Fictober 2021 Day 3: Prompt #29 “Why are we whispering?” - Early Season 7 ao3 @today-in-fic
Another perfectly good night of web-surfing and research interrupted by a government conspiracy, such is the life of a member of the Lone Gunmen. Byers is happy to help, really. Working with Agents Mulder and Scully gets him closer to the action than sitting behind a computer, anyways.
He’s on his way back to the main computer room now, a stack of printouts in his arms and a storm of theories bouncing around his head.
“Agents?” he inquires while rounding a corner. Suddenly, a hand grabs him by the back of his jacket and yanks him into a closet.
“Shh!” Frohike’s voice comes from behind him as the man clamps a gloved hand over Byers’ mouth. In his confused state, he makes a mental note to make sure all the sinks in their home are stocked with hand soap.
“Whaddahell?” comes his muffled response from behind the glove. He’s been pulled down slightly, nearly bending backward to accommodate for the height difference.
“We’re witnessing history being made,” Frohike hisses, removing his hand from Byers’ mouth and maneuvering his face so he’s looking through a crack in the door. Outside, Agents Mulder and Scully lean in toward each other, speaking quietly. “See?”
Byers squints and straightens his back, trying to take note of anything markedly different about the agents. It’s hard to make out what they’re talking about, but he’d wager that it doesn’t involve the case they’re all working on given their relaxed stances and easy smiles. The fact that they’re standing so close to one another indicates nothing. They do that all the time, and it’s become expected.
“They’ve known each other for how many years now? Seven? And their progress has been pathetic.” Frohike says.
“Freaking glacial.” Langly adds from behind, making Byers jump a little. Langly squeezes his way between Byers and Frohike to peer through the crack in the doorway. “Until now, apparently.”
“Why are we whispering?” Byers asks, voice low.
“We don’t want to spook them.” Frohike says.
“It’s like filming a nature documentary,” Langly explains. “We can’t interfere, only observe. Do you really want to be responsible for the collapse of the entire ecosystem?”
Byers sighs. “No, I suppose not,” His eyes fall on Frohike, who watches the scene outside the door reverently. “I’m surprised at you. I thought you were still harboring your little crush on Agent Scully.”
Frohike’s mouth thins into a line before he sighs. “I just want them both to be happy if I’m honest. But if she were to decide that Mulder’s not her speed…” he smirks. “That’s a different story.”
The closet quiets as all three men watch the scene outside unfold. To Byers, the agents look no different than any other day. Scully leans against the workbench and says something quietly that makes Mulder laugh and mirror her stance. But then he sees it, the way their fingers itch toward each other on the table until they meet.
Byers doesn’t think he’s ever seen Mulder look so shy before.
Way back in the day, during the Diana Years, Mulder had always worn a sort of love drunk smugness when she was around. That look had turned sour as the woman’s exit from his life loomed, and fortunately Byers hasn’t seen it since. He’s always observed a certain lightness from Mulder when Agent Scully’s around (a lightness which had dimmed considerably for a short time that had coincided with Agent Fowley’s reappearance). The warmth that is shared between the agents now, the tenderness with which Mulder smiles at Agent Scully, is something new. Byers feels a stir of emotion at the sight.
All three Gunmen suck in a breath as Mulder breaks the space between himself and Scully to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Somehow, Frohike finds the space to pump his fist in the air.
“Way to go, Mulder!
“He hardly did anything.” Langly mutters. “Standards, people.”
“He’s gotten more action in the last seven years than you have in your entire life.” Frohike retorts. Langly kicks him in the shin.
“Focus, gentlemen,” Byers chides.
The three men watch in silence as the agents draw closer to one another. They fight for a good view out the crack in the door, nudging shoulders and poking rib cages with elbows. The agents lean in and the door gives, opening and spilling the three spies out onto the floor.
When Byers looks up, he is met with the faces of two stunned agents and the business end of two standard-issue weapons.
“We come in peace.” Frohike shouts from somewhere at the bottom of the pile. “At ease, agents.”
Mulder and Scully share a confused look before tucking away their weapons. ‘Everything alright, boys?” Mulder asks.
Byers stands and brushes himself off, adding sweep floors to his mental to-do list. “Yes.”
