An X-Files/The Nanny Crossover Disclaimer: What? They don't belong to me? Oh yeah, that's right. Mulder, Scully and the X-Files belong to CC the surfer babe, 1013 and Fox. Characters from The Nanny belong to Fran Drescher and, um, some other people whose names I don't know. Obviously I didn't ask for permission to use these characters because they would have said no, but I really don't intend any copyright infringement. Rating: PG-13 for language and adult situations Spoilers: None (pre-Memento Mori) Classification: S, R (MSR, Mr Sheffield/Fran, CC/Niles), H Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate a strange loss of inhibitions at the Sheffield home. Something They Ate (Part 1) by Gemma Kingsley (gkingsley@hotmail.com) *************************** Monday 11:00 a.m. Sheffield Residence (New York) Special Agent Dana Scully rang the doorbell then turned back to her partner. "Mulder, the evidence for this being an X-File is patchy at best. Just listen to this," she said, reading from the report, "Residents reported unusual bright lights on Saturday night and are now experiencing exaggerated emotional reactions. It could be anything." "For once Scully, I might actually have to agree with you. When Skinner passed on this case, he made it quite clear that the only reason it was receiving such prominence was because Mr Sheffield is a famous Broadway producer. But hey, look on the bright side, maybe he can get us some tickets to "Les Girls". Mulder raised his eyebrows suggestively, but Scully had already turned back to the door as it was opened. She held up her ID and Mulder did the same. "Dana Scully, FBI, and this is my partner, Fox Mulder." They stepped inside and handed their coats to the butler, who they couldn't help but notice was grinning. "Are we missing something?" Scully asked him. "F-fox." he managed to get out through the laughter that was threatening to choke him. "And I thought Niles was bad. Scully rolled her eyes and turned to Mulder who shrugged his shoulders. He was used to getting some reaction to his name, but most people didn't respond with quite such obvious amusement. "We have an appointment with Mr Sheffield," Mulder told Niles. "Could you tell him we're here please." "Sure, I'll, I'll.." Tears of laughter continued to roll down Niles' face as he attempted in vain to reply. Finally he gave up and just nodded, gesturing for Mulder and Scully to have a seat on the couch, as he left the living room. They sat slightly uneasily on the couch, looking around them. "Nice place." Mulder offered. "Yeah, you could just about fit my whole apartment in the front foyer." she replied. "You think we made the wrong career choice?" "What Mulder, you'd rather have beautiful, young starlets fawning over you than be out chasing liver-eating mutants and sewer-dwelling monsters with me by your side." Scully grinned at him. "Scully, as long as you're by my side, I don't care where I am." He caught her glance and she was a little startled to see the sincerity burning in the depths of his hazel eyes. Neither of them could break the gaze and Scully was helpless to move as Mulder's face came towards her and his mouth descended on hers. Their lips met tentatively, but before they could go deeper, a noise from the stairs caused them to jump apart violently. "Mr Shefffieeeld. Mr Sheffieeeld, I'm just taking Maggie to the Mall to get some new clothes before she goes on camp tomorrow." Both Scully and Mulder gawked in amazement at the unbelievably nasal voice coming from the petite woman walking down the stairs. As Scully noticed the tight, short dress the woman was wearing, she realised that the voice was not the only thing Mulder was gawking at, and elbowed him in the ribs. As the woman reached the bottom of the stairs, she noticed the two Agents staring at her. "I'm Fran." she introduced herself. Mulder snapped out of his daze and stepped forward to offer his hand. "Fox Mulder, FBI, and this is my partner, Dana Scully. You must be Mrs Sheffield." He was astonished when Fran slumped to the floor and began to cry. "I'm never going to be Mrs Anybody," she managed to gasp out through her tears. "I'm old and alone and I'm never going to have anyone who loves me." Mulder awkwardly put an arm around her and tried to help her to her feet. "Look, Miss, er," he grunted as Fran leaned on him. "Fine, Fran Fine." she sniffled. Mulder continued, "There's nothing to be upset about. You're a very attractive young woman and I'm sure there are lots of guys who'd.." Fran interrupted him, blinking up through her tears. "You're not Jewish are you?" she asked. "Well yes, actually I am. But I'm, um, lapsed." Fran smiled suddenly, wrapping her arms around him, "So what are you doing tonight?" Mulder detached himself from Fran, cleared his throat uncomfortably and shot Scully a silent plea for help. But he was saved from having to answer as Mr Sheffield entered the room at that moment. He held out his hand to Mulder, who shook it firmly. "Maxwell Sheffield, Broadway Producer." "Fox Mulder, FBI Agent." Scully stifled a smile. "So, what can I do for you, Agent Mulder?" Scully was pleased when he didn't burst into either laughter or tears, but her relief was short-lived. "We'd