Title: On a Star Spangled Night   
   Author: Gina Rain (ginarain@aol.com)   
   Category: MSR, casefile-ish   
   Rating: NC-17 (mild enough but, if you're underage,   
   please read something else)   
   Spoilers: Post- The Unnatural   
   Summary: Think the X-files meets Love American Style.   
   Well, not really, but it's a catchy summary for once,   
   dontcha think?   
   Special thanks: To Ms. Sybil for her lovely beta   
   services. Thank you so much!   
      
   XXXX   
      
   Scully's apartment   
   1:45 AM, Sunday   
      
   Scully opened the window to let in the cool spring   
   air. It touched her fresh-from-the-shower skin and   
   sent a shiver down her spine. It wasn't the only thing   
   that elicited a shiver this evening, but was something   
   that might help bring back all the memories for a   
   curtain call. What she needed to capture and hold,   
   more than anything else that happened tonight was the   
   feel of his arms as they encircled her body. Being   
   held by him during a moment of non-duress sparked   
   feelings of warmth, security and even a strange kind   
   of vindication. For a few hours, everything that had   
   ever gone wrong in their lives seemed worth all the   
   trouble because nothing could feel more 'right.' Their   
   cares floated away with every ball that joined the   
   stars for a brief dance in the night sky.   
      
   What she needed to release, however, was the one   
   crushing moment of disappointment she experienced as   
   they stood by her car door after the dance was done.   
   He looked down at her with an unguarded smile that   
   seemed to light from the deepest regions within; she   
   almost closed her eyes in anticipation of sealing   
   every promise offered by the look in his eyes. Perhaps   
   it was the flicker of her lashes that signaled his   
   guards back to duty. During that brief moment, his   
   smile faded into one given by one coworker to another.   
   He wished her a good night as he turned and headed   
   toward his own vehicle.   
      
   It was hard to remember the sweet without   
   concentrating on the bitter taste that followed all   
   too soon.   
      
   Kalispell, Montana   
   4:45 AM, Sunday   
      
   Anna knew walking through the woods probably wasn't   
   her wisest course of action. But it was safe. Nothing   
   bad ever happened in Kalispell, Montana. Besides,   
   walking through the woods in order to reach the lake   
   at sunrise, was such an incredible experience, it had   
   become addictive.   
      
   There was that delicious pre-dawn chill in the air as   
   she strolled among the ancient trees. She was right on   
   schedule. Just as the sky would begin to lighten, she   
   would reach the clearing where she could watch the   
   warm colors of daybreak celebrate their daily victory   
   over the power of night. She let out a small laugh.   
   She was reading way too much poetry lately. Ah, well.   
   She had a lot of spare time. The library was not   
   exactly overflowing with patrons.   
      
   She used her flashlight to guide her through the path   
   that would take her to the final clearing and stopped   
   dead in her tracks. The amount of light she was seeing   
   was much more than the small flashlight could ever   
   provide.   
      
   Anna looked up.   
      
   There was a spark-a brilliant white dot of light high   
   in a small space amongst the trees. It slowly made its   
   way down until it was about eight feet from the ground   
   and then simply hovered. There was another spark-this   
   one blue-that followed the same routine. And finally,   
   a red spark ignited from nowhere and quietly fell   
   until it was side by side with the other two.   
      
   Anna watched in amazement as the three sparks slapped   
   against each other and multiplied, dancing in a   
   whirlwind fashion. They moved faster and faster and   
   instead of following the laws of gravity and   
   descending, they rose higher and higher until they   
   soared above the highest tree and then … simply   
   disappeared.   
      
   US Highway 93   
   Monday, 4:49 PM   
      
   "You're awfully quiet today, Scully," Mulder gave her   
   a quick glance before looking down at the map that lay   
   on the seat between them.   
      
   Scully looked blindly at the scenery passing before   
   them as they made their way to meet with their   
   eyewitness to . . . what? She bit her lip, repressing   
   a rude remark about Mulder's search for patriotic   
   alien sightings. They had investigated stranger   
   things, she supposed. It was just the timing that   
   bothered her. The office wasn't busy. But Mulder *had*   
   to find something to do every single moment of every   
   single day. They could have had a free weekend; he had   
   to go digging through the archives and running off to   
   meet with Arthur Dales. Still, that didn't have to be   
   a bad thing. She thought he might have learned   
   something from the experience. It had seemed to touch   
   him enough that he actually took a few hours to 'stop   
   and smell the horsehide.' She had even allowed herself   
   to hope for more: that the simple, but extremely   
   intimate, physical encounter signaled a shift in their   
   relationship.  But she was completely wrong. The   
   thought, apparently, held no allure for Mulder and as   
   soon as this quirky report passed his desk, he lost   
   absolutely no time in booking their flight and having   
   them jet across the country to investigate.   
      
   "Scully?" Damn. He never could leave things alone.   
      
   "Yes?"   
      
   "Is everything all right?"   
      
   "Sure. Fine."   
      
   He laughed. "Whatever?"   
      
   "What?" She shot him a look.   
      
   "Nothing. I'm just remembering another time you seemed   
   pissed off at me for no apparent reason."   
      
   "Mulder, I do not have to fill every moment of every   
   day with what would amount to useless noise. I don't   
   have anything to talk about right now, and as far as   
   the case is concerned, I'm reserving judgement on that   
   until we hear the details."   
      
   "Oh-kay."   
      
   She knew the silence was momentary.   
      
   "So, Scully," she couldn't suppress a small smile at   
   the hesitation in his voice, "could you ever live in a   
   place like this?"   
      
   "No," she said, without need for much thought.   
      
   "No?"   
      
   "I like cities, Mulder."   
      
   "Hmmm."   
      
   "Hmmm . . . what?"   
      
   "I just thought the quiet life would hold more appeal   
   to you. You've told me so yourself, many times."   
      
   She turned to face him. "Just what-in our six years of   
   partnership, gave you the impression that I was   
   longing for life in the woods? I would like a few   
   quiet moments now and then but complete isolation-no."   
      
   He looked at the road straight ahead. "Once in a   
   while, I think I could be happy in a cabin by a lake.   
   Wake up at the crack of dawn, go fishing . . . "   
      
   "Was 'On Golden Pond' rerun again last night?"   
      
   She smiled at the sound of his soft laughter. "Face   
   it, Mulder. You are physically incapable of complete   
   relaxation. I'm sure when you are lying on your couch   
   at night watching whatever it is you're watching-   
   somewhere in the back of your mind-you are waiting to   
   get the "relaxation bit' over and done with so you can   
   have enough strength to go running off again."   
      
   "Isn't that the goal of relaxation?"   
      
   "Not necessarily. Sometimes you do it because it's   
   enjoyable. Life can have enjoyable moments."   
      
   "I know. I had fun Saturday. Didn't you?"   
      
   "Of course I did. But it was a fluke. An x-file.   
   Probably more of one than the red, white and blue   
   sparks in the sky."   
      
   "Scully . . . "   
      
   "Forget it, Mulder. I shouldn't have said anything.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)