Going Lunar--Part 3
by Lolabeegood

E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Archive freely with my name attached

Rating: PG
Categories: S, R
Keywords: Mulder/Scully UST, Post Ep
Spoilers: Everything up to Never Again
Summary:  An apology of a different sort. 

Author's Notes: 

Just a little scene that has been working itself out 
in my head and I thought I'd put to paper. Honourable 
mention goes the to David M. Brown Planetarium and 
Tylenol.

You might want to read the first 2 parts to see where 
I'm going with this one, but it still works on its own.  

I do not own the characters.  I do not make any money 
from this.

Enjoy!

*************************************

Scully noticed the Arlington Schools sign right away and 
wondered how a visit to this building could possibly be 
his apology.  He had been quite an ass after her case in 
Philadelphia and he had known it.  A few days of not 
speaking to each other after his scathing comments about 
her placement in the X-files for a second time, he had 
asked if she would join him tonight.  She wanted to tell 
him where he could shove his invitation but bit her 
tongue.  He seemed genuinely sorry about his hasty words 
and, in all honesty, Scully wasn't sure she didn't 
deserve them.  

She had slept with Ed Jerse.  She and Mulder had been 
circling around each other for over a year now and when 
push came to shove she gave in to base sexual desire and 
screwed a stranger while on a case.  Part of her was 
rebelling against him, and his imposition on her life, 
and the other part wanted to be anonymous for just one 
night.  

"Freddie?" Mulder said into his cell phone "yeah, we're 
here."

She was coaxed from her reverie to notice the lights were 
off in the building.

"Mulder, it's closed." She said as she reached for the 
handle to illustrate.

"Thanks," he snickered into the phone and snapped it shut.

He leaned an arm against the glass door above her and 
looked into the dark building.

"Mulder?" she asked.

"Ahh, there she is!" Mulder smiled as he took a step back.

Emerging in the darkness was a very beautiful olive-skinned 
young woman in her late-twenties.  She had long legs, 
glowing skin and long dark brown hair tied back into a 
loose knot.  She walked right toward them smiling.  When 
she got to the door Scully noticed that she and Mulder 
exchanged secretive glances with each other.  She unlocked 
the door and swung it open, almost hitting Scully in the 
face.

"Fox, you devil.  I don't hear from you for months and 
then..."

"I know I know," Mulder said shyly.  "I'll do better." He 
said as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

Scully suddenly wanted to run back to the car.  There was 
a history between Mulder and this woman and she had a 
feeling what it entailed.  Then, a part in the back of 
her mind started to seethe.  Was he trying to show her 
up?  Make her understand what it felt like to learn about 
another person in her life?  Was this really not an 
apology after all?

"Freddie, this is my partner Dana Scully," Mulder said 
as he gestured toward her.

"Freddie?" I question as I shake her hand.

"Alfreida," she said as she leaned into Mulder and wrapped 
an arm around his waist "but I let a few special people 
call me Freddie."

Mulder blushed at her comment and suddenly became very 
interested in his shoes.  Scully found herself closing her 
eyes against the comment and wanting to feign illness so 
she could get out of this circumstance.  

"Come on, I'll..."

"I'm sorry," Scully interrupted "is there a washroom nearby?"

"Uh, yeah," Freddie said pointing "right over off the lobby, 
there" 

"Thanks," Scully said quietly as she walked in that direction.

Before she even got to the door she had heard Freddie say 
"Fox" twice and that was too much for her.  In the washroom 
she took a paper towel and wiped her brow.  She willed her 
eyes to not give her away by shedding the tears that stung 
behind them.  She gave the toilet a perfunctory flush and 
turned on the cool water tap to get a short drink of water.  
Steeling herself in the mirror one final time she emerged 
from the washroom to see Mulder and Freddie nowhere in sight.  
Looking around the lobby her ears caught a giggle coming 
from down a dimly lit hallway.  

"Fox!" she heard Freddie chastise.

She looked closely at the hallway to see Freddie and Mulder 
emerge hand in hand.  Freddie dropped his hand quickly when 
they hit the light and walked ahead of them toward a set of 
stairs.

"You okay?" he asked as he reached her side.

Scully didn't answer.  She merely followed Freddie up the 
stairs.  With each stair she noticed the smooth grace of 
Freddie's hips moving side to side.  Her toned butt and her 
long legs as they merrily skipped from one step to the next.  
Scully realized that she was no longer a woman who skipped.

Freddie escorted them down several long hallways before 
she paused at a heavy door and unlocked it.  The sign 
outside said David M. Brown Planetarium.  She closed her 
eyes and gritted her teeth.  She was going to have to 
spend the evening sealed up in a dark room looking at the 
night sky with Mulder and his girlfriend.  Some apology.

