Need
by Mully Sculder

Summary: Pure "XF2" speculation fic. based on a bit of a trailer 
that I got to see at the Paley center.
Spoilers: Slight spoiler based on part of the "XF2" trailer, one 
line in particular that made me oh so curious and had me 
obsessing, hmmm, thinking a bit more than I should have been. 
So, if you're completely "XF2" spoiler free this won't give 
away that much.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dana Scully or Fox 
Mulder they are the property and creation of Chris Carter and 
1013/Done One Productions. No copyright infringement 
intended. I'm just borrowing them, I promise.
Feedback: Yes, please! Send feedback to 
mullysculder@yahoo.com


Need was on the surface a very simple word, two vowels 
and two consonants, four letters in all. Four little letters that 
meant so much.  According to The Random House Webster's 
College Dictionary need could be defined as an "urgent want, as 
of something requisite." This was the third definition of the 
word the one that Scully found herself thinking of more and 
more the past few days. When Mulder came to her and told her 
that he "needed" her, Dana Scully, on something again it scared 
her more than she admitted to him at the time.  

She had begun to put it all behind her. Had tried to carve 
out a Mulderless life, as difficult and foreign as that seemed to 
her. They had finally reached their breaking point three years 
ago when Scully found out that the FBI had pardoned Mulder 
and dropped the charges. The charges that made them become 
fugitives from justice. Well, him really, she just went along on 
the ride. There had never been any formal charges brought 
against her, because there hadn't been anything to charge her 
with.  When she found out that they no longer had a need to 
spend time on the run, it made her truly question their way of 
living and more importantly how she would choose to live in 
the future.  Mr. and Mrs. Suburban Love Couple were just not 
her and Mulder as much as she wanted to pretend that that fit 
them. So, here she was living her Mulderless life when he came 
back into it and told her that he needed her.

Scully agreed to look at the autopsy reports on the latest 
victim and if necessary order a new toxicology test, but that was 
as far as she was going to go on this. She wasn't going to go 
back into the field with him, she wasn't going to get drawn back 
into this, and she wasn't going to allow herself to care about 
this case in more than an objective manner.  She would keep 
this on a professional, almost distant manner no matter what 
happened. 

These were the things she kept telling herself in order to 
keep from feeling too much, from becoming too  concerned, 
from feeling like she had to have Mulder's back because 
somebody did and if it wasn't her who would? She knew he 
had a new partner and he was quite capable of watching 
out for Mulder, but. . . but  what? *Scully it isn't your job to take 
care of him anymore, just read the reports and be done with it so 
you can go back to your simple, happy life.* 

Maybe that was part of the problem somehow it simply 
didn't have the appeal that it once had. Granted, when she was a 
fugitive she longed for this kind of life, a nine to five job, a 
stable home, her identity and reputation restored and now that 
she had all of those things she didn't want them anymore. She 
couldn't really explain it, this feeling that something was 
missing even though on the surface it looked like she had 
everything anyone could possibly want. Almost everything, she 
amended. 

She wasn't exactly a total social shut-in, though strange 
as it may seem, after her time with Mulder this seemed to make 
her more desirable to the other men at the Bureau. The same 
men who had labeled her as "Mrs. Spooky" or "Ice Queen" 
were now clamoring for her attention. She had been on a fair 
number of dates during the past three years and had enjoyed 
getting to know a few of the men she dated, but still something 
was lacking. There was something missing that she couldn't 
quite put her finger on. That feeling of intimacy that she shared 
with Mulder. Intimacy borne of many nights on stakeouts, of 
relying and trusting someone else more than you did yourself, 
of knowing that he was there for you no matter what. After a 
man told you that you were his "one in five billion" that was 
kind of a tough act to follow. She understood that that could not 
and would not be replicated with anyone else.
 
So, here she was looking at the autopsy reports on the 
latest victim when she discovered something that warranted 
Mulder's immediate attention. She dialed his number without 
even really thinking of it, and found herself unconsciously 
responding to his "Mulder" with "Mulder, it's me." "Hey, 
Scully did you find out something interesting?" She paused, 
considered before answering, realizing just how easy it was to 
get back into old patterns. "Yeah, Mulder the toxicology on 
your last victim was a bit perplexing." "Perplexing how?"  
"Something doesn't add up, Mulder, but I think you knew that 
before I ordered the new tests, didn't you?" Mulder said 
nothing, trying to decide how much to share with Scully 
knowing how easy it would be to draw her back into old habits, 
into old patterns that had no place in her life anymore. "Scully, I 
don't want to talk about this over the phone, can we meet some 
place?" Scully paused before answering still trying to keep this 
distant and professional, "Well, I have two more classes 
today.  I'll be done at 5:00 p.m. we can meet after, unless you 
want to come down here?"  She knew that he wouldn't, Mulder 
hated Quantico because he viewed it as the reason Scully had 
left him and the basement office. As silly as it seemed, he hated 
Quantico almost as much as he would a suitor who was vying 
for Scully's affections. "Sure, I'll meet you after your last 
class."  This was a surprise and for a minute Scully was taken 
aback. "OK Mulder, see you then." They hung up in their 
customary manner with neither one of them saying "good-bye" 
just pressing end and disconnecting the call.