Title: Happiness - All's Fair In Love
Author: shawntaw
Category: MSR, Au
Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.  I am making no profit. But 
I am sure letting them have some fun. :)

Summary: Um, well, 'Bride' magazine, love poetry, bawdy limericks, a 
kiss for Skinner, and a big surprise in an elevator for Mulder...

Feedback makes me very happy at shawntaw@hotmail.com  :)

TO DANIELA LABOD WHO HAS MADE A WEBSITE OF MY STORIES:

www.geocities.com/corran_14776/shawntaw.html

Thank you.:)

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

After the hub-bub from New Year's settled down, things returned to 
relative normalcy.

Skinner was gone for a day with a bad cold brought on by not only 
exposure to Mulder's virus, but also aggravated by cold, wet, mud.

Kimberly sneezed off and on for about a week, but was happy to report 
that after work everyday she was rushing to The Lone Gunmen's to 
nurse a very sick Byers back to health.

Amazingly, the other Gunmen, Maggie, and Bill Scully did not become 
ill.

This fascinated Mulder to no end.

"They were exposed to the same germs and viruses we were.  I wonder 
what determines one person will contract an illness and the other 
will not?"

Scully rolled her eyes and regarded him over the top of her reading 
glasses.

"Mulder, it is all a matter of immunity.  Some things our immune 
systems are able to fight off, some it is not.  It depends on whether 
or not a person has been exposed to the virus before, whether or not 
he or she has a weak immune system because of anemia, previous 
illness-" 

She was ticking off the possible causes when she saw Mulder's intense 
look and stopped.

"You're comparing this with the alien virus, aren't you?  The black 
oil?"

He looked caught.

"I know it isn't even remotely comparable, but-"

"Stop it, Mulder.  I don't want to discuss it."

The mere thought of it made her want to shiver.  She didn't want to 
think about the tests Mulder had alluded to being performed on him in 
Russia.  She didn't want to think about Antarctica.

She just didn't.

Instead, she changed the subject.  Sighing, she pulled open her desk 
drawer and pulled out a magazine.  Acting nonchalant, she crossed her 
legs, leaned back in her chair and pretended to be browsing the 
periodical.

Scully heard a surprised huff.

"'Bride' magazine, Scully?"

"I am soon to be one, Mulder.  I have to start planning," she said 
without looking up.

"You actually went into a store and bought that? Someone from work 
could have seen you, you know."  He sounded amused given her 
proclivity for secrecy regarding their relationship.

"Actually, it was a gift from my mother," Scully responded, turning 
the page.

"Ah."

Silence fell over the partners, broken only by the sound of Scully 
turning pages.

Mulder cleared his throat.

"So, you wanting a big wedding?  Because, it is gonna be kind of hard 
to keep us a secret if you're going to be inviting half the Bureau 
and putting a wedding announcement in the paper."

Scully smirked.  He was nervous.  She could hear it in his voice.

"Well, my mother, of course, would like a large Catholic wedding at 
her church," she said, sounding thoughtful.

Scully could hear him swallowing convulsively from where she sat.

"But I was thinking more of a small, intimate ceremony somewhere of 
both our choosing," she finished, letting Mulder off the hook.

He sighed loudly in relief.

"Don't scare me like that, Scully," he joked.

Scully looked up at him and smiled, "I was just pulling your chain, 
Mulder.  I know we have to keep this...discreet."

"And that's o.k. with your mother?"

Her smile widened.  Now she could share her good news with him.  
Something she had been saving since her mother brought it up at their 
breakfast out together.

"Mom asked if we would like to be married in her home."

Mulder blinked a few times in surprise.  He still was under the 
impression that Maggie Scully didn't totally approve of her 
daughter's choice in a marriage partner, no matter how many times 
Maggie reassured him.

"She means it when she says you're family, Mulder.  What do you 
think?"

He stood up, paced over to her and squatted down by her chair.  

Mulder thoughtfully took her right hand and stroked his thumb over 
her engagement ring.

"I think I would be honored to marry you in your mother's home."

She leaned over to kiss him and her red hair fell around his face.

He could see nothing but her.

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

The e-mails started as soon as February arrived.  Sometimes at work, 
sometimes at home.  Always when he knew he wouldn't be around.

Love poetry comparing her hair and sunsets.  Her hair and sunrises.  
Her skin and pale silk.

Crude, but hilarious, limericks that caused her to laugh out loud in 
shock.

And then, on February 11th, a tremendous, obnoxious arrangement of 
white roses was delivered to the main desk at the J. Edgar Hoover 
building.

Mulder had made sure that the roses were delivered where everyone 
could see them and wonder...

Who sent Dana Scully roses?

He had Kim haul them down the elevator and through the bullpen to the 
basement stairs in order to deliver them to Scully.

Speculation abounded and everywhere she walked for the next day, she 
was followed by inquisitive stares.

Had Mrs. Spooky found someone other than the Spookster?