like to ask you a few questions about the bright lights you reported seeing on Saturday night." Mulder told him, and when he received no response, added for shock value, "Mr Sheffield, do you believe in aliens?" Scully rolled her eyes exasperatedly and then both her and Mulder jumped as Mr Sheffield yelled. "Where are they? Oh my God, they're coming for me, aren't they?" He ran halfway up the stairs and back down again as Scully and Mulder watched, perplexed. As he raced past them again, Scully reached out to try and calm him, but he shrugged her off and bolted down the hallway, shouting something about putting an end to plans for world domination. Scully turned to Mulder who shrugged. "Maybe we'd better come back later." he suggested, and Scully agreed. As they closed the door behind them, Mulder spoke, "Do you still think this isn't an X-File?" "Maybe they're just naturally emotional." Scully suggested doubtfully. Mulder snorted, "Yeah, and maybe Elvis is really dead." Scully smiled at this. "It's remotely plausible," she said. "So are a lot of things," he replied, and the look they shared indicated that they were both thinking about his comment from when they had first met the Lone Gunmen. Scully sucked in a deep breath. "So what do you really think is going on? And 'the aliens stole their brains' does not count as a viable theory." "Awww, Scully." She smiled. "Seriously, Mulder," she queried as they got into the car. "Maybe it was something they ate...." *************************** 1:00 p.m. FBI Office "No, don't put me on hold again, no please.. Damn!" Scully threw her pen on the floor in frustration as the operator on the weather line stuck her on hold again. As the inane elevator music sounded in her ear, she slammed the phone down. "Whoa, Scully," Mulder came up behind her and placed his hands lightly on her shoulders. Scully sighed and Mulder squeezed her shoulders gently. "You alright?" "I'm fine, Mulder." Mulder raised his eyes heavenwards as he was once again given Scully's stock answer. "Are you up for some lunch then?" he asked her. "Sure." ****************************** 1:30 p.m. Fleet's Diner "Did you get anything useful out of the weatherman in the end?" "Not really," she said dismissively, "He put me on hold four times and made me wait 45 minutes for the singularly unenlightening information that, yes, there had been a thunderstorm on Saturday night and that, yes, lightning was observed. So do you really think it could have been something they ate?" she asked, contemplating the salad sandwich on her plate. "I don't know. It has to have been something that they were all exposed to, and that was just the first thing that came to mind. But whatever it is, its effect is interesting." he replied. "It's effect? But they were all acting differently." Scully interjected. "True, but there was one thing that was the same." Scully waited for him to continue. "It was almost as if they'd lost their inhibitions so they just said or did whatever came into their minds. As if their fears and desires were magnified somehow, but they weren't considering the consequences of acting on them." Scully blushed as she remembered the desires they'd almost acted on, and the same thought crossed both of their minds. "Not something in the food, but something in the air." Scully verbalised. "Let's go." Mulder threw some notes down on the table and they headed quickly back to the Sheffields. ************************** 2:00 p.m. Sheffield Residence When they arrived back at the Sheffield home, the door was open and bags were being stacked in the hallway. Mulder and Scully waded through the confusion and were confronted by a teenage boy. "Hi, we're looking for Mr Sheffield." Mulder told him. "Oh right, the FBI agents. I'm Brighton Sheffield. Can I ask you something? Have you ever investigated any really weird cases?" Scully and Mulder exchanged a look. "Weird cases are all we investigate. We're from the X-Files division." Mulder told him. "X-Files?" Brighton asked. "Yeah, we deal with the paranormal - you know, unsolved mysteries and anything that can't be explained." Fran had approached in time to hear this last comment and Brighton grinned before responding to the agents. "Unsolved mysteries, huh. You mean like why Fran's been 29 for the last four years." "Very funny, B," Fran retorted, "Now scram and finish your packing." She turned to the two FBI agents standing in front of her. "Can I help you?" she asked. "I'm Fox Mulder. We spoke this morning, but we have a few more questions." A wrinkle formed on Fran's forehead. "But I wasn't here this morning. Ma called first thing this because she thought there was some kind of animal under the couch. It was just Daddy's toupee though, which almost classifies as an animal, if you think about it..." Mulder and Scully listened to this pointless tirade with confusion, interrupting as soon as Fran paused to take a breath, for fear that they wouldn't get another chance. "Are you saying you don't remember talking to us this morning?" Mulder asked her. Fran looked at Mulder appreciatively before she replied. "If I had met you before, I guarantee I would remember it. Say, you're not Jewish are you?" But before he replied, Mr