Before We Knew... Please Archive... grin... All Characters copyright of TenThirteen Productions and Chris Carter. No infringement intended on any part... go ahead, take me to court... I'm using the insanity defence... heh, heh, heh... Comments, complaints and just plain talk to smartin@goodmedia.com Summary: Scully points out a truth they never thought of... Spoilers: everything... including the movie... Rating: fluff, fluff... Story, fluff.... I'm thinking of changing my name to Sheryl "Fluff" Martin... ;-) Before We Knew... by Sheryl Martin She felt his hand move away from her hip, heard the bedsprings creak as he slipped off the mattress. Assuming that he was just making a trip to the bathroom, she pulled over a larger portion of the sheets and drifted back to sleep again. But the next time she awoke she was still alone. Wrenching her eyes open with a weary mumble, Scully looked across the room; seeing a familiar silhouette standing by the window. With a grunt of annoyance she noticed that he had put his boxer shorts back on; retrieved from the pile at the foot of the bed, but nothing more. "Mulder..." She sat up slowly, one hand up to her mouth to stifle a yawn. "What's wrong?" "They're watching us." The whispered reply brought her to full awareness. Tossing the sheets back, she felt along the bottom of the bed for some article of clothing; settling for his shirt which she hurriedly pulled over her head, a part of her savouring the musky smell still attached to it. Padding quietly across the wooden floor, she glanced at her pistol still in its holster on the night table; within easy reach if necessary. Mulder's was probably still in the pile of clothing gathered at the bottom of the bed or on the floor. "Where..." She cautiously looked through the blinds, searching the street. "They're out there. Watching us." The weary reply came. "And now they know what you mean to me and what we mean to each other..." Fighting back the urge to strangle him, Scully just sighed. "Mulder..." He turned towards her, his eyes dark and sad in the pale moonlight. "They'll take you away from me again. They'll hurt you. Just to get to me." Reaching out, she drew her hand along his arm; feeling the thin hairs rise at her touch. "Mulder... they've always known. They knew before we did." A puzzled look, a lip thrust outward in confusion. "I don't understand..." Taking a step back towards the bed, she took his hand; gently tugging him to sit beside her. "Mulder... they've known for years that we loved each other. They created this; they started this with no idea of what they were making..." He tilted his head to one side, listening. "I... I have always been your major weakness, from the start. When they closed down the Files, when they killed Deep Throat... you didn't stop. Even when they shut you in a basement transcribing tapes, you didn't stop working." A grunt of approval and a nod. "They knew then that there was no official way to keep you from searching for the truth." Taking a deep breath, Scully held it for a minute before continuing. "Then Duane Barry. My... kidnapping." "Abduction." The mumbled joke came, accompanied by a tightening of his fingers around hers. "Whatever." A twist of her lips upwards to smile. "You stopped everything to search for me, you stopped working on the cases..." "Yes..." The whispered reply. "I had to..." "And they knew that taking me would do this to you, that despite all their rules and regulations and taking away your contacts and supports that you would keep on going..." "I didn't have a choice." "Yes, you did..." She exhaled the words. "You could have asked for another partner. They would have given you one." The shocked look sent a warm wave crashing down her spine. "I couldn't have..." "And you didn't. Instead, they... sent me back to you when they wanted to." The words grated over her teeth; the phrasing ripping across the enamel. "They knew exactly what buttons to push to control you then, even if you and I didn't know it." He nodded slowly, his free hand now travelling along one sleeve and up her arm; settling at her shoulder as a wayward finger traced circles on her bare skin. "And then they... killed your father. My sister. And the only thing they could rely on was that you were dead somewhere underground and forever silenced." "Bad call on their part." She nodded, a wry smile touching her lips. "Take more than that to keep you down..." "Well, you certainly seem to appreciate my stamina..." Refusing to be swayed, she continued. "Then Antarctica." Closing his eyes, Mulder nodded. "They knew that taking me again would paralyse you; that keeping me would control you even more than anything to do with your sister or your father or the Project..." Lifting her chin up, she shifted from side to side; encouraging his touch along her cheekbone. "But I came to get you." "They never planned on that, Mulder..." "So..." The fingers danced along her skin for a second before brushing a loose strand of hair away from her lips. "You're saying that the Syndicate, the Consortium, whatever we call those bunch of bastards - they knew years ago how much we loved each other?" "How else can you explain it?" She whispered. "They knew exactly where to hit us, where to break us. Either by separating the two of us or by taking me away..." "Do you think this was part of their plan? To set you up for me; to play Cupid?" Scully shook her head. "Not in their wildest nightmares. The best they could have hoped for was that we would keep fighting and stay as far away from the truth as possible. That our opposites would keep bouncing us back and forth, make our work ineffective and generate enough paperwork to destroy your credibility and my career, if possible." His lips twisted upwards in the moonlight as he bent over; pressing them to the side of her neck. "So we must be really annoying them, then..." He mumbled. "Yah... a lot..." Tilting her neck to one side to allow him great access, she closed her eyes. "I like to annoy them..." "Hmm... me too..." "Let's annoy them some more, shall we?" ************ "Heart of a warrior, mind of a fool... soul of a romantic..." - Jackie St. George "If I quit now, they win..." - XF:FTF Visit The Dragon's Lair at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Chamber/7976 !!! \=/, | @___oo /\ /\ / (___,,,} ) /^\) ^\/ _) ) /^\/ _) ) _ / / _) /\ )/\/ || | )_) < > / (,,) )__) | | / \)___)\ | \____( )___) )___ \______(_________;;; __;;; "You are my one in five billion..." Mulder to Scully