Scully walked into the dome shaped room and took a seat 
off to the side.  Mulder walked with Freddie to the computer 
and watched as she fiddled with the program.  He seemed to 
stand quite close to her and they murmured words Scully 
couldn't hear.  She felt a headache arching it's way across 
her brow and reached into her pocket hoping to find a 
stray Tylenol.  Coming up with only lint she groaned an 
lay with her head back against the cushioned seat.  

"Ready Scully?" she heard Mulder ask.

"Uh, huh" she murmured without raising her head.

She heard the lights click off but did not open her eyes 
to confirm it.

"The program's about an hour long," she heard Freddie tell 
Mulder.

Then, she heard a door close and a voice started to speak 
softly overhead.  

"The Ecliptic Program will commence in 30 seconds."

"Are you ready Scully?" she heard Mulder whisper into her 
ear.

She felt his body drop into the seat next to hers and 
imagined Freddie must be on the other side of him.  She 
thought it was somewhat fitting that he was sitting right 
between them--the woman who wanted him and the woman who 
had him.  

"Scully?" he asked softly again.

"Yep, I'm here," she said raising her head off the back 
of the chair.

"Many people think of our solar system as constant," the 
overhead voice began "but our entire universe is filled 
with motion..."

Scully chanced a glance over Mulder's shoulder to see 
Freddie and noticed no one was there.  She looked toward 
the computer and did not see her there either.  Scully 
sat forward in her seat and scoped the entire darkened 
room.  No sign of Freddie.

"Is something wrong?" Mulder asked as he sat forward as
well.

"Where's Freddie?" she asked, not wanting to guess.

"She left." Mulder said looking at her strangely.

"Why?" Scully asked, confused.

"She's got other things to do."

Scully shook her head slightly.

"What?" Mulder asked her.

"Nothing," she replied as she sat back.

"The planet Venue for instance..." the overhead voice 
informed.

"Scully, what?" he asked as he put a hand on her knee.

She brushed his hand away.  She couldn't play these 
games anymore. "Mulder, don't."

"Don't what?" he said exasperated "honestly Scully, I 
am trying to apologize for..."

"You have a funny way of showing it," she chuffed.

"Getting Freddie to open up the Planetarium after 
hours so you and I could enjoy..."

"The night sky while your girlfriend waited for us 
outside?" she snapped.

"My what?!" he snapped back.

"This spherical movement is part of a greater..." the 
overhead voice continued.

"Mulder, I think I should leave." She said as she 
started to stand.

"Wait one god damned minute." He said halting her 
movement.

"Mulder, let me go," her voice begged.

"Scully you are misunderstanding..."

"Mulder, we need to stop thinking of our lives in 
terms of each other.  You have a girlfriend and I 
slept with Ed..."

"Scully, I don't care that you slept with Jerse," he 
started and then re-thought his words "what I mean 
to say is I do care, but I think I know why you did 
it."

"Send me your psych report and we'll discuss it over 
lunch one day." She said tersely.

"In dragging along this debris..." the overhead voice 
continued as they stood starring at each other in the 
dark.

"Maybe you should go," he said hoarsely.

She bowed her head and walked toward the exit door.

"But you should know," he called after her "Freddie is 
not my girlfriend, just an old friend from the 
Vineyard."

She halted her steps and processed the information as 
she felt him come up behind her.

"She's the Assistant Superintendent of the Arlington 
School Board's Science in Education Program." He further 
clarified. "That's why she has access to all this."

Scully sighed softly and lowered her head.  "I saw the 
way you were with her."

Mulder shifted uncomfortably behind her.  "We slept 
together once," he admitted "four years ago, when she 
first came to DC and looked me up.  We both felt 
uncomfortable and ridiculous the next morning."

"The giggling and hand holding down the dimly lit 
hallway?" she asked, deciding to reveal all her jealousy 
at once.

"We were laughing about her picture on the wall next 
to all the other Superintendents that look like corpses.  
The hand holding...she just does that but, it's innocent."

Scully sighed again and brought a hand to her forehead.  
"Mulder I've acted like such an idiot."

"I should be flattered," he said softly.

"Not just today, but in Philadelphia," she said turning 
to face him.

They stood and looked at each other silently for 
several beats.  

"It one was to follow the trajectory of..." the overhead 
voice continued.

"You hurt me, Scully," he said honestly.

She swallowed hard and placed her hand on his chest 
over his heart.

"I slept with him, to push you away because...I was 
scared." She admitted.

"What are you scared of?" he whispered.

"The collision of these forces..." the overhead voice 
explained.

"You" she said softly as her eyes filled with tears.  
"God, I'm so scared, Mulder" she croaked.

She took a step forward and buried her face in his 
chest and cried.  He wrapped his arms around her and 
swayed with her from side to side.  

"Our universe is filled with many unknown 
possibilities..." the overhead voice continued.


***********************************

The end of part 3