Sheffield approached. "Maxwell Sheffield, Broadway Producer." he announced. "Fox Mulder, FBI Agent." Mulder whispered under his breath to Scully, "I'm getting the weirdest feeling of deja vu here - how about you?" She nodded faintly. Mulder decided it was useless to even ask Mr Sheffield if he remembered their meeting of that morning, because the fact that he had reintroduced himself obviously demonstrated that he didn't. "Mr Sheffield, can we ask you some questions about what you saw on Saturday night?" Mulder inquired. "Of course, anyway I can help." He rapidly detailed the dramatic storm they'd had, and then commented on the bright coloured lights which had been visible. When he'd finished, Mulder asked if they could take a look around and was readily granted permission. They performed a thorough search of the courtyard and garden and Scully showed Mulder what she had found. "I'm pretty sure it's sulfur, but I can't be absolutely certain until I send it in for analysis." "Sulfur, huh. You're going to have to fill me in here, I flunked chemistry twice." "Well, I don't think we're looking at alien spacecrafts, Mulder. My guess is some kids were setting off fireworks, and using the storm as cover." "How delightfully logical as always," Mulder replied, "But that still doesn't explain the strange behaviour, or the fact that none of these people can even remember that they met us this morning." Scully sat down on one of the wrought iron chairs in the courtyard and was soon joined by Mulder. They were deep in thought about what could have caused the peculiar way everyone had been acting that morning, and barely noticed when Niles brought out a tray with coffee and biscuits on it. They ignored the coffee, but both Agents instinctively reached for the biscuits, barely having touched their lunches earlier. Munching contentedly, they decided to take the magnesium back to the lab to have it analysed. **************************** Tuesday 7:00 a.m. Forest Motel Scully was just preparing to meet her partner for breakfast when the phone in her motel room rang. "Scully." she answered, and heard Mulder's velvety tones relaying his message. "So, we've got to get over there right away. The neighbours have reported hearing strange noises which started about half an hour ago." "Okay, Mulder, I'll be right over." ************************** 7:40 a.m. Sheffield Residence Mulder and Scully could hear the noises emanating from the Sheffield home as soon as they got out of their car. They hurried up the front stairs and in through the door, guns at the ready. Bursting through the door, they heard a moan which sounded like it came from somewhere upstairs. Mulder took the stairs two at a time with Scully right behind him, and they hurried down the hallway, Mulder kicking the doors open as they searched for the source of the noise. When they reached the last door in the corridor, the volume of the groans became much louder. Mulder glanced at Scully to make sure she was ready, and kicked the door open. They simultaneously burst into the room, Mulder shouting, "FBI, don't move." They were met with the unexpected sight of Mr Sheffield and Fran clasped together and obviously in the throes of passion. Mulder lowered his gun and opened and shut his mouth three times before turning a dark shade of red and beginning to apologise. But the Agents' presence remained unacknowledged by the two occupants of the bed and Scully dragged him out of the room. Back in the corridor, Scully grinned in amusement at the blush staining Mulder's face. "It doesn't seem to bother you when you're watching those videos you keep in the bottom drawer. You know, the ones that aren't yours." Scully said. Mulder's eyes widened, but he offered no response, and both Agents trailed back downstairs. Mulder was heading over to the couch to sit down when he felt Scully's hand on his arm, stopping him. He turned to her questioningly and saw her pointing at a bare leg which was hanging over the edge of the couch. They stepped closer and were met with the sight of Niles curled up with a blonde woman, both covered by a tartan blanket. Various articles of clothing were strewn around the room, and Mulder and Scully didn't quite know where to look. At that moment, the blonde woman's eyes opened. She held out her hand to Mulder, who was nearest. "CC Babcock," she introduced herself, seemingly unconcerned by the fact that she was lying naked on a couch in Niles' embrace. Mulder started to introduce himself awkwardly, but her eyes closed again and he abandoned the attempt. Mulder looked at Scully with a mixture of bewilderment and embarassment and followed her into the dining room. The breakfast table looked like it had been abandoned in a hurry and as Scully and Mulder shrugged off their coats and seated themselves, they realised how hungry they were. A plate of the same biscuits they had sampled the day before lay on the table and they both reached for them. "So, Mulder, any ideas?" "Oh, yeah," he replied, leering at her. It was Scully's turn to blush now. She looked away from him hurriedly. "I meant about the case." she said, trying to sound stern and failing miserably. "So did I, Agent Scully. What did you think I was talking about?" Mulder countered. Scully declined to answer, and changed the subject. "We'd better get going. There's nothing more to see here." Mulder raised one eyebrow suggestively. 