Langly, glasses askew, gives a thumbs up. “Never been better.”
Frohike salutes.
–
Outside, Mulder opens the car door for Scully before jogging around the back of the car and sliding into the driver’s seat.
“That was close.” he says, backing out of the driveway and pulling out onto the street.
Scully nods, glancing back at the slowly shrinking headquarters in the rearview mirror. “Too close.” Her fingers find his on the middle console, squeezing. Her thumb caresses his palm. “We’ll have to tell them at some point, though.”
Mulder squeezes her hand back and then brings it up to his lips, savoring the softness of her skin as they sit at a red light. “Soon.”
“Yeah,” Scully agrees, blushing at his touch and secretly hoping that the glow of the traffic light will conceal it. “It’s silly but…I kind of enjoy the secrecy of it all right now. Sneaking around.”
“It’s nice to be on the other side of the mystery for once.” He chuckles. “They’re onto us, though.”
“We’ll tell them once they start having us followed and tapping our phones.” Scully smirks, kicking off her heels and squeezing Mulder’s hand.
Hey guys… so I hate reaching out like this but my parents are cutting me off and kicking me out and I have about 6mos to find a new place to live. I am 20. I am a student. I do not have the means to support myself at this time. I work about 25hrs a week- which equates to about $1501 a month. I’m trying to find a roommate to share the cost of an apartment. I have a few mental health issues and also have an autoimmune/nervous system disorder that I have to take medicine for. Insurance for my health, my car, along with my payment for my medicine and phone adds up to $836.06. I will most likely have to drop out of school. If you could donate anything!!! ANYTHING!! I would so appreciate it. It is dire times.
My father has accused me of lying, being “full of shit”, and being a “piece of shit”. This is because I didn’t pick up my room and ‘lied about it’. He has told me that because I am 20 I need to go out and be an adult. He does not care if I end up homeless. These are the thing he has told me. I don’t talk about my family life much but this is the situation I’m in and being kicked out of even though I cannot support myself financially.
It is late afternoon now. MULDER and SCULLY are lying close together in the bed sheets. They are obviously naked and rumpled from their previous activities. There is a sense of trembling joy, but also peace and rightness.
MULDER
So.
SCULLY (SMILING SOFTLY)
So.
MULDER
The world really didn’t end.
A beat; both Agents are processing what has just taken place: a culmination literally years in the making.
SCULLY (WHISPERS)
The world didn’t end, Mulder. I think it’s just beginning.
MULDER gazes at her for a good few seconds, his expression calm and hopeful. Every bit a man in love. SCULLY leans close and kisses him. CAMERA draws away slowly as they lay close together. All is right with the world.
Thanks for the prompt, this was fun! This is number 20 ("I would give all this up for you") with 23 soon to follow :)
Set in s2, after the x-files was shut down
HC that after Scully was reassigned, her career picked up and she garnered a reputation in the FBI for her arrest record
Mulder and Scully are having one of their clandestine park bench conversations about the x-files when Mulder mentions Scully's new-found success, with some bitterness in his, but mostly pride for his former partner
"I hear you're a rising star up there, Scully," he says, his mouth twisting into a half-grin. His face falls slightly. As much as he needs her help, wants her help, he'd taken enough from her already. He has to let her go.
"If you'd like... this- this could be our last meeting. You don't need to bother with the X-files anymore," he says.
"But I want to, Mulder," she says, puzzled. "I said we were in this together - and I meant it."
He shrugs. "It's different now. You- you can have a life. Real co-workers who'll write real case reports and real criminals you can catch - you could be the next director of the FBI if you wanted."
"But I don't," she says vehemently, taking his hands from where they were folded on his lap and gripping them like a lifeline. He grips back. Her hands are warm and soft and there, his Scully; his rock in the ever-churning sea of life. "Co-workers, an office, normal hours, directorship; I'd give it all up for the X-files," she continues. Her voice grows soft and he has to lean forward to hear her. "I'd give it all up for you."
He doesn't remember connecting his lips to hers, all he can think is Scully Scully Scully; her hands in his hair, her mouth moving against his own and the soft humming noise she's making that make him want to melt into the ground.
He's loved her for so long. There is a sense of peace; closure; profound joy, in the knowledge that she loves him too.
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yousharknotpass
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