From: shawntaw@hotmail.com   
      
   Title: Indulging in Normal   
   Author: shawntaw   
   Spoilers: After the Cancer Arc   
   Disclaimer: Don't own them.  Don't own Ford either (as in Taurus)   
   Don't own Pepsi and wouldn't want to 'cause I'm a Coca Cola girl.   
   (oops, don't own Coca Cola either) I certainly don't own the park, or   
   the Lions' Club or the City Band either, although I used to play   
   flute a loooong time ago.  But that's neither here nor   
   there...Anyway, no money being made here.   
      
   Author's Notes: Since my Dad passed away, I've noticed that alot of   
   what I do I see if I can see Mulder and Scully in the same   
   situation.  Escapism I suppose.  That's where "Flight" came from.   
   That's where "Playground" came from.  And its where this came from   
   too.  I think I might be getting melancholy.  I'm just feeling my age   
   and more lately...anyway, join me on the journey....   
      
   **********************************************************************   
   **   
      
   Another damn case that went nowhere.  Another damn small town and   
   nothing to do before their flight out in the morning.  Mulder's   
   running footsteps pounded out a rhythmic tempo on the broken   
   sidewalk, interrupted only when he sidestepped the occasional   
   obstacle.   
      
   Running cleared his head and he tried to fit it in whenever he was   
   able.  He felt jittery and restless inside, like he was supposed to   
   be somewhere and he was late or supposed to be doing something and   
   he'd forgotten what the something was.  His tennis shoes made   
   plodding, smacking sounds as he ran.  His breath sounded harsh as he   
   puffed along.  He wished he had brought his headphones to help him   
   empty his head.   
      
   And Scully was no help lately.  She had started staring off into   
   space.  He caught her doing it at her computer.  Out the window on   
   roadtrips.  When they stopped to eat.  Once he charged through the   
   adjoining door between their hotel rooms intent upon showing her a   
   subtle clue he'd discovered in a file and she was just standing   
   there.  Staring.   
      
   She always blinked after a few seconds and continued whatever she was   
   doing without acknowledging the momentary lapse, but it left him   
   worried.  Was she having petit mal seizures?  Was it aftereffects of   
   the cancer? Or was she just feeling like he was?  Like the tatoo on   
   her back?  A snake chasing its own tail....   
      
   He sighed as his thoughts continued to spin in his head.  The running   
   wasn't helping this time.  Mulder looked both ways as he approached   
   what passed for a major intersection in the smallish Midwest town and   
   jogged across to the other side.   
      
   A green park stretched out before him surrounded by the city   
   sidewalks, but criss-crossed by meandering paved walkways as well.  A   
   gazebo sat atop a small rise in its center and Mulder could see   
   people carrying folding chairs and sitting around it.  Smoke rose   
   from a grill and people stood in line with paper plates.  His pace   
   slowed until finally he stopped.  He wondered what was going on.   
      
   A man walked past him pushing a little girl in a stroller and Mulder   
   reached out a hand, touching his arm.   
      
   The man turned expectantly.   
      
   "Sorry, but I'm not from around here and I was just   
   wondering...what's going on?"  Mulder gestured toward the gazebo.   
      
   The stranger smiled, "Oh, its the last 'Concert in the Park.' The   
   City Band puts them on free during the summer and the Lions' Club   
   sells Bratwurst and burgers.  The local Pepsi folks hand out free   
   soda.  I think some of the band member's spouses might've even baked   
   cookies this time too - since its the last one," he said, looking   
   toward the crowd.   
      
   Impulsively, Mulder asked, "What time does it start?"   
      
   "Seven."   
      
   Mulder glanced at his watch.  There might be just enought time, if he   
   hurried.   
      
   "Thanks," he waved at the man as he jogged back toward the hotel.   
      
   **********************************************************************   
   **   
      
   Without anything else to do, Scully was lying on her bed at the hotel   
   in sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt rereading an article in an old   
   medical journal.  But sometimes she didn't see the page.   
      
   Lately she would float away unexpectedly.  She would see her life as   
   it used to be.  She saw the person she had been.  She wondered if she   
   could even be her anymore.  She longed for laughter.  She longed for   
   purpose.   
      
   Scully knew that she could quit the F.B.I. and pursue that life.  She   
   could still take a shot at being 'normal.'  Heck, the shadowy 'THEY'   
   would LOVE that...and they would definitely leave her alone.   
      
   But what about Mulder?   
      
   *mulder mulder mulder mulder* rattled around in her head.  She   
   couldn't leave him.  She couldn't desert his cause.  His mission.   
   His passion.   
      
   But sometimes she wondered if he'd come with her if she asked.   
      
   **********************************************************************   
      
   Mulder arrived breathless at Scully's hotel room door.  He knocked   
   and worked to slow down his breathing.   
      
   Scully opened the door and tried not to react to the sight of a   
   sweaty, spiky-haired Mulder in cutoff sweats and old Academy t-   
   shirt.  She desperately filed away the memory for later reference.   
   He was real.. standing there.  So human.  She sometimes felt like she   
   was cut out of cardboard.  Scully needed Mulder to remind her that   
   she mattered in this life they had made for themselves.   
      
   She blinked.  She'd been doing it again.  And Mulder was frowning   
   slightly.   
      
   "Scully?  Did you hear me?  I said, get some jeans on.  I've gotta   
   surprise for you."   
      
   *Surprise?* "Surprise, Mulder?" She said it aloud, caution and   
   suspicion in her voice, "Not a 'let's go for a quick trip in the   
   woods'- type of a surprise, I hope?"   
      
   He was shaking his head, a twinkle in his eye, "No, no, nothing like   
   that.  Come on, hurry up," he said and was keying into his own   
   room, "Last one ready has to buy the brats."   
      
   And with this cryptic statement, he entered his room.   
      
   "The what?" Scully said loudly, stepping outside her own room.   
      
   "The brahhhhhts, Scully," Mulder said, leaning out again, "You'll   
   see."   
      
   **********************************************************************   
   ***   
      
   Hauling a folded, borrowed hotel blanket over one arm, Mulder got out   
   of the Taurus and waited for Scully to get out of the car on her side.   
      
   He admired her for a moment as she squinted toward the crowd in the   
   park.  She wore the same baggy t-shirt she had been earlier, but had   
   exchanged the sweats for a pair of worn-in jeans.  Her hair was   
   mostly pulled back in a clip, but Mulder noticed she had foregone   
   most of her make-up.  Her only dressed-up item was the requisite pair   
   of tall, square-heeled brown suede boots she wore.   
      
   "So, what's going on here, Mulder?" She turned to him, her blue-eyes   
   hidden by stylish sunglasses.   
      
   He simply pushed his own sunglasses up to the top of his head,   
   waggled his eyebrows at her and slammed his door enthusiastically.   
      
   "Come on, Scully," he said and strode off into the park.   
      
   With rolled eyes and a sigh, she did the inevitable and followed him.   
      
   **********************************************************************   
   *   
      
   *Man, but he looks good* she thought, admiring her partner's tall   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)