'Damn that man,' Scully thought to herself. 'He can make anything sound suggestive.' But outwardly she gave no sign of her discomposure, merely getting to her feet and allowing Mulder to help her on with her coat before they left for the lab. ************************* End of Part 1 From gkingsley@hotmail.com Thu Apr 03 03:22:47 1997 Subject: Something They Ate 2/2 by Gemma Kingsley From: Gemma -------- Please forward to A.T.X.C. Please Archive For disclaimer etc. See Part 1 Something They Ate (Part 2) by Gemma Kingsley (gkingsley@hotmail.com) **************************** 11:00 a.m. Forest Motel Scully sat on the bed in her motel room, watching her partner pace backwards and forwards. Their earlier visit to the lab had confirmed that the traces of sulfur that Scully had found were from fireworks just as she had thought, but the Agents were no further towards explaining the strange behaviour of the residents of the Sheffield home. As Mulder passed the bed again, Scully placed an arm on his leg to stop him, and he almost hit the roof in surprise. "Calm down, Mulder," she said soothingly as he seated himself beside her, her hand still lying gently on his thigh. 'Calm,' Mulder thought to himself ironically, 'is the last thing I'm likely to be with Scully's hand where it is now.' He forced himself out of his reverie as she continued to speak. "This isn't a case of alien possession, or clones, or anything like that. It's perectly natural. They live and work together in close proximity and they obviously repressed the sexual tension between them, until they just couldn't hold it in anymore. Then..." Scully made a vague gesture with her hand, designed to encompass what they'd seen at the Sheffield home. "Is that a medical opinion?" Mulder asked teasingly. Scully forced herself to ignore his bantering and the fact that she felt an increasing urge to throw him down on the bed and have her way with him, and replied in what she hoped was a neutral tone. "Effectively, yes. It's not healthy to simply deny things like that." A little voice in her head was shouting 'Hypocrite, hypocrite', but Scully ignored it. Mulder leaned in towards Scully. "So what you're saying is that we should act on how we feel instead of trying to deny it," he asked quietly, as his hand came up to cup her face. Scully nodded almost imperceptibly and Mulder continued. "So if I wanted to kiss you, I should just go for it." He gazed deeply into Scully's dazzling blue eyes and saw the answer to his question and more reflected there. "Dana," he whispered hoarsely as they came together and met in an explosion based on four years of denying their love, desire and need for each other. "Fox," she whispered back. And then no more words were spoken as their silent communication kicked in and they fell back together onto the bed. **************************** 3:00 p.m. Forest Motel Scully stretched contentedly. She couldn't remember when she'd woken up feeling more relaxed. As she glanced over towards the window, she saw the sunlight streaming in. 'That's funny,' she thought, 'I usually remember to close the curtains before I go to bed.' She tried to sit up, but was prevented by the bedcovers which were wrapped tightly around her. Scully suddenly had a strong feeling that there was something she should be remembering, and as she turned and saw Mulder lying in bed beside her, she recalled exactly what that was. 'Oh, shit.' she thought. 'What the hell were we thinking.' But as she remembered the events of the afternoon she realised that the problem was that they hadn't been thinking at all. She glanced over at Mulder who was still sleeping peacefully and thought how cute he looked with his hair all mussed up, and the worry lines smoothed from his face. She almost wished that the circumstances were different. That they didn't work for the FBI, didn't have to worry about the dangerous elements in the Consortium, and that her and Mulder could have a normal relationship without anyone else caring about it. But she brushed that thought off immediately. Sure, there were times when she found her work and the need to be constantly alert, slightly draining, but she knew in her heart of hearts that she needed and wanted the challenge that came from the X-Files and her partner. Her partner now in more ways than one, Scully thought, and wondered how he was going to react to this. She still couldn't believe they'd gone ahead and done this without thinking about the consequences. She knew she'd been attracted to Mulder almost since she first met him, and had recently realised that there was a lot more to it than just lust, but she had never had any intention of acting upon it. To do so would be to endanger not only their partnership, but everything they'd worked for. There was no way Skinner would let them continue working on the X-Files if he even suspected they were involved with each other. But it was a bit too late to be thinking about that now. Still, maybe they could just pretend it had never happened and go on with their jobs like before. As