Mulder made sure that the automatic assumption that he was the flower-
giver died immediately by asking loudly as he and Scully strolled 
down the hallway, "Geez, Scully! Who sent you all the flowers?"

Scully knew she had to get even.

As Skinner came around the corner, an idea popped into her head.

She reached out an arm to stop Skinner's progress and he turned 
around expectantly, peering at her over his glasses.

"Yes, Agent Scully?"

At his demeanor, she almost lost her nerve.  But she took a deep 
breath, tip-toed and gave Skinner a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I just wanted to say thank you, sir.  It was very sweet of you."

Skinner merely looked at her in shock.

Mulder's mouth was an "O" of shock as well.

Several agents had been striding up and down the hall, on their way 
to various destinations.

All conversation and movement had stopped.

Scully pretended not to notice.  She simply gave Skinner a smile and 
began to walk away as though she had stopped her boss to touch base 
on the details of a case.

She turned when she realized she was alone.

"Mulder? You coming?"

He nodded mutely and followed her to the elevator.

Skinner blinked confusedly.

*What did I do?*

He searched his mind frantically for what Scully could have been 
refering to.

Finding nothing, he simply shook his head and continued on his way.

As he rounded the corner, the hallway behind him buzzed to life again.

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

Mulder was fuming.

"You do realize that now everyone thinks you and Skinner are having 
an affair?"

"I never said that," she countered calmly.

"You kissed him!"

"On the cheek.  A simple 'thank you.'"

"You made it sound like he's the one who sent the flowers!"

"I never said that," she repeated.

"But that is what everyone will think!  What about Skinner's career?! 
Huh? You ever think about that?!"

"A peck on the cheek in the hallway and a simple 'thank you' will not 
harm his career.  People will just stare at him funny for a few days, 
gossip, and then go on with their lives," she said, exasperated.

"Why did you do that, anyway?!"

"To see the look on your face!" Scully finally yelled at him.  She 
turned to him in the confines of the elevator, arms crossed.

"It was just an impulse! What?! You've never done anything impulsive 
before, Mulder?!"

This seemed to deflate Mulder's anger.  He considered her for a 
moment.

"I'm not used to you being impulsive, Scully.  It threw me off."

"Well, don't worry.  It won't happen again," she knew she was sulking 
like a child, but she couldn't help it.

*If Mulder could e-mail her bawdy limericks, surely she could play a 
practical joke on him...couldn't she?*

"No," Mulder said, hurriedly, "I like your impulsive side, Scully.  
It's just...a little unexpected, that's all."

And just like that, she had another idea.

She grinned evilly at him and stalked across the elevator towards him.

His eyes widened.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing, Mulder," she said, grinning as she pushed the elevator 
button, stopping it between floors, "just another impulse."

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

Agent Carrera pushed the elevator button again.

Nothing.

"Great. Just great," she muttered as a woman with curly brown hair 
strode up beside her.

"What?"

Carerra gestured toward the elevator.

"This one must be stuck.  Should we call maintainence?"

The other woman, a secretary, nodded.

"I'll go back to my office and do it after lunch," she reassured the 
agent.

"Thanks, " she sighed, " Well, I'm off to lunch too, Barbara, wanna 
come?"

"Hold on," Barbara said and dashed around the corner.  After a moment 
she reappeared carrying a piece of paper.

She taped it to the doors of the elevator.

The two women walked toward the stairs, chatting amicably.

The hastily written sign taped to the elevator doors fluttered as 
they walked away.

"Out of Order"

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

"DING!"

The elevator deposited a very dazed and rumpled Mulder and a smug 
Scully on the first floor of the Hoover building.

Mulder reached up and straightened his tie, looked at his partner, 
blinked, and disembarked.

Scully simply walked purposefully toward the doors as she did 
everyday at this time.  Well, usually a little earlier...  

On her way to lunch.

Agent Carrera was rushing back into the building as the two agents 
stepped off the elevator.

"I can't believe I forgot my purse-" she stopped rushing and frowned.

"What?" her companion said, following her gaze, "Hey, I thought that 
elevator was broken."

"Me too," Carrera said.  A wide grin spread across her face.

"What?"

Carrera shook her head, "Nothing, nothing.  A thought just occurred 
to me, that's all.  Totally inappropriate."

Her friend began to grin as well.
 
"Oh," she began to laugh, "You don't think-"

Carrera was still shaking her head, but now was laughing too.

"No, no, its only been a few minutes.  They're partners.  I'm not 
into the whole gossip mill-"

"But isn't it funny to think-"

"Oh man, don't-"

"I was just thinking if I had called maintainence-"

The two women were openly laughing now.

Mulder lifted a curious eyebrow at the women as he and Scully walked 
by.

The two women burst out laughing at his look and dashed for the 
elevators.

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

Hmmmm...what could Moose and Squirrel have been up to in the elevator?

Tune in next time for the answer....

(BIG GRIN)