for you." He jested. "Don't worry your pretty little head about me, love." She kissed him good-bye. "I'll see you in a bit." "I love you." He called after her. After a moment of thinking about it, she turned back to him. "I love you, too." To Be continued In Part 2...