this thought crossed Scully's mind, she felt Mulder shift beside her. Still in the depths of sleep he reached out for her, and before Scully could react, she found herself trapped in his embrace. As she felt the warmth of his body and his skin against hers, she knew there was no way things could go back to the way they were before. Having known Mulder in such an intimate way, she couldn't possibly go back to being Scully, his partner and friend. She wanted to be Dana, his lover, but no-one knew as well as her that it was only a dream. So deep had she been in her contemplation that she hadn't realised Mulder was awake and had been watching her for the last few minutes. He startled her when he spoke and she pulled out of his arms hurriedly. "I can almost see your brain ticking over," he told her. "So, are you going to tell me this is a mistake, that we shouldn't have done it, that everything can just go back to the way it was before and we can forget about it?" Scully turned away from him so that he couldn't see the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes at his words. But Mulder was having none of this. "Because, Scully," he said, pulling her back into his arms, "That's not how I feel." She looked up at him, trepidation still clearly visible in her eyes, and Mulder leant down to kiss her fears away. But before he reached her, Scully pulled away from him, and Mulder lay back on the pillows in exasperation. But his gaze rapidly changed to appreciation as Scully hopped out of bed and began pacing the room, seemingly forgetting that she was naked. "Look, Mulder, we're obviously not acting like ourselves here." She noticed him staring at her and blushed, hurriedly grabbing her robe. "It's obviously some kind of outside influence." she told him. "I thought you didn't believe this was an X-File Scully." Mulder replied. Then the same thought hit both of their minds. "The biscuits." Any further conversation about what had happened was delayed as the case took priority, although Mulder allowed himself a self-satisfied smirk as he felt Scully watching him cross the room to the connecting door. Within minutes they were dressed and Scully had made a call to have a couple of the FBI lab assistants meet them at the scene to take samples. **************************** 3:30 p.m. Sheffield Residence Mulder knocked on the door cautiously, praying that they wouldn't be met with either cackling butlers, distraught nannies, paranoid producers or anyone in a state of undress. He was fortunate this time for when Niles opened the door and let them in, everything seemed to be normal. Niles however did not recognise the Agents. But before Mulder was forced to introduce himself yet again, Fran walked into the living room and practically dragged Mulder inside. Scully frowned as she saw Fran's arm around Mulder's waist and tried to squash the jealous voice which was yelling inside her head. She was compelled to stand and watch as the lab assistants collected their samples and as Fran flirted outragreously with Mulder. The accent and raucous laughter which had only been slightly annoying at first were seriously starting to grate on Scully's nerves and she could feel a headache developing. As Mr Sheffield entered the room, Scully was suddenly motivated. 'Two can play at this game.' she thought, moving quickly to intercept Mr Sheffield. They sat on the couch and Scully crossed her legs, causing her skirt to ride a little higher up her legs. "So, Mr Sheffield," she began, but he interrupted her. "Please, call me Maxwell." "Maxwell," she murmured seductively, resting her arm on his shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the muscle working in Mulder's jaw, and she shifted a little closer to Mr Sheffield. Something in Mulder snapped and brushing Fran off, he strode over to the couch and pulled Scully up roughly. Not giving her a chance to object he announced that they'd finished their questions and that the lab assistants would take care of anything else. He practically dragged Scully out of the house and back to the car, and she was too surprised to protest. "What the Hell was that?" he yelled at her once they were in the car. Scully was equally angry and jealous and didn't think before she responded, instead letting out all the hurt and bitterness that she'd felt over the years. "Oh that's just great!" she yelled back, "And like you can talk, what with Phoebe and Bambi and Detective White. And you just had to have me to complete the circle didn't you? I don't know why you even bothered!" "I'm beginning to wonder about that myself!" Mulder shouted, and regretted it as soon as he saw Scully's eyes widen with pain. Both were completely silent for the rest of the journey back to the motel and when they arrived, Scully got out quickly and strode over to her room, banging the door closed behind her. Mulder did not leave the car, but instead lowered his head to the steering wheel and thought, 'Oh shit, now what have I done?' *************************** 5:30 p.m. Forest Motel Scully got up again and peered through the curtains. Mulder was still sitting out in the car, but she was damned if she was going to be the first to apologise. As she watched, he finally got out of the car, and Scully backed away from the window quickly, unwilling to be caught watching him. She contemplated getting into bed and pretending to be asleep, but discarded the idea almost immediately as cowardly. Instead, she quickly stripped off her clothes and headed for the shower. She'd been sitting in her room waiting for almost two hours and now she'd decided that it was time to let him stew for a bit. But she had reckoned without Mulder. He was not the kind to jump straight into something like this without considering the consequences anymore than Scully was, but after two hours sitting in the car he'd done all the thinking he could manage. Now he wanted to share his conclusions with Scully and he wasn't going to give her a chance to turn him down. So, when he pounded on the adjoining door between their rooms and received no reply, he barely wasted a second's thought before pushing it open. The door wasn't locked. It was an unspoken expression of trust that no matter how angry or annoyed they were with each other, the door between them would always remain open. As Mulder entered the room, he rapidly took in the clothes tossed on the floor and the sound of the running shower. Shaking his head slowly and thinking, 'Scully, I must be getting to you if you're throwing your clothes on the floor,' he shut the door and allowed his clothes to join hers. Scully had heard the pounding on the door but had ignored it. When it stopped, she assumed Mulder had given up. 'He's probably gone out to find some ditzy blonde with a bra size bigger than her IQ.' Scully thought, and tried to ignore the unbearable jealousy that rose in her at the idea of Mulder with anyone else. The first clue she had of Mulder's presence was the rush of cold air as the shower door slid open. She turned quickly to see Mulder already standing in front of her, naked and, 'ohmigod' she thought, aroused. "Mulder, get out." she said firmly, trying to ignore the warm feeling in her belly and the tiny prickles she felt running up and down between her legs at the sight of him. "Uh, uh, Scully, I'm not letting you push me away this time." She reached out her arms in a half-hearted attempt to push him away, but the instant they connected with his naked chest, her resolve weakened and she pulled him towards her instead. Mulder took her in his arms and kissed her thoroughly, punctuating his caresses with apologies. "I'm sorry Scully..Ahhhh....I didn't mean it." "I'm sorry too Mulder. I was angry and I wanted to hurt you." "Ohhh Dana, I want you, I need you, I.. 'Here I go' he thought, I love you Dana Scully." Scully looked up into his eyes and he allowed her to see past all his defenses, knowing that his love for her was clearly visible in his eyes. Scully saw that what he said was true, and kissed him again with complete happiness. "Oh good," she said, "Because I love you too." Mulder grinned, and turning off the shower, picked her up and carried her to the bed. He laid her down on the bed, caressing her gently but passionately and Scully responded in kind, reaching out to rediscover the body she was so familiar with but which affected her so strongly. But before their lovemaking could reach its peak, Mulder's cellphone rang. He cursed, but its shrill ringing refused to be ignored. Mulder climbed off the bed and searched through his trouser pockets. Sitting back down on the bed he pressed the talk button. "Mulder...uh huh....oh, that's great." He covered the mouthpiece and turned to Scully, "They've found traces of a drug. Somehow it releases people's inhibitions and they act without considering the consequences and then don't remember a thing about it later." Scully started to roll over as she considered the impact of this information, but Mulder placed a hand on her bare stomach to restrain her as he lifted the phone back to his ear. "Okay, thank-you. Bye." Mulder dropped the phone back onto the floor and lay back next to Scully, propping himself up on one arm. Scully refused to meet his gaze so he placed his hand on her chin and turned her face towards him. "Scully," he said gently. "Mulder, I know what you're going to say. We were acting under the influence of whatever drug they've found. It wasn't us, it was ...whatever." Mulder placed two fingers on her lips, silencing her. "Scully, the drug they found was in the coffee." he told her. "But Mulder," she said, confused, "We didn't have any coffee." "I know." he said, smiling at her. "We weren't under the influence of anything other than our own feelings. I meant what I said, Dana. I love you. And you're stuck with me no matter what." "Oh, Mulder," she said, laughing in relief, "I love you too. More than anything. And I want to be stuck with you. In fact, I wouldn't have it any other way." Mulder wrapped his arms around her and said with a husky tone, "Now where were we?", and as she looked at the expression of desire and love in his eyes, her amusement suddenly faded. She reached up for him and pulled his mouth to hers. "How's that?" she asked. "Exactly the way it was meant to be." Mulder responded. "Fate?" Scully suggested. "Not this time," he replied, "This time, Dana, it's love." "Love you Fox." she said and he smiled. The End